Health, Wealth, and Murder: A Plain Jane Mystery (The Plain Jane Mysteries Book 4)

by Traci Tyne Hilton

  Jake laced his fingers through her hand. “One day I will make a big romantic gesture, and you will have to say yes, but, if you wanted to say yes today, I would totally ask you to marry me in an unassuming, quiet manner.”

  Jane squeezed his hand. “Very tempting.”

  When they got to the apartment, they found Gemma and Detective Bryce on the couch, in what could only be called a “compromising” position. They untangled quickly, though, and Jane was pleased to note that all buttons seemed to be firmly in place and only Gemma’s hair was ruffled.

  Jake broke the awkward silence first. “Hey.”

  “Hey.” The detective was quick to respond, and to scoot even a little further away from Gemma.

  “So…” Jane lifted her eyebrow.

  “Yeah…” Gemma blushed.

  “What happened back there?” Jake asked.

  Detective Bryce—though Jane thought she had better start thinking of him as Grant, after all—threw his arm across the back of the sofa. “Best as I could tell, a whirlwind of crazy. I came because Jane was pretty persistent in thinking something was going to happen there. Once she said that she and Gemma were definitely going to be at the event, I had to be there.”

  “Word,” Jake said.

  “I had my eye on both of them, but when I saw Jane lead the crowd to the front of the stage, I knew she was going to do something stupid.”

  “Thanks so much.” Jane poured herself a glass of cold water, and wished she had given Jake a different answer back in the car.

  “Well, you did. But I couldn’t do anything about it because once the flashlights started roving, I spotted Gemma here doing something even stupider.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Jake took Jane’s glass and drained it.

  “Jane told me that she was suspicious about Lucas and Tiffany, so…”

  “So she tipped over Tiffany’s wheelchair.”

  “What?” Jane and Jake asked in unison.

  “You’re lucky she didn’t press charges.”

  “You said she could walk just fine, or that you thought she could. I saw her start to roll her chair away, and I just, I don’t know. I just tipped it. I wanted to stop her from getting wherever she was going, so I tipped her over. I didn’t think anyone saw.”

  “Was she hurt? What happened?” Jane leaned heavily on the counter. Her cousin could have just made everything so much worse. It was like her good intentions and her good sense hadn’t ever been introduced.

  “Stacy saw me and grabbed me and started yelling, and then Grant showed up and pulled me away from her.”

  “What did Tiffany do?” Jane asked.

  “Good question. By the time I had a chance to see if I had even stalled her, both she and the chair were gone.”

  “How many people were in wheelchairs there?” Jake asked.

  “I only saw Tiffany. I did see a lady in a power chair,” Jane said.

  “I saw a guy in a power chair,” Gemma added.

  “Well, I saw a wheelchair folded against the wall in the foyer when we left. Think it was Tiffany’s?” Jake asked.

  “Impossible to say now.”

  “While Lucas was preaching and I was getting interviewed outside, and Gemma was getting hauled away by Grant, and Tiffany was MIA, someone snuck into the kitchen and stabbed Christiana Malachi.” Jane pondered it. Was it wrong to accuse an orphaned woman in a wheelchair of murder? It felt wrong, but all of the pieces fit together so well. She acted worse off than she was. She played on sympathy. Her husband wanted power. She was able to do her deed because of all of the diversions with the power, which her husband controlled.

  “Do you think she’ll be okay?’ Gemma asked.

  “Christiana?” Grant pulled Gemma into his arms. “Yeah. She’ll hurt for a while, but it didn’t look like she’d die from the injury.”

  “So she’ll be able to ID the person who did it.” Jane was relieved. The pressure of figuring out who killed Josiah would be off of her shoulders.

  Grant shook his head. “Not if she was stabbed from behind. But we’ll know whatever she knows, soon enough. Until then, all we can do is wait.”

  The next day Jane had to play responsible student and part-time maid despite the overwhelming fear that coursed through her.

  The second day after the camp revival, Jane went to the Malachi rental house uninvited. Just pushing the door open gave her an immense sense of relief, but the house was cold, dark, and empty.

  Of course it was.

  Christiana was still at the hospital. Theo was still missing, Nick had been staying at the hotel with the task force, and no one else lived there. She took advantage of the quiet and rummaged through the office.

  The desk was full of paperwork for the camp revival and the third Portland area event, a “prayer revival” at a Foursquare church on the way to the beach. She was glad, for the sake of that church and everyone who worshipped there, that the false teachers wouldn’t be coming after all.

  Or would they?

  If Lucas and Tiffany had orchestrated this all to take over a successful and well-paid ministry, they would most likely show up for the next event as though nothing had happened.

  Jane picked up the phone and scrolled through the caller ID, not sure what she was looking for, but a feeling of desperation crept up her spine nonetheless. They had managed to take out Josiah, Theo, and Christiana. Nick couldn’t possibly be safe.

  Evelyn’s name popped up on the caller ID, so Jane wrote it down. She called her from her own cell phone. “Evelyn, this is Jane, the maid. I was at last night’s event, and I’m scared to death for Nick.”

  “Slow down, sweetheart.” Evelyn’s rough voice was calm, and somehow soothing. “What are you scared about?”

  “Whoever killed Josiah tried to kill Christiana last night. And Theo’s still missing.” Her words were tumbling out. There was that motherly touch to Evelyn, that solid, down-home feeling to her voice, that drew out all of Jane’s fears and made her lay them on the table, though she would have preferred to be calm and professional right now.

  “I’m worried for Nick, too. But let me tell you: I am not letting him out of my sight. We’re staying at the hotel today. Eating our meals together and lying low. I owe it to my brother to keep my eye on his boy.” She cleared her throat. “Trust me, I won’t let anything happen to him.”

  Jane’s heart rate slowed down. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Thank you.”

  “Is there something else you need to tell me?”

  Jane thought about spilling the beans on her whole enterprise: being paid to find the killer, attempting to protect Christiana and failing…all of it. But then she remembered the way Evelyn had talked everyone out of calling the cops on Theo’s behalf, and she stopped. “No, that’s it.” While she didn’t think Evelyn was behind the murder, she wasn’t ready to confess all yet.

  “Okay, dear. Please call me if you hear anything.”

  “Of course.” Jane ended the call.

  Call if you hear anything? So Evelyn knew about her investigations? And she was still willing to claim responsibility for Nick’s safety.

  Jane went upstairs to snoop in Christiana’s room. A diary, a notebook, some kind of journal…if Christiana had been putting her personal thoughts down on paper, now was the time to dig them up. If she had any fears about her team, any theories on what had happened to her husband, Jane needed to know them.

  But the bedroom turned up nothing. The drawers at the bedside were empty. The closet had clothes in it, nothing more.

  Jane sat on the edge of the bed and stared out the window. She couldn’t be the only one suspicious of Lucas and Tiffany. Not considering how closely these people all lived together.

  In the distance a cat crossed the yard. Not Haven’s cat, though.

  Theo had been suspicious. For the last four years he had doubted everything. Maybe he had been keeping notes.

  His room had stayed clean—she had made sure of it. So she didn’t need to do
an archeological dig through garbage this time. His desk drawers were fairly empty, though, and his closet only as illuminating as his mother’s had been.

  Haven’s cat slept on his bed, so Jane sat next to her and ran her hand down the silky fur.

  She toyed with the cat’s collar and wondered why it was there. Surely that cat had been chipped. Theo wasn’t about to lose this animal.

  The cat had a bulky tag hanging from her collar. Jane gave it a closer look. It was a rectangle charm of sorts, about the size of a USB plug.

  Could it be?

  Jane undid the cat collar and pocketed it.

  If Theo had been storing data on the cat’s collar…it explained his deep affection for the animal, and was exactly the thing she needed to find.

  But she didn’t dare try it out while in their house.

  On her way out she stopped by the den to wipe her fingerprints off of the telephone. She could touch most anything in the house and look unsuspicious, but there wasn’t a single reason not related to snooping for her to be checking out the Malachis’ caller ID.

  Back at her apartment she hid away in her bedroom with her laptop. She tried to slide the plastic charm so that a USB plug would pop out. She slid her fingernail around the seam of the plastic case, and it popped off.

  She was right. It was a USB plug with a three-millimeter chunk of plastic on the end…apparently just enough room for the smallest possible circuit board. Jane ran her fingernail around the other side to expose the whole plug.

  The thin plastic cover popped off, taking the plastic chunk that probably had the circuit board off with it.

  Jane stared at the plug.

  She tried to press the parts back together, but it didn’t seem to work like Legos.

  Whatever Theo had been hiding was…gone.

  She grabbed her phone and called Ben, the only guy she knew who really knew his way around computer stuff.

  Jenny, his wife, answered. “Ben’s phone.”

  “Hey! This is Jane Adler, Gemma’s cousin, you know?”

  “Sure.” Jenny sounded cautious.

  “I have a problem that maybe Ben can help me with.”

  “Is it about your murder investigation?’ Jenny’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

  “Um…”

  “I take that as a yes.”

  “I really need an expert.” Jane looked away from the evidence she had destroyed.

  “What a pity. We’re in Seattle all day on a job. We won’t be home until very late tonight.” She paused. “If at all.”

  “Could you just tell him to call me?” Desperation flooded Jane.

  “He’s pretty busy, but I’ll let him know.”

  Jane doubted that was true. “Thanks.” Her own words fell flat. She ended the call and stared at the broken memory drive. She should bring it to the police. They would know what to do with it. She stood up with a heavy sigh, sick of not doing her job right.

  Twenty-Six

  The police station was quiet, and depressingly familiar. She kind of wanted it to feel like a second home, like she could pop in and chew the fat with someone whenever she wanted to, but that just wasn’t realistic. So far, in her life, she only came here to bail out her dad, or beg for help when she was in over her head.

  She stood at the window to the front desk while the nice lady who had greeted her looked for a form in duplicate that she wanted Jane to fill out. The waiting room was empty, and smelled, yet again, like the “relax” soap in an airplane bathroom.

  It did not help Jane relax.

  The bells on the big glass doors jingled, and Jane turned to see who was coming in.

  Theo.

  Jane’s breath stopped.

  His hair was filthy. His pants were torn off at the knee. He cradled one arm in the other, and as he slowly recognized Jane, he whispered, “Help.”

  Jane shook away the cobwebs and ran to him. She put one arm around his waist and led him to a chair. “But where did you come from? Where have you been? Where is Robert?”

  Theo rubbed his forehead. “I need a cop.”

  “Of course, yes. Right away.” Jane ran to the window and rapped on it. “Excuse me, I’m sorry!” She raised her voice just loud enough to be heard in the distance. She definitely didn’t want to sound like she was yelling. “We’ve got an injured man in the waiting room. Is someone there?”

  The officer who had been manning the window took her time coming back. “What’s that?”

  “An injured man, my friend, my friend just came in and he’s hurt?”

  “Ooh-kay. Slow down, honey.” She set her forms in duplicate on her desk. “Your friend needs help?”

  Jane spotted Detective Bryce in the back. He had just come into the bull pen area and was reading some papers. “Grant! Hey, Grant!”

  The woman frowned. “Excuse me?”

  But Detective Bryce looked up and smiled. “Hey, Jane.”

  “Detective, it’s Theo! He just stumbled in!”

  Grant dropped his papers on the nearest desk. He crossed the room in two long strides and was out in the waiting area with Jane in seconds. He marched right past her to Theo.

  “Jane, go get him a glass of water.”

  Jane didn’t flinch at the demanding tone. It only made sense. When she came back from the water cooler, Grant was taking Theo’s pulse and asking him questions about what the day was and what his name was.

  “And where have you been?” Grant asked, looking at his watch.

  “In the woods.” Theo closed his eyes.

  “An ambulance is on the way, Jane,” Grant said. “We’ll take his statements at the hospital.”

  Jane nodded and got up to refill Theo’s cup, even though he didn’t seem to want it.

  Then she called Nick and Francine, leaving messages for both of them.

  She paced the room while they waited for the ambulance, and texted Jake.

  “Theo Back!”

  No answer.

  “Not Rbrt!”

  Again, no answer. She knew he was working and that the restaurant business waited for no man, but her inability to reach anyone was sending her anxiety into overdrive.

  Theo was back.

  He could tell them everything now. How he had disappeared, who was behind it, and what was in the thumb drive she had destroyed. She glanced at him again. His head was back and his eyes closed. Everyone would get answers…as soon as they could.

  The ambulance was quick, or at least it seemed so to Jane, and before she could send Jake a third text, Theo was gone.

  “Did he tell you anything at all?” Grant joined Jane at the receptionist’s window, where she had paused.

  “No.”

  He nodded thoughtfully. “He’s a mess. Dehydrated, hungry, and pretty badly injured. I tried to find out what had happened to the other guy.” Grant shrugged. “He said something about the doctor, so I figure I’ll call around to the medical centers out by Sandy. If the boys were beat and abandoned out by where his phone was left, then maybe Theo meant he had gotten Robert to a doctor near there.”

  “Makes sense.”

  Jane fiddled with the broken thumb drive. With the excitement, she had failed to fill out her proper forms and hand it over.

  “So what brought you in here?” Grant asked.

  “Ah, well…” She tossed the drive in the air and caught it. “I found this thing and thought it might be important.”

  Grant held out his hand so she could toss it to him, but she didn’t take him up on it.

  “And then I broke it. So, it seemed like the right thing to do would be to bring it here.”

  “And Theo showing up was just a coincidence?” There was a note of disbelief in Grant’s tone that made her stomach turn.

  “Yeah. I honestly can’t believe it myself.” She felt her face go red. She didn’t have anything to hide, though; that was the point of coming here. And how could she have known Theo was going to show up?

  “You had better get that turned over, then
. I have a report to go write, and some other detectives to confer with.” He frowned slightly. “How’s Gemma?”

  “Good.”

  The receptionist handed Jane the papers she needed.

  “So…”

  “She hasn’t called you back, I take it?”

  “Not recently.”

  “She’s a doula, always on call. She might be attending a birth.”

  “Ah, of course. Sure.” Grant smiled. “Okay, well, say hi, if you see her.”

  “Sure.”

  “One more thing.” Grant paused in the doorway. “This is a murder investigation. And it’s escalating, so if I were you, I’d try and lie low.”

  Jane slipped the broken thumb drive into an envelope the receptionist passed her. “I’ll do my best.”

  Grant laughed.

  Jane gritted her teeth. If she went to the hospital, would they let her see Theo? Or would it be better to hunt down her cousin and find out why she wasn’t calling her new beau back?

  Once in the car, out of the professional atmosphere of the police station, it seemed crazy to go to the hospital. First off, she wasn’t family, so the docs would never let her go see him. And if he was not checked into a room and happened to see her, well, he hated her, so it wouldn’t do any good anyway.

  She drove home instead. If Gemma had suddenly developed a distaste for the cute cop, there might be something behind it worth knowing.

  He claimed he was at the camp revival to keep an eye on the two of them, which was either a sweet gesture or a cover.

  Gemma was slumped over a bowl of cereal at the breakfast bar, watching HGTV with deeply shadowed eyes.

  “Just get up?” Jane helped herself to a cup of coffee.

  Gemma yawned.

  “Did you have a delivery last night?”

  Gemma yawned again.

  “I take that as a yes.”

  “Yes. I did. I was at the hospital until five this morning.”

  “And it’s not noon, so technically you didn’t even sleep in.”

  “I have a continuing ed class tonight.”

  “I ran into Detective Bryce today.” Jane sipped her coffee. Hot. Strong. Good.