The Michaela Bancroft Mysteries 1-3 (48 page)

BOOK: The Michaela Bancroft Mysteries 1-3
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He took another sip of water. "Benz came to
our room to give us some party favors."

"Drugs."

"Yes. I know, it's very stupid to do, and I
do know better, but Bridgette can be quite persuasive and she was feeling
upset, so I indulged her."

Another point for Smith. He'd been right about
Benz being a supplier. "Why was she upset?"

"Isn't it obvious? She and I have been
fooling around. It's what we were doing at the races, out in one of the stalls,
way on the back forty. Afterward, she left first and came upon Audrey. I ran
when I heard her scream and soon after a crowd formed…Wait a minute, you were there.
That's where I saw you."

She nodded. "So Bridgette was upset that the
two of you might get caught. Don't you think that this will all come out? I'm
sure that I'm not the only one who saw you two at the hotel. You weren't
exactly discreet. And it's possible you were spotted at the races."

He laughed. "I suppose we weren't too
careful. Sometimes that's a part of the thrill. I probably do owe Hugh a phone
call, before the shit really hits the fan."

"Probably so. He's been through a lot. Can I
ask you, why Bridgette? You have lots of women in your life. Why choose
Bridgette Bowen?"

"You've seen her. She's damn gorgeous, and
for the record, I didn't choose her, she got her hooks in me and wouldn't let
go."

"She pursued you?"

"Does that surprise you? Look, I've seen
Bridgette's type around and if you ask me, I did Hugh a favor and in time he'll
see that. Bridgette is one of those women who are opportunists to the nth
degree. She had a wealthy, wonderful husband in Hugh, but when he started
paying more attention to other things, she became angry or sullen like a
spoiled child. Men like us are busy people. To get his attention back, or to
get any attention at all, she looked to another man. These women typically look
to other men who have more money or power than the one they're with. I happened
to be that man."

"Looks are one thing, but aren't you and Hugh
friends?"

"Men like us don't have friends. It's healthy
competition."

Michaela raised a brow. "Healthy, huh?"
She scanned him up and down.

"Not this go-around, I suppose. And, maybe I
deserved it. Little scare to knock some sense into me, I suppose."

"No comment. You mentioned that Hugh had
other interests besides his wife. Do you mean the horses and his
businesses?"

He laughed. "You are such a treat. Is that
naïve streak in you for real? Or do you like to play coy?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "I actually like
to think the best of people. See, in my world, it's not totally common for
people to go around screwing other people's spouses behind their backs."
Okay, so that wasn't completely true. Her own ex-husband had played around on
her, but Callahan did not need to know that. Maybe she
was
naïve. Hell,
she'd rather live in a rose-colored-glasses world than this seedy place she
found herself in currently.

"It's in everyone's world."

She felt her face heat up. "What is this about
Hugh and other interests?"

"Hughie boy had his own love on the side, but
his was a bit more serious than just a fling."

Michaela uncrossed her legs and leaned in.

He nodded and for a second, as he gazed outside
his hospital window, his face took on a faraway look. "I was in love once.
Beautiful emotion."

Okay, there was no time to go down memory lane
with Mr. Pleasures. "Who was he in love with? Who was Hugh seeing?"
Michaela knew the answer, but wanted to confirm it with Callahan. If he said
who she thought he would say, then that meant there were more people who were
aware of Hugh's real feelings. Could Hugh's feelings for Audrey have caused someone
else to murder Audrey other than Bridgette?

"The woman he's always been in love with. The
one he should have married. Audrey."

She still couldn't find any words for a while.
"How do you know this?"

"I think almost everyone knew. Back in the
day when Hugh opened his place in Malibu and we would all hang out, I'd see the
way Audrey would look at Hugh, but he missed the signals. Everyone knew they
should have been together. Everyone but Kathleen…or if she did, she would make
certain it didn't happen for them. Kathleen Bowen gets what she wants, and she
wanted Hugh. And Kathleen was a gorgeous woman, too, back then, before the
bitterness set in. She came on to Hugh like a mare in heat and didn't let go.
Audrey, being as gracious as she could, stepped away. But that love never died
and when Hugh realized the mistake he'd made, he tried to set it right."

"What did he do?"

Callahan started to cough. Michaela stood and gave
him a sip of water. "Thank you. How would you like to be my personal
nurse?" he asked and winked at her.

"You are bad."

"So they say."

"How did Hugh try to make things right?"

"Recently Bridgette came to me in tears. Said
that she'd found a ring."

"A ring?"

"She found it in Hugh's private safe. The
naughty vixen got into the safe. Don't know how she did that. But there are
many things she does that I haven't been able to figure out how." He
smiled.

Michaela wished he'd stop with the innuendos and
memories of his sexual escapades with Bridgette Bowen. It was pretty
disgusting.

"The ring wasn't just any ring. It was a
princess-cut diamond and on the inside of the band it was inscribed
To
Audrey, my forever love.
"

"Oh."

"Oh, ho!"

"An engagement ring?" The ring that Hugh
had mentioned to her. It was all true, then. Hugh and Audrey had been deeply in
love for years.

"It does look that way now, doesn't it?"

Michaela took a minute to absorb what Callahan was
telling her. "Do you think Bridgette would have killed Audrey out of
jealousy, or worry that she wasn't going to get the payday I'm sure she'd expected
from Hugh?"

"No. Bridgette may have a naughty streak, but
she's no killer. A killer in the sack, sure, but no. She may not have had a
prenup, but if Hugh had left her, he would have treated her right. She was dumb
to keep pursuing me, but maybe she saw a bigger payday where I was concerned.
Hell, though, I wouldn't have married her. She is what she is—an expensive
whore, plain and simple. She was playing all the angles. Crapshoot if you ask
me, and the stakes were high. I'm pretty sure Bridge has lost it all by now. If
Hugh doesn't know what was going on yet, he will. Sad thing is Hugh would have
treated her right, though, if she'd just kept her cards a bit closer to her
chest or not even ventured outside the house. Like I've already told you, I'm
never one to turn away a hot piece of ass. But Bridge didn't off Audrey. No, if
anyone killed Audrey out of jealousy it wouldn't have been Bridgette. It would
have been Kathleen."

"What?"

He waved a hand at her. "You bet. The woman
always had this competition thing going with Audrey."

"They were friends."

"Friends! That's a joke. Maybe Audrey
thought
they were friends, but Kathleen espoused the idea of keeping your friends close
but your enemies closer."

"Okay, say that's so, then why bother after
Hugh left Kathleen for Bridgette and not Audrey. Why keep up the charade
then?"

"Control and power."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, that damn Kathleen is a control freak.
She likes to have control over anyone she knows, and she lost it with Hugh.
Look at the way she treats her daughter. The kid doesn't blink an eye without
asking Mama, and I think Audrey was the same way. And Kathleen enjoyed that.
Kathleen plays the beaten mouse, but trust me, there is a monster lurking
inside and if she winds up being arrested for killing Audrey, I won't be a bit
surprised."

"That's horrible."

"Life isn't always nice, sweet thing."

"You're saying then that it's possible
Kathleen killed Audrey because she was jealous that Hugh was always in love
with her."

But if Kathleen murdered Audrey, could there be
other reasons for the savage brutality? Could it have been more about Olivia
than anything else? Maybe Audrey did know about her drug problem and wanted to
help Olivia. Maybe Kathleen didn't want to take the risk of having Hugh
involved, and silenced Audrey before she had a chance to go to him.

He nodded. "There's that fine line between
love and hate. For Kathleen, I think that means something."

"You're filled with all sorts of clichés,
aren't you?"

"I'm an old man. What do you expect?"

"I'm not sure what I expected. But for now, I
think I've had more than I can take."

"Thanks for stopping by. Anytime you want to
come on over to my mansion in Bel-Air, give a ring. We all have a swell time
there."

Michaela didn't even acknowledge the comment and
left the perverted old fart behind.

TWENTY-EIGHT

MICHAELA CALLED THE BOWEN RANCH AND GOT a
recording. She decided to drive over there. Someone should be around.
Hopefully, the trailer would be ready to go; she could load Geyser and meet
Hudson for that quick dinner without any more bizarre turn of events. She
didn't know if she could handle anything else for the day.

It was half past four when she pulled into the
ranch. Climbing out, she heard hooves from the practice track. She noticed a
bay coming around the backside, tail in the air, looking like a fierce machine.
It seemed late in the day to be running.

She stood against the rail watching as the horse
opened up into full stride. What a spectacular animal. Quite an athlete. The
rider knew how to handle him, and Michaela wondered who it was. It didn't
appear to be Josh. She jumped when she heard a voice behind her.
"Hey!"

She turned to see Josh, hands on hips, staring at
her. "Oh, hi. So, it's not you up on the horse."

"No. It's Olivia."

"Oh!" Michaela was a bit shocked by this
revelation. She wondered if Josh was aware that Olivia had been using drugs.

"I know what you're thinking."

"I'm not thinking anything," Michaela
said.

"Really? So, you aren't wondering why she's
riding with the knowledge that her mom would freak out?"

"Okay, maybe."

Josh faced her. "Olivia needs help. I know
it, Audrey knew it, and her mother is in denial about it."

"I don't know what you mean." Maybe he
was aware of the drugs. She was waiting to see if he'd spell it out for her.

He ignored her reply. "My way of helping
Olivia is by seeing that she gets to do what she wants with her life, and
that's riding."

"Okay."

"Okay," he repeated.

What was it with Josh? Why was he acting so pissy
toward her, like he had a bone to pick? Maybe he did that with anyone connected
to Olivia. Not that hers was a huge connection, but the trainer appeared
awfully protective over the young woman, always prepared to come to her
defense. "Hey, can I ask you something?" At this point Michaela had
lost her inhibitions about asking questions. She done it with the slick,
asshole entertainment manager, Smith the asshole—sort of—and Callahan the dirty
old man, so it certainly couldn't hurt to talk to the horse trainer. They at
least had something in common.

"What about?" His tone had a definite
edge to it.

"Bob Pratt. You knew him, right? He came here
to vet last Monday, Hugh said, and that you helped with the horses. What do you
think of him taking off and the police saying he's their prime suspect in his
sister's murder?"

He shrugged. "Not sure what I can tell you. I
don't know Bob all that well. Yeah, I helped him out last week with the horses.
That's not unusual. We might have had an occasional drink in the past. It's the
horse business. You know, birds of a feather and all. He's a good vet. I like
him. He doesn't drink anymore, and I'm not a big drinker so yeah, we'd grab a
Coke once in a blue moon and shoot the shit."

"What do you think about his
disappearance?"

"I don't know what to think. Didn't know him
well; I already told you that."

"Obviously you knew him well enough to grab a
Coke and 'shoot the shit,' as you put it."

"Come on. I'm a guy, so is Bob. We don't do
deep-therapy types of discussions like you women do."

Michaela took a step back to blow off his pissy attitude.
"Did Bob ever talk to you about his sister?"

"Not a lot. I know he thought a lot of her,
but he was busy with his new job at Eq Tech and with his new girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?" She wondered if this was
the same woman that Joe had gotten a bead on.

"I didn't stutter."

"I'm sorry." Michaela decided to placate
the man. Maybe being sweet would get him to open up. She had a feeling that
Josh Torrey was hiding something about Bob, maybe Audrey, too. Or, if he wasn't
hiding anything, the information he might have, which he didn't know he had,
could lead her down a path that could help her figure out who had murdered her
friend and why. "I wasn't aware that Bob had a girlfriend." Michaela
thought it best to hold her cards close. The less that anyone knew she was
putting her nose into places that she probably should not be, the better off
she figured she was. "Audrey and I had a lot of those womanly talks, you
know, about relationships, that sort of thing, and she mentioned Bob quite a
bit. This is the first I've heard anything about him having a girlfriend."
She was getting good at this whitewashing tactic Smith suggested.

"I don't know. I think she was a girlfriend.
I know they worked together at Eq Tech. She was one of the chemists there. At
least I know they hung out. I met her one night when he made a vet call at the
ranch. Pretty lady. Nice, too. Bob seemed into her and vice versa."

"You don't know what to make of him just not
showing up for work, or that no one can find him?"

BOOK: The Michaela Bancroft Mysteries 1-3
7.03Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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