Shelley Freydont - Celebration Bay 03 - Independence Slay

by Shelley Freydont

  “He left earlier,” Ted said. “I don’t know if he’s planning on coming back.”

  “Hmm. Maybe you know something about this rumor of some fella in town saying he was planning on buying the Gallantine estate and putting an end to the reenactments.”

  Word spread quickly in Celebration Bay.

  “Well, I hope it isn’t true,” Dolly said. “We’ve done that reenactment for years. First we’ve heard of him planning to sell. And what are we going to do if we can’t hold the battle there anymore?”

  “Find another venue,” Fred said.

  “The reenactment has been held there every year since it began,” Dolly said. “It would be such a shame to lose it. I can’t think of a better place to hold it.”

  “That won’t be necessary as far as I know,” Haynes said. “I know that there was someone from this historical restoration group who talked to Henry earlier in the year. Henry wasn’t interested in selling then, and I haven’t heard since then that he’s changed his mind.

  “Though, Hildy called me to say that this curator, as he calls himself, was in the house this afternoon, and you, Ms. Montgomery, accompanied him.”

  “He had a letter of introduction. Bill said he had to be accompanied by a town official. The mayor sent me.”

  Ted grinned.

  “That’s what Hildy said. Well, she said you were there to prevent him from stealing anything. And that the mayor had told him he could have free run of the place.”

  Liv didn’t answer. She had no idea what to say.

  “Well, when Henry gets back I’m sure he’ll explain everything,” Dolly said.

  “If he gets back,” Haynes said.

  Dolly looked at him in astonishment. “Why wouldn’t he? He goes every summer to visit his sister and her family.”

  “Well, he isn’t there now.”

  “How do you know?” Dolly asked.

  “Because I have a little business I need to clear up with him. I am his attorney. When I called, she said he wasn’t there and he wasn’t planning to come this summer.”

  Liv started moving them toward the meeting room.

  Haynes fell in step next to her. “I plan to meet this fella at the house tomorrow, take a good look at his letter of introduction. Sounds pretty smoky to me.” He nodded brusquely. “Nice to meet you. I’d best be getting inside. Want to compare notes with Roscoe. I have a few suggestions of my own for next year.” He strode off, tall, straight, and proud, touching on the arrogant, and with only a little limp.

  Liv exchanged a look with Ted. Grossman had told them a lawyer was brokering the sale, but Haynes didn’t seem to know anything about the arrangement.

  “Pretty smoky indeed,” Ted said, as if reading her thoughts.

  “Don’t mind Daniel,” Fred said. “He takes his part in the reenactment very seriously. General Haynes actually led the troops supposedly betrayed by Old Gallantine. Gets on his high horse every Fourth. By August he’s back to this century.”

  “There’s no leftover enmity between the two after all their history, is there?” Liv asked.

  “Nah, water under the bridge. Besides, General Haynes was given a hero’s burial. If anybody was going to hold a grudge for centuries it would be the Gallantines.”

  “Which,” Ted interjected, “has been known to happen in these parts.”

  “Oh, Ted,” Dolly said, exasperated. “We’re more civilized than that.”

  “Yes, we are, Dolly.”

  “What I don’t get,” Fred said, “is where Henry’s disappeared to? And what was Jacob Rundle doing up on the roof instead of Henry?”

  “Hush, Fred,” Dolly said, as several other committee members came through the door.

  Fred lowered his voice. “It’s not exactly a secret he’s dead and Henry’s missing. You don’t think that Henry killed him, do you?”

  “Fred, the very idea.”

  “Sorry, Dolly, but it does make you wonder, doesn’t it?” He patted her back and acknowledged the newcomers. “Good evening, Charlie, Harriett. Loved the concert in the band shell last Thursday.”

  Charlie and Harriett went ahead, and Fred ushered the rest of them through the door to the meeting room. Rows of tables and chairs were set up facing the dais where the mayor sat during town meetings and where Ted and Liv would sit tonight while the committee heads and select committee members each presented the results of the weekend.

  It would be a long meeting, with reports from each committee, who would turn in full written reports during the next couple of weeks. Tonight was more of an info-gathering and idea exchange. Long, sometimes boring, occasionally argumentative, these roundup meetings invariably gave a better idea of the successes and failures of an event while memories were fresh and excitement still ran high among them.

  To tell by the noise, Liv could already count the weekend as a success. Ted stopped to talk to someone, and Liv took her place at the front table, facing the others. Slowly everyone settled down and took their seats.

  “Where is the mayor? Lying low so he won’t have to answer questions about the murder?” Liv asked when Ted sat down beside.

  He looked toward the door. “Dare we hope? Oops, I spoke too soon.”

  The door opened again, and Mayor Worley, looking preoccupied, ruffled, and like he wanted to be anywhere rather than at the meeting, walked in. The arm linked in his belonged to Liv’s nemesis, Janine Townsend.

  “So close and yet so far,” Ted said.

  “I am so not in the mood for Janine tonight,” Liv said.

  Janine was one of those middle-aged women who kept herself fit. Frosted hair hung in a face-framing cut. She was tall and thin and made sure she stayed that way by constant dieting, trips into Albany to the spa, and shopping for power suits for her career as a real estate broker.

  Even with all that, she still managed to find time to ride roughshod over the mayor and throw a wrench into Liv’s activities whenever possible.

  Tonight she was wearing red patent leather heels and a navy-blue linen dress, accented with a string of pearls.

  “Someone should tell her the Fourth of July is over,” Ted said under his breath.

  Liv smiled. Janine was being patriotic. Liv had learned to read people and what they were wearing a long time ago. It was a necessity if you wanted to survive in the event-planning industry.

  Janine was obviously presenting herself as an upstanding citizen, a member of the Junior League and old society, with its traditions and attitudes. All the things Celebration Bay was not, but some aspired for it to be. The pearls gave her away.

  Liv looked around the room. Dolly in her gingham dress from the bakery. Genny in polyester pants and a cotton blouse. Quincy Hinks, owner of the Bookworm, in lightweight trousers and a vest. Roscoe in khakis and a plaid shirt from one of the discount chains.

  Not even Liv had dressed up for the meeting. She hadn’t had time to change, but she would never have worn something so off-putting to the others.

  The two of them came farther into the room, Janine propelling Gilbert to the front table, since there weren’t seats on the dais for them, and making the three members of the children’s play area move over. Gilbert shot one agonized look at Ted and Liv before lowering his head and staring at the plastic tabletop in front of him.

  Things were not looking good for a quiet, boring meeting. Liv settled down, determined to push the agenda through with as little nonsense as possible.

  The clock had just struck seven when the last stragglers hurried into the room, followed by Bill Gunnison and A.K. Pierce. Liv wondered if that had happened coincidentally or if they’d decided to meet ahead of time and compare notes. They moved to a table near Liv, and Bill gingerly lowered himself into a seat. At least his sciatica had waited until after the weekend to attack.

  She turned on the table mic. “Thank you all for c
oming tonight. It was a wild and wonderful weekend… .”

  Immediately after her opening remarks, Liv called on the first committee chairman to speak. She didn’t want to allow any time for questions to be asked about the murder, the sale of the mansion, or the whereabouts of Henry Gallantine, or for Janine to start a yelling match.

  And things went well—for two-thirds of the meeting.

  Each committee member gave a preliminary report about various aspects of the weekend’s event: vendors, bake sales, raffles.

  Daniel Haynes stood for the reenactment report. “A wonderful evening,” he said in the round baritone of a trial lawyer. “I’d like to thank a few people. The Elks for the use of their building for storage and changing areas. Miriam Krause and the ladies of A Stitch in Time for the repairs and upkeep of the uniforms.”

  He continued on, and Liv noticed Janine beginning to fidget. She glanced down at the agenda. Traffic was next, and then Liv would give the security report from A.K. and his team. A.K. Pierce was there, though he didn’t need to be; Liv could have given his statistics. But she was glad to see him. And that made her wonder why Chaz wasn’t there. He should have been there to report on the proceedings.

  Haynes sat down to applause and a few shouts of “Hear, hear!”

  And Janine made her move. “I would just like to ask how we think this was so successful when a man was killed in front of our eyes and the eyes of nearly a thousand tourists.” She’d stood and delivered the question to the audience, then turned to Liv as if expecting an answer.

  “Get ’em, tiger,” Ted said under his breath.

  Liv gave her back look for look. “I’m sure anything you need to know will be forthcoming from the Sheriff’s Office.” Party of the first part rang in her head. She could have used Chaz’s nonsense tonight. She was dead tired, and it took everything not to lash out at Janine. That would be so unprofessional… but so satisfying.

  “Well, if you ask me, it’s about time you took some responsibility for all the murders that are occurring around here.”

  “Nobody asked you,” came from the back of the room.

  Liv was pretty sure it was Dexter Kent of Kent Landscaping and Nursery, who also was a member of the Fireworks Committee.

  “Well, someone needs to be held accountable. And since we never had this kind of problem before Liv came to town, I can only believe—”

  “Janine, give it a rest. We know what you think.”

  Janine shot an angry look toward the voice and then at the mayor, clearly expecting him to back her up.

  He stood wearily. What on earth did Janine hold over his head?

  “I think—” He cleared his throat. “I think there are questions that need some answers.”

  “And I suggest we have Liv answer them,” Janine said. “It’s all her fault.”

  The room erupted in opinions, yells, and catcalls.

  Liv didn’t bother to quiet them. Once they’d run down, she would do her usual rational argument about the success of the security team and the lowering statistics of violence with each new event.

  But help came from an unexpected quarter. A.K. Pierce rose from his seat. Like a colossus, Liv thought.

  The room became quiet.

  “Whew,” Ted whispered. “A marvel to behold.”

  “I believe you all were given a copy of the security report at the beginning of the meeting. We pride ourselves at Bayside Security on our efficiency and success rate. And to be able to accomplish this with a very low-key presence.”

  There was a smattering of applause.

  “That’s all well and good, but—”

  He smiled coldly at Janine. “And your county police always do an admirable job of crowd control.”

  Liv saw Janine’s hand clench. Don’t do it, Janine, she thought.

  But Janine couldn’t help herself. “Ever since she’s come here—”

  “Some people,” A.K. said, “should worry less about the event coordinator and more about being sued for slander. Now I believe Ms. Montgomery would like to continue with the agenda in an orderly fashion.”

  Janine opened her mouth. Didn’t seem to find what she meant to say and sat down rather quickly for a woman in a tight dress.

  “Thank you,” A.K. said in his commanding voice. “Ms. Montgomery?” He sat.

  “Thank you, Mr. Pierce,” Liv said, feeling a little overwhelmed. “Since you all have the statistics before you, I’d like to move to our last committee report. Fred, would you report on traffic, please?”

  Fred stood. “Thank you, Liv. We hired ten extra…”

  “Hmm,” Ted said under his breath. “Looks like the tide has turned on Janine.”

  “Unfortunately, I have a feeling it will only encourage her to be more vindictive.”

  “Someday I’ll tell you how she got back at her ex-husband.” Ted sucked in air between his teeth, a sound that set off major foreboding in Liv’s mind.

  Fred finished his report. Liv thanked everyone for coming and reminded them that their written reports and financial tallies would be due by the following Monday.

  Talking broke out as everyone collected their things and headed for the door.

  Liv kept her fingers crossed that they would all make it to the street before they started speculating.

  From the corner of her eye, she saw Daniel Haynes approach the mayor, and the two men left the room together, Janine following close behind them. And Bill hobbled more slowly after her.

  A.K. came to stand by Liv’s side until everyone had filed out of the meeting room. No one stopped to ask her questions. Though she didn’t need his protection, it was flattering and comforting to have a big strong man… Gack. What was she thinking?

  She needed a big dose of a SoHo singles’ bar to banish those kinds of thoughts. Besides… She made a cursory glance of the room. Chaz hadn’t deigned to come. He often didn’t, but usually he did manage to rouse himself to report the successes of the festivals.

  She stamped down on the niggle of disappointment she felt. She turned to A.K. “Thanks.”

  He gave that quirk of eyebrow that on most people would be a shrug. “Shall I walk you out?”

  She couldn’t help but smile. “Part of the job description?”

  “No. Because I’d like to.”

  Flustered, she nodded.

  They started down the hall, Liv listening for sounds of conversation. She hesitated when they passed the mayor’s office, but A.K. steered her away and toward her own office.

  She unlocked the door and pushed it open for her but didn’t come inside.

  “Are you going to kibitz the meeting in the mayor’s office?”

  He didn’t pretend not to understand. “I’ll offer my services.”

  “And then you’ll come and tell me what happened?”

  A quirk of lips and eyebrow. Was it a smile?

  “No.”

  Liv slumped in disappointment.

  He touched her chin with one finger. “Buck up. I’m sure Ted will.”

  And he was gone. She hadn’t noticed Ted slipping out behind Janine. A.K. had.

  The man knew what he was doing. She’d hired the right security firm. She had no doubt. She just wasn’t sure she could keep from succumbing to the power of their boss.

  As the door shut behind A.K., Whiskey came padding out from Liv’s office, stopped at her feet, and looked up at her. He was ready to go home. So was she. But no way was she going to leave without talking to Bill and finding out what was going on in the mayor’s office.

  “Sorry buddy, just a little while longer.”

  It was twenty minutes later when she heard the outer door open and close. Ted was reaching for the light switch when she reached his office.

  “Oh no you don’t.”

  He nearly dropped his jacket, but recover
ed quickly. “I thought it was odd that you didn’t lock up before you left.”

  “As you can see, I didn’t.”

  “Waiting to pump me for information?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. Hang on for a second.” He opened the outer door. Stuck his head out. Called, “Hey, Bill, she’s in here.”

  Liv winced and went back to her office to face the music.

  Bill hobbled in a minute later, followed by A.K.

  Oh goody, thought Liv. He’s brought a friend.

  A.K. stopped just inside the door, crossed his arms, and leaned against the jamb.

  Did he think she might try to escape?

  Ted pulled up a chair, and Bill sat down. Ted perched on the edge of Liv’s desk. A.K. stayed put.

  Bill reached into his pocket, and Liv decided to take the offense. “So what happened in the mayor’s office?”

  Bill pulled out a voice recorder. Put it on the desk in front of her. Pressed the button.

  “Every detail,” he said, shifted his weight, and waited.

  She told him about the way Grossman had acted at the mansion. How she’d talked to Hildy, and how she’d seen Grossman in the backyard when she put her cup away.

  Then she told him about sneaking back into the yard, though she was careful not to call it sneaking. About how she’d made her way close to the boathouse. where Grossman and Frank Gallantine met.

  As she talked, Bill’s frown increased. Ted’s eyes began to sparkle with amusement. Even A.K.’s lips once quirked up into a brief smile, which had the effect of making Liv forget what she was talking about.

  She told Bill about Leo’s fight and what he’d told her about looking for treasure.

  When she finally wound down, nobody said a word, nobody moved.

  She huffed out a sigh. “Well?”

  No response.

  “Doesn’t it seem suspicious that all these people are suddenly interested in Gallantine’s mansion? He disappears. Rundle takes his place. Rundle is murdered.”

  Still nothing.

  “Rundle is murdered. Why? Because someone thought he was Gallantine? And why at that particular time?”

  Okay, they were beginning to get her angry.