Deadly Reunion (The Taci Andrews Deadly Series) (21 page)

His voice trailed off, leaving us in silence. I could tell he was upset but I knew Parsons well enough to not push the issue. He wasn’t the break down and cry kind of guy; I’m sure later he’d get roaring drunk. He stared down at me, the torture in his eyes making my heart turn over.

“Tony, if there’s anything I can do…,” I said slowly, stopping when he shook his head.

“Please don’t,” was his hoarse reply, the muscles in his jaw flexing from exertion.

“Am I interrupting something?” a deep voice spoke from the bed of the truck. Tony cleared his throat and straightened in his seat, giving a shake of his head.

“Not a thing chief, just checking on an old friend. Feel better Taci,” he said smoothly as if nothing had transpired, giving my hand a squeeze before releasing it.

Once again my throat was clogged as I watched him climb out of the truck, stopping to say a greeting to the police chief before moving out of view. I guess that answered the question of where I stood with Parsons; on the outside looking in.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Pulling to a stop in front of Valerie McAllister’s house I shifted the rental car into park before killing the engine. Lucky for me I hadn’t blown up when the barn exploded. My car, unfortunately, hadn’t been so lucky. It wasn’t completely totaled, which was good news, and the insurance company assured me they’d be picking up the tab since it wasn’t my fault. I just had to resign myself to the little Echo they sent me as a rental car until my Civic was ready.

It’d been a week since Jason’s funeral and I’d put off the inevitable long enough. I knew I’d have to talk to Valerie sometime, if not to tie up some loose ends to my story. The spread in the Riverdale Times had taken national news about the drug ring bust in our little town and more than ever business was good.

Bryce had been thrilled with the story I handed him for the final draft but I wasn’t able to share in his excitement. While I had to admit it was probably one of the best pieces I’d written to date I couldn’t help the feeling that there was something missing.

Of course Bryce’s enthusiasm was short lived when the missing Richard Owens showed up. Figuring the McAllister case was nothing more than a fluff piece he’d decided to take off for Vegas with his latest fling under the guise of doing research on the case. It would have worked out pretty good too had he not loaned his cousin his car, who then turned around and used it for some drug deals before dumping it in the river. I guess the cousin figured with the drug involvement going to the police to clear things up wouldn’t have been the smart move. It turned out pretty good in the end though; Owens got canned and his cousin is making new friends behind bars. With that under my belt there was only one more thing that needed to be cleared up and my conscious could leave me the hell alone.

As I sat in the rental outside of Valerie’s two story Victorian Mansion I weighed my options. Option number one I could forget the whole thing, be happy with the story the way it was and just leave it at that. Option number two I could go inside and ask Valerie the questions that were eating me up. Sigh. Decisions, decisions. With much regret I pulled my keys from the ignition, dropping them into my purse before slinging it across my shoulder. Exiting the car I took one last deep breath before walking up the front walk.

The bright red door stood stark against the creamy whiteness of the house and my hand shook a little as I pushed the doorbell. Listening to the chimes I waited, almost hoping she wasn’t home. The tell tale click of high heeled shoes on a polished floor told me I wasn’t so lucky.

The door came open and there stood Valerie in all her glory; fancy hair do, dark blue silky blouse, brown cashmere pants down to a pair of matching brown suede shoes. Her blue eyes widened in surprise, a smile blossoming on her face at my appearance.

“Taci, what a surprise to see you here,” she exclaimed. I paused at her chipper disposition. For someone who’d just lost their husband she seemed to be in a pretty good mood.

“Hey Valerie, sorry to just barge in on you like this after everything that’s happened. I’m so sorry for your loss,” I said sincerely. Despite our past together I didn’t see the sense in being a jerk. Even I’m not that mean.

“Well you know, these things tend to happen. Thank you for coming by,” she replied. I paused again, slightly thrown back by her words. Call me crazy but Valerie wasn’t giving me the impression that she was too torn up over Jason’s death. Then again maybe she was the type of person who didn’t allow other people to see her emotions. It sounded plausible enough, but I didn’t quite buy it.

“Well I’m sorry to say that isn’t the only reason I stopped by to see you today. I was hoping you had a few minutes to clear up a few things for me,” I said.

Valerie frowned. “What sort of things? I assumed you had all the details from the story I’d read in the Times last week. By the way you did a really nice job with your write up.”

Her compliment threw me for a minute but I recovered quickly. “Uh, thanks. And no, there were a few details I’d left out of the published story that I was hoping you might be able to tell me about. May I come in?”

“Oh my, where
are
my manners? Of course you should come in,” she said warmly, stepping back to allow me to pass by.

I stared around the entryway with a somewhat awed expression as she closed the door behind us. The flooring was a creamy polished marble, the kind I’d only seen gracing the homes of people far more richer than I. The room was furnished with oil paintings and artistic statues, complete with a centered staircase that looked like it had come straight out the movie Gone with the Wind.

I quickly recovered my composure as Valerie led me through a beautiful archway into what appeared to be a den. Taking a seat on a small settee I waited while she seated herself across from me.

“Would you care for something to drink? Coffee? Tea?” she asked. I held up my hand, shaking my head.

“No thanks, this won’t take long. I don’t want to take up too much of your time,” I replied.

Valerie nodded her head, glancing down at her watch. “I do hope so. I’m expecting company this afternoon.”

I cleared my throat. No sense in beating around the bush. “Then I’ll get right to the point. Several weeks ago you reported Samantha as a missing person to the RPD. Why did you do that when you knew you’d sent her to your mother’s house?”

Valerie’s eyes flared in surprise before shuttering again. Guess she figured with all the wealth she and Jason had accumulated over the years she was beyond questioning. She figured wrong.

“It was all a simple misunderstanding between Jason and I. I know you may find this hard to believe but Jason and I didn’t exactly have the perfect marriage. About a month ago we had a dispute about Samantha’s involvement with the Tompkins boy that ended… a bit violently. I was afraid for Samantha’s life so I sent her away to my Mother’s house and had her reported as a missing person so Jason wouldn’t be suspicious,” Valerie said quietly.

There were a few things in this world that really ticked me off; husbands beating up on their wives happened to one of them.

“Did you report the incident when it happened?” I asked gently.

Valerie shook her head, a tight smile on her face. “And ruin Jason’s perfect image? Of course not. Besides, who in this town would have believed it? He had his hand practically in everyone’s back pocket, including the mayor himself. Do you honestly think I would have been treated fairly if I would have gone to the police?”

As much as I hated to admit it she was probably right. A smooth talker like Jason McAllister hadn’t gotten to where he was by not having friends in high places, something I should have realized. Of course that just begged the question; if he had contacts all the way up to the Mayor’s office, how many of them were involved in his little drug ring?

The sound of the front door opening and closing halted the conversation, a pair of sneakered feet squeaking across the polished marble floor. Valerie glanced up as her only child paused in the doorway, looking uncertainly at the two of us. I felt immediately sorry for the pale faced teenager who obviously was more devastated by her father’s death than Valerie was. I could tell from the way Valerie was scowling at her daughter that it was probably my cue to go.

“I’m sorry Taci but could you excuse me for a moment?” she said quietly with a gesture in Samantha’s direction.

I stood from my seat, giving a shake of my head. “That’s Ok I think we’re finished here. Thank you for clearing some things up for me. And again, I’m sorry for your loss.”

A choking sound came from the doorway and I glanced up as Samantha’s hand flew to her mouth. Tears welling up she fled the room, leaving me to feel like an ass. I really needed to do something about my big mouth.

Valerie sighed, almost as if she were annoyed at her daughter’s dramatics. It was then that something clicked, the missing piece that had been staring me in the face from the beginning.

“I’m sorry about that. She took her father’s death pretty hard and is still coping with things. I should probably go see if she’s alright,” she said almost in annoyance.

I felt like telling her not to bother.

“You know Valerie, there is one more thing I wanted to ask before I left. If you have a moment that is,” I said.

Valerie glanced at her watch again, giving another audible sigh.

“I suppose, but then I really must be going. I still have quite a number of things to get done before my company comes over,” she said through pursed lips. Heaven forbid I throw her plans party off.

Taking a deep breath I plunged forward before she could change her mind. “You came to me last Thursday needing my help in locating your daughter. Why?”

This threw Valerie off guard, her face paling visibly in the soft light of the room.

“I…I was using you as a cover to throw Jason off. I figured if I looked like I was attempting to have her located then he wouldn’t be suspicious,” she stuttered uncomfortably, her cheeks flushing.

A smile blossomed on my face. Gotcha. “Really, because I have to admit you put on a pretty good show of things. And I assume you had no knowledge of his involvement in the drug ring in town either.”

Valerie’s face flushed hotter, her eyes flashing angrily.

“You have no right to stand there and accuse me of things you know nothing about. I am still grieving over my husband’s death and you have the nerve to come here and make accusations like this? I think this conversation is over,” she all but hissed, her heels clicking sharply on the floor as she made her way to the front door. Jerking it open she stood there stone faced, waiting for me to leave.

Grieving my ass. I gave a shrug, trailing behind her. “If that’s what you’d like. But before I go I really need to ask one more thing. Was it Jason running the show or were you pulling the strings?”

Valerie’s eyes flashed and the door swung shut. Maybe my big mouth was good for something after all.

“You think you know everything don’t you Tacky? Well let me fill you in on a little secret. Do you have any idea how impossible it is start up a law practice in town with no clients and no revenue? Do you have any idea of what it’s like to work your ass off at a minimum wage job to bring in some money while he gets to play the big business man and ‘drum up’ clients? Do you know what it feels like to find out that while you were stocking boxes until 2:00 in the morning seven days a week he was screwing around with his secretary?” she said in a low voice.

My skin bristled at the use of my hated nickname. Guess the niceness gloves had come off. “Been there, done that, got a crappy t-shirt. Are you really so self involved that you think you’re the only person in the world who’s had to struggle? Who’s been cheated on?”

Valerie snorted, turning away from the door. Clicking across the entry way she re entered the den, not bothering to glance back to see if I was following or not. Stalking across the room she jerked open a cabinet, removing a clear bottle filled with swirling red fluid. Guess drinking time came early when you were rich.

“Do you think I really give a shit about other people’s problems? Get real Tacky,” she said, pouring some of the red fluid into a glass. I watched as she downed the contents before pouring another glass.

“Let’s get one thing straight Val, my name’s Taci,
not
Tacky. And I hate to burst your bubble but you’ve never struck me as a humane type of person,” I pointed out tightly.

Valerie tossed back another shot, refilling her glass before turning to glare at me.

“Whatever. You know something? We had the perfect operation if he would have just stuck to the original plan. Stealing the contacts from that drunken lard ass Robbie had been my idea; Jason would never have had the balls to do it otherwise. Once he saw how easy it was to step on people he learned quick enough. If it hadn’t been for me finding the sites, bringing in the dealers, setting up the deliveries and getting out the shipments Jason would have been up a creek. We set up his law office as a main headquarters for all of our legal paperwork to make things at least look on the up and up. That’s where things started to go wrong. Jason was so busy setting up his stupid law office and playing lawyer that he started to slip up. The last straw was when he screwed that bitch secretary. That was a dumb mistake,” she slurred, walking over to stare out the window.

Hmm, a drunken Valerie might be fun. Why interrupt her when she was on a role?

“You double crossed him,” I guessed, drawing Valerie’s blurry gaze back to me.

Valerie gave a watery smile. “And you wouldn’t have? Jason was so trusting, so naïve that he never once thought I would be smart enough to make sure everything was in his name in case anything ever came up. I don’t think he even realized what was happening until the very end, maybe even not then.”

“So you caught him with the secretary and set him up,” I concluded.

Valerie waved her glass in the air, some of it sloshing out of the cup and onto the expensive looking white carpet. I’m betting that was going to stain.