Thick as Thieves(106)

Epilogue



A pair of headlights swept across the living room windows before going off. A door was shut. Footsteps sounded on the porch, then the new lock on the front door was unlatched with a decisive snap, and the door swung open.

Ledge stood silhouetted against a twilit sky.

Arden stayed as she was, seated on the second step of the staircase, bare toes curled over the edge of the next tread down. Her high-heeled pumps lay on the floor where she had stepped out of them. The darkness inside was relieved only by two candles, which she’d placed on either end of the mantel.

“Hi.”

“Where did you get a key?”

“I bribed the locksmith.” He said it with no sign of embarrassment or remorse.

She let it go. “How did you know I would be here?”

“Just figured.”

It had been four days since Lisa was pronounced DOA at the hospital. During that time, there had been formalities, legal and otherwise, that had kept Ledge and her apart. She hadn’t sought him out. He’d made no attempt to see her. They hadn’t even spoken by phone.

He must have been sensitive to her need for time and distance away from him in order to contend with everything that had been disclosed in the final hour of Lisa’s life.

The crime scene tape had been removed from the house today. She’d been cleared to return, and she’d felt that she must go back. But after getting the candles from a kitchen drawer, she had gone into the living area, even though it was the least comfortable room without a place to sit.

She would never go into the catch-all room again.

When she’d left with Lisa in the ambulance, she’d taken nothing with her except her handbag. Everything she was wearing, she’d had to buy. The new black dress was appropriately funereal.

Ledge closed the front door and walked toward her. As he got closer, she caught him looking at her legs. Her hem rode several inches above her bent knees, but she didn’t want to tug it down and call further attention.

He lowered himself onto the step beside her. They didn’t look at each other or speak for a full minute; then he said, “You buried her today?”

“You heard?”

“You can’t keep a secret in this town.”

“You can. You did. Lisa certainly did.”

He exhaled a breath laden with regret. “I heard about the worst secret she’d kept. God, I’m sorry, Arden.”

He’d missed hearing that shocking revelation by seconds before he had shot out the window glass. “Who told you?” Arden asked.

“The detective who took my statement. He’d also taken yours.” He turned his head to look at her. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No. I’m weary of it.”

“Fine by me.”

They sat in silence. Then she said, “Our appointment with the attorney general…?”

“That’s in abeyance. A prosecutor in Rusty’s office—young, idealistic, no love lost for his former boss—is treating the public disgracing of Rusty Dyle like a crusade. He’s already charged him with two counts of first-degree murder—Lisa and Hawkins. That doesn’t include Brian Foster.

“He said Rusty had taken crookedness to new heights and promised that heads will roll in the sheriff’s department, the county court. That’s just for starters. In light of all that, the burglary of Welch’s store way back in 2000 is at the bottom of his to-do list.”

“He and the attorney general would probably be content never to reopen that investigation.”

“Probably. But I want my admission to go on the record, even if it’s by deposition. I also want to make an official apology to you. Here and now.” He held her gaze. “Arden, I’m sorry I didn’t confess my part in it sooner. I should have leveled with you the day you came to the workshop. My intention was good, but maybe my judgment was lousy.”

The seriousness of his expression was emphasized by the play of candlelight and shadow across his features. “Yes, you should have,” she said softly. “But if you hadn’t gotten here when you did, and acted, Rusty would have killed me, too. In exchange for saving my life, I can forgive you the other.”

He looked like he wanted to say more, but he had apologized, she had accepted, so before he could belabor the point, she changed the subject. “Thank you for contacting the demolition company for me.”

“You’ve heard from them already?”

“This morning. The foreman is coming tomorrow to walk through the house to see what will be involved. Goodwill is taking all the household items and my belongings. I don’t want any of it. I didn’t have much here, anyway.”

He looked at her through his perceptive squint. “It’s not too late to change your mind.”

“No, it needs to come down.”

He looked over at the piano. “What about that?”

“I’ve already notified a day care center that it’s theirs for the taking.”

“Nice.”

She took a deep and weary breath. “I also must see to Lisa’s affairs in Dallas. There’s a multitude of them.”

“That’s what the lawyers on retainer are for.”

“I know. But there will be so much I must personally handle. Sorting through her effects, and what’s left of Wallace’s. The house will have to be sold. I can enlist Helena to help, but, largely, decisions on how to dispense with it all will fall to me. It’s exhausting just thinking about it.”