Peggy Dulle - Liza Wilcox 05 - Till Death Do Us Part (10 page)

I laughed and ended the call. The name Tom gave him so long ago had certainly stuck. Justin painted it on the sides of his wheel chair. And he was a great sidekick!

I watched the first two Die Hard movies and then wanted something to eat. My refrigerator was empty, so I grabbed Kenny’s keys and went into his condo. His place was meticulously clean. He bought a dark brown leather couch, leather recliner and heavy iron and granite coffee table and end tables the first week he moved in. I opened up his refrigerator.

“Thank you, Kenny.” There were four containers of Chinese food. I took it all out, grabbed a fork and sat at his high dark cherry dining room table. I loved sitting at it and swinging my feet. I finished the asparagus and beef and several pot stickers. I put the rest back and took the two leftover pot stickers for Shelby. They’re her favorite.

Kenny’s phone rang and I heard his voice.

“Hey, this is Kenny. Hopefully I am hanging out with my best friend and not working. Leave a message and I’ll get back to you unless Stretch and I do something crazy together.”

I smiled. I liked hanging out with him, too, and crazy was what we did best.

“Hello, Kenny,” a woman’s voice said. “You’ve missed your last three appointments. It’s a condition of your release that you see me at least once a month and I haven’t seen you for two months. I had to track you down. When did you move to California? You’re not supposed to leave the state without telling me. If you are going to stay there I need to transfer your case to another therapist in the county you’re in. I miss you. Please call me.”

Kenny was seeing a therapist? What for? And she missed him? What was that about?

I picked up my cell phone and dialed his number.

“Hello, Stretch. Miss me already?”

“I miss you every minute you’re gone, you know that.” I told him.

“Where’s Shelby? I don’t hear her.”

“I’m at your house.”

He laughed. “Are you raiding my refrigerator?”

“Of course. Mine was empty. You finished the last piece of pizza a few days ago.”

“That’s true.”

“Hey, some lady called and left a message on your machine while I was here. It’s a therapist from Nashville.”

“Okay, no problem, I’ll give her a call.”

“When did you start seeing a therapist and why is it a condition of your release?”

“I went a little crazy, tore up my mom’s apartment and crushed all the crap that Earl had given her when my mom died a couple of years ago. Did you know she kept it all?”

“Really?”

“Yes, and then I took several swings at the two cops who came when the neighbors called. Used some of the moves you taught me and brought both of them down. More came. Then I spent a couple of weeks in the loony bin.”

“I’m sorry, Kenny. I wish I could have been there for you.”

“Me too, Stretch. It probably would have saved my insurance a ton of money. Those crazy places are expensive.”

“So you’re what, on probation from a psychiatric facility?”

He laughed. “I guess so. When I was ready to leave, I told them, or rather they told me, I would have to see a therapist once a month for three years. She’s really cute, so I didn’t mind.”

“Is that why she said that she missed you?”

Kenny laughed. “She misses all the exercise she gets with me.”

“Oh, Kenny.”

“Remember I told you it is more fun with a partner.”

I laughed. “I remember and I have to agree.”

“I’ll give Shirley a call when we hang up. Are there any cute therapists in California?”

“I’m sure you can find one,” I told him. “How’s it going with your house?”

“Put it on the market and have cleaned out my office.”

“Does that mean you’ll be coming back to California soon?”

“Should be leaving in a few days.”

“Good.”

“How’s the wedding plans going?”

I told him all the plans I had made and how Savanah had been such a big help.

“She sounds like a bitch, Stretch.”

“No, she’s really nice and helpful. I wouldn’t be able to pull this off in a month without her.”

“Okay, just don’t let this Savanah person railroad you into doing or having anything you don’t want to have or do, okay?”

“Tom told me the same thing just a little while ago,” I told him.

“Well, I agree.”

“Oh, by the way, Tom put your name into his little cop computer.”

“Uh oh, came up with my rap sheet, did he?”

“Yes, but he didn’t say anything about you going crazy.”

“That’s psych stuff and confidential.”

“He thinks you killed Earl.”

“I did,” Kenny said.

Chapter 13

“What?” I asked. My best friend had really killed two people?

“Sure. I went out that night to find him and tell him to stay away from my mom. I found him stinking drunk at that bar. He brought out a knife and stabbed me in my arm with it. I took it away and stabbed back. I knew the cops would look at the last guy I killed in self-defense and think it couldn’t happen twice, so I drove my bike into the ditch and came into the ER.”

“It
was
self-defense.”

“I know that and you know that because you know me, but I bet you won’t be able to convince Tom.”

“Probably not.”

“Hey, you know I’d never ask you to lie for me, so if he asks, you can tell him what I said. I can deal with the consequences although I’m not sure they’d be able to prove anything at this point. Earl was cremated, and his ashes were spread over the garbage dump.”

“Did you do that?”

Kenny laughed. “Karma’s a bitch, remember?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Okay, Stretch. I’ve got to go. I’ve got a lady waiting.”

“You’ve always got a lady waiting.”

“Ever since we did it, I just can’t get enough.”

“I told Tom about that Halloween party.”

Kenny coughed and said, “How did he take it?”

“Okay, and the technique for stopping my panic attacks came in handy when he set me down on the dead woman.”

“What? Back up. What should I ask first? Okay, let’s start with – you are having the panic attacks again?”

Leave it to Kenny to be more worried about me than the dead woman. “Yes, I’ve had a few in the last few years.”

“When you were in danger, when you were pursuing those other cases?”

“Yes and he had no idea how to help me control them until I told them how you’d done it when we thought I might be pregnant.”

“Those were scary days,” Kenny admitted.

“Yes, they were,” I agreed.

“Okay, now tell me about the dead woman.”

I told him all about the two women, in our normal rapid speech. I explained who was killed and how my bracelet had gotten on the woman’s wrist. It only took a minute to relay the entire event.

“So you think you might have accidentally taken it with you in your suitcase?”

“I can’t think of any other possible way it got in Anaheim and on that woman’s wrist.”

“Did the other woman have a piece of jewelry on too?”

“Yeah she had on a necklace.”

“Was the necklace hers?”

“I don’t know. The police report didn’t say anything about it, either way.”

“How’d you get the police reports?” Kenny asked. But before I could answer, he said, “Never mind, it had to be Justin. He’s a damn computer whiz. I remember all the things he got for you on the other cases.”

“Yes, it was him. I have him looking into other women’s deaths to see if there are other unexplained deaths that we might be able to attribute to this same killer.”

“There are always unexplained deaths, especially women’s. They seem to be the target of choice of serial killers.”

“Yeah, but the jewelry angle is unique, so we might be able to find other cases like that.”

“The jewelry is his signature, then the deaths might not all be by stabbing.”

“I hadn’t thought of that, but you could be right. I’ll see what Justin comes up with and then have him expand the search to all deaths, not just those by stabbings.”

“Good idea. Let me know what you find.”

“Okay, I’m headed home.”

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow, Stretch.”

“Good night, Kenny.”

“Love you, Stretch.”

“I love you, too, Kenny.”

I ended the call, locked up Kenny’s house and thought about what I just learned. Kenny killed Earl, was hospitalized for a month and now was supposed to see a therapist once a month and was sleeping with her instead.

When I got home, I gave Shelby her pot stickers and she gobbled them up in one bite. Then I called Justin.

“Hey, Teach.”

“How’s the search going on the dead women?”

“Lousy, I found maybe two more, but nothing you’d expect from a serial killer.”

“When I told Kenny what we were doing, he made a suggestion.”

“What?”

“He said the jewelry was the key and that the method of death or even the type of person might be different in each case.”

“You mean like he killed a man and gave him a watch?” Justin asked.

“Maybe.”

“Okay, I’ll expand the search. I was getting nowhere with the other one, anyway.”

“Okay, happy clicking,” I said as I heard Justin’s keyboard.

“Night, Teach.”

I took a shower, changed into my pajama shorts and T-shirt, and crawled into bed. I set the phone on my nightstand. I would wait for Tom’s call and hope he didn’t ask about Earl.

I feel asleep and was awoken by the phone.

“Hello?” I said and then dropped the phone.

“Liza?” Tom said.

I picked up the phone and said, “Hi, Tom.”

“Did I wake you?”

“I was lying in my bed waiting for your call and I must have fallen asleep.”

“Go back to sleep, Liza. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Okay. I love you.”

“I love you, too, honey, sleep well.”

“Thanks, you too.”

In the morning, I woke up later than I wanted to. It was almost nine o’clock.

I called Savanah.

“Good morning, Liza. Unfortunately, I didn’t get my car, so can you pick me up?”

“Of course. I’ll be there at nine.”

“Great.”

I hung up, took a very quick shower to wake up, changed into a pair of blue capris and a tank top. The weather had been hot this week and the Modesto area would be even warmer.

When I pulled into Savanah’s driveway, she came right out. I hoped I could go to the door and get her. Her office was decorated so nicely, I wondered what her apartment would be like.

She opened the door and said, “Good morning Liza, are you ready to pick a place for your wedding?”

“Yes, I am. So where are we going?”

“One of the places is in Oakdale and the other is in Ceres,” Savanah said as she fasted her seatbelt.

“Tell me about the place Oakdale. Pros and cons,” I asked as I pulled out of the driveway.

“This is the place with the nice garden area for the ceremony and the building for the reception. It’s a nice place but there isn’t much parking. It’s all street parking, so that’s a con.”

“What does the building look like?”

“It’s an old classic red brick building with high ceilings and tall windows.”

“Like a barn?” I asked.

“If your barn has elegant iron chandeliers, decorative lighting and a rustic mirrored bar area.”

“Okay, that sounds nice.”

“There’s also a beautiful fountain in the private garden patio.”

“Okay, that sounds very nice.”

“I think you’ll like it, you’ll just need to compare it to the place in Ceres. Do you want me tell you about it?”

“No, let me see the one in Oakdale first and then the one in Ceres. I’d like to compare them myself.”

“Okay, no problem.”

We were going along just fine until an idiot pulled out from a side street on the other side of the highway, just outside of Oakdale. He misjudged our speed and slammed on his brakes when he knew he wouldn’t be able to get in front of us. I laid on my brakes. He hit the side of my new Jeep, Savanah screamed and I rocketed toward the large ditch on the side of the road.

Chapter 14

I tapped my brakes trying to slow the Jeep down. I didn’t want to slam on them or I’d go sliding further, maybe even spin out and hit a passing vehicle. There was no way I wouldn’t end up in the damn ditch. I got the Jeep slowed down a bit, but we still slid off the road. My body jerked as we slammed into the side of the ditch. I looked at the road. The guy never stopped, he just took off and left us there.

“Fuck a duck,” I said, putting my head on the steering wheel. How would I explain to my insurance agent that I put another car in the ditch? This was the third one and they would definitely cancel my insurance now.

“Are you all right, Liza?” Savanah asked.

“I’m fine, how about you?”

“I’m okay.”

I heard the sirens and didn’t even have to look it up on the CHP app.

A highway patrol car pulled in behind us. A skinny officer, fully loaded with a utility belt that looked heavier than he did, strolled up to the Jeep.

“What happened, ladies?” he asked.

Stupid question, but I didn’t say that. “Some idiot tried to pull out from over there,” I pointed to the side street, “misjudged my speed and his, slammed on his brakes, smashed into us and we slid into the ditch. And then he took off like a bat out of hell.”

“What kind of car?”

“Black sedan coming fast at me. That’s about all I saw.”

“What about you, ma‘am, did you get a license plate or something?”

“I was too busy screaming,” Savanah said.

“You want me to call a tow truck?”

“This Jeep has four-wheel drive, do you think I could just drive out of the ditch?”

“Maybe,” he shrugged.

“I think I’ll give it a try.” I looked over at Savanah. “You game?”

“Give it some gas, Liza.”

I eased on the gas; the tires spun and threw rocks all over the highway patrol car.

The officer waved his hands and screamed, “Stop!”

I pulled my foot from the accelerator. All that effort and the Jeep only moved a few inches.

“Move your car,” I told him.

“No, let me call a tow truck.”

“I’ve got a wedding to plan and I don’t have time to wait for a tow truck. Move your car.”

“Who’s paying for the damage to my patrol car?”

I opened my purse, handed him Tom’s business card and said, “Call him and move your car.”

Tom had said to give out his card anytime I was in trouble or needed his help. I hope this qualified.

The officer read the name on the card and moved his car a hundred or so feet ahead of mine. I eased on the gas again – rocks and dirt went flying but fifty feet later I was out of the ditch.

“Yes!” Savanah yelled and clapped.

I bowed my head at her and got out to see the damage to the Jeep. There was barely a scratch on her. I liked this new car.

The highway patrol officer came over and handed me his cell phone.

“What?”

“Chief Owens would like to talk to you.”

“Hello, Tom,” I said.

“
Now
, you use my card. You couldn’t use it when you were arrested or hurt so bad you could barely move, but you’ll use it now when I have to deal with insurance paperwork to fix this cop’s car.”

“I was in a ditch.”

“Wait a minute. How did you get in the ditch?”

“Some idiot turned into me and drove me off the road.”

“Hand the cop the phone,” Tom growled.

I smiled and handed it back to the officer. He flinched. I could hear Tom yelling from a few feet away.

When I walked back to the Jeep, Savanah was smiling. “I haven’t had this much fun in months. I really like you, Liza, and being around you is a blast.”

“I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself,” I told her.

The cop came over and asked, “Is there anything else you need, Miss Wilcox?”

“No, we’re fine.”

“I’m glad to be of service to you.” And he got back into his car and quickly left.

My phone rang and I picked it up.

“Did you yell at that poor officer?” I asked Tom.

“Idiot. He told me you spun your tires and hit his car with some rocks. He failed to tell me you were in a ditch at the time. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“How’s the Jeep?”

“Surprisingly, it’s fine, too.”

“It was a good choice for you. Why are you in Oakdale?”

“One of the places Savanah and I are looking at today for the wedding is in Oakdale.”

“It’s a nice town. Good people and great rodeo.”

“Did you win when you were here?” I asked.

“Yep, took home the top prize both times.” I didn’t have to see Tom to know he was smiling, clearly proud of his accomplishment.

“That’s my little bull rider,” I cooed at him. Actually, Tom was the PBR Bull Riding Champion two years in a row and made quite a bit of money, too. He had paid cash for his beautiful home in Gainesville and then extensively remodeled it. I had helped by painting every room.

“Have fun looking at places for the wedding. Send me some pictures, so I can feel involved, too.”

I thought about the fact that for a man who said he didn’t care and didn’t have any opinion – he had a lot of them. But I said, “Okay,” and left it at that.

As Savanah and I got back into the Jeep, I said. “It’s a nice day, how about taking off the soft top and enjoying the wind and the weather.”

“I’m game,” Savanah said.

We got out and unsnapped the top, then pulled it back and snapped it back in place. Then we drove into Oakdale. We checked out the wedding place. It was rustic and had a cowboy charm to it that I thought Tom would like. I sent him several
pictures of the inside reception room and the outside small garden area where the ceremony would be.

He responded with, “That place is great. I really like it.”

Next we drove from Oakdale through Riverbank and Modesto. We were on mostly farm roads or city streets with stoplights, so we were able to keep an easy conversation going.

Savanah and I had lots in common. She liked to cruise, so we talked a lot about that. I left out the part about someone trying to kill all my parents’ cruising friends and
me on the one Tom and I went on. Her favorite thing to do was go to High Tea and I really enjoyed that as well.

“I love those little tiny sandwiches and desserts.” Savanah pushed her hair behind her ears.

“Me, too. And how many actual calories could be in something so small?” I did the same with my hair. I needed to put a hat in the jeep to wear or at least have some rubber bands, my hair was flying all over the place.

As if she knew what I was thinking, Savanah dug into her purse and handed me a rubber band. “We better put these on at the next stop light. When we get on the freeway, both of us will be blind from the flying hair.”

I laughed and took the rubber band. At the next light, we both tied our hair back.

We left the city streets and got on the freeway for the last few miles to the wedding place in Ceres. A few times I thought I
spotted that same black sedan, but that would be ridiculous and besides, there were a lot of black sedans on the road.

We got off the freeway, drove down a few roads, then turned into a residential neighborhood.

“The wedding place is in here?” I asked, now that we were off the freeway and conversation was possible.

“Yes, it’s nestled back in those trees.” She pointed to a spot on the left.

We came to a tall white iron gate. Savanah jumped out and pushed the bottom.

“Hello?” a woman’s voice answered.

“This is Ms. Wooding and a client. We have an appointment with Amelia.”

“That’s me, I’ll open the gate. Come on in.”

We drove down a well-maintained road with beautiful flowers on both sides. It was gorgeous. On the left side was a huge grassy area with a large rectangular fountain. To the right was another huge area and a white house.

A short Spanish woman met us by the house. Her face was lit with a smile that went all the way to her eyes.

“Welcome to the Gardens,” she said by way of greeting.

Savanah and I got out and shook the woman’s hand.

“Let me give you a tour,” she said. “You’ll have to use your imagination, can you do that?”

“I’m a kindergarten teacher; I’ve got lots of imagination.”

“That’s great, because I will tell you what it looks like when it’s fully decorated and then I’ll show you pictures. Let’s see how good I do telling you and how well you do imagining it.”

We walked over to the large grassy area with a fountain. “Here is where we put up the round tables with chairs, your choice of linens, silverware, glasses, and center pieces. I have both white and black chairs. To the left of the fountain, we set up the buffet tables or it will be the food staging area if you want your guests served. On the right is the head table – it will be rectangular and then in the center is the dance floor. That isn’t any different than you’re going to find anywhere else at an outside wedding, except for maybe the fountain. What makes this unique is that overhead, we will hang twinkling lights and white round paper hanging lights. It is beautiful and lends that under-the-twinkling-stars element to your wedding reception. What time will your wedding be?”

“I was thinking around five?” I suggested.

“Oh, that will be perfect. You’ll be married, have appetizers and your reception meal will be as the sun is setting, and then the reception will be under the twinkling lights.”

I could visualize it and it was gorgeous. There was a touch of elegance here that I didn’t think could be achieved at the place in Oakdale.

“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about the rain in July but if we were concerned about the weather, we can put a white tent over this entire area. We also have an additional area that we set
up for the appetizers after the wedding and before the reception. It is always under a white canopy tent. It’s too close to the houses and your guests don’t want to see my little house or the neighbors’ houses.”

She took us around the front of the house to another grassy area to the left.

“We’ll set up high tables here where people can stand to eat their appetizers and get a drink.”

“Where does the wedding take places?” Savanah asked, echoing my own thoughts.

“It is on the other side of the house. Let me show you. The white arbor is already there but we will decorate it with your flowers, plus chairs on either side for your guests and a white runway for the bride and attendants to walk down.”

The arbor stood in front of several beautiful trees. The whole place made you feel as if you were in a garden. It was magical. I knew my choice. Now I just had to convince Tom. He didn’t quite have the imagination that I did, and the rustic feel of the place in Oakdale would appeal to him more than the garden-like setting here.

Savanah shook hands with the lady and said, “Let me confer with my client in private for a few minutes.”

Before I could speak, Savanah said, “Tom would prefer the other place, but I saw the way your eyes lit up as your imagination went wild on this place. Before you put down the
deposit, think about July in Ceres, it may be hot and with all these plants, there could be bugs.”

“You think the other place is better?” I asked.

“No, just different. This place has all the trappings for a fairy-tale wedding. They even have a man who pulls a white Cinderella-like carriage. After the ceremony and your guests are settled into their seats for the reception, he’ll bring you in.”

“Another plus,” I told her.

“What about the price?”

“It’s reasonable. We can spend less if we go with a buffet rather than serving your guests. Amelia’s family does all the catering, flowers, and cake. Their prices are sensible, as long as you don’t want filet mignon as an entrée.”

“Tom’s only request is that we have enough food. He didn’t care what we ate.”

“Like he didn’t care about the invitations?” Savanah asked.

“Yeah, there is that,” I agreed with her.

“Okay, I think you’ve decided, you think you should call him?” Savanah.

I rolled my eyes and said, “Okay. Why do you have to be so practical?”

“I’ve seen major fights every step of the way in a wedding. Feelings get hurt and bent out of shape quickly. Some people, who didn’t have an opinion, suddenly are dead set against some things. It’s best to try to smooth things along the way.”

“Okay, you know best.”

She patted my arm and said, “I always have. I’ll go and talk to Amelia and get prices and some other information I think we need, especially about the rehearsal. We need to know when it will be. If she’s got a wedding on Friday night, it will be earlier in the week.”

I totally hadn’t thought about the rehearsal. Thank God for Savanah. I went over to a bench in front of the house, and dialed Tom.