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They were almost to her room when one of the staff came down the hall.
“Debra. I didn’t want to let him in without checking with you first, but your lawyer is here.”
Kaeden slowed her chair as the woman came up to them.
“My lawyer?” Debra looked to Kaeden and Jane. “I don’t know why he’d be here. Especially in the evening.”
“I’ve asked him to wait in the lobby but shall I bring him to your room?”
Kaeden knew the home was trying to be a lot more careful about who they let in to see Jane’s mom.
Jane’s mother nodded and Kaeden pushed her into her room.
“Should I wait outside?” he asked when Jane and her mom had settled in.
“Not at all,” her mother said, reaching a hand to him.
He put his hand in hers and she squeezed it.
“You should stay to hear whatever he has to say. Good or bad at this point, I figure we’re all in this together.”
Kaeden sat next to Jane. The lawyer made the same offer to Debra of hearing his news in private when he arrived but she waved him off as well.
“I won’t sugar coat this then, Debra. Turner Carson is dead.”
The shock that swept through the room was palpable.
“What? How?” Debra asked.
The lawyer shook his head. “I really didn’t think they had a case where his first wife was concerned, but I was wrong. Turned out, her family had long suspected him of something, but no one listened to them. They signed papers allowing her body to be exhumed. She was found in her bed with an empty bottle of pills next to her and a suicide note. There were enough people who had witnessed her depression leading up to her suicide that the coroner signed off on the death as a suicide very quickly.
“But when they exhumed her body, tests showed she died from Thallium poisoning. No one would take that to kill themselves then leave an empty bottle of another type of medicine next to them.”
“What is Thallium?” Jane asked.
“It’s a metallic substance that used to be used in rat poison,” the lawyer said. “He would have had access to it through a number of the businesses that he owned. The police went to make an arrest but he locked himself in his office and shot himself.”
Jane slumped against Kaeden and he pulled her close to him. It was over. They didn’t have to worry that he would come after her mom or her again. They didn’t have to wonder if someday they might have to hide from him again.
That fear had still been there for all of them, hanging over them.
Jane stood and went to her mom, hugging her as tears streamed down Debra’s face.
“It’s over, mom,” she said. “It’s over.”
Her mother closed her eyes and cried.
Sometime later, the lawyer filled them all in on what that meant for them. Not only did they not have to worry about him coming after her mother again, Debra wouldn’t have to worry about whether she could get a large enough settlement to pay for her medical care for the rest of her life.
Turner Carson had no children and no other heirs. She was still his wife since the divorce hadn’t gone through and Texas was a community property state. She now had all the money she could ever need since she had complete control over all of Turner’s property and funds.
There would be no life insurance payout since he took his own life, but with the amount of money the man had, that didn’t matter.
Kaeden watched as Jane said goodbye to her mom that night, knowing for the first time in a long time, she could go home and not be frightened that something might happen when she wasn’t with her.
He held her hand as they walked to the car, but stopped to pull her into his arms before they reached it.
“I love you, Jane. I’ve known that for a long time and this is probably the least romantic way to tell you, but I want you to know. I love you.”
Jane’s eyes met his and he saw the happiness in her gaze that made him know they could tackle whatever came their way together. “I love you too, Kaeden. Completely and totally. Even if you are controlling and you have too many lists and schedules, and you—”
He interrupted her with a kiss. A long one meant to show her deep in her heart that when he said “I love you,” he meant it with all of his.
The End
