Spontaneous (6 page)

“D
UAN
, I
’D LIKE YOU
to meet my mother, Wynona Cannon-Longleaf-Higgins-Gunter. Mom, this is Duan Jeffries, my fiancé.”

Duan kept his mouth from dropping completely open. Kim’s mother was a very attractive woman. Kim had said she was fifty-five, but to his way of thinking, she looked a lot younger. He offered the older woman his hand. “How do you do, Mrs….” Already he’d forgotten her names.

She beamed happily. “Just call me Wynona. I don’t know why Kim insisted on saying all those names.”

Kim smiled. “Because they’re yours. All four of them.” She glanced around. “And where is the man who might be number five?”

Wynona gave her daughter a frown. “Edward will be here any minute. He’s probably stuck in traffic since he lives on the other side of town.”

She returned her attention to Duan. “Your last name is Jeffries?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And before you ask, Mom, the answer is yes,” Kim said. “He’s Terrence’s older brother.”

“Best friends marrying brothers. How nice.”

She studied his features for a moment and then asked, “And you’re willing to wait for Kim to finish med school before the two of you marry?”

Duan gave Kim a loving smile and slipped his arm around her waist to bring her closer. That was number one on the list of questions Kim had known her mother would ask. Wynona had asked her that same thing when she’d told her mother about her acceptance into medical school. Evidently she was hoping for a different answer.

“Whatever Kim wants, that’s what we’ll do,” he said, leaning over and placing a kiss on Kim’s lips. He could tell from the expression that appeared on Wynona’s face that she wasn’t pleased with his comment.

“But we’re talking about four, maybe five years,” the older woman pointed out. “Don’t you think that’s way too long to wait?”

He opened his mouth to respond but Kim beat him to it. “Maybe you ought to try it, Mom. You, of all people, should know that rushing into marriage serves no purpose other than a quick divorce. Which is why I think
you and Mr. Villarosas should take more time to get to know each other before the two of you contemplate marriage.”

Instead of agreeing or disagreeing with Kim’s comment, Wynona smiled at him and said, “And what do you do for a living, Duan?”

“I used to be a cop but now I’m a private investigator. I own my own business.” Now he knew how it felt to be interrogated.

“And I take it that you love my daughter.”

Duan looked at Kim again, and something about being asked that question bothered him. Nonetheless, he plastered a smile on his face before saying, “Very much so. I wouldn’t be marrying her if I didn’t.”

Wynona opened her mouth, but at that moment there was a knock at the door. She smiled. “Excuse me. That’s probably Edward.”

As soon as Wynona exited the room Kim turned to Duan. “So far so good. You’re handling Mom’s inter rogation well.”

Before Kim could say anything else, Wynona returned with a tall, slender man by her side. He was smiling as he approached them.

“Well, now, Wynona, this has to be your daughter. She favors you.” He came to stand before Kim and Duan, but only gave Duan a cursory glance. Kim had his full attention.

“Yes, Edward, this is my daughter,” Wynona said, beaming proudly. “Kim, this is the man I plan to marry in a few weeks.”

Kim extended her hand to him. “Nice meeting you, Edward. And this is the man I plan to marry, Duan Jeffries. Duan, this is Edward Villarosas.”

It was only then that Edward met Duan’s gaze, and Duan felt the smile he bestowed upon him wasn’t genuine. That feeling in his gut intensified. “Duan, nice meeting you.” Edward offered him his hand.

“Likewise,” Duan said, taking it.

Wynona leaned close to Edward. “Don’t they make a lovely couple, Edward?”

Edward smiled up at her. “Just as lovely as we do.” He then turned his attention back to Kim. “I understand you have doubts about me making your mother happy.”

Kim lifted a brow. “And you plan to rid me of those doubts, right?”

He chuckled. “I certainly do. Your mother is the only woman for me.”

“So this is your first marriage?” Duan asked, pinning the man with a direct gaze.

Villarosas seemed surprised by the question, and the look he gave Duan indicated he didn’t appreciate being asked. “No. In fact I’ve been married twice and both ended in divorce.”

Duan nodded. At least Villarosas was up front about that.

“But I’m determined to make sure this time is the last time,” he added, taking Wynona’s hand to his lips and kissing her knuckles.

A part of Duan wished everything the man said was true. That he was innocent in the disappearances of his two wives. Not for Villarosas’s sake but for Kim’s mother’s sake. She was a nice lady who deserved better.

“Mom, Duan and I are going to check in to the hotel now and—”

“But Gert will want to come by later to see you,” Wynona said.

Kim shrugged. “I’ll see Aunt Gert tomorrow. We’ll come join you and her for breakfast since I know you’re making a big deal out of it in the morning. I can just imagine who all you’ve invited.”

Wynona smiled. “Just family and friends. They’re looking forward to seeing you and meeting Duan.”

Kim chuckled. “I just bet they are, but I had a rough week at work and the flight was a long one and I want to rest up a bit. So, we’ll see you in the morning.” Turning to Edward, she said, “It was nice meeting you, Edward.”

“Same here, Kim.” He glanced over at Duan. “And you, too.”

Duan almost laughed at that. “Likewise, Edward,” he said with a serious expression.

Duan and Kim were about to walk out the door when Edward called out, “Sorry, Duan, but you didn’t say what you did for a living.”

Duan wondered what business it was of Villarosas’s, but answered, “Yes, I did, but you weren’t here at the time. I’m an ex-cop turned private investigator.”

Villarosas’s brows lifted. “In Key West?”

Duan smiled. “No, in Atlanta.”

Villarosas wasn’t quick enough to hide the startled look in his eyes. And Duan could just imagine the questions rolling around in the man’s mind right about now.

“And you didn’t say what you did for a living, Edward,” Duan ventured.

Again Villarosas seemed taken aback that Duan would question him about anything. He hesitated a moment before saying, “I’m retired.”

“Oh, I see.” Duan placed his hand in the center of Kim’s back and they continued out the door.

K
IM WALKED INTO THE
hotel room and tossed her purse on the sofa. She wished she could read Duan’s thoughts. He had been quiet during most of the car ride from her mother’s and she wanted to know what he was thinking.

She doubted it was obvious to her mother, whose inability to read people was legendary, but it hadn’t gone unnoticed by her that Duan had taken an immediate dislike to Edward and she wondered why.

She glanced over at Duan and noticed him looking around the room. After they had picked up a rental car, they had come here directly from the airport but only
long enough to drop off their luggage before heading over to her mother’s place. Now they were back and he was checking things out.

The suite had a separate sitting room with a sofa that pulled out to a bed. There was a spacious bath with a hot tub and the bedroom area had a king-size bed. There was no doubt in her mind that she and Duan would be sharing that bed.

“I have an idea what you’re thinking, Duan,” she said.

It was then that he glanced over at her. “I doubt very seriously that you do. But if you want to take a stab at it, then go ahead and tell me.”

“You’re probably wondering what the hell you’re doing here, and wishing you were someplace else.”

He looked down at the carpeted floor and then lifted his gaze back to hers. “I’m alone in this hotel room with you, with a king-size bed, and you think I’d rather be someplace else?”

She released an exasperated laugh. “Be serious, Duan.”

He stared at her for a moment. “I am serious when it comes to you, me and the bed.”

She nodded. “And how serious are you about Edward? I could tell you don’t like him. Why?”

Duan moved across the room to stand in front of Kim. She had asked a good question, and maybe it would be best for all concerned if he answered it. To be fair to the man, he hadn’t planned to tell her what he suspected
until he had something concrete, not speculation. But Kim was very observant, and it would be best for the investigation if he leveled with her now and hoped she would understand and not blow his cover. “Duan?”

“We need to talk.” He reached out and took her hand in his and gently led her toward the couch. She sat beside him and he saw the curiosity in her eyes.

Her hand tightened on his. “What is it, Duan?”

He muttered a silent curse. He would tell her, but he would also make sure she understood that although Villarosas might think Duan was onto him, it was important to keep him guessing. Duan had long ago discovered that a man with something to hide would begin messing up if he thought he had a reason to look over his shoulder.

He pulled in a deep breath and began talking. “The moment you mentioned Edward Villarosas’s name to me that day we were leaving Chicago, it sounded familiar. All it took was a phone call to one of my partners for confirmation.”

Kim’s eyes widened. “Your partner? Are you saying Edward is in some kind of trouble?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

Kim shook her head and released Duan’s hand to stand. She stared down at him with numerous questions in her eyes. “Not sure? Duan, we’re talking about a man my mother is planning to marry. Just what
are
you sure about?”

Duan stood also. He knew she was not going to like what he was about to tell her, and would probably wonder why he hadn’t told her sooner. “A few years ago, on two occasions, Edward came under suspicion for a crime, but nothing was proven.”

Kim placed her hands on her hips and met his gaze. Duan could clearly see the worried look in her eyes. “What was he suspected of doing?”

A part of Duan wished they weren’t having this conversation, but another part of him was glad they were. He hadn’t like withholding information from her. “He was married twice.”

Kim nodded. “Yes, he admitted as much, but according to him he got a divorce in both situations. Are you saying that he didn’t?”

“No, there were divorces.”

Duan paused a moment. “Both women turned up missing during the marriage, and to this day have not been heard from.”

Kim bit down on her lip and fought to keep her composure. “Are you saying what I think you are?”

He nodded. “Yes. On two occasions Edward was a suspect in his wives’ disappearances. No one was able to prove foul play on his part because he had real good alibis.”

Kim’s eyes widened. “But if he
was
in some way responsible, that means…”

He knew what she was thinking, although it was apparently hard for her to say it out loud. “Yes,” he said softly, gazing deep into her eyes. “That’s what it means.”

“O
H, MY
G
OD.
” Kim closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. She felt her body trembling at the same time she felt Duan’s strong hands gently stroking her back.

“It’s okay, Kim. Nothing is going to happen to your mother,” he whispered in a deep, husky voice close to her ear. “I give you my word on that.”

She shook her head. She heard his words but didn’t fully understand how he could say them. In fact, a part of her brain refused to comprehend any of what he’d said. She was imagining things—yes, that had to be it. There was no way Duan had insinuated that the man her mother planned to marry could be responsible for the deaths of his previous two wives.

She opened her eyes and stared up into Duan’s face, and knew from his expression that she hadn’t imagined anything. It was true.

She wrenched away from him as anger consumed her. “And you’ve known this since that Sunday in Chicago
when we shared a cab ride to the airport?” she asked in an accusing tone. “You knew what Edward Villarosas was capable of doing, yet you didn’t tell me when you were aware my mother was spending time with him? Planning to marry him?” Cold, hard fear struck Kim in the chest at the very thought of Edward Villarosas and her mother together.

Duan knew Kim was upset. Highly pissed was more like it. He’d guessed what her reaction would be, which was why he hadn’t told her sooner. Now that she knew, it was imperative that he convince her Wynona wasn’t at risk and exactly what was at stake and why they needed to do things his way.

“The reason I didn’t tell you as soon as you mentioned the name was because I had to verify we were talking about the same person.”

“And when you discovered it was the same person?” she asked hotly, pressing the issue.

“Then it was a matter of acknowledging the first rule of law.” He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over his chest. “No matter how things might look, a person is innocent until proven guilty, and after two investigations, some of Atlanta’s finest detectives couldn’t come up with anything to nail Villarosas. He had ironclad alibis. He and his wives weren’t even in the same cities when they disappeared.”

“Then why on earth do you think he’s guilty of anything?”

Duan knew it would be a waste of time to explain about a cop’s intuition. Landon had only worked on the second case, but when he’d learned about the first, which happened a good five years before he’d become a cop, he’d tried making a connection but hadn’t been able to do so. That didn’t necessarily mean there wasn’t one, but time and city budget cuts had prevented the force from following up on every plausible lead.

“A few things didn’t add up,” he heard himself saying. “But they weren’t enough to get a conviction if we had wanted to take things that far.”

He remembered the evidence wasn’t even enough to get the man locked up for the night as a suspect. People had verified his whereabouts and the two incidents had been five years apart.

“But you just said he wasn’t in the same cities as his wives when they disappeared.” She was thoughtful a moment. “So what did Edward think happened to them? It is odd both wives disappeared.”

“He said they were having affairs and left him for other men.”

She lifted a brow. “I wonder if he realizes that doesn’t make him look very good—as if he was lacking in certain areas.”

“Yes, you could think that. But there were others who knew the women and claimed they definitely liked to flirt. The witnesses believed they were involved in affairs, though no one knew the names of the men.”

Kim pushed a curl behind her ear. She still had a lot of questions but at least she had an answer to one of them, the one she’d asked herself just last week. Why would Duan want to come to Shreveport with her? She now saw that it had nothing to do with him enjoying her company, at least not to the extent she’d assumed. Men liked sex and she would be the first to admit that what was between them was off the charts. However, now that she was aware of his real motivation, she wouldn’t be surprised to find out that he’d had his bags packed, ready to come here and nail Edward Villarosas, the moment she’d mentioned his name.

She glanced up to find Duan staring at her. “And you think you’ll be able to crack a case—two cases—in one week? Do you honestly believe that Edward will give something away to make that happen?”

She watched as he dragged in a deep breath. “If cracking the cases was just dependent on me, then I would say no. But I’m not the only one working them. I have four other men in the firm who’re just as determined to solve this, and I consider them the best there are. One is even a former FBI agent. The first thing we had to do was get the Atlanta police to agree to reopen the files. And now that that’s been done, we have technical equipment at our disposal that wasn’t on the market a few years ago. I feel certain if there was foul play in either case, we’re going to find out this time. We have the time, manpower and the resources to do it.”

Kim began pacing as she tried to make sense of everything Duan had said. Moments later, she stopped and glanced over at him.

He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed. His expression was unreadable, but she was certain hers showed that she was still upset.

Thinking she had paced long enough, she moved over to the sofa and sat down. “I gather there wasn’t sufficient motive in either case. He couldn’t collect on insurance policies since the women—according to him—weren’t dead, just missing.”

“True.”

“So the only thing you and your friends have to go on is gut instincts?” When he lifted his brow, she said, “Yes, I know all about gut instincts. I dated a detective while living in D.C. It was a short-term affair but long enough to get an idea of how a cop thinks. That’s one of the things he and I didn’t agree on, because people in the medical field, we base our decisions on scientific data.”

“And so do we, to a certain extent,” he said. “The use of DNA proves that. But still, there are times when you know something doesn’t add up, but you just can’t prove it. And unfortunately, there’re not always unlimited funds available to prove your theories. The city of Atlanta was undergoing budget cuts, so without evidence to support a lengthy investigation the cases stayed in missing persons and never made it over to homicide.”

He paused to allow what he’d said to sink in before adding, “Landon Chestnut, the detective who
originally worked the second case, felt something was missed in the first, which hindered him from doing a good job. Now he can pursue both with a full team behind him.”

Duan finally moved away from the wall to take the chair across from Kim. He was fully aware that over the past twenty minutes or so, in the midst of their conversations, something was taking place between them that had nothing to do with sex but everything to do with trust. She was upset, understandably so, yet she’d been willing to listen while he explained things.

“I wish I could say that after meeting Villarosas I think Landon is wrong,” he spoke up and said. “But before I flew out here I was able to read documentation on both cases, and I think there’s more to it than two women deciding they no longer wanted to be married and hauling ass, never to be heard from again.”

His opinion did nothing to relieve her anxiety. It only worsened it. “If what you say is true, then how can you think my mother’s life is not in danger, Duan?”

He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his thighs. “First of all, if Villarosas has gotten rid of two wives, he wouldn’t risk there being a third without raising a lot of suspicions. And he and your mother aren’t married yet and he has no reason to think she’s being unfaithful like the other two were. Besides that, he asked about my profession before we left your mother’s house,
so he knows I’m an ex-cop. He even knows I’m an ex-cop from Atlanta and he’s probably wondering if I’m familiar with the investigation.”

Kim sighed and leaned back in her chair. “But solving a case can take weeks, months, possibly years. You met my mother, Duan. You saw how her face lit up when Edward got there. She’s fallen for him, and if he’s not what he’s pretending to be then she should know it and I’m the one who should tell her.”

“If you were to tell her now, would she believe you? How do you know he hasn’t already told her that he’s had two wives run off and made it seem it was their choice? And would knowing that about him make your mother leery of him? In Wynona’s mind, he’s a good man, so unless you can present concrete evidence to the contrary, she’ll take anything you say as an attempt to keep them apart.”

Kim was silent for a while because what Duan had said was the truth. Her mother could very well know about Edward’s two wives. She certainly hadn’t reacted when he’d answered Duan’s question earlier about whether he’d ever been married. He hadn’t hesitated to admit to two divorces, so chances were he’d told her mother about his wives’ disappearances, as well. Kim knew her mother wouldn’t suspect Edward of any foul play.

“I can’t let her marry him until I know for sure he’s innocent, Duan,” she said, glancing over at him.

He nodded. “And like I said earlier, with all five of us working the case, not to mention the detective
with the Atlanta police department, I feel we should come up with something—even if nothing more than a motive.”

“And then what?”

“And then we present what we have to the police, and to your mother. Until then, she won’t believe mere speculation on our part.” He leaned back in his chair. “There is no doubt in my mind that Villarosas is a manipulator. I watched your mother while he was talking. He’s convinced her that he’s the best thing since sliced bread.”

Kim felt that was a pretty good assessment, one she’d made herself. “So what can we do?”

“Right now, nothing. My partners know how important it is that we determine once and for all what happened to those women, and if that means starting back at square one, then that’s what we’ll do.”

His words didn’t give Kim much comfort. What he was anticipating doing could take time, and time was something they didn’t have, not when her mother intended to marry Edward in a few weeks.

“There has to be something we can do now,” she said in a frustrated tone.

“There is. I need you to act as if he’s winning you over. That’s going to be important to him. I’m sure he’s already figured out that he’s rubbed me the wrong way, and he either doesn’t give a damn or he’s going to do his best to get on my good side, if for no other reason than to try to figure out what I know.”

“Won’t he become suspicious if he finds out the cases have been reopened?”

“Possibly. But he won’t connect me to anything. In fact I’m going to make him believe I know nothing about it. I was up front with him about being a former police officer, and he’s probably thinking I wouldn’t have done so had I recognized his name.”

He stood up and crossed over to her, reaching out his hand. She stared at it for a moment before placing her own hand in his. He tugged her to her feet, and when he wrapped his arms around her waist she made a feeble attempt to pull away. He tightened his hold, not letting her go.

“You should have told me,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him.

He lifted her chin to connect their gazes. He couldn’t help but see the hurt in the depths of her dark brown eyes and it was like a kick in the gut. He’d never meant to hurt her.

“Things had to be done this way, Kim. Any false move could blow up in our face—cause potential evidence to be thrown out. I can’t risk him wiggling through any loopholes. Would you want that, especially if he’s guilty?”

“No.”

“Had I told you any sooner you would have caught the first plane here to confront both Villarosas and your mother, without any proof. That would only have pushed them closer together. They would have eloped before you
could have stopped them. This way we both know what we have to do and we’ll work together to nail him.” He paused to let his words sink in.

“So, are we a team or not?” he asked after a few moments.

A part of Kim wanted to go somewhere and cry her eyes out. Finding out that the one man her mother believed could make her happy was a fake and possible murderer was bad enough. And then to be reminded that sex was the only thing between her and Duan, and that the only reason he was there was to work undercover—

“Kim?”

She tilted up her chin, scowling fiercely. “What?”

“Are we or are we not a team? Do we not want the same thing here?”

She sighed and looked up at him. “Yes, but I want to know everything I can about Villarosas and those two cases. Did you bring those reports with you?”

“Yes.”

“Good, because I intend to read them. If Edward is innocent I’ll be the first to apologize to him and Mom for doubting him, but if he’s guilty of any crimes then I want to make sure he pays for what he’s done.”