* * *
ON THE FOURTH DAY of her “exile,” as Merlene called her stay in the safe house, Cody made an unscheduled afternoon visit to fill her in on the latest developments in the case. He told himself he owed her that, but the truth was he wanted to see her.
He pulled two dining room chairs out onto the screened porch to watch a Florida thunderstorm move south. He and Merl remained dry, but the air around them hung heavy with humidity.
She turned to him expectantly, flashing her most winning smile. “Have they arrested Neville yet?”
“Sorry, not yet.”
The smile faded. “Do you even know where he is?”
“He’s in Duval County. The sheriff’s department almost grabbed him outside of Jacksonville, but he slipped away again.”
“This guy must be smarter than you think.”
“He’s been lucky, but his luck is about to run out. The sheriff has lured him into a trap he can’t possibly evade, and we’ll have some much-needed answers soon.”
They’d already received some answers that didn’t help Merlene’s case. Like phone records that revealed she’d received no calls from out of state—either cell or landline—for a week before the murder.
Did she know that her client hadn’t called her from North Carolina? Did she know where Pat Johnson had been located when the calls were made? He wished he could just ask her, but that would reveal too much about the course of the investigation. Montoya wanted her in the dark as much as possible so she wouldn’t rabbit.
“I can’t believe Neville got away again.” Merlene nibbled at her bottom lip. “And you wonder why I don’t brag much on cops. You’re the only one I’ve ever known that’s...” She trailed off, and he heard the blare of the TV from the living room over the sheeting rain.
“That’s what?”
“O-kay,” she said slowly, emphasizing each syllable.
“Okay?” He narrowed his eyes at her. “So you think I’m okay?”
She smiled, letting her gaze wander up and down his body. “That’s the best I can do as long as I’m in prison.”
He caught his breath at her meaningful stare and the seductive timbre to her voice, and couldn’t help but wonder if Merlene was playing him for a fool, stringing him along to gain access to any developments in the case. How convenient to know someone on the inside of an active police investigation.
“Actually that’s not true,” she said, her tone again teasing.
“What’s not true?” he asked, unable to resist her bait.
“My guards are pretty nice guys, even if they can’t play cards worth a damn.”
“Nice guys? Hey, what’s this? A softening of your attitude towards us nasty coppers?”
She tried to hide a smile, but dimples deepened in her cheeks. “Maybe. It’d help if they played poker.”
“Better watch out, Merl. Next thing I know you’ll be contributing to the Police Athletic League.”
He’d intended to remain professional but found himself slipping back into an affectionate flirtation with her. He loved to watch her smile when they teased each other. It was hard to imagine never kidding around with her again.
But when it came down to it, she didn’t trust him; he didn’t trust her, so they danced around each other. What a great pair.
“PAL?” She rolled her eyes. “Not likely.”
No, he thought, not likely. Montoya’s warning clanged in Cody’s ear. He thought about the recently increased life insurance policy.
“You’re different today,” she said. “What’s wrong?”
He shrugged. “I guess I’m tired.”
“Have you been having nightmares?” she asked, her voice gentle.
He shot her a glance, surprised at the question. He should have just phoned her to tell her about Neville Feldman. Why couldn’t he stay away?
“No nightmares,” he reported.
After a moment she said, “I talked to your sister again this morning. She’s great.”
“You can trust my sister.” There was that word again. He shifted in his seat. Trust. His trust in Merlene was tested daily. So far all Montoya had were suspicions that could just be the result of unfortunate coincidence. It was possible Merlene had only made some bad decisions. Anyway, that’s what he wanted to believe.
“Talking to her helps break up long, boring days. I can’t wait to meet her.” A devilish grin crossed Merlene’s face. “And she definitely has a lot to say about you, Cody Wyoming.”
He suppressed a groan. “No doubt.”
“She thinks you work too hard.”
“I know.”
Her face grew serious. “You love being a cop, don’t you?”
“Most of the time. This week...I don’t know.” He smiled at her, wishing he could banish his doubts.
She met his gaze with a cool, gray stare. “Johnny told me how you’ve been paying back the businesses your father took protection money from. Annie doesn’t know about that, does she?”
Cody froze. Damn. Newcomb and his dad had been tight, but Cody had no idea Johnny was privy to that information. Gossip spread through his precinct like the storm surge before a hurricane.
“No, she doesn’t know.”
Merlene nodded. “Annie thinks you have a bunch of money stashed in the bank or mutual funds because you never spend a dime.”
“Well, she’s wrong. I never have more than a couple hundred bucks in the bank.”
“Going without food taught me the importance of savings.” She shrugged. “But why keep the payback a secret?”
Stung at the reminder of her miserable childhood, he captured her hand and squeezed. She gazed at him steadily, waiting for an answer.
“I kept it a secret because I didn’t want my sister to feel like she had to contribute. Returning the money is something I felt I had to do.”
A flicker of something—he wasn’t sure what—swept across her face. Maybe approval or respect. Maybe disbelief. A horrific clap of thunder sounded almost directly overhead, and she flinched.
“You’re jumpy,” he said, reaching a hand toward her shoulder to steady her. But he dropped his arm to his thigh, her warmth still lingering on his fingers. Best to maintain distance between them, keep his head straight.
“Sorry.” She sighed. “Look, I can’t stay here forever. It’s been four days, and D.J. needs my help. With all this rain my lawn is going to grow like crazy. Plus, I’ve already missed one class. What if you never find Neville?”
“We’ll find him. Sometimes a case takes time,” he said, glad to change the subject. He didn’t want to discuss personal issues with Merlene, not with this cloud of doubt hanging between them. In fact, he needed to find an excuse to go. He’d plead some kind of police business.
Warning signs or not, he refused to believe Merl could kill for cash. She didn’t have that kind of violence in her. She might be stubborn, but not mean. And never cruel.
“Didn’t you ever have a case that was hard to crack?” he asked.
“You bet,” she said. “My husband’s.”
He shot her a probing glance, forgetting any idea of leaving. He’d been wondering when she’d get around to telling him about her ex.
“But you finally solved it?”
“Yeah,” she said softly, looking out at the rain, “I finally did.”
When she didn’t continue, he asked, “How did you wind up married to a doctor in Miami, Florida, from working as a waitress in Missouri?”
She gripped her hands tightly in her lap. “About a year after my brother’s death, Peter showed up at a medical convention in Branson. I’d lied about my age so I could work as a cocktail waitress. For a week he came to my bar every night trying to get me to sleep with him. I refused, told him I was saving myself for my husban
d.” Her gaze darted to Cody, then away. “Which was true.”
“So he married you?” Cody tried to hide his shock but knew he failed. Why would Merlene marry some guy she’d known a week? With a sinking feeling, he guessed the answer. She was actually going to admit what he’d suspected all along.
“Well, he was a little drunk one night and...yeah, we got married.”
“But you didn’t love him.” Cody knew his words sounded like an accusation but couldn’t help himself.
Merlene shook her head slightly, as if trying to decide. “I don’t know. I don’t think I knew what love was.”
“Then why did you marry him?”
“Because I was miserable.” She looked directly at him then, her face flushed a pale pink. “He promised me the sun, the moon and a red Lexus.”
Merlene saw revulsion cross Cody’s face and turned to the rainstorm again. A torrent of water rushed from an aluminum gutter into the backyard, creating a small gully that flowed toward the wooden fence. She wished the hurt, the painful memories, could be washed away as cleanly and thoroughly.
“I was nineteen, barely able to pay the rent in my tiny apartment. I had no family.” She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I figured if I married Peter I’d have security, I’d be safe. We should have known better, but...well, it just happened. He tried to turn me into a proper lady, but I never quite came up to his standards.” She shrugged. “At least I got my GED thanks to him.”
She eventually figured out that Peter married her because he had some sort of a white-knight complex and had wanted to save her. But once she found self-confidence, he completely lost interest.
Plus, her ex had never been as ready and—she swallowed—well, able to make love as Cody, even with all the special pills he popped. This, of course, explained Peter’s mystifying satisfaction when she proved he’d cheated on her. He probably thought the infidelity glorified his manhood, for heaven’s sake. No wonder her marriage had been such a disaster. She hoped Peter found pleasure with his new wife.
Cody still didn’t speak, and his silence worried her. The rain had eased to a sprinkle, and she sensed he’d leave soon. But not like this. What could she say to cut the tension?
“I was a good wife to him, Cody. Really, I was. I just couldn’t please him.”
“I’m sure you were.” His voice was flat, free of any emotion. “Just like you’re a good private eye and always know where your client is.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Did you know Pat Johnson wasn’t in North Carolina when she called you the day before the murder?”
The suspicion in his voice hit her like a bucket of ice water.
“Of course she—” Merlene paused. How would Cody know where Pat was? Unless... “You checked my phone records?”
When Cody remained silent, she asked, “What’s going on?”
He stood. “I’ve got to get back, Merlene.” Without another word, he slipped into the drizzle and disappeared.
She sat for a long time and stared after him, the emptiness in her chest growing until she thought she’d disappear inside the hole.
She’d told him the truth. She shouldn’t have, of course, but he’d started this big thing about trust. She’d trusted him with the truth, and he couldn’t handle it.
* * *
AROUND MIDNIGHT MERLENE placed her ear against her bedroom door and listened for activity in the front room. Nothing but soft sounds from the television; last night her guard had fallen asleep around eleven with the TV still on.
Time to get the hell out of here. D.J. needed her. She thought back for the hundredth time to their conversation when she’d finally reached him late this afternoon.
He’d answered on about the twentieth ring. His voice had been tired and thin as he’d said, “Hello.”
She’d immediately asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Now, I don’t want you to worry, Merl.”
“Please stop treating me like a child, D.J. Did something happen during the surveillance?”
“I wasn’t on your surveillance.” He gulped for air, then continued. “I was at Dr. Fortner’s.”
Dread mushroomed in Merlene’s stomach as D.J. got through a horrible cough.
“What did the doctor say?” she asked.
“That I need to rest and start some new expensive treatment.”
She closed her eyes. She couldn’t lose D.J. He was the best man she’d ever known, her lifeline, her only tether to sanity. “Promise me you’ll do exactly what the doctor tells you.”
“I guess I don’t have much choice. Although I don’t know where I’m going to get the money for the co-pay.”
“We’ll figure something out.”
“But he doesn’t want me to work,” D.J. had said after another gasp for air. “I can’t go out in the field for at least two weeks.”
So she had no choice. She had to get out of this jail and go back to work to cover their open cases. Thanks to Cody, the agency was already in trouble with the state licensing authority. D.J. sure didn’t need another complaint right now, not when he should be starting a new treatment.
How much could a co-pay be? She’d offer to help, but in the past D.J. had refused to take any money from her.
She hadn’t wanted to come to this damn safe house anyway. They had no right to keep her here.
Or was she leaving because of her conversation with Cody this afternoon? For the past three days he’d stopped coming at night. In fact, he called her more than he visited. Yeah, his abandonment stung, but that wasn’t the reason. D.J. needed her.
Johnny Newcomb didn’t even try to hide his disappointment at Cody’s absence. Last night, he’d expected Cody to show up with a Western video and chocolate-chip ice cream. Grumbling about Red River and how he’d been looking forward to John Wayne, Johnny had left when his replacement arrived, glaring at Merlene as if she’d deliberately kept Cody away.
Did Johnny know what was going on, why Cody had checked her phone records? No question that meant she was now a suspect. But why? What had happened to throw doubt her way? Possibly her delay in turning over the surveillance video. She’d wondered if she’d skate on that point.
Right. So just as she had suspected all along, this safe house was actually a prison.
Where else in her life had the cops poked their intrusive noses? Had they interviewed her neighbors? Pulled her credit card bills? Probably. Damn them all.
But nothing made sense. Pat had been in North Carolina. Merlene had dialed the number herself. Pausing her tumbling thoughts, she remembered she hadn’t reached Pat until late in the afternoon of the day following the murder. She’d tried all the numbers multiple times. Which had ultimately made the connection?
Merlene thought hard until certain she’d finally talked to Pat on her landline in North Carolina. She’d never answered the cell number, but that in itself didn’t mean anything. Hell, the battery could have died.
If Pat hadn’t been at her summer home the day of the murder, where had she been? And why would she lie? Merlene shook her head. She couldn’t solve anything while stuck in police custody, so she needed to get the hell out of here.
She moved to the rear window to check her pathway to freedom one more time. All clear.
What made her think Cody would understand about her marriage? He’d obviously been disgusted by that sad tale. She’d let down her guard, revealed too much. The man was so straight he repaid debts he didn’t even owe. How could he ever sympathize with her desperation all those years ago? It was impossible.
He was a disciplined officer of the law, from his polished shoes to that ever-present tie, not a man who could forgive her mistakes. What was worse, because of his father’s crimes, he hated any sort of greed.
She rested her forehead against
the cool windowpane. She hadn’t meant to be greedy when she married Peter. All she’d wanted was to be safe from a world that had never been kind to her, never given her even the tiniest break.
Merlene straightened her back. Now she knew that no one was ever truly safe. And a girl had to make her own breaks.
Besides, she’d been nuts to fall for a cop; he had one of the world’s most dangerous professions. She’d find no security at all with a man involved in police work.
She returned to the door and listened hard again. Still no activity. It was now or never.
She grabbed her purse and stuck Donny’s photo inside, imagining the drama if she waited until tomorrow morning. Cody or maybe some other detective would apply pressure, try to talk her out of leaving. They wanted her locked up and out of their way, and she might cave.
That wasn’t going to happen. She was through letting the police tell her what to do. She’d been following Cody’s orders for days. Yeah, she’d call him later to let him know she was safe, but now she had to help D.J., the man who had taught her how to make a living at a low point in her life. D.J. was family, something Cody would never be.
And she wasn’t afraid of Neville Feldman, either. The scumbag’s last known location was 300 miles away, headed north. Why would he come back to Miami? Ridiculous. The cops had another reason for keeping her here, and she knew what it was. They didn’t have any evidence to formally arrest her—and, of course, never would since she was innocent—but in the safe house they could keep tabs on her. Oh, and she’d made it so easy for them.
Not anymore.
Holding her breath, she turned the knob slowly, silently pulled the door toward her, then slipped through the opening into the hall. Her escape route was through the kitchen and out a side door, which shouldn’t rouse her sleeping guard. Fortunately safe houses were designed to keep bad guys out, not the victims in.
She crept down the hallway, cringing with each careful footfall. She caught a glimpse of the guard on the couch, head slumped to one side, chest rising and falling evenly.
In the kitchen, she turned the dead bolt with a quiet click, opened the back door and stepped into a dark and humid night full of chirping crickets. Freedom.
To Trust a Cop Page 18
