A Few Good Women (Lexi Graves Mysteries, 9)

by Camilla Chafer

  "She probably didn't realize because Anthony and I kept our relationship on the down low. I'm his assistant too so I got worried when he didn't check in with me and I called his mom. He's got so many important transactions going on; and he worried I might become a target for his business enemies," Chloe explained, giving every appearance that she believed what she was saying. "He loves me too much to risk putting me in harm's way."

  "Uh-huh," I murmured, trying to conceal my skepticism. Less in harm's way, and more likely divorce court, I decided, although I had to consider his “business enemies.” If they were real and not just a ruse to keep Chloe quiet about their liaison, could they have been the same people who caught up with him? "You know, his body hasn't been found," I told her.

  Chloe bit her lip. "I know. Isn't it terrible? Who would steal his body?"

  I shrugged because I had no clue either. "You said you knew who killed him?"

  This time, she nodded and raised her eyes up to meet mine. Despite the tears filling her eyelids, she fixed me with a determined look. "It was his bitch wife!"

  ~

  "Shut up!" yelled Lily. Several heads turned and an elderly woman shushed loudly. "You don't get it," said Lily, leaning over to the tiny, old lady. "My friend, Lexi's, ex-fiancé’s girlfriend just accosted her on the street..."

  "It wasn't on the street, it was at my house and then at my office," I pointed out, wondering why I even bothered. What did I care what the old lady thought?

  "So the ex's girlfriend is stalking Lexi but it turns out he has a wife too!"

  The old lady's eyes widened. "The bastard," she growled. "Does your mother know?"

  "Mine?" Lily looked confused. "No, she's in Africa. I think."

  "I meant Mathilda. She's going to be so disappointed."

  "You know my mother?" I groaned as I hid my face in my hands.

  "Mathilda knows about Lexi getting stalked on the way to her house but I don't think she knows the rest," replied Lily, ignoring my frantic hand signs to stop talking. The last thing I needed was my mother feeling like she had to check in with me every five minutes.

  "You can't have a boyfriend with a girlfriend and a wife," said the old lady, patting my arm. "Three’s a crowd."

  "He's not my boyfriend!"

  "Of course he isn't. He's married," said the old lady, turning back to her equally elderly companion who tutted loudly. I heard them saying, “not in our day” before shaking their heads some more.

  "At least you can say something about Anthony," started Lily, turning back to me.

  "I can say a lot of things about him. But none of them are polite."

  "I was going to say he's consistent. Once a cheating jerk, always a cheating jerk. Are you going to interview the wife?"

  "No! I told Garrett about Chloe and he said he'd look into it."

  "Really?" Lily seemed disappointed.

  "I am absolutely, one hundred percent not going to get involved."

  "Okay, well, good. I'm proud of you. Plus, now you have enough free time to tail Jord. By the way, I have more information."

  "Great," I said, feeling anything but. That was another case I didn't want to get involved in. However, I did want the evidence to assure my heavily pregnant best friend that she was absolutely correct and whatever Jord was doing, it was not cheating. That would be infinitely better than finding evidence that he was breaking their vows right before their first baby was born. Plus, there was no way of telling how Jord would react to being tailed by his younger sister at the request of his wife. I was pretty sure he wouldn't be happy about it, and if he weren’t, I could be certain my parents wouldn't be either when they found out.

  "Her name is Diane but when I looked on Jord's phone, there was no entry with that name. So I looked though his messages and there was a text from Soprano's Pizza telling him to meet her at two today. There is no Soprano's Pizza so I figured that had to be her, right?"

  "I guess."

  "They're meeting at the Corner Café. I want you to find out what they're doing and where they go."

  "No problem."

  "And take photos. No matter how horrible."

  "I will, but they won't be horrible. Jord wouldn't cheat. You already told me that."

  "No one believes their partner will cheat until they catch them doing it. This is the first time Jord ever lied to me. That has to count for something."

  "It is out of character," I agreed. "But I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation and I'm going to uncover it. Don't worry, okay."

  "Hmph!" huffed Lily as she checked her phone screen. "I have to go to the bar. Ruby said there was a problem with the liquor payment again so I have to speak to the supplier. Do you want to come?"

  "No, I'm heading over to the office to see if there are any new developments."

  "With Anthony? Or with his family? Or the other case?"

  "All of the above. It would be good to know if any leads support my claim that I didn't kill him," I replied, lowering my voice when the elderly lady shot me a wide-eyed look.

  "You know you're going to end up looking into Anthony's murder."

  "I am not! I would not touch this case with... with... anything!"

  "Sure," said Lily, blowing me a kiss as she left.

  I finished my coffee and left the coffee shop, determined to have as little as possible to do with the Steadman case. That didn't mean I wouldn't keep tabs on the case; of course I would! That was only sensible but as for getting involved? No way!

  By the time I reached the agency, my anxiety was quickly slipping away and I had a spring in my step. I also had a new purse in my online basket thanks to the pleasures of shopping via cell phone. I felt a renewed sense of energy. Whatever case Solomon sent in my direction, I would take and solve. If I were stuck with the Booth Realty case, I would throw everything I had at it and then some. I would push Anthony firmly to the back of my mind and not let his sudden death bother me. After all, he probably had it coming, and uncharitable as that sounded, I am only human.

  A lone woman sat in the lobby as I stepped inside. I waved to our security guard and glanced at her. She was clearly watching the door and sprang to her feet as soon as I entered. "Lexi Graves?" she asked.

  "In the flesh," I replied as she offered her hand. I shook it and smiled politely while admiring her classy trench coat and nude heels combo. The sunglasses inside were a bit too Hollywood but the rest of her appearance was tres chic. "And you are?"

  "Olivia Steadman," she said, taking off her sunglasses. "I'm Anthony's wife and I want to know if you killed him."

  "No, I did not." I paused, looking at her more closely. She didn't seem like a grieving widow. There were no red eyes or a strained, anxious look on her face. Her nails were perfectly manicured and clearly unbitten. Plus, she was superbly dressed. No hastily pulled on jeans and an oversized sweater. Instead, under the trench coat, she wore a shift dress and neat, gold earrings. Her glossy hair had a cute, little curl that reached her shoulders. She smelled like Chanel, not like she spent the night at the police station answering questions. That left me asking the big question. "Did you?"

  "No, I did not kill my husband. If you didn't kill him, I want to hire you to find out who did."

  A little voice inside me wailed nooooo! Out loud, I said, "I'm sorry. I have a massive caseload right now, and cannot take on another."

  She narrowed her eyes. "No, you don’t."

  "I do!"

  "I called your office and asked for a female PI on an immediate case and they said there was one available very soon. You're the only female PI here." Her voice had a slight accent to it, American, but not. I suspected she spent her early childhood in another country and never quite shook the accent. It was the kind of sexy voice I might have wished I had, and one Lily would definitely have tried to emulate once upon a time.

  "You should really ask the police department. They're looking into your husband's murder."

  "I spoke to some detectives already. They don't have a
body. Why is that?" she asked, tilting her head to one side and staring at me with the same vacant expression interrogators aim for.

  "I don't know! Listen, Mrs. Steadman, I don't know anything about your husband's case. In fact, I probably know less than you do. The first time I saw him after many years was the same afternoon that he was killed."

  "I bet that bitch, Chloe, said I did it." When I didn't look puzzled, she continued. "She did, didn't she? The little harpy! She's been desperate for him from the minute she laid eyes on him; and when he gave her his time, there was nothing she wouldn't do for him. I wish I told him to run off with her."

  "Wait... you knew about his affair?"

  She gave me the kind of look that could wither flowers. "Of course I did! I'm not stupid."

  "You know, that gives you a good motive for killing your husband?"

  "Only if I loved him."

  I blinked, somewhat surprised. Why did I assume Anthony had a nice, little wife stashed away somewhere? A dear, unassuming wife who was completely oblivious to her husband's shortcomings? Olivia Steadman didn't fit that profile. She was beautiful, smart, and presently pissed off. "You don't?"

  "Are you crazy? Have you met Anthony? He's a pain in the ass. I was ready to divorce him when I realized two million dollars suddenly disappeared from my account. He took it and I came here to retrieve it. I want you to find out who killed him and then locate my money."

  "Two million dollars?"

  "I thought PIs were smart. Aren't you listening? That bastard stole my money! It’s all in cash too."

  "I'm pretty sure that gives you even more motive for killing him."

  "If I killed him, I wouldn't get my money back. I love my money. I don't like my husband. Will you please look into it?" Mrs. Steadman reached into her purse and I stepped back, my heart pounding, waiting for her to extract a gun. Instead, she pulled out a checkbook. "How much?"

  "Mrs. Steadman, again, I'm really sorry but I cannot take your case."

  "Is it because you're working for Cynthia Steadman? She said she told you about the threats to Anthony's life. I told her what I'm telling you now: he made that all up. He's a compulsive liar."

  "I don't doubt that," I replied, finally warming to her. At last, a woman in Anthony's life who didn't think he was fabulous. "However, I'm not working for the other Mrs. Steadman either. The Solomon agency refused the case. This is a homicide investigation and you need to tell everything you just told me to the police."

  "I did, but it was useless. I need someone on my team."

  Solomon stepped through the doorway behind Olivia and cleared his throat. She turned around, her annoyance unconcealed on her face. But after one look at my fiancé, she felt a lot better and purred, "Hello," absently thrusting a business card towards me, without even looking my way.

  Solomon ignored her, addressing me instead. "Is there a problem here?" he asked.

  "This is Olivia Steadman, Anthony's wife," I explained. "She was under the impression Cynthia Steadman hired us. Mrs. Steadman also wants to engage us to search for some missing money."

  "Stolen," said Olivia breathily, "by a very bad man who is also missing."

  "I've just informed her we can't take her case," I said before moving around her to stand with Solomon. Not because I didn't like how she was staring at my fiancé with eyes that were obviously interested in anything except money, but because talking to Solomon with Olivia between us reminded me of playing piggy-in-the-middle.

  "Why don't you head back to your heavy caseload?" said Solomon, briefly glancing at me. "I'll escort Mrs. Steadman out."

  "I'm sorry I couldn't help you," I told her without waiting for a reply. I turned and took the stairs, relieved to finally make my escape. First, my ex's mom and sisters turned up at my office, then his girlfriend turned up at my home, then at my office, and now his wife. What was this? National Stalk Lexi Graves Week?

  Despite my earlier resolution to shake off Anthony's case, his wife's words sucked me right back into it. She definitely had motive. That was clear. She knew about her husband's affair and suspected him of stealing two million dollars. But her assertion that she didn't care about his affair, or even him, and planned on divorcing him didn't support the idea that she could have killed him. Plus, I couldn't see her lugging his body somewhere else. She was far too slender to lift him by herself.

  It wasn't just Anthony's murder and the disappearance of his body that puzzled me. If Olivia Steadman were telling the truth, what happened to the two million dollars he purportedly stole? And why did he steal it from someone so close to him?

  Sitting in my desk chair, I pulled a pad of paper from my desk drawer and began to write down everything I most recently discovered about Anthony. He had a wife and a girlfriend. He might have had two million dollars. His family thought someone was trying to frame him. He claimed to his family, as well as to me, that someone was trying to kill him. Since his appearance at the open house, we suspected he might have something to do with the break-ins at the vacant houses.

  When I had all that listed, I tapped my pen against the paper. It was a lot to comprehend. "Whatever you're up to, it's very, very bad," I told Anthony's name.

  I jumped when my cell phone rang. "Hi, Garrett," I said, wondering what kind of headway he was making. "How's the case?"

  "Puzzling. Listen, Lexi, I gotta ask you. Were you at the shooting range five nights ago?"

  "The shooting range? Uh, I guess so," I said, ticking off my fingers as I counted them.

  "And did you shoot a Colt pistol?"

  "Yeah. Why?"

  Garrett sighed. "My detectives just finished processing the crime scene and we found four spent casings and a couple of bullets in the wall. All of them match a Colt."

  "Wasn't me!"

  "Yeah, I know it wasn't you."

  "So, why are you calling me? Hey, how do you even know I was shooting a pistol at the range?"

  "Tip-off on the Steadman hotline."

  "What? There's a hotline?"

  "His mom set it up. My detective looked into the tip and got footage of you firing what appeared to be the same weapon that was potentially used to kill Steadman."

  "I checked that gun in right after I used it," I told him, sitting up straighter. What the hell was going on? "I always follow protocol at the range and I'm sure they'll have the records to back it up."

  "Already checking into it."

  "So I don't have to worry?" I asked, worrying.

  "No. I'm sure it'll check out just like you said. It's just a nasty coincidence that you were seen firing the same make of gun that was used to kill your ex. Just to be sure, I'll run a ballistics test on the weapon you used so there's no doubt. And I'm looking into the anonymous tip too."

  Finally, I felt like I could breathe again. "Thank you. I was going to call you. I have to tell you that Anthony's wife was just here at the agency."

  "Olivia Steadman? We spoke to her already. Interesting character."

  "You can say that again. She has motive but it doesn't add up. I didn't get the impression she liked him that much."

  "She is one pissed-off lady."

  "Did she tell you about the missing millions?"

  Garrett paused. "No."

  "She wanted to hire me to find out where Anthony hid the two million she thinks he stole from her and then find out who murdered him."

  "I think I need to talk to Mrs. Steadman again. She shouldn't have withheld that kind of information."

  "Because it gives her more motive?"

  "It gives someone two million motives and that's approximately two million more than when we first spoke with her."

  "She knows about his affair with Chloe too."

  "Make that two million and one motives. Gotta go, Lexi. Keep your head down and stay as far away from this case as possible," Garrett warned.

  "No problem!" But even as I put the phone down, I wondered how easy that would be. This case was practically following me around and something told me i
t wasn't going away. I resumed my pen tapping against the paper as I re-examined my notes. Something very weird was definitely going on and somehow, I was getting sucked into it against my will. "Anthony Steadman, what the hell is going on?" I asked my list.

  My phone rang a second time and I answered it quickly when Lily's smiling face flashed on the screen. If she wanted anymore news on Jord, she needed to be patient. "Lily, you are not going to believe who just came to the agency..." I started, preempting whatever she wanted to say.

  "Huff huff huff," wheezed Lily. "Tell me later! I'm in labor!"

  Chapter Seven

  "You're not in labor," said the obstetrician. She was an older lady with softly graying hair. After one last glance at the monitor that was fixed to a belt around Lily's middle, she patted her gently on the arm.

  "I am. I definitely am. Huff huff huff," wheezed Lily, her face red and eyes wide with alarm.

  "No, you're not. That baby isn't going anywhere."

  "It has to eventually!" Lily wailed, her hands going to her belly. "I'm a human soccer ball. No, I'm a beach ball that won't stop inflating!"

  "You won't inflate much more."

  "Ow! There went another one. That was a labor contraction!" she yelled, her face contorting in pain.

  "No, that was a Braxton Hicks contraction. It feels like a labor contraction but it isn't. I'm sorry. We have to send you home." The doctor scribbled something on Lily's medical chart, giving her another sympathetic smile before detaching the monitors and leaving the room.

  "It's not fair," sniffed Lily, struggling to an upright position, and swinging her legs off the bed. "I really thought this was it!"

  "I know it sucks but the baby will be here soon enough." I offered Lily my hands and she grasped them, hauling herself off the bed and standing on the floor. She slipped her feet back into shoes and tried reaching for the purse she dropped. After a couple of feeble attempts, she gave up. I picked it up and handed it to her. "What goes up must come down."

  "It did not go in looking like it does now," Lily pointed out. "Did you call Jord?"