“Okay, I’ll give you that one,” he conceded. “Moving right along, what was your take on Ryland Webb this morning? Think he believes there’s more to his daughter’s death than pills and booze and wants to cover it up?”
She hesitated. “He certainly doesn’t want an investigation, does he?”
“You may not like his reasons, but he does have a few.”
“I know.” She folded her arms. “I told you, he’s an ambitious man, completely focused on his career. He didn’t have any time for Pamela seventeen years ago, and he sure doesn’t want to waste much time on her now.”
“Listen to me, Irene Stenson. If you’re thinking of going up against Ryland Webb, you’d better be real sure you’ve got a big club. Webb is a powerful man.”
“Don’t you think I know that?”
Luke drove in silence for a while.
“Sam McPherson knew Pamela fairly well, I take it?”
The question caught her by surprise. “They were friends in the old days. I don’t know what their relationship has been like these past seventeen years, though.”
“Ever have the feeling that he was romantically fixated on her?”
She pondered that for a few seconds. “I certainly never took it that way, and I’m pretty sure Pamela didn’t either. Sam was several years older, of course. She was only sixteen. Sam was in his early twenties at the time.”
“That’s not a big age gap.”
“It would have seemed like it in high school.” She drummed her fingers on the seat. “But looking back, I think it was the way she treated him that made me assume that there was no romantic link between them.”
“How did she treat him?”
“Like a friend, not another potential conquest.”
He raised his brows. “Pamela had conquests in those days?”
“Pamela always thought in terms of conquests.” She smiled wryly. “What’s more, there was never a shortage of males offering themselves up to be conquered. She was beautiful and she had a talent for flirting. Guys fell like flies. But it wasn’t just her looks and sex appeal that made her popular.”
“She was a Webb.”
“You heard Maxine this morning—the family is local royalty.”
“Maybe Sam McPherson wanted to be one of her conquests but she ignored him,” Luke suggested. “Maybe he developed an unhealthy obsession with her. One of those ‘if I can’t have her, no one’s going to have her’ situations.”
She shivered a little. “If that was the case, why wait this long to kill her?”
“How the hell should I know? This is your project, not mine. I’m just trying to show you that if you’re going to make up a list of potential killers, it could end up being a very long one.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” she said quietly.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Everyone seems to think that Pamela summoned me to Dunsley to say good-bye. But there’s no reason to think that in the midst of a severe clinical depression she would have even remembered a girl she only knew well for one summer back in high school. I think she sent me that e-mail because she wanted to tell me something important about the past.”
“About the deaths of your parents.”
“Yes.”
“All right, let’s take this logically.”
She almost smiled at that. “Translated, that means you’re going to try to argue me out of my conclusion.”
“Sure. But that’s because your conclusion is based on a shaky foundation. What would Pamela know about what happened to your parents? And if she did know something, why would she wait seventeen years to tell you?”
“I don’t know the answers to those questions, but I can tell you one thing. Pamela Webb was the last person I saw that night before I…found Mom and Dad.”
He glanced at her. “The last person?”
“She called me up that afternoon and asked me if I wanted to hang out at her house for a while, get dinner at the café and then go to the movies. Mom said it was okay, provided I made my usual promise.”
“What was that?”
“The deal I had with my folks that summer was that if Pamela drank or did drugs while I was with her, I had to leave immediately and come straight home.”
“But your parents didn’t refuse to let you spend time with her as long as you followed the rules.”
“I think Mom felt sorry for Pamela because Ryland ignored her so much. For his part, Dad trusted me to call him to come get me if Pamela started drinking or doing drugs. But she never did either when I was with her.”
“Never?”
She shook her head. “Not once. For whatever reason, she really wanted me for a friend. She understood that I would never be allowed to spend time with her again if anything illegal went on. Dad was the chief of police, after all.”
“Go on.”
“We had dinner at the Ventana View Café and then we went to the movies. Afterward we got into her car. She was supposed to drive me straight back to my house. Dad had another rule, you see. I wasn’t allowed to go beyond the town limits with Pamela because she was a new driver who hadn’t had a lot of experience behind the wheel. But instead of taking me home, she suddenly turned onto Lakefront Road and headed toward Kirbyville.”
“What did you do?”
“At first I thought she was just teasing me. She knew Dad would never let me go anywhere with her again if I violated the rule. When I realized she was serious, I pleaded with her to turn around, but she just laughed and kept driving. I got mad and threatened to jump out of the car. She drove faster. Then I got scared.”
“Think she did some drugs without you knowing?”
“I accused her of that. But she said she hadn’t used anything. She was driving too fast for me to bail out of the car, so I did the only thing I could do; I tightened my seat belt and prayed that she would tire of the game and turn around.”
“Is that what happened?”
“No. When we reached Kirbyville she had to slow down. I told her that I was going to get out and call my folks to come get me. But she started to cry and then she apologized and told me that she would take me home. I was furious because she had ruined everything. By the time we got back to Dunsley we weren’t even speaking to each other. She knew as well as I did that I would never be able to spend time with her again.”
“Because you were going to tell your folks what had happened and they would ground you?”
She smiled sadly. “There was no point trying to lie to either of my parents. Pamela knew that as well as I did. In any event, she took me home and dropped me off in the front yard without saying another word. She left before I even got my key out of my pocket. I never saw her again.”
She stopped talking because she had gone very cold, the way she always did when she talked about that night. If she kept going she would start to shake.
Luke turned onto the road that led to the lodge.
“No offense,” he said after a while, “but it just doesn’t seem likely that Pamela would have waited this long to contact you if she knew something important about what happened that evening.”
“Maybe she only recently learned some details or some facts that she hadn’t known before.”
“You’re reaching here, admit it.” He broke off, jaw hardening. “What the hell?”
She realized that he was looking at a car parked in front of the lobby. A good-looking man in his early twenties leaned casually against one of the stone pillars of the entranceway.
“You’ve really got a problem with paying customers, don’t you?” she said.
“He isn’t a paying customer.” Luke brought the SUV to a halt beside the other car and shut down the engine. “His name is Jason Danner. He’s my youngest brother.”
For some reason it came as unexpected news to learn that Luke had a family. Why had she assumed otherwise? Of course he had relatives, she thought. Most people had lots of them. She was the exception to the rule, be
cause after her great-aunt died a few years ago she had no one left. But that was no reason to assume that everyone else she met was in the same situation.
Still, there was something about Luke that had made her think he was also alone, a sense of distance, perhaps, as if he, too, looked out at the world from another dimension, just as she had learned to do.
She examined Jason through the SUV window, aware of an inexplicable sense of curiosity. There certainly wasn’t a great deal of family resemblance, she thought. The two men were very different physically. Jason was not only younger, he was taller and, a picky purist might say, better looking. Not sexier, though, Irene thought, just handsomer. Big difference.
It occurred to her that, given the obvious age difference between the two and the fact that Luke had said he’d lost his mother when he was six, Jason had to be the offspring of a second marriage. He and Luke were half brothers.
Luke was already out of the SUV. There was a forbidding cast to his face. He was not particularly pleased to see his brother.
“What are you doing here, Jase?” he asked. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
Jason spread his hands. “Take it easy, Big Brother. Just thought I’d come see how you’re doing in the motel business.”
He was smiling but it did little to diminish the tension in the air between the two men.
Luke opened Irene’s door. “Jason, meet Irene Stenson. She’s a guest here at the lodge.”
“Hello, Jason.” She smiled and got down from the high seat.
Jason nodded, interest flickering in his gaze as he gave her a swift head-to-toe once-over. “Pleased to meet you, Miss Stenson.”
The look he was giving her wasn’t personal, she thought, more a combination of curiosity and assessment. He was wondering what her relationship was to Luke.
“It’s complicated,” she said dryly.
Jason blinked, startled. Then he grinned. “It usually is when it involves Luke.”
“What are you two talking about?” Luke growled.
“Nothing important,” Irene said quickly. “Well, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll leave you two to discuss whatever it is you have to discuss.”
She gave both men a bright little smile and walked away along the path.
Whatever was going on here, it didn’t involve her. It was a family matter.
Eight
Jason lowered himself into one of the porch chairs and drank some of the coffee that Luke had just poured for him. He grimaced.
“You know,” he said, “if you invested in one of those high-tech Italian espresso machines you might be able to manufacture coffee that was actually drinkable.”
Luke sat down and stacked his heels on the railing. “I don’t drink coffee for the taste. I drink it because it’s hot and because it helps me to focus.”
“Mind if I ask what you’re focusing on at the moment?”
Luke looked toward Cabin Number Five. “Irene Stenson.”
“Thought so. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I get the feeling that she’s not one of your average guests.”
“You could say that we sort of bonded last night.”
“Boy, howdy, is that what you call it up here in the mountains?”
“Different kind of bond,” Luke said. “What Irene and I have is the type of connection that you form when you find a dead body together.”
“What?” Jason sputtered on a swallow of coffee.
“Last night Irene went to see an old friend here in Dunsley. Senator Webb’s daughter. Found her dead from a bad mix of booze and pills.”
“Hang on here.” Jason lowered the mug very slowly. “Are you talking about the Senator Ryland Webb who is getting set to make a bid for the White House?”
“Uh-huh.”
“His daughter’s dead? I didn’t hear anything about that on the news.”
“You will soon. I understand it was the lead story in the Glaston Cove Beacon this morning.”
“You know, for some strange reason, I don’t get the Glaston Cove Beacon. As a matter of fact, I’ve never even heard of it.”
“Neither have a lot of other folks. But it got an exclusive because Irene works for that paper. The news about Pamela Webb will probably hit all the major media this afternoon or tomorrow morning.”
Jason frowned uneasily. “Booze and pills?”
“That’s what it looked like.”
“Suicide?”
Luke studied the lake. “Or an accidental overdose. Hard to be sure.”
“Hell of a shock, finding someone like that.”
Luke felt his jaw lock. He knew all too well what Jason was really thinking; what everyone else in the family would think when they found out what had happened. For the past six months they had all been growing increasingly worried about him. This business with Pamela Webb’s death was only going to alarm them all the more.
“It was a lot harder on Irene,” he said quietly. “I never met Pamela Webb while she was alive. But Irene was close friends with her for a time back in high school.”
“And you just happened to be with Irene when she found her old friend?”
“Yes.”
“How did that come about, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“I got curious when I saw her leave the lodge late last night, so I followed her,” Luke said.
“Just like that, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“You do that a lot?” Jason asked cautiously.
“Do what?”
“Follow your guests around town?”
“No. Mostly I try to avoid the guests as much as possible. Most of them are a damned nuisance.”
“But not this one?”
“She’s a nuisance, too.” Luke drank some more coffee. “But she’s different.” Time to switch to another topic. “Why did you come up here today, Jase?”
“I told you, just wanted to see how things are going with you.”
“Try again.”
Jason made an impatient sound and swept out a hand to indicate the cabins and lobby of the Sunrise on the Lake Lodge. “Give me a break. The Old Man is right. You don’t belong here. You’re no more cut out to run a third-rate motel than I am.”
“I’m not cut out to work in the family business, either. Tried that, remember? It didn’t go well.”
“But that was because it got all mixed up with what was happening between you and Katy at the time,” Jason said, very earnest now. “Gordon and the Old Man want you to give it another chance.”
“Don’t think that would be a good idea,” Luke said.
“The Old Man is worried. So is everyone else.”
“I know that. There’s nothing I can do except keep telling you that I’m okay.”
“Mom and the Old Man are convinced that you’re sinking into a clinical depression because of what happened when you and Katy went away together.”
“I’m not depressed.”
“You keep saying that, but no one’s buying it.”
Luke raised his brows. “It’s a philosophical conundrum, isn’t it? How do I prove that I’m okay?”
“You could start by making an appointment with Dr. Van Dyke.”
“Forget it. Dr. Van Dyke is a very nice lady and no doubt an excellent shrink, but I don’t want to talk to her.”
“She’s an old friend of the family, Luke. It was perfectly natural that Mom and Dad would ask her for advice when they started to worry about you. She’s just suggesting that the two of you have a little chat, that’s all.”
“If I ever decide that I need that kind of help, I’ll give her a call.”
Jason settled deeper into his chair. “Told the Old Man this was a waste of time.”
“It was his idea for you to pay me a visit?”
“He thought maybe I could get through to you.”
“Had a feeling that might be it,” Luke said. “Consider the message delivered.”
“You’re coming back for his birthday, aren’t you?”
“I’l
l be there.”
“Good. That’s important.”
“I know,” Luke said.
“Be prepared for a sales pitch on the wonderfulness of rejoining the company, though.”
“Forewarned is forearmed.” Luke started to take another swallow of coffee. The sound of a familiar car engine stopped him. “Damn.” He took his heels off the railing and got to his feet. “Now, where the hell is she going?”
Jason watched him, baffled. “Who?”
“Irene.” Luke crossed the porch and went down the steps.
“Wait up.” Jason launched himself up out of the chair and hurried after Luke. “Where are we going?”
Luke didn’t answer. He rounded the side of the cabin, walked into the middle of the narrow lane and came to a halt directly in front of the yellow compact.
Irene was forced to stop. He went to stand at the window on the driver’s-side door, braced one hand on the low roof and leaned down to look at her.
She lowered the window and looked at him through the shield of her dark glasses.
“Something wrong?” she asked politely.
“Where are you headed?”
She reached up and removed the glasses with a slow, thoughtful air.
“You know, I’ve stayed in a wide variety of lodging establishments in my life, but this is the first time I’ve had to account for my comings and goings to the proprietor.”
“We do things a little differently here at the Sunrise on the Lake Lodge.”
“I’ve noticed.” She tapped the frames of the glasses against the steering wheel. “Would that be the military way, by any chance?”
“That would be the Marine way, Miss Stenson,” Jason offered helpfully. “My brother just got out of the service a few months ago. You’ll have to make allowances. He’s still adjusting to civilian life.”
She nodded once, very crisply, as though the information confirmed some private conclusion she had already reached.
“That explains a lot.” She smiled at Jason and then gave Luke a considering look. “It crossed my mind that I owe you something for the considerable amount of inconvenience I caused you last night and this morning.”
All Night Long Page 7