Every Little Thing About You (Yellow Rose Trilogy 1) (28 page)

Maybe she mentions her return date. I'll check."

Griffin and Slater exchanged a glance, both men

wishing Griffin hadn't given him such an easy way out and

also wishing that Davis had left the door open.

"Not a word, I'm afraid," the nephew told them the

moment he reopened the portal.

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"Where has she gone?" Slater asked.

"Dallas," he said very smoothly.

"And you have no idea when she plans to return?"

"I'm afraid not." His smile was almost angelic.

"Well, please do us a favor, Mr. Mills, and ask her to

come by the office when she returns," Griffin said. "I'd like

to speak with her."

Every Little Thing About You 203

"I'll do that."

The door was shut again, and the men had no choice

but to move away, but neither one was buying the story.

Plans bounced around in both men's minds, and they

waited only until they were back at the office to discuss

them.

"since mr. saint came to us," Slater began, "I wonder

if he would be open to our using his home for surveillance/'

"I was thinking the same thing. I would guess that he

wouldn't care to be disturbed, but the very fact that he

came to the office might indicate some willingness."

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"How long do we want to wait?"

Griffin's look was grim. "If Mrs. Mills is dead, then

there's no hurry to help her, but if Davis is planning to

escape or do something with the body, then we need to

keep tabs on him."

The door opened suddenly, and both men were surprised

to see Mr. Saint enter.

"Did you speak to Mrs. Mills?" he wasted no time in

asking; he wasn't nearly so composed as earlier. "Did you

see her?"

"I'm afraid not, Mr. Saint. Her nephew says she's out of

town."

The man dropped into a chair.

"She does like to travel, but she always tells me when

she goes. This nephew has visited before, and she did go

away the last time he was here, but not for this long. She

seems very tense when he comes, and his manner is so stiff

and formal. I suppose it's terrible to accuse him of anything,

but something is not right in that house. I just know it."

"When was the last day you saw her?"

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"Thursday. She was in her front yard and waved to me

as I came down the street."

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"This is Tuesday/' Griffin murmured out loud/ taking a

minute to gather his thoughts. "I think I need to know

more, Mr. Saint. Tell me everything you've heard and seen

in the last five days."

Mr. Saint recounted things as best he could. There were

times when he heard short bouts of the digging noise

during the day, but it was especially loud and continuous

at night. He talked to the men for the better part of an hour,

and when he was done, Griffin knew what he wanted to

do. Mr. Saint was very cooperative, and Griffin sent Slater

home before lunch to get some rest. They would start their

work right after sundown.

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#

"All right, Libby I'm going to sew for a while. You

come back in the morning for a fitting."

"Okay. Thank you, Mrs. Tobler." /

The woman didn't even answer. She was already bent

over her machine. Liberty let herself out the back door. She

had walked instead of ridden and was all set to head for

home when she heard the sound. It was coming from Mrs.

Mills' and sounded like digging. Liberty had been wandering

in and out of these homes since she was a child. For

this reason she approached the back porch, opened the

door, and called inside.

"Mrs. Mills? Are you here?"

Liberty heard nothing, which only caused her to move

more fully inside.

"Mrs. Mills, it's Libby. I was just next door at Mrs.

Tobler's and thought I would stop to say hi." Liberty didn't

add that she wanted to know if she was all right. Some of

the older ladies in town took offense to that idea.

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"Mrs. Mills?" she tried again, this time moving through

the kitchen toward the living room. What she saw caused

her to blink. The rug was rolled back and there was a huge

hole in the living room floor. The boards had been brought

Every Little Thing About You 207

up, and even from several feet away, she could see a

mound of dirt so high that it was above the line of the floor.

"What in the world are you up to?" Liberty said softly

as she approached. She stared down at the bags still in the

hole, her eyes huge. They looked like money sacks.

"Mrs.--" she looked up to try again but stopped. A

man calmly stood to one side of the room. He held a derringer.

It was pointed right at her.

"You shouldn'thave come inhere," he said congenially. "I wish you hadn't."

"Well, I can leave again," Liberty said, trying to be

calm.

"I'm afraid that won't do at all. I've seen you around.

You know too many people in town."

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Liberty swallowed. "I just wanted to check on Mrs.

Mills."

"Why is everyone so interested in Mrs. Mills today?"

The man sounded testy. With that he motioned with the

gun, and Liberty backed herself into the kitchen. She

thought she might be able to bolt for the door but took too

long to decide. The man came forward, shut it, and ordered

her to sit at the table.

"Where is Mrs. Mills?" Liberty asked quietly, her eyes

straying back to the hole in the floor. To her surprise the

man smiled.

"You think I've murdered my aunt? How barbaric."

"Where is she?"

"Out of town. Just like I told the sheriff. I don't know

why people can't leave well enough alone."

Liberty waited for him to take his eyes from her so she

could make some kind of move, but he never did.

"I guess it will have to be the closet. The one by the

front door locks."

"When will Mrs. Mills be back?" Liberty asked in an

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attempt to stay calm.

"I'm not entirely sure," he replied absently as he tried

to think.

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"Are you really her nephew?"

"On her late husband's side, yes."

"Does she know what you're up to?"

"Come along/' he commanded, ignoring the question

this time. "Back through the living room, and watch the

hole."

Liberty moved as slowly as she could get away with. It

wasn't much floor space to cross, but she moved at a snail's

pace. The front door was almost in reach, but Davis took

that moment to put the gun right against her back.

"All right now," he said as he opened the closet. It was

full of coats, but there was plenty of room to stand. "In you

S -"

Liberty stepped inside and turned to look at him. She

tried for her sternest deputy look.

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"What's your name?"

"Davis. And yours?"

"Liberty."

His brows rose and he chuckled. "Rather ironic, isn't it?

I'm locking freedom in the closet."

The door shut in her face, and she heard the key turn

before she listened to the hollow sound of his shoes as he

walked away. For several seconds she felt as though she

were dreaming. Not in all of her years of law enforcement

had she been held captive. Now here she was--no gun-- and locked in a closet.

"Are you going to put up with this?" Liberty said to the

darkness around her. With that she began to pound and

yell. She kicked on the door, throwing herself against it with

such force that she fell out when it opened. She would have

continued to yell, but there was a derringer in her face.

"You can't do this," Davis said softly. His voice was still

congenial, but his eyes were hard. "I have to leave town

soon, and I can't have you disturbing me. Now you need

to stay in here and be quiet. Have I made myself clear?"

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Every Little Thing About You 209

Liberty nodded, very real fear covering her features.

Davis turned her with a hand to her arm and closed the

door while her back was still to him.

"That was stupid, Libby," she breathed. "He could

have shot you."

She groped for the wall and slid down to a sitting position,

her legs drawn up and her arms around her knees.

Show me what to do, Lord. Show me a way out of this. I don't

know if Mrs. Mitts is all right or not, but I could get myself shot.

He's obviously stolen that money. He needs to go to jail for that.

Liberty stopped when she realized he had said he was

leaving town soon. She let her head fall back against the

wall and prayed again, wishing there was some way to go

for help.

3--3r

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"This is for Libby when she comes home," Laura told

Kate as they sat down to lunch.

"What is it?"

"A picture of our family with the new baby."

"Let me see."

"This is Papa and this is Zach. Libby is by me, and I'm

holding the baby."

"Where am I?"

"You're still in bed."

Kate laughed. "I don't know whether to thank you or

to be insulted."

Laura frowned at her, since the word "insulted" was

new, but Kate only blew a kiss in her direction. Weary from

a morning of work, Kate sat back a little in the chair, a sigh

escaping her as she took a bite of sandwich.

At times like this, Lord, I feel as though I'm going to be tired

for the rest of my life. My attitude has been anxious, and I feel

achy and grumpy all the time. That's not fair to You or any of my

family. Please help me to...

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Laura was going to ask her mother for more milk but

saw that her eyes were closed. Her mother's limp hand and

sandwich lay in her lap, and for a moment Laura just stared

at her. When she didn't open her eyes, Laura, carrying her

own sandwich, moved to the chair right next to her mother

and simply sat still until she awakened.

" * ^

Liberty had moved as quietly as she knew how, but in

the still confines of the closet it sounded so loud. She only

hoped that all the digging and movement from the living

room was muffling the sound.

Liberty had pushed the hem of her dress under the

door as far as she could get it. She then proceeded to use

first a hairpin, then the slim heel of a shoe she encountered,

and finally what she thought might be a knitting needle, to

try to push the key from the lock. She knew the sound of

the key dropping might give her away, but she was determined

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to get out of this closet. She had sat quietly for the

longest time before realizing that Mr. Mills was working.