“No. But I think if he had ever suspected this, Daddywould almost certainly have fired her on those grounds alone.” Bella frowned. “As my late mother got addicted to painkillers while battling cancer, my father understood what drugs could do to you. He would never have tolerated substance abuse from one of his employees.”
Campbell understood this. He flashed back to his own mother and her courageous battle with breast cancer to no avail. Even with the prescription drugs used to control the pain, they never seemed to be enough, and his mother’s suffering really only let up at the end of her journey. He and his father couldn’t help but find solace that she was finally at peace—even while missing her more than they could once express properly to one another. Campbell imagined the same was true for Stuart Reston and Bella.
Regarding her, Campbell asked, “Do you have any idea what motivated Mia to join the Braison Family?”
Bella pondered the question, then responded speculatively, “I can only assume that perhaps she was susceptible to their messaging and Kenneth Braison’s powers of persuasion. Beyond that, using and abusing fentanyl—before or after—may have weakened her resistance that much more.”
“You’re probably right on both counts.” Campbell still wasn’t sure if someone from Braison’s orbit—including Kenneth himself—had given Mia the deadly fentanyl. Or if it was someone on the outside. “I don’t suppose you would know if Mia was seeing anyone when she worked for your father?”
“Sorry. Can’t help you there.” Bella pursed her lips. “I hardly spoke to Mia when visiting my dad, and he never mentioned her having a boyfriend, girlfriend or whatever.”
“Okay.” From what they had come up with thus far, it did appear that Mia was not romantically involved with anyone. At least not outside the Braison Family. But they were still looking into cell phone records that might provide more clues into her final days.
Bella eyed him and said inquisitively, “So, Stefanie mentioned that you were looking into whether there might be a Braison Family connection between Mia’s death and the death of the woman at the park on Founder’s Day twenty years ago.”
“That’s true.” He didn’t deny it, knowing she was around then to remember what had to be big news in Reston Hills on that of all days. “There are some similarities between what happened to Mia and Lynda Boxleitner two decades ago that bear checking out.”
She cocked a brow. “I know that Wendell Braison was once considered a suspect in that Founder’s Day murder. If he really killed her, do you honestly think Kenneth Braison could have followed his lead in killing Mia as another member of the Braison Family? Why would he do that?”
“People kill for all types of reasons,” Campbell pointed out matter-of-factly. “Some are more complicated than others. Some less. Could be that the Braisons felt empowered to do as they pleased to protect what was theirs. Even to the point of murder, albeit decades apart. If neither Braison had anything to do with the deaths, then we’ll look elsewhere. Until then, they both will continue to be persons of interest here.”Probably said more than I needed to, Campbell thought, but somehow felt that she understood, having a vested interest in solving both deaths, if at all possible.
Bella made a face. “If the Braisons were behind the fatal poisoning oftwoinnocent women and you’re able to prove it, I certainly hope they get what’s coming to them. No one should have to die like that. Especially if it was part of a warped cult act of revenge or as some sort of human sacrifice.”
“I couldn’t agree more about the tragic manner in which they died.” Campbell drew a breath. “Time will tell if there is some symmetry here that ties the father to the son—or the Braison Family itself to one or both deaths.”
She nodded. “As the sole representative of the Reston family legacy, I do hope you can do right by the town in putting at least Mia’s death to rest, if not Lynda Boxleitner’s.”
“I’ll do my best,” he promised, then added, to lighten the mood a little, “No pressure, right?”
“Not from me.” Bella smiled. “I’m sure you have enough of that from others.”
Campbell grinned, welcoming her pressure-free support. He supposed that the most pressure he felt right now, he put upon himself. As his father had before him. He fixed his gaze to her face and said, “Thanks for the chat. I’d better let you get back to your day.”
They stood and walked to the front door, where Bella stated, “I’m glad you stopped by, Campbell.” She looked at him with a soft smile. “I was hoping to catch up with you and see how the case was coming along—seeing that Stefanie wound up being part of the investigation, as she found Mia’s body.”
Campbell jutted his chin. “Yeah, that was unfortunate. But it gave me the opportunity to meet Stefanie, who’sstrong enough to weather what she went through and continue to fit in the community.”
“Thanks, in part, to you,” Bella told him. “She really likes you, which I’m sure you already know.”
“Yeah.” Campbell blushed. “I think it works both ways.”
“Good to know. Stefanie’s heart is in the right place. She deserves a second opportunity to experience love—if it comes her way…”
“Don’t we all.” He wondered if she was experiencing this again herself with anyone. Or still waiting for the right person to come along, with her busy life and all.
Once inside his SUV, Campbell pondered just how long it would take for real love to develop between him and Stefanie. Patience was something he was good at and clearly this was true for her as well.
The rest would have to work itself out.
* * *
JASMINEROXBURGH HESITATEDas she approached the ranch house Kenneth lived in with his latest girlfriend, Siobhan Froggatt. Siobhan was from London, England, and had been drawn to the Braison Family ever since arriving in the States two years ago, finally working her way to Kenneth’s bed when he tired of his prior bedmate—whom Jasmine suspected had been Mia O’Dell.
Now Mia was dead from a drug overdose, and the Braison Family, after a few parting words from Kenneth, seemed to be going about its business as though she was yesterday’s news and no longer pertinent to speak about further.
But more troubling to Jasmine was how Mia, whom she’d considered a friend and not a drug user, came tohave fentanyl in her system. Did she get it from someone inside the compound? What did Kenneth know that he was keeping from the police?
Jasmine considered the search by the authorities that came up empty yesterday. It went as expected, with Kenneth and Juan seeing to it that anything they had to cause suspicion—including loaded weapons—was well hidden. She’d wanted to speak to Detective Sawyer, but was too afraid to even try, with eyes everywhere and anywhere.
