You Belong to Me (23 page)

All the blood in his head rushed to his groin. He leaned on the counter. ‘Look,’ he lied, ‘I got a wife. She can’t know I was here, and she checks the statements.’

‘I see your dilemma. I can run your card but hold charges until you check out. If you pay cash, I’ll tear up the charge record. Nobody has to know you were even here.’

He gave the clerk his Ted Gamble Visa. ‘Give me a room. I don’t care where.’

Susie purred. ‘As long as it has a bed.’

The clerk handed him a key. ‘Room 323, on the third floor. Elevators are—’

He heard no more, taking his card, the key, and Susie’s hand, dragging her to the elevator. Beside him, she chuckled throatily. ‘Hurry, Ted. I need to fuck.’

Monday, May 3, 7.45 P.M.

JD drove away from the Bennetts’ neighborhood, watching Lucy as closely as he could while still keeping his eyes on the road. Her expression was one of numbed misery, her face pale, hands clenched into impotent fists in her lap.
Good riddance to bad rubbish
, Westcott had said. And Mr Bennett hadn’t said a word in Lucy’s defense. Bennett had just hustled her out the door.
And that pisses me off
.

The man had just found out his son was dead, so JD could cut him some slack. Except . . . JD thought of how still Bennett had gone at the mention of the other dead man. Malcolm Edwards. That had bothered Bennett nearly as much as hearing his own son had died. There was something there. JD was certain of it.

It was also clear that Lucy had left some major baggage behind in the old neighborhood. For a moment there he’d seen the flash of temper that had ended in Russ Bennett’s broken nose. He’d thought she’d strike the bad-mannered Mrs Westcott and he wouldn’t have really blamed her had she done so.

But Lucy had pulled herself back under control, and still held herself together, but barely. Her emotions churned so close to the surface that he could feel them. She was trembling, whether from hurt or rage he wasn’t sure. Probably both.

Waiting until they were well away from the neighborhood, JD pulled into the lot of an abandoned strip mall, stopped the car and got out. Lucy’s gaze followed him as he walked around the car, but when he opened her door she closed her eyes, her pale cheeks heating from embarrassment.

‘I’m sorry,’ she whispered. ‘I was unprofessional and rude. I messed things up.’

As he’d done before, he popped the lock on her seatbelt and pulled her to her feet and into his arms. But this time he just held her. She stood stiffly, not leaning into him, but not pulling away either. Her trembling had become shivering despite the heat of the evening, so he shrugged out of his coat and draped it over her shoulders.

All at once she shuddered, her hands coming up to clutch the fabric of his shirt. ‘I’m sorry,’ she repeated miserably. ‘I don’t know what came over me.’

He rested his cheek on the top of her head, realizing how very well she fit in his arms, tucked under his chin. The last time he’d held her like this he’d been too busy kissing her to notice. He hoped he’d be too busy kissing her again later to notice, but now he wanted to make her hurt go away if he could. If she’d let him.

‘Old Lady Westcott called you an “undesirable” and you got mad. I would have been mad too. Who is she to you?’

‘Just a neighbor. An old harpy. Has been for as long as I can remember.’

‘Why was she so rude to you?’

Against his chest she sighed. ‘We go back a way. I . . . I don’t like her very much.’

‘Yeah, I kind of got that. You muttering “bitch” was my first clue.’

She covered her face with her hands. ‘I can’t believe I said that. Mr Bennett was in shock and I said
that
. I made things worse when I wanted to make them better.’

Personally, he thought Westcott had made things worse for Bennett by bringing up Malcolm Edwards, but he’d get to that in a minute. ‘Why did she call you an “undesirable”? What happened between the two of you?’ he asked.

For a moment she said nothing. Then she lifted one shoulder wearily. ‘She’s a difficult woman. I don’t know why she does anything.’

He had a hunch and played it. ‘She was involved in your trial.’

Lucy jerked back to stare up at him, wide-eyed. ‘How did you know that?’

‘I didn’t, not until just now. Honestly, I guessed.’

Her blue eyes flickered, narrowing. ‘You tricked me.’

He smoothed her hair away from her face and rubbed his thumb over her lips which had turned down in a frown. He was regretting having brought it up. At least right now, when she was so upset. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to trick you.’

‘Sure you did,’ she said flatly. ‘You’re a detective. It’s what you do. Let’s get back. You have work to do and I still have to find a place to stay tonight.’ She pulled away from him, getting into the car. ‘We native guides need our sleep to stay sharp.’

JD obeyed, heading them back to Baltimore and away from Anderson Ferry and its rude gossips and creepy eyes that watched from windows. Lucy stared straight ahead, arms crossed over her chest, fingers clutching the lapels of his jacket as she held it closed around her like a shield.
Note to self: don’t use interrogation techniques on prospective girlfriends
. It really didn’t help.

‘I’m sorry, Lucy,’ he said quietly. ‘It’s really been too long since I’ve been in a relationship. I’m completely out of practice. I should have just asked you.’

‘It’s all right,’ she said, no longer sounding angry. Just . . . deflated. ‘I probably wouldn’t have told you had you asked. I don’t really like to talk about it.’

‘Okay, then. A different question. Who was Malcolm Edwards?’

She turned to look at him, confused. ‘I don’t know. Why?’

‘Because he’s dead too. While you were calling Bennett’s daughter, Mrs Westcott said he ran with Russ Bennett back in the day and that he recently died in a boating accident. She claimed that bad things come in threes, that Bennett was number two.’

Lucy frowned. ‘Odd, considering the killer marked him as number one.’

‘So you didn’t know Malcolm?’

‘I don’t remember the name. If he ran with Russ’s crowd, he’d have been older than me. Plus all those guys had nicknames. You want me to check him out?’ She was already retrieving her phone from her purse.

‘If your phone has juice,’ he said, sensing she needed to keep her mind off what had transpired at the Bennetts’ house. ‘Otherwise I’ll call Stevie and have her check.’

She plugged his car’s charger into her phone. ‘This works.’ She punched keys and waited. ‘I got a couple of hits on Malcolm Edwards.’

He glanced over, saw her fully absorbed in the screen she was reading. Her energy was back, her focus. He could feel it hum, just as he’d felt her hurt just minutes before. That she was able to completely concentrate so effortlessly was impressive.

It was something he’d had to learn to do in the army, back when he’d sat behind cover for hours, waiting for his target to pass through his sight. In those days he’d had to call upon his focus in the blink of an eye and it hadn’t been easy. Then again, no part of his job back then had been easy. Which was why he didn’t like to think about it.

‘Malcolm Edwards has a Facebook page too?’ he asked.

‘No, but there are some articles about his accident. This one says he was last seen boarding his yacht, the
Carrie On
. Carrie, as in a woman’s name.’

‘His wife?’

‘Yes. She disappeared at the same time. There was speculation that he’d committed suicide, but consensus is that he never would have risked her life.’

‘So what happened?’

‘A storm blew in. A source close to the investigation said that in Malcolm’s condition, he wouldn’t have been able to handle the rigging. He had terminal cancer.’

‘That’s what Mr Bennett said, back there. What about the wife, Carrie?’

‘Nobody’s sure where she went. This article speculates that she was with him at the time. She hasn’t turned up to claim any assets.’

‘And the boat?’

‘The Coast Guard did an extensive search, but found nothing.’

‘Huh,’ JD said. ‘You’d think they’d find something.’

‘You’d think. But this says the Coast Guard had warned boaters of strong currents. They think the boat got dragged out to sea and went down.’

‘You’d think that something would wash ashore. Wood or something.’

She shrugged. ‘You’d think. It says here that he left his estate to his wife, but that because she died with him, it went to the Church of Divine Forgiveness.’

That two men who’d known each other as boys had died within months of one another could be a simple coincidence. Except that Russell was murdered and his father had gone so very still at the mention of the other man’s name. Being ‘lost at sea’ could be a convenient way to kill someone. Then again, simple coincidence was highly possible.

‘If it was a big enough payoff,’ he said, ‘the church might have had motive.’

‘Maybe. Here’s his obit. His and Carrie’s memorial service was just last week. “Malcolm Edwards was born in Anderson Ferry, Maryland, where he attended Anderson Ferry High School, lettering in football and . . .”’ She faltered, trailing off.

‘And?’ JD prompted.

‘He was on the All-Star team,’ she said, her tone oddly strained. ‘They won the championship his senior year.’ She cleared her throat briskly. ‘He is survived by no one. He and Carrie had no children and his parents died years ago.’ She fell silent, staring at the phone screen, biting her bottom lip.

‘What’s so important about that championship football team, Lucy?’

She folded her hands in her lap primly. ‘My brother played on it. He was MVP.’

‘Really? Where is your brother now?’

‘He died when I was fourteen. The year the team won the championship.’

‘I’m sorry,’ he said, but thoughts were already rolling around his mind. Edwards and Lucy’s brother had played ball on the same team. A killer was taunting Lucy after murdering Russ Bennett, who’d known Edwards.

‘It was a long time ago,’ she said. ‘The obit has a picture of Malcolm in his high school jersey. I knew him as Butch. He played defense. He was my brother’s friend.’

‘Did Russ Bennett play on the team?’

‘No, although I imagine he wanted to. It was the big thing in Anderson Ferry. It was a way to get out, if you were a boy.’

‘And the girls? How did they “get out”?’

‘Some married. I went to college. Gwyn joined the—’ She stopped abruptly, then continued. ‘A sorority.’

He glanced over at her. That wasn’t what she’d been about to say. ‘I see. So, how did your brother die? If you don’t mind my asking.’

She clutched his jacket around her more tightly. ‘In an accident,’ she said stiffly.

‘I guess you do mind my asking,’ he said ruefully and she sighed.

‘I’m sorry. It was twenty-one years ago and I’m long over it, but . . .’

‘Sometimes old hurts don’t die.’ Of this he was well aware.

She nodded. ‘Yes.’

‘And I imagine going back to your old neighborhood didn’t help.’

She grimaced. ‘No, it didn’t.’

‘Were your brother and Russ Bennett the same age?’

She turned to study his profile. ‘Yes, they were in the same grade. So was Malcolm Edwards. Why did you ask me about Malcolm to begin with?’

‘I told you. Westcott brought him up.’

‘She also called me an “undesirable”. I would have thought you’d be more worried about that instead of some seemingly coincidental death, especially after . . . well, after what happened earlier today.’

‘You mean when I kissed you? And you kissed me back?’

Her cheeks heated. ‘Yes. Maybe you shouldn’t have. Maybe I am an undesirable.’ She said it in a defiant way, as if challenging him to agree.

‘I know you’re not.’

Her brows lifted. ‘And how could you possibly
know
that?’

He shrugged. ‘Because
I
desire you.’

She started to smile, then shook her head hard. ‘No, I’m serious. How do you know Westcott wasn’t right? I could be . . . just plain bad. You can’t know.’

‘I don’t think so. If you were bad, you wouldn’t have cared for an old man’s feet.’ He hesitated, then shrugged again. ‘Or cried over the body of a girl you didn’t know.’

‘So did you,’ she murmured.

He kept his eyes straight ahead. ‘I know. And I’ve wondered how many others you cried over when no one was watching.’

‘A lot,’ she said, so quietly that he almost didn’t hear. ‘Why did you ask about Malcolm?’

The topic change was intentional. He’d ventured too close, again. He decided to venture even closer. ‘Because when Westcott said his name, Mr Bennett reacted.’

She frowned. ‘Reacted exactly how?’

‘He froze. Looked guilty.’ He met her gaze. ‘And then he ushered you out.’

‘You think there’s a connection between Russ’s murder and Malcolm’s death? And that Mr B knows what it is?’ She shook her head. ‘No. Just . . . no.’

‘Okay,’ he said quietly, refocusing on the road.

‘Okay,’ she repeated forcefully. ‘So what are you going to do next?’

Check into Malcolm Edwards and Russ Bennett’s father
, he thought. ‘Check out the old girlfriends,’ he said, ‘find any food processing plants with huge freezers, and hope Drew finds a usable print on that shipping box and/or your car.’

‘You really think this guy left his prints?’ she asked dourly.

‘No. Hopefully by the time I get back I’ll have Bennett’s LUDs.’ Hopefully the phone company’s Local Utilization Detail would offer up a clue. ‘I need to find out who he was meeting the Sunday he disappeared. Hopefully you find something more on Bennett’s body tomorrow.’

‘Drop me off at the morgue. I’ve got some time yet tonight I can work on him.’

‘No. I don’t want you there alone.’

‘I won’t be. Alan and Ruby are on duty and we have a security guard. You have to leave me alone sometimes.’ She lifted a brow. ‘Unless you want to stand next to me while I cut up dead bodies. Mulhauser says he has four in the freezer with my name on them. You can hold the bowl when I remove their brains. They kind of go . . .
plop
.’

He tossed her a wry glare, swallowing hard. ‘That was for tricking you earlier.’