Guarded Secrets

Someone had been in here, searching for…what?

Grabbing her purse, she looked for Jonathan Littledeer’s business card. She found it and dialed the number.

“Littledeer.”

“Detective, this is Lilly Burkstrom. I just walked into my house. It looks like my ex-husband’s apartment wasn’t the only place ransacked.”

“Your house was broken into?”

“Yes.”

A crash from the bedroom made her gasp.

“Lilly?”

“I heard something crash.”

“Get out. Go next door and call nine-one-one.”

She turned and ran out the garage.

LEANN HARRIS

When Leann Harris was first introduced to her husband in college she knew she would never date the man. He was a graduate student getting a PhD in physics, and Leann had purposely taken a second year of biology in high school to avoid taking physics. So much for first impressions. They have been married thirty-eight years and still approach life from very different angles.

After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin, Leann taught math and science to deaf high school students for a couple of years until the birth of her first child. When her youngest child started school, Leann decided to fulfill a lifelong dream and began writing.

Leann presently lives in Dallas, Texas, with her husband. She is a founding member and former president of the Dallas Area Romance Writers. Guarded Secrets is her second novel for Steeple Hill Books. Visit her Web site, www.leannharris.com.

Guarded Secrets

Leann Harris

God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble.

— Psalms 46:1

Jennifer, DQ, Daniel and Crystal—

each of you is a blessing.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

EPILOGUE

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

ONE

T he door stood ajar, and panic raced through her veins. She’d locked her ex-husband’s apartment door after retrieving his clothes for the funeral.

“Mom, did you forget to lock the door? You know Daddy always made me—” Tears clogged Penny’s throat.

Lilly Burkstrom pulled her daughter into her arms.

“I don’t understand, Mom,” Penny sobbed into her mother’s waist. “Why did Daddy have to die?”

It was a question Lilly asked herself. Peter had been murdered in a convenience store robbery gone bad.

It didn’t make much sense to her, a twenty-nine-year-old woman, so how could she expect her eight-year-old daughter to understand it?

“I don’t know, sweetie. I know you miss him. I do, too.”

Penny hugged her with a desperate intensity. “You won’t leave me, will you?” She looked up, her huge brown eyes glistening with tears.

Lilly’s heart broke. She wiped the wetness from her daughter’s cheeks. “No, I won’t.” Although she and Peter had been divorced almost since Penny’s birth, they had come to terms with their failed marriage and had become friends. Peter’s recent salvation had changed all their lives. “I can take you home and do this by myself.”

Penny wiped away her tears and stepped back. “I want to help.”

Lilly pushed the door all the way open and peered inside. The condition of the apartment shocked her.

Penny gasped. “Mom, what happened?”

Lilly’s gaze swept the living room, dining room and kitchen. It looked as if a tornado had ripped through the place, throwing things everywhere. Chairs and end tables had been tossed on their sides. The sofa had been turned over, and the cushions ripped and thrown around the room. The kitchen cabinets stood open; boxes of cereal and spaghetti spilled out from the shelves. Broken dishes and glasses littered the countertops and floor.

“I don’t know.” Three days ago, when she’d been inside this apartment to get one of Peter’s suits for the funeral, everything had been fine.

“I wonder if Dad’s bedroom is this way.” Penny started down the short hall.

A loud noise came from the bedroom.

Penny froze. When she turned her head, her frightened gaze met Lilly’s.

Lilly motioned for her daughter to come toward her. Penny turned and ran to her mother. Lilly rushed them out of the apartment and down the stairs. They retreated to Lilly’s car, and Lilly whipped out her cell phone.

“Nine-one-one. What is your emergency?”

“I need to report a burglary.”

Detective Jonathan Littledeer greeted Lilly outside Peter’s apartment door.

“Ms. Burkstrom, can you tell me what happened here?”

She recognized the Albuquerque police detective and his partner, David Sandoval. They’d come and told her about Peter’s death. Had it only been two weeks since that happened? It seemed like it was yesterday when they announced the grim news.

Stepping inside the apartment, Detective Littledeer stopped and scanned the area between the front door and the living room.

“Someone did a job on this place,” Detective Sandoval murmured, walking around the living room.

Detective Littledeer looked around the living room and kitchen. “It looks like they did a thorough search. What do you think they were looking for?”

Detective Sandoval nodded. “Good question. I’ll take a look in the bedroom.” He disappeared into the bedroom.

“Where’s your daughter?” Detective Littledeer asked Lilly, who was standing in the doorway.

“She left with my cousin. She didn’t need to be here. It upset her.” Lilly had called her cousin Allison and asked her to come and pick Penny up. Allison was one of the few family members left in town after her parents moved to Florida. Alison had a child younger than Penny. They’d been friends all their lives, and Penny needed a friend to help her redirect her thoughts.

Spying a digital picture frame on the floor, Lilly picked it up. “Peter bought this for Penny so she could see pictures of the two of them having fun.” She placed the frame on the coffee table.

“Can you think of why anyone would do this to your ex-husband’s apartment?”

“A couple of months ago, when Peter dropped off Penny, he told me that if anything happened to him, it wouldn’t be an accident.”

“Did he tell you what he meant by that?” Detective Littledeer asked, pressing her.

“Later, when I tried to question him about it, he simply shook his head, kissed my forehead and asked me to pray for him.” She looked down at the floor. “I tried to get him to explain a couple of times after that, asking him exactly what he meant, but he wouldn’t tell me anything. He acted like I had imagined it.”

“The bedroom’s in the same shape as the rest of the place,” Detective Sandoval informed them as he joined them in the living room.

“Was someone in there?” Lilly asked.

Detective Sandoval glanced at Detective Littledeer before turning to her. “Yeah.”

She stumbled to the sofa. “Penny almost went in that room.”

Detective Littledeer squatted in front of Lilly. “But you didn’t let her, did you?”

“No. I didn’t,” she replied.

He covered her hand with his. When she looked at him, he smiled. “A mother’s wisdom is from above.” He stood. “Ms. Burkstrom might have an angle on this,” Detective Littledeer told his partner.

“What’s that?” Detective Sandoval asked.

“Her ex had been threatened.”

Detective Littledeer motioned Lilly toward the kitchen table as the crime-scene people arrived and started taking prints. “Is there anything you can think of that your ex-husband was involved with that was risky?”

Lilly tried to come up with something suspect that Peter could’ve been involved with. “I really don’t know of anything. After we divorced, he started drinking and running around. He’d show up sporadically at the house and want to see Penny, and then he would disappear again for six months.

“About four years ago, he found a job and seemed to straighten up his life. He saw Penny regularly and paid his child support. Eighteen months ago, he started coming to church again and gave his life to Christ. He seemed very happy until—”

“Until when?” Detective Littledeer quizzed.

“It was last April. I remember when because it was right after tax time. He’d glanced at my tax return and got a funny look on his face. He turned to me and gave me that warning.”

Detective Sandoval walked into the kitchen and sat down next to Detective Littledeer. “The evidence team’s finding lots of prints.”

“How will you know if they are Pete’s or someone else’s?” asked Lilly.

The detectives looked at each other. Detective Littledeer met her eyes. “Your husband’s prints are on file.”

She paled.

“It was a drunk driving charge from four years ago,” he explained.

Lilly wondered if they were telling her everything. “Is that all?”

“Also, the company he was working for at the time of his death requires prints of all its employees,” Detective Sandoval added.

Frowning, Lilly asked, “Why would they do that?”

“Armored car personnel have to have their prints on file,” Detective Littledeer explained.

“We’ll also need your fingerprints,” Detective Sandoval added.

Her heart raced. “Why?”

Detective Littledeer frowned at his partner, but he turned to her. “Simply as a process of elimination. Also, bring your daughter with you so she can be fingerprinted. You can tell her that it is just a precaution. Schools now like to have the kids fingerprinted.”

He didn’t say why, but Lilly knew the sad reality of missing children. One of the women who worked with her at the church and the community garden had a child who’d gone missing.

“I’ll bring Penny by tomorrow and we both can have our prints taken.”

“What’s going on here?”

They looked up and saw a man standing in the doorway. In his early fifties, he stood with a military preciseness and his hair was cut in a burr.

“And you are?” Detective Littledeer asked.

“Mark Rodgers, the owner and manager of these apartments.” He glanced around the room. “What happened here?”

After informing the owner who they were and why they were there, Detective Littledeer asked, “Did anyone ask to see this apartment in recent days?”

“No. No one has been by to ask anything. Since Mr. Burkstrom’s lease was up at the end of the month, I wanted this place cleaned out so I could paint and recarpet. He bought a new condo off of Rio Grande Boulevard.”

“When was the last time you were in this apartment?” Detective Sandoval asked.

“I came by when this lady here got her husband’s clothes. I told her then when the lease was up.” The owner looked around at the mess. “This place wasn’t this way the last time I was here.”

“Did you see someone leave here in the last half hour?” Detective Littledeer asked.

“No. I just got back from a trip into Santa Fe. When I saw all the cop cars parked out front, I came up to see what was wrong.” He continued to look around. “You say it was a break-in?”

They nodded.

“I’ll keep an eye out. I don’t want my tenants put in any danger.” The owner shook his head. “When am I going to be able to rent this place?”

Both detectives glared at the man. He backed up and raised his hand. “Hey, I’ll give the lady until the end of the month.” He disappeared out the door.

The detectives turned to her. “How did you get in here?” Detective Sandoval asked.

“My daughter has a key. When I got Peter’s things from the cops, his car keys and his house key weren’t among them. His wallet was also missing,” said Lilly.

Detective Littledeer’s eyes darkened. “I’ll go back over the incident report and see if I can locate those keys.”

“Detectives, we’re done here,” one of the evidence techs informed them.

“I can now go through Pete’s things?” asked Lilly.

“You can. If you find anything you think would shed light on what happened, call.” Detective Littledeer gave her his business card.

“Thanks,” she said as the detectives filed out the door behind the techs.

Once alone in the apartment, Lilly scanned the mess. “Oh, Lord, what was Peter into?”

After spending a few hours trying to restore order in Peter’s apartment, Lilly drove to her little house a block from San Mateo Street Community Church. Having a job so close to home was a blessing because Penny could walk to the church after school and help her with the garden. She was the secretary, manager and community gardener for their parish. The garden had started with the pastor wanting to reach out to the community. They’d only had a few of the church ladies help with the planting that first year. Since then it had taken off. This season they’d tripled the amount they harvested from the garden.

She hit the remote for the garage door and waited for the door to open. She would be sure to gather some flowers from her garden to thank Allison for keeping Penny overnight. Allison would probably spoil both the girls with hot-fudge sundaes and let them stay up until nine-thirty. Penny needed spoiling. It had been a rough week for both of them. Once school started next week, hopefully life could return to some semblance of normal. Lilly had hoped the time Penny spent with her would reassure her daughter that she wouldn’t leave, too.

Lilly had called her parents in Florida, letting them know what had happened. Her dad hadn’t been too sympathetic. Her father never forgave Peter for abandoning his daughter.

Gathering her purse, she got out of the car. She’d boxed Peter’s shoes, clothes and dishes. She could give some of the things to several needy families in the church. Opening the door that led into the kitchen, she put her purse on the table and flipped on the light.

She gasped as she looked at the mess in her kitchen. Someone had been in here, searching for…what?

Grabbing her purse, she looked for Jonathan Littledeer’s business card. She found it and dialed the number.

“Littledeer.”

“Detective, this is Lilly Burkstrom. I just walked into my house. It looks like my husband’s apartment wasn’t the only place ransacked.”

“Your house was broken into?”

“Yes.”

A crash from the bedroom made her gasp.

“Lilly.”

“I heard something.”

“Get out. Go next door and call 911.”

She turned and ran out the garage.

TWO

T he instant he hung up with Lilly Burkstrom, Jonathan Littledeer called his partner and told him about the incident.

“I can be there in fifteen minutes,” Dave told him.

“No.” Jon had been reluctant to contact his partner since Dave was celebrating his twins’ tenth birthday. “Today is your daughters’ birthday. Do not leave that party. If there’s anything significant, I’ll let you know.”

Dave didn’t reply. They both knew the reason why Jon wasn’t celebrating with the Sandoval family. Jon had lost both of his daughters to a rare genetic disorder—Niemann-Pick disease type C. Both Jon and his wife, Roberta, carried the recessive gene. No one had known the children had the disease until the oldest, Wendy, was two and a half. Rose had been born just a few months before Wendy got sick. She had run a high temperature and had her first seizure. When she had a second seizure after recovering from the fever, the doctors were stumped. It took a while before they were able to determine what was happening. Wendy’s body eventually wasted away and she died two days before her fourth birthday. A month after they buried Wendy, Rose had her first seizure. She died much quicker. She suffered for only thirteen months. The day they buried his sweet Rose, Jon’s wife went home after the funeral and took too many sleeping pills. Jon buried his wife one week after his youngest daughter was laid to rest.

The next six months were a blur. He was drunk most of the time. The first time he shown up at work drunk, his captain suspended him. Captain Morse blistered the paint off the wall with his words and told him to clean up his act or resign.

One night after a particularly bad binge, Jon showed up at Dave’s house, railing. Most of the details of what happened were hazy, but he remembered crying and blaming God for what had happened. How Dave calmed him down, he didn’t know, but when Jon surfaced the next morning from his liquor-induced sleep, Caren, one of the twins, was standing over him. She cupped his cheek and softly pronounced that Jesus could heal his hurt.

Those sweet words rolled around in his head for weeks, until Jon went with Dave to church. Caren had been right. Jon gave his heart to Christ and started down the road to healing. Some things, such as the girls’ birthday, he had to skip, but his life was so much better. More than once, God had brought people into his life that he could comfort in the same way he’d been comforted.

The night he’d told Lilly Burkstrom of her ex-husband’s murder stood out in his mind. She’d collapsed in a chair and, although the man was her ex, Jon had seen her honest grief. But what had nearly brought him to his knees was when Penny came into the room and learned of her father’s death.

What he’d seen in Lilly’s eyes as she comforted her daughter had reached into his heart and touched him. He couldn’t figure out if it was her strength in comforting her daughter or if it was the pain in her eyes when she’d met his gaze. There was an understanding there, a shared sorrow. Pain. He didn’t know what to do with this understanding, but he found himself thinking of Lilly at odd times. Something had sparked between them, making him jumpy. He knew the Lord could use him to comfort others, but heaven knew that he didn’t want another relationship. He would be the forever bachelor.

Pulling up to Lilly Burkstrom’s house, he saw her sitting on a bench by the front walk. He parked behind the patrol car and got out.

She stood, brushing off her pants. “The patrolman just got here. He’s looking through the house.”

Stepping to her side, he asked, “So you don’t know how someone got into the house?”

“No. The front door was locked when I got home.”

He nodded. “I’ll go inside and see what’s going on.”

“Thanks.”

Jon moved into the house and surveyed the living room. It wasn’t in as much disarray as Peter Burkstrom’s apartment had been in, but the drawers of the coffee table were open and the cushions on the couch were out of alignment. He moved through the dining area and into the kitchen. Drawers hung open and cabinet doors stood ajar.

He heard someone behind him. He turned and saw the uniformed officer, Miguel Aguilar. “What are you doing here, Littledeer? I haven’t seen any bodies.”

“The lady’s ex-husband was murdered last week. She called me before she dialed 911. Earlier, the ex’s apartment was broken into and trashed. This place is in better shape, but…How’s the rest of the house?”

“It’s been tossed.”

“Any indication where the perpetrator got in?”

“The sliding glass door in the master bedroom was jimmied. It has one of those cheap locks.”

“You call for the evidence team?”

“Yeah. They’re on the way.”

He moved through the rest of the house. Whoever had broken in had been more careful than they’d been at Peter’s apartment. It sure seemed as if someone was after something—which led him to believe Lilly’s assertion that maybe her ex-husband’s death wasn’t the random event they thought it might be.

As he turned to leave the master bedroom, he noticed the framed picture on the dresser. It had been knocked on its side. He picked up the frame. Penny, who was maybe twelve or thirteen months old at the time, sat on her mother’s lap. They were both smiling. It was the kind of picture that any husband or grandparent would view with joy and pride.

He remembered the picture of Roberta, Wendy and Rose on his mantel at home. It had been taken right before they knew the killing truth. Wendy had been two and a half; Rose two months. It was a picture he hadn’t been able to look at since he’d buried Roberta.

He carefully replaced the picture and walked back outside. Lilly and an unknown woman quietly talked. When Lilly saw him, she ushered the woman toward him.

“This is my neighbor, Sandra Tillman. She thought she saw someone in the house,” Lilly explained.

“What did you see?” Jon asked.

The woman rubbed her arms. “When I went out to bring in Lucky, my dog, I saw a light flash inside Lilly’s house. I stopped and watched. The light never appeared again, so I shrugged it off as my imagination, but seeing the patrol car, I thought I’d tell Lilly what I saw.”

“Did you see a car near the house? Or anyone leave?” he asked.

The woman shook her head. “Sorry.” The slump of her shoulders gave away her disappointment at not being able to provide more information.

“Thank you for your help. I wish more people would step up to the plate. What you’ve told me is that the man, assuming it is a man and he worked alone, might have parked his car on the next street over. I’ll be sure to question the neighbors on that street.”

The woman’s spine straightened. “I’ll keep my eyes open.” She turned and walked back to her house.

“That was nice of you,” Lilly whispered to him.

“No, it wasn’t. It was the truth. I know where to look for the suspect.”

She turned, her brow raised.

“You doubt me? You think I wasn’t sincere?”

“I guess I hadn’t thought—”

“Littledeer, I’m done,” one of the evidence guys interrupted. “I’ll be sure to check for what you asked.” He moved down the sidewalk to his car.

“What did you ask him to do?” Lilly asked Jon.

“To compare the prints he lifted here and at your ex-husband’s apartment. And remember, we’ll need your and Penny’s prints.”

“You think it was the same person?” Fear tinged her voice.

He didn’t want to panic her, but she needed to know. “I don’t know, but I don’t want to overlook anything.” She didn’t need to dwell on the fear. “C’mon. Let’s go inside and fix your sliding glass door.”

“You don’t need—”

“That’s what cops do, help make the public safe. Now, if you know how to secure that door, I’ll leave it for you.”

“You win. I have to beg my friend to come over and fix things.” Shaking her head, she confided, “Zoe is one handy lady. She’s working at the local home improvement store while she puts herself through college.”

“I’m impressed.”

They walked through the living room and into her bedroom. The lock on the sliding glass door was a simple lever, which opened when turned to the right.

“It’s not broken,” Lilly said.

“True, but it’s easily opened. A slim blade here—” he pointed above the lock and motioned downward “—and the intruder’s inside.” He looked around the room, then walked out, thinking he could find what he needed in the kitchen. In the pantry, he found a broom. He brought it back into the bedroom. Holding it up, he asked, “You willing to sacrifice this for your safety?”

“Yes.”

He snapped the broom handle over his knee and placed the piece without the bristles in the door’s track. “That will do until you decide what other locking mechanism you want for the door. Zoe will know what other safety measures are out there. Oh, one of the officers secured the sliding glass doors in the living room, but you’ll need to buy new locks for those doors, too.”