A Deep and Dark December (16 page)

“Growing it out,” Erin said as she sat in the styling chair. “Keith likes my hair long.” One more way in which she was trying with him. Always trying.

Candy suddenly gave combing out Erin’s hair more attention than it required. “You know I had to tell Graham everything I know, right?”

There was something in Candy’s expression that gave Erin an uneasy feeling. “Yeah.”

“I don’t spread rumors. What people tell me while they’re in my chair stays with me. But I had to tell Graham. He’s the police.”

That uneasy feeling deepened, morphing into dread. “Had to tell him what exactly?” Erin said slowly, wanting and yet not wanting to know.

Candy cast a watchful eye around them, then whispered, “About Keith and Deidre.”

Erin caught Candy’s gaze in the mirror. “What about Keith and Deidre?”

“Oh, God.” Candy put a hand to her chest. “You don’t know. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.” Candy abruptly grabbed the hair dryer and switched it on.

Erin caught Candy’s wrist, stilling her. “What, Candy? Just tell me.”

Candy bit her lip as though deciding something, then she turned the dryer off and leaned close. “Keith and Deidre were a couple for a while right before and maybe a little after you and he started going out. I really thought you knew. But this doesn’t have to change anything between you and Keith. You’re so great together and I can see how much you like him and he likes you.”

But it did change things. The vision Erin had of Keith and his mother in that kitchen now had context. Keith had been seeing Deidre and might have gotten her pregnant while he and Erin had been dating. Could Keith be responsible for Deidre’s death? Was that why he’d been so solicitous toward Erin and had shown up at the police station—out of guilt? Who else knew about his and Deidre’s relationship? Did Greg know?

Erin looked up into her hairstylist’s anxious face and felt as though she was expected to make Candy feel better about her revelation. But all she could do was smile weakly and wonder if what she and Keith had shared was real or was their relationship nothing more than smoke and mirrors, the perfect distraction from his affair with Deidre?

“It’s okay,” Erin finally managed with a one-shoulder shrug that was more of a jerk. “No biggie. Don’t worry about it.”

“Oh, I’m so relieved. I don’t want to cause any trouble between the two of you.”

“No. No trouble. No trouble at all.”

Candy switched the dryer back on and began blow-drying Erin’s hair, chatting amiably about nothing in particular. Erin nodded and responded appropriately, but all the while her mind spun.

Keith and Deidre. If Keith was upset over Deidre’s death, he didn’t show it. Had Keith’s insistence on taking things to the next level with Erin been a way to ease his guilt over his relationship with Deidre? Or was it to avert attention away from his and Deidre’s relationship after her death? That would explain why he suddenly wanted to get out of town for a while.

Deidre hadn’t been expecting the man who’d killed her—a married man. At least that’s the impression Erin had gotten from her vision of Deidre and the killer. What if she’d read the vision wrong? The killer was definitely someone who enjoyed his stature in the community. His thoughts about that had been very clear. As Erin had explained to Graham, Keith was well respected and admired in San Rey. He’d earned a reputation of charity and goodness. Getting a married woman pregnant would certainly affect his standing in the community.

Would Keith have killed Deidre to protect his good name? Was Keith the father of Deidre’s baby? Could her pregnancy have played a part in what happened to her?

Erin jumped when Candy turned off the hairdryer. She’d been so absorbed in her thoughts she hadn’t paid any attention and now Candy was frowning at her.

“You’re upset,” Candy said. “I shouldn’t have told you.”

“No, really. I’m okay. I was just thinking about work,” Erin lied.

Candy whisked the color cape off of Erin and rearranged Erin’s hair over her shoulders. “How do you like your new highlights?”

“They’re great. Just what I wanted. Thank you.”

“I should be done around seven. Do you want to go for a drink or something tonight?”

Erin got up slowly, tamping down the urge to flee. Her thoughts had stirred up emotions she had no defense against. She picked up her purse and turned to her friend. “Thanks, but I have plans tonight.”

“With Keith?”

“Yes.”

Candy put a hand on Erin’s arm. “Please don’t let what I said ruin your night with him.”

How could it not? “I won’t. Thanks again for my hair.”

Erin backed away, the rising need to escape making her feel shaky and weak. She paid for her hair and bolted, hitting the sidewalk at a brisk pace. She hardly registered the stares and whispers of the townsfolk as she passed. She turned right on Wicker Street and followed it up and around as it narrowed and the sidewalk gave way to a dirt path. The hard packed earth floated around her ankles as she trudged further up to where expensive homes with ocean views gave way to modest bungalows tucked into the side of the hill, shut off from the impressive vistas.

She spotted the police cruiser parked out front of her small house and slowed her pace, trying to imagine why it would be there. Then she caught sight of Graham leaning against the porch railing, waiting for her. His mirrored sunglasses glinted in the afternoon sunlight, but she knew he watched her progress as she came up her steep front walk. Without a word he peeled off the pillar and followed her into the house, not needing an invitation. She knew why he’d come. He was here to ask her about Keith and Deidre.

She hung her jacket on a hook in the entryway. He did the same and trailed after her toward the kitchen. It was a short walk. These old bungalows tucked into the rolling hills above San Rey were no bigger than a two-bedroom apartment. But there was a little plot of sloping land out back where Erin had envisioned a tiered garden that had cemented her decision to buy. The garden now filled the view from the window over the sink, row upon row of flowers and herbs poured over the boxed edges of the beds. The aroma of fall flowers wafted in, scenting the whole house.

“Iced tea?” she asked, reaching into the refrigerator, stalling. She hadn’t yet processed her thoughts and feelings, let alone come to the point where she could translate them for Graham.

“Sure.”

She could feel him, watching, waiting as she put ice in the glasses and poured the tea. Did he think she knew about Deidre and Keith’s affair? She couldn’t figure out which he would think was worse—her knowing and not doing or saying anything about it or her not knowing and being cheated on by her boyfriend.

“Sweetener?” she asked, hoping to extend her hostess duties.

“No. Black is fine.”

She took a breath and faced him across the small kitchen island, needing the barrier.

He reached for the glass she offered, their fingers brushing briefly. Had that simple, accidental touch affected him the way it had her? Did he feel turned inside out and backwards the way she did? She fought for some equilibrium, searching for some sense of what he was thinking in his expression.

He set his sunglasses on the counter and sipped his tea, taking in everything about her. “I like your hair.”

“Thanks.”

She grew warm under his watchful gaze, which lingered improperly on areas it shouldn’t. Alone together, he didn’t bother to hide his attraction for her. It would be so easy to show him hers. He had her so twisted up and off balance, she hardly trusted herself around him.

“Why are you here?” she asked, gripping her glass with both hands.

“The coroner confirmed that Deidre was pregnant.”

She nodded.

“We won’t have the DNA results back for a few more weeks, maybe months, depending on how backlogged the lab is.”

“You’re testing the fetus against Greg’s DNA?”

“Yeah.”

“But he’s not the father.”

“It’s not like I can take samples from every man Deidre ever had contact with.” He put the insinuation of the baby possibly being Keith’s out there for her to pick up in open challenge. His expression gave away nothing as he waited for her response.

Did he think she’d known about Deidre and Keith and had lied to protect her boyfriend? It would almost be better if that were the case. At least then she wouldn’t have to admit that Keith had deceived her. That he was lying to her still. That what was between her and Keith was tainted and wrong after she’d defended their relationship so vehemently.

“No. I suppose not,” she said a little too defensively, her body rigid with denial.

He lowered his gaze to his glass, smoothing the condensation from the sides. That’s when she noticed the phone number Candy had written on his hand. She wondered if he’d use it. “I have to follow up on every lead,” he said.

“You should,” she spat back.

He lifted his head, zeroing in on her. “
Every
lead.”

“San Rey’s a small town. What you do and don’t do is big news.”

“And if I’m seen talking to someone, people will assume that person has knowledge of a crime. Or was involved in one.”

“People can think what they like.”

“What do
you
think, Erin?”

“I think…” She took a sip of tea to buy some time.

There were too many thoughts chasing each other around in her head to pin down a coherent one. Anything she said about Keith and Deidre would splash back on her. Was Keith using their relationship to cover up his affair with Deidre and the possibility that he was the father of Deidre’s baby? Going further with that train of thought: could Keith be using their relationship to throw suspicion off him for killing Deidre and his unborn child?

Erin had to choose her words carefully here. Not everyone would think she was innocent and they might even think she conspired with Keith if he turned out to be a murderer. Worse yet, Graham might think she conspired with Keith by making up the visions she saw to throw Graham off Keith’s trail.

“I think it’s more important to find out what actually happened than to worry about what people will assume,” she answered.

And that was the truth. People could bend facts to suit their purposes, but they couldn’t change them.

She puffed out a breath, her mind made up. “You
should
pursue every lead. Every last one.”

“Even if that means stirring up the gossip hive?”

She looked out the window at the waning daylight. Keith would be there in about an hour to pick her up for their date. “You can give them something to talk about tomorrow, can’t you?” She turned back to find him examining her intently.

They stared at each other across the island, the tension between them hard and tight. She tried to communicate with her eyes what she couldn’t with her words. If he gave her this, she’d owe him.

“It can wait until tomorrow. Only for you,” he added. “This one time.”

If she could get the words out, she’d thank him. Tomorrow Graham would question Keith about his relationship with Deidre and Erin would have freed herself from Keith and the shadow that had hovered over their relationship. It was a relief. She finally had a reason for why she couldn’t ever make things work with Keith. All along it was his fault and not a flaw that lay deep within her. He’d poisoned their relationship from the start. There was no going back from that.

“There’s one other thing,” Graham said. “Deidre’s cell phone and keys were missing from the things we found of hers at the house. Know anything about that?”

She closed her eyes for a moment, picturing the kitchen where Deidre and Greg had died. “No,” she drew out after a moment, opening her eyes. “I don’t recall them.”

“Have you had any more visions?”

She thought about the one she’d had of Keith and his mother. She’d asked a lot of Graham and he’d given it to her when he didn’t have to. She owed him the full truth.

“I’m trying not to have any at all. But it seems as though I don’t have a choice in the matter anymore.” She described the vision she’d inadvertently had of Keith in his mother’s kitchen, which had taken on a whole new meaning now that she knew about Keith and Deidre’s affair. It wasn’t easy to tell after she’d defended Keith to Graham so vehemently.

“Shit.” He put a hand on her arm. “I’m sorry.”

“Me too.”

“Are still you having pain with the visions?”

She was grateful to him for the subject change and for not delving further into what her vision could mean. “Pain and a bright light that whites out everything. It’s almost as though someone flips a switch, filling my mind with blinding white light.”

“What about your aunt and father?”

“Aunt Cerie is having the most trouble,” she answered. “My dad and I learned how to shut her out to keep her from reading our thoughts. She never learned to block off her mind that way so for her, the light keeps burning. She’s exhausted, but can’t sleep. The more she uses her ability, the more she has these episodes.”

“Has she thought about seeing a doctor?”

“I’ve been trying to get her to go, but she’s resisting. Not many people can get my aunt to do something she doesn’t want to.”