Page 77 of Justice Delayed

“You’re welcome, ma’am.” Consuela gathered up the detritus from the flower arrangement and bustled toward the kitchen.

With a sigh, Ruby pulled open the front door and bit back a yelp of surprise. On her doorstep stood a tall man with silver threading his dark hair and a younger woman holding a reusable grocery bag. Ruby put her hand to her chest. “You startled me.”

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Thompson.” The man removed his sunglasses, tucking them into his suit coat pocket. Then he took out a small folder and flipped it open to reveal a badge and ID card. “I’m Detective Livingston, and this is my partner, Detective Collier, with the Fairfax County Police Department. May we come in?”

Ruby recovered enough to affect a nonchalance she didn’t feel inside. “What’s this about?”

“It would be best if we talked inside,” Livingston spoke firmly but politely, his eyes never leaving Ruby’s face.

“You can have five minutes,” Ruby snapped, not caring she sounded ungracious. She led the way into the small sitting room directly to the right of the entrance, then pulled out her phone to check the time. 11:37.

“Ma’am, I’m afraid we have some rather disturbing news,” Livingston said.

Ruby’s heart rate accelerated. It hadn’t occurred to her they could be bringing news of Jesse to her. Something about her demeanor must have alarmed Livingston because he gently took her arm and guided her to sit on the love seat.

“Have you…” Ruby couldn’t finish the question.

“No, we haven’t located your son.” Livingston guessed what she had started to ask. “But we do have new information related to his disappearance.”

Ruby tried to process what the detective was saying. “What could possibly be uncovered after all this time?”

“We recovered twenty thousand dollars of the ransom money,” Collier said.

Ruby frowned. “You found some of the ransom money?” This didn’t make sense. She’d always assumed the money had been spent by whoever had helped Melender dispose of the body. While the prosecution hadn’t brought up the ransom during Melender’s trial, Ruby firmly believed Melender had an accomplice who handled the ransom drop and who had spirited the money out of the country to avoid detection. “Where did the money turn up?”

“On the body of a man named TJ Williams, Jared’s former drug dealer,” Livingston said. “Williams was murdered.”

“Murdered? That’s horrible.” At the mention of Jared, a sense of foreboding invaded Ruby’s body. Surely, Jared had nothing to do with this, but in her mind’s eye, she flashed back to all the arguments Jared and Quentin had about money in the weeks leading up to Jesse’s disappearance.

“Jared Thompson’s fingerprints have been identified on the ransom money.” Livingston leaned forward. “Early this morning, Jared confessed to writing the note and picking up the ransom. He further said he’d given Williams the twenty thousand in an attempt to throw suspicion away from him.”

“Ruby!” Quentin called from the foyer. Her husband appeared in the doorway a moment later, his eyes sweeping past the detectives to meet her gaze.

“Is it true?” Ruby stared at Quentin. “Did Jared kidnap Jesse?” An emotion she couldn’t identify crossed her husband’s face as he joined her on the loveseat.

“No, my darling. Jared had nothing to do with Jesse’s disappearance.”

“How do you know?” Surely her husband hadn’t known about Jared’s involvement with the ransom when it had happened.

“His lawyer just called me.” Quentin enveloped her hands in his, but Ruby pulled away, not wanting his comfort at a time like this. “I’m sure Jared took advantage of the situation and pretended to have kidnapped Jesse for the ransom, which he didn’t spend after hearing the bills had been recorded and marked.”

“That’s not entirely true,” Livingston said.

Ruby turned to the detective. “What do you mean?”

“You probably don’t remember, but I was one of the detectives working your son’s case,” Livingston said. “When we discovered the ransom money with Jared’s prints on it, I pulled the original files. Mr. Thompson, you stated you and your wife were at a charity event at the country club about two miles from this house on the night Jesse disappeared.”

“Is it really necessary to drag this up again?” Quentin’s sharp tone suggested he thought otherwise.

“In light of your son’s confession, I think so,” Livingston answered.

“Then yes, we were at the club that night. Ruby had been on the committee to raise funds for a local children’s charity.” Quentin again reached for Ruby’s hands, but she linked hers together instead. “Which charity was it for, my dear?”

Ruby didn’t want to revisit that evening, but after a few seconds, the name of the organization came to her. “The Children’s Hope.”

“How much did the event raise for the charity?” Collier asked.

Ruby looked down at her hands. She could do this. She could relive the worst night of her life yet again. Drawing in a deep breath, she let it out slowly. “I think it was nearly a quarter of a million dollars. In addition to the dinner, we had a silent auction with some remarkable items, including a necklace worn by Princess Grace of Monaco and a signed first edition ofTo Kill a Mockingbirdby Harper Lee. That one sold for more than twenty-five thousand dollars.”

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