Countdown (27 page)

My new thought-out scenario didn’t work. I ended up with a spinach salad and one small piece of garlic bread. And iced tea with sweetener, not the good sweet tea they serve at the Longbranch Inn. None of it was particularly satisfying.

I got back to the shop and heard voices and laughter coming from the bullpen area, so I walked that way. Holly was holding a baby and I saw the two – and I use this term loosely – adults watching her were Chandra Blanton and Mike Reynolds.

‘Well, hey there, you two! Is this your baby?’ I said, which was a stupid question, but no one gave me a look so I figured no one noticed.

‘Michael Nelson Reynolds, Jr,’ Chandra said, smiling at me. As young as the girl was, she seemed to have gotten her figure back real quick, although her breasts were probably bigger than they would be when she stopped nursing.

I moved closer to Holly and looked down at the baby. Thank God he looked like his daddy and not a male Blanton. Although the women tended to be pretty – or maybe it’s just me – the men tended toward butt ugly. I coogie-cooed a bit then asked them why we were so honored by their presence.

‘My mee-maw’s lawyer said I should pick up Uncle Darrell’s person effects,’ Chandra said. ‘Is that OK?’

‘Sure!’ I said. ‘Can Holly care for Junior while the three of us go back and see what we’ve got?’

‘Please!’ Holly said.

Chandra smiled. ‘OK. But holler if you need me.’

Leaving her extra-large diaper bag with Holly, Chandra and Mike followed me down the hall toward my office. We have a room across the hall from Emmett’s office that we used for all kinds of storage, including evidence. This is where Darrell Blanton’s personal effects would be.

I went to the right shelf, found the right box and opened it. The first thing I noticed was Darrell Blanton’s cell phone. And I just stared at it. It took maybe a full minute for my brain to unfreeze and the ramification of what I was seeing to register. If Darrell’s cell phone had been confiscated when he came in, how in the hell had he called for a pizza?

J
ean heard voices in the hall outside the solarium. They were quiet at first, then raised in anger. She got up and moved to the half-open door to the hallway. Peering around, she saw the twins, their faces scrunched in anger and their fists clenched, spewing harsh words at each other.

‘I told her I was out!’ Dru said.

‘You’re going to screw up the whole thing!’ Megan said.

‘Like I give a flying fuck!’ Dru shot back.

‘Well, you’d better!’ Megan almost screamed. Then she turned her head slightly and saw Jean. She stopped and stared at her, then turned and stared at her sister. ‘Did you tell?’ she hissed. ‘Did you?’

Dru shrugged. ‘Not exactly,’ she said.

Megan flew at Dru, hands grabbing Dru’s hair. Dru fought back, kicking and screaming.

Jean moved in and with one crutch managed to persuade the girls to stop what they were doing.

‘She told you!’ Megan managed to get out between clenched teeth.

‘I think the three of us should have a chat,’ Jean said.

‘Fuck you, you interfering gimp!’ Megan shouted and ran away from them.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the house, Jewel was in quiet conversation with Constance as they lounged in the library, an attractive two-story affair with generations of books and furniture adorning it.

‘So the whole thing was just about her not wanting to stay here over the winter holiday?’ Jewel said.

‘I know it sounds trivial, but it’s important. I’m trying to get my mother to see that the girls are part of the family. That they deserve a share of the Carmichael fortune. And the best way to do that is to have them near her, for her to get to know them.’ Constance laughed. ‘I understand that getting to
know
Dru might not be the best strategy, but the girl has a good heart, she really does.’

‘You seem very close to your stepdaughters,’ Jewel said.

‘I’ve been their mother since they were ten. They are so precious to me,’ Constance said.

‘I wish I had that kind of relationship with my husband’s daughters, but their mother poisoned them against me – and their father. Now that they’re grown up, he hardly ever gets to see them.’

Constance shook her head. ‘That’s such a shame. If only—’

The door to the library burst open and Megan rushed in. ‘Dru told that bitch doctor everything!’

‘What?’ Constance said standing.

Megan seemed to notice Jewel for the first time, and backed up a few steps.

‘Are you sure?’ Constance asked.

Megan nodded.

‘How much?’ Constance asked.

‘Everything.’

Constance turned to Jewel. Her demeanor had changed from charming to dangerous. ‘And I’m sure you’re also in the know, Mrs Monk.’

‘In the know about what?’ Jewel asked, at this point really confused. She’d almost accepted Constance’s excuse for the fight between her and Dru the night of the funeral.

‘Where are they?’ Constance demanded.

‘In the solarium,’ Megan said.

‘Bring her!’ Constance said, and Megan went up to Jewel and grabbed her arm, and the three left the library on their way to the solarium.

Darrell Blanton’s wallet was also full of cash. So he probably didn’t have any money on him in the cell. How did he pay for the pizza he probably didn’t order? I walked out in the hall and called for Holly. She came, carrying a sleeping Junior with her.

‘Did you pay for the pizza when it was delivered to Darrell?’ I asked her.

She shook her head. ‘No, of course not. I knew you wouldn’t want the county to pay for it, and I’m saving all my money for the honeymoon.’

‘Call that pizza kid back and have him come in. Just tell him I’ve got a few more questions.’

‘You’re supposed to be at the hearing for Drew Gleeson in about a half hour,’ Holly told me.

‘Shit,’ I said, then turned and apologized to the new mother. I knew calling Harry Joyner and asking to reschedule wasn’t gonna fly. He’d think I was just stalling. And I could well be. At that point I had no idea what I was doing or why. Thinking fast, I said, ‘Call the pizza kid now and tell him to come in ASAP. When’s Emmett gonna be through at the VFW?’

‘He should be leaving about now. They were gonna serve lunch—’

‘Call him. Tell him to come back here and get the prisoner and take him to the courthouse. He knows just about as much as I do about the case.’

She handed the baby back to his mother and ran for her phones. And I went back into the storage room with Chandra Blanton and her new family.

‘So,’ I said, taking out the inventory typed up by Holly the morning after we’d brought Darrell Blanton in. I compared the inventory with the items in the box. ‘One cell phone, Fonetastic brand; one wallet holding thirty-two dollars in cash, an out-of-date driver’s license and a lapsed MasterCard; one Swiss Army knife – forty-seven blade variety; a half-eaten roll of Mentos; eighty-seven cents in loose change; and his Nikes, complete with shoelaces.’

‘That looks to be it,’ Chandra agreed.

‘OK, let’s go out front so you can sign about a hundred forms to pick this stuff up.’

‘Do we really need any of that crap?’ Mike asked his soon-to-be-wife.

‘I can buy three boxes of newborn diapers with that thirty-two dollars!’ she informed her soon-to-be-husband.

Mike shrugged. ‘OK,’ he said, which I agreed was the wisest choice of an answer.

We went back out to the bullpen where Holly was just hanging up the phone. ‘That was Emmett. He’s on his way. He said he should be here in no time at all.’

‘Did you get hold of that pizza kid?’ I asked her.

‘Ronnie Jacobs,’ my clerk said succinctly, obviously not impressed with my memory. ‘Yes,’ she said. ‘He said he was close and he’d be right here.’

‘Good,’ I said. ‘Chandra’s got papers to sign?’

‘Right here,’ Holly said with a smile. ‘I’ve got them all sorted out for you.’

‘Thanks,’ Chandra said. ‘And if I haven’t said it enough, I just want to tell you how sorry I am about what my family did to your bachelorette party. And about that lady who got killed.’

Holly reached out a hand and cupped Chandra’s elbow. ‘You’ve already said it plenty and you really don’t need to keep saying it. No one blames you. We all know you were as much a hostage as the rest of us.’ Holly grinned widely. ‘And if it wasn’t for this little one,’ she said, gently rubbing Junior’s back, ‘we’d probably still be there!’

Chandra laughed but still hung her head. That was some heavy guilt that girl was carrying, I thought. I hoped she could work through it. Maybe with my wife’s help.

The front door of the shop opened and the pizza kid – Ronnie Jacobs – came in with a tall, striking blonde hanging on his arm. The blonde stopped upon seeing all of us standing there, but she seemed to be looking at someone in particular. I glanced at Chandra, who was staring right back at the blonde.

‘Cousin Lucinda,’ she said. ‘What are you doing here?’

No phone to order a pizza, no money to pay for a pizza, and the pizza kid was involved with a Blanton woman.

Light was beginning to dawn.

Dru looked around the solarium, her eyes darting back and forth. ‘We need to get out of here,’ she told Jean.

‘Why?’ Jean asked.

Dru looked at her as if she found her slow. ‘Because Megan went to get Constance. And God only knows what Constance will do to keep this whole mess from getting out.’

‘So the story’s true?’

Dru rolled her eyes. ‘Of course it is, stupid. And yeah, she’s the one who got Aunt Paula involved, too, with my dear old dad. He started with her when she was like a kid. Way before Megan and I were born. But one child – Constance – wasn’t enough for him. When she got “too old”, he told her to bring in Paula. According to Constance, though, Paula was a bad girl and didn’t play the games like she should.’

‘Jesus,’ Jean said, dropping down on one of the wicker chairs.

Dru leaned down and grabbed her arm. ‘Get up! We’ve got to get out of here.’

Jean stood and pointed to the double doors that led to the hall they’d both come down. ‘Out there?’

‘No! Of course not!’ Dru said, again shaking her head at Jean’s obvious stupidity. ‘That’s the way they’ll be coming. We need to go outside. Come on!’ she said, and took Jean by the arm, almost dragging her to the French doors that led to a veranda.

But the storm was still in full swing. Beyond the veranda there was nothing but grass, trees and flowerbeds. There were no walkways, nothing that would keep Jean’s crutches from sinking into the softened earth and sending her tumbling to the ground.

‘I can’t!’ Jean shouted to be heard over the deluge. She pointed to her crutches.

‘Fuck!’ Dru said, looking back into the room they’d just left. Jean followed her gaze and saw Constance entering the solarium, followed by Megan, who had a tight grip on Jewel’s arm.

‘I can’t leave my sister-in-law,’ Jean said.

‘I couldn’t give a shit about her – or you, for that matter. Lady, you are not my hero!’ Dru said and took off into the rain, leaving Jean standing alone.

Cousin Lucinda, the tall blonde, grabbed Ronnie Jacobs’ arm and said, ‘Let’s get out of here—’

She said this just as I walked up to Ronnie with a big old smile and, taking his free arm, said, ‘Ronnie! Thanks for coming by so quick! Just a few questions, then you can be on your way.’ Turning to my clerk, I said, ‘Holly, why don’t you take Mike into the break room so he can get some refreshments for everyone?’

Holly gave me a quick nod to indicate she got the message, then said brightly, ‘Sure, Sheriff! What a good idea!’

I ushered Ronnie into the interrogation room – now aptly named for what was about to transpire.

‘So, Ronnie,’ I said, still smiling, ‘you said Darrell Blanton called in his order to your dispatcher?’

‘Yeah, I guess,’ he said.

‘Ronnie, we’d confiscated Darrell’s cell phone. He didn’t have any way to call for a pizza.’

‘Oh. Well, maybe someone else called it in for him?’ he suggested. ‘You’d have to check with our dispatcher about that.’

‘Oh, I will, don’t worry about that,’ I said, still smiling. ‘And one other thing: you said you gave him the pizza and he gave you money, is that right?’

‘Uh huh,’ Ronnie said, turning a little green around the gills.

‘But we’d also confiscated all his belongings – including his cash.’

Ronnie shrugged. ‘Maybe you didn’t get all of it?’ he suggested.

‘Hum,’ I said, as if thinking that over. ‘Maybe he had a hidden stash, is that what you’re thinking?’

‘Sure,’ Ronnie said, his face coming back pink as he smiled and nodded.

‘You said he took it out of his pocket, right?’

‘Ah, I don’t know. Did I say that? Ah, I don’t remember. I mean if I said that or if he did that.’

‘Surely you’d remember if he took off his boot and pulled money out of there?’

‘Ah, yeah, maybe—’

‘Or if he opened his shirt and he had a money belt taped to his chest,’ I offered.

‘Yeah, sure, I guess—’

‘So more than likely he would have to take his money out of his pocket, right?’

‘Ah, well, yeah, sure, I guess.’

‘Thing is, I checked with the ME’s office and he said there was nothing in his pockets at all. Not even lint. We cleaned him out when we took his crap and put it away.’

‘Huh,’ Ronnie said. ‘Well.’

‘Well, what?’ I asked him.

He was silent. Then the door burst open and Cousin Lucinda, Ronnie’s girlfriend, came barging in. ‘Honey-bunch, tell him you want a lawyer! They do that on
Law and Order
all the time!’

Well, she had me there. Maybe Harry Joyner wouldn’t mind taking on a paying client.

Jean moved back into the solarium just as Constance pulled a very ladylike, pearl-handled pistol out of the pocket of her full skirt. Jean mused to herself that a straight skirt or pants would have shown the bulge of the pistol – good fashion choice to go with a full skirt if you needed to go armed.

‘Thank you for coming back in, Doctor McDonnell,’ Constance said, leveling the gun at Jean’s heart. ‘Why don’t you and your sister-in-law have a seat?’

Megan pushed Jewel to the nearest white wicker sofa. Jean sat down next to her.