A Killer's Agenda (13 page)

“I know. Bought one for myself last year.”

His jaw dropped open. “Nah ah. You’re a grown up.”

She grinned. “Don’t tell anyone,” she whispered loudly.

He tilted his chin, eyeing her. “You know any tricks?”

“A few.”

“Show me.”

Brad leaned against the car grill, smiling as he watched.

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She swung her leg over the bike. “Remember, I normally wear a helmet to do these things and you should too.”

His young face mirrored his disgust. “Yeah, yeah. I hear that all the time. Dumb thing is in the garage.”

Alex bit her lip. “If you promise to wear it all the time, I’ll show you a few tricks that will impress your friends. Deal?”

He nodded energetically, sidling close to her.

“If you want to spin the front wheel, here’s what you hold. Then you…”

Ten minutes later, Scott was happily whizzing back and forth along the sidewalk, showing his new prowess off to several of his friends, the maligned helmet firmly on his head.

Brad shook his head, looking down at Alex. “You’ve made a

friend for life.” His gaze drifted to the boy again. “Don’t tell me you really have one of those bikes?”

“I certainly do. They’re great fun.” Her eyes moved up and then down his tall frame. “Of course, they’re not made for someone oversized like you.”

“Miss Leahy,” a voice said from behind them.

They both turned. A slender, blonde woman was standing in

the doorway, a baby in her arms.

Scott streaked past. “Hey, Mom. Watch me!” He did a neat turn and flew over the curb, spinning the front wheel at the same time.

“Isn’t that cool?”

The woman smiled. “What’s even cooler is that you’re wearing your helmet.”

His smiled dimmed just a little. “Alex told me I had to put it on before she showed me this stuff. I had to promise to wear it all the time, darn it!”

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“Alex?” his mother said disapprovingly.

“She said to call her that,” he panted over his shoulder as he made another run.

Laughing, the woman motioned for them to come inside. “Well,
Alex,
you certainly have an admirer.”

“Mrs. Trent,” Alex said following her into the front room, “this is Brad Norton.”

“Donna, please,” she said, smiling. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to put the baby to bed. I won’t be a moment.”

Alex couldn’t resist touching the soft skin of the child’s arm and was rewarded with a sleepy smile. She had just settled next to Brad on the couch when Donna returned.

“Can I get either of you anything?” she asked graciously. When they shook their heads, she curled into the loveseat across from them. “To be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to talking with you.

However,” she glanced out the window, her lips twitching, “anyone who can succeed in convincing my son to wear ‘that dumb helmet’

has my undying gratitude.”

“He’s a cute kid,” Alex said, following her gaze.

“He has his moments.”

“We’re sorry to visit so late in the evening, Donna,” Brad said.

“We just have a few questions that we thought you might be able to answer.”

She shook her head. “I can’t imagine there is anything I can tell you that I haven’t already told the police. Over and over,” she finished dryly.

“I’ve been told you and Anna Ferron were close friends,” Alex said, relaxing against the back of the couch.

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“We were. She needed someone to talk to and I was happy to

oblige.”

“She didn’t have other friends?”

“Depends on what you define as friends. Sometimes being

wealthy isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. It’s hard to filter out true friends from those who want to use you for whatever reason.”

“And there are always those people out there,” Brad said

quietly. “Aren’t there?”

Alex tossed him a quick look. “How did the two of you meet?”

The other woman hesitated, her eyes narrowing slightly.

“Forgive me for being somewhat rude, but what exactly are you two investigating? Anna’s been gone for a long while. The police did their job and her death was ruled an accidental shooting. What do you hope to find now?

“Do you think your friend was murdered, Donna?” Brad asked

bluntly.

She crossed her legs and eyed him silently for a moment, lifting a brow. “Why? Do you think she was?”

“Yes,” Alex answered for Brad. “We do.”

She sighed. “Finally, someone who is willing to believe what I have all along.”

“So you do think her death wasn’t as it looked?”

She shook her head. “You asked me how I met Anna, Alex.

Believe it or not, we crossed paths at a fertility clinic downtown.”

She glanced out the window again. “After Scott was born, I couldn’t get pregnant again for some reason. My husband and I wanted

more children so I sought medical advice. Anna desperately wanted a baby as well. We spent long lunches talking about the subject.

She felt incredibly guilty that she had let her career and her

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responsibilities stop her from starting a family earlier. When she finally attempted to get pregnant for the first time, she was thirty-four. She didn’t think there would be a problem and when there was she could hear that infamous biological clock ticking as each year went by. I didn’t even tell her I was pregnant with my

daughter because I couldn’t face the disappointment I would

certainly have seen in her eyes.”

“Had you met her husband as well?”

There was a flash of anger in the other woman’s eyes. “No, and I wish to God I had. I’d like to have given him a piece of my mind.”

“Why is that?” Brad asked.

“Because it’s hard to do a successful fertility workup when the man won’t cooperate. Russell Ferron is a conceited jerk. He refused to believe that the reason Anna couldn’t become pregnant had anything to do with him. Refused to be tested at all. It practically broke her heart.”

“Do you think he had anything to do with her death?”

“I considered that thought right after I heard the news.

However, I don’t think he cared enough to bother. I know that sounds callous but that’s how I feel. What I do know is that Anna was a wonderful person and she didn’t deserve being married to someone who used her the way that man did.”

“In what way?”

“I know the signs of a woman who thinks her husband is

having an affair.” She put a hand up. “She never said anything directly but I could see the hurt and worry in her eyes. He used her in the most despicable way a man can use a woman. For her

money. We have mutual friends and I heard the rumors. Her

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husband flaunted his wealth and, from what more than one of my friends said, used it to pick up whatever hot number he fancied.

“Did you ever say anything to her?” Alex asked.

“I couldn’t. She was so much in love with the creep and I didn’t want to be the one who broke her marriage up.” She grimaced.

“Maybe if I had she’d still be here.”

“I thought you didn’t believe her husband was involved with

her murder?”

“I don’t. But maybe she would have moved away. Been

somewhere else.”

“Do you have any idea why she was in that particular part of town the day she was killed?”

Donna shook her head. “She was pretty independent when it

came to her career. Maybe someone wanted to see a piece of

jewelry or something. What doesn’t make sense is that she didn’t take an associate with her. She was methodical and a very good business woman. She told me more than once that she never took risks when it came to transporting her jewelry. Meeting some buyer downtown by herself at dusk just wasn’t her style.”

“Even if the piece of jewelry was very, very expensive?”

Donna shrugged. “Who knows? She was first and foremost a

savvy businesswoman so I guess it’s possible.”

“When was the last time you saw her?”

“We met for lunch a few days before.” She turned suddenly

troubled eyes to Alex. “You know, come to think of it, Anna wasn’t herself that day.”

“In what way?”

“She was ticked. It showed in her expression and, even though we had a nice visit, she was distracted. Several times I had to

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repeat a question. Finally, I just came right out and asked her what was wrong. She hesitated and then told me she’d discovered something that, if it were true, would destroy what was left of her marriage. She wouldn’t tell me anything more than that.”

“Maybe she finally found proof of his affairs,” Brad said.

“It’s entirely possible. Seems everyone else but her knew

anyway.”

“What makes you think she was murdered then?”

“For a number of reasons. First, as I said, she wasn’t the type of person to drive around without a specific reason, especially in that part of town. Secondly, I know she had an appointment with an in vitro specialist downtown at six-thirty that particular evening. There was no way she would have missed that. She had even made special arrangements so she could make it there after business hours.” She raised troubled eyes to them. “It had to have been something really big to have prevented her from going to that appointment.”

“Like the sale of a very expensive ring?” Alex asked.

Donna nodded. “You have to understand, she felt a huge

responsibility toward the business her parents left her. She was only twenty-three when they died and just out of college.” Her blue eyes hardened. “I think that’s one of the reasons she married Ferron. She told me she was so lost without her parents and was so confused with all the relatives that immediately came out of the woodwork looking for money. Russell was a few years ahead of her at college and they already had started dating when her parents were killed. I don’t doubt he took advantage of her vulnerability and made sure he was available when she needed a shoulder to cry on. She fell for him hard and fast. Although I haven’t met him

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personally, I know the type. Smooth, fast talker, passable looks. He saw a chance to make himself a millionaire and he took it.”

“She tell you that?”

“She didn’t have to. She invited me to a couple of those fancy affairs she had to attend and I heard the gossip. Especially when both times her husband failed to return from out of town to escort her like he promised.”

Brad straightened, catching Alex’s eye. “Did you tell the police this?”

“I did but they weren’t impressed.”

“I could check tomorrow to see if she changed her fertility

appointment to an earlier time that day,” Alex said.

“You don’t have to. She didn’t. I checked. She cancelled at the last minute. The receptionist said she remembers how upset Anna was on the phone.”

“What excuse did she give for canceling?”

“She said something extremely important came up. Something

she couldn’t put off.”

“Sounds like you did your own investigating,” Brad said.

“I had to. Something didn’t feel right then and it still doesn’t.

Whoever she was meeting murdered her. I’m sure of it.”

Brad nodded, his dark eyes focusing on her. “Sometimes our

initial impressions are the right ones.”

Alex caught the exchange of glances and hid a smile as a faint blush colored the other woman’s cheeks. No woman could be

entirely immune to Brad Norton’s charm or those incredibly sexy eyes.

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The front door flew open just then, startling all of them, and Scott ran in, his cheeks flushed. “Mom, come out and see the ramp Kyle and I fixed up. It’s great!”

“I think that’s our cue to exit,” Alex said lightly, offering her hand to the other woman. “Thank you for taking the time to speak with us, Donna. If you think of anything more, please call me at either number,” she finished, handing her a business card.

“I will.”

Alex reached down to tap the helmet still on the boy’s head.

“Remember our deal.”

He nodded, frowning. “Yeah, I promise to wear my helmet,” he muttered, spoiling the effect by grinning. “Especially if you could show me a few more of those moves.”

“Scott!” his mother admonished.

“I can give you five more minutes if that’s okay with your

mom,” Alex said, glancing up.

“Not a minute more, young man,” his mother said, fighting not to smile. “You’re father should be home any time now.”

“Great!”

It was more like fifteen minutes before they were in the car, a grateful Scott waving at them enthusiastically.

Brad ran an arm along the back of the seat and tugged on a

silken curl. “Let me know when you’re in grown-up mode again.”

She glanced back, waving once more. “I don’t know when I’ve

had so much fun. Every once in a while, don’t you wish you could relive that time in your life? No worries, no responsibilities, just riding your bike and feeling the chill of the air on your face.”

“Not particularly.”

She tossed him a quick look. “Bad memories?”

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“Not really. Just no good ones.”

“You going to tell me about them?”

“Maybe. Someday.”

“All right, I’ll change the subject.” She tossed him a look. “I think Anna’s friend is on the right track.”

“Vibes?”

“No, just intuition.”

Brad braked at a stop light and turned to her. “I think Russell Ferron is involved somehow in his wife’s death, but for the life of me I can’t figure out the motive. No prenup, having affairs

apparently at will, successful because of his wife’s wealth. On top of that, even if he was the mastermind behind her death, how do we link him to the others?”

She shrugged. “That’s what we have to find out. I’ll send feelers out via some of my contacts. Meanwhile, I think the best thing we can do right now is continue with our plan.”