Life is Better Brunette

by Diane Bator

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Gilda knocked on the door to Gary's room door and peered inside, glad to see the vomiting man was gone. His bed was neatly made and empty. Gary dozed, propped up in his bed and surrounded by a couple extra pillows, while a pair of large headphones covered his ears.

  The elusive Adam Vines sat on the nearby blue vinyl chair with a cell phone that was connected to Gary's headphones in one hand.

  "Hey." She strolled toward Gary's bed.

  "Good morning." Adam glanced up and gave a nod. "Are you here to see the big guy?"

  "If you mean Gary, then yes."

  "Cool." Adam tapped the screen. "Okay, dude, we're done for now. You have a visitor."

  Gary's eyes fluttered open. "That's too bad. I was finally starting to relax."

  "What were you listening to?" Gilda asked.

  "Whale songs." Adam winced. "Don't ask. All I know is it keeps the boss happy. I'll step out and make a few calls while you two chat."

  "Thanks." Gary yawned then wiggled to sit up straighter while Adam left the room. "Hey, it's pretty early for you to look so worried. What's going on?"

  She told him about Aislin's morning phone call and how both Aislin and Kane were attacked the previous night. "There's a man following Kane. He's wearing a trench coat and kind of looks like Columbo. I thought you might know who he is."

  Gary raised his eyebrows then laughed. "The detective who was on television before you were born?"

  "You're not funny. I'm serious."

  "Honey, I don't know anyone who looks like that. You'd think if anyone was doing undercover work, they would pick a costume that didn't stand out so much."

  A costume? Gilda frowned. If that was what the man's trench coat was, then who was he really, and what was he hiding?

  "I know that look," Gary said. "And I don't like it."

  "It's nothing. I'm okay."

  He snorted. "No, you're not. You want to run out the door and go track the guy down to question him."

  Gilda refilled his water glass. "Wouldn't you? He might have attacked two of my friends, and now he's stalking Kane."

  "Suddenly you and Aislin are friends?" Gary's eyes grew wide. "Or you and Kane, for that matter. Is there something you didn't mention about all this?"

  She blew out a breath. "Aislin was alone with Thayer when I went to see her this morning. Apparently, they'd spent the night together."

  "That's not a crime." He shook his head. "Why does it bother you?"

  Why did it bother her? Gilda's stomach churned. She and Thayer hadn't dated in years. "Because they were in the back room of Kane's store and their clothes were scattered all over the street as well as the front of the store."

  Gary flinched. "Did you actually see them together?"

  "No, but I heard someone leave when I got to the store. Aislin told me it was Thayer."

  "And you believed her?"

  Gilda bit her lower lip. "You think I should talk to Thayer before I jump to conclusions?"

  "That would be a good start." Gary picked up his water glass and took a long sip. "What else do you have to do today?"

  She sat on the end of his bed. "I had planned to go to the library to do some research, depending on when they're letting you out of here."

  "More like you're still trying to meddle in Miss Claudia's murder investigation."

  Gilda drooped her shoulders. "If I wanted to do that, I'd drop by the police station first."

  Gary chuckled. "At least that would give you a chance to talk to Thayer."

  Her face burned.

  "As for me, I'm getting out of here, but it might be another day or two," he said. "Doc seems to have found more tests to run on me."

  Gilda frowned. "That doesn't sound good. Did he say what he's looking for?"

  "No." Gary glanced toward the doorway. "To be honest, I think he's just stalling to keep me here safe and sound for the police."

  By the time Adam returned to check on his boss a couple minutes later, Gilda was more than ready to leave. She pecked Gary on the cheek and didn't bother to look for Kane. Instead, she headed straight to the police station a couple blocks over.

  Thayer met her gaze when she barged in and stormed toward his desk.

  "What do you want?"

  "To talk about Aislin."

  "Crap." He hopped out of his chair and practically ran to the nearest interrogation room, probably in the hopes of keeping their discussion a bit more discreet.

  Gilda followed. Since there were no bad guys in sight, she stood in the doorway and scowled. "What on earth did you think you were doing last night?"

  "Sleeping?" He shot back. "What were you doing?"

  She clenched her jaw. "I mean before that. When you met up with Aislin Chadwick."

  "What are you talking about?" Thayer narrowed his eyes, but his normal light tan deepened to crimson.

  Gilda fought to keep her voice calm. "Aislin called this morning and asked me to meet her at the gift shop. On my way there, I found a man's shoe, a woman's bra, and a suit jacket hanging on the door."

  "So she met up with a guy and had a wild night," he said. "Is that a crime?"

  Technically, it wasn't. Gilda folded her arms across her chest. "She said it was you."

  Thayer shrugged as his face turned a deep shade of red. "Is that important?"

  His words hung in the stale air of the interrogation room for several seconds as Gilda studied him then shook her head. "No, I don't really care who you sleep with. I just think it's in poor taste to spend the night with a murder suspect."

  "Aislin's not a murder suspect."

  "Then why would someone attack her?"

  Thayer paled. "What are you talking about?"

  "Isn't that why she called you?" Gilda frowned. "She's got a huge lump on the back of her head as well as scratches and bruises on her sides. Either someone was waiting for her in her house or she went back out after Kane dropped her off at home. She wouldn't say. Where did you meet her last night?"

  He flared his nostrils. "That's none of your business."

  Gilda punched her hands onto her hips. "You're a cop, Thayer. A woman got attacked last night, and all you did was end up sleeping with her. It might not be my business, but it certainly will be Fabio's."

  Thayer lunged across the room and clapped a hand over her mouth. "Keep it down. Do you want everyone to hear you?"

  "Yes," she said, the word muffled beneath his hand.

  "So do I." Fabio stood in the doorway behind her.

  Thayer dropped his hand away from Gilda and huffed. "This has nothing to do with Miss Claudia's case."

  "That doesn't matter." Fabio stepped inside the interrogation room and closed the door. "I want to know what happened last night. Who was attacked, and what do both of you have to do with everything?"

  "I'll talk to you, but Gilda has to leave." Thayer glared.

  "Fine by me." As she made a move toward the door, Fabio ordered her to sit. She took the chair opposite Thayer with her gaze on Fabio.

  Fabio paced the entire circumference of the room before he spoke again. "Who was attacked last night?"

  Gilda glanced at Thayer. "Aislin Chadwick."

  "The psychic who works with Kane?" he asked.

  "Yes. Kane was also attacked by someone, but somewhere else."

  Fabio stopped behind her. "How do you know they were both attacked?"

  Gilda told him about Aislin's early morning phone call, the scratches and bruises on her torso, and the lump on the back of her head. "She says she can't remember what happened. Just that Kane dropped her off at home after they had dinner, and then she woke up with Thayer in the back of the store." She paused. "Kane said he was attacked on his way to Armadillo Street to check on his store. He woke up on the beach this morning."

  Fabio moved away from her. He rounded the table then paused near Thayer. "And how exactly are you involved in this?"

  Thayer dropped his face into his hands and scrubbed hard enough to make his skin
grow red. "I found her walking around near the beach last night. She seemed fine. We talked until she said she'd forgotten her jacket at the gift shop and asked me to walk there with her to get it since she was getting cold. I guess she didn't want to go home for some reason, but she wouldn't say why."

  "So you took her to Armadillo Street to Kane's shop?" Fabio asked as he resumed pacing.

  "Yeah. She works there and has a key." Thayer cleared his throat. "She unlocked the door and…"

  "Um, you forgot about losing your shoe, her bra, and leaving your suit jacket on the front door." Gilda scowled.

  Thayer shook his head. "That never happened."

  "What do you mean?" She narrowed her eyes.

  "Like I said, she unlocked the door and asked me to go inside first."

  Fabio paused. "Why? She's the one who was more familiar with the store in the dark. She knew where she'd left her jacket, not you."

  "It was late, and she was nervous." Thayer seemed on edge. "I went inside ahead of her, and she steered me toward the back room where she said her jacket was. As soon as we went through the curtain into the back, something pinched my arm, and everything went black."

  Gilda raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

  "Which arm?" Fabio stood behind him.

  Thayer lifted his left arm for his partner to examine. "I woke up totally disoriented. Once I pieced things together, I was embarrassed someone got the jump on me. That's why I didn't say anything when I came in this morning."

  Gilda closed her eyes. Someone small could have squished into the small gap between the desk and the wall in the back room in order to drug Thayer. Was he the intended target all along or had they hoped to get Kane instead? "If someone drugged Thayer, they must have knocked Aislin out to keep her quiet."

  Fabio didn't look convinced. "Or to make her look like she wasn't involved."

  "If she actually was, which means we more than likely didn't have sex if we were both out cold," Thayer pointed out, then hesitated. "But I have no idea why I woke up naked."

  Fabio circled a spot on Thayer's arm then pulled out his cell phone and took a photo. He paused and gazed at Gilda. "How easy would it be for two people to subdue a drugged man, strip off his clothes, and stage photos of him engaged in sexual activity with a woman who could later claim to be attacked?"

  Thayer gagged. "What?"

  "I'm just throwing the idea out there. You are investigating a murder that happened right next door to Kane's shop," he said. "I'd expect to get a few blackmail photos if I were you."

  "But why?" Gilda asked. "Thayer's just a cop investigating a murder."

  "Correction. He's helping to investigate the murder of someone who's faked their death once before." Fabio tapped his cell phone. "I think we need to bring Kane in for questioning."

  Gilda sighed. "That won't help. Like I said, after he left Aislin at her house last night, he got attacked as well. Someone knocked him out cold and left him lying on the beach. He has a huge lump on the back of his head and bruises on his face. Whoever tried to knock him out probably hadn't expected him to fight back. I brought him to the hospital earlier then went to see Gary."

  Fabio stared in her direction, his mouth working in several different directions. "Kane woke up on the beach, which is where Aislin met up with Thayer."

  Gilda shook her head. "There's no way she could have knocked Kane out without drugging him first. The guy's built like a monster truck, and she's tiny."

  "So either someone followed Kane as he left Aislin's house or they followed Aislin who ended up going toward the beach as well." Thayer ran a hand through his hair. "There are a few surveillance cameras we could check out. Happy Harvey's has one, and the police station has a couple on that side."

  "Good idea." Fabio tapped his phone again. "I'll get someone on that."

  Thayer flinched. "I'll do it."

  "Not this time," he said.

  "You might want to look for a tall guy in a beige trench coat who has messy black hair," Gilda suggested.

  Thayer raised one eyebrow. "You mean like Sherlock Holmes?"

  "More like Columbo," Fabio said. "Why would we be looking for this strange man?"

  "Kane said he was in the restaurant last night and made Aislin very nervous. This morning, the same guy was parked near my house taking pictures of Kane and me while I checked out his lump." When Thayer smirked, Gilda scowled. "Look, buddy, you're already in this deep enough. I'd suggest you keep quiet."

  Fabio nudged Thayer to vacate his chair. "On second thought, go check out those surveillance cameras. Let me know if you figure out what happened to Kane or Aislin, or if you see the guy in the trench coat."

  "I'm on it." Thayer pulled the door open.

  "And stay away from Aislin." Fabio set his phone on the table and met Gilda's gaze. "How tall is this trench coat guy?"

  "I'm not sure. He was sitting in a car when I saw him," she said. "He drives a dark blue sedan, kind of like the one Gary crashed. He seemed tall and had a small camera, not a big fancy one. Like he was trying to not be obvious."

  Fabio pulled up a picture on his phone and spun it around so she could see better. "Like this guy?"

  In the photo, the Columbo-styled man walked alone across the street near the Healing Spirit Gift Shop during daylight. Same dark, unkempt hair. Same beige trench coat. The man's jawline wasn't as strong as Miss Claudia's. There was no way this man was Robert Sullivan. This man was definitely someone she'd never seen before today.

  "That looks like the man who was spying on us." Gilda's mouth went dry. "Where did you get that?"

  Fabio turned the phone to study the photo. "I've had an undercover officer on Armadillo Street for several days now. He said he started seeing this guy the day you found Miss Claudia. The only reason he really noticed was because he used to be a big Columbo fan. He figured this guy was either some detective wannabe or was trying to stand out in order to not be noticed."

  "That doesn't make any sense." Gilda laughed.

  "Think of it this way." He put his phone away. "When something is new, you notice it all the time. Look at the lighthouse. Do you remember when the town first repainted the lighthouse from white with the thick black stripe to just plain white? People were upset and complained all the time. Does it matter now what color the lighthouse is?"

  "No, we're so used to seeing it the way it is. We don't really see it anymore."

  "Bingo." Fabio tapped the air with his index finger. "I'm willing to bet this trench coat guy has been hanging around town for a while. Everyone has been so used to seeing him that no one really sees him anymore."

  Gilda frowned. "Then why did your officer notice him?"

  "He'd just come back from a month long vacation. To him, this guy stood out like a camel in a winery."

  * * *

  Gilda spent yet another two hours at the library in front of the microfiche and came out with little more than a blinding headache. She'd already managed to find more information on the computer. The few local stories she'd found gave no clear details. Her gut instinct said she'd dig up even more if she got another crack at searching Miss Claudia's apartment.

  Or at finding the man in the trench coat.

  She rolled her head from side to side, the bones and ligaments crackling, then reached for her phone. Instead of her phone's regular homepage, what filled her screen was the photo of Miss Claudia and the little girl who looked so much like Aislin it was uncanny. She sat back in disbelief, positive Fabio had erased that picture from her phone the day before. Had she taken more than one and not even realized her mistake?

  If she had, there must have been a good reason. On a hunch, Gilda strolled over to one of the public computers and typed Aislin Chadwick into the search bar. Several hits popped up, mostly the usual "if you can't find Aislin Chadwick, we'll create it for you" sites. She scrolled past those and found Aislin's fortune-telling website.

  Aislin Chadwick. Fifth generation psychic, tea leaf interpreter, and tarot card reader, Gi
lda read then sat back. "But is she for real or just lucky?"

  The website listed several customer reviews—all positive—and many places where she'd made appearances. Sandstone Cove seemed to be an annual stop on her Northeastern US tours. Gilda scrolled through the list, ready to move on to the next article in the search engine when one location jumped out at her: Los Angeles. The same area of Los Angeles that Sullivan and his family came from.

  She frowned and made a note of Aislin's appearance dates and locations in Los Angeles then went back to the Sandstone Cove dates and clicked on the links that accompanied them. None of them probably even mattered. Most were pictures of her giving readings to some of the locals, yet Gilda was compelled to keep searching for something. Anything, at this point.

  It wasn't until she opened the fourth article that Gilda's mouth dropped open. Aislin Chadwick, on one of her many appearances in Sandstone Cove two years ago, had done a reading for Shawn O'Reilly. The image of Aislin seated across the table from Shawn was enough to make Gilda close her eyes and rub them.

  Even though Aislin's hair was much darker in the photos, Shawn and Aislin could have passed for siblings. Because of their height differences and the fact she'd never seen them together, that thought hadn't struck her until now.

  Gilda printed off the article and made careful note of the date and location. The same library she sat in now. Her hand shook so badly she had to cross out and rewrite the information three times.

  "What a good-looking couple." A passing librarian paused to read over Gilda's shoulder. "Oh, I remember that event. We held that Psychic Fair in the basement as a fund-raiser two years ago at Halloween. That young lady was phenomenal. She told me I'd meet the man of my dreams, and a week later, I did. We've had a lot of requests to bring her back for another event."

  "And did you?" Gilda asked.

  She tapped her fingers to her lips. "No, I don't think we were able to. Schedule conflicts, that sort of thing. I wasn't the person in charge of the events so I don't really know."

  Gilda sat up straighter. "Oh really? Who's in charge of the fund-raising events?"