Marta Perry

by Search the Dark

  Meredith blanched. He gripped her hands tight. “Remember. No matter what anyone says, you don’t say a word unless Jake is with you.”

  Meredith nodded, her eyes wide and frightened. He wanted to hold her against him one more time, but someone was already pounding on the door.

  At a nod from him, Rachel opened the door. Ted Singer was in first, closely followed by Chief Burkhalter. They passed Rachel without a look and headed straight for the two of them.

  Burkhalter’s face was expressionless. He stopped in front of Zach.

  “Acting on information received from an anonymous caller, we’ve just completed a search of the Willows bed-and-breakfast. In the course of said search, we discovered a hammer in a trash can that appears to be bloodstained.” Burkhalter stopped to draw a breath, looking like a man who’s memorized his lines and is in danger of forgetting them.

  “Never mind the rest of the spiel.” Zach rose. “I know it.”

  Singer seized his arm, pulling it behind his back to put the cuffs on. Zach barely noticed, because he was looking at Meredith.

  He could read her face so clearly. She was seeing all her worst fears coming true. She felt she was responsible for ruining his life again.

  But it wasn’t his life he was worrying about right now. As soon as the police lab tested that hammer, they’d identify Meredith’s fingerprints, and this would happen to her.

  She stood, fighting for control. “I’m coming with you.”

  “No, you’re not.” He kept his voice low and steady. “You’re going to remember exactly what I told you. Call Jake, tell him what’s happened and do just what he says. Promise me.”

  Singer was pulling him away, but he held eye contact with Meredith until he saw her nod.

  * * *

  MEREDITH FOUND SHE was staring at the door when it closed behind the men, hardly conscious of Rachel speaking to her. It was her fault—

  She stopped that thought before it could swamp her. This was no time for self-pity. She had to do what she could for Zach.

  “I have to call Jake.” She’d barely said the words before Rachel handed her the phone.

  “Jake will know what to do.” Rachel’s fingers twisted together, and Meredith realized she was praying.

  Thank goodness Jake had given her his cell number so that she could get through directly. She held her breath while it rang, trying to think how to compress what she had to say if she had to leave a message.

  But Jake answered in seconds. “Meredith? What’s wrong?”

  “The police were here. They arrested Zach. They found the hammer in the trash can at the bed-and-breakfast.”

  “An anonymous tip, I suppose.” Jake was quicker to understand than she had been, but then, she’d been numb with repeated shocks. “I can leave right now. I’ll be with him the whole time they’re questioning him, I promise.”

  “I want to go—”

  “Absolutely not.” Jake’s response was sharp. “Meredith, listen to me. You don’t go anywhere near the police unless they come with a warrant.”

  “I should be there for Zach.”

  “Is that what he said?” Jake paused a moment. “No, I’m sure he didn’t. He told you to stay clear, and that’s the right advice. As far as the cops are concerned, you’re Zach’s motive as well as his alibi. If you go rushing to his defense, it just makes matters look worse. Got it?”

  “Yes.” She didn’t like it, but she understood. “The person who planted the hammer has to be the one who killed my mother. But why plant it on Zach? Why not me?”

  “Impossible to say.” Judging by the background noise, Jake was already on his way. “It’s possible he or she wiped off your fingerprints. If not, as soon as the hammer is processed...” He hesitated, but she could finish the sentence.

  “The police will arrest me.”

  “Yes. I’m not going to minimize the situation, Meredith. I think you’d better be prepared for that to happen. But don’t lose heart. The guilty person is getting desperate, and that should work in our favor. Got to go.”

  She tried to cling to that scrap of hope as she clicked off the phone. If Chief Burkhalter weren’t so blind, surely he’d see that things weren’t as they seemed.

  “Jake told you to stay here, didn’t he?” Rachel watched her, face anxious.

  “Yes. He’ll be with Zach, and he’ll let me know as soon as there’s something to tell. But that hammer...” She rubbed her forehead, trying to make herself concentrate. “As soon as they find my fingerprints, they’ll arrest me.”

  “They can’t. You’ll see. Jake will do something.” But Rachel didn’t sound as if she believed herself.

  Concentrate on the next thing. That was what she had to do. If she let herself look too far ahead, she’d give in to despair. “I think I’d better email my clients and let them know I’ll be unavailable for the next week or so. People will understand. They’ll have heard of my mother’s death.”

  They’d probably heard she was under suspicion, as well. It was a wonder she hadn’t started losing clients.

  Rachel glanced at the clock. “Mandy will be home from school soon. I’ll meet her and take her over to the farm, and then I’ll be back. Will you be all right here alone that long?”

  Meredith nodded. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Lock up after me. And don’t let anyone in.”

  She sounded as if she were talking to Mandy, and that actually made Meredith smile. “Will do.”

  She followed Rachel to the door and flipped the dead bolt once she’d gone out. The reminder hadn’t really been necessary. She wasn’t going to open herself up to another attack like yesterday’s.

  Meredith gave one longing glance toward the sofa and then headed for her office. She could rest later. Right now she’d best communicate with her clients. Leaving them in limbo was a sure route to losing them, if they weren’t already gone.

  It was a relief to be doing something so mundane as checking her email and running through her list of currently active accounts. Nothing was crucial at the moment, and thank goodness it wasn’t tax time.

  She labored over constructing a message that would be brief but reassuring. By the time a week had passed, she’d surely know where she stood. She’d either be under arrest, in which case her clients would flee, or the situation would be cleared up. Maybe that last was an irrational hope, but she had to think something positive.

  Once the messages were sent, she reached into the drawer where she kept scrap paper. Making lists was second nature to her, even, it seemed, when under suspicion of murder. She ought to contact the minister again, and there were distant relatives and some friends of Mom’s who might not have heard. They’d have to—

  She stared at the sheaf of papers she’d just pulled from the drawer. They weren’t all blank. Several of them bore writing. And not just any writing—her mother’s handwriting.

  Meredith’s heart gave a painful lurch. It wasn’t unusual for Mom to raid her office desk for supplies, but she hadn’t generally left things behind.

  Meredith bent over the paper, frowning. It looked as if her mother had been writing a draft of something, trying out different ways of saying something, crossing out unsuccessful attempts.

  ...sure you don’t want people talking about...you know how gossipy Deer Run can be...I’m not sure it’s right to keep silent...

  And then...meet at Parson’s Dam at nine p.m. We’ll talk.

  Meredith’s fingers tightened on the paper, and she put it down carefully. There was no name, but the meaning was clear enough. Her mother had invited someone to meet her at the dam the night she died.

  Her thoughts spun crazily and then settled. This was evidence—evidence that could prove someone else was involved. She had to call Jake.

  Yanking out her cell phone, s
he punched in the number and held her breath. If he was already in the interrogation room, he might not be able to answer.

  But he picked up quickly. “What is it, Meredith?”

  “I found something. Notes, in my mother’s handwriting, in with the scratch paper in my desk drawer. They read as if she was threatening to tell something, and she was making an appointment to meet someone at the dam. Don’t you see? This proves someone else was involved.”

  Jake gave a low whistle. “About time we were getting a break. Listen, put the papers back exactly the way you found them. I want Burkhalter to see them in situ. It may take some time to convince him to come over, but I’ll manage it somehow. Just wait for us.”

  Wait. She was getting tired of that word. Stay there, wait, don’t do anything.

  Putting the papers back the way she’d found them, Meredith closed the desk drawer. Wait. She paced to the front windows, peered out for any sign of a police car, then stood looking out, willing it to appear.

  Apparently police cars, when wanted, were like watched pots unwilling to boil. Who had her mother written to? What had she known?

  A shiver ran through Meredith. Her mother had made an appointment with a killer—a killer they knew. She couldn’t have realized how dangerous that was.

  Still no sign of the police. Forbidding herself to stand staring out the window, she went back to the kitchen, only to find she was craning her neck to see out the window on the side of the house.

  Her breath caught. Laura Hammond hadn’t been seen in public in days, but there she was, walking down the sidewalk toward Meredith’s house, alone. Alone, with no Victor or housekeeper or Jeannette to keep her from talking.

  Meredith hurried to the front door, her bruised ribs protesting at the speed. She swung it open.

  Nothing. There was no sign of Laura. Frowning, Meredith stepped out onto the porch, hugging herself against the chilly breeze. It was yet another gray day with a touch of rain in the air, an odd day for Laura to be out for a walk. She’d felt sure Laura was coming to see her. It seemed she’d been wrong.

  Meredith went back inside, shivering a little, and pulled a cardigan from the hall closet. By the time she’d figured out how to get the sweater on without further aggravating her shoulder or her ribs, she was thoroughly exasperated.

  Where were the police? Why was it taking so long? Surely when Jake told Burkhalter what she’d found, he’d realize how important it was. Wouldn’t he?

  She’d left her cell phone in the office. Maybe she should call Jake again....

  But before she’d gone more than a few steps, there was a knock at the door.

  Laura, she thought. She spun, hurrying to open the door. Victor Hammond stood there, his hand raised as if to knock again, his round face drawn, eyes worried.

  “Is Laura here?” He tried to peer around Meredith into the house. “Is she?”

  “No. I’m sorry,” she added, seeing his disappointment. “Is something wrong?”

  He half turned away, shaking his head, and then he turned back. “She’s been so upset. Talking about Aaron again. I thought maybe she’d come to see you.”

  She should be wary. Zach’s warning that the killer was someone she knew rang in her mind. But Victor looked so lost that it tugged on Meredith’s heart. She certainly knew what it was like not to be able to help the person you loved.

  “I saw her a few minutes ago from the window. I thought perhaps she was coming here, but by the time I got to the door, she’d disappeared. Maybe she’s gone back home.”

  Victor looked as if he were going to cry. “I’m afraid...afraid she’s going to...to do something to herself.”

  “You think she might try to kill herself?” Her mind seemed to switch into gear. “The dam. If she means to harm herself...”

  “She’d go there. Where Aaron died.” Victor was already trotting down the steps.

  Meredith hesitated in the doorway for a moment. Stay inside, keep the door locked—that was the sensible thing to do. But how could she be sensible when someone she’d known all her life might be dying.

  She pulled the door closed and hurried after him as quickly as she could move. Poor, lost Laura. Her mind seemed to tick away the seconds as she hurried toward the path. If they didn’t get there on time, the dam might well claim another victim.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  MEREDITH COULD HEAR the water rushing over the dam as she raced toward the clearing. The sound jacked up her fear. Two days of rain, and the creek was high. If Laura ventured into the pool—

  Don’t think that. Just hurry, hurry.

  She’d lost sight of Victor on the path, but when she burst into the clearing he was already there, standing right at the base of the dam, peering into the churning water. The noise was so loud it reverberated in her head, making it hard to think. She scanned the surface of the pool, afraid of what she’d find. But there was nothing.

  Relief washed over her. “She’s not here. She must have gone—”

  But Victor shook his head. He pointed to the base of the dam, where the water roiled like some monstrous boiling stew. His arm shook.

  “There. Is that her? Laura?”

  Meredith ran toward him, stumbling over a fallen branch. If Laura was submerged they’d never get her out, not without help.

  “Where?” She reached the edge of the pool next to him, straining to see anything in the foaming, churning water. “I don’t see—”

  The push came without warning, hands on her back, propelling her forward. She stumbled, trying to catch her balance, but she was already knee-deep in cold water.

  “Victor!” Even as she cried out, turning, he swung a thick branch at her, his face contorted.

  She jerked away, heart pounding. “What are you doing? Help me.”

  His only reply was to swing the branch again. She stumbled backward, away from its deadly arc. He was mad, he must be—

  Her foot caught and she tumbled, off balance, ending up on her knees, the water rushing around her chest. Shock immobilized her for a moment.

  She couldn’t let that happen. She had to get up, find a way to get out. The water wasn’t that deep here, if she could just get to her feet....

  But even as she fought to get up the current caught at her, grabbing her like hungry jaws, pulling her toward the dam. Fight it, she had to fight it. She grabbed for something, anything to hang on to. If she let herself get pulled any farther it would be too late, she’d never get out—

  Her hand caught a submerged rock, caught and held. The current pulled at her, trying to wrench her free, but she managed to get her other hand on the rock, clinging tightly. She could hold on—

  “Why did you have to be so nosy?” Victor swung wildly at her. “You and your mother. And Zach. I had to stop you.”

  The branch struck at her, knocking one hand loose. She fought to find the rock again, but she was numb, cold, the water soaking her clothes, dragging her down. Her vision blurred.

  “I’m sorry.” Victor’s voice was clogged with tears. He loomed over her, standing ankle-deep in the water, raising the branch for another blow. “I have a gun, but I don’t want to use it. Just let go. It’ll be over in a few seconds.”

  The branch swung toward her head. Sucking in a breath, she ducked under the water. Hang on, hang on, don’t give up, don’t ever give up.

  She came up sputtering, gasping for air, water streaming in her face, blurring her vision. If he swung again, if he hit her—

  “Victor!” A voice screamed the name, and he halted in midswing, giving Meredith another precious second of breath.

  It was Laura—Laura standing there, crying, screaming. “Don’t, Victor, don’t!”

  “I have to, don’t you see?” Victor’s voice had turned pleading. “Her mother knew something. I had to do it. Now
she knows. You should have stayed in the car, the way I told you. I have to do it now.”

  Meredith’s numbed mind tried to put it together. Victor. It had been Victor all along. He’d used Laura to play on her sympathy and lure her out of the house.

  “I have to protect you, Laura. I always did. Aaron would have ruined your life.”

  Aaron. Meredith clung to the name, trying to force her scrambled thoughts into order, but she couldn’t. If he killed Aaron or if Laura killed Aaron, it didn’t matter, because she couldn’t hold on, and Victor was turning back toward her, raising the branch, and Laura was screaming, and it was the last sound she’d ever hear—

  “Drop it!” Burkhalter’s voice, shouting, people rushing toward them. Help... Too late, her fingers slid off the rock, the water took her...

  And then hands grabbed her, pulling her back, dragging her away from the dam, choking and shaking but alive. Alive, wrapped in Zach’s arms.

  “Stop him!” Burkhalter shouted. Someone lunged toward Victor, but he had already scrambled free.

  He ran out onto the top of the dam and stood teetering there for an instant. “I did it,” he cried. “Not Laura. Me.”

  Before anyone could move, he’d pulled a handgun from his pocket. He put it in his mouth. The shot echoed, mingling with Laura’s screams.

  * * *

  “I THOUGHT ZACH was under arrest.” Meredith obediently slid into the fleece robe Rachel was holding for her. “But he was there, at the dam. I wasn’t imagining it, was I?”

  Given how confused she was about the aftermath of Victor’s suicide, that seemed entirely possible. She’d lost large swatches of time, only beginning to think coherently again when Rachel helped her into a hot bath.

  “He was there.” Rachel toweled her hair, as if Meredith couldn’t be trusted to do it alone. Or maybe that was Rachel’s maternal instincts coming to the fore. “He pulled you out. Another second and—” She stopped.

  “And it would have been too late. I know.” She shivered, and Rachel put a comforting arm around her.

  “We weren’t too late. Concentrate on that, and be thankful. Especially to Rebecca.”