Chapter 14 #2
Pippa frowned. “Which still begs the question... why Sebastian and not Callie?”
“Didn’t Reese tell you there were rumors that Sebastian was responsible for the terrible emails?” I asked.
“That’s true.” Pippa put her hands on either side of her head and then mimicked an explosion with them. “This is blowing my mind. But how would Augusta and Carl know about the emails or the fake recording? If not for Reese, we wouldn’t have known. It was kept buttoned down and buried.”
My legs had finally steadied beneath me. “Well, the Franks are influential. A world-class surgeon and a competent litigator.... You can’t tell me they don’t know how to get information from even the tightest-lipped sources.”
“Even so, I can’t see Augusta or Carl as murderers,” I admitted, aware I was in complete denial.
Ezra mulled the idea over. “And they might have killed Callie as well. Two birds. One cruise. Give Callie a shove overboard. Make Sebastian’s death look like an unfortunate accident.”
The ballroom doors opened, and Helena and Jasper walked through.
“Nora,” Helena said. “We were so worried about you. Are you all right?”
She was wearing a sparkly silver tank top with thick straps, but when she turned, I saw something on her right shoulder peeking out from under her strap and through a smudge of makeup used to cover it up.
It was the tattoo. The one from my vision of the young couple on the beach. I narrowed my gaze at her.
“Do you like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain?”
She looked startled but recovered quickly. “Who doesn’t?” she replied.
“Nora?” Ezra questioned. “What do you know?”
I knew I had finally placed the shield tattoos I’d seen on the young couple. I’d seen this symbol many times when Ezra went undercover a few years ago.
“You’re FBI agents,” I finally said. I looked at Jasper.
“How could you know that?” He asked.
“Lucky guess.” My voice was flat. “Just like I’m guessing your names aren’t really Helena and Jasper Peabody.”
Helena was playing it much cooler than Jasper. “What do you think you know, Nora?”
“Only what I’m saying. Were you here investigating Sebastian Caldwell?” I asked point-blank.
“Yes,” she answered just as directly. “He’d been blackballed from all the major networks when the rumors circulated about his responsibility in the death of William Grant Jr. But it’s one of Hollywood’s best-kept secrets.
Since then, he’s been hemorrhaging money, and he’s taken loans out with the Bardonia Syndicate out of Vegas. ”
“So, Caldwell was broke?”
“Not only broke but flat broke.”
That explained why Sebastian and Callie were in the balcony suites instead of the penthouse or the villas.
“Then why bother with him?”
Ezra put his hand on my arm. “To flip him,” he explained. “You guys wanted Caldwell to flip on the Baldonias.”
“Indeed, we did,” Helena confirmed. “When we heard he had some potential investors for a new show outside of the normal channels, we went undercover to get close. We wanted to replace ourselves as the investors, but we couldn’t discover who they were and remove them from the cruise in the short time frame.
Instead, we had to gain access by proximity.
Getting the room across the hall and being assigned to his table was the easiest way to insert ourselves without being too obvious. ”
I suspected there was more to the “investors” then met the eye.
It wasn’t a coincidence that Billy Grant’s biological mother was at the table with Sebastian and Callie.
Had Callie recognized her from the funeral?
Is that why Callie couldn’t be found? Did they kill her and stash the body somewhere on the ship?
Callie would make a convenient scapegoat if anyone looked too closely at the “natural death.”
I still didn’t want to be sweet, smart, and funny Augusta to be a murderer, but it was the only reason I could think of as to why she smelled like the cologne Callie kept as a reminder of Billy.
She’d had to have come in recent contact with Callie.
..or Callie’s body. It made me sick and sad.
The world wasn’t black and white, and unfortunately, sometimes good people did bad things.
As if my thoughts had conjured her, Augusta exited the ballroom and strolled over to us. Carl was right behind her, and he looked upset.
“Are you okay, Nora?” She gave me a sympathetic smile. “You gave me quite a scare in there when you had that seizure.”
It wasn’t a seizure, but I could see how seeing me mid-vision could look like one. “I’m okay,” I told her. I glanced at Helena. “But I don’t think you will be.”
She tucked her chin, and her eyes crinkled. “What do you mean?” There was something about the shape of them, the way they dipped at the corners...something I hadn’t noticed before. I couldn’t put my finger on it, though. In the end, I’m not sure it mattered.
“You arranged the trip to get Sebastian and Callie on the cruise, didn’t you?”
The question startled her. “Whatever do you mean?”
“What are you talking about, Nora?” Helena asked. “Why would Augusta do that?” She frowned then looked at the older woman. “Are you and Carl the investors?”
Augusta shook her head. “It wasn’t...” She clenched her eyes shut them opened them. “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“I am completely lost,” Jasper said. “Someone explain it to me.”
“Augusta is Billy Grant’s biological mother.”
Carl let out an angry grunt. “How dare—”
Augusta held a hand up to silence his denials. “I gave birth to Billy Grant,” she admitted.
Rebecca Hansen showed up. “What’s going on? I got a call there was a commotion in the ballroom. A passenger passed out or something.”
“It was me,” I told her. “I’m fine now.”
She narrowed her gaze at Augusta then Helena. “Is there something going on I should know about?”
“Sebastian’s death wasn’t an accident or natural causes.” I stared at her, daring her to tell me to stay out of it one more time. “And I don’t care what the cruise line wants you to do to avoid a scandal or a full-scale investigation.”
Ezra backed me up. “Caldwell didn’t get in that pool by himself. He was dragged there on a lounge chair and pushed into the water.”
“I’m the authority on this boat,” Hansen said. Her expression was determined. “I don’t have to discuss the investigation or its conclusions with you. And I’ve about had enough of your interference.”
Helena reached into her handbag and pulled out her identification. “I think we’ll take over from here,” she informed Hansen. “Lynn Maigret, FBI.”
Jasper took his wallet out and opened it, flashing his badge. “Paul Maigret, FBI.”
“I did it,” Augusta confessed. “I killed Sebastian Caldwell. I killed Callie, too.”
“Augusta,” Carl said sharply. “No!”
She put her hand on his cheek. “This is the right thing to do.”
He kissed her palm, and she closed her eyes for a moment, tears leaking from her eyes. “I don’t want anyone innocent getting blamed for something I made happen.”
Hansen looked surprised. “Well, uhm, this changes things.” She shook her head. “Sorry, Nora, I really thought...”
Augusta turned to me, and unexpectedly, she hugged me, as a stream of moments from her past flooded quickly through my mind.
It was as if her life were flashing before my eyes.
From giving birth, to meeting Carl, to passing the bar exam, and it went on.
None of them lasted long enough for me to grab onto one thing, and when Augusta let me go, they were gone.
In the years since my gift manifested, I’d never experienced anything like it. I looked at Augusta. She smiled at me. “It was so nice meeting you, Nora.”
Hansen was practically vibrating as she nodded to the FBI couple. “You can use my office if you want.”
Lynn, formerly known as Helena, said, “We’d be grateful for the space. Do you have handcuffs?”
Hansen took her cuffs out and handed them over. Paul, formerly known as Jasper, took them and placed them on Augusta’s wrists and read her the Miranda rights.”
“Augusta,” I called out, certain now she was covering for someone. “Don’t talk without a lawyer.”
Augusta might’ve thought she was doing something noble—something to pay back her son for giving him up all those years ago—but losing the life she’d built with Carl for crimes she didn’t commit would be more punishment than either of them deserved.
“I am a lawyer,” she replied as Lynn, Paul, and Hansen escorted her to the elevator.
“What did you see, Nora?” Ezra asked when they were out of earshot.
“Enough to know that Augusta is not a murderer. I’m pretty sure I know who is, though.” The pieces were falling into place. “We need to expose the real killer before we hit Cozumel. And I’ve got an idea of where to start.”