Hometown Detective

She watched Roman absorb all she’d just said. He wasn’t a hurried man. Who would dare hurry a man who looked like him? His thick, dark wavy hair and stubbly face with angled bone structure gave him a dangerous look. Predatorily dangerous.

“Why didn’t you tell Jasper about Bear?” he finally asked.

“I assumed my sister meant she had to keep him a secret from her husband.” He thought that was significant? “Or maybe Bear was married. I hoped not, but the thought did cross my mind.”

“What if Bear threatened her in some way? If she was attracted to men like her husband, who’s to say this other man wasn’t just as abusive?”

“Do you think she feared Bear? She didn’t seem to fear him. She seemed madly in love with him. If she compared him to someone like Jasper, he must be someone special. Someone good, too.”

Again, Roman took his time. Then he lifted his eyes and met hers. “All the more reason to take a closer look at the man.”

Just to be sure? To be thorough? Did he think Kaelyn might have been so smitten that she’d missed some important signs?

So he really was going to take the case. He’d indicated as much, but she hadn’t been convinced. What had made him change his mind? Her as a woman at first, but now...?

“You never did tell me why you don’t want to see your parents.” Might as well test him.

He didn’t move from the couch, just sat back, legs parted, hands on his thighs. Relaxed. His wolf eyes never left hers.

“It’s not that I don’t want to go see them. I just don’t like facing how much more they’ve done with their lives than I have.”

Kendra moved to the side table, looking up at a cheap abstract in reds and grays. She found his answer peculiar.

“You don’t think becoming a successful detective at one of the world’s leading private investigations agencies measures up?”

“My name isn’t the one in the news.”

She turned to face him, holding her glass over her bent arm. “Unlike your father?”

“Something like that. Growing up with such perfect parents makes me not want to be perfect.”

Because he didn’t feel he equaled their perfection? He sure seemed to have some kind of identity issue going on. “Solving crimes defines you?”

“It’s real.”

“You don’t think your parents are real?”

“They live an idyllic life, untouched by reality.”

He sounded so pessimistic, which went against her way of thinking. Since escaping her adoptive parents, Kendra had made a promise to herself. She’d spend her life striving for happiness, making good choices that didn’t bring her the opposite. That meant not welcoming anyone who might threaten her inner peace.

“What’s wrong with that?” she asked. “We all have to die someday. What’s wrong with living a good, stress-free life?”

“Nothing. That’s not what I mean. My father sensationalizes death in his stories. I see the real thing.”

She went to the coffee table and sat beside his glass of wine, setting hers down next to it. “What you do is commendable. I don’t see why you feel the need to compare yourself to your dad.”

“I followed his lead. Not all of us get to pick the life of our dreams. My dad followed his.”

And he regretted following in the footsteps of a great man? He’d gone into crime solving to try and capture his father’s admiration?

“What would you have done if not for your dad?”

“That’s just it. I’m not one of those people who knows. I just do what the cards lay down in front of me. I’m not like you.”

“Me?” Where had he gotten the notion she was anything like his father? She’d followed her dreams? She had but not before going through hell to get there.

“You went to college and opened a Christmas shop. You aspired to do that and you did it. Now you live well. Hard times are far behind you.”

He had no idea what she’d gone through to get where she was now. And how could he forget she’d been separated from her sister, who died before she could truly reestablish ties? He thought reality didn’t touch her. She did her best to keep dark reality far from her door, but what did Roman think Kaelyn’s death was? A walk through a pleasant-smelling daisy field?

She’d leave him with something to consider. “The cards led me to my Christmas shop, Roman. I don’t know what I’d have done had my parents not been shot to death and my twin sister taken away. Let’s not forget the enchanted life I had growing up with addictive and abusive adoptive parents. Is that enough reality for you?” He didn’t even flinch, still thinking she lived an enchanted life. Her past didn’t matter. It’s what she lived now. “Why do I—why does anyone—have to dwell on reality and not seek an easier life?”

Roman moved forward, reaching one hand to her face as he sat on the edge of the couch. “I’m not saying anyone should dwell on reality. I’m saying that’s where I live every day, every time I start a new cold case. I don’t dwell on it. I live it. I don’t live like you...or my parents.”

And so he couldn’t relate? Is that what he meant? Or did he mean he needed to surround himself with others like him so he wouldn’t be reminded of what he’d never have—a life like his parents? Flourishing and enchanted. Full of light-stepping moments and sunny days.

While her beliefs opposed his, his light eyes and the intensity in them that had more to do with attraction than conviction kept her from backing away. She knew as well as he that the two of them did not see eye to eye on life in general, but that ceased to matter.

As though he chose not to think too long on it, he pulled her head closer and kissed her.

* * *

The next day, Roman walked with Kendra toward a country club where he’d learned Bear—aka Glenn Franklin—enjoyed a weekly brunch with his parents, Hudson and Melody. He hadn’t slept much after Kendra had left. The temptation to have a cigarette hadn’t helped. She’d left shortly after he ended the kiss. He’d been surprised he’d had to end it, first of all, and then not surprised when she’d stuttered an excuse and hurried out of the hotel room.

Heat and tension simmered, invisible and without sound. She wore a cheery sundress with a cardigan sweater to ward off the morning chill. The bright colors reminded him of what she needed to live—everything his life could never give her. He’d thought long about that last night. If the two of them ended up together, the grisly nature of his work would drag her down into a black cesspool. She’d have to escape as she did every day to her Christmas shop. She’d live her dream and deny the reality of his world. How many cop or detective shows had he watched where the hero could never stay married?

White blooming dogwoods lined the parking lot and thick, lush bluegrass trimmed along a curving sidewalk stretched to a fence enclosing a pool area. The sun shone in a deep blue sky, mocking Roman with its bright merriment.

“They aren’t going to let us in,” Kendra said.

Inside the clubhouse, Roman followed Kendra into a small lobby. A young woman stood at a podium, wearing a black skirt with matching suit jacket, with her dark, smooth and shining hair up in an unforgiving bun. She gave them a work-required smile and asked, “Two?”

“We’re here to talk to someone,” Roman said.

“You aren’t a member?”

“We won’t be long.” Putting his hand under Kendra’s elbow, he guided her into the restaurant area.

“Sir, you can’t go in there if you aren’t a member.” The woman followed.

Roman spotted Hudson and Melody Franklin. Melody was dressed as before, this time in a navy scoop neck, knee-length dress, with her stylish hair combed to a sharp-edge, the front tips brushing her collarbone. She tucked the left side behind her diamond-studded ears, her wedding ring big and gaudy. A woman of perhaps sixty, she kept herself in great shape, as did her husband. He wore a dark suit and tie, his salt-and-pepper hair cut short. He read from a menu with reading glasses.

“I don’t see Glenn,” Kendra said.

“We’ll talk to them first.” There were three settings on the table and all looked to have been touched. Before the empty chair, a crumpled cloth napkin sat beside a plate and crooked silverware, and the water glass was three-quarters full.

As Roman weaved between tables ahead of Kendra, he spotted Glenn returning from the men’s room, his big body taking long strides and the lapels of his silky jacket flapping.

“Mr. and Mrs. Franklin?” Roman queried.

Melody looked up, not appearing surprised someone would approach their table. They were a couple in the public eye. Hudson studied Roman and then Kendra as though trying to identify them. Glenn arrived at the table, briefly eyeing them with annoyed blue eyes before sitting.

“I’m sorry, sir.” The hostess stopped near Hudson, looking frightened. “They barged right in.”

Hudson held up one hand as though to soothe the girl. “It’s all right, Emily.” Then he looked up at Roman. “What brings you to our club so urgently?”

“I wouldn’t call it urgent so much as a good opportunity to catch you and your son.” As the hostess reluctantly turned and headed back toward the entrance, Roman introduced Kendra and identified himself as a private investigator.

“Private investigator?” Melody asked.

“Yes. I hired him to look into the death of my twin sister, Kaelyn Johnston.”

“Oh, yes, I remember that,” Melody said with eyes expressing sympathy. “That was so long ago.”

“I tried for years to get police to look into her death in more detail but no one ever did with any real effort, so I finally decided to get outside help.”

“You think she was murdered?”

“Yes. That’s why we came to see Glenn.”

Glenn looked up from the menu he had picked up, having dismissed them as soon as he sat down.

“I’m sorry...what?”

“Did you know Kaelyn Johnston?”

He glanced from Kendra to Roman. “Why are you asking me?”

“You did know her then?” Roman asked.

“No. I knew of her, though.”

“Kaelyn spoke of you, which is why we wanted to talk to you.” Roman turned to Kendra, cuing her to interject.

“She called you Bear.”

Glenn’s eyes shifted toward his parents and then back to Kendra. “She never mentioned a twin sister to me.”

“You did know her?” Melody asked, growing concerned, as though the thought of her son lying about knowing Kaelyn offended her.

Glenn ignored her and continued to stare at Kendra.

“She was planning to move back to Chesterville,” Kendra said, “to escape her husband. She must have failed in her attempt. Did you know she was coming back here?”

Glenn again said nothing, although he blinked in a telltale way.

“You did have an affair with her,” Roman said. “Didn’t you?”

Glenn had to see it would be pointless to deny the affair. His lack of response revealed as much.

“My Bear didn’t have an affair with anyone.” Melody turned to her son. “Did you, Glenn?”

Glenn glanced at his mother, and then lowered his eyes. Again, his lack of response answered for him.

“You didn’t.” Melody’s distress intensified. “What about your wife?”

“I had no intention of leaving her.” He looked at Kendra. “I’m sorry. I was going to break things off with your sister, but I didn’t get the chance before she...”

“Thank you for not saying ‘committed suicide,’” Kendra said.

Melody’s mouth still hung open in shock. “Do you have any idea what this could do to our family? Any chance you have of following a successful political career would be ruined if news of this spread.” She took a few deep breaths.

Glenn looked solemn. “What happened between me and Kaelyn was unexpected.”

“It usually is,” Hudson said. “A man doesn’t wake up one morning and decide he’s going to seek out an affair.” With Melody’s gasp, he added, “Not that I speak from experience.”

“It was a onetime thing, Mother. It won’t ever happen again. I promise.”

“I remember when she committed suicide.” Hudson didn’t seem to care what Kendra thought of his choice of words. “I ran into her mother a few weeks after.”

“Did you attend her funeral?” Kendra asked. “Her body was transported back here for burial.”

“No. I didn’t know the family very well.”

Melody had slowly begun to emerge from her shock and listened now.

“Did you attend her funeral?” Roman asked Glenn.

Glenn shook his head. “I visited her grave afterward. I had my own private goodbye with her.”

He hadn’t wanted to risk his wife asking too many questions, apparently.

“Were you here in town when she died?” Roman asked.

Glenn had to think a moment. “I didn’t leave town, I know that much. I can’t remember what I was doing when she died.”

“I do,” Melody said. “Hudson and I flew to New York that day to catch a Broadway show. I remember because Hudson told me about running into Kaelyn’s mother when we arrived back home. It struck me because I had never heard of anyone killing themselves before.”

Glenn nodded with recollection. “I do remember that. The day you flew to New York, I had a cold.”

“You were home all day?” Roman asked.

“Yes.”

“Can anyone verify that?”

Glenn frowned. “I can’t remember if I talked with anyone on the phone. Why?”

“Your wife was home all day?” Roman asked.

“I can’t remember.”

Roman abandoned that line of questioning for now. “When is the last time you saw her?”

“When she came to town. Maybe a week before that.”

“What did you talk about?”

“I can’t recall exactly. Nothing unusual. Nothing that would have indicated she intended to kill herself, or that she was in some kind of trouble. I almost told her I wanted to break things off then, but I didn’t.”

So, he had had a regular secret encounter with Kaelyn a week before she died. He claimed not to remember much, but did he?

“I think that’s all we need for now.” Roman prepared to leave when Glenn stopped him.

“Why do you doubt it was suicide?” he asked.

“Kaelyn and I were in contact for months before she died,” Kendra said. “I think she was going to try to talk me into moving here, maybe come to Chicago first and then the both of us could move together. Every time she spoke of Chesterville, of moving back here, she lit up. And she lit up even more when she talked about the two of us living close and seeing each other often. She was excited, not the sad woman everyone described to me after her death. If she was sad, her husband is the only one who made her that way.”

“So you think her husband may have killed her?”

“Perhaps. If not him, then someone else,” Kendra said.

“You know for certain she planned to move here?” Glenn asked.

“We discussed it.”

“So she may not have planned to move back here.”

“It was implied. She seemed to be priming me for the suggestion. When she talked about wanting to live in Chesterville again, she did so as though it was a dream to her, as if she was afraid it would never be.”

Glenn fell into thoughtful silence, the menu forgotten.

He seemed genuinely surprised that Kaelyn might have been murdered. Had he tried to hide his affair with her to protect his marriage or did he have other reasons to keep such a secret? He had a weak alibi but appeared to lack motive to murder Kaelyn. Roman wouldn’t tell Kendra any of his yet, though. He’d wait until he ruled out foul play. Or confirmed it.

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