Unexpected Riches (Bellingwood Book 13) (27 page)

"What about your wife and sons."

He gave her a sneering grin. "Lies. She lives in the flat next to mine and agreed to play you up for a fee."

Polly watched Beryl's face in the rear view mirror. Emotions played across it as the man spoke. Tears leaked from her eyes until the last bit of the conversation when she realized there wasn't anyone back in England who was waiting for him. Then, her eyes got hard. Polly had never seen that look on Beryl's face. Steely fury had taken over.

"Did you kill that young man?" Beryl asked.

He shook his head.

"Are you lying to us?"

"I'm not saying anything more. I believe that in your country I'm entitled to a lawyer."

"You aren't talking to the police," Polly snarled. "You aren't entitled to anything in this car." She was gripping the steering wheel so tightly, her fingers had lost their color. Relaxing a bit, she glanced back at Beryl who had sagged into the seat.

"Why in the world are you still in Iowa?" Polly asked.

"You haven't found the gold yet."

"There is no gold," Beryl said. "It was just a legend. It was a fun story, but there's nothing there."

"No one ever found it," he replied. "If you can just figure out where Jedidiah Carter buried it, we could all be rich."

"You'll be in jail," Beryl said. "We'll never find where he buried it. There are too many possible locations."

Polly's heart broke as she watched her friend deflate. "You're a contemptible, despicable man."

"You do what you have to when you grow up without a father," he replied.

"Bah," Beryl said, sitting up. "People grow up with single parents all the time and don't do what you did." She leaned forward. "Why did you shoot up the hotel?"

Polly snapped her head to look at him. "You shot up my hotel?"

He shrugged. It wasn't easy with his hands behind his back, but he still managed to look as if he didn't care. "I had to get into Beryl's house somehow. I was running out of money. And it had the added bonus of throwing suspicion off of me and onto a random person that didn't exist."

"You could have hurt someone," Polly said.

"I heard the girl get into the shower. I didn't want to hurt her and nobody else was staying back there. All I had to do was shoot out her car windows and into the wall of her room away from the bathroom. Then I shot at my car and my room, tossed the gun into the ditch behind the trees and showed up looking shocked and upset."

"You're going away for a very long time, you filthy SOB," Beryl said.

"It was your father who was the filthy SOB," he retorted. "My mother was not a bitch. She worked hard to make sure I had food and a place to sleep."

"And she'd be so proud of you now." Beryl sat back again.

Polly turned north on Story Street into Boone. Lydia was still behind her and wouldn't believe the story they were hearing. She wished they had a recording. Blackstone remained mute for the rest of the trip and looked up when she pulled into the parking lot of the sheriff's office. Lydia must have called her husband, because he and Stu Decker walked out to meet them.

"What have you two girls done?" he asked when Polly opened her door.

She chuckled. "We brought you a prisoner."

"Lydia told me what happened. You're lucky no one saw you and reported the kidnapping."

"I know," Polly said. "But once we started, we couldn't stop."

"Get him out, Stu," Aaron said.

Stu opened the passenger door and stepped back, his eyes wide and a smirk on his lips.

"He can't get out of the car," Polly said.

Aaron looked across at him. "What did she do?"

"She tied his feet to the seat release bar, boss." Stu said, laughter rolling out of him. "I've never seen anything like it."

"I was afraid he might try to jump out."

"Oh Polly," Aaron said. "This is too much."

"It was a citizen's arrest," she said. "And he told us everything on the way over. Except he hasn't admitted to killing Ethan Carter. He said he tossed the gun in the trees behind the hotel after shooting up the rooms and the cars."

Blackstone shook his head in disgust.

"We already have it," Aaron said.

She looked at him and raised her eyebrows. "What?"

"Show her, Beryl."

Beryl put her phone in his hand and he showed it to Polly. "We're still connected. She called before he got in the car, but she wouldn't tell us what she was doing, just told Anita to record it."

"I can't believe you did that," Polly said.

"It's not admissible," Darien said.

"Are you going to deny all of the things you admitted to?" Aaron asked. "We’ll just call Polly and Beryl as witnesses."

"Hearsay," he said as he climbed out of the car.

Stu snapped cuffs on him and untied the rope.

Beryl got out of the back seat and strode over to him. "Hearsay, you say? You're an idiot." She spat on the ground. "The next time I see you will be in a courtroom. I’ll do all in my power to make sure you spend the rest of your life surrounded by the biggest, burliest, meanest men you've ever met."

He looked over at Aaron. "I won't talk until I have a lawyer."

"That's fine with me," Aaron said. "I'm not particularly interested in spending the afternoon with you anyway. Go ahead and take him in, Stu."

Stu led him away and Aaron crossed over to Beryl and took her in his arms. "I'm so sorry, honey," he said.

"You heard everything, didn't you?”

He nodded. "Would you like me to talk to your brothers?"

"No," she said. "I'll do it. They have some strange belief that they have to protect me. I want them to understand that all they did was make things worse."

Lydia had pulled in behind them and was out of the Jeep and standing beside the two as fast as she could. Aaron released Beryl into her arms. "We have it now," he said. "Take care of her."

He handed Beryl's phone to Polly. "When I realized what you had done, I nearly came down the highway after you. You've got to stop this. My heart can't take it."

"It's not my fault," she protested again. "Beryl started this and all I could do was get here as fast as possible."

He breathed a deep sigh. "You're going to be the death of me. Please stay out of trouble before you get back to Bellingwood."

She smiled. "I'll do my best."

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

"Yes," Polly said to the dogs as she walked down the steps. "I know, I’m leaving again. Sorry."

The week had zipped by in a blur. Darien Blackstone admitted to killing Ethan Carter at the height of an argument when the young man admitted to not knowing where the gold was. Ethan told Blackstone that he wanted to reach out to other descendants of the three Carter brothers and the older man had gotten furious, frightened that they would have to further split the wealth. Darien Blackstone had come this far; he could finish the task on his own.

During the fight, Blackstone shoved the kid backwards. Ethan’s head had slammed against the stone as he fell and he died immediately. The gun they found behind the hotel was actually Ethan’s and Blackstone had seen it as serendipitous. You never know when you’ll need a gun. Tallie didn’t know where her brother might have gotten it. He’d never carried one before. The whole treasure thing had been blown way out of proportion.

Andrew, Kayla and Rebecca had come up with three properties owned by Jedidiah Carter prior to his death. Two of the properties were dead ends. The elementary school sat on one and the grain elevator on the other. Nobody was digging for gold in either of those locations. The third, however, was the family farm where Melvin Carter and his family resided. Beryl was still upset that her brothers hadn't been honest about a prior relationship with Darien Blackstone and knowledge of Ethan Carter before his death. When Lydia reminded her that she hadn't told them anything either, Beryl just stopped talking.

She and Lydia had gone out to meet Melvin and Harold Thursday evening and the conversation had gone as poorly as everyone expected. Melvin’s wife had been furious that people in town might be digging up their property looking for buried treasure. Melvin and Harold thought the entire story was hooey. When Beryl confronted them about withholding information regarding Darien Blackstone and Ethan Carter from her, Melvin tried to tell her it was none of her business. They weren’t going to budge from their beliefs and she’d finally done what she always did and walked away, frustrated with her immediate family. It was going to take time for her to restore those relationships again.

This morning, though, Polly was helping two friends move into their new house. Camille had closed on her little home the day before and even though they intended to paint walls and replace carpet in several rooms, she and Elise were ready to move out of Sycamore House and into a place they could call their own.

When Polly had gotten up, the sky was grey and threatening, but it soon gave way to a beautiful, bright sunny day. She pulled her truck around to the other side of the building and went inside and up the elevator of the addition.

Noise and general chaos greeted her as she exited the elevator.

"Is Elise here?" she asked a young man, carrying a box. He shrugged.

"Elise?" Polly called out.

Camille poked her head out of the door. "Hi Polly. Elise is already over at the house. She didn't have very much stuff, so we packed it into her car. She'll direct traffic on that side of the move."

"Miss Polly." Abigail Specht, Camille's mother came out of her room.

"Hello, Mrs. Specht," Polly said. "This is a great day."

"It is," the woman replied. "We're very proud of Camille. She's finally putting down roots."

Three more young people passed Polly, carrying boxes and clothing on hangers.

"Do you need my pickup truck?" Polly asked. "Can I help you?"

"I think we have it, but if you want to go over to the house, we could find something for you to do. There is so much more heading that way," Camille said. "My father and brothers are bringing things from Omaha and I believe that Elise's cousins should be here this morning. They're unloading the storage unit she had in Ames as well as bringing things from her parent’s home in Chicago."

"Are her parents coming?" Polly asked.

Camille shook her head. "Not this trip. Her dad's been sick."

Two girls came out of Camille's room, each carrying a box.

Camille chuckled. "It's a veritable parade. I didn't realize how long I've been living here. The room keeps getting bigger minute by minute."

"How many kids are here?" Polly asked.

Abigail stepped back as yet two more exited Camille's room. "Camille's nieces and nephews all wanted to see her new house."

Polly raised her eyebrows.

"They're not all our family," Camille said.

"Of course they are," her mother retorted.

"Yes, mama."

"I'll run over to the house and see what I can do to help Elise," Polly said.

Camille walked down the hall with her. "Could you do me a huge favor?"

"Of course. What do you need?"

"Sylvie has boxes of baked breakfast items for me. Could you pick those up before you head over to the house? I thought I'd have time, but..." she glanced behind her. "It would be easier."

"Well, shucks. I don't know," Polly said with a grin. "Forcing me to go up to Sweet Beans where there is coffee. That’s rough."

"Thank you," Camille said.

Polly went back down to her truck and took out her phone to call Henry. She'd just left him, but he was caught up in paperwork at his desk and hadn't paid much attention. Rebecca and Heath were still in their rooms, so she'd slipped out.

"Hello?" he said, still sounding distracted.

"Hi there. It's me."

"Yeah?"

"You remember that you're taking Rebecca over to Beryl's for her lesson this morning, right?"

"Uh huh."

"And you're going to wash all of the windows with my panties, too."

"Okay."

"When you're finished with that, spin around three times and do a flying somersault, but make sure you stick the landing."

"What? What are you talking about?" he asked.

"You haven't been paying much attention to anything this morning."

"What was that about your panties?"

Polly laughed. "I'm just calling to remind you that Rebecca needs to go to Beryl's for her lesson this morning."

"Do you think Heath can do that?"

She thought for a moment. "I don't see why not. The doctor said his ribs are much better. He was cleared to go back to normal."

"That's great. He'll be glad to get out of the house."

"Bet me," she said with a laugh. "The last couple of days have been fun for him."

Henry laughed with her. "I didn't think I'd ever see that many high school girls in our house."

"At least not for a few more years. It was pretty cute, though."

"I'll make sure they're up and moving in time. Thanks for calling. When will you be home?"

"Hopefully by lunch. It sounds like they have plenty of help. I just wanted to show my face and do what I can."

"Okay, gotta go."

"Henry?"

"Yes."

"Do I need to call again to remind you?"

He chuckled. "Might not hurt, if you think about it."

Their house had been full of people the last two days. Jason had asked if Heath was up for company and warned him Wednesday night that he might want to get showered and shaved because some kids wanted to come see him. After school on Thursday, several girls had knocked on the front door, asking to see Heath. They oohed and aahed over his wounds and told him how badly they felt that he had to go through such a traumatic event. One of the girls told him she was glad he and Libby had broken up because a lot of girls wanted to go out with him.

When had girls gotten so forward? Polly kept an eye on him, wanting to make sure that he wasn't overwhelmed by all the attention, but he lapped it up.

Last night had been an entirely different story. Heath had gotten a call after school from one of the Thursday night girls - Polly couldn't remember her name - asking if he could come out Friday night with them. Polly said no, but suggested that maybe his friends could come over. And they had. Kids had started drifting in about seven thirty, then a few more came after the basketball game was over. The final count was twenty-two kids spread throughout the apartment. They'd brought games, junk food and soda, and Henry picked up pizza for the crowd. There wasn't a single slice left over this morning.

Heath hadn't known what to do with all of the attention. He introduced Rebecca around and she kept him involved in the party, moving him around the house, in and out of different groups. Polly was so in love with that little girl. She knew Rebecca was going to cause her annoyance and pain while she grew into herself, but when she was thinking about someone else, she was wonderful.

The first young girl that called Polly Mrs. Sturtz had elicited a giggle from Rebecca and Heath, but the kids had been pretty respectful. After Henry brought the pizza back, he hid in their bedroom with the cats and watched television. Polly spent time in there with him once she realized Rebecca had things well in hand.

Polly parked in front of the coffee shop and went inside.

"Hey there, chick-a-dee," Skylar called from the counter. "Your regular this morning?"

"Yes please," she said as she got closer. "I'm going to talk to Sylvie."

"I've got you covered," he responded.

"Good morning," Polly said to Sylvie from the doorway of the kitchen, nodding at the two girls working with her this morning.

"Hi, what's up?" Sylvie asked.

"Camille asked if I'd pick up her breakfast order."

Sylvie pointed to four boxes on the counter. "She must have an army."

"That's a good word for it," Polly said. "And Elise's cousins will be here, too."

"Those girls can't have that much stuff," Sylvie said.

Polly nodded. "Not in town, but it sounds like they have furniture and things coming in from all over the Midwest."

"Jason said he had a good time last night at the party."

"What a riot that was," Polly said. "Did you have a lot of parties when you were in high school?"

"No," Sylvie said, shaking her head. "Not at my house. I went to a few, but things are different these days. Kids just congregate and hang out together."

"I loved every minute of it," Polly said. "Now I really want to get Bell House finished so we can do this all the time."

"That would be a good location for parties like that. Lots of room to spread out. Jason said your house was packed."

"There were only twenty-two, but they were definitely everywhere."

Sylvie chuckled. "You counted."

"Well of course I did. And I was glad that Jason came up. I didn't know if he and Heath would ever be friends."

"That was kind of weird," Sylvie said. "But I wasn't going to get involved. I know my boy and if he thinks that I want him to do something, he'll not do it just to make me mad. It was best that I left it alone."

"They figured it out on their own," Polly said. "The next party is at your house."

"I'm glad to." She winked at Polly. "You can keep Andrew for the night and I'll take Heath and all their friends."

Polly stepped back. "You're kidding?"

"Kinda," Sylvie said, laughing out loud. "We're going to have a time with those two. They're trying so hard, but they are going to keep getting older. And bolder."

"Shut up, shut up, shut up," Polly said, putting her hands up. "I don't want to think about it. No, no, no, no, no."

Sylvie picked the up boxes and put them in Polly's arms. "You take these and go play with your friends. We'll worry about the stupidity of kiddos later."

"Are you working at Sycamore House this afternoon?" Polly asked.

"Yeah. It's a big one. The cake is already there. As soon as we get everything moving for the day, I'm heading over."

"Maybe I'll see you later, then." Polly left and headed back to the front.

"Whoa," Skylar said. "That's too heavy for a lovely lady like you. Let this burly knight relieve you of your burden."

Polly raised her eyebrows.

He shrugged. "At least let me help you so you can get this and your coffee to your truck without spilling everything on the ground."