A Silent Terror (3 page)

“Then she surprised him. The room’s not trashed, because she fought him, he trashed it before she got there.” Tapping his chin, he looked at the papers but didn’t pick them up. “He wasn’t expecting anyone to be there.”

“Okay, so he broke in, started gathering his loot in the bedroom, was there maybe a couple of minutes when Suzanne walked in on him.”

Nodding, Ethan said, “She startled him and he grabbed her, she probably would have pulled back, maybe stumbled and fell, hitting her head? Or maybe he pushed her trying to get out of the room. I don’t know, just speculation, but…” he said, shrugging.

“But where was her car? The one in the driveway was registered to Marianna. And it was clean. No sign of a search or tampering.”

His gaze snapped up to hers. “You’re right. There was only Marianna’s car. The garage was empty.”

“Suzanne may not have owned one.”

“One way to find out.” A few taps onto the computer keyboard brought up a number of Suzanne Millers in the Spartanburg area. He scrolled down to the right one listing her address and clicked.

Suzanne’s pretty features as shown on her driver’s license filled the top right corner of the screen. Finding the area of the screen he wanted, he clicked again.

She owned a black Honda Accord. Glancing up at Catelyn, he pointed to the monitor. “Look.”

Catelyn looked at him. “So, what are you waiting for?” She glanced at the clock on the wall opposite his desk. “It’s twelve forty. I’ve got another appointment, but it’s plenty of time for you to be waiting on Marianna when she walks out of class. Actually, she’s probably at lunch. It’s Friday, so the buses start picking up the kids at one.” The residential school dismissed the students early on Friday because some of the kids had a four-to five-hour trip home. The drivers and attendants who staffed the buses stayed the weekend in whichever city was at the end of their route, then brought the students back on Sunday night.

“Yeah, I know the schedule.” Without another word, Ethan grabbed his coat and headed out the door.

Fifteen minutes later, he’d flashed his badge to the guard at the entrance and refused the offer of directions to the building called Governor’s Hall, the cafeteria where the students gathered each day to eat, then stand outside to wait for the buses. He knew the way.

Ethan now sat outside the building watching the end-of-day activity. Two high school boys tossed a football with one hand and signed back and forth with the other, talking in a language Ethan had done his best to forget, yet remembered with no trouble. Another young man stole a kiss from the girl he held hands with as they strolled up the hill toward the area where they would wait for the bus to pick them up. A group of elementary students crossed the street at the crosswalk, and a little girl about seven years old stooped to entice a cat to come to play until she was hurried on by the worker bringing up the rear.

Nothing changes, he thought. When his sister had been a student here a little over three years ago, the same two boys played football, the same couple held hands – everything was the same. Then he shook himself. Of course everything wasn’t the same, but it sure did bring back memories.

Memories that brought the pain of his sister’s death to the surface one more time, along with the resentment of his parents’ just moving on as if nothing had happened, as if his world hadn’t been ripped apart. A week after her funeral, his parents had left to tour Europe.

Sure, they’ d asked him to go with them, but he’d been shocked at their plans, had thought they were crazy, insensitive, unfeeling.

Forcing his thoughts from the past, he concentrated on watching for the one person he hadn’t been able to push from his mind.

Marianna Santino.

And then there she was. Coming out of the cafeteria, her heavy wool skirt swaying against her endless stretch of legs. The baby-blue, cable-knit sweater only enhanced her dark beauty. She had her raven-colored hair flowing around her shoulders and down her back, just as she had two days ago.

His palms suddenly itched, curious to feel what it would be like to let that hair flow through his fingers. Curling his traitorous hands into fists, he told himself to focus. He was here on a case, not a date.

And soon she would be gone from his sight. Where was she going? Climbing from his car, he followed her. She was on her BlackBerry, texting someone, her fingers flying over the keys. Totally focused on her task, she kept her head down, never looking left or right – not exactly the best defensive walk. But then she wasn’t the one who needed to be on the defensive; Suzanne was the one who’d been killed.

He wondered how Suzanne had walked. Probably like Marianna, completely unaware of her surroundings. The thought chilled him.

“Marianna!”

She didn’t turn. Instead, she flipped her phone shut, pulled open the glass door and slipped inside the building. Closing in fast, Ethan saw her enter the third classroom on the right.

Reaching the door, he entered after her. Her desk faced the door and she stood behind it, pulling a box from a drawer. “Marianna?” He moved farther into the room.

Looking up, she gasped. “Oh, Detective O’Hara.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. And it’s Ethan.”

“Ethan, then. And it’s all right.” She held up a shoebox. “I’d forgotten to give this to Josh to take home last Friday, and with all the craziness this week, I forgot to give it to him today. He loves to bring me computer parts each week. I believe in recycling, so I was just going to rush down to the bus pick-up area and give it to him.”

“Come on, I’ll drive you. I’ve got a few questions to ask if you don’t mind.”

She blew out a sigh, grief crossing her flawless features for a brief moment. She shut the drawer and walked around the side of the desk.

“I don’t mind. I can’t think of anything I haven’t already told you, but maybe your questions will jar something.”

Together, they walked back to his car, with Marianna greeting various staff and students along the way. When they reached his vehicle, he drove her around to the where the buses picked up the students and she hopped out. Ethan stayed put and watched her approach an on-duty staff member. She asked in sign language while voicing, “Cleo, has Josh already gone?”

Cleo signed back, “Yes, his bus left about five minutes ago.”

Marianna sighed, hands gracefully forming the words, “Oh well, it wasn’t anything major, just his box. I guess I’ll save it for next week.”

“You want me to keep it until Monday? I have to go back to my classroom anyway, so I don’t mind.”

“Sure, thanks.” Marianna handed over the box of treasures with a dimpled smile, then walked back to climb in Ethan’s car. “Do you want go up the street to the coffee shop to talk?”

“Sounds good to me.”

The sooner he got this investigation out of the way, the sooner he could start thinking about asking Marianna Santino out on a date.

Maybe. If he thought his heart could handle it.

Ice Cream and Coffee Beans, home to tasty milk shakes and fresh-brewed coffee. Sandwiches could be ordered, too. Marianna chose a peanut butter shake with whipped cream. Ethan decided on a chocolate one, sans the white topping, and a club sandwich.

A plain, no-frills kind of guy, she thought. Nice. He kept his beard trimmed close and his mustache neat. A well-shaped mouth with firm lips smiled at her through the facial hair. Sometimes it was hard to read the lips of people who hid them behind beards and mustaches, but not Ethan. He was an easy read. His lips anyway; his eyes were another story.

He said, “I can’t believe you went to work today.”

Taking a sip of her milk shake, she relished the sweet richness on her tongue for a minute before swallowing. “I had to.” She leaned back against the booth. “I love my parents, and my mom would like nothing better than for me to come home on a permanent basis, but one day was enough.” She gave a wry smile. “And Joseph was driving me nuts.”

“Your brother?”

She nodded, admiring the breadth of his shoulders, the strength that he exuded. “He’s an FBI agent who works in New York. He works a lot of missing person cases. It’s the first time he’s been home in almost a year, and he gets confronted with this. I told him to stay out of it, but don’t be surprised if you get regular calls for updates from him.”

“Not a problem.”

Sucking in a deep breath, she asked, “So, what kind of questions did you have?”

“Catelyn and I were hashing over the case and we realized there was only one car in the driveway – yours. Where’s Suzanne’s?”

Marianna furrowed her brow. “Oh, I’d forgotten all about that. It’s in the shop getting new brake pads. She was supposed to pick it up yesterday. Since we live so close to my school, I let her use my car to drive to work and I just walked.” She rubbed a hand across a forehead that was beginning to ache. “I’ll have to call her parents and let them know to go get it.”

“I’ll take care of that. I also called Suzanne’s school. They said she arrived on time Tuesday morning and signed in but left early because she was sick. We do know that she signed out at four minutes after ten. Assuming she didn’t stop anywhere because she felt bad and wanted to get home and go to bed, I think it’s safe to say she probably arrived home around ten-fifteen. The murder happened shortly after that.”

Grief cut into Marianna. She didn’t want to think about it anymore but was determined to do whatever it took to catch Suzanne’s killer.

Running a hand over her hair, she smoothed it down around her ears, a habit she’d picked up two years ago. Curt Wentworth, her ex-boyfriend, hadn’t wanted to see her hearing aids. They made him self-conscious and uncomfortable. Which was really strange, since he’d chosen audiology as a profession. She hadn’t realized until too late that his constant stroking of her hair hadn’t been out of affection; he’d been covering up her hearing aids. Marianna sighed. No use thinking about him.

Forcing her thoughts away from Curt’s unpleasant memory, she focused on an awful thought. “So, Suzanne came home sick and walked in on a burglary. He killed her and ran.”

“That’s what it looks like.”

Tears choked her, blurring her vision. She blinked, refusing to let the endless tears fall. “She should have stayed at work,” she whispered.

His hand covered hers, and she shivered at the contact. It had been a long time since she’d been attracted to a man; she had been a little gun-shy since she and Curt had broken up six months ago. Her surprising feelings scared her and yet…

She watched his mouth and focused on his words. “Yes, if she had she would probably be alive. But, she didn’t and…” he sighed, then looked up at her. “Was Suzanne a Christian?”

That question startled her. “Yes, she was.”

“Then there’s comfort in that, right?”

Marianna relaxed a fraction but nodded and offered a feeble smile “Yes, of course, but I, and everyone else who loved her, will miss her.” Tears gathered again. She sniffed, grabbing up the napkin with her free hand to dab her eyes.

“I know.” His fingers squeezed. Marianna started at the tingle that raced up her arm. Trying to be discreet, she pulled her hand from his and picked up her milk shake. The sparkle in his eye said she hadn’t fooled him.

But now wasn’t the time to pursue the mutual attraction. Marianna had a funeral to attend, and Ethan had a murder to solve.

Feet thudded against the stairs, phones rang, voices raised in argument filled the air. The person seated at the desk ignored the chaos coming from the room to the right. “Where have you been?” Tense fingers gripped the phone as the frantic voice shook, wobbled, fought for control and said, “I had things to take care of. The girl’s dead. She surprised me. I didn’t mean to kill her. She fought back and I pushed her….”

“Do you know what you’ve put me through having to explain your absence? Look…never mind. So, you didn’t find it.”

“No.” Harsh, frantic breathing.

“Calm down. We have to have it. If the wrong people get their hands on that…everything we’ve worked so hard for is down the toilet.” A string of curses rent the air.

“I know, I know. But she probably doesn’t even realize what she has.”

“Doesn’t matter. If she looks at it…”

“I can’t do this. If anyone finds out, if I get caught, our careers are finished. I can’t believe this. I never meant for…” A frustrated sigh sounded, then, “Let someone else do it. I can’t.”

“Are you crazy? The last thing we need is someone else involved.

Right now, the only people who know about this are you and me. We need to keep it that way. This is your fault. If I have to come up there and take care of this…”

“I know, I know. Maybe I should just go to the police…explain that it was an accident.”

A harsh laugh echoed. “What fantasy world are you living in? Now, quit being a wimp and fix it.”

“No way. I’m out. You fix it. Tonight.”

Thunder rumbled, shaking the air surrounding the mourners who’d come to the afternoon funeral to say goodbye to Suzanne Miller.

Thankfully, heavy rain continued to hold off, but Marianna knew it wouldn’t hold much longer. The fine mist they’ d started the service with had progressed to a steady drizzle; soon it would be a downpour. She clutched the curved handle of her umbrella and scanned the crowd.

She spotted Ethan and Catelyn a few yards away, looking alert and watching those gathered. Their diligent surveillance sent a shiver crawling up her spine to settle at the base of her neck.

The minister spoke but she couldn’t see his face clearly through the sea of shifting heads and the service wasn’t interpreted, so Marianna couldn’t actually understand much of anything being said. Which gave her time to focus on the people.

She knew a lot of them, their sad faces grabbing her heart. But it was Suzanne’s parents who speared her emotions and clogged her throat with tears yet again. Unmitigated grief, stunned disbelief and rampant rage alternated across their faces. Marianna could relate.

She hoped they’ d gotten everything they’ d wanted from the house this morning. Suzanne hadn’t had a lot of things and as soon as the police had cleared the scene, her family had wanted to gather the last of their loved one’s items.