Cry in the Night (24 page)

Samson woofed in her ear, and she reached over to scratch his ears. “Isn’t she beautiful?”

Samson strained toward the window, and she turned to look. A man was coming out of the restaurant next door to the apartment complex. He wore a black parka with the hood up, and she couldn’t see his face as he stood on the steps and spoke to someone inside.

Samson whined low in his throat, and his tail began to wag furiously. It was almost as if he recognized the man.

“Who is it, boy?” Bree peered closer, waiting for the man to turn around. When he did, their gazes collided. The breath left her body.

She was staring at her dead husband.

18

A DUSTING OF SNOW FROSTED THE MAN ’ S DARK HAIR ,then kissed his cheeks and left a trail there. Bree stood without her coat on the snowy sidewalk and stared at the father of her son. “Rob?” Though there was a question in her voice, there was none in her mind.

This man had been her husband once. Maybe still was, some dim part of her brain asserted.

A cardinal fluttered to a bush beside him. He pushed back the hood on his coat, revealing the dark hair on the man she’d seen beside the truck. “Hello, Bree,” he said.

It was the same deep voice that always held a trace of humor. The blue eyes that were so much like Anu’s. When he smiled, she caught a glimpse of the tiny chip in one of his front teeth. The chill in her chest had nothing to do with the temperature.

He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Kind of a surprise to see me here, huh?”

All the oxygen left her lungs. No wonder Samson hadn’t barked the other night. He’d been the first to recognize his former master. She glanced back at the Jeep, where Olivia lay in her car seat waving her tiny fists in the air and cooing at the dog. Samson had his nose pressed against the window, and his tail wagged so hard, his bottom moved in time.

Part of her wanted to fling her arms around Rob’s neck and kiss him. Part of her wanted to pummel him with her fists for putting her through the trauma of his death. Her whole body vibrated with questions.

Staring at Rob’s face, she didn’t know where to begin. The most important answer she craved was why he had walked away and left Davy alone in the woods. “Why?” she asked, unable to articulate all her rage and hurt.

“Could we get in the Jeep? It’s cold out here.”

She nodded stiffly and led the way the few feet to the Jeep. This might be a dream, she reminded herself. Any minute now she’d wake up and find tears on her cheeks. It had happened many times in the past.

But she was married now. Or was she? The horror of the question froze her thoughts.

Inside the vehicle, with the street sounds muffled, the situation seemed even more surreal. Rob climbed into the passenger side and slammed the door. Samson barked and licked Rob’s ear.

“Good boy, Sam,” he said, rubbing the dog’s head. Samson wriggled all over with pleasure. Tiny whining noises came from his throat.

Olivia began to fuss, and Bree leaned into the back and removed her from the car seat. The baby settled immediately in her arms. “He’s glad to see you,” she said, her throat thickening at the sight of her dog’s joy.

Rob’s grin faded. “But you’re not.”

“I don’t know what to think, how to feel. You walked off and left our son to die in the forest. You left me to grieve you and search for your body. How could you do that, Rob? How could you destroy our lives and just walk away?”

He hunched his shoulders and didn’t look at her. “What good does it do to talk about it now?”

“What good does it do? What good does it do?” Her voice rose with every word. “It might help me understand how a man who professed to love his family could walk away, just like that! It would tell me who the man I married really was inside.” She shook with the violence of her anger. “I thought I knew you, Rob.”

“Oh, you knew me all right,” he said, his tone hard. “You accused me of having an affair. That’s how little you knew me.”

The anger banked a bit. “And I’m sorry for that. I found out it was all a lie, that the woman who called me had never even met you. I often wished I had a chance to apologize.”

“It hurt, Bree, it really hurt. I would never have cheated on you. But you can’t say the same, can you? Here you are, remarried already.”

“Already? Rob, you’ve been gone for nearly four years! Dead, I thought. Was I supposed to become a nun?”

He pressed the bridge of his nose. “Maybe. I don’t know. I was just disappointed to find out you cared so little.”

Was he insane? Bree stared at him. “I’m not the one who walked away. You faked your own death.”

“I couldn’t bear to come home and tell you Davy was dead,” he muttered.

Bree blinked and looked hard at him. “Dead? Davy isn’t dead. He’s in his room.”

“I know that now,” he said. “But I didn’t know it. Not until I came to town last week.”

The air grew thin, threatening to suffocate her. Bree stared at Rob’s face. Reality spun in a vortex around her. “What do you mean, you thought he was dead?”

He blinked slowly, never breaking their locked gazes. “I saw it on TV.” His words were hoarse, choked.

“You saw it on TV?” she whispered. Her lips had no sensation.

“After the accident. I-I don’t remember much. I remember waking up in pain. Blood poured from a gash on my forehead, and I touched it, thinking someone must have attacked me. I knew I needed a hospital.”

“Where was the plane?”

“I don’t remember seeing it. I staggered to my feet and walked through the woods. I took a guess at the right direction and struck out along a brook. My head hurt and I couldn’t see much. I finally came to a dirt path.”

“You didn’t see Davy in the wreckage?” Bree didn’t know whether to believe this story or not.

He shook his head. “I never saw the wreckage. I couldn’t remember what had happened to me, then I fell and woke up in the hospital. I heard the beep of a monitor. A nurse asked me my name, and I realized I didn’t know. Everything was a fog.”

She clenched her fists. “Oh please. Can’t you come up with a better lie than that?”

He seemed not to hear her. “I asked her to turn on the TV. There was a news report about searchers looking for a downed plane and I realized I was Rob Nicholls. The reporter said Davy was dead.”

The agony in his voice convinced her. He’d always loved his boy. Tears flooded her eyes. “Why didn’t you call me? You could have told me where to look. I could have found him sooner.”

He dropped his gaze. “I-I couldn’t face you. Not when I’d killed him.”

“It was an accident. Unless there’s more you’re not telling me. How were your clothes found on the other man? And who is in your grave? I don’t understand anything.”

“It’s none of your business. Not now when you’ve put another man in my son’s life.” He flung open the door and stepped out in the snow.

She grabbed at him. “Don’t you walk out on me! Don’t you dare walk out again without answering my questions.”

He slammed the door. “I’ll be in touch,” he shouted through the window. He ran to the front of the restaurant and jumped in his car.

Bree sank back against the seat. The anger in his voice when he’d talked about her putting another man in Davy’s life terrified her. Did he mean to do something about that?

The white landscape passed in a blur. Kade pulled into the driveway of a small place. The house was a mobile home with dented metal siding and concrete blocks for steps. A ramshackle outbuilding allowed air through the cracks. A rusty white pickup sat in the driveway.

Lauri threw open her door and charged up the blocks past the pickup. Kade was right on her heels. He paused when he saw a busted lock and the door standing open a crack.

He grabbed his sister’s arm. “Wait a sec.” He pointed to the doorjamb. “Has it always been broken like that?”

She started to struggle out of his grip until she looked at where he pointed. “No,” she said, her hand going to her mouth. Jerking her hand from Kade’s fingers, she shoved open the door. “Wes?”

“Wait, Lauri. Let me take a look first.” Kade brushed past her and blocked her view of the trailer. The two kitchen chairs were upended. Blood smeared the table. He hoped it was animal, not human, but his gut clenched. From where he stood, he saw a boot extending into the kitchen from the bedroom that lay beyond. The boot wasn’t empty.

He turned and grabbed Lauri’s shoulders, forcing her to the door. “Go call 9-1-1.”

“Why?” She jerked around and stared down the length of the trailer. Her cheeks paled when her gaze fell on the shoe. “Wes!” she shrieked.

She sprang toward the bedroom, but Kade blocked her access. “Do what I say! Call an ambulance.”

Sobbing, she ran back through the door for Kade’s truck, where she’d left her bag.

Kade’s tread was heavy on the cracked vinyl floor as he walked to the bedroom. The foot hadn’t moved, and from the amount of blood on the floor, he feared what he would find.

His steps slowed. He didn’t want to see what was connected to those boots, but he had to. His gaze traveled from the foot up the jean-clad legs to the fancy belt buckle. He winced when he saw the blood-soaked chest and the pale face of the young man who lay there.

The pallor told him the boy was dead, but he knelt and pressed his fingers to Wes’s neck. Nothing. Straightening, Kade backed out of the room. He didn’t want to contaminate any evidence. This was clearly murder. Someone had aimed the sawed-off shotgun lying on the floor at the kid and pulled the trigger.

A slow burn started in Kade’s belly. Poor kid. Poor Lauri. She was going to blame herself.

As well she should. Kade didn’t want to admit it, but these kids had brought this on their own heads. He heard his sister calling his name in a desperate voice. “Be right there,” he yelled.

Careful to avoid the blood on the floor, he made his way through the kitchen to the door and down the block steps, where he found Lauri sitting on a tree stump clutching herself and rocking. He didn’t want to tell her the man she loved was dead, but she probably knew in her heart.

She looked up at his approach. Her blue eyes were wide with disbelief and horror. “He’s okay, isn’t he? I called an ambulance.”

Kade crouched beside her and grabbed her hand. “I’m sorry, honey. He’s been shot.”

“Shot? His gun went off?”

“I don’t think so. Looks like murder to me.”

She sprang to her feet. “You mean he’s dead?”

He could have kicked himself. Bree was much better at these kinds of things. “I’m sorry, honey.”

She threw herself against his chest and nearly toppled both of them into the snow, but he regained his balance and held her tight. Sobs shook her frame, and he wished he could absorb some of her pain.

“Mr. Jones killed him,” she sobbed. “I told Wes that he was dangerous.”

“What does Jones want?” Kade feared the answer. “Why is he following you? Why would he kill Wes?

Lauri threw herself against his chest again. “He wants Davy,” she wailed.

Adrenaline hit Kade’s head first, then dispersed to his muscles with a jerk. “Dave? What’s he got to do with this?”

She wiped at her eyes. “He says he needs leverage.”

The kidnapping attempt. It was connected to this guy? Kade didn’t understand anything.

Her sobs began to turn to hysteria. “What can we do?” she got out in gasps.

He’d find a way to talk to Mason in private so his family was protected. Kade knew better than to try to handle this on his own.

He had friends. They would help make sure Kade’s family was safe.

The ambulance siren blared in the cold air, and Kade stood, his muscles stiff from his position. The vehicle came screaming down the road and turned in the lane. The light pulsed as the paramedics leaped out and came rushing toward him.

He motioned to the trailer. “Back bedroom. But he’s already gone.”

The men’s pace slowed as they approached the door and entered the home. Lauri buried her face in her hands and sobbed. Kade wished again that Bree were here. He’d call her to come as soon as he talked to Mason.

A squad car’s siren shrieked before cutting off as it pulled into the drive. Two policemen hurried toward him.

“I’ll be right back.” Kade peeled Lauri’s arms from around his neck and walked out to meet the police. “It’s bad, Officer,” he said. “Someone shot Wes Townsend with a sawed-off shotgun.”

The officer winced. “Either of you see anything?”

He shook his head. “He was like that when we arrived.”

He answered a few more questions, then when the men walked toward the trailer, he called Mason and told him what Lauri had done, about the threats, everything. “Lauri says this man wants to talk to Dave in private—something about leverage. The only thing I can think of is when Dave said he saw a windigo bury a baby. Could that have been real?”

“I think it’s time I had Dave show me where he saw this burial,”

Mason said. “I should have done it sooner, but every day we’ve been hit with something new.”

“Wait, I just thought of something,” Kade said before Mason hung up. “Lauri overheard the guy at Mrs. Saunders. She’ll know his real name.”

“I’ll go see her.”