LITMIR.BIZ

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wasn’t right. “You saw Jude at Ventura High?”

      “Yeah,” the girl said. “I haven’t seen her in a while, though.”

      “She’s not attending classes,” Carolyn said. “Her father said she’s just bumming around. Veronica told me the same thing. She must be hanging out at the school because of her friends.”

      “I’m pretty sure she’s enrolled, Mom. There are a lot of kids who didn’t graduate with their class. Haley Snodgrass flunked and came back. I know because she’s Anne Marie’s big sister. Her parents insisted that Haley get her diploma instead of a GED. Rebecca glanced at her watch. “I have to go. I need to stop for gas. I love living here, but it takes me forever to drive to school. Where’s Marcus?”

      “Making breakfast,” Carolyn told her.

      Rebecca laughed. “He can’t cook. What’s he making, toast? Where’s Josephine? She’ll have a fit if Marcus makes a mess in her kitchen.”

      “Today is her day off.”

      Carolyn followed Rebecca into the kitchen, watching as she strolled over to Marcus and stuck her hand out. He fumbled in the pocket of his robe and handed her a hundred-dollar bill. Rebecca stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks, Dad,” she said, waving at her mother before she darted out the back door.

      “Why are you giving Rebecca money?” Carolyn asked. “Since I don’t have a mortgage payment anymore, I have more than enough to take care of her needs. Besides, don’t you think a hundred dollars is too much for a girl her age?”

      “Gas is expensive,” Marcus explained, leaning back against the counter. “Since I’m the reason she’s living so far from school, I think it’s only fair that I pay for her gas. By the way, how exactly do you scramble eggs? Do you shake the pan or is there some kind of special device? I looked but I couldn’t find one.”

      Carolyn laughed, a welcome relief from the tension. The countertop was covered with pots, pans, graders, slicers, and various utensils. Only a person who’d spent his life staring at a computer wouldn’t know how to do something as simple as scrambling an egg. “Cereal sounds great,” she said. “I saw some strawberries in the fridge yesterday. We can put some on our cornflakes.”

      “Are you sure?” Marcus said, looking relieved.

      “Why don’t you set out the bowls? I’ll get the cereal, milk, and strawberries.” Carolyn was settling into a semistate of normality when she jerked her head around. “See if you can catch Rebecca. We started talking about Jude…I don’t want her out of my sight until you get someone to protect her.”

      “Bear is on her already,” Marcus said, referring to the six-five, three-hundred-pound Hispanic bodyguard who’d worked for him since he’d moved to Santa Rosa three years ago. Although Bear’s size intimidated most people, he was a gentle, sweet man. He kept a picture of his mother on the visor, and would cry if he saw a dead dog in the roadway. He was a crackerjack marksman, though, and wouldn’t hesitate to kill someone if they threatened the safety of his employer. “The agency is sending two other men,” Marcus told her. “They should be here before you leave for work.”

      “But I didn’t tell Rebecca what we were doing,” Carolyn said, reaching for the portable phone on the counter. Things were getting away from her, and like Marcus had pointed out, the situation wouldn’t be resolved overnight. She was worrying about Drew, Veronica’s children, her job, her wedding, the threats, and at the same time, mourning the loss of her friend. When she tried to juggle too many balls, she dropped all of them.

      “Bear’s the best,” Marcus said, walking over and placing his arm around her. “Trust me, Rebecca won’t spot him. If she does, I’ll fire him. They promised to get someone to look after John by the end of the day. Since nothing may come of it, there’s no reason to call and distract him. I doubt if I could pass some of the courses John’s taking, and he’s only a sophomore. MIT is a tough school.”

      Carolyn returned to the table and robotically spooned the cereal into her mouth, blinking as she realized what was clouding her mind. Going to the police with Veronica’s suspicions about Tyler Bell was a moral dilemma she had already struggled with and resolved. Now everything had changed. She would have to track him down right away. If she thought there was even a remote possibility that he was involved in Veronica death, she would handcuff him and deposit him at the police station.

      Had she really withheld information? It was Veronica who’d thought Bell could have been behind the deaths of Robert Abernathy and Lester McAllen, and as far as Carolyn knew, there had been no evidence to support such a premise.

      She dabbed at her mouth with her napkin, kissed Marcus good-bye, and headed to the garage. He hadn’t attempted to engage her in conversation while she was eating. He knew she was thinking. When he worked at home, she showed him the same courtesy.

      Carolyn would call Drew from the road. All she could do was attempt to move things forward. She had to train herself to investigate Veronica’s murder the way she would any case. Crimes weren’t solved the way they were on TV. Sometimes they took months, even years. If only one piece of the puzzle fell into place, it would be a good day.

      CHAPTER 6

      Wednesday, October 13—11:00 P.M.

      Carolyn and Brad Preston were seated on a bench facing the fountain in the center courtyard of the government center. The sun was out and the temperature was in the mid-seventies. The smoke from wildfires of the day before was gone, moved out to sea by the ocean breezes.

      Working in Veronica’s partitioned office all morning had been difficult. Every time Carolyn took her eyes away from the computer screen, she was surrounded by Veronica’s life. There were pictures of Drew and the kids, jokes, Post-it notes, cheap knickknacks the children had given her. She could even smell her cologne, Eternity Moment by Calvin Klein. Drew had given her a bottle for her birthday the previous month. Veronica thought the name was hysterical. She recalled how they’d laughed about it. “How can it be eternity if it’s only a moment?” Veronica had said. “Are people stupid or what?”

      She was glad that Brad had suggested they speak outside. On days like this, it was easy to see why real estate prices in Southern California had continued to skyrocket. While most of the country braced for winter, it was spring all year long. “I downloaded everything on Veronica’s computer,” she told him. “I’ll upload it to the machine in my office as well as my notebook. That way, I can work on it at home.”

      “Good,” Brad said, squinting in the midday sun. People were streaming in and out of the courthouse—attorneys carrying briefcases, defendants with downcasts faces, prospective jurors, as well as senior citizens who passed time sitting in on trials.

      Tall and blond, Brad Preston lived life as an adventure. In all the years Carolyn had known him, she’d never seen him despondent. At forty, he still possessed boundless energy, even though lines were beginning to form in his handsome face. He could still stay out all night drinking with his race car buddies and show up at work the next day bright-eyed and as alert as a man half his age. He’d never married because he was addicted to the thrill of the chase. According to Brad, a person no longer wanted something after they got it. It was the fantasy that was exciting, not the reality.

      “Veronica was having an affair, you know.”

      “That’s not true,” Carolyn said, shocked he would imply such a thing. “I’m her best friend, Brad. Don’t you think I’d know if she was cheating on her husband? Veronica worshipped Drew.” The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became. “The poor women only died yesterday, and people are already spreading malicious rumors. What else did you hear? That Veronica was robbing banks in her spare time?”

      “I saw her,” Brad said, rubbing his neck. “Remember when we had that big storm last spring, the one that caused the power failures and mud slides? I was coming back from lunch when I walked past Veronica’s car in the parking lot. It

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