Suspicions with Murder (A Rilynne Evans Mystery, Book Four)

by Vakey, Jenn

  “After you,” he said as he stepped out of the doorway.

  The walk to the front entrance was long and quiet, as neither spoke a word until they reached Matthews.

  “Thank you,” Rilynne said as he sat the bag down.

  “It was a pleasure, detective,” he said with a surprisingly sincere smile. “See you around sometime.”

  Before she could respond, he turned and walked toward the kitchen. Matthews seemed to be amused by the tension, because he had a large smile sitting on his face when she looked up at him.

  “Not a word,” she said as she reached for her bag. “I’m blaming you for that one.”

  “What did I do?” he asked, pulling the trunk open when they stepped outside. Rilynne dropped her bag in before climbing into the passenger seat.

  “You’re the one who told me to encourage him,” she said firmly. “How else would it have ended? I’m just glad you arrived when you did, or I would have been stuck in a very awkward conversation.”

  He turned the car around, and headed down the long driveway. “I should have driven a little slower, I guess,” he chuckled. Rilynne reached out and hit him on the arm before rolling her eyes.

  “It’s not funny,” she said. “Once you get past the whole murder suspect thing, he was actually a really great guy. This is why I hate doing undercover assignments. Next time it’s your turn.”

  “Even if it’s another assignment involving a maid?” he joked.

  She glared at him. “Especially if it’s one of those. I’ll even pick up your uniform for you. You would look nice in one of those little skirts.”

  Half of the drive back to her house was spent just on the Lewis’ driveway. Somehow it seemed even longer than it had when she approached the house that first day.

  “There is one thing that I’ll miss,” she said as they pulled onto her block. “That was by far the best mattress I’ve ever slept on. It was like floating on clouds covered in bubbles.”

  “In a maid’s room?” he asked curiously.

  “Jared Lewis was very fond of Brittney and provided her with the best. Not in that way,” she stated when he gave her speculative glance. “She seemed to be the only true friend he had. She was the only one who knew he wasn’t really crazy.” He laughed in disbelief. “No, really. He’s actually incredibly smart. He pretended to be nuts out of boredom and to drive his wife crazy.”

  He looked over at her like she was losing it herself. She went over the entire story as they made their way down the long street. With every statement she made, Matthews seemed to become both intrigued and skeptical. She could see the wheels turning in his head as she went over everything from the bubbles to the purple dog. By the time she finished, she almost regretted telling him. Some of the stunts Jared pulled were the exact thing she could picture her partner doing at home just to get a rise out of his wife.

  When she had gone over every detail, Matthews just let out a low whistle and slowly shook his head.

  When they finally pulled up in front of her house, she found Ben’s car in the driveway behind hers. “Do me a favor,” she said to Matthews before opening her door. “Can we keep it between us, the lengths that I took on the case to get information?”

  “All you did was a little harmless flirting,” he said. “It’s not like you did anything worth writing home about.”

  “I know, but it really should be something that he hears about from me, not all of the guys at the station,” she said as images of Ben’s boxing match with her neighbor popped into her head. Even though she knew he would understand her actions, it wasn’t something that should be sprung on him at the wrong moment.

  After mumbling an agreement, she pulled her bag out of the trunk and watched her partner drive away.

  Ben met her at the door with a large smile that made her insides tighten. “Good work, detective,” he said. He picked her up and spun her around, his strong arms holding her tightly. As her feet touched back down on the ground, his hand slid tenderly up her back, not stopping until his fingers were entangled in her hair. He gently pulled her back up toward him.

  The feel of his soft lips on hers sent a wave of heat surging through her. Had her feet not been resting on the floor beneath her, she’d have thought he was spinning her again.

  “Auntie Rye, Auntie Rye,” an excited voice sounded through the room. As she pulled herself away from him, she could feel the thundering vibrations through the floor as Kim ran toward them. “I missed you, Auntie Rye!” she yelled as she jumped into Rilynne’s awaiting arms. “I love your house. It’s so pwetty. This is Mr. Ben. He’s mommy’s friend and my friend, too.”

  “I know, sweetheart,” Rilynne said as she lifted the small child up. “Mr. Ben is my friend, too. Where’s your mommy?”

  “I’ll get her,” Kim said as she squirmed to get down. “She’s making me sandwiches. Do you want sandwiches? Mommy can make you one, too.”

  Rilynne lowered her back down. “No, thank you,” she said as Kim ran back through the room. As soon as she vanished around the corner, she turned her attentions back to Ben. “I’m gone for a few days and you become best friends with a three year old,” she chuckled.

  “Can you blame me?” he asked. He reached up and ran his fingers through her hair. “She’s by far the coolest kid I’ve ever met.”

  “That she is,” she replied as she smirked up at him. “When did she get here?”

  “Yesterday,” he replied. “I’ll let Lori give you the news, though.”

  She looked at him curiously as he started toward the kitchen. After pushing her suitcase out of the way, she trailed after him and found Lori handing a sandwich down to the bouncing child.

  “The office was buzzing after you left yesterday,” she stated. “And thank you for not waiting until today to use your magic on Cyndi Lewis to get the truth. I won two hundred bucks in the pool.”

  “There was a pool going for how long it would take me to solve the case?” Rilynne wasn’t sure why she was shocked. The homicide detectives were always betting on something. It wasn’t a stretch to picture it progressing to a case.

  “Not just when it was solved,” she explained. “I also picked Cyndi Lewis as the doer.”

  “It wasn’t really her, though,” Rilynne said. She pulled a stool up to the island and sat down. “Well, not entirely.”

  Lori shrugged. “She was responsible. Besides, no one even considered one of the children when placing the bets. Nor did anyone imagine it would turn out to be an accidental death. It’s sad she didn’t consider just calling for help. If she had received medical attention, Brittney Price could have survived.”

  “Something tells me that’s not going to be why Cyndi Lewis will be regretting the choices she made,” Rilynne stated. “In the pre-nup that the Lewis’ have it states Mrs. Lewis is left with nothing if she commits a felony. She’s only been staying with her husband to hold onto as many of their assets as she could.”

  “I don’t think I could stay with someone who was completely nuts just for money. No matter how much it was,” Lori stated.

  Rilynne chuckled, unable to keep the large grin off of her face.

  “What?” Ben asked curiously as he pulled a second stool up and sat down next to her.

  “What would you say if I told you Jared Lewis was completely sane?” she asked.

  Both Lori and Ben looked at her uncertainly. “I’d say you’ve spent too much time with him and his craziness has rubbed off,” Lori said. “I’ve only been in town for about a week, and even I’ve heard how out of it he is. Did he really cover his study in paint?”

  Rilynne nodded, the puckish grin still on her face. “I would definitely label him brilliant instead of crazy,” she stated. She watched the look of wonder and intrigue dance across their faces. She considered making them wait longer before explaining, but couldn’t help herself. Rilynne leaned back on the stool and said, “Jared Lewis is a bored man who hoped to make his wife crazy enough to leave him so he didn’t have
to give her half of everything. His antics, like covering the office in paint, were his way of entertaining himself and annoying his wife all at the same time. It actually explains a lot,” she stated. “When he painted the office, he covered the walls, ceiling, and himself in paint, but managed not to get a speck of paint on the floor or any of the furniture. It turns out that he went in the night before and moved all of the furniture out of the way and covered the floor in plastic. He covered the walls using water balloons then moved everything back before venturing out and allowing his wife to see him.” They looked at her seemingly unconvinced, so she continued. “He and Brittney Price were close friends. He would schedule his stunts around her chore schedule. Whenever she had a big job to do, he would make a mess that needed her attention. Whenever he made a mess that required a good deal of time to clean up, Mrs. Lewis would assign the chores that couldn’t be finished to Nancy Santos. Brittney was actually the only person who knew his frolics were just a show.”

  Ben still looked skeptical. “So you’re saying that all of the crazy stories I’ve been hearing for years were just done to drive his wife toward a divorce?” he asked. “Are you sure he wasn’t just messing with you?”

  “Positive,” she stated firmly. “He knew exactly who I was the entire time. He was even trying to assist me without my knowledge.”

  “How?” Lori asked.

  “When he heard the maid and cook having a suspicious conversation about the murder, he created a mess to put me in the position to hear it. He also saw the blood in the trunk and put the other car out of commission so I’d be able to spot it myself.”

  “Wow,” Ben said. He seemed to be running over everything in his head. “He definitely took eccentric millionaire to a whole new level.”

  Lori grabbed a juice box out of the fridge and handed it to Kim. “I won’t lie,” she said as she watched Kim hop back toward the small table she had set up in the corner, “if I won millions of dollars, I’d do some crazy stuff myself.”

  “Like what?” Ben asked. He seemed almost like a child in a candy store at the introduction of the new subject.

  “Like buying entire buildings or hotels if the staff ever refused any of my requests,” she stated. “I’d probably make outrageous requests, too, just because I could. What would you do, Rilynne?”

  “If I won millions?” Lori nodded enthusiastically. “I’d buy a nice piece of land and build my dream house. Nothing nearly as big as the Lewis’ manor,” she explained. “I’ve actually got a program on my computer that lets me design houses. I created the perfect one a few years back, so the first thing I would do is build it and fill it with nice furniture and appliances. After that, I’d make sure my mom was taken care of, then probably put the rest of it away.”

  “Would you keep working?” Ben asked.

  “Of course,” she said without hesitation. “I love what I do, and couldn’t picture a life without it. Besides, I think I’d be dreadfully bored without something useful to do. What about you, Ben? What would you do with millions?”

  He seemed pleased with her response, but didn’t offer one of his own. Instead he just shrugged.

  “Come on?” Lori pushed as she leaned against the counter. “Surely you’ve thought about it.”

  He eyed Rilynne before answering. His look left her curious, but she quickly forgot about it when he said, “Something boring, no doubt. I’d probably invest it until I had something I really wanted. Did you know most people who win large sums of money actually end up filing for bankruptcy because they blow through it?”

  “I can definitely see how that could happen,” Rilynne said. “So would you keep working?” she asked. She already knew the answer before he made a move to respond.

  He leaned back and ran his fingers through his shaggy hair. “Of course I would,” he said. “I was going out of my mind during the forced time off I was given after getting kidnapped and when you went and got me shot.” Rilynne rolled her eyes. “There’s no way I’d be able to sit back and do nothing but spend money.”

  “So was your winning the pool the news you have for me?” Rilynne asked.

  Lori grinned and shook her head. “Nope. It’s much more exciting than that,” she replied. “I just heard this morning that the offer I submitted on a house was accepted. Assuming everything moves smoothly from here, we should be ready to move into it in about two weeks.”

  “That’s fantastic!” Rilynne exclaimed as she jumped up and wrapped her arms around her. “Where is it? When can we go see it?”

  “It’s actually just down the street,” Lori replied. “I figured Kim would want to be as close to her Auntie Rye as possible.”

  While she was pleased by the idea of them living so close, Rilynne had a feeling Lori’s decision to move just a few doors away was for more than just convenience. As she was sure Lori had considered, in the event that her stalker did make an attempt to track her down again, it would be nice to have someone so close.

  “Yes, yes!” Kim yelled. Her pigtails bounced as she jumped toward them. “It’s a really pwetty house. You want to see it Auntie Rye? I’ll take you.” She reached up and took Rilynne’s hand and started to pull her toward the front door.

  “Not today, baby,” Lori said. She reached down and scooped the little girl up in her arms. “We can all go over there tomorrow. Right now it’s naptime.”

  “But,” Kim started.

  “No buts. Say goodnight to Auntie Rye and Mr. Ben,” Lori instructed. She struggled to keep her hold on Kim, who was fiercely fighting to get down.

  After several moments, she let out a deep, resigned groan. “Goodnight,” she said.

  Rilynne and Ben chuckled as Lori carried the pouting child toward the guest room. She was still trying to argue as the door shut behind them.

  “I swear she’s grown two inches since the baby shower,” Rilynne said. “It seems like just yesterday Lori brought her home from the hospital. I know it sounds like a cliché, but it’s true. She was the smallest little thing.”

  Ben grinned at her but didn’t respond. Instead, he checked his watch before pushing his stool back and standing up. “I have a call I need to take in just under an hour. It shouldn’t take me long at all, so why don’t you meet me at the bar after?”

  “That sounds perfect,” she replied. “I could definitely use a drink after the week I just had. What call are you taking?”

  “It’s for the case I’ve been consulting on,” he said as he walked with her toward the front door. She didn’t reply in the hopes that he would fill the silence with details from the mysterious case.

  By the time they reached the door, however, she had grown impatient. “How’s that case going?” she asked.

  He nodded and reached for the doorknob. “It’s not really going very far at the moment,” he replied. “You know me. I’m not going to give up until I have a breakthrough. It’s coming, I can feel it.”

  “Well, they’re lucky you’re on the case,” she said. She wrapped her arms around his waist. He looked down at her longingly as he moved his hand up and pushed the hair out of her face. His eyes shifted between hers, the gold flecks within them sparkling where the light hit.

  “You’re so beautiful,” he said softly. She knew he was trying to distract her, but she didn’t care. The feel of his thumb brushing against her cheek sent chills flooding through her as her breath quickened. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

  He dropped his head down until his lips caressed hers. She still felt as if she was floating when he pulled away and tugged the front door open.

  She watched him climb into his car before shutting the door.

  Rilynne lugged the suitcase across the house and into her bedroom. She unzipped it and pulled it open, but after staring down into it a few moments, she closed it back up. She would unpack it later.

  After changing into some fresh clothes, she told Lori where she was going and headed for the bar.

  It was still early when she arrived, so she decided to h
ave lunch while she waited for Ben to finish with his call.

  “What’ll it be, detective?” the bartender asked when she sat down in her usual barstool.

  “A cheeseburger,” she stated without opening the menu he dropped down. “Swiss and cheddar with a side of ranch, please.”

  He placed a large water in front of her before heading back to the kitchen. She was surprised as she looked around just how many people were already in the bar. She had expected the few regulars who tend to always be there, but she wasn’t expecting so many members of the department.

  By the time her food arrived, she was even joined by a few of her fellow detectives.

  “Where’s the maid outfit?” LaShad asked when he and Donovan sat down at a nearby table. “We were kind of hoping you’d make it a more permanent uniform.”

  “You know the rules, boys,” she countered. “A uniform means everyone has to wear it. I will if you will.”

  They erupted in laughter as Rilynne turned back around to face her burger. She ate it slowly, enjoying every bite as she went. She was just finishing the last of it when Ben walked in.

  “How long have you been here?” he asked when he saw the empty plate.

  “A bit,” she replied. “I didn’t feel like sitting home and unpacking. I’ve been having an interesting conversation with the guys.” She motioned over her shoulder. “They’re interested in the idea of making maid outfits the new uniform.” She said it loud enough for Donovan and LaShad to hear.

  She turned around just as their heads shot up. “We just think it would be a good idea if Evans wore one,” LaShad stated. “I have a feeling out interrogations would move much smoother, that’s all.”

  Ben seemed incredibly amused by the idea.

  “Come on guys,” Rilynne said. “I think the criminals would be much more receptive to the two of you in that outfit. They would probably tell you just about anything for fear that you had lost it entirely. I’m sure I could get my hand on a few of them. Why don’t we test it out?”

  They spent the next hour contemplating which member of the unit they would most like to see in the outfit. After eliminating Lori as a possibility, they all seemed to settle on Skinner.