“And she’s in Mexico? In Puerto Vallarta?”
“Yes. Or she was. She’s on a plane right now. Her flight is due in at two thirty this afternoon, so I need to get on the road. We’ve talked about this. Maybe you don’t remember because of everything that’s gone on this week.”
“No. I’m sorry. I remember. It’s just, well, Savannah mentioned her name in the hospital and . . .” She waved a hand in the air. “It’s nothing.”
“Savannah and Nance are friends. Maybe that’s why.”
“You were at the hospital?” Jackson asked. “And Savannah was talking?”
“I was just there. It wasn’t good. She went into cardiac arrest but she’s hanging on.”
Lily brought a hand to her mouth. “Oh, my gosh. Poor thing. This is unbelievable.”
“Yes,” Nikki replied.
Lily hugged her. “Again, Nikki, please forgive me. I really am sorry.”
Nikki nodded. “Thank you. Have a safe trip home.”
“We will.” Jackson hugged her, too, and then Zach.
They all got into their cars. Nikki watched as they drove off, wondering if a killer hadn’t just gotten away.
She walked through the archways of the hotel and looked for Derek. She spotted Marco. “Ah, bellisima, what a terrible, terrible week this has been. No?”
“You could say that.”
“I have good news though.”
“Really? I could use some good news right about now.”
“Patrice and Adonis are leaving today.” He clapped his hands together. “For good.” He smiled widely.
“Seriously? What brought that on?”
“A lot, a lot of money. She settled with Derek and Simon for a lot more than she deserved.”
“She certainly doesn’t deserve anything.”
“I agree,” Marco said, “but at least she will be bye-bye, arrivederci. And Simon and Violet and me can go forward with our lives.”
“That is good, great in fact,” she said.
“And you and Derek, too.”
Nikki nodded.
“Uh-oh, bellisima, why so sad? Why so gloomy? What is it the matter?”
“It’s me and Derek, I don’t know. There’s been so much that has happened in the last few days and with things that I’ve learned . . . I don’t know if this will work for us.”
Marco came around from behind the counter and took her hands in his. “Bellisima, you speak nonsense. Look what Simon and I have endured over the last few years from cheating, lying, his monster mother, and then some. But we decided that our love was stronger than all of that. We made it through the worst things possible, and now our love holds and I am telling you that this will be forever. If it was easy, then it would not be worth it. The good times would be, hmmm . . . they would be flat. Nothing interesting. Nothing to grow from. Nothing to appreciate. It is out of the hard times that we learn to love more, be thankful for more. It is this time that you will look back on and know that it was what your love needed to make it even better.” He kissed her on each cheek.
She kissed him back. “You know, you are a wise man.”
He shrugged. “Maybe. And you are a wise woman, so follow your heart.”
“I will. By the way, have you seen Derek around?”
“Oh, yes, he did say to tell you that he took Ollie to the vet. He ate something we think that made him sick.”
“What? Oh no! Is he okay?”
“I think so. Derek wanted to be sure because he wouldn’t eat and he was vomiting. Maybe a flu.”
“No. Dogs don’t get flu bugs. I don’t think. That doesn’t sound good.” Nikki took her cell from her purse and dialed Derek’s number. It went straight to voicemail. “Damn. If you hear from him, have him call me. I’m going down to the house.”
“I will do that. No worries, bellisima. Ollie will be good, and you and Derek will be good.”
She smiled at him, hoping and praying he was right. She couldn’t imagine losing Ollie. Not on top of everything else. She loved that dog. She called the vet’s office, and they told her that Derek and the vet were in with Ollie at the moment. She thought about going down there and asked, but they told her they would call her back if they thought it was necessary. For now it looked as if Ollie was going to be okay.
“Do you know what’s wrong?” Nikki asked.
The receptionist asked to put her on hold. Nikki got into her car and headed down the hill to the house, waiting for the girl to come back on the line. When she did, she said, “It would appear that he got into some type of rat poison.”
“Rat poison? We don’t keep rat poison around.”
“The good news is that he will be okay. Dr. Green called poison control and we’ve done everything here by the book. We’re just going to monitor him for another hour or so. But Dr. Green says he’ll be just fine.”
Nikki took a deep breath. “Okay. Thank you.” She hung up the phone and parked in front of the house. Rat poison. Where had Ollie gotten into that?
Then it struck her: maybe he didn’t get into it. Maybe someone had fed it to him. And as she went inside the house to her office, a text from an unknown caller came across her phone. Moros Apate Thanatos.
Forty-four
NIKKI made sure all the doors and windows were locked. She thought about calling Simon to come down, but then she realized how silly she was being. No one was in the house, and no was getting in the house.
She went into the kitchen and took out a bag of solace—potato chips. It was her one junk food habit and when anxiety hit, the salty, crispy treats were a necessity. She grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and went into the office to see if her “shot in the dark” was even remotely correct.
Nancy was a link. Why Nancy would want anyone dead Nikki still didn’t know. Nancy was an artist. A lot of artists had Web sites. She got online and typed in Nancy with her married name. Nothing. Nikki went into the family room where the college annual they’d all looked at the other night and the photo album that Savannah had left still were.
Nancy’s maiden name had been Flowers. Okay, Nancy Flowers. Nikki went back to the Internet and Googled Nancy Flowers. Sure enough she got a hit. There was a realtor, an Amnesty International gal with the same name, and then tons of Nancy’s Flowers for florist shops. On the second page she found what she was looking for, and hit the link.
Nancy was quite a talented artist. Nikki studied the photo of her. A little bit of an older version of the woman in the college photos, but still very pretty. She didn’t look crazy. The bio photo was of her seated on a rock, overlooking an azure sea. The caption beneath it read, “Santorini, Greece.” Nikki’s stomach sank. She then hit the portfolio page. There were landscape paintings of what looked to be Italy, the London Bridge, and the Eiffel Tower. There were paintings Nancy had done of a Spanish woman playing a violin. She had a group of these, and then what looked to be cultural pieces of parts of Mexico. She appeared to like various cultures and settings. The second page, though, was what got Nikki, and proved to her that she was onto something. That page was filled with mythological creatures, gods, and goddesses. Nikki then went to Nancy’s client page. She scrolled through a list of clients, noting that Nancy had done quite a bit of commercial work on print ads. And that’s where she found what she needed.
Nikki leaned back as she pressed the link to Kincaid Advertising and Publicity Firm. Zach’s last name was Kincaid.
The link was no longer live. Nikki then went back to Nancy’s site and searched through it. She found a group of ads that Nancy had worked on for Kincaid. Nikki caught her breath. There was the ad she’d seen online the day before while licking her wounds at the Calistoga Ranch—Venus and Zeus getting married. It was for the travel agency.
Nancy was not the criminal. But Nikki knew who was.
Nikki then proceeded to try to find all airlines that flew from Oakland to Puerto Vallarta and vice versa. This took her some time, but she was pretty sure she’d acquired a complete list.
After that she began checking flight times for that day. There was no flight from any airline landing in Oakland from Puerto Vallarta.
“Zach lied,” she said out loud.
The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as she knew there was another presence in the room. Before she could turn around or get out of her chair, a knife was pressed to her throat, and Zach whispered in her ear, “Do you believe in fate?”
Forty-five
ZACH had Nikki tied up, and as he started to cut masking tape to presumably place across her mouth, she asked him again, “Why?”
He closed his eyes briefly and shook his head. When he opened his eyes, Nikki could see she was looking at someone who had truly lost it.
“Why? I guess since I’m going to put down my impending doom on you, I owe you an explanation.” He laughed. “Funny thing is, Nikki, I was going to leave you alone. Initially I’d planned to kill you. I’m apparently not as great a shot as I thought. I used to be better when I hunted all the time, but marriage sucks the life out of you. I had to stop hunting,” he whined, mocking a woman’s voice. “I had to work harder. I had to do this and that and pay more attention to her.” He shook his head. “Please. When does a man ever get to be a man? That bitch would never let me just be a man. Always busting my balls. And I tried. Believe me, I tried hard to please her. I lost my job, and so I started my own agency. I put our savings into it. Then the bitch left me. She just left me. Blamed me for everything. Blamed me for not getting her pregnant. Blamed me for not being like Kenny, or Derek, or Tristan, or even Jackson. For not being the success that all those guys we went to school with had become. You know I even tried to get Kenny to work with me? I had ads for that stupid magazine of his and he wouldn’t cut me any kind of slack. No deal. And Derek? I tried to get him as a client, but apparently he said all of your marketing is in-house. Something you’re in charge of. I lost my business on top of everything else. I lost everything that I knew and believed about myself.”
“So you murdered Kenny for not cutting you any slack? And you wanted to kill me because our ads are done in-house? Zach, that doesn’t make a lot of sense. Think about it.” Jeez, who was she kidding here? This guy was a murderer. His theories behind why he killed didn’t have to make sense to anyone but himself. Bottom line, the guy was twisted and sick in the head. Nikki knew she should be more frightened at that moment, and she was pretty scared, however she also knew that if she could keep him talking, keep him distracted, that maybe she could get out of this.
“Kenny, yes, and also for being such a blowhard jerk for all of these years, and for screwing Savannah, because everyone knew that was going on. I was trying to help Tristan out. I kinda like the guy. His own fault for picking up the knife. Idiot. She’s the one who put the word divorce in my wife’s ear.”
“And me? Why me?”
He laughed. “Because why should Derek Malveaux always win in the end? The golden boy, the rich kid, the one who has it all? Always had it all. And Nancy made such a big deal of it to me. It was always Derek this, and Derek that. You know one day she even remarked that she wished she’d had a chance at Derek and married him.” He shook his head. “I’m sick and tired of everyone always coming out on top but me. Kenny had his booming company. Derek has money and you and all this happiness. It’s wrong! When is it my turn? Me? I’m a good guy. I am! You know when the invitation came for the wedding, and Nancy started in about how great Derek is, how perfect he was, blah, blah, goddamn blah . . . I figured I’m over it. Not everyone else besides me gets to win all the time.”
“You’re really disturbed.”
“Maybe.”
“And Nancy?”
“Dead. I took her on a little deep-sea fishing expedition. Bye-bye.” He wiggled his fingers.
“You’re never going to get away with this.”
“I will. And then I’m going to disappear.”
“Let me guess. Greece?”
“I’m not telling.” He winked at her.
Goosebumps traveled down Nikki’s arms and her stomach sank. Keep him talking. “What’s the Greek angle? Just a scare thing?”
“Nah. That’s all Nancy. She loved that mythology crap and used to blab on about it. I kind of liked the idea of gods of fate at work. The nasty ones anyway. It’s made this game far more interesting for me. Anyway, you’ve had enough chitchat time. That’s the problem with all of you women. You talk too much!” He placed the tape over her mouth as she futilely tried to shove him away with her bound legs, only managing to get in one good kick. “That hurt, you bitch.” He slapped her hard across her face.
This wasn’t going well. Then Nikki heard the front door open and Derek’s voice call her name.
Zach got behind her and placed the knife at her neck. “Oh, perfect,” he whispered.
“Nikki?”
Nikki’s eyes widened as she spotted Derek come around the corner and into the office. He stopped and stared. She knew it was taking him a few seconds to register what he was seeing. “Zach, what are you doing?”
“Come on, buddy. Don’t you believe in fate?”
Where was Ollie? If he knew she was in trouble, he’d be right there. Nikki closed her eyes tight. If the son of a bitch had killed her dog . . .
“Let her go, man. I don’t know what this is about, but let her go and we can talk about it.”
“Nah. Nothing to talk about.” He sighed and moved to the side, still keeping the knife on her throat. She could feel him reaching into his pocket and wondered what he was trying to get. Then she saw what he was after and knew they were both in grave danger. As Zach brought the gun up to shoot Derek, he said, “Two birds. Moros Apate Thanatos, my friend.”
It all happened fast—Derek dove to the side as the gunshot rang out. Nikki felt the pressure of the knife against her neck and a trickle of blood. She grew dizzy and began to lose consciousness. As her vision faded and Zach stood, she saw Ollie in the doorway, either he was weaving or it was her fading that made him look like that. Poor Ollie, she thought drowsily. I hope my pal is all right.
As everything went dark, she heard the commotion. Derek was yelling, Ollie was growling and barking, there was screaming, and then another gunshot rang out.
Forty-six
WHEN Nikki woke, she didn’t recognize where she was at first. But then the sounds surrounding her clued her in. Blips, bleeps and dings. The hospital. The smell of antiseptic was unmistakable. Her throat burned miserably. It took a minute for her eyes to adjust and when they finally did, she spotted Simon in a chair dozing. She said his name, and then realized she couldn’t say it too loudly. But it was enough to snap him to.
He rushed to her side. “Oh my God, Tink. I thought, I thought . . . Oh, we all thought . . .” Tears streamed down his face.
“Thought what?”
“I thought we might have lost you. And I couldn’t have gone on without you. My God, who would I have gone to Barneys with? And who would I drink copious amounts of champagne with, and make fun of each other with? And who in the hell could I call Goldilocks, Snow White, and Tinker Bell? No one. Only you! Only you, and you’re alive.”
“What happened?” she uttered.
“That bad man, he tried to kill you, but thank God for Ollie and your knight in shining armor, my darling brother. Ollie attacked Zach, and Derek shot him and he’s dead. But he hurt you, honey.”
“How bad? Where’s Derek?”
Simon put a finger on her throat. “He cut about an inch and you lost some blood. But you’re alive, you’re here!”
“Of course she is.” Derek walked in and took her hand. “Is he scaring you?”
Nikki nodded. “A little.”
“He’s pulling the drama queen act.”
Simon rolled his eyes. “Maybe a little, but I wanted her to know how much I love her. How much we love her.”
“I know,” she whispered. “I do know.”
“Good. I’m going to find Marco and Violet. Marco took her to the cafeteria.
He’ll be delighted to know you’re awake.” He leaned over her and kissed her cheek. “I do love you, Tink. And if you ever play detective again, I’m never going to go shopping with you. And forget the champagne. And, well, I’ll just start calling you Nikki. No more fancy schmancy nicknames, sister. You can bet on it.”
“Now that would be a crime,” Nikki said.
“It would.” He turned around and marched out of the room.
Derek’s grasp on her hand tightened. He shook his head. “I just came from talking to the doctor, and your throat will be sore for some time, but you’re going to be fine.”
She smiled. “What about Savannah? Tristan?”
He sighed. “Tristan has been released from jail. He’s with Savannah now. She’s still critical but they think she’s going to make it.”
“Thank goodness.”
“And Zach is . . . ?”
“Dead. Ollie is a miracle. When I brought him back from the vet he was woozy, because they had to pump his stomach and they gave him some pain medication. But as soon as he realized we were in trouble, that you were in trouble, he sobered up real quick. Leapt about ten feet and took Zach down. It was just long enough for me to grab the gun, and when I saw that he was going for you again to . . . to . . .” He wiped tears from his face. “To finish what he started, I shot him. I had to.”
“You saved me,” Nikki said.
“I love you so much, Nik. And now I just want us to get past all of this and move on. I paid Patrice a lot of money. She finally agreed to go.”
“I know. Simon told me.”
“Of course.” He laughed. “My brother and his big mouth. I wanted to be the one to tell you.”
“He means well.”
“He does.” Derek brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. “Listen to me for a minute. I have to tell you this, and I know that you’re not in any sort of state to make any decisions right now, but you need to know exactly how I feel.”
“Okay.”
A Toast to Murder Page 19