by Kathi Daley
“What happened?” I asked.
“Mark was walking along a busy street in Philadelphia when a man pushed him into the street, where he was hit by a bus. He was critically injured and died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.”
“Oh God,” I gasped. “I hadn’t heard. Ben never said a word.”
“Ben was already dead when it happened. Mark was killed last March.”
“Did they catch the man who pushed him?”
Lily shook her head. “He got away in the commotion.”
My gaze narrowed. “So Ben and Johnathan were killed when a distracted driver swerved into their lane, four months after that, Mark was killed after being pushed in front of a bus, and four months after that, Karen was killed in a slip and fall at the falls. There is no way all that is a coincidence.”
Lily glanced at Colt, whose frown was even deeper than my own.
“I get that the odds of Abby’s husband knowing Karen are astronomical,” Colt began. “And I get that the odds of Ben Sullivan and Mark and Karen being killed in random accidents within an eight-month period are beyond comprehension. But if all three were murdered, which is where I sense this is going, why?”
“I don’t know,” Lily admitted. “I just thought the coincidences were too great not to mention.”
Colt looked at me. “Any clue as to a possible link that could have led to all three deaths?”
I shook my head. “No. I have no idea how they could possibly be linked.”
Velma took my hand in hers. “You told me that you moved to Holiday Bay after seeing an ad for the house on the bluff.”
I nodded. “Yes. That’s right.”
“Where did you see the ad?” Velma asked.
“Someone sent me an email with a photo of the house and a description of the area. It sounded perfect, so I jumped on it.”
“Do you know who sent you the email?” Velma asked.
I shook my head. “It was just spam that managed to get past my filter.”
“Had you been looking for a new house or researching Maine?” Colt came into the questioning.
“No. The idea had never occurred to me until I saw the email.” Suddenly it hit me. “You think I was brought here?”
No one spoke, but I could tell they were all thinking the same thing.
“Okay, wait,” I said. “I know how it looks, but there is no way I was brought here. The fact that I decided to chuck my old life and start over again by rehabbing a house I had never seen in a town I had never heard of could not have been foreseen. I’m not really sure why I acted on the email when I read it, but doing so was very unlike me. There is no way anyone who knew me at all would suspect that I would follow through and buy the house.”
“You were in pain and in need of a fresh start. The house on the bluff probably seemed perfect when you saw it,” Velma said.
It had seemed perfect. In fact, it had seemed like the answer to an unvoiced prayer.
“For the purposes of this conversation, let’s assume that your husband and the Stinsons were all murdered, and all by the same person,” Colt said. “Again I ask, why?”
“Maybe we are dealing with one of those I-know-what-you-did-last-summer things,” Velma said. “Maybe Abby’s husband and Karen and her half brother all did or saw something they shouldn’t have during the summer Ben Sullivan stayed out at the farm in Indiana.”
“Even if that were true,” Colt countered, “why now? Ben Sullivan visited the Stinson farm more than a decade ago. If he saw or did something there, why would the killer wait all these years to enact his revenge?”
“Maybe he was in prison,” Lily speculated. “Maybe the reason he wanted revenge against the three of them was because they were responsible for putting him there. Maybe he got out just before running him off the road.”
No one responded, but I thought her theory made sense.
“I’m going to need all Karen’s boxes,” Colt said.
“Yeah, sure,” Lily replied. “You can swing by my place to pick them up when we are done here.”
Colt looked at me. “Do you have items that belonged to your husband that are similar in nature to the ones of Karen’s that were left with Lily? Photos and mementos?”
“There are some boxes in storage.” I frowned. “You know, one of Ben’s colleagues just emailed me looking for old case files that he may have had on his computer or in hard copy.”
“Do you have any?” Colt asked.
“I have Ben’s laptop and I boxed up everything in his office. Everything that’s in storage is in San Francisco. I planned to have it all shipped here once I got settled, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.”
“Is there someone you trust in San Francisco who could get hold of the boxes and overnight them to you?”
I thought of Annie. I trusted her, but would she do such a big favor for me if I asked? Ben and I had friends I’d left behind, but if someone who knew us was running around killing people, I had no idea who I could trust. “I do have someone I can ask. I don’t know if she will do it, but I can ask. If she agrees, she won’t have a key to the storage room, but I can send it to her, and she can overnight the boxes to me when she gets it.”
“Okay,” Colt said. “If that doesn’t work out, let me know and I’ll figure out something else.”
“And in the meantime?” Velma asked. “Might Abby be in danger of some sort?”
Colt let out a long breath. “I don’t know. If you are right and we are dealing with an I-know-what-you-did-last-summer scenario, she shouldn’t be a target. But if it is something else…”
“Something else like what?” I asked.
Colt shrugged. “Maybe they had something. Or one of them did. Maybe your husband, or Karen, or her brother, found something that summer and the killer hoped to find it.”
“If that were true, it would be illogical to kill them before they found what they were looking for,” I pointed out.
Colt chuckled. “True. I guess I didn’t think that one through.” His smile faded. “You said that one of your husband’s colleagues emailed you looking for something. Did he say what it was?”
“No,” I answered. “He was vague.”
“And what is this cop’s name?”
“Frank Ribaldie.”
“How well do you know him?” Colt asked.
“Not well at all. He worked out of the same office as Ben and I met him a few times, but I can’t say that I really know anything about him.”
“Have you answered the email?”
“I responded and admitted that I had Ben’s computer, as well as the files from his office, but that I hadn’t gone through any of them. I asked if there was something specific he was looking for.”
“Has he answered?”
I pulled out my phone and opened the mail app. “No, not so far.”
“If he does, let me know right away, but don’t get back to him in any way. I’m going to do some digging to see what I can find out about him.”
“And in the meantime?” Velma asked. “How are we going to keep Abby safe?”
“There is no reason to think I’m not safe,” I said. “If something happened the summer Ben went to Indiana with Mark, I was not a part of it. I hadn’t even met Ben yet.”
“And still, here you are. In the town where Karen Stinson lived,” Velma said.
“It probably would be a good idea to stay close to home,” Colt said.
“For how long? A month? Two months? Six? At what point will we know that the danger, if there even is any, has passed?”
“I don’t know,” Colt admitted.
“Let’s face it, if some guy wants me dead, he can kill me in my home as well as anywhere else. I will keep my eyes open and I will take extra precautions, though, like not hiking alone.”
I could tell by Velma’s tight lips that she was less than satisfied with my words, but Colt agreed that it would be hard to guard against a threat that was so vague.
“If an
yone else from your husband’s past contacts you, let me know right away,” he said. “Day or night. I always have my cell with me.”
“I will.”
“And let’s get those files from San Francisco right away. Who is this person you think might help?”
“My sister.”
“Okay. Then if your sister can’t do it for some reason, let me know. I’ll fly out there myself and get the boxes if I need to.”
I closed my eyes, tilted my head back, and let out a long groan. “This whole thing is just so absurd. Ben was run off the road by a distracted driver. How could that have been planned?”
“Was Ben driving a frequently traveled route at a usual time?”
“Yes,” I said. “He was coming home from work. The only thing that was different that day was that he had our son in the car with him. He’d offered to pick him up from my sister’s, who had babysat for me that afternoon, because her apartment was close to Ben’s office.”
“So if he drove the same route every day at about the same time, it would be possible for whoever was driving the car to approach from the opposite direction, keeping an eye out for him.”
“I guess it would be possible, but the odds are astronomical that they would meet. Especially because Ben stopped to pick up Johnathan and so was actually driving the route at a slightly different time than usual.”
“I suppose the killer could have put a tracker on your husband’s car and found him that way,” Colt offered.
I suppose it was possible it happened that way.
“In all fairness, you should tell Georgia what is going on because she’s living with you, but let’s none of us mention it to anyone else until we figure things out,” Colt added.
“Do you think that Georgia could be in danger when she is with me?” I asked.
“Probably not, but it would be a good idea for both of you to keep your eyes open just in case.”
Colt arranged to follow Lily home to pick up Karen’s boxes and I headed home. I could see that Velma was worried and wished I could do or say something to alleviate her concern, but at this point I had nothing to give. I needed to try to call Annie to ask for her help, but the coward in me decided to start by filling Georgia in.
“Wow,” she said. “It isn’t often that I am at a total loss for words, but that’s the best I can come up with right now.”
“Yeah, I get it,” I responded. “I was pretty tongue-tied myself at first.”
“What are you going to do? How are you going to get the files from your storage locker? Is there anyone you trust enough to fetch them?”
I was going to share with Georgia that I planned to reach out to Annie, but on the spur of the moment, I found myself telling her that I was going to fly out to get them myself.
“You are going to San Francisco? When?”
“As soon as I can get a flight. I’ll fly out, rent a car, pack everything up in the big old suitcase I have that is also in storage, and then take the next flight back. If I plan it right, I should be able to do the whole thing in twenty-four hours.”
“Are you sure? That’s a lot of flying.”
I nodded. “I’m sure. I thought about calling Annie, but even if she answered, which is highly unlikely, there is no guarantee that she would do as I asked. And even if she did agree, she’d want to know why. If I explained, she’d just worry, and if I lied and she found out about it, it could further damage our relationship. Fetching what I need myself makes the most sense.”
“Okay, then, I’m going with you,” Georgia said.
I frowned. “You don’t need to do that. It is going to be a really long day.”
“I want to. You are going to need backup.”
“What about Ramos?” I asked.
“I’ll ask Nikki to watch him.”
I looked toward the dining table, which was stacked high with cookie boxes. “And what about the cookies? I’m going to try to fly out tonight if possible. If not, tomorrow morning for sure.”
“I’ll have Nikki deliver them. I’ll have to call to let the group know that I won’t be able to make the Valentine’s Ball committee meeting, but someone can fill me in later, and I’ll need to call Willa and reschedule with her.”
I hesitated. On one hand, it would be nice to have company on the long flight, but on the other, I didn’t want to put Georgia in any danger if I didn’t need to. Of course, she seemed like the sort of person who could take care of herself, and sorting through the stuff in the storage room would go faster with both of us working on it. Besides, looking through those things for the first time since Ben and Johnathan’s deaths was going to be emotionally draining. It would help a lot to have a good friend there for support.
“Okay, if you are really sure.”
Georgia nodded. “I am.”
“Then I’ll go online to find us flights.”
“And I’ll call Nikki to ask her to make the delivery and watch the kids while we are gone.”
Chapter 10
“Abby, wake up.”
I swatted at the insect touching my cheek to no avail.
“We’re here,” a voice that sounded like it was coming to me through a tunnel insisted.
I groaned and opened my eyes. “Georgia?”
“We’ve landed in San Francisco. We are about to debark.”
I looked around at the people who had piled into the aisle to retrieve their carry-on baggage. Georgia and I hadn’t brought any luggage because we were heading back to the East Coast later in the day. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, unbuckled my seat belt, and felt around under the seat in front of me for my purse. I must have slept for hours. The last thing I remembered was getting settled in for the flight west, buying a whiskey on the rocks to try to calm my nerves, and pulling my sleep mask over my eyes in an attempt to get at least a few hours of shut-eye after having been awake for more than twenty-four hours. It appeared the whiskey had done its job.
“What time is it?” I asked.
“Nine twenty Pacific time,” Georgia answered.
I frowned. “That can’t be right.”
“Don’t forget, we picked up three hours along the way,” Georgia reminded me.
Oh yeah. I guess my brain wasn’t all the way awake yet.
“Our flight home leaves at six ten. We’ll need to be back at the airport by four thirty at the latest.”
“That should be plenty of time.” I opened my purse and dug around for a Tic Tac or a piece of gum. “I’ve arranged for a car rental, so we won’t have to rely on finding a taxi or calling for an Uber. The storage building is about a twenty-minute drive from the airport, assuming normal traffic. I thought we’d stop for breakfast on the way. We should be able to get what we need, return to the airport, check in, and have lunch well before we need to board.”
“Sounds like a good plan. Do you think we should have brought something to pack the files in for the return trip?” Georgia asked.
“I have luggage in the room. I’m hoping we can get everything into two carry-on bags so we don’t have to check anything. If there are more files than I remember, there’s a sturdy bag that locks that I used for my last trip overseas. We can load that up and check it if we have to.”
Georgia stood up as the row in front of us filed into the aisle. “Looks like we are next. Do you have everything?”
I held up my purse. “All set.”
Once we cleared arrivals, we headed to the car rental area. Thankfully, my car was fueled up and waiting. We hurried out to the garage, claimed the midsize Ford I had selected, then drove toward the exit.
“Ramos and I did a lot of traveling after my husband died, but we never made it to San Francisco. I understand your desire to get back to Holiday Bay as soon as possible, especially given the situation, but I’d love to spend time here someday.”
“It is a beautiful city,” I said as I pulled onto the freeway. “I have some horrific memories associated with it, but some wonderful memories as well. Maybe one day w
e can come for a visit and I’ll show you around.”
“I’d like that.”
“There is a good little coffee shop not far from the storage building. I thought we’d stop there first. They have good food and tend to be quick. There are better places in town, but I don’t want to take the time to drive out of our way. I don’t think that it will take us all that long to go through the stuff in the storage unit, but when I left San Francisco my mind was on escape, not organization should I need anything later. I’m not even sure I took the time to label the boxes as I loaded them, so it may take us longer than I have anticipated to sort through everything.”
“I think we will have plenty of time, and I’m starving, so anything is fine for breakfast.”
******
“Wow,” Georgia said after I rolled up the garage-style door to the indoor storage unit I had rented. “There really is a lot of stuff in here.”
I bit my lip as I looked at the mess. The room was piled from floor to ceiling with boxes and furniture. There wasn’t even a path to walk. We were going to have to move the stuff from the front of the unit to get to the stuff in the back. “Yeah, it is even worse than I remembered. I guess it was a good thing we decided on a quick breakfast.”
Georgia put her arm around my shoulders. “That is okay. We have plenty of time. We know we are looking for items from Ben’s office. Files and a computer. We’ll just peek in each box, and if it contains something other than files or a computer, we’ll start a pile out here in the hallway. We can move everything back in before we leave.”
I nodded. “Okay. Let’s get started. But let’s also keep an eye on the time. I don’t want to miss our flight.”
Sorting through items from my old life was a somber experience. I wasn’t expecting the tears that trickled down my face when I came across the old ceramic lamp Ben and I had picked up at a swap meet or the sense of mourning that filled my soul when I found a box of mismatched plates that he and I had bought at a secondhand store after we’d rented our first apartment together. We’d later purchased nicer dishware, but I never could bring myself to get rid of the hodgepodge we’d pieced together that first year.