I tried to keep my temper in check, but it was difficult. The rebel inside of me wanted to erupt. I was a grown woman who could hold her own. I wasn’t about to be chased out of my home by the ghosts of my husband’s past. I said just as much.
“You’re a fool.” My dad’s words cut deep and this time I did flinch. At that moment my mom came to door, but one look at our faces told her all she needed to know. She was smart enough to stay silent.
I turned and walked quietly to my car. Visiting Inez would have to wait until another day.
I managed to wait until my pickup turned right out of their subdivision before I let the flood gates open.
10
I thought Mrs. J. was calling my phone again to ask for a status update on the float. If it was her, I was going to ignore it. Again.
Then I thought maybe it was Randy giving me a call. I still hadn’t heard a word on Kat. I was crossing everything that she had magically popped back in to work.
It wasn’t either one of them.
It was Vince returning my call.
“Hey, thanks so much for getting back to me. Do you know Devonshire?” I asked, getting right to the point.
“Yes, I do.” There was silence and I had a feeling Vince was having an internal debate. Finally he said, “I’ll tell you what I know because I know if I don’t, you’ll keep digging until you figure it out, and figuring it out would somehow involve Aria.”
“Fair enough,” I said. It was completely true.
“The Sugar King, Chocolate King, Vodka King—it’s all the same guy. The man is worth a fortune.”
“I knew he was The Sugar King but not the others. What’s he doing here? I know he just got married.”
“I don’t know if I’m more impressed or worried that you know all this. How do you do it?” Vince asked.
“It’s a gift,” I joked.
“Rumor has it his health isn’t so great. He needed to slow down before he ended up dead. My turn. Why are you asking about him?” Vince asked.
“He’s after Finn. He and his buddies conned him in their youth,” I said as a matter of fact.
“You’re telling me Finn stole from Paul Devonshire? You know his nickname is Devil-shire, right?”
“No, and I don’t think I even want to know.”
Vincent disregarded my comment. “The man’s got a temper. I heard he’s a fan of torture and he’s not one to offer mercy. You’d be insane to cross him.”
“What about youthful ignorance?” I offered up.
“You can’t be that ignorant if you marked him as a target,” Vince said flatly.
“That’s true,’” I sighed. “Well at least that explains this sick game he’s set up.”
“Game?” Vince asked.
I debated telling him the entire backstory, but I knew Aria would fill him in after she heard. So I went ahead and told him all about the cat and mouse charade Devonshire had orchestrated.
Vince whistled.
“Yeah, I know,” I said.
“I’m really not surprised. The only time I ever crossed him, if you can even call it that, was when I denied a shipment of his.” Vince owned a shipping brokerage firm that operated out of the Port of Savanah, one of the busiest and largest seaports in the United States.
“What happened?” I asked.
“It was Christmas. The docks were closed. Totally out of my hands but that didn’t stop him from mailing me a dead partridge hanging from a pear tree a few days later.”
“That’s sick.”
“Yeah, I can’t imagine what he’d do to someone who actually stole from him.”
“Gee, thanks Vince,” I said.
“Sorry, just being honest. Let me think on this and see what connections we have. I might be able to help.”
“Thanks. I would seriously appreciate it. Tell Aria I’ll see her soon.”
“Will do.”
I hung up with Vince and sat back and thought for a moment. I hadn’t solved the case of the sabotaged float. I hadn’t figured out why Alexia killed Cody. And I had no idea how to take down Devonshire.
If I sat around and thought about it anymore, I’d be fully depressed.
Thankfully, I didn’t have time to dwell. It was almost time to meet Izzy and Aria for drinks. That was something to look forward to.
Just because this wasn’t the dancing type of girls’ night didn’t mean I wasn’t going to put any effort into my appearance. In record time, I managed to put on a red floral print romper, a pair of brown leather sandals, and rose-gold hoop earrings to compliment the rose-gold ring on my finger. I didn’t have the energy to do much with my hair, but thankfully my long dark locks always looked great in a high ponytail.
Izzy and Aria had gone for low-key glam as well. Wait, who was I kidding, that was just their natural style.
“Okay, spill it. I heard you talking to Vince this afternoon. It sounds like Finn is in some serious trouble,” Aria said.
“Really? What was your first clue? The fact that he’s alluding the FBI or a potential slew of murderers?” I shot back.
Izzy’s eyes widened.
“Sorry. I’m just extremely frustrated. I shouldn’t have snapped at you,” I said.
“What’s going on exactly?” Izzy asked.
I hadn’t intentionally kept Izzy out of the loop. It was just that she had been busy saving my tail and running the shop the last couple of days. For that, I was grateful.
“Okay, let me get you both up to speed. When Finn was younger—we’re talking like 18 years old here—he and a group of friends stole a handful of paintings from this super-rich guy. The rich guy is known as The Sugar King. Turns out, The Sugar King is also Paul Devonshire, who’s recently relocated to the area.”
“Why’s that?” Izzy asked.
“New wife. Turns out he’s married to Mrs. Atlantic,” I said.
“She runs a local pageant circuit,” Aria filled in for Izzy.
“I don’t know how it happened, but Devonshire knows that Finn and his friends are the ones who stole from him almost two decades ago and now he wants revenge.”
“How do you know?” Aria asked.
“She talked to Finn,” Izzy said.
“She’s right, I did. He was waiting for me in his truck after my meeting Monday afternoon. He told me Devonshire was after them and put a price on his head.”
“Are you kidding me? That is some craziness right there.”
“I know. I have no idea how many people could technically be looking for him. And honestly, any one of them could’ve killed Cody. I mean, Finn thinks it was this woman who was part of the original group. A Russian mobster’s daughter named Alexia.”
“Did he say why?” Izzy asked me.
“No, he didn’t. But, Detective Brandle told me that Alexia and Finn were once married.”
“Shut up.” Izzy and Aria said in unison.
“What did Finn say?” Aria asked.
“I haven’t had a chance to ask him. I only saw him that one time and I found this out after that.”
“How do you feel about that?” Aria asked.
I looked to Izzy to see if she was going to answer for me. Her psychic intuitiveness made it easy to pick up on my feelings.
“Not going to lie, feeling a bit conflicted. I know it was a long time ago, but I thought I was Finn’s first and only wife. To know there had been another? Well, that sucks.”
“All I’m picking up on is a bunch of confusion,” Izzy confessed.
“Yeah, that sounds about right. Detective Brandle also said that neither Alexia nor the paintings have been seen since they disappeared from Devonshire’s collection.”
“Until she came to pay a visit the other night,” Aria filled in.
“Exactly. I was thinking about that on the drive over. The past twenty-four hours I was trying to come up with a plan to take her down. Get her implicated in the murder of Cody, but I think Finn is wrong.”
“How do you figure?” Izzy asked.
“If Alexia killed Cody while I was there, and now she’s after me, why didn’t she just kill me the same night? I was asleep. Totally defenseless.”
“Yeah, good point,” Aria said.
“She obviously wants to tell me something, and I want to know what it is. It might have something to do with Kat.”
“You haven’t heard from her?” Aria asked.
“No. Not a word.”
“That’s not completely out of character though, right?” Aria asked, a little unsure of herself.
“No, it’s not, but given the circumstances…” I let the words trail off.
“Oh, that reminds me!” Izzy said. “I found something online. A way for psychics to work together to boost their powers. Sort of like adding an antenna to a television.”
“Send a stronger signal?” I asked.
“Exactly. We can band together to look for Kat. I know a couple other psychics in the area and gave them a call. Just waiting to set something up. Hopefully tomorrow.”
“That would be awesome,” I replied.
“What are you going to do about Devonshire?” Aria asked.
“I need to take him down. I just don’t know how,” I said.
“Do you have a picture?” Izzy asked me.
I brought up Devonshire’s picture on my phone and handed it to Izzy.
“Yeah, this man has some bad juju. Oh boy.” Izzy peered closer at the phone. “I would add some anger issues as well. He’s secretive, too. He’s hiding something. Money? I can’t tell. He just has a lot of greed surrounding him.” Izzy put the phone down.
“Vince said he had a temper. In fact, he had a run-in with him before. It didn’t end well,” I said.
“Really? He didn’t tell me that,” Aria said.
“It wasn’t really a big deal, but I’m betting Devonshire hasn’t forgotten about it,” I said.
“Hmm, maybe we could use that to our advantage. Use his anger to beat him somehow. Set him up,” Aria said.
“Set him up where? And what do we do once he gets there? I don’t have anything on him that would hold in court. Nothing that would even warrant an arrest. His lawyers would stonewall that from ever happening,” I said.
“Gotta love our justice system,” Izzy added.
Generally, I had nothing against the system. In fact, I had seen it successfully convict and put away five murderers. However, corrupt millionaires were a whole new territory for me.
“Okay, I’ve got it. Isn’t the Little Miss Atlantic pageant this weekend?” Aria asked.
“Yeah, I don’t believe he’s changed the date. In fact, I know he wouldn’t, given what I’ve learned,” I said.
“Okay, why don’t we go down and register Amelia?” Amelia was Vince’s 7-year-old daughter and hence Aria’s stepdaughter.
“No way. Vince would never forgive me if something happened to Amelia. I’m not even going to go there,” I replied.
“We’re not actually going to take Amelia with us and she won’t participate. We’ll just go and poke around a bit, throw out some bait, and see what we find out.”
I shrugged my shoulders. It was the best we had and I was ready to do something. All this thinking had made me jittery.
“Okay, what time do you want to do this?” I asked.
11
The pageant headquarters was located in an old white Victorian in downtown Port Haven. It was the same area that was home to Dr. Michelson’s office and a handful of other residences turned businesses. It was southern charm at its finest.
Izzy had texted me on the drive over to say the psychic pow-wow was on for tonight at 7PM.
“Want to come with?” she texted.
“Sure. Just tell me where.”
Izzy texted back an address. I plugged it into my phone and saw that it was The Palms Motel located off Highway 17. Convenient, I thought. I could swing by Kat’s on my way and see if she was home. How lucky would that be?
We walked inside the pageant headquarters, and right off the bat Devonshire seemed to be in a bad mood. I considered that a good sign.
“Three hundred points! It can’t keep falling like this. I’m going to have to put my money someplace else,” he grumbled aloud. The man looked wholly out of place in a pastel-themed office with honey-oak hardwood floors and fresh white roses on the desk.
I sneezed unintentionally to signal our entrance.
Devonshire ignored us. “That’s it. I’m calling my broker. Don’t know what he’s doing all day. Obviously not watching the numbers.” I assumed Devonshire was talking about the stock market, which had been tumultuous in recent days, or so the news told me.
Devonshire had been at the front desk, but he jerked his thumb to the lovely woman sitting behind him to get her to switch spots with him. She stood up graciously and welcomed us.
“Good morning, what can I do for you?” she asked with a smile. Her blond hair was styled in flowing waves down her back. Her teeth were straight and white, and her lipstick, soft and pink, much like the pantsuit she was sporting. Oh yeah, she was a former beauty queen, and I was betting she was Devonshire’s wife.
Aria took the lead. “I know it’s last minute and all, but my daughter would really love to compete in the Little Miss pageant this weekend,” she said.
“Oh, is that so? How old is she?”
“Seven and she’s such a doll. She would love this opportunity.”
“Let me see if we have room,” the woman said. Aria and I watched as she scrolled through some spreadsheets on her computer. “The pageant has different requirements. I’m not sure you’d be able to get everything in time,” she said sincerely.
“Whatever it is, I’m sure it won’t be a problem. She’s her daddy’s little girl,” Aria said with a smile. That was true. Vince adored his daughter.
“Aren’t we all?” the woman replied with a laugh.
Her comment made me think of the run-in with my dad yesterday. Even after I solved this mess, I wouldn’t feel right until things were fixed between us.
Devonshire started pacing between the office windows, mumbling under his breath, with his cell phone pressed to his ear. The woman nervously looked over her shoulder before turning back to us and asking, “What was your daughter’s name?”
“Isabella Delgado,” Aria said, purposely not using her daughter’s real first name.
Devonshire whipped around. “Did you say Delgado?”
“Yes, why?” Aria asked innocently.
“No, absolutely not! I will not have a Delgado in this pageant. I didn’t like him then, and I don’t like him now.”
“Excuse me?” Aria asked.
“Vincent Delgado, right? He lives around here. I’m not having any relation of his in this program!” Devonshire bellowed. The man’s spray tan looked less orange and more red at that moment.
“Dear,” the woman said. It was more of a warning than anything else.
“No. No, no, no. Delgado made me lose thousands. I’m not having it. Get out of here!” Devonshire said, dismissing us.
His wife was absolutely horrified.
“Excuse me for just one moment,” she said before turning to face her husband. “Remember what we talked about,” she said in hushed tones.
“I don’t care about all that karma crap,” Devonshire said.
“Your heart then. You don’t want to keel over now, do you?” the woman said.
Devonshire seemed to reconsider. “No…I don’t. It’s just...”
“Just breathe. Remember what I said. We get what we give. You need to send out the good if you want to get good back,” the woman continued.
“That Delgado, though. He made me so mad!”
“Sweetie, that was the past. Focus on the now. Remember, your thoughts become things. Choose them wisely.” The woman stroked Devonshire’s arm in a soothing manner. It was amazing watching him melt in front of her. His breathing slowed and his shoulders relaxed.
“Why don’t you go for a walk? I think so
me quiet reflection or even a little meditation would do you wonders,” she said.
“Yeah, okay, I’ll do that,” Devonshire said, almost in a trance-like voice. I was thinking Aria might want to see about hiring this woman down at the yoga studio. She’d probably do awesome with the guided meditations they offered. I was feeling calm and shouldn’t have been shocked to see Devonshire do an about-face and walk out the back of the office. The woman waited until he left the building before apologizing to us.
“I am so terribly sorry about all of that. My husband has some anger issues, but we’re working on them.”
“Yeah, wow, I see that. You have a way with calming him,” I said.
“I try,” Mrs. Atlantic said. “Did you still want to register your daughter? I completely understand if you don’t. But if you do, I’d be happy to waive the registration fee,” Mrs. Atlantic said.
While Aria and Mrs. Atlantic went over the program and the paperwork, I thought of something. “I see you guys have a lot of sponsors. Are you open to new ones? I own Sugar & Sass, the beauty company off Main Street. I think it’s a perfect tie-in,” I said.
“Yes, absolutely. I have a separate packet of information. Oh, where are those?” Mrs. Atlantic began looking behind the counter, opening drawers and lifting up folders. “That’s right, Paul updated them. They’re back here.” Mrs. Atlantic found a packet and handed it over to me. I took a cursory glance and did a double take. Entry sponsors required a twenty-five-thousand-dollar donation. How much scholarship money was up for grabs here, anyway? It was a good tie-in, but I don’t know about it being worth twenty-five thousand.
“Thanks so much. I’ll check it out,” I replied. My mother would’ve been proud of me for keeping my thoughts to myself.
“Did you see how much the lowest entry level sponsor was?” I asked Aria as walked back to my car.
“No, how much?”
“Twenty-five thousand dollars!”
“You’re kidding me! That seems absolutely ridiculous.”
“I know, which makes me think about what Izzy said last night. How much is the scholarship that’s up for grabs this weekend?” Like most beauty pageants, this one offered a scholarship to the winner.
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