Peril for Your Thoughts (Mind Reader Mystery) (19 page)

“That outsider, Wilma Parks.”

“I pretty much figured out
the who
by the word widow.
It’s
the what
I’m asking about.”

“The what? What are
you
talking about?”

“The news, Ma! You’re the one who called me. Are you ever
going to tell me or just keep torturing me?”

“You’re so touchy. Are you sure you’re over the rabies?”

“Don’t start on that again, or I’m seriously going to lose
it.” I dumped my cup in the sink, my stomach turning sour.

“Hmph! If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you were going
through your change.”

“I’m twenty-nine, Ma, not forty-nine.” I popped a couple of
tums, hoping the lining of my stomach wall hadn’t burned off from all the acid
churning about in there. Then I reached for the bottle to scan the label and make
sure I hadn’t gone over the maximum dosage per time period.

“Then start acting it and give me some grandbabies.”

“Ma! Can we get back to the news please? The widow, her
headache, what happened?”

“Oh, yeah. The news. Now I remember,” she said, and I
slapped my forehead, ready to hang up. “She fell down the stairs of The Bistro.
If she had gone to Aphrodite’s, that never would have happened.” Ma sniffed
sharply.

“Was she hurt?” I asked more calmly as I strove for
patience.

“She hit her head, but the baby is fine, thank goodness. At
least she’s giving her mama a grandbaby.”

“That’s nice,” I said, trying not to groan and quickly changing
the subject. “Did she say what happened?”

“That’s the juicy part of the news. She says someone pushed her.
No one was around her at the time, and she didn’t see who it was, but someone
is out to get her. Poor thing, as if she hasn’t gone through enough.”

Maybe the killer was after her for some reason. Maybe she
knew something about Scott that none of us did. Or maybe she was the killer and
faked her own accident to take suspicion off herself. That was a whole lot of
maybes …

Maybe it was time I started asking some serious questions.

I made my excuses and hung up with my mother, then headed to
the hospital to pay Wilma Parks a visit. Hopefully the detective hadn’t heard
the news yet, and I’d slip in and out before he arrived. The last thing I
needed was to get into more trouble with him. A short while later I picked up
flowers in the gift shop and made my way to her floor. I knocked, and she said to come in without even looking to see who it was, making me wonder if she was
expecting someone. There was a pastry box next to the bed. Obviously Maria had
been there.

“Did you forget something?” Wilma’s gaze made contact with
mine, and she blinked. “How did you know I was in here?”

“Small towns and Greek mamas.” I shrugged.

She smiled slightly. “Enough said.” Her smile faded,
replaced by a wary look as she glanced behind me. “No sidekick today?”

“It’s just me,” I said and handed her the flowers. “These
are for you.”

She slowly took them, sniffed, and then set them on the
table beside her. “Thank you. They’re lovely, though I’m not exactly sure what
prompted them.”

“Putting our differences aside, no one deserves to be pushed
down the stairs, especially someone who is expecting a baby.” I went for
sympathy and compassion, letting on that I believed she had really been pushed.
I was alone so I would have to play good cop bad cop by myself. Maybe if I got
her to let down her guard, she would slip up when I pounced. With Ana and
Johnny ruled out as suspects, that only left Wilma, Bobby, and Maria. I was
running out of time, and frankly, I was getting worried about Jaz.

She relaxed. “It
was
traumatic, I must say. First I lost
Scott, and now I nearly lost the baby. I don’t know what I would have done if
that had happened.” Her words said one thing, but once again, her expression
told a different story. She was hiding something, I was sure of it.

“Well, it didn’t. You were lucky. Just focus on that. And
maybe try to remember what exactly
did
happen.”

“I was pushed, just like I said.”

Her statement sounded rehearsed to me. “And that must have
been so scary,” I replied carefully. “Do you have any idea who would want you
dead?”

“Scott had a lot of enemies,” she stated with an almost
bitter tone. “It could have been anyone.”

“Do you think maybe it could have been someone who was after
you?”

Her sharp gaze focused on me, making her look like anything
but a victim. “What on earth for?”

“Well, you did just come into a lot of money from that big
life insurance policy you took out right before Scott died.”

Her guard came back up, and she stiffened. “I did that
because I had just found out I was pregnant. I wanted protection for myself and
the baby because I knew Scott had lots of enemies. His days were numbered a
long time ago, unfortunately. And while I loved my husband, I wasn’t about to
go down with his sinking ship.”

“Or maybe you sank his ship permanently to cash in on the
life insurance policy since he gambled away all of your money, especially after
he found out your baby wasn’t his. He refused to let you divorce him by threatening
to ruin your reputation. Somehow I doubt love is what you felt for him at the
end.”

“How dare you!”

I jabbed my finger in her direction. “How dare
you
try to pin this on my best friend.”

“How dare you obstruct justice,” said a familiar male voice from
behind me, and I felt something cold and hard clamp around my wrist.

“What are you doing?”

“Something I should have done from the start,” Detective Nik
Stevens said from beside me. “Locking you up for your own good.”

“What?” I gulped, feeling the blood drain from my face.

“Looks like Jaz won’t be the one to find herself back behind
bars these days.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” I said, terrified of what his thoughts
might be.

Wouldn’t dare? How about you, sneaking into my house? Now
there’s a dare I never thought would happen.
“You can’t say you weren’t
warned.”

“And you know what they say about payback,” I stammered, the
familiar frazzle from knowing his thoughts doing all sorts of crazy things to
my insides. “I would have thought you’d learned your lesson from the last
time.”

Oh, there’s some lessons I’d like to teach you, but I’m
not sure you could handle them. And at the moment, I’m not sure I want to teach
you them. But no matter how hard I try, I can’t get that kiss off my mind.
“Care
to add threatening an officer to your list of crimes?” He leaned in until our faces
were about an inch apart and added in a dead serious voice, “You have the right
to remain silent, Ms. Ballas. If I were you, I would.”

“Kalliope Ballas, as I live and breathe,” my mother said a
couple hours later after paying my bail and escorting me out of the police
station by my ear.
I don’t know what I did to deserve this. First, I can’t
have children. Then the gods give me a daughter like her. I don’t know what I
did wrong, but I obviously made someone upstairs very angry.

“Ow, Ma. Stop pulling. That hurts.”
In
more ways than one
, I thought.

“I’ll stop hurting when you stop misbehaving,”
she said sharply.
Honestly, is it too much to ask that she find a
respectable job and stop embarrassing the family? And what’s so wrong with
finding a good Greek man, settling down, and having some babies? I’m not going
to live forever.

“For crying out loud, Ma, I’m a grown woman.
If I make mistakes, they’re my mistakes to make. And not everyone is meant to
get married and have babies.”

“Blasphemy!” She let go, thank God, and faced me in the
parking lot, crossing her polyester-covered arms, her beehive tilting slightly
askew. “You no think you need your mama anymore. I see how it is.” She frowned.
“And I didn’t say anything about getting married and having babies.”

“You didn’t have to,” I said, rubbing my ear. “I can read
you like a book.” I sighed. “Look, I’m not saying I don’t need you anymore, but
I certainly don’t need to be hurt.”

“You need to feel pain so you will come to your senses. Not
getting married and having babies is unnatural. Not to mention designing trashy
clothes and getting arrested is outright scandalous! What are the neighbors
going to think? I’ll never be able to show my face again. My baby girl has a
rap sheet. You put your Nikos in a very awkward position by making him arrest
you, you know. Oh, the horror of it all. Chloe is going to be shamed.” She
fanned her face as though she were about to faint.

“Detective Stevens is not my anything.” I
threw my hands up and began to pace. “I wish you’d all stop trying to make
something more out of our relationship.”

“We’re not the ones making a spectacle of
ourselves. You’re the one kissing the man in public and getting arrested twice.
What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?”

“I say you make me crazy.”

“Well, you’re no saint. I say I’m taking you
straight home. And by home I mean back where you belong, under my roof.”

“Ma, I’m not going—”

“To cause any more trouble. Wonderful.
That’s just what I thought you were going to say.” She glanced behind me and
then looked at her watch. “Oh, would you look at the time. We’ll finish this conversation
later. Something just came up. And look, there’s Jaz. I’m sure she’ll give you
a lift to your car.” She pushed me uncharacteristically toward Jaz’s car, which
had just pulled up to the curb, not even questioning why Jaz was conveniently
there. “Gotta go.” She whirled around and bustled away quickly. I stood there
scratching my head and realizing this must be how she felt every time I cut her
off. But my mother
never
cut me off. What on earth was going on?

A movement caught my eye, and I noticed a
tall, muscular, caramel-skinned bald man in his thirties heading in the same
direction as my mother, who was far away from me by now. If I didn’t know
better, I’d swear he was following her. Was he who she had been looking at
over my shoulder? Did she know him? If so, then why was she avoiding him? He
looked familiar. I was pretty sure I had seen him around recently. Maybe it had
something to do with the family restaurant, and she didn’t want to deal with it
right now. I hoped she wasn’t in any trouble and made a mental note to ask her
about it later. But right now I had more important things to worry about, like
escaping before Nik realized Boomer had let me out.

I looked at Jaz and sighed in relief. My
getaway driver. The window rolled down. “Get in,” said Jaz. “Girl, you get into
more trouble than I do.” She shook her head and then laughed. “I love it!”

“Well, I don’t,” I said as I slid inside and
slammed the door.

“Thelma and Louise, baby.” The tires
screeched as we roared away from the curb.

“If you remember right, that didn’t end too
well for either of them.” I held onto the bar above my head for dear life.

“Technicalities.” She giggled. “Besides, I’m
a better driver.”

I mentally pleaded the fifth on that one. “How did you know
I was here?”

“You’re mother’s not the only one who has eyes and ears
everywhere. Which way?”

“The train station,” I replied with
something I could safely answer, adding, “A little birdie sang while I was in
the cage and told me Bobby Parks was on the lam.”

“Interesting.” Jaz turned serious, and I
could see her sleuth wheels spinning in her brain. “And why would someone need
to be on the lam unless they did something wrong?”

“My thoughts exactly. I think we just found
out who pushed Wilma down the stairs. The question is, why?”

My source had been right. Bobby was indeed
at the train station. Gary Bolin was a regular at Flannigan’s pub every evening
and had spent last night in a cell to sober up. By the time Nik had locked me
up, Gary was rambling on and on about how it wasn’t his fault he’d gotten into
the fight. That Bobby had been mad as hell and looking to give someone a good
beating. Gary was just glad that Bobby was leaving on a train to anywhere
today. The second I’d heard that, I’d known what I had to do.

Call my mother.

I’d wanted her to drop me off at my car at the hospital, but
Ma had a mind of her own. Things couldn’t have worked out better as my mother
had gotten distracted and my getaway girl had shown up in the nick of time,
which was even better because now I had backup. The universe was finally
cooperating. So long as Detective Stickler-for-the-Rules didn’t show up, we
might just have a chance at making some headway in this case.

He made me so angry. He kept insisting I back off and let
Boomer and him do their jobs. It wasn’t my fault they weren’t doing their jobs
very well. I was Jaz’s best friend. Who better than me to defend her from this
insane murder wrap? It only made me more determined than ever to beat Detective
Dreamy to the last clue and save the day. Then maybe I’d finally get the
respect I deserved, and Jaz would get her life back.

Now that we were here, the train station was dead for a
Thursday afternoon. Or rather, late afternoon. The sun was sinking low quickly
this time of year. Jaz, swaying her hips with every step, sauntered over to
Bobby, who sat like a big blonde giant on a bench by his suitcase, while I hid behind
the corner. I clicked on the mini-cassette recorder I always carried in my
purse in case inspiration struck for one of my designs. It would come in
perfect for recording a confession right now. We had worked out a plan on the
rest of the drive over. I’d show the detective once and for all that I could
actually be a help if he’d just let me.

“Wow, you really do look like Darrin. I mean, Scott,” Jaz
said as she sat down beside Bobby.

He tensed, eyeing her warily as though he might bolt at any
second, but I wasn’t worried. Jaz had a way with men. “How’d you find me?” he
asked suspiciously, scooting an inch away.

“I didn’t, silly.” She shrugged, scooting
closer to him in the process. “I’m here to catch a train to anywhere.”

“I thought you weren’t supposed to leave
town.”

“Oh please. Last time I checked neither were
you. I guess we’re both making a run for it.”

“I don’t know about you, but I’m innocent.”

“They tell me that’s what they all say.”

“Won’t your boyfriend be mad at you?”

“Boyfriend?” Her eyebrows disappeared into
her hairline. “Detective Boomer Matheson is
not
my boyfriend. You should
talk. You seem pretty chummy with your brother’s wife.”

“Trust me, she’s not my girlfriend either.”

“Who needs love anyway, right?”

He grunted. “I can’t take it anymore. I
don’t care if they throw the book at me, I’ve got to get the hell out of here
before I go insane.”

And that was my cue. I got down on my hands
and knees, cringing all the way as I thought about what micro-germs were trying
to make their way through my pores at this very moment. Breathing deeply three
times, I tried to block out that image and focus on the task at hand—catching
Bobby’s every word—as I came to a stop directly behind the bench and sank as
low as I could.

“Looks like we have something in common.” Jaz
leaned back and sighed in dramatic fashion, flopping her arm over the bench and
discreetly tapping my head.

Gotta love Jaz, there was no getting anything by her.

“This whole case is ridiculous,” she went on. “I have no
motive for killing Scott, yet I’m still a ‘person of interest’.” She made a set
of air quotes with her fingers. “It’s stupid if you ask me.” She faced him,
curling her legs up beside her on the bench, looking anything but threatening.
“Look, I know Scott was your brother, but he was an idiot. I had no idea he was
married, or I never would have agreed to our date. I wish I had never met the
man.”

Bobby relaxed completely. “Finally someone
who doesn’t think the sun rises and sets with him. Scott has always been a screw-up.
Do you know how many people he has pissed off? He has a lot of enemies. Any one
of them could have come after him. We were raised by my grandfather, and for
years Gramps and I were on the same page and Scott was the outcast. I make one
stupid mistake and suddenly Scott’s the golden boy, and
I’m
on the
outside. Talk about no loyalty.”

“Don’t even get me started on family, and I
know all about being an outcast. It’s not easy being me in a town like this. No
one appreciates my originality, my creativity, my sense of self.” She reached
out and touched his arm. “I can’t help it; I’m very expressive.” His gaze fell
to her hand and then locked on her face. She had his full attention—right where
she wanted him. She threw in a little pout for good measure as she added, “I’ve
had to work hard to make something of myself.”

“Exactly.” Bobby slapped the back of the
bench and I flattened myself like a pancake on the nasty ground a mere
millimeter from getting whacked by his meaty palm. If the powers that be didn’t
throw the book at him, then I would.

“Scott has been handed his life on a silver platter,” Bobby
went on. “First by Gramps when he died and left him all of his money, cutting
me right out of the will. Then second by Wilma when Scott married her for her
daddy’s money because he’d gambled away Gramp’s life’s worth. Of course Scott
used Wilma’s money to pay off the loan sharks, but then gambled himself right
back into trouble. Cheating, drinking, and gambling is his life, yet Wilma
refused to see any of it, except for the one time. I thought she would listen
to me that night.”

“What night?” Jaz asked all breathy-like as
though he were a god. I’d have to congratulate her on her Oscar-worthy
performance if I got out of this horrible predicament in one piece, I thought,
seconds before Bobby dropped the bomb.

“The night I got her pregnant.”

Jaz sucked in a breath. “You’re the father
of Wilma’s baby?”

He laughed harshly. “A lot of good it did
me. Since Scott and I are identical, she thought he’d never find out he wasn’t
the father. She never knew he was sterile. At first I just wanted to pay Scott
back, but to think I fell in love with her. I was the twin who actually wanted
her and would have stayed true to her. Only, she didn’t want me over Scott any
more than my grandfather did.”

“What happened?” Jaz asked, sounding as
though she were weakening and now falling under
his
spell. She was such
a sucker for an underdog.

“Scott refused to give her a divorce,” Bobby
said. “He didn’t even care that he wasn’t the father, because he didn’t love
her. But he
did
love her father’s money and was trying to find a way to
tap into more. He threatened to expose her infidelity if she tried to fight
him, and frankly, he was pleased his child might look like him, and he wouldn’t
be forced to sleep with boring ole her. Basically, my payback failed because he
didn’t give a crap about anything but himself.”

“I am sorry for that.” Jaz squeezed his
hand. If she caved after all of this, I would smack her. She was always the one
doing the dumping and using, not the other way around, because she was
terrified a man would hurt her first like her mother had. Boomer had been the
first man ever to get under her skin. Even though he didn’t look anything like
Bobby, I could tell Jaz was thinking of him. I poked her back through a slot in
the bench. This was
not
the time to go soft on me.

She sat up straight and let go of his hand.
“You were saying?”

“In the end, we both hated him, yet Wilma
still didn’t want me.”