The Wages of Cin (Cin Fin-Lathen Mysteries Book 4) (11 page)

“I don’t know, but I asked my oncologist to run another few tests.  I just got back when I called you.  I should know tomorrow.  But honestly, Cin, I feel good.  The first thing the cancer does is zap my energy and…”

“There’s nothing wrong there,” I said.

“Why would Tom’s report be so different?”

“I can’t help but feel this is another effort to sabotage the tour,” I said.  “It’s a horrible way to do it.  I have to confess that I knew about Tom’s report last night.  It’s why Mandy and I were holed up for so long.  I was crying my makeup off.”

Sidney looked at me oddly.  “I don’t understand. Is this just you being overly compassionate or…”

“I think I’ve fallen for you,” I filled in.

“We’ve only just met,” he argued.

“I know.  Forgive me, Sidney, I hope I’m not freaking you out.  It surprised the hell out of me.”

He guided me to the couch and sat me down.  “Cin, it’s probably just lust.  I don’t normally have that effect on women, but you’ve been away from the dating scene for a few years,” he tried to explain.

I admit part of me was insulted that the man wasn’t in love with me.  Where was the ardent suitor that introduced me to his beloved cousin?  Where was the man who was so concerned about me accepting his illness?  Where was the wounded bird who needed me?

“This has me thoroughly confused,” he confessed.  “Women fall for guys like Elijah and Manny, not Sidneys.”

I put my hand on his cheek.  “I assure you it’s not a whim, but you don’t have to reciprocate.  This is my problem, and I’ll deal with it,” I assured him.

“No, don’t deal with it. Let’s explore it,” he said, smiling.

“Don’t you dare play with me,” I said outraged.

“Cin, you’re listening, but you’re not hearing me.  I feel something for you, but I just assumed you were using me for information and to get closer to your suspects. So I’ve been protecting myself.”

“Your instincts are right. Harry was pushing me towards you, but I was already smitten before I left the stage the first time.”

“Yet you still went to dinner with Elijah,” he accused.

“He’s my client,” I said.

“He seems to be attached to you,” Sidney argued.

“Elijah is a bit of a con artist. I think he even fools himself.  I enjoyed my dinner with him and will treasure the memory, but, Sidney, you were already on my mind when he and I went out,” I assured him.  “Think what you want, but I’ve been mostly honest with you.”

“But not totally.”

“We’ve only known each other for a few days, and you’ve got this big wall up.”

“I do.  So what do we do now?”

“Start over?” I asked, still wanting to salvage the relationship.

He laughed.  “You’re not easy to get
rid of
are you?”

“Actually, yes,” I said, getting up.  “I get it.  You’re not interested, fine.  Let Harry know what your new labs say.  If Tom’s report is false, we’ll look into it.”

“Cin.”

I ignored him and walked through the kitchen and out the back door.  I didn’t cry.  Actually I did, but it wasn’t until I was well away from his house.  I pulled over and allowed myself to purge my pent up frustrations and anger for hopping in bed with the guy after the first date, for cripes’ sake.  What the hell was I thinking?  I wasn’t thinking; that was the problem.  I started to form a barrier. I had to.  I still had to deal with this band, and Sidney was part of it.  I would simply have to bury my feelings where I kept the ones I had for Father Michael.

“Cin Fin-Lathen the priest lover and sap,” I said out loud and pulled back onto the road.  I was almost home when I decided I needed some retail therapy.  I turned in the direction of CityPlace and turned on the radio.  Coincidently, there was a breakup song playing.  “Great,” I said and turned the radio off.  I could have put in a CD, but all I had was happy love songs.  Instead, I pushed in an Ely’s Coming CD, put the top down and listened to “Redheaded Stepchild” as I sped toward a very large credit card purchase.

I was back well before the meeting we had scheduled with Buslowski.  I picked up some expensive snacks and probably too much whiskey, but I intended to get through this meeting and then do some serious drinking.

I wore one of my new outfits.  A very soft pair of sweatpants topped with a scoop-necked t-shirt.  I had my curls bundled behind a headband.  I decided
what the hell
and put on makeup. I was amazed I was able to repeat Mandy’s eyeliner flare the first time.  I turned off the phone and would let the answering machine pick up.  I did not want to deal with Sidney while Buslowski was within hearing distance.

“Are you okay?” Harry asked.

“I’m fine, just fine,” I lied.  “I can’t wait to share information.  I’ve got a couple of ideas. You?”

He looked at me a moment.  “Is this new you the product of your sudden departure this afternoon?”

“Oh, yes, most certainly.  I’m turning over a new leaf.  Gullible Cin is gone.”

“But I like gullible Cin,” Harry said.  “You have a hard edge that wasn’t there before your secret meeting.”

“Oh, Harry, must you pry?” I said.  “I got dumped.  There, I said it.”

“It happens,” Harry said.  “I’ve been dumped, so has Alex.  Us guys…” he stopped, realizing what he had started to say.

I laughed.  “No, that’s okay.  It’s nice being one of the
guys
for a change.”

“Do you want me to give you the ‘there’s a lot of fish in the sea’ talk?”

“I don’t want to date fish.”

It was Harry’s turn to laugh.  “Do you want me to fix you up?  There’s a hot professor over at the college…”

“No, I’ll get back out there on my own, thank you.”

“There’s always the internet…”

“Oh no, that’s a last resort.”  She sighed.  “But not impossible.  I hear those matchmaking sites are gaining ground.”

“I was just teasing,” Harry said.  “You’ve already got too many admirers.”

“You’re kind to say that.  Let’s table this discussion. It’s al…”

The doorbell rang, cutting me off.  Buslowski stood outside.  I opened the door and smiled.  “Welcome to our abode.”

He looked at me funny as he checked me out.  He was in detective mode.  “What’s going on?”

“You asked for this meeting,” I said, closing the door after him.  “How about we use the kitchen counter, so we can spread out and nosh while we exchange data?”

“Nosh?  As long as I don’t have to eat any of those confabs,” he said loudly.

“I heard that!” Harry said from the kitchen.  “Cin, you big mouth.”

Dave smiled, proud he had pushed a button.  I tried to avoid his eyes.  Buslowski knew something was up.  He probably thought I was just holding back information though.  At least I hoped so.  All I needed was his feigned concern about my sudden ill-fated love life.

“Can I fix you a drink?”

“I’m driving.”

“You can stay in the guest room if you overdo it,” I suggested.

He looked at me suspiciously.  “Why are you being so nice?”

“I don’t know.  Just go with it.”

“I’ll have a beer,” he said.

“One beer coming up.”

Harry handed each of us a copy of last evening’s report.  I sipped my drink while I read it silently.

I arrived with Alex Lathen at Tom Richards’s home in Palm Beach, Florida at 7:30.  The guard asked our names and asked us to present IDs.  I suspected it was because we arrived in my Jeep, but I applauded the security measure.  The guard waved us through, and we had the valet park the car.  The Richards house is a two-story home built in 1950 and renovated twice, the last time two years ago.  Alex and I split up.  Tom asked me to come to his office, and no sooner did we get settled, when Toby called and alerted us to Cin’s arrival.

Tom left to collect Cin.  I took the opportunity to look through the unlocked drawers of his office.  I managed to complete my task and sit down before I heard him return with Cin.

I skimmed over the meeting, as I had been there, and picked up his narrative after he left the room.

I left the room and decided to concentrate my efforts on the younger members of the suspect list.  It was only natural that I would be chatting up the females, so I interviewed the lead guitar player of the band Manuel’s fiancée Debby Jones and her best friend Nancy Adams.  I suspected these were the young women that Cin had labeled as the coke girls.  Both girls were overly friendly and high.  The only negative actions they displayed were their open hostility for Cin.  “Who the fuck is that?” Debby asked me.  I told her that she was Sidney Stoneridge’s date.  Her response was, “That’s not what I heard.  I heard that she was Elijah’s new slag.”  I didn’t act surprised and didn’t press, and soon the whole story came out about how Elijah had been talking to Manuel about how much he likes the redhead.  It was quite a surprise when Sidney showed up with Cin on his arm.  Evidently, Sidney had gone through chemo and was on the mend and on the make, according to Nancy.  She said that he’d been chatting up Elijah’s ex, Caroline.

I remembered his comment about mistaking Caroline for Mandy.  Was this the exchange Nancy saw or was it another conversation?  If Nancy was right, I had fallen in love with a guy that was just starting to break hearts.  I took a long drink of my Manhattan before I continued.

The mysterious Gareth Goodbody walked into the party.  Meyer met him at the door, and the two of them joked around for a while.  Meyer offered to introduce him to Alex, his temporary replacement.  Gareth declined and excused himself with the excuse that he needed to talk to Tom.  Meyer was a little put out, but the arrival of Susan Richards seemed to brighten him up.  The two fell into conversation.  I watched Susan making the rounds, and she was well received by every guest.  The coke girls were a bit intimidated but had nothing but nice things to say about the older woman.  She had worked her way to Sidney when Tom arrived back with Cin.

I excused myself from the coke girls and decided to see if I could locate Gareth.  I found him coming out of Tom’s office.  I nodded a greeting as I continued down the hall to the restroom.  I waited a while and turned around to see what he had been up to in the office.  Everything looked more or less like the way it was when Cin and I were there, except a few of the books in bookcase on the wall had toppled over.  The carpet in front of the case looked like it had been vacuumed in a sweeping arc.  It was then I figured out that I had found a secret door.  I didn’t know how to open it, but I made a note and quickly left the office to keep an eye out for Gareth.

I rounded the corner and stopped.  Gareth was standing just out of sight watching Cin and Elijah.  They appeared to be arguing.  Cin left and moved down the hall.  Caroline Broadhurst pulled her into the library, which seem to animate Gareth.  He passed by me, heading in the direction of Tom’s office.  I stealthily followed him and saw how he opened the secret door.  He disappeared into the wall.*

I looked for the * at the bottom of the page and read:

* Bookcase secret door accesses secret passage that leads to Susan’s library.

So I put one and one together and got Gareth listening in on Caroline’s and my conversation. But why?

I waited for Gareth and was surprised when he walked into the office later with Tom Richards.  I excused myself, and I left.  Meyer, the drummer, and Alex were in an animated conversation, so I decided to join them, hopefully to learn more about the one-name drummer.  Alex was questioning him about one of the songs. He felt he had misunderstood when he was to come in.  “On the recording, it’s a count of eight,” he explained.

“No, dude, it’s a count of sixteen.  Gareth screws it up all the time.  It’s probably wrong on the recording because it’s Gareth on the recording.”

“That explains it.  It just seemed too early,” Alex said.

It was then we heard Mandy.

“You have no freaking idea what it’s like to be me!” she yelled.  “Poor little rocker baby, no one takes my music seriously.”

She got up and ran headlong into Cin.  Fortunately, the waiter Toby was behind Cin or she no doubt would have ended up on the floor.

“Thank you.  I’ve got this,” Cin told the waiter after he indicated he would step in.  “Mandy, why don’t we go check out Susan’s library?”

Mandy asked, “Who the fuck are you?”

“A friend.  A friend who cares,” Cin told her and added, “I’m Alex’s mom.”

Mandy looked over at Alex, and he nodded and smiled.

“Shit, he’s alright.  Okay, but it’s philistines like Stoneridge that get my goat.”

Cin and Mandy left.

Sidney got up and walked outside.  I excused myself and went to follow him but was waylaid by Gareth.

“I hear you’re a private dick.”

“I’m a consultant.  Elijah and Tom hired my partner and me to look into the accidents and ‘bad luck’ that the band’s been experiencing.

“Who’s your partner?”

“Cin, the tall redhead, maybe you’ve seen her?”

“I’ve seen her.  Nice looking woman.  Elijah’s rather smitten.”

“Elijah hired us.  Cin won’t cross the line with a client.  Between you and me, I think she likes the sound engineer.”

“Stoneridge?  He’s a dying man. Steer her clear of him, dude.  He’s going through his bucket list.  I’ve seen the list, and perhaps, she’s already been crossed off.”

“He seemed like a decent guy,” I said.

“He’s got a past, kind of moody, like Meyer.  But Meyer has reason to be.”

“Whoa, you’ve got to explain that.”

“Meyer’s a closeted gay.”

“Why stay in the closet?”

“I don’t know, but it’s his business, you know.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t be spreading any rumors.  Not professional.”

Gareth patted me on the back.  “That’s good to know.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a few people to connect with.”

He left, and I went in search of Meyer.  There were a few people I spied going upstairs to the bedrooms.  I decided to follow them in case that was where Meyer had disappeared to.

I didn’t find Meyer, just some couples hooking up.  That’s when the radio went off.  I didn’t hear the screaming until I got outside.  Sounded like an electric guitar wailing.

When I arrived, Cin was on the ground, trying to comfort a hysterical Mandy.  Elijah arrived and carried Mandy off.

Cin got up off the sand and started to protect the scene.  “I think we need to stop anyone else from destroying the scene,” she said.

I backed her up and suggested we split up. I pulled out my cell to call 911. I told Cin, “We’re in Palm Beach, which means the Ken dolls.  I’m going to call Buslowski. It’s his county.”

“Good thinking.  They’re going to fight for jurisdiction, but we need the best on this. That means Buslowski,” she told me.

Harry described the arrival of the cops and Buslowski, and I paid attention to the little details of who arrived and when.  I looked over the procedure that Buslowski followed for protecting Caroline’s body and took note of how impressed Harry was with the detective’s handling of the crime scene.  I skipped the part where Harry escorted me to the house and continued to read what followed after Harry returned.

“Harry, you stay here,” Buslowski said.  “I’ve got to notify the family.”

“That would be Elijah Broadhurst, he’s the ex-husband, and Mandy Broadhurst.”

“Where can I find them?” he asked.

“Elijah took his daughter up to the house.  Ask Tom Richards when you get there.  He’ll know.”

“Harry, this is a very detailed and complete report,” Buslowski said, interrupting my reading.  I decided to leave the rest for later in order to listen to his observations.

“I guess it’s my turn,” he said.  He took a long pull of his beer and reached over and patted the top of my hand.  “Cin, I want you to know that I didn’t mean to pry, but I just can’t help myself.  When you left, I mined Harry for information and got the name of the guy you were dating.  I took it and ran him through the system. That’s when I came up with a report on a Sidney Stoneridge who was arrested after he torched an RV.  Before that, he stalked the owner and his family.  I looked further and found this was the same recreational vehicle that had been in an accident that killed his mother.  He was sentenced to five years but only served one and was released on parole.”

“You dated a jailbird,” Harry teased.

“Dated?” Buslowski asked.

“Past tense, Cin got dumped this afternoon.”

I looked at Harry and couldn’t believe he said what he just said and to Buslowski.  I finished my drink and popped a maraschino cherry in my mouth to keep me from cussing.

“Sorry to hear that.  The guy’s out of his freaking mind, and a jail bird. You could do a lot better,” Buslowski counseled.

He went on to report on Karen’s murder and produced a copy of the investigator on the scene’s report.

“Were there any other suspects?” I asked, still smarting from Harry’s betrayal.

“The locals thought they had their man, so they didn’t look any further.”