As Jake pulled into the Winstons’ driveway, I stared at the brick McMansion. It had to be over five thousand square feet. The front was a bit underwhelming, but from the glimpse I’d gotten from the road, the back of the house was the real showstopper.
After Jake helped me down from the truck, I looked around. We were facing the four-car garage, and I nodded at it. “I know the chief said that Gabriella’s car was still here, but did he indicate whether the Winstons had any other vehicles, and, if so, were they AWOL?”
“Not that I recall.” Jake frowned. “I’ll have to check, but my guess is that if one were missing, Kincaid would have mentioned it.”
“Well, we don’t have taxis or bus service in Shadow Bend, so if Gabriella is in hiding, someone picked her up.” I trailed Jake up the cobblestone walkway. The leaves of the surrounding trees rustled loudly, and I could hear the faint barking of a dog somewhere across the street. “The chief said that none of the neighbors saw anything, right?”
“Yep. With lots this big and the way the landscaping is designed for privacy, I wouldn’t necessarily expect any witnesses.” Jake glanced around. “But I’m surprised there’re no security cameras.”
“People who move to small towns want to believe they’re safe and don’t need surveillance equipment.” I waited while Jake inserted the key in the door. “Some of the customers in my store who are new to the area brag about not even locking up anymore.”
“Terrific,” Jake grunted. “Why don’t they just put a ROB ME sign in the front yard?”
I chuckled, then as Jake and I walked into the house, I gulped. “Wow!”
From the small entryway I could see down a hallway that ended in floor-to-ceiling windows. Even with the overcast weather, the gorgeous patio and in-ground pool were inviting, and the open concept made the already spacious interior feel enormous.
As an investment consultant, I had often visited clients who lived like this. But it had been quite a while, and I’d forgotten the luxury in which the truly wealthy surrounded themselves.
A little voice in my head whispered temptingly that if I married Noah, I could live like this, too. Noah would build me the house of my dreams, fill it with anything I desired, and be happy to do it.
Shoving that avaricious thought out of my head, I followed Jake through the corridor and turned left into a combination of dining area, kitchen, and family room. It appeared that someone, probably the same housekeeping service the Winstons regularly employed, had cleaned up the chaos we’d seen in the crime scene photos, as well as any mess the forensic techs had created.
Stepping farther into the space, I was surprised that there were no family pictures or keepsakes on display. There were paintings and artwork, but no trophies or memorabilia of any kind.
And although on either side of the towering stacked stone fireplace there was a pair of built-in shelves containing objet d’art, there wasn’t a single book anywhere. Heck! I didn’t even see a magazine. Didn’t these people read at all?
I made a mental note to check for an e-reader or tablet, then explored the kitchen and found the door leading outside. This was the exit that the purported kidnapper had used to remove Gabriella from the house. As I turned the knob and pushed, I winced at the loud creaking noise. Either the Winstons didn’t use this door much or didn’t care that it sounded like the lid of Dracula’s casket opening.
After noting that there was a sidewalk lined with motion sensor lights that went toward the back of the house, I turned to Jake, who was pacing off the area, and said, “Is it okay if I look around the rest of the place? I need to get a picture in my head.”
“Sure.” Jake tore off a few sheets for himself, then handed me his legal pad and said, “Draw the floor plan and note anything that strikes you as odd.”
Leaving Jake examining the scene of the crime, I crossed over to the other side of the house. The formal living room was painted Tiffany blue and decorated in gray and white, with an ornate crystal chandelier hanging from the high ceiling. It seemed more like a furniture showroom than a space that was ever used.
I made a rough sketch and moved on to the master suite. It took up the remaining area on this side of downstairs and was accessed through a short hallway.
A massive bathroom was on my left as I walked down the corridor, and a walk-in closet that was stuffed to the gills was on my right. Sticking my head inside the closet, I could understand why Elliot had no way of knowing if any of Gabriella’s massive wardrobe was missing. A few items wouldn’t leave much of a gap among the closely packed hangers or in the stuffed-to-the-gills built-in drawers.
The color scheme of gray, white, and blue continued from the living room, but the bedroom was definitely not for display purposes only. The king-size mattress resting on a sleek platform was unmade, women’s clothes were tossed on a white leather and chrome chaise lounge, and the floor was littered with discarded shoes.
I wrinkled my brow. There was something off here. What was it? I wandered over to the dressing table. The top was covered with expensive brands of makeup, perfume, and lotion. And a heavy silver frame held a photo of a beautiful ebony-haired woman with big cornflower blue eyes. She was sitting on a thronelike chair, wearing a satisfied smile.
Hmm. I recognized Gabriella from the picture Elliot had given to Jake. Picking up the photograph, I examined it, looking for a clue as to the missing woman’s personality. Diamonds dripped from her ears, throat, and wrists. Gabriella could support an impoverished village for a year with what she’d paid for the dress and jewelry alone. Throw in the shoes, and she could add reopening Shadow Bend’s library to her charitable endeavors.
Still, that wasn’t what was bothering me. I walked over to the bed. Only one pillow bore the imprint of a head. The other was perfectly fluffed and smooth. Opening the drawers of the armoire, I saw only women’s clothing, and the same had been true for the closet. In fact, there was no evidence that Elliot Winston ever set foot in this room.
As I pondered that little fact, I noticed a door. Another closet? Opening it, I walked into an adjoining bedroom. This one was as masculine as the other was feminine. It was decorated in leather and wood, and although not as large as the master, still a good size. As was its connecting bathroom.
A quick check of the walk-in closet and chest of drawers, and I was convinced that this was where Elliot laid his weary head while his wife occupied the master suite all alone.
Moving on to the second floor, I discovered four more bedrooms. Two obviously belonged to the sons, and here I found the snapshots, keepsakes, and books lacking in the rest of the house.
The third bedroom was clearly for guests, and the remaining one was being used as an office. Unfortunately for my inner snoop, there was nothing lying around, all the drawers in the desk and file cabinet were locked, and there was no laptop or tablet present.
Downstairs, I located the laundry room, which opened onto the garage. Peeking into the cavernous space, I noted that only one vehicle was parked there, along with a snowmobile, a Jet Ski, and an ATV.
The laundry room contained the usual appliances, a quartz counter with a sink, and a wall of built-in cabinets. Everything was immaculate, and I recalled that Chief Kincaid had said that the cleaning crew had been through the house Saturday afternoon. From the state of her room, Gabriella must have tried on several outfits, then taken a nap after the housekeeping service departed. Either that or the cleaners weren’t allowed in the master suite for some reason.
As I made my way back through the hallway, I inhaled deeply. The only scent was the lemony odor of furniture wax. There wasn’t a single hint of food or a pet or anything personal in the air.
Having learned only that Gabriella and Elliot Winston had separate bedrooms and that their housekeeping service did an excellent job, I went in search of Jake. He wasn’t where I had left him, but the open kitchen door provided a clue as to his whe
reabouts.
I found him in the backyard, his shoulders hunched against the wind, speaking into his cell phone. “So there were no missing vehicles.” He paused to listen, then asked, “How about credit cards?” He nodded and said, “No? Okay. Have the companies alert you if there’s any new activity, and let me know if anyone contacts you.”
When Jake disconnected, I guessed: “Elliot Winston?”
“Uh-huh.” Jake scanned the area, a frown marring his handsome face. “You almost couldn’t pick a better setup to snatch someone.” He gestured to either side of the property. “Gabriella could have been taken out through the woods, or if the guy could maneuver her across the street and had a boat available, he’d have her trapped.” Jake scratched his jaw and narrowed his eyes. “All the kidnapper needed was to have a car waiting at another location, and he’d be home free.”
“Yeah.” I nodded toward the golf course. “I suppose a struggling or unconscious woman in a cart would draw too much attention.”
“Unless she just appeared drunk.” Jake shrugged. “Plus, we’re still not exactly sure when the abduction took place. If it was Saturday night after Winston left, no one would have been on the golf course to notice, but if it was Sunday morning before he got home, the course would have been crowded with golfers.”
“There was a party at the country club Saturday evening, and no one mentioned seeing anything odd that night,” I said, not adding that I had attended the dinner dance with Noah. “So the golf course might still have been risky if she was taken on Saturday. The kidnapper would have had to have left his getaway car in the parking lot and been willing to take the chance that someone might see him stuffing her into it.”
“Good point.”
Jake shot me a look that said he was well aware of how I had acquired my insider knowledge of the party, and why I had left that tidbit out. It wasn’t as if I were attempting to hide that I had gone out with Noah, I just tried not to rub either guy’s nose in the fact that I dated both of them. Something that I needed to stop doing soon.
I glanced at my watch. It was eleven thirty, and the dime store opened at noon. I either had to call my dad into work or get back there myself.
“What’s your next move?” I asked, trying to schedule the rest of my day.
“Let’s head to the office,” Jake said. “Meet me in the driveway. I have to lock the doors and leave the key on the counter.”
I nodded and walked around the house. The wind had turned colder, and a few raindrops fell on my face.
A couple of seconds later, Jake hurried out the front door, aiming his key fob at the truck. He helped me into the cab, wiped the moisture from my cheek, and gave me a sweet kiss before jogging around the hood and sliding behind the wheel.
As he reversed out of the driveway, he said, “I need to start phoning nearby motels and restaurants. If Gabriella Winston is hiding out, she doesn’t have identification or credit cards, so she probably wasn’t able to go too far, and she has to eat.”
“Unless she had help,” I reminded him. “She’s a gorgeous woman, and about the only interesting fact that I came up with when I searched the house was that the Winstons don’t appear to sleep together.”
“Can you ask around and find out if there’s any talk of an affair?” Jake stepped on the gas, then added, “For either of the Winstons.”
“Sure.” I belatedly buckled my seat belt. “After that scene at the police station, I need to check on Poppy anyway. I’ll call Boone and arrange to meet them both for a drink after I close the store. If anyone would have heard any rumors, it would be the two of them. Boone keeps on top of things like that, and Poppy didn’t name her bar Gossip Central for nothing.”
Boone was my other BFF and one of three lawyers in Shadow Bend. Poppy owned the most popular hangout in the county, and she made sure that if there was any juicy scandal around, she was the first to know. Not only did she have the local grapevine, she had also bugged the booths in her club.
“You know”—Jake entwined his fingers with mine—“I’m really glad I got a PI license. It feels good to be on a case again, but the best part is spending time with you.” He brushed his lips over my knuckles. “And I love that I can pop downstairs and we can have a quick lunch together, or at the end of the day we can grab a bite to eat before going home.”
“Me, too,” I whispered. The more I saw Jake, the more I realized how much I liked him as well as lusted after him. “It’s great that Meg and your uncle don’t seem to need you as much as before.”
“It is a relief.” Jake blew out a long breath. He was silent for a moment, then asked, “Hey, did I tell you that Meg got a job?”
“Isn’t she still a marshal?” I asked, forcing myself not to frown.
I wasn’t happy to hear that Jake’s ex was settling in Shadow Bend. I had thought her stay here would be temporary. Just until she was completely recovered from the trauma of being held by a serial killer.
“She says she needs something to do until she’s strong enough to go back to the service.” Jake glanced at me, a crease of worry in between his eyes. “Does it bother you she’s staying in town?”
“Not at all,” I lied, then pasted a smile on my face and asked, “Where’s she working?”
Jake’s wicked grin reminded me a lot of my grandmother’s cat Banshee right after the nasty feline had destroyed the last remaining set of La Perla underwear that I owned. After I kissed my days of earning a six-figure salary as a financial consultant good-bye, I shopped for my undies at Target rather than Nordstrom.
“You’ll never guess,” Jake drawled.
“Brewfully Yours or the bakery?”
“Nope and nope.”
“Little’s Tea Room?”
“Uh-uh.” He shook his head, his eyes twinkling.
“I’m stumped.”
I was pretty sure if she was working for one of my friends, they would have given me a heads-up, which eliminated the local B & B, Gossip Central, and Forever Used, the upscale consignment shop.
“Underwood’s clinic.” Jake’s smile was toothy. “She’s Dr. Dweeb’s new receptionist.”
“Oh.” I kept my expression only mildly interested. “That’s great.”
I wasn’t sure how I felt about Meg working for Noah. On one hand, since the two men disliked each other, it would keep her far away from Jake. On the other hand, I didn’t trust her and figured she had to have some reason for taking a job with the other guy I was dating. I just couldn’t figure out what.
However, what worried me even more was that I had to wonder why Noah hadn’t told me about his new employee. Not that he was required to clear his hiring choices with me, but a warning would have been nice.
Was this another instance of the distance I felt he kept between us? He was open about his physical desires, but his emotions were often as tightly sealed as a Ziploc bag.
CHAPTER 5
Puddles shimmered on the blacktop in the noon brightness as Noah Underwood drove to work. It had been cloudy all morning, but after a brief shower the sun had finally come out. The TV meteorologist had promised that it would start to climb back into the sixties, and the afternoon was supposed to be one of the beautiful autumn days that made this part of Missouri famous.
Noah certainly hoped so. The recent temperature swings and unusual pressure fronts that had moved through the area the past month had been hard on everyone’s health. And since he and his staff at the Underwood Clinic were the ones who had to deal with the illnesses that it brought, the weather had been especially tough on them.
Although Noah had always wanted to be a small-town doctor, he hadn’t fully understood the reality of the profession until his practice had been in business for a while. After completing a combined B.A. and M.D., he’d done a three-year residency in family medicine, then returned to Shadow Bend and opened the Underwood Clinic. It had just celeb
rated its fourth birthday in September.
One of the factors that compensated Noah for the intense days and administrative hassles was his five-minute trip to work. When Dev talked about her old job and driving an hour or more into Kansas City every day, he was truly grateful that he’d never had to make that kind of commute. He’d probably have ended up shooting someone, and that wouldn’t do his kindly doctor image any good.
After easing his taiga green Jaguar into a parking spot in the employee lot, he let himself in the building’s rear entrance. It was twelve fifty when he entered the clinic, and as he walked to his office, he could hear the voice of his head nurse, Eunice Vogel, coming from the check-in desk. Her words were indistinguishable, but her tone made it clear that she was upset.
Eunice’s daughter Madison had been his receptionist since he’d opened his practice, but she’d recently eloped with her high school sweetheart. Her new husband was a corporal in the army and stationed in Fort Benning, so she now lived in Columbus, Georgia.
Noah was still a bit perturbed that Madison hadn’t given him any notice before quitting and moving away, but Eunice was livid that she been deprived of throwing a big, fancy wedding for her daughter. The temporary receptionists they’d had filling in until they could hire someone for the full-time position had all quit after a few weeks working with Eunice. Not that he’d been sorry to see them go. None of them had been able to figure out the patient scheduling software. Had Elexus found someone new?
Elexus Rodriguez, the newly minted physician Noah had recently lured into a partnership, had volunteered to take on some of the administrative responsibilities. Monday through Saturday she and Noah alternated covering the two shifts—seven a.m. to one p.m. and one p.m. to six p.m., although when the place was really busy, their shifts often overlapped. But with the clinic closed on Sunday, at least they both had the day off.
Lions and Tigers and Murder, Oh My Page 4
