Deadly Secrets

by Jude Pittman

  “Well, how’d it go down there?” Gus’ voice boomed over the wire.

  “Better than I expected,” Kelly replied. “I tried to get back earlier, so I could drop in at the station but that damn 45 was a nightmare.”

  “Isn’t it always? Why don’t you run on out here? Betty’s been bugging me to bring you home and we were just talking about throwing some steaks on the grill.”

  “Now that’s an offer I can’t refuse. I was about to open a can of beans. Mind if Jake comes?”

  “Hell, no. Bring him along. We’ll see how he hits it off with Scooter.”

  Kelly hung up the phone and turning to Jake. “Well, boy, better get your butt in gear ’cause we got us an invitation to a barbecue.”

  Gus and Betty lived in a small subdivision half way between Fort Worth and Arlington. On his way there, Kelly hit the tail end of rush hour and memories flooded his mind as he picked his way through traffic. He and Lynda had been frequent visitors to the neat little rambler where Gus and Betty had raised three kids and an assortment of dogs, cats and rabbits. Pulling into the familiar driveway, Kelly swallowed a large lump. It never went away. He reached over and opened the passenger door. Jake jumped to the ground and perked his ears toward the house. Betty must have heard the truck from the kitchen because she was standing on the front porch waving both hands and smiling the big, warm smile Kelly remembered so well.

  “Land sakes, boy.” She met him at the foot of the steps and reached her chubby arms around his neck so she could plant a big kiss on his cheek. “I was convinced you’d up and died on us, until Gus came home and told me he’d found you hiding out down there at Indian Creek.”

  “I’ve missed you, Betty,” Kelly said.

  She smiled up into his eyes, blinking a bit to keep back tears. “You get yourself into the house and tell that big lug of mine to dig you a cold one outta the fridge.”

  “It’s good to see you, Betty.” Kelly pulled her back for another hug. “It’s been too darn long.”

  She tilted her head and gave him a sharp look. “Now you’re back I’ll expect to see you around real often.” Her eyes shone with affection and Kelly choked back another lump.

  “This place gets darn lonesome now that the last of the younguns has gone off and got herself hitched,” Betty said. Then, mindful of the emotions gripping them both, she shook her dishtowel and herded him toward the door. “Off with you now. Gus is in the study. I’ve got to get back to the kitchen. There’s a pan of that jalapeno corn bread you always liked so well browning in the oven and I don’t want it burnt to a crisp.”

  Jake, who had hung back during this exchange, climbed the steps and joined them at the door.

  “Who’s this you’ve got with you?” Betty bent down and held out her hand for Jake to sniff.

  “Jake, meet Betty,” Kelly said. “She’s the best cook in the State of Texas, so you’d better get on her good side.”

  “You go on in there too, boy,” Betty said. “Four-legged critters is as welcome as two-legged ones in this old house.”

  Kelly headed straight for the study where he found Gus stretched out in the same well-worn leather recliner that he’d had for as long as Kelly could remember.

  “I got you all fixed up.” Gus pointed to the can of Budweiser stuck in a Koozie and setting on the whatnot table beside Betty’s old armchair.

  Kelly sank down in the soft cushion, raised his long legs up on the flower print footstool Betty always kept parked in front of her chair and let out a deep sigh.

  Jake, who had carefully sniffed the room when he entered, padded over to a throw rug in front of the patio doors and eased himself down on his haunches.

  Gus laughed. “Smart dog. He’s scented Scooter right off. Hey, Scoot,” he hollered. “Get your butt down here.”

  A thumping scuffle echoed along the hallway and moments later, a black-and-white cocker spaniel skidded into the room and slid to a halt in front of Gus.

  Jake’s ears perked forward and the muscles rippled along his haunches.

  “Go on over there and join our guest.” Gus pointed to Jake.

  Scooter, following Gus’ arm, padded across the room, sniffed the edge of the rug and parked himself nose-to-nose with Jake.

  Gus chuckled as the two dogs eyed each other warily. “They’ll get acquainted. Now, let’s hear what you’ve been up to. I hope I don’t find myself ass deep in alligators come Monday morning.”

  Kelly laughed. “Nope. I didn’t even ripple the pond while I was down there. Matter of fact, I had the luck of the Irish riding with me the whole trip. I ran down Krystal’s Aunt Stella the first night and let me tell you, that woman’s a pistol. We met over at the Longhorn Saloon and dusted up the floor for a couple of hours. Then, after we quit the club, I took her out for some grub and told her why I’d come to town.”

  “You told her the truth?”

  “Yep!” Kelly nodded and grinned at Gus’ surprised expression. “It just seemed like the right thing to do. Of course, it was touch and go at first as to whether or not she was going to walk out and leave me wishing I’d kept my mouth shut but she came around in the end and boy did she give me an earful.”

  “Well, don’t keep me waiting,” Gus growled. “What did she have to say?”

  Kelly grinned and picked up his beer can. Gus glared at him while he took a long swallow and then set the can back on the table. “For starters,” Kelly said, “I found out why Anna dropped out of sight. It seems the other man in Anna’s life was none other than Krystal’s Uncle Andrew.”

  Gus frowned. “No wonder he’s been scrambling to keep us from digging too deep into Anna’s past.”

  “Yep. The family kept the lid on the story for years. Even Stella didn’t know what happened until Vivian Davis developed Alzheimer’s. Vivian never liked Stella but as the disease progressed, Stella took on her personal care and Vivian began treating her like a confidant.

  “Then, during one of her memory lapses, she started talking about Anna. Stella urged her along and Vivian told her the whole story.”

  “So what’s the story?” Gus asked.

  “In a nutshell, Clayton came home early from a business trip and caught Anna and Andrew in bed together. It seems the shock was more than Clayton could handle. He walked out of the bedroom and went straight downstairs to the study and blew his brains out.”

  “That checks with the suicide story.” Gus said, nodding his head.

  “Anna and Andrew heard the shot from the bedroom and raced downstairs. As soon as they realized Clayton was dead Andrew took off for his mother’s house. Vivian lived just a couple houses from Anna and Clayton. When Andrew told her what had happened, she told him to stay at her house while she went over to Clayton’s and dealt with Anna.”

  “Kind of strange behavior for a mother wouldn’t you say—her telling Andrew to stay at the house when her eldest son had just shot himself?”

  Kelly shrugged. “From what I gather, Vivian wasn’t exactly your normal kind of mother. Once Andrew had told her Clayton was dead, she must have decided it was more important to protect the son she had than to mourn the one she’d lost.”

  “Sounds that way. What was Anna doing while Andrew was chasing off after his mother?”

  “Apparently she was in shock. Vivian told Stella that when she got to the house, she found Anna crouched over Clayton’s body holding the gun.”

  “Oh, ho!” Gus’ eyes lit up. “I’m beginning to get some idea of where this is going.”

  “Yep!” Kelly nodded. “My guess is that as soon as the old lady realized Clayton was dead, she started figuring out how to get rid of Anna. Stella says Vivian laughed like a madwoman when she told her how she got rid of ‘that hussy’.”

  “How did she manage it?”

  “By giving her an ultimatum. The deal was that either Anna would sign everything over to daughter, Krystal, with Andrew as guardian and get the hell out of Dodge, or Vivian would see she went to the gas chamber for murdering Clayt
on.”

  “Wasn’t Anna with Andrew while Clayton was shooting himself?”

  “Sure but Vivian controlled the purse strings. Anna probably knew Andrew would swear to anything his mother said. Then too, given the circumstances of Clayton’s death, she probably believed she was guilty, at least morally, if not legally. I doubt if she even tried to fight the old lady at that point and later, when she’d had time to think it over, it would already have been too late.”

  “So that left Andrew in control of everything until Krystal came of age?”

  “Exactly! As Krystal’s guardian Andrew has been in full control of her property ever since Clayton’s death but Krystal will turn twenty-five in a couple of months and that’s when Andrew’s guardianship is scheduled to end.”

  “So if Andrew’s going to lose control anyhow, how would he benefit from killing Anna?”

  “Krystal, herself, gave me the answer to that one. Although she didn’t realize that’s what she was doing. It seems she doesn’t have any interest in getting involved with either the business or her own estate. She’s already told Andrew she’s perfectly content to have him continue managing her affairs and from what I understand, when she does turn twenty-five, she’ll be signing an agreement to extend the trust.”

  “I’ll be damned.” Gus whistled.

  “My sentiments exactly. All Andrew had to do was keep Krystal away from Anna for another two months and he’d have been set for life. As it is, he must’ve had a coronary when he got the call from Jack Boscon saying he’d been hired by Krystal to locate her mother and the two of them were meeting that weekend.”

  “So the next question is where the hell was Andrew Davis last Saturday night?”

  “You read my mind.” Kelly grinned and reached for his beer. “I kind of figured maybe you’d get on the horn to Houston along about Monday morning.”

  “Monday, hell. I’ll give them a call first thing in the morning. I wasn’t exactly anxious to stir up a hornet’s nest when there wasn’t anything but propinquity to point at the Davises. But this shit you’ve brought in bears some looking into.”

  “So where does that leave Cam?”

  “Well for now, it doesn’t change anything where he’s concerned. Old Bill has been screaming his head off for us to either charge him or let him loose. So the DA’s decided to charge him with burglary.

  “You know my position, Kelly. I need Cam locked up to keep the heat off until I’ve had a chance to look into this Davis angle.”

  Kelly nodded. “I understand but Cam’s got his whole life wrapped up in that bar of his. If you nail him on a burglary rap, the TABC will yank his liquor license. You might as well fry him as take the Hideaway away from him.”

  “I know that but like I said, I can’t do anything right now. Between you and me, if your friend, Cam, didn’t murder the old gal and we catch the killer, I’ll go before the DA with a recommendation to drop the burglary charges.”

  “Thanks, Gus.” Kelly took a deep breath and relaxed. “I’d bet Old Blue against that broken down recliner of yours that Cam’s innocent.”

  “Okay, that’s settled. I’ll call Houston in the morning and pass it by Captain Jeffrey. If he gives me the go ahead, I just might take a little trip down there myself. Now let’s get those steaks on the grill before Betty comes out here and pins our ears back.”

  The rest of the night was a trip down memory lane for Kelly. Some of it was painful, especially when he wandered into the living room and saw his and Lynda’s wedding picture still sitting in exactly the spot Betty had put it fifteen years ago.

  Mostly though, Kelly thoroughly enjoyed himself. There was nothing like being with old friends to give him the feeling of having a special place in the human race and the Grahams were more than friends. Kelly hadn’t had any contact with his dad in over twenty-five years and his mom had died the year after he and Lynda were married. Gus and Betty were all the family he had besides Jake.

  It was eleven-thirty when Kelly got home. He’d decided to put off calling Krystal until morning but the light was flashing on his answering machine and when he punched the button she pleaded with him from the tape.

  “Kelly, this is Krystal. I hope you don’t think I’m being a pest but I can’t stand the suspense. Did you get in touch with Stella? Call me, please. I don’t care what time it is. I won’t sleep anyhow for wondering about you.”

  Smiling, Kelly reached for the telephone. Lynda had been like that. She couldn’t stand waiting.

  The phone rang once and Krystal’s voice was in his ear. “Hello!”

  “Hello, yourself. I got your message, so I took you at your word about being awake. I’m sorry to be so late getting back to you but I’ve just now come from Gus’ place.”

  “I’m so glad you called. I’ve been holding my breath ever since you left.”

  “Well, you better breathe then.” Kelly chuckled. “To answer your question—yes, I did get in touch with Stella. I met her over at the Longhorn Saloon, we danced a bit and I took her out for breakfast. You were right. She was friendly and she answered most of my questions.”

  “Oh!” Kelly heard a sharp intake of breath. “Are you going to tell me what she said?”

  “Of course I’m going to tell you.” Kelly crossed his fingers. “Most of it won’t be any news to you and there isn’t anything to keep you from getting a good night’s sleep. How about if we meet tomorrow morning and we can talk about it then.”

  “Oh, darn. Penny and I have an exam tomorrow. I have an idea, though. Penny’s a terrific cook and she mentioned I should invite you over for dinner one night. Would that be okay with you? She’s very tactful, so after dinner I know she’ll find something to do so we can talk.”

  “Sounds like a winner to me. What time?”

  “How about five o’clock? That’ll give Penny plenty of time.”

  “Great. I’ll have to leave about seven-thirty to make my rounds at the flea market. As long as that’s okay, I’ll be looking forward to it. You get to sleep now. We don’t want you flunking that test.”

  Krystal’s musical laugh echoed back at him and Kelly cradled the phone. He couldn’t help but notice how easily Krystal gave up on getting answer to her questions. He wasn’t a psychologist, but Kelly was willing to bet it had a lot to do with her not really knowing if she wanted those answers.

  Saturday morning, Kelly was up at daybreak. Saturday and Sunday were business days at the flea market and it was part of Kelly’s job to make sure all the day-jobbers were set up in the right section. They kept him hopping all morning. It was noon before he got a break and went to the cabin for lunch. Gus had left a message on the machine for Kelly to call, so he quickly threw a couple frozen burritos into the microwave and dialed Gus’ home number.

  “What’s up?” he asked when Gus answered the telephone.

  “Remember the license number you got from that anonymous caller?”

  “Sure! What about it?”

  “You aren’t gonna believe this one.” Gus chuckled into the phone.

  “Don’t tell me it’s turned out that jerk was on the level.”

  “Oh, the guy was on the level all right. The only problem was, he needed an eye exam.” Gus laughed again and Kelly stifled an urge to shout at him to get to the point.

  “If you remember,” Gus said, “the number he gave us was LQY-464. That number belonged to a fella named Donovan Nolan. We checked Nolan out good and after he came out clean, we wrote your caller off as a crank.”

  “I remember. So, now you’ve found out that he wasn’t so clean after all?”

  “Oh no, Nolan’s out of it. What happened was one of those coincidences that drive cops nuts. After what you told me about Andrew Davis, I decided to do a background check and as a matter of course, they printed out his vehicle registrations and plate numbers. I nearly split a gut when the number on his BMW turned out to be LQV-464.”

  “You’re putting me on.”

  “Nope! I’m giving it to y
ou straight…and I still haven’t told you the best part.”

  “You mean there’s more?”

  “Yep. Once I had the number, I decided to run it through our local computer—just on the off chance a man in a hurry might have a heavy foot. That’s when I hit the jackpot. One of our units wrote Andrew Davis a citation for doing sixty-five in a fifty and you’ll never guess where and when.”

  “You’re not going to tell me that you’ve got him in the vicinity?”

  “That’s it, son. Right on the money. He was logged in two miles the other side of Lake Country Estates at one forty-nine on Sunday morning.”

  “Jackpot!”

  “My sentiments exactly. I’ve already booked a flight to Houston. Mr. Davis and I are going to have us a nice, long chat.”

  “Poor Krystal. It’ll hit her pretty hard if it turns out that he’s the one.”

  “Yeah but if he’s a killer, she can consider herself lucky. Murderers have a habit of repeating and that little gal’s got too damn much money for her own good.”

  “I’m having dinner with her tonight. It’s going to be tough trying to act like I don’t know anything’s going down.”

  “Just be careful what you say. I know you’ve gotten close but you don’t really know how things stand between her and her uncle.”

  “That goes without saying, Gus. As far as I’m concerned, we didn’t even have this conversation. I’d already decided not to tell Krystal anything about her uncle anyhow. She wants some answers but I figured I’d just focus on the grandmother, whom she didn’t care much for anyhow and let it go at that. Even if Andrew turns out to be the murderer, there’s still a chance the story about him and Anna will never come out.”

  “Okay! I’ll give you a call as soon as I get back from Houston. By the way, Cam has posted bail on the burglary charge. He ought to be home sometime this afternoon.”

  “Good. Thanks, Gus. At least this is a break for Cam, even if it does turn out to be pretty tough on Krystal.”

  Kelly finished up at the flea market by three-thirty, which gave him plenty of time to spruce up for his dinner date. He chose a light blue shirt topped off with a dark blue vest. Lynda had always told him that blues made his eyes look sexy. He kind of hoped Krystal would have the same reaction.