“When did you give her the letters?”
“Tuesday. She was supposed to call me last night. She sent me an email, which I didn’t see until today.” Before he could prompt her to finish she said, “It said she wanted to read and study the letters a little longer. Her first impression was that they were real but something bothered her. And before you ask, she did not say what that was. She said to stay tuned. I’d planned to call her today.”
This explained the visit to Margaret. “Did you have a sample of Annie’s handwriting?”
“She’d said she’d find one.” Suddenly, her shoulders slumped as the weight of Lexis’s death settled deeper. “I can’t believe she’s dead. She was the smartest woman I knew. No one fooled her.”
“She had her thirty-eight in her hand. But the killer knocked it out before she could fire.”
More tears streaked down her cheeks and she quickly swiped them away as if ashamed. He gave her a moment to collect herself.
“Did you keep copies of the letters?”
A conspirator’s look darkened her watery gaze. “What do you think?”
“I think you are a paranoid control freak who wouldn’t have let the letters out of your sight without keeping copies.”
“I not only kept copies but I didn’t give her all the originals. Didn’t want to toss all my apples into one basket.”
“Always thinking, aren’t you?”
“I try.” She moved toward her desk and opened the third drawer. She removed a file folder. “These are copies of the letters.”
“And the other originals?” He took the file, opened it and scanned the neatly written handwriting. The first line of the first letter caught his attention. “Sugar! . . .”
“Locked in my safe.”
He waited for her to retrieve the letters but when she didn’t move he scratched his head as if plagued by a puzzle. “Do I have to get a warrant? Do we have to make this ugly?”
She shook her head. “Normally, I’d say, hell yes. Take your best shot. But not this time. This time I want you to find the guy who killed Lexis.” She moved to a wall. She pressed several boards and a door popped open to a safe with a combination lock. Several turns of the dial and the lock opened. She removed a yellowed stack of letters.
Rachel held them close. “There were twenty letters in the original packet. I gave them to Lexis. You have ten originals here, plus copies of the missing ones. You now know all that I know.”
As he studied her pale, direct eyes, he sensed the truth.
She held out the letters.
He took them, watching as she shoved a shaking hand through her hair. “Thanks.”
“You said she was beaten.”
“It was rough, Rachel. No way to get around that. I don’t know what’s driving this nut but there’s a hell of a lot of pent-up rage.”
As she spoke her voice broke, forcing her to hesitate until she could speak without emotion. “You told me about the other woman last night. Dixie?”
“Dixie Simmons. A singer in a honky-tonk.”
“Could she have hired Lexis?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know how the two women are connected. I’m hoping these letters will give me an idea.”
“The letters are Annie’s. I don’t understand.”
“I can’t explain it now. But Annie is in the mix.”
Moistening her lips, she shifted her stance as if holding steady was more than she could handle. “Where are they taking Lexis? To the state medical examiner’s office?”
“Yes.”
Her lips flattened and fresh tears welled. “I hate the idea of them cutting into her. There’s no dignity in that.”
“No. But it’s necessary if we’re going to figure this out.”
She tipped her head back as if ordering her tears to stop. “Lexis better than anyone would want you to chase all the leads. She liked puzzles.” She shook her head. “She didn’t deserve this.”
“No, I don’t imagine she did.” He thought about the pain Lexis would have endured in her final minutes but couldn’t bring himself to share any of the details with Rachel. He’d been bluffing about showing the crime scene photos to her.
“When the medical examiner is finished with her body, then what?”
“We’ll contact next of kin. They’ll arrange for a funeral home to pick her up.”
“She didn’t have family. There was a sister but she died about fifteen years ago. It had been the two of them for most of their lives.” Her gaze sharpened. “I’ll take custody of the body and see that she’s buried properly.”
“That’s a legal question for the courts.”
Challenge sparked in her gaze. “I like legal questions. And I’m angling for a fight right now.”
Deke wondered what a full-on mad Rachel Wainwright looked like. That was a show he’d have paid to see. “I’ll smooth the waters on my end with the medical examiner’s office.”
A sigh shuddered through her. “And if you don’t, I’ll do what I do best.”
Deke didn’t crack a smile. “Bitch?”
She pointed her index finger at him as if he’d hit the nail on the head. “Exactly.”
December 29
Sugar,
Don’t you worry, now you hear me? No one saw us. We are safe. We weren’t spotted the other night. Close. But we are in the clear. Come on around this evening after work. The girls will be gone and we can snuggle in my bed without anyone watching us.
A.
Chapter Ten
Sunday, October 16, 5 PM
Restless energy churned in Rachel hours after Deke had left. She worked on her sculpture but found the work frustrating and futile. She paced. Attempted to write a brief but the more she corralled her thoughts, the tighter and tighter her skin grew. As much as she wanted to go for a run and sweat away her grief her injury wouldn’t allow it. She was trapped in these four walls with her thoughts.
Last night when her attacker had struck her shoulder, the pain had been blinding. It had robbed her of breath and thought. And that had been a glancing blow. Not the full-on blows that Lexis had endured.
She closed her eyes, trying to shut out the image of her friend dying so brutally. Rachel finally gave up any stab at work or art. She changed into jeans and a long-sleeved button-down shirt that she eased into slowly. Bending her arm was painful but she managed it and fumbled with her buttons until they were fastened. She slipped her feet into loafers, grabbed her purse, and she left the office.