Granny Apples 05 - Ghost in the Guacamole (21 page)

“But I thought Fiesta Time approached you to sell Roble Foods to them?” asked Phil, leaning in the same direction Emma was looking.

“No,” said Felix. “Only Crown had approached us at that time. Fiesta Time didn't make an official bid for Roble until after I was dead and Lucinda knew the truth.”

“So it was the call with Ramon that triggered the heart attack?” Emma asked, looking for clarification.

Felix nodded. “Ramon told me he didn't care about our agreement. He said he was taking my wife and his daughter, and if I exposed that agreement, he would take my daughter from me as I had taken his from him. I knew that he meant he would harm or even kill Ricarda. It was then I felt this horrible pain in my chest. I called out for help, but fell when I tried to move. I'd not been feeling well the few days before and I guess the stress was too much.” He dusted his hands together to put a finish on his words and his life.

Emma went back to the sofa and quickly filled in Phil. “Where is that loan document, Felix?” Phil asked. “You must have put that in writing to have been so confident in it all those years.”

“It's back at the restaurant,” the ghost answered. “Hidden in my office.” Emma passed along the information.

“Wow,” said Granny. “Talk about your family intrigue. This is better than watching the daytime soaps.”

“I'm so sorry about all this, Felix,” Emma said. “It must have been difficult watching the fighting between Lucy and Rikki without being able to do something about it.”

“I had no hope,” the ghost said, “until you came into the restaurant. Then Ricarda wouldn't listen to you and I became frustrated all over again.”

“Did you see who shot T.J.?” Granny asked.

Felix shook his head. “No. I came in just after Ricarda found him. She was screaming, and the screams pulled me to her.”

Once Phil was back up to speed, he asked, “And where in your office is that loan document?”

“In the closet,” the ghost answered. “There is a safe there, but it's not in the safe. It's behind a fake wall panel opposite the safe.” Emma relayed Felix's response.

“And who knew about the loan and its real purpose?” Phil asked.

“Me, Ramon, and my attorney, but my attorney passed away shortly before I did,” Felix answered.

“Not even Hector knew?” Emma asked.

The ghost shook his head. “Not even my own father knew. Elena might have known, but only if Ramon told her. I used money from a personal account.”

“Why in the office and not in a safe-deposit box?” asked Phil.

The ghost shrugged. “I couldn't leave it at home in case Elena stumbled across it, and I was worried that if I died, someone in my family would find it when they went through my things, including a safe-deposit box. If I died, the agreement would die with me. That's not in the agreement, but it's what I wanted.”

Something was tugging as Emma's brain. “If you died a year ago, why did Elena wait all this time to go off with Ramon Santiago? Why not go away with him after she was widowed?”

“As far as I could tell, that was Lucinda's idea. Once, when I was visiting our home, I overhead Lucinda tell her mother it would be best to wait until the sale went through to go off with Ramon. Even Ramon convinced Elena it would be best to wait until all was settled.” The ghost shook her head. “Poor Elena was trapped between her love for the two girls, but Lucinda always had a stronger influence over her. It did not surprise me to learn she'd disappeared after the shooting. I think she would have gone even if Ramon did not, just to avoid the mess and scandal.”

Felix was starting to fade and his voice was trailing. “Now if you will pardon me, I'd like to leave. This is just too much and I feel so tired.” As the ghost departed, he made one more request. “Please help Ricarda. She's all I have left.”

After Felix disappeared, Emma told Phil his response. Phil walked to the window and looked out. Through his shirt Emma could see his muscles bunched and knew he was in deep thought. She came up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. His muscles relaxed. “What are you thinking, Phil?”

“That document,” Phil said. “I'm not sure about its enforceability after all these years, especially considering Lucy is no longer a minor, but it could still cause a lot of trouble if someone tried to enforce it on Fiesta Time.”

“And it could probably stop a disputed sale in its tracks,” added Emma, “or at least slow it down.”

Phil nodded. “It's a darn good motive for shooting someone. Maybe it wasn't jealousy or the sale itself that caused T.J. to get shot.”

“And maybe,” said Emma as she formed another thought, “Steve Bullock was paying Carlos to find and steal that document.”

“They could even be two separate things,” noted Granny, joining them at the window.

“Granny's right,” Emma said. “Carlos could have been paid to steal the loan document. I'll bet Ramon told his nephew about that document and the threat it contained. He might have done it when he told Steve about Lucy's parentage.”

“That's why they were so chummy,” Phil said as he ran a hand over his bald head. “They weren't lovers; they were cousins plotting the takedown of Roble.”

“I told you those two weren't all kissy face with each other,” said Granny with satisfaction.

Emma's phone vibrated. She picked it up. “It's Jeremiah. He said he just learned that Elena Ricardo is in Mexico with Ramon Santiago.”

“He's a little late to the party,” Granny quipped.

“He also says that Steve Bullock is staying put today. He didn't even lunch at Santiago's.”

“What do you want to bet,” said Granny with narrowed eyes, “that the waitress, that Brenda Ann, is Jeremiah's operative?”

After Emma repeated Granny's comment, Phil added, “I wouldn't be surprised if she's one of them, Granny. A good PI would need eyes and ears everywhere. I don't think she'd be the one watching Bullock today, but no doubt she alerted Jeremiah that Bullock didn't show up at the restaurant.”

“He wants to meet us for an update,” Emma told them. She texted Jeremiah back letting him know they had found a connection between Roble Foods and the tour company and another motive for the shooting. Another text came in. It made Emma smile. “He says we've been more productive than he has.” She texted back. “I'm telling him that Hector's daughter Isabel might be involved and could be the link to the tour bus.” Almost immediately a text came back and she responded. “Jeremiah said he's going to track down Hector. I'll let him know to try the hospital first.”

“We really need to find Carlos and talk to him,” Phil said.

“That's my cue.” With a salute to both Phil and Emma, Granny left.

“You're coming up in the world,” Emma said to Phil. “Granny just saluted you, too.”

T
HE
door to the office opened and Rikki came in. “I'm so sorry I took so long,” she apologized. “Seems my mother's disappearance was also good for something else.”

Emma glanced at Phil, wondering if Rikki knew about and would mention Ramon Santiago.

Without waiting for them to say anything, Rikki said, “My attorney filed a restraining order against Lucy this morning preventing her from coming anywhere near me, this office, or the restaurant, but that might not have been necessary. She was denied bail. My attorney said the prosecution claimed Lucy was a flight risk, especially in light of our mother disappearing into Mexico about the time T.J. was shot. The judge agreed, so she's staying in jail.” Rikki got herself a bottle of water from the minifridge and sat down across from them again. “That's a relief. At least I don't have to worry about her waiting somewhere to gun me down.”

Phil and Emma waited, but no mention of Ramon Santiago came. Emma looked at Phil, questioning if she should say something. He gave her a slight nod.

“Rikki,” Emma began, leaning slightly toward her, “we received some rather startling information just now that involves your mother.”

Rikki put down her water and waited, not taking her eyes off Emma while bracing herself for the next unexpected blow.

“It seems,” Emma continued, “that she's in Mexico with Ramon Santiago.”

Slowly Rikki moved her head back and forth. “That can't be. Ramon owns Fiesta Time. They barely know each other.”

“Felix was just here,” Phil told her. “What he told us shed a lot of light on the situation.”

“My father was just here?” Rikki asked, looking around.

“Yes,” answered Emma, “but he's gone, at least for the time being. While talking to us, he disclosed, among other things, that Ramon Santiago is Lucy's father.”

“Ramon?”

Emma nodded. “Yes. He and your mother had an affair early on in your parents' marriage, and Lucy was conceived during that time.”

Rikki sat still as a post for a long time, then finally said in a low, tired voice, “Now it makes sense why she's hell-bent on selling Roble to Fiesta Time.”

“You know Jeremiah Jones, the man who was with the police yesterday?” asked Phil. Rikki nodded. “Well,” Phil continued, “he was hired by T.J. to look into Fiesta Time, specifically Steve Bullock, to make sure if there was a sale, it was on the up-and-up. Jeremiah learned that Lucy had no intention of taking the money and going off to paint. Ramon is ill and retiring and Steve will be taking over the company. Lucy was going to run it with him.”

“And that's why T.J. was shot?” Rikki asked.

“We don't know exactly,” admitted Emma. “There seem to be several motives. One is jealousy of you, but another is that someone may have been trying to find a secret document laying out an agreement between Felix and Ramon that could seriously hurt Fiesta Time and nix the sale.”

Rikki sat straight in her chair and absorbed everything she was being told. She didn't look at them, but at a point on the wall behind them. Finally, she said, “And what does this have to do with Carlos and that tour bus company?”

“We're not sure yet. It could be two unrelated things,” Phil explained. “Carlos could have been paid to search for that document when no one was around. No one would think twice if he was upstairs at the restaurant. That's where the staff stashed their belongings and sometimes changed.”

“What's the jealousy angle?” Rikki asked.

“Did Isabel have a thing for T.J. that you knew of?” Emma asked.

“As I told you before, she did when they were kids, but not now, I'm sure. I remember T.J. telling me that she recently hooked up with a new boyfriend.”

“Did he mention that boyfriend's name?” Emma prodded.

Rikki thought about it, then said, “I want to say Paul or Peter or something like that. I remember T.J. also saying he wasn't Latino, and when Hector found out, he wouldn't be happy.”

“How about Peter Bradshaw?” Phil asked. “Does that ring a bell?”

“Maybe,” Rikki answered, “but T.J. only mentioned it once that I can recall. Why?”

“Peter Bradshaw is the owner-operator of Quickie LA,” Emma told her. “There might be a connection.”

Rikki looked stunned, then she jumped to her feet and yanked open the door, going out to the office cube area. A minute later she returned and shut the door again. “Apparently, Isabel has left for the day. Something about cramps.” Rikki's mouth became a tight straight line. “So you think either Isabel or this Peter guy shot T.J.?”

“We're still not sure,” Phil said. “There are so many possibilities at this point. Why don't you have a seat and let us tell you more about that document.”

Instead of sitting down, Rikki went to the credenza. She popped open one of the cabinets, a different one from the one hiding the minifridge, and plucked something from it. She came back to the sofa and plopped a bottle of tequila down on the table along with three glasses. “You folks joining me?”

Emma and Phil shook their heads. As soon as Rikki was settled, they told her everything they knew so far.

When they were done, Rikki sat in her chair and stared again at a spot behind Emma and Phil. She took one more sip of her tequila, then put the glass down on the coffee table with resolve. “I need to get to the restaurant and hunt for that loan document.”

“I'm sure the police still have it blocked off,” noted Phil.

Emma was also lost in thought but came out of it to agree. “Phil's right,” she said after putting the pieces together in her head. “I propose you sit tight and let us work with Jeremiah on getting to the bottom of this. Jeremiah also has a link to the detective working the case.”

“And what about Isabel?” Rikki asked, standing up and walking back and forth in front of Lucy's desk. “She's running around out there, doing who knows what.” She stopped in her tracks. “This might even mean that Hector is involved.” She perched on the arm of her chair and covered her face with her hands. “Argh! I can't trust anyone anymore!”

“You can trust us, Rikki,” Emma told her. “We don't have a stake in this. And you can trust Jeremiah. T.J. trusted him enough to hire him, didn't he?”

“T.J.,” Rikki said in a soft voice. She lowered her hands. She looked stricken. “I can't lose him, Emma. I can't.”

“For now why don't you go about the business of holding this company together,” Phil suggested, “and taking care of T.J. You can't do anything about the restaurant until the police release it. We'll let you know if anything more develops. If Isabel returns, just act normal, and if you can't, then just avoid her.” He got to his feet. “We really don't know how much she's involved, if at all. These are all theories that still need solid proof to be real. And if she is involved, you wouldn't want to spook her.”

“That's good advice,” Emma said, standing and picking up her purse. “We're off to meet Jeremiah now. You have my cell number in case you need to reach me. Text or call anytime.”

Rikki got up and hugged them both. “Thank you for being here for me.” There were tears in her eyes. “My family may be in pieces, but I have good friends like you and T.J.'s family to support me.” She let loose with a sad little laugh. “Although by the time this is over, the Mendozas may change their minds about wanting me in the family.”

On the way out to the SUV, Emma's cell phone rang. She looked at the display with surprise. “It's Grant,” she said to Phil. “I hope nothing's wrong with Kelly.”

“Wouldn't she call you first?” Phil asked as he opened the passenger's side door for Emma.

“Usually, yes,” she told him. “But the only thing he and I ever talk about is her. Otherwise we have no contact.” She stopped mid-breath. “Unless something has happened to Celeste, his mother.” Right before the call went to voice mail, she answered it. “Grant, is everything okay?” She listened as she climbed into the SUV. “Thank you,” she said with surprise. “It's very gracious of you to call.” Phil gave her raised eyebrows as he closed her door and went to the driver's side. “No, we haven't discussed when yet,” she said into the phone. “It just happened yesterday.” She looked out the windshield as she listened and Phil started the vehicle and got the AC moving. “Okay,” she said to Grant, “I will and thanks again for calling.”

When the call ended, she turned to Phil. “He called to congratulate us on our engagement. Kelly called him this morning and mentioned it.”

Phil smiled. “Mentioned it or to rub it in?”

“Could be,” Emma said, laughing. “I wouldn't put it past Kelly. As much as she loves you, she's still harboring a lot of resentment toward her father for dumping me for Carolyn. And I've heard that his marriage is kind of rocky, so it could be Kelly was giving her father a big ole raspberry, stuck out tongue and all.”

“It was still nice of him to call with best wishes.”

“Yes,” Emma said with a frown. “And so unlike him. I'm wondering if Kelly shamed him into it.”

Phil leaned over. Placing one hand behind her neck, he pulled Emma close for a kiss. “His loss. My gain.” He kissed her quick again. “Now where to? I hope it's somewhere we can grab some lunch. It's well after one.”

“There are some protein bars in the glove compartment,” Emma told him as she plugged the address Jeremiah had given her in a text into the GPS.

“Thanks,” Phil said, making a face, “but I'm going to hold out for a better offer. It's not like I'll starve to death in the meantime.”

Emma's phone rang. She looked at it, half expecting it to be Grant calling back with his real reason for the contact. But it was Jeremiah. She put him on speaker. “Hey, Jeremiah,” she said. “We were just on our way to meet you.”

“Something's come up,” Jeremiah told her. “We need to postpone our meeting for a bit. Maybe an hour or two. I'll have to call and let you know.” Emma glanced at Phil, who was mouthing the word
lunch
.

“What's going on?” Emma asked. “Did you find out anything useful? We already knew about Elena being in Mexico with Ramon Santiago. Ramon is Lucy's real father.”

“Yeah, heard all that from the police,” Jeremiah said. They could hear traffic noise in the background. “How did you find out?”

“Felix paid us a visit and finally decided to talk,” Emma explained. “Unfortunately, he didn't see who shot T.J.” She looked over at Phil and saw him watching her closely.

“That's too bad,” Jeremiah agreed. “It could have been a big help.” He paused. “Why don't you folks go home and relax and wait for my call.”

When the call ended, Phil didn't pull the SUV out of the parking spot. Instead he looked at Emma and asked, “Why didn't you tell him about the hidden document?”

Emma sat still, looking straight ahead. “I think Jeremiah is withholding information from us. So I did a bit of the same, at least for the time being.”

“Do you think he's involved in this, too?” Phil turned in his seat to look Emma square in the face.

“I don't think so, Phil, but I don't think he's sharing everything he knows. Maybe it's to protect us. Maybe to protect his informants. Maybe he really is working for the cops. But I have a feeling that we've just been patted on the head and sent home. We're going to explore this on our own.”

Phil sighed. “Something tells me I might just be eating a protein bar for lunch.”

Shaking her head with amusement, Emma dug out the tour bus brochure again and called the number on it—not the cell number Nancy sold them, but the office line. She put the phone on speaker. “Nancy,” she said when a woman answered. “It's Emma Whitecastle. I was in your office a short while ago.”

“Yeah. Yeah. The ghost lady,” Nancy said. “You forget something?”

“Yes, I did,” Emma told her. “I wanted to ask you, does your grandson have a girlfriend?”

“What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?”

Emma smiled. The woman was a bit batty but far from dull. “It's just that you seem so nice and your grandson seems like quite a go-getter and entrepreneur, something I appreciate. I have a daughter that is probably around his age and was wondering if maybe we should at least try to get them together.”

“Don't tell me,” Nancy said. “Your girl didn't inherit your good looks. That's why she needs help, right?”

“She has a great personality,” Emma added.

“Sorry, but Peter has a girlfriend. Some Latina named Isabel. She came here once, just last week, and treated me like crap while she waited for my grandson. She's beautiful but a real piece of work. I tried to tell Peter she'd just make him miserable in the end, but would he listen?”