“Mr. Mason,” Avery says. “Ralph. I’m not here to argue with you. I’m not here to fight with you. I’m here to help your brother. What did he say to you on the phone this morning?”
Ralph runs his hands through his hair. “You know, I would have never thought about a dead person using a phone, but now that it’s happened, it doesn’t seem all that weird.”
Avery holds her silence, waiting him out.
“Brian didn’t say much,” Ralph gives in. “Mostly it was a lot of ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘You’ll never be able to hurt us again.’”
Avery raises an eyebrow.
Ralph rests his hands on the desk. “I’m sure you got quite the cold shoulder from Ben.”
“That’s putting it mildly.”
“We were an inclusive family,” Ralph continues. “My brothers and I inherited the family business when our father died last year. Ben and I took to it just fine. Brian, however, he...” Ralph pauses. He stares past Avery at nothing in particular. “Brian was different. He always was. Ben and I never had any trouble solving our troubles with our fists. Brian, though, he wasn’t like that. He had dreams and those dreams didn’t have anything to do with following in our father’s footsteps. Honestly, I didn’t care. I loved my brother and I was happy for him. Ben, well, he thought differently. Loyalty and responsibility are important to him and when it seemed like Brian was shirking his, it added to a lifetime of problems between brothers.”
“You and Ben weren’t fond of Cindy?” Avery asks.
Ralph shrugs. “We didn’t really have a chance to form an opinion. One minute Brian had his head shoved in a book, trying to write the next great children’s novel, the next he was married and looking to leave town. Ben really didn’t like that.” Ralph falls silent, picking at his fingernails. “You’re not going to find my brother around me or Ben.”
“Where am I going to find him?” Avery asks.
Ralph pulls a piece of paper from his shirt pocket. “Caller ID’s an amazing thing these days.” He hands her the paper. “This is the number my brother called me from this morning.” Ralph looks Avery in the eyes. There’s no anger or hate there, just sadness. “I didn’t always agree with Brian, but I loved him very much. Please take care of him.”
In the pink sedan, Avery pulls out her cellphone and dials the number Alan gave her.
She hears the recording, “The number you have dialed is unavailable. Please hang up and try your call again.”
“Of course,” Avery mutters. “A dead man would call from a number that wasn’t in service.”
She dials Brooke’s number.
“Hey, where are you?” Avery asks.
“Same place I was when I last talked to you,” Brooke replies.
Avery closes her eyes. “You’re unbelievable.”
“Thank you.”
“Daniel Jones isn’t the only dead man making calls today,” Avery says.
“He isn’t?”
“Brian Mason made a call to one of his brothers after he died,” Avery says. “I got the number he called from and tried to call it back. It’s out of service.”
“Oooh, spooky,” Brooke says, using her best haunted voice.
“Isn’t it, though?”
“What do you want to do now?”
“I’m gonna talk to Annie at the phone company,” Avery says. “Maybe I can find out whose number it is.”
“Sweet,” Brooke says. “While you’re there, do you think you can get me her brother’s number?”
“Annie’s brother?” Avery asks.
“Yes.” Brooke says. “She has a brother that fulfills all my necessary requirements: He’s gorgeous, he has an ass that won’t quit and, apparently, he’s hung like a horse. So, please and thank you.”
“Oh, no,” Avery says. “No. No. No. Don’t you have enough men in your life right now?”
“No such thing,” Brooke replies. “They’re like Pokémon cards. Gotta catch them all.”
Avery groans. “I can’t believe you just said that.”
“Besides,” Brooke continues. “I told you I’m planning on dumping Steven the bartender.”
“The more you talk about him, the less I’m convinced that’s going to happen.”
“Maybe if you would let me read this text message to you, you’d think differently,” Brooke suggests. “It starts with-”
Avery cuts her off again. “I really don’t want to know.”
“When will you want to know?” Brooke asks. “Just so that I know how long I need to put my life on hold for your advice.”
Avery rolls her eyes. “Just don’t forget to go to the college.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
nineteen
Henderson College’s Head of Admissions is a fifty-year-old man with a thick, bulky frame and a thick, dark gray beard who goes by the name Harry Grant. His voice rumbles like an avalanche when he speaks.
“Ms. Graves,” he says. “You are a very lucky lady.”
Brooke smiles and does a little flick with her hair. Grant was pretty much under her spell the minute she walked in, but it didn’t hurt to make sure he stayed there.
Grant’s holding the picture of Kristen Jones that Brooke had handed to him and shaking his head as though he can’t believe it. “I am probably the only person here that still remembers her.” Grant settles back in his leather chair and looks at Brooke. “What happened?”
Brooke crosses her legs and uses her really professional voice. “That’s actually what I’m trying to figure out. Since enrolling here five years ago, Kristin’s gone missing. Her father recently passed away. My sister and I were hired by the law firm handling his estate. Apparently, he’s left her a large sum of money and we would really like to make sure she gets it.”
“And your search for Ms. Jones has brought you all the way to our humble campus?”
Brooke just shrugs. “I’m tracking down any possible leads, despite how much of a long shot they may seem to be.”
“I think a college that she briefly attended almost half a decade ago is a little more than just a long shot.” Grant studies the photo again for a moment.
Brooke nods. “But you remember her?”
“Only because she was an absolute nightmare to deal with,” Grant hands the photo back. “I’m sorry, let me correct that. Kristen was an absolute peach. A delightful young lady. Her father, however…He was one of those wealthy pricks that insisted on nothing less than gold plated textbooks for his daughter.” He pauses. “It was a trial just getting her signed up for classes. Kristen would come in with one list of classes and then the next day her father would show up with a completely different list,” Grant rubs his forehead. “As I said, it was a nightmare.”
Brooke pockets the picture. “You don’t happen to know what happened to her, do you? I know that she enrolled, but she flunked out of all of her courses.”
Grant nods his head, but it’s a misleading gesture. “Yes, we finally settled on a course load that was agreeable to everyone and, fortunately, that was the last I heard from her and her father.”
Brooke frowns.
“But,” Grant continues, smiling. “Since you called ahead and you are such a delightful lady.” He holds up Kristen’s file. “I pulled her records.”
Brooke leans forward, giving him a sultry smile. “You are too kind, Mr. Grant.”
“Don’t get too excited,” he warns. “Kristen flunked out of all of her classes due to absenteeism. She showed up for the first month of classes and after that...” He shrugs. “She was just gone.”
“Gone?”
He closes the folder. “I’m afraid I can’t really be any more helpful than that.”
“Well, that’s a little depressing,” Brooke mutters. “She just stopped showing up? Nobody asked why?”
“This is college, Ms. Graves,” Grant says. “Once we get your money, we don’t really care whether or not you actually show up to class. Hundreds of students drop out every year for a variet
y of reasons. With Kristen, who knows what it could have been. Maybe she decided the college life wasn’t for her? Or maybe she just decided she wanted more of a say in her education? In the end it was her father that picked her college and her course load. I’ll be honest with you, Ms. Graves, it didn’t really seem like she and her father had the healthiest of relationships.”
Brooke sighs.
“I’m sorry I can’t be more helpful,” Grant says.
“It’s not your fault,” Brooke says, getting to her feet. “At every turn I just run into another dead end. You’d think I’d just stop turning.”
“You said she’s gone missing?” Grant asks.
“Yeah, shortly after she enrolled here, actually,” Brooke says. “You don’t happen to know if she was paying for any kind of on-campus housing?”
Grant shakes his head. “No, but have you checked with her boyfriend?”
Brooke pauses. “Excuse me?”
“You’ll forgive me. It has been five years,” Grant says. “So the details are fuzzy. But I do recall her talking about a boyfriend. I can’t remember her mentioning his name, but it did seem to be a point of contention between her and her father.”
“This is the first I’m hearing of a boyfriend,” Brooke says.
Grant shrugs. “It could be nothing. Like I said, I don’t remember her mentioning the man’s name. But I do recall that he was, maybe, a doctor?”
twenty
Avery makes a face. “A boyfriend?”
“A doctor boyfriend,” Brooke clarifies from the other end of the phone. “Plus,” she adds, “according to the head of admissions, she and Danny the Dead Guy hated each other’s guts.”
“Yeah, well, I knew that already,” Avery rolls her eyes. “You would have, too, had you been paying attention.”
“No, you’re not listening,” Brooke says. “The admissions guy here at Henderson described it like an ongoing war between Kristen and her dad over her education. Why would they be fighting?”
“Now who’s not listening?” Avery rubs her face. “Daniel was in the process of getting remarried. Kristen hated the new wife. Obviously they were going to be fighting.”
Brooke sighs on the other end of the phone. “You’re not getting it.”
“I’m not getting it?”
“That’s what I said, isn’t it?” Brooke replies. “New rule, don’t send me on these errands if you’re not going to like what I find.”
“You didn’t find anything,” Avery says.
“Whatever,” Brooke replies. “Look, I’m gonna swing by the office and then hit Clark’s. I’m starving.”
“You just ate,” Avery says.
“I ate, like, an hour ago.”
“Right,” Avery replies. “An hour ago. Most people don’t need to eat again so soon.”
“I’m having a very stressful day,” Brooke says. “Between this text from Steven the bartender-”
“Please don’t get started on that again,” Avery mutters.
“-and doing all this work?” Brooke sighs. “It’s not good for me. I suppose I could go do some retail therapy....”
“Oh, no,” Avery snaps. “You stay away from any retail stores.”
“Oh, come on.”
“No,” Avery insists.
“You’re not my mother,” Brooke says.
“No, I’m your big sister,” Avery replies. “And I’m trying to make sure you don’t shop yourself into anymore debt.”
“Please, I’m not going to shop myself into debt.”
“I’m sorry, how much do you owe your loan shark ex-boyfriend?” Avery asks.
“What’s that, sis?” Brooke makes static noises. “You’re breaking up! Can you hear me? I’m losing you.”
Brooke hangs up.
Avery rolls her eyes and pockets her phone. She walks back over to Annie’s desk.
Annie’s a tall redhead who wears tight sweaters that’ll distract any male over the age of thirteen. She’s fond of dressing in short skirts to show off her long legs. Annie works at the telephone company. Her desk is in a corner and covered in little porcelain clowns.
“Sorry about that,” Avery says, pulling up a chair. “Brooke’s decided to push the boundaries of my patience today.”
“And how is Brooke doing?” Annie asks.
“Well,” Avery starts. “I suppose I could say she’s dating someone new, but that would be a pretty broad use of the word dating.”
“Steven the bartender?”
“You’ve already heard about this man with a magical tongue?” Avery replies.
“Well, I’ve heard that he has a magical tongue,” Annie says. “Which, of course, makes me jealous. But, beyond that, I know nothing else.”
“That’s because there isn’t anything else,” Avery says. “Although, this is about as close as she’s gotten to a long term relationship since dumping Stanley.”
Annie makes a sour face. “I hated him.”
“So did I,” Avery agrees. “And so did Brooke, for that matter. But it didn’t stop her from, you know, sleeping with him.”
Annie thinks about it for a moment. “That never did make any sense to me.”
“It didn’t make sense to any of us.”
“Stanley was pretty much a grade-A sleazebag,” Annie says. “But the way Brooke fawned over him...”
“I wouldn’t say that she fawned,” Avery responds. “She cheated on him more than he cheated on her.”
“And she still went back to him,” Annie says. “There must be something about him that we’re not seeing.”
Avery shakes her head. “I can’t imagine what it could be.”
“The accent?”
“Brooke does have a thing for accents,” Avery agrees. “But you’d think everything else about him would outweigh the accent.”
“How is he in the downstairs department?” Annie asks.
“I don’t know and I don’t want to know.”
“Maybe he’s gifted with more manhood than the average man?” Annie suggests.
Avery closes her eyes, shaking her hand at Annie. “That’s not really something I even want to imagine, much less discuss.”
“I mean, there has to be a reason she was with him,” Annie says, mostly to herself.
“Or that she’s still with him,” Avery says.
“What?”
“No, you heard me,” Avery tells her.
Annie waves a finger at Avery. “There’s no way your sister is back in bed with Stanley.”
“Oh, there is a way,” Avery insists. “She already slipped back into old habits a few weeks ago and I’m pretty sure she slipped up again last night.”
“What happened?”
Avery shrugs. “I don’t know.”
“Then how do you know?”
“Just a sense. A sister sense.”
“Ah,” Annie gives a knowing nod. “The infamous Sister Sense.”
“It hasn’t steered me wrong yet,” Avery says.
“Your sister is so scandalous,” Annie says smiling. “I’m almost jealous.”
“Really?” Avery sounds doubtful.
“Well, I said almost,” Annie replies. “Still. Very scandalous.”
“You know what she told me to get when I came here?” Avery asks her.
“What?”
“Your brother’s number.”
“My brother?”
“That’s what she said.”
Annie shakes her head. “No offense, but I would never set Brooke up with my brother.”
“You know why that’s funny?” Avery asks her.
“Why?”
“Because I wouldn’t want to set up your brother with my sister, either.”
“It would be a punishment.”
“It would be horrible.”
“My brother would be scarred for life.”
“Well,” Avery says. “That’s a little extreme.”
“He’s very sensitive,” Annie says, turning back to her computer.
“But scarring him for life?”
“Very sensitive,” Annie insists.
“I mean, how do we know he won’t have some kind of negative reaction on Brooke?” Avery asks.
“Please.” Annie waves off her concerns. “My brother’s a lawyer with three degrees. The only impact he’d have on your sister would be a positive one.”
“But she could scar him?”
“I’m very protective of him,” Annie says. She points to her computer. “I looked up the phone number you gave me. It is out of service, but it’s not disconnected.” She taps a few keys on her keyboard.
“It’s not?” Avery looks over Annie’s shoulder.
“We’ve been having some line troubles in the area,” she explains. “About half the numbers are unavailable right now.”
“And where is this area?”
“Are you familiar with Terraman Park?” she asks.
Avery nods. “Yeah, it’s that place with the caves where the little kids like to get lost all the time. It’s like some kid wanders off from a family picnic once a year and goes missing in those stupid caves. The last one was lost down there for, what, a week?”
She nods. “Yeah, there’s six payphones in the park. Your phone number belongs to one of those payphones.”
Avery looks at her and then at the map she’s got on the computer. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“And you guys have been having outages out there today?”
“In the whole neighborhood to the left here.” She points to the map on her screen. “A couple of lines went down and it’s disrupting all the calls in the area.”
“And there’s six payphones in the park?”
“Yep.”
“And my dead guy called from one of them?”
“I can even tell you which one.”
Avery taps the notepad on her desk. “Write it down.”
twenty-one
Avery parks across the street from their office. She gets out of the car and starts to cross the street when her cellphone rings.
One Stiletto in the Grave Page 11
