Evil In Carnations (18 page)

Hmm.
Kessler wasn’t supposed to return until morning, but as long as he had, wasn’t this one of those opportunities I should take advantage of?

I pushed the Stop button on my machine and was nearly flung off when the treadmill came to a sudden halt. Regaining my balance, I started across the gym toward the reception counter, calling out to Duke before he disappeared inside his office again, “Mr. Kessler?”

Just as he looked around, I heard a woman call, “Abby?”

I glanced around to find the source and saw a familiar face with long, dark hair, olive skin, and a big belly.
Yikes.
It was Marco’s pregnant sister, Gina, and by the frown on her face, something was on her mind. Gina wasn’t one to hold back her thoughts, either, so upon seeing her start toward me like a warship on a search-and-destroy mission, I started to sweat.

The first time I met Gina was at a dinner given by Marco’s mother. The two women had spent the evening filling me with wine and lasagna, then grilling me to see if I’d make a suitable wife for Marco. I’d passed the test, and they’d been waiting for us to tie the knot ever since.

“Hi, Gina,” I said with a friendly smile. “Great to see you again.”

“I didn’t know you were a member here, Abby.”

“I have a guest pass for the day. I wanted to, um, try out the equipment to see if I wanted to join.”

“Really? It looked like you were flirting to me.”

And I thought Marco wasn’t going to know I’d been here.

M
y face grew hot with embarrassment, and I knew my freckles were standing out like bran flakes against the fiery blush of my cheeks. “You caught me. I was trying to do a little matchmaking for a friend of mine. Her boyfriend broke up with her, and she’s really depressed.”

Gina studied me for a moment. “So everything is okay between you and my brother?”

“Absolutely. It’s never been better between us. We have a great relationship.”

At that, Gina’s eyes lit up. “Then can we expect an engagement announcement soon?”

Yikes.
“We’re not ready to take our relationship to
that
level.”

“
We’re
not? Or
you’re
not? Have you asked Marco how he feels about having a family?”

“Not in those exact words, but—”

“Did you know he’d like a large family?”

I swallowed.
Large?

“Has he mentioned his concern that if he doesn’t get married soon, he’ll be an old father? No? For someone who professes to have a good relationship with my brother, you’re sure in the dark about his feelings.”

My mouth opened but no words came out. What could I say? Marco had never talked about any of that with me.

“I like you, Abby,” Gina said, “and I think you’re a good match for Marco, but you need to fish or cut bait, because my brother needs to get on with his life.” She marched back to her group and resumed her place on the floor.

I felt as though every eye in the gym were on me. This definitely wasn’t going the way I’d planned, and I was truly sorry I’d ever come up with the idea. In the future, Nikki was on her own when it came to finding a date. But at that moment all I could think about was getting out of there. Keeping my head down, my face burning with humiliation, I headed toward the door.

Moments before I reached it, however, I heard, “Young lady, did you want to see me?”

I turned just as Duke Kessler came striding up. He took one look at my face and said quietly, “Are you okay?”

I was about to tell him I’d come back another time, but he took my arm and said kindly, “Of course you’re not okay. Come with me. I’ll get you some cold water.”

I allowed him to usher me around the counter and through the door behind it into a plush, expensively furnished office, where Kessler took a bottle of mineral water from a built-in minicooler and handed it to me.

“Thanks,” I said, and held the bottle to my flushed face to cool it down. “That was an embarrassing moment.”

“I noticed.”

“My boyfriend has an overprotective sister.”

“My wife has one of those. Makes my life a living hell sometimes.” He smiled.

Duke Kessler really was a charming man, and I couldn’t help but smile back. I held out my hand. “I’m Abby Knight. I own Bloomers Flower Shop.”

“It’s a pleasure,” he said, shaking my hand. “I’ve been to your shop many times over the years. When I had my realty office downtown, I always ordered my flowers there. Didn’t Lottie Dombowski used to own it?”

“I bought it from her last May.”

“How is Lottie, anyway? Do you ever hear from her?”

I debated about telling him of Lottie’s stomach trouble, but decided she might not appreciate my spreading around something that personal. “Lottie still works there. She taught me everything I know about the floral business.” I opened the bottle and took a drink of water. Talking about Bloomers made me feel a little more centered.

“Good for Lottie. I always liked her spunk. So what can I do for you, Miss Knight?”

“Just Abby, please. I’m trying to get some information on Jonas Treat. I understand he used to work with you.”

Kessler cocked his head to one side, a little wary of me now. “How are you connected to Jonas?”

“I’m the best friend of the girl who went out to dinner with him the night he was killed. The cops are questioning her in the murder and—”

He put up a hand to stop me. “Is this going to be a long story? Because if it is, I just got back from a trip and I’m beat.”

“I promise to keep it short, because I’d like to ask you a few questions afterward.”

“Hoping to get me to confess to the murder so your friend is off the hook?”

I blinked at him in surprise. “No! Absolutely not.” At Kessler’s big smile, I said, “Well . . . maybe. Okay, yes.”

He laughed. “I like you, Abby. You’re plucky. Sit down, please.”

He indicated a pair of beige satin-striped club chairs near a window. He took one and I sat my plucky self in the other, facing him, where I explained Nikki’s situation.

“I can see why you’re concerned,” he said, crossing one leg over the other, “but I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you, Abby. I didn’t kill Jonas. However, don’t think I hadn’t considered it a few times.”

I blinked at him, trying to decide whether he was being serious, only to have him break into a big smile. “Gotcha.”

“Almost,” I said, trying to maintain my pluckiness.

“Let me tell you a little about Jonas,” Kessler said. “He was fresh out of college when I brought him into the business, an eager, attentive pupil whom I treated as a son. I taught him the ropes, gave him some of my best clients, had him outfitted by my tailor, helped him buy his first new car, and after a few years of watching him grow into a confident businessman, made him an equal partner to reward his hard work. And all the while he was cutting deals behind my back. When I learned about his treachery, I was deeply hurt, but I figured he must need the money, so I turned a blind eye to it. Basically, he was a weasel, although it took a while for me to accept it.

“Then one day Jonas announced he was leaving the partnership to strike out on his own. A week later I found out he’d secretly brokered a deal that made him a multimillionaire. You know that subdivision, Chateaux en Carnations? I

negotiated with Hank Miller over that parcel of land for two years with an eye toward developing it. Hank isn’t the easiest man to deal with, either. He had a list of requirements the length of my arm. And while I was in negotiations, Jonas ended our partnership, cut a deal with Hank, and snatched the land right out from under me. I never saw a dime from it.

“But that wasn’t the worst part. What hurt me the most was Jonas’s betrayal. I kept asking myself, After all I did for him, how could he stab me in the back? Unfortunately, all that bitterness inside caused my health to decline, until my doctor finally told me I was on the verge of a major cardiac event. I decided I had to get rid of my animosity or die, and that’s how I ended up here, in the health and fitness business.”

He smiled his television smile as he stood to show me his trim physique. “Look at me now. I’m healthy as a horse and have never been happier. It was the best decision I’ve ever made.”

“I can see that.”

“I’m glad to report it’s been six months since I laid eyes on Jonas, a wonderful six months, I might add. He was like a poison in my system that had to be purged. And I did, by putting all my muscle, so to speak, into this gym. You saw those punching bags out there? Every time I punched one, I imagined it was him, until I was finally all punched out.”

He sat down again, crossing his legs, watching me with eyes that twinkled. “You’re thinking I have quite a motive for murder, aren’t you?”

How was I supposed to answer that? I gave him a shrug. “You said it, not me.”

“Let me tell you this. Jonas was a pathetic human being, but one to be pitied, not killed, because his greed would have eventually done him in anyway. And he didn’t single me out for his dirty dealings, you know. I suspect you’ll find others in town with motives as good as mine.” Kessler glanced at his watch, then stood up. “And now, if you don’t mind, I want to get home and say hello to my wife.”

I rose. “Thanks for talking to me, Mr. Kessler.”

“Call me Duke. And you’re very welcome, Abby. Good luck with your boyfriend’s sister. I have a feeling you’ll need it.”

“Maybe I should sign up for boxing lessons.”

Kessler laughed as he walked me to the door. “Try the punching bag. It works wonders.”

 

When I got back to my apartment, Nikki was gone, the answering machine was blinking, and Simon was howling for food. “I’ll feed you in a minute,” I told him, as I shrugged off my coat and tossed it over a chair. “I have to check my messages.”

A minute was too long for Simon. He wanted food, not excuses. He tackled my ankle and held on, forcing me to drag him along as I limped across the living room. I pushed the Play button and heard Nikki’s lethargic voice: “Hi, Abby, I’m at my mom’s. She wants me to stay for a few days, but I guess I’ll come back tomorrow. . . . I should go to work. . . . That’s all. . . . Bye.”

Nikki really
was
depressed. She hadn’t complained about her mother at all. I erased her message and listened to the second one: “Hey, Sunshine, where are you? No one answered at the shop and your cell phone went to voice mail. Call me and I’ll give you an update on Miller.”

No mention of Gina phoning him. Maybe she’d forgotten about me. I erased both messages, then raced Simon to the kitchen to feed him before returning Marco’s call. But as I spooned cat food into Simon’s dish, I started thinking about what Gina had said.

If Gina was right about Marco, I really
was
in the dark, because he’d never shared any of those feelings or concerns with me.
If
she was right, I was also in a bind, because I was in no hurry to get married and start a family. I liked being Marco’s one-and-only, and I liked my independence, too, not to mention I was just starting to make a go of my new career. I had a good thing going. Why mess with it?

If she was right about everything else, was she right about that, too?

 

“I was starting to worry about you,” Marco said, when I finally made the call.

“Sorry. I turned off my phone earlier and forgot to turn it on again.”

“Are you okay? You sound down.”

“I’m exhausted. It’s been a long day. Did you reach Hank Miller?”

“Yes, at his home in the Florida Keys, as it turns out. He said he moved there toward the end of last year. He didn’t seem to mind talking to me—until I asked him about the altercation with Jonas; then he got testy. He said he’d been in New Chapel on another business matter and stopped at Chateaux-whatever to see how it was coming along. He said he dropped in to see Jonas merely as a courtesy, and denied any altercation. He swore he flew home the next morning, Thursday morning, has the ticket stub to prove it, and hasn’t left since. If he’s telling the truth, that would place him back in the Keys three days before Jonas’s murder.”

“So is he off the list?”

“No way. I have witnesses who’ll testify to their altercation. And his alibi was too pat. It sounded rehearsed. I’m going to check with the recorder’s office to see what kind of deal Jonas made to buy Miller’s land. Maybe there’s something in it that’ll indicate a possible reason for their argument. Then I’ll call Miller again. . . . Hold on a moment.”

Marco called, “You guys want to hold it down?” Then he came back on. “Sorry. It’s busy here at the bar. Tell me about your evening. Did you get your orders done?”

“All done. In fact, I squeezed in enough time to stop by Kessler’s boxing gym before it closed, and you’ll never guess who showed up—Duke Kessler, just back from his trip. And guess who else was there?” I took a deep breath. “Your sister, Gina. Funny story about her—”

“Wait. I can hardly hear you over the noise here. Let me pick up the phone in my office.” He put me on hold and came on the line again a few minutes later. “That’s better. You said you went to Kessler’s gym? I thought you decided not to go.”

“Actually, my decision was to go on my own so I could look for a date for Nikki without hampering your investigation.”

“Hmm,” was all he said. It wasn’t encouraging.

“The date hunt was a bust, so I’ve decided to give it up. But I did talk to Kessler about Jonas—without hampering your investigation, of course.”