Murder in D Minor Boxed Set

by Virginia Smith

  Chase shook his head. He’d never realized Korey felt inferior to him in any way.

  Korey continued. “I was shocked when Forbidden Fantasy sold so well.” He took the jar from Chase’s hands, twisted off the lid, and sniffed. His nose wrinkled. “The truth is, I think it stinks.”

  “I had no idea.” Chase leaned against the back cushion. Apparently he’d missed the boat all the way around. Misjudging his cousin in the matter of the drugs was just the beginning. He’d been completely blind to Korey’s feelings of inferiority for years. “So you really were sick this morning.” He dropped his gaze, unable to look his cousin in the eye. “When all this came down, I thought maybe you were crashing from a drug trip or something.”

  “No way!” A genuine laugh shook Korey’s shoulders. “You want to know what I was doing last night?”

  Chase nodded.

  “I was online all night long talking to a girl.”

  “A girl?”

  “She lives in Florida.” Korey ducked his head with a shamefaced grin. “I met her on eHarmony. We’ve been chatting for a couple of months now, and it’s starting to get serious. I really was just dog tired this morning.”

  Relief washed over Chase. That was the old Korey he knew, staying up all night to talk to a girl, then ducking out of work the next day to catch up on his sleep. He stood, grabbed his cousin by the arm and pulled him into a hug. “I’m sorry, man. I shouldn’t have doubted you.”

  Korey thumped him hard on the back before releasing him. “Since I can’t see Irene or either of our moms as drug dealers, does that mean Ed Graham and Alex are in together on a drug-selling scheme?”

  “I have a feeling that’s exactly what it means. And Willie must have been in on it, too. I think that means either Alex or Graham murdered him.”

  “Alex introduced me to Willie when we decided to hire a delivery guy. Said he’d known him for a while and would vouch for him.” Korey shook his head. “He really manipulated me all the way around, didn’t he?”

  “He manipulated all of us.” Chase set his teeth together. He’d employed a drug dealer at the least, a murderer at the worst. “Detective Jenkins is on his way to talk to Graham now. I think we should let him handle Alex, too. I’ll go tell the deputy what we suspect.”

  Chase left Korey in the trailer to get cleaned up, and then made his way back to the factory. As he approached the back door, he noticed that Alex’s car was gone. Now that he thought of it, he didn’t remember seeing the car when he stormed out of the building toward Korey’s trailer.

  He went inside to find his mom talking with Irene and Aunt Dot. All three women looked up, their expressions stricken.

  Aunt Dot started to speak. “Chase, I—”

  He cut her off with a raised hand. “I just talked to Korey, and everything’s cool.” He hardened his voice. “But where’s Alex?”

  Understanding dawned on all three faces.

  “He ran out of here about twenty minutes ago,” Irene said. “Had to run an errand or something.”

  “Odd. He didn’t say anything to me.” Mom tilted her head and looked at Irene. “He came into the office while I was on the phone.” She snapped her fingers. “Oh, Chase, I forgot to tell you. Caitlin Saylor called. She was stranded at the middle school with a student and needed a ride. Dot wasn’t back yet, so I couldn’t leave. She said she would get a taxi, and asked me to have you call her.”

  Caitlin. Every muscle in Chase’s body tensed into statue-like stillness. When he gave her the Forbidden Fantasy candle, Willie saw him do it. And Alex saw her carrying it.

  Neither of them knew she didn’t leave with it.

  “Mom?” His voice caught in his throat. “Was Alex standing in the office when Caitlin called?”

  “Why, yes. I believe he was. He must have left right after that.”

  Chase sprinted to the front. He needed to talk to Deputy Kincaid now.

  SIXTEEN

  Caitlin eyed the man she’d met yesterday at Chase’s factory. He’d been chopping wax and bulging his muscles on purpose, for her benefit. That kind of guy made her nervous—handsome in a rugged way, fully aware of the fact, and unscrupulous in using his looks to his advantage.

  “Alex, right?”

  His smile brightened as he came around the front of the car toward them. “That’s right. Mrs. H sent me over to give you a lift. Said something about being stranded with a student?” His gaze slipped over to Nicky and his eyes narrowed. “Hey, don’t I know you?”

  Nicky studied him a minute, then her face cleared. “Yeah, I’ve seen you talking to my dad. Ed Graham at the Candle Corner? I’m his daughter, Nicky.”

  “Are you serious?” He threw back his head, laughter erupting from his throat. “This is great. Yeah, kid. Your dad and me go way back.”

  He pulled Nicky into a sideways hug, then left his arm draped across her shoulders. Caitlin’s stomach tensed. She didn’t like the way he touched Nicky. There was something too familiar, too eager in his actions. And the fact that he knew Ed Graham made her distrust him even more.

  He gestured toward his car. “Ladies, Alex’s limo is at your service. Where do you need to go?”

  “I really appreciate the offer,” Caitlin told him, “but we’ve called a taxi. It should be here any minute.”

  “Aw, don’t worry about that. Taxi drivers steal each other’s fares all the time. They’re used to showing up and finding nobody there. C’mon. Hop in.”

  The gaze he fixed on her held an intensity that felt … wrong. She searched the main road and jiggled the cell phone in her hand. Where was that taxi? “It seems rude to take off when they’re probably on the way.”

  “I’m telling you, it’s okay. Besides, I’m a bargain, as far as taxis go.” He grinned. “I’m free.”

  Nicky turned a worried look on her. “I really want to get to the hospital and check on my brother. How much longer will it be before the taxi gets here?”

  “Your brother’s in the hospital?” Was his expression too concerned to be genuine?

  Nicky sniffed. “My mom and dad are there now, and that’s where we’re going.”

  “Well, that settles it.” Alex’s hand tightened around Nicky’s shoulder. The gesture sent alarm shooting through Caitlin. “Taxis in this town are notoriously slow. You could easily be waiting here for another hour.”

  Caitlin had no intention of getting into that car with Nicky. Her grip on the phone tightened as she spoke in her firmest tone. “We appreciate the offer, Alex, but we’re going to wait for the taxi.” She stared hard into Nicky’s eyes, willing the girl to go along with her. “I’m sure it will be here any minute.”

  Alex’s chest expanded. His gaze scanned the building behind Caitlin as he blew out a long, slow breath. With his free hand, he reached behind his back and under his shirt. “You’re determined to make this hard on me, aren’t you?”

  Caitlin knew what he was reaching for before it appeared—a gun. He pressed the barrel into Nicky’s side, pulling her firmly against him.

  Fear snatched the breath from Caitlin’s lungs. Nicky’s mouth hung open, her eyes wide with sudden panic.

  “Come on, ladies. We’re going for a ride.” He rounded the front of the car, pulling Nicky with him toward the driver’s door.

  Caitlin stood rooted to the sidewalk, her stunned brain trying to figure out what action to take.

  “Open the door,” Alex instructed Nicky.

  When the girl had done as he commanded, Alex eyed Caitlin over the roof. “Are you coming, or are you going to let me take her alone?”

  Horror slid down Caitlin’s spine. She had no choice. She took a step toward the car, but he stopped her.

  “Drop your phone in the grass. And get your purse. You’ll need it.”

  Why? But she couldn’t force the word from her throat, not while he pressed a gun in Nicky’s side. Caitlin let her cell phone fall from her fingers, her hopes plunging to the ground along with it. She whirled and ran back to the bench
where they’d left their belongings. As she did, she scanned the rows of windows in the school. Was anybody watching? Could anybody see what was going on?

  Lord, let someone see us and call the police!

  Her purse lay on the bench beside Nicky’s backpack and instrument case. Gathering them all up, she turned in time to see Nicky crawling over the center armrest in the Toyota’s front seat. Alex’s arm pointed inside the car, his gun trained on the girl.

  Dread swelled like floodwaters inside Caitlin as she returned to the car.

  Alex nodded toward the back door. “Get in.”

  She did as she was told and slid into the backseat. At the same moment she sat, Alex ducked into the front.

  “Slide over to the middle.” He adjusted the rearview mirror, ice-blue eyes visible in the oblong reflection. “That way I can keep an eye on you. And don’t do anything stupid. A gun isn’t my preferred weapon, but I’ll use this one on the girl if you make me.”

  From the front seat, Nicky’s breath came hard and noisy, big gulps of air like someone desperate not to cry.

  What do I do?

  Caitlin’s brain refused to work. What did Alex want with them? He’d showed up at the school to pick her up, supposedly sent by Chase’s mother. Did he know Nicky was there, too? She could think of several reasons for a man to abduct a woman and a child, all of them horrible. She needed a plan, a way to escape. Or at least a way to defend herself and Nicky. Why hadn’t she gotten some mace, as Jazzy suggested before she left home?

  She did have a knife in her purse. Daddy had always carried a pocket knife, and when she moved out on her own Caitlin discovered a dozen uses for the handy little tool. The small three-and-a-half-inch blade wouldn’t be much defense against a gun, but it was the best she could do at the moment.

  Her purse rested on the seat beside her, behind Nicky. Keeping her gaze fixed on his profile, she slipped her hand slowly inside the bag. Her fingers encountered her wallet, a comb, a miniature can of hairspray, a tube of lip gloss. Why did she have to carry so much junk?

  The Toyota’s engine roared to life.

  “I think we’d better have the windows up, don’t you?” The conciliatory tone in Alex’s voice made Caitlin want to throw up.

  As the window beside Caitlin glided upward, a familiar sound reached her ears. Her cell phone was ringing in the grass.

  Her fingers touched the hard plastic of the knife’s handle.

  “Come on, Caitlin. Answer the phone.”

  Chase paced the parking lot, his cell to his ear. Kincaid was trying to get in touch with Jenkins. At the fifth ring, Caitlin’s voice sounded in his ear. Chase’s heart leapt.

  “Hello, this is Caitlin. Sorry I’ve missed your call, but if you’ll leave—”

  He slammed the cover down. “Voicemail,” he told the deputy.

  Kincaid spoke into his phone. “Detective, the girl isn’t answering.” Pause. “Yes, sir, she called Hollister’s mother about half an hour ago looking for a ride.”

  Chase’s fingers itched. He clenched and unclenched his fists, then couldn’t restrain himself any further. He snatched the cell away from the deputy’s ear. He needed to talk to the detective himself.

  “Jenkins, the person responsible for putting the drugs in the candles is Alex Young, one of my employees. Who knows what else he’s done, but a woman and a girl may be in danger. We’ve got to find them now.”

  “Hollister, stop shouting in my ear.” Jenkins’s stern voice matched Chase’s for volume. “Now, calm down and tell me what you’re talking about.”

  Chase closed his eyes. Getting excited won’t help. With iron control, he kept his tone even as he relayed to the detective everything he and Korey had deduced. He went on to describe his mother’s conversation with Caitlin.

  “Yesterday, when she was here, I gave her one of the candles that was supposed to be delivered to the Candle Corner.” He closed his eyes. He’d put her in danger. If anything happened to Caitlin, it would be his fault.

  He set his jaw and continued. “Willie and Alex both saw her with the candle. Now Willie’s dead, and Alex is gone. And he knew Caitlin was at the middle school.”

  “You think he knew. But he might be down at the DMV renewing his driver’s license for all you know.”

  Chase ground gravel beneath his foot. Everything inside him cried out that Caitlin’s life was in jeopardy. Why did Jenkins sound so rational, so calm, when he ought to be putting out an APB to find them?

  He ran a hand across his mouth. “Did I tell you who the girl with Caitlin is? It’s Ed Graham’s daughter. Didn’t you tell me you don’t believe in coincidences?”

  The line was silent for a moment. “All right. I’ll get someone on it. I’m going to need any information you have on this Young character, including a description.”

  “I’ll get his personnel file. We made copies of his ID, so I have his driver’s license picture.”

  Chase tossed the phone to Kincaid as he ran for the front door of the factory. Inside, his mom and the others rushed toward him as he sped into the office.

  “Chase, what’s going on?”

  Chase jerked open the file drawer in his desk. “The police need copies of Alex’s ID.”

  Korey arrived then, and Aunt Dot ran to his side, threw her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder, sobbing. Irene stood nearby, clasping and unclasping her hands.

  “What’s going on?” He looked to Chase for an explanation as he patted his mother’s back.

  “Alex is missing, and so is Caitlin, the girl I went out with last night.” Chase grabbed the folder with Alex’s name on the tab and slammed the drawer closed. “You stay with them, okay? The police want statements from everyone.”

  Korey nodded. “Go. I’ll cover things here.”

  Chase stopped long enough to plant a kiss on his mom’s cheek. “Say a prayer for her.”

  “I will.”

  He ran through the gift shop. As he exited the factory, two cruisers pulled into the parking lot. The backup Jenkins had dispatched. Chase headed toward his pickup, but Kincaid stepped into his path.

  He held up the folder. “I’ve got to get this to Detective Jenkins.”

  “I can take it to him.”

  He held out a hand, but Chase clutched the folder to his chest. “You have to stay here and question everyone. Jenkins needs this now.”

  The man’s face grew stern. “The detective told me to keep everyone here.”

  Frustration bubbled inside Chase. Stay calm. He’s just trying to do his job. But he couldn’t stay here. He would explode if he didn’t do something to find Caitlin and that girl.

  The force of his feelings surprised him. Had it really been only yesterday that she’d walked through the door to his factory and charmed him with that Kentucky accent? They’d shared more in the short time they’d known each other than he and Leslie did in the months they’d dated. Caitlin’s dimpled grin loomed in his mind, and his heart twisted in response. He’d never met anyone like her.

  He couldn’t stand by and do nothing while she was in danger.

  “Am I under arrest, deputy?”

  His gaze wavered. “Well, no.”

  “Then I’m leaving.” Chase strode toward his truck and spoke over his shoulder. “You can call Jenkins and tell him I’m on my way to the hospital with the file he requested.”

  But I’m going to make one stop first.

  SEVENTEEN

  “Where are you taking us?”

  Caitlin’s voice betrayed none of the terror she felt. In the front passenger seat, Nicky was stock still. Amazing that she managed to hold her emotions in check with a gun pointing in her direction. Caitlin laid a comforting hand on her shoulder and felt the girl press backward into it.

  “We’re going to your hotel.” Alex steered with his right hand. The left lay across his lap, with the gun trained on Nicky.

  So Alex was the one responsible for planting drugs in the candles at Chase’s factory, not
his cousin Korey. If only she could get in touch with Chase.

  What is he going to do to us at the hotel?

  With her right hand, Caitlin touched the knife where she’d slipped it onto the seat beneath her purse. It was intended to open packages and slice apples. What good would such a small blade be against a man like Alex? And even if it did startle him long enough to give them a chance to run, she didn’t dare use it while the gun was pointed in Nicky’s direction.

  Could she use it at all?

  Thou shalt not kill.

  The car pulled into the parking lot of the Nashville Inn. “How do you know where I’m staying?”

  The rearview mirror reflected a cold smile. “A friend told me.”

  Did he mean Chase? No, Chase wouldn’t have told Alex where she was staying. At least, not on purpose. But he obviously knew. He drove straight to the side entrance, the one closest to Caitlin’s room. Glass still littered the asphalt where her car had been parked last night.

  “You broke into my car, didn’t you?”

  He shook his head as he pulled around to the rear side of the building, out of sight of the road. “Not me.”

  When the car stopped, Alex cut the engine and pocketed the keys. Caitlin surveyed their surroundings. Her heart sank. Not a soul in sight, and the curtains were closed on every window on the back side of the hotel.

  Alex opened his door. The gun’s direction did not waver as he slipped his free hand beneath Nicky’s arm and jerked her toward him. “Bring your room key but leave everything else,” he told Caitlin as he jerked the girl over the center armrest and outside.

  Nicky let out a choked sob that sent an ache through Caitlin’s heart. She did as directed.

  He marched Nicky to the side door and stood behind it. “Open it, and make sure nobody’s in the hallway.”

  No one was. Caitlin led the way down the corridor to her room, moving slowly as directed, with Alex and Nicky close behind her. If only a housekeeper was making her rounds right now. Or a hotel guest was looking out the door. But the hallway was deserted and remained that way while Caitlin unlocked her door and led their captor inside.