THE SECRET OF CHEROKEE COVE (17 page)

“You didn’t know your own son had died?”

“No, of course not.”

“You didn’t notice the baby looked different?”

“He was a baby. He was bald and squirmy and red.” Paul’s laugh was a watery, desperate sound. “To tell the truth, I was scared of him. Afraid I’d drop him and break him.”

“That poor man,” Dana murmured.

“That poor man tried to kill you this afternoon.” Doyle’s voice was hard and unsympathetic.

“This is a complicated situation, Doyle. And when Dalton finds out, it’s going to get a lot messier.” She gave him a stern look, one she’d been giving him off and on since they were kids. “Have a little compassion. Desperate people do desperate things.”

“I’ll think about it,” Doyle grumbled, turning up the audio on the interview-room feed.

“Did you wonder if Tallie Cumberland might have been telling the truth about your son?” Antoine Parsons asked in a low, quiet tone. He had a good interview style, Dana thought. Lulling Hale into a sense of security, letting him think the chief of detectives might be on his side.

“Is anyone interviewing Pete Sutherland?” she asked Doyle.

“He’s already asked for a lawyer. Hale didn’t. He seems eager to talk.”

“She was an unmarried hillbilly kid who’d just stolen our baby right out of his bassinet,” Paul Hale said on the video feed, his voice rising with indignation. “Why on earth would we believe a thing she said?”

“When did you find out the truth?”

Hale went quiet for a long moment, his gaze dropping to the cup cradled between his twitching hands.

“Did your father-in-law tell you what he’d done?” Nix asked.

Hale looked up at Nix. “Not until I asked him.”

“And when was that?” Antoine asked.

Hale pressed trembling fingers to his temple. “When Tallie Cumberland and her husband came to town fifteen years ago. She told me she’d left town all those years ago because she’d seen Nina and Dalton at the park. She said she realized it didn’t matter whether or not he was her son by birth—he’d grown up with us and that made him ours.”

Doyle slipped his arm around Dana’s shoulders. She leaned her head against him again. “That sounds just like her, doesn’t it?” she asked.

“Just like her,” he agreed.

“Then she showed me a picture of her and her kids. Three of them. They were all nearly grown, except the youngest. She said his name was David. And God help me, I saw that boy and it was like looking at Dalton at his age. Same color hair, same face, same eyes.” Hale pressed his fingers against his mouth as if he felt sick. “I knew she was right. We had her son. We’d had him all those years and never knew it.”

“Does your wife know?” Antoine asked gently.

Hale shook his head. “No. I never told her.”

“But you confronted your father-in-law?” Nix asked.

Hale nodded. “I knew it had to be him. He’d do anything for Nina. And he’d stayed with Nina and the baby when I left the hospital that day to go buy some things we needed for the nursery.” He closed his eyes, the trembling of his lips visible even on the grainy video feed. “Our son died while Nina was napping. Pete noticed he wasn’t moving, and when he checked, the baby had already turned cold. They’d thought he was sleeping.”

“Mr. Sutherland didn’t try to find a doctor?”

“He took the baby and tried to find a nurse, but there was an emergency situation in one of the delivery rooms down the hall and there was no one at the desk. So he went to the room down the hall, hoping he might find a nurse there. But there was only that little girl, asleep in her bed, and her little baby squirming like a worm in his bassinet.”

“Oh, God,” Dana murmured.

“He said he knew the girl—Tallie had worked for the newspaper awhile, helping out in the stockroom before she got pregnant. He knew she was penniless and couldn’t take care of the child, and maybe if her baby was dead, she’d end up thinking it was a blessing, in a way, not to have to worry about how to feed him and take care of him.”

“So he put the dead baby in the bassinet and took the live one?” Antoine asked.

Hale nodded. “I confronted him after seeing that picture of Tallie’s kids. I threatened to go to Nina unless he told me the truth.”

“What did he do after that?” Nix asked. Dana could tell he was angry but trying to keep his tone calm and nonconfrontational. Funny, she thought, how incredibly familiar he seemed to her, despite how short a time she’d known him. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d connected with another person so quickly or deeply.

And now, just when she’d found him, it was nearly time for her to leave again. Back to Atlanta and a life that was nothing but work and sleep, day after day after day....

“I thought he understood she wasn’t going to make waves. But he got so quiet after our talk. So very quiet.” Hale lowered his head. “The next day, I heard about the car crash, and I knew.”

“What did you know?” Nix asked.

Paul Hale lifted his gaze, his jaw squaring. “Did you know that Pete owns half interest in Brantley’s Garage?”

This is it,
Dana thought.
Just spit it out, for God’s sake.

“Pete loves to work on cars. It’s been a hobby since he was a kid, and he still keeps his hand in things at the garage. Gets a kick out of putting on the coveralls and getting his hands greasy.”

“You’re saying you think he tampered with the Masseys’ car?” Antoine asked, his tone carefully neutral.

Hale shook his head. “I’m saying I know he did.”

Chapter Seventeen

“He wants full immunity to testify against Pete Sutherland,” Antoine Parsons told Doyle Massey a half hour later. He and Nix had joined the chief in his office a few minutes earlier, after taking a break from the interview to let Paul Hale regain his composure. Dana was there as well, perched on a low bookshelf that sat beneath the window. The sun had set almost an hour ago, and the last inky light of day had nearly fled the sky outside the police station.

“He shot at Dana, Chief.” Nix shook his head, not willing to consider the idea of letting Hale get away with what he’d done in the woods that afternoon. He looked over at Dana. She gazed back at him, her green eyes murky with thoughts he couldn’t quite discern. He forced his gaze back to the chief. “Hale was damned lucky he’s not a good shot.”

“I know what he did,” Massey said with a pointed look at Nix. “I agree he shouldn’t get away with the attempted murder of either of you.”

“If you want to convince a jury that a well-loved citizen of this town like Pete Sutherland murdered two people in cold blood, and attempted to murder two others, then you’ll need all the testimony you can get,” Antoine said calmly. “I think we’re going to have to give Hale something. Suspended sentence, maybe, since neither of you was hurt?”

Nix pressed his lips to a thin line to keep from arguing. If he’d been the only one Hale had shot at, maybe he’d be more willing to let it go. He’d been pointing a gun at the man, and while he didn’t like the idea of leniency for people who took shots at police officers, he’d trade the charge in a minute to convict Pete Sutherland of murder.

Pete had killed Dana’s parents, taken them away from her when she was barely more than a kid, and all to protect himself and his family from dealing with the truth about Dalton Hale. And Nix had a feeling, once he heard something from the state-prison warden, they might have another crime to lay at Pete Sutherland’s feet.

He needed to pay.

But Hale could have killed Dana in the woods. If he’d been better with the rifle, she’d be dead. And he’d meant to kill her. Nix had no doubt.

No way could he condone letting Hale walk on that charge.

“Has Sutherland’s lawyer arrived?” Antoine asked Doyle.

“A half hour ago. I’m expecting—”

The door to the chief’s office opened suddenly, and Dalton Hale strode into the room, leashed anger vibrating from every inch of his body. His green-eyed gaze scanned the room and settled on Doyle Massey, rage twisting his face. “I don’t know who you think you are or what you have against my family, but I want my father and my grandfather released immediately.”

Doyle pushed to his feet, bracing his hands against the desk to keep himself upright. “They’ve been charged with very serious crimes. I can’t let them go until they’ve gone before a judge.”

“My grandfather’s lawyer tells me you’re charging him with murder in the deaths of Cal and Tallie Massey—your kin, I presume?”

“Our parents.” Dana stood from her perch on the bookcase.

Dalton turned to look at her. “Were you planning this the whole time we were at lunch together?”

“No,” she answered.

“I want to see my father. I understand you haven’t allowed him to talk to a lawyer?”

“He waived his right to a lawyer,” Antoine answered, his voice calm.

His soothing style had no effect on Dalton Hale. “That’s ridiculous. I demand to see him right now.”

Antoine moved toward the door. “I’ll ask if he’ll speak to you.”

Nix wanted to protest, not willing to watch his best hope of seeing Pete Sutherland pay for his crimes swept away by a change of heart. But they could mess up the case in a big way by not allowing the suspects to invoke their Fifth Amendment rights.

They’d have to take a chance.

The silence that fell across the room after Antoine left was thick with tension, not all of it coming from Dalton Hale. Dana’s face was pale, her expression strained as her gaze lingered on the face of the half brother she’d never known. What was she thinking? This reunion couldn’t be turning out the way she would have wanted. Nix wanted to cross the room and put his arms around her, to reassure her that whatever happened next, he was there for her. He’d support her in anything she chose to do next.

Anything, that was, but leaving him behind.

He didn’t think he could ask her to stick around Bitterwood, so he was going to have to leave the mountains again. He’d survived much harsher places than Atlanta. He wasn’t much for city life, but he’d adapt. As long as she let him be part of her life, he’d go anywhere she wanted.

But was that what
she
wanted?

Antoine came back into the room. “Your father will see you.”

Nix glanced at Dana. She was looking at Dalton, her eyes dark with concern. She was worried about him, he realized, about what he might be on the verge of discovering about his life. Forget her own pain, her own sense of having her life turned upside down. She was worried about her brother.

The door closed behind Dalton and Antoine, leaving Nix alone in the room with Dana and her brother. Doyle released a long, pent-up breath and dropped heavily into his chair.

“You don’t have to stick around for the rest of this, Nix,” he said with a weary grimace. “It’s been a long day for you. Go home. Get some rest.”

Nix looked at Dana. She was watching him with a sober expression that made his chest ache. “Can I give you a ride home?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I need to stick around. I’m not sure what Hale’s going to tell Dalton, and I don’t want to leave Doyle here to take the brunt of his reaction.”

“I don’t need protecting,” Doyle protested.

Her answer was to perch herself firmly on the bookcase again.

“Why don’t I run down to the diner and get us all something to eat while we’re waiting?” Nix suggested. “Tonight’s special is pork barbecue sandwiches.”

“I’m not hungry.” Dana had turned to look out the window, where the darkness was now almost complete, save for the sparkle of lights from the handful of buildings still open on Main Street.

He’d get her something anyway, he thought. In case she changed her mind. “How about you, Chief?”

“I could go for a barbecue sandwich,” Doyle admitted. He dug in his pocket and pulled out his wallet. “Get one for Laney, too. She’ll probably be here before you get back.”

Dana stood suddenly. “I’ll go with you, Nix.”

He was a little surprised by the change of mind, but he wasn’t going to quibble. They hadn’t had a chance to talk alone since they’d brought Pete Sutherland and Paul Hale into custody. He had so many things he wanted to say to her, starting with how scared he’d been to hear those gunshots ringing through her cell phone.

He could have lost her. A few small inches had been the difference between walking through the Bitterwood police station with her by his side as he was now and holding her dying body while he tried to keep her from bleeding out.

It had been close. Too damned close. And even though she’d shown her own emotions when she’d touched his face and let him know how worried she’d been about him, he hadn’t told her about his own fears.

Between life in the marine corps and life as a cop, he’d gotten used to keeping his feelings carefully hidden, sublimating them behind the job that had to be done.

But if he wanted to be part of Dana’s life, he needed to tell her. Even if she ended up telling him she didn’t want the same thing he did, he still had to tell her how he felt.

He should have told her before now. Should have made her understand how important she was to him, how unwilling he was to let her walk out of his life.

But before he could muster up the elusive words, she asked, “Do you think Paul Hale will tell Dalton the truth?”

“If he wants a deal, he’ll have to come clean.” Nix flattened his hand between her shoulder blades as they headed down the corridor past the interview rooms. She edged closer until their bodies almost bumped as they walked.

That was a good sign, wasn’t it?

Dana released a quiet huff of breath. “This really isn’t how I wanted things to go with Dalton.”

“I know.”

“Doyle and I weren’t even sure we wanted to tell him, after all this time. It’s not like we expect him to welcome a new brother and sister with open arms or anything. I mean, we wouldn’t have liked letting the Hales get away with stealing him from our mother, but she’d made her peace with letting him stay with the Hales, right?”

“That’s what Alvin said, and I don’t see any reason to doubt him.”

“But now letting things slide is no longer an option.”

As they neared the door of the third interview room, it opened and Dalton Hale burst into the hallway, his whole body vibrating with anger. He nearly ran straight into Dana and pulled up quickly, his upper lip curling as he looked at her.

“You’re not my sister.”

Nix felt the briefest of trembles dart up Dana’s back, then her spine hardened and her chin lifted as she spoke. “You’ve spoken to your father.”

“That’s right.
My father.
” Dalton emphasized the last two words, his jaw so tight the words came out in a growl. But almost as soon as the words died away in the space between them, his whole body seemed to sag as if someone had pulled out a stopper and let all of the air out of him. “He’s not a bad man. Neither is my grandfather. They shouldn’t be in jail.”

Nix kept his thoughts on the subject to himself, not so much for Hale’s benefit as for Dana’s. She hadn’t come to Bitterwood to hurt anyone, least of all this man standing in front of them. But he pressed his hand more firmly to her back to let her know whose side he was on.

“This is a bad time to talk about this,” Dana said with a gentleness he hadn’t often heard from her. “We’ve all learned things about the past that have caught us flat-footed—”

“Don’t try to handle me,” Dalton said coldly. “If you think you can erase the harm you’ve done by playing the innocent—”

“That’s enough,” Nix said.

“It’s okay,” Dana said. “Mr. Hale has a right to be upset.”

“Not with you,” Nix disagreed. He looked at Hale, who was looking at them through narrowed eyes. “You know, I get that you’ve just been smacked in the face by the emotional equivalent of a two-by-four, Dalton. And I’m real sorry about that. You sure as hell didn’t do anything to deserve it. But the way you’re acting now is out of bounds, and if you can’t keep a civil tongue in your head while you sort out your mess, then I think you’d better steer clear of Dana and her brother for a while.”

“Nix—”

“This isn’t over.” Dalton straightened his tie and glanced back toward the interview-room door, which had closed behind him. “I’m going to look at everything you did today in bringing in my father and my grandfather. I’m going to examine every statement, every sideways look, every possible angle by which you could have screwed up. And if I find any breach, anything at all, I will use it. And I’ll make sure everyone in this town knows exactly whom they hired for their chief of police and whom he’s chosen to work for him.” His gaze swung from Nix’s face to Dana’s. His eyes hardened to chips of green ice. “Your brother has made the wrong enemies. He’s going to pay for it.”

He turned and walked down the hallway toward the exit.

Dana stood very still for a long moment. Then she sagged against the wall, covering her face with her hands. “That went well,” she murmured from beneath her palms.

Nix gently tugged her hands away from her face. “Are you okay?”

She looked as if she wanted to cry, the muscles of her face twitching in an effort to restrain the urge. “Yeah. I’m okay. It’s just—” She looked down the hall toward the exit, as if she could catch a glimpse of Dalton’s back. “You have no idea how much he looks like David. And standing here, with him staring at me with so much anger and disgust—” She wrapped her arms around her stomach, shaking her head. “It just got to me.”

Nix wrapped his arms around her shoulders, tugging her into his embrace. “He’s going to come around.”

“I’m not so sure,” she murmured, pressing her cheek to his. “But thanks for standing up for me.”

“Always.”

She tilted her head back, looking up at his face. The hint of a smile curved her mouth. “Don’t suppose I could hire you to come back to Atlanta with me and go around telling people off on my behalf?”

“I’d come for free,” he said, his tone serious.

Her faint smile faded. “You’d leave here and come to Atlanta with me? Really?”

“If that’s what you wanted.”

She stared at him a moment, her eyes soft and thoughtful. “I don’t want you to come to Atlanta.”

Dismay jolted through him, settling like an ache in the center of his chest. He released her and started to step back. “Oh.”

She flattened her hand against his chest swiftly. “Wait, don’t look at me like that.” She curled her fingers, gathering a fistful of his shirt to pull him back toward her. “I’m not brushing you off. I’m just saying ‘no’ to going back to Atlanta.”

“I don’t think I have what it takes for a long-distance relationship.”

“Oh, God, me neither,” she said quickly. “Nix, I don’t want to go back there, either. I want to stay here. My brother’s here. My soon-to-be sister-in-law. And yeah, even Dalton. Maybe he’ll never change his mind about us, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to try to get to know him.” She loosened her grip on him, sliding her hand up his chest to wrap her fingers around the back of his neck. “And you’re here.”

“I am,” he agreed, the ache in his chest transforming into a bright warmth that flooded his whole body with a sense of relief.

“Do you think we’re crazy?” she asked, stepping closer. “I mean, we met only a few days ago.”

“It’s fast,” he agreed. “But I know we fit together. Don’t you?”

“Yeah.” The shaky smile she flashed at him rocked his nervous system like a jolt of lightning. His skin felt tingly and full of energy, and the urge to pick her up and whirl her around almost overcame his good sense. He settled for a swift kiss that trembled just on the verge of something a whole lot deeper and hotter.

He dragged his mouth away from hers and smiled. “Just so we’re clear, we’re talking about the future, not just now.”