Mary angled her head in silent admonishment.
“It’s a harmless prank.”
“What if it isn’t?”
Brandon wasn’t due to be released yet so it couldn’t have been him. He’d be the only one she’d be afraid of.
“No point in worrying unless there’s really something to worry about.” It wasn’t as if someone had tried to kill her, like what happened to Mary and Jake.
Mary considered her a while. “Be careful, all right?”
“I will.”
“I came by to see if you and Wes would like to double for dinner sometime. But first I had to make sure you were really seeing him.”
“Oh. I… Wes and I aren’t really dating.”
“It doesn’t have to be this week. Just let me know when you’re ready.”
She sounded so sure the date would happen.
Mary smiled. “I’d better get going.”
Lily said goodbye and after Mary had left, sat behind her desk, staring at the roses.
Since there was only one florist in town, she might be able to find out who sent them. She picked up the phone and called.
“Daisys,” Daisy Ray answered.
“Hi, Daisy, it’s Lily from over at the library.”
There was a slight hesitation. “Oh…hi, Lily. Do you like your flowers?”
Daisy sounded nervous. “They’re beautiful. Except the card wasn’t signed. How am I going to thank the person who got them for me?”
“Well, now, I—I don’t know. You have a secret admirer it would seem.” Daisy’s tentative laugh spoke volumes.
“Who bought them for me?”
“I don’t know who it was. They paid cash.”
“You don’t know who it was?”
“It was a young boy. Maybe fifteen or so. I don’t know his name.”
Was she telling the truth? Lily wasn’t sure how much more she should press the woman. She seemed uncomfortable. Why? Did she think Lily was at it again? Back to her old ways? Carousing around town, hitting on men? And now they were sending her flowers?
Except that isn’t what this was about. Lily was beginning to think this wasn’t an innocent delivery. Roses are red and so are you? That could be construed in any number of ways. Red could be a symbol of beauty or passion, or one of death.
Lily shook that last thought off. Someone was just trying to scare her and she wasn’t going to let them. The flowers were beautiful. She’d put them on her desk and forget the rest.
Wes stepped to the door of Jolene’s farmhouse and rang the bell. Seconds later, the door opened.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” she said.
“Sorry. I had a lunch meeting I couldn’t miss.” She didn’t have to know it was with Lily. He was sure everyone would find out before the end of the day anyway.
“Come in.”
He passed her in the entry and then followed her to the kitchen, where a cassette player lay. That was interesting. A cassette player in this day and age.
“I found it this morning,” Jolene said.
And he had to assume she meant a tape. He leaned over and pressed the rewind button, but the cassette had already been rewound. He pressed Play.
“I was cleaning out the attic and found this in a box of old hats and gloves and scarves. Mark must have put it in there before he disappeared.”
Wes looked at her. And she had just stumbled across it?
She was wringing her hands in front of her as she stared at the cassette player. Why was she so nervous?
“Hi, Mark,” a feminine voice said from the player. It was grainy and a little muffled.
“Hi, Tina. Come on in,” Mark Walsh answered.
“He had the cassette in a case and wrapped in a box,” Jolene explained. “Probably why it’s preserved so well.”
“When did he record it?” Wes asked, hoping to trick her in case she knew more than she was telling, like maybe she knew about the tape and the reason Walsh had made a recording.
She shrugged. “Had to be sometime before he disappeared. That hat box has been in storage for years.”
“You said it was important,” Tina said.
Who was Tina?
“Sit down.”
Muffled shuffling sounds garbled the recorder. Mark must have placed it close to wherever they sat. The voices were a little clearer now, too.
“I got to thinking about what you told me,” Mark said.
“It has to be over, Mark. You’re married.”
“It’s not about that. I want to help you, Tina.”
“Help me?”
Wes just bet there was something he wanted in return, too. That was how Mark Walsh operated. He might have been murdered, but nice was not a trait he’d been known for.
More shuffling noises garbled the recording.
Tina inhaled sharply. “What is this?”
“It’s a passport.”
“A driver’s license, too?”
“Yes. And anything else you need to get a fresh start. You no longer have to be Tina Mueller.”
There was a long silence.
“What are you talking about?”
Good question. Wes couldn’t wait to hear the answer to that one.
“There’s something I want from you. You don’t have to agree, but if you don’t, you have to leave your new identity here and leave town.”
“What identity? I don’t need a new identity.”
“Oh, yes, I think you do, Tina Mueller.”
“Why do you keep saying my full name?”
“I know all about your past, my love. You know the one I’m talking about?”
Another long silence ensued. “Bastard.”
Mark chuckled. “I bought you a house, too.”
“You’re crazy.”
“And you’ll let me in whenever I come over.”
“What for? To be your mistress? Go to hell!” More shuffling suggested Tina had gotten to her feet.
Mark must have stopped her.
“You’ll do everything I tell you. No one knows you in Honey Creek. You can make a nice life for yourself there.”
“But only if I spread my legs whenever you show up and God only knows what else? No thank you.”
“I discovered one of my wife’s diamonds is missing.”
Tina’s hesitation spoke volumes. “So? Buy her another one.”
“I know you took it.”
“No, I didn’t. I was only at your house that one time.”
“Yes. And I saw you take the ring. You thought I was sleeping, but I wasn’t.”
Tina didn’t say anything.
“What would the police say if they knew?” Mark asked.
“You don’t understand. I had a good reason for taking that ring. I chose you because you have a lot of money. You wouldn’t miss a ring your wife never wears. It wasn’t even her wedding ring.”
“How do you know she never wears it?”
“She has a hundred other ones.”
“You stole from me.”
“Please, Mark. I didn’t do anything wrong back then, but the police won’t believe that. If you really want to help me, you won’t tell anyone I took that ring. It will give me the break I’ve been looking for.”
“Is that all you wanted from me? Money?”
“I needed the ring.”
“And you slept with me to get it.”
“Don’t take it personally. Someone like you doesn’t care about a little old ring.”
“That little ring is worth over a million dollars.”
Again, Tina remained silent.
“Have you sold it yet?”
After another hesitation, she said, “Yes.”
“Take my offer, Tina. It’s the only one you’ll get.”
Tina sighed. Long seconds passed. “How do I know I can trust you?”
“Do what I ask and this stays our secret. Cross me, and the deal is off. It’s simple.”
She didn’t say anything and Wes could ima
gine the thoughts that had gone through her head.
“You can make a good life for yourself,” Mark told her again. “What I ask of you won’t be too much of an imposition. You’ll be free of your past and you can do whatever you want with the money from the ring. I won’t stand in your way unless you refuse me. It’s a generous offer. One both of us will benefit from.”
Him more than her. He was essentially lining her up to be one of his minions. Sex probably would have nothing to do with it, despite what Tina thought.
“All right, what, exactly, do you have in mind?”
The recording ended.
Wes ejected the tape and turned to Jolene. “Mind if I take this?”
She shook her head. Her arms were folded and she looked small and vulnerable. What was she afraid of? Or was hearing the tape between her ex-husband and one of his lovers disturbing to her? He wondered if she was telling him the truth about how she had found the tape. What if she’d known about it all along and kept it secret?
Why would she do that?
The tape was irrefutable evidence that her husband had had a lover. Was that enough to give her motive to kill if Mark had contacted her recently? Or had he contacted the lover and given that woman the motive? If Jolene was aware of the reunion, she also knew it could shift the blame off her.
She could have done this fifteen years ago, too, so Wes was inclined to believe she’d only recently found the tape. And the lover had ample motive to kill Mark if he’d contacted her from his not-so-dead grave. He doubted she’d been the cause of Mark’s disappearance, but his reappearance might have threatened her enough that she would do something drastic about it. After living for so long free of his ultimatums, his return would be a bitter pill to swallow. Especially if she had made a nice life for herself as Mark had given the opportunity to do with his offer.
“I don’t know anyone named Tina,” Jolene said.
“Mark helped her change her identity.” He’d get all he could on Tina Mueller, hoping something would turn up to lead him to her.
“I searched his financial records for the house he talked about, but didn’t find anything.”
“I’ll see what I can find.”
“I almost feel sorry for her.”
Wes thought she seemed sincere. “Why?”
“She was so close to pulling it off.”
“Pulling what off?”
“When she met him she must have known he had money and decided to use him. For once he was the one being used. It must have really gotten under his skin, knowing that a woman used sex to get into his house and steal something valuable. I have to hand it to her.”
“You’re happy she stole your ring?”
“I don’t care about the ring. He deserved a taste of his own deceitfulness.”
He nodded. “Do you think he deserved to die for it?”
“No, of course not. That’s not what I’m saying.”
There was nothing more he wanted to ask her right now. “I’ll let you now what turns up.” He headed for the door.
“Wes?”
He stopped with his hand on the doorknob.
“I didn’t kill him.”
Right now he had nothing to prove otherwise, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. Until he knew for certain who the murderer was, he wasn’t going to eliminate anyone as a potential suspect.
Chapter 5
Lily glanced over at her dad. She bet she could count on one hand how many times Seamus Masterson had spoken to her since her return—the words yes and no excluded. Everybody called him Shay for short. Sometimes she felt like calling him that instead of Dad. She had called him Shay as a teenager and it had annoyed him.
He’d aged a lot since her mom had died. He didn’t even look like the same man. Where once he’d been tall and big-framed, now he was still tall, but wiry and frail. As a child she’d been intimidated by him. Maybe that was why she’d rebelled to such an extreme. It had certainly played a role. His lack of acceptance of her had been the catalyst; that and her mother’s prim way of allowing him to destroy her self-esteem. Or at least trying to.
Shay sat on the couch holding a newspaper, his thick glasses magnifying his blue eyes. He didn’t acknowledge her when she sat in the chair next to the couch. Not even when she said “Good morning.” She might as well not be in the room. It was Saturday and she had the day off. She was hoping to spend an hour or two of family time with him. Break a little of that ten-foot block of ice separating them.
She looked around the room. It was cozy for such a staunch man. Bookshelves spanned the entire north wall behind her, and antique furniture over a red mosaic-patterned rug faced a wood-burning fireplace. Windows filled most of the east wall and reached the vaulted ceiling. A French door next to the bookshelves led to a wooden balcony. There was a den in this house with a television and stereo, but her dad liked to spend his time in here reading. Maybe that was his way of escaping his lonely existence. He might have seemed like a cold-hearted bastard growing up, but he’d loved her mother to the core of the earth.
Lily turned to look at him again. He still had his face in the newspaper.
May would be down any minute. They’d talked about going out for lunch and then shopping in Bozeman. The getaway would be good for both of them. It would get Lily’s mind off Brandon’s release, which would have happened yesterday, and May’s off her troubles at school.
The sound of May’s feet thudding on the stairs to the walkout basement preceded her voice. “Mom? Can I get a pair of hiking boots today?”
It irritated her that now her dad put the newspaper on his lap and looked up at May with a smile.
“Sure.” She needed a pair of hiking boots anyway.
“Hi, Grandpa,” May said. “Mornin’, pumpkin.”
“I’m too old to be a pumpkin.” But May laughed anyway.
“You’re my pumpkin.”
“Are you coming with us today?”
Her dad’s smile faded and he glanced at Lily. It was brief. “You girls go on your shopping spree. I’ll be here when you get home.”
“You always stay home.” May pouted.
“You get to be my age you’ll understand.”
“May’s right, Dad. You do always stay home. Maybe it would do you some good to get out every once in a while.”
Cold eyes found hers. “I’m happy right here.”
“You could spend more time with May.”
“I’ll spend time with her tonight.” His voice was starting to rise.
Lily decided not to push the subject in front of May. She’d been careful not to put too much emphasis on the conflict between her and Shay; May didn’t need to be involved in all that. Lily wanted her daughter to have a good relationship with her grandfather. And the way Shay was responding to her was a good sign.
She stood. “You ready?” she said to her daughter.
“I’m hungry.”
“Didn’t you eat breakfast?”
“I had cereal.”
And it had already worn off. The metabolism of a fourteen-year-old was something to marvel at. “We’ll stop somewhere for an early lunch.” It was already eleven anyway.
Lily grabbed her purse and keys and led her daughter to her truck.
“How come Grandpa never talks to you?” May asked when they were on their way.
Lily never knew how to answer these questions. The last time May had asked why she’d never met her grandfather before now, Lily had said she hadn’t been close to him as a child. The next question had been, “What about my grandmother?”
She’d gotten past that one by telling May her grandmother had died.
“I suppose he doesn’t know what to say.”
“Why not? He talks to me.”
“I told you, we weren’t close when I was growing up.”
May was silent for a few minutes. “Is it because of the way you were?”
Lily parked in front of Kelley’s Cookhouse and turned the truck engine off. She looked o
ver at her daughter. Maybe it was time to tell her all of it.
“My dad was very strict when I was growing up.”
“Like you?”
Lily grunted a laugh. “No. Worse. He and your grandmother were religious but they were also…” Narrow-minded and stiff didn’t seem like the right way to say this. “They wanted things to go their way or no way. If I didn’t play by their script, I heard about it. Sometimes I was punished.”
“They beat you?”
“No.” Not physically. “When you’re a parent you have to teach your children, not dictate to them.”
“Grandpa did that?”
“He’s changed, May. He’s learned and grown over the years. If I’d known that sooner, I would have brought you back before now.”
“What about Grandma? What was she like?”
A pang of sadness built in Lily’s chest. She wished she could have had a better relationship with her mother. “She loved your grandpa. She did what he wanted.”
“She treated you the same?”
“She didn’t have to. She let him have control.”
Lily watched her daughter think about that. “I would never do that.”
May couldn’t have paid her a higher compliment. “Then I did something right with you, honey.” She smiled her love.
Her daughter smiled back. “Do you think Grandpa will change his mind about you?”
“I don’t know. He never accepted me for who I was. I don’t know if he’ll ever get past that.”
“What did he want from you?”
“I wish I knew. Good grades didn’t matter. He didn’t agree with my interests or opinions. They were different from his, you see.”
“I’m glad you didn’t let him control you, Mom.”
God, she loved her daughter. “I didn’t let him control me, but I made a mistake in the way I rebelled against him. That’s why I got so mad when you ended up in the principal’s office for fighting.”
May rolled her eyes, but it was without annoyance. “Are we going to eat or what?” She swung open the truck door.
Lily laughed and got out with her. That’s when she saw Maisie Colton walking down the street toward them. She was still beautiful at forty. Tall and slender with long, brown hair, she moved like a movie star. No one would ever guess she had a crazy streak by looking at her.
The Librarian’s Secret Scandal Page 7