When the Smoke Clears (Deadly Reunions) (8 page)

Serena seemed to think she’d changed over the years since Alexia’s dad had left. Had she?

A toilet flushed, then running water sounded. The bathroom door opened. Alexia’s eyes went wide when a tall man in his midfifties stepped out.

“Who’re you?” she blurted.

He jumped and slapped a hand to his chest. “My word, young lady, you sure know how to scare a person, don’t you?”

Alexia gaped.

An uneasy smile crossed the man’s face. “I can see I’ve scared you as much as you’ve scared me.” He held out a hand. “Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Michael Stewart.”

Almost against her will, Alexia placed her hand in his. Clearing her throat, she found her voice. “I’m sorry, but you’re the last thing I expected to find in my mother’s hospital room.”

It was his turn to stare. “Daughter? Alexia?” Then amusement replaced the uneasiness. “I assure you, I am not a thing. I’m your mother’s . . . pastor.”

That stopped her cold. “My mother has a pastor?”

A gentle smile dented his cheeks when he glanced at the woman on the bed. “She started coming to my church about four years ago.”

Right. Serena had said something about that.

Alexia turned back to see her mother’s eyes open. Shock rippled across the woman’s face and Alexia immediately forgot about the man behind her. Telling her legs to move, she took three stiff steps to the edge of her mother’s bed.

“Hi, Mom.”

“Lex,” she whispered. Tears flooded her green eyes and flowed over.

Stunned at her mother’s reaction, Alexia’s gaze went straight to the heart monitor. It picked up speed. Alexia frowned. “They were supposed to tell you I was coming.”

“They did, but I just didn’t . . . couldn’t . . . believe it. Not until I saw you with my own eyes.”

“What are you doing here?” Alexia swallowed, trying to make sense. “I mean, what’s wrong? Why are you in the hospital?”

“They’re not sure.” Pastor Stewart spoke up from behind her. “They’re running tests and keeping Hannah for observation.”

Alexia cocked a brow at him. This was her mother’s pastor? Sounded like he was a lot more than that to her. At her questioning look, the man flushed. “Sorry. I’ll just wait outside until you two are done.”

“No.” Her mother’s hand reached out in supplication. “Stay. Please.”

Pastor Stewart reached over to squeeze her mom’s hand, then sat in the chair next to the bed. Alexia watched her mother’s hands tremble as she clutched the sheet. Was she nervous? Scared? Was her stomach flipping with dread the same as hers?

“I can’t believe you’re here,” her mother whispered again.

“I decided it was time to come home.”

“Serena talked you into it, hmm?” A slight smile trembled on her lips, and to her surprise, Alexia felt one tug in response.

“Yes.”

Her mother drew in a deep breath and then looked into Alexia’s eyes. “I owe you . . .”

“What?” Confusion drew her brows together.

“I owe you an apology.”

Alexia simply stared at the woman who’d given birth to her. Her mother’s eyes flicked to the window, to the man sitting silent and still in the chair. Then back to Alexia. “I was a terrible mother and I owe you an apology.” Tears hovered on her lashes, her chin wobbled, and she swallowed twice before she said, “I know an apology can’t make up for the past, but I’ve missed you, Alexia, and I was hoping—” her voice broke—“hoping we could somehow have a future. Together. As mother and daughter.”

Alexia wasn’t sure whether to laugh or run screaming from the room. Surely, her mother had developed some sort of dementia or something. She stood on legs that threatened to collapse. “I’m sorry. I . . . I . . . need some air.”

She fled the room.

11

Monday, 10:47 p.m.

“I’ll take care of it,” the voice promised.

“How?”

“If she knows where Jillian is, she’ll tell. We’ve just got to get our hands on her. She’s proving elusive. And now she’s on her guard.”

The senator felt his jaw tighten. “This can’t come back to me, to us. You know that.”

A disgusted sigh filtered through the line to echo in the senator’s ear. “Of course I know that, Frank. I’ve got someone taking care of the problem. In fact, the plan is already being carried out.”

“Who? What plan?”

“It doesn’t matter as long as we keep a lid on your secret, does it?”

A pause. “I suppose not. I’m probably better off not knowing anyway.” Frank pulled in a deep breath and changed the subject. “I got another letter.”

“How? When?”

“It came through the mail today. Addressed to my wife.” Outrage filled him. Along with fear. “Do you know what would have happened if Elizabeth had gotten to it first?”

“What made you open it?”

“I recognized the writing on the envelope. It’s the same as the other letters. Sort of a block style, like someone’s trying to disguise their handwriting.”

“Look . . .” The voice paused. “Just keep an eye on things on your end. Concentrate on your campaigning, pleasing the people, and getting votes. I’ll take care of this mess. Just consider it done.”

“It won’t be done until I know for sure this won’t ruin everything I’ve worked so hard to build.”

“We.”

“Excuse me?”

“
We.
What
we’ve
worked so hard to build.”

The senator stilled. “Of course. I’m sorry. I’m just not thinking very clearly at the moment.”

“Then let me think for you. You just focus on what you’re good at while I do what I’m good at.”

“Fine, just keep me updated, will you?”

“Of course. Now put that note with the others and let me get on with this.”

The senator hung up the phone, hating the trembling in his fingers as he lifted the latest note.

HOW ARE YOU SLEEPING AT NIGHT?

12

Tuesday, 7:50 a.m.

“How are you doing this morning?”

Serena’s calm voice jarred her as a golden retriever bolted to the edge of the bed to swipe Alexia’s face with her tongue. Alexia laughed and cringed at the same time. “Ew.”

Yoda, Serena’s two-year-old retriever, sat on her haunches and cocked her head, tongue lolling sideways. Alexia looked at her friend standing in the doorway holding a cup of steaming coffee.

Alexia’s nose twitched. “I’m not sure. I think I’m just numb.” She used the sheet to wipe her face and looked at the dog. “Although, Yoda’s greeting has me waking up a bit.” Slanting her eyes at Serena, she said, “You know Yoda is a really dumb name for a female dog. Why not Princess or Leia or something?”

Serena simply grinned. She’d never apologize for her Star Wars fever.

Flopping back on the bed, Alexia thought about the night before. Somehow she’d managed to escape the hospital last night, avoiding Hunter and everything else in her path, to arrive on Serena’s doorstep asking for a bed to sleep in.

Serena had welcomed her without hesitation, led her to her spare bedroom, and told her they’d talk in the morning.

Now it was morning and Alexia didn’t want to talk. She wanted to forget the last twenty-four hours ever happened.

Then it occurred to her she hadn’t told her mother about Devin’s death.

Which meant another trip to the hospital. She’d rather try to figure out who killed Devin and why.

“Hey, I need to talk to you about something.”

Serena’s serious tone brought Alexia’s attention back to her friend. “What’s that?”

Sipping her coffee as she walked, Serena sat on the edge of the bed. Yoda edged closer and placed her nose on Serena’s feet. “I’ve been asked to go to China.”

“What? Why?”

Sadness creased her friend’s brows. “Because of the earthquake last week. There were a lot of US citizens there.” She waved a letter Alexia just now noticed. “I got notification from Washington, DC, that I’ll be working with Robert Douglas, one of our local ME investigators, to help identify and return the remains of those US citizens to their families.”

“When do you leave?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

“So soon?” Alexia swallowed hard and reached out to grasp Serena’s hand. “I’m sorry. That’s going to be tough.”

“Yes. It will. But it has to be done, so . . .” Serena drew in a deep breath and stood. “I don’t know how you feel about staying in your mother’s house after all that’s happened, but you’re welcome to stay here if you like.”

Alexia blinked at the offer. Surprisingly enough, her mind didn’t flash to Devin’s bleeding body but instead to the fire.

The flames greedy and grasping, swallowing everything in their path. Her father’s hoarse yells, her sister’s screams cutting through the roar—

“Lex?”

Alexia shook her head to force the memory away. “Sure. I’d love to stay here. I’m guessing you have an ulterior motive for asking, though.”

A gleam appeared in her friend’s eyes. “Well, it would help if you would dog and cat sit.”

Alexia lifted a brow. “Cat? When did you get a cat?”

Serena flushed. “She just kind of showed up about six weeks ago. Skinny and no tags. I fed her and now I think I’m stuck with her.”

“What’s her name?”

“Chewbacca. Chewie for short.”

Alexia rolled her eyes. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“It seemed to fit.”

“Huh.” She thought about it. “Sure. I’ll stay here. And even if I decide not to sleep here, I’ll still take care of your critters.” That wouldn’t interfere with her decision to find Devin’s murderer.

“Good.” Serena’s eyes brightened. “Then you won’t mind feeding the fish and watering the plants?”

Alexia huffed a long-suffering sigh. Then grinned. “Naw, I don’t mind.”

“Yoda has her own doggie door, she can come and go as she pleases, so you don’t have to worry about getting over here at a certain time. She and Chewie have hit it off and keep each other company.”

Even as the words left her mouth, the animal that could only be Chewie strolled into the room. Alexia’s eyes widened. “I understand now.”

The long-haired brown and gold cat stared at the occupants of the room with unblinking eyes, then sat on the floor by Yoda and began grooming her front left paw.

Stretching, Alexia wondered what she’d committed herself to, even as she swung her legs over the side of the bed. “Oh, I meant to ask you. Did you mention to anyone that I was coming home? Hunter seemed to think he might need to know that piece of information.”

Serena frowned. “No, I don’t think I mentioned it.” Her eyes went wide. “Why? Does he think Devin’s death has something to do with you coming home?”

A groan escaped Alexia and she tossed her hands in the air. “He doesn’t know. He said he was just making sure that he went through as many scenarios as possible. And one was questioning whether you said anything to anyone.”

“Wait a minute.” Serena snapped her fingers. “I did mention it to Christine. She’s on the reunion committee and I told her you would probably be glad to help.”

Alexia shot her a dark look. “Thanks.”

“Now, now.” Serena laughed. “It’ll be good for you. Keep you from wallowing.”

“In what?” Alexia asked with an indignant snort.

“Whatever it is you might want to wallow in.” Serena patted Yoda’s head and the dog gave a contented groan.

“I’m not going to wallow in anything.” And she really wouldn’t mind helping. Alexia paused and returned to Serena’s comment. “Christine.” Alexia swallowed hard. “Hunter’s sister? That Christine?”

“Yep. She and Lori Tabor are heading up the reunion committee. She asked me to help, but I told her I couldn’t. Now that I’m off to China, it’s a good thing I said no. Hopefully I’ll be back in a couple of weeks.”

“Oh right, Lori. She keeps her brother’s kids while he’s working. They live in Mom’s neighborhood and had a front row seat to the chaos last night. I gave her my number and told her I’d help.” Alexia let out a sigh. “Okay, I’ll let Hunter know you told Christine, although I don’t think that’s going to be much help. I guess I need to get going. I need to check in with Mom and . . .” She flailed a hand. What did she really need to do?

“And?”

“I don’t know. I want to go back to Mom’s house. I noticed her grass needs cutting. I might as well do it. I feel like I have ants crawling under my skin. I’m restless. Maybe doing something physical will help. Plus I want to see if I missed anything from yesterday, see if I can figure out anything about Devin.”

Serena frowned at her. “The police will figure that out.”

“I know. I just . . .” Once again she trailed off. “Something really feels wrong.”

“A man died. Of course something feels wrong.” Concern etched itself on Serena’s face.

Alexia stared at her friend. “I need to remember what happened that night.”

“The night of the fire?”

“Yes. I get bits and pieces, but I can’t remember what started it, why my dad would blame me—other than the fact that he hated me.”

Serena didn’t bother to object to Alexia’s statement that her father hated her. She’d seen for herself the bruises on Alexia’s back, stomach, and shoulders.

“I don’t know, Lex.”

“And—” Alexia drew in a deep breath—“I think I need to do something I really don’t want to do.”

“What’s that?”

“Find my father.”

Serena lifted a brow. “Are you crazy?”

“Probably.” Alexia spotted her overnight bag on the chair. Before leaving Washington, she’d packed a big suitcase for her stay and an overnight bag that held her toiletries. Serena had already dug a clean set of clothes from the suitcase and draped them across the back of the chair. “Thanks for getting these out for me.”

Serena shrugged. “No problem. I didn’t figure you wanted to put those back on.” She gestured to the pile of clothes by the bed.

Alexia grimaced and shuddered. “I think I’ll burn them.”

Understanding flashed across Serena’s face.

Desperate for a change of subject, Alexia asked, “What’s up with my mother and Michael Stewart?”

A faint smile curved Serena’s lips. “I think they have a mutual attraction for each other.”