Reunited by Danger

by Carol J. Post

  He pressed the phone icon next to her name. Four rings later, she answered.

  “Did I wake you up?”

  “No. I was feeding the cats.”

  The tension he’d felt last night came through in her tone. In the background, a chorus of meows accompanied her words.

  “I’m headed your way for some fishing. If you’re not busy I’d like you to join me for breakfast. My treat.”

  “I’ve got things to do.” The stiffness was still there, along with a lot of hesitation.

  “You have to eat anyway, right?” When she didn’t respond, he added, “I upset you last night and I’m sorry. Give me a chance to make it up to you.”

  Silence stretched between them. Finally she sighed. “All right. How about Annie’s?”

  “Sounds good.” He hadn’t eaten there but he’d passed it plenty of times coming into Cedar Key. He disconnected the call and slid the phone into the pouch at his hip.

  When he pulled into the parking lot of Annie’s, Amber was walking into the building.

  A minute later he joined her at a table. “Thanks for meeting me. This gives me the opportunity to apologize in person.”

  She gave him a half smile. “Maybe I was a tad bit touchy.”

  “You’re entitled. What you’re dealing with would take a toll on anyone.”

  A waitress approached with some menus and took their drink orders. Once she left, he sat back in his chair. “How was your hot date?”

  “I didn’t say date. I said appointment.”

  “I’m good at reading between the lines. It’s my job.”

  She grinned. “You’re fishing.”

  “Maybe I am. Just curious. You know, trying to catch up.”

  Okay, maybe it was a little more than that. He did want to know her better. Something about her tugged at him. It was the sadness in her eyes, the tormented soul he sensed behind her tough exterior. She needed a friend, someone who understood what she was going through, the battles she’d fought alone for the past ten years. Friendship he could do.

  “Okay, you’re right.” She rested her elbows on the table and interlaced her fingers. “I spent the evening with a man. I love him. He’s kind and gentle and sweet.”

  As she spoke he refused to analyze the disappointment settling in his chest. So what if she was in a serious relationship? It wouldn’t affect his interactions with her. Unless her guy was one of those jealous, possessive types.

  Her eyes sparked with humor. “He’s also eighty-seven.”

  At his raised brows she continued. “I’m a volunteer for Haven Hospice. Every couple of weeks I go sit with Mr. Danforth to give his wife a break. Tuesday night, she had a late dinner with friends.”

  He shook his head. The more he learned about Amber, the more she intrigued him. “I have to admit, the idea of you comforting terminally ill people is even less expected than your fostering homeless cats.”

  “I’m full of surprises.”

  And she was quickly earning his admiration and respect. “How long have you worked with Haven Hospice?”

  “A couple of years. I visit the center regularly and sit in people’s homes several times a month to give the caregivers a break.”

  “You work full-time, foster a bunch of cats and volunteer for hospice. When do you take time for yourself?”

  She shrugged. “I like to stay busy.”

  “Busy is good. It’s also a good way to burn yourself out.”

  There was likely more behind her frenzied activity than not wanting downtime. Was her busyness an attempt to forget the mistakes of her past? Or was she hoping to do enough good to cancel them out?

  Whatever response she would’ve given was cut off when the waitress approached with their drinks, ready to take their orders.

  After she left, Amber smiled. “What about you? Any eighty-seven-year-old girlfriends?”

  He laughed. “No girlfriends of any age.”

  “So you’ve never been married? I figured you’d have a couple of kids by now.”

  “No kids.”

  At his terse tone, her gaze snapped upward and locked with his. It had been four years and every time he thought about it, the knife still twisted in his gut. Yeah, he’d been married, until a simple trip to the grocery store had left his wife dead and some thug ten dollars richer. Not a conversation he wanted to have in a crowded restaurant.

  He took a sip of coffee. “Anything since the note on Tuesday?”

  “No. I checked with the others and no one else got anything.” She pulled her lower lip between her teeth. “My brother’s pretty worried. I’m a little freaked out, too. Hunter’s afraid that since I’m the only one who got the note, it means I’m next. But it may not mean anything. The killer didn’t give Ramona or Alex any warning.”

  “Maybe he did and they didn’t take it seriously enough to report it.”

  She picked up her still steeping tea and wrapped both hands around the mug, as if trying to absorb its warmth. His chest clenched. It would take more than hot tea to dispel the chill that had likely been with her since the reunion.

  “Do you have someone you can stay with? Hunter, maybe?”

  She lifted a brow. “Me and my five cats? Don’t worry. I won’t open my door without my weapon in my hand, and I fully intend to avoid balconies.”

  He frowned. “You’re assuming he’s going to attack in the same way. There are dozens of ways to kill someone. You can’t anticipate them all.”

  “I’m not letting my guard down.”

  Yeah, and it was affecting her sleep if the shadows beneath her eyes were any indication. “I know I asked you this earlier, but can you think of anyone who might want to see you guys dead, other than Logan?”

  She shook her head. “I still think it’s Logan. I mean, he was gone for almost ten years. He returns and all this stuff starts. His comment at Walmart was pretty incriminating, too—‘Two down, four to go.’”

  Good points. But she was discounting Logan’s alibi. “When Alex fell, Logan was there, but the night Ramona was killed, he wasn’t anywhere near Fort Lauderdale.”

  “According to Danielle.”

  “True.” No one could corroborate her testimony. Their tryst had been so discreet, none of the neighbors had seen them all weekend. Danielle had claimed she’d brought Logan home late Friday night and parked her car in the garage. They’d slipped out Sunday morning, just before dawn, well before her husband had arrived home from his business trip. Either they’d been really diligent about keeping their affair a secret or they were both lying.

  He took a sip of his coffee. “You think she’s covering for him?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “If she is, she’s risking her marriage to do it. If the cat isn’t out of the bag now, it will be soon.”

  Amber crossed her arms. “Assuming the killer is Logan, he obviously has help. A woman wearing gloves and sequined ballet slippers delivered my note.”

  Caleb nodded. “Then she disappeared. Or got rid of the slippers and gloves.”

  They’d asked everyone at the reunion, including the staff and caterers, and no one had seen a woman fitting that description. There’d been no witnesses in the bathroom, either. According to Amber, someone had come out as she was going in, and other than the stall at the end being occupied, the bathroom had been empty.

  Caleb drummed his fingers on the table. “We’re keeping an eye on Logan anyway. Maybe we’ll expand that to Danielle.”

  The waitress returned to set steaming plates of eggs in front of them. Amber picked up a piece of toast and dipped it into her yolk. “If Logan has a female accomplice, it would explain Mona opening the door.”

  “Who could he have recruited?

  “Maybe an old girlfriend of Landon’s.” She paused
. “Danielle dated him before she dated Logan. When Landon dumped her, she took it hard. We wondered whether she was going out with Logan to make Landon jealous.”

  Caleb put a forkful of scrambled eggs in his mouth and followed it with a sip of coffee. “Do you still have your high school yearbooks?”

  “They’re stored on the shelf with my old photo albums.”

  “Good.” His were somewhere in his parents’ attic. He’d left for college right after high school and gotten married as soon as he’d finished the academy. Picking up childhood memorabilia had never been high on his priority list.

  “I’d like to go through them with you, see if they spur any memories. I’m also going to compile a list of everyone who attended the reunion. I want you guys to look at it and point out anyone who dated Landon. Or anyone who may have had a serious crush on him, even if those feelings weren’t returned.”

  She gave him a wry smile. “That was half the school. The female half, anyway. Landon was pretty popular.”

  “That’s a lot of suspects.”

  Caleb’s cell phone buzzed at his hip. One glance at the screen sent adrenaline pumping through him. Frank Mason. The lead detective on the case wouldn’t be calling him if it wasn’t important.

  Frank moved right to business. “I’m aware you’re off, but I thought you’d want to know. We got a call from Vincent Mahoney’s wife. Olivia Chamberlain contacted him early this morning and asked him to meet her at McDonald’s in Williston. He never arrived.”

  As Frank talked, Caleb’s gut tightened. When his gaze met Amber’s, she was watching him, brow creased. She could probably hear every word. Undertone wasn’t in the man’s vocabulary.

  Caleb returned his attention to the detective. “Was anyone watching him?” The authorities didn’t have around-the-clock surveillance on the four of them, but it was pretty close, especially at night.

  “According to Jessica Mahoney, Vincent told the deputy to make sure he wasn’t being followed then go back and watch his wife. He hasn’t let her out of his sight since this started.”

  Caleb tightened his grip on the phone. The man was ensuring his wife’s safety and may have lost his own life in the process. “I’ll let Amber know. I’m sure she’ll want to be there. I’ll probably tag along.”

  He ended the call and looked at Amber. Her face had lost three shades of color. He squelched an urge to jump up and wrap her in a comforting hug. Instead he reached across the table to lay his hand over hers. “You probably gathered that wasn’t good news.”

  She swallowed hard, the muscles in her neck moving with the action. “Vincent’s gone.”

  “We don’t know for sure. Would you like a ride to the Mahoneys’?”

  She nodded. “I’m sure Liv will head over there. If possible, I’d like to be with both of them when they get the news.” Her gaze shifted to stare at some point beyond him. “Liv is going to blame herself, since she was the one he was going to meet.”

  Sadness settled in her eyes, mixed with a good dose of regret. Although she spoke of Liv, her thoughts were obviously in the past. His impression at the Gathering Table had been correct. Amber had been beating herself up for the past ten years. She still wasn’t through.

  He squeezed her hand. “Sometimes bad things happen because of our actions, even though they were completely innocent at the time.” How well he knew.

  She pulled her hand from beneath his. “I need to get over to Jessica’s.”

  He signaled the waitress for their check. He’d eaten all but his toast, and Amber had made it through most of her breakfast. But they were finished. Frank’s phone call had seen to that.

  After paying for their meals, he led Amber toward his truck.

  With God’s help, he’d finally found a measure of peace. He’d gradually let go of the blame and accepted healing.

  Maybe he could help Amber do the same.

  FIVE

  “I wonder how Vince’s wife is holding up.” Amber stared through the front windshield, her expression thoughtful. She’d been quiet during most of the trip, but Caleb hadn’t tried to engage her in conversation. She was looking at the likelihood of having lost another friend.

  She crossed her arms in front of her. “You know, he’s the only one of us who’s married. As far as I know, Alex never got married. Ramona did, but that ended.” She looked over at him. “Raymond’s too much of a party guy to ever get married. And Liv is just...Liv.”

  “What about you?”

  “Someday maybe. Right now I’ve got too much going on. I don’t have time to put into a relationship. That’s how it’s been for a while. In college, I was too busy trying to keep up with my studies while working almost full-time. My grades weren’t good enough to get scholarships.” She uncrossed her arms and let her hands rest in her lap. “I had plenty of time to date when I was in high school, but my dad was a pretty big deterrent.”

  Caleb grinned over at her. He’d never asked Amber out, but he could imagine that of Mr. Kingston.

  “He had a knack for scaring the guys away, or at least freaking them out pretty good with his demands. Any prospective suitors had to come inside, sit down and have a polite conversation with him and Mom. It didn’t take Dad long to get to the talk—how to treat a girl with respect and not try to take advantage.”

  “Just what most sixteen-and seventeen-year-old guys want to hear.”

  “Yeah. Word got around and it cut down on the traffic. But thinking about a few of those guys, I wasn’t missing much.”

  Caleb turned into the driveway indicated by his GPS. A ritzy house stood at the end, surrounded by several sprawling acres. Olivia’s older-model Fiat wasn’t there. But the Alachua County sheriff’s cruiser looked conspicuously out of place sitting next to the fountain. Reminders of the ugliness of society didn’t belong in picture-perfect settings.

  Caleb stepped from the truck then walked with Amber on the brick pavers leading to the front door. The house was stucco, with multiple gables and alcoves and other architectural accents. The porch spanned the entire two stories, a crystal chandelier hanging twelve feet below its peak. They were several miles southwest of Gainesville and were about to see firsthand some of those pleasures referred to in Vincent’s line of the poem.

  A half minute after he rang the bell, one of the huge double doors swung inward and a woman who resembled Jessica stood in the opening.

  Amber stepped forward. “I’m Amber Kingston, a friend of Vince, and this is Caleb Lyons with Levy County Sheriff.”

  The woman stepped back to allow them entrance. “I’m Julia, Jessica’s sister.”

  She led them through a marble-tiled foyer and down two steps into a sunken living room. A huge Oriental rug occupied the center, with leather couches and chairs arranged around the edges. A uniformed deputy stood near one corner. Julia eased down next to Jessica, who sat on one of the couches, her head in her hands.

  Amber claimed the empty spot on her other side and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “We came as soon as we heard. Any news?”

  Jessica lifted her tear-streaked face. “They found his car along 121, but there’s been no sign of him.” Fresh tears gathered on her lower lashes. “I didn’t want him to go.”

  The deputy left the room and moments later the front door opened and closed. He’d probably decided his bodyguard services weren’t needed. At least not inside the house.

  Caleb took one of the adjacent chairs. “Did he say what Liv wanted?”

  “He said she was upset and needed to talk. I asked him to not go. I didn’t see why she couldn’t say what she needed to say over the phone. He said Liv needed him. That long ago they’d made a vow to stick together and he wouldn’t renege on it now.”

  Caleb nodded. He knew all about the vow. For ten years, all six of them had kept the secret, until he’d co
nvinced Amber to come clean. Had Vincent shared that with his wife? Probably not.

  “What time did Liv call?”

  Julia reached for her sister’s hands. “They’ve already asked her all the questions. I don’t think she needs any more interrogation.”

  Jessica held up a hand. In the other, she clutched a tissue. “I’d rather talk. If I sit here and do nothing, I’ll go stark raving mad.”

  She dabbed at her eyes then dropped both hands into her lap. “It was around six thirty. I would have gone with him, but I’d just gotten up. He’s an early riser and always goes for a morning jog. He told me not to rush, that he’d run out and be back in an hour. Liv had asked him to meet her at the McDonald’s in Williston, which is an easy drive down 121.”

  “When did you first fear something was wrong?”

  “Vince promised he’d call when he was leaving McDonald’s. That way I’d know he was going to be home in twenty minutes.”

  She drew in a shaky breath. “When it got to be seven forty-five, I called him and it went to voice mail.” She looked at Amber. “I didn’t have any of your numbers. They were all in Vince’s phone. So I called the police.”

  The doorbell chimed and Julia rose and left the room. Moments later she returned with Olivia, who hurried across the room to sit next to Jessica and wrap her in a tearful hug. Jessica stiffened, but Olivia seemed not to notice.

  “I’m so sorry. I should never have called Vince. I had no idea something could happen between here and Williston.” She released Jessica and wiped her eyes. “I needed to talk to someone. Everything that’s been going on has me scared to death. I feel like we’re being hunted.” She shuddered. “Last night I had an awful nightmare. It wouldn’t go away. So I called Vince.”

  Julia took a seat in a nearby chair and Olivia released a moan. “I thought he was taking too long. So when I couldn’t get hold of him, I called the police.” She stopped her flow of words to wipe her eyes again. “While they were talking to me at McDonald’s, a message came in over the radio that they’d found Vince’s car on the side of the road. If he’s been killed, I’ll never forgive myself.”