Dead by Midnight - Beverly Barton [162]
But if there was one thing Renee knew a lot about, it was men. And her instincts warned her about Heath. She knew he was infatuated with her, and despite being flattered and admittedly having flirted a bit with the boy, she had become concerned about his unhealthy interest in her. Ever since he had walked in on her and Grant making love, he’d been acting weird. Well, weirder than usual. Heath always had been a bit of an oddball. His preoccupation with his father’s past—what he referred to as Dad’s days of debauchery and depravity—seemed unnatural to her. Yes, Grant had publicly condemned his former lifestyle, but he didn’t dwell on it in his sermons or in his private life. He had put his past behind him, mentioning it only when he used it as an example of how anyone could, through the Lord Jesus Christ and His ultimate sacrifice to save all mankind, find salvation and forgiveness.
But Heath often seemed obsessed with the porno business and its effect on decent people. On more than one occasion, she had heard him raving to his father about how he wished he had the power to remove all such wickedness from the world. When she had spoken to Grant about Heath’s fixation on how evil porno movies were, he had dismissed it as nothing more than his son’s zealous dedication to Christ and the Redeemer Church. So she had tried to convince herself that her husband knew his son far better than she did. And when the thought had crossed her mind that perhaps Heath was the Midnight Killer, she had immediately dismissed the idea as ludicrous.
Her doubts about her stepson’s mental stability were one thing, but to suspect him of cold-blooded murder was something else entirely.
Just because he had been out of town the past few days and a new murder had taken place didn’t mean he was the killer.
But was it simply a coincidence that Heath had also been out of town when Shontee Thomas had been murdered?
Yes, it was a coincidence. It had to be. She refused to think otherwise.
I am not going to do anything with my suspicions except forget them. I will not dig into Heath’s travel records since the first of the year. I will not!
Tyler Owens arrived at the Green Willows Rehabilitation and Convalescence Center shortly before seven that evening. He had not stopped by the nurses’ station on his way to his mother’s room, but Lila had caught a glimpse of him as he hurriedly passed by. By the time she caught up with him, he had already gone into Terri’s room and closed the door. As a general rule, she would never intrude on a family member’s visit, but she had promised Mr. Ransom that she would keep close tabs on Miss Terri. Glancing right, left, and behind her, Lila grasped the handle and cracked open the door a couple of inches, just enough so that she could see into the room and could hear what Mr. Tyler was saying.
He leaned down and kissed his mother’s cheek. Still mildly sedated, Terri opened her heavy eyelids and glanced up at her son. She stared at him for the longest time, but made no attempt to speak.
“I hear you’ve been giving the nurses a difficult time,” Tyler said. “I wish we knew what was wrong, why you’ve been so upset.”
A peculiar shiver shimmed up Lila’s spine when she saw Tyler smile as he took his mother’s frail right hand and squeezed it tightly. Terri moaned as if she were in pain. “You mustn’t be difficult, dear. When you allow yourself to become so agitated, they have no choice but to sedate you.” He held her hand tightly. “And no more of this smearing jelly on your table and trying to write in the jelly. Promise?”
Terri nodded.
“That’s my good girl.” Tyler released her hand and laid it back at her side.
“Amelia Rose called me while I was out of town to tell me that Ms. Newton had contacted her and told her you were acting up and wanted to see me.” He pulled up a chair and sat by her bed. “I’m here, Mother. But unfortunately you can’t tell me why you wanted to see me, can you?”
“Mur…mur…da.”
Tyler tensed. “What was that?”
“Mur…da.”
“Well,