Cruel Grace: Cowboy Justice Association (Serials and Stalkers Book 5) Read online

  “We’re going to speak to Cagney,” Eli said. “We’re going to ask him these questions as well.”

  “I’ll be interested to hear what he says,” Leesa said. “Because I never saw any sign of it, and I spent a whole lot of time with Kendra. More than anyone, really.”

  “That’s why we’re here,” Charlie said. “If anyone would know what was going on in the last few weeks of Kendra’s life it would be you. Was anything out of the ordinary happening? Was she angry with anyone? Did she have a falling out with someone, perhaps? Eli says even the smallest detail might mean something.”

  Eli leaned forward. “We’re aware that Kendra was giving massive donations to charity. I assume you also knew that since you were her assistant.”

  Sighing, Leesa nodded. “I did know. I helped her vet worthy charities. She didn’t want anyone to know what she was doing. She said it wouldn’t be fun if everyone knew. That’s why she kept working even after she got bored modeling. She wanted to give all of the money to people who needed it. I swear she had the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever known. She wanted to help everyone, and she didn’t do it for the tax write-off or because she wanted people to think she was generous. She was truly selfless. She was just the best and I loved her for it. She had a real calling to help. She always said that she’d be a lousy nurse or social worker but she had money and that was her gift. She could make a difference that way. And she did. So much.”

  Charlie’s throat clogged with emotion as she remembered all the times that Kendra had wanted to help others. She hadn’t known about the money Kendra was donating but she’d known that her friend really was a generous human being. She would have given the shirt off her back or her last bite to eat to someone who needed it.

  “I miss her,” Charlie said softly.

  “I miss her too,” Leesa said, tears sparkling in her eyes. “It wasn’t fair, what happened to her. She was doing so much good in the world. She was more than my employer. She was my friend.”

  Leesa rubbed her wet cheek with the back of her hand. “There really wasn’t anything strange going on with Kendra. Not that I noticed. Except…”

  Her voice trailed away but Charlie was desperate to hear more. At this point, they didn’t have much to go on.

  “Except?” Charlie prompted.

  “It’s probably nothing. I doubt it had anything to do with Kendra’s murder.”

  “We’d still like to hear it,” Eli said. “Sometimes the strangest little details can be helpful.”

  Taking a sip of tea, Leesa nodded. “I’ll tell you but I’m not sure how it might be of use. Kendra had a phone conversation with her mother a few days before she went to visit you. The reason I know this is because it turned into a loud argument and I could hear them yelling at each other.”

  “You could hear what Kendra was saying?” Eli asked.

  “I could. I couldn’t make out everything Evelyn was saying but when she was especially loud, I could hear a few words here and there. I heard Evelyn saying that Kendra owed them, and Kendra kept saying she didn’t owe them anything. From what I could hear, they wanted Kendra to do something and she wasn’t going to do it. Evelyn was having a tantrum. Then Bernard got on the phone. I could hear the deeper voice, but he wasn’t yelling so I couldn’t make out much of what he was saying. He seemed to be trying to reason with Kendra but she wasn’t having it. Whatever it was, she kept saying no. She wasn’t going to do it. When she saw me in the doorway, she cut off her father and said she had to go. She hung up and then tossed her phone in her purse. She said, ‘Mom and Dad are pissed at me. They’ll calm down eventually.’ She changed the subject and she seemed fine. Totally calm. I didn’t think much else about it, and she didn’t mention it either. Then she went on her trip to visit you. I assumed it was just a family tiff.”

  “Did Kendra argue with her family often?” Eli queried. “Was there any tension between them?”

  Leesa shook her head. “Not that I remember. Kendra rarely talked to them in front of me. When they’d call, she’d look at the screen and say that she’d talk to them later. Send their call to voicemail. I didn’t think anything about it. My mom and dad can get long-winded and sometimes I’d rather not deal with it if I’m busy doing something.”

  Charlie’s brain was already going a mile a minute. Remembering Bernard and Evelyn’s reaction to the investigation being reopened, she really wanted to know what Kendra had been arguing with them about.

  Was it enough to kill their own daughter? Charlie couldn’t believe it. The Taylors might be a pain in the ass, but murderers? Of their own child? No, that was too far-fetched.

  Then why am I thinking about it?

  They had been a few thousand miles away when Kendra had been killed. Right?

  Eli asked a few more questions about money and friends before they were done. Leesa and Charlie hugged when it was time to go.

  “Don’t be a stranger,” Leesa said when she bid them goodbye at the door. “Stay in touch. Invite me to the wedding.”

  Heat rising in her cheeks, Charlie rushed to correct the wrong impression. “We’re not…I mean…we’re not…you know…a couple.”

  Since she was standing in front of Eli, she couldn’t see his expression. He, however, didn’t say anything at all.

  Leesa’s brows rose. “Oh? I thought…well, it doesn’t matter what I thought. It was nice to meet you, Eli. And Charlie, I meant what I said. Let’s stay in touch.”

  Without looking at Eli, Charlie promised her old friend. When the door closed, she ducked into the vehicle and pulled out her phone, making herself busy checking her email. Eli didn’t start the car as she expected him to. Eventually, she looked up and he was gazing at her.

  “Are you okay?” he finally asked. “Is everything alright?”

  “I’m fine,” she assured him. “Everything’s fine.”

  It was Eli’s turn to raise his brows. “You seemed upset when she mentioned us being a couple.”

  “No. No, not at all. Why would I be?”

  “Because you ran to the car as if the hounds of hell were on your heels.”

  Oh.

  “Maybe I was in a hurry.”

  To do what? Sit in the car?

  “We better get to the hotel then, if you’re in such a rush.”

  He started the car and pulled out onto the street, his attention on the road instead of her which was a relief.

  Leesa had thought they were a couple. Did they look like a couple?

  Or was it the way I was looking at Eli? Like I…liked him.

  Because I do. Even though the timing is wrong.

  The timing plain sucked. It was absolutely the wrong moment in her life for a man.

  But for him? She just might have to make an exception. She was beginning to realize that no one was like Eli Hammond. He was the kind that didn’t come along very often, if at all.

  Just what was she going to do?

  “There has to be some mistake. I definitely booked two separate rooms.”

  Charlie could hear the panic in her own voice, and she was sure that Eli could hear it as well. They’d arrived at the hotel only to find out that their reservation was for one room. As if they were trapped in a really bad romantic comedy movie where their best friends are trying to fix them up so they’d sabotaged the hotel reservation.

  Does Eli think that I did this on purpose? I’m mortified. Absolutely mortified.

  Except that there was no sabotage involved. Charlie had made this reservation herself online this morning. She was positive she’d selected two rooms, not one. Or at least she was pretty sure. She was beginning to doubt herself at the moment because the desk clerk wasn’t backing down. If anything, he appeared rather perturbed by her suggestion that he had done something wrong.

  “I have one room with two queen beds reserved to Charlotte Baker for one night.” The clerk gave her a kind smile. “Perhaps when you chose the two beds you thought you were reserving two rooms.”

  That
seemed plausible. It might have happened. Had she been that inattentive to what she was doing? This investigation was playing with her head.

  “We understand,” Eli said. “Can we just add a room to the reservation now?”

  Yes, they could simply add a room right now. Reservations were great but hotels always had extra rooms tucked away. Right?

  The desk clerk shook his head. “I’m afraid not. This is convention season and we’re completely booked up. I could call a few more hotels for you, but I’m afraid they’d probably tell you the same thing. They might have rooms in the suburbs.”

  If Charlie could have dug a hole in the tile floor and buried herself in it she would have. The desk clerk was watching the play by play between herself and Eli quite closely, for certain wondering what was going on. Had she done this on purpose? Was Eli happy about it? Angry? Right now, his expression was bland and he could have played poker with that face.

  Dammit.

  She wanted to humbly apologize to Eli but she didn’t want to do it in front of this guy who apparently was enjoying her mortification. Her cheeks had to be as bright red as the cushions on the sofa in the lobby.

  “Can you excuse us for a moment?” Eli asked, placing his hand on Charlie’s elbow. “We just need a moment to discuss this.”

  “Sure. I’m on duty until dinnertime.”

  Charlie and Eli stepped several feet away, far enough so that Mr. Nosy couldn’t hear them.

  “What would you like to do?” Eli asked. “I’ll leave it up to you.”

  Me?

  “I—well—I—I didn’t do this on purpose.”

  It was a good thing she wasn’t behind enemy lines and being interrogated. She would have sold out her side easily.

  Eli gave her a gentle smile. “I didn’t think that you did, Charlie. Anyone can make a mistake. We were in a hurry this morning and websites can glitch as well. I’m sure you made the reservation in good faith.”

  Good faith. Yes, that was what she’d done. And the website was probably faulty. That was it.

  “I should have paid more attention to the confirmation they sent me,” she admitted. “But I thought I’d done it right.”

  “It’s fine,” he assured her. “You should have seen my face when I thought I was buying a throw rug for under the dining room table. Turns out the thing was big enough to cover my entire living room. I couldn’t believe it when a huge truck pulled into my driveway. I thought it was a bit overpriced but it matched the damn curtains.”

  Charlie had an image of a gigantic eighteen-wheeler pulling up in front of Eli’s house and a phalanx of deliverymen carrying in a huge roll of carpeting. It was kind of funny.

  “Are you sure you’re not mad?”

  Eli’s smile widened. “Not in the least. Now what do you want to do? Find a new hotel? We can if you want to. I’m fine to stay here, too.”

  “Let’s just stay here,” she finally replied. “We don’t really have time to find a new place to stay, and the desk clerk said it wouldn’t be easy. We have to see Cagney and talk to him. That’s our priority.”

  “Then it’s settled. I’ll check in and get the keys. You can trust me, Charlie. I’d never do anything to make you uncomfortable.”

  She could trust him. Absolutely.

  But could she trust herself? Only time would tell.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Wilbur Cagney, the former model, was now a real estate businessman with an office in an upscale part of Chicago. Married with kids, he’d left the globetrotting world behind not long after Kendra’s death and was now a seemingly devoted husband and father. From what Eli had been able to find out, Will Cagney was also a successful businessman with investments in real estate and the stock market.

  Being that prosperous, it wasn’t surprising that the man was dressed in what appeared to be a designer suit when Eli and Charlie showed up at his office to speak with him. Only in his mid-thirties, he looked a decade younger and still extremely good-looking. He wasn’t classically handsome, but Eli could see how the sharp features and lean body would photograph well.

  “I can’t believe it’s you,” Cagney exclaimed, pulling Charlie into a big hug, a grin on his face. “It’s been far too long, girl. You look fucking fantastic. You could still prance the catwalk if you wanted to.”

  Charlie just laughed and shook her head. “Oh hell, no. I don’t want to. I’m done with those days. And I doubt the designers would be very happy with me. I’ve put on a few pounds since then. The clothes wouldn’t fit.”

  “Darling, you’re still amazing,” Cagney went on, before his gaze turned to Eli. “Please introduce me to your friend, love.”

  Charlie placed her hand on Eli’s arm. “This is Eli Hammond. He’s helping Dana and I investigate Kendra’s murder.”

  Cagney’s gaze ran Eli up and down, definitely appraising. “Were you a model, too?”

  That was a hilarious question. Was this guy serious?

  “Not in the slightest,” Eli replied. “I was a cop and now I’m a law enforcement consultant. I don’t even like my picture taken.”

  Cagney looked like he had more to say, but Charlie spoke first.

  “Are your wife and kids here? I’d love to meet them.”

  “Sorry, no. I wish you could meet them. I have some photos in my office. Why don’t we talk there? It’s more private.”

  They followed him down a hallway, the carpet thick and plush underneath their feet. The office was large with a desk on one end and a couch and chair on the other, plus an expansive view of downtown Chicago. Cagney indicated that Eli and Charlie should sit on the sofa while he took the chair.

  “Can I get you anything?” he asked. “A drink?”

  Eli shook his head and looked at Charlie who also declined. “We’re fine. Are you okay with answering a few questions for us?”

  Cagney nodded. “I am, but can I ask one first? What prompted you to reopen Kendra’s murder? Do you have any new information? Do you think you’re close to catching him?”

  “Him?” Eli asked. “Do you know something that I don’t?”

  Cagney chuckled. “Not at all. I was using a universal-him. I guess it could be either a him or her.”

  “My meeting Eli is what prompted this,” Charlie answered. “He offered to help me and when I told Dana about him, she convinced me that this was a great opportunity to get a second look at the case.”

  “I always thought that detective wasn’t doing his job,” Cagney said, his expression darkening. “It seemed like he just didn’t give a shit.”

  Eli could confirm that Cagney was correct in his assumption.

  “Did you and Kendra break up a few months before she was killed?” Eli asked. “That’s what we heard from other people, but we need you to confirm it.”

  Once again, Cagney shook his head. “No and yes. We did break up about four months before she died, but only for a few weeks. Then we got back together. We were actively together when Kendra was killed. I loved Kendra. She could be a handful at times, but she had a good heart.”

  “She did,” Eli agreed. “Did you know she was donating pretty much all of the money she made modeling to charity? She had a trust fund to live off of.”

  That question made Cagney grin. “I knew. I’m a trust fund baby, too. When we first met, that’s what we had in common. When she found out about my trust fund, she told me about hers. And I knew about all the donations. I heard her talking to her finance guy one day so I asked her about it. She admitted that she liked being an anonymous donor. She didn’t want anyone to know that she was doing it. That’s not why she gave. She did it because she really wanted to help people.”

  Exactly what Leesa had said. Their stories matched. Now they needed to ask about the uncomfortable stuff. This was the part Eli wanted to be…delicate about. He wasn’t one to judge and he never wanted someone he was questioning to think that he didn’t approve or some shit like that. Honestly, other people’s lives and the personal decisions they made
were none of his damn business.

  Unless there was a murder. Then he had to ask the tough - and possibly embarrassing - questions.

  Eli cleared his throat. “We were told that you and Kendra liked to swing from time to time. Is that the case?”

  Cagney leaned forward in his chair, rubbing his chin. “You are thorough, aren’t you? Yes, we liked to swing from time to time. We didn’t keep it a secret, but we didn’t go around shouting it from the rooftops either. Kendra was very concerned about how her friends might react.”

  “Like Charlie?”

  “Yes, like Charlie. But others, too.” Cagney grinned again. “I didn’t care one way or the other. I doubt anyone would have been surprised. I was a partier back in the day.”

  “Did you ever turn anyone down? Did they get angry or make threats?”

  “No, man. That’s not how it works. Everyone was cool.” He seemed to be struggling for words so Eli didn’t reply, letting the man find what he wanted to say. “Listen, the swinging thing wasn’t all the time. It wasn’t even a big part of our lives. It just wasn’t. Kendra was…I don’t know how to say this…she was…sort of insecure when it came to sex. Especially at the beginning when we first started dating. Later she loosened up quite a bit, but at the start she always seemed really tense. For all the partying and men in her life, sometimes I wondered if she really even enjoyed sex all that much.”

  “You knew about the men?” Eli asked.

  Cagney shrugged carelessly. “Sure, I knew. We had an open relationship. Kendra didn’t like feeling tied down, and frankly, neither did I. She was all about pushing her own boundaries. That’s why I said that I wasn’t sure she really liked sex. It seemed like she needed to push further and further all the time to get anything out of it. We couldn’t just, you know, have a sex life like other couples. I asked her about it once. She said she didn’t know what I was talking about. She just liked to push the envelope.”