Discarded Promises Read online

  “I’m mailing it to her sister soon.”

  “Well, I just wanted to thank you for the talk,” Melissa said. “I’m getting some help and I’m thinking of leaving Edward.”

  “I’m glad.”

  “We’re here to get treats for a friend,” Alice said.

  Quilla pulled out a bag. “What would you like?”

  The women selected several treats and then left.

  Edward was arrested by a combination of the Alexandria police and the agents with the task force. Denton watched through the one-way glass while Edward was being questioned.

  “Mr. Walden, you and Mr. Goodwill were seen having a heated argument on December twenty-fifth. What was that about?”

  Edward sighed. “He had an affair with a friend of mine. I took exception to it.”

  “Did you kill Tom Goodwill?” the agent asked.

  “No. When was he killed?”

  “Where were you Friday, Mr. Walden?”

  “I worked most of the day, then my wife and I flew to New York. For her cousin’s wedding,” he said. “We were there the whole weekend.”

  “What do you know about the unlicensed semiconductor-manufacturing equipment Tom was trying to export?”

  “Nothing. I work with jewelry.”

  “You were seen with one of his contacts.”

  “It’s a coincidence.” Then he paused. “Are you saying Tom was dealing with exporting something illegally?”

  This man wasn’t giving anything away.

  “I don’t believe it. Tom? He’s president of a large company. He doesn’t need the money.”

  “You know as well as I do that his wife just left him.”

  “So what? They’ve been married twenty-five years. I’m sure he’s saved up a bundle in all that time. At this point he doesn’t need his in-laws. Are you sure somebody else in the company didn’t set Tom up? He’s more the playboy type, not the kind who’d do anything illegally.”

  “We’re in the process of getting a search warrant.”

  “Help yourself. I’ve got nothing to hide. I’m just a jeweler.”

  They questioned him for two hours and he didn’t change his story.

  “You can’t tie me to whatever you think Tom was mixed up in. I was Tom’s friend. I’m a jeweler. I don’t know anything about his business.”

  This man was unflappable.

  And that was the problem, Denton thought. The money trail led to Sidney. But there wasn’t a connection to Edward.

  The search warrant for Sidney arrived quickly. According to the Treasury agents, he was shocked to find them at his door just as he was getting ready to leave home for work. His wife, standing in the background in her robe and bedroom slippers, insisted on calling their lawyer.

  In the meantime they were going through his home with a fine-tooth comb. They spent hours there, taking lunch breaks, but couldn’t find a thing.

  Denton was beyond frustrated. They were so close. There was still the fact that the manufacturing equipment had not been found.

  “What does this man know about shipped grain?” the computer guru said. They were riffling through every paper file in his office, every computer file, every book searching for receipts and information.

  Denton stopped what he was doing and glanced toward the computer guru. “Grain?”

  “Yeah, somebody’s exporting a load of grain tomorrow.”

  Denton approached him. There was a schedule of shipment time, arrival time, the recipient, and which port it was departing from. He smiled. It was easy to hide things in a huge shipment of grain. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed.

  Denton called Quilla. “It’s almost over. I can finally have a real date with you,” he said. “What’re you doing?”

  “Baking dog biscuits.”

  “You’re the only woman I know who bakes biscuits she can’t eat.”

  She laughed. “That’s business.”

  “I guess I’d better learn to cook if I stick with you.”

  Quilla’s heartbeat quickened. What was he saying? Before she could ask him, he said, “Got to go. I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”

  Smiling, and puzzled, Quilla placed the phone on the hook. As much as she wanted his case to conclude, it meant he’d be leaving. And she dreaded that.

  She was in the process of locking the door when her father walked into the store. After the holidays and with the decrease in tourist traffic, the store returned to its regular hours and she closed at six.

  “I’m locking up, but we can go upstairs,” she said, wondering why he’d come.

  “That’s fine.”

  She’d just finished mixing the dough for the next day’s treats. She put it in the refrigerator, turned the lights out, and led the way upstairs. Her father seemed nervous.

  “I want to thank you again for pitching in the way you did in December.”

  “I enjoyed it. If you ever need help, I’m available. I even know how to bake the biscuits now.” He tried to smile.

  She unlocked the door and pushed it open. “I just might take you up on . . .” She stopped in mid-sentence.

  “What are you doing here?” Edward Walden blocked Quilla’s entrance. Her apartment was in shambles. Sofa cushions had been slashed. Lamps had been tossed to the floor and broken.

  “What?” Her father shoved her to the side. Edward had a gun and he pointed it at Quilla. Her dad immediately stood in front of her and started pulling his wallet out of his pocket.

  “If it’s money you want—”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Edward said. “I don’t want your money. I want the diary,” he said to Quilla, “and my diamonds.”

  “What diamonds?” Quilla asked. “The police took the diamond ring from Sadie’s apartment.”

  “I’m not talking about that. Sadie had them. And I believe you now have them.”

  “I haven’t seen any diamonds.”

  “It has to be in the diary. She kept that thing close to her all the time.”

  “The police have the diary.”

  “Your boyfriend’s one of them. Call him. If I don’t get the diary, you’re a dead woman.”

  “He doesn’t have that power.”

  “Then you’re dead. I want that diary. And I’m getting it no matter what I have to do. Now make up a story about why you need it. If you tell him I’m here, I’m going to kill your father first.”

  Denton wanted to ask Quilla to marry him. But he didn’t know how they’d work out the logistics. She had a thriving business she couldn’t easily transport to another setting. Although dogs were everywhere, not all owners were as indulgent as the owners near her shop, and until he worked out the logistics, he couldn’t ask her to marry him.

  His phone rang.

  “Do you still have the diary?” Quilla asked.

  “Yeah, why?”

  “I need it.”

  “You’ve had the thing for weeks. Why do you need it again?”

  “I wanted to read a passage I read earlier. I think it’s significant.”

  “I can’t give you the diary, Quilla.”

  “Please, Denton. I need it. You can get it back.”

  They’d already photocopied it, so it was no big deal if he let her see it. Sadie wasn’t under investigation.

  “Just listen to me. Let Quilla go,” Owen said. “She can get you the diary.”

  Edward nodded. “And bring back the entire Alexandria PD? I don’t think so.” He waved the gun. “Now move. Sit on the couch where I can see you.”

  They moved into the living room. Quilla picked up the slashed cushions and put them back in place.

  “Can I at least straighten up while I wait?” Quilla asked.

  “Sit down.” He motioned them to move.

  Quilla looked at all the things that had taken her hours and days to search at flea markets, yard sales, thrift stores, and craft places so that she could find the exact pieces to fit her apartment. And in one day, this man had destroyed it all.
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  “You stole all that jewelry, didn’t you?” Quilla asked. “Lester was working for you.”

  “You don’t know when to shut up, do you?”

  “You killed Lester.”

  She probably should shut up, Quilla thought, but either way he was going to kill them. He couldn’t afford to let them go so they could run to the police.

  Edward stared at her out of cold blue eyes while he sat on a cushion and waited.

  “Lester captured me because he wanted me to give him the diary.”

  Edward continued to stare at her.

  “You stole from your friends, from your customers. Did you kill Sadie, too?”

  “No.”

  “How did Sadie get the stones?”

  “Shut up. I’m not answering any more questions.”

  “Look, you’re going to kill us anyway. I already know it. Why did you kill Tom?”

  “I didn’t kill him.”

  “But—”

  “I’m not stupid. He was going to make me a fortune. Why would I kill him?”

  Her father shifted on the chair.

  Edward waved the gun toward him. “Keep still.”

  “I’ve got a bad back. I’m uncomfortable.”

  “Better a bad back than a bullet.”

  Quilla spoke up again to take his focus off her father. “Where did the diamonds come from?”

  “Shut up. You ask too many questions.”

  Quilla was quiet for a moment. And then she started talking as if she were muddling through it.

  “You couldn’t have stolen all of those from home robberies. And how did Sadie get them?”

  Quilla thought he wasn’t going to answer, then he said, “Your father will understand. How often do children follow your instructions?” He shook his head. “I don’t know what they’re teaching them now. Must be the atheists’ influence. You tell them certain women aren’t for them and what do they do? They give them expensive diamonds to woo them.”

  So Edward’s son must have given the diamond to Sadie. She hadn’t worn it at parties for advertisement. It never made sense to Quilla anyway.

  “You tell them to pick up a package and they have other things to do, so they get their womenfolk to do the job instead. They never do what you tell them to do. Don’t you find children a disappointment today?” he asked, looking straight at Owen.

  “You’ve got a point,” Owen said, stretching and rubbing his back. Suddenly he stood but didn’t straighten completely. His hands continued to rub his back.

  Quilla was unaware of his back problem, and he’d stood on his feet all day while he worked for her. He cooked, and walked Lucky. He must have been in excruciating pain by the end of the day. And yet he’d done it anyway.

  And now he might get killed because of her. She had to do something. She searched around her for something she could use as a weapon, anything to buy them time so they could escape. She hoped her father could make it.

  With a groan he almost fell and Quilla hopped off the seat to help him. “Daddy?”

  “Hey!” Edward yelled, but no one was paying him any attention.

  “You okay, Daddy?” Quilla asked anxiously. “Let me help you.”

  Suddenly he pushed her away and threw something at Edward. The hand holding the gun moved and the gun fired. Her father charged after Edward. Both men fell to the floor. Edward still held the gun, but they were struggling.

  My God, Quilla thought as she grabbed the heavy candleholder and charged toward them. Her father could get shot! The gun went off again, but the bullet fired into the wall.

  She could get shot. She just needed one good hit, but the men were too close and she might just as well hit her father.

  If she could just get the gun.

  “Get out of here, Quilla,” her father yelled. But she couldn’t leave him.

  “Go!” They rolled over again. The back problem must have been a ruse, because it certainly didn’t stop him now. Damn it. Quilla was still trying to get her lick in. The men’s legs separated. If nothing else, she could inflict pain on Edward, and that might give her father an advantage.

  She held up the candlestick and hit his leg as hard as she could. Quilla heard a bone crack, the explosion from the gun going off once again, and his scream of agony. But he relaxed for only a split second before he reinforced his grip on the gun. She ran around him. His head was still too close to her father’s.

  Denton had to park his car in the garage and walk to Quilla’s place. Every parking place on the street was taken. He didn’t know what she thought she could find in that diary, but he was taking it to her.

  He was right under her window when he heard a muffled pop followed closely by the window shattering above him.

  “Damn.”

  He took out his own gun and shot the lock off her door. Dropping the diary, he ran up the stairs and heard someone shout, “Get out of here, Quilla,” along with other shouts and struggles. Gunfire split the silence, then Quilla screamed as Denton burst through the door to the scene of a nightmare. Owen lay limp. Blood was pouring out of him. A gun was pointed at Quilla.

  Denton aimed and fired.

  Edward Walden’s face disappeared.

  “I never forgave him. And he may die because of me,” Quilla said. “He has to survive this.”

  Owen was in surgery. “Don’t stress yourself. He understands. And he has the best physicians,” Denton said.

  They had been waiting at the hospital for hours while the doctors operated on her father. The past didn’t seem so significant in light of the fact that he might die.

  Joyce rubbed Quilla’s back. “He’s going to be all right. I’m sure of it.” Although she tried to remain strong, Quilla knew Joyce was as worried as she. She and Irving waited in the room with Denton and her.

  “The Lord works in mysterious ways. Try to drink some tea, Quilla. It’s chamomile. It should calm you.”

  “I can’t drink anything.”

  “Just drink a little,” Denton said, holding the cup for her.

  Quilla took the cup from his hand and drank a few swallows just to get them to leave her alone. That tea wasn’t going to do a thing for her. Only her daddy’s life was important.

  She didn’t understand what had taken her so long to forgive him. Forgiving didn’t mean she had to accept what he did. But he knew he’d been wrong and he’d taken steps to improve himself. They may have their differences, but he was her father and she’d seen the changes. She should have recognized the good things they’d shared. More important, Quilla knew her mother had been a generous soul. She would have wanted Quilla to forgive him. She would have forgiven him.

  Denton set the cup back on the table when a doctor came in wearing scrubs and talked to the receptionist. The woman pointed to them and he approached them.

  Quilla stood, unaware that everyone else had, too.

  “How is he?” she asked anxiously.

  “He came through surgery fine. He’s still under anesthesia. It’ll be some time before he comes around. Then he’ll be taken to intensive care, where he’ll be closely monitored for a day or two before we move him to a room. Once he’s in intensive care, you can see him.”

  “Thank God,” she heard Joyce whisper. Quilla was saying a prayer herself. At least he’d survived the surgery, but his recuperation would take time.

  Two weeks had passed since Owen had been shot, and he was being released from the hospital.

  “When are you going to pick Quilla and her dad up?” Jake asked Denton.

  “In a few minutes.”

  “She practically lives at that hospital.”

  “Yeah. She’s going to move in with him for a few weeks to help him.”

  “I’m glad they’re getting along again, but how’s she going to manage the store?”

  “Regina’s taking care of that. Quilla let her train one of her cousins who’s a junior in high school. The two of them should be able to handle things until Quilla returns.”

  “
I still can’t believe Sadie had all those diamonds and we didn’t know.”

  They had found the diamonds in the diary’s padded cover. They were blood diamonds used to fund turmoil in Africa.

  Sadie had contacted one of the diamond dealers associations to report what she’d found, but she was killed before she could actually talk to them.

  They still hadn’t determined who had killed Tom. Jake and Denton were in the evidence room, going through the things they’d taken from Sidney’s home.

  “That’s some watch,” Jake said. “These guys really lived high.”

  Denton gave a cursory glance, then looked again. “That’s Tom’s watch. It was his pride and joy. He wouldn’t be caught without that watch.”

  “So what was Sidney doing with it?”

  “Unless he killed him and took it?” Denton mused.

  “That’s stupid.”

  “A lot of things these guys did made no sense. They made good money, but that wasn’t enough.”

  “Greed’s a funny thing.”

  “No. It’s sad. Because they all had good jobs and good families. They destroyed it all. And now their families have to pick up the pieces.”

  “But the question is why would he kill Tom? His best friend and the key player behind getting this semiconductor-manufacturing equipment?”

  Denton was in the interrogation room with Sidney. “Why did you kill him?” The older man didn’t look the same. His face was creased with worry.

  “Kill who?” he asked.

  “Tom. Your best friend.”

  “I didn’t kill him, but Tom wasn’t anybody’s best friend.”

  “You were friends since high school.”

  Sidney still remained silent.

  “We know Tom went to bed with Melissa. Did he go to bed with Alice, too? Was that why you killed him? Or was it greed? Did you want all the money for yourself? Was that why Edward beat the crap out of Melissa?”

  Denton thought Sidney wasn’t going to answer, but he said, “Could have been.”

  “So Edward killed Tom because he was jealous and because he betrayed him,” a detective asked.