Mallory Kane - High School Reunion

Laurel turned to him as they approached his pickup. “Tell me about Ralph Langston. How is he funding the whole reunion?”

“He moved back here about a year ago,” Cade said. “He bought all that land down by the creek, and broke ground for a state-of-the-art convention complex.”

“So Ralph made it big?”

“Yes, he owns the fifth largest web-hosting company on the Internet. And he developed Webelot, the Web page building software.”

“Wow.”

“He’s hosting the reunion at the Visitor Center, and he’s footing the bill.”

“Visitor Center?”

“Right. On the rise above the creek bank, where the old high school burned.”

She looked at him, her expression thoughtful. “I want to go down there.”

“What for? You’ll see it tomorrow night. That’s where the party’s going to be.”

“Not the Visitor Center. The creek bank. Where Wendell died.”

He opened the passenger door of his pickup, but as she started to get in, he stopped her with a touch on her elbow. “This is not your case. It’s mine. You’re on vacation. Remember?”

Laurel stiffened and lifted her chin until her nose was only a few inches from his. “I found Misty. I know what her attacker was looking for. I just gave you a roomful of suspects. Of course it’s my case, too.”

“You’re a witness. Nothing more.”

“You could request the help of the FBI.”

“I don’t think so. All we have here is a home invasion and assault. Nothing the FBI deals with.”

She closed the distance between them by an inch. “What we have here is an unsolved mystery. I work in the Unsolved Mysteries Division of the FBI.”

“There is absolutely no evidence that Wendell Vance’s death was anything more than a suicide.”

“Yes, there is—somewhere. Whoever attacked Misty was after her pictures. That’s obvious. They were trying to destroy evidence. But I intend to find it first.” Her chin went a bit higher, and he could feel her warm breath on his lips.

His whole body went on red alert. Danger!

Gardenias. Warm, sweet breath. A cute little nose and now that he was close enough to see them—freckles.

His thighs tightened. Heat spread through his groin and radiated outward. In a few seconds he was going to have a huge hard-on. What the hell kind of Police Chief got hot and bothered by a witness?

A sarcastic voice in his head answered him. A horny one.

“Nope. I’m involved,” Laurel continued. “You said it yourself, Dupree. I inserted myself into this case.”

“Yeah,” he heard the strain in his voice. “You sure did.” He took a step backward, out of harm’s way—for the moment. He knew she was right. He was going to have to work with her. But this crazy physical attraction had to stop.

It must be because he hadn’t had sex in such a long time. Man, he didn’t even want to think about how long it had been.

His body chose that instant to remind him just how deprived it was feeling. He took another step backward and pretended he couldn’t still smell gardenias or see her freckles.

When she sat, her skirt rode up to her thighs. Despite his irrational anger, his mouth went dry and his libido spiraled out of control. He slammed the door with a vengeance it didn’t deserve and stalked around to the driver’s side.

When he got in, Laurel grabbed his arm. “Cade, I just remembered something.”

He wished she’d quit touching him, and while she was at it, quit wafting that gardenia perfume his way. Everything about her was playing havoc with his good sense. He looked down at her hand then up at her. “Yeah?”

“Ralph Langston got the ten-thousand-dollar scholarship after Wendell died.”

Later that evening, when Cade came out of the shower, his phone was ringing. A glance at the caller ID told him it was his dad. He picked up the handset.

“Dad, I was going to call you in the morning. What are you doing up at this hour?”

“I wanted to check on you. Gotta keep up with the only son I’ve got left.”

Cade rubbed his chest. The pain was old and familiar, but still sharp. Only son I have left. That’s how his dad always referred to him. As if he was nothing but James’s leftovers.

His brother, James Dupree Senior’s first-born, had died five years before. The same week his dad had suffered a stroke that had left him with a mild speech impediment. Every time Cade talked to him, he was reminded of both.

“We had a breaking-and-entering at Misty Waller’s house.”

“I heard. Misty okay?”

“She’s got a knot on her head, but she’s fine.” Cade paused, glancing at the clock. “Dad, feel like talking for a minute?”

“It’s why I called.”

“What do you remember about Wendell Vance’s death?” Cade paced as he talked.

“Vance? Oh. Kid that hanged himself on his graduation night?”

“Right.” His dad might have trouble speaking, but there was nothing wrong with his brain.

“Ever’thin’s in the file, I reckon.”

“Did you ever think it was murder?”

“Murder? Maybe for a minute. Remember what I tol’ you? Always consider every possibility. But the boy was taking pills for depression. It’s all in the file.”

“What did you think about Ralph Langston?”

“Who?”

“He was in the same class. Apparently he got a ten-thousand-dollar scholarship that would have gone to Wendell.”

“Don’ remember that. I musta talked to him. Everybody was all shook up. I gotta say though, the boy did a good job of killin’ himself—”

“Good job? What do you mean?” Cade pushed his fingers through his damp hair, raining cool drops of water onto his shoulders and back.

“He tied that rope that hangs from the Swinging Oak ’round his neck. Broke his hyoid bone and crushed his larynx. Quickes’ way. Beats choking slow.”

“Hyoid bone.” Cade thought back to his forensics training from Quantico. “That doesn’t usually happen in a hanging, does it?”

“Nah. Only thing I could figure was maybe that disk an’ chain got caught in the rope.”

“Disk? Oh—the Science Medal. He was still wearing it when he hanged himself?” The metal disk could have gotten caught between the rope and Wendell’s throat, crushing the bone.

“That was strange, too,” his dad continued. “Never did find that medal. Just a coupla links of chain. If I didn’ know better, I’d say somebody took it.”

Cade stopped pacing. “Could it have fallen into the creek?”

“I wondered about that. But the pieces of chain I found were about six feet or so to the left of the body.”

Cade wiped his face with the towel. “Left. Not in front, not behind.”

“That’s right. Odd.”

“What did you do with it?”

“It’s in the evidence room with the case file. We looked for that medal for days. Your brother helped. That was the week he told me he was droppin’ out of college and joinin’ the service.” Emotion choked his dad’s voice.

Cade’s chest squeezed tighter. He rubbed it again, his palm spreading the few drops of water that clung. He hadn’t remembered James helping Dad with the investigation of Wendell Vance’s death. Was there anything his brother hadn’t done before him?

Cade sighed. “It’s been a long day, Dad. I’d better let you get to bed. I’ll see you in a day or two, okay?”

“Sure. Cade?”

“Yeah?”

“You thinkin’ the Vance boy was murdered? Why now?”

“This weekend’s the ten year reunion of his high school class. People are talking.”

“This have anythin’ to do with Misty’s attack?”

“Maybe. I’m checking into it.”

“Take care, son.”

“I will. Good night, Dad.”