Rock Around the Corpse

by Lizbeth Lipperman

  His eyes widened as they followed hers. “What the hell?”

  “That much liquor would definitely cause you to forget everything,” Kate said. “And trust me, as a doctor, I don’t need my cop sister to make that call.”

  He walked over to the dresser and picked up the Scotch. After a minute, he turned back to face Deena and Kate, shaking his head. “You have to believe me. I don't drink Scotch because I’ve always hated the taste.”

  “So how’d that bottle get here? Did you have company last night?”

  Again, he shook his head. “I swear I have no idea how it got here.” His hands were shaking so badly, she was sure he was going into DTs.

  Deena wanted to believe him, but if she did, then either he was lying about having a drinking partner in his room last night or he’d brought the bottle back after killing Brent in a drunken stupor.

  Her head told her to proceed with caution even though another possibility was that the Scotch on his dresser was an entirely different bottle that he himself had retrieved from the liquor stash in the kitchen and had nothing to do with Brent. Until she was sure, they were at risk and had to stay on their guard.

  No matter what, it was imperative that she and Kate get away from this man before he decided they knew too much. “Looks like someone’s trying to make you and me a patsy,” she said in her best sympathetic voice. “Why don't I go to my sister and Vince and tell them what you’ve told us? They’ll know what to do and how to help you.” She stood and grabbed Kate’s hand. “You stay here, and we’ll come back with them. I’m sure they’ll want to talk to you a little more. You just tell them exactly what you told us, and it’ll all work out.” She nudged Kate toward the door, using every ounce of willpower she could muster not to run.

  Before she opened the door, she couldn’t resist one last peek over her shoulders to make sure Wharton wasn’t coming after them with some kind of weapon. She was surprised to see him slumped over with his head in his hands. The sounds of his sobs followed her as she pushed Kate into the hallway. Then the two of them sprinted to their room, not stopping until they were safely behind the door.

  Both of them screamed as it swung open before she could lock it.

  *****

  Vince charged into the room with Maddy and Lainey on his heels as if he was about to confront a masked killer. When he saw that the two Garcia sisters were safe and sitting up in the bed, he immediately walked to the bathroom and cautiously opened the door. Although he didn’t have a weapon, he was prepared to go head to head with a perpetrator. Confirming that there was no threat, he walked over to the bed. “Are you two okay?”

  After they both nodded, he made his way to the desk and sat down. He waited for Maddy and Lainey to find a spot on the bed with their siblings before he began. “What in the world has you two so jumpy?”

  Both sisters began speaking at once until Maddy held up her hand. “Wait. One at a time, please.”

  Deena glanced toward Kate, and after she nodded, Deena faced the newcomers, hesitating as if she were debating with herself about how much to say. Finally, her eyes settled on Vince. “Kate and I saw Gary Wharton going to the spa earlier and thought it was the perfect opportunity to check out his room.”

  “You what?” Maddy turned to face her sister.

  Deena shrank back under the intense glare. “I still have my master key from the renovations, and we wanted to see if we could find anything useful to the investigation in his room.”

  Maddy slapped her head with an opened hand. “For the first time ever, I understand why Colt gets so pissed when we interfere with one of his cases.” She nailed Kate with narrowed eyes. “Do you have any idea what could’ve happened to you if that man caught you going through his things?”

  “He did,” Kate said, defiantly. “That’s why we were freaked out when you guys walked in.”

  This time Lainey jumped up and enveloped both of them in a bear hug. “Oh my God! He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

  Kate shook her head. “No, but we were prepared to fight our way out if we had to.”

  Vince couldn’t help it and grinned. He guesstimated Kate to be around one-twenty and her sister Deena only slightly heavier. It would have been hard to defend themselves against Wharton who probably weighed in at a good two-twenty, although girls did have the advantage of the old “knee to the balls” defense. That move would bring down a professional wrestler.

  Vince concentrated on the sisters, enjoying the scene playing out in front of him. As an only child, he’d missed out on the back and forth that goes on between family members when they argued. He should’ve joined in and reinforced Maddy’s outrage about how reckless Deena and Kate had been. They’d just broken into another man’s room, and technically, Maddy could have charged them with a felony. But right now she was enthusiastically scolding her two siblings much like a hell and brimstone preacher, so she really didn’t need his input. She was doing a bang-up job as a solo act, chastising her sisters over and over again and trying to scare them to death about what could have happened. He leaned back in the chair and used the time to study the Garcia family dynamics.

  Maddy was the oldest, and as such, was the most responsible. Although she was still rattling off everything that could have happened to Deena and Kate on their ill-advised escapade, you could tell there was an incredible amount of love driving the tirade. Lainey, on the other hand, almost looked like she was mad that she hadn’t been part of the adventure and was dying for details. After watching her interrogate India and the others earlier, Vince decided she would make a great detective if she ever wanted a career change from weekend anchor. Dr. Kate was the baby of the family and obviously had been spoiled by all of her siblings, who protected her like a bunch of mother tigers.

  His eyes turned to Deena, who seemed to be holding her own with her older sister. Dressed in a sleeveless turquoise blouse and a pair of beige capris that tied below her knees, she didn’t look like the kind of woman who would settle for a one night stand. Yet, by her own admission, that was exactly what she’d done. More disturbing to him was that the man whom she’d chosen to climb into bed with the night before was so far out of her league it was a crime. Although Vince didn’t know Brent Kershaw personally, he’d been trained to watch, listen, and make judgment calls. That had been his job description with the FBI, and even if he had to say so himself, he’d been pretty damn good at it.

  Until Charles Kowalski.

  As fast as that thought popped into his mind, he chased it away and returned his focus to Brent Kershaw. He’d been assigned to bring the judge to the spa on Friday afternoon and had spent the hour and a half drive observing him while he talked on the phone the entire way. Although Kershaw hadn’t actually said anything specific to him, Vince had enough experience to recognize when a person thought he was better than everyone else. Brent Kershaw definitely had talked down to him, and later, to the owner of the spa. Add that to what India had told them about the man, and he was even more confused about Deena’s willingness to share a bed with him.

  So what was it about Kershaw that had intrigued a woman as classy as Deena Rodriguez in just a few hours?

  “Vince, did you hear me?”

  “What?” He glanced up at Maddy, embarrassed to have been caught daydreaming.

  “I asked if you have anything to add to discourage my sisters from repeating what they did today.”

  He glanced first at Kate, then focused on Deena. “I think you did a pretty thorough job,” he said, barely able to hide the amusement in his eyes because neither one of the breaking-and-entering sisters looked even the slightest bit remorseful.

  “Okay, now that you’ve finished the lecture, Maddy, let them tell us what they found out in Wharton’s room,” Lainey said. “It must be something good for them to react the way they did when we walked in.” She rubbed her hands together in anticipation of a juicy story.

  “Oh crap, Lainey,” Kate began. “We thought he was going to kill us.”

&
nbsp; “My point exactly,” Maddy said, the tone of her voice proof that she was still angry with them.

  “We found a bloody shirt,” Deena blurted.

  “What?” Maddy moved so close to Deena, Vince was sure she would tumble onto the bed on top of her sister.

  “Not so mad at us now, huh, Maddy?” Kate interrupted, before scooting back on the bed after Maddy sent her a killer look.

  “Are you sure it was blood?” Vince asked, intrigued now. He had to hand it to the sisters. If what they said proved to be true, they’d uncovered more damning evidence in just a few minutes than he and the cop sister had dug up the entire day.

  “Oh, it was blood, all right,” Kate said. “It was all over the white shirt Wharton wore to the dinner party last night. We would’ve brought it here to show you, but he walked in on us before we could get out of there.”

  “Christ! You said he didn’t hurt you, right?” Vince asked again.

  Deena shook her head. “We pretended that we hadn’t seen the shirt, but Wharton was too smart for that. Then he told us that he’d drunk himself into a stupor the night before and had no idea how the blood got on his shirt.”

  “Boy do I wish we had access to a lab to see if it’s Kershaw’s blood,” Maddy said.

  “I’d bet a week’s salary that it is,” Deena said. “We questioned him about the possibility that he was so angry at Brent that when he confronted him face to face, it all went bad.”

  “What did he say to that?” Vince moved his chair closer to the bed and the sisters.

  “He still denied everything. My guess is that he was in an alcoholic blackout,” Deena said directly to Vince now.

  “He didn’t seem that drunk when he left the dining room last night,” Lainey noted.

  “He wasn’t, but he told us that he used his master key to sneak back into the kitchen and grab some whiskey. Then he came back to his room and drank nearly the entire bottle,” Deena said.

  “So he has a master key,” Vince mused, rubbing his chin. “That would explain how he got into Kershaw’s room.”

  “Don’t forget about the Scotch,” Kate said, excitedly.

  “Oh yeah. Along with the whiskey, there was a bottle of Scotch with almost the same amount left in it as the bottle from Brent’s room.”

  Vince stood up. “We need to talk to him right away.”

  “Wait. You should know that Gary has no idea how that bottle got into his room. Said he hates the taste of Scotch and never drinks it.”

  “And you believe him?” Vince was already halfway to the door.

  “I don’t know why, but I do. When we left, he was crying,” Deena said.

  Vince opened the door. “Come on, Maddy. We have a possible killer to confront.” He pointed to Lainey. “Would you go down to the housekeeping department and bring up several garbage bags and gloves if you can find them? Sounds like Wharton’s room is full of evidence that needs to be preserved.”

  After Lainey nodded, Deena jumped off the bed. “We’re coming with you and Maddy.”

  Maddy shook her head. “Oh, no you’re not. You two are already in enough trouble as it is.”

  “Don’t go acting like Colt, Maddy,” Kate said, following Deena to the door. “It doesn’t become you.”

  Maddy opened her mouth to protest, then grinned. “Oh hell, I do sound like Colt.” She motioned for them to follow her and Vince. “Stay behind us in case Wharton has the missing guns.”

  Vince led the way to Room 5 and knocked on the door. When Wharton didn’t answer, he knocked with a little more force while announcing himself and ordering the man to open the door.

  He was about to use his shoulder to break it down when Deena stepped forward and handed him her key. “It will be much easier with this.”

  He met her eyes for second, and he swore he saw a hint of mischief before he took it from her and inserted it into the lock. As soon as the door opened, he knew in his gut that they were too late.

  Gary Wharton was nowhere to be found. And neither was the bloody shirt nor the bottle of Scotch.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “He couldn’t have gotten too far,” Deena said, scolding herself for falling for Wharton’s sob story. An innocent man didn’t run away and certainly didn’t take all the damning evidence with him.

  Vince checked his watch. “Maddy, why don’t you and I have a look around the place and see if we can figure out where he went.”

  Maddy nodded then turned to her sisters. “You three go back to our room and keep an eye out for him,” she instructed.

  “Why can’t we come with you?” Kate asked. “Are you forgetting that we were the ones who found the bloody shirt in the first place?”

  “Yes, you did,” Vince responded for Maddy. “But we need you here at the spa in case he comes back.” He glanced down at his watch again. “We’ve only got about ninety more minutes of daylight, and if what I’m thinking is correct, Wharton’s headed into the woods for a place to hide out.”

  When Deena opened her mouth to protest, she met Vince’s gaze. The look in his eyes seemed to plead with her to do as he asked. With Wharton already having a head start, now wasn’t the time to give them any grief about tagging along. Something about the way he looked at her made her turn to her sisters, who were glued to Maddy’s side and determined not to be left behind.

  “Maddy’s right, you guys. If by some slim chance Wharton isn’t the killer, we would be leaving all the other guests exposed to the real murderer. Let’s just do what Maddy says and be on the lookout for anything suspicious.” She felt like such a cop-out because she wanted to go on the hunt for Wharton as much as Lainey and Kate did, but the appreciative look that Vince sent her made backing off worth the dirty glares from her sisters.

  “Why don’t you all go to the dining room in an hour and check out what’s going on down there?” Maddy said before adding, “You seem to have a knack for getting people to talk. Who knows? Maybe by the time Vince and I get back with Wharton, you three will have already solved the crime.”

  Deena gave her a look that said she was well aware that her older sister was blowing smoke up their skirts to make them think their job minding the dining room was just as important as chasing a potential killer, but Maddy didn’t seem to notice. She had already turned and was talking to Vince about going to the utility shed out back to look for some kind of weapon to take with them.

  “Sheesh! It’s so unfair,” Kate complained. “Remind me to let Maddy know how I feel when she gets back.”

  “Oh, she already knows, little sis,” Lainey said. “But she’s being protective of all of us. The three of us are not equipped to deal with a teenage shoplifter, let alone someone angry enough to shove a pair of scissors into a man’s chest.” She grinned. “Your skills include pregnancy testing, Katie. Too bad Wharton doesn’t have a uterus.”

  “Ha! Pretty funny coming from someone whose only job is to get dressed up and look pretty on the weekends for the TV cameras. How would that work if you had to face a killer?” Kate fired back, complete with her signature pout that she’d perfected as a toddler.

  Deena couldn’t help herself and joined her sister in teasing Kate. “Or if all else fails, you can put him in stirrups and do a Pap smear.”

  Can you even imagine how he’d scream when you came at him with a speculum? Tessa slapped her knee as she suddenly appeared out of nowhere and joined in the fun.

  By now the two older sisters were laughing out loud and high-fiving one another. Finally Kate smiled. “Shut up, you two. I suppose you could read him the news, Lainey, and Deena, you could make him a set of drapes.”

  That shouldn’t have been that funny, but for some reason it was what they needed to dull the disappointment about not being included in the manhunt. For another few minutes, they wisecracked about how they could take down the killer with their own individual skills until Deena finally said, “All kidding aside, Maddy is right, you know. What if Wharton really isn’t the killer and the real guy is j
ust lying in wait to strike again? There’s a lot of innocent people still here who might be at his mercy.”

  “Or hers.” Lainey added. “Have we even considered the possibility that our killer might be a female?”

  “I remember Maddy saying once that women killers typically use poison or a gun. They stay away from something as messy as a stab wound to the heart,” Kate said. “Besides, it would take a really strong woman to drive those shears that far into Kershaw’s chest.”

  “Yeah, I agree. My money’s on Wharton, although Sam Mason looks like he could get the job done as well.” Deena paused and narrowed her eyes. “We might need to give him a little extra attention tonight.”

  “And then there’s Yolanda Templeton. She’s a big woman, and she admitted she didn’t like Brent very much,” Kate said.

  “Disliking someone and being able to plunge a pair of scissors through his heart are two different things,” Deena responded. “Don’t forget, Vince seems to think that with the brutal way in which Brent was murdered, it suggests that the killer might have been motivated by some kind of revenge or a deep hatred. Otherwise, why not just put a little arsenic into the Scotch instead of a sedative?”

  “You’ve got a point,” Kate said. “So what do you think about Vince, Deena?”

  The question was so out of the blue that it took Deena by surprise. “What do you mean?”

  “You know exactly what I mean. You have to admit the man is hot.”

  The man could eat crackers in my bed any day of the week.

  “You say that about every good-looking guy you see, Tessa.” Deena turned back to Kate. “How do you know he isn’t married?” She was beginning to get a little uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation. “We know nothing about him, and although I agree he’s easy on the eyes—and incredibly sweet, to boot—who’s to say he doesn’t have a wife and five kids tucked away somewhere in the middle of Oklahoma.” She shook her head. “Trust me. Having been on the other side of a cheating spouse, I would never do that to another woman.”