by Cindy Bell
“It was on a need to know basis,” Detective Brown explained as he narrowed his eyes. “It's a very delicate matter when you have someone going against his very powerful, very vengeful father-in-law. Dominic would have done anything to protect his clients.”
“He's not so bad,” Mary said with a mild shrug. Detective Brown's eyes locked on hers.
“Don't be fooled,” he said sharply. “Dominic Palov may look handsome, he may play a good part when he's trying to manipulate people, but he is a distinctly cruel man. He has killed for less than any man I have encountered. He is not someone that people cross and survive. If Antony Gable is dead I can guarantee you that Dominic Palov was involved in that death at the very least, and more than likely is the killer himself,” he shook his head. “You can't be fooled by a pretty face.”
“I really didn't notice his pretty face,” Mary said with growing annoyance. “But what I did notice was that he seemed genuinely concerned with his daughter's wellbeing, as any father would be.”
“Not this one,” Detective Brown said flatly. “If Daria is missing it's likely that she's laying dead somewhere, and I wouldn't put it past Dominic Palov to be the one who put the bullet in her head.”
“That's a terrible thing to say,” Mary rushed forward, her words becoming more biting. “No one would ever intentionally harm their own child.”
“You're living in a dream world I'm afraid,” Detective Brown said in a softer tone and shook his head. “Not all parents are created equal, Mary. Just because he plays the part of the doting father, doesn't mean he is one,” he smiled apologetically at her.
Mary stared at him for a long moment. Then she looked over at Suzie, as if looking for permission to tell Detective Brown the entire truth about their encounter with Dominic. Suzie shook her head slightly.
“What's that?” Detective Brown demanded when he noticed the slight shake of Suzie's head. “You two know more than you're saying, don't you?” he asked and glared at each of them in turn.
Suzie opened her mouth to speak, but Detective Brown was already shaking his head.
“I'm giving you both the chance right now to tell me the truth,” he said in a paternal tone. “Whatever you and Dominic talked about today is police business. You two are not police officers,” he reminded them. “You own a bed and breakfast. You are not equipped to handle a criminal like this. So, tell me the truth, right now, and if you've done anything you shouldn't have, it will be overlooked.”
Mary's lips moved slightly. She looked over at Suzie. Suzie narrowed her eyes. Mary lowered hers.
“There is nothing to tell,” Suzie said with confidence to Detective Brown. “We had a short conversation with Dominic about his grief over his daughter being missing and the loss of his beloved son-in-law. I'm sorry that you lost your informant, but I really don't think that Dominic had anything to do with it.”
“Don't bother lying to me,” he growled. “I've heard enough. I'll find out what's really going on from Jason. If you two have done anything to put yourselves, or my investigation at risk, I'm going to find out about it.”
He paused at the front door and looked back at the two women. He stared at Suzie for a long moment as if he was sizing her up, then he looked over at Mary.
“Do not go anywhere near Dominic Palov, do you understand me?” he asked sternly. “I would hate to be investigating your murder next.”
Mary nodded wordlessly. She looked squeamishly over at Suzie who kept her gaze locked directly on Detective Brown.
“Thank you for your concern,” Suzie said rigidly as she crossed the distance between them. “I think you'll have better luck trying to get information out of Jason,” she added and opened the door for him.
“Remember what I said,” Detective Brown said and glared sharply at both of them. “Dominic Palov can play a docile sheep, but he is the fiercest wolf you will ever meet.”
With that he turned and stepped out through the door. Suzie closed the door firmly behind him, then locked it. When she turned back to look at Mary, she could see the deep concern in the woman's normally soft features.
“Maybe we should have told him,” she said nervously. “What if he's right? What if Dominic is involved in Daria's disappearance?”
“If he was then why would he bother saying anything to us about it?” Suzie pointed out as she walked over to her friend. “Why would he claim that she was taken by his partner?”
“Maybe to try to get information from us about the case,” Mary suggested. “Maybe he killed Antony, but Daria got away. That would explain why we found that tuft from her sweater deep in the woods. Maybe she was escaping from her father.”
“I don't know,” Suzie shook her head. “He seemed very upset to me.”
“Maybe he was only upset because he can't find her to get rid of her,” Mary suggested with disgust. “Detective Brown has a lot of experience with this man. He probably knows what he’s really like better than we do.”
“He might,” Suzie agreed. “But cops sometimes get tunnel vision about criminals. Just because Dominic is a terrible man who has done terrible things, that doesn't mean that he has done this terrible thing.”
“I guess you're right,” Mary sighed. “I just hope Daria can get somewhere safe.”
Chapter 10
Before going to bed that night Suzie made sure that all of the doors and windows were locked in Dune House. She also double checked on Mary to make sure she was safely in her room. She slid into her bed uneasily. She kept recalling how close she must have come to discovering that someone was hiding in the closet. She hadn't even considered that there might be someone there before she had left the room. Was that person Baylor, Dominic's murderous partner? Or was it possibly Dominic himself?
Despite what she had said to Detective Brown, Suzie was still not entirely convinced that Dominic was not involved in his daughter's disappearance. He seemed to have quite a bit of reason to want to hurt Antony, and keep his daughter from talking. Those thoughts, and thoughts about why Jason was avoiding her phone calls, kept her awake for some time. When she finally drifted off to sleep, her dreams were filled with memories of Antony and Daria. She had not known them for long, but they had made quite an impression.
Suzie woke up early the next morning to someone pounding on the front door of Dune House. As her sleep-deprived mind slowly began to process her surroundings, she realized that her cell phone was also ringing loudly. She stumbled towards her phone and carried it out into the hall. She nearly collided with Mary who was hurrying to find out who was at the door. Suzie looked at her phone to see it was Jason calling. Which meant he was probably the one at the door, too. Mary opened it just as Suzie was stepping out from the hallway.
“Sorry to wake you,” Jason said as he looked between the two women. Suzie could see the anger in his expression even though she was half way across the room. “I tried to wait until later, but I just couldn't. I need to talk to you, Suzie.”
Mary glanced over her shoulder at Suzie warily. “I think I should stay,” she said quietly.
“No, it's okay,” Suzie assured her. “Let's step outside,” she suggested to Jason. Jason nodded and stepped back out onto the porch. Suzie drew her robe tightly around her and turned to face Jason.
“What is this about?” she asked.
“You know what it's about,” he replied with a frown. “Kirk told me how much you were hiding from me. I just got the results of the fingerprints in, and now we have a prime suspect that we are looking to arrest. If you had told me about your suspicions about someone being in the room earlier, we could have closed this case already.”
Suzie was dying to know who the fingerprints matched, but she knew that Jason needed to say his piece first.
“Jason, I just didn't realize that it was important at the time,” Suzie attempted to explain. “I thought I was being paranoid.”
“You've made me look like a complete fool,” Jason said with animosity. “What were you thinking holding t
hat information back from me?”
“Jason, I just didn't think it mattered, I thought I was just being paranoid,” Suzie repeated. “I would have told you if I thought it was important.”
“You don't get to decide that,” he pointed out. “I trusted you enough to give you information about the investigation. How could you not trust me enough to tell me everything you knew?”
Suzie could barely look at him. The betrayal he felt was so clear in his expression that she couldn't stand to look at him. It was hard for her not to see Jason as a kid, despite the fact that he was a grown man with a successful career as a police officer. She hadn't given him the chance to prove that he could be trusted not to run off and treat Daria as the murderer. Instead, she had hurt their relationship by being so paranoid. Now, she had to hide even more from him, because she knew that if Dominic found out she had told Jason the truth, there would be a big price to pay.
“I'm sorry, Jason,” she finally said and glanced up at him. “There's no excuse I can give really. I just honestly didn't think that we were going to find out that Daria had anything to do with it. I didn't want overhearing a little spat between husband and wife to destroy the rest of her life.”
“And what about Antony?” Jason asked and studied her with disdain. “Didn't he deserve to have every possibility investigated? If it had been the other way around, Suzie, if it had been Antony threatening Daria, would you have come to me right away?”
Suzie was a little stunned by the question. She hadn't really considered that. But now that she thought about it, she felt Jason was right. If it had been Antony threatening to kill Daria, she would have been quick to interfere with the argument, or at least let the police know of the threat. She had given Daria much more leeway because she was a woman.
“I didn't think of it that way,” she stammered out.
“There's a reason why police officers are taught to be objective,” Jason said patiently. “It's because a murder suspect doesn't always look like a murder suspect. Sometimes they look like a sweet, young woman who would never harm a fly. Until she does.”
“You're right,” Suzie nodded. “I should have told you from the beginning. I'm sorry, Jason,” she met his eyes with genuine remorse.
“I get that you've been taught to question everyone’s intentions in your previous career,” Jason said with a slight frown. “I guess I just didn't expect that I would be included on that list.”
“You're not, Jason,” Suzie insisted. “That's not what happened. I just didn't want to bother you with the information if it didn't mean anything.”
“Well, it did,” he sighed. “At least now we know who killed Antony.”
“Who?” Suzie asked as she met his gaze. “Whose fingerprints did you find?”
Jason studied her for a moment. “I'm not sure I should tell you,” he said grimly.
“Jason, please,” Suzie said as she looked into his eyes.
Jason finally nodded. “All right, but only so you can be wary of this person in case you come across them before we arrest them. The prints from the room match Dominic Palov. We have a warrant out for his arrest.”
Suzie was stunned by the revelation. If anything, she had expected the prints to match Bob Baylor. If the prints matched Dominic's that meant that he was the one who was hiding in the closet when she was in the room. Yet he hadn't told her that. Her stomach flipped. Had he truly been manipulating her the entire time?
“Now listen, once we find Dominic, I'm sure we'll find Daria. So, as of now, I want you staying out of this case,” Jason said sternly. “Dominic Palov is a highly dangerous criminal and not someone you want to tangle with.”
“I hear you, Jason,” she finally said and nodded.
“We'll talk more about this, hmm?” he said as he met her eyes.
“Yes,” Suzie nodded again. She had no intention of talking more about it. Her only intention was to talk to Summer. Maybe Summer could give her information to prove that Dominic wasn't the murderer. She was afraid that if Dominic ended up in jail Daria would never be found. Of course, nagging in the back of her mind was the very real possibility that Dominic had been the killer all along.
When she walked back into Dune House, Mary was waiting for her.
“What did he say?” she asked nervously.
“He said that he was upset I hadn't told him everything,” Suzie said with a frown. “He also said that the fingerprints they found in the Gables' room belonged to Dominic Palov.”
“What?” Mary asked with surprise. “Does that mean he was in the room?”
“I can only assume it does,” Suzie said. “I guess he might have been lying to us the entire time.”
“I don't know,” Mary shook her head. “I know he's a criminal mastermind and everything, but he is a father also and he seemed to be genuinely upset about Daria.”
“Well, if he gets arrested then Daria might be in even more danger,” Suzie said. “I'm getting dressed and going down to the medical examiner's office to talk to Summer. Would you mind staying here and seeing what you can find about Bob Baylor on the internet?”
“I can do my best,” Mary said with a slight cringe. “You know I’m not as good as you with technology. I just know how to do a basic search.”
“Don't worry, you can handle it,” Suzie promised her.
After Suzie dressed she set Mary up with a search engine and showed her the best ways to search for the information. “See if you can find any properties he might own, places he might be hiding Daria,” Suzie suggested.
As she left Dune House it was not lost on her that yet again she was keeping something from Jason. With a woman's life on the line however, she couldn't justify turning over a new leaf of honesty.
Chapter 11
When Suzie arrived at the medical examiner's office it was just opening to the public. Suzie could see the receptionist, Sharon, trudging in from her car. She wanted to avoid her, so she ducked around the side of the building, hoping to catch Summer on her way inside. She spotted Summer walking away from her car and breathed a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to walk up to her, she noticed a man walking towards Summer from the other side of the parking lot. She immediately gasped as she recognized him as Dominic Palov.
Suzie stepped back behind the large, stone pillar. She peered around it, and watched as Dominic approached Summer. Her heart fluttered with fear as she wondered what such a dangerous man could want with Summer. Was he going to try to intimidate her about her findings? Dominic paused in front of her, and began speaking in a voice too low for Suzie to hear. Suzie didn't dare to try to get closer, as she knew that if she was spotted Summer might be upset that she was spying on her. She didn't want to do anything that might put more strain on her relationship with Jason.
Summer didn't seem to be upset by Dominic's presence. She spoke to him in the same low tones, but Suzie noticed that she stepped intimately close to the man. Alarm bells began ringing in the back of Suzie's mind as she wondered what Summer's intentions might be. Dominic was a powerful, handsome man. He was several years older than Jason, but certainly still attractive.
Suzie's inquisitive mind began to spin possible reasons that Summer could be so familiar with Dominic. But none of those reasons came close to explaining what happened next. She watched as Summer reached into the slim briefcase she wore over her shoulder. She pulled out a small, yellow envelope and handed it to Dominic. Dominic took it swiftly. He reached into the front pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a pair of reading glasses. He then set them carefully on his nose. Then he peeked under the flap of the envelope for a moment, and nodded. He reached into the inside pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out another envelope. This one he handed over to Summer. Then he tucked the one she handed him into the inside pocket of his suit jacket.
Suzie's heart sank. Of all the things she had imagined, the idea that Summer might be crooked, making dodgy deals and being potentially paid off by criminals had never crossed her mind. She woul
d have never believed it if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes. The two spoke quietly for a few more moments, then Dominic turned and walked away.
Summer stood still for several seconds. Then she swept her hair back over her shoulders. She cast her gaze around the sidewalk and the front of the building, as if she was checking to see if anyone was watching. Suzie held her breath as she wondered if she would be spotted. She had to resist the desire to confront Summer there and then about what she had just handed over to Dominic. She knew it wasn't the right time. Now, everything Summer had revealed to her had come into question. She knew that the police investigation could be just as tainted. She felt obligated to tell Jason. But how could she? It would shatter his heart. After the difficult life he had led so far, what right did she have to make it that much worse? Would he even believe her, considering the secrets she had kept?
Suzie's stomach was churning with emotions as she watched Summer walk towards the entrance of the building and disappear inside. She felt as if she was watching Jason's future with Summer walking away right along with her. As Suzie walked back to her car, her mind returned to the crime at hand. She was beginning to wonder just how far-reaching Dominic's influence might be. For a split-second she wondered if Jason might know about Summer's connection to Dominic. If he did, maybe that was part of the reason he was intent on arresting Dominic. However, if Dominic was arrested, what would stop him from revealing the truth about Summer?
When Suzie started the car an image flashed in her mind. The crushed glasses in the sandy dirt beside the wreckage of the car. Suzie's heart pounded harder. Had Dominic been at the accident? She had to get to the bottom of all of this, before it cost Daria her life.
Suzie drove straight to the Garber police station. When it came to Summer, she wasn't going to risk anything. Whether or not she was involved in some kind of cover up, Summer was a friend of Jason's, and she needed to make sure that she was safe. When she arrived at the police station, Jason was just stepping outside. He paused on the sidewalk and watched as she parked her car. Suzie walked up to him, and noticed that his expression was less welcoming than usual. She could tell that he was still upset with her. She pushed those thoughts out of her mind.