A Justified Murder Read online

  But as he looked at the doors, he knew he had to fix whatever was wrong. Should he flip a coin to see who would be first?

  Since Kate would ask about Sara he’d better find out about her first.

  He gave a quick tap on Sara’s bedroom door, but didn’t leave enough time for her to tell him to go away. She was sitting on her bed on top of her white coverlet, arms crossed, and staring into space.

  “Out with it.” He lay down on his back across the end of the bed, hands behind his head. “I want every word.”

  “I saw Tayla.”

  “Figured so. Use your right cross on her?” When she didn’t answer, he looked at her.

  “Tayla was really nasty. Hateful. Angry.”

  “You two have been at it for years, so what did you expect?”

  “No. I have been at it. She caused the problem, not me. She’s usually contrite, repentant. But something has upset her so much that she’s angry about everything. This murder has caused...”

  When Jack saw that she was about to start crying, he moved to lean against the headboard, put his arm around her, and drew her head to his chest. “Exactly what did she say?”

  Sara took time to answer. “My brother had an affair with Charlene when she was just fifteen years old. Randal was close to forty.”

  Jack wasn’t going to show his disgust at that. “Explains why she likes Leland.” He felt her stiffen. “Okay. Sorry. It’s not a matter for jokes.”

  “You overheard Tayla’s phone conversation.”

  “Yeah, so?”

  “When the White Lily Kidnapping happened, Charlene was sixteen.”

  Jack drew in his breath. “Just because Tayla mentioned white lilies, you can’t think she had anything to do with it?”

  “I don’t know what to think. Janet Beeson knew who the kidnapper was. Maybe Tayla’s niece and my brother were part of that. She said Charlene was heartbroken. That can cause you to do really stupid things. I know! I ran away from your grandfather because my heart was broken. Maybe Janet found out and Tayla had to keep her quiet. Maybe she —” She cut herself off.

  “You’re jumping very far ahead, and you’re skipping a lot. Do you really think Tayla could murder another human being?”

  “If someone was threatening you or Kate, I could kill.”

  Jack kissed the top of her head. “Where was Randal nine months before the kidnapping?”

  “Who knows? He never told anyone what he was doing when. He loved to sneak around. Loved to surprise people by being where they didn’t expect him to be.”

  “Would his wife know?”

  “I thought of asking her but she’d tell Kate I was snooping. She would—”

  “I’ll ask her.” Jack got off the bed. “Give me her number and I’ll call now.”

  “That could possibly work. Maybe.”

  “We can try.” He took the phone and went into her big bathroom. He didn’t need the distraction of Sara staring at him with worry in her eyes.

  Twenty minutes later Jack clicked off the phone and let out a sigh of relief. He hadn’t enjoyed talking to Kate’s mother. Ava seemed to think Jack was a predator after her helpless daughter. Jack had spent most of the time defending himself in a way he hoped soothed her.

  It had taken work to get information out of her. In July 1994, Ava Medlar had been heavily pregnant with Kate and her beloved husband didn’t leave her side for over a year. In fact, they’d spent the summer before she gave birth in Mexico. “I don’t know what you’re implying but my husband was not in Lachlan, Florida, that summer. In fact, there were, uh, legal complications and he... I mean, he needed to be somewhere besides the US.”

  With that cryptic comment, she hung up.

  Jack went back into the bedroom and told all to Sara. “I guess your brother’s passport could be checked, but I don’t think there’s a record for border crossings. Maybe Tayla is worried about something else. She also mentioned witches, and we know that wasn’t about her.”

  “I guess so. It’s just that my brother wouldn’t think twice about going to bed with a teenager. Especially since she came on to him.”

  “Did Tayla tell you that?”

  “She hinted at it.”

  “Anything else you didn’t tell me?”

  “Just that Charlene was hurt when Randal didn’t show up at their meeting place.”

  “So,” Jack said, “a beautiful young woman—who looked much older than her years, I might add—offered herself to your brother, who was at an age when he was probably worried about getting older, and he said yes. But later he had second thoughts and ended it. It seems that he went home to his wife and created Kate. Maybe we should thank Charlene.”

  Sara gave a half smile.

  “What did Mrs. Medlar mean when she said there were ‘legal complications’ that kept them out of the US?”

  Sara groaned. “I’m sure it was law enforcement. My brother was always running from the police. But then, he stole whatever wasn’t bolted down. And even then he still took it. When he was a kid I had to empty his pockets, then figure out how to secretly return the items he’d stolen.”

  “A klepto?”

  “No. Just a thief.”

  “What did your mother say?”

  “Her son could do no wrong.” She looked at Jack. “You aren’t going to tell Kate any of this, are you?”

  “She knows something is wrong and she’s going to ask.”

  “It’s your answer that concerns me.”

  Jack thought for a moment. “I’m going to tell her the truth with as little detail as possible. Are you hungry?”

  “Not at all.”

  “Mind if I take Kate out?”

  “I think that’s a great idea.”

  * * *

  Jack and Kate were in a booth in a restaurant on Broward. He waited until she was on her second glass of wine before he spoke of anything serious. “I called your mother.”

  Kate choked on the wine and began coughing.

  Jack handed her a glass of water.

  “Tell me this is one of your jokes.”

  “No. It isn’t.”

  Kate checked her phone. There weren’t twenty-plus calls from her mother spaced thirty seconds apart. In fact, there were no calls from her. She looked back at Jack. “She either liked you or she’s on a plane to here.”

  “Should I book a hotel?”

  “Not funny. Tell me every word that went on and do not give me any more to drink.”

  Jack took a breath. “It’s this damned White Lily Kidnapping. Sara got the idea that Tayla might have something to do with it.”

  “How was she involved?”

  “Don’t know. But she did mention it on the phone call we overheard, and today she told Sara...”

  “Told her what?”

  “That your father had a short-term affair with Charlene when she was in high school.”

  “My father?” She sounded incredulous. “He was a little old for her, wasn’t he?”

  “Yeah. Too old, too young. A perfect match.”

  “So what makes Aunt Sara think Tayla, my father’s...affair, and a kidnapping are connected?”

  “The dates are right,” he said softly. “Tayla said Charlene was heartbroken when...uh, your father broke off with her. Maybe she...did something.” In spite of what Kate had said, he refilled her wineglass. “Drink up. I’m driving.” Kate just kept looking at him. Waiting. He gave in and continued the conversation. “Why would Tayla blurt out about your father now, after all these years, if it weren’t because of the murder? It seems to have everyone on edge, ready to confess anything.”

  “This is all conjecture.”

  He saw the way her jaw was clenched and her hands were clutching her fork as though it were a weapon. It was obvious that she didn’t want to consider a