Death by Intermission

by Alexis Morgan

  Jada finally spoke up. “Why? What does it say?”

  When Gage finally responded, he was definitely sporting his best grim cop expression. “I’m going to ask all of you to keep this to yourselves.” He waited until everyone nodded before continuing. “Without going into detail, Jada, it’s a message from your father to his friends, one he knew they’d be able to read. I’m guessing Anders could, too, which undoubtedly threw a wrench in the works.”

  By that point, Abby’s mother was frowning. “Chief Logan, I swear I’m not trying to cause problems here, but I feel as if I must speak up. Since whatever Tripp and Owen just wrote down has all of you looking pretty darn serious, I have to ask if Jada should have an attorney present before you continue.”

  Abby hoped like heck he’d say that wasn’t necessary. Unless she was mistaken, there was a flash of sympathy in Gage’s expression when he turned his attention to Jada. “You know, that’s probably a good idea.”

  Then he held out his hand. “Pass me the pictures.”

  The room went silent except for the shuffling of papers and the pounding of Abby’s heart. She could only imagine how much worse it was for Jada. After gathering everything up, Gage stood up. “I’ll lock all of this up until we meet again. Ms. Davidson, if you need the name of a good attorney, let me know. Once you have someone lined up, we’ll set a time to meet again.”

  He started for the door but then turned back. “By the way, you haven’t done anything wrong. I just want to make sure someone is looking out for your best interests.”

  If he was trying to reassure Jada, Abby wasn’t sure how successful he’d been. It was time to head home to regroup. Tripp signaled he’d be along in a second, so she wrapped her arm around Jada’s shoulders and led her back to the lobby. “I plan on making a double batch of Tripp’s special brandy tea for all of us. It might not solve any problems, but we won’t care.”

  Jada’s laugh was definitely shaky. “Sounds good. Today already pretty much sucked, and finding out Dad’s picture contains some super-secret message doesn’t help.”

  Abby stopped just shy of the lobby to wait for Tripp. “Did you have a problem with one of your classes?”

  “No, afterward.” Jada leaned against the wall, clearly running short on energy. “Someone vandalized five cars in the back parking lot, mine included. They knocked out windows and popped the trunks. The campus cops had already responded by the time I got out of class. They figured someone was looking to grab any valuables out of the cars. They hadn’t located any witnesses, so all security could do was write up a report in case any of us need one for our insurance companies. They’ll also report it to the county sheriff’s office, since the school is in their jurisdiction.”

  “Was anything taken from your car?”

  “No, I don’t keep much in it—a flashlight, jumper cables, and stuff like that. Luckily, I had my books and laptop in my backpack.”

  Maybe it was another coincidence that Jada’s car was involved, especially considering it was just one of several. But what if the other cars were camouflage to obscure the perpetrator’s real intentions? Abby gently grabbed Jada’s arm and spun her back in the direction of Gage’s office. “We need to tell Gage about this.”

  Jada fell into step beside her, but she didn’t look too happy about it. “Why? The college isn’t even in his jurisdiction.”

  Even if that was true, past experience had taught her that he wouldn’t appreciate being kept out of the loop. “He’ll still want to know, even if it turns out to be pure happenstance that your car was targeted today. I’m sure he’ll check with campus security to see if this has been happening a lot or is a one-off.”

  They were about halfway down the hall when they ran into Tripp, who looked apologetic. “I didn’t mean to keep you waiting so long. Your mom went out the other door with Owen, since he’d parked behind the building.”

  “That’s fine.” Great in fact. “We have something to tell Gage, but it shouldn’t take long.”

  She didn’t give him a chance to ask why, for fear Jada might change her mind about involving Gage with this latest incident. It didn’t come as a surprise that Tripp decided to tag along.

  It was relief to find Gage alone. He was just sitting down when she all but dragged Jada into his office. “Sorry to bother you again, but Jada has something to tell you. It might be nothing, but I think it could be something.”

  He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “Okay, I’m listening.”

  CHAPTER 27

  Early the next morning, Tripp wandered over to where Abby was trimming back the roses along the side of the yard. “Where’s Jada?”

  Abby took off her gardening gloves and tossed them along with her pruning shears into the wheelbarrow. “She had an appointment to get her car window fixed.”

  He frowned. “I don’t like the idea of her going anywhere on her own right now.”

  Did he think Abby liked it any better? “She turned down my offer to go with her. Besides, the glass shop is in a strip mall right on Main Street. She should be safe enough there.”

  She hoped so, anyway, but she couldn’t help but worry. Although she’d insisted Jada tell Gage about her car being vandalized, she’d secretly hoped he would blow the incident off as just bad luck. Unfortunately, he hadn’t. In fact, he’d immediately checked in with the head of campus security, who said it had been the only such incident in recent history. They’d finally tracked down one witness, a student who’d spotted someone bashing out a car window with a crowbar.

  The culprit had run off into the trees as soon as he realized he’d been seen. The witness thought it was a man, but the baggy sweatpants and an oversized hooded sweatshirt made it impossible to know for sure. Sadly, the campus police had no real leads to follow in determining who had been behind the attack or what they’d been after.

  “Is Jada going straight to school after the window is repaired?”

  “No, her afternoon class was canceled for some reason, so she planned to stop by a body shop to see how much it would cost to fix her trunk, before coming back here. She wants to get it repaired as soon as possible.”

  Tripp grinned. “Don’t tell me she didn’t like the look of the camo duct tape I used to fasten down the trunk lid.”

  “Okay, I won’t tell you.”

  “Can’t please some people.”

  “So true.”

  When she pushed the wheelbarrow full of clippings over toward the garage, Tripp followed along in her footsteps. “How long do you think she’s going to stay here with you?”

  “Not much longer, I’m afraid. While she appreciates that I’ve let her stay here, she doesn’t like leaving her own home unattended. I’m guessing she’ll be moving back there tomorrow at the latest.”

  “Did she have any luck finding an attorney?”

  “Yeah, she called a local guy who’d done business with her father in the past, and they have an appointment to meet with Gage in the morning. He’s going listen to what Gage has to say. If it turns out she needs more specialized advice, he’ll help her find someone suitable.” She let some of her frustration show. “It’s hard to know what’s going on, with you men being so closemouthed about what was written on the picture.”

  She held up her hand when Tripp started to protest. “I know it’s not your fault, but it’s why things are a bit up in the air for her right now.”

  He shoved his hands in his hip pockets. “I’m sure Gage will fill Jada in on everything and help her figure out where to go from there.”

  “I hope so. She’s already been through a lot.”

  When they reached the side of the garage, Tripp handed her the shears and her gloves before emptying the clippings into the yard waste container. As he put everything back in the toolshed for her, she pondered how to break another piece of news to him.

  Tripp took one look at her face and said, “Out with it, Abby.”

  Had the man developed some sort of secret sonar tha
t picked up on her thoughts somehow? It wouldn’t surprise her. She tried to buy herself a little time by asking, “Out with what?”

  He rolled his eyes. “With whatever has you all tied up in knots right now. You know you’ll tell me eventually, so why not just get it over with?”

  It was always better to play it straight with Tripp. Besides, Jada hadn’t said that Abby couldn’t tell him. She bit her lower lip as she pondered what to do. Finally, she caved just like he’d said she would. “Jada asked me to go with her and the attorney to meet with Gage. I told her I would.”

  For once, Tripp didn’t look all that concerned by her decision. “If Gage doesn’t think you should be there, he won’t hesitate to say so. The same goes for the attorney. Having said that, they’ll probably be glad that Jada has someone with her whom she trusts. It doesn’t sound as if she knows the attorney all that well, and she’ll appreciate your input on what she should do about what Gage has to tell her.”

  “That’s what I’m hoping. I know he worries about me getting drawn into his investigations, but apparently Jada doesn’t have anybody else she can turn to for advice or even emotional support. She hasn’t mentioned any extended family, her friends are away at college, and she doesn’t trust her godfather.”

  Tripp was about to say something when Abby’s phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and checked the caller ID. “Speak of the devil.”

  After swiping the screen, she said, “Hey, Jada, how did it go with the window?”

  “Abby, I don’t know what to do. Will Swahn just called and said we need to meet at my house this afternoon. He won’t take no for an answer, even though I said I had another appointment this afternoon and that you were expecting me back for dinner. I told him I had another call I had to take and hung up.”

  Jada wasn’t the only one freaking out right now, but Abby did her best to sound calm. “Don’t meet with him alone, Jada, especially since his ex-wife says he’s gotten volatile. Come directly here. Tripp and I will be out front watching for you.”

  There was a long silence on the phone, to the point Abby thought for a second that the call had been disconnected. She was about to hang up and dial Jada back when the girl finally spoke again.

  “Abby, he’s here. How did he track me down?”

  Abby’s heart did a slow roll in her chest. “Where’s here exactly?”

  “The glass shop parking lot. They finished replacing my broken window, and I was about to leave. He just pulled into the parking lot and stopped right behind my car. I’m freaking out here. What should I do?”

  “Can you lock yourself in the car?”

  Jada’s breath was coming in ragged bursts, a clear sign of how scared she was. “I’ll have to as long as he’s blocking me in. There’s no way I can get back inside the glass shop without him catching me.”

  The younger woman wasn’t the only one on the verge of a full-on panic attack. “Don’t hang up, Jada, but don’t let him know I’m listening in.”

  “He’s getting out of the car and coming toward me. I think he wants me to roll down my window.”

  Abby heard the faint sound of someone knocking, evidently Will Swahn’s way of telling Jada she needed to lower the window so they could talk. “Uncle Will, I’m sorry, but I’m in a bit of a hurry.”

  “That’s what you told me at that McCree woman’s house. Like I said on the phone, we need to talk. Now. Today.” His frustration came through all too clear. “It won’t take long. I’ll follow you back to your house.”

  Abby crossed her fingers that Jada wouldn’t cave in and agree to do that. There was no way to know how he would react if he realized someone was listening in on his conversation, so she remained silent. Finally, Will spoke again. “Come on, Jada. I’m your godfather, and your father was my best friend. Surely you can make room in your schedule to talk to me for a few minutes. If you don’t want to go to your house, is there someplace else that would work?”

  Jada’s heavy sigh sounded like surrender. “I can give you a couple of minutes right now, Uncle Will, but that’s all. I have an appointment I can’t miss.”

  After a brief pause, he said, “It’s not ideal, but it’s better than nothing. Let me be clear about one thing—this stays between the two of us. What I’m about to tell you has to do with your father and me back in the day. He wouldn’t want you to go blabbing all about it to your new friends.”

  “Okay, I won’t tell them.”

  Smart girl, she wasn’t even lying about that. After all, he’d told Abby himself even if he probably wouldn’t appreciate the distinction.

  He was talking again. “Things have already taken a real bad turn, and we don’t want the situation to get any worse. You’ve got to believe me about that, Jada.”

  “Okay.” Jada might’ve been shaky on the inside, but she managed to sound pretty calm, especially considering that last comment he’d made. Was he talking about the theft of the picture, or something else? There was no way to know.

  “You see, your dad, our friend Jack, and I, brought some money back from when we served together. Let’s call it bonus pay from our time in combat. I know it sounds bad, but you have no idea how screwed up things were over there. We figured we’d be lucky to come home alive, much less in one piece. Nobody came looking for the money, and we figured we’d earned it.”

  Jada’s response was almost a whisper. “I can understand that, Uncle Will. Dad always said those were scary times.”

  “Yeah, they were. But the point is, your dad always had a good head for numbers, so Jack and I let him invest it for all of us. The plan was to let the money sit and accrue interest until we retired, unless something unexpected came up. You know, like when Jack got hit with that cancer diagnosis. He needed his third of the money to help pay off his medical bills. I didn’t know until recently, but your dad also was using his third to pay for your college.”

  Will was almost breathless by that point, clearly trying to lay it all out for Jada in the short time she’d allotted him. Abby could hear him drawing in several deep breaths before he launched back into his tale. “I’ve got no problem with that, but now I want my part of the pie. You’ve got to give it to me.”

  “But I don’t have it, Uncle Will. There’s no record of any large sums of money in Dad’s files. He left some insurance, a little in the checking account, and a few thousand in the savings account. He had a 401(k) through his employer, but that money came from his paychecks, not from any kind of outside investment account.”

  A loud bang was followed by Jada gasping. “Hey, why did you kick my car?”

  “Because you’re not taking this seriously, Jada. Do you think it’s a coincidence that Mitch Anders came looking for me right after he moved into your dad’s office? I’m guessing all it took was one look at that picture on the wall for him to notice the pattern on the mat was a message written in Arabic. He could read it just like your dad and I could. That’s how he figured out what was going on, even if he couldn’t get his hands on the money with that alone. It was just the key needed to interpret the records your father kept of all the transactions. Imagine if Mitch had also gotten his hands on that information. Everything your father, Jack, and I worked for would’ve been gone.”

  “Do you think that’s why he was killed?”

  Abby could barely breathe. Had Jada just accused him of murdering Mitch Anders? If so, it would be a miracle if her godfather didn’t go on the attack. To her surprise, Will calmly said, “I have no idea. Considering some of the messed-up stuff he was involved in back in the war and afterward, there’s probably a whole lot of people who wouldn’t have minded seeing him dead.”

  Thankfully, Jada changed the subject. “I really need to leave, Uncle Will, or I’m going to be late.”

  “Fine, go. But one more thing, Jada. Don’t play games with me. That money is mine, and I want it. I know for a fact your dad had the ledger. Hand it over and soon, or I’ll come looking for it myself. You won’t like it if that happens.�
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  “But I have no idea what I’m looking for, Uncle Will. Is it an actual book or an electronic file?”

  “It’s a ledger book, the kind you can buy at any office supply store. If I remember right, it’s blue.”

  “I’ll try to find it.”

  “You’ll have to do better than just try, Jada. I wasn’t going to touch the money until after my divorce was finalized. But now my soon-to-be-ex is hot on my trail, and I need to disappear before she manages to get her hands on any more of my money. She’s already burned up twenty-five years of my life. I’ll be darned if I’ll let her ruin my future as well.”

  After a few seconds of silence, Jada whispered, “He’s leaving, Abby.”

  “Tripp and I will meet you at your house if you want our help looking for the ledger.”

  But Jada had other ideas on the subject. “No, I think I’d better come to you, but it will take me a little while to get there. I have a couple of stops to make on the way. Besides, if Uncle Will is still watching me, I don’t want to lead him straight to your house. When I get there, I’ll pack up my stuff and move back home. That way maybe he’ll believe you don’t know anything about what he just told me.”

  It was tempting to pitch a fit and demand that Jada abandon her plans and drive straight to Abby’s house, but she suspected it wouldn’t do any good. She settled for asking, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  After a brief hesitation, “Yes, you can call Mr. Quinn and ask him to come over if he can. This concerns him, too.”

  “How about calling Gage Logan, too?”

  “Maybe after we talk.”

  Calling him right then would be the smart thing to do, but the line went dead before Abby could ask any questions or get reasonable answers for the ones she knew Tripp was about to ask. Rather than call Owen, though, she rang her mother’s number. “Mom, can you two come over to the house? There’s something going on with Jada, and she asked if Owen could be here. I don’t know any more than that, but I’m worried. Really, really worried.”