Beautiful Storm (Lightning Strikes Book 1) (19 page)

"Do you think his wife was capable of killing him?" Alicia asked.

Joanna gave a noncommittal shrug. "She was a soldier. She was used to guns. It seemed like an ironclad case from what I read in the newspapers and heard around the campus. But you said she's appealing her conviction?"

Alicia nodded. "Yes, and Michael's friend apparently thought there was some basis for appeal. Then she went missing."

Joanna's brows knit together. "Do you believe that the two events are connected?"

"We don't know," Alicia answered. "But it's one theory."

"And you're getting in the middle of this? It sounds dangerous, Alicia." A worried look entered Joanna's eyes as she set down her glass of lemonade. "Should I even bother asking you to drop this, to let the police handle whatever investigation is going on?"

"The police are handling it, Mom. We're just asking a few questions on our own. It's been two months since Liliana vanished. The case has gone cold. Anything we can find out will only help."

"But if you ask the wrong people these questions, you could be in danger. Two people have already died, and if you don't think the professor's wife was their killer, then that person is still out there. I don't like this, Alicia. I don't like it at all." Joanna turned her gaze on Michael, her friendliness cooling. "Why did you get Alicia involved in this? She's a photographer. She's not a police officer or a detective."

"He didn't drag me into this. I volunteered," Alicia said.

"Why on earth would you do that? Are you two involved? What's going on?"

"We're friends. I'm helping a friend."

Alicia's words barely registered with Joanna, whose hard accusatory gaze rested on his face.

"I can promise you that I won't let anyone hurt Alicia," he said, knowing what Joanna really wanted to hear.

"Are you a man who keeps his promises? Because I know lots of men who don't."

"If I make a promise, I keep it." He didn't promise if he couldn't deliver, but he knew without a speck of doubt that he would put himself between Alicia and danger if it ever came to that. Hopefully, it wouldn't.

Joanna searched his face for the truth, and he hoped she liked what she saw.

"All right. I'm going to hold you to that," she said finally, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "My youngest daughter has always been a magnet for trouble, and she rarely thinks before she acts."

He smiled, seeing the discomfort in Alicia's eyes. "Alicia has been quite thoughtful so far."

Joanna gave him a doubtful look. "I hope that's true."

"Would you mind if I ask you a few more questions?" he continued.

"No, but I doubt I can help. I only know what I read in the papers or heard from the other faculty members."

"Then you're ahead of us. We just learned about the case today, so we're trying to get up to speed. Tell us what you know about the actual murder."

"Well, it's my understanding that Melissa Bryer came home, found her husband having sex with another woman, and shot them both. Then she called 911 and pretended that she'd just arrived and that they were already dead when she got there, but no one believed her story. It was much easier to believe that it was a crime of passion. They were both naked, from what I understand."

"What time of day was it?" Michael asked.

"It was after work, sometime in the evening. I didn't hear about it until the next morning."

"So Melissa is the one who called the police," Alicia said. "Why would she do that if she was the killer?"

"It was suggested that she was trying to cover her tracks by acting like she was completely innocent," Joanna said. "But there were witnesses who came forward saying that they'd seen the woman in Professor Bryer's office and also off campus at a local bar. It appeared that they were having an affair. The only one who would have a motive for killing them would be the betrayed wife. At least that's how it played out in the press. It was quite a scandal for a while."

"The other woman had an ex-husband," Alicia said.

"I didn't know that," Joanna replied.

"Do you know anything about how the two of them met?" Michael asked.

"I believe they met at the tech company where Thomas sometimes worked as a consultant." She paused. "I know that Thomas was lonely when his wife deployed. I guess he found someone else to keep him company. It's very sad. Why did anyone have to die? They could have just gotten a divorce."

He wondered the same thing. Joanna had certainly made a good case for why Melissa Bryer was in prison for murder. Maybe the claim of incompetent counsel was just a Hail Mary play from a desperate woman who was looking for any technicality to get her off. On the other hand, Liliana's notes had indicated that some of the people she spoke to, including Melissa's sister, did not believe there was an affair at all.

"I still think you should both stay out of this," Joanna added, breaking into the silence. "I'm sorry about your friend, Michael, but I think you should let the police do their job."

He was saved from answering when a male voice rang through the air. "Hello? Anyone home?"

"My brother Jake," Alicia said, getting to her feet to greet the man walking onto the back deck.

Jake Monroe looked more like his mother than Alicia. He wore faded jeans and a navy blue T-shirt, and he had sandy brown hair that was on the long side, as well as a scruffy beard. He didn't have Alicia's dark brown eyes, but rather light green eyes that lit up his face.

Jake gave his sister a hug and said, "This is a nice surprise. Last person I expected to find here was you."

"It was bound to happen sometime," she said lightly.

"They're looking into a murder investigation," Joanna put in, as Jake walked over to the table and sat down.

Jake raised an eyebrow. "Really?" He glanced at Michael, then extended his hand across the table. "I'm Jake Monroe."

"Michael Cordero," he replied, shaking Jake's hand.

"So what's this about a murder investigation?"

"I'm looking for a friend of mine, who was reviewing an appeal of a murder conviction," he said.

"Professor Bryer's murder," Joanna put in.

"I remember that," Jake said. "But why are you involved, Alicia?"

"It's a long story," Alicia muttered.

"It always is with you. I've got some time. Maybe over some lemonade?"

"I'll get you a glass," Joanna said, rising to her feet. "Try to talk some sense into your sister while I'm gone."

"I doubt that's possible," he said dryly. "And I can get my own glass."

"I like taking care of my kids." Joanna waved him back into his seat. "I'll bring out some cheese and crackers as well in case anyone is hungry."

"That sounds great. I'm starving."

"You're always starving," Joanna said with a laugh. "I don't know how you eat like you do and it never shows."

As Joanna returned to the house, Jake said, "Okay, you've got a good five minutes to tell me what's really going on, Alicia."

"I'm helping Michael look for his friend. She went missing during her investigation," Alicia explained. "We're in town to see if we can find out what happened to her."

"Okay," he said, a puzzled look in his eyes. "But are you seriously trying to tell me that this case doesn't involve lightning? Because I didn't think you cared about anything that didn't involve a storm."

"Does it sound like it involves lightning?" she countered.

"That's not an answer." Jake's gaze swung in Michael's direction. "My sister has an obsession with jagged bolts of light coming out of the sky. Did you know that?"

"I'm aware."

"All right. So how does lightning figure into this? If you want to wait until Mom comes back to tell me—"

"Fine," Alicia said quickly. "I was in a Florida park and a lightning strike led me to a military ID tag in the dirt. It belonged to Michael's friend. Since I found the tag, I've been trying to help locate the woman it belonged to."

Jake gave a smug nod. "I knew it had to have something to do with lightning."

"It called me to the tag. You can believe it or not. That's what happened."

"I believe it. You've been chasing lightning for ten years. But I have to say it rarely leads you anywhere good, and this doesn't appear to be an exception. Now you're caught up in a double murder investigation? Don't you have a real job to go to every day? Are you taking time off? If you're not careful, you're going to get yourself fired."

"My job is fine. I know what I'm doing."

"All evidence to the contrary," Jake retorted.

"Alicia has been incredibly helpful," Michael put in, wanting to defend her. "Her discovery jump-started a cold case. She's reinvigorated the police investigation and her insight has brought us as close to finding Liliana as we've ever been. Your sister is very smart and intuitive. I feel incredibly lucky that she's been willing to give up her time to help me. And I couldn't ask for a better partner."

He returned Jake's speculative stare with a hard glint in his eyes, daring Jake to try to convince him otherwise. Jake finally conceded with a nod. "Okay then. So you two are
partners
. Is that all you are?"

"For God's sake, Jake," Alicia said with exasperation. "It's none of your business what we are. Since when do you care who I date?"

"I've always cared. You've just been hard to pin down, but now that you're back in Texas—"

"For a few days. I'm not staying."

"You should stay as long as you can. Mom misses you."

"I don't think so. She has you and Dani."

"You're her daughter, too."

"The one who gives her gray hairs."

"I've put a few of those in her head, too. And if you don't want to tell me what's going on with you two, you should at least think of a better answer for when Mom starts quizzing you. I'm sure she's already got you halfway down the aisle. She is dying to get one of us married off."

"Well, I'm the youngest, so you and Dani should be the ones to go first. Speaking of which, what happened to that woman you were seeing—Brenda, right?"

"That was over six months ago. She's already engaged to someone else."

"Should I say I'm sorry?" Alicia asked. "You don't sound too broken up about it."

"I'm good."

"And the rest of your life is just as good?" she probed.

"Better than good. I started flying for a medical charity that sends doctors into remote locations, and it's been great. You can't believe the places I've been to—villages tucked far away from any sign of civilization. It's like the people are living in another time and place. They have no idea what technology is. They're barely past making fire with sticks and stones. Sometimes they look at us like we're gods coming down from the sky."

"As if your ego needed another stroke," Alicia teased.

Jake grinned. "I can't lie. It's not a bad feeling to be someone's miracle."

"It sounds like you're doing amazing work, Jake. Who would have thought my big brother would end up being a hero?"

"Certainly not me. I have to say some of those small villages make me think about our great-grandmother." Jake glanced over at Michael. "Has Alicia told you about our great-grandmother? She believes lightning is sent down from the gods to show the world something."

"Jake," Alicia said with a sigh. "Michael already knows I'm crazy when it comes to the weather. You don't have to rub it in."

"Sorry. Anyway, I started wondering whether or not she has what she needs. I know she refused to leave her small village and has never been interested in material things, but it's been a long time since anyone spoke to her. I wonder if we would know if something had happened to her. Would anyone even tell us? Would they know how to find us?"

"Mom must keep in touch."

"I don't think so. She never liked Dad's side of the family. Since he's been gone, I don't think she gives any of his relatives much thought."

"Well, you could look into it."

"I might just do that."

"Do what?" Joanna asked, as she returned to the table with a platter of cheese and crackers and a glass for Jake's lemonade.

"Jake is thinking about reaching out to Abuelita," Alicia replied, referring to her great-grandmother.

A shadow passed through Joanna's eyes. "What on earth gave you that idea, Jake?"

"Some of the villages I've been flying into. When was the last time you talked to her, Mom?"

"A year or so ago. We used to exchange letters several times a year, but she developed painful arthritis so she had trouble writing. I have to say she never made much sense, but her last few letters were almost incomprehensible."

"Maybe we should check on her," Jake said.

"She has her family there to look out for her—her younger sister, her nieces and nephews."

"But we're her family, too," Alicia said. "She was Dad's grandmother."

At Alicia's words, Joanna stiffened, and Michael suddenly became very aware of a new tension at the table.

"I know who she is, Alicia. If you or Jake want to reach out to her, feel free, but I don't have a lot of compassion for a woman who never liked me very much or made any effort to welcome me into her family."

"Did you make an effort?" Alicia challenged. "Dad said you never wanted to take us to Mexico."

Joanna sucked in a breath. "You think you know everything about your father, but you don't, Alicia. He'll always be your hero, but he was a man, too—a man with flaws. He was nowhere near as perfect as you thought he was."

Joanna's harsh words brought moisture to Alicia's eyes.

"Hey, let's talk about something else," Jake interjected.

"Excuse me," Alicia said, shoving back her chair. She practically ran into the house.

"Always so dramatic," Joanna said with a sigh.

"She wasn't being dramatic. Your words hurt her," Michael told Joanna, not liking this colder side of Alicia's mother.

She stared back at him, as if she were surprised that he'd called her out. "I didn't say anything that bad. She has always seen her father as a hero, and he was that, but he was a lot of other things, too. She's always so sensitive when it comes to him. Did she tell you that he died when she was a teenager?"