“Club.”
“Club it is. I’ll get us a picnic table.”
“Okay.” Her tone had softened even more.
When Kendra ended the call, she stared down at the phone as she basked in delight. Could it be she’d finally have a relationship with her niece? Family.
She had to be careful. Raelyn was in such a fragile state. She didn’t like speculating whether her mother hadn’t actually killed herself. Kendra reminded her of her mother too much and that also caused her pain.
“You all right?”
She looked up at Roman. She’d almost forgotten he was there. His glowing eyes revealed a glimpse of concern. This man didn’t show his emotions much. His doomsday mentality probably dulled his senses to them.
“Fine. Raelyn is going to meet us. Me. I didn’t tell her you’d be there.”
“I’m no good at picnics.”
“All you have to do is eat outside. You’ll live. What were you saying before she called? What about the coroner’s report stood out?”
“The time of death. Her husband said he found her at eleven in the morning when he woke up. She died almost twenty-four hours before that.”
“What struck you about that?”
“Why didn’t her husband notice her the night before?”
“He had been drinking. He told paramedics and police he slept late because he’d been drinking the night before.”
“Right, but he didn’t notice her missing when he got home?”
Kendra believed he had been drinking. “He’s a suspect for sure, but the timing seems reasonable to me. Besides, I thought the coroner’s report convinced you she wasn’t murdered.”
“It did, but there might be something significant about the time of death.” He opened the car door for her.
Kendra stepped into the open doorway and faced Roman. “You just said her time of death was almost twenty-four hours before she was found.”
“Exactly.”
“Are you saying she may not have been killed in her house?”
“If she was murdered, whoever killed her had to have made it look like suicide. It’s a long shot, but possible.”
He thought it was a long shot because of how good the killer would have had to be in setting up the crime scene.
“The killer might have gotten lucky.” She sat in the car, excited with this new twist in the investigation. The amount of time that had passed before Kaelyn’s body was discovered gave the killer lots of opportunity.
Roman leaned down to bring his head level with hers. “There’s one other thing. I didn’t find anything in the police report about trace evidence.”
None was collected. Her clothes would have been destroyed, so all she and Roman had now were photographs and descriptions of the scene. He still had doubts, and even Kendra agreed the evidence they had pointed to suicide. But she remembered how Kaelyn sounded just before her death—too happy to have taken her own life.
“I think you’re onto something with the time of death.”
“We’re definitely going to look into it.”
She met his eyes and saw the determined detective who’d solved many cases and loved doing it. She wondered if he was even aware of how much.
When she began to feel that gaze, simmering in her heart, she turned her head.
* * *
Kendra had a charming table ready by the time Roman spotted her niece stepping out of a ten-year-old Ford Escort. He could see and sense Kendra’s nervousness. She’d tapped into her artistic reservoir to create a table worthy of a home and patio decor magazine. The day was sunny with a few puffy white clouds, barely a breath of a breeze and on the warm side in the mideighties.
Raelyn’s companion was a young man, close in age to her. Roman could see her long red hair from here, and also her goth style of dress. A red-and-black lace skirt swayed as she walked in black ankle boots. Her off-the-shoulder black top exposed a trim belly. Instead of a tattoo, she wore black wristbands. Her friend looked the same, with spiky black hair and piercings on his ear, lip and eyebrow. He wore a short-sleeved black T-shirt with black jeans, shoes and a black silver-studded belt. As they came closer, he saw Raelyn had yet to mark her body with the art that covered her friend’s right arm. Roman’s first impression was that both suffered from some kind of identity crisis.
“Has she always dressed like that?” he asked.
“No.” Kendra sounded disappointed. “Kaelyn sent me a lot of pictures. One more reason why she never would have killed herself. She loved her daughter way too much to do that to her.”
Roman refrained from commenting and continued to watch the approaching young couple. Rebellion radiated from the young man, and not the usual kind. This one seemed rougher than the average kid trying to find his or her way early in adulthood. That Raelyn had chosen this kind of person as her boyfriend revealed her insecurities and the lasting effect of losing her mother.
Raelyn wore sunglasses but he’d seen a picture of her green eyes. Her steps slowed and her mouth stayed in a flat line. She must be nervous, as well.
Kendra stepped forward with open arms, going to Raelyn and hugging her briefly. “Thanks for coming.”
“This is Adam.”
“Hello, Adam.” Kendra turned to indicate Roman. “This is the private investigator I hired. I thought he could answer any questions you might have.” She led the two closer.
Raelyn took in the blue-and-white checkered runner on the wood picnic table with napkins and silverware beside lighter blue–rimmed paper plates. Three small clay pots filled with dark pink wildflowers were set along the table, mixed with sealable glass jars filled with layered multicolored pebbles—reddish sand on the bottom, lighter earth tones in the middle and light blue on top. Kendra had told him she’d spent the morning putting it all together at her shop.
“Roman Cooper.” He stuck out his hand to Adam.
The young man took it for an awkward, weak-gripped shake.
Raelyn eyed him warily.
“Your aunt brought me here to look into your mother’s death because she doesn’t think your mom killed herself.”
“She told me.” Raelyn didn’t look happy about that.
“I don’t have any evidence to refute the suicide, but there are elements about this case that are suspicious.”
“Do you think my dad might have killed her?”
“He’s someone I’m looking at, but your mother was also seeing two other men.”
“I didn’t know about Jasper until after she died. She went out when my dad wasn’t home. He went to the bar a lot after work so it was easy for her to get away with it. My dad wasn’t exactly a bright ray of sunshine. He was a hotheaded jerk.”
“What about here in Chesterville?” Roman asked.
“I was with her whenever she came. She went out while she was here, too. I didn’t know with whom. I would spend time with Grandmother during those times and I’d spend time with Mom during the day. We usually came here on weekends and my school breaks.”
Seeing her face soften with memory, Roman didn’t ask her any more questions. He just said, “If your mother was murdered, I’ll find her killer.”
Raelyn’s mouth turned up just a fraction. She still seemed hesitant but more open to the prospect of moving forward.
“I can keep you updated on the progress we make if you want,” Kendra said.
“Okay.” Raelyn nodded a couple of times, more hesitancy coming out.
“Great.” Kendra put her arm around her and steered her to the picnic table. “How about you tell me how you’re doing?”
Adam followed but didn’t take a seat. Roman stood beside him.
“Are you working?” Kendra asked Raelyn as the two sat.
“I got a job at a gas station.”
“You graduated college with a degree in ps
ychology, right?”
“Yeah.”
Adam went to the cooler and lifted the lid, searching for something he must not have found inside. He closed the lid with a thunk.
“What do you plan to do?”
Left unspoken was the suggestion that Raelyn surely couldn’t be planning to work at a gas station the rest of her life.
The girl shrugged.
“You can work at my shop if you like.”
Raelyn’s head straightened as though the suggestion had perked her up. “Doing what?”
“Anything. You can work the cash register or I can teach you how to make floral arrangements. I can teach you the business if you’re more like your mother than me.” Kendra smiled.
“What do you mean?”
“Your mother had the sharper mind. I was always more artistic.”
Roman debated whether Kendra’s mind was any less sharp. It took a lot to start your own company and make it successful.
“Do you want me to go grab some beers?” Adam asked as he stood beside Roman.
“No. I don’t want any beer.” It was the middle of the day. Did the kid have a drinking problem? Roman wouldn’t doubt it and hoped Kendra’s influence would alter her niece’s current path.
Adam stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked around the park as though self-conscious and trying to cover that up.
“I’m gonna go smoke,” the young man said. “Wanna join me?”
Roman dismissed all the sarcastic responses that came to mind and said as neutrally as he could, “No, thanks.”
He watched Adam walk away, thinking Kendra would make quick work of removing the kid from Raelyn’s life. Not that Roman didn’t wish the boy well. He hoped he overcame his insecurities; he just didn’t want Kendra to have to watch her niece involved in that painful growth. She had her own pain to grow out of, much different—Roman was sure—from whatever had caused Adam’s crisis.
“Who was my mom seeing when she came here?” Roman heard Raelyn ask Kendra.
Roman sat across from them as Kendra answered.
“His name is Glenn Franklin. She called him Bear when I talked to her. She kept him secret because he was married, but I know she had strong feelings for him. He’s the city prosecutor’s son.”
Raelyn seemed to take that in for a while before asking, “Did she love him?”
“I think so.” Kendra’s tone was gentle. She was being careful not to upset Raelyn.
“Why did she marry my dad?”
“I’m glad she did, or you wouldn’t have been born.” Kendra bumped her shoulder against Raelyn’s playfully. The young woman smiled a tiny bit.
“I think your mom loved him when they first met,” Kendra went on. “In the first few years, she was probably happy and the abuse didn’t get bad until later.”
“Because he beat her.” Raelyn’s tone decisively changed, deeper and full of anger and resentment.
“Yes, unfortunately.”
“Why didn’t she take me away from him?” Raelyn asked. “She could have at least tried.”
“He probably threatened her,” Roman interjected. When Raelyn looked at him, he went on. “I’ve investigated murder cases involving women who didn’t leave because their husband threatened to kill them if they did. You mother was in a damned if she did, damned if she didn’t situation. If she left, her husband would try to kill her. If she stayed, her husband would eventually kill her anyway. She never stopped trying. She just had to wait for the right time.”
“She could have gone to the cops.”
“Without proof they can’t do anything,” Roman said. This was what she needed to hear from someone who knew the law. “Even if he was arrested, he’d be released on bond in most cases. What would she have done then?”
Kendra put her hand over Raelyn’s on the table. “I know your mother was making plans to leave your dad. She asked someone to help her, someone Roman works with.”
“But he said no, right?”
“He was going to help her. And she would have taken you and come to live with me.”
“Why didn’t she as soon as you started talking? Why did she wait?”
“I don’t know, Raelyn. She must have been afraid.”
“She was a coward! She killed herself!”
“She didn’t kill herself,” Kendra asserted.
Roman disagreed with telling Raelyn that. They didn’t know for sure one way or another.
“She might as well have.” Raelyn lifted tormented eyes to her aunt. “She left me with that monster! I hate him! I hate him so much!”
The girl felt abandoned. Who wouldn’t? Losing your mother at a young age would be hard on anyone.
“Did your dad hurt you?” Kendra asked.
“He yelled a lot. Broke things. Put holes in the walls. He hit me sometimes. He hit my mother a lot more. For a long time, I didn’t blame her for leaving, for taking the coward’s way out.”
“But then you did blame her?” Kendra asked.
Raelyn didn’t respond right away, seeming to consider if she’d call how she felt blame. “I got really mad at her. I mean...what was she thinking? How could she kill herself and leave me behind? What did she think my life was going to be without her?” Raelyn’s voice rose as she talked.
Roman could hear all the pent-up anger coming to the surface. He doubted she’d spoken like this before. Had she told anyone how she felt about her mom dying? Maybe not that she was angry, but what about the loss she’d suffered? Roman didn’t think she had anyone. He glanced over at the young man smoking his cigarette. He wasn’t in any hurry to get back to their picnic. Not much of a social type.
“What if she didn’t kill herself? How will you feel then?” Kendra had asked Raelyn as Roman observed Adam.
“I’ll want to butcher whoever killed her.” Raelyn glanced over at Adam. “My life would be so different now if Mom would have taken us away from my dad. I used to dream about living without him, how peaceful life would be with just me and Mom.”
Kendra gave her hand a squeeze. “I wish she could have.”
Raelyn turned her head to look at Kendra. “I also used to dream about killing him. One night when he was in one of his rages, I took a knife from the kitchen and went to my room. I waited for him to pass out drunk, and then went to his room. I stood over him on the bed, watching him snore. He stunk like booze and gingivitis. I remember thinking, Should I slit his throat or drive this knife straight into his chest? The indecision stopped me from doing anything.”
“Raelyn,” Kendra breathed. “I’m so glad you decided not to do it.”
“I was worried about myself the next day. I hated my dad so much for making my mother kill herself and for being such an ass, but killing him would hurt me even more. I’d be the one who went to prison, not him. He’s the one who deserves to rot in jail, not me.”
“Yes, he does. Any man who causes violence in the home is the one who deserves consequences. It doesn’t matter if all they do is throw and break things and be verbally abusive. It’s wrong whether they physically hurt you or not.”
Raelyn nodded and looked out at the park. “I promised myself that as soon as I graduated from high school, I’d leave home and go to college. I’d never have to see him again as long as I live.” She smiled somberly. “I haven’t. He tried calling a few times and I changed my number. I never told him where I was living or that I moved to Chesterville. He left me voice messages. Some of them were angry, yelling and calling me names. Others were pleading to call or come see him. He’d say he missed us, me and Mom, but I bet the only thing he missed was having someone to punch and control.”
“He’s a small man, and I don’t mean physically. He’s weak-minded and allows his ego to control his thoughts and beliefs. He’s not in touch with his spiritual side and isn’t smart enough to realize he has
a problem.”
Raelyn nodded again, turning back to her. “When he wasn’t drinking he was actually normal. But I never trusted him enough to let my guard down. I knew in a matter of hours, he’d be drunk again and flying into a stupid rage.”
Kendra patted Raelyn’s hand and slid hers away to rest on the table. “Well, you don’t ever have to see him. He doesn’t exist anymore.”
Raelyn turned toward the park once again. “I wish my mom was still alive.”
“I do, too. So much.”
Raelyn sighed in her silent thoughts. Roman watched as Kendra observed her and he felt she also wished she could take her niece’s pain away.
Moving her gaze to where Adam took his time smoking, Raelyn seemed to come out of her journey back in time.
“Where did you meet him?” Kendra asked.
“A bar.” Raelyn looked away from Adam and Roman heard boredom in her voice.
“Must have been some bar. What’s he like?”
Raelyn shrugged. “His dad was a piece of crap like mine. We relate, you know?”
“Maybe. I would think you’d be happier with someone who doesn’t remind you of your dad at his worst.”
“What, like...I should go for some nerd who’d never understand me?”
Roman saw Adam toss his cigarette butt to the ground and head toward them.
“I wouldn’t go for any labels. I’d go for someone who is making something of their life and is healthy and makes you feel good all the time.”
“Adam makes me feel good. He brings me flowers when he can afford it. We go out. We hang.” She spotted Adam, as well, and watched him walk closer.
“What do you talk about?”
Raelyn shrugged again. “Stuff.”
“Your crappy dads...bar nights? Don’t you think you deserve more?”
“Why are you ragging on me about Adam?”
“I’m not ragging. I just don’t want you to end up with someone your abusive father influenced you into gravitating to. What does Raelyn want? What does Raelyn like in a man? Do you know?”
Hometown Detective (Cold Case Detectives Book 6) Page 6