For His Daughter

by Dani Sinclair

  “I won’t say it’s impossible, but Fay and Jason dated before Elizabeth and Jason got together,” she remembered. “I don’t know what happened, but one day they weren’t a couple anymore and Jason began going out with Elizabeth. Fay didn’t seem to care at all. In fact, Fay was the maid of honor at their wedding.”

  Lee tapped his finger against the steering wheel.

  “Are you planning to drive up and down 270 all night?”

  “That depends.” He cast an inquiring look in her direction. “Are you willing to tell me how to get to the Ruckles’ house?”

  Relieved, she pointed to the overhead sign for the Fools Point turnoff. “They live in the big house on the hill overlooking the motel. But won’t Jason still be with the police?”

  “If so, we’ll wait.”

  They had to drive past the motel to get to the Ruckles’ driveway. The police were apt to still be around. Didn’t it take a long time to go over a crime scene?

  “Isn’t it a little bold, driving all over the place so openly if you’re trying to avoid talking with the police? I mean, Fools Point is a small town, Lee.”

  His lips curled in another wry expression. “I’m avoiding, Kayla, not running. There’s a difference. So far, my actions are pretty much explainable, even though the local police won’t like them. By moving about openly, I’m trying to show I have nothing to hide.”

  “But you ran out the back door of my house!”

  “And the police chief had my daughter taken away.”

  His voice was suddenly, chillingly grim. Kayla shuddered as she mentally revisited that awful scene.

  “You haven’t said anything about Meredith since it happened,” she said quietly.

  “What do you want me to say, Kayla? There isn’t one thing I can do to get her back right now except prove my innocence. I intend to do that as quickly as possible.”

  His determination reassured her even further. “Do you think she’s okay?” Events had been happening so fast all day Kayla felt ashamed that she’d allowed the child’s plight to move so far to the back of her mind. Obviously Meredith hadn’t been far from Lee’s thoughts.

  “She’d better be.”

  His expression was even more frightening than his tone.

  “So far,” he went on more calmly, “I have a rational explanation for everything I’ve done since I woke up this morning. But I want a lot more information at my disposal before I talk with a police chief who would send a little girl away with strangers so fast. He obviously plays hardball.”

  “How is seeing the Ruckles going to help?”

  “I won’t know until I talk to them, but someone must have seen me leave the restaurant last night. With luck, they’ll give me something I can use to figure out what’s going on.”

  Kayla found she was twisting the deep blue tanzanite ring her brother had sent her last Christmas. She forced herself to stop and contemplate what she knew of the couple.

  “Elizabeth has been acting strange since Fay moved back to town,” she admitted slowly. “Rumor has it that she’s been drinking heavily. I know she did last night. Like everyone else, I assumed she’s frustrated over not having a baby. Jason’s made no secret of the fact that he wants a child. It’s possible Elizabeth started drinking when Fay came to town with Meredith. Maybe Elizabeth is worried that Meredith is a reminder to Jason of what he could have had if he’d married Fay instead of her.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Slow down. The turnoff is right up ahead.” Kayla pointed out the nearly hidden driveway leading to the Ruckles’ house. Lee drove up the steep opening and pulled into the circular driveway in front of the house. The view from this spot was pretty spectacular. Sugarloaf Mountain towered nearby while Fools Point nestled in the hollow below.

  “Lee, I know Fay had a lot of faults,” Kayla said as he reached for his door handle. “I chose to look the other way because she was my friend. Most of the time, it was easy. We never saw all that much of each other even when we were in high school.”

  Lee waited.

  “I know she used me and my friendship, especially after she moved back to town, but I let her because I enjoyed looking after Meredith. The truth is, I don’t know anything about Fay’s private life and I didn’t want to know. She isn’t the sort of person you get close to, if you know what I mean.”

  “How does your brother feel about her?”

  Kayla reached for her own door handle, feeling the surge of renewed fear. “You’ll have to ask him.”

  “I intend to.”

  He stared up at the house. It was an imposing structure of natural wood and glass.

  “Which one of them has money?”

  It wasn’t a mansion, but Kayla knew she could sell it for as much as the run-down motel.

  “Elizabeth’s father. Jason came from my side of town.”

  “Fools Point has a right side and a wrong side of town?”

  She bristled at the trace of humor in his voice. “Doesn’t every town?”

  Lee continued to study the sprawling two-story. “Nice car, too. The motel must bring in more money than I thought. Or is Daddy supplying all their expenses?”

  Elizabeth’s sports coupe sat in the driveway.

  “It’s three years old,” Kayla defended. “They built the house and bought the cars after her father died of a heart attack.”

  “Cars plural, huh? Is there a pool?”

  “Out back.” Why did she feel this need to defend the Ruckles?

  “Let’s see if anyone is home.”

  She followed him to the front door where he depressed the button on the expensive intercom system. Inside, a bell chimed, low and pleasing to hear. Nothing else happened.

  “No butler?” Lee asked.

  Kayla ignored his sarcasm. “No.”

  “Come on.”

  She had to run to keep up as he started across the well manicured lawn. “Where are you going?”

  “We’ll check the pool.”

  “Lee, they’re probably still down at the motel.”

  “Maybe. And maybe they left a door unlocked.”

  “You aren’t going to break in, are you?”

  He didn’t have to answer. Heated voices carried clearly to the end of the house, where Lee stopped just short of the large brick-and-stone patio that led to the enormous pool. A towering yew, badly needing a trim, hid them from view.

  “You’re a fool,” Elizabeth shouted. “You’ve always been a fool.”

  “Shut up.”

  Kayla had never heard Jason sound so vicious.

  “I won’t. How long do you think it will take the police to figure out Fay had that arrangement with you? Your fascination with that bitch could ruin us. Hepplewhite isn’t stupid, you know.”

  “What do you want me to do, Elizabeth? You want me to try to doctor some receipts to make it look like she was paying for the room all along?”

  “Yes! What if her husband has an alibi? They’re going to look for her lover.”

  “So, let them look.”

  Elizabeth cursed, slurring her words just enough so Kayla knew she’d been drinking. “You always loved her”

  “You knew that when you married me. You said it didn’t matter,” he taunted.

  “I was a stupid kid.”

  “And now you’re a stupid drunk. You’d better sober up and get our story straight. The three of us were friends. We even had dinner together last night. We tell the police we agreed to let Fay use the room whenever we weren’t full.”

  Elizabeth uttered another curse.

  “They’ll buy it, Elizabeth.”

  “Of course they will. It’s the truth. Fay couldn’t screw men at her place with her precious little daughter watching, now could she, Jason? As if she gave a damn about the little brat.”

  The sound of the slap was shockingly loud.

  Lee started forward and Kayla finally saw the couple standing by the glass patio table. The left side of Elizabeth’s face was bright red. A glas
s of amber liquid sat beside a bottle of Scotch next to an open paperback.

  “I told you to shut the hell up,” Jason snapped.

  He raised his hand again and Lee grabbed it from behind.

  Jason tried to spin around. “You! What are you doing here?” Jason stared from Lee to Kayla.

  “You should learn to control that temper,” Lee said quietly, releasing his arm.

  “Get out of here,” Jason snarled. “This is private property.”

  Elizabeth lifted her glass with hands that shook so badly she needed both of them to bring the liquid to her lips. She wore a two-piece white bathing suit that displayed most of her well-tanned, well-honed body. Her long black hair fell to her shoulders in a profusion of frizzy curls. Elizabeth was an attractive woman.

  “You said they’d arrest him,” she said in a slurred voice. Neither man glanced at her, but Lee’s next comment was in direct response.

  “Why would they want to do that, Mrs. Ruckles? I wasn’t sharing the motel room with Fay. Can you say the same?” he asked Jason.

  Elizabeth laughed, a chilling sound. “Fay didn’t want him,” she said, spilling some of the liquid from her glass. “Jason’s too poor, aren’t you, darlin’?”

  “I told you to shut up.”

  “Why? The truth’s going to come out, isn’t it? You let her use our motel and now she’s dead.”

  “I’m warning you, Elizabeth.” He took a menacing step in his wife’s direction, but Lee stepped between them.

  “Who was her lover?” he asked Elizabeth.

  Elizabeth laughed again, a high brittle sound that made Kayla’s stomach clench. “Thash...That is the question, now, isn’t it?” she enunciated clearly. She took another swallow, this time draining her glass.

  “The police think you killed her,” Jason put in quickly, coming around Lee to stand beside his wife.

  “Really?” Lee asked.

  Jason’s eyes glittered with hate. “You’re her husband.”

  “Ex-husband, as I keep reminding everyone. Have you got an alibi?”

  Elizabeth laughed again. The sound grated on Kayla’s nerves. With the veneer stripped away, these two were total strangers, strangers she didn’t want to know.

  “I’m not the one who had a public fight with her last night,” Jason taunted, raking his wavy blond hair angrily. His expensive dress shirt and slacks looked wilted in the fading afternoon sun, and there were lines of strain in his smooth face, but he was still a strikingly handsome man.

  “True,” Lee agreed. “But did you see where I went afterward?” His question sounded like a taunt, making it seem that he had an alibi. Jason appeared surprised. Elizabeth swayed slightly, watching them through squinted eyes.

  “Get out of here,” Jason said, reaching for the portable phone. His arm jostled the book Elizabeth had been reading and it fell from the table to land on its spine.

  “Tell me something, Ruckles, do you own a .22 rifle?”

  Alarm slashed Jason’s expression. Elizabeth began to laugh again. He knocked the glass from her hand and the contents splashed the book as the glass bounced across the patio without breaking.

  “Touch her again and I’ll break that arm,” Lee promised. To Elizabeth he said, “You might want to press charges. A man with this sort of temper is dangerous.”

  Jason pushed buttons on the phone rapidly, his face raw with fury.

  “Lee,” Kayla said urgently. “We’d better go.”

  “No. Stay. Have a drink,” Elizabeth offered.

  “Carolyn? Jason Ruckles. Let me talk to Hepplewhite.”

  Lee joined Kayla at the edge of the patio. He set a fast pace back to the car, and Kayla was glad. She was badly disturbed by the surreal scene she’d just witnessed.

  “What did that gain us?” she asked.

  Lee shrugged, reaching for the car door. “At least we know they both had a motive for murder. I’d say it was a safe bet he was sleeping with Fay and his wife knew it. This should make you happy. Now the police have another suspect besides Alex.”

  The thought brought her no comfort.

  “Now what?” she asked as he started the engine.

  “Now I take you back home, go pick up my own car and buy some clothes to wear. Something tells me I’m going to have a problem getting back inside my motel room tonight.”

  “Are you going to drive back into D.C.?”

  “Worried about me?”

  “In your dreams.”

  “Fantasies,” he corrected, pleased when his words drew a hint of color to her cheeks. “Want to discuss them?”

  “I think we should go talk with Barney Trowbridge,” she said seriously.

  “The handyman?”

  Kayla nodded. “He sent her those notes, remember?”

  Lee rested his hands on the steering wheel. Part of him was pleased that she wanted to stay with him. He just wished it wasn’t because she was trying to protect her brother.

  “What do you know about Trowbridge?” he asked her.

  “Not much. He has a way of staring at a woman that makes me feel...uncomfortable. And he likes to take pictures.”

  “What sort of pictures?”

  Kayla shifted. “He always has a camera handy. He offered to take pictures of the houses and property I’m trying to sell. He showed me some samples he’d taken of the Bide Awhile. He’s very good, actually, but...I’m not comfortable around him. I told him I couldn’t afford to hire someone, so he offered to develop my film for me. He said he’d do it cheaper than the place I use.”

  “Did you take him up on it?”

  Kayla shook her head, her hair swinging from side to side.

  “So where do we find him?”

  “He uses the family quarters behind the main office.”

  “He lives at the motel? Doesn’t anybody stay there besides locals?”

  “Fools Point isn’t D.C., you know,” she said acerbically.

  “Believe me, I’ve noticed. For a place that could almost be considered a suburb, it feels like it’s in the middle of the country.”

  “It is still country around us. We like it that way,” she said, lifting her chin defiantly.

  Lee felt his lips quirk. “Okay, cease fire. I wasn’t maligning your town. We’ll go and have a chat with Trowbridge after I buy a change of clothing. Where’s the nearest department store?”

  “There’s a mall in Gaithersburg and one in Frederick. We’re about halfway between the two, so take your pick.”

  “Okay. I know the Gaithersburg area a little. Since you fed me lunch, I’ll feed you a late dinner. That should give the investigators more than enough time to finish with the crime scene for the night. Then we can talk with Trowbridge without any major interruptions.”

  “When are you going to talk to the police?”

  “Eventually. I want to talk with Trowbridge first.”

  “Chief Hepplewhite is going to be mad.”

  “I know.” Hepplewhite was already so furious he’d ordered Merry into the care of social services. Lee wasn’t going to forget that. A few more hours weren’t going to make their interview any easier.

  “What about your job?”

  Lee sighed at the prospect of yet another unpleasant task. “I’ll call in after we eat. No point ruining my appetite.”

  The drive to the mall took fifteen minutes. Lee wasn’t sure why he was surprised. Fools Point was only a little over an hour out of D.C. It just felt more isolated than that once you were there, but that was probably because he was more familiar with Virginia than Maryland.

  He entered the department store, picked out two pairs of slacks, four shirts, socks and a package of underwear, figuring that should cover most contingencies. He caught Kayla staring at the last item as he whipped out a platinum credit card and handed it to the bored young clerk.

  “Maybe I should have bought some of the colored satin ones,” Lee offered, nudging the package of briefs.

  “To go with your satin sheets?” Kayla re
torted. But fresh color added a rosy glow to her cheeks. He really did like her tendency to blush.

  “Now, how do you know about those?”

  She glanced at the clerk to be sure he couldn’t hear the exchange. “You look like the type.”

  “Kayla, I’m surprised at you. First bondage and now you know about the type of man who has satin sheets?”

  The clerk looked up with interest, since Lee hadn’t lowered his voice. Kayla strode to a display of shirts without a word. Lee noticed her graceful hands were knotted in fists at her sides. He’d take bets she wished she was big enough to throttle him.

  “Sheets are downstairs,” the clerk said with a friendly smile, “but I don’t remember seeing any satin ones. Do they really turn women on like I’ve heard?”

  He stared at the pimple-faced clerk and managed to keep a straight face. “Only some women.”

  “Yeah? I’ll have to give them a try.”

  Lee left the kid to his dreams. “All set?” he asked, walking up behind Kayla. A scowl was her answer. “Hey, I’d stop teasing you if you didn’t rise to the bait so nicely.”

  “Better check your bait,” she told him mock sweetly. “You just might find yourself face-to-face with a barracuda.”

  Lee watched the deliberate sway of her hips as she headed for the exit with her head held high. He chuckled, wondering as he followed her out to the parking lot if Kayla had ever lain on satin sheets.

  Kayla suddenly paused, staring at a group of men climbing into several cars and trucks parked some distance from everyone else. They were the sort of group a cop studied carefully, the sort of group that often meant trouble.

  The first vehicle to pull away was a shiny new pickup. “Son of a...that’s your brother!” Alex sat in the passenger seat, clearly visible in profile as the truck pulled away.

  “You’re wrong.”

  Lee ran for the car. After a second, Kayla followed him. “Get in!” He tossed his package on the back seat and slid behind the wheel. Kayla must have realized he was going to leave her there if she didn’t get in, so she opened the door, but she took her time climbing inside. Lee cursed under his breath. He barely waited for her to close the door before he threw the car into reverse.