Heard it Through the Grapevine (3 page)

Jerry stood unmoving for a good two minutes, glaring at Lainey
until he finally sat down.

“Continue, Charlie,” Colt said, walking toward the door. “I have to take this call.”

“Basically, that’s it. Tessa left her house and personal effects to
her mother and her other three sisters. Although the house is destroyed, the reimbursement money from the insurance company will be divided equally four ways. She left her prized Jaguar to you, Carrie.” Prescott paused before gathering the papers into a stack.

Kate poked her sister’s arm. “Say something. Everyone’s staring.”

“There’s no way,” Lainey managed to whisper despite her shock. She glanced first at Tessa, now sitting in the chair beside her, then back to Kate.

“That’s the first thing I’ve heard today that makes sense,” Jerry bellowed from the front of the room. “I have no idea what Tessa was trying to pull, but believe you me, I’m not about to get screwed by that woman a second time.”

In your dreams, big boy.
Tessa turned to Lainey, a mischievous grin crinkling her eyes.
Eight thousand nerve endings in the clitoris, and that idiot couldn’t find a single one with a flashlight and a road map.

Lainey coughed to cover up the laugh. How bad was this? She was actually laughing at something a ghost had said. They’d lock her up in a New York minute if they knew.

When she found her voice, she stood. “It seems my sister wasn’t thinking clearly when she drafted this will.”

Yes, I was. It’s probably the smartest thing I’ve ever done in my life.

Lainey ignored the voice in her head. “Regretfully, I must decline. I have a life in Georgia and have neither the desire nor the expertise to run a winery.”

Look at him, Lainey,
Tessa said, pointing to Jerry.
See that shitty grin on his face? He’s already thinking about how
he’ll bribe somebody to appraise the company for a fraction of what it’s worth. Hell, this year alone, sales increased over thirty percent, but he’ll find a way to hide that. Gracie will lose most of her inheritance.

“I can’t,” Lainey said aloud.

The door opened and Colt walked through, his expression dark with unreadable emotion. “That was the coroner,” he said, his eyes darting around the room. “Tessa didn’t die in the explosion. Someone poisoned her.”

three

Colt surveyed the room
after his announcement, searching for anything out of the ordinary. He relied on his police instincts to pick up on a look, a gesture, an emotional outburst. Even a lack of reaction spoke volumes in a homicide investigation.

According to the medical examiner, despite the fact Tessa’s injuries from the blast were enough to kill her, his ex-wife was dead before her body landed beside the tree in her front yard. There was no doubt she had been murdered.

Unable to stop the rush of emotions, he lowered his eyes.
Although they’d been divorced for over seven years, he still loved her in his own way. A wave of helplessness washed over him as memories of his own father popped into his mind. He hadn’t been able to protect him, either, but at least he’d found the man responsible for his death.

“Who’d want to kill her, Colt?” Sylvia Garcia Lopez asked as she approached, her eyes filled with sorrow. “Who’d want to kill Tessa?”

Taking his ex-mother-in-law in his arms, Colt kissed the top of her head, massaging her back in a soothing circle when her tears escalated to sobs.

Sylvia’s daughters rushed to her side, visibly fighting their own tears as they comforted their mother. It was one thing to think Tessa was killed in a freak accident, but to find out her death was deliberate was a whole different ballgame.

Madelyn gently pulled her mother from Colt’s arms and led her to a nearby chair. Colt used the time to study the Garcia family. He’d always been crazy about them, especially the two oldest sisters who still treated him like part of the family. He’d even hired Madelyn to man the phones at the station after her husband died several years earlier. He barely knew Lainey, remembering her only as a teenager.

He stole a glance her way, wondering what could have torn the two sisters apart, especially since the others were so close.
Although Tessa never talked much about the relationship, she’d always said Lainey was the smart one of the bunch, that one day she would be the next Barbara Walters.

Lainey sat beside her sisters bonding with their mother, but she looked disconnected, like she wasn’t really part of the family dynamics. One thing was for sure, she’d grown up since the last time he’d seen her. No longer the skinny kid with her nose constantly in a book—her curves were evident despite the bulky sweater she wore over the black dress. The long, jet-black hair she’d worn in a ponytail now fell to her shoulders, highlighting her matching eyes. Of all the sisters, Lainey looked the most like Tessa. Maybe that’s why they’d fought so much.

“Colt, Tessa really was poisoned?”

He turned sharply to see Lainey approach. He’d been so deep
into his reverie, he hadn’t noticed her getting up from the chair and walking toward him. “We won’t know for sure until the tox screen comes back, but Tommy’s fairly certain it was cyanide.”

“Tommy?”

“The Medical Examiner. You remember Tommy Arrington, don’t
you? His parents owned the skating rink.”

Lainey squinted in deep thought. “Janet’s older brother?”

“Yeah. He runs the show at the morgue now. Janet sold the rink to some rich guy from Chicago and moved to California about five years ago. I haven’t seen her since.”

Lainey stepped close enough for him to catch a faint whiff of her perfume. “You said cyanide? Isn’t that what they found in the Tylenol capsules back when all those people died in Chicago?”

“Yeah.”

“My God! How is it possible to get cyanide? I thought they
banned it.”

“Unfortunately, anyone can order it off the Internet, no questions asked.”

She lowered her head for a moment before meeting his eyes straight on. “Why does Tommy think it was cyanide?”

He debated whether she could handle the gory details, then de
cided
she had a right to know. Lowering his voice so the others couldn’t hear, he recited what the ME had told him just a few minutes earlier. “Cyanide leaves a very distinct almond odor. Fortunately, Tessa was thrown clear and didn’t burn in the fire. Tommy
noticed the smell right off.” He paused to make sure he hadn’t con
fused her. “Plus, her blood was cherry red, another indicator. Preliminary tissue samples showed the presence of some kind of poison, but only the tox screen can prove it was cyanide.”

She gulped hard, her eyes bordered with tears. He cursed himself for thinking she could handle this. Tessa was her sister, for godsakes.

He caught an escaping tear and tilted her chin. “Death by cyanide is quick, Lainey. She probably never even knew she was dying.” He watched her swallow hard, biting back more tears.

“Who would want Tessa dead, Colt?”

He looked away. He wasn’t about to tell her half the people in the room qualified. Tessa hadn’t been the easiest person to live with.

“I don’t know, but I promise, I’ll find out.” Colt hoped his eyes didn’t betray him. Of all the people in the room, he probably had the strongest motive to kill his ex-wife.

_____

Lainey helped her sisters clean up after everyone finally went home, making small talk as they bagged and labeled the leftovers. Tessa’s death was carefully avoided, the cause of death too horrific to consider.

She’d rebooked her flight to Savannah on Monday night after Colt suggested she stay around long enough to answer questions about Tessa. The look on Jerry Moretti’s face when she’d agreed had been priceless. It was obvious the sooner he got her out of town, the better he would like it. Maybe Tessa was right on about him screwing Gracie out of her inheritance. She made a mental note to have a conversation with the probate lawyer before she left to make sure that didn’t happen.

“Let’s go into the living room,” Deena said when the last of the dishes was loaded in the dishwasher. “There’s a fresh pot of coffee.”

“Please tell me you have something stronger,” Madelyn wailed.

For the first time since everyone left, Deena smiled. “Why didn’t I think of that? I might still have a tub of Cool Whip left over from my book club luncheon last week.” She opened the refrigerator and pulled out the container. “If there is a God, it won’t have green stuff on it.”

“Ew!” Kate cried, scrunching her face. “If you only knew how much that reminds me of gangrene.”

“Thanks for sharing.” Deena laughed, pointing to the overhead cabinet. “Lainey, you’re the tallest. Can you reach the Kahlua?”

Lainey pushed a chair against the counter. “I can now.” She stepped on the chair and stretched to reach the nearly-full bottle. “The Garcia girls have definitely earned a shot or two of this with our coffee.” She giggled as she jumped down.

You always were a sissy drinker.

Lainey jerked her head around, knocking her body off-balance and falling back into the chair, nearly breaking the bottle. Tessa stood next to the sink, shaking her head.

I forgot how klutzy you were.

“Lainey, what’s wrong?” Deena asked, rushing to her side.

Lainey ignored her sister’s question and took a step toward the sink, toward Tessa. “Can any of them see you?”

Kate gasped. “Oh, Lainey, not again.”

“What?” Madelyn demanded.

“She thinks she can see Tessa.”

Deena turned sharply to face Kate. “What do you mean, see
Tessa?”

“See her, like in the flesh. Like not dead anymore,” Kate replied, her voice dripping with sadness.

“Oh, God, Lainey, you really do need this alcohol,” Maddy said, moving up behind her. “I had no idea forcing you to come back to Vineyard would get to you like this.” She tugged at Lainey’s sleeve. “Come on, let’s make one last toast to Tessa, and thank the Lord we still have each other.”

Lainey looked past her sisters to the sink. “Why are you here?” She felt Maddy’s arm tighten on her own.

Your guess is as good as mine.

Lainey whirled around to face her sisters. “Did you hear her?” The look in their eyes told her not only had they not heard Tessa, but they were convinced she was losing it. Kate began to weep, and Deena’s mouth hung open. She didn’t have to look any farther than Madelyn’s eyes to see the horror.

Madelyn reacted first, pushing Lainey toward the living room. “Oh, honey, this has been a really bad day for you. Come on. Let’s get wasted and put it behind us.”

Lainey wanted to do just that, but she couldn’t. She pressed her hand against the door frame, effectively stopping the march into the other room. “No, Maddy, I have to deal with this.”

She turned back to the sink to see if Tessa was still there. She was. She heard Kate’s sobs, but couldn’t stop. “Who killed you?”

Tessa shrugged.
Not a clue.

“Why am I the only one who can see you?”

Don’t know that, either.

Lainey spun around to her three sisters and saw the fear covering their faces. They thought she was delusional. She turned back to Tessa. “You have to let them know you’re here. I can’t deal with this by myself.”

Tessa shook her head.
It doesn’t work that way.

“Dammit, Tessa, even dead, you’re still a pain in the ass.”

Tessa smiled.
Don’t you think if I had a choice about this, I’d be talking to Madelyn instead of you? She never passed judgment on me the way you did.

“Passed judgment?” Lainey screamed. “Let me tell you something, Tessa. I idolized you growing up. You with your dynamite looks, your unbelievable popularity at school. I wanted to be like you so much, I sometimes cried at night because I wasn’t.”

“Stop it, Lainey,” Kate screamed. “I can’t bear to watch you do this.” She rushed to Lainey’s side and enveloped her in her arms.

Ask her about the day she came to me to borrow money for her last year in medical school.

Lainey pushed Kate away from her and met her eyes, now slightly red and swollen. “Tessa wants me to ask you about the day you borrowed money from her.”

Kate gasped. “Nobody knows about that.”

Ask Deena about the time I had a talk with the nursing home administrator when the Director of Nurses was on her case about every little thing.

She faced her second oldest sister. “What about when Tessa inter-
vened with the head honcho at the nursing home when your boss was giving you grief?”

Deena had the same reaction as Kate.

Now ask Maddy about her cancer scare a few years back.

“Maddy?” Lainey released Kate and walked toward her oldest sister. “Why didn’t you tell anyone you thought you had cancer?”

“Oh, God!” Maddy groaned.

“You thought you had cancer and didn’t tell me?” Deena’s voice jumped an octave.

“I didn’t tell anyone. I wanted to wait until we were sure. The breast biopsy came back as a fibrocystic growth.”

“Why did you tell Tessa and not me?” The hurt was evident in Deena’s eyes. She and Maddy had been best friends since childhood just as Lainey and Kate had been.

“I didn’t tell her. I ran into her at the hospital the morning of the biopsy. Just my luck, Jerry was getting his knee scoped the same day.” She moved closer to Deena. “You know I can’t lie. When she asked why I was there so early, I gave it up. She promised not to ever tell anyone.” Maddy paused, shaking her head. “Apparently, she lied.”

“You really are talking to her!” Kate exclaimed. “Where is she?”

“By the sink.”

All three sisters turned in that direction.

Happy now?

“Can she hear us?” Deena asked, cautiously leaning her head closer to the sink.

“Yes.”

“Can we talk to her?”

“Yes. Obviously, you can’t hear her responses, though.”

An awkward silence followed as the women edged closer. Lainey
knew they wanted desperately to believe there was a reason—other than the obvious one—how she knew their secrets.

Maddy inched slowly in the direction of the sink. “Here?”

She poked her finger in the air.

Tessa smiled.
As much as I love Maddy, she was never the rocket scientist of this family.

“No, Maddy, over there.” Lainey pointed to the end of the sink by the dishwasher.

Maddy’s eyes squinted, and she huffed. “Okay, hot shot, if it’s really you, tell your sister about the time I hauled your drunken ass out of that bar in Dallas when that irate woman caught you making out with her fiancé and was ready to skin you alive.”

Deena threw her hands in the air. “How many more things have you kept from me, Maddy?”

Maddy turned. “She made me swear not to tell. Didn’t want the uppity ups in Vineyard to hear about it.”

Obviously, Maddy sucks at keeping secrets
.
Tessa pursed her lips.
Tell her it was Jason Martin’s latest floozy.

“Who’s Jason Martin?” Lainey asked.

Maddy’s eyes widened. “Oh my God! It’s really her.”

Bingo!

“Is she okay?” Deena asked, a slow tear making its way down her cheek.

No, Deena, I’m freakin’ dead.

Lainey smiled. “She looks good.”

“Why is she here?” Maddy asked.

“Why don’t you ask her yourself?”

“Me?” Maddy gulped. “You ask her. You’re the one she talks to.”

Lainey crossed the room stopping directly in front of her dead sister. “What do you want from us?”

Tessa lowered her eyes momentarily before meeting Lainey’s stare.
Find my killer.