Deadly Christmas Pretense

by Dana Mentink

  She took a breath. “Helen took me in a few days ago. It was...” She cast a confused look at Helen.

  “Wednesday night.” Helen filled them in. “Actually she arrived just as I was talking to you that night on the phone. I recognized her and saw she was in trouble. Since there were no rooms, I put her up with me.”

  “And you didn’t feel the need to tell me?” Liam asked, skewering Helen with a look.

  “She asked me to keep her presence a secret until she could talk to Maggie.” Helen held up a hand to wave off his remark. “I know, Liam, you’re cooking up a list of rebukes, but considering that things ended a little...awkwardly between you and Tammy, I figured it would be a kindness to both of you to keep it quiet until the situation was clearer.”

  He had no answer for that, but he felt the heat crawl up his neck. That wasn’t all. He could see it in his sister’s eyes, the shadow of guilt, the agony she still felt over the murder of her best friend, a tragedy for which she blamed herself. “I let her die,” she’d told him one bitterly cold afternoon. “And now those babies have no mother.” She’d steadfastly refused any consolation from him. It probably explained why she was so determined to step out on a limb for Tammy.

  “Not a good idea to keep her here.”

  Helen’s chin went up. “I’m not going to let her get hurt.” He heard the unspoken, Like I did with Fiona.

  He waited until Helen finally looked at him. “Honey, she’s in deeper trouble than you know. She’s got some guy after her.”

  Maggie nodded to her sister. “It must be Virgil, the one you warned me about. He almost killed me yesterday. I think he mistook me for you.”

  Tammy jerked. “Oh, Mags. Really?”

  “I’m okay. Liam scared him off,” Maggie said.

  “Yeah, and I still got the pulled muscles to prove it.” He stared at Tammy. “Who is this guy? And why didn’t you turn this over to the cops if you’re scared of him? Why put Maggie in danger?” His anger was stoked good and proper. All this lying, sneaking around...it wasn’t right. And Tammy, it seemed, was the cause of it all. What really bothered him the most was that Helen hadn’t looped him in. Helen had taken Tammy’s side over his and the betrayal stung.

  Now the old spark kindled in Tammy’s expression. “His full name is Virgil Salvador and I would never have put my sister at risk, Liam, any more than you would knowingly put Helen in danger.”

  He wanted to stoke his anger, to add more fuel to his already simmering temper, but her sincerity drained him. It was the truth; he heard the twined cords of anger and regret deep down. “I do know that,” he conceded, “but she’s in danger anyway.”

  Tammy took Maggie’s hand, knotting their fingers together. “If anything happened to you...” She gulped, blanching.

  Maggie offered a bright smile. “I’m perfectly fine, but why didn’t you come to the lighthouse? Or call me at least?”

  “My memory’s messed up from the concussion. I was in a car accident. I think Virgil drove me off the road.”

  “What?” Liam and Maggie said at the same time.

  She waved them off. “I’m okay, but I couldn’t recall where I’d agreed to meet you and I’d lost my phone. I couldn’t remember your number anyway.

  “Things are coming back to me in bits and pieces. I woke up on Tuesday night in the hospital, after the wreck. That’s when I messaged you, I think, to set up the meeting at the lighthouse. I snuck out and came here by taxi. I might have stopped on the way. I know I was at my trailer for a while. At least, I think that’s what happened. It’s all such a blur. My head was splitting, and I hurt my ankle, too. Somehow I wound up at the Lodge. Helen took me in. Gave me her bed, even.”

  Helen shrugged. “The sofa is perfectly comfy. She was sort of muddled, talking about jewelry or something, clearly exhausted, but she begged me not to call the police. I agreed to wait a few days. One of the Lodge guests is a doctor and he checked her out. He prescribed bed rest until the headaches die down and the ankle is less swollen. His opinion is that her confusion will lessen as time goes by.”

  Helen grinned. “And then I hear through the grapevine that Tammy Lofton is tootling around town. Neat trick, Maggie. I knew there had to be something odd going on if you were impersonating your sister. Nan at the Chuckwagon told me you and Liam were chatting in the parking lot. I felt it was time to get both sisters and my helpful brother in the same room and put our heads together. That’s why I called you, Liam.”

  “Eventually,” he reminded her. He tried to wrangle all the details into a cohesive picture. “Why is this Virgil guy after you, Tam?”

  Tammy sucked in a breath and blew it out. “That part I do remember. Virgil moved in with his uncle Bill, the man I was tending to. Virgil’s a bad man, greedy, and I suspected from the start he was out to steal from his uncle.

  “Bill gets a little confused sometimes, and Virgil convinced him to buy a new car, which Virgil drives, a new cell phone...things like that. Bill owns a vintage diamond jewelry set that belonged to his wife, Elizabeth. She passed away a couple of months ago... Anyway, Virgil urged Bill to take out a hefty insurance policy on the jewelry. I heard him on the phone Tuesday—I don’t know who with—saying he’d put the jewels out on the dresser and make sure Bill was asleep. He was arranging to have the jewelry stolen so Bill could claim the insurance money and Virgil could help himself to the settlement.”

  “Swell guy,” Liam muttered.

  “It was all happening right then. I immediately went to Bill, but I couldn’t wake him. So I...I took the jewelry. I couldn’t let Virgil steal it from Bill, not his wife’s special things. It was an impulse. Stupid. I brought it to Driftwood and I left it with someone or hid it. At least, I think I did.”

  Maggie groaned. “But why not go straight to the police?”

  “I was going to, but when I woke up in the hospital, I heard Virgil talking in the hallway and I panicked and headed to Driftwood. I figured I’d talk to Danny Patron at the police department, but he was not in. I got the jewelry hidden somewhere and I intended to call Joe, my boyfriend.”

  Liam resisted the urge to add, “The computer programmer.”

  “But I lost my phone, as I told you.”

  Maggie’s mouth pinched. “At the lighthouse, Virgil told me if I didn’t give him the jewelry, he would kill me.”

  Tammy clutched the blanket. “I’m scared for both of us. I just really want to talk to Joe.” She waved a helpless hand. “Can you find him? He lives somewhere near Sand Dune and I know he’s probably worried that I haven’t called or texted him recently.”

  Liam tried for a patient tone. “One thing at a time. Police protection is the way to go.”

  “But Virgil will tell the police I stole the jewelry,” Tammy cried. “Which I did, but they won’t believe that I was trying to help. Virgil texted me right before the accident. He said he’d tell the cops that I’d been stealing from Bill all the while I was in his employ.” She flushed crimson. “He said he’d paid off a pawnbroker to say I’d brought in several of Bill’s possessions.” She swallowed hard. “I’d never do that, but it looks so bad.”

  Liam didn’t like the desperation he heard in her voice. “I know Danny Patron. He’ll believe you and he’ll give you a fair hearing.”

  Tammy started to cry. Liam shifted uncertainly. The situation was getting thicker than Aunt Ginny’s pea soup. Jingles burrowed deeper into the blankets. Liam tried again. “You have to tell the police where the jewelry is, and Virgil will be off your back.”

  The room seemed to go ultra silent. The women all looked in the direction of the mantel where there was an antique clock Liam had given Helen for her twenty-first birthday. It must be chiming the hour. He could not hear it. He squashed the fear and turned back to Tammy. “Where’d you hide the jewelry? Or who did you leave it with?”

  “That’s the problem,” Tammy s
aid. “I can’t remember.”

  SIX

  “Can’t remember?” Maggie tried to process.

  Liam blew out a breath. “Okay. We can figure this out.” He turned to Helen. “Did she tell you where she’d been when she arrived here?”

  “No, not really anything specific, but it was frantic here and the lobby was hopping with holiday check-ins. I didn’t get a chance to pay full attention until later when I got her upstairs, but she was so tired and miserable, I put her straight to bed.” She patted Tammy’s knee. “I’m sorry, honey, but I don’t know where you were between your hospital stay and when you showed up here.”

  “Maybe you slept in your car or on someone’s sofa. I’ll ask your neighbors at the trailer park if you mentioned anything.” Maggie jotted notes in her phone, making a list of all the names Tammy spooled out, everyone she considered a friend in Driftwood.

  Helen started, took a phone from her pocket and read the message. “I’m sorry, I have to go. Chef needs help.”

  Maggie wished for a lightning-quick moment that she could go, too, lose herself in the business of a restaurant kitchen, dissolve her concern in clouds of sizzling butter and boiling pots of pasta. Missing jewelry even in a small town like Driftwood was a needle in the proverbial haystack.

  Helen kissed Tammy and headed for the door. “You just call me on the house phone if you need me.”

  Liam called to Helen, “Gonna need to finish this conversation, sis.”

  “Yes, Liam. I know I will not get out of the scolding you intend to give me.” She kissed him on the cheek and breezed out.

  Tammy stared with wide eyes. “I don’t know what to do.”

  Maggie straightened. “I do. I’ll be you for a while, until you’re better. I’m going to snoop around town and try to figure out who you left the jewelry with, then we’ll take it to the police, just like you intended.”

  “But I can’t remember...”

  “I’m sure you’ll get your memory back, but in the meantime, I’ll ask around, at the Chuckwagon, too. I’m sure you made friends there.” She shot a quick glance at her watch. “I’m late getting back right now.”

  “In the meantime...” Liam broke in in such a severe manner that Jingles looked up from his stupor, startled. “Virgil Salvador is still out there, looking to either get his jewelry back or to hurt you both.”

  Tammy shuddered. “I won’t let you risk yourself for me, Mags. I won’t.”

  “I owe you one, remember?”

  “That was a long time ago,” Tammy said. “The debt, if there ever was any, has been repaid a zillion times over.”

  Maggie shook her head. “I would not be here if it wasn’t for you.” She took in Liam’s curiosity. “There was a restaurant fire. She got me out.”

  “You’d have done the same for me.” Tears leaked down her sister’s cheeks.

  “No crying,” Maggie said. “I’ve got the list of everyone you remember talking to. Just keep trying to think if there’s anyone else.”

  “But Joe...how can I warn him?”

  “I’ll ask my brother to help track him down. Mitch is a retired US marshal.” Liam held up a hand. “Don’t worry. He’ll keep it on the down low.” His face went stone-still. “But this half-baked investigation plan is not going to work. Don’t you remember how close Virgil got yesterday?”

  “This is a private family issue, Liam,” Maggie said.

  “Not anymore it’s not,” he half growled.

  She stood, catching his ferocious gaze with her own. “Thanks for your help, but I’ll take it from here.”

  His lips twitched. A silent rebuff.

  “Not gonna let you do this alone,” he said finally.

  She tipped her chin up. “I don’t need your permission.”

  “Oh, boy,” Tammy muttered. “It’s like a Western standoff. Where are the tumbleweeds rolling by?”

  Liam started to speak, then stopped. Finally he crammed his hat on his head.

  “That’s where you’re wrong,” Liam said to Maggie. “You and Tammy drew my sister into this mess and that means it’s a twofer. If you get Helen, you earn yourself her ornery bear of a brother, too.”

  “I said I don’t need your help.” Maggie’s tone was more strident this time, so clear even this mountain of a cowboy could not misunderstand.

  “I gotta go.” Liam whistled for the dog who jumped off the bed and bounded over so fast he skidded on the hardwood and sailed right into Liam’s shins.

  Maggie relaxed a fraction as he backed off until he shook his head. “No offense, ma’am, but you’re gettin’ my help whether you think you need it or not.” He about-faced and stalked out the door, Jingles following merrily behind.

  Maggie blew out a breath.

  “What did you ever see in him?” she asked her sister.

  Tammy laughed. “He grows on a person and you’d better watch out, Maggie, because he only badgers people he takes an interest in.”

  Maggie kissed her sister and left, being sure to go slow enough that she would not run into Liam. She figured by the time she finished unloading the pies from the van, he would be long gone.

  People he takes an interest in?

  Why did that thought sparkle around her like the glimmering lights on the Christmas tree?

  * * *

  Liam spoke to Mitch right away, asking him to find Joe. “Last name of Albertson.” Mitch had spent years in the US Marshals office tracking the most desperate and degenerate fugitives in the world, so he was sure locating Joe would be a piece of cake.

  Mitch did not press him for details, but Liam could see the questions nestled deep in his brother’s black eyes. “I promise I’ll tell you everything when I can.”

  Mitch nodded but didn’t look convinced about Liam’s judgment. Liam wasn’t so sure about his own wisdom, either.

  When he finished the conversation, he rode out with Chad to tinker with a watering system that was not up to par and then replaced a flat tire on one of the ranch tractors.

  Skipping lunch, he got down to business in the workhouse, attending to some accumulated tack repairs that had been piling up on his workbench. He eyed the small piece of skirt he’d cut with the hydraulic press, waiting there on the saddle tree. He was making a child-size saddle to give to Charlie for Christmas. The seat he’d cut by hand with a head knife, custom fitting the saddle for both Charlie and Sugar, the horse Charlie would be riding. Though he longed to work on it, he was far too distracted.

  He had called over to the Chuckwagon twice and heard that Maggie was still waiting tables and helping in the kitchen. Her shift ended at five, he’d found out from Nan, and he intended to ensure he was there when she clocked out, no matter how she felt about it. His thoughts alternately pinballed between irritation, aggravation and, oddly, fascination. The latter he could not understand so he did his best to stow it somewhere deep down.

  Chad popped his head into Liam’s workshop, a worried frown on his face.

  Liam snapped to attention, putting down the tack. “What’s wrong?”

  “Aunt Ginny’s fallen. Got her up and on the sofa, but she won’t go to the doc.”

  “Uncle Gus can’t make her?”

  “He’s away getting lumber in town. I left a message on his cell. He doesn’t pick up when he’s driving.”

  Liam didn’t need to hear any more. He hurried to the house to find Aunt Ginny looking more peeved than pained, sitting on the sofa with her foot propped on a Christmas-patterned throw pillow. “I’m right as rain,” she said. “I just missed the last few steps of the ladder. You didn’t need to get Liam, Chad.”

  “Aw-ww there’s no place I’d rather be than with you, Aunt Ginny,” Liam drawled. “You’re my best gal.”

  She rolled her eyes.

  “Let me just take a look at that ankle, huh?” Liam had served as a me
dical sergeant among other duties in his Green Beret career. He palpated her joint and sent Chad for an ice pack. “Don’t think it’s broken...”

  “There, you see—” she started.

  “But I recommend we take you into town for an X-ray.”

  Her brows drew together. “A recommendation from one of my boys is something I can choose to ignore.”

  “Not advisable, Aunt Ginny.”

  “I’m not going.”

  “Yes, you are,” Uncle Gus said, striding through the door and hurrying to her side. He knelt next to the sofa. “Got your message, Chad, and I’m taking her right now to the emergency.”

  “I do not need a doctor,” Ginny snapped.

  He cupped a hand behind his ear. “Hear that, Ginny? It’s the sound of me putting my foot down.”

  She allowed a grudging smile that turned into a girlish giggle. “I didn’t recognize that sound.”

  “That’s because I don’t do it very often, not where my lady is concerned.” He lifted her off the sofa.

  “I don’t need carrying,” she said.

  “Not losing a chance to hold a gorgeous gal in my arms,” Gus said. “Quiet down now and cooperate, my love.”

  Liam went ahead to open doors and they got Aunt Ginny installed in the passenger seat of Uncle Gus’s truck and on their way to the hospital. Liam’s heart squeezed with the tenderness between the two. A love like theirs was a precious thing indeed. An image of Maggie flashed in his brain, but he shook it promptly away. Hunger was messing with his mind, had to be.

  His cell phone read a few minutes to five, almost Maggie’s quitting time. “Gotta go,” he called to Chad.

  He drove as quickly as he could to the Chuckwagon, relieved to see the Corvette still in the back lot.

  The restaurant smelled of the cook’s renowned chili and corn bread, which made Liam’s stomach rumble. He wished he’d grabbed a slice of Aunt Ginny’s holiday loaf before he’d left. He had no idea what the little red and green flecks were that dotted the loaves and he didn’t care. Delicious, was all he needed to know.