Revenge of Innocents Read online

  He rubbed the center of her back. “Just relax, okay? You’re exhausted. How is Drew holding up?”

  “I’m not sure,” she said, clasping the lapels on his plaid cotton robe. “I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet. He couldn’t find Jude last night. I need to call and see if she came home.”

  “Not until you get some food in you,” Marcus insisted. “An hour won’t make any difference, Carolyn. This isn’t going to be over in a day. You need your strength. Are you going to be able to take a day off to get yourself together, or do you have to go to the office? We have a meeting scheduled with the caterers tonight at six.”

  “I have to work.” Carolyn began to panic, speaking so fast her mind didn’t have time to keep up with her mouth. “There’s no one else to run the…I’ll have to find someone to take over Veronica’s…we’re already slammed…The new people can’t handle the serious cases.”

  “Calm down,” Marcus said, tilting her chin up and kissing her. “When something like this happens, the best thing you can do is to go about your business. Although it might be better if you stayed at home and got some rest, you’d probably spend the day thinking about Veronica.”

  “We have to cancel the wedding. Please, I don’t want what should be the happiest day of my life to take place now. We’ll pick another date…maybe next month, or after the first of the year. Your secretary should start calling people today. They’ll understand when she explains. Most of my friends know Veronica. If we don’t postpone it, we’ll turn our wedding into a funeral.” She saw the look on disappointment on his face. “I can’t go to meetings with caterers, Marcus. I’m not sure I can get through today, let alone a wedding.”

  “Why don’t we wait a few days?” he said. “See how you feel then. We’ve already booked our trip. The airline tickets arrived just the other day. I don’t want to bring money into the picture, but we’re going to take a bath if we cancel.”

  “I’m not going to change my mind,” Carolyn said, telling him about the threatening letter.

  “Personally, I think it was a prank,” he told her. “People do sick things. I’ve received death threats before, one allegedly from a Middle Eastern terrorist group. That’s the world we live in today, honey. Intimidation and fear rule, but only if you let them.”

  Marcus owned a company that supplied custom software to the military. Because he transported classified codes, he employed a private security team. A man was parked in front of their house now. “I’ll hire more people to keep an eye on us. I’ll even get someone to shadow John in Massachusetts. Your peace of mind is all that matters.”

  “You’re the most wonderful man in the world. Please understand why we have to cancel the wedding.”

  “You don’t need to work, Carolyn,” Marcus said, a stern look on his face. “I can’t have my wife in constant danger. There are more worthwhile things you could do with your time. You could volunteer somewhere, take up golf or tennis, spend more time with Rebecca.”

  “We’ve already discussed this dozens of times.” This was the only conflict they had in their relationship. “There’s no way I can quit now. The police asked me to go through all of Veronica’s cases. Then I’ll have to find out who’s still in prison and who’s been released on parole, get their addresses, try to find them. Criminals move every week.”

  “I thought this Bramson guy was the killer.”

  “We don’t know that for certain,” Carolyn told him. “The clerk said the man who rented the room was black. Bramson is white. It could be anyone.”

  Marcus shrugged and headed off toward the kitchen. Even the way he walked intrigued her. His long legs and torso moved purposely forward, while his head seemed to remain motionless. It was a trick of the eye, created by his graceful but deceptively fast pace.

  In many ways, they made the perfect couple. They talked fast, moved fast, and made instant decisions. They worked with efficiency and determination, and they both possessed extraordinary memories. The only time Carolyn forgot anything was when she was emotionally distraught as she was now.

  She rushed to the closet to find something to wear. She stopped when saw Veronica’s maid of honor dress. Removing the plastic, she fingered the pale lavender silk. She’d give the dress to Drew to bury her in. It had come from the dressmaker’s a month ago. Veronica had never got around to picking it up.

  Pausing in the doorway of the bathroom, she stared out over the cavernous bedroom. Veronica and Drew’s entire house was only a few feet larger. Marcus’s sprawling home seemed like a disgusting display of wealth. The people who actually needed this kind of space were seldom able to afford it.

  As she was brushing her teeth, the three-carat diamond ring on her finger was reflected in the mirror. When she went to work, she turned it around backward. Would she ever get used to her new lifestyle? It was distancing her from her friends and coworkers. Even Brad Preston treated her differently, and they’d once been lovers.

  She jumped in the shower, relishing the feel of the hot water against her skin. After she shampooed her hair and got out, she dried it with a towel. What people failed to understand was it was Marcus’s money, not hers. She hadn’t reached the point where she felt comfortable having him support her. Except for the few years when her ex-husband, Frank, had taught school, she’d been the primary breadwinner. Paying her own bills allowed her to maintain a sense of independence. She hadn’t fallen in love with Marcus because he was successful. She loved him because he was a great man.

  Carolyn ran a comb through her hair, put on her makeup, dressed, and grabbed her briefcase and purse. She thought of herself as a wash-and-wear girl. Her naturally curly hair made it easy to care for. All she had to do was wash it. The only thing she went to the beauty salon for was haircuts. She filed her own nails, had never had a facial, and could be ready to go just about anywhere in less than thirty minutes. The first time she and Marcus had gone on a trip together, he’d nagged her to pack three days before they were scheduled to leave. While Marcus cooled his heels, certain they were going to miss their flight, Carolyn threw her clothes into a bag and was ready to walk out the door in fifteen minutes.

  Rebecca came down the winding staircase with a worried look her face. Her straight dark hair fell to the center of her back. She had inherited her father’s olive skin, hair, and hazel eyes. “I heard what happened,” she said. “When they said a probation officer was murdered, I was afraid it was you. Why didn’t you call us?”

  “I’m sorry, honey,” Carolyn said, embracing her. “I just did whatever people asked of me. I didn’t have time to do anything else.”

  “You have to quit that hideous job,” her daughter said. “You don’t need the money now that you’re marrying Marcus. He wants you to quit, too. How do I know what happened to Veronica won’t happen to you?”

  “Jude is missing, Rebecca,” Carolyn said, changing the subject. “I know the two of you have never been close, but have you heard anything about her recently?”

  “She’s a tramp, Mom. I run into her at school now and then, but other than that, I don’t have anything to do with her. Wasn’t she supposed to graduate last year?”

  Something wasn’t right. “You saw Jude at Ventura High?”

  “Yeah,” the girl said. “I haven’t seen her in a while, though.”

  “She’s not attending classes,” Carolyn said. “Her father said she’s just bumming around. Veronica told me the same thing. She must be hanging out at the school because of her friends.”

  “I’m pretty sure she’s enrolled, Mom. There are a lot of kids who didn’t graduate with their class. Haley Snodgrass flunked and came back. I know because she’s Anne Marie’s big sister. Her parents insisted that Haley get her diploma instead of a GED. Rebecca glanced at her watch. “I have to go. I need to stop for gas. I love living here, but it takes me forever to drive to school. Where’s Marcus?”

  “Making breakfast,” Carolyn told her.

  Rebecca laughed. “He can’t cook. Wh
at’s he making, toast? Where’s Josephine? She’ll have a fit if Marcus makes a mess in her kitchen.”

  “Today is her day off.”

  Carolyn followed Rebecca into the kitchen, watching as she strolled over to Marcus and stuck her hand out. He fumbled in the pocket of his robe and handed her a hundred-dollar bill. Rebecca stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks, Dad,” she said, waving at her mother before she darted out the back door.

  “Why are you giving Rebecca money?” Carolyn asked. “Since I don’t have a mortgage payment anymore, I have more than enough to take care of her needs. Besides, don’t you think a hundred dollars is too much for a girl her age?”

  “Gas is expensive,” Marcus explained, leaning back against the counter. “Since I’m the reason she’s living so far from school, I think it’s only fair that I pay for her gas. By the way, how exactly do you scramble eggs? Do you shake the pan or is there some kind of special device? I looked but I couldn’t find one.”

  Carolyn laughed, a welcome relief from the tension. The countertop was covered with pots, pans, graders, slicers, and various utensils. Only a person who’d spent his life staring at a computer wouldn’t know how to do something as simple as scrambling an egg. “Cereal sounds great,” she said. “I saw some strawberries in the fridge yesterday. We can put some on our cornflakes.”

  “Are you sure?” Marcus said, looking relieved.

  “Why don’t you set out the bowls? I’ll get the cereal, milk, and strawberries.” Carolyn was settling into a semistate of normality when she jerked her head around. “See if you can catch Rebecca. We started talking about Jude…I don’t want her out of my sight until you get someone to protect her.”

  “Bear is on her already,” Marcus said, referring to the six-five, three-hundred-pound Hispanic bodyguard who’d worked for him since he’d moved to Santa Rosa three years ago. Although Bear’s size intimidated most people, he was a gentle, sweet man. He kept a picture of his mother on the visor, and would cry if he saw a dead dog in the roadway. He was a crackerjack marksman, though, and wouldn’t hesitate to kill someone if they threatened the safety of his employer. “The agency is sending two other men,” Marcus told her. “They should be here before you leave for work.”

  “But I didn’t tell Rebecca what we were doing,” Carolyn said, reaching for the portable phone on the counter. Things were getting away from her, and like Marcus had pointed out, the situation wouldn’t be resolved overnight. She was worrying about Drew, Veronica’s children, her job, her wedding, the threats, and at the same time, mourning the loss of her friend. When she tried to juggle too many balls, she dropped all of them.

  “Bear’s the best,” Marcus said, walking over and placing his arm around her. “Trust me, Rebecca won’t spot him. If she does, I’ll fire him. They promised to get someone to look after John by the end of the day. Since nothing may come of it, there’s no reason to call and distract him. I doubt if I could pass some of the courses John’s taking, and he’s only a sophomore. MIT is a tough school.”

  Carolyn returned to the table and robotically spooned the cereal into her mouth, blinking as she realized what was clouding her mind. Going to the police with Veronica’s suspicions about Tyler Bell was a moral dilemma she had already struggled with and resolved. Now everything had changed. She would have to track him down right away. If she thought there was even a remote possibility that he was involved in Veronica death, she would handcuff him and deposit him at the police station.

  Had she really withheld information? It was Veronica who’d thought Bell could have been behind the deaths of Robert Abernathy and Lester McAllen, and as far as Carolyn knew, there had been no evidence to support such a premise.

  She dabbed at her mouth with her napkin, kissed Marcus good-bye, and headed to the garage. He hadn’t attempted to engage her in conversation while she was eating. He knew she was thinking. When he worked at home, she showed him the same courtesy.

  Carolyn would call Drew from the road. All she could do was attempt to move things forward. She had to train herself to investigate Veronica’s murder the way she would any case. Crimes weren’t solved the way they were on TV. Sometimes they took months, even years. If only one piece of the puzzle fell into place, it would be a good day.

  CHAPTER 6

  Wednesday, October 13—11:00 P.M.

  Carolyn and Brad Preston were seated on a bench facing the fountain in the center courtyard of the government center. The sun was out and the temperature was in the mid-seventies. The smoke from wildfires of the day before was gone, moved out to sea by the ocean breezes.

  Working in Veronica’s partitioned office all morning had been difficult. Every time Carolyn took her eyes away from the computer screen, she was surrounded by Veronica’s life. There were pictures of Drew and the kids, jokes, Post-it notes, cheap knickknacks the children had given her. She could even smell her cologne, Eternity Moment by Calvin Klein. Drew had given her a bottle for her birthday the previous month. Veronica thought the name was hysterical. She recalled how they’d laughed about it. “How can it be eternity if it’s only a moment?” Veronica had said. “Are people stupid or what?”

  She was glad that Brad had suggested they speak outside. On days like this, it was easy to see why real estate prices in Southern California had continued to skyrocket. While most of the country braced for winter, it was spring all year long. “I downloaded everything on Veronica’s computer,” she told him. “I’ll upload it to the machine in my office as well as my notebook. That way, I can work on it at home.”

  “Good,” Brad said, squinting in the midday sun. People were streaming in and out of the courthouse—attorneys carrying briefcases, defendants with downcasts faces, prospective jurors, as well as senior citizens who passed time sitting in on trials.

  Tall and blond, Brad Preston lived life as an adventure. In all the years Carolyn had known him, she’d never seen him despondent. At forty, he still possessed boundless energy, even though lines were beginning to form in his handsome face. He could still stay out all night drinking with his race car buddies and show up at work the next day bright-eyed and as alert as a man half his age. He’d never married because he was addicted to the thrill of the chase. According to Brad, a person no longer wanted something after they got it. It was the fantasy that was exciting, not the reality.

  “Veronica was having an affair, you know.”

  “That’s not true,” Carolyn said, shocked he would imply such a thing. “I’m her best friend, Brad. Don’t you think I’d know if she was cheating on her husband? Veronica worshipped Drew.” The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became. “The poor women only died yesterday, and people are already spreading malicious rumors. What else did you hear? That Veronica was robbing banks in her spare time?”

  “I saw her,” Brad said, rubbing his neck. “Remember when we had that big storm last spring, the one that caused the power failures and mud slides? I was coming back from lunch when I walked past Veronica’s car in the parking lot. It was that white Ford Explorer she drove before we issued her a county clunker. I heard moaning sounds coming from inside, so I put my face to the window to see if something was wrong. There was old Veronica, bare-assed and humping away.”

  Carolyn’s hand flew to her chest. “In broad daylight, in this parking lot, in a car for Christ’s sake? It had to be someone else, Brad. Veronica would never do something like that.”

  “It was her all right,” Brad said, a mischievous grin on his face. “I’d recognize that ass anywhere. To be honest, she didn’t look half bad. I even gave thought to making a play for her. Most women aren’t spontaneous enough when it comes to sex. They have to go through all these rituals. Then there are dozens of restrictions, as if sex is some kind of sport that has to be played by their rules.”

  Since Carolyn’s engagement to Marcus, Brad had made it a habit of constantly reminding her of their past relationship. It wasn’t because he was in love with her. She’d g
iven up on that years ago. Everything was a form of competition to him. He counted it as a loss when a woman did something to forever close the door. As long as the woman was single, he knew he could always slip back in. “You’re talking about me again, aren’t you?” she said. “I had young children when we were seeing each other. I didn’t want them to walk in and see their mother having sex on the kitchen table.” She stopped and cleared her throat. “It’s not the right time for this kind of discussion, Brad Who was the man Veronica was with?”

  “I don’t want to be distasteful. You said it wasn’t the right time to talk about sex.”

  “Stop it, Brad,” Carolyn said, giving him a disgusted look. “I was referring to us, not Veronica.”

  “She was on top and the windows were fogged up. My guess is it was another probation officer. It could have been a onetime thing, although Veronica didn’t look like she was riding this pony for this first time.”

  “Maybe it was Drew,” Carolyn suggested. “He told me last night that they had trouble finding time to have sex because of the kids.”

  “Anything’s possible. It just didn’t strike me as the kind of thing a couple who’d been married as long as they had would do. Of course, I’ve never been married.”

  Carolyn fell silent as she thought. “I’ll have to confront Drew. This is too important to overlook. If Veronica was having an affair, her lover might have killer her. Maybe that was who she was meeting at the motel.”

  “I don’t know Drew that well,” Brad told her, plucking a leaf off one of the shrubs. “He seems like an all-right guy. Before you ask him if he was banging his wife in the parking lot, check around first, see if anyone suspected Veronica was seeing someone on the side.”

  Carolyn wondered what else she didn’t know about her friend. If Veronica had died of natural causes, she would have taken her secrets to the grave. Now her life would be scrutinized not only by the police, but by everyone who knew her. “You’re right. It would be cruel to mention this to Drew, especially so soon. What are we going to do about the workload in the unit?”