Mary threw her hands in the air. “Fine. You want to know, so I’ll tell you. I did it for the money.”
I was expecting that answer, but I felt disappointment all the same. “You’re in financial trouble because of the medical bills. You want to pay them off before you die.”
Mary snorted. “I don’t want to pay off the medical bills. Those vultures have been trying to bleed me dry for well over a year. No, I want to take the money so I can go on the vacation to end all vacations … literally.”
“Oh.” Oddly enough, that sounded like the way to do it. If I found out I was dying I’d want to spend as much time as possible on a tropical beach with coconut drinks. “So you took the money so you could run. You agreed to stay through the election to make sure things went smoothly, but you weren’t going to show up for work on Wednesday, were you?”
“No. I have no intention of being here Wednesday.”
I briefly pressed my eyes shut. “I’m honestly sorry this happened to you. No one deserves this. You have to know that you did wrong, though.”
“Oh, I know. I don’t care. You can’t make me care.” Mary was belligerent. “I want out of this county … and out of this state. Soon enough I’ll be out of this world.”
“You have to turn yourself in,” I countered. “You can’t let this election be stolen. There’s too much at stake.”
“The election results are already set in stone no matter what I do,” Mary challenged. “There’s nothing I can do to change that. There’s nothing you can do either.”
“I might be able to do something,” I said. “I need to know who you were helping. It was Aiken, wasn’t it?”
The look that flitted across Mary’s face was smug. “I won’t tell you that.”
“You have an Aiken sticker on your car.” I pointed for emphasis. “You can’t hide who you’re pulling for.”
“No, but I wasn’t lying about not putting that on my car.” Mary rested her hand on the passenger side window and I got the distinct impression she was forced to do it to remain upright. Her strength was waning. “Someone else put it there. I know better than drawing attention to myself in that manner.”
It did seem an odd mistake to make. “So you’re saying it’s not Aiken.”
“I’m not saying who it is one way or another.” Mary searched in her purse until she came up with her keys. The look she shot me was full of challenge. “Are you going to try to stop me from leaving?”
I took a large step away from her vehicle. “That’s not my job. I’m here to report the news, not apprehend suspects.”
“You’re going to call the sheriff, though, aren’t you?” Mary looked resigned.
I nodded. “I have no choice.”
“You do, but I understand why you’re making the one you’re making.” Mary licked her lips as she tugged on the door handle. “You might think this turn of events makes me sorry for what I did. I’m not. I just want some peace before I die.”
Oddly enough, I felt sorry for her despite everything. “I’ll give you twenty minutes before I call Jake. Pick a direction that will confound the people following you. Get out of the county as soon as you can.”
Mary widened her eyes in surprise. “You’re helping me?”
I shook my head. “I’m merely being lazy for twenty minutes. I hope … um … I hope the time left is what you dreamed it would be. As for the rest, well, I understand why you did it.”
Mary smiled. “I think people misunderstand who and what you are. You’re not evil. You’re simply … you.”
“I’m not sure that’s better than what they’re thinking.”
“I’m sure it’s not nearly as bad as they think it is.” She offered up a playful salute. “Thanks for the window. I hope you manage to uncover the truth without my help. I really will laugh myself silly if I hear you’ve cracked this one, too. I’ll be on a beach, so it will be even funnier.”
I smiled. “Good luck.”
“You, too. I think you’re going to need it.”
28 Twenty-Eight
I called Derrick and then waited in the parking lot. It didn’t take long for him and Jake to arrive. The look on Jake’s face told me he was about to start yelling even though he had no idea what I was gearing up to tell him. When I’d called Derrick, I simply explained that it would probably be a good idea if he met me in the lot … and soon. I didn’t expect him to call Jake.
“What did you do?” Jake challenged as he stalked in my direction.
“What makes you think I did anything?”
“Because you’re sitting in this parking lot and called Derrick for help,” Jake replied. “You would only do that if you’re desperate.”
“Or a diligent civilian with important information to share,” I countered.
“Since when have you been diligent?”
“Since … that’s hardly the point.” I rolled my neck and grimaced at the cracking sound. I was tired and cranky and only halfway to the finish line. “I stumbled across some information I thought you’d want me to share. If you’re going to give me attitude, I don’t think I want to share it.”
Jake narrowed his eyes to dangerous brown slits. He looked as if he was thirty seconds from tackling me to the ground and shaking me until I volunteered everything I knew. “What did you find?”
“Are you sure you want to know?” Derrick challenged. “We could walk away now and not look back. It might be easier.”
“It might,” Jake conceded. “She wouldn’t have called unless she had something big, though. We both know that. Whatever she has is big enough that she’s worried I’ll throw her in jail if she doesn’t share.”
I wanted to argue the point, but he was right. “So, I figured out a few things more than I knew at lunch.”
“What did you know at lunch?” Derrick asked.
Jake answered for me, launching into a quick rundown of the paperwork I found and the questions I’d been asking over the past few days. “She’s convinced something nefarious is going on.”
Derrick made a face. “Is this like when you convinced yourself that our mothers were in a secret coven when we were kids? Some people are just bitchy, Avery. That doesn’t mean they’re witches.”
It took everything I had not to pull his hair. He deserved it, but Jake was clearly at his limit. “So, I know you thought I was on the wrong trail with Mary Winters, but … .”
“Please tell me you haven’t been harassing that poor woman,” Jake barked. “She’s sick, Avery. She doesn’t deserve you wandering around doing the obnoxious things you do. Stay away from her.”
“It’s too late for that.”
“Oh, geez.” Jake slapped his hand to his forehead. “She’s probably at the department filing a report about you right now. You’ll be barred from the clerk’s office tomorrow night. You know that, right? That means you won’t be around to hear the results.”
He clearly wasn’t getting it. That was almost better for me. Almost.
“I can guarantee she’s not at the sheriff’s department swearing out a complaint,” I supplied. “If I had to guess, she’s halfway out of the county by now and you’ll have to hurry if you want to catch her.”
Jake planted his hands on his hips. “And why would I want to do that?”
“Because she’s guilty.”
“Guilty of what?”
“She’s helping one of the men – although I’m not sure which one because she swears up and down someone else put that Aiken bumper sticker on her car – hide money in his campaign accounts.”
“To what end?” Derrick asked.
“Money laundering.”
“You can’t be serious,” Jake snapped.
“It’s true. She admitted it. But she wouldn’t say who she’s helping.”
Jake stilled. “She admitted it?”
I nodded. “She said that she was broke thanks to her medical bills and wanted to take the money offered to live out the rest of her days on a sunny beach on a tropical
island. I think that sounds like the way to go if you have to go. Of course, I’m hoping to live forever – like on Highlander, not on Fame because I can’t sing and dance – so that’s never a concern.”
“Knock that off.” Jake extended a warning finger. “I know what you’re trying to do. You want to go off on a tangent and see if you can distract me. Well, that won’t work, missy. I’m not about to let you distract me.”
“I’m not trying to distract you. I’m trying to give you a heads-up. Mary took money and hid certain documents. She stamped them and then put them in files … somewhere. She didn’t say. Whatever she did was enough to give the candidate in question plausible deniability.”
“That might actually work,” Derrick noted. “I mean … think about it. By the time anyone questions the paperwork she’ll be dead. She’ll have taken the money and lived out her life, the candidate is covered and can claim it was an honest mistake. Everything would fall on her, but she wouldn’t be around to accept punishment and turn on her co-conspirator.”
“I hate to admit it, but it’s not a bad plan.” Jake ruefully rubbed his jaw. “I simply can’t believe Mary would do something like this.”
“She has lung cancer but never smoked,” I said. “She’s bitter. I can’t say I blame her. She doesn’t care about anyone but herself now.”
“And she’s gone?” Jake glanced around the parking lot.
“She took off. I don’t expect her to come back.”
“Did she know you were going to call us?” Derrick asked.
“I told her.” I left out the part where I gave her a twenty-minute head start. That would only come up if they questioned me about the timeframe, and I was hopeful that wouldn’t occur.
“Do you know which direction she was heading?” Jake asked, turning somber.
“She headed north on Gratiot,” I replied. “I have no idea if she was taking the freeway or which direction she was going.”
“Well, if she wants to get out of here, she’ll go straight to the airport,” Derrick surmised. “We need to send units to every airport in the vicinity.”
Jake nodded, his mind clearly busy. “Are you sure she didn’t say which island?”
“No. And I didn’t ask. I was more interested in trying to get a name out of her.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s our next big problem.” Jake absently scratched at his cheek. “What does your gut tell you? It has to be Rayne or Aiken, right? You ruled out Ludington earlier.”
I thought back on what Elizabeth Justice said. “I did rule him out,” I confirmed. “It’s been pointed out that I might not be the best judge of character where Tad is concerned, though.”
Jake quirked an eyebrow. “Meaning?”
“Meaning that I know he’s a liar but I’ve never considered him dangerous. If I’m to believe this is all connected, whoever tailgated me on the highway the other night had to work for the candidate in question.”
“Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that, too,” Derrick said. “I think whoever it was wanted to force you north of Twenty-Three Mile and run you off the road there. It’s more desolate. That is if the individual wanted to run you off the road at all. It could’ve simply been a way to frighten you, perhaps try to force you to back off. We simply don’t know right now.”
“I’ve been insistent that Tad wouldn’t do me physical harm because he’s such a wimp, but for all I know he might be willing to hire someone to do it. I guess what I’m saying is that I can’t honestly rule out Tad.”
“So we have to run Mary’s phone records to see who she’s been in contact with,” Jake said. “That’s probably our only shot of figuring out who she was working with until we can go through the documents in the office – and we’re going to need to go through the lawyers for that due to a variety of reasons – or somehow find Mary.”
“I don’t think you’re going to find Mary. She knows she has only one chance to get out of here, and she’s determined to do it.”
“I have to try.”
I knew that was true. “I don’t know what else to tell you. It has to be one of the men. Justice was far too gleeful at the prospect of taking out one of her opponents when I confronted her.”
“I’m not ruling her out,” Jake said. “As far as I’m concerned, it could be any of them. She simply might be a better actress than anyone has given her credit for. We need to get moving.”
“You do, I agreed. You need to get moving fast, too. The election is tomorrow. The polls open in the morning.”
Realization dawned on Jake. “This could be a mess if the information breaks after the election. We’ll have people contesting the results all over the place.”
“I know. You’d better get out there and hope that doesn’t happen.”
“I’m on it.” Jake exhaled heavily. “As for you, you’re done for the day. I don’t want you poking around this story. It’s too dangerous.”
We both knew that was a promise I couldn’t make. “I have to do what I have to do.”
“I knew you’d say that.”
I FILED MY STORY.
I knew I’d scoop the rest of the area reporters, but not having a name to go with the accusations against Mary Winters was a bitter pill. I couldn’t narrow things in a satisfactory manner, and the candidates weren’t available for questions because Jake was busy … with all of them.
Once I finished my shift, that meant I had nothing to do but go home with Eliot. He wanted me locked up before dark because he was convinced someone was going to make a move on me in an effort to stop my information gathering. I figured we were beyond that now that Jake was involved, but I kept the comments to myself.
“What do you want for dinner?” Eliot hovered in the doorway between the kitchen and living room.
I shrugged. “Whatever you want is fine.”
“Sushi?”
I made a face. “I don’t even like cooked fish unless it’s cod smothered in batter and tartar sauce.”
“Indian?”
“Yes. I love it when my mouth is on fire for twenty-four hours.”
Eliot grinned as he shuffled closer to the couch. I had my Xbox One game controller in my hand, but was barely paying attention to the onscreen antics.
“Clearly whatever I want isn’t an option for you.” He sat on the couch next to me. “Give me something to work with here. I can tell you’re depressed and I’m willing to make you feel better with food. That pretty much elevates me to ‘best boyfriend in the world’ status.”
“Only if you have someone deliver chocolate cake, too.”
“It’s already on the list.”
Despite my melancholy, I couldn’t stop my lips from curving. “I don’t know. Chinese is fine. Thai. Middle Eastern.”
“So something with rice?”
“That gnocchi place is fine, too. I like their seafood pasta.”
“I find it funny that you’ll eat seafood, but not fish.”
“I don’t like fish.”
“And you love shellfish. It’s weird.” Eliot gave me a quick kiss before grabbing his phone. “How about Middle Eastern and chocolate cake?”
Middle Eastern was my favorite. He knew it. He was trying to appease me. The least I could do was muster a mild dose of enthusiasm. “Sounds good. Thanks.”
Eliot typed our orders into the app. “It will be here in an hour.”
“Cool. Thanks.”
“You don’t have to thank me. I was in no mood to starve.”
“Yeah, well … ,” I trailed off.
“Tell me what’s on your mind,” Eliot prodded. “I can tell something is bothering you.”
“We have no idea who Mary was working with,” I blurted out, relieved to have an opening to vent. “The voters in Macomb County might elect a crook tomorrow.”
“They might,” Eliot agreed. “Even if they do, Jake will make an arrest before whoever it is takes office. He might not be able to accomplish it tomorrow, but the election results aren’t certified for thi
rty days.”
I’d forgotten all about that. “That’s something to look forward to.”
“See. I’m a ‘bright side of life’ guy.”
I snorted. “You’re a good guy.” I rested my hand on his knee and let loose a sigh.
“That’s clearly not the only thing bothering you,” Eliot said after a beat. “What else has you in a tizzy?”
“Mary. I can’t stop thinking about her.”
“And the fact that you let her go without a fight?”
“I wouldn’t have tried to stop her no matter what. I’m a reporter, not a cop.”
“I’m actually glad you feel that way,” Eliot admitted. “I don’t think Mary would’ve been much of a physical threat to you, but I like knowing that you wouldn’t purposely put yourself in a situation where she had no choice but to try to hurt you.”
“Yeah. I feel sorry for her, though. I know that’s odd, but she was so unhappy. I can’t help hoping that she makes it to her beach.”
“You don’t think she should pay for what she did?”
“I think that she’s going to pay regardless. She’s going to die. She’s going to die away from her family. I talked to Derrick and he said her husband was stunned that she just took off. He had no idea that she’d accepted money or that she was planning to leave the country.”
“Does Derrick believe him?”
I shrugged. “He says he does. Either way, it doesn’t matter now. Jake’s deputies will keep a watch on Mary’s husband and kids. Even if they wanted to run after her, join her, it probably won’t be possible.”
“So she’ll get her beach, but die on it alone,” Eliot mused. “That is kind of sad.”
“It is.” I switched off the video game controller. “Which one of them do you think it is? I mean … do you think it’s Aiken, Tad or Rayne?”
“I can’t say that I’ve formed an opinion.”
“Try. I need to think it through.”
“Ugh. You’re clearly not going to let this go until you get your answers, are you?”
“Nope. Not even a little.”
“Fine.” Eliot pinched the bridge of nose and lifted his eyes toward the ceiling. “I don’t know Rayne well enough to form an opinion on him. He’s under the radar, which would make him a genius if he’s the guilty party.”
Extra! Extra! Dead All About It (An Avery Shaw Mystery Book 12) Page 27