Natural-Born Protector / Saved by the Monarch (9 page)

He frowned. “Are you suggesting that Fred—”

“No, of course not,” she said, cutting him off. “Fred’s never been in Lainie’s apartment, and I saw Fred’s ring just the other day. My mother is wearing it around her neck.” She rolled her eyes at his quizzical look. “Don’t ask. Anyway, I think the stone is from a Maple Park College ring, and I think when the killer was beating Lainie it flew out.”

Once again Hank looked at the stone in the plastic bag. It was about the size to have come from a ring. “Are you sure it isn’t something that came from some piece of jewelry that belonged to your sister?”

“I’m sure. Lainie wasn’t a jewelry kind of woman. She wore a single silver band on one finger, but didn’t care for any other jewelry. If that’s what I believe it is, then we know the killer had a ring from Maple Park and he probably attended the college.”

He hated to douse the shine in her eyes, didn’t want to tell her that the stone could have been lodged in that wastebasket for months. “We need to take it to Zack and let him decide what it is and if it’s important to the investigation.”

She nodded and began to pace on the light gray throw rug in front of the coffee table. “I’ll take it to Zack, then I’m going to go out to the college to spend the afternoon looking at yearbooks. I can make a list of men I recognize from town who attended the school and maybe on that list will be our killer.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he agreed and consciously
didn’t offer to go with her or to help. He couldn’t imagine that she’d be in any danger on a college campus and she’d certainly be safe driving as far as from here to the sheriff’s office. It was time to seek that distance from her, time to slowly cut her out of his life.

She took the plastic bag from him. “I’ll let you know what I find out.” She gave him a smile that exploded warmth in his groin. “I think we’re closer, Hank. I think we’re getting closer to the man who killed Lainie.”

With those words she turned and left his town house. He moved to the window that looked over the parking lot. A moment later she burst into the sunshine and headed toward her car.

Her hips swung with just enough rhythm to heat his blood. Her purse was slung over her shoulder and she carried a white wicker basket he assumed had held the stone before she’d found it.

He watched her until she reached her car and slid in behind the steering wheel. He continued to watch as she pulled out of the parking space and headed out of the complex lot.

He was about to turn away from the window when he noticed another car pulling out just after her. He narrowed his gaze and focused on the driver. A small gasp escaped him. The driver looked like James O’Donnell. Hank’s blood turned to ice as he raced to grab his keys. What in the hell was James O’Donnell doing following Melody?

M
elody pulled into the space in front of the sheriff’s office, excitement winging through her. She had no illusions. Finding the killer had proven difficult so far. But surely this would help. At least it was a piece of the puzzle. It was time they finally got a break in the case.

She got out of the car and grabbed the wicker basket from the seat next to her. Her heart beat hard and fast as she approached the brick building that housed the sheriff’s office.

A hand fell on her shoulder and she gasped and whirled around to see Hank. His features were set in grim determination as he grabbed her by the arm, his gaze narrowed as he eyed the street.

“Hank! What are you doing here?”

“Don’t you look in your rearview mirror? Don’t you
pay attention to your surroundings?” Irritation made each word bitingly short.

“What are you talking about?” she asked. She pulled her arm from his too-tight grasp.

“James O’Donnell. That’s what I’m talking about.” A muscle ticked in the side of his jaw. “He followed you out of the town house parking lot.”

Melody swallowed a gasp of surprise. She hadn’t noticed anyone following her. “What was he doing there?”

“Your guess is as good as mine, but I can promise you he had no business there and he definitely had no business following you.”

She looked around the streets. “Where is he now?”

“He drove on when you pulled in here. I think he saw me in his rearview mirror.” He grabbed her arm once again. “Come on, let’s get inside and talk to Zack.”

It was obvious he was irritated and Melody wasn’t sure why his ire seemed to be directed at her. “Look, I’m here, I’m fine and James is gone. There’s no reason for you to bother coming in.”

“I’m coming in,” he said in a tone that brooked no argument. He opened the door to the office and pulled her through as if she were a reluctant witness. “We need to speak to Zack,” he said to the woman behind the front desk.

She flipped a thumb toward a nearby doorway. “He’s in there.” Hank knocked quickly then opened the door.

“Can we talk to you, Zack?” he asked.

Zack stood up from his desk and gestured the two of them into seats in front of him. “What’s up?” He eased back down as they both sat.

Melody leaned forward and placed the wicker basket in the center of his desk. “This is from the bathroom where Lainie was killed.” She explained to him about cleaning the bathroom and finding the small blue stone wedged in the wicker.

Zack took the plastic bag containing the stone from her and eyed it closely. “It’s evidence, isn’t it?” she asked eagerly.

“I don’t know what it is,” he said thoughtfully. “But I’ll take it and check it out. I can’t believe my deputies missed this when they went over the scene.” His jaw tightened. “Since I took over as sheriff, I’ve discovered a lot of carelessness. Jim Ramsey didn’t run a tight ship, but I’m changing things. Whoever overlooked this will answer to me.”

Melody quickly told him her theory that it had come from a Maple Park College ring, that it might have shot out of the ring when the killer was beating Lainie. Zack listened patiently and promised to follow up.

Melody didn’t mention that she intended to do a little follow-up on her own. She started to rise, but sat back down when Hank showed no intention of leaving.

“James O’Donnell was in the parking lot of the town houses a little while ago and followed Melody as she left,” Hank said. “He seems to be as interested in Melody as he was in her sister.”

“Unfortunately, I can’t do anything about him just happening to be behind Melody as she drove away from her place,” Zack replied. He directed his gaze to her. “This is why it’s not a good idea for you to go off half-cocked asking questions.”

“It’s possible James was visiting somebody in the town houses and just happened to leave at the same time I did,” Melody said in an attempt to ease what felt like a sudden tension between Hank and Zack.

“Yeah, and it’s possible I’m going to run buck naked down Main Street at noon tomorrow,” Hank returned dryly.

“I’d sell tickets to that event,” Zack said with a slow smile that seemed to dispel the tension.

He leaned back in his chair and sighed, his gaze lingering on Melody. “You know, you do look a lot like your sister.” He frowned thoughtfully and exchanged a dark glance with Hank. “I’ll have a little chat with James.”

Hank nodded. “I’d appreciate it.” He stood up and Melody followed suit.

“Is it possible James’s mother lied about him being home the night of Lainie’s murder?” she asked.

“Anything is possible,” Zack conceded. “Trust me, James O’Donnell is at the top of our suspect list. But suspecting and proving are two different things and at the moment we have nothing to prove that he’s guilty. Stay away from him, Melody. My advice to you this afternoon is the same as it was this morning. Get back to your life and let us take care of the murder investigation.”

“I know it’s James O’Donnell,” Melody said to Hank as they walked back out into the afternoon sunshine. “The man looks like a murderer.” She fought a shiver as she thought of the way James had looked at her the night before in the video store.

“Do me a favor.” Hank’s features were stern in the
bright light of the day. “Go home. Go back to the town house and stay inside where you’re safe. You’ve had a warning phone call and a brick thrown through your window. You’ve been put on notice that somebody isn’t happy with you.”

Melody heard the exhaustion in his words. She suddenly realized how much she’d been depending on him. No, taking advantage of him. She’d bothered him in the middle of the night, had kept him up late almost every night that they’d been together.

“Hank, I’m so sorry. I’ve been taking advantage of your kindness.”

His features relaxed a bit. “I just think maybe it would be best if you’d keep a low profile for a day or two.”

“Okay, I can do that,” she agreed, her mind spinning on how she could accomplish what she wanted to from the confines of the town house.

“Good. I’ll follow you back home.”

Minutes later, as she drove home with Hank’s car behind her, she wondered what might have happened if Hank hadn’t seen James following her.

If James had been obsessed with Lainie, was it possible that obsession had been transferred to her? Would James have found a way to confront her? Would he want to hurt her as she suspected he’d hurt Lainie?

For the first time she realized the gravity of what she’d been doing. She was chasing a man who had killed before and probably wouldn’t hesitate to kill again to protect himself.

She didn’t intend to stop trying to hunt down the person who had taken Lainie away from her, but she
knew that Hank was right. She needed to take a couple of days and keep a low profile.

While she was unwavering in her desire to catch the killer, she wasn’t a complete fool. The phone call and the brick through the window told her she’d already stirred up a hornet’s nest. It wouldn’t hurt to let things cool down a trifle.

“Would you and Maddie like to come over for dinner tonight?” she asked Hank as they walked side by side into the building.

“Sorry, we’ve got plans for tonight.” He paused at her doorway and again she felt a distance emanating from him.

“No problem,” she said with forced lightness. “I guess I’ll just see you in the next day or two.” She turned to unlock her door.

“Melody, I’d really like you to take a couple days off investigating and stay inside, but if you have to go someplace, call me.” The hard gleam in his eyes softened. “I don’t want you running around town without your bodyguard.”

“Okay. I promise at least for the rest of today and tomorrow I’ll work inside.”

He nodded and without another word walked down the hallway to his door. Melody entered the apartment and went directly to the window, looking for any sign of James O’Donnell lurking around. But as far as she could tell he was nowhere to be seen.

She’d intended to go to Maple Park College and look through the yearbooks for alumni. She hoped some of that work could be done by computer. Surely there was
an alumni site of some kind or a message board she could check out. If worse came to worst, she’d call and order yearbooks and have them delivered to her door.

Lainie usually dated men around her own age and she figured if she ordered three or four years of yearbooks, she could at least check to see if James had attended the college.

She was surprised to discover that she dreaded the night to come—a night spent alone. Hank’s subtle withdrawal rammed home the point that he was a comrade in seeking Lainie’s killer, a man she’d found passion with for a single night, but nothing more.

On impulse she called her mother and invited her and Fred over for coffee that evening. “Nothing fancy,” she told Rita. “Just coffee and store-bought cookies.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Rita exclaimed and sounded ridiculously pleased by the offer, which made Melody realize she’d been neglecting her for the past couple of days.

The afternoon flew by as Melody surfed the Web, surprised to discover that Maple Park College did, indeed, have an alumni site that was a busy place.

The message boards alone kept her busy for several hours. At dinnertime she stopped only long enough to make herself a sandwich and ate it while working on the computer. Her excitement peaked as she discovered James O’Donnell had been a student at the college. Of course, that didn’t mean he’d bought a school ring.

Dean Lucas had also attended the college. But Dean Lucas hadn’t looked at her with those reptilian black eyes. Dean hadn’t been obsessed with Lainie to the
point of Lainie talking about needing a restraining order against him.

Her next course of action would be to check the jewelry stores in town to see if anyone had brought in a class ring to be repaired. She’d talk to Hank about it tomorrow.

She shut down the computer and wondered what Hank’s plans were for the evening. Had he really had something to do, someplace to go, or had he been blowing her off? Tired of his impulsive offer to play bodyguard to her? Tired of her company?

At six o’clock her mother arrived alone. “Fred sends his regrets,” Rita said as she kissed Melody’s cheek. “He has a strip mall on the west edge of town having a grand opening next week and some problems have come up. He had to meet with the owner this evening.”

“Then it will be just us girls,” Melody replied and gave her mother a hug before leading her into the kitchen.

“Have you arranged for a Realtor yet?” Rita asked once she was settled at the table and Melody had poured their coffee.

“Not yet,” she admitted. “I’ve still got the living room and kitchen to pack up, then I figure I’ll call somebody to put it on the market.”

“Don’t wait too long. Fred says the market here in town is hot right now, but you never know when it will cool.” Rita reached for one of the cookies on a platter in the center of the table.

For the next thirty minutes they chatted about inconsequential things. Rita talked about her latest beauty shop appointment and how she didn’t like the way they’d done her hair. They spoke about Rita’s upcoming
birthday, and as always she insisted she didn’t want anyone to go to any bother about presents or a party.

“I’ve heard through the grapevine that you’ve been seeing quite a bit of Hank Tyler and his little girl,” Rita said and reached for a second cookie. Although she gazed at Melody perfectly innocently, Melody felt hope radiating from her.

“Don’t look at me that way. It’s nothing,” Melody replied hurriedly. She didn’t want her mother to think there was anything there. “Hank and I have just become friendly as temporary neighbors.”

The smile on Rita’s face faltered slightly. “Oh, I was hoping maybe…” She allowed the rest of the sentence to trail off. “Maddie’s such a little doll, and I believe the term you young people use these days for a man like Hank is that he’s a hottie.”

Melody laughed. “Okay, I’ll admit he’s hot, but seriously, we’re just friends. Mom, someday I’ll find my prince,” she said. “But, trust me, it’s not Hank Tyler. And speaking of princes, when are you going to put Fred out of his misery and marry him?”

Rita touched the ring hanging beneath her dress. “I don’t know. Part of me thinks that after all this time being together, getting married is rather silly.”

“But it would make Fred happy,” Melody said softly. “Let me see that going-steady ring again.”

Rita pulled the necklace out from beneath her dress and Melody leaned forward to get a better look at the stone in the ring.

The size, shape and color looked exactly like the stone she’d found in the basket. She told her mother
about the stone she’d taken in to Zack West. “It could be a clue,” she exclaimed. “It’s possible it might lead us right to Lainie’s killer.”

“Oh, honey, why are you involving yourself in this? Go back to Chicago, Melody,” Rita said and reached across the table to take Melody’s hand in hers. “Go back and do your job and meet a nice man. Give me some grandkids and build a wonderful life for yourself.”

“I will, Mom,” Melody said. “Eventually I’ll go back.”

“Not eventually. Now.” Rita squeezed Melody’s hand. “You filled each and every one of Lainie’s needs from the day you were born. Now it’s time you meet your own needs.”

Melody pulled her hand away from her mother’s. “And I will,” she agreed. She leaned back in the chair. “I can’t explain it, Mom. But…I still feel Lainie all around me, and she still needs me. She needs me to help find out what happened to her.”

Rita’s eyes grew misty. “Sometimes in the middle of the night, I wake up and I think I hear her calling me like when she was a little girl.”

“Maybe it’s time you got on with your life,” Melody said. “If you want to marry Fred, then for goodness’ sakes, do it. You’ve certainly waited long enough. You can get married then come and honeymoon in Chicago and visit me.”

The mist in Rita’s eyes disappeared. “That would be nice, wouldn’t it?” She touched the ring on the necklace around her neck and she frowned thoughtfully. “It’s ridiculous, I don’t know what’s holding me back. Fred has been a source of support for a long time.”