Praying for Time

by Carlene Thompson

  They inched closer. Beneath her coat, chills ran up and down Vanessa’s arms as she and Christian both turned the beams from their flashlights on to a form sitting at the piano. Or rather, bent over the piano. Vanessa suddenly wanted to run out of the building and hide from whatever was slumped there, but she forced herself forward, keeping up with Christian. They stepped up on the dais then moved slowly to the piano.

  ‘Zane?’ Christian asked in a shaky voice. ‘Zane are you … all right?’

  You know he’s not all right, Vanessa thought. You’re only hoping, beseeching.

  ‘Zane? C’mon, guy. You’re scaring me. Answer me.’

  Oh God, oh God, please, no. The phrase tolled over and over in Vanessa’s mind as Christian touched Zane, gently took hold of his curly hair and tilted back his limp head to reveal a cascade of blood spilling from a thin, vicious slit in his throat. His legs jerked, his body convulsed, and then he was still, his dying blue eyes fastened on a shattered chandelier above him.

  NINE

  Vanessa pulled her coat tighter as she huddled in Christian’s car. The heater was running at full blast but she still shivered, her clenched hands icy, her feet numb. Christian had called Wade Baylor, and they sat in the Diamond Rose parking lot waiting for him to arrive.

  ‘Maybe we shouldn’t be here,’ she said. ‘Wade told us to leave the scene.’

  ‘We might see the killer.’

  ‘He was in the building when we found Zane. I could feel him.’

  ‘I didn’t hear anything.’

  ‘Neither did I, but I know. If he’s still here, he might come after us.’

  ‘We’re in a locked car,’ Christian argued. ‘What’s he going to do?’

  Vanessa sighed and trembled. She knew she would never get the image of Zane Felder’s blank, dying face out of her mind. Or the blood spilling down the front of him. So much blood …

  Headlights swung into the parking lot and a patrol car pulled up beside Christian’s. ‘Thank God. Wade’s here,’ he said.

  ‘Make sure it’s Wade before you get out of the car.’

  Christian sat still until Wade emerged, walked to Christian’s car and rapped on the window. Chris got out, apologizing. ‘I know you told me to leave, but—’

  ‘Too late now. Tell me what the hell is going on.’

  Christian shut the door. Vanessa could hear his voice but not make out any words as he explained to Wade why they were here and what they had found. Or who they had found. Just two hours ago Zane had been alive – vibrantly alive – and furious with Vanessa as he held tightly to his girlfriend’s hand.

  Libby! Her young, innocent face flashed in Vanessa’s mind. Did Libby know Zane had come to the Diamond Rose? Good lord, had she come with him? Was she in the building, too?

  Vanessa jumped out of the car. ‘Libby!’ Wade and Christian looked at her. ‘Zane’s fiancé! She was with him less than two hours ago. Where is she? Inside?’

  ‘Oh, no,’ Christian groaned.

  Wade’s face remained impassive. ‘Take it easy. We don’t know anything yet.’

  ‘We should call her to make sure,’ Vanessa said.

  ‘Do you have her cellphone number?’ Wade asked.

  ‘No.’

  He looked at Christian. ‘She might be hiding inside. I’ll go in.’

  ‘I’ll go with you.’

  ‘No, you won’t, Christian.’ Wade looked at another squad car pulling into the parking lot. ‘I have backup. You and Vanessa get back in your car.’

  Two officers accompanied Wade into the derelict nightclub, all three carrying high-intensity flashlights. Vanessa and Christian watched as beams of light moved inside the building, flashing through the broken windows and the burned-out west end.

  ‘Did you tell Wade that Zane is at the piano?’ Vanessa asked.

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘They’re going all over the place.’

  ‘They’re looking for anyone else who might be inside.’

  ‘Maybe we should have called the ambulance before we called Wade.’

  ‘Zane would have been dead within a couple of minutes, if that long. There was nothing anyone could do.’

  ‘Was Zane’s throat slashed with a knife?’

  ‘I think it was a sharp wire. Maybe a piano wire.’

  ‘A wire! Why a wire?’

  ‘Maybe I’m wrong. But I saw a wire—’

  After a moment, Vanessa said darkly, ‘Someone would have to be very strong to hold Zane still and strangle him with a wire.’

  ‘Strong like Brody? Is that what you’re saying?’

  ‘Well, I couldn’t do it.’

  ‘And I could. So could a lot of other men. You wouldn’t have to be extremely strong so don’t say any more. Don’t even mention Brody’s name.’

  ‘I wasn’t going to.’ Vanessa sank even lower in her seat and drew the collar of the black coat up around her face. She shouldn’t have brought up Brody, even obliquely. He wouldn’t hurt his best friend. But lord, she thought, Christian had to be thinking the same thing. She knew Wade would.

  It seemed like an hour before Wade returned to them but the clock in the car told her it had only been fifteen minutes. Christian lowered his window.

  ‘We found only Zane Felder, no one else. I have the county crime-scene people on the way. In the meantime, I have to get in touch with his girl … what’s her name?’

  Vanessa leaned across Christian. ‘It’s Libby. I don’t know her last name but they were staying in the Everly Cliffs Motel. I’m sure their room is listed under his name.’

  Wade nodded as he took in the information.

  ‘I saw her this evening. She’s his fiancé. Could I come with you when you tell her? She might feel better with another woman around. She doesn’t know anybody in Everly Cliffs, much less any other females,’ Vanessa asked.

  Wade looked as if he were automatically going to say no, then he slowly nodded. ‘All right. This isn’t how we usually do things but – well, we don’t have many murders here. Certainly not like this one. I’ll call and make certain she’s at the motel and if she is, we’ll tell her there, not on the phone. Chris, will you follow and bring Vanessa?’

  ‘Sure, Wade. Anything. Damn it, poor Zane. Poor Libby.’

  Wade found out Zane’s room number and he knocked softly on the motel door, Vanessa and Christian standing behind him.

  ‘Zane, is that you?’ a young voice called through the door.

  ‘No, ma’am, it’s Sheriff Wade Baylor. I need to speak to you.’

  Libby jerked open the door, her face pale, her brown eyes wide and scared. ‘Is this about Zane? He’s been gone for over an hour. He’s not answering his phone. Have you found him? Is he hurt?’

  ‘Ma’am, I’m afraid I have some bad news for you,’ Wade said gently. ‘May I come in? I have Vanessa Everly and Christian Montgomery here. You don’t have to worry about being alone with me.’

  ‘Vanessa Everly?’ Libby looked doubtfully past Wade. Vanessa tried to smile reassuringly. ‘Oh, Vanessa. And Brody’s brother. Come in.’ They filed past her and stood awkwardly in the small motel room. ‘Where’s Zane? In the hospital? Tell me he’s in the hospital.’

  Her voice was pleading. She even held out her hands as if begging for news that if the man she loved wasn’t here, he was safe.

  ‘Ma’am, I’m so sorry to tell you that Zane is dead.’

  Libby blinked at him. ‘That’s not possible. No, you’re mistaken. I’ve been with him all evening.’

  ‘I know you were with him most of the evening. You were with him when he saw Miss Everly at Nia’s. Where did the two of you go after that?’

  ‘We were tired. We’ve been walking around this town all day. I was cold. Zane was upset. We came back here. I took a shower to warm up. Zane said after my shower he’d give me a foot rub.’ She thumped down on the double bed. Her face crumpled and she began to cry. Vanessa quickly sat down beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Christian pulled a
tissue from the box on the nightstand and handed it to Libby, who sobbed into it.

  ‘Um, ma’am—’

  ‘Please call me Libby, Sheriff. I can’t stand ma’am,’ Libby snuffled.

  ‘Libby. Is that short for Elizabeth?’

  ‘No. I’m just Libby.’

  ‘Libby what?’

  ‘Libby Hughes. What does that have to do with anything?’

  ‘I need your full name for reports, ma’am. Libby.’

  She nodded.

  ‘What happened after your shower?’ the sheriff continued.

  ‘I was still in the shower when Zane stepped into the bathroom and said something. I couldn’t hear him over the water running. I yelled, “What?” and he said something else and then I turned off the water and got out of the tub, toweled off and walked into the bedroom. He was gone. I opened the room door and he was taking off in the car. I thought he’d gone to get us something to eat or some wine. But he never came back. I called him at least five times but it went to voicemail.’ Her pale lips quivered as she looked up at Wade. ‘Where did he go?’

  ‘To a place called the Diamond Rose. It used to be a nightclub but there was a bad fire. The remains are still standing.’

  ‘Why would he go there?’

  ‘We don’t know.’

  Christian said, ‘He sent me a text telling me to meet him there. Otherwise we wouldn’t have known where to look for him.’

  ‘Why didn’t he tell me?’

  ‘Maybe he did, but you didn’t hear him when you were in the shower. Or maybe he didn’t want you to go with him.’ Libby frowned. ‘He might have thought it was dangerous.’

  Wade took over again. ‘Christian went to meet Zane. When he got inside, he found him … dead. I’m sorry, Miss Hughes.’

  ‘Not Zane.’ She drew back and announced loudly, ‘Zane wouldn’t leave me. He’s not dead. He cannot be …’

  Her head dropped to her chest, her long, light brown hair falling around her face. When she began sliding forward, Vanessa grabbed her, afraid she would faint and fall off the bed. Finally, her head still bent, she asked, ‘How did he die? Did he fall or have a heart attack or …?’

  ‘He was murdered, Miss Hughes.’

  Libby’s head snapped up. ‘Murdered!’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘He was … strangled.’

  ‘Strangled? Who strangled him?’

  ‘We don’t know. Christian and Vanessa found him and Vanessa felt as if someone were still in the building—’

  ‘Vanessa? I thought he only texted Christian.’

  ‘I was with Christian when he got the text,’ Vanessa said. ‘I insisted on going with him.’

  ‘And you saw Zane strangled, too?’ Libby seemed to want confirmation from a woman. ‘You’re sure he was strangled?’

  ‘Yes, I’m afraid so. I’m so sorry, Libby.’

  Libby held up her left hand and looked at her gold engagement ring set with what looked like a full carat diamond. Then she made a long, gut-wrenching sound like a wounded animal and collapsed against Vanessa.

  Vanessa sat at a table in the Diamond Rose. Above her chandeliers glowed and their light shone over and over in the beautiful, tall mirrors encircling the main room. She wore a long, strapless, black satin gown, opera-length black gloves, and an ivy-patterned diamond bracelet. A perfect red rose stood in a crystal bud vase on a white damask tablecloth. Vanessa raised her martini and held it toward Christian, dressed in a tuxedo and beaming at her across the table, his beautiful hazel eyes full of love. Music began to play from the dais only a few feet away from them. It was a piano solo – ‘Love is Blue’.

  ‘I love this song,’ Vanessa murmured.

  ‘So do I,’ Christian answered. ‘Especially when it’s played with such feeling. He’s a real virtuoso.’

  As if hearing him, the pianist turned his head and looked at them. Vanessa smiled at him until she saw the slash across his neck, the blood spilling down the front of his white shirt, his dead-blind blue eyes. Zane Felder.

  Vanessa woke up with a scream stuck in her throat. Her gaze darted madly around her and a nightlight showed her Grace’s bedroom at Everly House. Still breathing heavily, she looked at the bedside clock: 5:05 a.m. She’d wearily dragged herself into the bed at three thirty to curl into a fetal position and shiver until a dream-torn exhausted sleep had overwhelmed her. She covered her face with her hands. How could she face this day? How could she ever forget the horrible sight she’d witnessed last night? She couldn’t. It would haunt her until the last of her days.

  Finally her black private smartphone rang. She reached for it nervously and said, ‘Yes?’ The grating mechanical voice she heard the night Roxanne returned home screeched in her ear.

  ‘You can stop praying for time, Vanessa. You’ve used all your time and now the end has begun.’

  TEN

  In shock, Vanessa clutched the phone after the caller had hung up, listening to the dead air. At last she realized her hand was shaking and tossed the phone to the foot of the bed as if it were poisonous. So someone knew, she thought. Someone knew of all the horrible events of the evening. It could be anyone – maybe even another policeman – but she knew it wasn’t. It was the person who had called her the night Roxanne reappeared after eight years. It was a threatening, all-knowing being.

  She wanted to call Christian to tell him about the call, but she didn’t want to wake him. Instead, she tried to sleep again but could only doze before awakening with a terrified jerk. She lay in bed until the day’s light showed through the parted drapes then put on her robe and slippers and went downstairs. Not even Audrey was awake yet so Vanessa put on coffee and took a couple of aspirins as she sat at the table waiting for the coffee to brew.

  Last night dealing with Libby had almost been worse than finding Zane. She’d cried hysterically, unable to stop, until Christian brought in a medical bag from his locked car trunk and gave her a mild tranquilizer. Even that had only calmed her slightly but not made her drowsy. Finally Vanessa tucked her into bed and offered to stay with her, but Libby had turned her down. ‘I need to be alone now. I want to be alone. Please.’ On their way out of the motel room, Christian told Vanessa to call Libby around seven to make certain she was all right. They agreed that, at nine o’clock, she would pick Libby up and take her to the police headquarters where Wade Baylor wanted to get a statement from the three of them.

  At six, Audrey walked into the kitchen, looking with surprise at Vanessa. ‘I expected you to sleep late after your big night at Nia’s!’

  Vanessa groaned. ‘If only it had just been a big night at Nia’s. Will Cara be getting up soon?’

  ‘It’s Christmas vacation. She and Sammy will probably sleep until seven thirty or eight.’

  ‘I forgot about Sammy sleeping over. I’m glad he did and was surrounded by people.’ Audrey looked at her quizzically. ‘Please pour some coffee and I’ll tell you what happened last night.’

  Vanessa spoke in a low voice, starting with her and Max’s arrival at Nia’s, and didn’t stop until she and Christian had found Zane’s body and Libby was recounting to Wade that Zane had left but she didn’t know where he’d gone. When she finished, Audrey’s face had paled and her mouth was slightly open.

  Vanessa looked deeply into Audrey’s eyes. ‘Are you going to say something?’

  Audrey picked up both of their mugs, refilled them with coffee, and sat down again. She reached out and took Vanessa’s hand. ‘You’re all right. Oh, thank God, you’re all right. If something happened to you …’ A tear ran down her face. ‘And Christian is all right. I didn’t know Zane, but …’ She lowered her head. ‘Oh, that poor, poor man.’

  ‘His fiancé is shattered. She’s so young – only twenty-three but she seems younger – and it’s obvious she adored him.’

  Audrey nodded. ‘Do you have any idea who would do this to Zane?’ Vanessa shook her head. ‘What about you and Christian? Why were you even there? Why o
n Earth did you two go to the Diamond Rose?’

  ‘I was at Christian’s – I’ll tell you why later – and he got a text telling him to come to the old nightclub. It was signed Z – Zane. Zane had been looking everywhere for Brody.’

  ‘Ah – Brody,’ Audrey said warily. ‘I know he could be in this vicinity.’

  ‘I think it’s more than could be. Chris is certain Brody was in their house.’

  ‘That would mean Brody is definitely roaming around Everly Cliffs. He’s here because Roxanne is back.’

  ‘Maybe. It could be merely a coincidence if Brody has gone off his meds.’

  ‘Well, perhaps.’ Audrey paused. ‘Do you think Brody killed Zane?’

  ‘Why on Earth would Brody kill Zane?’

  ‘Lower your voice, Vanessa. You said Brody was off his medication.’

  ‘If he is, that doesn’t make him a killer.’

  ‘For years you thought Brody kidnapped Roxanne.’

  ‘Yes, but I didn’t think he’d murdered her.’

  Audrey frowned. ‘Yes, you did.’

  ‘I thought something had happened to her but not that Brody had killed her. Not intentionally, that is. There was less than twelve hours between the time she was taken and the time Gerald Montgomery delivered Brody to the hospital—’

  ‘A lot can happen in twelve hours, Vanessa.’

  ‘I know. I’m not saying I’m convinced Brody didn’t take Roxy, there was an accident and she died. But Zane was Brody’s best friend and the murder was so deliberate, so brutal—’ Vanessa put her head in her hands. ‘That wire slicing into his throat!’

  ‘Stop picturing it,’ Audrey said sharply. ‘Tell me about you and Christian. Why were you with Christian last night? Because Zane made you feel guilty about not looking for Brody?’

  ‘At first. And then … well, I realized I still love Christian. After all these years, Audrey! How could I not have known?’

  Audrey smiled slowly, warmly. ‘I knew, honey.’