Obsession (11 page)

The room suddenly felt warm and very still. Her heart was racing, and she couldn't decide if it was because of the way he was looking at her or because he had just offered her the tidbit of hope that she so desperately needed. “I… I thought you said…”

“What I said was that we don't have enough evidence to contact the sheriff's office and ask him to launch an official investigation into your father's death, but I didn't say anything about not continuing our own unofficial investigation, did I?”

Caught up once again in his gaze, it took her a moment to answer. “No,” she said finally, her voice cracking as she fought the hot tears that stung her eyes. “I guess you didn't.”

They stood that way for a few seconds longer, until Abe slowly released her arm and pulled away. Toni breathed a sigh of relief as she suddenly realized that, had he tried to kiss her, she would not have resisted. In fact, if he had not let go of her when he did, she might have initiated a kiss herself. Horrified, she sat back down, clasping her hands in her lap. She must not let him know what she was thinking or feeling. He must know only that she was grateful for his willingness to continue helping her discover the truth about her father's death.

Abe, still standing, laid a hand on her shoulder. “Are you OK?”

She nodded, then took a deep breath, wishing there were a window in the tiny office. “Yes. I'm fine. Really.”

“How about a glass of water?”

“Please.”

He was gone less than a minute, but she used the time to collect her thoughts and stabilize her breathing. She felt much more composed when he reentered the room carrying a paper cup full of cold water. Ignoring his touch as he handed her the cup, she resisted the urge to gulp its contents.

“So,” she said once he sat down, “where do we go from here?”

Abe smiled. “I'm glad you've got that ‘we’ part figured out again. I've always found that one-sided partnerships don't work out too well.”

Toni hesitated, not sure how to respond. Fortunately she didn't have to.

“OK,” Abe said, reverting back to Toni's last question. “Where do we go from here? I can think of two things, at least as far as you're concerned. Didn't you tell me that Julie Greene's grandmother called you a week or so ago?” Toni nodded, taking a sip of water, and Abe went on. “Now, if you're not comfortable doing this, just say so, and I'll do it. But I think it would be best if you would, simply because of my official position here. I think you should call Julie's grandmother and see if you can get any more information at all out of her. Can you handle that?”

“Sure. I can do that.”

“Good. I think she's our best shot at getting anything new to go on, even though I imagine your dad talked to her extensively and noted anything she might have told him in the file. But you never know. Sometimes you can talk to people several times and think you've heard all they have to say, and then suddenly they remember some nugget of information that makes all the difference. Since you have your P.I. license, you can quite honestly explain that you're trying to tie up any loose ends before turning Julie's account over to another
agency. Then, too, you might want to call the girl's parents.” He paused and glanced down at Julie's file. “Let's see… what were their names? Michael and Sarah Greene. Says here he's a minister.” He looked back up at Toni. “Have you had any contact with them?”

“No. None at all. But I'll be glad to call them if you think I should.”

“Try the grandmother first. She's the one who hired your father, and you've already had one conversation with her. It would make the initial contact easier. From the notes in Julie's file, your father seemed to feel the grandmother was the most helpful. The parents seemed to have a real hard time even discussing their daughter's disappearance. Of course, that's not difficult to understand. I can't imagine how hard this is for them.”

Toni pressed her lips together and nodded as she held the water cup between her hands. Abe's reminder that Julie's father was a minister had suddenly opened an entirely different dimension of the situation that she had not considered before. “Her father's a minister,” she mused aloud. “I'd forgotten about that.”

“Is that important?”

“No, not really, but… I guess I hadn't thought until now how Julie's disappearance would impact the family spiritually. With her father being a minister, I can only assume she was raised in a Christian home, with countless opportunities to receive the Lord.…”

“I'm afraid you're one up on me there. I'm not very familiar with the details of the Christian faith—or any faith, for that matter. We went to temple occasionally when I was young, but not often enough that I ever understood much of it. I didn't even study for or have a
bar mitzvah,
although my Aunt Sophie tried to convince my parents that I should. I guess she was the only faithful Jew in the family.”

Toni raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Abe… Abraham. Of course. I hadn't realized you were Jewish.”

“By heritage, not by practice. I remember when I was about ten and my Uncle David, Sophie's husband, died. Aunt Sophie sat
shivah;
I didn't even know what that meant.”

“What exactly does it mean?”

“I'm still not completely sure, but it has to do with a seven-day mourning period right after someone dies. Aunt Sophie was scandalized that she was the only one in the family who observed it, although I don't know why she was surprised, since she's also the only one who observes the Sabbath—
Shabbat,
as she calls it.”

Toni smiled. “Your aunt sounds like an interesting lady.”

“She is. You'd like her. I'll have to take you to meet her sometime.”

“Oh, well… Does she live around here?”

“Just up the freeway in Centralia. Not far at all. It would be a nice drive, don't you think?”

Was that a generic question, or was he proposing that the two of them make a day of it and drive up there together? She decided to ignore the question and change the subject. “Do you have other relatives around here?”

“Only Sol, my uncle. Solomon Jacob Levitz, Sophie's—and my mother's—younger brother. Sol used to work right here at the station. He ended up taking an early retirement due to an injury he received in the line of duty. I'll have to introduce you to him, although I'll warn you ahead of time, he's nothing like Aunt Sophie. She's the religious one in the family; Sol's the heathen.” He grinned. “I think you'll like him anyway. He's a bit overemotional and reactionary, but he's been like a father to me since my own parents died.”

“Your parents? Oh, Abe, how awful. I'm so sorry. What happened?”

“Car accident. It was just after I went away to college. They were both killed instantly. It was terrible. Aunt Sophie sat
shivah,
of course, and I know she spent many hours praying for me—as she still does. But Uncle Sol, he stepped right in and helped me financially so I could finish my education. Eventually, once I had my foot in the door here, he put in a good word for me and helped me get into the detectives' division. I owe him a lot.”

“I had no idea,” she said, her heart constricting with compassion as she realized that this tough, handsome police detective understood
better what she was going through than she would ever have imagined. “You must miss them terribly.”

Abe, who to this point had shown little emotion as he related the story of his parents' death, suddenly had tears in his eyes. “Yes. I seldom talk about it. But with you… Well, I guess I knew you'd understand better than most.”

“Don't you have any brothers or sisters?”

“Nope. It's just me.”

Resisting the impulse to reach over and touch his hand, she said only, “Thanks for confiding in me. I've certainly learned a lot about you today.”

Abe's jaws clenched, and it was obvious he was composing himself. “True. You now know my parents are dead, I'm an only child, and I'm Jewish—well, sort of.”

Toni smiled. “How can you be ‘sort of’ Jewish? You're either Jewish, or you're not.”

“In that case, I guess I am. And I guess it's safe to assume that you're not.”

“Well, I don't sit
shivah
and I don't observe
Shabbat.”
She took another sip of water and tried her best to sound casual. “But I do worship the God of Israel.”

Abe raised his eyebrows. “Meaning?”

“I'm a Christian.”

“Well, I figured that—especially after attending your father's funeral. It was pretty heavy on the religious stuff. But I can't say that I've ever known a Christian who talked about worshiping the God of Israel, even though I assume you mean that your religion is pretty much rooted in mine—or should I say, in Aunt Sophie's.”

Toni smiled. “The God of your Aunt Sophie's faith is also the God of my faith. They're one and the same.”

Abe looked uncomfortable. “I really don't know enough about any of it to discuss it intelligently. How about if we move on to the second thing you can do regarding this investigation.”

The sudden shift of topic threw Toni for a moment. “The second thing?”

“The first being to contact Julie Greene's grandmother.”

“Oh. Yes, now I remember.”

“The other thing I would suggest—and this is not easy for me to say, but you're the only one who can really pursue this angle right now—is to consider having an autopsy done on your dad.”

Toni was shocked. “An autopsy? My dad's been buried for almost a month.”

“I know. And like I said, this isn't easy—and it may not even work. It's a long shot, but you could talk to the physician who was on the scene when the coroner certified your dad's cause of death and see if you can get him to support you in an attempt to have your father's body exhumed.” He paused. “I'm sorry. I know this is hard, but it's the only way to find out if there was something other than a heart attack involved in your dad's death. If there was, then Mr. Olson's information might mean something. Would you… like to think about it for a while before making a decision?”

Toni nodded, unable to talk. Strangely, the only thing she could think of at the moment was how something like this would affect Melissa. As fragile as the girl's emotions were already, Toni wondered if she had the right to even consider exhuming their father's body for the purpose of an autopsy. But, as Abe had pointed out, what other option did she have at this point? She finished her water, then crushed the paper cup in her hand and dropped it into the trashcan.

Abe walked in to Matthews and Matthews Detective Agency less than five minutes after Toni and April Lippincott had arrived. He still had a hard time believing how quickly and easily this meeting had come together—how it had, in fact, fallen straight into their laps. After suggesting to Toni the previous Friday that she contact Julie
Greene's grandmother, he had not expected anything to come of it this soon, and certainly not anything as enlightening as a face-to-face meeting with the woman. Toni had called him first thing Monday morning, however, informing him that before she had even had a chance to telephone Mrs. Lippincott, the woman had instead called her, hesitantly expressing her concern that Paul Matthews's death might have something to do with his investigation into Julie's disappearance. After a lengthy conversation, April Lippincott had asked if she might fly out and meet with Toni. Toni, of course, had readily agreed. And now, here they were, late Wednesday afternoon, the three of them, meeting in Toni's father's office to discuss how to proceed from here.

Abe, his off-white shirt open at the collar and the sleeves rolled up above his wrists, walked straight toward the attractive white-haired lady sitting in the chair next to Toni's desk. He was carrying Julie Greene's file in his left hand. “Mrs. Lippincott,” he said, extending his free hand. “Please, don't get up. I'm Abe Matthews. How are you?”

“I'm fine, Mr. Matthews,” she answered, smiling as she took his hand, “and I'm glad to meet you. I've heard so much about you from Toni. Thank you. I won't get up. It's been a very long day, and I'm rather tired.”

“I can imagine. It's certainly good to have you here.”

Mrs. Lippincott's smile faded. “Thank you, Detective.”

“Please, call me Abe. This is strictly an unofficial visit.” He released her hand and turned to Toni, who was sitting at her desk, watching their exchange. What had she told April Lippincott about him? Had she mentioned anything personal, or had it all been strictly business? Why did Toni always have to look so beautiful? And those blue eyes… he pulled himself back. “Toni, thanks for including me.”

“Glad to,” she answered, offering him a half-smile. “Although I must admit, it was Mrs. Lippincott who first suggested it. When I realized she shared my suspicions about a possible link between Dad's
death and Julie's disappearance, I mentioned that you were helping me try to get to the bottom of all this, and the next thing I knew, she had proposed a three-way meeting. Then, a couple of hours ago, I picked her up at the airport, and, well… here we are.”

Yes, here we are,
he thought, irritated with himself for the yearning he felt as he watched her every movement and hung on her every word. Why couldn't he have fallen for someone who didn't already belong to somebody else? He cleared his throat and sat down in the extra chair across from Toni, obviously placed there in anticipation of his arrival. Tearing his eyes away from her, he looked at April.