by Joan Rylen
Wendy held up a picture of the wedding party. A sticky note on it read #3. Tracy’s white gown was sparkly and puffy, and she stood with seven smiling bridesmaids. Brandon’s smile seemed forced, and there was only one guy by his side.
“Is that the cop?” Kate asked.
Wendy squinted at the picture. “Kinda looks like him, hard to tell, but that’s the last thing on the timeline.” She lowered her voice. “Guess Grandpa passed away.”
“Or the case went cold,” Vivian said.
They flipped through the pages quickly, looking at the pictures, highlights and headlines Grandpa had accumulated over the years.
Kate closed that file and began looking at the names on the others. “I think Grandpa believed Brandon was the killer, but he couldn’t prove it.” She picked up the file on wife number two, Rebecca, which was very thin.
“Guess she wasn’t around long enough to warrant a thicker folder,” Vivian said.
Vivian was able to make out Grandpa’s scrawl and read the notes explaining that Rebecca had received a large sum when her first husband died. He was the CFO of a Fortune 500 company in New York and died from brain cancer.
Kate shifted in the office chair. “My back hurts.”
“You’ve been on your feet a lot today. Are you ready to go?”
“Yeah, I think I am.”
Nicole popped out from around the corner. “Did you solve the mystery of the dead wives?”
“Not yet,” Wendy said, “but we’re working on it.”
“I’m going to take these home with me tonight,” Nicole said, putting the files back into the box. “Maybe something will jump out at me.”
Kate stood and stretched.
“Want help carrying them out?” Wendy offered.
“You mind?”
“Not at all.”
Wendy and Vivian each grabbed a box and followed Nicole to her Corolla. She popped the trunk and they put the boxes inside. “I’ve got to go back in and lock up. Thanks for the help.”
“Let us know if you find anything intriguing,” Vivian said.
“Will do. Good night,” Nicole said and went inside the shop.
They got into the rental and Kate pointed the car toward Turlington Farms. “We’re such wusses these days, going back to our room at 9:00. I feel like I’m bringing y’all down since I’m pregnant.”
“Nonsense,” Vivian said. “I’d rather go back, layer up and sit outside by the fire. Maybe make some s’mores. It’s not like Lake Placid is booming with nightlife anyway.”
“There are bars in town we can go to,” Kate said.
“Nah, we’re good,” Wendy said. “I want to call Jake’s parents and see if there are any updates.”
They turned into the driveway at the bed and breakfast. The headlights crossed the front porch where Tracy was sitting alone in a rocking chair. She stood and went inside before they were out of the car.
“I’m going to take a hot shower and put on my jammies,” Kate said.
They got out of the car and walked up the steps. Wendy sat down on a rocker and pulled out her phone. “Guess I’ll make my call.”
“You want anything?” Vivian asked Wendy. “Glass of vino perhaps?”
“Sure.”
The light from the phone cast a glow on Wendy’s sullen face, and Vivian could see tears welling in her eyes.
Vivian went inside, leaving Wendy on the front porch to make her call. Vivian wandered into the kitchen hoping to find a nice pinot noir. Instead, she found Tracy standing in front of the stove, staring into space. “Hey there, long day?”
Tracy turned around slowly, her face grim. “Yeah, sorry. I’m tired. Can I get you something?”
“I was hoping to spy some wine and a couple of glasses.”
“Sure. I think I have some Merlot in here. Will that do?” She began shuffling around, opening cabinets.
“That’ll do just fine, thanks.”
“Where is Kate? Does she need anything?”
“Nah, she went upstairs to take a bath. Wendy’s on the porch calling her…” what do I call them? “… her fiancé’s parents.”
“Oh, that’s nice. Both Brandon’s parents are dead.”
Vivian didn’t know what to say to that.
Tracy sifted through several bottles of wine and turned around with one labeled Goosewatch. “This is my favorite local winery. Let me open it up.” She grabbed a flat waiter corkscrew and had the bottle open in 20 seconds. She poured three glasses. “Think I’ll have one, too.”
“I wouldn’t feel right if you didn’t!” Vivian said, taking two of the glasses. “You can join us on the porch if you like.”
“I may in a few minutes.”
Vivian had a sip and walked to the front porch. As she stepped out she heard Wendy wrapping up the call.
“I will, thanks. And please, please, let me know if you hear anything at all. I miss him so much.”
Vivian handed her the wine and sat in the next rocker.
“Love y’all, too.” Wendy’s voice cracked a little. “Take care, ’bye.” She put the phone on the small wooden table next to the rocker and dropped her head, trying to hide the tears.
“I’m guessing there’s been no Jake news,” Vivian said.
Wendy sniffled. “None at all. I feel like I’m in a nightmare.”
“I wish I knew what to say. But I tell you this, if you want us to go with you to Vegas, we will. I don’t know what we’ll find, but you know we’re willing to try to help in any way.”
Wendy pulled a tissue out of her pocket. “Thanks, Viv, that means a lot. And who knows, maybe we should go. I was such a mess the first time I was out there, I barely knew my own name. If I went back, maybe I’d think of something I hadn’t thought of before, or ask better questions of the cops assigned to the case. I’d like to go to the convenience store where they have video of him getting gas, stay at the hotel he had been in, stuff like that. I may be grasping at straws, but at this point, what else can I do?”
Vivian didn’t answer because her cell started ringing. “Perfect timing.”
25
Vivian looked at her ringing phone and then back to Wendy. “It’s Antonio in New Orleans. You ready to see what he’s got?” Wendy nodded so Vivian answered. “Hey, Antonio. I’m with Wendy, do you mind if I put you on speaker?”
“I don’t mind as long as it’s just you two.”
She hit the speaker button. “Okay, you’re on. What’d you find?”
“The cellphone is a burner. Not a surprise there, but I wasn’t able to tell where it was purchased. I have someone with higher clearance working on that.” Antonio cleared his throat. “As for the passport, I was able to pull up some information, but it’s not what I was expecting.”
“But you found something?” Wendy said, hope ringing through in her voice.
Vivian could feel tension on the other end of the line and scooted her rocker closer to Wendy.
Antonio cleared his throat. “Yes, but I saw some red flags, things that don’t sit well.”
“What do you mean?” Vivian asked. She put her hand on Wendy’s arm.
The phone crackled as if it was being moved around but Antonio was silent.
“Hello?” Vivian said, looking down at the phone to make sure they were still connected.
“Is anyone around you right now?” Antonio asked in a hushed voice.
Tracy was nowhere to be found. It was just her and Wendy on the porch. “We’re alone.”
Antonio’s words reverberated on the porch.
“I think you need to call the FBI.”
“Excuse me?” She and Wendy quit rocking as his words settled over them. “Did you say Jake is in the FBI?”
“That is NOT what I said. I said you need to contact them. There were several things I found that feel off. Paul Vaughn has a bio with a long arrest record, some of which make me suspicious.” Antonio sighed. “It has a federal feel to it. Not just anybody can get a fake bio into the sy
stem.”
“What’s that mean?” Wendy asked.
“In my experience it means this is bigger than local. It kind of makes sense if you look at the South America connection.”
“Wait. Wait,” Wendy said, shaking her head. “Jake is a salesman. He’s got nothing to do with South America. This has to be a mistake. The stamps in the passport have to be fake.”
“I’ve got some connections in the FBI,” Antonio said. “I’m reaching out.”
Vivian spoke her thoughts out loud. “Look at the facts, Wendy. He had a passport with another name, money from another country. Maybe this is a good thing. Maybe he’s like James Bond or something.”
Antonio couldn’t let that one go. “First, James Bond is fictional. Second, he’s from England. Third, I didn’t say Jake worked for the FBI.”
“And fourth,” Wendy stood and tilted her head back, frustrated, “fourth, James Bond was never engaged and never went missing for six months.” She turned and started down the steps. “I’m going for a walk.”
“Wait,” Vivian said, getting up. “Antonio, thanks for the info, I’ll call you back.” She hit “end” on the phone and followed after Wendy. “Wendy, stop.”
Wendy kept walking around the house and straight toward the lake.
Vivian hustled to catch up to her, but she was moving fast. About 10 steps from the water Vivian grabbed the back of Wendy’s shirt. “Buddy system, remember.”
Wendy melted to her knees, sobbing.
Vivian knelt down beside her, stroking her long, chestnut brown hair. She just kept repeating, “It’s going to be okay, it’s going to be okay,” and waited until Wendy had gotten a lot of frustration and sadness out through her tears.
After a few minutes, Wendy pulled a fresh tissue out of her pocket and dabbed her face.
“You okay?” Vivian asked.
“I don’t know what I am.” Wendy’s arms hung listlessly at her side.
“We are going to get to the bottom of this,” Vivian said. “One way or another, I know we will.”
“You say that, but I’m not so sure. He’s been gone for 202 days, Vivian. Two hundred and two days!”
“I know, but they haven’t found anything to suggest he’s dead. The dental records didn’t prove anything. That’s something. And now we learn that there’s a connection with the feds. That’s something, too. More than we’ve had.”
Wendy nodded.
“Maybe he’s on a secret mission somewhere and isn’t allowed to call you, like he’s deep undercover and contacting you could be dangerous.”
“Yeah, or maybe he’s dead,” Wendy said, and she started crying again. “Maybe he’s dead, Vivian! No one seems to know anything! We keep getting the runaround from the Las Vegas PD. There’s been no mention of the FBI until just now. I thought at least I would get closure with the dental records, but no! And then finding that stuff in his apartment freaked me out.
“I’m angry, I’m sad. I feel betrayed. I hate this! I hate this!” She banged her fists into the soft earth. “It’s bullshit! I hate it!”
Wendy was usually so composed, so large and in charge. It killed Vivian to see her in such pain. Vivian had known pain in relationships, and thinking about how she’d found her husband in the swimming pool with another woman fired her up. She stood in front of her friend, hands on her hips, in her mom/Wonder Woman pose.
“You listen here, Wendy Schreiber. We are going to find Jake. There is an answer, and I promise you, we will find it. We are Texas girls, and by god, we grab the bull by the horns and wrangle the hell out of him until it’s over. I can tell you this, this bull and his shit are going down.”
Wendy looked at her, sniffled once more, then started laughing. An uncontrollable, fall on her side, roll in the dirt laugh.
Vivian didn’t know what to make of it but was glad to see something other than what she had been witnessing.
Wendy laughed so hard she could barely breathe. Eventually she threw her arms and legs out, spread-eagle, taking a deep breath and staring up at the stars.
Vivian leaned over her head. “Feeling better?”
“Oh my gosh, Vivian, I feel sorry for your kids. They aren’t going to get away with anything, are they?”
Vivian smiled at her friend and offered her a hand up off the ground. “Nope. My nickname’s not Mean Mama for nothing.”
Wendy took her hand and stood. “Wow. I think I’ve been holding in some of my emotions.”
“Hell yeah, you have. But I understand. What you’ve been going through is unreal. And now to hear this news from Antonio, I mean, it’s like a movie or something.”
“Yeah.” Wendy started walking toward the house. “Thanks for my kick in the pants.”
Vivian saw a shadow walk out of the house and sit in a chair. “Pffffft, nonsense. That was no kick. That was just a nudge. You don’t want to see my kick.” She did an awkward roundhouse move that more resembled a dog shaking water off its foot.
Wendy laughed out loud. “I hope you never have to use that on anyone. Then again, they might laugh so hard you get away.”
Vivian gave her a butt bump. “I’m not stretched out. It’s usually better.”
“Uh huh.”
They were halfway back to the house when Vivian decided to go ahead and mention one more thing. “Did you hear Antonio offer help with his contacts at the FBI?”
“Yeah, I did,” Wendy said. “We should definitely ask him to do that.”
Vivian grabbed her arm and stopped. “I don’t think so.”
“What? Why not?”
Vivian looked at her with a sly smile. “We have a secret weapon. A really sexy secret weapon.”
26
Vivian looked around, like she was making sure they weren’t about to get into trouble. “We’re going to call your former flame from Colorado. Our most favorite, sexiest man alive, hell-yeah-he’s-a-hottie FBI guy — Agent Wade Nelson.”
Wendy shook her head. “I don’t know, Vivian. Not only will calling Wade be awkward, but he’s in Colorado. A long way from Vegas and certainly a long way from this case.”
“I know it’s the right thing to do,” Vivian said. “He would help you with anything. He’s probably our best bet, if, in fact this has an FBI connection.”
Wendy took a deep breath. “I’m not going to win this argument, am I?”
“Nope.”
CRASH! They both jumped.
“I’m so sorry,” Tracy said, hopping up from the rocker. “I dropped my wine glass. I swear, I need to only use plastic ware.”
“I hope it was empty!” Vivian said, rushing up the steps. “Want me to grab a broom?” Just then the front porch light popped on and Brandon stood in the doorway.
“Sounds like things are getting rowdy out here.”
“Can you grab the broom, honey?” Tracy called to him. “Watch the glass,” she said to Vivian and Wendy, who walked over and sat in rockers.
Brandon turned and disappeared but soon emerged with a broom and dustpan. “Hope it wasn’t the good crystal.”
Tracy snorted. “Like I ever drink out of that.”
He cleaned up the glass and then turned to Tracy, a frown on his face. “You coming up soon?”
“In a few minutes.”
He turned and went inside, letting the screen door bang behind him.
“Would you like a refill?” Tracy asked. She had brought Vivian’s empty glass and Wendy’s partially drunk glass to the back porch.
Vivian picked up her glass. “I thought you’d never ask.”
“I’ll be right back.”
Wendy polished off her glass just as Tracy came back to fill it up. “Just in time.”
“What’s the matter?”
“I’ll be better after this,” Wendy said and took a long sip. “Thanks.”
Tracy poured Vivian a generous glass, then filled up a rocks glass she had brought for herself. “Only wine glasses I had left were the expensive ones, and I didn’t want to risk it.�
�
“At least you own expensive glasses.” Vivian laughed. “Mine are from the dollar store!”
“Nothing wrong with that,” Tracy said as she took a big drink. “I love the dollar store.”
“To the dollar store!” Vivian said and held up her glass.
“Hell yeah,” Tracy said and clanked her glass hard against Vivian’s. “Oops, sorry. Good thing that glass isn’t from the dollar store.”
They laughed at that and chatted about their day, and the missing Lucy.
“I still can’t believe she left,” Vivian said. “It’s so unlike her.”
“Sometimes people leave,” Tracy said. “Look at Brandon’s wife, Rebecca. We all thought she left him, but it turns out, maybe not.”
Wendy glanced at Vivian, then asked Tracy, “Did they identify the body already?”
“Yeah. Well, at least they think they did. Brandon had to go to the police station today because they found a ring. They showed Brandon a picture of the inscription. It was hers.”
“Oh no, I’m sorry,” Vivian said. “How terrible for him. And you.”
“I didn’t know her. And they had only been married about a year, but still. He’s sad.”
“Yeah,” Wendy said. “I’m sure.”
“It’s nothing like his first wife, though. He was even sadder about her.” Tracy took another long drink and sloshed a little on her jeans. “Mary Beth did no wrong in his eyes. They were high school sweethearts, you know. Personally, I think she cheated on him while they were married.”
“Really?” Vivian asked. “With whom?”
“I don’t have any proof, but I heard it was with a student. Some kid who played football. I can’t even remember his name.”
The screen door burst open, startling all three women. Brandon stepped out. “I think it’s time to go to bed.”
Vivian looked at Wendy, who looked back at her.
Tracy stood up slowly. “Okay, I’m beat.”
Oh my god, maybe she’s trying to tell us she’s abused?
“Good night,” Tracy said, walking past Brandon, who held the door.
