Murder by Mocha cm-10

by Клео Коул

  “Get in and we’ll decide.”

  I slung my heavy handbag full of tricks over my shoulder. It clattered as I climbed into the cab. I swear I felt the monster engine rumbling in my chest.

  “Breanne’s magazine rented this prop for a fashion photo shoot,” Matt explained.

  “What to wear when the Joint Chiefs drop by?”

  “Apparently, military-style wraps are a Best Bet for a Fall Favorite. Anyway, she had the thing parked in our building’s garage, so I thought, ‘What the hell?’ More fun than her wimpy hybrid, don’t you think?”

  That’s when Matt took a closer look at my face—and his smile vanished. “What happened to your nose, Clare?”

  “Oh, that . . .” I touched the bruise. “It’s nothing—”

  Matt’s expression darkened. “Did Dudley Do-right do something wrong? Because if he did, he won’t know what hit him.”

  “Matt—”

  “I mean it. I’m pretty sure I can take that guy, armed or not.”

  “Thanks, but Quinn had absolutely nothing to do with this. I ran into a door . . .” A big canary yellow door with a rock- hard forearm. “And with enough makeup you can barely see the damage.”

  “A door?” Matt repeated. “So what’s the name of this ‘door’ and where can I find him?”

  “I’ll explain on the way. Let’s get going. Here—” I passed him the napkin. “Nancy drew me a map.”

  He waved it away. “I’ve got all the directions I need right here.” With affection, he patted a GPS device fitted to the dashboard. “We’re 6.9 miles, twenty-eight minutes, and one toll away.”

  “Thank R2D2 for me.”

  Matt slipped on a pair of Ray-Bans and eased the Hummer into traffic. With his new longish hairstyle and dark goatee, he looked like he was driving to an all-night jam session at the Blue Note—or a Mexican bank robbery.

  “Matt,” I said, trying to keep my voice light. “I have a quick question for you.”

  “Shoot,” he said, then smirked. “Not literally. I mean, Quinn hasn’t given you his gun, has he?”

  “Did your mother ever date a cop?”

  “You’re kidding, right?” Matt snorted. “My mother trusts cops about as much as I do.”

  “Since when?” I challenged. “She never said anything to me about not trusting the police.”

  “I’m not surprised, given what your boyfriend does for a living. Around you, she obviously kept her opinion to herself.”

  “So you don’t recall her mentioning dating a detective?”

  “What’s this all about?”

  “Did she ever mention a man named Cormac O’Neil? Maybe she called him Murphy or Murph?”

  “No, Clare. That name doesn’t ring any bells. Now why are you asking?”

  “I’ll tell you about it—later.”

  “Well, at least tell me why I’m driving you to an outdoor art space in Queens.”

  I took a breath. “Aphrodite has taken over the park for a PR party to launch a new line of home furnishings. The event is scheduled for Saturday, but at three o’clock today, I’m supposed to meet Maya Lansing and Alicia Bower on the grounds to mediate their peace conference.”

  Matt rubbed his dark goatee. “Isn’t Maya that half-naked fitness queen who threaten to end you? Maybe we should buy pepper spray. I can stop by the Queens Spy Shop. They’ve helped me before—”

  “No. I don’t need—”

  “On second thought, Maya is pretty buff. Maybe you should bring a Taser. The nose is good, though you’ll look tougher with a battered face. Intimidating, you know?”

  “This is supposed to be a peace conference.”

  “So was the Munich Agreement. Eleven months later Nazi tanks rolled into Warsaw.”

  “You’re the one who brought the tank!”

  “That’s not the point.” Matt’s eyebrows knitted. “How did this all come about?”

  Waving the letter from Alicia, I delivered a carefully edited version of my trip to Nutrition Nation—leaving all of Franco’s involvement on the cutting room floor. By the time I was finished with my update, we were through the Midtown Tunnel and inside the borough of Queens.

  “So you’re telling me our new business partner isn’t just a drug pusher. She’s also a—”

  “Murderess.” I swallowed hard. “Yes, sorry, but Alicia had motive and opportunity. And she also framed Maya Lansing for the crime.”

  The light changed, and we drove past a public housing project and into a distressed industrial area made up of junk-yards, warehouses, and garages. Most depressing were the shuttered businesses: Laundromats, delis, bodegas. Their deteriorated signs were half rusted, their windows dark.

  But then Matt made a right turn onto Vernon Boulevard, and the world around us suddenly transformed. Vernon paralleled the East River, and between the sun-kissed chop of that flowing water and the wide road we were on, stretched a lush, green swath of parkland.

  A block later, I recognized the walls of the Noguchi Museum, a building with ten art galleries on two floors. I’d spent a glorious day here a few years ago, viewing the works of Japanese-American artists as well as the lamps and furniture designed by Isamu Noguchi.

  My tension eased as I remembered the simple tranquillity of the open-air sculpture garden within those walls—an example of the miracle that was New York City.

  As challenging and rocky as life often became on these urban streets, sometimes all you had to do was turn a corner to find yourself in a better place, one filled with imagination, vision, beauty, and hope.

  “We’re here,” Matt said, one eye on his GPS screen. “Socrates Sculpture Park is on our left, past this big box store.”

  “Pull into the store’s lot,” I said. “Nancy warned me there was no other place to park around here.”

  We swung into Costco’s sprawling acreage, past its automotive garage and discount liquor store. Matt found a spot big enough to accommodate Bree’s fashionista prop, a space facing the East River, a channel of water that led directly to the Atlantic Ocean.

  Matt cut the engine and powered down the windows. Fresh sea air swept in along with the cry of seagulls and the sweet scent of Italian roasted peppers from a nearby concessions area.

  In front of our Hummer, a narrow sidewalk paralleled the jagged shoreline. Two African-American teens, an older Greek man, and a Hispanic father and son sat among the damp rocks, dangling fishing lines hopefully.

  Across the treacherous river the Manhattan skyline rose up like the shimmering walls of a mythic city—one of the most breathtaking views of New York I’d ever seen. And in a Queens Costco parking lot. Who knew?

  “Okay, Clare. What’s your plan, and why do you need me?”

  “I’m going to blackmail Alicia Bower.”

  Matt peered over his sunglasses. “That’s a crime.”

  “So is murder. I’m going to inform Alicia that I’ve figured out she killed Patrice. I’m going to lay out my evidence and threaten to go to the police unless she cuts me in for a big piece of the profits on Mocha Magic.”

  “Alicia won’t like that,” Matt said. “And Maya Lansing won’t, either. And the fitness queen is very big and very buff.”

  “I’m going to inform Maya that Alicia tried to frame her by using her Nutrition Nation umbrella when she committed the murder.”

  “You’re going to start a cat fight, and you’ll be in the middle!”

  I pulled a digital recorder from my purse. “I’m going to document the entire conversation. When I tell Alicia I want money in exchange for my silence, I’m sure she’ll incriminate herself.”

  “So what?” Matt threw up his hands. “That recording will be made without consent, so nothing you get will be admissible in court.”

  “Doesn’t matter. If I can establish Alicia’s guilt without doubt, I can turn over the recordings to Lori Soles and Sue Ellen Bass. Those two detectives are trained interrogators. In an interview room, they’ll be able to break Alicia down and get a confessi
on.”

  “Not if she shuts her yap and hires a lawyer.”

  “I’ll be a witness to whatever she says. So will Maya. They’ll get her, Matt.”

  “That still doesn’t explain why I’m here.”

  “You’re my backup.”

  “How can I back you up if you’re supposed to come alone and the security guard at the gate won’t let me in?”

  “Now comes the genius part of my plan.” I dug into my handbag and pulled out Joy’s old baby monitor. “My supersecret weapon.”

  I handed Matt the device’s receiver while I kept the actual monitor.

  “This thing is battery operated and voice activated, too. And it’s got a great range. You’ll be able to hear me, so I can narrate what’s happening. You can’t talk to me because the monitor only works one way. But if you hear trouble on my end, you go right to the gate and alert the guard.”

  “Clare, this thing is an antique! You probably haven’t given it a real workout since Joy was an infant.”

  “Wrong. I used it through most of our daughter’s adolescence.”

  “This I’ve got to hear.”

  “When Joy was fifteen, I caught her trying to sneak out of our Jersey house past midnight. So while she was at school the next day, I dug this out of my closet and hid the transmitter in her bedroom. After that, I could hear everything she said when she was on the phone with her friends. When Joy made plans to go out and party without permission, I was always there to thwart them. She never managed to sneak out, not once, all the way through graduation. So believe me, this works.” I held it up, smiling wider than an infomercial babe. “Guaranteed.”

  “Clare, you’re diabolical.”

  “I’m a mother.”

  “Well, I’m glad you weren’t my mother. I never would have had any fun.”

  Thirty-Four

  Ten minutes later I stood a few yards from the park entrance, baby monitor and digital recorder tucked inside my bag. Before approaching the gate, I glanced over my shoulder at my ex. He gave me a thumbs-up.

  Matt had already repositioned the Hummer under the fire escape of a crumbling warehouse across the street. Now he stood beneath a rusted sign, pink baby monitor to his ear.

  “Okay, one more test,” I said. “If you’re receiving me, raise your right hand and wave.”

  Matt flashed the proper signal.

  “Now get back inside the Hummer. I don’t want the guard to see you lurking around.”

  When Matt was out of sight, I pulled out Alicia’s letter to present to security and crossed a gravelly stretch. Aphrodite’s people had erected a chain-link fence that completely blocked the park entrance. A Parks Department notice warned the public that the area was closed all week for “a private event.” A sign over the gate had been draped with a scarlet banner. Live Like a Greek Goddess! it exhorted the city’s women.

  I found a buzzer for deliveries and pressed it. Waiting for a response, I peered through the chain links. Unfortunately, the view was blocked by eight-foot partitions painted to resemble Doric columns.

  Since the exhibition was just days away, I assumed I’d find more activity. But there was no sign of people going in or out, and after a full minute passed, still no guard arrived to admit me.

  Meanwhile, a roiling mass of clouds crossed paths with the spring sun, and the formerly luminous afternoon turned unsettlingly gloomy.

  Impatient, I finally rattled the gate and discovered it wasn’t locked. I waited for a guard to show, but all I heard was the sound of canvas flapping in the wind and the cry of more seagulls.

  “There’s no guard,” I told Matt. “But someone left the gate unlocked, so I’m going in...”

  I stepped between a gap in two of the partitions and into an enclosed, grassy area wide enough to accommodate our Hummer and then some. The path was bordered by high plywood walls painted with reproductions of art found on Greco-Roman urns and mosaics. I’d been instructed to meet Alicia in the big tent, and like a culturally enlightening cattle chute, the walkway led right up to a white party tent two stories high.

  “This has to be the place,” I told Matt. “I can’t imagine anything bigger would fit inside this little park.”

  The interior was cast in shadows, and I paused before entering, troubled by the lack of activity.

  “There should be someone here,” I said. “A security guard to watch the stuff at the very least. And where are Alicia and Maya? It’s time for their summit meeting, but so far the place looks deserted . . .”

  Suddenly, I heard the hum of electric generators. One by one, floodlights high in the tent’s steel-framed rafters sprang to life. A broad red carpet, running down the center of the enclosure, was now illuminated with intermittent pools of light.

  The tent’s interior had been partitioned off into smaller spaces with banners dangling over each entrance. All these spaces were dark, save one at the farthest end of the carpeted corridor. There the light was so bright it spilled into the makeshift hall, infusing the carpet with an almost neon red glow.

  “I think I’m being played here and I don’t like it,” I told Matt. “But if Alicia thinks spooky lighting is going to intimidate me, she’s mistaken.”

  Secretly, though, I found the whole thing creepy, and I could imagine Matt’s reaction. Right now he was probably pounding his head against the Hummer’s steering wheel, shouting things we both knew I couldn’t hear like, Get the hell out of there, Clare!

  “Sorry, Matt. I want to find out what’s going on . . .”

  I walked down the aisle, following the pools of light as if they were stepping stones across a shallow creek. I reached the first exhibition space, where a banner touted The Minotaur Collection, with the tagline Furnishing His Man Cave. Inside I spied pool tables, wet bars, display cases, even gun racks.

  I continued forward, passing myriad displays: the Athena Collection: Bed and Bath for the Discerning Woman, and Gaia’s Garden: Outdoor Furnishings to Complement Mother Nature. The Spartan Collection was touted as “an edgy minimalist style experience,” which apparently meant IKEA-style stick furniture and uniquely innovative designs for uncomfortable-looking chairs.

  At last I arrived at the brilliantly lit exhibit for the Perseus and Andromeda Collection; Boudoir Beauty for Classic Couples, its banner promised.

  “This has to be the place, but I still don’t see anyone . . .”

  Instead of going in, I paused at the entrance, waiting for the invisible hand that led me here to reveal itself once more. I didn’t have long to wait. Behind me the pools of light went out, one after the other, until the only illumination inside this night-black tent was directly in front of me.

  I crossed the threshold. Three steps in, I found myself surrounded by an array of bedroom furnishings. The most impressive piece was a massive bed with four Doric columns supporting a sea-blue silk canopy. The bed itself was raised high off the floor and framed by twin nightstands with matching lamps. A tall Japanese-style screen completed the decor.

  The imposing bed was backed by a tall mirror, its silvered glass framed by a bone-white ceramic frieze depicting Perseus battling Medusa, the female demon with the serpent hair who turned men to stone with her deadly gaze.

  According to myth Perseus outsmarted Medusa by using the reflection on his polished shield to avoid her lethal stare. Guided by that trusty mirror, he used his sword to cut off the she-devil’s head without being turned to stone.

  True to the story, the sculpted frieze portrayed the warrior hero with shield raised, his eyes averted from the menacing gorgon. I was so intrigued by the frame’s artwork that at first I didn’t notice a word scrawled in red letters across the mirror itself.

  SEVERA.

  Was it the designer’s name? Curious, I climbed up two of the three platform steps, toward the foot of the massive bed then cried out. Someone was on the mattress—Maya Lansing sprawled facedown, three bloody holes stitched across her back. Her head was turned, and when I saw her wide, sightless eyes, I k
new the fitness queen had gone through her final cooldown.

  She was shot in the back, I realized, probably while she was reading the word scrawled on the mirror . . .

  Now I was the one looking into that mirror—just in time to spot the reflection of a figure stepping out from behind the Japanese screen!

  Clad neck to toe in black, the figure’s face was hidden behind a virgin-white Kabuki mask. The stranger clutched something in a gloved hand. I realized what it was a split second before I threw myself onto the floor.

  The gunshots that followed shattered the mirror instead of my skull, and a shower of shards cascaded over Maya’s corpse.

  “Gun!” I cried to Matt. “Someone’s shooting at me!”

  With the killer behind me, I rolled sideways across the floor until I slammed into the love seat. Bullets chewed the carpet, and when I hopped over the couch, the last shot punched a hole through the back of it, filling the air with an explosion of stuffing.

  Hearing an empty click, I prayed the shooter was out of ammo. I peered through the hole in the shattered love seat and spied the black silhouette near the broken mirror. The shooter was fumbling to reload.

  This is my chance! I raced for the exit. Within seconds, I heard more pops. Bullets came so close I felt the shock waves. A vase exploded and then a sink, another mirror and a ceramic swan!

  Suddenly, I heard a loud crash, followed by the chugging roar of a vehicle engine and the sound of breaking glass. Finally came the earsplitting blast of a familiar horn.

  Matt!

  Seeing the headlights rushing toward me across the red carpet, I ran toward the Hummer, waving my arms. The vehicle came to a skidding stop right beside me. I reached for the handle, but the passenger’s door was already open.

  “Get in!” Matt yelled.

  I entered with a single leap. “Alicia’s trying to kill me!”

  “That’s Alicia?” Matt said, eyes forward.

  I peered through the windshield and saw the white Kabuki mask glowing in the tent’s eerie gloom. Then I glanced away in time to avoid being blinded by the stab of a brilliant scarlet light.