A House to Die For (A Darby Farr Mystery) (29 page)

The bartender brought their order and Tina took a swig of her
beer. "'Course, I could be wrong. I've been wrong about that man
since I first laid eyes on him."

"What made you go out with him, Tina?" Darby asked.

"Huh. I've asked myself that a hundred times," she said. She
gazed off into the distance. "What makes anyone fall for someone? His looks, for one. He isn't much to write home about now
but a few years back, before he went overseas, he was handsome,
you know, in that wild, Rambo kind of way. He's smart, too-very
smart. I like a man with brains. He listened to me-or at least
faked it pretty well. And, I guess I was drawn to his dangerous side.
My dad was a bit of a loose cannon and maybe I'm attracted to
those types of men."

Tina looked around the bar before continuing. "I never knew
what happened to Soames over in the Gulf, but it really messed
him up big time." She sighed. "Before that, he had a tender side. I
don't think anyone has seen that part of him for many years."

"If he suffers from post traumatic stress syndrome, why isn't he
getting treatment?" asked Darby.

Tina frowned. "First you have to want to be helped. And that's
not our friend Soames." She took another gulp of her drink. "Let's
talk about you. Have you made peace with that stubborn old aunt
of yours, or what?"

"She's dead, Tina. How do you make peace with that?"

"It doesn't matter what kind of shape she's in, girl. I'm talking about you realizing that she tried to do the best she could for
you. Hey, it was a hard situation for her, too. She never asked to
come to Maine and deal with an orphaned teenager. She wasn't
equipped for it."

"No," Darby said slowly.

"This is the key. You make peace with her, something's going to
come over you that helps you with everything else. It's like a magic
blanket or something. You forgive her for all the things she didn't
know and everything she did wrong."

"I hear you, Tina. I'll think about it."

The bartender arrived with two platters and placed them before the women. Each had a cheeseburger, a large dill pickle, and a
pile of French fries.

"Mmmm, smells good," commented Tina.

Darby nodded. "I'm famished."

The two ate in silence, enjoying their dinner and the bar's cozy
atmosphere. When they'd finished, Darby requested the check
while Tina glanced unhappily around the restaurant.

"I thought for sure we'd see somebody who'd know something
about Soames." Tina swallowed the last of her beer and seemed
about to say more when she stopped and pointed at a man enter ing the Dip Net. "Aha," she whispered. "I think that's one of his old
buddies. Watch me work my magic on him."

Darby watched as Tina sashayed up to the man, gave him a peck
on the cheek, and talked for a few minutes. When she returned to
the booth, he swiveled in the bar stool to watch her. Darby noted a
triumphant smile on her face.

"Soames is here in Manatuck," she said, "shacked up at an empty
building a few miles from here, over near the Rusty Scupper. Remember that place? Anyway, this guy hasn't seen him for a day or
two, but he says before that, Soames was buying drinks for everyone
like his ship had come in." She grabbed her turquoise purse. "What
do you say? Shall we go find him?"

Darby tossed enough money for the bill on the table and
grabbed her denim jacket. "I'm ready."

Outside the Dip Net's dingy doorway, the sun was low in the
sky and dusk was falling. Tina started the truck and headed away
from the coast, driving slowly through unfamiliar Manatuck
streets. After a few minutes she slowed down before a dilapidated
building.

"There's the Scupper," Tina said. In contrast to the Dip Net's
crowded parking lot, the Rusty Scupper was forlorn and abandoned.

"Now, the place where Soames is staying is on the other side of
this." She pointed at an old warehouse. "Think it's that."

"We need to be sure before we alert Chief Dupont," said Darby,
scanning the front of the darkened building for any sign of life.

Tina opened the car door. "His room is in the basement-at
least that's what that guy said"

Darby nodded. "I'll wait a few minutes and then follow you in.
I'll be listening and ready to help you out. Be very careful, Tina."

"Don't worry. I know this guy like the back of my hand." Tina
climbed out of the car and closed it quietly. "See you in a few," she
said.

Darby watched as Tina made her way across the barren parking
lot to the building's front door. She opened it gingerly, and stepped
inside, looking toward Darby and the car as she did so.

Darby exhaled slowly and tried to still her thumping heart. Her
mind registered all kinds of scenarios-none of them good -involving Tina and Soames Pemberton, but she forced herself to stop
the worrisome thoughts and focus on her plan. Assuming Tina
found Soames in the basement of the warehouse, she would try to
get him to talk about the murder and his reasons for framing Lucy
Trimble. Darby prayed that Soames' penchant for bragging, coupled
with Tina's presence, would win out and he would confess to the
crime.

I've waited long enough, she thought, easing out of the truck
and closing the door as quietly as she could. She put the keys in
her denim jacket pocket and crept to the front door. It opened
quietly and Darby surveyed the dim interior.

Trash lay in piles on the muddy floor and overturned chairs-a
few of them broken-littered the space. What looked like an office
in one corner of the room was heaped with plastic garbage bags,
and Darby saw that gaping holes had been chewed in the bags
and waste was spilling out. A door in another corner was ajar and
Darby guessed that it led to the basement and Soames Pemberton.

She tiptoed toward the door and soon heard voices rising from
the darkened stairwell.

Tina's was a low murmur, but Soames' booming rant was more
audible.

"... knew the money belonged to Phipps, even though it was
Trimble who called me," said the voice. There was a pause when
Tina murmured something low. "Yeah," Soames continued. "He set
it up. But I knew it was Phipps because he wanted that house like
a dog wants a bone. I tried to get more cash out of him but son of
a bitch just laughed."

Tina said something else and Soames Pemberton swore.

"... what you think? I could have, if I wanted to, but I didn't."

More murmurs from Tina.

"Yeah, but I'm not telling you. Why should I tell you?"

Darby heard him chuckle at something Tina must have said
and the sound stiffened her spine.

"Help me? Get a fucking grip. After the shit I've taken from
you and this island? You make me crazy, you know that? Crazy. All
that crap I took in the Gulf, this is worse ... sometimes I hate you,
you bitch."

Darby heard the crash of furniture and the sounds of a scuffle.
She was down the darkened stairs two at a time when Tina let out
a soft scream.

Inside a dusty, half-finished room, Soames Pemberton had his
hands around Tina's throat.

DARBY GRABBED THE CLOSEST thing she could find: an old mop
inside a rusted metal bucket. She brandished the mop at Soames.
"Let her go!" she yelled.

"What the hell?"

Darby had taken the huge man by surprise, so much so that he
relaxed his hold on Tina's neck. It was only for a moment, but it
gave Tina enough time to twist out of his grasp. As soon as he realized she had escaped, he lunged at her, but she avoided his arms
and flung herself to safety by Darby. Without thinking, the two
women were backing toward the stairs as Soames lurched in their
direction.

"So you brought her along," he leered. "Your little Jap friend."

Darby reached down and then threw the bucket as hard as she
could at Soames' head and yelled for Tina to run. There was a resounding thud of metal hitting skull as both women bolted up the
basement stairs. They dashed across the warehouse and toward
the exit, with Soames Pemberton somewhere behind them. Tina yanked open the door and rushed into the night, Darby right on
her heels. The two women practically jumped into the truck and
Tina fumbled in her pocketbook for the keys. Soames Pemberton
was now outside the warehouse as well and only steps away.

"Sweet Jesus, where are the damn keys?" Tina wailed.

Darby hit the automatic lock on the doors seconds before Soames tried yanking hers open. She heard Tina's pocketbook fall to
the floor and her heart sank. If Tina didn't find the keys immediately, Soames would smash the glass.

Suddenly Darby remembered shoving the keys in her pocket.
"I've got them," she yelled, jamming her hand into her jacket
pocket. Her fingers touched a cylinder; she pulled it out as well.
"Here!" Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tina thrust the key
into the ignition.

Soames was battering his fist against the glass of Darby's window and she braced herself for the sound of it breaking. His face
was contorted with rage and Darby prayed that the truck would
move before Soames shattered her window.

There was a tinkling of glass and Soames' meaty hand thrust
through the jagged pieces toward Darby's head. She yanked the
top off the small cylinder and pressed the top of it. There was a
blast and then a yowl of pain. Soames fell back, his now bleeding
hand clutching his eyes.

A moment later, the engine roared to life,

"Gun it!" Darby yelled.

Tina stepped hard on the gas and the truck lurched forward,
thrusting Soames backward against the pavement. The tires
squealed as she sped out of the parking lot and down the road. The two women rode in stunned silence, breathing heavily, putting
distance between them and Soames. Finally, Tina found her voice.

"Holy shit. That was close."

Darby nodded. She could not get the picture of Soames' hands
around Tina's throat out of her mind. "How's your neck?"

Tina rubbed it gingerly. "Sore. That bastard."

"You're not kidding."

"Did you hear what he said? Mark Trimble paid him to present
the deed."

No!

"That's what he claims. Mark paid the money, but Phipps was
the one behind it. When Soames tried to blackmail him for more
money, he just laughed."

"Who laughed? Phipps?"

"Apparently. When I asked him if he killed Phipps because he
wanted more money, he said no. He said, `I could have, but I didn't
want to'."

"Yeah, right. Just like he wasn't going to hurt you. Tell that to
your neck."

Tina gave a rueful smile. "I asked him who killed Phipps and
he acted like he knew."

"He knows all right: it was him." Darby turned to her friend.
"Mark knew from the beginning that the sale to Peyton wasn't
going to happen. He lied to me."

Tina nodded. "I can't believe it! With as much money as he's
got, what's he going and getting greedy for? Sounds to me like
Phipps came along, offered more money, and that was the end of
the whole wedding idea." Her face darkened. "Although I never did like that Peyton Mayerson, and there's something fishy about her
boyfriend."

Darby heard the rumble of a train in the background and
guessed that she and Tina were driving past a seldom-used freight
line. The noise only added to the confusion in her brain. She had
never felt so mentally or physically exhausted.

"Tina, there's something I haven't considered. What if Mark
knew what happened to Lucy way back when? What if Phipps
told him about the rape on one of his trips up here this month?
Bragged about it over drinks or something?" She paused. "He
might have even confessed to Mark in remorse."

Tina's face grew ashen. "What are you saying? That Mark could
have killed Phipps as payback for what he did to Lucy all those
years ago?"

"You said it yourself: Mark would do anything to help his sister.
What if he learned about the deal my aunt concocted with Phipps,
even helped her to put Phipps in the position to buy Fairview, and
then found out about the rape. When he realized he'd made a terrible mistake, he met Phipps at the property and killed him."

Tina shook her head. "Then he would have known Phipps was
already dead when he met you at that planning board meeting.
Did he act like someone who'd butchered his buddy the day before?"

"No. But clearly he's a better actor than we thought."

"Guess you never do know what people are really thinking.
Look at that old Jane for example! Here she is doing this double
deal, and me never knowing. Could Mark have killed that doctor
if he found out what he'd done to his sister, all those years before?
I guess anybody might do anything if they were provoked enough, but my money's on that loser Soames Pemberton." She touched
her throat again and winced.

"You blasted him with my spray, didn't you?"

Darby nodded.

"Good," Tina said grimly. She turned to Darby. "You going to
read Mark the riot act?"

"You bet," vowed Darby. "I'm finding Mark Trimble first thing
tomorrow morning. And this time, he's telling me the truth."