by Joni Folger
“The fact that it’s true doesn’t make Monique’s gossiping about it any less despicable, but it also doesn’t make what I did right, either.”
“You must have had a good reason to do what you did.”
“Not really.” He shrugged and then his shoulders slumped in defeat. “I did it because of my mother.”
“Because of Divia? Why?”
“Look, it’s not an excuse,” he said, putting up a hand. “What I did was wrong, and I take full responsibility for my actions. And I loved my mother. But she wasn’t a very nice person and was extremely hard to please. She was always telling me what a failure my father was, warning me not to be like him. Said he was not only a loser, but dangerous to boot, and if he ever found us, there’d be trouble.”
Elise nodded with understanding. “Was that why she took you and ran away from Grace and her dad? She thought your biological father had found you?”
“Yeah. At least, that’s what she said at the time.” His eyes took on a faraway look, and she had the feeling he was seeing it in his mind. “She was scared, Elise. Really scared. Then, a few months later, she told me that Grace and her dad had died in a horrible fire.”
“Oh, Toby. That’s terrible.”
He slowly nodded before turning to her with haunted eyes. “Yes, but the really terrible part is that she told me she thought my father was responsible.”
Elise gasped. “What? She made up a story about Grace and her father dying, and then blamed it on your biological father? Why would she do that?”
“Because it gave her the opportunity to reiterate how violent he was and how important it was that he never find us. And it did one other thing that was just as important to her … it stopped me asking when we were going home. With Grace and Walker Vanderhouse dead, there was no going back.”
“I’m so sorry, Toby.”
He shook his head as if clearing his mind of the ugly thoughts and shrugged again. “Of course, that was a long time ago, and the sketchy memories of a ten-year-old boy.”
Probably not as sketchy as you’d like me to believe.
When she didn’t respond, only smiled back at him, he continued. “Anyway, as I was saying, when Mom made Garrett give me the job at Third Coast, I kinda went off the rails for a while trying to show her that I was nothing like my father.”
Though his story made her uncomfortable, Elise also felt bad for him. How terrible it must have been for a young boy—growing up continually trying to please a mother who would never be satisfied with anything he did, and would lie to him with such terrifying abandon.
“I was living way beyond my means and it all got away from me,” he stated. “I kept thinking I would find a way to pay it back, but I just got deeper and deeper into trouble.”
“So how did Monique find out, Toby?”
He hung his head for a moment, and she wasn’t sure he would answer. Then he looked up, and the sadness that clouded his eyes was almost painful to watch. “We ran into each other at a party about six months ago, and she came on to me pretty strong. Emotionally, I was in a bad place, and she’s so beautiful. I was flattered by the attention, and we ended up having a thing for a few months.”
Elise watched his eyes, as the previous sadness was replaced by an anger that transformed his normally soft features into a twisted mask of hatred.
And a chill ran through her.
“See, I thought she was interested in me.” His short bark of laughter was harsh and ugly. “But she was just using me, looking for dirt on my mom.”
“Your mom? What did Monique have against Divia?”
“Oh, she hated my mom and with good reason.” He shook his head and made an obvioous effort to rein in his fury. “Anyway, one night when I’d had a little too much to drink, I told her what I’d done. It was just the ammunition she’d been waiting for. I begged her not to say anything, but she just laughed and thanked me for the information. Do you believe that?” he asked in an incredulous tone. “She actually thanked me.”
“That’s horrible, Toby.” Elise felt a twinge of guilt but pressed for more details. “But what was she going to do with the information? Was she hoping to blackmail your mom? Or maybe Garrett?”
Toby burst into laughter at that, and it took him a minute to get himself under control. “Blackmail. That’s a good one, Elise.”
“Well, if not blackmail, then what, Toby?”
“Mrs. Toussaint was looking more for leverage than anything else.” He wiped his eyes and heaved a sigh. “Because as we’ve established, my mother was not the nicest person—and she was cheating on Garrett with Alain Toussaint.”
“Oh my.” Elise stared at him briefly, trying to process the new development. This was something that she’d suspected, had heard whispers about, but hadn’t expected to have substantiated in such a blatant fashion. “So that was what you meant by Monique hating your mother with good reason?”
“Yeah. I don’t know how Monique found out about the affair, but like I said, she’s incredibly vindictive. She would’ve done anything to destroy my mom and get back at Alain, make his life miserable.” He ran a hand through his hair in a distracted manner. “I’m sure that was also part of the motivation for her fling with me.”
“Did she ever tell Garrett about the missing money?”
Toby shook his head. “No, I beat her to it. Of course, I went to Mom with it first, because that’s what I’d been programed to do my whole life. She told me to keep my mouth shut, that she would handle it. But in the end, I went with my gut and told Garrett the whole story.”
“How did he take it?”
Toby shook his head and gave her a look of astonishment. “He was incredibly kind, considering what I’d done. We worked out a deal, a way for me to eventually pay him back.”
Elise smiled and laid a hand on his arm. “I’m glad, Toby.”
“Garrett Larson is a good man, Elise. I hate to say it, but my mom didn’t deserve him. She used him for what she could get and then cheated on him with a neighbor’s husband. And to make matters worse, I had an affair with the wife of the guy she had an affair with. Guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, after all, huh?”
Elise didn’t know what to say and didn’t want to make it worse for him, but he looked so miserable. “Toby, you’re not responsible for your mother’s bad decisions. You know that, right? You can only control your own choices.”
“I know, and like I said, I’m not making excuses, but I’m not proud of how I’ve behaved, I can tell you that.”
After a moment, another thought crossed Elise’s mind. “Toby, you said you beat Monique to the punch with the news of your embezzlement. Do you know if Garrett was aware of Divia’s affair with Alain Toussaint?”
Toby shook his head. “I don’t know. If he knew, he never let on. Why?”
“Oh, no reason. Just curious.”
Leaving Toby’s room, Elise headed for the car, her mind racing with the new information she’d gathered and what it might mean to Jackson’s murder investigation. Garrett’s alibi had proved to be false, and he knew about Toby’s embezzlement. What if he also knew about Divia’s infidelity?
That would pretty much cover motive and opportunity for murder.
Reaching her vehicle, she glanced toward the motel office and was struck by another thought. Not much escaped Harriet Wilson’s careful watch here at the motel. If Garrett had left the property on Sunday during the time of Grace’s murder, she’d probably have seen it.
Changing gears, Elise headed for the motel office. Harriet, with her elaborate helmet of a hairdo and heavy 50s makeup, greeted her the moment she stepped through the door.
“Well, Elise Beckett.” The woman looked up from her crossword puzzle and smiled. “Whatcha doin’ out at Lost Pines this mornin’?”
Yeah, like you don’t know exactly where I’ve been fo
r the last thirty minutes.
“Oh, you know, just checking in on a friend.”
“Uh-huh.” Harriet popped her ever-present gum and smiled suggestively. “That Mr. Raymond? Poor man. I saw you comin’ out of his room,” she added when she noticed the look on Elise’s face.
I’ll just bet you did.
“You know,” Harriet continued. “I don’t know who I feel sorrier for, him or his stepdaddy. Such a shame on both counts.”
Elise couldn’t have hoped for a better segue. “I know,” she replied in commiseration. “Just terrible.”
Harriet leaned down on the counter and sighed. “I mean, it’s a shame for Mr. Raymond, sure. But Mr. Larson? Having his former sweetheart find his wife dead like that …” She trailed off, chewing her cud and giving Elise a sly look.
It was a close thing, but Elise managed to ignore the woman’s remark. “And with the tragic death out at the festival yesterday, it’s a blessing that they were both here instead of at the fairgrounds, right?” she replied.
Harriet tsked and shook her head. “Truer words were never spoken. Why, poor Mr. Larson’s only left his new room a couple of times since his wife’s demise. And you’re right, it was so fortunate that he was here all day on Sunday. I can’t even imagine how another murder coming so close after his wife’s would’ve affected that man.”
“Are you sure he was here all day?” At Harriet’s narrow-eyed glance, Elise hurried on. “It’s just that I’d hate to think that he was anywhere near the fairgrounds yesterday.”
The older woman ruthlessly worked the gum in her mouth and stared at Elise as if considering how to answer, before raising her drawn-in eyebrows and shrugging. “Well, his car was right out there in the parking lot all day long,” she finally answered, nodding toward the window. “I highly doubt he walked to the fairgrounds, so yeah, I’d say I’m relatively sure.”
“Well, that’s a relief. Anyway, I should be getting out to the vineyard. I’m already late as it is. Just wanted to stop in and say hello while I was here.” Elise turned and started for the door.
“All righty then,” Harriet said. “Now, you tell Miss Abby that we’re taking real good care of her former beau.”
When Elise turned back at the door, the woman gave her a sickening-sweet smile and added, “Set her mind at ease.”
Swallowing a few snide comments of her own, Elise smiled back in kind. “You know I will, Harriet. Have a nice day.”
seventeen
After her illuminating chat with Toby, it was nearly eleven by the time Elise got out to River Bend. Ross had called her cell at one point during the visit, but she’d let it go to voicemail. She hadn’t wanted to interrupt Toby’s narrative or give him time to think about what he was saying.
When she finally got to the vineyard, her brother had already left for Austin on business, which left Maddy the only ‘sleuthing gang’ member she could tell about the encounter. And with her sister defending Toby so stringently in past days, Elise thought it best to talk to Ross before telling Maddy what Toby had said.
While she waited for Ross to return, she tried to get some work done. She knew she should get out to the south quadrant to check on how her most recent hybrid transplants were coming along, but she couldn’t put the earlier conversation out of her mind. Finally, near-to-bursting to tell someone what she’d learned, she called C.C. to see if her friend could make a late lunch. It turned out that she could, and they decided to meet at Del’s Kitchen for catfish and hush puppies.
“Man, I love the food here,” Elise said, when the piping hot fish baskets had been set before them. She took her first heavenly bite of hush puppy and could almost feel the calories adhering to her thighs. But they were so good that she didn’t really care.
C.C. nodded. “Me too. But that’s not why you called. So spill.”
Elise washed the hush puppy down with a sip of iced tea and leaned forward. “Okay, I stopped at Lost Pines Motel this morning on the way to the vineyard.”
“On the way? Right, because it’s not like it’s completely in the opposite direction or anything,” C.C. said with a smirk.
“Don’t be a smart-ass. Do you want to hear about my conversation with Toby Raymond or not?”
C.C. sat back with a surprised look. “You talked to Toby? About the case?”
Elise nodded. “I did. And I got confirmation on several rumors.”
“Oh my God! You’ve got some stones, girlfriend. What possessed you to go out there in the first place? And how did you get him to talk?”
Elise swallowed a bite of coleslaw before answering. “Jackson and I had a long talk about the case last night, and then he annoyed me this morning by telling me to stay out of trouble.” She rolled her eyes, clearly conveying what she thought of that advice. “Anyway, he’d said he was going to reinterview Toby and Garrett today, but that the Toussaints were first up on his list. So I thought I might be able to catch one of the two guys before he called them into the station.”
C.C. laid down her fork very deliberately and put up a finger. “Hang on and back it up, sister. Did you just say that Jax annoyed you this morning? Did you spend the night with him?”
Wiping her lips with her napkin, Elise cleared her throat. “Maybe,” she replied with a wicked grin.
“Way to bury the lead! What is wrong with you?”
“Sorry.” Elise giggled. “I was so excited about what I learned from Toby that spending the night at Jackson’s sort of got lost.”
C.C. shook her head and heaved a sigh. “Well, all I can say is that it’s about damn time. I was starting to wonder if you two were ever going to get around to the good stuff. So? How did it go?”
Elise laughed out loud. “Girl, that man has some pretty sweet moves … which he demonstrated for me more than once last night.”
“Oooh. Jealous, party of one,” C.C. said and fanned herself with her napkin. “But, this is very good news. It’s always a sad state of affairs when someone who is as easy on the eyes as Jax fails to … uh … meet expectations, shall we say?”
“You may rest assured that is not the case where Jackson Landry is concerned, my friend.” Elise tilted her head and considered her relationship with Jackson for a moment. “We’ve danced around each other for so long, C.C., I was afraid if we ever got to this point it would be weird, you know?”
“Uh-huh. And?”
Elise’s smile grew. “So far, it just seems … right.”
“I knew it all along. You two are a perfect match.” C.C. crowed and popped a piece of hush puppy into her mouth. “Now, tell me about your encounter with Toby.”
Elise blew out a breath. “I had no idea what I was going to say when I decided to go out there, but surprisingly, everything just fell into place.” She went on to elaborate on the conversation she’d had with the man.
“Good Lord.” C.C. made a face when she’d finished. “Just when you think this thing can’t get any more sordid or nasty … it does.”
“I know. With Divia having an affair with Alain Toussaint and Monique seducing Toby in retaliation, it’s like something out of a bad soap opera.”
“Yeah, and Toby embezzling from Third Coast on top of everything else? Amazing. I’m telling you, you can’t make up this kind of crazy stuff.”
The conversation lagged as the waitress came over to the table to top off their tea.
“I know it looks bad that Garrett doesn’t have an alibi,” C.C. continued when the waitress walked away. “Especially since he knew about Toby’s embezzlement and possibly about Divia’s affair, but do you really think he’s capable of murder?”
Elise shook her head. “I don’t know. For Gram’s sake, I hope not. It would break her heart. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the last year, it’s that you never really know what someone will do when push comes to shove.”
“Wel
l, even if he had motive and opportunity to kill his wife, that doesn’t explain Grace’s murder. And doesn’t Jackson think both deaths are related? I mean, I don’t think Grace even knew Garrett Larson. If she did, she never mentioned him. So what would be the connection?”
“That’s a good question. You know Harriet Wilson out at Lost Pines keeps an eagle-eye on their motel. And when I talked to her this morning after leaving Toby’s room, she indicated that Garrett hadn’t left the room he’d been moved to but a handful of times since Divia’s death. She also said that his car was in the parking lot all day Sunday.” Elise pushed her fish basket away, picking up her glass to sip. “Of course, he could have snuck out to the festival at some point, but I’m thinking someone would have seen him. And yes, Jax thinks the murders are connected somehow, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they were carried out by the same person.”
“You mean, a couple of people working together?” C.C. jabbed a finger in the air. “My money would be on scary French chick and that brother-in-law of hers. If Philippe Toussaint isn’t in love with Monique, he has the weirdest fixation on her that I’ve ever seen. Creeps me out. He’d probably do anything she asked. And I don’t think he’d even think twice about killing or cleaning up any mess she’d created.”
“I agree, and that’s a nice, neat scenario.” Elise nodded but couldn’t help the nagging doubt teasing the back of her mind. “But then why would Monique get so bent about Alain having the affair with Divia? And why seduce Toby to try to gather dirt on his mom? If that was the case, you’d think she would’ve been glad that Divia was occupying Alain’s time.”
C.C. frowned. “Good point.”
“Of course, like Toby said, Monique is a vindictive, manipulative woman. Maybe she just didn’t want anyone else playing with her toys—didn’t want to share.”
“You know, I’ve never understood that I-can-screw-around-but-don’t-you-dare mentality. In my opinion, it’s just selfish in the extreme, but again, we’re talking about Monique Toussaint.”