Pecan Pie and Deadly Lies (An Adams Grove Novel) (26 page)

“You’re welcome, honey. You’d better run. Looks like everyone else is already on board.”

She settled into the seat next to Pete and fastened her seat belt for takeoff.

As the plane took off she looked out the window. From here she recognized the buildings and landmarks of Hillcrest now. The barn, the pond, the studio, and Hillcrest rose above it all with its gleaming blue, solar-tiled roof. She wondered if Jake and Cody were watching the plane take off from where they were.

She lifted her hand to the glass.

Pete leaned in. “You okay?”

She turned and nodded. “Yeah. I’m good.” She eased back in the fine leather seat. “How about you? You ready for today? I bet the press will have a hundred questions about Cody not coming.”

He shrugged. “That’s fine. I’m used to it.”

“Cody said Annette told him she wasn’t going to be there. I’m sure she usually diverts some of that for you.”

“Not really,” he said with a smirk. “The more she diverts from Cody, the more they come to me.”

“Hadn’t thought of that. Well, it should be interesting.”

“It’ll be fine. Don’t worry about it. Arty wasn’t all that well liked. I’ll be curious to see how many people actually show up aside from those of us he’s represented… out of duty.”

She pulled a folder out of her tote bag. “I wanted you to take a look at these pictures with me.”

“Sure. What do you have here?” Pete took the folder.

“It’s pictures from the party at Arty’s house. The night of the murder. Cody and I’ve been through them, but I thought you might take a look and see if there was anything you noticed that we didn’t mark.”

Pete flipped through the pictures, nodding. “This looks like… no…” He went through the stack and came back to that one picture. “I’m not sure, but that looks like this girl we call Georgia Peach.” He squinted.

Kasey pulled her computer out of her tote bag. “I can pull it up on my laptop and maybe you can see it better.”

“Yeah. Do that.”

She hit the power button and waited for the machine to come to life. The picture was high-resolution so she was able to blow it up pretty big with good clarity. “Here you go,” she said, passing him the computer.

He used the trackpad to scan across and over. “Yeah. It looks like her.” He leaned over. “That girl right there. I swear it’s her. I wish Cody was here to confirm it. He’d know for sure.”

“I’ll text him. He still has a copy of these there. What do you know about her?”

He filled her in on what little he knew. Kasey texted Cody, then sent the details to Von to see what he could track down between the guest list, car log, and other details he’d gathered.

Pete put his noise-canceling earphones on and closed his eyes.

It was just a short hop from Nashville to Virginia. It seemed like they were already descending. She could get used to this mode of transportation, especially into these tiny airports. No wait. No TSA pat-downs. No problem.

As the plane started to touch down Kasey noticed Von’s truck parked next to a limousine. Probably the one that had been hired to take the band over to the service. She felt a nervous energy about going to the funeral. She didn’t really know Arty, but it hadn’t hit her until just now that the last funeral she’d attended was Nick’s, and suddenly that dull ache found its way back into her bones. She rolled her shoulders and let out a breath.

The whole band was already up and stretching before they came to a complete stop.

She was the last one off the plane. She walked over to Von and gave him a hug. “Good to see you.”

“You too. Riley sends her love.”

She could tell that he’d already thought about how the day might make her feel. He had that big-brother I’ll-take-care-of-you look on his face.

“Y’all can ride with us,” Pete said.

“That’s okay. We’re going to lay low. Y’all go on. We’ll be right behind you,” Kasey said. “You ready?” she asked Von.

They followed the limousine to the church where they were having the service because the original plan for an elaborate service at the estate had become impossible with the police still around.

Kasey took her camera out of her purse and put fresh batteries in it, then tucked it into her pocket. Then she put a pen and paper in the other pocket in case she needed to write anything down.

“I feel like I’m on an undercover mission,” she said.

“We kind of are. Welcome to my world,” Von teased.

“This’ll have to be better than sitting around on surveillance. That part of your job sucks.” She remembered from when they’d been trying to track down Jake. Hours of sitting in his SUV was no party.

“It’s all a matter of perspective,” Von said.

Pete couldn’t have been more wrong about the attendance of Arty’s service. The parking lot overflowed with folks and the press hung out in clusters trying to catch a shot of someone famous.

Kasey took advantage of the flood of people to take pictures of everyone as they started moving toward the church. It was grasping at straws, but she couldn’t sit idly by with fingers pointed at Cody until they solved the case.

Pete walked over to Kasey. “I’ve seen some of Cody’s superfans. I guess they were hoping he’d be here. Guess who else is here?”

“The peach? From the picture?” she guessed.

“See the girl standing by that silver Toyota truck? That’s Georgia Peach. She’s at every concert within driving distance.”

Kasey snapped a couple pictures and zoomed in for another. “That does look like the girl from the party photo.”

“Now that I see her again, I think so too.”

“See any others?”

“Let me see,” Pete craned his neck. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Over there. The girl in the bright blue.”

“That’s easy to spot,” Von said. “Don’t think she’s trying to blend into the crowd.”

“And look. I guess Annette changed her mind. She’s here, and that’s Lou walking with her with that girl. Is that Amy?”

Kasey nodded. “Looks like her.”

“That’s just wrong. I can’t believe Arty did that to Cody,” Pete said.

Von locked his truck. “Let’s go on in.”

Pete went up to the front of the church and sat with the band in the area that had been reserved for them. Kasey and Von sat toward the back so Von could see everyone coming and going.

There was no body, simply a picture of Arty at the front of the church. Most people probably thought it was just the way the guy wanted it to be, but Kasey knew that they hadn’t released the body yet.

It was a nice service, though there wasn’t a tear in the place. Not even Amy, who looked sad, but didn’t cry. It was the most unusual and unemotional service Kasey had ever been to.

Afterward, she and Von caught up with the guys in the parking lot.

“That was short and sweet,” Pete said.

“I know. I think the flight was longer,” Kasey said.

Von took pictures of the cars in the parking lot before everyone left. “Never know what will come in handy. Anyone say anything?”

Pete shrugged. “Nothing but sorry to hear about it. I guess word’s getting out about Amy because even Georgia Peach told me to tell Cody how sorry she was that Arty had betrayed him like that.” Pete shoved his hand in his pocket. “Oh, and here’s her real name and address. I told her I had something for her from Cody and she gave it to me. Don’t let me forget to actually send something.”

“You’re awesome.” Kasey took the scrap of paper, but she wondered how Georgia Peach would have found out about the secret so soon. It wasn’t totally unlikely that she could have heard Annette talking to Lou.

The limo pulled around and the guys piled in. “We’ll meet you back at the plane,” Pete said.

“We’re right behind you.” Von got in the truck and they followed the limo to the airstrip.

Kasey took a picture of the information Pete had given her before handing it over to Von and promised to e-mail him her files as soon as she got on the plane and connected. Von was planning to stay in town and do a little more digging.

She called Cody’s number to check in on Jake while they got ready to take off. She could barely get a word in edgewise as Jake went on and on about his day riding horses and that Miss D had given him a cowboy hat that used to be Cody’s when he was a little boy just like him.

“We’re getting ready to come home. I’ll see you in about an hour. I love you,” she said.

I don’t think he even missed me.
She wasn’t sure if that was good or bad, but she hadn’t had that surge of panic that she usually got when she was apart from him, and that had to mean progress.

T
he next morning Kasey got up early to get Jake ready to go with Denise for the day. Jake was still on a high from the previous day of riding and was raring to get back down to the barn with his new best friend, whom he now just called Miss D, and his new favorite horse, Hillcrest Flashback.

Denise had come down on horseback to pick him up and he had thought that was just about the coolest thing ever. She’d had to call after him to have him come back and give her a kiss good-bye.

After struggling with what to do with Jake, it was Cody who had come up with the perfect solution. Well, probably not perfect for him—he wouldn’t get what he wanted—but perfect because it would give Kasey the chance to let Jake out of her sight again for a little longer, but be nearby at the same time.

Cody stepped up behind her as she watched Denise and Jake ride off toward her place. He dropped a kiss in the crook of her neck. “I wish you were coming with me, but we’ll be back tonight. Can I ask you out on a date for when I get back?”

She cast him a sideways glance. “What did you have in mind? Because I’m not going zip-lining.”

“I’ll be too tired for zip-lining after the concert anyway. I was thinking you and me, on the rooftop balcony—”

She leaned back. “A rooftop balcony?”

“Yep. Only one access. From my room.”

Her throat went a little dry at the thought. “That sounds dangerous.”
And inviting.
“And like we’re moving really fast.”

“You gonna let me finish?”

She pressed her lips tight and nodded.

“You and me, on the rooftop balcony. A bottle of wine. Stargazing.”

“Me gazing at you?”

He tossed his head back. “No. I’m trying to be romantic here. Work with me, would you?”

“Sorry.”

“There’s a new moon tonight. It’s supposed to be the best night to see stars and galaxies because the sky will be inky black. I thought it would be nice. Quiet. And we’d be alone.”

“That
is
romantic.”

“If I promise to be a gentleman do we have a date?”

“I think we do.”

He hugged her tight, then kissed her. Soft. Tender. And leaving her anxious inside.

“Then, I’m out of here.” He lifted his duffel bag and walked toward the second driveway where the buses were parked. “You’re going to be okay today. You know that, right?”

“Yes.”

“I’m proud of you,” he said. “I know it’s not easy to face those kinds of fears. You call Mom if you start feeling anxious. Or me. We’ve got your back.”

“I know.” She was kind of proud of herself too. For letting Jake go. She was finally trusting her own judgment again,
and that was a good step. Now if she could just trust her heart. It felt very right, perfect even, and that was what made it so frightening.

She walked back inside and grabbed her laptop and a cup of coffee. She sat by the pool and caught up on the news. There wasn’t even a snippet or a Tweet about Arty Max or Cody relative to the murder. It seemed that was already yesterday’s news. Only it wasn’t, because until they figured out who had committed that deed, Cody wouldn’t be entirely off the hook.

The last time she’d had a whole day to herself with no responsibilities was Jake’s first day of school, and that hadn’t gone so well. Today would be better.

She went upstairs and showered and changed but the time was creeping by. She wasn’t anxious—that was good—but she didn’t know what to do with herself. She remembered seeing the stack of DVDs from the reality show that had followed Cody’s tour. It hadn’t aired yet, but that would be fun to watch.

Kasey picked one out of the middle and pushed the button for the giant screen Cody had showed her the other day. It came right up and the footage played. It was just the raw footage, not the edited stuff.

She watched the replay as one of Cody’s guys walked down a line of waiting fans handing out guitar picks and announcing, “Be ready with your camera if you want a picture and he’ll sign one thing for you. No kissing on the mouth either. He’s been sick. You don’t want to get sick.”

Her face scrunched like she’d just tasted something bad.
That’s just gross to think that these women would want to go in there and suck face with someone they didn’t even know. Really?

The camera moved into the bus and captured a few of the meet and greets. They filed in for the few moments with
him. He did seem to have a knack for making it seem like each fan was the only thing on his mind—in their moment during that short time. He signed hats, a woman’s tote bag, and then two scantily dressed girls with way too much makeup draped themselves over him begging for a threesome. He graciously declined and signed their rear ends, and when they left, he asked one of his guys to be sure they’d actually made it off the property.

She looked for the remote to fast-forward.
I thought it was here on the desk.
She moved a couple things around on the top of the desk, and then opened the desk drawer to see if it was there. The center drawer wasn’t that deep. She tugged on the right-hand drawer, it was locked. The left one wasn’t though. She opened it and retrieved the remote, but something else caught her eye.

She lifted a photo out of the drawer.

It was the one that had Georgia Peach in it. The one Pete had helped her with. Only Cody must have recognized her all along because although he hadn’t mentioned it to her or marked it on her copy, there was a sticky note right under her face. With her real name written on it in Cody’s handwriting, and a phone number.

Why hadn’t he mentioned it when they’d looked at the pictures together?