Trouble Under the Tree (A Nina Quinn Mystery) (20 page)

“Of course,” he said.

“Did you talk to Benny yet?”

“Not yet. He’s been a little hard to track
down. After what you just told me, I wouldn’t be surprised if Jenny
warned him. He might have skipped town.”

“He wouldn’t have,” I said.

“Why not?”

“He doesn’t think he did anything wrong, but
I do believe Jenny might have ordered him to lie low.”

“I’ll keep looking, and if I don’t find him
soon, I’ll get a warrant for his arrest. You might want to keep a
low profile until I bring him in.”

“Do you think he’d come after me?”

“Just be careful, Nina.”

“I will.” I automatically checked my rearview
mirror.

“By the way...” he said.

Oh no. Oh no. Don’t talk about Bobby
.
“Yes?” I said warily.

He cleared his throat. “I, ah...”

No, no, no!

“Got the results back from the lab on Santa’s
sack. It looks like it was definitely the way the killer moved
Fairlee’s body.”

I shuddered at the thought of Fairlee’s body
being dragged through Christmastowne and no one noticing. “Did you
talk to Drunk Dave about it yet?”

“He claims that during the timeframe when
Lele was killed Jenny had taken him to a local coffee shop to sober
up a bit. His costume was in the employee locker room...anyone
could have borrowed it. I’m re-interviewing employees to see if
anyone has any more specifics. Height, weight, that kind of thing.
I doubt they will.”

“Why?”

“Because everyone knew Dave as Santa. Even if
they don’t mean to, they’ll assign his features to the mystery
Santa.”

I frowned as I turned onto my parents’ street
and pulled up in front of their house. Sure enough, a dozen candles
lined the driveway. It almost made me smile. Almost.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea that Riley
works there anymore,” I said. I hated to be a bossy stepmom, but I
couldn’t let him go back.

“He already quit,” Kevin said.
“Yesterday.”

“Oh! Well, good.”

“Nina, about this morning...”

“I’ve got to go,” I said. “I’m at my parents’
house and about to catch a vandal.”

“Do I want to know?”

“I already told you yes. But some other
time.” I quickly hung up.

And prayed Kevin would pretend that he hadn’t
heard a thing this morning. Not a single thing.

***

“Take them away!” my mother cried.

I’d already gathered the camera from the
windowsill and slipped it into my backpack. I couldn’t wait to get
home and look at the images recorded.

Who would the vandal be?

Why was that person torturing my mother this
way?

Was I going to turn the vandal in? Or thank
him or her?

My mood was definitely lifted.

“I can only load them one at a time.” The
candles were deceptively heavy. “Where’s Dad?”

“Shopping. He better not buy me another robe
and slippers.”

Uh-oh. I was going to have to rethink my
mother’s gifts.

I unplugged the eighth candle and loaded it
into the bed of my truck.

My mother had her faux fur on, the hood up.
“Now tell me,
chérie
, what have you learned about your
sister?”

“Maria?”

“Do you have another?”

“Did you ever talk to Dad about a secret
family?” I asked.

“Nina.” She gave me the Ceceri Evil Eye.

“Maria’s fine,” I said, finding it hard to
keep my sister’s secret. I was bursting to tell my mother the
news—if only to see her reaction. But it wasn’t my news to
tell.

“She is most definitely not fine.”

“Nate’s job is good, hers is secure, Gracie
is being diaper-trained. She’s fine.”

My mother squinted at me as I loaded the
tenth candle. “You’re lying to me.”

“Me? Lie? Never.”

She gave me the Ceceri Evil Eye again. It
might be a new record. I almost caved. Quickly, I grabbed the last
two candles in one trip and threw them in the back of my truck.

“If I find out you’ve been keeping something
from me...”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said, jumping into my
truck.

She came up to my door before I could close
it and took a good look at me. “Are
you
all right?”

Not really, but I was very good at faking it.
“I’m fine.”

“Lies, lies, lies.” She
tsk
ed and
shook her head as she backed away from the truck.

I closed the door and said, “What
do
you want for Christmas?”

She smiled. “Surprise me.”

Damn it.

“By the way,” she said, “I do adore the
antlers on your truck.”

I nodded to her rooftop. “Is Santa rubbing
off on you?”

“Bite your tongue.”

Smiling, I drove off. Eager to see what was
on that camera, I floored it all the way home.

I zoomed into my driveway, skidded my way up
the slippery walkway to the front door, and didn’t even take off my
coat before popping the camera’s disk into my laptop. I sat on the
sofa, my leg bouncing, as the file loaded.

Anticipation coursed through me as the photos
popped up on the screen.

My anticipation quickly turned to shock.

The vandal had first shown up at two in the
morning and worked efficiently until almost three.

I kept staring at the screen, wishing I
wasn’t seeing what I was seeing.

I knew who the vandal was.

I still didn’t know why he’d done it—though I
had a good idea.

But what I really didn’t know was what to do
with the information.

Chapter Twenty-two

My cell phone rang the next morning at the
office as I picked through the box of day-old donuts. I grabbed a
glazed and answered reluctantly when I saw it was Maria calling. I
already had my fill of secrets to keep, and I was afraid one might
accidentally slip out.

I thought again of the photos on that hidden
camera. My shock, sometime during the night, had dissolved into
amusement.

Maria said, “I was up all night, Nina.”

My sister was never one to miss her beauty
sleep. “Define all night.”

“Okay, so I went to bed a few minutes late,
but still. Think of all the growing the baby could have done during
that time.”

I didn’t point out that the baby would grow
whether Maria was asleep or not and quickly started to wonder how I
was going to survive listening to these tidbits for another seven
months.

“I was up late working on a scrapbook for
Emily. I saw all those pictures of Carrie at her house yesterday
and thought she might like to have copies of the pictures I have.
Then I thought it would be the perfect time to practice
scrapbooking. I want to drop it off at Emily’s, but on the
off-chance that she might be a psycho killer, I don’t want to go
alone. Will you come with me?”

I sat on the edge of my desk. It was barely
eleven, and I was already exhausted. I’d finished most of my
Christmas shopping with Ana last night. Then, unlike Maria, I’d
actually been up all night. Thinking. Not only about what I’d seen
on that hidden camera, but about what Kevin had said. How Lele had
been transported in Santa’s sack.

Kevin might be right—that employees would
automatically think it had been Dave and give the mystery Santa his
attributes, but two things had occurred to me in the wee hours.

One
was that a picture never lied. And
Emily Hodges had pictures galore from the morning Lele was killed.
She was bound to have caught Santa in the act. Her photos might
identify a killer.

And
two
was that if Jenny was sobering
up Dave at a local coffee shop during that time, she couldn’t have
been the one dragging the sack around.

Jenny wasn’t the killer.

“Nina? Are you listening to me?”

“Did you say something?” I asked.

“You’re not funny.”

Not this again. “Yes, I heard you. And yes,
I’ll go with you. There’s something I want to look at in Emily’s
house.”

“I’ll pick you up in half an hour, okay?”

“What? I’ve got to work.”

“Go home sick. Don’t you know there’s a
stomach bug going around?”

She hung up before I could argue with her
about driving. She was a notoriously bad driver, and I didn’t
particularly feel like getting into an accident today.

I dialed Tam’s cell number.

“Are you okay?” she asked. “You didn’t drown
your sorrows over Bobby with tequila last night, did you? I have
the best hangover recipe. Tomato juice, horseradish, a bit of—”

I cut her off. “Actually, I’d been in denial
about the whole Bobby thing until you just brought it up.”

“My bad.”

Suddenly tequila was sounding pretty good. “I
have an errand to run with Maria, and I don’t know when I’ll get
back. Can I transfer all work calls to your house for the
afternoon?”

“I’m not at home, Nina. Ian is taking Niki
and me to Michigan to meet his some of his family. We’re in the car
on the way up there. Sorry.”

“That’s okay. I’ll try Brickhouse.” I hoped
she wasn’t working at Christmastowne today.

“You might want to try her at Mr. Cabrera’s
house. She’s been spending a lot of time there.”

I wished her a Merry Christmas and gave
Brickhouse a call. She was, in fact, at Mr. Cabrera’s.

“I’ll expect overtime,” she said when I
explained the situation.

“Aren’t you getting paid enough by
Christmastowne?”

“Ach. Donatelli and I quit yesterday. The
place gives me the heebie jeebies.”

“Are you sure it’s not because Jenny scares
Mr. Cabrera?”

She clucked. “You didn’t hear it from
me.”

I smiled. “How is he doing?”

“Alive and well.”

“You know, I’ve been thinking.”

“Dangerous.”

Why did people keep saying that? “Har, har.
Anyway, how long was Mr. Cabrera married before his wife passed
on?”

“Forty-two years.”

“Then it seems to me that it’s only his
dating that’s cursed.”

“What are you trying to say, Nina
Ceceri?”

“You’re a smart woman, Mrs. Krauss. You’ll
figure it out.”

I hung up with a great gift idea for the two
of them. I made a few calls and set it into motion.

I was locking up when my cell phone rang
again. It was Ana.

“Tonight’s the night,” she said.

“It’s gonna be all right?”

“What?”

Doesn’t anyone listen to the radio anymore?
“Rod Stewart.”

“Oh. He’s kind of hot for an old guy.”

“You and my mother have the most interesting
taste in men.”

“You did not just compare me to Aunt
Cel.”

“My bad.”

“As I was saying. Tonight’s the night my
tattoo gets finished. Did you get that sedative from Aunt Cel?
Because I’m going to need it.”

“I’ve got it.”

“You’ll come with me?”

“Will you get drunk with me afterward?”

“Will you respect me in the morning if I
do?”

“Absolutely.”

“Then I’m in.” Maria pulled into the parking
lot and honked. “I’ve got to go. Maria’s here.”

“Where are you going?”

“Hopefully not to a psycho killer’s
house.”

“That’s good to know.”

“Maria’s driving.”

“Do not take my sedative, Nina Quinn. I need
it.”

My sister was a notoriously bad driver.

I smiled. “It’s safe and sound in my coat
pocket. I’ll see you tonight.” She didn’t need to know that my
mother had given her two. If Maria’s driving was particularly bad,
I might have to “borrow” one.

What Ana didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her—and
would probably save my sanity.

***

I needn’t have worried.

Maria had driven slowly. Turtle slow. Slower
than Mr. Cabrera-in-a-school-zone slow.

All because she didn’t want to jostle the
baby.

I kind of wondered where that thinking had
been yesterday when she’d tackled me on the stairs.

“Did you call ahead?” I asked as Maria
knocked on Emily’s door.

The goats in the yard made a playful
neeeeah
sound, but it didn’t seem like anyone else was
around. I couldn’t even hear the chickens.

“I’m not a Neanderthal. Of course I called.”
She tapped her high-heeled boot and clutched the scrapbook (which
was quite nice) in her arms.

“But?” I could tell there was one.

“She didn’t answer and there was no machine.”
Maria rang the bell again.

After a long minute, the door swung open.
“Maria! Nina. What are you doing here? Come in out of the cold.
Forgive my mess.” Her hair was pulled atop her head and she seemed
to be covered in flour. “I’m baking bread.”

It smelled heavenly. The warm doughy scent of
freshly-baked bread filled the house. I breathed it in.

“Is it hard to make?” Maria asked.

“Not at all once you get the hang of it. I
can show you sometime,” she said.

“That’d be nice,” Maria said, sitting on the
sofa. As I sat next to her, she leaned in and whispered, “I hope
she’s not a killer.”

“Yeah, let’s hope.” In case she was, I’d
called Kevin on our way here to let him know where we were.

Just in case.

“I have to admit I’m surprised to see you
both here.” She tipped her head and looked at us curiously.

Maria thrust out the scrapbook. “I wanted to
give this to you. I made it!”

Emily lifted the cover, and her hand flew to
her mouth. “This...this is wonderful. Thank you, Maria.” We sat in
silence for a couple of minutes while Emily looked from page to
page, tears in her eyes. “This is the best present ever. Thank
you.”

“You’re welcome,” Maria said.

“Would either of you like a drink? I have
coffee, tea, brandy.” She smiled. “I’m going to have a little
brandy in my coffee.” She disappeared into the kitchen. “I’ve had a
hell of a morning at the police station. You wouldn’t believe who
was there.”

Since I wasn’t driving, I asked for brandy in
my coffee as well. Maria sounded disappointed as she asked for
water. Emily came back and set a serving tray on the coffee table.
“Benny was at the police station. It looked like he was being
questioned.”