Deadly Reunion (29 page)

“She said she’d leave a key
under the mat. Can one of you give me a ride there?”

Melodie
turned to her aunt. “Eric is coming by to pick you up in few minutes, isn’t he?”

Diana nodded and smiled at Grace. “We can drop you off.”

“I don’t want to impose,” Grace said, wishing once more she owned a car or, at the very least, a bike. She was getting tired of depending on the kindness of anyone with a car.

Speaking for her aunt,
Melodie said, “Nonsense. They were going out anyway.”

CHAPTER
TWENTY

K
yle walked the
dirty hallway, searching for room 108. When Steve Mattingly called and asked Kyle to meet him at Steve’s brand new office, Kyle didn’t really expect to find Steve’s office in a large high rise with a downstairs security guard, but he never expected to find it in a rundown office building with loose flooring, bad lightening, and graffiti, either. If this dilapidated building isn’t already condemned, it should be, Kyle thought miserably, as he watched a small mouse scurry across the floor. The only thing keeping him from turning around and leaving was the fact that Steve had something important to tell him. Kyle hoped that the
something
was about Crystal’s death and not just another job pitch.

Turning another corner, Kyle finally found room 108. Taped to the door was a piece of notebook paper, with the words
Mattingly Private Investigations – No case is too small
printed in red ink. 

Smiling, Kyle gently pushed the door open. To his surprise, a large cavernous dance studio, complete with wall mirrors and mounted ballet bars, lay behind the old, wooden, double doors. Shaking his head, he walked past the threshold. The studio was virtually empty, but at the far end of the room, he could just make out an old desk, an antiquated hutch, and a couple of rickety lawn chairs. Quietly, shutting the door, Kyle began the trek to the back of the room. The sound of his new boots, hitting the hardwood floors, echoed throughout the room.

Steve sat facing the h
utch, furiously typing away at the desktop computer. Hearing footsteps behind him, Steve called out, “Just have a seat. I’ll be right with you.”

Kyle looked down at the dirty green lawn chair facing the desk. Reaching out, he
gingerly, pulled the lawn chair back and sat down, only to quickly jump up, when the cheap, plastic chair legs’ began to buckle. “Thanks. I think I’ll stand.”

Steve stopped typing and turned around. A small grin spread over his face.
“Well, look who it is. Just the person I wanted to see.”

Kyle felt a shiver go down his spine.
It wasn’t so much what Steve said as how he said it. “I got your message. What’s so urgent that you had to see me right now?”

“I’m con
sidering expanding my business. How does Mattingly and Drake sound to you?”

“Crowded.
I’m flattered, but I like to work alone,” he said, turning around and walking to the door.

“You know, you’re a real interesting guy. Big time detective from New York
, comes to our small little town, investigating the crime of the year. Hobnobbing with our town elites. Besides the murder, you’re all this town has to talk about.”

Turning around, Kyle shrugged.
“I think everyone would be better served if we focused our attention on finding Crystal’s murderer.”

“I’m more interested in you
, personally. You know what’s strange. I can’t really find anything on Kyle Drake, the big time detective. Funny, you think I would.”

Feelin
g his heart speed up, Kyle said, “I like to keep a low profile.”

Steve smiled. “Oh, I’m sure.
You know, the night of the reunion, I remembered you telling us about some of your more exciting cases. You were kind of vague on who your clients were.”

“I’m sorry.” Kyle shook his head. “I’m not really at liberty to divulge—”

“And I wouldn’t expect you to. Not a professional like you. But I distinctly remembered you mentioning how you investigated a murder of a magician’s assistant last Halloween. It only took a couple of minutes to discover the victim’s name.” He looked down at his notes. “Lily Straker. So, just out of professional curiosity, you understand, I decided to call the victim’s husband. He wasn’t available, but I was able to speak to his son-in-law, Allen,” Steve said, fumbling through his notes, “here it is, Allen Madison, Vice President of the Straker Toy Company.”

Kyle smoothed his features.
He had been on stage enough times to learn to hide his emotions from his audience. “What did he have to say?”

“
He was rather reluctant to talk to me but he did confirm that you are a detective and that you were hired to find Lily Straker’s killer.”

Kyle smiled. “There you go.”

Steve scrunched up his face. “Yeah . . . here’s the problem. You work at this type of job long enough you start to learn pretty quickly if someone is lying to you. Madison was very vague, and frankly, he sounded like he couldn’t wait to get off the phone.”

“Well
, don’t take it personally, that’s just the way he is.”

“Now
, Jackie King, on the other hand, was very friendly.”

Kyle felt his heart sink into his chest.

“You remember Jackie, don’t you?” Steve asked, leaning back in his chair. “She definitely remembered you. But here’s the interesting thing, she seemed rather confused when I told her you were a detective. In fact, she laughed. She thought I was joking. We didn’t get to talk for long, but before she hung up, I did find out something pretty interesting. According to Jackie, Kyle Drake, isn’t your real name. She said it’s your stage name.”

Kyle thought quickly.
“I’m afraid she’s a bit confused. I was undercover.”

Steve
shook his head. “No. No,” he said slowly, “Jackie seemed rather certain that you are, in fact, Aleksis Dragovich. She also hinted that Grace was fooling around with the boss which I thought was rather strange. Grace didn’t seem like that type of woman.”

Kyle smirked. Apparently, Grace was going to have to have another talk with Jackie.

“Anyway, once I hung up with her, I discovered that Aleksis Dragovich is a stage magician. Unfortunately, not nearly as good as his famous father, who by the way, really wants to talk to you.”

Kyle blanched.
“You called—”

“Why
, yes I did. Just before you came in. He didn’t sound too happy with what I had to say. You know, you don’t sound Russian at all.”

“I’m not. My father is.”
Kyle closed his eyes. To be honest, he didn’t expect this to last this long. Opening his eyes, he decided to do as much damage control as possible for Grace’s sake. “Grace doesn’t know. She really thinks I’m a detective.”

“
How did you two meet?”

“She was working as a designer at the toy company. I wasn’t hired as a detective, but I really was there investigating Lily Straker’s death. After it was over, I lied to Grace and told her that I was a detective
and that I was only pretending to be a magician. That it was part of my cover.” Kyle shrugged. “She bought it and I eventually convinced her to come work with me. I guess, I was trying to impress her.” Kyle looked back to the door. “Have you told the police?”

“The police? Why would I talk to them? This
is just between the two of us.”

Kyle looked at the man sitting across the desk. Realization dawning, he asked,
“How much do you want?”

“I don’t want money.”

At Kyle’s disbelieving look, he added, “I want to be your partner. You are setting yourself up pretty well here. Meeting all our esteemed town leaders. I hear you’re already ensconced at the Gold Rush Country Club. The only way I can get into that place is if I take a job as a golf caddie and even then I probably couldn’t pass the background check. Look, I just want us to work together. I see no reason why we can’t help each other out.”

Considering, Kyle asked.
“What do you want?”

“Firs
t off, we’ll team up. I personally like Mattingly and Drake, but I’m flexible. I’m no fool. I see you. You’re handsome, charming, educated. You’re the whole package. You walk into the room and everyone’s head turns. You’re our draw. With your natural abilities, you’ll be able to pull in the wealthier clients. So, I’m okay with calling us Drake and Mattingly Investigations, as long as I take part in some of the glory.”

Kyle
felt queasy. “What else?”

“Secondly, w
e’ll use this office.”

Kyle looked around the d
ance studio and smiled. “This isn’t exactly what I have in mind.”

“Really
, pretty boy? You got the capital to get us something nicer?” Steve asked. “Yeah, I don’t think so. I’m betting you’ve already blown through whatever you’ve gotten from Adam and Melodie, but that’s okay, because I’m looking towards the future. Don’t worry, with the right clients, we’ll be able to upgrade in a year or two.”

“Anything else?” Kyle snapped.

“Third, Grace has to go,” Steve said.

“Not an option.”

“Now, don’t get upset. I can see you’re a loyal guy. I admire that. Really, I do. And don’t get me wrong. I like Grace. I always have. She was actually one of the nicer ones in school. That’s why I don’t want to see her get hurt.”

“What do you mean by that?”
Kyle asked worriedly.

“What do you think
? She almost died in the fire the other day. You too. This is a dangerous business. Me? I can take care of myself. And you look like you can handle yourself in a fight. Grace, on the other hand. She could get hurt.”

“Your concern is touching
, but she’s tougher than she looks.”

“I’m not just talking about getting hurt physically. I mean emotionally
, too. She likes you. I can tell. What is she going to do when she finds out you’re a complete fraud? She’s going to be devastated. Worse, she’s going to turn you in. This is something you probably don’t know about Grace. She is a stickler for rules. If she finds out that you’re a fake, she will run to the police. You can bank on that. She’ll blow everything out of the water.”

Kyle felt like laughing.
“I think I can handle her.”

“It’s too risky.
There’s too big of a chance that you’ll screw up and say something. She’s actually pretty sharp, you know. I’m surprised she hasn’t already suspected something. She’s probably just hung up on your looks. That won’t last. Once she finds out. She’ll kill you.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

“Fine. She might as well find out early. Do you want to call and confess, or do you want me to do it?” Steve picked up the phone and held it out.

Kyle took the phone and placed it back in th
e cradle. “How about a new deal? When I find out who killed these people, I’ll make sure you share in the credit. Think of it as free publicity.”

“You’re still invest
igating, then? Surprising. Sheriff Bo Bo thinks he has this all wrapped up. As of this morning, the official police statement is that Adam killed Crystal and then offed himself because the police were closing in on him.”

“Do you believe that?”

Steve snorted. “No. Adam was an egotist. There is no way he would have killed himself in some rinky-dink shack in the middle of nowhere. He certainly wouldn’t have left a simple little note. The man thought he was the next Cecil B. DeMille. If he had tried to kill himself, he would have made a gigantic production out of it. Who do you think killed Crystal and Adam?”

“You mean beside yourself.”

Steve leaned back in his chair and laugh. “Why would I kill either one of them?

“Crystal was blackmailing you and you obviously hated Adam.”

“Blackmailing me? For what?”

“Yo
u attacked that artist Melodie dated after graduation. I heard that you almost killed him.”

“That’s a lie
,” Steve said calmly.

“You didn’t
push him down a flight of stairs? You didn’t destroy his paintings?”

“
I didn’t push him down and I didn’t destroy anything. I saw Melodie run out of his studio one day, crying. She was hysterical. The jerk was still cursing at her from his door, so I went over there and told him to knock it off. I’ll admit, I did threaten him. I told him that if he didn’t leave her alone, he would be sorry. I was trying to protect her. Not that she appreciated it. She’s always had horrible taste in men. But I didn’t try to kill him.”

“Someone pushed Hart down a flight of stairs and broke his collarbone. If it wasn’t you, then who?”

Steve’s
face turned red. “Larry Baker. I never understood what Melodie saw in him. He was a violent, alcoholic, jealous thug. He’s the one who pushed Hart.”

“Ther
e’s a problem with your theory. Larry didn’t know what had happened between Melodie and David. She said she never told him.”

“She didn’t
. . . but I did. I ran into Larry right after I confronted Hart. I told Larry what happened. He was furious,” Steve smiled in remembrance. “It was the first time Larry ever thanked me. I found Hart lying at the bottom of those stairs not more than ten minutes later. Larry was just getting in his car and driving away.”

Kyle
leaned against the mirrored wall. He still wasn’t convinced. It was easy to put the blame on a dead guy, but he had to admit Steve wasn’t saying anything Grace hadn’t already suspected.