“We think what happened to her is part of an ongoing investigation in Bell County,” Jeff explained.
“I see. Are you here to arrest her?”
Jeff shook his head. “Just talk.”
The young man brushed his hair off his forehead, then reached in his pocket for a business card. “Well, no talking without me present. Understand?”
Jeff took the card. “I won’t ask her a thing.”
“Good. I’ve got two other clients I’m going to check on, then I’ll be back.”
“Did you draw the short straw tonight down at Legal Aid?” Jeff asked.
A grin crossed Harper’s face, then vanished. “Later.” He left, only to return a few minutes later, addressing Jeff. “Cute answer, by the way. Let me be clear. Don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t say a word to her and if she tries to talk, tell her I’ll be right back. Got it?”
Jeff nodded.
Lindsey stood beside him as Harper left again. “What was that all about?”
“Precision. Lawyers are trained how to use it for their clients and against the system. When I said I wouldn’t ask RuthAnn anything, what I did not say was that I wouldn’t talk to her. He recognized the difference and called me on it. If he hadn’t, I would have, in fact, talked to her. He’s good. He’ll do well by her.”
“Do all lawyers think like that?”
“Yep. They’re trained to.”
Lindsey still couldn’t understand why RuthAnn needed a lawyer in the first place. She was getting tired of waiting for her coworker to wake up so she could find out. “You want some coffee?” she asked Jeff.
“Absolutely. I’ll get it. Will do me good to stretch my legs some.”
Lindsey watched him go, marveling at his patience. He seemed to be content to watch RuthAnn sleep, standing over her, occasionally having these bits of conversation. Ever since they’d entered the room, she’d fought the urge to shake RuthAnn awake and demand to know what was going on. They’d made such progress today, pinning down that this was about Todd Lawson, even discovering that the boy in the coma may be Todd’s son.
It was as if, for the first time since this started, they had a direction, some idea of what might be going on, instead of random bits of information that led nowhere. But now this development with RuthAnn... It made no sense in the scenario they’d painted today. Lindsey wanted to call Ray, hear what he found at the motel. Anything!
She walked to the window and peered out. While they’d been watching RuthAnn, darkness had covered Springfield. House lights and streetlights had popped on, dotting the landscape like fallen stars. It was beautiful, but all Lindsey could see was that they had wasted time, with nothing accomplished.
“Lindsey?” The word was a barely audible croak.
She whirled. RuthAnn’s eyes were open, but she blinked, then rubbed at them, as if trying to clear away a fog.
Lindsey went to the bedside. “I’m here. How do you feel?”
“Awful. Did they call a lawyer?” RuthAnn swallowed hard and licked her lips.
Lindsey filled a cup with water from a pitcher on the lift table. “Yes. He’s been in. A Mr. Harper. He’ll be back in a few minutes.”
RuthAnn pushed up on one elbow and took the water, sipping slowly. “I should wait for him.”
“RuthAnn, why do you need a lawyer? You were attacked. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
RuthAnn sipped again. “You really have no idea, do you?”
“I know Todd Lawson probably did this to you.”
RuthAnn’s hands began to shake, sloshing some of the water out. Lindsey took the cup and set it aside, then helped RuthAnn lean back.
“I’ll get the nurse.”
RuthAnn’s thin hand clutched Lindsey’s blouse. “You’re next, you know. He said to tell you that you were next. That he’d finish what he started. You’re next.”
FOURTEEN
As Lindsey and Jeff waited in the hall for Mr. Harper to finish interviewing RuthAnn, she filled him in on her conversation with RuthAnn. He listened carefully, tamping down the emotions her words stirred in him, especially the desire to close his hands around Todd Lawson’s throat. “Do you know what he means—‘finish what he started’?”
Lindsey shook her head. “I just took it to mean that he planned to kill me. But we already knew that. I’m already looking around every bush and behind every tree, thinking he’ll be there. I don’t know how I could be more scared, although I know I would be if you weren’t here.”
Jeff started to respond, to promise to stay with her, but the door to RuthAnn’s room opened, and Harper emerged, looking more exhausted than ever. Dark circles blotted the skin under his eyes. He looked from one to the other, then licked his lips before speaking.
“She definitely needs a lawyer—” he held up a hand to keep Lindsey from interrupting “—and that’s all I’m going to say.” He looked at Jeff. “You’re not going to arrest her?”
“Not without evidence that she’s committed a crime. We’d want to hold her as a material witness, but I can’t imagine she’s going anywhere right now.”
“No, and you won’t be able to question her tonight. She’s already asleep again. They’ll probably release her tomorrow. Despite how nasty her injuries are, none are life-threatening. As soon as they’re satisfied that there’s no internal bleeding or that she’s not a danger to herself, they’ll let her go.”
“That soon? I heard she was ranting up a storm when she came in,” Jeff said calmly.
Harper didn’t respond at first, just shifted his briefcase from one hand to the other. “I’ll pick her up when they release her. I’m going to arrange a spot for her in a safe house I know.”
Jeff thought about that for a moment. “You think she needs a security guard tonight?”
“Probably a good idea.”
“She’s afraid he’ll come here?”
“Terrified. And after what they did to her, I can’t blame her. All her injuries? They were done for fun.”
Jeff nodded. “Got it. I’ll make it happen.”
“Thanks.”
“We’ll talk tomorrow.”
“No doubt.” Harper walked off, glancing back at Jeff once. Jeff acknowledged the clear message that the young lawyer had given him. He crushed his coffee cup, then looked down at Lindsey. “We’ve got a problem.”
“Besides the fact that I’m being stalked by a man who hurts women for fun?”
Jeff took her arm and pulled her toward the end of the hall as he took out his cell phone. “Harper said, ‘after what they did to her.’ That was intentional.”
Lindsey’s breath caught in her throat. “Todd Lawson isn’t working alone.”
“No, and that’s the missing piece of the puzzle.” Jeff hit a speed-dial number on his phone. “We’ve been wondering how Lawson found you after all these years. It had to be through someone here in Bell County. Someone who knows you both. And my guess is that RuthAnn has been feeding that person information about you. Maybe even unintentionally. That’s why she needs a lawyer. She may have inadvertently set all this in motion, which is why they had to get her out of the picture.” His call connected, and Jeff filled Ray in on what they’d learned.
“Good. We can start working that tomorrow. It’s after midnight. Take Lindsey home, and y’all get some rest,” the sheriff told him. “I talked to the warden up at Riverbend. You have an appointment with Luke Presley at one-thirty tomorrow afternoon.”
They left the hospital and headed back to April’s. Exhausted, they rode in silence for a while, but Jeff knew he had to let her know about the prison visit. He knew of no other way to break it to her but by blurting it out.
“Ray got me an appointment tomorrow at Riverbend.”
After a moment, she whispered, “Okay.”
“You want to go?”
She shook her head.
“Anything I should know?”
“I don’t know him, Jeff. I haven’t seen him since I was eleven. My memories of him are brutal and incomprehensible. They’re just blurs of violence that I don’t understand.”
More miles of silence passed. “Do you remember your dad?” she asked.
Jeff shrugged. “A few things. We have all these pictures of us that help me connect some fleeting memories with events. But the image of him in my head is from the pictures. I don’t know if I remember him at all.”
“So we have that in common.”
“Among other things.”
They rode in silence a bit more, then Jeff felt her hand brush his shoulder. Just a touch, but he thought he’d burst with pride. Lord, he thought, help us get through this...and put it all in the past.
* * *
The next morning, Aunt Suke insisted that Lindsey spend the morning baking with her. “You need a break from all this, girl.” For once, Lindsey agreed. Around lunchtime, Jeff came by to fill her in on his way out to Riverbend.
“I finished calling all the auto dealers.”
“And?”
He shook his head. “Two more dead ends. But a couple sounded promising and said they’d call back. Suspicious folks. I should have let Troy call them. They’re probably checking my credentials.”
“Which are, of course, impeccable.”
Jeff laughed, which she hadn’t heard him do in a long time.
“I like it when you laugh.”
“Someday, we’ll both do a lot more of it.”
“Promise?”
“Absolutely.” He paused, then stroked her face, a gesture that made her want to be with him that much more.
Lindsey watched Jeff drive away, almost wishing she had the fortitude to go with him, to look her father in the face once again. To show him that he hadn’t defeated her or any of them. No matter what you did, we succeeded.
And they had. She smiled, thinking about the lives her sisters had now, despite the horrible circumstances they’d endured. Mama had been right. Jehovah-jireh. God who provides.
Lindsey closed the heavy wooden front door when Jeff left and leaned against it, relishing the warmth of the house. The scent of cinnamon and brown sugar permeated the house, a result of Aunt Suke’s early morning baking. A softly crackling fire burned in the parlor fireplace, adding a calming mood to the room. Christmas and Thanksgiving decorations spilled out of a box nearby, and Lindsey knew Aunt Suke was keeping her promise about decorating the entire house for the holidays. Gentle voices drifted down to her from upstairs, the firm voice of Aunt Suke and the protesting one of Daniel, who had made it quite plain that he didn’t want to decorate for Christmas until after Thanksgiving. Then, April’s sweet alto, trying to placate them both.
Lindsey almost wished she could stay here through Christmas, to see what Daniel, April and Aunt Suke came up with, but she knew that wouldn’t happen. After this was over, Lindsey wanted to go back to her little house in town. Maybe put up her own tree. Because now she realized it wasn’t this house she wanted. For the first time in her life, she wanted a real home of her own.
A quiet knock on the front door shook her out of her reverie. She pulled it open, grinning when she saw who stood there. “Hey, there! I was just thinking that I needed to call you. Come on in.”
She turned to lead her guest inside, only to have a sudden explosion of pain shoot through her skull, throwing her world into darkness.
* * *
Riverbend Maximum Security Institution, as the name implied, sat in one of the gentle bends of the Cumberland River. It was built to replace the Tennessee State Penitentiary, a legendary gothic structure that looked more like a medieval castle than a prison. “The Castle” drew photographers from around the world and was often used as a movie set.
Riverbend, however, was nowhere near as romantic as its predecessor. It was low, blocky, functional and well run—just as a prison should be. Jeff had visited several times in the past, a loathsome part of his job. He knew how grim a Riverbend life had to be.
And when the guards escorted Luke Presley into the visitors’ area, Jeff could see the result of a harsh prison existence. At fifty-one, Luke Presley had the haggard, deeply creviced face of a man in his seventies. His gray, blotchy skin emphasized the dullness in his eyes. Prison life, thought Jeff. His hands and feet still shackled, Luke shuffled comfortably over to the waiting chair, obviously familiar with moving around in the chains. He dropped into the chair, carefully eyeing Jeff’s uniform. When he spoke, Luke’s voice had the familiar gravel of vocal cords long damaged by smoke and booze, but his tone held a surprising calmness.
“Sheriff’s deputy. But I don’t know you.”
“I’m Jeff Gage, and I’m a deputy with the Bell County Sheriff’s Department.”
A light of recognition shone in Luke’s eyes. “Bell County, huh? I hear odd things are going on up there.”
“What have you heard?”
Luke smiled, but it was an expression coated in sadness, not joy. “My attorney tells me that my daughters have settled up there. Is that true?”
Jeff studied the older man’s face, trying to get a read on some kind of emotion, but Luke’s face showed little. “It is.”
“Are they doing well?”
Jeff hadn’t planned to tell Luke anything about his daughters, but he hadn’t expected the questions, either. “Two of them are. But your youngest has had something out of your past come back to endanger her.”
“July?”
“Yes.”
“What’s going on?”
“I need to hear your version of what happened the day Karen Lawson died.”
Luke sat still for a long time. Then he shifted in his chair. “Todd Lawson has finally found her?”
Jeff stiffened. “You knew?”
Luke rolled his shoulders and sat back in the chair. “I knew he’d be looking for July Presley. We didn’t think he’d ever find Lindsey Purvis.”
The pieces began to fall into place for Jeff. “You’re the one who got her name changed?”
Luke shrugged. “The criminal courts wouldn’t believe me, but the Family Court finally got the message when Todd attacked my mother-in-law one day. July never realized why she couldn’t stay with her grandmother anymore, why she had to go into foster care. We thought July had pretty much blocked out the day Karen died.”
“She has.”
“Good.”
“Why didn’t you ever tell the cops you were sleeping with Karen Lawson?”
Luke gave a harsh bark of a laugh. “Because Todd had tried to kill my daughter and me, and almost succeeded. He told me that if I said a word, he’d make sure none of us left the house again, and I’d be blamed for it all. The man is a sadist, and I believed every word he said.” He motioned around the room. “I kept my mouth shut, but it didn’t help. Looks like he got his way no matter what.”
“What happened that day?”
Luke clutched his hands together, bracing them on the table. “Karen always picked up Sasha and July from school, then drove over and picked up the boys and brought them all home. July played there with Sasha until Evie or I got home. That’s how I met Karen. Anyway, that day, I get off work early, so I decide to get July ahead of schedule. Maybe spend more time with Karen.
“Anyway, I see their car in the driveway, the trunk lid up, and I pull in behind it. All of a sudden Todd comes barreling out of the garage, swinging this switchblade he always carried, and lights into me. Calls me names. I dodged the knife, but he whacked me around pretty good. Next thing I know, July’s on his back, screaming bloody murder. He grabs her by the hair and pulls her off, which gives me a chance to get the knife. He doesn’t even slow down. K
nocks July out with his fist, then threatens me.”
“So you go get drunk?”
Luke didn’t say anything for a few moments. “Yeah. I’m sure the girls have told you I wasn’t much of a man in those days.”
“Something like that.”
“Believe ’em. I’m not that man now, but I sure was then. Anyway, I wake up and Karen is gone and July’s out of her head scared to death. Won’t let anyone touch her but her mama. Screams bloody murder if anyone else even tries. We sent her to her grandmother’s.”
He straightened. “Then all of a sudden there’s Todd Lawson, all over the television, acting like a pure fool who don’t know nothing. All innocent. Right.” He ran his hands through his hair. “He’s why I’m in here.”
He paused, eyed Jeff. “Is it true that he’s down in Mexico somewhere, hiding out? Scot-free?”
Jeff nodded. “Most of the time.”
“Figures. Lawyers. They never get what’s coming to ’em.” He stopped. “What do you mean, most of the time?”
“We think he’s in Bell County right now. Trying to kill Lin—July. Again.”
Luke flared. “That rotten—!”
“You want payback?”
Luke stilled. “What?”
“Tell me something that could put him away.”
Luke paused. “You got something to record this with?”
* * *
Lindsey hurt. All of her—her head most of all. She tried to open her eyes, but even the dim light around her hurt, and she squeezed them shut again. She lay on a stone floor, her cheek pressed against it. The chilly air around her held the aromas of cooking oil, cinnamon and rosemary. Cold seeped through every joint. Her arms were wrenched behind her, making her shoulders shriek with pain. Her hands were tied together. So were her knees and ankles. She tried to move, but moaned instead.
“Ah, our princess awakens.”
The voice from the wreck. The voice that had taunted her at the house.
Todd Lawson. Where...?
The voice hovered over her, growing closer with each word. “Do you have any idea, princess, what it’s like to plan not only the perfect crime, but the perfect murder, only to have it destroyed, ruined, by an eleven-year-old snoop and her drunken slob of a father? The snoop who saw all the things she shouldn’t have seen, that no one should have seen?”
Memory of Murder Page 16
