Domestic Affairs (Tiara Investigations Mystery) (18 page)

Asher held out his hand to Tara. “Here, you can have this back.” It was the napkin from the scene of
 
the murder. “I took it from your handbag so you wouldn’t get in trouble.” Then he walked out, leaving us stunned.
 

I wasn’t about to offer any elaboration on that to Detective Kent, so I was happy when Tara sat down next to him. “Who are you liking for Thomas Chestnut’s murder?”
 

I’d never heard her talk like a TV show before. “I don’t know, Tara. Who do you like for it?”

Victoria sat on his other side. “One suspect is Al Ford. If Bea and Thomas Chestnut married, Paige would be cut out of the will.”
 

I rested against the door frame. “You need to talk to the guy at CDC. His office was next to Janice Marshall’s, and he was fired over something he did to Mr. Chestnut.
 
His first name is Robert. We knew all the acts of vandalism were senseless, but figured they had to make sense to someone. Each one involved physical security to commit or to solve, rather than cyber security. The former CDC employee is your man.
 
And as far as the wetware being tainted with Atropine, that would take someone who knows what he’s doing. Atropine is extremely deadly. Three to five milligrams can kill in three to five minutes.”

“Was the chip rigged for a delayed release? Like with a coating of some kind?” Victoria asked.

“No, there was a trap door, which was electronically and remotely controlled.” He moved toward me to make some reassuring gesture, but I was having none of it.
 
He continued, “I’m having Dr. Charles followed. Give me some credit.”

“Paige has something her father told her was a receiver for signals from the chip. I doubt it was the real one. The killer has that.”
 

Tara took a deep breath, then let it out. “Leigh, what are Asher and Janice guilty of, other than lying?”
 

“All week they have hindered the investigation.
 
They both knew Thomas Chestnut and Janice saw those men steal the body.”

 
Detective Kent looked at us one at a time. “They won’t get away with that.” Then he tried to change the subject. “Leigh, why didn’t you tell me about her getting into your house?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “Neither of them will show up to be interviewed, so good luck with that.” Before I could say anymore, Shorty walked up. I didn’t know he was still at the hospital.

“Leigh, your mother has gone into a coma.”

Victoria put her arm around me while Tara walked Detective Kent out. I heard her say, “Why don’t you go ahead and admit we are no longer untrained, ill-equipped, nor incompetent?”
  

He looked down at her but didn’t answer. Instead, he stopped to touch my arm and leaned in to whisper, “I know there were three women from a temp firm that showed up at CDC without being called, and then disappeared just as quickly. I’m ready to admit you three have a certain set of skills that can come in handy from time to time.” I could tell from the look on his face that this wasn’t just one of his smart ass comments.
  
“I’ll take this from here.”
 

“Can I see her?” I pulled my arm away and walked to Shorty.

“Stay in there as long as you like.” I straightened my spine and walking as tall as I could, followed him into Intensive Care and to her glass-walled room.

I kissed her cheek then sat down and rested my head back down on her arm.
 

An hour or so later, I got up to stretch my legs.
 
Victoria, Shorty and Tara were in the waiting room.
 
Tara was asleep on Vic’s shoulder.
 
The sound of the low, easy banter between the couple soothed me.

Shorty was saying, “So Tara made a joke about his Boston accent and his former girlfriend thought if she did something funny he’d come back to her? And that’s why she stole the
R
’s?”
 
  

“Yes!” Victoria pointed to a Nordstrom silver shopping bag in the corner. “Leigh, Janice Marshall left that at the nurses’ station for you.”

I looked inside and sure enough, the black letter
R’
s from the Gary Pirkle Park sign were in there. We three laughed and tried to keep the volume down so as not to wake Tara, but she moaned and her eyes popped open.
 
“What’s so funny?”

Vic recounted the solving of the fascinating case of the missing letters, and her involvement in it. I ambled around a little.

“He never said he fell in love with me for my sense of humor.” I jerked around to be sure in her half awake state she hadn’t forgotten Shorty was still with us.

Shorty, or that’s what I hoped he was being called now, put his arm around Vic. One ankle was on the other knee and I saw he wore white ankle socks with his running shoes. I saw something else, a tattoo of a peach wearing glasses, a heart, then another peach. The second wore a stethoscope. It was just above his boney ankle.

“Have you always had that?” I leaned over for a closer look.

“Just got it. Hurt like hell.” He looked at Victoria sheepishly. “You weren’t supposed to see it until your birthday next week.”

 
Looking into his face, I think she saw the man she used to know and wanted to know again. She rubbed his now stubbly cheeks with the back of her hand.
 

Jack was so far away. Did I have the right to ask him to come back to be with me? It would be harder for him to avoid testifying if he came back to the United States.
 
I couldn’t think anymore.
 

Tara had read my mind. “Jack sent you a text and we responded to it and told him everything. And we called Aunt Thelma to let her know. How are you holding up?”

I shrugged my shoulders.

Victoria scooted closer to Shorty and patted the sofa cushion. I wedged myself in between her and Tara.
 
“You are dealing with Congress wanting Jack to testify, plus this.” She motioned around the room. “And everything else.” I took this to mean Tiara Investigations.

 
“Women never handle only one commitment at a time.
 
That’s not our lot.”

I wasn’t thinking about Shorty when I said this, but he looked at me, then hung his head.

“What time is it?” I stood up and stretched.

Before anyone could answer I heard a nurse in the hallway. “Excuse me, excuse me. Visiting hours are from….”

Shorty got up but was almost knocked back down again by the four aunts’ entrance.
 

“I’m going to get a shower and find a clean pair of scrubs.
 
I’ll see you after my rounds.” He leaned over to kiss Victoria on the forehead, but she guided his lips to her mouth.

The subpoena in my handbag said I had to go change clothes too. I graciously accepted their offer to “spell” me and left the four aunts.
  

***

Tara took advantage of the walk to Victoria’s car to talk. “People are crazy.”

Victoria nodded in agreement. “Everyone but us, have you ever noticed that?”

“Vic, remember when I asked you about cyber security and you said you thought the fear of cyber attacks was over-hyped?” I asked. “What I don’t get is why everyone is so certain of their opinion on which should take precedence: cyber security or physical security.”

“You’re right. Thomas Chestnut
was
and Asher Charles
is
as confident of their position that it’s a threat, as Bryn Marie and Chestnut’s frenemy is that physical security is more important.” Victoria stopped and rubbed her forehead before clicking the doors unlocked.
 

Tara climbed in. “My money is on Vic’s assessment.”

“Mine, too. I say, we have nothing to fear but paranoia itself.”

***

At five minutes before eight o’clock, we met in front of the Gwinnett County courthouse, and went into the lobby. As we looked around, the case was called. Mrs. Bennett practically ran up to meet us.
 
She was chewing the inside of her cheek. “I talked until I was blue in the face. Am I doing the right thing divorcing him? I told him I wouldn’t if he would only admit what he did!”
 

We kept walking because the clock kept ticking.
  

It was a wonder I didn’t trip over my feet because the whole time I was staring at her in amazement. She was questioning herself at this point? Talk about the eleventh hour.

Victoria pulled our client’s arm so she had to face her.
 
“You need to stop this right now!”
 

Tara followed them up the center aisle. “Not if she doesn’t want to. She shouldn’t have to live on shifting sand and she’s right to insist on honesty.”
 

The three of us sat in the row behind the attorneys and the parties involved.

“All rise. The Honorable Justice Braxton presiding.”
  
The rest was gobbledygook.
 

Victoria leaned up to get closer to Mrs. Bennett.
  
“Tell your attorney what you….”

The gavel hit the plate violently. “Order in the court.
 
If I hear another word, this court room will be cleared.”

That would have been fine with me, but I knew better than to say it out loud. I had a text message coming in and I peeked at my phone. It was from Aunt Opal.
 
URGENT
 
COME

Then another.
 
CALL

Why the difference?
 
I wasn’t seated at the end of the bench, and side stepping past I don’t know how many knees, earned me a few dirty looks.
 

***

Before I got back in the courtroom all the way, Victoria was at my side. “He kept to his story and the Judge threatened him with jail time for perjury. They’re meeting in the judge’s chambers.
 
I’ve testified and…. Here they come now.”

Mr. and Mrs. Bennett, with their attorneys, who looked scared shitless, went back to their wooden chairs.

“I’d like to call Leigh Reed to the stand,” Mrs. Bennett’s attorney said.

I walked toward the Sherriff’s deputy who was standing on the other side of the Judge. And that was wrong.
 

“Over here, Ms. Reed.” The judge pointed to the witness chair. I headed that way.

“Do you promise to tell …?” I can’t remember the rest of what he said, I’m not sure I heard it.

All of a sudden Mr. Bennett‘s attorney was yelling questions at me and Mrs. Bennett’s attorney was yelling, “Objection!”

“I can’t do this right now.” I toddled back the way I had come.
 

The judge was speechless. His mouth hung open like he was catching flies.

“You think you can just walk out?” It was Mr. Bennett. “You think you and your little friends with this, what is it called, Tiara Investigations, can just roll in, ruin everything for me and then you can just stroll out?”
 

His attorney placed himself in front of his client and was making soothing noises to him over his shoulder.
 
“Hey, hey.”

Mr. Bennett made the mistake of getting a little too close me, when all I wanted to do was leave.
  

“Screw you!” It was me that said it. That shut them all up.
 
I stopped in front of the husband. “You stupid idiot. You caused all this.”

“Your honor!” This was Mrs. Bennett’s attorney. I almost told him to mind his own business.
 

The gavel went down. “Mrs. Reed, I’m going to have to insist you return to the witness stand.”

In my peripheral vision I could see Tara and Victoria lunging for me.
 
Detective Kent was coming with them.

“No.”

Tara started saying impressive legal things to the Judge.
 
“Your Honor, can we take a short….”

 
“No? Is that what you said, young lady? Jerome, do you know this woman?”

“I do, Your Honor.
 
We just need a short break.”

“My mother’s dead.”

CHAPTER 19

Continuation of statement by Leigh Reed.
 
If you asked how I was, I’d say my mother was still dead. My pillow was wet, but that’s not what woke me up. My security alarm was screaming. Abby jumped off the bed. I thought I had set only the doors, not the motion detector, so it wasn’t Victoria moving around that had activated the signal. Had my husband made it back home already? I heard a spit of noise in the hallway. I couldn’t hear Abby anymore. Where was she? These half thoughts were ….

A shadowy figure approached the bed. Not my husband. He raised his arm and thrust the needle down with force only rage can power. His effort was wasted because I’d shifted the bed pillows to look like my body before I rolled out of bed.
 

I stole up behind him holding Jack’s golf putter horizontally with both hands, and slowly lowered it over his head. I pulled in and held the shaft of the club against his Adam’s apple.
 

It was pitch dark, but I knew exactly who he was. I leaned in, and in my sexiest voice, whispered in his ear, “If you stay, I’ll kill you. If you run, I’ll chase you.”
  

Robert Sanders bellowed and flipped us both onto the bed. On the way down he twisted to face me. I tossed the putter away, so he couldn’t get it and use it against me.
 
He grabbed me and rolled over. No doubt about it, boney fingers were going to leave bruises on my arms.
 
  

“Get off me! What did you do to my dog?” Now I was mad. And sad. As in nothing to lose sad. I didn’t have a car to lift off a grandchild, but as soon as I could get up I was going to knock the shit out of this guy.
  

That was when I heard rolling thunder. I never knew Abby had that in her, since she’d never been tested, but I guessed she was mad too. My assailant thought he had time to get up and close the door. He was wrong. I waited for Abby to rescue me. I was wrong. My rescuer wasn’t Abby. In one jump Mr. Benz hurled himself onto the loveseat at the end of the bed, with the next he was on top of Sanders.
 
With thirty-some pounds on his chest, he couldn’t speak. Mr. Benz didn’t bite him.
 
Since he was right next to my face I could hear his low growl in spite of the alarm wailing.
 
Mr. Benz’s rumble said, “If
you
stay….”
 
He stood there, teeth bared, big brown eyes trucking no nonsense. The overhead light came on and Victoria was standing there holding a very limp Abby like a baby in her arms, along with a Big Bertha golf club. Ab’s head lolled back and she looked at me. My phone rang. It was the alarm company. I couldn’t reach the receiver and I didn’t need to.
 
If no one answered with the code, they’d alert the police.
 

That thought of the telephone sent a current of pain through me. I would never be able to call my mother again. The day had been spent with my aunts making arrangements for my mother’s funeral.
 

I didn’t have leverage to hit him, so I reached for the lower bone of his eye socket with my thumb. He pulled back enough for me to sit up in bed.
 
I reached my arms out for Abby. I couldn’t lose her too.

“What did you do?” I screamed.

I didn’t get an answer and I looked over my shoulder to see why. Mr. Benz was stretched out on him, not blinking.

“Good job, Mr. Benz. Hop up now.” Victoria walked over and stroked her dog’s back, but he bristled even at that kindness. “It’s alright.”
 
She still couldn’t break the spell.
 

“What the hell?” It had been roared out and that sure enough broke the trance and we all swiveled our heads to see my husband stomping in. He picked our client’s former husband up and Mr. Benz rolled off. Mr. Sanders’ body was about to be hurled like a missile out the bedroom window.
 

“Wait! He drugged Abby! We need to know with what!” I screamed.

Victoria had placed Abby on the loveseat and pointed to her for Jack to see.

Jack stopped but didn’t drop Sanders. My would-be assailant turned his head to face me. Did he give me a straight answer?
 
Hell, no. He had to smirk.
 

“Was it what you used on Beatrice?”

I didn’t know what to do. Let my husband throw him out the window? We heard the sirens of a couple of police cars as they turned into the subdivision. The relieved expression on Sander’s face said that was what he was waiting for. In the space between the bed and the still aloft man, I saw four paws move toward Sanders’ derriere. “Awwww! It was a blend of chloroform and some other ingredients.”

“Was that what you used on Beatrice?”

“Yeah! I gave her a little in the funeral home lobby and more once she got in her car.”

“Was Janice Marshall with you at the lake? Did she help you kidnap Bea?”

“No, I played a recording of her squeaky voice.”
 

Jack turned the body back to face the window and swung him back so he’d have enough speed to fly out the window. The window!
 

“Wait!” I yelled again. I jumped off the bed and unlocked and raised my beautiful, new mahogany double-paned, double-hung window, then I unhooked and pushed out the screen.
 
“Now.”

And just like someone had yelled “three”
Jack let go and Robert Sanders exited head first.
 

“Ouwwww!”

Then a higher pitched, “Ouwww.”

He was lying sprawled out on the lawn on top of Tara and Paul.

 
“Are you okay?” I yelled to them.

“Actually, I think….”

“Actually, I don’t care about you.
 
Tara? Paul?”

Paul got up and held a hand out to help Tara. When she was upright, he raised her left hand for us to see.
 
“We’re getting married!”
  
 

I heard someone snore and turned back to Victoria and Abby. My dog seemed to be sleeping off a major binge.
 

“Vic, come look at Tara’s ring.”

She gave Abby a pat and came to the window, laughing.
 
“Just so you know, Leigh and I are too old to wear bridesmaid dresses.”

Here’s to a love worth waiting for, here’s to a lane stretching out a....

I turned to see who was singing, but it had abruptly stopped.
 
Mr. Sanders had scrambled to his feet and was taking off. He plowed into the singers. He was down and so were the man and woman.
 

My husband edged in beside me, “Never mind guys.
  
Not a good time.”

“You know them?” I asked.

“It’s Mike and Marisa, or it was.” He looked to see if they were okay. “Remember, the duet we heard on Sunday night? It’s midnight. I hired them to sing to you for your birthday.” He kissed my forehead.
 

The couple struggled to get to their feet. This was made more difficult by Robert Sanders running over them. Too bad for him there were more people in my yard. One was Detective Kent. He was looking at Tara, but snapped out of it pretty darn quick when Sanders took off. In two steps, he had him swung around, against the squad car and handcuffed. Two uniformed officers assisted putting him in the backseat.
 

Detective Kent looked up at me. “What’s his name?”

Victoria shouted down, “Robert Sanders.”

“The charges?”

“The murder of Thomas Chestnut, kidnapping of Beatrice Englund, the damage at the Porsche dealership, plus breaking and entering.”
 
I hoped none of the neighbors heard that.
 
It all sounded so tacky.

“Come in tomorrow for your statements.” He walked off, head down. He was in love with Tara and he couldn’t have her.

“Leigh, we need to talk.” Shorty walked out of the shadow.
 
He saw Victoria in the window beside me.
 
“We need to talk too.”

Marisa said, “Can we go home now?”

“Sure,” Jack answered.

Victoria and Mr. Benz went downstairs to let Shorty, Tara and Paul in. After checking on our sleepy girl, Abby, Jack and I joined them.
 

They were sitting around the kitchen island. I got out the tea pitcher and he got glasses and spoons.
  

Frank started, “Leigh, I was with your mother at the end.”
 

I held my breath and all I was sure of in the world, was that Jack had moved over to stand next to me.
 

“She gave me a message for you. She said to thank you.”

She had gotten the last word.

My husband hugged me. Then he cleared his throat and moved to stand by Paul and Shorty. He cleared his throat a second time and I never knew throat clearing to be contagious but the other two copied him.
 

“You three have some explaining to do,” Jack said.
 
“Leigh, let’s start with that guy I came upon on our bed.
 
Who was he and how did you know he killed Paul’s stepfather?”

When I didn’t answer, Tara moved to stand by my side. “Leigh solved the murder. She solved one last year, too.”

“Thanks, sweetie. I did figure out last year’s murder, but I admit I had no idea Mr. ‘If you run I’ll chase you, if you stay I’ll kill you,’ killed Thomas Chestnut. I had figured the murderer was the person who was fired, because he put a bacterial powder on Thomas Chestnut’s keyboard, and later talked him into having that chip implanted, but I didn’t know that was Robert Sanders.
 
The police would have gone to CDC as soon as they opened the computer and learned his identity.
 
   
It was Robert Sanders who told Thomas Chestnut about us. Then he sat back and waited to activate the chip to release the Atropine.”

Victoria shook her head. “What kind of idiot was Thomas Chestnut to let someone he didn’t get along with, make modifications to his gun?”

My husband leaned against the kitchen island and ran his hand over his head. “Hold it.
 
Can we back up? You solved a murder last year?”
 

“And stopped defective backpack UAV’s from being ….”
 
Finally Tara realized that both Vic and I were clearing our throats and it probably wasn’t a coincidence nor medically necessary. “Well, we di-i-i-d.”

I stared back at Jack. “I’d say our involvement in that was strictly unofficial.”

“Good to know,” he said.

Paul was trying to get Tara’s attention. “Tara, is that how you know Detective Kent?”

She looked at him and smiled. “He needs us. You see, his wife keeps trying to kill him.”
 

“Oh, Lord. I need to sit down.” Paul rubbed his forehead and let himself drop onto one of the stools at the kitchen island.
 

Next it was Shorty’s turn to interrogate us.
 
“Victoria, how do you know people like that? And what do you know about solving murders?”
 

 
She came to stand by Tara and me. “I know we didn’t have the right question. Tara kept asking it.
 
Why did we show up at the wrong place and the wrong time? It seemed staged because it was.”

I took it from there. “Dr. Seuss said, ‘Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are easy.’
 
We had to see through the cyber security at Buford Dam matter, before we could get to the truth.”

“I may regret asking this as soon as it’s out of my mouth, but what is that truth?” Jack pinched the bridge of his nose. He picked up a tea glass and then put it back down. “Wait, I need something stronger before you answer.”
 

I got out Waterford old fashioned glasses and a bottle of Jack Daniel’s. “That it was all about us.
 
Even Bea’s kidnapping happened after Sanders heard her say at the funeral home that she was going to talk to her friends.”
 

“I don’t understand all I know about Janice Marshall’s tomfoolery, especially at the funeral home.
 
Was it to keep an eye on Tara?” Vic asked.
 

I handed around linen napkins. “Couldn’t have been.
 
She didn’t know Tara would be there.”

“Yes, she did.” Paul said.

“How?” Tara asked.

“Your name was in the obituary in Sunday’s
Atlanta Journal Constitution
.”
 
Paul was looking sheepish and I couldn’t wait to see how he had listed her. “Why was she so interested in Tara?”

“Maybe Tara can explain that later.”
 
Then I reached my hand out on the granite counter top, palm down. I looked at Tara then Victoria. “Is it time?”
 

 
Tara covered my hand. “I’m ready.”

“I’m ready.” Vic placed her hand on top.

“That’s quite a sandwich,” Tara said and laughed.

“Speaking of sandwiches, let’s eat something first.”
 
I was grinning and it felt good to know that even though I ached on the inside, I remembered how.