Midnight Secrets (32 page)

“That’s the problem. He’s really vague about things. Apparently he had doubts that it went down the way they said and started asking questions. I think someone threatened him, or maybe us, if he pursued it.”

“Are you sure he wasn’t just hoping that was the case?” Bri asked.

“I’m not sure about anything. I talked to Aunt Gibby yesterday. She knew about his suspicions but said he stopped talking about them and she figured he just finally accepted the truth.”

“What about the police chief? Have you talked to him?”

“I was going to but he’s dead.”

“What?”
Sammie and Bri screeched together.

“He’s been sick for a while. It wasn’t unexpected.”

“Hell, Savannah,” Bri said. “We thought you were talking about Zach.”

“Good heavens, no. I was talking about Harlan Mosby. I came to the hospital this morning to talk to him and found out he died last night.”

“You’re thinking someone put him down?”

Savannah winced at Bri’s less-than-delicate words but answered, “I don’t know. Seems oddly coincidental, but no one knows about my suspicions other than Gibby.”

“You think she told someone?”

“I don’t know why she would. She got really upset when I was talking about it yesterday, telling me I shouldn’t stir up trouble.”

“Maybe she told someone she trusted and they told someone, like the real killer.”

Savannah had had the same thought, but why would Gibby tell others when she was so concerned that Savannah didn’t upset anyone with her questions?

“I spent most of yesterday reading the newspaper accounts. Do you guys remember anyone ever saying that things might not have happened the way we were told?”

“I never heard anything like that,” Sammie said.

“Me either,” Bri added. “All I ever heard was the bad stuff about Daddy.”

Savannah knew exactly what she was talking about. People had come out of the woodwork to share their dislike of Beckett Wilde. Every questionable thing he had done had been built upon and expanded for entertainment of the town gossips.

“What does Zach say?” Sammie asked.

“I haven’t told him yet.”

“Why not? He could get you all the records on the investigation.”

“I want to make sure I have something besides just these vague suspicions.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to start asking around. I went to Faye’s Diner this morning but couldn’t find a soul to talk to about it. Nesta Kilgore called last night and invited me to dinner next week. She always invites Mama and Daddy’s friends. I’ll be as vague as I can be and just feel everyone out.”

“Why not just ask the Kilgores outright?” Bri said. “They were Mama and Daddy’s friends. I’m sure they’d tell you if they knew anything.”

“Because I’m going with Zach.”

If things hadn’t been so serious, Savannah would have laughed at the shocked silence. Though Sammie’s shock wouldn’t be as great as Bri’s. “Anyway, I wanted to tell you two and get your input. Do you think I’m crazy?”

“No,” they answered together, and then Bri added, “Daddy doing these horrific things never made sense, but we believed what we were told.”

“You guys …” Sammie’s voice was just above a whisper. “What if Daddy was really innocent? My God …”

Sammie didn’t need to finish the sentence. If this were true, everything they had believed about their father was wrong. Almost every aspect of their lives had been colored by this one event. What if it had all been a lie?

“Can you fax us copies of the letters?” Sammie asked. “Let us take a look at them?”

“I’ll do that as soon as I get home.”

“So you and Zach are seeing each other,” Bri said.

A lot had happened since she’d talked to Sammie about kissing Zach. Telling them that she’d done much more than kiss him was out of the question. They’d want to know everything, and right now, she couldn’t articulate her feelings. She really wasn’t sure what she felt other than this intense need driving her whenever Zach was around.

“Let’s just say we’ve seen each other a few times.” She cleared her throat. “He told me what happened … why he did what he did.”

“Can you tell us?” Sammie asked.

Even to her sisters, she couldn’t reveal Zach’s pain and humiliation. That was his secret to share with whomever he wanted, not hers. “Let’s just say he had a good reason.” She sighed raggedly. “And you guys were right. I should have pursued it further.”

“You were hurting, Savvy. No one could blame you,” Bri said.

“Have you told him what happened?” Sammie asked.

“Not yet.”

“You know you’re going to have to. Right? Even if this goes nowhere, you’ve got to tell him.”

Savannah swallowed around a sudden lump. “I know. I’m just taking it one day at a time right now.”

“You know we’ve got your back, don’t you?” Sammie said.

“Whatever you decide, we’re a thousand percent behind you,” Bri added.

“Thank you, guys. I love you.”

“We love you, too,” Sammie said.

“I hate to cut this party short, but I’ve gotta lead to run down ASAP,” Bri said.

“Let’s talk about this again tomorrow,” Savannah said. “That’ll give you and Sammie a chance to read the letters and put our thoughts together.”

After saying goodbye and disconnecting from her sisters, Savannah dropped her cellphone on the seat beside her but didn’t move to start the car. As she stared out the window, her mind whirled with doubts and fears. Was this just a wild-goose chase? Should she ignore her grandfather’s letters and let this go?

Loving memories of her mother were always with her, but rarely did she allow her father to enter her mind. Avoiding thoughts of Beckett Wilde was, for Savannah, a matter of self-protection. She had learned to cope with his awful betrayal by simply refusing to acknowledge he had ever existed. And if by chance a stray thought emerged, hatred and bitterness were the only emotions she felt.

But what if he were innocent? What if it had all been a big cover-up? Didn’t she owe it to him and to her mother to find out the truth? Didn’t she owe it to herself and her sisters? And to her grandfather, who had grieved every day for his son and daughter-in-law? The answer came back a resounding yes. She had no choice—she had to find out the truth. And if it turned out that her father had indeed committed the awful crime, then nothing would be different than it had been. But if he hadn’t …

Pulling out of the hospital parking lot, Savannah headed back to Midnight. Her grandfather’s letters had to have more information than what she had read yesterday. She had rushed out to see Gibby having read only a dozen or so. Her urgency showed her just how upset she had been. Usually, she picked through evidence with meticulous concentration. She had a reputation for finding invisible needles in mountainous haystacks. If there were any clues to be found, she would get them.

Which reminded her.
Had
Gibby talked with anyone yesterday about their conversation? Even though Harlan Mosby had been expected to die, she couldn’t get it out of her head that his death too conveniently coincided with her investigation.

She pressed a speed-dial key on her cellphone. As soon as Gibby answered, Savannah said, “Hey, Aunt Gibby, it’s Savannah. I—”

“Savannah Rose, where in heaven’s name are you? I’ve been trying to reach you all morning.”

“You have?” Pulling the phone away from her ear, for the first time she noticed that not only had she put the ringer on silent, she had five missed calls.

The phone back at her ear, she said, “Is something wrong?”

“There certainly is. I went by your house a little while ago and there was a dead possum on your doorstep.”

She had left by the side door this morning and hadn’t opened the front door. “How sad. Did it crawl up on the porch and die?” She wasn’t usually squeamish but the thought of a poor dead animal dying on her front porch wasn’t a pleasant one.

“So you haven’t talked to Chief Tanner?”

“Zach? No, I haven’t. I left for Mobile early this morning.”

“Mobile? What for?”

“I wanted to talk to Harlan Mosby”

“But he’s dead.”

Savannah rolled her eyes. She probably could have saved herself a trip if she had bothered to wait until later. The news of Mosby’s death would have reached Midnight quite early. If anyone had been at Faye’s this morning, his passing would have been the main topic of conversation.

“I didn’t know he’d died until I got to the hospital.”

“You need to come on home and soon.”

Admittedly, having a dead animal on her doorstep wasn’t pleasant, but there was a strange tension to Gibby’s voice. “What’s wrong?”

“Just come home, honey.” The energy and liveliness in Gibby’s voice was missing. For the first time in Savannah’s memory, Gibby actually sounded like an old woman. Something was definitely up but she was apparently not going to find out till she got home.

“I’m only about half an hour away.”

“I’ll see you soon. Be careful.”

Her aunt’s evasiveness was worrisome. Gibby was known for spitting out rapid-fire chatter, and the fact that she didn’t want to share what was on her mind was unprecedented.

Savannah checked her voice mail, and sure enough, there were three missed calls from Zach and three abrupt messages.

First:
“Savannah, where the hell are you?”

Second:
“It’s me again. I don’t know where you are but call me as soon as you get this message.”

Third:
“I traced your cellphone location. What the hell are you doing in Mobile? Call me, dammit.”

Why was he so angry? She pressed the return-call key; Zach answered before it finished the first ring. “Where the fuck are you?”

She jerked at his obvious fury. “I’m about twenty-five minutes away from Midnight. What on earth is going on?”

The ragged breath he expelled told her more than his angry words that he was way past upset. “There’s a dead animal on your doorstep.”

“Yes, I know. I just talked to Gibby and she told me about it. Is that why you’re so angry?”

“Hell, Savannah. Is that not enough?”

“It probably just got disoriented and came up on the porch by mistake.”

“I sincerely doubt that.”

“Why?”

“Because, dammit, it’s headless.”

Her stomach clenched. Okay, that did put a new spin on things. “Why would someone do something like that?”

“That’s what I intend to find out. I’m headed your way.”

“There’s no need for that. I’ll be home in a few minutes.”

As if she hadn’t spoken, Zach continued, “I’ll flash my lights as soon as I see your car. Pull over.”

Before she could even answer, he disconnected the call.

Her head shook in disbelief. This day just kept getting more and more bizarre. And now she felt guilty for worrying both Gibby and Zach. Living on her own for so long, she hadn’t even considered that not telling anyone where she was going would be a problem. She wasn’t usually so thoughtless.

She kept a careful lookout for Zach’s car. The very minute she spotted the patrol car, he flashed his lights at her. She watched in her rearview mirror as he made a U-turn in the middle of the road.

Since they were on a two-lane highway, Savannah drove for a few seconds more till she spotted a small clearing. It had apparently once been a roadside picnic area, but all that remained was a rusted old garbage can and a dilapidated picnic table. She pulled to a stop, lowered the driver’s-side window, and unbuckled her seat belt. Before she could move, Zach jerked the car door open.

Savannah looked up into his face and froze. Holy crap, his eyes were glittering and his face was almost ashen. “Zach, are you okay?”

Instead of answering, he pulled her out of the car and into his arms. Holding her tight against him, a shudder went through his body.

Savannah was smart enough to keep her mouth shut. Besides, having her body molded to his was pure pleasure. In fact, she was literally melting into his arms, her softness against his hard, muscular frame. Arousal came swiftly … and unfortunately at the wrong time.

When his arms finally loosened, she pulled away slightly and said, “What’s this all about?”

“If you ever go off without telling anyone where you’re going, I’ll—”

Her brows raised. “You’ll what?”

He shook his head. “Nothing. Just don’t do it again. Okay?”

“For the last time, what is wrong?”

“We got a 911 call from your aunt. My dispatcher couldn’t get anything out of her other than someone was dead at your house. Then, when I get there and am reassured it’s not you, I can’t find any trace of you. That’s what’s wrong.”

Cupping his face in her hand, she gently caressed his cheeks, soothing him. “Oh, Zach, I’m so sorry.”

He took her hand and held it against his face, then leaned into her and captured her mouth with his. Savannah rose up on her toes and opened, inviting him inside.

Zach groaned as he delved into her sweetness. He’d gone through hell in the last two hours. Seeing her alive and well was as if every wish in the universe had come true. She tasted familiar and wonderful and he never wanted to stop kissing her, holding her.