A Deep and Dark December

by Beth Yarnall

  “Yeah.”

  “But he’s not the father.”

  “It’s not like I can take samples from every man Deidre ever had contact with.” He put the insinuation of the baby possibly being Keith’s out there for her to pick up in open challenge. His expression gave away nothing as he waited for her response.

  Did he think she’d known about Deidre and Keith and had lied to protect her boyfriend? It would almost be better if that were the case. At least then she wouldn’t have to admit that Keith had deceived her. That he was lying to her still. That what was between her and Keith was tainted and wrong after she’d defended their relationship so vehemently.

  “No. I suppose not,” she said a little too defensively, her body rigid with denial.

  He lowered his gaze to his glass, smoothing the condensation from the sides. That’s when she noticed the phone number Candy had written on his hand. She wondered if he’d use it. “I have to follow up on every lead,” he said.

  “You should,” she spat back.

  He lifted his head, zeroing in on her. “Every lead.”

  “San Rey’s a small town. What you do and don’t do is big news.”

  “And if I’m seen talking to someone, people will assume that person has knowledge of a crime. Or was involved in one.”

  “People can think what they like.”

  “What do you think, Erin?”

  “I think…” She took a sip of tea to buy some time.

  There were too many thoughts chasing each other around in her head to pin down a coherent one. Anything she said about Keith and Deidre would splash back on her. Was Keith using their relationship to cover up his affair with Deidre and the possibility that he was the father of Deidre’s baby? Going further with that train of thought: could Keith be using their relationship to throw suspicion off him for killing Deidre and his unborn child?

  Erin had to choose her words carefully here. Not everyone would think she was innocent and they might even think she conspired with Keith if he turned out to be a murderer. Worse yet, Graham might think she conspired with Keith by making up the visions she saw to throw Graham off Keith’s trail.

  “I think it’s more important to find out what actually happened than to worry about what people will assume,” she answered.

  And that was the truth. People could bend facts to suit their purposes, but they couldn’t change them.

  She puffed out a breath, her mind made up. “You should pursue every lead. Every last one.”

  “Even if that means stirring up the gossip hive?”

  She looked out the window at the waning daylight. Keith would be there in about an hour to pick her up for their date. “You can give them something to talk about tomorrow, can’t you?” She turned back to find him examining her intently.

  They stared at each other across the island, the tension between them hard and tight. She tried to communicate with her eyes what she couldn’t with her words. If he gave her this, she’d owe him.

  “It can wait until tomorrow. Only for you,” he added. “This one time.”

  If she could get the words out, she’d thank him. Tomorrow Graham would question Keith about his relationship with Deidre and Erin would have freed herself from Keith and the shadow that had hovered over their relationship. It was a relief. She finally had a reason for why she couldn’t ever make things work with Keith. All along it was his fault and not a flaw that lay deep within her. He’d poisoned their relationship from the start. There was no going back from that.

  “There’s one other thing,” Graham said. “Deidre’s cell phone and keys were missing from the things we found of hers at the house. Know anything about that?”

  She closed her eyes for a moment, picturing the kitchen where Deidre and Greg had died. “No,” she drew out after a moment, opening her eyes. “I don’t recall them.”

  “Have you had any more visions?”

  She thought about the one she’d had of Keith and his mother. She’d asked a lot of Graham and he’d given it to her when he didn’t have to. She owed him the full truth.

  “I’m trying not to have any at all. But it seems as though I don’t have a choice in the matter anymore.” She described the vision she’d inadvertently had of Keith in his mother’s kitchen, which had taken on a whole new meaning now that she knew about Keith and Deidre’s affair. It wasn’t easy to tell after she’d defended Keith to Graham so vehemently.

  “Shit.” He put a hand on her arm. “I’m sorry.”

  “Me too.”

  “Are still you having pain with the visions?”

  She was grateful to him for the subject change and for not delving further into what her vision could mean. “Pain and a bright light that whites out everything. It’s almost as though someone flips a switch, filling my mind with blinding white light.”

  “What about your aunt and father?”

  “Aunt Cerie is having the most trouble,” she answered. “My dad and I learned how to shut her out to keep her from reading our thoughts. She never learned to block off her mind that way so for her, the light keeps burning. She’s exhausted, but can’t sleep. The more she uses her ability, the more she has these episodes.”

  “Has she thought about seeing a doctor?”

  “I’ve been trying to get her to go, but she’s resisting. Not many people can get my aunt to do something she doesn’t want to.”

  “I bet.”

  “Are there any new leads?” she asked.

  “We’re following a few threads. Mostly we’re waiting on lab results. There was a surprise in the autopsy report though. Deidre had sex within a few hours of her death. No semen, but there was a hair sample we’re testing.”

  “Do you think she might have had sex with her baby’s father?” Keith or someone else?

  “It’s a strong possibility. We do know that both Deidre and Greg were shot with the gun that was found at the scene. Only Greg’s fingerprints were on it though.”

  “The killer wore gloves. Leather. Black. They squeaked.” She shuddered, reliving her vision of the killer entering the house to commit murder.

  “Can you think of anything else? Any details you haven’t mentioned before? Maybe something new you’re just remembering?”

  “No.”

  “Let me know if you do.” Graham climbed off the barstool. “Thanks for the tea.”

  “Sure.” She followed him to the door where he pulled on his coat.

  He turned to the door, then back. “One more thing.”

  “What?”

  “This.”

  He reached for her, pulling her into his arms. She went without question, wrapping her arms around him, the scent of him familiar and thrilling. His chest was warm against her cheek. He smoothed a hand over her hair. She closed her eyes, savoring the sensations that barreled through her. Somehow this embrace was more intimate than the kisses they’d shared, more dangerous. She soaked up the comfort he offered, wanting to hold onto him as long as she could.

  “I’m worried about you confronting Keith.”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  “I bet Deidre thought the same thing.”

  His words made her take a step back from him. “He wouldn’t hurt me.”

  “No?”

  “It wasn’t him I saw in my vision of Deidre’s death.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “I just am. It wasn’t him. I don’t know how to explain it other than it didn’t feel like him.”

  He looked like he might argue the point, then changed his mind. “Call me afterward. Let me know how it went.”

  “Why?”

  “So I know you’re okay.”

  “I’ll be fine. You should go. The longer you stay, the more stories my neighbors will invent about why you’re here.”

  “Call me,” he insisted, reaching for the doorknob. “No matter how late.”

  “That’s not a good idea.” Furthering this whatever it was between them would only make her life more complicate
d. But oh, how she wished she were brave enough to accept the unspoken challenge in his eyes.

  He must’ve seen something in her face that belied her words. “Call me and we’re even.”

  “Fine.”

  The edges of his mouth kicked up into the smile she had a hard time looking away from. “It’s just a check-in call, Erin. Not a hook-up call.”

  “That’s not… I didn’t think…”

  He opened the door, laughing as he went down her walk to his car. Dang that man.

  But she was smiling as she closed the door after him.

  9

  “You’re not dressed,” Keith said when Erin opened the door to him. “Not that you don’t look great.” He gave her his charming smile, the one he reserved for difficult customers at the store.

  “Come in.” Erin gestured him inside, her pulse kicking out a ragged beat, her mouth dry. He looked different. Or maybe it was her seeing him through different eyes.

  “Aren’t you feeling well?” He stepped across the threshold and followed her into the living room. “I guess we can stay in. I’ll have to make a quick call to cancel our reservation though.”

  “Sit down, Keith.”

  “When your girlfriend tells you to sit down with that look on her face, it can’t be good.” He sat on the sofa, his chuckle forced and off. “Next you’re going to tell me we need to talk.”

  “We do.”

  “What’s this about? I thought things were going great.”

  She eased into the chair opposite him. “They were.”

  “Were… Look, I don’t have to stay over tonight. If you’re not ready—”

  “It’s not about that.”

  “Then what’s going on? You’re making me nervous here.”

  “I need to ask you something.”

  “Oh, I get it.” He relaxed back, laughing a little, his cheeks pinkening. “We should have talked about this sooner. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

  She blinked at him, thrown off. “It’s not?”

  “You’re entitled to know about my past. I’d ask about yours, but a guy wants to imagine there was no one before him.”

  “My past?”

  “I want you to know I’m, uh…clean. And I brought protection. That’s the man’s duty, right?”

  “No, Keith.” Oh, god. This conversation was quickly spinning out of her control. “That’s not it.”

  “I should probably ask if you’re on, ah…birth control.”

  “I am, but that’s not what I wanted to talk with you about.”

  He tilted his head to one side, studying her as though she was the lock to the store safe and he’d forgotten the combination.

  She decided she’d better just spit it out. “I know you had an affair with Deidre Lasiter.”

  He jerked as though she’d slapped him. “I—”

  “Were you the father of her baby?”

  He surged to his feet, his fists flexing and unflexing. “Where’d you hear this?”

  She stood too, needing to stay on even ground with him. There was something in his tone she didn’t trust. “Does it matter?”

  “Hell yes, it matters.”

  “Is it true?”

  He paced away then back, his face flushed, his jaw rigid. She’d never seen this side of him. He was always so damn placid. She’d taken that calmness at face value, never imagining that it might be nothing more than a cover.

  “Tell me where you heard this,” he demanded.

  “Why aren’t you answering my question?” But she knew why.

  He gripped her by the arms. Hard. “Who told you?”

  She tried to break out of his hold, but he only dug his fingers in deeper, pulling her up against him. For the first time she was afraid of him. Gone was the amiable do-gooder she’d considered giving herself to. In his place was a desperate man. His panic was contagious, flowing from him into her. Her heart stuttered in her chest, her fight or flight instinct kicking in.

  He gave her a shake, making her head bobble back and forth. “Who was it?”

  “The sheriff,” she blurted out to protect Candy and possibly herself.

  Releasing her, he stumbled back and scrubbed his hands over his face. “Shit.” It was the second time she’d ever heard him swear. Both in the last ten minutes. He headed for the door. “I have to go.”

  “Keith?”

  “What?” Impatience made his answer a curse.

  She swallowed a sob. “I don’t want to see you anymore.”

  He threw open the door, causing it to bang against the wall and slam closed behind him. Her watery knees gave out and she sank down, missing the chair and hitting the floor instead. Pain shot through her. Tears stinging the backs of her eyes, she covered her face with shaking hands. She let out a breath when she heard his car start and peel away from the curb. Until tonight she’d never considered Keith could be violent. She rubbed her arms where his fingers had dug into her flesh.

  For a moment she’d thought he was going strike her. Telling him Graham was the one who’d told her about Deidre might not have been the smartest thing to do. But it was the only thing she could think of at the time. And it had worked. She’d seen the fear in Keith’s eyes. Her lie may have been the one thing that had saved her from Deidre’s fate. She shuddered, remembering Deidre’s body lying on the floor, blood pooled around her.

  And then the vision struck, knocking her to the floor and flinging her out of her living room, into a darkened hotel room. Deidre laid in the bed, nude, the sheet barely covering her, exposing both her breasts and one leg. Dust motes danced in the thin beams of light that eeked through the threadbare drapes. Next to her, the large shape of a man rolled toward her, his hairy legs hanging off the end of the bed. He reached for Deidre, palming her large breast. His face shadowed, the man moved over Deidre, parting her thighs. One of his hands disappeared beneath the sheet.

  Deidre shifted, raising her arms over her head and arching her back. She made a purring sound, widening her legs. The man lowered his dark head to her breast. Writhing beneath him, Deidre clutched his head to her.

  “Oh, God,” Deidre panted.

  Erin clapped her hands over her ears and turned her head. She didn’t want to see or hear this. Focusing her thoughts, she struggled to get out of the vision, but the rawness from Keith’s visit made it difficult to concentrate. She fixed her gaze on a red and blue sign she could just make out through the curtains. The shape of the letters triggered a familiar memory she tried to grab a hold of. As the grunts and slaps of flesh grew louder she jammed her fingers in her ears and squeezed her eyes closed, shutting off those senses entirely.

  The pain hit, stealing her breath. White-hot light filled her head. The last thing she remembered was Deidre screaming out Keith’s name.

  Graham sat at his parents’ dining table with his dad, waiting for his mom to bring in dinner. She’d insisted on making Sunday dinner for the family. Today had been one of her ‘good days’ so no one told her it was Saturday or that Graham’s brother Adam wasn’t away at camp, but overseas on military assignment. His mother’s spiral into dementia had taken a toll on the whole family, especially Ham, and the stress from it had probably contributed to his heart condition.

  At the head of the table, Ham sipped a glass of the Cabernet Graham had brought to go with the pot roast his mother was making. Sweat dotted Ham’s upper lip and despite the chill breeze wafting in from the open window, his face was flushed. He’d already barked at Graham for asking if he was okay, so Graham kept his worried glances to a minimum.

  “How’s the case going?” Ham asked. “Any new leads?”

  “A few, but nothing conclusive.”

  “Save the party line for the mayor and city council.”

  The last thing Graham wanted to do was cause his father any more distress. He weighed the options and decided his dad would be more upset about being treated as an invalid than he would by the details of the case. So he updated him on the information he
’d gathered so far.

  “It could take weeks or months for the lab to cough up the DNA results,” Graham said. “Meanwhile the District Attorney is after us to come up with some kind of evidence that would point to it being something other than the murder/suicide it appears to be. So far we have zilch.”

  “Have you considered that it might be just as it appears? If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck...”

  “I have, but my gut tells me it’s not.”

  Ham took another sip of wine. “Speaking of the mayor, he paid me a visit this morning.”

  Graham sat up a little straighter in his chair. “What did he want?” But he already knew and it pissed him off.

  “He’s concerned. And so am I.”

  “Don’t start.”

  “Why don’t you tell me what you’ve able to piece together about the victims?”

  “So you can report back to the mayor?”

  Ham narrowed his gaze. “I don’t report to him or anyone.”

  “You used to.”

  “Not anymore.”

  Graham weighed what to divulge and what to share that would placate his father, while maintaining the integrity of the case.

  “We know that Deidre was having an affair with a local man. He might have been the father of her baby. From the timeline we’ve been able to put together, she got pregnant after she and Greg split up. But that doesn’t necessarily mean Greg wasn’t the father. They could have had a brief reconciliation. Won’t know for sure until the DNA results come back.”

  “She was pregnant?”

  Graham nodded.

  Ham finished off his glass of wine in two gulps. “And the husband?”

  “Greg’s been tougher to pin down. He seems to have kept to himself a lot in the months since Deidre left him and he lost his job. His house was foreclosed on and as far as we can tell, he had made plans to move to Arizona. He rented an apartment and found a new job with his cousin’s company near Phoenix. Everything I’ve discovered about him says he was moving on. He was meeting Deidre to sign the final divorce papers and had an appointment with the company that had bought his house to hand over his keys.” Graham shrugged. “None of that suggests to me that he was planning to kill Deidre, then himself.”