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A damned good one.
Stretching his bad leg again, he walked from the bathroom to the bed and back again. Yeah, it would hold him.
Tonight, Didi Storm’s nosy daughter would die.
CHAPTER 30
Even if she felt a little like a v
oyeur in the corner booth at the Bellwether, Remmi was mesmerized. The camera hidden on Vera’s mantel worked a little like a baby monitor, only with a clearer picture and a wider range of vision. She and Noah had kept their eyes on it for several hours, switching from coffee to soda and water, replacing the scones with a small pizza they’d picked out.
Vera had come and gone through the rooms without incident, following what was probably her normal routine. Nothing of import happened until after Jensen headed out. Then Vera checked the front room windows, as if to make certain she was alone, put the baby onto the floor with some toys, and made a phone call. Both Remmi and Noah focused sharply on the screen.
The conversation was one-sided, but chilling.
“She was here, damn it,” Vera said when someone answered. “Who? Who do you think? Remmi. And she was with that boy she knew back in high school. Noah Scott . . . Remember Ike Baxter, the mechanic? His stepson . . . yeah, that’s him, and guess what? He’s a P.I. now . . . what? . . . No, no . . . you heard me right, a private investigator. They know that I helped Trudie with the book . . . Huh? . . . I told you we should never have gotten Karen involved! That was your idea, and it backfired . . . yeah, yeah, I know . . . but you’d better fix it. We can’t be linked to her, you know . . . Why? . . . Are you crazy? She jumped off that ledge and brought all the spotlight on us!” Vera was on her feet, pacing from one end of the room to the other, from the dining room and archway to the kitchen to the window to peer outside, then back again.
Noah and Remmi exchanged glances. So, Vera knew Karen Upgarde but seemed confused as to why she jumped.
“Now I’m going to have the police at the door! If Remmi figured it out, how much longer before the cops are here?” She glanced over at her grandson. “I know, I know. That girl has always been an ingrate. After all I did for her! She was no picnic, after being raised by that slut.”
Remmi bristled. She’d known her aunt had always resented her, had done her Christian duty, but had wrapped it all in a blanket of martyrdom.
“And they were asking about everyone. Even Harley. Oh, this isn’t going to end well, I just know it . . .” She shoved her free hand through her hair, obviously upset.
“This is all because of Didi, you know,” Vera said with a lot more heat. Then a pause, while she stood at the window and stared out at the yard and street beyond, listening, her lips drawn into a deep frown. “I know . . .” Nodding. “Finally, I’m going to get a little back, but no matter how much I get off that book, it’s not enough. Not worth it. Not for all the heartache she put me and the folks through. Uh-uh. Look, I’m just letting you know that because Trudie was killed, Remmi thinks I had something to do with it . . . I’m telling you . . . what?” A pause and a swift intake of breath. “He died? . . . No, no, I hadn’t heard. Well, God rest his soul . . .” Another long pause. “. . . Uh, what? The money for the book? Really? I’ll check the contract . . .”
Phone to her ear, she disappeared from the screen and hurried down the hallway, returning less than a minute later. She was carrying papers, and she sat at the dining room table and flipped through them. “Let me see, this is so wordy . . . here it is.” For a few seconds, Vera went silent as she read, then she sucked in a deep breath. “You’re right. It says right here . . .” A wide smile broke out across her face, and she jumped to her feet, joyous. She was transformed. “I can’t believe it, this is such good news. The best!” She was deliriously happy, on her feet and doing a little dance. “I guess every cloud does have a silver lining, doesn’t it? God works in mysterious ways . . . yes, I know. Jennifer called, said the book is doing spectacularly, that’s the word she used—spectacularly!—and she’s taking calls about a possible TV movie about Didi, or so she said. And now . . . Wow!” She was beaming, but suddenly her smile faded a bit. “Still . . . it’s a shame. About Ned and Trudie. Good people. When I got into this, I never thought anyone would die . . . I mean, they were killed and it could be because of the book.” She was pacing again, listening. She stopped where the baby sat on the floor, toys spread around him, his gurgling voice audible as she found a truck in the basket of toys and put it within his reach on the carpet. “Yes, yes, I know.” Straightening, Vera said, “Of course. What’s done is done. And . . . yes, there is the money to consider.”
She turned to stare straight at the mantel, and Remmi’s heart dropped, thinking they were about to be discovered. But Vera’s attention was solely on her conversation.
“Yes,” she was saying. “I’ll light a candle and say a prayer. Okay. Okay. I’m just worried, that’s all . . . Yes. I’ll talk to you then. Bye.”
She cut the connection and clutched the phone to her chest with both hands. Then, after seeing that the baby was amusing himself with some toys, walked directly to the mantel and stared up, her eyes nearly level with the camera. Her lips trembled a bit, and tears filled her eyes. “Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you, Jesus.” She started to walk away, then looked directly at the camera and, in an almost inaudible breath, added, “And please, please forgive me.”
Remmi’s blood turned to ice. “She’s involved,” she said to Noah.
“To her eyeballs.”
“But she just learned about Ned. Was surprised.”
“I know. Doesn’t quite fit.” He thought aloud as a waitress carried two salads to a trio of women who were talking animatedly at a table near the door.
Noah and Remmi had been in the booth for hours.
Remmi got up and stretched, noticing how long the shadows in the parking lot had grown. What was Vera’s part in all this? Did she know what happened to Didi? Had she lied about that, as she’d lied about so many things? But it seemed, listening to her side of the conversation, that she hadn’t been part of the attack on Ned and Trudie.
“Who was she talking to?” Remmi asked. “Uncle Milo?”
“He’s my first bet,” Noah said, nodding. “But there’s Billy. He could be involved.”
She agreed; her uncle was never around, always MIA.
“Or Harley. We don’t know that he’s in Alaska. Or even Jensen.”
“Except he just left. She didn’t have to talk to him on the phone, and as awful as he was as a teenager, I didn’t think he was faking us out.” She remembered his pride about his baby. “He’s getting his life together, and neither Harley or Jensen were around when Didi went missing.”
“Doesn’t mean they couldn’t be involved in the book and Karen Upgarde.”
