Eddie shook his head. “And where would you have gotten it, Mama? What little you get from Social Security doesn’t even pay your bills. You would’ve come to me, and I would’ve rescued him like I always did.”
“Why didn’t he go to you for the money?”
Eddie stared down at the floor, almost like a little boy who had to confess to his mother what he’d done. “He did, but only after I caught him trying to steal a huge shipment of drugs from me. When I confronted him and told him I was cutting him off, he lashed out at me. That’s when I discovered that somehow he had found my notebook and used it to pay off the blackmailers.”
It was all becoming very clear to Maddy. The names she’d seen in the small book were either drug users or people Eddie had on his payroll. Big-time names that, had they been made public, would have ruined a lot of careers. Eddie must have guarded that list like a Rottweiler. No wonder he went berserk when he found out the book was in the hands of someone like Agostinelli.
Eddie noticed that she was deep in concentration. “If you have any idea where that book is, I’d advise you to tell me right now.”
Regardless of his menacing attitude, she was positive the book was her ticket out of this jam. If he wanted it badly enough, and he acted like he did, he wouldn’t kill them until he had it back in his possession. It gave her a little leeway and more time to try to find a way to escape.
“It might have been in Chrissy’s purse when I searched it. But I don’t have it with me now.”
“She’s lying,” Greta chimed in from behind the couch. “She’s trying to save her ass.”
Maddy had almost forgotten the redhead was still there. She turned to look her in the eye. “You should know all about lying. You’re a freaking expert at it.” Still glaring at her, she said, “Did you know your girlfriend was having an affair with Deena’s husband, Eddie?”
Finally she broke eye contact with Greta and looked back at Eddie to see how he had reacted to the news that his girlfriend had cheated on him.
His eyes crinkled with laughter. “For being a cop, you’re not very smart. Who do you think put her up to it?”
When Maddy didn’t respond he turned to Deena. “Getting your husband to believe a woman like Greta would actually fall for him was like taking candy from a baby. It was even easier to persuade him to drop off Thanksgiving leftovers for you at the police station.” He pointed to the lunch container on the mantel, the one Maddy had noticed right before he’d walked in his mother’s house. “Say cheese for the camera.”
Holy hell! No wonder he’d known every move she’d made the night Agostinelli was killed. Her brother-in-law was not only a womanizer. He may have been an accessory to murder, as well.
“How’d you get the other phone in my desk drawer?” Maddy asked.
“That was the easy part. When you weren’t looking, he just slipped it in.”
“Was my husband in on the murder, too?” Deena asked leaning forward now.
“He had no idea why I asked him to bring the leftovers or to plant the phone,” Greta said, smiling at Deena as if to taunt her. “Your husband was so horny, he would’ve done anything I asked, plus I slipped him a couple grand. Unfortunately for him, he put two and two together and figured it all out when Bernardi was killed. Then he made the fatal mistake of demanding more money for his silence.”
“You’re a whore and always will be,” Deena said defiantly, before she turned back to Alicia. “I’m so sorry for the loss of your son. I can’t even imagine how you must feel right now. I wish I could hug you and wipe away your tears.”
Alicia nodded as the tears continued to streak down her face. Maddy could see her heart was breaking, knowing that the son she despised had killed the one she’d adored. But it was just like Deena with her heart of gold to empathize with the woman whose son had also had a part in her own husband’s death.
“How long did it take you to plan the murder so that it would fall on me?” Maddy asked.
She had to keep him talking until she figured out how to save their lives. Her eyes wandered toward the mantel, and she pretended to look at the lunch container. Her gun was at the other end of the wooden shelf, closer to Eddie and his mother than to her. If she went for it, she’d never make it.
Eddie followed her eyes before responding. “I couldn’t believe how everything just fell into place. We set Foxworthy up to be a blackmail victim and paid him to start the fight at the bar that night. We knew Bernardi was a hothead and would take the bait. With Greta masquerading as you in a uniform and a dark wig and Foxworthy positively identifying you, you looked guilty as hell. It was genius, don’t you think?”
Maddy thought about this for a minute. “How did you know I’d be on duty that night instead of Flanagan?” Things would have been very different if he’d been there. Or would they have shown up at his house instead of hers, with a gun to his kid’s head?
“You underestimate me, my dear. Who do you think arranged for Flanagan’s ex to win a three-day trip to Bermuda for that weekend only?”
Maddy bit her lower lip. He had thought of everything, including getting Flanagan’s wife out of town. He’d obviously done his homework on all of them and knew how it would play out. Their only chance of surviving now was to convince him that she indeed had the book he wanted so badly. But she still had unanswered questions. “Why did you kill Foxworthy if he was in on it with you?”
He smiled at Greta. “My girl here got a little too aggressive with your gun. She was supposed to aim higher and only nick him, not put a hole in his gut. The asshole demanded more money because of it.” He waved his hand in the air. “He found out the hard way that nobody threatens Eddie Montero.”
Maddy stopped listening after the first sentence, and her mind raced. She swiveled to face the redhead. “So it really was you who killed Bernardi? And by the way, his real name was Joey Agostinelli. He was in Vineyard after he slipped away from protective custody in New Jersey. Seems he was a mob informant and pissed off a lot of bad guys. Had you waited a few more days, they probably would’ve taken care of him for you.”
“But I needed the notebook back.”
“That’s why you killed him?”
Eddie nodded. “The coward cried like a girl before he gave it up. Told us his girlfriend had it, but Greta got a little trigger-happy before he had a chance to tell us her name. I thought all was lost. Lucky for me, you led me right to her.”
“Me?” Maddy was already trying to remember the day she and Lainey talked to Chrissy Rockford. That was the only time she’d had contact with the blonde. Eddie must have been following them. What kind of cop was she that she hadn’t even noticed?
“Yeah. Some cop you are,” he said as if reading her mind. “But the bitch didn’t have my book. The only possible explanation was that someone had taken it from her purse.” His eyes grew angry. “I figured that someone had to have been you. Imagine my surprise when I saw you sitting in my mother’s living room.” He pointed to the lunch container camera on the mantel before charging the couch.
Maddy braced herself for another assault.
Before she could react, the loud boom of a gunshot echoed in the tiny room. Immediately, she felt the full weight of Eddie Montero’s body as he fell onto her, blood streaming from a hole in his chest.
twenty-four
“No!” Greta screamed, running from the back of the couch to the front and pulling Eddie off Maddy’s body. “Oh God, no.”
Maddy glanced in the direction of where the shot had been fired. Apparently, no one had noticed when Alicia Montero had casually gotten out of her chair and walked over to the fireplace. Now, she stood holding the smoking gun that had just killed her son. For a split second, Maddy thought she saw the corner of Alicia’s mouth tip in a smile.
Then Greta lowered Eddie’s body to the floor and lunged at Alicia, knocking her back into the fireplace and sending Maddy’s gun skittering across the floor. Before Maddy could get up and step around the body to
keep Greta from beating the older woman to a pulp, Deena jumped up, grabbed a lamp from the end table, and cold cocked the crazed redhead.
“That’s for Mike,” she said simply.
Quickly, Maddy ran to her gun which had ended up on the floor behind the couch. Certain neither Eddie nor Greta would be a threat to them anytime soon, she picked it up and walked to the wall phone and dialed 911.
Within minutes, the place was crawling with emergency technicians and Dallas police officers. Other than a huge goose egg on the back of Alicia’s head and a large cut over her eye where Greta had landed a right hook, the elderly woman was okay. Deena had immediately knelt down on the floor next to her to wait for help to arrive, and now reluctantly allowed the EMTs to move her to a gurney. Greta was still unconscious from the hit she’d taken and was loaded onto another one.
“Thank you for saving our lives,” Maddy said, squeezing Alicia’s hand for a quick second as they carried her past.
“I’m sorry,” the woman whispered before they lifted her into the ambulance.
Maddy hugged Deena while more cops filed into the house. She looked up, sure she was dreaming when she saw Jake standing in the doorway. He rushed over and enveloped both her and her sister in his arms.
“How’d you get here?” she asked, not really caring. The fact that he was there was all that mattered.
He brushed back a lock of her hair that had fallen across her face. “I made it all the way to Waco before I turned back. I just kept thinking I should never have let you do this.”
“But how did you find us? I didn’t give you the address.”
“No, but you said it was near Fair Park. I drove around the area for about fifteen minutes without seeing your car. Then four Dallas cruisers zipped past me with sirens blaring. Somehow, I sensed you were in trouble, and I followed them, hoping I wasn’t too late.”
“You are definitely a sight for sore eyes,” Deena said. “Wish you could’ve been here sooner and seen me in action.”
He laughed. “I have no doubt you were amazing.” He released his hold on them and stepped back when a homicide detective walked up and introduced himself.
At Maddy’s questioning look, he grinned. “I’m not going anywhere until I make sure you’re safe.”
She smiled through the tears now threatening to spill over onto her cheeks as the realization that she and her sister had nearly died hit her like a truckload of bricks.
They were safe now, and in the process, they’d uncovered Agostinelli’s real killer. Her life could get back to normal again. But now that Jake was here, she was damn sure going to milk it for at least a day or two to keep him in Vineyard a while longer. At least until she figured out if there was anything between them. For now, she was just glad he was by her side.
_____
Mike’s funeral went smoothly, although there were barely enough people there to fill the first three rows at St. Agatha’s Church. Afterward, the family gathered at Lainey’s house to try to put a dent in the massive amount of food from the neighbors. Surprisingly, Deena had held up pretty well, considering she was burying her husband of eight years.
Now sitting around the dining room table, Maddy noticed the way the entire family seemed to be talking at once. She smiled, thinking it was one of the things she loved most about them. When her sisters got together, if one of them had something to say, they’d watch for someone to take a breath and then jump right in.
Her eyes connected with Jake’s, and he smiled. Tomorrow he was leaving for San Antonio—again—but this time they’d made arrangements for him to come back to Vineyard to spend a few days with her and Jessie over the Christmas holidays. She remembered the way her daughter had squealed with delight when he’d told them.
She had no idea where their relationship was going, but right now she didn’t care. She was having too much fun watching it develop.
He could be your new Dustbuster, Tessa said, sliding in beside her.
Maddy grinned, mouthing thank you to her sister’s ghost.
No need to thank me. I just go where they tell me. And by the way, your face doesn’t look too bad. Montero must hit like a girl.
Maddy tapped the table to get everyone’s attention. “Wanted ya’ll to know that Tessa’s here.”
“Hey, Tessa,” Deena said. “We missed you earlier.”
Tell her I don’t do funerals. It reminds me too much of how dead I really am.
Maddy repeated Tessa’s words, getting a laugh from her other sisters.
Tessa looked Deena’s way. How’s she holding up?
“She’s good. Graveside services were a little tough on her, but we got her through it, and she’s ready to get on with her life.”
“Who are you talking to?” Jake asked, now looking at her as if she had a screw loose.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Let’s just say I have a pretend friend.”
Lainey burst out laughing. “We all do. Even Colt. Hey, Tessa, are you staying around for a while this time?”
Tessa shook her head. I’m going to see if I can smooth things over with St. Pete’s wife. She shrugged. Who knows? I may be back when you least expect it.
“Oh God! I don’t think I can handle any more adventures anytime soon,” Maddy said, shaking her head. “And good luck with that St. Pete thing.” She turned to the others and held up her hand. “Don’t even ask.”
Colt stood up and refilled everyone’s coffee cup. When he got to Maddy, he stopped. “I still don’t get why Agostinelli showed up at your house and talked to Jessie.”
“I’m not sure, either, but I have a feeling it was part of the setup. Somehow, they got him to call my house at odd hours of the night looking for Francis Montero. My guess is they told him the guy was there with the money.” She paused to blow on the hot coffee and take a sip. “You have to admit, with all the evidence it would have been easy to convince a grand jury that I knew him.”
“I’ll say,” Kate said. “And speaking of money, did they ever find the ten mil Agostinelli stole from the gangster?”
Colt shook his head. “No. The charges against Cavicchia were dropped, by the way, since Agostinelli could no longer testify. Montero did the mob boss a huge favor by whacking the accountant in his cell.”
“Oh well. Guess we’ll never know where he hid the cash. Sooner or later, though, they’ll nab Cavicchia for something else. Everyone screws up sometime,” Maddy said.
“What ever happened to the black notebook, Colt?” Deena asked, leaning closer.
“I turned it over to the DA. It’s up to him to decide what to do with it, but since there’s no real proof of anything illegal, there’s not much he can do. My guess is he’ll make sure the reporters know that he has the book in his possession. That should make a lot of people nervous at least.”
Lainey turned to Jake. “I hear we’ll see you again at Christmas. Is that right?”
He nodded. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I’ve never known a family that talks to an imaginary friend.”
“Imaginary sister,” Deena corrected. “And I wouldn’t get on her bad side if I were you. Even dead she has a mean streak.”
Jake laughed. “Oh boy! What am I getting myself into?”
He has no idea how crazy we really are, Tessa said before her expression turned serious. I’ve got to go now, Maddy, and I don’t know when I’ll see you again.
“You’ll find a way,” Maddy responded. “We all love you, Tessa.”
I love you more, Tessa said before she disappeared.
“Is she gone?” Kate asked
“Yes, but I have the distinct feeling we haven’t seen the last of her.” Maddy looked upward and smiled when she heard Tessa’s imitation of Arnold Schwarzenneger.
I’ll be back.
the end
about the author
Lizbeth Lipperman (Dallas, TX) is the author of the Clueless Cook mystery series (Berkley Prime Crime). She worked as a registered nurse before becoming a wr
iter.
Author photo by Nicole Bushland.
Jailhouse Glock (A Dead Sister Talking Mystery) Page 22