Free Evidence of Blood by Thomas H. Cook Page A

want to know what the hell you’re up to. What is it? Tell me right now. I’m not leaving until you do. Other people may be intimidated by you, but I’m not. You need to understand that, Jack. I knew you when you were a wheezy little boy, and I want to know why you’re sticking your nose in Ray’s business.”
    Kinley walked into the living room and eased himself down on the sofa. “I was just checking a few things for Serena,” he said wearily.
    “Yes, she told me that much,” Lois snapped. “What about, exactly?”
    “How he died,” Kinley said with a shrug. “What he might have been doing before that.”
    Lois let out a quick, exasperated breath. “I knew it. You want to solve something. The big-time writer’s having a mid-life crisis. It’s not good enough just to write about a crime, you’ve got to solve one.”
    Kinley rubbed his eyes, and suddenly she seemed to walk out of the blur, tall and slender and wired for explosion.
    “There were a few things that were bothering Serena,” Kinley told her. “I thought I might help her clear things up.”
    “Like what?”
    “Well, for one thing, what Ray was doing in the canyon,” Kinley said. “Nobody seems to understand that.”
    “Nobody?”
    “Well, Serena, for one.”
    “And did you find that out?”
    “No.”
    “All right, what else?”
    “Well, according to Serena, somebody went through Ray’s files after he died.”
    Lois looked at him knowingly. “Yes, someone did, Jack,” she said hotly. “Me. I went through his files. Who did you think it was, some deranged killer?”
    Kinley’s eyes fell upon her steadily. “You went through Ray’s files?”
    “Yes, and I took what I wanted.”
    Kinley leaned forward slightly. “What did you take, Lois?”
    Lois hesitated a moment. “I don’t want you snooping into Ray’s life,” she said. “I have good reasons for that, believe me. Just don’t do it. It won’t help Ray, and it certainly won’t help Serena.”
    “What files, Lois?” Kinley demanded evenly. “I’m not doing this for the fun of it. If there’s no reason for me to stay in Sequoyah, believe me, I’ll be out of here tomorrow.”
    She looked at him snidely. “Still too good for it, huh, Jack?”
    Kinley said nothing.
    “That’s what Ray thought, you know,” she added. “That you were too good for it.”
    “Let’s just say, I’ll go as soon as I can,” Kinley told her.
    Kinley’s last words seemed to assure rather than irritate her, and Kinley watched, astonished, as she calmly sat down in the large wooden rocker opposite the sofa.
    “Look, Jack, Serena worshipped Ray,” she said. “Absolutely worshipped him. I don’t want anything to ruin the way she always thought about him.”
    “She said they’d grown apart during the last month or so,” Kinley said. “That’s one of the things that’s bothering her.”
    Lois nodded. “Yes, I know.”
    “She needs to know why.”
    Lois looked at him imploringly. “She can’t ever be allowed to know that, Jack.”
    “Do you know why?”
    “Yes, I do,” Lois answered. “It’s the same reason I want you to go home and let this whole thing drop.”
    “What is it?”
    “Serena’s precious, oh-so-perfect father was having a love affair, Jack,” Lois said. “It’s what brought on the divorce a few months ago. We never told Serena. Ray really insisted on that. He was willing to give up everything for that.” She shrugged. “Not that the marriage was ever such a great thing. It wasn’t. But I loved him. He was a complicated man. I always knew that. But considering the pickings around here, Ray was the best thing around.” She shook her head. “Anyway, when I found out he was dead, I came here and quickly snatched the files that might have had any reference to her, any letters, notes, anything.” She smiled sadly. “Ray was such a pack rat, I knew he’d keep anything she ever gave him, and that he’d probably file it under her name, so I took all the