The Push

by J C Fuller

  “How?” Caleb asked, seeing the man blanche at the simple question. “How did you convince her exactly?”

  “Um…I told a little white lie. Said it would be a good angle for the magazine. Small community living with their loving animal neighbors.” Jim looked over at Lane, hoping to find a sympathetic listener. “I knew the magazine wasn’t going to go in that direction, but she didn’t.” Not even remotely finding a sympathetic glint in Lane’s blue eyes, he looked back over to Caleb. “The girl needed to get back on the horse. She was losing her confidence.” Still not finding it, he turned back to Lane, almost pleading. “I felt like a momma bird trying to push her baby bird out of the nest…” Jim’s eyes grew to the size of quarters. “That didn’t sound right. I didn’t mean push! Not in the sense you might have thought I meant….”

  “It’s alright, Mr. Evans. We understood your meaning,” Lane reassured, finally realizing why he seemed so skittish. He truly blamed himself for her death and thought they might as well. Something suddenly occurred to Lane.

  “Mr. Evans, did you give Janie the impression if she didn’t do this assignment, she might lose you as an agent?”

  Jim’s neck turned red and he immediately looked down at his hands.

  “I may have, but I thought it was for her own good.”

  “I see.” Lane wondered if maybe, Mr. Evans was paid to get Janie onto the island. That is, if he was part of a murder for hire plot. She quickly wrote the theory down.

  Caleb took a long and noisy draw off his straw, shaking the cup again, before setting it down on the table to give the nervous man a glare.

  “For her own good, huh?” Caleb said dubiously, lightly shaking his head side to side.

  “I feel terrible about it now,” Jim added, dropping his chin to his chest and giving Caleb a sideways glance.

  “Mr. Evans, when you realized Janie was missing...” Lane reached over and grabbed Caleb’s cup before he could pick it up and shake it again. It was obvious to her, behind Caleb’s stern poker face, her deputy was nervous. She moved the cup out of his reach. “Exactly what had you thought happened to her?”

  “Um, not quite sure. My wife was more worried than I was to be honest. She was the one who insisted I give your office a call and report her missing. That’s not to say I wasn’t concerned about Janie. Well, more annoyed than anything. My client wasn’t very happy to have her miss the deadline.”

  “So, what did your wife think happened?” Lane closed her notepad and picked up her own drink.

  “She watches a lot of those investigation shows on that crime channel. She had all sorts of wild theories,” Jim started to relax, seeing Lane’s notebook was now closed. “Even thought maybe her crazy ex had kidnapped her.”

  “Crazy ex?” Lane flipped open her notepad again and leaned in. “Who’s the crazy ex? Was his name Brent Allister?”

  “Oh! I don’t know for sure. At least, I don’t know his name. Just a guy who use to have a crush on her or dated her for a little while? She’d mentioned it to my wife once over coffee at our house.” He looked over at Caleb, who had leaned in as well. “I…uh, I can call my wife if you want me to?”

  “We’d appreciate that, Mr. Evans.” Lane smiled and sat back as the man dug his cell phone out of his shorts pocket.

  Chapter 24

  “Hi, Lacey. How’s the baby?” Philip greeted the young waitress, taking a seat at the small table facing the front window.

  “Precious as ever!” Lacey said cheerfully, pulling out a baby picture from her order pad. “She turns three months on Friday.” She handed the picture to Philip, who made the appropriate oohs and ahhs.

  “She sure is a cutie,” Philip said warmly, handing her picture back.

  “Thanks.” Lacey stared lovingly at the photo, an adoring smile on her lips.

  “Sooo, is Kevin working today?” Philip asked casually, perusing the breakfast menu.

  “Yeah. You want me to tell him you say, hi?” Lacey offered, tucking the photograph back between the bottom sheets of her order pad.

  “Actually, if he’s got a break coming up. Could you ask him to join me?” Philip put the menu back between the salt and pepper shakers. “And I think I’ll have the Denver Omelette.”

  “With extra bacon on the side and sourdough toast,” Lacey recited knowingly, writing the order down on her pad before Philip could finish. “The usual, then?”

  “And a coffee.”

  “Sure thing. I’ll tell Kevin to come out with your plate.” Lacey tucked her pencil behind her ear and headed for the kitchen. Philip, sitting back in his chair, folded his hands in his lap and closed his eyes, contented to wait.

  The Royal Fork, the town’s only sit-down dining restaurant, wasn’t extremely busy at the moment. It didn’t start to get the mid-day rush until eleven, which is why Philip came in for a late breakfast. If he’d actually come in earlier, there was no way Kevin would have had time to come out and chat. In fact, Lacey was busy wiping off tables and placing napkins out and silverware down in anticipation of the lunchtime rush. It would be a little bit before he’d get his coffee.

  It was roughly ten minutes later when Philip looked up to find Kevin Givens standing above him, a plate of food in each hand. Kevin was almost as tall as Philip’s six-four, with strawberry red hair and green eyes, a row of freckles running across his nose.

  “Hey ya, Phil. Lacey said you wanted to see me?” He placed the large Omelette down in front of Philip with the extra bacon on the side and a small plate of toast beside it.

  “Sure did. Join me?” Philip nodded his head towards the empty chair and gave the young man a friendly smile. He then pushed his plate to the middle and offered Kevin his fork.

  “Thanks, man.” Kevin sat down and took the handed fork loosely, not sure what to do with it. “I’m not hungry.”

  “Shame. You’re a great cook.” Philip grabbed his spoon, using it to cut into his Omelette. “You like working here?”

  “It’s alright. Why? You offering me a job?” Kevin chuckled, and then looked over his shoulder to make sure Lacey wasn’t eavesdropping. “Because, I’d be interested.”

  Philip lowered his voice, taking Kevin’s cue. “I hate to poach you from the restaurant and especially while you’re working.” Philip looked both ways and leaned in. “But we might have an opening come spring. Kody is going back to college after the winter quarter.”

  “Amy’s mentioned it a few times. She’s worried they’re going to break up or some kind of nonsense like that. At least, that’s what Angie says. I don’t listen half the time,” Kevin said, honestly.

  “With the spot opening up, I thought of you. But didn’t know if you’d be interested, after what happened last summer.”

  “Last summer? Oh, you mean with Danie.” Kevin bowed his head. “Yeah, that was a rough day.”

  “You seemed to keep your head though.” Philip reached over and grabbed a slice of toast. “That’s hard to do in a situation like that.” He took a bite, chewing slowly as he said, “I can’t remember. Were you the one who found her?”

  “Was I the one who…what?” Kevin leaned in, unable to understand Philip, who was talking with his mouth full.

  Philip swallowed. “Found her floating.”

  “Oh. No, man. I heard someone yelling Danie was drowning.”

  “Who was yelling?” Philip picked up a piece of bacon.

  “You know, I don’t remember. Might have been Gabe?” Kevin shook his head, looking down at the checkered floor, trying to recall. “Yeah, I can’t remember for sure.”

  “A lot happened that day. I’m sure it was a shock for you all. So, was it you who jumped into the water to save her?” Philip took another bite of toast.

  “By the time I’d gotten there, Gabe was wading his way out and Brent was racing from the woods full board. The guy dove into the water with absolutely no hesitation. Hell, I hadn’t even gotten my toes wet by the time he’d reached her.”

  “Good swimmer, huh?” />
  “Yeah. Brent’s good at everything,” Kevin admitted sourly, and then perked up. “I was the one to give her CPR though.” His face fell a little as he continued, “Until Gabe got to shore and then I took off looking for help and found you.”

  “Kid tried his hardest,” Philip said, sadly. “You all did.” Silence fell over the small table as Philip chewed on the last piece of toast. “You know…” Philip scrunched up his face, trying to appear as if he was thinking. “I don’t recall Angie being there. Was she with you guys that weekend?”

  “Oh yeah, Ang was there.” Kevin picked up a napkin he’d knocked off the table with his elbow. “She’d gone for a walk, basically blowing off steam. She and I had gotten into a fight about something dumb. She had heard the emergency sirens and started to make her way back to camp, only to find us tearing down our tents.”

  Philip decided to change the subject.

  “Shame about Janie,” Philip said sincerely, before taking another bite of Omelette. Kevin, seeing Philip struggling with the spoon, offered his fork back.

  “Yeah. Heartbreaking really.”

  “Did you know she was back on the island for a visit?”

  “Saw her last Monday night when I was getting off shift. She was having dinner with her aunt.”

  “You go over and say hi?” Philip tried to grab Lacey’s attention with no luck. He was really wanting that coffee.

  “Sure, of course. Hadn’t seen her in almost a year. Told her Brent and I were getting together at Piper’s Place later that night and invited her to come.”

  “Did she?” Philip dropped his hand, his full attention back on Kevin.

  “Nah. She politely blew it off. Something about her aunt leaving town and spending time with her before she left. She said she’d give Angie a call the next day and try to arrange lunch or something. She didn’t, which hadn’t surprise me.”

  “I always got the impression Angie and Janie didn’t like each other,” Philip lied. They always seemed to get along fine to him, but he was wondering about what Sue had said the day before.

  “They didn’t. Heck, they barely tolerated each other,” Kevin said, with a grimace.

  “Was that because of you?” He gave Kevin a crooked smile.

  “Me?” Kevin sat back surprised. “Ohhhh, because… I see what you’re thinking.” Kevin rubbed the back of his neck and smiled shyly. “You have to understand. All of us guys had a crush on one or both of the twins at some point.” He started to fiddle with the napkin, folding it and then unfolding it. “If you wanted a girl to go do stuff with, like…” He shrugged, trying to think of an example, “Off road jeeping or fishing off the cliffs. You’d call Janie. If you wanted someone to listen to your problems, be a shoulder to cry on, or watch a movie with, you called Danie. They were both special in their own way and both beautiful. I…” He suddenly looked bashful. “I was going through a Janie phase last summer. But she wasn’t interested and I came back to my senses.”

  “And her and Angie didn’t get along because of it?”

  “No, that’s what I was trying to explain. They didn’t like each other because of money problems.”

  “Money problems?” Philip asked, surprised.

  “Yup.” Kevin nodded his head up and down, “It was a mess.” He started folding and unfolding the napkin again. “You know how Ang is about her horses. Well, there was this horse she wanted to buy from a guy in Scottsdale, Arizona. Someone she knew through competitions was getting rid of his and he was willing to give her a good deal. Believe me, she went on and on about it all the time. Drove me nuts.”

  “What kind of horse?”

  “Arabian. But she didn’t have anywhere near the money to buy it.”

  “How much was it?”

  “Ten grand.”

  Philip let out a low whistle.

  “And that was just for the horse. She needed another five for getting the thing up here, along with equipment and feed.”

  “And she asked Janie for a loan?” Philip guessed.

  “No!” Kevin leaned in, grinning. “Janie offered to buy it for her!” He suddenly flopped back in his chair, slamming a hand down on the table for emphasize. “About knocked Ang off her saddle!”

  “So, Janie just GAVE Angie fifteen grand?”

  “It ended up being twenty after all was said and done. And no, she didn’t just give it to her.” Kevin’s smile disappeared. “She’d changed her mind, after talking with her trust fund lawyer back in Pennsylvania. Something about taxes? I don’t know. Anyway, she’d shown up the next month in Seattle with the money and a form her lawyer wanted Angie to sign. I don’t think Angie even read it. Just scribbled her name on the dotted line, grabbed the check, and made a mad dash for the phone to call the seller.”

  “I take it, this is where things started to go sour?” Philip pushed his empty plate away and noticed a few people coming through the door.

  “Oh, did it. The horse ended up having tumors in its small intestine and Ang was advised by the vet to put it down. Cost her every penny she had in the bank and a few of mine.”

  “So much so, she couldn’t afford to pay Janie back?”

  “At first, Janie seemed understanding. Then, Angie got another horse. She didn’t buy it and it wasn’t an Arabian. But it was something else she was spending money on instead of paying Janie back.”

  “Janie felt taken advantaged of?”

  Kevin nodded his head. “Something like that. She had her lawyer threatened to take Angie to court.”

  “What did Angie do?” Philip could see Lacey was heading their way and knew he was running out of time.

  “Started to sell off her horses to pay back the loan. She hated Janie for that.” Kevin shook his head sadly. “She’s only got a few horses left. Her three-last favorite.” Kevin brightened, scrunching the napkin into a small ball and tossing it onto Philip’s empty plate. “Now, she doesn’t have to get rid of them or pay the loan back.”

  “Hey, Phil. Here’s your coffee.” Lacey placed the steaming mug down and the rich aroma sang to Philip’s senses. “Sorry, Kevin. I’ve got two tickets up and waiting. Need you behind the grill.”

  “We’ll uh…” Kevin waited for Lacey to walk off. “We’ll talk more about the job later?”

  “For sure. On your day off, come down and fill out an application.” Philip offered his hand to be shook and watched as Kevin returned to the kitchen.

  Chapter 25

  “Which one is Janie’s car?” Lane asked, slightly out of breath, following Caleb through the entrance of the underground parking garage. They’d parked five blocks over and paid half an arm and a leg for a parking spot before hiking their way through the streets of Seattle to Janie’s high-rise apartment building.

  “Suppose to be sitting in spot E, one thirty-four.” Caleb jostled the apartment keys and referred to the piece of scratch paper the main office had scribbled the parking lot number on. “Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited. White with black trim.”

  “We’re on the wrong level. Let’s take the elevator.” Lane pointed to the shiny double doors with a large letter C printed on the outside indicating their current location.

  “Pretty nice building.” Caleb stepped into the elevator and held the door for Lane before pushing “E” and leaning against the wall.

  “Nice, doesn’t even begin to describe it,” Lane acknowledged, noting she could see her own crystal-clear reflection in the elevator doors. “This place must cost a fortune.”

  “Twenty-five hundred a month, one bedroom.”

  “You’re kidding me.”

  “Not one iota.”

  “So…” The elevator doors opened and they stepped out. “What did you think of the information Jim Evans told us?” Lane led the way.

  “You mean, what his wife said about Janie having a stalker?”

  “Sure, we can start there.”

  “She gave us a name. Not the name I was expecting.”

  “I’ll say. I was all prepared to he
ar Brent or even, Kevin Givens.” Lane slowed down, noticing the numbers were now in the hundreds. “Lucas Wilson was a total surprise.”

  “He was a friend of hers though, wasn’t he?”

  “He was. Part of the tight group she hung with,” Lane sighed, “He was dating Danie when she died. Possibly Lucas started stalking Janie, because she looked so much like her sister. Even Sue Carter mentioned Janie might not seek him out for a visit for that very reason.”

  “So, there could be something there.”

  “Could be.” Lane stopped in front of space E134 and looked at the brand-new Grand Jeep Cherokee parked between the white lines. “Here it is.” She walked over and cupped her face, peering inside the front passenger window. There was nothing suspicious to note and all windows were intact. She tried the door handle, feeling the resistance of the lock. “Let’s head up to the apartment.”

  “I think Mr. Evan makes a good suspect.” Caleb started to lead the way back to the elevator.

  “That he does. Though…” Lane paused in front of the doors and punched the button going up. “My gut says he’s not our killer.” The elevator suddenly chimed and the doors opened.

  “He’s got a flimsy alibi.” Caleb held the door for an elderly couple, giving them a polite nod as they stepped off.

  “Being at home with the wife and kids, who would more than likely lie on his behalf, can be considered flimsy. But…” Lane punched the button for the apartment level they needed. “It’s easy enough to check on. Unless he’s got his own personal boat to transverse the water, he’d have to take the ferry to get over to the island.”

  “Let me guess who gets to view hours of ferry footage,” Caleb said, a pout heavy on the end of his sentence.

  The elevator doors opened and they both stepped out. Lane pointed to their right and started down the hall.