“How long have you worked here as a manager?” he asked.
“For the past seventeen months or so. Before that I was living in Chicago, although I’m originally from Bachelor Moon. Daniella and I were best friends all through high school. I left here around the time she married Johnny Butler, and when I returned, I found out Johnny had been murdered and she had fallen in love with Sam.” She knew she was rambling, giving him far more information than he’d asked for, but it was nerves. Whenever she was nervous and frightened, she talked too much.
“I was maid of honor at Sam and Daniella’s wedding, and for almost the past two years, the two of them and little Macy have been my family.” New tears burned at her eyes but she quickly blinked them away. “They took me and Cory in when we had nothing and no place else to go. They embraced us, and my friendship with Daniella picked up where it had left off.”
He stared at her mouth, and she wondered if he was somehow judging the words that fell out of it. Did he believe she’d had something to do with the family’s disappearance? Did he think she was lying to cover up some sort of heinous crime?
He turned his attention to the pad in his hand, made a couple of notes and then gazed up at her again. “Cory?”
“My brother. He just turned twenty, and he works as the gardener’s assistant here. My mother abandoned us when we were young, and my father... Well, he did the best he could, but I basically raised Cory. When I was twenty my father died, and I petitioned the courts to get custody of Cory, and he’s been with me ever since.” Again she realized she was talking too much and firmly chastised herself just to answer his questions as simply, as succinctly as possible.
“And where does Cory stay?”
“He has a small apartment built onto the back of the carriage house, but he’d never do anything to hurt Sam or Daniella, and he thinks of Macy as a little sister. He loves them as much as I do.”
“Who else works here?”
How she wished he’d just give her a hint of a smile, a tiny indication that he understood the panic that seared through her soul, that the fabric of her fragile world had come undone and she felt utterly lost.
She frowned and focused on his question. “The housekeeper is Pamela Winters. She lives in an apartment in town and only works two or three days a week, depending on the guest load. Then there’s John Jeffries. He’s the gardener and lives in a cottage down by the pond. John’s the only person who works here full-time besides me and Cory.”
“What about other part-time workers?”
She was aware of agents Barkin and Revannaugh returning to the kitchen, where she knew they’d be looking for further evidence to substantiate the possibility of foul play.
“Daniella does most of the cooking for the guests, but she occasionally has Marion Wells come in to take over the job for her. When we’re really busy, Valerie King comes in to help with the cleaning. But none of these people would have any reason to do anything bad to Sam and Daniella. We all love them, and Macy is the smartest, cutest little girl on the face of the earth.”
A sob caught in her throat and she quickly choked it down. “You shouldn’t be wasting your time sitting here and questioning me. You should be out there someplace looking for them,” she said passionately.
His blue eyes stared at her dispassionately, and she decided at that moment that she didn’t particularly like Special Agent Gabriel Blankenship. “I assume you live here on the premises. Where is your room?”
“Just off the kitchen.” She caught her lower lip to keep it from trembling.
He raised a dark eyebrow. “And when was the last time you heard or saw the family?”
“Last night around eight. They went upstairs and I went into my rooms.”
“I’d like to see your rooms.” He stood and looked at her expectantly.
She felt as if he viewed her as a suspect, and she didn’t like the feeling. She stood, her feet leaden as she thought about going through the kitchen to get to her rooms, the kitchen where she knew something bad had happened to people she loved.
She was acutely aware of him following behind her as she passed through the kitchen, where the two agents were fingerprinting the back door. They nodded to her as she went to the door that led to the suite of small rooms she had called home for almost two years. There was a sitting room, a bathroom and two small bedrooms, one where she slept, and one that she and Daniella had turned into a storage room.
The sitting room was relatively plain—a sofa, a rocking chair and a television. There were no knickknacks or trinkets to mark the space as hers. She’d traveled light through life, with her brother the only thing of importance to her.
Gabriel stepped into the room, and it instantly seemed to shrink in size. She became aware of his scent, a faint but pleasant woodsy cologne.
His blue eyes narrowed and a frown furrowed his brow as he took in the immediate surroundings. He glanced into the storage room and then stood in her bedroom doorway, his back a broad mountain in front of her.
Thank goodness there were no silk panties sneaking over the top of an open drawer, no lacy bra hanging from a doorknob. Marlena was definitely grateful at the moment that she was a neat freak.
He whirled around to gaze at her speculatively. “You were asleep right here, and you didn’t hear anything in the kitchen that caused you concern last night?” His deep voice was rife with disbelief.
“I get up at the crack of dawn, work hard during the day and I sleep hard at night. I’ve always been a deep, heavy sleeper, and unless somebody screamed, I probably wouldn’t have awakened.” She raised her chin a notch.
“So you don’t think anyone screamed.”
She hesitated a moment and then shook her head. “I can’t be positive, but I’m relatively sure that a scream would have pulled me from my sleep.”
He held her gaze, and she fought the impulse to squirm. It was as if his piercing blue eyes attempted to crawl inside her head, look into her soul, and she realized at that moment that she was his number-one suspect in whatever had happened to the family she loved.
Chapter Two
Gabriel woke at dawn, smothered in lavender sheets and a bedspread, pulled from an erotic dream involving himself and his number-one suspect.
Not a good way to start a new day, he thought as he got out of bed and padded into the adjoining bathroom. Minutes later he stood beneath a needle-hot shower spray, trying to burn out the memory of his unusually hot dream.
Marlena Meyer’s long silky legs had been entangled with his as they’d kissed and caressed each other. Her green eyes had glowed with a hunger that had made him want to satisfy her. Thankfully he had awakened at that moment.
It had been a short night of sleep. He’d insisted Marlena get her brother and John, the gardener, last night and get them to the house to be interviewed.
The interviews had lasted for several hours, and after a search of the basement and all other areas of the house, it had been around three o’clock in the morning when Gabriel had finally crawled into bed.
Andrew and Jackson had finished processing the kitchen. They’d found hundreds of fingerprints, probably mostly those of the family and the staff. Interestingly enough, the door and frame had apparently been wiped clean, as not a single print had been found there.
There was no question in his mind that the family had not gone willingly with whomever had walked through that back door. The real question was why had they been taken, and how had somebody managed to corral three people and take them away without Marlena in the next room hearing anything?
Other than the overturned chair, there were no signs of a struggle, no indication that anything violent had occurred in the kitchen.
Thank God he and his men had packed bags to be gone for a couple of days, for he had a feeling this wasn’t going to be an easy one to sol
ve.
Although his gut told him the Connelly family was either in deep trouble or already dead; the evidence didn’t automatically point to a crime taking place. All they had at the moment was circumstantial evidence that something had happened to the family.
He needed to check the financial records, both the personal ones for the Connellys and those of the bed-and-breakfast. Although unusual, the Connelly family wouldn’t be the first one to just up and walk away from their current life, leaving behind not only hundreds of questions but loved ones without any sense of closure.
The one thing that bothered Gabriel about this scenario was that he couldn’t imagine a former FBI agent walking away without his gun.
Gabriel stepped out of the shower, dried off and dressed in a fresh pair of slacks and another white shirt, and by that time he thought he smelled the faint scent of coffee drifting upstairs.
He checked his watch. It was just after six. Apparently Marlena had been telling him the truth when she’d told him she was up at the crack of dawn.
As he walked down the stairs toward the dining room, his thoughts were scattered on all the things that needed to be done in order to further investigate the disappearance. He carried his laptop, deciding that he’d work from the dining room rather than upstairs in the lavender room.
They had released the kitchen back to Marlena late last night, after they were sure that it had been checked from top to bottom for evidence. Photos had been taken, along with measurements and drawings, notes and impressions.
The coffee smell came from the dining room, and he spied the full pot on the sideboard, along with cups and saucers and all the accoutrements that anyone might need to doctor up a cup of java.
He placed his laptop on the table that had been set with plates and silverware for three and then bypassed the room and entered the kitchen, where Marlena stood with her back to him at the window. Apparently she didn’t hear him, and for a moment he said nothing to draw her attention as memories of his inappropriate dream drifted through his brain.
Again today she was dressed in a pair of shorts, denim ones that hugged her pert, shapely butt and showcased the length of her long legs.... Legs that he’d dreamed had been wrapped around his. An apple-green T-shirt topped the shorts, and he knew the color would make her eyes pop.
She turned suddenly, and a startled gasp escaped her. “I didn’t know you were there.”
“I just got here,” he replied.
“I’ve got biscuits in the oven and gravy ready to make.” She took several steps away from the window, and her gaze fell on the table. “I want to thank your agents for cleaning up in here.”
“The plates and glasses were bagged and tagged. All they cleaned up was the mess they’d made in fingerprinting.”
“Still, I appreciate it.” Her eyes were dark, as if in genuine pain as her gaze remained focused on the table. She finally glanced back at him. “There’s coffee in the dining room, and you just let me know when you want breakfast, or if you want something besides biscuits and gravy, and I’ll be glad to serve you in there.”
He nodded. “Biscuits and gravy sounds good, and after we eat, I’d like you to take me on a tour of the grounds.”
Her eyes widened in surprise, but she nodded her assent. “I’ll have breakfast ready in about fifteen minutes.” She turned toward the stove as if to dismiss him.
He hesitated a moment and then returned to the dining room, where he helped himself to a cup of coffee and opened his laptop to begin work.
He hadn’t seen a personal laptop in their suite. The only computer had been in the small office off the great room that was obviously used for the business.
Heavy footsteps let him know Jackson approached. Jackson was a slender man, but he walked as if he weighed ten thousand pounds. Gabriel offered the dark-haired agent a tight smile as he entered the dining room.
“Ah, coffee... The drink of gods,” Jackson said as he headed for the sideboard.
He poured himself a cup and then joined Gabriel at the table. “So, looks like a potential abduction to me.”
“That’s what I’m thinking,” Gabriel replied. “I’ve already let Director Miller know how things stand here. I’m in the process of getting a financial picture for both their personal life and this business. After breakfast I’m walking the grounds with Marlena, and I want you and Andrew to search for a personal computer or laptop, plus get into the one in the office, and see if there’s been any unusual activity that might yield clues as to what happened here.”
Jackson nodded and Gabriel continued. “I also plan on bringing in the part-time helpers sometime this afternoon to interview them, and later I’d like you and Andrew to head into town and start asking questions.”
“Breakfast first, and then work,” Andrew said as he ambled into the room and headed toward the coffee.
“Of course, breakfast first,” Jackson said with a grin. It was office intrigue about what Andrew loved most: his job, his girlfriend or food. There was a rumor that he’d once eaten his weight in meat and desserts at a local buffet in Baton Rouge.
Andrew joined them at the table, and for the next few minutes the men spoke about the interviews they’d conducted the night before with the gardener, John Jeffries, and Marlena’s brother, Cory.
John Jeffries was thirty years old, originally from New Orleans, and his alibi for the night of the disappearance was that Cory had been at his cabin and the two of them had been watching horror films and had fallen asleep. According to both Cory and John, they’d slept through the night, John on the sofa and Cory in a recliner, and had both awakened around seven the next morning.
They all stopped talking when Marlena walked in carrying a huge basket of biscuits, a small tray of butter and a variety of jellies. “I’ll be right back with the gravy,” she said, looking at none of them as she set the basket and tray in the center of the table between where the three sat.
“And what are our thoughts of the lovely manager?” Jackson asked in a low voice.
“The verdict is still out,” Gabriel replied. What he’d like to know is if her hair was as soft, if her lips were as hot as they’d been in his dream. He frowned, shoving away these unwanted thoughts. “As far as I’m concerned right now, she’s at the top of our suspect list. If nothing else, she’s a person of interest who might know something that will solve this disappearance.”
He slammed his mouth shut as she returned to the room, carrying a large bowl and ladle of sausage-scented gravy.
“Mmm, smells good,” Andrew said, having already opened a couple of the biscuits on his plate.
For the first time Marlena smiled, and the sight of it shot unwanted warmth through Gabriel’s stomach.
“I hope it tastes as good as it smells,” she replied, and then once again left them alone.
What was wrong with him? Why was this woman already under his skin? Gabriel grabbed one of the warm biscuits and tore it open, irritated by the unfamiliar feelings Marlena Meyers evoked in him.
Although Gabriel had enjoyed sex with a number of women over the years, it hadn’t been that often, and it had always been just sex, with the understanding that he wasn’t a forever kind of man. There was no place for love in his life, never had been, never would be.
Still, something about Marlena Meyers made him think of hot sex, of tangling his hands in her impish blond curls, of feeling the spill of her naked breasts in his hands. It had been a very long time since any woman had affected him this way.
Get a grip, he told himself irritably. She was at the very least a tool to use to gain information on a potential crime, and at the most, potentially responsible for the disappearance of the Connelly family. Not a woman to fantasize about, not a woman to get close to in any way.
All he wanted from her was answers, and to that end, once the meal was over and he k
new he’d given her enough time to clean up the kitchen, he went in search of her to accompany him for a walk around the grounds.
It had been too late last night to fully view the surrounding area, and it was possible that some clue or bit of evidence might be found outside.
If the family were being held alive someplace on the property, then before dusk fell, Gabriel would find them. If the family was dead and their bodies were still on the property, then they’d be found as well, before the end of the night.
It was just after eight-thirty when he and Marlena left by the front door, the heat and humidity already like a slap in the face as they walked outside.
“I thought it was humid in Baton Rouge, but this makes Baton Rouge feel positively arid,” he said as they stepped off the porch.
“That’s why July and August are our slowest months of the year. We only had two couples booked for the next few weeks, and I emailed them this morning to cancel their visit.”
“Hopefully we can tie things up here before the next couple of weeks,” Gabriel replied. He pointed toward a shed near a dock that extended out over the pond. “What’s that?”
“It’s a bait shack. You don’t think...” Her voice trailed off as if her thought was too horrible to say out loud.
“I need to check it out,” he said grimly.
“I’ll wait here.” Her voice trembled as he left her side and walked onto the planks at the front of the dock. The bait shop was an oversize shed, and the door was closed.
From outside the wooden structure, he could hear the faint hum of something electric, probably a refrigerator and tanks to hold live bait. He pulled from his pocket a thin latex glove and then reached out for the doorknob, his heart taking on an unsteady rhythm.
Were Sam and Daniella and little seven-year-old Macy dead, their bodies shoved inside this small building? Although Gabriel had worked difficult cases in the past, it never got any easier to work a case where a small child was involved.
Scene of the Crime: Return to Bachelor Moon Page 2
