* * *
The next day, Kendra had to stop by her shop and Roman had to get back to work with Cal. Not that she minded. She needed a break from him. Last night had been all right. It had been so late that she’d focused only on packing a few things. The worst had been having him in her house—alone—and then the drive to the hotel room. She’d gone straight to the bedroom and closed the door. She was so tired she’d fallen asleep almost instantly.
This morning had been awkward. She’d showered, and then let him shower. In the hotel room, both smelling fresh and clean, she’d had this strange feeling of domestication, getting ready for the day together. They’d shared breakfast in the hotel restaurant and she’d discovered he was a healthy eater like her. She’d ordered a grapefruit with a side of cottage cheese, and he’d ordered the same, only he’d added a ham and egg muffin without cheese.
The news had been on and covered a story about a child who’d survived cancer.
“There’s something wrong with a god who allows kids to suffer like that,” she had said.
“Unless there’s a reason for everything,” Roman had answered. “The kid survived and is healthy now.”
She liked his view, which was open and respectful of every kind of religion, including agnostic. She let the rest of their conversation replay in her mind.
“Do you think you will ever want kids?” he had asked next, bringing the awkwardness back. Why did he bring that up again?
“Why do you ask?”
He paid for their breakfast and said, “That news story made me think of it.”
“I suppose so, if it were to happen, I think I’d embrace it. What about you?”
“I think kids are great, but I doubt I’ll ever find a woman to have them with.”
There was his pessimism again. “What are you, a fortune-teller?”
“No. My lifestyle isn’t conducive for having kids. Yours doesn’t seem that way, either.”
He could have a point there. She stood up. “Why are you so negative all the time?” Without waiting for his answer, she turned and headed for the door.
“I’m not negative all the time,” he’d said when they left the restaurant.
Stopping, she faced him, not understanding why he tripped her trigger so much. “Yes you are. You don’t have a single good thing to say about falling in love.”
“I would be happy to fall in love. I just know the odds are not in most people’s favor in finding it.”
“I agree it’s not easy to find, but if you are patient and don’t hook up with the first partner who comes along, then the odds aren’t so dismal. Certainly not as dismal as you see it.”
“You think you’re going to fall in love?” he challenged. “For real?”
She scoffed in frustration. “You and your reality. I dare you to spend an entire day thinking nothing but positive thoughts about your future with love.”
“You dare me?” He’d actually grinned. She was fuming on the inside with aggravation and he had enjoyed the teasing.
“Yes.”
“Okay. My first positive thought is of you and I sleeping together and loving it. Hitting it off. And I mean, really hitting it off. That rare kind of chemistry I’ve so far only heard about. The rarest. The real thing.”
He’d so startled her with the words he’s said that she had felt flushed. She’d warmed everywhere and imagined kissing right then. Kissing, and then rushing back up to his room to make his dream come true.
After several seconds, she recovered and said, “But you don’t believe that will happen.”
And then it was his turn to be rendered speechless.
He’d dropped her off here at her store. She could still hear his new rental running as he waited for her to get inside. She could also still hear his rich voice saying, “I’ll pick you up for lunch.” He didn’t want to leave her alone long. She wouldn’t be alone here. She had a clerk who’d be here any minute and Raelyn said she’d stop by this morning.
She unlocked the door and looked back. He held up his hand and she waved back. A flutter tickled her stomach. He was so handsome. And a good man. She would do well snagging a man like him.
She entered her shop berating herself for even considering that. She’d do well with a man who didn’t believe in love? Not quite. Love was the single most important thing to her. She needed a family someday. She’d been vague when he’d asked that question about having kids. She did want kids, but she hadn’t felt comfortable revealing that to him.
Her clerk arrived and she welcomed the busy task of opening the store. Raelyn arrived shortly thereafter. She walked briskly, with such energy, for a moment Kendra imagined her twin sister coming to see her. Kaelyn had had that kind of energy. Raelyn’s hair had the same red sheen and floated light as air as she moved.
She entered and her face lit up when she spotted Kendra, whose heart did a lurch of love for her niece. That was the first smile she’d seen Raelyn give her. Before now, the sight of her brought Raelyn pain.
“Hey, Aunt Kendra. What’s happening?”
She was in orange shorts and a matching multicolored tank top and sandals, conservative compared to what she’d worn previously. Was she coming out of her dark phase? Today’s forecast was a lot warmer than it had been, so she could just be trying to stay cool. Kendra could hope, though.
“You ready to get to work?”
“Yes.” She leaned in for a quick hug, and then went to the checkout counter, where she began getting the register ready. “Anything going on in your investigation?”
She asked almost hesitantly, as though dreading to learn all her hope had been for naught.
“Yes. A lot. Are you okay to hear it all?” Kendra moved so she could better see Raelyn’s lowered face.
Raelyn’s pretty green eyes lifted as she glanced at her. “Yes.”
“We know for certain now that your mother was murdered.”
Resting her hands on the register, Raelyn took a moment before she raised her head.
“She was on her way to Chesterville when she was killed. Her body was moved and staged to look like a suicide. She was close to Chesterville when she must have been run off the road. We don’t know who did it or why yet, but we know she was murdered.”
“You never doubted it,” Raelyn said.
Kendra could see where this was headed. “Don’t blame yourself for believing your mother killed herself. You didn’t know she was talking to me or the things she said to me, the plans she was making for her future—for both of you. Where she went, you were going with her.”
“Then why did she go to Chesterville without me?”
“She didn’t come here to stay. She came here to warn her lover’s wife about something. That’s what we need to find out. Why did your mother drive to Chesterville with the intention of meeting with Glenn’s wife—or Bear’s, as she called him? And why all the secrets? There are still many unanswered questions, but the case has definitely been moving forward. We now have the support of the CPD.”
“Wow. That’s amazing.”
Kendra could see she still wasn’t past her doubt over her mother’s state of mind. “Raelyn, your mother would not want you to feel bad.”
“I should have known.” Her tone sharpened. “My mother was strong. The only time she wasn’t was when my dad beat her. She was afraid for me and her. That’s why she didn’t leave.”
“She would have left. She would have taken you with her. But something happened to stop her and we don’t think it was your dad. We think it has something to do with her lover, Bear. Glenn Franklin. Your mother didn’t tell you to protect you.”
“She was so full of love and life.” Raelyn’s eyes teared up. “My bastard of a dad didn’t appreciate her. He was threatened by her integrity.”
“I’ve thought the same thing.” Kendra took Raelyn into he
r arms. “Cry if you need to but never have bad feelings about your thoughts after she died.”
“That’s easier said than done.”
Kendra rubbed her back. “Now that you know she didn’t leave you and take the coward’s way out, you can mourn. You haven’t done that yet. You haven’t really mourned, so give yourself some time, okay?”
Raelyn sniffled and nodded as she said, “Okay.”
Leaning back, Kendra had to fight not to cry with her. She wiped her cheeks with her thumb. “Let’s go buy some inventory.”
They went to the back to the small office area. The shop clerk could run the front. Kendra pulled up another chair at the antique desk and went to her favorite vendor’s website. Antique chests were a popular selling item. She’d add in some handmade jewelry and let Raelyn pick some out.
“Aunt Kendra?”
“Yes?”
“If I can’t have my mom, I’m glad I have you.”
Oh, that burst a sunbeam straight through her heart. “Not as glad as I am to have you.” She kissed her cheek.
Chapter 13
Roman asked Cal to start the disinterment process to exhume Deidra Franklin’s body. They made their case center on the evidence that Glenn’s lover didn’t commit suicide, that her body had been moved and her case was now being investigated as a homicide. Kaelyn had warned Glenn’s wife about her husband and was killed before being able to talk to her. They further argued Deidra Franklin was a healthy young woman who may have learned something about Glenn and he may have been forced to silence her for good. Kaelyn may not have told Vikki she had an affair with Glenn. More likely, she, like Deidra, could have discovered something much more deadly. Both women could have been murdered for the same reason. Cal requested the disinterment of Deidra’s remains to either rule out or confirm poisoning. Both he and Cal expected the court to agree they had enough to justify a necessity.
Now a day later, he sat with Cal and Kendra in the conference room at the CPD. He watched Kendra studying Deidra’s autopsy report. She’d already asked a lot of questions. She also read her sister’s again.
Just past her, he spotted a man walking toward the conference room. Except his steps weren’t normal, like he’d come for a casual visit. No, these were long and hard strides. Glenn Franklin’s brow hung low and stormy, and the lapels of his suit jacket and hem of matching pants flapped with the angry pace.
Word must have gotten around they planned to disinter Deidra’s body.
A police officer chased after him.
“Incoming,” Roman quipped.
Cal looked up just as Glenn reached the office door. He held up his hand and waved off the police officer.
Kendra abandoned the files, closing them to look up at Glenn as he passed the table.
“Exhuming my first wife’s body?” Glenn roared, stopping at the corner of Cal’s desk. “What on this green earth possessed you to do that? And by what right?”
“Everything was done legally, I assure you,” Cal said.
“You think she was murdered? What the hell is going on?”
“Maybe you could tell us.”
Glenn’s face reddened and his jaw clenched. “If you’re implying I had anything to do with her death—”
“We’re not implying anything. We’re making sure she actually did die of natural causes.”
“She got sick and died. Why can’t you leave her to rest in peace?” He leaned down and slapped his palm on a stack of files on the desk. “Do you have any idea what this is doing to me and my family?”
Cal just looked up at him.
Roman felt the same detachment. “Do you care whether she was murdered or not?”
Glenn’s face reddened more. Steam may as well stream out of his ears as he straightened. “Have you ever lost anyone you loved, Detective Cooper?”
“No, but just about every day, I see what losing someone to murder does to people who have. I would expect you, as someone who loved his first wife, to be nothing but supportive of our efforts.”
Some of his fury eased as he must have realized how his outburst appeared. “I loved my wife. It nearly killed me when she died. It took me a long time to get past losing her. Finding out her body is being removed from the ground is upsetting.”
“We’re sorry for that,” Cal said. “Unfortunately, it’s necessary. We’ll have her back in the ground as soon as we can.”
Glenn calmed further. “Why do you think she was murdered? Why do you need her body?”
“We think she may have been poisoned,” Roman said, watching Glenn closely for a reaction.
He seemed genuinely taken aback. “Poisoned?”
“We also think there may be a link between Kaelyn’s murder and your first wife’s,” Cal said.
Roman wasn’t sure he would have revealed that information. Maybe Cal didn’t think it mattered. Would Glenn, knowing how much they had uncovered about Deidra’s death, change how he behaved? Would he make a run for it? Would he confess?
“I don’t understand.” With his brow still hovering low, Glenn rubbed his forehead, seeming to have difficulty absorbing this new information. “Poisoned,” he repeated, stepping to a chair at the conference room table and sitting as though he needed to.
Glenn appeared genuinely surprised to learn this. Either that or he was a good actor. Why get so angry over exhuming his previous wife’s body? He had to have known since a court ordered that an investigation into her death had begun.
Then he regained his aplomb. “Why do you think there’s a link?”
Roman hoped Cal wouldn’t reveal too much about that.
“Did you notice anything different about Deidra prior to her death?” Cal asked.
“Like what? No.” Glenn seemed to gather himself even more now. “I was working a lot, so maybe she was different but I didn’t notice.”
“Did she mention anything to you?” Roman asked. “Maybe bring up a name or talk about someone who resented her? An argument?”
Again, Glenn shook his head.
“What did she do the last two days of her life?” Cal asked.
“She went shopping the day before.” He fell silent as he thought some more. “She and my mother had lunch like they always do. They have a favorite restaurant. They usually went once a week.”
“They were close?” Kendra asked.
“Yes. They became good friends. Deidra liked nice things like my mother. They had that in common.”
They were both materialistic. Like-minded people would get along. Glenn seemed to have picked two women who fit into this lifestyle and his parents approved. They’d welcomed both into their circle.
“My family has always been close-knit,” Glenn went on. “We spend a lot of time together. That’s how Deidra became such good friends with my mother. My parents are pretty social anyway. They have a large network of friends and acquaintances.”
“What about Deidra? Did she have any friends of her own?” Roman asked.
“Oh yeah. She had lots of friends. Most of them were both of our friends, but she kept in touch with her college roommate and one of her high school friends.”
“When was she last in contact with them?” Cal asked.
Glenn hesitated a moment. Was he trying to remember or was he reluctant to provide them that information? “It had been a while. They talked every few months or so, rarely got together in person.”
“Any bank or credit card statement during that time would help us retrace her activities,” Roman said while Cal finished writing down the names.
Glenn nodded. “Sure. All right. I’ll send you those and anything else I can find. I’m not sure I still have copies anymore.”
“Do the best you can.” If they had to, they’d get a search warrant, and they would if Deidra was poisoned. Roman would make sure of that.
�
��When will her body be exhumed?”
“I believe it’s planned for the day after tomorrow,” Cal said. “You can be there if you like.”
After a few seconds, Glenn shook his head. “I already buried her once. I’d rather not bury her a second time.”
“Thank you, Mr. Franklin,” Cal said. “You’ve been a big help.”
Roman bet that was the last thing Glenn figured on doing today. He hadn’t come to help them. He’d come to express his displeasure over Deidra’s disinterment.
Glenn got up from his chair.
“If I could ask a few more questions?” Kendra stood from her chair and moved in front of the door.
“Sure,” Glenn said.
He was cooperating very well for a man who didn’t want his wife’s body exhumed. Did he want his wife avenged if she was killed or was he covering his own hide?
“Why was Kaelyn on her way to Chesterville?” Kendra asked.
“I don’t know. The last time I talked to her, she didn’t have any plans to come here. At least, she didn’t tell me of any.”
“Why do you think she might have driven here?”
“Probably to see her mom. That’s why she always came to Chesterville. That and to get away from her crazy husband.”
Roman wondered why Kaelyn didn’t tell anyone why she was coming to Chesterville. Had she feared Alex would come after her? Most likely she had. Maybe she also didn’t want to bring that kind of drama to her hometown, to her parents’ doorstep. Too bad she hadn’t. Maybe she’d still be alive. Maybe it wouldn’t have mattered. She’d discovered something and it had nothing to do with her abusive husband.
“She wasn’t coming here just to see her mother,” Roman said.
Glenn’s head slowly lifted and he looked right at Roman. Roman couldn’t tell what he might be thinking but he sensed some belligerence.
“Well, she wasn’t coming to see me.”
“Was she going to see Vikki?” Cal asked.
“Vikki? Why Vikki?”
Hometown Detective (Cold Case Detectives Book 6) Page 13