Pumpkins in Paradise (Tj Jensen Paradise Lake Mystery Book 1) (19 page)

“Do you think this will work?” Deputy Tim Matthews asked several hours later, sitting at a conference table with Dylan, Deputy Roy Fisher, and Tj.

“At this point it seems like our best bet,” Roy answered.

“It seems too dangerous,” Dylan joined in.

“Tj can handle herself.
” There was a glint of merriment in Tim’s eyes, and Tj was sure he was remembering other instances in which she’d handled herself just fine.

“I guess it’s up to Tj.
” Roy turned to look directly at her. “What do you think? Can you do it?”

Do it
? Were they kidding? Whatever possessed her to think she wanted to play Nancy Drew? Tj felt numb. More than numb; terrified.

The plan, which she had to admit had been her idea in the first place, was to have Tj call the killer and arrange for him to meet her at the mansion on the pretext of providing him with important information
. She was to lead him to the basement, which had limited access points, and pretend to open the safe. She was to engage him in conversation, getting him to admit to killing Zachary, and then Dylan would burst in through one door and Roy and Tim through the other.

“Tj?
” Dylan tried to make eye contact. “Are you okay?”

Seriously
? She felt like she was in a coma. Maybe she was. The entire conversation would make more sense if she were dreaming.

“I think it’s too much,” she heard Dylan say
. “We’ll need to come up with a different plan.”

“No.
” Tj finally spoke. “I can do this. I want to do this. I have to. For Zachary.”

“Are you sure?” Tim asked
. “We can come up with a different plan.”

“I’m sure.” Tj felt like she might throw up
.

“Okay,” Dylan consented
. “Remember to get him into the basement. And we need him to confess to killing Zachary. The guys will be waiting out back and I’ll be right behind you the whole time.”

Tj drove through the streets of Serenity as the sun dipped behind the mountain. Was she really doing this? Was she completely insane? She knew Dylan and the others were already positioned at Zachary’s estate. Waiting, watching, ready to respond at a moment’s notice. Tj could hear her heart pounding as she pulled up to the front gate. She wondered if the others could hear it through the wire she was wearing.

Opening the tall, wrought-iron gate, she drove slowly down the private
road before pulling into the circular drive in front of the house. She turned off the engine and looked at the dark structure. She felt a pang as she remembered happier visits: the first time she snuck onto the estate in answer to a dare from her friends; the terror she’d felt when she first saw Zachary staring out a window as she tried to sneak silently onto the front porch; her laughter when Zachary smiled at her and she knew he wasn’t the monster everyone thought.

An empty car was in the drive
. He must already be waiting inside. She wondered how he’d gotten inside, then realized it really didn’t matter. All that mattered was getting through the next few minutes alive. She took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves. Her hand was shaking so badly, she could barely unbuckle her seat belt, but somehow she found a way.

Tj picked up her jacket and slipped it on as she stepped out of the car
. It wasn’t cold, but she found she couldn’t stop shivering. She paused after slowly making her way up the front steps.
Just breath.
She turned the knob and opened the door. The man who’d murdered one of her best friends was sitting in the same chair in which she’d found Zachary’s dead body. Tj had to bite the inside of her lip to keep from blurting out how truly morbid that was.

“You wanted to talk?” he asked.

Tj paused and tried to act nonchalant, as if she had all the time and not a care in the world. She knew that in negotiations such as this it was the person with the least investment in the outcome who maintained the upper hand.

“I stumbled onto something I thought you might be interested in,” Tj began.

“Yes?”

Tj walked across the room before answering
. She closed the drape on the front window before sitting down on the sofa.

“I haven’t got all day,” the man spat impatiently.

“As you know, Zachary and I were good friends. He told me everything, things he didn’t tell anyone else.” Tj paused, letting the suspense build.

“Such as?”

Tj leaned forward, placing her elbows on her knees. “The location of a coin collection worth over a million dollars, to start.” Tj had no idea how much Zachary’s coin collection was worth, or even if he still had it.

“Coin collection?
”

“I’m sure Zachary must have mentioned it.
” Tj sat back, crossing her arms in front of her as if bored with the entire conversation.

“I know his father had such a collection, but Zachary never mentioned it
. I figured it was sold off years ago.”

“No, he still had it.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I think you know,” Tj said
. She sat quietly as the man silently stared at her. Tj and Jenna had played the staring game all the time when they were younger. She’d always won then and she knew she would win now.

“You have the coins with you?
” he finally asked.

“They’re in the safe.”

“You have the combination?”

“I do.”

The man pulled out a gun and pointed it at her chest. “What do you say we take a look?”

“Okay.
” Tj willed herself to stay calm. “Safe’s in the basement.”

Tj led him though the house, down the stairs, and into the basement
. She closed the basement door behind them so Dylan could get into place without being noticed. Her heart was pounding so hard, she feared it might burst through her chest. She slowly made her way across the room, then removed the picture of the Model T, revealing the existence of the safe.

“Pretty smart the way you set up Zachary’s murder to look like a suicide.
” Tj slowly turned the dial to the left.

The man shrugged but didn’t say anything
.

Tj turned the dial to the right
. She knew they’d need more.

“It was genius, really
. No defensive wounds or signs of foul play to tip off the cops.”

“How about a little less talking and a little more dialing?” he said, trying to hurry her along.

Tj purposely passed the third number before trying to open the safe. “Guess I missed a number.”

“
You playing me?” The man pointed the gun at her head.

Tj tried to look unaffected by the menacing-looking object. She knew from watching the detective shows she loved so much that it was best in situations like this to maintain a sense of calm and control
. “Guess I’m just nervous. I’ll try again.”

“Best make sure there are no more mistakes.”

Tj turned back toward the safe and started the dialing sequence over. “I have to admire your guts,” Tj tried again. “Not many men with balls enough to kill a man.”

The man remained stubbornly silent
. Dylan said they needed a confession.

“Was it you who drank the scotch?”

“Yeah, so? Old man was never going to drink it. Seemed like a waste.”

“Odd that you sold the bottle.”

“Sold it? You daft, woman? I didn’t sell the bottle; I tossed it in the Dumpster. Why all the interest in the booze?” The man seemed to be getting suspicious.

“No reason
. I just have one question.” Tj stopped dialing and turned around. “Why’d you kill him? Zachary was an old man who didn’t have long left anyway. Why not just wait for him to die a natural death?”

“You have ten seconds to get that safe open or I pull the trigger and put a bullet in your pretty little head.”

”Just curious.” Tj turned back toward the safe. “I just figured a strong, intelligent man like you would have enough discipline to wait.”

“He was going to give the money away.
”

“So you drugged him?”

“What choice did I have? He planned to make some big announcement about the new will at the ball this weekend. He said he was going to make amends to the people he’d hurt the most.”

“Did he suffer?” Tj couldn’t help but ask.

“Why are you asking so many questions?” Glen grabbed her arm and turned her to face him, pointing the gun directly at her forehead. “You best get that safe open before I lose my patience.”

“Already lost mine.
” Tj kneed Glen in the groin with every bit of strength her hundred-pound body could muster. Luckily, with twenty-two years of martial arts training, a hundred pounds of force was quite enough. Glen groaned as he bent over, gasping for air. Tj kicked the gun from his hand as Dylan burst in through one door, Roy and Tim through the other.

“Did you get enough?”

“We got enough.
” Dylan held up a tape recorder. “By the way, nice move with the gun. Where’d you learn to do that?”

Tj shrugged
. The fact that she was a fighter as a kid, prompting her dad to sign her up for martial arts classes in the hope that she would learn discipline, was common knowledge. The fact that she’d stuck with them ever since was a story for another day.

By the time Tj got home it was almost seven o’clock and she never had gotten the chance to eat anything all day. She felt herself dragging as she returned to the house. All she wanted to do was eat a sandwich, take a hot bath, and go to bed. She felt completely drained. It had been a long, emotional week and tomorrow promised to be a long, emotional day.

“Good you’re here,” Ashley greeted her the minute she walked in the door
. “I told Kristi we’d meet them downtown for the jack-o’-lantern stroll by seven thirty at the latest. If we don’t leave right this minute, we’ll never make it.”

The Pumpkin Festival. She had totally forgotten about the Pumpkin Festival.

“You forgot,” Ashley accused.

“I so did not,” Tj lied. “Gracie ready?” She put her hand on her growling stomach.

“She’s waiting in the living room.”

“Papa and Grandpa?”

“Papa is out with Rosalie and Grandpa is upstairs changing his clothes. Can we go now?”

“Sure, just let me grab an apple to eat on the way.”

The next morning Tj realized it was time to figure out how the others fit in. Zachary’s funeral was scheduled for later that afternoon, and she should put the will and the involvement of her four guests off until then, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to relax until she put the mystery surrounding Zachary’s death to rest. Carrying the document she had found in the second envelope in the safety-deposit box, as well as the unopened package, she stumbled down the stairs, made a pot of coffee, and curled up in front of the fire someone had already built in the living room. Apparently she wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep. The warmth from the fire coupled with the hot coffee almost served to lull her back to sleep. It probably would have if her dad hadn’t walked in at just that moment.

“You’re up early
. Want something to eat?” he asked.

“No thanks
. At least not yet.”

“Something wrong?”

“I’m not sure that wrong is the right word. It’s just that I’ve had the strangest forty-eight hours.”

“Strange how?”

Tj told her dad about finding the necklace, the key, and the keno ticket in the safe, her dinner with Dylan, and their trip to Indulgence. And she told him about her suspicions concerning Zachary’s death due to information Doc had discovered during the autopsy. She filled him in on her trip to the bank and her attempt to open the safety-deposit box, and the letters that had brought the four guests to Serenity and Zachary’s will. She skimmed over her involvement in the sting, choosing not to give him a heart attack so early in the morning, but she did add that they’d arrested Glen, who had confessed to killing Zachary.

“Wow, you did have a busy couple of days
. I’m sensing, though, that in spite of the fact that you solved Zachary’s murder, as you set out to do, all is not perfect in the world.”

“I’m still trying to figure out how our guests are connected
. I found out that Kyle is Zachary’s grandson by a child he gave up for adoption before his accident, but I have no idea how the others are related. I suppose I should gather them together and tell them that they’ve all been named in Zachary’s will, but I’m sure there will be questions and I’d really like to have at least some of the answers before I speak to them.”

“Does Kyle know he’s related to Zachary?”

“I’m sure he doesn’t.”

“And the others?”

“I brought up his name at least once in front of each of them during the week and on no occasion was there any sign of recognizing his name. I know Zachary paid John Henry to track them down, and I know he brought them here, and that he left a huge amount of money to each of them, especially Kyle. With the exception of Kyle, I don’t know why.”

Mike tossed another log on the fire,
then took both mugs to the kitchen to top them off before returning to the living room. “Don’t worry, you’ll figure it out.”

“Maybe.”

“What do you have there on your lap?
” Mike asked.

Tj looked at the package
. “Zachary left it for me.”

“Guess I’ll leave you alone to open it.”

“No, stay.” Mike sat down as Tj opened the package and gasped.

“What is it?
” Mike asked.

“Ashley and Gracie’s college fund,” she said as she stared down at the box that had been filled with coins for over a hundred years old.

Tj showered and dressed, then headed over to the cabins
. Once she had downed her second cup of coffee and her brain had started working again, she’d begun to put together bits and pieces of conversations she’d had over the past week and a theory began to emerge. She figured that if her theory was correct, the news would affect Carmen the least, so decided to start there. With Echo at her side, she knocked on Carmen’s cabin door. What she hadn’t counted on was Kyle’s presence in her cabin.

“Tj, come in.” Carmen, who wore a pair of gray sweatpants at least two sizes too big for her, answered the door
. “And you too, Echo,” she added as she opened the door wider to accommodate the dog’s large frame.

When Echo saw that Kyle was also in attendance, he started to wag his tale and bounded across the small room to where he sat on the floor beside the fire with Newton in his lap.

“Echo, down.” Tj didn’t want her overgrown dog to accidentally hurt the puppy in his enthusiasm to greet Kyle. Echo obediently lay down just inches from Kyle’s outstretched hand. Kyle set Newton on the floor before turning to scratch the larger dog behind the ears.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Tj addressed Kyle
. “I have something to talk to both of you about.”

“Really?” Carmen seemed surprised.

“Let’s let the dogs play while we talk at the table,” Tj said, referring to the small dining table in the corner of the room.

The real log cabin was one of resort’s smaller units, with a living area featuring a river-rock fireplace on one wall and a kitchen nook on the other. Just off the living area was a moderate-size bedroom and a cozy bath with a shower but no tub. As with all the cabins at the Hideaway, behind the building was a private deck with a small hot tub, which backed to the forest beyond.

“So what’s up?” Kyle asked after they were all seated.

“It’s about your job,” she looked at Kyle, “and your grant,” she turned to Carmen.

“They’re bogus, aren’t they?” Carmen sounded disappointed.

“We’d begun to suspect as much when neither of us had heard anything,” Kyle explained. “We compared letters and realized that they were most likely written by the same person. I guess the job offer was too good to be true.”

“Not necessarily,” Tj assured them
. “It’s possible that both the job offer and the offer of a grant were legitimate. I found out that the man who wrote both letters was a good friend of mine, Zachary Collins.”

“The
man who died,” Carmen realized.

“Yeah, the man who died,” Tj confirmed
. “I found copies of both letters in his safety-deposit box. I believe that while there may very well be a real job and a real grant, my friend may have had ulterior reasons for bringing you here.”

“Such as?
” Kyle asked.

Tj stopped to think about what she was going to say
. The way she presented the situation to the pair could make all the difference in how well they took the news. “It might be best to start at the beginning and sort of loop around to this point, if that’s okay.”

Kyle and Carmen looked at each other and seemed to exchange an unspoken agreement
. “Sure, okay,” Kyle said.

Tj carefully unwound the story of a rich but lonely young man with too much time and too much money on his hands and a complete lack of guidance to go along with it
. She told them about Mary and her much-older husband and infant daughters. She shared what she believed had been an honest and heartfelt love between this ungrounded young man and the woman who fulfilled him. She shared the wonder of the pregnancy and the heartbreak of her death.

By the time she got around to the horrible accident that had destroyed so many lives, she realized her audience felt nothing but compassion for the young man who spent a lifetime in penance for the deeds he had done.

“So you’re saying that my grandfather was killed in an accident caused by Zachary?” Carmen asked.

“Yes, I believe so,”
Tj confirmed. “I know Zachary’s scars were due to an automobile accident that was his fault, and that a man named Timothy Bell was killed in it. I remember you telling me that your Grandma Bell had eleven cats.”

“Grandma Bell’s husband was named Timothy
. You think your friend brought me here to right this wrong by providing the funding for the study I’m working on?”

Tj nodded. She thought about telling her about the money Zachary had left her, which would easily fund multiple studies, but decided to wait until everyone was together.

Tj looked at Kyle who had yet to say anything.

“So what exactly are you saying?” He asked
. “That my dad was this man’s son?”

“Yes I believe that he was.”

“So Maude and Mille are really my half-aunts?”

“That’s what I think
. The story fits, and they have necklaces identical to one Zachary has. Zachary’s Mary was wearing it in a photo he had. Maude mentioned that their mother died when they were babies, but I believe Mary was Maude and Millie’s mother who for some reason decided to run away with Zachary. I guess their father could have told them she was dead to cover her absence.”

Tj held her breath while she allowed Kyle time to process everything
. It was a lot to deal with all at once.

Kyle smiled. “My mom is going to
love
them. From the first moment I met them, I kept thinking how well they’d fit in with our family. Now I guess I’ll get the chance to see if I’m right. Do they know?”

“Not yet
. I thought I’d head over there next.”

“Maybe I should go with you.
” Kyle looked at Carmen. “Maybe we both should.”

Deciding to leave Echo and Newton in Carmen’s room, Tj, Kyle, and Carmen walked along the lakeshore path to Maude and Millie’s cabin. Unlike Carmen’s much simpler cabin, the cabin that had been reserved for Maude and Millie was one of their best. A large great room with an open-beam ceiling was furnished with overstuffed furniture arranged around the two-story fireplace. A fully stocked wet bar separated the living area from a cozy breakfast nook with a honey pine table tucked into a large bay window overlooking the lake. The kitchen was as large as the one in most homes, with modern appliances and mountain charm. Two bedrooms, each with their own bath and private deck, were arranged on either side of the great room, giving the occupants of the double cabin optimum privacy.

“What a nice surprise.
” Maude answered the door. “Millie and I are just sharing a pot of coffee with the boys. Would you care for a cup?”

“No, thank you
. We wondered if we might have a moment of your time.”

“Certainly
. Come on back to the deck. We have a fire going in the pit. It’s actually quite warm if you cuddle up close to it.”

“The thing we want to talk to you about is sort of personal.
” Tj glanced toward Abe and Andy.

“I’m sure whatever it is it will be fine
to say in front of the boys,” Maude responded.

There were four benches around the large fire pit
. Each bench was long enough for two people of average size, as long as they sat closely together. Andy and Maude were on one bench, Abe and Millie on another. Kyle and Carmen sat together, leaving Tj feeling like a third wheel—or seventh wheel, as the case may be.

“I’m not exactly sure how to approach this,” Tj began
. “I’ve thought about it quite a bit and have decided just to get right to the point.”

“Of course, dear,” Millie encouraged
. “That’s usually best.”

“It’s about the contest you won.”

“Winning that contest was the luckiest thing that’s happened to us in our whole lives.” Maude smiled at Andy.

“I believe the letter you received actually came from a friend of mine, Zachary Collins.
” Tj studied everyone’s faces to see if there was a glimmer of recognition.

“The man who had a necklace like ours?
” Maude looked surprised. “Why would he pay for us to come here? We’ve never even met him.”

“He knew your mother
. At least I think he did. Was your mother’s name Mary?”

“Well, yes, it was, but our mother has been dead for a long time.”

“I realize your mother died, but I have reason to believe she didn’t die when you thought she did. It seems my friend Zachary knew your mother after she left your father.”

“Go on,” Millie encouraged.

“I’m not sure what your father told you, but it seems your mother was married to your father at a very young age, probably no older than fifteen. She met Zachary, a handsome young man, when she was barely seventeen. I’m sure she loved you both very much, but from what I could find out, she fell in love with Zachary. It seems she ran away with him and they lived— quite happily, I’m told—in his big old house on the lake.”

Millie wiped a tear from her cheek.

“I’m sorry if this upsets you.”

“I’m not upset
. I’m happy that Mama found some happiness in this life,” Millie corrected her.

“Besides,” Maude added, “it explains a lot
. Millie and I never could understand why the people in our congregation used to snicker when we’d speak of our dead mother and our poor, grieving father.”

Tj was surprised at their reaction to the news
. She’d expected them to be…well, distraught that their mother had deserted them and their father had lied to them.

“Please understand,” Millie added, “we loved our daddy in our own way
. He guided us and took care of us. But Daddy was a hard, unbending man. We’re not surprised our mother left him. We would have too had we the courage.”