Arlene James - The Detective's Dilemma

Megan smiled and laid her forehead against Beth’s. “Have I told you lately how much I love you?”

“Uh-huh, but it’s always nice to hear.”

Suddenly Megan grew serious, cupping Beth’s face in both her hands. “I worry about you, darling.”

“I’m fine, Mom.” It was true. She hadn’t murdered Brianne, and she wasn’t going to let anyone frame her for a murder she hadn’t committed. It helped that she had the Maitland influence and money behind her—and Jake’s connections, too—but her real strength was the truth. She kissed her mother’s smooth cheek. “You’re the one with too much on her plate right now.”

Megan sighed, but then her chin went up again. “It’ll all work out,” she vowed, and Beth, at that moment, did not doubt that her mother was right.

JANELLE ANSWERED the door in her bathrobe. “Megan, Beth, how sweet of you to drop by.”

To Beth’s ears, her words sounded just the opposite. “We haven’t interrupted anything, have we?”

Janelle gave her a brittle smile. “Of course not.”

“We just wanted to check on you, dear,” Megan said, striding past Janelle into the tiny foyer of the guest house. The sapphire blue wool of her cape swirled and fluttered as Megan removed it. Beth caught the flash of irritation on Janelle’s lovely face and smiled. Apparently Janelle was feeling somewhat proprietorial about her lodging, but it would never occur to Megan to wait for an invitation into her own guest house, and Janelle ought to realize that by now. A smile smoothed the flash of irritation as Janelle followed Megan, leaving Beth to close the door.

“Well, I’m glad you did,” Janelle was saying. “I was feeling a little lonely, actually.”

Megan and Janelle were settling onto the comfy couch in the small living area when Beth wandered into the room. She couldn’t say why she disliked Janelle. Oh, she’d tried to like her, for Megan’s sake if nothing else, but something about Janelle rubbed Beth the wrong way. The small house felt overheated after the coolness of the clear February night, and Beth pushed her waist-length orange jacket off her shoulders, draping it over the chair that stood to the side of the small entry.

“When you’re lonely you can always visit your son,” she said, to see Janelle’s reaction. “You knew Chase would be at the house with me today. I expected to see you there.”

Janelle seemed shocked, but then she blinked her big eyes until they teared. “I know. It’s just that it’s so hard to see him when I know I can’t take him home with me.”

“Seems to me you could fix that easily enough,” Beth pointed out.

“For your information, I’ve sent for the necessary paperwork,” Janelle informed her coldly. She was all warmth and smiles when she turned to Megan, though. “That’s what Child Welfare wants, isn’t it? A birth certificate?”

“I think that would work nicely,” Megan said. “I’ll speak to them to be sure.”

Knowing that her mother relished having the baby in the house, Beth refrained from pointing out that the DNA testing would be quicker, and Megan deftly changed the subject.

“I stopped by earlier to check on you, but you were out.”

Janelle waved a hand. “Oh, that. Connor took me to lunch, then I had some shopping to do. I brought so few things with me, you know.”

“I knew it was something like that,” Megan said. “Did you have a good day, get everything you need?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Forgive me for interrupting,” Beth said unrepentantly, “but where exactly did you have to send for that birth certificate?”

“What looked like panic flickered across Janelle’s face, but then she smiled, one hand fluffing her hair nonchalantly. “Why do you ask?”

“Just wondering.”

“New Mexico,” Janelle said.

“New Mexico!” Megan exclaimed.

“I wound up in Taos after Connor and I parted,” Janelle explained haltingly, “just wandering around, looking for someplace to settle.”

Megan made some reply, but Beth wasn’t listening, her attention claimed by a noise from the back of the house. She could have sworn that someone was moving around in the bedroom.

“Is someone else here?” she asked sharply, barely aware that she had interrupted Janelle’s complaints.

“What?” Janelle asked loudly. Megan lifted a slightly censorial eyebrow at Beth, and she immediately apologized.

“Sorry. I thought I heard something.”

“You don’t think we have a prowler, do you?” Janelle said loudly, a hand pressed to her chest.

It was all Beth could do not to roll her eyes. What she thought was that Connor was hiding in the bedroom, and she couldn’t imagine why he would feel the need. “No, of course not,” she said.

Janelle heaved a dramatic sigh. “Oh, thank goodness. It’s so quiet here at the back of the property.”

“We’re very safe,” Megan assured her. “The whole compound is walled, and we have an excellent security system. I hired the guards and had everything tested and upgraded after we brought Chase home and the press interest mushroomed.”

“How good you are,” Janelle said, almost purring. “I sensed that about you, you know, before I brought my little babe here.”

She made it sound as if she’d left the baby in Megan’s arms instead of dumping him on the clinic doorstep, Beth thought irritably. She couldn’t help wondering why her mother was buying this act so completely, and she disliked watching Janelle’s patently false gushing.

“Do you mind if I get a drink of water?” she muttered, already moving into the foyer.

“Of course not. You just help yourself,” Janelle answered with exaggerated politeness.

Beth strode through the foyer and the dining nook, with its ice cream parlor table and matching pair of blue-striped chairs, past the short counter and into the kitchen with its bright white cabinets and cobalt blue countertops. She opened a cabinet door and took down a drinking glass, then filled it with water from the tap. Leaning a hip against the counter, she sipped the cool, sweet water and tried to figure out why Janelle irritated her so much.

Something occurred to her, and she drained the last of the water in one long gulp, then placed the empty glass in the sink. She strolled back the way she’d come and was about to step into the foyer when the sound of her mother’s voice reached her, and she automatically paused. Only belatedly did she realize why. Secrets. The tone of her mother’s voice was the one she used when discussing secrets. What secrets could her mother have to discuss with Janelle, of all people?

“No doubts,” her mother was saying. “But no one else understands about Connor. How could they?”

What was this about Connor? She cocked her head, ready to catch every word, then it occurred to her that she was eavesdropping. Purposefully, she moved into the room. “I was just thinking,” she said to Janelle, “I’m sure Child Welfare would send for the birth certificate for you. They could probably get it electronically.”

Janelle stared at her with her mouth open. Megan immediately seized on the notion. “You know, that’s right.”

“Uh, yes,” Janelle said, blinking rapidly. “Yes. Except, um, I—I’m not sure the birth has been recorded yet.” She flapped a hand ineffectually. “I didn’t have the baby in Taos, actually. It’s so expensive there.” She glanced uncertainly at Megan. “I moved to a little town north of there. I—I only saw the doctor a few times, and I never did understand anything he said, his accent was so thick.”

“Was he Mexican, then?” Megan asked.

“I think so.”

“Of course. Well, New Mexico isn’t the end of the world,” Megan said soothingly. “The papers will come, and until they do, Chase will just have to stay where he is.”