Yvonne gave a small laugh. “Why do you think? HomeMaker—well, Karl—made Mrs. Marlowe think it was her fault. That if she hadn’t neglected her son he would still be alive.”
Casey made a sound in her throat, and Yvonne glanced at her. “I know. It’s awful.” She glanced toward the back of the house, back toward the bedrooms. “For any mother to be told that…”
“But why did HomeMaker want that in the first place?” Eric asked. “To avoid publicity?”
“Oh, sure. They didn’t want the world thinking they killed somebody. They just wanted it to go away quietly. To pay the Marlowes from the insurance money, sign the confidentiality contract, and have it be over with.”
“But something happened,” Casey said.
“Yes.” Her eyes flicked to Eric. “The Marlowes found out about Karl.”
Eric clenched his jaw. “Found out what?”
“That he knew about the door latches.”
His eyes met Casey’s. So they were right.
“There had been several complaints,” Yvonne said. “Nothing big. Just that the latches had jammed. No one had been hurt. But a consumer would put something heavy in, or too large of a load, and the next thing they knew they couldn’t open the dryer door. Karl said it was their own fault for filling the dryer too full, and ignored them.” She closed her eyes, and swayed on her feet. Eric grabbed her elbow and led her back to a chair.
“Why did Karl trust you to type up the contracts?” Casey asked. “Why put you in that position at all, instead of doing it himself?”
Yvonne looked up at her, and swiped the tears from her cheeks. “Because I knew, too, don’t you see? I knew about the earlier complaints. I was already in the position of knowing too much.”
“Kathy didn’t know?” Eric asked. “She works right next to you. Or…or Ellen?”
Yvonne shook her head. “There were lots of things Kathy and Ellen didn’t know. There was no reason to tell them. It wasn’t anything exciting. Just…door latches. I mean, we get complaints all the time that never amount to anything, about a lot more serious things.”
“But somehow Ellen found out,” Eric said. “That’s how we knew to even look. She videotaped your computer when you were working on the contract, just a few weeks ago.”
“I don’t know how she would’ve…” Yvonne’s forehead creased as she thought. “I don’t think anybody else knew. The board, I guess, but they don’t live around here, and even if they did, it’s not like they’re going to be telling the employees about legal problems. I certainly didn’t tell her.”
“Lawyers?” Eric said.
Casey shook her head. “Wouldn’t tell.”
“How about…bankers?” Eric looked at Casey.
Could it be? Todd has sworn his meeting with Karl had nothing to do with the company, that it was personal. But it wouldn’t be the first time someone had lied about this whole mess.
Yvonne shook her head. “He wouldn’t tell the bank.”
“But Todd came to his office—”
“It wasn’t about this.”
“You’re sure?”
Yvonne looked at Casey. “Karl was falling behind on some payments. He’d paid so much money to the boy’s family… The bank wanted to repossess some things, but they were in other people’s names. Todd was the one who’d approved the loans, and was having trouble explaining to his superiors how he’d made such bad decisions.”
Casey almost smiled. The Pegasus Orion. So it was in Lillian’s name, after all. Just another way for Karl to save his assets. “Who would Karl tell about the money?”
Eric frowned. “He certainly didn’t tell me.”
Yvonne’s face paled, as if there were a connection she feared Casey would make. Casey’s breath hitched. “Yvonne, does Chief Reardon know? Is he protecting Karl?”
Yvonne’s brow furrowed. “The chief? No, he doesn’t know anything.”
“Denny?” Eric said. “Why would you think—”
“He’s been suspicious of me since I arrived. Like I’m here to cause trouble.”
Yvonne gave a short laugh. “That’s just the chief. He thinks anybody new is here to cause trouble. He knows nothing about this. I swear.”
Yvonne’s phone rang, and Eric jumped, squinting at its glowing window. “It’s Jimmy.”
Yvonne bit her lip, then reached for the phone. “Hi, honey. Yes. I’m okay. They’re asleep.” She listened for a bit as she breathed with her mouth open, her eyes on Eric’s face. “It’s just…they’re here, Jimmy. Right now.”
Casey grabbed Eric’s sleeve and yanked him toward the door. He stopped, looking at Yvonne, his face filled with betrayal.
Casey jerked him toward her. “Come on, Eric!”
With a last look back, Eric ran after Casey into the back yard. She could hear the dogs, barking and whining at the door, their toenails scraping the metal.
“I’m sorry!” Yvonne called as they ran away. “Eric! I’m sorry!”
Gritting her teeth, Casey ran even harder, praying Yvonne’s door was strong enough to keep those dogs in the house.
Chapter Forty-Four
Casey careened down the alley, sprinting through yards and across dark intersections. Eric kept up as well as he could, but his breathing was growing heavy and labored. Casey jumped over a fallen stick, but Eric nailed it, stumbling and skidding along the gravel alley on his hands and knees. Casey ran back and reached to pull him up. He staggered to his feet, spreading his hands to show several imbedded stones.
Casey grabbed his wrist. “Later. We need a place to go, Eric. Not your house. Where?”
He swallowed and scratched his forehead feverishly, as if it would help him think. “Ellen’s? No. Mom’s…Home Sweet Home…” He brought his head up. “The theater!”
Casey didn’t like it. Didn’t like it, but didn’t know where else to go, other than the parking lot of The Burger Palace, where they could hop on a semi and hightail it out of town.
But the cops had probably already thought of that.
She nodded. “Okay. We can take stock and patch ourselves up there.” She looked around. “Where are we?”
“About as far away as we can be.”
Of course. “Take us there.”
Eric led her back toward the center of town, sticking to dark side streets and yards. Sirens were audible, and two cop cars hurtled past a street over, but Casey and Eric hunkered down in the shadows until they could no longer see the flashing lights. Soon the theater came into view.
Casey grabbed Eric’s shirt to keep him in the dark as she scanned the area. No cars in the back, and no lights visible from the few windows. She gestured for him to wait, then snuck toward the front of the theater, staying in the neighboring yard. No cars in the front.
She returned to Eric. “You have a key?”
“Same key ring as HomeMaker. Right here.” He patted his pocket.
“Get it out and ready. Is there an alarm system?”
He gave a quiet snort. “Hardly. We’re lucky the lock even holds.”
“Let’s go.”
They skirted the parking area and approached the door from the side, sliding along the building. Eric unlocked the door with one twist of the key, and they were inside, closing and locking the door behind them. Casey put a finger to her lips, and they stood listening for several minutes. When all that greeted them was silence, they stepped further into the dark hallway.
“No lights,” Casey whispered, gesturing to the windows in the outside wall. They found their way to the stage door, and entered. The blue work light spread its eerie glow across the stage and through the curtain legs toward
