“I think you should tell Tony about this,” he said. “I don’t like the rage in his voice.”
“I don’t, either. But it makes me more determined to help Susan. I can’t let him keep a child.”
“What can you do?”
“Breakfast first,” she said.
She led the way upstairs and showed him into the kitchen. She had eggs out, and milk, cheese and tomatoes.
“Got bacon or ham?”
She did, and it took him only a few minutes to make the omelet. “I don’t use milk,” he said, “just a touch of olive oil.” She watched as he whipped up the eggs to a frothy mixture, then carefully poured it into a hot frying pan. When the eggs had firmed on one side, he added the other ingredients and neatly folded the mixture over and flipped it. In another two minutes it was ready.
She inserted bread in the toaster and placed honey and jam on the small table in the kitchen. She poured coffee and orange juice.
They both ate in comfortable silence, which was more satisfying than words. They weren’t necessary. He would look at her, and she would smile, and that made his heart soar.
When they finished, they took the dishes to the sink, rinsed them, then put them in the dishwasher. She refilled the coffee cups, then led the way into the living room.
“Remember, I told you how he stole the $50,000 I had from selling the practice in Pittsburgh?”
“You didn’t say how much.”
“It wasn’t a lot for a practice as prices go, but my mentor—who was also my best friend—gave away a lot of services, and I did, too. We weren’t in a wealthy part of town. People loved their pets, but they didn’t have enough money for spaying and shots. We did a lot of stuff free or at below cost, and he also donated services to an animal shelter. The building was leased so basically all I sold was equipment and a client base, but I thought it was enough to buy into a practice in Boston. I didn’t want to depend financially on Mark.”
“But he made you dependent,” Clint guessed.
“Yes, except I didn’t see it right away.” Her voice was matter of fact, but he saw the strain in her face.
“What are you thinking?” he asked. He knew it was something, which was probably why she asked him to come over.
“Mark was a vice president in the investment arm of the bank. He knew everyone who was anyone in Boston. I think he steered investments to a friend of his, Michael Donnell, who supposedly invested in gas and oil wells with huge dividends for the investors. Without my approval, Mark put my money into the fund. Two years later when we were divorced, I discovered my balance was about ten dollars. The gas wells that I supposedly invested in did not pan out. However, others were doing well. Too bad for me.”
Clint’s eyes narrowed. “I think I would like to meet this guy.” It wouldn’t be a pleasant meeting.
“I know. Mark convinced the judge he’d warned me it was a risk, but that I had insisted on it. Somehow my name was on the transaction. I never signed it. When I protested, he paid some men to say they had sex with me. By the time he was through, he was the poor abused husband and I was an unfaithful gold digger.
“The point is,” she continued, “I didn’t ask Susan and David whether she’d had any money going into the marriage, and whether she’d ever heard of Garrett Investments. Now fifty thousand isn’t a lot of money to Mark. He spent money like it was candy after Halloween, but I don’t think his salary was large enough to cover all the donations and contributions he made. I know from comments that the family money was almost gone.”
Clint took her hand.
“I’m ashamed now I didn’t fight harder, but by then, I simply wanted to get out, and I didn’t have money for a good attorney or the financial experts I would need.”
He listened intently. “Have you looked up Garrett Investments?”
“I tried to then. It’s a private entity.”
“Why don’t you call David and see whether he knows if Susan’s family has ever invested in them?” Clint sat back and looked at her.
“Good idea. I’ll call David now.”
* * *
DAVID ANSWERED IMMEDIATELY. He’d obviously been waiting.
“Stephanie,” he said.
“Hello, David.”
He got right to the point. “Townsend called Susan and went ballistic, said she would never see her daughter again. I sent Susan to stay in a cottage owned by my cousin. But there’s a preliminary hearing on custody next week.”
“Maybe you should call me at a different number,” she said.
There was a long silence. Then, “What number should I call?”
She gave him Tony’s cell number and asked him to wait for fifteen minutes. She figured Tony’s was the safest number. It had occurred to her that maybe the guy who was taking photographs might also have been able to tap into her phone. She was probably paranoid but better safe than sorry.
She hung up and told Clint about the conversation. “If Bolling was able to tap into the system and tries to locate the owner of that number, he’ll discover it’s the police chief. That should give him something to think about.”
She punched Tony’s number and told him she needed to see him immediately. “Clint will make you an omelet,” she added.
“I’ll be there. Tell Clint to start the grub. I want to hear everything, especially the phone call from your ex.”
“What about the guy you have in jail?”
“He’s still there. The magistrate is still fishing. I told him not to rush back. In the meantime, I’m getting lots of phone calls from Boston attorneys who think they can push a small-town police chief around. I’m rather enjoying it.”
“Good,” she said.
“I’m on my way over to you.”
When she hung up, Clint looked amused. “I heard you offering my culinary excellence.”
“As far as omelets go.” She grinned. “I haven’t tasted anything else.”
“Is that a challenge?”
“Just an observation.”
He stood and kissed her long and hard. “How’s that for heating something up?”
“Mmm,” she murmured. “I like that. I’m not so sure that Tony would, though. Better get cooking.”
“No reason until he arrives.” He ran his hand down her cheek.
The doorbell rang.
“Damn,” he said. “Faster, or hungrier, than I thought.”
“I’ll open the door. You can start the omelet.”
“I hope this won’t turn into a habit. Cooking for all your friends. I mean. Not kissing.”
The bell rang again.
Clint grumbled, but he went into the kitchen as she ran down to open the door.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
IT WASN’T TONY.
By the time she got downstairs to unlock the door, she saw a delivery truck disappearing down the street and a package leaning against the door.
She picked it up and took it inside her office. She cut the wrapping and looked inside. Roses. Yellow roses. There was no card. But they were what Mark had always given her after an argument. She had come to hate them, and he knew it.
Chills ran down her arm. He was telling her he knew where she lived, that he could reach her.
There was a national florist’s name on the box. She would give it to Tony.
Just then, she heard knocking on her door. Tony.
He noticed the flowers on the counter. “An admirer?”
“No card, but I’m sure they came from Mark Townsend. One of my last comments to him was that I hated yellow roses. He always sent them after an argument. He’s telling me he not only knows my number but where I live.”
“He has to know we have his private investigator.”
“Another warning,�
� she said. “But neither the flowers nor the phone call are overt enough to cause him legal problems.”
“Bastard,” Tony said.
“Wait until you hear his telephone call. But have breakfast first. Clint’s omelet should be ready and you don’t want it to get cold.” She led the way up the stairs, and into the kitchen. The plate was on the table with napkin, knife and fork. Clint had poured cups of coffee. Everyone took a seat.
Tony didn’t speak until he had finished eating. “You ought to open an omelet shop or something.”
“Nope. Just make them for friends.”
“I’m damn happy I’m a friend, then.” Tony pushed back his chair. “I want to hear the call.”
Stephanie gave him the phone, and Tony listened. His mouth grew grimmer.
He looked at Stephanie. “He sounds like he’s spiraling out of control.”
“Susan’s attorney is calling me shortly on your number. I want to know if she made any investments on his advice and if so, what happened. I also want to know more about that fund.”
Tony listened, then said, “I talked to Tom McGuire and asked him to make some queries for me. He knows people I don’t, and he knows people who know people.”
“I met him at Josh’s,” Clint said.
“Then you know he was police chief until I took over temporarily two months ago. He was also with the state police and was with the sheriff’s office of this county. He has contacts in nearly every law enforcement agency. I asked him to check with friends on our guest in jail. Bolling’s an ex-cop with the Boston Police Department. He was ‘retired’ because of several charges of brutality.”
Stephanie’s mouth dropped. “How did he get a private investigator license?”
“He was never convicted of anything. It was handled internally.”
Tony’s phone rang. It was David Matthews.
Tony turned it on speaker and handed it to Stephanie who answered. “David, you’re on speaker. With me are police chief Tony Keller and a friend, Clint Morgan. They heard your message this morning, and Mark’s. We have some questions. Okay?”
“Go ahead,” David said.
“I received a call warning me not to interfere and this morning received a bouquet of roses from him. I don’t think there’s much doubt he intended it as a threat. And now I’m all in with you. I’ll do anything you need. But I have a question. Did Susan have any money coming into the marriage, money that disappeared in an investment fund?”
“She had a trust fund that came to her when she married. A hundred thousand dollars from her grandfather. I’ve made queries. Mark said it’s gone. A bad investment.”
She couldn’t believe Mark would be so reckless as to do the same thing again. Except it had been years since she disappeared, and since it worked once, maybe it would work twice. Or was it only once or twice? How many investors had been cheated in the same way?
“Have you checked on the investment company?” she asked.
“Haven’t had time. He just sprang that on us when we asked for assets. That’s when we heard that she was an unfit mother and he was filing for sole custody. He obviously wants to use Melissa as a bargaining chip.”
Tony looked at Stephanie. “How far do you think he might go?”
“I don’t know, but I do know he’s a pathological liar.”
“Family?”
“Old money at one time, but I think most of it is gone now. Father died of a heart attack when Mark was a teenager. That was one reason I was drawn to him. His mother dotes on him. She’s very respected, and she didn’t exactly approve of me. I was an outsider and, God forbid, I worked with my hands. She was icily polite.”
“She was all kindness to Susan,” David said.
“Susan is from Boston and didn’t work with her hands. And Mrs. Townsend did want grandchildren.”
“Well,” David said. “She has one.”
“What can we do for you?” she asked.
“Testify at a hearing about Mark hitting you.”
“There’s no proof. I didn’t go to the hospital.”
“Still, I’m hoping to find some others. There’s rumors he patronized a gentleman’s club.”
“Why am I not surprised?”
“I’ll see what I can discover about Susan’s ‘investment.’”
“And we’ll see what we can do to nudge authorities to look into it,” Tony said.
They hung up then. “I’m calling a council of war,” Tony said. “I think we should include Tom, Eve and Josh.”
“How much longer can you keep Bolling in jail?”
“He’s been charged so we can keep him until arraignment, but I would rather not be forced into letting him go. Maybe two more days at most.”
“He’s not saying anything?”
“Oh, he’s saying a lot, just not about Townsend. He’s going to sue us for not taking him to the hospital.”
“How in the hell has someone like Townsend continued to be a hero in Boston?” Clint asked.
“Same reason I looked up to him for a while,” Stephanie said. “He’s dynamic, successful and very good with people who can help him. He comes from a respected family, which means a lot in Boston, and he has great manners. Problem is that under all the shining tin is a sociopath. We can’t let him get custody of Susan’s daughter.”
“Tom will have some ideas,” Tony said, then turned to Clint. “I do know that Stephanie shouldn’t be alone.”
“It will be a hardship, but I’ll stay with her,” Clint said with a straight face.
“I have Sherry and Stryker. I don’t need anyone.”
“Do you have a gun?”
“Yes,” she said.
“Clint?” Tony asked.
“No. Left all that back in Afghanistan.”
“But I take it you know how to use one.”
He nodded.
“I’ll loan you one. I don’t suppose you have a carry permit?”
“No.”
“I’ll make you a temporary deputy then, if that’s okay with you.”
Clint raised an eyebrow, then nodded. “I’ll do anything I can.”
“I’ll call Tom and Eve and see whether we can’t get together later this afternoon.”
“I...” she began. “Clint and I were planning to go riding this afternoon out at Eve’s so any time is good for me.”
Tony nodded. “I’ll call you when I get Eve. They’re probably at church now.”
He left and Stephanie looked at Clint. He took her in his arms and held her. “I’m sorry,” they both said at the same time. That wry lopsided smile shot straight into her heart. She couldn’t believe she was already giving at least half of that organ to him. Not after she’d sworn never to do that again.
But then she’d never met anyone like Clint before.
There was no pretense about him. It had taken her a while to understand that what she saw was what she got. Smart, but unimpressed by it. And she loved the way he laughed at himself.
He was the total opposite of Mark who always had to be the center of attention, who wouldn’t dream of going out of the house without wearing a tie and who took himself very seriously.
She looked at her watch. As Tony had said, Eve and Nick, and maybe Josh, were probably still in church. It amused her at how quickly Josh, the iconic loner, had fallen so easily into the role of family man.
“Let’s go for that ride,” she said. “I need some fresh air.”
“What about the dogs?”
“We can take them with us. I need to take Lulu to Nick anyway. Bart can see his friends. Sherry and Stryker can run along with us.”
“Run? We’re going to run? Like we were going to roll a cow?”
She was enchanted by him. No one made her laug
h like he did. “Well, maybe a slow run,” she conceded.
They cleaned up the kitchen together, then climbed into her van with the dogs.
They passed families walking home from church or going by the Dairy Queen or walking to Maude’s for sandwiches in the park. She knew every single one of them, and she hated the idea of possibly bringing violence to town. It would be her fault. Her very faulty decision eight years earlier.
“This is by far the most peaceful place I’ve ever lived,” he said, and she realized he was thinking the same thing.
They reached the house, and saw both the Jeep and Eve’s pickup.
The dogs started barking inside and Stryker did the same. Sherry was too mannerly and Bart too fearful to reply. But once they were at the door, Nick came out to meet them.
Stephanie held Lulu and put her in Nick’s arms. His face lit up as he hugged her. “She’s beautiful,” he said.
“Are you going to rename her?”
“Naw, I like Lulu.” He put her down and hugged Bart. “I’ll always love you, too,” he said, and Bart gave him a big sloppy kiss, then returned to his place beside Clint.
Eve smiled and nodded to Stephanie. All was good. They went inside.
“I thought you would be in church,” Stephanie said.
“We decided to be lazy today,” Eve said. “Josh and Nick went up to a stream at daybreak and caught some trout. We’re going to have them for dinner. There’s plenty for you guys, too. Josh is in back, cleaning them.”
“Have you heard from Tony this morning?” Stephanie asked, moving out of Nick’s hearing.
“No. Is there a problem?”
Stephanie nodded. “He wants to meet with you, Josh and Tom McGuire this afternoon. My ex-husband is apparently stalking me, or else trying to frighten me into crawling away.”
“Does this have to do with your visitors and the man in jail?”
“I think so.”
“Then why don’t we make this a fish fry and invite Tony and Tom over,” Eve said.
“Thanks. I thought I would try to teach Clint to ride. We need to get some air. Okay if he takes Beauty?”
“Sure. You know they’re available to you any time. Maybe Nick...”
Tempted by the Soldier Page 25
