Call Back: Magnolia Steel Mystery #3 (Magnolia Steele Mystery)

by Denise Grover Swank

“I say go with appraisers.”

  He grinned. “Appraisers it is.”

  We decided to take my car to Chattanooga since it got better gas mileage. We finished breakfast; then Colt followed me in his truck to the Embassy Suites parking lot in Franklin. After he parked, he slid into the passenger seat, carrying a small package in his hand. He tucked it under the seat, then caught me by surprise when he leaned over and kissed me.

  “That’s going to take some getting used to,” I said as I started to drive.

  He grinned. “I’ll give you plenty of chances.”

  While I had gotten a good night’s sleep the night before, Colt looked utterly exhausted. After he gave me the address of Anthony’s house to plug into my phone, I encouraged him to take a nap. When I pulled into the neighborhood two hours later, I shook Colt’s arm.

  “Colt, we’re here.”

  He came awake instantly and bolted upright, a much different reaction than I’d gotten from Belinda the night before. He glanced at the clock on my dashboard. 12:12.

  “That’s still Central time, right?”

  “Yeah,” I said absently, remembering Chattanooga was in the Eastern zone.

  He frowned. “We should have gotten an earlier start, but there’s no helping that now.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Mags.” He grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “It’s good. I had a late night, so I decided to catch up on some sleep. But I need to be back by eight for a gig in Nashville. Depending on how sneaky Lopez was, we may find ourselves wishing we had more time. But I wanted to be done before it got dark anyway. No need to have neighbors wondering why lights are on.”

  “True.”

  The map told me to turn, and I pulled into the driveway of a small house that looked like it had seen better days.

  “Small is good,” Colt said. “Less surface area for us to search.”

  I stared at the house, gripping the steering wheel.

  Colt’s hand lifted to the back of my neck, and he massaged my tense muscles. “Mags. This will go faster if I do it myself. Drop me off and I’ll look for it.”

  “That’s a lie, and we both know it. I can’t let you do this by yourself. Part of the reason you’re here is for me.”

  “Not entirely, and you know it,” he said, his hand still working its magic. “I’ve never made any secret about the fact that I want part of the gold. I need you to know that hasn’t changed.”

  I turned to face him. “And if you suddenly said it wasn’t your goal, I wouldn’t trust you at all. The fact you’ve made no secret of wanting a stake makes everything you say more real. You know?”

  He grinned. “So you’re saying that you trust me more because I’m a greedy bastard?”

  I laughed in spite of my nervousness. “Exactly.”

  He leaned forward and kissed me slow and lazy. His hand rested on the base of my neck while his thumb lightly caressed my skin, sending shivers of pleasure down my spine.

  “If you’re trying to seduce me,” I said against his lips, “it’s working.”

  He pulled back and smiled. “And to think—I’m only just getting started.” He reached for the door handle. “Go to the mall or even a movie and wait for me to call. This will probably take a few hours.”

  I stared at the house, ashamed to admit that part of me wanted to let him deal with this on his own. Not only did I dread spending hours looking for a needle in a haystack, but I was also scared to death of getting arrested for breaking and entering. But how could I live with myself if Colt got busted without me? He had a record, so his fate would be much worse. “How sure are we the gold’s in that house?”

  “Ninety percent.”

  “Not one hundred?”

  “Nothing’s a sure bet, Mags. Especially not me.”

  I turned to study his face. “Believe it or not, I’m not stupid.”

  His body stiffened in defensiveness. “I never said—”

  “Relax,” I said reaching for the door handle. “I’m a big girl. Let’s go find the gold.”

  Taking the lead, I walked up to the porch, bold as I pleased, leaving Colt to trail behind me. When we got to the front door, I noticed Colt had slipped on a pair of leather gloves. He handed me the small package he’d brought with him from his truck and then quickly opened it, revealing several small, slender tools.

  “I have to pick the lock,” he said. “This should be quick.”

  He was right. He had the doorknob and deadbolt unlatched in twenty seconds. Taking the tools from my hands, he pushed open the door with his hip. “Don’t touch anything when we get inside.”

  Crap. How had I not considered that? Leaving fingerprints was a very bad idea. “How will I help if I can’t touch anything?”

  He didn’t answer, just gestured for me to go in, then closed the door behind us.

  When I turned to ask him what he wanted me to do, he grabbed my arm and tugged me to his chest. I gasped as his mouth lowered to mine, and his tongue took advantage of my parted lips.

  My body melted into his as I wrapped my hands around his neck.

  His arm wrapped around my back, holding me in place, while his still-gloved hand tilted my head back to deepen our kiss.

  He lifted his head and grinned, an infectious smile that warmed my heart to match the rest of my body. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to kiss you like that.”

  “You kissed me just this morning. And out in the car.”

  “Not like this. I want more, but it will have to wait. Right now we need to find that gold.”

  He kissed me again, softer this time, his teeth and tongue teasing my bottom lip, but he left me breathless all the same. He placed both hands on my hips and stepped back, watching me with a grin.

  “I still don’t know what I can do,” I said. “I don’t have a pair of gloves.”

  “You can still leave, Maggie. Come back when I’m done.”

  “No way.” I looked around the living room, filled with streamlined contemporary furniture, and spotted a small closet. “Open that door.”

  He laughed. “Just because I kissed you doesn’t mean you get to boss me around.”

  “Shut up and open the closet door.”

  Grinning, he opened the closet door and rummaged around in a basket on the top shelf. When he turned around, he had a pair of knit gloves in his hand. “Try these. They look like they’ll be too large for you.”

  I grabbed them from him and tugged them on. Sure enough, there was a half-inch at the end of each finger, but it would be better than doing nothing.

  “Okay,” Colt said. “The goal is to find the gold but leave no signs that we’ve been here. We’ll start in the kitchen and work our way through the house.”

  By the time we’d made it through the entire house, I could see why Lopez had ripped my apartment apart during his search.

  Colt glanced at the clock in the master bedroom and grimaced. “We’re running out of time. We need to check the basement next.”

  Fear skated along my skin, but I told myself there was always a chance it could be a finished basement with bright overhead lights.

  No such luck.

  Colt opened the basement door in the hallway, and my breath caught at the sight of the dark, gaping hole.

  No. No. No.

  Colt was halfway down before he realized I was still up at the top of the stairs. “Maggie?” His eyes narrowed and he climbed up a step. “Maggie. What’s wrong?”

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Someday I’d be able to jog down a dark staircase into a basement. But today was not that day.

  I couldn’t catch my breath, and I felt hot all over. I jerked the gloves off my sweaty hands, stumbling backward until my back hit the wall.

  “Maggie?” Colt’s eyes were wide with worry as he raced back up the steps, tugging off his own gloves as he went. He grabbed my elbow as he helped me sit on the floor.

  I started to cry—heavy, heaving sobs that stole breath I couldn’t afford to
give up.

  Colt sat next to me and wrapped an arm around my back, letting me nestle my head against his shoulder. I cried until my face tingled from hyperventilating. I covered my mouth and nose with my hands and tried to take slow deep breaths.

  Colt’s hand lifted to the back of my head, and he stroked my hair. I sank further into him, somewhat surprised he was being so tender and supportive, but that part of him had been there all along.

  When my face stopped tingling, I lowered my hands and looked up at him. “I’m sorry.”

  “Sorry for what?” he asked. “Jesus, Mags, the shit you’ve been through the last week . . . you were due a breakdown.”

  “I’ve wasted time we don’t have.”

  “I’ll cancel my gig tonight.”

  “You can’t do that.”

  He gave me a mischievous smile. “I can do pretty much whatever I want.”

  “Let’s go find the gold in the basement.”

  “Deal.” He stood and reached his hand down to me, then pulled me up and into a hug. “Everything’s going to be okay, Mags. I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  “You can’t promise that, Colt.”

  He held my gaze and grinned. “Didn’t we just establish that I can do whatever I want? Well, I decided I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  I searched his eyes. “Can you cure claustrophobia?”

  “Oh, shit. I forgot.” My mouth dropped open and he said, “I remember your freak-out while working in the basement the day after you came back.”

  “But . . .”

  “I’ll be with you every step of the way.” He took my hand. “Magnolia Steele, you can do anything you set your mind to. You can do this. One step at a time.”

  I knew he was referring to the stairs, but I related it to discovering the truth . . . one step at a time. And while I knew we were making progress, it was too little, too slow.

  We were ultimately going to pay the price.

  Chapter 24

  It only took us ten minutes to find the gold in the basement.

  “Maggie,” Colt called out in excitement. “I think I found it.”

  I’d been searching through a stack of boxes in the corner while Colt had been combing through shelves covered in tools and paint cans.

  “All of it?” I asked.

  He lifted a paint can with his fingers. “No. But judging by the weight, a good portion of it.”

  Dr. Lopez had hidden it in Ziploc bags, stuffed into three separate paint cans. Colt washed the bags off in a utility sink, while I went upstairs and found clean Ziploc bags as well as a canvas tote bag.

  As soon as we finished the transfer, Colt put the cans back where he found them, and I made sure the sink was clean.

  I was eager to get out of the Chattanooga house, but the thought of returning to Franklin lodged a great big boulder in the pit of my stomach. There was a killer waiting for me there, and I still didn’t know where I was staying tonight. If I confessed the danger I was in to Colt, he would probably let me come with him to his gig, but was that a good idea?

  A terrible feeling stole over me as Colt pulled onto the highway. I was sure something was wrong, beyond the normal dose of crazy, but when I checked my phone, the only message I’d gotten was a check-in note from Brady, telling me he didn’t have any news yet.

  I’d hoped to get a text from Belinda, but so far there was nothing. I told myself she’d forgive me in time. I had to believe it was true.

  Even though I’d had plenty of sleep the night before, my breakdown earlier had worn me out. We weren’t on the road more than ten minutes before I fell asleep.

  A couple of hours later, I woke up to my cell phone ringing.

  “Maggie,” Colt said, his voice tight. “You need to answer that.”

  “What?” I asked, sitting up in the passenger seat.

  “It’s Tilly. You need to get it.”

  I pulled my phone out of my purse, wondering if Colt had suddenly become psychic because, sure enough, it was Tilly.

  “Hey, Tilly,” I said, casting Colt a weird look. “What’s up?”

  “Maggie. It’s your momma.”

  I gasped. Bill James had killed her. “What happened?”

  “Your momma is at Vanderbilt Medical Center. Her doctor admitted her.” She paused. “Maggie, sweetheart. You need to get here as soon as you can.”

  “Oh, God,” I breathed out. “Is she dying?”

  “She’s been dying, sweet girl,” Tilly said in a broken voice. “But the end is coming faster than we’d hoped.”

  Pure panic flooded every cell of my being. I wasn’t ready to lose my mother yet. We were still fixing us. There was still so much I wanted to say to her. So much I didn’t know.

  I looked out the windshield, searching for a road sign or mile marker to see how far away we were. “Colt. How far are we away from Vanderbilt Medical Center?”

  Colt covered my hand with his own. “Twenty minutes, Mags.”

  “Twenty minutes, Tilly,” I breathed into the receiver. “I’m twenty minutes away.”

  “She’s in room 433.”

  “Okay.” I hung up the call and clutched my phone in my hand. “I need to call Belinda . . . and Roy.”

  “Tilly’s already called them.”

  I blinked and shook my head. “How do you know that?”

  “Tilly texted me first.”

  “Why would she do that?”

  “She knows how difficult it’s going to be for you with Roy there. She wanted to know you’d have someone to have your back.”

  “But she’ll be there, right?”

  “Maggie, Tilly’s barely holding it together herself.”

  “And Tilly texted you to come with me?”

  He squeezed his hand. “Yeah.”

  I didn’t have the presence of mind to ponder that as much as I probably should have.

  Twenty minutes later, I was hurrying toward the hospital entrance, dangerously close to losing it. I reminded myself that I had to hold it together for Tilly and Momma.

  Colt slipped his hand in mine and held tight. He was right by my side, step for step. “I’ve got your back, Mags. You can do this.”

  I wasn’t so sure, but I didn’t have a choice.

  He continued to hold my hand in the elevator and down the hall on the fourth floor, but as we approached room 433, he dropped my hand and slid his arm around my back.

  Tilly stood outside Momma’s room, along with Roy and Belinda. Tilly’s face was pale, but she seemed to be holding her own. Roy looked like he was angling to pick a fight, and Belinda seemed so small and sad and fragile next to my brother. I wanted nothing more than to rush forward and pluck her away from him.

  “Magnolia,” Roy said in a harsh tone. “I was hoping you wouldn’t make it, and look at the garbage you brought with you.”

  “Roy,” Tilly admonished. Belinda seemed to shrink into herself even more.

  “You have no say in any of this, Tilly,” my brother barked. “You have no business being here at all. This is a family matter.”

  I was about to rip my brother to shreds, but Colt’s hand dug into my hip. He leaned into my ear and whispered, “Wait for it.”

  I barely had to wait before Tilly launched into him.

  She pointed her finger into his chest. “Don’t you dare start with me, Roy Michael Steele. I have more of a right to be here than you do. I knew your mother before you were even thought of. I changed more of your diapers than I can count and got an eyeful of the itty-bitty dick you were born with, the one you’ve been trying to compensate for your entire life.” She looked over at Belinda. “Darlin’, I’ve got a catalog full of dildos I’d be happy to loan you to make up for his under-endowment. I’ve wanted to offer it before, but refrained since I considered you and your husband family.”

  “Tilly!” Belinda said as her face turned red.

  “Enough,” Roy snapped.

  Tilly wasn’t done yet. If anything, she seemed to hav
e gained strength from her first round. “Your mother coddled you, and for the most part, I kept my mouth shut. I knew why she did it. It was no secret that Brian doted on your sister, but you turned sullen and entitled and just downright mean. Your poor mother didn’t realize the damage she’d done until it was too damn late. I love your mother more than anyone God’s seen fit to put on this earth, but she’s far from perfect. After she lost your sister, she was so desperate to keep you in her life that she gave you anything and everything you wanted—worse, she looked the other way when you showed your ugly side.” She took a breath, her hands shaking at her sides. “I may not be your mother, Roy Steele, but I’m pretty damn close, and I’m not putting up with this bullshit anymore.”

  My mouth dropped in disbelief, but Colt was prepared for what came next. He’d already dropped his hand from my back in anticipation, and he lunged for my brother just as Roy lifted his arm to strike Tilly.

  Colt shoved him three feet backward into the wall—one hand pressed to his chest, the other clutching the hand Roy had raised to hit Tilly. Roy struck the drywall with a loud thud, and the back of his hand smashed a piece of glass artwork on the wall. Blood started dripping from his cut fingers. Colt leaned his face close to Roy’s and said, “You dare to touch her, and you’re a dead man, Steele.”

  Roy looked murderous. “I’ll press charges, Austin.” He writhed against the wall and tried unsuccessfully to break free of Colt’s hold.

  “You go ahead and try, but Tilly and Magnolia will be here to testify that you were about to strike Tilly.”

  “Belinda will take my side.”

  “Still two against one,” Colt said, his arm muscles bulging as he maintained his hold. “Three if you count the nurse in the hall behind you who saw the whole thing and is about to call security.”

  “All right!” Roy shouted, his whole face turning red. “You win.”

  “And just so we’re clear, you touch a hair on Tilly or Magnolia’s heads, and you will spend the rest of your life regretting it. Got it?” Roy didn’t answer and Colt gave him a shake. “Do. You. Understand? Feel free to nod if you can’t choke out the words.”

  Roy glared at him for another two seconds before giving a sharp nod.