Murder Uncorked (18 page)
Authors: Michele Scott
“That’s so sad.”
There was a knock at the door. Nikki got up and opened it to see Derek and Ollie standing there. “Hi.” He kissed her on the cheek.
Dog and master entered. “Hey, Cal, thanks for walking Nikki down here. Sorry I took so long,” Derek said.
“Don’t worry about it. We’ve been having a nice chat. Nikki is good company.” Cal smiled warmly at her. He stood up. “I better head out. I’m beat myself. Do they know anything more?” Cal asked.
“The police? No. And, if they do, they’re not saying,” Derek replied.
Cal slapped Derek on the shoulder. “I’m sorry, buddy. If there’s anything I can do, let me know. I suppose I’ll see you on Tuesday at Gabriel’s funeral.”
He nodded. “You might want to find Meredith. She’s looking for you.”
“Let her look,” Cal replied.
“Her true colors shining through?”
“Pretty much. I should have trusted what you said about her. But I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. I’m an optimist who thinks that people can change, especially when they go through adversity.”
Derek didn’t reply.
“We should get together, the three of us, and have dinner,” Nikki said wanting to change the subject of Meredith. She did not just say that, did she? Yes, she did. Unbelievable. As if she and Derek were a couple. She didn’t dare glance his way to see what the look on his face might be.
“Great,” Cal replied. He said his good-byes and stepped out the door.
“Nice guy,” she said to Derek.
“He is. I take it you’ve decided to stay?”
“I suppose,” she replied curtly, still not sure of his feelings toward her, much less her own about him.
“I’m sorry about earlier,” he said taking her hands in his. “I didn’t mean to take all of this out on you. You’re only trying to help. I’m very sorry. It’s all starting to get to me. When you told me what Minnie said, something inside me snapped. I had to really consider the possibility of Gabriel and Meredith. I know in my gut it could be true. I know it. The police brought it up, but for whatever reason, until
you
pointed it out, I could’ve continued shoving it down and ignoring it.”
you
pointed it out, I could’ve continued shoving it down and ignoring it.”
That was something Nikki knew a lot about—pushing away painful memories and thoughts into some dark void from within, until they got so far down they could be ignored.
“I don’t care about Meredith. If she did have an affair with Gabriel, then so be it. I can’t change the past. He wasn’t the only one she screwed around with. I actually caught her in bed with another man, and it wasn’t Gabriel. After getting over it and her, nothing else she did mattered. But to have Gabriel betray me, that’s another story. If the rumors are true, and they were together while Meredith and I were still married, I don’t know.” He threw his hands in the air. “Well, even after the fact, it’s troubling.”
Her heart softened to see his pained expression and hear the heartfelt words he’d spoken. “I understand. You’re under quite a bit of strain.”
“You are, too, and I want to thank you for being so wonderful through all of this and for tolerating me.”
She squeezed his hands. He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.
At that moment, any fleeting thoughts of Cal Sumner disappeared.
“Do you want me to stay the night?” he asked.
“What do you mean stay the night?”
“Here on the couch, to make sure you’re safe.”
She shook her head. “You don’t have to do that. I’m a big girl. Besides, I have Ollie.”
“Sure?”
“Sure, I’m sure. But if you get scared, you know where to find me,” she joked, trying to make light of their bizarre situation.
“I’m going to turn in.” He reached into his pants pockets. “Here. These are the keys to the Ford truck parked over near the tractor garage. It’s not a luxury vehicle, but it’ll get you around. I figure you might want to check out the town tomorrow. I’d like to get together, but it’ll have to be later in the day. I need to take care of some business, and sadly enough I also have to make some arrangements for Minnie’s body to be transported back home after an autopsy is completed. She was from Maryland, and Jeanine Wiley has called her parents. They want to bring her home, and I promised to see to it for them.”
“I understand. It’s very kind of you to do that and also to give me the keys to the truck.”
“No problem. You can either let Ollie out in the morning or take him with you if you want. He likes to tool around town.”
“He does make good company.”
She walked him to the door. He kissed her good night on the cheek. “Why don’t we get together after five? We can go have a casual dinner and try to relax some.”
“Sounds great. I’ll be here, so come by around then, and we can make concrete plans.” She closed the door behind him. Thinking of their earlier conversation about her living arrangements, she figured that Derek would deal with it later.
Nikki went into the bedroom, put on a pair of pajamas and flopped down on the bed, tugging the covers up around her. Ollie jumped up a few minutes later.
None of it made any sense. She closed her eyes. Images of a dead Gabriel, then a dead Minnie came to mind, and the curious thought as to what had provoked Minnie to go into Derek’s mother’s room. Nikki knew why she’d gone exploring. But why had Minnie done so?
More disturbing thoughts followed with a smirking group of eccentrics, including all of those living up at the estate, along with Andrés Fernandez over at Spaniards’ Crest. She tried to fall asleep because she was tired, but after a half hour and with the cup of coffee Cal had served her running its course, her mind was still abuzz. She decided to get some fresh air.
Ollie reluctantly jumped off the bed and followed her onto the porch, where she sat on the top step looking out at the night sky. Country nights were amazingly dark. The stars were clear and so far away, but they were the only light to be seen for miles around on the moonless night. The damp musty smell of the pond nearby and the fruit from late harvest floated through the valley. Nikki felt very alone. Ollie licked her hand. “Guess I’m not all that alone, am I?” she said to the dog, who flapped his tail.
She stared out across the pond into the darkness. Her heart stopped. “We are definitely not alone out here, Ollie,” she whispered.
Nikki quietly stood and went back into the house, grabbing Ollie’s leash and the Swiss Army knife that Maurice from Chez la Mer had given her last Christmas. He’d asked her to keep it on her at all times, fearful that someone could harm her when she walked to her car alone or to her apartment in Venice Beach each night. At the time she thought it a sweet gesture, but kind of ridiculous. Who knew that she might actually need to use it on a vineyard in Napa Valley? With the knowledge that her sleuthing for the day was not through, Nikki set out to see who was inside the shed across from the pond.
Chapter 12
Nikki walked stealthily, holding Ollie on the leash close to her side. There was someone out at the shed, and she’d had a sneaking suspicion as she’d watched from the porch that
the
someone lighting up a cigarette might be none other than Mrs. Patrice Malveaux.
the
someone lighting up a cigarette might be none other than Mrs. Patrice Malveaux.
Not wanting to alert Patrice or whoever was at the shed, Nikki took her time walking around the area until finally she reached the back of the shed.
The smoke of the cigarette rose into the fresh air, clouding it. Nikki heard muffled voices. Ollie panted slightly next to her. She sat down in the grass alongside of him. He gave her a slobbery lick across her face. She caught herself from almost saying “yuck,” out loud. Ollie lay down in the grass. Nikki put her ear up to the shed to see if she could hear what was being said inside.
“I don’t like any of this.”
Yep. That was definitely the step-monster.
“Do you think I do? I certainly didn’t expect any of this to happen.”
Another
woman
, and Nikki was banking that it was Meredith.
woman
, and Nikki was banking that it was Meredith.
“It interferes with everything we’ve planned, Meredith.”
“No one can know the truth about us,” Patrice said. “It will fall apart if Derek finds out. You have to get back into his good graces and not screw up this time. He is a means to an end, and that end is a great deal of money. More than I currently have right now.”
Wow. This was getting good. Could they be lovers? The mother who was so staunchly conservative that her gay son embarrassed her was also gay? Nikki pressed her ear harder against the cold metal of the shed.
“I’ll take care of Derek,” Meredith said. “I think if I play him right, then maybe I could lasso him back into my lair. I’ll admit I messed up, but he’s a man. He shouldn’t be that hard to win back.”
“What about Nikki Sands?” Patrice asked.
“She’s harmless. I’m not threatened by her.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that. I saw the way he gazed at her at the party before everything happened.”
“Easy prey,” Meredith replied. “I’ll be back in Derek’s bed in no time.”
“I hope so, and I hope the timing is right. Remember, we have one goal where Derek is concerned, and once he’s served his purpose, then things will change dramatically around here. But watch yourself with Nikki, Meredith.”
“Fine.”
“I wish Gabriel had listened and taken the job at Cal’s,” Patrice said.
“Yeah. I guess if that had happened the way we planned, then I wouldn’t even have to worry about getting on Derek’s good side again.” Meredith sounded odd, not as polished as she did when inside the mansion.
“Gabriel would’ve made Sumner Winery a five-star company. Cal has no clue how to make wines,” Patrice replied.
“I don’t know if Gabriel would be alive or not if he’d moved to Cal’s. What I do know is that Cal can’t find out you talked to Gabriel about going to work for Sumner Winery. He would be insulted by that.”
“He won’t hear it from me,” Patrice said. “Now what about Minnie? Do you think she was on to us and our situation?”
Nikki shifted in the grass.
“Shhh. Did you hear something?” Meredith asked.
Nikki stood and turned Ollie loose off the leash, hoping that if they came out and saw anything it would be the dog.
“What is it?” Patrice asked. “We need to go. I don’t like it out here.”
“Aren’t you being a bit dramatic?” Meredith asked. “Stay here. I’ll have a look around.”
Nikki scrambled to get up, then sprinted back behind a set of bushes near the pond. Ollie soon found her as she ducked down. She couldn’t see a damn thing and hoped that Meredith couldn’t, either.
She stayed hiding in the brush for several minutes until she heard the two women walking back up toward the mansion. Nikki could no longer hear their conversation. She breathed a sigh of relief knowing that they hadn’t spotted her.
After several more minutes Nikki stood and headed back to her cottage, her mind reeling, Ollie following along at her side. Once inside her temporary abode she headed straight for the kitchen cupboards. Not finding what she was looking for, she tried the hutch set up in the dining room.
Aha. That’ll work.
She took out a bottle of Jack Daniels and poured herself a tall glass of the amber-colored liquid over ice, with a splash of water. It wasn’t fine wine, but at that particular moment Nikki didn’t think fine wine was going to help her get any sleep, exhausted or not.
Aha. That’ll work.
She took out a bottle of Jack Daniels and poured herself a tall glass of the amber-colored liquid over ice, with a splash of water. It wasn’t fine wine, but at that particular moment Nikki didn’t think fine wine was going to help her get any sleep, exhausted or not.
She walked into the living area, flipped on the small stereo inside the entertainment unit and sat down on the sofa, grabbing a crocheted blanket off the back and covering her legs, which she curled up under her. “Murder by Numbers” by the Police was playing on the radio. Nikki rolled her eyes at the irony. Ollie gingerly climbed up onto the sofa, as if hoping she wouldn’t notice.
“Don’t worry, I’m not gonna kick you off, Scooby. There’s a murderer or two running around here and at least a half a dozen people with secrets they’re keeping. I think your place is right here.” She patted Ollie on the head, laughing at her own joke, then leaned back against the sofa, bringing the whiskey to her lips, and made friends with good ole Jack.
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