A Cloud of Suspicion

by Patricia Davids

  “Did Earl Farley find out the child wasn’t his? I can understand how he must have felt. Angry. Betrayed. Perhaps Leah was defending herself. Earl was known to have a temper.”

  Shelby held up both hands. “No. No. No. Leah did not kill Earl. She did not kill Dylan. Why are you saying these things?”

  “I’m trying to get to the bottom of three murders.”

  How could she make him understand? “Leah is missing. She’s a victim.”

  “With a friend who would do anything for her, even help cover her tracks.”

  A cold calm settled over Shelby. Sam was trying to do his job, but he had it all wrong. “Am I under arrest?”

  “Not at this point.”

  “Then I’m leaving. I told you what I suspect and that’s all I have to say.”

  “Don’t go far, Miss Mason. We may have more questions for you.”

  Rising on shaky legs, Shelby made her way out of the room.

  Patrick was waiting outside when Shelby finally walked out of the police station. He took one look at her face and rushed to her. “Hey, what’s the matter? You look like you’re about to keel over.”

  “I need you to hold me.”

  “Of course.” He wrapped his arms around her. The feel of her small, trembling body nestled against his brought out every protective instinct he possessed. “Was there another threat? Did someone try to hurt you?”

  “No.”

  She looked up at him with wide frightened eyes. “I told Sam Pierce what I suspected. He said it gives Leah a motive to have killed her husband and Dylan. He thinks I helped her.”

  “What? That’s crazy.”

  “I should have kept quiet. I never should have said anything.”

  “Shelby, you were right to try to help.”

  “It doesn’t feel right.”

  “What feels right is holding you. A few hours ago I thought I might never do this.” He gently kissed her upturned face.

  “I love you, Shelby,” he murmured against her cheek.

  She tightened her grip around him. “I love you more. I thank God for you. With you and my faith back, I know we can make it. I believe that with all my heart, Patrick.”

  “The sheriff told me I can’t leave town.”

  “Really?” She leaned back to gaze up at him. “The FBI told me the same thing. It sounds like we could be spending a lot of time together.”

  “Sounds perfect.”

  “What about your friends in California?”

  He shrugged. “They’ll understand when I tell them I’ve found the woman of my dreams. Someone quite smart suggested I start my own custom cycle shop. What do you think of that idea?”

  Smiling, she tipped her head. “I think it sounds perfect.”

  It was a good idea, but he wouldn’t be able to do it by himself. He’d need a partner. Someone familiar with the area to help him get started. Would Wyatt be interested? The thought of working with his friend again made him smile.

  Shelby pressed her face to his chest once more. “We have one more place to go tonight.”

  “Where is that?”

  Sighing, she said, “I have to talk to Leah’s brother.”

  NINETEEN

  Shelby paused outside Clint’s front door. Looking over her shoulder at Patrick, she asked, “What am I doing? What do I really know?”

  He laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. “You had to tell the truth.”

  “Some help that was. All I did was give the authorities a stronger motive to suspect Leah killed Dylan—and that I helped her.”

  “If Dylan is Sarah’s father, it’s going to change a lot of things for that little girl.”

  “I know. It’s just that Clint has suffered so much already. Now I’m going to pour salt in his wounds.”

  “It’ll be hard for him to hear, but it will be better coming from you. You’re Leah’s friend.”

  “I pray you’re right.” Biting her lip, Shelby pressed the doorbell and waited.

  After a few moments, Clint opened the door. A puzzled frown creased his forehead. “Shelby, what are you doing here?”

  “I need to talk to you. It’s about Leah.”

  Hope brightened his eyes. “Have you heard something?”

  “Not about her disappearance. This has to do with Sarah. May we come in?”

  “Of course.” His disappointment was obvious and wounded Shelby’s heart. Taking a step back, he gestured for them to enter.

  Clint lived in an old, two-story home that faced the park. As a contractor himself, he had done much of the work remodeling and updating it. The clack of Shelby’s heels sounded unnaturally loud on the hardwood floors. She was relieved when they reached the living room where carpet muffled the noise.

  His home was clean and neat except for a few of Sarah’s toys left lying about. Clearly a bachelor’s place, the room contained cushy chairs, a sofa and a TV. The beautiful framed watercolors of the bayou on his walls sent a shiver over Shelby’s skin. Leah’s body might be out there somewhere.

  Shelby sat on the sofa, glad to have Patrick at her side. She reached for his hand and squeezed it. His presence brought her consolation and strength.

  Please, Lord, let this be the right thing to do.

  Clint sat in the chair opposite them. “What’d y’all want to tell me about Sarah?”

  Taking a deep breath, Shelby gently began her story. When she was finished, she waited for Clint to speak.

  “No!” He shook his head, denial etched deep in his features.

  Shooting to his feet, he began pacing across the room. “She would have told me if Dylan had…done something like that.”

  “I was so confused when the drug wore off that I wasn’t certain about anything—where I was, what had happened. She may not have wanted to admit it, even to herself.”

  He rounded on her. “See, you’re not sure.”

  “I’m sorry, Clint. I know this is difficult. If I had solid evidence it would be easier, but all I have is my gut instinct. Her mouth was bruised. She had bruises on her wrists. She quit her job the next day. She never talked about that night. She married Earl almost right away. Sarah was born in September. Nine months later.”

  Clint sank onto the chair and dropped his head in his hands. “I don’t know what to believe.

  “She would have told me,” he repeated, almost to himself.

  Leaning forward, Shelby tried to make him understand what it had been like. “Afterward, I had these dreams about a man standing over me, laughing at me, making me feel stupid and dirty. I wanted to block it all out of my head. I didn’t think it was real. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for Leah if she was raped.”

  “Dear God, don’t let it be true.” Clint cupped his hand over his mouth and blinked back tears.

  Gently, Shelby added, “In light of Dylan’s last words, it makes sense.”

  Patrick spoke up for the first time. “There’s something else you should know, Clint. The police and the FBI are looking at this information as motive.”

  Clint frowned. “Motive? For what?”

  “They say this gives Leah a reason to have killed Dylan and disappeared on purpose.”

  Clint rose to his feet and crossed to the window to stare out into the darkness. “No. Even if these speculations are true, Leah wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

  Shelby exchanged a pointed glance with Patrick. He nodded. Rising, she crossed to Clint’s side and laid a hand on his shoulder. “There’s only one way to discover the truth. Give permission for the FBI to test Sarah’s DNA.”

  After a long silence, he turned to face her. “I’m not going to do that.”

  Shelby nodded in understanding.

  “Why not?” Patrick demanded.

  Glancing at him, Clint’s lips twisted into a sad half smile. “Because it would be the same as saying I believe my sister is a liar.”

  As they left Clint’s house, Shelby welcomed Patrick’s arm around her shoulder. “Maybe Clint is right. Maybe Dyl
an didn’t assault Leah.”

  If only she believed it, but in her heart she knew differently.

  “He should allow DNA testing.” Patrick shortened his steps to match hers.

  They stopped by unspoken consent at her car. She said, “Everything that has happened in Loomis is somehow related to Leah. We’re missing something.”

  “There are a lot of people working on this, Shelby, but sometimes these things are never solved.”

  “I have to prepare myself for that, don’t I?”

  A car came down the street, and Shelby turned her face away from the bright lights. As she did, she caught a glimpse of a face peering out of the shrubbery in front of Clint’s window.

  Disbelief held Shelby motionless until the car passed by. She grabbed Patrick’s arm. “It can’t be.”

  “What?” He looked around quickly.

  “I saw her. I saw Leah!”

  The figure near the house moved away. Shelby started after her and screamed, “Leah, wait! Leah, stop!”

  To Shelby’s amazement, her friend began running. As Leah crossed the drive of the house next door, motion-sensing lights lit up the darkness.

  Shelby had one clear look at her face when Leah glanced over her shoulder. Without slowing, she ran across the street and into the park.

  Shelby followed, screaming Leah’s name until she lost sight of her in the darkness.

  Patrick caught up with Shelby as she stood at the edge of the park yelling at the top of her lungs. He grasped her shoulders. “Shelby, what are you doing?”

  She didn’t take her eyes off the park. “I saw her. Why would she run from me?”

  Lights came on at a few more houses as people stepped out to see what was going on. Clint was among them. He came jogging toward them.

  “What happened?”

  Shelby whirled to face him. “I saw Leah.”

  “What? Where?” Clint moved to scan the park.

  “She was outside your window looking in. When I called her name, she started running. Clint, why would she run away?”

  Patrick pulled Shelby close. She was on the verge of hysterics.

  “Are you sure it was Leah?” Clint’s voice vibrated with uncertainty and hope.

  A small crowd had begun to gather on the sidewalk. Shelby pressed a hand to her forehead. “Yes. Her hair was different. Short and dyed a dark color.”

  “Then maybe it wasn’t her.”

  Shelby managed to calm herself enough to answer. “I know it was Leah. I know it was.”

  She looked at Clint. “What is she hiding from?”

  EPILOGUE

  Two days later, the killer paced back and forth across a small room. Fury boiled beneath the surface, threatening to explode into scathing violence. All because Shelby Mason couldn’t keep her fat mouth shut.

  Toying with her, scaring the miserable little mouse had been fun, but useless in the end.

  Killing her outright would have been better. Only Patrick Rivers’s arrival had saved her.

  It was too late to do anything about it now. Both the FBI and that fool Rivers were watching Shelby like hawks. The ploy to get rid of her ardent protector had failed, too.

  Failure was not an option! Not acceptable!

  Covering all the tracks of that unsuccessful gambit had taken a nasty bit of clean-up work. The greedy little liar hired for her acting ability was spending her hard-earned money at the bottom of the swamp.

  That was one body that would never resurface.

  Unlike Leah Farley.

  The gossip was all over town that Shelby had seen her friend outside Clint Herald’s place. If it had been Leah, why had she vanished again without speaking to anyone?

  Was she smarter than she looked?

  Calming down, the killer laid a red wig and gun into the small secret hiding place at the back of the closet. Stroking the soft hair of the wig, the killer smiled.

  “Don’t worry. You won’t be in here long. You’ll both be needed again very soon—if Leah Farley really is alive.”

  Dear Reader

  I hope you are enjoying all the books in the WITHOUT A TRACE series. A Cloud of Suspicion was my first suspense novel and in some ways my most difficult book to date. Writing a story inside the continuity proved to be a challenge. I couldn’t have done it without the help of the other authors in this series. Each and every one of them helped me in countless ways. Those talented ladies have my special thanks.

  For me, the toughest thing was crafting a story where the murderer isn’t revealed. Although I already know “who done it,” I can’t wait to read the final books in this series. The twists just keep coming.

  I’ve learned a thing or two while working on A Cloud of Suspicion. For one, I learned I like to write scary stuff. My next book for Love Inspired Suspense, Speed Trap, will be out in September of 2009.

  I’d love to hear what you think of the series. You can e-mail me at pat@patriciadavids.com or write me at P.O. Box 16714, Wichita, Kansas 67216.

  Blessings to all,

  QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

  Did you enjoy A Cloud of Suspicion? Why or why not?

  Did you think Shelby Mason was an unlikely heroine? Why?

  What personality trait or traits did Shelby need to overcome to become a stronger woman?

  What was your impression of Patrick Rivers when he first appeared? Did your impression change after finishing the book?

  Did you find his character well-drawn or superficial?

  Loomis is a town rife with gossip. Do you feel it accurately portrays small town life?

  Have the authors of the WITHOUT A TRACE books done a good job of keeping the recurring characters true to form?

  Did the setting of the story appeal to you? Why or why not?

  Shelby’s faith was strong from start to finish, but Patrick had to begin a journey back to God. Do you know someone who lost their faith and then rediscovered it?

  As a young man, Patrick was accused of a crime he didn’t commit. Was he wrong to leave town or should he have stayed and faced down the gossip? What would you have done in his place?

  Motorcycles have a special appeal and can evoke strong emotions. Do you associate them with fun and freedom or a lack of responsibility? Why?

  Wyatt allowed jealousy to ruin his best friend’s life. When has jealousy adversely affected your life or the life of someone you know?

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-3189-8

  A CLOUD OF SUSPICION

  Copyright © 2009 by Harlequin Books S.A.

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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