Nina dropped her eyes. “The people I work with don’t know what happened with Drew and I. But yes, I think I was drawn to helping these boys because I wasn’t able to reestablish a relationship with my brother.”
Deena glanced over and saw tears welling in Nina’s eyes again.
“In the back of my mind, I think I was practicing on them for when I would get to try again with my brother. But now it’s too late. I’ll never get that chance.”
A lump caught in Deena’s throat. Her heart went out to Nina as she realized the woman was just another victim of a tragic event. She pulled into the entrance of Restful Pines and parked just inside the gate. Her maternal instincts kicked in. Yes, she had them even though she had never borne her own children.
“I’m so sorry, dear. You couldn’t have known this would happen.”
Nina nodded. “I tried, but I should have tried harder.”
Time to bite the bullet. “I have my own confession to make,” Deena said slowly. “I lied about your brother being buried here. The truth is that he was cremated and Allison still has his ashes.”
“Really?” Surprisingly, Nina’s eyes lit up. “That means I might be able to get some from her. A woman I work with keeps some of her husband’s ashes in a special necklace. She says it makes her feel closer to him to keep him near her heart. I wonder if Allison would agree to give me some of his ashes.”
Relieved, Deena found herself volunteering to ask. “She said she would be in touch with me soon. I’ll see what she says.”
“Thank you. Now can we drive over to where my father is buried?”
Deena followed Nina’s directions and waited in the car while her new friend spent several minutes alone by her father’s grave. It was a beautiful spot even though the grass had yellowed for the winter. Tall pines sent a sweet smell and cast a long shadow across the lawn. It really was a restful resting place.
When Nina got back in the car, she was like a new woman, determined to find out the truth. “We need a plan to get Woody to confess to his part in the plot to scam Allison. He might have killed Drew, or he might have tried to frame Allison after he found out my brother was dead. Either way, we have to figure out what he did and bust him.”
This was right up Deena’s alley. “Do you know how to find him? If so, I have an idea.”
“Perfect,” Nina said. “If I know Woody, he’s not going to go down without a fight. The sooner we get to him the better. Once a conman, always a conman.”
Chapter 20
Gary insisted on going with Deena Saturday to see her brother, Russell, and pick up the little toy he had made her. Russell and Estelle lived in the “old money” part of Maycroft on the huge Fitzhugh estate. According to Russell, it was more of a burden to own all that property than a boon, and he often tried to convince Estelle to sell it.
It wasn’t like Gary to be so interested in one of Deena’s cases, and she wondered if he was worried about her being in danger. He had gone to the gym to get in his workout before Deena woke up, and he was dressed and ready to go when her alarm sounded.
As they pulled down the long driveway beside the stately Fitzhugh Manor, Deena had finally consumed enough coffee to clear her head. “Why are you wanting to be involved in this case? Surely you are not worried about me being in danger? No one has threatened me or followed me or anything this time.”
Gary parked around the back of the house—a place reserved for family. He let out a deep breath. “I don’t know. I guess I’m restless. It’s better than staying home and watching basketball all day.”
Deena nearly blew coffee out her nose. If there was one thing that she knew competed with her for Gary’s love, it was sports. Make that two things...sports and his mother. “I’m worried about you. I’ve never seen you like this.” She put the back of her hand on his forehead. “No fever.” They got out of the car and walked to the back door.
“I’m fine. I just have some things to figure out.” His eyes scanned the acreage behind the house. “This is a beautiful piece of property, isn’t it? Shame that no one gets to enjoy it.”
Like Deena, her brother didn’t have any children either. But his reason was because he and Estelle had found each other so late in life.
Estelle opened the door and gave air kisses to her in-laws. “Bonjour, madame and monsieur,” she said with a Texas twang and waved them inside. She was wearing a small black beret and a short plaid skirt.
Deena worried they had caught the couple in some sort of role-playing activity. She could have sworn Russell said to be there at eight o’clock.
Gary was clueless. “What’s with the getup? Going to a costume party?”
“No, we’re going to Paris!” Estelle grinned and clapped her hands. “I’m practicing up on my French. I studied it in school but can barely remember a thing. You should hear Russell try to speak it. He puts the funniest Texas twist on everything.”
Relieved, Deena took off her jacket. “I can’t believe you were able to convince Russell to leave the country. He hates flying.”
“I know, but he loves me so much that he’s doing it for me.”
Just then Russell, followed by his dog, Maggie, came into the kitchen where they were all standing by the large oak kitchen table.
“Ahh, there’s my sweet brother now.” She gave him double air kisses. “I hear you’re jetting off to Europe soon. You’ll have so much fun.”
“If you say so.” He scratched the dog’s head. “I’d rather stay here.”
Gary crossed his arms. “Russ, have you ever thought about planting something on this land?”
“Like what? Cotton? Corn?”
“I was thinking of something more fun. Like grapes.”
“Huh?”
Deena put her hand on her husband’s shoulder. “Gary has decided he wants to be a farmer.”
“Not a farmer,” he protested. “A vintner.”
Russell’s eyes widened. “Like Andrew Granger? He owned a vineyard and look what happened to him.”
Gary shook his head. “What does one thing have to do with another? Besides, wouldn’t it be great to work with the land? Build something from scratch? Get your hands dirty?”
All three of them smirked.
Gary held up his hands. “I know, I know. I like my hands clean. And my clothes. And my life. But now that I’m older, I’m ready to do something different.” He frowned at them. “I mean, if Russell can fly off to France, surely I can plant a few vines.”
Russell slapped Gary’s back. “Of course you can, bro. You just say the word and I’ll have a John Deere over here in a heartbeat. If we’re going to be partners, we’ll have to agree on a name.”
“Russell!” Deena scolded. “Don’t encourage him. He’s only got a few more years until retirement. You two can play Old MacDonald all you want after that. You can even buy cows and chickens if you want.”
Russell winked at Gary and shrugged his shoulders. “You heard the boss lady. Oh, and that reminds me. Will you keep Maggie for us while we’re gone?”
“Sure, but I thought Cliff usually kept her when you traveled.”
“Cliff and Rosemary are going with us. He’s going to pop the question when they are at the Eiffel Tower.”
Deena smiled from ear to ear. “So, the two oldest bachelors in Maycroft are both going to be hitched,” she said. “I’m so happy for him.”
Russell held up a finger to his lips. “Don’t tell anybody. It’s a secret. You know how the gossip mill is around here.”
Deena nodded. “You can say that again. Like Andrew Granger’s murder. After that one article in the paper, the whole town’s calling for an investigation.”
Russell led them to the parlor-turned-man cave. “Here it is,” he said, and held up a small device. “I took a tape recorder and rewired it to pick up external sound with this earbud. It’s the best I could do on such short notice.”
Estelle beamed. “Isn’t Russell a mechanical genius? It works well, too. We practiced
secretly taping each other.” Her eyes suddenly narrowed as she turned to her husband. “You remembered to erase that, didn’t you?”
He chuckled and his face turned red. “Yes. Don’t worry. Anyway, you can attach this to your waist and then string the wire up under your jacket. Pin it as high up to your face as you can without letting it show.”
Deena took the device and nodded. “Okay, but I won’t be the one wearing it. Nina Davenport will have it on when she talks to her husband. We’re going to try to get him to confess to murdering his brother-in-law, Andrew Granger.”
Concern clouded her brother’s face.
She put a finger to her lips. “And don’t tell anybody. It’s a secret.”
Chapter 21
Nina had managed to track down Woody’s phone number through some old friends. They agreed to meet at noon at the Texas Tea & Tap Room on the outskirts of town. It had been one of their favorite haunts back in the old days.
The place wouldn’t be as crowded at lunchtime, so Deena and Gary planned to hide in a corner at the bar while Nina had lunch with Woody in the dining area. They wanted to be able to keep their eyes on her if something unusual happened. It was unlikely that Woody would recognize Deena or Gary from their one brief encounter at the funeral luncheon, but they didn’t want to chance it.
They met up with Nina about a half hour before her designated rendezvous with Woody. Deena and Nina huddled in the restroom while Nina put on the recording device.
Deena pinned the microphone to Nina’s sweater. “How did Woody sound on the phone when you talked to him?”
“He was shocked to hear from me. At least that’s how he acted.” She pulled her jacket back on. “He had to know I was in town after the incident with the fake ‘me’ at the attorney’s office.” She zipped up the front of her jacket. “How do I look?”
Deena adjusted the collar to make sure the makeshift microphone was hidden. “Looks perfect.”
Nina turned on the machine. “Testing one, two, three.” She hit the playback button and heard her voice repeated.
Deena took a step back to admire their handiwork. Nina was an attractive woman who deserved better than Woody Davenport. Perhaps after this whole case was closed, she’d talk to Nina about getting a divorce and finding Mr. Right.
There was a knock on the door to the restroom. It was Gary. “Let’s go, ladies. Woody could be here any minute.”
Deena nodded and looked back at Nina. “Are you feeling good about our strategy?”
“Definitely. If Woody believes I’m in on his scheme, I’ll have him eating out of my hand.”
“Okay then. Good luck.” Deena gave Nina a quick hug. “It’s showtime.”
They both hurried to their respective posts—Deena to the bar with Gary, and Nina to a small table in a back corner of the dining room.
Deena recognized Woody right away as he came through the door. She turned around to face the big screen TV above the bar. “This is it,” she whispered to Gary. “Time to catch a spider in our web.”
* * *
AS WOODY WALKED OVER, Nina switched on the recorder. She forced a smile. Her husband hadn’t aged all that well. When he took off his cowboy hat, she saw a deeply receding hairline and wrinkles on his forehead where there used to be none. She wondered if he would think the same thing about her. Then she chided herself for even giving a moment’s thought to what a creep like Woody would think about her.
“Hey, darlin’.” He said it as though they’d only been apart ten minutes instead of ten years. “How have you been?”
“Fine, sugar. And you?”
“Better now that you’re back.”
She started to protest that she had no intention of being “back,” but stopped herself. “You haven’t changed a bit,” she said. And by that she meant he was still a lying, cheating scoundrel.
“You look more beautiful than the day we got hitched.”
The cute redheaded waitress came over. “Hey, Woody. How’s it hanging?”
He was clearly uncomfortable by the overly friendly remark. “I’m good. How about fetching us a couple of burgers and beers?”
“Iced tea, for me,” Nina said.
The waitress shoved the pencil behind her ear, eyeing Nina suspiciously. “Sure thing.”
After she left, Woody leaned back in his chair. “I hear you’re calling yourself ‘Nina’ these days. Why the name change?”
“People grow up, you know. After Daddy dropped me from his will, I just didn’t want to be called ‘Edwina Granger’ anymore.”
He laughed. “Now that you just inherited his fortune, I guess that’ll be different.”
She sat up straight and tried not to glance down at the microphone. “And how exactly would you know that? Hmm? It wouldn’t have something to do with that dowdy imposter you sent to impersonate me, would it?”
His grin was the same one that used to make Nina’s insides turn to jelly. But now, all she wanted to do was slap the stupid look off his face. She clasped her hands in restraint.
“You know there ain’t another woman in these parts that could take your place.”
Nina folded her arms across her chest. “That’s not an answer.”
Woody squirmed under her stare. “Okay. You got me. I paid her to pretend to be you, but not for the reason you think. I did it for you.”
She raised an eyebrow. “For me? How’s that?”
“When I read in the paper that your brother killed himself, I figured you’d want possession of your daddy’s estate. I figured I’d help the police come up with a motive to charge Allison, and the money and winery would all fall back in your lap. You’re still my wife. I was doing you a favor. Who knew that your crazy papa would put that part in his will about suicide. Looks like you ended up with the money either way.”
The waitress returned with their drinks and set them on the table with no comment.
Woody picked up his glass. “Here’s to the richest woman in Maycroft.”
Nina stared at him. “You thought you were doing me a favor?”
Woody took a drink. “That’s right, baby. Now you and I can get back to runnin’ the vineyard like we did before.”
“Like when you and Drew were stealing from Daddy?”
“We won’t have to do that now. It’ll be all ours.”
Nina took a sip of tea. She thought carefully about her next words. “It was pretty clever of you to make Daddy’s will work in our favor.”
Woody rubbed his chin. “What do ya mean?”
“You know. Making sure Drew was dead before his thirty-fifth birthday.” Nina studied Woody’s face. She wasn’t sure if he was acting or if he was truly confused.
“You’re gonna have to tell me what you’re talking about, babe. I’m not sure I follow.”
“Daddy’s will said when he turned thirty-five, Drew could do whatever he wanted. But I guess you knew that already.” She put her hand on his cheek and smiled. “Very smart of you.”
“Sure. I guess so. Rita—that’s the girl who pretended to be you—didn’t say nothin’ about that.”
“But she didn’t have to, right? You already knew when—you visited Drew that night.”
Woody tilted his head and grinned. “Are you sure that iced tea ain’t spiked or something? I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.”
Nina was still unsure if Woody was playing her. He had always been a great conman. Like the time he told her he lost his wedding ring when he’d really pawned it to fly off to Vegas for the weekend. She pulled his head close to her mouth and whispered, “I know you shot my brother.”
He jerked back. “What? You’re talkin’ crazy now. I never shot your brother. I was just takin’ advantage of the situation. You don’t think I’m a killer, do you?”
Nina pulled back. “It’s okay, sugar. I’m not going to tell anyone. It’s just you and me here. And now we’re going to be rich. I just need to know the truth so that I can trust you.”
Woody shook his
head. “Is this because of that article in the newspaper that said someone may have murdered Drew? And you think it was me?”
Just then the waitress brought their food.
Nina pushed away her plate and folded her arms on the table. “Well, if not you, then who?”
It was Woody who leaned forward and whispered this time. “Maybe it was you.”
Nina laughed. “Now, how would I have done that from way over in Nevada?”
“Then there’s only one other person I can think of.” Woody opened the ketchup bottle and dumped a big glob on his plate.
“And who would that be?”
“The only person who might have known about your daddy’s will, of course. Your sister-in-law, Allison.”
Chapter 22
Dan Carson actually smiled when Deena walked into his office later that afternoon. The buzz of the newsroom seemed a tad louder as computers hummed, printers clacked, and reporters scurried about.
Deena paused in the doorway. “What’s going on? Did someone rob a bank or something? Did Mr. Crane’s pet python escape again?”
Dan pushed the knot up tighter on his necktie. “You happened, that’s what.” He held up a stack of papers. “Look at all these letters to the editor that have come in. The whole town is up in arms over the mishandling of the Granger case, and it’s all because of your story.”
Suddenly, Deena’s mouth felt like the Mojave Desert. She wasn’t used to this kind of reaction to her work. She assumed most of her stories ended up lining Mrs. Potts’s birdcage or as packing material for people moving. She plopped down in a chair.
“Am I in trouble again?”
“Heck no! You’re about to be named Employee of the Month and you don’t even work here yet. Oh, about that.” He pulled a folder out of his bottom desk drawer. “Lloyd Pryor wants to get you under contract right away so we can change your byline from ‘contributor’ to ‘staff writer.’ Here’s your contract.” He held out the folder and a pen.
“Whoa down, hoss. Let me ask a few questions first.” She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “We still don’t know if Andrew was murdered, right?”
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