Murder.Com (24 page)

     
Marty frowned.
 
"I don't understand."

     
"Never mind.
 
It's not important."
 
She came back to the couch.
 
"What is important, is this thing with Melinda.
 
This girl is headed for big trouble.
 
We both have a lot invested in her.
 
You gave birth and Bud used our money to make sure she had a good upbringing.
 
However, the DNA results have come in."

     
Marty stiffened and stared at her.
 
"And what did they say?"

     
Angie met her stare.
 
"Melinda is not Bud's daughter.
 
So, I'm going to turn her over to Detective Tom Hoffman."

     
Marty almost dropped her glass, her eyes wide with astonishment.
 
"Mrs. Nevers, I don't understand.
 
Those tests have to be wrong.
 
There's no one else who could be her daddy."

     
"Yes, there's another possibility.
 
Ken Weber."
 
Then Angie explained how she figured the conception had taken place.

     
Marty clutched her bodice and her face turned ashen.
 

     
"Think about it, Marty.
 
Imagine your daughter's eyes.
 
I've thought about it a lot waiting for the test results.
 
And as Melinda grew older, I suspect Bud noticed her resemblance to Ken."

     
Marty covered her face with her hands and sobbed profusely.
 
"Dear God!
 
Ken must have raped me after I passed out.
 
I always wondered why Bud was fully dressed, lying on the end of my bed.
 
All those years Mr. Nevers had been paying for Ken's daughter."

     
Angie put her glass down on the table.
 
"We can't worry about that now.
 
We need to concentrate on your future.
 
Right?"

     
She nodded her head fiercely.

     
"I want you to listen to me carefully."

     
Marty wiped her face and looked into Angie's eyes.
 
"I'm listening, Mrs. Nevers.
 
I'll do anything you say."

     
"I don't want Melinda on this property again.
 
If I find out you've opened the gates to her without my permission, then you and she may leave together.
 
That girl is going to cause nothing but heartache and pain wherever she goes.
 
I want no part of her."

     
After Angie left the cottage, Marty sat in the chair with tears streaking down her cheeks.
 
How could she have not noticed Melinda's resemblance to Ken Weber?
  
Had she blocked the possibility from her mind, feeling secure about Bud taking care of Melinda and seeing to it that she had the best of everything?
 
Even Melinda had been concerned that Bud might not be her daddy.

     
Marty finally collected herself and carried the two tea glasses to the kitchen.
 
Her hand trembled as she reached into the cabinet and brought out the bottle of vodka.

Chapter Twenty-one

     
Tom pulled the small tattered black book that Angie had found in Bud's desk from his pocket.
 
She had given it to him to examine, as she couldn't make any sense out of it.
 
He thumbed through it and noticed the figures appeared in an elementary code that he could probably break within a few hours.
 
He assumed the unmarked dollar amounts and dates he'd spotted throughout were the record of payments Bud had made for Melinda's support.
 

     
Also, one of the officers had found a photo album in Bud's office during the search and had inadvertently placed it in the evidence box.
 
He brought it back to his office and studied the pictures.

     
Now that he knew the history of Bud's supposedly illegitimate daughter, and had seen her, he realized that several of the pictures were Melinda at different ages.
 
Bud had probably kept the album squirreled away at the office so Angie wouldn't get curious.
 
But who would question the child in the pictures?
 
She could have been anyone's.
 
The photos didn't indicate a relationship between the child and Bud.
 
Even if Angie had looked through the album, he could have easily lied, because she believed anything Bud told her.
 
Tom let out a long sigh, removed a few of the pictures and slipped them into his pocket.
 
He placed the album and the black book into his desk drawer.

*****

     
Tom stopped at the gate of the Nevers' property and chatted with the officer.
 
No one had been in or out so far today.
 
The officer announced Detective Hoffman over the call box, then waved him through.

     
When Angie opened the door, Tom swallowed hard.
 
He'd never seen her look so beautiful.
 
Her royal-blue outfit looked new and made her blue eyes glisten and dance.
 
She had her hair pulled back and twisted into a French braid, laced with a small silver rope.
 
Small diamond earrings set in silver hearts dangled from her ears.

     
"Tom, it's so good to see you.
 
Please come in."

     
"You certainly look nice," he stammered.
 
"Are you going out?"

     
She smiled.
 
"No.
 
I just felt like I needed a little perking up, hoping someone would come by and appreciate it."

     
He spread out his arms and said.
 
"Well, I'm here and I appreciate it."

     
Laughing, she took his hand and led him into the study where Sandy Weber sat on the couch reading a magazine.
 
Angie reached over and touched her shoulder.
 
"We've got company."

     
Sandy glanced up and gave him a faint smile.
 
"Good evening, Tom."

     
He surveyed her face for some hint of how she was feeling, but saw nothing.
 
Her eyes looked glazed and her face reminded him of a glass-faced doll with a frozen expression.
 
She appeared on the verge of collapse.
 
He wondered if Angie had noticed and decided he'd mention it to her later.
 
He clapped his hands together.
 
"Have you ladies had dinner?"

     
Angie shook her head.
 
"No.
 
Marty is preparing it now."

     
"Damn."
 
He snapped his fingers.
 
"I should have called.
 
I'm sure you'd have enjoyed getting out of the confines of your luxurious prison for awhile."

     
Sandy shot him a look of fear.
 
"No, we're fine.
 
It's wonderful here."

     
Tom shrugged and glanced at Angie.
 
She patted him on the back.
 
"We'll get together another evening.
 
You join us tonight."

     
He grinned, thinking of Marty's delicious cooking.
 
"I'd love to, but are you sure Marty's prepared for a guest?"

     
"I'll check."
 
She quickly excused herself and headed for the kitchen, then returned within a few seconds.
 
"No problem, she said.
 
Especially since it's that nice Mr. Hoffman."

     
Tom rubbed his hands together in anticipation and went to the bar.
 
"Okay, ladies.
 
What can I fix you?"

     
Angie worked a loose wisp of hair back into her braid.
 
"Before we indulge, I need to speak with you privately for a few minutes.
 
Let's go into the living room."

     
Tom followed her, and when she spilled the story of the report from Dr. Parker about Melinda not being Bud's daughter, he understood the tension he felt in the household.
 
She also related how she'd told Sandy that Melinda could well be Ken Weber's daughter.

     
"How'd she take it?"

     
She shook her head slowly.
 
"Not well.
 
I debated about telling her, but couldn't stand the thought of her hearing it from some stranger."

     
"Did you talk to Marty too?"

     
"Yes.
 
She also took it rather hard.
 
I told her I never wanted Melinda on the premises again."

     
After dinner, the three went into the study for an after-dinner drink.
 
Sandy had remained silent through most of the dinner.
 
She headed for the couch, which Tom figured must be her regular spot.
 
He took the large leather chair across the room, so he could watch her face.

     
"Sandy, I know you're concerned and worried.
 
If you'll let me, maybe I can help."
 
He noticed that she had such a grip on her glass that her knuckles had turned white.

     
"My girls keep calling and asking me lots of questions."

     
"For instance?"

     
"Why I'm at the Nevers' and not home with Dad."

     
"So what do you tell them?"

     
Angie slipped quietly into a chair between them.

     
"I said their dad and I had an argument and I'm staying with Angie for a while."

     
"Your daughters are eighteen years old.
 
Don't you think you should tell them the truth?"

     
"She jerked her head up and stared at him.
 
"No!
 
They couldn't handle it."

     
"I think you're underestimating them.
 
What's going to happen if they find out from a stranger that their father is involved in a murder investigation and possibly has a grown daughter?"

     
Sandy's hand shook so hard that Angie reached over and removed the glass from between her fingers.
 
"Tom's right.
 
You should tell the girls the truth, before someone else does."

     
Dark streaks of mascara, blended with tears, slid down Sandy's cheeks.
 
"I'm
 
so ashamed.
 
I can't."
 
She glanced up at Angie with a ray of hope in her eyes.
 
"Will you tell them?"

     
Angie knelt beside the sobbing woman.
 
"Sandy, you're their mother.
 
They need to hear it from you.
 
It will be an embarrassing situation for you and the girls, but there's nothing for you to be ashamed about.
 
Let the twins know how you feel.
 
It will only help them realize the seriousness of the problem."

     
"No!
 
No!" she cried.
 
"It will hurt them too much."

     
Angie put an arm around her shoulders.
 
"Don't blame yourself for Ken's behavior.
 
He's a grown man.
 
What he did is his own fault, not yours, nor the girls'."

     
"He's destroyed our family.
 
Why did he do this?" she moaned.

     
Tom took advantage of the moment.
 
"Sandy, why would Ken need money?"

     
She dabbed her eyes and glanced at him, puzzled.
 
"Everything else has gone to hell, but financially, we're doing fine.
 
Why do you ask such a question?"