She Was Out of Reach, page 30
Kenzie smiled and shook her head. “It must be the manly scars,” she said lightly. “I just can’t seem to tear my eyes away.”
He blushed further, even knowing she was teasing him. His ears burned and were probably bright red.
She dropped the conversation thread and didn’t insist that she knew better than he did about managing his business at this difficult time of year.
She was having her own difficulties this year, and Zachary wondered whether that was one reason she was so concerned about his state of mind and traumatic memories. Either empathizing with him because of her own feelings or trying to distract herself by focusing on someone else’s problems.
Zachary needed to pay attention to Kenzie’s mood and stress levels, not just his own. She needed his support just as much as he needed hers.
PREVIEW CHAPTER 2
Zachary had agreed to meet Oliver Dwayne at a coffee shop. Neutral ground. They were past the morning rush, so the venue was not too busy. But it wasn’t empty, either. People came and went, both individually and in pairs or small groups. Zachary and Oliver would not stand out.
Zachary ordered a pot of coffee, and the waitress placed a couple of mugs on the table for him. He kept an eye on the door, watching for the man he was to be meeting.
Most people who walked into the coffee shop went directly to the counter or a table and ordered what they wanted. They either settled in to work on a computer or tablet or left with a “to go” cup as soon as they were served. They didn’t look around to try to find the person they were to be meeting with.
Then, a man walked in, stopped, and looked at the other customers. Tall and distinguished, dark hair with streaks of grey at the temples. A short, carefully shaped mustache and beard. His cheeks were prominent, face narrow. He looked like someone who had been through a lot, but he was strong and confident. Well-dressed, but a little weather-worn and vulnerable, too.
Zachary stood partway up from his seat, and the man’s eyes met his. He walked over. He put out a hand and raised his brows. “Mr. Goldman?”
“Zachary, please. Mr. Dwayne?”
“Oliver.”
“Have a seat,” Zachary motioned to the table, and Oliver sat down. He poured himself a full mug of coffee and drank it immediately, no cream or sugar. He gulped it so fast it must have burned his throat.
“This is difficult,” Oliver said. He put his cup down and dabbed his lips with a napkin. “I suppose we do all of the usual small talk first.”
“Sometimes it puts people at ease,” Zachary told him, smiling slightly. “But we don’t have to. Whatever you’re most comfortable with. If you want to jump straight into the case, you can.”
“I just want to get on with it. It’s hard enough without having to deal with social conventions. I have no idea what the usual protocol is for something like this.”
“There really isn’t one. Everyone approaches it differently.”
Some people wanted to get to know Zachary and build that relationship first. Some of them beat around the bush, hoping Zachary would guess what they were there about. Some blurted it out and then cowered back, waiting for the fallout of having spilled their guts and made themselves so vulnerable.
Oliver seemed to need some questions to get closer to the issue. Zachary evaluated him. Not married, he didn’t think. He didn’t wear a ring. Didn’t have that “cared for” look, the confidence that he was going back to someone who was waiting faithfully for him. So there was probably not an unfaithful spouse to tail. That was a relief because he really didn’t like those jobs.
A business deal gone bad? Industrial espionage? It didn’t feel like it.
Maybe a missing person? Maybe someone he had lost touch with long ago and wanted to reconnect with?
“This is a personal matter?” Zachary guessed.
Oliver nodded. “Yes. It’s personal.”
“Family? Someone you’ve lost touch with?”
An expression of sadness settled over Oliver’s face. An expression that was clearly natural for him. Profound sadness. But not a sadness that he shared with others. He put on a different face to deal with Zachary—his public face.
Not a missing person. A loss, yes, but not someone he had lost touch with or fallen out with.
“Someone you lost?” he amended.
Oliver nodded. “Yes… I don’t even know why I am here. I dealt with this a long time ago. I put it behind me.”
Cold cases were difficult. Evidence disappeared. Witnesses forgot what they had seen and heard. Alibis were almost impossible to establish. And the longer ago it was, the harder it was to get any traction.
“How long ago?”
“Ten years.”
Zachary nodded. Better than twenty or fifty, but still difficult.
“Who? What happened?”
Oliver gave a long sigh. He turned his coffee cup in place on the table, rotating it in a circle once, twice, and a third time before he could get anything out.
“My wife.”
So he had been married. But ten years ago. Long enough to lose the look of a married man.
Oliver didn’t answer the “what happened” immediately. He swallowed, considering how to tell Zachary about it.
“She was shot,” he said finally.
Zachary nodded and waited.
“The police said that it was accidental. Just a freak thing. I accepted that and moved on. It was… so tragic. I couldn’t spend time wallowing, mourning her, questioning their findings. I had children. They needed me. I had to be the strong one, the one to move everyone forward. We couldn’t stay focused on the past, the ‘why’ of it all. It was an accident… so we went on.”
“How old were your kids?”
“Nine, thirteen, and fifteen.”
Zachary had been ten when he lost his family. He knew what it was like to lose a mother at that age. Though his mother had not been shot. And she had not been the loving, caring parent he had craved.
“Tough time to lose your mother,” he sympathized, staying focused on Oliver’s situation and not his own.
“I think any age is a difficult time to lose your mother. Especially so suddenly and violently. But yes, it was terrible for them. We had to draw closer together, help each other through it.”
“They were lucky to have you. It sounds like you were there for them.”
“I thought I was. Now… I wonder if I was or if I just went through the motions. I had work to do. I still had to support them financially as well as emotionally, and I wonder how well I did. I want to say that I didn’t bury myself in my work. But I did to a certain extent.”
“It’s natural,” Zachary said. “Trying to distract yourself. To focus on what you can do rather than… spinning your wheels. The police told you it was an accident, so what else could you do?”
Oliver spread his hands apart. “What I’m doing now. Hiring someone. Digging down deeper into it. Not just taking things at face value.”
“Well… you are now. Maybe this will bring you some peace.”
Certainly, Oliver didn’t look like he was at peace now. More like he was haunted. Zachary didn’t know if he could help him find that peace, but he liked Oliver and what he had seen of him so far. He wanted to do what he could, though he didn’t know how much that would be after the passing of ten years.
“How did it happen?”
He hoped that it hadn’t had anything to do with the children. He could only imagine what _that_ would do to the family.
“She was in her car. Out for a drive. The bullet went through the window and struck her. She was found hours later. There was nothing that could be done by then. The police said it was probably a hunter, kids playing with a gun, or someone doing target practice. Something like that. Just a freak accident that couldn’t have been predicted. Out in the country… people think they can fire off their guns whenever they like. They think they’re alone, so… why not?”
“Did they talk to anyone who had heard the shots? Had anyone been out target shooting?”
“They never found anyone who had been out that way with a gun. Maybe kids. Kids who never even knew that they had ended up killing a woman with their carelessness.”
“How hard did the police try?”
It wasn’t a very tactful question. But Zachary would need to know. If there had been an extensive search and investigation, there might be nothing more for Zachary to do. Was there a chance that he might find something ten years later that the police had overlooked?
“I don’t think… I don’t think they did much investigating at all. I think they just assumed they knew the story. We weren’t looking for someone to blame. If it was an accident, I certainly didn’t want some kid to go to jail for it. Ruin another life for no reason.”
Zachary could understand that. He sipped his coffee. In ten years, Oliver’s kids had all grown to adulthood. One or two of them might still be at home with him. They might know other kids in the neighborhood who had been old enough back then to find some witnesses. Or to identify any borderline “bad apples” who might have been experimenting then.
“So… if you didn’t want any kid being sent to jail for it back then, what has changed your mind?”
“It’s the blasted phone calls.”
He Was Deceived, Book #18 of the Zachary Goldman Mysteries series by P.D. Workman
can be purchased at pdworkman.com
ALSO BY P.D. WORKMAN
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MYSTERY/SUSPENSE:
Auntie Clem’s Bakery
Culinary & Pet Cozy Mysteries
Gluten-Free Murder
Dairy-Free Death
Allergen-Free Assignation
Witch-Free Halloween (Halloween Short)
Canine-Free Christmas Caper (Christmas Short)
Stirring Up Murder
Brewing Death
Coup de Glace
Sour Cherry Turnover
Apple-achian Treasure
Vegan Baked Alaska
Muffins Masks Murder
Tai Chi and Chai Tea
Santa Shortbread
Cold as Ice Cream
Changing Fortune Cookies
Hot on the Trail Mix
Fateful Plateful
Cut Out Cookie
On the Slab Pie
Wedding Cake Crush
A Waffle Death
Murder Meringue Pie
A Fowl Play on Christmas Day (Christmas crossover story)
Cinn-Full Secrets
Muffin to Lose
Custard Cream Conspiracy
Recipes from Auntie Clem's Bakery
Reg Rawlins, Psychic Detective
Paranormal Mystery & Adventure
What the Cat Knew
A Psychic with Catitude
A Catastrophic Theft
Night of Nine Tails
The Immortal’s Key
Yule’s Sinister Spell
Fairy Blade Unmade
Web of Nightmares
A Whisker's Breadth
Skunk Man Swamp
Magic Ain't A Game
Without Foresight
Careful of Thy Wishes
Time to Your Elf
Undiscovered Tomb
Missing Powers
Thrice Spared
Cloaked Campaign
Sleepwalker's Sanctuary
Cat Tales in the Swamp (Short Story)
Tainted Truffle Treachery
A Fowl Play on Christmas Day (Christmas crossover story)
Lunar Lies
X Marks the Past (Coming Soon)
Spellbound Statues (Coming Soon)
Fur and Fury (Coming Soon)
Zachary Goldman Mysteries
Private Investigator
She Wore Mourning
His Hands Were Quiet
She Was Dying Anyway
He Was Walking Alone
They Thought He was Safe
He Was Not There
Her Work Was Everything
She Told a Lie
He Never Forgot
She Was At Risk
He Drowned in Memory
Their Walls Were Empty
They Came for Him
They Sought Vengeance
She Was Their Target
His Fear Was Real
She Was Out of Reach (Coming Soon)
He Was Deceived (Coming Soon)
She Once Vanished (Coming Soon)
Kenzie Kirsch Medical Thrillers
Unlawful Harvest
Doctored Death
Dosed to Death
Gentle Angel
Rushin' Death
Posed for Death
Death of a Corpse
Endowed with Death
Shattered to Death
Captured in Death
Currying Death (Coming Soon)
Healed to Death (Coming Soon)
Death’s Charm (Coming Soon)
Parks Pat Mysteries
Police Procedural Set in Canada
Out with the Sunset
Long Climb to the Top
Dark Water Under the Bridge
Immersed in the View
Skimming Over the Lake
Hazard of the Hills
Knows the Hills
Spanning the Creek
Sanctuary in the Stream
Echoes of the Engine
Bench with a View
Beneath the Icy Depths
High-Tech Crime Solvers Series
Virtually Harmless
Cowritten with D. D. VanDyke
California Corwin P. I. Mystery Series
The Girl in the Morgue
Stand Alone Suspense Novels
Looking Over Your Shoulder
Lion Within
Pursued by the Past
In the Tick of Time
Loose the Dogs
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Mito
EDS
Proxy
Toxo
Pain
Fail
Pulse
Between the Cracks:
Gritty Contemporary YA Family Saga
Ruby
June and Justin
Michelle
Chloe
Ronnie
June, Into the Light
Tamara’s Teardrops:
Gritty Contemporary YA
Tattooed Teardrops
Two Teardrops
Tortured Teardrops
Vanishing Teardrops
Breaking the Pattern:
Gritty Contemporary YA
Henry
Sandy
Bobby
Stand Alone Young Adult:
Stand Alone
Don’t Forget Steven
Those Who Believe
Cynthia has a Secret
Questing for a Dream
Darkness before the Dream (prequel story)
Once Brothers
Intersexion
Making Her Mark
Endless Change
Gem, Himself, Alone
AND MORE AT PDWORKMAN.COM
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
P.D. Workman is a USA Today Bestselling author, winner of several awards from Library Services for Youth in Custody and the InD’tale Magazine’s Crowned Heart award, and has published over 100 mystery/suspense/thriller and young adult books, including stand alones and these series: Auntie Clem's Bakery cozy mysteries, Reg Rawlins Psychic Investigator paranormal mysteries, Zachary Goldman Mysteries (PI), Kenzie Kirsch Medical Thrillers, Parks Pat Mysteries (police procedural), and YA series: Tamara's Teardrops, Between the Cracks, and Breaking the Pattern.
Workman loves writing about the underdog, who the reader may love or hate. She has been praised for her realistic details, deep characterization, and sensitive handling of the serious social issues that appear in all of her stories, from light cozy mysteries through to darker, grittier young adult and mystery/suspense books.
P. D. Workman, does not shy from probing the deep psychological scars of childhood trauma, mental illness, and addiction. Also characteristic of this author, these extremely sensitive issues are explored with extensive empathy, described with incredible clarity, and portrayed with profound insight.
—KIM, GOODREADS REVIEWER
Some of Workman's titles have been translated into Spanish, French, Portuguese, German, and Italian.
Workman began writing at an early age and is a prolific reader as well as writer. She is also passionate about teaching and learning, expresses her creativity through art and cooking, and loves exploring the Calgary parks and green spaces where the Parks Pat Mysteries are set. She was a legal assistant for many years and has done extensive charitable work.
Workman was born and raised in Alberta, Canada, and is married with one adult son.
Please visit P.D. Workman at pdworkman.com to see what else she is working on, to join her mailing list, and to link to her social networks.
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P.D. Workman, She Was Out of Reach
