Christy Barritt - Squeaky Clean 07 - Mucky Streak (23 page)

CHAPTER 28

I
studied the pictures while eating at a rib place overlooking the Ohio. I’d opted out of the messiness factor of world famous, slathered barbecue ribs and had gotten a chicken sandwich instead. If I kept eating on this trip, I was going to gain twenty pounds. My friends would tell me that was okay since I’d lost a considerable amount of weight during the stress of the last few months.

As I inhaled the scent
s of vinegar and grease and smoky cumin, I picked up a picture album. The photos in front of me showed happy, cocky teens playing volleyball, sunbathing, on each other’s shoulders in the pool. I spotted some photos—probably not from vacations—of Tess Windsor and Marty Mart. I searched the other faces for someone familiar.

Garrett slid into the booth across from me. He’d slipped away to talk to
Lyndsey for a minute about something that couldn’t wait.

“Everything okay?”
I asked.

He shrugged. “
I wanted to check in about a special project she’s working on for me, but she didn’t answer.”

“Certainly you let your employees have a life outside of work.”

“I do. But she’s my right hand man—woman, I should say. I pay her well to be available.”

I raised my eyebrows.

“In a business capacity,” he added. “What kind of a man do you think I am?”

I shook my head. “The two of you just seem close.”

“We work well together.”

I raised a hand to stop him from saying anything. “You don’t have to explain to me. It’s none of my business.”

And it wasn’t. Their interactions just had me curious.

He
cast another inquisitive glance my way before leaning toward the sea of photos on the table between us and frowning. “Tell me what you’re thinking, Love.”

I
wiped my hands—salty from my fries—and held up a photo of Garrett and Cassidy posing together on the beach. “Tell me about your vacations growing up. I heard you took some fancy ones. Your family and maybe a couple of other families. From your dad’s work.”

“Oh, those. Yes, I suppose we did. I tried not to hang too much with the family back then. I thought I was too cool for that. Don’t I wish I could go back now?”
He took a long sip of his iced tea.

“Hindsight truly is 20/20. Who
are these people in the photos?”

He studied a couple of them.
“It varies, I suppose. I know the Newports went. Reginald Wimbledon came a couple of times with his family. Smith Wimbledon came also. I think they all used it as a tax write off. The men had business meetings for half of the day while the rest of us partied.”

“Was there anyone on those trips who stood out?”

He shrugged and shook his head. “To be honest, Olivia and I were pretty wrapped up in each other. I didn’t pay attention to anyone else.”

I watched his expression for a tell tale sign of deception. He kept his gaze steady, though.
“Who was the Clingy One?”

He tilted his head. “The Clingy One
? I haven’t heard that name in a long time. I suppose that would be Jenna Royce—Sebastian’s flavor-of-the-month wife. They came with us once. Back then, he was in his mid-forties and she was 21, I think. It was obvious she only married him for his money. That woman hit on every eligible guy on that trip.”

“Have you seen Jenna lately?”

“Saw her a couple of years ago. She’s happily married now with two kids. Living in New York. Why are you asking?”

I shook my head.
“I can probably rule her out then. Do you remember a guy who liked your sister?”

He raised his eyebrows wryly.
“Every guy liked my sister.”

I
stared at the pictures spread between us. “Someone who was kind of on the fringe. Maybe he came on the trips, but he wasn’t a direct blood relative with the rest of the family?”

He shook his head. “That doesn’t ring any bells. But, like I said, I was pretty self-absorbed back then.
Are you going to explain?”

I
took a long sip of my Mountain Dew. “Tess Windsor—you remember her?”

Garrett nodded.
“My sister’s snooty friend.”

“
I talked to her yesterday and she mentioned something about a guy who liked your sister. Then, when the Watcher called yesterday, I said something to him about those vacations. It shook him up, so I wonder now if I was on to something.”

“You very well could be.”
He rubbed the side of his glass and stared out the window.

“I’m going to keep researching. But, in the meantime, I don’t want to close any doors or get too narrow-minded.”

“Sounds like a solid principle.”

“Tess mentioned maybe this guy’s mom was sick. Does that ring any bells?”

Garrett shook his head. “I really have no idea.” He stared out the window again. “Now that I’m thinking about it, I suppose Smith Wimbledon’s mom did have cancer.”

That was interesting. “Is she still alive?”

“If I remember correctly, she’s struggled with the disease on and off for years.” Garrett held up a photo and pointed to a young man with blond hair. “That’s Smith when he was younger.”

“Were y
ou guys friends?”

He shrugged. “He was a little older, a little more studious. I think he preferred hanging
out with adults more than he did with the teens.”

I pointed to a woman with dark hair
standing beside him in one of the photos. “Who’s this?”

“His sister, Winnie
Wimbledon.”

I studied the photo more closely. I couldn’t tell enough from that snapshot. I searched through the rest of the pictures until I found a better image of her.
In another shot, she stood in a group in front of tropical waters. Except, she kind of stood apart from the group. She didn’t match the rest of the gang, who all had self-assured smiles and boisterous mannerisms.

She was the woman in the online photo with Vic Newport, I realized. The
one Vic was giving a strange look. The one I’d seen somewhere before.

“What do you know about her?” I asked.

“Last I heard, she was working for the family business. She was always kind of quiet and didn’t draw much attention to herself. Honestly, we hardly talked. She seemed to prefer a good book to people. The Wimbledons were kind of like that. Quieter, more intellectual.”

I had to chew on that information some more.
In the meantime, I had more questions for my temporary boss.

“Garrett, do you have any idea what your dad wanted to talk to you about?
” I was pretty sure I’d asked everyone except Garrett that question. “Why he wanted you home that weekend? It’s my understanding that your dad didn’t demand very much from you or your sister, but that he was serious about everyone being together.”

He shrugged.  “I’ve thought about that many times. I’m not really sure. And you’re right. He pretty much let us do our
own thing. Of course, he expected us to be there for family weddings or funerals or times when we needed to appear cohesive and happy.”

His words had a
touch of bitterness to them.

“I see.”

“My dad did a lot of things right. He was a hard worker. But I learned a lot from him on what
not
to do. When I have my own family one day, they’re going to know that they’re my priority.”

“I didn’t know your d
ad, but you don’t seem like him, Garrett.” Had I just paid the man a compliment? What had gotten into me?

He smiled sadly. “Thank you.”
He twisted the watch at his wrist. “This used to be my father’s, you know. Probably the only thing I’ve kept that was his. I mean, in reality I’ve kept everything. But this is the only thing I really see every day.”

“It’s nice.”
I wasn’t done with my questions, though. “Your cabin was to the south of your home, yet you were photographed on the night of the murders at a gas station to the west. It was part of the reason the police never suspected you.”

His eyes widened. “You do your research.”

“That’s why you’re paying me the big bucks.”

“Absolutely. You’re right.
After Olivia left me, I stayed at the cabin for a while, trying to let everything sink in. I’d told my parents I wasn’t making it in that evening because I had to turn in a paper. I didn’t want to pull up to the house in the middle of the night. So I started driving around.”

“Why di
dn’t you just come clean about being in town that night? Why hide what really happened?” I’d had a day to chew on what he’d told me, and now I had more questions.

He grabbed a toothpick and twirled it in his mouth.
“A couple of reasons. First of all, I’d promised Olivia to keep her pregnancy quiet until she figured out what to do.”

“Until she figured it out?”

“She wasn’t giving me much choice in it. As I was driving away that night, I determined I’d talk to her again, convince her to have the baby. I played with the idea of taking her to court over it.”

Surprise filled me. “Really?”

The sparkle that normally graced his eyes was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he was finally letting down some of his walls. “I believe in life, Gabby. Life at conception. I didn’t really want to be a father, but the idea was sobering and made me realize I needed to reevaluate my priorities.”

My throat burned
. I wished it was from the hot sauce, but instead it was from the horrific reality that Garrett had experienced. “Then you discovered your family.”

New lines appeared on his face
. “I’m not saying I forgot about Olivia. Not by any means. But I had to put that on the back burner for a while. By the time I spoke with Olivia again, she told me that she’d actually miscarried the evening after our talk. All of our arguing was for nothing, I suppose.”

“Yet you still didn’t tell the police.”

He planted his palms on the table. “I knew how it would look, Gabby. And here I had this alibi that I hadn’t even tried to get. People from college claiming I’d stayed at the party longer than I had. The gas station. No witnesses to me being at the cabin.”

I grabbed a
dinner roll from the center of the table and pulled off a piece. I nibbled on it, my thoughts turning. I could feel it in my blood that I was getting closer to the answers. But I wasn’t there, yet.

“What are you thinking?” Garrett asked.
“I can see those mental wheels turning.”

“Olivia said she went home after she met with you that night, Garrett.”

“Okay …”

“She said her father wasn’t there.
She also said that she gave him an alibi when the police asked. She claimed they’d both been in all evening.”

His eyebrows scrunched together.
“Where was he?”

I shook my head. “I have no idea.”

“You don’t think …”

“I think all of this has something to do with your dad’s work. I
just need to figure out what. There’s no way I’m getting into his office to look at his things there. But your dad seemed like someone who’d bring work home with him.”

“He most certainly did.”

“This cabin you mentioned, the one you and Olivia went to …”

“It was my dad’s place. He liked to go there when he needed to get away. Of course, he always brought work with him.”

“Do you still own it?”

Garrett nodded. “I do.”

“Can I see it?”

“Let’s go.”

CHAPTER
29

As we drove from Cincinnati toward the hills of Kentucky, my mind wandered to Riley.
He couldn’t drive yet after his brain injury, so I’d been taking him everywhere. Simple places—places we’d gone all the time—he suddenly couldn’t remember how to get there. Sometimes he’d forget where we were going in route.

The memories pulled at me. I tried to push away the melancholy that came with the
thoughts, but the emotions seemed stronger than my willpower.

My
cellphone rang, pulling me from my drowning thoughts.

My heart raced for a moment. The Watcher? Or someone else?

It was Sierra.

“Where are you calli
ng from?” I asked. It wasn’t her normal ringtone. Clarice may have been onto something when she programmed my phone for me because I was starting to depend on those digital cues.

“I’m working late on a protest we’re planning here at work. But I promised you I’d call as soon as I heard anything.”

“About the apartment,” I realized with a dull thud of my heart.

“We were informed today that it sold. The
‘For Sale’ sign disappeared and everything.”

“That was quick.”
Just like that, more pieces of my life felt like they were slipping away.

“Yeah, tell
me about it. I heard the person who bought it paid cash, so that cut the time virtually down to nothing.”

“Are we being kicked out?”
I hardly wanted to hear her answer. I just wanted things to go back to the way they used to be; yet, that wasn’t possible. Change would always be a part of life. I had to somehow come to accept that fact.

“That’s what I haven’t heard yet. I’m
sorry, Gabby. I know it’s not what you want to hear.”

“Thanks for letting me know.”

“Oh, and before we get off the phone, Chad wanted me to tell you ‘Partners in Grime.’ I told him it was lame.”

“Tell him I echo your thoughts on that one. Let’s keep thinking.”

I hung up and noticed Garrett glanced at me from the driver’s seat. “Everything okay?”

I told hi
m about the apartment building being sold. What I didn’t tell him was how that building was where I’d met my best friend Sierra. Or how I’d met Riley in the parking lot on his first night as a resident as he tried to get a parrot down from the tree outside his window. Nor did I tell him the horrific things that happened there. The man who’d been murdered in my kitchen. Or how Milton Jones had sneaked in to threaten me in the middle of the night.

“You think the person who bought it will
kick you out?”

“
I’m preparing myself to look for another place.” Away from Sierra and Chad. Away from my crazy, radio talk show host neighbor Bill McCormick. Away from the eccentric writer I called Mrs. Mystery.

Away from Riley’s place.

That apartment building had so many memories for me.

Maybe moving would be for the best. That’s what I needed to convince myself of, at least.

I’d been saying that life wasn’t based on luck, but there were times I felt like the most unlucky girl in the world. No, since I was a crime scene cleaner, maybe I had more
muck
than luck—in more than one way. An image of those impossible to remove streaks of oil flashed back into my mind again.

“I know it will all work out, Gabby,” Garrett said.

I wished I felt that sure.

We pulled up to a cabin nestled in the woods along a river. It wasn’t nearly as extravagant
as the Mercer’s mansion, but the place was still a nice size. I stared at it from the passenger’s seat.

“
Was it weird that your dad had this place?”

Garrett shrugged
and cut the engine. “After we moved here, my dad seemed to like time by himself. Money was never an issue, so buying this place wasn’t really a big deal. My dad mostly used it, but I came here some.”

W
e climbed out of the car. The sun was setting and the pleasant smears of a fluorescent sunset lit the sky beyond the river. I could see where someone might want to come here to relax.

“
Have you been here in a while?”

“I actually do like to come here for personal retreats, to revitalize myself and think about the company.”

I’d known Garrett’s lifestyle was different than mine, but just the thought of being able to get away and have weekends to clear your head made me realize how far apart our worlds were. I couldn’t even entertain the thought of such a luxury.

“Who keeps this place up for you?”
I stepped onto the massive wooden porch, longing for a moment to sit on one of those rocking chairs and simply relax.

“I
use a management company. They rent a lot of cabins in this area. Of course, I don’t rent mine, but this business manages the property. That works for me.”

“Sound
s expensive.”

“Maybe. But there are some things that I just can’t get rid of. My mom insured that I didn’t
ever have to worry about money. I’ve invested in a few different properties.”

He unlocked the door
, and we stepped inside. The cabin was cozy and just the kind of place I’d love to go on a quiet vacation or for a romantic getaway. There was a two-story fireplace, a loft, and a wall of windows showing the river behind the property.

“It’s chilly in here, isn’t it? Maybe I’ll start a quick fire to warm it up. I know we won’t be here long, but at least we’ll be comfortable. Besides, a nice fire always helps me relax and relaxing sounds really good right now.”

While he worked on the fire, I wandered around downstairs, looking at pictures of Garrett and his family.

You’d never have to worry about money with me again.

That’s what Garrett had told me. For a moment—and just a moment—that idea tempted me beyond what I was prepared for. It would be so nice to not have to worry about paying the bills or where I was going to live or what my future would hold. Not that money or love would answer all of those questions. But stability sounded nice.

I stepped toward the window and stared at the sunset against the river. I wished my heart felt as peaceful as that sunset. The pastor at my church had once said that peace comes with understanding. But maybe peace really just came with accepting—accepting your circumstances, accepting the uncertainties in life, accepting that some things were simply beyond your control.

“The fire’s blazing. Hopefully it will warm up in here soon.” Garrett’s voice sounded close.

Without turning I could sense him behind me.
In the briefest flash of desire, I imagined him putting his arms around me and holding me close.

My heart lurched. I loved Riley. So why was I feeling these things?

“You okay?” Garrett asked.

I didn’t dare look at him. Instead, I stared out the window
and crossed my arms. “Yeah, I’m going to be fine.”

“Gabby …”

I still didn’t turn. I didn’t trust myself. That first kiss with Garrett had been all his doing. If we kissed again, I’d have to take responsibility.

I cleared my throat. “Yes?”

His hand went to my shoulder. Heat from his touch seemed to sear through my clothing all the way to my skin. The cabin, the fire, the sunset … it was proving to be too much for me.

Before I let myself down in a major way, I decided to remove myself from temptation—kind of like Joseph fleeing from
Potiphar’s wife. I darted to the other side of the room, my heart pounding in my ears.

“We should stay focused.”

Garrett shoved his hands into his pockets. “Of course. What do you want to look at here? I wasn’t quite clear.”

Great, he probably thought I’d ask
ed to come here as some kind of excuse for a rendezvous.

I shook my head
, determined to stay strong. “I don’t know. I want to figure out what your dad wanted to talk to you about. If this was his space, then maybe there’s a clue.”

Garrett nodded slowly, pinching his lips together. “Okay then. Where do you want to start?
”

I started pacing
. “I’m not really sure. Did your dad have an office here?”

“Right upstairs. I can take you there.”

I nodded and followed him, ignoring the urging in my head to run. I’d been called a lot of things in life, but I’d never been called unfaithful. I didn’t plan on adding that to my list.

“Did the police come here?”

“The police went everywhere. I’m sure they came here, but I don’t remember them finding anything of significance.”

“Did your dad
have any kind of safe where he might keep valuables?”
Or secrets?

Garrett shook his head. “Y
ou mean, like hiding behind a picture?”

I nodded. “Whatever floats your boat.”

“Typical myth about the wealthy. We don’t keep safes behind wall art.”

I shoved a painting out of the way, just to prove his point. What I saw made
me pause. A metal plate. In the wall. With a small door. “Are you sure about that?”

Garrett stepped closer
and squinted. “No way …”

“Maybe hiding a safe here is so obvious that it’s not obvious.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” He took the picture off the wall and examined the metal box there. A combination lock was nestled in the center. “I’ll be darned.”

Yeah,
me too.
I truly hadn’t expected anything to be there. But I wasn’t complaining, either.

“You know the combination?”

He shook his head. “No, but I’d be willing to try a few things.”

He tried a couple of different combinations, his eyebrows thoughtfully knit together as he spun the dial. “What else could it be?”

“Birthdays?”

“I tried those.”

“Addresses?” I suggested.

“Tried some of those, too.”

“Maybe some kind of code from when you lived in England? Similar to a zip code?”

“It’s worth a shot.” He spun the numbers around again.

The next moment, the door popped open.

I held my breath as I waited to see what was inside.