Red Julie (An Olivia Miller Mystery Book 2) (28 page)

A chill went through Olivia’s body.

Detective McDonald continued. “Alexei also revealed that Siderov planned to send one of his men to the hospital to kill Mike Sullivan to keep him from talking about the drugs he saw at the house.”

“Just eliminate anyone in their way,” Olivia said. She shook her head slowly.

“So how did the diamonds get in that music box? How did Aggie have it?” Joe asked.

“The Siderovs and their contacts used unsuspecting antiques dealers to move their inventory. In this case, the diamonds were placed in the music box and given to a dealer who had a legitimate business but who also moved illegal items. That dealer sold the music box to Aggie. Right after the box was shipped to her, the Siderovs were contacted and told when the package would arrive at Aggie’s shop. Usually one of the Siderovs or their representative would appear at the shop and would pay full price for the item.”

“Aggie must have known that Martin Andersen would be very interested in the music box and obviously contacted him about it. She knew he was a collector,” Olivia said.

“So it seems,” the detective said. “Alexei was too late to the store to make the purchase of the box. Occasionally this happened, and Siderov would arrange for one of his men to pay a visit to the purchaser of the item. The item would be located and taken into possession. If the purchaser got in the way, he would be eliminated. Martin knew he was in danger after Aggie died.”

“What about Aggie?” Olivia asked softly. “Did Alexei know anything about her death?”

The detective nodded. “Alexei reported that Brown and another of Siderov’s men went to Aggie’s house on the night she died. They broke in but couldn’t find the music box. Aggie tried to escape them by sneaking out of the house and taking the bike. Aggie and Andersen had joined forces and had figured too many things out. Siderov wanted them eliminated because he knew one of them had the box and was keeping it from him. We assume that as soon as Martin found out Aggie was dead, he figured he would be next, and so took off for London.”

“What happened to her?” Joe asked quietly. “We need to know.” Joe reached for Olivia’s hand.

The detective cleared his throat. “When they caught up to Aggie, they injected her with a combination of cocaine and digitalis, which caused the fatal heart attack. Vials of the drugs were found in the Siderov home.”

Joe stared out the window. His eyes were hollow, his face drawn and pale. Olivia swallowed. Her cheeks were flushed with anger. Her eyes glistened with tears. Brad looked down at his hands.

“I’m sorry,” the detective said. They sat in silence for several minutes.

“There’s one other thing,” Detective McDonald said. “Alexei Siderov died last night at the hospital. Sepsis. From the gunshot wound.”

Olivia’s eyes went wide. She squeezed Joe’s hand.

“Good,” Joe whispered. “They can’t hurt anyone else now,” was how Joe looked at it. “Monsters and murderers; let them reap what they sow.”

During the following month, Olivia regained her strength. Her doctor suggested that she and Joe make appointments with a counselor to address the grief of losing a loved one to violent death and to deal with the feelings of guilt that could arise from having taken a life, even in self-defense. Olivia and Joe went to talk to counselors, but after three sessions each they stopped going. They figured that the road to healing was a road they would travel together. Joe and Olivia were both grateful that the monsters responsible for Aggie’s death were now dead. And neither one of them felt remorse for having had a hand in some of it.

Following weeks of high heat and humidity, an early August day dawned clear and cool, and Joe, Olivia, and Brad drove to the cemetery to visit Aggie’s grave. They placed red carnations, her favorite flower, in the bronze vase next to her headstone. Olivia told Aggie that it was over now. A tide seemed to break in Joe and his body was racked with anguished sobs. Olivia held him in her arms as the grief poured out of him, a heavy stone of grief deep in her own heart.

Brad took a night off from the store and they bought pizzas, made a salad, and sat around Joe’s fire pit watching the sky darken and the stars twinkling over the Atlantic. At midnight, they raised glasses of champagne and toasted the gift of being alive.

Joe raised his glass. “To Aggie, for making my life the happiest I ever knew…for bringing me love…and for bringing me Liv.” They clinked glasses.

Olivia cleared her throat. She started to speak, but her voice broke. She rose from her chair and gave Joe a bear hug, resting her cheek on his shoulder. She turned to Brad and hugged him like a drowning woman. When she stepped back from him, she held his eyes for a moment and smiled. She returned to her seat and brushed her hand over her eyes.

Brad took his turn. “To you two…for making this home.”

Joe downed his champagne, sighed and stood up. “I’m off to bed. Better days are coming.” He kissed Olivia’s head and squeezed Brad’s shoulder. “Goodnight, Children.”

“Goodnight, Joe,” Brad and Olivia said.

The two sat in silence, sipping their champagne.

“I think I’m going to take up karate,” Olivia said. “I’ve said that before, but now I really mean it.”

“It’s probably a good idea,” Brad said. “Can’t hurt.”

“I should probably learn how to shoot, too.”

“Or at least learn how to load the gun,” Brad teased.

“It’s been a strange few months,” Olivia said. “I’m glad they’re over.”

“Amen to that,” Brad said. He looked at Olivia. Her hair shimmered in the moonlight. “You know, Liv, I think that a true friendship is a great gift.”

Olivia turned to look at him. Her heart sank at the word
friendship
.

“The past few weeks have shown me that it’s important to go with intuition, to believe in yourself and what you think is true. That life is short and precious.” Brad hesitated, but went on. “There’s something even more precious than friendship.”

Olivia blinked at him. Her heart did a flip. “What’s that?”

Brad got out of his chair and knelt next to Olivia’s. He touched her cheek. He moved his face close to hers, paused for a second, breathing in her scent. He closed his eyes and touched his lips to hers.

His lips on her mouth were as a light as a butterfly, and they sent sparks flying through her veins. She reached up her hand and placed it tenderly on his shoulder. Brad kissed the side of her neck and lifted his head.

“I intend to woo you, Olivia Miller.”

“Please do,” she said softly. Olivia could not believe how this man melted her heart. The best friend she ever had.

“Will blueberry cake be involved?” she asked.

“Most definitely.”

She took his face in both her hands, leaned in, and kissed him.

I have taken liberties with the geography and landscape of the town of Ogunquit, Maine in order to suit the story, not to try to improve the area, since it is perfect just the way it is.

J.A. Whiting lives with her family in Massachusetts where she works fulltime in education. Whiting loves reading and writing mystery and suspense stories.

Please visit her at
www.jawhitingbooks.com