by N L Hinkens
“So Roy was blackmailing Reagan?”
“I guess,” Aidy responded, averting her gaze. “A few days before he died, he was complaining because her payment was late.”
Their order arrived and Heather gave Aidy a few minutes to enjoy her apple pie before she started up again. “Did Reagan mention anything about the fire at Bella Calabria?”
Aidy’s eyes widened. “Do you think she was involved?”
“I don’t know. It just seems very convenient that the accelerant was found in Roy’s truck after he turned up dead.”
Aidy frowned, a spoonful of apple pie halfway to her mouth. “So you think she planted the accelerant in his truck?”
“I think someone did,” Heather replied. She swallowed a mouthful of coffee, and tried again to connect with Trevor, who tossed a Cheerio at her before lowering his head and glowering at her from beneath his brows like a bull getting ready to charge.
“Trevor!” Aidy snapped. “Be nice!”
“He’s fine,” Heather soothed. “Back to the text messages between Roy and Reagan, did anything else strike you as odd?”
Aidy licked her spoon and dropped it on her plate. “To be honest, I didn’t pay much attention. I was looking for evidence of Roy cheating on me with someone.”
Heather gave her a sympathetic smile. “Did you find anything?”
“You’d better believe it. I found this a few days ago.” Aidy fished out her phone. “I air dropped the picture to myself in case he tried to deny it later.” She flicked through her photos and then turned the screen so Heather could view it.
Blood drained from her head. The photo was grainy, but the woman with her face angled away from the camera had a thick brown braid of hair hanging over one shoulder.
26
Heather dialed Josh’s number as she sat in her car in the parking lot outside Darcey’s Diner. To her frustration, her call went straight to voicemail. Josh still hadn’t responded to any of the messages she’d sent him. She wanted to bring him up to speed and get his take on things before she confronted Bill Kinney’s ex-wife, Judy. It might even be wise to take him along and have him wait in the car. But she couldn’t wait any longer to hear back from him. Everything pointed to Damien’s mother being the linchpin of the entire case—the woman who’d ordered the flowers and poisoned Sydney. Heather sent Josh a quick text to let him know where she was going and then plugged in the address in her maps app. If Judy Kinney was the mysterious woman at the heart of everything, it was time for Heather to face her.
Armed with the photo Aidy had airdropped to her phone, and with her weapon concealed beneath her jacket, Heather set out on the drive. It was still unclear to her why Judy Kinney’s picture was on Roy’s phone. Aidy hadn’t been able to tell from the grainy photo, but Judy was at least twenty years older than Roy. It didn’t seem credible that the two had been romantically attached. A more likely scenario was that she had schemed with him to set fire to Marco’s restaurant. Perhaps he had tried to blackmail her afterward, and she’d killed him. Blackmail seemed to be Roy’s modus operandi. However it had panned out, he had played a dirty game with two different women and lost.
Twenty minutes later, Heather pulled into the condominium complex on the edge of Davenport where Judy Kinney lived. Nothing about the unremarkable neighborhood suggested she was wealthy enough to be worth blackmailing. On the other hand, she must have got something out of the divorce settlement.
After locking her car, Heather made her way up the steps to the second-floor condo and rang the bell for 2A. When the door opened, she found herself in the uncomfortable position of looking into the eyes of the woman Bill had cheated on with Lindsay. It felt like everything was coming full circle. Connections were firing in all directions, but Heather had yet to put some semblance of order to them. Judy’s hair was cut in a sleek blonde bob, but that meant nothing—a wig with a braid could be procured easily enough over the internet nowadays. “Hi, I’m Heather Nelson. Lindsay Robinson was a close friend of mine. I’ve been helping her mother go through her things and I came across a couple of photos I wanted to ask you about.”
The woman’s lips remained fastened in a tight line, but a gleam of curiosity lit up her eyes. Heather couldn’t tell for sure if Judy recognized her or not. If she did, she was remarkably cool about it.
After a moment of indecision, she stepped aside and invited Heather in. “Just so you know, I never held what happened against your friend. I realize Bill took advantage of her.” She led the way into a small but tasteful kitchen-sitting room combo and gestured to a cream-colored tufted chair. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“Some water would be great, thanks,” Heather responded, taking the few seconds Judy’s back was turned to glance around the space.
Judy handed her a glass of ice water and sat down on a matching chair opposite her. “How did you know Lindsay?”
“We went to school together, all the way from elementary through high school,” Heather answered. “We were best friends. We spent most of our free time together, apart from when we were working. As you know, Lindsay worked at your car wash on the weekends. I assume you met her?”
“I don’t remember.” Judy tilted her head back and eyed Heather appraisingly. “I take it you knew back then about her affair with Bill?”
“I knew of it,” Heather conceded. “But I never met him.” She paused, eying the water and deciding against risking taking a sip. “I tried to talk Lindsay into ending it. We argued a lot about it, but she insisted they were in love, and that Bill was going to leave you and marry her.”
Judy let out a sarcastic laugh. “He left me all right, but I guess he left her too. He moved out of state after I sued for divorce.”
Heather nodded, studying her expression. “I know. I tried to contact him.”
A flicker of uncertainty crossed Judy’s face. “Tried?”
“I found out he passed away recently,” Heather said.
Judy gave a stiff nod. “He had pancreatic cancer. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, not even him.”
“Did you get to see him again before he died?” Heather asked, feigning a sympathetic air. She had to find out if Bill had told Judy what she had done, or if she had come here on a wild goose chase.
“I had no wish to,” Judy said sharply.
“For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for the pain you’ve suffered,” Heather said, hoping to steer the conversation around to Damien. Sooner or later, Judy might slip up and say something incriminating.
“It’s funny how things ended up,” Judy said looking distractedly out the window. “Funny’s not really the right word. What I mean is that it’s odd they both ended up dying before their time—and within a few months of each other.” She turned back to Heather and pinned a steely gaze on her. “Makes you wonder, doesn’t it? Some would say they got their just desserts in the end.”
“I don’t think it works that way. We don’t always get justice in this life,” Heather said, eying her coolly. “I’ve learned that in my line of work.”
Judy reached for her water. “What line of work are you in?”
“I’m a private investigator—based in LA.”
Judy arched a brow. “That sounds exciting. And dangerous. Of course living in LA sounds dangerous to me. I’m a small-town girl myself. I could never live in a big city.”
“It’s not as exciting as you think,” Heather answered. “Most of the time I’m huddled up in my car late at night trying to keep warm. I’m hired to tail a lot of cheating spouses in divorce cases.”
Judy smiled coldly. “How ironic. I could have used you back in the day.” She crossed her legs and set her glass down on the end table. “So, what are these photos you wanted to ask me about?”
Heather retrieved the photo of Bill and Lindsay from her backpack, and then pulled up the newspaper article of Damien and his parents on her phone. She held them both out to Judy.
She took the photo of Bill and Lindsay from Heather’s h
and and studied it wordlessly before glancing at the picture on Heather’s phone. “I’ve always loved this one of Damien. He got player of the year his senior year. Bill and I were so proud of him.”
“I wanted to ask you whether Damien knew Lindsay,” Heather said. “He was only a year older than her. I wondered if their paths ever crossed.”
Judy handed the photos back to Heather. “I suppose he might have seen her at the car wash, but they didn’t hang out together.” She hesitated, a perturbed frown on her brow. “I still don’t understand why you’re here.”
Heather thought for a moment. Judy Kinney was not a particularly warm person, but Heather was finding it hard to believe she was capable of murder, or even arson. “The truth is, Lindsay’s friends hired me to look into her death. We’ve been receiving threatening messages over the last few months, and one of her friends was poisoned and ended up in hospital. I’ve been trying to track down all Lindsay’s acquaintances to see if they know anything that could be helpful—in particular, if she was being threatened in the weeks before she died.” She paused and then added, “Was she in touch with your ex-husband before he passed away?”
A flash of irritation crossed Judy’s face. “I wouldn’t know. Have you notified the police?”
“They’re investigating the poisoning incident, but unfortunately, there’s not a lot they can do about the threats.”
Judy wrinkled her forehead. “I really don’t see how I can help you either.”
“It was a long shot, admittedly,” Heather said. “I thought Bill might have said something to you before he passed. I need to rule out the possibility that Lindsay was murdered. I don’t want to alarm her mother unnecessarily—she’s somewhat frail, and Lindsay was her only child. It was hard watching her go through all her old photos.”
Judy’s expression softened. “That must be very difficult for her, reliving all the memories. Thankfully, I didn’t have to take care of Bill’s affairs when he passed. Teresa handled it all.”
“Teresa?”
Judy pursed her lips in a disapproving manner. “My estranged daughter—Damien’s twin.”
Heather blinked across at her trying to keep her composure. Twin? Somewhere in the recesses of her mind she vaguely recalled Lindsay mentioning once that Bill had college-aged twins. It had never come up again, and, as the relationship had fizzled out a short time later, it had completely slipped Heather’s mind. Her chilled skin began to prickle.
“Does … your daughter live in Davenport too?” Heather asked, trying to inject a calmness she didn’t feel into her voice.
“She lives near Buffalo Hills. It’s only thirty miles from here, but I haven’t seen her in years. She’s … a strange one, but very bright. She was always a big animal lover but, to tell you the truth, she’s a bit of a hoarder. Her house is piled high with stuff and it smells like a kennel. I can’t bring myself to go over there.”
“Perhaps Bill’s death will be a first step in you two getting back together,” Heather suggested, desperate to keep Judy talking. The more she could find out about Teresa, the better.
Judy let out a snort. “Not likely. She never forgave me for divorcing her father. It was a contentious split. Teresa was in veterinary school at the time and she had to drop out—the divorce ate all our money.” She twisted her lips. “Maybe if Bill had been more focused on the business than on his extracurricular activities, we’d have been in a better position.”
“So Teresa took her father’s side?” Heather prompted.
“At first she did. But after he abandoned us, Damien became very rebellious. He started drinking and hanging out with the wrong crowd. And then … came the accident. Teresa blamed her father for Damien’s death—well, her father and his lover.”
27
“Of course, I never told Damien and Teresa who their father cheated on me with,” Judy rambled on. “Your friend was only a teenager, after all, and I knew Bill would dump her as soon as the novelty wore off.” She broke off and peered at Heather with a perturbed expression on her face. “Are you all right?”
Heather swallowed the rapidly thickening knot in her throat. “I’m fine, thanks. It’s just such a … sad story.”
Judy sighed, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. “It really is. With Bill’s passing, I’ve lost my entire family—more or less. But you’ve had your own share of grief to deal with. You lost your best friend.” She got to her feet and started fussing with the fresh cut flowers in the vase on the end table next to her chair.
Heather rose, taking it as her cue to leave. “I should get going. I appreciate your time.”
“Take care of yourself back in LA,” Judy said, showing her to the door. “It’s a very different world to Iowa.”
“Different, but in some ways just the same,” Heather replied.
Back in her car, she immediately dialed Josh’s number. Once again, the phone went straight to voicemail. She thumped her fist on the dashboard in frustration. Why hadn’t he called her back? With or without him, she was going to drive out to Buffalo Hills right now and confront Teresa. There was no doubt in her mind that Damien’s twin sister was the mysterious stranger with the braided hair. She dug around in her backpack for her laptop and connected it to her phone’s hotspot. It didn’t take long before she had tracked down Teresa’s address in one of her industry databases. After punching the details into her GPS, she put the car in gear.
As she was pulling out of the condominium complex, her phone beeped with an incoming text. She glanced impatiently at the screen. Josh—finally! She reached for her phone and opened up the text, staring in confusion as a picture flashed onto her screen—a man tied to a chair, his head flopped forward on his chest.
Her breath came in short, shallow bursts, her thoughts swirling in confused gusts like particles in a dust storm. Breathless with terror, she enlarged the picture. There was no question that it was Josh. He was in a room somewhere, but the picture was too dark to make out any details in the background. Goosebumps pricked her arms, spreading over her skin like fire ants. She couldn’t tell if he was dead or alive. If anything happened to him, she would never forgive herself for dragging him into this. A moment later, a second text came through.
If you want to see him again, come alone.
Heather typed frantically back. Who is this?
Didn’t my mother tell you? I’m the evil twin.
Heather squeezed her eyes shut. Teresa! She must have seen her together with Josh and decided to use him as bait. And she had his phone, so she knew all about Heather’s visit to Judy. It all made sense now. It was as Heather had feared all along—Lindsay’s so-called accident had been no accident. It had been a meticulously planned murder. And Teresa wasn’t finished yet.
A chill rippled across Heather’s shoulders as the stark truth hit her. Heather has killed before. She’ll do it again. There was no doubt in her mind that Teresa knew everything. And now she had Josh tied up and helpless, completely at her mercy. One-by-one, she was coming after Heather’s friends. Maybe she assumed they all knew she had left Damien to die and had covered it up all these years. Instinctively, Heather’s hand went to the concealed weapon beneath her shirt. She couldn’t afford to take any chances. Teresa was clearly unstable. She had demonstrated as much, and her mother had confirmed it. She had also proved she was dangerous. It might already be too late to save Josh.
Mustering her resolve, Heather floored the gas pedal, and headed toward the town of Buffalo Hills. As she drove, she tried to collect her thoughts. She needed to stay calm and treat this as a run-of-the-mill assignment, distance herself from the emotional side of what was happening. If she thought of Josh as her friend, instead of simply another client, she would lose the cool edge that had served her well in her investigations over the years. Allowing the emotions she was feeling inside free rein would make her vulnerable. She had no choice but to tackle the situation like every other job she was hired to do. Josh’s life depended on it.
> Taking a few deep breaths, she tried to mentally prepare herself for the inevitable showdown that awaited her. Ultimately, Damien’s sister would require her pound of flesh. But Heather had a hunch she wouldn’t be in a rush to finish what she’d started. First, she would want to talk her way through it, explaining with relish exactly how she had figured out who Lindsay was, how she’d pulled off her accidental death, and how she was going about picking off her friends one-by-one. No doubt, she would try to justify everything she was doing. As deranged as she was, Teresa probably believed she was acting rationally by avenging her brother’s death. Heather could understand only too well the pain that fueled her anger, and the things it could drive a person to do.
Blowing through a red light, she struggled to get her head straight. She would play Teresa’s game in the hopes of lowering her defenses—compliment her genius, feed her ego, all the while waiting for the right moment to overpower her. She wouldn’t use her gun unless that was what it took to free Josh. Maybe she could persuade Teresa to let Josh go and let her take his place—although he didn’t look like he was in any state to drive away. Teresa must have drugged him or something. How else could she have overpowered him? And how on earth had she lured him there in the first place?
As Heather left the suburbs behind and ventured farther into farmland, her thoughts drifted back to that fateful night twenty years earlier when she had pursued Damien to his death. This time fate had turned the tables on her. Her life would soon be in the hands of his twin—a woman whose desire for revenge had festered for two decades until, at last, she had found a target on which to unleash her hatred. Heather had no idea what to expect at Teresa’s place—whether she would be walking into a trap, or whether Josh was even alive. Regardless, she owed it to him to get there as quickly as she could. She would do whatever it took to save him. He didn’t deserve to die for what she’d done.
It had finally caught up with her in the worst possible way. Deep down she had always known this day would come—she just hadn’t known what form it would take. Now, she was about to find out.