Traci Tyne Hilton - Mitzi Neuhaus 04 - Frozen Assets (11 page)

“They have a description?” Ulrike turned to Mitzy, swerving the car. “But that person could be the one responsible for Arnold’s fall!”

“That’s what I thought, too. Have the police been by to talk to you?”

“Of course they have. Three times now. But I’ve told them everything. I met Arnold. He charmed me, wooed me to the States. He gave me a job so I could stay here on a work visa.” She grimaced. “I showed them my pay stubs, my bank account. I showed them all of Arnold’s papers. I wanted to show them he wasn’t making me rich. I wasn’t a gold digger. I really did like him.”

“What else did they ask you?”

“They asked about climbing and sports. They asked if they could look through my storage for any climbing things. Of course I said yes. I was asleep when Arnold died. What did I have to hide? They found nothing. I don’t climb.” Ulrike held up a perfectly manicured hand. “I don’t like the outdoors, really.”

“Did Arnold like the outdoors?”

“No, not anymore.” She laughed a little. “He was getting a bit old.”

“Who were Arnold’s friends? People he might have called on to help him with whatever he was doing at the house.”

Ulrike exhaled slowly. “Who were his friends? I don’t know. Honestly. We’ve been having a honeymoon period—not a real one, of course. But we just spend—spent—all of our evenings out together or at home together. And of course we worked all day long. Work, work, work, you know?”

“Yup, I do. So, you really never saw him with anyone?”

Ulrike pulled into a parking lot. “I drove us to my apartment, but I will take you back to your car later. I just thought maybe something in the house would help? Karina would never come here, or Zachary or any of them. But since you talk to them all, maybe you want to look at his things and see what you can find.”

“Really?” Mitzy tried not to look too excited.

“Yes.” Her one word answer sounded tired, and her shoulders slumped. “My brother is coming over tonight. I will call him and have him bring some dinner home with him. He will be on his way.’

The “apartment” was really a spacious loft in a converted warehouse along the Eastside Esplanade, not far from Mitzy’s commercial property. She hated rushing through the main floor, but she couldn’t let herself appreciate all of the original fixtures. Who knew when Ulrike would change her mind?

“Is your brother visiting from Sweden?” Mitzy took a seat at the breakfast bar. In urban loft fashion, the kitchen was rather small.

“Yes, and I’m so glad. I don’t know what I would have done if I had been all alone.” Ulrike set a bottle of sparkling water on the table.

“How long has he been here?”

“He’s been here a month. He wanted to try and talk me into coming home again.”

“Do you miss home?”

“I like adventure.” Ulrike tapped at her phone. “And romance. Arnold was both of those.”

“When you first came, did you think you would stay forever?”

Ulrike held up a finger. Then she typed a little more and set the phone down. “I didn’t know. When you live for adventure…” she shrugged.

“What about now? Were you planning on getting married?”

“No, I don’t think so. Arnold was a lovely man, really, but I was getting a little tired of Portland—no offense. It’s a nice city, but so dark and gray all of the time. Having Kjell here… well. I wouldn’t tell him this, but he had convinced me to go home.”

“You’d want to go home before summer.” Mitzy twirled the bottle of water on the polished concrete counter. “Our summers have a way of convincing people to stay a little bit longer.”

“Oh, yes. That first summer misled me.”

“How did your brother…
Shell
you said? How did he get along with Arnold?”

“Yes, Kjell, you said it right. He thought Arnold was an old geezer. When Kjell learned Arnold wasn’t even rich, oh, you should have heard him. I didn’t know he knew how to swear like that in English!”

Mitzy sat up. “So, they didn’t get along?”

Ulrike rolled her eyes. “Of course they did. They are
men
, aren’t they? Watch some sports, drink some beer, go to the bar. Whatever. Kjell was mad at me and thought I was being an idiot, but he thought Arnold was a great guy to hang out with.”

“Everyone seems to love Arnold.” Mitzy sipped her water.
And to hate him.
“Kjell was Arnold’s buddy. Do you think he might have gone out with Arnold that night?”

“To help him up to the balcony? I suppose if Arnold had asked he would have, but I don’t know. Kjell hasn’t been staying with us.”

“Where does he live?”

The front door opened with a groan.

“Ask him yourself.”

A tall, very tall, broad-shouldered man with white-blond hair walked into the kitchen. He set a bag of take-out on the counter. “I hope you like Chinese.”

“Of course.” Mitzy offered her hand. “Mitzy Neuhaus.”

“Kjell. Good to meet you. You’re a friend of the old guy’s ex-wife?”

“I am.”

Kjell grabbed the stool next to Mitzy. His legs seemed as beefy as his shoulders, but he wasn’t fat. He had the trim but muscular build of a professional athlete. He could have easily belayed for Arnold English as he climbed to the balcony. And he could have pulled him off just as easily.

Sitting so close to a man who spoke casually of Arnold as “the old guy,” but who also might have killed him turned Mitzy’s stomach. Her car was across town, and she was at the complete mercy of these strangers.

Ulrike passed around plates and Kjell opened the cartons of food. He heaped noodles on his plate.

“So, what do you do?” Mitzy asked.

“Basketball.” Kjell shoveled a forkful of chow mein into his mouth.

“He’s on the Swedish national team. They’re really very good.” Ulrike’s face shone. “But that’s not his real job, of course, even if they are quite good this year. Kjell runs Daddy’s company now, exporting fish.”

Kjell grinned. “Basketball is much sexier.”

“She’s married.” Ulrike laughed.

“Ah, well. I’m leaving after New Year’s. No point in falling in love now.”

Mitzy blushed against her better judgment. “Why leave so soon?”

“Basketball.” He shrugged. “’Tis the season.”

“Do you want to bundle your sister up and take her with you?”

“Yes. I’m sure she told you that’s why I came.”

“I admit, she did give me a clue.” Mitzy moved her food around on her plate, but didn’t eat. This man was big enough and one of the few men who Arnold had been spending any time with lately.

Ulrike jumped. “Oh, no! Mitzy I am so sorry. I just looked at the clock. I need to get you home.”

Mitzy frowned. Her plate was still full, and it was hardly late, only eight. In fact, if Ulrike suddenly wanted her gone, she’d prefer to stay. She had hardly asked any questions, and hadn’t taken one look at Arnold’s stuff yet. She draped some noodles around her fork and took a bite.

“I mean, of course, eat first.” Ulrike looked from the clock back to her brother.

“There’s really no rush.” Mitzy dabbed at her mouth with a paper napkin. “Between you and me, do you wish you could go back with your brother immediately?”

“I do want to go home, but now that Arnold is gone, I can’t just leave.” She drummed her fingers on the counter. “I can’t abandon the business. I can train someone, but that will take a while.” She looked at her phone. Her body language was anything but comfortable, and Mitzy felt the same.

“No, that’s fine. I’m ready.” Mitzy grabbed her bag from the floor. Ulrike’s answers seemed to add up. She would love to leave but just can’t because of the business. Arnold wasn’t rich and didn’t leave her anything. Kjell… Kjell was huge, but he liked Arnold as a person and didn’t seem like a killer. So, who else was there? As always, she had taken one step forward only to find herself off the trail again.

12

Two days passed before Mitzy heard from Karina again. She had expected an offer to come in on her fax machine any time, but none came. Zachary seemed determined to work the sale without her help. It was beginning to feel a little personal, but she brushed it off. It’s not like he was her sister-in-law Aerin or anything.

Mitzy parked Alonzo’s truck on the street in front of Karina’s house. The flurries of snow on the hilltop made her nervous, even with the four-wheel-drive. She didn’t want to have to back out of a driveway.

Across the street, someone was salting Livia’s driveway. Mitzy paused to watch. It wasn’t common to use salt for ice in Portland.

But the man using it appeared to know what he was doing. He had long arms and cast the salt across the snow-dusted concrete in sweeping arcs. He looked up and caught Mitzy watching.

She waved, and he smiled. His winter coat made him look huge, and he was a couple of inches taller than her. Maybe more. Was this Livia’s new man?

And could this big guy be someone who had been friendly with Arnold?

Karina greeted Mitzy with a tall cup of coffee. “Any word from Zachary yet?”

“None. I thought surely he would have sent something by now.”

Karina sighed and sunk into the leather sofa. Her shoulders slumped forward and her chin seemed to sink into her chest. She looked up at Mitzy with big blue eyes that looked so tired without any makeup. “What will I do if he won’t buy the house now?”

Mitzy took her seat across from Karina. “I thought you didn’t want him to.”

“I don’t want to give him a discount. That’s different.” Karina looked at her cup.

“I’m concerned that they can’t afford full asking price.”

“Why ever not? That Deanna is the daughter of Hugh Van Atter.”

“Of Van Atter’s Aviation?”

“Yes. Those two have plenty of money.”

Mitzy chewed on her bottom lip. “Her dad has money, obviously. But she might not. They looked pretty down in the mouth.”

“That’s their way. Don’t buy into it. I introduced Deanna and Zachary. Hugh is my cousin after all. I know they aren’t broke.”

Mitzy pinched her mouth shut. The more she learned about this family, the madder she got. Karina’s step-son was married to her cousin’s daughter, but they hadn’t spoken to each other in over four years? “We saw her at the Portland Hotel, didn’t we?”

Karina dismissed the question with a tilt of her head. “I think you should contact them and ask where the offer is.”

“Why didn’t you say hello to her?”

Karina inhaled sharply. “She didn’t say hello to
me
. I was sitting there, waiting for you, and in she walked. Took her seat where she could watch me, but didn’t say a word.”

“Why did she do that?”

“To see what I was doing with my Realtor.” Karina picked her mug of coffee up from the side table.

“How did she know we would be there? Karina, I feel like I am missing something. How did she know we would be there, and what did she think she would learn and who is that man outside of Livia’s house?”

Karina frowned. “Jason? That’s her son.”

“But back to Deanna. How did she know where we would be?”

“Maybe she didn’t. Maybe it was a coincidence. But I think Zachary has been following me, Zachary and Deanna both, ever since his father died.” She shuddered. “No matter what the truth is, Zachary will always think it was my fault. Just like with his brother.”

“Whoa. Hold on Karina. Important little facts are flying at me too fast now. Why does Zachary think you were responsible for his brother’s death from cancer?”

Karina held two fingers to her lips as though she had a cigarette. “His whole childhood. And
he
would be the one to get sick. Not me, not his father. Just him.” She brushed a tear from her eye. “He was a nice boy. I miss him so much.”

“I’ll call Zachary.” Mitzy stood. Karina was a hot mess. She was self-centered, played favorites, and was greedy. She didn’t need the extra cash from a full-priced home sale any more than Zachary needed to save a few bucks. None of them needed it. The squatter house flashed into her mind. She wished, for a moment, that she could open the doors of this house and let Portland’s homeless warm up for the winter. The condition of the squatter house made her reconsider the first flash of compassion. This house didn’t deserve that no matter how irritated she was with Karina at the moment.

“Thank you.” Karina didn’t stand. “There are several other things we need to discuss.”

“We’ll have to do it later.” Mitzy let herself out.

Jason was no longer outside, so she went to the door and knocked.

The man himself answered. “Yeah?”

“Hi.” Mitzy plastered her professional smile on her face. “Is Livia in?”

“No.”

“Could you let her know Mitzy stopped by for a chat?” She handed him a business card.

He looked at her, looked at the card, and then looked at the house across the street. “You’re Karina’s Realtor?”

“That’s right.”

“Huh.”

“Do you now the English family?”

“Sure.” He set the card on a half-round table near the door.

“The death of Arnold must have been such a shock.”

“Seriously.” He ran his hand through his bushy black hair. “Do you have a message or anything?”

“No. We just met the other day, and since I was in the neighborhood, I thought I’d say hi.”

Jason yawned. “Okay.”

“So…” She shifted her weight so that the toe of one boot was on the threshold of the door. She didn’t want him to shut her out just yet. “Did you know Arnold’s kids growing up?”

“Yeah. Zack and I played softball together. Arn was our coach.”

“Oh, man, then it must have been a real blow to lose him.” She offered him a look of sympathy. She meant it, of course, but she was tingling all over. This huge beast of a young man knew Arnold well enough to shorten his name. No one else had done that. And he lived just across the street. “Had you seen him recently? I mean… you know.”

Jason frowned. “Nah. He hasn’t been around in ages. A year, maybe.”

“A year?” Mitzy took a step back, surprised. “But Livia said he’d been by last week.”

“Maybe, but I haven’t see him in a year.” He pushed the door closer to shut. “I’ll tell my mom you came by.”

“Wait—one more quick question…”

Jason lifted an eyebrow.

“I, uh, a year? You really haven’t seen him in a year?”

“It could have been less. I don’t really know.” His face slowly turned red. “I’ll tell Mom you came by.” He pushed the door shut with a click.

Mitzy drummed her fingers on the wall. She had flubbed her last question. She hadn’t been able to figure out a smooth way to ask if Jason liked Arnold or not. So, she’d have to ask Zachary instead.

She drove around the block and then down the hill. Clouds had rolled in that threatened to dump the slick snow she didn’t want to drive on. Once safely at the bottom of the hill, she pulled over and called Zachary.

“This is Mitzy Neuhaus,” she said when he answered.

“Oh, hello.” His voice was dull.

“Do you have a minute to talk about the house?”
And your old buddy, Jason.

“I have a few minutes.”

“I was hoping we’d get an offer from you.”

“Listen, Mitzy, I don’t mean to be rude, but I was raised in the business. I really don’t need an agent to buy a house from my step-mom.”

“She’s hurting, Zachary.”

“Of course she is, but that’s no reason to make things difficult.”

“I know. But listen, I don’t have to take commission from this.” The handshake deal with her husband popped into her head. If she didn’t get the commission from this sale, she lost the moral victory that would let
her
move to a better house. “All she asks is a fair market offer. If I tell her I don’t need a percentage…”

“That’s not what this is about. I don’t need a discount. I want to work with her because that’s what family does. There’s no reason to put a middle man between us.”

Mitzy ran her fingers through her hair, untangling her curls. She took a deep breath. “I can understand that. But it seems like you both let some distance grow between you in the last couple of years.”

“Some distance?” He snorted. “That woman divorced my father and walked out of my life as though I had never existed.”

“That sounds familiar.”

“I’m telling you this because apparently that’s how I get to talk to her: through you. She divorced Dad and dumped me. I was a man with a dad, a mom and step-dad, a step-mom and a brother, and then one day I had nothing. You tell her that.”

Mitzy had about had it with the English family and their friends. No one told the same story about anything. Not about when people starting seeing each other, or who filed for the divorce, or who had called last.

It made her sick.

She would not let that happen to her family. And she wasn’t going to take it from this one any longer, either. “Listen. Your dad cheated on Karina and left her for a younger woman. How is that her fault? And when was the last time you called
her
? It looked to me like she didn’t even know you guys were having a baby. I mean, come on. This is hardly all her fault.”

On the other end of the line, Zachary English sniffled. “I ought to just hang up on you. What right do you have to talk to me like that? You’re her frigging real estate agent.”

She was glad he didn’t use real swear words, but the heat behind his silly, fake curse was bad enough. “You’re right. I am way out of line. I shouldn’t have said any of that. On the other hand, Karina is my friend, and she is in a rough place right now, and I don’t think you are making it any easier. And I don’t like being lied to.”

“Yeah, Dad walked. But she signed the papers. Didn’t even put up a fight. Some kind of mom she was.”

Mitzy had a feeling she was about to get an earful of mommy issues.

“I’ll call her.” His voice broke.

Maybe he was having sympathy pregnancy hormone issues. Alonzo’s sister, swore her husband had had them.

“But you need to stay out of this. Stay out of the whole mess.” He hung up.

Mitzy stared at her phone. Definitely a case of sympathy-pregnancy hormones.

She started her car back up and headed home. She needed to snuggle her big, loyal, handsome, not-weepy, no-mommy-issues husband. And they had to figure out their Christmas plans, which was best done while snuggling.

***

Alonzo nuzzled Mitzy’s ear. She pulled the down comforter up to their chins and snuggled closer. The house, with its ridiculous baseboard electric heaters, was freezing, but their little love nest was next to perfect. She rubbed her bare foot on his calf and spoke in whispers, since her lips were so close to his ear. “I’m tired of the English murder.”

“Good.” Alonzo turned his head and caught her lips in a kiss.

“I don’t want to solve it anymore.”

Alonzo replied with more kissing.

“But I’ve got to sell that house, if we ever want to live somewhere warm.”

Alonzo wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “I’m not cold.” He nibbled her neck.

“We should spend Christmas at the farm with my family.” Mitzy kissed his neck between each word.

“Okay,” he murmured.

Mitzy smiled. She was learning about marriage, after all. If only she had brought up moving that first time, on a cold winter night in bed.

She sat up on her elbow. “The thing I don’t understand about the English family is all of the lying.”

Alonzo rolled onto his back and closed his eyes. “I thought you didn’t want to play detective anymore.”

“I don’t want to.” She stroked his chest while she spoke. He was pretty fit for an old man. “But I don’t understand why everyone I meet has a different story about what Arnold was doing and when.”