Pineapple Pack III

by Amy Vansant

  Gemma looked across the field at her horse in the pasture, grazing. “Not Todd.”

  “You’re kidding. Especially Todd. You know about him and Lyndsey, right?”

  Gemma’s attention whipped back to her sister. “What?”

  Payne nodded, a smug look on her face.

  She always thinks she knows everything. Trouble was, she did seem to know more and she was younger by four minutes.

  Payne rolled her eyes. “They’ve been doing it for months.”

  “No, they haven’t.”

  “Yes, they have.”

  “How do you know?”

  Payne huffed, as if she could barely deal with how stupid her sister was. “Remember that time she was late for our lesson and I rode back to the barn to find her?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Guess where I found her?”

  Gemma sniffed and forgot her embarrassment. The gossip was proving much more interesting than her own pain. “Where?”

  “I saw him coming down Lyndsey’s stairs. Tucking in his shirt.”

  “So?”

  “Whaddya mean so? It was so obvious. He had a whole look about him.”

  “What kind of look?”

  “You know. That I-just-rolled-out-of-Lyndsey’s-bed kind of look.”

  Gemma peeked around the corner of the barn to stare down the center aisle. She saw a flash of Todd’s hands as he threw a shovel full of manure into the wheelbarrow and then turned to her sister.

  “Todd and Lyndsey are going out?”

  Payne chuckled. “I don’t know if they’re going out but he’s definitely going in, if you know what I mean.”

  “Ew. You’re gross.”

  “You’re gross. You’re the one who wants him in your pants.”

  “I do not. I just wanted to go out with him.”

  “Yeah, well. Don’t date the help.”

  Gemma sighed.

  “See? I saved you from yourself. And you say I don’t take care of you.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Gemma allowed herself a tiny smile. “Speaking of help, did I tell you I saw her that day?”

  Payne kicked a stone and watched it roll down the paved path leading away from the barn. “Saw who?”

  “Lyndsey. She was in the hall when I went to go to my room the night Mina came down freaking out looking for her phone.”

  “Lyndsey was in the hall?”

  Gemma nodded, excited to have gossip of her own to share.

  “What was she doing there?” asked Payne.

  “I don’t know. That’s just it. She was near the help stairs acting really squirrelly.”

  Payne’s eyebrows slid up her forehead and Gemma enjoyed a rush of pleasure.

  Who has the gossip now?

  Payne looked at the house. “That’s where they found that rabbit.”

  “I know.”

  “Now everyone thinks Uncle Kimber was murdered.”

  “Murdered?” asked Gemma so loudly she slapped her hand over her mouth and began to titter. Her laughter set off Payne and the two of them dissolved into giggles.

  Gemma took a deep breath and whispered, “I thought he had a stroke or something. I thought he hit his head on the rabbit when he fell.”

  “Then who moved it to the stairs?”

  “I figured Mina cleaned it up and didn’t notice or something. Like she was embarrassed she’d left it out for him to trip on it.”

  “I think the killer was on the stairs.”

  Gemma shivered. “That’s right outside our rooms.”

  “I know. They could have killed us.” Payne kicked another stone. “Did you tell Mina you saw Lyndsey?”

  “No.”

  “Do you think it’s weird? What was she doing?”

  The sound of a window closing scraped above them and both Gemma and Payne’s gazes shot towards Lyndsey’s apartment above the stable.

  “Was that Lyndsey?” hissed Gemma.

  “I don’t know. Do you think she heard us talking?”

  “I hope not.”

  Payne walked around the corner of the barn and Gemma followed her to hide from Lyndsey should she be watching them from the window above. By the time she’d stopped her nervous giggling, Gemma noticed her sister staring out into space, as if her mind had run elsewhere.

  “What are you thinking?”

  “Do you think Lyndsey killed Uncle Kimber?”

  Gemma snorted. “That’s crazy.”

  “Is it? He was her father.”

  “Exactly. Why would she kill her dad?”

  “She got all the money.”

  “Oh. Right. But she didn’t know he was her dad.”

  “Maybe. Maybe she did and all that who me? stuff was an act.”

  Gemma found herself speechless.

  Payne tapped her on the arm. “I think we should go ask her.”

  A rush of adrenalin shot through Gemma’s veins like it always did when her sister went off on one of her hare-brained schemes. They were exciting, but they also scared her to death.

  “Ask her if she killed Uncle Kimber?”

  Payne shook her head. “Ask her for half the money.”

  “What?”

  “If she killed Uncle Kimber and you caught her, she has to give us the money to keep us quiet.”

  “I didn’t see her do it.”

  “You might as well have. What was she doing near the stairs?”

  “I don’t know. Just moving from one place to another. It’s not like she’s not allowed in the house.”

  “I don’t know. It sounds pretty fishy to me.”

  “Payne—”

  Gemma cut short as Lyndsey walked around the corner and nearly ran into Payne. Payne saw her sister’s eyes pop wide and spun.

  “What are you two doing?” asked Lyndsey, smiling playfully.

  “Nothing,” said Gemma, taking a step back.

  “Nothing,” echoed Payne. “What are you doing? I mean besides Todd.”

  Gemma pressed her lips shut to keep from laughing out loud. Payne is crazy. Sometimes she wished she could be that brave.

  Lyndsey rolled her eyes, but not before a flash of surprise rippled across her expression.

  “Very funny. As if.”

  “I’ve seen him coming out of your apartment,” said Payne.

  “So? I make the daily schedule for him. Sometimes he comes up to get it if I haven’t hung it on the wall yet.”

  “Riiight.” Payne crossed her arms against her chest like a lawyer in a movie about to cross-examine the bad guy. “And what about the other day in the hall?”

  “What?”

  “Gemma saw you in the hall outside our rooms.”

  Lyndsey looked at Gemma. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Inspired by her sister, Gemma perked. “The day Uncle Kimber died. Mina was talking to Payne about how he fell and I went back to my room. You were in the hall.”

  Lyndsey cackled. “No, I wasn’t.”

  Gemma scowled. “That’s a lie. You know I saw you.”

  Lyndsey shook her head. “You’ve got your days and times mixed up or something. I wasn’t there. I was driving away with the puppies.”

  “Yeah, what was up with that?” asked Payne, straightening so tall Gemma took a step back to stay out of her way. “Why did you steal the puppies?”

  Lyndsey looked flustered for the first time.

  “I didn’t steal them.”

  “I heard they found them all over some neighborhood.”

  Lyndsey huffed. “What you two don’t know would fill a dump truck.” She spun on her boot heel to leave and Payne blurted her next words like a shotgun blast behind her.

  “We want half the money.”

  Lyndsey whirled back around. “What?”

  “We want half your inheritance or we’ll tell everyone we saw you in the hall that night.”

  “But I wasn’t there.”

  “Yes you were,” said Gemma. “I know it for sure.”

  “No, I
wasn’t. And anyway, it would be your word against mine.”

  Payne sneered. “Half.”

  “You’re crazy.”

  Lyndsey walked towards the barn entrance.

  “You’ve got twenty-four hours,” called Payne after her.

  Gemma smacked her sister’s arm. “What are you doing?”

  “What? We deserve half.”

  “We should turn her in if you think she killed him.”

  “We should get half.”

  “But she got the house. What if she kicks us out?”

  Payne shrugged. “Then she’s going to jail.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Charlotte entered Sheriff Carter’s station to find it bustling with activity. By comparison, Frank’s station usually felt like a library, though the idea of Deputy Daniel reading anything besides Guns & Ammo magazine was a stretch.

  Carter strode into the waiting area and spotted her. He stopped in his tracks.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I have something I want to show you regarding the Miller homicide. Do you have a second?”

  Carter smiled. “Sure. Follow me.”

  He led her back down the hall to his office and shut the door behind her.

  “What’s up?”

  She held out the two paternity tests. “This is the paternity test Miller supposedly used to prove Lyndsey was his biological daughter. It was included in the will.”

  “Okay.” Carter took the sheet and glanced over it. “And the other?”

  “This is a copy of a paternity test Mina had in her possession, proving Miller is the real father of the twins.”

  “The twins? But that would mean—”

  “That he had an affair with his brother’s wife. She was in the process of blackmailing him when she died.”

  Carter whistled. “Boy, it’s crazy when you find out what old people did when they were young.”

  “You have no idea,” muttered Charlotte.

  Carter glanced at the other sheet and then dropped them to his sides. “So what does this prove other than the fact Miller was a world class hound dog?”

  “Do you notice anything similar about them?”

  Carter lifted the sheets again and held them side by side. “Well, sure. They’re almost identical. Probably from the same lab…” His forehead furrowed. “What’s this splotch?”

  “That’s the thing. The one naming the twins as his children has a cherry juice stain on it. The other is a photo copy of a stain.”

  “It’s the same doc.”

  “Has to be.”

  “That’s cherry juice?”

  “He liked Manhattans.”

  “Oh. Hm.” Carter handed her back the sheets. “So I guess they’ll be getting Lyndsey retested.”

  Charlotte blinked at him. “Sure, but, don’t you see? She had to have killed him for the money. She doctored the will.”

  “Maybe. She could be guilty of fraud and I’ll look into it, but it doesn’t mean she killed him.”

  “Who else could have killed him?”

  Carter frowned. “I don’t know, that’s the point. I need you to stop snooping around there before you blow the case.”

  “Blow the case?”

  “Sure. You could tip her off we’re on to her.”

  “Are you?”

  “I’m not at liberty to say.”

  “And I’m not snooping around like Scooby-Doo’s crew. I was hired to do a job.”

  Carter grinned. “Sure. I understand that. Just maybe let the big boys handle the murder.”

  Charlotte felt her anger rising and motioned to the papers in his hands. “Would you like to at least make a photo copy of these?”

  “Sure. Tiffany!”

  He shouted the name past Charlotte and she winced at the volume so close to her ear. A girl of maybe twenty-one stuck her head into the office.

  “Yes, Sheriff?”

  “Can you make a copy of these two pieces of paper?”

  He handed her the sheets. Smiling, the girl took them and then walked two steps to a large copier in the corner of the room.

  Charlotte watched as the young assistant made the copies, handed them to Carter and then returned the originals to her.

  “Anything else?”

  “That’ll be all.”

  Tiffany flashed the sheriff an adorable, lovestruck grin and bounced out of the office.

  Oh brother.

  Charlotte squinted at the sheriff. “You couldn’t walk the two feet to that machine?”

  Carter shrugged. “I don’t want to put the girl out of a job.”

  Charlotte set her jaw. “We have proof Lyndsey was lying about going upstairs, too.”

  “I’d like to see that.”

  “I’ll get Mina to get it to you.” She moved to leave.

  “Hey,” called Carter.

  She turned.

  “What are you doing tonight?”

  “You’re afraid I’ll be meddling in your case?”

  “No, I mean, do you want to go get some dinner?”

  “To talk about the case?”

  “To talk about dinner. And maybe get some drinks.” He grinned. “I want to see if you’re this much of a spitfire when you’re off the job.”

  Charlotte winced.

  Ew.

  “I have a boyfriend, remember?”

  “Oh, you were serious? Like a real boyfriend. Not someone you just sorta date?”

  “Like a real boyfriend.”

  Carter bobbed his head to one side and shrugged. “Ah. Well, keep me updated on his status.”

  Charlotte felt her lip twitch. She might need the sheriff’s help with the case at some point, so she restrained herself from explaining to him Declan wasn’t the only thing standing between them.

  “Will do.”

  She left without saying another word and drove the paternity tests back to Mina, marveling how the evidence that should have cracked open the case instead ended up turning into a date proposal.

  “What did he say?” asked Mina as she answered the door.

  “He said he’ll look into it.” Mina looked as if she’d been crying. She’d been crying during so many of her visits she almost didn’t notice and had chalked her red-rimmed eyes up as normal. “Are you okay?”

  Mina nodded. “This is all so awful. I love all the girls.”

  “Is there anything about Lyndsey’s past that makes it believable she doctored the will and maybe killed your brother, too?”

  “I can’t picture her killing Kimber, but—”

  “But?”

  “But she’s always been a little, I don’t know… jealous?”

  “Jealous of who? The twins?”

  “Yes. She’s nice to them around me but I’ve heard she can be sarcastic and a little sneaky.”

  “How so?”

  “Oh I don’t know. Little things I’ve wondered about. Twice Payne’s been up for a big award only to have her horse suddenly seem incapable of clearing the jumps.”

  “Like it had been drugged or something?”

  “Maybe. Gemma talked to me about it once. She said when it happened, she saw Lyndsey laughing. I didn’t believe her, but now I wonder.”

  “Anything else?”

  “She drinks a lot. In fact, I heard her on the phone today. Tonight she’s going to that club that just opened just outside of town with a friend. Something to do with cats.”

  “Alleycats?”

  “That’s it. She made it sound like some kind of celebration.”

  “I don’t think we can get her arrested for going to a club and being in a good mood. I’d be in a pretty good mood if I inherited that much money.”

  “No, but when she drinks she gets chatty. I was thinking maybe I could wait up for her and get her to confess.”

  Charlotte thought about Mariska’s attempt to get Crystal to confess. “That’s a lot harder than you think.”

  Mina chuckled. “Probably. I’d be the last person she’d
tell. Too bad I’m not a handsome stranger.”

  Charlotte perked. “What’s that?”

  “That’s who she’s going to find, right? At the club? A handsome stranger? Isn’t that why girls go to dance clubs?”

  Charlotte grinned. “Mina, you’re a genius.” She turned and called over her shoulder as she headed for the door. “Call me later and let me know when Lyndsey goes out.”

  Charlotte practically jogged to her car. Inside, she texted Declan.

  I have a job for you.

  He sent back a video clip of a baby with terrified eyes running away that made her laugh out loud.

  She pulled out of the driveway and headed home. She had planning to do. Hopefully, it would be easier to pull a confession out of Lyndsey than it was to get one out of Crystal.

  And this time, I won’t mess it up.

  She was feeling hopeful about Lyndsey, but she still didn’t know what to do about Crystal. In her mind’s eye, she saw Crystal curled on her bed, snoring after crying herself to sleep.

  I should have found a way to read that pink paper in her hand.

  At the time, she’d been in a hurry to escape the room and gather the ladies.

  Something on that paper had made Crystal cry. It even made her kick out her dirtball boyfriend. A horrible man she’d defended at the Hock o’Bell.

  She’d found the note while retrieving drugs from her closet, so chances were good it had been stuffed in her stash.

  Who would know about her hiding place but her? Maybe Mark, but if he’d left it there she would have confronted him, not thrown him out.

  Who else knows about hidden stashes?

  Friends? Parents?

  Parents. That’s it.

  The note had to be from Alice.

  But if she’d left a note…

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  One Week Ago

  “Mina!”

  Lyndsey stopped spreading mayonnaise on her sandwich, the knife hovering over the bread as she listened.

  “Mina!”

  The roar came from upstairs. Uncle Kimber was on a rampage. Lyndsey sighed. This was the first Wednesday in months she was going to have her day to herself.

  Everything had gone so well.

  She’d been spending her Wednesdays ingratiating herself with the old bastard, fawning over him, telling him everything he wanted to hear, listening to his intensely boring business stories. He seemed to enjoy their time together, and he was so out of it he didn’t even notice she’d come upstairs behind Mina’s back. But every time she brought up his will and her plans to open a true equestrian center on the property, he’d shut down and start babbling about the twins.