Boiling Over

by Thea McAlistair

  “You mean to tell me the Queen of Sin only has one lawyer?” I said.

  He sighed. “I only know the number for the one, and Kelly won’t let me talk to her.” He paused. “Maybe he will let you. You’re not a foreigner.”

  I didn’t want to talk to Bella, but since it was Sev asking, I would try.

  I stumbled my way to Kelly’s office. It was well organized, down to the pens being lined up precisely across the top edge of the blotter. Maybe there was nothing to do here besides clean and get overinvested in his biases. He glared as I approached.

  “Mr. Carrow,” he grunted. “Let me guess. You want me to release Mrs. Ferri.”

  I shrugged. “Even you have to admit, holding a woman for slapping you is a bit much.”

  He folded his hands on top of the desk. “See, the thing is, I think I’m going to up the charge.”

  What? “Up the charge to what? She only smacked you.”

  “She only smacked me, but I’m beginning to suspect she killed Walter Trask.”

  I thought I had misheard, but there was no mistaking the cold smirk on Kelly’s face. He thought he was winning. Hell, maybe he was. “On what grounds?” I demanded.

  “I’ve had her in my sights for Manco’s death, and now she turns up again. I’m one of those people who doesn’t believe in coincidences.”

  “She wasn’t even here.”

  “I’m not an idiot. You can kill a man, drive away, and come back the next day, acting like it’s a surprise.”

  Fine, if he didn’t want to play nice, I’d have to get creative. “Can I talk to Bella, at least? We can’t get her lawyer on the phone, and we need to know who we should try contacting instead.”

  Kelly eyed me. “All right, only for two minutes. And no funny business.”

  I would have been pleased, except Kelly’s quick acceptance of me meant Sev had been right about the foreigner thing.

  Kelly led me beyond an iron door directly behind him. Inside were three cells, one on each wall. The walls were blocks of cement, and of course there were iron bars, but the cots had clean-looking pillows and blankets, and there weren’t any dust bunnies or cobwebs. The room was, however, stiflingly warm. Bella sat on her cot in the cell across from the door, hands clutching the edge. She stared me down as I walked in.

  “Two minutes,” Kelly snapped before slamming the door closed behind me.

  Bella crossed her arms over her chest. “Have you come to help or to laugh?”

  While I was sure she had committed murder by proxy, Walter Trask wasn’t one of her victims. And I was grateful she’d gotten us out of Westwick. I had to even the scales somehow.

  “Sev tried calling your lawyer, but he’s in Europe and won’t be back until next month.”

  She snorted. “Why isn’t Severo in here telling me this himself? Oh, I bet the sheriff thinks we will gossip about him.” She affected his Boston-tinged accent. “‘Speak English!’” She made a face and flicked a hand in what I was sure was some kind of rude gesture. “Men like him will get what is coming in the end.”

  “Well, I’d like to think so, but right now, he wants to put you in a noose. He’s going to charge you for the murder of Walter Trask.”

  Bella’s prideful face slipped. “Murder?”

  “I don’t know, he seems to think you killed him, ran off, and came back.”

  “Why would I come back?”

  “Look, I didn’t say he was right or even that he was smart, just that was what he’s thinking. I know you didn’t kill Trask. If you had, you’d be bragging. And you wouldn’t have needed to come up here to do it personally. Why are you here anyway? I don’t believe for one second you’re running away. I may not know you well, but I know you don’t run. And even if you were going to run, this is a stupid place to go, especially with all your money. So why Chickadee and not Rome or Paris or Shanghai?”

  She watched me with those expressionless black eyes. “I did not lie to you. I am nervous. Two betrayals,” she turned back, “three if I assume Mr. Trask’s death is someone trying to attack me somehow. That is too many in a month. But you are right, I do not walk away from fights. As we speak, I have enough people who are working to restore order.”

  I cringed. It was going to be a bloody night in Westwick. Maybe bloody enough the police would have to focus on that and not on the deaths of the mayor, his wife, and his father-in-law for a little while.

  “You still didn’t say why you’re here, specifically,” I said.

  Bella straightened, and I saw a glint in her eyes that might have been tears. “I don’t know. There’s nothing there for me now with Dario dead. Why would I go back to an empty home?”

  I sighed. I couldn’t begrudge her loneliness and grief—I was reeling from the same with Donnie and Martin gone—but of all the people to harass, she had chosen us? “And, what, you have no other family? Sev’s suddenly your best friend?”

  “I told you, I trust him. I trust you. If I go to Rome or Shanghai, who will help me there?” She nodded. “And Crista is a friend of mine from childhood. She will help too.”

  “You sure? Kelly seems to think you had something to do with her husband’s death. If she thinks so too, she might not see the point in helping.”

  My insinuation finally got some reaction out of Bella. Unfortunately, the reaction was annoyance. “I had nothing to do with that. I don’t even know what happened. He was missing. She called me, so I came up. He was found shot and rotted over a week later.”

  “Does anyone know what happened?”

  She shook her head. “If anyone did, it was Trask. They were on a job together. I sent them to pick up crates of whiskey. Only he came back, saying they were separated when they were chased by the border patrol.”

  Interesting. “Right. Well, what do you want me and Sev to do? Do you have another lawyer we can phone or—”

  “Leave me.”

  “Did you forget the whole conversation we just had? Kelly wants to charge you with murder!”

  She didn’t answer. Was something worse than murder?

  “Bella, what aren’t you telling me?”

  She raised a shoulder.

  “All right, fine. Don’t say anything. But Sev isn’t going to like you giving up,” I said. “He’s going to destroy himself trying to fix this. And I’m not going to let him do that. So, whether you want it or not, I’m going to get you out of here.”

  A smirk curled up Bella’s face. “I knew he must like you for a reason.”

  The door opened and Kelly grabbed my upper arm. “Time’s up, joker.” And with one yank, he dragged me out.

  Chapter Six

  As expected, Sev didn’t take learning that Bella was going to be charged with murder too well and took the information that she didn’t want us to get her another lawyer even worse. He swore in two languages, punctuating the rant with expansive gestures. I had to coax him outside and away from Kelly’s earshot before he got us into trouble.

  “Will you calm down for five seconds?” I hissed as soon as our feet touched the sidewalk. “Do you want us arrested too?”

  “I don’t understand,” Sev protested. “I don’t understand any of this.”

  “Yeah, well, I don’t either, but yelling inside the police station isn’t going to help anything.” I lowered my voice. “She doesn’t want to get out. Why wouldn’t she want to be let out of prison? What’s worse to her than hanging?”

  “What?” He shook his head. “I have no idea.”

  I sighed. “Fine. We’ll go back to the house and call someone in her little troop. They probably have a plan in case of something like this. And maybe they know why she’s being so cagey.”

  Sev took a breath, and his shoulders settled. “You’re right. I’ll call Ernesto at the Ostia. He’ll get the message to the right people. You think so clearly under pressure, caro. Where would I be without you?”

  Not be in Chickadee, Vermont, for starters. “You were doing pretty all right as far as I could tell,�
�� I answered. “Come on. I don’t want to have to pay Fran any overtime.”

  Part of me wanted to stomp straight to Crista’s place and demand to know the exact circumstances surrounding her husband’s death, but I knew confronting her would be either futile or dangerous. Possibly both. She’d had a whole year to go through the story, and if she had killed Trask in revenge, I would only be walking into a hornet’s nest. Considering I’d almost gotten my head shot off for that kind of recklessness last week, I was in no mood to test those waters.

  As we approached the house, Fran peeked out the front window. As soon as she saw me looking, she darted away. I sighed. That child was not subtle.

  She popped up again at the front door, which she flung open. “What’s going on?” she asked. “I don’t understa—”

  Pearl squeezed between her and the doorframe, one arm wrapped around a teddy bear I hadn’t been aware she owned. Another gift from Bella, presumably. “Miss Fran says Mr. Trask is dead like Daddy and Martin and that Miss Bella is in jail.”

  Shit.

  I looked to Sev, hoping he’d have a positive way to say this. He did manage to keep his near-perpetual half smile, but his gold eyes had the look of a cornered animal. At last, he took a step forward to usher them back into the house and said, “It’s a misunderstanding. Bella will be let out soon. As for Mr. Trask, unfortunately, yes, he has passed away.” He shooed Pearl inside before shutting the door behind us. “We should pray for him. Why don’t you go to your room and start?”

  She gave him a suspicious look like she knew he was trying to get her out of the picture but started moving up the stairs. She climbed slowly, and I watched her the whole way to make sure she didn’t decide to eavesdrop. Only when I heard the door shut did I round on Fran.

  “What the hell were you thinking, telling her all that?” I demanded.

  Fran’s lower lip trembled. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think it’d be bad to tell her. She was going to find out anyhow—”

  “She’s right, Alex,” Sev murmured. “Unless you want to lock Pearl in her room, she’s going to hear about things.”

  I huffed. “She didn’t need to know about Trask. She doesn’t even know who he is. What does it matter to her he’s dead. It’s going to remind her Martin’s gone.” I stopped. Was it Pearl or myself I was worried about?

  Sev must have seen something in my face because he patted my shoulder and headed for the kitchen. “I’m going to make more tea. Would you like any, Miss Gaines?”

  “Oh, no thank you.” She shuffled her feet. “I should go home. Mom was pretty upset Mr. Trask died, and I bet Dad’s come home by now.” She reached for the doorknob.

  Something sparked in my messy brain. If Fran had been willing to gossip to Pearl about what had happened, maybe she would tell me too. And if she told me the right thing, maybe Bella would be out of before supper.

  I stepped in front of the door, blocking Fran’s way out. “Fran, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten angry. She’s a little young for murder, you know?”

  Fran’s eyes widened. “Murder?”

  Fantastic, I’d put my foot in my mouth. “That’s what Sheriff Kelly thinks. And well, I don’t know anything about anything here, so I guess I believe him.”

  “Oh, well maybe it was! He’s a rich man”—Fran lowered her voice and leaned in—“but not very popular. Everyone says they like him, but that’s only because they all work for him.”

  “Everyone?”

  “Well, not everyone everyone.”

  Right, now time to reel in the fish. “Who was close to Walter Trask?”

  “Well, Judith, you know, they were stepping out together. And her dad didn’t like him much. Um, he has a younger brother? Mr. Richard. He’s kind of an odd fellow if you know what I mean.”

  “Any business partners?”

  Fran squirmed and said nothing.

  “Fran. This is important.”

  Her face screwed up like the words caused her pain. “No partners, but my dad works under him. If Mr. Trask is dead then the whole factory… But Dad wouldn’t do anything to hurt Mr. Trask!” she wailed. “Never!”

  That was more of a reaction than I had bargained for. Since I didn’t want a weeping teenager on my hands, I filed away the information and changed the subject. “Anyone else? Anyone he had problems with?”

  Fran sniffled and dabbed her nose with her sleeve. “Well, there’s Ed.”

  “Ed who?”

  “I dunno. He’s Ed. He lives by himself up in the woods. He comes into town maybe twice a week to buy and sell at the store. Nobody really knows him.”

  “And what were he and Mr. Trask having a problem over?”

  “Ed doesn’t like people coming up into the parts of the woods he thinks are his. But there’re good maples up there, so Mr. Trask was trying to, I don’t know, buy the land? And Ed wasn’t having it. Chased him off with a bowie knife once.”

  So, Kelly had decided to harass a woman who had been nowhere near the crime scene instead of a man who had threatened Trask’s life once already. Amazing police work in this town, truly.

  “Right, well, thanks. That’s all very good to know.” I hesitated. “Are you sure you don’t want any tea or anything?”

  Fran shook her head. “I should head home.”

  I stepped away from the door, and she scuttled past me without so much as a flirting wink. I sighed as I shut it after her. That had been too harsh. But information was information, and she had a lot of it. I traced Sev’s steps into the kitchen.

  He looked up from the kettle he was putting on the stove. “You upset her.”

  “I didn’t mean to upset her. I just wanted to know who might’ve wanted to kill Trask. You want Bella hung, or you want the truth?”

  “Of course I don’t want anything to happen to Bella” He paused, and his eyes tracked across my face. Then he shook his head. Without looking at me, he went for the phone. “Ernesto will be able to help.”

  I watched in silence as he asked the operator for a Westwick line and started a conversation in Italian with, presumably, Ernesto. That itchy, lonely feeling started building in my chest again. Maybe this time, I would be able to smoke it away in peace. I went outside, careful to shut the door all the way this time.

  Partway through my second cigarette, Sev popped his head out. “Tea is ready.”

  I didn’t move from my place by the rail. “What’d Ernesto say?”

  “Bella did not give us the whole story.” He sighed and pulled out his own cigarettes as he took a spot beside me. “A shock, I know.” He paused to light up. “Things are bad at home. Other gangs heard about Dario and everything else, and they moved in like wolves, thinking we’re weak.” A thin stream of smoke wisped between his lips. “Maybe we are weak. I don’t know. In any case, there isn’t anyone to spare right now. They’re all dead or arrested or hiding.” He turned to me. “I’m afraid it’s down to us at the moment.”

  I probably should have felt some kind of pleasure at Bella’s criminal empire crumbling around her, but seeing Sev’s wilted posture, I found only pity. That had been his life too, after all. He knew most of the people caught in the crossfire even if they were only what one might call workplace acquaintances.

  “I’m sorry,” I mumbled.

  He shrugged. “It is a dangerous business. We know what we risk.”

  Risky enough that Bella was in deeper trouble than she’d let on? “Do you think someone followed her? They knew she’d get out of the city and went to cut her off, so maybe she thinks she’s safer with the police?”

  He hesitated. “I can’t imagine why she would. Anyone bold enough to chase her hundreds of miles wouldn’t be very put off by two country policemen.”

  “What about Trask? Do you think someone knew he was on Bella’s payroll and came up here to cut him out as part of this turf war?”

  “I don’t know why anyone would bother. He’s one bootlegger in the middle of nowhere. I didn’t even know he existed until she
told me we’d be working together. Perhaps money. And if the reason was money, wouldn’t it be better trying to bribe him away? What good is a dead smuggler to anyone?”

  “So, someone here killed him?”

  “I would have to assume. Or else it was an accident, and the branch fell on him like you said.”

  I had said that, but it had been more to distract Kelly than my actual theory. How many people were in town, a couple hundred? I could probably chuck a rock at random and hit the murderer by pure chance. But chance wasn’t going to get Bella out of prison. I’d have to walk into Kelly’s office with ironclad proof or else she was going to swing, and that was unacceptable. For Sev’s sake, of course, and because I had the hazy feeling in the back of my mind she’d slapped Kelly to get his focus off us.

  “What about Crista’s husband?” I asked. “He was working for Bella too.”

  Sev shrugged. “I don’t know anything about him except he brought us very good-quality gin once. I met him maybe three times total. Nice enough man. Or as nice as you can be in this business.”

  “And Crista? She’s Bella’s oldest friend or whatever.”

  “I remember her name being mentioned a few times, but Bella isn’t very talkative as you’ve noticed. Perhaps I met her? If I did, I was very young and don’t remember. Bella is fourteen years older than I am. Anyone she was friends with as a child was almost an adult before I was even born.”

  No leads. I sighed.

  “Sev, I want to help. I do,” I said, “but I’m going to have to ask people questions like I just did to you, and some of them are going to be nasty questions they’re not going to want to answer, and it might get ugly. I need to know you’ll be okay with that.”

  Sev stared at the tree line for a few seconds in silence before turning back to me. “I trust you, caro. Do what you need to do.” He kissed me briefly and stubbed out his cigarette on the rail and went back inside.

  I went back in some time later. Three cigarettes in a row hadn’t helped. If anything, they made me feel sick as well as uneasy. Sev wasn’t in the kitchen, but he’d left a cup of tea for me. The delicate porcelain looked almost comically small with my hand wrapped around it. I decided to put the cup down before I accidentally destroyed something else. The tea had gone cold anyway.