Galen's Gemma - Dale Mayer Page 0,18
he headed back and took a bullet from the person who should have been his target and died in the process.”
“Ouch,” Galen said. “So there’s a bit of guilt on top of that.”
“Guilt, anger, and a sense of betrayal, I imagine. All of it is rolled up inside.”
“She’s very controlled, and I don’t think she says much or gives way to her feelings very often.”
“And yet I would say Rebecca’s the same. That’s something they seem to have in common.”
Chapter 6
The rest of the day passed in a series of outside adventure walks and a simple meal of ham sandwiches at lunch. After that, Gemma looked at Becky and said, “I’ll go lie down again for a nap. How about you?”
Becky was already yawning and, with concurrence from Rebecca, the two groups split up.
As Gemma walked into her cabin, she threw herself down on the single bed, looked over at Galen, and said, “They’ll bring another cot over for you.”
“That would be good,” he said, now seated on a lone chair in the room.
Picking up on the hesitation in his voice, she looked at him for a moment. “Look. I really am tired, and I do need to sleep, but it’s obvious you have questions, so speak up.” She curled up with a blanket over her shoulders, her eyes closed. She could feel him hesitating still, and she opened her eyes and said, “Or don’t.”
He gave a short bark of laughter. “You’re very short and to the point.”
“I don’t suffer fools gladly,” she murmured.
“Do you think your sister is involved in Joe’s murder?”
“No.” Clear and concise but nothing else was needed.
“Why was she not at home when Joe was murdered?”
“She was visiting a friend.”
“Convenient,” he replied.
“Yes.”
“And her daughter? Where was she?”
“Becky was with her mother.”
“Why was Joe working late? As in late late?”
She opened her eyes slowly and stared at him. “I don’t know.” And she wished she did. Staying an hour or two later was not his usual habit, she didn’t think …
“Did you not ask your sister?”
“I’m not sure I knew that he was working late that night,” she said, staring across the cabin. “She said she wasn’t home, and, when she got in the next morning, he was dead.”
“So she found him?”
Gemma nodded slowly. “She was pretty traumatized when she called me.”
“And did you believe her?”
“Yes,” she said, remembering the pain in her sister’s voice. The shock and horror of what had happened. Surely no one could fake that? “I did. My sister is a good actress, but that was real.”
“Can you tell me where she found him?”
“In the hallway at the bottom of the stairs, still in his pajamas with a single gunshot to the head.”
“Does that sound like a B&E gone wrong to you?”
“Of course not,” she said. “He also had a handgun, but there was no sign of it when Rebecca went to give it to the police.”
“So he came downstairs with a handgun potentially? And, if the intruder had a weapon, that would have upped the ante. He might have shot first in order to get away. A situation that built past what he’d expected.”
“Potentially. I don’t know.”
Galen frowned. “I’d still like to locate Joe’s gun.”
“According to Rebecca, it’s not in the house anymore.”
“Do you know what kind of gun it was?”
Gemma shook her head. “Had no idea Joe had one at the house. With Becky around, I would have told him to toss the damn thing.”
“Is it possible the robber wrestled it away from him and shot him with it?”
“Of course it’s possible,” she said. “But probable? I don’t know.”
“Joe was a big guy?”
“He was five feet, ten inches and about two-forty, with twenty pounds of paunch that he wore really well.”
“Right,” he said, studying her with an odd look in his eyes.
Then she should be used to that. Still, for some reason she wanted him to not be like everyone else. “Are you looking for a connection between my sister and Joe’s death?”
“I just think it’s highly irregular that she happened to be away and that the intruders would choose that night to come in.”
“So, maybe the question is, who knew she wouldn’t be there?”
“And who would that be?”
“Her girlfriend she stayed with,” Gemma said instantly. “And her girlfriend’s husband. He works with Joe too.”
“And was he working that night?”
“Yes. The police investigated them and said they weren’t suspects. I think the escalation at Joe’s work is behind all this. Someone with a grudge. Were they just checking out his home,