VALIANT

chapter three

THREE

Margaret Swansea bid farewell to her husband as she threw a bunch of roses in his grave and walked away. 

Being the strong and determined woman that she is, she didn't let the death of Theodore weigh her down. She has hope, and that hope is her daughter Erin. 

She found herself face to face with Ben Schneider, an old friend of Theodore's. He might appear to be friendly but Margaret doesn't look convinced he is. 

'Am sorry about your husband Maggie. He was such a wonderful friend.' he said. 

'I'll be grateful if you'd spare me that second-handed praise' 

His brows furrowed. 'You still don't trust me, do you?' 

'You can go to hell Ben. The only mistake Theodore made was having you as a friend.' she threw the words angrily at him while keeping her anger in check.  

She flashed him one of her I-dare-you looks then walked away. 

Cooper stood propped against his car and watched. A particular young woman caught his attention-that was Delilah Wesley, the CEO of Schneider spotlight in Elyria, Ohio. 

He thought something was familiar about her. Like he's seen her somewhere. 

But where? 

This left him puzzled. Until realization suddenly dawn on him- 

Jojo! 

she looked exactly like a photo of Jojo he'd seen at her godmother's only she had sand brown hair while Jojo's was black. 

That's it! She might be the kidnapper! He thought 

And as he stood there putting all the pieces together, she got into her car so did Ben Schneider and his body guards .and they drove out of the Swansea house.

Cooper came in as soon as he got a message from Pascoe about Jojo coming in for questioning. 

He walked into the interrogation room and sat across at her. 

Jojo sat upright clenching her fists between her laps. She was so nervous she couldn't look him in the eye. 

Studying her carefully, he remarked. 

'Relax, am not gonna bite. I'll just ask you a couple of questions, and I expect you to answer truthfully.' 

She swallowed hard. 

'Where were you on June 8?' 

'Houston. I was on leave.' she replied, trying hard to stay calm. 

'Aside from your godmother, who else is your alibi?' 

'My sister in Houston.' 

'Do you have an identical twin?' he asked suddenly. 

'Why?' 

'I need to gather as much information as I can to help with the case.' 

'Yes' she answered. 'I did have a twin.' 

'Where is she?' 

'She died in an accident, after my dad disowned her.' 

'Am sorry to hear that...that'll be all for now'

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