by Emma Ames
So the chorus thought she was a whore for sleeping with Ridge. She covered her ears, and everything stopped.
He replaced the gun and folded her into his arms. “Are you okay? Your heart’s going ninety miles an hour. What was the dream about?”
“Let’s not talk. Just hold me.”
He kissed the top of her head.
She moved out of his arms and gazed at him through the darkness. “Kiss me like you mean it.”
He kissed her, rimmed her lips. All that heat went straight to lady town. She loved his kiss. It turned her brain to mush and her body into linguine. She sucked in a deep, staggering breath. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me, too. It might help if you talked about your nightmare.”
“I will, but not now.” She snuggled deeper into his embrace.
Early the next day, dawn filtered into the room. Tizzy sat up, hugged her knees. Across the room, Ridge put on his jeans. She never grew tired of looking at him. Not because he was handsome, but because he was solid and steady. Sure of himself, even a little cocky, and she found that appealing. “I wish you didn’t have to sneak out every morning.”
“Me too, but I better leave before Gracie wakes. We agreed. She wouldn’t understand us sleeping together.”
Tizzy fell back on the bed and pulled him down with her.
He leaned in and gave her another kiss. “I’ve got to go, darlin’.”
“Don’t. Kiss me again.” She tugged at his sleeve.
“Absolutely not. That kiss gets me in trouble. That kiss is uptown shopping for downtown business, and I’ve done all the business I can right now.” He wiggled her nose, gave her one more quick smooch, and then disappeared down the hall.
~~*~~
Ridge rushed into the station and marveled at Rita’s ability to file, answer the phone, and eat a devil’s food cupcake all at the same time. Talk about multi-tasking. Bubba sat with his nose in the weekly news, all six pages. He tipped the corner down. “Hey, Cooper.”
“Morning to you both. Ted Mitchell’s office called, saying I’d get the results from the cabin search today.”
Rita shook her head. “Nothing yet. Bubba said they found hair and prints. Maybe you’ll get a match, and you can wrap this thing up. You’re probably ready to get back to the city—or not.”
Bubba refolded the paper. “I think he’s liking Brownsboro a whole lot better. Am I right?”
Ridge fought a smile. “Don’t remember saying I disliked it.”
Bubba stood. “Oh, I checked with Carla Ferguson like you asked. Mark her off the suspect list. She has an alibi for the night of the murder. I guess her arrival is a coincidence.”
“Thanks. Leah Trammell lied about having access to insulin, so she’s moved up to suspect number one.”
The hum of the fax machine broke the moment. “That’s probably your report.” Rita removed the pages and passed them to him.
Ridge flipped through the documents and widened his eyes. “I’ll be damned. I can’t believe this. I finally caught a break. One of Marlene’s hairs has someone else’s DNA.”
“Let me guess. Kyle Richmond,” Bubba said.
Ridge laughed. “No. Not Richmond. Norma Harkey.”
Bubba reached for the report. “Am I reading this right? Norma’s DNA on one of Marlene’s pubic hairs. You’ve got to be kidding. That means—”
Ridge drew his face into a hard line. “Yeah. She called Norma the night of the murder. Norma claimed it was to make plans for the weekend. But what if it was to rendezvous at the cabin?”
Bubba slumped in his chair. “Marlene and Norma—ho-lee crap! Marlene Weston, resident bitch, was a switch hitter? This just keeps gettin’ better and better.”
Rita closed the file cabinet. “I would have never guessed in a million years Marlene swung both ways. Do you think Carl had any idea?”
Ridge lowered his head and tried to wrap his brain around the information. “Maybe Carl found out and couldn’t handle it. That would give him motive. People kill for a lot less. He might ignore the affair with Kyle Richmond, but a lesbian affair was too much. Not proper for the bank president’s wife. Talk about a big slap in the face. Especially in a town where appearances are so important. That would provide material for plenty of jokes about Carl’s manhood. Even though that has nothing to do with it, you know how people can talk.”
Rita ran her hand across her face. “Poor Avery and Carl Jr. This will destroy them.”
This revelation added another wrinkle. Ridge had to consider perhaps Leah hadn’t acted alone in the murder. Carl could be just as guilty. Maybe he was tired of Marlene’s promiscuity. “I need to pay Norma another visit. Bubba, you want to come?”
“Man, I wouldn’t miss it.”
Since the salon was a block away, Ridge and Bubba walked. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and Ridge thought fresh air might clear his head.
When Ridge and Bubba arrived, Norma was shampooing one woman’s hair, while another one sat under a dryer. “Mrs. Harkey, I wanted to follow up with a few more questions.”
She nodded. “Take a seat in my office, and I’ll be right with you.” Five minutes later, she came in and closed the door behind her. She looked toward Bubba, then back at Ridge. “How can I help you?”
“Some new evidence came to light. Marlene had a lake house. But you already knew that, didn’t you?”
“Yes. She’d had the place for years. Why is the cabin important? Is that where it happened?”
Ridge removed his hat and propped it on his knee, taking his time before answering. “I don’t think so.”
She shifted in her seat, darting her eyes everywhere, except at him. “Then what is this visit about?”
“I got the forensic report from the lake house search. Your DNA showed up on a hair. Marlene’s hair. How long were you lovers?”
Norma buried her face in her hands and cried. “This can’t be happening. I prayed you wouldn’t find out about the cabin. No one used the place except Marlene and me. Carl probably hasn’t thought about the property in ages. I hoped you’d solve the case before it came to this because one thing has nothing to do with the other.”
“What do you mean? It has everything to do with it.” He leaned forward, invaded her space. “You cleaned the cabin, didn’t you? You lied about seeing Marlene that night. About your relationship with her. About the phone call.” He stretched his body forward until his face was only a few inches from hers.
“Tell me, Mrs. Harkey, have you been truthful about anything?”
She clenched her jaw. “Yes. I didn’t kill Marlene. I loved her, and she loved me. And when everyone finds out about us, it’ll hurt her memory and her family. All these years, no one even suspected.” She cried harder. “I suppose now, everyone will know, and it’ll be one more reason for people in this town to disapprove of her. Poor Marlene. Even in death, she’ll be despised.”
Ridge straightened and leaned back again. “How long had the affair been going on?”
Norma wiped at her face. “Forever. Since high school.”
“Were you upset the two of you never came out?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Neither of us wanted our relationship public. Marlene and I were happy with the way things were. We both married. Had children. Our lives were perfect.”
There was that word again. So far, everything he’d discovered proved everyone involved in this case was anything but perfect. Liars. Cheaters. And a murderer.
“What about Carl? Was he in on the secret?”
“He’s the only one who was.” She cocked her head and displayed a stiff smile. “You’re not a small-town boy, are you? You don’t understand. Marlene and Carl were ideal for each other. She wanted the facade of a happy marriage and children. Carl wanted respect and standing in the community. They provided each other with what they both needed. Marlene had me, and Carl has Leah.”
Ridge glared at her, the hair on the back of his neck prickling. “Tell me the truth abo
ut the night of Marlene’s murder.”
She wrung her hands. “We planned to go to the cabin, and she said she’d let me know when the church meeting was over. After she called, I drove down to the bank, picked her up and we went to the lake. We arrived a little before nine and stayed a couple of hours. I dropped her at her car around eleven-thirty, and I got home fifteen minutes later and didn’t see or speak to her again.” She wiped her tears.
“When you left her, did you see anybody? Any cars parked nearby? Anything unusual?”
“No, Marlene was still buzzed. I’m sure the autopsy showed the alcohol and drugs in her system. She only used them when she’d had a bad day. They helped her unwind. I asked her if she would be all right to drive, and she said yes. It was only a few blocks and no traffic, so I thought she’d be okay.” Tears poured. “If I’d insisted on driving her, she’d be alive.”
Ridge paused from taking notes. “Did you know you weren’t Marlene’s only lover?”
She lurched upright and gasped. “What are you talking about?”
Ridge cut his eyes to Bubba then back to her. “She was having an affair with Kyle Richmond.”
“I don’t believe you.”
Ridge softened his tone. “Kyle admitted it.”
“For how long?”
“Since your fifteenth-class reunion.”
“No. No. That can’t be right.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Did he say they loved each other?”
“No.”
She sobbed harder. “I can’t believe this. She loved me. I know she did.”
Ridge thinned his lips into a hard line. “I don’t have much faith in what you’ve told me. You’ve lied about so much I’m inclined to think you’re lying about your knowledge of Richmond. Maybe you found out about him and decided Marlene had been making a fool of you, and you wouldn’t tolerate it anymore. You confronted her, gave her an ultimatum—you or Kyle, and she chose him. I’d say you had motive and opportunity.”
“No, that’s not true! Even if I had known, I would have never hurt Marlene. How many times do I have to tell you? I loved her.”
“Is anyone in your family diabetic?”
“No.”
“No one?”
“No. Why?”
Ridge flipped through his notes. “You have a son, right?”
“My son is fourteen years old. He’s a child. He wouldn’t hurt Marlene. He doesn’t know about us, and even if he did, he wouldn’t kill her. Besides, he was home when I got there and didn’t leave. I’m his alibi.”
Ridge wrote as he talked. “Where did Marlene get her drugs?”
Norma hesitated and fixed her eyes on Bubba. “Toby Ulrich. He lives down in Kickapoo Bottom.”
“It’s not looking so good for you, Mrs. Harkey. You were the last one to see Marlene alive. You tampered with evidence. Claimed no knowledge of her other affair. You’ve lied over and over, so what’s one more?”
“Please, believe me. I did not kill her.”
Ridge stood. “At the least, I can charge you with obstruction. I’m not going to yet, but don’t even think about leaving town.”
On the way back to the office, Ridge asked Bubba, “Do you know this Toby Ulrich?”
“I do, and I’ve never known him to deal. He grows a little Texas Tea for his personal use. He gets bad migraines, and the weed helps. It’s not worth the effort to bust him. He lives down in the boonies, doesn’t bother anybody, so I’m surprised he’d sell to Marlene. You want to interview him now?”
“Yeah, show me the way.” Ridge slid behind the wheel of his car and Bubba climbed into the passenger side.
“Let’s head east.” Bubba cocked his head. “So dope-smoking Marlene played for both teams, and Carl knew. Man, this just keeps gettin’ better and better.”
Bubba wasn’t lying when he said the guy lived in the boonies. Ridge turned off the main highway, drove down a county road, onto a blacktop, then a two rutted lane which led to a small house and outbuilding with a sign that read ‘Motorcycle Repair.’
When Ridge and Bubba got out of the car, a man emerged from the shop wiping his hands with an oily rag. Ridge sized him up. He was about Bubba’s age, maybe six inches shorter and twenty pounds lighter. Brown hair, dark eyes, and a scar sliced through his left eyebrow.
“Bubba, what brings you out here?” he asked.
“Toby, this is Texas Ranger Ridge Cooper. He’s investigating Marlene’s death.”
“Mr. Ulrich, I understand Marlene bought dope from you. Is that true?” Ridge asked.
Toby cut his eyes to Bubba. “You here to arrest me?”
“You dealing?”
“You know me better than that.”
“You’re saying Marlene Weston didn’t get marijuana from you?” Ridge asked.
“That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying I didn’t sell it to her.”
Ridge folded his arms across his chest. “What? You gave it to her out of the goodness of your heart?”
Toby shook his head. “I’m not saying that either.”
Hooking his thumbs in his pockets, Ridge widened his stance. “Let me guess. She traded a favor for it.”
Toby said nothing.
Bubba grunted. “She was almost old enough to be your momma.”
“It was all her idea. She never wanted much, so I gave it to her, then she came on to me. She was something. I guess she liked slumming because she’d show up out here sometimes, and it wasn’t for pot.”
Ridge cut his eyes over at Bubba, then back to Toby. “You got an alibi for that night?”
“I was in Lubbock, visiting relatives. Are you going to arrest me—for giving her the grass?”
“No, but I need the names of those relatives.”
Chapter Twenty-five
From the corner of her eye, Tizzy caught sight of Ridge as he settled onto a stool. Her stomach somersaulted. The man could set her on fire with just a glance. “Can I get you anything, Officer Cooper?”
“Yeah. Oh — you mean to drink?” Just give me my usual.”
“Watch out, city boy.” She twisted the top from a beer and handed it to him.
“Did you talk to your mom about keeping Gracie this weekend?”
“We’re all set. I’m excited about going. I’ll get to shop, sleep late, and eat out in a fancy place with pretty food. We are eating in a swanky restaurant, aren’t we?”
“Absolutely. The location is a surprise, so don’t ask. I don’t live far from the Galleria, so while I’m checking in with Captain Reynolds, you can go to the mall. Are you listening?”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“What’s going on?”
“Today has been a terrible day. We’ll talk later.” A terrible day was a bit of an understatement. She’d gone to the doctor earlier, and his diagnosis had definitely taken the ‘J’ out of joy.
By eleven o’clock, the crowd dwindled to less than a dozen patrons. Bubba claimed the stool next to Ridge. Tizzy busied herself gathering empty glasses, clearing tables, and wiping down the counter. She didn’t notice the woman with the bleached, spiked, hair until she spoke.
“Well, well, well. As I live and breathe if it isn’t sweet little Tizzy McAlister.”
Tizzy jerked her head up and zeroed in on Carla Ferguson. She looked like the poster child for drive-thru restaurants—fast, cheap, and easy. Warpaint make-up and clothes so tight, they were probably cutting off the blood supply to her brain.
“Hello, Carla. What brings you to town? Boy band convention?”
“Sticks and stones, Tizzy, sticks, and stones. Let’s say I’m between marriages, so I came home for a visit.”
Silly to hold a grudge after all these years, but Carla was the only person Tizzy came close to hating. In high school, Carla had flirted with Boone non-stop, and Tizzy couldn’t miss an opportunity to offer sarcastic jabs. “How many exes now? Four?”
“You’ve always been so uppity—thinking you’re better than everyone else j
ust because you snagged the richest boy in town. But you know what, Tizzy? Even Boone knew how stuck up you were. I think it’s finally time I share a little secret. One I’ve been keeping about your precious Boone.”
“I’m not interested in anything you have to say about him or anyone else.”
“Oh, yes, you are. So get ready. You thought he saved himself for you, but he didn’t. Whew! That felt good! I’ve wanted to tell you that for years!”
Anger coursed through Tizzy’s veins and seethed at the surface. “Liar!”
“Bitch!” Carla screeched.
“White trash!” Tizzy pointed her finger.
“What was the poor guy to do? You were Miss Goody-Two-Shoes. How would I know about the strawberry birthmark on his inner left thigh if I hadn’t seen it up close and personal?”
Tizzy climbed on top of the bar and crouched like a tiger stalking a wild boar. “You dirty liar!” She launched and landed on Carla’s back. Bleach-bimbo worked to escape, but Tizzy locked her legs around Carla’s waist. Carla flapped her arms and tried to get a hold of her rider. Tizzy grabbed two handfuls of pointed hair and hung on for dear life. Screaming, they spun first one way, and then the other, Tizzy clutching tight and the spiked-hair slut trying to break free.
“It was your fault, you little prude! Let go of me!”
Strong hands grabbed Tizzy by her shoulders and hauled her off. She snapped her head around to see Ridge, wide-eyed and teeth clenched. She fought to pull away, but his hold was unyielding. Bubba stepped forward and pulled Carla clear. The physical fight was over, but Tizzy wasn’t done.
She flailed her arms about, her brain no longer capable of reasonable thoughts. “I’m not a prude anymore! I’m so un-prudish, I have a urinary infection! And Boone Donovan pales compared to the man I’m with now. He’s like Superman, and he wouldn’t touch a skank like you with a ten-foot pole! Tell her, Ridge.”
He gulped for air. “Uh—she’s right. Uh—uh—the man she’s with wouldn’t touch you with a twenty-foot pole.”