Almost Forever (8 page)

Jerry gave it a moment of thought before answering. “It was all over the papers at the time, but check out Terri Waters. Mark jilted her at the altar. If it wasn't her, it could have easily been her father.”

Justin didn't need to write her name down because she was already on his list. “I did find several stories about that.” He stood and extended his hand in appreciation. “Thank you for your time today. This is an iterative process.” He handed his business card to Jerry. “I will probably need to speak with you again after I make all my initial contacts.”

“Whatever you need, Ranger Archer.” He tucked the card into his shirt pocket before adding slyly, “Of course, it could have been Lori Roberts. She had the most to gain.”

Justin nodded and headed to his vehicle, checking his watch as he walked. He started the SUV and let it idle for a moment to fill in a couple of notes before he pulled out. He already had an appointment with Terri Waters tomorrow and nothing else lined up for today. He hadn't really wanted to hear Winston mention Lori as a suspect. Justin already had her on his list too…at the top, actually. And his belief in her innocence depended on how she reacted to his most recent discovery.

It took him only a few minutes to get to Lori's place. There were several cars in the circular drive out front, probably people who had stayed for dinner or were shopping. Justin had noticed that the one thing the Winston Winery was missing was a gift shop. It had been a good move for Lori to add that feature to Crystal Springs. And Justin knew it took a lot of money to start one up. With the winery doing so poorly, where had she gotten the funds for all the improvements?

Justin hoped his suspicions weren't true.

He found Lori acting as bartender in the restaurant. There were ten tables with guests, most on the patio to take advantage of the sunset over the vineyard. His heart did a little flip as he watched her moving around, pouring drinks and laughing with the customers and staff. She tossed her long golden hair back over her shoulder and flipped a rum bottle in the air like a professional. He was struck by the thought that she was a survivor. Like a mama bear with a cub, she would do anything to protect her baby and to make a life for them. The question was…did that include murder?

Lori saw him and waved. She finished the drinks she was working on, then let the regular bartender, who had just returned from a break, take over.

“Hi,” she greeted Justin. “I was expecting you earlier.”

“Can we go somewhere private?” he asked, cutting right to the point.

“Sure. Let's take a walk out in the vineyard. There's still a crew working in the winery, and this place is too busy.”

He led the way, his strides long and purposeful. She matched him, easily keeping up. Once they were a hundred feet away from the main building, he turned and faced her.

“I found out something today, and I need you to tell me the truth,” he demanded.

She nodded, her eyes wide. “Of course, Justin. What is it?”

“Did you know that Mark cashed in his trust fund a few days before he disappeared?”

If possible, her eyes got even wider. “No, I had no idea. How much was in it?”

“Almost a million dollars.”

Lori gasped. Her knees threatened to buckle beneath her, and she leaned against one of the sturdy cedar line posts that made up the rowlong trellis that supported the grapevines. She had never fainted in her life, but the vineyard was swirling around her, and her head felt like it was going to explode.

Justin looked around and found a five-gallon plastic bucket, which he turned upside down.

Gratefully Lori sank down on it. “A million dollars!”

“Nine hundred eighty-nine thousand seven hundred sixty-three dollars and fifteen cents, to be exact.”

“The whole time we had to cut corners and lay off staff because the winery was going bankrupt, Mark had a friggin' trust fund!” She simply couldn't wrap her mind around it. “He wanted us to fail.” It was a staggering realization. If Mark hadn't already been dead and she could have gotten her hands around his neck at this moment, she would have strangled him. Of course, that was not something she should say out loud in front of the Texas Ranger in charge of the murder investigation.

“Jerry Winston said he and Mark were on the verge of a sale, so I doubt that Mark was willing to sink any of his trust fund into Crystal Springs if he didn't believe he had to,” Justin told her.

“But why would he keep all that a secret from me?”

Justin gave her a “come on, you know the answer to that” look.

“Yeah, I guess he didn't plan on us being part of his life any longer,” she muttered. As if this whole crazy, humiliating escapade weren't bad enough, this new information made her feel really shitty. Her husband, the man she had once loved, had been willing to sell the vineyard—her daughter's inheritance—out from under them while he was running off to God knows where with his flavor of the month, a gigantic rock, and almost a million dollars. Any last bit of pity she had for him disappeared at that moment. It was obvious that he had had absolutely no feelings for her or Mackenzie.

She had been crushed by the cheating, but that paled in comparison to this new betrayal. He didn't care if his own child was homeless. She had no doubt he'd intended to finalize the deal with Winston, then disappear forever.

But someone had changed his plans…drastically.

Fueled by her anger, Lori felt a rush of gratitude to whoever had stopped Mark from succeeding with his selfish plan. The feeling was quickly squelched by the reminder that Mark had been her husband, for worse more than for better, but also the father of her daughter. And it was worth all the heartache and physical abuse to have Mackenzie in her life.

Lori sucked in several deep, steadying breaths. This changed everything. She could move forward with collecting his insurance, which she would use to pay off some of the loans she had taken out to keep the winery running, and then…Her thoughts stopped abruptly as she remembered one little detail standing in the way of her future. She had to find out who killed Mark before they tried to pin it on her.

Even she could see that the circumstantial evidence pointed directly to her. Since they wouldn't be able to nail down the exact day or time, she wouldn't be able to provide an alibi. If she had known about the money and his plans to run off with that waitress or some other woman, then Lori would definitely have a motive. And she had had plenty of opportunities to kill him.

She looked up at Justin, who was watching her closely. He could be her worst enemy, infiltrating her life and pretending to be her friend while he was gathering all kinds of evidence to use against her. Or, if she believed the genuine compassion in his eyes or the warmth in his voice when they were having dinner the other night, he could be her best ally. Maybe she could join forces with him and help him find the killer. Two heads were better than one, right?

It suddenly occurred to her that the money too had disappeared. Or had it? She stood, energized by her new resolve. “What about the money? Was it buried with him?”

“No, there was nothing other than his clothes and the ring. Not even his wallet.”

“Are you sure? How deep did you dig? Could it still be there?”

“They did a pretty thorough search of the site, but I suppose it's possible that it's still there.”

“Can we look?”

He gripped both of her shoulders in his big hands and forced her to face him and look into his eyes. “Are you saying that you knew nothing about the trust fund or the money?”

She shook her head emphatically. “He mentioned a trust fund once, but I had no idea if it even existed or how much it might be. He certainly didn't tell me that he had cashed it out. All I know is that the money has to be out there somewhere…and that would lead us to the killer, wouldn't it?”

He didn't release her. “So tell me, and be absolutely certain about this, because they will check all of your accounts thoroughly, did you make any large deposits or receive any money whose source might be questionable?”

She thought through the last few years carefully, trying to catch anything that might look suspicious. She couldn't think of anything that she couldn't justify. “No, I kept excellent records of every penny that came in or went out.”

“How did you pay for the renovations? How did you manage to bring this place back to life?” he demanded, his expression fierce.

“There was around thirty-five thousand dollars in our joint account when Mark went missing. The only employees I kept were Raúl and Raquel. Between us we did all the work, including converting part of the main building into a restaurant. I had to hire an electrician and a plumber so I could get all the permits I needed to serve food and alcohol other than our wine tastings.”

“That all sounds expensive.”

She lifted her hands, palms up. “I still have the blisters from working in the vineyard and the winery. And I learned how to cut and lay tile on the floors and behind the bar. Raúl does beautiful woodwork. He built all the cabinets and tables from old barrels and reclaimed wood from a barn that a neighbor wanted torn down. He even made the chairs, and Raquel wove the cane seats. And we stocked the gift shop with local handicrafts at first.”

Justin didn't try to hide his relief. “Did you have any income?”

“We had several thousand barrels aging, and we always sell out every harvest. Plus, once we got the gift shop and restaurant up and running, we started making money. When we added the biweekly events and the festival, we began to get regulars. And I fought to get us included in the Fredericksburg Wine Road 290, which pulled in the tourist traffic and gained us more fans. We were able to hire workers for the last four harvests, which is how we increased our output, and we bought grapes from California. Plus, I paid someone to clear out the pasture so we could plant the olive trees.”

Justin still seemed skeptical, and Lori reached out and clenched handfuls of his crisp white shirt.

“I didn't kill Mark. I want to find out who did this as much as you do…more, probably. This is my life, my daughter's life. Please let me help.”

Justin's grip on her shoulders softened, but he didn't let go. For over a minute he stood silently, his expression thoughtful, as he appeared to run through all the facts of the case and the repercussions of whatever action he decided to take. She could practically see the wheels turning inside his mind, but finally he gave her a rueful smile.

“God help me, but I believe you. The only way I can prove it is by finding the real killer.” His hands dropped away, but he kept the connection with his eyes locked to hers. “I can't make you any promises, but in all modesty I'm damn good at my job.”

For the first time in days, perhaps years, Lori felt the burden she'd been carrying slide off her shoulders. She had been all alone, worrying about everything for so long that the relief left her a little giddy. Without really considering her actions, she flung her arms around his neck and gave him a big hug.

His arms hung at his sides for a few seconds, then they wrapped around her, holding her close.

Lori knew she should step away, but it felt so good to be in his arms. She felt safe and protected. Her head fit perfectly on his shoulder, snuggled into the curve of his neck. His skin was warm and smelled like soap and some sort of spicy aftershave. She became aware of her breasts pressed against the solidness of his muscular torso. He shifted, trying to keep her from feeling the bulge of his erection, but her heart leaped as she realized that she was able to turn him on. When her husband had literally run away, Lori's confidence had taken a mortal hit. Working like a laborer in the fields and the restaurant had stripped away her femininity.

Standing in the darkening twilight with this man and knowing that he desired her was like a shot of vitamin B
₁₂
. She pulled back far enough to look into his face and found him staring down at her. There was just enough light to see longing shining in his eyes as his nostrils flared. Why didn't he kiss her? With all her heart she wanted him to crush his lips down on hers in wild passion. She waited, trembling in anticipation, as he leaned closer. She could feel his warm breath on her mouth, and her lips opened…eager…hungry…

Abruptly he straightened. His arms dropped, and he stepped away. They stood about a foot apart, both of them struggling to breathe normally.

“I have an appointment in the morning,” he said, his voice strangely ragged. “I'll stop by in the afternoon, and we can compare notes.”

“Okay. I'll look forward to it,” she managed to say, trying not to let him hear the disappointment that he hadn't kissed her. But then, there was the anticipation of tomorrow.

Together, not touching but only inches apart, they walked toward the pool of light that surrounded the main building, out of the privacy of the grapevines and darkness of the night and back to the real world.

The drive to Terri Waters's house was a series of residential streets twisting into the Hill Country in western Austin. Justin parked his SUV under the triple portico in front of the massive home that sat on a prime piece of land overlooking Lake Austin.

Justin had researched Terri's background and discovered that she was currently living with her parents…again. There was no evidence she had a job or was currently married. However, her father was rich, which might explain her extravagant lifestyle. He had also found references to several marriages and divorces after Mark Roberts broke their engagement ten years ago at their rehearsal dinner, just walking out the night before the wedding. She struck him as the type of woman who did the dumping, so she probably hadn't taken that betrayal well. Beware of a woman scorned. It was definitely a story line he had to pursue.

He pushed the button to the left of the double-entry solid wood and stained-glass doors and could hear the melodic chime of a doorbell echoing through the house.

“May I help you?” the voice in the speaker asked.

“Justin Archer with the Texas Rangers. I have a ten o'clock appointment with Terri Waters.”

A moment passed and then the door opened. A woman about Lori's age appeared in the doorway. Her long legs were covered, but not hidden by a long, flowing, dark, transparent blue skirt. His gaze followed the sinuous path over shapely hips, narrow waist, and overflowing breasts before stopping momentarily on her plump red lips. He continued upward to her eyes, which were deep green. Strawberry-blond hair was artfully arranged to cascade over her right shoulder. His first impression was 50 percent natural and 50 percent surgically enhanced. While she was stunning, Justin had no trouble keeping his inspection analytical.

“Well, hell, a real Texas Ranger,” she purred. “I'm Terri Waters. Come in, please.” She stepped back and held the door wider so he could join her inside.

He looked around at the curving staircase, polished marble floors, and thirty-foot-tall ceilings. It all reeked of money and top-tier decorators. “Your home is beautiful, Ms. Waters,” he said, knowing that was what she expected to hear.

“Well, thank you. I'm a bit between marriages right now. Mom and Dad hide out on Sanibel Island most of the year, so I have this place to myself. Let's go out to the pool.”

Justin followed her through the giant central foyer and down a long hall past several grandly furnished rooms to the open doors at the rear of the house.

“Amazing view of Lake Austin, Ms. Waters,” he commented, this time genuinely impressed.

“Terri, please. Iced tea okay?”

“Thank you, but you don't have to.”

“It's no trouble.” She turned and spoke to a servant who had silently followed them out to the pool area. “Iced tea, Milly, and some of your cookies, please.”

“Cookies too? Wow.” He smiled and noticed that she relaxed a little.

“I like my guests to be comfortable.” She gave him a bold look and settled gracefully on a chair, strategically allowing the skirt to split, exposing her tanned legs. “Please sit down. I don't get much company during the week.”

Justin looked around the back of the house, absorbing all the details of the scene, then sat next to the patio table. “Did you live here when you and Mr. Roberts were dating?”

Terri gave a throaty laugh before answering. “Get right into it…I like that. And yes, I did. I had just graduated from college and was living back with my parents while I looked for a job…or in this case a husband.” She gave Justin a sexy wink.

“Here you go, Miss Waters,” Milly said as she set a tray holding the iced-tea service and cookies on the large cast-iron table.

“Thanks, Milly. Look, I'm in good hands with a gen-u-wine Texas Ranger, so you can take the rest of the day off.”

“Are you sure, Miss Waters?”

“I'm sure.”

Milly did a little half curtsy and walked briskly back into the house.

“She lives in the guest wing over the garage and has a boyfriend. She tells me it's getting serious.” Terri smiled as she added lemon and artificial sweetener to her iced tea.

“If she gets married, do you lose her or gain another resident?”

“Who knows? That'll be my parents' decision. They don't let me hire and fire. I don't think they trust my judgment anymore.” The admission didn't seem to bother her much. “I just live here between failures.”

“Mark?”

“Him and a couple others.” She snorted.

“I read the newspaper articles about him running out on your wedding. It must have been quite a shock.”

She exhaled heavily through her overly plumped lips. “It was…awful. Then there were all the people I thought were my friends, and all the guys who hoped to catch me on the rebound and latch onto Daddy's fortune.” She took a drink, and Justin could see that while her tone was light, Mark's rejection had left a deep wound. “I decided to fuck it and enjoy life.”

“But you were able to put it behind you enough to finally get married,” Justin prompted.

Terri slid him a flirty look. “Twice. I'm still looking for the real Mr. Right.”

Justin didn't pretend to miss the suggestiveness of the comment, but he chose to ignore it. Rangers got hit on a lot. He wasn't quite sure if it was the badge, the uniform, or the image of power and authority that was so attractive to women. So far he'd been able to resist without a second thought. He'd never met a woman worth losing his job over.

An image of Lori popped involuntarily into his mind, and he quickly pushed it aside. A little shaken that she had breached his thoughts while he was at work, he pushed on with the interview. He picked up a cookie and took a bite before continuing. “What did your parents think of Mark?”

“They weren't crazy about him. But he had a vineyard and came from a nice family.” She sighed. “They weren't all that upset that he broke it off, but it made my daddy madder than hell to be out all that money for the wedding. They don't give refunds on unused wedding cakes, you know.”

It appeared Mark's modus operandi was to cut and run when things got serious or tedious. If Lori knew his history, then she shouldn't have been surprised.

“They've never let me forget what a big mistake I made. What's that saying about if you don't learn from the bad relationships, you're doomed to repeat them? I guess I still haven't learned.”

Justin didn't bother to correct her on the misstated quote. Her version clearly had deep meaning to her. “Maybe it will be different now that Mark has passed,” Justin suggested, watching her intently.

“Passed? He's dead?”

After Justin confirmed it with a nod, her face brightened.

“Rotten bastard deserved it. Who killed him?”

That was an odd question, considering she had just heard the bad news and hadn't been told how he had died. “Why do you think he was killed?”

“Because with an asshole like him, it was just a matter of time. I even thought about it myself, but I could never go through with it.”

“If he was killed, who do you think might have done it?”

She shrugged. “Hell if I know. I'm sure there's a long list of people who wanted him dead. Did you ever meet him?”

“No, I was brought in to investigate his death.”

“Well, to know him was to hate him.”

“Doesn't sound like you're too upset at the loss,” he commented.

Terri laughed and picked up a cookie. “Would you be if he'd treated you like shit?”

Justin thought for a moment. “Probably not. Actually, I was wondering if you ever found out why he broke it off so abruptly.”

She looked out at Lake Austin and then back at him, her eyes clouded with the hurt of rejection. “I tried to find out. He hooked up with that Lori girl pretty quickly. I guess things didn't work out so well for her either.”

“Was she the reason he broke it off with you?”

“You know, marriage is like playing roulette, Justin. You never know where the ball will drop or who'll get a royal flush. I finally decided that Lori happened to be in the right slot when Mark's ball dropped. But I honestly don't know if he knew her before or after the breakup.”

He didn't question her mixed-up analogy. Did she not know you didn't get a royal flush in roulette?

“So how is the merry widow? Have you talked to her yet?”

“I did, and she's, well, pretty accepting.”

“Did she tell you he was leaving her?”

Justin tried not to act surprised. He hadn't thought that was general knowledge. “Mark was leaving Lori?” he asked coolly.

“No one said anything? Lori didn't tell you?”

Justin didn't want to question from a point of weakness. “What did you hear?”

There was a gleeful lilt to her voice as she asked, “Have you ever heard of grape groupies?”

“Young women?” he guessed.

“Let's just say the grapes weren't ripe enough to pick. Fuck, Justin, Mark had wines that were older than these girls.”

“So?”

“No one told you about Mark?”

“That's why I'm here. Tell me what?”

“He was a player, big-time. I caught him more than once with a girl in the tasting room, and there was no bottle in sight.”

“While you were engaged?”

“No. Of course, he promised to change before I agreed to marry him.” Her laugh was mirthless. “I was young and stupid, and he was charming and rich…or so I thought.”

“And you assume he also did this when he was married to Lori?”

“Leopards don't change their stripes, do they? But I guess you'll have to ask her. I've moved on…to Randy and Cliff and…” She gave him a sexy sideways glance.

Justin stood up. He couldn't take any more of her crazy scrambled clichés. “Thank you for your time, Ms. Waters. Here's my card if you think of anything else.” He set it in front of her on the table.

She picked it up and checked it out. “Is this your personal cellphone? I'll text you if anything occurs to me. Maybe we can meet for dinner and talk about it.” She tucked the card in her cleavage, where it had no chance of falling through. “I'll walk you out.”

She led the way back through the house. Before she opened the door, she turned to Justin. “Honestly, I was surprised that Mark hadn't walked out on Lori a long time before his disappearance. I guess she was nice enough to look at, but my God, she was a waitress! There's just no accounting for taste.”

He recognized her condemnation as frustration that no amount of plastic surgery or daddy's cash could buy her love. She opened the door, and he put his hat on and touched the brim as he said, “Have a nice day, ma'am.”

“It could be better,” she called after him hopefully.

He jotted down some notes on his legal pad after he was belted into his SUV. Ms. Terri Waters was definitely still holding a grudge, but she didn't strike him as a killer, especially since she would have been more likely to kill Lori than to kill Mark. Justin got the impression she had never gotten over the jerk.

But there was still her father's name on his suspect list. He had the motive and probably the means, whether by his own hands or as work for hire. Justin smiled. He could use a vacation to Florida. What were the odds he could get approval for that?

He grabbed some fast food and headed toward Crystal Springs. After gobbling down his burger, he punched in Lori's number and put the call on speaker.

“Hello.” Her voice was almost drowned out by a loud rumble in the background.

“Lori? Justin Archer. Is this a bad time?”

“No, no, this is fine,” she shouted. “Hold on a second.” Abruptly the rumble stopped. “Sorry. I'm out cutting the weeds in the olive grove.”

“I thought you had help for that.”

“Everyone's busy with the crushing. We're going to harvest the olives in a couple of weeks, and it's better if the grass is short. Plus, it discourages the snakes.”

“I bet.” Justin had his share of run-ins with snakes during the course of his job, and they rarely lived to tell the tale. “Do you have a minute?”

“Sure. What's up? Did you talk to Terri?”

“I'll tell you all about it later. Are you still available this afternoon?”

“I'm counting on it. I'm going to head to the house and take a quick shower. You can meet me there.”

Oh, great! That conjured up some unwelcome but very stimulating images. “I'll be there in forty-five.”