HEARTBREAKER (33 page)

“It’s called transference. It’s kind of like a patient falling in love with her doctor. It’s not real,” he stressed.

“That’s what I’m suffering from?”

“Not suffering, honey,” he said. “But I do think you’ve confused gratitude with love.”

She pretended to ponder the possibility for a long minute and then said, “I believe you might be right.”

She swore that if he looked the least bit relieved, she would do him bodily harm.

“You do?” He sounded a little stunned.

“Yes, I do,” she said more forcefully.

He wanted confirmation. “So you realize you don’t love me.”

No,
she thought.
I realize that telling you I love you terrifies you because it means commitment and taking a chance.

“That’s exactly what I realize,” she told him. “It’s that transference thing all right. I was confused, but I’m not any longer. Thank you for clearing it up for me,”

He shot her a hasty glance. “That was pretty damn quick, wasn’t it?”

“When you’re right, you’re right.”

“That’s it?” He was suddenly furious with her and didn’t care that it showed. Damn it, she had told him she loved him, and after a one-minute argument, she caved. What the hell kind of love was that? “That’s all you have to say?”

“No, actually there is just one more thing I’d like to mention.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

“You’re an idiot.”

L
aurant used Nick’s phone to call Michelle and give her the bad news about the bridesmaid’s dress.

Michelle answered on the first ring. “Where are you? Are you all right? I heard about the fire, and Bessie Jean told Mother you left with Nick, but no one knew where you went. My God, can you believe Steve Brenner turned out to be such a pervert? Did you know he’d hidden a camera in your house?”

Laurant patiently answered her questions and then told her about the dress. Michelle took the news surprisingly well. “If only you’d left the dress with Rosemary,” she said, referring to the dressmaker who had fitted the gown for her.

“You told me to pick it up, remember?”

“Yes, but when have you ever listened to me?”

“Michelle, what are we going to do? Should I just bow out?”

“No way,” Michelle cried. “You can wear something of mine.”

“You’ve got to be joking. You’re tiny. Nothing of yours would fit me.”

“Listen, Laurant. I’m stuck with Christopher’s two insipid cousins in my wedding, but I’m not letting either one of them be my maid of honor. Are you or are you not my best friend?”

“Of course I am,” she said. “But—”

“Then improvise. I don’t care what you wear. Come naked if you want. No, you better not do that. You’d cause a riot,” she said. “Christopher wouldn’t remember his vows,” she added with a laugh.

“I’ll find something,” she promised, wondering how in God’s name she was going to have time to shop.

“You’ll still be here at four?”

“Give me at least until five.”

“Was the dress destroyed by the fire? Maybe the dry cleaners could repair it if it wasn’t burned up.”

“No,” she answered. “It’s gone.”

“The town’s in an uproar over Brenner,” she said then. “How stupid was he to torch his own house? Did you know he’d brow-beaten poor Mrs. Talbot into selling it to him. He didn’t have any insurance either. Did you know that? The pervert paid cash.”

“How did you find all that out?” she asked.

“Mother’s nosy friends. Little Lorna’s called Mother three times in the past hour to give more information.”

“Steve didn’t start the fire,” Laurant said. “Lonnie did. I guess he didn’t know Steve had bought the house.”

“That wasn’t in the paper,” Michelle exclaimed. “The sheriff ’s son was in on it?”

“Yes,” Laurant answered. “There’s a lot more too, Michelle, but I can’t go into it now.”

“You can tell me everything while we get dressed,” she said. “And I mean everything. I’ve got to hang up now. I’m getting my nails done. I’ll see you at five, and please, stop worrying. It’s going to be fine. Nothing can ruin this day for me, and do you know why?”

“Because you’re marrying the man of your dreams?”

“That too.”

“What were you going to say?”

“That no matter what, I’m going to have hot incredible sex tonight. Uh-oh, Mom’s glaring at me. Got to go.”

Laurant handed the phone back to Nick. “Let’s go by the house first,” she said. “If the fire didn’t reach the second floor, maybe I can find something suitable to wear in the wedding.”

“Your clothes are going to smell like smoke,” he said. “But the dry cleaners could probably clean the dress before five.”

She mentally went through her wardrobe of once-upon-a-time clothes. That’s what she called them, the beautiful designer dresses and suits that the head of the European modeling agency had given to her, trying to entice her to work for them. The ice blue Versace might do, or the peach Armani. Both of the formal dresses were long, and her high-heeled sandals would work with either one. If the clothes had been destroyed in the fire, she didn’t know what she could wear. The local ladies’ dress shop didn’t carry formal attire.

“What else do you have to do before the wedding?” Nick asked.

“Find a place to stay tonight,” she said. “I’ll wait until tomorrow to pack up whatever I can salvage from the house. It’s too overwhelming to think about today. We have to get a suit for you to wear to the wedding,” she added. “Did you bring one with you?”

“Just my navy blazer and a couple of pairs of dress pants.”

“That will work. We’ll drop them at the cleaners too.” She sounded weary.

“Cheer up, honey. It’s going to get better.”

She tried to think of something optimistic. “It’s a nice day for a wedding, isn’t it?”

“Was your friend upset about the dress?”

“No,” Laurant replied. She smiled then. “Michelle doesn’t get upset about things like that. She told me nothing could ruin today for her.”

The phone rang, but it wasn’t Morganstern, as Nick had hoped. Noah was on the line, wanting to know when he and Laurant would be coming to the abbey.

“Is Tommy worried?”

“No,” Noah answered. “He just wants to know if we should hang around or not.”

“We’ll be there in about an hour. Make him stay put.”

Laurant was getting hungry, but she didn’t want to take time to eat. There was so much to get accomplished before tonight, and it was already going on noon.

They reached Holy Oaks and wound their way down the quiet streets to her house.

“You know what Michelle told me? Lonnie didn’t make the newspaper. She thought Steve Brenner set the fire.”

“Farley told me he would pick him up and take him to Nugent,” Nick said. “He and Brenner can share a cell.”

“You wish you were there, don’t you?”

He glanced at her as he admitted, “Yeah, I do. I’d love to sit in on the interrogation. Look Brenner in the eyes. Then I’d know for sure.”

“That he’s the unsub.”

“No, that he
isn’t.
”

“I want you to be wrong.”

“I know you do.” He sounded sympathetic.

“Until last night, I never would have believed that Steve could be a Peeping Tom,” she said.

“That’s because you hadn’t seen the dark side of good old Steve.”

“I certainly saw it last night. His face was contorted with hate, and the venom spewing out of his mouth shocked me. I think he is capable of anything, even murder. You know what strikes me as odd though?”

“What’s that?”

“Steve’s always been very uptight, around me anyway. He’s very controlling, or organized, as you would call him. Always planning,” she added with a nod. “He was pretty smooth the way he manipulated the shop owners into selling. He’d purchased five stores before the town found out what he was up to. He was sneaky and very clever, wouldn’t you agree?”

“So?”

“He had to have known from reputation alone how volatile and unpredictable Lonnie was. Why would he involve him?”

“Maybe he thought he could use him as his scapegoat.”

“Maybe,” she agreed. “How did Steve get in the house?”

“He came in through the back door. He broke the glass, reached in, and unlocked the dead bolt. It was sloppy,” he added.

“I think Lonnie was looking for a way in through a window.”

“You told me he was on the roof.”

“I heard him outside the bathroom window.”

“But you didn’t see him, did you?”

“No,” she answered. “He could have been checking to make sure no one was home. He didn’t see me. I dropped to the floor the second I saw the light.”

Nick pulled up to a stop sign and waited while two little boys, about seven or eight years old, rode their bikes across the intersection. What were their parents thinking to let them out of their sight? Hell, anyone could grab them. Anything could happen, and they wouldn’t know about it until it was too late.

His attention returned to Laurant. “Lonnie had a flashlight?”

“No, it was more like a penlight, a red one.”

“A red penlight . . . you mean, a laser beam, maybe?”

“Yes, exactly.”

“Why didn’t you tell me this last night?” he demanded impatiently.

“I told you Lonnie was on the roof.”

“The son of a bitch could have had you in his sights.” His face was tight with anger. “Where in God’s name would he get his hands on that kind of equipment?”

“From his father’s cabinet,” she answered. “The sheriff prides himself on his gun collection, and Lonnie would have easy access.”

Nick picked up his phone and started dialing. “And that’s why you came out of the bathroom.”

“Yes,” she answered. “Who are you calling?”

“Farley,” he answered. “He can find out if Lonnie was on that roof or not.”

“Who else could it have been?”

Nick didn’t answer her.

Agent Farley was just about to step onto a plane in Des Moines when his phone rang. When he heard Nick’s voice, he moved away from the crowd filing on board.

“You just caught me,” he said. “Another minute and I would have turned my phone off.”

“Did you pick up Lonnie?”

“No,” he answered. “He’s gone to ground, and I’ve been reassigned. Wesson’s letting the Nugent sheriff and his deputies go after Lonnie and bring him in.”

“Is Feinberg still around, or did Wesson send him packing?”

“I’m not sure,” Farley answered. “They both went to Nugent with Brenner,” he said. “And they could still be there. This isn’t sitting right with you, is it, Nick? You don’t think Brenner’s our man.”

“No, I don’t,” he said. “But I don’t have anything to prove it yet.”

“This could be an easy case, and you’ve just never had one of those before.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“Are you going to stay in Holy Oaks?”

“Yes.”

“Sorry I had to bail on you, but I didn’t have a choice. As soon as Wesson E-mailed headquarters and let them know I was ready for reassignment, they pounced,”

“Where are you headed?”

“Detroit. There’s a situation brewing there, and it’s a messy one. Be thankful you’re on vacation.”

“You be careful,” Nick said. “And Joe, thanks for helping.”

“A lot of damn good I did. I’ll tell you this. I’ve worked with Wesson a couple of times in the past, and he was always a pain in the ass, but he was never this difficult. I think it’s you,” he added. “You bring out the worst in him. He’s gone too far this time though. I’m never going to work with that egomaniac again, even if means handing in my badge. By the book, my ass. Wesson doesn’t know what teamwork is, and that’s what’s going in my report,” Joe paused a second. “Nick you know what’s worrying me?”

“Getting on that plane?”

“No, that’s your hang-up, not mine. It’s that gut feeling of yours.”

“What about it?”

“If you’re right, and Brenner isn’t the unsub, then you and Noah are out there all alone. God help you.”

L
aurant found a couple of gowns that would work for the wedding, and after they dropped off the clothes at the cleaners, they drove to the abbey. Noah was in the kitchen eating cold fried chicken with all the trimmings. Nick pulled out a chair for Laurant as he grabbed a chicken leg.

“You should eat something, honey.”

Noah’s right eyebrow shot up, and his gaze bounced between Laurant’s flushed face and Nick’s pained expression. Then he burst into laughter. “It took you long enough.”

“Don’t start,” Nick warned.

“Don’t start what?” Noah asked innocently.

“Nick calls everyone honey,” Laurant blurted, feeling like a fool.

“Sure he does,” Noah agreed. “He’s been calling Tommy and me honey every chance he gets.”

“Let it alone,” Nick insisted. “Where is Tommy?”

“He’s in one of the conference rooms with that editor woman.”

“What does she want?” Laurant asked.

Noah shrugged. “Beats me.”

Nick heard a door close behind him and crossed the kitchen to look out the window. He saw Lorna hurry down the stairs.

“Where did this feast come from?” Laurant asked Noah.

“Noah’s fan club,” Tommy answered from the doorway.

Noah grinned. “The ladies like me. What can I say?”

“He’s been doing a little counseling.” Tommy shook his head in exasperation.

“Hey, I’m good at it.”

Laurant was having trouble looking at her brother. It was Nick’s fault, she knew, because he had planted the ridiculous notion that Tommy would know what happened last night if he looked in her eyes.

“Laurant, I want a word in private with you,” Tommy said.

Nick gave her an I-told-you-he’d-know look and turned around. “Tommy, you and I have to talk.”

“No,” Laurant all but shouted as she pushed the chair back and stood. “What do you want to talk to me about?”

“Lorna was just here.”

“What did she want?” Laurant asked. “She has enough news to keep her busy for the next month, what with the fire and Steve Brenner. Is she trying to figure out a way to blame me for all that too?”

“She is writing another article about you, but it doesn’t have anything to do with the fire or Brenner. She wanted confirmation from me. It seems she ran into the banker’s wife, who mentioned the money you borrowed for your store, and one bit of gossip led to another. Damn it, Laurant,” he said, his voice shaking with anger, “why didn’t you tell me the trust was gone? All this time, I thought you were fine and I wouldn’t have to worry about you.”

Laurant was stunned by Lorna’s audacity. “I had to fill out a financial statement, and I had to explain about the trust in order to get the loan,” she cried. “But the banker had no right to tell anyone, not even his wife. That was confidential information. And how dare Lorna poke her nose in my affairs.” She took a step toward her brother. “Did you hear what you just said to me? All this time you thought I was fine and you wouldn’t have to worry about me? I’m not ten years old, Tommy, but you can’t seem to get that through your head. The money was gone before I turned twenty-one and could do anything about it. The lawyers took it. Every cent. I didn’t tell you because I knew you’d get upset, and there wasn’t anything you could do.”

“Millions of dollars . . . our grandfather’s hard-earned money gone? When I signed my trust over to them to put with yours, I thought . . .”

Her brother’s expression made her want to cry. He looked devastated. And horribly disappointed in her. He made her feel as though she had squandered the money.

“It wasn’t your sister’s fault,” Nick said quietly.

“I know that.”

“You’re not acting like you do.”

Tommy’s shoulders slumped. “When exactly did you find out the money was gone?” His face was red with the anger he was trying to contain.

“On my twenty-first birthday.”

“You should have told your family then. Maybe something could have been done.”

Noah knew it wasn’t his place to interfere, but he couldn’t stop himself. He looked Tommy in the eye and said, “What family? From what I’ve gathered, Laurant didn’t have one of those when she was growing up. Who exactly was she supposed to tell?”

“I’m her family,” Tommy railed.

“Try to see it her way,” Noah insisted. “When you were growing up, you had Nick’s family to help you, and when you joined the priesthood, the church became your new family.”

“My sister will always be part of my family.”

“She was in Europe, and you were here. You can’t change the way things were. The guilt is making you angry because she was left out in the cold.”

Tommy looked tormented. Laurant slowly shook her head and went to him. “That isn’t true. I wasn’t out in the cold. I always knew you were there for me. I knew you were fighting to get me to the United States. Tommy, I always knew you loved me. Please don’t be angry.”

He put his arms around her and hugged her. “It just came as a shock, that’s all. Don’t keep things from me, Laurant. Big brothers are supposed to look out for their little sisters, no matter how old they are. Look, let’s make a pact, okay? From now on, we don’t hide anything from each other. If I have to have chemo, I tell you, and if you have a problem, you tell me.”

“I don’t expect you to solve my problems for me.”

“No, I know you don’t, but you should be able to talk to me about them.”

She nodded. “Yes, okay.”

“When’s the article going to run?” Nick asked. He was trying to figure out if there was time to stop it.

“It isn’t going to be in the paper. Lorna and I had a little talk.”

Noah grinned. “Did you threaten her with the fires of hell?”

Tommy wasn’t amused. “No, I didn’t, but I did talk to her about being jealous of Laurant. She didn’t want to hear my opinions, but she agreed not to run the article. She’s afraid other people will think she’s jealous because she’s gone after Laurant so many times.”

“I need a glass of milk,” Laurant said. Her stomach was upset, thanks to Lorna, and she hoped the milk would settle it.

“I’ll get it. You go sit down,” Tommy offered.

Noah pushed her plate in front of her. “Eat,” he suggested.

“Isn’t there anything you can do about those lawyers?” Nick asked her.

“I am doing something.”

Tommy poked his head out of the pantry. “What?” he asked.

“I’m suing them.”

Her brother grabbed a glass and hurried back into the kitchen. “You’re suing?”

“Yes,” she said. “The day after I found out, I started searching. It took a year to find an attorney who was willing to take on the giants.”

“David against Goliath, huh?” Noah said.

“You know, Noah, you’re starting to think like a priest. Maybe you ought to consider joining up,” Nick teased.

Noah grimaced. “That isn’t going to happen.”

Tommy got the gallon of milk out of the refrigerator and poured some into Laurant’s glass. “But about the suit? What’s happening?”

She took a drink before she answered. “I won the first round, and then I won again. They’ve been dragging it out with motions to delay, but my attorney told me that this next round is the last appeal. I should hear something soon. Win or lose, it will be final.”

“So, there’s a good possibility you could get the money back.”

“It could go either way,” she said. “I’m prepared for either outcome.”

“No wonder you drive that junky old car,” Nick said. “You’ve been living on a shoestring.”

He was smiling at her, as though he thought she had done something remarkable.

“I budget like most people do,” she said. “And I happen to like my car.”

The conversation came to an abrupt end when the sheriff came storming into the kitchen.

“Where the hell is my boy?” he demanded in a snarl. He had his gun half drawn as he shouted, “What have you done with him?”

Nick’s back was to the door, but Noah sat facing the stampeding sheriff. In a heartbeat, his hand reached inside his black robe and pointed the gun under the table at Lloyd. “You pull that weapon out, and you’re a dead man.”

Lloyd stopped, frozen in his tracks. He was stunned by this priest who dared to threaten him.

Laurant hadn’t even had time to turn in her chair before Nick had whirled around and drawn his weapon. He was standing now, shielding her, and the barrel of his gun was pressed against Lloyd’s temple.

Tommy came up behind the sheriff and took the gun away from him. Then he calmly suggested that Lloyd sit down and discuss the problem in a reasonable manner.

“I’m the authority here,” he bellowed.

“No, you’re not,” Nick informed him. He put his gun back in the holster and told the sheriff to do as Tommy had said and sit down.

Lloyd chose the chair at the far end of the table. “Give me my gun back.”

Tommy handed Nick the weapon, and he quickly unloaded the magazine before he slid the gun toward the sheriff.

“What seems to be the problem?” Tommy asked.

“My boy,” Lloyd muttered. “He’s gone missing. That’s what the problem is.”

“He’s hiding,” Nick told him. “He started that fire, and now he’s hiding.”

Lloyd shook his head. “I ain’t gonna get into all that fire business ’cause you and I see it different from each other. My boy knows he’s got me for his alibi. He wouldn’t think he had to hide. He was in bed, sleeping sound, when I got home from Nugent. I was dead tired,” he added. “Up most of the night, and I was just getting myself in bed when the low-life sheriff from Nugent knocked on my door. He said he was gonna take Lonnie and book him on arson. We argued a bit, but then I decided to let the lawyers handle it, and I let him on in. Lonnie weren’t in his bed though, and his window was wide open.”

Nick glanced at Noah, who promptly shook his head to let him know he hadn’t done anything with Lonnie.

Nick said then, “Maybe Wesson decided to pick him up.”

“That ain’t what happened.” The sheriff was whining now. “He’s still with the others cooped up with Brenner in a two-by-four room, questioning him. They wouldn’t let me listen in, didn’t want me to know nothing that was going on. I finally gave up and was heading out the door when I heard they were accusing him of murder. One of the sheriff ’s deputies told me they had the goods on him.” He took his hat off and rubbed his brow. “It’s all going in the toilet.”

“Do you really care what happens to Lonnie?” Noah asked bluntly.

The question flustered the sheriff. Seeing the turmoil in Lloyd’s face, Tommy took over. He dragged a chair to the end of the table and sat down next to Lloyd.

“Your son’s given you a lot of heartache over the years, hasn’t he, Lloyd?”

The sheriff ’s voice dropped to a whisper. “He ain’t never been right in the head. Never. He’s got a real mean temper.”

Tommy coaxed Lloyd to talk, urging him to let go of all the anger and disappointment he’d kept inside for so long, and within minutes, the sheriff was spilling his guts, telling him all the problems he’d had to clean up for his son. The list was appallingly lengthy.

“He’s done some terrible things. I know he has, but he’s my son, and I had to protect him. I’m so sick of it. I know I’m supposed to care about the boy, but I can’t, not anymore. I’ve still got to find him because if I don’t and he comes home, he’ll be . . . upset with me, and I don’t want that to happen. He can forget himself and get violent.” He wiped at his eyes as he confessed, “I’m ashamed to admit it, but I’m afraid of my own boy. He’s going to kill me one of these days. He’s come damn close a couple of times already.”

“Maybe it’s time Lonnie learned the consequences of his actions,” Noah suggested.

“He’ll come after me. I know he will.”

“You need time to think about your options,” Tommy said. “Why don’t you get in your car and leave Holy Oaks for a week or two, just until things calm down and Lonnie’s behind bars.”

The sheriff leapt at the idea. “What will folks say? I don’t want them thinking I’m running away.”

“They won’t think that,” Tommy said. “You’re entitled to take some time off, aren’t you?”

“Sure, I am,” he agreed. “And maybe . . . just maybe, I won’t never come back. I’ll leave it all here, won’t pack a thing, so my boy won’t think I’m gone for good. Then he won’t come looking for me.”

“They’ll catch him and put him behind bars,” Noah said. “You be sure to let Father Tom know where you are.”

The sheriff was suddenly in a hurry to get out of town. He was walking out the door when he stopped and turned to Laurant.

“He’s been skimming money from the very beginning,” he said. “

Who?” Laurant asked. “Brenner?”

Lloyd nodded. “He’d tell his backers at Griffen it was gonna cost a hundred grand to buy a store, then offer half that amount to the owner and pocket the difference. He’s got himself an account, but I don’t know where it is. You might want to look into that before the town meeting.”

“Yes, I will,” she said.