Leave No Stone Unturned (A Lexie Starr Mystery, Book 1) (18 page)

"Not for several weeks now, because of the time required for my recovery from the
surgery to remove the fetus and placenta from my fallopian tube. Why do you ask?"

"I'd like you to consider flying out here to spend a week with me. You need to get
away to cope with the loss of your baby, and I really need to discuss something with
you." I wanted to take this opportunity to warn her about Clay while she was upset
with him. Now she might be more open to the idea that she didn't know him as well
as she thought she did. I could only pray for that possibility.

"What do you need to discuss with me?" she asked, suspicion evident in her voice.

"It's not something I want to talk with you about on the phone."

"Oh God, Mom! You're not moving to Myrtle Beach to live with that Stone guy, are you?"

"No, of course not, Wendy. It has nothing to do with him, or me, for that matter.
But it's critically important to you and your future."

"Mom, what in the world are you talking about? You're scaring me."

"I'm sorry, honey. I don't mean to scare you. But I do really, really need you out
here—just for a week if that's all you can get away."

"Well, it does sounds tempting, but I'm not sure what Clay will think about me leaving
him for a week this early in our marriage."

"If he's any kind of husband at all, he'll understand you need to deal with this tragedy
in your own way. Unless he's a total jerk, he won't prevent you from doing whatever
you have to do to recover."

I knew I was being melodramatic, but I'd hoped she'd consider coming, if for no other
reason than to prove to her mother that she hadn't married a total jerk.

"And honey, it wouldn't be wise to tell him I have something important to discuss
with you. No sense worrying him. Just tell him you need to get away, or your mother
needs you—and that your mother is paying your way. Tell him anything you have to,
but please let me arrange for a plane ticket for you to come out here."

I'd just encouraged my daughter to lie. But I knew I had to keep my priorities straight.
And my daughter's safety was at the top of the list at the moment.

"I'll talk to Clay when he gets home from the gym," Wendy assured me. "I'll call you
back at this same number after I've discussed it with him."

"Okay, I'll be waiting to hear from you. And I'm so sorry to hear about your baby.
There will be others, but I know that doesn't make it any easier to accept."

I gave her the number to Stone's cell phone. She wouldn't have to wonder about that
aspect of it anyway. Stone's phone had a South Carolina preface. Stone borrowed a
deck of cards from Harriet and talked me into a game of rummy. I assumed it was designed
to take my mind off the ticking clock. He suggested the three of us could drive up
through Maine and New Hampshire. If Wendy didn't take me up on my offer, just he and
I could go, he said.

"That's where the fall colors are the most vivid. It'd be a relaxing place for Wendy
to recover from her loss. I'd treat you both to a Maine lobster while we were there.
By the way, Lexie, how do you plan to relay all of this information to Wendy?"

"I don't know. I'll need to be tactful, of course. I've never cared for Clay much,
but Wendy loves him. I know it won't be an easy thing to do. Couldn't I just make
small talk with Wendy and casually work it into the conversation?"

"How would you do that?"

"Maybe something like, 'It sure is cool today, isn't it, Wendy'?" I ad-libbed. "I
hear we're to have a bit of rain this weekend. Would you like to go with me to the
weekend sale at Sears? Someone told me that Rose Travis got hired at the hair salon
at Sears. There's a high probability that your husband is a cold-blooded killer. Did
you notice how well the yellow rose bushes in the front yard are doing since I pruned
them? Maybe I'll have Rose give me a perm this weekend while I'm at the sale at Sears."

Stone shook his head and laughed at my preposterous rendition. I was being silly,
but Stone and I both knew it really wasn't a laughing matter. Stone knew me well enough
by now to know I often laughed to keep from crying. As a lone tear escaped my eye
and trailed down my cheek, he put his arm around me to comfort me. "It will work out,
honey," he said softly. "Try to think positive thoughts."

I prayed silently that he was correct and it all would work out—and in a way that
didn't alienate my daughter. I also prayed Wendy would make the trip out East, and
that she'd like Stone and accept him as my new friend. For I realized I was beginning
to care a lot for Stone Van Patten, and I was still not too sure I was ready for that
kind of complication in my life.

* * *

At long last, Stone's cell phone rang. Wendy said she was coming! I was so relieved
I almost wept. Clay had not been receptive to the idea but had finally agreed to the
trip. I told her I would arrange for a paperless ticket. All she'd have to do was
show her identification at the ticket desk at KCI Airport in Kansas City, Missouri.
It was late Thursday evening, so I'd try to schedule a flight for Monday morning to
give her several days to rest and recuperate from her surgery.

I handed Stone's phone back to him, and then in an impulsive gesture I reached up
and placed a quick kiss on the side of his cheek. With a thoughtful look, he said,
"Don't worry. Everything is going to work out just fine, Lexie. We'll make sure Wendy
is safe. Get your ticket bought—I'll be on the back porch reading for another hour
or so. If you need to make any calls, my phone will be on the bureau in my room. Every
month I waste more airtime minutes than I use, so feel free to use it all you want."

Earlier that day, we had picked up the reprints we'd ordered from Jake's negatives.
Stone had requested enlargements of the photo of Clay with the dead moose on April
twelfth, and the one of Jake and Clay together. In the larger version of the moose
photo, we could just make out an unusual etching of an eagle on the front door, as
if the carved wooden door had been specially made for the cabin. The only other interesting
thing we learned from the photo was that there was a high-powered rifle propped up
against the head of the moose, between its left antler and Clay. Stone thought it
was probably a thirty-aught-six, often used for hunting big game. "You know, Lexie,
Clay didn't kill that moose with his bare hands," Stone reminded me. "Or thump it
over the head with a rock."

Chapter 19

Wendy's flight was scheduled to leave KCI airport at ten-fifteen Monday morning. She'd
change planes in Atlanta and arrive at JFK in New York just after four in the afternoon.
At nine o'clock Kansas City time, ten o'clock eastern, Stone's cell phone rang, startling
us both.

We were in a small cafe, halfway to JFK Airport, having English muffins, coffee, and
a light-hearted conversation about the unusual reasons we'd had to visit the hospital
emergency room when we were kids. Stone had gotten his tongue stuck to a freezer door
at the grocery store one day, and another time he'd broken an ankle jumping off the
roof of his house, using a beach towel as a cape. I had super glued my lips together
by trying to remove the lid of the tube with my teeth, and once I had shoved a kernel
of corn up my nose just to see if it'd fit. It did, but then it wouldn't come back
out on its own. We laughed at ourselves, and at one another's childhood mishaps.

We were lingering over breakfast because there was time to pass. We'd left Schenectady
in the wee hours of the morning in order to allow extra time to negotiate the traffic
between Schenectady and New York City. We'd brought my Jeep since Stone's Corvette
was a two-seater, and we'd have three people and Wendy's luggage on our trip back
to Schenectady. Stone understood I wanted to arrive early rather than risk Wendy exiting
the plane and finding no one waiting for her.

Stone's nephew Andy would be registered into his room at the Camelot B&B by the time
we arrived with Wendy. I had booked the last of the four bedrooms on the second floor
for her. She would share my bathroom, and Stone and Andy would share the other upstairs
bathroom. Andy was only five years older than Wendy, so Stone and I hoped they'd have
a lot in common. It might also make it easier for her to accept my relationship with
Stone, which at this point was strictly platonic. I hoped for my daughter's approval
before I opted for a more personal relationship with Stone.

When Stone answered his phone and handed it to me, I feared that Wendy had changed
her mind about making the trip East. "Who answered your phone, Mom?" Wendy asked.
"That Stone guy? Are you with him now?"

"Yes, Wendy, that was Stone. It's Mr. Van Patten's phone number you called. Where
are you, honey?" I asked, changing the subject as quickly as possible.

"I'm at the Kansas City International Airport. I just got my flight information, and
I think they've screwed up and booked me onto the wrong flight."

"What do you mean?"

"They've listed my destination as JFK in New York."

"Well, actually that's the way I booked it."

"Why? I thought you were in Myrtle Beach. I thought I'd be flying into Charleston.
Clay brought me to the airport, and he's really upset and concerned that my plane
is going to New York, and not South Carolina."

"No reason for him to be concerned. Right after your arrival, Stone is taking us to
Maine and New Hampshire. That's where the fall colors are the most vivid, and since
New York is on the way, it just made sense to pick you up there."

"I don't know about this, Mom. I don't think I should go out there. Clay's all stirred
up, and I'm not sure I'm up to meeting your new boyfriend right now. You know, you
should have told me he'd be with you."

"Wendy, listen to me. I couldn't tell you that at the time," I said sternly, talking
to her as if she were thirteen again. "Whether or not Stone is my boyfriend is irrelevant
at the moment. And I don't give a damn how stirred up Clay is right now. I want you
on that plane at ten-fifteen. Do you understand me?"

"Or what? Are you going to ground me? Jeez, Mom! Why are you acting this way? What's
going on?" Wendy was losing her composure as fast as I was. I knew she thought I was
hanging on to my sanity by a very thin thread.

I tried to sound calm so she wouldn't get any more upset. "Is Clay there beside you
right now?"

"No, he went to get us some coffee to drink while we're waiting for my boarding time.
But now I'm thinking maybe we should just turn around and go back home."

"No! You cannot go back home, Wendy! I mean it! Dammit, listen to me for once."

"Why? Why, Mom? Why are you doing this to me?"

"Honey, I'm not trying to do anything to you," I said with a sigh. I hadn't wanted
to tell her about her husband this way, but I had run out of options. "I'm trying
to keep Clay from doing something to you. That's what I'm trying to do!"

"What?" Wendy yelled into the phone. "What are you talking about?"

"Wendy, listen to me. There are things you don't know about Clay's past that you need
to know to protect yourself. He's not the guy he appears to be. Trust me."

"You've got to be kidding, Mom. Is that Stone guy putting you up to this?"

"Stone has nothing to do with this—whatsoever." I glanced up at Stone with a look
of apology. He smiled reassuringly and nodded. He was letting me know that I was taking
the right approach. I had to get my daughter on that plane, even if it took scare
tactics to do it. But I really didn't know how much to tell her at this point. I didn't
want to scare her, or upset her, at least not to the point where she wouldn't behave
in a normal way around Clay when he came back with the coffee. But I had to scare
her enough to make sure she got on her scheduled flight. "Wendy, did you know that
you're Clay's second wife? Are you aware that Clay has been married before?"

"He has not!"

"He has, Wendy. I have proof of it. When his first wife was six months pregnant with
his child, she disappeared and was found by a hiker a couple of weeks later. She'd
been murdered in the Adirondack Mountains, beat to death with a rock. Clay is a suspect
in her murder."

Wendy gasped over the phone. "Huh? What do you mean? Clay went to a cabin in those
mountains all the time. To kill moose, Mom, not pregnant women."