Lily looked at her oddly, and then mouthed. “Oh.” She pointed toward the kitchen. “Savannah?” she whispered.
Nikki nodded.
“Ah. No, I think I’m good with a glass of vino.”
“Great. I also fixed up some appetizers.”
“Sounds good. So what prompted all of this?” she asked as they entered the kitchen in time to spot Savannah setting her shot glass down. Nikki glanced at the bottle of alcohol and from the looks of it, Savannah had taken her one minute window of opportunity to down a couple of more shots. Taking Nikki’s advice was something the woman apparently had no intention on doing. What Nikki didn’t want was for Savannah to get so hammered that she wouldn’t be able to answer any of her questions. A little alcohol was good for getting people to flap the lips. Too much usually meant they were under the table and would put an end to any sleuthing.
“Hey, Lil. Have some tequila with me, let’s talk about old times. Nikki, why don’t you bring over that photo album from the other day? And that annual. Look at us in our youth. Have I got some stories for you.”
“Sure. Sounds good.” Maybe Savannah was one of those people who became more alive when she drank. Starting with the past and with the photos did seem apropos to Nikki. Never knew what history might reveal about the future, and tonight Nikki had the feeling Derek’s college days might give her some answers to what was happening in the present with a killer on the loose in Napa Valley.
Baked Lemon with Mozzarella
and Mushroom Crostini
with Bonterra Syrah
It’s a strange gathering happening at Nikki’s place—what’s with Savannah and the tequila? But something to make this get-together work to Nikki’s benefit is an appetizer that is as interesting as it sounds—and delicious. Open a bottle of Bonterra’s Syrah and enjoy!
Mendocino’s Mediterranean climate has proven ideal for growing memorable Syrah. Warm summer days and cool, foggy nights (with temperature swings midsummer that can nudge 50 degrees) nurture the grapes until berries begin to senesce ever so slightly. In the Rhone Valley, tradition calls for blending with varietals such as Grenache. A variety of rootstocks and Syrah clones such as the Duriff and Estrella River are planted in soils that include Feliz Loam, Red Vine Sandy Loam and Yoykayo Sandy Loam. Bonterra’s pick in small bins and ferment in small open-top fermenters. After completing malolactic fermentation, this vintage was aged for eighteen months in French Oak from a variety of coopers to assure a layering of flavors. They bottle and allow the wine to rest and gain complexity for several months prior to release.
Bonterra’s Syrah vineyards, including the newer Bio-dynamically farmed Butler Ranch, which ranges upwards to 1600 feet above sea level and represents two-thirds of this vintage blend, are quite young, just teasing their prime growing years. You can see youth well served in the wine’s brilliant crimson color and intense, heady aromas of black cherry and wild mountain blackberries before giving way to bitter-sweet, vanilla chocolate. The tannins are velvety smooth and supple. The oak is wonderfully integrated, with complementary flavors of cedar oak spice. This is a distinctive Bonterra Syrah, more fruit-forward than previous vintages, more distinctive and unique.
6 lemons, halved with flesh removed
1 lb fresh mozzarella, cut into small cubes
6 cremini mushrooms, fi nely chopped
3 tbsp fresh parsley, fi nely chopped
1 small shallot, fi nely chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
12 slices good rustic bread, toasted
Salt and pepper, to taste
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Heat oil in a saute pan over medium low heat and cook shallots until just translucent. Add mushrooms and cook for five minutes. Remove from heat and mix with parsley and mozzarella. Season to taste and spoon into lemon shells. Place on a baking sheet and bake until mozzarella has thoroughly melted.
Remove from oven and serve with toasted bread, spreading cheese over the bread.
Twenty-seven
SAVANNAH told story after story about party after party and filled Nikki in on how they’d all met. Lily eyed Nikki a few times when talk turned to Derek and what a flirt he was.
“All the girls adored Derek. What isn’t there to adore?” Savannah asked, slurring slightly. The petite woman could hold her liquor, and she’d lost some of her sad demeanor as she recounted the past. “Look at this picture here.”
It was one that Nikki had already seen from a frat party where Derek was living it up with a pretty brunette. “Even Nancy was into him, but she’d never admit that because she was engaged to Zach already.”
“I don’t know that Nancy was ever into Derek,” Lily said. “From everything I ever saw and knew about her, she was totally into Zach.”
“Nancy? Zach’s wife?” Nikki said.
Savannah nodded. “Soon to be ex-wife.”
“What happened, do you know?” Nikki asked. “I mean with the marriage.”
Savannah shrugged. “Same old same. You know, Zach was absorbed in his work and not emotionally available for Nancy. She had a couple of miscarriages and wanted to adopt, but Zach insisted they keep trying to have a biological baby. Then he lost his job as a pretty big exec at the ad agency he worked for. Nancy said he was kind of a sacrificial lamb for them because they were looking for a fall guy. Apparently it had to do with over-billing clients. I don’t know. Then he poured their savings into starting his own company, and he’s struggling to make it work, and she’s just tired of it all. Probably why she went down to Puerto Vallarta. She loves it, and I know they have a vacation home there where she wouldn’t mind living. She’s an artist and into the Latin culture. Probably a good move on her part.”
“Probably,” Nikki agreed.
“I don’t know. Mexico is still a third world country,” Lily remarked.
“Have you ever been to Puerto Vallarta?” Savannah asked. “It’s beautiful and there are a lot of ex-patriots down there. I think she’ll do fine.”
Nikki finished her wine and stood. “I need to get the chicken out.” She’d made a Greek chicken—stuffed chicken breasts with olives, feta, red peppers, and pancetta. “I’ll be right back.”
“How did you wind up with Jackson?” Savannah was asking Lily as Nikki set down their plates.
“What kind of question is that? I love Jackson. He’s a great guy. He’s a great husband and a fantastic father.”
“Yes, that’s right. You were knocked up when you got married your senior year.”
Lily frowned. “It happens, but that isn’t why we got married.”
“Uh-huh.” Savannah laughed.
Her initial buzz seemed to be turning into drunk ass, with an emphasis on ass.
“What are you saying, Savannah?” Lily asked.
“I know,” she leaned in over the table and whispered loudly.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lily replied.
“I know that Kenny is the father of your oldest kid.”
“What?” Nikki said.
Lily stared at Savannah.
“And I know that you refused for years to allow him to take a DNA test to prove he’s the kid’s father. You’re something else. Here all Kenny wanted was to know his son and you made sure that wouldn’t happen.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Savannah. I think you have me confused with yourself, because everyone, including your husband, knows that you’ve been screwing Kenny for years.”
Twenty-eight
“WHAT? I didn’t know that,” Derek said, lying in bed next to Nikki later on that evening.
“Oh, yeah, it’s juicy. And after Savannah made the comment about Kenny being Lily’s son’s dad, and then Lily shot back with everyone knows Savannah’s been sleeping with Kenny on the side for years. Let’s just say it got ugly. The claws came out.”
Derek shook his head. “This is horrible.”
“Savannah tried to smack Lily, but Lily is one strong woman. She had Savannah in a
choke hold so fast I practically dropped the dinner plates. Then I tried to pry them apart, and it wasn’t until I yelled at Lily to get a grip that she let go.”
“Then what happened?” Derek asked.
“Savannah stormed out, and Lily sat down at the table and just sat there for a few minutes in silence. I didn’t know what to do. Then she drank the rest of her wine. I offered her dinner and she ate a little bit. But get this, over dinner she did tell me that it was true.”
“What! What was true? Wait, I think I already know. I can’t believe this. She told you that Kenny could have been the father of her oldest son?”
“Pretty much. In fact, she and Kenny were arguing about it the other night. Marco saw them and he said they looked to be having an upsetting conversation. His words. Lily claims that Jackson has no idea about Kenny. But what if he does? What if he murdered Kenny in order to save his relationship with his son and his wife? Remember when we had dinner with them that first night? Well she went on about how proud they were of Jonathon, and especially Jackson.”
Derek didn’t reply.
“Honey?”
“I’m thinking,” Derek said. “Over dinner with the guys he really didn’t have anything nice to say about Kenny. Actually he called him an ass and then took it back when he realized we were all looking at him. Then he retracted and said that even though Kenny could act like an ass, that was what made him who he was. He was the life of the party. Those were Jackson’s words.”
Nikki pointed at him. “See, you’re getting the hang of this.” She got up and took a notebook off the dresser. “Start taking notes. Think about this. Jackson’s comments are a little change from the other night when he was all about having a beer and hanging out in the pool with Kenny until Lily put her foot down. He seemed to enjoy the guy’s company. Grab that notebook.”
“Why me?” he asked.
“Because you have neater handwriting than I do,” she replied.
“True. Okay. But for the record, I don’t like this. These people are my friends.”
“Yeah, well, one of your friends might be a killer.”
He frowned.
“I’m sorry to be so blunt, honey, but it’s true, and we have to figure out if one of them is. So start writing.”
“Fine.” He took a pen from his nightstand and opened the notebook.
“Okay, so we now know that Kenny was aware he could be the dad of Lily’s son. Jackson might be aware of this. Lily certainly didn’t like Kenny, and Marco told me last night over dinner he saw Lily and Kenny having a heated discussion out back the night of our rehearsal dinner,” Nikki said.
“You didn’t tell me that.”
“I was fact finding, and I’m telling you now. My brain had to process the information and now it’s all kind of making sense.”
“Hmmm.”
“Right. Those two have a motive to want Kenny dead. Each one could have killed him. Lily is one strong lady, physically. I think she could be stronger than Jackson. There is the possibility that they could have been involved in this together.”
“What?” Derek said.
“Think about it. Let’s play this out. Let’s say that Kenny told Jackson that he’d slept with Lily back in the day, right? Jackson is mortified and goes to his wife who he obviously loves. She confesses and reveals that it’s possible Kenny is their kid’s dad. Jackson’s entire life, his family, is threatened at this point. Whether or not Kenny was the kid’s father, Jackson is the kid’s dad.”
“It does present a good motive, but let me ask you then why would either one want to take a shot at you? Why all the notes and weirdness?” Derek asked. “That doesn’t make sense.”
Nikki nodded. “No it doesn’t.” She sighed, and looked up at the ceiling. “Wait a minute though. Jackson and Lily don’t strike me as stupid. Jackson rode over in the limo with you, right?”
“Yes. With me and Marco. Kenny was supposed to be with us. Tristan, Savannah, and Zach rode over together.”
“Right. So did Lily drive over by herself?”
“I’m not sure, but I assume so.”
“Maybe we should find out,” Nikki said.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
“That this could have been a well planned out plot. Start by sending us letters that sound like they come from a crazy person. Then one of them shoots at me—maybe Lily since she came alone, and maybe it wasn’t intended to kill me. Maybe it was set up so that the cops would find the photos, which it obviously was. Kenny doesn’t get found for a day afterward. There was a ton of chaos, so what I’m getting at is what better way to get away with murder than to create something so out of the ordinary, so insane, that there is no way it could look like the nice couple from upstate New York did it. If you were an outsider looking in, all of this stuff that has led to this moment would look like some serial killer was on the loose. It’s certainly a decent decoy.”
“Could be,” Derek mused. “It could be.”
“I know.” She smiled at him. “And then there’s your pal Tristan and his lovely wife. If it’s true that Savannah was sleeping with Kenny over the years . . .”
“Wait a minute, though, that can’t be,” Derek interrupted.
“Why not?”
“They live on opposite ends of the coast.”
“So. There are airplanes and alibis and all sorts of ways to get around that.”
“I don’t like that you sound like an expert in unfaithfulness.”
“Shut up. You know that isn’t true.” An image of Andrés’ face flashed through her mind. “I just know how people work. It could have been a once in a while thing. But if Tristan knows, as Lily insisted he does, then you have another motive.”
“But, then, is the motive for taking a shot at you the same as with Lily and Jackson?”
“Maybe. But I can’t discount Savannah. It’s not like we hit it off, you know, and maybe she needed to end things with Kenny and maybe she decided before ever meeting me that she didn’t like me. She was obviously tight with your first wife as well as Patrice. Then again, maybe all of this is way off base. Maybe it has something to do with Patrice and Adonis.”
Derek brought a hand to his forehead. “My mind is spinning, Nik. This is crazy-making business.”
“I know.”
“I have a better idea.”
“You usually do,” she replied.
“Can we put away the crazy-making business and get down to some baby-making business?”
She grabbed the notebook from his hands and tossed it onto the ground. “I suppose that’s an offer I can’t refuse.”
Twenty-nine
NIKKI woke the next morning to an empty bed except for a single pink rose and a note that read: Had a thought and needed to check into it. Ollie is on porch keeping guard. See you in a while. Love you. D.
What could that all mean? He had a thought about what? Interesting. Nikki noticed the notebook was gone. He must’ve thought he’d find something out and needed to take the notebook with him. Well, there was something Nikki needed to find out herself, and it was best that Derek wasn’t at home to question where she was headed. She didn’t know how long he’d be out, so she did her best to hurry and get ready. She also printed out the photos Renee had taken from the flash drive Andrés had given her. Photos in hand, she poured herself a cup of coffee and headed out the door. Opening it she took a step back when faced with Simon.
“Where you off to so early, Miss Bright and Sunshiny? I came for coffee.”
“Oh, hon, I have to run an errand, but it’s good to see you up and about. Where’s Violet?”
“Marco was taking her to the pediatrician this morning for shots. I hate that trip. I don’t like them poking on my little girl. Marco is the tough one. He can handle it.”
“I understand. Well there’s coffee in the kitchen and I’ll be back later, so come visit.”
“Uh-uh. Not so fast. Where are you going and what are these?” With his good arm, he shot ou
t and grabbed the photos from Nikki’s hand.
“Give those back.”
Simon flipped through them. He clucked his tongue. “What do we have here?”
“Some photos from the wedding that didn’t take place.” Nikki smirked.
He took a step back and eyed her, eyebrows raised. “You are on a mission, aren’t you?”
She sighed. “Yes.”
“I wanna go.”
“You don’t even know where I’m going.”
“So. I’m bored. I’m tired of daytime TV. I need some fun. Please let me go.”
“It’ll be awhile. I have to go into San Fran.”
He smiled widely. “Yipee. Wish I could clap, but with my arm in this sling . . . Please take me.”
“What about your arm? What about Marco and Violet?”
“My arm hurts.” He pouted. “But some good food in the city and maybe a little stop off at Saks will make me feel better.”
“I’m not going shopping.”
“You say that now,” Simon replied.
“No. I’ll tell you again—we’re not shopping.”
“Please, please, please. My arm . . .”
“You’re terrible.”
“I know. I’ll call Marco from the car and tell him that you’re taking me on a cheer-up drive into the city. He’ll totally understand. But what are we really doing?”
“We’re going to visit Renee Rothschild.”
“No!”
“Yes.”
“You mean that sleazy little snake who tried so desperately to slither into my dear old brother’s life and take him away from you forever and ever?”
“That would be the one.”
“Ooh, this sounds delicious. Let’s go.”
“After you.” Nikki let Ollie into the house and, before long, she was on the road listening to Simon carry on.
As Nikki filled Simon in on what she knew, he shook his head like a Tasmanian devil on speed. “Whoa there, Nelly. You mean to tell me that Renee the snake was at the wedding and snapping photos of you?”
A Toast to Murder Page 14