by Dani Pettrey
Why did that make her so incredibly sad?
See. That was exactly why she refused to fall in love. Nothing good came of it. Unfortunately it appeared her heart hadn’t gotten the message.
21
Rocktrex was crowded with every top line in use. Climbers waited on the blue mats for their turn, giving the usually open space a strongly congested feel. Kayden spotted Brody by the bouldering section and lifted her chin in greeting. He waved without an ounce of friendliness.
She blew a loose strand of hair from her face. This ought to be fun.
He held up a finger, indicating he’d be a moment.
She nodded and turned her attention to the small shop at the front of the gym. She scanned the racks while Jake surveyed the crowd. It mainly contained climbing clothing and gear, but Brody had also put in a natural remedies section, homemade products for climbers’ ailments—lotions for rough, cracked skin; pumice stones for calluses; soaps for soothing tired hands. She picked up a bar. Tate’s Homemade Healers. Soothing sensations for cracked hands.
She picked up another. Moisturizing Madness for repairing wear and tear to climbers’ hands.
“Whatcha got there?” Jake asked so close behind her, she couldn’t believe she hadn’t heard him coming, even above the noise of the gym.
“Homemade products for climbers,” she said, reading the label on Moisturizing Madness. “Didn’t Booth say Dodecanol could be used as a moisturizer in soaps?”
“Yeah, he did.” Jake smiled. “You think Tate is Patty Tate?”
“We can ask Brody.”
“Shane told Patty another box of supplies arrived the first time we were at their house.”
“Right, and she told him to put it in her workshop.”
Brody had excused himself from his conversation and was moving their way.
Kayden held up the bar of soap. “Tate’s Healers, as in Patty Tate?”
“One and the same,” Brody said.
Kayden looked over at Jake with a smile.
Brody stopped and linked his arms across his chest, his feet in a military at-ease stance. “I assume you’re not here to purchase soap?”
“Actually, I will take a bar,” Kayden said.
“Okay,” Brody said slowly.
“Can we ask you a couple more questions while I pay for this?” she asked.
“I imagine I don’t have a choice.” He led her up to the register, where yet another teen was working.
“We believe Conrad was out somewhere between nine and ten thirty the night before his climb. Any chance he came back here for one more practice run?”
“Nah.”
“Were you working that night?”
“Yes. Until close.”
“So you would have seen him if he came in?”
“Absolutely.”
Kayden paid the cashier for the soap and dropped it in her purse.
“We’d like to take another look at your logbook. Just to verify,” Jake said.
“Whatever.” He scoffed. “Kyle,” he yelled to the kid behind the counter, “hand me the logbook.”
Kyle complied, and Brody handed the book over to Jake.
He flipped to the day in question, and Kayden stepped alongside him to scan the record. Conrad had been in after leaving work, as everyone had said, but had never signed back in. Neither had Patty Tate.
Jake handed it back to Brody. “Thanks.”
“Just get out of my gym.”
Jake fought the urge to reach over and hold Kayden’s hand as they walked over to Patty Tate’s place. Ever since the dance, he’d been longing to hold her hand again, even if for the briefest of moments. The melody of the song still played through his mind whenever he saw her, the music bringing him right back to the moment and all the sensations wrapped up in it.
“Have you always enjoyed exercise?” he asked, trying to shift his mind off of that night.
“What?” Her nose crinkled. “Yeah, I suppose. I mean, we all grew up outdoors.”
“Sure.” He slipped his hands into his pockets—maybe that would lessen the temptation to reach for hers. “I mean you, though.”
“What about me?”
He was trying to figure out what made her tick and why. Clearly he wasn’t being direct enough.
“Do you like the outdoors because it’s what your family does and that’s how you grew up, or do you truly enjoy the outdoors?”
“I love being outdoors. Love running and climbing and kayaking.” She studied him a moment. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“I’m assuming you grew up in the city, in Boston. How’d a city boy get to be so at home in the outdoors?”
“Summers with my grandparents.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. They lived down on the western shore of Maryland, and I spent my summers with them.”
“And your parents?”
“Would travel.”
“Without you?”
“Yeah. They weren’t much on having a kid—other than showing him off when it suited them.”
“Oh.” She kicked at the sand bordering the walk with her toe. “I’m sorry.”
“It was what it was. They weren’t horrible parents or anything—trust me, I’ve seen a lot worse.” It was hard to explain. “They just weren’t . . . involved.”
She nodded.
He dipped his head, glancing up at her. “I wish I could have met your parents.”
“Really? Why?”
“Because they must have been amazing.”
“How could you know that? I mean, other than what we say about them, though I suppose that’s enough.”
“I know because they raised you.” He smiled. “And Cole, Piper, Gage, and Reef.”
“He’s starting to change. Reef, I mean.”
“I noticed that too.” He’d also noticed the blush creeping up her cheeks when he’d said you and how she’d quickly moved on to a different topic.
“You must miss your folks.”
She didn’t look up. “Every day.”
“I’m sorry.” His parents were alive, but he hadn’t seen them in years. They’d retired and moved up to Martha’s Vineyard about the time he joined the force. They’d come into the city for his wedding and Becca’s funeral, but no holidays, no weekend visits. And then, after the case was over, he’d left town without a word. . . .
“Thanks.”
He let it go at that, not wanting to push, just thankful she’d shared as much as she had. They were making progress. Maybe he could hold a little hope in his heart. Was that so dangerous? Maybe one day . . .
His phone rang, cutting off that thought. He pulled it from his pocket and looked at the number. “Hey, Landon,” he said, answering it. “What’s up?”
“I just discovered that Conrad recently made a change to his life insurance policy.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. He added some beneficiaries.”
“Okay?” Jake said, curiosity rattling through him.
“He added Patty Tate and her son, Shane.”
“What?”
“Yep. The policy was to be split evenly between Vivienne and Patty, with each of their shares going to their children if anything should happen to them.”
“I wonder if Vivienne knew.”
“The change was just made last week. I’m waiting for a call back from Conrad’s lawyer to see if a similar change was made to his will.”
“Okay. Call us as soon as you hear.”
“Will do.”
“We’re heading back over to Patty’s to question her about the ingredients she uses in her handmade soaps.”
“Dodecanol on the list?”
“Here’s hoping.” Jake hung up, feeling like they were finally making progress.
“What was that all about?” Kayden asked, and he relayed the information.
“If that’s the case, it would give Vivienne even more cause to be angry with Conrad.”
“Absolu
tely. We’ll have to follow up with her when we’re done with Patty.”
Kayden smiled. “Agreed.”
22
“It’ll be fun,” Reef said, trying desperately to coax Anna into hiking with him. “We can take Rori. It’ll be a blast.”
How could he return home and not do anything active for his entire stay? He was itching to get out in the fresh air and move around. The only time they’d spent outside thus far was in his sisters’ backyard and sightseeing downtown.
“Why don’t we do some more sightseeing?”
He smiled. “There’s only so much downtown in Yancey. You’ve seen it all. The rest of Tariuk is the outdoors. Believe me, it’s gorgeous.”
She ran her hand along the edge of the book she’d been reading.
Maybe Piper was right. Maybe he needed to be with someone who enjoyed adventure. Sitting around the house and shopping were not his idea of fun. But he genuinely liked Anna. She was so kind and sweet. If he could just get her a little bit active. It still baffled him how she could live surrounded by the beauty of Tahoe and couldn’t care less about spending time in the outdoors.
“What do you say?” he asked, still hopeful.
She looked up at him with a smile. “We won’t go for long?”
He sank down on the couch beside her. “Just a couple hours. I’d love to show you more of Tariuk. We’ll take an easy hike. The views are amazing.”
“Okay.” She sat her book aside. “I’ll give it a try.”
“Great.” He knew she’d love it once they were out there surrounded by lavender and fuchsia fields of fireweed, fresh air blowing through her hair, exertion warming her limbs. It’d be perfect.
Jake eyed the weathered wooden building that served as Patty Tate’s workshop, a light emanating from inside.
Shane sat outside, working on his longboard—replacing the wheels. He eyed them but remained silent, sullen.
“Your mom in her workshop?” Kayden asked.
Shane nodded.
Jake looked at Kayden before rapping on the door, wondering what they were about to find.
“Come on in,” Patty hollered. She stood with her back to them at a long, narrow wooden bench. Her shoulders were hunched as she stirred a creamy white liquid in a large steel bowl. One of her lotions, perhaps. She glanced over her shoulder and grimaced. “What do you want now?”
Jake scanned the countertops, Kayden doing the same, both looking for the murder weapon—a bottle of Dodecanol.
Kayden spotted it first, on a small shelf to Patty’s right. Her eyes lit as she turned to Jake.
So this was it. He stepped forward. “Patty, I’m afraid I’m going to need you to come with me.”
She looked up at them confused. “What? Why?”
“I think we just found the murder weapon.” Jake slipped on his gloves and placed the Dodecanol in an evidence bag, sealing it.
“What are you talking about?”
“Conrad’s killer mixed Dodecanol in with his chalk.”
“But that would make his hands slippery rather than providing the friction he needed,” she sputtered.
“Correct,” Jake said, stepping toward her.
Patty stepped back, wiping her hands on a towel. “You got this all wrong. I didn’t kill Conrad. I use the Dodecanol in my soaps—it’s a dry moisturizer.”
Which is why it had worked in the chalk so well. Being a dry moisturizer hid the properties until it was too late.
“Come on, Patty. Game’s up. We know Conrad added you and Shane to his life insurance policy last week. We know you had access to his chalk because he stopped over that night. And the murder weapon was sitting on your shelf.”
Patty’s brows pinched. “Conrad added us to his life insurance policy?” She looked genuinely perplexed.
“You’re saying you didn’t know?”
“No.” Patty shook her head. “I had no idea. I can’t believe he added us.”
“So he added us to some dumb policy. Big whoop.” They all turned to see Shane standing in the doorway.
Jake wondered how long the young man had been standing there and how much he’d overheard.
“He still treated you like a prostitute,” Shane sputtered vehemently.
“Shane!” Patty’s face turned bright red.
“What?” He shrugged. “It’s true. He was never going to leave his prissy wife for you.”
Patty walked to her son, smoothing his rumpled hair. “Where is this coming from?”
“Come on, Mom. You know it’s true. You were always going to get his leftovers.”
“You don’t understand. Conrad loved us in his own way.”
“Please,” Shane huffed, and then turned to face Jake. “I’m the one that mixed Dodecanol in Conrad’s chalk. Mom had nothing to do with it.”
“Shane?” Patty stepped between Jake and her son. “What are you doing?”
“Sorry, Mom, but Dad was never going to come back when you were another man’s whore.”
She swatted him. “Don’t call me that.”
“Why? Everyone else in town does. Did you really think no one else in town noticed? I heard the gossip. All the juicy details. I saw you and Mrs. Humphries going at it in the square, and you know what, I’d had enough. When I heard Conrad say he loved you later that night, that he would take care of us but would never leave his precious Vivienne, I knew exactly where you stood with him, and I had to put an end to it.”
“Shane, you don’t understand.”
“I understand plenty. I heard Conrad bragging about his upcoming climb, and I knew my opportunity had finally come. I did a little research, borrowed some of your stuff, and mixed it in with his chalk.”
Jake pulled out his handcuffs, his heart heavy. “Shane Tate, you are under arrest for the murder of Conrad Humphries.”
“No.” Patty lunged for Jake. “Stop. You’ve got this all wrong.”
23
Patty raged against Jake as he steered Shane toward his and Kayden’s rental car. He opened the door and guided Shane into the backseat. Patty pushed past Kayden as she tried running interference.
“Get out of my way,” Patty hollered, tossing in a few expletives at Kayden that curdled Jake’s blood.
Shutting the car door, he turned to Patty. “Never speak to her that way again.”
Patty got right in his face, belligerent. “I’ll speak to your girlfriend any way I please.”
“She’s not my—”
“Let it be,” Kayden said. “Our relationship is none of her business.”
Our relationship? Had she . . . ? Was she . . . ? He tried not to stagger back.
“My son is very much my business, and you two are making a huge mistake.” Patty dodged around them to the car window, rapping on the glass. “Shane, tell them you didn’t do this. Now!”
Shane turned his head the other way.
She whirled around on Jake. “You can’t take him. I won’t allow it.”
“I’m afraid you don’t have a choice. He’s now in my custody, and I’m taking him back to the sheriff station in Yancey.”
“Not without me, you aren’t. You think you’re so superior. Acting all cocky. Well, Shane’s a minor, and I know our rights.”
“You have the full right to get yourself to the station. I am under no obligation to allow you to accompany us there. If you have a lawyer, I’d give him or her a call.”
“You’re going to wish you were only dealing with my lawyer when I get through with you both.”
“If you don’t calm down, I’m going to have to lock you up,” Thoreau said, dealing with the still-belligerent Patty Tate as Jake joined Landon in the interrogation room at Yancey’s sheriff station. Kayden would be watching from the adjacent room, behind the two-way glass. It was hard to believe seven months earlier Reef had sat in the same interrogation room opposite Landon.
“Who are you?” Shane asked Landon.
“I’m Sheriff Grainger. I’d like you to tell me what you told De
puty Cavanagh.”
“I killed Conrad Humphries.”
He said it so coolly, so matter-of-factly, Jake wondered if he wasn’t covering for his mom. No mother would let her son take the rap for her, but if Shane believed his mom had killed Conrad, he could very well be acting on that even if she didn’t do it.
Patty had insisted they wait to question her son until their lawyer arrived, but Shane waived his right to have a lawyer present. He was ready and eager to talk, but Jake and Landon decided not to question him until the lawyer arrived, just to make sure they did everything by the book.
“I don’t want to make this any harder on my mom than it already is. There’s no need to drag it out.”
“Your mom has called Daniel Waters.”
“And he is . . . ?”
“He was Conrad’s lawyer.”
“Great.” Shane rolled his eyes. “She’s still depending on him.”
“Here.” Landon slid a legal pad and pen to Shane. “Feel free to write down what you told Deputy Cavanagh while we wait for Mr. Waters to arrive.”
Jake stepped with Landon into the hall, where Kayden met them.
“He’s so cold, so detached,” she said.
“He was too far removed from the actual crime,” Jake explained.
She gaped at him. “He murdered a man. How can he possibly be removed from it?”
“All he did was compromise the chalk. He wasn’t present for the results of his actions. Wasn’t there to see Conrad die. It makes it easier to detach, to be more clinical.” It didn’t make it any less wrong. He’d still killed a man, but not being present left out a lot of the raw emotion he’d expect to see under different circumstances.
“Why do you think Conrad added Shane to his life insurance policy too?” Landon asked.
“If you love a woman, you love her child,” Jake said. “He probably promised Patty that even though he’d never leave Vivienne, he’d still make sure she and Shane were taken care of.”
“I wonder how Vivienne’s going to react when she finds out—if she hasn’t already.”
