Whispering Winds Widows, page 18
“Not offhand.” He wasn’t about to tell her that he had a sneaking suspicion his grandfather and maybe his mother and the other Widows might’ve been involved. Wow. How had they managed that—assuming they had—without him knowing?
Norwood nodded. “If you figure it out, you let me know.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Sounded like she’d already figured it out.
Ben headed back to his truck. Norwood had said that he could pick up his grandfather’s truck when they’d finished processing it.
As he drove away, he deliberated on the idea of paying another visit to Landon. He and Reyna had talked about interviewing him again. Considering what he’d just learned from Norwood, a quick stop at the man’s place wouldn’t take long. Then he’d join Reyna at the Jewel. He figured everything must have been okay since she hadn’t called to say otherwise.
The one thing on his mind right now was that if his grandfather and the Widows thought Landon had something to do with the disappearance, then he’d be a fool not to lean in that same direction.
Landon Residence
Harding Drive
5:30 p.m.
BEN WAS JUST about to knock on the door when he noticed that it was ajar. “Coach Landon!”
The house was silent inside. He glanced around the yard, up and down the street. No pedestrians. No vehicles coming or going.
Ben pushed the door open and stepped inside. “Mr. Landon? You home?”
No response.
He surveyed the living room. No sign of a struggle or any sort of foul play. Nothing out of place based on his one other visit here. He moved on to the kitchen. He opened the back door and checked the small yard that was more of a fenced-in patio-sized patch of grass. The gate on the back side of the fence was partially open. Four long strides later and he looked beyond the gate to find an alley. No cars, no one passing through on foot. He closed the gate and went back into the cottage. The place was small. Only one story and less than a thousand square feet. It took only a few seconds to poke his head through the doors of the two bedrooms and the one bathroom.
No Coach Landon. Like the rest of the place, the bedrooms showed no indication there had been trouble.
It was possible Landon had been picked up for a trip to the market. But why leave his front door ajar?
Ben knew he should call the sheriff...but first he needed a look. As illegal as it was, this might be his only chance.
He walked through the place again, more slowly this time. The second bedroom was a sort of office with a desk and computer. He touched the mouse and awakened the screen, which requested a passcode. A quick look through the drawers of the desk revealed only the usual—personal files, medical, insurance, tax returns. The closet was basically empty—a couple of heavy winter coats and a vacuum cleaner.
The bathroom fixtures, like everything else in the house, were handicap accessible. Beyond the prescription bottles of painkillers, there was little else of interest in the bathroom.
Moving on, he went back into the guy’s bedroom. Though he should have felt guilty going through his stuff, he didn’t. Ben had already crossed a line there was no going back from. He needed answers, and that was driving him.
His grandfather and his mother were missing. He was beyond reason at this point.
The latest information Norwood had passed along only made him more certain he and Reyna were getting close to the truth.
After picking through all the drawers and under the bed, he came up empty-handed. The only place left to look was the closet. Two rows of shirts more suited to twenty or thirty years ago hung one over the other. A handle enabled the top row to be pulled down to the same level as the lower rack.
On the wall behind the hanging shirts on the lower rack was something blue. Ben parted the shirts and found himself staring at a school football jersey. He considered that maybe it was the coach’s, but then the number exploded in his brain.
18
Duke Fuller’s number.
Ben reached out, took the jersey by the hanger and removed it from the clip where it hung. It was a little different from the one hanging in the cabin. Smaller, he decided. Maybe from sophomore or junior year. A small door—rustic and obviously homemade—on the wall, down closer to the floor behind where the jersey had hung, caught his eye. Ben crouched down and opened the door. Behind it was a niche built into the wall. Every square inch was covered with photos and newspaper clippings about the Three. Was this another shrine to the missing men? He doubted Landon could have built the one at Trout Lake in his condition. But this he could do. Or he could have hired someone to build it, for that matter.
Along the bottom of the built-in was a small wooden box shaped like the typical treasure chest. He opened it, and inside were three small velvet pull-string bags—the kind jewelers used. He tugged one open. It held dust or...
The air stalled in his lungs. Ash.
“Holy...”
His brain told him not to do it, but he wasn’t operating with his brain right now. He grabbed the bags and hurried back to the front door. He had to get to Reyna...
If he was right...he’d found the Three.
The Jewel Bed & Breakfast
Main Street
6:15 p.m.
BEN SKIDDED TO a stop in the parking area. He considered again that he should have called Sheriff Norwood. He glanced at the velvet bags on the passenger seat. There was this thing called chain of custody. He’d already screwed that up, but he hadn’t been able to leave the bags behind. If Coach Landon returned home before Ben could do whatever the hell it was he intended to do with this... He couldn’t let that happen.
He reached behind to the back floorboard and grabbed the plastic bag from the hardware store that held those three-inch wood screws he’d picked up days ago for the Henry project. He dumped the screws and tucked the velvet bags inside. Bag in hand, he climbed out of the truck and rushed to the front entrance of the Jewel. Locked.
Dang it! He banged on the door. “Ms. Birdie! Reyna!”
He waited. No one came to the door. She had to be here. He’d left her here. If she’d had reason to go somewhere else, she would have called him. He checked his cell just in case he’d missed a call or text message. Nothing.
“Where are you?” He tapped her name in his contacts and waited for the phone to ring. No answer after the first ring. Another ring...
He drew the phone away from his ear and listened.
He could still hear the ringing...not from his phone but from somewhere beyond the front door.
Another bang on the door. “Reyna!”
If something had happened to her...
Still no answer.
* * *
“IF YOU DON’T allow me to let him in,” Reyna argued, “he’ll go to the sheriff.” She glowered at Ward. “He’s already worried sick about you.” She glanced at Lucinda then. “And you.”
Ward held her gaze for a moment, then said, “Let him be a part of this.”
Reyna didn’t wait for the responses of the others. She stepped around Birdie and hurried along the seemingly endless hall until she reached the door. She flipped the dead bolt and swung the door open. Ben had started down the steps.
“Ben.”
He turned around.
She looked at the street beyond him, then motioned for him to come inside. Worry etched across his face, he joined her at the door.
“How’s Birdie?” He searched her eyes, probably saw the confusion and worry there.
“Come with me.” She grabbed him by the hand and ushered him inside. She closed and locked the door.
Holding on to his hand, she started down that long hall.
“Where are we going?”
Just before reaching the doors, she paused, turned to him. “I need you to brace yourself. Don’t get angry or...” She shrugged. “Just stay calm and listen.”
He nodded. “I’ll do my best.”
She opened the pocket doors and led him into the parlor where the others waited.
“Pops.” His full attention settled on his grandfather. “Sheriff Norwood is looking for you. We’ve got folks all over town keeping an eye out for you.”
“I’m sorry,” Ward said. “I had to keep you in the dark, but it was necessary.”
“We had no choice,” his mother said, her voice and expression urging him to understand.
What the hell was going on here?
Ben scanned the room, noting the faces there. Confusion furrowed his brow, and he turned to Reyna. “Is Walls handcuffed to that chair?”
She nodded. “I’m afraid so.”
“What the hell is going on here?” he demanded of no one in particular, all signs of uncertainty gone from his voice now.
“We need to proceed,” Father Cullen said. “We’re too close to let this opportunity be spoiled by the arrival of the sheriff’s department.”
Ben looked to Reyna again. “What’s he talking about?”
“There is no time,” Ward said. “We will catch you up when this is done.”
“Mr. Landon,” Cullen said, “we have motive, means, and we have opportunity. You had reason to want the Three to disappear. I am witness to that. Duke Fuller told me himself that he, Judson Evans and JR Kane would be meeting with you that evening.” Cullen looked in Ben’s direction. “The evening the Three left their homes for the last time and never returned.” He turned back to Landon then. “There is an eyewitness who saw you leaving the funeral home, where you had access to a crematorium, late that night. Your employer at the funeral home stated that you had your own key but insisted that no one was working that night.”
Landon shook his head. “You’re wasting your time. You can talk about how I had motive and whatever else you want to drum up—you can keep spinning your fairy tales about how you think I did this or that. But none of it matters because you have no evidence.”
The realization of what they were talking about slammed into Ben. He held up a hardware-store bag. Reyna looked from the bag to him and likely tried to imagine what was inside and how it could be important.
“You mean this?” he asked, his attention fixed on the coach.
Landon turned to Ben. He shook his head. “I have no idea what you have in that bag.”
Ben reached into the bag and pulled out another smaller one. Black. With a gold string that pulled together to tighten the opening.
“There are three of these small sacks,” Ben explained. “They were hidden in the little shrine you created in your closet, Coach Landon. I’m guessing what’s inside are cremated remains—ashes.” He shrugged. “Not all of them, obviously, but a portion. Maybe enough to keep close by, to remind you of what you’d done.”
Landon’s face paled, his jaw fell slack, but not a word came out of his mouth.
7:00 p.m.
BEFORE THE REAL fray started, Reyna called the center and reported that Eudora had been found and was safe. Reyna would get her back there in the morning.
Minutes later Sheriff Norwood and two of her deputies arrived, and that was when the frenzy exploded. Crime scene investigators were called. Paramedics were next, since Landon appeared to be on the verge of a heart attack. Walls had been uncuffed before Norwood had arrived. So far he hadn’t told the sheriff that Ward Kane had kidnapped him. All involved had come of their own free will, except Walls and Landon. Both of whom Birdie and Ward had basically abducted.
Everyone involved, except Reyna and Ben, had been lined up in chairs in the long hall. A deputy stood guard, ensuring they didn’t talk among themselves.
Norwood and the other deputy were interviewing the group one at a time. They had already interviewed Reyna and Ben, which was why they weren’t seated in that line.
Once the other interviews were underway, Reyna had taken Ben to the kitchen and conveyed all that she had heard and seen before he’d arrived.
“You’re saying Father Cullen had nothing to do with what happened. Duke gave him the cross and chain.”
Reyna nodded. “That’s correct.”
“What about the other thing your FBI friend mentioned?”
“Cullen is in witness protection.” Reyna shrugged. “He will report to his point of contact when this is done. Considering his health and if no one involved spills his secret, he may be able to stay here.”
Ben braced his hands on either side of him on the kitchen counter. He’d been leaning there since she’d started talking. She understood completely. The entire story was difficult to believe... It was the sort of thing mystery movies were made of.
But it was true... It was real life.
Ben’s life and the lives of all the other people lined up in that long hall.
Reyna had a feeling this was going to be a long night.
Chapter Sixteen
Kane Residence
Lula Lake Lane
Saturday, April 27, 2:20 p.m.
Eudora had decided not to return to the center. Birdie intended to temporarily close the Jewel so that she could take care of the woman she loved with all her heart until her time on this earth was done.
Reyna felt confident this was the right decision. Hospice would help when the time came. Until then, the two could enjoy Eudora’s every lucid moment.
Reyna had packed her few things, only then realizing that she still had some of Birdie’s clothes. She’d have to drop them off.
Reyna zipped the borrowed bag. She’d have to drop that off too. She laughed, looked around the room. She’d only slept in this room one night. She’d spent the rest of her time with Ben...in his room.
It wasn’t going to be easy to go back to her life since he wasn’t in it. But she couldn’t put off going back forever.
“No use beating around the bush.”
She walked out of the room and headed down the stairs. It was time to leave.
The whole story was out in the open now. No more secrets about the missing Three or the Widows. The players, the good ones and the bad ones, had been revealed.
Lucinda had explained that the note and the tire damage had been pulled off by the Widows. They hadn’t meant for Reyna to be hurt—the tire thing hadn’t turned out the way they’d expected. Birdie had started the fire in Reyna’s room at the bed-and-breakfast. All was a ruse designed to support the idea that Reyna might be getting close to the truth. Eudora had told them that Reyna was smart, so they had to be prepared to draw her deeper into the mystery. To keep her motivated to find the pieces of the puzzle. The disappearance of Ward and the Widows had been an attempt to keep Ben and Sheriff Norwood distracted. All had known Ben would start to worry if his grandfather and mother suddenly weren’t around for the length of time expected to do what needed to be done leading up to the mock trial.
The failing health of Ward and the priest had prompted the two to consider whether they wanted to leave this earth without finding a way for the truth to be revealed. But when they had learned about the lifetime achievement award that Landon would receive, the gloves had come off and they had made a pact to do whatever necessary to see that justice was done before that happened.
The Widows had been brought in on the plan first. Together, they and Ward had erected that cabin shrine to point to Landon. As for Eudora and Birdie, they were the witnesses who’d seen Landon leaving the funeral home that night. Later they’d realized he had likely been up to no good, but they’d had no proof and the man had worked at the funeral home part-time. Still, they had brought their concerns to their priest, and that was how they had become a part of the group.
This group of savvy seniors had even planned for what came after their journey to deliver justice. Father Cullen had taken complete responsibility for the fire at the Landon home thirty years ago. He’d explained that the two of them, he and Landon, had been drinking and smoking cigars. At some point in the evening Landon had started to cry and asked if Cullen could perform the sacrament of confession, during which he admitted to pushing his wife down the stairs because she’d found out about his secret obsession. Since Landon had told Cullen this in confidence, he hadn’t been able to bring it to the police. At least, until now. Now he was prepared to break his vows for the greater good.
Deputy Gordon Walls had given a statement as to what he’d overheard the Three discussing about confronting Landon on the day they’d disappeared. He said nothing of having been kidnapped and brought to the meeting at the Jewel. Birdie and Eudora gave their own statements about what they had witnessed that long-ago night when they saw Landon coming out of the funeral home.
With Ben’s find of the ashes in the man’s home, Landon had decided to confess. He’d blurted his confession before Sheriff Norwood could mention that there would likely be legal challenges regarding the find in his home. Considering he’d admitted to murdering the Three and cremating their bodies as well as pushing his wife to her death, Landon was going away for a very, very long time.
It was going to make an amazing story, and the whole group wanted Reyna to write it. She hoped she could do their incredible tale justice.
Downstairs, Ward, Ben and Lucinda waited for her. Her chest tightened at the idea of leaving.
Ward hugged her first. “Thank you, Reyna, for helping us get this done.”
“Well, I don’t know how much help I was, but I suppose my being here did move things along a bit.”
Lucinda stepped forward and hugged her next. “Thank you.” She drew back and glanced at her son. “For helping me give my son his father back. We’re having a memorial week after next. I hope you’ll come.”
