Laina Turner - Presley Thurman 08 - Vows & Victims (13 page)

I ignored his question and asked another one of my own. “What did you want from Jeff West?”

That really fired him up.

“Have you been following me?” he yelled. “I ought to call the police!”

“Go ahead. They might be interested in your business dealings with Jeff West. Trish Young, too, for that matter.”

“Why you little…”

“Now, now, now, Jonathan. Don’t get so worked up. We just want to know about how you got involved with Bethany’s business.”

“What do you mean? I was her broker until she screwed me over.”

“Jonathan. You know I don’t mean the real estate business.”

Jonathan tried to hide his surprise, but he didn’t do a very good job at it. It was evident to me that he absolutely knew about Bethany’s non–real–estate endeavors. But exactly how much did he know and was he involved? He didn’t really seem the type to help run an escort service, but with some people you just never know.

“She sold real estate for me. That’s all I know,” he said again, but with less conviction this time. Or at least that was my impression.

“Jonathan, I don’t exactly believe you,” I said. He had to be involved in some way. Trying to get in contact with Jeff West and then arguing with Trish Young was just too much of a coincidence.

“I don’t know who’s been feeding you stories, but I wasn’t involved in any of Bethany’s business outside of Mills and Associates. If she even had another business,” he quickly added, but not before I noticed his little slip. “Now, I’ve got work to do, so if you ladies would please leave.” He walked to the door and opened it for us.

Clearly, he wanted to get rid of us. It wasn’t like I could beat him into telling us, so there wasn’t much more to say. I knew he was involved. I just needed to figure out how this was all related.

Chapter 17

Y
ou really think this is going to work?” Katy asked me about step one of Dirt’s plan to prove his innocence.

“All we can do is try.”

Dirt wanted me to call Helen and Simon, who were now married and living in Vegas. Simon had taken over the family business when his dad had been sent to prison and presumably did so in the effort of cleaning it up and making it right. But knowing what I now know, I wondered if Simon hadn’t relished the thought of his dad going to jail so he could have control, since he clearly wasn’t the good guy he wanted us all to believe.

Dirt thought if I told them the truth—that he had escaped from jail and was saying he was innocent and that Simon had killed the senator—it would get them to come back to town where Dirt could get them to admit it. Somehow. He hadn’t shared that part of the plan yet.

“I placed the call and had nervous butterflies in my stomach. Silly, since I was just trying to reach Helen on the phone, but the thought of what she had been involved in just gave me the creeps.

“Presley, is that you?” Helen asked when she answered the phone. Thanks to caller ID, of course she knew it was me.

“Yes, Helen. How are you?”

“Fine. Why are you calling me?”

I rolled my eyes. Typical Helen. She wasn’t the sweetest person I knew. “Well, I have some news you may be interested in.”

“Go on.”

“I don’t know if you heard, but Dirt escaped from jail.”

“Yes.”

“He’s claiming to be innocent. He says he didn’t kill the senator.”

“What’s your point, Presley? I’m running late for an appointment.”

“He blames Simon. Your husband,” I said for emphasis. “He said Simon killed the senator.”

I heard her inhale sharply and I knew I hit a nerve.

“Please, Presley. Why would anyone believe someone who has already admitted to committing murder and is now an escaped convict?” she said, obviously trying to sound bored.

“I don’t know, Helen, but he has some pretty compelling evidence. Someone might believe him.”

“Why are you telling me this, Presley?” Helen snapped impatiently. I had her attention.

“Hey, I thought I would be nice and give you a heads up.”

“Don’t do me any favors,” she said, hanging up.

I held the phone away from my ear and turned to Katy. “She hung up on me. Someone isn’t too happy.” I smiled. “Maybe the plan will work.”

Chapter 18

T
his is awesome food, Mrs. Thurman,” Katy said. When she found out we were having chicken and dumplings, she decided to stay for dinner.

“Thank you, Katy. Glad you like it. How are you doing?”

I’m sure the last thing Katy wanted to do was answer questions from my mom about her called off wedding, but before I could intervene, Katy answered.

“You know, not too bad surprisingly. It was hard telling my mom and dad, and a lot of money has been wasted, but better it happen now than to make a mistake and regret it later.”

Katy hadn’t told her parents the real reason she had called off the wedding, so it had been hard for them to understand, but Katy had finally gotten her mom on a plane right before dinner.

“Mom, what can you tell me about Jonathan Mills?” I asked.

“Not much. He’s a nice enough guy. I hear he’s a decent realtor, though he has had some hard times lately.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Just with his business. But then every small business owner has their ups and downs.”

“Do you know if he blamed his business issue on Bethany Granville?”

“I know he wasn’t happy when she left, and he once had a little outburst at a charity luncheon because someone had accidentally stuck them at the same table, not realizing she had left and started her own company. Why are you asking so many questions about Jonathan Mills?”

“Just curious, I guess, about people Bethany worked with.”

Mom raised her eyebrows. “You’re not sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong are you?”

“Well, someone did put her dead body in Katy’s salon.”

“And I’m sorry about that, Katy, but you girls need to let the police handle it.”

I got up and started clearing the dishes. “Mom, if you had a friend who did something really bad but then later said he didn’t do it, that he just lied to protect someone else, would you believe him?”

Katy looked at me like,
really, you’re going to tell her about Dirt?
Which, of course, I wasn’t, but I did want her opinion.

“Are you talking about someone in particular?”

“No, Mother.” Man, she was nosy. “Merely a hypothetical question.”

“Then it depends on how close I had been to this friend and what their track record had been in the past for being honest. Everyone makes mistakes and deserves a second chance.”

“That makes sense. Mom, if you and dad want to take your coffee into the living room, Katy and I will clean up.”

“That would be very nice of you girls.”

“It’s the least we can do after you cooked this great meal, Mrs. Thurman,” Katy said.

My parents went into the other room and Katy started helping me clean the rest of the dinner dishes off the table.

“I thought for a minute you were going to tell her about Dirt,” Katy said.

“No, she would insist on turning him over to the police, even if she one hundred percent believed him. I just wanted her opinion. I want to make sure we aren’t just being stupid and naïve by believing him.”

“I know, but I think he’s being honest.”

“Are you sure you’re not biased because he did this for you?” I teased.

Katy blushed. “I feel so guilty about that. I don’t know why he would have done such a thing.”

“Because he obviously loved you. Still does, by the look on his face last night. Why didn’t you tell me about you two?”

“I wanted to make sure it wasn’t just a fling, I guess. And if I’m truly honest, I was still in love with Chris and I think Dirt knew it. I seem to attract the wrong kind of men.”

My phone buzzed on the counter and Katy, who was closest, looked at it.

“It’s Tobey.”

“Answer it,” I said, as I had kitchen gloves on and was rinsing off dishes.

“Hey, Tobey. What’s up? Oh, really?” She looked at me. “Tobey says Helen and Simon just came into town.”

“That didn’t take long.” It was actually quicker than I expected. Them rushing to get here less than twenty–four hours after I called Helen made it pretty clear to me they had something to hide.

“You want us to what?” Katy said back into the phone. “OK, we’ll meet you there.”

Hanging up and turning to me, she said, “Dirt told Chris to have us meet at the old Curly Cone. The one on the outskirts of town that folded when they put in the new Dairy Queen.”

“What’s his plan?”

“Tobey said Dirt was going to get them to meet us out there and get them to admit what they did.”

“Does Dirt think Simon is just going to admit what he did? Just like that?” I asked thinking it was crazy. Simon and Helen would have too much at stake to just readily admit their involvement.

“I guess. So, let’s finish cleaning up for your mom and head out there.”

We quickly finished cleaning up and said goodbye to my parents, who were settled in watching some cooking show. I couldn’t watch those things, they just made me hungry, and I couldn’t cook any of that stuff. Too complicated for me. I was more of a boxed dinner kind of gal.

I was a little apprehensive and just hoped Dirt knew what he was doing. After all, Simon hadn’t had a problem killing a senator, if Dirt was telling the truth. What would stop Simon from killing him? No one would miss an escaped convict, and I didn’t trust Simon or Helen. They had already shown the lengths they would go to in order to get what they wanted.

“Presley, look in your rearview mirror. Does it look like someone is following us?”

“I glanced and saw the same car following us that had been for the last couple miles.

“It’s been behind us since Gleason Street, but that doesn’t mean anything, Katy. There are other businesses out this way and this is the main road in this direction.”

“I just have a funny feeling,” she said and kept looking behind us. “I think that’s Jonathan Mills.

I peered in the mirror again. “I think you’re right and who’s that in the passenger seat?” I looked closer. “Is that Trish Young?”

“This doesn’t make sense. Why would they be together? They certainly didn’t seem all that friendly earlier today.”

“No, it doesn’t make sense, but they clearly made up if they’re riding in the same car together. Let me take a little detour. See if they follow us.”

I took the next left, and the car turned left behind me. I turned right on another road that also led to the Curly Cone, and the car still was following me.

“Well, I don’t know the purpose but I really think they’re trailing us.”

“Should we let them follow us all the way to the Curly Cone?” Katy asked.

“We’re early so we might as well. I tried to get rid of them before Helen and Simon showed up. I’m not really afraid of them, but meeting somewhere we know there will be people might be a good idea,” I said.

“Agreed.”

We drove the last few miles and soon pulled into the Curly Cone, which had been closed the last three years. It was a little off the beaten path since the highway had been rerouted years ago, and Curly Cone had slowly lost business until the new Dairy Queen had opened, and that had been the final straw.

I saw the Buick Le Sabre Dirt was driving but not Tobey’s obnoxious yellow car or Chris’s Toyota. But then we were thirty minutes early.

I pulled to a stop and Jonathan pulled up right next to me. I saw another pair of headlights behind us that I assumed was Chris and Tobey arriving. They finally got close enough for me to confirm it was them, and they parked right behind me and Katy.

We all got out of our cars at the same time and gathered at the front of mine. Dirt walked toward us from the shadows. He had obviously been waiting for us but decided to stay out of plain sight.

“Who the hell are these people?” Dirt said angrily and I didn’t blame him. “And what are they doing here?”

“This is Jonathan Mills and Trish Young, and why they were following us here is a good question,” I said looking at them.

Trish looked at Jonathan while he looked at Katy and me. He seemed confused.

Finally, Trish yelled at him. “You idiot, am I going to have to fix this mess, too? Now man up and take care of this!”

Wow, what was her deal?

Tentatively, Jonathan reached into his pocket. He looked really tense and flushed.

“Are you OK, Jonathan? You don’t look so good,” I said.

“I’m fine,” he said and pulled out a gun, pointing it at us.

“What the hell are you doing, Jonathan?” I asked. I don’t know what I had expected, but it sure wasn’t this.

Chapter 19

Y
ou don’t understand! She said she loved me. She said she was going to give up this business and build a real estate empire with me,” Jonathan said, hand visibly shaking, as he held a gun on us. I wasn’t too worried he would shoot us on purpose, but as much as he was shaking, I was really afraid the gun would go off on accident. He didn’t look very comfortable holding a gun.

“If it wasn’t for you, she would have still loved me!” Jonathan said, pointing the gun toward Chris. And we all looked in that direction.

“Seriously, Chris,” Katy said in an absolute tone of disgust.

“Katy, it’s not what you think. You just have to let me explain,” Chris cried.

“Why would I believe anything you would tell me?”

“I wasn’t sleeping with Bethany. I was just helping her with her business!” Chris said, his voice getting louder with each word.

Silence fell over all of us. Me, for one, not knowing what to say.

“What?” Jonathan said weakly, more to Trish than to Chris. “You told me Chris was the reason Bethany didn’t love me back,” he ended in a whine.

“Did you …Jonathan, did you kill Bethany?” I asked.

“She told me to,” he said, pointing to Trish, who looked more than a little uncomfortable.

“Why?” I said to Trish. “And why in the hell would you listen?”

“Because she was filth,” Trish spat out. “Put here by the devil to contaminate everyone around her with her sex and degradation.”

“You told me she should be punished for how she treated me. Leaving me for him,” he said, meaning Chris.