Deadly Reunion (The Taci Andrews Deadly Series)

by Manemann, Amy

  Valerie’s eyes flared in surprise before shuttering again. Guess she figured with all the wealth she and Jason had accumulated over the years she was beyond questioning. She figured wrong.

  “It was all a simple misunderstanding between Jason and I. I know you may find this hard to believe but Jason and I didn’t exactly have the perfect marriage. About a month ago we had a dispute about Samantha’s involvement with the Tompkins boy that ended… a bit violently. I was afraid for Samantha’s life so I sent her away to my Mother’s house and had her reported as a missing person so Jason wouldn’t be suspicious,” Valerie said quietly.

  There were a few things in this world that really ticked me off; husbands beating up on their wives happened to one of them.

  “Did you report the incident when it happened?” I asked gently.

  Valerie shook her head, a tight smile on her face. “And ruin Jason’s perfect image? Of course not. Besides, who in this town would have believed it? He had his hand practically in everyone’s back pocket, including the mayor himself. Do you honestly think I would have been treated fairly if I would have gone to the police?”

  As much as I hated to admit it she was probably right. A smooth talker like Jason McAllister hadn’t gotten to where he was by not having friends in high places, something I should have realized. Of course that just begged the question; if he had contacts all the way up to the Mayor’s office, how many of them were involved in his little drug ring?

  The sound of the front door opening and closing halted the conversation, a pair of sneakered feet squeaking across the polished marble floor. Valerie glanced up as her only child paused in the doorway, looking uncertainly at the two of us. I felt immediately sorry for the pale faced teenager who obviously was more devastated by her father’s death than Valerie was. I could tell from the way Valerie was scowling at her daughter that it was probably my cue to go.

  “I’m sorry Taci but could you excuse me for a moment?” she said quietly with a gesture in Samantha’s direction.

  I stood from my seat, giving a shake of my head. “That’s Ok I think we’re finished here. Thank you for clearing some things up for me. And again, I’m sorry for your loss.”

  A choking sound came from the doorway and I glanced up as Samantha’s hand flew to her mouth. Tears welling up she fled the room, leaving me to feel like an ass. I really needed to do something about my big mouth.

  Valerie sighed, almost as if she were annoyed at her daughter’s dramatics. It was then that something clicked, the missing piece that had been staring me in the face from the beginning.

  “I’m sorry about that. She took her father’s death pretty hard and is still coping with things. I should probably go see if she’s alright,” she said almost in annoyance.

  I felt like telling her not to bother.

  “You know Valerie, there is one more thing I wanted to ask before I left. If you have a moment that is,” I said.

  Valerie glanced at her watch again, giving another audible sigh.

  “I suppose, but then I really must be going. I still have quite a number of things to get done before my company comes over,” she said through pursed lips. Heaven forbid I throw her plans party off.

  Taking a deep breath I plunged forward before she could change her mind. “You came to me last Thursday needing my help in locating your daughter. Why?”

  This threw Valerie off guard, her face paling visibly in the soft light of the room.

  “I…I was using you as a cover to throw Jason off. I figured if I looked like I was attempting to have her located then he wouldn’t be suspicious,” she stuttered uncomfortably, her cheeks flushing.

  A smile blossomed on my face. Gotcha. “Really, because I have to admit you put on a pretty good show of things. And I assume you had no knowledge of his involvement in the drug ring in town either.”

  Valerie’s face flushed hotter, her eyes flashing angrily.

  “You have no right to stand there and accuse me of things you know nothing about. I am still grieving over my husband’s death and you have the nerve to come here and make accusations like this? I think this conversation is over,” she all but hissed, her heels clicking sharply on the floor as she made her way to the front door. Jerking it open she stood there stone faced, waiting for me to leave.

  Grieving my ass. I gave a shrug, trailing behind her. “If that’s what you’d like. But before I go I really need to ask one more thing. Was it Jason running the show or were you pulling the strings?”

  Valerie’s eyes flashed and the door swung shut. Maybe my big mouth was good for something after all.

  “You think you know everything don’t you Tacky? Well let me fill you in on a little secret. Do you have any idea how impossible it is start up a law practice in town with no clients and no revenue? Do you have any idea of what it’s like to work your ass off at a minimum wage job to bring in some money while he gets to play the big business man and ‘drum up’ clients? Do you know what it feels like to find out that while you were stocking boxes until 2:00 in the morning seven days a week he was screwing around with his secretary?” she said in a low voice.

  My skin bristled at the use of my hated nickname. Guess the niceness gloves had come off. “Been there, done that, got a crappy t-shirt. Are you really so self involved that you think you’re the only person in the world who’s had to struggle? Who’s been cheated on?”

  Valerie snorted, turning away from the door. Clicking across the entry way she re entered the den, not bothering to glance back to see if I was following or not. Stalking across the room she jerked open a cabinet, removing a clear bottle filled with swirling red fluid. Guess drinking time came early when you were rich.

  “Do you think I really give a shit about other people’s problems? Get real Tacky,” she said, pouring some of the red fluid into a glass. I watched as she downed the contents before pouring another glass.

  “Let’s get one thing straight Val, my name’s Taci, not Tacky. And I hate to burst your bubble but you’ve never struck me as a humane type of person,” I pointed out tightly.

  Valerie tossed back another shot, refilling her glass before turning to glare at me.

  “Whatever. You know something? We had the perfect operation if he would have just stuck to the original plan. Stealing the contacts from that drunken lard ass Robbie had been my idea; Jason would never have had the balls to do it otherwise. Once he saw how easy it was to step on people he learned quick enough. If it hadn’t been for me finding the sites, bringing in the dealers, setting up the deliveries and getting out the shipments Jason would have been up a creek. We set up his law office as a main headquarters for all of our legal paperwork to make things at least look on the up and up. That’s where things started to go wrong. Jason was so busy setting up his stupid law office and playing lawyer that he started to slip up. The last straw was when he screwed that bitch secretary. That was a dumb mistake,” she slurred, walking over to stare out the window.

  Hmm, a drunken Valerie might be fun. Why interrupt her when she was on a role?

  “You double crossed him,” I guessed, drawing Valerie’s blurry gaze back to me.

  Valerie gave a watery smile. “And you wouldn’t have? Jason was so trusting, so naïve that he never once thought I would be smart enough to make sure everything was in his name in case anything ever came up. I don’t think he even realized what was happening until the very end, maybe even not then.”

  “So you caught him with the secretary and set him up,” I concluded.

  Valerie waved her glass in the air, some of it sloshing out of the cup and onto the expensive looking white carpet. I’m betting that was going to stain.

  “Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner! Not that it was really hard to do. I sent Samantha off to my mother’s and had her reported as missing to get the police involved. Having you assigned to the case after your buddy went missing was pure luck. Thanks to all of your digging you uncovered the drug ring and everything pointed oh so nicely t
o my now deceased husband. Everything turned out pretty nicely in the end, don’t you think?” she said sweetly.

  I had to admit I was impressed. Not even I thought Barbie’s dark side ran this deep. “What makes you think I won’t run to the presses and release this story?”

  Valerie laughed mockingly. “And what evidence would you have to support the claim? Everything was done in Jason’s name, mine was never a part of the operation from the leases on the law office to the contacts of the drug dealers. So go on ahead, run to your little editor and print the story. I’ll sue you, I’ll sue your editor and I’ll come away with a nice little newspaper to run.”

  She was right and I knew it. But I also knew something she hadn’t counted on. Giving a smile I turned on my heel and headed towards the door, the click of her heels telling me she was following close behind. Jerking open the door I turned back to glance at her smug expression.

  “You’re right, I don’t have any evidence to run a story. Well, unless you count this anyway,” I said sweetly, pulling a small tape recorder from the side pocket of my purse. Valerie’s mouth dropped open, her face going ashen.

  “Have a great day Val. Don’t forget to catch tomorrow’s edition,” I said with a wave, closing the door on Valerie’s shocked face.

  Epilogue

  Revenge can be sweet but I’ve learned over the past few weeks there are always those who get caught in the crossfire. After my explosive follow up story of the McAllister family Valerie was arrested and put up against drug trafficking charges, which sent her away to the state pen for ten to twenty. I felt the sorriest for Samantha, who ended up being shipped off to her Grandmother’s house in Chicago. While I had high hopes she would have a more stable home life once things began to settle down I wasn’t being too optimistic. It was Valerie’s mother’s house after all.

  I stood outside my old high school’s gymnasium, the beating sound of music floating towards me through the closed doors. I’d made it to my reunion after all and I had to say I wasn’t dreading the event as much as I thought I would. Sure the jocks and preppies who’d given me such a hard time those many years ago were probably going to be there and I was sure some of them wouldn’t take too kindly to my involvement in the McAllister story, but if there was anything I’d learned over the past several weeks it was you had to let go of the past and move on.

  And so here I was, standing outside the gymnasium doors in a strapless violet dress with matching pumps, my hair styled elegantly in a French twist and my make up having been done to perfection compliments of Melanie. I had to admit I looked pretty kick ass; minus, of course, the sporty white cast that still encased my wrist.

  I took a tentative step towards the door, a moment of doubt flooding through me. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. My earlier bravado was quickly fading and I contemplated turning around and getting out of dodge.

  “Are you chickening out or are you going in?” an amused voice drawled from behind me. I threw a glance over my shoulder at Parsons, who stood there grinning like a Cheshire cat.

  After the barn blowing up incident Tony and I decided to call a quits to our insane attraction to each other. Guess he figured I was too much baggage for him to deal with. That was fine with me though. His macho possessive attitude had been starting to get a little on my nerves. He was sexy as hell, I had to give him that, but it just wasn’t worth it.

  Oddly enough his mocking words brought with it the return of my bravado, giving me the courage that I needed.

  “Fear isn’t in my vocabulary,” I replied with a grin. Leaning forward I pushed down on the metal bar and opened the bar.

  Continue reading for a glimpse at the first chapter of book two in the Deadly Series, Deadly Science.

  DEADLY SCIENCE

  CHAPTER ONE

  I find it amusing to watch kids in this day and age as they learn the many lessons life throws at us. It draws me back to my own childhood and with it the many childish things that I’d done. Like the time my younger brother Reese and I talked our Dad into buying us skateboards from the new department store downtown.

  I couldn’t blame him for being skeptical, I was high into my skirt wearing phase at the time, but I refused to let Reese have one and not get one too. Let’s just say learning how to skateboard while wearing a skirt probably wasn’t the brightest idea I’d ever had, especially when I ended up with road rash on my rear from trying to sit while riding it down a hill.

  My life since that time has been a never ending downhill ride and I’ve got plenty more skid marks on my rear to prove it. Not surprisingly so considering what I do for a living. My name is Taci Andrews and I’m an Investigative Reporter for the Riverdale Times.

  For the most part my life is pretty good, save for the solitary status my mother often reminds me of. I pay my bills on time, keep food in the refrigerator and even have enough money left over for that occasional bag of emergency Oreos when needed. Thanks to the genes I inherited from my mother’s side I still have a few good years left before my metabolism will catch up with me.

  I live in a respectable two bedroom apartment that is usually only occupied by myself, save for the times when my brother is down on his luck and needing a place to crash. While the building itself isn’t much to look at location is everything in a town like Riverdale, Iowa; I can make it to work in ten minutes give or take a stop over at Starbuck’s.

  All in all I’d say I’m a pretty down to earth person. As I wear little make up and my shoulder length blonde hair doesn’t cause me too many issues I can usually get ready and be out the door in less than a half hour. I don’t tend to get overly stressed out over things either; I’ve heard that leads to grey hairs and the less I have of those the better.

  I like to keep my life as carefree as possible so needless to say my carefree meter was thrown off track when my best friend, Annie Brown, called in a panic.

  Hitting the brakes in the middle of traffic I came to an abrupt stop, ignoring the one fingered gestures I received from the drivers who had to divert around me.

  “Annie slow down and start over. What do you mean you have cancer?” I asked tightly, my hand gripping the steering wheel.

  Annie inhaled a shaky breath, her distress evident over the phone line. “I had a pap smear taken at my gynecologist last week and it came back with abnormal cells. They said I have to go back for another test to rule out cancer for sure but I really don’t see the point. I have it, I just know it. Oh my God Taci, what am I going to do? How am I going to make it through this? What will happen to the girls?”

  Annie recently divorced her cheating husband Bob after catching him pants down in his office with his secretary. It hadn’t come as much of a shock since he’d had a rumored track record a mile long before Annie married him, but I’d somehow managed to keep my tongue in cheek to support her. Bad choice or not us girls need to stick together, which is why I make it my daily routine to drive past the parking lot Bob parks his 2000 steel blue mustang in and do an egg toss. Childish, yes. Fun, definitely.

  Amazingly enough Annie’s three daughters, a.k.a. the trio, came out of the ordeal a lot better than I had expected. They were still as well adjusted as they’d been before the divorce only now they actually seemed happier. Guess they hadn’t cared much for their Dad either.

  “Take a deep breath Annie and relax, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. Did they actually say you had cancer?”

  “Well…..not exactly. The nurse who called used a lot of big words that I didn’t understand, but what I did hear was loud of clear; abnormal test and having to come back to get rechecked. Come on Tace, even I’m educated enough to know what that means,” Annie wailed into the phone.

  The wail of a police siren in the distance made me suddenly aware that I was still sitting in the middle of traffic. Lifting off the break I tossed a glance over my shoulder to make sure there wasn’t anyone coming before pushing down on the accelerator.

  “Ok, but they didn’t actually say
you had cancer, right? I take that to mean it’s a slight possibility but a long shot. Come on Annie, it’s just another re-pap. They’ll bring you back in, toss you up in the stirrups, do a little scraping and send it off to the lab. No big deal,” I said as nonchalantly as I could.

  “Easy for you to say, you aren’t the one whose feet will be up in the stirrups,” Annie replied flatly.

  I grinned. She had a point.

  “My point is you’ll be fine, I wouldn’t stress too much over it. There are a lot worse things in life to worry about,” I replied out.

  Annie sighed. “Oh yeah? Like what?”

  I opened my mouth just as my car was hit from behind, jerking me forward. Lucky for me it wasn’t a hard enough hit to set off the air bags. Unlucky for me I had just gotten my car back from the last accident it was in, which I would like to point out was completely not my fault. Who would have guessed it’d get damaged by sitting too close to a building that suddenly exploded?

  “Like getting rear ended. Uh Annie, I need to call you back,” I replied, snapping my phone shut before she could reply. Flinging open my door I slipped out of the front seat, walking around to the back of the car to survey the damage. It was just a guess, but I was pretty sure the back bumper was supposed to be attached to the rear of the car and not hanging in midair. Great. There goes another paycheck to the repair shop.

  “Oh man, are you alright? I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there. One minute the road was clear and then there you were out of nowhere,” a man was apologizing as he approached from the other vehicle. From the looks of his boyish features, character t-shirt and pair of faded jeans I guessed him to be in his early twenties if I was lucky. Then again I was really bad at guessing ages. I glanced at the offending vehicle who was responsible for landing me yet again in the repair shop. A pick up truck, go figure.

  “It’s alright, I think I’m fine,” I replied with a shrug, instantly wincing at the pain that shot through my neck.