Love and Suspicion Read online

  It was easy to see what Mariam was thinking. “Don’t worry, Michael is way too old for me.”

  “That’s what Jolie said at first.”

  “I promise; I’ll never marry Michael Woodbury.”

  Mariam looked anything but convinced, but at length, she chose one more book and then took the pile to the front of the store.

  When she wasn’t looking, Tiffany smiled. She began to take the other books out of the display window and then replaced them with Mariam’s choices. When she was finished, she went outside to survey her work and decided the placement wasn’t half bad. When she came back in, she looked to see what her boss was doing. “Mariam, you dusted those books last Friday.”

  “I know, dear. It’s busy work, you could say. I need to keep busy or I’ll think too much. You’ll see when you get old. The things you did wrong haunt you and make you feel bad all over again. Even little things pop into your mind, but mostly it’s something you did wrong or even something you didn’t do and should have. Believe me, I’ve done more wrong than right in my lifetime.” Her words began to trail off, “Indeed, more wrong than right.”

  LOOKING FORWARD TO seeing Nancy again, Rod drove his car down the lane to her house and got out. Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, it looked as though Nancy didn’t recognize him at first. Back in the rows of corn, she finally waved, and soon Willie’s head appeared between two rows. In his excitement to run to his new friend the boy tripped and fell, but it didn’t stop him for long. He picked himself up and kept coming.

  Rod hastened his pace until he got close enough to pick the boy up. “Hurt yourself?”

  Willie puckered his lip and showed the deputy a scratch on his elbow. “I know how to fix that.” By the time he lifted a giggling Willie over his head and set him on his shoulders, Nancy was walking toward him.

  “You come to fix our porch?” Willie asked.

  “If I can.”

  “Can I help?”

  “It’s okay with me, but you have to ask your mom.”

  “Welcome, stranger,” said Nancy as soon as she reached him.

  “Mom can I help?”

  “As long as you don’t get in the way.”

  Rod set the boy down, went back to his car, and opened the trunk. He unloaded several cinderblocks, a car jack and a tool box. Carrying two at a time, he moved the cinderblocks closer to the collapsed corner of the porch. Rod walked around to the end of the porch, examined the damage and decided the old wood used to build it initially simply rotted away. Next, he took a look at the other end, and then went up the steps to test the strength of the top. Except for the collapsed corner, it seemed sturdy enough.

  “What’s you doing?” Willie wanted to know.

  “Well, first you have to see what the problem is before you can fix something.”

  “I know what happened,” said Willie.

  “What?” Rod asked.

  “It rained, that’s what.”

  Nancy provided the rest of the story, “We had a flood last spring. The house is on a cement foundation, but as you can see, the porch is not.”

  “No damage inside?” Rod asked.

  “No, thank goodness,” she answered.

  Before he stepped down off the porch, he picked up her rocking chair and carried it to her. “Shade or sun?”

  “Shade,” she answered. “I’ve already had enough sun today.”

  He set the chair under the shade of her plum tree. “How’s your arm?”

  “Good. It doesn’t hurt nearly as much today.” As soon as she sat down, Willie climbed into her lap. “Are you going to the picnic Sunday?” she asked.

  “I am, but in an official capacity.”

  “Well, I happen to know Otis eats just as much as everyone else...in his official capacity.” She retuned Rod’s smile. “You’ll enjoy it. The town picnic is always fun.” She watched him take a level out his tool box and set it on the sturdy side of the porch first. He studied the little glass tube, and then set the level on the other side or the steps.

  “I have a confession to make,” Nancy said.

  “Nothing illegal, I hope. I’m off duty.”

  “Illegal no, sneaky yes. Millie and I have been friends for a long time and she told me you arrested Earl Woodbury.”

  He winced. “True and I bet I’m the brunt of a few jokes around town.”

  “Don’t worry, sooner or later everyone is the brunt of a few jokes. The people in this town find everything entertaining, especially a new deputy that doesn’t know not to arrest Earl Woodbury. They’ll move on to someone else soon. Millie also says you’re a pretty stand-up guy.”

  “Remind me to thank her.” He picked up the jack and tried to decide where best to put it to raise the sagging corner.

  “So is it true you’re reading the kidnapping file?”

  “Does Millie tell all she knows?”

  “No, just to me. We swore an oath in second grade never to keep secrets from each other.” Nancy enjoyed his grin. “The truth is, she didn’t call me, I called her to ask about you. I don’t want Willie hurt.”

  “I understand and I assure you that is not my intention.”

  “No, I don’t believe it is.” While he was still considering what to do next, she got up, went inside and came back out holding a pitcher of lemonade and a stack of three plastic glasses. She carefully walked down the slanted steps, filled the top glass, and handed it to Rod.

  He tasted the ice cold liquid and set the glass on the good side of the porch. “It’s been ages since I’ve tasted lemonade. Thanks.”

  “So, are you thinking of looking into the kidnapping case?”

  “Right now, I’m just reading the files.”

  “I hope you do. It breaks my heart to see Earl sitting on that bench when we go into town. A thousand times Millie and I have tried to think a way to make life better for him, but there just isn’t anything anyone can do. He has all the money he needs, and a housekeeper who takes good care of him, but then, he’s got Michael too.” She gave the second glass of lemonade to Willie, and returned to her rocking chair.

  “What about Michael?”

  “You might as well hear it from me first. Half the town thinks Michael was behind the kidnapping. I wouldn’t be surprised if Earl thinks so too.”

  “Why Michael?”

  “His inheritance. He was looking at only splitting the company and everything else Earl owned with his brother, Jason, and then along came a second wife and a little girl he would have to share the inheritance with too.”

  “I see.”

  “Money is always the great instigator, isn’t it?”

  “You’re right about that.”

  “Of course, Millie and I were just kids when all that happened, so we don’t know anything we didn’t hear second hand.”

  While Nancy told him what she’d heard about the case, Rod jacked the collapsed corner up, stacked three cinderblocks under one side of the corner, and three more under the other side. He removed the jack and then went back on top to test the strength. The wood was still strong enough to hold his weight without swaying in the middle. When the corner moved up, so did the steps. He carefully tested each of those too.

  “Bravo!” said Nancy.

  “It will do for now, I guess.”

  Sitting on the ground next to his mother’s chair, Willie asked, “Hey, you wanna see our garden?”

  “I sure do.” Rod took the little boy’s hand and let him pull him to the other side of the house where the afternoon sun shone directly on the small plants.

  “See?”

  It was hard to spot at first, but when Rod knelt down he could clearly see tiny sprouts.

  “I planted those,” Willis proudly said.

  “What are they?”

  “Watermelon, and over there is lettuce and carrots, but my mom planted those. I don’t like carrots much.”

  When he glanced back, Nancy was leaning against the side of the house listening. “Maybe when the watermelon gets
ripe, Rod will help us eat one?”

  Willie’s eyes sparkled. “Can you come?”

  “Just let me know when,” Rod said.

  CHAPTER 5

  TIFFANY AND MARIAM both worked until seven, locked up and then Tiffany headed back to her hotel. The warm sun was already setting in the west and long, west to east shadows lay across Main Street. She liked that time of night and was in no hurry to get home. Earl was not sitting on his bench, but there were plenty of people going from place to place. She returned several greetings and then wondered if she should check on her car. She decided against it. He might think she was just going to see him, and as far as guys went, that was always a mistake. Besides, he would call if it was fixed.

  The cost of the repairs worried her. Her first car was ten years old when she bought it, or rather her father bought it for her, and something was always going wrong with the wiring. Stupid car. It wasn’t supposed to happen with her new car, but oh well. On her way up the hotel elevator, Tiffany realized she forgot to ask Mariam how much she was getting paid. It had to be enough to pay for both the expensive room and the repairs – it had to be.

  She hadn’t been in her hotel room very long when someone knocked on the door. She put her eye up to the peephole, pulled away and then opened the door. “Yes.”

  “Mr. Woodbury wants to see you,” said Beverly Scott.

  “Which one?” Tiffany asked, opening the door wider. Her first impression of this woman was no impression at all. Although she likely died her auburn hair, Beverly Scott was just a run-of-the-mill lady with no noticeable disadvantages or advantages over any other woman in her fifties.

  Beverly huffed, “The only one that counts in my opinion – Mr. Earl Woodbury.”

  “When does he want to see me?”

  “Now, if you don’t mind.”

  “Okay,” said Tiffany. She grabbed her purse, pulled the door closed behind her and followed Beverly down the hallway. “Who are you?”

  “I’m Mr. Woodbury’s housekeeper.” As soon as they were outside, Beverly walked to the driver’s side of a black sedan. “Get in. I’ve got a bum knee and I’m getting too old to be climbing that hill.”

  Tiffany got in the passenger side and closed the door. “Do you know why he wants to see me?”

  “He didn’t say.”

  “He talks to you?”

  “Sometimes, but I don’t tell anyone the same as you haven’t told anyone. Why not?”

  Tiffany shrugged “I like knowing something no one else knows, I guess. Did he tell you why he stopped talking?”

  Beverly drove the rest of the way to the Woodbury mansion without answering. She parked the car in the driveway and then turned the engine off. “Earl doesn’t say why he won’t talk and I don’t ask.”

  Her first glimpse of the mansion surprised Tiffany. Considering the way Earl dressed, she had him pegged for someone living modestly. Of course, Michael said he ran his father’s company, but to own and maintain a house this size, Earl had to have a bundle of money in the bank.

  She followed Beverly through the front door and then across a sparsely decorated living room with outdated furniture. At the end of a hallway, they entered a far more cheerful room that looked like it had once been a library, although there were few books on the shelves. Now that Earl didn’t have his cowboy hat on, Tiffany could see the resemblance between he and his son, although his hair was turning gray. He sat in an easy chair near the fireplace, but he didn’t bother to stand when Tiffany entered. Instead, he motioned for her to sit in a chair facing him on the other side of a small table.

  “I’ll make tea,” Beverly said, closing the door behind her.

  “Mr. Woodbury...may I call you Earl?” Tiffany smiled when he nodded. “What can I do for you?”

  He gently cleared his throat. “You heard about the kidnapping?”

  “Yes, Michael told me.”

  Earl slowly got up, walked to a pile of papers on a desk, picked them up and brought them back. He set the pile on the table and then turned them so Tiffany could see what they were.

  “Bank statements?” She didn’t say so, but with everything being paperless these days, it was the first time she’d seen printed copies. Times sure had changed.

  “These are from the account my second wife had before she died.”

  “I see. What do you want me to do with them?”

  “Figure out who she gave money to. I hear there is a lot of information on the internet. I can’t work a computer and I can’t ask anyone else to do it.”

  “Wow, it sounds fascinating.” She suddenly frowned. “Do you even have a computer?”

  “I thought you said you had one.”

  “That’s right, I did say that.” Tiffany stared at the floor a minute.

  “Beverly has one too, with something she calls Wi-Fi.”

  Tiffany giggled, “That’s great, I was just thinking about that. I take it you don’t want anyone to know about this, right?”

  “Right. Name your price.”

  “My price?” She paused for a long moment. “How about we make a trade?’

  “What sort of trade?”

  “Living in the hotel is killing my bank account. If you have a spare room I could use for a few days – a couple of weeks maybe, that would be more than a fair trade. That way, no one would know if I’m working on a computer on your behalf or not. The maid at the hotel couldn’t even find out accidentally. The way people are in this town, I’ve got just about everyone pegged as a snoop. Besides, I might need to ask questions, show you things, get your advice, stuff like that. I could...”

  “Sold,” Earl said. He gave Tiffany one of his rare grins. “When can you move in?”

  “Well, I suppose it’s too late to check out of the hotel now and since I’ll have to pay for it anyway, I might as well spend the night there.”

  “Tomorrow morning?”

  “Tomorrow morning. I have to go to work at the bookstore in the afternoon, so morning is spot on.”

  “Thank you,” said Earl and he meant it too.

  “I take it you think your wife was up to something?”

  “Maybe, I’m not sure.”

  At length, Tiffany said, “Mr. Woodbury, are you sure you want to know? I’m not very old, but I know the truth can be a lot more painful than not knowing.”

  Earl lowered his gaze. “I need to know who took her. If the baby is alive and out there somewhere – and if she isn’t, I need to know that too.”

  “I understand. Well, forgive me for not staying, but I better go pack.” She stood up, found her way out, and then walked back to town. The evening air was filled with the sweet smells of spring, the cool breeze felt good, and she’d just saved a bundle on rent. What more could she want?

  AFTER TIFFANY WAS GONE, Earl told Beverly about the agreement he made with Tiffany. She poured him a cup of tea, left the tray on the table beside him, and picked up the unused cup and saucer. “It’ll be nice having a young person in the house again.” She smiled when he nodded and then went back to the kitchen to make his dinner.

  HAPPY TO SEE HER SO bright and early the next morning, Beverly Scott greeted Tiffany with a smile at the door of the Woodbury mansion, and then showed her to a bedroom on the second floor. “Earl left early this morning. I put fresh bedding on the bed last night.”

  “Thank you,” said Tiffany. She set her suitcase on the floor and looked around the spacious bedroom. The four-poster bed, complete with a floral canape, was situated against a long wall and the furniture in the rest of the room included a small sitting area with a comfortable chair, and a table with a reading lamp. The room even included a desk. Tiffany set her laptop on the desk and then turned around. “I wasn’t expecting anything this fancy.”

  “Well, I only do what Earl tells me. Just let me know if you need anything else.” She folded her arms and leaned against the door jam. “Earl said to make sure you’re going to the picnic. Are you?”

  “I am, as a matter of fact
. The guy fixing my car invited me.”

  “Ben? He’s a good man, our Ben, and a lot better than most of the rest. How about some breakfast. I could use the company and we should get to know each other better. “Ham and eggs okay?”

  “Sure, I’m starved,” Tiffany quickly followed Beverly out the door and back down the stairs to the kitchen. “Ben said I should go to the picnic hungry. I guess that means there will be lots of food there.”

  “Tons,” Beverly said, motioning for her guest to sit at the small breakfast table while she went to the stove. She already had all the ingredients for breakfast set out. “Everyone brings something, but I don’t recommend eating potato salad. Sometimes people leave it out too long, if you know what I mean.” She put two thin slices of ham in the frying pan and then turned the heat up to medium.

  “That’s okay, I’m not too fond of potato salad anyway. What should I bring?”

  “Don’t worry, Ben will bring his famous barbeque beans.”

  “Good, I’m a little short on gourmet cooking.”

  Beverly laughed, “So am I, but Earl seems to like my cooking well enough, and he’s the only one I have to please.” She cracked an egg on the edge of her frying pan, let the contents slide into the pan, and tossed the shell in a nearby sink. “How do you like your eggs?”