“Wouldn’t the title company recognize that?”
“She used a different company every time, and if they ever needed to call and speak to the investor, when they dialed the number Vicki gave them, it rang through to me.”
“And Charlotte’s role in all of this?”
“From what I know, she didn’t have one. Charlotte and Vicki had their own listings and then worked as a team on homes or properties that went over the million dollar mark. Vicki made sure the homes she purchased never sold for that much so it wouldn’t raise any suspicions.”
“But Charlotte found out, didn’t she?” I said.
He moved his head up and down.
I had almost all the pieces to my puzzle, and for the first time in weeks, my thought process was clear. The phone call Audrey got from her sister saying she needed to talk to her about something had nothing to do with Parker and everything to do with Vicki. From what I knew about Charlotte she would never stand by while fraud was being committed whether they were friends or partners or not.
“I need to get something else off my chest.”
“Go on,” I said.
“Charlotte came to see me and said she knew what we had been doing and that it needed to stop. She said she wanted to give me the opportunity to turn myself in.”
“And did you?”
He shook his head.
“I was going to. I called Vicki and told her I couldn’t go through with it anymore. I wanted out.”
“Did you tell her Charlotte had been to see you?” I said.
He nodded.
“You’ve got to believe me; I didn’t know anything would happen to Charlotte at the time or I never would have said a word about it.”
“When did you tell Vicki?”
Some time passed before he produced an answer and then he said, “It was the night before Charlotte died.”
CHAPTER 57
I didn’t even make it to my car before I called Nick. It went to voicemail, and I suspected his return flight had taken off. I sent him a text and then flung the car door open and sat down and pressed the number 3 button on my phone. A female voice on the other end announced herself.
“I need to speak with Chief Sheppard,” I said.
“He’s in a meeting right now. Shall I tell him to call you when it’s over?”
“Rose, this is Sloane,” I said. “Do you know when I will be able to speak with him? It’s a matter of some urgency.”
“They’ve been at it for at least an hour already so I bet they wrap it up soon. Can someone else help you?”
For a split second it crossed my mind to talk with Coop, but then it passed.
“Please tell him to call me the second you see him,” I said.
“Sloane, you’re not in any kind of trouble are you?”
I heard a series of beeps.
“There’s a call coming in on my other line and I need to take it. Please have him call me, okay?”
I clicked over to the other line. It was Tommy.
“Where the hell is she!”
“Calm down Tommy. What happened?”
“I got out of the shower and Bridget was gone.”
So much for my advice to her to stay put.
“Did she say she was leaving? Maybe she ran a few errands.”
“Without her keys or her money and stuff. Nuh, I don’t think so. Her car is still parked out front.”
“Did anything happen between you two?” I said.
“We were uh, spending some alone time in the bedroom and stuff and then she said she was hungry so she was going to make us some lunch while I showered.”
“And did she?”
“There’s a finished sandwich on the counter and another one that’s not all put together and the music is still on.”
I found it hard to believe that she would get up and walk out sans her wallet. No woman leaves home without their lifeline. But I didn’t want to worry Tommy more than he already was.
“Let me make a few calls and see if I can find her, okay?”
I ended the call and dialed Chief Sheppard’s direct line. There was still no answer. I left a message and told him where I was headed and gave him a brief summary of the day’s events. Tommy might not know what happened to Bridget, but I did. And I wasn’t about to wait to find out.
CHAPTER 58
Vicki’s car was parked sideways in the driveway and the hood of the trunk was propped open. Dangling from the release handle was a six inch strand of hair that looked like it ripped off when it caught in the latch. The floor of the trunk was wet and a few pieces of snow remained intact. Duct tape was on the floor of the front passenger seat. Bridget was here.
I cocked my gun and sprinted toward the front door. It wasn’t closed all the way. I stepped inside and looked around and was relieved she didn’t share my affinity for small furry warning signals.
The house was silent except for the heater which sounded off with a slow hum. I cleared the entry way and front room and moved to the kitchen. An unlit candle rested on the counter next to the refrigerator. I picked it up and recognized the smell. It was the same aroma that wafted outside Charlotte’s house right before I was knocked unconscious. It was Vicki who hit me that night––it had been Vicki all along.
Aside from the candle, the only item of significance on the counter was a small container with a label that read Aconitum Napellus, or as Maddie tagged it, Monkshood. Vicki’s drug of choice. The same poison used to kill Charlotte. The cap was secured around the bottle. I hoped I wasn’t too late.
At the end of the hall a dark passageway led to the basement. I felt my way down and turned the corner into the first room. It was empty. I checked the bathroom and then headed for the other room. When I neared the door I heard a noise––it was faint but loud enough that I could make out the rhythm of someone’s voice.
“Not a sound, you hear me. Don’t make a peep!”
I held my gun out in front of me with one hand and reached for the handle of the door with the other. It was locked, but the door was cheap and hollow. I turned to the side and aligned myself with the area beneath the knob and then kicked––hard. It thrust open. There, on a chair in the corner of the room, was Bridget. She was bound to the chair with rope that Vicki had wrapped around her wrists. From the years I spent with a father who never got the sons he wanted, I could see Vicki’s skills in that department left a lot to be desired. A single piece of duct tape was stretched across Bridget’s mouth and her cheeks were stained with tears. Vicki was positioned behind Bridget and held a knife to her throat.
“Not what you planned,” I said.
She grabbed a mass of Bridget’s hair and tightened her grip on the knife.
“Stay where you are. Don’t come any closer.”
“The knife doesn’t suit you,” I said.
She slanted her head to one side.
“You think you know so much, don’t you?”
“Fake an appraisal, screw a potential client into thinking they scored a great deal on a renovated home, and you pocket a bunch of extra cash,” I said. “That about right?”
The look on her face said it all.
“And what about Parker Stanton, where did he come into play?” I said.
“What does one have to do with another?”
“Since you killed him, I would say everything,” I said. “But why change your MO? First the poison and then a gun, it doesn’t make sense.”
“I didn’t kill him, ever think of that?”
“But you did kill Charlotte,” I said.
I reached in my pocket with my free hand and pulled out the container I found in the kitchen.
“And this will prove it,” I said.
“You’ll never get the chance.”
“I won’t allow you to hurt anyone else.”
She gave me a look that said yeah, right.
“You won’t shoot me,” she said. “I bet you don’t even know how to use that thing.”
I po
pped off a warning shot about three inches from her right temple. It settled into the wall behind her. I then redirected the gun to the middle of her forehead.
“Drop the knife, kick it over to me, and step away from Bridget,” I said.
“I’m the one calling the shots here. If you don’t want me to end her life right now, you’ll toss that gun over to me.”
“That’s not going to happen,” I said. “I spoke to the chief of police on my way here. In about a minute cops will be all over this place.”
It was a white lie, but I hoped it would save Bridget’s life. Vicki didn’t look convinced.
“I don’t hear any cars outside. What do you take me for?”
“Let her go,” I said, “it doesn’t have to end like this.”
She scrunched her eyelids together until they were almost closed and glared at me.
“Charlotte. Little miss goody two shoes. She had everyone wrapped around her finger. I showed her. She wasn’t the only one who could make money.”
“Except she made it the honest way and you didn’t,” I said.
“Who cares how I earned it, I’m the one who’s still alive.”
“You had to kill your partner to get where you are, someone who was supposed to be your friend. And for what, so you could make a few bucks.”
“She wanted to leave me and work for another agency. She said it was time she branched out on her own. Can you believe that? After all I did for her, she didn’t even care.”
“Charlotte wasn’t going to another agency, she was leaving the country,” I said. “And I don’t blame her. She wanted to get away from you and from Parker and all the people she thought she could trust in her life. Both of you let her down. All she wanted at the end was to help others have a better life. But you and your greed took that away from her.”
Vicki stared at me in disbelief.
“But Jack said if I didn’t do something, she would leave and…”
“And what?” I said. “He told you to kill her?”
She opened her mouth and made a noise that reminded me of a hyena.
“Jack didn’t have a clue what was going on, he was too stupid to figure out what I was doing.”
“What then?” I said.
“His only concern was making sure Charlotte didn’t get picked up by another agency. A couple weeks ago we made a deal––if I convinced her to stay there was $10,000 in it for me. He was afraid he’d be replaced if she left. But no, Charlotte’s mind was already made up, and do you want to know something––that ungrateful bitch planned to rat me out to the board. She told me I had a week to confess or she’d do it for me.”
“So you decided to make her pay,” I said.
“You don’t get it, do you? I made a name for myself here. Once I lost my license and word got around, I’d be ruined in this town. Getting rid of Charlotte was my only choice, and I knew just how to do it. Before skiing she liked to mingle with the guests and have a glass of wine. She was too busy schmoozing with everyone to notice me come in. I was in a wig, of course. And when she got up to use the restroom, I did what I needed to do. It was so easy.”
While Vicki continued her rant, Bridget wiggled free of her wrist bands. Once they were out, she lifted up her fingers about two inches and looked me in the eye and counted to three. I took a step forward and Bridget threw her hands up and grabbed Vicki and tried to wrestle the knife out of her hands. In her attempt to secure the knife she shielded her body in front of Vicki and I couldn’t get a clear shot. Vicki raised the knife and then swung it downwards. It slashed Bridget in the side and she fell to the floor. She then angled the knife and lunged at me.
A shot went off and Vicki collapsed on the floor. She had been hit once in the chest, but there was one problem, my gun never fired. I felt a firm grip on my shoulder and I swung around to see Coop hovering over me.
“You alright?”
I wanted to respond, but I was in shock. Coop radioed for an ambulance. I knelt down over Bridget. She clenched her stomach. Blood was everywhere. Coop bent down next to me and tried to stop the bleeding.
He looked at me and said, “She’s going to be fine.”
Vicki was positioned about a foot away from Bridget. Her body was still and her eyes were closed. I reached over and placed two fingers on her neck. Coop took my hand and pulled it back.
“There’s no need for that,” he said, “she’s dead.”
CHAPTER 59
The ambulance arrived and loaded Bridget inside. I called Tommy and gave him the news. Coop talked to some guys from homicide that arrived on the scene, and when he finished he made his way over to me.
“How did you know––”
“Nick called me when he landed. Said you wouldn’t answer your phone and that you were here. And he asked me for a favor.”
“I guess I owe you one,” I said. “How much did you hear?”
“Enough to know she was responsible for the murder. Guess you were on the right track after all.”
His words were sharp, but his face displayed something different, a sense of relief maybe that I was alright. It was a side of him I hadn’t seen before.
“Wow, Coop. Did you really just say I did something right?”
“It doesn’t change anything.”
I placed my hand on his arm.
“Of course not,” I said.
CHAPTER 60
I sat in the cabana in front of the pool with my book in one hand and a cocktail in the other. It was a cool 67 degrees outside, but the rays from the sun penetrated my skin and I soaked up every moment of my hiatus from the snow.
“Life is good,” Maddie said.
“And this martini is great.”
“You said it. Makes you wonder why we waited so long,” Maddie said.
“One of us had a murder to solve.”
“And now that it’s all over, what about you and Nick?” Maddie said.
“The one thing I learned over these past few weeks is that I need to move on with my life.”
“Does that mean you need some help packing?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I said.
She gave me a look that indicated her confusion.
“Nick might need some help though,” I said.
“What brought on the change?”
“I discovered something last week that put it all into perspective,” I said. “And now I see things in a different way.”
“Do tell.”
It’s “The Secret,” I said.
She laughed.
“Oooh, sounds mysterious. What is this secret?”
“I don’t want to give it away; you have to experience it for yourself. I’ll loan you the DVD when we get back home,” I said.
She smacked me on the shoulder and then stood up.
“Well sweetie, it’s about time,” she said. “The pool is calling my name, you up for it?”
I shook my head.
“I might get in the hot tub later.”
She grabbed her towel off the chair.
“Wuss.”
Maddie took her time and went the long way around. Two guys tanned themselves in one of the adjoining pools, and I could tell by the way her hips swung back in forth in perfect symmetry that she wanted their attention. And she got it.
I dog-eared a page in my book and adjusted my chair. Sleep sounded good right about now. I had just started to drift off when my cell phone rang. The screen didn’t identify the caller. I sent it to voicemail and relaxed back into my chair. A minute later it rang again. I sent it to voicemail once more. When it rang a third time, I picked it up.
“Good afternoon, Ms. Monroe.”
The voice on the other end was a man’s and unfamiliar to me.
“Who is this?” I said.
“Look to your right.”
I glanced over my shoulder and saw a man dressed in a suit sitting at a table about ten yards from me. He was surrounded by an entourage of men who looked like bouncers at a Las Vegas nightcl
ub. He put two of his fingers together and made a gesture and they all got up in unison and went their separate ways. One of them walked in my direction and tipped his head at me when he passed. I recognized him. It was the man in black. For a moment I forgot my phone still rested on my ear.
“I would like a moment of your time,” the caller said.
He waved me over and set the phone down.
I looked for Maddie. She had been joined in the pool by her two admirers who were both eager for her attention, and she hadn’t noticed what was going on with me. I was reluctant but figured we were outside in the middle of the day amongst several groups of people. I wrapped my towel around my waist and walked over. When I got within three feet of him he rose from his chair and pulled one out for me and invited me to sit down. I did.
He leaned in to me and got close to my face, a little too close. I pulled back. He looked me up and down and then back up again and had a smile on his face that reminded me of a person who had a lot to hide. His hair was cut short and his skin was tan, but not by the sun. It looked natural, like he entered the world that way.
“There’s no need to be alarmed,” he said. “My name is Giovanni Luciana.”
He offered me his hand. I took it. He placed his other hand over mine and held it there for a moment before he let go.
“Any relation to Daniela Luciana?” I said.
“She is my sister. I believe you offered her a ride home not too long ago after she allowed herself to be placed in an unfortunate circumstance.”
“And now you’re following me?”
He crossed one leg over the other and sat back.
“I had a vested interest in your case. Congratulations, by the way.”
“Then you know Parker Stanton was not responsible for Charlotte’s death.”
He nodded.
“Parker had no involvement in the real estate scheme at all,” I said. “And yet someone saw to it that he was killed and then covered it up.”
He interlaced his fingers and rested them on the edge of the table.
“That’s quite an accusation, Ms. Monroe.”
Black Diamond Death (A Sloane Monroe Novel, Book One) Page 19
