Cooper's Deale Part 7

"I hear an accent there. Puerto Rico?"

"Mexico." Chauncey put his fork on his plate and glanced down at his lap, then at the door. He was acting curious, like he might bolt from the room, which was unusual for him.

"Caw! Caw!"

"I'm sorry. I must see to my brother." Addy was mortified by Tommy's behavior in her new boarder's presence.

When she reached the backyard, the sound of exploding firecrackers and rockets in the distance startled her. She recalled watching the fireworks displays over San Francis...o...b..y with Maureen, and a twinge of sadness enveloped her. Tommy stuck his head out the window.

"Could I have some more mashed potatoes and milk, please?"

"Of course, sweetie."

Addy turned to go back inside and nearly b.u.mped into Liberty, standing behind her. Liberty grasped Addy's arms to prevent the collision and smiled. The heat from Liberty's hands turned Addy's knees to rubber, and she stood still for a long moment, letting the sensation wash over her.

"Let me get it," Liberty offered, heading back into the house before Addy could reply.

"Who's that?" Tommy whispered.

"She's renting a room from us, Tommy. I think you'll like her, she's very nice."

"She looks like a flamingo."

"Tommy."

Liberty returned with the bowl of potatoes and a pitcher of milk. "What do I do?"

"Thanks, but I'll take care of it." Addy reached for the food.

"No, I'd really like to help."

"Caw! Caw!"

Tommy was running from one side of his house to the other, which he did when he was upset. She knew what was wrong.

"Tommy prefers that I feed him, because I'm his sister."

Addy put the food in the bucket, then hoisted it up by a pulley system rigged to an upper branch. This guy was a real fruitcake, Liberty said to herself, and so close to the murder scene. Earlier that day she had met with the deputy, who had briefed her on the location of the body on the Cooper property.

It was too coincidental that a crazy guy lived within yards of where the reporter was found. She didn't know if the murder was connected to the radioactive-spill angle. That would take time. But a grown man who lived in a tree and made bird calls deserved closer scrutiny.

"Well, we should go back inside," Addy reminded her.

"But it's such a beautiful evening. I hate being cooped up. Won't you join me?" Liberty sat in the tree swing and patted the seat next to her.

Tiny alarm bells rang in Addy's body at the idea of being next to Liberty. As if in acknowledgment, a small fireworks explosion in the sky burst into a rosette of green and red. The already-warm evening became even warmer, and a flush rose from her neck to her cheeks. It would be rude to say no, and a very large part of her wanted to say yes. She cautiously approached and sat next to her boarder.

"There, now, that's nice, isn't it?" Liberty asked, smiling down at Addy.

Addy nodded, her throat suddenly dry. Liberty's thigh just barely touched hers, and she swore Liberty inched closer. Was Liberty coming on to her? Her heart was pounding and she suddenly felt shy. It had been a long time since someone had flirted with her, and she allowed herself the pleasure.

Liberty stretched her arm along the back of the swing. This was almost too easy. But unlike with Dee-Dee, she couldn't rush things with Addy. She couldn't afford to risk being shut out from what was happening with Addy's brother. If he was responsible for the recent activity in Deale, she'd need the help of his sister, which would be tricky indeed. Naturally she would want to protect him. But Liberty needed to find the source of the radioactive material.

"Your brother is okay up there?"

"He's fine." Addy squirmed. "He has everything he needs-heat in winter, electricity, water, food-everything that we enjoy down here. Except for a television and a phone. He had a TV early on but didn't watch it or want it, and the phone, well, obviously he didn't need that either. He does have an intercom up there and can call me any time."

"Could I go up and see him sometime?"

Addy hesitated. "Why?"

"For one thing, I've had my share of living in a tree." Liberty laughed at the memory of seeing angry frustration in the loggers' eyes. "Tommy and I have that in common. It would be fun to discuss the pros and cons, although he certainly has a lot more amenities than I had at the time."

"I don't know. Tommy is selective about who he allows up there. He used to let only Grandma and me, and I think Tommy's friend Jeff and Officer Kaczarowski have been up a few times."

"I see," Liberty said, noting the name Jeff and surprised to learn of the cop's personal interest in the Coopers. "And he never comes down?"

Addy abruptly rose. "I should get back to Fern and Chauncey. I'm sure they'll be gossiping about us by now. And I need to start clearing the table."

As Liberty strode back to the house, she dwelt on how uncomfortable Addy had been when she'd questioned her about her brother. She gazed up at the tree house, wondering if the guy was spying on her.

"I'm coming for you sooner or later, buddy."

Karen drove out to the Cooper house early the next morning, intent on walking the crime scene again to see if she had missed anything. The ground had dried sufficiently, and she wanted to arrive when the tide was out in case something had been uncovered. Detectives had already canva.s.sed the area, but it was her day off, and besides, she wanted to visit Addy.

She hadn't slept well, knowing the FBI agent had moved into Addy's house. She could spot a cad a mile away, and Liberty definitely fit the category. And after Dee-Dee had boasted of the great s.e.x they'd had, Karen was doubly uncomfortable. Part of her wanted to warn Addy about the woman. She couldn't divulge Liberty's true ident.i.ty, but it wasn't right that Addy was renting a room in her own home to someone who was being untruthful.

And Addy didn't need to know that she was worried Liberty's charms would suck her in. The agent was an arrogant, narcissistic Casanova who needed taking down a notch.

Bypa.s.sing the house, Karen walked through the woods toward the sh.o.r.eline. She turned away from the crime scene, scouring the beach for about a quarter mile. Returning the way she had come, she again pa.s.sed the spot where the victim had been found and trekked a quarter mile down the other way.

Each time she studied the tall gra.s.s and, in some places, stamped them down to examine items she gleaned from the soil.

They turned out to be seash.e.l.ls, rocks, rotting wood, or pieces of weathered gla.s.s. Frustrated at not finding anything, she finally ended her search back at the crime scene, digging through some of the mounds of dirt and weeds upturned in previous searches.

As the morning wore on and she began to sweat, she wished she'd brought some water. She sat on a piece of driftwood and removed her cap, wiping her forehead with her sleeve. Something thin and black was sticking out of the sand under a corner of the driftwood, and she plucked it from the sand and pulled. It came up easily, breaking the surface of the mud and trailing back under the wood. It was a strap, so she rose and pushed the log aside.

She yanked hard, and out popped what appeared to be a camera case.

Liberty had been keeping track of the deputy with binoculars ever since she began to walk along the beach. She couldn't make out what the officer had found, but she was itching to know. She had walked along the same beach, searching for clues, with no luck. How could the local hick deputy have located something she hadn't? She tossed the binoculars on the bed and went downstairs, where Addy was in the kitchen making breakfast.

"Good morning," Addy called cheerfully.

"Good morning." Liberty almost dashed out the back door but remembered her real purpose for renting the room and forced herself to slow down.

"Mmm, something smells good." She pressed into Addy's back as she stood frying bacon. "And I'm not talking about the French toast."

Addy's giggle made her smile. The pull in her stomach and the ache elsewhere signaled her need to get laid. Another couple of moments like these and she'd have Addy spread out before her like Christmas dinner. Seduce her, gain her trust, and then get to the bottom of things-in that order. She wanted her as soon as possible-partly because of the annoying deputy outside, and partly because she knew Addy would be a good lay.

"I'm going for a little walk before breakfast, if that's okay."

"Oh. Breakfast is almost ready, but I can hold it for a while.

Chauncey is outside by the shrubs, making squirrels and rabbits out of them, and Fern is in the shower, so you have a little time."

Liberty could hear the wistfulness in her voice and knew Addy wanted her too. She almost reached around her, aching to fondle her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. But that move might frighten this little chicken.

This situation called for a kiss, but now wasn't the right time.

"I'll be back before you can say lickety-split."

She was almost to the water's edge when she met Karen.

"Let's keep to the woods so we're not seen together," Liberty advised. "What did you find?"

"A camera case." Kazro, or whatever her name was, wiped off the front of it and showed her. "According to Vinson's editor, he had a Nikon F6."

"But where's the camera?"

"Yeah. Find the camera, and we just might come up with some interesting photos."

"That thing could be anywhere by now, Deputy. It could be in the bottom of the inlet, or the tide could've taken it out into the bay and the ocean beyond. d.a.m.n."

"Maybe. But it's worth having a couple of divers see what they can locate. We might get lucky."

Liberty eyed her skeptically. It was a pipe dream, but if the local police wanted to waste their time finding a needle in a haystack, that was fine with her. Addy's brother most likely had something to do with the crime, and she was going to pursue that lead. If Addy knew anything about her brother's involvement, she'd eventually extract it from her.

Liberty was known for getting her man, and in this case, she'd get the girl too. Only this time, it would be far more pleasurable.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

"Yo, Tommy," Jeff Olson yelled from the base of the red oak. "Can I come up?"

Tommy clambered onto the decking outside his front door.

"Hi, Jeff. Sure."

While Jeff climbed the ladder, Tommy stared at the main house where Jeff's older brother and another guy were finishing painting the back. The scaffolding made the house look like it had a skeleton, only on the outside. Tommy wanted them to paint it purple, his favorite color, but Addy told him that Grandma had always liked yellow. And since it was already that color, that made sense to Tommy, so he agreed.

"I brought you some comics." Jeff wheezed as he sat on the deck. After pulling an inhaler from his front pocket, he sucked the medication like he was blowing up a balloon.

"Wow, Spider-Man." Tommy sat next to Jeff and flipped through the pages. "Thanks, Jeff."

Jeff handed Tommy a bubblegum ball, and for a while they competed to see who could blow the biggest bubble.

"Hey, I've got something to show you, but you gotta come inside." Tommy motioned Jeff to follow him.

Seated at the table, Tommy pulled the camera out from under the bed.

"Cool. Where'd you get it?"

"I found it."

"You found it? Whattya mean, you found it? It was just laying around up here in the tree branches? Come on, Tommy. It's your sister's, ain't it?"

"Nope. I told you, I found it."

"Yeah, right. You know if you found it, you're supposed to give it back to whoever lost it, right? Because it ain't yours."

Tommy thought hard about that. He couldn't give it back, so what was he supposed to do? Addy said he couldn't tell anybody about the man either, so he couldn't explain to Jeff how he got it.

"So is there any film in it?" Jeff asked.

Tommy shrugged. "I don't know how to work it."

"Here, let me show you." Jeff took the camera. "I got one last year for my birthday, but it's an automatic and a lot smaller than this." After a few minutes of pressing b.u.t.tons and turning the lens, he said, "There's supposed to be a b.u.t.ton to open this so I can see if it's got film, but I can't find it. I can ask Dale."

"No. You can't talk to your brother about it." Tommy was worried that a grown-up like Dale would make him explain where he got it, and Addy would be mad at him.

"Why not?"

"Because it's a secret." Tommy folded his arms across his chest and refused to say any more.

"Aw, come on," Jeff begged. "You can tell me. I'm your best friend, ain't I?"

Tommy hadn't thought about that. Jeff was his best friend, and they always shared everything. Tommy almost gave in. Addy said he shouldn't tell anybody, but Jeff wouldn't say anything.

"Tommy. Breakfast." Addy's voice came over the intercom.

Tommy stared at Jeff, his heart pounding like a drum. "It's Addy. She'd be mad if she found out I let you in on the secret."

"So your sister gets to know, but not your best friend." Jeff stood up. "If that's how you're gonna be, I'm going to help my brother. I get an allowance when I help, and then I can buy more comic books. See if I give you any."

Tommy followed him out to the deck as he climbed down.

He didn't want Jeff to leave and was upset that he was mad at him. And now he wouldn't get any new comics. Maybe if he made Jeff swear that he wouldn't tell a soul, then he might tell him.

"Hi, Jeff," Addy said as he pa.s.sed by.

"Hi."

The sullen greeting surprised Addy, and she noticed Tommy's forlorn expression, so they must have had an argument.