by D. B. Henson
No answer.
Gloria was probably with Nico and Brian. Toni pounded on the door one last time before giving up and walking back to her car.
Should she wait for Gloria to return? What if Nico came back with her?
The calico stared at Toni through the windshield.
“What do you think, Callie?”
The cat cocked its head, seeming to ponder the situation.
From where she was parked, Toni had a clear view of Gloria’s building. Anyone arriving would be easily recognizable under the street lamps. If she saw Nico or Brian, she would leave.
“Keep your toes crossed, Callie.”
Jill was crying again.
Mark got up from his chair and paced the reception area. He could hear Clint whispering to Jill, trying to stop her whimpering. She had been driving Mark nuts ever since they arrived at the police station. One minute she’d be calm, telling them she knew Toni was fine, that someone else had crashed into the river. The next minute, she’d erupt in tears, convinced Toni was gone. She was like a manic depressive on fast forward.
Mark walked to the window and stared out at the cold night. Was Toni out there somewhere? Or had he lost her forever?
Once the divers began heading for the shore, one of the officers at the scene had escorted Mark from the river, despite his protests. He had overheard one of the policemen say the divers had found a car, but no one would tell him anything. Instead, he was being put through the torture of waiting.
“Mr. and Mrs. Shore, Mr. Ross, I’m sorry this has taken so long.” Detective Lewis shook Mark’s hand. “Why don’t we go down the hall for some privacy?”
“No,” Mark said. “Just tell us right here. Did you find Toni?”
The detective hesitated. “Let’s have a seat.”
Jill slumped back against Clint on the worn sofa as Detective Lewis perched on the edge of a corner chair. Mark remained standing, his hands balled into fists.
“We did find a car in the river,” Detective Lewis said, his focus on Mark. “One of the divers was able to get the license plate number. We ran a check, and you were right. The car is registered to Toni Matthews.”
“I knew it,” Jill sobbed. “She’s dead.”
“I didn’t say that. I said the car is hers.”
“So what are you telling us?” Mark asked. “Someone else was driving Toni’s car?”
“At this point,” Lewis said, “we’re not sure,”
“Dammit! Quit talking in circles.” Mark fought the urge to shake the detective. “We’ve been waiting here for hours. You’ve met Toni, more than once. You know exactly what she looks like. Just tell us. Is she alive or dead?”
“If I could, I would tell you,” Detective Lewis said. “The truth is, I don’t know. When the divers found the car, it was empty.”
“So, Toni got out?” Clint asked.
“No one was in the car,” Detective Lewis said. “That’s all we know for sure. One of the windows was broken. Right now, we don’t know whether that occurred due to the crash, or if someone knocked it out on purpose.”
“But Toni might still be alive?” Jill asked.
“It’s possible. There’s a chance she managed to get out before the car sank. However, it’s also possible the current pulled her from the car.”
“Toni’s a strong swimmer,” Mark said. “I bet she smashed the window and then swam to shore. Are your men still at the river? Are they looking for her?”
“We’ll pull the car out first thing in the morning,” Detective Lewis said. “The divers will search the river then.”
“I’m talking about searching the shore,” Mark said. “The current could have carried Toni miles down the river before she got out. She could be wandering around dazed. She could be hurt. We’ve got to find her. Now.”
The detective stood, leveling himself with Mark. “As soon as we realized no one was in the car, we had officers walk both sides of the riverbank. They didn’t find anything. And you need to understand, even if she did manage to get out of the car, there’s no guarantee she made it out of the water. I’m sorry. There’s just nothing more we can do until daylight.”
Mark had waited long enough.
“You might not be willing to do anything,” he said. “But I sure as hell can.”
Toni fished her cell phone from her purse and checked the time. It was after two in the morning and there was still no sign of Gloria. Maybe she was spending the night at Nico’s. Probably curled up in a big warm bed somewhere while the interior of Scott’s X5 was growing colder by the minute.
Toni started the engine and switched on the heat. The calico didn’t stir.
Bored, Toni scanned the radio stations. Finding nothing interesting, she decided to try playing her ballad CD again. She fumbled in the passenger seat but couldn’t find it. Not wanting to turn on the interior lights, she pulled Scott’s mini flashlight from the glove box. The CD had fallen onto the floor. She picked it up and opened the jewel case.
Stunned, she stared at the CD under the glow of the flashlight.
Toni always stuck clear labels on all the CDs she burned. This one had no label. There was only her name written in black marker.
Scott’s handwriting.
Toni pushed the CD into the player. As she suspected, there was no music. It had to be a data CD.
Did Scott know something was going to happen to him? Had he left her a message? She needed to get to a computer.
Josh worked the same way as Toni. He used a laptop computer instead of a desk top. She hadn’t seen it around his house anywhere, so he must have taken it with him on his trip. With Brian still looking for her, Toni’s home and office were both out of the question.
Then she remembered. There was a Kinko’s nearby, on West End Avenue, and she was pretty sure they stayed open twenty-four hours.
CHAPTER 28
Mark called in every outstanding favor he had. Contacted even the most remote of his acquaintances. Anyone whose name he knew, whose number he could find, he phoned. He didn’t give a damn who he woke.
The current result was a team of fifty-two volunteers searching the cold night for Toni. Several of Mark’s friends and fellow attorneys, a van load of Realtors, the mayor of Blanton Hills along with a couple of people from his office, most of the city council members, a few men from the rescue squad, a handful of first responders, a group from Blanton Hills Fire Department, and a half dozen friends of friends, all scoured the riverbanks in the darkness. Still more volunteers had promised to arrive at dawn.
Mark and Clint led the charge, plowing through the mire that edged the river. Seeking any clue, however small, that Toni had made it out of the water.
Mark needed to stay positive. He pictured her safe in one of the houses up the bank, wrapped in a blanket, sipping hot coffee and relating her ordeal to a Good Samaritan. He couldn’t bear to think of the alternative.
Toni had to be alive. She just had to be, and Mark was determined to find her.
Find her and never let her go.
Despite the late hour, customers streamed in and out of Kinko’s as though it were the middle of the day. Toni stood in line, the blonde wig covering her red tresses once again. Even though Brian had seen her in disguise, she still felt safer behind the façade.
When she finally reached the counter, a young man with a goatee and diamond stud earring explained the rental rates and went over a list of programs installed on the computers. Satisfied she understood the terms, he led Toni to a machine with a Windows operating system.
When goatee boy was gone, she popped in the disk. The directory came up and revealed a single file, Toni. From the familiar little icon and XLS extension, she could tell the file was an Excel Workbook. She held her breath and double clicked.
The dreaded password box appeared on the screen.
Toni typed in three different passwords she knew Scott had used. None of them opened the file. Next, she tried his birthday, then her birthday. Both their full
names forward and backward. Every significant word she could come up with. Nothing worked.
Think.
If she had to leave Scott a message, one only he could open, how would she protect it? She would use a password that had no meaning to anyone else but them. Something no one else knew.
She typed in a date. The day she and Scott first said, “I love you.”
The file opened.
The contents were not what she had expected. On the left, she saw a list of addresses. To the right, several columns of numbers. The headings were all abbreviations and none of them made sense.
Why would Scott leave her this?
She read through the addresses. The fifth one, she recognized. Gloria’s apartment complex. Why did everything always lead back to Gloria? Toni had developed a severe case of hatred for that girl.
Although she knew the Nashville area well, none of the other addresses meant anything to Toni. She decided to check the tax records. Maybe the properties had something in common. She logged onto the database and entered in the first address. Another apartment. Owned by an investment group, the name unfamiliar. Then she saw the name of the company that paid the taxes.
Chadwick & Shore Property Managements, LLC.
It was a normal practice for property management firms to pay taxes and other expenses on behalf of the owners, and then collect for the bills along with their management fees. She checked the city and county tax amounts to see if they matched any of the numbers in the columns. Not even close. The land and building appraisals didn’t fit either.
She typed in the remaining addresses. All the properties were apartments. All managed by Chadwick & Shore. She could find no other links. The owners’ names were all different, and the property locations were scattered across Davidson and Williamson Counties. Wanting to study them again later, she sent the tax records for all the properties to the printer.
How did the list of apartments relate to Scott’s death? It had to mean something. Why else would he name the file Toni, password protect it, and stick it in a CD case where she was sure to find it?
Toni had convinced herself Brian killed Scott for the inheritance. Maybe there was something more. Could it be possible that Clint was somehow involved?
Scott and Clint were equal partners in Chadwick & Shore, including the property management division. Had Scott discovered something weird going on with the management of the apartments? Maybe Clint had embezzled some of the funds. But that theory didn’t really seem plausible. Management fees were not exactly big bucks. Chadwick & Shore would have to pay the property owners all the rents collected every month, so there wouldn’t be a large bank account to steal from.
And why would Clint need money anyway? The development and construction divisions of the company had always made a large profit. He didn’t have any gambling or drug problems, and she knew he had made several successful investments. His finances seemed more than secure.
And how did Brian and Nico fit in with the apartments? Maybe they didn’t. Maybe Scott was looking into irregularities in the property management division and just left her the file in case Clint found out. Then Brian came back to town and killed Scott for his money. Killed him before Clint realized Scott was checking the rental properties.
It made sense in her mind, but not in her heart. In her gut she knew that somehow, everything was connected.
Toni wished she could get into Chadwick & Shore and search the computer in Scott’s office. Access the property management files. She had the keys to the building and knew Scott’s logon password. But in order to get into his office, she would have to make it past Monty, the night security guard, and his not so friendly Doberman. There were also security cameras everywhere.
Although she was tempted, breaking in was just too risky. Clint paid Monty’s salary. Even if Toni begged him to keep quiet about her visit, he wouldn’t jeopardize his job. He would call Clint. If Clint was involved, he would summon Nico before she had time to sit down at Scott’s desk.
Toni’s head felt ready to explode. Far too many questions needed answers. Answers she would have to find on her own, using the resources she had available.
The dashboard clock glowed 4:52 AM. Toni pulled into Josh’s garage and gathered up her things. She had stopped by Gloria’s again before coming back, but the blonde still wasn’t home.
Would Gloria be able to shed any light on the list of rental properties? After all, she did live in one of the apartments.
Later in the morning, following a shower and a nap, Toni would return to Gloria’s and interrogate her. Whatever it took, she would make the blonde talk. Even if it meant she had to threaten her with the hunting knife. She would never actually use it, of course. But Gloria had no way of knowing that.
Toni flipped the light on in the kitchen and piled her stuff on the table.
A hand closed around her mouth and nose. Strong arms clinched tight around her body. She struggled, tried to scream.
Toni couldn’t breathe. Dizziness overwhelmed her. She felt herself falling. And then everything went black.
CHAPTER 29
Toni opened her eyes and tried to focus. Her head ached and her throat felt as though it had been packed with moth balls. She blinked and scanned the room, trying to get her bearings.
Josh’s study.
Someone had tied her to his leather office chair. Duct tape covered her mouth.
“Nice to have you back.”
Brian stood in the doorway, his left arm wrapped with gauze. She regretted not killing him when she’d had the chance.
He crossed the room and sat on the edge of Josh’s desk. “I know you’re scared. I know you probably think I killed Scott, but you’re wrong. I know he was murdered, but I didn’t do it.”
Toni studied his eyes.
How did he manage to seem so sincere? The mask of concern seemed almost real. Instead, she knew it was just another one of his many tricks.
“I’ll take the tape off your mouth, but just realize if you scream, the neighbors might hear you and call the police. If that happens, the people after you will find out you’re still alive. Understand?”
She nodded.
“I’ll do it quick so it won’t hurt as bad.”
Brian ripped the tape from her lips.
Toni’s mouth stung like hell. She tried to speak, but coughed instead.
“Do you need some water?”
She cleared her throat. “Untie me.”
“I will, but not yet. You need to listen to me first.”
“Why should I?”
“Well, the way I see it, you don’t have much of a choice.”
She wanted to slap the stupid grin from his face. “Fine. Start talking.”
“I want to get the person who killed Scott just as much as you do.”
“And I should believe you, why?”
“Because he was my brother. I loved him. I have no reason to want him dead.”
“Really? I can think of several million reasons.”
“I don’t give a damn about Scott’s money.”
“That’s a funny statement coming from a man who has a huge judgment against him. Not to mention court costs, attorneys’ fees, and who knows what else.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I researched you. I know all about the meatpacking plant and the slander charges.”
Brian laughed. “Is that so? Well, little Miss Investigator, you didn’t dig deep enough. If you had, you would know another judge overturned that ruling. Aside from the mortgage on my townhouse, I don’t owe anybody anything.”
Toni didn’t know what to think. “If you don’t want Scott’s money, then why contest his will?”
Brian took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “I’m a reporter. By nature, I’m suspicious of everyone. I thought you killed Scott for his estate. You and Mark. I was convinced the two of you were having an affair.”
“That’s crazy.”
“I know that now. After
bugging your phones, your house, and tracking you with a GPS system. Of course, I wasn’t completely positive until your Realtor friend turned up dead.”
“Dana Dawson.”
“She was at your listing, meeting with your customer. I found out she had the same color hair, was roughly the same weight and height. At night, it would be hard to tell you apart. That’s when I knew you were in serious trouble.”
“Serious doesn’t begin to describe it. Nico ran me off the road. I almost drowned.”
“Nico? The guy you tracked down in Franklin?”
“That’s the one. Only I didn’t know it when I went looking for him. He was at the hotel the morning Scott died. I was stupid enough to think he could help me.”
“I knew about the crash. But when I realized Scott’s SUV was gone, I thought you might have staged it so you could disappear. You made the ten o’clock news last night. The police found your car.”
“Already? That’s not good. Now Nico will figure out I’m not dead.”
“Doesn’t matter. I won’t let him, or anyone else, touch you.”
For a split second, Toni caught a glimpse of Scott in Brian’s eyes. Her stomach tightened. She felt like crying.
Brian sensed her mood change. “What is it?”
“When are you going to untie me?”
He stood up. “Right now.”
Once she was free, Toni followed Brian into the kitchen. He handed her a glass of water and apologized for drugging her and tying her to the chair. “I was afraid if you saw me, you’d slice me up again,” he said.
“Yeah. I’m sorry about that, but I felt I had no other choice. And anyway, if you’re not in cahoots with Nico, why were you at his house?”
“I was trying to find you and keep you out of trouble. I heard the message with his address and figured you’d show up there sooner or later.”
“What about the morning Scott died? Why were you at the hotel?”
“Scott asked me to meet him there. He wanted to give me a tour.”
