Guarded Secrets

by Leann Harris

  “But the apartment is empty.” Rodgers looked from one detective to the other. He opened his mouth, but Jon cut him off.

  “If we need your further assistance, Mr. Rodgers, we will contact you.”

  He glared at the detectives, turned and walked back into his office.

  “He’s much too interested in this case,” Dave muttered as they walked up the stairs.

  “We need to run a background check on him when we get back to the station.”

  Dave nodded.

  They walked to Julie’s apartment and knocked on the door. They heard movement in the apartment; then the door opened.

  “Hi,” she said.

  “Lilly Burkstrom called and said you wanted to talk. Have you lost my card?” Jon asked.

  She shrugged her shoulders. “She was there and I—Okay, I lost your card.”

  The detectives moved into the apartment.

  “What was it you wanted to talk to us about?”

  “Well, when you asked me about Peter Burkstrom, it made me nervous. That creep who Peter argued with has been here a couple of times. I’ve seen him hanging around the complex. The man makes me nervous, but the more I thought about it, the more I knew I had to do the right thing. I heard part of the argument that Pete had with that guy.” She moved to her couch and sat down. “Pete told the guy that he wasn’t going to back down. The man stepped closer to him and said something. I didn’t hear what he said, but Pete kinda went pale. The guy’s been here a couple of times recently. I saw him one morning when I was late for work. Most of the people here in the complex had already gone. Me, I’d overslept. When I raced out to my car, I saw him in his car. I looked again as I drove out of the parking lot. He wasn’t in his car anymore.”

  Dave pulled the picture from the police computer lab from his pocket and asked, “Is this the man you saw?”

  She took the picture from his fingers and studied it. “That’s him. When I peeked out the window, I noticed the guy had this really nasty-looking snake tattooed on his forearm.” She handed the picture back to Dave.

  Jon pulled out his notebook. “Can you describe the car he was driving?”

  “Green. Four doors. Maybe it was an American-made car. I’m not good with cars. Ask me what kind of shoes he had on, and I could tell you.”

  “If you see the man again here at the complex,” Jon instructed, “call 911. Don’t try to confront him.”

  “You got it,” she said.

  As the detectives walked down the stairs to their car, Jon’s cell phone rang.

  “Littledeer,” said Craig Jacobs, a fellow detective. “I’ve got a robbery suspect in custody that you need to talk to.”

  “And why is that?”

  “He claims he knows who gunned down Peter Burkstrom. But he’s only going to talk to the detectives on the case. He also wants to trade his information for a reduction in his charges.”

  “Give us ten and we’ll be there.”

  “What is it?” Dave asked after Jon put away his phone.

  “We have a jailhouse snitch who wants to trade his information for some favorable treatment.”

  “Let’s go.”

  Hopefully, they would finally catch a break on this case.

  SEVEN

  L illy looked down the rows of carrots. They were ready for harvesting. They’d done a once through today with the tomato plants, picking the ripe ones. Penny had had fun telling her mother which tomatoes to pick.

  She walked up a row of corn plants. Penny couldn’t wait for tomorrow to start picking ears of corn and pulling carrots. Her favorite part of the day was delivering the baskets to the residents of the neighborhood. She’d asked if “the detective” was coming tomorrow.

  Lilly didn’t understand her daughter’s willingness to involve Jon in their lives. They had just buried her father. And yet, Jon seemed to respond to Penny as if they had a special connection. Jon certainly had a way with the Sandoval twins.

  How had he been with his daughters?

  The thing that bothered Lilly the most was that Penny wasn’t the only female Burkstrom interested in the detective beyond his role of looking into Peter’s death.

  “You think we’ll have enough volunteers tomorrow?” Pastor Kent asked, breaking into her musings.

  She jumped and faced the pastor.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,” he said.

  “Yeah, I’m a little jumpy with all that’s happened at Pete’s place and at my house.”

  “How’s Penny dealing with her dad’s death?”

  “I was just wondering that myself. Sometimes she’s okay and other times, she cries. That I understand, but what puzzles me is that she likes the detective investigating Pete’s death.”

  “I know you doubt it was random robbery. If you need to, you and Penny can spend some time with Rachel and me.”

  The son of a rancher, Kent McPhee had been raised in southern Colorado, but he’d felt a call to the ministry. He’d been at the church for a month when Lilly showed up, pregnant and in need of a job. He’d hired her with no questions asked. They’d been friends for over eight years. When Lilly’s parents moved to Florida, Pastor Kent and his wife, Rachel, had become family, and they were as much a part of Lilly’s life as her cousin Allison and good friend Zoe.

  “I just might take you up on that offer.”

  He nodded. “Are we set for Saturday’s harvesting?”

  “We’re lacking a couple of volunteers, but God is faithful, and I know we’ll have enough hands.”

  Pastor Kent laughed. “It is good to hear my flock’s faith. Sometimes God gently reminds me He is faithful. And not to doubt. Too often I feel like Peter, stepping out of that boat.”

  “Hey, Mom! Guess who’s here?” Penny’s excited voice filled the air. She appeared around the corner with Detective Littledeer in tow. “The detective is here. He wants to talk to you.” Penny skipped toward her mother. “I asked him if he’s going to help us on Saturday.”

  Jon followed Penny down the row of corn.

  Lilly smiled. “And what did he say?”

  “He did that adult thing and said, ‘We’ll see,’ but you know what that means.” She rested her fists on her hips. “No.”

  The detective flushed. It was a rare sight. Lilly fought the grin trying to burst free. “I’m sure that if he can make it, he will. Remember, I told you about the other detective’s daughters. They didn’t believe me when I told them that carrots grow in the ground.”

  Penny giggled. “They need to come and help with the harvest. We’re going to work and we’ll need all the help we can get. It’s on Saturday, Detective Littledeer. All the people are off on Saturday.”

  “Policemen work on Saturday, Penny,” Lilly explained.

  Penny pinned Jon with a look. “You working?”

  “No,” Jon confessed.

  “Then you can help us?” Penny asked, pressing the matter.

  Jon rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ll be here.”

  Penny jumped up and down. “You’ll bring the girls with you?”

  Lilly opened her mouth, but Jon held up his hand. “I already talked with their mother. I was going to take them out to dinner and a movie while their parents celebrate their anniversary, but I think they might love a daytime excursion, too.”

  The smile on Penny’s face wrapped itself around Lilly’s heart. “We like to start early,” she warned.

  “What time?” asked Jon.

  “Seven,” Lilly replied. When he hesitated, she added, “We’ll have coffee and migas.” The rich mixture of eggs, onions, peppers and jalapeños wrapped in tortillas was a favorite here in the city.

  “My wife makes the best migas. Once someone tries them, they volunteer to work other days just to eat them again,” Pastor Kent boasted.

  After a moment of hesitation, Jon said, “I’ll bring the twins with me.”

  “Good,” Penny said. “Mom told me about them, about how they didn’t know about vegetables. I
can show them.”

  “Penny, if you don’t mind, I need to talk to your mom for a minute,” Jon announced.

  When her daughter frowned, Lilly quickly added, “Penny, why don’t you go help get the boxes and baskets ready for tomorrow? Besides, you can make up boxes for the twins and Detective Littledeer.”

  “Okay,” Penny replied.

  Pastor Kent offered his hand to Penny. She took it and as they walked away, Lilly heard her daughter say, “It’s probably about Dad.”

  Lilly’s heart contracted. “Sometimes she’s too smart for her own good.”

  Jon didn’t respond to her comment, but waited until Penny and Pastor Kent were out of earshot. “Earlier today another detective called me in to talk to a suspect. The suspect wanted to trade information for a reduced charge.”

  A coppery taste filled Lilly’s mouth and her stomach knotted. “And?”

  “It turns out that the suspect’s cousin was hired by a man to kill another man. The cousin, who’s just a kid, didn’t ask why, but accepted the thousand dollars for the hit. The man who hired him drove him to a convenience store and pointed out the man he wanted dead.”

  “Pete.”

  “Yeah. The cousin showed the suspect a couple of the credit cards he’d pocketed during the robbery, credit cards from the guy he killed. Whoever hired him wasn’t happy with his actions after the hit and the cousin disappeared.”

  “I knew it.” Her heart pounded. “Given the break-ins it was obvious it was a murder, but hearing it makes it real.” She wrapped her arms around her waist. “Did the suspect have the name of the guy who hired the kid to kill Pete?”

  “No. His cousin only mentioned the name Snake.”

  “That’s it?”

  “It’s more than we had before. We’re looking through the gang database to see if we can come up with a Snake. It’s a long shot, but we need to try everything to develop this lead.”

  He had a point. They had a lead and they knew for sure that Peter’s death wasn’t accidental. “So where does that leave us?”

  “It leaves us looking for a motive for why someone had your ex-husband killed. Can you come up with anything?”

  “Maybe a couple of years ago, but Pete had straightened up.”

  Confused, Jon asked, “What was going on a couple of years ago?”

  “Drugs, I think, I mean, I suspected. I didn’t tell you earlier because I just couldn’t admit to myself he was doing drugs. But Pete was very careful never to use anything illegal around Penny or me. He knew I wouldn’t allow him to spend time with Penny if there was anything questionable in his life.

  “When he disappeared the first time, I don’t know what happened or what he did. He never told me and I never asked. When Penny was about four, Peter showed up again, got a job and wanted to spend time with his daughter. That first job with the construction firm, the job was in town. When the jobs were out of town, he’d come home on the weekends to be with Penny. The guys he worked with in construction might know more about his life.”

  He shook his head.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Finding road crews is a challenge, but we’ll do it.”

  “Pete never was easy. A lot of fun when he was on, but if he didn’t see the need to do something, he didn’t.” She fell silent as the bitter memories of her marriage flooded her mind.

  “And what did you see in him?” Jon asked. From the slight widening of his eyes, he surprised himself with the question.

  She started back toward the church and he walked alongside her. “Sometimes those wild boys have an appeal. He was wild, but he was smart. Things were easy for him. I thought he’d settle down after we married. He certainly did.” She gave a snort. “He changed into someone I didn’t recognize. When I got pregnant, he dropped out of school mid-semester and got a job. When he got paid on Friday, he’d stop by a bar or store and spend a good portion of the money. He’d spend the rent money or the grocery money. That led to fights. I couldn’t live with that ‘charm’ anymore. Neither could he. He walked out one day and I didn’t see him until after Penny was born. She was close to eighteen months old when he saw her for the first time.”

  She paused before the side door of the church. “You wouldn’t have done that, would you?” The moment the words were out of her mouth, she wanted to take them back. She felt the blood rushing to her face. “I’m sorry. That was inappropriate.”

  A soft smile curved his lips. “I understand the frustration. I don’t remember the six months after my wife’s death.” He looked down at the toe of his shoe. “We had just buried our daughter Rose. Roberta blamed herself for Rose’s death. She went home after the funeral and took too many sleeping pills. If she could’ve talked to me, maybe—”

  Lilly felt his pain as clearly as if it were her own. She laid her hand on his forearm. “Sometimes when you are in pain so deep, you don’t think to reach out. You only think of it ending.”

  His gaze locked with hers.

  “Did you ever consider taking Roberta’s way out?” he asked.

  “No, but remember I was pregnant. No matter how bleak life was, I was going to be a mother. My parents’ support, Zoe’s badgering and a lot of prayer were the key. And I spent a lot of time here at the church. Pastor Kent and I talked. And talked. And talked. He told me that no matter how dark the situation, if we stayed close to God, He will provide a way. He did.”

  Lilly remembered how the small congregation had come together to support her. One afternoon they’d surprised her with a baby shower, giving her a crib—used but newly refinished—clothes and disposable diapers. One young mother who couldn’t afford any gift offered babysitting and cleaning services. They were all gifts given from the heart.

  “I didn’t deal well with the deaths of my family. I turned to drink to drown myself. It didn’t work. Caren told me God could heal me. For her it was simple. And He did,” Jon said.

  “The faith of children.”

  “Mom, you finished yet?” Penny yelled from a door of the church.

  “Yes,” Lilly called. She smiled at Jon. “You remember we’ll be expecting you on Saturday around seven. Bring your appetite. And the twins.”

  “You got it.” He waved at Penny and walked to his car.

  Lilly watched as he pulled out of the parking lot. What was it about the man that pulled at her senses? As she walked into the church, she remembered all the times that the Lord had provided for her while she was pregnant. If she had a need but didn’t know where the help would come from, suddenly someone would come by the church with the very thing she needed.

  When her parents decided to move to Florida, the Lord had placed her cousin Allison in her life. Allison, along with her daughter had provided that extra cushion of help for both Penny and Lilly. Then there was Zoe. She’d moved to Albuquerque from rural New Mexico around the same time Lilly had moved back home while she was carrying Penny, and she’d barged into Lilly’s life. If it was broken, Zoe could fix it or knew whom to talk with to fix the problem. If it was a contest between Zoe and her dad as to who could fix it, Zoe always won. Lilly had her family.

  Walking back inside the church, she realized again how much God had provided for her.

  Jon’s news about Peter’s death had rattled her.

  God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. The first line of Psalm 46 ran through her head.

  He had helped her before. He would help again.

  She needed to remember that verse.

  “C’mon, Mom. I’m hungry and ready to go home and eat,” Penny moaned as Lilly walked into her office. Penny sat at Lilly’s desk, spinning in Lilly’s chair.

  “Okay. Let me get my purse and then we’re off.” Lilly moved toward her desk, opened the bottom drawer and stared at her purse. The black purse had two zippered compartments. One of the zippers was open. She never left her purse open. “Penny, did you go in Mama’s purse?”

  Penny stopped spinning in the desk chair. “No
.”

  Lilly glanced around the office. Her church directory had been moved. Several items were out of place.

  A chill ran up Lilly’s spine.

  “Mom, what’s wrong?”

  The fear in her daughter’s voice snapped Lilly out of her own alarm. Penny didn’t need to worry.

  “Nothing. Let’s go home.”

  As she left her office, Lilly locked the door. Someone had been in her purse, but who? That scared her.

  Jon pulled into the parking lot of Lilly’s church at five after seven the next morning. Caren and Connie bounced around in the backseat.

  “Where’s the garden?” Caren asked.

  “When we goin’ to eat?” Connie asked. “And where’s Lilly?”

  Jon turned off the ignition and glanced at the girls. “Did she allow you to call her by her first name?” Jon asked Connie.

  Connie hung her head. “No.”

  The girls slid out of the backseat. Jon took Connie’s hand. “I’m sure if you ask her, it will be okay to call her Lilly, but get permission.”

  Connie brightened.

  They were walking toward the church when the side door opened and Lilly appeared. “Welcome. You hungry?” She directed her question to the girls.

  Two heads nodded eagerly.

  Penny appeared beside Lilly. The three girls stared at each other. Finally, Penny said, “Hi. My name’s Penny Burkstrom. You here to help?”

  The girls all started talking at the same time.

  “Is it true carrots grow in the ground?” asked Connie.

  Penny nodded.

  “What about corn?” Caren asked.

  Penny shook her head. “It grows on stalks. Taller than you….” The girls disappeared into the fellowship hall.

  “I think I see the beginning of a good friendship,” Lilly commented when Jon stepped to her side.

  “Oh, dear. The three of them together. My mind refuses to take it in.”

  Lilly laughed. The sound was so pure and joyful, it went straight to his heart—the heart that he’d written off after his wife’s suicide.