“Will you two please stop talking about me as if I’m not here?” Meredith’s voice came from the living room.
He exchanged glances with Rachel and reached the living room in time to see Meredith grimacing as she tried to get up from the sofa.
“Stay put.” He reached her in a few steps, his heart twisting, and eased her back against the cushion.
“You don’t have to treat me as if I’m a china doll.” Her voice was tart, but she clasped his hand. “I’ve got a spectacular collection of bruises, but they’ll heal.”
He held her hand in both of his, longing to embrace her but afraid to try. The dark shadows under her eyes looked like bruises themselves. “There’s nothing wrong with taking it easy while that happens.”
“We don’t have time for that.” Meredith squeezed his hands and then pulled hers free, as if needing to assert herself. “We have to decide what to do about the hammer.”
He couldn’t help an involuntary look at Rachel, but Meredith shook her head impatiently. “She knows. I told her.”
Rachel came to sit on the other side of Meredith. “We’re in this together.” Her voice was firm.
He couldn’t hold out against the two of them. “Okay. We have to do something about the hammer.” He’d struggled with this all night long, and he still wasn’t comfortable with his decision. “The police have to have it, but not with Meredith’s fingerprints on it.”
“That’s why he left it behind, isn’t it?” Meredith said.
He should have known she’d realize it. “Most likely.”
“And I played right into his plan by picking it up. Or her plan.” Meredith rubbed her forehead, as if that might help her think. “I still couldn’t tell you for sure if it was a man or woman. Just a figure, that’s all.”
Rachel patted her hand. “The important thing now is to get rid of that hammer before the police find it. What should we do?” This last was addressed to him.
“If we get rid of it entirely, we’re destroying the one piece of physical evidence.” He was dizzy with going over and over it during the long hours of the night. “But we can’t let it point to Meredith. The best bet might be to wipe it clean and then leave it somewhere in the woods or the stream, where the police can find it. I’ll take it—”
“No.” Meredith clutched his sleeve as he started to get up. “The police could be watching both of us. If you go wandering toward the woods, they’re sure to stop you. That’s true, isn’t it?”
“Possible,” he admitted. “But we can’t just wait for Burkhalter to find it.”
“I’ll take it,” Rachel said. “No one is watching me.”
“It’s too dangerous. I can’t let you do that.” Meredith’s sense of responsibility obviously extended to Rachel.
“Don’t be silly. I’ll put it in my bag when I go over to the farm to pick up Mandy. I can drop it in the weeds by the creek. Now, don’t argue. You know I’m right.”
Meredith looked from his face to Rachel’s. Finally she nodded. “Okay. We’d better do it quickly, then.”
“I’ll get it.” But he paused, knowing he had to tell her something, no matter how much it hurt. “I had a look at the hammer when I picked it up.”
“And?” Wariness showed in her deep brown eyes.
“It’s old, and it’s not mass-produced.” He hesitated, but it had to be said. “There are two initials scratched into the base of the handle. SK.”
It took a moment to sink in, and he saw realization dawn in her face. “Samuel King. You think it’s Samuel’s.”
“I think it could be,” he said, trying to soften the words. “Meredith, you can’t ignore the evidence.”
“There’s more than one person around with the initials SK,” she protested. “You might as well suspect Onkel Simon. Those are his initials, too.”
“Your uncle didn’t fight with Aaron on the night he died.” Her refusal to accept the truth about Samuel was wearing on his patience.
“Tools get passed around,” Rachel said. “Even sold at flea markets. The hammer could have been kicking around for years.”
He’d rather not have to argue with Rachel as well as Meredith. “Okay, but even so, we can’t ignore the initials.”
“My grandfather’s name was Simon, as well.” Meredith’s eyes seemed to widen. “His tools had his initials scratched on the bottom. I remember my dad showing it to me. He was a carpenter, and when he passed, his tools were shared among his sons.”
He processed that. “So you’re saying your father had some?”
She nodded.
“Where were they kept?” He had a suspicion he knew the answer.
“In the shed.”
“Where anyone could get at them. Including you.” He ran his hand through his hair. “Okay. Well, that widens the field.”
“Does it really change anything?” Rachel’s practical common sense was a relief. “Get the hammer, and I’ll dispose of it.”
He nodded, not seeing any other option. He rose, but Meredith caught his arm.
“Wait. I moved it.”
He stared at her. “Moved it? Why? Where?”
She stood, a little shaky but determined. “I couldn’t stand the thought of it there in the kitchen. When Rachel went home to get her things, I put it under the back porch steps, behind the pot of mums.” She grimaced. “Maybe that was stupid, but I just couldn’t handle having it in the house, thinking of my mother—”
She broke off, and he clasped her hand. He didn’t approve, but he understood.
“Okay. Stay inside. I’ll get it.”
The two women followed him to the kitchen. He went onto the back porch and took a leisurely look around. No one was in view. It was as safe as it was going to be.
He went down the steps and bent, moving the pot of flowers, reaching under the step. Nothing. His palm touched damp earth. The hammer was gone.
* * *
MEREDITH SAW ZACH’S FACE when he turned, empty-handed. Grim, stark, frozen. In a few steps he was back inside, closing the door.
“It’s not there.”
Meredith discovered that she felt as frozen as Zach had looked. “How could it be gone?”
Zach shook his head, his jaw clenched. “Last night. Someone must have seen you put it there and taken it during the night.”
His obvious guilt broke through her frozen state, and she reached out to touch his arm. “It’s not your fault. You couldn’t know.”
“I should have guessed.” He turned away slightly, as if he didn’t want to look at her. “I thought it would be safe until today.”
“If the police have it...” she began, struggling to think this through.
“That’s not likely.” He swung back, frowning, and she could see him focusing on the problem instead of his guilty feelings. “Without a search warrant, anything they found wouldn’t be admissible in court.”
“Then the person who attacked me came back again.” She shivered. “He was watching. He saw me put it there, and he took it.” She shivered. “Why? Wouldn’t he be better off to leave it there?”
“He couldn’t be sure the police would find it before we removed it. I’m more worried about what he plans to do with that hammer now.”
“You think he’ll try to frame one of you with it,” Rachel said, her arm tightening around Meredith’s waist.
“Yeah. Maybe.”
Or he might use it to attack again. She knew that was what Zach was thinking, and she couldn’t let him see her fear.
“So what do we do? Should we tell Jake?”
Zach rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess so. It’s not right to keep it from him if he’s going to defend us.”
“Should I call him?” She didn’t relish the idea of trying to explain this business
to Jake.
“No. I’ll go over and see him. Better to explain in person.” Zach didn’t look as if he liked the idea much, either. “Meantime, I don’t want you to be alone.”
“I’ll stay,” Rachel said instantly.
“No.” She put as much force as she could into the word. “I’m not going to put you at risk. You have a child to consider.”
“I have a friend to consider, too.” Rachel could be determined when she put her mind to it. “I’m staying with you.”
“Not at night,” Zach said. “I’ll be here at night.”
“Zach, you can’t. People will talk. The police will think—”
“It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks. I’m not leaving you here alone.”
He spun away, moving quickly probably because he didn’t want to argue any further. “I’m heading out to find Jake. There are a couple of other things I want to check on, too. Stay here.”
He was gone in a moment, leaving her to exchange looks with Rachel, who smiled. “I would say that’s a man who cares for you.”
Meredith shook her head. “I...I can’t think about anything like that. Not right now.”
“Maybe not,” Rachel said. “But soon, I hope. Now, why don’t you lie down and take it easy for a bit? You must be sore.”
“I feel as if I’ve been used as a piñata, to tell the truth. But I was thinking I should pick out the clothes for my mother, for the funeral.” Her throat closed.
“Later,” Rachel said, urging her toward the living room. “You’ll feel more up to it later.”
* * *
RACHEL HAD BEEN RIGHT about the benefits of a rest. By afternoon Meredith was still stiff and sore, but at least her outlook had improved somewhat. Zach would have talked to Jake by now, and she felt better for having Jake on their side.
Rachel, coming through from the kitchen, stopped to glance out the window. “There’s a buggy pulling up. Looks like Sarah’s come to visit.”
Meredith managed a smile, just because Rachel looked so pleased. Rachel still reflected her Amish background in many ways. To her, family included anyone who was related, and they would all rally around in case of trouble. She’d never understand just how tenuous Meredith’s place was in the King family.
“I’ll put the kettle on,” Rachel said, and vanished in the direction of the kitchen. Another Amish habit—a guest was always welcomed with food or drink or, more likely, both.
Meredith reached the door by the time Sarah knocked. She opened it quickly. “Sarah, it’s good of you to come.” Word of her fall must have spread quickly. “Let me take your jacket and bonnet.”
Sarah shook her head, her face white against the black bonnet rim. “I cannot stay, but I must tell you what I am feeling.” Her lips pressed together for an instant. “You brought the police down on Samuel.”
“What...” For a moment her mind scrambled for understanding. The police didn’t know, couldn’t know, about the initials on the hammer.
“Why did you do that? I told you that I would talk to my brother, but you couldn’t wait. First you go and question him yourself, and then we learn that the police have been at his door. How could you?”
The police. That must mean that someone, maybe that assistant district attorney thought enough of their story to investigate.
“Sarah, I’m sorry. I didn’t know the police would do that. But don’t you see—”
“I see nothing except that you have treated your family badly. Samuel is so upset, so ashamed, to have the whole community know that the police asked him about Aaron’s death. I don’t know how he will ever hold his head up again. And I don’t know how I can ever forgive you.”
Not giving Meredith time to say anything, Sarah turned and marched out. The click of the door seemed a death knell to Meredith’s relationship with her father’s family.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“DID JAKE UNDERSTAND about the hammer?” Meredith’s voice contained traces of the strain she was under.
“I think so.” Zach was lying, but he figured Meredith looked as if she’d had all she could handle at the moment. “My report can wait. What’s going on with you? Not trying to be insulting, but you look like you’ve been pulled through a knothole.”
Rachel had tactfully retired to the kitchen after she let him in, and he sat down next to Meredith on the sofa, enjoying the momentary illusion that this was any ordinary afternoon.
She was silent for a moment, staring down at their clasped hands. Finally she shook her head.
“I should have expected it, I guess. Sarah stopped by. It seems the police called on Samuel, asking questions.”
He studied her face, reading the pain she was trying to mask. Unsuccessfully, at least from him.
“How did she seem?”
“Upset. Angry.” She shot him a look that contained a spark of anger of her own. “What else would you expect? To have her brother questioned like that—well, it’s just unbearable to her.”
“Well, I guess she’ll have to stand it. You have.” He’d pretty much run out of sympathy for Samuel, who’d done everything he could to obstruct their learning the truth.
“Samuel is like a twin to Sarah. She’d told me she’d talk to him, and the way Sarah sees it, I betrayed her by questioning Samuel and giving him up to the police. Things can never be the same between us.”
Her voice trembled on the final words, and his heart twisted. Nobody else could affect him that way, making him want to move mountains to make her pain go away. Trouble was, this particular mountain couldn’t be moved.
“I’m sorry.” He squeezed her hand. “But we didn’t have a choice. Maybe eventually she’ll be able to understand that.”
“Maybe.” She met his eyes, and he could see that she didn’t believe it. “What did Jake have to say? And please don’t try to sugarcoat it for me.”
Since he planned to do exactly that, he assumed his best poker face. “I told him about the hammer. He wasn’t happy with us for hiding it, but he understood why we did. As to who took it... He’s confident the police don’t have it. He says Burkhalter would never bend the law that way. He may be stubborn, but he’ll do everything by the book.”
“What does Jake think of our chances? Honestly.”
Meeting her gaze, Zach realized that he didn’t have it in himself to lie to her further. “If the hammer never turns up, he thinks the D.A. will be unlikely to prosecute, based on what they have now. But that doesn’t mean they’ll stop looking for more evidence.”
“And we’ll have to live with that cloud of suspicion over us.” She drew the obvious conclusion. “What if the hammer does turn up with my fingerprints on it?”
He sucked in a long breath. “In that case, he suggested we consult a high-profile criminal attorney. He gave me several names of people he’d recommend.”
She paled. “Does that mean Jake thinks I’m guilty?”
“No, no. He was afraid you’d think that, so he wanted me to explain to you. He’s never defended so much as a felony case. He just wants us to have the best defense, that’s all.”
“I still can’t believe this is happening.” Meredith managed a smile. “I know, that’s stupid. But every time I try to take it in, my mind just seems to run up against a brick wall.”
“I understand.” He did understand, but he also knew that feeling could be dangerous. They couldn’t just wait for the axe to fall.
“You surely weren’t talking to Jake all this time, were you?”
“I did a little door-to-door of the route we took coming into town the night your mother died. If someone saw us, that would establish when we returned. Not much of an alibi, obviously, since it wouldn’t prove we hadn’t returned earlier and then come back again, but it would be something.”
“Judging by the
way you look, I assume you weren’t successful.”
“Deer Run’s habit of minding everyone else’s business let us down this time. Nobody along the route remembered seeing the car. If only we’d stopped for gas—”
“Don’t, Zach. That doesn’t do either of us any good.”
Now she was the one talking common sense, and he managed a grin. “What makes you so sensible, Ms. King?”
“I’ve always been the practical one.” Her eyes misted suddenly. “Except when it came to you.”
He felt as if he couldn’t breathe. “Yeah. Same here.” He shouldn’t speak, not when a trap was closing inexorably around them. He shouldn’t. But even as he thought that, he was touching her shoulder, turning her more fully toward him.
Meredith’s eyes darkened. She leaned forward, lips parting, and he couldn’t hold back any longer. His lips found hers, and he pulled her against him, kissing her as if he’d never get enough of her.
And Meredith responded, drawing him even closer, so that he wasn’t sure if the heartbeat he felt was hers or his own. This wasn’t a shy seventeen-year-old any longer. This was, literally, the woman of his dreams.
The kiss could have lasted an eternity as far as he was concerned. But Meredith drew back...reluctantly, he thought.
“Meredith—”
She stopped him with her fingertips on his lips. “Wait. Let me say this.” She sucked in a breath. “I...I think I know what I feel. But we haven’t been living in a normal world since you came back.”
“That doesn’t mean it’s wrong to feel this way.” Maybe he’d never really stopped loving her. Seeing her again had just lit the spark to something that had been there all along.
“Not wrong, no.” Meredith seemed to be struggling to put it into words. “But we can’t let this go any further right now. Not with my mother dead and all of this hanging over us.” Tears filled her eyes. “Understand, Zach. Please.”
“I do.” He planted a kiss in her palm. “I wish I could say I didn’t. If—”
A flurry of footsteps stopped his words. Rachel hurried in, her face white. “The police—I saw them from the side window. They’re coming to the house.”
Marta Perry Page 23
