With that, Alex got out of the car. Raz opened the trunk, and she got the box of Cee Cee’s ashes out of the back. It was a stroke of luck that they had his ashes. The Chinese government had sent them to her at Buckley. Patrick had intercepted them and arranged to send them on to Paris. They had to leave their Parisian mini-vacation to bring the ashes to Buffy.
“How is it that Margaret missed this party?” Royce said under his breath on the way in.
Alex smiled at the thought of the feisty Navajo Margaret Peaches with these folks.
“We have you in range,” Alex heard Joseph’s voice on her earbud communicator.
“I can’t believe you would wish this on me,” Margaret said.
At Buffy’s door, they were unable to do anything but smile.
“We’ve got you on the surveillance cameras,” Joseph said.
Alex raised her hand to knock, when the door opened.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Trixi Joiner, Cee Cee’s second wife, said. “I . . . Alex? Oh my goodness, I didn’t know you were going to be here.”
Trixi hugged Alex and then looked at the men. She gave Matthew a sultry smile and furrowed her brow at Royce.
“I’m sure your driver doesn’t want to be bothered with everything,” Trixi smiled at Royce. “Most of the drivers are in the back. You can head around by the side.”
Trixi took Alex’s arm and led her into the house. In Alex’s ear, she said, “You always have the hottest men around you.”
Alex smiled. Matthew followed on Alex’s other side. Acting like a bodyguard, Raz came in behind them.
“You set up Krystal and Sue Ann,” Trixi turned to look at Alex. “Do a girl a favor?”
“He’s taken,” Alex said in a low voice.
“No ring,” Trixi gave Matthew a sweet smile.
“Most men don’t wear rings in the military,” Alex said.
“Shoot,” Trixi said.
“How are you with . . . everything?” Alex stopped walking to give Matthew and Raz a chance to look around the dining room.
“I’m broken up, of course,” Trixi said. “It seems kind of mean to shoot him, don’t you think?”
Unable to come up with a suitable answer, Alex gave her best compassionate nod.
“You probably want to see Buffy,” Trixi said.
“I need to give her . . . ,” Alex gestured to the box she was carrying.
“Is that . . . ?” Trixi asked. “Here I am trying to pick up a man, and you’re holding poor Cee Cee in your hands?”
Trixi’s hand went to her mouth to cover what might have been a laugh or a sob. She leaned into Alex.
“Buffy’s on the warpath,” Trixi said.
“More than usual?” Alex said out of the side of her mouth.
“She found out we all get part of Cee Cee’s estate,” Trixi said. “She didn’t realize that Cee Cee didn’t have any . . .”
Trixi moved closer.
“Oil stock,” Trixi nodded.
“Do you?” Alex asked.
“We each got a little bit,” Trixi said. “For the kids . . . their education and all. It’s part of his momma’s estate. Even Sue Ann got some, and she doesn’t have kids anymore. ‘Course, she doesn’t need it with her helping out at the company and all.”
“And Buffy?” Alex asked. “What about Tristan and Kacy?”
“They inherited the stock because they’re older,” Trixi said.
Trixi gave Alex a sincere nod.
“She’s going to be fine, of course,” Trixi said. “She got most of his actual money, plus those secret accounts she kept for him.”
“Buffy kept secret accounts for Cee Cee?” Alex asked.
Trixi nodded.
“Why, Alex!” Becki Joiner, Cee Cee’s fourth wife said. She glanced at Matthew and winked at Raz. “It’s so nice that you could make it. Can I take your . . . ?”
Becki looked down at the box in Alex’s hands. She glanced at Trixi to confirm what she suspected. Trixi nodded. Becki gave Alex a sweet smile, turned in place, and walked out of the room.
“Ignore her,” Trixi said. “She’s always been a little . . . special. She thinks she’s psychic. She’s always going to ghost hunting investigations and crazy stuff. She probably thinks she heard Cee Cee tell her to leave the room.”
Trixi laughed.
“And Belinda and Missy?” Alex asked about the remaining mothers of Cee Cee’s illegitimate children.
Trixi’s eyes got big. She leaned in again.
“They got all lawyered up after . . . you know, what happened,” Trixi said.
“You mean when Cee Cee almost killed their children?” Alex asked.
“Well . . . Marvin was killed, so I don’t blame Jenni-June for killing herself,” Trixi nodded. “Her parents sued Cee Cee’s estate, which means they sued Buffy or, as Buffy says, all of us. Missy and Belinda are just so . . . hateful.”
Trixi squinted to indicate something. Alex wasn’t sure what.
“What did they do?” Alex asked.
“They sued Cee Cee’s trust for medical expenses, suffering, and stuff like that,” Trixi said. “Buffy got a restraining order against them. They weren’t even allowed at the funeral.”
Raz made a slight noise, and Alex glanced at him. He gestured to his ring finger.
“I couldn’t help but notice your gorgeous ring,” Alex smiled at Trixi. “Did you get married again?”
“Nope,” Trixi said. “Married once, married for life. Even if it’s to that no-good Cee Cee Joiner. But I’m always available for . . . whatever.”
Trixi smiled at Matthew. He smiled and moved to the other side of the room.
“I’ll go get Buffy,” Trixi said.
She gave them a little manicured wave, a flip of her long blonde hair, and swished away on her stilettos.
Alex wondered if she should have worn her padded bra. Raz cleared his throat and pointed to the pictures on the mantle in the next room. They went into the living room. While the men moved to look around the room, Alex set Cee Cee’s ashes down on a table and poured herself a drink. Her hand was hovering over the whiskey when she heard Buffy say, “Alex is here?”
“Better stick with the wine,” Courtney Joiner, Cee Cee’s fifth wife, said under her breath. “There’s plenty of whine here.”
“Good thinking,” Alex said.
“That him?” Courtney asked.
Alex nodded. Courtney took a small vial out of her pocket and opened the box. She scooped out some of Cee Cee’s ashes with her long, blood-red index fingernail and tapped it into the vial. She closed the vial and stuck it in her pocket. She had the box closed before they heard Buffy.
“Alex?” Buffy said from the next room.
Alex glanced at Courtney.
“Make sure he stays in hell.” Her eyes burning with fury, Courtney nodded. She turned around to Buffy. “Can you believe Alex made all this effort for us?”
When Alex turned, Courtney was all smiles, blonde hair, and beauty. Alex was too taken aback to respond. Buffy hugged her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Raz take his phone out of his pocket. He held it to his ear to disguise taking a picture of something on the mantle.
“Alex, honey, how are you?” Buffy asked.
“I wanted to make sure Cee Cee reached you,” Alex held out the box to Buffy.
Buffy’s eyes welled with tears, and she took the box.
“I just can’t believe he’s gone,” Buffy said. “I can’t . . .”
Buffy used her free hand to hold a tissue to her eyes. Alex noticed that Trixi had followed Buffy into the room. Becki appeared from the kitchen.
Alex’s heart skipped a beat. She realized she was surrounded by Cee Cee Joiner’s ex-wives. Her eyes cast around the room for Raz and Matthew. Noting her panicked look, Matthew walked over to her.
“You were there, weren’t you?” Buffy asked.
Alex wasn’t sure how Buffy knew that. She smiled.
“What do you mean?” Alex asked.
“I heard you had time with him before . . . before . . .” Buffy used the tissue to wipe her tears. “I’m so sorry. I’m just broken up about . . .”
While she collected herself, Alex looked for Raz. He’d moved into the bookshelf-lined office next to the living room and pulled a photo album off a shelf.
“I was granted a few minutes to speak with him,” Alex said.
“Did he . . . say anything . . . about . . . ?” Buffy’s hand moved to her heart. As a second thought, she gestured to the other ex-wives.
“He said to tell you that he was sorry,” Alex said. “And that he never could get things right.”
“Oh,” Becki began to cry into her hands. Trixi put her arm around Becki’s shoulders to comfort the young woman.
“He also said to tell you he was sorry he let him down.” Alex watched her words register on Buffy’s face. Buffy gave a slight unconscious nod before bursting into tears.
“I can’t believe he’s sorry,” Buffy said. “I’m just so sorry, and now I can never . . .”
Her cosmetically unlined face became a mask of muted misery. She held the tissue to her eyes to keep the moisture at bay. She cried, and Trixi comforted her.
“Did you bring the book?” Buffy asked.
“The Chinese took his possessions from him,” Alex played along. She touched her hand to Buffy’s shoulder. “I know it’s important to you.”
“He took my copy and never . . . never . . . Oh my God . . .”
Buffy made a show of wailing. She fled with Cee Cee’s ashes through the den where Raz was snooping and to the back of the house. Trixi and Becki followed her.
Alex turned to look at Courtney. She shrugged.
“There’s always that kind of drama here,” she said.
“How is your son Jayden?” Alex asked.
“He’s beautiful,” Courtney said. “Smart and loving. He’s truly the light of my life. Cecil has been very kind, a real grandfather to Jayden. Thanks for remembering.”
Alex smiled. Courtney had just married Cee Cee and was pregnant with their son when the other children were kidnapped and killed. Cee Cee told her he was leaving for a business trip when he went into hiding and never came back.
“Are you going tonight?” Courtney asked.
“To . . . ?” Alex shook her head.
“Sue Ann and Pete,” Courtney said in a conspiratorial tone.
Alex nodded.
“I’ll see you there,” Courtney smiled.
“Courtney?” Buffy wailed from the back of the house.
“I should go,” Courtney said. “If you’re wondering, Cee Cee gave each of us a copy of The Gadfly when we got married. It was his ‘wedding present.’ I would have preferred money or maybe diamonds, or anything I could sell to pay the rent, especially since he split a month after the wedding, but that was Cee Cee.”
“The Gadfly?” Alex asked.
“Yeah right. How is that a wedding present?” Courtney gave a rueful shake of her head. “Cee Cee said it was a desperate romance of star-crossed lovers, but . . . it’s mostly about revolution and stuff. Too . . . melodramatic for me. I’d give you my copy, but I tossed it, along with the rest of Cee Cee’s crap. Buffy says he took her copy. That’s what she wants back.”
“Who wrote it?” Matthew asked.
“Some Irish lady. Uh,” Courtney looked up at the ceiling for a moment. “E. L. Voynich, in like the 1800s. Anyway, I should go, or suffer the wrath of Buffy.”
Courtney turned to look at Matthew, and then at Alex.
“Thanks for bringing him,” Courtney said. “I know this whole scene is stupid and crazy, but . . . with him here, we’ll have story to tell and our children will have a place to visit. It means a lot to me that you’d go out of your way bring him.”
She was almost out of the room when she turned and said, “See you tonight.”
“Courtney!” Buffy gave a hysterical yell.
Courtney rolled her eyes and went into the back.
“Let’s go,” Raz swept into the living room from the study.
They moved as a unit through the dining room.
“I’ll get Royce,” Matthew said.
Alex and Raz left the house and jogged to the sedan. Raz took the driver’s seat, and Alex got into the passenger’s seat. Royce and Matthew came from around the house and slipped into the back seat. No one said a word until they were a few blocks away.
“What did you get?” Alex asked. “Royce?”
“I found out that those hysterics were just an act,” Royce said. “Buffy celebrated the night poor ole Cee Cee died. She and her lover, who apparently lives with her, had a big party.”
“You mean Buffy is lying about being sad?” Matthew’s voice was filled with mock surprise.
“I’m saying she’s crazy like a fox,” Royce said. “I guess she’s all upset and talking about suing for more of poor ole Cee Cee’s estate, and all the while, she has the bulk of it.”
“What a surprise,” Alex said. “Trixi said she has his secret money accounts.”
“Trixi?” Royce asked. “What’s a Trixi?”
They laughed.
“How did you do, Matthew?” Alex asked.
“That book they were talking about?” Matthew asked. “The Gadfly? There’s a battered copy of it sitting on a shelf between Marx and Lenin.”
“You mean Buffy lied?” Royce asked. “How is that possible?”
They laughed.
“The pictures on the mantle and the wall have been moved around,” Matthew said.
“Hasty redecoration at that,” Raz said.
“Right,” Matthew said. “Like someone was in a hurry. Things are missing from the mantle and new things have been added. It’s like the whole house went through a cosmetic redo.”
“I wonder if that happened when we showed up at the funeral,” Alex said. “Any idea what was moved?”
“No,” Matthew said.
“There are three hefty bags next to the trash cans,” Royce said.
Raz turned the car around. They drove back to Buffy’s house and snagged the trash bags.
“The FBI will be so jealous,” Alex said.
“Actually . . . ,” Raz glanced at her. “They are very good at trash.”
“Good thinking,” Alex said. “After all, we have a wedding to get to.”
She took out her phone to call the FBI. She arranged for a team of agents to meet them at the hotel.
“And what did you find, Agent Rasmussen?” Alex asked when they were on their way again.
Raz pulled a six-by-ten photograph from the inside pocket of his sports coat. Alex took the photograph from him. The photograph showed fifteen smiling adults and maybe twenty children standing on the banks of a river on a hot summer’s day. She looked at it for a while before passing it to Matthew.
“What is that?” Alex asked.
“I’d say it’s an extended family portrait,” Raz said.
“Looks like Grampa’s birthday or something like that,” Matthew said. “You can see the smoke plume from a barbecue or a fire pit in the background.”
He gave the photograph to Royce.
“Did you recognize anyone?” Raz asked.
Alex turned around in her seat to get the photo from Royce. She looked at each of the faces.
“I see Buffy,” Alex said.
“People only see what they expect to see,” Raz quoted Patrick Hargreaves.
“Okay,” Alex said. “What’s actually there?”
“Upper right corner,” Raz said. “Old man; side view.”
“Josef Yakovlev,” Alex said. “Wow. Do we know when that was taken?”
“No,” Raz said. “But there’s more.”
“Who?” Matthew asked. He and Royce leaned forward to see the photo.
“Young girl; maybe five or six?” Raz asked. “Second row near the middle, holding a younger child’s hand?”
“I pegged her for Buffy,” Alex said. “You?”
“Who’s hand is she holding?” Raz asked.
“A little boy?” Alex shrugged.
She passed the photo to Royce for them to take a look. They shook their heads and gave the photo back to Alex.
“Twenty dollars that’s Robert Powell,” Raz said.
“What?” Alex flipped the photo in front of her face. She shook her head. “I’ll give you that the child looks familiar. He could also be Cee Cee?”
She gave the photo back to Royce.
“I think he’s right,” Royce said.
“That’s the Boy Scout,” Matthew said.
“I’ll have to take your word for it,” Alex said. “You think the Boy Scout is the ‘him’ Cee Cee let down?”
Raz nodded.
“But Cee Cee denied knowing him!”
“Cee Cee lied,” Raz said.
“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Matthew said.
Shaking her head, Alex leaned against the back rest. They drove toward the motel in silence.
“I wonder . . . ,” Alex said as they pulled into the hotel parking lot.
Raz found a parking spot and turned to look at her.
“I wonder if Robert Powell isn’t actually his name,” Alex said. “Cee Cee might not have recognized the name ‘Robert Powell.’”
“Sure,” Raz said. “And?”
“How did Trece’s identity get switched with his cousin’s?” Alex asked. “His identity was swapped completely – fingerprints, DNA, everything. I couldn’t keep him out of prison.”
“She’s right,” Royce said. “They are good.”
“They must have had a lot of practice,” Raz said.
“Must be how Cee Cee got around,” Alex said. “Swap identity here or there . . .”
“What do we do?” Royce asked.
“We have to figure out who Cee Cee let down,” Alex said.
“How?” Raz asked. “Everything points to the Boy Scout.”
“Good question,” Alex smiled. “No time for spy work, though. We have a wedding to attend.”
The knock on Alex’s window brought them to the present. The FBI took the bags of trash they’d taken from Buffy’s home. Joseph met them on their way into the hotel to meet the rest of the team.
“Did you just give away the trash?” Joseph asked. “What are you thinking?”
“We have other business to attend to,” Alex said.
“Oh yea?” Joseph asked.
“Pete and Sue Ann are getting married in an hour or so,” Alex smiled.
Joseph grinned.
“Shall we?” Alex asked.
“I’ll let the team know,” Joseph said.
Alex nodded.
F