by Lyndsey Cole
Hannah’s stomach lurched with disgust. She hated how people like Blake McVee, who had every advantage in the world, would judge someone else on their appearance instead of taking the time to look inside. “As a matter of fact, there was a lot to Dwayne that I find lacking in people that should know better.”
Blake stroked his chin and ignored the obvious rudeness, or else he was so oblivious he didn’t understand her insult. “So, Ebony and Marty are scrambling to find Dwayne’s papers on his clarification process. I couldn’t figure out what was going on and why they kept asking for more time. I came here to buy the process, but, so far, they haven’t been able to show me anything. Why would Ebony think you have them?”
“I don’t know the answer to that,” she lied. “But I have a question for you. What’s the value of owning that process? Enough for someone to murder Dwayne Dunn for his work?”
Blake raised his eyebrows. “Is that what the police think? It’s worth a lot, but is anything worth enough to take a life?”
“I’m not privy to what the police think, but I don’t think it’s much of a leap to make the assumption that someone might want Dwayne out of the way to get control of something so valuable. Are other wineries trying to buy it, too?”
“Another thoughtful question. Marty wants to offer it to as many winery owners as he can find and are willing to pay a decent price. Ebony wants to sell to the highest bidder.”
“And you? Are you one of many bidding on the clarification process?”
“Probably, but I put in a high offer, insanely high, with the condition that I get the complete rights to the process.” He grinned. “I’m not good at sharing and I always get my way.” He reached into his jacket pocket and held up a pack of cigarettes. “Mind if I smoke?”
“Actually, I do mind. My entire property is smoke free.” She cocked her head, wondering how this businessman, who was used to getting his way, would react to her statement.
Blake’s lips turned up at the edges in a smile but the emotion didn’t spread any further on his face. He shoved the pack of cigarettes back in his pocket. “Touché, Ms. Holiday. You win this time.”
“Is everything a game to you, Mr. McVee?” Hannah dropped the informality of calling him by his first name to match his response.
“I’ve enjoyed our conversation, Ms. Holiday. You continue to surprise me. And to answer your question, is life too serious to have a little fun?” He smiled, and this time the edges of his eyes wrinkled, too. “Now that you have enlightened me about the missing papers, I think I’ll have a little fun with Marty and Ebony.” He winked before he left her office.
Hannah stayed in her chair. Was she too serious all the time? Was that what this pompous man suggested?
23
Samantha rushed through the office door. Breathless. “Blake was in here for a long time and he just left in his Porsche like a bat out of you-know-where. Did he say anything about me?”
“He said you’re ‘full of fire’. I thought you drew the line with married men?” Hannah raised her eyebrows in question.
“A gal can still have a little flirty fun, can’t she? It keeps the blood flowing through my old veins.” Samantha plopped on the chair Blake had recently vacated. “What’s going on?”
“He’s up to something but I haven’t figured out what.”
Samantha rubbed her hands together. “Oh, it sounds like I might need to do a little more investigation of Mr. McVee.”
Hannah propped her elbows on her desk and recalled their conversation. Did she give him too much information about Dwayne’s papers?
“I am curious what he’s up to today. He has something planned with Marty and Ebony but I don’t know what. He knows that Dwayne’s papers are missing now, so he has the upper hand with negotiations. He may call their bluff which will make them desperate.”
“And do what?”
“Well, I did find out that Marty wants to sell the clarification process to as many winery owners as possible but Ebony wants to sell to the highest bidder, which would be Blake. Since they don’t have the papers, he might tell Ebony he’s no longer interested.” As Hannah talked through the possibilities, she talked faster and faster. “She’ll be desperate to get her hands on the papers before Dwayne’s will surfaces.”
“Dwayne had a will?” Samantha sounded incredulous.
“Yes. I found it in my cupboard but someone broke in last night and stole it.”
“Do you think it was Ebony?” Samantha’s eyes were shining. “I just love this cloak and dagger stuff.”
“Probably Ebony, although the security camera only showed that she was here last night but it didn’t show her breaking into my cottage.” Hannah shook her head. “If Blake threatens to back out of the deal, Ebony will go crazy and she’ll be back here accusing me of something.”
“Well, I have a problem,” Samantha said.
Great, Hannah thought, just what she didn’t need at the moment. Someone else’s problem to add on top of her own. “Don’t we all?”
“And I need your help,” Samantha continued, obviously focused only on herself. “I lost my bracelet.”
She must be going senile to be worrying about her bracelet when Hannah could be a top suspect in a murder. Hannah shuffled some papers around and hoped Samantha would get the message that she was busy.
“Well? Are you going to help me find my bracelet?”
Hannah rolled her eyes. “Seriously? You need help right now? What’s so important about this bracelet that can’t wait until things settle down? It’s probably under your bed or your pillow or maybe you left it on the edge of the sink and it fell behind the toilet. Have you even looked for it, Samantha?” She could hear the annoyance in her voice but, really, sometimes Samantha was just too worried about Samantha.
Samantha smiled. “Do you want an excuse to go to Marty’s house to look around and, if he’s home, you could ask him some questions about Dwayne’s papers?”
“That certainly sounds more productive than looking for a bracelet.” Hannah couldn’t understand Samantha jumping to a completely different subject, but the sooner she listened, the sooner she could get on with her own mission.
“Come on, then. I think my bracelet is stuck on the vine at Marty’s house. You know, when I shimmied down from the upstairs window? It’s a diamond bracelet from my mother and I only wear it to fancy schmancy affairs like the garden party fundraiser. It certainly isn’t behind the toilet in my cottage, but I’ll wager it’s stuck on that vine.”
Hannah stared.
“Close your mouth, Hannah. Let’s get going before the storm returns. If we’re quick, we might make it before the next downpour.”
“And I thought you had finally lost your mind.” Hannah grabbed her raincoat and followed Samantha to her car. “What’s your plan? Are you going to ask Marty if you can climb down the vine again to search for your family heirloom?” Hannah asked as Samantha navigated the slick roads to Marty’s estate.
“Nope. I plan on climbing from the ground up. If I make it to the top, I’ll snoop around in that room while you knock on the door and keep him occupied.”
“That sounds like a horrible plan. We’ll look at the vine and see if the bracelet is there, or maybe it fell to the ground. I have a feeling that Marty might be with Ebony anyway.”
Samantha pulled into the circular driveway. After the crowd from Friday night, the place was creepily deserted. And a bit eerie with the wind whipping the trees around and the gray sky looming overhead.
After a quick scan of the area, Samantha led the way to the side of the house. They searched the ground, but the perfectly manicured lawn and garden didn’t even have one blade of grass out of order. Samantha shook the vine. Hannah took several steps backwards to get a better view.
“I’m going up,” Samantha declared.
Hannah chewed on her thumbnail. This was crazier than crazy in her mind, but there was no stopping Samantha when she got an idea into her head.
; Samantha inched up. She dangled from one hand and dropped back to the ground. “It’s much harder going up than going down. I don’t have the strength in my arms anymore.” She kept staring up until she jumped and pointed. “I see it. About half way up.” She shook the vine again.
The bracelet swung back and forth but it had no intention of falling into Samantha’s hands.
“What’ll we do now?” she whined. “It’s all I have left from my mother.” Her arms fell to her sides in defeat.
Hannah backed up a few more steps. She stepped on something that didn’t feel at all like grass. It felt distinctly like the tip of someone’s shoe.
She froze. Her heart raced and she held her breath. It was too late to make a dash back to Samantha’s car for a getaway.
“What are you two doing here? Planning to break in by climbing up that vine?”
Hannah’s mouth opened to reply to Marty Dunn but Samantha jumped right in with a sob story about her lost diamond bracelet.
Marty listened with his arms folded over his chest. “That sounds like the biggest crock of rotten fish I ever heard. How, on earth, would your bracelet get half way up the vine? Does it possess some sort of magic ability to fly?” he sneered.
“Well, that is an interesting story.” Samantha folded her arms to match Marty’s stance and she cocked her head, challenging him to ask to hear the story.
He bit on her statement. “Let’s go inside and get out of this awful weather if you’re planning to drag out your excuse. I’ll give you five minutes before I decide whether or not to call the police about you two trespassing on my property.”
Marty led the way with Hannah and Samantha trying to whisper a strategy to each other. All Hannah heard, or thought she heard, Samantha say was, don’t worry, before the wind blew the rest of her words away.
Don’t worry? Worry was all she could do at the moment. Trespassing, and they could be following a murderer right into a trap. The only positive was that there were two of them and only one of Marty.
Two against one was better than nothing.
Once inside, with the gloom shut out by the big oak door, Hannah relaxed slightly and checked her surroundings for possible escape routes. Samantha jabbered away, acting cool, calm, and collected as if she was enjoying a house tour instead of the looming threat of an arrest.
Or worse.
Marty offered them seats in an elegant paneled room with a crackling fire. A tray with a teapot, three china cups, sugar in a bowl with silver tongs, and a matching creamer, waited on a side table. “Help yourselves.”
Was Marty expecting company? Or were they the company? Hannah wondered.
As Samantha explained about her bracelet, adding plenty of side stories about her dear mother and, of course, she included how she accidentally got locked inside the room upstairs while searching for a bathroom, Marty poured them tea and listened politely.
“I have to give you credit, Ms. Featherstone, that’s about the most elaborate excuse I’ve ever heard, and I’ll consider getting the bracelet for you and not calling the police if you tell me the truth about your visit here today.” Marty crossed his legs, sipped his tea, and waited.
Hannah set her cup down on its saucer before her shaky hands caused an accidental spill. “I want to know what your plans are to sell Dwayne’s clarification process to Blake McVee.”
Marty choked on his sip of tea and he did spill on his leather couch. Better Marty than Hannah. “What do you know about Dwayne’s work?” he asked once he’d recovered his composure.
“I have the papers.” Hannah settled back on her spot facing Marty, crossed her legs, and kept her eyes on his. She hoped he couldn’t sense her bluff, since the police had Dwayne’s papers at the moment, or her fear of laying her cards on the table and not knowing what he would do.
But they were already trapped in his house, and maybe the shock of her statement would buy them some time to figure out their next move.
Marty grinned. “Ebony was right all along. I told her she was a fool to think you would have Dwayne’s papers. How did you get them?”
“First, tell me your plans.” Hannah was beginning to enjoy this cat and mouse game.
“I want to offer his clarification process to all winery owners. Ebony and I disagree on that.”
“Right, she wants to sell to the highest bidder. Why?”
“I don’t know how you get your information, but I’m impressed. Ebony was afraid that once the divorce from Dwayne was final, she’d be out of any chance to benefit from the money generated from his work.”
“Did she kill him?”
Marty turned his head and sighed. He stared at the fire. “Ebony had a lot to lose. She accused me of cutting her out of the business, but that’s what Dwayne wanted. He planned to give her the house and all their bank accounts but that wasn’t enough.”
“And how about you, Marty? Didn’t you want to control everything?”
Marty laughed. “I already control everything. Dwayne did the research and I managed the marketing of his work. You may not want to believe this, but we worked very well together. He got everything he wanted. Which wasn’t much once Ebony was done with him.”
“Let me see if I have this right. Ebony would benefit with Dwayne dead because everything would go to her as his wife, and you would benefit with him alive so he could continue his research.”
Marty nodded. “Exactly. But Ebony would only benefit from Dwayne’s death if he didn’t have a will.”
“Did he have one?”
“Yes.”
That was not the answer Hannah expected.
Was Marty referring to the same will that Hannah found or was there a different version? And who stole the will from Hannah’s cupboard?
24
“Wow that was exciting. I thought I was going to wet myself when Marty showed up outside,” Samantha said as she pulled out of Marty Dunn’s driveway with her bracelet firmly attached to her wrist. “And you thought I lost my mind when I told you I had a problem, didn’t you?”
“Of course not,” Hannah lied.
“Do you believe what he told us about how he only benefits if Dwayne was still alive?”
“It makes sense. But it still doesn’t explain why Dwayne left all the final papers with Great Aunt Caroline for safe keeping. If he was completely happy with how Marty managed his work, why would he hide something so valuable?”
“We may never know the answer to that question. Where to next?” Samantha asked with way more enthusiasm for this hunting-down-information stuff than Hannah was feeling. “How about Blake’s boat? See if he managed to scare Ebony into confessing to Dwayne’s murder?”
Hannah watched the trees and houses through the car window. With such dismal weather, the snack bar wouldn’t be busy so maybe they should head to Blake’s boat and see if he had any new information about the business negotiation with the clarification process papers. She knew Blake wasn’t at Marty’s house when they were there, so he could either be at his boat or he might have gone to Ebony’s.
“Okay. Go to the marina,” she agreed.
Samantha parked next to Blake’s black Porsche. Finding his car was a good sign that they’d find him on his boat.
“I bet he hates having to leave his car out in the rain,” Hannah said as they climbed out of Samantha’s little blue Mini Cooper.
“This is probably his older model and he keeps the good car in the garage at his winery,” Samantha joked. “Next to his private plane.”
As they walked down the dock, Hannah heard someone call her name.
“Hannah, just who I want to talk to.” Cal poked his head from the cabin of his boat and motioned for her to hop on board. “I couldn’t find you so I came home for a bite to eat. Hungry?”
The aroma of grilled cheese sandwiches hit Hannah’s nose and reminded her that food would be a welcome addition to her stomach. And Cal made the best grilled cheese—super crispy bread, lots of sharp cheddar cheese topped with a corn and
black bean spicy salsa. “Do you have enough?”
“Sure. Come on in. I’m just getting started, anyway, so it’ll only take a minute to get two more ready to throw on my pan. Sit down and make yourselves comfortable.”
Hannah slid onto the red bench seat that surrounded his table in the small but very cozy cabin. Cal hummed to himself as he buttered the bread. She wondered why he was so cheerful after the last few days when he could barely manage a smile.
Then she saw something that made the hairs on her arm stand up. When Cal turned around to say something, their eyes met and he knew that she knew.
“What’s going on, Cal? Why do you have the metal box with Dwayne’s Last Will & Testament?” Her voice came out low. She was spitting-nails furious. She trusted Cal and he was the one who broke into her cottage?
“I can explain.” He flipped the grilled cheese before he turned around to give Hannah his full attention. “I didn’t think it was safe in your cottage so I brought it here. Who would look in my boat?”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” She forced her voice to stay even, although all she wanted to do was scream at him.
“Once you decided to call the police, I thought it would be better if you didn’t know the truth since you aren’t the best liar. Let Pam assume it was Ebony or Marty or whoever they wanted, but at least the focus was off you.”
Samantha patted Hannah’s hand. “He’s right. It was a smart move. But what about the will that Marty mentioned? Could there be two different versions?”
Hannah jerked her hand away. “Since when do the two of you know what’s best for me?” She grabbed the metal box and ignored Samantha’s question.
“There are two wills?” Cal asked, but Hannah was already out the door with one foot in the air as she leaped off his boat onto the dock.
She would let the two of them eat their grilled cheese sandwiches and talk about what was best for her. She didn’t want any part of it. She was tired of other people thinking they could make better decisions for her than she would.