Secrets in the Lowcountry--The River (40 page)

Pulling out a
pair of plastic gloves, that Leroy’s
wife always teased him for carrying, he turned the knob and opened the door. Dust and mold reached out and touched him. He noticed large foot prints on the floor, glanced at Jim’s shoes, and received an answering nod.
Placing his own steps inside those, he grabbed his key chain and flick
ed
on the small
attached
flashlight
.

“Go to the front of the motor home.”

Careful not to disturb anything else, Leroy edged forward.
Something occupied the two matching club chairs.
“Damn
.”

“I think you found the missing parents. From the condition of the corpses, they’ve been dead for a very long time.
Now, did he kill them here, or in South Carolina?
”
Jim eyed Leroy.

“Shit! Sorry, I promise my wife I’d clean up my language. Let’s hope we can find something to determine who
has jurisdiction.”

“Maybe, our forensic team will get lucky.” Jim added.

“I guess that puts my request to copy the hard drive on hold,” Leroy said, shaking his head.

“We’ll see what the big guys say.”

Leroy nodded understanding all too well the politics of the situation.

Hearing Jeff’s car drive up, Taylor, Martin, and Mary almost flew to the front door
. He’d scarcely exit his BMW
, when Taylor blurted out, “What’s happening? Sheriff Trotz called saying they’d found Rod alive, but won’t add anything else, except to tell us to ask you.”

“Taylor,”
Mary interrupted.
“
I
nvite the boy inside before you
harass him.”

“I think we all need to sit before I tell my story,” Jeff said, a
s they walked up the three steps
leading to the door.

Martin led them to the Florida room and chose the
couch
for him and Mary. Jeff and Taylor selected the cane armchairs directly opposite.

“Talk!” Taylor demanded
, feeling Jeff’s eyes on her
.

“
Rod’s in custody.”

Taylor
furrowed her brow and bit her lip.

“For faking his disappearance and death?” Mary asked.

“There’s more, much more.” Jeff slid his chair closer to Taylor and took her left hand in his. He proceeded to tell them what the police had found.

As he talked, Taylor felt herself shrivel inside.
Had I ever known him?
She tightened her hold on Jeff, needing his strength.
“Has Rod explained any of …” Shaking her head unable to finish.

“Not as of last night,” Jeff responded.

Martin interrupted, “Who has jurisdiction in the case?”

“The two states are discussing this.
Taylor, are you sure you want to hear all this?”

She grabbed a tissue from the box sitting on the table in front of her. “Do I want to learn all his ugly secrets, no, but hiding or ignoring the facts doesn’t change anything. Let’s finish the ‘surgery’
.
” She gasped out the last sentence.

Mary went to her side, bent down, and hugged her. “Are you positive?”

Taylor nodded.

“Then sit next to your father, so he can hold you. And Jeff, why don’t you take her other side? I’ll sit here and listen.”

Everyone shifted spaces.

Once seated, Jeff resumed holding Taylor’s hand and continued, “
The police have read him his rights and since he won’t talk have appointed a public defender.
Murder usually takes precedence
, but since there are
three
bodies
…”

“His parents?” Mary asked in disbelief.

“DNA must confirm that, but since they found them in a motor home and the style of dress fits with the period …”

Taylor groaned.

Her fa
ther reached for her, but Jeff reacted sooner. He folded
her against his chest and held her firmly with his arm.

“Go on,” Taylor sobbed. “Get it all out!”

“The forensic people must determine, if they can,
where the killings happened. The police are sure LeFarge died in South Carolina, but the other two?”

“I can’t believe this.” She struggled to sit up, but when Jeff would have removed his ar
m, she placed it on her waist
. “How could he hide all this from me, from us?” She glanced around.

“Sheriff Trotz made a suggest
ion to the Louisiana cops, that
they agreed to try, but everything hinges on you, Taylor.
I objected, but the sheriff insisted I ask you.
”
Caring showed in Jeff’s eyes and face as he regarded her.

“What?” She eased back and
his arm slip from
her shoulder. Blinking
her eyes to keep the tears from falling
, she blew her nose, hard
.

“That you and I fly to
Bayou
. He
wishes
me to check the
computer
and he wants you to talk to Rod
, since he hasn’t said anything since they brought him in
.
”

“Oh, no!” exclaimed Martin. “My daughter’s not getting near him.”

“Dad, please. All my life, you’ve instructed me to help others.” He blustered, but she kept speaking, “Answers are
required to a basketful of questions: his parent’s
and Sam LeFarge’s
deaths, his investments, his disappearance and faked death. People must know why. I must know why.”
As she spoke, her words st
eeled
her soul and stiffened her
steadfastness
.

*~*

“Taylor, Jeff thanks for coming
to Louisiana
. Is your dad still talking to me
, Taylor
?
”
Sheriff Trotz
asked
as he greeted them on the steps of the
local State Police S
tation.

“Dad might forgive you, but don’t expect Miss Mary to bake corn muffins for you any time soon.”

“
Now that’s a major problem. No one makes them like Mary.” He stared at Taylor. “You can change your mind.”

“I need answers for myself as well as for everyone else.” Since she’d decided to come, her
resolution
had turned to steel.
He owes me.

“I understand.
Once inside, I’ll introduce you. Do you have any questions for me now?”

Both shook their heads.

As they mounted the steps, the front door opened and a very tall man held the door for them.

He nodded his head as they passed him. “Thanks, Jim,”
Leroy said. “We’ll go back to the
office.” Using his hand, he directed them to the right.

She s
ensed many eyes on them, but
no words
reached her. Occasionally, she noticed a
head bob as they passed. They entered what appeared to be a conference room, with a large table squarely in the center, banked by six chairs on each side and one at either end. Three men and one woman stood along the nearest wall.

Introductions were made but Taylor remembered no one’s name
; she heard only her own voice inside her head, sorting out what question to ask first
. Finally, the tall
State
Trooper
, she’d heard Leroy call him Jim
,
spoke.

“Miss Harris, I’ll be in the room with you
as will the public defender and the prosecutor. T
he others will be behind the two-way mirror.”

“I insist on being with her,” Jeff said.

Looking at the others as if waiting for an objection or
confirmation, but hearing none,
Jim
went on, “Shall we go in?”

She and Jeff followed the cop. He pushed the door wide open
, so it almost hit the wall
. For a moment, she could only stare. Rod sat on one side of a table, his hands, cuffed,
rested on the scar
r
ed table,
a bottle of water stood near
him
.
On either side of him sat two women
, probably the lawyers for and against him
.
Seeing him in this state,
Taylor wondered if she could do this.

Jeff, obviously sensing her concern, whispered, “You can leave anytime.”

His words strengthen
ed
her tenacity, and she
squeezed his hand before ma
rching into the room.

Jim Davies made the introductions. Her heart pounded in her chest and she gritted her teeth. Somehow, she managed to nod her acknowledgement of the other women. She must retain control.

Rod rose
. S
he heard the sounds of chains. They encircled his waist before dropping down
and attaching
to the anklets
he wore. Taylor swallowed hard.
I can do this.

“Taylor. You’re looking well. Hi, Jeff, long time no see. How’s everything going?”

Can I be hearing right? He sounds as if we’ve come for a visit.
Forcing
her body, she walked to the
side of the table
opposite
Rod and the prosecutor and the defense lawyer.
Jeff
followed in her footsteps
. Jim stayed by the now closed door.

“Everything will go better, if y
ou c
ould answer a few questions,
”
Jeff replied.

“Sit. The chairs aren’t too comfortable, but …” He shrugged. “What questions?”
He glanced from Jeff to Taylor, his face devoid of expression.

Although she’d planned
her initial statement, his calmness, his lack of concern, his everyday voice
and lack of visible emotions
startled her.
I must disarm him.
“You missed our wedding. Why?”

His eyes expressed surprise. Eventually, he answered, “Other things came up.” He shrugged.

“Jilting me at the altar?
Scaring all our friends? Leaving messes for others to clean up? What happened to the Southern Gentleman I thought I was marrying? What happened to the kind, considerate man who’d courted me for years?” She sat down on the un-giving metal seat.

“I’m still a Southern Gentl
eman.” His voice sharp and edgy,
“I had my reasons.”

“Oh? Was I ever to learn about them? Was I to go through life grieving for you? Was I forever to search for answers and find none? No Southern Gentleman ever allows a lady to suffer so. Why?”

He appeared anxious. From the corner of her eye, Taylor saw Jim tense and
straightened
his stance
.

“I am a Southern Gentlema
n!”

“No, you’re a red-neck.” She took a chance. “Just like Bubba LeFarge.”

“Damn you, Taylor. Bubba was nothing. His death meant nothing. I planned to make something of
him by using his identity as
my new name
.”

“
So you killed him to do this? What conceit!”

“Mr. Pinckney,” the woman in a light green suit said, “Don’t
say any more
.”

He gestured for her to keep quiet and stared hard at Taylor.
“No one will miss that piece of junk,” he lashed back.

“And your parents?
Why did you kill
them
? So you could have a
better
life? What about the life they gave you?” She slapped out her words.

“My parents held me back! My father
…
”

Spit shot across the table and almost hit her, but she remained still
and kept her eyes locked on his
.

“My father hated me. No pleasing that man. And my mother shook in her shoes when he talked to her. Stupid bitch.”
His hand grabbed the water bottle and he threw it at the mirror behind her. Jim moved
and she sensed Jeff wanting to
, but Taylor signal
ed them
to wait.
Rod’
s chains would protect her.

“Why kill them?”

“They bought a motor home and put the house on the market. Where would I live? How could I survive? I was on a partial scholarship. I told them to go and leave me the house. My father laughed. Told me he’d paid for the house and he’d collect the money. Told me to enlist in the military
,
if I wanted money
. Told me he hoped never to see me again.”
Rod
laughed.