by P. Creeden
Together, they stepped up to Liz’s house for the wake, finding Mr. Wright standing at the door, ready to shake hands with people as they came. Georgia promised to stay nearby as Felicity took her place next to him. Over and over again, she heard how no one had even known that Liz had a daughter, but how pretty Felicity was and how much she looked just like her mother. She smiled at everyone, shook hands, and accepted hugs from strangers. She began to feel numb from the constant contact and same repeated words. Even Jay couldn’t get away from the constant pats or looks of wonder at why a dog would even be sitting on Liz’s front porch.
After an hour or more of people coming, drinking wine, eating small sandwiches—because of course the event was catered by the winery—exhaustion overcame Felicity. She felt slightly dizzy, and Jay, who was always in tune with Felicity’s emotional state, whined up at her. She patted him in reassurance but leaned in toward Mr. Wright. “I need to get away and just clear my head, and Jay’s been sitting for a very long time. I think we both just need a walk.”
“That’s understandable. Do you want me to go with you or maybe your friend?”
Felicity peered into the house. Georgia was nowhere to be found. But she found Curtis Page. Mr. Page had been sitting in one of the chairs by the fireplace, staring at all the pictures of Liz. As long as he stayed in the same place, she’d be safe on a short walk through the field and back. She wished Darren had been there, but he’d texted her a half-hour before the funeral to let her know that he wouldn’t be there, and that he’d try to make the wake but not look for him. She sighed. His presence would have made the whole thing a little more bearable.
“It’s okay. I’m fine.” She smiled up at him, though it was weak.
The leather leash felt a bit awkward in her hand as Jay tugged at it, letting her know he wanted to be free. They were in an open area, and there was nothing he desired more than to run free and romp through the grass. Once they were a good distance from the house, Felicity unhooked the leash. The sky overhead was a faded shade of blue with the slightest bit of haze. Wispy clouds blocked out a modicum of sunshine.
The winery certainly was beautiful and close to nature as well as the city. The mountains were nearby, and so was the ocean. Wide open fields of nothing but grapevines and grass allowed for a panoramic view. She could see why Liz loved this place so much. Loved it more than anything. Loved it even more than having a daughter.
Finally, Felicity was being honest with herself. It hurt. It hurt that no one in Liz’s life even knew she existed. It hurt that her birthmother had ever given her up in the first place in order to run this place. It hurt that even after she caught up with Liz as an adult, the woman could barely be bothered to get to know her. And now it hurt that Liz was gone and they’d never get to know each other.
Depression spiraled around Felicity, bringing up fresh sobs. Her heart felt as though made of lead—heavy in her chest. Then, as if whispered on the wind, one word reached her heart, in Liz’s voice. Gratitude.
Felicity blinked and swiped at the tears in her eyes. The weight in her chest lightened the slightest bit. The parents she had were marvelous and gave her every opportunity that she needed growing up. Because of them, she was able to pursue any and every dream she had. She had the best job in the world. Even though it felt tenuous at times, all she needed to do was prove herself, and she knew she would. Then there was Georgia. She couldn’t have asked for a better friend and roommate. Georgia was always there for her whenever she needed her.
Jay jumped after a butterfly, proving that even at three years old, he still had puppy moments. Felicity laughed, even though tears still welled in the bottom of her eyelids. She swiped them away again. Jay was a huge blessing in her life; not only did she get to work with him and help children, but he always offered unconditional love and companionship.
Then her heart fluttered when she thought of Darren.
At the same moment she lost Liz, she gained Darren. Her first crush was fast becoming her first love. She’d dated a bit in college but felt nothing for them like she’d always felt for Darren, even in high school. Now the one man she would have written off as an impossible dream had come into her life as a very real possibility. She remembered the feeling of his lips on hers, and found her fingers lightly touching her lips at the thought.
Liz had been right. There was nothing like gratitude to chase away the spiraling thoughts of depression. Maybe Liz did struggle with bouts of depression, but she’d found a way that worked for her to pull her out of it by thinking on the things that made her life happy and worth living instead of the empty shells of what could have been.
“There you are,” a deep voice behind her called, and for a moment, her heart fluttered as she hoped it might be Darren.
But when she turned around, Heath Anderson stood in front of her, a pistol in his hand. She blinked, her heart dropping to her stomach. Her gaze shot around him to see if anyone else was coming, but the house was hidden by a row of grapevines.
“Don’t bother. If you scream for help, I’ll shoot you and the dog.”
Bile rose in her throat. How could she possibly scream past the lump that had formed there? Her eyes searched his. What was going on? His face was lined and hard. Nothing about it seemed the opening, welcoming, soft one she’d grown used to in past few days. It was contorted with hatred, and his eyes were icy cold.
“You ruined everything.” His voice started out as a harsh whisper but grew louder as he spoke. “Lizzy didn’t have family. No parents, no brothers and sisters, no children. She never spoke of you or anyone else. This place was supposed to be mine. MINE.”
He waved the gun her direction and took a quick step toward her. Felicity stepped back in response. His hair was disheveled, and his necktie pulled down to let the top button of his shirt free. He looked crazy. But still she didn’t understand. Why was he doing this?
“I could have paid off all my debts and gotten a fresh start here. I could have started that bed and breakfast that Lizzy always scoffed at. But no. You came in and ruined everything. EVERYTHING.”
Another stomp forward. Felicity retreated again. She wanted to turn around and run as his words began to click in place, and slowly things were making sense. The cooler. She’d only gone in there because he’d told her to. And he’d never said anything about there being a trick to opening the door again. He was the one who told her that Mr. Page was the snake lover, but could that have been a lie? Was he setting up the groundskeeper to take the fall after putting the snake in her car? And she had seen him before going in for the meeting with Mr. Wright. Was it possible that Heath had set the wine barrels up to fall when she came back out?
Her heart hammered in her chest. “You killed Liz.”
His eyes narrowed. “You’re just figuring that out now? Blondes really are dense. Your detective boyfriend already has things figured out. He’s already giving me looks as though he knows. He’s just looking for the last bits of evidence to put the nails in my coffin, but I’m not going to let that happen. You’re coming with me.”
Heath unceremoniously leapt toward her and grabbed her by the arm. The smallest cry escaped her lips, and he punched her in the cheek. “Shut up. I mean it, or I’ll kill both you and the dog.”
Pain blossomed in her face. She whimpered, her eyes flitting toward Jay who looked up at them with a confused expression. And then Heath began dragging her deeper into the vineyard, and Jay followed.
Darren pulled up to the vineyard parking lot and ended up parking in the grass along the driveway, as the lot itself was too full. Liz’s death had an impact on several people in the community, and many came out to her wake to show their love and support for the memory of the woman who had touched their lives. He remembered the people who’d come out to his mother’s funeral and how their fondness for his mother had been a small comfort to him. He hoped that Felicity found comfort in the memories of those who attended the wake.
He got out of his car and adjusted his
tie. He had never grown accustomed to wearing a suit, but felt it was the most appropriate dress for the wake that he’d almost missed because of the embezzlement case he’d been working. But the interrogation worked, and he’d found an inconsistency in the suspect’s story that allowed him to then break the truth out of him. The lieutenant actually patted him on the back as he booked the suspect.
Everything was falling into place at work; he’d solved two cases in the past two days, and so the lieutenant had left him alone about Liz Collier’s death. Darren just didn’t feel comfortable closing the folder on it as a suicide when so much evidence pointed to it being something more sinister.
The gravel under his feet crunched as he headed up toward the house. Early afternoon sunlight felt good against the back of his navy-blue blazer. Lucian Wright stood at the front door of the house, saying good-bye to a couple who was coming out. Darren felt bad he’d missed the funeral. He really wanted to be there for Felicity, and though he was late for the wake, he decided to come and lend any support for her that he could.
He stepped to the side and allowed the couple to come down from the steps before he ascended them himself.
“Detective. Good of you to come.” Mr. Wright had a wide smile on his face and offered a hand to shake.
Darren took the hand and squeezed it. “Good of you to be the greeter for Liz on Felicity’s behalf. Do you know where I can find her?”
As they released hands, the older man shrugged. “A little while ago, she’d said she’d take the dog for a short walk and get a breath of fresh air. But I think she came back already? I’m not sure. Why don’t you check inside first?”
He nodded and headed in the doorway. The room was filled with people standing around and talking to one another in hushed tones, but still the low mumble was a bit overwhelming as his mind couldn’t quite grab hold of any particular conversation. When he spied Curtis Page sitting on a chair in the living room, hugging a glass of wine to his chest and looking up at a picture of Liz, he decided to sit on the sofa across from the lonely looking old man.
When he sat down, Curtis blinked and looked his direction. Then in embarrassment, the older man swiped the tears that had welled in the bottoms of his eyes.
And a thought dawned in Darren’s mind. “You loved her.”
Curtis’s eyes grew wide a moment, and he shook his head vigorously. Then the momentum died as though the man weakened, and he looked down at the floor and nodded. “I did, but I never told her. I never let her know. For the past few years she’d been with that leech, Anderson. And it felt like I could never get close enough to her after that. I had hoped, now that they’d broken up, to give her time to get over the man before making my confession.”
Felicity had been wrong. There was no way this man would have killed the woman he loved right when he was getting ready to confess his feelings for her. But something else about what the man said bothered him. “You called Heath a leech?”
The man’s face puckered up like he’d just eaten a lemon. He lifted his wine glass and took a quick sip before meeting Darren’s eyes with his own drunken ones. “A gambler. He was always pushing Liz to do something new and different with the winery, when things were working just fine as they were. His changes would always cost tons of money and who knew if they’d work out.” His hand gestured to the room. “He wanted to tear down this house and build a bigger one so that they could start a bed and breakfast. Do you know how much money that would cost?”
Darren shrugged. Business decisions like that were always a gamble, and one needed to spend money to make money. He didn’t know how successful that change would be, but it did seem a bit extreme to discuss tearing down a perfectly good house and structure, just to build a bigger one.
“He stole from her,” Curtis whispered.
That got Darren’s attention. “What do you mean?”
The older man leaned in toward him. “She’d been missing jewelry and silverware—small but valuable things. He blamed the housekeeper, but Mrs. Park had been cleaning Liz’s house for more than eight years. Why would she suddenly steal from her? Yes, Mrs. Park had some hospital bills that seemed to coincide with when things went missing, but I just don’t believe it. The Asian woman was smart and loyal, but she didn’t even defend herself when Heath made his accusation. That’s why Liz let her go.”
Darren shook his head. “Why would he steal from her?”
“Gambling debts. He didn’t just want to gamble with Liz’s business. He’s always on the phone with his bookie. Betting on every sport event—every horse race.”
Blood drained from Darren’s face. He remembered how Heath had been watching horseracing during lunch and then showed disappointment in the results. Had he ignored the phone call while Darren was there because it was his bookie? Gambling was legal in the state of California, but only on the horse racing. If Heath Anderson was betting on other sports events, too, he was breaking the law.
“He killed her. I know he killed my Liz. I just don’t know why… I just don’t have any evidence to prove it.” Curtis’s words began to slur. He must have been drinking for more than an hour if he started when the wake began. Darren eyed the old man. Chances were that Mr. Page had started drinking even earlier than that. He couldn’t take what the man said as fact, but his statements did bring up a lot of questions and the possibility of a motive.
Darren’s eyes moved around the room. He didn’t see Heath Anderson anywhere, but then his eyes lighted on a face he did recognize. Georgia, Felicity’s roommate. He stood and headed her direction by the staffed bar. She was talking with the bartender and laughing as though the two of them knew one another. When he reached her, her gaze fluttered his direction, and he offered a wide smile. “Hi, Georgia. You may not know me, but I’m Detective Darren Willis.”
Her own smile grew as she looked him up and down, while the ice in her club soda jingled. “Of course. It’s a pleasure to meet you, detective.”
His hand reached for the back of his neck and he rubbed it there as he blushed a little. “I’m looking for Felicity. Have you seen her?”
She peered around the room, past him and over toward the entrance. Her eyes scrunched a little as though she was short-sighted and not wearing her glasses. “She’s not by the front door? She’s been there the whole time.”
He shook his head. “So, she didn’t come inside after taking JJ for a walk?”
Georgia shook her head. “I haven’t seen her.”
Daren frowned, dread filling his stomach with an icy cold. He searched the room again for Heath Anderson, but couldn’t find the tall, smarmy man anywhere. If Mr. Page was right and Heath had killed Liz, then it was also possible he was behind the “accidents” that had plagued Felicity the past few days. And now she was missing, and he was nowhere to be found. Darren didn’t like this, and he darted for the front door.
Chapter Fourteen
“Why are you doing all this?” Felicity asked, hating the whininess in her voice. But fear had taken a firm hold on her heart this time, and she wasn’t able to replace it with anger yet. He’d dragged her through the field for over twenty minutes, putting more and more distance between her and the house.
“She broke up with me. That wench figured out I’d been stealing from her and it wasn’t the housekeeper. The likelihood of her firing me when I got back from the Napa convention was too great. I was poised to lose everything. But I could get it all back and more if I just took it from her. The business was struggling a few years ago; it only started doing better because I came along and helped it. I deserved it all, and she was going to take it all away from me.” His tugs on her arm became more violent as he dragged her farther into the field.
“Where are you taking me?”
He chuckled. “Did you know that at the edge of the property, there’s a path that Liz lets people traverse as part of the Cliff Walk? This property has the best view, and it would go to waste if those people didn’t come by at certain times of the day an
d walk along the edge and look at the ocean.”
She frowned. What did that have to do with anything?
He looked down at her and narrowed his eyes. “I’d just really like for you to see it.”
She shook her head. That was crazy—she almost said it, but bit down on her lower lip to stop herself from provoking him further. Then Heath tripped, his hand on her arm pulling her down with him. Her arm broke free from his grip, and the gun skittered away in the grass a few feet from his hands. She didn’t let this opportunity go to waste. After scrambling back to her feet, she made a run for it. Her arms pumped as her feet hit the ground and for a moment the ringing in her hears subsided, and she noticed something was missing. She ran everyday with Jay, listening the quiet jingle of his tag against the metal of his collar, but that sound was missing. Her feet slowed as her joints locked up. She looked back.
Jay wasn’t with her.
Her heart sank. Why hadn’t he followed?
For a moment, she panted, trying to catch her breath, trying to keep the tears from falling. But Jay still didn’t come.
Then she heard Heath’s voice. “Felicity! Are you really going to leave your precious Golden behind? I thought he meant more to you than that.”
Her vision blurred as the tears filled her eyes. “What do you want?” she screamed at the top of her lungs, but they had to be more than a half-mile from the house. Could anyone hear her?
“I just need to talk with you and get you to sign a check for me. That’s all, and then I’ll let you go.” His voice sounded calm and rational.