Laid Out and Candle Lit (20 page)

Okay, so they thought she was a whore for sleeping with Ridge. She understood. They were entitled to their opinion.

He replaced the gun and took her in his arms, holding her close. “Are you okay? Your heart’s going ninety miles an hour. What was the dream about?”

“Let’s not talk. Just hold me. Kiss me.”

He kissed her sweetly on top of her head.

She moved out of his arms, straddled him, and looked down at him. “Kiss me like you mean it,” she said, her voice soft and wanting.

He kissed her, rimmed her lips with his tongue, made a full circle of her mouth, his lips hot and demanding and all that heat going straight to lady town. She loved his kiss. Those lips turned her brain to mush and her body into linguine. She took a deep, staggering sigh, moved her body against his, left no doubt about what she wanted.

“What am I gonna do with you, Tizzy?”

“After that kiss . . . anything you want.”

He lifted her off, jumped from the bed, crossed the room to the door, checked the lock and smiled at her. “Wouldn’t wanna traumatize Gracie in case she wakes up,” he said, his eyes gleaming like a Coyote that’d just found a nest of baby ducks. “You did say anything I wanted . . . right?”

Tizzy sat up on her knees. He pulled her close, kissing her once more with the full routine, spun her around turning her backside to him. He ran one hand up her back, the other around her waist, and pulled her tight against him, and gently leaned her forward.

“Ah-oh, she said, looking over her shoulder, “I’m not gonna have to bark, am I?”

“Only if you want to.”

* * * * *

Dawn filtered into the room, Tizzy sat up and pulled her knees to her chest, wrapped her arms around them, and watched Cooper put on his jeans. She never got tired of looking at him. Not because of
the way
he looked, but because he was solid and steady. He was sure of himself, even a little cocky, and she found that sexy. “I wish you didn’t have to sneak out every morning.”

“No. Hell no. That kiss gets me in trouble. That kiss is uptown shopping for downtown business and I’ve done all the business with you I can, right now.” He wiggled her nose, kissed her sweetly, and he was gone.

* * * * *

Rita was filing, answering the phone, and eating a devil’s food cupcake all at the same time when Ridge walked into the station. Bubba was reading the paper, all six pages. He tipped the corner down and smiled. “Good morning, Cooper.”

“Good morning. Say, Rita, have I gotten a fax? Ted Mitchell’s office called saying I’d get the results from the cabin search today.”

Rita shook her head. “Not yet. Bubba said they found some hair and prints. Maybe you’ll get a match and you can wrap this thing up. You’re probably ready to get back to the city
or not
.” She smiled sweetly.

Bubba refolded the paper. “I think he’s liking Brownsboro a whole lot better. Am I right, Cooper?” Bubba chuckled.

Ridge fought a smile. “I don‘t remember saying I didn‘t,” he said, and quickly changed the subject. “Oh, I can mark
Tizzy’s friend
, Carla Ferguson off the suspect list. She has an alibi for the night of the murder.”

The hum of the fax machine broke the moment. “This looks like your report,” Rita said, passing the fax to him.

He sat up straight, flipped through the pages, and widened his eyes. “I’ll be damned. I can’t believe this. I finally caught a break. One of Marlene’s hairs has someone else’s DNA.”

Bubba leaned forward. “Let me guess. Kyle Richmond.”

Ridge gave a whispered laugh. “No. Not Richmond. Norma Harkey.”

Bubba reached for the report. “Am I reading this right? Sonovabitch! Norma’s DNA on one of Marlene’s pubic hairs. You’ve got to be kidding. That means . . . .”

Ridge‘s face took a hard line in deep thought. “Yeah, exactly. Marlene made a phone call to Norma the night of the murder. Norma claimed to make plans for the weekend. But, what if Marlene wanted a rendezvous at the cabin?”

Bubba slumped in his chair.
“Marlene and Norma . . . .”
Dazed, he could hardly get the words out. “Holy shit! Marlene Weston, resident bitch was ac/dc. Damn, this just keeps gettin’ better and better.”

Rita closed the file cabinet and took a seat. “I’d never guess in a million years that Marlene swung both ways. Do you think Carl had any idea?”

Ridge lowered his head, still trying to wrap his brain around the information. “Maybe Carl found out and couldn’t handle it. That would be motive. People kill for a lot less. Maybe he was willing to overlook the affair with Kyle Richmond, but an affair with another woman was too much. Certainly not proper for the bank president’s wife.”

* * * * *

Norma had one woman under the dryer and another in the shampoo bowl when Ridge and Bubba walked in. Ridge fixed his eyes on her. “Miss Harkey, I wanted to follow up with a few more questions.”

“Of course,” she said and gestured toward her office. “Why don’t y’all take a seat and I’ll be right with you.” Five minutes later, Norma came in and closed the door behind her. She looked toward Bubba, then back at Ridge. “How can I help you?”

“Some new evidence came to light. Marlene had a lake house. But you already knew that, didn’t you?” he asked, his face hard, his eyes locked on her.

“I got the forensic report from the lake house search. Your DNA showed up on a hair. Marlene’s hair. How long had the two of you been having an affair?”

Norma buried her face in her hands and started to cry. “Oh God. This can’t be happening. I prayed you wouldn’t find out about the cabin. No one used the place except Marlene and me. Carl probably hasn’t thought about the property in ages. I hoped you’d solve the case before it came to this because one thing has nothing to do with the other.”

“What do you mean? It has everything to do with it.” He leaned forward, invading her space. “You cleaned the cabin, didn’t you? You lied about seeing Marlene that night. You lied about your relationship with her. You lied about the phone call.” He stretched his body forward until his face was only a few inches from hers.

“Tell me, Miss Harkey, have you told me the truth about
anything
?”

She clenched her jaw, spitting the words out. “Yes. I didn’t kill Marlene. I loved her and she loved me. And when everyone finds out about us, it’ll hurt her memory and her family.”

She shook her head in disbelief. “All these years, no one ever suspected.” She started to cry harder. “I suppose now everyone will find out and it’ll be one more reason for people in this town to disapprove of her. Poor Marlene. Even in death, she‘ll be despised.”

Ridge straightened and rested his arms on his legs. “I’ll ask you again. How long had you and Marlene been having an affair?”

Norma wiped at her face with the back of her hand. “Forever. Since high school.”

“Were you upset the two of you never
came out?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said. “Neither of us wanted our relationship made public. You can’t come out in a town this size. I don’t care how much progress the rest of the world has made toward gays. It’ll take more years than I have left for this town to accept or even tolerate them. Marlene and I were happy with the way things were. We both married. We both had children. As far as we were concerned, our lives were perfect.”

“What about Carl? Was he in on the secret?”

She gave a whispered laugh. “Of course. He‘s the
only
one who was.” She cocked her head and displayed a stiff smile. “You’re not a small-town boy, are you? You don’t understand. Marlene and Carl were perfect for each other. She wanted the facade of a happy marriage and children. Carl wanted respect and standing in the community. They provided each other with what they both wanted and needed. Marlene had me and Carl has Leah.”

Ridge glared at her, the hair on the back of his neck starting to prickle. “Now, why don’t you tell me the truth about the night Marlene was murdered?”

She took a deep breath. “We planned to go to the cabin and she said she’d call when the church meeting was over. After the call, I drove down to the bank and picked her up and we drove out to the lake. We arrived about eight-thirty and stayed a couple of hours. I dropped her back off at the bank around ten forty-five and I got home about eleven. I never saw or spoke to Marlene again.” She wiped her tears, leaned back and closed her eyes.

“When you left her at the bank, did you see anybody? Any cars parked nearby? Anything unusual?”

“No, Marlene was still . . . well, buzzed. I’m sure the autopsy showed the alcohol and drugs in her system. She only used them when she’d had a bad day. They helped her unwind. I asked her if she would be all right to drive home and she said yes. It was only a few blocks and no traffic, so I thought she’d be okay. If I had taken her home, she’d still be alive.” Tears poured from her eyes.

Ridge leaned back. “I don’t have much faith in what you’ve told me. You’ve lied about so much that I’m inclined to think you’re lying about your knowledge of Richmond. Maybe you found out about him and decided Marlene had been making a fool of you all this time and you weren’t going to tolerate it anymore. Maybe you confronted her, gave her an ultimatum—you or Kyle—and she chose him. I’d say you had motive and opportunity.”

“No, that’s not true! Even if I had known about Kyle, I would never have hurt Marlene. How many times do I have to tell you? I loved her.”

“My son is fifteen years old. He’s a child. He would never hurt Marlene or anyone else. He doesn’t know about us and even if he did, he wouldn’t kill her. Besides, he was home when I got there and never went out after that. I’m his alibi.”

Ridge made a notation in his notebook. “Where did Marlene get her drugs?”

Norma took a deep breath and looked over at Bubba. “Toby Ulrich. He lives down in Kickapoo Bottom.”

“It’s not looking so good for you, Mrs. Harkey. You were the last one to see Marlene alive. You tampered with evidence. You say you had no knowledge of Marlene and Kyle’s affair, but you’ve lied about so many things. What’s one more?”

Bubba smirked. “Yeah, I do and I’ve never known him to deal. He grows a little Texas Tea for his personal use. He gets bad migraines and the weed helps. It’s really never been worth our time to bust him. He lives down in the boonies, never bothers anybody, so I’m surprised he’d sell to Marlene. You wanna interview him now?”

Ridge nodded. “Yeah, show me the way.”

“Let’s head east,” Bubba said, shaking his head. “So, dope smoking Marlene
was
ac/dc and Carl knew. Man, this just keeps gettin’ better and better.”

* * * * *

Bubba wasn’t lying when he said Toby Ulrich lived in the boonies. Ridge turned off the main highway, drove down a county road on a black-top, then down a two-rutted lane which led to a medium-size house and a small outbuilding with a sign that said, “Motorcycle Repair.”

When Ridge and Bubba got out of the car, Toby emerged from the shop wiping his hands with an oily rag. He looked to be about Bubba’s age, about six inches shorter than Bubba and twenty pounds lighter. He had brown hair and brown eyes and a scar that sliced through his left eyebrow. “Hey Bubba, what brings you out here?” he asked.