Hoofprints (Gail McCarthy series) (27 page)

"I still feel a little lost, like I don't understand how this all happened to happen to me, if you know what I mean. I didn't suspect Steve of anything; I never thought he had any possible reason to want Ed and Cindy dead. I'm still in shock, I guess."

"He was dealing cocaine in a big way," Lonny said reflectively. "Making lots of money. He probably couldn't stand to see that threatened."

"And it wasn't as if he had to kill anybody himself," I added. "He just turned the problem over to his 'supplier.' He could always pretend that he had no idea they'd be murdered."

"So why the hell did he ball things up by shooting at you?"

"Stupidity. Panic, maybe. Steve might have been comfortable selling cocaine, but he was out of his league when it came to killing people, I think. I remember he brought up the subject of the bute in Cindy's barn in this roundabout way-that night he called me out to see a horse that he knew was no emergency. When he found out I'd seen the bute bottles, wondered about them, even, he panicked. If he'd just sat tight, everything would have been fine-for him, anyhow. Poor Terry White would have been in jail."

"Thanks to your buddy, old Detective Reeder."

"I suppose so. I couldn't imagine any other John that Cassidy could have meant. I never liked Reeder, anyway. I think he was trying to pin those murders on Terry, and the reason Cassidy didn't want me to look like a murder victim was because the connection between my finding the bodies and my being killed would be too obvious. That would make trouble for John. But Cassidy did have to kill me, at that point, because I'd made the connection between him and Steve."

Lonny was quiet for a minute. "You know, there's one thing I don't understand. Why did they kill the woman, too?"

"Cindy." I sighed. "I think because she knew all about what was going on. From what I picked up, she was upset during the last few days before they were killed. Maybe Ed told her that Steve was threatening them. At any rate, she called Gina Gianelli and told her that she might have to back out of showing Plumber at Salinas. I'd guess that was because she didn't want to be around Steve. And apparently she went to see her parents and told them she was in trouble and needed help. She just knew too much."

We sat together in silence for a while. I could hear bees buzzing on the flowers. A blue jay squawked in an oak tree and flashed between the branches, a bright streak of blue, vivid as the sky. The long, low slant of the evening sunshine lit the equally brilliant blues of delphiniums and lobelias, the sharp crimson of geraniums.

Lonny brought his eyes to rest on mine. "How do you feel about killing Cassidy?"

I'd have to talk about this sometime. "He would have killed me if he could," I said slowly, "and I know now that he killed Ed and Cindy. It's better that he's dead. If he were still alive, I think I'd always be afraid. I can still hear that sound he made, though."

Lonny held out his hand. "You did what you had to do."

I took the hand, and it was warm and comforting, as his body had felt when he held me last night. "I know," I said. "Sometimes it doesn't seem good enough."

Lonny squeezed my hand. "It's good enough. Good enough for me. I love you." There was a smile in his voice, but ... he'd never said those words before.

"I love you, too," I said after a moment. It sounded right, felt true. I wondered where it would lead.

Lonny squeezed my hand again. "Finish that wine and let's go inside."

I should have guessed.