“You certainly talk a lot. Do all snoops do this or is it just you?” He looked impatient.
I’d been trying to explain the whole thing in detail, since I was wired. I wasn’t sure who else would hear the confession that I hoped to get, but I wanted everything documented since these people had money and weren’t afraid to use it to get what they wanted. Plus the time gave me some leeway as I continued to hope that Land would get here soon.
“I don’t know many other amateur detectives,” I told him, still stalling. “Just me. Anyway, you saw that your two sons had met. You came out of the shadows to talk to Hamilton. Apparently whatever he said to you didn’t meet with your approval, and you killed him. Milton had already hit him, so he was a bit bruised up. All you had to do was take a rock and finish the job.”
I got a little creeped out, because Mr. Preston grinned as I said this last part. There were no denials. Just a grin. It was perhaps the eeriest moment I’d ever spent with a killer. He showed no remorse for what he’d done. Other people mourned their lost children, but he just grinned.
“Later you went back out looking for Milton who might have put the facts together to realize he’d been set up for the embezzlement, and now was being set up to take the fall for a murder. You argued again, and he died. I’m not sure if you did something to him or his heart just gave out, but he died all the same.” I kept on talking now, feeling more nervous and stressed. I wished that I’d waited for Land, but the services would have precluded me from confronting this man and stopping him from killing again.
“You certainly have a lot of holes in this story,” he said finally. “Who’s going to believe you? It may be all well and good that Carter believes you; perhaps that will keep him out of the family business.”
“I think that check you wrote him today will do that,” I said, remembering the terms of the agreement. I also knew that Carter had no idea about fine art. He had joked about his lack of artistic understanding.
“Yes, well, money does help pave a lot of things over. I’ve just been adding up in my mind how much I’m going to have to spend to get rid of you.” He had been casually leaning on a marble slate sample for a headstone. He picked up the solid piece of marble and took a few menacing steps towards me. “The cheapest way is to knock you out now, put you in a coffin, and finish you off later. Seems reasonable to me.” He swung the marble out in front of him. I adjusted my opinion of him. I’d thought him rather weak because of his age, but he had run back to the gallery after Milton’s death. He was still able to swing this, as well.
I eyed the door, but Mr. Preston maneuvered himself so that he was between me and the doorway. That door represented the only way out of this room. There were two windows behind me, but they had ornate metal grating over them that would deny me any chance of escape. “You’re not going to get away that easily,” he said.
But he was wrong. I screamed. I screamed as loud as I could and for as long as I could. Then I screamed again. Speaking as an Irish red-headed girl, that’s a lot of air. No one would ever doubt my lung capacity.
I wasn’t sure how long I had to keep screaming, but Carter and Brianna were the first to enter, followed by the funeral director on their heels. Preston hadn’t even had time to put down the marble, and it was apparent from the stance that he was trying to block me in the room with a weapon. While the police would not make an attempted murder charge for what he was doing to me, an assault case would be easy to prove. The number of witnesses would see to that.
A few steps behind them was Land, face red and ready for anything. I’d never been more eager to see him, even though I’d taken care of matters myself. Without a thought for the man holding a marble block, Land strode over to me and pulled me into his arms. I had to admit that I was a bit shaky, and his support gave me back the nerve I needed. I really was going to have to sign up for some martial arts classes after we got married. I didn’t want to be the only Mendoza who couldn’t defend herself.
“Where have you been?” I asked.
He rolled his eyes. “I decided to ask Danvers for the alibis from the family for the night of the murder. All of the women had alibis. That only left the two men who could have taken on Hamilton Preston that night.”
I nodded. “I suspected the father all along. He was too into spending money to get what he wanted, and if he’d been at the scene of the murder, then he’d know that Carter had been there, too. The contract would have kept Carter silent or else he would’ve risked losing the inheritance from the estate.”
A crowd had begun to form at the edge of the room. Mr. Preston seemed to shrink in on himself as the others began to notice the marble block and the man holding it. I had a hunch that he was not going to try to fight his way out of this one.
Chapter 10
In the end, Mr. Preston got one of the most expensive criminal lawyers in the city to represent him. However, enough stories came out about him from the family and colleagues that it would have tainted any jury in Capital City. The trial was moved to another nearby city, where they hadn’t heard of Mr. Preston. However, neither had they seen his civic donations over the years, either. They convicted the man of his son’s death in just under seven hours.
He was given 20 years in prison, but given the man’s age, it was practically a death penalty case. He appealed the case, but he was not granted bail, given his ability to pass as homeless and move at will. He’s not likely to see Capital City again.
Brianna took over the operations of the art gallery. She made several of the changes she’d wanted to make—the ones that had been shot down by her father and brother. She still stops by the food truck sometimes to check on Carter and the children. They’ve even had a few hesitant family outings. Brianna was left without much family, too, and it does both of them good to have people to share with. Carter sees his cousins from time to time, but for the most part, his family is now made up of Aaron and the children.
Carter’s father was cleared of the embezzlement accusations after the fact, and Brianna insisted that he keep the money, I think in part to keep the stories of bribing potential witnesses out of the press. The cash allowed him to pay off his mother’s medical bills and refinance the house to a more reasonable mortgage.
Upon my insistence, Carter bought himself a car. Nothing fancy, but slightly better than my beat-up Buick. He also bought a few luxuries for himself, including a new suit and a decent cell phone and service. Between his own salary at the food truck and Aaron’s salary, they were able to start out comfortably. The children seemed happy enough with the arrangements.
He and Aaron had a small service two weeks after the scene in the funeral home. It was quiet and somber, but beautiful, nonetheless. Land was the best man, and I was the maid of honor, though none of us were quite sure how that worked. Carter kept apologizing, thinking that I would be upset that he’d beat me to the altar, but I smiled and gave him two weeks’ paid leave as a wedding present.
The event only made Land and I more certain of our own relationship, and I decided to push things along in getting our own wedding settled.
~ To be continued ~
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FOOD TRUCK MYSTERIES
Murder To Go
Murder In The Spotlight
Leftovers
The Real Gyro
Dead Giveaway
A Thief of Any Man
Justice is Served
A GRAVE CONCERN (Food Truck Mysteries Book 8) Page 12