‘You don’t have to talk about it anymore,’ Savannah interrupted, her voice agitated. ‘Your face is getting really white. I know you’re upset and—’ She looked at the street. ‘Oh, great! There’s my dad in the squad car! He’s come after us. Come on. Let’s hurry and get away from Tessa.’
‘She’s not doing anything wrong,’ Brynn said weakly, but Savannah, who was pulled by the strength of Henry, had taken her hand. Brynn was no match for the two of them.
‘I saw the three of you at the wishing well,’ Garrett commented as he climbed out of the patrol car and opened a rear door for them. Savannah clambered into the back seat, Henry right behind her, and Brynn tried to squeeze in beside Henry. Garrett motioned her toward the front.
‘I’m riding shotgun?’ she asked.
‘Yeah, but don’t get carried away. You’re not a deputy.’
‘You could swear me in.’
‘No way.’ He got in the car.
‘We had the best time, Dad,’ Savannah chirped from the back seat. ‘We looked in the bookstore window and Brynn’s book is there. We threw pennies in the wishing well and … and Tessa Cavanaugh came up to us.’
‘I know. I saw that she had you cornered at the wishing well. What was she doing there?’
Brynn kept her voice even, her gaze straight ahead as Garrett pulled away from the curb. ‘She eats her lunch in the park during the summer. She was very polite.’
‘Define polite.’
‘“Hello. How are you? I’m happy for your success,”’ Brynn imitated.
‘There was more than that, but Brynn will tell you when I’m not around,’ Savannah said cannily. ‘Tessa’s so creepy.’ Brynn waited for Savannah to say something about Rhonda, but she didn’t. ‘Are you taking me back to headquarters now, Dad?’
‘No, I’m taking you to Mrs Persinger’s house. Before you start arguing, I’m telling you that you can bear one afternoon of learning to crochet doilies. Tomorrow you can help Mrs Elbert at the hot dog stand.’
Savannah groaned. ‘A whole afternoon crocheting. Just don’t forget that I have play rehearsal tonight. You said you’d take me to rehearsal and then the fireworks.’
‘I didn’t forget.’
‘Are you taking Brynn back to headquarters now?’
‘No, I’m taking her somewhere else – somewhere that’s none of your business.’
The ‘somewhere else’ turned out to be Mark’s room at the Bay Motel.
‘I didn’t think you’d really bring me here,’ Brynn said.
‘I said I would.’
‘You said maybe I could see it this afternoon.’
‘Well, maybe turned into can. But I want to say something to you first.’ Garrett turned in his seat, pinning her with his gaze. ‘I didn’t like the way you ran off with my daughter this morning when you knew I didn’t want her to go.’
‘I didn’t run off—’
‘You know you encouraged her to go with you. I could see you knew you were doing something you shouldn’t. You’ve always been determined to do things your own way—’
‘You don’t know what I always do! You haven’t even seen me since I was twelve.’
‘You were the same way at twelve. Anyway, I have to set some boundaries. You can help us a lot in the search for Mark, but you cannot take over, Brynn, and have me reporting everything to you. Some things the police need to keep confidential.’
‘I don’t see why—’
‘Because I said you can’t, that’s why. And you can’t override my wishes when it comes to Savannah.’ Garrett paused. ‘Have I made myself clear?’
‘Crystal,’ she snapped, although her face was burning and she couldn’t look at him. She had interfered with him and his daughter this morning. She’d known it at the time. ‘I’m sorry.’
‘It turns out Savannah had a wonderful time with someone she just about worships. She’ll never forget it. I’m glad for the time you spent with her.’
Brynn glanced at Garrett’s face, which looked just a shade less than angry. ‘But don’t do it again.’
‘I won’t.’
‘And you won’t interfere with this investigation? You won’t go barging off on your own? Even if you think you have a brilliant idea about something that should be checked, you’ll tell me first?’
‘I’ll try.’
‘Brynn, do you want to end up like Mark?’
Her emotional reaction was immediate. No. He was the only family she had left. If he’d been killed here in Genessa Point, she’d want to live. She would know she’d done everything she could for Mark, but she deserved a life of her own, even if she’d never get over the loss of her brother.
She looked at Garrett. ‘I’ll do my very best to follow your rules,’ Brynn said formally. ‘I promise not to give in to my headstrong nature.’
‘Good. That’s all I ask.’
‘OK. I’m ready to look at Mark’s room now.’
A deputy Garrett called Carder lingered near the door. His dark gaze swept over Brynn before he looked at the sheriff. ‘She doesn’t need to wear shoe covers,’ he said. ‘We didn’t find any blood on the floor. No blood anywhere, actually.’
They hadn’t found blood in the room. Brynn wondered if that should make her feel better. It didn’t. What about the blood in his car?
Garrett took Brynn’s arm and firmly led her through the doorway. This morning she couldn’t wait to see the room. Now she was afraid to look at it. Garrett and Deputy Carder were waiting for her, though, and the last thing she wanted to show was fear.
Brynn stepped briskly over the threshold, stopped and scanned the room: a double bed covered with a synthetic quilted blue and gold spread; an oak veneer bedside table; a matching dresser with a tall mirror attached; medium blue carpet; blue and gold patterned thermal draperies; two vinyl chairs with a small, round table between them. Brynn walked to the table. Three generic magazines and two pamphlets about local sights were lined precisely in front of a white ceramic-based lamp.
‘Has the maid been in here yesterday or today?’ Brynn asked.
‘Not since Sunday.’ Brynn turned at the sound of a different male voice. ‘Hello, Brynn.’
She looked at him for a moment, trying to imagine the face eighteen years younger. ‘Sam? Sam Fenney?’
The tall, thin man with heavily gray-streaked black hair and a prominent nose smiled at her. She’d always thought he looked like Abraham Lincoln. ‘You’re as pretty as your mama. I knew you would be. Got a hug for an old man?’
Brynn had never been one for casual hugs and kisses as a form of greeting. However, Sam had been a close friend of her father and she didn’t want to insult him. She walked toward him and lightly wrapped her arms around him. His arms circled her and squeezed hard.
‘You’re too thin, girl,’ he said.
‘Still a silver-tongued devil, aren’t you?’ she asked lightly. ‘And you’re one to talk about being too thin.’
‘I’ve always been skinny as a rail.’
‘What are you doing here?’
‘I guess no one told you, but I’m part owner of this motel.’
‘Really? What happened to your real estate business?’
‘Oh, I still have it. My father started Fenney Real Estate and I’ve always felt obligated to hang onto it. I’ve never been the go-getter Dad was, but I’ve made a good living from the business and having a wife who never wants to travel or entertain has helped me save money – enough to invest in this place.’
Brynn nodded, although she used to overhear her father telling her mother how Sam’s childless marriage to a woman who’d become a recluse by the time she was thirty made him feel resentful and thwarted. ‘I’m proud of this place.’
‘It’s very nice,’ Brynn said.
Sam smiled. ‘Oh, it’s nothing fancy, but it’s a sturdy, well-built establishment scrupulously maintained and kept clean. Some people didn’t like that it has a bar, but it’s quiet, respectable.’ His smile faded and he looked so
lemnly at Brynn. ‘Honey, I’m so sorry about this trouble with Mark. You must be real worried or you wouldn’t have come back to town.’
Brynn nodded. ‘Sam, have you known Mark was in Genessa Point since the day he checked into your motel?’
‘Not until the day after. Mark checked in Wednesday night. The man in charge after eight o’clock didn’t know who Mark was. The next day, Mark came to see me. I couldn’t believe it was him at first. I didn’t think he’d ever come back here. He told me he’d driven past your old house. It’s up for sale again and I’m listing it.’ He took a breath. ‘He wanted to see it. Inside.’
Brynn felt a moment of surprise followed by a longer moment of repulsion. She never wanted to see that house again. ‘Did you show it to him?’
‘Yes. I had mixed feelings about it, but I couldn’t very well say no to him. We walked all through the house but he didn’t say anything like, “We used to watch TV in here,” or “This was my room” – just nothing. I thought it was unusual.’
‘Did he tell you why he was in Genessa Point?’
‘He said he wanted to see the town again.’ Sam shrugged. ‘To be honest, I didn’t buy it, but I acted like I did. He didn’t bring up the old business, Brynn. He claimed he just wanted to say hello, see how I am, and made a couple of comments about how much had changed around here. That’s it. I’ve already told Sheriff Dane everything I know.’
‘Brynn, do you want to look at the room more closely?’ Garrett asked pointedly, cutting off Sam.
She was glad for the interruption. Sam Fenney had been a friend of her father and he’d been vocal about the impossibility of Jonah Wilder being the Genessa Point Killer. After her family had left town, though, they’d only heard from him five times, when he’d sent Christmas cards along with half-page, generic letters. True, the family had wanted to cut ties in Genessa Point, but seeing one of her father’s old friends still shook Brynn, especially in light of Mark’s disappearance.
Brynn stepped into the room. The curtains were open, letting in bright sunlight. At first she stood still, scanning the neat room. Then she looked at Garrett. ‘Mark wasn’t particularly tidy, to put it mildly. He wouldn’t have left the room like this.’
‘The maid cleaned it Sunday morning when we didn’t know anything was wrong,’ Sam said quickly with an anxious glance at Garrett, apparently worried the maid might have tampered with important evidence. ‘She said a few of Mark’s things were here. That’s what made us think he hadn’t skipped out on his bill.’ He looked at Brynn. ‘Not that Mark would do that, of course.’
‘The room looks nearly unoccupied.’ Brynn turned to Garrett. ‘Did your people take away things as evidence?’
‘There wasn’t much to take. I have the formal inventory on file at headquarters, but I brought along a copy.’ He pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket.
She glanced at it, then walked farther into the room, looking at the long dresser. ‘OK if I open the drawers?’
Garrett said yes and she pulled them out, noting some folded underwear, a pair of jeans and socks. On hangers, she found two long-sleeved cotton shirts. No other personal items remained in the bathroom.
‘We took the razor, toothbrush and comb for DNA,’ Garrett told her, consulting his list. ‘Also toiletries and a trash bag holding his dirty laundry.’
‘I know he had either a lap top or a notebook computer,’ Brynn said. ‘He wouldn’t have taken a trip without one. Or a cell phone.’
Garrett looked over his list. ‘No cell phone or computers were found in the room.’
‘Cassie said he took pictures when they went out Saturday morning, but I don’t know if he used a digital camera or a smart phone. I’ll ask her tonight.’
‘We didn’t find either,’ Garrett said, checking his list.
Sam Fenney had been wandering slowly around the room when he suddenly announced, ‘I don’t know what personal items of Mark’s are missing, but something we put into every room is gone.’ Sam paused. ‘A Gideon Bible.’
SIX
‘Mark used a digital camera with a zoom lens on Saturday,’ Cassie said that evening as she turned steaks and slid the rack back under the broiler. ‘I don’t remember the name of the camera. Mark could take pictures at a distance and then adjust the lens, hold it out and take our picture. In fact, he took two of us.’ She grinned. ‘And three of just me. He said I looked beautiful.’
‘I’m sure you did.’
‘Oh, yeah.’ Cassie shook her head, smiling. ‘I was just really happy that day.’ Her smile vanished as she leaned against a kitchen counter. ‘The police didn’t find the camera in his motel room?’
‘No. Not a computer or a camera or a cell phone.’
Cassie frowned. ‘I didn’t see Mark use a cell phone.’
‘I’m sure he had one with him, but I called every few hours so he would have turned it off when he was with you. Anyway, the police didn’t find any electronic gadgets in his room or his car.’
‘What about the call last night – did they trace it?’
‘They couldn’t. Garrett explained why, but I only got half of what he was saying. Just take my word that they couldn’t.’
‘OK. That’s all I really want to know, anyway. Electronic stuff bores me to death. My home computer’s in the shop. I can’t remember what they said was wrong with it. I’m supposed to pick it up the day after tomorrow. I can always use the one at work. Go on about the motel room.’
‘We don’t know what Mark brought with him. The only thing Sam insists is missing is the motel Bible.’
‘The Bible? I didn’t know the Bay Motel put Bibles in their rooms.’
‘They do according to Sam Fenney.’ Brynn frowned. ‘Cassie, I didn’t know he was part owner of the motel. He came along to oversee the search.’
‘Or to see you. Sam’s asked me about you a hundred times the last few years. I think he always felt guilty that he didn’t stand by your family after your dad’s death.’
‘He defended Dad to the police.’
‘Talk is cheap, Brynn. Did he ever give your mother any kind of assistance?’
‘He helped us move.’
‘Did he offer your mother money?’
‘I don’t think so, but Mom wouldn’t have taken it, especially because Fenney Realty never set the world on fire. She knew Sam didn’t have money to spare.’
‘He managed to save enough to invest in a motel,’ Cassie said caustically.
‘Almost eighteen years after Dad died. Today I brushed up on local statistics – the population of Genessa Point has nearly doubled since we lived here. Sam’s business must have improved and, like he said today, he never spent money on trips and luxuries.’
‘Because his wife won’t leave their house. That’s what he leaves unspoken but is understood by anyone who listens to him.’
‘I only met her a couple of times even though Sam and Dad were good friends. She barely spoke and never smiled. I guess now she’s a complete recluse. You have to give Sam credit for staying with her all these years.’ Brynn reached over and picked up a carrot slice. ‘Speaking of peculiar women, I saw Tessa Cavanaugh today.’
Cassie halted, knife in the air, and looked at Brynn with wide eyes. ‘No way! Really? Your first day back?’ Brynn nodded. ‘Tell me all about it,’ Cassie said, pushing aside carrot slices and grabbing a tomato.
Brynn started with her trip to headquarters and meeting Savannah. At the girl’s name, Cassie’s head jerked up. Then she grabbed celery and began chopping. ‘Go on.’
‘We were at the wishing well tossing in pennies when Tessa came up behind us. She said she always ate lunch in the park in the summer.’
‘That’s all?’
‘Pretty much. I know it sounds harmless, but something about her is so strange. Maybe it’s a combination of things: the way she dresses; the way she talks; how you feel like she’s looking right through you. She seems removed from what’s going on around her, but at the same time, compl
etely aware of the effect she’s having.’
‘Well, she’s had an unhappy life, to say the least,’ Cassie said grudgingly. ‘I don’t know why she didn’t leave Genessa Point after she graduated from high school. Her parents, I guess. First her mother dying, then her dad getting sick.’
‘Earl Cavanaugh was sick?’
‘About seven or eight years after you left I heard he’d developed Parkinson’s, but he kept it under control with drugs for a long time. Last year, it got really bad and the drugs weren’t helping too much. The rumor mill said he was going to lose his job as president of Genessa Point Bank. One night a couple of months ago he went out for a midnight drive. He rammed into a tree and died immediately. Maybe he lost control of the car or he might have done it on purpose. I heard Tessa took it really hard, especially since Nathan couldn’t come home for the funeral.’
‘She said he’s coming home tonight. She sounded excited about it.’
‘She’s crazy about him, which isn’t surprising. Nathan could charm the birds out of the trees, as my grandmother used to say. Not to mention, he’s gorgeous.’
‘Sounds like Tessa isn’t the only one who’s crazy about him,’ Brynn said, grinning.
Cassie made a face. ‘I just got out of a bad relationship. I’m not looking to get my heart broken again. Nathan Cavanaugh is thirty-five and I know he’s been married two or three times. He’s not a good candidate for my next romance.’
‘I wasn’t encouraging you.’
‘Good. I’m determined to stay single for a while.’ Cassie looked at Brynn. ‘What about you? Anyone special in your life?’
‘A guy? No. I’m too busy.’
‘You always say you’re too busy. How long has it been since you’ve even had a date?’
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