“If he’s the father, yes he does, ma’am. Because there was no formal marriage involved, and Richard wasn’t actually living here, the court might order paternity testing…if he’s the father, he has a legitimate claim of custody, whether he lives here or not. That’s something that you’re going to have to deal with, I think. In the meantime, our concern is with his brother, Mrs. Parker. There’s one more thing I need to ask you. Last night, you told Sergeant Mears that Perry and Colette had been ‘going together’ for six months. “That’s not really the case, is it?”
“From Perry Kenderman’s view, it might be,” Barbara Parker said.
“And you told the sergeant that you didn’t hear what the argument was about?”
Barbara flushed. “I was trying to keep things simple for a few minutes, Sheriff. I wanted time to think. I know how stupid that sounds, but it’s the truth. And I really didn’t hear them…I’m assuming that they were arguing about Colette’s wanting to go to Cruces. Perry will tell you.”
Estelle nodded. She pointed at the card. “Use that, Mrs. Parker.” She got up and pushed the chair back in place. “I promised to look at Ryan’s car.”
“Oh, you don’t have to waste time on that,” Barbara Parker said. “He’s on to something else by now.”
“I don’t think it’s a waste,” Estelle said.
Out in the living room, Ryan Parker had indeed moved on to something else. He was curled up on the sofa, a large red cat stretched on its back across his lap. The cat’s front paws were poised like a boxer, waiting for the imminent attack of a tiny stuffed bear advancing over the top of a pillow.
Beyond the battle scene, the front window looked out on the street. Estelle saw an older-model pickup truck parked behind hers. Perry Kenderman, dressed in civilian clothes, was leaning against the front fender of Estelle’s county car, obviously waiting.
“Ay,” Estelle whispered to herself. She crossed to Ryan, bent down, and stroked the massive cat’s belly. The animal squirmed and purred. “What’s your friend’s name?”
“That’s Franklin. He’s lazy.”
“I see that.” She stroked the cat’s chin, and the animal closed his eyes, turning up the volume until the purr became a rattle. “Hello, Franklin. You take care of Ryan for me, okay?”
“Are you coming back?”
“Yes, I am.” She reached over and ruffled the stubble on Ryan’s head, then let her hand rest there motionless for a moment. The boy blinked, and Estelle felt the slight nod.
“That’s good,” he said.
Estelle straightened up and turned to Barbara Parker. The woman stood by the front door, Mindi in her arms.
“You know who’s waiting out front, don’t you?” she said.
“Yes,” Estelle replied. “I saw him.”
“I hope things work out for him. You know, I really like him. And none of this is his fault.”
Estelle nodded. “We’ll just have to see,” she said. “I need to ask you to stay inside with the children.” She stopped short of the front door and pulled out her cell phone. “Brent,” she said when Sutherland answered, “I’ll be talking with Perry Kenderman at the Third Street address. Have a unit circle around that way, code one.”
“I hope you’re not expecting trouble,” Barbara Parker said as Estelle put the phone in her pocket and reached for the door.
“I sincerely hope not, ma’am. But I’m not feeling particularly heroic just now.”
Chapter Nine
As the undersheriff approached, Perry Kenderman drew himself up so that he wasn’t slouching against the car. One hand rested on the fender, the other was thrust into the pocket of his jeans. That pose didn’t work, and he crossed his arms over his chest.
Estelle walked up so close she almost stepped on Kenderman’s feet. Her face was less than twelve inches from his. He stood a little straighter and tried to meet her gaze, but looked away after a few seconds.
She leaned even closer, and when she spoke it was no more than a husky whisper. “I’m testifying before the grand jury in fifty-five minutes, Perry. That’s enough time for you to tell me what happened, don’t you think?”
“I…” he started to say and bit it off.
“No, you didn’t,” Estelle said, finishing his thought for him. “You’ve lied to me since minute one.”
He managed to face her then, so close she could smell his breath.
“I…”
“You and Colette had an argument last night. Right here at the Parkers’. Start from there.”
He looked past her toward the house. “You know about my brother?”
“Yes.”
“She was going to move back to Las Cruces. To live with him.”
“Go on.”
“Well, I…”
Estelle remained silent, trying to read through the amber-speckled blue of Perry Kenderman’s eyes to the backside of his mind. While they stood there, two vehicles passed, and Estelle heard a third idle to a stop further up the street. She glanced in that direction and saw Deputy Jackie Taber’s unit. Kenderman saw it as well, and that seemed to prompt him.
“All I wanted was for the kids to be safe,” he said, turning back to Estelle. “That’s all I wanted.”
“They’re safe with their grandmother, Perry.”
“No, they’re not. Not if he comes back for ’em. You don’t know my brother.”
“You’re right, I don’t. Has he threatened them?”
“No. Nothing outright.”
Estelle frowned. “It was you who was chasing Colette when she slammed into a utility pole, Perry. Not your brother.”
The bluntness of her comment brought a flash of pain that made his eyes blink.
“What was the argument with Colette about?”
He nodded as if the question put him back on ground that he understood. “She was going to give up her job and everything. Move back to Cruces.”
“To be with Richard?”
Perry nodded.
“And you didn’t want that.”
He shook his head.
“So tell me what happened.”
He looked down at his boots. “She got mad, said some things. I said some things I shouldn’ta said. I tried to talk some sense into her, tried to make her understand what Rick was doin’ to her.”
“And what was he doing to her?”
“You been inside?”
“Yes.”
“Then you met Mindi.”
“And Ryan.”
“Yeah, well…” he stopped.
“Did you attempt to physically restrain Colette last night?”
“No. I tried to take her arm once, when she was gettin’ all wound up. That was all.”
“And then?”
“And then she got on her bike and rode off.”
“That’s it? Nothing else?”
Kenderman shook his head.
“What about the taillight of your patrol car?”
His eyes snapped back to Estelle’s, and then he slumped in resignation. “Yeah, well. She was takin’ off on the bike, and kicked the light. It broke the plastic cover.”
“Is that why you chased her?”
“Partly, I guess. I chased her because I was angry. Because I wanted to talk some sense into that stupid little head of hers. If she moves them kids down to Las Cruces, there’s no way to tell what’ll happen. She’ll be stoned half the time; they won’t have nobody to take care of ’em. That’s why I wanted to talk with her.”
“So you pushed her in a high-speed chase halfway across town…just to talk with her.”
“I…”
“You…what?”
“I didn’t see it as me chasin’ her. She was runnin’, wouldn’t listen to sense. I was just tryin’ to keep up. I figured that maybe she’d cool down a little. Maybe we could go somewheres and talk it out.”
“When she crossed the Twelfth Street bridge, how close were you, Perry?”
He looked up at the sky and closed his eyes. “I hit the bridge just as she went off the south end. I was about a hundred, maybe two hundred feet behind her.”
Estelle regarded him for a moment and then stepped back to give him room. “Tell me something, Perry.”
“What?”
“If Colette didn’t want to live with you, if she wanted to live with your brother, didn’t she have the right to do that? That was her choice, wasn’t it?”