A Few Good Women (Lexi Graves Mysteries, 9)

by Camilla Chafer

"Wishful thinking?"

  "I think she preferred the dead option," I said. We looked over to see Olivia wildly gesticulating at Garrett, both of them looking far from happy. "Do I need to give a statement?"

  "Yes! You were attacked. Obviously, you have to make a statement. But before we start... were you breaking and entering?" Daniel waited, clearly worried about my response.

  "No! I had keys and permission to enter."

  "If we catch this guy and he was there legally, he might say you were breaking and entering."

  "The only person that should have been there was Anthony and you just told me he's definitely dead."

  "He is not dead!" yelled Olivia.

  We both glanced over but she wasn't yelling at me. "Tell me everything," said Daniel.

  I started from the beginning when I visited Cynthia and got the keys although I skipped the parts when I was looking for something. I ended my narrative with Olivia helping me down to the lobby. "What I don't understand is why you were even there," said Daniel. "Why are you investigating Anthony?"

  "As a possible suspect in my case but I couldn't find a thing," I answered. "All I have to show for it is this." I pointed to my head and peeled off the icepack again.

  Daniel pulled a face. "It doesn't look too bad. C'mon. I'll give you a ride."

  "Thanks."

  "Home?" he asked as we climbed into his official motor pool vehicle.

  "No, the agency please."

  "Are you sure? I could take you to Mom and Dad’s and let them look after you."

  "And hear them tell me how dangerous my life is? No thanks. I'll go to the agency and I promise I'll rest later."

  "And no more entering strange houses or apartments?"

  "No more for today." Daniel gave me a look so I pulled a face. "That's the best I can do!"

  "I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

  We drove a couple of blocks in silence. "How're you?" I asked.

  "I'm good."

  "No, I mean, really. How are you about Anthony coming back to town?"

  "Not happy, but at least he didn't bring my ex-wife." We both shuddered. "Didn't think it would end this way, but Anthony's past had to catch up with him sometime."

  "His mom said someone came to her house saying he owed a lot of money. She also said someone was trying to kill him."

  Daniel pulled in front of the agency and switched off the engine. "I know you want to talk about this stuff but I don't. He screwed up my life, Lexi. He played a big part in my marriage ending and it took me a long time to bounce back from that. I'm happy now. I have a wife whom I love, and who loves me. I trust her in a way I could never trust... I don't even like saying her name anymore. I'm so glad she's gone. I was also pleased Anthony left. I want to return to my normal, happy life with my wife and kids. The sooner this is over, the better."

  I placed my hand on his arm and gave him what I hoped was a reassuring squeeze. "I understand."

  "I am really sorry you've been dragged into his insanity again. He and his family had no right to do that to you. The world is a better place without people like Anthony Steadman. Is there anyway you can leave this alone? Whatever your case is, pass it off to someone else. Garrett can deal with the rest of it."

  "I wish I could but I don't think I have any choice."

  "Anthony is dead. It's better to leave him that way."

  I wanted to assure Daniel that Anthony wouldn't cause anymore hurt but I couldn't. Anthony just didn't care who got in his way if he wanted something. The only human feelings that ever mattered to him were his own. "I don't know who Olivia saw," I told him before I stepped out of the car, "but the blood evidence doesn't lie. I thought he might be alive but I guess not. I just want to finish the investigation for my client and move onto the next case; then we can finally put Anthony Steadman behind us."

  "Are you sure I can't take you to the hospital?" asked Daniel, glancing at my forehead again.

  "No, but thank you. I like to reserve my hospital visits for only the goriest injuries."

  "I will not repeat that to our parents. Call me if you need anything."

  I assured Daniel I would before waving goodbye as he pulled away from the curb. I stood on the sidewalk for a moment, relishing the fresh air and the sunlight before I walked inside, but just as I was about to turn, something glittered in the corner of my eye. A tall man dressed in black jeans and a very familiar black sweater was standing on the opposite sidewalk. The reflection of the titanium on his watch was what attracted me. I smiled and raised my hand to wave but stopped. A woman stepped out of the store behind him. Even across the road, I recognized her. She said something and Solomon smiled, saying something back. She laughed and tossed her red hair and they continued talking, totally oblivious to me. I stepped backwards into the shadow of the building, an uncomfortable feeling growing from deep inside me.

  How could Solomon know Jord's mystery woman? And what could they possibly be talking about?

  After a couple more minutes, she laid a hand on Solomon's arm and smiled broadly. He nodded as she turned away, before walking in the opposite direction and stopping at her car. I stepped forward, ready to follow, until I realized I didn't have my car and trying to follow her now would be futile.

  Hesitating, I wondered what to do next. If I stepped out of the shadows as Solomon crossed the street, he would see me and perhaps realize I observed their exchange. If I stayed here, he might see me anyway and come to the same conclusion. Fortunately, just as I pondered what to do, he turned around and entered the store. I jogged forwards and into my building, rushing through the entryway and taking the stairs up.

  I had better things to do than worry about Solomon... only... I couldn't stop wondering what he could be doing. Was she a client of ours that I didn't know about? Were they merely strangers on the street? Or was there some other secret reason? Did Solomon know about her and Jord? Was he covering for them in some way?

  As I stepped into the office, I thought how nice it was that Daniel trusted his wife. I trusted Solomon implicitly but that didn't mean I misplaced my trust sometimes. I trusted Anthony too, and he betrayed it. I trusted Maddox and messed that up badly. I couldn't imagine Solomon betraying me but surely it was too much of a coincidence that both he and Jord knew the same mysterious woman?

  "Lexi, I got something," said Lucas. I jumped at the top of the stairwell, almost stumbling backwards, and placing a hand over my clamoring heart. "What happened to you?" he said, his eyes widening at my injured forehead.

  "It's not important," I replied. I didn't want to recap the whole last hour again. "What do you have?"

  "I found something on Anthony Steadman. Actually, I found a lot of stuff. I'll show you." He inclined his head, encouraging me to follow. By the time we got to his desk, fatigue hit me. After spending all day running around chasing air, I only raised far more questions than I had answers. I wasn't sure I would ever find out what was going on and the only energy I had left was to feebly raise my head and ask, "Is it good news?"

  "You're going to like this... I think," said Lucas, pulling his chair closer to the desk and reaching for the keyboard. "I found Anthony in the immediate vicinity of three of your houses right around the times they purportedly were broken into." He hit a few keys and several photos appeared on screen. I could clearly make out Anthony. Two showed him driving a black car. "These are traffic cams," explained Lucas, "I got the license plate and I'm looking for the car now. It's registered as a rental but if he stashed it in a garage, I might not get a hit. This one came from a neighbor's security cam. They need to reinforce their firewall badly."

  "This is great!"

  "I hoped you would say that. I have a few more photos but they're not as clear; and I found a security video in one of the homes." Lucas tapped the keyboard again and another series of photos appeared below the ones displayed. I leaned in, peering more closely at them. He was right; they weren't as clear but I recognized the shape of Anthony's cheekbones and nose despite the scar
f he pulled up and the ball cap he pulled down low.

  "Does the video show what he was doing?" I asked, wondering if I were being too optimistic.

  "I don't know what to make of it. I got it from a security feed before it went dead. Someone tried to scrub it but they didn't get these minutes on the backup server off site. Watch," said Lucas as the screen changed to a video feed. The front door opened and a figure stepped into the lobby. Despite the grainy image, I recognized the position of the paintings and the sweep of the staircase as one of the homes I searched earlier.

  The figure stopped and looked around, then pulled off his ball cap and ran a hand through his hair before glancing up at the camera. "That's definitely Anthony," I told Lucas. "So we got him on breaking and entering." I waited for Anthony to do something more obvious but all he did was walk into the living room and out before entering the formal dining room. After a minute, he returned, looking right into the camera again and smiling. "What happened?" I asked as the feed cut out.

  "That's all I could get. I'm working on retrieving more of the file but I don't think I can."

  "Keep trying. This is great stuff but I think we might need something more to satisfy the client, even if he is dead. We still don't know what he was doing there. Did you find anything taken on the day he was killed?"

  "I have traffic cam footage of him making a turn that would suggest he was heading towards the house but you already know that because you saw him there."

  "What was he driving?"

  "The same black rental. A Lexus."

  "There wasn't a car at the house when Solomon and I returned. Can you find out if any cameras picked it up when he was leaving?"

  "What are you thinking?"

  "Someone had to drive it away."

  "The killer?"

  I nodded. "They might have used it to dispose of Anthony's body! If we find the car, we might find him."

  "Do you want me to give that information to the police?"

  "I'll call Garrett and tell him. The more eyes we have on this, the better chance we have of finding him. Do you have anything else?"

  "Not yet."

  "Call me when you do."

  "Sure." Lucas watched me as a short stab of pain shot through my head, making me wince. "Are you sure you don't want to get that looked at?"

  "No, it'll pass."

  "What will pass?" asked Solomon. I jumped and turned around. His eyes went directly to my cut forehead and the Band-Aid. "What happened?"

  I sighed. No sliding around the issue where Solomon was concerned! But if it were the other way around, I would want to know what happened to him.

  "Let's go to my office," he said, taking my elbow and steering me downstairs. In his office, he pressed me into a chair and sat on the desk, waiting.

  "I went to Anthony's apartment to see if I could find anything..."

  "You were supposed to be looking through the open houses with Taylor."

  "I did and I found a couple of things that stood out, but nothing substantial." I wished I could pull the chip and fabric from my pocket and place them on the desk for dramatic effect but I left them in my desk drawer. "I think he was running poker games or something like that. That's all I have. Lucas placed him in close proximity to some of the houses that were broken into; and there's video footage of him inside one of them, but it doesn't show what he was doing. We can tell Booth Realty..."

  "You skipped a bit," said Solomon, his cool gaze bearing down on me. "Did someone hit you?"

  "No! That is, not exactly. I was searching his apartment and someone jumped out of a closet and surprised me. I was pushed down and I fell and hit my head. Olivia Steadman came rushing in and insisted it was Anthony but when the police were called and my brothers turned up..." I trailed off as Solomon put his head in his hands. "Then Garrett said it couldn't have been Anthony because the DNA evidence proved it was his blood at Meadow View. Then Olivia got all pissy because she thought it was him and Daniel drove me here. I left my car over there."

  "I'll send someone to get it." Solomon pulled me against him and wrapped his arms tightly around me. "Why didn't you tell me you were going to his apartment? I would have come with you."

  "I didn't want to waste your time over nothing."

  "That cut isn't nothing. What if he beat the crap out of you instead? Or shot you or stabbed you?"

  "I... um..."

  "Exactly. His mother said he was being framed or threatened. It could have been anyone waiting for him that got you instead."

  "So you don't think it was Anthony?"

  "I can't argue with DNA. Can you?"

  "It all happened too fast. It could have been him. It was definitely a man and the right height but Daniel says he must be dead."

  "Why didn't you call me?"

  "Daniel gave me a ride here. Then I saw you..." I trailed off again. How was I supposed to bring the mystery woman into the conversation without looking like I was digressing from my attack?

  "Saw me what?"

  "I saw you talking to a woman outside. You looked... busy."

  "I wasn't talking to anyone."

  "A redhead. Pretty."

  Solomon frowned; and for a split second, I thought I saw a flash of panic before it vanished and my headache increased. "I spoke to someone on the street when I went across the road to buy gum." Solomon reached into his pocket and extracted an open packet of mint chewing gum. "She was asking for directions," he explained.

  Did directions take that long? "Really?" I asked, suspicion loading the word.

  "What is this?" he asked.

  "I've seen her before… with Jord. They might have been kissing."

  "Jord?" Solomon raised his eyebrows.

  "That is, I'm not exactly sure because someone was blocking the way but I think they were and he's been secretly meeting her and Lily is so worried that she asked me to check and..." I stopped, sucking in a breath as the words tumbled out.

  "Lily thinks Jord is having an affair with this woman?"

  "Her name is Diane Young. Lily doesn't know what to think, only that she knows Jord is lying to her although she doesn't know why."

  "Oh, man. Jord is not having an affair. Not with Diane, not with anyone. You need to stop investigating."

  "I can't. Lily asked me and she needs to know what's going on."

  "Lexi, sweetheart, it's not what you think. Tell Lily she has nothing to worry about."

  "Do you know what's going on?" I asked, puzzled at the turn in conversation. Was Diane really asking for directions? If she weren't, why would Solomon lie to me about it? Plus why did it sound like he knew what was going on? I was saved from grilling him on that very awkward evidence by the sound of my phone ringing. I reached for it. "It's Garrett," I said, answering. "Did you catch him?" I asked.

  "No, but that's what I'm calling about."

  "So it is good news?"

  "Not exactly. Are you sure you didn't get a good look at the guy who jumped you?"

  "Not good enough to pick him out of a line-up. I wish I did."

  "But you're sure he's Caucasian and almost six feet?"

  "Yes, positive. What's going on?"

  "I just got back to the station and there was an urgent report from the forensics team waiting for me. They noticed some irregularities with the blood they processed."

  "What do you mean? I thought the DNA matched Anthony’s?"

  "It did. It's definitely Anthony's but it showed signs of coagulation which shouldn't have been present."

  "I don't understand."

  "There's more. The blood spatter doesn't line up with the bullets. Simply this, there isn't any spatter around the bullets; that would have been present with a through-and-through."

  "What are you saying?"

  "The crime scene must have been staged. We now have reason to believe Anthony is still alive."

  Chapter Fifteen

  "Can't you find anything else?" I asked. Lucas, Solomon and I were seated together, all staring at the big scr
eens, searching for any movement of Anthony Steadman. So far, it was a bust and we all showed signs of frustration. Lucas was bashing the keyboard. Solomon was deathly quiet. And me? Well, I would definitely need a manicure by the end of the day. Probably a very quiet room too. Maybe even a spa day.

  "I'm going to make coffee," I told them. I started to rise but Solomon's hand on my shoulder pressed me down.

  "Stay put and rest," he instructed. He walked across the room to the kitchenette and disappeared behind the door.

  "Next time I want everyone to fuss over me, I'm going to get jumped," said Lucas.

  "That would involve you leaving the office."

  "I do leave sometimes."

  "I can count on one hand the amount of times I've seen you outside the office."

  "That's because I'm not required to leave. I'm always here when any of you need me, serving, basically, as your daily savior."

  "Then get to saving," I told him as I pointed at the screen. "There!" I yelled, causing heads to turn. "Wind that bit back."

  Lucas rewound the tape and we watched a car slide into the driveway of the house we'd been monitoring. "Ahh," he said, realizing what I already spotted. "Right house, wrong date. This house was broken into the day before we thought."

  "That's definitely Anthony's rental car," I said. "I can just make out the last four numbers on the plate. Print this."

  Lucas hit a button and the printer on the table next to us whirred into life. I walked over, grabbed the printout and added it to the board we'd assembled behind the desk. "That's a link to another property," I told him triumphantly. "Where are you with finding the car after it left Meadow View?"

  "Still nothing. The car doesn't appear on any camera coming into town after the supposed murder happened. I've checked a couple days of footage."

  Solomon placed three coffee cups on the desk. "That's what we're missing," he said.

  "Huh?"

  "He either didn't come back into town, which means he's lying low somewhere, or he swapped vehicles and returned. Let's stop the search there. We have enough for Booth Realty to be satisfied with our investigation. We need to see what the cameras caught in the area surrounding his building and find out if Steadman was the one who jumped Lexi."