Jake drove, while Louie processed information on his laptop. Seth worked in one of the old renovated mansions in Wilkesbury. The city had offered tax incentives to buyers as part of their revitalization project of the downtown area. The Jackson Healy Law Firm used the entire building for their practice. He and Louie entered a nicely appointed lobby done in neutral colors—beige walls, mauve sofa, accented with floral-upholstered chairs, and a deep burgundy rug.
The receptionist looked to be in her late twenties: blond hair, cut to look messy but sexy. Her snug blue suit showcased a spectacular body. At the same time, it emphasized her keen blue eyes as she studied them.
“Can I help you?”
“Yes. We’d like to speak to Seth Adams and somewhere private, if possible. He’s not in any trouble, but it’s important.” Jake palmed his shield.
“Your name please?” she asked.
Louie took out his shield, laid it on the counter. “We don’t have an appointment. My name’s Detective Romanelli. This is my partner Lieutenant Carrington.”
“I’ll get him right away.” She shot out of her chair and hurried down a long hallway. Jake’s gaze followed her.
“A little young for you, isn’t she?”
He ignored Louie’s comment and took a seat while they waited for Seth to come out. Jake stared down the empty hallway, while Louie read a magazine. When Seth walked toward them, Jake sized him up. Five-eight, one-sixty, brown and brown, he noted in cop speak. The kid looked scared. Not guilty, scared, clearly afraid they were going to confirm what he had feared.
“Detectives…”
“Mr. Adams, is there a conference room we can use?” Louie asked.
The receptionist pointed to the one behind her. Seth led the way. They followed behind him and closed the door once they entered the room. Do it quick, Jake thought. Handle the shock and the emotions, which would follow later.
“Mr. Adams, your mother is Chelsea Adams?” Louie asked.
“Yes, did you find her? Is she okay? Where is she?” His voice was strained.
“Mr. Adams, I’m sorry to inform you. We found your mother this morning,” Louie said.
“Alive?”
“No.”
Seth grabbed the table. Jake thought for sure he’d pass out. The boy’s face lost all color as he collapsed into a chair. “You’re not mistaken? Did she have an accident?” Utter devastation filmed over his tear-filled eyes.
“We’ve identified her through her fingerprints. She was found this morning, in town. No, it wasn’t an accident.” Jake let it hang out there.
Seth stared at him for a long minute then started crying. Thank God Louie took over the job of comforting Seth.
“Seth, we’re sorry for your loss. Can I get you a glass of water? Call someone for you?” Louie, a compassionate man, always dealt better with the survivor’s grief.
“Did you tell my sister? Oh God, Cara.” Seth lost it big time as sobs racked his body.
“No, we came here first. Do you want us to tell Cara, or do you want to?” Louie asked.
“Can we do it together?” Seth wrapped his arms around his waist. When he answered, it sounded like the voice of a little boy. He rocked and cried out again, “Mom.”
Jake left Louie with Seth while he spoke with one of the partners he knew at the firm. He informed Attorney Ron Jacobson they’d be taking Seth home.
“Jake, please call me if he needs anything. They’re a close-knit family. This will destroy them. His father on the other hand had left his mother last year for some twenty- or thirty-year-old, then up and moved to Florida,” Ron Jacobson said.
“Thanks, Ron. We’re going to need to question Seth and his sister. Do you want to be there?” Jake offered. Ron was a corporate attorney.
“Do you have to do it today?” Ron asked as he steepled his fingers in front of him.
“Yeah, we do.”
“I’ll meet you at their house in about an hour. Will you be able to pick up Cara and be there by then?”
“Yes, we’ll see you there.”
They escorted the dazed kid to Jake’s car.
In the car, Louie asked again. “Seth, after we inform Cara, is there someone we can call to stay with both of you?”
“No, I don’t want to talk to anyone right now,” he said, staring out the window.
* * * *
Southington, a bedroom community to Hartford, was growing and expanding from a sleepy town to a full city friendly to businesses. It actively pursued all types of industries. It sat between Wilkesbury and Hartford. Jake pulled to the curb of the downtown office where Cara Adams worked. He left Seth in the car with Louie when he went into the doctor’s offices. On the drive over, he’d called Cara’s office and spoke with the receptionist. He learned Cara was an accountant in the billing department.
He walked into a small room crowded with patients. Jake discreetly held out his shield to the receptionist. He wanted to speak with Cara’s boss first. The receptionist led him to Doctor Ira Charles’s office and asked him to wait while she got the doctor. The doc didn’t keep him waiting.
It’s shocking,” Dr. Charles said.
“She told you her mother was missing?” Jake asked.
“Of course, Cara’s been upset all week. It’s all she could talk about and who could blame her? Her mother disappeared without a trace…you found her?”
“We did. She’s been murdered. Cara’s brother’s out in our car. What kind of doctor are you? Seth will need something to calm him down. We still have to inform Cara of her mother’s death. Do you want to be there for support?”
“Yes. When we’re done I’ll see to her brother. He’s also my patient.”
He followed the doctor to an office across the hall from the reception area. Jake walked in first. A young woman who resembled their victim sat behind the desk with a phone to her ear. Cara’s coloring matched her brother’s—brown hair, big brown eyes, but slightly fuller lips. He’d have to wait until she stood to judge her height, though she appeared petite. She looked up when they came in, stopped in mid-sentence.
“Cara?” Jake said. He had clipped his badge to his belt in plain sight. She stared at his badge before she raised her terror-filled eyes to his.
“Yes, can I get you some coffee?” Stalling, Jake let her as he took the seat next to her.
“Cara, we don’t need any coffee. We found your mother this morning. She’s dead.” Before she could interrupt, he continued. “We have your brother in the car outside. He’s not in good shape. Why don’t we take both of you home?”
She asked the same question her brother did. “Was it a car accident? No one noticed or helped? No one witnessed it?” Tears flooded her eyes, though they didn’t fall. Jake watched her fight for control. Jake let her questions run out before he answered.
“No, she was murdered.”
“Murdered!” She jumped up. “How? This can’t be real. She has no enemies. Who would kill her?”
Jake held her hand, guided her back down into the chair. “I’m sorry for your loss, Cara. I’ll answer the questions I can once we get both of you home. And I’ll need to ask a few of my own.”
“If you need anything…anything