Part 11 (1/2)
As the automatic doors parted for Miss Ko's re-entry, she turned back toward him and waved. Or she gave him the finger. The sun was in his eyes, so he couldn't be sure.
Danny never thought he'd be glad to see the beady-eyed ogre of a house. Compared with any number of scenarios that might have awaited him, it looked pretty d.a.m.n good. The dumpster had been moved to where it wasn't the first thing you saw. Somebody had been working on the overgrowth of privet hedge-gone-to-jungle. He could actually see the flagstone siding-the beast's hide.
”Somebody's been busy,” he remarked.
”Josh and your contractor,” offered Sandy.
Danny climbed the five steps to the front porch slowly, pausing for breath after each. Rae and Sandy adjusted their pace to his.
At the third step he noticed the remains of half-choked rose bushes peeking out of a cleared s.p.a.ce beside the steps. Pieces of a broken bird bath lay bare to the afternoon sun. Somebody's garden had smothered and died here. The thought cut off his breath more than the gradual climb: he and Deidre had lived in this house together for three years. He'd never noticed what was under the debris. For a brief moment, he felt a twinge of regret. It pa.s.sed as he realized the extent of the improvement his efforts had wrought.
When they walked through the front door, Danny could actually see a room, not just boxes of junk that had to wait for the next dumpster load.
”Josh,” he called.
”We're in the kitchen, Dad.”
Sandy turned on the recessed lighting, necessary even in daylight because of the dearth of windows, and placed his briefcase on the dining room table. Rae deposited Danny's night case in a corner, then took a seat across from Sandy.
Danny was in no mood to get down to the nitty-gritty legal stuff until he'd hugged his son. Sandy's meter was just going to have to keep running at three-fifty an hour.
In the kitchen Josh and Beth were cooking. Well-not actually cooking. They were cutting up unfamiliar food articles: vegetables.
Danny put an arm around each kid and hugged.
”Dad, you look really...better. Pale, but not as bad as the first day. That was scary.”
”I hope you're hungry,” added Beth. ”We've got all kinds of goodies from the health food store. We're making sure you're gonna eat right.”
”I'm not a rabbit.” Danny looked at all the green stuff. Not all of it was green. Tofu patties. Some of it looked vaguely familiar. Like out of his childhood. Before his first fast food fix. Not sure he could survive healthy living, he scanned the counter top, looking for the carton of Marlboros he'd left there. Gone. It didn't take much imagination to figure out what the kids had done with it.
Josh didn't lose his good humor, but he was firm. ”I have a list from the doctor. Foods you're not supposed to have. Your cholesterol is out of sight.”
Danny tried to smile. The kids had obviously gone to a lot of trouble. He wondered who had paid for the spread, as well as the large basket of fruit he noticed on the counter top.
Beth must have followed his glance. ”That's from Aunt Morgan and Uncle Nate.”
He gulped, choking back the urge to say something totally inappropriate. Like about the apples. He could see apples peeking out of green cellophane. d.a.m.ned if he was about to touch one of 'em.
”It's a peace offering,” Josh said.
Danny forced a smile while his mind rolled around the words apples from a.s.sholes. No need to dump his vitriol on the kids.
”I have to meet with Sandy and Rae now. We'll have salad after. Okay?”
He could hear the kids whispering as he walked into the next room and closed the French doors.
Sandy and Rae had their heads together, and Sandy already had a legal pad full of notes as Danny sat down at the long, ornately carved mahogany table that had been in Deidre's family for generations.
Beneath the table was an oriental rug-also an heirloom-that had been cleaned and sanitized, but still showed the stains of human puke and s.h.i.+t. Before he and Dee separated, he had been one of the contributing parties. The stains were now so faint that Rae and Sandy probably didn't notice them. But he knew where they were-each and every one.
”Lakewood P.D. has reopened Deidre's case,” began Sandy. ”Rae's friend Veronica has been a.s.signed to both Deidre's death and Kevin's.”
”If anybody can get justice for your wife, it's Veronica,” added Rae.
He was supposed to say something enthusiastic. ”It won't bring Dee back,” was all he could muster. ”You guys want some salad?” He watched looks pa.s.s between Rae and Sandy that said his was not the expected response.
”Maybe another time.” Sandy looked at the kitchen door. ”Is that your stepdaughter in there with Josh?”
He'd forgotten that neither Sandy nor Rae had met Beth. ”Sorry, my manners...” He moved toward the door meaning to bring the kids out.
Sandy stopped him with a gesture. ”No. It's just that she looks pretty chipper.”
”I...guess she's coping the best she can.”
”Stan Eisley is deflecting any interrogation of Beth because of her fragile emotional state. She just doesn't look that fragile. Do you know if she had much contact with Kevin?”
Danny exhaled in a whoosh. ”They barely spoke when Dee was alive. I doubt that her death changed that. Kevin's been a loser ever since I've known him. And Beth is a sweetheart who doesn't deserve any of this c.r.a.p in her life.”
”I think questioning her is just a formality,” said Rae. ”Are there any financial considerations we should be aware of?”
”Maybe Morgan doesn't want to share Grandpa's estate. Maybe she brought in JJ to do the dirty work.”
”That's not what I meant,” said Rae. ”I just want to be sure there aren't any surprises down the road-like a million-dollar insurance policy on Deidre's life.”
”If there's a policy of any size out there somewhere on Dee, I a.s.sure you that no one will be more surprised than I. And you can bet your a.s.s that I wouldn't be the beneficiary.”
”Good,” said Sandy. ”No motivation, and as far as we know, they don't have anything to tie you to Kevin's death.”
”My prints must be all over that house.”
”You had reason to be at the house. It would be suspicious if your prints weren't there. Now, Rae wants to ask you something.”
Until now, Rae had appeared unusually subdued. Now she looked like a racehorse at the starting gate. ”There may be a need to change our strategy,” she began as if weighing each word. ”Your observation about a possible money motive for the two deaths has to be followed up. Also, we need to know exactly what sums, if any, JJ Camacho got from Deidre, or anyone else for that matter.”
”Makes sense to me.”
”I'll cut to the core. Veronica has asked me to help her with these two cases.”
”Great.”
”Well, I thought so. You may not agree.” Rae looked over at Sandy, then back at him. ”Lakewood P.D. has offered me a contract for my services. I'd be doing forensic accounting for them on a per case basis.”
”Fantastic.”
”You hired me to work on your wife's estate. There could be a conflict of interest.”
”I see...I think. Kind of like Gil's firm representing the Bayfield family at the same time he was supposed to represent me.”