Unexpected Ties

by Gina Dartt

  It definitely would have been more comfortable in the bed, Nikki thought, but perhaps not as much fun. She slid over until she was lying beside Kate and reached up to the back of the sofa for the blanket folded there. With Kate’s help, she managed to drape it over them, snuggling with her in the warm aftermath.

  “That was lovely,” Kate murmured.

  “Very nice.” Nikki glanced toward the television, the background drone to their lovemaking. A rerun of a police procedure show was just beginning its opening sequence, and she settled closer to Kate as she recognized the episode. “Ooh, I like this one.”

  Kate laughed. “Well, I guess that means I’ll have you for at least another hour.”

  Nikki bent closer and kissed her on the nose. “You know I want to stay. I hate leaving you.”

  Kate made a small sound of assent in the back of her throat. “I know, but you’re right. You have things to do tomorrow and so do I.”

  Nikki kissed her again, then turned her attention to the television. Kate was not a big fan of these types of shows, but she had made an effort to share Nikki’s enjoyment of them.

  Nikki remembered what Irene had said about a couple respecting each other’s differences, and she brushed her lips over Kate’s ear. “You don’t have to watch this if you don’t want. We can watch something else, or spend the next hour talking or something.”

  Kate’s response surprised her completely. “Do you still think Pat Spencer is dead?”

  “Well, something has made him disappear.” Nikki happily leapt on the subject. “I’m wondering if Stephen told him what was going on. Or maybe he’s just doing what we’re doing, trying to figure it out as he goes along, and that’s why he’s harassing the rest of the Elliots.”

  “It’s possible. He and Stephen have been friends for a long time. Pat even took the fall for him when Stephen was in a drunk-driving accident.”

  “What? When did this happen?”

  Nikki listened intently as Kate filled her in on what her grandmother had told her. “You know, that’s a hell of a thing to have over someone. No wonder Pat ended up as a shift foreman at the plant.”

  “It’s not an executive position. Just sort of middle management.”

  “I guess Stephen wasn’t as grateful as he should have been.”

  “Or perhaps Grandmother is making assumptions where she shouldn’t, and Pat was actually the driver after all.” Kate squeezed Nikki, snuggling closer. “Are you going to speak to Rick about what you discovered?”

  “Do you really think I have enough to take to him?”

  “Are you trying to renege?”

  Nikki smiled with a touch of resignation. “Rick’s on the day shift this week. I’ll drop by the police station tomorrow and fill him in on everything.”

  “That would make me feel a great deal better.”

  “I definitely like it when you feel better,” she muttered playfully, her hands straying to places she had so recently explored on her lover’s body.

  “Don’t start anything you won’t finish.” A particularly grotesque sequence on the television screen suddenly caught Kate’s attention, and she made a face. “Oh. Oh, dear. What is that?”

  “Um, how the bullet shattered in his liver, I think.”

  “Is that why you like this show?”

  Nikki laughed. “One of the reasons.”

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Powder greeted Nikki loudly as she entered her apartment, explaining at length how little he appreciated her recent absences, how horrid she was for neglecting him so often, and, worst of all, that his water dish was low and just what the hell was she going to do about that! He meowed and muttered and twined around her ankles so much that Nikki nearly dislocated her shoulder as she refilled his water and food dispenser, slamming into the fridge in an attempt not to compound her crimes by inadvertently stepping on his tail. Fortunately, Powder appeared to have forgiven certain of her sins by the time she crawled into the bed and laid her head wearily on the pillow, if his leaping up beside her and curling up on the other side of the bed was any indication. Nikki fell asleep to the steady rumble of his purring.

  The next morning flew by as she took care of all of her chores. After returning from the store and putting away her groceries, she didn’t feel like making anything for lunch. Instead, she hopped into her car and drove to the Mayflower Diner for a chicken wrap, then walked down the street to the police station, conscious of her promise to Kate. She did nurture the faint hope that Rick wouldn’t be in so that she could claim she had at least tried, but, unfortunately, he was, and she spent his lunch hour filling him in on everything she had discovered over the past few weeks.

  At the end of the confession, Nikki stomped down the station’s cement stairs and strode angrily to her car.

  “Well, that didn’t accomplish a whole lot of anything,” she muttered out loud as she slipped behind the wheel and glared out the window in frustration. Rick had been less than enthusiastic about the information that she had discovered and reiterated in unflattering terms that she had to keep her nose out of things that didn’t concern her. It was rapidly becoming his mantra, Nikki decided, and she was sorry she had wasted any part of her day off trying to convince him her theories had some validity.

  She wondered what she should do next. Kate was busy in the bookstore, of course, while the rest of her friends were at work. She didn’t know anyone who might be available for a tennis match. She decided that she might as well head home and take a nap before staying up as late as possible. She could adapt more easily to the night shift at the police station if she started adjusting her body’s clock on Monday rather than trying to do it on Tuesday.

  Besides, she really had been neglecting Powder dreadfully the past few weeks and needed to spend some time with him. Cats were far more independent than dogs, of course, but they still needed personal attention every so often. Maybe she’d dig out the harness and take him for a rare but entertaining walk outside.

  She pulled out of the police station parking lot and turned left down Forester Street before turning right onto Prince. She followed the traffic impatiently until she reached the lights at Walker Street, glancing at the brand-new Sobey’s store that had been built on the corner during the winter, significantly altering the landscape of the street. She missed the old, familiar buildings that had contained a paint store and a dairy for as long as she could remember.

  She was glad to reach Queen Street, where traffic was lighter and she could relax a little as she drove up the street. The light ahead was turning yellow, and it was such a nice day that she slowed rather than try to beat it. As she idled at the red, she noticed that the car turning right off the side street was none other than Andrew Elliot’s blue sedan. Wondering why he would be leaving work in the middle of the day, she lifted her head like a hunter catching a scent and drove up the street after him as soon as the light changed.

  Cruising past her apartment building without a second thought, she followed him down Elm Street onto Willow. He was probably heading home, taking the old Halifax highway out to Shortt’s Lake rather than the 102, but Nikki decided to follow him anyway. At the railway crossing just outside of town, the red lights began to flash, indicating an oncoming train, and Nikki slowed, glancing down the tracks to see a large freight train approaching. To her surprise and disgust, Andrew had accelerated instead, his large car leaping forward as he tried to beat the train, barely managing to clear the crossing before the barriers dropped down.

  Trapped, Nikki could only watch and fume impotently as the freight train that seemed to stretch on forever rumbled past.

  *

  This is insane, Kate thought as Denise withdrew the key from the lock of the large house overlooking Shortt’s Lake and held the door open for her. She entered the foyer uneasily, wondering what on earth had prompted her to go along with the woman’s suggestion.

  When Denise had called earlier in the morning offering to let her into her brother-in-law’s hou
se, Kate had been hesitant, but intrigued. After all, this was technically breaking and entering, even if the sister-in-law had provided tacit permission by providing a key. But if Kate found some hard evidence, the type that would put Andrew and Tiffany away once and for all, then the case would be over and Nikki would have to let it go.

  It wasn’t the best reason for doing this, but events had conspired to lure her here. Shortly after Kate had opened the bookstore, Todd had shown up unexpectedly, asking if she needed any help since he had nothing better to do now that exams were over. Not five minutes after his arrival, Denise had called. The timing was serendipitous, the sort that Kate just couldn’t ignore.

  Leaving the store in Todd’s hands, she drove over to Bible Hill, picked up Denise, and headed out to the lake. She pulled into the driveway only after making sure no other vehicles were in the yard, that Andrew was indeed at work, and Tiffany was in the city doing her weekly shopping.

  “I still can’t believe it,” Denise said bitterly as she led the way to Andrew’s study, winding through the expansive living room and hallway. “I knew that letter meant something. Thank God Irene convinced me to talk to you.”

  “Yes, thank God,” Kate said dryly, wishing not for the first time that her grandmother had stayed in Florida just a little while longer. Or, at least, had restrained herself from calling Denise and filling her in on everything Kate and Nikki had discussed in front of her. “You know, Denise, this is all circumstantial and it’s entirely possible we’re wrong. It’s mostly guesswork at this point.”

  “Isn’t that why we’re here? To find some real proof that will put them behind bars, where they belong?” Tears were bright in Denise’s eyes. “Damn Andrew. How could he kill his own brother?”

  “We’re not sure he did.”

  “Now Pat’s disappeared,” Denise went on as if she hadn’t heard a word. “I suppose he’s dead as well. He and Stephen were such good friends. He probably found out what was going on.”

  “Then he should have gone to the police.” Just like we should be doing, Kate added silently and somewhat guiltily as they stepped into Andrew’s study.

  Andrew was more than just an ordinary sports fan. He was a fanatic. The room was more like a museum than a study. The walls were covered in memorabilia, and, in a large glass cabinet in the corner, three footballs were proudly displayed like rare sculptures. A hockey stick autographed by Canada’s foremost hockey player, apparently Andrew’s pride and joy, was stretched prominently across the wall above this glass shrine. In a photograph hanging under the stick, the Great One stood next to Andrew at what appeared to be a sports celebrity function, perhaps an auction. The athlete had undoubtedly forgotten about this moment captured in time the second it was over, but Andrew wanted to remember it for the rest of his life.

  Kate could imagine how much Nikki, also being a sports fanatic, would have enjoyed looking around this shrine.

  “Here are some papers.” Denise opened a desk drawer and plopped several folders onto the desk. “I don’t know if they’ll tell us anything. What are we looking for, exactly?”

  “Anything tied to the company itself.” Kate observed the pile of paperwork uneasily, not wanting to touch it and compound her guilt. She had no right to be here. She should really apologize to Denise and get them both the hell out of there before they were caught. Instead, she picked up a folder from the top of the stack and flipped through it quickly. “A ledger recording any transactions or payments from the names on the letter would be particularly useful.”

  “We might find something in here.” Denise reached up behind a painting of a baseball player hitting a home run to reveal a wall safe. “Tiffany showed it to me one day. She thought it was silly, like something one would see on television. She said if someone really wanted to conceal a safe, they should build it in the laundry room behind the dirty clothes hamper. No one ever wants to go in there.”

  “She has a point,” Kate said. “I don’t suppose you—”

  “Have the combination? You bet I do.” Denise looked oddly triumphant in a shamed sort of way, like a little girl who knew she wasn’t supposed to be acting this way, but having an inordinate amount of fun doing so. Nikki would have had exactly the same sort of expression on her face had she been there instead of Denise. Acting illicitly provided a great thrill. “Tiffany was really mad because Andrew wouldn’t give it to her, and he used to tease her about it by saying it was the most important date in history. She could never figure it out, but I did. It’s 9 right, 28 left, 19 right, and 72 left.”

  “September 28, 1972?” Kate translated, puzzled. “What happened on that date?”

  Denise offered her a wry look. “Paul Henderson scored the winning goal in the Soviet Summit series.”

  Kate rolled her eyes. “Of course he did.”

  Ironically, she understood its importance to Andrew. It had been a significant period in Canadian history, as a matter of fact. She had been in junior high at the time, and classes were let out so that students and faculty could watch the history-making hockey game. She still remembered the cheers and the astonishing sight of her teachers hugging each other, as well as how excited her parents had been when she returned home. Her father hadn’t even gone to work that day, something that had shocked her profoundly, yet also underscored the importance of what was going on.

  The moment had affected Canadians, even those who weren’t hockey fans, in a way that perhaps people from any other country wouldn’t easily understand. America’s identity was, at that time, tied up mostly with the Vietnam War. Canada’s meanwhile was entwined with Paul Henderson’s goal and a marijuana-smoking Prime Minister’s wife. It summed up the basic difference between the two countries in a way that nothing else did.

  Kate suddenly thought about Nikki, who hadn’t even been born when Henderson scored the goal and the entire country celebrated. She had absolutely no awareness of that period and regarded it as nothing more than a footnote in sports history, as opposed to the cultural statement it had signified to Kate and her parents. She felt old.

  Dismissing this musing with difficulty, she watched Denise twirl the dial and yank on the handle, twisting it down. The heavy door swung open, and Kate could see what appeared to be a ledger inside. She held her breath as Denise pulled it out and flipped through it before handing it to her.

  “Is this what you mean?”

  Kate skimmed through it, realizing it was a handwritten payroll book rather than the computerized reports normally used in large companies. It was dated from fifteen years earlier, and as she skimmed the list of ten names, she recognized two of them immediately.

  This has been going on for fifteen years? She was dumbfounded. Checking the figures at the bottom, she felt light-headed. Assuming it had started then and continued until this year, whoever had set this up had embezzled millions from the company. Since they had found it in Andrew’s safe, she had a pretty good idea who the chief suspect was. Nikki had been right.

  “This is all the evidence anyone needs, I think,” she said quietly. “My God, they had these individuals ‘working’ for fifty hours a week at the highest wage the company could offer.” She shook her head. “Stephen must have come across this and confronted Andrew with it.”

  Denise, who was leaning over Kate’s shoulder, abruptly made a small sound at the back of her throat and put her hand to her mouth.

  “Oh, Denise, I’m sorry.” Kate cursed her insensitivity. “I shouldn’t have reminded you of his death.”

  “No, that’s not it.” Denise’s face was pale.

  Confused, Kate stared at her. “What is it?”

  “That’s not Andrew’s handwriting. It’s Stephen’s.”

  Stunned, Kate looked down at the book. “But, if this is Stephen’s handwriting, that means he had to have known about it fifteen years ago.”

  Denise stumbled from the room, and Kate was torn between going after her and searching for more evidence in the safe. For the moment, curiosity and an odd
sense of urgency dictated her actions. Denise needed a moment to herself anyway, just to adjust to what must surely be a profound shock. At least, that’s what Kate told herself as she put the book on the desk and reached into the safe to retrieve several envelopes. She flipped through them, realizing they were copies of income tax forms for the names on the list for the previous five years. The individuals should have these copies. Finding them in the possession of the company’s accountant helped prove that these names were without substance.

  Kate had to take all this to the police, even if she were in trouble for retrieving them from Andrew’s home. But if she could keep Nikki from falling into something that she couldn’t handle…something really dangerous…however, would Denise go along with Kate’s desire to hand these papers over to the police, considering that her husband had been involved in what was obviously a conspiracy?

  The brothers must have had a falling out. Stephen had ended up on the losing side, and now things were unraveling rapidly. She shouldn’t be surprised it had turned out to be fratricide. One was more apt to be killed by a member of the family than by a stranger.

  She heard a sound from another part of the house, a muffle, and incoherent noise, as if someone had been about to say something and was stopped. Kate frowned. “Denise?” She heard a few more thumps, almost as if something had been dropped, but the woman didn’t respond.

  Kate was about to call again when the door to the study swung open, and as she recognized the man in the doorway, she realized that everything she had assumed was completely wrong.