Heard it Through the Grapevine

by Lizbeth Lipperman

  A cold knot formed in his gut as he waited for Rogers to answer. Jerry had mentioned only this morning that Tessa used her laptop exclusively for business trips and at the office. He had been praying her last e-mail to him had come from her home computer, the one that was totally destroyed in the explosion. Otherwise, he would have a lot of explaining to do.

  “He’s still looking, but so far, nothing else,” Rogers replied. “Do you have something specific in mind?”

  Colt bit his lower lip. “Anything that looks out of place.” He motioned for the waitress to bring the check. “I’m leaving Ruby’s now. Don’t let Sean out of your sight until I get back.” He disconnected, aware of Lainey’s intense stare.

  “I have to get back. Is your car at the station, or do I need to drop you off somewhere?”

  “The station.” Her eyes held his. “Are you going to tell me what that was about?”

  “Can’t. It’s part of the investigation.”

  Lainey was already more involved than he wanted, and this information would only fuel her fire to nose around.

  “Is it about Tessa?”

  When he nodded, she grabbed his hand. “Come on, Colt. I have a right to know.”

  Against his better judgment, he leaned closer to make sure no one else heard, breathing in the slight scent of lavender from her hair. “They found an invoice for cyanide on Tessa’s computer.”

  “What?” Lainey’s voice echoed through the noisy diner, causing customers to turn and look.

  Colt threw a twenty on the table and grabbed her arm. “Come on. I’ll tell you in the car.”

  SEVEN

  AS LAINEY DROVE THE rental car out of the parking lot into traffic, the new information whirled in her mind. How did the invoice for cyanide end up on Tessa’s computer? Could Tessa have ordered it for something else and then used it on herself? But why else would you use cyanide?

  Lainey shook her head, tapping the steering wheel as she waited for the light to change. She would have liked to bounce this off Maddy, but her sister hadn’t returned from her meeting at the church.

  Checking her watch, she remembered her two o’clock appointment with Charles Prescott, Tessa’s lawyer. If she hurried, she would only be a few minutes late. Kicking off her pumps, she floored it when the light changed, glad the cops were all back at the station poring over the new evidence.

  I know what you’re thinking, Lainey. You’re wrong. I didn’t off myself.

  Lainey screamed and nearly ran her car off the road. “Dammit, Tessa. Don’t scare me like that. I almost wrecked this car,” she scolded, glancing to her right to scowl at her dead sister’s ghost.

  Tessa reached for the seat belt and draped it around her body. You never were a good driver, Lainey, always daydreaming about stuff. She sniffed. Did you ever write that book about the Cuban immigrant’s family? You know, the one you always talked about?

  “Don’t change the subject. If you didn’t order the cyanide, then who did?”

  Tessa shook her head. Your guess is as good as mine.

  “You say that a lot,” Lainey responded. “How could you not know?”

  Tessa huffed. Not all of us are as smart as you, Lainey. Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

  Lainey stiffened. “Where did that come from? Nobody ever said I was smarter than you.”

  Mom did.

  “What?” Lainey cocked her head toward Tessa, then jerked the steering wheel back to the left when the tires hit the gravel on the side of the road. “Shit!”

  That’s all I ever heard. Lainey this and Lainey that. Did you know Lainey made the Dean’s list? Again! She tsked the way their mother did when she told a story. Oh, and did you hear? Tessa’s on academic probation. Again! She tsked a second time. She was Miss Wine Country for the second year in a row, though. Tessa exhaled noisily. Just forget it, Lainey. I got over that a long time ago.

  Lainey slipped into a parking spot at the lawyer’s office in downtown Vineyard and turned off the ignition. For a moment, neither spoke before Lainey turned toward her sister. “I didn’t realize that bothered you so much.” She forced a laugh. “The irony of this is that while you wished for better grades, I would have traded every single ‘A’ I made to have guys look at me the way they did you.”

  Their eyes locked. Yeah, that’s overrated if you ask me. Her mouth tipped with amusement. So, you’re just as screwed up as I am.

  Lainey shook her head. “Nobody’s that messed up.” She pulled the key from the ignition. “You really don’t know who ordered the cyanide?” she asked again, uncomfortable with the conversation. When Tessa was alive, the two had never talked about feelings, and Lainey wasn’t about to go down that road now.

  Tessa pursed her lips, shaking her head. The computer sat on my desk for anyone to mess with when I wasn’t there. Most of the time, Carrie went with me to sales meetings, and the office was empty. Any of the vineyard employees could have walked in and used it.

  Lainey frowned, creasing her forehead. “Back to square one.” She turned one last time to Tessa before she got out of the car. “You’re absolutely, one hundred percent sure you didn’t order the cyanide?”

  Give it a break, Lainey. There’s no way I would have killed myself. My life was about to change big time.

  _____

  “What did Carolyn say?” Kate asked, sliding into the booth with her sisters. “Sorry I’m late, by the way.”

  “We’re just on our first drink,” Deena said. “We ordered you a Cosmo exactly the way you like it.”

  “Sounds wonderful. Today was a long day at the hospital.” Kate sipped the pink drink. “Umm! Sure beats the hell out of hospital coffee.”

  “Talk about a long day,” Deena said in between drinks. “Our little nursing home has become a reality show—The Real Seniors of Vineyard Continuous Care. I had to shift into damage control mode when old man Jessup’s family went at it with Myrtle Fuller’s daughter and son-in-law.”

  “Why on earth were they fighting?” Maddy asked, leaning across the table to hear Deena’s story.

  “The night nurse caught the old fart nearly sitting on her face last night, his joy stick raring to go.”

  “No way,” Kate said. “What did she do?”

  “She freaked out,” Deena continued. “Said he kept saying ‘Take your teeth out, Myrtle. Here I come’.”

  Lainey snorted, spitting her drink across the table. “You’re kidding, right?” she asked as Deena shook her head, wiping her arm with a napkin.

  “So, what happened?” Kate asked, tears rolling down her cheeks.

  “After several hours I was able to convince both families to chill out. I promised to have the nurses keep their eye on the horny old devil.”

  “Ohmygod! Even at that age, they still think we like that. You can’t make up stuff like that,” Maddy said, still laughing. “But why you, Deena? You’re just the activities director. Why not the administrator or the nursing director?”

  Deena shook her head. “Because everyone hates the director, and the administrator is out of town. She called and asked me to do it since both families adore me.” She winked. “What’s not to love about me?”

  Lainey smiled as Kate hugged Deena.

  “You are adorable, Deena, but I’m pissed your bad day topped mine.” Kate drained her drink and summoned the waitress for a refill. “All I had were two emergency C-sections, one because of a twin that was presenting breech. It got a little hairy for a while on the OB floor but nothing like your story.” Kate turned to Lainey. “You never finished telling me about Carolyn.”

  “Joey didn’t do it,” Maddy said. “He probably threw a party when Joe Sr. left to celebrate no more beatings.”

  “Jeez!” Kate exclaimed, grabbing a pretzel from the bowl on the table. “Tessa sure could pick ’em.”

  Let’s not start pointing fingers, little sis. What about that biker you brought home from spring break your last year at UT?

  Lainey looked up as Tessa slid in beside her
.

  Tell them about the cyanide.

  “I was getting to that,” Lainey said, annoyed by the reminder.

  “She’s here again?” Maddy asked.

  “Yep, and she wants me to remind Kate about the biker boy she once brought home.”

  Kate scrunched her face. “Touché.” She turned to her older sister. “Now what, Lainey? Are we through chasing killers for a while?”

  “They found out the cyanide was ordered two weeks ago from Tessa’s computer,” Maddy said.

  “What the hell does that mean?” Deena tossed back her head and drained her margarita. “I need another one of these.” She waved to get the waitress’ attention.

  “Someone with access to Tessa’s computer and the company credit card ordered it,” Maddy explained. “At least, that’s what Colt said. He’s looking at everyone who works at the winery. Seems Tessa never locked her office or the drawer where she kept her credit card.

  So, sue me.

  “Where is she?” Deena looked around as the waitress arrived with a new round of drinks.

  Lainey patted the seat next to her.

  “Wasn’t that kind of stupid, Tessa?” Maddy asked.

  Give it a rest, Maddy. Don’t get me started on some of the dumb things you’ve done. I know it was stupid. I don’t need any more reminders.

  “What’d she say?” Maddy asked.

  “She knows it wasn’t the smartest thing in the world, but it’s past history. We have to find out who ordered the poison.”

  “Are we sure it wasn’t her?” Deena asked in a hushed voice, turning her head away from the empty seat.

  I can hear you, Deena. Of course I didn’t order it.

  “It wasn’t her,” Lainey said, omitting Tessa’s statement that she was about to make a radical change in her life. Tessa had clammed up when she’d asked about it, and Lainey still hadn’t figured out what she’d meant.

  “Okay, should we add all the freakin’ Spirits of Texas employees to our list?” Maddy asked.

  “Shoot!” Lainey exclaimed, a hint of mischief in her voice. “We’ll be investigating the whole damn city before long.”

  Stick to interviewing, Lainey. Humor has never been your strong suit.

  “Okay, I say we forget all this for now and concentrate on celebrating being together,” Kate said. “Lainey will be leaving for Florida before you know it.” She raised her glass. “To the best sisters in the world.”

  The others reached for their drinks to toast their special bond. Lainey held up her glass again to send Tessa a mock salute, but she had already vanished.

  _____

  Lainey stared at the building, unable to shake the weird feeling that Tessa’s killer had been in the room she was about to enter. Built in the late eighteen hundreds, the winery had become a tourist attraction, its office at the entrance proudly displaying the historical landmark placard attached to the old Chicago brick exterior. Jerry’s great-grandfather had immigrated from Italy, planting the first vines out back from cuttings he’d carried with him on the boat from his own father’s vineyard in Palermo.

  Lainey took a deep breath and walked in. A pungent orange smell greeted her.

  “Hello, Lainey. I wondered when you’d stop by, now that you own half this place.”

  Lainey was surprised to see Carrie Phillips, Tessa’s personal assistant, sitting in her sister’s office with what looked like the company books spread across the desk. In front of her was a bowl filled with potpourri. Tessa must have loved the orange fragrance as much as she did. “Hey, Carrie. It’s been a long time.”

  Tessa’s best friend stood up and walked around the desk to hug Lainey. “Last time I saw you, you were just finishing up your freshman year at that fancy Georgia college.” She stiff-armed Lainey away from her body. “You’ve gotten prettier. I’ll bet you keep those East Coast boys on their toes.”

  Lainey snorted. She’d been called a lot of things, but pretty wasn’t one of them. That had always been Tessa’s department. She pulled away from Carrie’s embrace and flopped into a chair. “Thought I’d better come down and see how everything worked if I’m going to be involved now.”

  Carrie didn’t even try to hide her surprise. “You’re not serious. You’re really going to stay in Vineyard to run the winery?”

  Lainey lowered her eyes, hoping she could pull this off. At the consultation with Tessa’s lawyer yesterday, he’d advised her to pretend as if that was her plan. He said if she could make Jerry Moretti believe it, he might be more anxious to strike a deal to buy her shares at current market value if only to get rid of her. The more money she could get for Gracie, the better.

  “I’ve missed being around my sisters. This gives me the perfect opportunity to be near them again.” She took a deep breath and blew it out slowly before glancing up.

  The initial surprise on Carrie’s face was replaced with a smile. “That’s great news. Having family close is important.”

  Lainey was only half-listening, instead making a visual sweep of her sister’s office, her eyes halting on the wide ornate desk that nearly filled the room. The size of the room seemed out of character for Tessa. She’d always been about big. Nothing she ever did was on a small scale.

  She finally tore her eyes away and continued scanning the room. In the corner behind the desk was a full-blown beverage center, the kind you see at car dealerships. The kind that kept you hydrated and happy while you waited for the service manager to tell you your car was ready. It seemed especially out of place in the small space, but it was so Tessa. She’d always had a flair for anything over the top.

  “Have you given any thought to where you’ll stay?” Carrie asked, interrupting Lainey’s visual tour of the room.

  “Not really.” She reached into her purse for her checkbook and fanned her face. The room had suddenly turned stifling, as if the heat index had elevated several notches. She whirled around to see if her sister had popped in once again before remembering she’d read somewhere the room got chilly, not warm when a ghost was present. Other than Carrie, who was now looking at Lainey like she was on drugs, there were no other females in the room.

  “For now, I’m fine at the Conquistador,” Lainey said. “It got a little hot in here. Must be hormones,” she added, continuing to fan herself.

  Carrie walked to the door and turned on the overhead fan. “You could always move in here.”

  Lainey’s eyes circled the tiny office once again before settling on Carrie. “A little small for a bed.”

  Carrie laughed. “Don’t you know your sister hated this small office. That woman did like wide open spaces.” She pointed to a door in the corner opposite the beverage bar. “Tessa split this room and turned the other side into an apartment. She spent many nights here after she married Jerry.”

  “I’m not surprised,” Lainey said. “From what the locals all said about her, she was a big hit in the wine industry. It stands to reason she’d have to put in a lot of hours here to maintain that success.”

  Carrie laughed out loud. “Your sister used to say any time away from Jerry was quality time.”

  Lainey laughed, too. That made sense. According to her sisters, Tessa had only been married to Jerry for a short time. It hadn’t exactly been a marriage made in heaven.

  Carrie stood up and walked to the beverage bar. After pouring two coffees, she handed one to Lainey and sat down beside her. “So, catch me up on your life. Other than you landing that great job in Savannah after you graduated, I really don’t know much about you. Are you married?”

  “No,” Lainey answered quickly then forced a laugh. “I’m way too busy for a social life.” She took a sip of the coffee before continuing. “What about you? Last I heard you were talking marriage with Colt.”

  A shadow of annoyance crossed Carrie’s face before her eyes crinkled in a half-smile. “That was a long time ago, Lainey. Colt and I were just teenagers, too young for commitments. Too stupid to know any better.”

  Lainey kne
w her questions were out of line, but she couldn’t stop herself. Your best friend stealing your boyfriend and having his baby was a strong reason to hate someone, but was it enough to kill?

  She pressed on. “I remember you two were pretty serious your senior year. When you went off to A & M with him, I thought for sure you’d stay together.”

  Carrie bit her lower lip as if considering her answer before she blurted it out. “Yeah, I thought so, too, but it didn’t happen that way. Colt and I grew further and further apart instead of getting closer the way it should have been. After our junior year at College Station, we both knew it was over.”

  “Is that when Colt’s father was killed and he came home?”

  Carrie lowered her eyes and nodded. “It was around that time.”

  Carrie’s body language left no doubt this was a painful subject, and Lainey scolded herself for being so insensitive. After a brief argument with her conscience, she plunged ahead, her investigative instincts winning out. “Wasn’t that about the same time Tessa left Southwestern Community and came home?”

  Carrie walked back around the desk and shuffled some papers before glancing back up. “We were talking about you. How’d this conversation switch to me and stuff that happened so long ago I’d already forgotten about it.”

  Oh, really. You might want to tell that to your heart.

  Carrie held up her left hand and flashed a huge diamond ring. “Do you remember David Rivera?”

  “Tessa’s old boyfriend?”

  Her eyes narrowed as she leveled a momentary look at Lainey. “One and the same. We hooked up a couple of years ago. The wedding is scheduled for late September. He’s the city manager now.”

  “Congratulations. I remember David always made me laugh when he was at our house.”

  “That’s what I fell in love with.” Carrie turned when the desk phone rang. “Excuse me for a sec, Lainey. I hope this is the call I’ve been waiting on.”

  Lainey walked to the beverage center for a sweetener packet. Above the granite counter, there was a wall of pictures, mostly of Gracie and her horses. Among the pictures was an old black and white photo of Tessa and Lainey as little girls. Tessa was holding her hand protectively in a big sister sort of way.