A Spirited Gift (21 page)

“I admit I was surprised to hear there was a murder out here in little Duck. Once I knew, I had to come out. Ronnie doesn't have all the resources he needs to handle something like this by himself. We don't want to call in the SBI for every little thing, do we? We can handle this locally just fine.”

“I'm glad to hear that.”

“What's the powwow back here about? Trouble with the soup?” Sheriff Riley laughed and nodded at Kevin. “Smells good, whatever it is, Brickman. Can't wait for lunch.”

“I was just discussing the program with the mayor,” Chief Michaels said, hitching up his pants. “I thought it would be good for her to know what's going on.”

Sheriff Riley nodded. “Yep. That probably would be good—if she wasn't as much of a suspect as the other mayors here. Not that I mean any disrespect by that, Dae.”

“No, of course not.”

“Maybe it would be best for her to write down where she was in the hotel at the time Mayor Foxx was killed. And what she was doing, of course.”

It was one thing for Chief Michaels to call me on the carpet for coaching suspects—it was another if I was going to be one of those suspects.

“You both realize that everyone was in the lobby at the time Sandi was killed, right?” I asked. “Everyone except Sandi and the killer. Obviously Sandi can't tell us what happened, and I doubt the killer is going to say he or she wasn't in the lobby with everyone else. Maybe you should ask everyone who they saw around them at the time. That might make more sense.”

Sheriff Riley laughed. “That's a good idea. I wish I'd thought of that. Ronnie, let's ask that when we interview each person. And since Dae brought it up, let's ask her first. Who was around you in the lobby during the storm, Mayor?”

Chapter 25

I thought back to the storm raging around us. “Kevin was there and Nancy Boidyn, our town clerk. I saw Althea Hinson and Barbara. They were with me.”

“Maybe we could cut through the chatter and get to the heart of it,” Chief Michaels said abruptly. “Did you see Matthew Wright?”

“No. Not until later. But there were a lot of people here. I couldn't see everyone.”

“Thank you, Mayor,” Chief Michaels said, scribbling my words into his notebook. “That's really all we need to know.”

I was dismissed after the chief reminded me not to “help” the other suspects. I wondered if Matthew Wright had arrived yet. He was bound to realize that he was the prime suspect. I was pretty sure the rest of the questioning was just to say they'd done it.

I went over to where Kevin was laying out dough for yeast rolls. I knew he'd been listening to the whole thing. “What do you think?”

“I'd hate to be Matthew Wright.”

His hands moved quickly and efficiently through the motions of making rolls of dough the right size then covering them with melted butter. He put the trays of rolls into the oven to rise and closed the door.

“Could I talk to you for a minute?” I asked. “I know you're busy—”

“Sure.” He gave directions to his assistants after he washed his hands. “Let's go in the bridal suite. I don't think anyone's in there.”

He was right—it had to be the only empty place at the inn. He sat down in one of the old-fashioned white chairs and waited for me to start. I paced a few times, realizing that this was probably the first place Rafe had haunted me—I just hadn't seen him.

Finally I said, “I need your help.”

“You didn't murder Sandi Foxx, did you?”

“No! Of course not.”

He relaxed in the chair. “Okay. What do you need?”

I couldn't look at him as I explained about my father. I told him how I'd found out where he worked and how I'd hung out there a few times. I told him about the wreck and about finding Danny by the trash bin and letting him stay in Missing Pieces.

I was relieved when it was over. I sat down in the matching old-fashioned white chair and waited for him to say something.

“I'm not surprised,” he said. “You found out you have a father. You wouldn't be human if you didn't wonder about him. I'm not sure about letting him stay at the shop—”

I got up and started pacing again. “I didn't know what else to do. You have all this damage and Duck doesn't have a homeless shelter. I couldn't take him home and introduce him to Gramps—”

“That was my next question.”

“No. I haven't told him.” I explained what Danny had said about why he and my mother broke up. “I confronted Gramps with it. I think he lied to me again.”

Kevin sat forward and took my hands, his gray-blue eyes worried. “You've only known your father for a short time, Dae. You've known Horace all your life. I'm sure whatever he did all those years ago felt justified at the time. What action do you take when you find out your daughter is pregnant and the father has been in and out of trouble his whole life? Multiply that answer times one hundred—that's for being sheriff.”

“That's about what he said.”

“So you let your father stay at Missing Pieces. Did he steal something?”

“No.” I lied looking right into his eyes. “He got arrested.”

I explained about Tim finding him in Missing Pieces and taking him to Manteo. “I have to get him out. He wasn't doing anything wrong. Tim misunderstood. But I couldn't get in the garage.”

“You need a ride.” He nodded. “I was wondering why you'd decided to come clean now. I should've known you needed something.”

“It's not like that, Kevin. I didn't want to explain what I was doing to anyone. I needed to understand it myself.”

“Do you understand it now?”

“Not really,” I admitted with a smile. “You're right. I wouldn't have told you yet if I didn't need you. I'm sorry. If it makes you feel any better, no one else knows either.”

“It doesn't make me feel any better that you've been hanging out at a sleazy bar alone, trying to decide if you should introduce yourself to your father. You could've gotten in trouble.”

It suddenly occurred to me that he knew too much. “I never said it was a bar! You
knew
. Did you follow me or something? Is that once an FBI agent always an FBI agent? Did you say anything to Gramps?”

“I didn't tell your grandfather. I was worried about you, that's all. I knew you wouldn't be able to resist checking up on your father. I just wanted to be there if you needed help.”

We stared at each other for a few seconds. I supposed I couldn't be too upset with him. Neither of us had actually lied to the other—it was more a sin of omission. Next time I'd have to remember to ask if he was following me.

“I'm sorry,” I said. “I should've told you. Then you could've told me you were following me and we could've gone to the sleazy bar together.”

“I'm sorry too. I should've told you sooner that I knew what you were up to.” He smiled. “So? What's he like? Is Danny Evans every girl's dream father?”

“Hardly. He's not like anyone's father I've ever known. But he's probably never been anyone's real father either.”

“You haven't told him, have you? He doesn't know he's your father.”

“Not yet. But I plan to. He recognized my name, of course. And he remembers my mom. He said I look just like her. He knows I'm her daughter—but not his. I'm not ready to tell him yet.”

“But you trusted him enough to let him stay at Missing Pieces. You know he's done everything from con games to breaking and entering. You may be letting the fact that he's your father overshadow who he really is.”

“I know.”

“For someone who seems so upfront about everything—you have a lot of layers.”

“Yeah,” I joked. “They used to call me Onion Head when I was a kid.”

The remark didn't get the laugh I was hoping for. “Nothing happened, Kevin. It's not like he's a criminal or something—”

“You mean at least not right now?”

“I just need some time before I spring it on him that he has a daughter.”

“What about your grandfather?”

“I need some time for him too. I don't know how he's going to take it when he finds out.” I told him about Gramps giving my father money and threatening him to get him to leave.

“Okay. I can see it's a delicate matter. Let me change my clothes and we'll go.”

“Thanks.” I hugged him. “I knew I could count on you.”

“Really? That's why you didn't tell me about it sooner?”

I sighed. It was going to be a long drive to Manteo.

Chapter 26

As we drove to the county jail, I was amazed all over again at all the damage the storm had done. No matter how many times I saw the aftermath, I was still struck by the awesome power of the wind and sea. A real hurricane would've been much worse—but the damage to homes and business property, not to mention house-size piles of rubble and garbage, was bad enough. I was just glad no one had been reported seriously injured or dead—besides Sandi, of course.

And that was a different story. I hoped the police would figure it out quickly. The longer people were left to wonder who the murderer was, the worse it would be for Duck. I hated to be part of the crowd wishing Matthew Wright had killed Sandi because he couldn't break up with her, but it would be better news for the residents of Duck if that were the case.

In the meantime, I had to focus on getting my father out of jail.

“I don't think they'll let you take him home because you give them a big smile,” Kevin said as he parked his pickup in the Dare County municipal parking lot.

“I don't see why not,” I argued. “He didn't do anything wrong. Tim misunderstood the situation.”

“You probably should have brought Tim with you. As arresting officer—if he agreed with you, it would be much easier.”

“You're probably right. But that would've meant telling Tim who he was. By tonight, everyone in Duck would know my father was sleeping at the shop. I was trying to avoid that.”

“Let's see what we can do.” He opened the door and took my hand as we walked across the parking lot. “Maybe you'll get lucky. It seems to me that your father has already run into a streak of luck by meeting you.”

“I don't know if he'll feel that way, since he's lost everything. I don't really know what he's like, Kevin. But I know he was going to sleep behind the trash bin. No one should be down that low.”

He kissed my forehead. “You're a very good person, Dae. I hope you won't let him take advantage of you.”

“I'm sure
you
won't let him—you seem to follow me everywhere. Just stop him before that happens.”

“I wish I could.” He opened the glass door that was still sporting large masking tape X's to protect it from the storm.

The county jail was bustling with hundreds of people. They all seemed to be going in different directions. The woman at the front desk looked especially harried—there was a pencil stuck almost straight up in her dark hair and a long pen streak on one cheek.

“I can't do what you're asking,” she told me. “But lucky for you, the assistant DA is here, and she can probably help you. Lord knows we need to get some of these people out of here. The state will shut us down if they find out how many inmates we have right now.”

She pointed to a door down the hall on the right. Kevin and I continued our search there. I knocked on the door labeled “Conference Room,” and when there was no answer, I opened it and went inside.

People were lined up wall to wall waiting to talk with a diminutive woman in a navy blue suit who was seated at a long table. There were so many briefcases—probably one for every lawyer present—they could've opened a luggage store.