Trapped by Revenge: A Shelby Nichols Adventure (20 page)

“Yeah, but it’s not that easy. I’ve been over everything so many times, and nothing is really clicking. Even Jim is stumped.” She pushed away her plate of uneaten food, and finished off her diet soda. “So do you think you’ll come tomorrow?”

“Um… I need to think about it. I’d like to come, but I’m not sure it’s appropriate.” I needed to go so I could listen to everyone’s thoughts, but that meant I might need to go incognito in my black wig or something.

“Come with me. No one knows you’re a suspect yet.” She was thinking she could keep it out of the paper until my arraignment on Tuesday, so I should be all right.

That decided it. “Okay. I’ll come.”

“Good. I’ll pick you up at about eleven-thirty.”

***

The next day was cloudy with a chance of rain. Perfect for a graveside service. I dressed in my black pencil skirt with a white blouse and black blazer, and pulled my hair back into a tight bun. With my dark glasses on, I didn’t think anyone would know who I was. And going with Billie was a plus because she wasn’t related to anyone either. We would just be acquaintances of Sam’s, like most people there.

Chris couldn’t believe I was really going to go, and it shook my resolve. “But honey,” he said. “What if Detective Bates is there? Going makes you look guilty.”

“I have to go. If the killer’s there I can’t take the chance of missing him. It might be the break we need to get out of this mess.”

He sighed, thinking that he should be the one to go with me, not Billie. If he was there the detective wouldn’t try anything. He was still upset that Bates had the gall to question me before booking me. And worse, that he had tried to bully me into a plea-bargain. That guy was bad news.

“If Bates is there,” I began, “I won’t let him bully me, I promise. Besides, if he’s there, then Dimples will probably be there too.”

“Um…you should know that Dimples is off your case,” Chris said.

“What? When did you find that out?”

“Yesterday. I called him about your arraignment, and that’s when he told me. He said Bates is now the lead investigator.”

“Well damn,” I said. “That sucks. Bates didn’t find out about my file did he?”

Chris shrugged. “I don’t know anything about that. But I know that the evidence they do have is pretty solid. The only thing they lack is a motive, so that’s what I’m focusing on.”

“We just need to find that stupid ledger,” I said. “It’s the key to everything.”

“Yes. That about sums it up. You heard from Manetto?” He’d almost slipped and called him Uncle Joey, and he hated that. If I’d just stop calling him Uncle Joey too, he’d feel better. It was almost like I thought of Manetto as my real uncle, and it bothered him. I shouldn’t be so attached.

Was he right? At first, I’d called him Uncle Joey to bug him, but now it was a habit, and I realized that somewhere along the line I’d lost my objectivity. “Not yet,” I answered. “I’m hoping to hear from him today though.”

“What about Ramos? Is he any closer to finding the ledger?”

“Not that I know of,” I answered. “I can give him a call though and maybe meet up with him.”

“No, that’s okay,” Chris said, instantly disliking that idea. “I’m sure they’ll let you know if they find anything. I’m just on edge. I don’t mean to take it out on you.” His worry stemmed from my upcoming trial. He was thinking he’d do his best, but the evidence against me was so solid… it would take a miracle to get me acquitted.

“Don’t think like that,” I said. “Maybe the killer will be at the service and I’ll find out. Then we can let Uncle Joey know who it is, and he can take care of it for us.”

Chris grimaced and I knew that was the wrong thing to say, so I continued. “Or I can tell Dimples and he can take care of it. We’ve got lots of people who are helping us out, so something’s bound to turn up, you’ll see.”

He gathered me in a fierce hug. “I sure hope so.”

A car honked from the driveway. “That’s Billie. I’ve got to go.”

He nodded and I hurried out to the car. Guilt about what I was putting Chris through ate at me, and a sick feeling curdled my stomach. If I ever got out of this, I should probably tell Uncle Joey I was done for good. No more working for him. It was time to call it quits. I had to think of my family and what was best for them. It was probably best for me too, but doing it for them made it easier, how crazy was that?

Billie smiled as I got in the car, but the fact that I was wearing sunglasses puzzled her. It wasn’t sunny, so if I was hoping no one would pay any attention to me, this was the wrong way to do it.

“I don’t think wearing sunglasses to a graveside service is out of the ordinary,” I said. “People do it all the time to hide that they’ve been crying.”

“What the f…reak!” she said. “How did you…?”

I sighed and shook my head like she was a dummy. “Um… premonitions? Remember?”

“Oh yeah.”

“I just got the feeling you disapproved of my sunglasses… so I went with it. I take it I was right?”

“Um… yeah.” She was thinking that was totally weird. Almost like I’d read her mind. Wow, if I could do that to her, how would it be at the service? Maybe that was the real reason I’d wanted to come. Looking at it that way certainly made sense. “Are you picking up anything about the service? Will the killer be there?”

“I’m not sure,” I said. “But I’ll know better once we get there. If the killer’s there, I’ll know.”

“Wow, that’s amazing.” She was thinking if it was true, it would be handy to have me around, especially when she did her interviews. It was a good thing I wasn’t a reporter. She’d hate to compete with me. I’d scoop her every time.

I didn’t interrupt her line of thinking, mostly because it kept her from thinking about wanting to use my skills for her benefit. I already had enough on my plate without adding her to the mix. Of course, maybe once I was through with Uncle Joey, I’d have time to help her out once in a while.

We arrived at the cemetery and pulled behind a long line of cars. Several people had already gathered at the graveside, and we made our way over to join them. “I want to stand in the back,” I whispered to Billie. She nodded, and we found a place close to the casket, but still behind several people.

I glanced around, noticing Detective Bates standing on the opposite side of us. He narrowed his eyes at me, thinking I sure had balls to show up here. And I was with that nosey reporter. What was that all about? Maybe I really was the killer and I’d fooled them all.

He shifted his attention to the others in the crowd, and I followed his thoughts as he noted who Sam’s friends and family were to himself. As much as I didn’t like him, it was handy to know who the different people were. He was looking for any of Sam’s clients, hoping he’d be able to match them with those in Sam’s files. Of course from many of the invoices without names, he’d figured out that the complete client list was missing, and probably what was stolen from Sam’s safe. So coming here might not help him much, unless I was hiding something and he could goad me into spilling it.

Bates glanced at me, and I kept my gaze lowered. He wondered if I had taken the information from Sam’s safe. So far, they hadn’t recovered any of my fingerprints at his house, but at my trial, he’d be sure to point out that it was probably me. Even if it was only conjecture and the judge threw it out, it wasn’t something jurors were likely to forget.

As anger surged over me, I tried to keep my breathing even. Instead of smacking him like I’d like to, the best thing I could do now, was focus on the real reason I’d come. I immediately turned my attention to the rest of the crowd. There were around thirty people, so it was easy to touch on everyone’s thoughts for a minute or two. Unfortunately, I didn’t get anything about who killed him. But on the positive side, at least no one was thinking that I had done it, except for Bates, so that was good.

An older man had taken an interest in Billie though, so I concentrated on his thoughts. He pulled out a piece of paper and glanced between it and Billie until he was satisfied that she matched the photo on the paper. I realized he had an envelope for Billie, but he didn’t know what was in it, only that it was from Sam.

Excitement surged through my veins. Maybe this was it! Maybe Sam had saved something for Billie that would lead her to his killer. I searched the man’s thoughts, hoping to pick up more, but by then the minister had finished up, and people were putting flowers on the casket to say their last goodbyes.

As the crowd dispersed, Billie leaned toward me. “Did you find anything?”

“Indirectly,” I said. “Just wait for a minute and you’ll know what I mean.”

The man came toward us and smiled. “Hello, I’m a friend of Sam’s. Are you Billie Payne?”

“That’s me,” Billie said.

“I have something for you. Could we talk privately?” He sent me an apologetic smile.

“Go ahead,” I said. “I’ll just wait here.”

“Thank you.” He took Billie’s arm and stepped out of my hearing range to talk. As he began, I picked up that Sam had given him specific instructions that if something happened to him, he was to deliver an envelope to a reporter named Billie Payne. He had tried to reach her through the paper several times and was relieved to find her at the service. He was…

“I’m surprised to see you here,” Bates said, startling me enough to send my heart rate into overdrive. “That was pretty amazing how fast you got out of jail the other night.” He was thinking I must have some powerful friends and wondered who they were. “Why are you here anyway? Is your conscience bothering you?”

“Give it a rest, Bates,” I said. “I’m trying to find the real killer, which, if you were doing your job, you would be doing too.”

He huffed and his mouth turned into a grimace. “That’s exactly what I’m doing.” He stared pointedly at me.

“Hmm… well, you’re barking up the wrong tree. What you should be considering is why the DA’s office contacted you. Isn’t it usually the other way around? Why would they do that? And more important, who is the judge that signed the warrant for my arrest?”

Bates shook his head, wondering what that had to do with anything. “I don’t know who the judge was. We have lots of judges who sign warrants, and as far as the DA’s office contacting me, that’s not unheard of either.” Although it did seem unusual. At the time, he figured the chief had filled the DA’s office in on the case, and they had deemed it ready to press charges. But with the way things were in the office, he doubted the chief would do that since everyone seemed to have a soft spot for me. Maybe I had a point, but as far as he could tell, there just wasn’t anyone else who could have murdered Killpack. All the evidence pointed to me.

“Someone set me up, Bates. I don’t know why, but that’s what I’m trying to figure out. It would help if you could do the same.”

Bates opened his mouth to tell me I’d fooled everyone else, but I couldn’t fool him. Before he could utter a word, Billie came to my side. “Hey, are you ready to go?” she asked.

“Yes,” I answered. I narrowed my eyes at Bates and in a low voice said, “You’re the fool.” I turned away, but not before I had the satisfaction of hearing his indrawn breath and reading his surprise.

“Working your magic I see,” Billie said.

We walked toward her car while anger simmered in my chest. When we were far enough away that he wouldn’t hear me, I let it out. “That jerk. He’s convinced I’m guilty and won’t even look at anyone else. He’s so narrow-minded it makes me sick.”

“Yeah,” Billie agreed. “Drew was pretty upset that Bates got him taken off your case.” She didn’t add that he was plenty worried about me too. He didn’t like the odds, but he hadn’t given up.

I let out a sigh and pulled my lips into a grimace. “I know how bad it looks. If we don’t catch a break soon, I’m toast.”

“This might help.” She opened her purse to show me an envelope tucked inside. “It’s from Sam. Let’s open it up as soon as we get in the car.”

That was good motivation to get me moving. Inside the car, Billie took out the envelope and ripped it open. She pulled out a piece of paper folded into thirds and flattened it out. Taped to the inside of the paper was a small key. Billie scanned the paper, turning it over to see a note, but it was blank.

“Damn! There’s no writing on here,” she exclaimed. “It’s just a key.” She pulled the key from the paper and ripped the tape off to examine it more closely.

“What kind of a key is it?” I asked.

“I don’t know. It’s pretty small. Maybe it goes to a strongbox or a lockbox? Oh my gosh! Do you think it went to his safe?”

“No,” I assured her. “His safe had a combination lock, not a key.”

“That’s good.” She turned the key over and over, trying to figure out what it could possibly open. “I can’t believe he didn’t give me a clue. This is nuts! If he wanted me to have it in case he died, you’d think he’d at least give me a clue as to what it went to.”

“He probably did,” I said. She glanced at me with a raised brow. “Hey, just think about it. You talked to him a week before he died. Maybe he told you something then. You just need to put it together. Think about what he told you. Write it down if you have to. There’s got to be a clue there somewhere.”

“Yeah, okay,” she sighed. “In the meantime, I can take it to a locksmith and see if they can tell me what kind of key it is. That should narrow it down a little.”