Got Your Number

to dissolve at the last minute. She thought her father had thwarted the visits, but had he been covering up for her mother all these years? Her heart thumped wildly in her chest, a mild reaction considering the fact that the foundation of her childhood beliefs had just been rocked. She whirled and ran smack into Capistrano, who, by the look on his face, had heard at least the end of their conversation. Face flaming, she charged around him. "I'm leaving."
    But he captured her with one arm. "Dr. Oney just called. Frank Cape came to see her."
    Alarm zigzagged through her limbs. "Is she okay?"
    He nodded. "Just shaken up. She'd like to see you."
    She puffed out her cheeks in an exhausted sigh. "Will you take me?"
    "Of course." He waved a uniformed security officer forward. "I notified the police to be on the lookout for Cape, and I thought I'd have someone posted near your cousin in case he made an appearance here."
    He'd thought of everything, and God, it was nice to be looked after, instead of doing the looking aftering. "Thank you."
    He nodded, taking it all in stride, this being-in-charge thing. "Let's get out of here," he said, his eyes sympathetic.
    "Roxann," Angora said behind them, her voice contrite. "Roxann, don't leave me here alone with a madman on the loose. I'm sorry for what I said. Roxann?"
    But she was over Angora's tantrums, and tired of making excuses for her. At the doorway she turned back. "I never thought I'd say this, Angora, but you're your mother's daughter."
    From the blanched look on Angora's face, the comment had hit its mark.

Chapter Twenty-three

    ROXANN SLUMPED IN THE SEAT of Capistrano's truck and wondered what all the sane people in the world were doing. And to think a week ago she'd believed her life was complicated. Ha.
    She glanced at her watch—six o'clock in the evening, and the longest day of her life seemed far from over. If she were in England, she'd be getting ready for bed about now. A memory stirred and she cursed.
    "Was that meant for me?"
    She sighed. "No. With all the commotion, I completely forgot about meeting Elise at the chapel."
    "So call her. The police might want to question her anyway."
    "I don't know where she's staying, but I guess I could check the local motels." In her mind she replayed the scene when she had spoken to Elise. "She said something interesting yesterday when I ran into her."
    He grinned. "That you have a good bod?"
    "You are so unfunny. She said she realized that all of her troubles stemmed from a relationship she had in college."
    "Are you thinking she had a relationship with Dr. Seger?"
    "That's making a pretty big leap."
    "But since the man is dead, it's worth mentioning to the police." Then he grinned. "But it's still not as interesting as it would've been if she'd said you have a good bod."
    "Shut. Up." She sighed. "When did Cape show up at Nell's?"
    "Around four-thirty, but it took a while for Dr. Oney to track us down at the hospital."
    "Poor Nell," she murmured. "First Carl's death, and now this."
    "Maybe it isn't a coincidence. Maybe Frank Cape was making good on his threat to hurt people you were close to."
    "But how did he know I was in South Bend?"
    "Have you been using credit cards?"
    "I don't have any."
    "Your cell phone?"
    "No, only pay phones. Besides, why would Cape think that I was close to Carl Seger? I hadn't seen Carl in years."
    His shrug was a little too casual. "But you were in love with him?"
    Love —another word she would have bet wasn't in the man's vocabulary. "Carl was the first man who listened to me, the first man who made me feel important."
    "And the first man to break your heart?"
    Roxann gave a self-deprecating laugh. "I was devastated when he didn't come for me after the scandal, but I thought it was out of some lofty sense of nobility." She waved her hand dramatically. "It somehow seemed even more poignant."
    "And you've been pining for him ever since?"
    "No, not pining. Wondering, maybe. It was pretty strong stuff for a young heart."
    "Sounds like it," he said in a dubious tone.
    "You've never been in love, Detective?"
    He shifted in his seat, then fiddled with the radio knob. "Can't get a station worth a damn up here."
    "I thought not." She smirked, then laid her head back. But she acknowledged a bit of a tingle at managing to put him on the spot.
    Capistrano cleared his throat. "Listen, I couldn't help but overhear what your cousin said back there. It was probably the medication talking."
    "No it wasn't."