So Dark the Night Page 9

  Emma sat cross-legged on the couch, enjoying the exchange with Amber. The few times she had been around the teenager, Amber hadn’t said much, but then Tiffany had always talked for both of them. The sound of Amber’s fingers flying over the keyboard filled the den. “Where is your sister?”

  “At cheerleading practice. They’re getting ready for camp.”

  “Ah, I can picture her at a game cheering the team on.”

  Amber chuckled. “Yeah, she’s definitely the cheerleading type. If your brother had a password, what would it be?”

  “You need one?”

  “Yeah.”

  Emma thought of Derek and some of their conversations, trying to decide what her brother would use. “Let’s try his birthday. August 21, 1972.”

  “Nope.”

  Emma told her some more combinations that he might use, but none of them worked. Then she remembered a dog he’d loved when he was growing up. “Try Frisky.”

  “It worked!” Amber typed some more. “Now let’s see what I can find out.” Eagerness and enthusiasm infused her voice.

  Emma knew the teenager was in her element.

  “The last place he visited was an auction site for pottery and baskets.”

  “He liked to collect Southwest Indian art. I can’t believe he was doing business online. Must be Marcus’s influence. His partner was always trying to get him more involved in using the computer with their business.”

  “I can’t believe anyone not using a computer. Even Tiffany and Dad do.”

  “You had to know my brother. He was very different,” Emma said with a laugh, remembering the fun times she’d had with him growing up. Those memories eased some of the pain of losing him, of discovering hints of a whole other side to him.

  “A different auction site.” Amber typed some more. “Here, he did a Google search on someone named Alicia Harris.”

  Emma sat straight up. “He did? When?”

  “Eight days ago.”

  “Can you trace where he went?”

  “Yeah, give me a minute.”

  Footfalls approaching the den pulled Emma’s attention away from the teenager. She turned toward the door and knew the second Colin appeared in the entrance. Her skin tingled, an awareness zipping through her as she imagined him finding her in the room.

  “Hi, Dad.” Amber continued to click away.

  “How’s it coming, you two?”

  Emma gestured toward his daughter. “She found out that Derek did a search on Alicia recently. I wonder why.”

  “Was that the woman who had made such a scene crying at the funeral?”

  “Yes, they had been dating for three months. He was getting serious.”

  “Maybe she was using his computer and checking the Internet about herself?”

  “I suppose that’s possible.”

  “I’ve brought you something.”

  “You have?” Suddenly she felt like a child on her birthday.

  “I borrowed some CDs from one of my congregation for you to listen to if you want. They’re the Gospels of the New Testament, the story of Jesus’ life. I can get Grace’s CD player and put it on your bedside table.”

  “Thank you,” she murmured, touched by his thoughtfulness and the idea he was letting her discover God on her own, not shoving his agenda down her throat.

  “I’ll be back in a sec.”

  As Colin left the room, Amber said, “Got it.”

  Alert, Emma shifted toward the teenager as if she could see the computer screen. “What did my brother look at?”

  “Mostly newspaper articles. Alicia Harris was into a lot of charity work.”

  “Yeah, Derek said something about that to me. Can you read the articles to me.”

  “Sure.”

  Amber read through three short pieces about different charity projects Alicia was involved in. While she was finishing up, Colin came into the den and sat next to his daughter.

  “Find anything interesting?” he asked.

  “Nothing I can tell.” Emma couldn’t keep the disappointment from her voice. She wanted a red neon sign pointing to the murderer. It sure would make her life easier.

  “Hey, here’s an obituary of Alicia’s mother. From there your brother did a search on Alexander Sims.”

  “Alexander Sims? He hated my brother. Now we’re getting somewhere.” Emma tingled with excitement.

  “Amber, go back to the obituary,” Colin cut in. A few seconds later, he added, “Did you know that Alexander Sims was Alicia’s uncle?”

  “No! Derek would never have dated her if he’d known.”

  “Well, Sims is listed as Alicia’s mother’s brother in the obituary.”

  “Maybe Derek didn’t know until two days before he died.”

  “But didn’t Alicia talk about how they were going to get engaged at the funeral?” Colin asked.

  “She did but I thought she was exaggerating.”

  “Maybe she was lying. Maybe Derek found out about her connection to Sims and broke it off.”

  Emma’s excitement grew. “Why would Alicia date my brother? Her uncle thought Derek was responsible for his downfall. He even threatened publicly to ruin Derek.”

  “Maybe he and Alicia had come up with a plan?”

  “To murder Derek?”

  Colin sighed. “Probably not, but then people have murdered for less than that.”

  “You’re right. I can’t rule anyone out at this time. I’ll put her down on my list.”

  “As well as her uncle,” he added. “After we go through your brother’s papers, maybe we’ll have another suspect.”

  The way Colin said we so casually and naturally, as though he had been doing it for a long time, warmed Emma. She didn’t feel alone—in fact she hadn’t since she had come home from the hospital. “I think I should add Jerry Lunsford to the list, too, especially since he came to the funeral. He definitely held a grudge against Derek.”

  “I thought your father was going to get into a fight at the grave site.”

  At her remembrance of the scene, Emma shivered. “My father and Jerry Lunsford have a history together—not a good one. Amber, have you found anything else?” Emma asked, hearing the tap, tap of the keys as the teenager typed.

  “No, nothing that means anything. He visited a site for fishermen. That’s about all.”

  “Derek was looking forward to spending a few days on the lake. He wanted to fish and hadn’t in months. Even though he only lived an hour away, he rarely came to the family cabin. With the new business venture he’d been so busy. This was his first real break.”

  Her emotions crammed her throat as she recalled their last phone call, the night before she’d driven down. His casual comment about wishing his life had turned out differently had stunned her. She’d never sensed that feeling before with him. Weariness had been woven through every word he had spoken. He’d wanted to make sure she was coming down because he’d needed to talk to her about something. With her curiosity piqued, she’d tried to get him to talk over the phone, but he’d said they would have plenty of time the next evening, that it wasn’t a big deal. Or had it been and he’d been trying to protect her for a while longer? She closed her eyes, tears pricking her lids. She’d never know what he’d wanted to tell her. She should have insisted. Maybe then she would have answers to the questions plaguing her.

  Amber shut the computer. “I wish I could have found more.”

  Emma blinked the tears away and patted Amber’s arm. “You were terrific. Thanks for helping.”

  “Anytime!” Amber said, sliding the computer onto Emma’s lap. “I’d better get home and finish my homework, but let me know if I can help you again.”

  “You bet.” Emma hugged the laptop to her, listening to the teenager’s footsteps recede.

  “Thank you.”

  Emma turned toward Colin. “Why?”

  “The smile on my daughter’s face was priceless. Amber often gets overshadowed by Tiffany.”

  Still c
lutching the laptop to her chest, Emma asked, “Does she have a computer?”

  “We have one the whole family uses. It’s old though by computer standards.”

  Emma thrust the laptop toward him. “Here, take this for Amber. Knowing my brother, I’m sure this is state-of-the-art equipment even if he didn’t like using it. He always got the best.”

  Colin gently pushed it back. “I can’t take that.”

  “Please. You and your family have done so much for me. Let me do this for Amber. She should have a topnotch computer to work on, especially if she’s thinking of going into that area in college.” She placed the laptop on the couch between them, hoping he would accept the gesture of thanks. “Besides, she can thoroughly check it out to make sure there isn’t anything else on it that might help us.”

  His chuckle floated to her. “You’re mighty persuasive, Miss St. James.”

  “Good. I’m glad that’s settled. So, are you ready to go through the box?”

  “Ready, willing and able. I think we should start with the newspaper articles. Your brother took time to cut them out for a reason.”

  “You know it’s not that surprising when I think about it. As a kid he used to cut out every article about Dad or Mom. He kept them in a scrapbook. I guess it was a habit he didn’t stop when he became an adult. Why don’t you read me the article about Jerry Lunsford’s wife trying to commit suicide? I hadn’t realized she had. When did it happen?” she asked, rubbing her hand along her chin.

  “Last month. There’s a follow-up article about his wife being released from the hospital dated two weeks ago. The first one says, ‘Marcella Lunsford, distraught over losing her family home to creditors, following a bitter, hostile takeover of her husband’s company by S&J Corporation, decided to take her own life by jumping off Highway 98’s bridge.’”

  After Colin read the two articles out loud, Emma sank back against the cushion, shaking her head. “That poor woman. Now confined to a wheelchair. I can see why Jerry Lunsford came to the funeral. He’s distressed over his wife and wanting to blame someone.” She didn’t want to think about her brother’s part—albeit indirect—in Marcella’s suicide attempt. Why had Derek cut out the articles? Because he felt guilty? Or was it something else? Was this incident what had prompted Derek to tell her that last evening he wished his life had been different?

  “This does give Jerry Lunsford a good reason to hate your brother…enough reason to murder him.”

  For the hundredth time she wished she could see Colin’s expression. His voice was schooled into a neutral tone, but how could he not react to what he had read and make some judgments concerning her brother? She loved Derek and she was having her doubts. “Yes, he’s definitely on the list. Read me the next article.” Emma sucked in a deep breath and held it for a few extra seconds to steel herself.

  “This one is about Alexander Sims.”

  Emma heard the rustle of papers as Colin must have picked up the article. He had started to read when his cell phone chimed. He stopped and answered it.

  “I’ll be right there. Don’t worry.” After flipping the phone closed, he said, “One of my congregation was just taken to the hospital. His wife thinks he was having a heart attack and called the ambulance. I told Rene I would meet her at the hospital.” He rose. “We’ll have to finish this tomorrow. Okay?”

  Emma pushed to her feet. “Of course.” As she listened to Colin cross the den, she added, “I hope he’s all right.”

  “So do I. He has five children.”

  The weary urgency in Colin’s voice tugged at her heart. She wanted to accompany him if for no other reason than to comfort him while he was comforting another. Who did Colin lean on? The answer immediately came to her: God.

  She stood by the couch in the den for a long time. She didn’t like what she was discovering about Derek and the work he had done for their father. She really shouldn’t be surprised because she knew what her father was capable of. Money and power were everything to him. Thankfully Derek had gotten out before being totally corrupted. Or had he? She wondered if she didn’t know her brother as well as she thought. She made a mental note to look into the new business venture he had been a partner in.

  Sounds of Grace moving around upstairs finally intruded into Emma’s mind. Bone tired, she used the couch to guide her toward the hallway. Slowly, because she was still learning the layout of the downstairs, she groped her way to her bedroom, her hand trailing along the hallway wall. At the entrance she counted the necessary steps to the bed and sank down on it. The exhaustion she had tired to ignore for the past few hours finally washed over her, and she collapsed back on the cover, rolling over onto her side, her head cushioned on a pillow.

  She should get ready for bed. But the very thought was too much as her eyelids closed and sleep descended quickly….

  Pitch blackness surrounded her. Out of the darkness a vague faceless man floated past, then another. Suddenly she saw her brother in a chair, tied to it, his features contorted into a mask of pain. Blood poured from his mouth. People stood around him—Alexander Sims, Jerry Lunsford, Alicia Harris, her father, her mother—all laughing at Derek. He screamed over and over, the sound deafening.

  Emma shot up in bed, blackness surrounding her. Her heart hammered against her rib cage. Her rapid breathing disturbed the quiet. Beads of sweat streamed down her face.

  She brought her legs up and hugged them to her chest, laying her head on her knees. Her heart still beat so hard it roared in her ears.

  She was tired, but she didn’t want to sleep—or dream. With shaky hands she scooted herself to the side of the bed, trying to decide what to do to keep herself from falling back to sleep. Then she remembered the CDs Colin had brought her. She felt the wooden surface of the night table until she touched the CD player. When she punched the first button, a deep masculine voice filled the air with the Gospel According to Matthew. She smiled at the choice Colin had made for her and leaned back against the headboard.

  Riveted to the words, she listened until she could no longer keep her eyes open. Closing them, she curled up on the pillow and continued to listen to the Gospel until weariness whisked her away into a dreamless world.

  “What do you mean you haven’t searched Derek’s apartment?”

  Roy gripped the phone so tightly his hand hurt. “I tried to get past the security guards. I couldn’t.”

  “Then try harder. I need that evidence now. If it wasn’t at his cabin, it has to be in his apartment. You’d better find it before someone else does. I already know that Emma paid a visit to Derek’s bank. Obviously it wasn’t in there, and they didn’t find it at the apartment yet.”

  Or he would have been arrested, Roy thought. “Boss, I’ll study the security layout and come up with a plan. We’re still keeping an eye on the woman. If you change your mind and want us to take her out, let me know.”

  The click on the phone told Roy the extent of his employer’s displeasure. Silence mocked him. He’d better find a way into Derek St. James’s apartment and fast. No one crossed his employer and lived for long—he knew that from the past.

  SEVEN

  Emma sipped the coffee, listening to Grace move about the kitchen. “Colin didn’t tell you where he was taking me?”

  “No. Just to dress very casually.”

  Even the act of dressing required some assistance in order to make sure she didn’t wear mismatched articles of clothing. Thankfully Grace had helped her label her clothes so she could now dress by herself.

  The ringing of the phone cut into the silence. Grace picked it up and said, “Hello?” A few seconds later she placed the receiver in its cradle, muttering, “Another hang up. I don’t like it.”

  “Blocked number?”

  “Yeah. This makes the fifth one in two days.”

  “Someone’s keeping tabs on us.”

  “I think you’re right.”

  Grace’s footfalls came toward the kitchen table and the scrape of the chair across the t
ile sounded in the air. “I talked to J.T. about putting a trace on my phone, but he didn’t think it would do any good since the person only stays on a few seconds. He’s having a patrol drive by every hour, though.”

  “And I have my very own bodyguard.” Emma took another drink of her coffee, feeling surprisingly safe with Grace in the house.

  “Still, I want to teach you some more defensive moves. How about when you get back later this afternoon?”

  “Yes.” Resting her elbow on the table, Emma put her chin in her palm. “I wouldn’t want to meet you in a dark alley or, for that matter, in a lit one.”

  “I grew up in the deep South and was brought up to be genteel. My mother was shocked when I announced I wanted to go into the army. She still can’t believe I can throw a man bigger than me and can shoot a person between the eyes.”

  Grace’s thick drawl belied the image her words produced in Emma’s mind. A knock at the back door followed by a key being inserted into the lock alerted Emma that Colin had arrived.

  Colin entered the kitchen. “Hello, ladies. Are you ready to go, Emma?”

  She rose. “Only if you tell me where we’re going.”

  After a few seconds Colin said, “To the cabin.”

  Emma’s breath caught in her throat. “I see. When were you going to tell me?”

  Another few seconds of silence. “On the way. I didn’t want you thinking too much about it.”

  “So you were going to spring it on me?”

  “Yup.”

  “Chicken.”

  “No, just not wanting to cause you any more undue stress.”

  She leaned into the table, her fists perched on its top. “I’ve got news for you. I want to go to the cabin. Maybe revisiting the scene—” a lump rose in her throat, but she swallowed and continued “—will help me remember what happened. I need to remember, if we’re going to catch the people responsible for my brother’s murder. You don’t have to protect me. I’m stronger than you think.” If she said it enough, maybe it would be true.

  “Sorry. I apologize for misjudging you. Ready?”