All About the Money (A Jesse Watson Mystery Series Book 7) (13 page)

The order. Not in so many words—but the meaning was there.
Mom wanted me to get my act together and do the right thing. Show up with an
open mind. Whether I liked it or not. So… I would do what she asked. I would
visit
Savannah
and then pick her bones clean.

“All right, Mom. We’ll stop by when we get a chance.” I said
goodbye and ended the call.

“You want to get some breakfast?” Billy asked, giving his
parking stub to the girl in the booth at the parking garage.

“I guess we better stop somewhere. Who knows what’s going to
happen today and how long it’ll be before I get a chance to eat again. Aren’t
you hungry?”

“I had breakfast early this morning. This will be lunch for
me.”

“At
ten
o’clock
?”

“I’ve been up since
5:30
.
You know me. I only need about two hours of sleep to make it through the day.”

“I have to have at least three,” I joked.

We stopped at Robert’s restaurant, Rising Sun, for a quick
bite to eat. The place was crowded for a weekday, but being family, we had a
reserved table. Billy’s brother, Robert, wasn’t at the restaurant, so after our
meal, we didn’t hang around.

During breakfast we decided to go ahead and visit
Savannah
—get it over with—and then plan our
day accordingly. There wasn’t much on the list of things to do, so far, but the
day had just started.

Flo’s case had been concluded. She was no longer in danger
and probably never was. Donald was trying to get rid of any evidence of the
hotel receipt by burning down her office, but that was all. He wasn’t out to
kill her. Wynona tried to throw us off the trail by playing road games with us,
but she was now in jail. Fortunately, Donald Rhodes was going to recover from
being shot by his loony wife. The only pressing problem left to deal with was
Savannah
’s ordeal.

“I want to stop at the dealership to have one last look at my
truck,” Billy said, pulling out onto Rt. 29. “I guess I need to go ahead and
buy a new one.”

“Hey, I kind of like the idea of us having to share the
ride.”

“You won’t if we both have different places to go at the same
time and need two cars. We can’t use Helene’s car, because she needs it for the
kids.”

“What about the Mercury at the office?”

We both looked at each other and laughed. Billy’s Mercury was
strictly for surveillance. Neither one of us wanted to be seen around town
driving a twenty year old heap. Oh, it was a dependable automobile in excellent
shape, but…

We spent two hours at Redman Auto, the car dealership now
owned and operated by Billy’s nephew, Greg, since the death of his father. We
bought all our cars from there because we knew we could count on being treated
right by a family member. We would get a fair deal.

Billy chose a new, black Dodge Ram pickup truck right off the
lot. It had everything he wanted, except the spy gadgets he would install
himself. He went with black like my 4Runner because he said people wouldn’t
notice it as much as they would if it were a car of color. I liked the red one,
but he said it would stand out. I laughed when he mentioned Mom’s startling,
bright canary yellow 4Runner.

“You see that car around town, and you can bet it’s your
mother,” he said. “Hers is the only yellow one I’ve seen.”

Greg told Billy that once the paperwork was finished on his
totaled pickup truck, he could buy it back at a really cheap price. I’d never
heard of such a thing, but it must be possible, or Greg would not have
suggested it.

“I can have it towed to your house when we deliver your new
truck. Store it in the garage and work on it when you have time. I can get the
parts for you at a real discount. It’s a shame to send a truck like this to the
junkyard.”

Billy agreed. The deal was sealed. We left Redman’s and
headed out to see
Savannah
.

“I thought you were going to drive the new truck off the lot.
I mean, you paid cash for it. Why not take it with you?”

“We have things to do. Besides, Greg will have it detailed,
and then deliver it.”

“Remind me one day to have a look at our finances. Since when
can we afford to pay cash for a new car?”

“I’ve always paid cash for everything. I have a Visa card for
emergencies, but normally, I don’t use credit cards. For one thing, credit
cards can be traced.”

“How much money do we have? I want to know if it would be
worth it to me to have you bumped off.” I chuckled, and then turned serious.
“Actually, we rarely discuss money. Maybe we should. What if something happens
to you? Where would I find all the loot? That new truck wasn’t paid for with
our kids’ college money, was it?”

“No way. Nobody touches that money. Not even me.”

“You mean we do have money set aside for our kids to go to
college? Since when? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Why are you interested in money now? You’ve never been
before.”

“For one thing, I’ve never been able to pay cash for anything
other than groceries, gas and rent. It’s a little strange not to have to worry
about my next paycheck.” I smiled when I asked, “Are we rich?”

Billy laughed a hearty laugh and replied, “No, `ge ya. We’re
not rich, but we do fairly well. We make good money, but we don’t spend a lot.”

“Oh, like the eight-hundred dollar evening gown and the
three-hundred dollar heels you bought me at Bella’s Boutique? That wasn’t much?”

“Don’t forget the clutch purse.”

I slapped my forehead and said, “How could I forget the
purse?”

I tried to concentrate on other stuff instead of thinking
about
Savannah
, but it was hard. Her lies had piled
up, until sorting out what was the truth and what wasn’t, had become quite
difficult. If she’d only tell me the whole story, it’d be much easier for me to
be on her side. Why didn’t she tell me from the start about McCoy and the baby?
I would’ve understood. Besides, McCoy was the one who broke his marriage
vows—not her. Andrea was single. She didn’t have any vows to uphold. Single
woman… rich lawyer… I could see how that would look attractive even if the
lawyer was married. Some women don’t care whether a guy is married or not, and
some guys just can’t keep their pants on. McCoy should’ve known better. I don’t
care how drunk he was. If he had been drugged, it would’ve been different. But
he hadn’t. No, he knew what he was doing. No wonder
Savannah
went nuts. I would’ve, too. I was
beginning to see her side. She had been hurt. No wonder she killed his
mistress. Then I thought about how I would feel if I were in her shoes. If
Billy cheated on me, I’d be devastated. I’d never forgive him.

Lies or no lies, I was beginning to understand how
Savannah
must have felt. She had been hurt
and humiliated by her husband. Women do crazy things when you mess with their
heart. I guess that’s what happened to her. She just couldn’t take it anymore.

It was going to be a beautiful day
.
The skies were clear and the sun was shining brilliantly. I
just hoped it stayed that way after our visit with
Savannah
. I was determined that the truth was
going to come out, one way or the other. And after it did, would I forgive her
for all her lies, or would I understand? The anticipation was causing my
anxiety to kick in. I was about ready to pop. That is—until we pulled up to the
entrance of her driveway. Shock set in when I saw the wrought iron gate
standing open and
Savannah
in the front yard. She was dressed
in a skimpy red bikini, stretched out in a lounge chair and drinking a wine
cooler. Two empty bottles lay next to the chair.

Billy pulled into the driveway and parked the 4Runner. When
we got out and walked over to her, I had all kinds of questions going through
my head… like… what was she doing out in her yard, half-naked, and getting
drunk? What about her reputation? Not to mention that she looked as if she’d
been in a fight—she had a large band-aid on her forehead and several more
covered her hands. At least the unsightly gauze bandages were gone.

“You shouldn’t be out in this heat if you’re going to drink,”
Billy said. “You could fall asleep and get badly sunburned.”

“Who cares?” she asked, getting up from the chaise lounger a
bit wobbly. “My husband surely didn’t. Why else would he have an affair? I’m a
beautiful woman. I know, because men tell me that all the time. But do I have
an affair? No, I don’t. Why? Because I’m married, that’s why. Married people
don’t do that. Right?” 

Intoxicated or not, she was getting too close to Billy for my
liking. She kept bumping into him in a sensual way. I knew that ploy. She was
flirting with my man! I tried not to let it rile me, telling myself that it was
the alcohol making her do that, but for the life of me, I couldn’t let it pass.
Jealousy was taking over. I took a deep breath when she backed off. She started
walking around the yard aimlessly as if she didn’t know where to go to next.
She stumbled a couple of times, but managed to recover her step without
falling. Finally, she walked back over and said something only another drunk
could appreciate. “Nobody cares about me.”

“Of course, they do,” Billy offered, trying to reassure her.
“You have plenty of friends.”

“Jesse hates me, but you’re still my friend, aren’t you
Billy?” She looked over at me and said, “Don’t judge me, Missy, until you’ve
had a chance to walk in my shoes.”

She sounded like my mother. Nobody called me that except Mom.

“You don’t know what it’s like to find out that the only man
you ever truly loved has slept with another woman. It’ll break your heart and
tear you to pieces. How would you like it if some woman crawled into bed with
your man?”

“I wouldn’t like it,” I replied. “But I wouldn’t kill her
over it.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Then enlighten me. Tell me why you killed Andrea.”

“I told you it was self-defense, but you won’t listen. Just
because I didn’t air all my dirty linen doesn’t mean I’m not telling the truth.
People don’t need to know all my business.”

“They do when it comes to proving your innocence. You have to
tell the truth.”

“What do you know about telling the truth? You lie for a
living.”

“That may well be, but not when it comes to something like
this.”

“What’s the difference? Tell me. You seem to have all the
answers.”

“I think we should take this inside,” Billy interjected. “You
don’t really want your neighbors to see you like this, do you,
Savannah
? It wouldn’t look good for your
image.”

“What does it matter? My husband’s dead and my readers are
deserting me. What do I have left? My reputation is already shot. So what if
the neighbors see me drunk. Who are they to pass judgment on me? I’m Savannah
Kelley!”

I walked over and took the wine cooler from her hand. “You’ve
had enough,” I said. “Come on. Let’s go inside. If we don’t, you’re going to
hate yourself in the morning.”

“I already hate myself now,” she replied, but she did as I
suggested. She cried as soon as I put my arm around her shoulder. We walked up
the porch steps together, and then into the house.

The inside of the house was no longer trashed due to the
events of the last few days. There was no upended furniture or broken lamps
lying around. I mentioned this to
Savannah
and she mumbled something about her cleaning woman.

“She sure earned her pay,” I said.

“I’ll make some coffee,” Billy said as
Savannah
and I sat down at the kitchen table.
“You need to sober up. This isn’t like you.”

Savannah
’s
hands shook. “I don’t know what’s going to happen to me now that McCoy is gone.
My world revolved around that man.” She reached over and touched my hand with
hers. “Jesse, I’ve never seen McCoy act that way before. It was as if he was on
drugs. He went ballistic when he saw me with Russell. He accused me of sleeping
with him, and a lot more. He was so vulgar, it was embarrassing. He’s never
talked like that around me. He knows I don’t like it. Poor Russell didn’t know
what to say.”

Billy set a cup of coffee down in front of her, and then
walked over to the other side of the table and sat down. “Don’t worry about
Russell. He’s a lawyer. Don’t think he hasn’t heard spouses bicker.”

“One thing I’ve learned is that men who cheat are accusers,”
I said. “They point a finger at their spouse or girlfriend to cover their
guilt—take the spotlight off themselves.”

“McCoy got down and dirty. He called me horrible names—names
that a man shouldn’t call his wife in front of another man.”

“A man should never degrade his woman in front of anybody,”
Billy added. “Thoughts such as those should be kept private and silent.”

“Well… they weren’t. Finally, Russell told McCoy to shut up,
and it went downhill from there. Their fight was getting bloody, and neither
one would quit, so I called the cops. Someone had to break it up, but I
couldn’t. I’m no match for those guys.”

I sat and listened to
Savannah
talk about what happened last night and couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.
She had it all, but now her world was falling apart.

“It’s time to come clean,
Savannah
,”
I said. “Tell us everything, even the stuff you don’t want to tell anyone. We
can take it. Friends don’t lie to each other.”

Savannah
continued with her story and by the time she had finished, I was at a loss for
words. I was taken aback by her tale of woe. She talked about her inability to
conceive a child and how it had affected their marriage. When she found out
about Andrea, she was heartbroken. She was also jealous. She wanted the baby
for herself and McCoy. She tried to buy the child, but Andrea wouldn’t hear of
it. The money wasn’t good enough. Then the emails started. At first,
Savannah
didn’t respond to them, but then she
lost her patience once they became ugly. Andrea had threatened to take McCoy
away from her. Death threats soon followed. Andrea didn’t just want McCoy, she
wanted
Savannah
dead.
Savannah
prodded her with the invitation to talk about it in person.
She never expected her to go through with her threats, but that all changed the
day Andrea showed up on her doorsteps. They fought and then the real truth came
out before Andrea died. McCoy and Andrea’s one-night-stand had lasted longer
than just one night. If there had been any hope of salvaging the marriage, it
died that day along with Andrea.

“McCoy denied it to the end,”
Savannah
added. “But he was lying. Andrea told me things about him
that I knew to be true. What really saddened me was when she showed me the
necklace he bought for her birthday. It was the same as the one he gave me for
my birthday. He bought her gifts, a house and a new car. It seems he gave her
everything he gave me, except a baby.”

Billy and I looked up at the same time.
Savannah
’s recollection of past events
weren’t exactly the same as some we had heard, but that didn’t matter. People
get confused when they’re upset.

“Perhaps she stretched the truth just to hurt you.”

“She told me about their lovemaking… like I wanted to hear
that. She pointed out every scar, blemish, or quirk that McCoy has… had. You
want to hear something really ironic?”
Savannah
didn’t wait for a response. “When Andrea’s mother found out about her
daughter’s death, the first thing she did was to call McCoy and tell him that
she wanted him to take custody of Kaleb. Jeanette is not well.”

“That is ironic,” I replied. “What did McCoy have to say
about it?”

“Who cares? Once I found out the truth about his relationship
with Andrea, there was no way I was going to help him raise that child. Every
time I looked at Kaleb, I’d be reminded of my husband’s infidelity.”

“He’s just a child,
Savannah
.
What happened is not his fault.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m not that forgiving.”

“That’s so sad. You and McCoy…”   

“Oh… there’s more. Jeannette called me this morning. She
heard about McCoy on the news, and asked me to take Kaleb. Can you imagine
that? My husband and his mistress are dead and that woman thinks I’m going to
raise their child. It’s not going to happen.”

“What’s Jeanette going to do with the boy?” Billy asked. “If
she’s too ill to care for him, someone has to.”

“It’s not going to be me.”

“You’ve always wanted a child,” he continued. “Forget about
McCoy and Andrea. Here’s your chance to have your own baby. Somebody needs to
step up to the plate. Why not you?”

“I’m not going to do it. Sure, I want a baby, but not this
one.”

I could see where this was going. Billy’s the great rescuer
of those in need. I looked at him and shook my head. There was no way I was
going to be dragged into this. The child was not my responsibility. I have my
hands full already with my own children.

Savannah
caught the look I gave Billy and said, “Forget it. If I wanted to see that
child every day, I’d adopt him myself.”

“Kaleb needs a home.”

“She can put him in foster care then.”

“Stop right there!” I said. “Before you make any decisions,
Savannah
, just think about it.”
Savannah
looked naked sitting there in her
bikini. “Why don’t I go get you a shirt to put on? I feel as if I’m talking to
a naked person.”

“It doesn’t bother me, but if you must, go ahead.”

I got up from the table, walked to her bedroom, and started
searching through her clothes in the closet. I picked out a shirt and when I
turned to walk out of the closet, I saw a photograph lying on the floor between
a pair of shoes. Being the nosy person that I am, I picked it up and looked at
it. The snapshot had two very familiar faces in it:
Savannah
and Cole. How about that? I guess
Savannah
hadn’t told us everything. She
surely didn’t tell us about this. I stuck the photo in the side pocket of my
cargo shorts, and walked out of the closet. When I got back to the kitchen, I
handed her the shirt and said, “You didn’t ask us how Cole was doing. Why?
Don’t you care?”

“Sure, I care,” she replied. “Your mom told me he was going
to be fine. I’m so glad to hear it. I was really worried there for awhile. Why
do you ask?”

I pulled the photo from my pocket and held it up for her to
see. “What’s this all about?”

“Where did you find that?”

“In your closet on the floor. You know, you really should get
rid of photographs if you don’t want people to see them.” I tossed the picture
on the table in front of her. “How long have you been having an affair with
Cole?” Before she could answer my question, I came back with, “You’re such a
hypocrite,
Savannah
. You whine and complain about your
no-good, cheating husband, but you’ve been doing the same thing.”

“It’s not what you think, Jesse.”

“Then what is it?”

“That picture was taken months ago… before the cruise. I went
to a cookout with Cole. That’s all there was to it. Nothing happened, I swear.
It wasn’t a date or anything. I ran into him at the IGA while he was picking up
something for a cookout at his mother’s house. I was down, lonely, and needed a
friend. I said something about loving cookouts, so he asked me if I wanted to
go… just as friends… nothing more.”

“If I go back and look through your closet, am I going to
find more skeletons in there?”

“Most likely. Doesn’t everyone have something to hide? Don’t
tell me you’re the perfect person. I’m sure you have secrets of your own.”

“Your relationship with Cole—was that one of your secrets?
How many others do you have that we don’t know about?”