Curtain Call: Magnolia Steele Mystery #4 Read online

  “But preparing for something and actually facing it are two very different things, Tilly.”

  Tears flooded her eyes, and she gave me a sad smile. “My life will be far emptier now, but I’ll survive. It’s been a long day. I think I’ll go and get ready for bed.”

  “You’re still staying here tonight, aren’t you?” I asked. She’d come home with Colt, Belinda, and me on Saturday night. We’d all felt the need to be close after leaving the hospital, and she’d been sleeping in Momma’s room.

  “I’m too tired to go home.” She lifted her tumbler. “And a little too tipsy to drive. I’ll stay tonight, but I think I should go home tomorrow.”

  “You can stay as long as you want, Tilly.”

  She stood and placed the afghan on her chair. “And I appreciate it, sweet girl, but your momma’s gone. It’s time for me to deal with that.”

  I stood and pulled her into a tight hug. “I need you, Tilly, and I think you need me too. You’re my momma now.”

  “I’m always here for you, Maggie Mae. Always.”

  “Likewise.”

  She started to walk inside, then stopped and turned around. “I forgot. When I was answering the door earlier, I found a magnolia blossom on the doormat.”

  I froze. “What?”

  “It wasn’t a bouquet or a flower arrangement. It was just a single flower. I would have almost guessed it blew off a tree onto the porch, only there aren’t any magnolia trees close by.”

  Colt’s eyes widened, but Tilly seemed oblivious. “I put it in a bowl of water on the kitchen counter. It was too beautiful to throw away.”

  I nodded, unable to find the words to answer.

  She gave one last wave and walked inside. As soon as Tilly disappeared from view, Belinda tugged me back down on the seat next to her.

  “I take it there’s a reason you’re freaking out right now.”

  “It’s from the killer, isn’t it?” Colt asked.

  I lifted my shoulders into a tiny shrug. “I don’t know.” I dug my phone out of my pocket and checked the screen. “No messages.” But I couldn’t ignore the fact that if the flower was from the serial killer, he’d skipped texting—his usual form of communication—and left two things for me in one day. My magnolia necklace and now an actual magnolia.

  “Maybe you should call Brady,” Colt said, worry in his eyes.

  “And tell him what? Tilly found a flower on the front porch? There’s nothing he can do.”

  “The front door’s locked, isn’t it?” Belinda asked.

  “Yeah,” I said. I’d checked it multiple times. I offered them a half-smile. “Even if it was from him, there’s nothing we can do. We need to worry about more pressing matters—it’s time to come up with a game plan.”

  Chapter 4

  I grabbed the whiskey bottle and refilled my glass. I was going to need more alcohol in my system to get through this. I didn’t even know where to start, but then I decided to start at the beginning. “Did either of you know about any of that? That Daddy and Bill had another partner in the beginning?”

  “No,” Belinda said.

  “Not a clue,” Colt added.

  “And his affairs?”

  They both remained silent.

  “Belinda, did you know about the possible ten-million-dollar annuity?”

  She was silent for a moment before she finally nodded. “Roy’s been digging into the history of the investment firm. He always thought there was more to the Jackson Project than was made public, but the last I heard, he hadn’t found anything concrete.”

  I gave my head a tiny shake. “Roy’s digging into the Jackson Project?”

  “He’s been secretly investigating Bill.”

  “What?”

  She poured herself more whiskey. “That’s why he’s working there, Magnolia. To dig up dirt on Bill and your father.”

  My ability to feel shocked—by anything—should have been blunted by the last week, and yet it hadn’t been. This was the last thing I’d expected her to say. “Did Momma know?”

  “No,” she said bluntly. “No one knew except for me.”

  “But . . . why?”

  “He was friends with Christopher Merritt—the son, not the father. They met at a party shortly after Roy and I started dating. You wouldn’t think they’d have much in common. Roy was in his early twenties and just out of school, working as a DJ and sound engineer, and Chris was an established accountant with a family.” She took a sip of her drink and sat back on the loveseat. “Don’t underestimate Roy. He didn’t just do weddings. He worked with some of the best recording artists. He was slowly building his career, but one day Chris just disappeared. The police said he’d had an affair with Rowena Rogers, then took off out of shame.” She turned to me. “The first time I ‘officially’ met her was on Saturday night. When you ran into her before, I had no idea it was her.”

  “I didn’t know either,” I said. “Not until I went to her house on Saturday afternoon. I don’t believe for one minute that she was having an affair with Chris Merritt.”

  Belinda nodded. “I don’t believe it either. But there was no dissuading the police from their theory.”

  “Like Daddy,” I said.

  Colt shot me a guilty look, but I ignored it.

  “Roy took Christopher’s disappearance hard,” Belinda said, shifting to the side and tucking her legs underneath her. “He and Chris had been meeting every week or two for breakfast to talk about their dead fathers’ involvement in the Jackson Project. Even though their fathers had been the ones to swindle people, Chris and Roy felt like they’d been stuck with a poisoned legacy. They felt a need to make things right. If there was hidden money, they wanted to find it and return what they could to the investors.”

  None of this sounded like Roy at all . . . not the angry, unstable guy I knew.

  Belinda continued, her words starting to slur. “Chris was trying to find the annuity—he suspected the same thing your momma did. He called Roy and told him that he’d found something. They were supposed to meet to discuss it, but Chris disappeared.”

  “Geraldo Lopez?” I asked.

  She lifted her shoulder into a slow, uncoordinated shrug. “Roy was sure the answer was hidden in the apartment Christopher kept in Nashville. The lease was coming due, and Chris’s wife didn’t want anything in it, so Roy told her that he’d take care of the stuff for her.”

  “It’s in Momma’s garage,” I said.

  “He’d hoped he would find something useful, but he never did.”

  “Was the ceramic dog in Chris’s apartment?”

  “What ceramic dog?” Belinda asked.

  “The tall Dalmatian,” I said. “The one you saw in my trash. The one Geraldo Lopez was looking for.” I paused. “Did Roy know about it?”

  She shook her head, confusion filling her eyes. “I don’t know.”

  “Did Roy know about your parents?” I asked. “Did he know about your plan to get revenge?”

  She hesitated and guilt filled her eyes. “Roy promised to help me get some closure, but the deeper he got in the firm, the more he changed. He’d never been what you would call a gentle man, but he became mean and violent.”

  “You stuck with him for your revenge?” I asked in disbelief.

  “I loved him in the beginning, Magnolia. Roy could be hard, but he had his tender moments. He took his promise to help me very seriously. And he loved me. Or at least he used to.”

  “Which brings us back to Detective Martinez,” Colt said. “If the two of you are going to meet with her, you need to have similar stories, but they shouldn’t be identical.”

  Belinda lifted her glass to him and said in a snotty tone, “You would know how to handle getting questioned by the police, wouldn’t you?”

  Colt’s mouth pressed into a thin line.

  I’d always suspected Belinda’s animosity toward him had to do with his previous brush with the law, and her comment seemed to confirm it.

  “He did
n’t do it, Belinda,” I said. “You were right—he did have a record, and it was sealed, but Daddy was behind the whole thing.”

  “Maggie,” Colt said, sounding exhausted.

  Belinda remained silent, so I decided to press the issue. They were the two people closest to me, and I hated the tension between them. If I could make her understand, she might forgive him for whatever sins she thought he’d committed.

  “That’s how he roped Colt into working for him. He was arrested on bogus charges. While he was in the Franklin jail, Daddy visited him and told him his charges would be dropped if he agreed to be his spy.”

  She looked like she was about to say something, but the expression on her face told me she’d thought better of it. “I know that part,” she finally said.

  It was another reminder that even sweet Belinda had lied to me, and plenty.

  Colt shifted in his seat. “You still need a plan for tomorrow.”

  Belinda looked close to tears. “We’ll just go with your story, but it might not come to that. We won’t be answering any questions without our attorney present.”

  “I can’t afford an attorney.” I started to panic.

  Colt slipped his hand in mine. “You have Lila’s money, Maggie.”

  “Roy said she was broke.”

  “I’m sure there’s enough to pay for an attorney.”

  “I have more than enough,” Belinda said, her voice slurring even more. “My nest egg. My rainy-day fund. The money I was saving to leave Roy.”

  I shot a glance back at Colt before turning to Belinda. “I’m not taking your money, Belinda.” I lowered my voice. “Are you still leaving Roy?”

  “He doesn’t want me back.”

  That wasn’t the answer I’d expected. Did she really want to go back?

  She stood up, a bit wobbly. “It’s been a long day, and tomorrow I’m going to regret drinking all that whiskey.”

  I stood up and gave her a hug. She clung to me and then let me go, looking exhausted. “I loved Lila, and her death is hitting me hard. I’ll be better tomorrow.”

  “Okay.” I moved out of her way and watched her go inside and head up the stairs. “Maybe I should go with her,” I murmured.

  “I need to talk to you first, Mags.”

  I sat down in Belinda’s seat, sitting across from him, and nodded for him to continue.

  He rubbed his thumb over the back of his other hand. “Where do you and I stand? At the cemetery, you seemed okay, but tonight . . .”

  “Up until this last week, I never would have suspected Daddy had cheated on Momma, let alone so many times.”

  He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs. “I didn’t know anything about that. I promise.”

  “But you knew Daddy was alive.”

  His eyes hardened. “That man has controlled my life for three years, making me do things I never wanted to do. He took everything from me. My freedom, my ex-girlfriend.” He paused. “Maggie, you have to trust me. You are better off without that man in your life. You were better off thinking he was dead.”

  “That was my decision to make, Colt.”

  “I know, Mags. I’m sorry.” I could see that he was, but was he sorry for keeping it from me, or was he sorry he’d gotten caught?

  Like my father.

  I started to get up, but he tugged me down next to him. “There’s something else we need to talk about.” He paused to see if I’d protest, then continued. “We need to talk about the serial killer.”

  I pulled my arm free and wrapped my arms over my chest as I shivered.

  “Is Brady Bennett still helping you?”

  That was a good question. The situation with Brady was tense, and he was the only one in the police department who knew I had a connection to the serial killer. He’d seemed a little off the last few times I’d seen him, and his go-it-alone approach to finding the serial killer didn’t feel right. Then again, he had plenty of reason to feel slighted. The morning of Momma’s death, I’d told him I didn’t want to date him, and later he’d seen me kiss another man. Even so, he’d come to the funeral, and he’d indicated he still wanted to work together.

  Colt’s eyes narrowed when he picked up on my hesitation. “You don’t trust him to protect you?”

  “I don’t really trust anyone right now.”

  He hesitated. “Do you trust me?”

  That was another good question. I knew Colt cared for me, but I was still struggling with his monumental betrayal. I didn’t answer.

  He gave a sharp nod and determination filled his eyes. “I understand, Mags. I do. And I promise I’ll earn your trust back.”

  I really hoped so. I needed him more than I’d expected.

  He stood and reached for my hand. “Let’s go to bed.” Then he paused. “Do you want me to sleep on the sofa?”

  While Tilly had been sleeping in Momma’s room, Belinda was staying in Roy’s old room, and Colt was sleeping with me in my room. I was plagued with multiple nightmares every night, and he helped calm me down whenever I woke with a start.

  “No,” I said, feeling weak like my mother. I should send Colt away, but I needed him and I hated both of us a little bit for that.

  I headed upstairs to get ready for bed, while Colt put out the fire in the fire pit. I was already in bed by the time he came up smelling like smoke. He went into the bathroom and took a shower, but I was still awake when he climbed into bed next to me wearing a T-shirt and athletic shorts.

  He reached for me and pulled my head to his chest. I felt safe in his arms, but it was a false security. A serial killer was after me, and we’d just spent an hour talking about my father’s affairs and hidden millions.

  “Why are we still looking into Daddy’s past?” I asked, resting my hand on his chest. I couldn’t ignore that my insides began to tighten and heat up, but I had more important things to deal with than my attraction to Colt. “I think I should be looking for the serial killer.”

  Colt’s body tensed and he put his hand under my chin, tilting my face up so he could search my eyes. “You need to stay as far away from the serial killer as possible. Tell me the truth, Maggie—can Brady still be trusted to protect you, or do you think he’ll let his personal feelings get in the way?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  “Then you stay as far from his investigation as possible,” he said. “When was the last time you heard from the killer before the magnolia?” I’d told Colt everything over the weekend, needing to unburden myself.

  I considered lying to keep from worrying him, but I was tired of lying. “This afternoon at the funeral.”

  Colt bolted upright. “What? What did he say?”

  I sat up too and turned to face him. “Brady gave me a necklace last week, a magnolia pendant. I lost it, but the killer somehow got ahold of it. He was at the ball Saturday night, and he sent me a text with a photo of the necklace. Our table at the ball was in the background.”

  He looked pissed. “Why am I just now hearing this?”

  “Because Belinda semi-kidnapped me to trap my father, then Rowena and her goon were killed, and then Momma died. Honestly, I forgot about it. But today at the funeral, the director handed me the necklace, saying it had been found on one of the seats.”

  Fear filled Colt’s eyes. “The serial killer was at your momma’s funeral?”

  “I guess so.”

  “I need to get you out of town.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “A sadistic serial killer is playing with you, Maggie. I’m not going to let you hang around and see what he has planned next. You refused to leave before because you didn’t want to miss out on time with your mother, but we buried her today. It’s time to make you safe.”

  “What about Belinda? The killer threatened to hurt her if I told Brady about him. If he finds out . . .”

  “You told Bennett last week, and nothing’s happened.”

  “Not true. He killed Emily while I was staying with Brady, and I�
�m pretty sure he did it to remind me to keep my mouth shut.”

  “Emily had been asking around about why you left ten years ago,” Colt said. “Maybe she found something that made the killer nervous.”

  I’d considered that too, but there was no denying he’d sent me a text at around three in the morning—after her time of death—to let me know he’d left me a warning.

  “I’m tired of running away, Colt. I ran away ten years ago, and I don’t want to run anymore.”

  Colt looked scared. “Then you shouldn’t be alone. You need someone with you at all times.”

  “What I need is a new gun. I still haven’t replaced the one that was stolen out of my purse.” My eyes narrowed as a new thought hit me. “Do you think Daddy stole the gun and the bag of gold out of my purse the night Lopez attacked me?”

  “Why would you think so?”

  “Roy wasn’t at the fundraiser because he was at a dinner in Nashville, but I thought I saw him in the shadows,” I said. “I know now that it was Daddy.”

  His eyes widened. “Your father was at the art fundraiser?”

  I nodded.

  He wiped his hand over his face. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on, Maggie, but I don’t like any of this. Come away with me.”

  “No. I have to see this through.”

  “The serial killer isn’t going to let you go this time, Magnolia. We both know that flower was from him. That’s called escalation, and it’s not good.”

  “We’re going to stop him.” I sighed and tugged him down to the pillows, letting him wrap an arm around me and hold me close.

  He leaned down and kissed me—tentative, as though testing the waters. I kissed him back but with hesitation. I wanted to forgive him, especially since the proof of his concern for me was so evident, but I kept thinking about my mother and how she’d forgiven Daddy again and again. I didn’t want to be that woman.

  His lips left a trail of kisses up my cheek and to my temple. “Go to sleep. I’ll be here. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  Even though he couldn’t promise any such thing, I closed my eyes and soon drifted off to sleep.