Relative Chaos (33 page)

"He had no way of knowing how close Dawn Hurley was to the
clients," I said. "How much she already knew about Steve from his
grandmother, that she would spot an imposter."

"Right," Troxell said.

"Oh, dear Lord." Millie, who'd been topping off coffee cups, sank
down into her chair. "Dawn mailed the letter that ended up getting
her killed."

Kevin, who had been listening raptly, took the coffeepot from
Aunt Millie and placed it back on its burner.

"She was a nosy little, uh, person," Janice said. "Called me a few
times."

Millie looked at Janice, her brows furrowed. "Why did she call
you?"

"Claimed she'd sent me mail that came back to her. Said she
needed a new address."

"Do you have a new address?" Millie asked.

Janice looked down at her plate and said nothing.

"Honey?" Millie prodded.

"Oh, hell, I give up." Janice sat up straighter. "Yes, if you must
know. I have a new address. I live in New Jersey in a little hovel of
an apartment, and I don't work on Wall Street anymore either."

Troxell and I exchanged a glance. Kevin, leaning against the
kitchen counter, calmly watched the conversation like a spectator at a
football game.

Millie swallowed. "What about Conner?"

"He's not with me in New Jersey, Mother. God, no. He wouldn't
think of living in New Jersey. He left me for another woman, and he
arranged for me to lose my job, and my life is a big fat lie. He's filed
for divorce, okay? Now are you happy?"

Millie held a hand to her chest. "Janice, honey"

"Don't `honey' me." Janice pushed her chair back and seemed
ready to run from the room.

I caught her arm. "Don't do it. Your mother doesn't care about
your job or your lousy apartment or your bank account. She cares
about you, and nothing you could tell her is going to make her love you any less." I loosened my hold and lowered my voice. "Janice,
we're family. We're sorry to hear what's happening to you."

Janice slumped into her chair. Her complexion had reddened. I
sensed she was holding back a gallon of tears that she'd never let
flow in front of us.

"Does this have anything to do with those baseballs and stuff?" I
asked.

She glared at me. "What if it does?"

I shrugged. "Just curious."

Troxell said, "I have those baseballs in a sack out in the cruiser.
Almost forgot about them."

"I don't care about those stupid balls," Janice said.

I frowned. "I thought you had a ball signed by Babe Ruth."

"No way," Janice said. "Those were Conner's from his high school
team."

"Then what was the big deal?" I asked.

Janice was quiet for a second. Then she pulled the red plastic sack
from her jacket pocket. "This was the big deal."

"What's in there?" Millie said.

"Nobody in this room breathes a word of this to Conner," Janice
said, staring each of us down.

Millie and I made x's over our hearts.

"Don't even know the dude," Kevin said.

"Me neither," Troxell added.

Janice took a deep breath. "They're World Series pins," she said.
"Conner's grandfather was with the press back in the twenties.
They issued these press pins to the series every year. He's got a
couple dozen of them."

"So?" I said.

"So he's trying to screw me out of a fair settlement, and I just
found a way to even the deal a little. These little babies are worth
two to three thousand each."

"This is what you were after when you came to town in such an
all-fired hurry?" No way was I going to utter the words separate
property and risk being clubbed over the head. Besides, I didn't know
whether New York or New Jersey cared about community versus
separate property.

Janice hesitated, then said, "I came for these and to visit Mother."

Millie burst into tears. Janice went to her mother and wrapped her
in a hug.

Yeah, right, I thought. You came for the goods, that's all. But I'd
never speak those words aloud. This was between mother and daughter. I signaled Kevin and Troxell that we should give them some privacy, and the three of us left the dining room.

"Wow," Kevin said when we were out of earshot. "That was like
watching a movie."

Troxell said, "Think I'll skip out on the end of the show."

"And I'll skip moving to LA," Kevin said.

"What?" I stared at him.

"Oh, yeah," he said. "What I wanted to talk to you about the other
day? Never mind."

"Never mind what?"

"I was gonna ask for money to go live out there for a while. Play
in a band, see if I could make the big time."

"That's what all the phone calls I missed were about?" I said.

"Yeah." He bit his lower lip and shook his head. "Idea doesn't
sound so hot now after hearing about this Teale dude. Life's tough out
there. Tough enough here, but I'd rather take my chances in Texas."

"I'm glad." I gave him a hug.

He gave me an honest-to-goodness hug in return, something I'd
been missing for about the last ten years, and said, "It's a good thing
they have that dude behind bars, or I'd kick his butt for threatening
my mom."

"We have Teale under control," Troxell said, "and I don't think
he's going anywhere for a long time. Maybe never"

"Cool" Kevin smiled at Troxell, then asked me to tell the others
good night. He was going to chill at his friend's place-a friend he
assured me was male, since he had no intention of getting involved
with another woman until Grayson was out of his system.

Troxell and I watched him drive away as we walked to her car.

"He's a good kid," she said.

"Yeah, he really is."

"Guess we've cleared up more than one mystery tonight, huh?"

"We did, but there's one left."

Troxell stopped walking. "What could be left?"

"How does Wayne McCall fit into all this?"

"He doesn't fit in at all," Troxell said. "He had nothing to do with
these cases."

"But you investigated him."

"Him and everyone else. I had to."

"What's his story? Where's he from? Why's he here?"

"Not my story to tell," Troxell said. "You'll have to ask the man
yourself."

"But you know something?"

"All I'm saying is, it's not police business."

Not police business. Huh. Well, I was tired of waiting for explanations. A lot of questions had been answered tonight, but I wanted all
the answers, and I wanted them now.

Troxell agreed to take me to pick up my SUV, and from there I
headed straight for McCall's apartment.

I stood on the third step down from the landing outside McCall's
door. What if he thought I was butting into his life, fishing for information that was none of my business? Not to mention I must look a
mess after surviving a near-death experience and sitting through that
traumatic dinner with my relatives. I hadn't even checked a mirror,
combed my hair.

But, darn it all, I hadn't come this far for nothing.

I opened my purse and reached for a lipstick. The apartment door
opened, and a glimmer of light from inside hit the landing.

So much for the lipstick.

McCall stood framed in the doorway, holding a suitcase. He
looked sexy, as usual, in jeans, a gray V-neck sweater, and black alligator boots. His hair was wet, as if he'd come straight from the
shower. Made me feel even grungier. I could see past him into the
apartment, which was stripped of the books and personal belongings I'd seen strewn around the other day.

"Um, hi," I said casually.

"Poppy. What a surprise." He put the suitcase down and approached me. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Better than I was this morning." I wiped sweaty palms
on my pants legs, irritated with myself for feeling nervous. "Teale is
in jail. Troxell says they have enough on him to make the charges
stick."

"That's great news," he said. "Come on in. You've had a hard night."

"Yes, I have. That's why I need to get on home. Wanted to update
you first"

"Don't run off. By the way, thanks for the check. Not a bad profit
for a couple days' work."

I frowned, considering for the first time that I'd accepted payment
from a killer. "Not bad, if you don't mind tainted money"

"I wouldn't say it's tainted," McCall said, "but if you want to give
the money back. . "

"I don't want to, but the inheritance wasn't Teale's to spend. I
wonder who's next in line now that Featherstone is gone."

"We can talk to the lawyer about that later. C'mon in." He took
my arm and drew me up the last stairs.

"A few minutes, that's all." But I planted my feet outside the
threshold. Eyed the suitcase. "Are you moving out?"

"I am." He smiled, more like beamed.

The fact that he seemed eager to get away annoyed the heck out
of me. "Kind of sudden, isn't it?"

He shrugged. "Not really. I've made some big decisions today."

"What kind of decisions?"

"If you'll come in and relax, I'll tell you."

I felt anything but relaxed, but I went inside and dropped into an
armchair.

"I'd offer you something to drink if I had anything," McCall said.
"Already cleaned out the refrigerator."

I waved away any thought of food or drink. Now that I was here
with McCall, it was hard to ignore my nerves. "I just came from
Aunt Millie's, where I've had way too much of everything."

He laughed. "Millie's a sweetheart"

"Yes, she is."

"You take after her."

"Bite your tongue," I said, thinking of all the organizing we'd done
at her house. Then I saw the way he was looking at me and knew that
wasn't what he meant at all.

"Tell me about your big decisions." I wanted the answers I'd come
for.

"For one, I've quit my job," he announced.

"The job working with me?" The question popped out, though I
knew we had no pending jobs together.

He smiled. "No. The job working security for a company in Fort
Worth"

"Fort Worth?"

"That's where I'm from."

"You never mentioned anything about working security. Or Fort
Worth."

"Because the terms of my employment prohibited me from talking about the job." He sat on the coffee-table top, facing me. "My
former boss-two-faced, non-upstanding Southern Baptist that he
is-set stringent rules. Not sharing anything about my background
or the assignment was one of them. I was here as an imposter, kind
of like Teale."

"You're nothing like him," I said. "You can't tell me about this assignment?"

"I can now, since I quit. Boss flew in unexpectedly, insisted on a
face-to-face. That's why I left you, left the scene, after the cops arrived. To make that meeting."

"Why'd you quit?"

"Had enough of working for a jerk I didn't respect. He sent me
here undercover to check out prospective business deals. One with
Barton Fletcher. The other with Jim Gilmore."

"Lori Gilmore's husband?"

"Right."

The dots connected. "That's why you spent so much time in Millie's neighborhood."

He nodded. "And I reported back that they are not people he
should partner up with."

"On what did you base that advice?" I asked.

"A major portion of the boss' income comes straight from one of
those huge conglomerate churches in the Dallas Metro area. Wouldn't
mesh well with Gilmore's little porno-movie empire that he's hoping
to take national."

"Jeez. Pornography?"

"That's what they're shipping out in those boxes. DVDs through
the mail for the triple-X-rated consumer."

I grimaced. "Your boss must have appreciated your saving him
from getting involved with that."

McCall shook his head. "He didn't. He intends to invest. So long
as his name is never connected with the dirt. Wanted me to be the
go-between. I told him that's not what I hired on for."

"Good for you."

"Only secret I'm keeping from here on out is his ID. The man
didn't even care when I told him that his own son was set up. Fletcher
bribed his stepdaughter to date the boy. That alone would have been
enough for me to tell Fletcher to take a hike."

"Now that I know what you were up to, I understand why you had
those photos."

His eyebrows rose in exaggerated surprise. "You were nosing
around while I was distracted?"

"Me? Nose around?" I put a hand to my chest, playing innocent.
"All I care about is killing clutter. You must admit, the place was
messy."

"You kept me so busy, I had no time to pick up after myself."

I laughed. "Valid excuse"

"Anyway, I'm done with the whole mess."

I fidgeted under his serious gaze. "So what's next?"

He leaned forward and placed his hands on my knees. "I was hoping you'd tell me."

I looked around the room and tried to ignore the sensation of his
touch. "First thing is your move. Where are you going?"

"A hotel for tonight. Stay here past midnight, they'll want another
week's rent. Now that I'm jobless, I need to watch the pennies. Saw
a nice little house for rent in Rosenberg, and I'm meeting with the
landlord tomorrow."