Deadly Devotion

by Sandra Orchard

  Although the announcement wasn’t news to her, she couldn’t stop the way her body trembled and her feet edged farther away.

  Edward lunged forward and gripped her forearms. “You have to believe me. I would never hurt Daisy.”

  “Why . . . why are you telling me this?”

  “Because if the police reopen her case, they’re bound to find out about my past, who I am. They won’t care that Daisy loved me anyway.”

  “Past? You’ve done this before?” The pieces clicked together in Kate’s mind—the article about the con artist, the fact that Daisy’s real nephew was long gone. “You make a living out of conning little old ladies out of their estates?”

  “It was never like that. I was more like the son they never had. But yes, Daisy knew. Only I didn’t know she knew. Not until I read her journal. She wrote about how she hoped that by adopting me into her family I’d finally understand God’s love.” Edward’s grip on Kate’s arms tightened. He shook her. “Don’t you see? I had to burn the journal. If you’d read that, you would’ve gone to the police. They never would have believed I didn’t kill her.”

  Kate struggled against his hold. “Did you?”

  “No!” His shout echoed off the rocks of the cliff face. “I could never have hurt Daisy. I’ve never hurt anyone.”

  “You’re hurting me.”

  His grip instantly relaxed, but he didn’t let go. “Promise me you won’t tell the police. Next to Molly, you’re the closest thing I have to a friend. And if the truth about me comes out, the police will lock me up and throw away the key. I’ll lose her for good.”

  The anguish in his voice cracked the revulsion that had balled in Kate’s chest. She shook off his hold and put more ground between her and the cliff edge. “Does Molly know what you are?”

  “What I was. Yes.” Edward pushed his fingers through his hair. “I never came to Port Aster intending to swindle Daisy or anyone. I swear it was just dumb luck that my newest alias matched Daisy’s nephew.”

  “You expect me to believe that?”

  “I know it looks bad, but I swear that I came here to start a new life.”

  “Then why didn’t you tell Daisy she was mistaken?”

  Edward shifted awkwardly. “I tried, but she wanted to believe I was her nephew, have a chance to make amends for forcing her sister to give up her child for adoption.” Edward shook his head. “She pursued me, and I played along. Habit, I suppose. I don’t know.”

  “How gullible do you think I am? Not only do you show up in Port Aster to start this new life bearing the name of Daisy’s nephew, but you land a job at the very place she works.”

  “It was Molly’s dad’s idea. He saw the ad for the public relations job. A job in a town hundreds of miles away from his daughter. He said that given my gift for exaggeration, PR was the perfect job for me.”

  “Molly’s dad?”

  “Molly’s parents refused to consent to our marriage and sent me packing.”

  “Because you’re a criminal.”

  “No, because they’re Gilmores and I’m a nobody.”

  The image of Molly in her black sheath flashed through Kate’s mind. The expensive-smelling fragrance. The glittering . . . “Gilmore, as in the Gilmore Diamonds Gilmores?”

  “Among a gazillion other enterprises, yeah.”

  “If Molly’s rich, why’s she working at A Cup or Two and living above the bakery in a rinky-dink apartment?”

  Edward’s eyes brightened and his lips spread into a cheek-splitting grin. The kind of grin she’d only seen three or four times in her life, always on the face of a groom as he watched his bride glide down the aisle toward him. The kind of grin that said, “I am the luckiest man alive.”

  “She says she’s proving to me that she doesn’t care about her parents’ wealth. All she wants is me.”

  “You drive a Porsche. You can’t be that bad off.”

  “It was a gift . . . of sorts.”

  “Oh?” This sounded worse than Kate had feared. Had Edward helped himself to the “gift”? Or blackmailed someone?

  “Molly’s dad bribed me to disappear.”

  Kate’s breath escaped in a rush. “Does Molly know?”

  “I’m sure her dad threw my shallowness in her face the second I drove away. He was always telling her that she had to marry someone with money, otherwise she’d never know whether the guy was marrying her for her, or for her money.”

  “Are you marrying her for her money?”

  Edward ducked his head. “At first. But not anymore.” He pressed his hand to his chest. “Molly loves me. Me. She loves me enough to defy her parents and fight for my love. Her parents never spent any time with her. They gave her everything she could possibly want except themselves. She doesn’t want to be tied to a rich guy who will always be off working his next deal. So she broke all ties with her parents and set out to find me.”

  Kate lifted an eyebrow.

  “Believe me, if her father knew she was in Port Aster, I’d be working in Moose Jaw and wearing a Rolex.” He shook his head. “No. That’s not true. I don’t care if Gilmore is the richest man in the country. I won’t be bought off again like some corporate merger. I won’t lose Molly again. No one has ever loved me like she does.” He lifted his gaze to Kate’s. “No one except Daisy.”

  Kate nodded. Maybe she was as naïve as Julie kept telling her, but Kate believed him. “I need to know one more thing. Did you frame me for Daisy’s murder? To get me to stop looking?”

  “No. Don’t you see? I don’t want the police to take more interest in this case. The more they dig, the more likely they’ll pin the murder on me. They closed the case. Why can’t you just leave it alone?”

  “Because someone killed her. No one would go to the trouble of framing me if it wasn’t true.”

  “Aren’t you afraid you’ll wind up the same way if you push this?”

  Her pulse jumped. “Is that a threat?”

  “No.” He grabbed her arms, digging in his fingers. “Stop twisting my words.”

  Kate cried out.

  “I’m sorry.” His grip eased. “I’m sorry.” His eyes pleaded for absolution. “Please, you’ve got to believe me. I just want to start over with a clean slate. You’re my only hope.”

  Tom drew his gun and sprinted full-out the last five hundred yards to the top of the falls. The sight of Kate teetering at the edge, face white, Edward’s fingers clamped around her arms, ripped Tom to shreds. He leveled his gun at the man’s chest. “Let her go. Now.”

  Edward’s gaze snapped to his, a crazed glint in his eye. Tom’s throat turned to sandpaper. He tried to swallow, but the torrent of water plummeting over the cliff couldn’t have touched the dryness.

  Kate flung her arms and broke Edward’s hold, but instead of running for safety, she stepped in front of him and deliberately obstructed Tom’s line of sight.

  Stunned that Crump didn’t immediately clamp his arm around her to protect himself, Tom spoke low and insistent. “Kate, step away from him. Now.”

  “Not until you put that gun away.” She lifted her chin, but he didn’t miss how it trembled.

  “This man is not who he seems.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “There’s a lot of that going around.”

  Tom clenched his jaw as her words found their mark. “He’s not your aunt’s nephew. His name is Jim Crump. He’s a con artist who preys on rich old ladies.”

  Edward sucked in a breath and took a step backward, dangerously close to the edge of the cliff.

  Kate glanced over her shoulder at his stricken face, then turned on Tom with fight in her eyes. “Edward didn’t kill Daisy. He didn’t even con her. Daisy knew who he was.”

  “Is that what he told you?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you believe him?”

  “Yes.” She spat the word. “It’s a bad habit, I know, believing in people.”

  Ouch. She sure knew how to deliver the blindside punch. So much for thinking storm
ing to her rescue would make her forget how he’d let her down this afternoon. “It doesn’t matter whether or not he conned Daisy. I’m sure I can dig up a trail of arrest warrants on him,” Tom said, even though he’d spent hours tracking Edward’s history, trying, without success, to find an excuse to arrest him. But he had him now.

  Edward held up his hands and stepped around Kate. “There are no outstanding arrest warrants on me. And for the record, I brought Kate here to talk. Nothing more.”

  “That’s not what her text message implied.” Tom motioned toward the dirt with the muzzle of his gun. “Down on the ground. You’re under arrest for kidnapping.”

  Without a word, Edward dropped to his knees and then laid facedown on the ground.

  Not trusting his quick compliance, Tom kept his gun trained on him. “Move away, Kate.”

  “You can’t do this. I was upset. I didn’t know what I was saying when I texted Julie.”

  “The man had you by the arms at the edge of a cliff when I showed up. Wait for me in the parking lot. We’ll talk about what happened back at the station.”

  “No, I won’t go back there. If you expect me to set foot in that police station again, you’ll have to arrest me too.”

  The tortured dread rippling beneath her words undermined his resolve. Tom motioned toward the trail, darkened by lengthening shadows as the sun slid toward evening. “Start walking.”

  Her watery eyes held his for a moment longer, then she dropped her gaze and shuffled down the trail. No matter what she claimed happened here, the wobble in her legs proved she’d been frightened.

  With Kate out of harm’s way, Tom holstered his gun and slapped handcuffs onto Edward. “Okay, let’s go.”

  “The charges against me in King City were dropped. I haven’t done anything wrong.” He slowed his step and sent Tom a pleading look. “You’ve got to believe me. I changed my name legally. I came here to make a fresh start.”

  “Convenient how those charges happened to be dropped. Almost as though someone paid off the complainant.”

  The twitch in Edward’s cheek told Tom his guess had been right.

  Tom shoved him forward. “Get moving.”

  “Please, I’m telling you the truth. I just brought Kate here to talk.”

  Kate walked ten paces ahead of them, her back stiff. How had he ever thought she was loyal? The woman traded allegiances more readily than his most unreliable informants. Without her cooperation, he had nothing to hold Edward on.

  Tom could just imagine what Hank would say if Tom brought Edward in with Kate nipping at their heels, protesting that she wasn’t kidnapped.

  The one consolation was, Tom’s instincts told him Edward had only brought Kate here to convince her to stop investigating before his past caught up to him. Because the real murderer would have stopped at nothing to ensure her silence.

  How ironic that she finally had the power to get what she’d wanted—Edward’s arrest—and she was thwarting their prime opportunity by refusing to cooperate.

  Tom sent a text message to Julie to let her know Kate was safe. Then he tried again to catch Edward in a lie. “Who did you hire to impersonate Laslo?”

  “Impersonate?”

  “Why did you tell Kate that Laslo was Daisy’s killer?”

  “I didn’t. I couldn’t even remember the kid’s name. I told Kate that Daisy had threatened to expel one of her interns. Kate figured out it was Laslo.”

  “Why’d you pick her up at the police station?”

  “Because I knew from personal experience how grueling an experience being arrested could be.”

  “Where is Laslo now?”

  “How should I know? I’ve never met the kid.”

  “Isn’t it true that you visited the local greenhouses in your capacity as the PR rep?”

  “To meet with owners, not interns.”

  “Isn’t it true that you visited Landavars Greenhouses on the day before Laslo disappeared?”

  “I don’t know when he disappeared. I was at Landavars a few weeks ago.”

  Nothing in Edward’s body language suggested he was trying to hide anything—namely, that Laslo didn’t work at Landavars but at Herbs Are Us. “Okay, Crump. Here’s the deal,” Tom said quietly so Kate wouldn’t overhear. “I’ll let you go, but I don’t want to see you anywhere near her. Do we understand each other?”

  “Perfectly.”

  When they reached the parking lot, Kate stationed herself next to the Porsche, arms crossed over her chest.

  Tom unlocked Edward’s cuffs, and Edward immediately strode to the driver’s side.

  “The detective will give you a ride home, Kate.”

  Her eyes widened in a look Tom could only describe as mortified. “I’d prefer if you’d give me a lift back to my car.”

  Edward slanted a helpless glance Tom’s way before answering. “Sorry, I can’t.”

  Kate turned on Tom. “So you plan to kidnap me now. Is that it?”

  As Edward peeled out of the parking lot, Tom’s relief that Kate was safe—and as feisty as ever—made him smile, which only made her scowl darken. “I’ll drive you wherever you’d like. Despite what you may think, I came here because I thought you were in danger. I want to help you find Daisy’s killer.”

  “Four hours ago, you treated me as if I’d killed her!”

  “I had my orders. I’m sorry I doubted you. Clearly, someone tried to frame you and—”

  “Someone?” she blurted. “Your boss, you mean. The one giving those orders you’re so quick to obey.”

  Whoa, she suspected Hank too? “If Hank is behind this, we’ll figure out a way to prove it.”

  “We?” Her snarky voice, so out of character, betrayed how deeply he’d hurt her.

  “Yes, we. I made a mistake, and I’m asking you to forgive me.” He lifted his hand to touch her cheek, but she shied away. Reluctantly, he opened the passenger door and waited for her to climb in. “I want to help you.”

  “It’s not that easy,” she muttered, dropping into the seat.

  “You forgave Edward easily enough, and he lied about his identity from the day you met.”

  “That’s different.”

  Tom shut the door, walked to the driver’s side, and slid into the car. “Different how?”

  Kate wrapped her arms around her middle and faced the window. “He never pretended to be something he wasn’t.”

  “What are you talking about? That’s exactly what he did.”

  “That’s not what I mean and you know it. You acted like you cared about me and then turned around and handed me over to the police.”

  “I wasn’t acting. I do care about you.”

  “If you cared, you would have stuck by me. Edward may have lied about who he was, but when I was in trouble, he was the one who came to my rescue. Not you.”

  “What do you call what I just did?”

  She stared out the window without answering. Apparently those rose-colored glasses she saw Edward through didn’t work on him. Tom started the car and pulled onto the road.

  After a couple minutes of stony silence, Kate spoke. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner what you knew about Edward? What else are you hiding?”

  “What am I hiding? You’re the one with an assumed name. And when did Chief Brewster become your number one suspect? ’Cause I missed the memo.”

  “How did you even find me way out here?” A wild-eyed expression swept over her face, and she picked frantically at her clothes. “What did Hank do? Slip a tracking device into one of my pockets?”

  Stunned that she could think he’d conspire with Hank against her, Tom could only gape. “Julie told me where you were by using your cell phone tracker app.”

  Kate whipped out her cell phone and started pushing buttons.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Changing my password.”

  “Kate, I brought you in for questioning this afternoon because I was ordered to,” Tom explained. “But you’re right, I could�
��ve stuck around. I was upset, and yes, for a while I did doubt you. I’m sorry.

  “As for Edward, I didn’t tell you what I knew because I didn’t want to upset you more. You believe in people, and as naïve as I think that is—proven, you’d have to agree, by what you’ve now learned about him—I saw no reason to rub your nose in the fact, when you’d already decided he was guilty. What I don’t get is why you’ve changed your mind about him.”

  “You’d probably think I was worse than naïve if I told you.”

  “Try me.”

  She curled her fingers into her lap, hesitating. “I think God prodded me. As Edward talked, I remembered how alone in the world I felt after I lost my mom until Daisy pointed me to God. That’s when I knew I had to show Edward that I believed in him. The way Daisy had. He wants to change, and I think he’s starting to figure out that he needs God’s help to do it.”

  Kate’s eyes shimmered with a faith so pure and a concern for Edward so genuine that Tom felt utterly humbled. “You are one special person. Edward’s lucky to have you on his side.”

  Kate’s cheeks flamed. She turned her attention to the passing scenery.

  “But please remember that until we have definitive proof, Edward is still a suspect.” As the forest gave way to orchards, Tom eased his foot off the gas. In a few minutes they’d be at the research station, and he needed every available second to ensure she cooperated, or before he knew it, she’d run headlong into more trouble.

  “I told you he—”

  “Save your breath,” Tom ordered. “You won’t change my mind. Now, our best hope of identifying Daisy’s killer is by finding the kid who masqueraded as Gordon.”

  “He’s probably some delinquent Hank caught spray painting the back of the bank and offered to let off with a warning in return for a favor.”

  “Whoa, if you’re not careful, you’re going to ruin that Pollyanna reputation of yours,” he teased.

  “Very funny. Hank has to be the one who hired the kid. Otherwise why would he refuse to investigate when I’d obviously been set up?”

  As tempted as Tom was to agree with her, his seesawing suspicions afforded him a measure of perspective he hadn’t managed to scrape up an hour ago. “Hank could be afraid of what we’d discover. Or he might be afraid of the bad PR if reporters linked the false allegations to an unsolved murder he’d claimed wasn’t murder.”