Authors: M.J. Rodgers
“How many weeks had he been seeing Connie?”
“A few.”
“So you don’t know for certain?”
“I wasn’t my brother’s keeper.”
Wrong guy to be quoting from the Bible if one wanted to be believed.
“How long had your brother been seeing Tina Uttley?” Diana asked.
Lyle first crossed then uncrossed his legs before answering. “You’ll have to ask her.”
“She’s your employee. You haven’t asked her?”
“I don’t get personal with my employees.”
According to Tina Uttley, that was a whopping lie.
Diana felt certain that this guy had told her quite a few this morning.
D
IANA WAS BACK
in her office, busily filling in Vincent’s ridiculously complicated billable-hour time sheet when Kelli buzzed to say that Jack had left a message on their voice mail. Her stomach gave an excited flutter as she reached for her phone. Punching in his cell number, she was uncomfortably aware she’d memorized that number the moment he’d given it to her.
“I’ve learned some things you need to know,” he said as soon as she had identified herself. “I’ll be by in five minutes.”
His tone was strictly business. She told herself she was relieved.
“I have a luncheon date with a co-worker in about an hour.”
“This is important, Diana.”
“All, right, I’ll reschedule. But I’d rather we not discuss the case here. That could be…unsafe.”
There was a moment of quiet on the other end of the line. “I’ll pick you up out front.”
Diana hung up the phone and gathered her papers, shoving them into her briefcase. She hadn’t been looking forward to lunch with Gail anyway.
The thought of talking to Ronald about Gail’s clandestine relationship with Staker crossed her mind. But she’d decided that would be wrong. There was no proof that Gail was leaking information to her lover.
A person was innocent unless proven guilty. So far, all Gail was guilty of was hiding a romantic relationship with Staker. And incredibly bad taste in men.
She had decided to ask Gail for the truth today. But her friend’s door had been closed when she arrived at the of
fice. That door was still closed as Diana walked by now. She stopped at Kelli’s desk and asked her to tell Gail that she’d had to go out and couldn’t make lunch.
“Ms. Loftin didn’t come in today,” Kelli said. “Her mother died. Sorry, she told me to tell you but I forgot.”
Shock and sadness hit Diana with a one-two punch. “Did Gail say how it happened?”
“A stroke. In her sleep. Apparently there was no warning.”
A blessing it was quick. A curse there was no time to say goodbye.
“Her mother lived in Eastern Washington,” Diana said. “Is Gail going there?”
Kelli shrugged. “She only told me that she wouldn’t be in for the rest of the week and to be sure Ronald knew. And to tell you.”
“Kelli, would you get her on the phone for me now?”
The receptionist punched in Gail’s home number and handed over the receiver. Diana held the phone to her ear through seven rings before she returned the receiver to the receptionist. “No answer. I hope to hell she doesn’t have to go through this alone.”
“Do you have a key to Ms. Loftin’s office?”
Diana sensed Kelli’s discomfort at her show of emotion and accepted the change of subject. “No, why do you ask?”
“I thought I’d take the chance to replenish her supplies. Every time I try to, she’s either on the phone or her door’s locked.”
“We’re all supposed to keep our offices locked.”
“But no one else is as paranoid about it. She locks hers even when she’s going to a meeting in the conference room.”
That was true. Diana had even watched her do it. Was Gail simply being cautious? Or was she hiding something?
Damn, she didn’t want to be suspicious of her friend. Especially not now.
“Don’t worry about replenishing her supplies,” Diana said. “It’s not like she’ll be needing anything until she returns. You can catch her then.”
Kelli frowned, looked down at her hands. “I tried to bring stuff in when she was on the phone one day, and she cuffed the receiver and told me to get out of her office.”
That didn’t sound like the Gail Diana knew.
She was beginning to wonder if she knew her friend at all.
“Y
OU WANTED TO TELL ME
something?” Diana prompted after she and Jack had been driving around for a couple of minutes in silence.
“Some things about Bruce you should find interesting,” Jack said.
Actually, he wanted to talk about the kiss first. But finding the right words was difficult. He couldn’t remember feeling this tongue-tied since very early adolescence.
“I caught your TV interview,” Jack said, picking a more neutral subject. “And Judge Weaton’s response. Your strategy worked well.”
“I took Lyle Weaton’s deposition this morning,” she said. “I’ll send you a copy.”
She paused to turn toward him. “Before we get into the case, I’d like to clear the air. Things got a little out of hand the other day. What do you say we put the kiss behind us and get things back on a business basis?”
The fact that she had taken the initiative was so much better than if the suggestion had come from him. For the
first time since Jack had picked her up, his hands relaxed on the wheel.
“If you think that best, Diana,” he said soberly.
She surprised him by laughing. “Your attempt not to sound relieved isn’t working.”
Damn, his acting skills must really be slipping if she could read him so well. When he glanced over at her and saw the good humor that lit her face, he suddenly found himself laughing.
“How were you going to approach the subject?” she asked.
“I was going to ask if we could be friends.”
“The old ‘let’s be friends’ routine? I thought that was the woman’s line.”
He tried to sound innocent. “Is it?”
She laughed again. “I guess the women you meet always want to be more than friends. Why am I not surprised?”
Her compliment was open, unexpected, nice.
“But using the ‘let’s be friends’ line is somewhat prosaic,” she said. “I would have thought that with your dramatic background and daunting communication skills you would have come up with something a bit more imaginative.”
“Imaginative, yes. Honest, no. After kissing you, no man with blood in his veins could go back to simply a business relationship.”
The playful look vanished from her face. She stared out the passenger window. This wasn’t so easy for her after all. That shouldn’t make him feel good. But it did.
“I’ve never had a female friend under fifty before,” he said. “We’re going to need to establish some ground rules.”
“Like what?”
“You have to promise to refrain from pulling me behind any more trees and letting your mother invite me to any more of her weddings.”
Diana’s lips lifted. “Anything else?”
“No, other than those, I’m pretty much a tower of strength. Anything you have to stay away from?”
She pretended to give it serious thought. “Champagne.”
“Domestic or imported?”
He could see her smile growing. “Both, I’m afraid.”
“Fear not. I shall slay any brute who dares to offer you either.”
Her laugh was lovely and deep.
They were telling each other bold-faced lies and having fun doing it. Being with her was special.
“What have you learned about Bruce?” she asked after a moment.
Jack stopped stealing glances at her and watched the road. “You wondered whether he had the sense not to drink and drive after his early DUI or simply hadn’t been caught doing so. The answer is neither.”
“Meaning?”
“Twice over the past seven years he was brought into the emergency room from injuries caused in driving accidents. Both times his blood alcohol level was far in excess of the legal limit.”
“You got that look at his medical records,” she guessed.
“And talked to the E.R. doctor who treated him. Bruce denied being the driver of the car. He was backed up both times.”
“By whom?” Diana asked.
“The E.R. doctor said it was his father the first time. But despite the fact that his father claimed that it was he and not Bruce who had been driving, Bruce sustained an
injury to his chest that could only have been caused by impact with a steering wheel.”
“What did the E.R. doctor do?”
“Only thing he could,” Jack said. “Treat Bruce’s injuries and release him.”
“You said there were two times.”
“And the second one is crucial to our case. A woman brought Bruce in for treatment of an open gash on his forehead that required stitches. She told the doctor Bruce had hit a tree.”
“What did Bruce say?” Diana asked.
“Nothing at the time. He was too drunk. When a blood alcohol test came back showing Bruce was over twice the legal limit, the doctor called the sheriff’s office to report the incident and a deputy came down to arrest Bruce.”
“But there was no such arrest on his record,” Diana said.
“Because the woman pulled the deputy aside and changed her story. After talking to her, the deputy returned to the doctor and told him that the woman, not Bruce, had been driving.”
“Didn’t the doctor suspect something when the story was changed?”
Jack nodded. “Especially after having treated Bruce for that other accident the year before. But the most important thing about the second incident is the date and time it took place. The records show that the woman brought Bruce into the E.R. approximately forty minutes after Amy’s hit-and-run.”
Diana sat straight up in the passenger seat, her voice rising with excitement. “He must have driven to the E.R. afterward. Or been driven. Who was the woman who went with him?”
“The doctor didn’t know. Her name wasn’t noted on the medical record.”
“Could he give you a physical description?” Diana asked.
“It’s been nearly five years so the doctor’s memory of the woman is sketchy at best. All he could call to mind was that she displayed no signs of being under the influence of alcohol and he had the impression she was somewhere near Bruce’s age.”
“Does the doctor remember the deputy’s name?”
Jack shook his head. “The E.R. doctor is eager to testify for you, though. He’s rather upset that Bruce got away with driving drunk on those two occasions.”
Diana’s sigh was both frustrated and sad. “He’s not the only one. Bruce’s father covered for him in that first accident. If he hadn’t, Bruce could have been stopped, and Amy would be alive today. Hell, they’d probably all be alive today.”
Jack knew Diana was right.
“Bud Albright said Bruce was drunk at the ballpark that day,” Jack offered after a moment. “Someone must have had an old or classic car there that Bruce used. It might have belonged to the woman. She could have even been with Bruce when he hit Amy.”
In his peripheral vision, Jack could see Diana nodding. “I’ll get a subpoena for the E.R. doctor and Bruce’s emergency room medical records so they can be admitted as evidence. Unfortunately, this means I have to tell Judge Gimbrere how those records relate to Connie’s defense. Staker’s going to know the moment I do.”
“And Staker will also realize that we believe Bruce was the one driving the car that killed Amy.”
“Can’t be helped,” Diana said. “We need those med
ical records to prove Bruce’s involvement in Amy’s death.”
“Do you think Staker will give Judge Weaton a heads-up?”
“Probably. She’s been his chief supporter politically. But if it comes out that she knew her husband was keeping their son’s drunk driving a secret, Staker may want to distance himself from her. Otherwise, he’ll be tainted by association.”
“Can you put off requesting the subpoena until right before the trial?” Jack asked.
“That’s a thought. The judge knows I got the case late so he won’t be surprised at last-minute requests. Staker will be livid, of course, but who cares? The less time we give him to react, the better.”
She arched her back as she rolled her shoulders. Finding the motion too provocative, Jack wisely shifted his eyes back to the road.
“After talking to the woman in the E.R., the deputy must have written up an accident report,” she said after a moment. “Maybe even given her a ticket.”
“Jared’s going to check the computer for citations issued on that day. He’s agreed to give me a list of what he finds.”
She became quiet, and Jack glanced over to see a troubled look on her face. “Want to tell me about it?”
“The woman, Jack. I can understand a father lying in the mistaken belief he was protecting his son. But why would she lie about being the driver? Tina, Bud Albright, Lyle—all of them describe Bruce as going through women with little if any caring. Who was she that she’d lie to a deputy for Bruce and cover up his crime?”
“I’ll let you know when I find her.”
She sent him an appreciative look. “Yes, I do believe
you will. For someone who’s only been at this private investigation stuff for a short time, you’re very good.”
“I may have only joined the firm a year ago, but I’ve been in training for the profession since I was a kid. When both of your parents are private eyes, the conversation around the dinner table is all about the best surveillance methods, interview techniques, tailing, disguise, equipment and how to gain access to the most reliable information sources.”
“I didn’t know your mother was a private investigator.”
“Before any of us. White Investigations was the name of the firm when she ran it with my grandmother. My dad became part of the business when he left the FBI and they got married. That’s when they changed the name to White Knight Investigations. Every Sunday we still get together for dinner at my parents’ place and discuss cases.”
“Has Jared mentioned anything about the materials collected from Bruce’s garage?”
“Only to say that the results could take a while. Unfortunately, this is not TV where by the next scene all the forensic fibers and fingerprints have been identified and the cops are hot on the bad guy’s trail.”
He heard her soft exhale.
“Something wrong?”
“Merely a little tired. You know how it is.”