PENITENCE: An Andi Comstock Supernatural Mystery, Book 2 (95,893 words)

by Ann Simas

  But for some reason, with Clem, his lead-in had begun to sound whiny, and Andi couldn’t abide whiners.

  “Happy birthday, Clem,” she said, hoping that would freshen his mood.

  Some birthday, being dead.

  “You know that no one’s responsible for your condition, right? Not even you.”

  I hope it’s okay with you if I have a solitary pity party here in Neverland, since I can’t have a birthday party.

  “I wouldn’t think you had time for a pity party.” She considered what to say next. “I just spoke with someone who said he knew you. Gene Kirkland. Maybe you remember him?”

  His big, dead sigh preceded his response. I guess I should quit, bellyaching, shouldn’t I? At least my kids are still alive.

  “In case you’re wondering, your wife is, too. She texted me earlier and asked me to tell you, if you showed up, that she’d wish you a happy birthday, but she’s just not feeling it right now.”

  Clem’s spirit laughed. That’s my Denise. She has spunk.

  Andi couldn’t even begin to imagine what kind of marriage the Naylors had. To each his or her own, but it didn’t sound like any kind of relationship she’d wish for herself. “She has plenty of people watching out for her.”

  I’m glad to hear it.

  “Gene said you have information you could provide to me, if you’d just look for it.”

  He always was a know-it-all.

  “He didn’t seem that way to me.” She considered her next words, debating whether or not to utter them. “Look, Clem, there’s no way your hitman is getting within shooting distance of Denise tonight, so—”

  Don’t be so sure of that.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  He’s a hitman. He shoots from wherever he gets the best shot.

  A chill ran down Andi’s spine. She envisioned the area around the Naylor’s. All the houses were on large lots with plenty of climbable trees. A sniper could perch on a branch and watch shadows through windows. By now, The Liquidator must know Denise had protection, if it was even him who showed up to do the deed.

  Andi paused a moment to regroup. She dare not go down the rocky path of what-ifs right now. “She could keep the lights off.”

  And he could use a night-vision scope.

  “You know, Clem, you’re really starting to piss me off. I thought you wanted to save Denise’s life!”

  I do.

  “Then start coming clean about what you know!”

  Instead of responding, he vanished and took his smoky essence with him.

  “Dammit!” Andi speed-dialed Jack. “Do you have people looking up into the trees at Denise’s?”

  “What brought that on?”

  “Clem. He’s such an a-hole! He just informed me snipers can shoot from trees and they have night-vision scopes if it’s dark.”

  “Simmer down, babe, we have it covered.”

  Andi felt a wave of relief. “Don’t tell me any more, in case he eavesdrops and I don’t know it. I wouldn’t want him somehow communicating with the hitman and giving away any secrets.”

  Jack was silent for a telling moment before he asked, “Are you saying you think Clem lied in the beginning and he really does want Denise dead?”

  “I don’t know.” She told him what Gene Kirkland had said in passing. “We’ve talked about this! It’s odder than crap that Clem can’t provide any more useful information than he has. For God’s sake, he helped build a multi-million dollar corporation. He didn’t do that by not paying attention to details.”

  “You have a point, but on the other hand, remember that the only clue Sherry Hemmer was able to give you about her death was that it concerned her teeth.”

  “You’re right.” A sudden thought hit Andi. It so shook her that she gasped.

  “What?”

  “Ohmygod, Jack, what if he wants Denise dead so he’ll have company in the afterlife?”

  “Well, that would fucking suck. I guess you’d better ask him straight out next time he shows up.”

  “I’m going to keep working,” she decided on the spot. “I’m not leaving here until midnight, in case he actually comes back and gives me something we can use.”

  “That’s ridiculous. Denise is safe. Whatever he has can wait until tomorrow.”

  “I’m not so sure about that.”

  He blew out an exasperated breath. “You want me to bring you something to eat?”

  “Would you? That would be terrific.” Despite her spur of the moment decision, Andi didn’t like being alone in the building late at night. She could use Jack’s company to steady her nerves.

  “Around seven?”

  “Perfect. Call me when you get here. I’ll come down and let you in.”

  . . .

  Andi actually got a lot of work down between the time she hung up talking to Jack and he arrived with takeout from a nearby ramen restaurant. He even brought a double order of potstickers. They ate in the conference room and brainstormed about possible information Clem might know that he hadn’t yet revealed.

  “The missing piece could involve money,” Jack said.

  “Why?”

  “Money is the root of all evil, or hadn’t you heard?”

  “Very funny, Jack Benny.”

  “To proceed, what are the relevant aspects of his life, and did they have financial gain for him? Something that might make someone want to take retribution on Denise.”

  Andi hadn’t considered that possibility. “His business, for one. Community involvement, for another. Fundraising. Coaching his kid’s teams. Church activities. Teaching at the community college.”

  “I talked to the organizations he belonged to. Everything is above board there. With regard to the fundraising, he spearheaded only. No direct contact with money. The guy had name recognition and a reputation for being able to get people to cough up dough.” Jack speared some chicken teriyaki with his chopsticks. “As far as the coaching went, the sponsoring agencies said they wished they had more coaches like him. Treated all the kids fairly, equal playing time for all, good morale builder. The class he taught was through adult ed, and his students were almost exclusively older adults who had money to invest. No one knew of any animosity brewing on that front, either past or present. The Registrar told me if anything underhanded had been going on with Clem outside the classroom, they would have been besieged with complaints and they never got anything but kudos on him as a teacher and an investor.”

  “More dead ends.”

  He nodded. “That leaves his business finances. That’s one place I can’t do any checking.”

  “Denise doesn’t seem to know much about those, either, except that Clem brought home a healthy paycheck every month.”

  “He could have been siphoning from the office end. When does the forensic accountant start his review?”

  “Tomorrow. The partners didn’t want to hand over the books, but Denise’s contracts attorney finagled a court order to force them.” She shook her head. “If the relationship between Clem and his partners was strained before his death, I’m betting there’s tons of animosity now.”

  Jack pointed his chopsticks at her. “The relationship between the three partners could definitely use a little scrutiny.”

  “Preston Kido, the contracts attorney, has one of his investigators digging into each of them. He thinks that even with Clem gone, it’s likely not a symbiotic partnership.”

  “No doubt he’ll uncover something, but back to Clem specifically. We should also consider extracurricular activities. Gambling, drugs, whoring around.” He picked up his soft drink, draining the cup. “I’ll feel better when I can rule out any extracurricular activities or hanky-panky.”

  “If he’d been gambling, wouldn’t Denise have noticed something with the family finances, since she took care of bill-paying and keeping their personal books?”

  “You’d think so, but nothing is certain.”

  “And if he’d been doing drugs or screwing arou
nd, she would have noticed huge chunks of cash disappearing there, too.”

  “Once again, you’re right, but I’ve seen instances where assumptions like that made an ass out of investigators. Some people have a real knack for hiding their cash so the spouse doesn’t know about it.”

  “That’s horrible. Where’s the honesty and integrity and trust? What about love? Don’t people honor their wedding vows anymore?”

  “Some do, some don’t.”

  Bummed out by how much some people sucked, Andi gathered up their used utensils and to-go containers and bagged them. “What’s that old Sherlock Holmes saying again?”

  He grinned at her. “‘When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.’”

  “By Jove, I think he’s got it.”

  Jack glanced at the wall clock. “Four more hours. Are you going to be able to stand it?”

  “I have Bunnicula to keep me company.”

  “Yeah, and some zombies.”

  “At least they’re cute.”

  He winced. “Cute zombies? If you say so.”

  Andi laughed and got up to throw their trash away. She moved over to Jack and settled onto his lap. “You could always stay and protect me.”

  “Which is exactly why I brought my laptop, zombie girl. After the welcome-home present plastered on your door the other night, there’s not a chance in hell I’m letting you go home by yourself at midnight.”

  Andi slid her arms around his neck and kissed him.

  Jack pulled her tighter, kissing her back.

  When she pulled away, she rested her forehead against his. “You gonna spend the night at my place?”

  His hand went up under her sweater and captured her breast. “What do you think?”

  Andi arched into his palm. “I think you’re the best boyfriend ever.”

  . . .

  By eleven o’clock, Andi was ready to give up on Clem. She saved her work and had her cursor poised over the SHUT DOWN icon when eau de Clem saturated the air around her.

  I did something bad, Andi, and I don’t know how to fix it.

  Andi rolled her eyes.

  I thought about what you said, Andi, and I may have come up with some things that might help save Denise.

  “Okay.”

  For one, I remembered that The Liquidator said February third wasn’t a good day for him, so she’s probably safe today.

  Why couldn’t he have remembered that sooner?

  For another, he said the other job he had this week was close by.

  “I don’t suppose he gave you any clues as to who his target might be.”

  No, but he did say it was someone I knew intimately. His pause was lengthy. The thing is, Andi, I think he was talking about…me.

  Startled, Andi jumped up out of her chair and called out to Jack, who was still in the conference room. “Don’t you dare disappear!” she warned Clem.

  Jack sprinted across the common area and into her office, settling into the only other chair in the room.

  “Why do you think you were The Liquidator’s next target?”

  I’m not sure. It probably never would have occurred to me, except for Gus and Vince making a move on Denise to buy her out so suddenly. You know they’re doing it because they think if they pounce while she’s grieving, she’ll be susceptible to their demands. Goddamned bastards will have a clear path to moving into foreign markets and acquiring new properties. I give the company two years max after that before they tank.

  “So, your theory is that Gus and Vince wanted you out of the way so they could expand the business?”

  Theory is right, and that’s all it is, because I sure as hell can’t prove it.

  “The forensic accountant is going to start looking into your company books tomorrow. Maybe he’ll find something.”

  It seemed funny to hear Clem snort, but that’s what he did before he said, You presuppose that there’s not a second set of books somewhere.

  “Do you have reason to believe there’s a second set of books?” She glanced at Jack, hoping he was able to keep up with the one-sided conversation by the way she framed her responses to Clem’s comments. She couldn’t tell if the frown on his face confirmed he was on her wave length or not.

  Shit, Andi, I don’t know! If I was as smart as you think I am, I wouldn’t have put out a contract on my wife for reasons that didn’t exist, now would I?

  Like any good spirit who liked having the last word, Clem and his quintessence disappeared.

  “Well, hell’s bells,” she muttered.

  “He’s gone?”

  “Yeah, but get this. He remembered that The Liquidator was busy on February third and couldn’t make the hit that day. Dumb ass! That should have been easy to remember.”

  Jack pushed up out of his chair and moved around the desk. He leaned against it and reached for her hand. “What made you scream for me?”

  “He says the hitman told him he had another hit close by and it was someone Clem knew. Intimately. Something in the way he said made Clem think he was the target.”

  “And I gather from your side of the conversation that Clem thinks the partners might have put a hit on him so they could do what they wanted with the business?”

  “Clem’s nuts. There’s no way in hell Gus and Vince went on a hitman website and chose the same guy Clem chose to kill Denise to kill Clem. That’s bad enough to be the plot of a B-grade movie!”

  “If it’s true,” Jack said, “it’s beyond coincidence.”

  “I don’t believe in coincidence.”

  “Neither do I, at least as it pertains to crime.”

  “If you’d been the one God selected to hear the dead speak, you wouldn’t have caveats.”

  “You have a point there, sweetheart. Did he say anything else?”

  “Nope, he told me he wasn’t as smart as I thought he was, and vanished without another word.”

  “As per usual, huh?”

  She nodded, grimacing.

  Jack brushed his finger against her cheek. “Let’s split this place and go home for some fun.”

  Andi’s girl parts tingled in anticipation. “That’s the best idea I’ve heard all day.”

  Chapter 20

  Jack’s LT was more than a little irked when he called to tell her Clem’s latest revelation about February 3 not being the day of the hit.

  Since the call was on speaker, she asked Andi, “Besides that delayed tidbit, did he happen say anything that might be relevant?”

  “He repeated that the hitman told him he had another job close by. This time, however, he said he thought he might have been the target.”

  Stacy paused for a moment. “That doesn’t seem likely.”

  “That’s what I thought,” Jack said. “This guy is all over the place.”

  “Well, shit,” the LT said with obvious irritation. “I scheduled patrols accordingly and since I don’t know what the hell to believe from Clem, I’ll leave them in place.” She disconnected without saying goodbye.

  Andi looked at Jack, who shrugged. “Only five days left until February eighth.”

  He nodded. “Let’s put work aside for the rest of the evening, okay?”

  Andi agreed. It would be easy to put off thoughts of Clem Naylor while she and Jack were making whoopee.

  . . .

  The next morning, Andi asked Denise to call Clem’s assistant and see if she could get a copy of his work calendar for the contract time period. She’d been relying on Clem to provide accurate alibi information, but he hadn’t proven himself at all reliable.

  She couldn’t believe she hadn’t considered his business calendar before. The upside was, by dishing out one red herring too many, whether intentional or not, he’d forced Andi to explore alternate routes of discovery.

  At noon, Denise emailed a PDF document that Clem’s assistant had scanned of his February calendar. On the fourth, a Rotary luncheon and BB practice in the evening. She took that to mean ba
sketball. On the fifth, Deacon dinner. Nothing on the sixth. Super Bowl party at Jim’s on the seventh. And on the eighth, lunch meeting with Front Street Properties and BB practice again in the evening.

  She dialed Denise. “Got it, but need some translation. BB is basketball?”

  “Yes, for Christian’s team.”

  “You don’t go to the Rotary lunches, do you?”

  “No.”

  “What about the deacon dinner?”

  “No, thank God. Talk about a bunch of stuffed shirts.”

  “How about the Super Bowl game. Who is Jim?”

  “Jim Hanson. He’s a childhood friend. They’ve been watching the Super Bowl together since they were kids.”

  “And you don’t go?”

  “God, no! I hate football.”

  “Do you know anything about Front Street Properties?”

  “Only that Clem was looking to sell them that old rundown shopping mall near the Interstate. They’re interested in razing it and putting up one of the new-style outdoor malls. They want to pattern it after the Woodburn Company Stores. Apparently, it’s Oregon’s number one tourist destination.” Her voice caught. “They came out for a look-see last October.”

  “Did he ever say he was having any problems with them over it?”

  “No, but then Clem usually didn’t go into the minute details of his business deals when he came home. He liked his family time and he managed to compartmentalize home and job pretty successfully. The only reason I know more about this deal is because Gus and Vince were opposed to it and I overheard him arguing with them on a conference call one Saturday afternoon when I came home from Christmas shopping.”

  “So, it was in the works for at least two months.”

  “Actually, since last summer, I think. He mentioned over Thanksgiving dinner to his dad that the deal was looking good. He said if they got the contract signed, and several big-name stores committed, they’d break ground right away and be open for business by next Christmas.”

  “That sounds pretty aggressive for such a large project. I take it that didn’t happen.”