From the Heart: Romance, Mystery and Suspense a collection for everyone (35 page)

Chapter Twenty-eight

Diane had a way of disappearing into the background. The silent observer who read people and situations. At times, Maggie found this quite unsettling. A silent communication passed between her and Sam, one of comrades who understood the other’s role. They’d been the perfect partners at one time. But that was when Sam was with the DEA, and they’d investigated Lance Silver.

Sam was now what you’d call an independent investigator working with the Sequim Detachment and the Feds in a new role of watchdog. He brought together all departments and local jurisdictions, tying together investigations that crossed boundaries, including white collar land fraud, criminal misdeeds toward children, the special needs community, all of which could include drug trafficking. He handled those unusual cases falling in the gray area of unclear jurisdiction.

Sam didn’t linger, he went after Richard. Diane patted Maggie’s shoulder, and Marcie initiated the conversation.

“This friend of yours, Angie, who lives in Dan’s house. You were out at her place today.” Marcie lifted her chin as she spoke.

The blood tingled on its way down from her head. How did Marcie know?

Marcie’s smile was vibrant. “I already know, Maggie. I didn’t then, but he was sleeping with her when he was doing me. She’s another of his innocent victims, and he really took advantage of her. I don’t envy her position, but for the record, she has some real balls to stand up to him. He’s a fool to take her on.”

“How did you find out? Are you having me followed?”

“Nobody is having you followed, so stop being paranoid. Richard phoned Diane, and Diane told me. Besides, Angie notified state and local authorities on his bylaw infringements on that property. Every time a charge is levied against a property owner for whatever infraction, Sam’s notified, because of his new position. So because of Angie, Dan’s under investigation for too many houses on his Gardiner property. Which
also
brings in the
state
, which regulates the wells; you’re not allowed to have that many houses on one well. And because of the illegal dwellings with no permits. And no permits for a septic system installed for two houses. He has pending environmental charges against him. Basically minor fines.”

Diane busied her hands and stacked the dirty plates on the table and scooped the crumbs with her hand onto a plate and then wiped her hands.

“I like her,” Maggie said. “She has a special needs kid. It’s not okay what he’s done to her, and now that she’s stood up to him, he’s throwing her out. How can he get away with that?”

Diane rested her hand on Maggie’s wrist. “You can’t help her. Your friend should not have called you. It’ll be a battle for Angie, but if she stays honest and presents her case, Dan will have to pay her for all the work she did. She’s seen a lawyer and filed a claim against Dan with the rental board. She has photos. He can’t lie his way out of this one. As far as the eviction she’s trying to fight, she won’t win anyway. Landowners have always had the law on their side, even when they’ve lied. And the best thing for Angie is to get as far away as possible from Dan. She may not see it now, but he did her a favor evicting her.”

When Maggie looked up, she saw a hint of pain shadow Marcie’s baby blue eyes. “Are you okay knowing all this?”

She released a heavy sigh and gazed down at her baby girl. “Well of course. But I’m still human, Maggie. I’d be lying to everyone if I said it didn’t hurt to find out about yet another betrayal by Dan when we were together. Don’t misunderstand. I love Sam and what we have. But you can’t erase your past. And when someone hurts you as badly as Dan did me… well, in some ways I feel responsible for what Angie has suffered and wonder how many other innocent women he’s fleeced. Did I do enough to stop him from hurting others?” Marcie frowned. “You know me, worrying about what I else I could have done to jam Dan up sucks me back into him. Which is what he wants. He wants me to obsess over him, and I can’t do that. I won’t give him that. Sam’s watching the investigation, and he started his own a while ago. I’ve asked for help from other sources.” She raised her hand above her head.

Maggie watched the confidence spill forth from Marcie. Her belief in a higher source was at times inspirational. But logically Maggie had trouble understanding what could be gained from such faith.

“What is Sam investigating on Dan?”

Diane shared what appeared as a conspiratorial wink with Marcie.

“Fraud.”

Chapter Twenty-nine

“What about the marijuana grow ops Dan’s doing again? He’s always got one or more going somewhere, usually at one of the houses on his property. Why not go after him for drug charges?” Maggie got up and pulled on a thick corded sweater. She carried the dishes from the table and then started loading the dishwasher.

“He’s too cagey, Maggie. He moves it. It’s as if he knows trouble’s coming, or the cops are going to show, because his grow op suddenly disappears. He’s one slick operator. And besides, Sam’s done a lot of research. What Dan’s done on paper is going to bury him. He’s manipulated state funds, bylaws, telling a different story to each state and municipal authority on land use, wells, septic, and all with environmental impacts. Don’t forget undeclared income, tax evasion. Forget the drugs, he’s too shrewd, but what he’s done on paper will bury him. Do you understand?” Marcie spoke with such confidence.

Something light and fluffy tingled inside Maggie’s tummy. She matched the crooked smile that lit up Marcie’s face and the subtle wink offered by Diane. “He just screwed himself, didn’t he?”

Diane grinned. “Yep, and we’re going to nail him.”

Chapter Thirty

Richard paced the shop that filled one side of his oversized barn. Instead of animals, the barn was littered with all sizes of power tools and metal storage chests. It was every man’s dream of a place to build, create, and come to peace with his lot in life. He sanded the cedar chest he’d made for Maggie two years ago. Until now, it had been left covered by a sheet in a corner of the shop. Engraved in the lid were their children’s names, Lily and Ryley. It had become a source of solace now for him to finish it.

The shadow that drifted in his light irritated the hell out of him. There were times he needed to be left alone, and now was one of them. “Walk away Sam, you don’t want to talk to me right now.”

“That’s a nice piece of work. You’re good with your hands. How long did it take to make?”

He tossed the sandpaper on the ground and paced over to his workbench. He didn’t know what he was looking for as he stubbornly rummaged through the steel carpentry tools littering the dusty wood top.

Sam’s boots scraped across the cement. With each step, his shadow stole a little more of his light. He didn’t like being cornered, nor did he want Sam anywhere near his business. He threw him a warning glare. But Sam wouldn’t back away. Instead, he perched himself right against the workbench and crossed his arms.

“Richard, please listen. Right now I have Dan under investigation for land fraud. Possible tax evasion. He has an order against him from the state water board for environmental contamination for an improperly installed septic system. He’s violated local zoning with his illegally built houses, he sold the two mobile homes on his private land, which is not zoned for a mobile home park, but yet he managed to convince some state agency it was a mobile home park with fraudulent papers. Then there is the matter of the marijuana grow ops we know could pop up at any one of the illegally built houses on his property. Of course, he moves them just before we get in there. I’m tying all of it together, and I’m going to nail the bastard. So tell me, how much of this are you already aware of?”

“All of it.”

He knew darn well Sam was condemning him by the way he stared at him. “Don’t you dare judge me. You just don’t get it.”

“Then help me get it. Tell me, what kind of trouble are you in?”

“Look, Sam. This is how it is. Not one of those small infractions has amounted to jack shit. He’s gotten away with pulling this kind of stuff for years, and there’s more you don’t know. There was actually a group of locals who took him on when he subdivided, and they went after him with the argument the original land zoning prevents him from building all those homes. Then they went after him once he put the septic system in and dragged in the first of the two mobile homes. That would be the environmental part when he didn’t have the paperwork completed and the approvals in place for the installation before he installed. Do you know what happened?”

Sam crossed his arms and appeared to hold his breath.

“Nothing. No charges, no fines. Nothing. The local authority said it didn’t have the resources to pursue the matter. The state didn’t give a shit; they had bigger fish to fry. But this was after he managed to embellish his hard luck story and spin quite the tale with one of the broads he was dealing with at the state water board. I think he even met her for drinks. Anyway, long story short Sam, it went away. And that group of locals was stuck with a huge legal bill, and one of them suddenly had their property taxes jacked up--when no one else’s in the area had been.” He began to pace as he continued.

“And Harvey, the organizer of the group, had two of his cows butchered and left disemboweled in his driveway. A message delivered, and he got it loud and clear.” He picked up a wood scraper and then dropped it. “I sincerely hope you’re able to make things stick this time. I do, Sam. But I’ve no idea what you expect from me.”

“What does Dan have on you? I’m trying to help. You can’t go at this alone. You know him, what he’s like. Do you honestly want to stay in business with this guy? Why are you protecting him?!” Sam yelled.

Richard stepped closer to Sam. The tightness strained his back as he fisted his hands. “Look. You have no idea how tied up I am. He won’t sell. The only thing I can do is sell the houses, finish building, sell my share—at a loss, but with the money out of those houses, at least I won’t lose this place. I took a mortgage out when I bought the property with Dan five years ago. I took a second mortgage out right before the market crash to build the houses. I have no equity left.”

Sam’s face appeared to soften.

“Don’t pity me.”

“Hey this isn’t pity, I do understand. But I have to ask. The property you have zoned as a mobile home park, how is it you can build a house and sell it and charge a pad rent? And don’t give me this crap about different framing. You’re ripping innocent people off.”

Richard couldn’t hold back the sarcasm as he laughed so hard his stomach ached. “You’re kidding, right? You know who the real crooks are. The municipality for allowing Dan to find this loophole in their official community plan. The state for having legislation that conflicts with rural municipalities. You’ve already seen it, no one works together. They’re not sharing information. Unless it’s black and white and falls within their rules, they don’t care. Dan’s smart. He put this together. Actually he had some broad put together this amazing proposal. Building on site, but the loophole was in the construction. If he used smaller framing, he could make it fit as a manufactured home. And you’re right, it’s not. But those government people bought it.”

“So when someone who buys one of these homes pisses Dan off, he can evict them at any time, and then they have to find a way to move a house? A house they can’t just up and move to any mobile home park? Sounds like people being screwed to me.”

Richard felt the heat rise in his face. For some reason, he’d managed to block out the faces of people. Actual people. He took the personal out of it. But Sam just ripped open that wound and was not allowing him to sit quietly by on the sidelines. “Fuck Sam, what do you want from me?”

“Can you honestly tell me you’ll be able to sleep at night knowing you’re responsible?”

“I’m not responsible. I didn’t set out to screw people. I’m just trying to get my money back and protect my family. And sleep? I haven’t slept since my little girl was mangled on the road in front of my house.” His voice cracked, and he turned his back on Sam to pull it together. He focused on the shuffling behind him as Sam cleared his throat.

“Richard, if you sit by and allow a bully to hurt innocent people and do nothing to set the record straight, you’re just as guilty as Dan.”

He didn’t turn around as Sam’s heavy footsteps echoed across the concrete and out of the barn. He balled his fist and then slammed it into the cover of the electrical panel. “Fuck!” he yelled and shook his scraped-up knuckles. Why did Sam have to put this on him? Rage seeped through him, and with one angry sweep of his arm, he sent a handful of tools flying off the workbench. He yelled and pounded the electrical box again and stumbled against the wall, sagging to the floor with no choice but to face the truth.

Chapter Thirty-one

Maggie stood alone on the dark porch as Diane left with Sam, Marcie, and a sleeping Kyla. When Sam returned from the barn, his face held an edge she hadn’t seen since first meeting Sam at the hospital after Marcie’s accident.

Sam didn’t reply when she asked him if he found out what was going on with Richard and Dan. He only nodded, and then packed Marcie and Kyla up, and gestured to Diane in their cop talk way of knowing what each other was thinking.

As she stood watching the light drift out of the barn, she understood Sam’s frustration. Richard could be a stubborn jerk. And he’d always been a secretive and selfish bastard who never shared when it came to handling his problems. And those were the words he always used, “his problems.” He’d never ask for help—ever. And even when something came back to bite him in the ass, he still wouldn’t ask for help.

She went inside and closed the door. It was after nine on a school night, and Ryley should be in bed. She kicked off her shoes and treaded over the Berber carpeting the hallway and stairs. As she approached Ryley’s closed door, her heart was pounding so hard she found it difficult to breathe. She stopped and peeked at the light flickering from under the door, and then it suddenly went dark.
He knows I’m standing outside his door
.

She shuddered through her fear and made herself knock softly. Without waiting for him to answer, she opened the door and stared at the huddled form snuggled under the quilt. “I saw your light go out, so I know you’re still awake.”

He didn’t answer.

“I love you, Ryley. I just came to say good night.”

“Where’s Dad?”

It hurt, his need for his father. She wondered for a moment if he hated her. He didn’t want to be alone with her. What did she do to him? “He’s in the barn; he’ll be in soon. Do you want me to have him come up and say goodnight?”

“No.” He released a loud breath as if he’d been holding it, something that sounded too much like relief.

Maggie started to close the door. “Mom? Goodnight.”

Her blood tingled and bubbled up through her heart as she shut her eyes offering up a silent thank you. Maybe all was not lost after all. “Thank you, Ryley. Have a good sleep.”

She left the door open a crack and treaded back downstairs. This time her steps felt lighter, as if she’d overcome a major obstacle.

Richard rummaged through the fridge and pulled out a beer. She never gave him a chance to twist off the cap. She walked right up and wrapped her arms around his waist, burying her head against his chest. The soft cotton of his T-shirt smoothed against her cheek. She listened to the clank as Richard sat the bottle on the counter and held her. “He said goodnight to me.” Her voice cracked as she tilted her chin up, and rested it against his chest.

“Who said goodnight?” Richard appeared confused and distracted by her response.

“Ryley. He said goodnight to me.”

Richard swept his fingers through her hair. The hint of a smile broke though the heavy strain visible on his face.

“Do you really want that beer?” She traced her hands lightly up the front of his chest and then back down over his waist. His eyes filled with a whisper of light, and his touch promised closeness with maybe a moment to put aside their differences.

He shook his head as he reached for her hand and led her upstairs to their bedroom.