Relative Silence

by Carrie Stuart Parks

  The phone rang. “Boone residence.” Mildred’s voice carried clearly from the kitchen. “She isn’t available at the moment. May I take a message?”

  No one spoke.

  “I see. Hold on, please.” Mildred entered the dining room, her lips pinched and brows drawn. “Miss Piper, a woman is on the phone. She won’t tell me who it is, but she says it’s important that she speak to you.”

  Mother hated anyone taking a phone call during a meal.

  I stood and moved toward the kitchen. “Thank you, Mildred.”

  “Piper!” Mother’s voice was slightly higher than usual.

  “If you’ll please excuse me.” Entering the kitchen, I picked up the receiver. “Hello, this is Piper.”

  “Hey, Piper, it’s me, Mandy Chou. I hadn’t heard from ya and wondered if ya found the journal?”

  “No.” I peered around the corner. Mildred was approaching. “Sure, I’d love to see you for coffee this afternoon.”

  “Are you okay, Piper?”

  “Fine, but I will take you up on your offer to pick me up in your boat.”

  “So, ya can’t talk openly. Gotcha. The weather is supposed to clear up around three this afternoon. Will that work?”

  “Three o’clock it is. Maybe we can take in a movie.”

  “I’m off work and will come in my own boat. Give me a hint, though. Did y’all find some buried treasure, or a shipwreck, or graves, or something?”

  “I agree. I’m also in the mood for a good murder mystery.”

  * * *

  Tucker made a point to move away from the docked Taire, knowing Silva would be watching his every move and would undoubtedly report back to Tern. He had no idea where he’d go. After passing the family home, he knew he was out of sight.

  The house gave him an idea. The information about his past as well as the work of Clan Firinn wasn’t public knowledge. That meant that Tern had a lot of power to dig up hard-to-find information about people. Should Tucker remain in the area by staying in a hotel or bed-and-breakfast or renting an apartment, Tern could find him quite easily.

  He could hide in plain sight. He’d heard a slight tinkle of wind chimes when Piper had taken Hannah to the house. Keeping the house between himself and the landing, he walked up the front steps, then inspected each rod of the chimes, making sure they didn’t clank against each other. The key was in the third rod he checked.

  He unlocked the door and entered the house. Now to find someplace in the house where he could operate yet stay off the radar.

  * * *

  I didn’t return to the dining room but made my way through the kitchen to the foyer, then to the south wing. As expected, Tern followed me. “You remember what I told you,” Tern said.

  “Don’t worry, brother.” I kept walking, keeping my face turned so he couldn’t read my expression. “Tucker betrayed me. He didn’t tell me his past, not all of it, and I’m sure he was here to cause trouble.” I delivered that with my best Meryl Streep performance. I wasn’t sure he bought it, but soon his footsteps moved away.

  I had an hour and a half to kill before Mandy showed up. If I took Piggy over to Joyce’s house and showed Hannah and she identified it, that would prove that Hannah was Dove.

  Unless Joyce had told her about the toy. Hannah recognizing Piggy would be like her knowing the right dog—intriguing, but hardly proof of anything.

  Don’t forget, Hannah said she’d never seen the ocean. “She blotted that out. She was just a tiny child.”

  What excuse could I give for taking my purse and the toy to Joyce’s house? Oh yeah, I just suddenly developed an interest in walking in the rain. You’re wondering about the stuffed rabbit under my arm? I wanted company.

  I couldn’t even call over there, not with Mildred in the kitchen by the phone all the time. I had no doubt Mildred would help me no matter what I did, but she was also fiercely loyal to my mother. Should Mother ask, Mildred would tell her the truth.

  I could organize my thoughts and run them past Mandy. She was in law enforcement, just like Tucker used to be. Until I could talk to him safely, maybe Mandy could advise me. By now I’d reached the game room. Snatching up a pen and small pad of paper used to record game scores, I thought of where I could work.

  My room was too obvious, and I didn’t want to run into any member of my family. Nana’s realm? I crept toward the breakfast nook. With window seats on three sides and a small table in the middle, it used to be a favorite spot for morning coffee. Then the current Nana had claimed the area under the table as his cave on hot, humid days. The smell of wet dog, the possibility of drool-draped clothing, and the occasional special treasure he’d retrieved from the ocean and snuck into the house ensured Nana had exclusive use of the area.

  Nana was obviously outside enjoying the rain, though a chewed piece of driftwood marked his spot. I crawled into the window seat that was hidden from any casual passerby.

  What had Tucker said to Lieutenant Gragg? “Everyone had a motive. No one had an alibi.” What kind of secrets had my family kept from me? Beneath the bland conversations and polite smiles, what did they know or do?

  Did Ashlee know his assailant? Did he really have an alibi because he was the victim? Or did he plan his own attack to make himself look innocent? Was he delivering the boat and taking a cut? Was Dove collateral damage?

  If that was the case, I’d assured my daughter’s fate by putting her in his arms that day and insisting he take her.

  No. I wasn’t going to take on that burden. I wrote down Ashlee’s name.

  Motive? There was no doubt that Ashlee liked the good things of life. And those good things cost money.

  But Ashlee wasn’t around when Sparrow died, nor when Father did.

  Their deaths could be unrelated. Or maybe, inspired by the infusion of money after Father’s accident, Ashlee decided to use insurance money from the boat theft to prop up the company. He owned shares and would certainly profit by doing so. He had extremely expensive taste.

  But why wouldn’t he tell his accomplice that Dove was on the boat? Why would he later hide the survival of our daughter from me? I placed a series of question marks after Ashlee’s name.

  Tern. I wrote his name next. Alibi? He was on the mainland when the boat was stolen and Dove taken. I hadn’t asked what he was doing that day. What about motive? Did he need more money to campaign for office? He was big and strong enough to cold-cock Ashlee and drag him out of sight. Dove would recognize her uncle Tern.

  That didn’t make sense. Tern could have borrowed money if he needed it.

  But he was around for Father’s and Sparrow’s deaths. And the attempt on my life. And on his. So he said. What if he was just making that up?

  He received a lot of attention in the press whenever something happened to his family. Tern loved attention and power—which could translate into motive. But would he kill for that power?

  Mother was next. Alibi? I didn’t have a clue. I’d never asked about her either. Was I going to believe my mother murdered her only grandchild to get the insurance money on the boat? But Mother had never made a fuss that Raven didn’t come around anymore, and she hadn’t seemed to mourn Sparrow’s death. Maybe she was incapable of feeling anything for others. Except for Tern.

  I jabbed the paper with my pencil. My brain just wasn’t wired to look for the whys or whos of a case. Could I believe Mildred and Joel were capable of this? Mildred was shopping that day. I saw the receipt, and the police would have checked her alibi. What motive could they have? Money? They lived simply, and they’d loved Dove. Neither would have profited from anyone’s death.

  But if Mother was involved up to her teeth, maybe she could get Mildred or Joel to do her bidding. Mother’s world had to be perfect, and Sparrow was far from perfect.

  Silva? As far as I knew, he was content with his life. What would he gain? But like Mildred and Joel, he was loyal. Just how loyal was the question.

  Raven?

  My hand hovered over the no
tepad. Where exactly was Raven? Tern said she was at an ashram in India, but I’d never known Raven to have a religious bone in her body. Of course, that woman at the condo also said she was married. Maybe Tucker could draw the husband and I could figure out who he was. I’d certainly be talking to Raven’s neighbor again.

  A lot can change in a person in fifteen-plus years.

  Raven wasn’t expected to attend the meeting the year Dove supposedly died, and Mildred hadn’t prepared her room for her. In fact, she’d missed the shareholders’ meeting for several years. Mother and Tern said they’d stayed in touch, but you could email from anywhere. How was she paying for her travels? Her motive could certainly be money.

  Of course, the most obvious motive for anyone in the family to become homicidal would be the shares in Boone Industries. Mother was the last in her family. Father had been an only child. The last survivor of the family would own it all.

  Tucker was right. No one had an alibi, and everyone had a motive. Money. Checking my watch, I found I had just enough time to grab a raincoat and purse and meet Mandy on the dock. She pulled up in an older blue-and-white Bayliner and I jumped in.

  “Is there a chance that someone was watchin’ ya?” She sped up, heading for the mainland. “I thought I saw someone up in the bushes.”

  “A really good chance. Do me a favor. I need to get to Joyce Mueller’s place without anyone knowing about it.”

  She altered her course. “I’ll aim for the harbor. That will put me out of sight of anyone spying on ya. Then I’ll double around to the north. But only on one condition.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Ya fill me in on all this cloak-and-dagger stuff.”

  “I will. But first I need to get my daughter and this time make sure she’s safe.”

  Chapter 19

  Starting in the kitchen, Tucker explored each room. He knew Hannah had spent the night here, but it appeared as if the cleaning staff had already done their job. Did they come daily, weekly, when someone spent the night? Did they report to the family when someone was present? Piper said she’d only told Chou and himself of Hannah’s arrival, but eventually someone else would know. He’d need to stay vigilant and work fast.

  The main floor yielded no solutions for a concealed stay, but did give him the meal information, the house internet password, Boone12345, and the code to the lock on the boathouse. He moved upstairs. At the top of the stairs he spotted a hatch in the ceiling with a small rope dangling. He pulled on the rope and drop-down stairs appeared.

  He left his crutches on the floor and clumped up the steep stairs. The attic itself was dusty and stretched the length of the house, with a window at either end, allowing views of both the street and the dock. He could stand up in the middle of the room. Stacked under the eaves were outdated Christmas decorations, plastic tubs of clothing, and white corrugated boxes.

  In the corner he found camping gear, including an inflatable air mattress and a sleeping bag. Perfect.

  The sound of a boat engine brought him to the window overlooking the water. Silva pulled up, docked, then began moving boxes and luggage onto the dock. A woman driving a small U-Haul truck parked next to the dock, and the two of them loaded up. The U-Haul left and Silva returned to the boat. He went into the cabin.

  Tucker moved down to the living room to work, leaving the drop-down stairs extended in case he had to hide quickly. All of the windows had either closed blinds or sheer panels with drapes on them. The sheers allowed him to look outside without being seen during daylight hours. He booted up his laptop, but the sound of an approaching car engine made him pause. Carefully, so he wasn’t backlit, he moved to the window overlooking the road. A paneled van parked across the street and the engine turned off, but no one got out.

  He rubbed the back of his neck. This van wasn’t here to move anything from the boat. Surveillance? Did someone know he was inside? No, he’d made sure no one saw him. Piper’s car was parked under the house. Maybe they were spying on her.

  Whatever the reason, with Silva in the boat on one side of the house and a surveillance van on the other, as of now he was trapped.

  * * *

  Mandy and I made our loop and sped toward Joyce’s home. Just as she had said, the rain stopped and an exquisite rainbow appeared in the sky. The water was still choppy, however, so we kept the speed relatively slow.

  I explained all that had happened. She listened without asking any questions until we pulled up at Joyce’s landing.

  “There’s a lot of holes in your theories.” She stopped the engine and let us drift to the dock. I jumped out and tied up.

  “I know.”

  “And this whole thing about Hannah being Dove . . . well, it kinda smacks of bein’ somethin’ ya desperately want to be true.”

  “You were the one who talked about ‘having a feeling.’”

  “The feelin’ I was talking about is a nudge from the Holy Spirit, not a gut-wrenchin’ desire to have your little girl back again.”

  I blinked and stared at her.

  She sighed. “I’ll tell ya what, as long as I’m not doing somethin’ immoral or illegal, I’ll go along with your feelin’. Who knows? Maybe the Holy Spirit is tryin’ to get your attention.”

  After stumbling up the now-muddy hill, we reached Joyce’s porch. No one seemed to be around. We circled the house, then rapped on the back door. “Hannah?” I called out. I could see into the living room and kitchen through a tiny slit where the curtains met.

  The faux wall swung open, and Hannah uncoiled from her position on top of the dryer. She ran to the door and opened it. “It’s you! I was so frightened.”

  I so wanted to hold her and hug her! My beautiful Dove had finally come home. For the first time in fifteen years, tears burned my cheeks.

  “Piper, what’s wrong?” Hannah asked.

  “Noth . . . nothing. I’m . . . happy to see you.” I swallowed hard, then headed to the bathroom to find tissues. After blowing my nose, I returned and avoided looking at Mandy. I knew she’d be giving me a look of pity. “Hannah, were you hiding just now?”

  “Yes. Someone was walking around the house last night. I’d locked the doors, but someone tried to get in. I hid under the bed.” She looked at Mandy. “Hi. I’m Hannah.”

  “Mandy Chou. How ya doin’?”

  “I’m an idiot. Forgive me for not introducing you two.” My brain seemed full of cotton.

  “That’s okay.” Hannah gave a slight smile with the undamaged side of her face. “Do you think I could go back to the house on the mainland? I don’t mean to be a fraidy-cat, but I don’t like it here.”

  “I was going to suggest the same thing,” I said.

  Hannah didn’t have to be told twice. She immediately charged off to pack.

  Mandy moved closer to me. “Is your family’s house on the mainland a good idea? If someone is after her, they’d look there next.”

  “That’s true.”

  “And, not to be cruel, but she’s pretty recognizable. Why don’t you let her come home with me? I’ve got a guest room, and my place is pretty remote. No one would think to look for her there.”

  “I couldn’t ask you to do that—”

  “You’re not askin’. I’m offerin’.”

  “Then I’m accepting. Let me pay you something . . .” Pay! What had Tucker said? “Your father’s life insurance, carried by the company, bailed out Boone Industries. The insurance on the yacht brought in a much-needed boost, which it needed to cover payroll for expansion and new hires.” Boone Industries hadn’t done any expanding in the last fifteen years. In fact, the last few stockholders’ meetings had revealed a steady reduction in payroll and staffing due to not replacing retiring employees. The company had mechanized several positions as well. Could that “expansion” have been hush money for keeping Hannah? Making Joyce an “employee”?

  “What’s going on, Piper?” Mandy asked. “All of a sudden you sort of zoned out.”

  Glancing around
to be sure Hannah was still packing, I said, “It just occurred to me that I hadn’t really thought of Joyce as someone involved in all that’s going on. She should have been the first person I suspected. What was she doing with my daughter? In fact, Joyce and Silva could have been tangled up in this together. They were each other’s alibi.”

  “Piper, about this whole idea that Hannah is—”

  Hannah walked into the room, suitcase in hand. “I’m ready.”

  “Let’s go then.” I didn’t want, or need, anyone else to doubt me about Hannah. I moved to the front door, peered around to see if anyone was watching, then trotted as fast as I could down the path to the boat. Mandy and Hannah followed just as quickly. I didn’t share our destination with Hannah until we were safely on our way.

  “Why do you think someone might be after me?” Hannah asked.

  I wanted to tell her everything and to start to make up for the fifteen years we’d been apart, but Tucker’s words of caution held me back. “I’m not really sure just yet. I hope I’m being overly cautious.”

  “My car’s at the harbor marina,” Mandy said to me. “I’ll dock there, then drive you to your car. Where are you going next?”

  “I thought I’d find that woman at the condo and talk to her some more, then try to locate Tucker. He could have gone back to work or checked in with the folks at the Hunley.”

  We reached the public docks at the marina. I jumped off the boat and tied it up while Hannah and Mandy collected their things. As we walked toward the parking area, Mandy said, “Didn’t ya say your brother would be watchin’ to see if ya contacted Tucker?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “And I’d bet Senator Boone has some investigators on staff, or he wouldn’t have found out about Tucker’s past, right? It would take a lot of diggin’ to come up with Tucker’s old identity.”

  “I guess,” I said reluctantly. The parking lot was practically empty because of the heavy rains, with only a Camry and an older pickup. Mandy headed for the Camry.

  “So I’d suggest we not get your car, but instead let me drive you around in case you’re being followed.”