David groaned. “Ms. Delaney, I’m really not in the mood for diversionary tactics. Now, please answer the question. What were you doing on Melinda’s street?”
Vikki folded her arms. “Why does that even matter?”
“Because you live clear across town from her. In addition, her house is on a residential street with no businesses around. Which leads me to believe that you were there spying on her—”
Vikki cut David off. “That’s a really big assumption.”
“You’re welcome to prove me wrong,” David replied. “So, what do you have to say for yourself?”
She shook her head. “This is ridiculous. After that photo I took, you should be thanking me. Not questioning me.”
David groaned. “Ms. Delaney, don’t make me ask the question again. Just give me an answer already.”
Vikki took a deep breath before responding. “All right. I had a feeling that Melinda was trouble. And it turns out I was right. I mean, the woman is sleeping with Rick’s brother. How low is that?”
David’s nose crinkled. “But if you had such a strong feeling about Melinda, why didn’t you contact us?”
“I was going to,” Vikki said.
He gave her a wary look. “Really?”
Vikki nodded. “I was just waiting until I had something more to work with than a gut feeling. So, I followed my hunch. And look where it led me—to snapping that picture.”
“You do realize that there is another way of looking at all this, right?” David asked.
Vikki’s forehead wrinkled. “What are you talking about?”
“Your behavior just adds fuel to the fire that you never stopped having feelings for Rick. That you’ve never really gotten over him breaking up with you. Of all the people you could have followed, you picked the woman that Rick dated after he dumped you,” David said.
“You’re looking at this all wrong,” Vikki said.
“Am I?” David asked. “Are you saying that you didn’t still have feelings for Rick? Because if you are, then stop right now.”
Vikki groaned. “We’ve gone through this already. I had nothing to do with Rick’s murder. End of story. Now, I’m going back inside.”
David held his hand up. “Wait a minute. You don’t get to decide when we’re done here.”
“Really? Because last time I checked, you don’t have any evidence that I did something wrong,” Vikki said.
Chapter Thirty-One
So much for getting answers. Instead, David and I seemed to have more questions than ever. Clearly, Vikki wasn’t going to help us out. At the same time, David couldn’t force her to talk. So, once Vikki went back inside her house, my husband and I elected to drive across town to speak with Melinda. Perhaps she could enlighten us.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have the element of surprise on our side. When we pulled into the driveway of Melinda’s green Victorian-style house, I could see the black-haired forty-two-year-old staring out her living room window. The minute she spotted us, she moved away from the window.
I briefly worried that she would try to run out the back of her house and attempt to flee from us. That could potentially be disastrous. The last thing I wanted was to chase after her on foot. I prayed that she wouldn’t go that route.
As David and I got out of the car and approached the front door, it became clear that Melinda had a different plan. One that was much more confrontational. Before David had a chance to knock, Melinda swung her front door open and stared my husband down.
“I know why you’re here, and I just want to say, I had nothing to do with Rick’s death,” Melinda declared.
David folded his arms. “Justin called you, didn’t he?”
Melinda nodded. “As a matter of fact, he did.”
“Good. Then I can just get right to the point,” David said.
“How about you just turn around and leave?” Melinda said.
David shook his head. “That’s not going to happen.”
“Why not?”
“Because there are some things that I need to ask you.”
Melinda groaned. “I don’t know why you’re wasting my time. After all, I’m innocent.”
“I’ll be the judge of that,” David said.
Melinda didn’t back down. “Fine. Go ahead. Ask me anything you want. It’s not going to change the facts.”
“You seem awfully confident for a woman with ample motive yet no alibi,” David said.
“I don’t need an alibi because I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“That is still yet to be determined.”
“I also didn’t have a motive,” Melinda said.
David scoffed. “Are you kidding? You’ve been fooling around on your boyfriend for a month. With his brother, of all people.”
“Hey, cheating on Rick and killing him are two very different things,” Melinda said.
David shook his head. “Not if Rick discovered you were unfaithful to him.”
“He didn’t know.”
“You’re not lying, are you? Because if Rick did find out you were sleeping with his brother, I’m sure he would have been really angry with you. It could have led to a huge fight. And maybe, during that fight, you grabbed a knife and stabbed him with it.”
“No. That didn’t happen.”
“What did happen then?”
“I already told you. Rick had no clue that Justin and I were sleeping together.”
“Unfortunately, there’s no way of verifying that.”
“Yes, there is. Just believe me. I’m telling you the truth.”
“Melinda, I’m not going to blindly take the word of a murder suspect,” David said.
“I shouldn’t be a suspect,” Melinda said. “I would never murder anyone.”
I decided to take the conversation in a different direction. “How about Justin? He had a reason to want his brother dead. And he doesn’t have anyone to verify his alibi. So, just how well do you know your new boyfriend?”
Melinda shook her head. “Justin wouldn’t do something like this. He loved his brother.”
“Really? If he cared so much about Rick, then why did he jump into bed with you? That doesn’t seem like a loving thing for a brother to do.”
Melinda stared me down. “I know what you’re trying to do.”
“To find out the truth,” I said.
“No. You’re trying to get me throw Justin under the bus. Well, I won’t do it,” Melinda said.
“You must really care about Justin,” David said. “Do you think he feels as strongly about you?”
“Stop trying to get us to turn against each other,” Melinda snapped. “Why don’t you just leave us alone?”
“I know you think I’m treating you unfairly. But I’m just trying to find Rick’s killer,” David said.
“You’re looking in the wrong place then,” Melinda said.
“What is the right place?” David asked.
Melinda shrugged. “I don’t know. Now, are we done here?”
David looked deep into her eyes. “Are you in a hurry to get rid of us or something?”
“No. You can stand on my porch as long as you want. But I’m leaving,” Melinda said.
“Where do you think you’re going?” David asked.
“I’m going out to dinner with my boyfriend,” Melinda said. “Feel free to follow me if you want. I assure you, though, it will just be a big waste of your time.”
***
David wasn’t about to let Melinda walk away without some form of supervision. He radioed dispatch and had a patrol car assigned to track Melinda’s activity. True to her word, Melinda drove off to meet her boyfriend for dinner. If she did anything peculiar, the deputy would notify David right away.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Yikes.
That conversation certainly could have gone better. Then again, the same could be said for the interview that came before that. Talk about a maddening day. If that wasn’t bad enough, there was no sign of things impr
oving.
Given everything that had just taken place, I needed a few moments to decompress. I sat in the passenger seat of David’s car and stared out the window, desperately trying to make sense of things.
David had a different approach. He was anxious to blow off some steam. “That could have gone better,” he deadpanned.
My husband waited for a response from me, but he didn’t get one. I was too lost in thought to reply.
When a few seconds ticked by without me opening my mouth, David continued ranting. “At the same time, that’s pretty much how this entire case has gone.”
Once again, I remained quiet. That didn’t sit well with David. He was determined to get to the bottom of things.
“Sabrina. What are you thinking?” he asked.
I pulled my head out of the clouds and replied, “Something isn’t right about all this.”
“Something?” he said. “Don’t you mean, everything?”
“I’m specifically talking about that photo Vikki took,” I said. “My mind just keeps going back to it.”
“Is there any particular reason for that?”
“I just keep asking myself, why was she following Justin and Melinda in the first place?”
“You know what Vikki’s answer is. She thinks they are responsible for Rick’s murder.”
“Yeah. But do you believe Vikki’s explanation? I mean, she’s not exactly a reliable source.”
“I’m not sure what to believe,” he said. “What about you? Which way are you leaning?”
“I think there’s more to the story than she’s telling us.”
“Let’s say you’re right. You can’t prove that Vikki is hiding something.”
“At least, not at the moment.”
He took a deep breath. “If you have any ideas about how to get the truth out of Vikki, I’m all ears.”
I took a moment to gather my thoughts. I then looked at my husband with resolve in my eyes. “As a matter of fact, I have a plan.”
***
David listened to everything I had to say. While he wasn’t as convinced as I was that it would work, he was willing to give my idea a try.
Our first step was to head back to the police station. It was important for us to ditch the car we were currently driving. Once we arrived at police headquarters, David grabbed the keys for an unmarked sedan. After switching vehicles, my husband and I headed back to Vikki’s street. But we didn’t stop in front of her house. We made sure to park a number of houses down from Vikki’s place.
From there, David grabbed his police radio and called the deputy who was parked directly across the street from Vikki’s home.
“Rinaldi, this is Detective Carlson. I want you to vacate the area,” David said.
Deputy Rinaldi sounded thoroughly confused when he responded a few seconds later. “Detective, can you please repeat that? I don’t think I heard you correctly.”
“I want you to drive away from Ms. Delaney’s house.”
“Are you serious?”
“I am,” David said. “Not only that, but I want you to fire up your siren and peel away, making as much noise as possible in the process.”
“All right. If that’s what you want.”
The deputy did exactly what David asked him to do. I watched with great interest as Rinaldi’s squad car darted away from the scene.
Once Rinaldi’s vehicle was out of sight, David turned to me. “Do you really believe this plan of yours is going to work?”
I nodded. “I’m getting a really strong instinct about this.”
“Okay. Well, we shall see.”
“If I’m right, we’re going to get an answer soon rather than later.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“Put yourself in Vikki’s shoes. With the deputy driving away in a hurry like that, she probably believes that she is no longer being watched. Which means, if she’s going to make some kind of a move, it will probably occur in the next few minutes.”
“I hope you’re right. I don’t want to be sitting out here all night,” David said.
Chapter Thirty-Three
My instincts proved to be spot-on. It only took ten minutes for Vikki to leave her house and jump into her car. The question became, where did she plan on going?
David followed Vikki’s car, determined to find out. Surprisingly, she did not head for the city limits. While she wasn’t making a play to leave town, I still believed that she was up to no good.
My gut feeling was confirmed when she drove over to Melinda’s street. Vikki turned off her headlights as she pulled up in front of Melinda’s house. To keep from being spotted, David also turned off his lights.
Melinda’s house was dark. Her porch light wasn’t on. Nor were any of the lights on inside her house. Clearly, she was still out on the town, eating dinner with her boyfriend.
I breathed a quick sigh of relief. After all, if Melinda was home, Vikki probably wouldn’t have parked her car on the street right then.
While Vikki got out of her vehicle with two items in her hand, I directed David to hang back for a moment so we could watch the action unfold in front of us.
Vikki made her way up the driveway and stopped in front of the garbage can that was beside Melinda’s house. She then opened the lid and dropped the two items in the can.
At that point, I turned to David and said, “It’s time to make our move.”
David turned his headlights back on, pulled into the driveway, put his car in park, and then got out of the vehicle. I opened the passenger-side door and also got out of the car.
The intensity of the headlights drew Vikki’s attention. She turned around, looking completely shocked.
As a precautionary measure, David grabbed his gun. He then barked an order at Vikki. “Step away from the garbage can and put your hands up.”
Vikki remained wide-eyed. “Wait a minute. Detective? Sabrina? What are you doing here?”
“I would ask you the same thing, but I already know the answer,” David said. “Now, put your hands up.”
Vikki complied with David’s request, but she remained horrified. “Why are you pointing a gun at me?”
“To start, you are trespassing on private property—”
Vikki cut David off. “Look. I just came over here to see if I could dig up any dirt on Melinda.”
David shot Vikki a glare. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not—”
“Vikki, drop the act. It’s over. We know what you did,” David said.
Vikki stared blankly at David. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You came here to frame Melinda for the murder that you committed,” David said.
Vikki’s forehead wrinkled. “Where did you get that crazy idea?”
“Let me stop you right there. You’re the one who is crazy. And there’s an easy way to prove that.” David approached the garbage can and opened the lid.
“What’s in there?” I asked.
“A gas can and a bloodstained knife,” David said.
“Are you serious?” I asked.
David nodded. “Dead serious.” He then stared Vikki again. “It looks like I have all the proof I need to lock you up for a long time.”
Vikki stared down at the ground.
“Don’t you have anything to say for yourself?” David asked.
Vikki’s mouth remained closed.
While Vikki had nothing to say, there was plenty that I wanted to get off of my mind. “Fine. We’ll do the talking. You’re seriously twisted, you know that? It was bad enough that you killed Rick. But you weren’t done there. No. You decided to burn his house down in an attempt to cover your tracks. That didn’t work, though. The firefighters got to his place too quickly to incinerate all the evidence. And then David and I came around asking you a bunch of questions. That was when you realized that you needed to come up with a new plan. Am I right?”
Vikki continued to avoid eye contact.
“Deep
down, you worried that we’d eventually figure out you were responsible for the murder. So, you desperately looked for someone to frame. Melinda must have seemed like the perfect choice. Not only did she have a killer motive, but you also hated her on a personal level. After all, she was the reason that Rick dumped you in the first place. By framing her, you could get revenge. And you have been craving revenge for a long time, haven’t you?” I asked.
Vikki remained silent.
I pressed on. “Haven’t you?”
Vikki mouth stayed shut.
“Oh, come on. After everything you did, you don’t have anything to say for yourself?” I asked.
Vikki couldn’t contain her emotions anymore. “This is all Rick’s fault. He shouldn’t have broken my heart. He shouldn’t have left me for someone like Melinda.” She gritted her teeth. “But he did. He threw our relationship away to be with someone who didn’t even appreciate him. So, as far as I’m concerned, he got exactly what he deserved.”
I shook my head in disgust. “You’re even sicker than I thought.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
A few days later
Thankfully, the case was finally behind us. But the emotional impact of Rick’s death stayed with David and I for a number of days. It always took a little bit of time for life to get back to normal once an investigation came to a close. That was to be expected.
When the weekend rolled around with David and I still in a funk, I felt like we needed to get a change of scenery. I knew a place that would instantly cheer me up. So, my husband and I hopped in the car and drove three hours north.
There was so much to do in San Francisco, but only one thing was on our itinerary that afternoon. We just wanted to visit our daughter.
Jessica was happy to have the company. Her eyes lit up when she opened her door and saw David and me standing in the hallway.
She wasn’t the only one with enthusiasm to spare.
I gave her a big smile, then leaned forward and wrapped my arms around her. “It’s so good to see you.”
Mysteries of Treasure Cove Cozy Mystery Boxed Set Page 63
