Undeniably Yours (23 page)

The kettle whistled in the kitchen and was immediately silenced. She said, “I suggest you consider your source.”

Currently, I wished bad things on my source. “Is it possible your assistant posted hateful things about Kira on your behalf?”

“No. Most likely your source is also the source of most malicious gossip about me: my dearly unbeloved husband. If you have not figured it out, he is not the most trustworthy.”

I glanced toward the doorway, wondering about the suddenly-silent kettle. “Yet you married him.”

“Tequila,” she said, shaking her head.

“That’s what he said.”

“Another lie. He brought me to Vegas with the sole intention of matrimony. I, on the other hand, shouldn’t have drunk so much.”

“Why?” I asked. “I mean, why would he lie about it?” I knew why she’d turned to the tequila. I’d have done the same in the company of Trey for an extended period of time.

“He’s an opportunist, that’s why. He wanted headlines to keep his name in the limelight. Marrying me gave them to him. It took me nearly a month to realize his scam.”

I recalled the tabloid blast. “Why not an annulment?”

She smiled, a sly devious smile. “Oh, he’s asked.
Begged
.” Her eyes glittered with satisfaction. “I wasn’t in the mood to comply after being duped by him. Now he’s paying the price with this lengthy divorce. I don’t even care if it costs me money in the end.”

If she was willing to stay married to Trey this long, she took her revenge seriously. How had Kira factored into her plans? “Were you upset about him dating Kira?”

“Not the least bit. I felt badly for her, actually.”

“Why’s that?”

Looking toward the garden, she seemed lost in thought for a moment. Finally, she said, “As I mentioned, he’s an opportunist. And a narcissist. He doesn’t care for anyone but himself.
His
wants,
his
needs,
his
desires. I knew what he wanted from her, and it pained me to see him defraud another woman, especially when there was a child involved. I told her my suspicions, but…” She trailed off.

“But?” I prompted.

“It seemed she knew.”

“She knew?”

Leaning forward, she sighed. “She told me she appreciated my concern, but she knew what she was doing. What could I do? I washed my hands of it.”

“You said you knew what he wanted from her. What was that?”

“He’d been freelancing as a sportscaster for the TV station a long time. He wanted to be the lead sports anchor. From there he wants to go national. She is a stepping stone for him, as I was.”

Putting pieces together, I tipped my head. “He was promoted last week.”

Serafina came in, carrying a tray with the teacup and saucer Tova had set out earlier. The case of the silenced tea kettle had been solved. She set the cup and saucer on the side table.

“Thank you, Sera,” Tova said, smiling warmly at the housekeeper, who quickly ducked out of the room. She picked up our conversation. “Yes, he was promoted. Thanks to his girlfriend pulling strings. I predicted a few more weeks before he broke it off with her. Except now she’s missing…and he’s reveling in being a free man without a messy breakup.”

I didn’t doubt a word Tova had said. It all rang true. So, if Kira had known he was using her, what game was she playing? It made no sense to me. Had she been blinded by Trey’s sexy eyes and six-pack abs? I hated thinking so—she seemed too smart to be fooled by him.

I said, “I have to ask where you were last Thursday night.”

“I’ve been out of town all week. I left last Sunday and landed last night from a photo shoot in Tahiti.”

Unless she had minions to carry out her dirty work, then I’d say that was a fairly solid alibi.

“Also,” she said, “we were on a remote island with no cell phone or Internet coverage. I’ll have my assistant email you the details so the police can verify everything.”

There went my scorned-woman theory.

Still, she could have minions… “If you’re not making the online comments, then who?” I asked.

“Who do you think likes all the attention? Who wants this case to drag on and on because it will get him more screen time? Who’s acting like
he
was the victim?”

I recalled Trey sniveling on TV this morning, and how his readings had all been dismal failures. No wonder he wanted this case to drag out.

He didn’t want Kira to be found.

My anger rose again, and I found myself clenching my fists.

“He lied to you earlier,” she said, sipping her tea. “I overheard him telling you he knew nothing about the watch she wore, but he knows.”

“Did he give it to her?” I asked.

She shook her head. “No. He’s too cheap. Even the car he supposedly bought for her is one he borrowed from our home fleet. It’s leased in my name as well as his. My lawyer has been fighting that one for a while now.”

“Wait, wait,” I said, scooting to the edge of my chair. “The car isn’t hers?”

“No.”

This explained why Aiden was having a hard time tracking down a registration. My head spun with all this new information. “Okay, first things first, the watch. What do you know about it?”

“They had a big fight about it. I overheard the whole thing.”

“When?” I asked.

“Last weekend.”

Ah, so this was the fight Morgan had heard about.

Tova said, “Trey didn’t like that she was wearing a gift from another man, and she yelled that he was only angry because another man was more thoughtful than he was. He accused her of sleeping with him, and she yelled that he was just insecure because she was waiting to sleep with him.”

“Trey? She wasn’t sleeping with him?”

Eyes wide with mirth, she shook her head. “Nope. Holding out.”

Well, color me shocked. I wanted to laugh. Morgan had said Kira was particular, and it seemed as though she put her boyfriends to the test before letting them fully into her life.

“I had the feeling she wore that watch to make him angry,” Tova added. “I liked that about her.”

“Do you know who gave it to her?”

“I don’t know his name, but he lives next door to her. Trey hated the guy because he was always around.”

Morgan Creighton.

I wanted to do a happy dance right there in the sunroom, broken foot and all. A reading from Morgan could lead me straight to Kira.

I said, “Would you be willing to do a reading on Kira’s car?”

“Will it help find her?”

“Possibly.”

She set her tea down. “Trey would hate it.”

“Yes.”

Smiling, she said, “Let’s do it.”

I wasn’t above using her revenge to suit my needs. She made room on the sofa, and I hopped over to sit next to her. I gave her a quick rundown on how readings worked.

With curious eyes, she watched me carefully as she held out her hands, palms up.

Sucking in a deep breath, I met her gaze, then placed my hands on top of hers. If what she said was true—about the car being in both her and his names, then I should be able to get a reading on it from Tova. Closing my eyes, I braced myself as images flew at me, taking me along highways, through a suburban area, and finally deep into the Blue Hills where I saw Kira’s missing SUV.

Or, rather, what was left of it.

Concealed by overhead foliage, the SUV rested at the bottom of a deep ravine, crushed nearly flat. I swallowed a lump in my throat.

No one could survive such a crash.

T
he beautiful Blue Hills Reservation, a state park, was located south of the city. Its area was so big it extended into several towns. With hills (appropriately), ponds, marshes, and swamps, it was a great place to hike, bike, or spend a day splashing in the ponds.

It had a bit of a dark side, too. Many dead bodies had been found in these woods over the years. I couldn’t help but wonder if Kira would become one of the statistics.

On my drive, I’d called Morgan Creighton only to get his voicemail. I’d left him a message, told him to call me, that it was urgent, and hung up, feeling a spark of hope.

The pieces were coming together.

By the time I made it to the Blue Hills—more than an hour later because my traffic luck had run out—the place was crawling with emergency personnel. State and local police milled about, and there was an abundant number of fire vehicles. I found a parking spot along the side of the road and made my way toward the scene.

Black clouds rolled overhead, dark wisps dipping low. A young trooper tried to stop me at a blockade, but he quickly let me by after I flashed my ID.

Police scoured the roadways, marking areas to be examined further. At the top of the hill, I wasn’t the least bit surprised to see Aiden in the thick of things. When he spotted me, he broke away from the madness.

“It’s down there,” he said, motioning me to the side of the roadway.

There was no guardrail and only a four-foot strip of land before it gave way to a steep drop. From up here, I couldn’t see the wreckage through the thick canopy of leaves.

Thunder cracked and everyone looked upward at the same time. There was a shout for tents.

“Is Kira…?” I asked, my heart thumping.

“Don’t know yet,” he said, fussing with the collar of his polo shirt. “Crews are down there now.”

It was strange to see him in jeans and not a suit. When I called him from the Fisher house he’d been about to check out of the hospital and didn’t have time to run home and change. Fortunately, he’d had his badge with him, which was now clipped at his waist. He’d sent Em home and caught a ride here with a hospital security guard.

“I’m not sure we would have ever found it, Lucy. Even when the leaves fell… It’s such a remote area.”

Aiden and I moved out of the way as a wrecker chugged up the hill, its orange rooftop light flashing. It was going to be quite an ordeal to get the SUV removed from its resting spot.

“Any sign of where it went over?” I asked. “Was it an accident?”

“We haven’t found any broken glass to indicate a collision,” he said, leading me farther up the hill, to an area that seemed to be the main focus of the investigators.

Thunder rumbled and a bolt of lightning flashed in the distance.

“Damn it,” Aiden said, glancing skyward. “We’re going to have to suspend the search if the storm gets much closer.”

As much as I hated that idea, it was dangerous out here, being this high up with all these trees around.

“The car went over here,” he said.

I noted the tree damage and flattened brush that was already bouncing back. I only noticed because I was looking for it. A normal observer could pass on by without knowing anything was amiss.

I studied the ground. “No skid marks.” Kira hadn’t braked before going over.

“No.” His jaw worked back and forth.

“It was dark,” I theorized. “If she wasn’t familiar with this road she could have easily missed the curve…”

“Why would she be out here?”

I didn’t know. There was nothing here. Trees. Trails. Wilderness.

I wanted to believe it was an accident. The most likely supposition was too hard to swallow.

That someone had orchestrated this outcome.

It was easy enough to do. Simply angle the car at the right position, put the car in drive, and get the hell out of the way as it rolled forward, letting physics take care of the rest.

I shuddered as the wind kicked up, whipping my hair against my cheek. A drop of rain fell. Another.

Lightning flashed brightly and thunder rocked the ground, shaking it like an earthquake.

“Get them up here,” someone shouted as people scurried.

I stood next to an unmoving Aiden. Two statues in the midst of chaos.

It seemed like an endless wait before the first bucket of firefighters was winched to safety. Aiden burst forward as others unbuckled the group.

I stood back, watching and waiting, as Aiden conversed with the crew. Lightning cracked, raising the hair on my arms. It took everything in me not to turn and run as fast as I could with this stupid crutch to the safety of my car.

I hated lightning. It brought back painful memories of the day I’d lost the ability to see the colorful world I’d grown up with.

For Aiden, I stayed put. Rain spit from the sky, quickly darkening the color of the road beneath my feet, turning it from slate gray to charcoal to black.

After a moment, Aiden came back to me, despair etched in his eyes.

“Kira?” I asked, my mouth dry—the only part of me that was.

“Nothing,” he said so low I had to strain to hear him.

Raindrops splattered my face. “What’s that mean?”

“The SUV is empty. No sign of an occupant. No blood or anything that would indicate there was ever anyone in the vehicle.” As he looked over the vast expanse of woods, the sky fully opened and a pouring rain soaked everything in sight.

I was glad the city was finally getting the cleansing it needed, but I couldn’t help but feel as though the heavens were crying.

Water streamed down Aiden’s face as he looked over the expansive forest. “She could be anywhere, Lucy. Absolutely anywhere.”

“We’ll find her,” I said to Aiden as I turned up the driveway of Aerie. Finally home. I was missing it after the day I’d had. Missing Sean. Missing my critters. Right now I’d be happy to take a hot shower, slip into my pjs and just spend some quality time with all of them for the rest of the night. But that was a pipe dream.

There was still too much to do with this case. And being alone with Sean wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

Right now Em was out doing more shopping, planning to add an air mattress to my dining room décor. Aiden wanted to be near Ava and wasn’t comfortable moving her from my place—where she’d become accustomed—to Dovie’s. So, Em and Aiden were moving in with Sean and me until this case was solved.

“Yeah,” he said, staring out the window. The rain had gone as fast as it had come, leaving behind cloudy skies and an unsettled feeling.

We’d waited in the Blue Hills long enough for Kira’s SUV to be hauled out of the ravine, to verify that there wasn’t a body trapped underneath the wreckage.

There hadn’t been.