Beautiful Triad (21 page)

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152

Kate Watterson

What I’d like you to do is start looking for this new missing person, Karen McKenzie. Find her dead anywhere around here with Heaton right next door to the place she was last seen, and suddenly, I have a chance to nail this bastard. I’ve been waiting for something like this.”

“I’m hoping to find Ms. McKenzie very much alive somewhere else,” Barker said, the slightest hint of disapproval in his tone.

Ken clicked his pen shut and tucked it into his pocket. He muttered, “Good luck.”

* * * *

Rob wasn’t sure he was surprised the FBI had come calling, but he wasn’t thrilled about it either. For one thing, it meant they took Karen’s unexpected absence very seriously, or else the Heaton case was finally getting a bunch of attention after a week. Either way, it was ominous and Lauren clearly shaken.

Agent Marzetti was built like a featherweight boxer, wiry and short, with sleek dark hair and a classic Roman nose. Something about his dark eyes indicated a razor sharp intelligence, and his smile upon introducing himself was perfunctory at best. He’d asked right away why Karen arrived one day and then left so early the next morning after she’d told friends, colleagues and family she’d be gone through the weekend.

No getting around that one.

Rob said, “We didn’t precisely argue. We broke it off, but even though she wanted to leave right away, I talked her into staying until the next morning. She’d had wine with dinner and it was late.”

Marzetti sat perched on the edge of one of the plush leather chairs as if he was making no more than a temporary stop. “You broke off your relationship with Ms. McKenzie yet you didn’t argue?”

“She wasn’t all that happy about it, but really, it wasn’t that deep of a relationship to begin with, so not such a big deal. We casually Ebook piracy is stealing. It is a federal offense.

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Beautiful Triad

153

dated, that’s all. I’d invited her to come along, but she had a case and said she couldn’t. She suddenly showed up without even a call.”

“Apparently not a welcome arrival.” Those piercing eyes looked at him in direct question.

Rob shrugged, not really sure how to answer but with the truth. “I was relieved when she backed out, and yes, a little dismayed when she came after all. She didn’t even call or I would have been honest with her then and there about her driving down.”

Good God, he sure as hell hoped no one thought
he
had anything to do with Karen’s disappearance. That angle had never occurred to him and he felt a quiver of disquiet twist in the pit of his stomach.

“What changed?”

Rob blinked, off balance with the whole thing. This stuff happened in movies, not to people he knew, much less him. “What do you mean?”

With audible patience, Marzetti explained, “What changed with you and Karen McKenzie between the time you invited her on vacation and the last time you saw her, which you say was when she went up to bed after you broke it off with her.”

You say? Jesus
.

Once again, the truth seemed the only option. He wasn’t a good liar and besides, he truly had nothing to hide.

Whoa, except he didn’t want to embarrass Lauren, and he had to actually keep himself from looking over at where she sat, still as a stone, on a chair by the coffee table. “There’s someone else,” he said slowly. “I think maybe she wondered if I might have invited this other woman instead and thought she might catch me in the act, so to speak.”

“But you didn’t.”

“Invite the other woman, no.” Now it truly took effort to not look at Lauren, but at least he was still being honest. In a technical sense, Drew had invited her.

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154

Kate Watterson

To his relief, Marzetti nodded. He turned to Lauren. “I want to know about the man you saw take out the boat from the property next door.”

Composed, but still a little colorless for someone who’d spent most of the week in the sun, she cleared her throat. “I was on the bank, reading a book, and he came out on the dock. I barely paid attention really at first, but the lake has been pretty deserted this week and for whatever reason, he acted sort of like he was looking around.

Then he opened the boathouse, started the boat and pulled it up to the dock, put something heavy in it, and drove off.”

The agent looked startled. “He put something in the boat? That wasn’t in the report.”

“I didn’t remember it until later,” she confessed.

The agent’s eyes narrowed a little. “How heavy? I take it since you said ‘something’ you didn’t get a clear look.”

Lauren shrugged, the uneasy look on her face speaking volumes.

“Like I told Dr. Heaton, all I know is whatever it might have been made the boat rock as he dropped it in.”

“Heaton knows? You’ve talked to him?”

She nodded. “He’s been here twice.”

Rob couldn’t help but notice at the mention of their next-door-neighbor’s name, Marzetti seemed to change his demeanor a little bit.

It was subtle, but there. “What kind of questions did he ask you?”

Lauren and Drew caught the nuance too, for they exchanged a quick glance. It was Drew who said, “Pretty much the same ones you have. Why?”

Marzetti stood and neglected to answer. “Thanks for your help.”

All three of them nodded and sat silent as he went and got into a plain, no frills sedan and pulled away.

* * * *

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Beautiful Triad

155

“At least he didn’t tell me not leave the state or anything.” The attempt at a lighthearted joke fell flat because Rob looked strained, and when he wandered over to gaze out the screen toward the lake, his shoulders were visibly tense under his tee-shirt.

“You were the last person to see her and the one who reported it,”

Lauren said, just as unsettled. “They have to talk to you. It’s routine, I’m sure.”

“Just the same, I never imagined myself talking to
any
law enforcement officers, much less so many in a week. Jesus, I hope Karen turns up soon.”

“She will.” Lauren couldn’t get the right amount of conviction in her voice.

“I hope so.”

“Maybe we should cut this vacation a little short.” Drew restively rubbed his jaw, his expression lacking the usual light-hearted charm.

“I think we’re all getting a bit spooked and that’s not a big surprise considering what’s been going on around here.”

The idea of leaving came with a mixed bag of feelings. What had started out as a week Lauren dreaded had turned first idyllic and now morphed into a nightmare. However, when they returned home, the three of them were going to have to deal with an entirely new set of problems and she wasn’t anxious for that, either. She glanced at where the slanting rays of the afternoon sun laid a pattern against the deck and the serene lake beyond. “We could go tomorrow. By the time we clean everything up, pack, and could be actually ready to leave, it would be too late today.”

“She’s right.” Rob turned back and attempted a smile. “But I have to admit, I’m losing the peaceful hanging out in the woods feeling myself. The sheriff has numbers to reach us. I don’t see why we can’t go in the morning.”

“That sounds good to me.” Drew looked at each of them. “Did both of you get the impression Special Agent Marzetti wasn’t Heaton’s biggest fan?”

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156

Kate Watterson

“Don’t they always suspect the husband first off?” Rob’s mouth tightened. “Or maybe the ex-boyfriend apparently in Karen’s case.

When he said ‘you
say
was the last time you saw her’ I couldn’t believe it. If Heaton’s a suspect for some reason, I feel sorry as hell for him. The guy’s wife is missing.”

Rob was right…unless, of course, the professor had something to do with Regina’s disappearance. Lauren had left his house that morning with a feeling of distaste, as if he’d been playing with her a little during their interview. “I think he’s a bit odd,” she admitted. “He seems like a nice man, very pleasant and intelligent, but he’s…I don’t know, intense in some weird way. Some of the questions he asked me were pretty graphic.”

“He’s writing a book about sex, babe.” Drew arched a brow.

“What did you expect?”

It was hard to argue that point, so she didn’t try. “Yes, I know. I expected it would be really personal and he told me I didn’t have to answer anything that made me uncomfortable, but…still.” Lauren paused and then gave a small mirthless laugh. “He liked it too much.”

“Talking to a beautiful woman about sex? That’s not a convincing argument for making him a weird guy. Makes him a normal guy. If I decide to ever give up flying, I think I’m going to lock onto his gig.

Doesn’t sound bad to me.”

“He mentioned both you and Rob.” She rested her hand on her knee and tried to look indifferent. “Like he knew. And, you’re the one who said he’s been spying on us, Drew.”

Both of them were quiet for a moment. Then Rob said in a noncommittal tone, “Why didn’t he tell the police about what Lauren saw? Now that I think about it—and I really as hell wish I didn’t have to—why didn’t Heaton immediately call the police and tell them Lauren had forgotten the man she saw put something in the boat. I’ve wondered when they were going search the damn lake for Regina Heaton’s body.”

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They’d all been thinking it and at least someone had now said it out loud. “Me, too,” Lauren admitted. “God, that’s so gruesome to imagine, but Rob is right. I’ve wondered the same thing. I wish now I had called the deputy myself. I assumed Dr. Heaton would tell them right away.”

“That’s a pretty natural assumption, babe.” Drew paced restlessly over to the fireplace. “This investigation isn’t our responsibility, and besides, now Marzetti knows. He strikes me as a guy who can handle this.”

“I say we pack as much as we can tonight, and get the hell out of here tomorrow morning.” Rob ran long fingers through his hair. “I’m going to go up now and strip the beds in the rooms Karen and I used and get those sheets washed.”

Lauren stood. “I’ll help. I need something to do.”

“And I say we go out for dinner tonight.” Drew walked toward the kitchen. “I’ll check the phone book for anything that looks decent in the form of restaurants in the area. I’d just suggest Gino’s again because the food was fabulous, but Heaton eats there pretty often, or at least I got that impression. I’m not real anxious to run into him.”

Lauren agreed one hundred percent, remembering some of his questions.

Rob Hanson and Andrew Fletcher. How does that all work
?

The man had definitely been baiting her and with everything else going on, she fought a shiver over the idea she’d even been alone with him for that uncomfortable hour.

Rob politely waited for her to precede him up the stairs and he followed, his hand warm at the small of her back. Working together, they took off the sheets, replaced them with spare linens from the closet in the hallways, and neatly made up the beds. Lauren had just finished smoothing the coverlet when Rob’s phone beeped. The way he snatched it out of his pocket and flipped it open spoke volumes about the tension in the air.

He said shortly, “Hanson.”

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158

Kate Watterson

Lauren had stopped moving, standing stock still, her heart sinking as she saw him put a hand up to his forehead and close his eyes as he listened to the person on the other end of the call, the phone pressed to his ear. He said one word in a hoarse voice. “Where?”

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Beautiful Triad

159

Anal sex?

Ben sat, hands hovering over his keyboard, thinking about his neighbors. They might venture into it…but not yet. If the Beautiful Triad did double penetration at this stage, he’d be surprised. Maybe one of them fucked her from behind while she gave a blow job to the other one, but his feeling was their relationship hadn’t developed quite far enough for anything really kinky. For one thing, Hanson seemed far too boy-next-door to even ask for anal, but Fletcher was a risk-taker, there was no doubt about it.

The blond pilot, if Ben had to guess—and it was an educated one—had initiated this three-way love affair in the first place.

And that—the love part—was the most interesting aspect about it.

Very rarely did a threesome happen because the partners were emotionally involved on an equal basis. Usually it was a lark, a fling, a fantasy indulged by two of them, the third one being a prop, easily discarded.

Lauren Hanes fascinated him as much as she did her two lovers. It had him high-strung, excited in a way he hadn’t been in some time.

The knock on the door made him glance up sharply. It was the tone of it—sharp, decisive, demanding.

Jesus, what time was it? A glance at the clock said it was after eleven.

Go to hell
.

Whoever it was knocked again.

Well, shit
.

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160

Kate Watterson

He hated interruptions when the writing was going well. With a profane mutter, he got up and walked across the room. In the foyer, he tried to peer through the stained glass panel of the ostentatious front door Regina had chosen when they built the house. Like most of the things she’d decided on, it was impractical and he couldn’t see a thing even with the front porch light switched on.