She's My Mom

by Rebecca Winters

  But he didn’t finish what he was going to say because Grady’s cell phone rang. He clicked on. “Yes?”

  “The targets are a house away, coming on foot. We’re ready to close in.”

  Adrenaline surged through his veins. “Thanks.

  “This is it, Mrs. Harmon. When they ring the bell, call out, ‘Just a minute,’ then go upstairs and stay with Susan and Brett.”

  While Matt accompanied her to the foyer, Grady notified the other officers in the house. In a matter of minutes, everyone was in place for the takedown.

  Grady left the den door open enough to see into the foyer, then he drew his gun. He planned to stay out of sight to maintain the fiction that he wasn’t there, but he wouldn’t hesitate to do whatever it took if more backup was needed.

  It was just as well the others were handling this. The way Grady was feeling, he’d just as soon blow their heads off as look at them.

  Finally the doorbell rang. Mrs. Harmon stood at the bottom of the stairs, and Grady heard her call, “Just a minute—I’m coming!”

  Tony was primed by the door. Grady heard him undo the dead bolt. As he turned the knob and started to open it, the two men came crashing through in ski masks.

  To Grady’s joy, the SWAT team threw them to the floor. Everything was over in seconds. They’d been so unsuspecting, their Bibles fell from their hands, and their guns skidded across the tile.

  More of the team poured into the house. On came the handcuffs, off came the masks.

  “What the hell?”

  “Holy crap!”

  “He said we wouldn’t have any trouble with the housekeeper!”

  “Shut up, asshole!”

  “You gentlemen are under arrest.” Matt’s calm voice cut through their invective. “A neighbor warned Mrs. Harmon you two were seen running through the backyard yesterday. It looked suspicious to them.

  “Since she’s in charge until Detective Corbitt returns from his trip, she called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There were no missionaries proselytizing on this street yesterday. At that point, she called the police.

  “You have the right to remain silent. If you can’t retain an attorney, one will be provided. Take them downtown and book them. I’ll check in later.”

  Grady let go of the breath he’d been holding.

  Only Captain Willis and Matt had known he’d pretended to go on vacation. The captain was a straight arrow if ever there was one. But until Matt was willing to show his face in front of these criminals just now, Grady hadn’t been certain his partner wasn’t involved in the conspiracy against his wife.

  He put his gun back in his holster and stayed in the den until the house emptied. Matt wasn’t long in joining him.

  “Thanks for covering for me the way you did.”

  Matt smiled. “Anytime. We now know they were taking orders from someone else.”

  Grady nodded, but his pleasure was short-lived.

  “What’s eating you?”

  “I’m positive those thugs were sent to find out if I kept copies of Susan’s disks with the accounts on them.”

  “Captain Willis told me as much.”

  “Matt—no one knew we were going on vacation except the friends Brett phoned to let them know we were leaving.”

  They stared at each other. “What is it we say about most rapes being committed by someone the victim knew?”

  “I don’t even want to think it, but there it is.”

  “Do you know which friends he called?”

  “He told Mike Stevens first because Mike came over to the house before Brett got on the phone.”

  “Let’s talk to Brett right now.”

  “I’ll bring everyone down. They have to know.” He paused at the door. “I’ve told Susan that you and Jennifer are our friends, but you’re going to find it a strange experience when she looks at you as if you’re a stranger.”

  Matt’s brows furrowed. “I don’t know how you’ve dealt with it.”

  “It was hell at first, but she’s had some flashbacks.”

  “Then she’ll probably have total recall one of these days.”

  “That’s what I’m praying for.”

  He left the room and raced up the stairs. When he reached the bedroom, its three occupants got to their feet, wearing anxious expressions. His gaze met Susan’s.

  “It’s over,” he assured them. “The two men were caught without a problem.”

  “I knew you’d do it!” Brett shouted.

  “We can thank Mrs. Harmon here for baiting the hook. The SWAT team did the rest.”

  Susan didn’t look reassured. “Isn’t there a risk that the person who sent these men will hire more thugs to harm us?”

  “Possibly,” Grady said. “We’ll have to be extra careful from here on out. Let’s go downstairs.”

  SUSAN WANTED TO KNOW the details of the capture, but she would have to ask Grady about them later. She was doubly thankful those men had been caught. An immediate menace had been taken care of. It also meant she and her husband would have the bedroom to themselves from now on.

  “You’re wonderful, Mrs. Harmon.”

  The older woman laughed. “I’ve read thrillers for years. Now I’ve had a taste of the real thing.”

  Grady made no response to her comment, and Susan sensed something was wrong. When they followed him into the den and she discovered a brown-haired man with a tennis player’s physique waiting for them, she thought she understood.

  This had to be Matt Ross, the detective who’d hidden in the back of Mrs. Harmon’s car to get inside the house. The man who, before the explosion, had found Susan attractive enough to add to his wife, Jennifer’s, insecurity.

  Grady must’ve had a reason for telling Susan something so unpleasant. Did he think she’d gotten a job because she was secretly in love with Matt and could meet him without anyone knowing?

  Had he hoped to jar her memory with such information?

  The detective might be nice-looking, but did Grady honestly think any man besides him could interest her?

  Surely he didn’t harbor some fear that she and Matt had been having an affair, did he?

  Determined to fight for her marriage, she moved to Grady’s side and slid her arm around his waist. “Who’s this?”

  A strong arm wrapped around her shoulder. “I’ll introduce you,” he murmured, hugging her close. A feeling not unlike an electric current ran through her body.

  “Susan, this is an old friend of ours, Detective Matt Ross.”

  She extended her hand. “How do you do.”

  He appeared stunned before shaking it. “I’m aware you don’t remember me, but I have to tell you it’s absolutely incredible to see you alive. You look more beautiful than ever.”

  “Thank you. Your compliment reminds me of something that happened on the night Brett and Grady came to the apartment where I was rooming with some friends from work.

  “For six months I’d been living with no idea of who I was or where I’d come from. My life was a blank. It terrified me. I could have been a fugitive, or a chorus girl who’d fallen on hard times. Anything.” Her voice trembled.

  “Then this detective came to the door, asking me to step out in the hall. He introduced me to the blond boy I’d seen on the stairs at the Etoile.

  “I couldn’t imagine what they wanted until Brett told me I was his mom.” Tears filled her eyes. “He showed me a family album. Grady was in all the pictures with us. That’s when I realized he was my husband.

  “You’ll never know the thrill of that moment. Not only because I found out I belonged to a family, but that I belonged to them, to that boy, to that wonderful man who was handsome beyond my dreams.”

  “Oh, Susan…” Mrs. Harmon burst into tears. “That’s the most beautiful story I ever heard.” The next thing she knew, they were both hugging and crying.

  Matt said something, but Susan didn’t hear it. She was too busy reacting to the warmth of Grady’s smile as he stared
at her over the housekeeper’s shoulder.

  I love you, Grady. You must know that.

  “Why don’t we all sit down,” he suggested. “There’s something we have to talk about. Matt needs to hear it because he’s in charge of this investigation.”

  Susan reached for Brett, and they sat on the couch next to Mrs. Harmon.

  “Brett?”

  “Yes, Dad?”

  “Before Matt leaves, tell him the names of the friends you phoned to let them know we were going out of town.”

  Brett looked at Susan before he said, “How come?”

  “I’ll get to that in a minute.”

  “I called Dave, Jack and Ken. Greg wasn’t home, but I told his mom.”

  Grady turned to Matt. “Dave’s father is Walter Thomas, a fire insurance underwriter for a lot of buildings and hotels, including the Etoile. Hank Openshaw, Jack’s father, owns Openshaw Design, a company that decorates many of the hotel interiors. He designed the French restaurants for the Etoile.

  “We can rule out Ken’s father, Mark Gray. He’s a vet. Greg’s father, Spencer Crowley, is vice-president of Southern Nevada Bank and Trust. It has major dealings with the Etoile. Mike’s father, Jim Stevens, is the owner of Stevens Construction. His company has done a lot of building in Las Vegas, including the Etoile.”

  Matt wrote down everything Grady dictated.

  “What’s going on, Dad?”

  “I think I’ll let Matt tell you.” He moved behind the couch and put a hand on their shoulders.

  In a matter-of-fact voice, Matt said, “We have proof that one of the men who broke in this afternoon was the same man who drove the van that killed David Beck. He was the accountant whose place your mother took at the CPA firm.”

  Susan gasped.

  “Someone who gives the orders was so afraid of what your mother would find, he had her killed—or so he thought. It’s your father’s theory, and I agree with him, that since the explosion this person has been waiting for the opportunity to get into your house to see if there’s any evidence that could still be used against him.

  “He couldn’t try earlier because you didn’t go away until this week. Plus your father’s work schedule is somewhat erratic and sometimes he’s home during the day. Now we come to the hard part.”

  “What is it?” Brett asked.

  “The person responsible for the explosion that supposedly killed your mother has to be one of the people who knew you were going out of town. That would be Captain Willis, me, the SWAT team, Mrs. Harmon or the parent of one of your friends.”

  Susan glanced at her son. When the significance of the detective’s words sank in, Brett’s face blanched. She bowed her head, heartsick for him and ill at the knowledge that someone who knew their family well had been willing to murder her.

  Grady squeezed her shoulder gently.

  Matt drew closer to Brett. “What I’d like you to do for me is try to remember if any of your friends’ parents have been particularly interested in your life since your mom supposedly died. Have any of them asked specific questions about you and your dad? About your mother’s work?

  “I don’t mean you have to do that right now. During the rest of the week, something may come to your mind. Let your dad know and he’ll get in touch with me.”

  The tension had been building in Brett. Susan could feel his body go rigid. Suddenly he got to his feet. The torment in his eyes shattered her.

  “It couldn’t be any of them!” He shook his head wildly. “It just couldn’t!”

  He ran out of the den.

  “Excuse me.” Susan patted Mrs. Harmon’s hand, flashed Grady a signal of distress, then hurried after her son.

  Thankful there wasn’t a lock on Brett’s bedroom door, she opened it and walked over to the bed where he lay sobbing. She sat down next to him and rubbed his back.

  “Darling? There’s one other explanation Detective Ross didn’t mention. Maybe the person who tried to kill me saw me in the car when you were driving me home from the apartment. It’s possible, if he’d been tailing your father since the explosion.

  “In that case, he could’ve seen you and your dad drive away the day we went to the mall and never come back. With them gone, he had those two men get into the house while Mrs. Harmon was here.”

  Ten minutes must have passed before Brett muttered, “You don’t really believe that.”

  “I wouldn’t have said it if I didn’t think it was a possibility.”

  “I’m not a child, Mom. You’re only saying that to try to make me feel better when we both know it had to be one of my friends’ dads. There’s no other explanation.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  YOUR DAD’S NOT ON DUTY tonight?

  No.

  I thought he told me he was, and that’s why he couldn’t come to dinner with us. I guess I was mistaken.

  Dad doesn’t like going places anymore, not without Mom.

  I’ve noticed. He hasn’t come to any parties at our house. Ellen and I have missed him. What a shame. It must be tough on you. Maybe you guys should sleep over at our place.

  It’s okay, Mr. Stevens. Dad wants Mike to come. It’s just that when he gets home from work, he doesn’t feel like leaving the house again.

  Eventually, that’ll change.

  “Darling? What is it? Where’s the son who used to talk to me about everything?”

  The hairs on Brett’s arms stood on end. What the heck?

  “Mom?” He sat straight up and stared at her. There was a look in her eyes that hadn’t been there before….

  “I remember you,” she cried. “Oh, Brett, darling, I remember you!”

  She crushed him in her arms so hard it hurt. “I remember our last talk. You were upset because Ken and Mike went to the sports-car show without you. And I told you that as your friends grew older, that would happen more and more because you were all becoming more independent.”

  Those were his mom’s exact words. She was back. His mom was back!

  He pulled away far enough to look at her. “Do you remember Dad?”

  Her eyes glistened. “Not yet. I don’t understand it.”

  Brett swallowed hard. “Then I’m not going to tell him about this. It hurts him too much when you don’t remember him. We’ll keep it a secret for now.”

  “Keep what a secret?”

  Hearing his father’s voice prompted Brett to roll off the bed. He stood up to face his father, who’d entered the room.

  “I didn’t want you to know what I just told Mom because I was afraid you’d say I was crazy. But I guess I have to tell you now.” He could feel his mother wince.

  “We can’t have any secrets in this house, Brett. You know that. Not after everything you and I have been through.”

  Brett nodded. “I think I know who did this to Mom.”

  “Who?”

  “I never really liked him, anyway.”

  “Just tell me.”

  “Mr. Stevens.”

  The room went quiet.

  “Mrs. Harmon said the same thing before she drove Matt to her house, where he parked his car,” his dad murmured. “Before I tell you what she told me, I’d like to hear why you think Jim did it. Don’t forget there are three other fathers we know personally who have business connections to the Etoile. They would’ve had equal opportunity to commit fraud.”

  “I know, but I was thinking about what Detective Ross said. None of the parents except Mike’s ever ask me questions or bring up stuff that makes me uncomfortable.”

  His dad pulled the chair away from Brett’s desk and sat down in front of him. “Like what?”

  “A whole bunch of things. After the memorial service for Mom, he kept saying you and I ought to go away on a vacation and try to forget the pain.

  “I knew he was trying to be nice, but when he kept it up and kept it up, it started to make me mad because I knew you didn’t want to go anywhere, not even to Grandma’s or Uncle Todd’s.

  “The thing is, I don’t t
hink Mr. Stevens loves Mrs. Stevens the way you love Mom. If he’s not working, he always has to be going somewhere or having parties, taking business trips. Mike used to complain that he never saw his dad do private stuff with his mom. I mean—”

  “I know what you mean, Brett.”

  “Well, anyway, I bet if Mrs. Stevens died, he’d feel bad, but he’d still go on doing all those things. It seemed to bug him that you never wanted to go over to their house for parties or do anything after work like swim at family hour.

  “The other night when he took me and Mike to dinner at the Etoile, it was like he was giving me the third degree or something.”

  “Tell me exactly what he said.”

  His dad’s voice only got that scary tone when he was working on a case he was about to crack.

  Without hesitation Brett relayed the whole conversation. When he’d finished, he saw his parents exchange solemn glances.

  “You know what Mrs. Harmon thinks?”

  “What?”

  “Over the months she’s noticed a pattern of Ellen phoning to try and get us to spend time at their house. The other parents have extended invitations now and then, but not with the same persistent regularity. Mrs. Harmon believes Jim mowed the lawn with Mike to make sure we really had gone away.”

  “I already figured that out, Dad. If you hadn’t brought the key in the house, he probably would’ve told Mike to open the door for him with some excuse about needing to use the bathroom.”

  His father nodded. “Mike phoned you earlier today. He told Mrs. Harmon he wanted to call you at the hotel in Disney World.”

  “What did she say?”

  “That we were on a cruise.”

  “I bet his dad put him up to it. Mr. Stevens is evil!” he cried angrily. “He tried to kill Mom!”

  Before Brett could credit it, both his parents had their arms around him. “Darling,” his mother said, “it sounds like Mike’s father could be the one, but we don’t have proof. What if it isn’t Mr. Stevens?”

  “Your mother’s right. Too many people jump to conclusions based on circumstantial evidence. That’s all this is until the Drummond account leads us to the culprit.”