Chapter Fifteen
After dinner, the Garcia sisters and Vince headed back to Maddy and Deena’s room to talk about everything they’d discovered that day and to get their first peek at the book found under Naomi Peterson’s body.
Lainey propped up the pillows, climbed into the bed, and leaned back against the headboard. Kate did the same and pulled the covers over their legs. Deena and Maddy sat down on the end facing the door, while Vince pulled up a chair close enough to Deena that she could count the tiny laugh lines around his eyes. Tessa squeezed in between her two younger sisters at the head of the bed.
“First of all, tell us what you have in your notes, Lainey,” Maddy prompted.
When Deena turned to face Maddy, her knees made contact with Vince’s, and an electrical charge surged through her body. As if she’d just touched a flame, she jerked away, but not before she saw the confused look that crossed his face.
Lainey opened the pad in front of her. “Okay, I’ll summarize. We think Annie Elliott is faking her injury so she can file a personal injury claim against Haley and the spa at some point. The Masons leave us with a lot of questions—for instance, how do people that young have so much money?”
“You got that right,” Kate said. “I’m a doctor, and there’s no way I could sponsor a retreat up here. My hanky–panky radar goes off the chart when you mention the Masons.”
Vince snickered. “And mine as well, but Sam or Olivia could be from money, which would explain it. What else do you have, Lainey?”
She flipped the page. “Carlene Newman may or may not be Brent Kershaw’s illegitimate daughter, but she definitely believes she is, and as his only living heir, fully intends to walk away with all his money.” She tsked. “I’d like to take another crack at her in the morning.”
“Good idea,” Maddy said. “If anyone can get her to slip up, it’s you. She’s really the only one with a true motive to kill Kershaw.”
“What about Yolanda Templeton?” Deena asked. “We caught her in a lie this morning.”
“Don’t be so impatient. I’m getting to her.” Lainey shot her sister an exasperated look. “We think Yolanda is hiding something, but we have no idea what, other than the fact that she didn’t care much for Brent.”
“Now, that’s the understatement of the century,” Kate said with a laugh. “If I remember correctly, Yolanda called him slimy.”
“Yeah, she bears watching, too. So, what about the kitchen staff, Lainey?” Maddy asked. “Read back what you wrote about them in your notes.”
Lainey turned the page. “Again, I’m summarizing. Sergio’s here from New York where he worked at a prestigious restaurant in—”
“And that’s another thing. Why would a top chef like Sergio leave the Big Apple to come to Podunk, Oklahoma, to cook for a small spa with only ten rooms? Do you think he’s lying about that prestigious restaurant, or is Haley paying him a king’s ransom?”
“No way Haley’s shelling out a big salary for him,” Deena responded. “She won’t admit this, but she’s hurting for cash. She was counting on getting these people to invest because she’s already depleted the 401K from her last job as well as the initial business loan she got from Kershaw’s brother.” She failed to mention that the spa owner still owed her a pretty good chunk of change, wondering if she’d ever see the final payment for services rendered or if she should prepare herself to kiss that money goodbye.
“And didn’t we overhear Kershaw mentioning something to Haley about that loan when we were standing at the registration desk our first day here? I got the impression that he might be holding it over her head—like he could have it recalled if he wanted to.” Lainey said. “Do you think that’s what he meant, Deena?”
Deena thought for a moment before agreeing. “Yes, I’d forgotten about that. So I guess that gives Haley a pretty good motive as well, huh, Maddy?”
Maddy nodded. “For sure. If Kershaw had the power to bring the spa down with one phone call to his brother, Haley would probably do all she could to keep that from happening. Does that mean she‘d kill to protect her investment? I don't know.” She pointed to Lainey. “What about the other staff members?”
“According to Paulina the kitchen staff partied into the wee hours Friday morning, and most of them hit the sack right after dinner Saturday night. India said she’d left a bottle of Scotch outside Kershaw’s room for about ten minutes while she went back to the kitchen. So, in that short period, someone else could have spiked it with a sedative. She also admitted to having a fling with the dead guy as payment for him getting her out of jail and helping her to get her kids back. Arlene, the other waitress didn’t arouse our suspicions at all when we interviewed her. As a matter of fact, she didn’t even know that Kershaw had asked for a bottle of liquor to be delivered to his room. As for Paulina herself, nothing stands out except that she did say one of her recipes was from Denmark, but when Deena questioned her about it, she seemed embarrassed and said her mom worked there as a teacher at one time.” Lainey closed the notebook. “That’s what we have so far.”
After a few moments of silence, Vince was the first to speak. “That’s a lot for only one day. Pat yourselves on the backs.”
“You’re the FBI profiler,” Deena said. “What does your gut tell you? Is Kershaw the one who killed Brent?”
“He’s definitely acting like he did it, and running off with the bloody T-shirt and the bottle of Scotch doesn’t help his case.” Vince leaned back in the chair and clamped his hands behind his head. “To tell you the truth, I pegged this killer as someone with a grudge—someone devious enough to plan the perfect murder. Look how he or she made sure we were cut off from the rest of the world for the entire weekend.” He shook his head. “Honestly, I don’t believe Wharton is smart enough to pull off something like that, and given his excessive drinking habits, executing such an intricate plan would be nearly impossible.”
“So who then?” Deena asked, noticing the way his eyes lit up when he was discussing the case.
He shrugged. “I wish I knew. I have this nagging feeling that we’re not looking in the right direction—that Kershaw wasn’t killed for obvious reasons.”
“What makes you say that?” Maddy asked.
“I don’t know. I just have this feeling that whoever killed him did it for another reason, not just because he was a jerk.” He blew out a frustrated breath. “If I only had access to the Internet, I could check out all these people and get a better feel for them.”
“Being able to get into police databanks would be helpful, too,” Maddy said, getting up and going to the mini fridge. Bending down, she opened it and pulled out a Coke. “All that garlic bread has me parched. Anyone want one?”
Vince nodded. “Any diet soda in there?”
“A man after my own heart.” Deena said before turning to her sister. “I’ll take a diet Coke as well.”
Maddy stood up, holding a can of diet soda. “Sorry, kiddo. This is all that’s left, and Vince called dibbs on it.”
“She can have it,” he said quickly. “I’ll just take a bottle of water if you have one.”
“No, you take it,” Deena insisted, careful not to let her knees make contact with his again. “It’s probably too late in the day for me to be having caffeine, anyway.”
He stood and walked over to the dresser for a clean glass, then poured half the soda into it. “Ditto on the caffeine thing, but I’m addicted to this stuff. Used to inhale it during stakeouts.” After taking a long drink from the can, he walked back over to the chair by the bed and sat down, facing her again. Then he gave her the glass—and a smile.
She mouthed a thank you to him before turning back to Maddy, who had also settled back on the end of the bed once again “Why don't you take a look at Naomi’s notebook to see if there’s anything important in there?”
Maddy set the Coke on the floor and pulled out the notebook they’d found under Naomi’s body. Starting at the beginning she flipped through the pages.
“So far, all I see are work orders with dates and a check number at the bottom to indicate paid in full.”
“What kind of work orders?” Deena asked.
“It doesn’t say. Because it was partially burned, Vince and I think it might have been in the fire that gutted the house on the property. If that’s true, then this book probably belonged to the owner. We’re guessing Naomi found it in the rubble.” She pointed to one of the pages. “There are just numbers and dollar amounts listed, like it was used for some kind of pricing system that only the owner was privy to,” Maddy responded, still turning the pages. “Whatever this person did for a living wasn’t very lucrative, though. Most of these orders are dated days apart, sometimes over a week or two between sales. And the highest amount I’ve seen so far has been three hundred dollars. No way I could live on so little.” She shrugged. “Oh, wait! What am I thinking? Jessie and I had to live below the poverty level for over a year when I was a rookie cop. We ate so many macaroni and cheese dinners that I can’t stand to look at the stuff now.”
“I remember that year,” Deena said with a grin. “I used to send you home with all the leftovers whenever you and Jessie came for dinner.”
“And I can tell you we were grateful and never threw any of them away,” Maddy said as she continued to thumb through the pages. Her eyes widened about halfway through the book. “Holy cow!”
“What?” Deena nearly knocked her sister off the bed trying to get a better look.
“Here’s an order dated over five years ago from none other than Theo Elliott.”
“Let me see that,” Deena said, grabbing the book out of Maddy’s hands and studying it. “I’m sure Haley said that he and Annie have lived in Tulsa for many years. What in the world was he doing way out here?”
“And what did he buy from the owner of the cabin?” Kate added.
Vince, who up to this point had been sitting quietly with a pensive look on his face, taking it all in, leaned forward to examine the entry. “This warrants another talk with our elderly couple to see if maybe they were here on some kind of excursion when the spa was still a hunting lodge and cooked up a plan to come back and scam a few bucks from the place.” He rubbed his forehead above his right eye as if chasing away a migraine. “Five years does seem like a long time to bring a plan like that to fruition, though. Oh well. If nothing else, he can tell us what the mystery cabin owner did for a living.” He turned to Maddy. “And don’t forget the picture we also found under Naomi’s body of what could be her and her family.”
“Maddy pulled it out of her pocket and passed it around. “The young girl does have a slight resemblance to Naomi, but we can’t be sure. If it is her, I wonder if she ever lived out here and hiked out there for old times’ sake.”
“All very good insights, Maddy,” Vince said. “Hopefully, we’ll know a little more after we talk to the Elliotts. For now, keep turning the pages to see if there are any more surprises in there.”
Maddy thumbed through the rest of the book, one page at a time. When she was almost finished, she gasped. “You’re not going to believe this.”
Lainey and Kate scooted to the bottom of the bed while Vince and Deena moved as close to her as they could.
“The very last entry dated two years ago was for twenty-five hundred dollars from Christina Rockford.”
“Oh my God” Deena exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hand. “That’s Haley’s sister.”
*****
Vince felt pressure mounting behind his eye. He should have known better than to be out there in the woods without taking his antihistamine. His allergies were bad enough in the city but apparently even worse out in the country with all the fresh air. He blew out a breath, thinking he’d take one of the pills that made him drowsy when he went to bed, thus killing two birds with one stone. He’d medicate his allergies and counteract the caffeine that would keep him awake.
“Vince?”
He glanced up at Deena who was staring at him with crinkled eyes. “Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about what all this could mean.”
“That’s what I asked you, but you were miles away,” Deena said. “Are you alright?”
He looked at her face for a second. Why hadn’t he noticed the way her emotions were displayed so vividly in her eyes? Right now, those dark eyes were filled with concern for him. After a moment, he gave her a half smile. “I’m thinking this book could be the key to our mystery, but I can’t figure out why.” He glanced down at his watch. “It’s going on eleven, so another chat with Theo and Haley will have to wait until morning.” He stood. “This has given us a lot to think about. Why don’t we all get a good night’s rest and get back at it tomorrow?” He drained the Coke and threw the can into the trash.
At the door, he turned back one last time. “To answer your question, Deena, my gut is telling me that we’re missing the big picture here. Now what that big picture is, I don't know. Maybe tomorrow things will be clearer to me and we can put a few pieces of the puzzle together.” Then he walked out and closed the door gently.
*****
Colt sat at the kitchen table nursing a beer and finally relaxing a little after spending four hours at Vineyard Regional. Although he was grateful that his niece had walked away from the five-foot fall from the treehouse in his backyard with only a broken wrist, he still had to face Maddy with the news.
Not that a broken wrist was anything to make light of, but while he’d waited for the doctor to read the CT scans of her spine and brain, his imagination had run wild. He’d made enough pacts with God that he’d never be able to skip church ever again.
He glanced down again at his watch. Ten-thirty. Both Jessie and Gracie were asleep—Jessie from the pain pill he’d given her, and Gracie just because she’d insisted she stay by her cousin’s side every minute in case Jessie woke up in the middle of the night and needed something.
He picked up his cell phone and dialed Maddy’s number again with the same results as the other ninety-nine times he’d tried in the past five hours. He knew the spa was located far back into the Oklahoma woods, and he figured the signal must be bad there. Still, Maddy should’ve received at least one of the many text messages he’d left by now. And why wasn’t anyone answering the satellite phone?
He wasn’t ready to panic just yet. Tomorrow was soon enough for Maddy to find out about her daughter’s accident since the emergency was already over, and the doctor had said it was just a waiting game now until the swelling went down and they could decide if she needed surgery or not.
Still, it wasn’t like Maddy not to respond to his messages. She was devoted to her daughter, and since her husband had been killed in Afghanistan before Jessie was born, was even more protective of her baby girl than the average mama bear, which sometimes exasperated the twelve-year-old.
Once again he wished Laney had been there with him through all this, but his wife and her sisters weren’t due back until around five the next day. He’d just have to shelf his anxiety until then. He threw away the warm beer and grabbed a cold one from the fridge. With his mind constantly replaying the day’s events, he knew he’d never get to sleep without a little help from alcohol—or a conversation with Maddy.
But long after the beer bottle was empty, his eyes were just as wide as ever. Finally, he couldn’t stand it and walked over to his computer. After sitting down, he pulled up a map of Oklahoma and pinpointed exactly where the spa was located. Discovering that the nearest town was Leisure, population twelve hundred, he Googled it, amazed that a town so small had a website. Clicking on the government page, he found the phone number of the local police station.
Another glance at his watch showed that it was now close to midnight, and he debated whether or not to wait until morning. A lot of small towns only had one or two police officers on staff who might not be excited about such a late call.
Screw it! He dialed the number and waited while it rang four times. Almost ready to give up, he was surprised when a sleepy, gravelly vo
ice answered.
“Sheriff Wilkerson.”
Colt took a deep breath, knowing he’d probably gotten the man out of bed and wondering if Leisure, Oklahoma, was a one-cop town. If so, how mad would the guy be when he found out that he was only calling because his sister-in-law wasn’t answering her phone. “My name is Colt Winslow, and I’m the sheriff of Vineyard, Texas.”
“What can I do for you at this ungodly hour?” the gruff voice asked.
“Maybe nothing.” Colt paused to see if there would be a reaction on the other end. When there was none, he continued, “My wife and her three sisters are in Oklahoma at Tranquility Rock Spa and…”
“That the new one that used to be a hunting lodge out on Farm Road 266?” Wilkerson interrupted.
“No idea,” Colt responded. “All I know is that I’m in charge of my daughter and my niece for the weekend while the women enjoy a much-needed weekend away from it all.”
“So, what’s the emergency, Sheriff?”
Colt hesitated momentarily. “Here’s the thing. There is no real emergency—or at least not now, there isn’t. Earlier tonight, my niece fell and broke her wrist. I’ve been trying all day to reach my sister-in-law with both voicemails and text messages, and she hasn’t responded to any of these.”
“If I’m remembering correctly, that place sits a ways back into the woods,” Wilkerson said, his tone finally softening. “I’m sure cell coverage is limited at best.”
“I get that,” Colt interrupted. “But I still need to talk to my sister-in-law. I was wondering if I could ask a huge favor of you and see if you’d be kind enough to make a run up to the spa in the morning to let her know I’m trying to reach her.”
“You’re that worried about her?” the man asked, before pausing. “I guess I would be, too. That’s rugged country up there, and ever since they closed the hunting lodge, the animals have had free reign.”
Truth be told, Colt hadn’t really worried about that aspect—until now. He’d been more concerned over letting Maddy know about Jessie.
Rock Around the Corpse Page 17
