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Please forgive the shortness and not-as-well-organized status of this newsletter. The flu or something decided to strike after I was out of town without Internet access.
Since people seemed to enjoy Chapter 1 of Murder in the Mansion, here is Chapter 2. Keep in mind that this is a rough draft of my work-in-progress.
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Murder in the Mansion, Chapter 2
Tuesday began after a night of little sleep. Amber rubbed her gritty eyes before trying to focus on the computer screen. A tap on the door to the hall didn’t cause her to look up. “Come in.” She tapped a few strokes on the keyboard.
“How is your day going?”
Amber’s head jerked toward the door. Kile Logan stood inside the office, holding a large clear vase filled with white roses. Her first thought was the man shouldn’t look so good after a harrowing day and night. But maybe he slept well. She stood and walked to the front of the desk. When he handed her the vase, she smiled. “For me? I love roses, especially white ones.” Turning to place the vase on the corner of the desk away from the computer, she added, “Thank you.”
When she turned to face him, he stood immediately behind her. “I’ve wanted to do this since I first saw you.” He slid his hands to the sides of her neck, bent his head, and allowed his lips to capture hers.
Amber’s lashes fluttered down. A zing sped through her body. Her arms slipped around his neck, and when he pushed closer, she pressed against him. Time stopped. She felt as if her breathing stopped, too. When Kile drew back, her eyelids drowsily opened a slit.
“Wow.” Her eyes popped open. Oh, no, I said that aloud.
Kile quirked an eyebrow. His mouth twisted into a sneer or pained smile, she couldn’t tell. “It was okay.”
She pushed him away and felt heat spread from somewhere in her chest throughout her body, becoming a fire on her face. She whirled and leaned both hands on the desk. “Please leave. I think we need to keep our meetings few and professional, Mr. Logan.”
“Come on, Amber.” Kile touched her shoulder.
She jerked away, still not looking his way. “Ms. Russell. Please leave.” She didn’t move until she heard the door shut.
Holding the palm of her hand on her forehead, she shivered. “What is wrong with me? It was just a kiss. Just a kiss.” She picked up the container of flowers. “But he didn’t have to … he could have …”
Her hands holding the vase hovered over the trash can. Aroma wafted upward. “Great, they even smell like roses.”
“What would roses smell like if not roses.”
Amber gave a small jump, nearly dropping the container in the trash. A glance over her shoulder showed her dad watching her. She returned the vase with its contents to the desk. “Some roses have no fragrance at all. These do.”
“So, if they didn’t smell like roses, you were going to throw them away?” The large man lowered himself into a stuffed chair.
“No, I … Never mind. How are things going with the case?” She leaned a hip against the front of the desk.
R. K. rubbed his face with the heels of both hands. “Amber, I need to visit with Neil again.”
“All right.”
“You don’t understand. A witness heard Marlene and him arguing, very loud, Friday evening.” The chief raised tired eyes to his daughter. “Marlene screamed something about how would he feel if she reported him for harassment.”
Amber abruptly rose to stride toward her father. “Neil is practically a part of the family. Dad, he and Rusty … Ten years …”
“I know, sugar, I know. Do you have any idea what they might have been fighting about?”
She moved back to the chair behind her desk. Dropping into it, she rubbed two fingers against her temple. “I don’t know. Neil usually doesn’t ‘fight’ with anyone. I’ve never known him to raise his voice, well, except when he and Rusty … but that’s different.”
“The witness said he couldn’t hear but a word or two that Neil said. Marlene was the one yelling – ranting is what the witness said.” He slumped forward, his forearms on his thighs. “What do you know about Marlene?”
Twisting her chair slightly, Amber placed her hands on the computer keyboard. “She’s only been with us about four months. Just a sec and I can tell you exactly when she arrived.”
After typing a few strokes, she said, “Actually, she was hired two months and sixteen days ago. I don’t see any reprimands in her file. Hmm, don’t see any accolades, either.”
“Wait a minute!” The manager leaped to her feet and rushed around the desk. “Neil didn’t seem a bit surprised when I told him Marlene had messed up on that confirmation. Even if it were made up, he didn’t know, and he accepted it without question.”
“Call him in here, okay?”
Neil pursed his lips when R. K. asked him about the overheard argument. After exhaling a loud breath, he answered, “I tried to warn her nicely after seeing her with a guest in a, uh, compromising situation. She told me to keep my ‘trap’ shut, or I’d be sorry.” He shrugged and searched Amber’s eyes. “I was going to request a meeting between the three of us yesterday, but she, well, you know.”
“Neil, which guest did you find her with?”
The assistant manager switched his attention to the police chief. “One of the real estate group, room S322.”
“They’re still here, Dad. They booked a two week retreat.” She returned to the computer. “Room S322 is John Duncan. He registered for himself and his wife. She was supposed to join him.”
“Maybe he got tired of waiting.” The chief struggled to his feet. “May I use the staff room again?”
“Of course. Will you let us know …”
“Sugar, I’ll tell you what I can.” He strode from the room, light on his feet for a six foot-three, 240 pound man.
Amber shook her head. “This is one mess among many.”
“Among many? What don’t I know?” Neil frowned.
With a humorless laugh, she replied, “Let’s see, a murder of one of our staff who fraternized with a guest and a militia group holding a conference. Hopefully we won’t have anything else happen.”
Neil dropped his head. “That’s enough. I’ll be at the front desk or in my office if I’m needed.” He strode into the desk hall muttering, “Never thought I’d ever be a suspect in a murder.”
With a silent whistle of her own, Amber returned to work, or tried to work. Her mind kept straying into different directions, including the kiss that seemed to shear her from head to toe but meant so little to Kile. “Just okay, huh?” she mumbled. She removed her fingers from the keyboard and exhaled a deep breath. “Guess I’m not very good, but, man, he is.” With a shake of her head, she returned to work. “Have to forget about the kiss and about him. No future there, and definitely not professional of either of us.”
Later that night, Amber finally decided tossing and turning didn’t help. Dressed in the light-weight sweat pants and top she used as nightwear, she put the key card to her apartment in her pocket and walked in the atrium, over all the paths, around the fish pool, now working again. After ten or more rounds, she curled up in a fan-backed chair that sat in the shadows of a weeping willow. Her eyes grew heavy until she dozed.
Stirring from sleep, Amber started to stretch when the sound of voices behind her caused her to stop. She began to uncurl and announce her presence when the meaning of words reached her. She curled back into a ball.
“Listen, we have to be careful,” a woman’s voice hissed, camouflaging her voice. “You had to kill her, didn’t you? Sure, just ruin everything.”
“Damn, what was I supposed to do? She was acting irrational, taking chances.” Amber couldn’t recognize the man’s voice, even though he spoke above a whisper.
“Will you keep your voice down? I didn’t see anyone out here, but we can’t take a chance.”
“Hell, woman, you prowled over this whole place. It’s safe. Anyway, what’s the big message?”
After a pause, the woman said, in a more normal tone of voice, although still a whisper, “We have to have everything in place in three days. We’ll have the right distraction then. Get your group ready.”
That voice, I’ve heard that voice before.
“We’ll be ready. Now, when are you going to join me?”
After a bout of heavy breathing, the woman answered his question, “I can’t let anyone know we’re connected, not yet.” More heavy breathing. “That keep you, handsome, until later?”
Amber stayed still after she heard two sets of footsteps leave the area. She waited for five more minutes before she peeked over the arm of the chair. When she saw or heard nothing, she slipped to the ground and crawled toward the door of the apartment wing, hiding in the shadows of plants and furniture. When she reached another fan-backed chair, close to the path and the brighter light, she shifted from the ground to the seat. She sat curled up in the chair for several minutes before she sat up and stretched. She hid a forced yawn behind one hand as she stood and stretched again. Nothing moved. She half stumbled to the door and opened it. Once she was inside the entry, she started to lean against the door. No, have to act natural, just in case …all this glass. She strode toward the short hall that led to her door, with an occasional sleepy stumble.
Once inside her door, she locked it. She stood in the dark two or three minutes before finally turning on a lamp, leaving it on low. After a few arguments with herself, she forced her feet to take her to phone.
A few rings later, a gruff voice answered, “Logan.”
“Can you get down here?” Amber swallowed. “I think I heard something.”
“Then call security. I know you have some in this place.”
She gritted her teeth and told him, “I heard two people talking in the atrium, and what they said may have something to do with why you’re here. If you don’t care, fine. I’ll call my dad. But if you decide to come down, take the stairs from the balcony and don’t turn on any lights.” She pushed the off button, wishing she could slam the receiver in his ear.
With a growl toward the phone, Amber marched up the stairs to her second floor bedroom. She grabbed a pair of tan slacks and beige blouse from the closet and threw them on the bed. She added pieces of underwear before she returned to the closet and found a pair of brown flats. In less than five minutes she was dressed and back downstairs in her living room, her cell phone in her pocket.
All right, time to call Dad. Cell or land? She reached for the phone the same time she heard a tap on the patio doors. Pulling her cell from her pocket, she moved to the door, staying calm as possible. She pulled a drape aside to find Kile Logan on the other side. She unlocked and opened the door before she pocketed her cell.
“Decided that I might have something worthwhile to say, huh?” She ambled back to the living room and took a seat in one of the armchairs.
Kile followed her, dressed in sweatpants and a University of Oklahoma tee shirt. His rumbled hair and whisker-covered face showed his rush to reach her apartment. “All right, what happened?” He stared at her. “Haven’t you been to bed? You’re dressed ready to go out or something.” He dropped into a matching chair.
“Let’s see. I tried to sleep and couldn’t. I’m dressed to go to work because I doubt sleeping is on my to-do list. The fact I couldn’t sleep is why I was in the atrium.” She rubbed her temple with her fingers. “I fell asleep in one of the fan-backed chairs, in the deep shadows, under a willow tree. Voices woke me.” Amber proceeded to tell him what she heard.
“You didn’t recognize the voices?”
“Not the man’s, but the woman’s – something about it was familiar, something she said. I’ve thought and thought, but I can’t place it.”
“You sure no one saw you?”
“I’m sure. I was very sneaky.” Amber noticed Kile’s eyelids drifting downward. She tried to follow the path his eyes took. Her silk blouse draped over her breasts, outlining them in shining softness, but surely …
“You’re wearing flats.”
Her head jerked back, and she stared at him as he now watched her. “I’m, yes, I’m wearing flats, so?”
“Just noticed that you wear sensible shoes. Yesterday you had on low heels, not three inch ones.”
“Oh, for crying out loud, I’m on my feet and walk a lot, don’t need ankle injuries. What does that have to do with anything?” She thrust herself from the chair. “What are you going to do?”
He grabbed her hand tugged her on his lap. “I think I’ll start where I left off yesterday.” His lips devoured hers.
Amber pushed away from him. “What are you doing?”
Kile chuckled. “If you can’t tell, I must not be doing a very good job.”
“Apparently you like kisses that are just okay.”
He ran the back of one hand down the side of her cheek. “I’m sorry. I was rather shocked myself. Your kiss packs a wallop.”
“What are you … What’s the big idea? I …”
Kile stopped her with another deep kiss. She felt herself melding into him. Her hands tangled in his hair as his began a leisurely tour over her body. His hand separated her blouse from her slacks and caressed satin skin. A tingle ran through her. She felt herself drowning in emotions before she wrenched loose and scrabbled to her feet and faced away from Kile.
“I’m, I’m not this kind of woman.” Amber’s chest rose and fell as she struggled to control the heat flooding her body.
She heard Kile stand and move toward her. She spun and held her hands out, palms toward him as if a barrier. “No, stay back. I know I may be a bit, umm, old-fashioned, but to me,” she paused, “sex isn’t a part of getting acquainted. I don’t consider it part of dating either, like a, a cup of coffee or nightcap.”
“But you feel the attraction.” The corner of Kile’s mouth tipped upward. “I could tell you wanted to make love as much as I did.”
A shiver traveled over her body. “That wouldn’t be ‘making love.’ I don’t know you, and you don’t know me. We can’t forge that kind of bond in two days.” The phone rang. Amber head whipped toward it. “Wha … no one calls this time of night.”
She turned her back to the man, not wanting to watch his self-satisfaction any longer, and answered the phone. “Yes?”
“Sorry, sugar, but someone beat Neil half to death. He’s at the ER.”
“What?” No longer caring about the minutes before the call, Amber searched for her purse, carrying the cordless phone with her. “Why didn’t someone tell me if it happened on the grounds?”
“He was dumped by the cemetery, don’t have details yet. I thought you’d want to know.”
“Thanks, Dad, I’m on my way.” Amber returned the phone to the holder. “I have to get to the hospital. Neil was hurt.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I get dressed.”
She paused with her hand on the patio door handle. “You don’t need to – It would be better if you don’t –”
“I’ll be there. He and Marlene Cruthers argued, and then you overheard people talking about the murder.” He stopped at the front door. “I’ll be there.”
“Wait, to keep from being seen through the glassed entryway, go back the way you came.” She nodded toward the sliding glass doors. “Rusty had those stairs installed so he could use the garden, too. Most people have no idea they exist.”
Amber locked the patio doors behind them. “My car is parked on the other side of this wall.” She pointed to the west wall, where a wooden gate broke the solid line of decorated stone.
“And it’s dark out there, right?” At her nod, Kile started up the stairs at a run and informed her, “Wait here. I’ll go with you.”
“What? I can drive.”
“Great, you drive. Just wait two minutes.”
Fifteen minutes later, Amber parked her compact beside the door to the ER. His face once more smooth, Kile placed his battery operated shaver in his briefcase and sat the case of the floor. The couple rushed into the hospital, to find two uniformed officers waiting.
One of the officers stepped toward Kile. “You’ll have to wait here, sir.”
“Abe, he’s okay.” Amber looked around. “Is Dad with Neil?”
“Yes, ma’am. He said send you back.”
Amber gave a fleeting smile as she half-ran toward the door to the emergency rooms, followed closely by Kile. One of the receptionists buzzed the door open as Amber bumped against it, not slowing down as she saw her dad standing outside a door across from the nurses’ station. Clasping his arm in both hands, she asked, “Dad? Is he …”
“Sugar, we need to talk.” Noticing Kile behind his daughter, the chief added, “Glad you’re here, Logan. Come on.” Slipping an arm around Amber, R. K. guided her into an empty room and closed the door.
“Dad, please, is he …”
“As far as the world is concerned, Neil is dead.”
“Dead?” Amber collapsed into a chair. “No, no, he can’t be. He can’t be.”
R. K. laid a ham-sized hand on her head. “No, you didn’t listen. As far as the world is concerned. It might be safer for him since he heard one of them say to be sure he was dead, and he would have been if they hadn’t seen the lights of a car headed toward them.”
Her head jerked up, and she stared at her father, tears streaking down her face. “He’s not dead? How are you …”
“Easy, Sugar. Logan’s boss is going to have him moved to a safe place, where he can get the medical care he needs, but we’re sneaking him out in a body bag.”
“A body bag? But …”
“Come on. I want you see Neil, and then I want you to come out acting as if he is dead.”
When Amber entered the dimly lit room where Neil reclined on the bed, she covered her mouth to smoother a gasp. The man lay covered in blood. Bandages wrapped one arm against his body. A cast reached from his hip to his toes. His face looked demolished. She stepped to the side of the bed and touched his fist clutching the sheet.
“Neil, oh, my God,” she breathed a prayer. “You can’t let them win.”
Through clinched teeth, he whispered, “No way. Don’t know what … they think … I know. I will … remember … I will.”
“Shh, don’t talk. When you’re stronger, you’ll get to answer all kinds of questions.” She gently touched his hand again. “You get better, you hear?”
A grimace crossed his cut and battered face.
Amber stood straight and squared her shoulders. “Guess it’s acting time,” she whispered.
Kile looped an arm around her. When she tried to draw away, he said, “Come on, let everything of the past two days come out.” He then led a sobbing Amber from the room.
Why does he send prickles down my spine, even now? I’m going crazy.
Amber faced the room filled with staff members, supervisors, and managers of the coffee shop, restaurants, and gift shop. All right, here goes.
“Umm, I know several of you have heard rumors about what happened early this morning. Neil was found along the highway, beaten …” She swallowed and wiped her eyes with her fingertips. “EMS rushed him to the emergency room, but … Whew, this is so hard.” She pulled a tissue from her slacks pocket and blew her nose. “He was taken from the ER in a body bag, and I don’t know how long … how long before … they finish with … with his body.” She bit her lip. “Darlene will be acting assistant manager. Good thing you were finished with training, Darlene.” Amber tried to smile. “This has been a terrible week so far. I pray the worse is over. When I know more, I’ll pass it on.” She pivoted on her toe and rushed from the room to her office.
Kile waited for her as he sat behind her desk working on the computer. “Good job.”
“What – what are you doing here?”
With a click to shut down the program on the screen, he stood and ambled around the desk to face her. “We, that is your dad, brother, and our various superiors think you may be in danger, that people might think Neil told you whatever he knows.”
She covered her face with quivering hands. “I don’t know anything.” She allowed her hands to slide down her face until they rested at her throat. “I don’t know anything.”
When Kile gathered her into his arms, she laid her head against his chest. He muttered in her hair, “I understand, but they, whoever they are, don’t. My job is to keep you safe.”
Amber’s voice muffled against his shirt. “But you have a job to do.”
“You just became part of that job.” He ran a hand down the back of her hair and held her.
She gave a deep sigh and straightened without pulling completely away. “And how many of your team know Neil is alive.”
“None.” Kile shrugged. “They don’t need to know, just as they don’t need to know the aspect of my job has changed some.”
“Don’t trust them?”
“Need to know and all that.”
Amber stepped out of the circle of his arms. When he tried to continue holding her, she shook her head. “I think we need to set some parameters. You can’t keep me safe from everyone except yourself.”
“I realize that, and the ‘rules’ such as they are have changed. You’re safe with me. You set the boundaries.” His mouth quirked into a mirthless smile. “Believe me, I’m a bit puzzled about the attraction, too. We both need to bank some fires.”
She walked to her desk and began to aimlessly moving items around. “My staff will ask questions. I don’t ‘keep company’ with guests, ever.” Amber could sense his watching her, but she kept her eyes on her hand moving the stapler to the other side of the desk and the note pad holder closer to the computer monitor.
“The FBI sometimes has joint exercises with AFOSI and NCIS.” Kile harrumphed. “That’s how I met your brother a couple of times.”
Amber grinned. “The way the Air Force and Navy compete, bet that was a battle.”
“They may fight to be the group on top, unless they gang up on the FBI.” Kile chuckled. “Those were rather interesting times. However, we can honestly say Rusty and I met when his unit investigated some irregularities. We actually could have become friends.” Amber felt the heat of his body next to hers. “Have you ever joined him anywhere, anytime?”
A frown drew her fine-arched brows together. “Yes, when he was at San Antonio, Dad and I joined him for a long weekend before he left for Guam or somewhere like that.”
“That’s good. We could have met then. When was that?”
With a shake of her head, Amber replied, “September two years ago, and what do we say if someone heard you greet me Monday morning? You didn’t realize A. Russell was a woman.”
“Just a joke, me teasing you.”
“I still don’t think this is necessary.”
“Then humor your dad and me.”
After the two had worked out when they “met” and how Kile and Rusty knew each other, someone knocked on the door behind the desk.
“Come in.”
Darlene entered with a pile of papers. “I need you to sign these requisitions, Amber.”
“Just a second.” Amber started to reach across the desk to the lap drawer. “Have you met my brother’s friend, Kile? He and his group are with us this week.” She opened the drawer, gasped, and slammed it shut, leaving a snake’s head caught between the desk top and the drawer edge. She backed until she hit Kile’s solid body. Her hands clasped at the base of her throat, which seemed shut.
“Amber! That’s, that’s …” Darlene held the papers to her chest as her eyes widened.
Kile grasped Amber’s upper arms and moved her behind him. “Darlene, go call security. I’m going to take Amber to her apartment.”
“I … I need to stay.” Amber collapsed into a chair. “That … that could have bitten me.”
Kile stooped by her knees and took her hands in his. “Your hands are ice cold.”
“That’s a poisonous one, isn’t it?” Her voice sounded rusty to her ears.
“I’m afraid so. I just caught a quick glimpse, but think it’s a cottonmouth. Now, come on, let’s go to your apartment until it’s gone. Then you can come back.”
He helped her to her feet. Amber felt as if her knees had turned to water. If Kile hadn’t kept an arm around her, she couldn’t have walked. He finally half carried her to the apartment wing. Using his keycard, he helped her into the entry. “Where’s your key?”
Once they entered her apartment, Kile set her on the sofa, placed a pillow behind her head, and picked up her feet and swung them on the seat.
“Kile, I don’t need to lie down.”
“Just rest a bit. I’ll get you something to drink. Do you have anything strong?”
“No. I’d like some hot tea.” She tried to sit up, but one strong hand pushed her back.
“I’ll fix some. Just give me an idea where to find things.”
Amber listened to him as he opened and closed cabinets and drawers. She wrapped her arms around her middle and hugged herself. “I feel like I’m coming apart,” she whispered. “Someone tried to kill me.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “Someone wants me dead.”
Kile raised her upper body and slid under her. He held her close, rubbing her outside arm. “He didn’t get you, and he won’t.”
Her eyes searched his face. “If, if I hadn’t been … If I had been …”
“You weren’t. We’ll be more careful from now on.” He kissed her forehead.
Amber gulped before she said, “I’ve heard my dad and Rusty both say if someone is determined to kill another person, it’s almost impossible to stop him.” She laid her head against his shoulder. “I don’t … I don’t want to die.”
Amber jerked to a sitting position and swung her feet to the floor. “Wait a minute. I don’t want to snivel and hide either.” In one fluid movement, she stood and marched to the kitchen.
“Where are you going?”
“To get that tea, and then I’m going to face those demons.”
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Mystery: October 28, 2009 Issue [#3361]
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