On Sunday morning, the entire household went to church, leaving Vic and Geoff alone with Lucky and the elusive Puff, who was seldom seen or heard. Penny Sue had asked Vic to go to church with her, but he had declined and to his surprise, she hadn’t pressed him to change his mind. He would have felt as out of place sitting beside Penny Sue at Sunday school as the proverbial whore in church. He hadn’t been inside a house of worship, except for several funerals, since he was sixteen. From birth, his mama and grandma had taken him to church on a regular basis, for all the good it did him. In the end, the heathen tendencies he’d inherited from his father had won out.
Granny had “gone to Jesus” when he was twelve, and then four short years later, his thirty-six-year-old mother had died suddenly from a brain aneurysm. A great deal of whatever goodness and kindness he’d had in him as a boy had died the day his mama had died and left him with his hard-drinking, emotionally withdrawn father.
As Vic walked Lucky in the backyard, he noted how pleasantly warm it was this morning, with bright sunshine and an almost cloudless sky. Perfect weather for Palm Sunday. Next Sunday, it would probably rain, ruining people’s Easter plans. In his experience, that was usually the way things went.
After Lucky did his job, he followed Vic to the back porch. When Vic sat on the steps, Lucky curled up in the grass beside his feet. Absently, Vic reached down and stroked the little dog’s back. Despite every effort not to care, Vic found that he’d become quite fond of his client. And of his client’s mistress.
As he sat quietly, soaking up the sun’s warmth and mulling over his personal situation with Penny Sue, Vic’s cell phone rang. Lucky lolled his head to one side and glanced up at Vic, who removed his phone from the belt clip and flipped it open, while continuing to pet Lucky with his other hand.
“Noble here.”
“Good morning,” Daisy Holbrook said. “How are you today?”
“For a man who was shot at last night, I’m doing remarkably well.”
Daisy laughed. “Good thing Ms. Paine’s boyfriend was shooting only to scare you off and not to kill.”
“I suppose Geoff gave you all the details when he spoke to you last night.”
“Every juicy tidbit. So, considering how chummy you’ve gotten with Ms. Paine, I don’t suppose you’d be interested in a replacement.”
“Do you have someone in mind?”
“Lucie’s flying in from Europe this evening,” Daisy said. “I could ask her if she’d be willing to take over for you.”
Do it, Vic’s logical mind advised him, but his gut told him that he couldn’t leave until the job was done, until Lucky was safe. Until he was certain that Penny Sue would be all right.
“I’d hate to ask Lucie to replace me before she’s had a chance for some downtime. Besides, Geoff’s here and we’re beginning to put the puzzle pieces together.”
“That’s fine by me, and I’m sure Lucie will be glad, but since you’d been so insistent that you wanted out of Alabaster Creek and off this assignment ASAP, I thought I’d make the offer.”
“That was then, this is now.”
“Hmm…”
Geoff opened the back door and walked out onto the porch. “Vic, Officer Gibbs just called—” He glanced at the cell phone Vic held to his ear. “Sorry, didn’t see you were on the phone.”
“It’s Daisy,” Vic said.
Geoff nodded.
“Is there anything else?” Vic asked Daisy. “I don’t suppose Geoff remembered to ask you to run a check on a guy named—”
“Hal Esmond,” Daisy said. “As a matter of fact he did, and I’ll e-mail the initial report to you when I get back from church. But I can hit the highlights for you right now.”
“Do that.”
“Hal Esmond is a widower, no children, a retired banker worth in the neighborhood of five to six million. He owns a house in Birmingham, a vacation cabin in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and a beach house on the Gulf. He’s a staunch Republican, a lifelong Presbyterian and he’s never gotten so much as a parking ticket.”
Vic sighed with relief. “Well, that’s one problem Penny Sue won’t have to deal with.”
“Did she think the man was a shyster?”
“It crossed her mind.”
“Well, he’s not. Like I said, I’ll e-mail the report to you later and when we get a detailed report, I’ll send that along, too. Anything else you need?”
“Not this morning, but I’ll be in touch.”
Vic closed his phone and clipped it to his belt. “What’s up?” he asked Geoff.
“I just got off the phone with Officer Gibbs.” Geoff sat down on the steps with Vic. “He had some rather interesting information for us.”
“About last night’s shooting?”
“No, nothing new there. Boggus is still in jail, waiting for a hearing so he can post bond,” Geoff said. “This is information about the pit bulls you had to kill…or rather, it’s about their owner’s wife.”
“Freddy Long’s wife?”
Geoff nodded. “It seems Freddy not only abuses animals, but he’s been known to brutalize his wife and kids, too. Around midnight last night, Mrs. Long—Heather—showed up at the hospital with a broken nose and two black eyes. She had both of her children with her, and she told the ER staff that her husband beat the hell out of her and she wanted to press charges. And when the police showed up to take her statement and arrange for her to go into the local women’s shelter, she told them all sorts of interesting things about her husband.”
Vic smiled. “Go on, I’m listening.”
“It seems that, according to Heather Long, Freddy sold those two pit bulls to an old friend of his on the same day the animals showed up in this very backyard.”
“Would the old friend’s name happen to be Dylan Redley?”
“Indeed it would.”
Laughing, Vic slapped his knee. “Now, we’re getting somewhere.” He glanced over at Geoff. “I don’t suppose there’s any documentation of the sale, is there?”
“I’m afraid not. Mrs. Long said it was a cash transaction.”
“Then we don’t have anything that would hold up in a court of law, do we? It would be her word against her husband’s word and Dylan Redley’s word.”
“Officer Gibbs said that they intend to question Redley sometime today.”
“He’s not likely to admit what he did.”
“We can lean on Redley,” Geoff said. “I dare say you and I could persuade him to confess.”
“We can talk to him and put the fear of God in him, but Penny Sue wouldn’t approve of the type of methods you’re talking about.”
“Penny Sue doesn’t have to know.”
“This isn’t an SAS or a CIA operation,” Vic said.
Geoff shrugged. “Redley is coming to dinner today, isn’t he?”
“Yeah, he’ll be here. The whole Paine clan has been invited so that Miss Dottie can make her big announcement and introduce her fiancé to the family.”
“Then, after dinner, I say we escort Redley outside and explain why it would be a good idea for him to admit what he did.”
“It sure would be sweet if we could pin everything else on him, too.” Vic would like to prove that Dylan Redley was behind all the attempts on Lucky’s life, despite the fact that his instincts told him otherwise. “I think we’d better let the police handle Redley. Why don’t you give Officer Gibbs a call and let him know Redley will be here this afternoon and—”
“So, are we or are we not going to talk to Redley first?” Geoff asked.
“We’re not,” Vic replied. “Not today. We need to question Douglas Paine first about the rifle and find out if he’s willing to allow us to have a ballistics test run on it.”
Geoff smiled. “My money’s on the uncle for shooting Lucky and on the minister’s wife for leaving the bloody dog on the porch. As for the clinic fire—maybe Redley was behind that, too. If not, we’ll have to consider all the other relatives.”
“If all your theories are correct and if Redley didn’t set the fire, then we’re going to wind up with five different felons. And if even one turns out to be a blood relative, it’ll break Penny Sue’s heart.”
Geoff cleared his throat. Vic glanced at him and noted the odd expression on his face.
“Have you got something you want to say?” Vic glared at his fellow Dundee agent.
“It’s none of my business, but—”
“Then stay out of it.”
Vic knew exactly what Geoff was thinking, what he’d come close to voicing aloud. If anything or anyone would wind up breaking Penny Sue’s heart, it would be Vic Noble, the son of a bitch who couldn’t keep his hands off her.
Penny Sue drove home from church alone since Aunt Dottie had ridden with her fiancé. Hal Esmond seemed like a very nice man. He was well-dressed, well-spoken and appeared to be genuinely besotted with her aunt Dottie. Since they didn’t intend to announce their engagement until after Sunday dinner, Aunt Dottie hadn’t worn her engagement ring this morning, but Penny Sue suspected it had been tucked away in her purse.
Vic had promised her he would have the Dundee office run a check on Mr. Esmond. She hoped the results would be favorable, that the man would turn out to be who and what he proclaimed himself to be. If that were the case, then Aunt Dottie need never learn that the Dundee agency had compiled a report on her fiancé. On the other hand… No, she wasn’t going to think about any other possibility. Not today. There would be time enough to deal with other problems later.
When she pulled into the garage, she saw Vic standing there, apparently waiting for her. Every time she saw him, her stomach fluttered and her heartbeat accelerated. And whenever he touched her, she felt giddy and light-headed and…aroused. Being in love was exhilarating.
Vic opened the driver’s door and helped her out, then pulled her into his arms and kissed her. She didn’t think she’d ever get enough of him. The more they were together, the more she wanted to be with him. But she couldn’t tell him that what she wanted most of all was a lifetime with him. Marriage, children, growing old together. The whole nine yards. He just wasn’t ready. She had to give him time.
“Did you miss me?” She slipped her arms around his neck.
“What do you think?”
“I think I’d better get in the house and help Ruby before the horde descends on us.”
“Ruby has everything under control.” Vic cupped her buttocks as he nuzzled her neck. “Geoff and I helped Tully put the two extensions in the dining-room table and Ruby’s got the table set for fifteen. And by the delicious aroma coming from the kitchen, I believe dinner is probably ready, or soon will be.”
“You’d better let go of me. If you don’t…well, we certainly don’t want anyone catching us making out here in the garage, do we?”
“I don’t mind,” he told her teasingly.
She pulled away from him and swatted his chest playfully. “You’re just awful, Vic Noble. Have you no shame?”
“None whatsoever,” he told her. “But I do have some good news about Aunt Dottie’s fiancé.”
“What? Tell me.”
“From the initial report Geoff asked Daisy to compile, it seems Hal Esmond is just what he represents himself to be—a childless, millionaire widower.”
Penny Sue threw her arms around Vic and hugged him. “This is wonderful. Finally, Aunt Dottie has found a man worthy of her.” She drew back from Vic, but grabbed his hands. “This day may turn out to be not so bad after all. I’ve been dreading it so much.”
“You haven’t forgotten that Geoff and I have to speak to your uncle about his Winchester rifle, and to Phyllis Dickson about the toy dog.”
Penny Sue’s smile vanished. “No, I haven’t forgotten. But we know at least one thing will turn out right. And I’m convinced that Uncle Douglas is innocent, and even if Phyllis is guilty, she really didn’t commit a crime. Not a real crime.”
Vic grumbled under his breath.
“Well, she didn’t.”
“I didn’t say a word.”
“Then you were thinking out loud,” Penny Sue told him.
“Okay, so I was thinking out loud.” He squeezed her hands. “I have to tell you something you’re not going to like. We know who set those pit bulls loose in the backyard.”
Her heart stopped for half a second. “Who?”
“According to Freddy Long’s wife, Freddy sold both of the dogs to Dylan Redley a few hours before they showed up in your backyard.”
“Dylan! Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. Why are you having a problem believing Redley would set a couple of vicious attack dogs loose on Lucky and us?”
She heaved a deep sigh. “I don’t know. Maybe because I remember Dylan the way he was in high school. That Dylan wouldn’t have put another person’s life in danger. But I suppose I don’t really know the man Dylan has become.”
“We don’t have any proof, so it will be Heather Long’s word against her husband’s and Redley’s. Unless we can wrangle a confession out of him before the police question him.”
“What do you mean by wrangle?” Surely Vic wasn’t implying that he and Geoff Monday would beat a confession out of Dylan.
“We won’t lay a finger on him.”
“Good. I think there’s been enough violence as it is, don’t you? Perhaps if I spoke to Dylan alone, he might—”
Vic grabbed her by the shoulders. “No way in hell. Do you hear me? If you want me to treat Redley with kid gloves, then you stay away from him, because I’m telling you, sugar, if he lays one finger on you, he’s a dead man.”
A shiver raced up Penny Sue’s spine. “I—I’ll leave the interrogation to you and Geoff.”
“Good.” Vic loosened his tenacious hold on her and looked her right in the eyes. “Try to remember this—if it turns out that one or more of your blood relatives is guilty—”
“They aren’t!”
“All I’m saying is if,” he told her. “If they are, then you can’t protect them. You can’t wave a magic wand and make it all go away.”
“I know that. But don’t you think that losing their inheritance would be punishment enough? Anyone who tries to harm Lucky can’t inherit. Aunt Lottie put that stipulation in her will.”
“Do you really want the person who shot Lucky to go unpunished? And what about whoever set the clinic on fire?”
“You’re right, of course,” she told him. “It’s just that whatever happens, it’s going to tear our family apart.”
As soon as Ruby finished serving after-dinner coffee to the Paine clan, including Wilfred Hopkins and his wife, Pattie, Dottie scooted back her chair from the huge dining-room table and stood. While everyone continued talking, sipping on coffee and moaning about the fact that they had eaten too much, Dottie pulled her engagement ring from the pocket of her suit jacket and slipped the ring on her finger. Then she motioned for Hal Esmond to stand and come to her, which he did instantly.
Dottie cleared her throat. “May I have everyone’s attention, please.”
All eyes focused on the elderly couple.
“I have an announcement to make,” Dottie said. “You’ve all met Hal Esmond from Birmingham. But what you don’t know is that Hal has been courting me for several months and he’s asked me to marry him.” She held up her hand and flashed the diamond. “And I’ve said yes.”
“Lord help us,” Eula moaned.
“Oh, Aunt Dottie, that’s wonderful.” Stacie stood and walked over to her aunt and hugged her.
Following his sister’s example, Chris did the same, then shook hands with Hal. Douglas glanced at Candy, who smiled at him, then he, too, got up to congratulate the happy couple.
“What do you think about this engagement?” Valerie asked Penny Sue. “Do you suppose he’s another swindler out to get his hands on Dottie’s money?”
“Dottie doesn’t have any money,” Penny Sue reminded her cousin.
“She will have, when she inherits her share of Lottie’s fortune.”
“Which won’t be anytime soon.”
“Well, no, of course not, but—”
“I have it on good authority that Mr. Esmond is quite wealthy in his own right.”
Valerie’s eyes widened in surprise.
While the family began to disperse, some going into the front parlor, others remaining in the dining room, Vic leaned over and said to Geoff, “As much as I hate to ruin Miss Dottie’s celebration, I think it’s time you and I started asking questions.”
“Who’s going to be first?” Geoff asked.
“Let’s start with the first crime. We’ll ask Douglas Paine about his father’s Winchester and see what he says.”
Douglas had sat back down and was drinking his coffee when Vic and Geoff approached him, each taking a seat on either side of him.
“Mr. Paine, we’d like to ask you a few questions,” Vic said.
Douglas faced Vic. “About what?”
“About an old Winchester rifle that once belonged to your father,” Vic told him. “Do you still have the rifle in your possession?”
“Why yes, of course. It’s up in the attic, stored away with several other items that belonged to my daddy.”
“Would you allow us to borrow the rifle in order to run some ballistics tests on it?” Geoff asked.
Suddenly the room quieted. Vic glanced at Penny Sue, who stood at her aunt’s side.
“Why would y’all need to run tests on Daddy’s old rifle?” Dottie asked.
“Do you think it might have been the weapon used to shoot Lucky?” Douglas asked calmly. Much too calmly.
“We have every reason to think it’s possible,” Vic replied.
“Oh, I see.” Douglas’s face fell, and tears gathered in his eyes.
“This is nonsense,” Dottie said. “Douglas would no more shoot Lucky than I…” She stared at her brother, who had bent his head and covered his face with his hands. “Douglas didn’t shoot Lucky. I did. I—I knew where he kept Daddy’s old rifle and I went to his house and got it, and I shot Lucky.”
“Aunt Dottie!” Penny Sue wrapped an arm around her aunt’s frail, trembling shoulders. “Why on earth would you confess to a crime we know you didn’t commit? You don’t know the first thing about shooting a rifle, and besides that, you would never harm Lucky.”
Douglas lifted his head. He stood and looked at his niece and then at his sister. “She’s trying to protect me.” He turned to Vic and held out his hands in a gesture of surrender. “I’m the guilty party. I shot Lucky.”