The Lake House Secret, A Romantic Suspense Novel (A Jenessa Jones Mystery) (18 page)

“Guess my apology threw her off her game.”

“Seriously though, Jenessa, I hate to see you two at odds. I hope you can make things right.”

Jenessa gave Ramey a forced smile. “I’ll try.”

~*~

It being Sunday, Jenessa phoned Detective Provenza on his cell phone. It wasn’t likely he was in the office today unless he’d gotten a hot lead to follow up on.

“Hello, Miss Jones.”

“How did you know it was me?”

“This new-fangled thing called Caller ID. What can I do for you?”

She hadn’t expected him to have saved her number in his phone. “I’m impressed, Detective.”

“Never mind the sarcasm. What’s up?”

“I wanted to find out if you have a definite identification of the remains yet.”

“Are you asking if it’s Lucy St. John?”

“Well, yeah.”

“Not yet. Hopefully tomorrow they’ll be able to tell me for sure. Wanting to blab it in your story?”

“Of course, I want to be the first to report on it.” That was a no brainer. “I’m doing everything I can to help you, Detective, so I hope you’ll give me the heads-up first.”

“I can’t promise anything.”

“Well, George…can I call you George?”

The detective grunted.

“George, I’m sure a man of your caliber can be counted on to do the right thing.”

“Sweet talking me isn’t going to help, Miss Jones.”

“Can’t blame a girl for trying.” Jenessa chuckled. “But seriously, Detective, the reason I’m calling is I have another bit of information for you. In return, I’d like you to do something for me.”

“If you have information, you’d better hand it over. I could charge you with interfering with this investigation if you don’t.”

“Oh, hold on to your britches there, Detective,” Jenessa joked. If she could whittle her way into a more friendly relationship with him, perhaps he would be more forthcoming with information. “Lucy’s daughter found some of her old bank statements that show a regular monthly deposit made to her account going back years—always five thousand dollars, always on the first day of the month.”

“It could be nothing. Maybe she had been in a car accident and was getting a monthly pay out or something like that.”

“I hadn’t thought of that, but wouldn’t Ramey know?”

“Did you know everything about your parents’ finances when you were a little kid?”

“No, I guess not.” Perhaps Aunt Renee would know if Lucy had been in an accident of some sort. “But it could be something totally different, couldn’t it?”

“What do you think it means?” he asked.

“Blackmail, maybe.” Or child support, but she wasn’t ready to put that suspicion out there just yet. “We won’t know until we find out who was putting that money in her account each month. Can you find that out?”

“It’ll take a while. This is Sunday, so I can’t even begin to dig around until tomorrow.”

“Oh, and another bit of information—Lucy’s last boyfriend, the one she supposedly ran off to LA with, his name is Tony Hamilton. Do you think you can track him down?”

“That could be helpful, if the woman turns out to be Lucy St. John. I’ll see what I can dig up on him, once the lab gives me positive ID that it’s her. Otherwise, it’ll just be a wild goose chase.”

“If you could let me know what you find out—”

“Depends on what I discover,” George interrupted. “After all, this is an open homicide investigation.”

“Remember our deal, Detective? I help you, you help me? I scratch your back, you scratch mine?”

“I never agreed to that.”

“Okay, how about this? I help you solve this crime and make you the hero of Hidden Valley, and in exchange you give me first shot at the story.”

“What makes you think I need your help?”

“For one thing, I’m not law enforcement, George, so I don’t have the constraints you do, and I know how to dig up facts for a story. People are more likely to tell me things they won’t tell the cops.”

He laughed. “Like I said up at the lake—that Charles McAllister has hired himself a bulldog.”

“Is that a yes?”

~*~

Jenessa stood in front of her old high school, looking up at the two-story brick building with beige stucco accents. Auction items were set on the walkway, around the circular fountain in the middle of it, and some things, like pieces of furniture and accessories, were scattered on the expansive lawn where Jenessa recalled students dotting the grassy area at lunchtime.

Elizabeth Alexander stood right outside the main double-door entrance to the building, directing people carrying items inside for the auction. She was still an attractive, elegant brunette, even in the summer heat, dressed in parchment-colored slacks and a navy blue silk tank top, her neck draped with a thick gold necklace.

Jenessa brought a contribution for the auction, a beautiful antique clock her father had purchased in San Francisco before their move, hoping it would help her garner Elizabeth’s good graces. She approached the woman, holding out her gift in both hands. “Hello, Mrs. Alexander.”

“Oh my. Jenessa Jones. How have you been? It’s been a few years.”

“Yes, twelve, but who’s counting?” Jenessa forced a smile, remembering the last time she had seen Elizabeth, the night she and Logan broke the news to their parents. “I brought something for your auction. I adore that old auditorium.”

“That is so sweet. Take it on inside. My assistant will show you where to put it.”

Jenessa paused at the door, trying to ignore the line of people building up behind her. “Do you think we can talk later?”

Elizabeth lowered her voice and leaned in. “About what?”

“I’m a reporter now, for the Herald. I’d like to do a story on your fabulous auction.”

“Oh, certainly.” She sounded pleased as her voice returned to full volume and she straightened up. “Give me a few minutes. I need to give these people some direction, and we can sit down and chat.”

Jenessa nodded, mustered a smile, and stepped inside.

~*~

After unloading the clock on Elizabeth’s assistant, Jenessa stood in the auditorium, her gaze bouncing around at all the beautiful details, badly in need of renovating. Countless plays and musicals had been performed in this massive room, not to mention all the school assemblies and graduations.

Jenessa and Logan had come to see a few school plays here, but she had also come once with Michael. She had almost forgotten. The drama department was putting on
Guys and Dolls
, before she had begun dating Logan, and she and Michael attended the musical together to do an article for the school paper.

“There you are,” Elizabeth said as she approached. “I thought you’d left.”

“No, I was just admiring this old auditorium.”

“She is a beauty, isn’t she?” Elizabeth’s gaze scanned the room. “Wait until we return her to her former glory. She’ll knock your socks off.”

“Shall we sit here?” Jenessa gestured toward the rows of seats.

Elizabeth filed down the row and sat.

Jenessa pulled a notepad and pen out of her bag and took a seat beside her. “Now, tell me all about your auction. Don’t leave anything out.”

Elizabeth’s eyes lit up and she spent the next twenty minutes talking in animated fashion about when the grand fund-raising auction would be, offering great detail about what they planned to do to restore the auditorium.

“I think I’ve got all I need for an article. Thank you so much for your time.” Jenessa stuck her pad and pen in her purse and rose from her seat. She started to turn to leave but spun back around. “By the way, I’d like to ask one more question.”

“What is it?”

Jenessa sank back down on the edge of the seat, angling herself toward Elizabeth. “I’m also writing a story on the female remains found up by Jonas Lake.”

“I read something about that.”

“I have reason to believe the woman was Lucy St. John.” Jenessa watched Elizabeth’s face for a reaction.

Her eyes widened for a second then returned to normal. “What makes you think it’s her? Is that what the authorities have determined?”

“I’m not at liberty to say, but I wondered if you might have known her at some point.”

“Yes, I knew her. Not well, of course.” Elizabeth stroked her neck, appearing a bit uncomfortable at the question. “It’s no secret my ex-husband had many women on the side when we were married. Lucy was one of them.”

“This question may be in bad taste, but I have to ask. Did you ever wonder if Grey was the father of Lucy’s baby?”

Chapter 25

Elizabeth jerked back, as if Jenessa had just slapped her, and her eyes grew wide at the question. A few fingers covered her gaping mouth and she drew a quick breath. As she twisted in the auditorium chair, her startled gaze flew to the far end of the auditorium where people were arranging items on the stage.

Eventually, she dropped her hands into her lap and her features relaxed, appearing to gain control over her initial reaction. She returned her gaze to Jenessa. “Yes, I knew, eventually. But how did you find out about that?”

“I can’t say.”

“Does the girl know?”

“Not yet,” Jenessa said, “but she will soon.”

Elizabeth looked blankly toward the stage again. “Grey sent money to Lucy regularly. Did you know that? I told him it was a poor precedent to set, but he wouldn’t listen to me.”

“Monthly payments for child support?”

“More like hush money.”

“You couldn’t have been too happy that a portion of your family’s income was going to his mistress.”

Elizabeth’s attention turned back to Jenessa. “I wasn’t.” Her eyes narrowed and her lips thinned. “I could have wrung that woman’s scrawny neck for screwing around with my husband.”

“What stopped you?”

“Knowing she wasn’t the first and she likely wouldn’t be the last. In fact, that Barbie doll he’s married to now was once one of his affairs. That’s when I’d had enough. I filed for divorce. Did you know that?”

“No, I didn’t.” Jenessa saw the sadness in Elizabeth’s eyes.

“What’s done is done.”

Jenessa couldn’t leave it at that. “The summer Lucy St. John was killed, were you in town?”

“What summer would that have been?”

“Eleven years ago.” The exact time hadn’t been determined yet, but eleven years ago was Jenessa’s best guess, for that was the last time Ramey had seen her mother.

“Let’s see.” Elizabeth’s eyes rose to the ceiling and she tapped her chin. “That would have been…ah, yes, that was the summer I spent in Italy.” Her gaze set on Jenessa and a satisfied smile spread across her lips. “I had met a delicious Italian vintner and we spent a glorious three months together.” Her eyes grew round. “You don’t think I had anything to do with that woman’s death, do you?”

Jenessa held her tongue and arched a brow.

“You do!” Elizabeth gasped. “Oh, you can’t be serious.”

“Sorry, Mrs. Alexander, I had to ask.”

Elizabeth stood, an overt sign of her desire to end the conversation. “I’d better not find any of what I just said in your newspaper. I’ll deny ever having talked to you.”

Jenessa ignored Elizabeth’s threat and kept the questions coming. “Does Logan know Ramey is his sister?”

“That’s enough.”

Jenessa continued. “Perhaps he wanted to keep Lucy from spilling the beans about her father’s identity, because then he’d have to share his inheritance with her.”

Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed and she shot daggers at Jenessa with them. “This interview is over. Please leave.”

Jenessa turned to go, then she stopped and glanced back over her shoulder. “You know the police will ask you the same questions I have. The truth will eventually come out.”

Finding her way out of the school and back to the parking lot, Jenessa climbed in the Roadster. An avalanche of questions about Logan poured into her mind. She hadn’t really considered him a suspect until now. It made sense though. He had the most to lose.

He would have been home from college that summer. Could he have learned about Ramey then? Had his father or mother told him, or had he overheard something? Had he somehow discovered the monthly payments—maybe heard his father talking about them? Or had he seen something about them on Grey’s desk?

If so, Logan would almost certainly have confronted his father. Perhaps Grey assured Logan that Lucy had never told Ramey, that it was part of their agreement, or the payments would stop. Grey had to know that if Lucy pursued him in court he was more than able to bury her, and he would have made sure she knew it too.

Did Logan ensure the secret was kept quiet, not wanting to share his considerable inheritance with his half sister? Had he lured Lucy to the lake house and murdered her to keep her from telling Ramey?

Jenessa hated to think Logan was capable of something like that, but then again, money can make people do things they might not otherwise do. She’d written enough news stories for the Sacramento paper to know that was true.

Was it a real possibility? Or was her writer’s imagination running away with her?

Starting the car, she glanced at the clock in the dashboard. It was almost five and Ramey would be expecting her. She would have to tell Ramey about her father before someone else beat her to it.

~*~

“Oh, my gosh, Jenessa! I was about to give up on you,” Ramey cried as she opened the door, dressed in her bathrobe. “Look at me, I’m a mess.”

“Calm down. I’m only five minutes late.” Jenessa stepped inside Ramey’s cluttered little house, decorated in shabby chic with flea market finds she had refurbished.

“Sorry, I’ve been a basket of nerves all afternoon.”

“Oh, that’s typical first-date jitters. You’ll be fine,” Jenessa said, hoping to assure her.

Jenessa would be on the lookout for a good opportunity to break the news to her about Grey.

“Well, let’s get started. You’ve got a lot to do, my friend.” Ramey led Jenessa down the short hall to her bedroom. “What if I say something stupid? What if I get so nervous I can’t say anything at all?”

“Relax, Ramey. Charles comes into the bakery all the time and you two talk, don’t you?”

“Well, yes, but it’s just casual, like I do with all my customers.”

“Then just think of him as another customer. Make small talk like you do at the shop. Maybe that’ll help.”