Carrie Alexander - Count on a Cop Page 19

  She refastened a couple of buttons. “Making out by the side of the road like teenagers,” she said. “And I still don’t have my answer.”

  Gotta cool down. He dragged his gaze away from her sweet lips, the fullness of her breasts. Her skin had been smooth. Warm. Supple.

  “We can try again,” he offered. “You’re buttoned wrong, anyway.”

  She looked down at her rumpled shirt. “Thanks.”

  As she redid the buttons, he caught a glimpse of her bra cupping the ripe curve of one freckled breast, and felt as if he’d swallowed fire. He was supposed to be cooling down, using his logic. He conjured up baseball statistics, ten-page crime reports, insurance forms, but none of them had any effect.

  Connie had pulled herself together. “Why did you kiss me that way, in the shed?”

  “I was—I don’t know. Trying to get you back.”

  Her eyes darkened. “I didn’t go anywhere, Sean.”

  “No, I know. It was me. I pushed you away.”

  His convictions were in tumult. The hell.

  He was never like this—running hot and cold, letting his imagination run away from him, changing his mind from one day to the next. That was why, once Jen had persuaded him that he should put his son’s best interests first, he’d never reneged on the agreement. Even when he’d gotten over feeling rejected by the divorce and had realized he’d made a mistake in listening to her talk of the golden life Josh would have in California.

  But, no. He held steady. He did not give way.

  But you did with Josh. You let him go.

  And you hesitated that night on the roadway because of the child, even though his father was pulling a gun on you. That one second of doubt might have taken your life instead of the other man’s.

  Costing Josh his father.

  “Listen, Connie.” Sean’s voice shook. He stopped, reached for the solid ground of what he could do—forgive himself. “That made sense, when I said we should slow down.” He didn’t want to waffle back and forth, but he didn’t want to make a mistake, either.

  “True,” she admitted. “Still, it’s wasn’t an easy thing to hear. I’m a passionate person.” She pushed back her hair, looking rosy and glowing in the dusky light.

  Sean’s head whipped around. “Car coming.”

  Lights flashed among the trees. He and Connie retreated to the path just as the sound of tires signaled the car’s approach.

  The convertible again. Sean straightened, no longer caring if they were seen, but Connie held him back with her hand on his arm. “It’s just Anders,” she said.

  “I suppose he’s going back to the marina for his wife.” There was nothing suspicious in that. Sean couldn’t figure out why his cop instincts were so aroused.

  He remembered Pippa’s talk of “The Rock.” Connie’s mention of a meeting place at the harbor. Was Sheffield being blackmailed, perhaps by a townie like Graves who knew about the man’s infidelity? That might fit, except that Kay Sheffield already seemed to know about her husband’s betrayals. In fact, they were common knowledge.

  Connie was thinking, too. “With Anders gone, that means the house should be empty,” she said. “Except for staff.”

  Sean eyed her warily. He gestured toward the driveway. “Want to…?”

  “Check it out?” She was torn. “I admit I’m curious. But we shouldn’t leave the kids.”

  “They have no idea of my latest suspicions.”

  “Pippa has enough of her own.”

  “We’ll look in on them first. I’ll give Josh orders not to let Pippa out of his sight. Then we’ll stroll up to the house, knock on the door and ask for Mrs. Sheffield. What could possibly go wrong?”

  THE DOOR WAS ANSWERED by Kitty, the pretty young maid previously seen locked in her boss’s embrace in the butler’s pantry. She was out of uniform, to put it mildly, in bare feet, short-shorts and a clingy tank top with spaghetti straps that wouldn’t stay up.

  The redhead’s smile faded when she recognized them. “What are you two doing here?”

  “Is Mrs. Sheffield available?” Sean asked.

  Connie thought not. If Kay had been there, Miss Tank Top wouldn’t feel quite so free and easy.

  “She took off,” Kitty said with a shrug. “The day after the party.”

  Sean frowned. “The day after?”

  “That’s what I was told.”

  “By Mr. Sheffield, I suppose.”

  The maid hooked a thumb in one of her straps. Slowly she dragged it up past her shoulder, giving Sean the eye. “By Mrs. Wells. Not that it matters.”

  “You’re certain that she said the day after the party? That was the day we were fog-bound. I happen to know that Mrs. Sheffield was at home.” Sean and Connie exchanged a worried glance, sharing the alarm that perhaps he’d only thought he’d seen her.

  “I’m pretty sure that’s when. All’s I know is that I haven’t seen Mrs. Sheffield since then.”

  Connie sighed. “Then I suppose Jilly Crosby is also gone. I’d hoped to say goodbye.”

  “Yup. She left this morning, on the yacht.”

  “This morning. After Kay.” Connie didn’t dare look at Sean. “I’m sorry I missed her. I guess her husband went along?”

  The other woman shrugged. “I’m just the maid, not the friggin’ nanny.”

  Connie lifted her chin higher to catch a glimpse inside the house. The foyer floor gleamed under the chandeliers. Adjacent rooms were dark. There were no abandoned shoes or bloodstains or overturned wineglasses. Nothing suspicious at all.

  “May we come in to speak with Rachel?” she asked.

  “She’s not available.” The maid’s expression clouded. She pulled the door toward her body, as if they’d threatened to barge in. “You should go. Anders won’t be back for at least an hour. He’s gone for dinner at the yacht club.” She pouted at that. “I was about to get out of here myself. Have some fun for a change, you know?”

  She threw a flirtatious look at Sean, but he had stepped off the porch and was staring up at the second-floor windows.

  Then Connie saw something that made her blood boil.

  “Thanks for your help.” She gave the maid a sketchy wave, then hurried down the front steps. She grabbed Sean’s arm, saying beneath her breath, “Come with me. Hurry.”

  “I saw someone at the window upstairs,” he said. “A woman. That house is not empty.”

  “Never mind. We’ve got bigger troubles.” Connie waited until the maid finally closed the door before veering off toward the garden. “I just spotted Pippa and Josh sneaking into the maze with my garden spade.”

  “WHAT WAS I GONNA DO, sit on her?” Josh griped when Sean read him the riot act for allowing Pippa out of the house. “She’s got this idea that there’s buried treasure in the maze. Said now was the perfect time to find it, with everyone gone. I couldn’t stop her, so I figured that at least I had to come with her.”

  “Keep your voice down, son.” Sean put a reassuring hand on the boy’s shoulder. “I’m sorry I blamed you. That was wrong. You did okay.”

  At first Connie had been simply relieved that they’d found the children so quickly, but now that the blood was returning to her head, she was becoming exasperated. “God, Pippa, do I have to handcuff you to keep you safe at home?”

  “This was my last chance,” the girl said stubbornly.

  “What gave you the idea that there’s buried treasure in the maze? Was it one of your mystery books?”

  “No.” Pippa was defiant. “I saw Graves with a shovel two times, but nobody would believe me. I just know he buried something here. It could be a body. Even Mrs. Sheffield’s body.”

  Sean tried not to smile. “Do you realize how much digging is involved in burying a body? The maze isn’t that big. The signs of a grave would be obvious.”

  Pippa wouldn’t give up. “Then it could be money. Or jewelry. We won’t know for sure until we look around.”

  “Yeah, maybe Pippa’s right,” Josh said, surprisi
ng them all. He waved at the hedges that surrounded them. “You could bury something pretty easy in one of the dead ends and scrape the gravel over the hiding spot.”

  “Oh, no,” Connie said. “Not another one.”

  “Wait a minute.” Sean held up a hand for silence. “Pippa, think carefully. Exactly what did you overhear the two men saying when we caught you in the maze the first time?”

  “It’s all in my notebook.” Excitedly, Pippa raced over to one of the benches at the center of the maze, sat and pulled out her tablet. She flipped pages, found the one she was looking for and read it over with her finger tracing the entry. “They were whispering, so I didn’t hear very good. One of them could have been a woman.”

  “We’ve been assuming they were both men,” Connie said.

  “Here’s what I wrote—‘They talked about the rock and splitting the money.’ That’s all.” Pippa looked at Sean with little hope. “It’s not good enough. I should have got closer to them, but I was scared they’d hear me.”

  “You did great, Pippa,” Sean said absently. He walked over and sat beside her.

  Connie picked up the spade. “Sean, I can see your brain working. What is it?”

  “We’ve all heard the gossip that some of Mrs. Sheffield’s jewelry is missing, right? A diamond ring.”

  “Yes, sir!” Pippa said. “That’s how come I thought there might be buried treasure.”

  “And diamonds are often called rocks.”

  Pippa inhaled, her eyes like marbles. “Oh-h-h-h.”

  “We went off track,” Sean said. “The two Pippa overheard never actually said they were meeting at the rock.”

  “A red herring,” Connie observed ruefully. “And I followed it like a fool.”

  “It was an assumption,” Sean countered. “Not your fault.”

  Josh kept looking from one to the other. “I don’t know what any of you are talking about.”

  “I told you all about it,” Pippa said. “See? Nobody listens to me.” She pouted. “But I was wrong, anyway. It was me who made the red herring. My fault. I thought they meant to meet at a rock.”

  Sean hugged an arm around her. “Don’t worry about it, Pippa. If it wasn’t for you and your notes, we wouldn’t have figured out any of this.”

  “We still haven’t,” Connie pointed out. “This is nothing but conjecture. Personally, I’d rather not take it any further.”

  Sean glanced up at the house. The upstairs windows were all dark, but he was certain that earlier there’d been a light on in one of the bedrooms. And a woman looking down at them, until he’d spotted her and she’d disappeared. He hoped she hadn’t seen them enter the maze.

  He stood. “It’s getting very dark and we have no flashlights. We need to start back.”

  “Can’t we just dig in a few places?” Pippa asked. “Please, Mom?”

  Connie shook her head firmly. She stepped aside and ushered them toward the closest opening in the hedge. Sean fell in line as compliantly as the children.

  The sound of a car’s engine stopped them. Sean listened. “Sheffield?”

  Connie put a finger to her lips as the vehicle neared the driveway that curved around the maze. “I’d recognize that muffler anywhere. It’s Graves.”

  Pippa reached for her mother’s hand. “He’s coming to dig up the maze!”

  Connie shushed her. Sheltered by the high hedges, they strained to listen as the pickup pulled up to the front of the house. The truck door opened; boots hit the ground.

  They heard more footsteps in the distance, growing louder, coming from the direction of the house. A man grunted hello.

  “Watch what you say.” A woman’s voice, low and wary. “Kitty is still here. I couldn’t persuade her to leave. With Mrs. Sheffield gone, she’s parading around like she owns the place.”

  “We’ve got to get the loot out of here.”

  Graves, Connie mouthed to Sean.

  “It’d be easier to wait until they close the house,” the woman said.

  Connie covered her mouth, then leaned to whisper to Sean. He couldn’t make out what she said, but he assumed she’d also recognized the voice.

  Graves grumbled. “That could be weeks.”

  “I finally have the key. They trust me, and they’re too self-involved to see what’s missing.”

  “Except the rock,” Graves said.

  “That was a risk, ayuh. But look who she blamed.” Smugness filled the woman’s voice. “All the fighting was just the distraction we needed.”

  Graves walked back to his truck. He swore. “Where’s that damn spade gone?”

  “Use your own.”

  “It broke.”

  Josh raised the spade he was still holding and grinned. Too cocky for Sean’s liking; he covered Josh’s hand with his own and forced the tool down.

  “What does it matter?” hissed the woman. “Just dig the stuff up and get it out of here. I don’t know how long Mr. Sheffield will stay away.”

  Graves muttered, sounding much closer now. He was cutting across the sloping lawn.

  Pippa let out a terrified squeak, then clapped her hand over her mouth.

  “Did you hear something?” the woman asked.

  “Don’t get squirrelly on me now. This one’s gonna be our best haul yet.”

  “Keep your eyes open. Connie was here just a few minutes ago, with Rafferty. And you know how that kid of hers sneaks around.”

  “I’ll take care of ’em if I have to.”

  “Don’t be a fool. I’m not going to prison for murder.”

  Graves cackled. “Then it wasn’t you who cracked the missus in the face?”

  A muffled sob leaked out from behind Pippa’s hand. Connie turned to Sean in desperation as she gathered her daughter close.

  He dropped down to kneel beside Pippa. He spoke just barely above a whisper. “Stay calm, honey. We’re not in any real danger, but I want you to do exactly what I say.”

  He waited until she nodded. Graves’s footsteps were louder now, as he stepped from the lawn to the gravel paths of the maze.

  “Good.” Sean gave Pippa a brief squeeze. “All you have to do is to keep hold of your mom’s hand, stay very quiet and follow her.” He looked up at Connie. “Take the kids and head for the other exit. Stick close to the hedges, off the pebbles, to disguise your route.”

  “What about you?”

  He rose and put out his hand. “I’ll have the spade.”

  Josh’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He put the implement into his dad’s hand.

  Sean winked. “Go on with Connie. It’ll be okay.”

  Graves was traveling the maze now, swearing oaths at the confusing, intersecting paths. Connie led the children in the same direction, but she seemed confident in her choice. He trusted that she knew the twists and turns well enough to avoid crossing paths with the gardener.

  After they’d disappeared around one of the sharp turns, Sean stepped around a corner and found a dead end that seemed like a good hiding spot. He had no fear about the confrontation with Graves, but he intended to see that the man revealed his hidden stash first.

  “Damn,” he breathed. He rocked back and forth, loosening his muscles. Who would have believed that Pippa had been right all along?

  There truly was a treasure buried in the maze.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CONNIE BROUGHT JOSH and Pippa safely out of the maze but no farther. She didn’t want to send them across the open lawn in case someone was watching. She felt safer sheltering them near the hedge, in the dark, where the lights from the house didn’t reach. At the same time, that also meant they were stuck.

  “I want to go back,” Josh whispered. “Make it two against one.”

  “No. Your father wouldn’t allow it.” She hooked her arm through the boy’s. “He can take care of himself, but Pippa and I need you with us.” She squeezed Pippa’s hand. “Right, Pip?”

  Pippa nodded. Her face was wet with tears and nasal drip, but she was trying hard to be
brave.

  Connie wiped Pippa’s cheeks. She gave her a hug. “Hunker down. Make yourself small.” She wondered if that would seem scary and added in as normal a mothering voice as she could muster, “You’ll stay warmer that way.”

  “I’m not cold,” Pippa said, but she obeyed, folding herself into a ball. She burrowed her head against her arms.

  Connie whispered to Josh, who was trying to peer through the hedge. “Can you hear anything?”

  “There was a big thud. Now he’s digging.”

  A thud? How much of a thud did a body make when hitting the ground? What if Graves had managed to sneak up on Sean and hit him over the head? Connie’s mouth puckered at the sour taste of her fear.

  She closed her eyes, her mind blank of everything but the need for her loved ones to be safe.

  And that, she saw without any doubt, included Sean and Josh.

  The suspense was terrible. “I hate this,” she said. She wanted to run back to Sean, fight alongside him. But she couldn’t. Might even be in the way if she tried.

  Sean can handle it. He’s a trained professional.

  Connie gnawed the stub of her clipped thumbnail. Yes, his last day on the job had ended in tragedy, but this was different. Graves was strong for an older man, but not dangerous in a lethal way.

  All reasonable assertions. But not particularly comforting.

  She squatted beside Pippa. “You okay?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Don’t worry. It’ll be over soon.” Which didn’t sound all that reassuring, either.

  The scraping had stopped. “The hell with this,” Graves said distinctly. There was a soft thud, a scuffling sound and then footsteps.

  Connie raised her head. She swiveled to stare in horror at the garden shed at the edge of the forest.

  He wanted the spade. He was coming their way.

  SEAN STEPPED OUT into the open, the spade gripped lightly in his right hand. “Hold it, Graves. Stop right there.”

  The gardener froze at a point halfway along one of the inner walls of the maze, still within sight of the center. The man had tipped over one of the stone benches there and had been digging beneath it, although not very successfully. The tire iron he’d used had been tossed aside. His hands were caked with dirt.