Кей Хупер: Whisper of Evil

George Caldwell had plans.

He hadn't planned on dying.

TUESDAY, MARCH

Whoever had dubbed the town Silence must have gotten a laugh out of it, Nell thought as she closed the door of her Jeep and stood on the curb beside the vehicle. For a relatively small town, it was not what anyone would have called peaceful even on an average day; on this mild weekday in late March, at least three school groups appeared to be trying to raise money for something or other with loud and cheerful car washes in two small parking lots and a bake sale going on in the grassy town square. And there were plenty of willing customers for the kids, even with building clouds promising a storm later on.

Nell hunched her shoulders and slid her cold hands into the pockets of her jacket. Her restless gaze warily scanned the area, studying the occasional face even as she listened to snatches of conversation as people walked past her. Calm faces, innocuous talk. Nothing out of the ordinary.

It didn't look or sound like a town in trouble.

Nell glanced through the window of her Jeep at the newspaper folded on the passenger seat; there hadn't been much in yesterday's local daily to indicate trouble. Not much, but definitely hints, especially for anyone who knew how to read between the lines.

Not far from where she stood was a newspaper vendor selling today's edition, and she could easily make out the headline announcing the town council's decision to acquire property on which to build a new middle school. There was, as far as she could see, no mention on the front page of anything of greater importance than that.

Nell walked over to buy herself a paper and returned to stand beside her Jeep as she quickly scanned the three thin sections. She found it where she expected to find it, among the obituaries.

GEORGE THOMAS CALDWELL,

UNEXPECTEDLY, AT HOME.

There was more, of course. A long list of accomplishments for the relatively young man, local and state honors, business accolades. He had been very successful, George Caldwell, and unusually well-liked for a man in his position.

But it was the unexpectedly Nell couldn't get past. Someone's idea of a joke in very poor taste? Or was the sheriff's department refusing to confirm media speculation of only a day or so ago about the violent cause of George Caldwell's death?

Unexpected. Oh, yeah. Murder usually was.

"Jesus. Nell."

She refolded the newspaper methodically and tucked it under her arm as she turned to face him. It was easy to keep her expression unrevealing, her voice steady. She'd had a lot of practice — and this was one meeting she had been ready for.

"Hello, Max."

Standing no more than an arm's length away, Max Tanner looked at her, she decided, rather the way he'd look at something distasteful he discovered on the bottom of his shoe. Hardly surprising, she supposed.

"What the hell are you doing here?" His voice was just uneven enough to make it obvious he couldn't sound as impersonal and indifferent as he wanted to.

"I could say I was just passing through."

"You could. What's the truth?"

Nell shrugged, keeping the gesture casual. "I imagine you can guess. The will's finally through probate, so there's a lot I have to do. Go through things, clear out the house, arrange to sell it. If that's what I end up doing, of course."

"You mean you're not sure?"

"About selling out?" Nell allowed her mouth to curve in a wry smile. "I've had a few doubts."

"Banish them," he said tightly. "You don't belong here, Nell. You never did."

She pretended that didn't hurt. "Well, we agree on that much. Still, people change, especially in — what? — a dozen years? Maybe I could learn to belong."

He laughed shortly. "Yeah? Why would you want to? What could there possibly be in this pissant little town to interest you?"

Nell had learned patience in those dozen years, and caution. So all she said in response to that harsh question was a mild "Maybe nothing. We'll see."

Max drew a breath and shoved his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket, gazing off toward the center of town as if the bake sale going on there fascinated him.

While he was deciding what to say next, Nell studied him. He hadn't changed much, she thought. Older, of course. Physically more powerful now in his mid-thirties; he probably still ran, still practiced the martial arts that had been a lifelong interest. In addition, of course, to the daily physical labors of a cattle rancher. Whatever he was doing, it was certainly keeping him in excellent shape.

His lean face was a bit more lived-in than it had been, but just as with so many really good-looking men, the almost-too-pretty features of youth were maturing with age into genuine and striking male beauty — beauty that was hardly spoiled at all by the thin, grim line of his mouth. The passage of the years had barely marked that face in any negative way. There might have been a few threads of silver in the dark hair at his temples, and she didn't remember the laugh lines at the corners of his heavy-lidded brown eyes...

Bedroom eyes. He'd been known for them all through school, for bedroom eyes and a hot temper, both gifts from a Creole grandmother. Maturity had done nothing to dampen the smoldering heat lurking in those dark eyes; she wondered if it had taught him to control the temper.

It had certainly taught her to control hers.

"You've got a hell of a nerve, I'll say that for you," he said finally, that intense gaze returning to her face.

"Because I came back? You must have known I would. With Hailey gone, there was no one else to… take care of things."

"You didn't come back for the funeral."

"No." She offered no explanation, no defense.

His mouth tightened even more. "Most people around here said you wouldn't."

"What did you say?" She asked because she had to.

"I was a fool. I said you would."

"Sorry to disappoint you."

Max shook his head once, an almost violent negation, and his voice was hard. "You can't disappoint me, Nell. I lost ten bucks on a bet, that's all."

Nell didn't know what she would have said to that, but she was saved from replying when an astonished female voice exclaimed her name.

"Nell Gallagher? My God, is that you?"

Nell half turned and managed a faint smile for the stunning redhead hurrying toward her. "It's me, Shelby."

Shelby Theriot shook her head and repeated, "My God," as she joined them beside Nell's car. For a moment, it seemed she would throw her arms around Nell in an exuberant hug, but in the end she just grinned. "I thought you'd probably show up here eventually, what with the house and everything to take care of, but I guess I figured it'd be later, maybe summer or something, though I don't know why. Hey, Max."

"Hey, Shelby." He stood there with his hands in his pockets, expressionless now, dark eyes flicking back and forth between the two women.

Nell kept her own gaze on Shelby's glowing face. "I thought about waiting until fall or until storm season was mostly past," she said easily, "but it worked out that I had some time now before beginning a new job, so I came on down."

"Down from where?" Shelby demanded. "Last we heard, you were out west somewhere."

"Heard from Hailey?"

"Yeah. She said you were — well, I think the word she used was entangled , with some guy in Los Angeles. Or maybe it was Las Vegas. Anyway, out west somewhere. And that you were taking college courses at night. At least, I think that's what she said."

Rather than commenting on the information, Nell merely said, "I live in D.C. now."

"Did you ever get married? Hailey said you came close once or twice."