A Good Day for Chardonnay (Sunshine Vicram #2) by Darynda Jones

The DEA took Matthew Kent aside for questioning. They had already found evidence of his hiring Carver, an act of utter stupidity on his part. What kind of man sits on all that money, biding his time until he gets out of prison, only to leave a trail by hiring someone to find it? Not just someone, however. An assassin. How does one even find an assassin?

At least the DEA’s involvement was easy to explain. The Delmar family were notorious. The Ponzi scheme was probably a side deal involving their money-laundering operations.

Normally, with that kind of money involved, Matthew Kent would never have made it out of prison. No one steals from an organized crime family and lives to tell the tale.

But that was probably the whole point. The fact that Kent knew the location of the money was the only thing keeping him alive. That’s why he didn’t tell his wife about it. They would hardly kill Kent before they found it, but they wouldn’t hesitate to torture and kill his family.

Sun had so many questions she hardly knew where to start, so she decided to start small. She sank onto a boulder beside Elliot, and asked, “How did Agent Wilcox end up in the pit?”

He winced. “I didn’t know he was a DEA guy.”

“I didn’t, either,” she said.

“After what happened to Keith, after someone tried to kill him, I thought he was here to kill us, so we told him the money was in the pit and then pushed him in.”

Figured. “Well, that’s on him,” she said with a grin. “I just can’t figure out how he beat us here. How did he know where you were?”

“He said he saw the direction you were going, looked on a map, and found the mine. Then he went around you when you and Levi were kissing.”

Addison’s eyes rounded.

Sun’s eyes rounded. “We were not kissing.”

“He said you were.”

Sun caved. “We just almost kissed, but it was all in the line of duty.”

“That’s not what he said.”

Adam shook his head, agreeing with his brother. “That is not what he said.”

Embarrassment surged through her, but why? They hadn’t even kissed.

Elliot dropped his gaze. “It’s all my fault, though. Everything.” He swallowed hard and looked up at her. “I … I called them. The Delmar family. I told them I knew where the money was. I thought if they had it back, they would leave us alone and me and Mom and Adam and Keith could be a family.”

Sun was only a little surprised he’d omitted his father.

“I just wanted us to be together.”

“Oh, honey.” Addison squeezed him tight. “I am so sorry.”

“And I guess …” He chewed his bottom lip from over his mom’s shoulder. “I guess a part of me wanted to punish Dad. That money was all he cared about. He would rather give up his own family than that stupid money. I wanted Mr. Delmar to have it. I know it’s wrong, but—”

“Elliot,” Sun said, brushing his hair across his brow, “you have every right to be angry, but I don’t think that’s why your father did it. Maybe he had a moment of weakness or maybe he’d been siphoning it for years, but once you do that to a family like the Delmars, there are no take backs. They would have killed him and possibly the whole family. Maybe as long as he had that money, he felt he was keeping you safe.”

Elliot pressed his mouth together. “Thank you for saying that, but that’s not exactly true.”

Addison set him back. “What do you mean, honey?”

“Mom, Dad knew they couldn’t kill him because he was the only one who knew where the money was. They couldn’t get to him, because he’d already been arrested, so to get Dad to tell them where the money was, they were coming after us. You and me.” His expression saddened. “Somehow, Dad found out. That’s why he had me pretend kidnapped. I knew where the money was, too. He was worried I’d tell and he couldn’t let that happen, so he had Keith take me and left you vulnerable.”

“Sweetheart,” she said, shaking her head.

“Dad handed you to them on a silver platter, Mom.” His eyes glistened with unspent tears. It broke his heart to tell her the truth about her husband. “He didn’t know the Delmars would stop harassing him once I was abducted and it was plastered all over the news. They were being watched too closely and it would raise too many suspicions.”

“Elliot,” Sun said, giving Addison a moment, “how do you know all of this?”

“Keith and I have been keeping an eye on things, mostly to make sure the Delmars didn’t give the green light to go after Mom. He had someone on the inside. I think he’s friends with that agent we pushed into the pit, but I can’t be certain.”

“We didn’t know he was an agent, though,” Adam said, wanting that made clear.

“But then Keith almost got killed and I realized it was my fault. Dad was getting out and I didn’t want him to get the money he loved so much, so I called them and they tried to kill Keith to get to me.”

“No, honey.” Sun shook her head. “It wasn’t your fault. Carver hired those men, not the Delmar family.”

“And my dad hired Carver.”

Addison’s chin trembled as she fought back tears. “Why didn’t Keith tell me any of this?”