Free A Score to Settle by Kara Lennox Page A

almost forgotten the reason she’d come. “First, you have to give me your word you won’t divulge what I’m about to tell you to anyone.”
    “If it will help free Christopher—”
    “It won’t.”
    “Okay, I give you my word.”
    “Good, because if it suited you, you could easily get me fired. I’m here because I want to find out what, if any, real connection exists between the Frank Sissom and Andreas Musto murders. Unfortunately, the district attorney doesn’t agree that this research is necessary or appropriate. He forbade me to assist you. In fact, he ordered me to throw every possible roadblock at you.”
    Daniel set down the mushroom he’d been about to pop into his mouth. “Wow.”
    “He’s my boss, and I’m supposed to support his policies. But I can’t walk away. I may not agree with you about Christopher’s innocence, but I want to find out what really happened. Who was the man Theresa saw in the kitchen? Where did those metal shavings come from? And who belongs to that DNA?”
    “We may not want the same outcome,” Daniel said. “But we both want the truth, and we can help each other.”
    “But I can’t do this on the county’s dime. My assistance is limited to evenings and weekends. And my part in this is to be kept in strictest confidence—unless and until we’re prepared to take some kind of legal action, such as filing charges or making a motion to have Christopher’s verdict overturned.”
    “Of course. Believe me, I don’t want you to get fired. It’s not in my best interest.”
    “So what about your servants? Jillian and Manuel and…the chef? Claude?”
    “You can trust them. I don’t allow anyone to work on the estate who hasn’t been vetted six ways to Sunday. Jillian has been working for my family since before I was released from prison. Manuel’s father is the head gardener here—he was raised on the estate. And Claude—I’ve known Claude since high school. In fact, he was a part of my first restaurant venture right out of college.”
    Daniel lowered his voice. “It was a colossal failure, I’m afraid. That’s when I learned that a fancy business degree and a talented chef don’t add up to a successful restaurant.”
    “You owned a business that failed?” That surprised Jamie.
    “Most restaurants fail. We made a lot of bad calls. My dad could have bailed us out, but he wanted me to learn from my mistakes. Otherwise, I’d just keep making them.”
    “That must have been a painful lesson. I mean, your father was a legend in business. Was it hard to live up to that?”
    “Sometimes. He lived and breathed Logan Oil. I think he was disappointed when I wanted to go into the restaurant business, but he supported me. That’s what I remember about him the most. He let me make my own decisions and supported me, no matter what.
    “When I was arrested, he never once believed, even for a second, that I could have committed a violent crime.”
    Daniel’s face clouded over. “The strain of those years is what killed him. My mom, too.”
    Jamie couldn’t help but feel bad for a man who’d lost both of his parents just when he’d finally regained his freedom. “They both died within a year of your release…is that right?”
    “Yeah. Dad had a massive coronary. Mom had cancer—she was already sick by the time I came home. It wasn’t as happy a time as it might have been.”
    It struck Jamie suddenly that Daniel wasn’t a happy man. He put on a good show, but deep down, he must have been very lonely. Maybe all that money was a curse. Especially when he didn’t trust anyone, didn’t let anyone close unless they were “vetted,” as he put it.
    “Anyway, back to work.” Daniel seemed to shake off his melancholy. “I’ve set up a tentative appointment on Wednesday to meet with Christopher Gables. Unfortunately, it’s smack in the middle of the day. If you can’t make it, that’s unfortunate, but I’ll try to be flexible, given your new