Of the two twins, Connie was the more adventurous. She was the one who, at nineteen months old, found a bug in the backyard and ate it. Granted, she was a toddler when it happened, but of the two girls, Connie was the daredevil.
Jon turned into the Mission apartment complex. They knocked on the doors of several of the apartments around Peter Burkstrom’s place. At the third apartment, a young woman answered the door. After they identified themselves, Jon asked, “How well did you know Peter Burkstrom?”
“I moved into my place about seven months ago,” the woman said. “I’d just moved here from Dumas, a little town in the Texas Panhandle, and didn’t know anyone. Pete helped me move in.”
“Were you close?” Dave asked.
She shrugged. “We were friendly, but we didn’t date, if that’s what you’re asking.” She leaned close. “He was a little too old for me.”
Dave threw Jon a grin.
“No, that’s not what we wanted to know,” said Jon. “Did anything unusual happen around here recently, anything involving Mr. Burkstrom? Any falling-out with neighbors, fights? Or was he acting strangely?”
She thought for several minutes and said, “You know, about a month ago, I saw Pete arguing with a man out in the parking lot. I thought they were going to start throwing punches, but then the other guy pointed his finger at Peter, said something, turned around and disappeared around the corner of the apartment building. I saw a dark green car drive out a minute later. It was a very expensive car.”
“Do you remember the license plate?” asked Dave.
She shook her head. “But it was a luxury convertible. Black. It’s my dream car.”
Jon handed her a business card. “If you think of anything else or see anything suspicious, call us.”
She took the card and put it in a front pocket of her jeans. Jon and Dave finished canvassing the area. No one else answered their knock.
Checking his watch, Jon said, “Let’s stop by Sunbelt Securities and see if that armored car is back.”
“A little earlier than planned? You want to catch them off guard?”
The best way to catch people covering up evidence was showing up unexpectedly. They wanted to see if anyone at the armored car company needed to hide something.
“Let’s go,” Jon said.
“Mom, Mom,” Penny yelled, running toward Lilly, who rolled up the garden hose. “Can I go home with Ann? Her mom says we can swim this afternoon and then make snow cones.”
Tuesdays were the days that Ann and her mom helped in the church garden. When Lilly was first hired as the church’s secretary, manager and gardener by the new young pastor, he told her he wanted to reach out to the neighborhood. He’d come up with the idea to use the side yard of the church for a community garden.
The garden’s success had stunned all of them. Young couples from the neighborhood helped with the garden, then started coming to church. Ann and her parents lived close to the church and helped regularly with the garden. At the end of the growing season, they passed out fresh vegetables to the neighbors. It had been a wonderful ministry. And it had brought many people into the church who had heard about Jesus.
“You’re going to desert me?” Lilly asked her daughter. “And I’m not going to get a snow cone?”
Penny laughed. “I bet you could come and have snow cones with us.” She looked over her shoulder at her friend.
Ann’s mom stood behind her daughter. “Since they worked so hard today, I thought an afternoon in the pool was what they needed.”
“Can I, Mom?” Penny turned on her acting ability and played a poor, deserving soul.
Lilly nodded. “Okay, but—”
The girls’ shrieks filled the air.
“You don’t have your bathing suit,” Lilly said.
Penny’s expression fell.
“Ann has several suits,” Ann’s mom said. “Penny can use one of them.”
Her father’s death had knocked Penny for a loop. This was the first time since Peter’s death that Lilly had seen her daughter excited. “Okay.”
Penny hugged her mother’s waist. “You’re the best, Mom.”
“I’ll be at Ann’s house at six,” Lilly said.
“Okay,” Penny agreed. The girls bounced around.
“You can have my new suit,” Ann told Penny as they walked away.
Ann’s mom walked behind the girls, shaking her head.
With her daughter occupied this afternoon, Lilly could go to Peter’s apartment and continue packing his things up.
After letting the pastor know where she was going, she left the church. The drive to Peter’s place took less than ten minutes.
She’d talked with Pastor Kent about what to do with Peter’s things. He’d found several needy families in the parish that could use clothes, dishes and a television. All she needed to do was go through Peter’s things and see what she might want to save for Penny.
She pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex and found a spot near Peter’s apartment. Pulling boxes out of the backseat, she wrestled them up the stairs. She fumbled with Penny’s key and dropped it. Picking it up, she unlocked the door and dragged the boxes into the living room. As she turned around, she spotted a man hiding behind the door.
Before she could yell, his fist shot out, hitting her on the chin, and darkness descended.
FOUR
S omething gnawed at his gut. Jon flexed his hands on the steering wheel of their police-issue sedan, trying to sort through the tension. He’d learned a long time ago not to ignore his instincts.
“What is it?” Dave asked.
Jon threw his partner a glance. “What?”
“You’ve got that look.”
He could try to deny it, but Dave and Jon had been partners long enough to read each other’s body language. “Something’s wrong.”
“Well, that clears things up.”
“You’ve followed hunches, and I’ve not complained,” Jon retorted.
“Yeah.”
“Before we pay Sunbelt a surprise visit, let’s run back to Peter’s apartment. Maybe we need to talk to the manager about that incident the neighbor mentioned. See if he has a tape of the incident.”
Dave didn’t hesitate or complain. “Let’s go.”
Jon
