Hot Water (34 page)

He only hugged me tighter. Once I stopped struggling I realized he was laughing. I looked up at him, stunned.

His whistle shrieked through the trees. An instant later, Nikki bounded to her feet and was streaking toward us, uninjured.

“You bastard, scaring me like that!” I punched him hard in the arm, then turned to embrace Nikki, giving the dog all the loving she deserved. “I can’t believe that you’d even pretend to shoot Nikki.”

“Well, the whole point was that Hutton didn’t.”

I turned to look at him, puzzled.

“If he’d really wanted to kill Nikki, she was in his sights. But he couldn’t. Just like if he really wanted to kill you, he would’ve done it before I even got here, much less had the chance to get the drop on him.”

“Maybe I’m harder to kill than you give me credit for.”

He hugged me hard, squeezing the breath out of me. “I sure hope so.”

“What were you doing here, anyway?”

“I didn’t want you going to the courthouse alone. And something David said—” His face flushed as he stuttered to a stop. “Anyway, I saw my truck and knew you’d never stop here, not with the judge waiting, risking everything if you were late.”

“So you risked everything on a hunch? I thought you always said cops relied on logic and training.”

“It’s three-twelve.” Ty avoided my question. “Aren’t you late for court?”

I bounded to my feet. “David—the judge is going to take David away from me.”

“Not if I have anything to say about it. How’d you like a police escort?”

As he drove us in the Tahoe—his truck had of course vanished along with Hutton—he filled me in on how he’d discovered who Hutton was. “I still have no proof, of course, so we can’t use it against Masterson. I wasn’t even sure myself until I saw him with you. But maybe someday—”

“Someday? What if Hutton comes after us now that he knows we know who he is?”

“That’s just the point. He won’t. He’ll go underground.”

“And what about all the other people he might kill in the future?”

“If he’s smart, he’ll find a new line of work. Because I’ll make sure every law enforcement agency in the country is looking for him.” Ty said the last with such determination that I couldn’t help but believe him.

Besides, sometimes you just have to do the best you can.

Elizabeth checked her watch again and looked over her shoulder toward the heavy oak door at the entrance of the courtroom. Still no AJ. “Your Honor, if I could beg the court’s indulgence—”

“Your Honor,” Hunter interrupted her, “we’ve already been waiting forty minutes for Ms. Palladino. I move for an immediate decision on behalf of my client.”

“But, your Honor—”

The door burst open and AJ rushed in, followed by Ty. To Elizabeth’s dismay, AJ was dressed in torn jeans, black heels, and a muddy polo top that had the collar half ripped off. There was dried blood on one arm, and her hair was a tangled mess that she was trying to comb with her fingers.

“I apologize, your Honor,” AJ said as she jogged down the aisle to join Elizabeth, slipping on the marble floor in her heels. She leaned over to adjust them, using the motion to slip a piece of paper onto the table in front of Masterson.

“Ms. Palladino,” the judge’s tone was a cross between a sigh and a scold. “You do understand this hearing was to begin at three o’clock?”

“Yes, your Honor. I’m afraid I was unexpectedly detained.” AJ took her place beside Elizabeth.

Across the aisle, Masterson was reading the note AJ had passed him, the color on his face draining until it was the same dingy gray as day-old dishwater.

“Your Honor, we would love to hear what was so important at Ms. Palladino’s job that she made it a priority over her son’s wellbeing and this court.” Hunter puffed his chest out as if the judge had already ruled in his favor. He didn’t seem to notice that Masterson had sunk low in his seat beside him.

Elizabeth wondered what the hell was in the note AJ had given Masterson. Masterson wouldn’t even look at AJ. Instead he leaned into Hunter and whispered something behind a cupped hand into Hunter’s ear. Hunter’s eyes went wide and his lips tightened as if he didn’t like what he was hearing.

“Actually, work had nothing to do with it,” AJ said. “I was detained because an employee of Mr. Masterson’s tried to kill me.”

Things moved pretty fast after AJ’s dramatic announcement. The judge waved Hunter down before he could protest or object.

“Ms. Palladino, you do have some evidence to back up your allegation, I presume?”

AJ glanced at Elizabeth, jerking her chin at the courtroom door and mouthing “Ty.” She didn’t need to bother with the charades, it was obvious what the next move was. “Your Honor, we would like to call Deputy Tyrone Stillwater to the stand.”

Again the judge motioned to Hunter to not bother objecting. Masterson hunched over the table, concentrating on something he was doodling, not making eye contact with anyone. Judge Mabry, no fool, took it all in and leaned back as if ready to hear a damn good story.

Elizabeth had no earthly idea what Ty would testify to, which scared the shit out of the lawyer side of her, but the side that was AJ’s friend was curious to hear the whole story, so she simply asked Ty what events had transpired that made them late for court.

Ty took it from there, giving the details about the attempt on AJ’s life, identifying the man responsible as a previous employee of Masterson Mines, Robert Hutton, who was the same man suspected of trying to kill AJ ten years ago. As Elizabeth led him through his testimony, he was quick to infer that Hutton had also been behind Flora’s “accident” and the Palladinos’ arson.

Despite the fact that Elizabeth had no real evidence to point at Masterson, by the time Ty was finished, the judge was looking at Masterson with narrowed eyes. Hunter was smart enough not to cross-examine Ty.

“Before the witness is excused, I have a few questions for him,” the judge said just as Ty was starting to stand. Elizabeth felt AJ tense beside her, but she knew better than to ask anything. “Deputy Stillwater, did you knowingly remove the minor in question from the custodial care of Mr. Masterson yesterday?”

AJ blew her breath out as Ty answered, “No, your Honor. I discovered the minor hiding in my car after I’d already driven off and was heading south.”

Ty was smart. He’d answered the judge’s question with just enough details to obfuscate the truth. He could’ve been a lawyer.

“And why did you not immediately return the minor to Mr. Masterson’s care?”

“Your Honor,” Hunter jumped to his feet. Masterson appeared pale and was tugging at Hunter’s sleeve, urging Hunter on. “We respectfully withdraw our petition at this time.”

The judge jerked his head up, looking disappointed and highly suspicious. “Hmm. Let’s get it on the record. Mr. Masterson, am I correct that you are no longer contesting Ms. Palladino’s ability to adequately supervise and maintain custody of her child?”

Masterson stood beside Hunter. He swallowed hard enough for his Adam’s apple to jump. “Yes, your Honor. Now that Ms. Palladino is home, I’m sure David will be, er, raised in an appropriate manner.”

From his grimace it looked like every word was like swallowing glass. Elizabeth wondered what Ty had to say that Masterson was so frightened of. She glanced at AJ, who was grinning and bobbing in her seat in her excitement.

The judge pursed his lips. He glanced at Ty, who appeared terribly composed and in control, then at Masterson, who squirmed under his scrutiny. Finally he banged his gavel. “Very well. This matter is dismissed. Ms. Palladino will retain full parental rights and custody of the minor, David Palladino. We’re done here.”

AJ let loose with a whoop. The judge hid his smile while the bailiff shook his head at her sternly. Elizabeth gathered her papers, trying to think of an appropriate remark to put Hunter in his place.

She glanced sideways. Hunter was thrusting papers and notepads into his case without any order, bending and crushing them. More than angry, he was furious—and a bit frightened. Masterson was speaking to him in a tone too low to hear, but whatever he was saying obviously made things worse. Neither noticed the tiny bit of paper AJ had given Masterson swirling to the floor.

Finally, Hunter straightened and turned his back on his client. Which brought him face to face with Elizabeth. Who still didn’t have the one-liner she wished for.

He glared at her, pivoted on his foot, and walked away, his shoulders slumped enough to put a crease in the otherwise perfect drape of his suit jacket.

She watched him go, wondering when the man she’d fallen in love with had vanished. There was no trace of him left. And thus, no need to try to hurt the empty shell that now wore his face.

It had been Hunter who’d felt the need to salvage his pride by coming all the way from Philly to humiliate her. She had nothing to prove to him—what mattered most was that she’d been able to save AJ’s family.

Surprised by her smile, she reached for her briefcase, snagged the note as well, and strode down the aisle. She caught up with AJ outside and opened the note.

AJ gets custody or Hutton talks.

Elizabeth quickly shredded the note and threw it in the trash.

“I can’t be a party to extortion,” she told AJ, who watched with a smile dancing across her lips while they waited for David.

“You weren’t. You were party to a bluff.”

“You’re kidding. You risked everything—”

“Hey, it worked, didn’t it?”

THIRTY-FIVE

“My friend Larry called,” Elizabeth said as we counted out forks and plates for David’s birthday cake. “Remember? The radiation oncologist? He saw you on TV. Was wondering why you didn’t call him.”

“Hello—I didn’t call anyone. Alligator ate my phone, remember?”

“Yeah, I tried to tell him that, he wasn’t buying it. If you’re ever in Philly you might owe him dinner.” She was grinning—of course, she hadn’t stopped grinning since she’d convinced the DA to drop the charges against Jeremy.

“No, no,” Flora said in that voice that made everyone shut up fast and listen. “I say presents first. Then cake.”

I pulled my finger out of my mouth, hoping she wouldn’t notice the missing glob of chocolate icing from the base of the cake. My present wasn’t even wrapped yet. I’d been counting on sneaking off to the summerhouse while everyone was eating. I couldn’t wait to see David’s face when he opened it—an Apple iPad that I’d gotten a good deal on because it was refurbished. Now he could read and listen to his books all with one device.

“David would like to do something special this year,” Flora continued. I turned and eyed David, who was smiling so wide I thought his ears were going to do a jumping jack right off his head.

“Mom, you need to leave for a few minutes.”

Good. I could go wrap his present. “Okay. Holler when you’re ready for me.” I headed out and turned toward the summerhouse but Ty intercepted me.

“We need to talk,” he said, sounding way too somber for my liking. “Walk with me.”

I tried to protest, but he seemed so upset that I didn’t press it. Instead of going to the summerhouse, he steered me up the path toward the wishing stone. “What’s wrong?”

“We can’t find anything to tie Masterson to Hutton.”

“Nothing at all?”

“No e-mails, no phone records. Nothing. Other than the fact that Hutton worked for Masterson ten years ago, there’s nothing to suggest they ever knew each other.”

“Still, it’s an awfully big coincidence that an ex-Masterson employee would try to kill me, much less burn down my parents’ house and try to kill Flora and frame Jeremy.”

“Other than his attack on you, we can’t prove anything. There’s not one shred of evidence. And no trace of Hutton resurfacing either. But we have a BOLO out for him, and I’m going to keep poking around, maybe talk to Masterson again.”

“Be careful. Last thing I want is for Masterson to target you next.”

Ty made that snuffly grunting noise that meant he heard me but was politely ignoring me. We reached the wishing stone—usually my favorite spot in the universe. The limestone outcropping that perched over the valley made anything feel possible. Usually.