Secrets and Lies (27 page)

When he closed the door to his office he looked at Drake, “so,” he folded his arms across his chest, “what’s going on?”

“Her father’s death may not have been an accident,” he stated flatly. The words rolled off his tongue so easy, as if he were giving him a recipe to an American pie.

“I looked into everything, from the congressman and his son, to the cops here, to her father’s death. The cops wrote it up as an accident, but,” he pulled photos out of his folder and handed them to Thomas. Thomas could see the damage to the front of the car. It was completely smashed in, clear through to the back seat.

“Jesus,” he groaned. Just looking at the damage, thinking about the man trapped beneath all that metal, had his stomach churning.

“The damage is insinuative of that kind of accident,” Drake assured him. “The speed at which his truck impacted that tree—the speed at which it was estimated that his truck impacted that tree—would produce those kind of results. They would produce them to the front of the truck, but not the rear end. Check out the next photo, the back of the truck.”

“Red paint,” Thomas studied the photograph. “Could have been an earlier accident. Maybe he…” his words trailed off as he looked at the damage. If he had backed into something he would have had to hit it pretty hard.

“The cops chalked it up to an earlier accident, even though there was nothing on file about a previous accident. That’s not unusual for people who want to avoid the insurance hike, but he was in a company truck—not reporting it would have been a dumb move on his part. I don’t get the feeling the man was an idiot.”

“Me either,” Thomas nodded. “You think somebody ran him off the road?”

“Gut feeling,” Drake shrugged. “I could be wrong—but…”

“But you rarely are,” Thomas assured him. “Honestly, with what’s been happening lately it’s hard to know what’s going on here. Thena said her father wanted her to put the alarm on the house. A few weeks before he died he had insisted.”

“Sounds to me like he knew something. The question is, was it related to your current case, or something else?”

That was the question…the big question. If everything was related then if he could find the killer then he could stop the attacks on Thena. But if this were something else, if Thena’s father had stumbled upon something, knew something, that got him killed, then he was working this case all wrong. He was working the case assuming everything was connected—the attempts on her life, her mother’s death…but maybe, just maybe, these were two separate things entirely.

“It’s not going to be easy to find out why a dead guy insisted his daughter put an alarm on the house three weeks before he died—especially when he didn’t tell her why.”

Drake nodded his understanding. “I thought you might say that. So I did a little more digging and this is what I found.” He handed him another picture. “This was taken two days before he died; it’s from one of those parking lot security cameras. I don’t think they ever get rid of these tapes.”

Thomas studied the photo. “That’s Kyle,” he nodded. “Why is he following him?”

“I don’t think he was. You see I watched the video, and while at first I thought maybe…possibly he could have been following Kyle, a little time and patience provided me with another possibility. I think he was following that car,” he pointed to the black Toyota in the distance. “There’s not enough on the car to make it out. It’s dirty, the license plate is blocked out, and the windows are too dark to see a thing. But I think whoever is in that car was following Kyle, and Thena’s father was following it.”

Thomas pushed his hand into his hair and pulled on the black, leather clip holding his hair back until his hair was free from the contraption. “What the hell is going on here?”

“I don’t know,” Drake assured him. “But whatever it is, it got him killed.”

“I can’t tell her this—not now, and not without more information. She’s been through enough.” He knew he would have to address the subject with her eventually, but now wasn’t the time. How could he tell her both of her parents had been murdered?

“I can stay and help if you want.”

“No,” he shook his head. “This is my job; I can handle it.” He would have to handle it.

“If you need me, you call me.”

“I will.”

He looked at the photos again. That was the same black car, he was sure of it, the one that he had seen speeding away from Thena’s office that day. He was sure it was most likely the same one in the incident with Sandy too. So now his question was, what did this black car have to do with everything? Since the driver of the car had been following Kyle, Thomas had a feeling he was going to have to expand his search to yet another person in this charade.

Chapter Sixteen

“S
o what you’re saying is I’m still a suspect,” Kyle rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t do a damn thing to hurt Thena.”

“I didn’t say you’re a suspect.”

“But you’re here on my construction site instead of researching Thena’s case, so you must think I am.”

He shook his head. Good Lord, they both jumped to conclusions. “I’m here because I want to know who might have a problem with you.”

“Why?”

Thomas explained about Thena’s father, not the part about his death possibly not being an accident, but that he had been following somebody and that somebody had been following Kyle.

“Damn,” he ran his fingers through his hair. “Well, back then there are only two people I can think of who might have been angry with me. Sandy—clearly she had issues since she went through all of that to get the cops to arrest me. And Eddie Mason.”

“Mason?”

Kyle nodded. “Yeah. I never liked that guy, but at least I knew how to be professional.”

“What happened?”

“He had a bug up his butt about my dating black women. He didn’t think I had a right,” he snarled. “What a nutcase. It’s like, dude, slavery days are over; segregation is over, and last I checked, women had the right to decide who they wanted to be with. Well, he got pissed over that and wrote a dozen fictitious violations on one of my sites. I filed a complaint, and when they sent somebody else out all the violations were dismissed. It went in his record and he wasn’t happy about that.” Kyle shrugged. “I didn’t care. At least I didn’t have to see the guy again. He’s not allowed to step foot on one of my sites—ever. I used to see him parked outside my house in some raggedy old Toyota, but then he stopped. I guess he got over it.”

“A black Toyota?”

“Nah, it was red last time I saw it.”

“The car that was following you was a black Toyota.”

Kyle shrugged. “He could have had more than one. I know his brother used to stay with him until he joined the Army. Maybe he left his car with him.”

Thomas’ thoughts went back to something Thena had said and he wondered if it were at all possible that this guy was the one who had been trying to kill Thena. Had Mason been the one to stalk Sandy and make it look like Kyle had done it? It wouldn’t be impossible for him to plant evidence. He was constantly on construction sites; it wouldn’t be impossible at all for him to grab a few materials while nobody was looking.

Suddenly the knot in his stomach twisted tighter and he felt the urge to get back to Thena. “Thanks, Kyle. You’ve been helpful.”

“Anytime.”

Thomas raced past every speed limit sign not paying attention to the numbers posted. Thena was at his place, which was safe, but if this guy were as crazy as Thomas was starting to think he was then he needed to get back to her. He needed to put a guard on her when he couldn’t be with her.

“Hey, you’re back;” she checked her watch, “already…that was quick.”

“I need to know what that Mason guy said to you.”

“Eddie Mason?” She didn’t know why she was asking him for clarification when clearly that was the only “Mason guy” they had talked about before. “I already told you what he said about Kyle.”

“What else did he say to you?”

She shrugged. It wasn’t as if she was completely hanging on to every word. She was tired, she wasn’t feeling well and she really wanted him to just go away. “Oh,” she slapped her hand to her forehead. “He did say that I should have dated a brother,” she laughed. “Apparently they don’t do crazy stuff like that.” She shook her head. “Why is what he said so important?”

Thomas was about to answer her question when the doorbell rang. She shrugged. “Clearly it’s for you.” She went back to her sketches. He had told her she could design a new kitchen for him and she was almost finished with her basic design. If he were at all serious she would have to transfer her idea to a larger, more detailed, design. To do that kind of work she would need to be either at her at-home office, or at the company.

“Wrong,” Thomas entered the dining room. “It’s for you.” Reese was at his side. She blinked twice. How did he know where she was? Not even Jacinda or Deanne knew she wasn’t staying at home.

“Actually,” Reese sat down at the table without being invited to. “I need to talk with both of you. It’s about your mother, Thena. I think it’s time to tell you what I know.”

Thena dropped her sketching pencil. “You know something about my mother?”

“I knew her,” he stated calmly. “She was an amazing woman. She didn’t deserve what happened to her.”

Her mouth went dry and she found it hard to swallow. He knew her mother; how? Fortunately, even though she was speechless, Thomas was not. He fired off questions quickly, and Reese eagerly provided the answers.

“I worked on the addition to the hospital. I met her then. She was so nice to me. I accidently wandered into the cafeteria where the doctors ate, and some of the doctors were…well, less than civil in their push to get me out. They reminded me I didn’t belong, but your mother…she stood up for me. She told them to leave me alone. She let me get my food and she even showed me a nice spot outside under one of the trees where I could have my lunch.” He smiled. “I was twenty-four at the time, new to the area. She was amazing and if she hadn’t been married already I would have asked her to marry me.” He laughed. “Anyway, she was real friendly, and always smiling. When I cut myself on the saw she insisted I let her clean it up. It wasn’t too bad, you know, but she was a doctor and she wouldn’t let it go. She looked disturbed that day. I asked her what was wrong, but she said nothing.” He explained how the next day she seemed equally as bothered. At first he thought it was something at home. He told her if her husband was beating her he’d take care of it for her. “That’s when she told me it was work. That she had found out something that wasn’t right and she wasn’t sure what to do about it.” He lowered his head in shame. “I think her death was my fault. You see, I told her she seemed like a good person and if something was wrong she had a duty—as a good person—to make it right.”

“Reese,” Thena patted his arm. “My mom would have done the right thing anyway; that’s the kind of person she was. You can’t blame yourself.”

“But I do,” he said. “When she disappeared I knew it was partly my fault because I should have just told her to cut out and keep herself safe. Whatever it was that she knew it wasn’t worth getting herself killed over it. After she went missing I knew she was dead…I knew somebody in that hospital had killed her. I just couldn’t prove it.” He told her how he set out to make sure what was left of Neenah’s family stayed safe. “I watched from a far. You all seemed to be okay…that is nobody came after you. But then your father died in that accident, and with him gone I knew you would need somebody to watch over you. So I started following you from a far, keeping an eye on you. And when I found out that you were hiring for the company…well, I knew it was my chance, my way to get close enough to keep a closer watch on you. I was right too…if I hadn’t been there that night they would have run you down.”

Her head was in a near fog. Reese had been watching her all these years? He had been trying to protect her because he hadn’t been able to save her mother.

“When I found her body inside that wall…it hit me so hard. I knew she was dead, but I had hoped it had been quick and painless. But that frozen in fear look on her face, and the pain that seemed etched there…” He pounded his fist on the table. “I should have saved her.”

She felt tears welling up in her own eyes. He was right; the look on her mother’s face had been one of pain, and fear. She knew she was going to die, and she had suffered. Thena was so angry she could feel that anger trying to consume her. She wanted the bastard who did this to her mother and she wanted him to burn for it. She wanted to strike the match herself and watch the flesh fall off his body. And she wanted him alive to feel every second of the pain he deserved. She placed her hand over her mouth, trying to hold back the sobs that were threatening to break free.

“Why did you decide to come to us now?” Thomas put his hand on Thena’s shoulder and gently rubbed, trying to sooth her.

“Because now I know I can trust you. I wasn’t sure. And because…well, my doctor’s appointment the other day wasn’t really real. I mean I had one…kind of…I went to see that Evans guy.”

“What did you find out?” Thomas leaned forward.