Carolyn Arnold - McKinley 05 - Family is Murder

by Carolyn Arnold

  “Silver, wasn’t it?” Her detour had him reeling to catch up. Did this mean he was forgiven, the matter put behind them, or was it simply delayed?

  “Yes, it was a Toyota Prius. The stickers on the bumper were yellow.”

  “That’s Hertz Rentals.”

  “We have to get down there.”

  He was afraid to pry her thinking—why was this striking her as such a revelation? He was relieved when she spoke.

  “We’ve got to get down there and see if it was returned.” She tapped his leg as she bounded from the couch. “If she didn’t return the car, then we’d have to assume the perp’s taken her in theirs, and please don’t say she may have made a run for it.”

  “You have my word, I wasn’t even thinking that.” He hated not being completely honest with her, and he sensed that she knew and was willing to let this one go.

  A Means Of Travel

  HERTZ RENTALS BELONGED TO A large nationwide chain. Sean steered the car into the lot and came to an abrupt halt. A rental agent, who was helping a couple, turned to look at them. The lady smiled.

  Sara recognized the intention. It wasn’t just the fancy car, it was the man behind the wheel. She turned to look at Sean. He was perfect. They were perfect—together. They’d get through this and be stronger for it. When Sean had first mentioned calling Adam and having him delve into her past, a flicker of pain shot through her, so intense that it had her momentarily questioning everything. The fact that he spoke of being on her side, of giving in to the belief Leslie was her mother, while he went behind her back to Adam, it had stolen her breath. But she had time to think on all his words. She would forgive Sean. She just wanted to move past this section and get back to where they used to be. It would happen. She just had to keep her wits about her. And as she dwelled on what he had said, his intentions were noble. He wanted to protect her. She should be thankful she had someone who cared so much. In fact, when she let what little pride she held onto, go, she was.

  “You want to rent a silver Prius?” The woman behind the rental counter snapped her gum, her eyes going beyond them and looking out the front bank of windows. “And why would you care?”

  Sara followed her line of sight to the Mercedes SLS AMG GT, but turned back to the clerk. She looked at her name tag. “Bonnie, it’s just important that we rent that car.”

  “Well, I’m sorry but we don’t have one to rent.” Another snap of her gum.

  “Don’t have one available, or never had one?” Sean asked.

  Bonnie eyeballed him up and down. “For you, gorgeous, I’d wave a magic wand if I had one, but I don’t.”

  “So you never had a silver one?” Sara asked. Her insides were knotted up and, with all the emotions running through her, she was surprised she hadn’t been sick, or the victim of a migraine. It was possible Leslie had picked up the Prius at another rental location.

  Bonnie fired a hot glare at Sara and then stuck out her tongue, the pink gum coating it, and she blew a bubble. It popped. “We might have had one.” A smile directed toward Sean.

  “Might have?”

  “Yep.” Bonnie leaned on the counter. “From what I understand, though, it was involved in a hit and run. I’m not sure we’re going to see it back.”

  “A hit and run?” The headache started to set in.

  “Well, the cops called about it…say, late last night.”

  “The cops?” Sara reiterated. Her head spun. Was Leslie a killer after all?

  “That’s what I said, sunshine. Now, we have a lot of other vehicles here you could rent.”

  Sara swallowed hard. The bile in her stomach, tossing. She turned away from the counter.

  “Did the cops talk to you about it?” Sean asked.

  Sara glanced over her shoulder and the nausea touched her cheeks. She waited for the urge to vomit to pass. “Was it a female cop who talked to you about the hit and run?”

  “Yeah.” Bonnie looked between them. “You’re not here to rent a car, are you?”

  “Let me guess, this cop called and said there was a hit and run and wanted the renter’s name.”

  “Well, yeah, but I thought that was—”

  Sara waved thank you before she left the building.

  Sean caught up to her. “Darling, are you okay?”

  She shook her head. “Either there was a real hit and run and Leslie is a killer, or the killer we’re after made up the hit and run to get Leslie’s name to track her hotel room down.”

  “One way to find out.” Sean pulled out his cell phone, but Sara put her hand on his.

  “Before we go down that road with Jimmy, let’s check out the hotel lot for ourselves.”

  “Good idea.” Concern swept over his face. “You going to be all right?”

  “Maybe we should just leave this alone.”

  “What are you saying?”

  “Just that. We have our reception party coming up in just over a week. There are still arrangements to make. Jimmy has this case under control.”

  “You’re kidding me, right? We can’t let your mother go like that.”

  She matched eyes with him, the man she loved, and the man she knew loved her.

  “Hey, we’re in this for better or worse, doll, and being married to you has been the best time of my life.”

  Her eyes narrowed a trace. “Are you just saying that?”

  “Maybe.” He gave her a sly look that had her slapping his chest. He caught her hand and kissed her fingertips. “No, we have plenty of time to make sure our party is the best Albany’s ever seen, and save your mother.”

  “You keep calling Leslie my mother now.”

  “You believe it. So do I. I’m going to let any other hesitations I have go. I’m going to jump into this one with faith. However, I’d still like to keep one eye open.” He closed one eye to provide visual to his words.

  She laughed. They would be just fine…in fact, they were perfect already.

  Sean opened her car door when they got to the hotel. The garage attendant was a burly man of over six feet. Sean held up a couple twenties. “We need your help.”

  The man’s eyes went to Sara, back to Sean. “I’m not sure I want to get involved with this.”

  Sean let go of Sara’s hand to get out another twenty. “Sixty dollars and all I want is for you to take a quick look in your computer there.”

  “Sixty bucks for a second’s job? Why does that sound too good to be true?”

  “Listen, you’re not going to get into any trouble. We promise you that. We just need to know if a car is still in the lot.”

  “Do you have the license plate?” He made a swipe for the cash but Sean pulled it back out of reach.

  “After you tell us what we need to know.”

  “No way.” The man crossed his arms. “Maybe I should call the cops.”

  “Fine.” Sean shoved the cash toward the man who grabbed it greedily.

  “If you don’t have the license plate, I’m not sure how I can help you.”

  “We have the person’s name and the make and model.”

  “We have the license plate.”

  Sean turned to Sara. Her memory never failed them.

  She rhymed it off and the man typed it in.

  “From the looks of it, it’s gone.” He looked to a pegboard full of key rings. “The keys would be right there.”

  “Oh.”

  “I take it that’s not what you wanted to hear.”

  “Thank you for your help.” Sean tapped the frame of the kiosk window and turned away.

  “That’s all you needed?” the attendant called out.

  “Thank you,” Sara said.

  “What do you make of that?” He stopped walking and she stood beside him.

  “I think it’s clear. Someone took Leslie in her car.”

  He nodded.

  She continued. “Or Leslie did kill Angela and she really was involved in a hit and run?”

  “One way to find out for sure.”

 
; “Oh, Jimmy’s going to kill us.”

  “First, though, how did you remember the plate?”

  “You’re asking me how I remembered something? I saw it in our driveway when she came for dinner.”

  He smirked and nodded. “I’ll dial Jimmy on speaker. Hopefully you can woo him into being cooperative.” Sean punched in the number and Jimmy was on the line. “Another favor if we could.”

  “You two really need to retire, or hire me full-time.”

  Sara glanced at Sean and raised her brows.

  “It might be an idea, Jimmy, but is there any record of a Toyota Prius being involved with a hit and run last night?” Sean asked.

  “I thought I told you two to stay out of this.”

  “We’ve never been good listeners,” Sean dismissed Jimmy’s correction.

  There was a heavy sigh from Jimmy, followed by clicks on a keyboard. “You do realize I’m not in Traffic.”

  “We appreciate you,” Sara said with a smile.

  “I see your tactics, McKinleys. Sean, you ask for the favors, and sweet-pea sweetens the pot with her cute little voice.”

  “Is it working?” Sean laughed.

  “No record of a hit and run reported at all.”

  “So you have no active interest in a Leslie Summers?”

  “The woman who claims to be your mother, Sara?”

  “That’s her.”

  “None.”

  “None? You must already have someone in mind.”

  “Sara, you’re too close to this one.”

  Sean swore he witnessed fear come over Sara.

  “It’s the killer who called the rental company,” Sara said. “That’s how she tracked Leslie down and got to her room. She then took Leslie in her rental vehicle. You know what that means?”

  Jimmy didn’t say anything, but held on the line.

  Sean read her eyes and relayed the message. “The killer came by other means. Jimmy, have guys check the area for an abandoned car. Find that and run the plates, and I’ll bet you get Angela’s killer. You might even find Leslie. And get a BOLO out on the rental.”

  Sara rhymed off the plate for Jimmy.

  “And you’re sure you guys wanted to retire from the day job? To me, it seems you’re still doing it.”

  “So, have you gotten anywhere with the murder?” Sean asked.

  “You know we just took it in this morning?”

  “Prints? Anything?”

  “Sean, it’s an open investigation. You know I can’t discuss it with you.”

  “You have a lead?” Sara asked.

  “Here we go again with the sweet little voice. You’re going to be the death of me. We’ve got prints, but that’s all I can tell you right now.”

  “There’s one other thing,” Sean said.

  “Oh, please, I do have a job here to do as well, you know.”

  Sean smiled. “We have prints at the house that belong to Les—”

  Sara touched him and smiled. “Don’t worry about it, Jimmy.”

  Sean stared at Sara but she didn’t look at him.

  A big sigh from Jimmy. “Okay, now, I better get back to things.”

  “The BOLO and the uniformed officers,” Sean chirped in.

  “Yes. No one else dies today.”

  “You got it.” Sean’s response fell to a dead line. He put his phone away and turned to Sara.

  “Leslie is with a killer, Sean. Whether she’s my mother or not, she’s in real danger. The person who has her, killed Angela to get close to us. Where does it end?”

  “Good question, darling. Come on, let’s get home.”

  Questioning Identities

  THERE WAS NOWHERE ELSE for them to go but home, to think things through. The leads had been provided to Jimmy and that was that. They were supposed to let things go. She couldn’t help but consider the irony that her birth mother may have come into her life just to leave it. While she gave more consideration to the concept that Leslie Summers might not be who she said she was, evidence in the situation was leaning to her favor. What were the odds that two random women were scheming to get close to them for money? Too high, in Sara’s opinion.

  Sean’s phone rang and she picked it up from the console with a smirk. “Not while you’re driving.”

  He smiled at her and his attention went back to the road.

  “Hello.”

  “Oh, Mrs. McKinley, Sara, is Sean there?”

  “It’s all right, Adam, I know everything now.”

  She met Sean’s gaze and smiled.

  “Oh, so you don’t need what I found out?”

  Sara straightened. Adam had news about her birth mother.

  “Sean told me to look into Leslie Summers…”

  As she listened to his news, her breath froze.

  “I’m sorry, Sara.”

  She felt peaked.

  Sean kept glancing over at her. “Are you all right?”

  She could only continue to blink. Words wouldn’t form. She hit the disconnect button on the cell phone.

  Sean pulled the car over to the curb. He didn’t make the verbal inquiry, instead he waited for her to speak.

  “There isn’t a Leslie Summers in Augusta, Maine.”

  “All right, well, does that mean anything?”

  She turned to face him. “It means she’s not my mother.”

  “No, it doesn’t.” He shifted in his seat, angling toward her. “All it means is that she’s not living there now. Is that all he said?”

  She shrugged her shoulders. “I sort of blanked out and hung up on him.”

  Sean snickered.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “My emotional lady these days.”

  That was the worst possible assessment that could have left his lips. It was confirmed, her idle vision was becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. He was going to find her unstable and question his decision to marry her. She couldn’t speak.

  “Please, don’t take that as a bad thing. I love you—as you are.”

  She looked at him from the corner of her eyes. “You say it like there’s something wrong with me.”

  “Because that’s the way you want to take it? I’m not sure. But you do know you should have given him more of an opportunity to talk.”

  “What?”

  “Adam is a thorough guy. He wouldn’t have left things at that. Remember Leslie said she had you when she was fifteen.”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, at fifteen her last name would have likely been something else entirely.”

  “You’re right. Yes, you’re right.” She smiled. Her breathing resumed. She chortled. “Maybe I shouldn’t have hung up on him.”

  Unexpected Visitor

  THERE WAS A WOMAN SITTING on their stairs when they got home.

  Sean glanced over at Sara. “Do you know her?”

  Sara shook her head. “I’ve never seen her before.”

  Sean’s phone rang, but he sent it to voice mail.

  By the time they both got out of the car and headed toward the door, the woman was standing. She was smiling at them.

  “Sean and Sara?” She had huge front teeth and a slight lisp to her words. She appeared to be in her late forties, dressed in a pantsuit with a black satchel over her left shoulder.

  “Yes,” Sean answered on their behalf.

  She held out her hand. “Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Elisha Hudson, Leslie’s best friend.”

  When they shook hands, Sean noticed a small scar on her chin.

  “Would you like to come in?” Sara asked with a smile.

  “I’d love to.”

  As Elisha entered the home, she placed a hand to her chest. “My, Leslie didn’t lie, this place really is huge. I mean, sure it looks it from outside, but inside.” She let out a whistle.

  Sean glanced at Sara.

  “Would you like to have a tea? Coffee?” Sara asked.

  “A glass of bourbon?” A single eyebrow hitched up and with it the one side of h
er mouth. “If it’s not too early.”

  “No, that’s fine. Darling, will you get that for our guest? I’ll show her to the sitting room.”

  “Sure. Would you like something too?”

  “Cognac, please.”

  “I’ll join you.”

  Sara left for the liquor cabinet and Sean led Elisha down the hall to the room with the piano. It had become their favorite spot to sit in the ninety-six-hundred-square-foot house.

  “Please, have a seat wherever you’d like,” Sean said as he sat on a wing-back chair.

  Elisha paced the room, running her fingers along the artwork on the walls, the mantle on the fireplace, the wood trim around the windows, and came to stop in front of the piano.

  “Ah, there she is.” Elisha lit up when Sara entered the room with a tray holding their drinks.

  Sara smiled and handed her a glass, and then gave one to Sean. She sat on the other wing-back chair, a table apart from where Sean sat. Elisha remained standing near the piano and now leaned against it.

  “So, what happened to my mother?” Sara asked.

  Elisha’s eyes bolted to Sara. “Your mother?”

  “Yeah, my mother.” Sara smiled and passed a glance to Sean.

  Sean received the message. His girl wasn’t one to be fooled. He should have trusted her instincts about Leslie sooner.

  “Ah, yes, your mother. Well, she had to rush back home for an emergency situation.”

  “Oh,” Sara sat up straighter. “An urgent trial they needed her help with?”

  A subtle smile. “Yes, they said they needed her.”

  This woman was a confirmed imposter. Sara had laid the bait and Elisha had devoured it whole. Leslie had said she was a doctor, not a lawyer or judge.

  An awkward silence fell in the room and Elisha went to the couch where she sat down and crossed her legs. She took a long draw on her drink. “I heard that you have a big event coming up. Your mother is pretty excited about it.”

  “I hope she’ll be able to get back for it.”

  “Don’t you worry your pretty little head. She’s fine.” Elisha waved a hand and then took another sip. “I’m sure you could use some help around here, though, with the party. It’s why she sent me.”

  “That’s not necessary.” Sara passed Sean a look.