Tracie Peterson - [Desert Roses 01]

by Shadows of the Canyon

  “But what of shadows and shade?” he questioned. “Might those two compliment each other? The contrast of such brings beauty and grandeur to the canyon—might it not do the same for a man and woman?”

  Alex felt sickened. She picked up her tray and left the dining room without another word. Harper stayed where he was, not following her for once. But it didn’t matter. His words followed Alex, and they were enough to haunt her throughout the day.

  The parties were canceled, and within an hour after breakfast, a storm moved in and poured monsoonal rains on the canyon park. Alex busied herself helping with lunch and then found other odd jobs that needed her attention. By the time the storm moved out in the late afternoon, leaving the canyon and El Tovar washed clean, Alex still struggled to find peace. Approaching the kitchen a few minutes before she was scheduled to work the evening shift, Alex heard Mrs. Godfrey call her name.

  “Miss Keegan, would you please join me in the office?” Alex put down the tray, her hands trembling as she moved to join her supervisor. Joel’s comments rang over and over in her head. “You’re just like him.”

  “Miss Keegan, this is Mr. Stokes, the investigator hired by Senator Winthrop, and Sheriff Bingham. They’ve come to ask you some questions about your father.”

  If I were given to fainting, now would be the time, she thought. The stern expressions of the men standing before her, coupled with Joel’s startling revelation and added to the events of the last few days, were enough to send anyone into a faint. But Alex stood firm, though she now found herself full of doubts.

  “Whatever I can do to help,” Alex replied, “but my shift is about to start.”

  “Don’t worry, Alexandria. I have someone taking your place. You’re to have the remainder of the day off. You may use my office as long as necessary, gentlemen,” Mrs. Godfrey said, moving to the still-open door. “I’ll be seeing to my girls. If you need anything, just ask Miss Keegan for help. She knows the place nearly as well as I do.”

  “Thank you for your hospitality,” Mr. Stokes said.

  His frame reminded Alex of one of the tall cactuses she’d seen near Phoenix. Slender of build and rather gangly of limb, the man maintained a gentle countenance that put her at ease. The sheriff, on the other hand, seemed so tense and observant that he made Alex feel as though she were under a magnifying glass. He frowned at her as if she’d just done something rather disgusting. The expression reminded her of a time when she’d been a young girl of twelve. She’d taken an interest in a boy at church. Her mother thought it amusing, but her father was put out by the entire matter. He’d looked at her just as the sheriff did now, declaring the boy and his family far beneath the Keegans. Worse still, he’d caused the boy’s father to lose his job and the family eventually had to move away.

  “Please have a seat, Miss Keegan. We know you’re no doubt mourning your father’s loss, but if you would be so kind as to help us for a few moments, I assure you it would be to your benefit.”

  “I don’t mind helping you. I am anxious to clear my mother of any suspicions.”

  “And you wouldn’t help us if it didn’t clear her name?” the sheriff asked.

  “I didn’t say that,” Alex replied coolly. If they thought to catch her in lies, they might as well save their breath. With the shock of her father’s death still wearing on her and her mother’s unwillingness to cooperate, Alex felt she had no other choice but to be open and honest. At least to the best of her ability.

  She took a seat in one of three chairs that had been arranged in front of Mrs. Godfrey’s desk. The sheriff surprised her by walking to the chair behind the desk rather than taking one of the other two chairs beside her.

  “Miss Keegan, I understand you were working the night your father died,” Mr. Stokes began. He took the chair beside her, turning it so that they faced each other, more or less.

  “Yes. I was serving in the capacity of hostess to the Winthrop lawn party and dance.”

  “And your hours of service for this event?” “We were called to the kitchen by five-thirty and began arranging tables for the affair within the hour. The party was set to begin at eight o’clock and I was either on the grounds or in the kitchen the rest of the evening.”

  “And of course there were witnesses to verify this?” Stokes asked.

  “Yes.” “And at any time did you leave your post to meet in private with your father?” the sheriff questioned.

  Alex turned to the man. “No. My father and I did not get along, and I had no desire to seek him out.”

  “Why was it you didn’t get along?” Stokes interjected the question in his calm, soothing tone before the sheriff could react.

  “My father was a womanizer. He was also a cheat and liar. He scoffed at the beliefs held by my mother and I—beliefs of faith and high morals. He had little use for either one of us or our ideals and, in turn, I had little to do with him.”

  “Did you want him dead?” the sheriff asked, not to be outdone by Stokes.

  Alex thought for a moment, searching her heart for the truth. She slowly shook her head. “No, not really. I wished him to be out of my life and out of my mother’s life. But in all honesty, I didn’t want him to die in order to accomplish that.”

  Stokes picked up the interrogation again. “Did your mother feel the same way?”

  “I don’t really know. My mother is a very private person. Whenever I tried to encourage her to leave him, she refused. She always held on to the hope that he would change. When she came here to El Tovar, I knew something was different. She was now telling me that she wanted a divorce.”

  “I see. And what was your father’s response?” “He didn’t want one,” Alex replied, feeling that she had to tell them the entire truth of their encounter. “What he did want was a post in Washington. He supported Senator Winthrop’s nomination for the presidency and planned to ride along on his success. He didn’t want anything to hinder that, and a divorce would have cost him an unwelcome scandal. He threatened my mother and me and told us to let the matter drop.”

  “Threatened you? How?” “He didn’t really say. I threw out a comment, asked what he would do to keep us silent, and he said that people were likely to die every day or something like that. It was the first time he’d threatened my life, and it stunned me.”

  “You and your mother are very close, aren’t you?” Stokes asked gently.

  “Yes, we are. I care a great deal about her welfare.” “Which is why you asked the rangers here to let you move her to an undisclosed location?”

  “Yes.”

  Stokes nodded. “I suppose the attention from the reporters and such was starting to be a problem.”

  Alex had no idea what the man wanted from her. She didn’t appreciate his around-the-bush questions and said so. “Look, if you want to ask me questions, then please just ask them. If you want to know if I think my mother pushed my father into the canyon, then the answer is no. My mother weighs all of ninety pounds and my father must have weighed at least two hundred, maybe more. She’s frail and unhealthy and there is no way she could have caused him that kind of harm.”

  “But she did have a motive,” the sheriff said flatly. “We all had a motive,” Alex answered angrily. “My mother had motive. I had a motive. Half the people here at El Tovar—forget that—half the people of Arizona had a motive for wanting my father dead. But someone is responsible and I cannot tell you who that person is. I’m not even convinced my mother can give you that name. She and I have talked, and she hasn’t divulged anything beyond the pain she’s enduring.”

  “Is that because she can’t or because she won’t?” the sheriff asked, his eyes narrowing as if he might scrutinize the answer from her.

  Alex shrugged. “I honestly don’t know.” She remembered Joel and her father conspiring and, although the Winthrops had paid for this investigation, she hoped the sheriff was impartial enough to want to hear the truth. “I do know, however, because I overheard the conversation myself, that Joel
Harper and my father were plotting and planning against the senator’s competition. Mr. Harper talked of eliminating the competition in whatever manner necessary. My father agreed. Mr. Harper has since implied to me that he has caused problems for other candidates and will stop at nothing to get his man elected.”

  Instead of getting angry, both men smiled at her. “Miss Keegan, that certainly doesn’t imply murder,” Stokes said. “I can understand you’re filled with worry over your mother’s situation. So much so, no doubt, that you would say anything to keep her from going to jail for your father’s murder.”

  At this Alex decided she’d had enough. She’d hoped they might listen, but she could see that they believed her to be nothing more than a faithful daughter lying for her guilty mother. Getting to her feet, Alex looked first to the sheriff and then to Mr. Stokes. “I’m a Christian woman. I am not in the habit of lying. I’ve answered your questions as best I can. Good day.” She crossed to the door and opened it.

  “Miss Keegan, please sit down. We’re not finished with you yet,” Stokes said sternly.

  Alex felt the room close in as the sheriff got to his feet. “There are some important questions that we, as of yet, do not have answers for.”

  “Such as?” “Well, for starts, it’s been suggested that you or your mother might have hired someone to kill your father.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Alex froze in place, unspoken words stuck permanently in her throat. She looked at Mr. Stokes, unable to read from his expression whether or not he took the comment seriously.

  “Please sit down, Miss Keegan, you look rather pale.” She shook her head, almost afraid that if she did as she was told, they might actually find a way to accuse her and judge her guilty.

  “Someone remembered you threatening Mr. Harper,” the sheriff threw in. “You said something about pushing him over the edge. Do you remember that?”

  Alex thought back to her first encounter with Joel Harper. The night he’d pinched her and caused her to break a tray full of dishes. He’d wanted her to join him at the rim after dinner, and she’d said . . . The memory sickened her. She’d joked about pushing him over the edge. Someone in Winthrop’s party had obviously shared that little story with the sheriff and Mr. Stokes. No doubt that someone was Joel Harper or Valerie Winthrop. Both had reasons to implicate her.

  “Miss Keegan, you must admit it looks rather suspicious that you would suggest such a thing in regard to Mr. Harper, only to have it later happen to your father,” Stokes said softly. “Given the things your father did to bring embarrassment and disgrace on you and your mother, perhaps you felt you needed to take matters in your own hands, eh?”

  “I can’t believe this,” Alex said, finally finding the words. “I would never hurt anyone. I can’t even imagine resolving my problems in such a manner.”

  The sheriff laughed in a humorless manner. “You imagined it quick enough when putting Mr. Harper in his place.”

  “People have fallen over the edge before. The canyon is full of dangers and it is something often spoken about amongst the workers here. After all, we live with this danger on a daily basis. I wasn’t serious about what I implied, I was trying to defuse a rather testy moment. Mr. Harper was being too free with his hands and needed to be put in his place. As for the similarities, hear me once and for all. I didn’t kill my father, nor did I hire it done. I resent that you would question my character when you know nothing of me.”

  “We can only go on what we’ve been told in our investigation. Do you have someone who can vouch for your character?”

  Alex could scarcely believe this line of questioning. “I, for one, can vouch for the character of this woman,” Luke Toland said, joining the party uninvited. “But since I’m also a suspect in this whole sordid affair, that probably doesn’t hold much weight. I’m sure Mrs. Godfrey and at least a dozen other people, however, could vouch for Miss Keegan. I heard what you just said, and I can tell you from my knowledge of her over the past four years, there’s no way in the world she’d even consider such a thing. Now, I’d personally like to talk to whoever is telling such lies.”

  Luke took a protective stand at Alex’s side. In spite of his casted forearm, he looked for all purposes like a lion about to spring should anyone threaten his lair.

  “Now, mister, don’t go getting all uppity and stickin’ your nose in where it don’t belong,” the sheriff said, coming from around the desk. “This is a private matter.”

  “Hardly,” Luke replied, the anger building. “I’m Lucas Toland. I was summoned here to speak to a Mr. Stokes, and I’m supposing that’s one of the two of you.”

  “I’m Stokes.” “Yeah, well, I’m not impressed. Is it your plan to badger my friend and her mother? Because if it is, I’m going to have to put a stop to it.”

  “I’m sorry, but this young woman and her mother are suspects in this investigation. By your own acknowledgment, you are also a suspect, Mr. Toland. After all, you were with Mrs. Keegan when the murder was discovered. For all I know, you and Mrs. Keegan were lovers and you did the old man in so that you could run away together. Or perhaps you were paid by Miss Keegan and her mother to kill Rufus Keegan.”

  “Of all the low down . . .” Luke stepped forward, grabbing Stokes by the lapels of his suit. His broken wrist seemed to cause him little trouble in getting his point across. “You have no right to talk in such a vulgar manner—especially in front of a lady.”

  “You seem awfully upset and defensive for someone who is claiming innocence,” the sheriff said, reaching out to push Luke back.

  “I ought to deck the both of you, and were I not a Christian, I might do just that.”

  “And you’d go to jail too,” the sheriff said. “I’m Sheriff Bingham, and I won’t tolerate any cowboys coming between me and truth. I’ve dealt with your kind before, and I can see to it that you’re no trouble to me at all.”

  Alex felt as though she were watching a play. Worse yet, she felt she had been pulled from the audience and forced into a part she didn’t know. She waited for someone to tell her what her lines should be—where she should stand—but no one said a word.

  Without warning her eyes filled with tears and a sob broke from somewhere deep in her chest. Her breath came in ragged gasps. “Stop!” she screamed. “Stop it now!”

  She turned and ran down the hall and out the hotel. She didn’t stop running until she was well down the rim path, past the Lookout, past the studios. She was nearly to the Bright Angel Trailhead when Luke caught up with her and took hold of her. Spinning her around, he pulled her into his arms with such force that he nearly knocked the wind out of her as she slammed against his chest.

  Spending her tears against his well-worn shirt, Alex didn’t fight his hold. She felt such hopelessness, such despair. Luke was keeping her from throwing herself over the edge—maybe not literally, but certainly figuratively.

  “I can’t believe this is happening,” she said, clinging to him tightly, almost afraid he’d push her away.

  “I know, darlin’, and I’m sorry.” “It’s just too much, given everything else.”

  Luke gently tipped her chin up so she was forced to look into his eyes. “As much as I love holding you, why don’t we sit down and talk this out? I want you to tell me everything. I want to talk about us.”

  His words brought back her biggest fears. Fears of Luke going away. Fears of him siding with the Winthrops. She loosened her hold and her words tumbled out. “I don’t know if I can. I don’t know that it would be a good idea. I know you have plans. Plans that will take you away from here—from me.”

  “They don’t have to, Alex.”

  She looked up and met his warm expression. “But I know about the ranch—about Valerie Winthrop and her father.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Alex shook her head. “You don’t have to hide it. You don’t have to worry about my feelings. I already know. Miss Winthrop told me everything.”

 
“Then maybe somebody better tell me, because I don’t have a clue as to what you’re talking about.”

  Alex had never known Luke to lie to her. She studied him for a moment, then raised her apron to dry her eyes. Swallowing hard, she drew a deep breath. “Miss Winthrop told me her father had offered you a ranch in Wyoming—a ranch that you would manage as your own. She said the senator thought you would make a good husband and . . . father. . . . I just figured . . .”

  “You figured wrong,” Luke said. He reached out and took her face in his hands.

  The hardness of the cast’s molding around his left hand rubbed against her cheek, but she didn’t care.

  “Alex, you figured this all wrong. I should have straightened this out weeks ago when I had the chance. Maybe even months ago.”

  Alex felt her heart race, and a tingling started where he had touched her cheeks. The sensation edged along her neck and spread throughout her body. What’s happening to me? Is this love? Am I in love with Luke Toland?

  She moaned slightly at the thought. I can’t be falling in love—not now. “But you said . . . I mean when I mentioned the ranch you didn’t deny it.”

  “I’m buying my own ranch,” Luke replied. “My brother sent me an advertisement about a ranch in Wyoming. It was just about the right size and already had a place to live and outbuildings. It had nothing to do with the Winthrops.”

  “But Miss Winthrop said . . .” “Miss Winthrop is a liar,” Luke said firmly.

  He continued to rub his thumbs against her cheeks. Alex felt as if her face were on fire. “But you’re still going away.”

  “Not without you,” he replied, lowering his mouth to hers. “Not ever.”

  His kiss was slow and sweet. He pressed his right hand against the back of her head as if to pull her more deeply into the experience. Alex felt herself yield to the warmth and sensation of falling. Nothing like this had ever happened to her, not in all her life.

  He lingered over the kiss, then pressed his lips against her cheek, her nose, her eyes. “Ah, Alex, do you know how long I’ve waited to do this? How much I’ve longed for this . . .” His voice trailed off as his mouth came back to hers. He kissed her again, then pulled away.