Page 51

CHAPTER 51

M ax walked into the kitchen and beat me to the bottom line as he announced, “Serena is alive.”

“I know.” I told him about Poppy doing the callback on Bea’s burner phone. “And Louise is dead. Poison in her coffee. And Bea is in the hospital. Alcohol overdose.”

Max sat down at the kitchen table without saying anything in response. It had been that kind of day. Maggs wandered over to him and shoved her head against his leg. He reached down and scratched behind her ears. I was tempted to do the same to him, he looked so exhausted.

“Do we know who poisoned Louise?” Max asked.

“No, but I’m positive Bea poisoned herself with drink.” I told him what had happened in Ecstasy while he was out treasure hunting with the boys and finished with, “And how was your day, dear?”

“We found the treasure,” Max said.

Okay, then. “Gold?” I said.

He nodded. “All the usual ancient treasure stuff. You know. The standard loot.”

“A lot of it?”

He nodded. “A treasure chest full. You know the standard treasure chest thing.”

I spread my hands. “Where is it?”

“Dmitri has it.”

“Why?”

“Because Herc wants it and I don’t want Herc coming through that door tonight. He’s been tracking us with the Ferrells’ drone. He knows we recovered it. He knows it’s with Dmitri right now. And he says he’s coming in hot, and he’s not in a good mood.”

“You realize,” I said, “the Ferrells are just the tip of the iceberg.”

Max nodded. “Dmitri told me that Serena has always been working with Herc.”

“Does Dmitri know where Serena is?”

Max shook his head. “He says she’s been hospitalized at some secure location overseas to recover from being shot. It’s possible that if Herc really is cleaning house before he comes here, she’s already dead again now that Junior is gone.”

“She was alive when Poppy did the callback on Bea’s burner phone a couple of hours ago.” We both sat there, and I said what I’d been thinking since Lian had left. “If Lian hadn’t left him before Mei was born, she could have been Serena. She really believed in him until he turned on her. She could have become that.”

“You’re feeling sorry for Serena now?”

“No,” I said. “But I can understand her a little more. I followed Poppy’s father around for twelve years without question, and he was a loser idiot scamming people. If you love somebody, you look away from a lot of bad stuff. Until it’s too late and you can’t look away anymore. Maybe Serena just never looked away.”

Max frowned. “I’ve done a lot of what people might consider bad stuff.”

“When you went back on the Trail,” I said, “you gave me a chance to look away. I could have decided to forget you as a bad bet. Instead, I realized I want you here, even knowing everything I did about you. You had reasons for the bad stuff. And you’ve done nothing but good since you’ve arrived here in Rocky Start.”

Max pursed his lips, considering that. Then in typical Max fashion he filed it and changed the subject back to the more immediate problem. “Serena’s not going to be happy Junior’s dead.”

I shrugged. “How is she going to find out? There wasn’t a drone out at Betty’s. Junior’s on ice. The people who know he’s dead aren’t talking.” I hoped. “Okay, Herc wants the treasure, right?”

“Yeah,” Max said.

“Let’s give it to him.”

Max frowned. “Why?”

“We have to get ahead of Herc.”

“How do we do that?”

“Herc will come here to get the treasure, right? So all we have to do is get it from Dmitri and shove it out the door to him when he arrives.”

Max nodded. “He said he’s coming in heavy. Which means with some gunslingers.”

“They can shoot the treasure. Who would know when he’s showing up? The Ferrells, right?”

Max nodded. “He’d want their drone up for overhead observation. Spying on us in plain sight.”

“So let’s have a chat with Lionel and Dottie, nail down the time, and figure out how to stop Herc..”

“Herc wants to retire here,” Max said. “It’s not going to be that easy.”

“I think it’s not going to be easy for Herc, either.” I took Barry’s phone out of my apron pocket. “I went through Barry’s messages from Herc while you were out treasure hunting. He was asking about all of us. You on the Trail, me, Coral, Pike; he wanted to know where we’d be and when.”

“He told Junior to get rid of all of us,” Max said.

“The last one was from Louise. I found a sealed envelope with Louise’s name on it in Barry’s office. Inside was a letter she had written in case of her death. It was opened, so Barry read it after she gave it to him. She wrote about some sort of operation she’d done for Herc years ago and how if she died, it would be Herc who killed her. She probably told Herc she’d written it, thinking that would be protection.”

“Stupid,” Max says. “You don’t blackmail Herc.”

“I think she was desperate. And scared.”

“So who killed her?” Max said. “Herc didn’t come to town for that. And we had Junior on ice. Who . . .” His voice trailed off.

“Barry would have told Herc. She went straight for Barry the other night at the Wok Inn. If she was trading sex for his help, he had the opportunity to poison her thermos.” I thought about it. “So that rat is getting away with murder.”

“I wouldn’t count on it,” Max said. “Barry can run, but he can’t hide. Herc knows now that he’s given up his office. I’d be surprised if he’s still breathing. He’s a loose end, and Herc doesn’t like those.”

“So if we find out from the Ferrells when Herc’s hitting town and give him the treasure, we’re safe?”

“No,” Max said. “But let’s talk to the Ferrells anyway. Herc has both the post offices wired, so they won’t talk there.”

I glanced at the clock. “It’s Sunday night. They’re likely at the Wok Inn eating dinner.”

“All right,” Max said. “Let’s go.”

I didn’t bother with my red dress. It just wasn’t a red dress kind of night.