Deadly Reunion (36 page)

“Oh, goody,” Felicity said sarcastically. “By all means, tell me what my dearly departed husband left me.”

“Well, I was going to save yours for last, but since you asked.” Robert smiled slightly as he read, “To my unfaithful wife and her
research assistant
, I regret to inform you that neither of you will be profiting from me as you had from my unfortunate predecessors. I have no one to blame but myself. Everyone tried to warn me about you, but your beauty and charm—false as though they were—blinded me to the utter blackness of your soul. The fact that I was the sixth—”

“Fifth,” Felicity interrupted cheerfully.

“Seventh,” Parker said matter-of-factly from her side.

Felicity spared a moment to glare at her research assistant.

Robert cleared his throat and continued reading, “Sixth unfortunate fool to not only marry you, but predecease you is a testament to a man’s foolish belief in love.”

Felicity snorted delicately. “He didn’t know the meaning of the word.”

“I leave nothing but my undying hatred and the fervent hope that you both will soon be following me to the great beyond. If Hell truly is my destination, as you so often lovingly pointed out to me, I’ll make sure and wait for you at the gates because there’s not a shred of doubt that you are well on your way here, my dear.”

Everyone turned to stare at Felicity to see what affect her husband’s words had on her. She met their gazes head-on with a small little smirk and a slight shrug of her slim shoulders. “That sounds eerily similar to our wedding vows.”

Parker slapped his hands on his knees and stood. “Well, if that is all, I’m going to the kitchen and get a drink.”

“Stay here,” Felicity ordered. She continued to sit prim and proper at the edge of the couch, not at all perturbed when Parker ignored her and left the room.

Dropping into the leather chair near the desk, Lucas chuckled. “That proves it. She’s our murderer.” He turned around and faced her. “Just how many times have you been widowed?”

“Only as many times as I’ve been married,” she said nonchalantly.

“Oh,” Lucas said with a shudder before turning his attention back to his brother. “What about me? What do I get?”

Robert gazed steadily at his brother. “I love you, Lucas. I truly do. You only have yourself to blame.”

“Spare me, Robbie,” Lucas said sharply. “Just tell me what he left me.”

Robert glanced back down at the will in his hand. “To my eldest son, Lucas Kirby, I leave you the money you already stole from me and threw away at the horse races and on that gold-digging tramp you laughingly refer to as your fiancée. Like you, a woman not good enough to share my last name. The only thing I’m confident about is that as soon as she learns that you have been cut out, my boy, she’ll be out of your life the very next second, so in a way I’m doing you a favor. You’re welcome.”

Shocked, Lucas stared at his brother. “Nothing? He left me nothing. How can he do that?” He glanced around at the walls of the room. “None of this belonged to him. It was all mother’s. He had no right to cut me out.”

Robert looked sadly at his brother. “I’m sorry, Lucas.”

“Oh, I’m sure you are.” Hands clenching, Lucas stood up. “You put him up to this.”

“Lucas, how could I? Father never listened to anyone and you know it.”

“He listened to
you
. You get the rest, don’t you?”

Robert set the will down on the desk. “It wasn’t because he loved me. It just so happened that I was the only one left who hadn’t made him angry today.” Robert reached out a hand to his brother. “You’re still my brother. You don’t have to worry about a thing.”

“So, instead of living off the charity of my father, I can live off the charity of my little brother?” Without waiting for an answer, Lucas turned and walked toward the library door, stopping when he reached Steve. He jabbed his finger into Steve’s chest. “This is all your fault. I’m going to get you for this.”

Wincing, Steve reached up to grab Lucas’ fingers, but Wellington was quicker. He shoved the younger man back. “You only have yourself to blame for your problems, young man.”

Surprised at the old man’s sudden burst of energy and strength, Lucas stood still for a second. He looked back and forth between Wellington and Steve. “Oh no, I have lots of people to blame,” he said quietly. “Lots.” Lucas reached for the door handle. Swinging the door open, he turned and glared at his brother. “I’m not going to stand for this, Robbie,” he said slamming the door behind him.

“I didn’t think you would,” Robert said softly. “He glanced toward Wellington. “When will the police be here?

Wellington shook his head. “The storm is playing havoc on the phone lines. Cell phones, too,” he added when Robert reached into his suit coat pocket. “We need to send someone to the police station.” He glanced at Steve and Michaels standing off to the side. “Michaels will go.”

Felicity stood up. “I’ll go, too.”

They looked at her in surprise.

“He was my husband, after all.” She turned to Michaels. “Besides, you’ll never find your way down the mountain at night in this weather. We’ll take Victor’s truck.”

Michaels nodded shortly and followed Felicity out the door.

“I’ll go with them,” Steve said softly.

“No, Steve,” Wellington said quickly. “I want you to stay here. Someone needs to stay with the body until the authorities arrive.”

“Just a moment, Wellington. I would like to talk to you,” Robert said indicating the foyer with a nod of his head. “I’m afraid, I have to agree with my father’s assessment of your agency,” he said closing the door behind them, leaving Steve and Jack alone in the room.

“It’s almost midnight,” Jack said, excitedly turning on the TV. The local news cast appeared on the screen. The two anchors, bundled up in heavy winter coats, sat outside in front of a crowd of partygoers. “Look, there’s Tracy,” Jack said pointing to the female anchor. “Do you want to watch the celebration with me?”

“Maybe later, Jack,” Steve said, opening the library door. He turned toward the stairs when he suddenly heard someone yell from outside. He raced to the front door and threw it open. To his surprise Parker was laying half on top and half off Victor Kirby’s truck.

Felicity opened the driver’s side door and stepped out. Hands on her hips, she stared at her research assistant in opened mouth bewilderment. “Have you lost your mind?”

Parker slid off the hood. He gripped his arm and groaned. “I can’t let you go. It’s too dangerous. The news just said they’re expecting a blizzard.”

Michaels opened the passenger’s side door, stepped out and slammed the door shut. “We have to get the police.”

“Do you want to die in the process?” Parker asked. “You’re liable to slide off into a ravine. We can talk to the police in the morning. It’s not like Victor’s going to go anywhere.”

Felicity looked up at the sky. “The weather’s clearing and we’re not that far from the ranger’s station. We’ll be back before you know it.”

Parker laid his hand on the front hood of the truck. “This is just a calm period. We’ll be in the thick of it at any moment.”

“And you are delaying us,” Felicity pointed out.

Parker pursed his lips. “Fine,” he snapped, “but I’m driving.” He lifted the sling over his head and walked over to the driver’s side. Shaking her head, Felicity walked in front of the truck and joined Michaels standing next to the passenger’s side door. “Parker, just how many pain pills have you taken today?” she yelled over the hood of the truck. She turned to Michaels. “I don’t think he should be driving.” With a worried look, Felicity reached for the door handle.

The door didn’t open.

She blew out a frustrated breath as she knocked on the window. “Why did you lock the door?”

Instead of answering her, Parker gunned the motor. Michaels grabbed Felicity and pulled her away from the truck as it took off down the driveway.

Her mouth hanging open, Felicity took an irritated step forward. “Well, I never!” She looked at Michaels. “What in the world has gotten into him?”

Michaels shrugged.

They watched as the truck barreled past the ornate fountain sitting in front of the mansion and toward the heavy iron gate at the end of the driveway.

“Why is he driving like that?” Felicity asked, worry coloring her voice. “He needs to slow down.”

Concerned by Parker’s erratic driving, Steve started jogging toward the gate. “I don’t think he can.” He winced as the sound of crunching metal reached his ears.

CHAPTER ONE

A Year Later

December 29
th

“Grace, watch out!”

Grace heard Kyle Drake’s warning just in time. She hopped over the iron railing next to the sidewalk with the grace and agility of a seasoned athlete—unfortunately, sixty years after their Olympic win. She landed on her rear and immediately doubled over as the huge Great Dane leaped over the railing and her head. She was just about to sit back up when Kyle in pursuit of the fleeing mutt, flew over her head as well.

Rather amused, Grace watched as Kyle chased his latest case around the small courtyard in front of his office. It was no contest. As fast as Kyle was, he was no match for a four legged, one hundred and sixty pound Great Dane.

Standing up, Grace looked ruefully at her new winter white wool coat and light blue dress. While Kyle and the dog ran around her, she carefully checked her clothes for any signs of damage. She had finally summoned up her courage to ask Kyle out and the last thing she wanted was to be doing it in a mud splattered dress.

No sooner had the thought occurred to her than Kyle threw himself at her feet in a desperate attempt to catch the dog’s leash. It worked. Leash in hand, he pulled himself to his feet and grinned at her. “Hi Grace, what are you doing here?”

Before she could answer, the dog took off, pulling Kyle off his feet and into the mud.

Grace jumped out of the way just in time. Realizing that she wasn’t in the safest place, she gingerly made her way around the new racetrack to the bench next to the building. Carefully pulling a leaf out of her long wavy red hair, she straightened her dress and sat down so she could enjoy the rest of the show.

Just then a muddy patch in the yard sent Kyle sliding into a row of bushes. Grace winced in sympathy as Kyle pushed himself up with his forearms and then laid back down while the dog happily barked and jumped around his prone body. Grace’s amusement quickly turned to concern when Kyle became very still. She was just about to call his name when he made a quick crab like motion and took hold of the surprised dog’s leash. Using all his strength, he made it to his feet while pulling on the leash. Breathing heavily, he looked over the courtyard at her and smiled. “Got him.”

*  *  *

Grace ran her hand through the Great Dane’s soft fur. “What’s her name?”

“
His
name is Supersonic, but the MacReady’s call him Sonic for short.”

“What a strange name. I wonder why?”

Sonic immediately answered her question with a string of ear deafening barks. Grace looked down and noticed that Abry, Kyle’s pet rabbit, had chosen that moment to hop out from under Steve’s desk and right under the dog’s nose. The dog lurched forward, almost bringing Kyle to his knees. It took both of them to keep Sonic under control.

Grace looked up, worried that the dog may have scared the poor bunny half to death. Abry was standing only a few feet from the snarling dog. Taking his own sweet time, he slowly turned and hopped toward the bathroom.

Grace swore the rabbit looked over his shoulder at the giant dog and swished his tail before finally disappearing from view.

Once the bunny was gone, Grace rushed forward and closed the bathroom door after him. “When will the MacReady’s be here to collect Sonic?”

Kyle, still struggling to keep a hold of the dog, grunted a quick, “soon.”

It took a few orders of “sit” and several offers of dog treats before the dog began to behave.

Grace leaned forward and offered Sonic another dog treat. “So, this is the glamorous life of a PI?”

“See what you’re missing. You could be right here with us. Chasing down leads, looking for clues, reuniting lost loved ones.” He threw Sonic another dog treat when the animal suddenly remembered the bunny in the bathroom and made a lunge for the door.

“Thank you, but I don’t think I have all my shots in order.”

Once the dog was back under control, Kyle refocused his attention on her. “Speaking of glamorous, what’s the occasion?”

Grace drew in a breath. She didn’t know why she was so nervous. She was pretty confident that Kyle liked her. After all, he had shown an interest in her in the past. Of course, Kyle was a flirter, she thought, as her sudden confidence began to wane. He may not have been serious. He had never come out and said anything to her. He hadn’t even asked her out on a date.

Just as her confidence fled out the window, Kyle looked at her and smiled. He was leaning against the desk; one hand holding Sonic’s leash, the other gently petting the dog’s head. Kyle was covered in dirt and dog hair, but he was absolutely beautiful. With strands of gold highlighting his thick blond hair, dark blue, almost violet eyes, and an athletic swimmer’s build, he was easily the handsomest man she had ever seen. And as always, whenever he smiled, she found herself grinning back at him. His smile was infectious. “Well,” she began hesitantly, “I was wondering if you would like—”

The phone let out a shrill ring which startled Sonic into another loud string of barks.

It took another five dog treats to quiet the dog. “Do we really want to make this dog any bigger?” Grace asked as Kyle answered the phone.

Grace knelt down by the dog as she listened in on Kyle’s side of the conversation.

“Hi Steve . . .What? . . . That’s great! . . . Really? Me too? . . . That sounds like a lot of fun! I can be ready tonight!”

Grace inwardly groaned as the evening she had planned flew out the window.

“Oh . . . No, that’s fine. You know, I’ve done some acting . . . No, wait, where is it? . . . Okay, I’ll see you soon. Bye.” Kyle set the phone down, grabbed Grace by the hands, and twirled her around the room. “We’ve got one!”

“One what?”

“A job!”

“Whose pet is missing now?” she asked over the sound of Sonic barking at the window.

“No pets. This job involves actual humans.” Kyle walked to the window and peered through the blinds. “The MacReady’s are here. Time to go home, Sonic.” He picked up the leash and led the dog away from the window. “I’ll be right back, Grace. Don’t leave; I have a surprise for you.”

*  *  *

“What time do you need me there?” Grace asked, opening the trunk of her car. Clara Murphy, one of the owners of the Deadshot Theater and Saloon, a renovated old west restaurant that Grace had been working part-time at had called in a panic only a few seconds after Kyle had left.

“I’m so sorry to ask. I know you said you had plans, but Emily and Hannah are sick with the flu, Freddie is in Montana and Cora’s daughter is in a play. We’ll give you time and a half.”

Grace retrieved her dry cleaning from the trunk of her car. Pulling out her uniform, she said, “It’s okay. My plans fell through anyway.”

After arranging a time to go into work, Grace reluctantly walked back to the office. She decided she might as well change there. Despite herself, she was rather curious to hear about Kyle’s new case.

When Kyle began working with Steve Mattingly as a private investigator a couple of months ago, she was convinced it wouldn’t last. She figured Kyle would either get bored or worse, someone would uncover his secret and run him out of town.

A couple of months ago, her ex-assistant had surprised her by showing up at her high school reunion uninvited. Unfortunately, a mistaken belief as to what Grace had been doing for the last few years had led all of her friends to believe that she and Kyle were private investigators. Kyle was in no hurry to correct their misunderstanding. He spent the entire night entertaining everyone with his daring exploits and then the next few weeks trying to solve the murder that took place that evening.

She worried for nights that people would realize that he had lied to them or worse, suspect he was somehow involved with Crystal’s murder. Apparently, she needn’t have worried. Kyle assimilated into town very quickly and very easily. Her friends were practically throwing money at him. With his good looks and charming demeanor, no one questioned his qualifications. Well, almost no one, she thought ruefully, looking at the plaque next to the door embossed Mattingly and Drake Private Investigations.

Shortly after the reunion, Steve Mattingly, the only private detective in town, discovered Kyle’s lie and immediately blackmailed him into working with him. Steve couldn’t get a case if his life depended on it and he figured he could use Kyle’s reputation—granted it was a completely false and made-up reputation—for his own personal gain. It still irritated her to think Kyle had no choice but to work for him now. Almost as much as it irritated her that Steve still believed she was in the dark about Kyle’s past. Steve had made it his own personal mission to keep Kyle and Grace apart out of fear that she would discover the truth and tell everyone in town, thereby scaring any potential clients away.

Of course that fear began to lessen as the days passed by. Unfortunately, the work Steve was hoping for didn’t exactly pan out. They received a lot of interest after the reunion, but no real cases. At least not any that involved a substantial amount of money like Steve was hoping for. Fortunately for the town’s residents not much ever happened in their small sleepy town. So, Steve took most of the seedy divorce cases and Kyle took the dog cases. Sometimes, literally.

Grace looked through the blinds. Kyle was standing next to the MacReady’s car accepting a sloppy kiss from Sonic, while the MacReady’s stood off to the side laughing.

Grace smiled. Still, Kyle seems happy with his new life. She just wished he’d stop trying to press her into joining the team as he puts it. Sometimes, Grace wondered if he really wanted her around romantically or if he just wanted her around to help out if another murder should cross their paths.

Carrying her uniform, she walked to the bathroom. Abry was sound asleep next to the shower stall, clearly overwhelmed with his near-death experience.

Closing the door, she hung up her uniform on the hook and reached around her back to unzip her dress. “Well, there’s always tomorrow. Hopefully, whatever big case he has won’t last until then,” she said to the sleeping bunny.

Abry lifted his head at the sound of the office door shutting and footsteps walking across the hardwood floor.

“Then again, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to tag along.” If joining him on his cases was what it was going to take in order to spend time with him, then I might have to consider it, she thought, as she twisted her arm higher up her back.

She had just started unzipping when the zipper hung on a piece of fabric in the center of her back.

Groaning, Grace lifted her other arm and tried to zip the dress back up.

After a few minutes of twisting and turning every which way humanly possible and feeling a bit like a contortionist, Grace gave up. She opened the door part way. “Hey, can you come in here and help me? My zipper’s stuck.”

She turned away from the door and lifted up her hair so Kyle could have easier access to the zipper. A few seconds later the door swung open.

“I can’t get this dress off. I think it’s stuck on some fabric. Can you help me, please?”

He didn’t say anything, but she felt his hands pull part of the fabric back as he worked on the zipper.

Grace noticed Abry watching her, his head tilted as if he was trying to figure out what was happening. She smiled nervously at the bunny before taking a deep breath. “I was thinking that if you’re not busy tomorrow . . . That maybe you might want to go out . . . somewhere . . . with me.” She closed her eyes and winced. Kyle and she had gone out plenty of times but always as friends. How could she make it clear that she wanted this to be something different? Something special. “We could go have dinner and perhaps do some dancing?”

He continued to tug on her zipper.

Why wasn’t he saying anything? she thought worriedly. Maybe she was wrong about his intentions, after all. “Or what about a movie?”

He made a sound somewhere between a grunt and a groan before roughly yanking the zipper down and tearing part of the fabric in the process.

“Hey,” she yelled grabbing at the dress to keep it from falling to her waist. The words,
What do you think you’re doing?
froze on her lips as she turned and came face to face with Steve Mattingly.

“Zipper’s fixed.” He ran his hand through his red crew-top before looking uncomfortably down at his red and white patent leather shoes that matched his red and white checkered pants. “Look, sweetheart, I like you and all, but I just don’t think of you in that way.” He looked at her anxiously. “Now, please don’t start crying.”

Grace, still in shock, stood transfixed to the spot.

“I just think of you as a friend. Sort of like a sister. Please, please don’t cry. I hate it when girls cry.”

Grace made a strangled sound in her throat as she fought over the shock.

“Don’t be embarrassed. Lots of girls develop crushes on law enforcement.”

To Grace’s surprise, “You’re not law enforcement,” was the first coherent thing her mind came up with as a response.