Head Over Heels (24 page)

“Hell, yes—I
know
you, Eddie. It never even occurred to me you might have done it. I haven't had a lot of luck discovering who did, but I found out from Veronica that Crystal had some secret honey she went to Hawaii with last fall. Someone ‘influential' is how Ronnie said she described the guy. Find him and we'll probably have found the killer. For a while there I was pretty sure it was Troy Jacobson, but he's been cleared.”

“Why Troy? Because of those rumors that were going around last fall that he was seeing someone on the side? I never believed that.”

“Holy shit. What is it about this guy that inspires all this fucking loyalty?”

Eddie shrugged. “He's pretty decent. Besides, you'd have to be blind to miss the fact that he's carrying an Olympic-sized torch for his wife.”

“So I've been told.” Coop shrugged aside his rancor. “You have any ideas who it
could
be?”

“Not a one. But at least it's a place to start—that's more than I've had up until now.” He gave Coop a sober look. “I really fucked things up, didn't I? Not the least of which was telling Lizzy I'd be back for her. I never should have made a promise I had no idea if I could keep. She deserves better.”

“I imagine you were flying blind, and it didn't help that I wasn't around for you when you needed me. I'm sorry about that, Eddie.”

His brother shrugged. “It was my problem. I'm a grown man, and you're not expected to sit by your phone on the off chance your little brother might need to be bailed out of jail.”

“Still. I wish I'd been there for you. Maybe if I'd been around, we could have figured a way out of this mess that didn't entail running. That was your worst mistake, I think—people took it as a sure sign of guilt. What the hell possessed you to do it?”

“I don't know; I just panicked. My lawyer—”

“Neil Peavy,” Coop said.

Eddie gave him a curious look. “You know Neil?”

“‘Know him' might be stretching it a bit, but I've talked to him about your case.”

“Then you must understand why I panicked. When he told me at my bail hearing that things were about as bleak as they could be, but that maybe he could plead me down to a lesser charge, I freaked. All I could think of was that they were going to take me away from Lizzy for
years
. I didn't expect to get bail at all, so when I did, I took it as a sign that I'd better get the hell outta Dod—”

“Wait a minute.” Coop sat forward. “What do you mean, Peavy told you your case was bleak?”

“Just that. He said the evidence was stacked so high against me he could barely see over the top.”

“That can't be right; he told me he didn't know why you'd run because your case was wholly circumstantial and very weak. And the fact they gave you bail seems to support that.” Coop rubbed his fingers over his forehead while he stared across the table at his half-brother. “Are you sure you didn't misunderstand?”

“Hell, no, I didn't misunderstand! He said I'd most likely be sent away for years. That Lizzy would be graduating college by the time I got out again.” Eddie rubbed his own forehead. “Why the hell would he tell us two different stories?”

Coop's hand dropped down to the tabletop. “There is no good reason. Unless he had a vested interest in seeing you take the fall.”

Eddie stared. “Neil…and Crystal?”

“You know the players a helluva lot better than I do. Is it possible?”

“Jesus. I can hardly wrap my mind around the idea. But…sure. Anything's possible.” He sat straighter. “In fact, that would explain how Crystal always seemed to know just how far she could go to squeeze an extra dime out of me.” He pushed his chair back from the table. “That son of a bitch! Wait until I get my hands on him. If I'm going to jail for murder anyway, it might as well be for one I've actually committed.”

Coop reached out to touch Eddie's arm. It was rigid as steel beneath his soft sweater, and the younger man all but shook with fury. “This is no time to fly off the
handle, little brother. You gotta keep your cool and help me think this through.”

Little by little the tension drained out of Eddie, and he resumed his seat. “That Hawaiian trip with Crystal must have left some sort of trail,” he said in a hard voice. “Maybe we can nail his ass by following that.”

“I've got a private detective on it now; it should take him no time at all to find some definitive proof. I'll give him a call.”

He was halfway to the phone when a thought suddenly struck him and he froze. “Oh, shit, Eddie! Veronica!”

His brother twisted around to look at him. “What about her?”

“She has a noon appointment with Peavy to talk about the legality of taking Lizzy out of town.” He checked his watch. “That means she's with him right now.”

There was no reason the knowledge should make cold dread swim in his gut. Logic said she'd be okay—Veronica had no reason to suspect Peavy of any wrongdoing, and the chances of her tumbling to his involvement in her sister's death were nil. Yet Coop's Marine instincts had the short hairs on the back of his neck standing on end, and he grabbed his keys.

He didn't care how safe it ought to be. He didn't want Ronnie within ten miles of that guy.

“I
'
M
SO SORRY TO BE LATE
,” V
ERONICA
SAID BREATHLESSLY
as she followed Neil Peavy into his office. “A tanker truck jackknifed up on Snoqualmie Pass, and traffic was at an absolute standstill. But I should have allowed more time—I know you're giving up your lunch hour for me.” She set her purse on his desk and began pulling off her good wool coat.

“Don't worry about it,” the lawyer said easily. “I eat lunch at my desk half the time, anyway, and I let my girls go out for theirs, so you're not disrupting a thing. Have a seat and catch your breath. Can I get you anything?”

“A glass of water would be great.” She still felt frazzled as she sat down in the mauve upholstered chair that faced the gleaming oak desk. She hated being late for anything.

She looked around for a place to put her coat and purse, and finally piled them in her lap. Then, while Neil went down the hallway to the water cooler, she checked out the office with irrepressible professional interest.

A narrow, fenced rock garden outside the wall of low windows to her right provided privacy and light. And while she saw room for improvement in the office's professional appointments, she shrugged that aside. What interested her more were the personal touches that said something about the owner.

Neil Peavy's personal effects said he was very neat, had a strong interest in the importance of his position in Fossil, and played tennis to win. Two trophies from the Fossil country club stood in a place of honor on the credenza behind the desk, and several photographs shared space with the requisite framed diplomas and awards that graced the walls. Neil was featured in most of them with people whom Veronica assumed to be captains of industry or other prominent notables, since she recognized Troy Jacobson in one and Fossil's mayor in another. She reached out to nudge the small oak frame on the desk around in order to get a peek at what it displayed, only to pull back as the lawyer came back into the room.

He handed her a cup, and Veronica sat back in her chair and sipped her water as he rounded the desk and took his seat. He waited politely for her to swallow, then smiled. “What can I do for you?”

She lowered the cup and gave a rueful shrug. “I don't actually know if you can help me. But I figured that since you're Eddie Chapman's lawyer and you
know the history between him and Crystal, you'd at least be the person to ask.” When Peavy regarded her with attentive interest, she explained, “I'm moving back to Seattle at the end of the week and plan on taking their daughter Elizabeth with me. So I need to know about the legality of simply packing her up and taking her out of town. Also, I know Eddie paid child support, which of course Lizzy hasn't received since he skipped bail. I'd like to know if his estate, or whatever you'd call it, can reinstate that. I can afford to take care of her without it, but it would be nice if the money she's due could be put in a trust fund for college or something.”

Neil reached for a navy folder. “I reviewed Eddie's file when Margaret told me you'd made an appointment.” He set the folder on the pristine desk before him, but didn't open it. Instead, he rested his fingertips on its cover, regarded the file's clearly marked name tab for a moment, then looked up at her. “Your questions touch on two separate areas of the law, so let's take it one step at a time. The short-term answer to your first inquiry is, yes, you may take your niece to Seattle. That's one advantage of a town this size—no Child Protective Services to impose restrictions on your guardianship. Not that CPS would likely stand in your way, since everyone knows you're devoted to the child's welfare. As for the long term…did your sister leave a will?”

Ronnie nearly laughed. The man clearly hadn't known Crystal if he assumed for even one minute she would've taken the time to do anything so responsible. That sort of long-term planning had never been her sister's strong suit. “I'm afraid not.”

“Then my suggestion is that you go see an attorney when you get back to Seattle and have him or her petition the court on your behalf for custody of your niece. As it stands now, you have no legal status, since Ms. Davis died intestate and left no provision for her daughter's care. Gaining guardianship would also address the question of child support. Eddie had a legal agreement with your sister to pay a generous monthly stipend for Elizabeth's support. But he also had the wherewithal to flee to a life of luxury in a country that holds no extradition treaty with the United States, so his assets were frozen when he failed to appear for trial. In order for a portion of those assets to be released for the child's support, you'll need to be appointed her legal guardian. It would be a conflict of interest for me to represent you, but I'd be happy to recommend someone in your area. I know several competent Seattle attorneys.”

“I'd truly appreciate that, Mr. Peavy.”

“Please. Call me Neil.”

“Neil, then. Thank you.” Finished with her water, she started to set the cup on the desk, but its shining surface, looking far too capable of being marred by a water ring, made her hesitate. Securing her purse and coat on her lap with her free hand to keep everything from spilling, she set the cup on the floor. When she straightened she saw the lawyer observing her with a look that, for just an instant, made her feel like a classless bimbo.

But she must have imagined the hint of scorn, for he simply gave her a mellow smile and said, “Not a problem. I'll just write down a couple of names here, along with their respective phone numbers.”

“I probably should've done something about this already,” she admitted. “But everything has happened so fast that I've simply taken it one day at a time. I can see the wisdom in establishing a legal claim, though, so please don't undervalue the importance of your advice. You've shown me my goal, and given me a starting place to reach it. For that alone, both Lizzy and I thank you.”

“Then you're both very welcome.” He finished writing down the promised information on the back of a business card and leaned forward to pass it to her.

Veronica set her bag on the desk to keep it from dumping onto the floor and reached for the proffered card. As she leaned forward to accept it, however, her coat started to slip. Her quick attempt to anchor it sent Neal farther across the desk as if to lend her a hand. His elbow caught a corner of the oak photo frame, sending it skittering toward the edge of the desk. Veronica made a grab for it, but all that accomplished was to knock her purse into her lap and her coat to the floor.

She laughed at her own clumsiness as her hand closed over the frame. “Well, that'll teach me to use more care folding my coat,” she said as she looked down at the photograph in the frame. “The slippery stuff's supposed to go on the
inside
.” Then shock froze the laughter in her throat.

Rather than the photo of a loved one she'd expected to see, it was a disturbingly familiar snapshot of a coconut grove and a beautiful coral-pink building of soaring arches and minaret-topped turrets…with a small brown and white dog lifting its leg against one of the trees in the foreground.

Dear God
. It was the exact same photo taken during Crystal's getaway with her “influential” man. Although influential wasn't quite the word Ronnie would use to describe a lawyer who slept with one party in a custody battle while representing the other.

She took a deep breath and held it. She'd have to be a fool not to connect the dots, but her sudden suspicion that she was alone with her sister's killer was unbelievably horrendous. She had to keep her cool until she could get to Coop. It was the only thought she could seem to hang on to.

She had to tell Cooper.

It seemed like a millennium since she'd glanced at the photograph, but in reality only seconds had passed. Carefully replacing it on the desk, she shoved down the awful fear and gave Peavy a strained smile. “You know what they say,” she said with the equanimity perfected dodging drunken hands at the Tonk. “You can take the girl out of the small town, but you just can't take the small town out of the girl.” She shrugged, gathered her coat, and rose to her feet. “I won't take any more of your time.” She slipped into her coat and made a production of checking the floor for lost articles from her purse. When she felt she could meet the lawyer's gaze without giving herself away, she straightened and offered her hand. “You've been very helpful, and I plan to take your advice.”
Just two more minutes and you're out of here,
she told herself as Peavy rounded his desk to accompany her to the door.
All you have to do is keep it together for two minutes more
.

She managed to do precisely that, chatting lightly as they walked down the hall. When they reached the
front door she was sure she was home free. But just as she began to pull it open, Peavy's hand came over her shoulder and pushed the door closed again. Her heart climbing to her throat, she gave him a coolly questioning look over her shoulder. “Is there a problem?”

“Yes,” he said softly. “This really is quite unfortunate, but I'm afraid I can't let you go.”

“I beg your pardon?”

Hands on her shoulders, he turned her to face him, and the easy smile on his face, so at odds with the cold flatness of his eyes, chilled her. “I admire your efforts, and your ability to think on your feet, Ms. Davis, but you don't have a very good poker face. The photo apparently gave me away—I assume that slut Crystal kept a copy for herself?”

“I don't have the foggiest idea what you're talking about,” she said with chilly dignity, “but I do take exception to your language regarding my sister.” She tried to shrug out of his grasp. “Now kindly remove your hands and allow me to leave. Lizzy will be getting home from school soon, and I still have a dozen things—”

The sharp shake he gave her shocked her into silence. “Don't play the innocent with me, missy. I didn't get to be smarter than the average bear by being taken for a fool.”

She blinked. “The average what?”

Ignoring her question, he said dreamily, “I love that picture. It gives me a tingle every time I look at it, remembering what I got away with.” Then he gave her that awful charming smile again. “Let's you and I take a little ride.”

“Let's not.” Getting in a car with this man sounded
like a dangerous plan. Veronica intended to stay right where she was until his office staff returned from lunch. Which, God willing, would be any minute now.

“Are you laboring under the delusion I'm asking you?” he inquired gently. Releasing her, he stepped back. “This is not a request. Get your keys, because we
are
going for a ride.”

She grabbed for the door handle and jerked it open. But as she drew breath to scream, she was yanked back and spun around so fast her head swam. Neil's hands clamped around her throat, cutting off her breath.

“You Davis women have a real knack for making me angry,” he said with that appalling pleasantness, then eased up on the pressure constricting her wind-pipe. But his hands remained in place around her neck, his thumbs an implicit threat as they pressed lightly against the hollow of her throat. “You keep pushing me,” he said mildly, “and I'll squeeze the life out of you where you stand.”

Her heart felt as if it were trying to pound its way out of her chest, but she met his gaze as coolly as she could. “And how will you explain my corpse littering your lobby?”

“No explanation will be necessary.” The chilling affability never left his face as he looked her in the eye. “I'll dump your cold, stiff remains in my closet until I can do something a little more permanent about them after the office closes for the night.”

That chilled her right to the bone, but damned if she'd let him see. She raised her chin. “You'd never get away with it. People know about my appointment with you.”

“‘People' being Coop Blackstock, I presume?” He
laughed in her face. “Big deal. The man's an itinerant
bartender
, for God's sake. Let him ask any question he wants. I'll simply act properly puzzled.” He gave her a look of baffled concern that appeared all too genuine to her horrified eyes and said with warm sincerity, “Ms. Davis is
missing,
you say? I don't understand this—I just saw her this afternoon, and she was fine when she left my office.”

“Why are you doing this?” she whispered. “Why did you kill my sister?”

“Because she was a greedy little bitch who didn't know when to leave well enough alone. We had a mutually satisfying relationship—and since I knew to the penny what Chapman was worth—I even helped her squeeze a few extra dollars out of the man to support her little glitter habit. It should have been enough for her. But she always wanted more, and when Eddie got fed up with paying her extortion and instructed me to file for custody of the child, everything spiraled out of control.”

“So you
killed
her?”

“I didn't set out to, no. But Crystal never knew when to call it a day. She kept demanding I get Eddie off her back, and it wasn't for any sentimental attachment to her little girl, I can tell you. She was afraid if she lost custody, she'd also lose the cash cow Chapman had been up until then.”

Veronica cringed, fearing he was right.

“She refused to listen when I explained I couldn't simply
command
Eddie's compliance,” Neil continued. “She became more and more insistent that I do something, which was annoying enough. But then she went too far.” He looked at Veronica, and for the first time
his fraudulent geniality was nowhere in evidence. “She threatened to expose our affair if I didn't do something.”

Oh, Crystal,
Veronica thought in despair.
Why did you never think things through?