The Path of the Crooked (Hope Street Church Mysteries Book 1) (29 page)

“Ashley?” Cooper tried not to sound too eager. “Do you know what time Vance left the gala?”

“He was still there when Lincoln and I snuck out before the stroke of midnight. I just couldn’t dance in my Marc Jacobs pumps for another second.”

Cooper tuned out as Ashley droned on about which women wore the skimpiest dresses, who ate their neighbor’s portion of lemon cream cake, and which members of Richmond society most likely wrote the biggest checks.

“
I
wouldn’t wear a strapless gown and let my dance partner dip me like that!” Ashley jabbered on. “Now we all know that she
did
go to a plastic surgeon last July.”

A car suddenly appeared in Cooper’s rearview mirror. It was exiting Vance’s driveway. Cooper accidentally loosened her grip on the phone as she recognized Cindi’s old Honda. The phone skittered across the seat, though Ashley’s perky monologue continued unabated.

Nathan scooped the phone off the seat and handed it back to Cooper. “Ashley, I have to go! Talk to you later!” She cut her sister off and turned the car around.

“What’s going on?” Nathan was bewildered. “Isn’t that Cindi’s car?”

“Yes.” Cooper sped up in order to keep an eye on the Honda as it disappeared around the numerous bends in the road. “We have to speak to her, Nathan. If she’s involved with Vance somehow, we need to warn her—tell her of our suspicions.”

“If she is involved with Vance, maybe we shouldn’t trust her either.”

Cooper frowned. “Cindi has two kids, Nathan. She’s probably just looking for a new boyfriend. After all, Vance could easily afford to take care of her kids, and I don’t mean to sound callous here, but Reed’s no good to her as a provider anymore.” She eased off the accelerator as the road took a sharp turn. “If Vance is our bad guy, then there’s no way Cindi knows about it. I doubt she’d deliberately put her kids in harm’s way. Besides, she drives a Honda Civic, and the person who pushed Reed off the bridge drove an SUV, remember?”

“You’re right,” Nathan said after a moment’s pause. “I’ve got to stop searching for the worst in everybody and try to concentrate on what’s motivating them instead. Cindi’s after money, I’m sure of that, and she’s only acting this way to provide a better life for her kids. Even so, she doesn’t know that this sugar daddy has a dark side worse than Darth Vader’s. We need to convince her to get as far away from Vance as she can.”

“Good thing we came here today.”

“Oh, man. McNamara is going to wish he’d locked us up when he had the chance,” Nathan said with a groan, but then his mouth turned upward in a mischievous grin.

18

Cindi drove her Honda like she was running late for an important appointment. Cooper roared up the on-ramp of I-64, doing her best to keep the silver sedan in sight.

“I feel like I’m in tryouts for the NASCAR circuit!” she shouted.

“Just stay within nine miles of the speed limit and we should be okay,” Nathan said. “I’ve heard that’s how to avoid getting a ticket.”

Cooper eyed her speedometer. She was doing seventy-five in a sixty-five-mile-per-hour zone. “Someone should tell Cindi about the nine-mile thing. She’s doing at least eighty.”

The pair watched Cindi switch lanes without signaling as she maneuvered the Honda around slower traffic. Approaching the split for I-95 South and I-195 toward downtown, Cindi positioned herself in the middle lane and hugged the bumper of a FedEx truck.

“I can’t tell which highway she’s going to take.” Cooper stared fixedly through her windshield as the cars in the two right lanes began to slow down. Within seconds, Cindi, Cooper, and the rest of the traffic had eased to a complete stop. Relaxing a bit, Cooper scanned through the AM radio channels until one of the disc jockeys announced that there was a major accident on I-95.

“Nothing new here, folks,” the disc jockey scoffed. “The section of 95 as it cuts through Richmond is the worst scrap of asphalt in the nation, but you all keep voting against the road repair bills, so enjoy sitting there while you inhale the exhaust from all those tractor trailers. Or find yourself an alternate route, because two of the three southbound lanes are closed. And now for the weather.”

“Look!” Nathan pointed at Cindi’s car, which suddenly slid behind a white van traveling in the exit-only lane for the Downtown Expressway. Cooper, who was firmly wedged between two cars in the middle lane, looked over her right shoulder to see if she could also pull into the moving stream of traffic. She knew she should wait for an open space to present itself, but if Cindi’s car disappeared around the bend, they’d lose her. As a log truck began to bear down upon them, Cooper stomped down on the accelerator. The driver of the log truck blared his horn as Cooper’s Jeep shot in front of him.

Nathan had gone a bit pale. “Now that’s aggressive driving,” he said.

As they headed south, Cooper didn’t release her tight grip on the wheel. There was no sign of Cindi.

“I think I’ve lost her,” Cooper moaned.

“We’ll catch her at the toll.” Nathan shook a fistful of change. “Take the exact-change lane.”

The tollbooths lay ahead on a downward slope in the road. After a few seconds of scanning the area, Nathan spied Cindi’s car pulling out on the other side of the tolls.

“There!” He pointed. “Hurry! Dump the money in!”

Frazzled, Cooper threw the change in the metal basket and then almost clipped the gate as it lifted in agonizing slowness. She cut off a minivan in order to follow the Honda as it exited at 7th Street. The minivan driver, a man wearing a baseball hat and sunglasses, rolled down his window, shouted an expletive, and gave Cooper the finger. She gave him a peace sign in return.

“Why did you do that?” Nathan asked.

Cooper shrugged. “I was trying to tell him I deserved that gesture.”

Cindi’s car merged onto East Byrd Street and then continued heading east half a dozen blocks. Just past Virginia Avenue, she pulled into the basement parking lot of one of the newest luxury condominium high-rises that were sprouting up all over the waterfront.

“I wonder who lives here,” Cooper said as Cindi’s car disappeared in the shadows. Not knowing where else to go, Cooper headed for the visitor parking spaces and turned off the engine.

Just then, Nathan shouted, “She’s getting in the elevator!” He pointed toward the dimly lit elevator bay as the brass doors slid closed.

He and Cooper hastened to the elevator, but it was already moving upward. By the time it returned to the parking garage, it was empty except for a beautifully dressed elderly woman. Emerging from the elevator, the woman withdrew a large ring of keys from her purse, and in doing so dislodged a white envelope, which fluttered to the ground. The woman, who didn’t realize that she’d dropped a cash envelope from the bank, nodded politely at Cooper and Nathan, and walked by.

“Ma’am! Something fell out of your bag!” Nathan grabbed the thick envelope and, without so much as glancing at the hundred-dollar bill that protruded from inside, handed it back to her.

She beamed at him. “Oh, my. How careless of me. Thank you ever so much!” She tucked the money envelope back into her bag. “And people say there are no gentlemen left. Pfahh!”

“Thank you.” Nathan issued a soft bow. “May I beg a favor, ma’am?”

“Of course, my dear,” she responded warmly.

“We’re looking for a friend of ours. We were wondering if you were a resident and might know her.”

The woman raised her chin proudly. “As a matter of fact, I’m in charge of the new neighbor welcome baskets, so I know all the residents.”

Nathan smiled. “It’s lucky we ran into you then. Our friend is Cindi Rolfing. Does the name sound familiar?”

The woman’s pleasant smile evaporated instantly, to be replaced by a fierce scowl. “If you’re a friend of that tramp’s then I have nothing further to say to you.”

Nathan stared at the woman in mute bafflement.

“Wait!” Cooper pleaded as the woman turned away. “We’re actually concerned for her children.”

“What children?” The woman’s scowl turned into a sneer. “You mean that pair of brats who run wild all around the grounds completely unsupervised? If they are, in fact, her progeny, then she certainly hasn’t raised them correctly.”

Cooper gaped. What did she mean “if”?

The woman narrowed her eyes. “Why not tell me the truth? You can hardly be friends of Ms. Rolfing’s if you don’t know which floor she lives on.” She waggled a finger at them. “I’d bet my prize orchid that you weren’t even certain she lived here.” Her gaze grew steely. “Come on, out with it or I’ll call security.”

Panicking, Cooper glanced at Nathan, but he was clearly at a loss for words.

“We work for the law firm of Winters and Winters,” Cooper lied. “We represent the wife of one of Ms. Rolfing’s . . .” She floundered, wondering what to call Cindi’s men.

“Paramours?” the older woman guessed, her blue eyes lit with curiosity.

“Yes, ma’am. We’re building a divorce case against her husband.”

“Which one? The tart’s got two boyfriends,” the woman said acidly. “A small man has been there the most, but I’ve seen her with another man as well. I’ve never seen his face, but he’s taller.
Both
men come at night and don’t leave until morning.” She brushed a fleck of dust from her sleeve. “And I should know. I live next door.”

“I guess that explains how she can afford the rent,” Nathan murmured.

The woman snorted. “There’s no rent, young man. Someone has bought her that premium condo. At close to five hundred thousand dollars,
Ms.
Rolfing must be very talented.” Disgusted, the woman put a hand on her hip. “Your friend is in 6A. It is my sincere hope that once this divorce case is over and the husband is sued to the nines by his wife that our resident hooker will find herself out on the street!” She shouldered her purse. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m late for an appointment.”

Exchanging stunned glances, Nathan and Cooper got into the elevator.

“Two boyfriends?” Cooper repeated in bewilderment.

“I guess so,” Nathan replied and shook his head. “Reed
and
Vance? At the same time? That would require some juggling.”

Stunned, they rode up to the sixth floor. “What are we doing?” Cooper whispered as the doors opened. “What if she’s involved in this mess?”

Nathan waved off her suggestion and stepped in front of the door marked
A
with a shiny brass letter. “Like you said before, she probably wouldn’t put her kids in jeopardy. There must be some logical explanation for her to have been at Maynard’s house.”

“I’m sure money had something to do with it,” Cooper said.

“Maybe.” Nathan frowned in thought. “Or maybe she’s trying to build a case against him too. After all, she obviously cared for Reed or she wouldn’t have been so upset about his breaking up with her.”

Cooper wasn’t sure she agreed with this line of logic, but before she could protest, he rang the doorbell to 6A. There was a slight noise directly on the other side of the door, as if Cindi were leaning against it while she looked through the peephole. Since Cooper wasn’t standing alongside Nathan, it was likely that his was the only face Cindi would see as she gazed out into the hall. After several tedious seconds, the door opened.

Cindi was wearing a pleated black skirt and a black-and-white polka-dot silk blouse. A thick leather belt encased her narrow waist and a white headband secured her dark hair. She was barefoot and Cooper couldn’t help but notice that her toes were painted an unattractive shade of orange. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy with unshed tears.

“Aren’t you the copier repair people?” Cindy asked derisively. “What are you doing here?” Before either Cooper or Nathan could reply, Cindi passed her hands over her face in a gesture of fatigue and resignation and mumbled, “Look. Whatever the reason, this isn’t a good time.”

Nathan’s arm shot out to prevent Cindi from closing the door. Her eyes widened in surprise.

“We came to warn you.” Nathan spoke gently. “We think you might be friendly with the person responsible for Brooke Hughes’s death.”

Clearly disturbed by this pronouncement, Cindi took a step back into the shelter of her apartment. “What would you know about my personal life?”

“We’re from the church Brooke attended,” Nathan explained. “And we’ve been trying to exonerate her husband by finding the real killer.” He stole a quick glance at Cooper. “Now we think we know who he is.”

Cindi paused, her face a mixture of fear and nervous curiosity. “I’m not sure I like the sound of this, but you’d better come in.”

Cooper had just crossed the threshold when Cindi blocked her way and pointed at her rubber-soled sandals. “Please take off your shoes,” she said. “I don’t want the floors scuffed.”

Quickly complying with her request, Nathan and Cooper removed their shoes and lined them up alongside Cindi’s sexy black sandals. Eyeing the sharp heels, Cooper could see how they might pose a threat to the blonde wood floors.

“This place is beautiful,” Nathan said, awestruck. Cooper moved slowly past a small marble wall fountain and glanced into the kitchen. The whole space was very modern, with gleaming granite and polished chrome. An enormous glass vase stood on the center island, filled with clear marbles and three calla lilies.

Cindi smiled. “Nice, isn’t it? My boyfriend hired a decorator to make this apartment look like a magazine picture.”

Pivoting, Cooper took in the white shag carpet, the voluminous white sofas with matching side chairs, and the chrome accent tables. The coffee table, which was made entirely of glass that sparkled beneath the soft overhead lights, held no books. Instead, two crystal glasses and a decanter half filled with amber liquor sat on the piece. Dozens of beige and brown pillows were carefully scattered on the sofas, and several large floor pillows were stacked in front of a fireplace whose mantel bore a collection of modern chrome vases. Each vase was filled with a single gerbera daisy the color of a ripe orange. Lush silk curtains in a camel hue flanked enormous windows that overlooked the historic canal to the south and the James River to the west.