CHAPTER 19
* * *
“Kalliope Ballas, as I live and breathe,” my mother said a couple hours later after paying my bail and escorting me out of the police station by my ear. I don’t know what I did to deserve this. First, I can’t have children. Then the gods give me a daughter like her. I don’t know what I did wrong, but I obviously made someone upstairs very angry.
“Ow, Ma. Stop pulling. That hurts.” In more ways than one, I thought.
“I’ll stop hurting when you stop misbehaving,” she said sharply. Honestly, is it too much to ask that she find a respectable job and stop embarrassing the family? And what’s so wrong with finding a good Greek man, settling down, and having some babies? I’m not going to live forever.
“For crying out loud, Ma, I’m a grown woman. If I make mistakes, they’re my mistakes to make. And not everyone is meant to get married and have babies.”
“Blasphemy!” She let go, thank God, and faced me in the parking lot, crossing her polyester-covered arms, her beehive tilting slightly askew. “You no think you need your mama anymore. I see how it is.” She frowned. “And I didn’t say anything about getting married and having babies.”
“You didn’t have to,” I said, rubbing my ear. “I can read you like a book.” I sighed. “Look, I’m not saying I don’t need you anymore, but I certainly don’t need to be hurt.”
“You need to feel pain so you will come to your senses. Not getting married and having babies is unnatural. Not to mention designing trashy clothes and getting arrested is outright scandalous! What are the neighbors going to think? I’ll never be able to show my face again. My baby girl has a rap sheet. You put your Nikos in a very awkward position by making him arrest you, you know. Oh, the horror of it all. Chloe is going to be shamed.” She fanned her face as though she were about to faint.
“Detective Stevens is not my anything.” I threw my hands up and began to pace. “I wish you’d all stop trying to make something more out of our relationship.”
“We’re not the ones making a spectacle of ourselves. You’re the one kissing the man in public and getting arrested twice. What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?”
“I say you make me crazy.”
“Well, you’re no saint. I say I’m taking you straight home. And by home I mean back where you belong, under my roof.”
“Ma, I’m not going—”
“To cause any more trouble. Wonderful. That’s just what I thought you were going to say.” She glanced behind me and then looked at her watch. “Oh, would you look at the time. We’ll finish this conversation later. Something just came up. And look, there’s Jaz. I’m sure she’ll give you a lift to your car.” She pushed me uncharacteristically toward Jaz’s car, which had just pulled up to the curb, not even questioning why Jaz was conveniently there. “Gotta go.” She whirled around and bustled away quickly. I stood there scratching my head and realizing this must be how she felt every time I cut her off. But my mother never cut me off. What on earth was going on?
A movement caught my eye, and I noticed a tall, muscular, caramel-skinned bald man in his thirties heading in the same direction as my mother, who was far away from me by now. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear he was following her. Was he who she had been looking at over my shoulder? Did she know him? If so, then why was she avoiding him? He looked familiar. I was pretty sure I had seen him around recently. Maybe it had something to do with the family restaurant, and she didn’t want to deal with it right now. I hoped she wasn’t in any trouble and made a mental note to ask her about it later. But right now I had more important things to worry about, like escaping before Nik realized Boomer had let me out.
I looked at Jaz and sighed in relief. My getaway driver. The window rolled down. “Get in,” said Jaz. “Girl, you get into more trouble than I do.” She shook her head and then laughed. “I love it!”
“Well, I don’t,” I said as I slid inside and slammed the door.
“Thelma and Louise, baby.” The tires screeched as we roared away from the curb.
“If you remember right, that didn’t end too well for either of them.” I held onto the bar above my head for dear life.
“Technicalities.” She giggled. “Besides, I’m a better driver.”
I mentally pleaded the fifth on that one. “How did you know I was here?”
“You’re mother’s not the only one who has eyes and ears everywhere. Which way?”
“The train station,” I replied with something I could safely answer, adding, “A little birdie sang while I was in the cage and told me Bobby Parks was on the lam.”
“Interesting.” Jaz turned serious, and I could see her sleuth wheels spinning in her brain. “And why would someone need to be on the lam unless they did something wrong?”
“My thoughts exactly. I think we just found out who pushed Wilma down the stairs. The question is, why?”
My source had been right. Bobby was indeed at the train station. Gary Bolin was a regular at Flannigan’s pub every evening and had spent last night in a cell to sober up. By the time Nik had locked me up, Gary was rambling on and on about how it wasn’t his fault he’d gotten into the fight. That Bobby had been mad as hell and looking to give someone a good beating. Gary was just glad that Bobby was leaving on a train to anywhere today. The second I’d heard that, I’d known what I had to do.
Call my mother.
I’d wanted her to drop me off at my car at the hospital, but Ma had a mind of her own. Things couldn’t have worked out better as my mother had gotten distracted and my getaway girl had shown up in the nick of time, which was even better because now I had backup. The universe was finally cooperating. So long as Detective Stickler-for-the-Rules didn’t show up, we might just have a chance at making some headway in this case.
He made me so angry. He kept insisting I back off and let Boomer and him do their jobs. It wasn’t my fault they weren’t doing their jobs very well. I was Jaz’s best friend. Who better than me to defend her from this insane murder wrap? It only made me more determined than ever to beat Detective Dreamy to the last clue and save the day. Then maybe I’d finally get the respect I deserved, and Jaz would get her life back.
Now that we were here, the train station was dead for a Thursday afternoon. Or rather, late afternoon. The sun was sinking low quickly this time of year. Jaz, swaying her hips with every step, sauntered over to Bobby, who sat like a big blonde giant on a bench by his suitcase, while I hid behind the corner. I clicked on the mini-cassette recorder I always carried in my purse in case inspiration struck for one of my designs. It would come in perfect for recording a confession right now. We had worked out a plan on the rest of the drive over. I’d show the detective once and for all that I could actually be a help if he’d just let me.
“Wow, you really do look like Darrin. I mean, Scott,” Jaz said as she sat down beside Bobby.
He tensed, eyeing her warily as though he might bolt at any second, but I wasn’t worried. Jaz had a way with men. “How’d you find me?” he asked suspiciously, scooting an inch away.
“I didn’t, silly.” She shrugged, scooting closer to him in the process. “I’m here to catch a train to anywhere.”
“I thought you weren’t supposed to leave town.”
“Oh please. Last time I checked neither were you. I guess we’re both making a run for it.”
“I don’t know about you, but I’m innocent.”
“They tell me that’s what they all say.”
“Won’t your boyfriend be mad at you?”
“Boyfriend?” Her eyebrows disappeared into her hairline. “Detective Boomer Matheson is not my boyfriend. You should talk. You seem pretty chummy with your brother’s wife.”
“Trust me, she’s not my girlfriend either.”
“Who needs love anyway, right?”
He grunted. “I can’t take it anymore. I don’t care if they throw the book at me, I’ve got to get the hell out of here before I go insane.”
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And that was my cue. I got down on my hands and knees, cringing all the way as I thought about what micro-germs were trying to make their way through my pores at this very moment. Breathing deeply three times, I tried to block out that image and focus on the task at hand—catching Bobby’s every word—as I came to a stop directly behind the bench and sank as low as I could.
“Looks like we have something in common.” Jaz leaned back and sighed in dramatic fashion, flopping her arm over the bench and discreetly tapping my head.
Gotta love Jaz, there was no getting anything by her.
“This whole case is ridiculous,” she went on. “I have no motive for killing Scott, yet I’m still a ‘person of interest’.” She made a set of air quotes with her fingers. “It’s stupid if you ask me.” She faced him, curling her legs up beside her on the bench, looking anything but threatening. “Look, I know Scott was your brother, but he was an idiot. I had no idea he was married, or I never would have agreed to our date. I wish I had never met the man.”
Bobby relaxed completely. “Finally someone who doesn’t think the sun rises and sets with him. Scott has always been a screw-up. Do you know how many people he has pissed off? He has a lot of enemies. Any one of them could have come after him. We were raised by my grandfather, and for years Gramps and I were on the same page and Scott was the outcast. I make one stupid mistake and suddenly Scott’s the golden boy, and I’m on the outside. Talk about no loyalty.”
“Don’t even get me started on family, and I know all about being an outcast. It’s not easy being me in a town like this. No one appreciates my originality, my creativity, my sense of self.” She reached out and touched his arm. “I can’t help it; I’m very expressive.” His gaze fell to her hand and then locked on her face. She had his full attention—right where she wanted him. She threw in a little pout for good measure as she added, “I’ve had to work hard to make something of myself.”
“Exactly.” Bobby slapped the back of the bench and I flattened myself like a pancake on the nasty ground a mere millimeter from getting whacked by his meaty palm. If the powers that be didn’t throw the book at him, then I would.
“Scott has been handed his life on a silver platter,” Bobby went on. “First by Gramps when he died and left him all of his money, cutting me right out of the will. Then second by Wilma when Scott married her for her daddy’s money because he’d gambled away Gramp’s life’s worth. Of course Scott used Wilma’s money to pay off the loan sharks, but then gambled himself right back into trouble. Cheating, drinking, and gambling is his life, yet Wilma refused to see any of it, except for the one time. I thought she would listen to me that night.”
“What night?” Jaz asked all breathy-like as though he were a god. I’d have to congratulate her on her Oscar-worthy performance if I got out of this horrible predicament in one piece, I thought, seconds before Bobby dropped the bomb.
“The night I got her pregnant.”
Jaz sucked in a breath. “You’re the father of Wilma’s baby?”
He laughed harshly. “A lot of good it did me. Since Scott and I are identical, she thought he’d never find out he wasn’t the father. She never knew he was sterile. At first I just wanted to pay Scott back, but to think I fell in love with her. I was the twin who actually wanted her and would have stayed true to her. Only, she didn’t want me over Scott any more than my grandfather did.”
“What happened?” Jaz asked, sounding as though she were weakening and now falling under his spell. She was such a sucker for an underdog.
“Scott refused to give her a divorce,” Bobby said. “He didn’t even care that he wasn’t the father, because he didn’t love her. But he did love her father’s money and was trying to find a way to tap into more. He threatened to expose her infidelity if she tried to fight him, and frankly, he was pleased his child might look like him, and he wouldn’t be forced to sleep with boring ole her. Basically, my payback failed because he didn’t give a crap about anything but himself.”
“I am sorry for that.” Jaz squeezed his hand. If she caved after all of this, I would smack her. She was always the one doing the dumping and using, not the other way around, because she was terrified a man would hurt her first like her mother had. Boomer had been the first man ever to get under her skin. Even though he didn’t look anything like Bobby, I could tell Jaz was thinking of him. I poked her back through a slot in the bench. This was not the time to go soft on me.
She sat up straight and let go of his hand. “You were saying?”
“In the end, we both hated him, yet Wilma still didn’t want me.”
“Is that why you pushed her down the stairs?”
Atta girl, I thought.
“Yes,” he said before thinking, and then looked startled as he blurted, “No! I mean, I don’t know. It wasn’t like that.”
“Too late,” I said, having rolled to a crouched position behind their bench as I clicked the handcuffs around his wrist and fastened him to the metal.
“What the hell are you doing?” He surged to his feet but the handcuffs—courtesy of Jaz’s purse and her words, you just never know when a pair might come in handy—yanked him back in place. Handy for what I didn’t dare ask. At this moment I was grateful she had her own quirks.
“I’m making a citizen’s arrest, Mr. Parks,” I said, as I stood.
“For what? I didn’t kill my brother.”
“Which you can’t prove, but that’s not what I’m arresting you for. You just admitted to attempted murder of Wilma Parks and her unborn child.”
“I did no such thing.” He frowned. “Wait, have you been there the whole time?” he asked.
“Yup, and I heard everything.” I held up my cassette recorder, clicked it off, and slipped it back into my purse.
Mission accomplished.
“You’re gonna regret this,” he ground out through his teeth.
“You don’t scare me,” I said, clamping my shaking knees together and hoisting my chin high.
“Well, I sure as hell better,” Detective Stevens said from behind me. “Unbelievable, Ballas!”
I whirled around and took a step back from the intimidating presence of the seething detective and his sidekick, Boomer, who looked like he was about to go ballistic.
“They set me up,” Bobby blurted.
“Save it for the jury,” Jaz said, stepping around him in a wide berth, because even with handcuffs on, he looked like he was ready to strangle her. She turned to Nik and Boomer as she said, “Bobby just confessed to pushing Wilma down the stairs, and we have a tape of the confession.”
“You bi—”
“Watch it, pal,” Detective Matheson boomed.
“Yeah?” Bobby said with relish, locking his eyes on Jaz as he said with glee, “Wait until you listen to the tapes. Something tells me you’ll agree with me.”
Detective Matheson glared at Jaz, who waved at him nervously, as he briefly unlocked the handcuffs before grabbing Bobby roughly and hauling him away to the squad car.
When he disappeared inside the car and drove away, Jaz turned on me. “Thanks, pal.” She huffed off toward her car and disappeared inside to drive away as well.
I bit my bottom lip and looked around to no avail.
“That’s right, Ballas. It’s just you and me. Please don’t tell me I have to arrest you again.” he groaned.
I held out my wrists on a sigh and said, “All in the name of justice.”
CHAPTER 20
* * *
“You mean you’re not going to take me back to jail?” I sputtered later that evening when Detective Stevens pulled into our adjoined driveway instead of heading to the station.
“You have no idea what I had to endure from my mother the last time I arrested you,” he muttered. “It’s easier just to punish you myself.”
Even from inside his car I could hear Wolfgang whining and scratching to get out. I swallowed hard, terrified of what his idea of punishment would involve.
Ni
k followed my gaze. “I’m mad enough to do what you’re thinking, but even I’m not that cruel.”
“No, but you are definitely unusual. I’m even more afraid to hear what you have in mind.”
“Relax, Ballas. I’m not Boomer, so rest assured you won’t be chained to my bedframe if that’s what you’re worried about.”
I almost laughed hysterically. He had no idea how the sound of his words made me feel, and terrified wasn’t even close. Excited was more like it. What was wrong with me? I was nearly thirty and I hadn’t had sex in way too long to remember, and the memories I had were anything but good. But Nik was different, and my gift shed a whole new light on the idea of intimacy. I guess I was more worried he wouldn’t make a move. Or he would, and it wouldn’t work, and then he’d really think I was a freak.
“You okay? You look a little flushed,” he broke the silence.
I flinched. “Huh? Oh, yeah. I’m fine.” I cleared my throat. “About that punishment …?”
He sighed. “You and I both know I’m not going to do anything.”
“That’s what I thought,” I muttered, trying to hide my disappointment.
“Excuse me?”
“That’s what I hoped,” I said louder.
“I just wish you’d trust me. I’m trying to do the right thing by keeping both you and Jaz safe while solving this murder. You taking matters into your own hands behind my back is only hindering that process.”
“But you heard what Jaz said. Bobby admitted to pushing Wilma, the mother of his child. He’s capable of anything. And he tried to flee when he was strictly ordered not to leave town. That has to mean something. He’s probably the one who broke into our house and Jaz’s car. It probably never was Johnny. He’s pathetic but not a killer. Bobby, on the other hand, we don’t know anything about. And from what I’ve seen so far, I don’t trust him one bit.”
Peril for Your Thoughts (Mind Reader Mystery) Page 17
