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Her eyes narrowed. “Are you his girlfriend?”
“God, no,” I replied at once, knowing I sounded properly horrified. “I’m married.”
She hesitated, then said, “Why do you want to talk to me about him?”
“Several reasons,” I said, and added, “But I really think it would be better if you would let me inside so we can speak privately.”
Another of those pauses, during which her gaze slid past me toward the corridor outside her room, as if she halfway expected me to have an accomplice lurking somewhere nearby. But then she appeared to decide I was alone and probably safe enough, because she stepped aside and told me, “Come on in.”
It wasn’t the most gracious invitation I’d ever received, but that was okay. I went past her into the room, noted that it had two queen beds — only one of which appeared to have been slept in — and looked neat and tidy, with her luggage stored in the closet and no obvious belongings apparent anywhere except a paperback Nora Roberts novel lying face down on the table that was situated between the two beds.
“You can sit down over there, if you want,” NancyAnne told me, inclining her head toward the small table and pair of chairs that sat near the window. “I don’t have much time, though. Checkout is in fifteen minutes.”
“That’s okay,” I replied. “I’ll try to make this fast.”
I settled myself in the chair closest to me while she watched, eyes slightly narrowed. I didn’t miss how her gaze went to the rings on my left hand, the engraved band and matching engagement ring with its brilliant round-cut white sapphire. It wasn’t the world’s most traditional wedding set, but it appeared to convince NancyAnne that I’d been telling her the truth about being married, because she nodded slightly to herself before she came over and sat in the unoccupied seat.
The last thing I’d expected to do during this visit was break the news to Jeffrey’s ex-wife that he was dead, but I supposed I should have prepared myself for that eventuality. I wasn’t exactly privy to everything Henry was working on regarding the investigation, and yet it seemed to me that he had no idea NancyAnne — or her child — even existed.
No, they seemed to be part of a past Jeffrey Sellers had been all too happy to leave behind him in Iowa.
“I hate to have to tell you this,” I said, once she’d settled herself in her chair. “But Jeffrey died three days ago.”
At once, her amazing tea-colored eyes widened. Was it those eyes that had first attracted him?
“He what?”
“He…passed…under suspicious circumstances,” I explained. “Right now, the police think a very good friend of mine had something to do with it, but I know she’s innocent. I’m trying to learn as much as I can about him to see if I can figure out who’s actually responsible.”
As soon as I mentioned Victoria — even though I hadn’t stated her name — resentment flared in NancyAnne’s expression. “Was your friend his girlfriend?”
“No, no,” I said quickly, even as I wondered what NancyAnne’s hangup about Jeffrey Sellers’ love life might be. Had he cheated on her?
Or did she still have feelings for him, even though it was obvious he hadn’t treated her — or their daughter — well at all?
“My friend is engaged,” I went on, knowing I needed to clarify the situation as quickly as possible. “She’s actually getting married on Saturday. No, we have every reason to believe Jeffrey was trying to blackmail her and her fiancé.”
Immediately, NancyAnne’s face twisted, and I thought I glimpsed pure rage in her tea-colored eyes. “That bastard,” she whispered.
I stared back at her. “Has he done this kind of thing before?”
She shook her head. “No. Or at least, not that I know of, but we haven’t exactly been in close contact these past few years.” She pulled in a breath, and I noticed how her mouth tightened, as though she knew she had some damaging things to say about her ex but didn’t much care. “I came to Arizona because I couldn’t think of what else to do. He ignored the court orders, and since he worked for himself and kept changing banks, there wasn’t any proper way to garnish his wages, either. Things got so bad that I had to move back in with my parents.”
“I’m sorry,” I murmured, even as I thought that karma definitely had caught up with Mr. Sellers in the worst way possible.
NancyAnne gave a little shake of her head, as if to show she really didn’t want my sympathy. “Anyway, I came here so I could confront him in person. I guess I was hoping I could pressure him to give me something, even if it was just a couple thousand dollars so I’d have enough money for a deposit on an apartment or whatever.”
“And did you see him?” I asked, even as I wondered where she’d gotten the money for the plane ticket and the hotel room. Her parents? Possibly. I could see how they might have dipped into their savings to pay for the trip if it meant financial freedom for their daughter.
“Yes,” she replied promptly. “Last Wednesday, the same day I got to Phoenix. I gave myself plenty of time here, since I didn’t know how long it was going to take to try to make him do the right thing. He told me he was going to have a lot of money soon and that I just needed to hang tight.”
With those words, the situation began to fall into place. Jeffrey had seen NancyAnne, and either guilt or just plain worry that she’d show up on his doorstep whenever she wanted had made him realize he needed to get some money, fast. Clearly, he’d already hatched the plan to blackmail Archie and Victoria, since the first threatening letter had appeared several days before Jeffrey’s ex had arrived in Phoenix, but her presence had definitely added some extra urgency to the mix. That was probably why he’d gone to see Victoria in person, hoping she would hand over the money then and there. I didn’t know how much he was planning to extract from my friends, but clearly, he’d expected enough that it would get his ex-wife off his back for a while.
NancyAnne must have been making those same mental calculations, because she said, “That’s where he was going to get the money, wasn’t he? From your friends?”
“I think so,” I replied. “But he didn’t have a chance to demand the money before he died.”
“She shot him?”
