VEILED MIRROR (13 page)

“There’s no need. But there is one thing I would like to ask. Do you know of anyone who would want to hurt Chris?”

Connie’s eyes widened in genuine surprise, Jason would swear it. “No! There is no one. Does the sheriff think that someone …”

“No,” Ellie said. “But I do.”

Connie’s eyes narrowed. “And you thought that I might have been hateful enough to hurt Chris?” When Ell opened her mouth, Connie put up a hand to stop her. “No. I understand. The last time you saw me I was very angry. But I would have killed you,” she finished with a slight smile, “not Chris.”

Ellie chuckled and changed the subject. They chatted a few more minutes about the real estate market and wedding florists, then took their leave.

On their way back to the car Ellie said, “That was disappointing.”

“Disappointing? I thought it went very well.”

“But we’re out of suspects.”

“Not quite.” In most investigations, the cops would look hardest at the wife. He knew his objectivity was screwed, but he couldn’t believe that of Ellie. “We’ll just have to dig a little deeper.”

T
hey were almost all the way back home when Jason slammed the heel of his hand on the steering wheel, making Beth jump.

“Eduardo Montenegro! I knew I recognized that name!” He pulled the Taurus into the driveway.

When he didn’t elaborate, she prompted, “So? Where do you know him from?”

Jason hesitated. He looked uncomfortable, and Beth wondered what he was hiding. She lifted her eyebrows at him.

“He’s connected to the Mexican cartels.”

“Oh my God! Do you think Connie knows? We’ve got to tell her!”

“That’s the last thing we should do. At least not right away. She probably doesn’t know. These guys tend to keep their business and family lives very separate.” Jason stopped the car in front of the house and turned off the engine. “With Connie’s temper, she’s likely to explode when she finds out, and that could get her killed.”

“So what are we going to do? We can’t just let her marry into the mob.” She choked off a laugh as they walked into the house. “I’m sorry. I know it’s not funny, but saying it out loud makes it sound like a bad movie.”

Jason smiled grimly. “Yeah. But you’re right. We won’t let Connie marry him.”

Something flashed through Beth’s memory. “Wait! Wait,” Something the lawyer had said this morning. One of the names. She ran down the hall to her bedroom, and grabbed the legal pad that she’d taken notes on. She heard the phone ring, and ignored it. Maria would get it.

She scanned the list of investors. Two thirds of the way down, there it was.
Eduardo Montenegro.
Did he vote with the majority to hold up development? Or was he unhappy about that decision?

She walked down the hall in search of Jason, and found him hanging up the phone in the library.

She waved the pad at him. “We’re not out of suspects after all. Eduardo was one of the investors in the mine.”

He raised his brows and smiled. “That makes sense. An old mine, especially one that needs to be cleaned up, would be a great way to launder drug money.” Then he frowned. “But that wouldn’t work if the development is on hold.”

In a soft voice Beth asked, “Do you think Chris knew? That Eduardo is connected to the cartels, I mean.”

Jason’s eyes widened, then he shook his head. “No way. You should know better than that. Chris would never have anything to do with those people. But that may have been the problem.”

“What do you mean?”

“If his attorney put the deal together, and Chris only found out about Eduardo after the fact, he might have raised a stink about it.” Jason paced in front of the windows, then back to the desk. “Yeah, that makes sense. Chris called me about a week before he died. He had some questions about fraudulent contracts that he didn’t want to ask his own attorney, but he wouldn’t be specific enough for me to give him very good answers. This could be what he was talking about.”

“But why kill him?”

“They kill for a lot of reasons. A botched deal. An affront to their honor. Maybe Chris threatened to tell Connie. Maybe he persuaded the other investors to hold up the development because Montenegro refused to pull out of the consortium. It could be any number of things. Montenegro certainly would have access to hired killers.” Then he frowned.

“What?”

Jason chewed his lip. “The cartels are not known for their subtlety. If they kill someone, they usually put their signature on it. That’s how they keep people in line. Chris wasn’t executed. His death looks like an accident.”

They stood there for a moment in gloomy silence until Beth said, “But if Eduardo killed Chris to keep his secret from Connie …”

Jason’s expression brightened. “Yeah. Everyone knows the cartel is active in the area, but he wouldn’t want a murder, especially the murder of a well-liked and prominent local, to get people thinking about it.”

Beth felt exhilarated. “Now we have something to take to the inquest!”

Jason came and rested his hands on her shoulders. She hated the way her whole body tingled at the innocent touch. She fought the zing that raced down her spine and concentrated on what he was saying.

“I’m sorry Ellie. All we have is a theory, and his name on a list of investors.”

“But he’s a criminal!” she protested. Then she paused. “How did you know that?”

He dropped his hands and stepped away. “I came across the info during one of my cases. Proving it is something quite different. If the Feds had something they could make stick, he’d already be in jail. With no proof, accusing him would be slander, not to mention we’d be making a serious enemy.”

She refused to be discouraged. “It’s more than we had before! We don’t need to find a smoking gun. All we need is to give the judge enough evidence to make the sheriff investigate.”

Jason pressed his lips together, then nodded. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe we can get him on murder, even if we can’t get him for everything else he’s done.”

Beth smiled. For the first time since she’d come to Jimson Weed, she felt a spark of hope. Ellie wasn’t crazy, and neither was she, for helping her twin. Someone had killed Chris. And now they had a good idea who it was.

“By the way,” Jason said, “the trustee of the estate phoned while you were looking for that list. I took the call for you.”

Beth froze.
Oh no. What now?

“Jackson sends his condolences, and he wants you to know that there’s no need to move out of the ranch right away. He’s already cut the first check of your widow’s stipend, as provided for in the trust, and he’ll continue to pay all the ranch’s operating expenses, of course.”

Beth nodded, and held her breath. So far, so good. But she could tell that there was another shoe coming.

“He’s in a little bit of a bind, though. Because the assets of the trust can only convey to blood relatives, the ranch and all of Chris’s holdings in the trust should go to his cousin Palmer.”

“I know. We talked about that when we discussed him as a suspect.”

Jason nodded. “Jackson would just as soon save himself the work of transferring title of the assets to Palmer and then back again when the baby is born. He says if you send him a copy of your doc’s pregnancy test, that will be enough to hold things until Chris’s heir arrives.”

Beth’s hands grew cold.
This is not a big deal. It doesn’t matter that Ellie never made it to her doctor. I can handle this.
“Okay. I’ll give her office a call.”

“They’ll probably have to fax you a form to sign. Physicians can’t release any information without a signature these days.”

Beth felt herself nod. “I’ll take care of it.”
I can handle this.
She wouldn’t have to sign a release form. She wouldn’t even have to ask for the records. All she had to do was drag her feet until Tuesday. She’d come clean at the inquest, and then the trustee could do whatever he wanted with the estate.

Jason looked at his watch. “You’d better call your doc now. It’s almost four.”

She was cold all over now.

Jason peered at her. “Are you all right? You look kind of pale.”

“I—I’m fine. Just tired. I need a nap.” Beth pushed her bangs off her forehead. They flopped right back. “Nothing is going to happen over the weekend. I’ll call on Monday.” Then she escaped down the hall, into Ellie’s room.

Jason watched her go
with a worried frown creasing his brow.
She doesn’t look good.
That was hardly surprising. She was pregnant, had been in an accident, hadn’t been sleeping well, and was under an ungodly amount of stress. He couldn’t imagine the pain of losing the two people she loved most in the world.
That would knock anyone off balance
. And it would explain a lot about her recent behavior. Maybe he shouldn’t have pressed about going to the bank today.
But she’d wanted to go,
he argued with himself.

There was so little he could do for her.

He looked at his watch again. It was nearly six in Austin, but Renton would still be there. He might be able to find out something about the current state of the investigation on Montenegro. Jason shoved a roll of maps of the Carlton mine aside and reached for the phone.

Renton picked up on the second ring. “How’re things in Arizona?”

“Complicated. My friend Chris, the one who died, may have been murdered.”

“No shit? Damn. How’re the locals handling it?”

Jason hesitated. He didn’t have any specific complaints about Connor. “The jury’s still out on that. It’s possible that Eduardo Montenegro may be involved. Can you give me some intell on him?”

Renton groaned. “We don’t have anything current.
DEA
hasn’t sent anything new over since before you were shot.”

Jason sighed. “Thanks anyway.”

“Uh, there’s something else.”

Jason tensed. This wasn’t going to be good.

“
CIA
made a deal with Babinevich. He gave them his contacts. He’s on his way to Argentina.”

“Sonofabitch!”

“Yeah. I’m none too happy about it either.”

“Did they at least get him to turn over the money?”

“No. I’m sorry Jase.” Renton did sound aggrieved. He’d worked almost as hard on this case as Jason had.

Jason forced himself to breathe.
What did I work all those months for?
None of the victims would get their nest-eggs back, and Babinevich was free to live it up on their money in South America.

“I’ve got to go.”

“When are you coming back?”

“I’ll let you know.” Jason hung up the phone. His shoulder twinged.
Babinevich. Free. What the hell am I doing, working my ass off, and getting shot?
The Texas Attorney General’s office had been feeling him out for a job with their fraud unit. He’d put them off.
Maybe I should take it.

It was too big a decision to think about now. His future could wait. Right now he had another call to make.

Ell was right, not much would happen over the weekend. But at least he could call her doc for her and have them fax over the request for records form. Then all she’d have to do is fill it out and send it back on Monday. It wasn’t much, but it made him feel like he was doing something useful.

Beth rolled over, trying
to find a cool spot on the pillow. Ollie shifted to make room for her new position. She was getting soft, letting him up on the bed like this all the time.

She hadn’t lied to Jason. She
was
tired. What sleep she got while chatting with Ellie was not restorative. It was just as well that Jason thought she was her widowed twin. Even without the bruises from the accident, she looked like hell. The circles under her eyes made her resemble a racoon.

Thunder rumbled nearby. Another storm was rolling in.

At least we found out something important today.
Something they could take to the sheriff. Then she could come clean and go back to her own life. Jason would probably never speak to her again, but there was nothing she could do about that. She was keeping her promise to Ellie.

And then what? It was easy to forget that Ell was dead when she visited at night. But once the killer was arrested, she’d probably go on to wherever Chris was. No more dream visits or chats in the mirror.

I’ll be alone for real then.
The thought opened like a dark pit beneath her feet.

She wouldn’t think about that now. She couldn’t.
I have to focus on finding the killer.

She turned over again. Those stupid sheep kept jumping by the little window in the clock. Counting them didn’t help. It didn’t matter how tired she was; she couldn’t sleep.

Unfortunately, getting a drink wasn’t an option.

Thunder rumbled again, closer this time.

She flopped over on her back and closed her eyes, trying to relax. Ollie jumped off the bed and went to lie on the tile.

“Sorry, boy.”

Why would Eduardo want to kill Ellie?
Beth’s eyes popped open and she stared at the ceiling. Maybe because he was afraid that Chris had told her what he knew. But wouldn’t he be more likely to assume that Chris was as closed-mouthed as he is? Or that as a woman, Ellie would be intimidated by Chris’s death?

But Chris’s death looks like an accident.

Maybe he wanted her dead because Ellie insisted it was murder.
Just like I’ve been doing. Making myself a target.

Well, that was one way to catch a killer. Put out some bait. And Connie would probably tell Eduardo that they’d talked today.

The notion of being a target was more frightening now that they had a suspect than it had been when Ell first mentioned it a couple of days ago.

Maybe she should ask the sheriff for some kind of protection.

She laughed out loud, and Ollie raised his head.
Yeah. Like the sheriff would take me seriously.
Besides, it was only four days until the inquest. The judge would make the sheriff take her seriously. Then she could be Beth again.

Beth, who’d just turned the spotlight on a member of the Mexican cartels in a murder investigation.

Shit.
She was screwed. The nice little ordinary life she’d built was over.

Even if she ran home now, Eduardo would find her. It wouldn’t be hard. The media would be on the story like a duck on a June bug
. Twin Impersonates Dead Pontifore Sister To Find Killer. Film at eleven.
Beth pressed her hands against her face.

It was happening again. Her life, her world, was falling apart. She couldn’t go back to Cruces with the cartels and the media after her. Jason would never speak to her again, once he found out about her deception. And her sister, the only real constant in her life for years, was dead. Ell’s ghost was a comfort, but she’d be leaving soon. And then Beth really would be all alone, with nowhere to call home.

Maybe Ell had already left, now that they’d found out about Montenegro.

Suddenly Beth felt desperate to sleep, to dream, to see if Ellie would come again. But sleep was nowhere near.

Thunder boomed overhead. Ollie jumped back up onto the bed and tucked his nose under her arm. Beth lowered her hands and rested one on his back. “It’s okay, Ollie. It’s just a thunder-boomer.” She wished her own fears were so simple. She ruffled his black and white fur. “Do you want to live with me when this is over? I’m not sure where I’ll be going, but you’re welcome to come along. Or are you too much of a ranch dog?”