[Indigo Brothers 01.0] Indigo Fire

by Vickie McKeehan

  More recently, Tanner had gone toe to toe with Royce over the island’s future development. Royce fought Tanner for control of the town council because he desperately wanted to get the go-ahead to build a proposed golf course, and ultimately a lavish resort. Naturally, Tanner was vehemently opposed to the idea.

  The disputes kept ramping up because neither man liked the other very much. They had little in common. A hundred years hadn’t done a thing to soothe ill will.

  That’s why no one could believe it when Olivia Indigo started dating Walker Buchanan in her senior year of high school. Tanner had objected to the relationship from the start, which probably was the reason Olivia dug in her heels to keep the bond going.

  By the time things began to trend toward serious, Tanner had lost the upper hand. Turns out, it was the one thing he and Royce could finally agree on in the forty-five years they’d known each other. Neither father wanted the other for an in-law.

  But the marriage forced them to find neutral ground, especially after the grandkids came along. The two men did their best to mellow somewhat during family functions like barbecues and picnics. It wasn’t enough to forge a true congenial relationship. They put up with each other, mostly by steering clear of the other.

  That tendency to butt heads was the basis for Jackson’s uncertainty as he veered his father’s beat-up truck along the route to what looked like a dated, antebellum plantation. On either side of the driveway a succession of fragrant magnolias lined the pathway up to the front door, their branches swaying in the scant evening breeze.

  “Wow,” Tessa said, a bit in awe. “Did we just go back in a time machine to the Civil War? This house looks straight out of a scene from Gone With the Wind. I’m expecting Scarlett O’Hara to pop out the front door any minute now.”

  Jackson gave her a lopsided grin. “No Southern belles here despite the setting. Royce’s wife, Carla, succumbed five years ago to brain cancer. It was an awful time, a long-drawn-out sickness that threw Royce into serious depression and Walker into…” His voice trailed off before he decided how best to describe Walker’s mindset. “Some kind of funk.”

  Tessa tilted her head. “Are you aware that’s the first time you’ve said anything halfway decent about Walker?”

  “That’s probably true. He’s not a bad guy, just…not my type of person to be around. He’s always been a little too self-absorbed to hang out and have a beer.”

  “Ah. So what kind of funk?”

  Jackson scratched the stubble on his chin. “After his mother died, Walker became more detached from the kids. At the time, he worked for Buchanan Industries, a position he’d had since dropping out of Florida Tech. Livvy said he stopped going to work at all for a while. And when he did go back full-time, there were nights Walker didn’t come home. It was almost as if he avoided being there. There’s no doubt he experienced some type of an early mid-life crisis, a binge of wild spending mixed with erratic behavior. I’m not sure it ever got any better.”

  “But you didn’t mention any of this to your parents tonight.”

  “They already know. Livvy couldn’t keep that a secret. It was so evident at the time. Besides, Livvy and Mom have always been pretty close and she did live a few streets away. I was made aware of the situation because Livvy reached out to me through emails. I think because she needed a man’s take on the situation. Keep in mind this is when the kids were very small and Walker had just lost his mother. Livvy and I talked at length about it. In the end, we brushed it off as going through a weird grief process. Then to top it off Walker lost his older sister in a car accident. Winifred. But everyone called her Winnie. She died before Thanksgiving last year.”

  In the warm night, Tessa rubbed her arms as chill bumps began to form. A look of horror crossed her face. “My God, I’m beginning to get a sense that Ryan did business with the wrong client.”

  Jackson reacted by sending her a strange look. “Why do you say that?”

  “You’re kidding? Think about it. This Buchanan family loses a daughter last year and now a son goes missing under mysterious circumstances, both incidents happening within less than a year of each other. How could you not see the eerie chain as anything but suspicious?”

  “But Winnie’s death was an accident. She ran her car off the road, sent it flying into a ditch on the way home from celebrating with friends at a bar in Key West. She’d been drinking heavily all evening.”

  “Doesn’t matter. That’s an incredible coincidence.”

  “A coincidence? That’s the same word Sinclair used to describe Ryan’s disappearance bunched with Livvy’s.” Jackson chewed his lip. “If you’re right, then there’s something else at play here, something that drew Livvy and the kids into harm’s way.”

  “And dragged Ryan into it after he got here. Which brings up the question, are you sure you want to go in there and get in this guy’s face right now?”

  “Not really. But I need to find out what he knows about Walker’s money troubles and feel him out about how bad the situation was.”

  Before Jackson could open the driver’s door to get out, Tessa reached into her purse and pulled out a photo of her brother. She handed it off to Jackson. “Do me a favor, ask him if he saw Ryan?”

  Jackson took the picture and studied the image. A measure of understanding moved through him. He instinctively reached out and touched her silky mane, wrapped a few strands around his fingers. “Your brother doesn’t have the same hair coloring as you do.”

  “Ryan lucked out. He got the russet version. I got the awful copper.”

  Jackson ran a finger down her cheek. “Try to understand that I’d take you in there with me if I could, but it would just complicate things.”

  “Go. Get your questions answered. If Buchanan is as difficult a person to deal with as you say, then I’m happy to wait right here.”

  As Jackson approached the front door and rang the bell, he realized things had changed quite a bit since his sister had married into this family. For one, while Livvy had been concentrating on taking care of two little kids, Walker had come unraveled after Carla Buchanan’s death. By the time Livvy thought he’d recovered, and the situation had righted itself, Winnie had died in the car accident. Had her death left Walker in another funk that he couldn’t shake? Had it evolved into a deeper and more complicated psychosis that brought him to a darker side, a side that had him doing harm to his wife and kids?

  A housekeeper ushered Jackson into the library where he found Royce Buchanan sitting in front of a roaring fire. The man had always been eccentric but given the fact that the outside temperature still hung in at a warm seventy-five, Jackson figured Royce had found a new outlet for odd. The thermostat had to have been lowered to a chilly sixty-five degrees just to keep the room and anyone in it from melting in the otherwise heat of the September evening.

  Jackson stared at the wealthiest man in the county, who sported a thatch of silver hair, a year-round golf tan, and a usual arrogant demeanor. But tonight, Royce looked broken.

  Even though it wasn’t that late, Royce had on a pair of blue silk pajamas and fuzzy slippers. The overstuffed chair seemed to gobble up his body, a body that had grown frail since Jackson had seen him in town last spring. Was the man in ill health?

  “Thanks for seeing me,” Jackson began. “I wasn’t sure you would.”

  Royce’s eyes were glassy and showed he’d downed more than one glass of the Scotch he held in his hand. “Has there been any word? Did you hear anything? Are you here with news? Have they found my boy yet?”

  “I’m afraid not. We’re as much in the dark as you are.”

  Jackson watched as Royce ran a shaky hand over his forehead. “Where could they have gone? Why would they take off like this?”

  Either Royce had become an excellent actor or the man was truly mystified by his only son’s disappearance. Jackson shifted his feet. What he had to ask wouldn’t be easy. The longer he drew out this labored conversation, the harder it would get. So he
decided to take the blunt route.

  “There are some rumors floating around town that Walker had major money problems. Would that have been enough for him to take his own life? Would he have been in such a desperate state of mind that he would do away with himself and his wife and children? You need to be straight with me now and tell me if we might be looking at a murder-suicide.”

  Royce’s mouth fell open at the suggestion. “The idea is ludicrous. Did that bullshit come from Sinclair? He’s full of crap. Walker would never do such a thing. I’m appalled that you would even suggest it. And my son knew he could come to me any time if he had financial woes.”

  “Look, I’m sorry. But from where I’m standing we have to cover all the bases, otherwise we’re out of the loop and playing a desperate game of catch up. So is there any reason Walker might’ve fled the country?”

  “Don’t be absurd. You’re talking crazy. It has to be a kidnapping. That’s the only thing that makes any sense. I’ve been sitting here waiting all this time by the phone expecting a ransom demand. I put my staff on full alert at the office to make me aware of anything they see or hear out of the ordinary there.”

  “Okay. So you’d tell us, wouldn’t you, if that were to happen? If someone contacts you wanting money, you would share that information with us, right?”

  “Of course, your family would surely want to contribute their fair share to the ransom, if there is one.”

  Jackson’s eyes narrowed, he bristled at the old man’s callousness. “The Indigos may not have the wealth you Buchanans are used to, but I guarantee if there’s a ransom demand we’ll come up with our part of it. You know, Royce, those grandkids belong to you as much as they do to us. You haven’t said a word about Blake and Ally.”

  “I’m aware of that,” Royce snapped. “Do you plan to tell me who it is that’s been saying those awful things about my son’s money problems?”

  Not wanting to tip his hand, Jackson shrugged. “They’re just rumors. You know how people talk in small towns. Besides, in the grand scheme of things rumors are relatively insignificant at this point.”

  “Jealous, petty people must be dealt with no matter how insignificant they seem. Some people in this town have always been envious of my son and all that he’s accomplished.”

  Jackson wasn’t certain he could list Walker’s accomplishments in detail, other than a smartass disposition and a belief that he’d been born to an entitled birthright. But he kept his mouth shut and went along with the old man’s point of view for now. “That’s just it, can you think of a reason Walker would take his family and disappear like this? You know how much Livvy loved Walker. Taking off out of the blue like this doesn’t wash. She wouldn’t do that to us. Could they be running from something or someone? That might be a turning point for her.”

  Royce cast his eyes downward refusing to meet Jackson’s eyes. The old man shook his head. “Not that I’m aware of.”

  Jackson took that moment to reach into his shirt pocket and pull out Ryan’s photograph, held it out for Royce to study. “Have you seen this man with Walker, say about three weeks ago?”

  Royce took the picture and held it under the lamp sitting next to him on the table. “I’m pretty sure that’s the man Walker went fishing with over Labor Day weekend.”

  “Did you meet him?”

  “No. Walker owed him five grand for work on the store’s website so I wrote the man a check in that amount and Walker was supposed to deliver it to him. Why? What’s this man got to do with any of this? Did he do something to my son?”

  “Ryan Connelly’s gone missing, too. He never made it back to North Carolina. His sister’s down here now looking for him, has been since Monday. She hasn’t even been able to locate his car.”

  “That is odd.”

  “Yeah. There’s a lot of that going around. Tell me something. Did the check ever clear the bank?”

  “I think so.”

  “Could you check and get back to me?”

  “Sure. Is it that important?”

  “Yes. We need to make sure Ryan cashed Walker’s check. If he did, it would tell us that he might’ve been robbed before he could leave town.”

  “Yes, I see. Okay, I’ll have someone look into it first thing Monday morning and get back to you.”

  “Appreciate it. If there’s anything else you can think of, let me know.” Jackson turned to leave and then stopped. “And Royce, remember, you don’t have to be in this big old house by yourself. You can always pick up the phone and let one of us know that you want company.”

  In the firelight, Royce’s eyes flickered with the depths of sadness. “I’ll keep that in mind. God wouldn’t do this to me again, would he? Surely he couldn’t take my son from me after losing Winnie and Carla so close together.”

  With no answers to give the old man, Jackson let himself out the front door and left Royce still muttering to himself.

  “So, how’d it go in there?” Tessa asked as soon as Jackson got back to the car.

  “Weird. Which isn’t all that unusual. I get the feeling Royce is stonewalling me in some way. Not a surprise, but still…the thing is, I can’t figure out why, when we both want the same thing. Why would he not fully disclose the truth?”

  “What is it with your family and the Buchanans?”

  “How much time do you have?”

  “Apparently, the rest of the night.”

  “Okay, here goes. For starters, local rich boy, Walker, marries way beneath him, or so he believes. He hooks up with my sister back in high school. From the start, he treats her like she’s less, no matter what she does or how hard she tries to please him. And for some reason, she just keeps putting up with the treatment. That’s something my dad picked up on and resents to this day. Going back to high school, Livvy was the popular one. Everyone liked her. Walker, on the other hand, had problems making friends. At some point, he makes a play for Livvy, the cheerleader. She ends up falling for his so-called charm and here we are.”

  “But the town’s named after your family. Surely that means something.”

  Jackson turned over the engine in his dad’s truck and started down the long driveway. “That’s because we were here first by several centuries. It was Koda Indigo who jumped off a pirate ship one night in the middle of a mutiny—a little misunderstanding over a woman—and swam ashore with his so-called captive, not too far from this very spot.”

  “Well that certainly demands a whole lot more detail,” Tessa prompted.

  “According to legend, he and his crew had snatched a woman from a rival, kidnapped a countess by the name of Marissa DeVaga Querida. The plan was to ransom her to the highest bidder once they got to Jamaica.”

  “I don’t think I like your ancestor very much,” Tessa noted.

  Jackson chuckled. “Different era, different agenda. Somewhere during the plan, Koda decided he’d fallen for Marissa so he decided to keep her in lieu of going through with the plan. Apparently that decision didn’t go over too well with his band of brothers. His shipmates turned on him. An uprising ensued. During the skirmish someone took a sword to the gut. That’s when Koda grabbed the lady’s hand and they both jumped ship into the water, started swimming like mad for shore. Eventually, he and the countess washed up here on the island, hid out and took refuge. Before anyone knew what was happening, Koda and Marissa ended up having eight kids.”

  Tessa rolled her eyes. “You totally made that up.”

  “Nope, I just repeated the legend. Hey, you had dinner with my family tonight.” He pointed to the mansion over his shoulder. “We’re more the shotgun-style house type where the help lives. Buchanans are the plantation-owning moguls. Other than the countess we have no ties to royalty. Add to that, our lineage has been watered down quite a bit since then. So the fact that the town’s named for Koda Indigo doesn’t really mean all that much when you’re dealing with money-hungry land grabbers like the Buchanans.”

  Jackson turned the truck toward Quay Avenue and to
where Tessa’s car was still parked. “By the way, Royce admitted he wrote the check that Walker was supposed to deliver to Ryan. One way or another I intend to find out if the check was ever cashed and who cashed it. I’m not waiting for Royce to get around to looking into the matter.”

  “How do you plan to do that?”

  “I know someone who works at the bank in an executive capacity.”

  “That sounds very close to being illegal.”

  His lips curved into a wide grin. “It is, sort of, like hacking into someone’s private email account. But I figure you won’t tell on me since priority one is gaining information anywhere we can get it.”

  “Please tell me you’ll do that first thing Monday morning.”

  “I won’t even wait that long. I’ll make the call tonight and see if my old friend, Nathan, can take a peek at Royce’s account tomorrow morning.”

  “A Sunday? I’m impressed. So what’s the next step?”

  He took his eyes off the road long enough to send her a curious look. “Aren’t you ready to crash? It’s been a long day for me. I’m sure you’re as exhausted as I am.”

  She scrubbed both hands over her face. “I am tired. This emotional rollercoaster is taking its toll. I’m not even sure how long I’ll be able to stay here and keep this up.”

  Jackson felt a streak of panic in his gut at the thought of her leaving. He wasn’t sure why. “How much time were you able to take off?”

  “Technically, none, because I blog for a living, remember? So far I’ve been able to keep up my posts long distance from my hotel room, piece of cake technically. But to tell you the truth I’m completely out of anything creative to write about.” She didn’t see the point of mentioning that she was almost out of money as well.

  “I mean, normally I’d be able to come up with interesting ways to repurpose that castoff chest of drawers found in a back alleyway, or give an outdoor space a cheap mini makeover. But with Ryan missing, all that seems so trivial, so unimportant.”