Dying on the Vine

by Marla Cooper

  “When I had lunch with Danielle, she seemed to think that Stefan was going to go public with some dirt on Lucas. I don’t know if there’s anything to it, though.”

  Laurel frowned. “I know this is going to sound biased, but Miles seems like the way more likely candidate.”

  “I’m with you. After all, Miles hated Stefan, and for all we know, he got into it with Babs, too.”

  “So why don’t you go to the police?” Brody asked.

  “I don’t know. Without proof, I don’t think they’ll take me seriously.”

  “You’ve got the planner,” Laurel said.

  “And the keys you found in the cave,” Brody said.

  “Neither of which proves a thing, and both of which make me look even more guilty having them in my possession.”

  “Good point,” Brody said.

  “So obviously, the thing that makes the most sense is to go back up to Higgins one last time and see if there’s anything we might have overlooked.”

  “Like what?” Laurel asked.

  She had a point. We’d already searched the wine cave and Babs’ old office, and it’s not like I was going to single-handedly march in there and interrogate Miles. “I don’t know. Maybe I can figure out who the keys belong to, and I can at least put Babs’ planner back where I found it.”

  Brody looked at Laurel and then back at me. “I don’t know, Kelsey. That sounds dangerous. If what you’re saying is true…”

  “I’m sure it’s fine, as long as I lay low. After all, I told Lucas I’d drop off a copy of Haley and Christopher’s files, so I do have a legitimate reason to be there.”

  “Okay, but you’re not going without me,” Brody said.

  “Or me,” Laurel added.

  “Fine, we’ll go tomorrow.”

  “Wait!” Brody said. “I can’t go tomorrow. I’m driving down to Santa Cruz for a photo shoot and we’ve already had to reschedule twice. Can we go Thursday?”

  I bit my lip while I considered it. “I don’t know. I really want to get this over with.”

  “C’mon, Kelsey, you shouldn’t go up there alone.”

  “It’ll be fine. Besides, I won’t be alone. I’ll have Laurel with me.”

  “I’d feel a lot better if we all three went,” Brody said. “Safety in numbers, right?”

  “Okay, I guess you’re right.” I certainly didn’t want him worrying about me. “We’ll plan on Thursday.”

  “All right, good.”

  With that settled, Laurel and I said our good nights. Brody was right, it really would be safer for all three of us to go together, and as soon as we got downstairs I told Laurel I’d pick her up the next morning at nine.

  “But Kelsey, you just told Brody we’d wait for him!”

  “I know, but that’s just so he wouldn’t worry. Look, you don’t have to come if you don’t want, but I’m going. Now that Stefan’s awake, he might tell someone to go there and get the agenda, and if it’s not there…”

  “It’s going to look really bad,” Laurel said.

  “I don’t think I can wait.”

  “I don’t know, Kelsey.…”

  “Look, it’ll be fine. Seriously. I’ll drop it off, we’ll look around, and then we’ll leave. In and out. Besides, it’ll be broad daylight with tons of people around. How much trouble could we get into?”

  * * *

  As I drove through the gates of the winery the next day, the metal nameplate glinted in the sun: Higgins Estate Winery. A shiver ran down my spine. Here goes nothing.

  After I pulled into a spot, we took a moment to formulate a plan—namely to stick together and not get ourselves killed—and then we walked up the path to the winery.

  Lucas was sitting at a table outside, enjoying a glass of wine with someone who looked important. Bigwigs in suits seemed to be part of his core contingency.

  Inside, we found Zara working the tasting room and she waved us over to the counter. “You here to keep me company? We seem to be having an afternoon lull.”

  I looked at Laurel and shrugged. Why not? Maybe Zara could tell us something new.

  “Hey, Zara,” I said. “Have you met Laurel?”

  Laurel gave a little wave. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Same here,” Zara said as she set two wineglasses on the counter. “What do you want to try?”

  Going a whole day without getting in any trouble.

  “White?” she said. “Red?”

  Oh, right. The wine. “Maybe next time,” I said. “We can’t stay long, and I’ve gotta stay sharp.”

  “You can always spit it in the bucket,” she said, gesturing to a pewter canister sitting on the counter.

  “That doesn’t bother you when people spit it out?” I asked. “I always think I’m being rude.”

  “No, some of the people who come in here are pros. They’d be drunk if they swallowed everything they tasted.” She shrugged. “It seems like a waste of perfectly good wine, but people do it all the time.”

  “All right, then, dealer’s choice.” I set my bag on the floor and leaned against the counter.

  “You got it.” She pulled the cork out of a bottle of Zin and poured us a tasting-sized portion, just a couple of ounces.

  “So I never got a chance to hear how Miles took the news about what happened in the wine cave the other night,” I said.

  “He took it surprisingly well.” Zara shrugged. “Go fig.”

  “Yeah?” I swirled the wine around in the glass and held it up to look at the deep-garnet color in the light.

  “Yeah, I was shocked. I guess their insurance is going to cover the damage, but still, I had expected a full-on flip-out.”

  “Well, that’s good.” I took a sip of the wine, swirled it around my mouth, and then reluctantly spit it into the bucket.

  “Yeah, he was more upset that the police came and questioned him about it. Did they contact you?”

  My mind flashed back to Detective Blaszczyk’s angry accusations. “They did. They came by my house and asked me some questions, I guess since I was the one to find him there.”

  “So were they able to figure out what happened?” Laurel asked, taking a tiny sip of her wine.

  Zara shook her head. “Miles thought Stefan must have gotten himself locked in and hurt himself trying to escape.”

  “Lucas mentioned that to me, too. But is it really possible to lock yourself in? After all, Stefan knew the code. I mean, there was a keypad on the inside, wasn’t there?”

  “That’s the digital security system, but there’s also an exterior lock. Miles thought one of the workers must have locked it by accident not realizing Stefan was inside.”

  Likely story, I thought. “But why an exterior lock? Isn’t the whole point to keep people out instead of in?”

  “It’s left over from when they were building the cave. It was their way to keep the critters out before the security system went in.”

  So Stefan had been locked in the cave.

  Zara offered us another taste, but I put my hand over my glass in the universal signal for “I’m cutting myself off.”

  “Speaking of locks and stuff, you don’t happen to recognize these, do you?” I retrieved the keys from my pocket and dangled them in the air for her to see. “I found them outside.”

  “No, sorry. You can drop them at lost and found.”

  I nodded. “I’ll do that,” I said, with no intention of doing that. At least not right away.

  Laurel and I excused ourselves and went down the hall to Babs’ office. While Laurel stood guard, I dug Babs’ agenda from my bag, gave it a quick wipedown, and returned it to its former hiding place in the credenza. Phew. I was happy to have it out of my hands. I’d have to let the police take it from here.

  “Okay,” Laurel said. “Can we go? We promised Brody we’d be in and out.”

  I paused. “Just one more thing.”

  “Kelsey, we promised.”

  “I know, but this might be our last chance to find out
if those keys belong here.”

  Laurel put her hands on her hips and pursed her lips. “This is why Brody didn’t want you coming up here without him. We’re going to get in trouble.”

  “I won’t tell him if you won’t,” I said diplomatically. “Besides, I’d do the same for you.”

  “What, you mean let me endanger my life to satisfy my curiosity?”

  “I hear what you’re saying, but no one’s endangering anything here. People put keys into locks literally every single day with no adverse effects.” She didn’t look convinced. “It’ll be fine.”

  I could see her resolve starting to crack.

  “All right,” she finally conceded, probably because she knew that every minute she tried to stop me was one more minute before we could leave. “But then can we get out of here?”

  “I promise.” I chewed my lip as I studied the key ring. “This small key looks like it’s to a desk or a filing cabinet.” I looked around the room and immediately zeroed in on the credenza where Babs’ agenda was stored. I tried the small key, but it wasn’t a match. Then I checked the desk. Also not a match. What about the big keys? I crept over and tried the door. Not only did none of them work, but one almost got stuck and I had to wrest it loose.

  “You go make sure Lucas is still in his meeting,” I said. “I’m going to try the other doors.”

  “Okay, but hurry,” Laurel said, and then she scampered down the hall.

  Trying to look casual, I strolled up and down the hall in search of doors with locks, but my efforts were fruitless—not to mention stressful. Every sound put me on high alert, and I perfected the art of checking my phone whenever I heard someone coming.

  Laurel caught up to me and confirmed that Lucas was still out on the patio, and I told her to keep an eye on him while I checked upstairs.

  “I thought we were supposed to stick together!” she protested.

  “We’ll get out of here quicker if we split up. Besides, it’s the middle of the afternoon. What could possibly happen?”

  “Okay,” Laurel said dubiously as I headed for the stairs. “But Kelsey?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Be careful.”

  I crept partway up the stairs, then, realizing I didn’t need to creep, bounded up the rest of the way. I quickly made my way down the hall, trying the doors that had locks one by one, but none of them were a match.

  At the end of the hall loomed the door to Lucas’ office. Okay, this is my last chance. I knew Lucas was outside, but I knocked anyway just in case. I waited a moment for a response, then held my breath and tried the keys.

  Nothing.

  I twisted the doorknob and discovered that it was unlocked. I glanced furtively behind me before swinging the door open.

  Okay, I’ll just check inside his office, and then I give up.

  I slipped inside. I could feel my heart pounding as I quickly glanced around the room.

  The office had several pieces of furniture with locks, so I snuck up on a credenza and tried the key. Not a match. Desk drawer? It was a long shot, but I didn’t want to look back later and wish I’d been more thorough, so I crept around and pulled his office chair out a couple of inches.

  Just as I was about to insert the key into his desk drawer lock, I heard a voice from the hall.

  “Lucas!” It was Laurel, her voice uncharacteristically loud and slightly manic. “Hey, I’m so glad I bumped into you. I have a couple of questions.”

  Panicked, I looked around the room for an escape route.

  This was my honk.

  CHAPTER 31

  I looked around the room, desperate for a place to hide. If this were an old movie, I’d tuck myself behind some heavy draperies, but since Lucas liked an expansive view, there wasn’t a curtain in sight. Spotting another door in the corner of the room, I rushed over in the hopes it was an alternate exit or maybe a secret passageway, but just my luck, it was a closet. Quickly weighing the pros and cons of stuffing myself into a closet versus getting caught rummaging through Lucas’ office, I chose the former and wedged myself into the tiny space next to a vacuum cleaner.

  The door to the office opened, and Lucas entered the room. As quietly and slowly as possible, I cracked the door open and peeked out.

  Laurel had followed him in and was chattering in the breezy way she does when she’s nervous. “So we were thinking that you might want to consider investing in a speaker system, because every wedding needs one and that way your brides wouldn’t have to rent them.”

  “I’ll consider it,” Lucas said. “It could also come in handy for some of our corporate events.”

  “Great,” she said, looking around the room. “Hey, have you seen Kelsey?”

  Lucas smiled handsomely. “I saw her earlier out in the garden, but she’s not up here.”

  That’s what you think. I focused all my brainpower on sending Laurel a psychic message: Don’t leave me here! My psychic messages seldom did much good, but I was at a loss for a backup plan.

  Laurel turned to leave, then spun back round. “Maybe I could even price some for you. Sound systems, that is. I have a pretty good idea what kind of setup you’d need.”

  “That sounds great, Lauren.”

  Her face fell. “Oh, it’s Laurel.”

  “Sorry, Laurel, of course.” He beamed his trademark smile, then slipped some papers he’d been carrying into his desk while Laurel stood there. “Was there anything else?”

  “Um, well…”

  Another smile. “I need to hop on a conference call right now, so maybe you could send me an e-mail.”

  I silently willed Laurel to ignore his not-so-subtle hints.

  “Okay,” Laurel said with a last look around. “I’ll send you the information.”

  And then she left, despite all my psychic efforts.

  A loud squeak from Lucas’ desk chair told me that he was settling in. I hoped the call would be short; my glutes were starting to cramp.

  Lucas punched in some numbers and waited.

  “Hey, just wanted to update you on our situation,” he said at last.

  Business call, blah blah blah. I might as well make myself comfortable.

  “He just left, and everything’s looking like a go.” He must have been taking about the man in the suit.

  “Yeah, Miles signed, just like I predicted.” A pause. “No, of course I didn’t tell him. There’s no way he would have agreed to it. But lucky for us, he can’t be bothered to read the papers I put in front of him.”

  I stifled a giggle-snort—partly from the absurdity and stress of being stuck in a closet and partly from Lucas’ characterization of his brother.

  He leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on his desk. “No, he’s going to be pissed, but it doesn’t matter. We need the money for the expansion.”

  Expansion? This was getting interesting. I wondered what Lucas had planned that he wasn’t letting Miles in on.

  “He doesn’t see it now, but someday he’ll thank us for it. He’ll get over it. He’ll have to.”

  Miles didn’t seem like the type to get over things, but maybe it was different when it came to Lucas.

  “It’s not like he’s losing the whole vineyard, just a few rows of grapes. And after the pipeline’s in, he can always replant over it.”

  Wait, a pipeline? That’s what this is about?

  “Yeah, it’s for natural gas. Clean energy and all that, you know? Anyway, they’re paying us a ton, and it’s not like Miles has to stop making wine altogether.”

  I felt like all the air had suddenly been sucked out of the room—and considering the size of the room, there hadn’t been much to start with. After what Zara had told me about how protective Miles was of his vineyards, I couldn’t imagine that would go over well.

  “Once the deal goes through,” Lucas said, “there won’t be anything Miles can do about it, short of chaining himself to the bulldozer. Not that I’d put it past him.” Lucas let out a derisive laugh at his own joke. As unco
mfortable as I was learning about Lucas’ questionable business decisions, I was even more uncomfortable in the increasingly stuffy closet. I shifted my weight to inhale some of the fresh air creeping in through the cracked door.

  “No, right now there’s no chance of him finding out, unless one of us tells him, and I’m certainly not going to.”

  Wow, that was a pretty big secret. I wondered how long he was intending to keep it from his brother. I peeked out and saw Lucas listening intently to whoever was on the other end of the line.

  “You mean the wedding planner?”

  I clapped my hand over my mouth. The wedding planner? Which one? Me?

  “Yeah, he almost blew it for us.”

  Stefan.

  “No, that problem seems to have taken care of itself.”

  My heart started pounding, and I leaned against the wall to steady myself. I remembered what Danielle had told me. Stefan had known some secret, and he was threatening to tell.

  “Let’s just say blowing the lid on our deal has moved way down his list of priorities.”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. There were two scenarios floating through my mind. Either Lucas was the beneficiary of incredibly impeccable timing or he’d taken matters into his own hands.

  “Yesterday.”

  A feeling of dread grew in my stomach.

  “Uh-huh.”

  Had he done it himself, or had he gotten someone to take care of it for him?

  “No, don’t worry. The two of them were the only ones who knew.”

  Oh my God. The two of them—was he talking about Babs? My head was spinning. I had planned on waiting Lucas out, but I was starting to feel panicky. I grabbed the cell phone in my pocket, turned it to silent, then typed out a message to Laurel:

  SOS! Get Lucas out of his office!

  A second later she replied:

  Where r u?

  Was it my imagination, or was I running out of oxygen?

  In the closet! Get up here!

  A minute later there was a knock at the door.

  “I’ve gotta run,” he said into the phone. “I’ll call you later.”

  He sat up and picked up a pen, then yelled, “Come in!” He made a show of perusing his desk calendar as Laurel breezed into the room. “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I know you’re about to get on a call.”