Dead on the Vine: (Violet Vineyard Murder Mysteries #1 (A Cozy Mystery)) (13 page)

“She didn’t do it,” I reminded him, and he smiled, which made me want to pop him in his sweaty chin.

“Is this the first time she’s been arrested? Convicted?”

“Never arrested,” I told him. “Never.”

“Bond should be around two-hundred thousand. Little lower, little higher. I’ll need a check for ten percent.” He leaned forward, cracked his knuckles and dropped his hands on his desk. His nails were dirty and long. “I’ll have a deputy let me know when she gets on the docket. I’ll call you and we go from there.”

“Twenty-thousand dollars?” I asked, stunned by the amount. I had that much in savings, but not much more. This would wipe my personal finances out until the Vintners Reserve was shipped and the checks came in. It didn’t matter, though. I’d auction off a kidney if I had to.

“That’s right,” Solly said. “Little higher, little lower.” He shrugged, “depends on the judge and the evidence they got. A lot of times they won’t even set bail on a murder case, but this being her first time and all, they should.”

“Well,” Victor looked at me with a ‘what now?’ expression.

“I guess we’ll go back home,” I said as the phone in my purse rang. “Excuse me,” I said to Solly as I dug in my purse, found the phone and punched Accept without checking the caller ID.

“Hello?” I said, thinking it was probably Samson calling to report on the deputies.

“Why hello there, darling,” a familiar voice purred in my ear. The voice was cheerful and prep-school nasal, complete with imitation-English accent. I made a face and squeezed my eyes shut. It was the last person I wanted to speak with. My husband, Roger de Montagne.

“Hello, Roger,” I said. “What do you want?”

“And how are you, my dear?” He asked. “You sound a little put out? Things not going your way?”

“What do you want?” I repeated, debating whether to mention Jessica’s arrest. I guessed I had to, but the thought made me wince. Jessica had been my responsibility for so long that I didn’t want his interference now. I had handled diapers, chickenpox and menstrual cycles, I was prepared to handle bailing Jessica out. 

“To get our lovely daughter, who takes after her mother, by the way, out of jail, of course.”

“How did you find out?” I asked, though I shouldn’t have been surprised. The de Montagnes have a grapevine that includes judges, senators, councilmen and police officers. A well paid grapevine.

“I heard this morning that they were going to arrest her for that Harlan boy’s murder. Mother called.”

Roger’s mother is the family patron and CEO of de Montagne Enterprises. She is a ruthless businesswoman, a doting grandmother, and an unforgiving, unrelentingly fault-finding mother-in-law. She and I have never gotten along, mainly because I speak my mind and don’t kiss her broad butt, but she could have called me and warned me about Priest. Instead, she had allowed her personal animosity for me to interfere. A typical de Montagne back-stabbing.

I got up, held a finger up to Victor and Solly and stepped outside. I shielded my eyes from the sun with one hand as I talked.

“She could have called me!” I shouted. “What is wrong with that woman? Is she insane?”

“Now, now, dear, let’s not get into personalities. The important thing is that we get Jessica out of there. Mother—”

“That’s exactly what I’m doing, Roger,” I cut him off. “I’m sitting in a bondsman’s office right now. I don’t have time for this.”

“Is it one of those squalid little places clustered around the jail like ticks on a dog? Tell me, are they as grim on the inside as they look on the outside? How does it smell? Like unwashed feet? That’s what I always imagined.”

“If you’re so interested, let’s trade places.” I said, unable to suppress a smile. I hate to admit it, but Roger’s bantering tone and bemused attitude were having their usual effect on me. He’s always known how to make me laugh, how to ease any tense situation. That was part of the reason I had fallen in love with him, that coupled with his good looks and charm. It wasn’t until we were married that I realized that an attractive shell was all he was. He has no goals and no aspirations beyond the next party or dinner. He informed me once that it was ‘a sign of good breeding to be absolutely useless and dependent on your ancestors’ money,’ and he had lived up to that with gusto.

“If it’s as horrible as I imagine, I don’t think I’d fit in. As a matter of fact, I think you should flee the place immediately and wash off the lower class stench.”

“Roger,” I said, squinting at my watch, “I have to bail Jessica out. That place will be too much for her right now.”

“Ah, Jessica, my little hot-house flower,” Roger said with a smile in his voice. “Fear not, fair lady, the courageous knights of Fine, Fine and Morgan are at the rescue as we speak. Our lawyers will scale the walls of justice and retrieve the fair maiden within the hour.”

“That’s not possible,” I informed him. “She hasn’t been arraigned yet—”

“That will be happening in moments, I assure you, or Judge Robert Phelps will lose his biggest backers, namely de Montagne Enterprises. Mother lit a fire under the good judge and he is absolutely quivering to be of help.”

The relief I felt couldn’t be put into words, but it irked me that Roger could step in and with a few phone calls, handle everything. In Napa, Roger and his family know all the right buttons to push. And how much money to slide into the hand waiting under the table. I hate the manipulations and backroom deals, and I was ashamed to be benefiting from them. But if it got Jessica out of jail I would deal with my bruised ideals later.

“Sounds like you have it all worked out,” I said sourly. “I appreciate your help.”

“It was nothing, but if you really want to thank me, how about dinner tonight? The Palm?” Roger asked smoothly. “You love the Champagne Brie soup, and they carry your excellent 2006 cabernet. I called to check.”

I laughed out loud. “Do you ever stop?”

“Only for red lights and beautiful women. What do you say? I’m in New York, at the Ritz at the moment, but I’ll be in St. Helena by six.”

“I really shouldn’t,” I said, annoyed at the wistful tone in my voice. But I really do like the soup. “There’s so much going on.”

“Which is why you need a break. I’ve made reservations for eight. I’ll be there, the wine and the soup will be there, will you?”

“I’ll take a rain-check,” I said. Like for the day
after
I die, I mentally added.

Roger’s sigh sounded genuinely disappointed. “I’m going to hold you to that, darling.”

“I guess I’ll wait and pick Jessica up,” I said, thinking aloud and trying to change the subject.

“I wouldn’t,” Roger said. “Mother drove down with the lawyers.”

“Witch,” I muttered.

“She likes you just as much as you like her,” he assured me. “My money’s on you in a fistfight, though.”

“Jessica doesn’t need the added stress,” I said with rising irritation. “Your mother—”

“Is getting Jessica out of jail,” Roger cut in smoothly. I had nothing to say to that.

“Well,” I said, lamely.  “Have her call me tonight or in the morning.”

“Of course my dear,” he cooed. “I only wish you cared as much for me as Jessica. I remember when first we married—“

I hung up. I’d had enough conversations with Roger to last a lifetime. I just plain wasn’t interested anymore. And if he took offense, well, that’d be great! I stowed my cell phone in my purse and stepped back inside. The men stopped talking and looked up at me.

“I’m sorry to have taken up your time,” I said to Solly. “But we won’t need a bond apparently.” I looked at Victor, “That was Roger. The de Montagnes are handling it. He says she’ll be out in an hour.”

Solly had been smiling when I entered, but it vanished when he realized I wouldn’t be writing him a check.

“Called in the big guns?” He said. “I guess if ya got the clout ya don’t have to follow the rules. Nothing new there.” He sighed heavily and shuffled paper around on his messy desk. “More power to ya, though. I’d use it if I had it.”

“Sorry, Solly,” Victor said as he rose. “Nice talking with you.”

“Always good to see ya, Victor,” Solly replied without looking up from his paperwork. Then he laughed and glanced up at us, suddenly back to good humor. “Nicer when you got a check in your hand, though!” He laughed at his own joke, belly shivering with loose fat.  

“Nicer for you,” Victor grinned back. “Take care.”

“Do the same. And good luck Mrs. de Montagne,” he added to me.

“I appreciate that, Solly, and I’ll keep you in mind if I need a bond,” I said as I stepped out the door Victor was holding for me.

“Do that!” Solly yelled as the door swung closed behind Victor and me. “Tell your friends. Hell, tell your enemies!”

When we were inside Sally, I stuck the keys in the ignition, closed my eyes and melted into the seat. Victor sat beside me, staring through the windshield, looking thoughtful and worried.

“I need to apologize to you, Victor,” I said. “For acting like a crazy lady.”

“No need to apologize,” Victor replied, still looking straight ahead. “That’d stress anybody out.”

“It was just such a shock. I never had a clue about Jessica and Kevin. They barely spoke around the Vineyard. It just doesn’t make any sense,” I explained with exasperation. “I never would have guessed.” But it did explain why Jessica had been so upset. At least she wasn’t pregnant!

“They met at the Fitness Factory,” Victor said, naming the local meat-market fitness center. “A few months after Winter was killed.”

“What?!” I yelped, twisting in the seat to face Victor, banging my knee on the steering wheel in the process. “You knew about them? You knew and you didn’t tell me?!”

Victor cocked one leg up on the seat and faced me. He shook his head tiredly. “I didn’t know until it was over. Jessica told me one night last month after you went to bed. We were drinking and it slipped out. I didn’t think it was my place to tell you. Besides, it was over.”

“Kevin never said anything to you?” I asked incredulously, rubbing my sore knee. They had been best friends after all, and I didn’t think men were very good at keeping their conquests quiet.

“If he had I would have kicked his ass,” Victor said with a flash of anger. “If he was looking for a fling there were plenty of women that would have been glad to have him. He didn’t have to mess around with Jess. She’s like my sister! If nothing else he should have had more respect for me.”

“And for his wife,” I reminded him.

“Ha!” Victor laughed without humor. “She was banging half the guys in the Valley. He didn’t owe her a
damn
thing. Kevin told me she even had an affair with a cop while we were still searching for Winter.”

“Not even her,” I said, unwilling to believe it. No mother could do that. “How did he know?”

Victor shrugged. “He didn’t say, and I didn’t push it. Then I found out about him and Jessica. I didn’t have a lot to say to him after that.”

“You never confronted Kevin about Jessica?”

“Jess made me promise I wouldn’t, but I came close more than once. It really pissed me off. But they were adults, so…” Victor shrugged again helplessly. “It takes two to mambo.”

“This is like a bizarre soap opera! You think you know what’s happening around you, then you get blindsided. You should have told me after Kevin was killed. At least then I would have been prepared.”

“I promised Jess,” he reminded me. “Besides, like I said, it was over months ago,” irritation crept into Victor’s voice. “Kevin had already moved on.”

“Moved on?” I said. “Like, to someone else?”

Victor nodded. “Marta Valdez. I saw them together in town a few times.” The name meant nothing to me.

“Does Jessica know?” I asked.

Victor shook his head. “I wasn’t going to tell her. What was the point, anyway? Maybe I should have.”

I sighed and shook my head. “No, you did what any good brother would do.” I reached over and squeezed his hand. “Jessica needs to take responsibility for herself.”

Victor avoided my eyes. “It’s hard for her. She doesn’t think she’s lived up to your expectations.”

“So she has an affair?” I asked heatedly. “And that’s my fault?”

“I didn’t mean it that way,” Victor explained. “I’m just telling you how she feels.”

I sighed again with all the anxiety and frustration of a single mother. And I have to admit, a little guilt. What Victor said was at least partially true. But what parent doesn’t have high hopes for their daughter? And, besides, I was the safety net that she fell into when things got tough. Who wouldn’t resent that? It was just too complicated to think about at that moment, so I changed the subject.

“Roger asked me to dinner,” I told Victor.

Victor grinned. “How is he?” He asked. “Still the same?” Victor likes Roger. Almost everyone likes Roger, there’s nothing there not to like. But there isn’t much there to respect either, and that’s where our problems began.

“Exactly the same,” I assured him, making a sour face. “He’ll never change.”

“Dinner would be interesting,” Victor laughed, “as long as he kept the knives out of your reach.”

“That’s not very nice,” I said. “I’d be the perfect lady. Besides, I’m not going.” Victor just nodded. He knows how I feel about Roger.

“It might be fun,” Victor said, stretching his legs as he twisted forward in his seat.

“Wanna go?” I asked, only half-joking.

“No way,” Victor said, shaking his head. “I ain’t his type and he ain’t mine.

“And I feel the same way about it,” I said.

“I know a good attorney,” he grinned. “Divorces for ninety-nine dollars and ninety-five cents.”

“Nothing’s too good for me,” I replied dryly. I turned the key and Sally jumped to life. I put her in reverse and backed out much more sedately than I had pulled in.

I headed for Highway 29 and home, wondering if Samson had gotten the bottling line back up and running, and how big a mess the Sheriff’s deputies had made of my house.