Behind the Shadows

by Potter, Patricia;

  “Why change your name?”

  “I hated it. So did my mother. She suffered every day she was married to him. After he was killed, I was sent to a group home, then a series of foster homes. I didn’t do well. I didn’t like the rules, and they didn’t like me, so I took off when I was sixteen. I adopted another name because too many people remembered the story. I made it legal at twenty-one.”

  “What about your mother?”

  “She died eight days after my father attacked her.”

  “Did Westerfield know your background?”

  “Yes. In fact he helped me change my name legally.”

  “You have access to the gun safe?” the other detective said, changing the subject.

  “Yes. I told the other detectives that I inventoried them after Mr. Westerfield’s death. That was the last time I checked.”

  “And you don’t know anyone else who might have the combination.”

  “No.” God, he was tired of answering the questions over and over again.

  “And you know firearms?”

  “We went over this before, too. Yes. I went hunting a couple of times with Mr. Westerfield. He loved hunting. I didn’t.”

  The older detective’s eyes bored into him. “You don’t have an alibi for the city hall shooting.”

  “But I do for the attempted murder of Mrs. Douglas and the attempt on Kira’s life.”

  “You could have hired someone.”

  Max knew that only a fool represented himself. But he also thought things would be worse if he didn’t cooperate. So much for not saying anything.

  “I could have, but I didn’t. And there’s no reason to do so. I don’t need money. I’ve made a lot of money in the past ten years and invested it. You can have the account numbers.”

  “We’ll also want to look at the trust records.”

  “Anytime,” Max said. “You’ll find them in great shape.”

  “Do you mind if we look around?”

  “No.” He did, but he also knew that one could call and get a warrant within moments. Better to cooperate.

  Two hours later the detectives left. He wasn’t sure whether he was a person of interest or not, whether he would see his past in the newspaper tomorrow.

  And whether Kira and Leigh would ever look at him the same way again.

  Kira woke to sunlight streaming in the window. She turned and her side ached. Maybe a bit less, but not much.

  The pain brought back all that had happened yesterday.

  Leigh. Leigh was here somewhere.

  What time was it? What time had she gone to sleep last night? Had anything happened?

  She tried to stir herself.

  Her body felt leaden.

  She managed to turn and look at the clock. Eight a.m.

  Kira forced herself to sit up. Her head pounded. She looked down and saw that her shirt was red where it touched the bandage. She needed another pain pill, but she couldn’t afford to feel fuzzy.

  Maybe coffee would help.

  She found a pair of jean shorts and a T-shirt. She felt dizzy as she pulled on the clothes and had to sit down again.

  Max. Where was Max? And Chris? She stood again and went to the window. The car from last night was still there. So the whole nightmare was real.

  Max a person of interest? A suspect?

  She went downstairs. Leigh was at the kitchen table reading the paper. She was wearing the same clothes from the night earlier. She looked up. “I made coffee and got the paper from outside. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Of course not. Consider this your house.” And it was to some extent. It belonged to Kira’s mother. And to Leigh’s.

  Kira poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down. Leigh apparently had finished the front section. It was on the table, folded to reveal the lower half of the front page.

  Her brief story was there along with her staff photo. There were five other stories. The hospital, queried about a possible baby switch, offered “no comment.” A police source merely said the city hall shootings were under investigation and the department was looking into “related incidents.” There was a mention of the Westerfield family as possibly being connected and a history of the family, along with the photo of Leigh taken a week earlier.

  Kira winced at the coverage, but of course, the paper had to do what it had to do.

  The phone rang. Kira looked at the caller ID. A television station. She didn’t answer.

  “It’s been doing that all morning,” Leigh said. “Chris called, suggested that I unplug the phone in your room. I did. I hope you don’t mind. I’ve been monitoring the phone here. I would have called you if your paper called or …”

  “I don’t mind,” Kira said. “Thanks. I needed that sleep.”

  “How are you?”

  “Still sore. Still feeling like I’m living a nightmare.”

  Leigh didn’t say anything, but her hollow eyes agreed.

  “Did Chris say anything more? Anything about Max?”

  “Just that there seems to be something in his background that made the police look twice,” Leigh said. “He was going to get some sleep, then start researching on his own.”

  Then her gaze held Kira’s. “He’s not involved,” she added flatly. “I would bet my life on that.”

  “Me, too,” Kira said.

  Leigh glanced at Kira. “Are you falling for him?”

  Kira started to protest, then shrugged. “No. Yes. Maybe. A bit.”

  Leigh laughed for the first time since Kira met her. A pleasant, throaty sound. “I understand. I had a crush on him for a long time. I have to warn you, though, he’s never been serious about a woman. He would bring someone to one of Grandfather’s parties, but it was never the same one. I asked him about it, and he said he’s too much of a workaholic to make a good husband.” Leigh looked at her. “That much is true.”

  “Do you know what ‘something in his past’ could mean?”

  “No. But he had his chance to get his hands on Grandfather’s fortune. He could have married me, which I hope would have been a more palatable prospect than killing people. I know Grandfather always wanted it.” The amusement in Leigh’s face faded. “And I would have said yes. I always said yes,” she added wistfully. “To my great chagrin, I married the first person who asked, maybe to spite both Max and Grandfather. Big mistake. Then I almost made the same mistake again. Max bought him off, too.”

  Sympathy flooded Kira. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. I’ve been concentrating on improving my judgment. I finally realized that I was looking at surface stuff like good looks and at least a smattering of surface charm. I think I finally graduated from that school.”

  “I saw you look at Chris,” Kira said. “He’s a really good guy.”

  “I detected that. You’re not … interested?”

  “Not in that way. He’s been a good friend. Nothing more. Not now, not ever.”

  Kira saw relief on Leigh’s face. She liked that. She switched to another subject. “Do you have any idea as to who could be behind this?” Kira asked.

  “I can’t imagine anyone in the family being involved. Seth has too much to lose, and we’ve always been close.” She gave Kira a weak smile. “Besides, he would be far more effective. He’s never tolerated sloppiness or incompetence.”

  Kira raised her eyebrows at that.

  “David is too preoccupied by his patients to care. He might think about protecting his father, but he abhors violence and would have absolutely no idea how to go about it. Same with Mrs. Baker. Uncle Michael is in Africa. I don’t like the CEO of Westerfield Industries, but he, too, has too much to lose. There’s some part-time employees. Rick, our groom and handyman, but he’s Mrs. Baker’s nephew and has no motive. Then there’s a cleaning agency.”

  “But someone tried to kill me and Mom. It certainly looked as if they were trying to set you up,” Kira said.

  Leigh tipped her head. “Which means whoever it is wants to get rid of both o
f us.”

  Kira nodded. She was beginning to like Leigh.

  “So what do we do?” Leigh asked.

  “Maybe try to draw whoever it is out.”

  “I don’t think either Chris or Max will agree to that.”

  Neither did Kira. But she couldn’t continue to live her life this way. She had to do something.

  Kira made breakfast. Toast and jam. Orange juice. Those had been her staples since her mother went into the hospital.

  Leigh took a bite, then put the toast down. “I’m not very brave.”

  Kira was beginning to think she was very brave. Leigh could have gone somewhere else last night. A thousand miles away if she wished. She could have asked Chris to stay. She could have resisted the DNA test. She could have continued to fight against the possibility she might lose everything.

  Kira had always wanted a sister. Or a brother. Too early to tell whether Leigh would really be one, but she definitely had promise.

  The phone rang. She looked at the ID. USA Today. She let it ring. Another ring. A television station. She let it ring again. The third call came from Chris. Kira picked it up.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked.

  “Like a rag doll. What about Max? Did you find out anything?”

  “Everyone’s damned closemouthed. The police think they might have something, but they also know Payton is a damned good attorney. They’re not going to rush into anything and they are not sharing.”

  “They’re not looking at anyone else?”

  “They’ve run financial checks on everyone else. They are looking deeper into Seth Westerfield’s campaign accounts, but so far both he and David Crawford look clean.”

  “Anything on the bullets at the site?” Kira pressed.

  “Not unless they find the weapon.”

  “You’ll keep us posted?”

  “Yes, but you stay put,” Chris said.

  Kira didn’t answer.

  “Kira?”

  “Okay.”

  “Let me talk to Leigh.”

  Kira handed over the phone with a few qualms. Would Leigh say anything about their conversation?

  But all she heard was, “I’m not planning to go anywhere. No, I haven’t thought of anyone else.” Then, “I’ll wait for you.”

  Kira raised an eyebrow in question.

  “He’ll be here this afternoon.”

  Leigh wanted to go home. She wanted to be with her horses. She wasn’t even sure why she was here except she now had an overwhelming need to learn more about Kira’s parents. She’d been honest with Kira. She wasn’t brave. And she didn’t think she was smarter than the police.

  She did fear, though, that if the culprit wasn’t discovered, they would all live under a cloud for years and she would never feel safe again.

  She hadn’t slept well last night. Strange bed. Ever stranger day. She kept going over her meeting with Katy Douglas, the connection she’d felt almost immediately, the sudden knowledge that she would give a kidney if she could. Oddly enough the fear of hospitals faded in the face of Katy Douglas’s need.

  “How long will it take to get the blood results?” she asked suddenly.

  “The doctor is expediting it,” Kira said. “We might know something today.” She studied Leigh. “Max told me a little of what happened to you after the automobile accident,” she said softly. “I know this is difficult.”

  “More like terrifying,” Leigh said. “What if your—our—mother refuses to accept the kidney?”

  “Appeal to her better side,” Kira said. “Right now she thinks she’s protecting us. It’s a mother thing. She doesn’t want to deprive us of anything. What she doesn’t understand but what we can make her understand is that it’s incredibly selfish of her not to let us—you—do this for her, not to get to know her, or spend time with her.” She paused. “If, that is, you’re willing to go on.”

  Leigh met her eyes. “I wouldn’t have agreed to the test if I hadn’t decided to go on.”

  Gratitude filled Kira. And hope. For the first time since she’d learned the results of her own test, she had hope. She leaned over and hugged Leigh. “Thank you.” She moved back, paused, then asked the question haunting her. “Your … my biological mother and father,” she asked, “can you tell me something about them?”

  Leigh didn’t really want to go there. No way did she intend to tell Kira that her father tried to murder both her and her mother because he thought his wife betrayed him.

  Especially now. A murder and suicide happened because someone switched babies—accidentally or purposefully. It made the tragedy that much worse. It hadn’t needed to happen. And she certainly didn’t want Kira to live with the kind of guilt she’d lived with.

  But she saw the raw need in Kira’s face. “I don’t remember much,” she said. “I was young, but I remember her singing to me …”

  “I saw the portrait of her at your home,” Kira said. “She … was beautiful. And … my father? Do you remember anything about him?”

  Leigh hesitated. There were no photos of her father in the house. Not even one with members of a band. Neither she nor Kira lucked out on the father factor. “Very little,” she finally said. “Both he and my mother were horse people. I remember a pony. But when they died, Grandfather sold the horses. He wouldn’t let me have any …”

  “But you have them now,” Kira said.

  “I always thought I inherited a love for horses but …”

  “It’s confusing, isn’t it,” Kira broke in. “I suspect we will be second-guessing ourselves for years, trying to figure out what is real and what isn’t.”

  Leigh nodded. “I still can’t get used to …”

  “Me, either.” Kira stood. “Can you draw a family tree? I think I have everything straight, but I’m not sure.”

  Leigh nodded. “Some of the history is complicated. And it’s family lore, so I don’t really know the right and wrong of it all. I can say today’s history started with Dan Westerfield—our great-grandfather.” She smiled wryly. “I think the best way to describe our families now is ‘our’ rather than ‘yours’ or ‘mine.’ It gets confusing.” She bit her lip. “Dysfunctional doesn’t begin to describe our family.”

  “What about Ed Westerfield?”

  “He was a hard man. Disciplined. Righteous. Ruthless but honest. He would tell someone before he stole their business.”

  “What was your relationship?”

  “I was an obligation. He tolerated me. But I kept disappointing him. I married a guy who …” She stopped. What in the hell was she doing telling Kira all this stuff?

  “Who what?” Kira prompted. Her eyes were warm. Interested.

  Kira would learn one of these days. Seth and David both knew about it. And Max knew better than anyone. “He … was sometimes violent. He started … abusing me physically when he learned I didn’t have cash lying all over. He’d wasted his time on a … well, not a particularly nice word.” She paused. “God, I was stupid. I thought I deserved it.”

  “I’m sorry,” Kira said. It was obvious she meant it. There was something about her that invited confidences, and there was some information she had every right to know.

  “Max found out and practically killed him. He told him if he ever tried to see me again, he would kill him. I thought he might. Instead, he gave him two hundred thousand dollars and told him to disappear. He did. Right after signing divorce papers.”

  Leigh saw Kira’s eyes sharpen at the earlier words and cursed herself.

  Kira’s phone rang, interrupting what she was going to say next.

  Reprieved.

  For the moment.

  Kira answered the phone, then handed it to Leigh. “It’s for you. He says it’s Rick, and it’s an emergency.”

  Leigh’s heart dropped. The only reason Rick would call is if there was something wrong at the barn. Or with Mrs. Baker.

  Her hand trembling, she put the phone to her ear.

  “Silver Lady is colicky,” Rick sa
id in a rush. “She’s walking around biting her side, getting up and down, sweating.” He sounded panicky.

  “Have you called the vet?”

  “No. I called you first.”

  “I’ll call her.”

  “Got her number right here,” Rick said. “Just wanted your permission.”

  “Okay. You call. Describe the symptoms to her. I’ll be there as soon as possible.” She hung up, then turned to Kira. “I can’t wait for Chris to return. My horse is sick. Maybe really bad.”

  35

  “I’ll drive,” Kira said. She’d realized from the first that there was a strong bond between Leigh and the white mare.

  Leigh, her expression stiff with anxiety, nodded. “Thanks. She’s really all I have.”

  Kira immediately thought how sad that was. Not that Leigh loved a horse, but that she felt there was no one else for her.

  Leigh could have so much more now if only she would grab it. A mother. Even a sister if she wanted one. And probably Chris if she was any judge of people.

  “I’ll drive you over, but the guard out in front won’t be happy.”

  “Max has guards at my home,” Leigh replied. “We’ll be safe enough from here to there.”

  “Maybe we should call Chris.”

  “I don’t want to waste time arguing with him. I want to be home when the vet arrives.”

  Kira understood. She recalled the way she felt when her mother fainted at her house. Complete panic. Maybe you couldn’t equate a human with an animal, but then again, maybe you could. Empathy flooded her.

  She grabbed her purse, glanced inside to make sure the pepper spray was there. She turned to Leigh. “I have some pepper spray, though it’s old.” Then she darted out the door, Leigh behind her. Her car was in the narrow drive.

  “I’ll start the car,” Kira said. “You tell the guard where we’re going.” For the first time—or maybe the second if she counted the other night—she wished she had a weapon. And knew how to use it. Maybe she would get someone to teach her.

  Who? Chris? Max?

  She kept remembering the cool look in Max’s eyes as he’d left yesterday, and he hadn’t called. He believed that she thought he had something to do with the attempts on her life. With murder.