Deja Diva

by Kathi Daley

  Salinger was the first to extract himself from the group. He made his way to his car and called for backup and fire assistance. After a minute, I dared to lift my head, visually locking eyes with each and every one of the people I loved most in the world. Once I was certain they were all safe and unharmed, I turned and watched the building as it burned in the distance.

  The first question in my mind was who. Who had done this terrible thing? Who had kidnapped the boy who felt so much like a son, and who had come oh so close to ending not only his life but Zak’s as well?

  My second question was why. Why would anyone do this? Zak had given whoever was behind this fiasco access to the files they’d requested. Files he never should have accessed. Files he could go to prison for copying should anyone find out. Why, after having done our part, had the person who rigged the whole thing in the first place gone ahead and blown up the house? Had the bomb been on a timer? Had an explosion been inevitable all along?

  And the final question on my mind was how. Not how had they kidnapped Scooter. I had my answer to that. I didn’t blame Scooter for going with the Zoe look-alike. It was the logical thing for him to have done. And not how had they blown up the house. I was certain that sophisticated detonation and timing devices were involved. But how had they known about my connection to Lilly England’s house in the first place?

  It seemed that everything that had occurred so far had been directly linked back to me. Henderson House, the Zoe look-alike, the notes that had been left in my home, and my office, as well as my husband’s office at Zimmerman Academy and our safety deposit box. As far as I knew, the number of people who even knew about the treasure hunt and my connection to this particular house could be counted on two hands. The hunt for Oz’s gold hadn’t been a large group effort like many of our other investigations. No one had died. Salinger hadn’t been notified. There hadn’t been media coverage. The treasure hunt group had consisted of only five people: me, Pappy, Hazel, Ethan, and Nick.

  The search had lasted two days, during which time, only the five of us had been involved, but I supposed there were a few others we’d brought in for a small piece of the action. Doctor Ryder Westlake had helped me access the records and photos from the old Devil’s Den medical clinic. The museum administrator, whose name escaped me, had allowed us to look around in the storage area for the old masthead that held the first clue. And Oz’s granddaughter, Sarah, who didn’t live in the area and I doubt ever returned after collecting the gold buried by her grandfather, had been told at least part of the story.

  The thought that was hiding out in the back of my mind, whispering that Claudia Lotherman was behind everything that was happening, grew more persistent. She was the only one I knew who was both intelligent enough to pull all this off and crazy enough to bother. But Claudia didn’t live in Ashton Falls. As far as I knew, she’d spent very little time here. My connection to Henderson House was widely known. I’d found bodies there on more than one occasion, and in each instance, the news of what occurred had been recorded along with my name in the local newspaper. All Claudia would need to do was a computer search to discover my connection to Henderson House. But Lilly’s house? Even if the five of us who’d been involved had each told five others, that was still a very small number of individuals who knew the story and could have passed it along to Claudia or whoever was behind this.

  Once the firetrucks arrived, Salinger suggested that we all go to our house and wait for him there. He wanted to interview Scooter, but he figured there was no reason for us to wait around for him to be free. Once we all arrived at the Zimmerman home, Scooter headed upstairs to take a shower and change his clothes. While Ellie made lunch, Zak spoke to Pi on the phone about the files they’d accessed and their plan to notify the proper authorities, and Levi and I headed out to the deck for a breath of fresh air. I wasn’t certain where Alex and Diego had gone off to, but they eventually showed up on the back deck as well.

  “Are you okay?” Alex asked, giving me a long hard hug.

  I nodded. “I am. Are you?”

  “Not really. Scooter almost died. Zak too. Who’s doing this?”

  I put my hand on her cheek and then tucked a lock of her long brown hair behind her ear. Once I’d assured myself she was doing okay, I answered. “I have a theory, but I’m not completely certain of its validity yet.”

  “Okay, so what’s your theory?” she asked.

  “Whoever is doing all of this seems to know a lot about me. My connection to Henderson House. My connection to Lilly England’s house. The events relating to Henderson House were widely known, and a detailed accounting was provided in the newspaper for each dead body I found. But the treasure hunt I went on with Pappy, Hazel, Ethan, and Nick is a different story. Very few people know about the gold or our search for the gold, which in my mind makes me wonder how the person behind the bomb knew to use Lilly’s house.” I paused and then continued. “At the time, I told Zak about my adventure, of course. And Levi and Ellie. I’m pretty sure that Pappy mentioned it to Dad, who would have told Mom. You and I discussed it when you did that paper on the history of Ashton Falls and the quality of life in the area during the time when the mines in Devil’s Den were being actively worked. Beyond that, I really can’t think who would even know the details of the treasure hunt.”

  “Phyllis knew,” Alex said. “As did Pepper.” Pepper was a friend of Alex’s who graduated from Zimmerman Academy last year. “They both, along with Hazel and you, helped me with the paper.”

  “That’s right, I remember that now.”

  “You may also remember that Phyllis arranged to have the paper I wrote made into a book which was published by a small academic press. I suppose that whoever had you investigated in preparation for this crazy and dangerous game might have come across the book if they’d known who I was. My name is on the publication along with Hazel’s since she actually did a lot of the research.”

  I supposed that could be what happened. Claudia was smart enough not only to find what she could about me, but she’d want to dig into the histories of those closest to me as well.

  “Or,” Alex said, “the person who set this whole thing up might have spoken to Margaret Palmer.”

  “Who’s Margaret Palmer?” I asked.

  “She works, or I guess I should say she worked, for the local newspaper. When I was working on the book, Hazel suggested I speak to her since she enjoyed writing about the history of the area. She loved to read and dig around in the old journals in the library. She seemed to know about lots of different things, including some of the more recent events that linked back to legends from the past. She knew all about the legend of Henderson House, and she knew about the more recent deaths at the house. She didn’t specifically mention Oz’s gold, but she did seem to know a lot about that particular time.”

  “You said she worked for the local newspaper as in past tense?” I asked.

  Alex nodded. “She quit and moved away about a year ago. Hazel said her disappearance was odd. One day she was here living her life and working her stories, and the next, she was gone.”

  I frowned. “Do you know if foul play was suspected?”

  Alex shrugged. “I don’t know all that much about it. Hazel mentioned that Margaret had left the area, but I never knew the circumstances. I guess you can ask Hazel.”

  “I will.” I glanced across the patio where Scooter had joined Levi and Diego. The three were discussing football. Zak was still in his office, Salinger had yet to arrive, and Ellie was still in the kitchen. “I think I’m going to go in and help Ellie,” I said to Alex.

  “Do you want help?”

  “No. You can hang out with the guys. We’ll bring the food out here. It’s a nice day. I hate to waste it since we may not have many nice days left before the snow sets in.”

  I returned to the house and called Hazel to ask about Margaret. Hazel shared with me that Margaret had been a hardworking journalist and author who spent a lot of time either at the news
paper or in the library before she moved away. Hazel remembered her as a nice woman who she’d liked quite a lot, but she also mentioned that Margaret didn’t seem to have any friends and didn’t think she was involved in anything not directly related to her work with the local newspaper. According to Hazel, when Margaret left, she seemed to have made her decision on impulse. One day she was making plans for additional research in the area, and the next, she was gone.

  I asked Hazel if she thought Margaret had met with foul play, but Hazel informed me that while Margaret hadn’t told anyone she was leaving, she had packed up her house and paid the rent owed to her landlord before disappearing. In Hazel’s opinion, she’d left town under her own terms.

  By the time I completed my call and returned to the deck, Zak was chatting with Scooter, Ellie was chatting with Alex, and Levi and Diego were eating sandwiches with enough gusto for the group of us. I decided to join Zak and Scooter. Scooter looked okay, but I wanted to be sure he wasn’t going to suffer a delayed reaction to the trauma he’d been through the past twenty-four hours.

  “Feeling better?” I asked Scooter after joining him and Zak.

  Scooter tossed a piece of ham to each of the three dogs sitting at his feet and watching him eat. “I’m fine. Tired. Sore for some reason. I guess I must have been tossed around a bit while I was unconscious. A little freaked out. But basically okay.”

  I reached out and gave him a hug. “I’m so glad we got to you in time.”

  “Me too.” I couldn’t help but notice the terror still evident in his eyes.

  Levi wandered over to let us know that he and Ellie needed to go and pick their kids up just as Salinger pulled up in his cruiser. I assured them that I’d call them later to fill them in on any news that might come our way as we navigated the next couple of hours. Salinger wanted to start by speaking to Scooter alone, so the two of them went into the house. Zak and I joined Alex and Diego.

  “Did you get ahold of Shredder?” Diego asked.

  Shredder was a friend from Hawaii who worked for some secret government agency and seemed to have connections in high places. He’d helped Alex and Diego two years ago when they’d been forced to hack into the NSA to get the files Claudia had been demanding in exchange for Zak’s life.”

  “I did,” Zak answered. “He’s going to do whatever needs to be done to smooth things out for us. According to Shredder, it didn’t sound like the records that had been requested were even all that highly classified. Shredder is a good guy. He’ll make sure that no one knows we were in the system. He’ll also make sure that whatever information was leaked will be neutralized.”

  “So, what now?” I asked. “You know this isn’t over.”

  Zak blew out a sharp breath. “Yeah, I know.”

  “Although I have no proof of anything, the more I think about everything that’s happened, the more certain I am that it has to be Claudia behind this. The question is why.”

  “Maybe she wants something on Zak’s drive,” Alex said. “She did break into his home office, and she did infect his computer. Or at least someone did. Zoe is convinced that Claudia can’t be the Zoe look-alike due to the height difference.”

  “I agree with that,” Zak said. “Zoe is only five feet tall. Claudia is close to six feet tall. No amount of plastic surgery is going to change that.”

  “So she has an accomplice,” Diego said.

  “It would seem that way,” I agreed. “If I’m correct in my assumption that Claudia is involved in this, that is.”

  Diego shook his head. “I remember the last time Claudia was in town. It was intense.” He looked around the group. “For all of us.”

  “She’s bad news,” Alex agreed. “She’s bold and unpredictable. She’s intelligent and totally crazy. Part of me hopes we aren’t dealing with her, but another part of me figures it’s a good thing to know your enemy. If it isn’t Claudia, I really can’t imagine who it might be.”

  “I’m going to run over to my parents’ house and pick Catherine up,” I said. “I don’t want my mom to overdo it by having her there all day. When I get back, we’ll all sit down and see if we can make any sense of this mess.”

  Chapter 10

  Zak, Alex, Scooter, Diego, and I had talked late into the evening the previous day, but it seemed that every time we thought we were onto a theory or explanation for what might be going on, that thought sort of looped back around under intense exploration and we found ourselves at a loss. Salinger didn’t stay long and, in fact, left after speaking to Scooter. He wanted to gather whatever evidence there might be left to find from the site of the explosion. He’d promised to call if anything significant was found, but he never had. I supposed I’d call him this afternoon if he didn’t contact us before then.

  The one piece of information we did find was that Margaret Palmer was alive and well, and living in Alabama. Hazel knew her the best, so she called her to find out if anyone had asked her about her research in the past year, but she reported that no one had. Hazel and I volleyed around a few other ideas, but in the end, we realized that Claudia had most likely read Alex’s book.

  “Can someone get that,” I called out after the bell from the front door rang for the second time in as many seconds. I would normally have answered it myself, but I was covered in flour from head to toe from my effort to make cupcakes for tomorrow’s bake sale at the academy’s open house. “Alex,” I called out when the bell rang for the third time. The last time I’d seen her she’d been in the computer room, which was dust and soundproof, so she most likely wouldn’t be able to hear me. I thought about calling Scooter, but he’d been upstairs in his room playing video games, so I doubted he’d hear my call even if I shouted loudly. Zak was out on the beach with the dogs, so I grabbed a dishtowel, wiped my hands, and headed in that direction. I’d just put my hand on the knob when the bell rang for the fourth time.

  “Salinger,” I greeted the local sheriff. “I’m glad you came by.” I stepped aside. “I’m baking cupcakes, so how about you follow me to the kitchen, and we can chat.”

  He nodded and stepped into the house. “Is Zak here?” he asked after I closed the front door behind him.

  “He’s out on the beach with the dogs. He has his phone. I’ll text him and let him know you stopped by. It should only take him a few minutes to walk back. Once he gets here, we can talk about everything.”

  “Okay.” He paused and sniffed. “What’s that smell? It smells like something’s burning.”

  “The cupcakes,” I screeched, running full speed toward the kitchen. By the time I grabbed hot pads and pulled the first pan of mini cakes from the oven, they were burnt to a crisp.

  “I’m sorry you burned your cupcakes,” Salinger said. “I guess that’s my fault for just showing up unannounced like this.”

  I shrugged, turning off the oven. “No worries. I probably would have ruined them before I got them finished anyway. I’ll just wash my hands and then text Zak.”

  Once Zak arrived, Salinger explained that he had news. Big news. News so big, he wanted both Zak and me to be sitting down before receiving it.

  “Okay, now you’re freaking me out,” I said. “What’s going on?”

  “I received a call from an anonymous source reporting a murder in the graveyard just south of town. When I arrived, I realized immediately that the victim was Zoe, or more accurately, Fake Zoe.”

  “Fake me is dead?” I verified.

  “I’m afraid so,” Salinger answered. “And she really does look exactly like you, although knowing there was a fake in the mix caused me to look closely, and there are minor differences.”

  “Like what?” I asked.

  Salinger blushed. “Fake Zoe is bustier.”

  It figured that fake me would be an improvement on real me. Of course, she was dead. I supposed I should be relieved that there was no longer anyone running around town with my face. Of course, I had to wonder how her death might tie to whatever sicko game the mastermind behind everything
that had been happening had been playing.

  “Where’s the body now?” Zak asked.

  “At the morgue,” Salinger answered. “The coroner isn’t working today since it’s Sunday, but I called him, and he promised to come in later this evening. He’s out of town, but he said he’d return to Ashton Falls as soon as he was able to get here. In the meantime, I instructed my men to put the body in the refrigerated unit.”

  Zak looked at Salinger. “Alex is here to watch Catherine, so let’s go take a look at the body you found. The sooner we figure this out, the sooner we end this.”

  I ran upstairs and told both Alex and Scooter that Zak and I had to help Salinger with something. I didn’t go into any of the details. They were already on edge, so I figured there was no need to freak them out further at this point. I just let them know that Catherine was down for a nap, but would wake soon and that she’d be hungry, so they should give her some lunch. I told them that both Zak and I would have our phones and that they should call if anything came up. I also told them that I planned to lock up the house and set the alarm when we left. Then I gave them both a hug and a kiss, grabbed my sweatshirt, and headed back downstairs, where I found Zak on the phone with someone while Salinger waited in the car.

  Salinger suggested we take two cars so he wouldn’t have to bring us back, so Zak and I piled into his truck and followed him. When we arrived at the morgue, Salinger used his key to grant us access. The building was dark since it was closed, but Salinger turned on the lights to illuminate the hallway. We entered the room where bodies were kept and autopsies performed. I had to swallow hard to fight the nausea that suddenly overtook me.

  Salinger crossed the room and opened the refrigerated body drawer where he’d been told by his deputies the murder victim had been left. I felt tension build in my chest as he slid the drawer open and paused. I craned my neck to get a look at the lifeless form I was expecting to look just like me, but the drawer was empty.