Sweet Taste of Revenge

by Mary Ellis

  Marti shrugged. ‘You merely confirmed what I figured out. But I had kept quiet about it. I told no one in the club that Agnes Westin was nothing but a drunk.’

  With swift precision from hours of yoga and Pilates, Lainey lifted her hand and smacked Marti Collier across the face. Before the two women could fully engage like cage combatants, Julian Buckley emerged from the doorway.

  ‘All right, that’s enough,’ shouted the detective, pulling them apart.

  ‘Who are you?’ asked Marti, her hands balled into fists.

  ‘Detective Buckley from Homicide.’

  ‘Homicide? What are you doing here? You’ve got nothing on me.’

  ‘I beg to differ, Mrs Collier. You had motive and opportunity. The garden club met the morning Mrs Westin died. The food had been prepared by Mrs Carter, but you had easy access to the picnic hamper. Plus, Luisa Gonzalez didn’t know Mark Harris didn’t drink wine. Unlike the other committee members, you did. You knew Mrs Westin would start with the bottle of white during lunch and open the red later. You found the rat poison in the garden shed and hid the bottle in Luisa’s closet in order to frame her.’

  ‘Good luck with that. As my dear husband would say, all your evidence is circumstantial.’ With a flushed face, Marti tried to step past the detective, but two officers blocked the doorway.

  ‘What about this, Mrs Collier?’ The forensic tech dangled an evidence bag before her nose. ‘We found a syringe wrapped in paper towels in the trash with a fine set of fingerprints on it.’

  ‘I wonder who those prints will match?’ asked Buckley. ‘Martha Collier, you’re under arrest for the murder of Agnes Westin.’

  Lainey, Kate, and Eric watched from the sidelines while the detective read Marti her rights. Then, as the murderer called them every foul name in the book, the police hauled her to the squad car in handcuffs.

  ‘I was really wrong about Mrs Gonzalez,’ Lainey said sadly.

  ‘We all were,’ Kate agreed. ‘Never pays to jump to conclusions.’

  ‘I’ll ask my real attorney to pick up Luisa upon her release. She can stay here until she makes other arrangements.’

  ‘Would you give her the job back?’ asked Eric.

  ‘Of course, if she wants it. But she probably wants to get as far from me as possible.’

  ‘I wouldn’t be so sure. Anyway, it doesn’t hurt to ask.’

  Lainey extended her hand first to Kate and then to Eric. ‘I certainly will. Thanks, Kate, Eric. You did exactly what I wanted and I’m grateful.’

  Kate shook the woman’s hand. ‘You’re welcome. Just remember, you’re not your mother. You can be whoever you want.’

  ‘I know, but my mom wasn’t how Marti described. Agnes had many good qualities. You would’ve seen through her crusty exterior to her soft center immediately. I’m going to miss her. A person never knows how much until it’s too late.’

  ‘I’m sure Agnes was very proud of you.’

  Lainey nodded. ‘If Luisa agrees to stay, I’ll do everything in my power to bring Miguel back to the US. It’s what Mom wanted.’

  Kate squeezed her hand. ‘Let me know when the memorial service will be. Oh, I almost forgot. I need to give you back your shoes.’

  ‘No, you keep them. They look great on you. And frankly, I love yours. I haven’t worn anything this comfortable in years. How ’bout an even swap?’

  ‘Fine, but you’re getting the short end of the stick.’

  ‘No, not by any stretch of the imagination.’

  ‘Ready to grab some lunch, partner?’ Kate asked. ‘You did great in there, by the way.’

  Eric opened her car door like a gentleman. ‘You’re the one who shone. You went out on a major limb, but it paid off.’

  Kate waited for a break in traffic, then accelerated when a pickup flashed his lights. ‘One thing about limbs – either they break and you fall on your face or you end up looking like a genius.’

  ‘What made you think the syringe would still be in the trash?’

  ‘I didn’t know for sure, but since the cans hadn’t been emptied, I thought there was a good chance. Marti only carried a small wristlet instead of a purse, so I didn’t think she’d take the syringe home. Too great a chance of it being seen. Since Mrs Westin didn’t die until later, Marti figured the trash would be in the landfill before anyone thought to check. However, if the syringe wasn’t there, I’d just tipped off the killer we were on to her.’

  ‘I think Buckley liked your sting operation, though he probably wouldn’t admit it.’

  ‘Only because it turned out well. Otherwise he could have charged me with interference in a police investigation. File that in your PI memory bank.’ Kate winked at Eric. ‘I’m starving. Should we hit a fast-food drive-thru on the way back?’

  Eric pressed a hand to his gut and grimaced. ‘No, I’ll make us a nice salad from stuff in your fridge and grill some frozen red snapper. Let’s go home … I mean, back to the hotel.’

  Ridiculously Kate felt herself blush. ‘Done. I’d never turn down your cooking.’

  When they got back to the hotel, Eric set out the fish to thaw and went to his room for a shower. Kate washed up too, then decided to update the Westin case file. She’d barely typed fifty words when the phone next to her bed rang.

  ‘Hello, who’s this?’ she asked.

  ‘Angie at the front desk. One of our customers noticed a car alarm blaring in the parking lot. When I looked up the license-plate number, the car belongs to you, Miss Weller.’

  Kate reflected for a moment. Who in the world would want to steal her car? ‘Maybe someone backed into it. Thanks for letting me know. I’m on my way down.’

  Kate considered calling Eric, but hated to cut short his shower for something stupid. Instead she tucked her handgun into her back waistband and pulled on a long cardigan. As long as she took every precaution, Eric wouldn’t hang her by her thumbs. As she walked out the front door, sure enough the blaring noise was coming from her Toyota.

  Shielding her eyes from the glare, she soon spotted what had triggered the alarm. Some careless driver had backed into her Toyota, leaving a long crease in the bumper. Luckily both taillights were still intact, so the dent only added to the assortment that Beth had already put there.

  Kate unlocked the driver’s door and slipped in behind the wheel. The only sure way to cancel the alarm was to turn the key in the ignition. When the engine sprang to life, the alarm ceased, but the cold press of steel against her neck indicated her troubles were far from over.

  ‘Put your right hand on the wheel, Katie-girl. Isn’t that what your worthless brother calls you?’ The man laughed without humor. ‘Now with your left hand, pull the gun from your waistband and hand it to me, butt-end first.’ He pressed the barrel into the base of her skull. ‘And don’t try anything foolish. This Glock has a hair-trigger and no safety.’

  Reluctantly, Kate did as she was told, then studied him in the rearview mirror. Around fifty-five, razor-short blond hair; clean-shaven, broad shouldered, neither thin nor well muscled. He looked like he might have been handsome at one time, but a habitual bad attitude had left him with a permanent sneer. When their gazes met, Kate glanced away quickly.

  ‘See something you like, missy? We’ll have time to get acquainted later. Right now, dig out your phone and pass that to me too.’

  When she didn’t immediately comply, Kate felt a sharp pain shoot up her neck as he jabbed her with the barrel. ‘I don’t believe we’ve met,’ she said, handing him her phone. ‘Since you know my name, mind telling me yours?’

  He yanked the phone from her fingers. ‘You can call me Ace.’

  ‘How do you know my brother?’ Kate shifted her position to relieve the pressure on her brain stem.

  ‘We met briefly on the street one day. Let’s just say I was the silent partner Liam didn’t know about. Now, as much as I enjoy chatting with a pretty girl, we don’t want your boyfriend to start missing you. Man, that guy is like gum on a shoe. I should’
ve blown him up when I had the chance.’ He leaned forward until she could smell cigarettes on his breath and smoke on his clothes. ‘See what being nice got me?’

  Kate forced a smile at the rearview mirror. ‘I understand you’ve got a beef with my brother, so why don’t we talk this over in the bar? Maybe we can reach a mutually satisfying compromise.’

  Ace repositioned the gun to just below her left ear. ‘You think you can sweet-talk me?’ The sneer was gone, replaced by an expression of pure hatred. ‘Back the car out slowly. Then turn right and head south on Main. Do anything to attract attention and I’ll spatter your brain across the dashboard.’

  Kate felt of frisson of fear that left her dizzy. ‘Just relax, okay? I’ll do whatever you say.’ With muscles nearly paralyzed, she had to force her foot to depress the gas pedal.

  Ace slouched down behind her headrest, but kept his gun in contact with her skin. As they left Pensacola’s historical section, he ordered a series of left and right turns with no purpose other than to confuse her. Since it had been a long time since she lived in the area, his ploy worked well.

  ‘Turn left into that alley.’ Reaching across the seat, he pointed with his index finger. ‘Slow down, so we don’t get noticed.’

  ‘Doesn’t look like anyone lives here,’ she said. Skirting around trash dumpsters, Kate narrowly missed a stray cat that darted across her path.

  ‘Let’s just say these aren’t rent-paying customers,’ Ace whispered in her ear. ‘Right after the green recycle bin, pull into the garage on your left.’

  Stopping in the open doorway, Kate realized it wasn’t a garage at all, but the bottom floor of an abandoned warehouse, one that hadn’t been used in decades. ‘Look, Ace, I have a better idea than whatever you have in mind. My boyfriend is loaded. He’ll pay plenty to get me back. Just let me call—’

  Before she could finish her sentence, Ace slammed something hard into the side of her head. As her vision clouded, Kate felt bile rise up her throat.

  ‘Money ain’t the problem. I’ve got loads of it too, but I’ve been too afraid to spend it. All that ends today. Drive in another twenty feet and turn the car off.’ His tone didn’t encourage negotiation.

  Kate attempted to comply, but with the dashboard swimming before her eyes, she couldn’t find the key to turn off the ignition.

  ‘What’s the matter with you?’ Ace crushed her against the window as he reached around her. Then he jumped out of the backseat, yanked open her door, and dragged her out by her hair before she could regain her senses.

  Ace laughed while she howled in pain. ‘Scream all you want. Nobody will hear you, and if they do, they’ll be too scared to do anything about it. Like I said, these ain’t rent-paying tenants.’ He dragged her across the dusty floor by her ponytail into an office, then slammed her into a straight-back chair.

  When her vision cleared, she spotted a calendar on the wall for 1991. Is that the last time anyone showed up for work here? ‘Where are we?’ she asked, gingerly turning her head left and right. ‘What is this place?’

  Ace didn’t answer immediately. Instead he took a length of rope from the desk drawer and tied her to the chair. Next he pulled out two pairs of handcuffs from the bottom drawer, fastened one to her wrist and the other to a floor-to-ceiling iron pipe behind her. Then he secured her right ankle to the leg of the desk. Finally he sat down and pulled a bottle of liquor from the drawer. ‘That should hold you for a while, Katie-girl,’ he said with a smile.

  ‘Looks like you’ve been here before,’ she murmured.

  ‘I certainly have.’ Ace poured a half-glass of amber liquid and took a sip. ‘This used to be my dad’s factory and warehouse, until he was put out of business by foreign competition. Who can compete with countries that pay people two dollars a day?’ He took another sip and thumped the glass on the desktop.

  ‘You hear that a lot from business owners these days.’ Kate utilized her most empathetic tone.

  ‘I told my dad that he and Mom shouldn’t worry, because I have a foolproof answer to their retirement plans. And guess what happened, Katie-girl?’ Ace swallowed down the remaining liquid in his glass.

  Kate tried pulling against her restraints to no avail. ‘I’m not completely sure, but I guess my brother is in the middle of it.’

  Suddenly, everything fell into place in her mind – Ace’s clean-cut appearance, professional grade handcuffs, and his reference to ‘a lot of money’ as opposed to ‘chump-change’ like Charley Crump insisted he got for the heist. If her right hand wasn’t bound to the pole, Kate would’ve smacked her forehead.

  ‘You’re the second armored car driver,’ she said. ‘The one everyone thought ran away when the shooting started.’

  ‘Bingo. Frankly, I would have thought a smart girl like you would’ve figured it out by now.’ Ace refilled his glass from the bottle.

  ‘It would’ve been easier if you had worn your red plaid shirt. Or if you’d thrown around a lot of money after the robbery.’ Kate concentrated on trying to slip her hand from the cuff, also to no avail.

  ‘Don’t think I didn’t want to, but the little woman – my wife – was against the idea. She insisted we keep it hidden until nobody could finger me to the police. Now she’s dead so it don’t make no difference.’

  ‘You killed your wife?’ she asked.

  Ace’s face twisted with rage. In one smooth motion he smacked Kate across the face. ‘No, you stupid girl. Cancer took her last spring. So what reason do I have to hang around here?’

  As her head bounced against the post, Kate gritted her teeth. ‘What about your kids? You have two, don’t you?’

  ‘Ah, someone did their homework after all. My kids are grown. They have no time for me, so why should I wait any longer to start living?’

  Kate had no logical answer for his question.

  Ace lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply. ‘I knew one day you’d get your memory back, so you and Liam are my last loose ends.’

  ‘Did you kill Jimmy Russell?’ she asked, stalling for more time.

  He blew a blue stream of smoke at the cobwebby ceiling. ‘Small-time hoods like him and Doug should’ve stuck to stealing GPS’s and DVD players out of parked cars.’

  ‘You killed Doug Young too? He wasn’t even there.’

  Ace’s expression turned feral. ‘Doug needed to be taught a lesson: you don’t stand up your friends when they’re counting on you.’

  ‘You’re forgetting about Charley Crump. The guy skipped town. But before he left, he gave a statement to the assistant DA. The truth was long overdue, but better late than never.’

  Ace pulled a second tumbler from the drawer. ‘You have underestimated me. I was across the street when you visited that lowlife Crump. But as soon as you and Romeo left, I offered my old pal a ride to the bus station. It took a little convincing, but Charley finally agreed.’ Ace spun his gun on the desk. ‘Good ole Charley didn’t make any calls on the way to the pearly gates. If anyone does find his body, they’ll discover he died of a heroin overdose, like so many of the lost generation.’

  As Ace filled both glasses to the brim, Kate felt her stomach tighten. Charley Crump wasn’t exactly a stand-up guy, but he didn’t deserve to die like that. ‘People will figure it out. I suggest you give yourself up.

  ‘And I suggest you enjoy your last hour on earth.’ He pushed one glass across the desk. ‘As soon as I hear Liam has been taken care of, your time is up, pretty girl.’ His smile never quite reached his eyes. ‘What do you say we drink up and have some afternoon fun?’

  ‘No, thanks. I prefer to die not knowing that particular pleasure.’

  ‘Suit yourself, but cooperation might just buy you extra time.’ He held the glass under her nose. ‘How ’bout a drink for old times’ sake?’

  FIFTEEN

  Eric took the fastest shower of his life, jumped into clean clothes and let his hair drip-dry. The sooner he got back to Kate’s, the sooner he could relax with his new partner, the woman of his
dreams. But halfway out the door, he remembered the fish and doubled back. This time when he bolted into the hallway, a man in a sport coat was knocking on Kate’s door.

  ‘Miss Weller? It’s Detective Mendez from Escambia County Sheriff’s Department.’ He knocked again with more force. ‘Are you in there?’

  Eric closed the distance between them in a few strides. ‘What’s going on, Detective? Were you called to this hotel room?’

  The middle-aged cop turned to face him. ‘And who might you be?’

  ‘Eric Manfredi, Kate’s boyfriend and partner, sort of.’

  ‘Which are you sort of – the boyfriend or the partner?’

  ‘Both. Does this have anything to do with her brother, Liam?’ Eric drew Kate’s key from his pocket and unlocked the door.

  ‘It might.’ Mendez checked the bedroom and bathroom, while Eric opened the sliding door to the balcony. ‘She’s not here,’ Mendez announced when Eric stepped back inside.

  ‘And her car is missing,’ Eric said, breathing through his nostrils like an angry bull. ‘Of all the stubborn, obstinate women I could have gotten mixed up with! She took off without me, again.’

  ‘Get mad later. Where do you think Miss Weller went?’

  ‘First, show me some ID. Then tell me why you’re here.’

  After a moment’s consideration, Mendez opened his wallet to reveal a badge. ‘I know who’s been stalking Miss Weller all these years. He was the mastermind of the crew, the one who bashed Liam on the head and left him behind to take the rap.’

  ‘It was the other security guard, wasn’t it? Kate said the police already checked the guy out and he was clean as a whistle.’

  A flush crept up Mendez’s neck into his face. ‘Look, hotshot. I know how to do my job. He’s who I liked for the ringleader from the start, but I couldn’t find a shred of evidence. The guard went back to work two weeks later. He still lives in the same house, drives a ten-year-old pickup, and when his daughter got married, they held the reception in the backyard. Does that sound like someone who stole a million dollars?’