A Good Day for Chardonnay by Darynda Jones

22

Some days you are on top of the world.

Other days you are on top of the world,

only naked and screaming profanities

at your individual strands of hair.

We can help. Stop in for a free consultation.

—SIGN AT DEL SOL MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES

They would never have let her come. Auri knew that. Given the circumstances and what she’d already put Mrs. Fairborn through, her grandparents would never have let her come talk to the woman. She had no choice but to sneak out once again.

“This is the last time,” she told Cruz when he picked her up down the block.

The impish grin he wore created a dimple on one cheek. “You know they’re going to come in and check on you. They were checking on you every thirty minutes all day. And then they’ll never let me see you again.”

“Don’t be silly. I told them I was going home to take a shower.”

“A home that’s thirty feet from their back door. They can check there, too.”

“I turned on the water and cranked up the radio.” When he gave her a less-than-convinced look, she added, “Really loud. And do you know how long it takes me to shower and get ready for bed?”

“Sadly, no.”

“Oh.” She felt heat rise up her neck. “Well, trust me. I just bought us an hour.”

“What if something goes wrong and that hour turns into twenty to life?”

“What could possibly go wrong?” she asked. “We aren’t breaking in this time. We’re apologizing for breaking in, and while you distract her, I’ll steal the necklace.”

He nodded but kept the grin in place. He knew her too well.

She talked a good talk, but her nerves were frazzled and fried like her mom’s hair that time she got a perm. Auri was not cut out for a life of crime, even one designed to benefit Mrs. Fairborn. Once Auri managed to snatch the necklace and get it back to the Press family, she was hanging up her black mustache for good. And then, after the elderly woman passed away, Auri would tell her mom where she really got the necklace from and prove the drifter, Hercules Holmes, innocent. At least, that was her plan.

They pulled onto Mrs. Fairborn’s street and, just like before, parked down the block, just in case. “Maybe you should stay here,” she said to Cruz. “I don’t want to get you into any more trouble with your dad.”

Something flashed across his face, but it was so fleeting, she missed the meaning behind it. “My dad’s cool. It’s okay.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “That’s it, Cruz. What is going on?”

He draped his wrist over the steering wheel and looked out over the street. Only one side of the street was lined with houses. The other side was all forest and thick brush. He studied the orange moon that hung low over the treetops. “I’ll explain later. I just want to spend every second possible with you while I can, Auri.”

Alarm prickled over her skin. “What does that mean?”

“Let’s just do this.” His voice had thickened.

She scooted closer and put her hand on his arm. “Cruz?”

He dropped his head but kept his face averted.

She reached over and turned it toward her.

Tears glistened between his lashes.

“Cruz, what happened?”

He shook his head, and said, “Nothing important,” before sliding out of the truck.

She scrambled after him.

He walked to the edge of the street and looked at the moon filtering through the trees.

Not sure if she should even try, she reached down and took his hand. He let her. His hand swallowed hers when he lifted it and ran his fingers over her knuckles.

Her stomach clenched in apprehension. She stepped in front of him and he slid an arm around her waist. “I’m not going to push you, Cruz. But please know you can tell me anything.”

“I know. But if I tell you, it’ll be real.”

She nodded in understanding. “I get that. More than you can possibly know. If you say it out loud, the universe will hear you and the glass around you will shatter and everything will come crashing down.”

“Exactly,” he said, surprised. “And if I don’t tell anyone, then I can keep living my life like nothing has changed.” His breath hitched in his chest and Auri’s squeezed tight around her heart.

She reached up and put a hand on his strong jaw. “Then don’t tell me. Do what you do, Cruz. Put it in a poem and make it beautiful like you do everything else.”

He swallowed hard and nodded. “I can try. And then you’ll tell me exactly what happened on that cliff when you were a kid? How Mr. Ravinder helped you?”

“I can try.”

A resigned smile spread across his face. “But first we have a necklace to steal.”

“Think this’ll work?” she asked, turning toward the woman’s house.

“I think you can do anything you set your mind to.”

She turned a surprised expression on him. “You have a lot of faith in someone whose only goals in life are to befriend forest animals and create the perfect mocha latte.”

They walked arm in arm to Mrs. Fairborn’s front door, Auri giving part of her weight to Cruz. Her ankle was still a little sore. She knocked, then stepped back. As nervous as she was, this beat breaking and entering any day of the week.

“Maybe she’s already in bed.” She knocked softly again, then waited.

“She has had a busy few days,” Cruz said. “What with her trying to stab a guy to death, running Mr. Ravinder over in her nonexistent truck, and then having to fess up to it all.”

“It must’ve worn her out,” Auri agreed with a giggle.

He looked down at her. “Try again tomorrow?”

“Yes, only we can go straight after school so I don’t have to sneak out. I think I’m giving it up.” They started back down the steps. “Hanging up my sneakers, so to speak. Get it?” she asked with a snort. “Sneakers?”

Cruz chuckled just as a crash sounded from inside Mrs. Fairborn’s house. They looked at each other, then went back to the door. “Was that glass?” he asked.

Auri knocked and tried the doorknob. “Locked.”

They peeked through the window but couldn’t see much for the curtains.

“Cruz, she could’ve fallen.”

“I agree. We need to check on her. Let’s go around.”

“Okay.”

They hurried through the side gate and into her backyard. A backyard Auri was becoming very familiar with.

“It’s unlocked,” Cruz said, opening the back door and entering the mudroom.

The sound of someone tearing through the house, items falling and more glass shattering hit them. Cruz stopped her with an arm across her torso.

They heard a male voice, angry and volatile. “Where is it?”

Then the sound that broke Auri. Mrs. Fairborn crying. “I don’t know. It was there.”

“You are a lying bitch,” he said.

Auri stood frozen, wanting to run to her but needing to call for help at the same time.

Cruz put his mouth to her ear, and whispered, “Run. Call the police.”

“Wait, what are you going to do?”

“I’m just going to make sure he doesn’t hurt her until the cops get here.”

She nodded, but another thud sounded and Auri’s feet moved before her brain told them to. Cruz’s did, too. They rushed into her kitchen where Mrs. Fairborn sat tied to a chair. A man three times her size stood over her.

“Stop!” Auri shouted.

The man turned, his face the picture of rage.

Auri blinked. “You’re …Are you Billy? Billy Press?”

“Aurora?” he asked, his face twisted in confusion.

“What are you doing?” Before he could answer, she rushed forward, pushed him out of the way, and knelt in front of Mrs. Fairborn. “Are you okay?” she asked, searching for a way to untie her.

The voice that traveled to her was tightly controlled, each word enunciated to precise calculations. “Where’s the necklace?”

She turned and gaped up at him. “The necklace?” She started to point to the downstairs guest room, but something told her if she did, if she told him where to find the necklace, none of them would make it out of Mrs. Fairborn’s house alive.

His fingers curled into two beefy fists in her periphery as he stared down at her, his face twisting in barely controlled rage.

“I—I gave it to my mother. I told you I would. She’s the sheriff,” she added, glancing at Cruz.

He stood a few feet away, his gaze locked onto an oblivious Billy.

She was about to signal for him to run when she found herself airborne. She crashed into Mrs. Fairborn’s glass hutch just as Cruz rushed the man. He delivered a powerful right hook. Then a left.

Billy didn’t know what hit him. He stumbled back, stunned.

Cruz was an amazing fighter from what she’d been told, but Billy was twice his size. And angry. Cruz still knocked him to the ground. The guy didn’t stand a chance until she saw him reach across the floor, his meaty fingers clawing for something.

Auri tried to get to her feet to help Cruz, but she couldn’t move. Her feet wouldn’t listen. Her arms lay motionless as blood leaked into her right eye. She could only watch as Billy sank a knife into Cruz’s abdomen.

It went in so smoothly, it took Cruz a moment to realize what had happened. He looked down as Billy pulled out the knife and pushed it in again.

The surreal turn of events surprised Cruz just as much as it had Auri. He grabbed the blade when Billy pulled it out a second time, but it was slick with his blood. It sliced into his palm and slid free of his grasp before Billy sank it in a third time.

His movements were automatic. Like he was on autopilot as he plunged the knife in. Then his hand slipped off the slick handle. Just as the darkened edges of Auri’s vision closed in on her, Cruz pulled out the knife himself and pressed a palm to his wounds as though trying to stop the bleeding.

Then she watched as Billy, almost in slow motion, reached up and took the knife away from him again. The world went black but she could hear Mrs. Fairborn’s sobs.

Auri fought to get back to her, back to Cruz, but her lids were like anvils. She struggled to open them because she was floating then. She could feel it. Cool air rushed over her hot skin and consciousness danced just beyond her reach. She tried to grab it, but it inched away, taunting her like a schoolyard bully.

She heard labored breathing. Felt arms beneath her. Tasted the metallic tang of blood. The moon shifted into focus then disappeared, drowned out by red and blue lights so bright they blinded her. Then she heard footsteps and a young woman say her name before everything went black once again.

The state police brought the Kents up in an ATV that looked like a small truck. They had the coolest toys. She elbowed Quincy, then pointed. “I want one of those.”

“I thought you said our budget was the size of your pinky.”

“It is. Doesn’t mean I can’t want things.”

“Oh. In that case, I want a service horse and a drone with a camera and a new radio because these things are older than my left ass cheek.”

Sun watched as Addison, who proved surprisingly agile, jumped out of the ATV and ran to the boys across the rough terrain. She couldn’t help but notice that Matthew seemed a little less enthusiastic. Addison hugged both of her boys and sobbed for several minutes.

Sun strolled closer. She hated to interrupt, but she needed a few answers so she could file her initial report. She looked across the mountain to a gorgeous orange moon rising over the horizon, then said, “I know it’s getting late, but can I ask the boys some questions?”

Addison started to protest but changed her mind when she looked at Sun. “Of course. Thank you, Sunshine.” She stood and hugged her, too.

Sun hugged back. It had been a long time coming. “Not at all,” she said, stepping back. “It’s your genius kid who sent us in the right direction.” She grinned at him. “Sorry?”

He beamed at her. “I was hoping someone would catch onto that. It was my backup plan. When those men showed up at the convenience store, I knew I had to have a backup plan.”

“Well, it worked. Levi and I figured it out.” She looked across the clearing to where Levi stood talking to the DEA agent. They were loading the agent onto a stretcher to wait for the helicopter to airlift him to Albuquerque. It wasn’t easy getting him out of the pit, especially since he’d fractured his tibia and dislocated a shoulder, but Elliot had a rope ladder and Sun had a lot of strong, young deputies.

And Levi. She had Levi.

The place was now crawling with representatives from practically every law enforcement agency in the western hemisphere. From the state police to the local PD, DEA, to the FBI. She half expected the CIA to show up. It was a lot of money. Enough to warrant bringing agents in by helicopter.

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?”

“Mom,” Elliot said, his expression stern, “we had to keep you safe. You and Adam.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” She hugged him again and wrapped an arm around Adam as well.

“You are the bravest kid I’ve ever met,” Sun said to Elliot. “You stayed alive and kept your brother alive, too.”

“Keith knew something was up when that guy tried to stab him at the gas station.” His lower lip quivered. “That’s when I told him what I did, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t even mad. And he didn’t think it was the Delmar family, either. He went to meet his contact and said if he wasn’t back by dawn to clear out and don’t come back. He would find me.” He wiped his eyes with the back of an arm. “I did, but then I got worried. I thought they would go after Mom and Adam. That’s why I took him, and I was coming to get you, too, Mom, but Dad came home before I could get you.” His shoulders slumped. “I had to leave you there. I’m sorry. I was going to come back.”

“Elliot, why didn’t you just come to us? Why leave the messages?”

He lifted a shoulder. “I knew Keith would get in trouble even though he didn’t really kidnap me. And my mom. I just wanted you guys to find the money.”

Addison covered her eyes with a hand as she hugged him. “I can’t believe any of this is happening.”

“Yep,” Sun said, nodding. “You are definitely the bravest kid I’ve ever met.”

A dubious frown slashed across his handsome face. He didn’t believe her. She would just have to spend the next few days convincing him.

“You’re Auri’s mom,” he said.

Surprise rocketed through her. “I am. Do you know my daughter?”

“Yeah. I see her at the lake during the summers. She’s really nice.”

“Nice?” Adam asked, wrinkling his nose at him. “You said you liked her butt.”

Elliot slammed a hand over his brother’s mouth and put him in a headlock. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

“And her boobies,” he said, his voice muffled.

A bright hot blush blossomed across Elliot’s face. Oh, yeah. They were going to get along great.

“Wait, where was the money?” she asked. “Before you moved it? And how on earth did you get a hundred fifty million dollars up here?”

A calculating grin lifted one corner of his adorable mouth. “I’m sworn to secrecy.”

She laughed.

“So,” Adam said, his voice still muffled, “are we, like, brothers?”

Another helicopter flew overhead and news crews were beginning to show up.

“Sunny!”

Sun turned to see Quincy running up to her.

He skidded to a stop, not an easy task considering his size. “We have to go.”

She shot to her feet. “If this is about Randy,” she warned. That raccoon was a menace. When he put a hand on her shoulder, she sobered instantly. “Quincy,” she said, the warning in her voice much sharper that time.

“It’s Auri.”