Light in Shadow (24 page)

Ethan was not in a good mood.

“By the time we heard the sirens, the two had managed to lower themselves from my bedroom window,” Zoe told Bonnie. “But Singleton and I saw them get into a car. We got a description and a license plate.”

“The police arrived just as Ron and Ernie went tearing off down the street.” Singleton helped himself to another slice of pizza. “They caught them within two blocks.”

“They called Ian Harper from jail.” Zoe fortified herself with a swallow of red wine, got up, and started to prowl the patio in front of the pool. “Tried to get him to tell the authorities that they were
trained medical personnel,
if you can believe it. They wanted him to explain to the cops that he had sent them to pick me up.”

“Harper denied everything, of course.” Singleton munched pizza. “He called the cops immediately and made it clear that Ron and Ernie were no longer employed by Candle Lake Manor.”

“Is that right?” Bonnie glanced at Zoe and then turned to Ethan. “He claimed he'd fired them?”

“According to Ian Harper,” Ethan said slowly, “the orderlies were acting on their own.”

“But why would they come all this way to get Zoe if someone wasn't paying them?” Bonnie said.

“Good question,” Ethan said. “The official explanation from Harper is that the two held a personal grudge against Zoe because of something that happened when she and another unnamed patient escaped. Harper said they wanted revenge.”

“Yeah?” Singleton looked interested. “What exactly did happen when you two busted out of the Manor?”

Zoe stopped and gazed down into the pool. “I bashed Ron in the head with a fire extinguisher. Arcadia used a needle full of heavy-duty sedative on Ernie.”

“Cool,” Singleton remarked.

Bonnie smiled. “Yes. Cool.”

“No charges were filed and the incident was never reported because Harper didn't want his clients finding out that Arcadia and I were no longer in residence there.”

“Got it,” Singleton said.

“But now you're going to press a few charges, right?” Bonnie asked.

“Oh, yeah.” She took another swallow of wine. “Assault and breaking and entering, for starters.”

Singleton looked at Ethan. “Do you think Ron and Ernie were acting on their own?”

“Not initially,” Ethan said. “I'm pretty sure that Harper did send them after Zoe when he found out where she was. He probably also tried to call them off after she informed him that she was married and no longer a good candidate for Candle Lake. But by then it was too late.”

“Because by that time Ron and Ernie were in
Whispering Springs and lusting for revenge?” Singleton asked.

“I'd rather you didn't use the term
lusting,
” Zoe said with feeling.

“Sorry.” Singleton gave her an apologetic glance. “But it does explain why they threatened you in such, shall we say,
personal
terms.”

“Mmm.” She stopped briefly and frowned at Ethan. “Do you think they might have killed Leon Grady?”

Ethan rested his elbows on the arms of the pink padded lounge chair, stretched out his legs, and pondered the question.

“It's possible,” he said. “The cops traced their movements. They arrived in Whispering Springs the same day Grady died. But they don't seem to know anything about his presence here in town. They got a motel room and staked out Zoe's apartment, waiting for her to show up. Evidently that's the only address they had. After waiting for her all afternoon, they took a break that night and went to a bar. The next day, they went back to Zoe's apartment and broke into the empty place next to hers. Also, there's no strong motive.”

“Unless Harper instructed them to get rid of Grady because he was causing problems,” Singleton said.

Ethan shook his head. “Like I said, they were in a bar, drinking, that night. Got a hunch their alibis will hold up. Their only goal seems to have been to grab Zoe.”

Zoe shuddered. “Bastards. I wonder if they'll actually do any time.”

“I think so,” Ethan said softly. “Maybe a lot of it. Detective Ramirez told me that they both have prior convictions for assault, and Ron was arrested on a rape charge a few years ago.”

“Just the sort of fine, upstanding employees you'd expect Harper to hire,” Zoe said through her teeth.

Bonnie winced. “I can't even begin to imagine what it must have been like for you and Arcadia there.”

“They're out of the Manor now,” Ethan said evenly. “And they aren't going back.”

Bonnie nodded. “Understood.”

They finished the rest of the pizza in silence. The soft chirps and calls of the night rose from the canyon; somewhere in the distance a coyote howled. Above, the stars were brilliant in a way that Ethan had discovered was only possible in a desert sky.

After a while Bonnie checked her watch. “Well, it's getting late. I'd better get the boys home and into bed.”

She got up and started toward the French doors.

“Time I was on my way, too.” Singleton hauled himself up out of a pink lounger. “Enjoyed the pizza, Truax.” He cast a quick, veiled look at Bonnie, who was inside the living room now. “And the company.”

“Any time.”

Ethan and Zoe followed Singleton through the house into the entry hall. Zoe hung back, waiting for Bonnie and the two boys.

Ethan and Singleton went outside onto the front patio and stood looking at the parked cars in the drive.

“I owe you,” Ethan said.

“No, you don't.” Singleton shoved his big hands into his pockets. “You hired me to baby-sit. I was just doin' my job. Hell, didn't even do it very well, when you get right down to it. I should have gone upstairs with Zoe when she went to pick up her things.”

“You got there in time. That's all that matters in the end.”

“Maybe.” Singleton chuckled. “Gotta tell you, though, she was doing a damn fine job of handling both of them with that big ole doorknob she carries.”

“There were two of them and one of her. Those aren't good odds. Thanks, Singleton.”

“Sure.”

The door opened behind them. Theo and Jeff shuffled outside with obvious reluctance, followed by Bonnie.

“Do we have to go home already?” Theo whined.

“Yes, you do,” Bonnie said.

Jeff looked at Singleton. “Mom says you saved Zoe from some bad guys today.”

“Zoe helped save herself,” Singleton told him.

“Mom says you're a hero,” Theo announced.

Singleton blinked behind the lenses of his glasses and turned red. “Nah.”

“Yes,” Bonnie said. “You are a hero.”

“She's right,” Ethan said.

Zoe appeared in the opening. “He sure is.”

“Cool,” Theo said.

“Will you show me how you saved Zoe?” Jeff asked excitedly.

“I've gotta go home,” Singleton answered, edging backward toward his vehicle. “Now. 'Night, everyone.”

He swung around, hurried to the SUV, got behind the wheel, and revved the engine.

“I think we embarrassed him,” Bonnie said.

You could tell
a lot about a person from the sound of his or her footsteps. Ethan listened to the steady, determined tread on the stairs. Too heavy for a woman. A man in good physical condition. Used to getting what he wanted. Accustomed to being in charge.

He heard the outer door open and close. The door of the inner office was ajar about a third of the way, as usual. He watched the mirror, studying the reflection of the tall, well-dressed man in the other room. Expensive suit. Expensive haircut. Expensive shoes. Early fifties. Polished. No obvious indication of a weapon.

This was the reason he had placed the desk in this corner and why the mirror was positioned opposite near the window. Okay, so maybe the energy flow was lousy from a feng shui point of view, but the arrangement had one humongous business advantage, he reflected. From this angle he could see visitors and clients before they saw him.

“Is anyone around?” the man in the other room demanded in a loud, irritated voice.

“In here,” Ethan said.

The door opened wider. The man looked around the edge. “Are you Truax?”

“Yes.” Ethan sat forward and folded his hands on the desk. “Forrest Cleland, right?”

“How did you—? Forget it.”

Forrest walked into the office as if it belonged to him and took the chair that Zoe disliked so intensely. On Forrest it looked more or less the right size.

“Did Ian Harper give you my address?” Ethan asked casually.

“He provided me with the information that you probably lived here in Whispering Springs because that seemed to be where Sara was living, yes. I got your address out of the phone book.”

“Getting my money's worth out of that ad lately,” Ethan remarked.

“We need to talk,” Forrest declared.

“Is this the part where you try to buy me off?”

Forrest was silent for a few seconds. Studying his adversary. Ethan got the impression that he might be adjusting his previous opinion just a shade.

“I think we can come to terms,” Forrest said. “My objectives are simple. I want Sara sent back to Candle Lake Manor where she belongs. I also want to be certain that her block of shares are voted in the best interests of Cleland Cage.”

“Her name is Zoe,” Ethan said. “Zoe Truax.”

“She can call herself whatever she damn well pleases. But in case you haven't figured it out yet, Truax, she is not well.”

“She looks healthy to me.”

“She hears voices in the walls,” Forrest said grimly. “She claims those voices told her that I murdered my cousin, Preston.”

“Did you?”

“No, I did not.”

“Just asking. Someone sure did.”

“If you did any research at all before you got involved in this situation, you'd know that the authorities concluded that Preston was shot by an intruder who was after cash and valuables.”

“A burglar who then dumped flowers all over the place and deliberately smashed an expensive camera rather than try to fence it?”

Forrest went still. “She told you about the smashed camera and the flowers?”

“Yeah.”

Forrest got slowly to his feet and went to stand at the window, looking down into the street.

“Did she also tell you that she was the one who found Preston's body?” he asked.

“Yes.”

Forrest glanced at him over his shoulder. “You're a private detective, Truax. You must realize that there is another possible explanation for my cousin's murder. One that accounts for the apparent rage that was exhibited at the scene—the smashed camera and the crushed flowers.”

“Are you trying to hint that Zoe might be the murderer?”

“The police considered the possibility and rejected it and that's fine by me. But the truth is her alibi for the day Preston was killed is shaky.”

“How's that?”

“She was supposedly attending a three-day conference put on by a private art foundation in San Francisco. It was a big event. It would have been very possible for her to slip away unnoticed.”

“Got a handy motive?”

Forrest turned back to the view from the window. He clasped his hands behind his back. “The oldest one of all. Jealousy.”

“Was Preston having an affair?”

Forrest hesitated. “Maybe.”

“This is getting a little vague, Cleland.”

“I don't know the answer for certain. But the possibility exists.”

“Got any proof?”

“No,” Forrest said quietly. He turned around again. “And I'd just as soon not find out.”

“Because it might raise doubts about Zoe?”

“I'd rather not discover that my cousin was shot dead by his wife in a fit of jealous rage.”

“You don't want her to go to prison, is that it? You'd rather have her locked up in Candle Lake Manor.”

“It's the best place for her,” Forrest said quietly. “Dr. Harper will cooperate.”

“I'm sure you make it worth his while to be cooperative.”

“I would prefer that she be in a hospital where she can be properly treated rather than in prison, yes.”

“So much easier to control her shares if she's in Candle Lake than it would be if she went to prison, isn't it? Prisoners have more rights than folks who have been involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital.”

“Let's get to the bottom line.” Forrest came back to stand in front of the desk. “I know why you married Sara.”

“Zoe.”

“Zoe. You married her because she's the key to a great deal of money.” Forrest gave the office a laconic survey. “Probably a hell of lot more money than you've ever seen in one place at one time.”

“You don't think we're talking true love here?”

Forrest's mouth curled humorlessly. “No, Truax, I don't think so. I did some checking on you before I came here. Seems this is your fourth marriage. A year ago you lost your business. By the time you paid off the creditors and your third ex-wife, you were flat broke. You're barely keeping your head above water financially. I think the day you met Zoe, or whatever you call her, you saw a way to recover in a hurry and you jumped at it.”

“Going to make me an offer?”

“Yes.”

“Thought so.” It was always gratifying to have it figured right, Ethan thought.

“If you're smart, you'll take it,” Forrest said. “I admit
you would get more if the merger goes through, but I'm going to fight it every inch of the way. If I do manage to hold Cleland Cage together, you'll be looking at two to five years downstream before you can cash out. And you've got the added complication of having to stay married to a crazy woman for that whole time.”

“I get the picture.”

“Take my offer now and all you have to do is help me put Zoe back where she belongs. Then you file for divorce. I give you your money, and you're free.”

 

Zoe lowered her
camera and stared at Ethan, appalled.

“He offered you
how
much money?” she whispered.

“You heard me.”

They were standing near the top of the trail that wound down into the shallow canyon below Nightwinds. The sun was low in the sky. The onset of twilight was streaking the desert with mauve and purple shadows.

Ethan had picked her up at her office a few minutes ago, telling her he needed to talk to her, but he had said little until they had come here.

She had known that, whatever he intended to tell her, it would not be good news. Maybe that was why she had taken out her camera and started snapping off shots of cactus. It had given her something to do with her hands while she waited for him to start talking.

“Yes,” she said. “I heard you.” She swallowed. “That's a lot of cash.”

“Nah, it's a so-so amount, not a lot.”

She looked at him. He was in some remote, centered place deep inside himself, she thought. It was probably the same place he went when he was seeking patterns and searching for answers.

“It is a lot,” she said dryly, “given your present financial situation.”

“Okay, relatively speaking, it's a lot.”

There was a slight breeze blowing across the canyon,
ruffling her blouse. Absently she raised a hand to hold her hair out of her eyes. “Cleland Cage is the most important thing in the world to him.”

“I could see that.”

“You did say he would probably try to buy you off.”

“Cleland didn't just make me an offer. He said a couple of other things, too.”

She watched him, worried by the too-even tone of his voice. “What things?”

“He implied that there was a possibility that Preston was involved in an affair at the time of his death.”

For an instant, she was so shocked she could not speak.

“No,” she said.

“I tried to pin him down, but he refused to get specific.”

“Of course, he refused. That's because there was nothing to be specific about. Preston was
not
having an affair.”

“You're sure of that?”

Her stomach clenched. “Absolutely positive. Preston would never have cheated on me.”

“What if he did?” Ethan asked, quiet and relentless now.

It dawned on her that he was interrogating her. This was probably the way he dealt with suspects and anyone else when he wanted answers. She did not like being the target.

“I don't understand,” she said stiffly. “Where are you trying to go with this?”

“Forrest implied that Preston's involvement with another woman might constitute a motive for murder.”

Her insides turned to ice water. “He told you that I shot Preston, didn't he?”

“He didn't come right out and say it. Just sort of let the possibility hang in midair.”

She swung around, anger evaporating the chill that had seized her. “But that's not what happened. I didn't kill Preston. I couldn't have shot him.”

“Even if you'd discovered that he'd been sleeping with another woman?”

“Even if I found out he'd cheated on me.” She felt steadier now that she was on sure and certain ground. “You have
to understand that Preston was a gentle man. What we had together, our love, was a very gentle thing.”

“Gentle.”

She struggled to find the words to explain. “Even if one of us had found out that the other had cheated, the response would have been sadness and disappointment. Maybe grief. But not rage and certainly not violence.”

“What would you have done?”

“You're not going to let this go, are you?”

“I can't,” he said. “I have to find out where it leads.”

She searched his implacable face. “Yes, I can see that. Okay, hypothetically speaking, if I had discovered that Preston had been unfaithful, I would have cried for a while and then I would have set him free. You can't force love. You know that.”

“Sure. After four marriages, I know that.”

She felt herself turn red. She wondered if he thought she'd deliberately thrown his extensive experience of marriage in his face. That was not what she had intended. It was his own fault if he took it personally, she thought. After all, he was the one who had pushed her into this corner.

“How about marriage counseling?” he asked.

“Counseling?” Startled out of her reverie, she frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Would you have suggested counseling if you had found out that Preston was having an affair?” he asked patiently.

“Oh, no, I don't think so.”

“Why not?”

She suppressed the urge to tell him what he could do with his questions and struggled to dredge up more answers.

“I read somewhere that every marriage is based on certain unwritten ground rules,” she said carefully. “Those rules are private, usually unspoken, and understood only by the people involved. For some, an affair would be hurtful but not a complete deal-breaker, if you see what I mean.”

“Because faithfulness was not one of the bedrock rules of that marriage?”

“Yes. Maybe there are other factors that are more crucial in that particular relationship. Emotional dependency or financial security or social status or a strong religious belief. A person might have a great fear of failure or a dread of being alone. Any number of solid, reasonable things might be more fundamentally important in that marriage than faithfulness.”

“But for you, faithfulness would be one of the unbreakable ground rules, is that it?”

“Yes,” she said quietly. “For me, trust has to be at the heart of a relationship. Without that, none of the rest of it matters.” She paused. “Do you understand?”