From the Heart: Romance, Mystery and Suspense a collection for everyone (36 page)

Chapter Thirty-two

The cool sheet drifted over her bare skin and slid down to her waist. Richard’s heavy breathing remained uneven. Maggie knew he couldn’t sleep. His body remained tight against her. His arm rested above his head, and she instinctively reached out and linked her fingers with his. She kissed his bare chest. He must not have known she was awake because he touched the back of her head and caressed her in a tiny circle.

“Where are you?”

“Hmm?” Even in the darkness she could see the distraction in the lines that pulled around his face.

“Go to sleep, it’s late.” He slid his hand away and roughly ran his fingers through his hair. His wall. At one time she believed it was to shelter her and the children, but now knew it was meant to keep her out. She rolled to her side, rose on her elbow, and placed her hand on his rigid chest.

“Stop pushing me away. What happened with Sam tonight?”

“What did he say?” He rolled toward her in a demanding way, and she sensed he was worried about what Sam might have said.

“Well, that’s the thing. He didn’t say anything. He came in, gathered everyone up, and left. He seemed off.”

A sigh escaped as Richard dropped his head down on his pillow. It almost sounded like relief to her. “Richard, please don’t shut me out. At some point, you need to trust me again. I’m standing here by you. And yes, I called Sam because I know you’re in trouble and because you and your stubborn pride refuse to ask for help. I love your strength, but dammit, sometimes you make me so angry with this arrogant attitude, like you believe you can do anything. And if you have a problem, only you can fix it. By yourself. You won’t--”

He pressed his hand against the back of her head, pulling her close, and capturing her lips with his. His tongue teased her bottom lip. He pressed her back and followed her down, holding his weight above her. When he slid his hand over the curve of her hip, she slipped a little farther before bracing both hands flat on his chest and pushing him away. “Stop it. You’re not going to distract me this time. I need to know what’s going on.”

He rolled away and sat up. His back stiffened.

Before he could leave the bed, she grabbed his arm. “Don’t run away. Please, Richard. I’m trying here, but you keep blocking me. Whatever it is, whatever you’ve done, it doesn’t matter. I won’t leave you. I won’t turn my back on you. You stood by me, if it wasn’t for you…”

He lowered his head like a defeated man. “Maggie, what do you want from me?”

“The truth.”

He didn’t turn around, but as Maggie leaned against his naked back and slid her arm around his waist, he covered her hand with his. “Okay.”

Chapter Thirty-three

It was eight-thirty the next morning when the car horn honked in front of the house. “Ryley, your ride’s here.” Maggie handed Ryley his backpack and hurried him out the door, waving at Mrs. Bellman in her small red sedan. Her daughter was in Ryley’s grade and sometimes they shared a ride. “Don’t forget, I’m picking you up from school today.”

“I
know
, Mom.” He didn’t linger; he hopped in the backseat of the idling car. She waved again as they drove away and hurried back into the house. Richard was loading the breakfast dishes in the dishwasher. She touched his arm and then reached around him for her mug of lukewarm coffee.

“I called Sam,” Richard said. “I’m meeting him in Sequim this morning at his new office. It’s next to the state trooper detachment, so if it doesn’t go well, I won’t have far to go when I’m arrested.”

Maggie instinctively rubbed his arm. “Sam won’t turn you in. You were railroaded by Dan.”

“No Maggie, it was of my own free will. I chose to help him for money. It may have been his idea to dump the truck in the lake and collect the insurance money. But I went along with it. He owed me the money, and it was only way he was going to pay me. I was in a real bind when all the loans came due.”

She didn’t say anything. She was grateful he opened up to her last night about the stolen truck and why the sheriff appeared on the doorstep. Dan owed Richard a lot of money for his share of the building materials purchased for the final homes they were building on the Gardiner property.

“You know what I can’t figure out?” Richard closed the dishwasher. “How does he appear to be doing so well. He screams he’s always broke, but then somehow, he suddenly comes up with the money for other things. It’s a game with him. He hoards his money. Lives like a pauper, but then all of sudden, he has cash to throw around.”

“He’s growing dope again. So why hasn’t the sheriff caught him?” She dumped her cold coffee down the sink.

“Because he’s too smart. He shuts it down when he gets a whiff of trouble and moves it. Most likely to some low life friend in the area.” Some of the hardness in his face lifted, maybe because he finally shared his burden.

“I better go.” He hesitated until she stepped toward him, and then he slowly leaned in and kissed her, holding her close for a few seconds before leaving.

She flattened her hand on the counter and tapped her fingers when Richard slipped on his black leather jacket. “Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?”

“No. Stay here. I’ll leave you the truck so you can pick-up Ryley. I don’t know how long I’ll be.” He went out to the barn, and a few moments later, came out with his Harley. He fired up the engine and pulled on his helmet. She lingered on the porch wearing just a navy sweatshirt and worn blue jeans. She leaned against the smooth porch railing. He didn’t wave, nor did he look back when he drove away. She couldn’t help but be amazed at the mountain he’d appeared to have overcome since last night after he’d finally shared the hook Dan held on him. She’d been speechless, but forced herself to listen without judgment… even though she wanted to jump up and down and yell.

He hadn’t told Diane the full story about the truck, only enough for her to realize it was best left alone. Dan couldn’t sell the truck, so he was going to collect the $30,000 insurance money on it. After they dumped the truck in Buckhorn Lake, Dan filed a report that the truck was stolen outside a Seattle hotel. If you thought about it, what were the chances of a search and rescue team accidently discovering a truck in that deep lake? And when the divers went down and matched the serial number to the stolen truck, one of the biggest questions was how the truck got all the way back here if it was stolen on the mainland. The problem now was, Dan signed the truck registration over to Richard without telling him, and passed him the registration the day before the sheriff arrived. Ownership questions now dangled
in the wind, and that created a very big problem. With no insurance money paid, under the current investigation, it was now unlikely to be forthcoming. Because of Dan’s stupidity, Richard would be the registered owner, and Richard’s insurance would technically pay for the truck. The problem was Richard didn’t have insurance on the truck, and registration papers hadn’t been filed at the DMV. When the sheriff spoke with Dan, he concocted a story similar to the facts, but thoroughly massaged for his own benefit. He played the bad boy, confessing to the officers that they’d caught him. He owed Richard money, and Richard had forced him to sign the truck over to him--but had then taken the truck from Dan. Then Richard demanded cash, and also forced Dan to file a report saying the truck was stolen, which Dan thought it was, since Richard told him the truck was missing. He said he was just trying to help Richard out because Richard didn’t have the vehicle insured yet. Richard was his business partner, but Dan had no idea what he did with the truck. After Richard took the truck, he’d not seen it again.

The question in Maggie’s mind was if the sheriff believed Dan. Such a brilliant liar. Confess to a smaller crime, and it was apparently enough to sway the officers to look harder into Richard’s financials. When Richard spoke to the officers, he told them he never had possession of the truck. He did tell them Dan gave him the registration the day before the officers appeared to question him. He urged the sheriff to check with the DMV. The fact he didn’t register the vehicle in his name or insure it should tell them Dan was not disclosing all the facts. Richard pointed out he wasn’t the one who filed the stolen vehicle report and then said nothing further to the officers.

This morning, Richard was going to tell all of this to Sam to get his help. At this point, it didn’t look as if Richard would see the money from Dan unless he took Dan to court. And Richard wanted to steer clear of court. Too many spotlights would shine directly on his own financials. Add in Dan’s ability to spin a tale and think quickly on his feet, shifting a story to benefit his cause, and it was enough to make Richard take a step back and reevaluate.

Maggie could see Richard was scared. The heat Angie managed to stir up in Dan’s direction had shaken Richard because the attention was focused on Dan and all his properties… including the one he owned with Richard. Richard didn’t want any investigator looking too closely at the applications, let alone the approving officer who’d overlooked many of the details.

Sam was right. All the innocent people buying these homes didn’t know that if they pissed Dan off, he could legally evict them with little notice, and they would be required to move their home, which they’d discover was not as simple a task as when he sold it to them. They’d be forced to walk away, and lose their home—because, of course, it was on Dan’s and Richard’s property. And Dan and Richard would once again own the house. Richard was unsettled with the sloppy homework done by the property lawyers and the realtors who did not pick up on this minor detail. Nobody appeared to look at all the pitfalls anymore. A good lawyer could make a case for fraud if they put the time and effort into it. Why Richard had ever gone along with this scheme to begin with was problematic. Unless the polished version of the land deal was looked at. Two guys own a piece of land, have it rezoned as a mobile home park, apply to the community zoning board for approval for 25 manufactured homes with a twist, built on site to spec, and get themselves an edge on the market.

For a moment, she wondered if it might not be better to just walk away from everything and start over fresh with no ties to Dan. But it would mean no money, bankruptcy. Say goodbye to their home where her children were born, raised, and where Lily died. As she breathed in the ache, the reality of the situation sunk in. She wondered for a moment about the choices Richard had made for all of them, and if she too would be able to sacrifice what they had left.

Chapter Thirty-four

“Nice digs. Don’t you find it a little unnerving parked this close to the sheriff?” Richard lounged in one of the worn second-hand office chairs in front of Sam’s desk in his dingy, tiny office with outdated brown paneling and one small window.

Sam wore a five o’clock shadow, obviously having had no time to shave this morning.

“It has its perks.” Sam watched Richard meticulously with a hardness that failed to loosen even a little.

Richard couldn’t remember the last time someone made him squirm. “You’re not going to give me a break, are you?”

Sam twirled a pen between his thumb and index finger. “You called me, remember?”

“I need to know something Sam, before I tell you anything. Will you use it against me?” Sam appeared to soften as he dumped his pen on the desk and leaned forward, resting his forearms on the pile of papers scattered across his desk. His eyes lightened with sympathy.

“Richard, I told you last night I’m trying to help you. I’m pretty sure you didn’t kill anyone and need my help to relocate a body. Or do you?”

“No, I didn’t kill anyone.”

Sam opened his hands—an invitation to start talking. “Well, then; fill me in.”

“You need to know first, what I did… I did to protect my family. When you’re in partnership with Dan, it’s like making a pact with the devil. Try breaking that tie; it’s damn near impossible. He’s got me over a barrel, Sam. He’s slick, and I was so wound up in my grief, and Maggie…” He stopped and looked away.

“I know what you went through and why your head was out of the game. There’s no judgment from me. Talk, so we have a place to start.”

He nodded. “Okay. Three months ago. The line of credit was pulled by the bank. I exceeded the limit too many times, and I was late with the payments. Dan stopped paying the subcontractors and suppliers. He stuck me with all the bills, which over the last year, amounted to $350,000. I tried to not pay for a bit, and then to pay my half. Except no one could find Dan to make him pay his half. And since I’m the partner who’s here, legal action was threatened solely against me. They only needed to make one of us pay. Whatever I’m out, I need to take legal action against Dan. But you need to serve him, and he’s such a cagey bastard, he won’t give out his address. He has no land line, only a prepaid cell phone, no internet, and no permanent residence, so find him first. He’s almost invisible. He knows how to live off the grid. He knew I’d be stuck. So I made the payments myself. I took out a second mortgage on my property. I’ve no equity left anywhere. The five houses that sold last year, I only got half the money. The lawyer handling the proceeds from the beginning set up two accounts to divide half of each sale. One half is placed in my account, the other in Dan’s. And because we shared our land lawyer, he couldn’t represent me and take action against Dan to get my money back. I had to get another lawyer, which went nowhere because we were unable to find Dan and serve him. Until three months ago, and then he shows up crying the blues. The lawyer I hired did a quick check on his bank accounts. He has no cash floating around, and his equity in his rental property is minimal. My lawyer’s advice was to negotiate and work out a deal. That was after I couldn’t come up with another $50,000 for his retainer.”

“When Dan finally showed up a while ago, he met me for a beer. And after a couple, he offered me his new truck. He said he couldn’t make the payments on the truck but an insurance settlement would net him about $30,000, which he’d sign over to me as a partial payment. But first he had to make the truck disappear. So
yeah
, I helped him. We took the truck up to Buckhorn Lake and drove it in. Dan left for Seattle, spent the night in a downtown hotel, and then reported his truck stolen to Seattle PD. He filed an insurance claim, and with replacement cost on his fairly new truck, he was a expecting an insurance settlement after the lien was paid off of $32,500. But turns out the insurance company has a vehicle theft clause, so they have up to ninety days to hold the claim, and await recovery of the vehicle.”

Sam scrubbed the flat of his hands up and over his face, and Richard knew he was struggling to hold his tongue.

“You um, sure you want me to continue?”

Sam said nothing, but gestured with his hand in a sharp circular motion. His face was flushed, and his eyes took on the haunted look of a man trying to absorb the content of an unbelievable tale.

“Several days ago, search and rescue flew over the lake looking for some lost teens. What they discovered from above was a truck submerged in the lake. Divers were called in to check for a body. They pulled the serial number to find out who it belonged to and discovered it was Dan’s missing truck. After they called Dan’s cell phone, which was on the police report, the sheriff requested his presence and questioned him on the validity of his report. You see, someone from Seattle PD decided to do his homework then. A detective went to the hotel Dan listed on the police report where the truck was supposedly stolen. According to their folio, there was no truck. He has to provide a plate number of his vehicle for security, and there wasn’t one. He tried to tell the sheriff he forgot to put it down. But when the Front Desk manager was questioned at the hotel, she said that would be impossible because security matches up all the plates nightly with the registered guests as he does a walk-through of the lot. Any vehicles parked in the lot not listed are made note of and towed before morning. Dan phoned me several days ago in a panic. He told me divers were going back in, and the truck was scheduled to be pulled out the next morning. I told him I was done. He said I’d never get my money otherwise, and he’d make sure I lost everything if I didn’t help him get rid of the truck. So I did. Dan borrowed a big boat. When we got to where the truck was, he dove down and attached a line to the frame of the truck, and we dragged the truck into the middle of the lake and dropped the line. The depth of the lake is a mile deep in the center and filled with caves and caverns. So when the two deputies showed up at my house, it was before they realized the truck was no longer visible in the lake. But one of the deputies told me something quite interesting. Dan changed his story and pointed the finger at me. Said he owed me money, and I forced him to sign the truck over, and it was me who told Dan the truck was gone, and I made him file a report to get the insurance money. That’s what he does, and he’s good at it, confess to something smaller, and the cops believe you.”

Sam leaned back in his squeaky chair that swiveled, and he locked his hands behind his head as he appeared to contemplate the whole story.

“Diane already knows about the truck. She told me not to say anything else to the cops since the truck’s now gone. They may decide to drop it.”

Sam shook his head. “Diane’s right. But fuck, Richard. You shoulda called me.”

Richard was tempted to get up and walk out. “Is this all I’m going to hear today? Recriminations, and how badly I fucked up? I don’t want to hear what I already know. I didn’t come here to be hassled.” He hefted himself from the chair and could feel his temper going from zero to sixty.

“Stop right there with that sanctimonious bullshit. I should be able to speak honestly to you. You fucked up big time. Now would you come back here and sit down? Please.” Sam jerked his hand toward the empty chair. Richard leaned against the doorframe in the open doorway, uneasy with the way he kept flying off the handle.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to jump down your throat. This thing… it’s getting too hot, Sam. Maggie and I… you already know… I’ve just got her back. And Ryley, his whole world’s been rocked. I don’t know how much more I can take. It would make my life so much easier if… if Dan was dead.”

“Whoa, stop right there. You’re talking about killing the man. And that threat alone can get you locked up.”