“You’re the reason for the whole mess! Why couldn’t you just leave him alone?” Stacey cried, her voice cracking. “What happened twenty-five years ago wasn’t important to anybody but you. He was old. He planned to retire in a few months anyway. What harm was he doing you?”
Alex remembered the judge’s last words to her. Stacey hadn’t known about the shady deal he had struck on her behalf. Alex could spare her that pain, at least until she’d had time to absorb the shock of her father’s death. “I can’t discuss the case with you. I’m sorry.”
“Case? Case? This was never about a case. This was about your trashy mother, who used and manipulated people—men—until someone got tired of it and killed her.” Her
eyes narrowed threateningly and she took a malevolent step closer. “You’re just like her, stirring up trouble, a user of people and a whore!”
She launched herself at Alex, but Reede stepped between them, catching Stacey against his chest and holding her there until her rage was spent and she was clinging to him weakly, sobbing.
He stroked her back and murmured words of comfort. Behind her back, he passed Alex the keys to his Blazer. She took them and let herself in, locking the door behind her. Watching through the windshield, she saw him lead Stacey around the corner of the building and out of sight. Several minutes later, he came jogging back. She unlocked the door for him and he climbed in.
“Will she be all right?” Alex asked.
“Yeah. I turned her over to some friends. They’ll see that she gets home. Someone will stay with her tonight.” His lips narrowed into a bitter line. “Of course, the man she wants isn’t there for her.”
“Her father?”
He shook his head. “Junior.”
Because it was all so pitifully sad, Alex began to cry again.
Chapter 42
She didn’t raise her head until the Blazer jounced over a chuckhole. She tried to get her bearings by looking through the windshield, but it was a dark night, and the road had no markings. “Where are we going?”
“My place.” No sooner had he said it than his headlights picked up the house.
“Why?”
He cut the truck’s engine. “Because I’m afraid to let you out of my sight. People turn up dead or wounded when I do.”
He left her sitting in the truck while he went to unlock the front door. She thought about driving off, but he’d taken the keys. In some ways, Alex was relieved she’d been robbed of taking the initiative. She wanted to defy him, but didn’t have the physical or mental energy. Tiredly, she pushed open the Blazer’s door and got out.
The house looked different at night. Like a woman’s face, it fared better under soft lighting that helped camouflage its flaws. Reede had gone in ahead of her and turned on a lamp. He was crouched in front of the fireplace, putting a long match to the kindling beneath the stacked logs.
When the dry wood started crackling, he stood up and asked her, “Are you hungry?”
“Hungry?” She repeated the word like someone unfamiliar with the language.
“When did you eat last? Lunch?”
“Junior brought a hamburger to my room last night.”
He made a grumpy, grunting sound and headed for the kitchen. “I don’t promise anything as fancy as a hamburger.”
Thanks to Lupe’s niece, the pantry had been recently stocked with more than peanut butter and crackers. After taking a quick inventory, he recited their choices. “Canned soup, canned spaghetti, frozen tamales, bacon and eggs.”
“Bacon and eggs.”
They worked in companionable silence. Reede did most of the actual cooking. He had little regard for tidiness and none for culinary finesse. Alex enjoyed watching him. When he slid a plate in front of her and dropped into the chair across the small table, she smiled at him pensively. He noticed her expression and did a double take as he lifted the first forkful to his mouth.
“What’s the matter?”
She shook her head and shyly lowered her eyes. “Nothing.”
He didn’t seem ready to accept her answer. Before he could pursue it, however, the telephone rang. He reached for the wall extension.
“Lambert. Oh, hi, Junior.” He looked toward Alex. “Yeah, it was a real mess.” He listened. “She, uh, she had a meeting with him right before it happened… I’m afraid she saw everything.”