Death Before Diamonds (Sky High Pies Cozy Mysteries Book 10) (17 page)

CHAPTER
38

The room suddenly felt airless and
silent as a tomb. I put one hand on the desk to steady myself as I spun around
and sat in a guest chair.

“Mr. Greer?”

“Yes.”

“Where are you right now?” I asked.

“Over here in Palisade. I got a tip
from someone back in Philly that Colorado’s wine country was worth the time. I
decided to do some sightseeing before I head back home.”

“I’ve heard that part of the state
is nice,” I said.

“So far, it’s very enjoyable,” he
agreed. “I’ve got a room at the Wine Valley Inn, the people are friendly and
the—”

“Pardon the interruption,” I said
firmly. “But aren’t you curious about why I was trying to reach you?”

His laugh was as deep and unruffled
as his voice. “Well, I suspect that you’re about to tell me,” he said. “The motel
manager in Frisco left a message for me. He made it sound urgent, so I came back
to my room to get in touch with you straightaway. I would’ve called you from
the vineyard, but my phone’s battery ran out of juice.”

“I appreciate that,” I said. “There
is a matter that I wanted to discuss with you.”

“I figured as much,” Theo said. “What
can I help you with?”

“It’s your brother,” I said. “Rex
came to Crescent Creek looking for you, and he ran into a bit of bad luck.”

Another booming laugh blasted from
the phone. “That’s the most asinine thing that I’ve heard in a long, long time.
I told him to go back home to Philadelphia after the stunt he pulled at the Silver
Dollar.”

I felt my mouth lift into a faint
grin at the admission. Then my mind flooded with the stark realization that Rex
had lied about his brother’s disappearance. And if he did that, what else was
he lying about?

“Are you telling me that Rex kicked
in the door to your room at the motel?” I asked.

“That I am,” Theo said. “My little
bro had a few wild ideas about my trip to Colorado.”

“Such as?”

He laughed again. “How is that your
business?”

“Well, I suppose that it isn’t,” I
said. “But your brother turned up on my doorstep a couple of days ago with a
story about your disappearance. It seemed plausible. And I’ve been trying to
help figure out not only your whereabouts, but the identities of the people who
attacked Rex the other night.”

The line was silent. I imagined
that Theo was processing what I’d just told him about his brother.

“What happened?” he asked finally.

“To Rex?”

“Yes,” he said. “Where was he
attacked?”

“Here in Crescent Creek,” I
answered. “The police are investigating, but they don’t have any suspects at
this point. From what little I know, there’s a strong chance that your old
friend from Diamond Galleria might be involved.”

“How bad was it?” he said. “Is he
on his way home yet?”

“No, Mr. Greer,” I said. “He’s in
the Regional Medical Center here in Crescent Creek. He ended up with some fairly
serious injuries.”

“How serious?”

“He made it through surgery,” I
said. “But they want him to stay in the hospital for another few days.”

“And you don’t have any idea who
attacked him?” Theo asked.

“Nothing definite,” I answered.
“But your brother claimed it was two women.”

Theo scoffed. “Two
women
?
Are you kidding me?”

“No, sir. That’s what Rex told the
police before he went into surgery.”

I waited for his next comment, but
the line went silent again. I could hear him breathing, so I figured he was
processing the additional news about his brother.

“In that case, I guess that I’ll be
coming back your way,” Theo said finally. “I suspect I know who put my brother
in the hospital.”

I asked who he was talking about before
encouraging him to contact the Crescent Creek PD.

“It’s none of your concern,” he said.
“I’ll take care of them.”

“Do you know who did this?” I said.

“Maybe.”

“Are you willing to share the names
with me?”

He laughed. “I’m not ready, willing
or
able to do that. I won’t be completely sure until I sit down and talk
to them.”

“Fair enough,” I said. “Can you at
least tell me if it’s someone you know?”

He ignored the question, letting
the silence convey his displeasure at the line of questioning.

“Or maybe it’s a former coworker,”
I suggested. “From Diamond Galleria in Philadelphia.”

He chuckled again. “You keeping
tabs on me, Miss Reed?”

“I’m a former private
investigator,” I explained. “I guess you could say that doing research and
following leads is a hard habit to break.”

“Is that so?”

I ignored the rhetorical rejoinder,
deciding instead to give Theo a short summary of what I knew so far about Rex
and his visit to town.

“When your brother showed up here
in Crescent Creek,” I said, “he told a pretty convincing story that you were
missing and he was worried about your safety. He seemed certain that you had
run into some sort of nefarious trouble.”

“Nefarious?” The man’s voice was
still buoyant and cheerful. “Is that the same thing as bad?”

“Essentially. Is it true?”

“What’s that?”

“Did you run into trouble?”

“You could say that,” he answered.
“For example, I overindulged last night in some pretty tasty Riesling from one
of the local vineyards.”

I let the quip fly by, asking again
if Theo had encountered any genuinely troubling circumstances since arriving in
Colorado.

“I’m beginning to wonder if it was
a mistake to return your call,” he said brusquely. “What are you getting at?”

“Here’s the thing,” I said. “Your
brother came to my café and claimed that you were missing. He told me that he’d
made the trip out here from Philadelphia to try and find you. Based on some
skillful work by the Crescent Creek PD and a little sleuthing of my own, we
believed that it was possible you might be in jeopardy because of—”

“Arlene?”

“—your association with…” His
interjection derailed my train of thought. “Um, yes, actually. Arlene Warren,
who we now believe is—”

“Look,” he said in a firm tone. “I
don’t know you, Miss Reed. And you don’t know me. But I’m a polite and civil
kind of guy. When I got the message that you were trying to reach me, I called
you back. Since you’re in Crescent Creek and I visited your place of business,
I thought maybe I’d dropped something when I came in to eat. But I can tell
that’s not the case. And I’m not really comfortable discussing my personal life
and old friends with a complete stranger over the phone.”

“Would it make any difference if it
was someone from the Crescent Creek Police?”

He laughed, slowly and softly.
“Heck,” he said. “Anybody can call from anywhere and claim to be with the
police. How do you think I found Arlene in the first place?”

His question stopped me; it sounded
like he’d just confessed to impersonating a member of the law enforcement
community.

“And I’d do it again,” he said, “if
it meant finding the person responsible for something bad that happened six
years ago.”

“Is this about the robbery at
Diamond Galleria?”

He laughed again. “You have been
doing some homework, haven’t you?”

“As I told you, I used to be a private
investigator. It comes with the territory.”

“You know what else requires
homework?” he asked, sounding colder and much less relaxed. “Revenge.”

“I don’t understand, Mr. Greer.”

“You don’t have to understand,” he
said in a low, unhurried tone. “Because it’s none of your concern.”

CHAPTER
39

My conversation with Theo Greer
ended as abruptly as it began. After telling me to mind my own business, he
hung up. Then I listened to the hum of the lifeless line for a few seconds before
dialing Trent’s number at CCPD Headquarters. When it landed in voicemail, I
called the switchboard.

“Is Deputy Chief Walsh in the
building?” I asked.

“Which building?” said the man on
the other end, demonstrating an oblique sense of humor.

“It’s urgent,” I said. “This is
Kate Reed. I’ve been helping out behind the scenes with something.”

“I know,” said the deep voice. “Trent’s
actually standing right here. He saw your name pop up on the screen and told me
to give you a hard time.”

I didn’t say anything.

“Sorry about that, ma’am,” the man
offered. “I’ll put you on hold briefly while he grabs a phone down the hall.”

“Thank you,” I said, feeling my
blood pressure gurgle a little higher.

It seemed like precious minutes had
been wasted on Trent’s attempt at humor. The conversation with Theo Greer had
left me with a swelling sense of urgency, and I was beginning to regret making
the call from the desk phone. If I’d used my mobile, I would already be out the
door on the way to see Rex again. A few more moments passed before Trent finally
came on the line.

“What’s up?” he asked with a bouncy
lilt. “I was getting ready to leave.”

“I’m glad that I caught you,” I
said. “I just talked to Theo Greer.”

It took a few seconds for the name
to register.

“You mean the missing brother?” Trent
asked.

“He’s in Palisade,” I said. “A
little sightseeing trip through Colorado wine country.”

“Do you want to tell me how you
managed to find him?” Trent’s chuckle was even more playful than his voice. “Or
is that some kind of trade secret?”

“I left my number with the manager
at the Silver Dollar in Frisco,” I said. “It took a day or so, but the message eventually
reached Theo.”

Trent cleared his throat. “What’s the
story?” he asked. “Did you tell him that his kid brother is searching high and
low?”

“I don’t know exactly what he’s up
to,” I said. “But I don’t believe that Theo’s visit to Crescent Creek was a
simple stroll down Memory Lane to see a former co-worker.”

“Then what was it?”

“I wish I knew. Theo didn’t seem
surprised that Rex had followed him out here. In fact, I think that he’s coming
back to town.”

“Good,” Trent said. “He can be
responsible for Rex once they release him from the hospital.”

“I don’t think it’s going to be
that simple,” I said.

Trent snickered. “Do you have any
idea what the heck is going on with these two goofballs?”

“I have a couple of theories,” I
said. “But I wanted to give you a quick call before I go back to the hospital.
I want to see how Rex handles the news about Theo. Maybe his reaction will help
us understand what, if any, criminal activity is afoot.”

“Hang on there, Katie,” he said. “I
need to give Dina a head’s up. She should be the one to confront Rex and get
his statement.”

“Absolutely,” I said. “I was going
to call her next. I wanted to give you the update first.”

He laughed again. “You’re the best,
Katie.”

“That’s what people are saying,” I
joked.

“Which people?”

“I’ll tell you later.” I got up
from the chair and grabbed my purse. “Let me call Dina so we can both get over
to hear what Rex has to say for himself.”

“Probably just another fresh pile
of malarkey,” Trent said. “I’ll look forward to hearing all about it later.”

CHAPTER
40

Stepping from the elevator at the
hospital a half hour later, I was instantly surrounded by a hodgepodge of
hushed conversations, uniformed police officers and frantic staff members
rushing from one room to the next.

As I made my way through the congestion,
I saw the nurse that I’d talked with in Rex’s room the night before. She was
coming toward me, a crumpled hospital gown in one hand and a sheaf of papers in
the other.\

“If you’re looking for Mr. Greer,”
she said, “you’re too late. He’s gone.”

“The doctor released him?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Not exactly.
After his visitor left, Mr. Greer attacked Dr. Lansing in his room. Then he
stole his car keys and tied him up with tubing from the IV.”

I let the inexplicable news filter
through my mind before asking how badly the doctor had been injured.

“He’ll be okay,” she said. “He’s in
Mr. Greer’s room with Detective Kincaid.”

I looked down the corridor. Two
CCPD officers stood outside Rex’s room.

“Do you know who came to see him?”

“I didn’t get her name,” the woman
answered. “I guess one of the other nurses on the floor noticed her with Mr.
Greer, but didn’t think anything about it. They were talking quietly, so it
seemed like maybe she was a friend or family member.”

I asked her to describe the visitor.
Based on the first few words of her reply—bright pink long-sleeved pullover,
polka dot calf-length tights and sapphire running shoes—I was confident that I
knew who had come to see Rex Greer.

“Any idea what they talked about?”
I asked.

“No, sorry,” the woman said. “By
the time I got back from my break, the whole place was in chaos.”

I nodded. “And what about the
officer who’d been stationed outside Rex’s room?”

She shrugged. “I think he went to
check on the reason we were on lockdown,” she said. “Someone called in a bomb
threat right before Dr. Lansing went to see Mr. Greer. I think maybe the man
guarding the room left to check on that.”

When she glanced at her watch, I
figured she probably needed to get back to work. I thanked her again for the
information, hurried down the hallway to Rex’s room and looked inside. I saw
Dina Kincaid standing beside a man in a chair. He was pressing an ice bag to
the back of his head, talking in a low, somber tone.

“…was the last thing, literally the
last thing, that I expected,” he was saying. “And I—”

He stopped as I knocked gently on
the door.

“Katie?” Dina’s voice sounded weary
and sluggish. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to talk with…” I focused on
the empty bed. “Where’s Rex?”

The man in the chair grunted.
“That’s the ten million dollar question.”

“What happened?” I asked, even
though I was already beginning to fill in the blanks. “Did he go for a little
stroll?”

Dina frowned. “No jokes, okay?” she
said firmly. “Dr. Lansing was assaulted by Rex Greer about twenty minutes ago.
He knocked him out with one punch and stole his hospital badge and car keys.”

I glanced at the doctor. “How are
you doing, doctor?”

He lifted a hand and tilted it from
side to side. “I’ve been better,” he said with a tepid grin. “I’ve been worse.”

“Well, I’m sorry about what you
went through,” I said. “And I’m glad that your sense of humor is still intact.”

He shrugged. “You know what they
say.”

“Laughter is the best medicine?”

“They say that, too,” the doctor
replied. “But I was thinking about another one that goes—”

A member of the hospital’s security
team suddenly rushed into the room.

“Sorry for the interruption, Dr.
Lansing,” he said. “But we’ve confirmed that your car is gone.”

The security guard showed no
emotion as the doctor jumped from the chair.

“What about my family?” he asked.
“If that madman took the car, he could find my home address on the
registration.”

“The police are on the way,” the
guard said. “They’ll be at your residence in less than five minutes.”

My eyes rotated to Dina. She was
already looking at me. We exchanged a nod and I turned toward Dr. Lansing.

“What do you drive?”

He blinked. “What kind of car?”

“Yes.”

“I’m driving my wife’s car today,”
he said. “It’s a white Buick Regal.”

I glanced at Dina again and started
for the hallway.

“I’m going to check it out,” I called
over my shoulder. “I’ll be back in touch with you soon.”

“Be careful, Katie,” she said. “And
keep yourself out of the way as much as possible.”