Fever Rich: A Mercy Mares Cozy Mystery

by Ava Mallory

  When I reached the bottom of the stairs, several people were milling about downstairs. There were police officers, detectives, and several people I hadn't seen before, but by their uniforms, I assumed they were part of Nathaniel's staff members.

  One female detective saw me and introduced herself. “Hello, I'm Detective Zoey Ortiz. I was wondering if we could talk for a few minutes.” She led me to the dining room and closed the pocket doors behind her. “Tell me your name.”

  I told her my name and explained that I had just been there for an interview. I wasn't supposed to start working yet.

  “Yes, I know. Can you tell me exactly what happened today after you arrived?” She didn't take notes as I spoke, but listened intently. I found that to be interesting because on both occasions where I'd been interviewed by police, both officers wrote down what I'd said into a notebook.

  “Are you going to memorize this?” I was just curious. I wasn't meaning to be rude.

  She smiled politely and explained that she had a good memory and had already written down what Lucilla and Nathaniel had told her. “If I need to remember something in particular, I'll write it down, but this should just be a quick chat. So, the interview didn't go as expected, did it?”

  Boy, she wasn't kidding!

  “The interview was interesting. I killed it.” Why was I joking at a time like this? “I mean, I got the job, but truth be told, I think I had the job before I walked in the door. This was just a formality.” I explained.

  She didn't react to my bad word choice. Hopefully, that wouldn't be used against me in a court of law.

  “Okay, did you see Mrs. Carter when she arrived or was she already here when you arrived?” She asked me.

  “I don't know who Mrs. Carter is.” I hadn't met anyone other than the security guard briefly before I stepped foot in the house. “I heard the doorbell ring when Lucilla went to look for the doctor's orders. I didn't meet anyone else here. I really wasn't here long enough to have seen anyone, but I remember when I walked past the study, there wasn't anyone in there. I'm sorry. Am I talking too much? I tend to talk a lot when I get nervous.”

  Detective Ortiz' eyebrows furrowed for a moment as she asked, “Are you nervous right now?”

  There I went again! I always managed to say the wrong thing.

  “No, well, maybe. I guess the whole thought of what happened here is disconcerting. I'm not sure I really should work here. I'm supposed to be on vacation, but my car is begging to die. Oops, sorry. I can't stop saying stuff like that. You know how when an authority figure tells you not to do something and then the only thing you can focus on is doing or saying that very thing?” If it wasn't so painful, I'd bite down really hard on my tongue to keep myself from saying something else incriminating.

  The detective's eyes seemed to gloss over, so my long diatribe wasn't amusing to her either. “I think we're done here for now. If I think of any other questions for you, I'll reach out to you. Do you mind leaving your number with me?”

  This was very real.

  When I opened the pocket doors, Nathaniel stood on the other side of them with a cell phone in his hand. I hated to think about who he was calling. I could only imagine that it must have been the victim's next of kin. I didn't know the protocol, but I hoped that someone would have called the family before they heard about it on the news.

  He nodded at me as I walked out. I heard him say, “Yes, there has been a murder. The police are here now. If you don't hurry, they will be gone.”

  I hope he wasn't saying that to the family. The detective must have caught his end of the conversation too, because I heard her voice next.

  “Mr. Rich, who are you speaking to? We can't invite people into your home yet.” Detective Ortiz warned him.

  His response surprised me. “Miss, this is still my house. I'll invite whomever I please.”

  Whoa! That wasn't going to end well for him.

  “I'm not inviting just anyone over. I've alerted my public relations team to handle the situation. I have a reputation to uphold. I'm a pillar in this community, young lady.” Nathaniel warned her.

  I had to hear this, so I took a turn and went back up the flight of stairs to watch this play out from the landing.

  “Excuse me? I'm not your young lady. I'm Detective Ortiz and I'd appreciate it if you would remember that. This is a death investigation, possibly a murder and I am in charge here, not you, sir. We've already had to escort the reporters out that you telephoned before bothering to call us.” She put him in his place immediately.

  I wanted to applaud, but that would have alerted them to the fact that I was still inside the house and I think I was supposed to leave after speaking with the detective. No one had asked me to stay and technically my first day of work wasn't supposed to begin.

  To my disappointment, Nathaniel didn't respond to the detective's warning. I really wanted to hear her rip him to shreds for his condescending tone.

  I could hear voices coming from Cash's room. There were bouts of laughter in between the words. I recognized the second voice as Lucilla's. Her tone was vastly different from the way she'd spoken to me earlier. The amount of giggling that was coming from that room surprised me. She and Cash must have been very close.

  I decided to take that as my cue to quietly exit the premise. From the landing at the top, I could see the front yard through the windows. A line of police vehicles were parked one right behind the other in the circular drive. Several sedans sat with them and an ambulance with its lights flashing.

  There were small crowds of people gathered on the grounds. Some with grim looks on their faces. Others seeming to be chatting as if it was just another day. The sun was shining. The breeze was light. The flowers stood straight up, saluting the warm Spring sun.

  I had to wonder what that poor accountant had planned for her day or whether there was a family that had hopes of seeing her for dinner later in the day. So sad how quickly life changed. I wished I'd seen her, if just to say hello or offer her a friendly smile.

  A cold shiver went up my spine as I considered what that poor family must be going through. No one deserved to die so young. By the looks of her, I'd put her at about my age, if not a few years older. Too young to die.

  It occurred to me then – I hadn't noticed if she'd been wearing shoes. I don't know why that mattered necessarily, but for some reason, I felt the need to recall that information.

  “Mercy? I didn't know you were still here,” Detective Ortiz stopped in front of the stairs. “I did have one more question for you. Do you know if Mrs. Carter was alone when she arrived?”

  I shook my head. “I don't know. I didn't hear anyone else, but I wasn't really paying too much attention.”

  She nodded. “Okay. Thank you.”

  I watched her walk into the study. She was a handsome woman. No, beyond that. She was a beautiful woman. I hadn't noticed a wedding ring on her finger. I figured she was young. Probably in her thirties. This job probably didn't allow much time for dating or family.

  I let myself out, noticing for the first time that my hands were shaking. Behind me, I heard footsteps descending the stairs.

  “You're leaving?” Lucilla's voice had grown stern again.

  “Yes. I guess I'll see you tomorrow.” I said.

  “You can't leave. Someone has to stay with Cash until the police are done here.” She said.

  I had two choices here and neither one of them felt right. I could stay and get to know Cash a little better or I could go home and take the chance of being roped into doing something else for my ex-husband's upcoming nuptials.

  “Sure, I'll stay for a bit,” I hoped that sounded nice. My phone vibrated in my pocket.

  “Your phone is ringing.” Lucilla told me as she walked by me. “Tell them you'll be home after Cash's bedtime.

  Bedtime? I glanced at my watch. That's in another eight hours.

  Before I went to check on Cash, I stepped outside to check my phone. Thankfully, it was Ruby an
d not the dreadful Kitty or whatever she called herself these days.

  She answered on the first ring. “Mercy, is everything okay?”

  I closed my eyes, choosing my words carefully. “Yes, I'm fine. It looks like I'm starting today. Did you need something?”

  “Yes, I need you to tell me what in the world happened over there? It's all over the news. Are you sure you're okay and why are they having you start today? No one has informed us of a change. I don't know how I feel about you working there. I think you should go home and take some time off. You earned it. Take advantage of it.” Ruby tried to persuade me.

  “Ruby, I'll be fine. He really is a sweet little boy. I think with everything going on, they may have just forgotten to call the agency. How is everything on the home front? Has James come to his senses yet?” I was only half-kidding. I wanted James to be happy, but I didn't want to be thrown into his wedding plans. That's not how divorce was supposed to work. At least, I didn't think it was supposed to work that way.

  “If you're sure, but the moment anything makes you feel uncomfortable...” She laughed nervously. “Who am I kidding? Why don't you feel uncomfortable now? They said that someone was found dead there this morning? Mercy, don't take this wrong, but it feels like everywhere you show up, someone dies. Are you really sure you want to stay today?”

  “Are you calling me a murderer?” Well, this conversation took a sudden turn, but because she was the best person I'd ever met, I'd not let it upset me. She meant no harm. She cared about me. That was something I never once had to question.

  “Yes, my best friend is a crazed murderer and I can't wait to spend another moment with her.” Ruby's tone changed to a playful one. “Sorry, this whole thing scares me. After all, you've already been through, I don't want to see something happen to you.”

  “Nothing is going to happen to me. Now, can we change the subject? Tell me something good before I head back inside and spend the next eight hours virtually working for free.” I said.

  “You're not working for free. We'll call this extra hours and make sure you're compensated for them. Before I forget, I was thinking about Tina.” Ruby said.

  I loved that Tina and her son, Noah, had finally decided to leave Nebraska and come to California. I had the space in my house and had already done up rooms for them in case it had ever come to this. I'd hoped to spend the day reconnecting with them and helping them to settle in, but it didn't look like that was going to happen.

  “Aren't you glad she's here?” I asked.

  “Yes, of course, but she's going to need transportation and we have to see about getting her a job,” Ruby sounded worried.

  I was confused. As I recalled, Ruby and I had decided that we'd see to it that Tina would be hired by the agency. I didn't understand what had changed.

  “We will. I'll find something for her, but I'm just wondering because she didn't bring a car. She'll need transportation for work. I didn't want to pry, but how is she going to get around?” Ruby asked. She had a heart of gold, but I understood where she was coming from with this.

  “She can use my car, I suppose.” I offered, knowing that wasn't the best solution, but it would have to do in the meantime.

  Nathaniel spoke behind me, nearly sending me running and ducking for cover. “You won't need to use your car. I'm not quite sure how you are using it now. I'll have my driver pick you up in the mornings and take you home in the evening. As for that car, you may want to consider purchasing another.”

  Ruby laughed as she listened to him. We both knew that I would never get rid of this car... Well, perhaps never is a strong word. I might be inclined to safely tuck her away in a garage somewhere when and if I ever won the lottery, but that, of course, would require parting with some of my hard-earned cash in order to have the one in a million chance of winning any money.

  I asked Ruby to stay on the line while I stated the obvious. “Mr. Rich, I love my car. That's why I've kept it for such a long time. I can't accept your generous offer, but thank you. That's very kind. I'll just have someone drop me off in the morning.”

  “Nonsense,” he quipped. “I'll have someone pick you up bright and early tomorrow morning.” He turned and walked back into the house, leaving the door open for me to follow him.

  “I have to go, Ruby. I'll talk to you soon.” I said.

  “Call me, if you need anything, please?” She asked.

  “Will do. Love you.” I hung up, took a deep breath and followed Nathaniel back inside. He wasn't waiting for me to follow him. I caught a glimpse of him going into a room upstairs. “Okay, now what?”

  Down the hallway, Lucilla walked out of the kitchen and nodded at me, seemingly pleased to see that I'd reentered the house. I nodded back and headed up the stairs to Cash's room.

  There was movement behind me. I didn't look back. From the words that I overheard, the police were still busily working to figure out what had happened. Someone asked who I was and I heard Detective Ortiz tell them that I was the staff nurse.

  “Must be nice to be rich,” the same person said.

  Detective Ortiz said, “Well, according to the maid, they probably won't be keeping too many of the staff members because of what happened here, so it might not be so great to be rich after all.”

  What? Are they going to let me go?

  *

  I'd never been so happy to see my house. At least that's what I thought until I saw the flashing lights in front of it. I clutched the steering wheel and pressed the gas a little bit too hard, sending my car into a stubborn fit.

  There was no way for me to get into my driveway. A police vehicle was blocking it. I pulled over, leaving my car double parked, and ran as fast as I could to see what was going on.

  Margie saw me and immediately ran to me to fill me in on what had happened. “I've been robbed again and good this time.”

  I let out a sigh of relief. I thought someone had been hurt. Being robbed wasn't a good thing either, but at least no one was dead.

  “What did they take?” My voice shook as I spoke.

  She noticed my body shaking and grasped my arm. “Honey, it's okay. I've just been robbed. No one got hurt.”

  The stress of the day had begun to take its toll on me. “Good. Sorry. It's been a long day.” I said. “What happened here?”

  She pulled me around to the front of her house and pointed to an empty spot where her patio set used to sit.

  “My patio furniture is gone. Just like that. I went for my afternoon walk and when I came back, it was all gone. What makes it worse is that no one saw a thing. How can that be? It's the middle of the day and not one of these busy bodies saw one single thing. What we need is a neighborhood watch or some kind of security here! I'm tired of this. Remember when you first moved in here? Everyone was so friendly and we all got along so well.” Margie shook her head at the memory.

  “There are still good people here. I can't imagine that any of our neighbors would have done this.” I said, hoping I was right. I'd hate to think that one of the people I'd come to know and love would have done something like this. Our community was safe. We all knew each other.

  “At this point, I don't know what to believe. All I know is that someone has taken this little game too far. They don't know who they are messing with, but they are about to find out.” She said.

  I looked back at my house. The doors and windows were closed and all looked to be intact. “Have you seen Tina or Noah today?” I asked.

  Margie shook her head. “No, I don't remember seeing them, but I saw that woman – your replacement. She was here earlier, but she didn't stick around too long.”

  Oh, great! Now, Kitty thinks she can just drop by anytime.

  “She was here?” I asked.

  “You're not too fond of her? Don't worry. It will get easier. It's always hard when your ex falls in love again. I've been there. You'll be fine. I just know you'll find your new Mr. Right someday soon.”

  I didn't get a chance to respond be
cause a police officer called her over to talk. I quickly made my exit and went to my house to get some much-needed rest.

  When I stepped in, the house was quiet, but very tidy.

  Tina must have cleaned. What a sweet girl!

  “Hello?” I called out.

  There was no answer.

  I walked down the hallway to the room I'd set up for her. The door was open, but Tina and Noah weren't in there.

  “Tina?” I called out.

  The door to the other spare room was closed. I knocked lightly.

  No one answered.

  Figuring that they were probably exhausted from their trip, I walked away and let them rest. What I really wanted to do was take a long bath and erase the memories of the day.