A Good Day for Chardonnay by Darynda Jones
16
Caller reported a suspicious man carrying
duct tape, rope, and a shovel.
Chief Deputy Cooper responded.
It was the stock boy at Del Sol Hardware.
—DEL SOL POLICE BLOTTER
Mrs. Kent still lived in the same house she had during Mr. Kent’s trial. The same house Elliot went missing from. As happened often in child abduction cases where the children were never found, she’d never moved. She even drove the same maroon minivan, now scarred and falling apart.
Sun knocked on the door, and the woman who answered was hardly recognizable. Her lids were lined with red, her nose pink from a fresh bout of tears.
“Mrs. Kent?” Sun said, stepping closer.
“My husband isn’t home,” she said. She started to close the door, but Sun showed her ID to stop her. It was only then that Mrs. Kent took a closer look.
“I’m Sunshine Vicram. I was the lead detective on Elliot’s case.”
The surprise that registered on her face was unmistakable. “Detective Vicram?” she said, as though unable to believe it.
“Sheriff now. But please call me Sunshine. How are you?”
Her demeanor did a one-eighty. Changed from surprise to wariness. She looked over her shoulder, and said, “I’m okay. Is there—is everything all right? Have you heard anything?”
“May we come in?”
She hesitated, trying to come up with an excuse not to let them in. Apparently finding none, she reluctantly opened the door. She seemed healthy and yet there was a frailness to her. A nervousness.
When Levi stepped across the threshold, she gasped aloud. “Occupational hazard,” he said to explain his general appearance.
“Are you going somewhere?” Sun asked. The entryway was lined with luggage.
A child, no more than six or seven by the sound of his voice, called out to her, “Mom, can I bring Harold?”
“Sure, honey.” She looked back at Sun. “His turtle. I’m … we’re going to my mother’s house in Albuquerque for a few days.” She kept them as close to the door as she could without being rude.
“Oh. Is your husband going, too?”
She bit down. “No. He’s not. In fact, he’ll be home any minute. Is there something you needed?”
“Yes. Do you know a man named Keith Seabright?”
Sun’s poker face needed a little work done—a nip here, a tuck there—but Addison Kent’s needed a complete transplant.
“No,” she said after wresting her expression back into neutral. Sun put a hand on her arm. “Addison, you know you can tell me anything.”
Her nerves fried, she shook her head. “There’s nothing to tell, Sunshine. Is that all you wanted? We need to get on the road.”
A young boy ran into the entryway and plopped down a cage with a turtle in it. “Are you here for Daddy?” he asked.
Levi laughed softly.
“No, honey,” Sun said. “Is this Harold?”
“The second. Harold the first escaped last year.”
“Oh. Little scoundrel.”
He laughed and took off again.
“Addison, are you in danger?”
“What?”
“Your husband just got out of prison and you’re escaping to your mother’s.”
She released a breath she’d been holding. “No. We’re fine. Matthew is just …working through some things.”
“And it would be safer for you at your mother’s,” Sun said, finishing the thought for her.
“Something like that.”
She handed her a card. “Please call me if you hear anything.”
“Anything?” she asked, the wariness back in her voice.
“Anything you feel is important.” Sun gave her a reassuring nod then left her standing in the entryway.
They climbed back into Levi’s truck, but they didn’t talk until he pulled onto St. Francis, heading toward I-25.
“That was interesting,” he said.
“Yes, it was.”
“What are you thinking?”
“I think this entire thing revolves around Elliot’s father, Matthew Kent, and the money they never found.”
“How much?”
“Fifty million, give or take, and that’s the lower end of what the investigators speculated.”
He whistled. “Even I would kill for that much.”
“Really?”
“Depends on how much I like the person.”
“Matthew swore he was simply the fall guy for the whole operation. Said the higher-ups took the money and ran, leaving him holding the empty bag, so to speak. And the FBI scoured the man’s records. If he did hide it, he’s a stone genius.”
“You think now that he’s out someone is coming after it?”
“It’s a possibility.”
“But how does Elliot play into all of this?”
“I don’t know.”
“She has to know he’s alive. Clearly she knows Seabright.”
“I’m shocked you would think that, after that stellar performance she gave in denying she knew him.”
“That was painful to watch.”
Sun laughed. “Poor thing. It all makes so much sense now. The Kents never really, I don’t know, behaved appropriately? Does that sound bad?”
“Not as bad as their faking their own son’s abduction. Who better to have abduct your child than a trained mercenary?”
She nodded. “A noble one who would give his life to keep him safe.”
“My question is,” he said, turning onto the northbound on-ramp, “was she in it with Seabright alone, or was the husband involved, too?”
“He was involved,” she said, matter-of-fact.
“You sound certain.”
“Twenty-twenty hindsight. No wonder Addison stayed in the area, so close to Santa Fe. Matthew was in prison there, sure, but she would never leave Elliot. She risked jail to keep him safe.”
“But from what?”
“I think Matthew has some explaining to do.”
Her phone rang. She grabbed it and said, “Hey, Quince. We’re on our way back.”
“You might want to hurry.”
Great. “What’s going on?” she asked, dread knotting her stomach.
“We caught a bandit red-handed.”
“Like a shoplifter?”
“Something like that.”
“And you need me there because?”
“I’m pretty sure she’s related to you.”
“She?” What did her mother do now?
“You know. Five feet nada. Red hair. Enough sass to peel the tarnish off a brass elephant.”
After Sun took a long—very long—moment to let his words sink in, she said, “Auri shoplifted?”
“What?” Levi said from beside her. He reached over, grabbed the phone, put it on speakerphone, then repeated, “What?”
Quincy chuckled. “Chill. Auri didn’t shoplift. She would never do that.”
Relief flooded every cell in Sun’s body.
“Shoplifting is so last year. She’s more of a criminal mastermind now. She’s been arrested for breaking and entering.”
Sun finally knew what it felt like for the world to drop out from under her.
Sun couldn’t get out of Levi’s truck fast enough. She gritted her teeth as she went through the electronic doors and hurried to the bullpen.
Levi followed at a slower pace.
“Where is she?”
“Sun,” Quincy said, patting the air with his palms, “first make sure you’re calm.”
Quincy had explained the bare minimum over the phone. All she knew was that her genius daughter and her two cohorts broke into Mrs. Fairborn’s house, but they didn’t know why as the little shit had lawyered up.
Lawyered up!
She gaped at Quincy. “Did you really just tell me to calm down?”
“He did, boss,” Rojas said helpfully.
“I’m just saying you should probably take it down a notch.”
“And now you’re trying to de-notch me?”
“He is, boss.”
“The St. Aubins picked up Sybil and Cruz’s dad is out of town,” Quincy said, moving past his comments. “We tried to call through a relay, but he had a bad connection, so we had to text. He said he’ll be home first thing tomorrow.”
“I took him home,” Rojas said.
“The good news is,” Quincy continued, “Mrs. Fairborn is not pressing charges.”
“I took her home, too.”
“Thank you, Rojas.” She sank onto Quincy’s chair. “What the actual hell?”
“You’ll have to ask your offspring for the answer to that.”
“Wait.” She looked around. “Where is she?”
Quincy grinned. “She’s in the holding cell.”
“Good.” She looked at Rojas. “What about the men casing the town? Any movement?”
“You were right. The minute you guys took off for Seabright’s place, one of them followed.”
“I didn’t see anyone,” Levi said.
“Oh, that’s because I pulled him over for speeding.” He handed Sun a printout of the guy’s license.
“You were right,” she said to him. “New Jersey. Now we have his info and his agenda.”
“They’re after Elliot,” Levi said, reading over her shoulder. “I need to get out there. I’ll do it a little stealthier this time. See if I can’t catch him unaware.”
“I’d appreciate that. Maybe I should go with you? After I see to my daughter, of course.”
Sun opened the metal door to the holding cell, sad it wasn’t actual bars that she could clang shut behind her to give her daughter a taste of her life to come. She did the next best thing and slammed it. The boom echoed throughout the station.
Auri sat on the edge of the stainless steel cot looking at her feet. A small trash can sat beside her half full of used tissues. Sun braced herself. Tears or no tears, the girl deserved a thrashing.
“Let me get this straight,” she said, standing over her. “You convinced Cruz and Sybil to skip school with you so you could break into Mrs. Fairborn’s house to prove she was once a serial killer.”
Auri raised her head and looked at her like she was a mind reader. “How did you know?”
“I’ve seen the articles in your grandmother’s attic. I thought the same thing when I was a kid.”
“Why didn’t you do anything about it?”
“Like break into her house?”
“Which shows initiative, right?”
“Auri, you broke the law. The very thing I stand for. You broke into an elderly woman’s house. What if she’d been home?”
“She wasn’t,” she said between hiccups. “I made sure.”
“And just how did you do that?”
“I have a guy on the inside.”
Fury enveloped her. “Quincy.”
“What?” Guilt consumed the redhead. “No. It … it wasn’t him.”
“He. Is. Dead.”
“He didn’t know why I was asking, Mom. It’s not his fault.”
“It never is.”
She covered her face with her hands as sobs took over. “I’m getting everyone in trouble.”
“What did you think would happen, Auri? The mayor is down my throat. The DA is watching every move I make. The former sheriff is looking for any excuse to get me removed from office.”
Auri’s tears began anew. “I’m sorry, Mom. But doesn’t it matter that Mrs. Fairborn really did it?”
“So, what? You’ve already tried and convicted her?”
“No.” She sobbed again.
“Sweetheart,” she said, grappling for the strength to finish what needed to be done. She had to learn a lesson she’d never forget. “You’re forgetting one important fact. Serial killers don’t stop. Something or someone stops them. The stuff you found proves nothing other than Mrs. Fairborn is a collector.”
“Of dead bodies!”
She sat beside the redhead. “Auri, even if you’re right, there is a procedure. Mrs. Fairborn’s rights need to be protected. You can’t just break in looking for evidence.”
“But I knew you wouldn’t get me a search warrant.”
She had to turn away, astonished at Auri’s determination. She was dedicated to the cause, Sun would give her that.
“I have more work to do. I’ll call your grandparents to come pick you up.”
“Are you going to tell them?”
“Of course I am. You have to know there are consequences to your actions, Aurora.”
A fresh flow of tears began, but she lifted her chin and nodded. “I’m sorry, Mom.”
“And I’m sorry about today.”
She blinked up at her. “Today?”
“With Hailey.”
“I didn’t know you and Jimmy’s mom were friends.”
“We are, but no one can know that. Not just yet. It has to be our secret.”
“On account of Clay trying to take over Dark River Shine from Levi?”
Sun stumbled over her thoughts. “Who told you that?”
“Jimmy.”
Shaking her head, she said, “That kid doesn’t miss a thing.”
“Nope. But I’m glad you’re friends with his mom, now. I like her.”
“I do, too.”
“And she’s teaching me how to make corn whiskey.”
She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Of course, she is.”
She left her daughter to suffer a few minutes more and walked out to the bullpen to a sea of expectant faces. This was the moment her deputies learned to respect or revile her.
“Arrest all three of them tomorrow.”
Levi straightened as though ready to ride to Auri’s defense, but Quincy beat him to the punch.
“Sorry, boss. I can’t do that.”
“Quince,” she said, exasperated. “This is hard enough. I can’t be that sheriff. I can’t let my kid get away with murder.”
“Sun, she hasn’t killed anyone. Yet,” he added. “That we know of.”
“We didn’t document anything anyway, boss,” Rojas said. “We just wanted to scare the crap out of them. I got the call. I made the decision. This isn’t on you.”
Quincy pointed to him in agreement. “Not to mention the fact that Mrs. Fairborn isn’t pressing charges.”
“Speaking of which.” She stepped closer to Quince and glared up at him. “Did you, perhaps, wonder why my daughter wanted to know if Mrs. Fairborn was in the office giving her confession?”
He scrubbed his face with a hand. “She said she wanted to come in and talk to her about an old article she found.”
“And if she asked you to store a box of old dynamite she found in an alley somewhere?”
“I would …seriously question her motives.”
“Sure.”
She heard her mother’s voice echo across the station. “Sunshine!”
Anita had led her parents back. They rushed to her. “Where is that baby?” Elaine asked, her gaze darting about.
“Mom, that baby has committed a serious crime.”
“Sunshine Blaze Vicram,” she said, scolding her. For real? “She didn’t do it on purpose.”
“Mother, that is exactly what she did.”
“Well, yes, but she had good intentions.”
“I give up.” She turned and nodded to Rojas.
He opened the holding cell and let loose the kraken. It ran across the bullpen and jumped into the open arms of the two most whipped people in all of Del Sol. Besides Sunshine herself. And, apparently, Levi.
Auri turned and gave him a hug, too. “I’m sorry, Levi.”
“For what?”
“I just …I don’t want to be a disappointment to you.”
He set her back and lifted her chin. “That’s not even possible.”
She hugged him again and he kissed the top of her head. From there, she went from deputy to deputy giving out hugs and apologies like they were a politician’s promises. The imp even hugged Rojas.
He stepped to Sun when her parents took her, and said, “She’s good.”
“I know. Damn it.”
“Boss,” Salazar said from her computer. She was so quiet, Sun hadn’t even realized she was in. “I think I found something.”
She walked to her desk and leaned down.
The young deputy was reviewing the footage from the store again. She froze the frame right after Elliot showed his face. “We were all so focused on his identity that I think we missed something.” The others joined them. “Watch what he does before he walks out and gets into Seabright’s pickup.”
She rewound a few seconds and pressed play. Elliot returned a can to the shelf, then turned to the camera. “Sorry. A little farther back.” She rewound again and played the footage. That time Elliot picked up the can and seemed to put something under it before he put it back and turned to the camera.
“Wait,” Sun said. “Play that again.”
She went back even farther. Elliot raised something to the camera, turned and placed it on the shelf, then put the can over it. The picture was so grainy, it was hard to tell what it was.
“Holy crap, Salazar. Good eye.”
“Thanks, boss.”
“Is that a note?” Levi asked.
She turned to him. “Let’s find out.”
Along with Levi and Quincy, Sun hurried over to the store. On the way, Levi asked, “Who’s Carver?” He must’ve seen a text from the guy.
“Blind date.” She shoved the glass door open and hurried inside.
“Hey, Sheriff,” Lottie said.
“Hey, Lottie.” Sun chose to forgive the girl for the seizure she’d faked so that Levi could get away. “Have you seen this kid in here tonight?” She showed her a printout of Elliot.
The girl pursed her lips in thought. “I don’t think so.”
“Thanks. Let me know if you do?”
“Sure thing, Sheriff.” The girl turned to Levi and Quincy and changed the tone of her voice. “Hey, Mr. Ravinder. Hey, Quincy.”
Sun rolled her eyes and went to the canned goods aisle. Sure enough, Elliot had stashed a note underneath a can of tuna. She put on a pair of gloves and opened it. There, written in a kid’s scribble, was the word Sorry. She showed her cohorts the note.
“Sorry for what?” Levi asked.
Quincy shrugged. “Kids will sometimes take on the guilt for anything that goes wrong in their lives. Maybe he felt bad about Seabright being attacked.”
She shook her head. “This was about the same time the guy tried to stab him, but Elliot couldn’t have seen that from this vantage. And it was hours before Seabright was attacked at the bar.”
“You’re right,” he said, frowning. “It’s like he knew something bad was about to happen.”
Levi scrubbed the non-banged-up side of his face and strode out the door.
What would a twelve-year-old kid who, for all intents and purposes, had been abducted years ago have to be sorry about? And why, if he’d been coming into town with Seabright all those years, would he signal them now? And in such an obscure way? How did he know they would be looking at the surveillance footage? Unless …
Unless he was somehow involved.
