by Jayne Blue
“Addie? It’s Tora. Are you there?”
“Is everything working out just like you hoped, Tora?”
The voice on the other end of the line sent a chill through me. It wasn’t Addie at all.
Chapter Sixteen
Jack
Something about Tora’s posture changed as I watched her answer the phone. Her back stiffened and she slumped against the wall. I put my hand up to quiet R.J. and walked across the kitchen to get to her. Tora’s eyes flicked to mine and she mouthed one word.
Seth.
I made a move to grab the phone out of her hands but she stopped me, putting up a finger. Hearing his voice had clearly shocked her, but my girl was already recovering and I could see her wheels turning with some sort of plan.
I motioned to R.J. He came over and I grabbed him by the collar and whispered in his ear. “She’s got Seth on the phone.”
R.J. nodded. “We’ll pick the caller ID as soon as she’s done. That might tell us something about where he’s hiding out.”
We stepped away a little so Tora could talk without Seth hearing us. “Is there still just one more line down in the basement?”
R.J. nodded. “There’s one in my folks’ bedroom too. He’s liable to hear you pick it up though. Maybe we should just wait and let Tora tell us what he said.”
It killed me to stand by. I didn’t want Seth anywhere near her, even it was just his voice in her ear. But Tora was calm. She leaned against the wall in the hallway and kept her voice measured.
“Where are you?” she said. I moved next to her. She pushed away from the wall and I brought her into my arms with her back against my chest so I could press my head against hers, hoping I could pick up Seth’s end of the conversation as well.
“I’ll have to admit, Tora,” Seth said. “You were really good at what you did. You had me fooled right up until the end. I should have listened to my mother. You know what she used to say about you?”
“I can imagine,” Tora said. “You know she said most of it to my face anyway.”
“She said you were going to destroy me. She was right about the outcome but not about why. But you, you were good. I don’t care what you say now, there’s no way you could have faked half the stuff you did to me.”
I stiffened. God, it was killing me not to know where Seth was. I wanted to rip his lungs out and somehow scrub his brain from any memory he shared with her. Tora sensed my mood and she reached back and gripped my arm to still me.
“Seth,” she said. “You need to come back and talk to the police. It’s over, okay? I’m not going to lie to you and tell you I’m sorry about any of that. But you have a chance to make things right now. It doesn’t have to be the end of the world.”
I heard Seth laugh in her ear. “I think it will be for you. That’s the funny part to me. Have you been enjoying your time with your dear old dad? That’s sweet. I saw him on the news the other day, when they let him out of his cage. Don’t you think it’s hilarious that you’re going to end up in one?”
“Seth,” she said. “You and I both know I’m not the one who killed Miranda.”
I gestured to R.J., pantomiming a phone in my ear. It would be a stretch but maybe if Tora could get Seth to say something incriminating, I could record him just like she had. R.J. pulled his own phone out of his pocket, clicked it open and tossed it to me. I caught it one-handed and pressed the red button on his voice recorder. I held it up and Tora pulled the phone a little away from her ear to aid in the process.
“Seth?” she said. “Are you still there?”
“I’m here,” he answered. “But why did you do it, Tora? Why did you think getting rid of my mother would help you?”
Shit. Seth wasn’t quite dumb enough to fall for this again.
“I didn’t and you know it,” she said.
“I want to see you again,” Seth said and my blood turned to ice. I squeezed Tora’s arm. She patted my hand to still me again.
“What good would that do either of us, Seth?”
“You’re my wife, aren’t you? Are you going to tell me you didn’t have feelings for me? I won’t believe you if you say you didn’t. I know what I felt and I know what you felt like. I told you, you can’t fake that.”
“Seth ...”
“Tomorrow,” he said. “We can pick a public place. I don’t care. I just want to talk to you for a little bit. That’s all. I promise.”
“Just talk,” she said. I stepped around Tora and went into the kitchen for paper and pen. R.J. knew what I was about and handed me both. I turned back to Tora. She held up a finger.
“I can do that,” she said. “As long as you promise that’s all you want. And I want to bring my lawyer with me. I wasn’t trying to hurt you, Seth. You know that, right? I am sorry about that. And I do still think you could be great as a senator or something else like that if that’s what you still want. No. I don’t think it’s too late.”
Tora made eye contact with me and shook her head while she exhaled. I shared her sentiment. How could this still be what Seth wanted to talk about?
“All right,” she said. “Four o’clock. There’s a diner just by exit 12. Do you know the one I mean?”
Tora was quiet for a good long time as Seth rambled on about something. Tora made a circular motion with her finger as if she could speed him along.
“Yes,” she said. “Maggie’s diner. I’ll be there.” She made eye contact with me to make sure I was writing down what she said.
More silence and Tora’s brow furrowed. Then she pulled the receiver away from her face and stared at it. Seth had hung up on her.
***
I spent the night at Reed and Margie’s sleeping on one basement couch while R.J. took the other. Being under the same roof with Tora and not beside her was a fresh kind of torture. But now that Seth had reached out to her, I didn’t want to let her out of my sight.
When Addie showed up at nine o’clock for her scheduled appointment with Tora, we all had a lot to talk about.
“You were smart to make him agree to let me go with you,” Addie said. “Let me see if I can talk some sense into Seth. Get him to understand why he needs to turn himself in for his own sake.”
“Forget it,” I said before Tora could answer. “She’s not going at all. I won’t stand for it. Tora, I don’t want you anywhere near Seth ever again.”
“Finally,” Dex’s booming voice filled Margie’s kitchen. None of us had even heard him come in. “Something a Manning and I agree on.”
We sat around Margie’s kitchen table. Dex’s black leather motorcycle boots squeaked when he walked across the tiles. He looked different. Though his menacing worry lines creased his brow, there was still something lighter about the way he carried himself. Through the bay window in Margie’s living room, I could see Dex’s Harley parked in the driveway. The ride had done him good.
Tora glanced up at him and smiled. “I got a call from Seth last night,” she informed him. “He’s arranged a meeting with me at a restaurant down the street this afternoon. We need Seth to talk to the police.” She looked back to me. “He’s going to crack at some point. I know him. He can’t stand not being the center of attention. Even if it exposes him to serious trouble, he really is that insecure.”
“I think she’s right,” R.J. said. “It fits his M.O. perfectly. He’s all alone out there, nobody’s taking his calls. Even with all of the ethical and legal problems he’s facing, the media focus has been on Miranda’s murder, not him specifically.”
Dex grabbed a kitchen chair and turned it so he straddled it backward when he sat. “Not even for a second. Tora, you’re not meeting this asshole.”
“Someone needs to talk to him,” Addie said. “Even if it’s just me.”
Tora shook her head. “Addie, he won’t talk to you. He’s doesn’t know you. There’s no emotional investment.”
“Fine,” I said. “Then I’ll go. But, Tora, I’m with your dad on this one. You know that. You’re not
going.”
“Look.” She slammed her hand down to the table. “This is my life we’re talking about now. I’m the one that’s got a life prison sentence hanging over her head this time. Seth is the reason why. If there’s even a chance I can get him to open up, give me something I can work with to prove he did it. I’m going to take that chance. I can handle Seth. I’ve been doing it for the better part of a year.”
“Well you’re not doing it anymore!” Dex’s voice made the table vibrate. “I love you for everything you’ve done for me but I won’t stand by and let you put yourself in any more danger. You know damn well that if you’d told me your plan with Seth, I never would have allowed you to do it. Well, I’m saying it now while maybe there’s a hair’s breadth chance you’ll listen to me.”
Tora took a breath and turned her focus to Addie. She wasn’t going to indulge in Dex’s anger management issues again, it seemed. From the way her eyes flashed, I could tell she was having some of her own. “Neither Jack nor my father can be objective about this. What do you think, Addie? What should we do?”
Addie pursed her lips. “I think we need to let the cops know he’s made contact with you. That’s what I think.”
Tora spread her hands wide across the table. “Fine. That sounds sensible. I want to cooperate. I don’t want to do anything that might look like I’m trying to cover anything up.”
Addie pulled her cell phone out of her pocket. “Let me call Detective Haney. He’s a decent guy, even if he is wrongheaded about his suspect.”
Addie stepped out of the kitchen. R.J. followed close behind. This left Dex and me alone with Tora at the table. She sat back hard in her chair and gave each of us an equally deadly glower.
“Don’t pout,” Dex finally said. “God, you look just like you did when you were five.”
This would have got a laugh out of me if I weren’t about to throttle Tora like Dex was. But Tora stared her father down and I realized sitting in the middle of two McLains on opposite sides of an argument could be a dangerous place.
“I’m not five or even ten anymore, Dad,” Tora said. “I know that’s going to be one of the hardest things for you to adjust to over the next few months. But I’m a grown-ass woman and I’m going to make my own decisions.”
“Right.” Dex slammed his hand down on the table in exactly the same gesture Tora had used a few minutes before. “Your decisions haven’t really turned out all that well, have they?” His voice got louder and there was a menacing growl beneath it.
Tora leaned forward right into his face. “You wouldn’t be sitting here right now if it weren’t for some of the decisions I’ve made.”
Dex let out a chuff that sounded just like a junkyard dog. He sat back in his chair and ran his thumb hard against his chin while shaking his head. He looked off to a point on the ceiling, as though he were about to argue with a ghost, or God. Tora crossed her arms in front of her and blew a stray hair out of her forehead.
Addie walked back in, clicking her phone off. “We need to keep the meeting,” she said. “But Haney doesn’t want Tora there either. He’s got a partner, a female officer with a similar build and hairstyle as yours, Tora. They want to set her up there as a decoy. From the street, or if he walks in with his back to her, it’ll be enough to make him think Tora’s waiting there for him.”
“Are they going to arrest him?” she asked.
Addie shook her head. “Not without a warrant and they just want him for questioning.”
“Great,” I said. “So if he bolts, they’re not going to do anything.”
“Fuck that,” Dex said, expressing my sentiment to a tee.
“We need to let this play out,” Addie said. “Tora’s right that we need to cooperate with the investigation. If Seth does bolt, the upshot is Haney might start getting a clue that he’s focused on the wrong person for Miranda’s murder.”
“Still,” Tora said. “That’s leaving an awful lot to chance. I wish you could just rope him like runaway cattle.”
“Well,” I said. “That’s a little extreme, but I had something kind of like that in mind. What do you say, Dex? How about you and I tag along with Addie? If Seth shows and tries to leave without talking to the cops, maybe we could persuade him to stick around a little longer.”
For the first time since I’d met him, something I said made Dex McLain smile.
“I can’t stop you,” Addie said. “But you need to stay out of sight. And for the love of God, neither of you do anything that’s against the law. Especially you, Mr. McLain. Don’t tell her I told you, but your lawyer Grace Flynn scares the shit out of me a little.”
“I’ll go with you,” R.J. said. “I’ve got an idea or two myself.” He gave a sideways glance to Addie. Whatever R.J.’s ideas were, they might just skirt the legal line. Which meant I was all for it, whatever they were.
“Fine,” Tora said. Dex was right. She was pouting. “Butch and Sundance, you go with Addie. I hate this though.”
Dex rose and put his hands on Tora’s shoulders. “I know you do. But remember what you said about getting used to letting other people help you?”
She rolled her eyes but reached up and put her hand over Dex’s. At the same time she looked up and gave me a smirk. Whatever else she was Tora McLain was a handful. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
***
We all had our parts to play. Reed left for the office and Margie stayed behind with Tora. In some ways, Margie had the toughest job, keeping Tora from bouncing off the walls while we were gone. R.J. would drive while and Dex and I rode in the back of his Jeep Cherokee. The windows were slightly tinted and we figured if Seth did show, he’d be less likely to see us. Addie drove her own car.
I kissed Tora on the cheek and told her not to worry for about the thousandth time. “I still think you should let me go talk to him,” she said. “He thinks he’s still in love with me. I can work with that.”
“You’re done working with that,” I said. “I know I’m in love with you.”
“Mmm.” She slid into my arms and rested her head against my chest. She smelled like lavender and honeysuckle and I looked forward to our plan to steal a few hours alone together after this was over. “I love you too,” she said.
Dex’s loud throat clearing broke us up. He stood in the door frame tapping his nonexistent watch. “It’s almost three thirty. Let’s get out there.”
I kissed the top of Tora’s head. “I’ll call you the minute we know anything.”
She gave me a playful swat on the ass the minute Dex turned his back. I felt that familiar ache in my balls thinking about how I wanted to do the same thing to her once I got her alone. I quickly willed myself to think about the Blackhawk’s latest trade to keep from sporting wood before I got into the car with her father.
Dex was silent for most of the trip out to Maggie’s diner. We were both fairly large men so his knee was only about two inches from mine. Someday, somehow, we were going to have to figure out a way to be comfortable around each other, for Tora’s sake. That day was not today, however.
“So,” I called up to R.J. “What is this clandestine idea you didn’t want to say in front of Addie?”
R.J. reached over and popped his glove compartment. He held up a small black disk. “GPS tracker. If I have a chance to walk by Seth’s car without him seeing me, I can fit this in the wheel well.”
“Good plan,” I said.
“You don’t think this is actually going to work, do you?” Dex asked.
I shrugged. “You don’t know Seth. Tora was spot on when she said he’s attention starved. Whether it’s today or not, he’s going to surface in a big way soon. He can’t stand not being talked about. Plus, he’s going to run out of money. Both of those things will make him careless.”
“Yeah,” Dex said. “But that’s not the same thing as him being dumb enough to admit to committing murder.”
“Maybe not, but we’ve got to at least talk to him.”
R.J. pulled i
nto the diner parking lot. He backed into a spot in the far corner of the lot on a diagonal. We were far enough away not to be noticed but, at this angle, we could see anyone coming or going from the restaurant. Addie pulled into a spot right by the front door. She smoothed her skirt as she exited her car and gave a quick jerk of her chin in our direction before she headed in.
Then we waited. It was ten minutes to four. From our vantage point, I saw Addie through the diner window. She took a seat with the woman sent in to look like Tora. From this distance, it was more than a passable resemblance. If I were Seth under the same circumstances, I wouldn’t think anything was amiss.
“So now we just sit here, waiting around like a bunch of assholes?” Dex said.
“Pretty much,” I answered.
Dex tapped his hand against the window and it started to occur to me how uncomfortable the next hour with him might be.
“I should have picked tomorrow to quit smoking.”
I was about to ask R.J. if he minded cracking a window to let Dex light up, anything to get him to chill out when my phone buzzed in my pocket. I expected it to be Tora, asking for what would probably be her first of a zillion requests for an update. Instead the caller ID puzzled me. R.J. had turned in his seat and saw the expression on my face.
I met his eyes. “It’s Leona Jeffries,” I answered while tapping the screen and bringing the phone to my ear.
“Hello?”
Leona was always quick and to the point and I loved that about her when I wasn’t on the receiving end of one of her skewering observations.
“Jackie,” she said. “I think you’d better come over here and talk to Ed again.”
“What’s going on?”
“Well.” She gave a great sigh. “Seth came by the house this morning. Did you know that?”
“I did not.” I wanted to put Leona on speaker but was afraid she’d balk and stop talking. Both Dex and R.J. switched their focus to me and I snapped my fingers and pointed toward the restaurant. We couldn’t forget why we were here in the first place.
“What did he want?”
“You really better talk to Ed.”
