Lethal Affair (30 page)

“
What about your school pals
and your Mom?”

“
Randy and Pete can come
visit.” His expression went glum. “My Mom won't miss me; she'll be
busy with
Tom.
”

“
Won't you miss
her?”

Max frowned, concentrating. “I love my
Mom, but Tom's always trying so hard to make me love him too.
That's not going to happen.”

Will interceded. “Nobody said you have
to love the guy. But if you give it some time I'm guessing you'll
like him well enough. You realize your Mom might not marry Tom
after all if it means keeping you in her life. That wouldn't be
very fair to her, would it?”

Max slumped. “Guess not.”

“
You're welcome to live with
me if that's what you really want. But you've got a life over
there, and running away from it because you're not thrilled about
sharing your Mom with Tom isn't a good reason to.”

He slid down in his chair. “Guess
not.”

Will saw the confusion warring in his
son's eyes. “Nobody has to decide anything right now. Who want's
dessert?”

“
Me!”

“
Me too!” echoed Kylie.
Watching how Will had reasoned with his son had been a lesson in
parenting. She wondered how well she would do with her own
child.

Will ruffled Max's hair. “How can you
want dessert after that tub full of ice-cream you and Bobby choked
down this afternoon?”

“
I'm ten, Dad. I could eat
ten desserts.”

“
Great. Enjoy it while it
lasts.”

He brought out a peach pie while Kylie
stacked dishes in the dishwasher. Max helped by carefully bringing
out three glasses of milk to go with it.

Kylie dug into her pie. “How's your
greenhouse coming along? Did you do what I told you?”

“
And then some. There's been
some improvement.”

The sun was sinking fast. “Let's go
down and check it out before the light's gone.”

The walk through the flower lined
garden to the rear of the property was fragrant with lavender.
Overhead the sky began a summer symphony of electric color, bathing
them in tangerine hues.

Will entered first and switched on a
dangling overhead bulb.

Then came rushing out colliding with
Kylie, panic flickering in his eyes. Bringing up the rear, Max
bumped into Kylie. They all did a little kerfuffle as Will pushed
them both away from the entrance.

“
What's wrong?” asked
Kylie.

“
A snake!” Will spouted.
“Quick, back to the house.”

“
Cool! A snake!” Max tried
to push past Kylie. “I wanna see it!”

Will wasn't having it. “It's a
poisonous one, kiddo. Kylie, please take Max up to the house.” He
gave her an intense look asking her to cooperate, and Kylie knew
there was no snake.

Reluctantly they headed back and Will
pulled out his cell, hit speed dial for his neighbor. “Rosemary?
Thank God. Yes, it's Will. Listen, I need a humongous favor. Can
you call the house and invite Max over for something or other. Just
make something up, something he'll want to do. I have an emergency
here and I can't have Max involved. Please. I'll explain
later.”

Puzzled, Rosemary agreed. A moment
later he heard the phone in his house ring and be answered. A few
seconds after that Max run out of the house toward him. He met him
half way.

“
Dad! The Meeslers are going
to see the new Spiderman! Can I go? Please?”

His insides felt skittish but he kept
a stoic expression on his face. “Sure, no prob.” He pulled out his
wallet and handed Max some bills. “You give this to Mrs. Meesler,
tell her I insist on treating the whole gang.”

Max looked at the amount and blew out
a whistle. “Can we get popcorn too?”

The skittishness tested his patience.
“If you've still got room after that pie, go for it.”

Kylie had joined them and he turned to
her now. “Do me a favor and take Max across the street?”

Perplexed, she took Max by the hand
and headed out the side gate to the Meesler residence. Across the
way Kylie met Rosemary at her front door. They introduced
themselves. The TV was blasting and Bobby yelled from the interior
for Max to join him. He turned to Kylie. “My Dad really likes
you.”

“
I really like him too. You
too. Hope that's mutual,” she said with sincerity.

Max grinned. “You're cool.”

Cool. Wow. A huge compliment coming
from him.

“
Go on in now,” instructed
Rosemary. When he'd gone, “Will sounded so agitated just now when
he called. Is everything alright?”

He'd just called her? The mystery was
deepening.

“
Um... not sure.” At
Rosemary's inquisitive eyes, “There's been some recent trouble and
I think it has something to do with Will's greenhouse. Something he
didn't want Max to see. Sorry, it's all I know myself so
far.”

Rosemary nodded, looking over Kylie's
shoulder at Will's yard. “I saw something today. I'd forgotten
about it until now but it might be significant.”

“
Oh?”

“
A man. I didn't recognize
him and I know the usual people Will has around. There's Buster,
his maintenance guy, and the post man of course. This guy was
somebody new. He went in through the gate there and then came out a
short while later.”

Kylie's stomach slid into her
instantly churning gut. No. Not this.

“
Mrs. Meesler...”

“
Rosemary,
please.”

“
Alright. I'm going back
over there. Thanks for taking Max on such short notice.”

Concern lit Rosemary's soft features.
“Why don't I keep him overnight, a sleepover with
Bobby.”

“
I'll have Will call you to
confirm, but I think it's a go.”

Glancing around as she crossed back
over, Kylie searched the street for Drew's car. Spotting nothing,
she went through the gate and joined Will outside the
greenhouse.

“
Kylie, this isn't what it
looks like. What it was made to look like. Please believe
me.”

Dread filled her. Heart pounding like
a jackhammer, Kylie went inside. On the shelf between the tomato
plants lay a pair of heavy garden gloves with what looked like
pieces of dull, blood-smeared metal glued onto the
knuckles.

Oh God. Kylie's knees buckled but Will
was there to support her. He was ready to plead if necessary. “I
didn't kill her. Somebody put this here.”

She turned into his arms putting her
back to the gloves and gazed steadily into his eyes. “I know.
Rosemary saw someone come in here today. It had to have been Drew.
Who else would try to tie you to Lillian's murder? Shit, Will. I
really wanted it to be someone else. But this cinches it, doesn't
it?”

He folded her shaking body into his
arms, suddenly steady as a rock. Kylie's confidence in him might
not have been forthcoming had Rosemary not witnessed the plant, but
he'd take all he could get right now.

She clung for a moment breathing in
Will's scent, tapping into his inner strength.

“
We have to call the
police,” she murmured.

“
Yes. Let's do that. Is
Max...?”

“
He's fine. We'll wait until
the Meeslers leave for the movie, then we'll call. Don't want him
around for the big circus, do we?”

Will tightened his embrace and
siphoned some of her courage. “No, no we don't.”

*

Detective Ethan Crane sat at Will's
kitchen table while forensics poured over his greenhouse. Spot
lights illuminated his entire yard as they went over it inch by
inch. Plaster casts of suspicious footprints were being
made.

“
I'll need Mrs. Meesler's
statement,” said Crane.

“
She took my son to the
movies. Don't want him involved in this.”

“
I understand. You're lucky
you have a nosy neighbor or I'd be taking you in right now. You
realize that, don't you?”

“
The thought had occurred to
me.”

Sitting next to Will, Kylie held his
hand.

“
We're canvasing the
neighborhood. See if anyone else saw this mystery man who came into
your yard today.”

“
Come on, Detective,” said
Kylie. “I think we all know who's responsible. Why aren't you going
over to his place right now and putting him under
arrest?”

“
To borrow Hammond's own
words, we need to put our ducks in a row. The law
requires...”

“
...just cause.” Frustration
had her clenching her teeth. “Those gloves, will they provide the
proof you need?”

“
The lab will try to lift
fingerprints from the insides of the fingers, but it's not an exact
science and that kind of thing takes time. Meanwhile I'm concerned
about you, Miss Lambert. If Hammond gets in touch at any time,
contact me immediately.”

Will wasn't satisfied. “What about
police protection for Kylie? Have you put a tail on Hammond
yet?”

“
I've assigned a patrol car
to stay outside Miss Lambert's apartment, but I'll be getting her
more than that by tomorrow.”

Will got up and paced, running an
agitated hand through his hair. “This is beyond
insanity.”

Crane placed a hand on Will's
shoulder. “My advice right now is, take care of Miss Lambert. She
shouldn't be alone at any time.”

“
Count on it, Detective. I
won't let her out of my sight.”

*

In the Meesler's yard, Drew
watched from a spot deep within the tall hedges. The cops had the
place all lit up like a sporting event at a stadium.
Like a crime scene.
Some
light spilled over onto the Meesler's property but his hiding place
provided pitch black cover.

Holy hell, they were like ants on a
mound, traipsing all over the yard, yelling to one another. Quite
the spectacle. Other neighbors had come out to gawk and to
speculate. Delaney had been smart to send off his kid. Why weren't
they carting him away in handcuffs?

It burned that Kylie had taken up with
the man. Might as well stick a knife in his heart. She'd betrayed
him, run off with another man just as soon as she had her prize.
He'd given her a baby and then she'd thrown him away like garbage.
What kind of man took up with a pregnant woman anyway? Was she
hiding the fact from him so she could tell him it was
his?

That would be low.

She wasn't what he'd thought
her to be all those months he'd dated her. Had held off from
bedding her. He'd practically put her on a pedestal, had wanted
to
marry
her.

Now all he wanted was to kill
her.

First he would bring her to her knees
by taking out all that was near and dear to her, just as she had
taken away his chance to live a normal life. If not for her he
never would have given in to the need, never would have allowed it
to surface, never would have acted on what it drove him to
do.

Now it was
all
he wanted to
do.

*

Hours after trampling Will's garden the
police and their special units were gone.

Will put on a kettle to brew Kylie
herbal tea. He poured himself a hefty shot of whiskey.

“
I forgot to tell you;
Rosemary said she'd keep Max overnight. You need to
confirm.”

Will got out his cell and remembering
they'd gone to the movies, sent a message to Rosemary's phone
saying he would appreciate it.

He shoved his cell in his pocket.
“This has turned out to be one helluva date, hasn't it?”

“
Was this a
date?”

“
A threesome, but yes, a
date. Like love, dating comes in many forms.”

She'd discovered that Will had a
talent for diverting her thoughts away from grizzly
topics.

“
I should head home pretty
soon,” she stated. It was time to put distance between herself,
Will and Max.

Will felt the change in her the moment
the decision took place. “Honey?” he asked.

“
What?”

“
For your tea.”

“
Oh. Yes, please.” She
watched him move around the kitchen and realized she needed to let
him off the hook. “Will, I'm really sorry you got involved in this.
I'm going to bow out now. You and Max shouldn't be subjected to my
problems anymore. This is where it has to end.”

He scowled into his whiskey, took a
sip, then resumed fixing her tea. “Do you really think I'd send you
packing just to save my own ass?”

It came as a bit of a shock to realize
she'd underestimated him and possibly hurt him in the process. Will
Delaney wasn't the kind of man to jump ship. She should have
thought of it before opening her well meaning but thoughtless
mouth.

He spoke again before she could
rescind her statement. “I'd go bonkers not knowing you were safe.”
He put down the little honey pot shaped like a bee hive and came
around the counter to where she sat perched on a stool. Pushing
stray strands of her hair back, he cupped her chin and went eye to
eye with her. “I have developed a huge crush on you. If it were Max
describing it, he'd say it makes me feel all gooey inside, like a
warm cinnamon bun. My more adult description is less censored. Damn
it, Kylie, you make me feel like I've been asleep my whole life and
just now woken up. That includes each and every body
part.”