by Ann Mullen
“Call Savannah and talk to her.”
“Talk to her about what? I can’t tell her I think she’s full of it.”
“Don’t let her know you’re suspicious of anything. Just play along with whatever she says. You’d be surprised at what you can find out about a person when you go along with them.”
“I don’t know if I can do that. It’s so sneaky. I wouldn’t feel right.”
“That’s how I do it. Sneaky is my middle name.”
“You don’t have a middle name.”
“Just pretend you’re on a job with us, and this is your assignment.”
“I could do that.”
“Remember, let her do the talking, and keep your thoughts to yourself. The more you listen, the more you’ll find out. Call me if you get anything. Hey, by the way. What time did you leave Savannah’s? Russell said he had been trying to reach her all morning, but couldn’t get her. I wonder where she could be.”
“I only stayed a little while. It was probably around nine when I left.”
“I just talked with him a few minutes ago, and she wasn’t home then.”
“She’s probably at Cole’s house. That’s where I’d be if my new boyfriend had just gotten out of the hospital. I’d be over there tending to his needs… if you know what I mean. I’d bet money she’s there... if I were a betting person.”
Zing! Mom had finally seen the light. Evidence is better than words any day.
We ended our conversation without Mom saying anything about our incident last night. She didn’t ask, so I didn’t tell. I figured it would come out in the end. I was just so glad that she was finally seeing the other side of Savannah… the side that I saw. I logged off the computer, grabbed the printout on Bruno Michaels, and headed outside. I couldn’t wait to tell Billy all that I had learned.
Billy was under his wrecked truck, fiddling with it and talking to himself in Cherokee, when I walked into the garage. “Are you cussing at the truck?” I asked him.
He slid out from under the truck and said, “No. I was cussing at Wynona. She’s the reason my poor truck is in such a mess.”
“Is it a goner?”
“No, it’s salvageable. I can fix it. It might take awhile though, since I’m such a busy private investigator.”
“Well… you’re about to get busier. Check this out.” I handed him the printout. “You were dead on about the gun. It says right here the gun used in the drive-by shooting that killed Francine Michaels was a .38. I think it’s the same gun, and I think Bruno used it to kill his wife.”
Chapter 17
Billy took a few minutes to read the printout, and then said, “The gun belongs to Wynona. She’s the one who probably killed Bruno’s wife. Further down on the page it says that Francine put up the front money for Donald and Hank’s company. She was a silent partner and owned a third of it. Maybe Wynona was trying to eliminate all three of them—Hank, Donald, and Francine. That way she’d get it all. No, that still leaves Hank’s wife, Stella. She isn’t dead.”
“Not yet. Maybe she was next on the list,” I suggested. “Donald ruined everything when he didn’t die. I bet Wynona wasn’t too thrilled about that. She’ll have to come up with a more ingenious way to have him snuffed out.”
“That’s not going to happen. She was denied bail, so she’ll be in jail until she goes to trial. I checked Donald’s financial records this morning while you were still asleep, and he has a lot of money to protect. I bet his lawyer is rewriting his will for him as we speak. Donald’s a smart man. Poor Wynona has a little over six thousand dollars in her checking account. She’ll need that and more to pay for her lawyer.”
“Did they have a pre-nup agreement?”
“They sure did, and it’s a good thing for him. Donald was in business with Francine and made most of his money before he married Wynona, so if they get a divorce, she walks away with nothing.”
“But… if he died, she’d get the bulk of everything. What happened to Francine’s share of the company when she died? Did Bruno profit?”
“Donald bought out Hank and Francine’s share of the company when they died. Stella has already gotten her share, but Bruno hasn’t seen a dime yet. It’s only been a few months since Francine was murdered, so I’m thinking that Donald has been stalling on the pay-out.”
“Do you think he suspects Bruno of killing Francine?”
“I’m beginning to think so, and if that’s the case, the money would default back to Donald. If you’re convicted of killing someone, you can’t profit from their death. It’s the law. Perhaps Donald is holding out on making the payment to see if they catch Bruno.”
“That could take forever. How long can he hold out?”
“Donald can drag this out until a judge makes him pay up.”
“Bruno would have to sue him to get his money.”
“And I don’t think Bruno wants to take that route. There’s no record of a lawsuit so far.”
“No wonder Bruno wouldn’t turn in the gun. He’s afraid they’ll find out it was the same one used to kill his wife.”
“That’s my thought.”
“Have you heard from Jonathan, yet?”
“No, and I’m beginning to wonder what’s going on. He should’ve called hours ago. All he had to do was drop off the gun.”
“See… I told you it was a bad idea for him to see her. One of us should’ve taken the gun to Deanna, not him. That way, Jonathan wouldn’t have any contact with her. They’re probably in bed right now.”
Billy laughed. “Your imagination is making up drama that’s not going to happen. You need to give Jonathan a little credit. He’s a grown man. He knows right from wrong.”
“I do give him credit. She’s the one I don’t trust. From what I’ve heard, she could get him to do anything. She had him wrapped around her little finger, and when she got tired of him, she dumped him. She’ll do it again. Women like her never change.”
Billy’s cell phone rang. When he pulled it out, he looked at the screen and smiled. “See. It’s Jonathan, and he’s not in bed with Deanna.”
“How do you know?”
Billy ignored me. “Hello, brother. I was beginning to wonder what happened to you.” Five minutes later, Billy closed up the cell phone and said, “Jonathan’s still at the lab.”
“Why’s he still there? All he had to do was drop off the gun, and then leave. No big deal.”
“Deanna suggested he wait for the results.”
“This isn’t TV, Billy. It doesn’t work that fast. She’s digging in.”
“I sure hope not. If Deanna steals Jonathan away from Lu Ann it will be my fault. I was the one who hooked them back up.”
“Not so, dear husband. You’re not responsible for what your brother does. Forget about him for a minute. I have juicy news to tell you. Mom thinks Savannah and Cole are hot and heavy for each other. She saw them kissing this morning.”
“Why am I not surprised?” Billy rolled his eyes. “I had a feeling something was stiring. I saw this one coming.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
“I was hoping it was my imagination. Cole killed McCoy and now he’s going after his wife. How do you think that will look?”
“It’s not as if he set out to kill McCoy. It was self-defense.”
“It still won’t look good. I thought Cole had better sense.”
“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Love is a mighty powerful thing, and lust is even more so. Lust is an uncontrollable emotion.”
“Let’s hope that Jonathan uses his head. He’s got a good thing going on with Lu Ann, and I don’t want to see him jeopardize their relationship. He wouldn’t get another chance with her.”
“It’s all about control, Billy. If he wants to be married to Lu Ann all he has to do is say no to Deanna… plain and simple.”
“He never could do that before. I sure hope he can this time. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”
“What’s on the a
genda for today?”
“We still have a few loose ends to tie up, so I called Lila and told her we were going to be tied up for the rest of the week. I also told her to meet with the guy from the body shop and the woman who’s having husband problems, and then prepare a report for us. She said she’d take care of it right away.”
“And she will, Billy, but that’s not her job. You’re going to have to give her a raise.”
“I did, and I promoted her to assistant. She’s more than a secretary. She runs that office, and she’s good at it. We’re lucky to have her.”
“I like Lila. She’s good at her job, she’s friendly, and I don’t have to worry about her flirting with my husband—even though she’s single and could. She has morals. I applaud her for that.”
“She’s turned out to be just what we needed.”
“She needs a new car.”
“What?”
“Have you seen that car she drives? Its twelve years old. She’s constantly having problems with it. She needs a new one. We could write it off on our taxes.”
“I knew I’d regret letting you poke your nose into our financial affairs.”
“You could do for her what you did for me. Buy the car, put it in the company name with the promise that it would belong to her if she left the company. But don’t deduct the car payment from her salary, make it a gift. She’s divorced with two teenagers to support. She can’t afford a new car payment, or she would’ve already bought one.”
“I’ll give it some thought.”
I didn’t press Billy. If he said he would give it some thought, he would.
“What loose ends are you talking about? Flo’s case is over and Savannah doesn’t need our help anymore, so that only leaves the gun to deal with.”
“When we get the results back, we’ll have to see to it that Sheriff Hudson gets custody of the gun, without compromising the evidence. I’ve come up with a plan on how we’re going to do that.”
“Tell me more.”
“We’re going to put the gun back where we found it, and then we’re going to call Sheriff Hudson and tell him that we suspect Bruno tossed it into the woods. He already knows we saw him with the gun, so I’m sure he’ll send his men out to look for it. We’ll make the call when we get to Bruno’s house, and then we’ll knock on Bruno’s door and tell him what we suspect. If we’re lucky, Sheriff Hudson and his men will catch him in the act of trying to retrieve the gun. The timing will have to be just right.”
“I still don’t know why we didn’t just turn it over to Sheriff Hudson when we found it.”
“Perhaps we should have, but it’s too late for that now.”
“You mean to tell me that you might’ve made a mistake?”
“An error in judgment,” he corrected. “I’m not perfect. I want us to get out of this without any repercussions.”
“Like withholding evidence?”
“Precisely. All we have to do is wait on Deanna’s results, and then we’ll take the gun back. I want us to wash our hands of the whole mess.”
“It’s time to step back and let the police do their job,” I agreed. “As I see it now, there’s nothing for us to gain by continuing to get involved. Once we put the gun back and tell the sheriff, our job is done. It should’ve been over the minute we found the gun.”
“Too late now to cry over spilled milk.”
“What other loose ends do we have to tie up?”
“Actually, that’s the only one. Then there’s McCoy’s funeral.”
“McCoy’s funeral is a given. All we have to do is show up.”
“Later, we’ll probably have to testify at Savannah’s trial—if they decide to prosecute,” Billy said. “I know we’ll have to testify at Wynona’s trial. We’re going to spend a bit of time in court.”
“Yeah, but that’s awhile off. I’m not going to be concerned with Savannah. She’ll do fine. She has Cole and Russell to look after her. Poor Russell. He’s crazy for her, but she’s gaga for Cole. As far as Wynona is concerned, I’ll be more than glad to help put her in prison.”
“We have a few days to relax before we take on another case.”
“I like the idea of that. What shall we do with our free time?”
“Let’s just play it by ear.”
“While we’re waiting to hear from Jonathan, we could go visit Savannah, and then stop by Mom’s house to see how Eddie’s doing. Then we could take the kids to visit your mom. We haven’t seen her in days.”
“I have a better idea. We’ll invite them over for dinner. I’ll get Helene to make something special. Mom and Dad love her spaghetti.”
“I’m sure she’ll love slaving over a hot stove all day.”
“I love cooking,” Helene said as she walked out from behind the garage with both kids holding onto her hands. The dogs, as usual, tagged along. “I’d be glad to fix a big pot of spaghetti sauce. Should I give Sarah and Chief Sam a call?”
“No, I’ll do that,” Billy replied.
“Hey, we could take the kids with us to visit Mom. That way Helene wouldn’t have to watch them while she makes a big batch of her spaghetti sauce for dinner.”
“But didn’t your mom say that Eddie had a bug?” Helene asked. “The kids don’t need to be exposed to someone who’s sick. All those germs…”
“That’s right. I forgot.”
“You two go do what you do, and I’ll start the sauce. The kids won’t get in my way. I’ll get the dogs to watch them.” She laughed as she herded the crew inside the house.
Billy looked at me, smiled, and then said, “We’re lucky to have her, too, and she bought her own new car.”
“Yep, you got lucky on that one. Didn’t cost you a thing… tightwad.”
Billy had a hurt look on his face. He wasn’t stingy with his money. That’s for sure.
“I’m sorry, Billy. I was just kidding. You’re the most generous man I know. If you think it’s too much, you can forget about buying Lila a car.” I snickered. “She can walk to work.”
“You’re going to be the death of me yet.”
“My dad used to say the same thing, and look what happened to him.”
“Your dad died of a heart attack.”
“Yeah, and I drove him to it.”
“No, you didn’t. He had a bad heart. My heart is strong.”
“Yes, it is. Plus, I’m not sleazing round with Cole anymore.”
“This conversation is getting totally out of hand. I take back what I said. All of it. If I should die, it won’t be because of you.”
“You’re so easy. I was just messing with you.”
“Get your gear and let’s hit the road. We have trouble to get into.”
“Goodie. I love being bad!”
After a quick lunch of sandwiches and chips, Billy and I headed out again on another one of our exploits. Adventure was waiting in the wings.
Our first stop was Redman’s Auto, much to my amazement. I was sure that Billy had rejected my idea about buying a car for Lila for the time being, but obviously he hadn’t, because here we were.
Greg had a concerned look on his face when he saw us coming back in so soon, but that looked faded away after Billy told him we were looking for a new car for our assistant.
“I was afraid you didn’t like something about your truck.”
“Oh, no,” Billy replied. “I love it.” He turned and looked at his truck. “You can’t beat a Dodge.”
“We’re shopping for something reasonably priced, that gets good gas mileage,” I said. “And even though we’re looking for economy, it can’t be too small. Our assistant has two teenagers.” It only took me fifteen minutes to find what I thought would be the perfect car for Lila and her two kids, but Billy had his reservations. “It’s too small,” he said. “I think we need a mid-size car.”
“Look,” I replied. “Just because it’s too small for you, doesn’t mean it’s too small for Lila. She’s not a big, burly man, and her legs aren’t as long. Th
is will be terrific.” I crawled in the driver’s seat of the Nissan. “See, I have plenty of room.”
“Okay,” Billy relented, looking over at Greg. “You can put us down for one of these, but not today. We have to decide how and when we’re going to give it to her. If she thinks for one minute its charity, she won’t take it.”
“It isn’t charity,” I added. “But she’s funny about things like that. We just want her to have reliable transportation.”
Billy cocked his eyes at me and then looked back at Greg. “Jesse’s just discovered that she has money in the bank, and wants to share it with everyone. Next, she’ll want to buy you something.”
Greg put his arm around my shoulders and said, “I love my Aunt Jesse, and she loves me.”
“Crutchfield is right down the road. They have great electronics! Billy bought my widescreen TV from there. Do you know they even have a room set up just like home with a sofa and everything, so you can sit back and watch one of their televisions? I bet you don’t have a widescreen as big as theirs.”
“I sure don’t. I don’t even have an MP3 Player.”
“Then we need to correct that.”
“All right,” Billy butted in. “We’re leaving.”
Greg and I laughed.
“It has to be red,” I said, pointing to the car. “She loves red.”
“Let me know when you’re ready to make the deal, and I’ll fix you right up.”
Lila was getting a new, red Nissan Versa soon, and I felt very good about it. Billy would too, later.
“It feels good to buy something nice for somebody,” I said as we pulled out of the car lot. “Don’t you feel good about it, Billy?”
“We haven’t bought the car, yet.”
“But we will, and that makes me real happy. I always liked getting gifts, but it makes me feel better to give them instead. Is that weird?”
“Yes, you’re very weird. I never know what to expect from you sometimes, and I think that’s what’s so attractive about you. But you have to stop spending our money, or we’re going to be in the poor house before long.”
“I haven’t spent a dime. You’re the one who bought a helicopter.”
“I didn’t buy the helicopter.”
