never gets to the White House. You can destroy him. Don’t worry, this time I didn’t make the mistake that I made last time. I didn’t tell the person I confided in the night your parents were murdered. You’ll be safe until you get the story into print.
[_After that, it won’t matter, will it?” _]
Pamela paused again, reaching out to refill her wineglass.
“Well, I think that’s about it. Oh, except for the little wedding dress, of course. I wore it for Daddy. He never knew that I kept it all these years. Probably forgotten all about it. Don’t
unwrap it. Let a DNA testing lab do that. Mustn’t tamper with the evidence.
“I was able to duplicate the video and the film clips and the travel records, but [_there was no _]
way to copy the dress. I had intended to give it to you when I spoke with you. But after thinking about it for a while, I’ve decided to leave it with the duplicate set of evidence that I’m going to
put in your old house here in Dunsley. Just a precaution. It will be safe there, regardless of whether or not I lose my nerve. As soon as I finish this video recording, I’ll take everything
over to Pine Lane and put it in your old bedroom.
“By the way, I rented the house under another name from the real estate firm in San Francisco that manages it. No one here in Dunsley knows that I’ve got any connection to the place.
“Good-bye, Irene. I wish I had the courage to face you with all this. But I’m not surprised that
in the end I decided to avoid our meeting in Dunsley. I’m very good when it comes [_to practicing the fine art of denial.” _]
The screen went dark.
For a long moment, no one spoke.
Phil whistled softly. “Looks like your theory was right, Irene. Someone killed her.”
“Ryland Webb,” Tess said. “It must have been him. He murdered his own daughter.
It’s unbelievable.”
“No, it isn’t,” Irene said fiercely. “He was quite capable of raping her. Why would a monster like tha top there?”
“After he killed her, he must have taken the copy of the old video and Pamela’s computer, which contained one set of the files of evidence,” Tess said. “He probably thought he had everything. But he obviously never realized she had made a copy of the evidence and left it for you to find in Pine Lane.”
“Wonder how he cracked the password code to access the files on Pamela’s computer?” Phil said.
Irene shrugged. “Maybe he didn’t. But he must have realized that there was damning information on it. Perhaps he simply tossed it into the lake.”
Phil nodded. “Wouldn’t be surprised if he torched the house just to make sure there was no other evidence left that could come back to haunt him.”
Irene looked at the white box. “Or maybe he somehow found out about the little wedding dress.”
“But he couldn’t find it,” Tess added thoughtfully. “So he burned down the whole house hoping t et rid of it.”
Energy snapped through Irene. She reached for her phone. “I’ve got to call my boss.”
Before she could punch out Adeline’s number, the small phone chortled in her hand.
“Hello?”
“Looks like we’ve got some breathing room,” Luke said. “Tanaka just located Ryland Webb. He’s a is office in San Francisco, in a meeting with some heavy-hitter campaign contributors. He’s got a fund-raiser tomorrow evening, so he probably won’t be leaving town anytime soon. Stay with Phi nd Tess until I get there.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
When he hung up, she made the call to Adeline Grady. While she waited for Addy to answer, she watched Phil unzip the small duffel bag. He did not remove the contents.
It wasn’t necessary. Fro here she was sitting she could see light gleam dully on the barrel of a gun. It came as no surprise to discover that Phil owned one. This was Dunsley, after all, a genuine slice of rural California. There was probably a gun in every house in town. But the realization that Phil had come armed today sent an odd chill through her. Luke was definitely worried, she thought. “About time you checked in, Irene,” Addy said.
“Talk to me.”
“I’ve got the story that is going to make the Glaston Cove Beacon the most famous newspaper in th tate within forty-eight hours. But we need to make some plans.”
* * *
Sometime after eight o’clock that night, Irene heard Luke’s SUV pull into the drive of the Carpenter house.
p. “There he is,” she announced to Tess and Phil. “About time he got here.” She tossed her cards dow nto the table and jumped to her feet.
Phil and Tess exchanged amused expressions as they gathered up the cards. It dawned on Irene tha he was acting like a lover or a wife who has been waiting impatiently for her man to come back to her after a lengthy absence in foreign climes.
You’ve only known him for a few days, she lectured herself sternly. Try to be cool [_here. _]
But she flung open the door with a sense of expectation and spiraling relief. Luke stood there, looking hard and cold-eyed and a little bleak.
“I was about to call you again to find out where you were,” she said.
“Long drive,” he said. “Long day. You okay?”
“Yes,” she said. “Oh, heck with being cool.” She launched herself against his chest.
He seemed startled but he recovered instantly. His arms closed tightly around her.
“Ready to go home?” he asked. “Yes.”
Forty-Three
“I can’t believe you went to that house alone.” Luke crossed the small living room of the cabin wit ong, restless strides, tossing his jacket over the back of a chair along the way. He went into the tiny kitchenette. “You should have waited until I got back.”
“Once I knew the key fit the locks on those doors, I didn’t have much choice,” Irene said quietly. She folded her arms tightly around herself and watched him take a bottle of water out of the refrigerator.
“I couldn’t put it off. I had to know.”
He looked at her. “Must have been bad.”
“Someone had redecorated. New carpet, paint and furnishings.” She hesitated. “I couldn’t bring mysel o walk into the kitchen, though.”
“No surprise there.” He drank some of the water and then set the bottle down on the counter. His eyes were steady and knowing. “Are you okay with what you found out today?”