Bed & Breakfast Bedlam (A Logan Dickerson Cozy Mystery Book 1) (15 page)

Chapter Thirty-Two

Koryn telling us that Darius was trying to
blackmail Gemma made a big, wide crack in a case that I think even Miss Vivee
was beginning to believe wouldn’t ever be solved.

Miss Vivee’s jaw went slack and she did
one of her “lost in the moment” gazes over the banister and out in the street.

“How do you know he was in Yasamee?” I
asked.

“He came by the house. Said he was looking
for Gemma. I didn’t know who he was, but I’m not really trusting of men nowadays
so I didn’t want to tell him anything,” she said. She took in a deep breath. “I
told him she wasn’t home and I didn’t expect her back anytime soon. He told me
to tell her that ‘Darius’ came by to see her and that he wasn’t planning on
leaving until he talked to her.”

“Did he talk to her?” I asked.

“I’m not sure. He stayed parked out in
front of the house for a little while. Not too long. But long enough that it
worried me. He was in a blue truck,” she said her eyes drifting off. “If I’d
known Gemma wasn’t poisoned by the bouillabaisse, I would have told the sheriff
about him being here.” She looked at me. “I never thought he had anything to do
with it.” She licked her lips. “I didn’t go out while he was here, but I kept
peeking through the curtains until he left.” She looked down at her hands.
“Gemma never did come back home.”

“Did Gemma tell you that Darius was
blackmailing her?” I asked. I had taken over the questioning.

“Yeah. That’s why she moved back here. I
don’t think that he ever did actually blackmail her. He tried to but she said
that she took the wind out of his sail.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“That means whatever it was he had against
her, she fixed it so he couldn’t use it against her anymore,” Miss Vivee said.
“That makes me think that whatever he was trying to blackmail her about was the
reason she left Euclid Park Elementary School.”

“She taught second grade there,” Koryn
said. “She loved that job. I felt so bad when she left it. I didn’t want her to
do that for me.”

“I don’t think she did it for you, Koryn,”
Miss Vivee said. “I think she did it to keep her promise to the principal
there. Jill Sterba.” Miss Vivee, with lips pulled tight, stared at me for a
long minute.

I nodded at Miss Vivee. “Koryn, do you
know Darius’ last name?” I asked. “Gemma only told Miss Vivee his first name.
And I’m sure the Sheriff would want to talk to him.”

Miss Vivee’s lying must be contagious.

“It’s Hamilton,” Koryn said.

“Darius Hamilton,” Miss Vivee said. She
seemed to be committing the name to memory.

“And he lives in South Carolina now. Right
across the Savannah River Gemma told me,” Koryn was talking fast. She seemed
ready to share all the information she knew. “I remember her saying that now it
didn’t matter, wherever he lived, he couldn’t hurt her anymore.”

“Do you know where in South Carolina?”
Miss Vivee asked.

“No. She never told me. I know that that’s
where he grew up, though. She said he was running home to his daddy. I think
his father was pretty famous in whatever city it is where they lived.” She
looked at Miss Vivee. “You think that’ll help the Sheriff?”

“Oh. I know it will,” she said. She stood
up. “C’mon, Logan. We’ve got to find Sheriff Haynes right away and give him the
information that Koryn has given us.” Miss Vivee stood and that prompted Koryn
to get up, too.”

“I’m so glad I could help,” she said her
eyes beaming. “Gemma was so nice to me. She hardly knew me and she offered to
help me.” She looked back toward the house and put her hands in her short’s
back pocket. “I really don’t know what I’m going to do now.”

“We’ll figure out something,” Miss Vivee
said. “We’ll stop in and see you again before too long.” Miss Vivee patted
Koryn on the arm and headed down the steps. “C’mon Cat,” she said. The dog had
gone back to Koryn for more patting before leaving.

“I love your dog, Miss Vivee.” Koryn
smiled. “Cat. Such a crazy name for a dog.”

“She likes it,” Miss Vivee said, holding
onto the banister.

“Bye,” I said. “And thanks for talking to
us.”

“No problem,” Koryn said and waved.

I got Miss Vivee and Cat in the car.
Coming around to the driver’s side, I glanced back up at the house. Koryn had
gone inside. Her book lying open, face down to save her page. The glass of iced
tea sitting by the chair.

I kind of felt sorry for her. Having to be
on the run. All of her help gone. She’d probably have to move soon. No more Shepard’s
pie Saturdays at the Jellybean Café for her.

I got in the car, put my seatbelt on and
looked at Miss Vivee. “Well.” I reached over and buckled her in. “What do we do
now? Darius Hamilton is in South Carolina and we can’t go there.” I tried to
enforce that fact right away. “And we still don’t know where Jeffrey or Miranda
Beck are, so . . .”

While I talked, Miss Vivee pulled out her
notebook and wrote something down. A time or two, she looked back up at the
house and then would write something else. Finally, she put the notebook back
and pulled out her sunglasses and said. “C’mon. Let’s go.”

“Okay,” I said starting the car. “Where
to?”

“Home,” she said put on her sunglasses.
“We have to tell Lloyd Haynes what we found out.”

“Oh,” I said almost in shock. “You really
are going to tell the sheriff?”

“What do you want to do?” She turned and
looked at me. “Grab a couple of guns, a six pack of beer, ride to South
Carolina and have a shoot-out?”

Chapter Thirty-Three

Miss Vivee didn’t even want to wait to get
back to the Maypop before we called the Sheriff. She had me call him from my
iPhone and told him to meet us at the bed and breakfast as soon as he could.

We hadn’t been back more than fifteen
minutes when he showed up. Bay Colquett came in right after.

Who called him?

We were all in the foyer. Miss Vivee and I
sat in our usual place – on the tufted bench. Brie sat behind the counter and
Renmar stood next to it.

The sheriff took off his hat when he came
through the door. He looked around the room, nodded his head and ran his
fingers through his hair that had fell in his face.

“We got the autopsy report back,” he said.
He looked over at Miss Vivee and snorted in a breath. He paused, not saying
anything for a long minute. His silence made my heart skip a beat.

So how did she die?
The question was
on a loop in my brain the whole time we waited for him to say.

Sheriff Haynes swung his eyes to Renmar.
“Gemma wasn’t poisoned,” he announced finally.

As soon as he said it, Miss Vivee hit me
on my knee and pushed a grin through the wrinkles in her face. Renmar must have
been holding her breath because she let out a long sigh.

“Miss Vivee,” the Sheriff said. “I might
as well let you be the one to say it. Just got the report over the fax right
when you called me. But you seemed to know what it would say even before we
took Gemma’s body up to Augusta.”

“What is he talking about, Mother?” Renmar
said.

“Gemma Burke dry drowned,” Miss Vivee said.
She seemed beside herself with joy over being right. “More than likely the autopsy
showed that the right side of her diaphragm was ruptured.”

Everyone looked at the Sheriff to see if
he was going to confirm.

“Yes it was,” he said. “That’s why she was
coughing and complained of chest pains. The ME said it probably happened about
an hour before she died.” He licked his lips and looked at Miss Vivee. “I’m
guessing you got something else? That’s why you called?”

“I may have the name of the murderer.”

“Mother!” Renmar said at the same time
Brie said, “Momma!”

Brie came over and wiggled her hips to sit
on the end of our bench. Miss Vivee moved over to let her in. She smiled at
Miss Vivee.

“How do you know this, Momma?” Brie said.

Miss Vivee looked at me and then up at the
Sheriff. “Koryn Razner told me.”

“Who is that?” Renmar and Brie said almost
in unison.

“Who is it, Grandmother? What’s the name
of the person that Koryn Razner gave you?” Bay spoke for the first time,
interrupting Renmar and Brie’s questioning.

“His name is Darius Hamilton,” she said.
“He lives in South Carolina. Don’t know what city, but I’m thinking it’s not
far. His father may be a politician or prominent citizen. That might make him
easier to find. And I think there may have been previous episodes of violence
between him and Gemma Burke.”

“Momma!” Brie said. “What in the world!”
She was grinning ear to ear. But Renmar seemed upset.

“Mother. What have you been doing? Is this
what all this running around with Logan was all about? Getting information on
Gemma’s death?”

Miss Vivee sucked her teeth. “Don’t be silly,
Renmar. Of course it wasn’t. You think Logan would let me do something like
that?” Renmar eyed me. “She took me to church, the cemetery and to the diner, just
like I told you, stuffing me to the brim with Viola Rose’s horrid egg salad
every time we went. And,” Miss Vivee put her head down and lowered her voice. I
could feel an Oscar worthy performance coming on. “I didn’t want anyone to
know, but she took me to see Mac.”

“Mac?” Brie clapped her hands. “That’s so
good, Momma! I’m so glad you’re getting out and spending time with your
friends. Renmar, isn’t that good?” Brie took Miss Vivee’s hand. “We were
getting so worried about you wasting away in this house.”

Renmar stood with her mouth opened. She
put her hands on her hips. “I thought you loved Viola Rose’s egg salad.”

“No one makes it like you, Renmar.” Miss
Vivee said smiling.

“Enough about egg salad,” Bay said, his
voice stern. He probably knew that none of what Miss Vivee said was true, but
he didn’t say anything. “We’re going to have to find this Darius Hamilton and
have a talk with him. Whatever was speculated before,” he looked at the Sheriff
and then his mother, “that autopsy report made it clear. Gemma Burke’s cause of
death has been officially classified as homicide.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

Thursday
Evening, AGD

I was sitting on the front porch minding
my own business and for once, since first coming to Yasamee, not involved in
any crimes or untruths when the FBI guy cornered me.

“What have you been doing with my
grandmother?” he asked me.

“What?” I said my eyes big. “Haven’t we
gone over this before? I’m not doing anything with her.” I scooted over as he
muscled his way onto the swing where I was sitting. “And if you think that I’ve
been manipulating Vivienne Pennywell,” I continued visibly irritated. “You
don’t know your grandmother very well. She doesn’t let anyone do anything to
her. She is always in control.”

He didn’t say anything for a while. Then he
looked at me. “What is it between you and my grandmother? She took to you like
a moth to a flame.”

“I haven’t any idea why she decided she
liked me. It might have had something to do with her liking the idea that my
mother thinks people are from Mars.” I gave him a sideways glance. “Believe me,
though. I did not encourage her taking to me.”

“Your mother thinks what?”

Thank goodness he didn’t know anything
about that.

“Nothing,” I said and licked my lips. “Your
grandmother told me I had to help her. So I really didn’t have any choice. Even
though at that time I didn’t know her very well, I was afraid to say no to her,”
I lowered my head and glanced at him through the corner of my eye. “Plus,” I
fiddled with my fingers, “I was afraid she would turn me over to you if I
didn’t.”

“Turn you
over
?” His eyes lit up.
“Oh. Have me turn you
in
. Because it was you-”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I said
waving him off. “Whatever I’ve done in the past, I have more than made amends
by being nice to that little old lady in there,” I pointed toward the inside of
the house. “Even if I did enjoy it. And,” I emphasized, “by helping solve a
crime.”

“Speaking of which, I just got off of a
call with Sheriff Haynes. He found Darius Hamilton. He lives in Melborne, South
Carolina. Just across the border from Augusta. And it looks like he’s got a
record. Not much of one, but still he looks more and more like our guy.”

“You found that out quickly,” I said. “So,
he’s going to pick him up?”

“He can’t pick him up, yet. We don’t know
if he did anything or not. Sheriff just wants to talk to him. Actually,” Bay
said, “he wants me to talk to him. Lloyd doesn’t have any experience with this
kind of stuff. People don’t get murdered in Yasamee.”

“Oh and do you have experience with that kind
of ‘stuff’?” I asked. “Talking to murderers?”

“I have experience interrogating all kinds
of criminals,” he said and winked.

“Oh,” I squeaked out in a cough. I shifted
my body on the swing and inched down away from Bay. “I guess we should talk
about that . . .”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re cool.”

“Really?” I said. Then I furrowed my brow.
“You’re just going to forget about it?”

“About what?” he said, a mischievous smile
crossed his face.

“Nothing.”

He said don’t worry about it so I was
going to drop it. Let sleeping dogs lie, like my grandmother used to always
say.
I drew my lips in tight and held them.

“My grandmother likes you,” Bay said. “I
know I said this before, but you helped her. That means a lot to me.” His eyes
locked with mine and I could feel a small army of butterflies try to take
flight in my stomach. “Miss Vivee is very special to me,” he said, his voice
soft and low. “And anyone that’s okay with her is okay with me.”

“Thanks” I said and averted my eyes away
from his. “I think.”

“And . . .” he said, drawing out the word.
“I’m also letting it slide because you’re riding with me up to Melborne.”

“No I’m not!” I screeched. “Uh-uh. No
way.” I folded my arms across my chest.

Why in the world would he think I’d go
somewhere with him?

“Why not?”

“For one thing Darius Hamilton is a
psycho-killer. I go up there and there might be a shoot-out. I’m not trying to
be in the middle of that.”

“We’re just going to talk to him. There is
not
going to be any shoot out.” He grinned. “And if there was, I could
protect you.”

“Please. Isn’t it against the rules or
something for the FBI to take civilians while trailing a killer?”

“Darius Hamilton’s father is the former
mayor of Melborne and is now a lawyer. His grandfather was a state senator.
Lloyd told me that when he talked to the law enforcement officers over there
they were very helpful. They said that Darius’ family would be helpful too, and
that there wouldn’t be any problems.”

I shook my head the entire time he was
talking. Even if he wasn’t going to turn me in for trespassing at Track Rock
Gap, and no one was going to shoot anyone over in Melborne, I did not want to
go anywhere with him. Ever.

“My grandmother wants you to go with me,”
he said.

“She does not.” Bay must of inherited Miss
Vivee proclivity for lying.

“Yes she does. And she told me not to take
‘No’ as an answer from you.”

“Is lying in your family’s genes? They
just roll off of Miss Vivee’s tongue. Your mother . . .” I eyed him. “I don’t mean
anything disrespectful about your mother. But she seems to not like telling the
truth either, and now you.”

“You don’t like my family?”

“Yes. I like your family. I’m just
saying.”

“C’mon,” he bumped his shoulder against
mine. “Go with me. It’ll be fun.”

“My idea of fun is not hunting down
killers. I like digging in dirt.”

“I could help you get permission to dig
over at the Island,” he said. “It’s part of the federal-”

“I know what it’s a part of. And I already
have help. Thanks.”

“What about this?” He pushed out his
bottom lip and made puppy dog eyes then pointed to his face. “It always worked
with my grandmother. I made this face. I got my way.”

I laughed. “I don’t believe Miss Vivee
would ever fall for anything that pathetic.”

“My grandmother’s a push over. And we’re
very close.” He eyed me. “Nothing she wouldn’t do for me. When I was little I
spent all my time with her. She taught me all about her voodoo herbs.”

“Did she now?”

“Yeah. So if I wanted to, I could
make
you go to Melborne with me. In fact I could make you break out in boils. Even
throw up frogs.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “All I’d have to do is go back to her
greenhouse and whip up a quick little potion.”

“You are scaring me.” I laughed.

“So you’ll go?”

I started shaking my head again. “No. No,
I won’t go. Nope. No way. No.” I pointed my finger at him “And here’s another
one for you just for good measure. No.”

 “Fine. You leave me no alternative.” His
voice switched to a low, slow southern drawl. “I’mma go and fetch my handcuffs from
inside.” He jerked his thumb toward the house and gave a nod. “And then me and
you are gonna take a ride up to Gainesville.”

I narrowed my eyes and took in a breath.
“You are an evil man,” I said, my voice low. “Fine.” I held my hands up in
surrender. “I’ll go.”