Pecan Pie and Deadly Lies (An Adams Grove Novel) (27 page)

The picture shook in her hands.

She ran upstairs to compare it to the information Pete had gotten from the girl. She’d snapped a photo of that scrap of paper before handing it off to Von. It seemed like forever before her computer came up. She scrolled through the files looking for it.

With a double-click it opened. She glanced down at the
note Cody had written, and compared it to what Pete had given her. The phone number was different. He hadn’t gotten this from Pete. Was he covering for her? Maybe she was more than a superfan. A superfling?

She could hear Pete’s words.
He used to have a temper.

His mom’s words.
He’s had his moments.

Scott’s words.
He’s had trouble with the police before.

There has to be an explanation. Chill out. But they’d found his gun. His bandanna. He’d threatened Arty and he had more than one motive. Unless the timeline they’d laid out was wrong, there was no way he could be guilty. Right? Or was he covering for someone? What other red flag did she need flapping in the wind to tell her something was wrong?

She sat down.
Denise will be heartbroken. I’m heartbroken.
A heavy feeling limited her ability to breath. She only knew one person to turn to.

Von didn’t answer his phone. She heaved in a breath and steadied herself as the call went to his voice mail. “Von, we might be looking in the wrong place. Call me as soon as you get this message.”

She had been right on the edge of a huge mistake—what a fool she was.

K
asey checked her cell phone again.
Why haven’t you called me back, Von?
If she couldn’t trust Cody to tell her everything about the past, she certainly couldn’t trust him with her future… or Jake’s.

How can I face Cody? I can’t tell him I found that picture in his desk. He’ll think I was snooping, and accusing him of something with that girl wasn’t going to sit much better.
A part of her wanted to leave and take Jake home, but coordinating that from here wasn’t easy and part of her prayed there’d be a good explanation.

Too many unanswered questions made her feel sick to her stomach.

She ripped a piece of paper from her notebook and scribbled a note for Cody. After reading it, she shoved it into her purse instead and left.

A little after four, her phone rang. She grappled for it, and looked at the display praying it would be Von and not Cody. It was. “Hello?”

“Sorry I didn’t call you back sooner. It’s been a crazy day.”

Von sounded exhausted.

“What’s going on? Where are you?”

“I only have a minute. So, listen up. We’ve got a problem. I’m at the criminal investigation office at the Virginia
State Police. They’re helping the Rappahannock County guys with the Arty Max case. I’ll text the address to you when we get off the phone just in case, but I should be there at the airport to pick you up when you land.”

“Land? I’m coming there? What’s happening?”

“Annette is saying that picture you took of her at Arty’s is Photoshopped and with your skills, that’s not such a far-fetched claim.”

“I did not Photoshop those pictures. I’d never lie about something like this. For anyone.”

“Calm down, Kasey. You and I know that, but it’s a murder investigation. They have to follow all leads.”

She shook her hair back. “I hadn’t even considered someone might think the pictures were tampered with.”

“Do you have the original files?”

“Of course.”

“Good. I need you to bring them with you. I don’t have any other proof that Annette was at the estate, so that’s probably the best we can do. Their forensics guy can confirm that the pictures are legit.”

“I think there’s more. I think that Georgia Peach girl has something to do with it,” Kasey said.

“We’ll talk about that when you get here. Cody’s pilot is filing a flight plan right now. I need you to get down to the airstrip.”

Jesus. What is happening? I can’t leave Jake here. I should never have come
. “Jake is with Cody’s mom. I should bring him with me.”

She heard his frustrated sigh on the other end of the line. “Kasey, I know you don’t like to leave him but this is no
place for a kid. Let Cody’s mom take care of him. He’ll be okay. One of the security guards from Cody’s estate will drive you over to the airstrip.”

“You’re scaring me,” she said.

“Calm down. I promise you everything is going to work out. Captain Rogers is going to fly you here. I’ll be at the airport to pick you up.”

“But can’t you tell me—” Her mind was reeling. “Does Cody know?”

“Yes. I’ll explain everything when you get here.”

She hung up the phone and called Denise. Cody must’ve called her while she was talking to Von because she already knew about the trip. “I’ll take care of Jake. Don’t you worry about a thing. Hang on,” Denise said. Kasey heard Denise asking Jake if he wanted to do a sleepover and Jake’s enthusiastic response. “Jake wants to ask you something.”

“Hi, Mom. Can I sleep over with Miss D and the horses?” His little voice was so full of excitement. “Please?”

“Sure, baby. You have fun. Let me speak to her, okay?”

Denise got back on the phone. “We’re fine. Get on out of here. Take care of this business so we can get it behind us.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Kasey said, but she prayed that what she was doing was going to clear Cody and not make it worse.
One thing at a time.

She ran into Cody’s office and retrieved the picture with the phone number on it, then let Shutterbug outside.

When she opened the front door a white car with a security logo on the side was sitting with its engine idling just as Von had said. The driver stepped out and opened the door
for her. “Thank you.” She silently thanked Denise as well as they drove by her house. She knew Jake would be fine, and she could focus on whatever it was that was getting ready to play out in Virginia.
Please, God, let it be okay.

The plane was lit up and ready to go. Captain Rogers sat in the cockpit, and the stairs were down. She ran to the plane and raced aboard.

A million thoughts tangoed through her head. Good news? Bad news? She pulled out her phone and checked for messages. Von had sent the address as he’d mentioned, but nothing from Cody. She stared out the window on the short flight. Things looked so small from up here, and yet so many complicated lives filled the vast spaces below.

The sound of the engines changed as they began their final descent. As the plane loomed closer to the ground her throat felt dry. When they landed, she climbed down from the plane. Von wasn’t there, but a police car was. An officer met her planeside.

“Miss Phillips, Perry Von sent me to pick you up.”

She nodded and got into the back of the cruiser without a word. She’d never sat in the back of a police car before. The partition between her and the officer felt ominous. She couldn’t make out but a few words pumping out of the police radio with all the static.

The policeman pulled into a parking spot, and met her gaze in the rearview mirror. “We’re here.”

There was no handle on the inside of the back door, so she waited for the officer to open it. She got out and followed him into the precinct.

Von was standing just inside the door.

“Thank goodness. I’ve been so worried,” she said. “And then when you weren’t at the airport… What’s going on?”

Von half hugged her. “Calm down. Do you have the original pictures?”

She handed them over. “But there’s more.”

“More pictures?”

Kasey shook her head. “No. There’s this.” She put the picture and phone number into his hands.

He studied them, then looked up with a smile. “Yeah. I know about this. Where’d you get it?”

“I found it in Cody’s desk when I was looking for the remote. I was trying to call you about it today. I’m not sure what it means, but…”

“Cody already told me about it.”

She straightened. “He did? So, he wasn’t keeping it a secret?”

“Well, I guess if he didn’t tell you, you could think… No, it’s just all been coming together very fast. I’m sure he didn’t want to get you involved before we knew what we had.”

She let out a breath. “Well, I’m here. I’m involved. Are you going to tell me what the heck is going on?”

“Are you okay? You sound mad. I thought you’d be relieved. This is finally coming together.”

“Yeah. I’m good.”
He hadn’t kept anything from her?
She’d had herself so worked up over it all day, now that it wasn’t true she was finding it hard to shake the anger she’d felt at him.

“What was going through that wild imagination of yours?”

She took the picture back, crumpled it into a ball, and shoved it into her purse. “I can’t believe my brain sometimes.”

“Everything is fine, Kasey. Didn’t I tell you that?”

“Yes. You most certainly did. Sometimes I’m just not as good a listener as I thought.”
And sometimes I’m my own worst enemy.

V
on led Kasey through the busy police precinct to another waiting area. As soon as they walked in, Cody jumped up from a chair and walked toward her.

Cody looked exhausted, and worried. She glanced at Von. “Are you sure everything is okay?”

“It’s been a long day,” Von whispered.

Cody came to her side. “Thanks for coming. I would have called you myself, but things have been crazy here today.”

“You’ve been here all day?” Kasey looked at Cody then Von, who nodded in agreement.

“Just about. I caught a flight right after the benefit.”

“Oh.” Kasey realized that had to have been hours ago.

A detective walked up to them. “Everyone here?”

“Yes.” Cody extended his hand. “Thanks, man.”

Von walked over and gave the detective the drive with the original pictures on it. “I think everything your man needs is right here.”

“Thanks for getting it here so fast,” the detective said. “Follow me. We’re going back through Annette’s confession with her again.”

“Annette’s confession?” Kasey’s mouth dropped. “Did you know all along?”

“No, I thought one of my fans had something to do with it,” Cody said.

“Georgia Peach?”

“Yeah. But when they talked to her, it turned out she had another piece of information that helped.” Cody shook his head. “I may be
her
biggest fan now.”

“Just a couple things to clear up and I think we’re done.” The detective led them into a room with a long glass window.

Cody sat down next to Kasey and took her hand in his.

Annette sat at a table with her hands folded.

“She doesn’t look so good,” Cody said.

The detective read off the legal stuff. Annette’s attorney sat next to her.

“Arty and I have been seeing each other for close to a year. I mean we’ve worked together longer, but over the past year we started realizing we could make a lot more money together rather than apart so we partnered on things.”

“Good Lord, is there anyone you know that guy didn’t sleep with?” Kasey said.

Cody squeezed her hand.

Annette’s voice was low and steady. Kasey wondered if they’d given her a Xanax or something because she’d never seen Annette so subdued. “It was an accident. I didn’t mean to kill him. I loved him, however much you can love a man like him.”

Kasey’s hand moved into a fist as a reflex to the words.
I can’t believe this.

“He and I had argued just before the party. He was mad about me helping Cody reconnect with an old girlfriend. I
didn’t think it was a big deal, but Arty liked being in control. That was his thing. So I didn’t think much of it.”

She looked down at her hands as she spoke. “I had no idea Arty had a daughter.”

“How’d you find out?” the detective asked.

“I’d gone into the big tent to check on the acts he had singing. Most of those are new artists and they need some guidance. One of the young girls, Amy Foxx, had gotten there late. She signaled me over, but her set was starting so I just stood off to the side and watched. She’s good. Really good. The guests seemed to be really enjoying her performance too.”

She sat taller in her chair. “So, Amy comes offstage and I ask her if she wants to do an extra set later because everyone seemed to really like her but she wasn’t interested. She shoved a white box at me and asked me to give it to Arty.”

“Did you?”

“Not right then. I was curious, so I opened the box. It was a pie, for God’s sake. Who brings their agent pie? But then she turns around and says to me, ‘And tell him I got to meet Cody Tuggle today—no thanks to him.’”

Anger pushed the edges of her mouth. “It clicked for me. I knew that Cody had gone to see Lou. If this chick met Cody, she had something to do with Lou. Anyway, there was a card in the box, so I took it to the kitchen, and I opened the card.”

“What did the card say?” the detective asked.

“It said, ‘Dad, I hope you enjoy this pie more than me singing on a stage. Baking is what I really want to do. Love, Amy.’”

“How’d that make you feel?”

“Like I’d been kicked. I didn’t know he had a kid. I thought he and I were partners. Like fifty-fifty-everything partners. ‘One of us dies the other gets it all’ kind of partners. Him having a kid changed that.” She wrung her hands. “After Cody blew up at Arty, I put two and two together. Or three or four in this case. That was just wrong. I was mad at Arty, but I didn’t plan to kill him.”

Her attorney nodded.

“He probably told her to say that,” Kasey said to Cody. “I thought she said Arty fired her. She didn’t mention that.”

Cody shook his head. “Must have been a lie.”

Annette stressed each word. “Really. I did
not
plan to kill him.”

The detective didn’t look impressed by her comment. He probably heard that from everyone he questioned. “What happened next?”

“Everyone pretty much cleared out after Cody left, and I went into Arty’s office to talk to him. He was being such an ass. He said he’d thought I’d left.”

She scoffed at the thought. “I wasn’t leaving. It was my investment in there too. He said I didn’t know what the fight was about and I plopped that stupid pie in the middle of his desk. He just looked at it. I threw a fork at him. It scratched his cheek. I’ll admit that felt pretty good, then I told him it was from his daughter, and he knew the jig was up. I told him that we all knew what he’d done and no one would ever trust him again.”