Jailhouse Glock (A Dead Sister Talking Mystery)

by Liz Lipperman

  “Sit here,” Kate said, sliding a chair next to hers. “Lainey and I listed all the people who might want to see something bad happen to you.”

  Maddy was about to take another long swallow and stopped halfway to her mouth. “Do you really think someone has a personal vendetta against me or that I was just the perfect patsy?” She reached for the list and tsked when she saw the first entry. “Why would Darrell Livingston want to hurt me?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because you humiliated him at church a few weeks back when he asked you out on a date in front of the entire congregation,” Lainey said. “You don’t remember how pissed off he was when you turned him down flat?”

  “You can’t be serious, Lainey. Half the women at church have turned him down.”

  Definitely patsy, Tessa said. If someone hated you enough to ruin your life, it would have been easier to just kill Jessie when they had the opportunity.

  The reminder about how close her daughter had come to being hurt—or worse—caused Maddy to close her eyes and suck in a big gulp of air before responding. “You’re probably right, Tessa. As a rookie cop they must’ve known I’d be vulnerable.”

  “She’s here, again?” Deena asked, moving a little closer to Maddy. “And what’s she right about this time?”

  “She thinks if someone really wanted to hurt me, they would have …” She swallowed hard trying to repeat what Tessa has said. “Done something to Jessie,” she finally blurted, unable to make herself say the word killed.

  “Good thinking, sis. Death becomes you,” Kate said with a glint in her eye.

  Tessa threw back her head and laughed out loud. Christ, that girl has a mouth on her.

  “Okay, so let’s start with that assumption and go from there,” Lainey said. “If they weren’t looking to hurt you, Maddy, their goal must’ve been to kill Gino Bernardi or the other guy in the cell next to him. What do we know about either of them?”

  Maddy turned to Tessa who shrugged. She’d get no help there.

  I know just about everyone in the county, especially the men, and I’ve never heard his name before. He must be new to Vineyard.

  Kate pulled out her iPad and Googled him. When nothing came up, she looked confused. “Everybody has at least one or two hits when you Google their name. Let me try this again.” After the second attempt produced the same results, she shook her head. “And now we have our first mystery. Why does a man like Bernardi not have a history?”

  “That’s a good place to start,” Maddy said. “I won’t be allowed access to the police files, but I’m pretty sure I can talk Tom Rogers into helping us on the side.” She turned to her younger sister. “And you can work on getting Danny Landers to share some information every now and then. He’s had the hots for you since junior high. Think you can warm him up a little and get him in the mood to help?”

  “Me? I’m already in a relationship, remember? What do you think I can do, anyhow?”

  “For starters, just be nice to him.”

  And wear that red and blue blouse of yours that shows off your cleavage.

  “Great idea,” Maddy said, before she remembered she was the only one who could hear Tessa. “Your sister said to remind you not to leave the house without that sexy red blouse when you go to talk to him.”

  “I am not sleeping with him,” Kate said, emphatically. “I’m not that kind of girl.”

  Everyone’s that kind of girl, Tessa said. Some do it for money, others for the power, and you, little sister, need to do it to save your big sister’s ass.

  Maddy swiveled in her chair to face Kate. “No one’s asking you to sleep with him, Katie. Just be nice.” She paused and winked. “And what would it hurt to show him a little skin while you’re at it? He can be a valuable asset to us.”

  Kate blew out a breath before the beginning of a smile tipped her lips. “It might be nice to get out of those ugly scrubs for a change.” She high-fived Maddy. “I’ll do it. The poor boy won’t know what hit him when I’m done with him.”

  “Perfect,” Lainey said. “You work on Danny to get the police files on Bernardi, and we’ll go from there.” She turned to Maddy. “Didn’t you say Bernardi ended up in jail because the other guy made a pass at his girlfriend?” When Maddy nodded, she continued. “We need to find out her name and pay her a visit. If anyone knows who might have it out for Bernardi, it’ll be her.”

  “I’ll get Rogers working on that,” Maddy said.

  “Okay then,” Deena said. “Now that we have a plan, who wants leftover pumpkin pie crunch?”

  When they all raised their hands, Deena got up and walked over to the counter to dish out the dessert. For a few minutes after she placed the plates in front of her sisters, there was silence in the kitchen. The cold hard fact that Maddy had a murder charge hanging over her head was forgotten as they devoured the rich dessert.

  God, I love her Pumpkin Pie Crunch, Tessa said. It sucks being dead.

  Maddy was about to tell her how much they all missed her when her cell phone blared, and she nearly jumped out of her chair. After taking a quick swallow of her margarita to wash down the last bite of the dessert, she answered, “Hello.”

  “Is this Madelyn Castillo?”

  “Yes. Who’s this?” The voice was low and sexy and not one she recognized.

  “Anthony Pirelli,” the man responded. “I heard about your arrest for the murder of a prisoner in your custody, and I’d like to offer representation”

  Maddy shot up in the chair, her eyes wide now. “Who did you say you were?” She mouthed the word lawyer to her sisters who were all huddled close by now, hanging on to her every word.

  “Anthony Pirelli of Pirelli and Associates. We’re located in the Shaffer Building in downtown Dallas. Let me explain why I’m calling.” He paused as if to give her time to take it all in. “I received a phone call from a colleague about your case. He convinced me that you have been unjustly accused and that I could be of some help in clearing your name.”

  “Why would you want to represent me, Mr. Pirelli?” Maddy interrupted, putting special emphasis on his name for Lainey who had already opened up her iPad and was now doing a Google search of his name.

  “If you do your homework on me, you’ll find that I have a 90 percent success rate in criminal court. I do have an ulterior motive, though. There’s no question this case will generate national news coverage. I’d like to be standing beside you when it does. I’ve already taken the liberty of speaking with a Sheriff Winslow at the Vineyard Police Station who brought me up to speed on the preliminary facts about your case. Unfortunately—”

  “I’m afraid there’s no way I can afford you,” Maddy said, after Lainey looked up from viewing his webpage and mouthed Big bucks. She felt the hope drain from her body. Her worst nightmare was having Charlie Prescott representing her, but it looked like she might not have a choice in the matter.

  “You didn’t let me finish, Ms. Castillo,” he said, unable to keep the annoyance out of his voice. “What I was about to say is that I can’t make it out to Vineyard today because of a prior commitment, but Sheriff Winslow has assured me that a local attorney will stand in for the arraignment hearing. The sheriff sees no reason why this other lawyer won’t be successful in getting a reasonable bail set. The purpose of my call today is to set up a time on Monday to come out to Vineyard and sit down with you to discuss how we’re going to proceed. That’s if you’ll hire me.”

  Maddy gasped. “You’re willing to defend me?”

  For the first time since he’d called, the man chuckled. “I wouldn’t have called if I wasn’t. I don’t have to solicit business, Ms. Castillo. My practice speaks for itself. So can we meet Monday morning at your house to discuss this?”

  A horrible thought pulsed through her, and she forced herself to say it out loud. “I’m afraid you might want to reconsider before making that long drive, Mr. Pirelli. As I said, there’s no way I can come up with enough money to cover your fees.”

 
; “Why don’t you let me worry about that. As I said, I have a stake in this, too. So, shall we say eleven on Monday then?”

  A tear slid down Maddy’s cheek. “Eleven’s good. I look forward to meeting you,” she said before hanging up the phone and dropping her head into her hands.

  Help was on the way—and not just any help. Lainey had pulled up several articles in the New York Times and several other prestigious magazines listing Pirelli as one of the top criminal-defense lawyers in the Metroplex. That alone was enough to lift Maddy’s spirits.

  She glanced up at her sisters who were all staring, anxiously waiting to hear what he’d said. “I don’t know how I’ll pay this man, but I’m convinced I no longer have a choice. Whatever I have to do to come up with the money, I’ll do. He’s my only hope.” She reached for her drink and chugged it, deciding it was well worth the painful brain freeze.

  If she was going to be there to guide Jessie through her turbulent teenage years, her best chance was driving up from Dallas on Monday to talk to her about how they would make that happen. Now all she had to do was find a way to pay him.

  seven

  The next day Maddy appeared alongside Charlie Prescott in front of the county judge who turned out to be a guy she’d dated in high school. After asking about his wife and kids, she’d stood silently next to Charlie as he asked for a ridiculously low bail. Several minutes later she’d walked out of the courtroom after Charlie himself paid the twenty-five thousand dollar bond. She figured Tessa’s old lawyer was still feeling guilty for trying to screw her sister over back when he represented her.

  She spent all day Sunday home alone with Jessie, trying hard not to think about how it had only taken a short period of time for her life to get completely messed up. They’d ordered pizza and watched a rerun of The Sound of Music, Jessie’s favorite movie. For twenty-four hours, she’d managed to stay positive about everything, but as soon as she’d awakened on Monday, the feeling of impending doom and gloom had returned with a vengeance.

  When Tom Rogers showed up with Bernardi’s police records, she grabbed his arm, pulled him into the house, and slammed the door.

  “No one followed you here, did they?” she asked, worried that her brother-in-law had somehow found out about her plan to get information from her colleague.

  Although he shook his head, his eyes darted back and forth as if he half expected his boss to suddenly appear and chew him out. “Colt can’t ever know I’m giving you this.”

  Maddy grabbed the arrest report out of his hand. “Why would I tell him and screw up my only chance of keeping up with the investigation? Since I’m not allowed anywhere near the station, I need you as my inside guy.”

  He studied her face a few minutes before nodding. “You’ve got a point. But Colt made it perfectly clear to all of us this morning that no information about your case is to be leaked to anyone, especially not the press.”

  “Do I look like the press to you?”

  “No,” he answered quickly. “But your name was the next one out of Colt’s mouth with the no-information warning.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “He actually said no one could tell me anything about the case?”

  “Yep, and he’d kick my ass all the way to Dallas if he knew I was here right now.” He glanced out the window. “Shit! He’s probably got someone on my tail already.”

  Maddy couldn’t help but laugh. Rogers was affectionately known as the king of paranoia at the precinct, the one most likely to come face-to-face with the boogeyman one day.

  “He won’t find out,” she reassured him. “Unless you open your big mouth. Now sit down and tell me what you know so far.” She motioned toward the kitchen. “Want coffee?”

  “No thanks. I had three cups at the diner before breakfast and several more at the station.”

  “Oh yeah, I forgot about your little mission to get laid, diner-waitress style.”

  He grinned, and for a moment Maddy was sure he had scored a touchdown in that department.

  “I’m closer, but she’s harder to crack than I thought.” He plopped down on the couch, sending one of the throw pillows to the floor. “I gotta make this quick so Colt doesn’t come driving down the street and see my black and white parked out front.”

  She picked up the pillow and threw it to the other side of the couch. “Okay then, let’s hear it.”

  He pointed his finger at her. “I’m telling you right now, Maddy, something fishy was going on with Bernardi.”

  Tell us something we don’t know, moron, Tessa said, suddenly appearing and sitting down beside him.

  Maddy was sure the pillow would end up on the floor once again and she was already formulating a lie to explain it to Rogers.

  But it never moved.

  Tessa surveyed the cop next to her before turning back to Maddy. Please tell me you never did him.

  “God, no,” Maddy said before she could stop herself. She snuck a peek Rogers’s way and found him looking at her as if she were talking to a ghost, which only made her laugh out loud at the irony. “I meant that’s all we needed. The case is jacked up enough without adding new strange stuff. We all know that Bernardi was a jerk, but what do you mean something was fishy, Tom?”

  He leaned forward, lowering his voice. “All we can find out about him is that he moved to Vineyard a little over three months ago, and other than his girlfriend, he really hadn’t made friends with anyone else in town.”

  “I’ll admit that’s unusual, but a lot of people who move to a new town never take the time to find a group of friends they’re comfortable with. He may have known he wouldn’t be around long and didn’t bother.” She bit her lower lip, something she always did when she was concentrating on something. “So what about his workplace? No friends there, either?”

  “He worked out of his house.”

  “Doing what?” she asked.

  “This is where it gets really weird.” Tessa moved close enough to him that he should have smelled her breath, if ghosts even had smells, but he didn’t have a clue that she was practically on top of him now. “He did the payroll for a couple of small businesses in Vineyard.”

  “And why is that weird?”

  “I’m guessing he made even less money than you and me,” he said, pushing his butt into the back of the couch.

  Maddy threw her hands in the air. She was getting frustrated with the conversation. “Come on, Tom, get to the point. I have an appointment at eleven.”

  “Okay, okay. Here’s the thing. The guy was wearing a Rolex watch the night we arrested him. Do you know anybody making our kind of money walking around in one of those?”

  She thought about it. “No, but it still doesn’t seem all that strange to me. Could’ve been a gift or part of an inheritance. Or he could have boosted it from some dumb rich guy.”

  “So how do you account for the five thousand bucks he had in his pocket?”

  That got her attention. “He had five grand on him at the bar?” She whistled. “Who carries that kinda cash around?”

  He slapped his knee. “That’s what I’m saying, Maddy. Something’s fishy.” He glanced down at his own watch before springing up from the couch. “Gotta go. I told Colt I’d swing by Cowboys Galore and have a chat with the bartender.”

  “Let me go with you,” she pleaded, thinking if she could just get one lead from the place where Bernardi and the other guy had been arrested that night, she and her sisters could start checking things out on their own. Maybe the bartender would remember some little thing that might help. “I’ll stay in the background and won’t say a word. I promise.”

  “Thought you said you had an appointment or something. It’s already ten forty-five and I can’t wait.”

  She grabbed his arm. “Please, please, please, Tom. You owe me for not telling Colt why I was the only one at the station for so long the night Bernardi was killed.” She hated having to use that against him. “Besides, my appointment will be over by noon. You have to wait and let me go wi
th you, or I’ll go crazy sitting here by myself. You can tell Colt the guy wasn’t in until later.”

  “Christ, Maddy. You’re going to get me fired yet.” He headed for the door before turning back. “Okay, I’ll grab some lunch and come back for you around one thirty, but you can’t ride in the squad car with me.”

  “That’ll work,” she said, blowing him a kiss. “I should be done by then, and I’ll be waiting for you.”

  After he climbed into his car and pulled away from her driveway, she clapped her hands in glee. Finally, she’d be able to do something besides sit around the house feeling sorry for herself.

  Make a list of questions we need to ask the bartender, Tessa said. We have to be prepared.

  “You’re coming with me?”

  Her sister tsked. Who knows how to get a bartender to talk better than me? But first I want to get a look at this hotshot lawyer coming from Dallas. She sighed. Too bad I’m dead. If I could have only one night with him, you wouldn’t have to worry about how you’re going to come up with the cash. He’d be begging to take the case gratis.

  Maddy smirked. “Even dead, you’re still pretty cocky.”

  Hey! When you got it … She paused when the doorbell rang, a sparkle suddenly flashing in her eyes. Here we go, Maddy. We’re about to eyeball the Italian dude who’s gonna keep your pretty little ass out of jail.

  After sneaking a peek into the mirror on the way to the door, Maddy took a deep breath. Crap! She cursed the fact that she didn’t have time to put on a little lipstick or at least to re-comb her hair, then decided she was an idiot. The man standing outside her door right now was going to try to keep her out of jail, not take her to the prom.

  As soon as she got her first look at him, she added a few more mental curse words for not slapping on some makeup.

  Holy guacamole! I think I’ve died and gone to heaven, Tessa said before chuckling. Oh wait, been there—done that. But I can assure you, big sister, there’s no one up there that looks like him.