“How’s the food here?” Brody asked once they were seated and the waitress had retreated to the counter.
Stephanie glanced at him over the menu. “Home cooking and very Southern.”
“Which means grits and biscuits and gravy are a must.” Brody’s mouth watered.
Before he could motion the waitress back to the table to place their order, a man stepped inside. Early thirties with slicked-back hair. He was wearing a light blue, button-down collared shirt and khaki slacks and stopped to talk to a number of the diners before he spied Stephanie and waved.
Her shoulders tightened and the tendons stood out on her slender neck as he approached their table.
“How are you, Steph?”
“Fine, Keith.”
He shoved a hand in Brody’s face. “Keith Allen. Walt said you’re from the fort.”
Brody stood and accepted Keith’s outstretched hand. “Special Agent Goodman, with the CID.”
“Investigating what happened yesterday.” Keith shook his head with regret. “I hated to hear that Josh was hurt.”
“Walt phoned you?” Brody asked.
“He wanted to make sure I met up with my favorite cousin.” Keith smiled down at Stephanie, still sitting in the booth. “Mother asked about you. She heard you came home.”
“How is Aunt Hazel?”
“The same. No better. No worse.” He turned to the waitress and held up his hand. “Coffee, Charlotte.”
She poured a cup and headed his way. “You want a menu, Keith?”
“Not today. Bring me the usual.”
“You joining these folks?” the waitress asked.
Stephanie glanced at her watch. “I wish we could stay, but I’ve got to be at work soon.”
So much for Southern cooking and a hot breakfast. Brody followed Stephanie’s lead and dropped a handful of bills on the table. “Coffee’s all we have time for this morning, Charlotte.”
Stephanie slid from the booth. “Brody’s looking for a red pickup with big tires. Walt told him it sounded like Hayden’s Ford, but you got rid of the truck some time ago, right?”
Keith nodded. “I sold it at Old Man Lear’s car auction a few months after Hayden’s funeral.”
“Who made the purchase?” Brody asked.
“A farmer from Alabama, but I can’t remember his name. I’ve probably got it at home someplace. Does it have bearing on what happened to Josh?”
“Not necessarily. Do you know anyone who would want to do Josh harm?”
Keith shook his head. “Not in this town. Folks are interested in giving him a hand up. I’ve got a group of business folks who want to cover his home-remodeling expenses.” He glanced at Stephanie. “We can talk about those plans once Josh’s condition improves.”
“I know he could use the help,” she said.
Brody handed his card to the real-estate agent. “If you find the farmer’s name, call me.”
“Good seeing you, Keith.” Stephanie turned to leave.
“Wait, Steph.” He grabbed her arm. “I heard you were the new AW2 advocate on post. I was working with the guy who held the position before you. We planned a picnic for some of the soldiers in the WTB a week from Saturday. Did you happen to see the file in his office?” Keith shrugged and smiled sheepishly. “I guess it’s your office now.”
“I looked it over briefly. I...I didn’t realize you were coordinating the event.”
He held up his hand. “I’m just one of many folks interested in supporting our military. We’ve got lots of corporate sponsors. It should be a great day. I rounded up the old gang and asked them to get involved.”
“The old gang?”
He nodded. “That’s right. Paul took leave so he could help. Nikki’s volunteered, and Cindy, too. I wanted everything to be special for Ted and Joshua. Of course, after what happened yesterday, I don’t know if Joshua will be able to attend.”
“Did you get Major Jenkins’s approval?” Stephanie asked.
Keith nodded. “He’s behind it one hundred percent.”
“A week from Saturday doesn’t leave much planning time.”
“Not to worry.” Keith smiled. “Everything’s on schedule—in fact, a few of us are meeting today to check out the facilities. Why don’t you join us? Two o’clock at the marina, or we can meet up on the island if you want to take your dad’s boat. The city recently renovated the picnic facilities and they’re top-of-the-line.”
“I’ll check my schedule and get back to you.” Once again she glanced at her watch and then at Brody as if needing his help. “I’ve got to go or I’ll be late for work.”
Brody followed her outside. Something was going on between Keith and Stephanie, an undercurrent Brody couldn’t explain. Every family had its own secrets, although in small towns secrets were often hard to keep.
He thought of the note left on Stephanie’s kitchen counter. Had someone other than Ted warned her away from Freemont?
“You mind explaining what the problem is with you and Keith?” he asked once they were in his car.
“There’s no problem.”
“Come on, Stephanie. I could feel the tension between you two.”
“It’s nothing that’s relevant to your investigation, Brody.”
He glanced at her for a long moment before he pulled onto the road. “We’re going back to your house.”
“Why?”
“So you can get a change of clothes and some better shoes if we’re going to the island later today.”
“We?”
“I’ll drive you. Besides, I told Major Jenkins I wanted to help the WTB.”
She glanced at her watch. “I don’t want to be late for work.”
“You won’t be. I promise.”
But when he drove into the Country Club Estates and turned onto Stephanie’s street, Brody’s gut tightened, knowing he wouldn’t be able to keep his word.
“What happened?” Stephanie’s eyes were wide as she stared at her house.
A police car was parked on the curb. Two officers stood on her front porch, staring into her windows, their guns drawn.
* * *
Stephanie opened the passenger door before Brody had put the car in Park. He grabbed her arm. “Stay in the car.”
“It could be Ted. I need to know what happened.”
“Let me check it out first.” Before she could object, he had rounded the car and closed the passenger door.
The air-conditioning was running, and the cool air from the vent brushed against her hair but did nothing to calm the anxiety that rolled through her stomach.
She opened her door again and stepped onto the sidewalk, determined to hear what Brody was saying as he approached the officers and held up his CID identification.
The car engine muffled their voices so she caught only snippets of conversation.
“...the alarm...”
“...locked...checked the rear...”
Brody nodded and walked back to where she stood.
“Did something happen to my brother?” she asked, half-afraid to hear his response.
“The security alarm went off. The police responded, but the doors are locked. Give me your keys and we’ll check the house.”
“Did they say how it happened?”
“Only that sometimes the motion sensors can be activated if there’s a pet inside. Even dust in the system can be a problem.”
She shook her head. “No pets.”
“Wait here.”
The three men disappeared into the house. She caught glimpses of them through the windows as they fanned out to various areas of the two-floor structure.
In a shorter time than she had expected, Brody appeared in the doorway, his face somber. He motioned her f
orward.
Anxiety tingled along her spine. She knew full well what he had found. Something she hadn’t mentioned either last night or this morning.
“We found a bull’s-eye on your bedsheets.” His voice was tense but controlled as she climbed the steps.
“I know, Brody. The marks and the note were there yesterday. That’s the reason I had the lights on last night.”
“But you didn’t tell me?”
“I didn’t want to alarm you.”
He clenched his hands for a moment and then relaxed them as he gently took her arm and ushered her inside.
The two police officers were in her bedroom. “They’re getting prints,” Brody explained. “The sheets will be taken in as evidence.”
“Nothing happened to me last night.”
“Someone marked your bedding, Stephanie. He, she or they left a warning. That’s not something to laugh about.”
“I’m not laughing.”
“But you failed to tell me.”
She straightened her spine. “Because you would have suspected Ted.”
“Do you think he’s responsible?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Who else would come into your home and desecrate your bedding? Is there something from your past? Maybe something that happened after Hayden’s death? Someone that wants you out of town?”
She shook her head, suddenly seeing everything through Brody’s eyes. “I should have told you.”
“What about your job at Fort Stewart? Is there anyone who might follow you here and try to do you harm?”
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“Anyone who was confrontational?”
“Never.”
“Where did you find the typed note?”
“Pinned to the pillowcase. I used tweezers to put it in the plastic bag.”
“Then you did plan to give it to me?”
She sighed. “I don’t know what I planned to do.”
“Is there anything else I don’t know, Stephanie?”
“The bell.” She glanced through the large windows and pointed to the backyard. “I awoke in the night and thought I heard it ringing, but when I went to the window no one was there.”
“What time was that?”
“After midnight.”
“Anything else?”
“A sound on the front porch. It was probably the wind.”
“You said probably. If it wasn’t the wind, what else could it have been?”
“It sounded like footsteps.”
His eyes widened ever so slightly. “But you didn’t call me.”
She shook her head. “The alarm was on. The doors were locked. You told me I was safe.”
His voice softened. “I told you to call me.”
She turned away, unwilling to see the disappointment in his gaze. In hindsight, she had made a mistake by not calling him. Last night, her only thought had been to protect Ted. This morning she realized how vulnerable she had been.
Someone had entered the house.
To scare her?
Or to do her harm?
SEVEN
The Freemont police gathered evidence and checked the front door for prints before they left. Stephanie packed a small tote with an outfit and shoes appropriate for the trip to Big Island and met Brody back in the living room.
“I really am sorry,” she said. “A lot happened yesterday. I’ve been worried about my brother. The shock of finding Joshua. All the blood.” She tried to smile, knowing she wasn’t successful. Surely he recognized her struggle.
“I wasn’t thinking straight,” she continued to explain. “Plus, we had only just met yesterday, and calling in the middle of the night didn’t seem right. If I had felt threatened, I would have dialed nine-one-one. You can see from the officer’s response today, help would have arrived.”
He nodded. “I don’t want you to be unduly afraid, but the bull’s-eye on your sheets was significant. You’ve got to be cautious and aware of your surroundings at all times.”
“I understand.”
“You also need to change your locks and your alarm.”
“It’s my father’s house. I don’t have that authority.”
“You could call him.”
“I could, but I don’t think it’s necessary at this time.”
Brody shook his head as if exasperated by her response. “At least promise that if anything else happens, you’ll call me. That’s why I gave you my number.”
“I will.”
“Now, let’s get you to work.”
She walked with him to his car, relieved they had reached an agreement of sorts. He seemed less certain that Ted was involved and more concerned that someone else could have entered the house. Why had she left the door unlocked yesterday? Or had it been locked, as she’d originally thought?
Sitting next to him in the passenger seat, she turned to look out the window as he headed for Freemont Road, which led to post.
At least everything was out in the open now, and she would call Brody if there was a next time, which hopefully there wouldn’t be. Surely what had happened yesterday was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. If only she knew what had triggered the anger someone must harbor against her or her family.
Her dad had made enemies in his years running a large company. Some folks had been laid off. Others were upset about his expansion in Europe and questioned why he didn’t grow his United States assets. With the downturn in the economy, she was sure he had a number of disgruntled employees. Perhaps the attack had been aimed at him.
She sighed inwardly, knowing the warning had been for her. Her sheets had been marked, and the note had been pinned to her pillowcase.
Paul and Hayden had been close prior to their senior year. After Hayden’s death, Paul had turned to Ted for support and had followed both Josh and her brother into the army. She’d heard talk that he had wanted to be deployed along with his buddies and regretted his stateside assignments.
Ted blamed her for what had happened to Hayden. Did Paul, as well?
She turned toward Brody, his steady gaze on the road, his lips downturned. Lips she didn’t want to look at now.
He was probably mentally going over what had happened, just as she had been. His left hand gripped the steering wheel. The other one rested on the console, so very close to hers.
Too close.
She wiggled toward the door. Everything about Brody had become a huge distraction.
She swallowed hard. The air-conditioning blew on her face. She adjusted the vent.
“Are you too cold?” he asked.
“A little.” She rubbed her hands over her arms.
Brody adjusted the thermostat. “Better?”
“Yes, thanks.” She needed something to focus on instead of Brody’s penetrating eyes, which seemed to look into her soul.
“I’m surprised Keith is involved with the Wounded Warriors,” she finally said. “He didn’t have much good to say about the army when he was younger.”
Brody nodded. “Some kids are drawn to the military. Others aren’t.”
“The old Keith wouldn’t have thought about Josh or Ted. Nor would he have called the gang together and gotten them involved.”
When Brody failed to comment, she pursed her lips and shrugged. “Maybe he’s changed for the better.” She fiddled with her hair and added, “I worried about Keith after the drowning. He was in denial, pretending to be fine, but he had to hurt as much, if not more than anyone else.” She dropped her hand to her lap. “You can’t lose someone in your family and not be overwhelmed with pain.”
Brody nodded.
“Families are important,” she continued. “They provide affirmation and support and love.”
“Did Keith feel loved by his mom?”
“I’m sure he did, even if she doted on Hayden. Maybe that’s why Keith was reserved as a kid. He didn’t want to compete with his brother.”
“Everyone needs love and affirmation, but people grow up and become stable adults in spite of dysfunctional families and the mistakes they made in their youth.” Brody smiled. “I made some poor decisions when I was a kid.”
“I’m sure you never messed with someone else’s life.”
“Mistakes happen, Stephanie.”
“Some mistakes are worse than others.”
He glanced at her. “Who are we talking about?”
She let out a frustration sigh. “Why, Keith, of course.”
“What mistake did he make?”
“Not being there for Hayden.”
“Maybe he had to work so hard to protect himself that he didn’t realize Hayden needed help, too.”
Stephanie thought back to that day on the lake. Keith had been delayed in Atlanta and had failed to pick the teens up from the island. Surely that memory haunted him still, yet he’d never told her why he’d been held up.
“Did you know about the picnic for the Warriors?” Brody asked.
“I saw something on the appointment calendar and glanced at some notes the former advocate had made. The only sponsor mentioned was Freemont Real Estate. I didn’t tie it to Keith.”
“Sounds like it could be a nice day. Especially if Keith has the WTB commander’s approval.”
“Maybe, but Big Island isn’t the best place for a picnic. It’s in the middle of a large lake, and storms come up quickly. We’ll have to check that the weather is going to be clear that day.”
“I’d be happy to stop by city hall and find out about the facilities before I pick you up this afternoon.”
“That would help reassure me. Thank you, Brody.”
She sat back in the seat and tried to relax. “You’re probably right. The day should be lovely, and I’m sure everyone will be safe.”
She wouldn’t tell Brody the main problem was that she never wanted to go back to Big Island. Too many memories still haunted her.
If she felt that way, Ted would, as well. He didn’t need anything else to upset him. Especially memories neither of them had been able to forget.
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