“We thought that at first,” I said. “But now we think he might have had a partner who killed him.”
Kevin’s breath hitched, but he tried to cover it with a shrug. “Why would a partner kill him?”
Now I shrugged, deciding not to give him all my information. “I don’t know. Unless he wanted the money all for himself. There was at least five million dollars tied up in that list.”
He was thinking it was more like ten million, but that was before the deal. “I suppose that’s a good reason for someone to kill him. So you think this partner has the list?” He knew the list had disappeared, and he thought that one of the inmates had taken it. They could have killed Lincoln for the list. Had we checked that angle?
“Did you check out his workers?” he asked. “Maybe one of them wanted the list for themselves and killed him over it?”
“Yeah, we thought of that too, but they all had alibies.” I caught his gaze to get his reaction before I told him the best part. “But questioning them led us to a breakthrough.”
“What’s that?”
“We found the list.”
“Oh… that’s good. That could be a big help.” Relief washed over him to hear that. It got him off the hook with the investors, and he might be able to get the list back at some point down the road.
“That’s what we thought.”
“Well, sorry I don’t know more.” He stood, grateful he’d covered his tracks, and that nothing could lead the police to him. But he wondered who had killed Lincoln if it wasn’t one of the inmates. Of the investors, he didn’t think it was Manetto, so of the other two, he figured it had to be Harper, especially after the deal.
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask who Harper was, but this was not the right time, or the right place. I needed to wait until I knew more, and I didn’t want to tip him off.
I let out my breath and stood. “Thanks for your time. If you think of anything else that will help me, please give me a call.” I handed him my card.
“Sure,” he said, taking my card with a smile. “I hope you find out who killed him.”
“Yeah, me too,” I agreed, then hurried out the door.
Chapter 9
All the way home, I tried not to let my thoughts distract me from driving, so I wouldn’t get in an accident and kill myself. But it was hard since my mind was going a mile a minute over everything I’d found out.
By the time I pulled into my driveway, I wasn’t any closer to figuring out what was going on. So after kicking off my shoes, along with removing my jacket and scarf, I found a legal pad and pen and decided to take them outside onto the deck swing, where I could write everything down and try and make sense of it.
It was a little damp out there, but the deck was covered. And now that the rain had stopped, the air had a nice, clean, freshness to it, which immediately calmed me. I pulled my favorite blanket around me for warmth and got comfortable.
Starting with Lincoln’s case, I noted that it looked like an investor had killed him, rather than a partner. Most likely someone named Harper, based on Kevin’s idea of a deal of some sort. It hit me that maybe my best source now could be Uncle Joey. Wouldn’t he know who the other investors were? But how was I supposed to ask him about that?
That brought me to Ethan. If he was working with Chris and also thinking he wanted to work for Kevin, the only common denominator I could see between them was Uncle Joey. So maybe I should ask Uncle Joey about Ethan, too?
I sighed and moved on to the next problem, writing down what we’d discovered today about the Russians. I wrote down Anton’s name with an arrow to the blond. And that they were the ones who’d stolen the money from Zack and killed him.
I had no idea how Ramos and Uncle Joey were going to prove that, but I’d leave it to them. A twinge of fear sent a chill over my arms to think about the photos, but they’d both promised me they’d take care of it, and I had to trust them to do it. Besides, we still had until the deadline tomorrow night, so I shouldn’t get too scared until then, right?
This whole fiasco with the Russians seemed pretty cut and dry now, except that no one knew where the real diamonds were. What we did know was that Zack had put them somewhere, and retracing his steps might lead us to them. Other than that, I had no clue.
The last thing I wrote was the names of the two children we’d found under the house I was probably never going to buy. Riley Garrett and Grant Johnson. This was the case I knew the least about, but Dimples had said he’d look over their files and check between the cases for anything that might tie them together.
Since he also wanted me to go with him to tell their families we’d found their bodies, maybe I’d pick up something from them as well. Although just thinking about that sent my stomach into knots. Hearing their anguished thoughts and feeling their pain was not going to be pleasant. And I’d have to work some magic with my shields.
Either way, if nothing panned out, I had no idea how to find the killer, and a wave of discouragement washed over me. I didn’t want to let Riley or Grant down, but without more to go on, I was afraid it might be beyond my abilities.
Was there anything else going on? Oh, yeah. Saturday night was the school play where Miguel was going to sing. Wow, something positive that I could look forward to! Plus, by then, this whole thing with the Russian mob would be settled, and I wouldn’t have to worry about them anymore.
Totally exhausted, I checked the time, finding I had an hour or so to relax until I had to pick up Savannah. Comfy and warm, I fluffed up the pillow behind me and closed my eyes.
***
“Hey mom, I’m home!” Josh called, opening the patio door.
“Huh? What time is it?” I sat up in a panic, worried that I’d missed picking up Savannah.
“The same time as it always is when I get home.”
“Oh yeah, right.” I checked my watch just to make sure, relieved to find I’d only been asleep for half an hour. “So how was your day?”
“Fine.” He was thinking he’d sure be glad when school was out for the summer. All this homework and class finals were getting to him, and he wasn’t sure he liked the pressure. But next year he had Driver’s Ed to look forward to. He couldn’t wait to drive, and now that Dad was a partner in the firm, maybe he could talk him into getting him his own car… yeah.
“But… you just turned fifteen,” I blurted.
“What? Why did you say that?” he asked, totally confused.
“Oh… no reason. It just seems like you’re growing up kind of fast.”
He shook his head, hoping I wasn’t going to get all mushy on him. He hated that. He was growing up. It was part of life. I should get used to it. He glanced at me, concerned that something was wrong. Was I in some kind of trouble again? Maybe he’d go play his video game before I could tell him to do his homework. “I’m gonna go get a snack.”
“Okay,” I said. “Then you’d better get that report done.”
He moaned and hurried inside, shaking his head. I smiled, knowing that was just what he needed to hear. Still, I was sorry he worried about me. It hit me that I put my kids through a lot, and they didn’t even know half of everything I’d been through. Now they worried about me, and I hated that. I was the one who was supposed to worry about them, not the other way around.
Of course, knowing that someone had taken photos of Josh and Savannah to threaten me brought a whole new perspective, and a sudden rush of furious anger rolled over me. Until now, I’d pushed those feelings of anger and fear into a corner where I didn’t have to face them. But now, all I wanted to do was find the bastard who’d threatened my kids and fill him full of bullet holes.
Since I didn’t know if it was Anton or Dmitry, or maybe even Yuri, I’d just shoot them all for good measure, and then I’d rip blondie’s hair out and shoot her a few times, too. I let out a pent-up breath, along with my thirst for revenge, since just thinking those violent thoughts had loosened the fear around my heart.
I even smiled,
especially since I knew that Ramos and Uncle Joey felt the same way. And they would actually do it, too. Hmm… I hoped that didn’t mean I was going off the deep end. But right now, I couldn’t bring myself to care.
That mood stayed with me while I picked up Savannah from class, and later, when she helped me get dinner ready. Chris came home soon after that, and even managed to set the table. For a high-powered attorney, it was kind of nice to see him doing something so domestic.
After dinner, Savannah wondered if we were going to our Aikido class tonight. But even after getting threats from the Russian mob, I wasn’t in the mood, knowing I needed to tell Chris about everything that was going on. I suggested we go on Saturday morning, and she was fine with that.
The kids went off to do their homework, leaving me and Chris to clean up the kitchen. Once they were out of earshot, my calm mood evaporated, replaced by sudden anxiety. All at once, I couldn’t wait to tell Chris what was going on. “Remember how we found Zack in the elevator the other day?”
He glanced at me with widened eyes. “Yeah… why? What’s happened?”
I sighed. “Well, I got a call from Uncle Joey…”
Chris groaned and shook his head. “This can’t be good…”
“Who’s Uncle Joey?” Savannah asked, startling me half to death. She’d come back into the kitchen to grab her backpack from the floor where she’d left it.
It took all my control not to swear out loud. For the past whole year, I’d been so careful not to mention his name in front of my children, and now, all of that effort was down the drain. I should have waited to talk to Chris until they’d gone to bed, like I normally did.
Savannah picked up her backpack, then turned to glance between Chris and me, wondering why it took us so long to answer. She didn’t really care who he was, but had picked up that it was someone neither of us liked much. Now from our reluctance to tell her about him, she knew something was going on that we didn’t want her to know.
“He’s… uh… your Grandpa Brent’s brother-in-law from his older sister’s first marriage. Aunt Renee divorced him a long time ago.” I used my dad’s side of the family since we didn’t get together with them as often. “So he’s not part of the family anymore. But when I knew him as a kid, he always liked that I called him Uncle Joey, so I still call him that.”
“Oh… so what’d he do?” she asked, thinking it might be something juicy, like he got arrested and wanted her dad’s help, or something like that.
“It’s nothing for you to be concerned with, Missy,” Chris said, folding his arms. “Don’t you have some homework to do?”
“Yeah, but this sounds more interesting.” She raised her brows, hoping we’d share, but Chris shook his head and pursed his lips. “All right, all right, I’m going.” She turned from us, but took her time, hoping we’d start talking while she walked away and she’d get to hear more.
“Has she always been like that?” Chris asked, thinking he couldn’t remember her eavesdropping on our conversations before, or really even caring about what we talked about.
Once I knew she couldn’t hear us, I answered. “No. But she’s been talking to her friends at school about me and how I helped the police with a terrorist plot in Paris. It’s made her popular, so that must be it.”
“I thought you told the kids not to talk about it.”
“Well, yeah, but…” I shrugged. “It’s not something I’m supposed to know, since I only picked it up from her mind. How can I tell her not to do something if there’s no way I should know she’s doing it?”
“Make something up,” he said. “Tell her you heard it through the grapevine, and she needs to knock it off.”
“But it didn’t seem that bad.” I blew out a breath. “It’s like her claim to fame, and I kind of like that she thinks I’m cool. Besides, I doubt that any of them actually believe it’s true.”
“Okay,” he said, letting out his breath and running a hand through his hair. “It’s probably not that big of a deal. So let’s get back to… she’s not still listening, is she?”
“Why don’t we go out on the deck swing? It’s a little chilly, but there’s a blanket out there and we can keep each other warm.”
He nodded, and we finished clearing up before heading out. After getting settled, I started over, telling him about Uncle Joey’s problem with the missing diamonds, Zach’s death, and the missing money.
“Whoa, that’s a mess,” he said. “I’ll bet the guy with the fake diamonds wasn’t too happy.”
“Huh… yeah, you could say that. In fact, I went with Uncle Joey and Ramos to a private club last night to talk to the guy, and find out if he was telling the truth.”
“You what?”
“Yeah… I would have told you, but you stayed late at the office last night, and I never got the chance. Anyway let me finish before you get all upset.”
Once he nodded, I continued, totally leaving out the part about Uncle Joey’s manipulation to keep him at work. No way was he ready to hear that.
I continued with the meeting, and how I’d had to pretend I was Kate and be Uncle Joey’s heir to explain my presence. “That gave the main dude, Yuri, the idea that I’d done it to double-cross Uncle Joey, but I let him know he was wrong about that.”
“Wait,” Chris interrupted. “The guy’s name is Yuri? That sounds Russian.”
I held my breath and caught Chris’ gaze. “Uh… yeah. He’s uh… part of the Russian mob.”
Some really bad curse words came from his thoughts, but I had to admire that he didn’t say one of them out loud. “And you met with these guys?” I nodded, but kept my mouth shut so he could process it all. “At least you went as Kate, so they can’t track you down. That’s good.”
I hated to burst his bubble, but what else could I do? “Well… there’s more to it, but it ended up that Uncle Joey and Yuri worked out a deal. Uncle Joey has until tomorrow night at midnight to give them their money. He’s hoping that will give him time to find out what happened to the money and also figure out what Zack did with the jewels. There’s only one catch.” I hesitated, hating to tell Chris this part.
“What?” he asked, thinking it sounded bad, and hoping I’d hurry up and tell him.
“After I got back from visiting Bella’s Bakery with Dimples earlier today, I got in my car and found a manila envelope on the front seat. Inside were pictures of Josh, Savannah, and me from this morning, but nothing else. No note or anything.”
Chris sat up straight, almost shoving me off the swing. “What the hell?”
I turned to face him and grabbed his hands. “Don’t worry, I took them straight to Uncle Joey. He and Ramos both promised they’d take care of it. They told me not to worry, and Uncle Joey said we’d be safe until after the deadline tomorrow night when they’d give the Russians the money. But they were both thinking they’d kill Yuri and his guards before they let anything happen to our kids.”
“But why did the Russians take pictures of you guys and leave them with you in the first place?”
“We think it’s because they think I double-crossed Uncle Joey as Kate and took the money from Zack. That’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“But how did they find you?”
“I think they must have followed the limo home last night. They also probably know by now that I’m not Kate, so I’m sure they’re doubting the whole “double-cross Uncle Joey” thing they thought I was doing. But both Ramos and Uncle Joey have informants in the Russian mob that they’re talking to. I even helped with interrogating one of them, and we found out that there’s a woman involved who could be the key to everything, so they should know what’s going on by tonight. At least that’s what I’m hoping.”
Chris shook his head, wondering how everything had gotten so complicated so fast. Just last week we were in Paris having the time of our lives, and this week our lives were being threatened by the Russian mob. It was a lot to take in. “Are you sure the kids are safe going to school tomorrow
?”
“Uncle Joey assured me nothing would happen to them, but I’ll call him later to make sure.”
“Yeah, maybe we’d better keep them home.”
“Well, it’s my turn to drive the carpool tomorrow, so I can make sure they get to school okay. I’ll also be picking them up, and we can always tell them tonight that they’re not to go with anyone other than you or me tomorrow, no matter what… so they’re prepared and all. They might be safer at school, with all the people around them, than here at home.”
“That’s true, but let’s call Manetto tonight before we decide what to do about tomorrow.” He’d also like to tell Manetto a few things about endangering his kids and make sure Manetto knew that nothing had better happen to them, or he’d expose him and his shady dealings to the whole world.
I shivered and hugged the blanket around me. “Let’s go inside; it’s starting to get dark, and I’m cold.”
Chris pulled me against him, offering the comfort of his warm body. “What are your plans for tomorrow?” He knew I was a target as much as our kids and, worrying, he tightened his hold around me.
“Oh… I’ll be fine. The only thing I’m doing tomorrow is helping Dimples. And since I’ll be with a cop, I should be fine.”
“What are you doing?”
I explained how we’d found the identities of the two bodies under the house, and that Dimples wanted me to go with him to tell the families. “He thinks if they’re hiding something, I’ll find out, but I’m not holding my breath. Hopefully, there will be a connection of some kind in their files and that will lead us to the killer.”
“Yeah,” Chris agreed, but he didn’t hold out much hope. “You still thinking of buying the place?”
“I don’t know. At least not until we know what happened. It doesn’t look like they were killed in the house, so that’s good. But it’s still freaky, and I don’t think I could live there now.”
Hidden Deception: A Shelby Nichols Adventure Page 17