Deed To Death

by D. B. Henson

  Upstairs, he combed the master bedroom and bath. In the closet, he found a matching set of luggage stacked in a corner. All the pieces you would expect to find seemed to be there. Chances were she hadn’t gone very far.

  He checked the memo pad by the phone in the kitchen. Finding a pencil in a drawer, he rubbed the lead across the sheet of paper on top, revealing the indentions from Toni’s last note. All he uncovered was a grocery list. He was about to press redial on the telephone when it rang. He waited for the answering machine to pick up.

  “Toni, it’s Helen. I have the credit report on Nico Williams. It’s clean. No debt to speak of. Looks like a good prospect. Oh, and he lives in Franklin.”

  The loan officer recited Nico’s address.

  Brian’s search was over. He was willing to bet that before the day was finished, Toni would call home to get her messages. She’d head straight to Franklin.

  And he would be there waiting.

  Toni woke around nine-thirty and eased up out of bed. She felt as though she’d run the Boston marathon and swum the English Channel all in one day. Every muscle in her body ached. Even her toes hurt. All those hours spent working out with Scott on the weight machines and jogging on the treadmill might have kept her trim, but they hadn’t prepared her for yesterday’s ordeal. She vowed, when all this was over, she’d take up Pilates.

  After showering and dressing, she stood in front of the bathroom mirror, slipped on her new blonde wig and pinned it into place. Using a dark foundation, she contoured her face to make her nose look thinner and her cheekbones more pronounced. She applied blue eye shadow – a color she never wore – to her lids and spread a pale pink gloss on her lips. Lastly, she donned her new glasses containing slightly tinted fake lenses. She studied her reflection. The transformation was amazing.

  “Only Scott would know me now,” she said to the woman in the mirror. “And it might even take him a few minutes.”

  She smiled in satisfaction and returned the makeup to its case. Phase one of her disappearing act was going better than expected. She wondered if anyone was looking for her yet. Maybe she should at least call Mark and tell him what had happened. Let him know she was okay. He wouldn’t tell anyone. He would keep her secret.

  She was also anxious to check her voice mail and answering machine for messages. But using Josh’s phone was out of the question. Everyone she knew had caller ID. And if she did speak with Mark, she didn’t want him to know where she was staying. He’d rush right over and try to drag her back to his place. Even if she called him from a payphone, he’d beg to come and get her. He had been such a good friend. She hated to worry him.

  But she had to do this alone.

  Her stomach grumbled. She was starving. Downstairs, she looked in the refrigerator. It was empty except for a bottle of Ketchup and a six-pack of Samuel Adams. She’d have to remember to pick up some groceries. Grabbing her purse, she headed out to the garage. She opened the door of Josh’s SUV and slipped the garage remote off the sun visor. Circling behind the vehicle, she walked toward Scott’s BMW, and then stopped.

  She had a problem.

  The vanity plate. It read CHADWCK. She might as well paint “kill me now” on her forehead.

  For a split second, she considered taking Josh’s car. Then she thought about how easily the Audi had run her off the road. She wasn’t about to risk totaling someone else’s SUV. Besides, there was an easier solution.

  Toni opened the back of Scott’s X5. She took a screwdriver from the tool kit inside and removed the BMW’s license plate. She replaced it with the plate from Josh’s SUV. The number of silver X5 Bimmers in the Nashville area was too high to count. Now, she could get lost in that sea. She’d just have to watch her speed and try not to get pulled over.

  She drove south from Brentwood to the Cool Springs Galleria and found an empty parking spot near the main mall entrance. She scanned the lot, searching for any familiar faces. Seeing none, she opened the door and got out.

  Time to show off the new look.

  As she walked toward the entrance, she kept her gaze focused straight ahead, and tried not to seem nervous.

  Inside, she joined the steady stream of shoppers. She avoided all eye contact with those walking toward her. Around the corner to the right, she saw the small kiosk she had passed a million times. Luckily, there were no other customers.

  “What do I need to get a prepaid cell phone?” she asked.

  The bored looking clerk stared at her as though it was a trick question. “Uh, money?”

  “I know that. What I meant was, do you need to see some ID, a driver’s license or something?”

  “Nope.”

  “Would I have to give you a credit card?’

  “You can write a check, but you’d need ID for that.”

  “How about cash?”

  Toni picked out a base model phone and waited while the clerk activated her minutes. With that done, she went to the food court to get something to eat. She was standing in line at a sandwich shop when she heard a familiar voice. She looked up to see three agents from her office, Lydia, Meg and Penny, ordering burgers from the joint adjacent.

  Why did they have to be at Cool Springs today of all days? She was about to turn her head when Meg looked straight at her.

  Toni froze.

  Did the agent know? Could she tell? But then without so much as a smile, Meg swung her eyes back toward the menu board and stepped up to give her order. The encounter gave Toni a boost of confidence. If someone she saw on a daily basis didn’t recognize her, Brian surely wouldn’t.

  Toni paid for her food and carried her tray to the table next to the three agents. She sat with her back to them and listened as they gossiped about Dana’s murder. Each had their own theory regarding the events of that night. But they all agreed on one thing. They had decided to show properties in pairs for the time being, just incase the killer was hunting for more victims.

  As they droned on, Toni started to tune them out, but her ears perked up when she heard her own name.

  “I heard the police are looking for her,” Lydia said.

  “Toni? Why?” Penny asked.

  “Well, it seems she had an appointment to show the farm the very same night.”

  “That’s not all,” Meg chimed in. “Whoever Dana met there contacted Toni first. And for some reason, Toni decided not to go.”

  “Lucky for her,” Penny said.

  “I know this is going to sound horrible,” Lydia said. “But in all honesty, I’m glad Dana went instead.”

  “That is horrible,” Meg said. “But, I feel the same.”

  The table was silent for a moment.

  “Where is Toni anyway?” Penny asked.

  “She’s gone out of town for awhile, I think,” Meg said.

  “With all she’s been through lately, she needs to get away,” Lydia said. “I just hope she doesn’t blame herself for what happened to Dana.”

  “Or Scott,” Meg said.

  When the topic changed to Penny’s new listing, Toni decided to leave. She ate the last bite of her sandwich and tossed her wrapper and empty Coke cup in the trash. Evidently, Cheryl had told the police about the call from the fake Mr. Michener. Now, they wanted a statement. But contacting them would do more harm than good. Without any proof, there was no way they’d believe her story. And she still needed everyone, including the police, to think she was dead. Or at least, missing.

  Toni wondered who else had been trying to reach her.

  After leaving the food court, she hurried back to her car and turned on her new cell phone. The battery needed charging, but there seemed to be enough juice to make a couple of quick calls. She dialed her voice mail first. There were a few messages from Mark and several from her office. The last was from Jill. She wanted to know whether Toni could make it for dinner the following night. They probably had the appraisal on Chadwick & Shore finished.

  No, you and Clint will just have to sweat it out a little longer.
r />   She erased the messages and then dialed her home number. The calls on her answering machine were duplicates of those on her voice mail.

  All except for one.

  A rush of adrenaline swept through her. Helen Dove had located Nico. Finally, things were looking up.

  Toni listened to the message twice to make sure she had written the address down correctly. She entered the house number and street name into her navigation system and began humming to herself.

  Nico’s place was just a few minutes away.

  CHAPTER 24

  A stone fence, heavily landscaped in front with evergreen shrubs and pansies in a myriad of colors, and backed by a row of pines, encircled the subdivision of lavish homes built not more than two years prior. Toni remembered driving through once before, when the houses were first going up. Most all had been custom presales, so she had never shown them.

  She checked the scribbled address, verifying the street name, then turned into the main entrance.

  It was not exactly the neighborhood she had pictured for Nico. Not that she was an elitist – far from it. But she had imagined the construction worker living in a more modest environment.

  None of the houses were likely to be rental properties. However, in her phone message, Helen hadn’t mentioned a mortgage. If Nico had one, it would have shown up on his credit report.

  She wondered what line of work he had been in before hanging drywall for Chadwick & Shore. To afford one of the mammoth homes, he had to be doing well financially. Maybe he came from a wealthy family, or had married into money. It was also possible he was staying with relatives.

  Toni reached the end of the street and then turned left. She noted the house numbers on the mailboxes. Nico’s number was 5771. That would mean he lived several houses down, on the right. As she neared the end of the cul-de-sac, she spotted a two-story colonial with the correct address.

  She was about to pull into the driveway when an alarming thought struck her.

  Did Brian know Nico had been at the construction site the morning of Scott’s death? She had easily obtained the information. What would stop Brian from finding out? Was he also searching for the possible witness, determined to shut him up? And if she had managed to track Nico down, wouldn’t Brian be able to do the same?

  Maybe he already had. Maybe that was the reason Nico hadn’t shown up for work the next day.

  Maybe he was dead.

  No. She wouldn’t allow herself to think that way. Nico had to be alive. He was her last resort, the only person who may have seen Brian at the hotel. Still, she felt a little uneasy about going up to the house. Instead of pulling into the drive, she circled the cul-de-sac and parked by the curb a few houses down.

  She scanned the street. All seemed quiet. No children playing. School was still in session. No moms pushing baby strollers. The wind was too brisk today for walks. No one outside at all that she could see.

  Toni got out of her car and crossed the street. She walked up the sidewalk toward the colonial, and then glanced behind her before turning up the drive. The house was impressive. She estimated it to be somewhere around six thousand square feet, with wide columns supporting a two-story porch spanning the home’s width.

  She mounted the steps and rang the bell next to the double mahogany doors. She heard the chimes echo inside. She stood there for a few seconds expecting to hear footsteps, but no one appeared. She rang again and then peeked through the sidelight. The foyer was dim. She couldn’t see very far. She waited a little longer. Either no one was home, or they had decided not to answer.

  The anticipation of seeing Nico was making her crazy. Toni had spent so much time looking for him, she wasn’t about to leave without talking to him. Or at least someone who knew him. Even if she had to sleep in her car tonight.

  She walked the length of the porch, checking all the windows, hoping to glimpse someone inside, but all the blinds were closed. She went back down the steps and then rounded the corner of the house. She followed the drive to the backyard, past the closed garage to a screened porch.

  When she tried the door, it swung open.

  A white wicker sofa, chaise and several matching chairs, all laden with pillows in yellow and white, filled the porch. She noticed a yellow chenille throw and a paperback romance on the foot of the chaise. A vase of fresh daffodils graced the glass-topped table. The scene looked as though it had been plucked from the pages of Better Homes & Gardens.

  She crossed the porch to a pair of French doors leading into the house and checked the knobs. They were locked. She cupped her hands around her eyes and peered through the glass. A large family room lay off the porch. The television was off and the room appeared deserted.

  She’d just have to go back to her car and wait for someone to come home.

  As she was leaving the screened porch, Toni glanced across the pool at the separate detached garage. She stopped so suddenly, she almost fell down the steps. The garage door was halfway up. Inside, she saw four intertwined circles on a field of dark green.

  An Audi sedan!

  She ran around the pool to the garage and raised the door all the way. From the rear, the car seemed identical to the one that had run her off the road. She stepped around to the right side. The proof she saw made her heart pound. She stared at the front fender, dented and streaked with red paint.

  Nico had tried to kill her.

  He was the man Brian had hired.

  Had Nico killed Scott? No, he couldn’t have. Alvin Harney said Nico never entered the hotel that morning. Instead, he had stood outside the office talking on a cell phone. Maybe he had only pretended to be on the phone. He could have been acting as a lookout for Brian. Nico was the one person that could have made sure Brian got onto the construction site without Alvin seeing him.

  Toni heard a car. She looked up to see a black Jaguar pulling in the drive.

  Dropping to a crouch, she scooted around to the front of the Audi. From her vantage point, she watched the Jaguar come to a stop. The doors opened and a large man with a blonde crew cut and a young girl around ten or eleven years old emerged. She could hear them talking about the girl’s school assignments.

  The man, who she assumed was Nico, smiled and put his arm around the girl’s shoulders. Then the grin faded.

  He stopped and looked directly at Toni.

  Toni froze.

  Her mind told her to duck, but her body would not respond. Terrified, she stared back.

  Nico dropped his arm from the girl’s shoulders and started walking toward the garage. “What did I tell you about that garage door?” he said.

  “Not to leave it open,” the girl answered.

  The man was nearly all the way to the garage before Toni could make herself move. She got down behind the left front tire of the Audi and tucked herself into a ball.

  “I don’t mind you keeping your bike in here,” Nico said. “But you have to remember to keep this door closed.”

  The door rumbled as it went down, and Toni heard the latch snap into place. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes. Shadows filled the garage. She had to get out of there. But what if Nico was still outside? If he saw her, she was dead.

  She sat on the cold concrete floor for what seemed like an eternity, but when she checked her watch, it had only been ten minutes. A shaft of light beamed through the window in the back door. It beckoned to her, calling her to come out. Still, she was afraid. Could she make it to her car without being spotted?

  She got to her feet and pulled the hunting knife from the sheath on her side. She inched the back door open. From here, she could see the pool and the house, but not the driveway. She stood still and listened. She didn’t hear any voices.

  She slunk along the side of the garage. As she neared the corner, the Jaguar came into view. She looked for Nico. He must have gone inside.

  She forced herself to take several deep breaths. Then, with the hunting knife in her right hand, and her car keys in her left, she ran as fast as she co
uld down the driveway.

  She didn’t stop until she reached her car. As she was opening the door, someone grabbed her left arm. Panicked, she jerked and tried to pull away. The fingers clamped harder.

  Brian’s fingers.

  His eyes drilled into hers.

  “No!” she screamed, and tried to wrench her arm free.

  “Toni, stop!”

  Toni swung her right hand around and slashed Brian’s arm with the hunting knife. The blade sliced through his light-weight jacket as if it were paper. He cried out in pain as he let her go. She jumped into her car and slammed the door. She threw the knife on the passenger seat and activated the locks before putting the key in the ignition.

  Holding his left arm to his chest, Brian pounded his right fist on her window.

  “Open the door, dammit! Open it now!”

  Toni started the car and put the gas pedal to the floor.

  CHAPTER 25

  Mark took a swig from his soda can and browsed the candy machine.

  He’d been stuck at the courthouse since the early morning and now, at nearly three o’clock, his stomach was grumbling. He checked the slot for his favorite, a Snickers bar, but the space was empty. It seemed like on the days he really wanted one, they were always out. He settled on a Milky Way and pushed in the appropriate buttons.

  As he leaned down to retrieve the candy, he glanced at the newspaper box to his left. On the front page of The Tennessean, he glimpsed a familiar face. Then he read the headline.

  Local Realtor Murdered.

  Forgetting the candy bar, he purchased a paper.

  He’d been so busy with work the past two days, he hadn’t had time to turn on a TV or listen to any news reports. He unfolded the paper and skimmed the article. The bottom of the page featured a photo of the crime scene. Prominent in the shot was Toni’s real estate sign.

  He remembered the message she had left on his voice mail the day before. There had been something strange in her tone. At the time, he had chalked it up to stress. Now, he wasn’t so sure. He pulled the cell phone from his pocket and dialed her number. She didn’t answer at home or on her mobile. He called her office.