by Sharon Sala
“Good job,” Charlie said. “That pretty much proves she was the inside person here at the estate. But there has to be at least one more person who was responsible for trying to wreck Carter on the freeways and who could have known how to cut the brake line.”
“I’ll see what I can find out about Miranda,” she said. “Now, go away. I need to think.”
“You said you could do two things at once,” Charlie said as he got up.
“I can, but you’re slowing down the process.”
Charlie eyed the slight frown between her eyebrows, and the neon-yellow leather she was wearing and wondered why she bothered to get this dressed up in Carter’s home.
“Why are you still here?” Wyrick asked without looking up.
“You’re not the only one who can think of two things at once,” Charlie muttered, then got up and walked out of the room.
He took off his shoes, helped himself to a cold drink from the wet bar and started going through emails and paying bills online. He might be away, but that didn’t stop what was happening back home.
* * *
Detective Bruner kept staring at the names Buddy Pierce and Rey Garza. He had a positive ID from Megan Simmons as to Garza being the shooter. He’d already pulled up rap sheets on both men, and they were lengthy, with a multitude of charges between them. Now he wanted to find out if Carter or Jason Dunleavy knew these men. He had a number for Jason’s room at the hospital. He called him, then counted the rings until Jason answered.
“Hello.”
“Jason, this is Detective Bruner. I have new information. Would it be possible to visit you for a few minutes?”
“Yes. No problem,” Jason said.
“I want to talk to your uncle, as well. Do you have a number where he can be reached?”
“Call his cell phone. That way you won’t have to go through the housekeeper, who usually answers the house phone.”
“Thanks,” Bruner said and quickly wrote down the number Jason gave him. “I’ll see you shortly.”
Bruner then called Carter to make sure he’d be available, too. The call rang twice and then Carter answered.
“Mr. Dunleavy?”
“Yes.”
“This is Detective Bruner. Would you be able to see me today?”
“Yes. I’m home all day,” Carter said.
“I’m on my way to see Jason now, and when I’m finished there, I’ll let you know,” Bruner said.
“I’ll be expecting you,” Carter said.
Bruner grabbed his file and left the precinct. A short while later, he was at the hospital again, exiting the elevator. Once he reached Jason’s room, he encountered two guards and immediately flashed his badge.
“Jason is expecting me,” he said. “Just a minute, sir. Mr. Jason has been having a rough morning. Let me check,” the guard said. He opened the door and stepped into the room. “Mr. Dunleavy, Detective Bruner is here. Are you ready for visitors?”
“I’m fine, Danny. The pain meds are kicking in,” Jason said and raised his bed up to a sitting position as Bruner entered.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know you weren’t up to visitors today. You should have said something when I called,” Bruner said.
Jason shook his head. “Just pain. But the meds they gave me are beginning to work. Tell me about this new lead!” he said.
Bruner took a picture out of the file he’d brought with him.
“Your witness, Megan Simmons, just identified this tattoo as the one she saw on the shooter’s arm. Unfortunately, it was taken before the coroner began an autopsy on his body.”
“You mean this man is dead?” Jason asked.
“Yes. His name was Rey Garza. Do you know anyone by that name?”
“It isn’t familiar, but there are thousands of people who work at our different facilities. Do you have a picture?” Jason asked.
“I have the one on his rap sheet.” Bruner took it out of the file and handed it over.”
Jason looked at the face intently, then shook his head. “No, sorry. He isn’t the least bit familiar to me.”
Bruner pulled Buddy Pierce’s rap sheet out next. “What about his man? His name is Buddy Pierce.”
Jason looked at that one as well, and shook his head again. “No, don’t know him, either. What’s the connection between these two men?”
“The coroner thinks there’s a strong possibility that both men were killed by the same gun. We’re trying to find a link between the two, in the hope that it leads us to the person behind all this,” Bruner said.
“What does Uncle Carter think?”
“He doesn’t know yet, but I’m going there next. If something does occur to you, call me. I’ll leave my card.”
“Will do,” Jason said, laying the card aside.
“Thank you for your time. Hope you have a better day,” Bruner said and left the room.
His next stop was the castle.
* * *
Charlie was answering emails and running background checks for a couple of new clients when someone knocked at his door.
“Come in,” he said.
It was Carter. “Charlie, do you have a minute?”
He closed his laptop. “Yes, sure. What’s up?”
“Detective Bruner is coming over shortly with some new information. Would you and Wyrick sit in on it?”
“Absolutely. Do you have any idea what it’s about?” Charlie asked.
Carter shook his head. “No, but maybe he has a new lead.”
“Just so you know, we have some new information ourselves, and since Bruner is working Wilma Short’s murder, I’ll share it with him, too. Wyrick found a half-million-dollar cash deposit in the bank account belonging to Wilma’s mother. Wilma has been paying her mother’s monthly care out of it for the past four months. But since it was a cash deposit, Wyrick hasn’t been able to match it with anyone in your circle of family and employees.”
Carter stared at him. “A half-million dollars to take me out? Who in the hell hates me that much?”
“We’ll find out,” Charlie said. “And maybe Bruner’s info will be a good lead.”
“For sure,” Carter said, and then the phone in his pocket buzzed. He glanced down at the text. “Detective Bruner is waiting for us in the library.”
“I’ll get Wyrick,” Charlie said and walked into Wyrick’s suite, where she was working.
“Are you at a stopping point? Carter wants us downstairs. Detective Bruner is here with some new information.”
Wyrick nodded, typed two more words and hit Save, then joined the men without comment as they headed down the stairs.
Eighteen
Bruner was sitting in a wingback chair and texting on his phone when they entered. He immediately put it away as he stood.
“Here we are, Detective, as requested,” Carter said. “I don’t believe you’ve met Miss Wyrick. She’s Mr. Dodge’s assistant. Wyrick, this is Detective Bruner.”
Bruner didn’t even blink at the Amazon in yellow leather. “Ma’am,” he said and then shifted his focus to Carter Dunleavy. “We found the man who shot Jason. His name is Rey Garza—but before you celebrate that news, he was dead when we found him. The witness who saw Jason’s shooting has already identified him. And the gun in Garza’s car matches the kind Jason was shot with. We’re running a ballistics test on Garza’s gun to see if the striations match the bullet that was removed from Jason during surgery.”
Carter frowned. “Is this connected to Wilma’s murder?”
“We’re working that as a possibility,” Bruner said.
“What was his name?” Charlie asked.
“Rey Garza, and that’s spelled R-E-Y.”
Charlie knew Wyrick was mentally filing that name for further review.
“That’s not all,” Bruner said. “The coroner caught an odd similarity between Garza’s body, and another one that he autopsied—a man named Buddy Pierce. Both men had been shot, and the coroner said that both shots were right bet
ween the eyes, with the same distance above the nose and centered perfectly between each man’s eyebrows. And the bullets he pulled from their bodies were shot from the same gun.”
“Wait... Are you saying this Buddy Pierce might also be connected to both Dunleavy cases?” Charlie asked.
Bruner shrugged. “It’s a theory we’re working on.”
“After I found Carter and learned about all the different attacks he’d been under, he mentioned the possibility that there might be more than one person involved,” Charlie said.
“How so?” Bruner asked.
“Other than the chef, who doesn’t live on the premises, there are only women staffed inside the residence on a daily basis, so that would explain some of the incidents. But he also had a brake line tampered with and nearly wrecked twice on the freeway by a car suddenly cutting him off.”
Detective Bruner turned to Carter. “Was it the same vehicle that cut you off both times?” he asked.
“Yes. It was a dark red late-model Ford Escape,” Carter said.
Bruner made a note. “I’ll check to see what kinds of cars both vics had.”
“If Pierce was driving a car that matched that description, then it would link his murder to Wilma Short and to Rey Garza,” Charlie said.
Wyrick turned around and walked out of the library.
Bruner looked a little startled.
Charlie quickly explained. “It’s nothing personal. She’s a woman of few words, but she’s damn good at her job. She’ll know the answer in about five minutes, give or take, counting the time it takes her to get upstairs.”
Charlie noticed that Bruner didn’t comment, which meant he didn’t believe what he’d just said. Charlie also knew Wyrick was about to change Bruner’s mind. He watched as Bruner pulled the pictures of both victims and handed them to Carter.
“These are the two men’s rap sheets. Have you ever seen either one of them before?” he asked.
Carter looked carefully at both, then handed them back.
“No. I’ve never seen those faces before, but there are so many people who work for the Dunleavy Corporation and all the subsidiaries that I can’t swear they aren’t any of our employees.”
Bruner shrugged. “That’s pretty much what Jason said.”
Charlie’s phone signaled a text. “It’s from Wyrick,” he said and read it aloud. “‘Buddy Pierce owned a 2016 Ford Escape. The color is Canyon Red.’”
“I’ll be damned,” Bruner said. “Okay, Dodge, you might be right about Pierce being part of the attacks on Carter, which means that not only is there someone trying to kill Carter and Jason, but he’s taking out the people who failed him.”
“Does that make him a serial killer?” Carter asked.
“No, because he just has one goal, and that’s to get to you and Jason,” Charlie said. “All he’s doing now is taking out the people he hired so they won’t talk.”
“That’s right, and it makes him one very dangerous man,” Bruner added.
“Or woman,” Charlie added.
“What made you say that?” Bruner asked.
Charlie shrugged. “Jason broke up with a woman he’d been seeing and that happened about two hours before he was shot. I asked him how she took the breakup, and he said she was screaming and cursing him when he disconnected.”
“But that wouldn’t tie her to Carter, because all his attacks happened way before the breakup.”
“I have a theory,” Charlie said. “If it pans out, I’ll let you know.”
“Oh...what was her name?”
“Miranda Deutsch.”
Bruner looked up from his notepad. “As in Johannes Deutsch’s daughter?”
“Yes,” Charlie said.
Detective Bruner sighed. “Let’s both hope your theory falls flat. The chief is already on us to catch whoever’s been after Carter, and no way do I want to tell him that a member of the second-richest family in Denver has become our main suspect.”
Charlie’s phone signaled another text. “It’s from Wyrick. She says Rey Garza and Miranda Deutsch went to the same high school, same graduating class.”
Bruner stared. “I am officially in awe of your assistant.”
Charlie’s phone dinged again. “She also says Buddy Pierce and Wilma Short were once married, but Wilma’s mother had the marriage annulled because Wilma was underage.”
Bruner shook his head.
“What’s wrong?” Carter asked.
“I’m just waiting for your assistant to divulge the name of the killer,” he said.
Charlie grinned. “That might take a bit longer. However, as I mentioned, she did uncover a half-million-dollar cash deposit into the account of Wilma Short’s mother, who’s in a memory care facility. It was made four months ago, which was right before all the incidents with Carter began. Wilma has been using it to pay for her mother’s care.”
Bruner stood up again. “I am really impressed. How did she even think to look in that direction so quickly?”
“I already had her researching both Wilma Short and Miranda Deutsch for some time, but there’s no explanation for how her mind works.”
“I’ve covered everything I came to ask,” Bruner said. “I thank you for the added information. I’m assuming you’ll stay in touch?”
“Absolutely,” Charlie replied.
“I’ll see you out,” Carter said and walked the detective to the lobby as Charlie went upstairs to where Wyrick was working.
“You rocked Detective Bruner’s world, and I’m not even going to ask what made you check high school records. Oh, and remind me to give you a raise.”
Wyrick ignored him. “The new info really points a finger at the Deutsch woman.”
“Yes. Now see if you can find payoffs between her and the three murder victims. If you can, it links her to the cases on both Carter and Jason.”
Wyrick nodded. “I’ll get started on the money trail.”
* * *
Miranda Deutsch was in her private office, going through a drawer she kept locked, shredding invoices and paid receipts, wondering why the hell she’d kept them in the first place. After all the breakup stuff with Jason, it felt good to rid herself of the last connections she had to him.
She stopped once, thinking she heard footsteps in the hall, but then they were gone, so she continued shredding documents, one by one. If only it was this easy to get rid of memories, but what was done was done.
She’d just fed the last paper through the shredder when someone knocked at the door. Then she heard her father’s voice.
“Miranda, it’s me.”
She jumped up and ran out of the office into the sitting area. “Come in!”
Johannes opened the door but didn’t enter. “I’m leaving for a meeting and won’t be back for dinner. I wanted to tell you in person. Will you be okay on your own?”
“Of course. And may I say, you look very handsome.”
Johannes smiled. “Thank you, my dear. Remember, if you have an emergency, I will always take your calls.”
She crossed the carpet in her bare feet and stretched up to give him a kiss on the cheek.
“I know that. You are the best father ever. Now, go do your thing. I have no plans for this evening and am looking forward to a night in. Popcorn in bed and one of my favorite movies. You know how I love to do that.”
“Just like your mama,” Johannes said. “I’ll probably be late, so I’ll see you in the morning,” he said.
“See you then,” Miranda said and walked out into the hall, knowing he’d look back. When he did, she waved at him once more, and then he was gone.
She went back to her room, thinking about her father’s life and how hard he’d worked to get where they were today. She’d grown up in the back of his butcher shop, but by the time she was twelve, Deutsch Sausages had gained national recognition. She was no longer the butcher’s daughter. She was the daughter of Johannes Deutsch, the Sausage King.
She went to the windows overlooking
the front of the estate to watch her father leaving in the limo. Then she smiled, her pulse already racing as she ran across the carpet to lock the door.
She looked in her office to make sure she hadn’t missed anything, then hurried to her bedroom and locked herself in there as well, then stripped and headed for the nightstand by her bed.
“Rubber Dicky, Rubber Dicky, come out, come out, wherever you are.”
To hell with popcorn and a movie.
* * *
Lunch was long since over and Wyrick had changed out of her yellow leather and spike heels into jeans and a lightweight long-sleeved shirt that hung almost to her knees. She was back at work in her bare feet, and with a glass of Pepsi at hand.
Charlie was at the same table fielding calls and emails. He’d just received a phone call from Detective Bruner, confirming the ballistics test they’d run on the weapon from Rey Garza’s car. It was the one used to shoot Jason Dunleavy.
And the fact that Wilma intimately knew Buddy Pierce, who drove a car like the one that had cut Carter off on the freeway, tied the two of them together in the attacks on Carter.
There were still reasons to suspect that Miranda Deutsch was behind Jason’s shooting, but there was a big gap in the theory. According to both Jason and Carter, Miranda had never been inside the Dunleavy home or met the family, so they lacked a motive to connect her to Carter. What was the missing link between the cases? Who had reason to want both of them dead?
Charlie was still typing when he realized Wyrick wasn’t. The silence was startling. He looked up. She was sitting in front of her laptop, staring at the screen.
“What?” Charlie asked.
“Miranda Deutsch did a DNA test on one of those ancestor sites.”
“What made you go there?”
“Just double-checking her expenditures. It was the only purchase that stood out as different from everything else, so I got curious.”
“And?”
“And I’m not going to tell you how I found this, but Johannes Deutsch is not her biological father, and if she didn’t know it before she got the test results, she knew it afterward.”
