by Kelly Lane
Argh! I don’t have time to get through all these.
I was getting worried that the group would be finishing dinner soon.
Quickly, I studied the names on the file tabs, searching for one that looked most suspicious, or helpful, depending on your take on things. Most were names of places I didn’t recognize . . . then I saw ABUNDANCE written on a tab. Of course, that’s the folder I grabbed. There must’ve been forty or fifty pages in the file.
I set the pages on the floor, took out my camera, and snapped a photo of the top page; with a header that read PERIENNIAL PAPER LLC, it looked to be some sort of legal document. I flipped the page and snapped a shot of the second page. Then the third. The fourth. The fifth. I kept going. Most of the pages appeared to be legal documents, many from the Boston paper company. Also, there were some that looked like land survey results. Realty agreements. Others were related to banking. I noticed some were from or about financial institutions that were outside this country. Malaysia. The Cayman Islands. Switzerland. I didn’t have time to stop to read them all. More paper company documents. Contracts. I just kept snapping away.
Then when I got to the end of the pile, I shoved everything back into the folder and put the folder back into the file box. Then I looked to see that the box looked just as it had when I’d entered.
I must be running out of time.
I worried about Precious’s warning regarding the group’s being fast eaters. Surely, by then, they’d had enough time to eat a meal. Also, I was feeling pretty scared about what I’d done. After all, I was fairly sure that I’d just broken the law, breaking into and photographing, of all things, private papers. Quickly, as I huffed and puffed, I shoved my phone into my pocket and returned to the bathroom, carefully placing the key back into the pouch on Claudia’s makeup bag.
Phew.
That’s when I heard the bedroom door open.
CHAPTER 45
Behind the ottoman in the bathroom, the toes of my sneakers stuck out underneath the floral drape. Still, I didn’t dare move them to try to get more coverage. I sucked in my breath and held it, paralyzed with fear as I hid behind the yellow and white curtain.
At that very moment, Claudia was clip-clopping into the bathroom, just three or four feet from me. I didn’t dare move.
Or breathe.
Of course, the ottoman could’ve saved me from it all. When I’d heard Claudia entering the suite, I could’ve just flipped open the top to the ottoman and grabbed some of the clean towels that Daphne always left stashed inside. Then I could’ve closed up the ottoman and walked out of the bathroom into the bedroom where I would’ve met Claudia and pretended that I’d just come into her suite to deliver fresh towels, and been done with it.
After all, it’d worked one time before.
Long story.
But in the split second I’d had to make my decision about how not to get caught, I’d figured Claudia wouldn’t have gone for it. She was much too savvy. And paranoid. So instead, I’d hidden behind the curtain.
Of course, ten seconds later, I regretted that stupid decision.
What if she’s in for the night? Even if she doesn’t find me, I’ll be stuck here!
Of course, I was sure she’d find me . . .
I had the overwhelming urge to itch my nose. I tried not to think about the itch. Or breathing.
A few feet away, standing over the sink, I heard Claudia turn on the water. Then she began brushing her teeth. Slowly, I let my breath out, trying not to move the curtain in front of my face. Then, I tried to inhale . . . silently.
Hopefully, the ottoman on the floor will hide my sneakers, I thought. The window behind me was open, and I felt a breeze. Next to me, a lace curtain between the drapes puffed with the wind. I listened, holding my breath, as Claudia finished rinsing her mouth. Then I heard her footsteps clip-clopping on the tile floor again.
Please, God, don’t let Claudia come over to the window.
No luck. She was headed my way! I sucked in my stomach and tried to remain still. My nose itched like crazy. Then, suddenly, I felt an urge to sneeze . . .
A little musical tune played in the bedroom.
Claudia’s phone.
The clip-clopping stopped. Then, it began again. Only this time, the clip-clops headed away from me and into the bedroom.
I let out a breath.
“Hello?” I heard Claudia say from the other room. “Yes. Okay. I’ll bring them over. I understand. I’m on my way. Bye.”
Claudia’s shoes hit the tile in the bathroom again. She stopped for a moment at the sink. Then quickly, she left the room and went back into the bedroom. About thirty seconds later, I heard the bedroom door open and close shut.
She was gone.
After Claudia left the bedroom, I waited just a second or two before stepping out from behind the curtain. I bent over, exhaling a huge breath, before gobbling up more air. Then I opened the ottoman and pulled out a couple of clean, folded towels.
Just in case I get caught this time.
I headed into the bedroom. The file box was gone. I went over to the suite door. Waiting a moment, I figured I’d give Claudia extra time to go wherever she’d been headed, before I pulled open the door and peeked into the hallway.
All clear.
Quickly, still holding my pile of towels, I stepped into the hallway and quietly closed the door to Claudia’s suite behind me.
Then I got the heck out of there.
Ten minutes later, as the sun set low in the sky outside I sat at my dining room table, flipping through all the photos I’d taken on my phone while Dolly gnawed on a giant bone at my feet.
Surely, I thought, looking through the photos, there must be some sort of clue in here as to what they’re up to. Or why Dex was murdered.
Still, after looking at it all, an hour later my mind was mush. I was exhausted. So I drew myself a bath and took a long, relaxing soak. Then, I decided to climb into bed early, where I could continue studying the photos. Only when I turned down my sheets, I jumped backward with a scream.
There was a huge black snake slithering across my bed.
CHAPTER 46
Normally, I wasn’t one to freak out over snakes. After all, my niece Amy had a pet snake, Noose. And when Noose got loose, as he often did—I was sure Amy let him out on purpose, mostly to freak out her mother—I was the one Daphne always sent to find and capture him.
Still, discovering a random snake in my bed like that undid me. Not to mention that the little beastie was nearly five feet long.
I remembered that my sheets had just been washed, and afterward, I’d made up the bed and tucked in my sheets—in fact, I remembered distinctly tucking in my sheets that Sunday morning, nice and tight, just like my mother used to when I was a little girl. Usually, the only time I’d tuck in my sheets was after I’d just washed them. Honestly, I was too lazy to do it the rest of the time.
So I was thinking, a snake wouldn’t work its way under a perfectly made bedspread and then under a super-tightly tucked top sheet.
Someone must’ve put the snake in my bed.
Who would put a snake in my bed? And why? Could it be one or all of the Bostoners? Had I unwittingly discovered something about what they were doing here? Dex’s murder?
Wait a minute.
What was it Debi had said in the tree? Something about her being a snake? Or slithering? Then Pep and I had laughed. What was it, exactly, Debi’d said? I couldn’t remember.
Then I remembered finding my phone, sitting on the trunk in my cottage. And it’d been charged. I was sure that I hadn’t left it there. And I was surer still that I hadn’t charged it. But then, when had I used my phone last?
I tried to remember.
I just couldn’t. I was too stressed about everything else going on to remember a detail like that.
Still, it
was clear: Someone had entered my cottage that day. And someone had tinkered with my phone. And someone had left a snake in my bed. Frowning, I looked around my little cottage. Had someone gone through my stuff? Opened my drawers? Taken or moved something else . . . ?
The thought totally creeped me out.
I felt violated.
Was it Debi who’d fiddled with my phone and put the snake in my bed? She’d been an hour or more late to the garden club cleanup . . . and with Daphne, Pep, and me in the village, no one would’ve been home at the plantation to see her.
Takes a snake to know a snake, I thought.
Swiftly, I grabbed the snake behind its head, went over and kicked open the screen door, walked behind the cottage, and chucked the big snake out back. Then, I returned to my cottage where, too tired to remake the bed, I pulled the bedspread up and over the entire bed and lay down on top of it.
I didn’t sleep a wink that night.
CHAPTER 47
Monday morning couldn’t have come soon enough. All night long, I’d fretted, tossed and turned on top of my bed, and wished sunrise would hurry up and come. Then when the sun finally rose up, I hadn’t even noticed. Probably no more than thirty minutes before sunrise, I’d finally drifted off to sleep.
Several hours later, I awoke with a start when a sunbeam streamed through my window and straight onto my face. Quickly, I jumped out of bed, washed, and dressed.
I had lots of investigating to do that day.
Opening the screen door, I let Dolly in—apparently, she’d let herself outside while I’d slept. That’s when, while I was standing at the door, I recognized Buck’s SUV parked up at the big house.
“C’mon, Dolly. Let’s go see what’s happening.”
Only, when I started across the yard toward the big house, Dolly turned and ran in the other direction, heading down the hill to the pond, where Buck was working with his deputy. They were walking through the grasses on the side where Dex had been, looking down, as if they were searching for something.
I turned and hurried to the pond. Maybe Buck could help me figure out what the papers I’d discovered were all about. Although, I worried about telling Buck just how I’d actually come across the papers . . . After all, he was a man of the law.
Cheeyoo-cheeyoo-cheeyoo. Soaring overhead, a red-tailed hawk cried.
“Buck! What are you looking for?” I asked, walking up behind him. Bent over and walking slowly, Buck was moving the grasses this way and that with a stick.
He stood up to face me. Deputy Pierce was working several yards away, carefully combing through the grass where he was.
“Eva. What are you doing here?” asked Buck sharply.
Dressed in his uniform, Buck was all business that morning. He didn’t even crack a smile.
“Why . . . What do you mean? I live here . . .” I laughed. “I’m just wondering, why are you here? Are you looking for something? Did you find out something about Dex?”
“As a matter of fact, I did.” Still holding the stick, Buck placed his hands on his hips. “I found out that you lied to me.”
“What are you talking about? I’ve never lied to you . . . about anything!”
“Alright then. You kept information from me. We’ve had this discussion before, Eva. Remember? Many times, in fact. Hiding important information from me, during an investigation, is the same as lying to me. I thought that I made that clear weeks ago. In fact, I know that I made it clear. And I was sure that you understood me.”
“You don’t have to talk to me like I’m a child, Buck Tanner. Besides, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said.
I started to feel a sick, tight feeling in the pit of my stomach.
“You know damn well what I’m talking about. And do you want to know what really irks me, Eva?”
“No . . . not really . . .”
“What really irks me is that I asked you, time and time again, over the course of these past two days, whether or not you had any more to tell me about you and Dex Codman. And do you know what you said, every single time?”
“Sheriff . . .” said Deputy Pierce quietly.
“Eva! I’m asking you a question.” Buck raised his voice. Buck never raised his voice. And he ignored his deputy. He never did that, either.
“No . . .”
“Sheriff Tanner . . .” the deputy said.
“Each and every time I asked you if there was any more to tell me about your relationship with your ex-fiancé, you said no. No!”
“Yes . . . I did.”
That sick feeling in my stomach was growing by the moment. I felt the blood rush from my head. I thought that I might puke.
It’s coming, Eva. He knows . . .
“You lied to me, Eva. Over and over again. You lied to the one person who could help you. The one man who has always had your back. No matter what. You lied.”
“I . . . I’m not sure what you’re talking about, Buck.”
Liar!
Buck lowered his voice. All of a sudden, he was eerily calm.
“For one thing, you neglected to tell me that you and your ex-fiancé had an argument during the olive oil tasting party at the big house. A big argument. In fact, the argument was so spectacular that everyone—everyone—whom Detective Gibbit has interviewed mentioned it. And everyone said that you threatened to kill Dex Codman.”
“I didn’t threaten to kill him!”
I felt faint.
“Right. And do you want to tell me now just why you would say such a thing to Dex Codman, your ex-fiancé? Or even hint such a thing?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m talking about the fact that your Boston Brahmin ex-fiancé Dexter Codman the Third abused you, Eva. He broke your arm. Then your nose. He bruised and cracked your ribs. Tell me that isn’t the truth. Go ahead. Lie to me one more time. I’ve seen the doctor’s reports. The X-rays . . . I’ve read the drivel of completely implausible excuses that you told the doctors . . . all of it! Did you think that by going to different hospitals around Boston, what happened to you would never be found out?”
“I . . .”
I was sobbing. After all these years, the truth was out. And Buck was furious. And honestly, I didn’t know whether he was more furious that it’d happened, or about the fact that I’d lied to him. Or simply that I’d jilted him all those years ago at the altar, in favor of an evil, self-absorbed abuser named Dex Codman the Third.
“Tell me now that isn’t the truth!”
I’d never in my life seen Buck so angry. He was quiet, but his eyes were flashing daggers, and he was positively trembling.
“Sheriff Tanner,” said his deputy again. He’d crossed over to stand in between me and Buck.
I looked down. Feeling nauseous, I was frantic to get away.
“Did you not think that I would find out?” Buck said, quietly. He stepped around Deputy Pierce. “And given that this man was once close to you, did you not expect me to look into everything—especially his personal, significant relationships, which included you? Did you not think that I’d look even more carefully, given that he’d shown up here to see you, after all those years? I was worried, Eva, that he’d somehow put you in danger. And I was right. Only I was sixteen years too late.”
“But he didn’t show up for me,” I whispered. “He showed up because . . .”
“Christ, Eva.” Buck let out an exasperated sigh. “Just save it. You didn’t tell me about him before because you were embarrassed and ashamed. That much you’ve admitted already. And although you hadn’t come clean about what, exactly, you were embarrassed and ashamed about, I get it now. You were embarrassed and ashamed because you think that you let a man abuse you. Which is nothing, you hear me, nothing that you let happen, and it is nothing to be embarrassed about. Or ashamed of. Or something that should be kept a secret. He
’s the one who was messed up, not you. But that’s neither here nor there, now. Still, what really tees me off is that after you found out he’d been murdered, you decided not to tell me because you knew it would ‘look bad.’ Because you knew it’d make you look like a prime suspect for his murder. And you know what?”
“What?” I whispered. Hot tears ran down my cheeks. I folded my arms across my chest.
“It does. It makes you the prime suspect for this guy’s—this sicko abuser’s—murder. And now, I can’t help you. I’m too close to it. Too close to you. By not coming clean when you should’ve, you’ve tied my hands. So please, Eva, leave this pond, right now, and go find Daphne. Tell her to call her fancy lawyers up in Atlanta. I’m afraid you’re gonna need one.”
“Sir,” said Deputy Pierce. “I think I found something.”
“Go on, Eva. Get out of here!” Buck ordered.
Inserting a stick inside to pick it up, Deputy Pierce held up an empty dark green bottle of Knox Liquid Gold Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
“I bet that’s it,” said Buck.
“I don’t know how we missed it the other day, sir. It was right over there, in those tall weeds next to the boulder, where I found the vic’s clothes.”
“Get out, Eva. This is a crime scene,” Buck barked at me.
Buck turned and completely shut me out, busying himself with collecting evidence. I turned to leave him and Deputy Pierce. When I’d just gotten a couple of steps away, I heard Buck’s smooth Southern drawl as he spoke to Deputy Pierce.
“This conversation is off the record,” he said under his breath.
“Yes, sir,” mumbled his deputy.
“No one hears that it ever happened, you got it? No one. Especially not Eli. It’s his investigation. And I’m afraid he’ll get to it soon enough.”
“Yes, sir. You know that I always got your back, Sheriff.”
“Yes, I do. Let’s get back to work. Hopefully, we’ll find something to incriminate someone else.”