Читать книгу Stonechild and Rouleau Mysteries 5-Book Bundle - Brenda Chapman - Страница 28

Thursday, December 29, 12:15 p.m.

They left the hospital separately and met up at the New Edinburgh Pub on Beechwood. Hunter arrived ahead of her and secured a table near the back. The lunchtime crowd had thinned and they had a degree of privacy. She stood in the entranceway for a few moments and studied him. He was dressed in jeans and a navy sweater, his curly hair blown about from the wind. He’d begun growing a beard since she’d seen him last and it made him look even more appealing. She mentally kicked herself for noticing.

Hunter spotted her and waved her over. A pretty blond waitress was at the table as soon as she sat down, her smile all for Hunter. She flipped coasters onto the table and asked what they’d like to drink. She stood close to Hunter as she waited for Kala to order.

“Coffee please, and a club sandwich on brown,” Kala said.

“I’ll have the Irish stew and a Guinness,” Hunter added.

The girl took their menus and smiled one more time at Hunter before leaving.

“You know her?” asked Kala.

“I’ve seen her in here before, but not waitressing. She must have just started.” He shrugged and grinned back at her. He leaned forward, his smile disappearing. “So, it looks like Susan is doing okay. I could hardly take it in when I got the news. First my father and now her. I’m having trouble believing the two events aren’t linked somehow.”

“Why do say that? Susan admitted that she forgot to check the gas before leaving home.”

“Susan is one of the more competent women I know and it’s out of character. She’s had to be on her toes, married to Clinton.”

“You don’t sound like you think much of him.”

“Because I don’t. Susan’s changed the last few years. She’s less sure of herself and always rushing home for his phone calls. He keeps tabs on her like he owns her. She’s become scared of making him mad. I’ve seen it. We’ve all seen it.”

“So what are you suggesting?” Kala waited while the waitress set down their drinks. She stirred cream into her coffee while Hunter took a sip of beer. He set his glass on the coaster and rubbed his fingers up and down its side.

“I think someone did this to Susan. My first thought was Clinton. It makes me wonder if he killed my father too.”

“Do you have any proof?”

“No, but if it’s him, I’ll find the proof.”

“You have to leave that to us.”

“Yeah.” He grimaced before taking a long drink from his glass.

She waited until he was looking at her again. “Did you know that your father was leaving you a million dollars?”

Hunter laughed. “Is that what he did? First I’ve heard.”

“Really?”

“Really. He needn’t have bothered.”

“I think he was trying to tell you that he was sorry.”

“He told me that the last day I saw him. It was enough. You look like you want to say something.”

Kala shrugged. “It’s just that you seem so bitter after all these years. Ten years is a long time to stay angry.”

“Not angry so much as indifferent. I got over being mad that he married Laurel. It wasn’t even about her in the end. The thing that’s kept me from welcoming my father back into my life, if you really want to know, was the knowledge that he totalled my world without an ounce of remorse. I’m not a parent, but I would never want to make my own happiness at the expense of my child’s. I’m sure your parents wouldn’t have done that either.”

“I never knew my parents.”

His eyes filled with a compassion that surprised her. He began to apologize but she held up a hand and cut him off.

“I’m sorry. That just came out. You couldn’t have known,” she said. “Besides, my life has nothing to do with you.”

“I deserved to be put in my place. I was the one who made an assumption.”

Their lunch arrived at that moment and they stopped talking, sitting awkwardly while the waitress set down their plates.

“I’ll have to get back to the station so I have to eat quickly,” she said as soon as the girl left, “so I apologize in advance. Another officer is covering for me, but it means we may have to work late.” She bit into her sandwich and hoped that he took the hint. She wasn’t going to talk about herself and didn’t want him asking.

He paused. “I know this isn’t on at the moment,” he said finally, “but maybe when this is over, you might like to go out for dinner or something. I’d like to have a chance to talk under less constrained circumstances.”

“I’m not sure that would be a good idea.”

“Yeah, maybe you’re right.”

The disappointed expression on his face made her smile. “I didn’t say we couldn’t keep the possibility open, but I think you might feel differently about socializing with me when this wraps up. Murder investigations have a funny way of changing how people see each other. You might not be too fond of me when all is said and done.”

Especially if you had a hand in killing your father.

He lifted his head and smiled back at her. “Fair enough. You haven’t shut and locked the door, and that’s about all I can ask.”

Her phone rang as they were paying the bill. She listened with her eyes on Hunter. She shut off the phone and said, “Your sister Geraldine has gone into labour. She’s at the General. Your mother’s been trying to track you down.”

“God, she’s three weeks early. Did they say how she is?”

“No, but that’s probably because she’s okay. You go and I’ll settle up here.”

“Thanks.” He jumped up and grabbed his jacket from the hook. “I don’t know whether to be excited or worried for her.”

“Would you call me to let me know how it goes?”

He stopped and looked down at her. “I’ll call the station. Hopefully, for Geraldine’s sake, this isn’t going to be an all-nighter. We could sure use some good news to end this miserable year. Keep your fingers crossed.”

Kala arrived at the office twenty minutes later. She plunked down across from Bennett and looked toward Rouleau’s office. Grayson and Malik were standing just inside the doorway and she could see Vermette sitting across from Rouleau.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“We found some documents on Underwood’s hard drive in a subfolder entitled ‘exit strategy.’ He was going to make big changes in his life, beginning with pulling out of the business. The morning he disappeared was the morning he planned to tell J.P. He typed it up in his master plan. Remember Gage found the email from Underwood to J.P. asking for a meeting? Well, J.P. denied they had anything set up for that morning when he was interviewed earlier this week. Underwood’s file combined with the email say otherwise. It’s as if Underwood’s pointing a big finger at J.P. from the grave. Grayson and Malik are about to bring him in for questioning again. The team is in there, planning the interview strategy.”

She turned and looked again into Rouleau’s office. “How come Vermette’s part of the posse?”

“Grayson met him in the hall and told him what we found on the computer.”

She turned back to Bennett. “Rouleau looks like a thunder cloud.”

“It’s because Grayson jumped the gun telling Vermette. Puts Rouleau in a bad place. How’d your appointment go by the way?”

“Fine.”

She turned on her computer and leaned on the desk with her chin cupped in her hand while she waited for it to boot up. J.P. had motive and opportunity. He’d been caught in a lie that would have him with Underwood around the time he was killed. It all fit. What didn’t fit was the possible attempt on Susan Halliday’s life. If but for the park ranger, Susan would likely be dead. Why would J.P. go to all that trouble to harm a woman who wasn’t connected to his business if this was about greed? Were Underwood’s murder and Susan’s emptied gas tank even linked?

“Looks like we might have New Year’s off when they wrap this up,” Bennett said. “You got any plans for New Year’s Eve?”

“Yeah.” She looked closely at him. He was busy with some papers on his desk and avoiding her eyes. That’s all she needed. Some young, earnest cop getting ideas about her. What the hell was up with Ottawa men anyhow? “If you can finish going through this stuff, I’ll go watch them interview J.P. through the two-way glass,” she said.

“Leave me to the slogging bits while you go have all the fun.”

“Well, find something juicy about one of our suspects and we can hold our own interview.”

“You don’t think J.P. is our man?”

“Let’s just say my mind is still open to other possibilities.”

“Don’t let Grayson or Vermette hear you say that. They’ve already ordered the party streamers.”

“They really like to set themselves up,” said Kala.

“How do you mean?”

She sighed. “Just seems to me like they’re too eager to go with one theory.”

For the first time, Bennett looked uncomfortable. It was as if he remembered that she was the outsider and he was part of the old boys’ club meeting in Rouleau’s office.

“They’re working with the facts. It seems logical to me that they’d want to question Underwood’s partner, especially since he lied about the meeting.”

Kala smiled. “I agree that he’s up there on the list of suspects. It’s just good to remember that we have other people who could have murdered Underwood.”

Bennett nodded before turning back to the paperwork, but she could tell he wasn’t convinced. She hesitated. She’d been running the idea of inviting him to her next stakeout on Richmond Road around in her mind, but now it didn’t seem like a good idea. He was likely to go running to Rouleau with the news. Besides, she preferred working alone.