He went behind the counter. “I’m sorry,” he said. He sounded like he meant it.
“I’m new around here. Everyone seems so nice.”
Skippy shrugged. “Where are you from?”
“L.A.”
He peeked around the barrista. “L.A.? I’d love to move there. This place is totally stifling.” He handed her coffee to her.
She sipped the warm brew. No sleep tonight. “Really? I like it here. It’s very quaint.”
“Ha. Grow up here, be a bit different, and you’d change your mind,” he said, looking over his shoulder. He was the only employee left. “No one likes you much around here if you’re different. They’re all pretty set in their ways. They’re mostly rich pompous jerks.”
“You must have one friend,” Nikki replied.
“I guess.” He fingered the charm.
“Your friend leave, too? Like mine did, when I was a kid.”
“Something like that.”
“Make a coffee, sit down with me. I’ve got nowhere to go. I’m lonely here, and as sad as it might be, I wouldn’t mind having someone to talk to,” Nikki said, hoping he would open up.
He paused for a moment, ran his fingers through his hair, and finally said, “Why not? I don’t have anywhere to go, either. But the minute I get my cash, I’m out of here.”
“Your cash?”
“I’m due to score some decent money. Then, I’m headed down to L.A. I want to be an actor.”
“Don’t we all, kid.”
He gave her a confused look and sat down across from her with a cup of hot brew. “No, really. That’s the plan.”
Nikki didn’t respond. Spoiling the kid’s dreams wasn’t in her. And who knew, maybe he had a real shot at it. “Acting is your thing, then?”
He nodded and took a sip from his coffee cup. “My parents hate the idea. They’re not the typical Napa Valley socialites. They have a small place with a bit of farmland, but my dad can’t seem to cultivate much of anything. He doesn’t have a green thumb, and my mom is her own worst enemy, trying hard to fit into a place that turns its nose up at her.”
“What do they want you to do?”
“Computer stuff, or farm like them, or I don’t know. I don’t care, either, because in a week I’m out of here.”
“When your cash comes in?” Nikki crossed her legs, leaning back in her chair. She wanted to make him comfortable, get him to open up.
“Yep.”>
“What did you do, win some type of settlement, or inherit some money? You don’t mind me asking, do you?”
He shook his head. “No one asks me much of anything, so, no, I don’t mind. Besides you said you didn’t know anyone here, and I haven’t seen you around. I’ll be gone in a few days. What can it hurt?” He fingered the charm again. “My friend used to tell me that sometimes strangers make the best confidants. That’s how we became friends in the first place.”
“He’s right.” She was taking a chance here assuming the friend was a man. “I’m a good one for keeping secrets.”
“I hope so. My friend is very rich, and people know him around here. We’ve had to be careful.”
“So I take it, you had more than a friendship?”
He nodded and bit his lower lip. “But no one could know. That’s why he gave me the charm. It was silly, but one day I told him I saw it in the window at the jewelers, and the next thing I knew, he bought it, and he has the other half.”
“I take it that you two haven’t worked it all out?”
“Not exactly. Simon has a lover, and he didn’t want anyone to know because he was afraid his partner would leave him.”
Simon.
“Kind of a jerk though, to be cheating like that, isn’t he?” Nikki finally replied after taking a long sip of her coffee, trying hard to digest what the young man told her.
“I suppose, but we were only having fun. We got carried away. Someone found out about us, and Simon said that we couldn’t see each other anymore. He said that he’d give me the money I needed to get started in L.A., and that this was the best for everyone. He was supposed to give me the money last week, but he had some family trouble and couldn’t see me. We’re going to meet in a few days. I kind of don’t want to see him because it hurts so bad. He was my first love, you know. He’s the reason I’ve been able to accept being gay. But, I need the money. I don’t know if it’s right for me to take it, but I have to get out of here, and there’s no other way.”
“Someone found out about you? Who?”
“I don’t know. He wouldn’t tell me, all he’d say is that the person had some pictures of us and was blackmailing him. I guess he really loves his boyfriend, and he said that he didn’t want to cause me any pain. He said that the person with the photos had the kind of power to see the pictures published in the local paper, which could cause him and his family a lot of grief.
“Personally, I think my parents are uptight jerks, but they’re still my parents, and when it comes down to it, I love them. I don’t want anyone hurting them, and pictures like what this person supposedly has could destroy simple people like my folks.”
“I understand.” Nikki feigned a yawn. She’d gathered enough information in one evening to write a gossip column worth its weight in gold. “I can’t believe I’m so tired, especially after so much caffeine.”
“What are you up here for?”
“Some business in the wine industry. I’m thinking about doing sales for one of the wineries.”
“Which one?”
“Whoever is looking to hire.” Not a lie really, maybe an outside-the-lines response, but technically not a lie. She didn’t want to upset the young man by telling him that it was for Malveaux. He’d totally trusted her, and he’d figure out that she was being a mere snoop rather than a pal. She did want to help him, though. If there were pictures of him and Simon floating around, and that person was blackmailing Simon, then Nikki wanted to find the blackmailer and the photos.
“Cool. It’s been great talking with you, but I better close this place down. I’ve still got a lot of plans to make.”
“Good luck.”
“Same to you.”
“Hey, I didn’t catch your name,” Nikki said.
“Sammy. Samuel Eades.”
Not Skippy, but close. Nikki stuck out her hand. “Nice to meet you Sammy. I’m Nikki Sands.”
At the front door, Nikki turned around. Sammy was wiping the barrista down. “Hey, Sam?”
“Yeah?” He looked up at her.
“Don’t feel bad about taking the money.” Nikki walked out of the Starbucks, leaving Sammy Eades behind. She had a lot more to think about than before she’d entered the coffeehouse. Could Simon have murdered Gabriel and Minnie for blackmailing him? Had one of them had the photos? Did Simon know about Gabriel and Minnie’s relationship, and then figure the two were sharing information, and so he killed them both? Is that why Simon hadn’t coughed up the money for Sammy yet, because he’d felt he’d gotten rid of the threat? Nikki didn’t have any answers, but she knew she was tangled up in a web filled with deceit. It scared the hell out of her because the closer she got to figuring this all out, the closer she might get to being snared by the predator spinning the web.
Chapter 21
Nikki made her way back to the cottage, using the key Derek had given her. “Screw you, Patrice,” she said aloud as she walked into the house and took the check Patrice had written from her purse. She tore it up. “I can’t be bought, and I’m not white trash.” Her time spent here at the vineyard, and her dealings with these people reaffirmed her belief that class cannot be bought.
She propped herself up on the bed, missing Ollie. She opened the notebook she’d bought at the drugstore and began to write her notes and thoughts, from the moment she’d met Derek to the present. By the time she was done, it was close to two in the morning and her mind was more boggled than ever.
Two people were dead—murdered. Manuel Sanchez was behind bars, his kids i
n some foster home. Simon had a boy toy he was paying to get out of town because someone was blackmailing him. Did Simon murder Minnie and Gabriel?
Patrice held a vested interest in her former stepdaughter-in-law. Minnie, and possibly Gabriel, the victims, had been stealing a chunk of change from Derek. Cal Sumner wanted to buy the premier grapes, and Tara Beckenroe had the hots badly for Derek and was apparently conducting her own investigation into the family. She also had once been obsessed with Gabriel. Could she have been so obsessed as to take out Gabriel and Minnie? Did she know that Minnie and Gabriel had a relationship, and maybe her whole act to get her claws into Derek was just that—a façade in order to take any limelight off of her?
Someone had made a veiled attempt on Nikki’s life, and now Patrice was trying to pay her to get out of town. The whole thing stunk to high heaven, and the question still remained as to who murdered Gabriel and Minnie.
She got out of bed and walked over to her travel bag, thinking about the pack of cigarettes she’d found in the shed. They had to belong to Patrice, and the charm she figured to be Simon’s. They both had something to gain if Derek were behind bars. A vineyard. But it hadn’t gone that way. Someone had set Manuel up to take the fall.
The conversation she’d overheard between Patrice and Meredith confused Nikki. They wanted to keep Derek out of the know, but they also said that he had a purpose to serve. What were all these people up to?
The caffeine finally wore off, and Nikki couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer. Tomorrow she would get the rest of her answers, or at least hoped she would.
When morning came, Nikki dressed early, walking over to see Derek. She needed to confirm their dinner for that evening. There was a lot she wanted to accomplish in a short amount of time.
Derek came to the door in a black robe, his hair ruffled. Immediately, her hands were clammy, and she found it hard to speak. “Hi.”
“Hi,” he replied. “I was just getting up. I had a restless night. I missed you yesterday.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t feel like I belonged. I decided to go into town and check out the sights.”
“I understand. It wasn’t a great deal of fun. Want some coffee? It’s brewing,” he said.
“I’d love to, but there are some things I want to do in town this morning.”
His eyes narrowed into slits. “What kind of things, Nikki? You’re not still trying to be one of Charlie’s Angels, are you? Because, if that’s what you’re up to, you don’t need to. I didn’t want to believe it, but after talking to Chief Horn, I think that Manuel is responsible for the murders. They’ve brought in a psychiatrist, and the chief says he has some of the traits of a serial killer.”
“I read the paper. I want to go into town because I’ve offered to make you and Cal dinner tonight, instead of us going out to a restaurant. Maybe after Cal leaves we can have dessert together. I thought this could work out as a win/win, and we can finally talk some more about the job.”
He leaned against the doorjamb. “Sounds good to me. I’ll call Cal.” She could tell by the inflection in his voice that Derek was still suspicious about what her plans were for the day. Nikki couldn’t blame him.
“When he gave me your note last night, I invited him. He said it worked for him, too. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all. And, I’ll take you up on having dessert together.” He smiled. It almost took her breath away. “You can take my car if you want, instead of the clunker. I’ll be here all day. I’ve got a lot to catch up on. I want to try and put the chaos behind me. I also want to make a few phone calls and see what I can find out about Catalina and Mateo. I’m wondering if it would be possible for me to become their foster parent.”
“Derek, that’s very kind of you.”
“Here you go.” He took the Range Rover keys from the key holder hanging by the front door. “Be careful.”
“Always. Thanks.”
Nikki hit the highway. Her first destination was the library again. While she drove she couldn’t help thinking about Manuel. She’d looked into his eyes as he was cuffed and shoved into the backseat of the patrol car by that rude cop, Mark Anderson. They were not the eyes of a killer. And, as for his motive, that seemed almost ridiculous to her. Yes, people sought revenge all the time, but Manuel was not a dumb man as far as she could tell. He had two children to raise, and he seemed to genuinely love his work. He definitely loved those kids.
Nikki also didn’t buy Chief Horn’s theory that Manuel could be a serial killer. She knew enough from her Aunt Cara that serial killers didn’t just happen. They were people who had certain characteristics and backgrounds. Granted, Nikki didn’t know what Miguel’s upbringing was like, but this was a man with a family, and he was a hard worker. He didn’t seem to fit the profiles Aunt Cara had talked to her about.
She would visit him today, if the cops let her. She wanted to hear his side of things, especially the story about him killing a man in Mexico. She still believed that the evidence they’d found in his home had been planted.
Nikki spent a good part of her morning in the library and finally found what she was looking for. A phone number in Wichita, Kansas. She crossed her fingers as she punched in the number on her cell phone, that the man or woman on the other end would confirm her suspicions.
A sweet-sounding voice like that of an older woman answered the phone.
“Mrs. Fletcher?” Nikki asked.
“Yes. Who is this?”
“My name is Nikki Sands, and I’m the coordinator for an adoptee and adoptive family rights organization.” She hoped that came out right. She couldn’t stop now that she had the ball rolling. “We’re organizing a reunion with children and parents, both the adoptee and their biological families from the past thirty years, and your name appeared on our list, showing that you adopted a daughter thirty years ago.”
Nikki thought she heard the woman gasp on the other end.
“I know this is a very sensitive matter, and please forgive me, but there are quite a few families who have wanted to make these connections for various reasons. We’ve already put on two of these types of functions, and they’ve been very successful and healing for many people.”
“I believe that my daughter has already made a connection with her biological mother.”
“Oh, well, that’s great, but as I said we’re doing a party in the Los Angeles area in March, and we would love to have all family members present. Is this something you and your daughter would be interested in?”
Nikki heard a definite sob. “I would be very interested in seeing my daughter again, but she wants nothing to do with us. She married some bigwig in California, and rumor has it that she did find her birth mother. I don’t know for sure.”
“Would you like me to see if I could use my resources here to track her down? Sometimes these things can be a simple matter of miscommunication.”
“Meredith wants no part of us,” Mrs. Fletcher replied.
Nikki’s heart skipped a beat, but she calmly said, “Maybe I could at least give it a try. I could contact her or her biological mother.”
“Go ahead. But I’m telling you, she’s moved on to bigger and better things. We’re simple folk, and the one thing Meredith has never been is simple.”
“I’m sorry to have bothered you. Can I ask one more question? My résumé here on Meredith is incomplete. I don’t seem to have her biological parents’ names.”
“Her mother’s name was Patrice Spanos. Her father is unknown. My husband and I did our own search after Meredith left us and never found Meredith’s biological father. We assume he lives in Greece. Meredith’s mother was very young. We learned that her family was fairly affluent in Greece and embarrassed by their daughter’s pregnancy. They sent her to the United States to have the children and place them for adoption. She must’ve remained here after they were born, because, as I said, we’ve heard Meredith is in close contact with her now.”
“You said children?”
&
nbsp; “There were two babies born.”
“Twins?” Now Nikki’s heart was racing.
“Why, yes. We didn’t know that when we adopted her, but it must say that in your information. Meredith has a twin brother.”
Nikki’s hunch had paid off. The two women were not lovers, but mother and daughter. And now this new revelation of a fraternal twin totally shocked her.
“You know, whoever filled this out wasn’t on top of it. That bit of information is missing, too. Do you know her brother’s name, or where he might be?”
Murder Uncorked Page 20