A Secondhand Murder

by Lesley A. Diehl

I mulled over the idea of bringing Napolitani in on my scheme. “If I tell you what I have in mind, will you help me?”

  He smiled. In the darkened room his white teeth flashed almost as brilliantly as the jewels in the locket. “It would be my supreme pleasure to help you. Yet again.”

  “Help her do what?” Alex stood in the doorway. He was flanked by Jerry and Madeleine.

  The game was on. The posse, if you could call our mismatched band of troublemakers that, was formed. I didn’t intend to tell them that we’d be joined by a member of the Sanders family, Dwight. I seemed to be the only one who didn’t believe he had killed his stepmother. I hoped I could trust him and that what he knew would help us bag a killer.

  I walked down the hallway and away from the others in search of privacy. It would be fine if the person I was about to call knew that I was in the hospital seeing Grandy, but I didn’t want them to know anyone else was with me. I dialed the Sanders residence and waited for someone to pick up. In the meantime, I opened my hand and looked down at the locket that Nappi had dropped into it. Bait. As if I was going fishing for something big, like an old gator or a barracuda. But more dangerous.

  The phone rang several times and then a machine kicked in, asking me to leave a message. Even better.

  “You win,” I said. “I’ll meet you at the stables tomorrow night at eight. I have the locket. It’s yours. I’ll turn a blind eye to everything you’ve done. Now call off your dogs.” I disconnected and smiled.

  Nappi walked up behind me. “This is a dangerous game we’re playing. What if we don’t find what we’re looking for?”

  “In that case, I turn over the locket and walk away.”

  “That doesn’t sound like you.” He reached out and tilted my chin to look into my eyes. “No, not like you. You know something, don’t you? Tell me.”

  “Not now. Later.”

  I gazed down the hallway toward the other members of our gang. Alex was watching Nappi and me with disapproval. I could almost feel the jealousy creeping toward us. I fluttered my fingers at him. He grinned at me like a teenager in heat.

  Nappi rolled his eyes. “Poor guy. He’s got it bad. I only hope he can keep focused. I would hate for his emotions to get him, or us, killed.”

  “He’s a professional. He’ll be fine.” My cell rang. I glanced at the number and flipped it open.

  “Come alone tomorrow.” The voice sounded muffled, as if the person was trying to disguise it. I couldn’t tell whether it was a man or a woman, young or old. I didn’t care. My caller asked no questions about the meeting I had arranged, which meant that my message had made sense.

  “Of course.” I flipped the phone closed.

  I turned to Nappi. “I’m not supposed to bring reinforcements tomorrow. Does that sound right to you?”

  “Not really. I would rather our greeting party be made up of more than one person.”

  “It might be a bad idea to go against their request. They’ll have their own gang to back them up.”

  “Of course they will. They’re suspicious. They think it’s a trick, and they also believe you know more than you do.”

  “I know enough.”

  He tapped my fist, the one that still clenched the locket. “If you did, you wouldn’t need that much bait to pull the confession out of a killer.”

  It was good to have a man like that on your side. He was right. I shouldn’t go it alone, not in this case.

  Chapter 26

  Nappi and Jerry took turns driving during the three hours it took to get back to Sabal Bay. Everyone slept but me. I was worrying about Grandy and second-guessing my decision to return home rather than stay with her. Alex snored beside me, his warm breath caressing my ear as he rested his head against my shoulder. On my other side, Madeleine followed Alex’s lead, only much louder.

  By the time Nappi pulled up in front of my house, it was after two in the morning.

  “Anybody hungry? I can scramble eggs and make some toast.” I was wide awake and starving.

  “I thought you couldn’t cook,” said Alex.

  “It’s just eggs and toast. I can do that.”

  “No she can’t.” Madeleine sat up, stretched and yawned.

  “Let’s go to the diner,” said Alex.

  Madeleine curled her top lip in disgust. “Not me. The diner’s food is worse than Eve’s.”

  Alex frowned. “You’re kidding about Eve’s cooking, right?”

  “No, she’s not,” I said. “But it’s not something I want spread around.” What I meant was, I didn’t want prospective romantic interests to find me wanting in the kitchen. It was a girl thing.

  By the time they had finished their conversation about my culinary klutziness, I regretted my effort to be generous. “I didn’t make the offer to be insulted. Forget it. I’m going to bed.”

  Alex looked at me with a spark of hope in his eyes.

  “By myself.” I got out of the car and started toward my front door.

  “Wait. I’ll walk you.” Alex rushed to catch up.

  “Oops. Forgot something.” I turned back toward the car, catching Alex off guard. I weaved around him, leaving him spinning on the walkway.

  “Will you make up your mind?” I could almost hear his teeth grinding as he spoke through a clenched jaw.

  “Meet here at eight tonight then?” I wanted to make certain I had the backup I required.

  Napolitani nodded.

  Alex grabbed my arm and steered me toward the house. “You act as if you trust that mobster more than you do the rest of us.”

  “I do. He was there for me when I needed him. I have no reason to believe that he won’t be again. Where were you when I needed help? Playing footsie with your skeevy relatives.”

  He looked hurt. “I told you I was sorry about keeping that relationship from you. Why can’t you forgive me?”

  “Sure, I’ll forgive you, but only if you come through for me tonight.” I inserted my key in the lock and opened my front door.

  “Napolitani doesn’t mind crossing the line when it comes to the law,” he said. “I guess you don’t either. Whatever you’re planning, I’ll be there to see that you don’t get into trouble.”

  “My knight in tarnished armor. We’ll see.” I closed the door on him.

  In bed, I tossed and turned for several hours. There were two unknowns in my plans. One was Dwight. I believed him when he said he had nothing to do with Valerie’s murder. Why else would his father identify the dead body as his son’s? It had to be, as Dwight insisted, to protect him. Leon wouldn’t do that for a murderer. But Leon also appeared to be protecting someone else—the real killer, perhaps. I doubted Dwight knew that or, if he suspected, that he wanted to believe it.

  The other wild card was Alex. I wanted to trust him. I wanted to like him. I might even want to fall in love with him. But Grandy’s beating had shown me the power of family ties—just how far members would go for one another—and Alex was one of the Sanders. What did that mean? Perhaps I was foolish to let him take part in tonight’s activities. As frightening as it was to try and trap a killer, I liked myself better as a snoop than as a wealthy society matron sipping martinis at the club back in Connecticut. I smiled to myself as I snuggled down into my pillow. My business might fail and I might get killed, but I had more than cowboys here. I had friends.

  After just a few hours of restless sleep, I got up and made a strong pot of coffee. I had a long day ahead, followed by a night that might be equally as long but was sure to be interesting, maybe life-threatening. I had to focus. My mind needed to be clear, not caffeine-riddled. I drank half a cup of the brew and threw the rest away. The phone rang. It was Rob.

  “I got the strangest call a few minutes ago,” he said. “Someone with an accent. Spanish, I think. He wanted to talk with my wife. Not my ex-wife, but the ‘señora who was with you at the stables.’ That would be you. What do you think he wants?”

  I thought back to Carlos the stable attendant, and his kind ey
es and gentle hands.

  “What did he say?”

  “Only that he needed to talk with you. I told him you were out shopping and would be back in a half hour.”

  “When we talked in the barn, I told him I might be able to get him another job since he seemed so unhappy there. That must be what he wants.” That’s what I told Rob, although I knew that couldn’t be it. Carlos told me he wouldn’t leave the horses to people who didn’t care for them.

  “I’ll be right over. I need to take that call.”

  “Señora, I must talk to you. I can’t stay on the phone long. They don’t like us phoning from work. Can you come to the stables?”

  “When?”

  “Today.”

  “Won’t that look funny, my showing up there for no reason?”

  “No, Señora, you come with your husband. The ponies, new ones, they arrive today. Mr. Spelling will invite your husband to come. I ...”

  I heard angry voices in the background, followed by a click. He had hung up.

  Rob entered the kitchen where I had taken the call. I explained what the stable attendant wanted.

  “Sounds like trouble to me, something you should stay out of.”

  If only he knew what I had already gotten myself into.

  The phone on the wall rang. Rob picked it up.

  “Uh-huh. Sure that would be fine. Well, I can’t guarantee that. She might have other plans. Oh, okay. We’ll be there.”

  He hung up and turned to me with a puzzled look on his face. “That was Spelling. Your contact was correct. A shipment of horses just arrived. The vet should be through inspecting them by late afternoon. He asked me to come out around five and to be certain to bring you. Odd, don’t you think, considering how unpleasant he was the last time?”

  More than odd. Frightening. Someone must have overheard my conversation with Carlos.

  “You’re not thinking of going, are you?” Rob asked.

  “I’m absolutely going.”

  “We talked about this. Eduardo and his wife, Constance, are sure to be there. They’ll recognize you.”

  “Maybe not. They’ll be so thrilled about having a buyer for the ponies that they’ll hardly notice me. I’ll wear a particularly large hat this time. I have to go. Carlos knows something he thinks is important enough to risk his safety, maybe his life, by contacting me.”

  “I’ll have Antoine take him to one side to see what’s up.”

  “No,” I said. “I think he’ll only talk to me.”

  My already full schedule this evening had just gotten busier. Someone at those stables was a killer. I had thrown bait into those unfriendly waters, and it looked as if I was about to toss my friends in after it. Was I really willing to risk their lives? My own?

  I left a message on Nappi’s cell saying that if I wasn’t at the house at eight, everyone should meet me at the stables. There was a good chance I could talk with Carlos beforehand, find out what he knew and, using that information, figure out what was going on and how it related to the murder. I might even be able to wrap this whole thing up by six. If not, there was Plan B, at eight tonight. Like all my plans, this one remained a little vague. What was I going to do? Goad whoever met me for the locket into admitting to my kidnapping and Grandy’s beating? It sounded like an episode of Perry Mason, not real life. Oh yeah, throw in the identity of Valerie’s killer as a bonus. And, of course, there was Plan C—Dwight to the rescue at midnight. Each half-baked scheme was a safety net for the one before. Unless …. What if the gang and I didn’t make it through Plan A?

  “Stay close to me. Don’t run off by yourself. We’ll find Carlos together,” said Rob. He, Antoine and I pulled around to the barn where I’d met Carlos the first time. Spelling stood in the barn’s doorway. There was no sign of Eduardo or Constance. Another man stood at Spelling’s side, someone I wasn’t eager to encounter again. Randolph Burnside. I hadn’t seen him for a while. I could have gone forever without seeing him again and not felt cheated of the experience. I wondered what he had to do with this operation.

  After Spelling made the introductions, Burnside turned his attention to me. Would he recognize me? Not many women are as tall as I am.

  “This is your lovely wife?” Burnside looked me up and down. A process that, given the disparity in our heights, took some time.

  “You remind me of someone.”

  Uh-oh.

  “Valerie. My wife’s dearest friend. She was tall like you. There was another woman.” Randolph paused, a finger to his lips. “Well, no matter.”

  Probably most women looked tall to him.

  I grabbed Rob’s hand and squeezed. Maybe he wasn’t certain of the message, but he seemed to realize there was something about Burnside that spelled trouble.

  “I’m sorry,” said Rob, “but I’m a little unclear about your connection to the stables.”

  “I’m part-owner. With Eduardo and his wife. They should be here soon. In the meantime, follow us and we’ll take a look at those new ponies.”

  Antoine and I let Spelling, Rob, and Burnside get ahead of us. We followed, inspecting each stall, hoping to catch sight of my contact.

  As we passed the feed room, someone called my name. “Mrs. … Mrs., Señora.” It was Carlos. He looked terrified.

  When Antoine and I turned to enter the room, Carlos shook his head. “Alone.”

  I told Antoine to walk on ahead.

  “They say you’re not who you pretend to be.”

  I opened my mouth to explain, but he interrupted me.

  “Not much time, Señora. Come with me.”

  He grabbed my arm and led me through a back door in the feed room and out behind the barn. We ran to the far end of the second barn and entered. In the stall to our right, a mare, held by two stable hands, was struggling against a man whose hand was inserted into the poor animal’s vagina.

  “What the hell?” I whispered.

  “Shh. Just watch.”

  “Hurry. This one’s a real fighter, Doc.”

  “Hold still, bitch.” The vet shoved his hand in farther. “Got it.”

  When he pulled his hand out, he held a plastic bag. It looked to be filled with some kind of powder. A very special, very illegal powder, it seemed. Carlos whispered in my ear. “Cocaine.” It must have been smuggled into the country with the polo ponies.

  The vet, Dr. Phillips, dropped the bag into his medical satchel. “Just in time. Here come our customers. Too bad they won’t be buying. I’d like to get this nag off our hands.” He roughly elbowed his way around the horse. Fear filled her eyes, but then something else appeared. If the stable attendants hadn’t been holding her down, she would have charged him. Her front hooves left the stall floor for a moment, but she was pulled back, and the vet exited.

  “Drugs.”

  Carlos nodded.

  Voices echoed throughout the barn.

  “Let’s get out of here. I don’t want you mixed up in this. These people are dangerous,” I said.

  “Si. I know.”

  We left the way we came and stood for a moment behind the barn. What was I going to do? We needed reinforcements. Could I reach anyone? I punched Frida’s number into my cell and got her answering service. I left a message and prayed that she or someone from the police could get here in time. Next I tried Nappi. No answer. The same for Madeleine. And Alex. And Jerry. Where was everybody? Shopping for the appropriate clothes to wear to an eight o’clock breaking and entering party?

  “I have to go find Rob and Antoine and warn them somehow. I’ll try to keep calling my friends. Is there a phone you can safely use? Or a car?”

  “One of the stable attendants has a cell phone. I can try to find him, Señora.”

  I wrote all the numbers of the eight o’clock gang on a scrap of paper I found in my bag. I kept my phone in case I could call again.

  “Here. Call these numbers until someone answers. Tell them Eve needs them here. Now.” I shoved him away from me and turned to enter the barn.
>
  The entrance at the other end, the one we had just used, was darkened by two people. As I walked toward them, I recognized Eduardo and Constance. Hail, hail. Their gang was all here.

  I was still wearing my disguise, full-skirted dress and brimmed hat with large dark glasses.

  As I walked up to them, Rob turned and smiled.

  “We lost you for a minute there, honey.” He took my hand and pulled me close. “Let me introduce—”

  “There’s no need,” said Constance. “She’s Eve Appel and she has something I want. Hand it over.” She pushed her face up close to mine and stuck out her hand.

  I tried to look puzzled, innocent, confused.

  “Don’t play that game with me. Your family’s made up of nothing but thieves.”

  Eduardo stepped forward and placed his hand on Constance’s shoulder, pulling her back. His knuckles turned white. How hard was he grasping her?

  “Shut up. You’re just like your mother. Like all American women. You talk too much.”

  Constance grimaced and reached up to grab the fingers digging into her shoulder.

  Rob stepped forward. “You’re hurting her. Let your wife go.”

  Eduardo merely gave his oily smile and looked at Randolph, who pulled a gun out of his pocket.

  Chapter 27

  The gun Randolph held was ugly. It looked huge, almost too big for his hand. Or was that just because Randolph was so small in contrast? It was clear from the way he held the weapon that he knew how to use it. I suddenly felt shorter.

  The three of us stood very still, but I could tell that Rob and Antoine were poised for a fight.

  Spelling pulled out another gun. No good. I saw Rob signal Antoine to stand down. Too much firepower.

  “Put your hands behind your heads and get down on your knees,” said Spelling.

  We obeyed.

  Eduardo, still grasping Constance’s shoulder, barked sternly. “Go home. I’ll be there soon.”

  “But she’s got it. I know she does,” Constance whined.

  He looked at her and sighed, the kind of sigh that came from a man holding fury at his core. As fast as the strike of a coiled snake, he slapped her. I jumped as if he had hit me. Constance ran from the barn, holding her cheek and sobbing.