Tacked to Death (18 page)

Twenty-Six

Michaela’s stomach churned as she
approached Sterling's brother and his wife. She had no clue what
she would say. "Um, why is it that your family ostracized Sterling
when he was never charged with or convicted of a crime?" No, that
would probably not go over too well. She could not help thinking
though that the Tabers had distanced themselves from Sterling
because of what had happened to Rebecca Woodson.

She decided on the practical, caring
approach. "Um, excuse me, Mr. Taber?"

Sterling's brother turned around. He
had slicked-back silver hair and the same blue eyes that, for
Sterling, had caused most women to melt. Granted, they hadn't done
a damn thing for Michaela, but she appeared to be in the minority.
Mr. Taber was of average height and looked to be physically fit
underneath what was likely a silk Italian suit specially tailored
for him.

Then his wife turned around and
Michaela's blood ran cold.

"Yes?" Sterling's brother
said.

Michaela tried not to stammer as she
made every effort to take her eyes off his wife. She was as
beautiful as the brother was handsome, albeit in a sort of "shiny
and bright" high-society way. Her obscenely large diamond ring
sparkled in the desert sun. But it wasn't the diamond that stunned
Michaela, it was the fact that Mrs. Taber was the star of
Sterling's videos.

"Yes?" Mr. Taber said again. "Can I
help you, miss?"

Michaela reached out her hand, somehow
finding a way to string words together. "I'm so sorry for your
family's loss. I'm sure it was quite a blow."

"Ah, another girlfriend, I suppose," he
replied hesitatingly. He shook her hand lightly, as if she might
break.

"No. No, not at all. I hardly knew
Sterling. I was on his polo team for a few matches and took lessons
where he boarded his horses—"

"Charles, we need to go," the wife
interrupted. She looked Michaela up and down.

"I apologize, miss, but our jet is
waiting. What did you say your name was?" the brother
asked.

Michaela hesitated.

"I know who she is," the wife said
coldly. "I've seen her in the news. She's the woman who murdered
Sterling."

"No. No, I didn't! I would never kill
anyone."

"She's crazy, Charles. I've read the
papers. Let's go now."

Charles Taber studied her, his lips
turning up at the ends. It sent a shiver down Michaela's backside,
as she thought it an evil look. Then he shook her hand again.
"Well. If you did it, thank you very much, and if not, as you say,
I'm sorry for your troubles."

"Charles, we have to go."

"Yes, Carolyn. Good day, and good luck
with your legal woes." The Tabers picked up their pace.

Michaela went after them, all the knots
in her stomach gone and replaced by rage. "Wait a minute, wait just
a minute. I had nothing to do with your brother's death, and
frankly, I find your callousness revolting."

"I knew she was one of his women,"
Charles said to his wife.

"Dammit, I never dated Sterling. I
didn't even like the man, but I didn't kill him and I feel terrible
that he's dead."

"That would make sense since you are
charged with his murder."

Michaela stared at these two insolent
jerks for a second in an attempt to regain her composure. "You know
what, I have to wonder about the two of you. Why are you so
relieved that your brother is dead? I know all about the
controversy last year out in Santa Barbara. And Mrs. Taber, I could
have sworn that I've seen you before? Were you ever in any movies
or any type of film projects?"

Carolyn's face went ashen. "No!
Charles, come on. I told you she was insane! She's a
lunatic."

"Maybe it was those home movies that
Sterling showed to some of us. I think maybe you were on vacation.
I should send you a copy. I'm certain that it was you. I don't
remember your husband in them, but yes…looking at you now, I'm sure
of it."

"We've never been on vacation with
Sterling," Charles Taber replied. He looked at his wife.

"I have no idea what you're talking
about," Carolyn Taber snapped. "They can't lock you up soon enough!
Charles, we have to go."

Carolyn turned and marched away.
Charles gave Michaela a nod and followed his wife, who turned
around when she reached the car and glared at Michaela. The woman
was chock full of secrets that she aimed to expose.

Camden caught up with Michaela, who
stood there stunned, watching the Tabers' town car pull away. "What
was that all about?" she asked.

Michaela shook her head. "Those people
are strange. Really strange, and I have to tell you that Sterling's
sister-in-law has some ugly skeletons in her closet."

"All super rich people have stuff to
hide."

"No. There's something more here. I've
got proof that Sterling and his sister-in-law were having an
affair."

"No! Oh come on."

Michaela nodded. "Oh yeah."

"You've got to take it to the police.
Michaela, you and your snooping are going to get yourself
killed."

Now there was a thought to mull over.
Spend fifty years to life in prison or take the chance that she
might actually figure this all out and save herself. "You're
probably right, I do need to hand the tapes over to the
police."

But the other dilemma with that was
explaining how she came into possession of the tapes in the first
place. If she told the truth it would confirm Juliet's story to the
police about breaking into Sterling's place. And once that was
affirmed…well, it would likely plant further doubt in Peters's mind
and could possibly cause her to wind up in jail on separate
charges. Plus, would evidence that she'd stolen be allowed in a
court of law? Oh jeez, what a mess.

"Yes, you do. Michaela, don't go
delving into their lives. It'll be trouble. Look what they did to
Sterling. They banned him from the family."

Michaela crossed her arms. "They didn't
exactly ban him. They cut his allowance in half. And most of
America wouldn't complain about Sterling's ten grand a month. I'm
not sure what you don't get about the fact that I was arrested for
Sterling's murder. If I don't find out who killed him, Mrs.
Robinson…" Camden frowned. "Then I am screwed. Totally screwed. No
more horse training, no more helping children, no more having
margaritas with you as the sun goes down. Nothing, nada, finito.
Get it?"

"I get it. Okay, let's figure this
thing out. What do we need to do?"

"We need to find out exactly what
happened last summer and how those two are connected. I want to
know why his parents weren't here today, and see if we can find out
who else knew about the affair."

"I'm on it. I've got some friends in
the jet-set circle in Santa Barbara. Maybe I can call around, see
what the gossip is. I need to head over to the shop. Are you going
to the polo lounge?"

"I don't want to, but I think I will."
The polo team had gotten together and planned a celebration of life
after the service. Michaela thought it would be a decent idea to
continue poking around.

* * *

The event looked to have more people at
it than the actual funeral service. The Sorvinos were milling
around, of course. Michaela caught Lucia's eye as she served slices
of gourmet pizzas to guests and Mario poured drinks. Lucia shook
her head at Michaela and rolled her eyes. If there weren't a
hundred people milling around, she'd consider strangling the brat.
Michaela didn't see Pepe but assumed he was in the
kitchen.

Robert and Paige sat at one of the
tables with their food and wine. Michaela was beyond caring much
what they might think of her. She wanted to know about that
invoice, and also how the two of them had made nice with each
other. She walked over and sat down with them. No time to be shy.
"Nice turnout."

"Yes," Paige said.

"It's also good to see that you two
have obviously worked things out."

Robert looked at Paige and then
Michaela.

Paige's eyed widened like a deer caught
in the headlights. "I…told Michaela what was going on between us,"
she said.

"Oh," Robert muttered. He took a sip of
his wine, then set it down as he searched for the right words. "I
needed to blow off steam, that's all, and sometimes I lose my
temper. I didn't think Paige would take it seriously. I sure didn't
think she'd tell anyone."

"I was upset, honey—"

"Anyway, it is nice that you are
working it out," Michaela interrupted. So, Paige had not told
Robert that she'd been discussing the state of their marriage with
anyone. "I can understand why you would have been upset,
Robert."

Paige eyed her.

"I think that I would have been upset,
too, if my spouse was secretly giving money to a man I thought
responsible in some way for my own son's death."

"Michaela!" Paige exclaimed.

Michaela felt bad about saying it. It
certainly wasn't her finest moment, but these two had been acting
strange and, dammit, she needed to get to the truth
here.

Robert sighed. "No, it's fine. I never
talk about Justin. Ever. And today, burying Sterling, it has
stirred up memories. I understand why my wife did what she did. At
first when she told me, I struggled with it. But knowing Paige, she
didn't do it out of maliciousness. She wanted to help Sterling and
he'd been a link to Justin."

Michaela nodded, encouraging him to
continue. God, she really did not enjoy taking Robert on a walk
down memory lane. It had to be painful, but maybe through that pain
the truth would be revealed.

"What Paige didn't understand was that
I had seen the manipulative side of Sterling and, yes, I did blame
him in part for Justin's death. But that wasn't Paige's fault, and
I don't want to lose her now either."

"Oh honey." Paige took Robert's
hand.

Michaela actually believed him. His
emotion and sentiment were too real. He did love his wife, but that
didn't mean he hadn't murdered Sterling. "I'm sorry to be so nosy,
but I have to ask you something, Robert."

"Sure. I think you will
anyway."

Michaela smiled. "The day that Sterling
was killed and you went and got my mallet, did you see anyone else
around your office?"

"There were a lot of people all over
the grounds that day."

"I know, but can you think of anyone
who stands out? I know that the mallet was wiped clean before I
used it. If you didn't have your gloves on before you handed it to
me, then your fingerprints would have been on there,
too."

"You're not saying that Robert did
this?" Paige asked.

"No. I'm asking him if he saw anyone
around that might have stood out. That's what I'm
thinking."

Robert swirled his wine around and
frowned. "There was one gal who bumped into me and asked if I knew
where to get a program. I thought it was kind of odd because they'd
been handing them out as people came in. She didn't exactly fit the
profile of somebody who would watch a polo match, if you know what
I mean."

"No. What do you mean?" Michaela
asked.

He shrugged. "She had tattoos and ears
full of earrings, lots of dark makeup. That kind of
thing."

"Purple, kind of magenta or hot
pink–colored hair?" Michaela asked.

"Yes. You know her?"

"Erin Hornersberg."

"Who?"

"No one." She waved her hand
dismissively. "Um, I don't know how to bring this up, so I am just
going to do so. There was an invoice: one to Sterling, on your
desk. I saw it. It was there that day, the day he was murdered. It
had some not-so-nice words scrawled across it and a letter opener
stabbed through it."

"Yes," Robert replied. "What about
it?"

"Did you write 'Screw you' across it,
or did Sterling?"

"I did," Paige replied.

"Why?" Michaela asked. She hadn't
expected that answer.

"Robert and I had just had an argument
about Sterling. He didn't know at that point that I was giving him
any money."

Robert nodded. "I was upset because
Sterling had come into the office and told me that he wasn't able
to pay his bill for another week. He was already late. I felt he
was taking my generosity for granted. I told him that since that
was the case, the event that day would be his last. I didn't know
that I was speaking the literal truth." Robert squeezed Paige's
hand.

"When Robert told me what he'd said to
Sterling, I became upset. In a way, I did see Sterling as a
replacement for Justin, although now I see how crazy that was. I
suppose I've never allowed myself to truly grieve over my son.
Robert and I argued. He left and went to do something with the
horses. I wrote it across the invoice and left."

"I found her at the charity event a
little while later. Remember I told you that I didn't plan to go,
but I changed my mind because I felt bad about our fight and I
wanted to make it up to her. She told me that she was sorry for the
note."