Pecan Pie and Deadly Lies (An Adams Grove Novel)

by Naigle, Nancy

  “Anything I can do?” Pete asked.

  “Be sure the guys know everything’s cool and keep the album on schedule. And when y’all go to Arty’s funeral, don’t talk to anyone about the incident.”

  “You’re not going to the funeral?” Pete asked.

  “No. My attorney advised against it.”

  Pete pushed his long hair over his shoulder. “You got it. I can take care of that. Kasey, I can take Jake back down to the studio to hang out with us for a while. Give you some time if you want.”

  Kasey put her arm around Jake. “Do you want to go with Pete?”

  “We’ll shoot some hoops or something. Sound good?” Pete said to Jake.

  Jake raced over to Pete, and as they turned to go out the back door Tori yelled after them, “I made fried chicken for dinner. Bring the gang back up around six thirty.”

  “Wouldn’t miss that.” Pete pulled the front door closed behind them.

  “I’m going to be in the kitchen if y’all need anything,” Tori said.

  Cody walked over to Kasey and wrapped his arms around her. “I’m so sorry I’m putting you through all of this.”

  “It’s not your fault,” she said. “You’re the one going through it all. I wish there was more I could do to help.”

  “I can see the worry on your face. I’m so sorry for that.” He interlaced his fingers with hers. “Thanks for hanging with me.”

  He’d been so afraid she’d be gone when he got back. That thought had been more frightening than being falsely accused for the murder of Arty. If there was one true love for everyone, he knew now more than ever that she was his. He just didn’t know how he’d convince her of that.

  Kasey sighed. “I hope this whole thing today isn’t my fault.”

  “Your fault? How could it be your fault?”

  “Scott called me earlier. I told him I was here. He wasn’t happy about it. He may have had something to do with them picking you up again.”

  He shook his head. “I really don’t think so, and even if he did, it doesn’t matter. I’m easy to find, and I don’t have anything to hide. They are just putting more pieces of the puzzle together. And they’re likely to find a lot more connections to me as they continue the investigation. Arty and I have years of history.”

  He sat down on the couch next to his mom and guided Kasey next to him by the hand.

  Kasey kept hold of his hand. “When I talked to Von, he said he’s getting statements and revalidating every single piece of your timeline. I ran into one of my photographer friends at Arty’s party so I contacted him while you were gone. He’s sending me his pictures just in case there’s anything in them that can help or jog a memory. He’s e-mailing them to me tonight.”

  “That’s good.” Weariness enveloped him. “What an emotional ride. I want to feel bad for Arty, even though part of me is still so mad at him.”

  “Do they know how he died yet? They’re being so evasive on television,” Denise said.

  Cody nodded. “Someone shot him. They wouldn’t say much more than that, or even if it was the cause of death. I guess it’s confidential until they get more answers.” He took his mom’s hand in his other and squeezed both of their hands. “Y’all need to know that it was my gun that they found at the scene,” Cody said. “That’s why they picked me up.”

  The color drained from Kasey’s face.

  “What?” Denise looked concerned. “You didn’t take a gun with you that night, did you?”

  “No. Hell, no. It’s my old Beretta nine millimeter. Mom, you remember it. I used it in that music video. Pretty gun, but I didn’t have a use for it. It was really more of a collector’s gun. I sold it to Arty a couple years ago. It’s still registered to me.”

  “That’s the one with all the engraving on it. The real fancy one?” Denise asked. “I don’t think I knew you’d sold that one. I remember Arty salivating over it.”

  “That’s the one,” he said.

  Kasey pulled her arms across her chest and then ran her hands up and down her arms. “Guns always freak me out a little.”

  “Don’t you worry,” Cody said. “I made sure every gun I own is locked up in the gun safe before you and Jake got here. You’re safe here.”

  “No one heard the gunshot?” Denise asked. “Cody, that just doesn’t make sense. There are always people hanging around that estate.”

  “I guess not,” Cody said. “They think the time of death was between midnight and one in the morning. Maybe everyone was gone for the night.”

  Kasey scooched forward on the couch. “That’s good news though, right? I mean you were at my house by one and I’m a couple hours from Arty’s so there’s no way you could have been there during that time.”

  Cody realized she was reconvincing herself of his innocence. Ouch. “My alibi still stands. My accountant will have a receipt from the gun transaction too. Can’t blame them for bringing me in. Between the gun and one of my bandannas being there they wouldn’t have had much choice.”

  “There’s more. The safe was open, so they’re looking at robbery as a motive, but there were so many valuables around, they don’t think that’s likely.”

  “Maybe Arty had it open when someone surprised him.” Kasey shrugged. “Or maybe he caught them in the middle of breaking into it and they panicked.”

  “Possibly, but the kicker is that part of what they found in the safe has to do with me too. Arty was skimming money off all of my merchandising. Had been for years, I guess.”

  “Oh my goodness gracious.” Denise shook her head.

  “Guess he couldn’t get enough,” Cody said.

  Denise frowned. “Well, I’m glad you’re not going to that good-for-nothing’s funeral. I’m sure not going either.”

  “Von and I talked about it earlier. He’s going to meet me there. Pete said I can fly down with them.” Kasey’s phone signaled she had a message. She lifted the phone and flipped through the contents. “Can I use the printer in your office? Andy just sent me his pictures from the party and I have a few that I took too. We may as well see if there is anything we can add to solve this mystery and get it out of our lives.” She leapt from the chair.

  “Yeah, sure. I’ll show you where everything is.”

  “I’m going to go upstairs and get my laptop. I’ll be ready in one sec.” She ran up the stairs, and Denise turned to her son. “Honey, I’m going to go back to the house and get some chores done. Let me know what I can do.”

  He hugged her. “Thanks, Mom. For always believing in me. I think they’re getting closer to figuring things out. At least I hope so. I have that private event scheduled for day after tomorrow. So far they still want me to play. I’m hoping Kasey will come with me.

  Denise started to leave and then walked back over to Cody. “She’s really special. I had a good chat with her earlier today, before things went nuts around here. I can see why you’re so drawn to her. I like her.”

  “I like her too.” He didn’t need his mother’s approval, but he sure did like the validation. “I just hope this whole mess doesn’t ruin our chance for something together.”

  She left just as Kasey came back downstairs with her camera and laptop in hand.

  Cody led Kasey to his office, and turned on his printer. “Anything else you need?”

  “No. I think I can handle it from here. I’ll print them all out, but we might even see them better right here on your screen since it’s gigantic.” She did her best Vanna White impression in front of the twenty-four-inch monitor.

  “You think that’s big?” He hit a toggle on the desk and a seven-foot screen slowly lifted from the floor to the ceiling, and on it, the computer image projected.

  “That’ll teach me to be impressed.” She shouldered him out of the way to take the chair and start downloading pictures.

  “Maybe you can give me another chance to impress you.” He stepped behind her and rubbed her shoulders.

  “I’m already significantly impressed with yo
u.” She leaned her head back against his belly and looked up at him.

  He leaned over and kissed her, his hands working their way from her shoulders down her arms.

  She wriggled from him, sat up, and put her attention back on the computer screen. “I’m not going to get anything done with you doing that.”

  “And that’s a bad thing?”

  “This is important.” She reached for the mouse and began clicking and moving stuff around the screen.

  “Okay, I can see I’m not going to be much help for a while. I’m going to go down to the studio and I’ll see you at dinner.”

  “Okay. I’ll see you in a little bit.” She stopped him before he got out the door. “Can you bring me what you had on the timeline? I told Von I’d send the updated list to him. He’s going to give me a call later so we can compare notes.”

  “Yep. I’ll bring them down.”

  He went upstairs and changed into running clothes and then peeked into his office as he headed back out. Kasey had her hair pushed behind one ear and was leaning in toward her laptop screen working. She was a girl-next-door knockout, and right this minute she looked more beautiful to him than any of the Playboy models he’d dated.

  He put the list on her desk. “See you shortly.”

  Kasey watched Cody from the office window as he stretched and then jogged through the garden toward the studio path. She couldn’t pull her attention away until he was out of sight. Her stomach cramped. What will I find in these pictures? Will it even help?

  By the time dinner was ready, she had eight-and-a-half-by-eleven color photos strewn across his desk and a few propped up on the bookshelf behind her. She paper-clipped and shuffled things around like a secretary on speed.

  Cody walked in and stopped in the middle of the room. “What is all this?”

  “Every single thing I can think of,” she said.

  “You’ve been busy. Come eat. This can wait a little while.” He reached for her hand but she just kept right on flipping through papers.

  How can he possibly eat? My stomach feels like a volcano erupted in it. We’ve got to find something. “I just want to get all these marked with the time stamps from the files.” She stopped and asked, “Would you mind making sure Jake eats?”

  “Mind? I’d be happy to. I got this.”

  He left and it felt good to be able to ask for help. It sure wasn’t something she was used to, but it seemed to just be part of the routine around here—to help one another. I could get used to that.

  She wasn’t even sure how much time had passed when she heard the rustle of multiple footsteps stomping down the hallway. When she looked up Cody, Jake, and Shutterbug were in the doorway.

  “Hi, Mom. We brought you dinner,” Jake said.

  “Thank you.”

  Jake marched over to the desk and put the plate down in front of her. “I put all the best stuff on there for you all by myself.”

  Kasey glanced at the selection. All Jake’s favorites.

  Cody coughed and muttered. “I tried to work in some salad or something healthy, but Jake wanted to handle it.”

  “It’s perfect,” she said.

  Cody walked over to the desk. “Everything going okay here?”

  “I’ve got everything labeled and I sent copies of it all to Von. He and I talked earlier and went through the timeline again. I gave him the details about the time of death. He’s closing any gaps with follow-ups from our list.”

  “Thanks so much for all of this,” he said.

  “Don’t be silly. It’s why I came.” And to spend time with you. “I had hoped that I’d find something in these pictures that would set everything right again, but then I guess that was high hopes. I mean, there’s no bringing back Arty.”

  “No. There’s not,” Cody said.

  The silence was awkward and even Jake looked a little uncomfortable, his eyes darting between the two of them.

  Cody said, “Are you almost done here?”

  “Just about. Not too much longer.” She looked down at Jake, who had laid his head down on the desk. “You’ve had a long day, Jake. You ready for bed?”

  Jake nodded without argument.

  “I’ll take you upstairs.” Cody stooped down in front of Jake. “Climb on, buddy.”

  Jake flung himself on Cody’s back like one of those guys in a Velcro suit against a wall. Cody lifted him up and wrapped his arms under the hook of Jake’s knees. “Say goodnight to your mom.”

  Cody turned and dipped down so Jake could hug her from there.

  “Night, sweetheart. I’ll come up and tuck you into bed in just a little while,” she said.

  “I’m a big boy. Cody can do it.”

  “Well, if you’re such a big boy you can walk,” Cody teased, but Jake jumped down and Cody gave her a cocky grin and walked over to the door.

  Jake gave her a kiss and then raced over to his side.

  Cody waved and said, “We’re off.” Shutterbug led them out of the room and Kasey felt a peace come over her as she watched her little man march up to Cody and lift his hand waiting for Cody to take it. She swallowed hard wishing the tickle in her nose would quit before a tear fell. At least it was the good kind of tears.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Cody took Jake through his prayers and tucked him into bed.

  “I love you,” Jake said and wrapped his arms around Cody’s neck. Then the little boy dropped down to the pillow and squeezed his eyes tight.

  Cody stood there for a moment watching Jake, then quietly stepped into the hallway and listened to be sure he was okay. He wasn’t sure he’d ever felt more important in his whole life. It was almost a little overwhelming. He listened to Shutterbug’s tags jingle as she settled in to protect her master.

  I could get used to this.

  He walked down the stairs wondering if it would have been the same fifteen, hell, seventeen, years ago if he’d had children. Probably not. He was a different person back then.

  When he walked into his office, Kasey was leaning back in his leather chair talking on the phone. She had one foot propped on the edge of the desk, bobbing back in the chair as she talked. “Yeah, I know. That’ll be perfect. He said he’d have his pilot fly me down, so I’ll just meet you at the airport at noon if that’ll work. Then we can ride to the service together, and the band will go separately. Yeah. I got it. No. I know Pete will help.”

  She looked so at home sitting at his desk like that. She seemed to wear his environment like a favorite T-shirt. Do you feel it too? The conversation he’d overheard her having with Riley replayed in his mind. How can you say you feel so out of place here when it seems to me like you’re what’s been missing all along? Cody felt like he was eavesdropping. He cleared his throat so she’d know he’d walked in.

  When she turned and saw him she dropped her foot like a guilty schoolgirl getting caught with her feet on the furniture. Sorry, she mouthed.

  He threw a hand in the air. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t done himself. He sat in the chair across from her while she talked.

  “I know. I don’t know what to expect, but at least with you there I know we won’t miss any important details. If there are even any to be found,” she said and shrugged. “Yep. Thanks. I’ll see you then.” She hung up the phone. “That was Von again.”

  “I gathered.”

  “I think we’re in good shape here. Can you look through these pictures with me?” She got out of the chair and pushed it back from the desk.

  Cody stepped around and put an arm around her hips. “Okay, what do we have?”

  “I’ve put them in time order; there’s a mix of the ones I took, and the ones my friend Andy sent me.”

  He glanced across all of them and then came back to one in particular. “This can’t be from the night of the party.”

  “No, why?”

  He tapped the picture and tugged it forward. “It’s Annette.”

  “Yeah. So?”

  “So, she told me that Arty h
ad fired her earlier that afternoon before the party, so she wouldn’t have been there that night. Could it have been from earlier in the day?”

  Kasey frowned. “I’m not sure if I saw her there myself, but… no, Andy definitely said all these pictures are from that night. And look, that’s the chocolate fountain in the background. It’s from that night for sure.”

  “What else you got here?” He scanned the next few pictures pointing out the people he knew.

  Kasey wrote the names on sticky notes and tabbed them.

  Cody paused. “That’s Amy.”

  “Lou’s daughter?”

  He nodded. “And Arty’s daughter.”

  “She’s pretty,” Kasey commented. “She’s really talented. I heard her sing that night.”

  The next picture was of the big lighted marquee that was in the front tent. She’d taken that picture.

  “Amy Foxx?” Cody snickered. “Sounds like something Arty would come up with. Yeah, that’s her on stage. That must’ve been where she was heading when she stopped in at her house and I met her.” If she hadn’t stopped, I may never have known. A blessing or a curse, he wasn’t sure.

  “I guess he was representing her too,” Kasey said.

  “He’d hardly let her go to another agent.” Cody scanned the other pictures.

  “Well, then I guess tomorrow at the funeral should be interesting,” Kasey said.

  “I’m sure she and Lou will be there.”

  Kasey put a star next to each of the people he remembered seeing at the door of Arty’s office that night. That could be important.

  “Von said he got a list of all the license plates from the valet service too. Your fan, Jace, put the T-bird in the database even though you skipped the check-in line.”

  “Good for him. So he’s got me coming and going?”

  “Yep.”

  He sat in the chair and faced her. “Thanks for doing all of this.” He spread his legs and pulled her between them with his hands clasped behind her rear end.