“I was told that a business deal of Dad’s went bad and the people involved want their money back. They think I know where he hid three million dollars.”
“Three million?” Rhonda yelped and plunked onto the top step.
“Whoever attacked Lou is probably connected to this deal.” Casey sat beside her. “Could be the same jerk who trashed my place, so maybe I should move out for a little while.”
“Don’t.” As Rhonda shifted the grocery bag again, an orange fell out and bounced down the stairs. Casey started to go for it, but Rhonda grabbed her arm. “We’ll get police protection, and Darcy’s here.”
Casey kept her face impassive. “Darcy can’t protect all of us at once.” Especially when he was part of the damn problem.
“Summer needs you, Casey.” Rhonda turned and glanced at the kitchen door. “Something’s bothering her but she won’t tell me what, just says it’s nothing important.”
Fear surged through Casey as she thought of Darcy. “Any ideas?”
“Maybe Lillian already told her about her birth, but Summer won’t talk because she can’t accept it.” Rhonda shook her head. “Lillian’s calls are more irrational than usual, and I’m convinced she plans to turn you and Summer against me.”
“She won’t succeed.”
“I don’t know about that.” Rhonda hugged the grocery bag. “She’ll accuse me of killing Marcus, and Summer will wonder if it’s true ’cause I’ve kept this huge secret from her.” She again glanced at the kitchen. “Lillian’s setting me up, you see. She still hates me for getting engaged to Marcus, can’t let it go.”
“How did Mother react when you first told her?”
“She spewed that crap about him never understanding me as well as she did.”
“When Mother called, did she ever talk about her life, what she was up to?”
“She dropped clues now and then.” Rhonda gazed at the wayward orange lying on the grass. “Lalonde’s been badgering me about the murder, so I got mad and said that if he needed suspects, I’d seen a notebook
full of them.” She bit her lip. “You’re going to give him the book, right?”
“Yeah, I’m done with it.”
Darcy’s Porsche pulled up. No way did she want to talk to the manipulative bastard.
“Here’s my guy,” Rhonda said.
Casey stood. “Your guy?”
“Obviously, he’s no Marcus, but he’s behaved himself and we’re having fun. Which reminds me, are you going to see Lou today?”
“Right after I take a nap; couldn’t sleep on the plane.”
Casey hurried inside and up to her apartment. She dialed Simone’s number, but a recorded voice informed her the number was no longer in service. Why would she disconnect her phone and not leave a new number? Casey made her disheveled bed then crawled under the comforter.
• • •
A knock on the door woke her. She looked at the clock. A ninety-minute nap was long enough. She stumbled out of bed, opened the door, and smiled at Summer.
“Come on in, sweetie. How are things?”
While Summer described her swim practices and Sports Day events, Casey worked up the courage to raise the next topic. “I heard you had a nice chat with my mother.”
“Yeah, she was cool.”
Casey manoeuvred her way through the debris to the kitchen. Until now, she’d never discussed Mother with Summer. Too afraid her anger would show through. She didn’t want Summer to know how much shame a child could feel toward a parent.
“What did you and Mother talk about?” Casey retrieved a jar of instant coffee from a cupboard.
“Stuff you did when you were little.”
To hide her annoyance, Casey looked for milk in the refrigerator.
“I know Mom’s still a little mad about it,” Summer said. “I tried telling her that your mom was nice to me, but talking’s been hard with stupid Darcy always around.”
Casey shut the door. “I thought you liked him.”
Summer fidgeted as she looked at a collection of postcards taped to the fridge. “He thinks he can go wherever he wants.”
“Like where?”
“Like here.”
Oh, hell. “When was this?”
“Thursday night. I had to go to the bathroom and when I got back to my room, I heard your door close. I peeked out and saw Darcy coming downstairs.”
“Did he see you?”
“I only opened the door a tiny bit. He had his head down and was in a big rush.”
Casey gazed at the textbook and papers on the floor under her kitchen table. “You’re sure this didn’t happen last night?”
“Yep.”
“Was Darcy carrying anything?”
“Nope.”
“Did you tell your mom?”
Summer shook her head. “She likes him, and besides, Mom asked him to fix your leaking tap.” She nodded toward the kitchen sink. “That’s why I thought he was here at first, but I didn’t see any tools.”
They looked at the still leaking tap.
“Your mom knows something’s been bothering you. Is it Darcy?”
“Yeah, all he does is talk to her now, especially at night. Sometimes I just want to squish his head and stomp on it.”
She probably knew their relationship was sexual. Poor kid. “You should tell your mom when Darcy’s out.”
“I know, but it’s just that she seems, like, happy.”
Too happy to notice that her affair bothered Summer? Casey dumped a heaping teaspoon of coffee in her mug.
“Why would Darcy trash your place, anyway?” Summer asked.
“I don’t know.” But she had a theory. Casey put her arm around Summer. “Tell me, has Darcy done anything else that makes you uncomfortable?”
“No. Mostly, he just ignores me, and he’s gotten cranky.”
“Thanks for letting me know, but I need to tell your mom about this, okay?”
Summer nodded. “I gotta go. My friend Lisa and her parents are taking me to their cabin at Whistler in an hour, so I won’t see ya till Monday night.”
“No camping with your mom this weekend?”
“Darcy didn’t want to go, so she canceled it. Oh, and she wants to know if you’re hungry. She saved you some soup.”
Casey smiled. “Thank her for me, but I’m going to see Lou.” She hugged Summer. “You sure you’re okay?”
Summer smiled, “Totally, now that you’re back.”
After she left, Casey called work and learned that Lou’s shift wouldn’t end for two hours. Plenty of time to eat, change clothes, and meet him at Mainland. Boy, would he be surprised.
• • •
Casey thumbed through the contents of the file Stan had left on her desk. She’d already read everything once, and had memorized enough new info about the kid to easily recognize the pimply twerp the moment he stepped onto the bus.
She checked her watch. Forty-five more minutes before Lou pulled into the depot. Drumming her fingers on the desk, she looked at the long, rectangular room. Since the administration staff didn’t work weekends, the place was quiet. Casey closed the file and stood. Why not meet Lou a couple of stops from here? It’d be fun to see the look on his face when she climbed on board.
As often happened during Victoria Day long weekends in Vancouver, the good weather had left town along with the camping and cottage folks. Cool air and a gloomy sky warned of an approaching rainfall. Casey exited through the front of the building and headed down Lougheed, grateful for the busy mix of retail outlets, car dealerships, restaurants, and light industry along this stretch of highway. Plenty of people around. No reason to feel alone or vulnerable, to look over her shoulder every minute.
She had to admit that recent events haunted her dreams. Separating truth from lies was tough, and the suspect list kept growing: Theo, Gislinde, Mother, Daphne Reid, Vincent Wilkes, and possibly two Mexicans named Joseph and Carlos. Reid was the only one with no clear motive. As for the others, Theo was out three million dollars and a partner. Gislinde might have discovered that Mother was still in the picture and that Dad had been hoarding a lot of cash. Vincent might have worried that Dad wanted his house and architectural firm back. As for Mother, well, their history spoke for itself. Also troubling was the one name Casey hadn’t added to her list, yet couldn’t forget: Gustaf Osterman.