MURDER ON A DESIGNER DIET (18 page)

Chapter 36

  

Mrs. Sotheby's eyes opened wide and Penelope smiled at her from the chair in her hospital room. Nurse Kurtz was there too, checking her vitals and adjusting the pillow under her head.

“Penelope, what are you doing here?” She sat up in bed and pulled her hospital gown closer to her neck.

“I hope it's okay. I wanted to check on you to see how you were feeling.”

“Oh, of course, dear. I must look a fright though,” Mrs. Sotheby said, patting her hair with her fingers.

“You look wonderful,” Penelope said. “A lot happened next door this afternoon.”

Nurse Kurtz caught her eye and shook her head. Penelope had been warned by the doctor not to talk about the events that led up to Mrs. Sotheby's episode, or about anything that happened afterwards. They didn't want to cause her any stress or excitement until they determined how her heart was doing.

“We'll talk about it later. I just want you to know things should be a lot quieter on your street from now on.”

“I can't wait to hear all about it,” Mrs. Sotheby said.

“Okay,” Nurse Kurtz said. “Visiting hours are over, and the patient needs her rest. You can come back tomorrow.”

Penelope stood up. “Please call me if you need anything.”

“Thank you, dear. I will.”

  

Penelope leaned on the edge of a planter outside the hospital, her wrist wrapped in an ice pack Nurse Kurtz gave her after hearing about her tussle with Jesse. She was lost in thought, watching the traffic on the street and the people coming and going from the main hospital entrance. She didn't see him at first, but finally registered that Joey was walking towards her. Penelope blinked and looked again, watching him walk quickly up the sidewalk.

“Penelope,” Joey said. His face a mix of concern and relief, he grabbed her up in his arms and hugged her gently, then pulled her away and looked at her bruised face. “I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have taken off on you like that.” He looked down at her iced wrist.

“Where were you?” Penelope asked.

“My cousin's hunting cabin in the middle of nowhere. But I don't want to leave you ever again, if I'm not too late.” Joey knelt down and gently raised her wrist to get a better look.

“It's not too late for me,” Penelope said, fighting the urge to tear up. “When you were gone I realized I've come to rely on you, Joey. If that's not something you're ready for, this would be a good time to let me know.”

A pained look crossed Joey's face as he stood up and hugged her again. “No. That's the last thing I want. I've never felt about anyone the way I feel about you, Penny. I was jealous and acted recklessly at exactly the wrong time. I hope you can forgive me.”

Penelope leaned into him, closing her eyes and breathing in the familiar scent of his leather jacket. “Jealous of what?”

“Of Max. I see how he looks at you,” Joey said, rubbing her back lightly. “I felt like you were choosing him over me that night at the hotel.”

“Joey, Max flirts with everyone. Besides, he's going to be a father. That should take up some of his time, clip his wings a little. And I choose you. I have no interest in anyone else. I love you.”

Joey pulled out of the hug and held her at arm's length, his eyes glassy. “Max is going to be a father?”

Penelope laughed and pulled him close again, resting her head on his chest. “Yes. I'll tell you about it later.”

Chapter 37

  

Jimmy leaned out of the doorway of Max's building and smiled at Penelope. “You're looking much better.”

“The bruises are gone, and look,” she raised her hand up and moved her wrist around in a circle, “almost one hundred percent movement back.”

“Lucky for you, in your line of work,” Jimmy said. He reached up and touched his earpiece, listening to a tinny voice for a second. “You here to see Max?”

“Yes, he asked me to stop by. It's my last day on set here, so I was in the neighborhood.”

“Come in,” Jimmy said, ushering her inside and pulling the door closed behind her.

Penelope walked through the white marbled lobby, admiring the tall Christmas tree in the corner and the red bunting hung on the wall. A menorah sat in the opposite corner, and a large wreath was hung over the elevators.

Jimmy took his seat behind the desk and Penelope signed the ledger, her eyes catching on an entry halfway down the page. Sienna Wentworth had visited Max earlier that morning.

“I have to thank you for everything you helped me with,” Penelope said, laying down the pen and looking at him.

“Anytime. I'm glad everything turned out for Mr. Max,” Jimmy said, leaning back in his chair. “He's a good guy. No one deserves to be accused of a crime they didn't commit.”

Upstairs, Penelope knocked on Max's door. It was opened almost immediately, and Max pulled her inside, wrapping her up in his long arms.

“Pen,” Max said, following her into the living room. He clicked off the television and sat down next to her. “Thanks for coming. I wanted to thank you in person for everything you did. I was really in trouble and you stood by me. I don't know how I'm going to repay you for that.”

Penelope shook her head. “I don't expect you to repay me, Max. But for your family's sake, just take care of yourself and stay out of trouble. Especially with a baby on the way.”

Max stood up and went to the kitchen, returning with two glasses of wine. Penelope accepted hers gratefully.

Max relaxed back onto the couch. “Yes, that's true.”

“How do you feel about such a big commitment, Max?” Penelope asked.

Max gazed out at the city lights through the picture window on the back wall. It was getting dark, but the city still buzzed. “I don't know. Fine, I guess.”

“Seriously, Max. I thought you'd have more to say than that,” Penelope urged.

“Sienna is on her way back to England tonight,” Max said. “I'm not sure when we'll see each other again.”

“Did you break up?”

“You can't break up when you were never together,” Max said.

“Don't you want to be involved in your child's life?”

“I'll be involved, from afar. Now that things have settled down, Sienna is okay again, and capable of taking care of herself, financially and otherwise.”

“Max, it's none of my business, and you don't have to say, but when Arlena and I asked Hannah about the baby, she said it wasn't yours.”

Max leaned forward and set down his wineglass. He paused for a moment. “I agreed to say the baby is mine. But it's really Christian's.”

Penelope's heart skipped a beat. “Christian's? How can that be?”

Max looked at her, a small smile playing at his lips.

“Stop. I know how it could be...but how could it really be Christian's? She acted like she barely knew him when I talked to her.”

“It was obviously unplanned, a total fling. And Christian was...let's just say she wasn't thrilled by the prospect of having him in her life permanently. When she found out about his drug connections, she really didn't want to be involved with him anymore, definitely didn't want to bring a child into that kind of lifestyle. She said he'd gotten rough with her once, and she was afraid, but I don't know how true that is, I never saw it. He definitely wasn't interested in settling down, either. He wasn't even interested in seeing Sienna exclusively. When she realized she was pregnant, Sienna came over here really upset, asking for advice on what to do. I didn't know the whole story then, or why she was so anxious about things, but we came up with the idea of saying it was my baby, which calmed her down.”

“So that's why Jesse killed Christian? Was he jealous or something?” Penelope said, thinking back to the time she saw them together at the hotel suite.

Max shook his head. “No. Jesse told Sienna what was going on over at the agency. I just found out myself. I had no idea Christian was into something so...disgusting.” Max's voice was flat, a big difference from his usually jovial tone. “Sienna just told us all of this when she came to talk to Arlena and Dad about the baby.”

“Well, when did she find out? She could have helped do something,” Penelope said.

“She did. Sienna says she found out the day before the fashion show, when she went over to bring the final payment to Joyce for all of Christian's fittings and work on the show. Christian told her if she needed any other type of help around the house to ask Joyce and she'd be able to provide inexpensive labor, something odd like that, so she asked. And was totally freaked out about what she was offered in return. She agreed to buy the girls, get whoever she could out of there before they could be sold to someone else. There was only one left, so Sienna took her.”

Penelope remembered the girl in the suite, and how protective Sienna and Jesse both seemed towards her. “Why didn't she go to the police?”

“Jesse had her convinced that Joyce had gotten away with it before, that the police were on her side. That's what she said, anyway,” Max said, shrugging. “Then Hannah, who is crazier than I realized, walked in on us while I was hugging Sienna, got the wrong idea. Even though she doesn't like me in real life, she didn't want to be embarrassed by me fake breaking up with her on the show.”

Penelope's head started to hurt, thinking about everything that had happened.

“All I was trying to do was help my friend with whatever she needed,” Max said, picking up his wineglass again and taking a healthy sip, “in a really terrible situation.”

“But why? Does Sienna really mean that much to you?” Penelope asked. “It's not like you've been friends your whole life like she and Gavin have.”

Max shrugged. “That's the one thing I learned growing up the way I did, with no roots and never staying in one place very long. When you find a good friend, someone important to you who is genuinely a good person, you stick by them. That's what Dad does, you know? He taught me that as a little kid.”

Penelope nodded slowly and kept silent. She hadn't thought about Max's upbringing making a difference in his adult friendships, but decided it made sense.

“What about Gavin? What's his part in all of this?” Penelope asked. Gavin was Sienna's longtime fiancé, now ex-fiancé, who had recently come out as gay, effectively ending their engagement.

Max shrugged. “Before she left, she said we could drop the charade. She's an independent woman, and she's going to do it on her own, or with Gavin's help, if he's up for it. I think he will be, they've been close friends forever.”

“Seems like you all are, Max,” Penelope said. “You were in so much jeopardy because of all of this…I wouldn't blame you for steering clear of them for a while.”

“I knew I'd be fine in the end. I have my family, and you, and now I feel like Sienna is part of my family too,” Max said sweetly. “You can never go wrong with that many people pulling for you.”

  

Penelope left Max's building a little while later, wishing Jimmy a merry Christmas on her way out. She pulled her scarf closer around her neck and walked towards the bookstore, waving at Angel through the window before slipping inside.

“I've got something for you,” Penelope said, pulling a bound script from her messenger bag.

“What's that?” Angel asked, eyeing the dog-eared cover curiously.

“It's an original copy of the script from
Rolling Thunder
. Signed by Randall Madison. Arlena promised you his autograph that day you agreed to help us.”

“Oh wow, I forgot about that. This is awesome, thanks!” Angel's face was pink with excitement as she carefully accepted the script from Penelope.

“They're very appreciative of your help, of course,” Penelope said. “Merry Christmas.”

A few minutes later Penelope left, gingerbread latte in her hand, slipping into the crowd rushing down the sidewalk.

Chapter 38

  

Penelope knocked on Mrs. Sotheby's door, balancing a covered plate in her hand.

“There you are, I was getting worried,” Mrs. Sotheby said, pulling the door open wide. “Where is Joey?”

Penelope looked behind her down the stoop. “He'll be right up. He's trying to find a spot.”

“Here, come inside,” Mrs. Sotheby said, looking up at the falling snowflakes.

Penelope dusted the snow from her jacket and handed the dish to Mrs. Sotheby.

“What's this?”

“A wreath cake. A chocolate Bundt that I decorated,” Penelope said. “I'm not the best baker, but I can make a few things.”

“Look who I found outside,” Joey said. Officer Gomez and Joey came in together.

“Everyone come in and let's sit in here by the fire. Sinay, come on out,” Mrs. Sotheby said, rubbing her hands together.

Sinay came into the sitting room carrying a tea service then took a seat next to Mrs. Sotheby on the settee.

A small Christmas tree twinkled in the corner of the living room, decorated with candy canes and colorful glass balls. Mrs. Sotheby poured the tea.

“How are you, Sinay?” Penelope asked.

“I'm doing fine, thanks,” the girl responded shyly.

“Are you and Adir still seeing each other?” Officer Gomez asked, warming her hands on her mug.

She smiled and nodded, blushing and looking off at the fireplace.

Mrs. Sotheby patted her on the leg.

“They're taking it slow, right, dear? Just kids, you know,” she said knowingly to Penelope. Joey took her hand, lacing his fingers in hers. “School is the most important thing right now, and Sinay is doing wonderfully.”

“I'm glad it worked out that you could stay here with Mrs. Sotheby,” Penelope said.

“I'm officially a foster parent. Imagine that,” Mrs. Sotheby said, taking a sip of tea. “Would you mind getting my glasses from the office, dear?”

Sinay stood up and left to go upstairs.

“I don't like to bring up all of the ugliness of the past few months around her, you understand,” Mrs. Sotheby said. “So tell me the latest.”

Officer Gomez leaned forward, putting her tea cup on the table and clearing her throat. “Jesse has confessed to the murders of both Joyce and Christian Alves.”

“And they were actually related to each other?” Mrs. Sotheby asked.

Officer Gomez nodded. “He was her great-nephew.”

“Jesse was one of the first kids Joyce brought over. She sold him to a family out on Long Island who treated him very badly,” Penelope said. “He was locked in a closet of the house, only let out to work and clean until a neighbor called the police and the family was arrested. This was years ago.”

“So Joyce brought over both boys and girls?” Penelope asked.

“In the beginning, she did. We only have records of girls in the past few years, but Joyce seemed to be an equal opportunity exploiter of children over the years,” Officer Gomez said grimly. “Jesse moved to the city and got hired at a club downtown as a waiter, which is where he met Christian one night. Christian recruited him into his modeling circle, and he started doing the club openings with the other models. One night Christian was talking about his great-aunt Joyce, and Jesse thought maybe it was the same Miss Joyce he remembered, since they had the same last name. He got himself invited to one of Christian's parties at the house to find out.”

“It sounds like Christian was his friend. Why would Jesse kill him?” Mrs. Sotheby asked, glancing at the staircase.

“He said he wandered downstairs after everyone had passed out one night and saw Sinay scrubbing the kitchen floor at three in the morning. That confirmed for him that Joyce was still bringing kids over and using them as servants. Jesse says he figured Christian had to be helping her, and how could he not be, being her own family.”

“Was Christian helping her with the girls?” Mrs. Sotheby asked in a hushed voice.

“We can't find any evidence of that,” Officer Gomez said. “Jesse had lost track of Joyce; she used to operate out of Queens and he was just a little boy the last time he saw her. He said he'd built a happy life here and all of that was behind him. But when he came across Joyce again and saw she was still hurting children, he decided it was a sign to do something about it. He assumed Christian was in on it.”

“Why didn't he go to the police?” Joey asked.

“He said he tried that before, had filed reports, but nothing had been done…he thought he should try and do something on his own,” Officer Gomez said, shaking her head sadly. “The girls were in the back room of the bodega, like he said they'd be. He'd saved up thousands of dollars from his modeling work, was planning on having them live with him until they could be either reunited with their families, or be here legally on their own. His intentions were good. He just went about things the wrong way, I think.”

“You can't really blame him,” Mrs. Sotheby said. “Sounds like Jesse had it rough growing up,” Mrs. Sotheby said. “It's a shame Christian, if he really had nothing to do with Joyce's side business, had to die. But I still find it difficult to believe he had no idea what was going on downstairs, even if he wasn't working directly with her.”

They pondered Jesse's fate silently for a moment. Then Officer Gomez said, “Jesse is cooperating, which will hopefully make the outcome better for him. And the charges against Max Madison were officially dropped when Jesse confessed.”

“Whatever happened to the gun?” Penelope asked.

“He threw it in the Hudson, off the edge of the GWB. It's gone,” Officer Gomez said. “He didn't go over there intending to kill anyone, says it was a spur of the moment decision to confront Christian, and things got out of hand. We're lucky he didn't shoot Max too.”

“Jesse may have had a rough life, but he chose to kill two people, and attempted to kidnap this one, don't forget,” Joey said, grasping Penelope's hand. “Maybe Joyce and Christian weren't the greatest examples of humanity in the world, but they were still people.”

They fell silent when they heard Sinay's footsteps on the stairs.

  

Penelope shrugged her coat over her shoulders as they walked down the sidewalk to Joey's truck.

The snow had begun to fall harder and she glanced at the empty brownstone on the other side of the courtyard as they passed by. A “For Sale” sign was propped in the front window. Penelope wondered how long it would take to sell, considering all the terrible things that had happened inside.

Joey held the door open for her and she climbed in, rubbing her hands to warm them as she watched him walk around to the other side. The truck roared to life.

“Where are we headed now?”

Joey looked at her and leaned over for a kiss, holding her gently behind the head and lingering for a few beats.

“I want to go see the tree in Rockefeller Center with you. And then I was thinking we'd head back to Jersey, let someone else cook for us tonight.”

“Oh really? Who?”

“You know who. We're heading back to the old neighborhood to see the family.” He winked at her as he pulled away from the curb.