Nick finally pulled the phone away from his ear and pressed a button. He looked at the phone a moment before turning to us.
“It’s definitely murder.”
“Murder? Marina?” Charles asked.
“It looks that way.” Nick scribbled in his notepad. “Your girl Cortnie is a genius.”
Nick went back to packing his things, as if we’d never taken a break to hash out the past. “Eva checked out the antifreeze angle I pushed on her, and there was definitely fluorescein in and on Marina’s person, in her vomit, and on her clothes.”
My mind kicked into overdrive. “We have to get back to the showroom. Zack said they were packing up to go home in the morning. Surely they’ve finished packing and are ready to leave by now.”
“Eva already went by the showroom. Everything was packed up. No one is there. Willard has checked out of his hotel room. The number he gave her to reach him is the office number of Marina’s business, not his cell, or a local number.”
“Zack hasn’t left yet,” Charles stated calmly.
We both stared at him.
“He’s down in the hotel bar. I just saw him.”
Before anyone could say anything else, I grabbed my room key and took off.
The elevator doors hadn’t quite closed when I saw a strong, tanned hand slide in, making them re-open.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Nick stepped in and pressed the button I’d just pressed moments earlier.
“I’m going to have a chat with Zack. He likes me. We’ve talked. Maybe I can get something from him. If you approach him, he’s going to bolt, just like he did in the coffee shop.”
“What makes you think you can get him to talk?”
“Let’s make a bet. If I can get him alone to talk, you owe me dinner. If I can’t, I owe you dinner.” I figured it was a win-win bet.
“He could be dangerous.”
“Yup,” I said, as I stepped off the elevator and headed towards the bar, leaving Nick inside.
I’d been hitting on men on a regular basis since I opened Gotcha. Hell, our specialty was trailing cheating spouses. If they were going to be tempted, I was the one doing the tempting a lot of the time.
When I passed through the hotel lobby, I could see Zack through the huge picture windows separating the lobby from the bar. The room was dim, but not nearly as dark as most bars, because of the light from the lobby area and oversized recessed lights along the aisles between the tables. The bar was also well lit, so it wasn’t hard to make out Zack’s figure in the half empty room.
Zack’s back was facing me. He sat with his elbows on the polished, black lacquered bar, staring down at his drink, stirring the amber liquid with a red plastic stick. His hair was perfect, his clothes were neat and tidy, but his body language had defeat written all over it.
I approached him from the back, leaning in close and making sure my breast rubbed up against his shoulder. “Long day?”
He tensed, but relaxed when he turned to see me. “You don’t know the half of it.”
I sat on the bar stool next to him and leaned in close. “Buy me a drink and I’ll be your sounding board.”
He started to get up. “No thanks. I’ve drank enough, and I probably shouldn’t be spouting off to a stranger in the state I’m in at the moment.”
Feigning offense, I said, “Stranger?” I coaxed him toward me by grabbing his hand. “I really thought we were getting along fabulously.”
He laughed. “Right, just fabulous. You and I, we live in different worlds.”
“We may live in different states, but it’s the same world.”
He leaned against the bar, now looking out at the room. “I live in a world where nothing matters but money. My aunt was my only living relative that gave a shit about me. Yeah, I know she had a funny way of showing it, but she’d have done anything for me.”
“Like break up your relationship with the woman you loved, on the night before your wedding?” I played my card. It was the only card I had.
Zack said nothing. He grinned. Then he got right in my face. “You’re no different than the rest of them. You only know half the story, and you think you know it all. Well, you don’t know shit.”
I had to say, I didn’t see that one coming.
Zack pushed off the bar and stalked away from me, leaving me stunned, and without so much as a drink. I’d gotten under his skin, but not like I’d planned. Now what?
I started out of the bar, when I saw Nick escorting Zack back into the room. He sat him in a booth in the corner. It was darker there, and I couldn’t see much, but I did see Nick gesture for me to come join them.
“Zack would like to offer you an apology for walking out and leaving you stranded at the bar. Right, Zack?” Nick gripped Zack’s arm hard.
“Screw you,” Zack said to Nick.
“Now, now, that’s no way to talk to an officer of the law.” Nick’s condescending voice was a bit irritating.
“You’re not a cop.”
Nick flashed his badge.
“I stand corrected.” Zack relaxed a bit. “Look, I just want to go home. This trip has been a nightmare. My aunt, my only family, has died--”
Nick interrupted. “She was murdered.”
That knocked the wind right out of Zack. “What?”
“We have evidence that your aunt was murdered.” Nick sat down next to him and used his body to shove Zack further into the booth. “So, this means we’re going to have a talk.”
Even in the low light, I could see the color drain from Zack’s face. I walked around to the other side of the half-circle booth and sat across from Nick and Zack.
“I feel sick,” Zack mumbled.
“Suck it up.” Nick punched him in the shoulder. “Be a man and tell me a story. Then I don’t care if you puke all over this nice table here. But you’re going to talk first.”
“What do you want me to tell you?” Zack’s defiance was gone, replaced by bewilderment.
“I want you to tell me a story about an aunt who ruined your relationship with your fiancée, a woman who was litigious, and had many enemies. I want you to tell me the stories you know about Marina and Willard that no one else knows.”
Zack said, “You don’t want much.”
61
I had a gnawing feeling that something bad was happening as we were questioning Zack. I kept looking over my shoulder, waiting for the cops to come storming in. I expected my cell phone to buzz, with terrible news regarding HCM. Every time Nick would move his hand, I expected his phone might be ringing, with news of yet another death.
I think they called this a panic attack. So, this is what it feels like. The pit of my stomach felt like I’d swallowed a small rock and it was rolling around, trying to find a way out. The rest of my body was on high alert, like right before getting up in front of a crowd to speak.
I couldn’t explain what exactly was giving me this feeling, but I just knew there was horrendous news on the horizon.
Nick’s impatient tone gradually escalated as Zack tried to pretend we were stupid.
“She really did me a favor. I mean, I didn’t know it at the time, but I didn’t want to be under the thumb of my father-in-law for the rest of my life. I want to be my own man. A blessing in disguise.” Zack picked at the edge of the table.
I wanted to slap his hand away and tell him this was important. I bit my lip, and did my best not to interrupt Nick. I wasn’t sure how much information he’d planned to share, so it was best I just listen for a change.
“So, tell me about Willard and your aunt.” Nick sat back and waited.
Zack wasn’t in any hurry to answer. He looked up as the waiter walked by. “Can I have some water?”
“Zack,” Nick snapped.
“Willard lacks ingenuity, but he makes up for it with determination. The man was a telemarketer, for God’s sake. He and Marina had the perfect relationship on the outside, but he was jealous of her.”
“In what way?�
�� Nick asked.
“She had ambition. I think Willard thought he was marrying up, and that he’d get to live off her. Not so. My aunt expected everyone around her to work harder than she did. She just took the credit, and then complained when something came up and she had to reschedule her manicure appointment.”
“I don’t understand what you mean by marrying up,” Nick said.
“Be a househusband, a kept man. Marina was loaded when she and Willard met, but it wasn’t all her money. I’m pretty sure her first lawsuit was when she pushed her ex-husband out of her life and the business. Willard was stunned when they finally married and she expected him to work sixty plus hours a week, and carry his own weight in the company.”
The waiter delivered the water and Zack took a long sip.
I’d been quiet long enough. “What’s the deal with Willard and Becky?”
Zack threw his head back and laughed, mouth wide open. “Becky thought she was going to get her claws in Willard, and that he’d divorce Marina. Willard is nothing without Marina.”
I noticed the past tense Zack used; was the affair over?
“He was fucking that young twit on the side until Marina found out, then boom! He wasn’t even smart enough to keep the affair a secret. Yup, Marina put an end to that, didn’t she? I’m pretty sure Willard was just waiting for her to die from the stress.”
It didn’t sound as if there was much love lost between them. I did remember that Zack had very little to say about Willard in the days we’d been in San Francisco. I wondered what really bubbled under the surface of that relationship.
Nick said, “You don’t think Willard may have helped Marina along? Maybe he killed her?”
Zack smiled. “Depends on how exactly she died.”
“That is information I’m not really at liberty to share. The SFPD are keeping the details quiet.”
Zack snorted.
“I’d bet Willard planned something before they arrived in San Francisco. Poisoned her or something, and then when she died here, no one would be the wiser. Not to mention all the people here who would have loved to see my aunt dead.”
“Why would you think he poisoned her?” Nick asked.
“Why not? Easier to get away with than shooting her.”
Smug little bastard, and here I almost liked the guy. I wanted to wrap my fingers around his throat and squeeze until he coughed up some information on Willard. I wasn’t sure why he didn’t just give him up. It’s not like he truly loved the guy.
“I just don’t understand what his motive would be,” I said.
Zack looked at me as if I was the stupidest woman on earth. “Have you met my aunt?” He paused, then asked, “Have you met Becky?”
I glared, but didn’t respond.
“If Marina dies, Willard gets everything, and he gets Becky. It wouldn’t surprise me if Becky was in on it.”
I thought back to the conversation I couldn’t quite hear, back at the hotel. Were they fighting about Marina’s death? About the way she died? Who killed her?
“Where is your uncle now?” I asked.
“Not sure.” He didn’t elaborate.
Before I could reach across and slap the shit out of Zack, Eva and Harry walked into the bar.
“I’m pretty sure you think you know where your uncle is,” Harry said. “And I’m very sure you’d be wrong.”
“So, what, you two split up, so it’d be harder to catch both of you?” Eva leaned across the table and grabbed Zack’s chin like he was a naughty boy.
Zack jerked his head out of her reach. “If I had to guess, Willard is on a plane. Where he’s going, only he knows.” He thought for a moment. “Well, Becky probably knows.”
Harry grinned. “Wrong.”
Eva gave Zack the news. “Willard Goldstein is in police custody. He’s been arrested for the murder of his wife, Marina Goldstein.”
A slow smile crept across Zack’s face.
“We’d like you to come down to the police station and answer some questions regarding your aunt’s murder.”
Zack scooted along the seat of the booth, nearly shoving Nick off the edge. He was way too eager to be done with us.
Harry escorted Zack from the bar. Eva looked at Nick. “Coming?”
Nick said, “I’m supposed to be here on a mini vacation, not chasing murderers. Besides, you have your man.”
“Yes, we do. But I thought maybe you’d want to be in on the questioning and processing,” Eva said.
“Part of me would love to, but I need to get on the road.” Nick looked at me. “Are you staying, or do you want to head back to Salinas with me?”
Hell, yeah, he didn’t have to ask me twice. “Salinas sounds really good right now.”
Eva glared at me.
I smiled. “It was so nice meeting you.” Not.
Eva nodded, turned to Nick and said, “We need to keep in touch.”
“Sure.”
I was thrilled that he didn’t sound like he meant it.
“I have some vacation time coming. Maybe I can head down your way and we can spend some time at the beach in Carmel.” She moved closer to Nick and reached out to hug him.
I could see Nick tense. Eva hugged him tight, and he patted her on the back.
He looked at me. “Mimi and I would love to take you to dinner and to the beach.”
The hug ended abruptly as Eva stepped back. “I’ve gotta go. Take care.”
She didn’t look back to see me, but I was grinning like a Cheshire cat. Bitch.
Nick didn’t even turn to watch her walk out the door. “You owe me dinner.”
“What?”
“If my short term memory serves me correctly, you said I would owe you dinner if you got Zack to spill, but I do recollect him leaving you at the bar.”
“No way. He talked to both of us.” I was a terrible loser, even if this was a no lose situation.
“Not that he did much talking,” Nick admitted.
He put his arm over my shoulder, and we headed back to the room. “Do you think he’ll say much to help Eva and Harry?” I asked.
I melted into Nick’s body as he said, “I just want to get that little prick in a room and beat the answers out of him.”
I didn’t admit it aloud, but after the way he treated me at the bar, I wanted to do the same.
I was so proud of my employee for bringing the antifreeze idea to Nick’s attention, and therefore the San Francisco Homicide team. I just hoped that they could put the pieces together for a solid conviction.
As we waited for the elevator, I asked, “Why didn’t you go to the police station with Eva?”
“Honestly? I didn’t want to.”
The doors opened and we stepped inside together. Once the doors closed, we completely forgot there had been a murder.
Nick pushed the button for our floor. Then he pushed me against the wall, his body pressing against mine. His kisses were hot, sweet, and eager. I kissed him back with the same fervor, hoping he’d eventually push the little red button that stops the elevator, and we’d have sex right there.
You see this all the time in movies: the guy or girl presses the emergency stop, and they ‘do it’ right there. What a fantasy, but the reality of it seems a bit less sexy. If the emergency button is pushed, doesn’t the whole building, including security, know there is an issue with that elevator? And with today’s technology, the tape from the surveillance camera would eventually hit the internet. On second thought, I’m glad he didn’t hit the little red button.
The bell chimed, telling us we’d reached our floor. Nick stepped back as if we’d never kissed, and held the doors open for me to exit. Damn, that ended too soon.
Halfway down the hall, I could hear Anthony’s voice. But it wasn’t just Anthony; there was a female voice, too. They were arguing.
“What the hell makes you think I could kill someone?” Anthony screamed.
“I don’t care if you killed her or not. I just want you to admit it so they�
��ll let Willard go. He didn’t kill her. He had no reason to,” Becky pleaded.
“No reason?” I said.
Becky swung around to face me.
“Stay out of this. This is between me and Anthony,” she snapped.
Nick stepped slightly in front of me.
“Becky, I was at your hotel when you and Willard went back for a little afternoon delight.” I stayed put and let Nick be my bodyguard, even though I could easily protect myself.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” She took two steps towards me.
“You want me to tell everyone here what I heard?”
By now, Charles was in the hallway, too, and I saw Cortnie standing in a doorway nearby.
“There’s nothing to tell,” Becky said.
“I followed you and Willard to your hotel. I stood outside your room, and heard you giving him a blow job.”
“You what?” Confusion and anger melded on her face.
“I listened against the door as you argued, then I heard you appease Willard by going down on him. And to be honest, if that’s all he lasted, you should move on.”
“Crazy bitch.”
I’d gotten under her skin.
I’d been hearing that a lot today.
“So now, you want to tell Anthony, and the rest of us, why Willard had no reason to kill Marina?” I loved having the upper hand.
Becky deflated a bit, “Because Marina knew. She knew about us, and she fired me because of it. Our affair wasn’t a secret.”
“Then why were you sneaking around?”
“We weren’t sneaking. Marina is dead. There is no one to sneak around on anymore.” She leaned against the wall. “But Willard didn’t kill her.”
Cortnie stepped away from the doorway, and approached Becky. “If you know Willard didn’t kill her, do you know who did? And how?”
Cortnie walked up with such a presence that Becky sidestepped away from her.
“I don’t know who, but I do know there are lots of people, including me, who’d have loved to have done it. Anthony had more reason than most.” She looked at him accusingly.
Anthony dismissed her with a hand and walked down the hallway.
“Anthony aside, do you know anything about how Marina was killed?” Cortnie spoke softly, coaxing her like a small child.
Gotcha Detective Agency Mystery Box Set Page 48