Deadly Reunion (33 page)

“Grace?”

When she didn’t answer him, he walked over to her a
nd ran his hand down her back. “Grace, are you okay?”

“Did David Hart happen to mention when he came to town?”

“Um, June 2002. About a month after you all graduated.”

Grace smiled. “That’s what I thought. I think it’s time to talk to Sheriff Bellamy. I’ve got a pretty good idea who
killed Sam.”

*  *  *  *

Sheriff Bellamy led them out into the hallway. Clapping a hand on Kyle’s back, he gently pushed him towards the door. “Come back when you actually have something close to evidence.”

Grace followed Kyle into the hallway. She had spent the last hour
, carefully explaining to Bellamy who killed Sam and why. To her surprise, he actually listened before telling them it was a nice theory, but without any evidence, it wasn’t worth investigating. Unfortunately, he then went into excruciating detail on what constitutes good evidence and what doesn’t. Only after their eyes had glazed over, and they were sufficiently schooled, did the sheriff take pity and let them go with a promise, that if they could prove their “little theory,” then he would be more than happy to arrest the perpetrator.

Passing Kyle and Bellamy,
Grace paused only long enough to wave to Tom and Melodie, who were just coming out of Tom’s office.

Before she could reach the door
, she felt Kyle’s hand close on her arm. “I need to talk to you.”

“Hi
Kyle,” Melodie called, running up to him and wrapping her arms around his neck. “Just the person I wanted to see. What are you doing here?”

Kyle shrugged.
“Not much. You?”

“I was just visiting
, Tom. I needed to talk to him about Crystal’s estate. How about lunch?”

Feeling Grace pull
away, Kyle tightened his grip. “I can’t right now.”

“Oh
no, here comes Steve. Please say yes,” she said, pouting.

Sighing
, he looked from Grace to Melodie. “I can’t, Melodie. I agreed to meet Steve for lunch today.”

“
Steve
?” both women said at the same time.

“Hey ladies. Are my ears burning?”

Melodie and Grace groaned.

“You ready
, Drake?”

“Yeah, just give me a second. Grace, I really need to speak to you
, now. Could you just follow me for a second?”

Grace
followed him to a corner of the room. Once she was next to him, she looked over her shoulder. “What’s going on? Why are you going to lunch with Steve?” she whispered.

“Grace. I’ve been trying to tell you
all day,” he said. “I’ve decided to go into business with Steve.”

“What?” she shouted. “Are you crazy?”

“Would you lower your voice, please?” he said, looking over his shoulder. Melodie, Steve, Tom, and Bellamy were awkwardly standing off to the side, pretending they couldn’t hear every word they were saying. “They can hear you.”

“I don’t care if they
do. I’m not working with Steve Mattingly.”

Kyle sighed, running his hand through his hair. “You don’t have to.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Just what I said. I’m working with Steve now. You’re not a part of this.”

“I don’t believe this? You’re firing me?” Grace laughed. “You’re the one that dragged me into this. If you remember, I wanted nothing to do with your investigation.”

“I know. I shouldn’t have gotten you involved. I’m sorry. I hope we still can be friends.
” He looked over at Steve and waved. “Look, I have to go. Bye Grace.” He reluctantly turned away and took a step towards Steve and Melodie, who were openly staring at them.

Grace pulled him back around. “Listen to me. What’s happened?
Are you angry with me or something?”

Kyle shook his head. “No
, not at all. I just don’t need your help anymore. Please, don’t take it personally. This is purely a business decision. If you need a reference—”

“A reference?” she repeated slowly. “A reference? You must be kidding. Why are you doing this? We are so close to catching the killer.”

“No,” he said, crossing his arms, “we aren’t. Didn’t you just hear the sheriff? You have absolutely no evidence.”

“But I’ve been thinking and I’m pretty sure
I know where we can find the picture. If you would just listen—”

“No, Grace. I’m not listening to you anymore. I told you Bellamy wouldn’t believe you
, but you insisted on coming here and talking to him anyway. Just stay out of it,” he said harshly.

CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO

“I
have the
picture of Sam on the bell tower, and I know you killed him. I’m willing to part with it for a price. One hundred thousand dollars. Meet me at Adam’s cabin and you can have it.” Grace smirked. “Why would I hand over the picture to Kyle Drake? You must not have heard. I no longer work for him . . . Don’t worry, this isn’t a trap. You bring me the money and you can have the picture. If you don’t, then I’ll go to the police. I’ll look like a hero. Albeit a very poor hero. I’d much rather be one hundred thousand dollars richer—”

Listening carefully, Grace said,
“Oh, I think they’d believe me. Once they see that picture, they’d have to take me seriously.” Turning off her phone, Grace smiled at Kyle, who was busy shaking the dirt out of his hair.

“Do you really think this is going to work?”

Grace placed the phone on the table. “We’ll know soon.” Worriedly, she chewed at her bottom lip. “I just wish the sheriff was here.”

“Why
, you need another lecture on police procedure?”

“He had a point.” They didn’t really have any proof. All the evidence that could be collected
was long gone. All they had was conjecture. They were guessing. Baring a full confession, Sam’s death would remain a suicide.

Kyle propped h
is feet onto the table. His normally cheerful features were grim. “Relax. I’ll be right here. What could possibly go wrong?”

“Everything.”
Grace looked around at the shack. Kyle had spent the last few hours rearranging the shack for “maximum effect.” “I still don’t know why you wanted to do it here?”

“
I needed room to work, and we needed someplace safe.”

“We’re miles
from anyone,” she pointed out. “Besides, it wasn’t too safe for Adam. He tried the same thing not too long ago and look what happened to him.”

“I meant safe for our guest. We don’t want to advertise that we’re setting a trap. Hopefully, our little performance worked.”
Kyle ran a hand over his face and rubbed his eyes. “It’s not too late. We could always back out and go home.”

“
Now you’re starting to sound scared,” she accused.

“Terrified
,” he admitted cheerfully. “You should be, too.”

“Don’t worry. I have something Adam didn’t,” she said, amused by his questioning expression.
“You.”

“True.”

*  *  *  *

Yawning
, Grace threw down the deck of cards and rubbed the back of her neck. Stretching, she stood up and looked out the window. Five hours had passed since the phone call. Five of the most boring and terrifying hours of her life. She was just about to call it quits and go home, when she saw the headlights of a car bounce along the dirt road.

Heart pounding
, she unlocked the door, turned off the lights and backed into the room. Standing on the chair sitting in the middle of the room, she reached up and removed the overhead light bulb. Hopping off the chair, she moved it to the side and got back into position. Wiping her sweating palms on her jeans, she told herself to relax.

“Grace?” Diana called out.
“Are you here?”

“I’m over here, Diana.”

“Where? Why do you have the lights off?”

Grace flipped a switch and
one of Adam’s movie lights came on. Pointing straight at Diana. Blinding her.

Diana threw up her hands to shield her eyes. “Grace this is ridiculous. I can’t see you.”

“Good. Considering what happened to Adam, I think that’s a good idea, don’t you?”

“Sweetie, I don’t understand what you’re talking about. You said you had my picture. What picture were you talking about?” she asked, st
raining her eyes, looking for Grace.

“You know what picture.”

Diana smirked. “You’re going to have to be more specific than that. Describe it or I walk,” she said, all pretense gone.

Using what Grace learned from Beth, Grace described the picture as best as she could.

Diana shook her head in disbelief. “Where’s Drake?”

“I told you on the phone that he
fired me earlier today. I was surprised that you hadn’t heard.”

“
No, I had heard. Melodie told me this afternoon. I’m just surprised. You should have left things alone Grace. Did you show Drake the picture before you came here?”

“Don’t worry.
This is just between you and me. You give me the money, and I’ll return the picture to you. There’s no reason why my ex-employer should know anything about this.”

Diana reached into her
bag and pulled out several large stacks of cash. She took a few steps toward the sound of Grace’s voice.

“No. Place them on the
kitchen counter behind you, please.”

Diana stopped
, and glared into the darkness for several seconds, before turning around and slamming the money onto the counter.

“Is that all of it?”

Diana nodded. “I’m surprised at you Grace. I would expect this sort of thing from your sister, but not you. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

“You’re questioning my morality
? That’s rich, since you murdered not only Sam and Adam, but I’m betting, your own niece, too. Besides, I was fired today, I need the cash.”

“I never said I killed Sam or Adam
or,” she said her voice cracking “Crystal. It’s crazy. Why would I kill anyone?”

“Then why did you bring me a stack of money?”

“I just want the picture, Grace. I didn’t have anything to do with their deaths. It was Tom. He’s crazy, you know. He wanted Crystal and Sam was in the way. I tried to tell you—”

Grace ignored her.
“You were in love with Sam.”

“What an imagination you have. Sam was a student.”

“You spent a lot of time with him after his accident. Eric told me he was often at your office. You helped him recover. Sam was handsome, smart, kind. I’m sure it was easy to fall in love with him. After all, you weren’t that much older. Your husband had left you for another woman. You were vulnerable. Sam was broken. He needed you. It was so easy to take advantage.”

Diana shook her head vehemently. “It wasn’t like that.
I saw Tom kill him. I was terrified.”

“You had to keep the relationship secret. He may have just turned eighteen, but he was still a student. You couldn’t risk the
scandal. You used to meet in the bell tower, didn’t you? That was your secret place.”

“Why won’t
you believe me? I’m telling you, it was Tom—”

Grace ignored the interruption. “No Diana, it was you.
Only school personnel had keys to get into the tower. That’s how I figured out it was you. It was so simple. How did Sam get a key to the tower? How was the murderer able to unlock the trophy case? The killer needed a key and only school personnel had a key. Out of all of our suspects, only you and Eric work at the school. Then, there was the picture of Sam on the bell tower, taken right around the time of that horrible ice storm. At first, I thought he was covered in bruises, but then I realized, that wasn’t right. His accident occurred in the summer before our senior year, so he couldn’t still be covered in bruises. Then I thought, if they weren’t bruises, what else could they be?
That’s when I remembered the charcoal drawing of the school. According to the plaque, it was drawn during the winter of 2002. He wasn't covered in bruises. He was covered in charcoal dust. All this time, I thought the DH stood for David Hart, but he didn’t show up until the summer after graduation and then he left a few months later. The DH had to be someone else. You must have been going by your maiden name the day you drew the picture. You’re a very good artist, Diana. I was really impressed with the oil painting you did of Crystal.”

Diana simply shook her head
, her voice soft. “Crystal and Sam were in love—”

“
No, they weren’t. Those few moments in the bell tower or in your office weren’t enough. You needed an excuse to see him all the time. That’s how Crystal got involved. How much did you pay her to pretend to date Sam?”

Diana
took a few steps into the shack. Squinting against the light, she peered into the darkness behind the light. She smirked. “I’m impressed, Grace. You’ve got one thing wrong. I didn’t pay her. I told her I would help her keep Tom and Hope apart. I didn’t, but Crystal didn’t know that. I actually liked your sister.”

Grace pressed on.
“Everything was going so well, wasn’t it? You were in love and were planning on moving with him to the east coast after graduation. You had it all planned but then graduation came and you found out that he didn’t feel the same about you. That’s the day you found out that he didn’t love you.”

“
That’s not true. He loved me.”

“
No, Diana.” Grace sighed dramatically. “Sam was going to leave you.”

“No!”

“He didn’t love you. He was planning to leave, without you. You couldn’t take it. Another man that you loved, walking out on you. So, you pushed him out of the tower.”

“That’s not true. He loved me. It was an accident.”

“Was it? He told Eric he was leaving. Is that what he told you when you met him up in the tower? You must have been so angry. So angry, you pushed him, and he fell.”

“It was an accident!”

“Crystal knew you had been up in the tower when Sam died. She covered up for you. I bet she helped you clean everything up before Sam’s body was found. Didn’t she?”

Diana
took a step closer.

“She loved you. She wanted to protect you.”

Diana laughed mercilessly. “She didn’t do it for me. She did it for Tom.”

Grace shook her head in confusion. She knew Tom had to be involved somehow, but she still had no clue how. “Why did she help you for Tom?”

“Tom was such a fool. Crystal told me that she and Tom were in the parking lot when Hope was in the tower having her little heart to heart with Sam. They apparently saw them hug each other.”

“Where were you?”

“I was below, waiting for your sister to finally leave. Crystal, ever the opportunist, immediately tried to convince Tom that Hope was cheating on him. While they were arguing in the parking lot, Hope finally left and I . . . went up the stairs . . .” Diana trailed off.

“Tom and Crystal saw you push Sam off the tower,” Grace guessed, still trying to figure out why Tom would have lied to protect Diana.

Diana laughed again. A strained, angry type of laugh. “Crystal saw it happen, but Tom’s back was turned. He still thought it was Hope in the tower. As soon as she saw Sam fall, she ran to the tower, with Tom close behind. They found . . . him lying there, with Hope’s bracelet in his hand. It must have fallen off when they hugged.”

“So, Tom thought Hope had killed
Sam?”

Diana laughed again, as if it was the funniest thing she had ever heard. “Can you believe that? Crystal told him she saw Hope push Sam
, and he believed her. She grabbed the bracelet and then started to run. Tom caught up to her and begged her not to tell. He was willing to promise anything to save Hope. That’s all Crystal needed to hear.”

Dumbstruck, Grace asked, “That’s why Tom married Crystal? To protect, Hope?”

Diana nodded.
“He’s such an idiot. Crystal promised not to say anything if he would drop Hope and marry her. Why she wanted him is beyond me. I told her it would never work, but I was wrong. Every time he stepped out of line, she would threaten to send Hope’s bloody bracelet to the police, as well as a statement as to what she saw. I never understood why he would put up with Crystal just to protect Hope. He finally cracked a few months ago on their anniversary. He refused to do something Crystal wanted, so Crystal decided to divorce him. She told him she was going to the police, too. He panicked. You should have seen him. Begging her not to tell. That he would do whatever she wanted. I kept thinking he would eventually kill her, but no such luck. He’s so pathetic.”

“
Is that why you killed Crystal? Because she threatened to go to the police?”

“She wasn’t going to the police
. She just said that to try to get Tom to jump back in line. No, she would never have called the police. She decided to call Adam, instead. She was desperate for money. She was going to tell him everything, but it wasn’t going to be the lie she had told Tom. No, I knew she was going to tell the truth. She was going to sell me out,” she said bitterly. “Can you believe it? She was going to betray her own aunt.”

“Why would she tell Adam the truth? You were safe as long as she had Tom. If she told the world that you killed Sam
, then Tom would leave her.”

Diana glared at Grace
in utter disappointment. “It wouldn’t have lasted much longer,” she said patronizingly. “She was growing tired of the way Tom treated her. And Tom couldn’t keep up the charade any longer. I knew when she took him back, it wasn’t going to last. He couldn’t even bother hiding his contempt of her. She started spending more and more time with Simpson. I could tell that she was setting herself up to be the next Mrs. Simpson. No, she wouldn’t have been with Tom much longer. Why would she want him, when she could have James Simpson? Someone who actually liked her. Crystal was such an idiot. She spent ten years trying to get Tom to stop loving Hope and to fall in love with her. Nothing worked. So, when she finally filed for divorce, and called Adam, I knew she was eventually going to betray me.”