Night Of The Living Dandelion Part 33

At least she had her att.i.tude back. I clicked over to the other line. "Bloomers Flower Shop. How can I help you?"

"Hey, Abby, it's me," Marco said. "I'm just leaving my apartment now. Change of plans, babe. It looks like I'm going to have to make a trip down to Grissom Air Base this afternoon."

My stomach did a nervous flip. "Why?"

"I don't know. It wasn't on the message. All I know is that I have to report by four o'clock."

I swallowed a lump of dread. "The letter said you had to report in three weeks. We're supposed to have another week together."

"I know, sweetheart, and that's still possible. We'll have to play it by ear. In any case, I should be able to get everything on my list accomplished this morning, and then I'll stop by to discuss what I found out with you."

"Can we have lunch together at least?"

"We'll have to play that by ear, too. The army base is on Eastern time, an hour ahead of us, and I still have to get everything wrapped up at Down the Hatch, just in case, so it'll be tight."

Just in case? How could three words feel so threatening?

"And don't worry about your doctor's appointment. Rafe will drive you."

That was the least of my worries. I said good-bye, hung up, and sat there frozen, stuck on the words just in case. When my a.s.sistants arrived at eight o'clock, I tried to pretend nothing was wrong, but at our morning meeting, I couldn't swallow a bite of Grace's raspberry scone.

"What is it, sweetie?" Lottie asked. "You're not with us this morning."

I took a deep breath and tried to get it out in a rush. "It looks like Marco has to report to the army base today. He doesn't have any more information than that, so it might be nothing to worry about. Or he might be leaving."

On the last word, tears welled in my eyes. I picked up my coffee cup and tried to take a drink, but my hand shook and coffee sloshed over the rim. I grabbed a napkin to wipe up the spill. "We were supposed to have another week."

"Oh, sweetie," Lottie said, and leaned over to give me a hug. "I'm so sorry."

"Let's think good thoughts for Marco, shall we?" Grace said, taking her turn with a hug.

Good thoughts didn't work for me. Only by immersing myself in my flowers was I able to keep my stomach from tying itself into a pretzel. I worked like a fiend all morning, and by eleven o'clock I'd completed all but the last order on the spindle.

It was a bright, joyous arrangement of pink roses, stems of green spray chrysanthemums, red Hedera helix berries, and orange Gerberas, finished off with the greenery Heuchera "Stormy Seas" and Phormium leaves. I gazed at it for a long time, taking pride in my work.

I had just wrapped it when the curtain parted. I glanced up and there was Marco. He gazed at me for a moment, and as always happened when I saw him, my breath caught in my throat. Then I saw the look on his face and felt dark clouds moving in.

He'd come to say good-bye.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR.

"Come on, green-eyes, don't be sad," Marco said, putting his arms around me. "Maybe I'm just needed down there to sign off on something."

"I'm sorry, Marco. I'm trying to think positive, but why would they make you drive all the way down there unless they wanted you to report for duty? They could mail papers to be signed."

Marco didn't say anything for a moment, just gazed into my eyes, brus.h.i.+ng a lock of hair off my face. "You'll be okay, Abby."

How did he know that? And why did he have to say it as though he knew he wasn't coming back? Now I was truly frightened. But I couldn't let Marco leave home worrying about me. He had enough on his plate. I forced myself to smile back. "Of course I'll be okay. It's not me I'm concerned about, doofus."

"You can't be worried about me," Marco said, as though he couldn't believe anyone would doubt his ability to take care of himself.

With my chin trembling, I said, "I thought we'd have more time."

Marco held me close for a long moment, then kissed me pa.s.sionately. And all I could think about was what if this was the last time I ever saw him?

He ended our kiss, then pressed his lips to my forehead. "I wish we had all day together, sweetheart, but I've got to get going."

I hugged him hard, breathing in the scent of his skin, committing the feel, the taste, the touch of him to memory. Just in case.

Marco leaned back to gaze at me. "I hate to talk business now, Abby, but I have to bring you up to speed on the investigation. If I'm-delayed-for any reason, you have to do your best to make sure Vlad is cleared."

All sorts of protests ran through my mind, but all that came out was, "I'll try."

"You'll do it. You love a challenge."

"Okay."

"That's my fireball."

More like a pile of wet ashes.

"All right. On to business matters." He pulled up a stool and sat beside me, removing an eight-by-ten blowup of the photo of Lori Willis from an envelope he had with him. "Take a good look and tell me what you notice."

I noticed she looked as dead outside as I felt inside. I took a deep breath and forced myself to focus. The enlarged picture showed the puncture wounds more clearly, but it also showed a red mark like a pinp.r.i.c.k just beneath her jawline. I pointed to it. "Was she stuck with a needle?"

"That's what it looks like to me. Remember when I told you she might have been drugged? I think we're looking at the entry point for an injection. The tox screen would tell us whether there was a large amount of sedative in her system, but we can't count on Kyle for help now. Whether he's our killer or not, I'm sure he's upset that we're looking at him as a suspect. I was going to stop by the coroner's office to see whether I could coax one of the staff to give me the results, but the best time to do that is early, around seven in the morning, and I probably won't be here."

"Do you want me to go?"

"It's worth a try. Rafe knows the situation and will be available to take you."

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Okay."

"Now, on to the casino report." Marco took out his notebook and read from his notes. "There was no sign of Kyle in the parking lot other than when he stopped with his partner around nine o'clock. Jerry Trumble, on the other hand, exited the boat at twelve thirty and walked through the lot until he was beyond the range of the camera. After that, there's no further sign of him. As we know, Willis exited the boat at one a.m.

"So Trumble may have parked off the lot to hide his car from his prying in-laws. It's also possible he circled around and came up on the far side of Willis's car, where the camera couldn't catch him, broke into the car, and hid in the backseat. Another possibility is that he got into his car and followed her home. And here's another point. Trumble played at the same roulette wheel all evening, from which he had an unrestricted view of Willis at the slot machines."

Marco turned the page. "Here's where it really gets interesting. I talked Van Cleef into doing a little checking for me, and he found out that Kyle does not and never did have a tab. There is no debt in his name, so it begs the question of why he lied to his partner. Remember when J.C. said that Kyle asked him to use the emergency call as his cover in case anyone questioned him about the stop? That tells me Kyle was expecting J.C. to be questioned. And again, why? What made him think he'd be investigated?"

"So Kyle made up a cover story-for his cover story?"

"Something like that."

"So his stop at the casino might have been to see if Lori was there so he'd know to come back later. Marco, I'm beginning to think we found our murderer."

"Maybe not. Remember Jerry Trumble telling us he'd had only a minor gambling problem years ago, which his wife's friends disputed? Her friends were right. According to what Van Cleef uncovered, five and a half years ago, Trumble racked up a two-hundred-fifty-thousand-dollar debt at the casino that he paid down by fifty thousand shortly after Dana died."

"He blew two hundred fifty thousand dollars?" My mind boggled at the thought.

"That's right. And I'm betting he got the fifty thousand from Dana's insurance policy. From that point, Trumble made minimum monthly payments on the loan until three years ago, on April twenty-first, when he paid it off in full. My guess is that he used the settlement money from the lawsuit."

"So Trumble benefited twice from Dana's death. If he hadn't received all that money, he'd be up to his eyeb.a.l.l.s in debt."

"Or he'd have filed for bankruptcy by now. Unfortunately, whatever agreement was reached in the lawsuit is a private matter."

"I know a clerk at the courthouse who might be willing to help us out."

"It's a long shot, but go for it." Marco turned the page. "Next item, Holloway. I checked with hotel management and security in Phoenix, where Holloway was registered for the conference, and learned that he was there both late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning. I also checked flights from Phoenix to O'Hare, and given the arrival times, there's no way he could have flown to Chicago, driven an hour and a half to New Chapel, abducted Willis, and flown back to Phoenix to finish the conference.

"Just to be sure, I tracked down another doctor who attended the conference. He said it was well known that Holloway slipped away with another conference attendee, but he declined to name her. As for Friday night when the body was dumped, Holloway was called in for emergency surgery at nine o'clock and was there until three Sat.u.r.day morning. That pretty much eliminates him as a suspect."

Marco flipped to the next page. "Regarding Diane Rotunno, I spoke with her boyfriend and friends and they all gave the same story she did, confirming her alibi. So I'm ruling her out, too. And finally, my source at the BMV tracked down the license plate number of the gray van that was parked next to Lori's car. It's a dead end. The van belongs to a senior citizens' residence. Tuesday night is seniors' night at the casino.

"That leaves Kyle Petrie and Jerry Trumble in a dead heat, as far as I'm concerned. Both men lied several times. Both had the means, motive, and opportunity to kill Willis, but we still don't have that smoking gun."

"So what's our next step?" My stomach knotted. "I mean my next step, after I visit the clerk's office and the coroner's office?"

Marco turned to another page. "This is Kyle's address. He lives over his mother's garage on Napoleon, two blocks north of Lincoln. You'll need to talk to neighbors to see whether they've noticed any suspicious activity at his house, and set up a surveillance on the garage to see who comes and goes from it, what's inside, and where Kyle goes when he's not working or at home. You can direct and Rafe can do the legwork. He knows where my camera is."

"Are we looking for a place where Kyle might have held Willis?"

"Yep. And this is Jerry Trumble's address. He has a home on Lafayette Street, seven blocks north of the square. Follow the same procedure with him. And one more thing-I want your solemn oath that you'll have Rafe or Vlad or someone trustworthy with you during any kind of investigative work."

"It's not like I can do much on my own anyway."

He lifted my chin and gazed into my eyes, the corners of his mouth lifting in that endearing way of his. "Suns.h.i.+ne, I know you. If there's a way, you'll try. You have to promise me you won't."

I let out a breath. "Okay. I promise."

"I've also arranged for you to have company in the evenings when Nikki is at work."

"Don't tell me you lined up Reilly to babysit again, because that didn't work last time you tried it."

"It's not Reilly."

"Oh, please tell me it's Rafe and not my parents or your mom."

"Your parents. My mom is your backup person."

"You told my parents that you're leaving?" Worser and worser. I was shocked they hadn't called. "Marco, I'll be perfectly fine on my own. I don't need sitters."

"It's just a precaution." He leaned in to press a kiss against my lips. "I hate like h.e.l.l having to leave you. All I can do is try to ensure that nothing happens to you."

"I wish I could do the same for you."

Marco kissed me again, then closed the notebook and handed it to me. "Do you have any questions?"

Just a few million, such as, how was I going to manage without him? "Will I be able to call you if I need advice?"

"I hope so, but I don't know what my circ.u.mstances will be. I'll try to call you later today to let you know what's happening, but in any event, you let me know as soon as you have any information. If I don't answer, leave a message."

I nodded. What if there was nothing to tell?

"Don't worry. You'll do fine. I've been preparing you for this."

For investigating perhaps. There was no way to prepare for Marco's leaving. On top of that, he was putting a lot of trust in me. I hoped I wouldn't let him down.

He sighed and stood up. "I need to get down to the bar and start wrapping things up. I'm riding down to the base with another Ranger from my unit so that Rafe can use my Prius."

I gazed at Marco in dismay. This was it, then.

He took me in his arms for one more kiss that didn't last nearly long enough. A year wouldn't have been long enough. Marco hugged me fiercely, promised that when he got back, we'd make plans for our wedding. And then he was gone.

And just like that, my optimism vanished.

"This is Abby Knight. I'd like to speak to Mr. Morgan, please."

"What is the nature of your call?"

I was not in the mood for the games his uppity secretary liked to play. "The nature of my call is personal. The mood of my call is dark and dangerous, so unless you want me to come across the street and show you exactly how dark and dangerous-"

"Hold, please."

A few seconds later, Greg came on the line. "Hey, Abby. What's going on? My secretary said you threatened her."

"And you believed her? Boy, are you gullible. Listen, Greg, I need a tiny favor."

"If it involves Marco's friend Vlad and/or the Willis murder case, no can do. I don't know why you're even bothering to ask after what happened to me last time."

"You still have your job."

"That's not funny."

"I wouldn't bother you except Marco asked me to handle something for him. Then he got a call last night ordering him to report to army headquarters today."

"Sorry to hear that. I thought Nikki said he had another week."

"That was the original plan."

"Well, you know how those Special Ops Rangers operate."