Sheriff’s Runaway Witness

Josie had fallen silent, evidently embarrassed by her gaff. Awkwardly, searching for a new conversational opening, Rachel tore her gaze from her son’s face and said, “So…Sage is your son. Does your husband work and live here, too?”

To her dismay, Josie’s cheeks got even pinker. “Oh-no, no, I’m not married.”

Now it was Rachel’s turn to feel her foot in her mouth. She stammered an apology, but Josie smiled.

“I was married. My husband, he beat me.” She paused and her eyes shifted slightly, and Rachel knew she was looking at the bruises still visible on her own face. Josie didn’t mention them, but caught a little breath, dropped her gaze and went on in a softer voice, “Sam Malone found me walking down the road. I had my little girl-Sage’s sister, Cheyenne-she was three, then-by the hand, my purse and a diaper bag with her clothes over my shoulder, and the clothes on my back, nothing else. Sam took us in.” She paused again. “He’s a good man, and I-” She broke off, and when she continued, Rachel had the feeling it wasn’t what she’d started to say. “I owe him everything.”

Rachel didn’t care to hear about her grandfather’s “virtues,” but something the other woman had said suddenly struck her. “You said, ‘is’? Do you mean, he’s still alive? Then where is he? Why isn’t he here? Why am I here?”

Josie slapped her hands on her knees and rose abruptly. She sidled away, avoiding Rachel’s eyes. “Everything will be explained. Soon. When the others arrive, then-”

“The others? Then it’s true-there are other grandchildren? Children?” I have cousins? Aunts, uncles…

Josie hesitated, then turned. “Children, no-they all died before Sam-Mister Malone. But grandchildren…oh, yes.”

“Oh, please.” Rachel shifted her now-sleeping baby to her shoulder and tugged her shirt down over her breast, then began to rock and pat his back in a way that already seemed as natural as breathing. “I’m an only child. To think of having cousins-family-is…well, it’s just so exciting. Please-tell me about them.”

Still Josie hesitated. Then she smiled apologetically as she gave in to the invitation to gossip. “I don’t know very much about them, to be honest. We-Mr. Malone-has never met any of his grandchildren.”

“That’s…sad,” Rachel said, but her voice was hard, a reflection of the anger that was never very far from the surface where her grandfather was concerned.

“Yes, it is.” Josie sighed. “He was married three times, you know. And each of his wives gave him a child. The first, of course, was Elizabeth-your grandmother. Their son, Sean-”

“My father.”

“Yes. He died in southeast Asia-but of course you know about that. And you probably also know that Sam and Elizabeth were divorced long before.”

“I know he left her,” Rachel said flatly. “For another woman. An actress.”

Josie nodded, and gave another of those little shrugs of apology-although for the life of her Rachel didn’t see why she should hold herself responsible for her employer’s behavior.

“Well, she was…very beautiful. Her name was Barbara.” Josie sighed softly. “Anyway… They weren’t married very long, but they had a daughter. They named her Savannah, and judging from her pictures, she was as beautiful as her mother. And very talented. She was a singer-folk music, mostly. But…I don’t know, maybe growing up without a father, in that Hollywood scene…anyway, she got mixed up with the fast crowd-in those days they all hung out in Laurel Canyon, those music people. She got into drugs and-” Josie lifted her shoulders “-she died. Of an overdose-suicide, maybe, or an accident. Who knows?”

“That’s terrible,” Rachel said, her voice hoarse and cracking. “But-you said she had a child?”

“Yes. A little girl.” Josie gave another sigh and hitched her shoulders. “We don’t know very much about her, except that her name is Sunny, and she lives in New York City. We haven’t heard from her yet, but we’re hoping.”

Rachel rocked in silence for a moment. She was surprised at the emotions this news of relatives she’d never met had stirred in her: sadness at lives cut short; fresh anger at the man who had fostered so much unhappiness. She took a deep breath and prompted, “So…wife number three?”

“Yes-Katherine.” A smile flickered briefly. “From what I understand, Kate was…well, she was very different from Sam’s other wives. Different from him, too. The odd thing is, he was married to her longer than anyone, and yet it was a marriage of convenience-for both of them.”

“How so?”

“Kate was from back east-a very old family, politically connected. Like…they were close friends with the Kennedys, that kind of connected. But their family had fallen on hard times, and I guess she needed money to keep up the home and business her grandfather had founded. At that time, Sam-Mr. Malone-he wanted the social acceptance-and political influence-she and her family could give him, so they got married. And, as I said, I think they were happy for quite a long time. But then, when tragedy came-” Josie lifted her shoulders “-I guess they just didn’t have the kind of love you need to weather that kind of storm.”

“Tragedy?”

“Yes. You see, like her close friends, the Kennedys, Kate wanted their son, John Michael, to go into public service. And, like so many of the Kennedy family, he died too early because of it. He and his wife, Rebecca, died in a plane crash while they were on some sort of mercy mission in Pakistan. Thank God the twins were too young to go with their parents.”

“Twins?”

“Miranda and Yancey. They would be the youngest of Sam-Mr. Malone’s granddaughters.” Josie smiled. “We’re expecting them, too. Soon.”

“So,” J.J. said, “let me get this straight. Sam Malone has just four heirs-the twins, Miranda and Yancey, and Sunny and Rachel. That’s it?”

“Four granddaughters,” Sage corrected.

“Ah-sure,” J.J. said, nodding. “I get it. Long-time, loyal employees-I guess you and your mom would stand to come in for a share of the old man’s money, too, right?”

Sage smiled in a way that was hard for J.J. to read. “I can tell you’re a cop. You think like one-cynical.”

J.J. shrugged. “Tell me I’m wrong.”

The other man straightened up and pushed away from the fender of J.J.’s truck he’d been leaning on and made a slight hand gesture that brought the border collie to his side. He gave J.J. a long, sideways look, squinting against the sun. “Sam Malone always took good care of my mom, my sister and me. Put both of us kids through school-just like he did Rachel, you know? I know my mom will always have a home here, and me-I don’t need anything I haven’t already got. So…think what you want, Sheriff Fox.” He took a few unhurried steps, then turned back.

“Oh-feel free to use the computer in the study-we have the internet, if you need to keep tabs on…things. You don’t need a password, nothing like that. Use the pool if you want-it’s down below on the other side of the house. Let me know if you want to use the horses, or if you need anything. Just…make yourselves at home. Or, you can go back to your life, if you need to.” He jerked his head toward the house. “She and the baby, you know, they’re safe here.”

“Yeah, sure. Thanks.” J.J. stayed where he was and thoughtfully watched the man and his dog go walking off down the long curving drive between those stands of sentinel poplars and evergreens, leaving in the same unhurried and confident way they’d arrived.

Interesting guy. Although there was still something about the man he wasn’t sure he ought to trust. Definitely more going on there than met the eye. Well, time will tell, he thought. Meanwhile, he wasn’t going anywhere.

He bent down and picked up his duffel bag and the car seat/baby carrier and started up the flagstone steps. He made it about halfway to the front door before it hit him. Hit him like a fist to the belly. Hit him so hard he had to stop and set the bag and carrier down and bend over to catch his breath.

Put both of us kids through school-just like he did Rachel…

Questions hurtled dizzily through his mind: Did Sam Malone pay for Rachel’s education? If he did, why didn’t she mention it? Does she even know?

One thing he knew for sure: if Sam Malone had funded Rachel’s education, it changed everything. Rachel had said there wasn’t anything connecting her with her grandfather, Sam Malone, but that