Black Diamond Death (23 page)

“We started having an affair and then one night at her house she told me she had some great business proposition for me and said if I wanted in, there would be money in it for me. She had an investor who would buy any home she offered him. All we needed to do was flip it and make a profit. I wrote the appraisals and she took care of the rest.”

“Sounds legitimate,” I said. “I don’t see the problem.”

“The appraisals were fraudulent.”

“In what way?” I said.

“Vicki would find an investment property, usually a short sale or a foreclosed home.”

“Or someone who was desperate to sell,” I said.

He nodded.

“She would get her investor to front the money and then once she closed the deal, we waited about four months and she relisted it.”

“Let me guess,” I said. “You relisted it for a significantly higher amount.”

“We hired someone to come in and clean, maybe slap on some paint and make a few changes, but in the listing we fudged the truth.”

“How so?”

“We mentioned the improvements that were done, and they had been, but we also said there were others.”

“Ones you never made?”

He nodded.

“Vicki had a way to make a hundred dollars of work look like several thousand.”

“When in fact, most of the changes and upgrades never took place?”

“It depended on what shape the house was in. She would hire guys on the cheap to make a few fixes to certain items that were easily noticed and then she would lie about other items that weren’t visible in a walkthrough. I chose comps in the area of higher-end homes and made it look like they were similar to the home we had for sale so that she could market the listing for an inflated price and the purchaser thought they were getting a good deal. And because I signed off, there was never any question about the validity.”

“And the money?” I said.

“Vicki gave me a cut and kept the rest for herself.”

“Was the investor in on it too?”

“That’s the interesting part. A couple months ago she admitted there was no investor. The money came from a trust fund she received when her parents died. She’d blown through most of it, but this scheme of hers was a way for her to maintain the lifestyle she wanted.”

“How did she manage to pull the deal off without the so-called investor there to sign?” I said.

“Most homes in Park City sell to people who live out of the area so she forged the signatures and at closing, she produced a document that she was granted attorney-in-fact privileges on behalf of the investor, and that’s all she needed.”

“Wouldn’t the title company recognize that?”

“She used a different company every time, and if they ever needed to call and speak to the investor, when they dialed the number Vicki gave them, it rang through to me.”

“And Charlotte’s role in all of this?”

“From what I know, she didn’t have one. Charlotte and Vicki had their own listings and then worked as a team on homes or properties that went over the million dollar mark. Vicki made sure the homes she purchased never sold for that much so it wouldn’t raise any suspicions.”

“But Charlotte found out, didn’t she?” I said.

He moved his head up and down.

I had almost all the pieces to my puzzle, and for the first time in weeks, my thought process was clear. The phone call Audrey got from her sister saying she needed to talk to her about something had nothing to do with Parker and everything to do with Vicki. From what I knew about Charlotte she would never stand by while fraud was being committed whether they were friends or partners or not.

“I need to get something else off my chest.”

“Go on,” I said.

“Charlotte came to see me and said she knew what we had been doing and that it needed to stop. She said she wanted to give me the opportunity to turn myself in.”

“And did you?”

He shook his head.

“I was going to. I called Vicki and told her I couldn’t go through with it anymore. I wanted out.”

“Did you tell her Charlotte had been to see you?” I said.

He nodded.

“You’ve got to believe me; I didn’t know anything would happen to Charlotte at the time or I never would have said a word about it.”

“When did you tell Vicki?”

Some time passed before he produced an answer and then he said, “It was the night before Charlotte died.”

I didn’t even make it to my car before I called Nick. It went to voicemail, and I suspected his return flight had taken off. I sent him a text and then flung the car door open and sat down and pressed the number 3 button on my phone. A female voice on the other end announced herself.

“I need to speak with Chief Sheppard,” I said.

“He’s in a meeting right now. Shall I tell him to call you when it’s over?”

“Rose, this is Sloane,” I said. “Do you know when I will be able to speak with him? It’s a matter of some urgency.”

“They’ve been at it for at least an hour already so I bet they wrap it up soon. Can someone else help you?”

For a split second it crossed my mind to talk with Coop, but then it passed.

“Please tell him to call me the second you see him,” I said.

“Sloane, you’re not in any kind of trouble are you?”

I heard a series of beeps.

“There’s a call coming in on my other line and I need to take it. Please have him call me, okay?”

I clicked over to the other line. It was Tommy.

“Where the hell is she!”

“Calm down Tommy. What happened?”

“I got out of the shower and Bridget was gone.”

So much for my advice to her to stay put.

“Did she say she was leaving? Maybe she ran a few errands.”

“Without her keys or her money and stuff. Nuh, I don’t think so. Her car is still parked out front.”

“Did anything happen between you two?” I said.

“We were uh, spending some alone time in the bedroom and stuff and then she said she was hungry so she was going to make us some lunch while I showered.”

“And did she?”

“There’s a finished sandwich on the counter and another one that’s not all put together and the music is still on.”

I found it hard to believe that she would get up and walk out sans her wallet. No woman leaves home without their lifeline. But I didn’t want to worry Tommy more than he already was.

“Let me make a few calls and see if I can find her, okay?”

I ended the call and dialed Chief Sheppard’s direct line. There was still no answer. I left a message and told him where I was headed and gave him a brief summary of the day’s events. Tommy might not know what happened to Bridget, but I did. And I wasn’t about to wait to find out.

Vicki’s car was parked sideways in the driveway and the hood of the trunk was propped open. Dangling from the release handle was a six inch strand of hair that looked like it ripped off when it caught in the latch. The floor of the trunk was wet and a few pieces of snow remained intact. Duct tape was on the floor of the front passenger seat. Bridget was here.

I cocked my gun and sprinted toward the front door. It wasn’t closed all the way. I stepped inside and looked around and was relieved she didn’t share my affinity for small furry warning signals.

The house was silent except for the heater which sounded off with a slow hum. I cleared the entry way and front room and moved to the kitchen. An unlit candle rested on the counter next to the refrigerator. I picked it up and recognized the smell. It was the same aroma that wafted outside Charlotte’s house right before I was knocked unconscious. It was Vicki who hit me that night—it had been Vicki all along.

Aside from the candle, the only item of significance on the counter was a small container with a label that read Aconitum Napellus, or as Maddie tagged it, Monkshood. Vicki’s drug of choice. The same poison used to kill Charlotte. The cap was secured around the bottle. I hoped I wasn’t too late.

At the end of the hall a dark passageway led to the basement. I felt my way down and turned the corner into the first room. It was empty. I checked the bathroom and then headed for the other room. When I neared the door I heard a noise—it was faint but loud enough that I could make out the rhythm of someone’s voice.

“Not a sound, you hear me. Don’t make a peep!”

I held my gun out in front of me with one hand and reached for the handle of the door with the other. It was locked, but the door was cheap and hollow. I turned to the side and aligned myself with the area beneath the knob and then kicked—hard. It thrust open. There, on a chair in the corner of the room, was Bridget. She was bound to the chair with rope that Vicki had wrapped around her wrists. From the years I spent with a father who never got the sons he wanted, I could see Vicki’s skills in that department left a lot to be desired. A single piece of duct tape was stretched across Bridget’s mouth and her cheeks were stained with tears. Vicki was positioned behind Bridget and held a knife to her throat.

“Not what you planned,” I said.

She grabbed a mass of Bridget’s hair and tightened her grip on the knife.

“Stay where you are. Don’t come any closer.”

“The knife doesn’t suit you,” I said.

She slanted her head to one side.

“You think you know so much, don’t you?”

“Fake an appraisal, screw a potential client into thinking they scored a great deal on a renovated home, and you pocket a bunch of extra cash,” I said. “That about right?”

The look on her face said it all.

“And what about Parker Stanton, where did he come into play?” I said.

“What does one have to do with another?”

“Since you killed him, I would say everything,” I said. “But why change your MO? First the poison and then a gun, it doesn’t make sense.”

“I didn’t kill him, ever think of that?”

“But you did kill Charlotte,” I said.

I reached in my pocket with my free hand and pulled out the container I found in the kitchen.

“And this will prove it,” I said.

“You’ll never get the chance.”

“I won’t allow you to hurt anyone else.”

She gave me a look that said
yeah, right
.

“You won’t shoot me,” she said. “I bet you don’t even know how to use that thing.”

I popped off a warning shot about three inches from her right temple. It settled into the wall behind her. I then redirected the gun to the middle of her forehead.

“Drop the knife, kick it over to me, and step away from Bridget,” I said.

“I’m the one calling the shots here. If you don’t want me to end her life right now, you’ll toss that gun over to me.”

“That’s not going to happen,” I said. “I spoke to the chief of police on my way here. In about a minute cops will be all over this place.”

It was a white lie, but I hoped it would save Bridget’s life. Vicki didn’t look convinced.

“I don’t hear any cars outside. What do you take me for?”

“Let her go,” I said, “it doesn’t have to end like this.”

She scrunched her eyelids together until they were almost closed and glared at me.

“Charlotte. Little miss goody two shoes. She had everyone wrapped around her finger. I showed her. She wasn’t the only one who could make money.”

“Except she made it the honest way and you didn’t,” I said.

“Who cares how I earned it, I’m the one who’s still alive.”

“You had to kill your partner to get where you are, someone who was supposed to be your friend. And for what, so you could make a few bucks.”

“She wanted to leave me and work for another agency. She said it was time she branched out on her own. Can you believe that? After all I did for her, she didn’t even care.”

“Charlotte wasn’t going to another agency, she was leaving the country,” I said. “And I don’t blame her. She wanted to get away from you and from Parker and all the people she thought she could trust in her life. Both of you let her down. All she wanted at the end was to help others have a better life. But you and your greed took that away from her.”

Vicki stared at me in disbelief.

“But Jack said if I didn’t do something, she would leave and…”

“And what?” I said. “He told you to kill her?”

She opened her mouth and made a noise that reminded me of a hyena.

“Jack didn’t have a clue what was going on, he was too stupid to figure out what I was doing.”

“What then?” I said.

“His only concern was making sure Charlotte didn’t get picked up by another agency. A couple weeks ago we made a deal—if I convinced her to stay there was $10,000 in it for me. He was afraid he’d be replaced if she left. But no, Charlotte’s mind was already made up, and do you want to know something—that ungrateful bitch planned to rat me out to the board. She told me I had a week to confess or she’d do it for me.”

“So you decided to make her pay,” I said.

“You don’t get it, do you? I made a name for myself here. Once I lost my license and word got around, I’d be ruined in this town. Getting rid of Charlotte was my only choice, and I knew just how to do it. Before skiing she liked to mingle with the guests and have a glass of wine. She was too busy schmoozing with everyone to notice me come in. I was in a wig, of course. And when she got up to use the restroom, I did what I needed to do. It was so easy.”

While Vicki continued her rant, Bridget wiggled free of her wrist bands. Once they were out, she lifted up her fingers about two inches and looked me in the eye and counted to three. I took a step forward and Bridget threw her hands up and grabbed Vicki and tried to wrestle the knife out of her hands. In her attempt to secure the knife she shielded her body in front of Vicki and I couldn’t get a clear shot. Vicki raised the knife and then swung it downwards. It slashed Bridget in the side and she fell to the floor. She then angled the knife and lunged at me.

A shot went off and Vicki collapsed on the floor. She had been hit once in the chest, but there was one problem, my gun never fired. I felt a firm grip on my shoulder and I swung around to see Coop hovering over me.

“You alright?”

I wanted to respond, but I was in shock. Coop radioed for an ambulance. I knelt down over Bridget. She clenched her stomach. Blood was everywhere. Coop bent down next to me and tried to stop the bleeding.