Eve, I told myself as I climbed over the closed gate leading to the ranch, you’re quite safe now that Eduardo, Randolph and Constance are in jail. I rued the decision to wear my signature stiletto heels as I slid from the top rail onto the drive. This wasn’t a social occasion. It was simply a meeting with a dweeby little man who might have a lead on a killer.
I shivered a little at the thought of returning to this place. But who was left to bother me? Not Leon, Dwight’s father. He’d called the cops and claimed that he had been mistaken about Jerry being my kidnapper. That was a good faith gesture, right?
One thing at a time. I had taken care of the locket issues earlier this evening. The people who were supposed to show for that wouldn’t be out of jail until tomorrow, if ever. Now I had to consider Valerie’s murderer. That meant my midnight meeting with Dwight. Why me? Because, as with Carlos, Dwight trusted me. Only me. Was it my compassionate nature or the generosity of my character? I shook my head. No. It had to be my tenacious and overbearing personality. Paired with my height.
I looked up at the moon, bright enough now to illuminate the way to the barns, but I heard thunder in the distance and knew that soon I wouldn’t be able to count on lunar light to guide me. Besides, once inside the barns, I’d need a flashlight. I patted my pocket to reassure myself that it was still there.
The only person I expected to see was Dwight. Was I crazy to believe that little weasel? Maybe. Someone had tried to kill him, and I thought I knew why.
He had been standing by Valerie’s car on the day of the murder and he must have seen something, something he had later decided to make the murderer pay for. Leon must have known that Dwight was in danger and that he would be safer if thought dead. Did Leon know who was gunning for his son?
The killer had to be Eduardo. If Dwight didn’t already know that Eduardo was in jail, I wanted to tell him, so that he’d go to the authorities and tell them his story. Valerie must have found out about her son-in-law’s drug dealings. That would have been motivation enough for him to remove her. So he stabbed her in my shop.
That sounded right. Now all I had to do was get Dwight to talk. Eduardo and associates would be in jail for more than drug trafficking. I still couldn’t figure out the logistics of the stabbing, though. Well, that was up to the police.
I walked into the first barn, using the flashlight to find my way. All the horses were gone, removed by the authorities earlier tonight. Only the smell of manure, feed, straw and hay remained. I passed through the darkened stable and out into the night. Clouds rode across the moon, forcing me to rely on my flashlight as I headed toward the second barn. The same emptiness there. No horses. No stable boys. I strode through the barn to the other end, pausing in front of the spot where, earlier, a horse had saved our lives. On impulse, I climbed over the wooden rails and leaned into the now deserted stall as if I could somehow capture the essence of the horse that had saved us.
A hand grabbed my leg. Startled, I lurched backwards and dropped my flashlight.
“Come down from there. You’re already tall enough. I don’t need to be talking to a giant.”
“You scared the hell out of me, Dwight. Now I’ve dropped my light.”
“What’s going on? By the time I got here around eleven, all the horses were gone and everyone else, too.”
I told him about the drugs and the pending arrests. “I guess that should make you feel safer, huh?”
“Eduardo will bail out by tomorrow morning, if he hasn’t already. I need to get out of here and go someplace where he can’t find me.”
“You need to talk to the police. You could put him behind bars for a long time. Then you’d be safe.”
Dwight gave a snort of disbelief. “He’s got a long arm. He could easily leave the country and then send some of his goons to have at me. Again.”
“Eduardo doesn’t seem like the type to tolerate blackmail. You saw something the day of Valerie’s murder. Instead of coming forth, you decided to make some money on the side. I hate to say it, but you brought all this on yourself.”
“So how did Eduardo manage it?” I went on. “I mean, how did he get into my shop to kill Valerie? I can’t figure it.” Maybe if I got Dwight talking about what he had seen, he’d find it easier to repeat the story to the authorities. “Did he disguise himself as a woman? Use someone else to do the stabbing?” I was pushing him, but I had to know.
“Eduardo? I didn’t see him there,” said Dwight.
The moon came out from behind the clouds and lighted the entrance to the stable well enough for me to see his face. I didn’t like what I saw.
“I thought you were a lot smarter than that.” Dwight seemed disappointed.
“Me too, but then again, she’s just the granddaughter of a maid,” said a voice from behind me.
“Constance. What are you doing here? I thought you’d be in jail.”
“No jail for me, the suffering little wife of the foreigner involved in drugs. We have unfinished business, you and I. So, after the arrest, I went to your house. You were just leaving. I followed. As for the drug thing, what did I know about it? Of course, I’ll stand by my husband when he gets out. Our lawyer will take care of everything.”
“Except the murder charge. Don’t you care that he killed your mother? How can you support him knowing that?” I couldn’t believe that she loved him enough to ignore murder.
She paused and then changed the direction of our conversation. “I’ll tell you what, Dwight, brother dear. You help me get rid of the body, and I’ll let you go. Deal?”
Had I made a mistake by trusting Dwight? He looked relieved at her offer. Her offer? Then I got it. Eduardo didn’t kill Valerie. Constance did. Dwight had seen her leaving the store through the side door. What a fool I was.
I moved away from Dwight and toward Constance. I could take the bitch. I knew I could. Then out came one of those ugly guns. It looked ludicrous in her manicured hand, but still deadly. Her finger on the trigger was steady.
“Drop the gun, Constance.” Her father emerged from the feed room and walked toward us. I turned to look at him, hoping that he was also armed. I didn’t like guns, but right now I’d have given my little red Miata for one. I searched his hands. Nope. No gun. I’d have to fake it.
“The three of us against you.” I might as well assume that Dwight was on our side, even though he hadn’t been much help so far.
“You can only shoot one person, maybe two before one of us takes you down.” I hoped I was right. I wanted to be the individual left standing. I was anxious to wipe up the barn floor with her.
“You’re not going to shoot your own father now, are you?” Leon held out his hands in a pleading gesture.
She’d already stabbed her mother, but I saw no need to state the obvious.
Without warning, she fired, hitting Dwight in the shoulder. She wasn’t a very good shot, although she seemed determined. She let go with a second round. Her father grabbed his leg. Both men fell to the floor. I dropped to my knees beside them. To Constance it must have looked as if I was trying to offer aid. Instead, I snagged the flashlight off the floor and hurled it at her. It missed but was enough of a distraction to throw her off balance. I tucked and rolled, knocking her feet out from under her. The gun flew out of her hand. She scrambled to her feet and ran out of the stable.
A quick check of Leon and Dwight showed their wounds to be painful but not life-threatening. The shot had gone through Dwight’s shoulder but the opening wasn’t pumping blood, it was just leaking it onto the stable floor.
“I’m fine,” said Leon. “Find my daughter before the cops do. You can talk her into giving herself up.”
I flipped open my phone and called Frida.
“Better get out to the stables again. There’s been a shooting here.”
“Find her, Eve, before the cops do. I love her, no matter what she has done.” Leon moaned and held his leg.
“Let me see that.” I removed his hand to examine the wound.
“Go. Find her.” He shoved me away.
I ran to the barn door and looked out across the paddock, now washed bright by moonlight. I could make out a figure fleeing toward the trees beyond the far fence. I ran after her. Once she reached the shelter of the trees, I’d lose her. After that, she could circle around and come back to the parking area, jump in her car and leave. My motive for finding her wasn’t quite the same as her father’s. The authorities would be on their way, and they could only ask questions if they advised her of her rights. With me, she had no rights, and I had a lot of questions for her.
I stumbled on the uneven ground. Damn shoes. I should have worn sneakers tonight. Then I remembered. I didn’t own any. Constance would probably be faster. She was my height and younger. I removed my heels, my favorites—the ones with the slave sandal look in black alligator—and started to toss them away, but then I remembered that they had cost me a fortune. I was divorced now and on a tight budget. So instead of dropping them, I strapped the pumps together, then put on the steam and pounded across the paddock, wondering if that soft place back there had been soggy soil or something more horsie-processed.
I prayed that the clouds wouldn’t move in to obscure the moon. I needed the light to see my prey and avoid placing my toes in nasty places.
I was gaining on her. In fact, I was only a few feet behind when she entered the trees. The terrain there was rougher and my feet were taking a beating. I made a vow to invest in some more practical footwear, like the two-inch open-toed espadrilles I’d seen in Stein Mart the other day.
We ran into the scrub palmetto and were forced to zigzag our way through the palms. A clearing opened up ahead. Beyond the open area, the trees grew thicker, and the night grew blacker. Heavy clouds were blowing in on the wind and a storm seemed to be rolling toward us. It was now so dark that I lost sight of her. My flashlight would have come in handy right now, but it still lay on the barn floor.
I stopped and listened but could hear nothing except the sound of the approaching thunder. A crack of lightning revealed Constance, standing to my side with something in her hand. Before I could identify the object, the darkness descended once more. Constance lunged at me, and I felt a sharp pain in my arm. A knife. She was holding a knife.
“You’re not going to get away this time. Once I get that locket, I’m not just going to dump you in the swamp. I’m going to bury you in it. Eduardo should have sent me to handle the job, not some hit man.”
What about my car? Were she and Eduardo responsible for that, too?
I shoved her away and, to my surprise, she didn’t follow up her attack but, instead, fled deeper into the night, deeper into the palmetto, pines and cypress. I followed, aware now that she was capable of more than fleeing. She wanted me to follow. Then she’d turn and attack once more with her knife. I had only my Jimmy Choos to defend myself.