My Private Detective

by Rebecca Winters

  “You know why I left,” she murmured as his mouth roamed her face with restless intensity, kissing her eyes, her nose, her cheeks and throat. Freshly shaved, he smelled of the soap he used in the shower. It worked like an aphrodisiac on her.

  He plunged his hands in her hair, raising her head up so their eyes could meet. “Don’t ever do that to me again. My heart won’t take it another time.”

  “Neither will mine. That’s why I can’t stay at your house.”

  He frowned. “You already have, so that argument won’t wash.”

  “Kevin hadn’t moved in then, Gideon.”

  “He has his own bedroom.”

  “That’s not the point and you know it!” Her voice trembled. “We have to give him time. If I were Kevin, I wouldn’t want some woman around, either.”

  “You’re not just some woman!”

  “Listen to me, Gideon. You’re his father. He adores you. This is the first time he’s been able to live with you since the divorce. Think what it means to him.”

  Gideon shook his head. “I have needs, too, Heidi. I want you there with me tonight, tomorrow and all the days and nights after that.”

  She couldn’t get through to him. He’d begun kissing her again. Deep, searching kisses that drew the response she seemed incapable of withholding from him. Somehow she had to stop this before they reached the point of no return.

  Pushing against his chest, she managed to wrench herself from his arms and take several steps back.

  “No.” She raised her hands when he would have touched her again. “Don’t come any closer, Gideon.”

  Her comment checked his movements. “Is there something you’re not telling me?” he asked. A shadow crossed his face.

  His ex-wife’s betrayal had left scars.

  “There’s no one else, and you know it!” she rushed to reassure him. “I want to be with you every second, too! But until Kevin welcomes me into that circle he’s drawn around the two of you, we can’t take whatever we want. Otherwise we’ll jeopardize the little we already have.”

  His chest heaved with the strength of his emotions. “So what are you suggesting?”

  “That we go on as we have been, without my staying at your house. By the time we can get Dana’s case reopened, maybe Kevin won’t feel so threatened.

  “I remember an old saying—first we hate, then we tolerate and finally embrace. I don’t think Kevin hates me. But your house is his house now. Can’t you see that if I stay in the bedroom next to his, it’ll be like shoving something distasteful down his throat? He’s not ready for me to be part of your life yet, Gideon.”

  When Gideon didn’t answer, she made another attempt to reason with him. “If we can get him used to my presence, then we’ll have made a lot of progress.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Children by definition are selfish creatures. If we follow your scenario, Kevin could hold us hostage indefinitely.”

  Heidi rubbed her forehead, where she could feel the beginnings of a headache. “We still have to consider his feelings. At least for a while,” she added quietly.

  After a long pause, he muttered, “I’m willing to go along with that for a short period, provided you won’t allow him to manipulate our relationship in other ways.”

  “I…I don’t understand.”

  “I think you do,” he said smoothly. “When we pick him up after school today and he says he doesn’t plan to come to the class with us, I don’t want you bowing out with some made-up excuse in order to spare his feelings.”

  She wondered how to stand her ground and still placate Gideon. “Why don’t we agree to deal with one situation at a time?”

  He sighed. “Tonight we have two situations,” he told her. “Max and Gaby have invited the three of us to dinner before class. They want to meet you.”

  She lifted her head, rearranging the swirl of red-gold hair around her shoulders. “I’d love to get to know them.”

  His jaw hardened. “Even if Kevin chooses not to go with us?”

  For some reason, Heidi sensed that were she to say the wrong thing now, it could hurt Gideon. She didn’t know why, but for the first time she wondered if he wasn’t as fragile as Kevin in his own way.

  “Whatever he decides to do—stay at your place or accompany us—I plan to be with you until you bring me back home tonight.”

  Strong arms shot out to pull her against him. “Be very certain that’s what you want.”

  Or what?

  Will I lose you?

  That possibility was so terrifying, she sought blindly for his mouth, eager to prove he was her whole world.

  At first his kiss was almost savage in its possession, as if he was testing her need of him. When it got through to him that she was the one who clung with primitive longing, she heard a satisfied groan before his body finally relaxed, allowing her to breathe again.

  Whatever had been troubling him seemed to have vanished.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  WHEN SHE SAW the name Jim Varney on the sign in front of the bank teller’s window, Heidi darted Gideon a meaningful glance. Since their visit to the gas station yesterday, she’d made several phone calls to locate the former garage attendant’s whereabouts.

  After the person ahead of them had finished her transaction, Heidi stepped up to the window.

  The sandy-haired man behind the counter studied her with blatant masculine interest. “May I help you, ma’am?” He had a pronounced Southern accent.

  “I hope so. My name is Heidi Ellis. Didn’t you used to work at Lyle’s Gas Station in Mission Bay? My family still goes there.”

  “Yes, ma’am. I worked there for a short time last spring.” His face broke into a fulsome smile. “I don’t recall seeing you—I know I would’ve remembered.”

  “I guess I went in for gas when you were off duty.” She turned to Gideon. “Allow me to introduce Detective Poletti. He’s from the San Diego Homicide division.”

  The other man’s smile faded. “Hello, sir.”

  Gideon nodded. “Good morning, Mr. Varney. I’m investigating a murder case.” He flashed his ID. “Do you think you could ask someone to cover for you so we could talk privately? It will only take a moment.”

  The younger man looked taken back. “Uh, sure. Why don’t you sit down by the desk over in the loans department? I’ll be right there.”

  “I think he’s frightened to death,” Heidi whispered as they moved to the other side of the small branch office and sat down.

  “My badge only has that effect on people with something to hide. If he stopped smiling, it’s because you introduced us before he had a chance to make a move on you.”

  “You’re wrong about that!”

  “Like hell I am,” he countered without a trace of amusement. “The guy could hardly function for checking you out.”

  “That’s absurd.”

  “He’s not the only male who’s interested. If you doubt me, take a look at the three men in line. They can’t take their eyes off you.”

  “Gideon, come on.” She didn’t know him in this mood. Without conscious thought she reached for his hand. “I didn’t realize you could be so grumpy,” she teased in an effort to coax a smile out of him.

  “Sometimes in the morning,” he conceded after a brief silence. It was the first show of levity since he’d picked her up at her apartment. His eyes continued to probe hers. “You don’t have a vain bone in your body, do you.”

  Heat crept into her face.

  Jim Varney chose that moment to join them. He sat down at the desk. Gideon was still holding her hand, a fact the other man couldn’t help but notice.

  “I’m free now,” he said. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

  With a final squeeze Gideon let go of her hand, then pulled the gas receipt from his pocket and placed it on the desk.

  “Are those your initials, Mr. Varney?”

  The other man studied the slip. “Yes, sir.”

  “As you can see, Dana Turner was
the woman who signed for the gas. Does that name mean anything to you?”

  “No, sir,” he said without hesitation.

  “You mean you don’t remember the Turner murder? It happened in Mission Bay?”

  “Oh, yeah—I heard something about it later in the year, but I’d just taken my finals at the university and I flew home to Houston for the summer. Now I’m back here in graduate school.”

  This man’s testimony was pivotal to Dana’s case. Heidi could barely sit still.

  “If I showed you some pictures, do you think you could identify the woman who came in? According to this slip, she bought two gallons of gas from you.”

  The teller hunched his shoulders. “I don’t know. That was almost a year ago. I can try.”

  “Good.”

  Gideon reached in his pocket and placed a half-dozen colored photographs of various brunettes, including the one of Dana, on the desk. Heidi decided he must’ve made an early run to police headquarters this morning to get the other pictures. All were face and shoulder shots.

  “Take your time, Mr. Varney.”

  As the man picked up one picture after another, Heidi held her breath. It didn’t take him long to make a decision. He shook his head. “None of these women look familiar.”

  “You’re sure?”

  Once again, he studied the photos. “I’m positive I’ve never waited on any of these ladies.”

  He hadn’t recognized Dana.

  Gideon scooped them up, then put down two more. “How about these redheads?”

  “No,” came the emphatic answer. His eyes swerved to Heidi. “You don’t forget hair that color.”

  If Gideon noticed the other man’s personal glance, he didn’t let it show. Instead, he removed the pictures and put down four more, which included Amy’s. All the women were blondes.

  “I don’t know,” the man murmured. He studied the photographs for another minute before tapping Amy’s. Gideon’s professional demeanor was firmly in place; he revealed no reaction whatsoever. But Heidi was so excited by what Jim Varney was telling them, her heart was pounding erratically and her palms were damp.

  “She looks kind of familiar, but with just a face it’s hard to be sure. I might have waited on her.”

  “Will this help?”

  Gideon pulled out a wallet-size snap of Amy with her two actress friends. He handed it to the other man. Heidi supposed he’d gotten it from the police archives.

  The second Varney saw it, he started to nod. “That’s her. Short and blond. After I filled up her gas can and put it in the back of her Jeep, I remember thinking she’d have trouble if she tried to carry it herself.”

  Heidi sat there, overwhelmed with gratitude to this young man. Everything added up. Amy drove a Jeep. Through the roaring in her ears, she heard Gideon ask, “You can still recall the make of car?”

  “In this case I do. A Jeep doesn’t have a trunk. Her hardtop was still on, and gas fumes can get pretty bad. I said I hoped she didn’t have far to drive. She made a face at me and told me not to worry about it. I guess she thought I was patronizing her.”

  That sounded like Amy.

  Heidi grabbed hold of Gideon’s forearm. “Amy drove a hardtop Wrangler,” she whispered to him.

  He nodded. “Mr. Varney? Are you certain enough about what you’ve just told us to be willing to testify to it in a court of law?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Then you’ll be hearing from a Mr. John Cobb within a week. He’s a criminal lawyer here in San Diego, and he’ll want to talk to you. Thanks for your cooperation.”

  If she’d been alone and felt the bank teller wouldn’t take it the wrong way, Heidi would’ve hugged him. As it was, she had to follow Gideon’s lead, maintaining her composure for as long as it took to reach his car.

  But once they were inside, she let go with an ecstatic cry. Despite the console separating their seats, she flung her arms around his neck. “You did it! You got it out of him! You’re amazing and brilliant and fantastic! His testimony proves Dana didn’t go near the filling station that day.”

  Too choked up to say another word, all she could do was cling to him.

  He drew her closer, burying his face in her hair. “I need to phone John Cobb with this news. Varney’s testimony, plus Dr. Siricca’s medical opinion that Amy was disturbed, now allows us to color in all the fours and fives of our painting. We’re halfway there. By the weekend it should be finished.”

  She lifted her head to look into his eyes. “What will happen then?”

  “Cobb will prepare a motion for a notice of hearing before the judge who had jurisdiction over Dana’s case. The same notice will be delivered to Jenke.

  “As soon as he receives it, the phone lines are going to burn between his office and Cobb’s. In the meantime the judge will set a court date for the evidentiary hearing.”

  “Will there be a jury?”

  “Not if the evidence is so convincing that the judge vacates his original verdict. However, if he decides there’s still reasonable doubt, he’ll order another trial with a new jury. But I’d hate to see Dana put through that experience again.”

  Heidi shivered. “So would I.”

  “That’s why we’re going to fill in every number of our painting first.”

  On that note he kissed her long and hard. When he eventually released her, she blushed; a number of people in the bank parking lot were watching them.

  A seductive smile lingered on his lips, the first smile Heidi had seen all morning. Relieved his mood seemed lighter now, she sat back in her seat.

  “You were naughty to do that in front of an audience.”

  “Are you talking about what we were both doing—with equal enthusiasm, I might add? I have news for you, sweetheart.” At the endearment, she felt her heart turn over. “That wasn’t naughty. You’ll recognize naughty when it happens,” he murmured, starting the car and pulling onto the road. “Trust me.”

  Unable to resist, she said, “Is that a promise?”

  “You shouldn’t ask me a question like that in heavy traffic.”

  She fought a smile. “Where are we going now?”

  “To the Turners again,” he told her. “Ed called me early this morning. He and Christine went to the phone company yesterday and got copies of all the phone bills I requested. The four of us should be able to figure out any calls that can’t be accounted for.”

  “You think she’d dare use her parents’ phone to get in touch with a drug dealer?”

  While they were stopped at a traffic light, Gideon turned to her. “Maybe. Don’t forget, she was planning her own death, but wanted Dana punished for it.”

  “So what you’re saying is, she wouldn’t have left a trail from her own cell phone for the police to investigate.”

  “She had total access to her parents’ empty house five days of every week. With them working full-time and Dana living in Pasadena—”

  “You’re right!”

  “There’s something else, Heidi.”

  She could hardly keep up with him. “What?”

  “Ed and Christine are very trusting, very laid-back. Their daughters’ being able to charge gas whenever they needed to, no questions asked, is just an example of that.”

  Heidi nodded. “They’re generous to a fault.”

  “Dana’s parents don’t strike me as the kind of people to pore over the phone bill every month working out who owes what. Amy knew their lives were too full of important matters to worry about details. She probably took full advantage of that.”

  “I don’t doubt it for a second.”

  “Do you know if they’re on the Internet?”

  When his question sank in, Heidi said, “Her e-mail! Of course!”

  “That, too, but I was thinking more of chat rooms and Web sites she might have visited. They would reveal how much time she actually spent on-line—and what she was up to.”

  Heidi’s thoughts leaped ahead. “Shouldn’t the Turners’ credit car
d bills be checked, too?”

  He gave her leg a gentle squeeze. “You’re reading my mind again.”

  “Gideon, Amy was obviously so sick it wouldn’t surprise me if she had her own Web site and charged the setup fee to her parents.”

  “None of this is outside the realm of possibility.”

  “Before Christmas we had an incident at school. A kid who was a library aide got hold of his dad’s credit card. Without anyone’s knowledge he and his friends had a hate Web site constructed. They ran it from the computer lab in the library until another student found out. Not only the police but the FBI were called in.”

  “It happens far too often.” He sighed. “But Internet crime isn’t a problem we can solve today.” He smiled slightly. “We have enough to do before we run by Kevin’s school at three.”

  At the mention of his son, she looked down at her hands.

  “He knows you’ll be with me, Heidi.”

  “What if he’s not there waiting?”

  “Then it means he needs to go in for some serious counseling.”

  She took a shaky breath. “I’m afraid.”

  “Kevin’s learned the art of manipulation from a master teacher.”

  He was referring to his ex-wife of course. The bitterness in his voice was the residue of pain he’d suffered at her hands.

  Heidi sensed that Gideon needed her to assure him she wouldn’t be intimidated. But she didn’t honestly know how long she could bear to be the one distancing Kevin from his father.

  “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

  Unable to say the words, she felt a new tension spring between them. It continued to build while they were at the Turners’. Except for one phone number that no one recognized, they found nothing to help them as they looked through the few undeleted e-mail messages.

  By the time Gideon pulled up in front of Oakdale Middle School at three, his emotional withdrawal was complete. It hurt her so badly, she didn’t even realize Kevin had run up to the car until she heard the back door open.

  “Hi, Dad!”

  “Hi, yourself.”

  When he got in and shut it again, she turned to look at him. “How are you, Kevin?”