Deception with Murder (A Rilynne Evans Mystery, Book Two) (9 page)

“That’s understandable,” he said. “It’s hard enough to lose someone when it’s right there in front of you. At least then you have closure. I can’t even begin to imagine never knowing for sure.”

“Well, I guess this is as close as I’m going to get to closure,” she said, running her fingers over the letter still in front of her.

Ben raised his knuckles back up, dragging them along his chin as he quietly watched her fingers tracing over the same word: death.

They sat in silence for what seemed like twenty minutes before Ben stood up and walked back into the kitchen. He came back out a few moments later with a cooler tote hanging off of his shoulder. “Come on,” he said, taking her by the hand and pulling her to the back door.

“Where are we going?” she asked, pulling on her shoes.

Instead of answering, he just led her out the door and onto the path. The full moon above them was providing just enough light for Rilynne to see the leaf littered ground below her feet. “Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”

“Nope,” he said with an almost pleased tone in his voice.

“Do you even know where we’re going?” she asked hesitantly. “It’s too dark to really see the path beneath the trees. We’re going to get lost out here.”

“If memory serves,” he said. “You’re the one who got us lost in these woods, not me.”

She couldn’t argue there. While they had been searching a crime scene, she had gotten them so turned around that they ended up two miles from where they were supposed to be. She decided to quietly follow him until they arrived wherever he was leading them, knowing that if he did get them lost, she would have the satisfaction of being able to give him a hard time.

After another twenty minutes of weaving through the trees, they stepped out into a large clearing. Just beyond the giant boulder sitting twenty feet in front of them was a ledge overlooking the city lights below.

“Wow,” she said, walking toward the edge. “How did you ever find this place?”

He walked forward and climbed up on the boulder, perching himself on the top. “Laney brought me out here whenever I was having a hard time after my parent’s died. Then after she was murdered I came back out,” he explained as he pulled two beers out of the cooler, handing one down to her. “I guess you could call it my happy place. I come out here anytime something is really bothering me.”

“It’s so beautiful out here. I can see why you like it.” Ben reached down and pulled her up next to him, not removing his hand from her waist until several moments after she was in place.

“It’s really quiet out here, and not many people know about it,” he said softly as the wind whipped through his hair, sending the strong smell of peaches floating toward her. “I’ve actually only seen one other person in all of the time I have been coming here.”

Rilynne leaned back on her elbows and looked out at the lights below. “Doesn’t it defeat the purpose of having a secret little place like this if you’re going to tell people about it?”

He shrugged and laid back next to her. “It’s not like you could ever find your way back out here.” She could hear him grinning.

One of the things that Rilynne enjoyed about Addison Valley was the sky at night. When she looked up, she saw more stars than she had even imagined there could be. In a way it made her feel both tiny and alive, though she couldn’t explain why. After taking a long swig of her beer, she let her head slowly drop down to the rock as her eyes drifted shut. With a satisfying sigh, she felt her mind start to drift.

Ben was sitting in his car in front of the police station, watching her drive way.
This was after we had dinner, she thought to herself.
His hand pulled up and dragged along his chin, as she felt the uncertainty building within him. Finally he pulled back onto the street, but didn’t go to his apartment. Instead, he stopped outside of the entrance to the trails.

Suddenly he was sitting on the very boulder they currently occupied.

“I don’t know what to do, Laney,” he said to the stars above. “Why do things have to be so complicated?”

Chills shot down her spine as she pulled herself up. Ben sat back up beside her and pulled another beer out of the bag as she emptied the one already in her hand. “Taking me out in the middle of the woods and getting me drunk,” she joked. “I think this is the kind of thing that mothers warn their daughters about.”

He chuckled softly as he took a drink of his beer. “Damn, you caught me.”

The cool breeze picked her hair up off of her shoulders and made it dance. When she drew a deep breath, the air stung the back of her throat. “We should probably head back soon,” Ben said as he swallowed the last of his beer in one swig. “It looks like there are clouds starting to roll in. If we lose the moon light we’ll end up stuck out here until morning.”

“Would that really be a bad thing?” she asked.

“I can think of worse ways to spend a night,” he answered lightly. She peered over to see him staring up at the sky. The moonlight hitting his face made the gold flecks in his eyes sparkle.

“Thank you,” she said softly. He turned his gaze to her and smiled the kind smile that Rilynne had grown to find so comforting. He slid off the edge of the boulder and reached up to take her hand.

Rilynne put her empty bottle back in the cooler and let Ben lead her by the hand back onto the path. The clouds were slowly creeping over the moon, leaving it darker with every step. After just ten minutes of walking, Rilynne could no longer see the path below her. If Ben was having the same problem, he showed no signs of it as he continued to lead them steadily between the trees. Before she knew it, they had stepped out of the tree line just behind her back gate.

“Well, it’s getting late,” he said, glancing at the clock on the wall when they walked back in the house. “I should probably be going.”

“You don’t have to,” Rilynne said quickly. “I mean, it’s pretty late. I do have a guest room now, so you wouldn’t have to sleep on the couch. You know, if you wanted to.” She tried to sound as casual as she could. It was difficult.

She could tell by the look in his eyes that he knew she had her own reasons for wanting him to stay, but he didn’t bring them up. “Yeah, I could do that,” he said simply.

They cleared the empty bottles off of the table and Rilynne showed him to the room at the end of the hall.

“When did you have time to get a second bed?” he asked when he walked into the fully furnished room. “You’ve been working pretty much nonstop since you moved in.”

Rilynne threw him a smile and handed him a pair of shorts out of the top dresser drawer. “Online shopping is my favorite way to shop.”

He was still shaking his head when she pulled the door shut and walked down the hall and into her room. She dug through the box of pajamas that she had finally open the night before and found her favorite pink and gray flannel bottoms. After quickly changing and brushing her teeth, she cracked her windows open and turned off the lights.

Her head was still reeling when she climbed into bed. Rilynne stared up at the ceiling fan spinning silently above her for nearly an hour before finally drifting off.

R
ilynne heard a noise coming from the foot of her bed and bolted up to find a tall, shadowy figure staring down at her.

“Ben, you scared me. What’s going on? What’s wrong?” she asked as she reached for her lamp. After switching it on, she turned back to him and let out a shocked little squeal when she realized that it was not Ben standing before her.

She slid off the edge of the bed and rushed toward him. “Christopher, what are you doing here?” she asked as she wrapped her arms around him. When he did not return her embrace, she let go and took a step back. As she looked him up and down, a sudden shudder passed through her. He was dressed in his favorite green dress shirt and his best slacks. She remembered packing them for him before he left for that last business trip. The front of his shirt was wet with fresh blood, and his hands were completely covered.

“This is all my fault,” she said as she touched his blood soaked chest. “I’m so sorry. It’s my fault this happened to you.”

He reached up and pushed her hand gently away.

“‘Til death do us part,” he said smoothly as he turned and walked out of the room.

She followed him through the door and onto a bright, sandy beach. Her pajama pants were dragging through the warm sand as she chased Christopher toward the ocean ahead. “Wait,” she called out, but he did not stop. Instead, he just calmly repeated himself. “‘Til death do us part.”

“But you are dead Christopher. They just made it official,” she tried to explain. “I waited for you. I have been waiting the whole time.” She reached out and grabbed him by the arm, spinning him gently around to face her.

Instead of looking upset, he was smiling down at her. “Death brings freedom,” he said. “Death means that it’s over. It’s time for a new life, free from the past.”

“But you could still be out there somewhere,” she argued.

“Christopher Parker is dead, and he isn’t coming back. It’s time for a new life to begin, free from the past.”

Before she could say another word, a small monkey ran past her. She turned to watch it, and when she looked back, Christopher was gone.

“Christopher!” she yelled, looking around the beach, but the only sign of him were the footprints he had left in front of her. Panicking, she took off running down the beach. She ran for what seemed like an hour. When she finally stopped, she found that she was right back where she had started.

She dropped down in the sand and watched the tide drawing slowly closer with every breaking wave. She had resigned to letting it just sweep over her when the monkey ran past her again.

She pushed herself up and followed it up the beach until it jumped up onto an awaiting man.

“Shane?” she asked. “Shane Villarreal? What are you doing here?” She continued to move toward him, but did not appear to be getting any closer.

“Good monkey,” he said as he scratched the top of its head. He reached into the maroon journal in his hand and pulled out several pages. “Here monkey,” he said, placing
the pages into the tiny, awaiting hands. “They’ll be safe with you.”

“You left the pages with a monkey?” She felt overwhelmed with confusion. “I don’t understand. What does a monkey have to do with anything? And how are the pages safe with it?”

Villarreal just smiled at her as the monkey jumped from his shoulder and ran toward the trees. After one last bewildered look at Villarreal, she started running after the monkey. She reached the tree line in just enough time to see the monkey’s tail vanishing through the same door she had walked through before. She quickly followed, reaching her arms out to catch him.

Before she could, an intense pain shot through her feet. She looked down to see the familiar shattered glass covered hallway below her. Panic spread through her as she pushed herself to move forward. As she drew closer to the door at the end of the hall, she could see the dark puddle creeping under it.

Her mind was telling her to turn around and run, but her heart made her continue. No matter how bad she wanted to leave, she knew that she would not find answers unless she could see what was in the room. When she
pushed the door open, she felt the air leave her lungs as she let out a long, painful moan.

The wall above her bed was splattered with blood, and her sheets were stained red. This can’t be real, she thought as she dropped to her knees. “No,” she moaned loudly. She knew she needed to go in, but she couldn’t will her body to move. She looked down to find her gun shaking in her hand. “Someone help,” she said to herself. She reached down for her phone and pulled it up to her ear. “There’s too much blood,” she heard herself saying. “He’s…he’s… there’s just too much blood.” The phone fell to the floor at her feet as she forced herself up.

Before she could take a single step into the room, searing pain shot through her back and she fell back to the ground. “No!” she yelled. “I need to see this time. I need to know what happened!”

As she pushed through the pain and tried to pull herself across the blood covered floor, a shadowy figured moved over her.

“Get away!” she yelled, trying to crawl forward. “Stay away from me!”

“It’s okay,” she heard from just above her ear. “Wake up. It’s only a dream.”

Her eyes shot open and she found herself back in her darkened bedroom. There was just enough light peeking through the window for her to see Ben’s outline sitting on the bed next to her. “I’m sorry,” she said, her heart pounding violently in her chest. “I’m sorry. Just a bad dream.”

She was shaking so badly that she could feel the mattress trembling around her. “Shhh,” he said as he slid himself closer and wrapped his arms around her. The strength of his arms holding her tightly sent a flood of warmth spreading through her.

She was still shaking when she heard him whisper again. “Lay down. It’s okay. It was just a dream.”

She sank her head back down into her pillow, Ben’s arms still wrapped securely around her. She was sure he was going to slip out and go back to his own bed, but instead he lowered down against her, tightening his hold. He brushed the hair gently out of her face before lowering his head down. His warm breath tickled her ear as her eyes slowly closed. The feel of his chest rising and falling against her back seemed to lull her, and she quickly slipped back to sleep.

When she opened her eyes again, the sun was shining warmly against her face. She was just about to roll over when she looked down and found Ben’s arms still wrapped snuggly around her, their fingers comfortable interlocked.

Rilynne ran her thumb slowly up and down against his. She felt the drumming of his heart grow faster against her skin.

“Good morning,” he said sleepily.

She rolled onto her back, his arm still stretched out across her. “Good morning,” she replied. His eyes, which had been staring deep into hers, moved slowly down to her lips, lingering for a few moments before working their way around her face. As they did, she felt her chest tighten as her breathing grew heavier. He gently squeezed his fingers around hers before he released them and slid his hand tenderly across her stomach. With one last longing look at her face, he slowly pushed himself up.

“You’re going to be late to work,” he said, slipping off the edge of the bed. “You go get ready. I’ll whip something up for breakfast.” He looked back at her and smiled before stepping out of the door. Part of her wanted to call him back, was screaming for her to call him back, but she knew that once that door was opened, it couldn’t be closed again. No matter what she felt in that moment, that wasn’t something she was ready for.

When she stepped out of her bedroom ten minutes later, she followed to aroma flowing from the kitchen. “What smells so good?” she asked, peeking around him to the skillet on the stove. “And you know you didn’t need to put on the apron, right?” She chuckled as she looked at the bright pink apron he had tied on.

Ben looked down then back up at her before rolling his eyes. “Well, you didn’t have much in your fridge, so I made bacon and egg omelets,” he said, sliding them onto the plates.

“Why are they red?” she asked, looking at it hesitantly.

“I mixed the salsa in with the eggs before I cooked them. It adds to the flavor,” he explained as he carried them to the dining room. “You’ll like it, trust me.” She sat down at the table and grinned before picking up her fork. She couldn’t remember the last time a man had cooked for her, let alone made breakfast. When the first bite landed on her tongue, a mix of flavors overcame her, each better than the last.

“Wow,” she couldn’t hide the surprise in her voice.

Ben just smiled and continued to eat. When they both finished, Rilynne carried the empty plates to the kitchen and pulled the pink apron off of Ben before walking with him to the door. They had just stepped off of the porch when a familiar voice came from their left.

“Good morning, Rilynne,” Joe said, walking toward the shrubs separating their yards. He was wearing nothing aside from a pair of long plaid pajama pants that hung low on his hips. Rilynne couldn’t help but notice that his body was even firmer than his black shirt had let on. “Working on a Saturday morning? There should be a law against that.”

“I can’t argue with you there,” she said with a kind smile.

Joe glanced over to Ben for the first time since walking over. “You must be the husband?” he asked in a hesitant tone.

Ben seemed to be unable to find his words. “This is my friend, Ben,” she stepped in. “We work together. He’s actually the top forensic investigator in the state.”

“That’s impressive,” Joe said with a poorly hidden fake sentiment. “So are you a forensic investigator also,” he asked, turning his attention back to Rilynne.

“No, I’m a homicide detective,” she said.

“Wow, that’s great. Well, I won’t keep you,” he said with a smile. “And nice meeting you Brad.”

“Ben,” Ben replied shortly.

“Right,” he said in an unconcerned tone. “Well, see you around, Detective.” He reached down and grabbed the newspaper from his yard and walked back toward his front door, stealing one last look at Rilynne before stepping in.

Rilynne turned back toward Ben to find him massaging his chin with his knuckles. He looked as though something was bothering him, but Rilynne thought better than to ask.

“I’ll see you in the office?” she asked as she started back toward her car.

“Yeah,” he said, seemingly troubled by whatever was going on in his head. “I have to run home to change and feed my fish first, though.”

She gently ran her hand down his arm before climbing into her car.