Jake’s forehead wrinkled. “Leona Garvey? What does she have to do with this?”
I exchanged a quick look with Eliot. When he nodded, I let out a sigh before collecting myself. “You’re really not going to like this but ... Tad had a whole list of people he was blackmailing. He had files and everything.”
“I know. I saw them. The question is: How do you know he had blackmail files?”
Yeah, I saw that question coming. Rather than answer, I swiveled toward Eliot. “Did you know Han Solo won the Millennium Falcon in a card game with Lando?”
“Stop that,” Eliot hissed. He pasted what I’m sure he thought was a pleasant smile on his face, but to me it looked deranged. “I can’t tell you how we know about the blackmail files. I’m limited by investigative privilege.”
“Really?” Jake’s eyebrows hopped. “You have a client who just happens to be involved in this mess?”
“I do.”
“Is she blond?”
Eliot held out his hands. “I can’t talk to you about the specifics. Let’s just say that I know about the blackmail files and I happen to know that Leona Garvey was being blackmailed for something that happened in her past.”
Jake narrowed his eyes. “I don’t remember seeing her name on the list. Wait, I did see her file. There wasn’t anything in it. I figured Ludington was hoping to gather dirt on her but struck out.”
“Oh, no.” I shook my head. “He got dirt. Back when she was a teacher and going by a different name she totally had sex with a male student.”
Jake’s mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding.”
“But you can’t tell anyone, because I’m sitting on that story until I get my job back so I can blow everybody out of the water.”
“Nobody cares about that right now,” Jake snapped. “I care about her being blackmailed. Did she own up to this?”
I nodded. “She did, but she didn’t know it was Tad. She received weird notes, but no details about a demand for money. She assumed if it was Tad he would’ve demanded she drop out of the race. She’s delusional. She thinks I won’t say anything and that she still has a chance of winning. Despite that, I don’t think she did it.”
“She might have,” Jake argued. “She might be a really good actress, good enough to fool even you. She is a politician, after all. That’s a really good tip. I’ll figure out a way to have Jacobs check it out.”
“Great.” I forced a smile. “Do you have anything good for us?”
“I wish I did, but we’re exactly where we were. I don’t have anything that clears you and it’s not easy for me to dig with Jacobs watching my every move.”
“I don’t understand why he’s so obnoxious about this,” Eliot complained. “He’s fixated on Avery. He searched our house this morning.”
“I know. I’m sorry. From the sounds of it, he didn’t find anything.”
“He told you that? I didn’t think he was sharing information with you.”
“He’s not, but he’s using an office here. I heard him talking to his sister on the phone.”
Now it was my turn to make a face. “Why would he be talking to his sister about me? Do I know her?”
“No, but she knows you. She’s a volunteer for Ludington’s campaign. Becky Trowbridge.”
I recognized that name. “Becky Trowbridge?” I glanced at Eliot and saw his mind had gone to the same place mine had. “That’s Jacobs’ sister?”
Jake nodded. “Why? Is that important?”
“Um ... .” I had no idea if it was important, but I knew I couldn’t share with Jake the other tidbit I’d stumbled across in Tad’s house. At least not yet. I needed to discuss things with Eliot first. “Did you know the Millennium Falcon crashed while still on the assembly line?”
This time Eliot laughed at my less-than-smooth transition as Jake scowled.
“How can you not love her?” Eliot asked when he’d managed to swallow his laughter. “I mean ... she’s one of a kind.”
“Yes.” Jake pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead, as if warding off an oncoming headache, just like Eliot always does. “I think we’re all thankful for that.”
25 Twenty-Five
“Becky Trowbridge was in Tad’s blackmail files,” I announced the second we reached the parking lot. “I saw that name. I remember because I thought Trowbridge was a ridiculous last name.”
Eliot’s expression was hard to read. “What’s ridiculous about the name?”
“She’s named after a bridge.”
“Not really.”
He clearly had no sense of humor today. “Forget the name. We need to find her.”
“Give me a second.” He whipped out his phone and started typing. “Just out of curiosity, do you think Jacobs is protecting his sister because he thinks she tried to off Ludington?”
That was the question.
I didn’t have an answer. “What would be her motive to want to shoot Tad? I didn’t bother paying any attention to her file because I didn’t recognize the name. I figured she wasn’t important. Now I’m regretting being such a gossip snob.”
“Maybe they were having an affair. Maybe he threw her over for Fawn. Maybe ... she was the one he enlisted to help him frame you and things got out of control. Maybe that gun that miraculously showed up in your car belonged to Jacobs. She could’ve borrowed it from him, admitted what happened, and he decided to frame you.”
That was a lot of maybes. “Or maybe she’s innocent. Maybe he really is fixated on this case because he’s convinced Tad is a good guy and his sister is simply a true believer.”
“Do you really think that?” Eliot was deadly serious. “If so, there’s no sense tracking her down.”
I tilted my head, considering. “No, screw that. Her brother is way too interested in what we’re doing. It’s her.”
He smirked. “Do you really think that or are you just looking for another adventure?”
“Does it matter?”
“Nope.” He went back to focusing on his screen. “Found her. She lives in Sterling Heights.”
“Then let’s pay her a visit.”
“Okay.” He moved to open the passenger door of his truck for me, an oddly gallant move. He was never impolite, but we didn’t usually go in for old-fashioned gestures like that. “Just one question,” he said as I tugged at the seatbelt. “How do we approach her?”
“This time you leave the talking to me.”
His lips quirked. “Maybe we should have a code word. This time I get to decide on it.”
“Oh, yeah? What’s your code word?”
“You have to work ‘Starship Enterprise’ into the conversation.”
He thought he was funny. “Challenge accepted.”
His smile vanished. “That was a joke.”
“Just get in and drive.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
BECKY LIVED IN A MODEST RANCH HOUSE on a quiet street. One of the large orthodox churches that littered the city was on the corner, the parking lot packed with vehicles. None of the people milling about looked in our direction.
“That’s creepy,” I noted as I met him in front of the truck.
“What’s creepy?” His attention was on the house, not the church.
“That.” I gestured. “I don’t think I would want to live so close to a church. It’s creepy.”
“When we were looking for a house you wanted that one that didn’t have updated electricity just because it was located right next door to an old cemetery.”
“So?”
“So some people would say that’s creepy.”
“I wanted to live in a haunted house. Sue me.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” He moved to the sidewalk and waited for me to join him. “Do you know how you’re going to handle this?”
“Absolutely.”
“Okay. I’ll follow your lead.”
“That’s exactly how our lives should always be.”
He grinned as I climbed the steps and knocked on
the door. The woman who answered was plain, with dull brown hair and a generous mouth. She had freckles across the bridge of her nose and a rather unflattering bowl haircut that made her face look rounder than it really was. I didn’t recognize her, but that didn’t necessarily mean anything. I saw so many faces in any given day it was impossible to remember them all. She obviously recognized me, though, because her face went sheet white.
“You’re Avery Shaw.”
“I am. You’re Becky Trowbridge.”
“I ... I ... what are you doing here?” She glanced around, as if expecting other people to be watching us. “Are you here to kill me?”
The question was so absurd I merely stared.
“We’re not here to kill you,” Eliot volunteered. “Why would you say that?”
“Tad always said that you would be the death of him. When I saw you on my porch, I assumed you would be the death of me, too.”
Oh, well, that figured. “Tad is a freaking tool. You shouldn’t believe anything he tells you,” I offered, finding my voice. “As for killing you, why would I want to kill you?”
“I just told you. Tad said you’re evil.”
“Well, maybe he’s evil and he said that to throw you off. Did you ever consider that?”
“No.” She didn’t hesitate before answering. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m in the middle of something.” She attempted to close the door.
She was perfectly pleasant, her manners intact, and yet there was an air of ... oddness ... about her. “Are you high?” I blurted without thinking.
Her brown eyes went wide. “High? Why would I be high? That’s against the law.”
“Actually, it’s not. Weed has been legalized in Michigan. You can’t toke and drive, but you can smoke as much as you want while eating potato chips and watching Stranger Things.”
“I ... um ... .” Confused, she turned to Eliot. “I don’t understand why you’re here.”
“We’re here because we have a few questions,” Eliot clarified.
“About what?”
“About Tad’s shooting,” I replied. “We understand that you’ve been working for him.”
“Volunteering,” she corrected.
“Wait ... you hang out with him for free?” That was the most horrible thing I’d ever heard.
“He’s a great man.”
“He’s the king of the tools. But that’s not why we’re here. Your brother is the investigator looking into Tad’s shooting. Don’t you think that’s a conflict of interest?”
Her expression remained bland. “Why would it be?”
“I don’t know. You have close ties with Tad.”
“That’s because he’s a great man.”
“You keep saying that as if it’s fact.” Her dulled responses were beginning to grate. “He’s not a good man. I mean ... does a good man keep blackmail files on people? He had one on you. Did you know that?”
This time she managed an expression. A flash of hatred rippled across her features. She shut it down quickly, but it was obvious. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
This was getting us nowhere. She refused to engage. I hated people like that, but she was too weird to hate. There was a strange disconnect with her personality that I couldn’t put my finger on. It was ... chilling. That was the only word I could use to describe it.
“Tad had blackmail files on a variety of people, including me, his opponent, the sheriff, a handful of other politicians, and you. Now, I don’t know what he was blackmailing you for, but don’t bother denying it. I saw it.”
“You saw it?”
I realized my mistake too late. “Hey, we’re here talking about you, not me. As much as I like being the center of attention, we need to discuss why Tad was blackmailing you ... and why you would continue to volunteer for him if he was holding something over your head.” Something occurred to me. “Unless he was blackmailing you for free labor?” Ugh, that would be a real disappointment, and something unlikely to be worth killing over.
Other than a heavy sigh, she didn’t immediately respond. Instead, her eyes drifted toward Eliot’s truck. She appeared to be gearing herself up to answer. She then turned back to me. “Perhaps we should talk.”
“That sounds great.”
She pushed open the door. “Come in. And don’t steal anything.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Why would I steal something from you?”
“Tad said you were a thief.”
“Tad is a filthy liar. You have to stop taking his word as gospel.”
“If you say so.” She pointed toward a small, nondescript living room with a floral couch that made me want to gag. “Have a seat. I’ll get some iced tea and then we can talk.”
“I don’t really need the tea.”
“Well, I do. Just ... sit down. I’ll be with you in a second.”
“Fine.” I stuck out my tongue at her back and then sat on the couch with Eliot. I couldn’t stop staring at the pastel flowers as I shifted to get comfortable.
“What are you doing?” Eliot asked after I wiggled for about the fifteenth time.
“I don’t like sitting on flowered things. It makes me think of bees.”
“Geez, you’re a real piece of work sometimes.” He shook his head and then craned his neck in an attempt to see down the hallway. “She’s been getting that iced tea for a long time.”
“Yeah.” I waited a moment. “You don’t think she took off, do you?”
“No.” He answered right away with a snort, but then sobered. “I mean ... probably not.”
We both got to our feet as if in slow motion and moved together toward the hallway. The kitchen was empty. At the back of the rectangular space, though, was a door ... and it was open.
“Stay here,” Eliot ordered, moving toward the door.
I pretended not to hear him and followed. We stopped in the doorway and focused on the driveway. The sedan that had been parked there only minutes before was gone.
“She ran,” I said, disbelief coursing through me. “She tricked us and ran.”
“Yeah, but why?”
I could think of only one reason. “We should probably call Jake.”
“He’s going to be mad.”
“I don’t see any way around it.”
“Me either. I just hope you’re up for this.”
“Set phasers on stun and engage the warp drives.”
He looked as if he was fighting the urge to laugh as he searched through his contacts, but he managed to hold it together. “That doesn’t count. You only get half a point for that one.”
AS PREDICTED, JAKE WAS APOPLECTIC.
“What is the matter with the two of you?”
“Don’t answer that,” I instructed. “It’s a trick question, one that Kirk might’ve used against Khan while captaining the Enterprise.”
“That still doesn’t count,” Eliot argued, shrinking back when Jake planted his hands on his hips. “It’s also not important right now. We need to tell Jake what’s going on.”
“Everything that’s going on,” Jake insisted, his messy bird’s nest hair standing on end. It was obvious he’d been swiping his hands through it on his way to Becky’s house. “I don’t want any more of this half-assed nonsense. I want the truth.”
“I would like to point out that you told us in your office a little more than an hour ago that you didn’t want to know what we were up to. You said you were better off staying in the dark, and we conceded because we want what’s best for you.”
Jake’s gaze was deadly. “Avery, if you say another word I’ll throw you in a cell just because I can. While you’re in there, I’ll make sure the television shows only Keeping Up with the Kardashians.”
My mouth dropped open. “That’s cruel and unusual punishment.”
“Talk!”
Eliot held out a hand and positioned his body partially in front of me. I figured it was an instinctive reaction, something he couldn’t quite explain. Jake would never hu
rt me. Eliot was the sort of guy who liked to serve as a protector, though, and that’s exactly what he was doing now.
“I’m going to tell you what’s going on,” he said in a low voice, clearly choosing his words carefully. “You’re going to freak out when I tell you. I want to remind you that none of this is technically her fault.”
“Oh, this is going to suck,” Jake groused. “Just lay it on me.”
“Don’t do it,” I whispered. “It will be like the time Kirk programmed the Enterprise to self-destruct once all the Klingons beamed aboard.”
Eliot managed a weak chuckle. “All right. I’ll give you that one, but it’s time to shut up.” Before I could argue, he launched into a very long tale. He told Jake almost everything, hitting all the pertinent details. When he finished, I legitimately thought there was a chance Jake was going to stroke out.
“Is that everything?” Jake growled.
Eliot nodded. “Pretty much. We came here because Becky was in the blackmail files.”
“Why was Ludington blackmailing her?” Jake asked in a clipped tone that told me he was barely hanging on to his sanity.
“That’s just it,” I volunteered. “I don’t know what was in the file. I didn’t pay attention because I didn’t recognize her name. I blew right past her. I was more interested in what he had on me ... and you ... and Eliot. I was really interested in what he had on Clara Black.”
“So you don’t know that there was anything in that file,” Jake challenged.
“I know that Jacobs is running an investigation even though his sister was included in a blackmail file in Tad’s house,” I shot back. “That seems like a conflict of interest.”
As if on cue, someone cleared a throat on the other side of the room. We turned in unison to find Jacobs watching us from the archway that separated his sister’s kitchen from the hallway.
“Well, isn’t this a pretty picture,” he drawled. “Would you three like to tell me what you’re doing in my sister’s house?”
New Media & Old Grudges Page 24