A Desperate Search Read online

  “I won’t. But let me play devil’s advocate one more time and remind you that we don’t even know for certain we’re dealing with a homicide. We don’t know anything yet.”

  “That’s not true. We know that Dr. Nance asked me to come down here and look into something he’d found. We know he had a change of heart about his trip to Houston and that he left clues in book spines. We know that little more than twenty-four hours after his body was found, someone shot at me at his cabin and tried to run me down on a busy street. Granted, none of that adds up to murder. Not yet. But we both need to stay vigilant. Until we know more, we should consider anyone connected to Dr. Nance a suspect, and that includes Dr. Wingate and Dessie Dupre.”

  “It’s just so disconcerting to think that someone I’ve known my whole life could be a stone-cold killer,” Nikki said. “I keep going over what you said about motive. Who stood to gain from Dr. Nance’s death? I wonder if there’s any way we can find out the details of his and Dr. Wingate’s partnership agreement.”

  “That could be difficult, but see if the assistant knows anything when you talk to her about the files. Be discreet. We don’t want to tip our hand too soon, much less cross the line into harassment.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  He ran a hand through his short hair, a habit he seemed to have when he was agitated or pensive. Funny how she was already starting to recognize his mannerisms. She wondered what he had picked up about her.

  The moonlight seemed to deepen his gaze. “Can you think of anyone who would have a key to Dr. Nance’s cabin besides Dr. Wingate? I left the door to the cabin open last night while I was inside, but I got the feeling the suspect, whoever he was, knew his way around.”

  Nikki shrugged. “He was always having work done at the cabin or at his house in town. He had a thing about maintaining his properties. He could have given a key to a worker or repairperson, I suppose. Maybe your shooter is the same thief who took the gold watch and hid it at the Ruins.”

  “Why would he leave it there all those years?”

  “Panic. Fear of getting caught. All the pawnshops in the area would have been alerted by the police. Maybe once the heat finally died down, he’d forgotten about it. My point is, a leopard doesn’t change his spots. By the time you went to the cabin, word was already out about Dr. Nance’s death. Maybe your attacker went out there to see what he could steal. Maybe he thought he’d find drugs. Who knows? When he saw you, he freaked.”

  “This guy didn’t seem the type to freak,” Adam said.

  She slid her gaze over his bruised face. “Do you have another explanation for the watch?”

  “Yes, but nothing I care to share at the moment.”

  “That doesn’t seem fair. Didn’t you say we’re in this together?”

  He hesitated. “Give me a day or two. Like I said, I need to do some digging.”

  Nikki couldn’t leave it alone. “You don’t think Dr. Wingate took the watch, do you?”

  “She’s hiding something, but I doubt it was that watch.”

  Nikki grew quiet and pensive as she listened to the night sounds all around them. A breeze rippled through the leaves like the trickle of a stream. The bullfrogs and whip-poor-wills were still out, their serenade mournful and nostalgic from the shadows. On such a soft summer night, it seemed obscene to Nikki that they spoke almost casually about the possibility that Dr. Nance had been murdered by someone he trusted, someone she might have passed on the street that very day.

  Adam was still watching her in the moonlight. Intently, she thought. She wondered if he felt the attraction, too. Had he experienced the same pull of destiny that had caught her off guard at the Ruins that first night? Or was there a darker explanation for his keen scrutiny? He’d told her he remembered the rumors and whispers about the Belle Pointe Five. He said he never believed them, but a part of him must have wondered about her. Maybe subconsciously he was still wondering. All it took was a single niggling doubt to make him ponder the possibility, no matter how far-fetched, that she may have been the one to take that watch. Or worse. Anyone who had been connected to Dr. Nance should be considered a suspect, he’d said. Did that include her? Why else would he be so evasive now?

  The very notion turned her blood cold and threatened to erode the trust and camaraderie they were building. She told herself he wouldn’t have asked to work with her if he thought her capable of murder, but what better way to keep a close eye on a suspect than to put yourself in her orbit?

  Nikki had tried to walk away from her past the day she left for college, but in the space of a heartbeat, the old doubts and insecurities returned with a vengeance, along with her defenses. She reminded herself she was no longer that girl. No one side-eyed her anymore when she walked down the street. People no longer speculated about those vile rumors. Why borrow trouble?

  “Is there anyone else you can think of who would have benefited from Dr. Nance’s death?” Adam asked.

  She tried not to read anything into the question. “Not really. His wife has been dead for years and they didn’t have any children. According to Lila Wilkes, he has a nephew in Atlanta and some cousins scattered about, but he wasn’t close to any of them.”

  “Do you know if he was ever sued for malpractice? Or threatened by a patient or bereaved relative? Someone out for revenge, maybe.”

  “Not that I’m aware. Belle Pointe is a small town. I’m sure I would have heard through the grapevine if there’d been any trouble of that nature. Given Dr. Nance’s standing in the community, it would have caused a scandal.”

  “What about business deals that might have gone sour?”

  She started to relax again. His questions were routine and entirely expected. She was making too much of his elusion. “I wouldn’t know anything about that.”

  “Romantic entanglements?”

  She frowned. “You’re the second person who’s mentioned something like that to me today. Tom Brannon suggested that Dr. Nance and Dessie might have had a relationship at one time. I don’t think it likely. I never saw anything but friendship and respect between them. Maybe I wasn’t looking. Even now, it’s hard for me to picture Dr. Nance in a romantic relationship. Or even on a date, for that matter. I always assumed he was still madly in love with his wife.”

  “That’s a little naive,” Adam said. “I got to know him pretty well before my grandmother died. He talked a bit about his wife. He was barely forty when she passed, still a young guy. I’m sure he loved her deeply, but he didn’t seem like a man stuck in the past to me. I had the impression he’d moved on a long time ago. He even talked about a couple of his relationships that had ended badly.”

  That stopped Nikki cold. “Relationships? Plural?”

  “Apparently he got around.”

  She stared at him in shock. “You’re telling me Dr. Nance was a player?”

  Adam grinned. “He didn’t put it quite like that. He did say there was one involvement in particular that he wished he could take back.”

  “Don’t mind me,” Nikki muttered. “I’m just a bit speechless at the moment.”

  “Because he was human?”

  “Because I’m apparently oblivious. Did he happen to mention a name?”

  “He was too much of a gentleman for that.”

  “Did he say why he regretted the relationship?”

  “She became obsessive. When he broke things off, she stalked him for a time. I got the sense she made his life pretty miserable.”

  Nikki stared at him wide-eyed as something fell into place. “Wait. You think this woman, whoever she is, took his watch, don’t you?”

  “It’s a theory.”

  “You think she killed him?”

  “I’m not willing to go that far out on a limb yet.”

  Nikki was glad for the darkness that covered her sheepish expression. Talk about jumping to conclusions
. Of course Adam didn’t suspect her. She needed to get over herself. “I don’t know what to say. First I find out Dessie Dupre has a secret life and now Dr. Nance.” She tucked back her hair, a habit she had when distressed or confused. “I can’t believe he told you all those intimate details about his life. He never even told me he was retiring.”

  “Sometimes it’s easier to talk to an outsider. I wouldn’t take it personally.”

  “I’m not.” But she couldn’t help feeling remorseful and perhaps just a tiny bit jealous. Why hadn’t Dr. Nance come to her when he needed help? Why hadn’t he told her about all the problems he’d been having at the clinic? Had she been so wrapped up in her own life that he’d felt she didn’t have time for him? She shook her head. “He had a stalker. I’m still blown away by that. I wonder what else he didn’t tell me.”

  “That was a long time ago,” Adam said. “Maybe you’d already gone off to college when it all went down. Besides, everyone keeps secrets.”

  Nikki glanced away, discomfited once more by the intensity of his gaze. She wanted to ask about his secrets, but she didn’t want him probing into hers. “I should get going.”

  “You don’t need to rush off.”

  “I’m not rushing. It’s late and I’ve had a long day. I’m sure you have, too.”

  “Nikki?”

  Her heart thudded at the way he said her name. Butterflies quivered as their gazes connected. “Yes?”

  He hesitated for the longest moment. “Be careful going home. Maybe I should follow you back into town.”

  Was she disappointed or relieved at the way the evening was ending? “I appreciate the offer, but it’s not necessary. I’ll be fine. We’ll talk soon, okay? Tomorrow is Sunday. I’ll be home most of the day. Maybe we can get together and hammer out the details of our arrangement. That is, if you were really serious about working together.”

  He nodded. “I’ll call you.”

  She could feel his eyes on her as she started up the steps. She told herself to be cool and keep walking. Don’t turn around. Don’t let him know you’re interested. It was way too soon to let down her guard.

  She made it all the way to the top of the stairs before she glanced back.

  Chapter Ten

  The next day, Adam drove into town on a mission. The streets were quiet, and the hush deepened as he left the business district behind and entered one of the upscale neighborhoods that bordered the downtown area. The houses here were older and eclectic, ranging in styles from colonial to Victorian to sprawling ranches. Many of the homes displayed fresh face-lifts, the cosmetic renovations complementing the meticulous lawns and lush gardens.

  Locating Dr. Patience Wingate’s address, he drove by her house twice to make sure he had the right place. Then he pulled to the curb at the end of the street and lowered his window, letting the warm, fragrant breeze drift through his vehicle.

  He wouldn’t be able to stay in one spot for too long. In a quiet neighborhood like this, he’d get noticed. Sunglasses and a ball cap provided only so much camouflage. He wasn’t even sure what he hoped to accomplish staking out her place. Call it another hunch. He’d been certain the evening before she was hiding something and the feeling had only strengthened overnight, so much so that he’d awakened that morning with a sense of urgency.

  Finding her address hadn’t been a problem. He’d been prepared to call in a favor from one of his remaining friends at the Dallas PD, but a simple internet search had yielded the necessary results. He’d packed a small cooler and grabbed some snacks before heading into town, and now he settled down with a bag of peanuts as he kept his eyes peeled for curious neighbors.

  One hour went by and then two. He drove around the block and changed parking spaces, finding an inconspicuous spot between two other vehicles that he hoped would offer some cover. It was starting to get uncomfortably warm in the car. Adam grabbed a bottle of water from the cooler and tossed out the last of the peanuts. A flock of blackbirds descended from the power lines to gobble up his leftovers.

  Around ten, Dr. Wingate came down the walkway to collect the newspaper at the curb. She scanned the street and then quickly retreated to the shade of the porch to peruse the headlines. Adam zeroed in on her with his binoculars. She looked as if she were dressed to go out. Smart black slacks, sleeveless white blouse. Sandals. Gold jewelry. Classy and expensive, he thought. He tried to imagine her luring Dr. Nance out on the lake and then pushing his head underwater, but the visual didn’t click with the fastidious woman he observed through the lenses.

  She took a call while outside. The conversation seemed to upset her. She paced the length of the veranda as she talked, pausing at one point to search the street. He slumped down in the seat as she glanced his way. Her gaze lingered for a second too long before she whirled abruptly and paced to the other end of the porch. She ended the call and went back inside, leaving the newspaper pages to flutter in the breeze.

  Another hour went by, and as boredom set in, Adam was reminded of how much he hated surveillance. By noon, the neighborhood had become more active with weekend gardeners, dog walkers and people returning home from church. He took a break and drove a few blocks over for some takeout, returning a little while later to yet a different parking space and a different view of the house. All seemed quiet.

  He ate his burger and sipped his Coke while he decided what to do next. The stakeout had been a long shot. Surveillance sometimes took days if not weeks or months to yield results. If she really was concealing nefarious behavior, she wasn’t likely to tip her hand on a single Sunday morning. Still, beneath that reserved demeanor, Adam had sensed desperation the night before. Whatever was in those files, she seemed anxious to recover and shred the information before anyone else saw it. If he’d read her right, she wouldn’t wait long to make her next move.

  He was sitting there contemplating what that next move might be when the garage door lifted and a dark blue BMW backed down the driveway and out into the street. Quickly, he stuffed his food wrappers in the take-out bag, started his engine and then waited until Dr. Wingate had made the first turn before he pulled away from the curb.

  The neighborhood was basically a large circle with a series of shorter streets connecting the two sides. With only one way in and one way out, Adam gave her plenty of time to exit before he followed her onto a busier thoroughfare. She made two stops in town, one at a coffee shop with a drive-through window and the second at an ATM machine.

  It was early afternoon by this time. The hot sun streamed in through the windshield. He adjusted his cap and cranked up the AC as he kept a safe distance. Tailing someone without being detected was a lot harder than the movies made it seem, especially in broad daylight on a Sunday afternoon. The lighter traffic didn’t afford much coverage. He dropped back even farther, taking a chance on losing her rather than being spotted.

  She drove all the way through town and turned onto the highway, heading toward the lake. Adam thought at first she might be going back out to Dr. Nance’s cabin, but she didn’t make the turn onto Lake Road. Instead she kept going, picking up speed on the two-lane blacktop until he had no choice but to fall back out of sight. If he tried to keep pace, she would surely pick him up in the rearview mirror.

  Ten miles out of town, he was certain he’d lost her. He accelerated, passing an elderly couple in a sedan and a pickup truck emitting black smoke from the tailpipe. He had no idea where she might be going. There wasn’t much to see out this way except for pine trees and swampland. They were literally in the middle of nowhere. Maybe she had relatives in the area. Didn’t seem likely, but Adam doubted she was out for a casual Sunday afternoon drive.

  He slowed, contemplating whether to turn around and head back toward town or keep going. He still had plenty of time to touch base with Nikki. He’d been looking forward to their next meeting all morning. Maybe his anticipation was a little too keen, he thought.

&nb
sp; His attraction to the coroner unnecessarily complicated things. He wasn’t the type to drift from one romance into another. Until Stephanie Chambers came along, he hadn’t considered himself the relationship type at all, could never have pictured himself settling down with a wife, kids and a house in the burbs. She’d been his one exception, a risk he’d felt was worth taking, and look how that had turned out.

  He didn’t fool himself that he was over the breakup. Not completely. He still experienced twinges of bitterness and regret now and then. Those pangs were getting fewer and farther between, but that didn’t mean it was time to jump back into deep water. Not with all his baggage. The smarter move was to chill for a while—

  There!

  He caught a glimpse of the BMW flying down a dirt road, dust clouds swirling in its wake. He braked and pulled to the shoulder, waiting until her vehicle disappeared around a bend before he made the turn and followed her down the narrow lane.

  Pine trees rose all around him, the feathery bowers reaching across the road to block all but slivers of sunlight. Kudzu had invaded the ditches, crawling up light poles and creeping along fencerows until Adam’s world narrowed to a thin green tunnel. A quarter of a mile in, he came to a metal gate. A hand-painted sign nailed to one of the posts proclaimed Junkyard. Another warned Trespassers Will Be Shot and a third read simply Dogs.

  Adam reversed down the road until he found a place to pull off in the trees, concealing his vehicle as best he could. He got out and walked back to the unlocked gate, slipped through and then paused to note the quiet of the countryside. He heard the distant sound of barking dogs before a shouted reprimand silenced them. He checked his permitted firearm, tucked it back in his jeans and set out.

  Keeping to the side of the road where the shade was deepest, he eventually emerged at another gate, through which he glimpsed the dark blue sedan. He left the road and hunkered at the edge of the woods while he scouted the property.