A Discount for Death

Chapter Nine

As the undersheriff approached, Perry Kenderman drew himself up so that he wasn’t slouching against the car. One hand rested on the fender, the other was thrust into the pocket of his jeans. That pose didn’t work, and he crossed his arms over his chest.

Estelle walked up so close she almost stepped on Kenderman’s feet. Her face was less than twelve inches from his. He stood a little straighter and tried to meet her gaze, but looked away after a few seconds.

She leaned even closer, and when she spoke it was no more than a husky whisper. “I’m testifying before the grand jury in fifty-five minutes, Perry. That’s enough time for you to tell me what happened, don’t you think?”

“I…” he started to say and bit it off.

“No, you didn’t,” Estelle said, finishing his thought for him. “You’ve lied to me since minute one.”

He managed to face her then, so close she could smell his breath.

“I…”

“You and Colette had an argument last night. Right here at the Parkers’. Start from there.”

He looked past her toward the house. “You know about my brother?”

“Yes.”

“She was going to move back to Las Cruces. To live with him.”

“Go on.”

“Well, I…”

Estelle remained silent, trying to read through the amber-speckled blue of Perry Kenderman’s eyes to the backside of his mind. While they stood there, two vehicles passed, and Estelle heard a third idle to a stop further up the street. She glanced in that direction and saw Deputy Jackie Taber’s unit. Kenderman saw it as well, and that seemed to prompt him.

“All I wanted was for the kids to be safe,” he said, turning back to Estelle. “That’s all I wanted.”

“They’re safe with their grandmother, Perry.”

“No, they’re not. Not if he comes back for ’em. You don’t know my brother.”

“You’re right, I don’t. Has he threatened them?”

“No. Nothing outright.”

Estelle frowned. “It was you who was chasing Colette when she slammed into a utility pole, Perry. Not your brother.”

The bluntness of her comment brought a flash of pain that made his eyes blink.

“What was the argument with Colette about?”

He nodded as if the question put him back on ground that he understood. “She was going to give up her job and everything. Move back to Cruces.”

“To be with Richard?”

Perry nodded.

“And you didn’t want that.”

He shook his head.

“So tell me what happened.”

He looked down at his boots. “She got mad, said some things. I said some things I shouldn’ta said. I tried to talk some sense into her, tried to make her understand what Rick was doin’ to her.”

“And what was he doing to her?”

“You been inside?”

“Yes.”

“Then you met Mindi.”

“And Ryan.”

“Yeah, well…” he stopped.

“Did you attempt to physically restrain Colette last night?”

“No. I tried to take her arm once, when she was gettin’ all wound up. That was all.”

“And then?”

“And then she got on her bike and rode off.”

“That’s it? Nothing else?”

Kenderman shook his head.

“What about the taillight of your patrol car?”

His eyes snapped back to Estelle’s, and then he slumped in resignation. “Yeah, well. She was takin’ off on the bike, and kicked the light. It broke the plastic cover.”

“Is that why you chased her?”

“Partly, I guess. I chased her because I was angry. Because I wanted to talk some sense into that stupid little head of hers. If she moves them kids down to Las Cruces, there’s no way to tell what’ll happen. She’ll be stoned half the time; they won’t have nobody to take care of ’em. That’s why I wanted to talk with her.”

“So you pushed her in a high-speed chase halfway across town…just to talk with her.”

“I…”

“You…what?”

“I didn’t see it as me chasin’ her. She was runnin’, wouldn’t listen to sense. I was just tryin’ to keep up. I figured that maybe she’d cool down a little. Maybe we could go somewheres and talk it out.”

“When she crossed the Twelfth Street bridge, how close were you, Perry?”

He looked up at the sky and closed his eyes. “I hit the bridge just as she went off the south end. I was about a hundred, maybe two hundred feet behind her.”

Estelle regarded him for a moment and then stepped back to give him room. “Tell me something, Perry.”

“What?”

“If Colette didn’t want to live with you, if she wanted to live with your brother, didn’t she have the right to do that? That was her choice, wasn’t it?”

“I thought that maybe I could talk her around to my way of thinking.”

“Were things different between the two of you once upon a time?”

Kenderman grimaced. “A whole lot different.”

Estelle shifted position ever so slightly, watching the light play on Perry Kenderman’s eyes. The rest of him wasn’t much to look at, at least not now, with all the steel taken out of his spine. His eyes, though…

She reached out a hand and rested it on his shoulder. He was taller than her by a good six inches, but slumped half off the curb, his butt resting on the car, the two of them were eye to eye. He started to twist away, and she dug her thumb in just above his right collarbone-not enough to hurt, but enough to weld them together for that brief moment.

“Perry,” she said. “I need to know one more thing.” She jogged her grip on his shoulder until his eyes met hers.

“Nothing you or me has got to say is going to bring her back,” he said.

“No, it’s not. But you and I both know there’s some unfinished business, or you wouldn’t be standing here right now.” Perry Kenderman didn’t respond, and Estelle released her grip on his shoulder. “Ryan’s your son, isn’t he.”

She watched his throat work, but no sound came out. Up the street, another car backed out from a driveway and drove off. The neighbor’s dog had returned and taken up his sentry post under one of the elms, patient and watchful.

“I think so,” Perry said finally.

“You think so?”

“That’s right.”

“You of all people should know how simple it would be to establish paternity, Perry.”

“I just…” and he shrugged helplessly.

“Let me lay it out for you in a nutshell, Perry,” Estelle said. “If you are Ryan’s father, that gives you some rights in this whole mess. Not to mention a few minor responsibilities.” He heard the acid in her tone and met her gaze. “That’s important,” she continued. She held out her hands. “Just as your brother’s paternity of Mindi gives him some legal leverage. Unless both of you agree to leave Ryan and Mindi with their grandmother, the courts are going to have to decide who gets custody of whom.”

“I don’t even know where to start.”

“That’s the simple part,” Estelle said. “The kids are fine with their grandmother. They stay with her until you have time to unsnarl the rest of the knot. There’s a possibility that your brother isn’t the least bit interested in the kids.”

The young man looked pained.

“And we don’t know what Perry Kenderman wants to do either, do we?” she added. He didn’t reply. “What I want you to do right now is go home. Go about your business. Hash things out in your mind so you know where you stand…so you know what you want to do.”

“I want what’s best for those two kids.”

For an instant, a half smile of sympathy softened Estelle’s face. “That’s easily said, Perry. It’s the doing of it that’s the hard part.” She reached out again and lightly punched his arm. “You decide what you want to do. And work up a plan for how you’re going to do it. Judge Hobart will want answers, Perry. It would be a good idea to find yourself a lawyer.”

“I can’t afford that.”

“You don’t have much choice, Perry.”

“What about last night?”

“I don’t know,” Estelle said. “I’m going to talk with the sheriff, and I’ll be seeing the district attorney in about…” She glanced at her watch. “…thirty minutes. He was there last night, too. We’ll have a chat and see what he wants to do. And I’ll almost guarantee, from the way they were talking last night, that your lawyer’s going to be doing double duty. You made some mistakes, Perry. It’s that simple. That’s the fairest answer I can give you.”

“If it was up to you…”

Estelle could see the agony in Perry Kenderman’s eyes. “Just hang in there, Perry,” she said. “I’m not promising anything. You made some mistakes, and there’s no way to brush them under the rug. Right now, go home, get yourself together, and be thankful for grandmothers.”