“Sarah Woods, and this has to do with his brother’s death.”
“Oh, well, I could connect you to his office number and you can leave a message. He’s taken some time off the past few days, but I’m sure he checks in from time to time to get his messages.”
“Okay, well, thanks anyway.” I ended the call.
Next step, I did a search online to find the number to the Tiber Hotel where he was staying in Rome. I called the front desk and they connected me to his room but he didn’t answer. I figured he must be out seeing the sites, so I left a message. “Hi Calvin, this is Sarah Woods. Look, we need to talk. I found your brother’s cell phone and something has come to light. We’re heading to Rome right now to see you.” I left him my cell phone number and ended the call.
“Ready to go?” Carter had the engine wire in one hand, and the keys in the other.”
Jamie and Lauren seemed to be brimming with anticipation. “Can we go with you guys?”
I deferred to Carter. “It’s up to you.”
He made a sweeping hand gesture for them to follow us. “Sure, why not.”
Chapter 20
Carter drove like a maniac. Good thing he blended right in with all the other Italian drivers, or else he might have been pulled over and arrested - and I thought Boston drivers were bad!
In the back seat, Lauren and Jamie remained quiet. Probably silently praying that they’d survive the trip.
“Don’t worry,” I told them. “Carter is an excellent driver.”
They didn’t seem convinced.
Even with the GPS, we got lost in the city. Too many detours and one way streets. Cabs and double decker tourist buses wove in and out of traffic, horns blared and pedestrians were everywhere, darting across the streets like they had a death wish. It was by pure luck that we found the hotel. Carter pulled up and offered the valet his keys. We all breathed a sigh of relief.
The lobby boasted life-sized sculptures and fountains and it looked more like a museum than a hotel. “Must cost a fortune to stay here,” I said.
Lauren hobbled along, trying her best to keep up with us. “How are we going to find out which room he’s in?”
Carter pointed to the check-in desk. “Stay here, I’m going to explain the situation to the woman. Maybe she’ll give me his room number.”
“Good luck,” I said.
The sisters needed to use the restroom, so they took off in search of one. I offered to stay and keep an eye out for Calvin. I checked my phone to see if he’d called back. Nothing.
When Carter joined me, he said the woman at the reception desk called Calvin’s room but there was no answer. She wouldn’t offer Calvin’s room number as we had suspected.
“He’s out exploring the city,” he said. “You don’t come to Rome to stay in the hotel room.”
“So what now?” I asked. “We just wait here in the lobby for Calvin to show up?”
“Can you think of a better idea?”
When the sisters returned, we all agreed to plant ourselves in front of the elevators and wait. The prospect of spending all day inside the lobby was depressing. “We should be outside, visiting the sites,” I said. “When Calvin gets back, he’ll check his messages and call me. No need to wait around.”
“I suppose you’re right,” he said. “We could be waiting till dark. What should we do first?”
“I think the coliseum is close by.” I brought up a map of Rome’s attractions on my phone and estimated the walking distance from the hotel. “About a ten minute walk. Lauren, do you think you can do it with your foot?”
“It’s much better today,” she said. “I’ll cope.”
We exited the doors, took a right and merged into a crowd of people who all seemed to be speaking German. Carter grasped my hand and reminded the sisters to stay close to us. This city could swallow you up.
I breathed deeply, taking in the smells, the sites and the sounds of the busy streets. We passed numerous cafés, shops, street vendors, all vying for our business. We ignored them, continuing on our mission to see one of the city’s most spectacular structures. When the coliseum finally came into view, Carter squeezed my hand. “Wow, I guess I wasn’t expecting it to be so huge.”
It’s nearly impossible to describe in words or pictures. To appreciate the grandeur of this ancient wonder, it has to be seen with your own eyes and I was blown away.
Jamie and Lauren started taking pictures with their smart phones. “The queue to buy tickets looks pretty long,” Jamie said. “We should get in line.”
“Good idea,” Carter said. “Let’s do it.”
We took our place at the back of the line, behind a group of college age kids speaking Greek. The couple who got in behind us began speaking in Chinese. How awesome it was to be in a city where people come from all over the world to appreciate art, history and everything this place has to offer.
After a few minutes in line, I began scanning the crowd in line ahead of us, just enjoying the old pastime of people watching. Might as well, since we had a long time to wait.
My eye was drawn to one couple in particular. They were holding hands, and by the way they leaned against each other, I could tell they must be in love. I could only see them from behind but, for some reason, there was a familiarity about them, which seemed silly. When the man turned his head and I saw his profile, however, a little firecracker went off in my brain - Calvin - but that didn’t make sense. Who was that woman? Had they just met? Calvin had never mentioned he had a wife or girlfriend who was going to meet him on this trip.
But when his girlfriend turned her head to kiss him, I had to catch my breath. I squeezed Carter’s hand. “Look up ahead in line,” I said. “About ten people in front of us. See the couple holding hands?”
He squinted, craning his neck to get a better look. “Is that who I think it is?”
“Yes. I believe so. What are we going to do?”
Carter looked directly behind us where Jamie and Lauren were chatting quietly. They looked up at him, sensing his unease. “What’s wrong?” Jamie asked.
“I think we may have to step out of line.”
“Why?”
Carter inclined his head toward the couple ahead of us. “Calvin is here, with someone. I have a feeling this is going to be an awkward scene.”
The sisters didn’t seem to quite understand what he meant by that but they followed us anyway.
Carter tapped Calvin’s shoulder. When he and Brittany turned around to face us, their smiles evaporated. They both stood perfectly still, like ice statues, not even blinking.
I could hear Jamie and Lauren gasp. “We took you to the airport. You’re supposed to be on a plane right now.”
Brittany swallowed hard. “I… I can explain.”
Jamie didn’t seem to be in a mood for talking. She was, however, in a mood for shouting. “You lying sack of shit!”
In a split second, before any of us could react, Calvin and Brittany made a sharp U-turn and dashed through the crowd of people, almost knocking over a little old lady.
Jamie was the first to take off after them, followed by her sister who seemed to have forgotten all about her bum foot.
“Here we go,” I said to Carter. “It’s a good thing I decided to wear my sneakers.”
Chapter 21
Running on uneven cobblestone streets in downtown Rome is quite a challenge, especially when the sidewalks are packed with dawdling tourists, most of them carrying extra large shopping bags.
“Can you see them?” I yelled to Carter.
A few feet in front of me, trying to navigate the crowd, he yelled back. “Yeah, they’re just up ahead. Don’t lose me, okay?”
Never again will I doubt Carter’s athletic abilities. How could he run faster than me? I was the runner in this relationship.
Once I caught up to him, he grabbed my hand and pulled me with him onto a side street which turned out to be more like an alley. I spotted Calvin and Brittany running for their lives,
the sisters gaining on them.
People were shouting at us in Italian, probably urging us to slow down before we hurt someone.
When Carter and I approached the end of the alley, we took a left and continued the chase. This street was basically deserted, and it reeked. Calvin—in order to slow our progress—was dumping over garbage cans and leaving a wake of trash. The alley, now littered with dirty diapers and rotting food, did little to slow the sisters down.
Further down the alley, I could see a tall gate, at least ten feet high. Soon, they’d be trapped unless they somehow found a pole to catapult themselves over.
Brittany, I could tell, was losing steam. Calvin urged her to keep up with him.
Then I heard a crashing noise, and a string of cuss words followed. Brittany had fallen hard, probably tripped up by a loose cobblestone.
Finally, this provided an opportunity for Carter and me to catch up and, when we did, Lauren and Jamie seemed to have the situation under control.
Brittany was lying flat on her back, her leg twisted unnaturally underneath her. At first glance, I could tell she wouldn’t be walking anytime soon. By the painful expression on her sweaty face, she probably knew it too. Jamie was kneeling next to her, panting hard, like she was about to start hyperventilating.
Lauren had jumped on Calvin’s back, putting him into a choke hold. He flailed around, trying to shake her off, but she held on tight like a rodeo cowgirl without the leather chaps. Finally, he collapsed on the ground, holding his left hand up in the air as if to say, uncle.
“I need an ambulance,” Brittany whined. “I think I broke my leg.”
Nobody made a move to do anything for her.
Jamie could barely speak, so out of breath. “Not until you tell us the truth. After all we did to help you, you owe us that much.”
Calvin strained to get his mouth free from Lauren’s tangled hands. “Don’t say a thing, honey. Not a word. You don’t owe these people anything.”
Lauren covered his mouth with her hands and squeezed. “Shut up and let her talk.”
Carter crouched down next to Brittany and tried to assess her wound. Her face was growing paler by the second. “We need to call the ambulance. She’s in a lot of pain.”
“Not until she fesses up.” Jamie looked hard into Britt’s eyes. “Why did you lie to us?”
“I didn’t kill him. I swear.” Brittany began to cry.
“You’ve been sleeping with your husband’s brother, so don’t tell me it was an accident. Whose idea was it to get rid of Dick?”
“Just let me call the ambulance,” Calvin pleaded. “Can’t you see she’s in agony?”
Brittany cried out again. “Pleeease! I need help.”
I couldn’t endure her pitiful whimpering any longer. I got on my cell phone and dialed 1-1-3. Problem was, I had no idea where we were. I looked around for a street sign but couldn’t find one. I did my best to explain our location to the dispatch person.
Calvin said, “Will someone please get this deranged woman off my back.”
Lauren didn’t budge. If anything, she clamped tighter just to spite him.
“Sure,” I said. “As long as you tell us what’s going on.”
“Like Britt told you, my brother’s death was an accident,” he said, struggling to breathe. When his knees began to buckle, Lauren finally released her grip.
“You both are going to jail, you know that, right?” I said. “The police will interrogate you in separate rooms until one of you gives up the truth. You’re looking to spend years in the Italian prison system. Doesn’t sound like fun to me.”
“It wasn’t my idea,” Brittany said, finally. “I had nothing to do with it.”
Calvin’s head nearly exploded. “What are you doing Britt? Are you insane?”
Britt grabbed onto Carter’s shirt and pulled. “Promise me, you won’t let them arrest me. I’ll tell you everything, but you have to promise.”
Carter nodded. “Okay. How did it go down, Britt?”
Calvin tried to claw his way to Britt but Lauren still had him in her clutches. She yanked him back and he fell on his side.
The sirens in the distance grew louder and I knew we had less than a minute until Brittany would be whisked away to the nearest hospital. “Britt, tell us what happened.”
Calvin wiped his face with his sleeve, the sweat dripping off him. He seemed resigned to his fate. His girlfriend was about to rat him out.
“Calvin and I have known each other for years. We dated on and off. Last year, Calvin got into financial trouble and he asked his brother for a loan, but Dick refused to help. Calvin convinced me to seduce Dick into marrying me, so I could gain access to all of his bank accounts. It wasn’t as easy as I thought. So we had to come up with another plan. But I never suggested killing him.”
I turned to Calvin. “The story you told me about Dick being broke, it was all part of your ruse to throw us off. Then you pretended to despise Brittany when, all along, the two of you are partners in a scam.” Another idea occurred to me. “In fact, you didn’t get on a plane last night. You’ve been in Italy for days. There’s no way you could’ve booked a last minute international flight. You were the one who sneaked into the hot springs and killed Dick. Then you called Britt to tell her the deed had been done. That’s why she never bothered to call him.”
Lauren released Calvin and he just sat on the ground, hanging his head. “My brother liked to beat up women. You should thank me for getting rid of him.”
Something else occurred to me. “You've been hanging around the hot springs, just waiting for the perfect time to attack your brother. Was it you who stole money out of Carter's wallet?”
Calvin gaped at me with genuine confusion. “What? I have no idea what you're talking about.”
“Sarah,” Carter said in a slightly panicked tone as he checked Britt's pulse on her wrist. “She passed out.”
Calvin reached into his inside jacket pocket and took out a small item. He held it up to me. “Here, take this.”
I leaned over to get a better look. A brownish-gold nugget. “Is that the one Dick found in the hot springs? You had it the whole time.”
“You can have the gold,” Calvin said. “If you just let this whole thing go. Pretend we never had this conversation. It's probably worth over a grand.”
“Are you trying to bribe me?” I asked, more amused than insulted.
“Come on,” he said, pleading. “Just take it and leave us be.”
I leaned over and took the gold. “Sorry, no deal. But I’ll take this and give it back to Eduardo. It belongs to him and his family.”
When the ambulance and police showed up, the paramedics hoisted Brittany onto a stretcher while Calvin was escorted into a police cruiser for questioning. He refused to speak to anyone without a lawyer.
Carter, Lauren, Jamie and I were also detained for questioning. We gave them Dick’s cell phone, along with our own version of events and, after an hour and a half, we were free to go.
Chapter 22
It was after dark by the time we got back to the resort. Lauren and Jamie had been up since five, so they just wanted to retreat to their villa and relax for the rest of the day.
Carter and I decided to soak our aching bodies in the bathtub while sharing a glass of Prosecco. By seven-thirty we were famished, so we got dressed and walked down to the resort restaurant for dinner.
Much to my delight, Carter and I had the place to ourselves. We ordered a bottle of wine and took our time eating another fantastic meal. Right after we ordered dessert, Hope Dillard and her husband meandered into the dining room.
As they passed by us to their table, she offered us a curt hello but nothing more.
Once they got settled and ordered their wine, I got her attention and said, “Hey, if you’re still interested in a story, we have one for you.”
She perked up. “Oh, really? What about?”
“A death in Tuscany, of course.”
She smil
ed. “That sounds like an excellent title for my next book.”
“If you want to come by our villa after dinner, we’ll fill you in on the juicy details.”
“Juicy details?” she said. “It’s what I live for.”
* * *
Later that evening, the three of us sat around the table as Carter and I explained everything.
Hope stared at us, dumbfounded. “So, Dick’s brother is the killer?”
I nodded. “Brittany confessed to us that her marriage was a scam, devised by the brother in order to steal Dick’s money.”
Hope licked her lips anxiously. “This is perfect. Has the brother been arrested?”
“Last we heard, he’s still in custody, waiting for an attorney to be appointed to him.”
She chewed on the end of her pen, eyes darting back and forth like her brain was busy clicking out fresh plot ideas. “There’s so much I have to do. Is there anything else you can tell me?”
“Sorry but no,” Carter said, taking my hand. “Sarah and I have decided to bow out. Besides, we don’t have a dog in this fight. We have exactly two days left in Italy, and we want to enjoy them.”
“I see.” Hope leaned back in her chair and smiled again. “You want me to take over completely.”
Carter and I both nodded.
“What about the sisters?” Hope asked. “Will they help me?”
“You’ll have to ask them,” I said. “But I have a feeling they are burnt out as well.”
“Where is Brittany now?”
“She’s being treated at the Salvator Mundi International Hospital in Rome for a broken leg. I have no idea how long she’ll be there so, if you want to get a piece of her, you’d better hoof it down there first thing in the morning.”
She scribbled the information in her notebook. “Thank you, I certainly will. You have no idea how much I appreciate this.”
“Good luck.”
As Hope gathered her things to go, she asked, “I know you don’t want to be involved but do you mind if I use your real names in my book? I think it will add credibility.”
A Death In Tuscany (Sarah Woods Mystery Book 13) Page 9
