by Diana Orgain
She pried her eyes open and looked up at me. “Laurie’s been a dear! She’s been asleep the entire time!”
Figures. Why did Laurie always sleep when someone else was watching her? Now she’d probably be up the rest of the night.
“Kiku’s only dilated to three. There’s gonna be a C-section at eight in the morning.”
Mom yawned, then stood and stretched. “I’ll be back at seven.” She gathered her things together. “Oh! A nice man named Galigani called as soon as you left. Said they released Jennifer today.” She picked up a Post-it note and read the message. “The DA doesn’t have enough evidence to prosecute.” Mom looked up from the note. “And he said the gun was registered to William Connolly.”
Jim sucked in his breath. “Dad’s gun.”
I lay down next to Jim, who was studying the reports.
“How can you read right now? I feel like someone threw sand in my eyes.”
Jim put his arm around me. “I have to do something to keep my mind off my stupid loser brother. Go to sleep, honey.”
I rested my head on his shoulder and tucked my ice-cold feet in between his calves. That’s another thing I love about my darling husband-no matter how cold my feet, the man has never ever complained or hesitated in warming them up. He’s my own personal heater.
“Anything interesting in those reports?” I asked through a yawn.
“They were making a ton of dough for selling knick knacks on Haight Street.”
“Maybe we should go into retail, too. I could sell Mom’s beautiful knit items.”
Jim laughed. “Seriously, there’s something hinky about these ledgers.”
I sat up. “Like what?”
“I don’t know, exactly. Something’s not right, but I’m too tired to figure it out.”
I reached across him and shut off the light. “We’ll look at them in the morning.”
He kissed me. “Night, honey.”
“Night.”
There was silence for a minute, long enough for me to see the edge of sleep in my mind. Long enough for my subconscious to ask the question again: What had Rich been looking for at Michelle’s house and who had been with him? Then Laurie began to cry.
After a fitful few hours of sleep, I awoke again, this time to Laurie’s hungry cries. I pulled her into bed with us and fell back asleep while breastfeeding.
Something was nagging at my mind, not letting me rest properly. What was it?
Kiku! The new baby! We were going to miss the birth. I struggled to open my eyes and look at the clock. Quarter to seven.
I shook Jim. “Wake up, Jim!”
He didn’t move.
“Jim, Kiku’s going to have the baby soon! Mom will be here in eighteen minutes! Wake up!”
Jim turned and slowly rolled over toward me. My hand shot out to stop him. “Laurie’s right behind you.”
Jim moaned, then sat up. “We’ve got to get to the hospital, huh?”
“Yeah. Get up.”
Jim’s red eyes peered at me. “I’m exhausted.”
“Welcome to the club.”
“Why don’t you stay here? I’ll go.”
“No way. I want to see the squishy baby.”
Jim smiled. “Okay, you go. I’ll stay here with our cheesy little one.”
“Nope. Get up.”
“Thought so.” Jim swung his legs over the edge of the bed. “I’ll make coffee.”
We arrived at the hospital in record time. The nurse would only allow one of us into Kiku’s room. We decided that Jim would stay in the waiting room.
I went into the labor and delivery room and, to my astonishment, saw George at her side.
“When did you get here?”
Kiku looked over to see me. “Kate!” she cried happily. “George here for baby!”
“Of course he is,” I said, making my voice sound as casual as I could.
The nurse started to prep Kiku for the cesarean. I slipped out into the hallway to wait with Jim.
After about an hour, George appeared, looking haggard. “Healthy baby boy, ten pounds, two ounces. We’re going to name him Robert. Momma’s doing fine. They’re going to move her now.”
Ten pounds, two ounces? Good Lord, that was almost twice as big as Laurie had been at birth! Even now at six weeks she was still only about eight pounds.
“Congratulations, Daddy,” Jim said, patting his brother on the back.
Tears streamed down my face.
George leaned into Jim and said, “I thought I was going to pass out in there, man.”
We laughed. Jim embraced George. When they let go of each other, both of them had tears in their eyes.
“I do love you, buddy. You know that, right?” Jim said.
George nodded. “I know. Me, too.”
Kiku and Baby Robert had been moved to a third-floor recovery room with a partial view of the Golden Gate Bridge. We sent Jim to get breakfast for Kiku and me.
Hey, why not? I was always hungry now anyway.
I settled myself on the bed, at Kiku’s feet, and cooed at Robert. George couldn’t let go of him. Looking at him holding his baby made me miss Laurie. How could I miss her so quickly?
Kiku dozed off.
Now was my chance.
“George, we gotta talk.”
George looked up from the baby and bit his lip.
“Where have you been? Are you behind these murders?”
His eyes grew wide. “Come on, Kate. ’Course not.”
“I found ledgers showing monkey business at Heavenly Haight and El Paraiso.”
George’s shoulders drooped. He exhaled and shook his head back and forth. “So, you know then.”
Know what?
Without giving it a second thought, I blurted, “I can help you.”
George moved toward the corner of the room, away from Kiku. He motioned with his head for me to follow.
“Rich’s been looking everywhere for those ledgers. We figured Michelle was keeping records. But we didn’t know where.”
I wanted to shout, “What does it mean?” but bit my tongue.
“I never wanted to sell dope. But I was on the streets, so in exchange for a place to crash, I sold a little for Brad, you know?”
Cash deposits to Michelle, bags at the pier, secrecy about everything. Now it was starting to make sense.
I kept my voice steady. “After Brad was killed, you worked for Michelle. Now you work for Rich, huh?”
George nodded, misery showing on his face.
“You were selling drugs for Michelle. She denied you were at her place the night Brad was killed because she didn’t want the police to make the connection between her and the drugs, right?”
George sighed. “I was over there to drop off the cash from that night. I had no idea anything was going on with Brad. I knew he and Michelle were having problems, but, you know, everyone has problems. I didn’t think he’d end up in the bay.”
“Is the pier your drug drop?”
George nodded.
“Rich was looking for those reports because they show how the money is being laundered, right?” I asked.
“Through Heavenly Haight,” George said.
“So, Svetlana was in on this, too?”
“No!” George said emphatically. “She was clean. I was trying to get her to help.”
“It was you. At her house. The day she was killed!”
George’s eye opened wide. “Well, yeah, but I didn’t kill. . I was just there for help. I thought I was being followed. I thought she’d know what to do.”
“Who was following you?”
“I don’t know. .”
“Jennifer Miller?”
“Who?”
“Jennifer Miller was arrested for Brad’s and Svetlana’s murders. Michelle’s, too.”
George looked puzzled. “Jen?”
“Did she know you had a gun?”
“Not that I know of.”
“It was your gun, George, the ballistic repor
t confirms it now. Jennifer was released by the DA for insufficient evidence, so whatever you know, you better cough it up right now, because guess who’ll be the next person the cops come after.”
“It wasn’t me.”
“Who then? Rich?”
George brought his hands up, covering his ears with them. “Geeze, Kate. Rich didn’t kill anybody. Is that what you think?”
I waved my hand in despair, motioning him for a better idea.
George shook his head. “Rich is just a stoner at heart. He didn’t want the business to get busted. In fact, we’re thinking of getting a medical marijuana license and going legit.”
Now I’d heard everything.
George continued, “Rich wouldn’t kill anybody.”
“Somebody did. Somebody killed them with your gun, George! Who knew you had a gun?” George stared at the floor. “Think. Come on.”
George remained despondent.
“Does Rich have a girlfriend?” I asked.
George shook his head. “No. I don’t think so.”
I glanced at Kiku, who was still asleep. I dug into my pocket and pulled the bracelet out, using my last-ditch effort to get George to talk. “Whose is this?”
George frowned. “What’s that?”
“It fell out of your bag.”
Fear flashed across his face as he examined the bracelet. “It’s not mine. I’ve never. . I’ve never seen it before.”
Jim and I rode home in silence, both of us caught up in our own thoughts. Jim had another meeting scheduled with Dirk Jonson later today and I imagined he was rehearsing it in his head. He also had a couple of interviews scheduled for full-time work. I said a little prayer that Jim would land something soon.
I filled him in on George’s activities. He convinced me to give Mrs. Avery an update. Especially since she was now the sole owner of both the restaurant and the shop on Haight.
At the very least she needed to know what was going on. If she wanted to press charges against Rich and George, so be it.
When we got home, we found Mom hovering over Laurie, putting something red and green on her head.
Another cap?
“What are you doing, Mom? What’s that?”
“It’s her Halloween costume! I needed to try it on before I sew the last of it. Halloween’s only a few weeks away, you know.”
“What is it?”
Mom could barely contain her excitement. “She’s going to be a strawberry! I saw the pattern in a magazine. Isn’t it adorable?”
The look on my face must have betrayed me, because Mom pursed her lips. “What did you want her to be? A pumpkin? That’s so overdone. You’ve got to be original, darling.”
Mom packed her craft supplies, gave Laurie a final squeeze, and departed. Jim got dressed and left for his appointment. I collapsed onto the bed exhausted and slept with Laurie for about an hour. I dreamt a huge strawberry was chasing me, then the strawberry turned to a wash of red blood. I woke up with a start when the doorbell rang.
I stumbled down the hallway and peered out the peephole.
Jennifer?
Tears were streaming down her face.
Should I open the door? I thought of Laurie in the back of the house. No way.
“What’s up?” I asked through the door.
“Kate?”
“Um-hum.”
Jennifer looked at the door nervously. “Can you open the door?”
“Uh, I’m not dressed,” I lied.
What are you doing on my doorstep, you pothead?
“I’ll wait,” she said.
“What do you want, Jennifer?”
“I need to talk!”
“About what?”
“I need your help! I was arrested. They think I killed Brad and Michelle and, God, my boss even! I didn’t do it, Kate! I need your help. You’re a PI, right? I didn’t do it!”
Sounded good, but how could I trust her? I’d meet her in public.
“All right. Go to the little café on the corner. I’ll be there in a bit,” I said.
I looked through the peephole as she wiped her nose on her sleeve and nodded. “Okay, I’ll wait for you there,” she said.
I watched from the front window as Jennifer made her way down the street. Then I packed the diaper purse and got myself ready. Finally, I placed Laurie into her stroller and took off toward the café.
Jennifer was seated at a booth, sipping a latte. I ordered a green tea and maneuvered the stroller next to the table.
Jennifer peeked in on Laurie, who was studying the hanging doll attached to her stroller.
“Thanks for meeting me,” Jennifer whimpered.
I nodded.
“I was framed,” Jennifer continued.
Now I had really heard everything.
I took a deep breath to keep my cool. “By whom?”
“Mrs. Avery.”
•CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE•
The Sixth Week-All Wet
I let my jaw drop. “You think Mrs. Avery framed you?”
Jennifer nodded, pressing her thin lips together. “She’s had it out for me. No doubt about it. She hated that I was seeing Brad.”
“She didn’t know you were seeing Brad.”
“What do you mean? She saw us together one time at the country club. When Brad went to use the restroom, she warned me to stay away from him or else!”
I shrugged. “She told me she didn’t know who he was seeing. Maybe she thought it was a one-time thing at the club.”
Jennifer sighed, looking defeated. “Maybe. But she’s evil.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, look at the Penny thing.” Jennifer must have noticed the confused look on my face because she clarified, “Brad and Svetie’s daughter. Svet was convinced that someone Penny knew lured her into the water that day.”
Okay, I thought I’d heard everything, but now I knew I’d heard it all.
“You think Mrs. Avery lured her own granddaughter to her death?”
Laurie gave a little kick in her stroller for attention. I rocked the stroller forward and back to soothe her.
Jennifer flipped her hair. “It sounds bad, I know.”
“No offense, but it sounds preposterous. Maybe you’ve been smoking a little too much of that hippie hay.”
Jennifer shook her head. “I don’t really smoke all that much.”
“Does Rich?”
Her eyes narrowed. “I wouldn’t know.”
“Don’t you run drugs out of Heavenly Haight for him?”
Jennifer’s face registered shock. “How. . how did you know that?”
“Well, I am a PI.” I felt momentarily proud of myself.
Maybe I really could do this!
“Does Mrs. Avery know about the drugs?”
“Who do you think pulls all the strings?” Jennifer asked.
I tried to ignore the sharp pain that burned behind my temples. Mrs. Avery did have an awful lot of money. Could it have come from drug dealing?
I pressed against my temples with my fingers. “What about Svetlana?” I asked. “Was she involved?”
“She knew it was going on, but kinda turned a blind eye. I think she was really depressed after Penny. She tuned a lot of things out.”
“Did she know about your affair with Brad?”
“No! God, no! Svetie still wasn’t over the fact that he left her for Michelle. She hated Michelle and her sister. And I really liked Svetlana, so why rub her nose in it?”
“What about the gun? The police found the gun in your apartment.”
“Yeah, so? It must have been planted there.”
“Who has keys to your apartment? Did Brad?”
“No. Just the apartment manager/handyman guy in 101. But he’s a worm. I’m sure Mrs. Avery could have bribed him.”
I stopped at home only for a moment to pick up the car, then drove straight to Mrs. Avery’s. My head was pounding and dread was growing in my stomach. “Please don’t let Mrs. Avery be invol
ved,” I prayed.
I needed somebody, somehow, to be clean in this whole situation. Even worse, I had a selfish reason for wanting her to be innocent. I wanted to get paid.
I pulled up in front of Mrs. Avery’s house. Her Sea Cliff home stood brightly before me. I carefully parked my Chevrolet between a Jaguar and a Cadillac.
I got out of the car and examined my outfit. Jeans and a maroon top. Not bad, but not great either. I searched for my lipstick in the diaper purse.
What had happened to fashionable Kate? I pulled out a pacifier and a tiny headband with a small white hairbrush.
No lipstick! I tried a second pouch and found a rattle and a red lipstick.
It clashed with the maroon top, but I put it on anyway. Lip color has a way of making me feel more presentable. And I knew I’d need to feel as self-assured as possible for this confrontation.
I pulled my shirt down and hiked up the waist of my jeans. Hey, they were fitting a little better. I plucked Laurie’s car seat from the Chevy and walked up Mrs. Avery’s driveway.
I was out of breath when I arrived. The fatigue of not sleeping well and the case were getting to me.
Huffing and puffing, I climbed the few stairs to her house.
Mrs. Avery’s maid, Marta, greeted Laurie and me at door. She ushered us into the sitting room and directed me to a tan chaise lounge with delicate purple and green flowers on it.
After a few minutes, Marta reentered carrying a silver tea service, which she placed on the coffee table in front of me.
Mrs. Avery emerged, dressed in a red power suit. “Kate! Oh! And little Laurie! How are you, dear?”
I pulled the ledgers out from my bag and showed them to her. “I found these at Michelle’s house.”
Mrs. Avery crossed to a side table and retrieved a pair of reading glasses from the top drawer. She studied the reports a moment, her eyes darting back and forth across the pages. “Rich was hired to look over the affairs of the restaurant and the store. Are you saying he’s cheating me, Kate?”
I looked at her, surprised. What if Mrs. Avery was ignorant of the whole drug operation?
“Well, what do you make of these?” she asked.
I hesitated. Why not go for it? I thought. “I thought maybe you were involved in an illegal activity, Mrs. Avery.”