Murder at Sunset Rock, page 17
Was she going to finish this, walk away and pretend that she didn’t still care about him...didn’t still want him?
If she did...she would never know.
Know what? She swore at herself. Her heart pounding. Every part of her needing...something.
No. She did an about-face and headed back into the house. She would not—could not—walk away without knowing. Without being sure.
She locked the door and took a deep breath.
The scent of steamy air drifted to her from the hall, and she followed it there. Huck walked out of the bathroom, the towel he’d used wrapped around his waist.
He smiled. “Sorry. Forgot to grab clean clothes.”
She walked straight up to him. “Look me in the eyes,” she ordered, “and tell me you don’t want me.”
He frowned. “What?”
“Tell me you don’t want me.” She drew in a breath, every nerve in her body sizzling. “I want you to say it, and I’ll go into my room, and I won’t bother you again.”
The expression that slipped over his face—a tenderness that stole her breath. “Why would you think I don’t want you?”
“Then show me.”
His hands came up to her face, cupped her cheeks. He stared at her lips as his descended there, and then there was nothing else. Only the taste of him...the smell of him and the feel of his body so close to hers.
He kissed her until she melted against him. Her fingers found their way to the towel and pulled it loose from his hips. He lifted her against him. Her legs circled his waist, and he carried her to her room.
Her nightshirt hit the floor, and her panties slid down her legs. He lowered her to the bed and pressed against her. Then there was no thought...there were only sensations. The feel of him inside her. His lips on her breasts. His hands on her skin.
She touched all of him, tracing, remembering all the places she had once known by heart. Her hungry mouth finding his jaw, his forehead. Legs entwined, bodies moving at that perfect, sweet pace.
And nothing else mattered.
Chapter Fourteen
Sunday, June 11, 9:30 a.m.
“You’re sure about this?”
Olivia stared at the man seated in the chair across the table from her...the one who had reminded her last night of all she had lost ten years ago...his touch, the smell of his skin...the taste of his kiss. She never wanted to be far from him again.
Did Huck feel the same way? She couldn’t be sure. She’d awakened alone this morning. He’d already gotten up and made coffee. Worse, he seemed somehow distant. Was he ready to bolt again? What had she done to make him feel that need? She understood now that she should have seen his concerns ten years ago. What happened was ultimately both their faults.
She did not want to make the same mistake twice.
“I’m sure.” She nodded. “All these secrets have been kept far too long. I don’t want any of this hanging over my head anymore.” She shrugged, set her second cup of coffee aside. Going for the extra caffeine felt like a mistake now. She was jumpy...jittery. “We don’t have to mention Sheriff Decker’s part in all this. I’m sure the ultimate decisions were made by Willy and Gran.”
“Decker should have to own his part in this, Liv.”
Maybe Huck was right. The truth was she was too close to this to be objective.
“He’s your boss—former boss,” she finally said. “I’ll leave that decision to you.”
He nodded. “I’ll make some calls. We’ll get a team out here to finish the exhumation and collection of the bones.”
“Thank you.” She met his gaze, wanted to say more, but he gave her a nod and stood.
“I’ll be on the porch.”
She watched him go, and no matter that he seemed distant or distracted this morning, she was certain she couldn’t have read him so wrong last night.
Olivia stood. She needed a walk. If only around the yard. She needed to just soak up the images and scents of home. To brace herself.
Her cell pinged with an incoming text.
Olivia tugged her phone from her pocket and stared at the screen.
Willy.
Her heart bumped into a harder rhythm. The text was from Willy’s cell phone. This could be the person who had taken his life. Breathe, she told herself as she started toward the front door and simultaneously opened the text.
I need to tell you the real story.
Another text appeared.
It’s your mom.
Olivia stalled at the front door, the bottom falling out of her stomach.
Please come to the grave.
Torn between rushing out the back door and telling Huck, her good sense won out and she stepped out onto the porch. Huck was still on the phone. She held her phone in front of his face so he could read the text messages.
His expression shifted to surprise, and his gaze collided with Olivia’s. “Thanks, Snelling. Let me know when a team is headed this way.”
He lowered the phone from his ear and stood. “You just got those?”
She nodded. “From Willy’s phone.”
He slid his phone into his pocket and reached for the weapon on the table next to the rocking chair he’d vacated. “Let’s go.”
Olivia didn’t budge. “If it’s her and she sees you, she might run.”
His head was moving side to side before she finished speaking, his expression hard. “I’m not letting you go alone.”
“I know,” she agreed. “That’s why I’m telling you rather than rushing through the woods right now.”
Relief softened his face. “Okay. I’ll take the roundabout path, the one we used when we wanted to ditch anyone following us.”
She nodded. “I’ll take the main path.”
“Don’t get ahead of me, Liv. Take your time. I’ll be able to see you most of the way, but don’t get there before I do.”
“I won’t. I’ll take it slow. I’ll go out the back, just in case she or whoever is watching.”
“I’ll give you a thirty-second head start by going through the barn.”
She smiled. That was exactly what they used to do when they didn’t want Willy and Gran to know they were going to the cliffs. They’d walk leisurely to the barn, slip out the back and barrel through the woods.
“Okay.”
He took her by the arm before she could get away. “Be careful.”
“You too.”
Olivia left the house, strolled along the stone path. She paused at the tree line to send a response.
I’m coming.
Her pulse raced in time with the pounding in her heart. Her mother was out there somewhere. She had no doubt about that now. Whether she was deranged or dangerous, Olivia didn’t know. Whether this was even her, she couldn’t be sure. But the one thing she felt certain of was that whoever had Willy’s phone may have been the person to hurt him.
The thought sent fire rushing through her veins. If her mother had killed Willy, Olivia wasn’t sure she could trust herself in the woman’s presence. Thank God for Huck.
Rather than get distracted with worries of what the facts might be, she focused on moving forward. She scanned left and right of the path, watching and listening for movement. What if her mother was armed? The thought slowed her steps. Someone had shot the private investigator.
Someone had pushed Willy...
The grave was very close to the cliffs.
Olivia steeled herself and kept moving. She had Huck. If she stopped and looked closely enough, she would see him on that narrow little path they used to take.
Keep moving.
If she looked for him, anyone watching her would notice.
Focus forward.
By the time that big oak came into view, her nerves were jumping. Maybe it was how anxious she felt or some deep instinct that slowed her, but for the first time in a long time she paused to take in the beauty that lay before her.
Past the big tree was the view beyond the cliffs. The sky was clear. It was breathtaking.
“Olivia.”
Female voice.
She turned to find a near mirror image standing a few feet away, midway between her and the unearthed bones that now lay in a neat pile rather than spread out as she and Huck had left them.
The woman who was her mother smiled. “You’re so beautiful.”
She stepped forward. Olivia instinctively stepped back.
Laura’s face clouded. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Olivia steeled herself. She would not be afraid. She recovered the step she had fallen back, then took another and another until she stood within touching distance of her mother. “I’m not scared.”
Laura’s smile returned. “I’m glad.”
There was nothing in her hands. The jeans she wore fit snuggly, so unless a weapon was hidden behind her, maybe the way Huck sometimes tucked his gun at the small of his back, she wasn’t carrying one.
“You wanted to talk,” Olivia said rather than the barrage of other things that rushed into her head.
This was her mother.
A dozen turbulent emotions bombarded her at once.
She wasn’t dead...why had Gran and Willy lied to her?
Laura’s expression shifted to something fierce and bordering on frantic. “You can’t trust Decker. He killed your father.” Tears welled in her eyes. “He killed Willy.”
Olivia stared at her, the fresh sting of pain deep and excruciating. “I don’t believe you.”
The sheriff and Willy had been friends forever. Why would he do such a thing? He’d even admitted to helping Willy cover up what Laura had done.
“You killed my father. Decker said so.”
Laura stared at the ground for a moment. Her shoulders slumped as if she were too weary to hold them straight anymore. Fine strands of gray filtered like tiny silver threads in her dark hair. Her mother was not the smiling, young woman in the photos Olivia’s gran had curated. She was much older now. Nearly fifty. She was still beautiful though, her face barely marred by age.
Her mother drew in a deep breath and lifted her face once more. “Whatever he told you was a lie. If you’ll let me, I’ll tell you the truth.”
Olivia nodded. “On one condition.”
Her mother searched her face. “What condition?”
“That you allow Huck to be part of this. We can trust him. If what you say is true, he can help you.”
The fear in her expression pained Olivia more than she’d anticipated.
“You have my word,” Olivia promised. “He would never betray me.”
Laura nodded. “If you’re sure.”
Olivia sent him a text, to keep up the pretense. The longest half a minute Olivia had ever endured later, Huck joined them.
Laura eyed him skeptically at first.
“It’s good to see you,” he said to her.
She blinked, more tears glistening in her eyes. “Thank you.”
The longer Olivia stood there watching her, the more convinced she became that this woman was not in any way unbalanced, but she reserved judgment for now.
“Start at the beginning,” Olivia suggested.
Laura nodded. “Daddy and Decker were friends as far back as I can remember.” She shrugged. “He was always nice to me. But as I got older, he watched me in a different way.” She shuddered. “When I was thirteen, he raped me.” She looked away.
Olivia and Huck shared a look. “Can you prove this?” Olivia asked.
Laura shook her head, still looking anywhere but at them. “He said the same thing when I told him I was going to tell. He said Willy would never believe me. He had just made chief deputy. Everyone loved him.”
Olivia braced herself. “Keep going.”
“I stopped fighting it and let him have his way. I lost count of the times. I spent hours figuring out ways to avoid being alone anywhere for fear he would show up and make me...” She let go a big breath. “But then I graduated high school and escaped. I was so grateful. I missed Mom and Dad, but the relief of never having that bastard paw me again was worth it.” Her expression fell. “Then he caught me away from the university one day, and he did it again. I knew then that I’d never be free of him until I had a man who loved me who might be able to protect me.” She smiled. “I met Kasey, and everything was perfect for a while. I got pregnant with you, and we decided to come home. I knew Mom and Dad would help us get on our feet.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “I never dreamed he would dare intrude again, but he did.”
“He did this to you again?” Olivia said, unable to say the word, her insides twisted into knots.
She nodded. “When you were three.” She stared heavenward. “He’d left me alone for three years. I thought it was over. Your dad and I had plans to start an organic farm. We hadn’t told Mom and Dad yet, but we’d been traveling around nearby states searching for just the right location. Sometimes we would be gone for a few weeks, but I could never stay gone longer than that.” She smiled. “I missed you too much.”
Olivia felt undone. “You didn’t just disappear all those times?”
Laura frowned. “Who told you that?”
“Decker,” Olivia responded, looking from Laura to Huck. No need to mention his mother. She’d only repeated what she’d been told.
The pain on Laura’s face tugged at Olivia’s heart. She so wanted to believe what this woman—her mother—was telling her. The idea that Willy had trusted Decker made it difficult for Olivia to do otherwise. This woman was a stranger...how could Olivia be certain she was telling the truth?
“He wanted you to believe the same thing he made my parents believe,” Laura said. “He twisted their concerns and made them believe things that weren’t true. He was so bold that one day I was walking to town and he saw me. He almost ran over me. I ran into the woods, and he parked and came after me.” She stared at the ground again. “This time, I told Kasey. He told me to set up a meeting with Decker, and he would take care of it. I did what he said. Decker didn’t know Kasey would be there. Kasey told him never to come near me again or else.”
“How did Decker respond to the ultimatum?” Huck asked.
Laura jerked at the sound of his voice as if she’d forgotten he was there. “He...he shot him. I tried to help him.” Tears rushed down her cheeks. “He grabbed me, put the gun in my hand and then knocked me unconscious. When I woke up, I was at Pineville. I had been out of it for days. He’d given me some sort of hallucinogenic. My crazy behavior had my parents convinced of his lie that I had killed Kasey. He said we had both been doing drugs. He claimed that the times Kasey left without me were because I had been violent with him. None of that was true. But no matter what I said, no one would believe me. The doctor at Pineville kept me drugged. Finally when I was released, it was weeks before I could get off the meds and pull myself together again. I would try to tell them the truth, but the side effects of withdrawal only convinced them further that I was lying, and I’d end up at Pineville again. It took nearly a year for my brain to get right enough to understand that I would never be free again until I ran away.”
“You faked your death,” Olivia suggested.
“I was going to,” Laura said, “but Decker caught me. He let the note I’d written stand and took me back to Pineville. My parents never knew I was alive.”
“Why would Pineville go along?” Huck asked, his voice telling Olivia he was not convinced.
“The administrator, Leo Rich, and Decker go way back,” Laura explained. “I don’t know what Decker has on him, but Rich would do whatever Decker said.”
“Did you kill Willy?” Olivia demanded.
Laura gasped. “Of course not. I didn’t even escape until that bastard told me what he’d done and said if I tried anything else, you would be next.”
“What did he mean, try anything else?” Huck asked.
Olivia needed to sit down. She found the nearest boulder and collapsed there.
“I was there for over twenty-five years,” she said, her emotions getting the better of her. “Eventually, they stopped keeping me in solitary confinement. I tried making friends with people I knew would be seeing their relatives or be released. I would tell them my story and about my dad. I begged them to get a message to him when they were released, but something always happened. One fell in the shower and hit her head the day before she was to be released. Another hung herself. It was when the third one slit her wrists by digging with her fork until the deed was done that I realized no one could save me. Decker would always find a way to stop me. He and Rich had too many ears in that place.”
“You’re saying,” Olivia spoke up, “this person—this Leo Rich—who did whatever Decker told him killed these people.”
Laura nodded. “It’s the only explanation.”
“But you did eventually escape, obviously,” Huck countered.
“It was a long time before I dared. I had resigned myself to dying there.” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I honestly don’t know why he didn’t kill me a long time ago. I even asked him that on one of his visits.”
“He came to see you there?” Olivia’s head was spinning.
Laura squared her shoulders. “Numerous times. Said he couldn’t bear not to see me. He swore he’d never let me go.”
“There are cameras outside the facility,” Huck said to Olivia. “If he went there, we can find him on video.”
“Knowing him, he will have that figured out too.” She stared hard at Huck. “Whatever you believe about Decker, he’s capable of anything.” She turned back to Olivia. “I spent two years developing a secret friendship. We were so careful. She understood if anyone found out, she would be killed. She was released last Friday. I gave her a necklace—my sunflower necklace—that I always wore so Willy would know she was telling the truth. On Sunday morning, she drove to the cabin and told Willy the truth about where I was and what Decker had done.”
