by Mary Kennedy
“I know. Everyone does at a time like this. I’ll stop by the house and then come on over to Gina’s.”
* * *
The closed sign was hanging in the front window, and the shop looked dark and unwelcoming with the shades drawn. It was nearly dusk. The street was bare, except for a few tourists sitting at Luigi’s outdoor tables. I let myself in with my key, still thinking about Gina. Who had killed her and why? Her murder must be connected to Chico’s death, I told myself, but I couldn’t figure out how the two crimes were connected.
As soon as I opened the front door, I felt something was different. But what? There were no cats to greet me, but that wasn’t unusual—they were probably snoozing upstairs. Still, I felt a strange feeling of foreboding slip over me. I paused at the bottom of the stairs leading to the apartment, sure that I heard a faint rustling noise upstairs. I hesitated, counted to ten, and then shook my head at my foolishness.
There was nothing to fear; the place was empty and still. The words “as still as the grave” went through my mind, but I brushed them away. Gina’s death had clearly unnerved me, I decided. Coming on the heels of Chico’s murder, it was enough to unsettle anyone.
As I climbed the stairs, I heard a scuffle in the kitchen. Was it a chair scraping on the kitchen floor? No, it was probably Barney and Scout, vying for face time with the catnip mouse. I reached the landing, surprised to see neither cat in sight.
An even bigger surprise was in store for me. Amber Locke was sitting at the kitchen table, calmly smoking a cigarette. “I didn’t think you’d mind,” she said airily, blowing a puff of smoke my way. “The shop seemed to be closed, but luckily the back door was open.”
I staggered backward in shock, mentally kicking myself for forgetting to lock the downstairs door leading to the garden. One stupid mistake and I was face to face with someone who could easily be a murderer. This is how Chico and Gina must have felt.
“Amber,” I said in a hoarse voice, “what are you doing up here?” The fight-or-flight instinct stabbed into my brain. I wondered if I could make a run back down the stairs and decided against it. Amber was wearing a sleeveless top with shorts, and I noticed how muscular her upper arms and calves were. She could have been the ninja whose powerful punch had connected with my head the other night.
“We need to talk,” she said bluntly. “Why don’t you come over and sit down.” It was clearly a command, not a request. It seemed odd, being ordered around in my own house, but this wasn’t the time to discuss etiquette. I had to wriggle my way out of this one.
“You’ve been asking a lot of questions,” she continued. There was a hard, glittery light in her eyes that I’d never noticed before, and I wondered if she was becoming unhinged. Or maybe she’d always been unbalanced and I’d never noticed it. She didn’t look like the sweet, idealistic political staffer I’d met at the Waltons’ dinner party. Her eyes shone with a kind of evil delight.
“Is that what’s troubling you?” I asked, stalling for time. I figured Ali might wonder what happened to me and come back to the house, or even call Noah. I had to keep Amber talking, though. “I guess I’ve always been a curious person.”
“You know what they say about curiosity,” she said, narrowing her eyes. “It kills cats and it kills people, too.” She glared at me. “I thought I told you to sit down.”
I let out a long, slow breath and tried to compose my features into a friendly look. I pulled out a chair and sat across the table from her. “Would you like something to drink? We have iced tea, lemonade, and cider.”
“You sound like a flight attendant!” she said with a hoot.
“Sorry.” I cast my eyes downward as if I were embarrassed. “What do you really want, Amber?”
“Information,” she snapped. “You’ve got it and I want it.” She stubbed out her cigarette on a wooden coaster.
“I don’t think I can tell you anything.”
She reached into her Prada bag and pulled out a shiny black gun. “This Beretta says you will.” She stared at me without blinking. The kitchen was silent except the cat’s tail swishing back and forth on the wall clock. She gave me a quick, appraising glance, and my heart rammed inside my chest. “Where did you go today? That’s a good place to start. I started to follow you out of town and then I got sidetracked.”
“I went for a little ride in the country.”
“Really?” She gave a dismissive little gesture of her hand. “You’re lying through your teeth. I think you were up to something.”
“No,” I said vehemently, “I didn’t go anywhere important. I just wanted to drive around and look at the scenery.” It sounded like a lame excuse even to my own ears. I was trying to think of how to distract her so I could slip downstairs when the phone rang. The ringer was set on high, and the shrill noise pierced the quiet room.
I nearly jumped out of my seat, but Amber waved me back down.
“Don’t answer it,” she barked. “Let’s see who it is,” she said in a dangerously soft voice. “Maybe we should invite some of your friends over for a tea party.”
My pulse jumped as the answering machine switched on. “This is Joe,” the message began. Oh no! My heart squeezed. It was the guy from Northern Georgia Tech Supply. “Gary left this picture for me to look at, and yeah, this is the girl who picked up the potassium cyanide. This is her, all right. I never forget a face.” He rambled on for another minute while I sat frozen in my chair.
Amber gave a strange laugh. “So you were checking up on me. My instincts were right. I wonder how you happened to have my picture. It doesn’t matter. I knew you were going to be a problem from the first moment I met you.”
“Really?” I pretended to be shocked. “I was struck by how sweet and idealistic you were. I remember thinking that Councilman Walton was lucky to have you on his staff.”
Her mouth twisted in a frown. “I have a sweet deal with Walton,” she said, her voice harsh and guttural, “and I’m not going to let anyone mess it up. That’s why Chico and Gina had to go.”
“You killed both of them?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
“I had to. Chico was blackmailing Walton because of his slut wife, but you probably already figured that out, didn’t you?”
I nodded, afraid to say yes or no.
“Then you’re not quite as dumb as I thought,” she went on. “She was an idiot to get involved with Chico. Why risk her husband’s career over a dance instructor? So I knocked off Chico. He never knew what hit him. That’s the advantage of potassium cyanide. It’s quick and hard to trace.”
“How did you get him to drink it?”
“Easy. I just slipped into the back door of the studio, pulled out a bottle of that swamp water he drinks, and poured it right in. I screwed the top on tight and stuck it back in the fridge. I figured if I was lucky, it would be the first bottle he reached for.”
“But they never found the empty bottle.”
“Of course not,” she cackled. “I watched while he drank it and tossed the bottle in the trash bin. I did a little Dumpster diving and retrieved it. It takes ninety seconds for the cameras to do a sweep of the alley; I had plenty of time.”
“Very clever,” I admitted, and she rewarded me with a sneer.
“It’s pretty easy to kill someone; you just have to be smart,” she said smugly.
“And you were the guest for dinner that night?”
She grinned. “Yeah, I thought that was an inspired touch. He invited me to dinner, hoping to get more money out of Walton. I was the go-between, but I guess you already know that. I stayed long enough to eat a few bites and watch while the potassium cyanide hit him.”
“And Gina?” I prompted. “How is she involved in all this?”
“Gina tried to pick up where Chico left off. She figured Walton would pay her hush money, too.” Amber chuckled. “No way, José. I surprised her
in her apartment. She didn’t put up much of a fight.”
“Walton had no idea that you were killing his blackmailers, one by one?”
Amber shook her head. “He might have had his suspicions, but there was no way to prove anything. He should have thanked me or given me a promotion.” She gave me a hard look. “Who else knows about all this? I’ve seen you around town with that reporter and the private detective. I figure they’ve both been sticking their nose in my business. And you’re friends with a cop. You really do like looking for trouble, don’t you?” She waved the gun in a lazy figure eight in the air just a couple of feet from my chest. If she was trying to intimidate me, it was working.
I was beginning to wonder if I’d ever get out alive. Now that Amber had confessed to everything, she’d have to get rid of me.
And then I saw a shadow flickering in the hall. Amber had her back to the hallway that led to the bedrooms, but my view was unobstructed. The shadow moved cautiously, hugging the wall. I didn’t dare stare, but I took a quick peek out of the corner of my eye. The shadow was moving steadily forward, and my heart nearly leapt with joy.
“What’s going to happen now?” I asked, hoping to distract Amber.
“You’re going to be the victim of a home invasion,” she said coolly. “I screwed up the first time, but this time will be easier.”
“So that was you, prowling around in the dark, the night that Ali was out of town?”
“You must have a thicker skull than I thought,” she said, giving me an appraising look.
“You gave me a concussion,” I said irritably.
Amber grinned. “Well, this time it’s going to be a lot worse.”
Barney strolled into the kitchen just then, and before I could stop him, he rubbed against Amber’s leg. “Get that cat away from me!” she hissed. Her nose twitched and she gave a gigantic sneeze. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, trying not to sneeze again, and this time she rested the gun on the kitchen table. I saw my chance, reached across the table, and with one sweep, the gun clattered to the kitchen floor.
The shadow moved quickly then, almost a blur, covering the few steps to the kitchen and stopping a foot away from the oak table. It was Sam Stiles. Gun drawn, cop face on, she was a formidable figure. She held her gun in her right hand and reached for a pair of cuffs with the left.
She deftly yanked Amber to her feet while I watched in astonishment. “You’re under arrest for the murders of Chico Hernandez and Gina Santiago,” she said, calm as you please. “You have the right to remain silent, you have the right to an attorney.” She pulled Amber’s arms behind her, and I heard the cuffs clicking into place.
Amber was squirming furiously, but two deputies moved swiftly into the kitchen. One scooped up the gun from the floor, and the other grabbed Amber by the upper arm. Sam finished reading the rights, and the deputies led Amber down the stairs to the street. Barney and Scout, fascinated at the real life cop show unfolding before them, jumped up on the window seat, their eyes wide.
“Are you okay?” Sam said solicitously. She rested her hand on my shoulder, her eyes searching mine.
“I think so,” I said. I’d jumped up when Sam barged into the kitchen, but my legs felt rubbery and I sank back into my chair. My heart was slamming like a jackhammer in my chest, and I could feel a muscle jumping in my jaw.
“Then I have a few questions for you,” Sam said, slipping into a seat at the table. Her expression turned serious, and I figured she was going to read me the riot act for doing my own investigating.
“Well, I have a question for you, too.” I swallowed hard, wiping away the beads of sweat that had sprouted on my forehead.
“You go first,” she said, pointing at me with her pen.
I took a deep, steadying breath and grinned. “What took you so long?”
36
“I don’t understand,” Rose said, adding a touch of honey to her tea. She was perched on the edge of the sofa, balancing a plate filled with lemon squares, brownies, and thumbprint cookies. “Amber had to kill Chico and Gina because Councilman Walton was paying them hush money?”
“Yes,” I said. “She didn’t want anything to interfere with Walton’s career. All she wanted to do was see him elected senator so she could go to Washington with him. When Chico started squeezing Walton for more money, she decided it was time to pull the plug on him.”
“It’s hard to believe,” Minerva said, shaking her head. “I wouldn’t put anything past Chico, but I can’t imagine Gina blackmailing anyone.”
“Maybe we didn’t know her as well as we thought,” Lucinda said thoughtfully. “She always seemed a rather flamboyant type. She had that fiery temper, the same as Chico.”
She flushed a little when she said his name, and I wondered if she regretted her brief encounter with him. She’d only taken one dance lesson from him, but she felt her reputation was sullied.
“It’s amazing how many people got caught up with Chico,” Dorien said. “I never should have brought dinner over that night. It’s going to take years to live that down. I just hope my catering business can recover.”
“The newspapers never should have mentioned that dinner, my dear,” Sybil said soothingly. “Your food had nothing to do with his death.” She looked carefully at the selection of pastries Ali had set out on the coffee table and reached for a napoleon. “They just want to sell papers, so they sensationalize everything.”
“I know, but once the idea is planted, it takes root,” Dorien said miserably. Everyone knew Dorien was in tough shape financially. Her tarot card readings were on the decline, and her catering business never got off the ground. The negative news about Chico’s death certainly didn’t help.
“You were very brave,” Minerva said admiringly. “When I think of you all alone in the kitchen with the killer, I feel faint. I don’t know how you kept your head.”
“Taylor always keeps her head,” Ali said, grinning at me. “Sam told me she played it exactly right, keeping Amber talking until she confessed to both crimes.”
“I’m not sure how much credit I deserve,” I said ruefully. “Talking was the only thing I could think of to do.”
“Nonsense!” Persia exclaimed. “You managed the situation perfectly.”
We were silent then, tasting some new selections Ali had added to the shop menu. She has a real flair for creating “handheld desserts,” and I was proud of her. With the new marketing in place, business at Oldies but Goodies had taken off, and we’d attracted a lot of attention in the local press. “So Amber targeted this young chemist and befriended him, just to have access to the potassium cyanide?” Persia asked. “Is that what happened?”
“The cops aren’t sure about that part,” I said. “Sam said it might have started as a real friendship and then she realized she could use him, or maybe she planned the whole thing from the start.”
“Persia,” I began uncertainly, “there’s been something I’ve been meaning to ask you—”
“I know,” Persia said, flushing, “I’m afraid I didn’t tell the truth about Kevin Moore the other day.”
“We spotted you having coffee with him,” I said. “What was all that about?”
“My big mouth got me into trouble,” Persia admitted. “I didn’t know Kevin Moore from a hole in the ground, but he called the office and said he was looking into some real estate deals in Savannah.” She paused, fingering an opal ring the size of a walnut. “We talked on the phone a few times, and I agreed to meet with him when he came to town. I should have been suspicious—all he wanted to talk about was the hush-hush development deal that Chico had going. I started blabbing about it, and he asked a bunch of questions. In the end, he was just using me.” She gave a sad little sigh. “I guess I was flattered by his attention. You’d think I’d know better at my age, wouldn’t you?”
“You were too embarrassed to tell us?” I as
ked. “That’s why you pretended you didn’t recognize him in the photo?”
Persia nodded. “There’s no fool like an old fool,” she said sadly.
“So he had nothing to do with the murders?” Minerva asked.
“No, nothing,” I told her.
We were all silent for a moment.
And then Rose spoke up. “Going back to Amber Locke, how could such a sweet-looking little thing be a killer?” Rose mused. “She looked so pretty in that newspaper photo.”
“Councilman Walton certainly has some explaining to do,” Minerva said. “It’s going to be embarrassing when everything comes out at the trial, both for him and his wife.”
“It probably won’t go to trial. I’m pretty sure Amber will make a plea deal. There won’t be any more secrets, that’s for sure,” Ali offered. “The newspapers will have a field day with the story. The truth will out, as they say.”
“I think it always does.” Lucinda’s tone was sad. She’d been shaken by her interview with the police and had decided to put her Internet dating plans on hold. She and Dorien had been cleared immediately, but such a close brush with murder had sent Lucinda back into her shell. I figured it would take weeks to coax her out again.
“I wish Sam Stiles could have been here tonight,” Minerva said. “We owe her a lot, don’t we?” She gave me a broad smile. “You’re here with us, safe and sound.”
“It’s a good thing Noah had his suspicions,” Ali said. “Somehow he knew you were headed out to that tech supply place. And he figured Amber would be hot on your trail, so he called Sam to look out for you.”
“Maybe he’s psychic,” Sybil said, clasping her hands together.
“I don’t think so,” I said, laughing. “Noah just knows me too well.” Noah had been at the airport when he had a premonition I was doing something “reckless,” and had called Sam and asked her to check on me. Sam sent a couple of her deputies to the shop, and when they spotted Amber’s car parked down the street, they ran the tags. Sam told them to get inside the house immediately, and said she’d be there in a few minutes. Luckily Amber had left the back door open so the deputies could easily slip inside.
