by J. C. Eaton
“Get me in the front door?” Where did I come up with that idiotic cliché?
I’d watched enough TV dramas and written more than a few of my own to know what my next move should be. I picked up my glass of iced tea slowly and as I sipped, I kept my eyes wide open and fixed on his.
“You caught me by surprise, Miss Ellington. This wasn’t at all what I expected. Was Declan aware of your intentions?”
I shook my head. “No, that’s why I wanted to meet with him today.”
“I see.”
Lucas paused and didn’t say anything for what seemed like an eternity. Meanwhile, I continued to sip my tea and take small bites of my bagel.
“You’ve made an interesting proposition, I must admit. Have you given it serious thought?”
“I wouldn’t be here today if I hadn’t. Your vision and Declan’s will open an epicurean gateway to the east that will rival anything that’s been done in the last decade. Finger Lakes wines will be world-renowned. I don’t want to sit back and watch it unfold when I could be at the helm with both of you.” Whew! That was one line I remembered.
“You do realize we take risks and we sometimes take actions that others might not understand.”
Like murder? This might work after all. I’ve got to make him trust me. “I’m well aware of that. All great businesses have been known to be ruthless. But with good branding and even better PR, the public tends to forget.”
“How right you are, Miss—”
“Norrie. And I hope you’ll consider my proposal.”
Lucas reached out to shake my hand again. “Let’s meet again, you and me. Unless, of course, you’re more comfortable with my partner.”
“My first introduction to your company was with Declan and I feel it’s only right to continue working with him. I hope you understand.” And I hope you understand I can’t have anyone undressing me with their eyes or any of their other body parts, for that matter.
“I do. You’ve given us quite a lot to think about. I’ll be sure Declan reaches out to you by the weekend.”
Like clockwork, Lucas’s phone went off and he turned to excuse himself. I took another sip of my iced tea and glanced at the potted plants. No ruckus from Cammy’s cousins.
“That was my office,” Lucas said. “I’m terribly sorry. I’ve got to rush off. Please, stay and enjoy your drink. It was a pleasure.”
“Likewise.”
I didn’t take my eyes off him until he’d exited the restaurant. Then I leaned on the table, making sure Marc and Enzo could hear me. “Holy Crap.”
“Hold that thought for a sec, will you? I want to see what kind of car that dude drives.”
Marc got up from his seat and thundered over to the bank of windows in front of the restaurant. He was back in less than a minute. “Nothing like seeing a Series 7 Beemer up close and personal. Cool color, too. Sort of a cross between black and gray.”
I stood and leaned over the plants. “So he’s gone?”
“Yep. You can get your brain back now.”
“Hang on. I’ll join you at your table.”
I walked around the cluster of tables, made a right turn and sat down with Marc and Enzo. “What do you mean by that?”
Marc rolled his eyes and his entire head. “It was like watching someone sell their soul to the devil. And, by the way, the guy’s not all that. If you get my drift.”
“Yeah,” Enzo said. “He’s old. Must be in his mid-forties.”
“Listen, guys, I’m not selling anything to Lucas Stilton or his partner. I’m trying to make them think that’s what I’m going to do so I can get information out of them.”
Enzo looked at his cousin and then at me. “That’s what Cammy told us but if you want the truth, it looked as if you were about to cave.”
“That bad, huh?”
They both shook their heads.
“I won’t be as gaga with Declan,” I said. “Honestly, I don’t know what came over me. It was like Lucas—”
“Had you in some weird spell or something?” Marc asked. “Because he’s just a dude. Get over it.”
“You’re right. I’ve got to make this work.”
I thanked Cammy’s cousins and offered to pay them for their time but they adamantly refused, saying something about Cammy whooping them upside the head if she got wind of it. They also offered to run interference at my next encounter and I agreed. Granted, it was like having Abbott and Costello on my team, but I couldn’t afford to be choosy.
Chapter 20
I kept kicking myself the entire drive back to the house, following my less-than-stellar performance at the bagel place. Regardless of his impression of me, Lucas Stilton took the bait. Now all I needed to do was make sure I got what I needed from those men at Vanna Enterprises.
My stomach churned by the time I got in the door, and I was drenched from perspiration. Even my palms were sweaty. I was dying to tell Cammy how it went, or didn’t, in my case, but it was midafternoon and the tasting room would be full. I couldn’t pull her away. Same deal for Don and Theo. They wouldn’t be pleased, but the way things were going with the official investigation, I seriously doubted those deputies would come up with anything.
The red light was blinking on our answering machine and I clicked the button to play the messages. The first was from Madeline Martinez calling to remind me of the next winery women’s meeting in another week to discuss the “Sip and Savor” event and the second was from the bank that held our loans for the winery equipment.
Fearing the worst, I called the bank first and spoke with the loan officer, who’d initiated the call. Stewart McKinley assured me nothing was wrong but wanted to let me know there had been an inquiry into our finances from an outside source.
“Are you planning to refinance or take out another substantial loan, Miss Ellington?”
“What? No. Of course not.”
“Hmm, that is odd. Credit checks like the one that was made regarding your business usually occur when the owner plans on a major purchase. I notified you because if that were the case, we’d like to be the bank you continue to do business with.”
“Yes. Sure. Can they do that? Look into our finances?”
“Banks and lending companies can certainly check your credit. I hate to say this, but no one’s information is totally safe from prying eyes. Anyway, we’ll be on the lookout, should anyone try to establish credit in your name. Fraud’s become very common these days. If you don’t already have a credit monitoring service, I suggest you get one.”
“I, er, uh…”
“There are many reputable ones. Experian. TransUnion. LifeLock, Equifax. Pick one if you don’t already have one.”
“I will. I will. Thanks, Mr. McKinley. I appreciate your call.”
I was seething the second I got off the phone. Then again, what did I expect? That Lucas Stilton and Declan Roth would accept any deal of mine without thoroughly scrutinizing my assets? But damn. I didn’t expect Lucas to go all nuclear a half hour after meeting with him. Well, there was at least one good thing about my meeting—he took me seriously.
With a good hour to kill before the tasting room closed, I turned on my laptop and picked up where I left off with my screenplay. If anything, it got my mind off Elsbeth’s murder and whatever strange and dangerous attraction I felt for Lucas. At a quarter to five I called it quits and walked to the tasting room.
Three little girls were sticking their hands between the mesh opening to pet Alvin and he seemed to be enjoying every minute of it. He rubbed his nose against their hands and licked them. The girls giggled and ran off when they heard someone calling for them. I moseyed over to Alvin and reached my hand into the pen to pet him as well. Instead of rubbing against it, he snorted and stomped a foot.
“What don’t you like about me? Never mind, I don’t need a full explanation.”
Alvi
n stomped again and I heard a voice behind me. “Having goat troubles?”
I turned.
Peter had a small wheelbarrow of hay with him. “Maybe if you fed him, he might feel differently.”
“I’ll take a raincheck. Everything going all right?”
“Seems to be. Since we put up the barriers, the visitors aren’t walking all over our vineyard rows. How are you doing? I imagine this is the last thing you expected when you came onboard.”
Peter unlatched the gate and rolled the wheelbarrow into Alvin’s pen. The goat immediately started chomping on the hay.
“I’m doing okay,” I said. “How come you got stuck with Alvin duty?”
“It’s all part of the operation. If I wasn’t feeding Alvin, I’d be doing something else. There’s never a slowdown when it comes to managing a vineyard. Even in winter. That’s the worst. The winter pruning. Sometimes it feels as if our fingers are going to fall off from frostbite. Even with heavy gloves.”
I nodded and Peter continued to talk as he threw hay around Alvin’s pen.
“Of course, the worst risk isn’t to our fingers, it’s to the grapevines. If the temperatures drop too low for the plant to tolerate, we get winter injury.”
“Winter injury?”
“Freezing damage might be a better word for it. It can totally kill the vines or the buds. That’s why wineries carry crop insurance.”
Crop insurance. Did we have crop insurance? Francine never said anything about it. I nodded again and muttered “yeah.”
“Sometimes I close my eyes and wonder what it would be like to manage a vineyard in a warmer climate. Like California.”
“Didn’t you used to work for a big winery there? I think Francine mentioned it.” And I saw it on your application.
“Uh-huh. When I got out of school.”
“Then why the Finger Lakes? Why did you relocate here?”
Peter stopped tossing hay and wiped some strands of hair from his brow. “I suppose I couldn’t resist growing wine in a region that has so much untapped potential.”
And growing your resume? “That’s it? Potential?”
“More than that, I suppose. This region is the testing ground for scientific research. I want to be on top of things, not grunting along.”
The second he said the word grunt, that was exactly what Alvin did. He let out a huge grunt and rubbed his head in a fresh pile of hay.
“See, even the goat agrees.”
“Oh my gosh,” I said. “It’s closing time and I’ve got to catch Cammy. It was nice talking to you.”
“Same here.”
As I raced into the tasting room, I wondered if those were the lines Peter used when interviewing with Francine and Jason for his position as assistant vineyard manager. It didn’t matter. I had more pressing things on my mind.
Lizzie was cashing out when I walked through the door. I walked right toward her. “We have crop insurance, don’t we?”
She looked up from the computer and took a step back. “Norrie. Hi! What did you ask? Something about crop insurance?”
“I figured you’d be the one to know since the bills for the business land on your lap. So, do we have it?”
“Yes. We’ve got coverage and endorsements to cover all sorts of issues. Only they’re referred to as exposures. Did you want to see the policy? It’s in your sister’s files.”
“Uh, no. The topic came up and I wanted to be sure we were covered.”
“You can relax. Your sister and brother-in-law made sure to purchase a comprehensive policy. So, now that the issue of insurance is settled, how’s your sleuthing going?”
“I’m working on a new strategy. I’ll let you know.”
“There you are!” came Glenda’s voice from across the tasting room. “I wondered when I’d ever get a chance to talk to you. Have you had time to mull over my suggestion about a ritual cleansing or the séance? That malevolent spirit of Elsbeth’s is never going to leave this place unless we intervene.”
“Smudging, no. But séance, yes. But only after hours and outdoors. Preferably, as far away from the tasting room as you can get.”
Glenda bobbed her head up and down and tapped a foot on the floor. “I’ll begin the preparations right away. It’s not something one can do haphazardly.”
Of course not.
“It will have to take place where her body was last seen,” she went on. “Remnants of her spirit linger on tangible objects or, in this case, maybe the soil.”
“No! Not the soil! You can’t go in the vineyard. Absolutely not. Maybe her spirit can sort of waft its way over the irrigation piping and into a clearing.”
Glenda clamped her lips together and crinkled her nose. “We’ll make it work. We’ll have to use a stronger incantation than I originally thought.”
“Good idea. A stronger incantation. By the way, have you seen Cammy?”
“She’s in the kitchen,” both women said at the same time.
“Thanks and have a good evening. Oh, and Glenda? Make sure I know when this conjuring of the dead is taking place. I don’t need any surprises.”
“Don’t worry. Since it involves the entire tasting room staff, everyone will be informed.”
As I approached the kitchen door, I heard Lizzie saying, “Since when does it involve all of us? It’s hard enough dealing with the living.”
Cammy had just finished stacking a rack of clean wineglasses on the table when I walked into the kitchen. “I did it,” I said. “Only it wasn’t Declan. His partner showed up instead. I’m surprised I can still function.”
“What? Did that SOB threaten you? Coerce you? I told you it wasn’t a good idea. Did my cousins show up? Geez. What did they do?”
“Marc and Enzo were great. Sophomoric, but great.”
“That’s because they are sophomores, technically. They start their junior year in two months. It can’t come fast enough for my family. Well, what happened?”
I pulled a chair over to the table and motioned for her to sit. Then I relived every single detail that took place at The Bagel Barn. When I was done, Cammy stared at me. Mouth wide open but wordless.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Because I want to remember you before you get chewed up and spat out. Norrie, that guy is a wolf. There’s no other word for it. He’ll beguile you and render you and your family penniless if you continue with that idea of yours. Clearly, you’re no match for him. How long were you with him? A half hour? Forty minutes maybe? And look how he got to you. What are you going to do if you’re with him at a fancy restaurant? One with mood music and dim lights.”
“It won’t happen. I won’t let it. From now on, I’m only meeting with Declan. And I won’t be alone. Marc and Enzo said they’d be my backup.”
“Oh, brother. So, now what?”
“Now I wait for Declan to call. I guarantee it’ll be in less than forty-eight hours. Those guys want to move and they want to move fast. Francine and Jason may be gone for a year, but Rosalee’s only got four weeks. They’ll want to wrap things up, trust me.”
Cammy rubbed her hands together then crossed her arms. “Have you thought about what you’re going to do if they tell you they were the ones responsible for knocking off Elsbeth? If you go to the sheriff’s’ department, they’ll only deny it. Then there’ll be a target on your back.”
“Aargh. I hadn’t thought of that. I guess I’ll have to figure out how to get a confession out of them that I can prove. Whatever you do, don’t say anything to Lizzie or she’ll insist I read the entire Nancy Drew mysteries again.”
“Better that than communicating with the spirit world if Glenda gets her way.”
“Um, yeah. About that. I gave her the green light for her séance. Might as well get it over with. She said she’d let me know when she had it planned.”
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“Boy, this conversation just keeps getting better and better.”
Both of us laughed and got up from the table. Cammy turned off the lights and we exited out the building through the tasting room. As she locked up, I said, “At least I think I bought Yvonne some time. Lucas and Declan will be so busy with my proposition they’ll hold off on pressuring her. With Elsbeth dead, there’s no hurry.”
“You’ve got a point there.”
Cammy walked to her car and I debated whether or not I should saunter over to the Grey Egret and tell Theo and Don face-to-face what I had done or slither back to the house and phone them. I took the coward’s way out and went home.
“You did what?” Theo asked when I got him on the phone.
“I know. I know. Don’t get too upset. I’m still beating myself up over it. And before you say another word, you have no idea what it’s like to be inches away from someone as mesmerizing, as tantalizing, as beguiling as Lucas Stilton. He could make a diamond turn back to coal.”
“Uh, I may have some idea. Although, Don’s attributes don’t go as far as being able to manipulate geological changes.”
“Theo. I’m dead serious. It was like that scene in Damn Yankees where Joe Boyd sells his soul to the devil. Stephanie Ipswich warned me about Lucas Stilton, and she was right.”
“Aside from the fact the guy all but turned your thought processes into mush, did you make any headway with your plan?”
“Yes. That’s the good news. He believed me. He honestly believed me. I’m certain of it. I’m wagering Declan Roth will have a contract for me to sign by the beginning of the week. Then I move to phase two.”
“Phase two? I didn’t realize you planned this fiasco in phases.”
“Well, I did. And it’s not a fiasco. Phase two is the stalling process. I’ll keep mulling over the contract, making little revisions here and there, all the while wearing them down until they finally relent and admit to killing Elsbeth to further the gains of Vanna Enterprises. I’ll insist on knowing the truth before I sign anything.”
“And once you know the truth? That could put you directly in harm’s way.”
