by Liz Adair
“I’m sorry for what I said about your car.”
He chuckled and waved to say it was okay, but she had already turned and was walking back to the house.
Spider found the address of Texas Capital Investment, Inc. and set out to locate it. As he drove, he played back in his mind the conversation with the Defrains. It might have been a mistake to visit them first. Feelings might run a little high when he finally came face to face with Austin Lee.
SPIDER DROVE SLOWLY along the St. George arterial, trying to see the numbers on the office buildings clustered around parking lots all along the way. He had tried to work the GPS app on his phone but in the end gave it up, reverting to the old fashioned way— creep and peek. When he spied a number close to the one he wanted, he entered the parking area. Keeping a weather eye out for a parking place, he drove through and read the plaques on the sides of the building. 1342 Nephrology. 1364 Gynecology. 1386 Oncology. This seemed to be a medical complex. A very popular medical complex, as there were no empty spaces.
Ending up at the backside of the third building, Spider could see the neighboring complex and the address he needed. That parking lot was almost full, too, but he spied one empty space. There was no access from this lot to the other, but the curb was low. He saw another car heading toward the single vacant space, and he didn’t hesitate. Bumping over the curb, he traversed a sidewalk, a planter well, and another sidewalk before bouncing down onto the pavement and slipping into the parking space just as the other car rounded the corner.
Spider couldn’t help smiling at the small triumph. His smile grew broader when he saw a sign in metal letters reading Texas Capital Investments on the wall right in front of him. “Dang, I’m good,” he muttered.
Spider read the string of other names on the wall. Apparently Austin shared the building with two CPAs and a family counselor. Getting out, he pushed through the office door and entered a reception area with plush carpet and a few chairs in groups. A young woman wearing a headset and a nametag that said Jennifer was seated behind a desk. She looked up. “May I help you?”
Spider took off his hat. “I’m here to see Austin Lee.”
“Mr. Lee just left for the day.” She checked her monitor. “Would you like to make an appointment? He’ll be in on Monday.”
“Not ‘til then?”
“I can give you a ten o’clock.” Her fingers hovered above the keyboard as she sent him an inquiring look.
“Sure. Monday, ten o’clock. Name’s Spider Latham.”
“Spider? Like the…?” She put her hand, spider-like, on her desk.
He nodded, and she entered the name. “Would you like a reminder card?”
Spider noticed a holder with Texas Capital Investments business cards in it. “I’ll just take one of these,” he said, holding it up between thumb and forefinger. “Thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome, Mr. Latham. We’ll see you on Monday.”
Spider strode out of the building, putting on his hat to shade his eyes from the sun. It was mid afternoon, and waves of heat radiated off the blacktop. He got in the Yugo and started it, rolling down all the windows and turning the AC to high. Handling the hot steering wheel gingerly, he backed out of the parking space and started threading his way to the exit.
The light on the street had just changed, and Spider waited behind a Toyota a few years younger than the Yugo as traffic streamed by. Ahead of the Toyota, a yellow Mustang had its nose out, waiting for a gap. One came, and as it turned right, accelerating in a cloud of dust and noise, Spider caught a glimpse of the vanity plate. It read BRACES.
Spider was so surprised to see Jack’s car pulling out of this parking lot that he put on the brakes and stared. As the Mustang got smaller with distance, the car behind Spider honked. He waved to say sorry and concentrated on merging into traffic on the arterial. Jack was momentarily forgotten as he tried to decide what to do next. He didn’t intend to wait until Monday to see Austin Lee.
A stretch of road with shade trees lay ahead, and he pulled over in the shadow of one of them. Leaving the motor running, he took the card that Annie had given him and turned it over to look at the address of her former house in Defrain Estates. Acacia Drive. He had no idea where that would be, and he slowly dragged his phone out of his pocket. He needed the help of the GPS but was reluctant to be humiliated again.
He took a deep breath. “Don’t over-think it,” he muttered to himself, trying to remember how Daisuke had explained it this morning. As he punched icons, suddenly, the window where he was to enter the address popped up, and the rest was easy. Two minutes later he was on I-15 heading south.
Defrain Estates lay on the western edge of town, and Spider saw that one of the selling points would be its quick freeway access. Only one stop light on a busy arterial stood between the freeway off ramp and the road that swept up the side of a mesa to the houses. The gatehouse occupied the middle of the road at the bottom, flanking a huge brickwork sign with palm trees at each end.
He turned on Defrain road and stopped at the gatehouse. It was open but unmanned, so he continued up the curving ascent to the top. Driving through, it looked as if a third of the lots had been developed, and all the houses were large and impressive. Spider read the road signs as he passed, spying Acacia just after the GPS announced it.
Annie Defrain’s former home stood alone at the end of a row of four vacant lots. Spider stopped in front of the last house before open territory and walked to the edge of the mesa, thinking he might be able to see the bank of western-facing windows that she’d spoken of. A cinderblock fence surrounded the backyard, but he spied the ladder of a diving board sticking up above the wall. A dirt trail that looked like it had been used by ATVs traversed the flank of the mesa just before the house. Spider walked down the path a ways, pausing by a lone juniper tree and looking back to see the wall of glass. He scanned the western vista that Annie would have awakened to each morning and thought of the little, closed-in modular home she lived in now.
Spider went back to the Yugo and drove the block to the house. He still didn’t have any idea what he was going to say when he confronted Austin Lee, but he pulled into the driveway beside a burgundy SUV and got out of the car. As he approached the front door, he looked at the three garage doors, wondering behind which one Mary Defrain took her last, poisonous breath.
The front door was massive. Leaded glass sidelights pictured red rock arches and plateaus, echoing the sandstone facing that came halfway up the walls. Spider pressed the doorbell and heard rich tones sound inside. He waited, but no one answered. Loath to depart without meeting his quarry, he jabbed at the doorbell again, as if vehemence would make Austin appear.
It worked. Spider heard quick, confident footsteps and then the door opened. He saw the eyes widen slightly, flick over to the Yugo, and flick back. And he saw the corners of the mouth turn ever so slightly down into a quasi-sneer.
Austin Lee was everything that people had been saying about him. Tall and suntanned, with fashionably long, highlighted hair, he wore pressed chinos and a polo shirt that showed off a muscular physique. His eyes moved again to the Yugo and back. “Yes?”
“Afternoon. My name’s Spider Latham, and I work for the Red Pueblo Museum.”
Austin leaned casually against the doorframe. “And?”
“I’ve come to serve notice that we’re on to you. We know about how you have extorted prime development land from unsuspecting citizens after you have driven them to financial ruin. Not only is it not going to happen to Martin Taylor, but it’s not going to happen to anyone else, either.”
Austin’s sneer became pronounced. “Extort is such a strong word. Using it borders on libel. I would be more careful if I were you.”
“You’re the one who needs to be careful.” Spider took a step back. “By the way, have you been sleeping all right?”
Austin frowned. “What is that to you?”
“I read Mary Defrain’s suicide note. She killed herself in th
is house just so she could haunt you. Did you know that?”
Austin’s urbanity deserted him momentarily. “She did it here?”
“Didn’t you know? You’d better watch out for the mess you leave behind. It just might trip you up.”
Austin stood up straight. “You’re the one who needs to watch out. I wouldn’t linger in any dark alleys if I were you.” He swung the door closed, staring daggers at Spider until he disappeared from view.
“Huh,” Spider grunted. He turned and walked back to the Yugo, taking a detour around the SUV to read the logo on the front. Range Rover. It must have been Austin Lee that he and Karam had seen driving down the wash yesterday afternoon. Why would this good-looking slimeball be dating Amy? Did that indicate the marvelous Jack was hiding a dark secret?
Spider got in the car and headed down off the mesa, taking mental inventory as he headed back to Kanab. The trip hadn’t turned out too badly. He’d found out enough to ponder on for a while, though not enough to figure out a way to help the Red Pueblo.
Now he needed to see if he could make peace with Laurie.
SPIDER INTENDED TO drive to the hotel without any other stops, but as he passed the Red Pueblo, he saw Linda’s car in the parking lot and turned in. Wearing the usual canvas apron and bandana on her head, she was in the Heritage Yard talking to a visitor. Spider parked beside her car and walked to the gate, letting himself in and strolling up as she finished her conversation.
Though she didn’t divert her attention from the museum patron, Spider saw her glance flicker to him and back. He waited several paces away by the dugout.
When Linda was free, she turned to him. “Mr. Latham? Hello. We haven’t met.”
He offered his hand, appreciating her firm grasp and direct gaze. “Call me Spider.”
She smiled. “I wasn’t sure I heard your name right. LaJean said you’d probably want to talk to me.”
Spider looked around. “Is there a place we can visit without being disturbed?”
She gestured to the small structure built into a hill of dirt. “How about the dugout? I can lock the latch from the inside.”
“Sounds good to me.” Spider opened the door for her to enter and followed her in, taking off his hat. Despite the heat of the day, the interior was cool. The room, perhaps ten feet in diameter, had rock walls, a dirt floor, and a single window in the wood panel beside the door. The only furnishings were a cot, a small drop-leaf table, a potbelly stove and a straight back chair. Spider sat on the bed and set his Stetson beside him.
Linda took a wrought iron nail from above the lintel and slipped it through the latch. “This will make it so we can talk without a visitor opening the door.” She sat on the chair, clasping her hands in her lap. “What can I tell you?”
Spider figured he’d get right to it. “How about telling me about Austin Lee.”
Linda’s cheeks blazed, and her eyes dropped to her hands. “The one thing in my life I’d like to forget, and I keep having to relive it.”
“Yeah,” Spider agreed. “Those are the things we generally have to relive. Tell me about when you first met him.”
She hooked her heels on the rung of the chair and leaned forward, elbows on her knees. “Well, the first thing you notice is how he looks.” She flashed a smile. “Which is gorgeous. Don’t get me wrong. I think Matt is good looking, but Austin almost isn’t even real. And there he was, hanging around. Wanting to talk. With me. No one that good looking has ever given me the time of day.”
She shook her head, eyes on the floor. “If it hadn’t been for the Tiffany thing, it would have just been an interesting anomaly— something nicely strange that happened to me. It would have gone no further, and when he asked me out, I’d have said no.”
“Tell me about the Tiffany thing. How did it appear to you?”
“Ha! How did it appear to anyone? Matt fell head over heels for an overly-made-up, show-off-your-money, blonde from California.”
“Is that what you think?”
She blinked. “That he fell for her? Have you seen him with her?”
“Well, yes, and at first I thought it was obvious, too. And then…”
“What?” Her clasped hands were under her chin now.
Spider looked away, uncomfortable seeing the raw need in her eyes. “Yesterday morning when he drove away with her, he looked back at you. It was…”
“Yes?”
“I’m trying to find the word. He looked broken.”
She stared at Spider a moment and then wiped away a tear with the heel of her hand. “He hates me.”
“He doesn’t. I talked to him yesterday. He’s having a hard time because he thinks you told someone about the Lincoln Letter.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Is that what he meant when he said I betrayed him?”
Spider nodded. “The museum is being sued by a descendant of Oscar Goodman. Only a person who knew about the Lincoln letter would know that name was connected to the cache. You’re one of the six people who knew about it, and all the rest have kept mum.”
Color drained from Linda’s face. She covered her mouth with her hands and began to rock forward and back, murmuring, “Oh-dear-oh-dear-oh-dear-oh-dear.”
“What’s wrong?” Spider asked, though he knew what was wrong.
“I think I told Austin Lee.”
“About the letter?”
She folded her arms and held them tight against her midsection. “No, but I was bragging a bit and told him something valuable was found in the cache.”
“Not the name?”
She shook her head. “But he knew I was doing research on Oscar Goodman. He could have figured it out.” She frowned. “But how did that turn into Alyssa Goodman filing suit?”
“Austin’s clever and charismatic. He’s also cold blooded and calculating. I imagine he found someone with that surname and convinced her to file.” Spider leaned forward and looked Linda in the eye. “I’ve just come from talking to a mother whose daughter got tangled up with Austin Lee. He ruined the family financially and got their valuable real estate for himself. The daughter felt it was her fault, and she killed herself.”
Linda’s eyes got wide. “Oh, no!”
“You’re not the only young woman he’s preyed upon. In fact, I’m going to go talk to another one tomorrow. Now, things look bad for Matt’s family, but there’s no use in compounding your mistake by breaking and running. That doesn’t help anything.”
“Even if that woman is dangling a quarter million dollars in front of Matt?” She slumped back in her chair. “Jealousy is just caustic. It’s like lye, eating holes in everything it touches. How do you deal with that?”
“You hold tight to love.”
“I tried, but it looks like my love is slipping away.”
“Is Matt an honorable man?”
“Yes.”
“You know that for sure?”
“Yes.”
“Then hold on to that.” Spider stood. “There’s no chance of you doing anything to harm yourself, is there?”
She smiled wryly. “I wouldn’t know how. I might be able to do some damage with an Anasazi ax, but it would be easier to hurt someone other than myself.”
“Good. We can talk more in a day or two.” He picked up his hat. “By then I’ll have more of the lay of the land and maybe even a plan.”
She stood and pulled the nail from the latch. “Thank you for talking to me. It was good to sit in here with you and talk about Austin. It chased away some ghosts.”
“Ghosts?”
She sat down again, fiddling with the nail and compressing her mouth as if to keep her lower lip from trembling. “Yes. The last time Austin was here, I had just finished working with Matt on one of our presentations. Austin said hello to Matt and then put his arm around me and walked me here. We had been in the dugout before, and that time, I let him kiss me.”
She looked down at the nail and then laid it on the table. “He took off his shirt and hung it over the win
dow.” She gestured at the small pane of glass letting in a meager shaft of light. “I knew what his intentions were, and I think the thought of doing it here, on Matt’s territory, so to speak, was what was appealing to him. It didn’t have anything to do with him caring for me or wanting me, you know, in that way.”
“Is that what you thought at the time, or is that something you’ve figured out since?”
She met his eyes. “I think I knew it then in my heart, but it hadn’t got to my head.”
“What did you do?”
“I said no, but that didn’t do any good. He was determined. And strong.”
“Did he—?” Spider felt his cheeks getting red. Dang. He hadn’t blushed since he was seventeen. “Did he succeed?”
She shook her head. “Thankfully, no. Isaac walked by and heard the commotion. He said he thought it was kids wrestling in here, but I’m sure he knew what was going on.”
“What did he do?”
“He knocked on the door and told us to stop the horsing around. Then he waited for us to come out. Austin had to put on his shirt, and he buttoned it wrong.” She smiled but covered her mouth as if to hide it. “I noticed, but I didn’t say anything.” With her hand still covering her mouth, she looked away. “The next time he called, I blocked him, and I haven’t seen him since.”
She sat silently for a moment and then stood, picked up the nail and put it where it belonged. “Now you know everything.”
Spider stood as well. “Thanks for talking to me.”
“I should thank you. You’ve given me hope.” She opened the door, stepped into the yard, and walked briskly away.
Spider followed her out of the cool dimness into the blazing afternoon and put on his hat to shade his eyes. He watched her tall, erect form as she strode toward the side door of the museum. She looked back over her shoulder at him, smiled and waved. Raising his hand, he returned the smile.
“Hey, Spider!”
Spider turned toward the parking lot and saw Isaac’s SUV pulling into a parking lot. Karam jumped out and waved. “Hey, Spider,” he repeated, trotting over to the fence.