Best Kept Secrets (43 page)

"What happened?"

He looked at her, shamefaced. ' 'We took him to a deserted spot and beat the shit out of him. I was afraid Reede was going to kill him. He probably would have, if Celina hadn't been there. She was practically hysterical."

"You coerced him into marrying her?"

"That same night. We drove across the border into Mexico." He shook his head wryly at the memory of it.

"Gaither was barely conscious enough to recite his vows.

Reede and I supported him between us through the ceremony, then dumped him back at the gate of Fort Bliss."

"One thing puzzles me. Why did Reede insist on Celina getting married?"

"He kept saying he wouldn't let her baby be born a bastard."

Alex looked at him intently from behind her shaded glasses.

"Then, why didn't he marry her himself?"

"He asked her."

"So, what was the problem?"

"Me. I asked her, too." Seeing her confusion, he blew out his breath. "This all happened the morning following the, uh--"

"I understand. Go on."

"Celina was still real shaken up and said she couldn't think clearly. She begged us to stop badgering her. But Reede said she had to get married in a hurry, or everybody would find out what had happened."

"Everybody found out anyway," she said.

"He wanted to protect her from the gossip as long as possible."

"I must be dense, but I still can't figure it. Celina has two men who love her begging her to get married. Why didn't she?"

"She refused to choose between us." A furrow of concentration formed between his brows. "You know, Alex, that's the first smart, adult decision Celina ever made. We were seniors in high school. God knows Reede didn't have any money. I did, but my folks would have gone ape shit if I'd've gotten married before I even graduated, especially with Celina carrying another man's baby.

"She had another reason, though, more important than finances or parental approval. She knew that if she chose one of us over the other, it would alter the friendship forever.

There would be an odd man out. When it came right down to it, she wouldn't break up the triangle. Funny, isn't it? That happened anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"It was never quite the same between the three of us after we got back from El Paso. We were on guard all the time, where before, we were always nakedly honest with each other."

His voice turned sad. "Reede didn't see as much of her as I did while she was pregnant, and that wasn't very often.

We were busy with school and she stayed close to home.

Oh, we went through the motions of still being best buddies, but when we were together, we tried too hard to pretend that everything was normal.

"That night she tried to abort you stood between us like a solid wall. None of us could ever go up, over, around, or through it. It was there. Conversations became an effort.

Laughter was forced."

"But, you didn't desert her."

"No. The day you were born, Reede and I rushed to the hospital. Besides your grandmother, we were the first people

you were introduced to."

"I'm glad of that," she said thickly.

"So am I."

"If I'd been Celina, I would have snagged one of you when I had the chance."

His grin slowly faded. "Reede stopped asking."

"Why?"

Junior signaled for the waitress to refill his coffee cup.

Then, cradling it between his hands, he stared into its dark depths. "He never forgave her."

"For Al Gaither?"

"For you."

Stricken, Alex raised her hand to cover her mouth. The guilt she had borne all her life pressed in on her like a vise.

Junior, sensing her anxiety, rushed to say, "It wasn't because she'd conceived you. He couldn't forgive that abortion business."

"I don't understand."

"See, Alex, Reede's a survivor. Hell, if anybody was ever destined to turn out rotten, it was Reede. He didn't have a snowball's chance in hell of making anything out of himself.

Social workers, if Purcell had had any, would have pointed at him and said, 'There goes a wasted life in the making.

He'll go bad. Watch and see.' But no, not Reede. He thrives on adversity. He's a scrapper. He's strong. He gets knocked down and comes up fighting.

"Now me," he said with a scoffing laugh, "I can overlook other people's weaknesses because I've got so many of my own. I could understand the panic and fear Celina must have felt. She took desperate measures because she was afraid to stick it out.

' 'Reede can't understand taking the path of least resistance.

He couldn't tolerate that weakness in her. He expects so goddamn much out of himself, he imposes the same standards on everybody else. Those standards are virtually impossible to live up to. That's why he's constantly disappointed in people. He sets himself up to be."

"He's a cynic."

"I can see where you'd think that, but don't let that tough pose fool you. When people let him down, as they invariably do because they're human, it hurts him. When he's hurt, he turns mean."

"Was he mean to my mother?"

"No, never. Their relationship being what it was, she had the power to hurt and disappoint him more than anybody could. But he couldn't turn mean toward Celina because he loved her so much." He looked at Alex levelly. "He just couldn't forgive her."

"That's why he stepped aside and gave you the advantage."

"Which I unabashedly took," he said with a short laugh.

"I'm not as hard to please as Reede. I don't demand perfection in myself or anybody else. Yes, Alex, in spite of her mistakes, I loved your mother and wanted her to be my wife on any terms."

"Why didn't she marry you, Junior?" Alex asked, genuinely perplexed. "She loved you. I know she did."

"I know she did, too. And I'm damned good-looking."

He winked and Alex smiled.' 'Few would believe this because of the way I live now, but I would have been faithful to Celina and made you an excellent daddy, Alex. I wanted to try, anyway." He clasped his hands together on the table.

"But Celina said no, no matter how many times I asked her.''

"And you went on asking her, right up until the night she died."

His eyes snapped up to hers. "Yes. I invited her out to the ranch that night to propose."

"Did you?"

"Yes."

"And?"

"Same as always. She turned me down."

"Do you know why?"

"Yes." He shifted uncomfortably in the booth. "She still loved Reede. Always and forever, it was Reede she wanted."

Alex looked away because she knew it was a painful admission for him to make. "Junior, where were you that night?"

"At the ranch."

"I mean after that, after you took Celina home."

"I didn't take her home. I presumed Dad would."

"Angus?"

"I was upset because she had refused me again. See, I'd told my parents to get used to the idea of having a daughter-in-law and a grandchild in the house soon." He spread his hands in a helpless gesture. "I got mad and stormed out--

just flew the coop and left Celina there."

"Where did you go?"

"I hit all the places that would sell liquor to minors. I got drunk."

"Alone?"

"Alone."

"No alibi?"

"Junior doesn't need an alibi. He didn't kill your mother."

They had been so immersed in the conversation that neither had noticed Stacey Wallace's approach. When they looked up, she was standing at the edge of the table. Her stare was even more hostile than it had been at their first meeting.

"Good morning, Stacey," Junior said uncomfortably. He seemed less than pleased by her sudden appearance. "Sit down and have a cup of coffee with us." He moved over to make room for her on his side of the booth.

"No, thank you." Glaring down at Alex, she said, "Stop bothering Junior with your endless questions."

"Hey, Stacey, I'm not bothered,'' he said, trying to smooth over the situation.

"Why don't you just give it up?"

"I can't."

"Well, you should. It would be best for everybody."

"Especially the murderer," Alex said quietly.

Stacey's thin, straight body quivered like a bowstring just plucked. "Get out of our lives. You're a self-serving, vindictive bitch, who--"

"Not here, Stacey." Junior, intervening quickly, scooted out of the booth and took her arm. "I'll walk you to your car. What are you doing out this morning? Oh, your bridge group is having breakfast," he said, noting the table of women watching curiously. "How nice." He gave them a jaunty little wave.

Alex, as aware as Junior of all the prying eyes, slipped a five-dollar bill beneath her saucer and left the coffee shop only a few moments behind Junior and Stacey.

She gave Stacey's car wide berth, but watched from the corner of her eye as Junior pulled Stacey into an embrace and rubbed her back consolingly. He gave her a soft kiss on the lips. She clung to him, appealing to him about something that had caused her consternation. His answer seemed to soothe her. She went limp against his chest.

Junior worked himself out of her clutches, but in such a charming way that Stacey was smiling when he tucked her into the driver's seat of her car and waved her off.

Alex was already inside her room when he tapped on the door and said, "It's me."

She opened the door. "What was that all about?"

"She thought I'd spent the night with you, since we were having breakfast together in the coffee shop."

"Lord," Alex whispered. "People in this town certainly have fertile minds. You'd better leave before anybody else gets that impression."

"What do you care? I don't."

"Well, I do."

Uneasily, Alex glanced toward the unmade bed. On any other morning the housekeeper was knocking while she was still in the shower. This morning, of all mornings, she was running late. Alex was afraid that the bed would give away her secret. The room was redolent of Reede. His essence lingered on each surface like a fine coating of dust. She was afraid Junior would sense that.

Gently, he removed her sunglasses and traced the lavender half-moons beneath her eyes. "Bad night?"

That's an understatement, she thought. "You might as well hear it from me. I'm sure it will get around. Late yesterday afternoon I went to Nora Gail's place."

His lips parted with surprise. "Son of a bitch."

"I needed to talk to her. It seems she's Reede's alibi for the night Celina was killed. Anyway, while I was there, a man got shot. There was blood, an arrest."

Junior laughed with incredulity. "You're kiddin' me."

"I wish I were,'' she said grimly.' 'Here I am, representing the D.A.'s office, and I get involved in a Shootout between two cowboys in a whorehouse."

Suddenly it all collapsed on her. Instead of crying, she began to laugh. Once she started, she couldn't stop. She laughed until her sides ached and tears were rolling down her cheeks. "Oh, God, can you believe it? If Greg Harper ever hears about this, he--"

"Pat Chastain won't tell him. He has a girl out at--"

"I know," she said, "Reede told me. He responded to the call and hustled me out. He didn't seem to think there would be any repercussions." She shrugged in an offhanded manner that she hoped didn't look as phony as it felt.

"It's good to hear you laughing for a change," Junior commented, smiling down at her. "I'd like to stick around and cheer you up even more." He placed his hands on her derriere and began to move them up and down. Alex pushed him away.

"If you wanted to cheer someone up, you should have gone with Stacey. She looked like she could use it."

He glanced away guiltily. "It doesn't take much to make her happy."

"Because she still loves you."

"I don't deserve her."

"That doesn't matter to her. She'll forgive you anything She already has."

"Of murder, you mean?"

"No. Of loving someone else--Celina."

"Not this time, Alex," he whispered and dipped his head to kiss her.

She dodged his well-aimed lips. "No, Junior."

"Why not?"

"You know why."

"Am I still only a pal?"

"A friend."

"Why just a friend?"

"I keep getting the present mixed up with the past. Hearing you talk about wishing you could have been my father stifled my romantic inclinations."

"When I look at you now, I can't relate you to that tiny baby in the crib. You're an exciting woman. I want to hold you, love you, and not like a daddy."

"No." She shook her head adamantly. "It just doesn't sit right, Junior. It's out of whack."

This was the speech she should have made to Reede. Why hadn't she? Because she was a phony, that's why. And because the same rules didn't always apply to similar situations, even when one wanted them to. And because she didn't have any control over whom she fell in love with. She and Celina had that in common.

"We can never be lovers."

He smiled and said without rancor, "I'm stubborn. Once this is over, I'll make certain that you see me in a whole new light. We'll pretend that we're meeting for the first time and you'll fall hard for me."

If it soothes his ego, let him think so, Alex thought.

She knew it would never be, just as it could never have been with him and Celina.

And in both cases, Reede Lambert was the reason.

Thirty-seven

Angus's secretary escorted Alex into his office at ME headquarters.

It was an unpretentious complex, situated in a

professional building between a dentist's office and a two-partner law firm. He stepped around his desk to greet her.

"Thank you for stopping by, Alex."

"I'm glad you called. I needed to talk to you anyway."

"Would you like a drink?"

"No, thanks."

"Seen Junior lately?"

"Yes. We had coffee together this morning."

Angus was pleased. His lecture had obviously worked. As usual, Junior had just needed a pep talk to get into gear.

"Before we get to my business," Angus said, "what's on your mind?"

"Specifically, the night my mother died, Angus."