Romancing the Brush: An Austin, Texas Art Mystery (The Michelle Hodge Series Book 3)

by Roslyn Woods

  “I saw that there were paintings in the barn. I figured that was what was up.”

  “What I don’t understand is how you knew about the barn and the door with the red handle.”

  “I knew I’d seen it. I didn’t know where.”

  “Did you remember or figure it out?”

  “No.”

  “The barn was painted into one of the Travis paintings that was sold in February.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Margie was compiling a file with all the current and sold paintings. I helped her with a few technical issues she had with the file. Anyway, I saw the paintings on the computer and recognized the barn we’d seen last week.”

  “I should have remembered it. I guess I’ve just looked at so many paintings.”

  “The red handle wasn’t in the painting. Just the barn. Leo says that Garrett thought you could see things that painters thought about but didn’t include in their paintings.”

  “Oh, that’s not true! There must be another one.”

  “I didn’t see it in either of the others, and you’d have remembered it if it were in one of the more recent Travis paintings.”

  “No, it wasn’t in one of the recent ones. I’ve been looking at them in the last week.”

  “Don’t think about it unless you want to. It doesn’t matter. It only matters that you’re safe.”

  “I want to know who killed Garrett.”

  “Do you have a guess?”

  “Jack—or Logan—I just don’t know.”

  “If it’s not Logan, and if he knows, I imagine he’ll tell the police. He was pretty eager to tell me stuff to keep me from hurting him.”

  “You could have been hurt so much worse!”

  “Look who’s talking.”

  “How did it happen? Your head, I mean.”

  “He came out of the darkness and clobbered me with a branch. If Sadie hadn’t torn into him, I might have lost that fight. She gave me time to recover and get on top of him. He was asking me not to hurt him in ten seconds.”

  “I never would have thought he’d act like that.”

  “He’s a lot smaller than I am, Shell. It was easy for him to act fearless with a woman. The coward!”

  “And then?”

  “And then, after he blacked out, I got up and Sadie showed me where you were hiding, but Bryant had gotten there first and already given you that shot of ketamine.”

  “How did you know what it was?”

  “He told me when he was begging me not to hurt him. Wilson found two syringes in his pocket and two vials that said ‘ketamine’ on them. One was empty.”

  “And you know this because?”

  “He radioed Gonzalez, who was with us at the hospital, and Gonzalez told me.”

  Dean was just parking in front of Shell’s house.

  “Where’s my car?”

  “The police towed it somewhere. I imagine we can get it back tomorrow.”

  “And my purse and phone?”

  “They have that, too. All I’ve got is your wallet.”

  “Why do you have my wallet?”

  “That’s how we knew you’d been abducted. Someone turned it in at the HEB, and they called me when I was at the memorial.”

  “You went to the memorial?”

  “Yeah, hoping for a chance to have a conversation with you,” he said, looking into her face. “I came over here and fell asleep on your pillow last night. I missed you so much I was miserable. I decided we had to have an honest conversation. I was finally ready to hear your explanation no matter how hard it was going to be to hear that you still had feelings for your ex.”

  “But I didn’t.”

  “I didn’t know that then. I thought you had to have harbored feelings for him or you wouldn’t have done what I’d thought you’d done. But I was ready to listen to you, Shell, like I should have been at the beginning, and if I’d listened, this whole horrible week wouldn’t have happened this way.”

  “What changed your mind?”

  “About having an honest conversation?”

  “No. You seem to know I didn’t…do anything with Brad.”

  “Lisa woke me up by calling your landline. She said she couldn’t reach you but that she was glad to talk to me, and she started talking about what a coincidence it was that they sold your paintings and she was calling you just when you were on your way to Dallas. Anyway, she just told me everything I didn’t know about what happened at the hotel last Tuesday. I didn’t even have to ask questions really.”

  “That was this morning?”

  “Well, yesterday, actually. It’s one-thirty a.m.”

  “She told you I forgave them and gave them hugs.”

  “And that you were happier than she’d ever seen you. And I realized I was a complete fool. I realized I’d ruined everything by my selfish insecurity. I’d hurt you and hurt myself and just generally been a complete asshole. And I started trying to reach you right then. I must have called you a hundred times. And of course I called Billie and Margie and no one else could get you either. I started really freaking out, but we figured you’d come to the memorial. So I waited outside for you, watching for you. I was really pretty frantic, Shell. I was ready to start calling hospitals when I got the call from HEB, and you know the rest.”

  “I don’t know how you knew where to come looking for me.”

  “I was at Margie and Donald’s, and Leo and Billie got there and we talked about the fact that you’d been upset last weekend when we went over to Dripping Springs and drove by Estelle’s place. Leo said something about Garrett thinking you were psychic, and I remembered how upset you got about the barn. I just knew I had to look for you there, so I went and got Sadie and you really do know the rest.”

  “Let’s go in.”

  “Okay,” Dean said, getting out of the car.

  Shell didn’t know what was going to happen next. She knew Dean wanted her forgiveness, but she wasn’t sure about everything yet. She didn’t know what had happened between him and Melinda Gardner.

  Once inside the house, she embraced Sadie first, getting a little tearful as the dog whimpered happily. “Oh, Sadie, I love you so much! My wonderful Sadie!” she said. There were no words to describe how grateful she felt to the dog who had tracked her.

  “I guess you really need some rest. What can I do to help you, Shell?” Dean asked.

  “Nothing. I have to take a shower. I can’t sleep with any of that barn on me.”

  “Okay.”

  “And I’ll have to wash my hair. You can sleep. You shouldn’t wait for me.”

  “Where?”

  “Where what?”

  “Can I sleep in our bed?”

  “I don’t know if we’re getting back together, Dean, but I need you to be here with me tonight. In the same room. I just don’t think I can bear to be alone.”

  “Okay. You know I want to be with you.”

  “Good.”

  Chapter 47

  Carmen and Rita had heard about Shell’s abduction just as Margie and Donald had left Garrett’s memorial on Saturday. On Sunday morning they came to Shell’s house bearing flowers and casseroles. There were tears of relief, for each of them had maintained contact with Margie all of the previous day and late into the night when they learned that Dean had rescued their dear friend. The two ladies made the young woman and Dean feel very loved.

  Later, Billie and Leo brought Bitsy home. She ran into the house happily and romped with Sadie through the living room before greeting Dean and Shell with a series of twirls. Then she begged to be held. Dean, who hadn’t been around her in a while, picked her up and allowed her to sit on his lap even though he was seated in one of the arm chairs and was breaking one of their house rules for the dogs.

  “I’m becoming a soft touch in my old age,” he said. “I really missed this little mongrel!”

  “Oh, don’t call her that,” said Billie. “She’s a princess!”

  “Well, she certainly g
ets treated like one around here,” Dean agreed, clearly glad to have the little dog home again.

  Billie could see that Dean and Shell were still a little subdued. Just looking at them, their trauma was impossible to forget. Dean’s bandage was still wrapped around his head, and gauze was neatly secured around Shell’s slender wrists. They were both tired and bruised.

  “What happens now?” Leo asked, seating himself on the couch beside Shell, Sadie resting at her feet.

  “We’re headed down to the station to see Sergeant Gonzalez in a half hour,” she answered.

  “I’m hoping they’re going to put Logan Bryant away for a long time,” Dean added. “Hey, we’ve got coffee and Rita’s banana bread. You guys want some?”

  “None for us,” said Billie. “We’ve just had breakfast. We just wanted to bring the doggie home and check on the health of our friends. I see your yellow roses look beautiful in your house!” he added, noting the vase he had brought to the hospital the night before was looking elegant on the dining room table. “Actually, there seem to be flowers everywhere!”

  “Thanks, you guys. We’re doing much better than I expected us to,” Shell answered, but Billie could tell that some of their problems were still unresolved. “Rita and Carmen brought the tulips, and I don’t think we’re going to have to cook for a week.”

  “I’m so glad to hear it,” he answered. “What do you expect they’ve learned down at the police station?”

  “Will this abductor-guy talk?” Leo wanted to know.

  “People very often do, from what I’ve heard,” Dean answered. “Last year, when Ray Hoffman was arrested, he immediately told the police everything in complete detail. I can only hope Logan Bryant is doing the same thing.”

  “I’m sure Estelle was involved in every part of this!” said Billie. “That lady—or should I say bitch?—has caused us nothing but unhappiness!”

  “Shell and I saw paintings in that barn where she was held,” said Dean, “and the kidnapper admitted to me that Estelle had put him up to abducting Shell. I don’t know what he’s saying to the police, though.”

  “The first thing I noticed when I woke up in that place,” said Shell, “was the smell of turpentine. Later, I got a glimpse of the paintings in the next room. I knew Estelle had something to do with my abductor.” She shivered involuntarily.

  “I hope he didn’t hurt you, Shell!” Leo said suddenly, putting his arm around her.

  “No. He just frightened me mostly. He was weird. Almost kind one minute, then explosive and mean the next.”

  “If he was working with Estelle,” said Billie, “it sounds like it was a marriage made in heaven, darling!”

  “Maybe you guys should come down to the station with us?” Dean asked.

  “Oh, I don’t know,” said Billie.

  “Yes,” said Leo. “I want to go. I need to know what’s going on. I want to know who killed Garrett and why.”

  It was an odd experience for Shell and Dean when they headed into the homicide division of Austin Police Headquarters. Gonzalez and Wilson were waiting for them, and several other officers—whose names they didn’t know—were waiting as well. As they stepped through the doors, with Leo and Billie following, the officers came over to them, and one by one they began shaking their hands and congratulating them. Shell felt confused for herself, but she felt that commendation was richly deserved by Dean. He had found her, he had fought for her, and he had carried her unconscious body to safety.

  “Where’s the dog?” asked one of the detectives.

  “Home,” Dean responded.

  “Well, she deserves to be congratulated, too,” said Wilson.

  “She certainly does,” Gonzalez agreed. “Would y’all like to join us in an interview room?”

  “Yes, yes certainly,” Dean answered.

  The room was beginning to feel rather familiar, Shell thought. She and Dean had been in this very room quite a few times it seemed, but the four friends were given chairs, and Gonzalez and Wilson had chairs opposite them.

  “Your keys,” said the sergeant, handing Shell’s key ring to her from across the table, “were found in the barn. Your shoes have been put in your car.”

  “Thank you,” Shell answered, “but I imagine I’ll retire those shoes!”

  Gonzalez nodded. “Well,” he added, looking at Dean, “it looks like we’re getting this case solved, thanks to you and your dog, Maxwell.”

  “Sadie and I only found Shell, and I guessed where to look for her because of her own apprehension about the location.”

  “But between your quick head and the fact that you and your dog subdued the guy, it was possible for us to arrest him. Then, because he was open about Estelle Travis, we were able to arrest her as well. We’d also learned, from her cook, that she had a gun. Ballistics has already informed us that it was the gun that was used to kill Garrett Hall.”

  “But what part did she play in all of this?” Leo wanted to know.

  “She was really the cause of everything, right from the death of Garrett Hall to the abduction of Ms. Hodge.”

  “She killed Garrett?” Leo asked, tears filling his eyes.

  “Yes. She’s admitted to finding the key to the house in the St. Francis in the backyard some time ago. She had apparently been snooping around from the moment Mr. Hall moved into the house on Avenue H. She was aware that he had extremely valuable art in his possession, and she had a copy made of the key as soon as she located it. Then she returned the original to the statue and went in and out of the house at will with her own copy. He was so new to the neighborhood, the neighbors probably didn’t even take note when Ms. Travis was seen going in and out.”

  “How did she even find Garrett’s house in the first place?” Billie asked.

  “It was easy. She followed him home from the gallery,” said Gonzalez. “I imagine we’ll find some of Mr. Hall’s possessions in her home if anyone can identify them. Perhaps one of you can help us with that,” he said, nodding toward Leo and Billie. “I’ll bet she was careful to choose things that wouldn’t be noticed by just anyone. Having that key, however, planted the seed in her mind for what she was eventually going to do. When she learned that Garrett Hall had questions about the authenticity of the paintings she was passing off as her father’s, she got it in her head to keep him from impeding her ability to sell them.”

  “She told you all this?” Leonardo asked.

  “Most of it. Logan Bryant told us some, of course. What broke her was proving her handgun was the source of the bullets that killed Garrett Hall. At first she tried to blame Logan Bryant for the murder, but he was at work that morning and there are a whole slew of witnesses to prove it. She herself has no alibi and tried to get her cook to lie to us about her being home.”

  “It all sounds insane!” said Billie.

  “You’re right,” Gonzalez answered. “I do think she’s more than a little off in her mental health, as is her accomplice, but that’s not going to keep the district attorney from trying her as a sane woman. She has a lot of fine stuff in her home. Who knows how much of it is stolen? She has no scruples.”

  “And she hired Logan Bryant?” Dean asked.

  “She ran into him at a craft fair and thought he had the ability to paint in a style that was similar to her father’s. So she had him finish some paintings and do some new ones. He has a sick wife, and Estelle Travis used his need to buy medications as leverage to get him to do what she wanted. She bought the land with the barn and the farmhouse on it for the purpose of giving Logan Bryant a location to paint and hide his paintings while they aged them.”

  “All the Travis paintings we’ve seen are fakes?” Leo asked.

  “The three you sold in February were at least partly painted by Logan Bryant. The newer ones were his alone.”

  “No wonder Garrett had his doubts!” said Leo.

  “And Shell had doubts, too,” Billie added.

  “How did they age the paintings?” Shell asked.

&
nbsp; “Logan Bryant told us that there is a large oven in that barn. They used some sort of slow baking method and apparently they did a few other things, too. I don’t understand these things, but I imagine you artists will.”

  “And how did Logan Bryant find Shell?” Dean wanted to know.

  “Apparently Estelle made it her business to know where all of the partners lived and what kinds of cars they drove. When Ms. Hodge went to stay with the other partners after you two had trouble,” said Gonzalez, looking at Dean, “Bryant had no trouble finding her car at the home Mr. Morrison and Mr. Parisi. Then he just waited for an opportunity to abduct her when she was on her own.”

  “And what happens to Logan Bryant?” Dean asked.

  “He’s been helpful, but we’re not making any deals with him. We have the goods on the guy, and he’s going to be put away for a long time. Estelle will never get out. She committed cold-blooded murder, and she put Bryant up to kidnapping Ms. Hodge.”

  Chapter 48

  Shell was glad to get her car and its contents back that Sunday afternoon as she and Dean left the police station. As she drove home she noticed that it was a perfect Austin day. The sky was blue, the temperature in the low eighties. The people she saw on the sidewalks along Guadalupe seemed to be having a lazy day. Life was moving along as if nothing dramatic had happened during the past nine days, but Shell was changed, and she was wondering if she and Dean would be able to work things out. She needed to know what had happened with Melinda, and all the distress and relief of the previous night had been too much for her to approach that conversation.

  “I’ll help you bring everything in,” Dean said, as Shell got out of her car, the white of his bandage blindingly bright in the sunlight.

  “That’s okay. I think I’ve got it,” she answered. “I’m pretty sure you’ve got a headache.”

  “Shell! You haven’t forgiven me,” he said.

  She looked up at him as she leaned against the open car door. He was her hero, the man who had rescued her from her captor and carried her miles to safety. It had been wonderful lying in the safety of his arms last night, but they had been too exhausted and traumatized to talk about anything. Dean had only repeated, “Everything’s going to be okay. You’re safe,” until she had slept.