Page 107 of Justice Delayed

“A couple of days before Jesse went missing, I overheard the senator, Smith, and my uncle talking at one of the parties Ruby and Quentin threw that summer.” Melender sounded sad, and Brogan reached across to hold her hand.

“What were they talking about?” Brogan used his thumb to gently massage her hand.

“Gold mining. Quentin wanted the rights to an old gold mine that straddled the border of the Shenandoah National Park. The senator was helping him get federal permission to explore and potentially open the mine. But with part of it in the park, permission would have been denied outright. An old map Smith found put the park borders a little bit more to the west, which gave them more wiggle room for the permit.”

Brogan’s stomach clenched. In the back of his mind, he’d known there had to be more to Quentin’s putting the blame on Melender than a desire to protect Jared and Jillian. “They must have realized you overheard the exchange.”

“That’s what Smith said. I think Quentin called Smith after Jared phoned him with the news about Jesse. Smith saw an opportunity to get rid of me as well as have Quentin in his debt. And have a clear way forward for the mining permit. Win-win all around.”

“Except for you.” Brogan tightened his fingers around hers.

“I was expendable. The orphan niece from the mountains.” Her voice hitched, and her hand trembled in his. “I can’t even go home.”

Brogan frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Ruby sold Sudie’s cabin.”

The pain behind those words tore at his heart. “I’m so sorry, Melender.”

“Me too.” She sighed again. “It’s probably for the best.”

“How’s that?” The pain behind those words tore at his heart, but at the same time, he mentally fist-pumped the air. A tinge of guilt crept in at his elation. He considered coming clean about wanting her to remain in the area so they could see one another on a regular basis, but he opted to wait and hear her out.

“When I was inside, I used to long for the quietness of the mountains. But now, I find I don’t mind people so much.”

Her words made him bold, even with Seth probably eavesdropping from the driver’s seat. “Anyone in particular you like to be around?”

Their eyes met. She raised her free hand to cup his cheek. “Yes. A certain journalist with a pair of blue eyes and a talent for helping me out of trouble.”

ChapterForty-Four

Melender bit into her cheeseburger and chewed slowly. Although Brogan’s response to her romantic declaration the night before hadn’t been negative, it lacked any passion to show her feelings were reciprocal. Seated across from him now, she couldn’t help but regret choosing one of the most popular gourmet burger restaurants in town for lunch. The line of customers snaked from the registers out the front door. A sudden outburst of laughter from a group of women in the next booth drew not only Melender’s attention but also Brogan’s.

“Is this place always so crowded?” Brogan dunked several fries into a ketchup cup on his plate, then leaned across the table. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining. The saying goes, if you want good food, look for long lines.”

She blotted her mouth with a paper napkin. “It’s pretty much always crowded, but if you like, we could wrap our food up and take it to the park down the street.”

“Nah, this fine.” He picked up his double cheeseburger with both hands and bit into it. The smile in Brogan’s eyes reminded her that the way to a man’s heart was sometimes through his stomach, even if the cooking wasn’t her own. “You look refreshed.”

She swallowed her food. “I slept surprisingly well last night. Maybe because all of this is finally over.”

Brogan took a swig of iced tea. “I can’t believe as soon as Quentin could speak coherently after his surgery, he insisted on giving a statement. At least he owned up to his part in the whole thing.”

He shook his head. “Calling Smith to help bury your one-year-old son to hide his accidental death is cold and calculated.”

Melender set the napkin she’d used to blot her mouth beside her plate. Any appetite she’d had waned. “My uncle wanted to protect his living children and get his mining permit. I guess we’ll never know exactly how Jesse died.”

“Livingston said the ME couldn’t immediately determine a cause of death.” Brogan took another bite of his burger. “They’ll run more tests but those will take a while.”

“Do the police have a theory as to what happened to Jesse?” Melender smiled as Brogan pointed to his mouth.

After another longer swig from his iced tea, he spoke. “Livingston said the ME’s best guess was the cold inhibited Jesse’s breathing, and the medicine made him sleepy When Jillian played peek-a-boo, then left the blue bunny on his face, he simply couldn’t breathe and was too drowsy to remove it.”

Sadness over how Jilly must be feeling with the knowledge she could have inadvertently killed her baby brother knotted Melender’s stomach. Brogan pushed his plate aside. “I know your heart aches for Jillian.”

Oh, Jilly.“How will she recover from it?”

“The ME did say Jesse might have died for an entirely different reason that had nothing to do with what Jared or Jillian did that night.”

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