“Yeah. At least, you won’t have to rebuild the whole thing.” Robin joined her on the sidewalk and grabbed her good hand. “OK, let’s go see the back.”
The warmth of Robin’s hand steadied her. She couldn’t imagine doing this alone. Maggie gave her hand a little squeeze, silently thanking her for the support when they walked through her gate. Blackened siding existed in some spots, but was totally missing in others. A tarp covered the hole, which had been her back door, and half the kitchen. The black parts on the wall licked clear up to the second floor.
She couldn’t speak, could barely breathe. Her hand in Robin’s shook. It didn’t look like her house. It looked like a disaster. She swallowed hard and stiffened her spine. Renovation was a project, just another job. She could do this.
She dropped Robin’s hand, realizing she was crushing it, but Robin hadn’t complained. She stepped forward and, with her thumb and index finger, drew the tarp aside. Stepping through what used to be a wall was like stepping into someone else’s house. Nothing was as it should be.
The kitchen would need complete renovation. Blackened cupboards dangled along the side wall—they’d burned completely where the window used to be. Avoiding debris, she and Robin picked their way past, through a corner of the dining room and into the living room. It was better in here, only the side with the front door was burned. Water had ruined the furniture, however. She couldn’t recognize her chair and ottoman, the one Esther helped her choose. Instead, a burned, soggy blob hunkered in the bay window where it used to be. She didn’t say anything, just stared at the blob for a few minutes and turned away.
Robin followed her from the house, letting the tarp fall closed as though sealing something from her past.
Neither said anything on the way to the Pine Table, a restaurant not far from Maggie’s house. A new young hostess sat them in a window booth, took their drink orders, and placed lunch menus in front of them.
Maggie gazed at the parking lot. How would she keep Allie safe? Where could she send her?
Robin lifted her menu. “What are your thoughts? Are you OK?”
“I don’t know. I guess so.” Maggie turned from the window. “But I don’t know what to do about Allie.”
“Can she go home? They’ve arrested the people responsible for the burglary and Esther’s murder, haven’t they?”
Maggie stared at the lunch items but didn’t take anything in. The server came to take their order, and she had no idea what she’d just read. Not being hungry, she ordered the soup of the day. When the waitress left, Maggie replied, “They’ve figured out most of the thieves, but of course, Grady’s still loose, and he knows where she lives. Maybe sending her home isn’t a good idea. And if they caught the murderer, why did someone burn my house?” She unwrapped her silverware and spread the paper napkin in her lap. “It’s got to be Grady. He’s still out there, and for some reason, he wants Allie out of the picture. Where can I send her?” She played with the saltshaker. “She sure isn’t safe with me.”
“Can’t she go with George?”
“He’s out of the country, and we haven’t been able to reach him.”
“Is that normal?”
“Allie says it is. She says he goes for months at a time, and she can’t always contact him. He calls every so often, but not regularly. He doesn’t even know about the fall down the stairs.”
The soup came—clam chowder, one of her favorites.
Robin held her hamburger in both hands, ready to take a bite. “What about Greg’s place in Montana? Didn’t he keep a small house when he sold the rest?”
A heavy band loosened from around Maggie’s chest. “The idea hadn’t occurred to me, but it’s perfect.” The more she thought about it the lighter she felt. “Robin, you’re brilliant. Grady can’t possibly know about it. She’ll be safe there.”
Robin wiped the burger juice off her chin. “You’re just now figuring out how smart I am? Now you’ll just have to call and ask Greg. Maybe he can go with you.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “For protection, of course.”
“Ugh. You and your matchmaking. Greg and I are done.” There, she said it out loud. Did it sound as false to Robin as it did to her? “Who can I send with her to protect her? Greg won’t want to go. He’ll want to stay here and try to find Grady.”
Robin closed her open mouth. “I’m sure the police will assign someone to stay with her. But won’t you be going, too?”
“No, I don’t want to.” Maggie blew on her spoonful of soup. “I want to stay here and figure this out. My life won’t be the same until this guy is caught and put away, and I want to get it back. What’s left of it anyway.” She put the spoon in her mouth. One word described the creamy flavor…yum.
“I’ll let you and Greg fight it out,” Robin said. Then the smile slid off her face. “And speaking of Greg, what has he done to make you say it’s over?”
“It’s not him; it’s me. The time isn’t right, and I’m not ready.” She glanced up and glimpsed the patient disbelief Robin wiped from her face.
“Maybe it’s all the stress of what’s been going on.” Robin focused on her burger. “You shouldn’t make life-altering decisions during this kind of stress. Give it some time. You’ll feel better in a few weeks.”
Maggie took a sip of her iced tea. “I don’t imagine I’ll change my mind. I’m not who he thinks I am, and I don’t want to be around when he finds out.”
“What do you mean?”
“He has this idea I’ll be like Aunt Esther. The problem is, I’m not. I’m not even related to her. She isn’t really my aunt.”
The words had their desired effect. Robin stopped chewing and stared, her face almost comical in its open-mouthed surprise. “What are you talking about?”
“I read something in her diary about a test when I was born. It made me wonder if it was a paternity test, so I went to Da…Danny’s house and asked.”
Robin laid her burger on her plate and wiped her fingers on her napkin. “What did he say?”
“He told me he’s my dad, but not my biological father.” Maggie spooned in another mouthful and gave Robin some time to process.
Robin frowned. “What did he mean?”
“He meant he loves me, and he wants to be part of my life, but he’s known for a long time I’m not biologically his. My mother had an affair, and I was the result.”
“Oh, no, Maggie.” She sat back, ignoring her burger. “Does he know who your father is?”
Maggie couldn’t help the giggle that escaped without her permission. Maybe she was becoming hysterical. “I didn’t even ask. I was too anxious to learn the truth about him and my mom.”
Robin’s eyes grew soft. “So how are you doing?”
Maggie stopped chewing, wondering the same thing. “You know, I thought I’d be devastated, but I’m not. It explains why he couldn’t take me with him, which bothered me way more than not being physically related to him. I feel better, if that makes any sense. He loved me enough to stick around, even though it must have wounded him terribly to learn the truth.”
The server stopped by to pick up their dishes, and Maggie was surprised to see she’d eaten the whole bowl. “It hurts more that I’m not related to Aunt Esther, but she loved me enough to take me in and to leave me everything.” Tears filled her eyes and threatened to spill over. She sniffed and blinked them away. “It blows me away sometimes.”
Robin finished her burger and motioned for Maggie to help herself to the fries. “So how does this affect you and Greg?”
“He thinks I’ll be like Aunt Esther, and I thought her genes might show up in me. I know it sounds dumb, but I thought if I was related to her, eventually I would want to do the things she did. But it turns out there isn’t any good in my blood. The goodness in Aunt Esther will never show up in me. I’ve tried to convince Greg I’m not like her, but he believes otherwise. It’s not fair for me to mislead him.”
Robin looked her in the eyes. “You know you don’t inherit goo
dness, don’t you?”
Maggie tilted her head and smiled. “You mean the nature versus nurture thing? Since I was nurtured by her and it hasn’t shown up, I’d hoped nature would prevail. But I guess it already did.” She forced a laugh.
“Wait a minute.” Robin sat back in the booth. “She wasn’t perfect, you know. She was a wonderful person, and we all loved her. But she was just a person like the rest of us. She wouldn’t like you putting her up on a pedestal like this. She’d be the first to yell at you. But since she’s not here, I’m going to.”
Maggie tried to interrupt, but Robin continued, “Stop feeling sorry for yourself.”
What? Feeling sorry for myself? How could she talk like that?
Before she could voice her disagreement, Robin went on. “It doesn’t matter whether Esther was your biological aunt or not. She loved you, and you know it. The fact she wasn’t related by blood confirms even more how special you are. She didn’t have to take you in—she wanted to. And it wasn’t because she was a saint. She loved you because you’re easy to love.”
She took a breath, but her rant wasn’t finished. “And you can’t inherit goodness. You have to do it yourself. It isn’t going to fall on you. You have to go after it.” Her hand hit the table, startling Maggie, and maybe even surprising herself with the sudden sound. “If you want to do good things, do them. Find out what kinds of things you can do and go do them, but don’t let the fact you weren’t blood related to the person you loved most in this world stop you from being who you were meant to be.” She leaned forward to emphasize her last point. “Esther would feel she failed you.”
26
Maggie and Robin walked to Robin’s car in silence—a perfect backdrop for Maggie’s chaotic thoughts. Did people see her as a victim who spent her time feeling sorry for herself? She shook her head. She wanted to be tough, not timid. Better start acting like it then, girl. When they got in the car, she faced Robin. “Take me to the Star Lake Inn, would you?”
“What? Aren’t you staying with Mark and me tonight?”
“No, although I appreciate the offer, I need some alone time to think things through. I don’t want to go to Aunt Esther’s yet, because I don’t want anyone to find me.”
Robin started the car and rotated in her seat. “Maggie, is it what I said? You know I have a big mouth. It gets me in trouble all the time. I didn’t mean it about feeling sorry for yourself. You don’t, even when you have every right to with everything happening to you lately.” Her gaze pleaded with her. “Please don’t let this come between us. Let me take you home with me. You can go to the guest room, and I’ll make sure no one bothers you.”
Maggie smiled at her friend. “It isn’t what you said. At least, not only what you said.” She patted Robin’s hand on the gearshift. “You were probably right, but I need to work through this and decide what to do. And don’t worry, it won’t come between us.”
Robin didn’t want to take her there, but after a long look, she must have realized she couldn’t change her mind, so she drove to the hotel. Grabbing her purse, Robin got out of the car.
It occurred to Maggie she had no purse. Which meant no money and no credit cards. She stopped on the sidewalk. “Oh, wait. I don’t have my purse.”
Robin smiled. “I know, but I have mine.”
“You’ve already done so much. I can go to the bank.…”
“We can take care of it later. I don’t know if your purse was burned or not, but I know Greg took some of your things to his place. Where do you keep your purse at home?”
“Upstairs in my bedroom, so it might be OK. This feels weird, depending on you like this. I promise I’ll pay you back.”
“I’m not worried about it.” Robin opened the back door and removed another sack. “Here, these are the clothes I brought you for now. We can go shopping when you’re ready. It’s only a few outfits, but it should last you a week or so.”
Tears welled up in Maggie’s eyes. “How do you know all these things?”
Robin smiled. “I just thought about what I would need. I didn’t know about makeup, but there’s a brush and some mascara in there.”
They entered the hotel, and Robin booked her a room for the night. “At least call Greg and let him know you’re here.” She held tight to the key.
Maggie was noncommittal, but Robin gave up the key and left. Part of Maggie wanted very badly to talk to Greg, and part of her wanted some distance. Why was she not allowed to make a clean break? Why did there have to be all this communication? All she wanted was to be left alone. Didn’t she?
Alone in her room, she fell into bed, fully clothed and exhausted. She wished she had Aunt Esther’s diaries, but who knew if her copies were salvageable? At least, one of them was safe at the station. At the end of this, she would get it back and still be able to hear Aunt Esther’s voice. Would Allie like a copy? Would it mean as much to her? If so, she deserved to have it.
Maggie bolted up in bed. Allie! She hadn’t done anything to keep her safe. Some big sister she was. She was so concerned about getting her alone time, she forgot about Allie’s safety. Good thing she’d dropped her phone into her pocket during the fire. It was the one thing she was able to keep. Greg had brought her a charger in the hospital. She scrambled to her feet and texted, asking him to take Allie away and keep her safe. Knowing he would, and was probably way ahead of her, she waited for a response. Once she got one, she closed her eyes and drifted to sleep.
~*~
Greg received the text from Maggie while waiting at Denver International Airport with Ginger. Using his badge, he’d been able to go through security with her, and sitting in the gate area, he texted back. “Where are you? Are you OK?” No answer. He’d already decided to find a place for Allie, and Montana was a perfect solution. Most people didn’t know he had it. She should be safe there. He’d even made some calls and arranged for one of the female officers to drive her. The two would leave first thing in the morning. Until then Mark would continue to guard her. He texted the information to Maggie and waited.
Her response was thank you. Nothing else. Was this how it would be? Was she hiding from him until she could get up the courage to give his ring back? If it survived the fire. Maybe he should make it easy on her and stop trying. Everything in him fought against it. He couldn’t give up. They were too good together. He couldn’t sit and do nothing, so he called David at the station. “Any news on the whereabouts of Grady Hayes?”
“Not yet. The officers canvassed your girlfriend’s neighborhood, and they found a neighbor who was up at the time but didn’t hear or see a vehicle. So either the guy had a quiet car, or he parked somewhere else.”
Greg swallowed down his frustration. He wanted to scream. How could someone carry in a gas can, pour it all over a house, set fire to it, and leave without anyone noticing? “Any leads at all?”
“I still have two houses left to check. One family was on vacation, according to the neighbors, and one is vacant. There’s a For Sale sign in the yard.”
Greg’s spirits rose a few degrees.
“And before you ask,” David said. “We’re working on getting consent from both owners to make a search.”
“Let me know when you do, and I’ll meet you there. I need to do something. This sitting around is driving me crazy.”
David laughed. “I get you, partner. Will do.”
Eventually Ginger’s flight was called, and she boarded.
Greg checked his phone for the thousandth time. No call from David yet. Frustrated, he glanced at his watch. He wanted to be with the teams to investigate those houses. He stood, willing everyone to hurry onto the jet way. The plane door closed, and he sprang away from the window, plucking the phone off his belt. His long strides made short work of the motorized walkways, and he skirted little kids and elderly people while calling David’s number. No answer. Could they be searching already? Which one would they explore first? Waiting for the train was agony, but once he boarded, it whisked him to
the terminal, and then he jogged to his truck.
About a half hour into the drive back to Pinon Creek, Greg’s phone rang. The station number showed up on his truck’s navigation screen. He hit the answer button on his steering wheel.
“Williams.”
“We’ve got permission for both houses, and we’re meeting the owner’s niece at the vacation one now.” David’s voice. “The other one is a lockbox, and the owner gave us the code. Can you join us?”
“Text me the addresses, and I’ll get there as soon as I can.” Ending the call, he pushed his foot down hard on the accelerator. The truck ate up the last few miles, and he headed straight to Maggie’s neighborhood. David’s car wasn’t on her street, so he went over one street to the address he’d been given.
David was walking back to his car.
Greg pulled up next to him and rolled down the window. “Anything?”
“No sign of anyone staying here, but we’re leaving a man inside for a while in case Grady’s a neat freak.”
Disappointment tugged at him. “Have you already searched the other house?”
“No, we’re going there now.”
David opened the passenger door and climbed in. “The next one is on her street.”
Adrenaline replaced the disappointment. This could be nothing. It probably was nothing. But somehow, he couldn’t shake the feeling of expectancy.
He parked down the block from Maggie’s house and waited for the two officers who had gone down the back alley to get in place. When they were ready, David and Greg walked up the driveway, took the key out of the lockbox, and opened the front door.
27
Maggie dreamed about Lucinda. She and Maggie were playing tennis with Jonathan and Edward while Allie and Greg watched. A bluebird flew in and perched on the net. Maggie kept trying to get them to stop so they wouldn’t hurt the bird, but no one seemed to notice. She woke up. Her headache was better, and most of the scratchiness in her throat melted away with a glass of water.
Deadly Diaries Page 17