Leann Harris - Guarded Secrets

He followed her into Penny’s room. It had been ransacked, too.

“Who did this? And why?” She picked up a stuffed doll and buried her face in the doll’s chest. She’d held it together through the mess at her ex-husband’s apartment and the mess here.

He moved to her side. “Lilly.”

She turned into his arms and the dam broke. She wrapped one arm around his waist and the other clutched the doll between them. His arms closed around her shoulders. The emotions tumbling around his chest he didn’t want to name, but he knew that feelings he’d thought long dead had come back to life.

Slowly, the storm of tears and fears faded. She felt safe being held in this man’s strong arms. When he looked at her, she thought she saw something responding to her in those deep brown eyes.

She wiped away the tear hanging off her chin. She looked and noticed the wet spot on the shirt covering Jon Littledeer’s chest.

“Oh,” she said, jerking backward. “I’m so sorry.”

He released her and looked down into her face. “It’s understandable. You’ve been through a lot.”

“I meant messing up your shirt.”

His gaze moved to his shirt, then back to her face. His lips turned up into the slightest smile. “It’s wash and wear.”

She couldn’t look at him. “That’s good.” Looking at the doll, she added, “He is, too.” Her gaze roamed the room. “I’ll have to clean this up before Penny gets back. It’s too much for her to handle.”

She started to put the doll in the toy box. Amazingly, Jon picked up another doll.

“Detective, you don’t have to do that.”

“Call me Jon.”

“But—”

He glanced down at his shirt. The wet spot seemed to glow in the light. “I don’t allow just anyone to leave wet spots on my shirt.” His smile encouraged her to relax.

She returned his smile. “Okay.”

As they worked to put things right in Penny’s room, Jon said, “What do you think your ex-husband meant when he told you his death wouldn’t be an accident?”

“I don’t know. After our divorce Pete dropped by occasionally. I don’t think anyone knew where he spent most of his time.”

“You think he was into illegal things?”

“I don’t know. He never said what he’d been doing or where he’d been.”

“Do you think he told anyone in his family?”

“His parents are dead, and I don’t know anyone else in his family.” She closed the final drawer of her daughter’s dresser.

“You know nothing of his family?”

“No. When we were in high school, his parents were killed in a car accident. Afterward, he lived with his neighbors until he graduated from high school.” With a sigh, she walked out of Penny’s room. “One down and four more rooms to go.”

“Let’s tackle that living room. I have more questions to ask.”

Straightening up wasn’t that bad. It had been a long day and she couldn’t face that mess by herself. The help was a godsend.

They got to work in the living room, putting the furniture back in place.

“Tell me about you and Peter,” Jon said after a while.

“As I told you, I knew Pete in high school. It was during my sophomore year at the University of New Mexico that I ran into him again. He’d transferred from New Mexico Highlands University to UNM. We started dating and fell in love. We married over the Christmas holidays. Around Easter I discovered I was pregnant. When we came home from the university that summer, he told me he didn’t want to be a father and wanted a divorce. He disappeared, never went back to school. Suddenly, marriage was a prison and he couldn’t breathe. I stayed with my parents and went to the community college.”

She pushed in the last cushion on the couch and sat. “I didn’t understand why he didn’t want our baby. After our divorce I saw him infrequently. Where he’d been or what he’d been doing, I don’t know.” She didn’t want to face those memories. Pushing off the couch, she walked into the kitchen.

Jon followed her. “What do you know about Peter after he got his life in order?”

“He started working for a construction company, building roads and bridges here in the state. I think he helped with some bridges in Colorado and Arizona. Sometimes he’d be gone for months at a time, but he’d faithfully call Penny on Mondays and Wednesdays. He’d come home every other week and spend time with her.”

Jon helped put the scattered cans back into the pantry as she put the kitchen drawers in order. “What was he doing around the time he died?”

“He’d gone back to school. He’d also started going to church again.” She remembered the happiness that had filled her heart when he’d come to know Jesus. She’d wanted to shout for joy. By then she and Peter had come to love each other as brother and sister.

“What are you not telling me?” Jon asked, sitting on a stool under the high counter.

“Are you married, Jon?”

He looked as if she’d slapped him. “Not any—No.”

There was so much in that no. For an instant she saw pain and grief.

“It’s odd, but I thought of Pete as a brother. It took me a while to get over the hurt, but God turned Pete and me around and healed our relationship. Both of us wanted what was best for Penny.”

Leaning forward, he rested his elbows on the counter. “Did he mention problems at work with coworkers and his boss?”

She settled next to Jon on the other stool. “He just recently changed jobs, but I think that had more to do with wanting to go back to school than anything else.” She stared down at the counter. “I think he wanted to stay here for Penny.”

“Do you think his job had anything to do with the murder?”

“I don’t know. He had just started driving an armored car for Sunbelt Securities.”

“And there were no problems there?”

“He didn’t mention anything. The only thing that he said was money was heavy. You could talk to his coworkers. They were at the funeral.”

He nodded. Glancing around the kitchen, he said, “I think you’re good to go.”

They’d managed to clean up the house in less than forty minutes. Her stomach growled. He grinned.

“I haven’t eaten. Cleaning up Peter’s place, I didn’t have time.”

His cell phone rang. “Littledeer here.” He shook his head. “I’m okay, Marta. No, no.” He glanced at Lilly and shook his head again. “Yes, you are right. Okay, I’ll come for cake. You have anything left to eat?” After a moment he added, “Good. Because I haven’t eaten and I’m bringing another hungry person with me.” He listened to the response, then hung up. “You’ve been invited to a birthday dinner. Want to come?”

She started to refuse, but saw something in Jon’s eyes that she recognized as a well-hidden pain. Besides, she didn’t want to stay here by herself. Not yet.

“You driving?

He smiled. “You bet.”

“Then I’m coming.”

“Just be prepared to be grilled unmercifully by two of the best,” he warned her as they got into his car.

“What are you talking about?” She couldn’t keep the hint of panic out of her voice.

“Twin ten-year-old girls.”

He said it with such sincerity that she wanted to laugh.

“I think I can handle that.”

He snorted.

“Did you find anything?” the older man demanded. He sat behind the desk like a king or president.

“Not at the first place. I did a thorough search. It wasn’t there.”

“What about his ex’s place?”

Running his hands over his short hair, the younger man said, “She showed up too soon. I wasn’t able to finish looking for what you want.” He walked across the room and looked out the window to the street ten stories below. The streetlights made it easier to see his car parked in the alley below. “If you want another search, it will cost you.”