Drive-Bye (The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries, Book Three)

by Amy Saunders

  Bennett's eyebrow shot up.

  "So we're going back to see Isabel," Belinda said. "I don't think she's been exactly square with us."

  Isabel seemed distressed when they arrived, and confused by Belinda's face. Belinda was puzzled by her puzzlement, until she remembered the freckles.

  "Is there any news?" Isabel said, muting the TV. Her boys were playing on the rug. "I keep waiting to hear something. But the longer it takes, the less likely they'll find her killer, right?"

  Belinda got her to sit down on the couch and took a seat beside her, noting the camera on the side table. "That's why any information helps. Whether it seems relevant or not. That's why we're here. You haven't quite given away everything you know, have you?"

  Isabel's eyes grew even larger than they were. "I don't know what you mean."

  "For one, you used to work for Portside House Cleaning, before you became pregnant with your first son." Belinda nodded in his direction. "Did you help Elena get her job when she moved into town?"

  Isabel swallowed. "She was worried, with her background, but I told her it would be okay. The manager always liked me, and was very kind. When I left, she told me if I ever needed work again, to come see her."

  "So you figured you could apply that to Elena."

  Isabel nodded. "I spoke to Carolyn alone first, then we both went to see her. She got the job no problem."

  "Isabel, Portside House Cleaning has a strict policy of not hiring anyone with a drug abuse background. It says so right on their website."

  "I know. I told Elena not to say anything. I was hoping because of my history with the company, they'd overlook it."

  Bennett looked up from studying his thumbs. "When did you start suspecting that Elena had returned to her old lifestyle?"

  "I wouldn't say that," Isabel said hesitantly. "But she had been acting suspicious for a few months now."

  "Suspicious in what way?" Belinda said.

  "Having mysterious plans she wouldn't tell me about, that sort of thing."

  "So you took action?" Bennett clasped his hands, leaning forward on his knees.

  "I didn't think she'd gone back to drugs." Isabel paused. "But I had to know for sure. I started following her–to work and where she went after."

  "And you took pictures?" Belinda said.

  "Yeah. I found her meeting someone I thought I recognized, and when I had the news on one night, I realized it was Colleen McGuire. I couldn't imagine why Elena would meet with her. Then they mentioned some house thefts on the news. I talked to an old friend who still works at the cleaning company, and there was speculation that someone who worked for them was responsible."

  Isabel wrung her hands. "I was worried. I didn't know what Elena was doing with that woman, and I was scared if it came out about her drug problem..." She trailed off. "Well, she'd been blamed for things before and lost jobs."

  "What did you do?"

  "I looked through Elena's phone once when she was over. There were all these texts for meeting times and places–places I'd seen her meeting the news woman–from some strange number. I wrote it down."

  "And you decided to scare McGuire off by sending threats," Bennett finished.

  "I just didn't want Elena getting into any trouble. She'd had enough of that."

  "But it didn't work," Belinda said.

  Isabel shook her head. "She was still meeting her. I...I didn't know what to do."

  "So you...got her fired?"

  Distress pulled at the edges of Isabel's face. "I know it sounds horrible, but I was trying to protect her."

  "The Stephens–you used to clean their house. And you took photos of Elena working there, too." The Stephens were related to Gary somehow. Maybe it was his uncle. Belinda couldn't remember. "The Stephens were also the ones who reported Elena had a drug background." And Jonas had said they'd been very friendly to Isabel.

  Isabel looked ashamed and ran her hands up and down her thighs. "I knew them, a little. I even had held on to their main home address in Connecticut."

  "Did you mail them an anonymous letter or something?" Bennett said.

  She nodded. "I felt really guilty. So I told Elena what happened. She was so angry. We had a terrible fight and she just stormed out."

  "This was after she was fired?"

  "No. It was the day before she was killed. That's why I called her. I wanted to make things right." A tear spilled down one side of her face.

  Belinda put her hand on Isabel's arm. "Is there anything else you haven't told anyone?"

  Isabel wiped under her eye with a tissue. "Just...I felt sometimes when I was watching Elena that someone else was watching her."

  "All the time?"

  "Mainly when she was doing things after work–like meeting that reporter."

  Belinda looked over at Bennett. His eyes were darting from side-to-side. If that was true, then she couldn't have been followed by Colleen.

  Bennett motioned with his head for her to follow him, and she stepped into the kitchen with Bennett to talk more privately. "If Elena already knew she was about to be fired," he whispered, "that could change her movements the day she died."

  "How? We know she was called in and given the bad news. Then she spent most of the afternoon on the beach. There are witnesses."

  "We only have the word of the manager that Elena came into the office. A manager who didn't do a background check in a company that might be connected to a few house thefts."

  "Okay. So if Elena wasn't at the manager's office getting fired that morning, couldn't she have just been at home in bed? She'd had some pretty miserable news. That's what I would've done."

  "Time was running out to finish what she was doing for Colleen. Elena knew something was up–whether she believed it was theft or something else entirely, we may never know. But her access to everything was slipping away."

  "It's too bad Isabel didn't follow her that day."

  "No, but someone else might know where Elena went." He glanced at Belinda significantly.

  "Colleen."

  Bennett and Belinda split up for the time being. Bennett went to rendezvous with Jonas quickly while Belinda guarded Colleen's house. They had a feeling Colleen might know something about Elena's last actions. Belinda mused it could have been something Colleen found in Elena's apartment. In any case, Belinda felt it was important.

  Belinda was supposed to wait for Bennett to return and not do anything crazy until he did. But a few minutes after Bennett left, Colleen came running out of her house and took off in her car. There was no time to wait for Bennett to return. Belinda flew out of her parking spot on the parallel street across from Colleen's home, and rushed to catch up to her.

  She hadn't gotten to tailing lessons yet, but she tried to drive as casually as possible, keeping her distance, but still keeping Colleen in sight. It was harder than it looked on TV. After taking last minute turns and driving more like she was rabid than casual, Colleen stopped and parked on a quiet street in a residential area on the water. With no one behind her, Belinda slowed down to watch, then cruised by when Colleen headed down a long driveway.

  Belinda turned around and parked on the other side of the street, facing the house. It was a gray shingled mansion on a low-lying property inside a protected inlet. There were hardly any trees; it was flat with only sea grasses blowing in the wind. More significantly, it belonged to the Stephens–Gary Wolman's relatives.

  Belinda remembered the Stephens' house was the last one Elena had cleaned before her death–according to the schedule at Portside House Cleaning. And Isabel had taken photos of Elena at that house with another coworker.

  She jumped when her phone buzzed. Bennett called to fill her in. "You know they caught one of the guys involved in the drive-by," he said. "Well, he identified Roy as the one who hired them, and they have enough evidence to prove Roy was stealing. They found proof he was using plastic bottles to copy keys in his hotel room. But he's with a lawyer now and not talking. All they got was that he was
at a bar when Elena was killed, and they've confirmed it with a bartender."

  So that officially explained why there was never any sign of a break in. Roy had keys to copy. Keys he'd most likely gotten from Portside House Cleaning.

  Belinda tapped her foot in lieu of pacing. "Who was in that photo with Elena at the Stephens' house–on Colleen's flash drive?"

  "I think it was Christina. They were teamed up a lot."

  Belinda's mind spun. Christina was associated with Roy, and she worked at the house cleaning company. But Belinda remembered back to what Christina had said to Roy in his hotel room–that he'd caused a lot of trouble. Then there were Elena's photos of Roy going into the company's office alone.

  It was starting to look like Roy and Christina were at odds, and that Christina had nothing to do with the thefts. Christina worked with Elena, including cleaning the Stephens' house, and had broken into her apartment after the drive-by. Plus, Elena had followed Christina around. Had Elena caught Christina doing something for the drug company while they were working?

  "Where are you?" Bennett said sharply.

  "What do you mean?"

  "I mean, I'm standing in the parking spot you were in minutes ago and no one's here. What did you do?"

  "Um, exactly what you told me not to."

  "Belinda!"

  "I'm sorry! Colleen left right after you did. I couldn't let her take off like that without following."

  Before the words were out of her mouth, another person appeared–more like materialized–and disappeared around the back of the house. The person was in a sweatshirt, the hood pulled up, back turned to Belinda. A petite, short person.

  Her breath caught in her lungs, and her stomach twisted into knots. Something very bad was about to happen. She could feel it.

  "What's going on?" She realized Bennett was speaking. "Talk to me."

  "The police need to get to the Stephens' house. Stat."

  Belinda hung up, staring at the house. It would take too long for the police to get there. But Belinda had a plan.

  Chapter 17

  Well, maybe not so much of a plan as a thought of what to do next. She quietly followed the path around to the back of the house, creeping around the corner and up the back porch steps. She took a deep breath and tried the knob. It turned, and Belinda slid the glass door open just in time to see a dark figure disappearing into a hallway upstairs.

  Hand wrapped tightly around her Taser, her new favorite tool, she crept into the kitchen and great room. She knew the vaulted, open-beam ceilings would echo if she made a peep. She followed the shadow person, who seemed to know where to go. Once near the entrance to the master bedroom, Belinda could hear something faint coming from inside.

  She flattened against the wall by the door, spotting the other intruder (it was a sad day when Belinda could say that honestly) skulking toward the closet, which was probably another room by itself from the size of the house. She held her Taser in front of her, moving quick and quiet to close the gap between them.

  As the person reached for something in her pocket, Belinda pointed the Taser and said, "Don't move!" She thought briefly about saying "Freeze!" but decided against it instantly. And, if anyone asked, this was clearly another dire emergency.

  She could see Colleen turn around and stand up from her position on the floor. She didn't seem to know if she should look at Belinda or her would-be assailant. Belinda stepped carefully around to the side. "Christina?"

  Only Christina's eyes were visible, and they slipped in her direction. When Belinda had met her that first time, she thought her eyes were sort of twinkly. But right now they were menacing.

  "You look like a ninja," Belinda said.

  She thought Christina might have smiled under the mask, but her eyes were still malicious. "You and your little toy aren't keeping me from what I came for."

  Belinda kept her eyes on Christina's hands.

  "There's nothing here," Colleen said, folding her arms like this was all a big nuisance.

  "You think I'm going to believe you didn't already hide it?"

  Belinda desperately wanted to ask what "it" they were talking about, but she needed to look informed.

  Colleen stepped aside and waved toward the floor of the closet. "Go ahead and look."

  On the floor of the "closet," if you could call it that, under a round ottoman in the middle of the room, Colleen had rolled away the floral area rug to reveal some sort of hatch–a secret compartment–under the wood floor.

  Belinda wanted one of those. And she knew Bennett would love it.

  "You open it," Christina said coldly. If Colleen had hopes they could trap Christina in the closet, they were dashed.

  Colleen shrugged like she'd meant no harm and bent down, lugging out a small safe. She plugged in some numbers and the door opened. In the middle of the safe was a big, hot pink candy ring.

  "You want it," Colleen said, crossing her arms, "go ahead and take it."

  Belinda flicked her eyes toward Colleen and in that split second, Christina pulled her gun out, aiming it at Colleen's head.

  "Go ahead," Christina said. "See if you can hit me before I shoot her."

  Belinda tightened her grip, but didn't budge. She doubted she was as fast as Christina.

  "No?" Christina said. "Tell me where it is!"

  Colleen rolled her eyes. "I don't know. Unless you think the candy ring is it."

  Did they not know what they were here for? Belinda took a mental step back while Christina stared in frustration and anger at the safe and then Colleen.

  Christina and Colleen had obviously been expecting something big and important to be in that safe.

  The Stephens' relative, Gary Wolman, was funding research into a drug that they believed caused cancer. The drug's maker denies it and goes after Gary and the researcher, hoping to stem off a major lawsuit.

  Christina and Roy come to Portside. Christina works alongside Elena at Portside House Cleaning, and Roy is supposed to help Christina somehow, but he pursues theft and causes a lot of trouble instead.

  Elena investigates her coworkers because of the house thefts, and ends up dead in Gary Wolman's house.

  She looked at the candy ring, then back at Christina, still arguing with Colleen about where "it" was.

  "So neither of you know what's supposed to be in that safe?" Belinda cut through their useless argument.

  "Keep out of this," Christina said, "and maybe I won't shoot you."

  Belinda pressed the trigger on her "toy," and Christina flopped to the ground, helpless. Belinda dragged her by her feet into the closet, leaving the gun out of Christina's reach in the bedroom, and Colleen helped move one of the nightstands in front of the door.

  "Anyway," she said to Colleen, cornering her once that was done, "what are you looking for?"

  Colleen looked as if she was no longer sure who was scarier–Christina or Belinda. "Information. You already know Elena was checking into the thefts, and I thought maybe she'd landed on something else."

  "Something like cancer-causing drugs?"

  Colleen nodded. "I suspected Christina might have something to do with the drug company. Her identity only goes back a year. She and Elena cleaned this house together. I thought maybe Elena stumbled on something to do with the drug research."

  But Christina was there right now for similar reasons as Colleen, which made no sense if Christina already knew that Elena had found something–and killed her for it. Even if Christina killed Elena because Elena knew she worked for the drug company, this was still strange. It was starting to look like Christina might be chasing shadows, too.

  "And you believed Elena came here the morning before she died?"

  Colleen nodded. "I sniffed around, and Elena didn't go to the Portside House Cleaning office that morning like the manager said."

  "How do you know about the secret compartment?"

  Colleen rubbed her lips together. "I got an anonymous tip I'd find something important here related to the
research, and they told me about the hatch and the safe. I thought it might be from another Portside House Cleaning employee."

  "When did you get the tip?"

  "I just got the e-mail today."

  "When?"

  "I'm not sure. It was right after you left."

  "You mean that's when you checked your e-mail, or that's actually when it was sent to you?"

  Colleen gave her a crooked stare, and Belinda knocked on the closet door. "Did you get a tip you'd find something here?" Belinda asked Christina, who moaned a yes.

  Belinda met Colleen's eyes. Something about this whole scenario was very wrong. "We need to go," Belinda said, and ran out of the house and back to her car with Colleen on her heels.

  "The e-mail was sent after you left," Colleen said while Belinda drove.

  Then it would've been difficult, though not impossible, for it to have been sent by Isabel. She and Bennett went straight to see her after talking with Colleen. Considering how friendly the Stephens seemed to be with Isabel, maybe they told her about the secret compartment. Or maybe she just found it on her own. Belinda zipped them back to Isabel's.

  This time, Belinda was more forthright, asking Isabel if she sent Colleen the anonymous tip. She didn't mention the photos; she didn't want Colleen harassing her later on.

  Isabel looked downright frightened. "No! I would never..." She stopped, crashing into one of the kitchen chairs.

  "Then you knew about the secret compartment?" Belinda said.

  Isabel answered numbly. "I found it by accident when we were doing a big spring cleaning. I just thought it was cool. I never knew why they had it."

  Probably to hide really expensive jewelry or other items, but Belinda decided not to mention that. "Did you ever tell anyone?"

  Isabel thought, leaning her head on her hand. "I may have told one person."

  "Elena?" Colleen said.

  Belinda wasn't shocked when Isabel answered no. "I told my boss, Carolyn," Isabel said. "We were just chatting and I mentioned it at some point. Then I felt scared because I knew I wasn't supposed to know. But she promised she wouldn't say anything."