by Misty Simon
His restaurant would open again in three days, if all went according to plan. He wanted to make sure the patrons could eat without being afraid they would soon be on the menu.
Which I thought was ridiculous, since one of the staff had been fricasseed, not a diner. Personally, I would be more concerned if I were a waiter than if I were someone with a reservation for two. Then again that was just me. I would risk almost anything to have Jerry feed me.
Only not in my kitchen again. He was such a bully there, along with a complete and utter perfectionist. But on the bright side, I was eating fancier vegetables and even knew what ginger root looked like. Yay!
But back to the matter at hand. At this point, we had gone back over to Penny’s house and had to be taken on the tour of her new living room suite and dining set. I had to draw the line when she wanted to show Ben her bed. For a grieving almost-widow, she was a little more indiscreet than I thought she should have been. Then again, I had heard different people dealt with the loss of a supposed loved one differently.
Which was the case when we went back and talked to Aaron’s brother, Mark. He seemed really torn up inside, and couldn’t seem to stop leaking a tear every once in a while. I couldn’t get why out of him, though, so we moved on to the next person.
That would be the lovely Mr. Winnet, who finally had something for me. Something that changed the entire landscape of what we were looking for.
Chapter Twenty-One
“Now wait a minute,” I said, still trying to get my mind around what Mr. Winnet was telling us in the privacy of his office. “Are you trying to say Aaron had no money at all?”
“I’m not trying to say anything, my dear Ivy, I am saying it.” Mr. Winnet leafed through a few sheets of paper in front of him, then put his finger on a column of numbers. “In fact, his almost-widow, as you called her, is going to have a hard time making her furniture payments and paying for his funeral. He had nothing.”
I sat back in my chair, stunned beyond belief. How could the man have no money? How was he strutting around supposedly waving it in the air for everyone to see, promising to take his fiancée on an exotic honeymoon, letting her re-do the whole house, and planning on supporting his pregnant mistress, when he had no money?
“Did he ever have money to begin with?” Ben asked the very astute question, so I squeezed his leg to let him know how much I approved the way his mind was working. I might have accidentally reached over a little farther than I had intended and goosed him. Then again, that might have been my intention all along. You never knew with me.
“He did not inherit anything, really, other than debts. I can’t show you the actual amounts, as the information I’m sharing with you now might be a little more than the other attorney told me was allowed.”
“We won’t tell a soul.” I winked at him and he winked back. I heart Mr. Winnet.
“But it appears there were many debts incurred with this settlement, and the very real threat of several lawsuits from the deceased’s living children. They had been written out of the will and thought, as Aaron and Heather had thought, there was quite a bit of money and property to be had once the uncle died. But it turned out most of the liquid capital went to paying off the property taxes the man had neglected to pay. The rest went to several loans he had taken out right before his death. Which left him with about three hundred dollars, and a set of golf clubs he asked to be buried with.”
Well, that sucked for everyone involved. I wondered if I should go question the deceased’s children, but Mr. Winnet answered the question before I could ask.
“Before you go, in classic Ivy fashion”—he winked at me again—“and hightail it after these two grown children, I want to let you know I did a little snooping of my own through the lawyer. Neither of them lacks an alibi for the entire time surrounding Aaron’s murder. They both have been in Ireland with their families at some Irish family gathering and tournament reenactment for the last three weeks. So there is no way they could have done this, and really no reason for a murder when they wouldn’t benefit at all.” He looked very satisfied with himself.
And I was very satisfied with him, too. I looked over at Ben, who was smiling a very evil smile.
“Does Heather know there was no money?”
I didn’t know where he was going with the question, but the look on his face was so sly, I wanted to eat him alive.
“I don’t think so. The information came in right before Aaron was murdered. The attorney hasn’t been in contact with Heather, since he doesn’t yet know the true state of the estate’s affairs or how things will go now that the main beneficiary is gone.”
“What are you thinking?” I asked, watching Ben rub his hands together in apparent glee. All he had to do was start twisting the ends of his imaginary mustache and I would be afraid he wanted to tie me to the train tracks.
“What on earth is going on in your devious little brain?” You would have thought those words came out of my mouth, but it was Mr. Winnet who said them. He added, “And how can I help?”
Great. I had gotten rid of one old man when my dad fled the scene, but now I got another one instead. This one might not be as biddable as my dad.
Then again, Mr. Winnet had helped before. It might have been on the sidelines, but I wasn’t going to be the one to tell him No when he had just helped us.
Ben began in hushed tones and ended triumphantly. I’ll let the plan unfold for you as we executed it. But I will say that, at the end, I wasn’t sure if he was very, very brilliant, or if I should have called the men with the white coats.
****
“Are you sure she’s going to be here?” I asked from my hiding place in the back of Ben’s Explorer. I had a blanket over my head and dark clothes on. My legs were cramping from the way I was crouched, and my stomach wasn’t faring much better. I really hoped I wouldn’t have the urge to pee in the middle of our sting operation. Yes, that was what Mr. Winnet wanted to call it. Since his information had set us on the right path, Ben was being indulgent.
Speaking of our newest operative, he had set up the meeting with Heather since he had phone numbers even Ben didn’t have, and a list of relatives where she might have gone. Mr. Winnet hit the jackpot on the second cousin he called. Asking Heather to meet him tonight to discuss some new information that had come to light was easy once he got hold of her.
She had been very eager, and now she was going to be very caught. She might not have murdered Aaron, but she had some things to hide, and I wanted to know what they were.
I had wondered where she slept after she left our house. Now I knew—apparently in the slightly more rundown section of town. If we had train tracks, I would have said this area was way on the wrong side. I didn’t know if she even had a door to leave unlocked, per her invitation to Ben.
In a total cliché come to vivid life, rusted cars sat on blocks in front yards consisting mainly of weeds. I actually saw an old washing machine as a lawn decoration before I had to duck down about five minutes ago.
I had to say I had one thing going for me. Ben had agreed to keep the car on, and the heater along with it. At least I wasn’t freezing. I had yet to completely acclimate myself from California to Virginia, but I had two less layers on this year than I had when I first arrived. I counted that as progress and was happy enough.
My thoughts about the weather were quickly cut off when Mr. Winnet’s knock was answered. He had ridden in the front seat, agreeing to go to the door of the trailer to see if he could draw Heather out. So far he looked like he was doing A-okay.
At least he had until he fell down in the doorway and Heather came streaking out over him. From this distance I couldn’t tell if she had hit him with her body or if she had used something more direct, but Ben was out of the car like a shot, yelling over his shoulder for me to check on the lawyer who had only wanted to be a part of things.
I popped out of the back of the car, hampered for a moment by the stiffness in my legs. Stumbling, I too
k a moment to steady myself on the fender before I took off at a trot to see how Mr. Winnet was doing. On the way I thought about calling the police, but I wanted a firmer handle on what the problem was before I made any calls. Mr. Winnet could have simply fainted, and then how stupid would I feel?
His eyelids were fluttering when I finally reached him. I checked for a strong pulse before calling out “Hello” into the rest of the small house. I didn’t see anyone at first, but then there was a skinny man huddled behind the couch.
Patting Mr. Winnet’s hand and promising him I’d come back in a moment, I went to the young man, approaching very slowly and talking softly.
“My name is Ivy. Who are you? Are you hurt? I’d like to help if I could.”
He skittered back farther into the corner behind the sofa when I moved within five feet of him. I stopped right away, not wanting him to get aggressive if I came too close. He didn’t look hurt, just scared. I certainly didn’t want to make it worse for him.
“Are you going to hurt my cousin?”
“No,” I said trying to infuse as much confidence in the one word without sounding like I was talking down to him.
He didn’t look to be more than nineteen or twenty. I wasn’t that much older, but I felt it on a night like tonight.
“What’s going on?” he asked in a small voice.
“I’m not sure.” That wasn’t entirely true, but it was close. I really didn’t know what the hell was going on, but I sure hoped Ben was okay out there with that psycho woman.
“Why not?”
“Again, I don’t know.” I looked back at Mr. Winnet, who was starting to stir. “Can I bring this man into the house? I don’t think he should stay out there if he’s hurt. Did Heather hit him?”
“No, she didn’t hit him. He saw her, then held onto his heart and stumbled back and fell. She didn’t do anything.”
“Okay, okay.” I wanted to soothe him, not agitate him further. “But is it okay to bring him in? I should probably call the police, too, and maybe an ambulance. You said he clutched his chest?”
Now that we were talking like normal people and the boy/man obviously trusted I wasn’t going to hurt him, he had come out from the corner and stood to his full height. He was a good-looking kid at about six feet tall, but very skinny. I didn’t know how, family-wise, he was Heather’s cousin. Maybe he didn’t eat as well as she did.
He disabused me of the notion he wasn’t strong when he lifted Mr. Winnet by himself, placing the older man on the couch. Not to be a snob or anything, but I was very happy to see the couch was clean. In fact, the whole house looked clean. I had no way of knowing if Heather had done the tidying since she had been hiding out, but I didn’t think so.
“What’s your name?” I asked, because I continued to think of him as the guy, or the kid, and I work much better with first names.
“Derrick.”
“Well, Derrick, do you have a phone out here? Do you get cell reception?” I didn’t have much hope on the last part. There were many areas in the woods where you couldn’t get a signal even if you hung upside down in a tree and twisted to the north with your free arm out like an antenna. I should know; I’d tried.
But he had a landline phone, he said in a low voice, then pointed me to it as he watched over Mr. Winnet.
When I came back from making a few phone calls, all short, and all with my eye on the kid—I mean, Derrick—I found a warm afghan covering the older man. It was tucked up underneath his chin.
“Do you have any idea where Heather would have run to?” I chose a chair in the corner of the room where I could keep an eye on the door and the occupants of the house. I didn’t want to be caught off guard.
“I don’t know. She seemed skittish when she came over last night. I didn’t even know she knew where I lived, so I was pretty surprised to see her.”
“I bet. Did she tell you why she’d come?”
He took a seat in the other chair with his back to the door, completely trusting me. “Not really. She simply showed up, told me she needed somewhere to rest for a few days, then pretty much took over the whole place. You should see the extra bedroom. It’s filled with clothes scattered all over the floor and any other available space.” He shook his head, and I felt for him.
I was also very happy she hadn’t spent the night with us. I would have gone bat shit crazy if she had done her clothes bomb to my home.
Derrick and I were saved from making more small talk when Ben came into the house, Heather in hand. The kid stood up looking ready to defend her, but Heather waved him off.
“It’s my fault anyway, Derrick. Don’t try to defend me.” But she looked at me, appearing ready to rearrange my face.
I couldn’t help but smile at her a little. Bring it on, you little hussy, I thought.
But she didn’t.
“Ivy.” Even her voice was far more tempered than I thought it would be. Good for her and her restraint.
I didn’t know if I was going to be as nice.
“Heather.” I nodded to her, then Ben smiled at me. Why did I have to feel like a good little girl when he praised me like that? Yeesh!
Heather took a seat on one of the metal chairs surrounding a small wooden table in the dining room section of the house. She crossed her legs, dangling her shoe off the tip of her foot, as if she didn’t have a care in the world.
Mr. Winnet made a noise on the couch, distracting me from Heather. I hoped Ben was keeping an eye on the vixen, because I had more important things to do.
“Are you okay, Mr. Winnet? Do you need a glass of water or something?”
He looked up at me and smiled. Either he was loopy, or he hadn’t hurt himself, in which case he might not be too happy that I had called an ambulance for him. He must have seen the way my face fell because he said, “Oh, Ivy, you didn’t make a great big fuss about me, did you?”
I laughed sheepishly. “I’m afraid I did.”
“Ah, well, I suppose you can call them to cancel. They probably haven’t even left yet.” He winked at me, and I figured it was all going to be all right. Thank goodness that for once things turned out okay.
Ten minutes later I had the calls out of the way and the ambulance canceled. I was very happy to have caught them in time and saved some of Mr. Winnet’s moola.
Heather had been talking while I was making my calls, so I only caught some of the conversation, some of the explanations. I was vacillating (good word!) between making her repeat herself and waiting to ask Ben for a recap when Bella came bursting through the door.
“I didn’t call her!” I yelled before anyone could accuse me as she went for Heather with a vengeance.
Chapter Twenty-Two
I rode home with Bella, since Ben had Mr. Winnet, Heather, and Derrick in his car. My best friend was still steaming, especially because once she heard what Heather had to say, she had no grounds to be uber-bitch anymore.
“You knew you weren’t going to go after her, anyway. You said as much at the diner when you admitted it could have been Jackie. So what was the deal?”
“I had nothing else to do this evening and thought it would be fun to mess with Heather.”
I nudged her with my elbow. Perhaps a smidge too hard, since she almost went off the road. “Sorry.”
“No, that’s okay. I should have been ready for it.” She laughed, and I couldn’t help but laugh with her.
I was so happy I had found Bella last year. Having someone who understood me, a woman I could tell all my secrets to, had been truly lacking in my life. But I’d never noticed it, not really, until I had Bella.
We chatted the rest of the way to my house. I told her about the puking and the moody swings. We laughed about poor Ben having to put up with me.
But then she stopped abruptly in the middle of the road. Thank goodness there wasn’t any traffic on these backwoods areas, or we would have so gotten creamed.
“What? Is there a possum in the road or something?” No kidding, people had
swerved off the road for less.
“Um, no. No possum.”
I smiled at her. “Then why are we still sitting here?”
“A thought just occurred to me.” She tapped her long fingers on the steering wheel.
“Okay. And you can’t talk and drive at the same time? That’s completely unlike you. How boring would our road trips be if there was no talking the whole way?” I was still smiling, having no clue what she was about to say.
“Honey, have you considered the thought you might be pregnant?”
My breath backed up in my chest.
“I…wha…but…just…um…nargh.”
“Yeah, that would be pretty exciting.” She bounced in her seat like a child on Christmas morning. “Think about what beautiful babies you’ll make with Ben. Oh, my God, they’ll be so lovely and snuggly and cuddly. I’m so jealous!” Now she was the one hitting me in the arm. “Jared and I have been trying for months, and here you are, Fertile Myrtle, pregnant totally by accident. Woo-hoo!” she screamed in my ear when she reached over and pulled me into a bear hug. Unfortunately, she must have lifted her foot off the brake, because she stalled the car.
And then we were both laughing and hugging, until I started bawling my eyes out.
Oh, my God!
My dad was going to kill me!
I told Bella as much, making her laugh even harder.
When she’d finished with a pretty impressive snort, she said, “Um, should we go get a test? And what are you going to tell Ben?”
Oh. That was a little sobering.
“Yes, on the test, but can you get it for me? And as far as Ben, I think I’ll have to think about it.” She gave me a sympathetic pat on the shoulder as I swallowed hard. What was I going to tell Ben? I hadn’t even convinced myself I wanted to get married right now. Hell, I was just settling in to sharing a house, and now we would be sharing a child. I started hyperventilating.
