Something about his tone slowly registers, sneaks past my protectiveness toward Jess. “But you didn’t?” I glance in the rearview mirror and catch Jaxon and Nigel, the other cop, exchanging their own wary glances.
“My twin sister had been in an abusive relationship at one point,” Jaxon explains. “It was while I was in the Army. I returned home during one leave and noticed the subtle changes in her. I brushed it off as my imagination—the result of serving in Iraq. But I was wrong. Her boyfriend turned out to be an abusive asshole.”
“Did you ever meet Jessica?” My gaze flicks briefly back to the rearview mirror again.
Pain and regret cloud his features, the emotions so fleeting, I almost missed them. “I saw her several times over the span of about a year. I never talked to her, if that’s what you’re asking. But there was something about her that’d reminded me of my sister when she was with her abusive boyfriend. It was like Jessica was emotionally withdrawn. Nervous.”
He shakes his head, as if disappointed about something. “The last time I saw her was at a barbecue Wayne was throwing. I knew then I needed to gain her trust, knowing she probably didn’t trust men anymore if I was right about her relationship with him. I wanted to help her in the way I hadn’t helped my sister while I’d been on leave. So I smiled at Jessica, letting her know I wanted to be her friend. I’d had a feeling she didn’t have any, if I was right about Wayne.”
“What happened after that?” I ask, appreciating him telling me this, but also knowing none of what he’s saying will help me find Jess.
“I was arrested a few days later. Never had a chance to talk to her. That’s one of the reasons I came on this trip. I heard Jessica was living in Maple Ridge, and I wanted to tell her how sorry I was that I didn’t do something when I first suspected Wayne was hurting her. Maybe if I had done something, I could have gotten her and her daughter out of their situation. I could have protected her and saved them from what did happen.”
“You can’t blame yourself for that,” I tell him, despite wishing he had stepped in. I likely wouldn’t have met Jess if that had happened, but given that we’re not together anymore, it wouldn’t have mattered. She would at least still have Amelia in her life.
“So you weren’t responsible for the drugs being stolen?” I ask, wondering why the hell someone would frame him.
“My husband took away a lot of things I loved. That was his way of controlling me. But my camera…my camera was different. That he smashed because he thought I was having an affair.”Was Jaxon the man Wayne had accused her of having an affair with? He had seen Jaxon smile at Jess, became jealous, and framed the man?
“Definitely not,” Jaxon explains. “But the evidence was too strong against me. A year ago, I was exonerated of the crime. I still wanted to be a police officer—to make a difference despite everything that happened—but I couldn’t go back to San Diego. After everything, I only trusted a few people in the department.”
Can’t say I blame him. “So you think Wayne was responsible for you ending up in prison?”
“He was definitely a dirty cop, so that wouldn’t surprise me,” Nigel pipes in. He doesn’t work for the SDPD. He’s from San Francisco. “There was a woman officer who’d suspected he was a dirty cop, but she didn’t have enough evidence to prove it. She was sexually assaulted by a different officer, but when she reported it to her captain, he turned a blind eye.”
My gaze flicks to the rearview mirror again, my foot pushing slightly harder on the accelerator. I’m hoping some part of their story might help me figure out where Jess is. So far nothing they’ve said has given me a clue as to her whereabouts.
A scowl turns Nigel’s expression stormy. “From what she told me, before she quit the force and moved to San Francisco, several of her colleagues made her feel uncomfortable. She started struggling with depression. She had survived hell in Iraq, but this proved to be worse than that.”
“This all happened after I was arrested. I didn’t even know she was going through this at the time,” Jaxon continues. “She later told me there were several other cops in the department she suspected were involved in some sort of illegal operation with Wayne Townsend. She didn’t know what it was, though.”
“And this included his brother,” Nigel adds. “She didn’t know how far the corruption went in the department, but she did know he was involved.”
Shit.“Is this the brother who adopted Jess’s daughter?”
“Adopted?” Jaxon’s eyebrows draw together into a dark line in the rear mirror. “I don’t know anything about that. The last I heard, Lincoln didn’t have any kids or a wife or girlfriend.”
“We’re definitely not talking about the same man.” Which is good. It’s been hard enough for Jess to lose her daughter, never mind to find out that Amelia’s adoptive father was a bad cop like her biological father. “Did any of this ever come up after Wayne Townsend’s murder?”
Jaxon shrugs. “I wasn’t involved in the investigation since I was in prison at the time, so I can’t answer that. But my release did result in the opening of a new investigation. I don’t know anything beyond that.”
Kellan glances at his phone. “Does the brother still work for the SDPD?”
“Last I heard he was a vice detective,” Nigel replies. “Also heard he was vocal about Jessica being released from prison. He was adamant she killed his brother.”
“I wonder if he knows anything about Jess’s disappearance,” I say, voicing my thoughts out loud. Sure, there are other reasons she could be missing. For all I know, she’s run away or has left to try to see Amelia. But she wouldn’t have left Bailey on her own, and she certainly wouldn’t have left her to roam on the street. In my gut, I know something is wrong. And this brother seems a likely suspect.
“I still have contacts in the SDPD,” Jaxon informs us. “Let me call them and see if I can find out if anyone has seen him recently.”
“Do it,” I urge. My next words are directed to Kellan. “Call Lucas and Garrett and tell them we’re going straight to Jess’s house.”
Kellan does that while Jaxon talks to someone on his phone.
“According to my contact,” Jaxon tells us a few minutes later as I pull into town, “Lincoln is on vacation for the next nine days. He left Wednesday. My contact has no idea where he went, other than on some fishing trip.”
“Shit. So we have no idea if he knows anything about Jess’s disappearance, but he does have a reason for going after her. Revenge—if he believes she killed his brother.”
“If he does have Jess”—anger tightens Kellan’s tone, his usual ability to flatline his emotions gone—“we have no idea where he would’ve taken her. She could be anywhere.”
