by Aimée Thurlo
“I’d have to check to be absolutely certain, but I think you’re right,” Jake said. “According to this, he was paying it off, but, admittedly, at a very slow rate.”
“Look at this one,” she said, handing him another card. “It appears Iris borrowed money, too. That’s quite a bit for a housekeeper to have to pay back. And it looks like she’s only made a few payments in the past ten months.”
“My uncle also borrowed a bundle of cash, but according to this he hasn’t even made one payment in the six months since the loan.”
“Do you think this was what Thomas was really after?” Annie asked.
“He was probably hoping we’d never find any record of the loan, but my gut feeling is that he told us the truth when he said that the diary is his greatest concern. On the other hand, the person who broke in may have been searching for this. That would explain why he took my father’s business ledgers.”
“That person could have been Thomas, at least the first time,” she said. “He would have known we were at the funeral, and could have estimated how long the rituals would take. But there’s something else to consider. It’s quite possible that this is the evidence your father was talking about. Maybe Thomas or someone else listed here killed your father.”
“These are no-interest loans,” he reminded her. “There also doesn’t seem to be any payment schedule included. Why would they kill him over this?”
“People sometimes grow to resent the person who tries to help them.” She gestured to the phone. “I think you should call Captain Mora and tell him what we’ve found.”
“Yes, you’re right, but I hope this doesn’t create problems for Martin. After everything he’s done for this family, he doesn’t deserve it. If Mora thinks this loan gives Martin a motive for murder, he might question him again.”
“It can’t be helped. This is evidence that has to be turned over.”
Jake dialed the tribal police then, after a brief conversation, placed the phone back down on the floor.
“That was quick,” she said.
“Mora’s away on personal business until later tonight. He’ll call me when he returns to the pueblo.” Jake stared at the Rolodex file, lost in thought. “I’m going to pay Uncle Thomas a visit right now. He has more explaining to do.”
Annie looked at Jake, concerned. He meant to get the truth, and his concentration was so total, it gave him an air of danger.
“I’m going with you,” she said. “The situation between you two could get out of control easily. Circumstances must have forced him to borrow money from Paul, and that was undoubtedly very hard on him. But, now, to have to explain this to you...” She shook her head. “You need information, not a confrontation. If I’m there, I can help keep things on the right track.”
Jake considered it. He didn’t want to leave her at the house alone. Though Annie would never admit it to him freely, the baby was taking a toll on her energy. The closer she got to term, the more vulnerable she became. All in all, he’d rather have her with him.
“Okay, we’ll go together,” he said.
Jake picked up the Rolodex cards that pertained to Thomas, then walked out to the truck with Annie. He couldn’t help but notice that her steps these days were slower as she struggled against the added weight of the growing baby. Yet, she was at her radiant best She’d never looked more beautiful to him than she did now.
“Once word gets out that we know about these loans—and it will after we approach Thomas—the killer is bound to get nervous and that’ll make him even more dangerous,” she said, interrupting his thoughts.
“I know, but we’re out of options. We have to draw him out.”
“I want this whole thing finished and my baby safe, but we’ll have to watch each other’s backs carefully now,” she said softly.
“Count on it.” From now on, he’d be right beside her every step of the way—whether she wanted him there or not.
Chapter Eighteen
As they rode in silence, Jake felt the warmth of her body wrap itself around him. It felt so right to have Annie beside him. Her strength and loyalty drew him to her gently, yet relentlessly. He wanted her, but in a way that went beyond the physical. He wanted to be the man she turned to when she was troubled, the man she chose to have beside her when she needed comfort. He wanted her to share the magic—that special feeling that told him without a doubt that they were meant to be.
He disciplined his thoughts. Right now she needed his protection, and that would take focus.
As they pulled up in front of a small stucco-and-frame house, Thomas came out from a side gate and walked over to meet them. “What brings you two over here? Have you found the diary?”
“Not the diary, no,” Jake said. “But we did find something else.”
“The evidence your father mentioned?”
Jake told him what they’d learned. “I’d like an explanation. It seems to me that my father would have been the last person around you would have turned to for a loan. And even after he helped you, it’s obvious you continued to hate him. Why?”
Thomas hesitated before answering. “That money wasn’t a loan. It was a payoff so I would stop pressuring him for Saya’s diary. Though he couldn’t prove it, he knew that I’d broken into his house a few times, searching for it. I think he was afraid that I wouldn’t stop until I found it. He offered to pay me to back off. As he put it, it would be worth it to him if he didn’t have to see me anywhere near his property or have me asking for the diary again.”
“So you took the money,” Jake observed coldly.
Thomas shrugged. “I knew Paul had more money than he deserved, and I needed the cash. But I kept my side of the bargain. I stopped breaking in, and quit asking for the diary. It wasn’t getting me anywhere, anyway.”
“Tell me who else was interested in the diary,” Jake pressed, trying to narrow down the identity of the blackmailer.
“What makes you think that someone else was interested in it, or even knew it existed?”
“You’re not known for discretion. I figured somewhere along the line you told someone else.”
“Yeah, okay, maybe I did, but I never heard of anyone else wanting it.”
“You mentioned to me before that you and my mother kept in contact. Did you know she had a private bank account?” Jake asked, watching his expression carefully.
Thomas raised his eyebrows, surprised by the question. At last, he nodded. “How did you find out? That was supposed to be a secret. Saya continued selling her sketches, though she did quit doing her oil paintings, and squirreled all the money away in a special account. She figured that if Paul ever pushed her too far, she’d have enough set aside to leave him. But I knew that was just talk. Saya would never have left your father. Love makes some people stupid.”
“And my father never knew about the account?”
“Paul was never any good as a bookkeeper, according to Saya, so she got away with it. The account, eventually, grew into a modest sum. After she died, Paul’s lawyer settled all of Saya’s affairs and since she didn’t leave a will, everything went to Paul. I found out later that nobody had bothered to check for bank accounts in her name, but I never said anything. To be honest, I wasn’t in the mood to tell Paul, and I figured it could just keep collecting interest until you or Nick could claim it.”
“Who else knew about the account, as far as you know?” Jake asked.
Thomas considered it carefully. “I’d bet Virgil Lowman did. But he never would have told your father.”
“I thought Virgil and Dad got along.”
“Virgil’s a good businessman and he’s always known his bank needed Paul Black Raven’s money. But he was loyal to Saya. He would have continued to keep her secret even after her death.”
“What happened to the money in that account, do you know?” Jake pressed.
“No, but I will tell you that one of the reasons I wanted Saya’s diary was because I was hoping that she’d listed the account nu
mber in there. I figured that, with a bit of luck and some creative thinking, I could come up with a way to get some of that money.”
“There’s no legal way—” Jake stopped, seeing Thomas’s grin.
“Your father didn’t deserve that money,” Thomas continued. “And you and Nick had been gone for years. Yet there I was and there it was—and I certainly could have used the cash.” He waved to the small house behind him. “This isn’t exactly the Black Raven Ranch.”
“Taking the money—had you managed it—could have cost you a jail sentence,” Jake said, distaste evident in his tone.
“Only if I got caught. And, who knows, with the right connections I may have gotten the charges dropped.”
“How well do you know Virgil?” Annie asked.
Thomas shrugged. “He wouldn’t have helped me get the money, if that’s what you’re really asking. I’m not Virgil’s friend. I don’t know anyone who is, though plenty of people suck up to him because he has power. The only time I ever see Virgil outside the bank is if I run in to him at the Silver Slipper Casino.”
“Are you and Virgil regulars there?” Annie smiled. “It’s got to be an exciting place with all the high-stake games and chances to win big.” Keeping her tone enthusiastic and nonconfrontational worked. Thomas seemed to relax and he answered her question without anger.
“I play the slot machines only,” he said. “I don’t have the money to gamble at roulette or the card tables. Virgil, on the other hand, has lost a bundle at blackjack, from what I hear.”
Jake met his uncle’s gaze. “Let me give you fair warning, Uncle. You’re family, but if I ever catch you breaking in, or doing anything illegal that jeopardizes anyone at the Black Raven Ranch, there’ll be hell to pay. Clear?”
Thomas gave him a cold, mirthless smile. “I always said that you had a lot in common with your father. Neither you nor your brother know or care about family.”
“Apparently, Uncle, neither do you.”
“For the record, I never harmed a hair on your father’s head. And I had nothing to do with your poisoning, though you certainly gave me reason that night.”
“That depends on your point of view. As I remember it, you threw the first punch.”
Thomas didn’t reply. “Just to show you that I’m not your enemy, I’ll tell you something else that may help you. But you’ll have to take my word for it, because I have no proof.” He smiled, his eyes never wavering from Jake’s. “Shortly after our disagreement that night at the ranch, a person called me and offered a thousand bucks to break in and steal all the business ledgers and stocks or bonds I could find in the house.”
“Who called—and did you take the job?” Jake asked.
“I don’t know who it was. His voice was disguised, and there was some really loud background noise, like an arcade or maybe a video game.” He smiled. “Now about the other part of your question—I’m not sure I should tell you if I took the job or not. Your ‘fair warning’ speech was very specific.”
“We’ll consider this conversation part of a temporary amnesty,” Jake snapped.
“I’ll trust your word,” Thomas said, obviously enjoying putting Jake in an awkward position. “I was the one who broke into your house the day of the funeral. It wasn’t for the money—that was just a bonus. I’d intended to break in all along. I wanted the diary and any record of the money Paul paid me—if such a record existed.”
“Didn’t you meet the person who hired you when it was time to deliver my father’s papers?”
Thomas shook his head. “I was told to put everything in a storage locker at the bus station in Santa Fe. The key was taped where I could find it, and the money was waiting for me inside the locker. But, just so you know, I had nothing to do with the fires at the ranch.” Thomas opened the door to his home. “I still have some of the things I took from your house, like a pen-and-ink sketch Saya made of both you boys. Paul had hidden it in the special place in his bedroom.”
“How did you know the crevice was there?” Jake asked.
“I’d seen Saya use it many years ago. In fact, I’d looked for the diary there a long time ago, but struck out. The sketch was there, and I didn’t think of taking it at the time but, later, I decided that I wanted it because I knew the sketch had been special to her.
“I also took some pottery. Neither of those were part of what I was hired to take. You can have them back if you want.”
Jake said nothing for a moment, then shook his head. “Keep them for now, though I may someday want the sketch back.”
“I’ll remember that. I only took it because I don’t have any by Saya and it meant something to me. But the pottery was something else. I stole that because I wanted to confuse the tribal police by making it look like a burglary. I should have taken the guns in your hall cabinet. It would have been more convincing, but I don’t like guns.” When Jake refused his invitation to go inside, Thomas added, “If you’re sure you don’t want the pottery back, I’ll keep the pieces. They add a nice touch to my house.”
Disgusted with everything he’d learned, Jake turned and led Annie back to the car. “I can’t look at him any more without wanting to take a swing at him.”
“I can understand why,” she conceded. “But he did tell us a great deal.”
“If Thomas was telling the truth, I wonder why Lowman hasn’t gotten back to me with information about my mother’s account. He’s had enough time,” he said as they got under way.
“It’s possible that the account remained inactive for so long it got placed in some old computer file and now they can’t find it.”
“I’m going to call and demand an answer.”
“Sounds like a good idea. Well, at least we know one thing for sure. Thomas doesn’t have the diary, so he can’t be the blackmailer. Or the killer,” she added.
“If you can trust a single word he says.”
“We have a curious situation here. Thomas says that the money he received from Paul was an unsolicited payoff. But I find it hard to believe that Paul would do that. I think what really happened was that Paul assumed Thomas had found the diary and was going to blackmail him. Having Thomas in possession of the diary must have really worried Paul, because Thomas could have easily given you or your brother a copy. So as soon as Paul saw the diary was missing, he sent Thomas the money before it was demanded, to let him know that he was willing to pay for his silence.”
“That sounds like my dad. Even if the odds were stacked against him, he would have done his best to maintain control over the situation. Giving the money to the blackmailer before being asked made my dad look like a benefactor, not a victim. He was undermining his enemy in the only way he could. But if we’re right, Dad guessed wrong. Thomas wasn’t the blackmailer.”
Jake lapsed into a thoughtful silence, then continued. “My father was wrong about many things. The more I find out about how things were between him and Mom, the more I wonder why Mom stayed.”
“Your parents had a rough time of it. But no matter how bad things got, they had you and Nick. Believe me when I tell you a child can give a woman the courage to face almost anything. She loved her husband and he was the father of her sons. She stayed willingly, not only for herself, but for you and your brother. In her eyes, no one could have replaced your father.”
“What about you?” he asked, his voice quiet. “Your love for your husband was real and it resulted in the baby you’re carrying. Could you ever accept another father for your child?”
He heard her breath catch in her throat. She hadn’t expected the question, but her answer would mean the world to him.
“It’s not the same thing,” she said slowly. “My child’s father died. Someday, I hope my baby will have another father. Fatherhood, to me, is not just something that happens at the time of conception. It’s a matter of love and commitment.”
As he looked at her he felt a powerful tug on his senses. He wanted Annie and the baby to be a part of his life forever. Three hea
rts—bound by love. Nothing else the world offered could compare to that. Yet by placing what he wanted ahead of her needs, he’d be proving that he was a lot like his father, as some had suggested. The last thing he wanted was to make a shambles out of their relationship and have the past replay itself. His mother and father had found only sorrow through their love. He never wanted that to be a part of what he had to offer Annie.
They returned to his home and, as they walked toward the living room, he paced his steps to match hers.
“We’ve made a lot of progress toward finding my father’s killer in the last few hours,” he said, “but there are still a lot of things that just don’t add up.”
“Based on what Thomas was hired to steal—business ledgers and stocks and bonds—I really think we should concentrate on Virgil Lowman as a suspect. He was Saya’s friend, and from what we’ve seen, had feelings for your mother. If she confided in him, he might have known exactly where to find the diary. Blackmailing your father, a man he probably saw as his rival, makes sense if you look at it from the standpoint of revenge.”
“But if he knew where it was all this time, why would he wait until just a few months ago to steal it?”
“Maybe he didn’t steal it. He could have had it all along. Your father knew about the diary, but we have no clear proof he ever had it.”
“Then why would Lowman wait until recently to blackmail Dad?”
“It could have something to do with his gambling. If he’s been losing heavily lately, he may be in financial trouble.” She paused, then added, “Remember the call Thomas said he received from the man who hired him? Thomas mentioned there was a lot of background noise. It could have been slot machines at the casino. Over the phone, they might have sounded like arcade games.”
“And you’re thinking Dad had evidence that proved Virgil was blackmailing him?”
“It’s all conjecture, but it fits.”
Jake’s reply was cut off when the phone rang. “Virgil, it’s good to hear from you,” he said, identifying the caller for Annie’s benefit.