by Gayle Trent
“No, I don’t still have feelings for him. But that doesn’t mean I hope someone gunned him down in his hotel room just as he was trying to rebuild his life. I wish the best for Todd, just as I hope he wishes the best for me.”
“Gee, that’s awfully magnanimous of you, especially given the fact that the guy scared you so badly yesterday that you had to get an emergency order of protection.”
“I wanted Todd to leave me alone. I didn’t want something bad to happen to him. I honestly hope no harm has come to him and the body in the morgue belongs to somebody else.”
“Really? I mean, you can be straight up with me, Daphne—this conversation isn’t being recorded or anything.” He braked at a stop sign and turned fully in my direction. “After what that man put you through. I mean, he took a shot at you—could’ve killed you—you don’t wish him any harm?”
I blew out a breath before meeting McAfee’s eyes. “No, sir, I don’t. I only want to live my life in peace.”
“Huh.” He checked to make sure no traffic was coming in either direction and then pulled out. “You’re a better person than I am. I don’t think I’d feel so warm and fuzzy about someone who’d taken a shot at me.”
“Todd and I were married. We had some good times, at least, at the early part of our marriage.” I tried to recall some of those good times, but for the life of me, I couldn’t get any of those memories to surface. All I could think about was Todd in my kitchen yesterday, his face inches from mine, his strong hands close enough to be able to wrap them around my throat.
* * *
Officer McAfee’s strong right arm steadied me as he led me out of the morgue. I’d nearly fainted when I saw Todd’s body. The things that went through my mind as I stared down at the dead man that I’d once loved so many years ago, the man that I didn’t love anymore.
I felt guilty for no longer loving him and regretted ever loving him in the first place. I was sorry that the happiest he’d ever been—as far as I knew—was when he’d played football in college. I hated that his life had ended so soon and so tragically.
I lamented the fact that Todd had spent seven years of his life in prison—and, for the first time ever, I felt partially responsible for that. Yes, he was abusive and controlling and downright mean sometimes, but if I’d never married him, he wouldn’t have shot at me and been hauled off to jail.
Racking my brain, I tried to remember something good about the man who lay on that cold metal slab with three bullet wounds in his upper torso. There had been fun times—tender moments, shared laughter. But, for the life of me, I couldn’t recall a single incident as I stared down at Todd’s ashen face.
After I made the positive identification, McAfee led me to the lobby where I was relieved to see Ben waiting for me. Actually, relieved was an understatement.
He held out his arms, and I practically collapsed into them. He gently sat me down onto one of the vinyl seats, and he sat on the chair next to me.
“It’s all right,” he whispered, stroking my hair. “Everything’s okay.”
I nodded. I wasn’t weeping, but I was cold. In fact, I was shivering, despite the fact that it was eighty degrees outside.
“Let’s get you out of here.” He addressed Officer McAfee. “Is she free to go?”
“Yeah. We’ll let you guys know if there’s anything else we need. Oh, and hey, don’t leave town.”
There it was—the joking that wasn’t. I knew the score. I’d watched Rizzoli & Isles and Criminal Minds. The spouse—or ex-spouse—was always the prime suspect. I suffered no delusions that the Brea Ridge Police Department didn’t have me under a microscope.
Ben helped me to my feet and, keeping his arm firmly around my waist, directed me toward the exit.
When I shivered, he moved his hand up to rub my arm. “You’re freezing.”
“It’s the air conditioner in here. I’ll be fine once we get into the sunshine.” It was the anxiety, and we both knew it. Still, it would be wonderful to get out of that morgue.
He opened the passenger side door of his Jeep, and I climbed inside. He got in, started the car, and the air conditioner was cranked. He quickly turned it off.
“Thanks,” I said.
We drove in silence for a minute or two. Then he asked, “How are you feeling?”
“I’m not sure.” I squeezed his hand. “Thank you for coming after me. How did you even know I was there?”
“A friend on the force called me.”
“Did he tell you anything else about the case? Were there any witnesses? Was anybody seen leaving Todd’s hotel room either last night or this morning?”
He didn’t answer.
I looked over at his profile and saw a muscle working in his jaw. “Ben, what is it?”
“It’s… They don’t know much at this point.”
“But there’s something. And you know what it is. Please tell me.”
Ben bit his lower lip. “We’ll talk about all this later, Daph. You just identified your ex-husband’s body. You don’t need to be thinking about his murder right now.”
“That’s all I can think about,” I said. “That and the fact that the police are bound to think I had something to do with it. Sweetheart, please, tell me if you know something I don’t.”
“Did Officer McAfee mention anything to you about the crime scene?”
“Only that Todd was killed in his hotel room. Why?”
Ben took a deep breath. “It appears that Todd had started writing your name on the wall…in blood…when he died.”
* * *
When we got to my house, I was surprised and concerned to see my dad’s car in the driveway. I got out of the Jeep as soon as Ben put it in park and hurried inside.
“Dad? Is everything all right?”
“Hey, little girl.” He got up from the table where he’d been sitting with Myra and my Uncle Hal and enveloped me in a hug. He smelled like the spicy cologne he’d worn for as long as I could remember.
He and Uncle Hal looked so much alike with their snowy white hair and blue eyes. But Uncle Hal was two years older and quite a bit bigger. He’d always reminded me of a protective bear. When I was a little girl, I’d thought that if I hid behind him, nothing could hurt me. If only things were really that simple.
“What is it?” I asked. “Is it Mom?”
“No, sweetie. We’re here for you,” he said. “Violet told us what happened yesterday. And Myra filled us in on the rest.”
“I’m sorry.” Wrapped in my dad’s arms, I finally began to cry. “I’m so sorry.”
“Shhh. It’s all over now.”
“No, it’s not.” I shook my head. “It’s not over.”
“Come on.” He propelled me into the living room. “Why don’t we all go in here and relax while we’re waiting for Mr. Haynes to get back with that heating element?”
“I’ll get Daphne some tea,” Myra said.
I drew in a shuddering breath. “I’d prefer water, please.”
“Water it is.” She brought me a bottle of water from the fridge.
Dad, Ben, and I sat on the sofa. Uncle Hal sat on the pink and white checkered chair, and Myra sat on the ottoman. No one spoke until I’d dried my tears. Myra thoughtfully slipped into the bathroom and brought me a warm washcloth so I could wash my face, and Ben retrieved the lightweight cotton throw from the back of the couch and draped it over my shoulders.
“Hi, Uncle Hal,” I said at last.
“Hey, sweetie.”
“You look funny sitting in that girly chair.”
He grinned. “Don’t I though?”
“You want to talk about it?” Dad asked.
“It was him.” That’s all I could say at the moment. “It was Todd.”
“I think it was dreadful the way they dragged you down there and made you look at him,” said Myra. “Why couldn’t they have brought a photograph or something here to the house?”
“I believe they wanted to gauge my reaction, Myra.” At my
words, everyone stared at me, except Ben, who looked down at the carpet. “One of the police officers told Ben that before Todd died, he started writing my name on the wall using his blood.”
Myra gasped while the men looked grim.
“Why would he do that?” Dad asked.
“I imagine the police believe he was identifying his killer.” I rested my head against the back of the sofa.
“But you were with me and Officer McAfee right after Todd was here,” Myra said. “Then you were at the police station, then with me and China, and then with Violet and her family all night long. Your alibi is airtight! I’ll swear to it.”
“Thanks.” I smiled slightly. “I appreciate that.”
“And I know Violet and Jason will too,” she continued. “This is ridiculous. I’m going over to the house and calling Mark. We need some help on this.”
Before any of us could react, she was out the front door.
My parents, Uncle Hal, and Aunt Nancy lived two hours away near Roanoke. It dawned on me that it was unusual for them to be here, and I said as much.
“Well, darlin’, Vi called your mother last night while you and the little ones were in the kitchen baking cookies or something,” Dad said. “She fussed at your mom for giving Todd your address. Your sister also let her know that she didn’t appreciate the fact that he came to see Lucas and Leslie.”
“So I guess that’s why Mom isn’t here?”
“She and your Aunt Nancy will be down later today,” Uncle Hal chimed in. “Your dad and I got in the car and came down last night.”
“You did what?” My eyes widened. I looked from Uncle Hal to Dad.
“We did,” Dad confirmed. “I called Hal as soon as Gloria told me what was going on, and we rode down here to make sure Todd didn’t cause any more trouble.”
“But where did you stay?”
The two brothers looked at each other and then quickly away.
“Dad?” I urged.
“We didn’t stay anywhere.”
I looked at Uncle Hal. “What did you do? Drive around all night?”
“For a lot of it, yeah.” He shrugged.
My mouth went dry, and I took a drink of the water Myra had brought me. “Did you find him?” My voice emerged as a croak.
“Yeah. Or, at least, we found the truck,” said Uncle Hal. “Then we parked in the row behind it at the hotel and slept in the car.”
Dad nodded. “We knew that if he came out and got in that truck, one of us would wake up.”
“And then what?”
“We were going to call the police and then follow Todd.” Dad took my hand. “My family was in danger. You think I was going to go to bed two hours away and let God-knows-what happen to you?”
“Thanks. You too, Uncle Hal.”
He merely inclined his head.
“Did you guys happen to notice anyone going into or coming out of Todd’s room?” Ben asked.
“No,” said Dad. “But that doesn’t mean that Todd wasn’t dead and his killer already gone by the time we got there.”
I was suddenly really glad that Myra had gone to call Mark. I needed all the help I could get.
CHAPTER SEVEN
There was a knock at the side door. I hoped it was Myra and Mark, but it was McElroy Haynes. I was still glad. I desperately needed my oven fixed.
“Are you Daphne?” he asked in a voice as rough as sandpaper.
“I am, Mr. Haynes. I’m sorry I wasn’t here to meet you earlier.”
“That’s all right. Ms. Jenkins was here. You dad and uncle were too.” His eyes darted around the room. “They still here?”
“My dad and Uncle Hal are. Myra had to go home.”
“Well, I’ve got your heating element. All I have to do is hook it up and make sure it’s working.”
“Great,” I said. “Thank you. If you don’t mind, I’ll return to the living room so I won’t be in your way. Let me know if you need anything.”
“Will do.”
Within a few minutes, Mr. Haynes was calling me back into the kitchen.
“I need you to turn the breaker to the oven back on, so I can plug in the element and make sure it’s working before I leave.”
“All right.” I went to the closet where the breaker box was located and flipped the switch.
I came back, and Mr. Haynes had plugged the oven back in and had turned it on. The element began smoking.
“Oh, no!” I rubbed my forehead.
“Good grief, calm down! It’s just the coating put on the element by the manufacturer.” The grizzled old man glared at me. “That’s a sign the thing’s working.”
“The smoke’s not a big deal then,” Uncle Hal said from the hallway.
Mr. Haynes’ eyes widened. “Not a big deal at all!” He forced a chuckle. “Perfectly natural. Of course, you wouldn’t have known that, Daphne. I can see why it might’ve caused you some concern.” He handed me his invoice.
“Let me get my checkbook.”
“Well, you can pay me now or you can mail the check. Whatever’s best for you is fine with me.”
“I’ll go ahead and pay you.” I passed by Uncle Hal. He was trying hard not to laugh. And Uncle Hal isn’t a guy who laughs for no reason. That was curious.
I paid Mr. Haynes, and he left, telling me to be sure and let him know if I had any more trouble with the oven. Before I could get to the bottom of Uncle Hal’s amusement, Myra and Mark came in. They, too, used the side door and came on into the kitchen.
“We saw McElroy leaving,” Myra said. “Did he get your oven fixed?”
“He did. And I don’t know what all the fuss was about him being mean. He was as nice as pie to me.” I remembered his overreaction to my concern over the smoke. “There was a second there that I thought he was going to give me a hard time, but he changed his mind.”
Myra and Uncle Hal burst out laughing, leaving Mark and me to look on in confusion.
“It seems your Uncle Hal and McElroy Haynes have a history,” said Myra.
“It was nothing. And it happened nearly half a century ago.” Uncle Hal gave me a sheepish grin. “McElroy had pinched Nancy on the butt while she was at the water fountain. Well, she and I hadn’t even started going out yet, but I still took it upon myself to defend her honor.”
“You beat him up?”
“I threatened to. To keep from taking a beating, McElroy agreed to back up to that water fountain, turn it on, and get his pants soaked,” he said. “That was first thing in the morning, so he had to go most of the day in soggy britches.”
“What did he say when people asked why his pants were wet?” I asked.
“He told them to shut up.” Uncle Hal shrugged. “Maybe that’s when McElroy really started getting an attitude.”
“But it seems to go away in your uncle’s presence.” Myra winked at me. “Glad you can go back to baking, hon.”
“Me too. But first, maybe we should see what we can do about this other matter.” I turned to Mark. “Thank you so much for coming. Do I need to give you a retainer?”
He shook his head. “Let’s see what we’ve got before we start getting ahead of ourselves.”
I asked them if either of them would like something to drink, they declined, and we went into the living room. I brought a chair from the kitchen and sat there so there’d be room for everyone. Ben got up and got himself a chair so he could sit beside me.
Have I mentioned that I love that guy?
Mark Thompson was a broad-shouldered, basically square-shaped man about Myra’s age. He had a gray buzz cut, bushy eyebrows, and a gravelly voice. His looks were only semi-deceiving. He could be a rough customer when he had to be. As a former police officer turned private investigator, I doubted anyone gave him any guff. But he was as nice as could be.
After we’d all gotten seated in the living room and I’d introduced him to Dad and Uncle Hal, Mark took a small notepad and pencil from his shirt pocket.
“While I realize you want to
find Todd’s killer and, thus, exonerate yourself, Daphne, we need to ensure that there’s nothing that could tie you to his murder in any way.”
“It’s like I said earlier, she was with somebody nearly all of yesterday and last night,” Myra said.
“Myra, darlin’, I know you’re only being helpful, but why don’t we let Daphne tell us in her own words?” Mark patted her knee to soften the impact.
“Okay. Well, Myra’s right. After I came home and found Todd here, I got away from him as quickly as I could and ran to Myra’s house. I burst through her door without even knocking. Sorry about that, by the way.”
“No problem, hon. I’d have done the same thing in your situation.”
“After you got to Myra’s, what happened?” Mark asked.
“She called the police. Officer McAfee responded to the call, and we went through my house to make sure Todd wasn’t there and to see whether or not he’d taken anything—”
“And had he?”
“Not that I’m aware of,” I said.
“You need to go through your house carefully today—every closet, every drawer, every cabinet—and make sure absolutely nothing is missing.” He leveled his gaze at me. “Understand?”
“Y-yes.”
“Why?” asked Dad.
“It’s important because if Todd took anything from her home, and it’s found on his person or at the crime scene, then it could raise the argument that she had been with him.”
I hadn’t even thought of that. I should’ve done that yesterday while McAfee was here. But I hadn’t known Todd would wind up dead. I wasn’t thinking about the possibility of needing to clear myself as a murder suspect. I hadn’t really cared if Todd had stolen anything from my home or not, as long as he was gone.
Ben sandwiched my right hand between both of his.
Mark cleared his voice. “After you and Officer McAfee went through the house, what did you do?”
“He went to Myra’s house, and I found the note Todd had left on the kitchen table.”
“Did you show the note to McAfee?”
I shook my head. “I threw it away. It wasn’t threatening, and I saw no reason to give it to him. I did tell him about it though.”
