Guarded Secrets

by Leann Harris

  Dave clapped Jon on the back. “You’ve just made my daughters’ day. I guess we’ll get another lesson in gardening. The girls are talking about putting a garden in our backyard.” He shook his head. “You know what a pushover I am for the girls. I never thought I’d have a career as a farmer.”

  “They have your number,” Jon agreed. “I’ll meet you at Lilly’s in about forty minutes.”

  “I’ll call and warn the wife.”

  As he drove to her house, Jon called Lilly and told her what had happened with one of Peter’s team members at the armored car company. “Describe to me the man who grabbed your arm in the hall at church this morning.”

  “Black hair, long enough to be pulled back in a ponytail. His face was pockmarked, as if he had a bad case of acne as a teen.”

  “What about his eyes? What color?” Jon quizzed, pressing.

  “Black. And dead.”

  “Okay. I want you to come with me to the police station to see if we can get a name on this guy. Dave has volunteered to have Penny spend the afternoon with his girls. They’re talking about putting a garden in the backyard. Penny could offer advice.”

  “More like direct the thing.”

  “I’ll see you in ten.”

  Hanging up, he prayed, “Lord, keep Lilly and Penny safe. Give us the direction we need.”

  Lilly sat before the open book. The mug shots seemed to blur together. Jon worked at his desk. He glanced up.

  “Did you find something?”

  She let out a sign. “No.”

  He stood and walked over to where she sat.

  “It’s discouraging that this many people have police records,” she said.

  “Would you like for me to call the sketch artist? You can describe the man’s face to her?”

  She glanced at the two books of mug shots that rested on Dave’s desk. He had a picture of the twins sitting beside his computer terminal. “I’ll keep looking. Maybe we won’t have to do that.”

  He went back to working on his computer. This detective, a man with a past filled with pain and tragedy, had an inner strength that amazed her.

  She went back to looking for the man who’d appeared at the church this morning. An hour later, she hadn’t found his mug shot.

  “Let me call in our sketch artist. I want to get a picture of this guy out to the officers on patrol. I don’t want him on the loose.” Jon picked up the phone and made the call.

  While they waited, Lilly called to check on Penny.

  Marta answered the phone. “They’re out in the back with Dave, deciding on the best place to put the garden.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to create work for you,” Lilly answered.

  “Are you kidding? I am so excited that the girls want to do this. They have so much energy and anything that helps drain them or keep them occupied is a blessing.” She laughed. “It also gives Dave a good reason to be with the girls. We’ll all benefit.”

  Lilly’s guilt eased.

  “Have you been able to identify the man?”

  “No. Jon’s calling in a sketch artist to help.”

  “Would you like to talk to Penny?” Marta asked.

  “Yes.”

  A minute or two later Penny picked up the phone and told her mother what they were doing.

  “Do you mind staying a little while longer?” Lilly asked.

  “No. We’re making plans. Take your time.” Penny hung up.

  Lilly glanced at the handset of the phone.

  “What’s wrong?” Jon’s voice broke into her thoughts.

  “My daughter just hung up on me.”

  “Isn’t that what happens at the end of a conversation?”

  Lilly felt stupid. “Yes, but—”

  “But?”

  “It’s like she brushed me off.” For some reason, Lilly felt tears threaten. “I know she didn’t. It’s just that my baby sounded like she didn’t need me.” She laughed. “Doesn’t that sound stupid?”

  “You’re under stress, Lilly. Give yourself a break.” He pulled up a chair beside hers and caught her hand. “She’s a great kid. You’ve done a good job.”

  This man touched her heart in a way that made her want to confide her deepest hurts. She’d had a few good friends in her life, but, she thought, with time she and Jon could become the best of friends. “There are days when I think she runs circles around me and all I can do is ask God for wisdom.”

  He shook his head, a grin curving his lips. “I can believe that. Yesterday she ordered us all around with the voice of a pro.”

  “I’d like to say she got that from Pete, but the fact is she got it from me. I got it from my mother.”

  “Passing the buck?”

  The door to the squad room opened and Lilly glanced over her shoulder. The woman who walked in stood only five feet high. Her long, blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

  “Hey, Jon. You needed me?” the woman asked.

  “I do, Cass. I need you to work with Ms. Burkstrom here and come up with a picture of the suspect.”

  Cass shook Lilly’s hand and sat down. “Okay I’m going to ask you a series of questions and you’ll guide me with your answers.”

  “Okay.” said Lilly.

  Jon logged into his e-mail, hoping the detective in Flagstaff had located the other man they wanted to interview. Scrolling through his e-mail, he found one from the Flagstaff PD. He opened it. The detective in Flagstaff had interviewed the other man of interest and had attached the report of the interview to the e-mail.

  Jon opened the attachment. This detective’s comments echoed what the detective in Cortez had said. Peter Burkstrom had treated his men right and had helped them whenever he could.

  Leaning back in his chair, Jon tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together. Peter Burkstrom had run away from his responsibilities as a husband, had disappeared for a couple of years, then had reappeared, wanting to get to know his daughter.

  He’d been a hard worker, working his way up the chain of command at his construction job, which meant that Adam Finley hadn’t been honest with Jon. If Burkstrom had been with Painted Desert Construction long enough to work his way up to a managing position, then Finley would’ve had to know him.

  Tomorrow he needed to go talk to Finley and get the entire story, and not the nonsense the man had spouted the other day.

  “Detective, I think we’re finished here,” Cass called out.

  Jon looked up at the sketch pad that Cass held up. The man who looked back at Jon had a hard edge. He suddenly had the feeling that this guy wasn’t some gangbanger. This guy was a pro.

  “That’s the guy?” he asked Lilly.

  Lilly nodded her head.

  He could understand why this man made Lilly nervous. “Thanks, Cass.”

  “Sure thing.” Cass ripped off the sketch and handed it to him.

  Jon pulled the case file folder from under the papers on his desk and opened it. Inside was the grainy photo taken from the video tape at Peter’s apartment. He compared the two. He held it up to the two women.

  “Lilly, is this the same man?”

  She studied the picture. “Yes.”

  Cass studied the photo. “There’s similarity.”

  Jon made copies of the sketch and took them to the watch commander, explaining that if any unit spotted the man, they were to note where he was but not to apprehend him. They were also to contact Jon or his partner.

  When he got back to his desk, Lilly was still sitting in Dave’s chair. When she looked up and met his gaze, Jon knew then he’d fallen in love, again. And hard. It nearly knocked him off his feet.

  “You ready?” he asked.

  She didn’t look at him. “Yes.”

  It seemed like the drive to Dave’s house took hours. Lilly said nothing. He wanted to say…what? His feelings were out of control. He hadn’t meant to fall in love. That certainly would reassure her. From what she’d told him about her ex, her experiences with love hadn’t been a
nything to put into a romance novel.

  He pulled up to Dave’s house. She reached for the door handle.

  “Lilly.”

  She turned toward him.

  He wanted to apologize for his heart, but he couldn’t. “I’m sorry we first doubted you when you told us about Pete and his revelation that his untimely death would be no accident. But you were the ex-wife. A lot of people have axes to grind.”

  Her lips curved into a smile. “It’s okay. It sounded far-fetched to me, too. I felt stupid saying anything. I just repeated what he told me.”

  He nodded. Glancing down, he saw the copy of the sketch she’d directed. Handing it to her, he said, “Show this picture to Penny. She needs to know this is the guy we’re looking for. Tell her that if he approaches her, she is to run, screaming at the top of her lungs.”

  “I’ll do that.”

  They walked to the front door of the house. When they entered, Dave was standing in the foyer, talking on the phone. “We’ll be there.” He hung up. “That was Mrs. Zeller. Her husband went out to get a newspaper. That was close to three hours ago. He hasn’t returned home. She’s afraid.”

  Jon’s gut said Mrs. Zeller had a good reason to be fearful. He glanced at Lilly. Her expression told him that she knew the missing man had something to do with her situation.

  He turned to her. “I’d like for you to stay here with Marta and the girls while we go out and investigate this. Would you do that?”

  Lilly swallowed.

  “Penny’s enjoying herself,” Dave noted. “And the girls are still trying to plan a garden for our backyard. Your help is needed.”

  “Yes, please do help,” Marta added.

  Lilly looked across the living room and out into the backyard where the girls were pacing from one end to the next. “Sure. I’ll lend my hand to the effort.”

  Relief swept through Jon. “We won’t be long, and then I’ll drive you and Penny home.”

  Marta put her arm around Lilly’s shoulders. “Let’s go direct our girls.”

  “We’re taking my car,” Dave said.

  Jon frowned at his partner.

  “From the look on your face, you won’t be paying attention,” Dave explained, “and I’d like to make it back to my family in one piece.”

  Jon wanted to argue with him, but swallowed his protest. Dave was right. He was dazed and confused. He kept tripping over his feelings. This was something he’d never experienced before. How had this happened?

  ELEVEN

  “S omething’s not right,” Jon muttered as they drove to the Zellers’ house.

  Dave glanced at him. “It’s like we’re chasing our tails. And the closer we get to the heart of this matter, the more things go wrong.”

  Leaning against the door, Jon stared out the windshield. “That’s it. We must be on the right track. We’re getting blowback.”

  “Okay, so what’s the right track? Are we’re talking about things at the construction company or the armored car place?”

  Jon wondered the same thing himself. “Nothing seems consistent. But we have a man searching out information that Peter had. I wish we knew who he was.”

  Dave turned down the last street to the Zellers’ place. “You submit that booking photo to the state database and the FBI?”

  “Not yet. I was waiting on our database. When we get back, I’ll check and see if there’ve been any hits.”

  They pulled up to the Zellers’ house and the front door opened. Mrs. Zeller hurried out to meet them.

  “Is your husband still missing?” Jon asked.

  “I told him not to challenge that man. He was so creepy, but Al didn’t want him near our kids. Said Peter told him the guy was muscle, and not to mess with him. When I asked him about it, he just told me to call the cops if he was around the kids.” She looked down at her hands. “I knew Al knew more, but—”

  Jon walked her back into the house and guided her to the sofa. “Tell us what happened.”

  “Al was going for a newspaper. That’s all. He left right after you talked to him. He has not come back. I drove down to the convenience store, but he never showed up there.”

  “Did he walk or take a car?” asked Jon.

  She shook her head, sobs overtaking her.

  Jon waited a moment. “Mrs. Zeller, whatever you can tell us, it will help.”

  “Dad took his car,” a little boy, who was probably eight or nine, piped in because his mother couldn’t stop crying.

  “What does your dad’s car look like?” Dave asked.

  “It’s black, with a green stripe on the side. It’s a Honda Civic,” said the boy.

  Jon pulled the sketch from his pocket and showed it to Mrs. Zeller. “Is this the guy?”

  She looked at the paper and nodded.

  “That’s him,” the boy answered.

  “Thanks.” Dave leaned close and whispered, “I’m proud you know that information. Now, can you tell me the name of a neighbor or maybe your grandmother or grandfather so we can call them to come and help?”

  “Grandma and Grandpa live in Denver. Mrs. Lee, next door, sometimes babysits us.”

  Dave left to ask the neighbor to stay with the family while the police looked for Mrs. Zeller’s husband.

  Jon called in the information on the missing man. After the neighbor came over with Dave, the detectives left and talked to the owner of the convenience store that Mrs. Zeller had mentioned. After a little questioning, the owner admitted that he’d seen Al talking to a man. They both got in Al’s car and left. Jon showed him a copy of the sketch Lilly had worked on. The man IDed the guy.

  Dave backed the car out of the parking place. “We’ve got a lot of threads, Jon, but the picture isn’t coming into focus.”

  “What did Pete do or have that made him the target? And whatever it was, killing him didn’t get the killer what he wanted. He’s still after it.”

  “Those invoices?” Dave asked.

  “Yeah, I think that’s it. Let’s go back to the station and look at them again.”

  Caren and Connie had decided what vegetables they wanted to plant in the backyard.

  “Now understand, what we just harvested can’t be planted until the spring,” Lilly informed them.

  The girls’ expressions fell. “Why?”

  “Fall and winter. It’s going to be too cold for those vegetables to grow, but we can make all the plans now. Then in late March and early April, you can start preparing the soil.”

  Caren frowned. “That’s a lot of work.”

  Lilly hid her smile. Glancing at Marta, Lilly saw that she also fought a smile.

  “I’ll help,” Penny offered. “It’s fun.”

  Caren and Connie walked out the back door. Penny followed, talking about what help she could give.

  “You have wonderful girls.” Lilly fingered her coffee cup.

  “Would you like some more coffee?” Marta asked.

  “Thanks.”

  Marta moved to the coffeepot and brought it back to the table. She poured them both fresh cups. “You know, I never thought I’d see Jon look at a woman the way he looks at you.”

  Lilly’s head snapped up and her cheeks flooded with color. She opened her mouth to deny those words, but the understanding in Marta’s eyes invited confidences. “I guess from my expression you can tell I’m as confused about this —” she waved her hand “—as Jon.”

  Marta put a spoonful of sugar into her cup. “I can understand that. Your ex was just killed.”

  Lilly nodded. “Pete and I had become friends again. I grieve for him, but my heart seems to have a mind of its own. I know that sounds silly. But these feelings for Jon just blindsided me and I don’t know what to do with them.”

  “I think Jon probably feels the same way. Give yourself time. You might also pray about it. God brings beauty out of ashes.”

  Lilly stared at Marta. Was that what this was? She didn’t doubt that God could bring forth something out of tragedy and sadness, but
she couldn’t think about the future now. All she wanted was the crazy man terrorizing their lives caught and things to return to normal.

  Jon looked at the abandoned car. The police had found Al Zeller’s car about a mile from the convenience store. The keys were in the ignition. The patrolman had identified the car when he discovered two youths trying to steal it.

  Mrs. Zeller hadn’t taken the news well.

  Jon couldn’t shake the feeling that things had accelerated to warp speed and something would break loose in a matter of hours. And he didn’t feel right about leaving Penny and Lilly alone after they left Dave and Marta’s house.

  “How are you going to explain your plan to Lilly?” Dave asked once they’d hopped back into his car. “I’ll go with your gut, but I don’t know if she’ll buy it.”

  Rubbing his hand over his mouth, Jon said, “I think we can sell having Penny spend the night with your girls. They’ve become fast friends.”

  “I’ll buy that. What about Penny’s mom? You think she’ll buy that?”

  Jon knew he couldn’t let Lilly face this situation alone. He wouldn’t sleep at all if he didn’t know she was safe. “I’ll convince her, no matter what it takes.”

  A smile curved Dave’s lips.

  “What?” Jon demanded.

  “Nothing.”

  “You’re lucky you stayed on the right side of the law, ’cause you can’t lie worth spit.”

  “Sorry, buddy, but I saw you smile yesterday. Thought it would never happen again.” Dave pulled the car into the driveway of his house. “You actually laughed at the way Penny bossed my girls around. Last night, when we said our prayers, Caren thanked Jesus for Uncle Jon’s laughter.” Dave turned off the engine and got out of the car.

  If Dave had hit him with a two-by-four, Jon wouldn’t have been more shocked. He realized that he’d laughed yesterday without thinking about it and with ease, enjoying Penny’s performance.

  Dave knocked on the passenger window. “C’mon.”

  Shaking off his bewilderment, Jon got out of the car. Walking into the front room, he saw Marta and Lilly standing at the kitchen table.