Kelly glanced over at her friend and couldn’t help noticing Jayleen’s continued worried expression. “Something else is bothering you, Jayleen. What is it?”
Jayleen looked up. “Yes, it is. Felix admitted to me that he was so upset and angry about what happened to his sweet innocent daughter and this scumbag who turned his back on her, well . . . Felix said his normal resolve weakened and he stopped in another bar and had a drink. For the first time in over five years. Then, of course, he had another and another and another.” Jayleen sighed wearily. “Felix confessed he can’t even remember when he left the bar, let alone what he did afterwards. His car was parked near the Halftime Bar. Now Felix is scared that maybe he waited for Neil Smith to leave and then . . . maybe he ran him down with his car.”
Kelly stared into Jayleen’s eyes and saw the doubt and worry there. “Oh, brother. He can’t remember anything?”
Jayleen shook her head.
“Well, then, maybe he’s just afraid that he did it. The alcohol gave him nightmares, or something. Maybe this Felix didn’t do it.”
Jayleen’s mouth quirked downward. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t a nightmare. Felix told me he found his car in the garage like normal, but there was a lot of damage to the front fenders and the front end.”
Kelly just stared at Jayleen. “Oh, brother. That is bad, Jayleen. Really, really bad.”
“That’s for damn sure. I know I have to tell Burt, but I still feel sick inside about it.”
“I’m sure you do, but you’ve gotta tell him. Burt will help Felix go to the police. He’ll probably go with him, and explain what a great asset to the community Felix has been.”
Jayleen shrugged. “I don’t know. Lord, Lord, I just don’t know.”
Kelly reached over and gave her friend’s arm a squeeze. “Don’t worry, Jayleen. Burt can definitely get Felix to the help he needs.”
“Lordy, Lordy . . .” Jayleen breathed softly.
There was nothing Kelly could add to that.
Eighteen
“I’ll take another look at those capital expenses and give you a call, Arthur,” Kelly said as she closed the cottage door behind her and walked down the sidewalk beside her small flower gardens.
The August afternoon heat had slowly tapered from the July highs in the upper nineties at the first of August then lower, until now at the end of August, temperatures were in the moderate eighties. Moderate to Kelly, at least. The eighty-degree temps were pleasant especially in Colorado, where the humidity was much lower than along the East Coast or in the Midwest. Kelly still remembered some of those July summers in Indiana when she was a teenager. Temps over one hundred were common in July and humidity to match—in the high ninety percent. Brutal, especially when you were playing softball.
“Don’t bother checking today. Wait until tomorrow morning. You should go outside now and enjoy this gorgeous weather.”
The business call with her client Arthur Housemann had taken less time than she thought. So Kelly figured she had enough time to relax in the shade of the garden café and finish up. Arthur was right. It would be a shame to waste a beautiful late August day by staying inside.
“I think I’ll do that, Arthur,” Kelly said as she walked into the garden and headed for one of her favorite café tables in a shaded corner. Green, green foliage all around. Late summer blooms still proclaiming their beauty.
“Good for you, Kelly. The wife and I are going to head up Poudre Canyon to one of our favorite fishing spots and relax. Nothing like standing in a mountain stream and watching Rocky Mountain trout leap in the rushing water.”
Kelly could instantly picture the vivid image Arthur had described. “That sounds wonderful, Arthur. You and your wife enjoy.” She plopped her shoulder bag on the table and settled into a chair.
“We’ll do that. I’ll talk to you later.” His phone clicked off.
Kelly slipped her phone into the pocket of her capri pants, pulled out her laptop, and popped it open. There was no better place to enter Arthur Housemann’s real estate revenues and expenses than a shady Colorado garden in the summer. She remembered how she hated being locked inside an office all summer when she worked in a CPA firm back in Washington, DC. Summer kept beckoning to her outside the window.
Waitress Julie headed Kelly’s way. “Hey there, Kelly. What can I get you this gorgeous afternoon? And please don’t say hot coffee.” Julie gave her a wicked grin.
Kelly chuckled. “You’re so right, Julie. I’ll take a large iced coffee, please.”
“That’s more like it,” Julie said and headed back toward the café.
Kelly started entering Housemann’s expenses but only got as far as the first five columns when Jayleen’s voice called behind her, “Hey there, Kelly. Mind if I join you?”
Kelly threw in the towel on the expense spreadsheet, and clicked her laptop into sleep mode. “Sure, Jayleen,” she said as the Colorado cowgirl strode over to the table and pulled out a chair. Spying Julie approach with her iced coffee, Kelly asked, “I just ordered an iced coffee. Do you want some?”
“Lord, no,” Jayleen said with a dismissive wave as she settled into the chair. “I’ve had too much coffee already today.”
“Is there such a thing as too much?” Kelly teased as she accepted the ice-cold drink.
Jayleen laughed. “Maybe not for you, Kelly. Nothing for me, Julie. Thanks,” she said to the waitress.
“So what’s up? I can tell something’s on your mind. You have that same worried look you had this morning. Didn’t you talk to Burt?”
“Yes, I did. And Burt spoke with Felix on the phone and told him he would be glad to accompany Felix to the police department. Burt said Felix should go to the police and tell them everything. Felix needs to tell them before they come looking for him.”
“I agree. Did Felix agree to go with Burt?”
“Felix said he told Burt he would go with him tomorrow morning. He wanted to take the time tonight to tell his daughter, Nancy, what he was going to do.” Jayleen looked out into the garden.
“You still look worried, Jayleen. What’s up? Are you afraid Felix will chicken out on going to the police? Do you think he’ll try to run away?”
Jayleen shook her head. “No, no. That’s not it. It’s something else he said that keeps bothering me. It was kind of an offhand comment.”
“What was it?”
Jayleen sighed. “Earlier today when I was talking with him, Felix stared off into the trees outside and said he wished Nancy had never gotten involved with Neil Smith. Then all of this would never have happened.”
“That sounds like a worried father to me,” Kelly observed. “He’s probably talking about how Nancy is about to add the demands of motherhood onto her already busy graduate school life.”
“That’s what I thought, too. So I told him, just casual like, that young women make mistakes about men all the time. Then Felix looked at me with this serious expression, right into my eyes, and said, ‘Not like this. This mistake can change her life forever.’ I tell you, Kelly, the way he said it and the way he looked into my eyes, well . . . I got a bad, bad feeling afterwards, and I can’t shake it.” Jayleen looked over at Kelly and caught her eye. “Would you do me a huge favor, Kelly? Would you come over this afternoon and talk to Felix with me? I want someone’s opinion who’s not involved. Who can listen and hear what Felix has to say.”
Kelly saw the worry in Jayleen’s eyes. “Sure, Jayleen. Why don’t we go over now? It’s a good time for me because I haven’t gotten into my accounts yet.” She clicked out of sleep mode and closed down her laptop.
“Oh, thank you, Kelly girl! I really appreciate it. Felix is such a good man and totally changed his life when he quit the drinking. He deserves another good ear to listen to his story.” Jayleen quickly rose from her chair.
“I’ll take my car and follow you. We’re goi
ng over to the AA office in Old Town, right?” Kelly slid her laptop into her bag and slipped it over her shoulder.
“Yes, indeed. Just follow me, Kelly. I promise I won’t go too fast,” Jayleen said with her trademark smile.
• • •
“Nice to meet you, Felix,” Kelly said, shaking the tall, slender, gray-haired man’s hand. “Jayleen speaks highly of you.”
Felix gave a hint of a smile. “Jayleen’s a good person and she’s always there for us here at AA.” He gestured toward a small empty table in the corner of a large meeting room. No one else was there at the moment. “We’ve got the room to ourselves for a while, so grab a chair.”
Kelly settled into a chair across the table from Felix, while Jayleen grabbed another chair and pulled it to the table, straddling the chair backward in her usual fashion.
“Felix, I wanted Kelly to meet you and hear your story herself. She’s a CPA and is one sharp cookie,” Jayleen said.
Felix listened attentively, then glanced at Kelly. “A CPA, huh? That brings back memories of when I managed a company here in Fort Connor. Before I had to take an early retirement, that is. They suggested I might want to leave early, because my work was suffering.” He gave another tiny smile. “That was before Alcoholics Anonymous changed my life.”
“Amen to that,” Jayleen said, nodding.
“It’s saved many people over the years, Felix,” Kelly agreed. “Before I even returned to Fort Connor, I remember when one of my mentors at the Washington, DC, CPA firm had to, uh, retire early, as you said. He finally joined AA and changed his life. I only wish he’d done it earlier. By then, his wife had left him, too. Sad.” She wagged her head.
“Good for him,” Felix said, then glanced down at his cup, half filled with coffee. “You want some more coffee?” He gestured to Kelly’s half-filled iced coffee take-out cup.
“No, I’m good. Why don’t I ask you a couple of questions, Felix. Kind of bring you back to this whole story. How long ago did your daughter start seeing this Neil Smith?”
Felix exhaled a long breath. “It was a few months ago. At first, this guy sounded like the perfect gentleman that you would want your daughter dating. Polite, smart, treated her like a lady. He was even getting an advanced degree like Nancy was. Sounded perfect. At first.” Felix’s mouth twisted. “Then, several months later, when Nancy discovered she was carrying Neil Smith’s child . . .” Felix gave both Kelly and Jayleen an intense look. “And believe me, that baby was his! Nancy had never been with another man. Anyway, that’s when everything changed. And that low-life bastard refused to even listen to Nancy. He accused her of sleeping around with other men! In front of all these people in a barroom!” Felix’s voice had risen with his obvious anger. He glanced over his shoulder and lowered his voice. “He even turned his back on her! Bastard!”
“I’d say low-life bastard is putting it mildly,” Kelly agreed.
Felix gave a disgusted snort. “Nancy called me while I was here at AA that night. She was weeping, poor girl. Completely distraught. Naturally, I left the meeting and went home to see her.” His mouth tightened. “I tried to comfort her the best I could. And I started calling friends in our local community health services and made an appointment for Nancy with an obstetrician at the community clinic the next day. That way she could see a doctor right away.” He tossed down the rest of his coffee.
Jayleen leaned over the table, looking at Felix. “You were being a good father, Felix. Taking care of your daughter. Nancy’s lucky to have you. I lost custody of my son and daughter years ago because I couldn’t stop my drinking. You are stronger than I was back then. I’m proud of you.” She gave him a supporting pat on the shoulder.
Kelly decided to share her brief acquaintance. “You know, I do remember Nancy coming into the Lambspun knitting shop one day, and she was all upset. My friend Lisa had met Nancy in one of her graduate school classes, and they had become friends. So I got to meet Nancy myself. She’s a really sweet girl. Nancy came rushing into the shop to find Lisa. That has to be the day after she had that confrontation with that low-life Smith.” Kelly deliberately didn’t add that Lisa had revealed her conversation with Nancy.
Felix’s eyes lit up. “You’re right. That must be the next day. She told me she wanted to talk with her friend Lisa. I’m so glad you met her, Kelly.”
Kelly paused, wondering how to phrase her next question. Then, in her usual forthright manner, she asked, “Jayleen did tell me that you went looking for Neil Smith one night. Is that right, Felix?”
Felix glanced down at the empty cup in his hands. “Yes, I did. I wanted to see if I could talk some sense into him. Convince him to do the right thing.” He slowly wagged his head, his mouth tightening into a scowl. “Nancy had already told me Smith was usually at his favorite bar, the Halftime, on the edge of Old Town. Over near the new construction.”
Kelly nodded encouragingly. “I know where it is. Lots of people hang out there, I’ve heard.”
Jayleen made a none-too-genteel snort. “A pickup bar, from what I’ve heard.”
“Did you find him at that bar?” Kelly continued.
“Oh, yes. He was there, trying to charm some other girl. I walked up and told him, ‘I’m Nancy’s father, and we need to talk.’ He stared at me, and for a moment I thought I glimpsed a flash of fear in his eyes. Then he gets this nasty expression on his face and says that my daughter was lying to me. Said he wasn’t the only guy she slept with, so the baby could be anybody’s. Then he had the nerve to turn his back on me! Just like Nancy said he did to her.” Felix’s eyes narrowed. “Well, when he said that, I have to admit I lost it. I grabbed Smith by the shirt, and I swore I was gonna beat him to a pulp! And I would have done it, too, except several guys at the bar grabbed me and pulled us apart. Then the bartender told me to leave.”
Felix crushed the empty cup in his hand and tossed it into a metal trash can beside the table. The cup made a thumping sound against the metal as it fell.
“What did you do then?” Kelly asked in a quiet voice.
Felix stared down at his hands, which were folded on the table. “I left the bar and walked toward my car. I was still furious. And . . . and that’s when I went to another bar in Old Town and had a drink of whiskey. First drink in five years.” He released a long sigh. “I stayed and had another drink and another, then I left. I don’t remember much after that except walking to my car.”
“Do you remember getting into your car? Did you drive somewhere?” Kelly probed.
“I remember getting into my car, but not much more.” He shrugged, still staring at his hands. “But clearly, I must have waited for Smith to come out of that bar, then followed him and hit him with my car. The next day I saw the damage to the front end of my car. I wasn’t sure if I’d hit something or someone until the newspaper had the story of Smith’s death. Hit-and-run. That’s when I knew I must have killed him.”
Kelly watched Felix, watched him stare at his hands. His voice was flat, without emotion. He didn’t look up at Jayleen or her. Just kept staring at his hands. Then . . . out of the back of Kelly’s brain a thought wiggled forward. He’s lying.
That surprised her, such a blunt statement coming out of the blue. But Kelly had learned over the years to pay attention to those little thoughts that wiggled from the back of her mind. They always turned out to be true.
She pondered, wondering what to ask Felix next. Then another thought wiggled forward. Ask him where Nancy was that night. Kelly paused for a few seconds before speaking.
“Where was Nancy that night?”
Felix glanced up quickly. He appeared startled by her question. “Why do you ask that?” he said sharply.
“Just curious. Did she know you were going to see Neil Smith?”
“Uhhh, no . . . I didn’t tell her.”
Fascinated now by the sudden change in Felix’s behavior, Kelly
probed again. “Really? I seem to remember Lisa saying that Nancy had spoken with her and was very worried because you had gone out looking for Neil Smith one night.”
Again, Felix looked startled. “Oh, well . . . I’m sure she was upset when she learned that I had started drinking again.”
Kelly nodded in agreement. “That’s totally understandable.”
Felix glanced between Kelly and Jayleen, then glanced at his watch. “You two will have to excuse me. I have to leave now.” He shoved back his metal chair on the tiled floor and stood quickly. “Jayleen, thanks so much for all your help. And Kelly, I appreciate your coming down here and listening to my sad story. I told that former police detective Burt Parker that I would be going with him to the police department and turning myself in tomorrow morning. Meanwhile, I want to go home now and spend time with my daughter.”
“It was nice meeting you, Felix,” Kelly said, giving him a warm smile.
Jayleen jumped up from her chair. “We totally understand, Felix. Please come back here tomorrow afternoon, and we can help you find a lawyer. You’re gonna need one.”
“We’ll see about that,” Felix said as he started backing away. Then he swiftly walked out of the room.
Jayleen stared after him for a minute then peered down at Kelly. “What was that all about?”
Kelly looked up at her. “I think I hit a nerve. Did you see how fast his whole demeanor changed when I asked about Nancy?”
“A blind man could see it with a cane,” Jayleen decreed. Then she looked at Kelly. “I have a hunch you were poking around, seeing what you could find. Am I right?”
Kelly drained her iced coffee then rose from her chair. “Right as rain,” she answered, using one of Jayleen’s own expressions.
Jayleen simply laughed out loud in reply.
Nineteen
“Keep track of those squirrels, Carl,” Kelly told her dog as she slid the patio door closed. Carl, for his part, was already bounding into the cottage backyard, heading toward the back chain-link fence. No squirrels in sight, however. Brazen Squirrel and his friends were nowhere to be seen.
Knit to Be Tied Page 18
