The Chain of Lies

The Chain of Lies - By Debra Burroughs

CHAPTER 1

“Evan! No!”

Emily Parker shot up straight in her bed, her eyes clamped tight.

“No!” she screamed, both arms outstretched, hysterically reaching for him. Her eyes flew open and she sat frozen in the dark for a moment, her arms still extended in desperation.

She dropped them. It was all a bad dream—the same horrifying dream she had been having night after night. The anniversary of her husband’s murder was right around the corner, and the nightmares were plaguing her more often, and with growing intensity.

She buried her face in her hands as she sat sobbing, drenched in perspiration. Her damp nightgown clung to her slender body and her honey-blonde curls stuck to her sweaty neck and forehead.

Having convinced herself that she was finally recovering from her loss, she had begun to date again, but these terrifying visions were evidence she was not as over Evan’s death as she had tried to believe.

It was nearly a year ago now since Emily’s husband had been shot, close range, in the back of the head. He was found dead, in a pool of blood, lying next to the steel file cabinet in the corner of his office. The police detective that had investigated postulated that Evan had gone to retrieve something from the cabinet.

Something vital enough to be killed over.

Evan Parker had been a private investigator in the small, affluent town of Paradise Valley, not far from the state capitol of Boise. He’d had a great track record for unraveling mysteries—ironically his own case was never solved.

In her recurring nightmare, Emily is standing in the corner, observing Evan’s interaction with a vague, shadowy figure, but she can never make out who the person is, not even their gender. She can see her husband sitting at his desk speaking amiably with someone dressed in dark clothing, seated across the desk from him.

Evan is smiling his engaging, crooked smile, running his hand through his sandy-blonde hair as he leans back in his chair, casual, as if the person across from him is someone he knows—or perhaps a new client he is getting acquainted with.

In the dream, Emily watches helplessly as Evan rises from his chair and steps to the file cabinet. She sees the muzzle of the gun rising as he turns away from his visitor and reaches for the drawer handle. She is screaming, warning him, but he never hears her, never turns around—never survives.

The crack of gunfire, a blinding flash, and Evan drops to the floor, hard. Blood begins to stream from the back of her husband’s head.

“Evan! No!”

And Emily wakes up, drenched in sweat and shaking. Every time. When she does, it doesn’t matter how hard she tries to discern who was in the office with him, the shooter remains a dark nebulous mirage.

The nightmares in themselves were bad enough, but add to that, six months after Evan’s murder Emily learned that her late husband had kept a whole tapestry of secrets from her—including his real identity.

Now, over the past few months, she had unraveled some of the secrets, but there were so many more yet to uncover.

Emily peeked over at the digital clock glowing on the nightstand. Two thirteen a.m. She expelled a long sigh of frustration then dragged herself out of her sweat-soaked bed. Emily stumbled to the dry bed in the guest room to try for a few more hours of sleep before the sun came up, hoping the nightmares would not return.

~*~

As the sun began to peek through the bedroom window, Emily pulled her hand up to shade her eyes from the glaring light. Disoriented, she glanced around the room and realized she was in her guest room. She didn’t remember getting up and coming in here through the night.

She reclined in the bed with one arm draped across her eyes, trying to remember the night before. She recalled the going-away party she’d attended at her friends Alex and Isabel’s house. The party had given her boyfriend Colin a festive send off back to San Francisco for a time.

“Colin,” she muttered softly, her eyes still closed, seeing a vision of his strong and handsome image in her mind—his thick, deep brown hair, his smoky hazel eyes with a fringe of dark lashes, his strong angular jaw.

Her heart fluttered as she recalled the promise he had made to her the night before, vowing that he would move heaven and earth to come back to her after he’d scooped her off her feet into his well-muscled arms. Emily relished the profoundly romantic gesture.

The mere thought of him caused a gentle heat to spread over her body and she shivered at the light ripple of goose bumps that followed closely behind. She softly touched her finger to her mouth as she laid there and reminisced about his soft warm lips on hers.

Then she bolted upright.

What time is it?

There was no clock in the guest room, so she tore the covers back and dashed to her bedroom. Halting at the door, she noticed the clock on her nightstand read seven sixteen a.m.

“Shoot!” Colin was coming to pick her up at seven thirty to take her to breakfast before heading out on the road back to San Francisco. The oversized t-shirt she had slept in went flying over her head and onto the floor as she ran to the bathroom and hopped in the shower.

~*~

A sharp rap at the front door brought Emily running from the bathroom, still tugging her deep purple t-shirt over her head. She fluffed her honey-blonde curls before opening the door and greeting Colin with a bright smile.

“Looks like someone had a good night’s sleep,” Colin said as he stepped into her bungalow. He swept her into his arms and kissed her softly.

Pushing the door shut with her bare foot, she laced her arms around his torso. She knew they only had a little time left together and he would be gone again for who knows how long. She laid her head against his chest and clung to him, enjoying the nearness of his body.

“No.” She closed her eyes, inhaling his masculine scent of fresh soap and a mild aftershave. “I woke up in the night, thinking of you, wishing you didn’t have to leave again.”

He had declared his love for her the night before, at the party, saying those three little words she’d longed to hear, and she had returned his sentiments.

“I’ll be back before you know it, Emily.” He kissed her temple as he held her tight.

“You’d better be, or I’ll have to come looking for you,” she teased in an attempt to cover her sadness.

She and Colin had dated for a few short months before he was unexpectedly called back to San Francisco, where he had moved from not long before they’d met. It was there that he had been dealing with an extended family emergency for the past couple of months, but he had recently been able to steal away from his obligations for a few days.

He had surprised Emily early one morning, showing up on her doorstep with her favorite mocha cappuccino and slices of lemon poppy seed bread. But inevitably, now the time had come for him to return to California and it was breaking her heart.

“I’ll be back, I promise. Now let’s go and get some breakfast before I have to hit the road. I’m starved.”

“All right.” She reluctantly let go of him. “Just let me grab my shoes.”

~*~

They claimed a booth at The Griddle—it was upholstered in cheery yellow and had a great view of the river. They placed their orders with a friendly middle-aged waitress.

After she left them, Colin reached across the dark wood table and gently took Emily’s hand.

“I wish you didn’t have to leave,” Emily said for the umpteenth time. “I was just getting used to having you back.” She forced a weak smile, holding back her tears. That wasn’t how she wanted him to remember her while he was in California, but the thought of his leaving again made her heart heavy, knowing she’d have to fight the loneliness once more.

“I know and I’m sorry.” He tightened his hold on her hand.

Emily recognized his departure was painful for him, too—she could see it in his misty eyes. She drew in a calming breath and offered him a genuine smile this time, not wanting to make his leaving any more difficult.

His eyes brightened in response. “You know, it’s kind of funny when I look back to when we first met,” he said with a slight grin. “I never thought we’d wind up together.”

“Me either.”

There had been fireworks, all right, but not the good kind.

Emily shook her head at the thought. “I was more than a little irritated at Isabel for trying to set us up.”

Isabel Martínez, one of Emily’s tight-knit circle of friends, along with her husband Alex, had thrown a barbecue at their upscale home about six months before. They’d deliberately invited Colin so Emily could meet the handsome new police detective in Paradise Valley.

Though Emily’s husband had died over six months before that, she’d had a hard time letting go of the grief and moving on. She and Evan had been deliriously happy, or so she’d thought. He had been her knight in shining armor, handsome and strong, decisive and fearless, yet he had loved her with such tenderness and passion that she trembled with longing at his memory.

Over time, her closest friends encouraged her to think about dating again, to get on with her life, but she didn’t know how she could. So, she would respond to their promptings by putting up her defenses and maintaining that she wasn’t ready.

Isabel’s husband was a trial lawyer and he had met the new detective at a weekly basketball game he played with his buddies at the local Y. Alex had immediately told his wife about the young man.

Another of Emily’s best friends, Maggie, was teaching an aerobics class at the Y, and the new man in town did not escape her notice either.

So between Isabel, Maggie, and their friend Camille, Emily didn’t have a chance if she wanted to avoid meeting Detective Colin Andrews.

Camille was a caterer and event planner, and she had planned the whole get-together at the Martínez home, along with Isabel’s and Maggie’s help. However, all of the elaborate planning, staged introductions, and purposely seating them together could not guarantee smooth sailing. Almost from the start there were sparks and conflict.

“You really didn’t like me, did you?” Colin asked.

“Well, I couldn’t help but notice how good-looking you were, I mean I’m not blind, but after we chatted for a while about my career choices, well…you were so condescending. I just couldn’t stand it.”

“You have to admit, though, going from selling real estate to becoming a private investigator is a bit of a leap. Who could blame me for questioning it?”

“I could. But don’t worry, I’ve already forgiven you for being so irritating that day.” She smirked at him. He couldn’t have known at the time that it wasn’t that big of a leap, that she had helped her husband on a few of his cases.

“Thanks,” he replied sarcastically.

“But even though we had kind of a rocky start, I’m glad you didn’t give up and you asked me out anyway.” She cast him a playful smile, grateful she had not chased him off back then by her stubbornness and sass.

“You certainly made me work for it, though, but I guess part of the fun is in the chase.” The corner of Colin’s lips turned up into a mischievous grin.

“Yeah, the chase was definitely fun.”

“Here we are,” the waitress said as she set their plates down on the table. “Is there anything else I can get for you?”

“We’re good.” Colin looked over at Emily and she nodded her agreement.

“Okie dokie.” The waitress grabbed a nearby glass coffee pot, refilled Colin’s coffee cup, and moved on to another table.

“I still can’t believe that Delia McCall hired you with practically no experience.” Colin took another drink of his black coffee. “What was she thinking?”

“Oh, come on now, it wasn’t that big of a stretch.” She buttered her french toast and licked her finger. “I wasn’t a complete newbie, I did have some experience. Evan just didn’t like it known around town, for my own protection.”

“Okay, okay,” he surrendered, briefly raising both his hands slightly. “You’re right, but I didn’t know that then.”

Emily picked up the small metal pitcher to drench her french toast in maple syrup.

“I probably shouldn’t tell you this and give you a big head, but I was really impressed with how you handled Delia’s murder case.”

“You were?” Emily arched an eyebrow, wondering what he meant by her getting a big head.

“I was. But I have to say, what totally hooked me was that thing you did in New York City.”

“What thing was that?”

“When I flew to New York City to interrogate that suspect in Delia’s case—you know, that Russian mobster—and you showed up there, too, going all Charlie’s Angels on me.”

Charlie’s Angels? Emily wasn’t quite sure what he meant by that either. The title conjured up visions of beautiful women with kick-ass moves and guns blazing. “That hooked you? Why?” As she recalled, he’d looked none too pleased with her at the time.

“Well, I wasn’t very happy with you at first, because I specifically told you to stay in Paradise Valley,” he replied, then took another gulp of coffee, “but you didn’t listen.”

“Get to the good part.”

“Well, that day you showed me you were the kind of woman who wouldn’t take no for an answer, you wouldn’t give up, and I kinda liked that.”

“You did?” She was surprised, yet pleased, at his comments. She smiled to herself as she stuck another bite of french toast in her mouth.

“It was actually pretty hot the way you marched into the detective’s area at the station, with your wild mane of blonde hair and your tight jeans, demanding to be in on the questioning.”

“I didn’t realize I came across that way.” She grimaced. “My hair’s not usually wild. It must have been from sleeping on the plane.” She ran her fingers through her hair as she visualized what she must have looked like. “Is that why your New York detective friend dubbed me the smokin’ hot lady PI?”

Colin laughed at the description. “Could be, but I had to agree with him.” He grinned and nodded at her as he cut into his omelet and took a bite. “You did look pretty hot.”

Emily looked down and blushed, taking a sip of her water. She hadn’t realized she appeared in such a brash way. When she looked up, she caught Colin still grinning at her.

They dug into their breakfasts and reminisced about the cases they had worked together and how their relationship had grown. Before long, their food was nearly gone and it was almost time for him to shove off.

“So, tell me, when did you realize you were in love with me?” Emily swirled the last little piece of french toast around in the pool of syrup on her plate.

“The night Ricardo Vega’s murderer almost shot you. I knew I couldn’t live without you.”

Emily thought back to that night and how Colin had been so terrified of losing her. She recalled him describing how he had lost his fiancée a couple of years before, shot in the line of duty, and how he had tried to fight against his feelings for Emily because of her dangerous job as a private eye.

“Now it’s your turn,” he said. “When did you realize you were in love with me?”

She looked down at her watch. “Oh, my gosh, look at the time. You’d better take me home now so you can get on the road. You have a long drive ahead of you.”

“No fair.” Colin cast her a quizzical frown.

Emily considered telling him it was from their first kiss, when her knees went weak and his touch sent tingles shooting throughout her body, but that was lust more than love.

But then there had been the multitude of suspicions and questions flying around in her head as she investigated her husband’s murder. With mistrust running rampant, a dark cloud settled over her desire to completely allow herself to trust him.

As she uncovered more facts about her late husband, Emily questioned her own judgment. If Evan was not who he had led her to believe he was, how could she know for certain that Colin was who he claimed to be?

She had wanted to trust Colin fully, give him her whole heart, but she was not convinced until the previous night, at his going-away party, that he was who he claimed to be. Her conversation with Ernie, the Paradise Valley police officer who had known Colin his whole life, had put her suspicions to rest and set her free to love Colin without reservation.

As he sat across the table from her, Colin’s questioning stare was unrelenting. She had to tell him something.

“I knew early on that I was falling for you, but I suppose it wasn’t until you first left to go back to San Francisco that I felt this enormous, gaping hole in my heart—and in my life. I knew then that I didn’t want to live without you.”

A satisfied smile spread across his face and he reached over and laid his hand on hers. “I’m sorry this visit has been so short and that I need to get back, but you have to know I feel the same way. It’s agony being away from you.”

“That’s a good word for it—agony.” Emily smiled weakly, willing back the tears again.

He waved at the waitress to bring their bill.

~*~

Colin drove her back to her home in the charming older part of town and walked her up to her front porch to say their reluctant good-byes. He gathered her up in his arms and held her close, studying her striking turquoise eyes and her rosy lips, not knowing when he would see them again.

“Don’t cry, Emily. I’ll be back before you know it.” He wiped a tear from her cheek and pushed a golden curl back from her face.

“Promise?” Her watery eyes looked into his. “San Francisco is such a long way away.”

“But I didn’t leave my heart in San Francisco, Emily, like the song says. My heart is in Paradise Valley, with you.” He kissed her deeply and fervently, as if it might be their last.

They were both very aware that life can be fragile and no one is promised tomorrow.

~*~

Before leaving, Colin agreed to phone her while he was on the road and also to let her know when he arrived at his folks’ house. “And please, Emily, keep your doors and windows locked.”

“I will,” she assured him.

“And remember that black sedan that’s been tailing you—keep your eyes open. We still have no idea who it could be.”

“I will, I promise.”

“Call Ernie, or my friend Decker at the Boise PD, if you need anything.”

“Yes, yes, I will.”

“Call me if—”

“Please, don’t worry about me, Colin. I’ll be fine. I’m a big girl—I can take care of myself. Remember? I’m a pistol-packing—”

“Smokin’ hot lady PI. I know. I know. But I can’t help but worry about you, Babe.” Being protective was in his blood. Colin had once been a marine and then he had been a policeman in San Francisco, rising to lead police detective for five years before moving to Paradise Valley. Taking over as their new police detective had been a fresh start for him, and an opportunity to heal from the loss of his fiancée.

“I know. I’ll call you if anything happens,” she promised. “You need to get going.”

“All right, but make sure you call me.”

She waved as he drove away in his red Jeep, doing her best to keep a brave smile spread across her lips. Once he had gone, she wiped a couple of tears from her cheek.

During their last morning together, she hadn’t wanted to remind Colin about the suspicious black sedan or that someone had broken into her house a couple of times searching for something. She knew it would only cause him to worry. Still, with no mention of it from her, he didn’t seem to be able to leave without warning her again.

Emily wished she knew what her stalker was after. All she could do was speculate that it had something to do with Evan and the surprising things she had recently uncovered about him, particularly the suspicious handgun, a Beretta pistol, she had found hidden in his secret safe deposit box.

Sadly, she watched as Colin drove out of sight. She missed him already. As she stood on her sunny porch thinking about him, Emily wondered when he would be able to return for good. Saying good-bye for the second time was excruciating. She wiped another tear that trickled down her cheek and then took a long, deep breath.

With resignation, she lumbered across the porch and stuck her key in the lock. As she unlocked her front door, she glanced up and down her street to be certain she and Colin hadn’t been followed back to her house.

Seeing no one out of the ordinary, she slipped into her house and kicked off her shoes by the door. She pulled her handgun out of her purse and carefully crept back to the kitchen, peeking around corners, with her weapon poised to shoot. Emily was determined not to be a victim, and she silently reminded herself of that fact.

I know how to handle a gun—I teach self-defense classes—I can take care of myself.

By the time she reached the kitchen, she was reasonably certain she was safe and alone. Setting her purse and gun down on her breakfast bar, she noticed an opened envelope lying on top of a stack of mail. It had come the day before, but she had set it aside because she was headed out to the going-away party.

Perching herself on a barstool, she pulled the folded paper out of the envelope. Addressed to Evan Parker, it was a letter from a storage facility alerting her late husband that his next year’s rent on the unit was due. She hadn’t been aware Evan had a storage unit.

Her thoughts flew to the unidentified brass key she had found in his safe deposit box a couple of months before. She still hadn’t figured out what it opened. But now, with this letter coming from the storage facility, she wondered if it would open a padlock on that unit—Evan’s unit.

Having seen Colin off, her day was wide open, and rather than spend it missing Colin, she hopped in her car and headed to the storage facility to check it out. It was only mid-morning—she’d have plenty of time to search through whatever Evan had hidden there.

Making sure she wasn’t being followed, she kept a sharp eye on her rearview mirrors as she made a series of three right turns in the center of town. Since no car appeared to be tailing her, particularly not a black one, she drove to the storage company on the edge of town.

While she was driving, her phone began to ring, and she dug it out of her oversized leather handbag that lay on the passenger seat, noticing it was one of her friends. “Hey, Maggie.”

“Just checkin’ in,” Maggie said. “Don’t forget to pick Molly and me up at noon at Camille’s place.”

Emily had promised to take Maggie and Molly, Camille’s teenage daughter, to the airport to catch a flight for their trip to Hawaii. Maggie had invited Emily to go with her, but Emily was not ready to leave her home exposed to additional break-ins and searches, especially when she was uncovering more and more clues to her late husband’s true identity. So instead, Maggie invited seventeen-year-old Molly, the only other single female she was close to, as an early graduation gift.

What a pair they would make on the beaches of Hawaii, Emily thought. Maggie was a beauty—a southern-belle fitness queen, lightly tanned with flowing blonde waves and dazzling blue eyes. Even in her mid-thirties, she would do her bikini justice. Molly, on the other hand, was a pretty girl, tall and slender with fair skin, long red hair, and shockingly deep emerald-green eyes. The red hair had come from her mother and the green eyes courtesy of her father, but the I-take-no-crap-from-anyone attitude was all her own.

“I didn’t forget. I’ll be there at noon.”

“Did y’all get Colin off to California this mornin’?” Maggie asked.

“I did. We went out for breakfast first, then I sent him on his way.”

Emily wasn’t sure she wanted to spill the beans about the storage unit yet. There was plenty of time to do that later if it came to anything.

“And did he say those three little words y’all’ve been waitin’ for?”

Emily could hear the curiosity in Maggie’s voice and knew her well enough to know it was killing her to find out. “As a matter of fact, he did.”

“Yay!” Maggie squealed. “I’m so happy for y’all, Em. I just knew it. I told Camille he’d say those little gems before he left.”

“Actually, he told me last night at the going-away party. He promised he’d move heaven and earth to come back to me.”

“Oh, how romantic,” Maggie gushed. “Words like that make my heart melt. No one deserves to be happy more than y’all, after all y’all have been through.”

Emily swore she could hear a quiver of sadness in Maggie’s voice. As sweet and lovely as Maggie was, she had terrible luck with men—one loser after another. Emily hoped Maggie’s luck would change soon—for the better. “So do you, Maggs.”

“I’d better let y’all off the phone and finish packin’, or I won’t be nearly ready when it’s time to come and pick us up.”