AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yeah, I think. She was a private nurse or something after she got fired from the hospital or . . . Oh, wait . . . Crap . . . this isn’t the right gate! Oh . . . never mind. Next one over. But . . . damn . . . I think they’re calling my flight.” She hesitated and for a few seconds Nikki heard the noise of the airport crackling over the line. Then Andrea was back. “Look, I’ve got to run.”
Nikki didn’t want to lose her. “So you think Holly’s parents weren’t getting along?”
“I don’t know. Not really, but I’ve thought about it, of course. Holly had just complained about it, mentioned that things had gotten tense at the house around the time her mom switched jobs and there were all sorts of other things. Owen, he was getting into trouble—teenage boy stuff like a minor in possession, y’know, getting caught drinking by the cops. Maybe even getting high. I don’t really know. And then there were financial issues, always. I know because Holly couldn’t afford new clothes or CDs or jewelry, whatever we were into at the time. I think—and I don’t know this—but I
think she was shoplifting. Wouldn’t buy like a pair of earrings when we went shopping, then ended up with the same pair a week later and swore it was a ‘gift’ from some aunt I’d never heard of. But don’t quote me on that, cuz I’m not sure. I wouldn’t want to disparage the dead, or whatever it’s called.”
She was talking fast and on the move again, it seemed. “I really can’t remember all the details, even if I knew them. But, come on, they had four kids. That’s gotta be rough. And expensive—oops! Look, I gotta go. Really. We’re boarding and I have to use my phone to get on the plane and I don’t really know anything else anyway.” She clicked off, leaving Nikki to stare out the windshield to the workbench beyond the hood of her car and think about the Duval family. So there was some trouble at home. So finances were tight. Those were normal problems, not unique to the Duvals. But what about Margaret’s job? And why had she been fired from the hospital?
What could tension between mother and father have to do with their children being somehow kidnapped, and ultimately murdered, their bodies hidden in the crumbling basement of the Beaumont mansion?
She thought about it all.
Three girls missing; two bodies found. What had happened to Rose, the youngest? She listened as the car engine ticked, cooling.
Her phone buzzed in her hand.
A text from Reed: Working late. Don’t wait dinner on me.
“Great.” She tossed her phone into her purse and felt a well of disappointment. She wanted to call him. Talk things out. Bring out into the open the rift that seemed to be widening between them. Things had been tense for the last couple of days, really tense, and it was getting to her. She was a big believer in working through problems, acknowledging them and getting everything out in the open—well, for the most part. If she were being honest, she sometimes held back a little and was working on becoming more forthcoming. Reed, though, was more introspective, held things in, waited for just the right moment, or so he thought, but then she was rash, she knew it and owned it, and he was more methodical and careful. So their arguments tended to be one-sided and more than once she’d accused him of “holding back” or “not coming clean” or “being silently judgmental.”
But she did feel more than a little bit of guilt. Hadn’t she just been at the Beaumont estate, essentially going behind his back? “Crap,” she muttered. What a mess.
She didn’t doubt he was working, not for a second, because this was his MO when he was on a big case, but she also knew he was avoiding coming home, giving them both some space, some time to cool off.
If that were possible.
The phone rang and she expected to see Reed’s number, but it was another anonymous set of digits. She wouldn’t have answered, but she had several calls out to numbers she didn’t have memorized, people who had known the Duval family. “Hello?”
“Nikki Gillette?” a female voice asked and before she could confirm, went on, “Hi, this is Sherry Culver, we’ve met before. I’m with the Charleston Star, working on an article about the Duval homicides, and I’d like to ask you a few questions. You were there when the bodies were found on the Beaumont estate outside of Savannah, right?”
Nikki was stunned. “I can’t talk about—”
“Yes, yes, I know you’re married to the lead investigator, but since you’re part of the press, I thought you’d be able to give me a little more information. You were injured, I know, and a police officer unfortunately died that day while trying to save you, right?”
“I said I have no comment.” Nikki was starting to get steamed and realized how it felt to be on the receiving end of an interview by a pushy reporter.
“Listen, Nikki, this can be on the down low. You know how it works, I quote ‘a source close to the investigation’ and no one’s the wiser that you gave me the information.”
“No, really, I can’t.”
“Hey, from one woman reporter to another? We all need a break here. We’re all in this together, you know—”
“From one reporter to another?” Nikki repeated. “Right. Well, my answer is still ‘No comment! ’ ”
Flustered, she clicked off. Juggling her laptop bag and the takeout sack, she was irritated and a little humiliated. How many times had she been on the other end of that particular conversation, trying to persuade information from an unwilling source? She was still silently going over the conversation in her mind, trying to figure out how she could have handled the call as she unlocked the door and let herself into the house.
I always knew the press would be involved, that I would have to tread carefully, as if I were stepping through a nest of vipers, but I didn’t expect anyone like that damned muleheaded Nikki Gillette. I hadn’t anticipated I’d have to deal with the likes of her, as well as all the others, when it happened. Somehow, I’ll have to remove her from the situation, but that will be tricky since she’s married to Detective Pierce Reed. He’s enough of a problem, but I can handle him. It’s his brash, ultra-curious wife who is the real stumbling block, the serious threat. That said, I’m more than up to the challenge. Bring it on!
CHAPTER 15
Nikki’s dog and cat greeted her enthusiastically, Mikado spinning in sharp circles, his tail wagging crazily, while Jennings, a little less wild, wound figure eights between her legs. She took the time to put her things down and pick up the tabby, nuzzling his face while he purred, then paying attention to Mikado, bending down and getting her face washed. “I missed you, too,” she told them, and tried to ignore Mikado’s eager eyes as he stared at the white bag, his nose in the air sniffing. “Not this time, bud,” she said.
Instead, she fed both dog and cat their usual meals, Mikado scarfing up his kibble from his bowl set next to his crate in the laundry room, Jennings picking at his similar meal placed on the counter and out of the dog’s reach. Jennings flicked his striped tail in disgust.
“Sorry. It’s what the vet ordered,” Nikki explained. Jennings, though he could still hop onto the washer and dryer and displayed more than a spark of interest in the birds who bathed in the fountain in the backyard, was aging, showing a few bones, his appetite fading. She stroked his head gently and he purred a bit before finally settling down to his meal. “There you go.” The cat had been with her since college, a friend and confidant all of her adult life, longer than she’d known Reed.
Back in the kitchen she snapped on the small television on the counter, found a news station and while she was portioning out some of the ribs, cornbread and slaw onto a plate, she kept one eye on the screen, listening through the weather report—More sunshine on the way!, an update on the city’s cleanup efforts, and Good news! Saint Andrews School would open on schedule, though PE classes would have to be relegated to outdoor activities due to damage to the gym—until the solemn-faced reporter turned to the Duval case. Thirtyish and blonde, with big brown eyes, white teeth and flawless skin, she stared into the camera and reported that two of the missing Duval girls had been located, their bodies discovered in the basement of the Beaumont mansion.
