The Drowning Pool (32 page)

Frown lines creased Bert’s forehead. “We might as well check it out. There aren’t that many places around here.”

The pictures were obtained; a list was made up, and then divided between the two of them. Four places for each of them to visit. By the time Gardner had finished his half that evening without any success, he was feeling discouraged and thinking that his hunch hadn’t been so terrific after all. If the two men had met socially, they could just as easily have gone to a different town.

He wanted to hear Kim’s voice, just to let her know that he was thinking about her. He waited patiently while the telephone rang five times before it was picked up. Kim’s ‘hello’ didn’t sound right, as though she were nervous or upset about something. He immediately asked what was wrong. When she hesitated, he pressed her about it.

“Mike, I had this peculiar call earlier. I really don’t want to bother you about it.” She seemed reluctant to continue.

“Go on, what kind of call?” he urged.

“A stranger’s voice. He talked crazy. Said to tell my boyfriend that he better drop the Bradshaw case quick or he was going to end up a very lonely man. I didn’t like the sound of it.”

“It’s just some nut. Don’t worry about it.” He tried to make his voice sound reassuring.

“But how would anyone know about us, and Mike, my phone number isn’t even listed. It scares me!”

“I’m winding up the investigation soon. I’m sorry about the phone call. Try not to let it get to you.”

She let out a deep sigh at the end of the line.

“Really, sweetheart, it’s going to be fine.”

“It better be. Otherwise, I plan on haunting you for the rest of your unnatural life.”

“Is that a promise?

“You bet.”

He laughed and then quietly told her that he loved her. “Why don’t you pack a bag and plan on staying over for a few days? The girls will be pleased.”

“You are worried.”

“Did I say that? I’m just looking for any excuse to get you to spend more time with me. In my bed.”

“Are you feeling sorry you couldn’t stay with me this morning? I know I do.”

He thought of the thrill of feeling her body against his. “I get hard just thinking about you. So come to the house as soon as you can.”

* * * *

Kim didn’t put her phone down immediately. She was still feeling shaken by the strange phone call, more than she’d let on to Mike. Someone must have been watching her. It was a creepy sensation.

She began packing a few things and also slipped a sharp kitchen knife in her handbag, just in case. Then she locked up her apartment and hurried to her Toyota Corolla. Once on the road, Kim checked her rearview mirror repeatedly. She had a sense of being followed and didn’t like it one bit.

* * * *

Bert St. Croix had checked out three of the local watering holes on her list, and now she was down to the last one. She’d had no success but wasn’t at all surprised. She’d saved the Galaxy Lounge for last because she wasn’t sure she wanted to see April Nevins. But now there wasn’t any choice. She probably should have asked Gardner to go there; why hadn’t she?

As soon as Bert walked into the place, she saw April, even before the other woman saw her. Bert went over to the bartender, identified herself and flashed the pictures of Bradshaw and Page. The bartender shook his head and told her to ask the waitresses. By then, April was there.

“Come to visit on my turf?” she said with a smile.

“I’m here on business.” She showed April the picture of Page and asked if April had ever seen him before.

April licked her lips thoughtfully. “Looks familiar, but I can’t exactly place him.”

“Did Bradshaw ever come in here?”

“Rick? Sure, he liked the Galaxy, not just ’cause of me either. He came in even after I stopped seeing him.”

“Was this guy ever with him?”

“That’s it! This other guy was in here with Rick, but only one time. I did notice him though.”

Bert felt a sense of excitement, a quickening in her blood. “Try to remember; did they talk about anything in particular?”

“I should tell you that I wasn’t the one waiting on them so I didn’t overhear any of the conversation.”

“Damn! Do you remember who was waiting on them?”

“Sally, but she quit last week and I don’t think anyone knows where she went. Anyway, she was so spaced out she probably wouldn’t remember who she served five minutes after they left.”

“Hey, April, your customers are getting antsy! Are you working or what?” The bartender pointed to the order of drinks he’d made up for her.

“Sorry.” She turned to Bert. “Soon as I serve these people, I’ll go on break and we can talk.”

Bert agreed to wait. But the time really dragged. When they were alone at a table in the back, April smiled again. “I’ve been thinking about you.”

“Why?”

“I need a friend; someone I can trust. I’m lonely. You’re lonely too. Right? So what’s the big deal?”

“The big deal is you’re still a suspect in a homicide investigation.”

April lowered her heavily made-up eyes. “I didn’t kill anyone, and I’m not trying to influence you.”

“Aren’t you?”

April met her gaze directly. “No, I just feel there’s an understanding between us, a kind of bond.”

Bert looked away from her. “Tell me more about Bradshaw and the other dude.”

“The one in the picture?”

“Yeah, that guy. Try to think, was anyone else with them?”

“Cheryl was with Rick, which was why I made sure not to serve them.”

“Anyone else?”

“Yeah, there was another woman, a blond. She was older then Cheryl but not bad looking, kind of classy, good bleach job.”

“Talk to me about Bradshaw,” Bert said. “Tell me everything you remember about that night.”

April sighed. “You still consider me a suspect, don’t you? I didn’t kill him.”

“Then help me find out who did.”

* * * *

Bert phoned Gardner at home, sounding excited. “Got something.”

His own spirits lifted. “Go on.”

“I’m at the Galaxy Lounge. You won’t believe this, but April Nevins identified Page’s photo. She saw him here one evening with Bradshaw and guess what? They weren’t alone. Want to know who was with them?”

“Cheryl McNeill,” Gardner said without hesitation.

“How did you know?”

“Lucky guess.” Gardner was thoughtful for a moment. “Was there another woman with them?”

“Yeah, but April had no idea who she was. I tried to get a description, not much use though. She was too busy watching Cheryl and Bradshaw when she had a free moment. She wasn’t serving their table so she didn’t overhear any of the conversation. She vaguely remembers that the other woman was blond and older than Cheryl. Also, she came with Page, not Bradshaw, but that would make sense, wouldn’t it?”

“Stay with April if you can. Keep asking her questions; maybe she’ll remember more.”

“Right, I’ll get back to you.”

After he hung up the phone, Gardner tried to watch TV with the girls, but he couldn’t concentrate. He was worried about Kim. He knew the threatening phone call had troubled her more than she would say. He felt a deep sense of relief when she walked through the door.

“I brought some of my stuff,” she said. “I’ll stay with you tonight.”

Every night would have been better, but he knew better than to push it.

Evie and Jean surrounded her. “Kim, want to sit with us?” Jean asked. “We’re watching a terrific show.”

“Certainly. I rarely watch television. It’ll be fun.”

* * * *

Kim enjoyed spending time with Mike and his daughters. She was again feeling a sense of family, of connection. It was a good feeling. Not so great was a gnawing fear, an awareness that she could be in real danger. It took her back to the fall when she’d almost been killed. She would have to be vigilant. Stalkers were scary people.

After the girls were in bed for the night, she and Mike sat together wrapped up in each other’s arms on the sofa.

“You really are a dangerous man to love,” she said.

“Not too dangerous. I promise.”

Kim touched his dark, wavy hair, studying the rugged features. “Don’t make promises you might not be able to keep,” she said.

“I’ll try not to. Just do me one favor.”

“What’s that?”

He caressed her cheek with the back of his hand, sending sensual ripples through her body. “Take tomorrow off from work.”

“Mike, I just got back from vacation.”

“Call it a sick day or a personal day then. Just do it.” His eyes were intense.

“I’m probably no safer here than at work.”

“I’ll have a car watch the house.” He slowly kissed the palm of her hand.

“You don’t need to do that.”

“I think I do.”

He kissed the nape of her neck and she found that, too, was a sensitive area and shivered.

“You can be awfully stubborn.”

“But sexy?” There was that wicked smile of his again.

“Don’t think I’m not on to how you operate. You use sexual attraction as a weapon of persuasion.”

“Is it working?”

She put her lips to his and kissed him deeply. He let out a low groan. Without another word, he lifted her into his arms and carried her upstairs to his bedroom.

“Mike, put me down, I’m too heavy to carry. You’ll hurt yourself.”

“You hardly weigh anything. Now quiet down. You don’t want to wake the girls.”

Maybe it was the heightened tension and anxiety, but they made love as they never had before.

She matched his hunger and need with her own. And when her own urgent climax came upon her, he joined her in a sublime, passionate union.

* * * *

As he drove down the single lane county highway, Gardner’s thoughts wandered. He’d lived and worked in this town for too many years to just write it off. Evie wasn’t even born when he started building their house. What he’d liked best was the rural aspect of the land. Coming from a city background, it meant something to live near farms and forests. The township was forty-two square miles in size, a good part of it still undeveloped. There were dense woodlands and even a few lakes. Best of all, they weren’t far from the Pine Barrens with their stark, eerie beauty. Gardner couldn’t help but wonder what the township would be like in the future. He felt somehow that what he did now would make a difference; but maybe that was just self-delusion.

What worried him most was the indifference of the residents. They had so little regard for others. Very few of the people who moved into the housing developments, townhouses or garden apartments stayed for any length of time. Webster was a bedroom community, a place where New Yorkers lived because they couldn’t afford New York City or were afraid of the dangers. Too many residents thought of the town as just a place to sleep as they commuted back and forth from the city each day. Public apathy in civic matters was a tradition in Webster. The only thing that the voters seemed to unite in was defeating the school budget year after year. But who could really blame them? The taxes were strangling them.

Although he might outwardly shrug and say that the graft and corruption were just part of the system—the inherent nature of how the game was played—Gardner cared about upgrading the community. He felt that he had a stake in Webster’s future. If nothing else, he could make a contribution by seeing to it that Webster was a safe place to live.

He’d decided to come home for lunch to check on Kim. As he drove up to the house, Gardner noticed that the lawn needed mowing again. There were things he tended to neglect, but he tried not to feel guilty. A question of priorities, he told himself.

Kim looked very happy to see him, almost relieved. She actually threw her arms around him.

“Was there another phone call?”

Kim pulled away from him. “I don’t want to bother you about it.” She looked pale; small worry lines in the form of creases appeared at the corners of her warm brown eyes.

“I think you better tell me about it right away.”

She began anxiously smoothing her summer dress across her hips. Without warning, Kim burst into tears. This was so totally unlike her. He knew from personal experience that Kim was a very brave woman.

He took her into his arms and hugged her. “Honey, whatever was said, it won’t seem so bad if you share it with me. I might even be able to do something about it.” He smiled at her, touching her tears with his index finger as if to take away her anguish.

“All right,” she agreed.

“Let’s sit down in the kitchen and talk. I’d love a cold drink.”

“I’ll fix lunch for you.”

He followed her out to the kitchen where the family ate most of their meals. It was a sunny, spacious room wallpapered with bright yellow flowers. He watched as Kim sliced some tomatoes fresh from the garden and put a substantial serving on his plate along with some chicken salad.

“There’s lemonade and iced tea,” she offered.

“Before anything else, sit down and talk to me. Everything else can wait.” He gripped her hand.

She nodded, sitting down opposite him. “He said terrible things. I’m fairly certain it was the same man who called before.” She stopped then, bit her lower lip, and he had to prod her on.

“What exactly did he say to you?”

She ran her hand through her hair. She was wearing it down today, the way he liked it. But he couldn’t think about that now, couldn’t let the chemistry that sizzled between them distract him.

“First, he said to tell you that he knows where you live. Then he asked how you’d like it if something bad happened to one of your kids, like maybe not coming home one day. He said you’re being watched and so am I. He claimed that I must not have given you his message yesterday and I better do it this time or I’d be really sorry. He said, and I quote, ‘If your boyfriend doesn’t stop nosing around in matters that don’t concern him, we’ll give him something to really worry about.’ He told me to have a talk with you. It wasn’t much of a conversation. He did all the talking.”

Gardner was furious; in his entire life, he’d never been so angry. He tried not to show his feelings to Kim and gnashed down on his back molars to hold on to his self-control, but she must have suspected because her look was questioning.