“I guess it’s rather fortuitous for Eva, but there’s nothing you can do. You have to give this letter to Mr. Clayton.”
“No, I don’t. I have to think about this.”
“Darci?”
“I’m serious. Eva planted that letter. If Kenny was going to give it to Mr. Clayton to pass on to me, it would be on his dresser or coffee table so he wouldn’t forget it. Not inside a drawer.”
“It’s his sock drawer. He would find the letter in there.”
“Ugh! Stop being a cop for a minute and be my boyfriend. See things my way for a change!”
“I see a lot of things your way, you’re just wrong when it comes to Warwick. You don’t like his sister, so you’re going to think the worst of her regardless.”
“With good reason. Eva is bad news, and Kenny was too good to her.”
“She’s his sister.”
“Sometimes tough love is the best love.”
“That’s what I’m trying to give you, but you get angry and accuse me of not being on your side.” He draped his arm around her shoulders, and brought her close to him. As much as she enjoyed Steed’s affection, she was in no mood to receive it right now. She wriggled from his arms. Steed sighed. “I love you, Darci. I want you to move on from this.”
“This letter is different.”
“It’s not different.”
“Yes, it…” She released a drawn out breath. “Steed, let’s drop this. I’m taking this letter with me, and I’ll consider giving it to Mr. Clayton. That’s the best I can do.”
“It’s your decision,” he said, the unmistakable edge to his voice saying “suit yourself.” “Are you ready to go?”
“More than.” She stuffed the letter in her purse and walked out the door.
* * *
Silence hung between them on the drive back to the station. Steed pulled into his parking spot and kept his gaze straight ahead. “I don’t like this,” he said.
“What?” Darci replied tersely.
Steed turned to her. “You know very well what. You’re right next to me and you feel a million miles away.”
“I have a lot on my mind. Things you don’t want to hear about.” She cut her eyes.
“I honestly thought going to Warwick’s would help you.”
“It did help me, but not the way you wanted. Talking about Kenny is something we can’t do, because, inevitably, it leads us to this place. I don’t want tension between us.”
“Neither do I, but how can we not talk about your best friend? What kind of relationship can we have if we put limits on ourselves? Don’t mention this, don’t do that. That’s not what I want.”
“Is that a virgin dig?”
Steed closed his eyes for a long moment. Don’t get angry, Steed. Don’t get angry. “No, it’s not,” he said, “but if you thought so, you have more issues than I imagined.” Steed regretted those words the moment they passed his lips. He blew out a long breath. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
Darci sighed. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have implied it.” She took his hand. “I know where you stand on that. It’s just…I’m a little overwhelmed about this situation with Kenny, and I don’t want to fight with you.”
“And not agreeing with you will cause us to fight? Being an only child has spoiled you. Having your way is not a rule.”
Darci dropped his hand. “I’m apologizing, and you call me a spoiled brat.”
“I didn’t.”
“You may have the gold shield, but I’m not stupid!”
“No, just single-minded and hardheaded!”
Huffing, Darci crossed her arms and looked straight ahead.
Steed turned her chin, forcing their eyes to meet. “When it comes to Warwick, you’re like a dog with a bone, Darci. You know what’s right, but you just won’t let this go. Do you know how hard it is for me to see you like this? Do you care?”
“Of course I care. I’m trying, Steed. I know what the facts say, I get that, but I can’t dismiss what I feel is right in my heart to appease you.”
“You’re not appeasing me, Darci. The evidence tells me Warwick killed himself, not my personal opinion.”
“That’s just it! You see everything through the glare of that damn shield of yours. It becomes personal.”
“It’s personal because I love you. I want you to move on from this notion you can never prove.”
“Let’s not do this again. I have to deal with this my way.”
“Fine, Darci. Whatever.” He reached for the door handle.
Darci touched his shoulder. “Don’t leave angry, okay? This doesn’t have to come between us, and it won’t if we don’t let it.”
“I want to believe that, Darci, but for you to believe what you do means…”
“Means things are the way they’ve always been. Steed, you’re the best thing to happen to me since I came back to Sterling. Maybe since ever. And as much as you drive me crazy, and you do, I love you, and I don’t want to lose you.”
“I don’t want to lose you, either.” Steed reached over the gearshift and gathered her in his arms, inhaling her sweet scent, enjoying the warmth of her body. “I love you so much.” His mouth found her, seizing it in a slow, deep, and thorough kiss that Darci returned with equal fervor. They were definitely in this thing together, even if it didn’t always seem that way.
Darci brushed her finger against his lips. “Are we okay?”
“We’re fine.” Steed didn’t know how fine she was, but he wouldn’t push the Warwick issue, just as he wouldn’t mention the print mix-up which would only feed her irrational thoughts. He escorted Darci to her car. “We still on for dinner?”
“Uh-huh. Your place at six.”
“See you then.” He kissed her good-bye and walked into the station.
“Detective.” Jackson removed the phone from his ear and approached Steed. “I’ve been trying to reach you.”
“My cell died. What’s going on?”
“The chief wants you in his office. There’s a woman waiting to talk to you in regard to Jason Hyde.”
CHAPTER 14
Steed walked toward the chief’s office. “Who is this woman, Jackson?” he asked.
“She’s Hyde’s mother.”
“How long has she been here?”
“About fifteen minutes,” Jackson answered.
Steed knocked on Rogers’s door and walked in without being invited. A mixture of foul body odor and arthritis rub hit him full force. His gaze shot to the sixtyish platinum blonde who looked to be in need of a couple of hot meals. “Chief, you wanted to see me?”
Rogers stood and waved him over. “McGraw, I’m glad you’re here. This is—”
The woman extended her hand to Steed. Her redder-than-red lips spread into a wide smile. Leather pants matched her lip color, and a dingy white sweater hung over her knobby shoulders and slight build. “Genrose Allen,” she said.
“Nice to meet you, ma’am. I’m Detective Steed McGraw,” he said, giving the woman’s crooked hand a quick squeeze before taking the empty seat next to her. Her smile grew wider. Steed cringed. That old woman was checking him out.
“Ms. Allen here wants to file a missing person report,” explained Rogers. “Seems her son hasn’t been seen or heard from in over two months.”
“My Jason has been known to disappear for days at a time,” Genrose elaborated, “but he usually calls or comes home when he gets tired of rambling.” A hacking cough shook her skeletal frame, her pale face reddened.
Chief Rogers handed her a bottle of water from his small fridge. “Have some of this,” he said.
“Thank you,” Genrose managed between her violent coughs. She took several swallows and soon her red face returned to its pale tone.
“Are you all right?” Steed asked.
“Much better, thank you.” She placed the bottle near the edge of the desk. “My Jason is always looking for acceptance. Friends. He was an awkward kid. Never really fit in. A l
ittle slow.”
Steed pulled his notepad and pen from his jacket pocket and flipped to the first clean sheet. “When did you last see him?”
“He came by the house the day after I met with my new doctor. My arthritis is so…”
Steed rolled his eyes. He did not want to hear the rundown of this woman’s medical problems. “Ms. Allen, you were saying.”
“Oh, yes. I haven’t seen Jason since September fifth.”
“Why did you wait so long to file a report?”
“I thought he’d come back.” Genrose reached into her purse and pulled out a flattened pack of cigarettes.
Steed wondered how a scratchy throat could produce a coughing fit like the one Ms. Allen had. Now he knew her body odor probably masked the stench of stale tobacco. He hated cigarette smoke, but compared to her scent, he couldn’t imagine which was worse.
“Do you mind?” she asked.
“Not inside the building, ma’am,” Rogers kindly explained, before Steed could offer his “Hell, yeah, we mind!” response.
“Oh. Oh, well.” She returned the pack to her purse.
“About your son,” Rogers continued. “You said the last time you saw him was early September?”
“Uh-huh. Like I said, he goes off for days at a time before I hear from him. It’s not unusual.”
Steed met the chief’s gaze. His superior clearly shared his concern. He turned to Ms. Allen.
“Days aren’t two months, ma’am,” Rogers replied.
“That’s why I’m here now.”
“Have you talked to any of his friends?”
“Jason didn’t have many friends. He—he got into a little trouble a while back. Did a few months in the Crider jail.” The woman scratched her neck, leaving scarlet trails behind. “The element in lockup ain’t what I had in mind for my boy.”
The chief sat back in his chair. The springs squeaked under the pressure of his weight. “What’s a little trouble, Ms. Allen?” he asked.
“Breaking and entering.”
“Humph!” Steed grunted.
Genrose’s glazed gray eyes flashed. “Don’t be judging my boy, Detective. It was a misdemeanor. Jason made some mistakes, but he has a good heart. People take advantage of him because he’s so nice. All he ever wanted was for people to like him.” Her voice wavered and tears slid down her wrinkled cheeks. “I’m worried about him. I’m scared something’s done happened to him.”
Rogers handed Steed a box of tissues and nodded toward Ms. Allen. The frown on his superior’s face spoke volumes. Work on your people skills, McGraw!
Steed handed Genrose a tissue. “I’m sorry if I came off as judgmental, ma’am. It’s just more often than not criminal offenders become repeat offenders. Maybe your son fell in with that bad element again.”
“Could be, but he would still call after a while, and he hasn’t. He moved here from Crider a few years back, and the two boys he hung with there haven’t heard from him, either. I don’t like making a fuss, but I think I have to make a fuss now.” She sniffled. “Something’s wrong.”
“Do you have a recent picture?”
“Yes.” She fumbled around in her purse and pulled out a snapshot. “Here you go. He’s a handsome boy, ain’t he?”
Steed took the picture and gave the woman a faint smile. All mothers thought their sons were handsome. The phrase “A face only a mother could love” wasn’t around for nothing. Steed gave the photo a sideways glance to find Hyde wasn’t the dog he’d expected him to be. In fact, behind the scraggly beard overshadowing his dark hair and light eyes, Hyde wasn’t bad looking at all.
“Was Jason involved with anyone?”
“No,” Genrose answered, mopping her tears with the tissue. “He liked a lot of girls, but nothing happened with them. From time to time, Jason helped at a locksmith’s down here at the strip mall. He mentioned there were a lot of pretty girls working in the clothing stores, but I can’t think of any names.”
“Did he live with you?”
“No. He stayed in a boarding house just inside town. He liked that it was close to the Milford Mall. He would walk to the movies. He liked to walk.”
“How could he afford his own place? You said he worked occasionally at the locksmith’s.”
“Jason got disability for his challenges.”
“Did he get his last two checks?”
Genrose nibbled on her bottom lip and shrugged. “His checks came to my house. He didn’t have a bank account, and he can’t drive, so I would take him to the places too far to walk, cash his checks, and bring him the money when he asked for it.”
“You didn’t get suspicious when he didn’t ask for it the last couple of months?”
“He owed me money. I figured he wanted me to keep it. Are you gonna try to find my boy or not?”
“Yes, we’re going to get right on it, Ms. Allen,” Chief Rogers assured her, sitting forward. “We’ll just need the address of this boarding house, the name of the locksmith shop, and your information.”
Steed jotted the details Genrose shared and stood. “I’ll talk to the locksmith and try to look around his room. Maybe I can get some information for you, ma’am.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled a business card from his leather carrier. “If you think of anything, regardless of how insignificant you feel it might be, give me a call. If I don’t answer, please leave a message and I will get back with you. We’ll have to keep the picture for a while, okay?”
“Okay.” Genrose took the card and dropped it in her purse. “Please find my boy.” She looked from the chief to Steed. “Please.”
“We’ll do all we can, ma’am,” Steed answered with a reassuring pat to her spindly arm. After showing her out, he returned to his chair. Rogers pulled out a can of air freshener and filled the room with a hazy, floral-scented cloud.
“What do you think, McGraw?” he asked, walking about the room as he continued to spray.
Steed waved his hand before his face. He couldn’t decide which was worse, Ms. Allen’s body odor or the smell of blooming spring flowers mixed with it.
“I think if Jason Hyde is anything like his mother, he is a pathetic human being. What mother who really cared would wait over two months to file a missing person report?” Steed coughed. “Chief, please,” he begged, staring at the man and his hissing spray can.
“Sorry.” Rogers returned to his chair and dropped the can in his desk drawer. “She thought he was coming back. What’s strange, he’s been gone for as long as Warwick’s been dead, and his fingerprints were on the gun. You were with Darci earlier. You still haven’t mentioned this to her?”
“No, I haven’t. This is the last thing she needs to hear.”
“Maybe she knows this Hyde.”
“I doubt Darci knows this guy.”
“You’re not going to bother to ask?”
Steed shook his head. He wasn’t about to play the Warwick card after what had happened today. “If I can help it, I won’t mention Warwick’s case to Darci again. She needs to deal with her feelings on this, and adding suspicions won’t help.”
“With Hyde’s fingerprints on the gun, wouldn’t it stand to reason that Warwick knew the guy?”
“If we went with the notion the fingerprints weren’t a mix-up, sure. But Warwick committed suicide. That’s a fact.”
“Then explain away Hyde’s prints, because right now they are also a fact.”
“I will do just that.” Steed dropped his notepad and the photo in his pocket and walked to the door. “I’m off to the boarding house.”
* * *
Darci studied the words on Kenny’s letter as she made her way to Jackie’s office at Sterling University. She’d agreed to disagree with Steed, but she needed someone else’s opinion. And though Jackie, like Steed, thought she was nuts when it came to her belief about how Kenny died, Darci hoped this letter would at least change her opinion a little bit. There was something more to this letter, something that gnawed away at her. She only
wished she could figure out what. Darci looked up from the letter just in time to butt heads with her cousin.
“Ow!” Jackie rubbed the grape-size knot swelling on her forehead. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to read and walk at the same time?”
“I’m sorry, Jackie, it’s just this letter.” She walked around her cousin and entered the office, not the least bit fazed by the collision. “You’re not busy, are you?”
“I was just about to grab a soda from the vending machine, but I guess I need the can as a cold compress now.” Jackie winced as she touched the red knot on her forehead. “Girl, you have a head like a brick.”
“I’m sorry. Look, you sit down, I’ll grab you a drink.” She handed over the letter. “Read this while I’m gone. We need to talk.”
Ten minutes later Darci returned to the office. After nearly taking her cousin out, she felt the least she could do was get some ice for Jackie’s injury and buy her a cheeseburger. If anything could put her cousin in a forgiving mood, it was a cheeseburger. Luckily, Jackie’s building was right across from the student union.
“You made it back?” Jackie said, her chin propped in her open palm. She sniffed and lowered her arm. “Is that a cheeseburger I smell?”
Darci laid out the purchased items. “Yes, with everything on it.” She dug in her purse at the sight of Jackie’s bright smile. “And look.” She produced a red rectangular pack. “Cinnamon gum to fight the onions.”
Jackie eyed Darci curiously as she placed the plastic bag of ice to her forehead. “You must really want something bad. Why are you bribing me?” she asked.
“It’s not a bribe,” Darci said with a straight face.
“Uh-huh.”
“Mostly not.” Darci pulled a chair closer to the desk and sat. “I feel awful about running into you, so I went to the union to get you some ice, and ended up buying a burger, too. That and I wanted to give you time to read the letter. I know I should have called first, but I started driving and ended up here. I thought you might be able to shed some light on this.”
“I don’t know how much light I can shed,” said Jackie, unwrapping the burger and taking a bite. She closed her eyes and chewed, her face the picture of bliss. “Forget the national fast-food chains. This school makes the best burgers in the world.”
Not Quite Right (Indigo Love Spectrum) Page 13