Best Kept Secrets(78)
met, or look into the face of this man, who generated myriad
ambiguous feelings inside her.
From a legal viewpoint, she still had a case too weak to
stand up in court. But from a personal perspective, she
couldn't quit. She had become intrigued by the men who had
loved her mother. She had to know which one of them had
killed her, and whether or not she was responsible for her
mother's murder. She would either have to deny her guilt,
or learn to live with it, but she couldn't let it go forever
unresolved.
So, she had returned to Purcell. She was staring into the
pair of green eyes that had haunted her thoughts for a week,
and they were as compelling and disturbing as she remembered.
"I wasn't sure you'd be back," he told her bluntly.
1
"You should have been. I told you I wouldn't give up."
; "Yeah, I remember," he said grimly. "How was the dance the other night?"
His question came out of the blue and evoked a knee-jerk
response. "How did you know I went?"
"Word gets around."
"Junior told you."
"No."
"I can hardly stand the suspense," Alex said. "How did
you find out I went to the Horse and Gun Club?"
"One of my deputies clocked Junior doing eighty-one that
night out on the highway. Around eleven o'clock, he said.
He saw you in the car with him." He was no longer looking
at her, but studying the toes of his boots. "You sure were
in a hell of a hurry to get back to your motel."
"I was ready to leave the club, that's all. I wasn't feeling
well."
"The barbecue didn't sit well with you? Or was it the
people? Some of them make me sick to my stomach, too."
"It wasn't the food or the people. It was, well, one person:
Stacey Wallace . . . Minton." Alex closely watched for his
reaction. His face remained impassive. "Why didn't anyone
tell me that Stacey had been married to Junior?"
"You didn't ask."
Miraculously, she was able to hold her temper in check.
"Didn't it occur to anybody that their hasty marriage might
be significant?"
"It wasn't."
' 'I reserve the right to decide the significance of it myself.''
"Be my guest. Do you think it's significant?"
"Yes, I do. The timing of Junior's first marriage always
struck me as strange. It's even stranger that the bride turned
out to be the judge's daughter."
"That's not strange at all."
"Coincidental, certainly."
"Not even that. Stacey Wallace had been in love, or lust,
with Junior since the day she first laid eyes on him. Everybody
knew it, including Junior. She certainly made no secret of
her devotion. When Celina died, Stacey saw her chance and
seized it."
"Stacey didn't strike me as an opportunist."
"Grow up, Alex. We're all opportunists when we want
something bad enough. She loved the guy," he pointed out
impatiently.' 'He was sick over Celina's death. I guess Stacey
figured her love could make his hurt go away, that it would
be enough."
"It wasn't."
"Obviously. She couldn't make Junior love her back. She
sure as hell couldn't weld his zippers shut." Vexed, he
gnawed on the corner of his lip. "Who spilled the beans
about this? Junior?"
"Stacey herself. She confronted me in the powder room
and accused me of upsetting her life by reopening this case.''
"Gutsy lady," he said, nodding approval. "I always liked
her."
"Oh, really? Did you sleep with her, too? Or did the Gail
sisters keep you satiated?"
"The Gail sisters, huh?" He barked a short laugh. "I know
Stacey didn't talk to you about Purcell's notorious triplets."
"Junior filled in the gaps."
"Must have been quite an evening."
* 'Most revealing.''
"Oh, yeah?" he drawled. "What'd you reveal?"
She ignored this well-placed insinuation. "Reede, what
was the rush? Junior wasn't in love with Stacey. For the sake
of argument, let's say he talked himself into marrying her.
Why did they marry when they did?"
"Maybe she wanted to be a June bride."
"Don't make fun of me!" She shot out of her chair and
moved to the window.
He whistled low and long. "Boy, are you ever in a rotten
mood."
"I just buried my only living relative, remember?" she
flared.
He cursed beneath his breath and raked his fingers through his hair. "For a minute there, I did forget. Look, Alex, I'm sorry. I remember how bad I felt when I buried my old man.''