Hidden Deception: A Shelby Nichols Adventure

by Colleen Helme

  “Yeah, I don’t either.”

  My phone buzzed, and a weird hope that it was Uncle Joey tightened my stomach. I fumbled to get the phone out of my pocket and checked the caller ID, a little disappointed to find it was Billie Jo. “It’s Billie,” I told Chris. “I’d better take this.”

  He nodded while I answered, and motioned for me to go inside where it was warmer.

  “Hi Billie,” I said. “Congratulations on your engagement! I heard it’s finally official.”

  “Yes. I’m so excited,” she answered. “I have the date all set, and I just wanted to make sure you and Chris can come.”

  “Of course! We wouldn’t miss it.” She told me the date, time and place, so I could put it on my calendar. “Okay. We’re all set.”

  “Great. You’ll be getting an official invitation closer to the day, but I just wanted to make sure you could come.” Before I could say another word, she continued. “We have so much to talk about. How was Paris? Drew told me some of it, but I want to know all the details. Did you actually help the French police stop a terrorist attack?”

  “Well… uh yes.”

  “That is so cool! I want to hear all about it.”

  “Uh… I’ll tell you what I can,” I said, worried she’d put it in print. “But most of it’s classified.”

  “Ha, ha, right.”

  “No… I’m serious. Hey, why don’t we go to lunch tomorrow? We can catch up, and you can tell me all about your wedding plans.”

  “That would be great, and then I can show you my ring.”

  “Exactly!” Hmm… I guess Dimples didn’t tell her I’d already seen it. I’d better ask him if there was anything else I wasn’t supposed to know before we had lunch.

  “There’s one more thing,” she added. “I’m doing a story on the house where you found the two bodies buried in the cellar. Do you think you could answer a few questions about that, too? I’ve been at the house, and we’ve already reported on the remains, but Drew promised I could go with the story once the next of kin were notified. So will that work okay for you?”

  Once she’d asked, I had a hunch that was the main purpose of her phone call. “Well, I’m going with him in the morning, so that should work. Let me ask him then, and I’ll let you know at lunch.”

  “Great.”

  After deciding on a restaurant close to the precinct, we disconnected and I sighed, wondering if I had done the right thing. But I trusted Billie, and the news was bound to get out. Maybe it would even draw out the killer? I just hoped it didn’t make things worse.

  Later that night, Chris and I sat down with our kids and told them I’d received a threatening note. “I’m sure it’s nothing,” I added. “And I’m working with the police, so it should be fine. We just want you to be aware, and if you are approached by anyone suspicious, don’t go with them, no matter what they say. Okay?”

  “Is this for real?” Josh asked, thinking nothing like this had ever happened before.

  “Yes, I’m afraid it is,” Chris answered. “But if we thought you were in real danger, believe me, you wouldn’t be going to school. You’d be staying here under armed guard.”

  Josh nodded. He was thinking that it might be nice to take the day off, but sitting around the house under armed guard wasn’t how he’d want to do it.

  It surprised Savannah, but once she got used to the idea, she thought it made sense. After all, I was a spy now, and things like this were bound to happen. But since I had premonitions, we should be fine. Still, it was a good thing she knew Aikido.

  “Do you want me to call you if I see anything suspicious?” she asked, thinking she could help me with the spy stuff.

  “Yeah,” I answered. “That’s a great idea. I’ll be taking you both to school tomorrow and picking you up. So don’t go with anyone else. Unless it’s Dad, of course. So… me or Dad, got it?”

  “Not even the police?” Savannah asked. “Or Grandma?”

  “Look, it’s not going to come to that,” I said. “Seriously, it’s not that big a deal. But okay… other than us, you can go with the police or Grandma. Okay? But that’s not going to happen.”

  “Okay.” Josh shrugged, glancing at Savannah. She nodded her agreement, and we broke out the ice cream for a treat.

  “How’s your report coming,” I asked Josh, wanting to steer things back to normal.

  “Fine,” he said. “I’ve just got one page left. I’m only doing a seven-page report, though.” He was thinking that if Mrs. Bartholomew didn’t like it, then that was just too bad.

  “My thoughts exactly,” I said, sending him a smile. His brow wrinkled, so I hurried to elaborate. “Seven pages is between five and ten, so it should be fine.”

  His brow cleared, and he nodded, while I turned away to get the fudge and caramel syrup from the fridge. I’d learned that most thoughts had a logical conclusion, so it wasn’t too hard to do a little backtracking. I’d also learned to never answer anything while my back was turned, unless my shields were up. Still, it was times like these that I wondered if I should ever tell my kids the truth.

  Later that night, I called Uncle Joey. It went to voicemail, so I left a message, explaining my worries about my kids, and hung up. Only minutes later, he called me back.

  “Shelby,” he began. “I got your message. I just wanted you to know that you don’t have to worry about your kids. I’ve had a nice chat with Yuri about his guards, and he’s going to take care of them.”

  “Oh… okay. So you got it all straightened out?”

  “For the most part, yes. Once the money turns up, it’ll be back to business as usual.”

  “Oh… that’s a relief.” I wanted to ask him what would happen if the money didn’t turn up, but decided to let it go unless he wanted to fill me in.

  “I’ll explain everything tomorrow,” he said. “When can you stop by?”

  “I can probably come in after lunch. Say, about two?”

  “Good. See you then.” I took a breath to thank him, but he disconnected before I could. I pursed my lips, but decided not to let it bother me too much, since he always did that. Only now, I wished I hadn’t told my kids about the threats.

  “Hey,” Chris said, after I told him. “They’re old enough to handle it and not get freaked out. Besides, talking about that stuff is a good idea to keep them safe in general, so there’s no harm done.”

  “Yeah, as long as they don’t lose sleep over it.”

  “They’ll be fine, and now that you’ve talked to Manetto, I know I’ll sleep better.”

  “Yeah, you’re right about that.” So why wasn’t I happier it was taken care of?

  After getting ready for bed, I climbed in beside Chris, taking comfort that he was there to support me, even if he didn’t like what I got involved with. He pulled me against him and promptly fell asleep, but it took me a little longer.

  Mostly because talking to Yuri about it almost seemed too easy, and I wondered if we’d missed something. What if he was in cahoots with the guards? Or what if it was him and the blond? But why would he do that? Since that didn’t make sense, I finally let it go and drifted off to sleep.

  ***

  The next morning, I made sure to get the kids and their carpool to school on time. I even told them the threat had been taken care of, but to keep an eye out just the same. I said that mostly for Savannah, since not having a threat had disappointed her. That worried me almost as much as the threat, since I didn’t want her to get the wrong idea that living dangerously was cool.

  Deciding to stay on high alert anyway, I kept watch for strange cars but found nothing out of the ordinary. Back at home, I checked the whole house and then locked all the doors before hopping into the shower. After that, I stood in front of my closet, trying to figure out what to wear.

  With my schedule of talking to both families of the missing children, it should probably be something a little nicer than my jeans. Plus, it would be good to wear something dressier since I was also meeting Bi
llie Jo for lunch.

  What I really wanted to wear were my black jeans and boots, with my motorcycle jacket, but that probably wasn’t appropriate, even with the pink scarf. At the moment, the sun was shining, and the temperature was supposed to get into the low seventies, with the possibility of an occasional rain shower.

  So I took a chance and slipped on my knee-length, sleeveless, floral print dress, topping it with a soft, light blue, denim jacket. The print reminded me of cherry blossoms, so I put on some floral perfume and dangling earrings that matched.

  Of course, with the tan belt at my waist, my cowboy boots went so well with the outfit that I had to wear them again, but I didn’t mind since they were so cute. Confident that I looked good for the day’s events, I finished getting ready and headed out.

  At nine o’clock sharp, I parked the car at the precinct and headed inside to find Dimples. As I entered the office, I found him speaking on the phone, but he caught sight of me and waved me over. On the way, I passed by Detective Bates’ desk and sent him a friendly smile.

  He smiled back, thinking I really stood out in my dress. Compared to the standard dark slacks, white shirts, and blazers most professional women wore, he wasn’t used to seeing a woman wear a dress to work. And if I were a real detective, most people wouldn’t take me seriously wearing that outfit. Still, I looked nice.

  I couldn’t decide if that was a compliment or not, so I decided to ignore him and hurried over to Dimples’ desk and sat down. He hung up and smiled at me, thinking I looked great. “The forensic report came back with positive matches on both of the bodies yesterday. I called the families to let them know we’re stopping by this morning. Ready to go?”

  “I guess. But I’m not looking forward to it.”

  “Yeah, I get that. But they’re prepared, so it won’t be as bad as some.”

  “That’s true,” I agreed, although I knew it wouldn’t make giving the news any easier. No one wants to hear that their child is dead. A shiver of dread sent goosebumps over my arms and legs and, suddenly freezing, I wished I’d worn pants and a sweater. What was I thinking?

  In the parking lot, I told Dimples I’d be right back and grabbed the extra blanket from the trunk of my car. At his puzzled thoughts, I explained. “I’m a little cold, and I don’t want to be freezing for the rest of the day.”

  “I can always turn on the heater,” he said.

  “No, no, this is all I need.” I placed the warm blanket around my legs and arms, then let out my breath, not sure if I was cold because it was chilly, or because of our errand. But at least now I had the comfort of a blanket, and it helped me more than I thought.

  “So did you find out anything about Lincoln Montgomery at Chris’ office yesterday?” Dimples asked.

  “Yes, as a matter of fact, I did.” I smiled at him, then wracked my brain for what I should and should not tell him that involved Uncle Joey. Dang! I should have gone over this in my mind first. I hadn’t even brought my notes.

  Before he could wonder what was taking me so long, I began. “Um… this is what I found out. Lincoln worked in the tax department of the firm for a guy named Kevin Moore. Kevin’s the one who fired him because he did something that cost the firm a lot of money.

  “Anyway, I found out that Kevin is the one who put the list together and offered Lincoln the job of collecting the money.”

  “Really? That’s huge. So what happened? Was he the partner? Did he kill him?”

  “Not Kevin. There were some investors who originally financed the list, and I think it was one of them who may have killed Lincoln, although I don’t know why.”

  “Did you get the names of the investors?”

  “Just one,” I said, lying for all I was worth. “Of all the investors, Kevin thought only one of them would have killed Lincoln, and the name I picked up from him was Harper.”

  “Harper? That’s it?”

  “Uh-huh. He thought Harper had the most to lose, whatever that means.” He didn’t really think that, but I had to give Dimples something, and in the end, it could be true. “He also thought that the list was worth ten million, and that Harper had made some kind of deal with the other investors, probably to get the most money out of it, but that’s just a guess on my part.”

  “Okay.” Dimples frowned, trying to figure out how we were supposed to track down someone named Harper. There were probably dozens and dozens of Harpers in the city. Since I had no idea, I kept my mouth shut and let him work on that.

  Then he glanced at me, thinking that it was a good thing I’d checked all this out with Chris before I’d spied on Manetto, like he’d wanted me to. And it had worked out for the best; wasn’t that great?

  Did he expect me to answer that? He was still looking at me, so I quickly nodded before we got in an accident. But seriously? Was it so hard to say stuff like this out loud? Then I picked up that he thought being with me was the best, because I understood him so well. And he didn’t even have to talk much. How many partners could do that?

  My brows rose in surprise. “I guess I am your partner on this case, huh? I never thought about it like that. Cool.”

  “Sure… why not?” He shrugged, thinking he liked how I helped him, and there wasn’t anyone he’d rather work with. “Hey, Billie told me you two are going out to lunch today.”

  “That’s right! And that reminds me. She said she was excited to show me her ring. Didn’t you tell her I went with you to pick it up?”

  “Uh… no.”

  “Is there anything else you didn’t tell her? I don’t want to say something I’m not supposed to know.”

  “No, she knows we’re working together on this case. So as long as you don’t tell her about the ring, we should be fine.”

  “Okay, good.” It also reminded me that Billie was going to ask questions about the bodies. “Did you know Billie wanted to ask me about this missing person’s case?”

  “Uh… yeah.” He thought that was the main reason she’d called, confirming my suspicions.

  “How much can I tell her about this? Do I give her the names or what?”

  “Let’s see how it goes and decide on the way back.”

  “Okay. Who are we visiting first?”

  “Riley’s parents,” Dimples responded. “They actually still live in your neighborhood.”

  “Oh, I didn’t know that, but it makes sense. I mean, if they thought she might find her way back home someday, they probably wouldn’t want to move away.” Just thinking that sent shards of sadness through me, and I was extra grateful for the warm blanket.

  “That’s true. We know Grant’s family lived in your neighborhood as well, but they moved shortly after he disappeared. They still live in the city, but south of here, so we’ll visit them second.”

  We exited the freeway, and Dimples turned into my neighborhood. “I want to try something,” he said. “Let’s drive to the house where we found them, and then see how far it is to Riley’s from there. Then do the same with the house where Grant lived.”

  “That’s a good idea,” I agreed. We pulled up in front of my dream home, and that same longing to live there didn’t come over me this time. Even considering the awesome bathtub and rounded turrets. Instead, all I could feel was sorrow.

  Of course, it might have had something to do with the yellow crime-scene tape that surrounded the big hole in the side of the yard. Maybe once that was gone, and flowers were planted in that spot, it would be different.

  “How come the tape is still up?”

  Dimples shrugged. “I guess the owners haven’t decided what to do with it yet. Maybe they’re waiting for you to decide if you still want it. Have you talked to your realtor about it?”

  “No. Not since we found the bodies. I think it spooked everyone.” Movement came from the curtains at the neighbor’s house, and the lady who lived there peered out at us. “I’ll bet she’s not happy about it either.” I motioned toward the house, and Dimples glanced in that direction as the curtains fell back
into place.

  “Yeah, no kidding,” he agreed. “We need to figure out what happened, so these people can have some closure.”

  Dimples plotted the course to Riley’s house from there, and we began the drive. Her home ended up being close, only about three blocks away. “I have to tell you,” Dimples said. “This close to the crime scene makes me think the killer had to be someone in the neighborhood.”

  “Yeah, I see what you mean, but it’s also really creepy. I mean… my house isn’t too far from here either.” At least my house was about six blocks away. Still, if a killer lived around here, it was way too close. It made me even more determined to find out what had happened to those kids.

  He pulled in front of a nice, two-story home, complete with a manicured yard, lilac bushes, and a pretty, blossoming cherry tree.

  “Ready?”

  I took a deep breath and nodded, then opened the door and climbed out. With reluctance, I left the blanket behind, and an immediate chill rushed over me, causing goosebumps to break out over my arms and legs. I may look cute, but I’d sacrificed my warmth and comfort, which wasn’t too bright of me.

  Dimples rang the doorbell, and a woman immediately answered. Her shoulder-length hair was brown, with only a little gray, but her eyes held sorrow that only someone who’d endured something heartbreaking could have. Dimples did the introductions, and she invited us inside.

  “Please have a seat, and I’ll get my husband.” She was thinking that he’d stayed home from work to hear what we had to say.

  They both returned and sat down together on the couch opposite us. They held hands, but I gathered from their thoughts that the loss of their daughter had taken a toll on their marriage. They blamed each other, as well as themselves, but somehow had managed to hold it together. Now it looked like they would finally get some answers.

  “She’s gone, isn’t she?” Mrs. Garrett asked.

  “Yes,” Dimples answered, relieved she’d made it so easy. “Her remains have been positively identified.”

  Even though she’d been expecting it, tears filled her eyes. “When? When did you find her?”