“Fine, but for the record, you're all gonna pay in spades for doing this to me!”
Connor laughed. “Why are you going to the Stanton house? I really think you should stay away.”
I was stressed enough. I knew I should focus on one problem at a time. Waiting for Cristiano's call to meet him that night was my priority. “You've got a point. Okay, I'll let it go for tonight.”
Connor assured me he'd update me as soon as they were able to get a warrant to search the Stanton house. Marcus had stopped them from getting inside earlier that afternoon without one, even though it was supposedly to obtain fingerprints from the break-in. Connor was already suspicious and had begun putting his case together for the judge. When we hung up, I drove to Danby Landing to prepare for Francesca's return.
After checking that my mother had picked up Emma at the bus stop, I quickly showered and attempted to relax. I had no desire to eat dinner, and I was unwilling to have a drink in case it clouded my judgment. I grabbed my shoes and tossed them on the floor next to the couch. It was too early to put them on. I sat in silence worrying over how things would go that night.
At precisely eight thirty, Cristiano called. “Do you have a package for me from the Castiglianos?”
“Yes, it's ready to go,” I confirmed, patting the right pocket in my jeans. I'd hidden the real one in my shoe just in case I encountered any trouble with the fake one. While I didn't want to lose the only evidence we had against my in-laws, protecting Francesca came first. Would they find a way to show up tonight?
“Good, you follow instructions well. I like that about you.” He paused to relay the news to someone nearby, probably my missing wife. “We'll convene at home plate on the Grey baseball field at Braxton. I thought it was a fitting location for Francesca's return home.”
Outdoors might be a safe place. April could more easily track me with the GPS device without any interruption from walls or other barriers. It might also provide easier access for her team. As I thought about the plan, it worried me. Cristiano was smart, and this would open him up for potential danger. “Are you sure meeting on the baseball field near the Grey Sports Complex is the best place?”
“I hope that's not doubt in your voice, Kellan. Francesca assured me that you knew how to accept explicit directions,” Cristiano replied.
“Okay, just checking. Don't lose your cool over it!” I repeated the location to be sure the recording device in my living room captured it, then stepped outside the front door of the cottage to check if anyone was watching from elsewhere on the property.
“We'll see you in thirty minutes. And please remember, Kellan, we know everything you are doing. Are you enjoying that lovely breeze across the front porch of your little cottage? It can be dangerous to walk around barefoot on a wooden surface. You might get splinters.” Cristiano had someone scouting my every move. Where was this person? “You know the rules. No cops. No Castiglianos. No weapons. No funny business. We will be checking everything. Do not show until precisely nine o'clock.”
When I confirmed his demands would be met, he hung up the phone. I had fifteen minutes before it made sense to leave Danby Landing. I desperately wanted to call April to verify everything was in place and that she'd heard the location. I paced the front porch with my ears intently focused on every strange noise. The recording machine beeped, and I knew April's team had dialed in to pick up the location. My confidence jumped one small notch higher on the already beaten-down scale.
Then I heard Krissy Stanton talking on her cell phone across the yard. I stepped closer to the fence and peered through a hole near one of the knots in the wooden gate. She was feverishly loading suitcases in the trunk of her car. I ran inside the cottage and stepped into my shoes. If I acted quickly, I could confront her before she took off. I sent a text message to Connor, letting him know I'd seen Krissy at the Stanton house.
I tiptoed down the gravel driveway and cut across the side lawn to the gate between our two properties. Within two minutes, I'd unlatched the lock and raced to her open front door. I stepped into the foyer and looked all around.
Krissy clomped around the corner almost crashing into me. “What are you doing here?” She backed up a few steps and dropped a bag to the floor. Her eyes were dark and distant.
“I know what you've done, Krissy. How could you do something so awful to one of your friends?” I put up an arm to stop her when she tried to barrel past. “We need to talk.”
“I know trying to leave town is stupid, but I have to get away from my family. Gabriel will be fine, my father doesn't have a case against him,” she said, tears forming in her eyes.
“You've got that right. Gabriel will survive, but you'll wind up in prison. You won't get the death penalty, but I'm confident you'll spend decades in prison for strangling Quint.” I should've been more careful with my accusations, especially knowing she'd killed one person already and I could be next. Then what would happen to Francesca and the Castiglianos? I couldn't control my actions anymore. I suddenly understood how similar Nana D and I were. My body seethed with anger over reckless people who called themselves friends, people who would steal from you just as soon as murder you.
Krissy froze in place with tears streaming down her cheeks. “What are you talking about? Quint was electrocuted, not strangled. I never intended to kill him, just to scare him. It was an accident. I feel guilty enough already for what I've done. Don't make it any worse.”
I paused to digest what she'd told me. The look of panic and shock on her face seemed genuine. “Didn't you strangle your boyfriend when your plan to electrocute him failed?”
“No, I didn't even know he'd been strangled. And according to him, he wasn't even my boyfriend.” Krissy cocked her head and squinted. “Something doesn't make sense to me.”
“Maybe you should start at the beginning. Tell me exactly what you did,” I said, encouraging her to divulge her secrets as quickly as possible. “I have somewhere important to be soon, but I can give you ten more minutes.”
“If you're telling me the truth, and someone strangled Quint, then I need to get out of here even quicker than I thought.” Krissy tried to run past me, but I snatched her arm and pushed her toward the foyer wall.
“No, I want to understand what you know, what you did to him,” I shouted, wanting to shake her until she agreed to talk. Even in my fury, I knew restraint was the optimal approach.
Krissy wiped her face dry and sat on the stairs opposite me. “Quint was the jewel thief. I didn't realize it at first. I told you that he helped me steal the brooch from the Paddingtons eight years ago, but evidently, he took the prank even further back then and was recreating the crimes again this year. He'd been secretly collecting information from everyone to identify the best times and places to rob them.”
Krissy explained what she knew about the jewelry thefts. Shortly after Quint had stolen the brooch for her eight years ago, he'd seen Imogene and Paul kissing in Memorial Library. When Quint confronted Imogene, she told him that her family didn't approve of him and wanted her to marry someone better. Then, Lara tried to blackmail Quint with evidence of the bribes his uncle had taken. Imogene's mother had been trying to force Quint to leave town. He was enraged about not being accepted by the upper crust of Wharton County, so he planned revenge. Using the details from the story Imogene had told him about the sorority's calla lilies, Quint decided to target all the founding families in Alpha Iota Omega. She'd always suspected Gabriel was the thief because he'd been keeping secrets back then. Krissy had thought Quint was acting odd because Imogene had ended their relationship, so she tried to comfort him. Quint rejected her when she asked him on a date because he'd been angry and focused on getting revenge before leaving town.
Krissy had never known this until a few weeks ago when Quint returned to town. Krissy admitted to him she'd never stopped loving him. She tried to convince him to give her a chance, but Imogene flirted with Quint at Kirklands one night. When Quint was drunk, he revealed to Kr
issy he'd thought Imogene still loved him and that he still loved her. “I was so angry at Quint for hurting me again. I confronted Imogene and threatened to tell Paul if she didn't stay away. Imogene finally agreed to tell Quint she only loved Paul. Then, I had to deal with Siobhan.”
“Huh?” I was perplexed at the change in direction.
“Siobhan and Quint slept together. He was devastated by Imogene's recent rejection. Instead of throwing himself at me, he hooked up with Siobhan. When Quint realized that he'd given her the wrong impression, he broke it off, but it was too late by then. I was angry about him always ignoring me, so I told Paul about Imogene secretly meeting Quint at Kirklands. I also told Quint that Imogene had taken the tiara to her mother's place that night. She'd bragged about it when I saw her on campus that day.”
“Get to how Quint died.” I was anxious to hear all the details but unable to stay much longer.
“Fine. When Imogene wouldn't end her engagement, Quint assumed she'd just been using him to make Paul jealous. He broke into her mother's house to steal the tiara, only he didn't know Imogene was sleeping there. He tried to escape, but she recognized him.” Imogene never told Paul, and she didn't want to press charges because she was afraid the truth would come out about her feelings for Quint resurfacing. “When I confronted Quint, he confessed that he could never love me and that I was just a good friend. I was so livid with Quint, I wanted to hurt him in a monumental way.”
“What did you do to the electrical panels inside the cable car?”
Krissy closed her eyes. “It was foolish. I just wanted to shock him. I'd been learning a lot by hanging around him, and Nicky had taught me basic electrical work, so I felt assured that I'd only scare Quint and teach him a lesson. Something went horribly wrong, and now I think I know why.”
“Please hurry up, Krissy. Tell me what happened in the cable car.” I wish I had that recording device now, but I could always update Connor and April after the meeting with Cristiano Vargas.
“Quint and I were meeting for a drink late that night. I'd already gone over to strip a few of the wires and turn on the main power supply at the station. We met up, then I begged him to show me the renovations.” They'd stopped on campus to visit the cable car where Quint proceeded to boast about the work he'd been accomplishing. He thought the power had been off and flipped on his cell phone for some light. When he surveyed the panel, his hand had touched the wires, severely stunning him. “I wasn't thinking straight and turned off the power with my bare hands. I'd forgotten to wear gloves that time because I was nervous. Quint had been electrocuted, but he was still alive even though the shock had left him weak and hardly able to move. I'd gotten my revenge, but I also knew he would be fine. When I'd been at the Paddington estate earlier that day, I'd seen a bunch of black calla lilies and thought it'd be a perfect way to throw the entire disaster in his face. I'd retrieved them from my car after turning the power off, then tossed them near his unconscious body, so he'd know someone wanted revenge on him for what he'd done. I left him to sleep it off and went home. He never knew what I'd done to him.”
“You're saying when you left, he was still alive?”
“He was. I swear,” Krissy cried out. “When I learned he'd died the next day, I couldn't tell anyone. I was scared the cops would put me in jail for what was supposed to be evening the score.” Krissy explained that she was the woman who'd confronted Helena at Woodland Warriors because Helena had known Quint was still interested in Imogene and only leading Krissy on. Krissy thought her supposed friend would've tried to protect her rather than let Quint hurt her.
While she had a point, I had five minutes to arrive at the baseball field. “Did you find the jewelry Quint had stolen and hide it in Gabriel's car today? He's been arrested, but he's not guilty.”
“Quint was the thief, not me. I have no idea how it got in Gabriel's car.” Krissy promised that she didn't try to set up Gabriel and had never known where Quint hid the jewelry. “But now, I'm scared someone else saw the whole thing happen at the cable car. I got a call earlier today from a disguised voice. This creep threatened me,” Krissy said, beginning to hyperventilate.
“How?” I was getting more confused as she explained the situation.
“The caller taunted me about witnessing what I'd done to Quint. I thought it was Imogene because she'd threatened to tell the cops that she'd seen me near the cable car too.”
“So, you no longer think it was Imogene calling you?” If Krissy hadn't gone into Quint's bedroom the other day, Imogene was the only other girl who could've visited Bertha's house. Who else would've taken the jewels from Quint's bedroom and put them in Gabriel's car?
“It was at two o'clock today when I got the call. Wasn't Imogene in class with you?” Krissy paced the foyer as if she wanted to stomp holes through the ceramic tiles.
Imogene had been with me at two o'clock today, but I had no time to linger right now. Hearing the rest would have to wait until after the Vargas meeting. “I have to go, but you need to speak with Detective Connor Hawkins. Maybe Paul Dodd was your blackmail caller. Could he and Imogene be conspiring together?”
“No, Kellan. Now that I'm piecing everything together, I know who it is. I saw someone following me the other day. When I confronted her, she had a valid explanation. I let it go at the time, but after today, I'm not sure anymore.” Krissy froze in the foyer and faced the front of the house. My back was to the door. I couldn't see what was going on behind me. She gasped and pointed in my direction.
“What? Who do you think it was?” I implored, wondering what she was staring at and why she'd raised her finger at me.
A familiar voice answered, “Krissy must be dumbfounded to find me here. She's much smarter than I gave her credit for, and I'm guessing she's started to figure out a few things.”
I turned around slowly as the trigger of a revolver cocked into place. When I came face to face with the woman holding the weapon, my mind had a meltdown in confusion and panic. Was I going to miss the meeting with Cristiano now? “What the hell is going on?”
“You might recognize me as Raquel Salvado, Chef Manny's new wife, but you'd probably know me a little better if I shared my maiden name. Allow me to properly introduce myself. Before I got married, my friends, family, business associates, and the government referred to me as Raquel Vargas. I believe you know my brother, Cristiano.” Raquel waved the gun and instructed me to step backward, next to Krissy. “Maybe it's time I shared a little story about how well you all knew your friend, or shall I say foe, Quint Crawford.”
Chapter 19
With a gun pointed at my chest, I had little time or focus to assemble what I was missing. Krissy clung to my arm as if it were a lifejacket. The color drained from her face like someone had wrathfully shaken an Etch-A-Sketch. My heart raced and breath quickened. “What about the meeting with Cristiano to exchange the storage device for Francesca?”
Krissy swallowed deeply. “Your wife? I thought she was dead.”
Raquel laughed wildly. “Amateurs. Do you really think I'd let them meet in an open field where anyone could see them wandering around and call the police?” She glanced into the nearby living room to survey her surroundings. “The two of you need to sit on that sofa in front of the window. Pull the shade down first. The sun hasn't fully set.”
While we complied, Raquel reached her hand toward me. “Give me the device now. Then we'll talk. I've sent Marcus Stanton on a wild goose chase about his missing jewelry, so he won't be home for at least an hour.”
I clumsily patted down my pockets, uncertain which one I'd left it in earlier. When I found it, I second-guessed the decision to deliver a fake copy of the evidence that the Castiglianos had compiled, but it would look far worse if I admitted what I'd done earlier. I took a step forward before sitting on the couch, cautious not to move too quickly and risk having my arm shot off by a crazed mafia woman. “Here, this is what Cristiano is expecting. The signed contract is back at my house.”
&
nbsp; “We'll deal with that later. Let's talk about poor stupid Quint,” Raquel began, leaning against a sideboard opposite us in the Stanton living room. She held the gun in her hand aimed directly at me, but her eyes occasionally darted back and forth to Krissy.
“You killed my boyfriend,” Krissy snarled, her knees vibrating like the strings of an exquisite violin being stroked by a fine French bow. “You won't get away with this.”
The irony of the situation seemed to have been lost on Krissy. She's the one who tried to electrocute him. My guess was if she hadn't stripped and loosened the wires to teach him a lesson, Quint would've been strong enough to fight off Raquel. “Let her talk, don't make things worse.”
“Smart man, Kellan,” she replied, then turned to Krissy. “Listen, girlfriend to girlfriend… Quint was a con artist. No woman should put up with a liar who doesn't treat her properly. I saved you from a life of misery.” Raquel was proud of herself for ridding the world of a man who'd taken more from it than he'd given.
Krissy squirmed but refrained from opening her mouth. A clock on the far wall read nine-oh-seven. We were officially late, but April must have been able to track my location with the GPS tracking device embedded in my glasses. Would she send a patrol car to check on me?
“What's going on with the meeting at Grey Field? I'm not trying to distract you, but what happens next with Francesca?” I asked, hoping to divert her attention, in reality. As much as I worried for my safety, as well as Krissy's, my instincts told me to delay Raquel as long as possible.
Mistaken Identity Crisis: Death On The Cable Car (Braxton Campus Mysteries Book 4) Page 24
