Sally Berneathy - Death by Chocolate 03 - The Great Chocolate Scam (6 page)

Before I could get my jaw off the ground, a woman stepped up behind the boy. She was barely taller than he was and had the same large Bambi eyes though her features were sharp and her hair was bright red, a shade of red that Mother Nature was never going to claim.
“Now, Rickie, don’t be rude to Daddy’s new wife.”

Once again Paula came to my rescue.
“Sorry, we’re closed.” She tried to shut the door, but the woman caught the edge and held it open.

“
You must be Lindsay. I’m Grace Ganyon, and this is Rickie, Jr.” She extended a small hand with inch long nails that matched her hair. They were similar to Marissa’s, but Grace’s polish was chipped. Out of habit I accepted her hand. Small but hard and tough. “Rick told us so much about you. He always said if anything happened to him, we could count on you to help us.”

I was pretty sure Rick did not say any such thing.
“Odd. He never mentioned you all.”

Grace heaved a deep sigh.
“Rick wasn’t a real responsible dad.”

That I could believe.

“Can I have a cookie?” the boy asked, shoving into the room and heading for the display case.

Rude, pushy…yeah, he could be
Rick’s son.

Which meant I probably had some sort of obligation to him since I was currently in charge of
Rick’s estate.

Damn.

“Might as well.” I sighed and opened the door wider to allow Grace inside.

Paula shot me a disgusted look, locked the door behind Grace and flipped the sign to
“Closed.”

Nice gesture, but if there were more of
Rick’s relations out there, I doubted a simple sign would discourage them.

I got cookies and Cokes for the kid and his mom, and we sat down at a table.

Paula came over. “Where’s your cell phone?”

“
In my purse.”

She waited silently while I got my purse
took out my phone and laid it on the table, then she nodded. “I’ve got to pick up Zach from daycare, but I’ll have my phone with me. Call me if you need…anything.”

“
Got it,” I said. I appreciated the offer but thought she might be overreacting a little. Grace and the kid were obnoxious and pushy, but I couldn’t imagine I’d need help in dealing with them. Well, maybe to get them to go away.

Paula left through the kitchen.

“Thank you so much,” Grace said. “We haven’t had anything to eat since breakfast.”

“
Breakfast sucked.” The boy talked around a mouthful of cookie.

Grace patted his grungy little hand and looked pitiful.
“The motel we’re staying at didn’t have a very good free breakfast. Just some cereal and stale pastries.”

“
Well, bless your hearts,” I said. Grace either didn’t notice or chose to ignore my sarcastic tone. However, if this was Rick’s son, I supposed the least I could do was feed him, something Rick had apparently never done. “I could make you a sandwich.” Paula would have scowled at me if she’d been there to hear my offer.

Grace grabbed my hand. Lots of grabby folks from Crappie Creek.
“Thank you! Rick said you were a nice person.”

I rose, pulling my hand from her grasp. I could
n’t take any more. It was one thing to tolerate a load of crappie from Rick’s mother, but I wasn’t sure this woman had ever been his wife or the mother of his son. “When did you last talk to Rick?” I asked.

She smiled wanly.
“It’s been a while.”

I smiled smugly.
“That explains it. If you’d talked to him recently, he wouldn’t have told you I was nice.”

I went back to the kitchen and slapped together a couple of sandwiches then took them out to Grace and Rickie, Jr. They did dive into the food as if they were starving. Maybe they really were.

“I’m glad to hear you’ve got a motel room because the cops are keeping Rick’s house for another day, and my guest room is full,” I said in an effort to thwart any ideas they might have on that front.

Grace swallowed her bite of sandwich and took a slow sip of her drink.
“Well, we weren’t really planning to stay at the motel another night. Rick has never paid child support, and money’s a little tight right now.” Her face crinkled, and she looked as if she might be going to cry. Actually, that’s not quite true. She looked as if she might be going to pretend to cry.

“
Mama, do we have to sleep with the bugs again tonight?”

Melodrama. Another element that suggested this boy had
Rick’s DNA.

“
No, baby, we’ll sleep in the car tonight.”

I sank down in the chair beside Grace, ready to launch my defense against the attack I knew was coming.
“You don’t want to come to my house. You’d have to take the basement, and I have a lot of bugs down there, mostly spiders. Big ones. So big they catch birds instead of flies in their webs.”

“
I could sleep on the sofa, and Rickie would be happy on the floor with just a blanket to wrap up in. It would be better than my car.”

“
Sorry, those spots are already taken. But you might persuade Rick’s mom to let you share the guest bed.”

I had a feeling that would get a reaction, and it did.

Grace no longer looked like she was going to cry. Suddenly she looked as if she was going to bite. “Mary’s staying at your house?”

I
wasn’t sure if Mary was a nickname for Marissa or vice versa, and I had no idea what name was on that woman’s birth certificate, so I ignored the whole issue. “Rick’s mother and his two brothers are staying at my house. I have a small house. We’ve already hit way beyond cozy.”

“
She’s probably the one who killed Rick.”

I arched a dubious eyebrow.
“You think Marissa would kill her own son?”

“
She sure wasn’t much of a mother. Rick lived with his daddy most of the time.”

“Where’s
Daddy now?” She might slip up and tell the truth.

Her dark eyes narrowed.
“Why do you want to know?”

“
I thought he might want to join the slumber party at my house.”

She blinked a couple of times. In all those purported discussions between Rick and her about me, I guess he forgot to tell her how sarcastic I can be.

“I don’t know,” she mumbled and went back to eating her sandwich.

“
So you think Rick’s mother killed him because he liked his father best?”

She shrugged.
“I wouldn’t put anything past that woman. Rick was working on a big deal, and she wanted in, but he wouldn’t let her. Made her pretty mad.”

Apparently Rick actually had been in recent contact with his family.
“What kind of a deal?”

“
How would I know? Nobody ever tells me anything.”

“
I know just what you mean. Rick never told me he was married before.” A happy thought crossed my mind. Maybe he’d never bothered to get a divorce. Maybe he and I had never been married.

“
We were married in the eyes of God!” Grace protested.

My hope for that avenue of escape withered and died.
“What about the eyes of the legal system?”

She cast a glance at Rickie, Jr., who had finished his sandwich and was starting on his second cookie.
“Mary wouldn’t stand for that,” she mumbled.

Suddenly I felt sorry for this woman. Pregnant, alone and up against Marissa, then raising a son with no help from the worthless father. I told myself it
wasn’t my problem and I should just send them on their way with a dozen cookies in a to-go bag. I assured myself I had no responsibility for these people even though I had access to Rick’s property and Rick might—emphasis on the
might
—have fathered this boy and failed to provide for him.

All my arguments with myself were pointless.

“You can stay at my place tonight,” I said with a sigh of resignation. “I’ll borrow an air mattress from my neighbor.”

I blame my mother for imbuing me with an over-active sense of responsibility. Or maybe it was
Rick’s fault. He had so little that I learned to make up for his failings.

Grace teared up and grabbed my hand again.
“Oh, thank you! Rick was right. You are a good person.”

“
We don’t have to sleep with the bugs again tonight?” Rickie asked.

There was something about that kid that got on my nerves. He must belong to Rick.
“No guarantees,” I said. “I have a no-kill policy at my house.”

*~*~*

Grace and Rickie’s car was an old, rusty Ford that rattled and spewed black smoke as they followed me home. I told myself I was doing the right thing even if I didn’t especially like these people. Karma had done me a favor by getting Rick out of my life. I had to pass on the good deeds or Karma might get mad at me and throw Rick back.

“
This is nice,” Grace said as she and Rickie climbed my porch steps. Whether she meant it or not, at least she had better manners than Marissa.

Nah, she must mean it. I had
n’t seen any sign of manners.

I opened the door and invited them in.

Henry, waiting just inside, gave them a once-over and decided to ignore them. He head-bumped my leg then trotted off toward the kitchen without making any move to attack them. One vote against Rickie being Rick’s son.

“
Have a seat, let me feed my cat, and I’ll be right back. After I answer my cell phone.” My cell phone had begun playing Hoyt Axton’s
Wild Bull Rider
. Fred’s ring tone. Not that he’d ever been a bull rider. Well, he could have for all I knew, but he’d have made the bull shower first, so I doubted it. However, the song reflected his attitude.

I took my phone
from my purse. “Hello.” I followed Henry to the kitchen.

“
Now who have you brought home?” he asked.

“Rick’s
son and the boy’s mother.” I filled Henry’s bowl.

Fred was silent for a long moment. Got him again!
“Are you sure?” he asked.

“
Of course not.”

“
Those other people are gone?”

“
I don’t know. I haven’t seen them in several hours, so I’m hoping they’ve moved on to bigger and better swindles.” I closed the pantry door firmly so Henry couldn’t get in and help himself to his cat food, something he’d done before, and told Fred about Bryan and Marissa. “Maybe they’ll stay with him tonight.”

“
That would be good. I really don’t trust those people. Last night one of the boys was outside your house, trying to peer inside the windows.”

“
What? Omigawd! When?” I shivered at the thought of somebody peering into my house. “And why?”

“
Twelve minutes after midnight, and I have no idea why. I’m not psychic. I thought at first it was Rick since he’s done that sort of thing more than once in the past. Then I realized it must be one of his brothers since he’s dead. I went outside to confront him, but he was gone by the time I got there.”

“
Which brother was it?”

“
I don’t know. They look a lot alike, and it was dark. Which one was wearing black last night?”

I had
n’t paid much attention to the boys, but I was pretty sure they had both been wearing faded jeans and light-colored tee-shirts. “Neither one of them. Well, not before we went to bed, anyway. Maybe they had black pajamas. Damn! Peeking in the window? That’s creepy! Are you sure it was one of them?”

“
Do they have a fourth brother?”

“
I hope not, but it’s possible. Rick’s relatives just keep coming out of the woodwork.”

“
I’ll see what I can find out.”

He hung up. If I needed an air mattress,
I’d have to call him back.

But that turned out to be unnecessary. Marissa phoned to say she and the boys were going to dinner with Bryan, and then
they’d all be staying at his three bedroom condo on the Plaza. I smiled as I disconnected the call. I could just see Marissa and Bryan sitting across the table from each other at dinner, both trying for the biggest smile. They’d light up the entire restaurant.

I strolled back into the living room to tell Grace and Rickie they would have a bed and a sofa and would
n’t have to sleep on the floor or in the basement with the giant spiders. Grace was sitting on the sofa, thumbing through my coffee table book of cats while Rickie sat on the floor enthusiastically pumping the treadle of my grandmother’s antique Singer sewing machine.

“
Stop that!”

Rickie continued as if he had
n’t heard me.