by Laura Wolfe
At first, I couldn’t speak. I didn’t want to let him inside, but I couldn’t risk having my family see him, either.
“Why are you here?” I asked, my fingers gripping the doorknob.
“I want the rest of my money.”
My feet inched backward as my heartbeat accelerated. There must have been some misunderstanding. A light went on from within my parents’ house. I opened the door wider and waved Vic inside, out of sight.
“How did you know I was here?”
Vic snorted. “I got people working for me, like I said. Plus, it’s amazing what you can find out about a person on Google.” He shook his head and chuckled. “Nice blog, by the way.”
My insides went cold. I could have kicked myself for my recent post about traveling back to my hometown. I should have been more careful. “I paid you back already, $1.2 million.”
Vic shook his greasy head. “No. Your smooth-talking husband promised me a twenty percent return on my money. You were short. By $240,000.”
I stepped back, wrapping my arms around myself. I would have laughed, except I felt as if I were plummeting through the floor of my tiny house. Vic had never mentioned the twenty percent return.
“My husband’s company doesn’t exist anymore. I don’t have that kind of money,” I said. “I’m a writer.”
“Then get it from someone else.” He waved in the direction of my parents’ house. “Maybe Mommy and Daddy can help you out.”
“No.” My bones chilled at the thought of Vic involving my parents in this, especially after their years-long ordeal with Caroline, their tight finances, and everything else they’d been through. “They don’t have that kind of money, either.”
Vic shoved me up against the wall, his forearm squeezing my windpipe. “Look, sweetheart. I don’t fucking care where you get the money, but you better figure it out. I’ll go to the police about your crooked business and your husband’s little fall if you don’t. I got connections like you wouldn’t believe.” He tilted his head in the direction of my parents’ house and smiled. “And now I know where your family lives.”
He stepped back, releasing the pressure on my throat. I doubled over, gasping for air, my hands covering my neck. Through the tiny window behind Vic, a light glowed from within my parents’ bedroom.
My stomach wrenched. “Okay.” I held up my hand, signaling for him to stop talking. “Please. I’ll think of something. Give me some time to figure it out.”
“You’ve got six months to pay me two hundred and forty grand. Then all bets are off. You miss my deadline and people will die.”
I slumped against the wall, already defeated, but not wanting him to see it. “How can I reach you?”
“Don’t you worry about that. I’ll find you.” He turned and walked outside.
My fingers pinched the deadbolt, locking it. I covered my mouth with my hand and fell to my knees, having no idea how I’d ever be able to get that kind of money.
Thirty-Two
Gloria
Now
I gasped, Beth’s story turning my skin so cold I wished I’d worn my wool cardigan. “A Ponzi scheme,” I said, shaking my head. My eyes traveled to the insurance document I’d found in the secret compartment. I wondered if the man who opened the door at the Waterside Condos was Vic. A sickening feeling spread through my body. “Did you pay him the interest?”
Beth stared at her hands. “No. I tried to hold Vic off for as long as possible. I told him I was securing a loan. It worked for a few months. I took an equity line out on my tiny house and paid him $30,000, but it wasn’t enough. I was desperate.”
“Oh, no.” My eyes dropped to my shoes.
Beth nodded toward her sister. “I ended up telling Caroline everything about Jason’s scam and about how Vic threw Jason off the boat and how I didn’t have the interest money. I knew she was loyal, but I had no idea how far she’d go to protect me, or how far Vic would go to send a message.”
Caroline squirmed. “I’m sorry, Lizzie. This is all my fault. Following Amanda up here was a big mistake.”
I teetered backward, my head spinning. “You followed Amanda up here?”
Caroline’s eyes stretched as wide as dinner plates. She nodded. “Lizzie didn’t know what I was doing until it was too late. We’d missed Vic’s first deadline. He wanted the first $100,000 by May twenty-fifth. We didn’t have it. I wanted to confront Amanda here.” She nodded toward the garage apartment. “Only she didn’t live here anymore.”
My head swung between Beth and Caroline. “But why?”
Caroline crossed her bony arms in front of her, the gun, blessedly, pointed at the floor. “Jason sent money and jewelry to Amanda while he was cheating on my sister. I started thinking, what if that asshole sent her a lot of money? What if Amanda had a bunch of diamond necklaces and earrings laying around? It was only fair that she should have to pay her share to Vic, especially if she knew about Jason’s scheme.”
Beth shifted her weight and stepped closer to me, resting her hand on one of the storage bins that doubled as a step. “I didn’t know Caroline was poking into Amanda’s whereabouts. The last thing I wanted was to get her involved, to have my dead husband’s girlfriend back in my life. I’d already come to terms with everything. I’d bought my tiny house and moved on. But my sister was right about one thing. When it came to finding more money, I was out of options. We’d already missed Vic’s first deadline and we only had three weeks left to get the rest. I drove up here as soon as Caroline told me where she was. She hadn’t thought things through. I told her to wait for me before contacting Amanda. We needed a better plan.” Beth sputtered out a labored breath. “Caroline told me about your field and the ad in the paper. It was a good spot to hide my tiny house, far away from town.” She glanced out the window toward the garage apartment again.
Caroline followed her gaze. “I’m sorry about the break-in. I thought I’d find Amanda there, but she was already gone.”
“Oh my Lord.” Just as I’d suspected, Beth’s arrival on my land hadn’t been a lucky coincidence at all. I remembered the haunting way the apartment door had swung in the wind. Beth’s sister was the one who’d forced open the door. “So, when I introduced you to Amanda at The Tidewater—”
Beth swallowed. “I already knew who she was. But she didn’t know me. I wanted to get close to her to figure out if she had the money to pay Vic, or if she’d been involved in Jason’s scheme. I had to keep my true identity hidden or she wouldn’t have talked to me.” Beth paused, studying her feet. “I used to go by Liz McCormack, not Beth Ramsay. Amanda only saw me once for a few seconds and I looked totally different then. My hair was longer and blonde. My social media accounts had my old photo, before I deleted them altogether. And if Jason told her anything about me at all, he would have told her I was a journalist with The Observer, not a travel writer.”
“And Ella,” my voice cracked as I forced out the next question, “the young woman they found on the beach?”
Caroline sniffled. Her slender fingers covered her face. “It’s all my fault.”
Beth pressed her lips together, her head drooping. “No. It’s not.”
Caroline’s face scrunched up like a prune. “Ella was the assistant manager at Fringe Salon. My second day in town, I saw a Help Wanted sign in the salon’s window and went inside to apply. When I couldn’t find Amanda at first, I thought I might need to stay up here for a while. It seemed like a good place to hide from Vic. Ella told me how much she loved my hair and asked me to dye hers the same color. She liked my work and hired me on the spot.”
Beth squeezed her eyelids shut. “Vic, or someone who works for him, must have followed me into town, I parked my tiny house at the state park. Then I took an Uber to the salon to visit Caroline. Ella insisted on giving me a pedicure.” A sad smile pulled Beth’s lips. “Caroline and Ella looked a lot alike. They were the same age with identical hair color.” Beth’s voice trailed off, her eyes glazing over. “We’d missed Vic’s
first deadline. He was sending me a message by killing my sister. Only he got the wrong person.”
“Oh my stars.” I breathed in and held my breath. It was a case of mistaken identity.
Beth wrapped her arm around her sister’s fragile body. “Caroline’s been in hiding ever since. She doesn’t live in Ohio. I only told you that in case Vic or one of his thugs figured out I was here and started asking questions. I snuck out to meet Caroline a week or so ago when I told you I was getting my hair cut. She took my gun for protection. She wasn’t supposed to come back here.”
Caroline tossed her head back. “I was worried about you after they found Amanda’s body.”
I balled my fingers together, my head aching with a flood of realizations. “Are you a travel writer? Ethan called the magazine and…” I let my voice trail off. I needed to know which parts of Beth were real.
Beth’s eyes stuck on something behind me. “I’m a writer. Only I haven’t been commissioned by American Traveler. I’m writing freelance pieces and trying to sell them as I go.” She glanced at the ceiling, then looked at me. “I’m sorry I lied. I didn’t want you to think I didn’t have a real job, or wondering where I was going every day.” Beth sniffed and pointed in the direction of the garage apartment. “When Joe moved into the apartment, I was really worried. I thought he might be connected to Vic. You know, helping him out. So, I followed him when he’d leave in the middle of the night.”
“Where did he go?” I asked.
“The Laundromat. Every time. It’s open twenty-four hours.”
My breath rushed from my lungs. “Did Vic kill Amanda too?”
Beth wiped the wetness from her eyes. “Yeah. He did. The night I met Amanda at The Castaways, I knew right away that something was wrong. She looked horrible, like she hadn’t slept. She told me she was worried her former boyfriend had been involved in some kind of illegal business. I was so stunned by her words, I couldn’t speak.” Beth blinked several times, composing herself. “Amanda said a sleazy guy had shown up at her apartment the day before demanding money and threatening her family. She’d withdrawn money from her bank account and sold a few pieces of jewelry, but it wasn’t enough. I knew it was Vic. My plan had gone totally sideways. He’d found Amanda because of me.” Beth squeezed her eyelids closed and shook her head. “I was worried for Amanda’s safety, so I came clean with her right then. I told her who I really was and what I was doing—that I thought she might have the money I needed to pay Vic, but obviously I’d been wrong. I begged her not to mess around with Vic and to leave town, but she said she wouldn’t. She threatened to go to the police. I told her not to do that. I warned her it would be a death sentence. That’s why she was angry and stormed off. She thought I was tricking her or was out for revenge, but it wasn’t true. I was only trying to warn her. I realized she was another one of Jason’s victims. He used her and threw her away just like he did everyone else in his life.” Beth shook her head. “But my warning came too late.”
I hugged my fragile arms around myself. “Oh dear.”
Beth blinked away tears. “I know it sounds terrible, but when I first met Amanda, I wasn’t sure I wanted to help her, especially after Ella was murdered. A part of me thought the woman who ruined my life deserved to have karma catch up with her.” Beth grimaced and pointed to the booties that lay on the floor between us. “Those were for my baby. I lost him when he was only nineteen weeks along. A car accident.”
“Oh, Beth. I’m so sorry.” My eyes flicked toward the church program on the floor. I wanted to stand up and hug her, but an invisible wall separated us.
“I’d been following them—Jason and Amanda—when it happened. I didn’t have time to put on my seat belt. It’s their fault my baby’s dead.”
“Ah.”
“So, maybe you can understand why I hid my identity, why I didn’t rush to warn her. Meeting her in person tore open so many old wounds.” Beth stared beyond me in a daze, then shifted her eyes to her fidgeting hands before speaking again. “Once I got to know Amanda, I actually kind of liked her. Isn’t that funny?” Beth pressed her lips together.
I swallowed against my scratchy throat, once again not sure of an appropriate response.
Beth pressed her palms to her eyelids, then lowered her hands. “When Amanda disappeared after our dinner at The Castaways, I assumed the worst. Still, I hoped she’d outsmarted Vic and skipped town or gone into hiding like Caroline. I hoped Vic realized he’d killed the wrong person with Ella and got spooked by the police presence. I hoped he’d finally moved on.” The watery sheen of Beth’s eyes reflected in the light. “But, of course, I was wrong.”
“This is all so unbelievable.” I rubbed my eyes, more questions flooding my mind. “Why did you go back to The Castaways with Ethan the other night?”
“Because I was desperate to find Amanda. I knew it was a long shot, but I texted her and begged her to meet me back at the restaurant if she was okay and still in the area. I told her to wear a disguise. Texting her was risky. I was scared Vic might have her phone, that he would come for me instead. I thought I’d be safe as long as I was in a public place with Ethan.”
“I see.”
“I’m sorry I put Ethan at risk. I wasn’t thinking straight. Anyway, Vic never showed. He must have ditched Amanda’s phone along with her body.”
I swallowed.
“After Ethan and I left the restaurant, I made a quick stop at the gas station, then headed over to Amanda’s new apartment to look for any sign of her or talk to her neighbors. Of course, she wasn’t there. No one had seen her.” Beth stared at the floor and shook her head. “I spent hours driving around town looking for her.”
I exhaled. Beth hadn’t returned home until after midnight on Thursday because she’d been searching for Amanda, not disposing of her body.
Beth continued, “I finally went home, hoping Amanda was hiding several cities away. I didn’t even know for sure if Vic was still in the area.” Tears streamed down Beth’s cheeks and her lower lip quivered. “But then I saw him the next day when I was with you at the coffee shop.”
My mouth gaped open as I remembered Beth’s strange behavior, her urgent need to leave after we’d just barely gotten our drinks.
“I should have confronted him then, but you were with me and I didn’t have his money. I panicked. By the next day, Amanda still hadn’t answered any of my texts. Then I read online that she’d been murdered.” Beth’s voice was shaky. “I knew Vic was responsible.”
“Have you talked to him?” I asked, thinking of the man she’d visited earlier.
Beth nodded. “I’ve spent days calling every hotel, motel, and vacation rental service in the area. I’ve even driven to their offices and described him to the people at the front desks. I finally traced him to a rental at the Waterside Condos. That’s where I went tonight.”
Caroline jutted out her chin. “You shouldn’t have gone. You’re lucky he didn’t kill you.”
My eyes darted away from Beth, trying to hide my guilt from having followed her.
Beth narrowed her eyes toward her sister. “I didn’t have a choice, Caroline.” She massaged her forehead and released a breath. “Vic repeated what Amanda had told me, that she emptied her bank account and sold her jewelry. She paid him $10,000, but it wasn’t enough. He killed her after she threatened to go to the police. I have three more days to pay $200,000.” Beth swallowed, letting out a high-pitched squeak. “He said he made an example out of Amanda.”
My gut twisted like a wet dishrag: $200,000? How could Beth possibly find that kind of money in three days? A jolt of adrenaline raised me from my seated position on the floor. “Let’s turn him in. We need to call the police.”
“No, Gloria!” The color disappeared from Beth’s face as she squared her shoulders at me. “Vic knows too much. He’s involved in bad stuff. Illegal gambling. Money laundering. I think he’s even connected to the mafia. He’ll do anything to stop the police from investigating. He threatened to pi
n Jason’s death on me if I even thought about contacting anyone. And he’ll tell them I was involved in the Ponzi scheme.”
“But you didn’t know about his scheme. And Jason died in an accident.” I dug my heels into the floor, trying to make sense of dire information.
“The thing is…” The words were lodged in Beth’s throat. She took a moment and massaged her temples with her fingers. “I was there when Vic threw Jason over the back of the yacht.” The look in Beth’s eyes shifted to sheer panic. “I was so scared and shocked, I didn’t yell out for help. It was just after I’d discovered Jason’s affair and lost my baby.”
“Oh, my.” I couldn’t stop my mouth from hanging open.
“And most of the money Jason stole from his investors was deposited into our personal account. I didn’t know where it came from, but maybe I should have. I was a member of his company, on paper at least.” Beth’s features appeared sunken. “After he died, I created fraudulent accounting statements to cover up Jason’s crime. What I did was illegal. I don’t want to go to prison, Gloria.”
Beth was in a horrible predicament. My insides wrestled with competing emotions: shame, for suspecting Beth of being a murderer; sadness, for the loss of her baby; anger, at her selfish husband; grief, for the families of Ella and Amanda. Most of all though, my insides trembled with fear, the fear of Vic Callis and the depths he would plunge to collect his money. It was only logical that Beth would be his next victim.
Thirty-Three
Gloria
Now
The light from my nightstand cast a curved shadow across the bed, and my shoulders pressed into the pillow propped behind me. It was 2 a.m., but sleep wasn’t a possibility. Every chirp of a cricket and groan of the decrepit house caused me to tilt forward, my senses hyper-alert, my blood pumping faster. Rascal was curled at my feet, and The Thirty-Day Life Coach workbook lay open in my lap. I sighed and pushed the book away, giving up on completing any exercises. I imagined my current situation was way beyond anything anticipated by the author of the self-help tutorial.