Suspicion of Guilt Read online

  He had to hand it to the kid. He could take a little ribbing.

  “Do you know she’s carrying a 4.0 grade average? Has been since she started college, and she graduates in a few days, a full semester early. She got a full ride to the university. She was Denni’s first girl. That’s why she’s older. She holds down a full-time job too. I think my parents would look at that part of her and the rest would just fade into the background in importance. Don’t you think?”

  “How do I know? I’ve never met your parents.”

  “What do you think yours would have done?”

  Reece glared at him. This was starting to get too personal. “I never liked a girl enough to want to introduce her to family.”

  “Never? How old are you?”

  “Drop it. I don’t talk about my personal life with rookies.”

  Sean shrugged. “I just don’t see how someone can get to be pushing what…senior citizenship? And never have been in love with a woman.”

  Denni stared at the woman standing on her porch. “Elizabeth. This is…quite a surprise.”

  “I’m sorry to barge in on you this way.” The woman’s tight-lipped smile failed to communicate any apology.

  “Not at all,” Denni said stepping aside. “Come in, please.”

  Elizabeth seemed ill at ease as she entered the house. She cleared her throat.

  “What can I do for you?” Denni asked, closing the door.

  “I think we need to discuss a concern I have about your application.”

  “Oh?” Denni immediately went on the defensive. “I’m sorry. It will be there soon.”

  “No, it’s not that.” Elizabeth glanced about the room as though assuring herself that no one could overhear. “My concern lies in the fact that your home seems to be run more like a foster home than a ministry.”

  Stinging under the criticism, Denni fought against the rising anger. “Elizabeth, I’m not sure what you mean. The girls are in church every time the doors are open.”

  “True. But other than that, what are you offering them that ensures their spiritual life?”

  “I’m not sure what you’re getting at.”

  Gathering a deep breath, Elizabeth met her gaze. “The girls come and go as they please.”

  Outrage filled Denni. She scowled. “I take it you’ve been talking to Mrs. James.”

  Elizabeth confirmed Denni’s words by breaking eye contact.

  Denni folded her arms across her chest, fully aware that the body language conveyed a woman on the defensive. “Let me assure you, Elizabeth, that the girls have a strict curfew when they are not working. But aside from that, they are adults, not children. They adhere to the house rules, attend church services, and that’s good enough for me.”

  “That may be.” Elizabeth fixed her with a frank stare. “But you are asking ministries to fund you from our ministry outreach funds. From the looks of things, what sets you apart from a foster home?” She reached into her bag and pulled out some brochures. “These are some ministries similar to what I believe you want to accomplish here. You might find some of the information useful. There are also phone numbers and Websites listed.”

  Denni opened her mouth to protest, then thought better of it. She nodded. “All right. I see your point. Let me look through these and pray and see what I can come up with to integrate more ministry tools into the house project, and I’ll get it back to you with the application.”

  Elizabeth’s face relaxed. “I look forward to reviewing it. Please do be sure to get it in soon. Time is running extremely short.”

  Feeling as though perhaps she’d found a sort of rapport with Elizabeth, Denni took a chance. “Would you like to come into the living room and have a cup of coffee? I’m afraid the kitchen is still a bit of a mess.”

  Elizabeth’s guard shot back up. “No, thank you. I have to get back to the church.”

  Denni walked with her to the door. They stepped onto the porch just as Reece’s Avalanche pulled into the drive.

  Not again. Not again.

  A person couldn’t turn around without the detective snooping. How was she ever going to finish her plans for Denni if there were always cops about Mahoney House? Mother would blame her if something wasn’t done soon. Apparently, drastic measures were going to have to be taken.

  Denni stood on the porch until Reece and Sean reached her. “What brings the two of you over here?”

  “We came to see if we could help with anything.”

  “Help?” Elizabeth’s brow rose.

  Denni smiled. “They’ve been helping with some repairs around the house.”

  Elizabeth nodded. “It’s kind of you to offer to help, detective.”

  Denni couldn’t tell if she was sincere or not.

  The woman gave a tight smile. “Anyway, thank you for your time and I’ll look forward to hearing from you.” With a clipped nod, she moved across the porch, her heels clacking against the boards.

  Reece and Sean moved aside as she walked down the steps. Reece cast a questioning glance at Denni. She shook her head, and pressed her lips together until Elizabeth was safely out of earshot.

  “What was she doing here?” Reece asked.

  “She came by to drop off some brochures from some benevolence ministries. She thought I might need to change the structure of Mahoney House a little.”

  A frown creased his brow. “Is she giving you a hard time?”

  “I really don’t know. She didn’t seem confrontational this time. It was like a ‘help me help you’ sort of thing.”

  “I see.” But he didn’t sound convinced.

  “Anyway,” she said, “Don’t you have to work today?” she asked.

  “I took the rest of the day off.” Reece smiled. “I’m all yours if you want me.”

  The implication of his statement made her breath shorten. But his eyes were innocent, so she forced herself not to read too much into his words. “I could use a couple of muscle men to move furniture. Think you can handle it?”

  Sean grinned and flexed his biceps. “Bring it on.”

  For the next three hours, they worked, cleaning behind couches, chairs, bookcases, the china cabinet. They washed walls and knickknacks. Denni put the young people to work cleaning windows, upstairs and down. By the time she proclaimed a halt to the day’s labor, the group descended, exhausted, upon the living room. They sprawled on newly shampooed and therefore slightly damp couches and carpet, but no one seemed to mind.

  Reece sat next to Denni on the couch. He turned to her and her heart leaped into her throat at his smile.

  “You know how to work a group.”

  “I was always in charge of spring-cleaning, growing up. My mother had very little structure to her life, but she insisted on a thorough cleaning every spring and fall.”

  “I’m starving,” Cate piped up. The girl, now eight and a half months pregnant, looked about ready to explode. Denni had spared her most of the work, but she’d insisted on helping where she could.

  Denni roused. “I guess I’ll go rustle up some grub,” she said in her best Old West accent.

  Reece caught her fingers in his and pulled her back. Alarm shot through her as she over-compensated for the force and landed so close she was almost sitting on his lap. She ended up against his chest, her face a mere inch from his. “What are you doing?” she demanded, trying to add oomph to her voice, but finding the words difficult to get out in any tone.

  “You’re not cooking,” he said. “I’d like to take you out.”

  “What about the rest of them?”

  “We’ll all go out,” Sean suggested.

  Reece scowled. Denni’s heart thrilled. A group date obviously wasn’t what he had in mind. “Next time it’s just the two of us,” he muttered, loud enough for her ears alone.

  She tossed him a cheeky grin. “All right. We’ll all go to Ramsey’s. Leigh can get us a discount.”

  “No!” Leigh’s protest rang into the room.

  “I know, Leig
h.” Denni searched the girl’s face. “I was only teasing about the discount.” Leigh had worked at Ramsey’s Barbecue Shack for the four years she’d been living with Denni.

  “Sorry to overreact,” she muttered. “I’m just so sick of barbecue.” Her face had drained of color over the exchange. Denni made a mental note to seek her out later and talk about what was bothering her.

  “No problem. We’ll go out for seafood.” Denni glanced around the room. “Anyone have a problem with that?”

  She glanced at Reece for confirmation, but his sharp gaze rested on Leigh. Denni’s stomach sank. She knew that look. Leigh’s outburst had put her back at the top of his list.

  Chapter Twelve

  At the sound of the running motor in the driveway, Denni flung open the door, unable to contain the thrill of expectancy creeping through her. She’d spent all day putting together one outfit after another until she finally felt reasonably confident about the khaki capris and a black pullover top that hit the pants just below the waistband.

  Black sandals, borrowed from an insistent Cate, bit the area between her big toe and the one next to it and she knew she’d have a fat blister by the time she got home. But no amount of complaining softened Cate’s stance on the matter. “Blisters are a small price to pay for beauty,” the girl insisted.

  Reece was fifteen minutes late. After finally pulling an agreement from her to go out to dinner…just the two of them. As friends. So she’d expected to see his gray-and-black truck when she opened the door. Instead, a white sedan sat there mocking her.

  Feeling as though someone had let all the air out of her tires, Denni stood in the doorway looking out at the beaming faces of her dad and his flamboyant bottle-blond fiancée, Ruth. They stood on the porch, luggage in hand, wearing matching Hawaiian shirts and identical grins.

  Think, Denni! Had she forgotten they were coming to visit? She searched her overloaded brain for some morsel of memory to indicate she should be expecting them. Nothing.

  “Surprise!” Even her wide-brimmed straw hat couldn’t shade the excitement radiating from Ruth’s overly made-up face.

  Despite her bewilderment, Denni couldn’t help but return the smile. Ruth dropped her suitcase and pulled Denni into a fierce embrace.

  “Why didn’t you two tell me you were coming?” Denni locked eyes with her dad and asked the question over Ruth’s shoulder.

  “That wouldn’t have been much of a surprise, would it?” Her dad chuckled, and Denni moved from Ruth’s arms to his.

  “I suppose not.” Denni plastered a fake smile on her face and gave herself an inward little pep talk about grace under fire. She hated surprises. She’d had enough of them lately to fill a lifetime.

  A cloud of uncertainty flickered across Ruth’s eyes. “Is this a bad time, honey? We don’t have to stay. It’s only an hour’s drive home. Maybe we shouldn’t have dropped in on you this way.”

  “No, of course not. It’s just a surprise, that’s all. And that was the whole point, wasn’t it?”

  Denni gave her a reassuring squeeze and snatched up the suitcase from where Ruth had dropped it. “Come inside.” She opened the door wider, relieved beyond measure that spring-cleaning was out of the way and the house sparkled. The new stove had arrived a few days ago, and just yesterday Denni had finished painting the new wall behind the counter. So at least she wouldn’t have to explain a burnt kitchen.

  “How long are you planning to stay?”

  “Through your birthday at least. Your dad, here, insists you can’t spend your thirty-third birthday without family.”

  Her thirty-third…? For crying out loud, she’d forgotten all about that. Today was what? May tenth? And her birthday was the twelfth. Okay. Two or three days was doable. Now, if only the household could go a few days without a disaster, maybe Denni could keep up her facade that she had everything together.

  Her mind instantly swung into plan-B mode, and she started organizing. Every available bed was spoken for, so Ruth would have to bunk with her. After Keri’s complaints about their future stepmother’s wild sleeping habits last Thanksgiving at the cabin, Denni wasn’t too thrilled with the idea of sharing with the nocturnal gymnast.

  “So, when are you two going to set a date?” she asked.

  “You’ll have to ask your dad that one, honey,” Ruth said, casting a sidelong glance at Mac.

  He scowled and Denni bit back her grin.

  “We’ll decide all that in good time. No sense in hurrying.”

  “Ha! You aren’t exactly getting any younger,” Ruth shot back. “Even if you are getting handsomer by the day.”

  Dad grinned and winked at his fiancée. He turned to Denni. “We’ll be tying the knot before long.”

  Ruth sighed and locked her gaze with Mac’s. The sight and sound of a woman emphatically in love made Denni uncomfortable, and she almost wished she hadn’t diverted attention to that particular subject.

  Ruth spared her the necessity of changing the subject again. The woman stood in the middle of the room hands on her hips, and looked around, a frown creasing her makeup. “Everything’s looking pretty good to me. You’d never know you’ve had such trouble.”

  “Ruthie!”

  At Dad’s admonishment, Ruth’s eyes grew wide, and her hand flew to her mouth.

  Suspicion shot through Denni. She narrowed her gaze. “Never know about what trouble?”

  Dad scowled and shook his head. “Women…”

  “Never mind all that,” Denni said firmly. “What is it that you know?”

  “I’m not saying a word. We promised Keri we wouldn’t spill anything.”

  “Let me guess. She told you about the problems I’ve been having around here.”

  Mac stepped forward and slid his arm around Denni’s shoulders. “It’s no more than you should have done from the very first incident. Daughters are supposed to let their dads in on problems like this. Especially if they don’t have a husband to protect them.”

  A sigh whooshed from Denni’s lungs. She could have done without the non-husband comment, but otherwise, relief washed over her as she leaned into the warm comfort of her dad’s embrace. “I know, Dad. But I didn’t want to worry anyone about a bunch of accidents.”

  “Accidents, my eye,” Ruth said with a snort. “Honey, you’ve got to wake up and smell the coffee. Sure as I’m not a natural blonde, someone is out to shut you down.”

  That was the last time she’d tell her sister anything. All she needed was three days of “you should do this, and you should do that” coming from Dad and Ruth.

  Pulling out of Dad’s arms, she looked from one to the other. “How about some coffee? I just put on some fresh right before you got here,” she said, hoping they’d take a hint and drop it for now.

  No such luck.

  “Now, don’t go changing the subject,” Dad broke in, his green eyes narrowing, accepting no nonsense from her.

  Denni returned his scowl. She gave a shrug, feeling like a rebellious teen. “What do you want me to say?”

  “You can start by admitting the truth of what’s going on around here.”

  “I don’t know what’s going on, and I couldn’t control it if I did know. So far I just take what comes, and quite frankly, every single incident, except for the theft, can easily be explained as an accident.”

  Dad raised his eyebrow. Only one. The dreaded single-eyebrow lift could mean only one thing: he wasn’t buying it. “Do you want to explain to me how someone could turn on the water by accident? You either turn the knob or you don’t. There is no accidentally to it.”

  “Okay, maybe that one wasn’t an accident,” Denni muttered. “But the kitchen fire was.”

  “You had another fire?” Ruth’s gasp rang through the room like the bells at Notre Dame. “Keri only told us about the one in the laundry room.”

  Denni closed her eyes and inwardly moaned. She had to start writing down what she did and didn’t tell which sister. Now she remembered. Raven had been on the
phone the night of the fire. She’d called back later. That’s why she knew about it. Denni had told her not to tell anyone. Bless her; she must have actually kept her mouth shut. Of course, when it came to family ties, Raven’s rope was a bit thin, so she probably wouldn’t have told them anyway.

  “One of the girls accidentally left the burner on under a teapot and it caught fire.”

  “Was anyone hurt?” Ruth asked, her pale-blue eyes clouded with worry.

  “No. We caught it in time. The damage was minimal and covered by insurance.”

  “That’s a mercy.”

  “Yes.”

  “What do the police have to say about all of this?”

  Denni had anticipated the question from her ex-cop dad. But she dreaded having to tell him the truth.

  “Reece is still looking into the theft. But there’s not much hope of getting the stuff back. I’ve already turned that in on the insurance, too.”

  “Who is this Reece?” Dad’s sharp eyes raked her face for answers. Denni felt warmth creep to her cheeks.

  “Detective Corrigan, rather,” she said, even though she knew it was too late to cover up her attraction to him. Ruth’s knowing smile spoke volumes.

  Apparently, Dad was too focused on the questions to worry about the implications. “Does Corrigan have any leads on the fires and flooding incidents?”

  “Well, no, I…”

  “After all this time? What have they been doing down at that police station while my daughter’s in danger?”

  “Remember your blood pressure, sweetie,” Ruth reminded him softly.

  Denni watched her Dad’s face instantly relax at the sound of his fiancée’s voice. She marveled at the love he had found with the elderly Southern belle. Ruth was a lucky woman. Denni remembered her own mother’s voice having the same effect on her dad when his Irish temper rose.

  A wave of longing for her mother washed over Denni. What might it have been like to have her mother sitting in her living room, with Denni pouring out her worry over the funding for the houses and her growing feelings for Reece, a man who was clearly not suited to her? Just to shift the burden of responsibility if only for a few minutes.