Midnight Secrets

chapter

TWENTY-NINE


Zach knew full well he was breaking protocol by having the three Wilde sisters assist with the interviews. He didn’t give a damn. If anyone dared to question him, the sisters’ impressive credentials backed up his decision. That the women were highly trained professionals was secondary to him. No one was more invested in getting to the truth.

Noreen and Kyle Ingram were the first to be interviewed. Zach chose to interview Kyle; Sabrina took on Noreen.

Sitting across from the man who’d obviously been in love with Maggie Wilde and had made little effort to hide the fact that he had moved that adoration to Savannah wasn’t easy. However, he wanted to get Kyle up close and personal, stare him down and determine if he was a sick, twisted murderer or just a sad, pathetic man.

Hound-dog expression firmly in place, Kyle sat quietly across from him, waiting. He didn’t fidget like many people who were being questioned by the police. Zach had seen a suspect’s behavior vary from lackadaisical to hysterical. Never had he seen someone like Kyle. The man’s sad, defeated air made Zach want to shake him just to get a reaction.

“You know why you’re here, Kyle?”

“Yes.”

“Look at me,” Zach snapped.

Kyle’s eye’s flickered upward. Zach leaned forward to catch the man’s gaze. “Here’s the deal. We know Maggie and Beckett Wilde were murdered. We know it was someone they knew. And we know you were obsessed with Maggie Wilde. So, I’m going to ask you outright. Did you kill them?”

Instead of answering directly, his eyes moved away from Zach’s stare to focus on the wall. “I loved Maggie Mae. I would never have hurt her.”

“But you hated Beckett Wilde.”

“She was too good for him.”

“What happened that night, Kyle? Did you lose your temper, maybe? Did things get out of hand? Did you go over to see Maggie and Beckett caught you, leaving you no choice but to kill them both?”

His eyes not moving from the wall behind Zach, Kyle answered quietly, “I loved Maggie and I hated Beckett. I didn’t kill either of them.”

Truth or lie? Zach didn’t know. With no polygraph equipment to assist him, he had to go on his gut. Problem was, his gut was being strangely silent on this man. Was it because Kyle seemed to have a sick fascination for Savannah and Zach couldn’t see beyond that? Or was there a cold-blooded murderer behind the man’s seemingly lifeless demeanor?

“Where were you the night they died?”

“At home … with Noreen.”

“It was so long ago, how do you know for sure?”

At last, life entered Kyle’s eyes. While that should make Zach feel better, since at least the man looked like he had something inside him besides sadness, it didn’t.

“If Savannah died today, would you remember eighteen years later what you were doing?”

His chair slammed against the wall behind him as Zach surged to his feet and lunged at Kyle. Grabbing the man’s collar, he snarled, “Did you just make a threat against Savannah?”

“Of course I didn’t. I’m just explaining that Maggie meant to me what Savannah means to you. The day your life ends, even if you go on living, you never forget.”

Okay, that might be a true statement, but Zach had to set the man straight on something. “Let’s get one thing clear, Ingram. If you come near Savannah, you’ll answer to me. Got it?”

For the first time, Kyle smiled. “I’m glad she’s got you to protect her.”

Zach dropped his grip on him and backed away. Yeah, maybe he had overreacted. The point Kyle made was a good one, but that didn’t take away the concern Zach felt.

“You stay in town … don’t leave. You hear?”

“Of course. Where am I going to go?”

Right now, with Kyle’s creepy words echoing in his ear, Zach wanted to tell him he could go to hell for all he cared. Instead he nodded grimly and watched the man shuffle out the door.

Was Ingram a killer? He was a disturbed individual, of that Zach had no doubt. But did he have it in him to brutally murder two people, one of whom he swore he loved?

Zach didn’t know the answer to that but one thing was for sure—Kyle Ingram would be under surveillance until this was over.

After Kyle’s bizarre interview, the others were amazingly normal. Even the sour-faced Noreen Ingram claimed to be appalled that both Maggie and Beckett had been murdered. Zach watched a video of the interview and thought Sabrina handled Noreen like a pro. Though the woman made no secret of her bitterness because of Kyle’s love for Maggie, there was nothing to indicate that she had been involved in their murders.

Richard and Lisa Tatum’s interviews were uninformative but exhausting, with both of them alternately crying and then turning angry for being suspects. This time, Zach took Lisa; Sabrina interviewed Richard. From what he could tell, the Tatums seemed like kind, decent people. Nothing conclusive came from those interviews. Both Richard and Lisa were alibis for each other, saying they’d been in bed by eleven that night. When asked how they knew the exact time from such a long time ago, both of them had the exact same answer: “Because that’s our bedtime.”

Zach left the station, frustrated and exhausted. The minute he walked into his house and into the bedroom where Savannah lay sleeping, all of that was washed away. Without undressing, he lay down beside her and pulled her close. No matter what happened out in the world, Savannah was his world and all he needed to survive. He fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

The next round of interviews began again at nine the next morning. Everyone who walked through the doors of the police station seemed to have identical grim and serious expressions.

After almost twelve hours of uninterrupted sleep, Savannah felt renewed and reenergized. When she had woken in Zach’s arms this morning, she’d been surprised and concerned that he still had his uniform on … she hadn’t heard him come in last night. That concern had turned to extreme pleasure when he had gently and thoroughly made love to her. That was the kind of morning wake-up she could definitely get used to. She now felt rested, sated, and ready for whatever the day brought. Hopefully it would bring a killer out of hiding.

Everything ran smoothly, if unenlighteningly, until it came time to question Lamont Kilgore.

“I can’t believe you think I had anything to do with your mama and daddy’s deaths.”

Lamont’s accusing, tearful statement was directed at Savannah. Though Zach was conducting the interview and had made her promise to keep her questions to a minimum because of her voice, she felt she had to answer.

“We’re just looking for the truth, Lamont.” She winced at how raw and strained she still sounded. “I know you loved Mama and Daddy enough to want their killers to come to justice.”

Zach gave her a glare of warning to stay quiet before he turned back to Lamont. “How long were you and Beckett friends?”

With one last wounded glance at Savannah, Lamont turned his gaze to Zach. “Almost from birth. My mama and Camille, Beckett’s mama, were best friends. Beckett was born just a few months before me, so we grew up together.”

“You shared a lot of experiences.” Zach smiled slightly, conspiratorially.

Lamont’s face lit up as though remembering. “Yeah, we were always trying to one-up each other.”

Zach pinned Lamont with a hard stare. “You had quite a few problems when you were younger, didn’t you? Got in trouble with the law. Got kicked out of college a couple of times.”

Lamont had been a politician too long to be totally caught off guard, but his answer was very un-politician-like. “I was an idiot. Got too big for my britches.” He threw Savannah a tight smile. “Your daddy and I saw some rough times back then. We were both hell-raisers. Nothing serious but we did some stupid things.”

“You got kicked out of school and Beckett didn’t,” Zach said. “Bet that pissed you off.”

“Best thing to have happened to me.”

“Why?”

An expression of joyful amusement swept across his face, and Savannah already knew what he was going to say. “My daddy made me earn my own way for a few months. I was working at a fast-food joint and that’s when I met Nesta. She told me I had to straighten up and fly right or she would never see me again. I took her at her word and got my act together.”

“And you and Beckett stayed friends through all of this?”

“Absolutely. When I went back to school, I took extra classes to make up for what I had missed. We graduated together … were best men at each other’s weddings. Our wives became best friends.” He glanced down briefly, swallowing hard. “If we’d had children, I figure our kids would have been friends of their girls.” His smile was sad as he looked over at Savannah. “We went to your granddaddy after their deaths and asked if we could adopt one of you. Understandably, he refused.”

“Which one?” Zach asked.

Lamont blinked in confusion. “Which one what?”

“Which one did you want to adopt?”

“It didn’t matter. We loved all the girls equally. If he’d let us, we would have taken all three.”

Savannah knew Zach was pursuing this because of Gibby’s claim that someone wanted only Savannah because she looked so much like Maggie. At that thought, an idea flashed through her mind. Promising herself to come back to it later, she listened as Zach continued his questions.

“So you stayed friends with Beckett all those years without any kind of disharmony?”

Lamont’s brow furrowed as if he was wondering where Zach’s questions were leading. She was wondering the same thing, but she held her tongue. Not only because it would undermine his authority in the interview, but she trusted Zach. He had more than proven himself, in competence and integrity. The process had been a long, painful journey, but her trust in Zach was once again all-encompassing and complete. What a joy it was to finally be able to admit that to herself.

Zach could feel Savannah’s questioning gaze on him but was relieved that she didn’t interrupt. The fact that she didn’t gave him encouragement. She was beginning to trust him again. That meant the world to him.

“Disharmony? I’m not sure what you’re insinuating, Zach. We might have had our petty disagreements like most friends have, but Beckett remained my best friend until the day he died.”

“What about the night of Maggie and Beckett’s argument? Seems like you took sides.”

Lamont shrugged. “Beckett was behaving like a jackass that night. It was obvious Maggie had had a rough day. Nesta told me that Maggie had cried on and off most of the day. She was emotional and Beckett behaved like an insensitive jerk. Nesta thought I was being too rough on Beckett.”

“Why was Mama so emotional?” Savannah’s abrupt question didn’t surprise him. She would want to know what had upset her mother.

“You girls left for camp that morning. It was the first time she had been without her babies for more than a day since you were born. Saying goodbye had been rough for her. When Beckett did his usual flirtation, it was too much for Maggie. Your daddy was a big flirt but most people, especially your mama, knew it didn’t mean nothing. She’d usually roll her eyes and ignore him. I guess that night, with her being so emotional and all, she didn’t want to put up with it. And she said so.

“We took her home and left.” He leaned into the table and glared hard at Zach. “In case you’re wondering, she was alive when we left.”

“Nesta said that when you returned home, you and she got into an argument and you stormed out the door. She said you didn’t come home till the next morning.”

Shame and guilt spread like a dark cloud over Lamont’s craggy face. Zach tensed, waiting. Were they about to hear a confession?

Instead of confessing a crime, Lamont went on the defensive. “That doesn’t mean I went over and killed my best friend’s wife.”

“No, but it means you don’t have an alibi for your whereabouts.”

Lamont’s face turned crimson for a moment and then went pale as he whispered, “Nesta doesn’t know this … I had hoped never to have to tell her.” He glanced down at his hands, which Zach noted were twisting nervously on the table. “Nesta and I fought so rarely. I guess … She hurt my feelings, I guess. Anyway, I went to a bar and had too much to drink. A few hours later, I woke up …” He swallowed hard, his face flushing a deeper red than before. “In another woman’s bed.”

“And this other woman? Who was she?”

His head jerked up; eyes wide with shame and not a little panic, he stammered, “Th-that’s really not important. She isn’t around anymore. There’s no need to—”

“There’s every need. I’ll have to contact this woman and verify she was with you.”

“Fine.” Lamont cleared his throat, looked down at his hands again, and mumbled, “Francine Adams.”

Holy hell. How had he not seen this coming? The compassion he could feel coming from Savannah was almost as bad as Lamont’s crimson-red face and mumbling apology.

Lamont peeked up at Zach. “I’m real sorry, son. I don’t know what came over me.”

Zach knew exactly what had come over him. The same thing that had come over half the grown men in Midnight for years. His mother had never discriminated. If a man had money, even a little, then Francine was more than happy to show him a good time. Just because he was married was no concern of hers.

Already knowing Lamont was telling the truth, Zach still warned him. “You know with one phone call I’ll find out if you’re lying.”

“Yes.”

Zach stood. “You can leave now. If we need to ask more questions, we’ll be sure to call you.”

Lamont stood, a plea and an apology in his eyes. “If at all possible, I’d like to keep this between us. Having Nesta know about this, even after all this time, would hurt her deeply.”

Zach nodded grimly. “I’ll do my best.” Hell, the last thing he wanted was Francine’s dirty laundry aired out in public again. He’d had enough of that as a kid.

Lamont’s sleazy confession didn’t shock him. In fact, he was surprised he hadn’t been confronted with this before. The reminder to Savannah that he was the son of Midnight’s most notorious slut was something he could have done without.

Shoulders slumped like a guilt-ridden man, Lamont walked out the door. Stupid, but Zach felt bad for him. Would the dirt of his upbringing ever be completely gone?

“Zach,” Savannah whispered, “we’re not responsible for our parents’ sins.”

He shot her a wry, twisted grin. “Doesn’t stop us from being disgusted or embarrassed by them.”

He pulled a cellphone from his pocket and handed it to her. “I picked this up for you this morning. Why don’t you go visit with your aunt and then go back to my house and rest?”

Savannah took the phone, then leaned forward and softly kissed his mouth. “I’ll see you tonight.”

Giving her a solemn nod, he walked out the door, his mind on the unpleasant task in front of him. He had to call his mother and ask her if she remembered sleeping with Lamont Kilgore eighteen years ago. She’d slept with so many, would she even remember?

As soon as Savannah walked in the front door of Gibby’s house, she heard the laughter. Her eyes went questioningly to Brody, who was standing guard at the bottom of the stairway.

His face one of amused patience, he shrugged. “Your aunt has an interesting method of recovery. Invite as many visitors as possible and entertain them for as long as she can stay awake.”

Aunt Gibby was known for her socials. Almost being murdered wasn’t going to stop her. She directed her eyes toward the top of the stairs. “Who’s up there?”

Brody pulled a sheet of paper from his shirt pocket. “Hester Shook, Sarah Wills, and Loraine Meadows.”

Gibby’s bridge club members. “Are they playing bridge?”

“They were last time I checked. I walked out as soon as they started in on how wonderful their granddaughters and nieces were and why wasn’t a nice young man like me married.”

Since those were the kinds of questions she would get if she joined them, she said, “Would you tell Aunt Gibby that I came by and I’ll call her later?”

“I doubt they’ll be here that much longer. Sarah said she had to get home to watch General Hospital. It comes on in twenty minutes.”

She did her best not to show her amusement. “You’re a fan of the soaps?”

He gave her a knowing smile. “Don’t laugh till you’ve seen the show. It’s addictive.”

She agreed. She’d watched it when she was a teenager. “Okay, I’ll stay then. Let me check and see if Deputy Odom wants to come in or needs a cold drink.”

As soon as the deputy assured her he was set with a thermos of iced tea, Savannah rushed back inside. Having Brody to herself for a few minutes was the perfect opportunity to find out more about Zach. Who better to ask than a man who’d served with him in the army?

She was happy to see that not only had Brody pulled a chair from the dining room for her to sit on, he had also poured both of them a glass of tea. Gratefully accepting the drink, she settled into her chair and wondered how to approach her questions. She needn’t have worried. Brody was much less taciturn than Zach.

Dropping onto the third step of the stairway, Brody took a long swallow of tea and then said, “Zach’s a fine man.”

“Have you known him a long time?”

“Going on seven years. Logan, Zach, and I served together in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

“Funny how you all ended up so close together once you left the service.”

“That’s no coincidence. I’m from northern Indiana. Logan’s from Buffalo, New York. We both hate snow. The way Zach described things in Alabama, from the weather to the beaches to the food …” He shrugged. “Hell, there was no way we weren’t going to check it out. Once we got here, we decided to stay.”

“Do you guys get to see Zach much?”

“Not a lot. An occasional fishing trip. Zach’s busy and we’ve got our hands full with our business.”

“What does your agency do?”

“About anything a client wants: bodyguard services, security consultation, missing persons, assistance in investigation of criminal cases, private investigations. We’ve had to hire two more employees since we got started.”

“I’m surprised you were able to come and help us so quickly.”

“Zach takes precedence over our clients.”

When she had first met Brody, he had said something similar. “Why is that?”

“We owe him our lives. There’s nothing we wouldn’t do for him.”

She settled more comfortably in her seat, anxious to hear more about this part of Zach’s past. “Do you mind sharing what happened?”

A cool light entered his eyes. “Why? So you can decide if he’s some kind of hero?”

She didn’t take offense. He was being protective of his friend. “I already know he’s a hero. I just want to know more about him.”

Nodding his approval of her answer, he said, “Our team had raided a compound that’d been an al-Qaeda stronghold. We got almost through the entire place without firing a shot. We opened a door, were in the middle of the room when the bullets started flying. There were four shooters. I took a hit in my leg; Logan took one to his chest and another in his arm. Zach took one in his side.”

Frozen in her chair, Savannah listened as Brody described the harrowing scene. She had known Zach was wounded in combat—she had seen the scars with her own eyes—but the event became real and terrifying as Brody described in detail how Zach had saved all three of them.

“We managed to get out of the room but the building was surrounded. Logan couldn’t run. I couldn’t go far or fast. We radioed for help but the rest of our team had gotten caught by another group. We found out later one of our interpreters was an informant. They knew we were coming.

“We both tried to get Zach to leave. Figured that, out of the three of us, he had the best chance to make it out alive. Instead of doing what we told him to do, he circled round and took out two of the shooters. The two others kept firing at me and Logan. We exchanged fire for what seemed like forever. Just when I thought we were done for, here comes Zach back inside. He assessed which one of us was hurt the most—which was Logan. He gave me his ammunition. Then the damn stubborn fool hauled Logan onto his back and carried him out of there.”

“And how did you get out?”

A fleeting, haunted look came into his eyes and then gave way to that glint of humor that seemed a part of him. “I figured if Zach made it safely back with Logan, he might send reinforcements back for me or, hell, come back himself.”

“But that’s not what he did?”

“I was almost out of ammo. No way was I going to just lie there and let the bastards shoot me without trying to run. I managed to crawl to the door and was about to open it when the shooting stopped.”

“Why? What happened?”

“Zach. He snuck up on one of the bastards from the back … took him out with a knife. Then he shot the last one.” He paused for a few seconds, allowing her to absorb the enormity of Zach’s heroism.

“So that’s why if Zach calls, we come running.” Locking eyes with her, he repeated his earlier statement: “He’s a fine man, Savannah.”

And like a sledgehammer falling from the sky, realization hit her. “You know what happened ten years ago, don’t you?”

He grimaced. “Yeah. When you’re in a stinking hellhole with death staring you in the face, things that are eating at you can devour you whole. Sometimes you end up sharing those things.”

“I wish he had told me earlier.”

“You didn’t take his calls when he tried.”

His tone wasn’t accusing but she felt the sting of his words all the same. She and Zach had both made mistakes. He should have contacted her sooner; he should have taken her calls. And she should have pushed aside her pain to take his calls later on. So much wasted time. So much pain that could have been avoided.

“We both messed up.”

“And you both have a chance to make it right this time.”

Brody was right. They did have the chance. Suddenly she knew she couldn’t wait until this case was solved. Finding out who killed her parents was important, but coming clean with Zach couldn’t wait any longer.

She went to her feet. “I need to see Zach. Can you tell Aunt Gibby I’ll call her later?”

Apparently recognizing that she’d come to some sort of decision, Brody winked and said, “Good luck.”

Turning, she ran out the door and to the patrol car. Telling Zach would be one of the hardest things she’d ever done, but until he knew the truth, they couldn’t move on. Now she just had to find the right words that wouldn’t hurt him more than he had already been hurt.