Hometown Girl
Page 21
“DAMN IT!”
Tucker hurled the hammer through the air and grabbed his throbbing thumb. The hammer landed on the asphalt of the driveway with a hollow, clanking sound.
A sound that echoed the emptiness inside him.
He was a damn fool.
All the carpentry projects in the world couldn’t distract him from the disaster he’d created. He could pound on nails all day and all night and it wouldn’t change a thing. He was the one who needed to be pounded.
The devastation on Claire’s face the night before was something he wouldn’t soon forget. He’d destroyed the best thing that had ever happened to him.
Fear and regret had eaten at him during the long, lonely hours of the night. Claire had been right. He’d told himself he’d been waiting for the right time to tell her about his past, that he didn’t want to upset her, but the truth was, he’d been afraid.
Afraid to trust her, afraid to see scorn and fear on her face. Afraid the warmth would disappear from her eyes, replaced by wariness and caution.
And because he was afraid, he’d screwed up, big-time.
He’d kept part of himself hidden, the part he was ashamed of. And he’d lost her because of it.
No, he hadn’t. He wasn’t going to let her get away. He’d get her back if he had to crawl to her on his hands and knees. He’d never crawled to a woman, but he would grovel until she forgave him.
And he’d start right now.
He put his tools away, washed his hands and got into his truck. If Claire thought it was over between them, she hadn’t even begun to learn the meaning of stubborn.
As he drove toward her house, he saw Nick walking down the sidewalk, apparently heading for town. He slowed the truck and rolled down the window.
“Hey, Kendall. You need a ride somewhere?”
Nick looked over at him, his face tight with worry. “You want to give me a ride to town?”
“Sure. Hop in.”
Tucker turned his truck around and glanced over at Nick. “What’s up?”
“Aunt Claire disappeared.”
Tucker’s stomach clenched with fear. “What?”
“I can’t find her. She’s not at home and she didn’t leave me a note. And she’s not answering her cell phone.”
“Maybe she just had to run a few errands,” Tucker said.
Nick shook his head. “We made a deal—” he said, swallowing “—after that time I wanted to stay overnight at Booger’s and couldn’t get hold of her. She said that since she always wanted me to tell her where I was, it was only fair if she did the same thing. She said if I wasn’t home when she left, she’d leave me a note and have her cell phone on. But she didn’t do either one.”
“Maybe she just forgot,” Tucker said.
Nick gave him a scornful look. “Aunt Claire doesn’t forget. If she says she’s going to do something, she does it.”
“You want to go to the police station?” Tucker asked.
Nick slumped, staring out the window, and Tucker saw him swallow three times. “Yeah,” he finally said. “Let’s go to the police station.”
“POLICE. Broderick speaking.” Seth sat up and reached for a pencil, waited for the caller to speak.
“Chief Broderick?”
Seth’s hand tightened on the receiver. The caller’s fear throbbed through the telephone line. “Yes. Who is this, please?”
“This…this is Andrea Vernon,” the woman whispered. “Derek Joiner took Claire Kendall away.”
“What?”
“He made her get in the car with him. He had a gun.”
“Are you sure? Did you see it happen?”
Andrea choked back a sob. “Yes! He was in my house. He made me call Claire and ask her to come over.”
“Hold on.”
Seth put his hand over the mouthpiece and called out, “Someone run Derek Joiner. I need to know what kind of car he’s driving and the plates.” He turned back to the phone. “All right, Mrs. Vernon. Tell me exactly what happened.”
He heard a sniffle. “Derek came to the house and said he needed to talk to Roger. I told him Roger wasn’t home, but he asked me if he could wait. So I let him in.” Her voice trembled. “He hit me in the face. He had a gun. He told me to call Claire and get her over to the house.” She sobbed. “I had no choice,” she said, crying. “He said he would shoot me.”
“How long ago did they leave, Mrs. Vernon?”
“I’m not sure. He said I couldn’t call you.” Her voice broke. “He said he would tell Roger I’d been talking to Claire.”
The pencil snapped in Seth’s hand. “I’m going to send an officer over to your house, Mrs. Vernon,” he said, struggling to keep his voice calm. “I want you to tell her exactly what happened with Joiner this afternoon.” He hesitated, searching for the right words. “The officer will take you anywhere you need to go. All right?”
“Okay.” She hung up the phone in the middle of another sob.
Seth walked into the other room and said to the dispatcher, “Get Rohrmann on the radio.” When the officer’s voice came over the radio, Seth took the microphone from the dispatcher.
“Kinsey, I need you to go over to the Vernon house,” he said, giving her the address. “Mrs. Vernon just called and we have a possible abduction from her premises. Take a report.” His hand tightened on the microphone. “I suspect there might be a domestic situation with the Vernons. Do what you can to convince Mrs. Vernon to go to the shelter.”
“Got it, Chief,” the officer said. “I’m on my way.”
When he handed the microphone back to the dispatcher, she handed him back a piece of paper with the make and model of Derek Joiner’s car and the license plate number.
“Thanks, Josie.” He grabbed his hat and headed out the door. “If anything comes in about the Vernons or Claire Kendall or Derek Joiner, patch it through to me.”
“Yes, sir.” The dispatcher’s eyes were wide as she watched him leave.
He drove over to Derek Joiner’s house and pulled into the driveway. No one answered the door, and Seth went around to look in the garage window. Joiner’s luxury SUV was gone.
Seth checked all the windows and doors, but none of them were unlocked and there was no sign that Joiner was in the house.
He hadn’t expected him to be, but you never knew. Criminals did incredibly stupid things all the time. That’s how most of them were caught.
Seth drove to Claire’s house, made sure Joiner’s truck wasn’t there. He sped through Monroe, checking any place that could possibly hide a fugitive and his captive, but there was no sign of either of them.
Frustrated and worried, he pulled to the curb in front of the police station. As he got out, he saw Fred Denton leaving city hall.
“Hey, Fred,” he called, heading across the street. “Have you seen Derek Joiner today?”
The mayor froze and glanced to either side of him, as if he hoped there was someone else Seth was talking to. By the time Seth reached him, the mayor’s face was flushed and beads of sweat were forming on his upper lip.
“How’re you doing, Chief,” the mayor said, sticking out his hand. When Seth tried to look him in the eye, the mayor’s gaze slid away. “Beautiful day, isn’t it?”
“Not particularly,” Seth said in a hard voice. He caught the mayor’s gaze and held it. Denton quivered like a bug impaled by a pin. “Where’s Joiner, Fred?”
“How would I know?” The mayor’s voice was all bluster. “It’s Saturday. He doesn’t work on Saturday.”
Seth leaned closer. “Joiner is suspected of a serious crime, Denton. If you’re withholding information, you’ll be charged as well.” He paused for a moment, watched the mayor’s face sag with fear. “Do you want to answer my question now?”
“I didn’t have anything to do with Janice Kendall’s accident,” the mayor said, his voice shrill. “I never knew it wasn’t an accident, until—”
The mayor closed his mouth abruptly, as he realized Seth hadn’t
said anything about Janice Kendall.
“We’ll talk about Janice later, Fred. I promise. Now tell me where I can find Joiner.”
“I don’t know.” The mayor licked his lips. “The last I saw him, he was heading out of town.”
“Today?”
Denton nodded. “A little while ago.”
“Was he alone in his car?” Seth leaned closer and the mayor drew back.
“No. There was someone with him.”
“You going to tell me who it was?” Seth asked.
“I’m not sure who it was.”
Seth stared at him until he muttered, “It might have been that Kendall woman.”
“Might have been, Denton?” Seth shifted, rested his hand on his gun.
“I’m pretty sure it was her. It’s hard to miss that dark red hair of hers,” he said with a scowl.
“All right, Denton. As the former police chief, I’m sure you know the drill.” His smile was humorless. “Don’t leave town.”
He was almost in his car when Tucker Hall walked up to him. Nick Kendall was with him, his face drawn and pinched with worry.
“Nick is afraid that something’s happened to his aunt. She’s missing,” Hall said without greeting him. “Do you have any idea where she is?”
Seth glanced at Nick. “I’m aware of the situation.”
“What situation? What do you know?”
Tucker stepped closer, and Seth saw why he’d been feared when he played football. The man oozed menace. “Fred Denton saw her heading out of town with Derek Joiner,” he said, his voice carefully neutral.
Hall’s eyes darkened. “What was she doing with Joiner?”
“I can’t say.”
“Goddammit, tell me what’s going on.”
“Let me handle this,” Seth answered. “Take the kid home. I’ll call as soon as I know something.”
He got into his car and slammed the door. As he pulled out of town, he saw Hall and the kid look at each other. Then they headed for Hall’s truck.
He hoped to God they listened to him.
But based on the look on Tucker Hall’s face, he didn’t think he had a hope in hell of that happening.
Seth accelerated as he left the last houses of Monroe behind him, then switched on the lights and the siren. Now if only he had some idea of where Derek Joiner was headed.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
NICK. AND TUCKER.
Claire could think of nothing else.
If Derek Joiner killed her, Nick would be alone again. And Tucker would never know how she felt about him. He’d never know that she loved him.
“You’re awfully quiet,” Derek said. He raised his eyebrows. “Quite the cool one, aren’t you?”
“I’m just making all the connections, Derek.”
“Is that right?” He looked pleased. “Do you want to tell me how brilliant I was?”
“You’re the one who set the fire in our backyard, aren’t you?”
He frowned. “You were supposed to think it was the kid. You were supposed to worry about him. I thought it would take your mind off Janice.”
“Is that why you told Roger Vernon about the man who claimed to be Nick’s father?”
He gave her a startled look. “Vernon told you I was his client?”
“You’re not going to deny it, are you? When I realized there wasn’t any man who claimed to be Nick’s father, I figured the mysterious ‘go-between’ had to be whoever killed Janice. It was just another effort to distract us.”
“You shouldn’t have given Vernon that ultimatum. When he called me in a panic, I knew I couldn’t wait to stage my next little accident for you.” He gave her a sidelong glance. “You have to admit, I had you going for a while.”
“You’re despicable, Joiner.”
He shrugged. “I’m just protecting my interests.”
“Why are you doing this?” she asked.
“This whole mess is your own fault, Claire,” he said. “You shouldn’t have meddled in my business.”
“Janice didn’t go over the edge of the road on her own, did she?” Claire looked at him. “You pushed her.”
“You’re a smart woman,” Derek said with a smile. “Almost as smart as your sister. Now you’re going to have to die, just like Janice did.”
“Why did you kill her?”
Joiner’s mouth tightened. “She was a nosy bitch.” His handsome features twisted, grew ugly. “Just like you. Sticking her nose in my business, trying to make trouble.”
He smiled, a cold upturn of his lips that chilled her heart. “She ran to Fred Denton, told him there was a problem with one of the zoning requests in front of the council.” His face contorted with anger. “She figured out that there was a sales tax break included with the zoning change. If she hadn’t said anything, it would have gone through with no questions. But after she went to Fred, I had to do something about it.”
“Fred? Is Fred Denton part of this?”
“Fred and I are partners in a small real estate venture,” he said, his voice smug. “We purchased a block of land outside of Monroe, and we have several developers interested. It would be a perfect place for a mall.”
“That’s what this is about? A shady real estate deal?” Her voice shook. “You killed my sister to make a few lousy dollars?”
“More than a few dollars, Claire. Denton and I both stood to make several million dollars on the deal.” He scowled. “As long as we could get the sales tax break through city council.”
“And Janice found out.”
“She told Fred she was going to go to the local paper. She seemed quite indignant about the whole situation.” He shrugged. “It was her own fault that she died. She didn’t give me a choice. I had to get rid of her. If the developers found out there was a public uproar, they would have pulled out of the deal. They didn’t want their good name dragged through the mud.”
Claire looked down at her hands, clenched into fists in her lap, and deliberately relaxed her fingers. Anger wouldn’t help her. She had to think.
“I know you called her at home that night,” she said, trying to keep her voice conversational. “You used the phone on her desk. How did you get her out of the house?”
“Janice always wanted to work overtime.” His mouth curled in a sneer. “Said she was saving for college for her kid. I told her I had papers that had to be picked up in Clinton that night.” He flashed Claire a condescending smile. “I promised her double time and she agreed.”
“Then you knocked her off the road.”
He glanced at her, resentment in his eyes. “It was a tragic accident until you started sniffing around. So now you’re going to have an accident, too.”
He steered the car onto the shoulder of the road, and Claire saw with a spasm of fear that they were at the place where Janice had died. Where she’d almost died just two weeks earlier.
“You were the one who almost ran into me that night,” she said, watching him.
“I didn’t think you’d be strong enough to climb back up the embankment,” Derek answered. He gave her a cold smile. “This time, I’ll make sure you’re not.”
“You can’t possibly think you’re going to get away with this,” Claire said, her heart slamming against her ribs. “Andrea Vernon saw you take me away.”
“Andrea will do what she’s told.” He gave her an ugly, triumphant smile as he yanked her out of the car. “She knows if she doesn’t, I’ll tell Roger all about her visits with you.”
“You’re wrong,” Claire said, holding onto the car door as Derek pulled on her other arm. “Andrea will tell Seth Broderick exactly what you did. She’ll stand up to Roger.”
“I doubt it. But thanks for the warning,” Derek said, pulling the gun out of the pocket of his overcoat. “I’ll arrange for her to have an accident, too.” He gave another vicious pull and ripped her hand away from the car door.
“But first things first, Claire. You’re going to take another tumble off the road.”
“Say hi to Janice for me,” he snarled as he swung it toward her head.
Claire threw herself to the side and the gun smashed onto her forearm. Pain exploded from her arm and dimmed her vision. Her stomach heaved.
The force of his swing made Derek lose his balance and stumble. His gun waved wildly in the air as he flailed his arms, trying to remain upright.
Cradling her injured arm with her other hand, Claire scooted toward him and aimed a kick at his groin. There wasn’t a lot of force behind it, but it was enough to make Derek double over.
Claire struggled to her feet and used her good arm to shove Derek. He stumbled backward and she kicked out at him. The guardrail caught him in the back of the legs.
It felt as if she watched in slow motion as Derek tumbled backward over the guardrail and disappeared down the side of the cliff.
Claire staggered over to the guardrail. Derek clung to a ledge below, just above the boulders scattered on the edge of the lake.
As she stared down at him, she heard the sound of a car roaring up the road. Moments later, it stopped and Seth Broderick ran toward her.
“Are you all right?” he called, stopping in front of her and searching her face. When he saw her cradling her right arm in her left hand, his eyes became cold and hard. “Did he hurt you?”
“My arm,” she said. “I think it might be broken.” She nodded toward the cliff. “It’s Derek Joiner. He’s down there.”
“I saw what happened.” His eyes flashed as he stepped over to the guardrail and looked down at Derek. “He’s not going anywhere. Let me call an ambulance, then I’ll worry about getting him up here.”