As Good as Dead

by Patricia H. Rushford

  The thought brought her up short. She stepped back into the hall. The guy with the wheelchair was gone; so much for her suspicious meanderings.

  Nick was alone this time around. “Hey.” He seemed more alert and in less pain.

  “Hey, yourself. Where’s Rosie?”

  “I sent her home. Figured I could do without round-the-clock visitors.” He used the handheld control unit to raise the head of his bed.

  “Hmm. You must be feeling better.”

  “A little. Just figuring out how to move so it isn’t quite so painful. And they put me on pain pills instead of the hard stuff.”

  Angel nodded. “You up to talking some more about Luke?”

  “Ah, give me a break, Ange. Riley was just here asking all kinds of questions. Why don’t you talk to him?”

  “Did you tell Callen anything you didn’t tell me?”

  “How would I know? I’ve been too far out of it to remember much.”

  “Nick, this is important.” She told him about the twins and their sudden trip to Florida. “Did you talk to them about Luke?”

  “No.” He ran a hand through his already disheveled hair. “They’ve talked about Luke from time to time. After your dad died, they were all saying how sad it was that your dad hadn’t been able to see Luke before he died. Maybe that triggered something for them. All I know is that right after Luke disappeared they hired a PI to find him, but as far as I know they never located him. I never told them anything.”

  Angel gripped the railing. “After the funeral, when you talked to Luke. Did he say where he was staying?”

  “I went to his motel room, but only for a few minutes while he got his stuff. We went to get something to eat, and he took off from the restaurant.”

  “Which motel?”

  “What are you doing, Ange? You need to stay out of this.”

  “I can’t. I’m a detective, remember? Please, Nick. I thought if I could find the place where he stayed, I might be able to get a license number. Most places want that when you check in.”

  He sighed. “Ask Callen.”

  “Did you notice the plates on Luke’s car?”

  “No, they were too dirty. He didn’t want anyone to see them, and he doesn’t want to be found. If I’d known there would be trouble, I would’ve arrested him. He asked me not to say anything about his being here, and like a dope I went along with him.”

  “Come on, Nick, tell me where he stayed. Maybe I can find something. I could stop at every motel between here and Newport, but that’ll take forever, and we need to find him.”

  “All right. He was at the Sea Captain. It’s almost to Lincoln City. I doubt it will help, though.”

  “Thanks. I owe you one.” Angel planted a kiss on his cheek and left. On her way out she made it a point to check out every person she passed, partly to keep her eyes open for anyone remotely resembling Luke. If Luke had come back to see Pop after the heart attack, he might come to see Nick now. She saw no one resembling her older brother. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t there.

  Angel headed north toward Lincoln City and pulled into the parking lot at the Sea Captain. Armed with the photo of Luke, she went into the office. A short, stout man came out to greet her. “Looking for a room?”

  “No, but I’m hoping you can give me some information on someone who stayed here. I’m a detective, and I’m looking for this guy.” She unfolded the photo.

  With wrinkled forehead, he studied the picture. “You’re the third one to come around here asking about him. There was another guy asking about him a few days ago, then a little while ago a detective came by.”

  “What did he look like?”

  “Skinny, dark hair. Said this guy had left something at his restaurant, and he wanted to return it. Wanted an address.”

  “Did you give it to him?”

  “I don’t have one. This guy you’re looking for. Is he a criminal or something?”

  “No, he’s my brother.”

  “Humph. Can’t tell you much. Signed in as Hal Perkins. He was here last Saturday. Seemed nice enough. Didn’t give us any trouble.”

  “Did you verify his name with a driver’s license or credit card?”

  “Nope. Seemed like he was in a hurry. Paid cash up front, so I figured it didn’t matter.”

  “Did he give you a license plate number?”

  “Yeah, I gave it to the detective who came by.” He read off the number, and Angel wrote it down. Oregon plates. She doubted Luke would be hiding out in Oregon. Probably a rental car.

  “Thanks. Can you remember anything about him? Anything at all?”

  He poked a finger in his ear and tipped his head to the side. “Nope.”

  An older woman wearing glasses and a muumuu-type dress came up to the desk and glanced at the photo. “What’s going on?” She looked from Angel to the photo and back again.

  “Do you recognize this man?” Angel asked.

  “She says he’s her brother,” the man said.

  “Sure. I talked to him once. He was going swimming and needed a towel. Nice man—seemed sad. Said he was here for a funeral.”

  Angel’s heart leaped to her throat. “Did he say anything else, like where he was from?”

  Her face wrinkled. “I don’t recall. Told me he missed his wife and his little girl.” She glanced at the picture again. “I can’t remember for sure, but I’m thinking he might have mentioned Idaho.”

  His little girl? Idaho? Angel thanked them and gave them one of the new cards Rachael had ordered for her, the ones that said she was a private investigator. “If you think of anything else he might have said, even in passing, please call me.”

  The woman nodded, took the card. “Like I said, I only saw him that once and for just a few minutes.”

  Angel left, her mind racing with possibilities as she pointed the Corvette toward home. She couldn’t count the number of times she’d tried to figure out where Luke might have gone. Early on, she’d written down a number of possibilities. One of them had been Sun Valley, Idaho. Luke loved the mountains and water, and sports, especially swimming and skiing. He’d talked about getting a condo in Sun Valley and working there, but when the job came up in Fort Myers, he’d taken it, saying he planned to spend all of his spare time at the beach.

  Angel had wanted to visit him in Fort Myers during spring break in her last year of college. He disappeared before she had a chance. Nick was right; gaining this information might prove useless. If Luke didn’t want to be found, he certainly wouldn’t be using his real name or license plate number. Was there any way to find him? He had to have left a clue of some sort.

  Did he really have a child? Or had that been a ruse too? Angel had never even considered the possibility that Luke might have married. And a little girl. What if that part was real? Maybe he’d talked to the woman at the motel in a vulnerable moment. Angel clung to the possibility.

  Callen’s SUV was already parked in the driveway when she arrived. Sporadic pounding came from the back of the house. The mail truck had driven away just as she arrived, so Angel pulled into the driveway and walked back to the road to check the box. Bank statement, a Coastal Living magazine, a postcard inviting them to list the house with Milestone Realtors. Intent on a card with a California postmark, she almost didn’t see the Priority Mail envelope leaning against the wall next to the screen door.

  She picked it up, wondering who’d sent it. No return address, just square black printing that read “Luke Delaney” and a postmark from Portland. Her heart hammered and her stomach clenched—and her police training took over. Heavily taped, no return address. And according to Nick, Luke was in danger. She carefully set the envelope on the wicker table and went inside. Tossing the rest of the mail on the small end table, she closed the door softly behind her. Her gaze took in the empty room, the silent kitchen. Smells emanating from it promised a scrumptious dinner. “Ma?”

  Getting no response, she padded back to the master bedroom, where Callen was workin
g.

  “She’s out in the garden.” Callen glanced up at her, and his smile faded. “What’s wrong?”

  “Good. I mean, I’m glad she’s out there.” Angel peered out the window and, satisfied that her mother wouldn’t overhear, told Callen about the package. “Maybe I’m paranoid with what’s been going on, but... I have a weird feeling about it.”

  “Then we’d better have it checked out.” Callen walked with her back to the front door and peered out the window.

  “We don’t want to walk out there,” he said. “We’ll want the CSI team to go over the porch, and the less contamination, the better.”

  That was one of the things she loved about Callen. He took her concerns as seriously as he would a colleague’s. Pulling his cell phone out of his pocket, he called the Oregon State Lab and asked that an explosives team be sent out. When he’d hung up he glanced at the kitchen. “They’ll be here in about an hour. In the meantime we’ll have to decide what to do about Anna.”

  “Decide what to do about me?” Anna wandered into the living room. “What have I missed?”

  Breath rushed out of Angel’s lungs. Great. Just great. The last thing her mother needed was to see that letter or the bomb squad.

  “You’re not thinking about sending me to some retirement home, are you?”

  “Of course not, Ma. Callen was just...”

  “We were wondering what you might want to do while we’re on our honeymoon,” Callen told her.

  “You’re getting married? Oh!” She clasped her hands, which wasn’t easy with a cast covering much of her right hand. “This is wonderful. You don’t have to worry about me.”

  Angel glared at Callen. “Honey, you shouldn’t get her hopes up like that. Ma, we were just talking. We’re not getting married for a long time. By the time we do, you’ll be back to your old self.”

  Callen winked at Anna. “Can’t blame a guy for trying. Maybe you can talk her into making it sooner.”

  Anna chuckled. “I’ll do my best.”

  “How about taking a ride with me?” Angel asked, trying to come up with a diversion. “Maybe we can pick up your granddaughters and get a cup of coffee and a treat at Joanie’s. Callen is hammering up a storm, and I’d just as soon not be around to hear it.”

  Anna sighed. “That sounds nice. I haven’t been out in a while, have I? And I’d love to see the girls. I’ll get my jacket.”

  When Anna had gone to her bedroom, Angel wrapped her arms around Callen’s waist. “Thanks. I didn’t want to lie to her.”

  Callen kissed her nose. “You did good. Hopefully the team won’t have to spend much time here. I’d rather you didn’t come out this way. Any chance you could walk along the beach?”

  “Sure. She should be able to make it there, but I may have to call you to come get us.”

  “Perfect. By the time you’re ready for me to pick you up, everything will be back to normal, and she’ll never know.”

  “Be careful,” Angel whispered as she left him. She guided her mother out the back door. “We’re walking,” she said. “We both could use the exercise.”

  “You’re absolutely right.”

  Once they were out on the hard-packed sand and walking toward town, Angel allowed herself to relax a bit. She’d have liked to hang around and watch the bomb tech at work but felt the trauma would be too much for her mother.

  “All right, missy,” Anna said in a decidedly maternal tone. “What’s going on? And don’t feed me that line about you and Callen getting married.”

  Uh oh. Angel rolled her eyes. She should have known better than to think they could hide anything from Anna Delaney. Angel had a mother with eyes in the back of her head and intuition that would put any psychic to shame.

  “A package came today, and it looked suspicious.” Angel’s gaze fastened on the shapes drawn in the sand by the incoming waves.

  “Suspicious in what way?”

  “It’s probably my imagination working overtime, but with what happened to Nick, Callen and I thought it best not to take any chances.”

  “You think it may be a bomb or one of those letters tainted with poison?”

  “There was no return address, and the way it was wrapped made me suspicious. At any rate, the police will check it over.”

  “Any idea who sent it?”

  Angel shook her head.

  “Hmm. Think it might be from those thugs who vandalized your apartment?”

  She was assuming the package had been addressed to Angel, and Angel didn’t bother to correct her.

  “You didn’t have to get rid of me. I’m perfectly capable of handling...” Her shoulders slumped forward. “On second thought, I’m not sure I am anymore.”

  Angel wrapped an arm around her mother’s shoulders. “You’ve been through so much, and we just thought it would be better if you didn’t have to deal with something else.”

  “Thank you for telling me. It’s important I know what’s going on.”

  Angel nodded, wondering what her mother would say if and when she learned that Luke had been at the funeral. She certainly wasn’t going to tell her. So far, at least, Ma hadn’t figured that one out.

  ELEVEN

  Cade parked a block away from the Delaney house. He’d been right in estimating the arrival date. He’d called the post office to learn the approximate time of delivery. He’d been there only a few minutes when Angel pulled into the driveway.

  Now, an hour later, he eased his rented Lexus past the house, eyeing the cops who were meticulously getting ready to detonate the bomb and working feverishly to gather evidence. The bomb tech in the ballistic suit had cordoned off the area and was setting up a portable X-ray around the package. To protect themselves, they wouldn’t likely take prints prior to detonating the package, but even if they did, they wouldn’t find any—at least not his.

  Still, it irked him that Angel had caught on to the letter bomb so quickly. He hoped she’d deliver it or that Luke would come by to pick it up. But then, maybe he’d guessed wrong. Maybe Luke hadn’t contacted his family after all. He’d gone to the funeral, Cade knew that much. Luke had gotten away before Cade could escape the jammed parking lot. Otherwise he’d have taken care of his business right there in Sunset Cove.

  What bothered him even more was Angel’s detective friend. Cade’s scowl turned to a smile when the detective caught his gaze. He waved and kept moving at the same speed. Cade hated wasted efforts, and it appeared this letter had been one. Now he had to find another way to glean the information he needed. If anyone would know how to find Luke Delaney, his sister would. He’d just have to bide his time—something at which he was actually quite good.

  He stopped at the main road and thrummed his fingers on the steering wheel. Then, getting his bearings, he turned south toward the resort at which he was staying. The five-star resort, he’d discovered earlier today, belonged to Luke’s twin brothers who had both gone to Florida that morning. Small world. A very small world.

  Cade felt the chill of fear slither up his spine. A local police officer had been shot. The very one who had been with Luke on the day of the funeral. An attorney by the name of Rachael Rastovski had contacted the DA in Fort Myers, asking questions about the Penghetti case and Luke’s involvement in it. It hadn’t taken long to link Rastovski with Paul Delaney. And a day later the brothers fly off to Florida.

  Coincidence? Hardly. Had they learned something? He hoped for their sake they hadn’t. The Penghetti brothers had eyes everywhere. If the organization got wind of the Delaney boys snooping around in their business, the lads could end up as horse meat in one of their southern packing plants—or worse.

  Not that he cared. Cade had enough worries of his own. Besides, he didn’t need the brothers. Angel was his best shot at finding Luke. He just had to figure out the best way to get to her.

  TWELVE

  After a wonderful dinner of sautéed shrimp and rice and a salad, Callen and Angel cleaned the kitchen, banishing Anna to the living room
to rest. The walk had exhausted her, and she’d fallen asleep watching Antiques Roadshow.

  Angel dried the last dish that wouldn’t fit in the dishwasher, hung up the towel, and grabbed a lightweight jacket from the hook near the back door.

  Callen had poured them both peach iced teas. “If you get the door, I’ll carry these out.”

  Angel pulled open the glass patio door leading to the back deck. Callen set the drinks down and then pulled her into his arms for a searing kiss.

  Moments later, he pulled away, his hands moving up and down on her bare arms. “Are you going to be warm enough?”

  She smiled, holding up the jacket she’d brought out but hadn’t yet put on. He helped her into it and settled onto the swing. Angel snuggled in beside him, in the crook of his arm. I could get used to this.

  The sun was going down, and as had become their evening ritual, they planned to watch the flaming red ball dip into the sea. This was the first opportunity they’d had to talk, and Angel was anxious to learn what, if anything, Callen’s investigation into the shooting had unearthed.

  Callen ruffled her hair when she asked. “Do we really have to talk about work?” His breath fluttered the wisps of hair on her cheek.

  No, I’d much rather sit here and kiss you. “Yes. For now, anyway. Nick told you where Luke had been staying. Did you learn anything?” Wanting Callen’s take first, she didn’t tell him she’d talked to the people after he’d been there. He might tell her to back off, and she didn’t want to do that.

  He took a sip of tea and set the glass back on the table. “The license plate turned up a rental car. It had been rented to a Hal Perkins from Cheyenne, Wyoming.”

  “That’s where the money order was sent from to pay Nick back.”

  “Right. Hal Perkins’s name came up in our search, but it wasn’t Luke. The guy is eighty years old and in a nursing home. The credit card was set up five years ago but has never been used, so there’s no balance.”