Page 72 of Off Limits Daddy

21

Veronica

My hands shook as I drove away from Duncan. Feeling like I was a selfish bitch wasn't new to me, but the intensity of it this time was almost unbearable. And it was my own doing.

I felt a little bit like I was inTheTwilight Zoneas Duncan told me that he cared for me, that he wanted to be with me and see where this relationship could go. Just like hearing I was pregnant, my brain was telling me no, no, no. But my heart was trying to crack open and embrace everything that Duncan had to offer. He didn't want to change me. He highlighted how even in this fake engagement situation, I wasn't having to sacrifice anything to do the job.

But the other side of that was right now, the job involved Aiden. What if I took Duncan up on his offer and down the road there were other cases that required me to work late? If I might have to miss school activities or family time, would he be as accommodating?

His parting words sounded on an endless loop in my brain.

If you don’t want to be a mother at all, I will raise it on my own. If you want your freedom, I'm not going to try and stop you. But I want my child.

That should've been a relief. It should have been an ideal solution. So why did it hurt so badly that he was willing to take the child with or without me?

I pulled up to the spot along the river where Detective Riker told me they had found Jonny Walter's body. I pushed everything about the baby and Duncan out of my head to focus on the job.

"Turns out your information was right. Jonny was swimming with the fishes,” Riker said as I approached him standing by a tarp-covered body, presumably Jonny Walters.

I shoved my gloved hands into my pockets and shivered in the brutal cold January air. "It doesn't make sense, though. Two weeks ago, Jonny tried to kidnap a little boy. He wasn't swimming with the fishes then, which is what I had initially thought."

"Maybe your informant heard it wrong. Maybe it was something like if Jonny didn't do what he was supposed to do, he’d end up swimming with the fishes."

I conceded that it was possible, since my informant was six years old. “So, is he here because he failed to get the boy? Or maybe he's here because he knows too much?"

"I don't know. I imagine we are thinking that Wally Creighton has something to do with this, but of course, so far, we haven't found anything that would prove that."

I nodded. We probably wouldn’t.

“Or it could be he got mugged and tossed into the river. Or maybe he couldn't live with himself trying to kidnap a little boy and he jumped in. We’ll have to wait for the autopsy to know for sure if he was dead before he went in or after."

"There's nothing visible on the body?"

“Not at first glance. No gunshot or stabbing. There are no signs of bruising or strangulation. Once they strip him, maybe there'll be something underneath all those winter clothes he's wearing."

I looked up at Riker. "You’ll let me know what you find out?"

"As long as you keep me apprised of what's going on in your investigation."

"Will do."

I left the scene, returning to my car. I was going to head back to the office but then decided I would swing by and talk to Oliver Quinlan. He’d known Jonny. Maybe he could shed light on him.

I pulled up to his house and made my way up to the door. Oliver answered, his eyes showing wariness as he saw me standing there.

"Listen, I know that you don't want to be seen with me, but this is important. It's about Jonny Walters."

He opened the door to let me in. The house was quiet, considering three little girls lived inside. "Is the family out for the day?"

"The girls are at school, and Lindsay is at work. Until I set up an office here in Boston, I'm working from home." He led me to the kitchen. "You want some coffee?"

I nodded, mostly because I wanted to warm the chill in my bones. I sat down at the table, noting several wedding magazines. "When are you and Lindsay planning to tie the knot?"

"We were thinking we might have something nice and elaborate in the summer, but I think both of us are pretty antsy to be married. I was trying to figure out if I could arrange something by Valentine's Day."

I noted the date in my head. "It's in three weeks."

"I know." His smile was sweet, almost dreamy. He’d had such a troubled childhood. Like me, he’d sacrificed his own dreams tohelp his brother. In the end, Liam had been killed, something I knew Oliver carried guilt about even though it wasn’t his fault. Now, Oliver was a wealthy man, having followed his dream. But looking at him now, I saw a man who was happy, not because of the money, but because of Lindsay and the girls. He had the best of both worlds, a career he loved and a family.