Murder.Com (36 page)

     
Sandy hung up the phone and glanced at Angie.
 
"Do you mind if Ken comes over?"

     
"No, of course not."
 
Angie studied Sandy's face.
 
"Are you going home with him?"

     
She bit her lower lip.
 
"I don't know, but I'm sure he'll want me to."

     
Angie walked over and put an arm around Sandy's shoulders, giving her a hug.
 
"Wait until you see and talk to him.
 
Then make a decision.
 
But I have a feeling you'll see the old Ken again."

     
"How I pray you're right.
 
I've been so worried."

     
"We have no way of knowing how these accusations have affected Ken.
 
And it still might be best that you stay here for another day or two.
 
But, I'm leaving that up to you.
 
You know you're welcome."

     
Marty came into the study.
 
"Excuse me, Mrs. Nevers.
 
How much longer do you want to hold dinner?"

     
Angie glanced at Sandy.
 
"Do you think Ken would like to eat with us?
 
It doesn't look like Tom is going to make it back."

     
"I'm sure he'd enjoy it very much."

     
"Give us another ten minutes."

     
Marty nodded and left.

*****

     
Ken felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
 
Sandy's voice alone had reassured him, but the news she brought made him feel exuberant.
 
He pledged to himself and God above that he would never strike his wife or daughters again.
 
He prayed for words that would convince Sandy of his promise so she'd come home.

     
When Ken pulled up to the Nevers' property and gave his name, the officer looked at him suspiciously.

     
"It's okay, Officer.
 
Just contact Mrs. Nevers.
 
She'll confirm I'm expected."

     
The officer didn't take his eyes off Ken as he dialed the house.
 
Then he stood in the center of the road watching Ken drive toward the house as the gates slowly closed.
 
Suddenly, a small car screeched past him, the bumper clipping his leg as it slipped through the small opening.
 
Crying out in agony, the officer fell to the ground.

Chapter Thirty-two

     
His mind elsewhere, Ken almost didn't see the car that sped past him as he crested the hill.
 
"What the hell?"
 
Hitting the accelerator, he followed the vehicle to the house, pulling up sharply behind it.

     
He jumped out and started toward the Toyota.
 
But, to his amazement, a tall blond woman leaped from the driver's seat.
 
Grabbing her arm, he whirled her around, then stood mesmerized as he gazed into her eyes.
 
"Dear God!"
 
He loosened his grip on her arm and stepped back.
 
"Who are you?"

     
"Melinda Smith, so what's it to you?"

     
A tree nearby rustled in the breeze and Ken didn't realize a branch had cast a shadow across his face so that Melinda couldn't see his eyes.
 
She turned on her heel and hurried up the stairs to the big house.
 
An uneasy feeling cut through Ken that Sandy might have called her.
 
He followed close behind.

     
When Angie opened the door, sheer shock crossed her face.
 
"How'd you get in here?
 
I'm calling the police."
 
Then she spotted Ken standing behind Melinda.
 
"Did you bring her here?"

     
He stepped forward.
 
"No, she sped past me on the road."

     
Sandy rushed up behind Angie, but stopped abruptly, putting a hand to her mouth.

     
Ken pushed past Melinda to Sandy's side and put an arm around her shoulders.
 
"Did you ask her to come?"

     
She shook her head.

     
Ken stared into Melinda's face.
 
"Why are you here?"

     
She looked at Ken and sucked in her breath, her face turned ashen. "Who are you?"

     
"I'm Ken Weber and this is my wife Sandy."

     
"Do you know Marty Casale?"

     
"Yes."

     
At that moment, two police cars, lights flashing and sirens wailing, appeared over the crest.

*****

     
Tom left Cliff with the responsibility of getting the shawl sent to the lab and headed back to the Nevers' place.
 
At the gate, he found emergency vehicles with lights flashing.
 
He jumped out of his car just as they were loading an officer into the ambulance.

     
"What the hell happened?"

     
"It's not life-threatening, but looks like a bad injury to the hip area."
 
After the paramedics filled him in on the incident, Tom jumped back into his car and sped toward the house.
 
Who would force their way onto the property?

     
When Tom reached the house, two police cars were parked in front, their top lights still blinking.
 
A congregation of people stood on the porch.
 
Two officers stood on each side of a tall blond woman.
 
"Melinda," he muttered, running up the steps.

     
Angie met him as he hit the landing.
 
"Tom, what happened at the gate?

     
"Melinda forced her way in and bounced the officer off her fender.

     
"Is he all right?"

     
"Looks like a hip injury, but he'll be okay."
 
Tom pointed at Melinda.
 
"Why did she want in here so bad?"

     
"I'm not sure," Angie said.

     
Marty stood behind them, wringing her hands.

     
"I can only think of one thing, that she wanted to pump either me or Marty about her father.
 
But the shocked look on her face when she saw Ken tells me she got her answer."

     
"Well, I don't think you're going to have to worry about her bothering you anymore.
 
This hit-and-run stunt will probably cost her jail time."

     
The group watched silently as the officers snapped the handcuffs onto Melinda's wrists and marched her off to the police car.

     
Marty wiped the corner of her eyes with her apron and disappeared into the house.
 
Angie motioned for everyone to come inside.
 
They congregated in the study and Tom stepped behind the wet bar.

     
"This has been quite a night.
 
Anyone care for a drink?"

     
After Tom prepared cocktails for everyone, he raised his glass high.
 
"To you, Ken.
 
Welcome back."

     
Ken smiled and lifted his glass.
 
"To you, Tom, for helping me out of a big mess."

     
About that time, Marty poked her head inside the study door.
 
"If I have to warm this dinner up again, it won't be worth eating."

     
Everyone laughed and proceeded to the dining room table.
 
During dinner, Angie turned to Tom.
 
"What did Sandy do this afternoon that made you leave so quickly?"

     
Tom put his fork down and dabbed his mouth with a napkin.
 
"I can't tell you until I have proof my hunch is right.
 
However, I will tell you that something had nagged me for days and I couldn't put my finger on it until this afternoon."

     
Angie rolled her eyes.
 
"Oh, thanks.
 
That really told us a lot."

     
Tom laughed.
 
"In a few days I'll be able to tell you more."

*****

     
The next day, Tom walked into the small room at the police station that had been set aside for William Bird to work on Autumn Conners' computer.
 
He found the man hunched over the keyboard with a furrowed brow.

     
"Problems?"

     
Bird glanced up and slumped back in the chair, tapping his pencil on the desk. "Damn.
 
Whoever locked these files didn't intend anyone to get into them.
 
Can you tell me something about this person? Maybe it will give me a hint."

     
Tom scooted a chair up to the desk and related all he knew about Autumn, except her name.
 
Bird raised his brows when Tom told him about her computer knowledge, where she'd graduated from college and what year.
 
"Does any of this information help?"

     
"Yes, definitely.
 
Check back with me in a couple of hours.
 
I want to try a different approach."

     
Tom went back to his office and found Cliff thumbing through the Conners murder file.

     
Cliff glanced up.
 
"How's the computer guy doing?"

     
"Hit a brick wall.
 
Can't get those files open."

     
"Figures.
 
I did a background check on Mrs. Conners."

     
Tom took off his jacket and draped it across the back of the chair.
 
"Yeah?
   
What'd you come up with?"

     
"That little lady is no slouch when it comes to computers.
 
And I might add, she has a good knowledge of guns.
 
More so than her husband in both subjects."

     
His interest piqued, Tom sat down.
 
"Tell me."

     
"I reached one of her professors in college.
 
He told me that she developed a system for locking files on a computer that no one could break.
 
The class tried to get her to confess the secret, but she never did.
 
She got cocky and figured she had the computer game whipped.
 
The professor tried to convince her to keep working at perfecting the system she'd designed, but she felt it wouldn't be necessary, that no one would be able to break her code."

     
"Yeah, Bird's discovered that."

     
"Think he'll be able to break it?"

     
"Only time will tell.
 
Now, what about the gun thing?"

     
"Turns out she applied for the tryouts on the Olympic shooting team."

     
Tom screwed up his mouth.
 
"Autumn Conners?
 
You're kidding."

     
"Nope."
 
He pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket.
 
"Five years ago."

     
"How did she qualify?"

     
"When she was a kid, her dad used to take her shooting.
 
Had her in all kinds of gun classes.
 
She always finished as the number one marksman.
 
A title she hated.
 
Said it should be called 'markswoman.'"

     
Tom nodded.
 
"Figures."

     
"Another little interesting tidbit.
 
Finally found an acquaintance of Autumn Conners.
 
She asked me not to call her a friend, as she didn't care for the woman.
 
About six months ago, she said Autumn jokingly told her that she and Ryan were going to get what they deserved from the Nevers company, even if it meant murder."

     
"What a strange thing to say to a friend."