Foresight is Flawless – Chapter 2

After finishing her second cup of coffee of the morning, Jenna Monroe felt ready to dig into her caseload. She normally preferred to get an early start on Fridays so she could put in a full day’s work and still get off relatively early, but that had simply not been an option that particular morning – not that Jenna really minded. The unconscious grin still plastered on her face was evidence enough that a woman simply did not get much sleep with Jackson Caldwell in her life, or her shower, as was the case that morning.

Jenna looked up from her desk the moment she heard Trista greeting someone in the outer office. She assumed her message would summon a speedy response, but she hadn’t imagined Skylar Montgomery would show up at her door within an hour of the call. Based on the angry voice on the other side of the door, she made her point loud and clear.

Skylar’s face was flushed with anger when she burst into the office. Jenna studied the younger woman intently, trying to figure out what the best approach would be with this woman. Athletic, but petite build in an aggressive posture, disheveled auburn hair, and facial features twisted with contempt all let Jenna know she would not have any easy time with this particular interrogation. Luckily, she didn’t have the opportunity to dwell on it for too long.

“How dare you call my house and leave me a message telling me not to leave town. Who the hell do you think you are?” Skylar snapped, defiance burning in her sapphire eyes.

“A prosecutor in the Collin County DA’s office.” Jenna was unaffected by the display of emotion. “Please have a seat, Miss Montgomery.”

“I’ll stand.”

Jenna shrugged. “Have it your way.” She turned her attention to the file on her desk before closing it. “I’m sure you’re aware that you’re a suspect in the First Alliance robbery.”

“You have got to be kidding me with this.”

“No, I’m quite serious,”Jenna replied. After brushing a strand of her deep brown hair out of her eye and deliberately tucking it behind her ear, she continued. “I do suggest you take a seat.”

“Fine,” Skylar huffed as she sank into the chair. “I don’t know why you’re wasting my time with this. There was no evidence against me when it first happened and there is no evidence against me now.”

It was obvious to Jenna that she was being lied to by this woman, just as she had been lied to by Michael when she’d questioned him about it. There was no way that her boyfriend turning out to be one of the bank robbers was merely a coincidence. Besides, if Jackson was certain this woman was up to no good, that was enough for Jenna.

“Miss Montgomery, you need to understand something. Just because my office hasn’t charged you yet does not mean there is no evidence against you.”

Skylar narrowed her eyes. “I’m well aware of that, but perhaps you should be aware of something. I know there is no evidence against me because I didn’t do anything.”

“Of course,” Jenna replied. After walking to the other side of the desk and leaning against it she added, “Then I suppose you wouldn’t mind helping to clear up a few minor details, since you have nothing to hide?”

“What now?”

“There are a few factors that don’t add up if you did nothing.”

Skylar sighed loudly. “Such as?”

“Well, for starters, we know Jonathan Price is Parker Ramsey and we know you know that as well. We believe he was involved.” Jenna caught the panic that flickered through Skylar’s eyes at the mere mention of Ramsey. “How do you explain that?”

“I’ve made no secret of the fact that I was very disappointed when the FBI was unable to capture my father’s murderer. The opportunity to expose him presented itself to me and I took it.”

“You took it?”Jenna asked. “It didn’t bother you that he was involved with your father’s death?”

“He didn’t pull the trigger so, once I was convinced that he wanted to find Raptor as much as I did, no. He informed me that he’d found Raptor at the gala and I considered my part in it over. I didn’t see him after that.”

Jenna smiled and cocked her head to the side. “It didn’t occur to you that he was just toying with you?”

“As I’ve said, he was very convincing. Besides, I assumed I could trust him if the FBI was willing to do the same.”

“Okay,”Jenna replied, reaching back for the file on Skylar. She flipped through a few pages until she found what she was looking for and asked, “But you said in your statement that you didn’t know that he was working with the FBI until the night of the gala when you found him talking with Special Agent Dinsley. Which is it, Miss Montgomery?”

Skylar’s tone was icy when she replied. “That’s correct. I didn’t know for certain until the night of the gala, but I had overheard him on the phone before that and I had my suspicions. Look, am I honestly supposed to believe that you consider me a suspect because I got mixed up with a man who I thought would be able to capture Raptor?”

Jenna shook her head. “No, I don’t. You and the bank president, Michael Traymoore, are close, are you not?”

“He was a friend of my father’s before he died. He tried to look out for me once I lost my parents.”

That statement hit too close to home for Jenna. She had also lost her parents too soon and she could vividly remember the siege of emotions that she’d dealt with. At least she’d had her sister to help her through it. Skylar didn’t have any family left. Jenna would have thought that she was out of line the way she was going after her if she hadn’t been positive that this woman knew far more than she was saying.

“So, he’s tried to protect you?”

“You could say that, yes.”

Jenna knew that Jackson would have already completed his questioning of Michael that was supposed to take place that morning, so she felt secure in laying her cards on the table. It would be interesting to see if either of their stories changed once they began to feel the heat. She would have to remember to call Jackson to compare notes after Skylar left.

“We know that Mr. Traymoore has been lying to us and, Miss Montgomery, we believe that you are the reason why. It is just a bit too convenient that the security tape from the precise time of the robbery is missing. Everyone in the bank at the time was too traumatized to accurately identify Songbird’s voice and your good friend claims that he did not recognize the voice.”

“Well, Michael would have recognized my voice, so what does any of this have to do with me?”

“If he’s taken on the role of your protector, then it makes perfect sense that he would try to protect you from this as well. Give it up, Skylar. I know that you’re Songbird; the FBI knows that you’re Songbird, and Michael knows that you’re Songbird. Are you really going to make him an accessory after the fact in this?”

Skylar sprang to her feet and stared directly into Jenna’s eyes. “You should know that I was very much in love with Eric Sauters before my parents died and I was devastated when I was told that he was Raptor; that he shot my father in cold blood, murdered him. Do you honestly believe that I would have been able to control myself enough to work with him if I’d known the truth? Do you even realize how asinine that sounds?”

In her experience, emotional outbursts typically meant that the suspect was on the verge of cracking. “Yes, Miss Montgomery. That’s exactly what I believe you did.”

“Then you’re the queen of Fantasy Land and your boyfriend is the king. I didn’t do what you people are trying to pin on me!”

“Of course. Any thoughts on why the FBI considers you a prime suspect then?”

More composed now, Skylar sank back into the chair. “Because I got under your boyfriend’s skin when I made a move on him that first day we met. He’s looking for any excuse to be around me.”

“I doubt that.”

“If that’s what you need to tell yourself. But it’s the reason you’re coming after me so hard right now, because you know I could have had him if I wanted him.” Fire burned in her eyes. “I still could.”

Jenna was about to respond when the door to her office was thrown open. Trista’s eyes were wide and all of the color had disappeared from her face. Whatever had caused this reaction in her had to be bad. Trista was one of the toughest people Jenna had ever known.

“Jen, sorry to interrupt, but I just got a call from your sister…”

Jenna walked around Skylar as though she wasn’t even there. “What’s wrong? What did Elaine say?”

“She said…It’s, uh…You just need to get to her house as quickly as you can,” Trista stammered.

Jenna hurried to the other side of her desk and grabbed her keys and purse. She caught Skylar out of the corner of her eye and realized that she was still there. Taking a deep breath to calm herself she said, “We’re done, for now. As I’ve said, don’t leave town.”

Jenna rushed out of the office before she could respond. Elaine was not the type to call with a false alarm and Trista was certainly not the kind become alarmed over nothing. She tried to figure out what was wrong on the drive over, but all she could think was that something had happened to her brother-in-law’s flight that was supposed to be arriving this morning. Elaine would be devastated if something happened to Daniel, so Jenna tried to prepare herself to be the strong for her.

Nothing could have prepared Jenna for what she was told once she arrived at her sister’s house.

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