Deadly Secrets (22 page)

“Thanks. You’re a gem. We’ll talk to you later.”

Kelly replaced the receiver. “Well, that was simple.” Darlene was good about keeping her mouth shut, so he needn’t worry on that account.

The next thing was to get hold of Jim and that was something he needed to do anyhow. He felt a bit guilty when he realized it had been six months since they’d talked. Of course, Jim understood the reason. Kelly had been at Jim’s house the night of the fire that killed Lynda and ever since, he’d had a hard time dealing with his own guilt whenever he spent anytime around Jim. None of that was Jim’s fault and Kelly needed to put things right between them. Jim liked to fish and he’d probably jump at the chance to spend a weekend here at Indian Creek.

“Hey buddy, how you doin?” Kelly said when Jim’s cheerful voice came over the line.

“Kelly! I’m great. Good to hear from you. What’s going on with you? You still buried out there in the boonies?”

Kelly laughed. “Yep, still a creek rat. I figured you’d still be up, knowing how you like to burn the midnight oil.”

“It’s the only time the place is quiet enough to sort out my own thoughts. So what’s on your mind?”

“Actually, I called for two reasons,” Kelly said. “One—and this is the most important—it’s been too damn long since we’ve gotten together. How about picking a weekend and coming down here to Indian Creek? We’ve got some great fishing around these parts and it’ll give us a chance to catch up on things.”

“Now that sounds like a winner. It’ll have to be a couple weeks from now though. I’m teaching a class at the academy the next couple of weekends. I’ll be free the end of the month. Would that suit?”

“Terrific. Now, the second reason I called concerns your brother out in California. He’s still practicing law out there, isn’t he?”

“Ernie. Sure, he’s still with the same firm. What do you need a California lawyer for? I didn’t think you ever left the United States of Texas.”

Kelly laughed. It was an old joke. Kelly wasn’t much of a traveler and he’d always claimed that everything he wanted to see he could find in Texas. “I don’t need him personally,” Kelly said. “What I need is some probate information. I want him to check up on an estate that’s just been distributed. Do you think he can get that information for me?”

“Sure. I don’t see any problem. Let me grab a pen and paper here. Okay, now shoot.”

“The deceased’s name was Eleanor Perkins, she lived in San Clemente, California. I don’t know the exact date of death but it was sometime last year. The estate has probably been probated within the past two months. What I need to know is what, if anything, Eleanor’s brother Frank received out of the estate.”

“Okay, I’ll pass this on to Ernie. It sounds intriguing. Maybe you can fill me in when I get up there.”

“It’ll be intriguing all right, if Ernie finds out what I think he will and it just might help solve a murder.”

“Are you back on the force?” Jim’s voice registered surprise.

“No, not yet. I still haven’t made a decision about that. This is something I got involved in because of a friend. You remember Gus, don’t you?”

“Sure. How’s that old sinner doing anyhow?”

“Oh, he’s fine, same as usual. He left the city about three years back. He’s a homicide detective with the county now and one of his cases involves a murder at the flea market where I handle security. I’ve been nosing around a bit, with Gus’ blessing and this Perkins business just might answer a few questions.”

“I’ll get Ernie on it right away. I’ll give him your number so he can call you direct with the information.”

“Thanks, Jim. I’ll see you the end of the month.”

“For sure. You take care now.”

Kelly hung up the phone and glanced at his watch. Bubba didn’t usually leave the bait house until midnight, so he should still be up. “Hey, Jake!” he hollered. “Let’s go have a talk with Bubba.”

Jake, wide-awake at the promise of a run, raced to the door.

As usual, Bubba sat kicked back in an old wooden chair with his feet propped against the potbellied heater. Kelly stepped in the door and Bubba greeted him with a wide grin.

“Hey, good to see you, Kelly. I was beginning to think I’d have to spend the whole night by my lonesome. Aint been a soul around since dinner.”

“I figured you might be up to some company.” Kelly grabbed a cup off the rack and stepped to the stove. “Is the coffee hot?”

“Yep!” Bubba grinned. “Hot and black like it oughta be.”

“I saw Cam earlier tonight,” Kelly said after he’d straddled a chair. “He wasn’t any too pleased with the county’s hospitality and he sure was glad to get back home.”

“Yeah. I talked to him myself. I hope like hell things work out for him.”

“I hope so too. That reminds me. Cam says Anna had about twenty thousand dollars in that metal box of hers and he doesn’t have a clue what happened to that money.”

Bubba’s face lit up. “Cam told you. Damn! I’m sure glad to hear that, Kelly. I’ve been fretting over that money for days. You see, I knew Anna had put it there but I hated to bring it up what with Cam being in all this trouble. I didn’t want to believe he’d stolen it but what the hell else was I supposed to think?

“Anna said she was putting the money in the box until Monday when that real estate fella was supposed to come and get it. Then when she got killed and all that shit came out about Cam taking the note, I didn’t know what to think. Nobody said anything about the money and I was afraid to mention it ’cause of Cam.”

“You could’ve told me.” Kelly couldn’t keep the edge from his voice.

“I thought about that. I give you my word I did but how would that have looked? Cam was counting on you and I figured if you knew about that twenty grand, you might think Cam took it, then maybe you’d drop the investigation.”

“It might have worried me a little but I wouldn’t have dumped Cam because of it,” Kelly said. “Didn’t it occur to you that the money might have something to do with the murder?”

“Of course it did. That’s why I kept my mouth shut. I knew Cam must’ve taken that note, so it kind of figured he took the money at the same time. I could understand all that.

“He’s been having a tough time keeping the bar afloat and we all know what the Hideaway means to Cam. What I wasn’t buying, though, was the idea Cam murdered Anna. I know Cam and whatever else he is, he’s not a murderer.”

“So what do you think happened to the money?” Kelly asked.

“It beats the hell out of me but now I know Cam didn’t take it, I sure would like to know who did. The thing is, Anna did say that money was mine. She only put it in the box for safe keeping until Monday when I was going to pick it up. So, if we do find out who took the money, do you think there’s any chance I might still get it?”

“I don’t know, Bubba. I’ll have to ask Krystal. She’s the beneficiary, so technically, I suppose the money’s hers but she’s a decent person and if she believes Anna intended the money for you, I think she’d honor her mother’s wishes. Of course, first of all we’ve got to find out who does have that money.”

“I know. Like I said, I thought Cam stole it but now I know he didn’t, it’s a whole different can of worms.”

“I do have one idea I’m working on,” Kelly said. “But I don’t know yet if it’s going to lead anywhere.”

“What’s that?”

“Just something that’s been bugging me. It’s about that money Frank inherited from his sister. Just out of curiosity, did you ever hear him mention an inheritance from his sister before he suddenly came into the money?”

“Well I’ll be damned!” Bubba quickly jumped to the same conclusion Kelly had. “That son of a bitch. I never thought about it before but he never said a word about expecting any money until he bought that fancy boat. I’ll kill him myself if he ripped off Anna’s money.”

“Whoa. Calm down.” Kelly put out his hand. “We don’t know that Frank had anything to do with the missing money. It’s just speculation and I think we’ve had enough killing around this place.”

Bubba grinned. “Shucks, I was only letting off steam. I think you might have something, though. What are you planning to do about it?”

“I’ve already asked a friend on the force to make some inquiries. Like I said, I’m not really sure of anything. It’s just suspicion. Now, whatever you do, you keep this to yourself. I don’t want you going off half-cocked and jumping Frank before we even know if there’s anything wrong with his story.”

“Okay!” Bubba said. “But it’s going to be damn hard to do.”

After he told Bubba goodnight, Kelly called Jake back from the creek where he’d been nosing around with the ducks and the two of them headed back to the cabin.

Inside, Kelly got a beer and went back to the recliner. Bubba hadn’t told him anything new but talking out his suspicious had at least helped him formalize his thoughts. Now, if the beer just helped to make him sleepy, maybe he’d manage to get some shuteye before daylight rolled around.

Chapter Fourteen

The beast, like the mouth of a roaring furnace, opened its jaws and out of the smoke came Lynda. Her long, blond hair tumbled over her shoulders and fell in golden waves to her breasts.

“Lynda!” Kelly called her name and she floated over the flames and into his arms.

“Oh, my God!” He held her tight. “I thought I’d lost you again.”

“You can’t lose me,” she whispered. “Look!” She pointed toward the fire. Kelly turned and gasped. In the mouth of the beast stood Krystal.

“Kelly!” she called. “Help me, please.”

“No!” The scream tore from Kelly’s throat as he fought to free his paralyzed limbs. Then a coarse, wet tongue licked his face and released him from the grip of the dream.

“Damn, that was a bad one,” he groaned.

Jake jumped down from Kelly’s chair and stood watching while Kelly cleared his head and got to his feet.

“Thanks!” Kelly said, bending to stroke the dog.

It had been three years since he’d had one of those dreams and it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that his relationship with Krystal had been the catalyst.

“I think I’ll give her a call,” he said before he looked at his watch. It was half-past twelve. “Better not,” he muttered.

But what should he do now? Sleep was out of the question. He wouldn’t risk having that dream again. And he couldn’t shake the feeling he needed to touch base with Krystal.

“I can’t help it, Jake,” he said. “I feel like an idiot but I’m going to drive on over to the apartment and see if those girls are all right.”

With that decided, he grabbed his jacket and headed outside to get Old Blue. Krystal and Penny would probably be sound asleep but what the hell, the drive would do him good. He needed a chance to calm down and most of all he needed to make sure Krystal was okay.

It was one of those clear, cold nights when the highway rolled like a long, black ribbon under a diamond-studded sky. Kelly cranked his window down and let the cold air blow the gremlins out of his head. He didn’t want to do any thinking right now. Things were too complicated. He just wanted to feel the cold, hard plastic under his hands and listen to the wind howl through his window.

Even at midnight, traffic zoomed along Jacksboro highway. Most of the bars were still open and the glare of neon lights comforted him. By the time he hit Camp Bowie Boulevard, he’d calmed to the point where he had half a mind to turn around and head back home. But there was still that other half—the part of him that wasn’t quite sure about dreams and still recalled the stories he’d heard of otherworldly warnings and strange coincidences. It might be a bunch of crap but Kelly knew he’d never rest until he checked on those girls.