Murder by Proxy (2 page)

“Sure, maybe, but he changed this particular message only yesterday. Oh, the intent was the same, can't come to the phone blah blah blah. But it's been reworded, and he did it sometime yesterday.”

“So?” Edna was still confused as to what Freedman was driving at.

He squinted for a moment at the distant mountains with their snow-capped peaks. When he met her eyes again, he spoke slowly, as if trying to get things straight in his own mind as well. “Your son changed a taped message yesterday for a woman who hasn't been seen or heard from for more than a month. It could be some sort of signal or coded message for her, or maybe she asked him to do it. Either way,” he paused meaningfully, “he's in contact with her. I'm sure he knows where she is, but for some reason, he doesn't want her found. I'm wondering why.”

Two

“Ma?”

Edna turned to see Grant striding toward them. As he drew nearer, she saw the question in his eyes turn to anger. “What are you doing here?” He walked up close to the older man and hissed, “Stop following me.” His face was becoming flushed and mottled.

She took hold of her son's arm, hoping to calm him. “Grant? He's only trying to find your friend. What's the matter with you?”

“Please stay out of this.” He shook her off gently but firmly. “You don't know anything about it.” Grant pointed a finger at the man's face, causing Ernie to step backward. “I told you before, I'm not answering any of your questions.” Turning, he grabbed Edna's arm and marched her off toward the parking lot. “Ma, I want you to stay away from that guy.”

She didn't like it when he called her “Ma.” He did it only when he was upset or worried and that, in turn, upset her. Rarely did Grant show a temper, and it frightened her to realize how distraught he'd become. It was all she could do to keep pace with him. Used to living at sea level, she became breathless when she climbed stairs or walked too fast in this mile-high city.

As they approached Grant's ancient red Toyota Celica, she saw several people gathered near the car. Her son seemed to have his anger in check by the time they reached the group, and he began introductions.

“Ma, this is Marcie James, field sales supervisor at Office Plus. Marcie, my mother, Edna Davies.”

Edna recognized the professional-looking woman who had given the first eulogy. Sensitive to people's facial expressions, Edna had the distinct impression she and Grant had interrupted a steamy argument between Marcie and the man Grant introduced next.

“This is Rice Ryan, vice president of marketing for the company.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Davies.” His smile creased his tanned cheeks and crinkled the corners of his blue-gray eyes.

She gazed up at the ruggedly handsome man in his impeccable three-piece suit. With his weathered skin and a nose that had been broken at least once, Rice looked more like a man who should be wearing faded jeans, a Stetson hat and chaps instead of tailored business attire. She was about to take his proffered hand when she realized she still held the picture Ernie had given her. Stuffing it quickly into her tote bag, she shook Rice's hand. “How do you do.”

“And this is Brea Tweed, Ma, Rice's secretary.”

“Administrative assistant.” Brea pouted at Grant. She was a well-endowed young woman with startlingly red hair carefully arranged in a cropped, just-got-out-of-bed look. She batted her eyes at the men around her, swaying her hips and shoulders seductively as if to make the most of their attention before turning to Edna. “So pleased to meet you.” She didn't offer to shake hands.

“Sorry, I forgot your name,” Grant said, turning to the fourth person in the group.

“Yonny.” He shook Grant's hand before turning to Edna. “Yonny Pride. Nice to meet you, Mrs. Davies.”

He looked to Edna to be of Slavic descent with his angular frame and high cheekbones. He, too, was good looking but in a dark, brooding way. Unlike Rice, he wore clothes that looked more natural on him, a black leather jacket over casual black slacks. He was half a head taller than either Grant or Rice.

“If you'll excuse us, I have to get my mother back to the house.” Grant reached around Marcie to open the Celica's passenger door for Edna.

“We were all just leaving,” Rice said, clicking a remote device to unlock the doors of a silver Lexus parked next to Grant's beat-up Toyota. Marcie and Brea moved to the passenger side of the Lexus as Rice turned to Grant who was rounding the back of his own car.

Grant had left the windows partially opened. Although the air temperature outside was cool and crisp, the interior of the car was as hot as an oven from the intense Colorado sun. As she rolled her window down completely, Edna heard a harsh whisper, “Where is she?” and looked in the side mirror in time to see Grant shake off Rice's grip on his wrist.

Edna looked again into the side mirror in time to see Rice's hand squeeze into a fist. Certain he was going to lash out at her son, she reached to open her door but was stopped by movement inside the neighboring car. Marcie had leaned over from the passenger's seat and was pushing open the driver's door. “Come on, Rice. Let's go. We're cooking in here.”

The two men stood glaring at each other for a few seconds longer, as if neither wanted to be the first to look away. At Marcie's angry, “Rice, what's holding you up?” he turned and slipped into the driver's seat, slamming the door.

Edna turned, waiting for Grant to open the driver's door of the Celica. She wanted to ask him about the angry display, but the sound of Rice's tires squealing on asphalt made her spin around as the Lexus peeled out of the parking lot. Twisting to look after the Lexus, she noticed Yonny, several spaces away, folding himself into a white, two-door Ford Escort. Momentarily distracted by the sight, she was wondering why he didn't have a bigger car for his long legs, when Grant slipped into the seat beside her. His dour mood had returned as he drove out of the parking lot and turned the car toward home.

Mention of the dead woman made Edna remember what Ernie had said. “Who is Anita Collier? That man at the cemetery said she was also a friend of Lia's.”
And of yours
, she added mentally, not wanting to risk Grant's further anger by speaking that thought aloud.

Grant scowled at the road ahead and let out a deep breath before answering. “Yes, she was a friend, and before you ask, I don't know why she wasn't at the funeral.”

Since her son finally seemed resigned to her probing, Edna was determined to find out as much as she could. “And Anita is a friend of yours, too?”

He glanced at her for an instant. “Why do you want to know about her?”

She shrugged. “It's just that her name seems familiar. Who is she?”

Grant didn't say anything for such a long time, Edna began to wonder if he were going to answer at all. “She was Michele's best friend.” He paused briefly before continuing. “Remember how reluctant Michele was to move out here, away from our families?”

“Yes.” The pain that hit her chest at the mention of Grant's first wife, dead less than a year, kept Edna from saying more. She took several slow breaths before she could manage a weak smile in her son's direction. “It didn't take her long to adjust, though, once you got settled here.”

“Administrative assistant.” Trying to allay some of her own melancholy, Edna pouted, imitating Brea, and was rewarded in her attempt at humor by a snort from her son.

“Yes, well … whatever.” Grant chuckled again, shaking his head before going on. “Rice was head of operations, which included the computer department, so at that time my boss reported to him. I was just another new employee in a growing company, but Anita was nice enough to stop by my desk once in a while and ask how things were going. One day, we happened to meet in the coffee room. I don't know how it began, but I started telling her about how unhappy my wife was. Because of it, I was having trouble concentrating on things at the office. I thought maybe I was going to lose my job.”

“I think that's what Michele wanted to happen,” Edna interjected, thinking back to telephone conversations with her daughter-in-law. Actually, she, too, had been secretly hoping Grant would move his family back to Providence. She had particularly missed her precocious three-year-old granddaughter, but then Michele's attitude began to change. Grant's next words brought Edna's attention back to his story.

“Anita must have called Michele as soon as she got back to her desk that morning. They hadn't even met, but Anita introduced herself and invited Michele to lunch, said definitely the invitation included Jillian, so a babysitter wouldn't be necessary.” Grant grinned at his mother before turning his eyes back to the road. “She took them to the cafeteria at the Museum of Natural History. Museum of Nature and Science, I guess they call it now. Anyway, the three of them had a blast. Jillybean went nuts over the giant tyrannosaurus rex. Michele told me that Jillian sat for the longest time and just stared up at all those bones while Anita told her about dinosaurs. Lunch was such a success that Anita called in to take the rest of the afternoon off, and that day was the beginning of Michele's turnaround. Anita toured her all over Denver, introduced her to people, and had her signing up for aerobics classes, museum trips and outdoor concerts. She kept Michele and Jillian so busy I was able to get on with my work, and everything was great. Anita became part of our family.”

“Is she married? Does she have children of her own?”

“She and Rice were married a couple of years ago.” His frown returned and his grip seemed to tighten on the steering wheel.

So that’s who Rice was asking about
, she thought, remembering the near altercation in the parking lot.

“It was weird,” Grant said. “Rice dated lots of women, and Anita's a real knockout, so I would have thought he'd hit on her right away, but he didn't seem interested other than the fact that she worked for him. At the time, I figured he thought she was too young. I don't know what sparked him, and I don't think Anita really did either, but one day it was like he became obsessed with her. He kept asking her out and buying her flowers and gifts. She resisted for a long time, not only because he was her boss but also because he had a reputation for always being out with someone new and never sticking with any one woman for very long. Rice is a guy who likes the chase and gets bored quickly when it's over.”

Grant seemed to realize he was gripping the steering wheel too tightly because for a minute he sat back against the seat and flexed the fingers of each hand. When he continued, he spoke as if relating memories, talking to himself as much as to Edna. “Rice really poured on the charm, and Anita finally agreed to have dinner with him, but only after she'd become a field sales rep and Brea had been hired to replace her in the office. By that time, Rice had been promoted to vice president of marketing and sales, so the changes in his staff were logical.

“They hadn't dated for very long when one Friday night, Anita called Michele to say she and Rice were on their way to Las Vegas to get married. Michele tried to talk sense into her, but Anita said she knew what she was doing, and neither she nor Rice wanted the fuss and bother of a big wedding.”

“From what I heard back in the parking lot, it sounds like the marriage isn't going well.”

“I could have told her it wouldn't last.”

“Do they have children?” Grant hadn't answered her question earlier, and she hoped there weren't children involved. It was bad enough when couples split up, but she didn't like thinking how it affected their young ones.

“No. Rice didn't want kids. I think that's what made her finally wake up and see him for what he really is, a good-time guy with no sense of responsibility. Anita has always wanted a big family. She's an only child and says she regrets not having brothers or sisters. She and Michele were always arguing the pros and cons of single child versus siblings. Since Michele had three sisters, she thought being an only child would have been wonderful.” Grant turned to smile again at his mother. “I took Anita's side. I don't want Jillybean to miss out on the fun of having a brother or sister.”

It looks like you’re getting your wish
, Edna thought, picturing Grant's second wife, home in bed for the remaining weeks of her pregnancy. Aloud, she said “Am I guessing correctly that Anita is definitely leaving Rice and has taken back her maiden name?”

“You're half right.” Grant concentrated on a right-hand turn before offering further explanation. “Anita kept her maiden name, never went by Anita Ryan. Probably a good thing because, yes, she's left him. As I mentioned before, Rice never wanted a family. Guess he forgot to tell her that before they got married.” His voice dripped with sarcasm. “The honeymoon didn't last long either. Last year, Rice changed Anita's sales territory from metro Denver to a region covering northern Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and northern Idaho. That means she's gone a lot. Very convenient for him, her being out of town, assigned to our most desolate territory.”