“Kind of like a ball-girl,” Ally responded enthusiastically. “I can’t wait until tomorrow. We met her uncle and he’s going to introduce us.”
Gabe came in from the garage. “Are you feeling better?”
Ellen said, “No, not really. Ally seems like she had a good time.”
“Oh, she had a great time. We sat next to Tracy McCarthy’s uncle and he met up with us later in the day and gave Ally the autographed ball.”
“I saw the ball,” Ellen said.
“Are you coming with us tomorrow?” Gabe asked.
“You know, I don’t think the hot sun would be a good idea,” Ellen said. “Why don’t we call Kara and see if she wants to go with Ally?”
Dan McCarthy was bothered by the encounter all the way home. When he had asked his niece to autograph the ball she was surprised. Dan got home and went into his office. He sat down at the computer and googled Gabe Collins. He was a dentist in Santa Clarita. Dan logged onto Facebook to see if Gabe Collins was on it. Gabe was, so he decided to make a friend request. Dan looked at the pictures on Gabe’s page. A picture of Ellen Collins caught his eye immediately. He called out, “Leann.”
“What!” Leann yelled back from downstairs.
“Come here. I want to show you something,” Dan said, excitedly.
Dan could hear Leann running up the stairs. She stood next to him, breathing heavily. “What?”
Dan pointed to the picture of Ellen Collins, “That’s Shana.”
Leann looked at the picture closely, “Are you sure?”
“I am positive,” he answered quickly.
“What are you going to do?” Leann asked.
Dan stared at the picture. “I don’t know.” Doubt crept into his voice. “What if I’m wrong?”
Leann said brightly, “What about the P.I. you met at Tracy’s party?”
Dan hesitated before answering, “I guess I could call her. What about Tracy?”
“I don’t think you should mention anything to Tracy until you know for sure,” Leann said.
“I’ll have to ask Lindsay to keep this from Tracy,” he said. He stared at the picture again. “Okay, I’ll call her,” Dan said reluctantly.
“Hurry, I’m going to have dinner ready soon,” Leann said as she left the room.
***
Lindsay picked up on the first ring. “Lindsay.”
“Hi, Lindsay. I don’t know if you remember me. Dan McCarthy, Tracy’s uncle,” he said shyly.
“Of course. Hi Dan. How are you?” she asked in a friendly tone.
“I’m great. Listen, this is a business call,” he said.
“What can I do for you?”
Dan explained the events of the day. “Can you get more information on this woman without letting Tracy know?”
“I think I can do that,” Lindsay said. “You want background on her?”
“Is that the normal procedure?” Dan asked. “I’ve never done this before.”
“We’ll start there and see where it leads. Can you Email me the picture from Facebook?” Lindsay asked.
“I’ll do that. Give me your address,” Dan said. “Listen. I asked Tracy for sponsor seats tomorrow. I got Gabe’s cell number and I was going to ask if they wanted to sit with us. Do you want to come?”
“That would be great,” Lindsay said. “Tell me where to meet you.”
***
Gabe’s cell phone rang a few minutes later. “Gabe, its Dan McCarthy.”
“This is a surprise,” Gabe said.
“Listen, Tracy got us sponsor seats for tomorrow and I wanted to invite you and your daughter to sit with us,” Dan said.
“That would be nice,” Gabe said. “Do you have three tickets? Ally invited a friend.”
“Sure, no problem. I’ll meet you at the entrance at ten o’clock,” Dan said.
Chapter 38
Lindsay met Dan McCarthy at the entrance to the event a couple minutes before Gabe and Ally Collins were due to arrive. “Do we have a game plan?” Dan asked.
“Let’s see how the day progresses and what kind of information I can get,” Lindsay said.
“Were you able to get any research done last night?” Dan asked.
“Not much,” Lindsay answered. “I pulled a driver’s license and credit report. Her maiden name was Jericho.”
Dan shook his head. “That can’t be right. I’m sure this woman is my sister.”
“I haven’t gone very deep,” she said. “Dan, I am going to take the conversation into some odd places today.”
“Okay,” he said perplexed. “Why?”
“It will help me get information to investigate without making these people feel like I’m interrogating them,” she answered.
“I understand,” he said.
“Just play along and contribute to the conversation where you can.”
Gabe and Ally Collins met with Dan and Lindsay. Dan introduced Lindsay and explained that her husband was Tracy’s agent. Gabe introduced Ally’s friend Kara. Dan handed them all passes. “You need to wear this around your neck, so security knows you are supposed to be there.”
He led them inside the gate and over to seating that was purchased and reserved by the tournament sponsors. Ally asked, “Can we be ball shaggers?”
Dan responded, “Maybe. Let me take you girls to the booth where you can ask.”
“Cool,” Kara, the bubbly 11-year-old said.
Dan led them over to the booth and asked the woman who was running it if the girls could shag on center court so their parents could keep an eye on them. “I don’t see why not,” the woman said. “What size t-shirts do you wear?” she asked the girls.
Dan walked the girls back to the stadium and over to the referees. When he got back to their seats, Gabe and Lindsay were conversing about how much Santa Clarita had changed. “Hey,” Lindsay said to Dan brightly. “Gabe and I both grew up in Santa Clarita.”
Gabe joined in. “Small world. She grew up in Canyon Country and my family was in Valencia.”
“That was a pretty small town back then. Wasn’t it?” Dan asked.
Gabe responded. “It was. I am several years older than Lindsay. That’s probably why we didn’t know each other.”
“Did your wife grow up there?” Lindsay asked.
“No, Ellen grew up in Las Vegas. I met her when I went to dental school,” Gabe said.
“That must have been a fun place to grow up. Do her parents still live there?” Lindsay asked.
“No, her parents died when she was a teenager. She pretty much was on her own after that,” Gabe said sadly.
“That’s a bummer,” Lindsay said. “Moving to Los Angeles must have been a big change for her.”
“She adapted pretty well,” Gabe said.
Dan said, “That’s so sad about her parents. Did she have siblings?”
“No, she was an only child,” Gabe said.
“Well, I’m sure all of that tragedy makes her a better mother. She probably really appreciates family,” Lindsay said. “Did you get married in Santa Clarita?”
“Yes,” Gabe said. “We’ve been married for eighteen years now.”
Lindsay changed the subject. “I’m going to go to the snack bar and grab something to eat.”
“I’ll go with you,” Dan said quickly.
“Gabe, I’m going to grab some water for the girls. They are going to get hot out there,” Lindsay added.
“Thanks,” Gabe said.
Lindsay and Dan walked down to the Green Store a couple blocks away. “What do you think?” Dan asked.
“I think she’s got a sketchy background,” Lindsay said. “I want to grab this water for the kid and take her bottle when we are done.”
“Why?” Dan asked.
“We are going to get DNA and see if she’s related to you,” Lindsay said.
“Doesn’t that take months?” Dan asked.
“No, there are labs that can test quickly,” she said.
They went into the store and picked u
p snacks, bottled water, and Ziploc storage bags. As they walked back Lindsay said, “As soon as I get the water bottle, I’m going to take off and start working on who Ellen really is.”
“Thanks. I really do appreciate this.” Dan said.
Back in the stadium, they handed out the water. Tracy McCarthy came over to the area they were sitting in and greeted her uncle and Lindsay. Ally and Kara came over to meet her. The girls giggled. Kara said, “I’ve never met anyone famous before.”
“Well, I wouldn’t call myself famous. But, thanks for the thought,” Tracy said.
Lindsay noticed that Tracy had a sports drink in her hand. “I see those in the store. Are they any good?”
“They’re all right,” Tracy said. “They sponsor us, so I get it for free.” She finished the small sip that was left in the bottle.
Lindsay finished her water quickly and pulled out the shopping bag. “Can I take your bottle? I’m recycling.”
Dan shot Lindsay a perplexed look. Tracy said, “Thanks.” She handed Lindsay the empty bottle.
Lindsay looked at the girls. “The tournament is about to start. You need to finish your drinks too.”
Ally Collins drank the rest of her water and gave the empty bottle to Lindsay.
Lindsay rose from her seat. “I think I’m going to walk around a little bit. I’ll catch up with you guys later.”
Chapter 39
Lindsay prepared the bottles and sent them off to the lab. She started researching Ellen Collins. Lindsay found her marriage certificate easily. Her maiden name had been Harkins. She located Ellen Collins Nevada driver’s license. Lindsay pulled all of the normal reports to get a background. Nothing seemed to exist on Ellen Jericho before twenty years ago.
Lindsay decided she needed to call Taylor Kragen. She hadn’t updated him since the interview with Cammie Kent. He answered his cell phone, “Please tell me you have something good for me.”
“I think you will be pleased,” she answered back.
“Shoot?” Kragen said.
“Cammie Kent says that her sister told her about Marty fathering Letty’s baby,” Lindsay said. “She also told me that Darla wanted a divorce. She was involved with someone else.”
“Marty had a reason to want her out of the way,” Kragen commented.
“It gets better. Darla was blackmailing Marty into taking a smaller divorce settlement because she had something on him,” Lindsay said.
“Did the Kent woman know what she had on him?” Kragen said.
“Only that Marty and Bing Taylor were involved in Letty’s murder and that more people were killed over it,” Lindsay said.
“Darla Van Buren could prove this?” Kragen said with surprise.
“Apparently someone else gave the evidence to Darla. So not only Darla knew it, but someone else did too.”
“Did Darla’s sister have any idea who showed her the evidence?” Kragen asked.
“None. But, it sounded like Bing may have killed whoever did,” Lindsay said.
“Bing died a long time before Darla Van Buren was killed,” Kragen remarked.
“I know. That’s the part that doesn’t make much sense,” Lindsay said.
“Why did Darla Van Buren wait so long to tell her sister?” Kragen asked.
“She was embarrassed and humiliated by her husband’s fooling around. They lived separately for many years,” Lindsay said. “Darla made Marty live on his own money for the most part. When she asked for a divorce, he was going after most of her assets.”
“Any idea how much Darla was worth?” Kragen asked.
“Her sister says about fifty million,” Lindsay replied.
Kragen blew out a long breath of air. “Did he inherit that?”
“No, Darla changed her will and left most of her money to a charitable trust. Marty didn’t know about it until after she was dead.”
“Why did Darla wait so long to tell someone?” Kragen asked. “She could have put him away forever and not paid him a dime.”
“Mostly pride. She was a good woman who didn’t want her reputation sullied,” Lindsay said.
“Do you have any idea if she knew about this before Bing Taylor killed more people?” Kragen asked.
“I wish I could tell you more. Cammie said she had all of her sister’s things in her attic. She was going to try to go through them now that someone was looking at her sister’s death,” Lindsay said.
“Well, at least she’s cooperating.” Kragen said.
“She mentioned that Darla had a boyfriend. He lives in L.A. Do you want me to talk to him?” Lindsay asked.
“See what you can find out,” Kragen said. “Keep me posted.”
Lindsay hung up the phone. There were so many missing pieces to the puzzle. It seemed clear that Bing Taylor and Marty Van Buren had killed Letty and the baby. Who were the other people that had died because they knew? Was Darla killed over her money, or for something damaging that she was aware of? Lindsay had to talk to Vincent Morgan. She looked him up on the Internet. He could be reached through his agent. Well, that was a start she thought as she wrote the number down.
Chapter 40
Jeremy reached the ranch in Shandon early the next morning. He was meeting several people to begin the work that needed to be done to start planting. The handyman that his aunt Terri had recommended was already there and walking around the property.
Seth Woodward did odd jobs at several of the vineyards in the area. He had retired from the insurance business several years back. After a year of puttering around his own house in town, he decided that he needed a job to keep him occupied. He was always good at fixing things, so he decided to take odd jobs. He was meticulous about his work and his new hobby had turned into pretty much full time employment.
Seth was walking around the partially burned barn when Jeremy drove up. Jeremy got out of the car and walked toward the older man. “Are you Seth?”
“I am. It’s nice to meet you,” Seth said.
Jeremy looked at the remains of the house and barn. “Quite a mess, isn’t it?”
“It sure is,” Seth agreed. “I was walking around. It looks like there is a tack room at the back of the barn. I didn’t go in. It’s padlocked.”
Jeremy walked to the back of the barn to see what Seth was referring to. “I didn’t notice this the day we were here. Do you have something that’ll cut the lock?”
“I think I do,” Seth said. He walked out to his work van and shuffled through the tools. “This will do the job.” He cut the lock from the door.
Jeremy walked into the room. It had been virtually untouched by the fire. It was an old tack room. “I never knew there were horses out here,” Jeremy remarked.
Seth looked at the assortment of tack equipment. He spied an old saddle in the corner. “This old saddle is an antique,” he said.
“All of this stuff looks pretty old,” Jeremy said.
“I have a friend in town that might buy some of this stuff. Do you want me to ask if he wants to take a look at it?” Seth asked.
“He can have it all. We’ve got to get this all cleaned out before the bulldozers come in tomorrow,” Jeremy answered.
“I’ll load it all up and take it to him later today. What about the old tractor?” Seth asked.
“I’m keeping that,” Jeremy said with a smile. “I thought we could put it out somewhere and plant some flowers and bushes around it.”
Jeremy instructed Seth about what needed to be done that day. “I’m going to take a walk around the property,” he said. Jeremy started walking around the fields looking at the terrain. He walked down the section of land that was next to the freeway. He walked the perimeter until his property abutted the neighbors. He knew where the property line was as soon as he saw the fence line. The other side of the fence had the neighbor’s vineyard. There were grape covered hillsides that led to a home at the top of the hill. He walked over to the edge of the property that bordered a creek bed. There was a thick grove of oaks next to the
dry creek. He could hear the birds and squirrels playing and rustling the underbrush. He walked along that side of the property. A glint caught his eye. He walked closer to where he saw the shiny light. Through the thick brush, he saw what looked like a car’s bumper. He started moving the brush so he could get a better look. He caught motion out of the corner of his eye and realized there was a rattlesnake in the thicket of brush. He jumped back, away from the snake. The snake slithered away quickly. Jeremy moved more of the brush and found that under all of it there was a car. The car had faded red paint.
Jeremy went back up the hillside and out of the grove of oaks. He thought it was an odd place for a vehicle. Why had someone left it there and how was he going to get it out? Maybe he could leave it there. It had been there for years and it wasn’t hurting anything. The grapevines were not going to be planted that far out.
Jeremy kept walking until he got back to the burned out house. Seth had already loaded the contents of the tack room into the back of his van. “I’ll meet you out here tomorrow morning at eight.” Jeremy said.
“What’s on the agenda tomorrow?” Seth asked.
“The bulldozer is coming in to take the rest of the barn down and we are starting on the fields,” Jeremy said.
“It sounds like we have a lot to do around here,” Seth said.
Jeremy walked toward his car. “See you tomorrow.”
Chapter 41
Lindsay had spent all morning tracing back Ellen Collins life in Los Angeles and was starting on the Las Vegas connection. She looked up the address on Ellen’s Nevada driver’s license in the computer. It looked like the same woman had owned the property for the last forty years. Lindsay called information in Las Vegas. “Do you have a listing for a Sandra Danforth?”
The operator answered, “I have two ma’am. One on Winston Street and one on Azul Way.”
Lindsay requested both. The address on Winston Street matched the address on Ellen Collins’ last driver’s license. She called that number first. A young woman with a perky voice answered. “This is Sandy.”
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