Double Dog Dare (The Raine Stockton Dog Mystery Series) (20 page)

He
said, “You’ve got to know this isn’t going to work.  Too many people know the truth now.  Do you really think you can keep all of us quiet?  There are too many loose ends. What if the police find Rachelle’s body?   And what about your patsy here…”  He glanced at the woman playing the part of Rachelle.  “Lisa, is it?  As soon as she gets her hands on the trust fund she won’t need you anymore.  You haven’t thought this through.”

 
Lisa laughed and glanced at Susan.  Susan just smiled.  Lisa said, “Men are so naïve.  Susan and I were together long before we came up with this plan.  In fact, the whole thing was actually my idea, two years ago, when Rachelle got the stomach flu and Susan called me in to do a television interview for her.  No one even knew it was me!  I already knew I was a better actress than she was, but that day proved I could even be a better
Rachelle
than she was. So Susan and I started planning, and rehearsing, and getting everything just right for the day we’d start our new life together.  That’s what this has been about.  Us.”

Miles nodded slowly.  “And in a week or two, Alex, despondent over his failing business, would be found with a bullet through his head and a gun in his hand, a suicide note left on his computer so no one could dispute the handwriting.  One less loose end.”

Susan just laughed. “So dramatic, darling.  Why go to all that trouble when there’s enough for all of us?  In a few months, a nice divorce settlement, and as soon as the movie comes out, Lisa and I will too.”  She smiled at her own small joke and glanced at the other woman to share it.  “Alex is no threat to us, he’s in this as deep as anyone. So this is what is going to happen.”  I could see behind her eyes a mind that was busily working, improvising, making it up as she went along.  “We’re all going to go inside the house, and we’re going to wait for another…” She glanced at Lisa.  “What time is it?”

Lisa looked at her watch, a thin, diamond tennis-bracelet thing that I was sure had belonged to the real Rachelle.  “Ten thirty.”

“We’re going to wait for another hour and a half,” she said, “at which time Rachelle’s trust will officially transfer to her.  The real Rachelle signed the papers before she left for her anniversary trip—my idea, by the way—so everything is set to go.  As soon as Lisa makes a call transferring her assets to an account in the Caymans, you can say whatever you want. In fact, I might even have you on my show and let you tell the world about the fake Rachelle.  You can’t buy that kind of publicity.  Even if the authorities believed you— which they won’t— these kinds of investigations take years and years, and the money is already gone.”

“Meantime,” said Lisa, caressing
Susan’s shoulder with a brief affectionate smile, “we will be Hollywood’s new power couple.   I’ll be the star I deserve to be and Susan will be the producer she was meant to be, and a little scandal will only add to our cachet.  Seriously, you have no idea how many times I’ve gotten away with playing Rachelle already.  Do you really think we would have spent two years planning every little detail of this operation if we didn’t think we could pull it off?”

I said, “What about Rick?  That was a detail you didn’t count on.”

Susan said, “He’s dead.  That’s a shame.  But no one can link me to his murder.  So what if I was there last night?  We were old friends from L.A..  There’s no reason I shouldn’t stop by for a drink.  But he seemed agitated and upset, and I left early.”

I said, “After putting the drugs in his drink?  Just like to you did to Rachelle?”

“Don’t be silly.  I didn’t put amphetamines in Rachelle’s champagne.  Too complicated.  They were in the mineral water she had before they left to go diving.”

“Somebody had to see you leaving Rick’s boat last night.  The barking dog was drawing a lot of attention.”  I remembered with a pang that I, too, had heard a dog barking earlier that evening from far down the dock.  If I had gone to investigate, could all of this have been stopped?

She shrugged. “So what?  I don’t deny being there. Of course I heard the dog barking, but he told me he was keeping it overnight for a client.  He was very much alive when I left him, as I’m sure the coroner’s report will bear out.”  She smiled.  “It would have taken some time for his heart to stop.”

Lisa
said, “Can’t we get out of the sun? And what about this dog?”

Susan
gave a small wry shake of her head. “You really are getting more and more like Rachelle every day, sweetie.  Okay, let’s move inside.  Everyone just relax.  No one is going to get hurt.  It’s just another hour and a half.”

No one within the sound of her voice believed that.  She had killed two people already.  Did she really expect us to trust that if we just did as she said no one would get hurt?
 

Susan
said impatiently, “Get in the house!  Everyone together, so I can see you.”

No one moved.

“Oh, for God’s sake.”  Abruptly, she grabbed the leash from Lisa and told her, “Get the kid.”  And to us she added, “I told you what I’d do.”  She lowered the gun to the golden retriever’s head.

It was all over in an instant.  With a strangled cry I lurched forward.  I heard Melanie cry, “Cisco, high five!”  With a happy grin, the golden at the other end of
Susan’s leash leapt up on his back legs, and Susan, surprised, shrank back, her arm going wild.  It was just the opportunity Alex needed to grab her arm and wrestle the gun from her hand.

Susan
screamed, “No!” and turned on him.  I dived forward and grabbed Cisco’s leash.  By this time, Miles had grabbed Susan and pushed her onto one of the patio chairs.  Lisa ran to her.  Alex held the gun steadily on them both.  Miles took out his phone, which had been on speaker the entire time, and said, “Inspector, we could use some help here.”

“So I surmised, monsieur.”  And the next words were the best I’d ever heard.  “We are but steps away.”

And, to my profound relief, they were.

~*~

  It was long after lunchtime when the police finished taking our statements, although most of it was simply a repeat of what they had already heard through Miles’s open phone line.  That had been our plan: to get enough information from Susan and Alex to allow the inspector, who was listening from his car parked just outside the gate, to make an arrest, then to get my dog and go home.  We never intended a confrontation.  We certainly didn’t plan on facing down a gun.   

Alex, Susan and Lisa were taken to police headquarters for questioning.  I still wasn’t entirely convinced of Alex Barry’s innocence in the whole thing, but thank goodness it didn’t matter what I thought.  There were prosecutors, judges and juries for that, and if I never heard the name of Alex Barry again—or Rachelle Denison for that matter—it would be too soon.  Unfortunately, that was unlikely, as this case was certain to be front page news for some time to come.

We sat in the sun on the patio, waiting for the police to clear us to go.  I couldn’t stop hugging Cisco, and Miles couldn’t stop hugging Melanie, who sat on his knee.  It was a testament to the good nature of both of them that they allowed it.  Despite the baking sun, I still shivered now and then when I thought about what had almost happened, and finally I had to say something.  “Melanie, what you did was very dangerous.  The woman had a gun.  When you yelled out at Cisco, I almost wet my pants.”

Melanie said, “That would have been embarrassing.”

Miles gave her a small frown.  “This is serious, Mel.  Raine is right.  You don’t mess with people with guns.  Ever.”

Her face fell.  I hated to rob her of the ebullience of victory after all she had been through, but this
was
serious.  She muttered, “Sorry.”

Rita tried to lighten the mood by reaching across and squeezing
Melanie’s hand.  “I thought you were very brave, sweetheart. And everything worked out, right?”

I said, “How did you even know it was Cisco
Susan had?”

Now she looked a little uncomfortable.  “I didn’t,” she admitted.  “I thought you had Cisco.  I remembered how confused everything was when Cisco and Cocoa were running around, and I figured if Cisco could do something to, you know, surprise her, she might forget about the gun and maybe Cocoa—who I didn’t know was really Cisco—could get away from her. And the only thing I could think of was ‘high five’.”

I released another shaky breath, and even managed a smile.  At least she hadn’t knowingly been reckless while a gun was pointed at Cisco’s head.  “Well,” I said,  “I guess everything did turn out all right.”

Melanie cheered somewhat.  “Besides,” she added, “I wasn’t all that worried.  I knew Grandma had
the gun from your safe.”

Both Miles and I stared at Rita.  “What?”

She looked a little abashed as she patted the beach bag that had been tucked under her arm the whole time.  “It seemed only prudent,” she pointed out, “after everything that had happened.”

Miles drew in a
sharp breath, reconsidered, and released it silently, letting whatever it was he had been about to say go unspoken.  Good choice. 

A young officer came over and informed Miles that he had all he needed from us for now, but to please advise the police before leaving the country.  Miles advised him that we would all be leaving the country within twenty
-four hours.

Since the drive was still blocked by police cars—apparently, once an arrest was made it was perfectly appropriate to send every car on the force to the scene of the crime—we decided to walk home on the beach.  Miles
, with a meaningful look but not a word, politely took his mother’s beach bag, and she and Melanie walked a few steps ahead of us.  I took off my shoes and walked in the gentle foam of the surf, and Miles cuffed up his pants and did the same.  Cisco, tail swishing and paws prancing, splashed happily between us.  For not the first time in my life, I envied Cisco his ability to live so contentedly in the present.  For him there were no memories of kidnapping and terror and bad people with guns. There was only sunshine and salt spray, and if there were sharks swimming out there in the distance somewhere, they had nothing to do with him.

I said, keeping my voice quiet so Melanie couldn’t hear, “So that’s what you didn’t want to tell me about
Susan.”

“That she was gay?”  A small shake of his head.  “That wasn’t my secret to tell.  That she was a psychopath—that
part I didn’t know.  I resented being used, of course, once I found out why she’d married me, but after awhile I started to feel a little sorry for her.  People don’t try to hide who they are unless they’re in a lot of pain.  What I didn’t realize was how much that pain had twisted her inside. I guess I should have.”

Letting the loop of Cisco’s leash drop to my wrist, I reached across and took Miles’s hand.  “I’m sorry,” I said.  “I can’t imagine how you must feel.”

He was thoughtful for a moment, swinging our joined hands gently between us over Cisco’s back.  Then he smiled.  “Actually,” he said, “I feel pretty damn good.”

  He lengthened his stride to include Rita and Melanie in the conversation, and Cisco and I took a few running steps to keep up.  “After all,” he added, winking at us, “I get to hang out with the three baddest chicks on the beach.  The way I look at it, that makes me the luckiest man I know.”

He raised his hand for a high-five, and wouldn’t you know?  Cisco was the one who jumped up and struck his palm first. 

~*~

EPILOGUE

A
lex Barry was questioned and released after twenty- four hours.  Although the police were no more convinced of his complete innocence than I was, they could not find enough evidence to even bring conspiracy charges.  And who knows?  Maybe I was wrong.  Maybe he didn’t have anything to do with Rachelle’s death.  But he had to know about Rick.  I can’t forget the way he just stood and watched the night Miles’s boat burned.  He had to know something.

Of course
, Lisa and Susan were all over the news for weeks, and will be again once their case comes to trial, which might not be for years.  A week or so after we left, evidence washed ashore—I’ll spare the gory details—that DNA testing proved to be the remains of Rachelle Denison Barry.  The last I heard Susan was charged with two counts of murder, with Lisa agreeing to whatever testimony was necessary to have her own charges reduced to conspiracy to commit fraud.  So much for undying love.  

It took a few days, but we were able to get Cocoa’s documents together and have him shipped to the States, where Golden Retriever Rescue already had a waiting list of people clamoring to adopt him. Eventually he went to an obedience instructor in Virginia with twin twelve
-year-old boys and five fenced acres.  I couldn’t have done better myself.

As for our vacation, it wasn’t a complete loss after all.  Since the kennel was already closed and Miles had already shifted his schedule around—not to mention the fact that Melanie still had four days of beach time coming—we decided there was no point in giving up just because we had gotten off to a rocky start.  We flew straight to Myrtle Beach, where we barbecued steaks on Rita’s deck, bought tacky tee-shirts in souvenir shops, road the Ferris wheel and ate corn dogs on the board walk.  We shopped for our own groceries and roasted marshmallows at night over a campfire on the beach like normal people. Cisco became an expert Frisbee-catcher, and Melanie taught him two more new tricks.  I got a gorgeous tan, and, over all, had the best time I’d had since I was a kid. Like I said, I’m basically a provincial girl, and I like it that way.  Fortunately, so does Miles.

When I got home, I called Maude in Florida.  We talked for a long time.  I’m not saying everything is all right between us; it probably never will be, completely.  But I understand a little more now, and I feel a little better.
  At least I don’t throw things any more. And I’ve given some thought to what Rita said about not letting other people’s mistakes keep you from living your own life.  It makes a lot of sense.

It’s kind of like what Miles told me when
Melanie announced she wanted to sign up for scuba lessons at the Y when she got back to Atlanta.  Just because there are sharks in the ocean, you can’t be afraid to swim.

Yeah.  I like that.

~*~