The Ex Who Wouldn't Die

by Sally Berneathy

  "Can't say as I do. You could ask Sunny."

  "That's a good idea, a really good idea." Amanda had become so involved with staying alive and out of prison that Sunny Donovan had slipped to the back of her mind. This could be her chance to find out about her stalker as well as unravel the mystery that was Sunny Donovan.

  "I'll give her a call." Irene rose from the table.

  "It's Saturday," Amanda protested. "Does she work Saturdays?"

  "Probably. If not, I'll phone her at home."

  "Oh, don't bother her on her day off."

  Irene looked surprised. "I'll be all right. It's not like this is business. I've known Sunny and her mother all my life."

  Amanda recalled Charley's comment that his mother was friends with everybody in town. She could easily believe that.

  Amanda heard Irene on the phone in the other room, talking and laughing. She returned shortly.

  "She's in her office today. Said if you want to come over, she'd be pleased to talk to you."

  Amanda thought of the lawyer's behavior when she'd been in her office a few days before, and suspected Irene might be putting a spin on how pleased Sunny would be to see her today.

  "Thank you." She stood and gave Irene an impulsive hug, something she'd never done with her own mother. What insanity caused Charley to leave a family like this?

  Irene returned the hug. "You want me to go with you?"

  "Thanks, but I'll be fine. You get your grocery shopping done, and I'll meet you back here later so you can teach me how to make meat loaf."

  "Sounds like a deal."

  ***

  Amanda arrived at Sunny's office half an hour later. Not surprisingly, Charley had tried to talk her out of going, and that had made her all the more determined. He then refused to come with her, saying he'd go into the dark and wait for her to return. She did not see as a negative. However, she had an eerie sensation that he was following her anyway, just out of sight. Or maybe it was Frank Sturgess following her again.

  For once, she would rather it was Charley.

  She parked her bike at the curb and walked across the wooden porch of the old house. Following the example set by Irene when they'd been there previously, she knocked, then opened the door and entered. Sunlight streamed through the windows of the small room, resting on the file cabinets, desk and dark computer screen, but Martha wasn't there to announce her.

  "Miss Donovan?"

  Sunny emerged from her office. Today she wore blue jeans and a white cotton shirt, and looked even more familiar than in her going-to-court clothes. She extended a hand. "Please, call me, uh, Sunny."

  Amanda reached for the hand, expecting another stiff, perfunctory shake, but instead Sunny grasped her hand firmly though her smile was tentative.

  "Sunny, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me today."

  "My pleasure." She turned and led Amanda into her office. Her smile might be tentative, but she moved with a regal, self-assured grace.

  This room was larger than the reception area, but not by much. A wooden desk holding a laptop computer, several files and papers occupied most of the area. A tall file cabinet sat in one corner within reach of the high-backed chair behind the desk.

  Sunny did not take the chair behind the desk, the position of power, but sat in one of the teal blue upholstered client chairs. Amanda pulled off her leather jacket and settled in the chair beside Sunny. Cozy. Two people on an equal basis. This woman didn't seem so strange after all. She seemed to be, as Irene insisted, a really nice person. Even a potential friend.

  "I understand you know a man named Frank Sturgess."

  The blood drained from the older woman's face, her smile changed from tentative to stilted, and her green eyes went wide with an odd expression. Panic?

  Oh, yeah. Sunny knew Frank Sturgess.

  Did her reaction mean she knew he was an evil man, and she was concerned as to how Amanda knew him, what he might be doing to Amanda?

  Sunny recovered almost immediately, a professional mask settling over her face. Too bad. Amanda had kind of liked the real woman who'd sat beside her so briefly, before she mentioned her stalker. "Frank Sturgess? Yes, I know him. He's a former client. Why do you ask?"

  "He's been following me."

  "How do you know that?"

  She decided to tell part of the truth. Charley's role always had to be edited out. "I saw him following me last night. Then I found his car parked at the Randolphs' place and got his license plate number."

  "I see. How did you get his name from the license plate? Have you spoken to the police about this?"

  Amanda didn't want to admit that the Dallas cops were ignoring her, so she opted to indulge her new habit and lie. "No. That information is available on the internet."

  That evoked a wry grin. "Of course. Everything is out there on the internet. So you're a computer expert?"

  Amanda laughed at that image. "Not really. I can do e-mail, Facebook, play a few games…the basics. That's the extent of my computer expertise."

  "But you found Frank's name by using his license plate number."

  "I had help. I have a friend who is a computer expert."

  Sunny nodded and tented her fingers. "So you want to know about Frank Sturgess. He moved here when he was laid off from his assembly line job in Fort Worth. He couldn't find regular work, and he made a mistake, robbed the Fast Stop convenience store so he could buy food for his family. I got his sentence commuted to probation, helped him find a job, and he's walked the straight and narrow ever since." She hesitated. "Don't judge him too harshly. He's not a bad person."

  Amanda grimaced. "Not a bad person? He stole money and now he's following me and spying on me, and you don't think he's a bad person?"

  "He loves his kids. Parents will do anything for their kids, even things that are wrong." Sunny's spoke with so much feeling, Amanda wondered if the woman had children of her own. Irene hadn't mentioned a husband or kids. Either Sunny had kids or she was a real bleeding heart.

  "Where does Sturgess work?"

  "Your computer friend didn't tell you?"

  "Not yet. He's working on it. I just thought I'd ask since I'm here."

  Sunny laughed suddenly, an unexpected bright, tinkling sound. "Hedge your bets. Smart girl. Frank works as a warehouse manager for Silver Creek Financial."

  "Is that one of the companies owned by the Kimball family?"

  Sunny's eyes narrowed, her expression intent, interested. "Yes, it is. Why do you ask?"

  Amanda shrugged. "Just curious."

  "Just curious," she repeated, her expression and her voice suddenly switching to lawyer mode. "Roland Kimball called the police a few nights ago because you were trespassing on his property. Now you think a man's following you, and you want to know if he works for the Kimball family. What's going on, Amanda?"

  Amanda's jaw dropped. "Does everybody in this town know everybody else's business?"

  "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. No, not everybody is aware of your encounter with the police. I work closely with local law enforcement. No charges were filed against you, but the officers had to turn in a report. I saw that report."

  "No wonder Charley left this town." Amanda didn't realize she'd spoken aloud until Sunny's face clouded.

  "Charley, your husband."

  "Ex-husband," Amanda corrected automatically.

  "Oh? I thought you were still married when he died."

  "We were. Legally, anyway. It's…complicated."

  "Charley was a complicated man."

  A few weeks ago, Amanda would have argued with her. Charley hadn't been complicated. He'd been a straight-forward lying, cheating con-man. But over the last few weeks, complicated didn't even come close to describing Charley. "Yes. He is…was complicated. How well did you know Charley?" Might as well plunge right in, ask what she wanted to know.

  Sunny sat stiffly erect, her gaze focused out the window. "I represented him in court. He was caught with less than an ounc
e of marijuana. He had no previous record, so it was fairly simple to get probation for him."

  "Probation like you got for Frank Sturgess."

  "Yes, like I got for Frank Sturgess."

  "Do you consider Charley a success story?"

  Sunny studied her for a long moment. "Your marriage to Charley was not a happy one." It was a statement, not a question.

  Amanda folded her arms. She'd intended to get information about Charley and Sunny's relationship, not give information about Charley and her. "We had some good times," she said. "At first."

  Sunny nodded, her gaze again becoming distant. "Charley could be charming."

  "Yes, he could. So, were you and Charley…um…friends outside of court?" She watched Sunny carefully to see what her reaction would be.

  Sunny's gaze snapped back to her, and she looked horrified. "You think…Charley and me? Oh, no! No, I helped Charley. I thought he had a lot of promise, that he could straighten up his life, maybe even go back to school, become a contributing member of society." She drew in a deep breath. "I try to help people. Sometimes I do. Frank Sturgess proved that he deserved my help. Charley…disappointed me."

  Now they were getting somewhere. "How so? What did he do to disappoint you?"

  Sunny smiled tightly. "Attorney-client confidentiality. Did you have any more questions about Frank?"

  Whatever Charley had done to Sunny must have been a doozy if neither he nor Sunny would talk about it. Amanda realized she would have to let it go for the moment, but she wasn't giving up. "Frank Sturgess," she said, returning to the thief and stalker who'd turned out better than Charley, "is he having financial problems again?"

  "No, he's fine. I'll talk to him and find out why he was at Irene and Herbert's place. I'm sure there's a good reason."

  Yeah, because Kimball paid him to follow me, see if I'd lead him to that gun he thinks I have, maybe even find the right time and place to kill me. She didn't say that, of course. No point in it. Sunny would think her as nuts as Detective Daggett did if she tried to tell the attorney her Kimball story.

  "Thank you," Amanda said, and started to rise.

  Sunny laid a restraining hand on her arm. "Amanda, I have a feeling you're in some kind of trouble, and that trouble may involve our mayor. Talk to me. You can trust me. I'll do anything I can to help you."

  The woman seemed so sincere, Amanda had a fleeting urge to confide in her. She could use an ally other than Charley, a flesh and blood ally, a sane ally. But she didn't know Sunny, had only met her a couple of times, and the woman hadn't always acted totally rationally. Besides, there was the skeleton in the closet Sunny and Charley shared. "I appreciate the offer, but—" she stood and looked at the floor, unwilling to meet Sunny's eyes when she told an outrageous lie— "I'm not in trouble."

  Sunny rose and stood beside her. "Let me get you a card with my phone number. I'll add my cell so you can call me at any hour."

  "Thank you." In spite of what she might have done with Charley, Sunny Donovan really did seem to be a kind, caring person. She'd tried to save Charley and Frank Sturgess from a life of crime. It wasn't her fault they'd both been incorrigible. Undaunted, she was now offering to help Amanda, someone she didn't know, someone who didn't even live in this town. She might be a bleeding heart, but she was a sincere bleeding heart. She backed up her beliefs with action.

  Sunny rummaged for several moments in a couple of desk drawers, finally producing a card. Amanda reflected that Sunny's desk must be as unorganized as her own if she had that much trouble finding a business card. Sunny scribbled something on the card and handed it to Amanda who looked at the scrawled writing and smiled.

  "Is something wrong?" Sunny asked.

  "No. It's just that your handwriting is as bad as mine. We should have been doctors." Oh, that's great. Insult someone who's trying to be helpful.

  But Sunny returned her smile. "That's why God created computers with word processing software."

  The two shared a moment of bonding over bad handwriting, and Amanda decided she liked this strange woman in spite of her eccentricities. Or maybe because of them.

  "So, next time I get caught trespassing, I'll call you."

  "Or you could call me before you commit the act, and maybe we can figure out an alternative, legal way to accomplish your goal."

  Lawyer talk again. A caring person one minute, a lawyer the next. Rather like her dad. It seemed to go with the occupation.

  Sunny followed her outside to where her bike was parked.

  "Nice," Sunny said. "I used to ride."

  Yes, Amanda definitely liked her. "Really? What kind of bike?"

  "Any kind I could afford when I was young. It was my only mode of transportation in high school and college."

  "Even when it rained?"

  Sunny ran a hand over the top edge of Amanda's windshield and grinned. "Even when it rained. And the smaller, cheaper bikes don't have a very big windshield. But the weather's usually good in this part of the country. A little rain, very little snow."

  Amanda grimaced. "I don't like riding in the rain, and I can't even imagine riding in the snow. You said you used to ride. Not anymore?"

  "No. Just when I could afford to get a nice bike, I had to give it up. This is a conservative town, and people expect an attorney, especially a female attorney, to act in a certain way. As you mentioned, everybody knows what everybody else is doing in a small town. So…no motorcycle." She shrugged and sighed, looking wistfully at Amanda's bike.

  "That sucks."

  "Yes, it does."

  "I have a motorcycle repair shop. Nobody expects any sort of decorum or propriety from a motorcycle repair person."

  Sunny smiled and smoothed a hand over the leather seat. "I used to lust after Harleys, especially the Softail. Would you mind if I took a short ride?"

  Amanda didn't hesitate. How could she refuse a fellow biker chick? "Sure." She handed over her helmet and gloves.

  "Borrow the jacket, too? I think we're about the same size."

  That request bordered on being creepy, but Amanda would never ride without protective gear, so perhaps it wasn't so strange. She relinquished her jacket, and Sunny put it on. "Nice," she said. "Perforations for cooling, but still armored for safety."

  "Charley gave it to me. He probably stole it."

  A guilty look flitted across Sunny's face. Because of what she and Charley had done? Or because Amanda would never have met and married Charley if Sunny had let him go to jail for his crime?

  "I'll just take a quick spin around the block and be right back," she said.

  "Don't let her take it!" Charley appeared at Amanda's elbow. She ignored him.

  Sunny climbed on the bike, fired it up and roared away.

  Amanda turned to Charley. "Why not? You think she's going to steal it? You are completely insane. Sunny Donovan tried to help you, and you repay her by badmouthing her?"

  "Of course she's not going to steal it. Why would you think that?"

  Amanda threw her arms in the air in frustration. "Why would you tell me not to let her take it?"

  Charley looked frantic as his mouth contorted but remained closed.

  "What have you got against this woman who kept you out of jail and is now offering to help me?"

  "I…I did some things to her that weren't very nice."

  That confirmed what Sunny had said about Charley disappointing her.

  She folded her arms and looked up at him. "You need to tell me what you did to her. It's going to come out sooner or later. Sunny almost told me today." Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but she wasn't the one who was constrained from lying. "If you don't tell me, she will."

  Charley clenched his lips tightly shut as if the truth might come out of its own volition were he not careful.

  Amanda threw her arms into the air in frustration. "What's the big deal, anyway? I know lots of horrible things you've done. What's one more?"

  Charley remained obdurately silent.

 
; The roar of the Harley's engine became louder, and Sunny rode up behind them. She stopped beside Amanda and took off the helmet, a wide grin on her face. "Thanks. That was fun."

  Amanda accepted the proffered helmet from Sunny. She was more than ever intrigued about the secret this woman shared with Charley and decided this would not be their last visit. "So, you'll give me a call after you talk to Frank Sturgess?"

  "Yes, I will." She surrendered the jacket and gloves to Amanda. "In the meantime, don't worry. I'm sure there's a logical explanation. Frank is a good man. You have nothing to fear from him."