Buch lesen: «The Colonel's Daughter»

ONE

Angry storm clouds turned the evening sky over Fort Rickman, Georgia, as dark as the mood within the car. Michele Logan pulled her eyes from the road and glanced at her mother, sitting next to her in the passenger seat.

Roberta Logan, usually the poised colonel’s wife, toyed with the collar of her blouse and gave voice to a subject that had weighed on Michele’s heart for the past two years. “Despite what you think, dear, you haven’t gotten over your brother’s death.”

Ever since she and her mother had left her parents’ quarters en route to the potluck dinner, Roberta had insisted on talking about the accident that had claimed Lance’s life. The topic added to Michele’s anxiety, especially with the inclement August weather and the darkening night.

“Aren’t you the one who insists life goes on, Mother?”

“And it does, dear, but that doesn’t mean you’ve worked through your grief.” Roberta turned her gaze toward the encroaching storm. “As I’ve told you before, you weren’t to blame.”

True enough that Michele wasn’t to blame for the crashed army helicopter, yet she still felt responsible for her brother’s death. If she had visited that weekend, he never would have been on board the fateful flight.

“I don’t like the looks of those clouds.” Distracted by the storm, Roberta worried her fingers. “Maybe Yolanda should have canceled the potluck.”

“And disappoint the wives in Dad’s brigade? You said it’s important for the women to come together socially when the men were deployed.”

“But the weatherman mentioned another line of storms moving into Georgia.” Her mother’s voice grew increasingly concerned. “You should have stayed in Atlanta until the bad weather passed, dear.”

“I told you I want to help with preparations for the brigade’s return to Fort Rickman.”

“Which won’t be for another week. The real reason you came home early is to visit the cemetery tomorrow. It’s been two years. You don’t need to spend each anniversary crying at Lance’s grave site.”

“I’m not crying.”

“But you will be tomorrow.” Roberta shifted in the seat and sighed. “You never should have left post in the first place.”

Although she wouldn’t admit it, Michele sometimes wondered if moving to Atlanta ten months ago had been a mistake. She hadn’t seen Jamison Steele in all that time, but she’d thought about him far too often. They had dated for almost a year, and she had believed he was everything she’d wanted in a guy. When an investigation turned deadly on post, she realized her mistake.

As if sensing her struggle, Roberta gazed knowingly at her daughter. “Your father and I would love to have you move back, dear. You could work from home.”

“I...I can’t.”

Roberta rubbed her hand over Michele’s shoulder. “Just think about it.”

Moving back wasn’t an option. Michele had made a new life for herself. One that didn’t involve the military. She was happy in Atlanta, or so she kept telling herself.

Droplets of rain spattered against the windshield as Michele turned into the Buckner Housing Area. She activated the wipers and flipped the lights to high beam, exposing broken twigs and leaves that had fallen in the last downpour.

The street was long and narrow and led to a two-story home at the dead end of a cul-de-sac surrounded by a thick forest of hardwoods and tall pines. Michele pulled to the curb in front of the dark quarters.

Mrs. Logan eyed the house completely devoid of light. “Yolanda must have lost power in the storm.” Thunder rumbled overhead, and fat raindrops pummeled the car.

“I’ll get the casserole, Mother. You make a run for the door.” Michele grabbed the ceramic dish from the backseat and raced behind her mother to the covered porch.

Roberta tapped twice with the brass knocker. When no one answered, she glanced questioningly at Michele and then pushed the door open.

“Yolanda, it’s Roberta and Michele. We’re early, but we wanted to help before the others arrive.” Roberta stepped inside and motioned Michele to follow. A bolt of lightning sizzled across the sky. A second later, thunder shook the house.

An earthy smell wafted past Michele. She closed the door and looked left into the dining area. Flames from two large candles flickered over the linen tablecloth, highlighting the plates and silverware stacked on the sideboard.

“Yolanda, where are you?” Roberta walked toward the kitchen, her heels clipping over the hardwood floor.

Michele placed the casserole on the dining table before she returned to the foyer. At the opposite end of the hallway, her mother stopped short, hands on her hips.

“Yolanda?”

Roberta’s raised voice and insistent call twisted more than a ripple of concern along Michele’s spine. A sense of foreboding flooded over her as intense as any she had felt for her father in the twelve months of his deployment. With the silent quarters closing in around her, she was now equally worried about Yolanda.

A floorboard creaked in the living room. Michele turned toward the sound. The settling house, the wind howling down the chimney...or was someone there?

She crossed the hallway, drawn by a need to discover not only the source of the noise but also the mineral smell that increased in intensity the closer she got to the living room. Her neck tingled, but she ignored the warning and stepped toward the oversized couch and love seat that filled the center of the living area.

A small table and chair sat nestled in an alcove behind the love seat. Michele tried to make out the dark outline on the pale carpet.

“Yolanda?” From the kitchen, Roberta called one more time. Her voice was filled with question and a tremble that signified she, too, sensed something was wrong.

Michele’s pulse quickened as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. Newspapers lay scattered around an overturned lamp.

Her stomach tightened.

A roar filled her ears. She stepped around the couch and saw the woman lying in a pool of blood.

“No!” Michele’s hand flew to her throat in the exact spot where Yolanda’s neck had been cut.

A rustle sounded behind her. Before she could turn, a violent force lunged into her. She crashed against the back of the couch. Her ribs took the blow. Pain exploded along her side and mixed with air that whooshed from her lungs. She gasped, and for an instant saw only darkness.

Retreating footsteps sounded in the hallway.

Her mother screamed.

Michele fisted her hands and willed herself to remain conscious. A door slammed shut in the rear of the house.

Still gasping for air, she struggled to her feet and stumbled out of the living area, her only thought to find her mother and make sure she was alive.

Lightning turned the darkness bright for one terrifying second. Roberta lay slumped against the wall.

Dropping to her knees, Michele touched her mother’s shoulder. “Mama?”

Roberta moaned. Her eyes blinked open.

Relief rushed over Michele along with a wave of nausea. She hung her head to stave off the passing sickness and dug in her pocket for her cell phone.

A face flashed through her mind. Without weighing the consequences, she punched Speed Dial for a number she should have deleted ten months ago.

He answered on the second ring.

“Criminal Investigation Division, Fort Rickman, Georgia. This is Special Agent Jamison Steele.”

The memory of his warm embrace and tender kisses washed over her. For one sweet, illogical second, she felt safe.

“Hello?” He waited for a response.

“Jamison—”

A sharp intake of air. “Michele?”

“I need help.” Rubbing her free hand over her forehead, she tried to focus. “I’m at Quarters 122. In the Buckner Housing Area. Contact the military police.”

“What happened?”

“One of the wives... Her husband’s in Afghanistan. He’s in my father’s brigade. She was hosting a potluck for the brigade wives. Someone broke in—”

Jamison issued a series of commands to a person in his office. “I’m on the way, Michele. The military police are being notified. I’ll be there in three minutes. Are you hurt?”

“I...I’m okay. It’s Yolanda Hughes.”

Michele swallowed down the lump that filled her throat. “Yolanda’s dead.”

* * *

Heart in his throat, Jamison pulled to the curb and hit the ground running, weapon in one hand, Maglite in the other.

Stay calm. Ignoring the internal advice, his gut tightened when he stepped into the house and spied Michele on the floor with her arm around her mother.

For an instant, he was once again the man who loved Michele more than anything. Swallowing hard, Jamison shoved aside any lingering hope for a future together, a future that had died when she walked out of his life.

Raw fear flashed from her blue eyes and cut through his resolve to remain neutral. Ten months ago, her smile had lit up his world. Today Michele’s face was as pale as death and furrowed with pain.

Head buried in her daughter’s shoulder, Mrs. Logan cried softly. Michele nudged her gently. “Jamison’s here, Mama.”

The older woman glanced up, her eyes red and swollen. “Oh, Jamison. Yolanda... A man raced past me and out the back door. I...I tried to stop him.”

“Did he hurt you?” His gaze fell on Michele. Tousled brown hair hung around her oval face.

“We’re both a little bruised. Nothing serious. But Yolanda—” Unable to continue, Michele raised a trembling hand and pointed to the living area.

“Stay where you are,” he cautioned, struggling to remain objective. “The ambulance is on its way.”

A rank, coppery smell greeted Jamison as he entered the living room. He aimed his light over the blood that had soaked into the thick carpet, blackening the fibers.

His gut twisted at the tragic sight.

The victim was an African-American female. Probably mid- to late-thirties. Shoulder-length brown hair. Dark eyes wide open. The look of terror etched on her face.

A deep laceration had severed her carotid artery. Massive blood loss pooled under her upper torso.

Kneeling beside the woman, he felt for a pulse, yet knew full well life had been heinously snatched from Yolanda Hughes. Her wrist was supple and still warm. No rigor mortis. Not yet.

He tried the light switch, then played the Maglite over the living room. His gaze settled ever so briefly on the family photograph above the mantel. The deceased was smiling warmly, her hands on the shoulders of a man in uniform. Major’s rank on his epaulets. Two children. A boy and girl.

The dread of finding the children dead roared through Jamison. He strode back to the hallway. “Mrs. Hughes had kids?”

Michele held up her hand, palm out. “They’re at the Graysons’. Lieutenant Colonel Grayson is my father’s executive officer. The two families are close. The Grayson kids invited Benjamin and Natalie to stay with them tonight.”

Breathing out a sigh of relief, Jamison moved quickly into the kitchen and edged open the back door. He stepped outside and studied the darkness, knowing the killer was long gone.

Retracing his steps, Jamison headed toward the flickering candlelight and checked the dining area before he scurried up the stairs to the second floor. Sirens screamed in the distance.

Finding nothing out of place and no one upstairs, he returned to the main landing and ensured that Michele and her mother were all right before he opened the front door and stepped onto the porch. Three military police cars screeched to the curb. An ambulance followed close behind. Across the street, neighbors came out of their homes and stared with worried expressions at the activity.

Jamison directed the military police. “The victim’s in the living room, first floor. Two children are spending the night with friends. Husband is deployed. Colonel Logan’s wife and daughter are in the hallway and need medical attention. The electricity is down. Get some temporary lighting in there ASAP.”

A military policeman began to cordon off the area with crime scene tape.

“Someone go door to door,” Jamison ordered. “Question the neighbors. See if anyone saw anything suspicious.”

“Roger that, sir.” A stocky military policeman motioned for another MP to join him, and the twosome hustled to a nearby set of quarters.

The medics raced up the front steps. Jamison followed them inside. One man moved into the living area. The other two knelt beside Mrs. Logan and Michele.

Assured they were being adequately cared for, Jamison returned to the porch to oversee the bevy of activity. A young military policeman approached him.

“Sir, the power line to the house appears to have been severed. The on-post maintenance company has been notified. They’re sending someone to fix the line.”

“Dust for prints first.”

“Roger that, sir.”

“How long until he arrives?”

“They said he’d be here shortly.”

“Did they give you an exact time?”

“No, sir.”

A car pulled into the driveway. CID special agent Dawson Timmons—a tall blond with a thick neck—climbed onto the sidewalk. Favoring his right leg, he approached Jamison, who quickly filled him in.

“What do you need me to do?” Dawson asked.

“Take care of the crime scene. I want to question Mrs. Logan and her daughter and get them out of here as soon as possible. The victim was hosting a potluck for the brigade wives. The guests should be arriving soon. Talk to them individually to see if they have information pertinent to the case.”

“How many ladies are we expecting?”

“Eighteen plates were stacked on a table in the dining room.”

Dawson glanced at the unit insignia plaque on the front door. “First Brigade, Fifth Infantry Division should be home next week.”

Jamison nodded. “Contact Lieutenant Colonel Grayson, the unit’s executive officer, in Afghanistan. Tell him I need to talk to Colonel Logan. Once the other wives arrive, word about the murder will get out. I don’t want Major Hughes to learn what happened to his wife via Twitter or Facebook.”

As Dawson placed the call, Jamison reentered the house. Huge battery-operated floodlights illuminated the earlier darkened interior. The medics had moved Mrs. Logan and Michele to the kitchen, where the women sat at the small breakfast table.

Mrs. Logan sported a bandage on her forehead and stared up at one of the EMTs. “If my blood pressure is okay after all that, young man, I’m not going to the hospital. But I appreciate your advice and the excellent care you’ve provided tonight.”

“I still think you and Miss Logan should have a doctor check you, ma’am.”

Michele stood and stepped toward Jamison, her voice low when she spoke. “Mother insists she’s okay, although I’d feel better if a doctor looked her over.”

“Are you planning to take your own advice?” Frustrated by Michele’s attempt to slip back into their old familiarity, Jamison realized his tone was sharp.

She stared at him for a long moment, then turned and walked back to her seat. “If Mother has any problems, we’ll reconsider her decision.”

She was closing herself off from him. Again. He shouldn’t be surprised. Being with Michele drove home the point Jamison had known for months. The colonel’s daughter wasn’t for him. She had left him high and dry without as much as a so long, see you later. He thought he had healed, but tonight the memory festered like an open wound.

“Jamison, any clue who the murderer might be?” Mrs. Logan asked once the medics had cleared the room. Her face was blotched, but she seemed more in control than she had been earlier.

“No, ma’am. But I ordered a post lockdown on the way over here. No one goes on or off Fort Rickman until the military police search the garrison. Right now they’re crisscrossing the post in an attempt to find the perpetrator.”

“Curtis Hughes needs to be told.”

“We’re placing a call to your husband so he can personally notify Major Hughes.”

Mrs. Logan nodded her approval. “I want to talk to Stanley after you do.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Michele’s cheeks had more color than when he’d first spotted her in the hallway, but her jaw was tight and her eyes guarded.

He pulled a small notebook and a U.S. government pen from his coat pocket and kept his face impassive as he thought of questions that begged to be answered. Why’d you leave me, Michele? What happened that made you run away?

Shoving them aside, he asked instead, “Did you see anything out of place, Miss Logan, before you noticed the body?”

“Miss Logan?” She narrowed her gaze and squared her shoulders in an attempt to cover the flash of confusion that clouded her face. Evidently, she didn’t understand his decision to forgo first names.

No matter how alluring Michele might be, Jamison refused to expose his own inner conflict. He needed to remain professional and aloof, firmly grounded in the present.

Michele tugged at a wayward strand of hair and glanced down as if struggling to find the right words to express what had happened.

“I...I heard a noise and decided to investigate.” She pulled in a deep breath. “A lamp...the room was dark...the smell of blood. Wh...when I stepped closer, I...I saw Yolanda.”

“What happened next?”

“Someone shoved me into the couch.”

Jamison tensed. His mouth went dry. He swallowed, knowing all too well what the killer could have done to Michele. “Can you describe the person?”

She shook her head. “He struck from behind. I never saw him.”

Jamison turned to Mrs. Logan. “Did you see him, ma’am?”

“I’m afraid not. My eyes hadn’t adjusted to the darkness, and everything happened so fast.”

“Before entering the quarters, did either of you notice anyone outside? Or anything that seemed out of the ordinary?”

“Mother and I were talking as we drove up. I’m afraid we weren’t being observant, Agent Steele.”

Jamison almost smiled at her attempt to play hardball. Evidently, she didn’t realize he’d built a wall around his heart and added armor for protection. Michele wouldn’t hurt him again. He’d learned his lesson and had the scars to prove it.

“You’re still working for that insurance company?” he asked.

“That’s right. Patriotic Life.”

“Doing risk management?”

“And working from home, if that’s your next question.” She crossed her legs and braced her spine, confrontation evident as she shifted positions.

The pulse in his neck throbbed. “Do you have a list of tonight’s guests?”

“Mother does on her computer. I can print a copy for you.”

“How many people, other than the eighteen women who were invited, may have known about the potluck?”

Michele glanced at her mother for help. “I’m not sure.”

“Seventeen women and one man,” Mrs. Logan corrected Jamison. “Major Shirley Yates is in charge of logistics for the brigade. Her husband, Greg, usually attends the events when we get together.”

“Has he been to Mrs. Hughes’s home previously?” Jamison asked.

Mrs. Logan nodded. “Yes, of course. Yolanda entertains often.”

“Mr. Yates lives on post?”

“In Freemont. Greg has a son from a previous marriage, but I believe he’s in college. No telling who else knew about the potluck. Yolanda probably shared the information with some of her neighbors. She scrapbooks with a group of women in her housing area. Those wives might have known.”

“Had she mentioned anyone acting strangely in the neighborhood? Or had she reconnected with anyone from her past recently?”

“Not that I’m aware of.”

“Is she on Facebook or Twitter?”

“Yolanda emailed her husband and kept up with the brigade news on our wives’ loop. She never mentioned being on any social media sites.”

“How about her marriage?” Jamison glanced at both women. “Were there problems?”

Michele forced a sad smile. “They seemed to be the perfect couple. Devoted to each other and to their children.”

“Any other men in her life? An old friend?”

Mrs. Logan held up her hand. “You can stop that line of questioning, Jamison. Yolanda was a devoted wife. She adored her husband. I’ll vouch for their love and their marriage.”

“What about Greg Yates, the major’s husband? Were he and Mrs. Hughes friendly?”

“Friends but that’s all.”

“And his marriage?”

Mrs. Logan dropped her gaze and thought for a moment before she spoke. “Deployments are tough, Jamison. There’s been some talk, but only that.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning Shirley and Greg plan to separate once she returns home with the unit.”

“How’s Mr. Yates handling the situation?”

“In my opinion, he’s in denial.”

“And Major Yates?”

“Stanley’s said she seems withdrawn.”

Jamison made note of the information. “Major Yates asked for the separation?”

“Evidently Shirley told Greg she was leaving him. He suggested they go through a period of separation first.” Mrs. Logan pursed her lips momentarily. “A few wives thought Shirley was interested in someone else.”

“Someone in the brigade?”

“I don’t know.”

“Could she be involved with Major Hughes?”

Mrs. Logan’s eyes widened in protest. “Absolutely not.”

“Is there anything about Major Hughes that seems questionable, ma’am? As far as you know, does he get along with the other officers in the brigade? Is there anyone who might hold a grudge against him?”

“My husband has always given Curtis high praise. He went to Iraq with Stanley, when my husband commanded his battalion some years ago. Stanley was thrilled when Curtis was assigned to the First of the Fifth shortly before the brigade deployed to Afghanistan.”

Jamison turned to Michele. “You’ve known Major and Mrs. Hughes since he worked for your father in the battalion?”

She nodded. “I used to babysit their kids. But if you think either Yolanda or her husband were involved in something that led to her death, you’re wrong.”

“I don’t suspect anything at this point.” Although he wanted to question Greg Yates. A spurned husband might retaliate against the man he perceived had stolen his wife. Even though Mrs. Logan vouched for Major Hughes’s fidelity, things happened, especially during a deployment.

Jamison closed his notebook and tucked it into his sports coat pocket. “What about the children, ma’am? Does Major Hughes have family in the area?”

“No one close by. Yolanda and Curtis are both from Missouri. I’m sure Benjamin and Natalie can stay at Erica Grayson’s house until relatives arrive.”

Dawson entered the kitchen. He handed the phone to Jamison. “Lieutenant Colonel Grayson is on the line.”

Jamison quickly explained the reason he had phoned. Grayson relayed the information to the commander. Colonel Logan knew Jamison from when he and Michele had dated, but there would be nothing personal about tonight’s call.

The commander’s voice was husky with emotion when he came on the line. “Was Roberta hurt? What about Michele?”

“They’re okay, sir.” As much as he hated giving Colonel Logan bad news, Jamison had to be forthright. Being deployed half a world away meant the colonel couldn’t protect his wife and daughter. Jamison could relate. Once upon a time, he had wanted to be the man keeping Michele safe.

“The perpetrator was in the house when Mrs. Logan and Michele arrived on the scene. Both women were shoved to the floor, sir. The medics checked them out. At this point, I don’t believe they’re going to need further medical care.”

“Thank God.”

“My sentiments exactly, sir.”

“How did it happen, Agent Steele? Aren’t the military police patrolling the housing areas? I’ve got a brigade of soldiers over here fighting to ensure that our world remains safe. Their families need to be protected, yet a killer gets on post and attacks my S-3’s wife.”

“Sir, we’ll use every resource available to apprehend the perpetrator and bring him to justice.”

“I want more than that. I want your assurance no one else will be injured.”

“That’s our goal, sir.”

The colonel let out a sigh. “I know you’re not to blame, but it’s hard to believe something like this could have occurred.”

Jamison filled him in on the few remaining details he knew, although he didn’t mention his concern about Greg Yates and his wife’s rumored infidelity. That could wait until the CID had more information.

“How’s Roberta taking it?” the colonel asked.

“As well as can be expected, sir. She wants to speak to you.” Jamison glanced at Michele before handing the phone to Mrs. Logan.

“I’m fine, Stanley,” she said immediately.

Jamison left the kitchen. Major Bret Hansen, the medical examiner, had arrived and was examining the body. The major looked up as Jamison entered the living room.

“Appears the perp used neuromuscular incapacitation to subdue her,” Hansen said.

“A stun gun?”

“More than likely.”

“That explains how he got in. Mrs. Hughes probably thought one of the wives had arrived early when she opened the door. The killer incapacitated her with the stun gun and was able to walk in without confrontation.”

“I’ll do the autopsy in the morning and let you know the results.”

“Sounds good, sir.”

Returning to the kitchen, Jamison caught Mrs. Logan’s eye. She raised her hand as if ready to finish her conversation.

“Erica should be able to keep the children until

Yolanda’s sister arrives. Have Curtis call me when he feels like talking.” Mrs. Logan nodded. “I love you, too, dear.”

Handing the phone to Michele, she said, “Your father wants to speak to you.”