Murder in Plain Sight

CHAPTER NINETEEN

TREY LEANED BACK IN the desk chair that had been his father’s and rubbed his eyes. Had he slept at all last night? It seemed unlikely, unless he’d dozed off in the chair while searching through Dad’s credit-card records.

He’d been trying to reach Bobby since he’d left Jessica last night, with no success. Anger surged. Bobby should have come to him with this information, not Jessica. And where was he? By this time he ought to be in his office, but he wasn’t answering there, just as he hadn’t answered his cell or responded to the messages Trey had left.

Trey clipped receipts together and returned them to a file folder. The anger he’d felt at Jessica had dwindled in the long hours of the night to sorrow and pain. Given Jessica’s background, it was already difficult for her to trust anyone, and he’d certainly given her no reason to believe she could rely on him. If he felt anger at anyone, it had to be himself. He’d handled this whole situation badly, and he didn’t see any way it was going to right itself without a lot of people getting hurt.

The truth, Jessica had said. The only thing to do was find the truth. He rubbed the back of his neck, trying to ease the tension. Well, he’d spent the night looking for truth, and he hadn’t found anything even remotely suspicious anywhere in Dad’s records.

Of course, Bobby would be the one with access to the business end of things. Bobby’s scrupulous care of financial records was an asset, since that sort of thing bored Trey to tears. If the vendor said the charge was on Dad’s card, Bobby would have checked the records. But there had to be an explanation.

The tile pendant had been in the locked drawer of the desk since the night they’d talked about it. He took out the pendant and held it in his hand. Such an insignificant thing to be the cause of so much trouble.

The phone rang, and he dropped the tile on the desk to snatch up the receiver. “Bobby?”

An open line crackled, and then Bobby’s voice, sounding as if he was in a well. “…didn’t get back to you…couldn’t…”

“You’re fading out. Where are you?”

“…back from Pittsburgh…decided to talk to the dealer…”

Excitement rippled through him. He pressed the receiver hard against his ear, as if that would make Bobby’s voice clearer. “What did you find out?”

“…not what…meet me at the cabin…”

“Did you say the cabin?” His voice was sharp. “Why?”

“…almost there…something…” The connection faded away to nothing. Frustrated, he hung up, then tried Bobby’s cell again. Nothing.

He shoved his chair back and stood. Bobby had sounded excited, and they couldn’t afford to ignore anything that might help to clear up this mess. Snatching his keys, he headed for the door.

He reached it to find his mother coming in, the dog at her heels. He tried to arrange his face in an expression that wouldn’t arouse her instinct for trouble.

“It’s a beautiful day.” She kissed his cheek. “The kind of day when anything seems possible.”

That was certainly the kind of day he needed. “I have to go out for a while, Mom.”

“Without your breakfast?” Her hand on his arm stopped him. “Surely you have time-”

“I’ll grab something later. I’m running out to the cabin to meet Bobby. He claims to have found something that might help Thomas’s case.”

“He has? That’s wonderful.” Hope bloomed in her eyes. “What is it?”

“I won’t know that until I get there.” He detached her hand. “I have to go.”

“Take Sam with you.” At the sound of his name, Sam stood, tail waving. “You know how he loves to ride in the truck.”

As always with his mother, it was faster to agree than to argue. He patted his leg. “Come on, Sammy boy.”

The dog trotted alongside him, giving an excited woof when he saw they were headed for the truck. Trey had to help him up to the high seat, but there he settled happily, head out the window, breeze ruffling his fur.

Trey swung onto the main road with a squeal of the tires. This was probably a wild-goose chase, but it was better than concentrating on his regrets. He’d have plenty of time to do that.

No matter how this turned out, Jessica would go away, eager to see the last of him. He couldn’t blame her for that. He just wished…well, he didn’t know what he wished. No point in longing for the impossible, was there?

Twenty minutes later he pulled into the narrow lane that led to the cabin. Branches brushed the sides of the truck, and Sam drew his head in, looking at Trey reproachfully.

“You can do it on the way back,” Trey assured him.

The brush thinned out, and there was the cabin, with Bobby’s car backed up to the porch. Trey pulled up next to it and forestalled Sam’s move to get out with a hand motion.

“Stay, boy. Stay.” No point in letting the poor old guy go through the ordeal of getting down and up again.

The cabin was quiet. Too quiet. Why hadn’t Bobby come out to meet him? He must have heard the truck.

The porch boards creaked as he stepped on them. He moved toward the door, apprehension lifting the hairs on the back of his neck.

“Bobby?” He opened the door. “You here?”

He stepped inside. Something moved, beside and behind him. Before he could turn, pain crashed into the side of his head, exploding in a display of sparks. Blackness.

“JESSICA, WHAT IS IT?” Leo stood when she walked into the office, concern filling his face. “You look as if you’ve lost your last friend.”

She felt as if she had, but that was neither here nor there at the moment. “I’ve just come from seeing Thomas.” She touched the still-tender bruise around her eye. “I thought I looked bad, but Thomas is ten times worse. One of the other prisoners got at him.”

Leo let out a wordless exclamation. “Is he all right? How could that happen?”

“He’s been seen by a doctor, and they’ve moved him into a cell away from the other prisoners. They say they’re taking every precaution, but…” She let that trail off, the weight of responsibility hanging on her. “That poor boy. He wouldn’t lift a hand to defend himself. I have to find a way to clear him.”

“I know.” He clasped her hand briefly. “We’re doing the best we can.”

A spurt of gratitude went through her at Leo aligning himself with her. Would he still feel that way when she’d told him?

She took a breath, steadying herself. “There’s something I have to tell you. I don’t know how you’ll feel about it, or if it’s something we can use, but I’ve reached the point that my mind is going in circles, and I need your opinion.”

“Of course. You know I’m here for you.”

Leo had known her a matter of weeks, but he was here for her. The gratitude deepened.

“Bobby managed to trace the pendant. He found that it had been purchased nearly two years ago from a dealer in Pittsburgh. The credit card used to pay for it was a business card belonging to Trey’s father.” She rubbed her temples, trying to wipe away the pain. “You see how it looks. If Trey’s father gave the pendant to Cherry-”

“He wouldn’t.” Leo sounded sure. “Jessica, I knew the man all my life. I know what he was capable of, and believe me, he couldn’t have been involved with that girl.”

“That’s what Trey said, too. But if he didn’t give it to her, then who did?”

Leo frowned. “Wait a minute. Didn’t that friend of hers, the McGowan woman, say that she had received it fairly recently, and from a boyfriend she was keeping secret?”

Jessica struggled to recall that conversation. So much had happened since then. “That was certainly the implication she gave,” she said slowly. “But if Trey’s father bought the thing, how did someone else get it to give to her? It could only…” She stopped.

“Be Trey?” Leo finished for her. “That’s what you’re really worrying about, isn’t it? That’s what’s clouding your judgment.”

“I suppose it is.” Leo was right. Her mind had been spinning in useless circles because of her fear that Trey had been involved.

Leo gripped her hands firmly. “Stop and think. If the person who gave Cherry that pendant is the same person who left the threatening note for you, the person who ran you off the road, the person who killed her…can you seriously tell me you think Trey is capable of that?”

“No.” Her heart answered without any doubt at all. “No, he’s not. But maybe…”

“Maybe what? Someone killed Cherry and left that symbol behind, so subtle that it almost wasn’t spotted. I find it hard to believe that it’s not the same person who gave her the pendant. The long arm of coincidence just won’t reach that far.”

“You’re right. Of course you’re right.” She shook her head, shaking off the negative thoughts that had been paralyzing her. “So someone else had to have access to that pendant.”

Leo frowned, leaning back in his chair, fingertips drumming on the desk. “You said that Bobby came to you with the evidence. When was that?”

“Yesterday afternoon.”

“After the television interview ran.”

“Yes. Why? What connection could that have?”

“I’m not sure, but… Did you actually see the record of that sale?”

She shook her head. “Bobby just told me about it.” What kind of lawyer was she, anyway? Why hadn’t she asked to see the material for herself?

Because she was emotionally involved, that was why.

“So it all depends on Bobby’s word,” Leo said slowly, as if he were turning it over in his mind. “Bobby handled all the financial records for Trey’s father, just as he does for Trey.”

“You think Bobby…?” Quiet, unassuming Bobby, with his dogged devotion to Trey-how could that be?

“I’m not accusing anyone,” Leo said. “But I think we ought to have a second check on this.” He picked up the phone. “Let me give Trey a call. See if we can get access to those business-card receipts. Then we can move forward from there.”

It was what she should have done, if she hadn’t been so tied up in knots over her feelings for Trey. She could hear Leo’s voice, talking to Geneva, apparently, but it was Trey’s face that filled her mind. Even if nothing could come of the feelings she had for him, she had to admit them to herself.

There was a click as Leo hung up the phone. She looked at him, to find him staring back at her, his face so devoid of any expression that it shocked her. “What is it?”

“Geneva says Trey’s not there. He had a call from Bobby. He’s gone to the cabin to meet him.”

Fear gripped her heart-instinctive, primal fear. She bolted from her chair. “We have to go there. If Bobby-”

She didn’t finish the thought. She didn’t have to. Leo was close behind her as she rushed to the door.