The Sweet Taste of Murder: An Angel Lake Mystery (17 page)

It took her a second to recognize it was Brad in his civilian vehicle.

With a smile, she pulled in after him and parked.

He was out of his jeep before her and headed over to open her door. “You ready, trouble maker?” His dark eyes were warm.

“For what?”

“Confession. It’s good for the soul.” There was a flicker of a smile at the corner of his mouth.

Once inside, the waitress soon had them seated with a bowl of warm tortilla chips and salsa.

“So, what have you got for me?” Brad studied her and took a long sip off his coke.

“Well, I think I have the nail for the killer’s coffin.”

Brad raised an eyebrow, waiting patiently.

“I know who did it. It’s not who you think. It wasn’t Frank or Sylvia.” Elise shoved a chip into her mouth.

Brad nodded with his face devoid of emotion.

“Quit using your detective mind skills on me. I’m saying it wasn’t Frank.” Elise repeated.

“I heard you the first time. Are you going to tell me why you’re saying that?”

“Frank couldn’t have done it because at the time of his death he was at the movies, and then like you discovered, calling his parole officer. I knew he couldn’t have done it regardless because twenty minutes wasn’t enough time for him to get to the dealership and back. I tried it the other day. Barring traffic, I was able to make a round trip without stopping in twenty-five.”

The waitress approached with two plates of tacos. Elise’s mouth watered at their beautiful sight. Her stomach growled, and she suddenly didn’t want to talk anymore.

Brad crunched his taco loudly and seemed to be digesting her hypothesis at the same time. “So, who was it then?”

“Mrs. McMahon.”

“Ahh, our doggy kidnapper. Tell me why.”

Quickly, she filled him in on her excursion at Crystal’s. At the last moment, she left out the part about blackmailing Lavina. She decided to keep it as an ace-in-a-hole just in case she needed it later.

With a deep exhale that flared his nostrils, Brad shook his head. “I have my doubts that it was her. I’m sorry to say this, but you’re too close to the case.”

“What? Didn’t you hear everything I said?”

“Yeah I did. And I’ve already been over that scenario.”

“Don’t you remember how the dog acted?”

“I did. I think they got rid of him because Herman hated Mrs. McMahon due to the fact that she was cheating on Cameron with Eric. After his death, she didn’t want the dog around incase his aggression threw suspicion on her. You need to consider the fact that she drove two hours away to give Herman to an animal rescue that specializes in adopting dogs, rather than putting him down. That doesn’t sound like someone who’d poison their husband and let him get smashed by a train. Or let anyone else do it, for that matter.”

“You don’t know women. We are capable of anything. And, you’re the one who said the killer was someone close to him.”

“Actually, I said Cameron knew the killer. Which is why you don’t see what’s right before your eyes.”

Elise looked warily over at him.

“I got a phone call on my way here. I was told they’re putting together an arrest warrant for your friend, Lavina.”

“What?” Elise choked on a piece of lettuce and grabbed for her drink. When she was done, her hands were shaking. “Don’t let them do this, Brad. They’re wrong. Please, don’t let it happen.”

Brad’s mouth dipped in sadness. He sighed and ran his hands through his short hair. “Look. I know this is hard. I get it. But they have video evidence showing that she was there on that day.”

Elise rubbed her temples. “How can you prove it was her?”

“You know that dark figure? The one we couldn’t identify? Well, the camera from the convenience store caught a white convertible pulling up, and the figure from the video got out of it. That car is registered to Lavina. And, there is a shot of her face before she slid the glasses and hat on. It was her, Elise. She was there.”

“What about innocent until proven guilty?”

“Absolutely. But our job is to gather enough evidence to prove that a suspect is guilty. And, I checked back with the receptionist at Friendly Smiles Dentistry, and she insists it was a female who rescheduled the appointment.”

“That still could have been Sylvia or even Mrs. McMahon.”

“I don’t know if you knew this, but Lavina also was being extorted.”

Elise nearly cried as her ace flushed down the hole. “By Eric!” She caught the look in his eye and bit her lip.

Brad frowned. “So, you did know that. Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“And help you build a case against an innocent person? By the way, since the extortionist was Eric, that should make you take a closer look at him.”

“Except, with Cameron dead, Lavina inherits his estate. And with that kind of money she could buy protection to make sure Eric stayed quiet. Permanently.”

She pushed the plate of tacos away from her. “I feel sick. I can’t believe this is happening.”

“I’m sorry, Elise. The powers above me made the decision. They were really pushing for an arrest before this week’s reading of the will. By state law, if a recipient of a will is accused of the murder of that person, they no longer stand to inherit anything. I guess the Captain thought this would make things much easier in the long run.”

“So, it’s a nice, tidy case for the executor since it gets rid of the inheriting child.” She couldn’t help the bitter tone.

“I didn’t mean to make it sound like that. She’ll need your support more now than ever.”

“This is bull crap, Brad.” She had more to say to him, but something niggled at her about their earlier conversation. She couldn’t concentrate on it now. Instead, she gave him a stiff smile, purposely showing how angry she was, and threw down a twenty dollar bill. Then, gathering up her stuff, she headed out to her car.

A short while later she was driving up the side of Mt. Treacle, keeping a sharp eye out for any white crosses. The road twisted up in tight curves with a narrow shoulder that accentuated the steep cliff on one side, and a sheer bank rising upwards on the other. She shivered, imagining how devastating it would be to lose the ability to brake on this road.

There! She saw a white blur as she passed.

Elise slowed around the bend and finally found a place to pull off. Cautiously, she walked back on the nearly nonexistent shoulder, hoping there wouldn’t come a car flying around the bend to smash her over the bluff.

As she approached the white cross, she looked over the railing at the scene of the old accident.

Spread out below in reds and blues and yellows, like a grandmother’s nine-patch quilt, was a bed of flowers.

Delphinium.

Just like that, she knew who killed Cameron.

And the killer was about to strike again.

CHAPTER 29

T
he wind whipped her dark hair in her face. She ducked behind the guard rail and twisted it tightly against her scalp. Palming her phone, she pulled up her list of contacts and stabbed Brad’s name.

The connection wheel spun without ringing. No service.

For a second she wanted to give up and run back to town so someone else could handle this. Let someone else lead the rescue.

Something she’d always done in the past. Never the leader, always the watcher.

She peeked down into the gully. There was no time to watch now.

As silently as she could, she climbed over the guard rail and crouched among the brush on the other side. There was a thin trail among the undergrowth that led steeply down the embankment. Her hand gripped the base of a bush for support as her foot slid looking for stability. She reached for the next scrub, and the next, slowly skating her way to the bottom. Once there, she ducked low among the delphinium which had crept right to the edge of the bowl of the basin.

Her pulse pounded in her throat. If she could just sneak around, she would have the advantage of surprise.

“Hello, Elise.”

Every hair rose on her neck. Elise slowly stood up with her heart hammering, already knowing what she would see.

A barrel of a gun pointing straight at her.

“You thought you were so clever. Always snooping around asking your silly questions. And here you are now, making things so easy for me.”

Elise lifted her gaze from the end of the barrel to the face behind it.

“Estelle.”

“Let me see your hands.”

Over Estelle’s shoulder, Elise could see a crying Sylvia bound and gagged sitting among the flowers.

“What are you doing?” Elise asked as she raised her hands. “Why are you doing this? You could have easily gotten away with this.”

“Gotten away with it.” Estelle shook her head in mock pity. “Oh, you poor thing. Do you think that’s why I did any of this? To ‘get away with it’?” She stepped back, motioning with the gun to have Elise move forward. “Careful. Careful,” she warned.

Elise walked through the flowers to stand next to Sylvia. Her brain frantically tried to come up with a plan. “Is this about revenging Mr. Davis? Aren’t you his niece?”

Estelle’s lips twisted into a sardonic grin. “His niece….”

“You’re not his niece?” Elise’s tone fell flat at the knowledge.

“Of course, I’m not his niece. I met him at the Wellness Center. I was his nurse.”

“You fell in love.”

“I fell in love.” Estelle’s face softened as her voice trailed away. A wistful expression flitted around her eyes as she gazed out at the horizon. She looked back at Elise sharply. “But, he was too damaged. The loss of his son ruined the best man that ever existed. So, you can see, I wasn’t about to let Cameron enjoy his new son. And I can’t allow his son to inherit a good life now.” She motioned again. “Sit down. Keep your hands in the air.”

Elise awkwardly got to her knees next to Sylvia. The pregnant woman had mascara dripping down her face from her tears. She moaned around the sodden gag in her mouth.

“Hang in there. You’re going to be okay,” Elise whispered.

“Okay?” Estelle laughed. “That’s one way to look at it, I suppose. Or dead. I prefer dead.”

“How did you get Cameron in the car?” Elise needed to keep her talking. Talking was time.

“That was the easiest part of all. He was always about a hook up. After a few Facebook messages and some half-nude photos, he was raring to meet me for a little tête-à-tête.”

“How’d you knock him out?”

“A little poetic justice. Did you know if you ingest delphinium you will suffer from seizures, and eventually death?” She looked out again at the flowers being tussled by the breeze.

“You got him to eat flowers?” Maybe not the wisest way to word it, but Elise was desperate to keep her talking. She could feel time was running out.

“Oh, you’re feeling funny, aren’t you? No. Although that would have been the perfect ending, it was too impractical. Instead, I had to use something I’d swiped from the clinic. A heavy barbiturate that was a part of Mr. Davis’s treatment for his insomnia. Poor man still suffers terrors every night stemming from the accident.”

Estelle’s gaze darted over to Sylvia sniffling behind her gag. “You know, it made Cameron quite talkative and cooperative those first few minutes. He was quite happy about having a son. Quite giggly about everything really, until the full dose hit. Then….” Estelle drew her thumb across her neck.

“So, why did you write the suicide note then? Uncovering Lavina as his daughter?” Elise purposely tried to make her body appear limp, even as her toe wormed into the ground searching for leverage.

Estelle frowned and flushed slightly with either anger or frustration. “By exposing her, Lavina became a suspect. A rare opportunity really, knowing one of Cameron’s kids would be jailed for his death—either his daughter or his son within the womb. I couldn’t have planned it better if I tried.”

“You were the one who canceled Sylvia’s dental appointment.”

She grinned. “I was. After scheduling an emergency one for Mr. Davis, it just seemed timely that Sylvia have the one right before it. It was perfect serendipity.” She shook her head. “But the police didn’t follow either lead like they should have. So here we are. Let’s call this Plan B, shall we?” Her finger tapped gently against the trigger in warning.

“Sylvia, how did you feel when you saw all your stuff sitting in the middle of your lawn?” Elise asked. “What did you want to do to Frank?”

“Leave her alone. You want her to be first?” Estelle’s eyes narrowed. She raised the gun.

“You ready to see something sweet?” Elise licked her lips. She had just managed to wiggle one foot under her.

“Mmmfff.” Sylvia muffled out, capturing Estelle’s attention for a millisecond.

That moment was all Elise needed. She sprung upward, her other leg already swinging forward in a kick.

In the same instant, Sylvia launched herself headfirst at Estelle. Estelle instinctively leaped back. But not out of range of Elise’s foot landing on the side of her knee. Without a pause, Elise’s right forearm came under the hand holding the gun, while her left fist dove into Estelle’s throat.

Estelle’s scream was silenced into a gurgle. Elise pounced on top of her and flipped her over onto her stomach. She wrenched the gun away and flung it as far as she could.

Sylvia inched over and half lay across Estelle’s back. Quickly, Elise untied her gag and arms. As soon as her arms were free, Sylvia grabbed the back of Estelle’s hair and pounded her face into the dirt. “You sick, sick woman!”

“Sylvia! Calm down! For the baby’s sake! You have to calm down. It’s okay. You’re okay.”

The pregnant woman broke down in tears but finally released Estelle’s hair. She looked at her hands as if shocked at what they’d just done. Blinking back tears, she stared at Elise. “What are we going to do now?”

“We’ll figure out how to tie her up. I can stay with her while you get to my car.”

“Her car is over there.” Sylvia pointed to a dirt trail about a hundred feet away.

“Baby? Baby, you okay?”

Startled, both women looked up at the top of the embankment at the sound of a man yelling.

“Frank?”

Frank came sliding down the hill in a cloud of dust. Sylvia pushed herself up. Tears sprung to her eyes as she staggered toward him. “Frank!”