Читать книгу Poisoned Secrets - Margaret Daley - Страница 18

Pain pulsated a pounding rhythm against her skull. Maggie reached up and touched the spot that throbbed. A sticky substance coated her fingertips. Although the darkness reeled behind her closed eyes, she slowly opened the lids. Light assaulted her, and she shut them immediately.

What happened?

Again she inched her eyes open, letting them adjust to the brightness that illuminated her bedroom. She held her hand up in front of her face and saw the red that covered her skin.

Someone hit me?

She remembered coming into her apartment and heading for her bedroom. After that, a blank slate greeted her probing. She was lying prone on the hardwood floor so something had happened. But what?

As though in slow motion, she twisted to her side to push herself to her feet. Halfway up, the room spinning before her, she clutched the small table by the doorway to steady herself. It came crashing down on top of her. The books she had stacked on it tumbled into her and sent her collapsing to the floor. She hit her head in the same place that hurt. Pain streaked outward in waves that threatened to drive her back into the black void.

Edwina Bacon shuffled toward her recliner in front of her TV when she heard a loud noise as if something above her in Maggie’s apartment struck the floor. After all that happened in the past month, the manager of Twin Oaks skirted her chair and made her way toward her front door. She jingled her keys in her pocket to make sure she had them and left her place.

With her hand on the ornate carved banister, she climbed the stairs as quickly as she could.

At Maggie’s place, Edwina rang the bell.

Nothing.

She pressed in the white button a second time then a third.

With a glance from side to side, Edwina removed her key ring and found the one to Maggie’s. If she wasn’t home, what caused that sound? If she was home, why hadn’t she answered the door?

Edwina inserted her key and paused before turning the handle. Memories of Henry’s death only weeks before inundated her. She prayed this wasn’t a repeat of what happened to Henry. For a few seconds she thought of going back down and calling Kane or her nephew at the police station.

Lord, what should I do?

What if Maggie had fallen and hurt herself and couldn’t come to the door? What if she needed help now? With her teeth clenched, Edwina twisted the knob and pushed the door open.

“Maggie? Are you all right?”

Edwina stood in the entrance and glanced around. Relieved nothing seemed disturbed although there were still unopened boxes scattered about the living room, she moved a foot into the apartment, leaving the door wide open.

“Maggie,” she called.

A moan sounded from the bedroom. Edwina hurried as fast as she could down the hallway. Her heart pounded with each step against the hardwood planks.

Then Edwina saw Maggie. She lay on the floor, her eyelids fluttering. Books were scattered about her, and a small table sat at an angle across her stomach.

With an effort, Edwina knelt next to Maggie. Edwina pressed her lips together to keep her own moan inside her at the pain in her aching knees. Maggie needed her help.

“Maggie,” she touched the young woman’s shoulder, “what happened?”

Maggie grimaced as her gaze connected with hers. “I’m not sure.”

“Here, let me help you up.” Edwina pushed the small table to the side, slid several books away and clasped the new tenant’s arm.

She attempted to hoist herself up, but pain flitted across her features.

“Where are you hurt?” Edwina’s gaze fixed on the red stain on the wooden floor.

Maggie sank back, drew in a deep breath and brought her hand to her head. “Here.”

“Let me see.” Gently Edwina turned the young woman’s head and saw the gash and her hair matted with blood. “You must have hit your head hard when you fell.”

“No.”

The weakness of her denial made Edwina look back into Maggie’s eyes, dulled with pain, the young woman’s features pale with a gray tinge.

Silence reigned for a good minute, the new tenant’s brow creased as though she were recalling something. “Someone hit me from behind.”

“Someone was in here?”

“Yes,” Maggie said in a more definitive voice. “When I came home from my jog, the person must have been in here waiting for me.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. A robbery attempt?”

Edwina felt the shiver that shimmied down Maggie’s body. “I’m calling my nephew. He’s a detective with the police department. We can’t have this in our apartment building. You lie right there while I get some help.”

“But—”

“Don’t move. I’ll be right back.” Edwina struggled to her feet, her breathing coming in gasps, and started for the door.

With her shock receding, a thought wormed its way into Maggie’s mind. She could have been killed. Suddenly the idea of being by herself in her apartment caused her to blurt out, “Don’t leave me.”

Edwina halted. “Oh, dear me. I’m not leaving. I’m just going to make a few calls.”

Maggie gestured toward the bedside table, finally managing to sit up slowly. “I’ve got a phone over there, and it’s hooked up.”

Edwina spotted it, and her face brightened into a smile. “That you do.” She shuffled over to the bed and sat while she dialed.

Maggie listened to her make two calls, first to Kane then to her nephew David Morgan. Although Edwina’s words were muffled, Maggie heard the concern in the older woman’s voice. And Edwina’s sober expression only confirmed the seriousness of Maggie’s situation.

Maggie tried to think what she should do, but the throbbing pain encompassed her whole head now as though a marching band performed inside her skull. No coherent thoughts materialized, and she wilted back against the wall.

A few minutes later while Edwina was still talking to her nephew, someone entered her apartment. Hurried footsteps resonated down her hallway. Was her attacker returning to finish the job? Maggie tensed, that slight movement pulsating a warning to her brain she ignored. She labored to sit straight up, but the action increased the hammering pain in her head until she could no longer ignore her plight.

Kane appeared in her bedroom doorway. Exhaling her pent-up breath, Maggie wished she was anywhere but sprawled across the floor, her hair a tangled mess, her workout clothes askew. There was nothing dignified about her position, but she was so glad it wasn’t the intruder returning.

“Edwina told me someone broke into your apartment.”

Kane bent over and lifted her up into his arms as though she weighed ten pounds. As he walked to her bed, his clean scent of soap with a hint of pine wafted to her. She resisted the urge to lay her head on his shoulder and surrender to the blackness that edged closer with each jarring motion.

Gently, as though she was precious to him, Kane placed her on her coverlet. Its softness cocooned around her legs as she eased back against the headboard. She was careful not to get any blood on her linens, careful not to make any sudden moves or touch the place where her intruder struck her. “Thanks.”

He hovered above her, the look on his face hard and somber. “You need to be checked out at the emergency room.”

“I know.” The pounding against her skull underscored her need to see a doctor. She knew the dangers of a concussion, and if the pain was any indication, she had a doozy.

Edwina hung up. “Kane, can you take Maggie to the hospital?”

“Yes.”

Maggie wanted to protest but wouldn’t. She hated being beholden to anyone, but she really didn’t have much of a choice. She couldn’t see driving herself to the emergency room.

Edwina turned toward Maggie. “I’m having David meet me here to check out your apartment. Then we’ll come to the hospital. He’ll get a statement from you there. Do you think anything is missing?”

So many of her things were still in boxes. Maggie, without moving her head, made a visual sweep of the room. “Nothing looks disturbed, but I’ll need to go through what I have to be sure.”

“I noticed your TV in the living room. Where’s your jewelry? That’s something else a burglar takes.” Edwina pushed herself off the other side of the double bed.

“In the jewelry box on my dresser.” Maggie pointed toward it.

Edwina retrieved it and set it in Maggie’s lap. “You might want to check it.”

She opened the intricately carved box of cherry wood that her father had given her two birthdays ago, right before he’d died. The thought pained her more than the ache in her head.

She didn’t have much but the few valuable pieces—a gold cross on a delicate chain, a cameo pin, a ring with a large red garnet encircled with tiny diamonds and a pair of opal earrings—were all there among her costume jewelry. “Nothing’s gone.”

“Odd,” Edwina muttered as she took the box back to the dresser.

Kane moved close. “Ready?”

Maggie inhaled a deep breath. “As ready as I’m going to be.”

She started to swing her legs over the side of the bed at the same time Kane began to scoop her up into his arms. She held her hand up. “I can walk.”

There was no way she wanted him to carry her to his car. The very thought sent panic through her. The twenty seconds she had been in his embrace earlier was all she cared to experience. Liar, she chided herself. She’d enjoyed the feel of his arms about her more than she wanted to admit.

But as she slowly rose from the bed, her wishes were denied. The room rotated. She collapsed back and clutched the coverlet to keep herself upright. The jerking action, however, swirled the room faster. She closed her eyes, but that only caused the dark to revolve. Her stomach roiled. That was when Kane’s strong arms enveloped her in their protective circle. Again he lifted her effortlessly and headed toward the door.

The exertion of holding her head up was too much for her. She surrendered to her earlier urge and laid her cheek against the cushion of his shoulder. The motion of him walking jounced her so she slid her eyes shut and bit down on her lower lip. Nausea continued to agitate her stomach. This bump on the noggin was worse than she’d thought.

“I don’t want to stay overnight!” Maggie tried to keep her head steady because any movement sent pain through her and riled her stomach. When would the medication the doctor gave her start working?

Kane folded his arms across his chest. “Well, I’m not taking you home, and I doubt you’re in any condition to walk the ten blocks.”

“Did anyone tell you that you’re not very accommodating?”

“Yep, many times.”

The firm set of his mouth told her she wouldn’t be able to budge him. Besides, he was right. She didn’t think she could walk across the room without feeling sick. At least lying in this hospital bed kept the pain at a bearable level.

The door swished open, and Edwina, with a man in worn jeans and a sweatshirt, entered. A grin that dimpled Edwina’s wrinkled cheeks appeared as she shuffled across the room.

“Maggie, I want you to meet my nephew, David Morgan. He’s a detective with Seven Oaks Police Department and will be working your case.”

The detective extended his hand, and Maggie shook it. “It’s nice to meet you. I just wish it were under different circumstances.”

“Me, too. I took a look around your apartment. The intruder didn’t disturb anything that Aunt Edwina and I could find, but I want you to go through it when you feel better and let me know for sure. Did you see anything?”

“No. Now that I’ve had time to think about it, I sensed something when I came into my bedroom and started to turn when I was hit from behind. I can’t even tell you if it was a man or a woman.”

David pulled out a pad with a stub for a pencil. “What did you sense?”

Maggie tried to remember what it was that alerted her to the fact something was different. A blank screen stretched before her. “I can’t remember.”

“Can you remember anything else?”

Maggie tried to replay the whole scene in her mind, but she always came up blank by the time she reached her bedroom. “No, everything seemed normal. My door was locked, and I let myself in. Nothing looked out of place.”

“Are you sure it was locked?”

“Yes, why do you ask?”

“I couldn’t find any signs of forced entry.” David jotted something down on his pad.

“So how did the intruder get into her apartment?” Kane asked before Maggie had a chance.

“I don’t know for sure. Could he have had a key? Maybe Henry gave one out to someone.” David made another note.

“That doesn’t sound like Henry, but I guess he could have,” Edwina said, her lips pinched together.

“We may never know for sure. Maggie, let me know if you do remember anything else.” Edwina’s nephew dug into his back pocket and withdrew a card. “This is my number. Call me with anything you can remember, even if you think it’s not important.”

“Do you think this break-in has anything to do with the murder that occurred in the apartment?” Maggie voiced the question that had plagued her since she had awakened, especially since it was possible the intruder used a key that he somehow got from Henry.

David stroked his chin. “Maybe. I’m not sure what, though.”

“Yeah, that’s what has me puzzled.” Maggie’s gaze sought Kane. “Where are Henry’s possessions? Who took them?”

“Edwina and I boxed them up, and they’re in the basement. Henry doesn’t have any relatives we can find.”

“So there wasn’t any reason for the murderer to break into my place.”

Kane frowned. “Not that I can see, but I’m going to beef up the security. I’ll be changing everyone’s locks. I’m checking into getting a security system for the building.”

“I’ll be talking to your tenants to see if someone saw anything.” David pocketed his pad and chewed pencil. “Aunt Edwina has already given me her statement. How about you, Kane? Did you hear or see something out of the ordinary?”

“No, since I came home earlier than I’d originally planned, I was in my workshop, finishing up a table. Until Edwina called, I didn’t know anything had happened. I had my sander going and barely heard my cell phone ringing.”

“I didn’t see or hear anything, either, and when I went up the stairs, there was nobody around.” Maggie shifted cautiously to make herself more comfortable—nothing helped.

Edwina took Maggie’s hand and patted it. “Don’t you worry. Tomorrow night at a building meeting in my apartment, I’ll get everyone to be on the lookout. This won’t happen again.”

Maggie wished she could believe that. Although neighborhood watches were effective to a point, they didn’t stop burglaries altogether. “Hopefully the robber saw that I didn’t have much to steal and won’t be back.”

Edwina squeezed her hand. “I’m sure you’re right, dear. The meeting will be at seven-thirty, and David’s going to give a little talk about what we can do to be more alert.”

Her nephew’s eyebrows shot up. “I am?”

“Yes, I want the tenants to see the seriousness of the situation, and a detective’s presence will make that point beautifully. Besides, I’m serving those cookies you love so much.”

David grinned. “And tea?”

“Of course, dear. Decaf, however, since it’s in the evening. I wouldn’t want to be responsible for keeping anyone up all night.” After another pat, Edwina released Maggie’s hand. “We’ll go and let you get some rest. This has been a trying day.”

Trying day was putting it mildly. Maggie shifted again. But thankfully the pain’s intensity had finally dulled slightly with the medication.

When Edwina and her nephew left, the energy in the room decreased to a normal level. “She’s a ball of fire.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if she started patrolling the halls,” Kane said in a serious tone while a gleam danced in his eyes.

Maggie chuckled at that picture. “Don’t make me laugh. It hurts too much.”

Kane moved closer. “Seriously, Edwina’s right. We’ll need to be more alert. Too much has happened in my apartment building in the past month. I’ll make what changes I can, but until the person who murdered Henry is caught, I won’t feel safe.”

“I agree. But it’s been almost three weeks. The longer it goes unsolved the harder it will be.”

“If you want to get out of your lease, I won’t stop you.”

“No!” Her fervent tone caused surprise to flare into his eyes. “I can’t move again. Besides, I haven’t got a connection to Henry, and there’s nothing of value to steal, which I’m sure the thief discovered. My old TV wouldn’t bring fifty dollars.”

“Then we’re going to have to hope the case is solved. The thing is Henry wasn’t a well-liked man.”

Maggie rubbed her temple. “Not liking a person doesn’t mean you’d murder him.”

“Let me put it another way. He was hated by a lot of people in Seven Oaks.”

“Who?”

“Probably everyone who worked in his department and others at the university.”

“Why?”

“He wasn’t a nice man. He took pleasure in making life difficult for others.”

Exhaustion cleaved to her. Maggie closed her eyes for a few seconds. “Are you one of those people?” When she peered at Kane again, she saw a glimpse of something that looked like distaste.

A shutter fell over his features. “He wasn’t one of my favorite people.”

The next evening Maggie entered Edwina’s apartment ten minutes late for the building meeting. People crowded into the older woman’s living room. In the short time Maggie had lived at Twin Oaks she had seen everyone at least once in the hallway, but she hadn’t really gotten to know anyone except Edwina and Kane.

Especially not her birth mother. Besides yesterday when she’d helped Ashley, she’d only seen Vicky once today in the hallway. And that brief exchange had left her drained. She wasn’t good at keeping secrets.

“How are you doing?” Edwina came forward to usher Maggie inside. “Let me introduce you to everyone.” The older woman took her by the arm. “Now that Maggie has arrived, we can start our meeting. Since she’s the new kid on the block, let’s go around the room and introduce ourselves.”

The person closest to Edwina tipped his head forward. “I’m Bradley Quinn. I don’t live here, but my parents live upstairs right above you. They asked me to come and report back to them. Mom isn’t feeling well, and Dad’s at a high school function.”

Maggie shook the tall, thin man’s cold hand. His features should have been attractive except for the permanent frown lines about his mouth and on his forehead. His face, like his body, was long and thin with a mane of chestnut hair, shoulder length, that he kept fidgeting with.

“Bradley might as well live here. He spends a good deal of time with us. He’s my nephew. I’ll make sure I introduce you to my sister and her husband soon.” Turning toward Bradley, Edwina grinned. “Tell Ann I’ll make her some of my chicken soup. That ought to make her better in no time.”

Maggie moved to the next person beside Bradley. A petite, dark-haired beauty that she knew to be Kyra Williams, Henry Payne’s secretary. “I’ve seen you several times with a little boy.”

“My son. Thankfully Edwina arranged for a high school student from our church to babysit the children at the Sellman’s this evening while we meet.”

“Normally Kenny watches them when we’re nearby, but with all that has happened lately we thought it best to have an older teen.” Edwina scrunched up her mouth. “I guess technically Kenny has eighteen months to go before he is an official teenager.”

“Please don’t remind us, Edwina.”

The large, muscular man who had made that comment had to be John Pennington with blue eyes and a buzz cut. He sat next to Vicky, holding her hand.

“It’s good to finally meet you since we live across the hall from each other.” And you’re my mother’s husband. Maggie bit down on the inside of her mouth to keep those words quiet.

“You’ve met Vicky, John’s wife.” Edwina passed on to a couple next to Maggie’s birth mother. “This is Thomas and Lisa Sellman. They live across the hall from me.”

Maggie greeted both of them, trying to remember what Edwina had told her about Thomas and Lisa. He was a graduate student at Seven Oaks University, working part-time at the school while Lisa was a hairstylist. “It’s nice to meet you two.”

“Okay, now that the introductions have been made, let’s get down to business.” Edwina gestured for Maggie to take a seat on the couch next to Kane. “My nephew has been kind enough to come talk to us about what we can do to make this apartment safer for us and our families.”

David Morgan rose from a rocking chair with his cup of tea in hand. He downed some then settled it back in its saucer on a small round table next to him. “Actually there are a lot of things you can do to make sure you all are as safe as possible. Being alert is paramount.”

As David went into detail of how they could be more alert, Maggie scanned the people sitting around Edwina’s living room. Her neighbors. All strangers. She was the outsider, something she was familiar with in her life. They all knew each other, from what Edwina had said, for a couple of years at the very least. Henry had been the last person to move into the building two years ago. Since that time, there hadn’t been a vacancy until the murder.

The sense of being watched engulfed Maggie. She swept her gaze around the circle and found Vicky staring at her. Maggie tensed. Did she see something familiar? Panic took hold until the older woman smiled, her eyes crinkling with warmth. She nodded her head slightly then returned her attention to what David was saying. Maggie released a long sigh that didn’t escape Kane’s notice.

He leaned close. “You’ll be safe. I’m making it my personal mission.”

The intensity in his voice reassured her. At that moment she felt very safe.

After David finished speaking, Kane stood and moved forward. “Today all the doors to your apartments were checked to make sure they were solid wood and the hinges have non-removable pins. I changed the locks—adding dead bolts as well as peepholes so you can tell who has come to your door.”

Kane’s gaze snagged Maggie’s. He had accomplished a lot in one day. Again the sense of security in his presence surprised her. She really didn’t know him well, and yet she felt he would protect her at all costs.

“Now for the outside doors.” Kane looked away from Maggie and made eye contact with each of his tenants. “I’m going to install a system where a person will have to buzz someone inside to be let into the building. It will be locked. People can go out but can’t come in without someone letting them in or having a key.”

“What about the children?” Vicky took a cookie from a plate that Edwina passed around the circle.

“I’ll work with them. They’ll get used to the system.”

“I, for one, am elated that we’ll have a system like you described. It makes me feel my son is safe. He could play in the hallway and I wouldn’t worry about him.” Kyra gave the cookie platter to Bradley, who was behind her wing chair.

“This will be better and will reassure Mom.” Bradley reached around Kyra to hand the plate to John.

“David, are there any leads on who killed Henry?” John shifted his large frame on the love seat and rolled his shoulders as if he were stiff and sore.

“None to speak of.”

“Was the break-in connected to the murder?” Lisa Sellman rose and walked to the teapot to pour herself some more.

“Yeah, was it connected?” Vicky’s frown reminded Maggie of hers when she was really upset.

Tension flowed off her birth mother, affecting Maggie more than she cared to acknowledge. She didn’t owe the woman anything.

“We don’t know. With Kane’s safety procedures and you all being more alert, there shouldn’t be any more problems.” David grabbed the last two cookies on the plate then placed it on the coffee table. “I have to get back to the station. You all know how to get in touch with me if you can think of anything from the day Henry was killed or yesterday when Miss Ridgeway’s apartment was broken into.” He strode toward the door.

Edwina hurried after her nephew. “Thanks for coming. See you at church on Sunday.”

David kissed his aunt on the cheek and left. The click of the door as he closed it sounded in the quiet. No one said anything for a good minute. John chewed his cookie. Lisa drank her tea. Kyra stared a hole into the carpet at her feet.

The anxiety, created by Vicky’s presence, in Maggie increased until she felt as if she would snap in two pieces. She couldn’t shake the idea that the break-in and the murder were connected, although she wasn’t sure why.

Suddenly a thought gripped her. Has anyone checked Henry’s possessions lately to see if they have been disturbed?

Maggie clasped Kane’s arm. His gaze swung to her. “After the meeting, can we check Henry’s things in the basement?”

“You think someone’s gone through them?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Then let’s do it now.” Kane came to his feet and offered Maggie his hand.

For a few seconds she stared at it, his fingers long and strong from gripping a sanding block. He created beautiful pieces of furniture with those hands. She fit hers within his and allowed him to help her stand. Her vision wavered from the quick movement. She wasn’t used to taking it slow and easy. With him close, she ambled toward the small foyer in Edwina’s apartment.

“You two leaving?” Edwina asked, cutting off their escape.

“Yes, it’s been a long day, and I’m still not feeling one hundred percent.” All of which was true, but Maggie didn’t want to say anything to anyone about where she and Kane were going before she returned to her own apartment. No sense alarming the tenants anymore than they already were. Besides it was probably nothing. Just her trying to make some sense out of something random.

“Dear, I don’t want you to worry about breakfast. I’m bringing you some tomorrow morning.”

“You don’t have—”

“Of course, I don’t have to. I want to.” Edwina’s two dimples appeared in her wrinkled cheeks. “Call me in the morning when you get up. I’ll bring it then.”

Kane reached around Maggie to open the door. His arm brushed up against hers, his touch jolting her. She took a small step back.

Edwina grasped her hand and squeezed it. “Will you be okay upstairs by yourself in your apartment?”

“Sure,” Maggie said without thinking. On second thought, she wasn’t so positive about her answer. She’d spent the night in the hospital and had only stayed in her apartment a few hours before coming to Edwina’s. In that time she’d checked the new locks on her door several times and had jumped at any sound she’d heard.

“I have a spare bedroom for guests. You can stay with me if you want.”

While Kane moved out into the hall, Maggie turned toward Edwina and hugged her. “Edwina, you’re so kind to offer. I may not have been here long, but that apartment is my home now. I won’t let anyone run me off. I’ll deal with it. God is with me.”

Edwina’s eyes twinkled. “That He is. Are you still coming with me to church on Sunday?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I should be fine by then. Good night, Edwina, and again thanks for the offer.”

Maggie stared back at the door as the older woman closed it. Edwina was wonderful and kind. She’d been lucky to find someone like her in Seven Oaks, in the very building she lived in. She felt so alone here without any family and friends. And now with Vicky across the hall, seeing her every day but not being a part of her life, the loneliness was even more evident.

“Ready?” Kane headed toward the back of the house and the steps that led to the basement.

“I’m not sure if I want to find something missing or not.” Maggie followed him down the stairs.

“We’ll know shortly and deal with it either way.” Kane unlocked the door to the large storage area and let Maggie enter first.

The huge room was partitioned into cages where the tenants could store their belongings they didn’t need in their apartments. Kane crossed to the far wall to the cage next to hers.

“This is an extra one I have in case someone needs more space.” He searched for the key to the cage, and when he found it on his ring, he reached for the padlock.

After unlocking the chain link entrance, Kane advanced inside. Maggie came up beside him. With a deep scowl, he swung around and stared at the padlock then back at the stacked boxes.

“What’s wrong?” Apprehension washed over Maggie as though she had been caught in a sudden downpour.

“Someone has been in here.”