A Good Day for Chardonnay by Darynda Jones
19
If your housekeeping style is best described as
“There appears to have been a struggle?”
Let us help!
—SIGN AT DEL SOL CLEANING SERVICE
After a short period of recovery, Sun asked Addison to explain how she almost found Elliot when she’d always believed she’d never even come close.
“Somehow you connected the dots,” she said, shaking her head. “Dots we never expected anyone to connect. You tracked Elliot and his bodyguard to a house near Tesuque.”
Sun frowned. “No, I was wrong. There was no one there. That house had been vacant for weeks.” Then she remembered the cabin. She turned to Levi. “The pot of beans?”
He lifted a shoulder.
“The house had a loaf of bread on the counter that had about two weeks’ worth of mold on it. It was a setup?” When he shrugged again, she gaped at him, then turned back to Addison. “They had been there?”
“Not had. Were,” she said. “They were in a hideout under the floorboards. You stood right over them. You came within seconds of catching them red-handed, Sunshine. A minute earlier and you would have.”
Sun sat at a small desk chair, unable to believe it. While she was working to find the Kents’ son, they were working to keep him hidden.
“Why?” she asked, even though her research on Matthew Kent’s case told her pretty much everything she needed to know.
“We got a call,” Addison began. “We don’t know from who. A sympathetic party. She told us they were going to kidnap Elliot and hold him until Matthew turned over the money.”
“The fifty million.”
She nodded. “Or more. Who knows? But he swore he didn’t have it. If he did, Sun, I never saw it. Matthew is an asshole. Don’t get me wrong. And he deserved to go to prison for his part in what happened to all of those people, but he would never risk Elliot’s life. He would’ve turned over the money.”
“That’s when you had Elliot kidnapped. Before the real bad guys could do it.”
She nodded. “Matthew found a man willing to help us. I don’t know how or where or who paid him. All I know is that we met Keith Seabright in a dark alley, literally. He explained what we needed to do. Things like, be sure to break the window from the outside. Knock some toys onto the floor. Pull the sheets to one side like the kidnapper dragged him out of his bed.”
“He’s thorough.”
“And then …” A sob wrenched from her throat. “And then we just handed our baby over to him. A complete stranger.” She covered her mouth with a hand as another sob racked her fragile shoulders.
“Did it work?” Sun asked. “Was it the Delmar family? Did they leave you alone after that?”
“After Matthew pointed the finger at them, they backed off. They didn’t know who took him, either, and since they’d been planning to do it, I think the fact that Elliot was yanked out from under them made them take a step back.”
Sun was very aware that Matthew pointed the finger at Antony Delmar. She’d investigated the family for weeks.
“And then?”
Addison drew in a deep breath. “Seabright stayed in the area. For us. For me. After a few weeks, we started to meet up so I could see Elliot in secret. My baby boy. I took every opportunity and probably too many chances, but I saw him every moment I could. I got pregnant right before Matthew’s trial. I had Adam alone. After he got old enough to be curious about Elliot, old enough to ask questions, we told him the same thing Seabright told everyone else. That Elliot—Eli—was his sister’s son.”
Sun sat stunned. All those sleepless nights. All the anxiety and guilt and heartache. Their son’s life was being threatened. They had to make it look good. But damn.
“It was only supposed to be for a little while,” she continued. “He was supposed to miraculously be found. But Matthew swore the Delmars were waiting for him to slip up. That Elliot’s life was still in danger.”
Sun’s brows slid together. “But if they were going to all that trouble to get the money from him, and Matthew swears he never had it—”
“Then where’s the money,” Addison finished for her, matter-of-fact. “I have asked Matthew that same thing for almost eight years. If I believed in magic, I’d say it vanished.”
“How much of this does Elliot know?” Levi asked.
Addison blinked up at him. “You’re Seabright’s friend.”
He gave her a half-hearted smile. “I used to think so.”
“You are. He talks about you all the time. He admires what you did with your distillery.” She stood. “Please don’t let the fact that he never told you about Elliot bother you. We didn’t tell anyone. Ever. Sunshine,” she said, kneeling in front of her. “Even my own mother doesn’t know.” She winced. “She’s going to hate me when she finds out the truth.”
Sun suddenly felt better about being left out of the loop. She also detected a hint of shame in Addison’s demeanor.
“To answer your question, Mr. Ravinder, Elliot knows everything. Seabright insisted. He would not lie to him. He’s much too honorable. But it doesn’t matter now. Seabright’s in the hospital, Elliot is out there alone, and Adam is missing.” She pleaded with Sun. “You’re the only one who knows, Sunshine. Please find Adam.”
Did the men scoping out the town take him? Did they work for the Delmar family? The family who insisted Matthew Kent stole their money? But if he had, why was Addison still driving the same beat-up minivan after all these years? Why was Addison having to work two jobs just to make ends meet?
Nothing added up.
“How is he?” Addison asked. She swallowed hard. “Seabright.”
“You’re in love with him.”
She dropped her gaze, and whispered, “Yes.”
“He’s stable. That’s all I know.”
She nodded as fresh tears filled the space between her lashes.
“Is that why you’re leaving your husband?”
She looked out the window. “I was going to leave Matthew before all of this started, eight years ago. Then he was arrested and we were thrust into the public eye and … and then everything with Elliot. Seabright has been a rock for me. And he grew to love my son as much as I do. Both of them. He would do anything for Elliot, including die for him.”
“Do you think the men who attacked Seabright were after Elliot?”
“I don’t know. But it’s the only explanation, right? I mean, it has to be. But we don’t have the money, Sunshine. What are they going to do to Adam when they demand it and we can’t pay?”
Sun looked back at Levi who stood by the door with his arms crossed over his chest. He let his gaze slide past her and, with the barest hint of a nod, gestured for her to look.
The forensic team was coming down the hall toward them and they were about to be kicked out.
Sun turned and looked at one of the paintings on Adam’s desk. A stick-figure family stood in front of a house with a yellow sun shining down on them. It was a mom and a dad and two boys. Across the youngest boy, written in a bold black marker, was the word Sorry.
Sun turned to stone, curbing her reaction. Schooling her features. She looked back to Addison. “I’ll do everything I can, Addison. We may have a lead.”
Addison’s face brightened.
Sun bent her head closer as the team stepped inside. “Between you and me, yeah?”
She nodded.
“Don’t even tell Matthew,” she whispered.
“Sunshine, I stopped telling Matthew anything years ago. As far as I’m concerned, he got us into this mess by doing business with those people when he knew the deals were shady. He deserves nothing from me.”
“Good for you. Call me if you hear anything.”
Addison pulled her into a hug. “Thank you, Sunshine. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. I have a feeling our kidnapper is every bit as clever as the man who trained him.”
Levi stayed close on her heels as they walked out of the house. Once they were out of earshot, he asked. “Did you see it?”
“I did.”
They strode to her cruiser.
Once behind the wheel, she looked at Levi, more confused now than ever. “I don’t get it. Why would Elliot take his own brother?”
“He’s scared. There’s more to this than meets the eye, and he is right at the center of it.”
“I agree.” She started the SUV and backed onto the narrow street.
“Sorry,” he said, repeating the message on the painting.
She put it into drive. “Right. Not I’m sorry. Just Sorry. The same as the note at the Quick-Mart. It’s like—” She slammed on the brakes well before the stop sign. Levi pitched forward, then raised a sexy, albeit bruised, brow at her. Thankfully, no one was behind them, because she sat there for a few seconds before explaining. “Sorry.”
“Exactly,” he said, clearly wondering about her.
When he didn’t catch on, she repeated, “No, Sorry.”
She saw it the minute it dawned. “Wait, do you think—?”
“I do.”
He sat back as realization washed over him. “Holy shit.”
“You drive.” She jumped out and played fire drill with Levi before climbing back in. He fastened his belt and pulled onto St. Francis while Sun did what she did best. She called in everyone.
Everyone.
Even with the painkillers the doctor gave her at urgent care, Auri couldn’t sleep, and it was due to the worst, most selfish reason possible. She’d found a dead body and she had to tell someone. Namely Sybil and Cruz. And since her grandparents were insisting she stay home and miss a day of school—the horror—she couldn’t tell them at said school as per her original plan.
Thus, she did the next best thing. She waited as long as she possibly could, a.k.a. six o’clock in the morning, and sent them both an RU up yet? text.
Sybil answered first with a saucy, No. WTHeck?
Cruz must’ve still been asleep. So Sybil would get to hear the news first. His loss.
Auri called her.
Sybil answered with a simple, “I told you I’m not up.”
“Oh. My bad. I just thought you might want to know about the dead body I found.”
“I’m up!”
Auri relayed the story about going over to Cruz’s, falling into the ravine, dabbling in a little light bondage with her bike chain, and finding the body of the guy Levi killed. Sybil filled any empty airtime with a comical number of oohs and ahs.
“Was he, you know, bloated?” she asked.
“His hand was. That’s really all I saw. I took a picture of it. It was very disturbing.”
“You have to send it to me!”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. How am I going to become a medical examiner if I can’t study dead things?”
“True. Maybe when I become a detective, we’ll end up working together.”
“That would be amazing. We could be like Rizzoli and Isles!”
Auri laughed. “Totally.”
“How’s your ankle?”
“It’s fine. Just a slight sprain. My pride hurts worse.”
While she was busy talking to Sybil on the phone, Auri opened her laptop and saw a message from the cousin of the missing woman who stole the necklace.
“They’re making you stay home?” Sybil asked, her voice turning whiny.
Auri chuckled. “Just today. They think I’m traumatized.”
“You are. You can’t not be.”
“I don’t know.” She looked deep inside herself, but not too deep as she was a little scared of heights. “Maybe.”
“Definitely.”
She decided not to argue. “I’ll let you go so you can get ready.”
“Okay. Watch the soaps and fill me in.”
“You got it.” Auri hung up, then read Billy’s message. Billy Press, the thirty-something car salesman from Amarillo who Auri believed to be Emily Press’s cousin, had responded to her message faster than she thought he would.
Dear Aurora,
Thank you for writing. I could hardly believe it when I saw the picture you sent. I really think that’s my cousin’s necklace! And it’s been found after all these years? My family is floored. I would love to chat and hear all about it. If it’s okay with your parents, can you give me a call? Any time, day or night.
I look forward to hearing from you,
Billy
A part of Auri regretted sending that picture when she did, but now maybe the necklace would find its rightful owners.
But, again, what would happen to Mrs. Fairborn? Why would she still have it after all these years if she weren’t the killer? What other explanation was there?
“You’re up,” her grandma said from her open door. She still wore the tattered turquoise robe Auri’s mom teased her about mercilessly. The one that her grandmother demanded she be buried in because its comfort transcends life itself. Her words.
“I made bacon,” she said.
“Why do you think I’m up?” Few things made her mouth water like the smell of bacon sizzling in the morning.
Auri once asked her mom why there wasn’t bacon-scented perfume. She said there was. Bacon grease.
Auri tried it. It wasn’t as appealing as she thought it would be.
“How are you feeling?” her grandma asked.
“I’m better. I’m sorry I snuck out, Grandma.”
The woman sat on her bed and rubbed Auri’s knee, careful to avoid her ankle. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”
“What do you mean?”
“First you skip school and break into a friend of mine’s home. Then you sneak out. Next thing you know, you’ll be caught smoking behind the bleachers and playing chicken for pink slips on a dark deserted highway with a boy named Snake.”
Auri scoffed. “Please. If I play chicken, it’s not going to be with a boy named Snake. That’s a horrible name for a car guy. His name will be Flash or Rocket or NOS-feratu. Get it? N-O-S-feratu?”
Her grandma smiled, but Auri could see the worry behind it. “You know you can talk to us about anything, right?”
“I know, Grandma. And I do have a question.”
“Oh.” She scooted farther onto the bed. “Ask away, peanut.”
“Let’s say that there is a sweet little old lady in town who used to be a, oh, I don’t know, a serial killer of sorts.”
Her grandma nodded her head in thought, playing along.
“And let’s say, hypothetically, that she hasn’t killed anyone in years.”
“Okay, I’m with you.”
“And everyone in town likes her.”
“Mm-hm.”
“And she’s a little crazy but not in a dangerous way.”
She stifled a grin. “Got it.”
“It’s just, would it matter if she were brought to justice? I mean, she doesn’t have that much longer to live, right? So, would her going to prison for the rest of her life change anything?”
Her grandma sat back, her head bowed in thought. “I see where you’re going with this.”
“I was so dead set on bringing a serial killer to justice, I didn’t even think about Mrs.—the woman in question. I mean, from what I can tell, she doesn’t have a cruel bone in her body. If anything, she’s too generous. And then Mom said that serial killers rarely stop of their own accord. Something or someone stops them.” She hugged her pillow to her and sat back in frustration. “Maybe I’m wrong, Grandma. But I’m not.” She pleaded with her. “I have irrefutable evidence.”
“What kind of evidence?” she asked, suspiciously.
“I mean, I don’t have it have it,” she said, her voice rising a notch in panic. “I just know about it.”
“I see. Well, could it have been anyone else? Perhaps another family member?”
“I thought of that, too, but she only had her husband and he went missing before the cases stopped. There was one more victim after his disappearance, the very man the police suspected did it, so her husband couldn’t have done it. And Hercules Holmes was accused of murder and possibly killed because of one person’s actions. Shouldn’t his name be cleared? Shouldn’t his family know that he wasn’t a killer? That he was innocent?”
Her grandma drew in a deep breath and pressed a hand to Auri’s chest. “I think all the answers you’re searching for are in here, peanut.”
“In my boobies?”
“Your heart, baby.”
Auri deflated. “I was afraid you’d say that.”
She laughed softly. “So, how many pieces?”
“Three.” When the woman questioned her with a single skilled glance, she said, “Four.” Her grandma got up to leave and was out the door when she shouted, “And a half!”
Her grandmother’s laugh filtered toward her as Auri tapped the screen on her phone. She texted her mom to see how the case was going since her cruiser was already gone. She must’ve left super early.
She was just about to hop in the shower when a thought hit her. She sank back onto her bed and chewed on an already abused nail. What if there was a way to get the necklace back to Billy Press without getting Mrs. Fairborn thrown into prison? The woman couldn’t go to jail. How would she ever learn to make a shiv out of her toothbrush if she didn’t have any teeth left? How would she protect herself?
The answer was so simple. All Auri had to do was break the chain of custody. She would steal the necklace and tell her mom that she’d taken it when they first broke into Mrs. Fairborn’s house, a lie that would never hold up in court. And if Mrs. Fairborn had a good lawyer, the necklace would never even be allowed in evidence, because Auri could’ve gotten it from a shack in Timbuktu for all anyone knew.
That settled it.
She went about making plans for the evening. One more time, then she’d never sneak out again. She had to get the necklace. Maybe Mrs. Fairborn wouldn’t even notice it missing. Auri could return it to Billy Press and everyone would be happy.
She decided to call Billy and tell him her plan. If all went well, his family could have that necklace back in the next few weeks. She called him using video chat on Instagram.
He picked up immediately, but his screen was black. “Aurora?” he said.
“Yes. Is this Billy?”
“It is. Sorry about blank the screen. My camera is broken on my phone.”
“Oh, that’s okay. I just wanted to let you know that the necklace is safe and I know where it is.”
“I can’t believe this.” He laughed, incredulous. “You don’t know what this means to my family. We’ve wondered for so long what happened to Emily.”
Unfortunately, she couldn’t tell him the truth on that front. She would have to tread carefully, but he needed know the case would be solved. Just maybe not any time soon. “I’ve been looking into all the cases.”
“All the cases?”
“Yes. Several people went missing from the area. Mostly travelers who stayed at a particular boardinghouse in Del Sol.”
“You don’t say.”
“And I saw that necklace in what used to be the boardinghouse. I don’t want to get your hopes up about finding out what happened to your cousin, but I think the person who ran the boardinghouse may have been killing travelers for their personal possessions.”
“A boardinghouse, huh? And it’s still there?”
“Well, no. It’s not a boardinghouse anymore.”
“Gotcha. But the necklace is inside the house now?”
Her pulse sped up. “Um, yes. I’m going to get it. But my mom’s the sheriff.”
“The sheriff?” he asked, seemingly alarmed.
“Yes. I’m going to get the necklace and give it to my mom. I’ll tell her I found the necklace in the house and maybe they’ll reopen the case.” He didn’t need to know she would purposely botch the chain of custody in the process and hopefully keep Mrs. Fairborn out of jail. “We can finally find out what happened to your—”
“Maybe we shouldn’t bring your mom into this.”
She blinked, taken aback. “I’m sorry?”
“I mean, you know how the law works. It could take years for my family to get back my cousin’s things.”
“But I have to tell her. How else will we find out what happened to Emily? And to the other victims? The families have a right to know what happened to their loved ones. Also, I think an innocent man was killed because of this case. His family needs to know he was falsely accused.”
“Right.” He laughed again. “Sorry, I didn’t mean you should keep it a secret. Of course, we want to know what happened to Emily. That’s our first priority.”
“I’ll let you know when I get the necklace.”
“Thank you, Aurora. I appreciate this so much. My family is going to be over the moon.”
“You’re welcome.” She hung up feeling slightly elated. At the same time, she felt like she’d just betrayed Mrs. Fairborn. She didn’t know why. If the woman did kill those people, it was her own fault. And if she didn’t, she had nothing to worry about. But what if her plan backfired and Mrs. Fairborn really did go to prison? Auri would just have to figure out a way to smuggle in a shiv.
