Mayes, Casey - A Deadly Row

“How nice that must be,” I said as I stifled a yawn.

“You must be exhausted after the day you’ve had.”

During our meal, I’d regaled him with tales of my day in Hickory with Uncle Thomas, and he’d hung on every word. “I am beat,” I said. “Sorry I’m not better company.”

“Savannah, you’ve been delightful. Let me walk you back downstairs.”

We moved to the stairwell, and returned to Barton’s floor. He explained, “I’d let you back in through the stairwell on your floor, but the doors lock automatically. I’ll have that taken care of tomorrow, so you can come and go as you please.”

“Thanks, I appreciate that.”

Barton summoned the elevator. “I’m afraid this is an express elevator, so you’ll have to ride downstairs to the lobby before you can go to your suite.”

“I don’t mind,” I said.

He hesitated at the door, and then said, “Thank you for making something so painful bearable for me.”

“I just hope I helped.”

“More than I can tell you.”

“Good night, then,” I said as I walked into the elevator.

“Good night.”

As I rode downstairs, I wondered how a man as wealthy as Barton Lane could be so lonely. It must be hard to have everything in the world at your disposal, and not have anyone to share any of it with. Had Cindy been that person for him? It would explain why he was taking her death so hard, and why he was so insistent that my husband find her killer. I wondered if Zach had made any progress, and as I rode down the elevator, I thought about calling him. If nothing else, he would be fascinated to hear that a multi-millionaire had made me dinner. There wouldn’t be the slightest twinge of jealousy there, something I was thankful for. My husband was secure in the knowledge that I loved him with all my heart, and that there wasn’t a man on the planet I’d prefer over him, regardless of how much money he had. I put my phone away instead of calling him, though. I knew when he was digging into the case, a distraction could cost him a train of thought, and it was more important now than ever that Zach focus on catching Cindy Glass’s killer.

BACK IN MY SUITE, IT WAS HARD TO BELIEVE THE EXPERIences I’d had that day. I wanted, more than anything else, to share them all with Zach.

A flashing light on the telephone caught my eye, and I picked up and replayed my messages.

The first was from Uncle Thomas, wanting to make sure that I’d arrived back to Charlotte safely. It was amazing. I was a grown woman, and yet my uncle still worried about me. In a way, it felt good knowing that there was someone out there thinking of me beyond my husband. I didn’t have a fraction of the money Barton Lane had, but I had something he coveted nonetheless. There were people in my life who loved me, and that was something I couldn’t put a price tag on. I hit the pause button on the telephone, and then called Uncle Thomas.

He picked up on the first ring. Instead of a normal greeting, he asked, “Savannah?”

“It’s me,” I said. “I’m sorry. I should have called you when I got back. I just got wrapped up in a few things here.”

“Nonsense, I know you’re too old to check in. I just had a bad feeling about you, so I wanted to talk to you.”

“Don’t tell me you’re having premonitions,” I said.

“No, it’s nothing like that, but I dumped that box on you, and then I felt guilty about it. I’m not sure what your mother was thinking. I’m not a big fan of messages from beyond the grave.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing like that.”

“You haven’t opened it yet?”

“No,” I said as I looked at it, still sitting in its place on the coffee table. “I was planning to wait for Zach, and he’s going to be tied up most of the night.”

“We should have opened it together. Knowing Astrid, it’s hard to tell what she put in there.”

“Are there any family skeletons she could be telling me about?” I was honestly intrigued by the idea, but that didn’t mean I wanted to find out anything bad about my kinfolk. The South was long known for burying its secrets instead of exposing them to the light of day, but sooner or later, they almost always came out.

“Not that I know of. The oddest thing that ever happened to us was Jeffrey taking off like he did.”

“You never heard from him, did you?”

“No, but to be honest with you, I never expected to. We fought all of the time growing up, and your mom usually took his side. Looking back now, I can’t remember anything significant we ever argued about. Our personalities just didn’t mesh. I never really missed him, but I’m sure your mother did. I wonder.”

“What?”

He paused, and then said, “I can’t help speculating if Astrid knew where he was all along. No, that’s nonsense. She would have told someone. I’m sure that box is nothing more than old photographs and keepsakes she wanted you to have. I don’t have to tell you how sentimental your mother was.”

I had boxes in storage at home with third grade book reports and macaroni artwork, so I didn’t need a reminder. “No, I’ve got all the proof of that I ever needed.”

“She had a real fascination with things, didn’t she?”

“I think it was more about the memories they evoked,” I said, surprising myself with the answer. The way Barton Lane had held that paperback had struck a chord with me, and I could remember my mom doing the same thing with the Christmas ornaments my grandmother had made for her.

“You’re right. I never really put that together. You’ve grown into quite a woman, you know that, don’t you?”

“Sometimes I wonder,” I said.

“Well, you can stop. I’m proud of you, Savannah. I never told you that enough growing up, but I mean to do it now.”

“I’m proud of you, too,” I said.

That elicited a laugh. “And why is that?”

“You’ve endured more than your share of hardships over the years, and yet you haven’t let any of it beat you down.”

“Losing my Celia almost killed me,” he admitted.

“But you pulled yourself through.”

“With the help of family and friends and the Good Lord above.” He paused, and then said, “I’ll let you go, but thanks for calling me. I love you, Savannah.”

“I love you, too, Uncle Thomas.”

After we hung up, I nearly forgot about my other message. I hit the play button again, and was happy to hear Zach’s voice.

“I don’t care what time it is when you get this, or what you think I might be doing. Call me. I miss you, if you can believe that. I know it’s just been a handful of hours since we saw each other, but what can I say? I’m kind of used to having you around.”

I hit the save button on the phone so I could replay that sweet message whenever I wanted to. I’d been reticent to call him before, but with his blessing, I couldn’t dial my husband’s telephone number fast enough.

“Can you talk?” I asked after he grunted his name.

“Savannah. Hey, how are you?”

“I’m well. Are you at a stopping place?”

“Sure,” he said with a sigh. “That’s as nice a way as any to say I’ve hit a dead end.”

“I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“Trust me, it’s not you. I keep pounding my head against the wall, but all I’m getting is banged up and bruised.”

“Then maybe you should stop doing that,” I said with a laugh.

“Could be. How did the meeting with Barton Lane go?”

“We had dinner together after I gave him what I’d found in Cindy’s apartment, except for the skiing photograph, of course. You’re not jealous, are you?”

“That depends.”

“On what?”

“What did you have? I’m starving.”