Stranger At My Door (A Murder In Texas)

by Mari Manning

  She hurried up the stairs and pushed past Swope. Sunlight flowed like a golden river from Momma and Daddy’s room. The house would be an oven before noon if the heat got in. She stepped into the room.

  “We like to keep the shades drawn. Helps keep the heat out.”

  “Wait.” He barked the command.

  She froze.

  “Did you hear that?”

  “Hear what?”

  He shrugged. “Nothing. Thought I heard those old floorboards cricking again.” He pulled a bandana out of his back pocket and dabbed at his neck. “Must be the heat’s finally getting to me.” His face was damp and flushed, and she knew how he felt.

  “Makes everything seem out of whack, doesn’t it,” she said as she went for the open shade.

  Momma and Daddy’s old double bed with its carved mahogany bedposts and blue chenille spread floated in the dust motes. She reached for the shade to pull it down. A movement flicked behind her pale reflection in the window. She spun around, and her eyes swept through the room, over the tall dresser and across the heavy armoire where Momma had kept her wool things, around the closet door and past the stuffed chaise and the little round table with the periwinkle tablecloth. Nothing moved.

  Maybe it was her aching head, still a finger of alarm brushed softly down her back.

  “Did you check this room?”

  Swope came to the door. “Poked around a little. Why?”

  “Nothing.” She pulled down the shade. “I’ve got something I want to show you in my room.”

  He leered at her. “Right behind you, Miss Dinah.”

  “Are you always this crude? It’s a freaking penny, Swope, so get yourself under control.” She scooped up the penny and offered it to Swope before he could poke so much as the square toe of one boot in her room.

  He held it up to his face with his finger and thumb. “Looks like a regular penny to me. Where’d it come from?”

  “It was with my father’s change. The prison sent it back.”

  “That so?” He closed his fist around the coin and considered her.

  “I suspect you know the money my daddy stole was never found, and we think—uh, I think—he was trying to tell me where it was before he died, but he was too sick.”

  “What does this particular one-cent piece have to do with it?”

  “I’m not sure, but he mentioned a penny and sort of said it would lead me to the money.”

  “Really.” He held up the coin again. “What do you want me to do with this?”

  “It’s a 1943 penny.”

  “Huh?”

  “Could you maybe look it up on that computer you got out in the cruiser? See if it’s worth anything. It would save me a hike to the library on a hot day.” The fine hairs on the back of Dinah’s neck stood up. She jerked her head around. Momma and Daddy’s bedroom was dark and silent, the hallway empty.

  “Something wrong, Miss Dinah?”

  “Just felt a little funny is all. I’ll be fine.”

  Swope nodded. “The humidity’s got a mind of its own.” He dropped the coin into his shirt pocket. “Why don’t I go on out to my air-conditioned vehicle and look this up for you.” He tilted his head and studied her. “My momma used to put her underwear in the freezer on days like this. Never knew what I’d find when I went in for a Popsicle.”

  She shooed him away while trying to keep a straight face. “Go on now, Officer.”

  He clambered down the stairs. A rivulet of perspiration snaked down her spine. He was right about the heat. It just followed you around like a fire-breathing dragon getting ready for supper. “Uh, Swope?”

  He stopped at the front door. “Maybe you’re right about the heat. I’m going to grab a cold shower while you’re hunting up info on the penny.”

  “Sure thing, Miss Dinah. I’ll be sure to knock before I come in…in case you’re not decent.” He flashed her a yellowish grin and disappeared.

  The icy water tumbled over Dinah’s head and splashed across her shoulders, washing away the sticky heat. That Swope. He was a freaking goat. Then again, even a complete ignoramus had a good idea now and then. Maybe she’d put her underwear in the freezer.

  She turned off the shower and patted herself dry, trying her damndest to ignore the shadowy unease rippling around her. A fresh T-shirt, cut-offs, and underwear lay on the sink—she hadn’t wanted to risk running into Swope wrapped in a towel—and she hurriedly dressed.

  Dressing in the bathroom turned out to be a good idea. Swope was halfway up the steps when she emerged.

  “Miss Dinah.” He was nearly jumping up and down with excitement.

  “What’s gotten into you, Swope? How long have you been there?”

  “Come on down. I think I got some good news about this penny.”

  Good news would be most welcome right about now. She trotted down the steps, and he dropped the coin back in her hand.

  “I looked up 1943 pennies on the Internet, and some are worth a lot of money. It’s a little confusing since I don’t know much about numismatics—that’s what they call coin collecting.”

  No wonder she had a headache. “I know.”

  “So in 1943 they made pennies out of steel and zinc because of the war, but some copper ones were made by mistake, and these numismatic types will pay a lot for the copper ones. That’s what you have.”

  “A lot as in two hundred and fifty thousand?”

  “Not that much. But maybe ten thousand.”

  She gazed down at the coin. A penny. “My daddy said a penny would lead me to the gold. This must be the penny he meant.”

  “Maybe.”

  “There must be more coins somewhere. He said to take the gold to Austin. He must have meant gold coins.”

  “Might have been old ones,” said Swope. “It would take a bushel basket full of regular gold coins to equal a quarter of a million dollars. Be hard to hide.”

  Is that what Daddy did with the money? As an ex-cop he could probably have found someone to take cash for the coins. Launder the money and whittle it down to something portable.

  “It makes sense, but what did he do with the other coins?”

  “What about the rest of your daddy’s change?” Swope asked.

  The sharp click of metal on metal echoing from the hallway kept her from answering. “Stand nice and still for me now.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Dinah jerked up. At a range too close to miss, Hollyn held Rafe’s Beretta, and it was aimed straight at Dinah’s head. Hatred had twisted Hollyn’s face in an ugly knot, and Dinah barely recognized the desperate young girl she’d taken in. But something else about Hollyn had changed.

  “Hollyn! What happened to the baby?”

  Hollyn’s lip curled up. “There’s no baby. Never was. My uncle thought I’d be more sympathetic if I wore that stupid canvas thing. He’s pretty smart that way.”

  The shadowy feeling of doom following Dinah around all morning grew palpable. Was Hollyn the murderer, the kid with the knife, the second kidnapper? Bile rose in her throat, and a bitter taste filled her mouth. Rafe had tried to tell her as much. Daisy, too. But she was so sure she knew people. Hell, she didn’t even know herself. All that tough-talking bullshit she’d said to Rafe about how she’d break his heart. Hers was the one shattered into a million pieces, and she had no one to blame but herself. She deserved to be conned by Hollyn. And every bit of hate Rafe had for her—she deserved that, too. Maybe even getting shot by Hollyn for being so damn sure that cops were the bad guys, and losers like her and Hollyn were fucking noble victims was fitting. Killed by a fellow “noble victim.” The perfect end to her wasted, useless life.

  Swope’s stale breath, hot and damp, pressed against her cheek. “Get behind me, Miss Dinah.”

  She’d earned whatever happened to her today, but Swope didn’t deserve to die for her mistakes. She had to fight for his life. “Look, Hollyn, honey lamb. I don’t know what sort of trouble you’re in—”

  Swope pushed her be
hind his body. “Let me handle this, Miss Dinah.”

  “No!” Hollyn stepped closer and waved her gun at him. “Get back where you were, Miss Dinah.”

  Dinah slid from behind Swope.

  “And you”—Hollyn waved her gun at Swope—“Throw your gun on the floor and kick it this way.”

  “Look, honey,” said Swope in a surprisingly gentle voice, “you don’t want to get yourself into a heap of trouble. There’s still time to change your mind. Nobody’s hurt yet. You give me your gun, we can forget this ever happened.”

  Fat chance the law would forget Hollyn had drawn a gun on a cop.

  Hollyn’s eyes blazed at Swope. “You’re lying.” She raised her gun to Dinah’s head. Dinah heart stopped beating, but she forced her gaze to lock with Hollyn. “He didn’t mean any disrespect, did you Officer?”

  Swope drew a breath. “No.”

  The gun went off with a sharp crack, and a bullet flew over Dinah’s head and hit the ceiling. Flakes of plaster fluttered down like snow.

  “Next time you lie to me, someone gets shot. Now get that gun off you,” Hollyn demanded.

  “Just relax, honey.” Swope pulled out his gun and set it down.

  “Kick it.” He nudged it in Hollyn’s direction with his boot. It scooted a few inches across the floor.

  “Move back, both of you.”

  Dinah backed up into the living room, But Swope hesitated.

  Hollyn pointed the gun at him. “I’m not warning you again, cop.”

  With a soft gasp, he stepped back. Hollyn advanced, but kept a safe distance from Swope’s long arms should he have a mind to grab at her.

  She waved the gun at Dinah. “Give me the penny.”

  Dinah held out the hand with the coin. “The penny is yours. I’m giving it to you to keep. You don’t have to hurt anyone for it.”

  “Toss it here.”

  Dinah threw the penny over Hollyn’s head. It clattered to the floor and rolled under the dining room table. “Sorry. I must be a little nervous.”

  Hollyn shrugged. “Don’t matter. I’ll have plenty of time after I get rid of you.”

  Swope’s strangled grunt of shock didn’t fill Dinah with confidence.

  “Why are you doing this, honey lamb?”

  “Don’t call me that. I hate it.”

  Dinah’s heartbeat quickened. “I just want to understand why you’re doing this.”

  “It’s not for me. I know that’s what you all are thinking.”

  “It must be for someone you love a whole lot.”

  “My momma, if you must know. They’re gating her on Tuesday.”

  “Gating?”

  Swope spoke in a shaky voice. “She’s being released from prison.”

  Hollyn’s eyes narrowed to tiny, hateful slits. The gun swung in Swope’s direction. “It was the cops who put her there. She was just dealing drugs to support us, and you locked her up for five and a half years, and my brother and me, we went to foster care. He’s still there, and he’s hungry and needs new clothes but his fosters spend his money on drink and such. When my momma comes, we’re going to find my brother and be a family.”

  “The sale or use of drugs is a crime,” said Swope. He sounded defensive.

  Shut up before you get us killed. “Sometimes cops make mistakes,” said Dinah. “I’m sure they didn’t mean to hurt you or your brother or your momma.”

  Hollyn’s gaze returned to Dinah, and her upper lip curled. “I’m sure you know all about cops making mistakes, huh, Miss Dinah?”

  Keep the focus on Hollyn. Don’t let her turn it on you. “I do. That’s why I want to help you. Tell me what you need to help your momma.”

  Hollyn threw her head back and laughed. “That was funny.”

  “I’m telling you the truth. I want to help you.”

  “You sure are stupid. Don’t you get it? My momma and me need money so we can get a place together. That’s why I’m here. To get the money. It’s mine.”

  Swope spoke up again. “It’s not yours. It was stolen from the rodeo. It belongs to them.” Just like a man to bring a club to a pillow fight.

  Hollyn’s face hardened. “I should shoot you for lying, cop.”

  “He didn’t mean it the way it sounded,” said Dinah. “We don’t understand what you meant about it being your money is all.”

  “It’s my uncle’s money. He came up with the plan and got Teke and Lonnie to go along with it, then your daddy took all the money. He laughed and told my uncle he was too dumb to see what was right in front of his face. But my uncle got him sent away so he showed your daddy. And now my uncle is going away, so it’s mine.”

  Dinah’s gaze swept over Hollyn’s strawberry-blond hair. “Your uncle is Gerry Sutton. That’s where you go when you leave the house. And all the food and household supplies. They came from your uncle’s house. I wondered how you could stretch a dollar so far.”

  Hollyn’s lips curled into a humorless grin. “Pretending to see into the future doesn’t buy much. I guess it’s just as well you don’t care about nothing. When I shoot, you won’t be real sad to go.”

  She wasn’t right about much, but Hollyn was right about this. Dinah had always figured if she didn’t try, she couldn’t fail. But not trying was failing, too. Isn’t that what Rafe tried to tell her. “You must be worried about your uncle.”

  “He called my momma a crack whore so I’m glad he’s in jail. I hope he gets locked up with my drunken daddy. He can be reunited with his brother like he always says he wants.”

  “I know how it feels to have a daddy in prison. It’s horrible, isn’t it?”

  Hollyn sneered at her. “My daddy liked to get drunk and hit us. How about yours?”

  “I’m sorry, Hollyn.”

  “Don’t matter. He’s locked up for good, and my uncle will be, too.” Hollyn waved the gun. “Where’s the rest of the money?”

  The quarter-million-dollar question. Maybe the answer would save Swope’s life. Right in front of your face. Her daddy had said that to Mr. Gerry. But his letter hadn’t said a word about Mr. Gerry having the money. The letter had said historical…and the penny is the key. A light went on in Dinah’s head. The missing word was museum. The historical museum where her daddy had moonlighted as a guard for Mr. Gerry.

  Of course! It all fit.

  The penny wouldn’t be noticed by the prison guards. It was just pocket change. They confiscated it from incoming prisoners every day. But a closer look by someone cued to search for a penny would reveal its age, and a little research would show it to be valuable. Her father wouldn’t have risked taking all the booty into prison. Besides the guards would notice coins no longer in circulation or made of gold. So he hid the rest in plain sight. Among the old coins and rusty medals from the Mexican-American War and World War I, was at least one gold coin worth six figures.

  “I’ll tell you, but first you have to let Swope go.”

  Hollyn guffawed. “You make me laugh sometimes. How about if you don’t tell me, I’ll shoot him.”

  “You don’t want to take someone’s life, do you?”

  “Already did. I cut that Teke guy’s neck. It was sort of a mistake, but I didn’t mind it after he was dead.”

  “You were the intruder.”

  “Yeah.” Hollyn straightened proudly. “You were lucky your boyfriend came when he did, or it might have been you under that bridge.”

  “And Lonnie?”

  “My uncle and me took care of him. I took truth serum from your friend’s medical bag. After we were sure Lonnie didn’t know anything, he passed out and we put him in the car. I told Uncle Gerry to put the dog in the car, too, but he likes dogs so he wouldn’t do it. I knew that mutt would be trouble.”

  “You were right. Daisy recognized you.”

  “I couldn’t search your house for the money with that thing always following me around. Besides it bit me.” Her gaze swung to Swope. “That’s a crime, too. Biting people.”

  Swope’s Adam’s a
pple bobbed. “Sure thing.” The words were squeaks of terror.

  Dinah tried to draw Hollyn’s attention back to her. “That’s why you poisoned Daisy. So she’d stop following you.”

  “Whatever. Tell me where the money is.”

  Hurry, Rafe, Burnsie, someone, anyone!

  “I found my Momma’s glasses at Mr. Gerry’s cabin. Did he kill her?” Did she really want to know the answer? Yes. Momma deserved this much.

  “Uncle Gerry was sad about her. He thought she knew something, carrying on the way she did. Seemed fake to him. That’s what he told me.” Hollyn rolled her eyes. “He didn’t mean to shoot her. He was just trying to scare her is all. But then she died so he took her out to the cabin and buried her. Teke and Lonnie helped. They were going to try to scare you, too, but my uncle was shook up, and stupid Teke and Lonnie said they wouldn’t help.”

  Hollyn tilted her head. “Just as well. Doesn’t seem like you scare easy. Course, neither did your momma and look what happened to her.”

  A tight fist of pain released in her, but Dinah didn’t have time to examine it. Later…if she lived that long.

  Hollyn shifted. “I’m getting tired of all this talking. Where’s the money?”

  “You want the money, and I want you to have the money so you can take care of your momma and your brother, uh, you know what? I don’t know your brother’s name.”

  “It’s Gerald. After my uncle.” She waved the gun at them. “I know what you’re trying to do. Stop wasting time.”

  “I like Gerald. That’s a very nice name.”

  “And you’re a stupid bitch.”

  An explosion of light flashed from the gun, and a sharp pop rattled the windows. A force pushed Dinah sideways, and she stumbled against Swope.

  His eyes nearly sprang out of his head as he righted her. “Your arm!”

  Dinah glanced down. Blood poured from a wound on her upper arm. Her knees buckled, and she sank to the floor.

  …

  Still in scrubs, Esme emerged from the shelter’s operating room, looking tired, but smiling.

  Rafe jumped up. “How’s Daisy?”

  “Dinah found her in time, and we got the poison pumped out before it could do her serious harm. She’ll have to stay here for a few days so we can keep an eye on her, but after that, she’ll be ready to go home.”