When they got to the car, Billy insisted that he drive. He’d trust Terri with his life in a boat but not in a car. “Just direct me and we’ll go to the cabin.”
“It’s probably nothing,” she said as she got in the passenger seat. “A coincidence.”
“I’m sure you’re right. So tell me about Mr. Owens.”
“I don’t know much. He’s a handsome, middle-aged man. When he first arrived I was a kid but even I saw the way the women went after him. He wanted nothing to do with them. Dad and I used to laugh about it.”
“Who does he socialize with?”
“I have no idea. I don’t remember ever seeing him at any of the community get-togethers. One time Dad said if everyone was like Mr. Owens our lives would be a lot easier.”
“But he came by your house yesterday?”
“Yes, he did. He brought some pastries from the Summer Hill bakery. I didn’t spend any time with him because everyone wanted my attention.” She looked at Billy. “He could have stolen the bag with the bowl in it but so could have lots of people.”
Billy was quiet for a while. “So this man usually comes only in August?”
“Yes.” She looked at him. “But he’s here now. Because of rats that frightened his tenants away.”
“Rats that appeared just when a car was found in a lake.”
“And the newspapers blasted it all over the country.” Terri’s heart was beginning to pound.
“And as antisocial as he is, he showed up at your house.”
“And said nothing to anyone that I saw,” Terri said.
For a second, their eyes locked, then Billy looked back at the road that encircled the lake. “Got somewhere we can park where we won’t be seen?”
“Yes.” She pointed the way to an empty cabin and Billy pulled into the driveway.
“Guess it would be pointless to—” He halted when Terri hopped out of the car. “To stay here,” he finished.
Terri knew a back way to get to the Owens cabin. She climbed over a fence. Straddling it, she saw Billy hesitate. “Come on!”
“I’m saying a prayer of forgiveness. I hope my fellow parishioners don’t see me.”
Terri nodded toward the nearby cabin. “She’s a weekend widow. She’ll forgive you anything.”
Billy scurried over the fence so quickly Terri laughed.
“Stacy Hartman is available, you know.”
“Not my type. She’s too perfect.” He smiled in a way that let her know he was thinking of their past.
“Does that mean I’m not perfect?”
Billy was out of breath. “You, dear Terri, are far and away from being perfect.”
She snorted at that, then motioned for him to be quiet and follow her. They were near Mr. Owens’s cabin.
Since her father and his partner had built many of the houses, she knew the floor plans. The biggest windows looked out to the water, but there were side windows. They’d be able to see in but probably not be seen.
“Wait!” Billy said as they reached the cabin. He leaned against a wall. “Do you know what I had to do to get a position at St. Anne’s? Summer Hill is a coveted site. If anyone saw me now I’d be sent to some remote island.”
“Where they dance in grass skirts? Stop complaining and let’s go. Say nothing.”
With a roll of his eyes, he followed her around to the front of the cabin.
They couldn’t see all of the big room, but they did see Nate. He was sitting in a chair, looking quite calm, as though he was on alert about something.
Standing over him was a huge man with a pockmarked and scarred face. He had a flattened, distorted nose like a prizefighter.
“I think his hands are tied,” Terri whispered. She tried the knob to the side door just enough to see that it was unlocked. “I’m going in.”
Before Billy could stop her, she picked up a rock and threw it through the window.
Inside the house, both men turned to the sound and in the seconds their attention was on the shattered glass, Terri ran through the door. She grabbed a metal ornament off a shelf by the door and drew back to throw it.
But Nate leaped up from the chair and grabbed her wrist.
In the next second, the side door opened and Rowan and two men in FBI jackets burst into the room, guns drawn and aimed at Terri.
“It’s okay.” Nate took what was a bronze dog out of Terri’s hand and put it back on the shelf. Then he enveloped Terri in his arms. “Everything is all right.”
She pushed away from him, anger running through her. “Don’t you patronize me, you ungrateful bastard. We’ve been searching for you. You disappeared and we saw you through the window and thought you were being held hostage. We—”
“Is ‘we’ you and St. Billy?”
“None other,” Billy said with a grin. “Hope no one minds but I need to sit down. This has been too much excitement for me. Oh! Hello. I didn’t see you there. I’m William Thorndyke, soon to be pastor of St. Anne’s. I think. After today I may be thrown out of the country.” He looked at Rowan and the two agents who were sheathing their weapons.
Sitting in a chair was an older woman, slim and elegant. Her eyes were zeroed in on Terri.
Terri jerked away from Nate’s grip. Anger was saving her from dissolving into a lump of embarrassment. “You could have called,” she said through her teeth. “But you’re here having a party.”
“Party! I haven’t slept in—”
Rowan cleared his throat loudly. “Terri, may I introduce you to your grandmother, Mrs. Carolyn Fornell?”
It was all too much for Terri. Finding her mother’s body, dealing with the press, fending off questions, trying to stay strong while everyone she loved seemed to disappear—her father, Frank, Nate—it was more than she could handle.
Her legs went first, then her head seemed to spin round and round. “Grandmother,” she whispered.
Nate caught her before she went down.
Chapter 24
When Terri woke, she was in her own bed and it was early morning. It looked like she’d slept through the night.
There was a dent in the pillow beside her. It seemed like Nate had slept there, but he was gone.
She sat up in bed, blinking, rubbing her eyes and trying to remember what had happened in the last few days. What was real and what had she imagined? Her mother found in the trunk of a car. Murdered. She—
The door opened and Nate came in carrying a tray of food. “Thought you’d be awake. Want some bacon and eggs? Or how about some casseroles? I put eight varieties on this one plate. Think you can handle them?”
“I could eat a shark, teeth and all. I’ll eat while you talk.”
He put the tray across her legs. “That silver bowl—” He halted. “You know what? I think I should let your grandmother tell you.”
Terri paused with the fork halfway to her mouth. “I thought maybe I dreamed her.”
Nate went to the door and opened it. She must have been waiting outside as Carolyn Fornell came in right away. Nate motioned her to a chair beside the bed.
She and Terri looked at each other in wonder.
“You look like my Leelee,” Carolyn whispered.
Terri started to put the tray aside, but Carolyn stopped her.
“Please, go ahead and eat. If you are as active as my daughter, then I’m sure you’re starving. She ate huge amounts but never gained an ounce.”
“She burns it off,” Nate said. “She drives her boat like a maniac and never walks if she can run. She throws rope like a sailor and—”
Both women were staring at him.
“I, uh, I think I’ll leave you two alone.” He left and closed the door behind him.
“Where do I begin?” Carolyn asked.
Terri picked up her fork. “Why my mother felt she had to run away fro
m her family.” There was anger in Terri’s voice.
For a moment, Carolyn blinked back tears. “You are as direct as my daughter. She wasn’t one for secrets. If she didn’t like something or someone, she told them so.” Carolyn took a breath. “She was the opposite of her brother, Kenneth.”
“Can I take it that we know him as Mr. Owens?”
“Yes.” Carolyn got up, went to the window, opened the curtains, then turned back to Terri. “This isn’t easy for me. They’re both my children and I love them. I really tried to be equal. But Leelee was so...so likable. She was funny and smart and she was always getting into trouble. When she was fifteen, she cut classes and ran off to New York to see a show. She drove a car when she was fourteen. On and on. But her father and I had trouble punishing her. She came up with such wonderful excuses and told glorious stories about what she’d seen and done. She—” Carolyn waved her hand. “I must get to the facts. That young FBI man has told me I must remember it all.”
“Rowan.”
“I’ve met his parents.”
“Everyone has,” Terri said.
Carolyn sat on the soft chair in the corner. She looked like she’d rather do anything on earth than tell her story. “My son. He was...is... I don’t know how to describe him. He never did anything wrong. His room was always tidy and clean. He made straight As in school. He never got into any trouble. But...”
“No one liked him,” Terri said. “We have people here like that.” She didn’t say that Mr. Owens had been one of them. Here year after year but never made any friends.
“Your father told me that you take care of this place almost single-handedly.”
“I have help.”
Carolyn looked out the window for a moment. “That’s just what Leelee would have said. She ran clubs and charities in high school and college but never bragged on herself. She—” Carolyn paused, then looked at Terri. “My late husband and I refused to believe what she told us about the things Kenneth did. I think we knew but we didn’t want to. Does that make sense?”
“Yes. Where is he now?”
“In...in prison. Or jail. I don’t know. Rowan took him away. There will be a trial and...”
“We’ll be with you,” Terri said.
Carolyn stood up. “I need to lie down now. Perhaps later we can get to know each other.” Before Terri could speak again, she left the room.
Nate entered as soon as she was gone. “Did she tell you what’s happened?”
“Not much.”
Nate took the tray, set it on the chest of drawers, got into bed beside her and drew her head to his shoulder. “Want me to tell you what I know?”
She nodded against him.
“Kenneth was born two years after Leslie and—”
“Leelee. My grandmother calls her Leelee. I like that.”
“All right. Leelee. Seems that Kenneth—never called by any affectionate nickname that I heard—was one of those kids who was obedient and kind to adults but—”
“A monster to his peers.”
“Exactly. He more or less tortured his sister, and he was crazy jealous of her. I mean to the point of insanity. When some distant relative died and left his sister an antique Chinese bowl, Kenneth pretty much lost his mind.”
“He wasn’t left anything?”
“That’s just what I asked. Yes, he was. A Ming dynasty vase. But Kenneth wanted the bowl. Mind you, this happened after Leelee had graduated from college. She said she was sick of fighting with him so she anonymously donated the bowl to a local museum.”
“And he stole it?”
“That’s right. Kenneth took it. Not sure the how of it matters.”
“I guess my mother knew it was her brother who took it.”
“She did. And she searched his room until she found it. He told us that. Said she ‘stole’ it from him, said it was his.”
“Let me guess. She gave it away so she lost possession of it, so when he took it back, it was his.”
“Clever girl.” He kissed her forehead. “The conjecture is that Leelee was so afraid of Kenneth’s revenge, of his rage, that she ran. Disappeared. She left home with just one suitcase and got on a bus.”
“And stopped in Lake Kissel, Virginia.”
“And met your father and that was it.”
Terri took a while to let this sink in. “Her brother came after her.”
“There was a photo of the ground-breaking ceremony of the planned community and Leelee was in it. The article was picked up by some major newspapers as a feel-good piece and Kenneth saw it.”
Nate swiped Terri’s hair from her forehead and kissed it. “I haven’t heard all the facts. Kenneth is with Rowan now and being interrogated, but I know Kenneth showed up here and went to see his sister.”
“And me.”
“Yes. Two-year-old you. The bowl was on the coffee table and...” Nate put both arms around Terri. “They fought and he hit her with the bowl. It didn’t...” Nate took a breath. “It didn’t kill her, just knocked her unconscious. But I guess he knew that when she woke up, she’d turn him in to the police.”
“He tied her up and gagged her,” Terri whispered.
“He’s a big guy and he carried her to her car and dumped her in the trunk. I don’t think he knew what to do next. He hadn’t really planned it. Anyway, it was storming outside and he drove to the big pier. We think he meant to drive off but the old posts cracked. Maybe that gave him an idea.”
“So he stole the underwater chain saw.”
“Right. Your dad’s office was close by and it was empty.”
“Everyone was out taking care of the storm.”
“They were. Kenneth stole the saw and the handcuffs and some duct tape, then went back to the car. He opened the trunk and saw that Summer Hill was beginning to wake up. The rain was coming down hard then. He handcuffed her, taped her ankles and—”
“I know,” Terri said. The tears were beginning to come. “She struggled while he went underwater and cut the posts.”
Nate held her tightly.
She pushed away from him. “He came back and bought a cabin here! He was here every year. He was watching and listening.”
“Yes,” Nate said. “He was. We think he was trying to find the bowl.”
“Dad was so angry that he got rid of all Mom’s things. But Aunt Aggie hid the bowl.” She looked at Nate. “Was he that greedy? He wanted to sell it? He needed money? After all these years, it wasn’t like it was evidence.”
“But it was,” Nate said. “That’s what I found out from the museum curator. The bowl is two parts. The top with the dragon screws off. When Kenneth hit Leelee, he used only the upper half of the bowl. And remember your grandmother said he was tidy? Seems that after he hit her, he screwed the two halves back together.”
“Are you saying...?” Her eyes opened wide.
“Inside the bowl are fingerprints and hair and...” He shrugged. “Other stuff. It contains evidence of what he did to your mother.”
Terri flopped back against the bed.
For a while, they sat together, holding each other.
Nate spoke first. “Do you realize that it’s over?”
“Over? I think it has just begun. There will be a trial. My grandmother said—” She looked up at him. “I have a grandmother.”
“Yes you do and she’s a very nice lady. When her son left her house so abruptly, suitcase in hand, she knew something had happened. She searched his computer and found the news about the car being brought up.”
“Maybe the reporters did us a favor.”
“I wouldn’t go that far. Are you ready to greet the world? Thorndyke has already called twice this morning to ask if you’re all right.”
“And what did you tell him?”
“That you’re with me so of course you’re the b
est you can be.”
Terri laughed, but she made no move toward getting out of bed. “Everything has changed, hasn’t it?”
“More than you know.”
“What does that mean?”
“I sort of blackmailed Della. I told her that if she wanted to stay my deputy, she had to change the gossip about you.”
“Gossip?” Terri was pushing him to elaborate.
“First of all, your mother running off with another man. She’s the one who fanned those flames so she had to change it. Turn it all around.”
“She agreed?”
Nate swallowed. “Della said... No, I shouldn’t tell that.”
“What?” Her question was a command.
Nate rolled his eyes. “Della ordered a dozen DNA kits. She said that if anyone ever again said something bad about Leslie Rayburn, she’d collect samples from cups, tissues, whatever, and she’d publicly announce who fathered what kid.”
“That’s terrible and probably illegal.” Terri tried to suppress a laugh but couldn’t.
“Remember Ryan Murphy?”
“How could I forget?” Terri said.
“Della found him and she’s paying for him and his family to fly here for a three-day vacation at beautiful Lake Kissel with the stipulation that he confess the truth of what he and Hector said to you back in high school. What caused you to strike out.”
“He won’t like doing that.”
“I’m happy to say that you’re wrong about that. He is now the father of two little girls and has a better understanding of what happened that day. He said he looks forward to setting the record straight.”
When Terri didn’t reply, he pulled back to look at her. “You okay?”
She nodded, then whispered, “Billy?”
“He and Kris Lennon are going to tell everyone the truth.”
Terry drew in her breath. “He might lose his job. If he isn’t the pastor of St. Anne’s, people will blame me.”
“Remember Mr. Cresnor? Seems that he made some calls—and I think some donations. Your yo-yo boy’s job is safe. I think the official stance is that only a sinner can truly understand the sins of others.”
“Poor Billy. That will hurt him.”
Met Her Match Page 28