“Really? How did he come to rent from you?”
“He showed up almost two years ago and asked if he could rent a room indefinitely. At the time I’d just sunk the last of my savings into the final renovations and was thrilled to have anyone interested in a room. From the moment he arrived he’s been quiet, unobtrusive and always pays on time. But I suddenly realized I don’t know anything about him.”
“I’ve got one of the men on the task force checking him out, and maybe later tonight if he takes a walk or whatever he does in the evenings, we could peek into his room and see if there’s anything amiss. On another subject, I guess Virginia’s plans are to eventually leave town?”
“That’s what she’s told me,” Alyssa replied. “She’s just waiting for the house to sell. She says she can’t think about going back to the home where she and Greg were so happy.”
“Has she said where she’s going from here?” Nick asked.
“Not really. I think she has family back East somewhere, and I got the impression she’ll go back there.”
They broke out of the wooded area. Billy’s house was just ahead, a neat one-story two-bedroom house. On the side of the house was a large, empty corral.
Nick pulled up and parked. Before she could open her car door, he was out of the car.
He took only two steps when an explosion thundered in the air and Alyssa saw the dirt next to Nick’s feet kick up.
Nick grabbed a gun from his ankle holster as he scrabbled around the side of the car, putting the vehicle between himself and the house. “Stay in the car,” he shouted to Alyssa. “Stay in the car…the crazy bastard just tried to shoot me!”
Chapter 8
Adrenaline spiked through Nick as he watched the house over the top of the back of the car. He saw Alyssa’s car door open and her legs swing out. “Stay inside,” he commanded. “He tried to kill me.”
“If Billy tried to kill you, you’d be dead. He never misses.” Ignoring his protests, she got out of the car and stood, a perfect target in her bright red sundress. “Billy. It’s me, Alyssa.”
“Who’s that you got with you?” The deep voice boomed from the shadows of the front door.
“A friend of mine. Somebody who needs to talk to you.”
Nick stood, gun at the ready, energy still pumping through him. What in the hell was going on here? Was he here to interview a lunatic?
“Come on, Nick. He won’t shoot you if I’m with you,” Alyssa said, a lightness in her tone that belied the seriousness of the situation as far as Nick was concerned.
“Who knows what’s got him so stirred up today,” she added more to herself than to him.
As she headed toward the house, Nick hurriedly joined her, falling into step beside her, his gun now lowered but still firmly gripped in his hand.
They were halfway to the porch, when the man appeared out of the shadows. Nick had assumed Billy Thunder was a Native American, but he’d been wrong. The man who stepped out on the porch had shaggy sandy hair, the top of it bleached nearly white from hours in the sun.
He was broad-shouldered, but ripcord lean, and moved with the grace of a wild animal as he came off the porch and met them at the foot of the stairs. “Who’s your friend, Alyssa?” he asked, his green eyes holding Nick’s in a nonverbal confrontation.
“Nick Mead. I’m an FBI agent.” Nick leaned down and tucked his gun back into the ankle holster. “I’m here in Cherokee Corners trying to find a murderer.”
“And your investigation has led you to me.” Billy lowered his gun and sighed. “Come on inside. We might as well get out of this heat. This shouldn’t take long.”
“What are you doing greeting people by shooting at them?” Alyssa asked as the three of them walked up the stairs to the porch and Billy opened the door that led into the house.
“Some ass wrote Cheri’s name and directions to this place in half a dozen truck-stop bathrooms between here and Tulsa. I’ve had men pulling up looking for a good time all week long.”
“Billy, I’m sorry.” Alyssa touched his arm, a touch of familiarity that instantly forced an edge of jealousy through Nick.
“Cheri is your wife?” he asked as Billy gestured both he and Alyssa to sit in the neat but barren living room. “No, my sister. I don’t have a wife.”
Too bad, Nick thought. He’d much have preferred it if Billy had a drop-dead gorgeous wife in his bed each night.
Nick sat on the sofa, but Alyssa remained standing. Is she in her room?” she asked Billy. He nodded. I’ll just go visit with her while you two talk.”
Billy’s gaze was warm on Alyssa and he smiled, a private kind of smile that once again stirred something rather unpleasant in Nick. Jealousy…he couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt it, but he recognized that was exactly what he was feeling right now.
Alyssa disappeared down a hallway and Nick took a notepad and pen from his pocket. It was ridiculous for him to be jealous. Alyssa had spent her entire life here. Of course she would have friends…male, as well as female. And some of those men might have at one time or another been lovers. And something about the way Billy and Alyssa had looked at one another made Nick suspect they had been lovers at one time or another.
“I’ve been wondering how long it was going to take for somebody to get around to talking to me,” Billy said. He sat in a chair next to the sofa, an edgy energy radiating from him.
“I can save you a lot of time and trouble. Yes, I threatened Sam McClane and Tim O’Brien…told them both I’d shoot them dead if they continued to come sniffing around my sister. They were both the worst kind of hound dogs, always looking for the weak and defenseless. I threatened them, but I didn’t kill either one of them.” Billy’s eyes met Nick’s steadily.
“Do you remember where you were on the night of those murders?”
“I can tell you where I am every night of my life…here with my sister. I never leave her alone.”
“Your sister…how old is she?”
“Twenty-two.”
“And she can corroborate that you were here on those dates?” Nick asked.
“No.”
Nick eyed the man in surprise. “Why not?”
Billy’s gaze left Nick’s and he raked a hand through his hair as a sigh escaped him. “It would be easier seeing than trying to explain.” He stood.
“Why don’t you come and meet my sister.”
Nick followed Billy down the hallway to a closed bedroom door, his curiosity piqued. Billy opened the door and he and Nick entered what appeared to be a little girl’s fantasy bedroom.
Nick’s first impression was of a pink ruffled fairyland. A canopy bed was covered with stuffed animals, and cartoons played silently on a television that sat on a white desk. White shelves were filled with children’s books and girlie toys.
Alyssa and a young woman with long white-blond hair sat on the floor by the window with Barbie dolls in hand. The blonde looked up and Nick’s breath caught in his chest at her beauty.
It was a classic beauty. Perfect peaches-and-cream skin and eyes the color of a clear autumn sky. Her mouth was a perfect cupid’s bow as she smiled at them. “Look, Billy…Alyssa is playing Barbie with me.” There was childlike innocence radiating from her pretty eyes and Nick knew in an instant the burden Billy Thunder must carry on his shoulders.
Alyssa smiled at the two men. “Cheri tells me I play much better than Billy.”
Billy snorted, a sound something between indulgence and embarrassment.
“Are you one of Billy’s friends?” Cheri asked, looking at Nick.
“Actually, I’m a friend of Alyssa’s,” Nick replied.
“You’re handsome. You want to play with us?” Cheri asked.
“I can’t right now. I need to talk some more with your brother,” Nick replied. He looked at Billy, and together the two men left and returned to the living room.
“She was oxygen deprived at birth,” Billy said before Nick could ask. “As you can tell, she’s be
autiful but will never have anything more than the intelligence of a six- or seven-year-old. My parents doted on her, kept her safe and protected.”
Billy eased into the chair where he had been sitting before as Nick sank back into the sofa. “They died a couple of years ago in a car accident, and since then I’ve been trying to keep her safe and protected. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to teach her that every person in the world isn’t a good person.”
“People like Sam McClane and Tim O’Brien?”
Nick asked.
Billy’s eyes hardened and his jaw muscle bunched tightly. “Cheri doesn’t know about men, doesn’t understand about sex and what an easy target she makes as a pretty woman with the brain of a child. The day I threatened to kill Sam McClane, Cheri and I had gone into town for some shopping. I was paying for groceries and didn’t realize she’d wandered off. I found her in the alley with Sam. He had her backed up against the building and was teaching her how to French-kiss. I bloodied his lip and told him the next time he got near her, I’d kill him.”
“Same sort of thing happen with Tim O’Brien?”
Nick asked. It was difficult to judge a man who’d reacted to a situation exactly the way Nick would have.
Billy nodded. “The circumstances were a little different, but not much. All four of those men didn’t know how to keep it in their pants.”
Nick sat up straighter. “What do you mean? We know Sam McClane was a player…had a wife and a mistress. And apparently everyone in town knew that Tim O’Brien regularly cheated on his wife. But, from everything we’ve been able to dig up, Greg Maxwell was a devoted, loyal husband and Jonathon Blackbird wasn’t even married.”
“Then you aren’t digging deep enough when it comes to Maxwell,” Billy replied. “Greg and I went to school together. He’d occasionally come out here and share a beer with me.”
“And he told you he was having an affair?”
“Not exactly…I mean, not any real affair. But he told me that he picked up women when he went out of town on business trips. He told me he was unhappy with Virginia and was thinking about divorcing her.”
“Do you know if he told Virginia these things?”
Billy frowned thoughtfully. “I don’t know…I kind of doubt it. Greg was really a nice guy…not into confrontations of any kind. If he had told Virginia he was leaving her, he would have left immediately, and from what I know, they were still together at the time of his death.”
“And Jonathon Blackbird?”
“Jonathon’s just a tomcat. He chases after skirts until he gets under one, then moves on to the next.”
Nick tried to assimilate the new information he was gaining. One thing was sure. He didn’t believe Billy Thunder had anything to do with the murders of the men. Even without proof of an alibi for the nights in question, Nick couldn’t imagine a man caretaking for his mentally challenged sister being responsible for four cold-blooded murders.
“So, you never had any personal run-ins with Greg or Jonathon,” he asked, just to be thorough even though he knew the answer already.
“No, like I said, Greg and I were friends. He would have never hurt Cheri. As far as Jonathon was concerned, he never gave me any problems.”
“I think we’re done here,” Nick said and stood. “I appreciate your talking to me. I especially appreciate the fact that you missed me with that shot when we first arrived. Alyssa said that if you’d wanted to, you can have tagged me with no problem.”
Billy grinned. “She’s right. Sniper training in the army and for the last five years champion shooter in four counties.” Billy stood, as well, his expression letting Nick know there was something else on his mind.
“What?” he asked.
Billy hesitated a moment, then spoke. “It’s none of my business, but I saw the way you looked at her and the way she looks at you. I don’t know what’s going on between the two of you, but I have a special affection for Alyssa in my heart. Try not to break hers.”
“That would never be my intention,” Nick replied. “I’ll be waiting for her out in the car.”
Nick left the house and walked back to the car. He slid in behind the wheel and waited for Alyssa to join him. Was it obvious to everyone that he wanted Alyssa?
He certainly felt it every minute he spent with her…the desire. It had become an ache inside him that refused to subside, a need that grew bigger each moment until it threatened to consume him.
He desperately wanted to catch the killer that was terrorizing the men in Cherokee Corners, but he was beginning to feel a crazy kind of desperation where Alyssa was concerned, as well.
Alyssa stood with Billy at the front door. “You’re running around with a tough crowd these days,” he said.
She smiled and looked out the door where she could see Nick waiting in the car. “He’s staying at the bed-and-breakfast. You’re lucky he didn’t instantly arrest you for shooting at him.”
“He seems like a stand-up kind of guy.”
“I like him.” Such simple words for such complicated feelings, she thought.
“I know. I can tell.” He smiled at her. “Your eyes never lit up for me the way they do for him. You take care of that heart of yours. I don’t want to see it banged up and bruised.”
She stretched up on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. “Don’t worry about me, Billy. You take care of yourself and Cheri and try to stay out of trouble.”
His eyes twinkled merrily. “I try, but trouble seems to find me.”
They murmured goodbyes, then Alyssa stepped out on the porch and walked toward the car. As she walked, she saw Nick’s gaze on her. It rivaled the heat of the sun overhead and made her self-consciously aware of the sway of her hips, the thrust of her breasts against her cotton dress and the memory of his lips on hers.
She slid into the passenger seat, wondering if he had any idea how he affected her on such a primal level. Maybe it was because in the untamed visions in her mind, she’d already made love to him a dozen times and now had a lover’s awareness of him that was breathtaking.
“Did you get what you needed from Billy?” she asked as she buckled her seat belt.
“Yeah.” He put the car in gear and pulled away from Billy’s place. “You and Billy…Clay told me you’re good friends?” There was a tone in his voice that made her realize he didn’t want to know if she and Billy were friends, but he did want to know exactly what kind of relationship she and Billy shared.
“Billy and I have been friends since high school.
Both of us were outsiders…me because my fellow students already had begun to identify me as different…weird, and Billy because he was always in trouble.”
“In trouble how?”
“Fighting. Somebody was always saying something stupid or unkind about Billy’s sister and he was constantly punching somebody out. Anyway, after high school we maintained our friendship, then a couple of years ago we tried to take it one step further. Billy was my first…my only lover.”
She emitted a self-conscious laugh, finding it strange to be discussing this with Nick. “Our physical relationship only lasted for a few weeks. We knew it wasn’t right, that we’d crossed a line that shouldn’t have been crossed. I loved Billy, but not in that way. It was a mutual decision that we go back to what we had…a strong friendship but not a romance.”
“Not many people can go backward and continue to maintain a friendship after a physical bond is established and doesn’t work out,” Nick said.
“I wanted to maintain my friendship with Billy, especially after his parents’ deaths and him taking over full-time care for Cheri. He’s needed a friend over the last couple of years.”
“He’s got a tough road to travel,” Nick agreed. “His sister is gorgeous.”
“Yes, she is, and has the sunniest disposition you ever want to know. Billy’s biggest fear is that some man will take advantage of her.”
“There are men out there who prey on the weak and helpless.
” Nick frowned. “Have you ever heard any rumors about Greg Maxwell planning on leaving Virginia?”
She looked at him in surprise. “No, none. Did Billy tell you that?” He nodded. “I know Billy and Greg were friends. If it’s true, I don’t think Virginia knew her husband might be planning on leaving her. Does that information help your investigation?” she asked.
“I don’t know. But Billy pointed out something that might be the connection between the victims, a connection we haven’t been able to come up with.”
“What’s that?”
He flashed her a quick glance. “You don’t want to hear about this.”
“Of course I do,” she replied. “They are crimes happening in my town, to men I know.” And you obviously want to talk about it and that makes it all the more important to me. She didn’t speak this thought aloud, but it surprised her, the depth of her desire to be the one he shared his thoughts with, even if they were work-related.
“We’ve all been racking our brains, trying to figure out what the four victims had in common, what the common thread between the four of them were. I think Billy just gave it to us.”
“What’s that?”
“All of the men could be considered womanizers.
That connection didn’t even enter our minds because all we knew was that Greg and Virginia had a happy, committed marriage. But Billy told me that Greg of ten saw other women when he traveled for business meetings.”
An additional edge of surprise whipped through Alyssa. “I’d never heard a whisper of Greg being unfaithful to Virginia. If that’s the reason he was killed, then somebody had to know about his trysts outside the marriage…somebody besides Billy Thunder.”
“Now all I have to do is figure out who might have possibly known that fact and if that’s what became a motive for murder.”
“And if it isn’t the motive?”
He flashed her a grin. “Don’t try to make my job more difficult than it already is.”
She returned his grin. “I wouldn’t do that to you.”
“On the contrary, you’ve already made my job more difficult.” This time when he gazed at her, a spark of heat radiated from his eyes, a heat that had become familiar to her and washed her with its warmth.
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