Tall, Dark, and Deadly Read online

  “It’ll be all right.”

  “I won’t be long.”

  “Take your time. We’ll both be fine.”

  “You’ll bring him back the moment he loses interest?”

  “Yes.”

  “All right.” She hesitated uncomfortably; it was obvious to them both that she didn’t want to be indebted to Rowan in any way. His features remained implacable. “Thanks,” Sam said at last, and she turned and started toward her own house.

  Gregory had never noticed that she had come or gone.

  Ted Henley drummed his fingers on the desk, feeling tension knot every muscle in his body. Sam was all concerned, but she knew Marnie. Hell, Marnie was the type of woman who lived by her own rules. She might be anywhere, go anywhere, with anyone—on the slightest whim.

  He’d told Sam that he would come out to her place himself, fill out the report himself, make sure that the force paid attention. It wasn’t his job. He was in homicide. But he’d worked a lot of different types of investigations before he’d become homicide. He’d been a detective with the domestic abuse unit, he’d worked with larceny, and he’d worked missing persons as well. Missing persons could be such a crapshoot. All too often, worried relatives reported a person who was just off on a joyride. Maybe it was the modern world. Stress got to a banker, and he left everything to go off surfing in California for a week, even though he’d never surfed before. Teens disappeared by the dozens. Sometimes they were runaways Sometimes they came home. Sometimes they were victims of violence, and they were never found, and their parents spent the rest of their lives wondering, praying, hoping, and always fearing the worst.

  The station was quiet. He didn’t usually work on Sundays, unless something unexpected came up on one of his team’s specific cases, but after last night, seeing Laura at the club with Rowan Dillon, he’d been so restless, he had needed something to do.

  And he had plenty of work waiting for him.

  Specifically, he had some paperwork to fill out on the last case they’d presented to the D.A.’s office. Simon Ridley had killed his common-law wife and stuffed her in the dumpster. He’d thought himself free and clear of the crime. Despite the fact that his prints had been found on the dumpster, the prints weren’t out of place there—the dumpster belonged to his apartment complex. And at first they hadn’t been able to get any prints off the black plastic garbage bags he had taped around the corpse. But Sally had known about a technique being used by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Their captain had sent the bags up to Canada for help from the Mounties—and voila! The Canadians had gotten them a good set of latent prints, and now the D.A. had plenty of evidence to take Simon Ridley to court.

  Ridley had been so smug. Teddy Henley felt a slight shiver snake along his spine. Normally, it was dismal to think about how hard the cops worked and how many criminals got away anyhow. Because of lawyers like Marnie.

  No matter what, she was trouble.

  Just like that office of hers was trouble. There was a specialist for everything at Marnie’s firm. A guy for real estate, for divorce, for taxes, for traffic violations, personal injury, rape, robbery, and murder. Marnie herself dealt with the worst of the lot. He’d warned her time and again to watch out for her clients.

  But then, talking to Marnie had always been useless. She was a lawyer. She knew how to insinuate, and how to threaten. And how to make a man do just about anything.

  He pushed his chair back, stood, reached for his jacket, and braced himself. He would be asking Sam a lot of questions.

  Unfortunately, he was rather afraid of the answers regarding Marnie Newcastle that he harbored in his own heart.

  Chapter 7

  When Sam returned to her house, she was surprised to see that Laura was there, leaning against her car, waiting for her to reappear. She was wearing sunglasses, a hat, a cool top and shorts.

  “Hey!” Laura said, rising, noting the direction from which Sam had come, and smiling. “Ah, at last! You brought the neighborhood welcome wagon to Rowan’s house.”

  Sam opened her front door and walked through, Laura following her. “No,” she said flatly, heading on into the kitchen and mechanically putting coffee on to brew.

  “You were at Rowan’s?”

  Sam measured out some coffee. “Gregory slipped out when I was on the phone. Somehow, he wound up over at Rowan’s.”

  “He must have heard music,” Laura said.

  Sam shrugged. “It’s something they have in common. Oh, by the way, your ex is on his way over here.”

  “Why?” Laura asked, frowning.

  Sam felt a little guilty. “He’s going to take a missing persons report on Marnie for me.”

  “Teddy is going to do that?” Laura inquired incredulously.

  “Yes. Why? I mean, he’s still a cop. He did work missing persons at one time.”

  “Yes, but now he’s too cool for anything minor. He works homicide.”

  “Well, he’s here,” Sam said, as the doorbell rang.

  Laura stiffened. “Already?” she said.

  “I imagine.”

  Laura forced a smooth smile to her face. She floated to the front door and threw it open. “Teddy! This is so sweet of you. You know, of course, Sam is so concerned about Marnie, though personally, I’m not sure why.”

  “Hey, Laura,” Teddy said, taking his ex-wife’s hands and kissing her cheeks. He nodded past her to Sam, who had come out to greet him as well. “Hey, Sam.”

  “Hey, Teddy,” she returned. “And thanks for coming. Aldridge was a jerk.”

  Teddy shrugged. “He’s really not being such a jerk. It’s just the forty-eight-hour rule. Tell me why you’re so worried, then I’ll start with the paperwork, okay?”

  “Sure. Coffee?”

  “Sure, I can always use a cup of coffee, I’m a cop, right?”

  “Hmm. Let’s get some donuts, and he can really feel as if he’s working hard!” Laura said dryly.

  Teddy frowned, cocking his head as he studied her. “And I was about to say that you look like a million bucks.”

  “Really?” Laura asked pleasantly. “You look good, too. But then, you’re a man, and men don’t age the same, huh? Those pooching guts don’t begin to compare with cellulite thighs.”

  “My gut doesn’t pooch,” Teddy said.

  “And my thighs are becoming toothpicks.”

  “I told you, I was about to say that you look good today.”

  “Right. Because yesterday I looked like crap.”

  “Children!” They were bickering like a pair of kids. Maybe they had married too young. “Children…” Sam repeated with a mock sigh.

  Then she remember how she had felt at Rowan’s. Sometimes it was easier to fight than to feel. It was just natural instinct to strike back when you’d been hurt.

  “Speaking of children, where were you last night?” Teddy asked Sam. “You’re usually always there, moral support for our children, and you didn’t come out to see Aidan last night.”

  “I—” Sam began, then broke off. She liked Teddy, and he was doing her a favor, but he had, at one time, badly insulted his wife and cheated on her. Few breakups were one-sided, but she had to stand behind Laura on this one. Sam smiled sweetly. “Well, Laura had a date who was knowledgeable about music and ready for a night out at the beach. She didn’t need me.”

  “Did you sleep here—at Sam’s?” she heard Teddy ask Laura. It was amazing how they could both continue to be so jealous of one another.

  “No. Not at Sam’s,” Laura said and came on into the kitchen ahead of Teddy. “Aidan was just great, wasn’t he?”

  “Yeah. Our son was great,” Teddy said flatly. He was irritated. Laura must be loving it. “Okay, Sam, let’s get down to business. When did you last talk to Marnie?”

  “Friday night,” Sam said, pouring coffee. Then she hesitated, looking at her cousin. “Actually, it’s a good thing you’re here, Laura. You were the one who talked to her last.”

  “Me?”
>
  “Yes, on the phone, remember?”

  “Oh, of course!”

  “Well, then, Laura, what did she say? Think hard. Was there any indication she might be going away? Did she tell you her plans—was she going to come over, was she going out?”

  Laura related what they’d said, that Marnie couldn’t come over because she had a date that night.

  “She already had plans?”

  “That’s what she said.”

  “With who?” Teddy asked, staring at his ex-wife, loosening his tie and collar.

  “I don’t know,” Laura told him. “She wouldn’t say. I think some workmen arrived while we were talking—oh, man, I’m not sure exactly what she said at all anymore. I think she told me she was going to go yell at someone— her date, the workmen, I don’t know. Because in the end, she just hung up on me.”

  Teddy lifted a hand and looked at Sam. “Sam, I’m writing down all the specifics, and I’ll take a cruise through her house, I’ll put out bulletins, and I’ll see that a couple of good guys are put on this investigation, but honestly, don’t you think she might have gone out with some guy, found out that he was the hunk she’s looked for all her life, and spent the weekend with him?”

  Sam sipped coffee. She shook her head. “Teddy, you don’t know Marnie.”

  “Sam, we all know Marnie.”

  “It’s frightening just how many people seem to know Marnie,” Laura said.

  “She adores that house. Like you said, we all know Marnie. She would have made her date, no matter how hot and heavy, come back to her house.”

  “Maybe, Sam, maybe not,” Teddy said. “Look, where can I work, fill out some papers?”

  “Right there.”

  She directed him to her desk, and Teddy took papers out of his jacket and sat down. He began to fill in the simple statistics of Marnie’s life—her name, age, address, height, weight, eye color, hair color, and so on and so on.

  “Okay, Laura, talk to me again,” Teddy told his ex-wife.

  “Why?”

  “Because you may have forgotten something.”

  Despite her aggravation, he made Laura describe her conversation with Marnie over and over again. “You know, come to think of it, at the time I thought she was maybe yelling at Phil Jenkins, her contractor or, like I said, one of the workers… or someone. I don’t know if she said good-bye to me, or just left me on hold, or completely forgot I was there. But in the end, she hung up on me.”

  “You’re sure that the connection was broken?” Teddy asked.

  “Yes.”

  “So you think that someone was definitely in the house with her?” Teddy said sharply.

  “Well… I guess. I mean, someone must have been. Even if she just went out for her date, he would have come for her, right? Maybe there were a number of people in the house. One of her workers… a few of her workers, and her date. I don’t know,” Laura said. She threw up her hands. “I guess someone came for her.”

  “Or,” Sam said, “someone came after her.” She hesitated for a minute. “Teddy, this may sound silly to a man, but her makeup was out of order.”

  “You mean, knocked down, thrown around the room?” Teddy said.

  “No… it was, well it was all perfectly arranged, but out of order. ‘The Devil’s Own Red’ wasn’t in the right place.” He was just staring at her. “Marnie aligns everything, Teddy.”

  He stared at her. “All right. ‘The Devil’s Own Red’ was out of order.”

  She gritted her teeth, ready to slam her head against the wall. He was patronizing her. Men just didn’t get it.

  “Someone came after her!” she repeated softly, and the way Teddy looked at her then, she wondered if he did understand.

  Gregory played for an hour, song after song.

  Rowan sat at the drums, just keeping a beat, and followed his lead.

  Gregory completed every work that he started, but the order of his songs didn’t seem to follow any pattern. He played some things Rowan recognized as Aidan’s original music from the night before, and he played a bunch of old-time hits by the Beach Boys and then Queen. Then he played Americana songs, “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “Battle Hymn of the Republic.” He played a Christmas carol. Then, just as suddenly as he started, he stopped. Throughout his playing his face had never shown emotion. He had just gone from song to song—and then stopped.

  “That was nice,” Rowan told him. He didn’t know if Gregory had heard him or not.

  The boy stood up, turned toward the back of the house, the pool, and the bay beyond. He started walking out. Rowan followed him.

  He came to the docks and stared down. For a moment Rowan was afraid that he was going to jump in. He didn’t jump; he just waited. Rowan stood next to him, not touching him but ready to grab for him if he made any attempt to go in. He didn’t know if the boy could swim or not, and he didn’t want to take any chances.

  “The water is great, huh?” Rowan said to him.

  Then he was startled when Gregory spoke, pointing at the water. “Mollie,” he said.

  Looking down into the water, Rowan saw the sea cow. “Wow!” he said to Gregory, and bending down, Rowan flattened himself on the small wooden dock. The sea cow was a fair size, long and weighing several hundred pounds. She appeared as if she should be an awkward creature, gray, bloated-looking, with whiskers and huge dark eyes. She swam in and out around the pilings, in no hurry to get away.

  “Mollie!” he said, rolling to look up at Gregory. “She’s great, just great, really beautiful. I didn’t know that my place came with a personal sea cow!”

  Gregory didn’t smile, but he still seemed to realize that Rowan was there with him and that Rowan liked the sea cow as well. He stared into Rowan’s eyes.

  “Mollie,” Gregory said. He closed his eyes.

  “Yes, Mollie. Mollie is the sea cow, right?”

  Gregory looked out across the bay. “Marnie,” he said then. It was almost a whisper, so softly spoken it might not have been real.

  And still Rowan felt as if his heart skipped a beat. “Marnie? I thought you were showing me the sea cow. And you called her Mollie.”

  Gregory slowly lifted an arm and pointed. He pointed across the bay. He opened his mouth as if he were about to say something.

  But he didn’t. His arm lowered. His head lowered. He looked into the bay. “Mollie!” he said distinctly.

  “Mollie, not Marnie,” Rowan said. “Marnie lives next door. In that house. Have you seen Marnie, Gregory?” But Gregory wasn’t looking at Rowan anymore. He started walking back across the yard, then through the side yard to the front of the houses. Rowan followed him. “Time to go back to Sam’s,” Rowan said.

  Gregory moved at a brisk pace through his yard and across Marnie’s front yard. He had very nearly reached Sam’s place when he stopped dead.

  And he stared up at Marnie’s house.

  “No, no, we’re not going to Marnie’s house. We’re going to Sam’s,” Rowan said.

  Gregory continued to stand stock-still, staring at the house.

  “Come on, time to go back to Sam’s.”

  He touched the boy’s arm.

  And then Gregory pointed at the house and began to scream. It was a terrible, high-pitched sound, like an alien being from Invasion of the Body Snatchers. He just kept pointing and screaming.

  “Gregory, Gregory! It’s all right—”

  Sam, Laura, and Teddy came flying out Sam’s front door, all rushing over.

  “Christ Almighty!” Teddy swore. “What did you do to the boy?”

  “What?” Rowan demanded, astonished and outraged. “I didn’t touch him. He just started screaming.”

  “Gregory, Gregory!” Sam said, approaching him. She put her arms around him. He struggled wildly, with such strength that Rowan thought he would hurt her. But Sam was strong herself, far more powerful than her slim build implied. She held Gregory tightly until he went limp in her arms.

  “You must have done somethin
g to him!” Teddy said.

  “I didn’t do anything. He started back toward Sam’s on his own, then stopped here and started screaming. I tried to take him by the hand to urge him on toward Sam’s,” Rowan explained, trying to hold his temper. Teddy was studying him suspiciously. Laura had stopped some distance back, not willing to interfere.

  “Come on, Gregory,” Sam soothed. “Come on, we’ll go on in. We’ll turn on the Lion King, we’ll take out your crayons. We’ll get your pillow.”

  Sam looked at Rowan over Gregory’s head. He couldn’t read her gaze. Was she accusing him of having hurt the boy somehow as well? He felt a stabbing sensation in his gut and forced himself to return her stare. She had absolutely unique eyes. Their color was ever-changing.

  Yellow, gold, amber… then, at times, surprisingly green. And they still seemed so amazingly clear, honest—and demanding of honesty in return. She looked young, innocent, fragile, in a tank top and shorts.

  She wanted no assurances from him. She’d made that very clear.

  He turned away from her.

  “Were you able to take down the report on Marnie Newcastle?” he asked Teddy.

  “Yeah,” Teddy said, then added flatly, “Of course, I— or someone else—will need to get a statement from you.”

  “I thought you were homicide.”

  “I am.”

  “But you’ve got a special concern here?”

  “Marnie was a friend.”

  “Was?”

  Teddy flushed. “Marnie is a friend. Yes, I’ve got a special concern here. Sam is very upset, and she’s family—”

  “Was family,” Rowan suggested.

  “I’ll be talking to you. That’s a guarantee.”

  “Oh?”

  “Oh, yeah. About the last time you saw her, if anything suspicious went on around here, you know, the usual.”

  “Yeah, right,” Rowan said. “I haven’t lived here all that long.”

  “Sure. But you did know Marnie, right? You must have known her—fairly well.”

  “Yeah. I knew Marnie,” he said. “Come talk to me anytime you want.”