Poisoned Secrets

Maggie shook the tall, thin man’s cold hand. His features should have been attractive except for the permanent frown lines about his mouth and on his forehead. His face, like his body, was long and thin with a mane of chestnut hair, shoulder length, that he kept fidgeting with.

“Bradley might as well live here. He spends a good deal of time with us. He’s my nephew. I’ll make sure I introduce you to my sister and her husband soon.” Turning toward Bradley, Edwina grinned. “Tell Ann I’ll make her some of my chicken soup. That ought to make her better in no time.”

Maggie moved to the next person beside Bradley. A petite, dark-haired beauty that she knew to be Kyra Williams, Henry Payne’s secretary. “I’ve seen you several times with a little boy.”

“My son. Thankfully Edwina arranged for a high school student from our church to babysit the children at the Sellman’s this evening while we meet.”

“Normally Kenny watches them when we’re nearby, but with all that has happened lately we thought it best to have an older teen.” Edwina scrunched up her mouth. “I guess technically Kenny has eighteen months to go before he is an official teenager.”

“Please don’t remind us, Edwina.”

The large, muscular man who had made that comment had to be John Pennington with blue eyes and a buzz cut. He sat next to Vicky, holding her hand.

“It’s good to finally meet you since we live across the hall from each other.” And you’re my mother’s husband. Maggie bit down on the inside of her mouth to keep those words quiet.

“You’ve met Vicky, John’s wife.” Edwina passed on to a couple next to Maggie’s birth mother. “This is Thomas and Lisa Sellman. They live across the hall from me.”

Maggie greeted both of them, trying to remember what Edwina had told her about Thomas and Lisa. He was a graduate student at Seven Oaks University, working part-time at the school while Lisa was a hairstylist. “It’s nice to meet you two.”

“Okay, now that the introductions have been made, let’s get down to business.” Edwina gestured for Maggie to take a seat on the couch next to Kane. “My nephew has been kind enough to come talk to us about what we can do to make this apartment safer for us and our families.”

David Morgan rose from a rocking chair with his cup of tea in hand. He downed some then settled it back in its saucer on a small round table next to him. “Actually there are a lot of things you can do to make sure you all are as safe as possible. Being alert is paramount.”

As David went into detail of how they could be more alert, Maggie scanned the people sitting around Edwina’s living room. Her neighbors. All strangers. She was the outsider, something she was familiar with in her life. They all knew each other, from what Edwina had said, for a couple of years at the very least. Henry had been the last person to move into the building two years ago. Since that time, there hadn’t been a vacancy until the murder.

The sense of being watched engulfed Maggie. She swept her gaze around the circle and found Vicky staring at her. Maggie tensed. Did she see something familiar? Panic took hold until the older woman smiled, her eyes crinkling with warmth. She nodded her head slightly then returned her attention to what David was saying. Maggie released a long sigh that didn’t escape Kane’s notice.

He leaned close. “You’ll be safe. I’m making it my personal mission.”

The intensity in his voice reassured her. At that moment she felt very safe.

After David finished speaking, Kane stood and moved forward. “Today all the doors to your apartments were checked to make sure they were solid wood and the hinges have non-removable pins. I changed the locks—adding dead bolts as well as peepholes so you can tell who has come to your door.”

Kane’s gaze snagged Maggie’s. He had accomplished a lot in one day. Again the sense of security in his presence surprised her. She really didn’t know him well, and yet she felt he would protect her at all costs.

“Now for the outside doors.” Kane looked away from Maggie and made eye contact with each of his tenants. “I’m going to install a system where a person will have to buzz someone inside to be let into the building. It will be locked. People can go out but can’t come in without someone letting them in or having a key.”

“What about the children?” Vicky took a cookie from a plate that Edwina passed around the circle.

“I’ll work with them. They’ll get used to the system.”

“I, for one, am elated that we’ll have a system like you described. It makes me feel my son is safe. He could play in the hallway and I wouldn’t worry about him.” Kyra gave the cookie platter to Bradley, who was behind her wing chair.

“This will be better and will reassure Mom.” Bradley reached around Kyra to hand the plate to John.

“David, are there any leads on who killed Henry?” John shifted his large frame on the love seat and rolled his shoulders as if he were stiff and sore.

“None to speak of.”

“Was the break-in connected to the murder?” Lisa Sellman rose and walked to the teapot to pour herself some more.

“Yeah, was it connected?” Vicky’s frown reminded Maggie of hers when she was really upset.

Tension flowed off her birth mother, affecting Maggie more than she cared to acknowledge. She didn’t owe the woman anything.

“We don’t know. With Kane’s safety procedures and you all being more alert, there shouldn’t be any more problems.” David grabbed the last two cookies on the plate then placed it on the coffee table. “I have to get back to the station. You all know how to get in touch with me if you can think of anything from the day Henry was killed or yesterday when Miss Ridgeway’s apartment was broken into.” He strode toward the door.

Edwina hurried after her nephew. “Thanks for coming. See you at church on Sunday.”

David kissed his aunt on the cheek and left. The click of the door as he closed it sounded in the quiet. No one said anything for a good minute. John chewed his cookie. Lisa drank her tea. Kyra stared a hole into the carpet at her feet.

The anxiety, created by Vicky’s presence, in Maggie increased until she felt as if she would snap in two pieces. She couldn’t shake the idea that the break-in and the murder were connected, although she wasn’t sure why.

Suddenly a thought gripped her. Has anyone checked Henry’s possessions lately to see if they have been disturbed?

Maggie clasped Kane’s arm. His gaze swung to her. “After the meeting, can we check Henry’s things in the basement?”

“You think someone’s gone through them?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Then let’s do it now.” Kane came to his feet and offered Maggie his hand.

For a few seconds she stared at it, his fingers long and strong from gripping a sanding block. He created beautiful pieces of furniture with those hands. She fit hers within his and allowed him to help her stand. Her vision wavered from the quick movement. She wasn’t used to taking it slow and easy. With him close, she ambled toward the small foyer in Edwina’s apartment.

“You two leaving?” Edwina asked, cutting off their escape.

“Yes, it’s been a long day, and I’m still not feeling one hundred percent.” All of which was true, but Maggie didn’t want to say anything to anyone about where she and Kane were going before she returned to her own apartment. No sense alarming the tenants anymore than they already were. Besides it was probably nothing. Just her trying to make some sense out of something random.

“Dear, I don’t want you to worry about breakfast. I’m bringing you some tomorrow morning.”

“You don’t have—”

“Of course, I don’t have to. I want to.” Edwina’s two dimples appeared in her wrinkled cheeks. “Call me in the morning when you get up. I’ll bring it then.”

Kane reached around Maggie to open the door. His arm brushed up against hers, his touch jolting her. She took a small step back.

Edwina grasped her hand and squeezed it. “Will you be okay upstairs by yourself in your apartment?”

“Sure,” Maggie said without thinking. On second thought, she wasn’t so positive about her answer. She’d spent the night in the hospital and had only stayed in her apartment a few hours before coming to Edwina’s. In that time she’d checked the new locks on her door several times and had jumped at any sound she’d heard.

“I have a spare bedroom for guests. You can stay with me if you want.”

While Kane moved out into the hall, Maggie turned toward Edwina and hugged her. “Edwina, you’re so kind to offer. I may not have been here long, but that apartment is my home now. I won’t let anyone run me off. I’ll deal with it. God is with me.”

Edwina’s eyes twinkled. “That He is. Are you still coming with me to church on Sunday?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I should be fine by then. Good night, Edwina, and again thanks for the offer.”