Grapes of Death

by Joni Folger

  By the time he put the finishing touches on his report, he realized it was almost ten at night, and his vision was beginning to blur. Revisiting the evidence and Edmond’s journal would have to wait until the morning.

  Going home and getting a good night’s sleep sounded like a good plan. Unfortunately, when Jackson finally got to bed, he tossed and turned, had the strangest dreams, and woke just before the alarm feeling like someone had beaten him with a stick. So he decided to get up and get moving. There was a ton of work to do, and he had the uncomfortable feeling things were spinning out of his control.

  That feeling only increased an hour later on the way into the office when he decided to swing by the small house that Harmony Gates had been renting. As he pulled up in front of the house, he noted that her car wasn’t in the narrow driveway, but then, he hadn’t expected to find it here.

  Since she was still wearing the dress she’d worn to the wedding when she was found, she’d been killed before making it home. He’d need to conduct interviews to establish a timeline, and he’d start with the friends she’d been seen with at the reception.

  In the meantime, he’d take a look around her place, see what clues he could dig up. Climbing out of the vehicle, he walked up to the small porch.

  And his trepidation increased when he saw that the front door was slightly ajar.

  “Hello?” he called, giving the door a push. “Anyone here?”

  When there was no answer, he stepped inside. The place was trashed. Figuring Harmony probably hadn’t trashed her own place before heading to the wedding, he deduced someone else had been here recently. And the way it had been tossed told him that whoever did this was either looking for something or trying to cover their tracks.

  Whichever the case, he’d call in the crew to process the house. As much as he itched to look around right away, he backed out instead and closed the door.

  Pulling out his cell, he called the office and got Jim Stockton on the line. “Hey, Jim, it’s Jackson. I’m out at Harmony Gates’s house and it’s been tossed.”

  “No shit? That’s an interesting development,” Jim said.

  “Yeah, isn’t it just? I’m going to hang some tape before heading in. Send a crew out to process the place, would you?”

  “You got it. By the way, her folks were here bright and early. Darrell handled it, but man, they were wrecked.”

  “I guess finding out that your daughter has been killed would have that effect on you.”

  “Yeah, but get this: she was supposed to go out to their place after the wedding reception on Saturday night. Then she called around seven o’clock that evening to say that something had come up she needed to take care of and that she’d call later.”

  “Did they say what?”

  “No. Her mom got the impression that she was meeting someone, but she didn’t know who. Evidently that was the last they heard from her.”

  “Okay. At least it gives us a starting point. I’ll talk to Darrell and get the full rundown when I get in.”

  Hanging up, Jackson went back to the car for crime scene tape and hung it across the door before heading into the office.

  Darrell had already left for the courthouse when he arrived, so he went to his office to sort out his thoughts and work on a game plan. He spent an hour sketching out what he knew on paper from the time they’d found Harmony and Bud arguing around four thirty to the last time he’d seen her at the reception just shy of six. He added anything that he thought could possibly be tied to Edmond Beckett.

  Jackson had stayed out at the vineyard until almost ten o’clock himself before heading home Saturday night. And he had a vague recollection of Harmony walking toward the parking lot with a group of her friends as the reception was winding down. That had been around six forty-five. The call to her parents had to have happened not long after.

  Where did you go after that? he wondered as he stared at a picture of Harmony’s eerily still body.

  Just as he was adding the photo to the board, there was a knock at the door. Jackson was not surprised to see Darrell Yancy standing there, but he wasn’t prepared for what had brought Darrell to his office in the first place.

  “You got a minute, Jackson? I’ve got something I think you’ll want to hear.”

  “Yes, I need you to fill me in on your meeting with Harmony’s folks.”

  “Actually, it’s not about that.”

  “Shit’s kinda hit the proverbial fan with this case, Darrell. Can whatever it is wait until later?”

  “I don’t think you want to wait on this. It directly affects your case—maybe both of them.”

  Jackson studied the man. Where Darrell Yancy could be a total dick most the time, he wouldn’t waste time on a murder investigation with something that wasn’t pertinent. “Okay. What to you have?”

  “It’s not what—it’s who. A witness has come forward with information you’re not going to like much.”

  “What witness?”

  Darrell jerked his head toward the hall. “I’ve got him in Interview One. Come on.”

  Jackson followed Darrell down the hall and entered the room behind him.

  And found Carlos Madera seated at the small table.

  “Hey, Carlos. What’s going on?”

  Darrell smirked, and Jackson felt the first touch of unease slide into his system.

  “Carlos witnessed something interesting that I know you’ll want to follow up on,” Darrell said. “Go ahead, Carlos. Tell Jackson what you saw—and better still, when you saw it.”

  Jackson looked back and forth between the two men before sitting down at the table with Carlos.

  “I’m sorry, Señor Jackson, but I had to come forward.”

  “Come forward with what, Carlos? What did you see?”

  “I saw Señor Ross and his uncle arguing.”

  Jackson sat forward. “When did you see this, and where?”

  “Like I told you before, me and my crew were going to remove the sick vines for Elise, so I went down the afternoon before to prepare.”

  “So, this was Monday afternoon? The Monday before Edmond was found?”

  Madera nodded. “It was probably somewhere between four and five o’clock that afternoon. I was marking the plants in the two rows we were going to dig up when I heard voices. They were very angry.”

  “Where were the voices coming from?”

  Carlos swallowed and glanced at Darrell Yancy.

  “Go ahead, Carlos,” said the deputy. “Tell him the rest.”

  “They were coming from up along the riverbank. It was Señor Edmond and Señor Ross. They didn’t see me, and I couldn’t hear all of it, but I did hear Señor Ross say ‘you won’t get away with it—I’ll make sure of that.’ Then Señor Ross pushed his uncle and they struggled some.”

  Jackson leaned in and looked into the other man’s eyes. “Carlos, did you see Ross hit Edmond? Did he assault him in any way?”

  Madera shook his head. “No! They shoved each other back and forth a couple times. Then Señor Ross walked away.”

  “And Edmond was still there? Unharmed?”

  “Sí. He said something, and Señor Ross turned back for a minute, but then he walked away. Señor Edmond left a few minutes later.”

  “Okay. Thank you for coming in, Carlos. I’m going to send an officer in to take your statement. Hang tight, okay?”

  Jackson stepped out into the hall, followed closely by Darrell.

  “What Carlos saw happened awfully close to Beckett’s TOD,” Darrell said, his intention clear. “What are you going to do?”

  Jackson knew he had no choice. Ross had conveniently failed to mention the altercation Carlos had just described.

  “Well, Darrell, what do you think I’m gonna do? I’m going to go pick up Ross Beckett and bring him in for questioning.”

 
; Eighteen

  To say that the mood at River Bend on Monday morning was somber or tense would have been an incredible understatement. Elise thought it was a bit like negotiating a minefield—of eggshells—filled with napalm.

  It felt as if everyone on the property was in denial. Like if they didn’t talk about the recent murders, then they could pretend they hadn’t taken place. For a family that insisted on talking about literally everything, it was disturbing.

  Laura, Abigail, and Madison had retreated to their individual comfort zones—her mother to her office, her grandmother to the Wine Barrel, and Madison to her office at Lodge Merlot. After gently trying to open a dialogue about the situation with her mom and being rebuffed, Elise too had escaped to the greenhouse to repair the damage Stuart had done rifling through her files.

  Ross seemed to be the only one willing to talk about Harmony’s death, though he continued to insist that her murder couldn’t possibly be related to Edmond’s.

  That was something else Elise had been dwelling on for the last twenty-four hours: Jackson seemed to think the two murders were connected. If that was the case, then he was going to have his work cut out for him. She certainly couldn’t see a link other than being found on River Bend property.

  On the flip side, if the murders were unrelated, then it seemed to indicate that someone could be targeting the vineyard in some way. And that raised her hackles some. If someone had River Bend in their sights, then her loved ones and anyone connected to the vineyard—no matter how loosely—could be considered fair game. Either scenario was a frightening prospect.

  With everything that had occurred recently, maybe it was time to sift through her uncle’s journal more thoroughly. Elise had been distracted by circumstances, but it was possible the pages he’d written held something that could connect the seemingly unrelated deaths.

  Jolted from her thoughts, she heard the sound of an engine getting louder as it came up the long drive. When the car passed by the greenhouse, Elise went to the door and pushed it open in time to see Jackson’s police cruiser before it went around the bend toward Ross’s house.

  What was he doing here in the middle of the day? Going back down to do another search of the area where Harmony had been found? As she crossed the path to the driveway, Elise could see through the trees that Jackson had pulled in at Ross’s place.

  She decided to take a walk up to her brother’s house to see what was happening. Perhaps there had been some kind of development and Jackson was bringing the news. But if that was the case, why didn’t he stop at the residence? She had an uneasy feeling there was another reason for his visit—one she probably wasn’t going to like.

  As she rounded the curve, she watched Jackson and Darrell Yancy get out of the car and walk up to the porch, and her concern increased.

  Darrell Yancy. What the hell was he doing here? Surely Jackson hadn’t been replaced as lead investigator. But if he was still in charge of the case, then what was he thinking bringing Darrell right to Ross’s door? With the bad blood between the two men over Ross’s wife, this certainly wouldn’t go over well.

  From halfway up the road she saw Ross answer the door and all three men head into the house.

  Picking up her pace, she didn’t bother to knock when she got to the porch. She let herself in and followed the sound of her brother’s heated voice into the living room where a face-off looked to be already brewing.

  “What the hell, Jax? Are you kidding me with this?” Ross was frowning and looking daggers at Darrell, who was standing to Jackson’s left. “You bring him into my house and expect to haul me in because of something he says happened?”

  “No, Ross. I’m asking you to come back to the office with me for questioning, that’s all,” Jackson said. “This has nothing to do with Deputy Yancy. It’s my investigation—I’m the one asking.”

  That answers the question about whether Jackson was still in charge of the investigation, she thought with relief.

  After Caroline spoke quietly to Sancia—who herded the boys out of the room like her apron was on fire—she turned and put a calming hand on Ross’s forearm. “Ross, honey, why don’t you hear him out before you go blowing a cork.” Looking over at Jackson, she asked, “Now what’s this all about?”

  Jackson ran a hand through his hair. Whatever this was, it wasn’t easy for him, and Elise could almost feel the stress pouring off of him.

  “A witness came forward this morning with information involving a meeting between Ross and Edmond.” He directed the rest of his statement to Ross. “I want to hear what happened—and why you didn’t tell me that you met with your uncle on the day he died after I point-blank asked you.”

  “Oh, for the love of God! Is that what this is all about? It was nothing.” Ross swung around and pointed an accusing finger in Elise’s direction. “I told you to keep your mouth shut. What did you do—run to him the minute I was out of sight?”

  Everyone turned to her, and Elise felt heat rise in her face as she looked around the room. “What? No! I didn’t say anything, but way to deflect attention from your own stupidity by throwing me under the bus, jerkwad.”

  “Wait—you knew about this and didn’t tell me?” Jackson asked. Crossing his arms, he gave her a hard stare. “How long have you known?”

  She winced but came out swinging. “Look, don’t get your panties in a bunch, okay? I only found out on Friday before the funeral.”

  Jackson’s mouth dropped open, and he raked his hands over his face in a frustrated gesture. “Seriously, Elise? You’ve known about this since Friday? Since before our conversation that afternoon?”

  “Geez, take a breath! It’s not like I’ve been holding onto it for months. It was two days ago, Jackson. And Ross may be dumb as a rock at times, but he is still my brother, after all. I’m required by blood to do no harm, though in moments like this I’d dearly love to throttle him.”

  “Hey, I’m standing right here!” Ross shouted.

  She whirled around and pointed back at him. “And didn’t I say then that you should tell Jackson before someone else beat you to it? But, no, typical Ross. It’s no big deal, so don’t make it one,” she finished, mimicking him and what he’d told her and Madison on Friday.

  Ross threw his hands in the air. “Because it wasn’t a big deal!”

  Jackson shrugged. “Then why not just tell me when I asked? Instead, that day at dinner you made out like I was betraying the family by asking everyone for their whereabouts. You even put your own wife in the hot seat, as I recall.”

  “Nice,” Darrell said under his breath, shaking his head.

  Ignoring the comment, Caroline spoke up. “That’s not fair, Jackson.”

  “Maybe not, Caro, but he point-blank lied to me, told me he’d been home with you and the kids all night. Which, I might add, you didn’t deny. Now I find out he actually met with Edmond—and within thirty or forty minutes of the murder.”

  “This is ridiculous! Uncle Edmond was fine when I left him,” Ross shouted in anger.

  Elise stepped between them and spoke to Jackson. “You said someone came forward this morning. Who was it?”

  “Carlos Madera saw the encounter and came in a couple hours ago to report what he’d seen.”

  “What?” Ross asked in a stunned voice. “Carlos told you about it? I don’t believe it.”

  With a sigh, Caroline slipped an arm around her husband’s waist. “Regardless of where you got the information, Ross wasn’t gone long. I can vouch for that. Really, Jackson, don’t you think I would know if he’d had anything to do with Edmond’s death? He was angry when he got back to the house because Edmond was being hard-headed, but that’s all.”

  “Angry enough to kill?” Darrell asked and slid a look her way. “Caro, sweetheart, I hate to tell you, but from what I understand, he made threatening remarks in front of witnesses just a day or so before
Edmond was found.”

  “What the hell are you talking about, Darrell?” Elise asked. “What threats? And in front of what witnesses?”

  “Someday somebody’s gonna take him out and no one will cry about it. Sound familiar, Beckett?” Darrell smirked at the shocked look on Ross’s face.

  Elise realized Darrell was paraphrasing what her brother had said about their uncle the Sunday before he was killed. But how had he known? The only people in the foyer that afternoon to hear Ross’s words were family members, with the exception of their foreman, Neil Paige.

  And Carlos Madera. She couldn’t imagine the man repeating something so damning. Then again, she would never have thought he’d tell the police what he’d seen without talking to Ross first.

  If Darrell’s remarks were designed to create doubt of Ross’s innocence in her sister-in-law’s mind, by the look in Caroline’s eyes, Elise thought he’d made a critical error in judgment.

  This time Caroline didn’t ignore Darrell’s remarks, but rounded on the deputy with some righteous anger of her own. “No, Darrell, he wasn’t angry enough to kill. And I don’t appreciate you trying to put words in my mouth. I think I know my husband just a little bit better than you do, and I can say with certainty that he’s not capable of that kind of violence—especially not directed at a family member.”

  The deputy’s reaction to Caroline’s outburst was priceless. His face turned a lovely shade of scarlet so quickly Elise thought his head might explode like a cartoon thermometer. He took a step back and looked almost as if he’d been sucker-punched. She knew the man had continued to have feelings for Caroline—even after all these years—but until that moment, she hadn’t realized how deeply those feelings still ran.

  Jackson put up a hand and tried to get a handle on the situation. “Okay, let’s all just simmer down for a minute. Right now, what I need is for Ross to come in to the station and give an official statement as to date, time, and what happened during this meeting with Edmond.”