Suspicion of Guilt

by Tracey V. Bateman

“I’m sorry, Reece.” The misery covering her face couldn’t have been put on. “I blame myself for this. I shouldn’t have encouraged your romantic attention.”

  Reece forced a casual tone and offered her a one-sided grin. “So, why did you?”

  She searched his eyes as though trying to gauge just how much of his attitude was real and how much was put on. She knew him too well. Reece’s gaze faltered before her scrutiny.

  “I guess I enjoyed the attention.” Her honesty took the wind right out of his sails and Reece found it impossible to hold a grudge. “All right. So, friends it is. How do we do that after all the kissing?”

  Her cheeks pinked. “What do you mean all the kissing?” She grinned. “Either your kisses are completely forgettable or there have only been two.”

  Laughter rumbled deep in his throat. “You’re feisty. I like that about you.”

  “You did the right thing, hon.”

  Ruth set a warm mug of hot chocolate on the table in front of Denni and patted her shoulder on the way to her own chair.

  “I know,” Denni returned, glumly. Her heart ached as much as if it had been on the losing end of a major fight. Battered and bruised. The force of her disappointment hung over her heavily. “It’s really my own fault. I shouldn’t have allowed myself to fall for him.”

  “The heart doesn’t always give us a choice.”

  “I know. But God promises to make a way of escape. I shouldn’t have let it go so far.”

  “How far did it go?”

  Ruth’s concerned frown struck a funny chord in Denni. She expelled a short laugh, cradling her mug between her palms. “Not too far, like that. Believe me; I’m still as pure as the driven snow.”

  The sarcasm in her own voice made her cringe. She was proud of her track record with men. Proud that God had kept her innocent. But after all…she was a grown woman. Definitely ready to settle into a relationship—marriage, children, happily-ever-after. That Reece! Why couldn’t he just be a Christian?

  Silence tensed the air and she glanced up, catching Ruth’s questioning stare. “Don’t mind me, Ruth. Every birthday since I turned twenty-three has been a depressing testament to the fact that I’m an old maid.”

  “Old maid? You’re only thirty-three.”

  “Not until tomorrow.” At least one more day.

  “Tomorrow, then.” Ruth smiled and sipped her decaf coffee. “Women are getting married a lot older now than they did in my day.”

  “Yeah.” But her prospects were looking awfully thin. Besides, where would she ever find another man half as appealing as Reece Corrigan? Oh, it was just too depressing to even think about any more.

  Her chair scraped against the linoleum as she moved back and stood. “It’s almost midnight. I guess I’ll go to bed.”

  Ruth smothered a yawn behind her veiny hand. “Me too, honey. I turn into a pumpkin in ten minutes. I’ll just wash up these dishes lickety-split.”

  Denni made her rounds through the downstairs, turning off any overlooked lights. She paused in the living room and smiled fondly at the lump on the couch. Loving the nostalgia invading her senses, she listened for a minute to the sound of her dad snoring softly under the quilt.

  Ruth joined her and the two women headed upstairs. Denni’s legs felt like petrified wood as she climbed. Just a few more steps and she could bury herself under the covers and try to sink into an oblivious sleep for at least six hours. Eight if she was lucky. Ten if they remembered it was her birthday.

  Ruth followed her into the bedroom. Oh, yeah. So much for alone time.

  She gave her future stepmother a gracious smile and waved toward the queen-size bed. “Which side do you want?”

  If someone didn’t turn off that alarm, Denni was going to go through the roof! There, it beeped again. She hadn’t even set the stupid thing last night! Slowly, her world came into mental focus, the fog of night receded. The alarm sounded again. Denni frowned and opened one eye. That wasn’t the alarm. It was her cell phone.

  Unlike Raven’s cultural ring, the no-nonsense beep-beep-beep ring belonged to her little sister, Keri. Their dad had ordered a nationwide family plan and had given each girl her own phone for Christmas. They’d had fun programming each other’s phones with their preferred rings.

  She fumbled on the nightstand for the beeping waker of sleeping birthday girls. “Hi Keri,” she mumbled.

  “Good morning, and happy birthday!” Her sister’s perky voice lifted the morning blahs and coaxed a smile from Denni. She wiggled to a sitting position.

  “What time is it?”

  “Mmm. Ten o’clock. Are you seriously still in bed?”

  “Surprisingly. They must have been tiptoeing around all morning. Ruth and Dad are here. Did you know that?”

  “Yeah. Dad called before they left.”

  That reminded her…“What’s the big idea telling them about the accidents going on around here? I thought we had a deal?”

  “Oh, come on, Denni.” Keri’s voice held not even a hint of remorse. “You know I can’t keep something like that from Dad. Besides I think it’s a good idea for him to look around and see what’s going on there.”

  Denni rolled her eyes. “Cops,” she said in mock disgust.

  “Hey. Former cops. Dad’s retired, and I’m now a proud co-director of the Kansas City inner-city mission and a mother to a couple of adorable ten-year-old twin sons.”

  Denni grinned and forgave. “How are Josh and Billy getting along in the new house?”

  “They love it. Did I tell you Justin built them an enormous treehouse out back?”

  “Justin did?”

  “You say that like you doubt my man’s abilities just a little bit.” Her voice rang with mock offense.

  “Not just a little doubt but highly, highly doubt,” Denni returned wryly, not backing down. “I mean, like if my doubts were dollars, we’d be millionaires.”

  Keri laughed. “Okay, you’re right. I’m lying. But he did supervise the building of said treehouse. And he wrote the check for payment.”

  Denni heaved an overly dramatic sigh. “What a guy.”

  “My hero.” Keri’s throaty laugh, that laugh of a woman in love and happily fulfilled in marriage, pierced Denni’s raw heart. She flinched. As if by design, a tap sounded at the door and Ruth poked her head in. “Oh, good. You’re up.”

  “Who’s talking?” Keri asked.

  “It’s Ruth. I need to go.”

  “All right. I just wanted to wish you a happy birthday anyway. Have a great one, okay?”

  “Sure, Ker. Thanks for calling.”

  “Hey, wait.”

  “Yeah?”

  “You all right?”

  Tears sprang to Denni’s eyes. “Yeah. Just the birthday blues.”

  Ruth cleared her throat. “I made biscuits and gravy,” she said in a loud whisper.

  Denni nodded and Ruth pulled the door shut, leaving her alone once more.

  “Keri. I’m going to slip downstairs for breakfast.”

  “Okay. But promise you won’t be depressed. This is your year for love, sister. I can feel it.”

  “Who said it has anything to do with love?”

  The sound of Keri’s chuckle filled her ears just before she disconnected the call.

  “A birthday party?” Reece blinked at the rookie sitting next to him on the barstool of Al’s café. Today they were wedged together like a can of tennis balls. He hated crowds.

  Sean grinned. “Yeah. And Leigh says it won’t be the same without you.”

  “Why? Does she plan on using me for the piñata?”

  A guffaw shook Sean and he slapped Reece on the back with enough force to dislodge a hunk of steak, if there had been one caught in his throat. “I wouldn’t put it past her. Seriously, though. I think she just wants to make Denni happy and she knows having you show up would do it.”

  Reece let out a bitter laugh and dunked a fry in a well of ketchup. “Yeah, well. Leigh needs to get some updated information i
f that’s what she thinks.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “Denni called it all off between us. She’s more interested in God than she is in me.”

  Sean’s eyes grew wide. “You mean she’s going to be a nun or a preacher or something?”

  Scowling, Reece tossed a fry backwards. It hit its mark, Sean’s nose. “Hey!”

  “She isn’t going to be a nun. She just doesn’t want to date a guy who doesn’t think God’s very necessary. That’s all.”

  “Wow. Sorry, man.” Sean meant it. The tenderhearted rookie cop had been through his own set of heartaches lately. First falling in love with a girl he’d only meant to make fall for him—well, that one probably served him right. But having to arrest the woman he loved, in a strip club of all places, had to wrench his guts out.

  “So you’re still dating Leigh, huh?”

  Sean’s face clouded. “I figure there’s still more to learn. Especially from a girl who keeps such good secrets.”

  “Uh-huh.” Reece wasn’t buying it.

  “And I guess I’m not ready to stop seeing her.” He admitted. “I like her a lot.”

  Reece cast him a sidelong glance. The misery on the kid’s face shot straight to Reece’s heart. “Sometimes you just can’t help it. Even if you know it’s the wrong girl.”

  Surprise lifted Sean’s brow and Reece winced at his own admission. He jammed another fry into his mouth. His association with Denni had turned him into a big wimp. Next he’d be writing poetry and buying sappy cards.

  “So when is this party supposed to be?”

  “Tonight. It’s sort of being thrown together last-minute. I guess the idea came to her stepmom in a dream.” He chuckled. “That’s one feisty woman.”

  “I know she is. That’s what I like most about her. From her soft looks, you’d never guess she would be.”

  “Soft looks? Ruth?”

  “Ruth?” Reece frowned. “I was talking about Denni.”

  “Oh, man. You’ve got it so bad for that one. You might as well go buy a suit.”

  “Suit?”

  “A Sunday-go-to-meetin’ suit. And don’t forget to say ‘amen’ real loud every few minutes. That’ll get you in real good with the preacher.”

  Reece shoved up from the barstool. “Let’s go.”

  “I’m not done with my lunch.” Sean shoveled in a huge bite of his cheeseburger and chewed hard and fast.

  “Yes you are.”

  “Where are we going now?”

  “I have an appointment with the caterer Denni was supposed to use a couple of weeks ago. Her sister is a liaison for one of the churches who might sponsor the Mahoney House project.”

  “So?”

  “The caterer said someone cancelled at the last minute. Only no one did. Denni and I had to scramble to get a lunch together.”

  Reece’s stomach jumped at the memory. That had been a great day.

  Sean walked his tray to the trash bin, slurping down the last of his soda. “Funny, I can’t picture you in an apron.”

  “Shut up,” Reece growled. He pushed open the door and let it begin to close. Sean caught it easily.

  “So what’s the crime?”

  “You’re annoying me, that’s what.”

  “I mean the caterer. Sheesh. Focus, will you?”

  Reece felt like popping the kid. But he had to admit he was a little rattled. His all-consuming thoughts about Denni Mahoney distracted him. He was losing the woman he loved. Loved? He gulped and thought about it a second. Yep. Loved. Real love. Death-do-us-part kind of stuff.

  “So, the caterer. Why do you think we need to talk to her?”

  All right. Time to focus. Sean was right.

  “Like I said, her sister was at the luncheon.”

  “So?”

  “So she let it slip that she knew the luncheon was cancelled and still she showed up—dressed in a business suit and ready to look around.”

  “I see little dots, but nothing I can really connect. Is there more?”

  They slid into the unmarked Crown Vic. Reece cranked the engine and maneuvered into traffic.

  “Miss Wilson and Denni have a history that goes back to the time Denni worked for Division of Family Services. Miss Wilson wanted to be a foster parent. Denni had to turn her down.”

  A low whistle streamed from between Sean’s lips. “So she might be holding a grudge. And if she’s got problems upstairs in the brain department, that grudge might even be strong enough to make her do things like turn on water faucets and set empty tea kettles on burners.”

  “Exactly.”

  “So why are we just now getting around to interviewing the sister?”

  “Because she left for vacation the day after the luncheon. I finally got in touch with her this morning and she said to come by after one.”

  “What a coincidence.”

  “Yeah, want to know what else is a coincidence?”

  “Huh?”

  “Elizabeth just pulled out of her sister’s parking lot.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  The short, plump blonde was about as much the opposite of Elizabeth Wilson’s six-foot Amazon-type figure as you could get.

  “So, there’s not much resemblance between the two of you,” Reece said, keeping his voice deliberately pleasant. Maybe it would be an icebreaker. So far she had pretty much just glared.

  “That’s because we’re not blood sisters.”

  “Which one was adopted?”

  “Both of us. Our mother couldn’t have children, so she made a career of adopting unwanted kids.”

  “Oh.” Sean cast him a hmmm-very-interesting look. Reece inwardly winced. He was going to have to talk to the kid about working on his poker face.

  Reece gave Linda Wilson what he knew was a winning grin. He wasn’t without his charm, and he knew it. Still, guilt wormed through his stomach, accompanied by a healthy dose of frustration. Why did he suddenly feel as though he was cheating on Denni by flirting harmlessly with a potential witness?

  But it worked. Linda de-iced a bit, giving him an uncertain smile in return. “What exactly is it that you think I can do for you, detectives?”

  “One detective,” Reece said, keeping the smile fixed. “He’s just an officer.”

  A blush crept to her cheeks. “Sorry.”

  “It’s all right. But to answer your question. Someone has been causing Miss Mahoney all kinds of trouble. The luncheon wasn’t supposed to have been cancelled. And yet it was.”

  “I feel terrible about that. But the caller had the order number and knew everything on the menu.” Her face was still flushed and Reece wondered if her blood pressure was going up.

  “I’m sure it was an honest mistake on your part, Linda. But someone was messing with Miss Mahoney’s luncheon. Trying to sabotage her efforts to buy a couple of houses just like that one so she can help more girls. It was an important event that she had to pull together at the last second. All by herself.”

  Sean cleared his throat. “With a little help from her friends.”

  Reece glared at him, then readjusted his expression and turned back to the plump little cook.

  “Anything you can remember about the person’s voice or something they might have said that struck you as particularly odd might be helpful.”

  “I’m sorry, detective. As I said, the person calling had all the information I require to cancel an order on such short notice.”

  “You didn’t recognize the voice?”

  “No. But Miss Mahoney had spoken with me only a couple of times during the two months since she booked me to cater her luncheon. I wouldn’t have recognized her voice.”

  That sounded reasonable. He was ninety-nine percent sure that she was telling the truth. “I see. Do you know why she chose your business in particular to cater the luncheon?”

  Linda’s eyes narrowed. “What difference does that make? And what exactly are you getting at anyway? You know about Elizabeth, so don’t you think it’s logic
al to assume she had something to do with a recommendation for me?”

  Hmm, a girl who spoke her mind. Got straight to the point.

  “Another thing. I checked with the travel agent and discovered that you booked your vacation the night of the luncheon. Are you always so impulsive?”

  Her face was definitely red. “No. Not usually. But that cancellation really was the last straw in a series of bad jobs. I only started the business a year ago. It takes awhile to get off the ground. I—I just needed a break.”

  Reece nodded. “Sounds reasonable. Are you feeling more rested?”

  “I was until our little chat.”

  Reece chuckled. Touché. “There’s just one more question and I’ll be out of here.”

  Her face relaxed. “All right.”

  “Do you know why someone would go to a luncheon they knew had been cancelled?”

  Her eyes narrowed with suspicion. “What are you getting at, detective?”

  “I think you know.”

  “If you’re implying my sister had anything to do with Miss Mahoney’s problems, you are way off base.”

  “But you did tell your sister that the luncheon was cancelled and yet she went anyway?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you know why she would do that?”

  Linda measured him with her gaze as if deciding how much to tell him. When she spoke, he instinctively felt her sincerity. “She thought Denni had cancelled the luncheon because she wasn’t prepared. I mean, no one could have known that I told Elizabeth it was cancelled, so she decided to show up anyway, play dumb, and get an impromptu look at the house.”

  Linda blushed again. “We’re not young women, Detective. It doesn’t take much to make us happy. Elizabeth thought she’d get brownie points with the pastor if she scoped out Denni’s house and found out whether it was really worthy of receiving another grant or not.”

  “And what made her think she could really be an impartial judge?” Reece felt his anger rise at the woman who obviously wanted to see Denni fail.

  “My sister isn’t holding a grudge, if that’s what you’re implying, Detective. She only wants to be sure the Lord’s money isn’t misspent.”

  “I guess you know her better than I do.” Reece gathered a deep breath. “There’s nothing more for us here.” He walked to the door. Then turned. “Oh, I’m sorry. There is just one more thing. Did Elizabeth know we were coming today?”