Chapter Twenty-Seven
“I HAVE TO SAY, YOU OUGHT TO SUE YOUR INTERIOR DESIGNER,” DAISY SAID.
Cordelia sat next to Daisy on a gold-trimmed settee and found she couldn’t disagree.
Edna’s parlor, as she called it, had maroon wallpaper stamped with gold fern leaves, a gold mantel over a black granite fireplace, and marble busts of both her and Corbin.
It was tackier than a swimsuit competition in a child’s beauty pageant.
Edna sneered. “Sorry, I’m not interested in taking the opinions of a . . . someone like you seriously,” she said, pulling back the insult at the last second.
Saving her life must’ve counted for something, but not enough as far as Cordelia was concerned.
“One more word, and I’ll throw you in my trunk and hand deliver you to Sean.
” She could put up with a lot of sass, but she wouldn’t stand for anyone disrespecting Daisy.
“We don’t like each other, so just get on with what you have to tell us so we can get out of your hair. ”
“Fine.” Edna shot Daisy another dirty look. “Sean O’Leary has proof that the miner’s legend is real. He came across a journal with a map in it.”
“Did he happen to come across this journal in Porter Sheldon’s safe in his locked house while he was out of town?” Daisy asked.
“I don’t know about all that.” Heat bloomed over Edna’s cheeks.
If Cordelia didn’t know how heartless she was, she might’ve said Edna was ashamed.
“Sean knows Corbin and I were trying to buy up the land for our own development purposes, so he made a deal with Corbin, and now we can’t make good on it.
The last person he partnered with who couldn’t make good on a deal ended up in a shallow grave a mile from Benedict’s. ”
Cordelia shivered. She didn’t doubt that Sean was capable of murder, but having it so bluntly confirmed chilled her to the bone. “What’s this miner’s legend about?”
“Sarsaparilla Falls used to be a mining town back in the 1800s,” Edna said.
“Rumor has it a man named Glenn Overbeck went digging for gold but came up with oil instead. Oil was new back then, but he was an educated man and wrote it down in his journal along with a map. Then he headed back to town with plans of getting in touch with George Bissell himself, but he got robbed that night and didn’t survive. ”
“That sounds like a lot of nonsense,” Cordelia said. There were rumors like that spread all over Texas. If it were true, it would’ve been discovered years ago, long before the journal fell into Porter Sheldon’s hands. “What kind of deal did Corbin make with Sean?”
Edna shook her head like she couldn’t believe the idiocy of her husband. “He told Sean if he helped us acquire the Chickadee, he could have the spot of land that allegedly held oil.”
If Corbin’s brains were leather, he wouldn’t have enough to saddle a June bug. He had no way of getting his hands on the Chickadee, and he should’ve known that from the get-go. Penelope’s trust was as airtight as a submarine. Not even Cordelia could get out of it.
“Is that why y’all tried to frame Daisy?” Cordelia asked.
Edna drew her neck back far enough to crack the bones. “What are you going on about?”
“Nothing.” Edna had only just quit accusing Daisy of murder, and Cordelia didn’t need to fan those flames again, despite their tentative ceasefire. “So Corbin made a stupid deal he couldn’t possibly honor, and you’re paying the price for it. Is that right?”
“In a nutshell.” Edna’s shoulders slumped, exhaustion deepening the circles under her eyes.
“How does the sheriff factor into this?” Cordelia asked.
“Sean has something on him.” Edna held up her hands. “I don’t know what, so don’t bother asking, but the sheriff has been making things easier for us because of our association.”
“What are you going to do now? Because Sean won’t go away. He might try to burn down your house next.” Daisy glanced around. “Although he might be doing you a favor there.”
“That’s for me and Corbin to worry about.” Edna stood. “You’ve got your answer, so you might as well leave, but don’t go thinking you’re better off than me. He wants the land the Chickadee is sitting on, and he’ll go around us if he has to.”
“Thanks for the warning.” Cordelia followed Edna to the front door and faced her on the stoop. “And since we saved your life tonight, I hope you’ll remember that before starting any more rumors about Daisy and the pastor.”
Edna shrugged. “I can’t do nothing about that.
We already gave our statement to the sheriff, and now that Honey’s out, he’s going to come calling again.
Corbin saw the pastor in the gas station parking lot, where the pastor stopped to fill up before heading out to the Chickadee.
Corbin gave him a bottle of wine and told him to split it with Daisy.
The pastor didn’t even try to deny where he was headed.
It’s all on camera, so it’s not on me to retract the statement. ”
Daisy clutched Cordelia’s wrist. “Corbin gave him the wine?”
“Yeah.” Edna gave Daisy a funny look. “Someone had given it to him, but he doesn’t drink red wine, so he gave it to the pastor, mainly just to goad him about stepping out on his wife. That’s how we know he was at the Chickadee that night.”
“Who gave Corbin the wine?” Cordelia asked, heart racing.
“I don’t know, and I don’t much care.” Edna stared at her nails, making it clear she considered their questions a waste of time.
Both Cordelia and Daisy were at a loss for words. This was the closest they’d come to finding out who killed the pastor, and it was still so far out of reach. When they just stood there, slack-jawed, Edna rolled her eyes and shut the door in their faces.
So much for their tentative truce.
Daisy began to stutter, but Cordelia jerked her chin to the neighbors, who quickly fled from their front window, their curtains still waving.
The last thing they needed was to get the town’s tongues wagging.
They could try to get some answers out of Corbin later, but Cordelia’s more pressing priority was getting them all out from under Sean’s thumb.
And to do that, she was going to need help from someone other than the sheriff’s office. It wasn’t safe.
“I’m going to take you home.” Cordelia kept her voice low as she unlocked her car. “I need you, Arline, and Belinda Sue to cancel all your appointments tonight and hole up together in someone’s room, don’t care whose, until I get back.”
“Where are you going?” Daisy asked.
“To do something I probably should’ve done a while ago.
” Cordelia had trust issues, there was no denying it, but she should’ve been up front with Archer from the start about the palytoxin.
Now that all the pieces were falling into place, she could see she’d made a serious error in not giving him all the information when he asked.
They drove home in silence, with Daisy gnawing the color off her bottom lip and shooting worried glances at Cordelia. At the Chickadee, Daisy didn’t move from the car. “I think you ought to let us come with you. Safety in numbers.”
“I’m not putting myself in danger,” Cordelia said. “Just do like I asked. I should be home within a few hours. If I’m not, then feel free to come looking for me.”
“I’ll hold you to it.” Daisy finally opened the passenger door and stepped out. “And in case I don’t tell you enough, you’re filling Miss Penelope’s shoes just fine.”
A small smile touched Cordelia’s lips. “Thanks for that.”
She didn’t think she’d ever live up to her Great-Aunt Penelope, but it touched her that Daisy cared enough to say so anyway.
Once Daisy had stepped inside Belinda Sue’s room and closed the door behind her, Cordelia headed to Archer’s office, where she was sure she’d find him working late.
This time without the gimmicks or costumes, but for a real honest conversation.
Something different for the two of them.
Cordelia parked her car in front of his office window, and just as she predicted, a light remained on.
The only one in the building. Blowing out her breath, she approached his door and knocked.
When his thick, gruff voice invited her in, her knees wobbled a bit.
This would change things between them. He might be angry she hadn’t come to him sooner, but with Sean probably coming to on a lonely patch of deserted road in the brush country, she didn’t have time to continue playing games or acting like she had everything under control.
As soon as Archer saw her, he jumped to his feet, but he didn’t approach her. He just kept his distance and eyed her warily. God, she’d forgotten how much he appealed to her, against her better judgment. How could a preacher’s son have been so clearly born for sin?
“Hey,” Cordelia said, then cringed. She’d never addressed anyone as “Hey” in her life. “Do you have a minute to talk?”
“I suppose.” Archer ran a hand through his hair, sending the dark curls cascading across his deeply tanned forehead. He pulled out the chair across from his desk. “Have a seat.”
As soon as her rear hit the cushion and she sank into the soft leather, she realized that placed her eye level with his chest. The spot was meant to be a clear disadvantage to anyone opposing him, but it put her at a disadvantage for another reason.
The way his muscles stretched the fabric of his button-down shirt should’ve been considered an illegal distraction.
She tried, and failed, to keep her gaze above his neck.
His knowing look was the only thing that managed to get her back on track. She cleared her throat. “I haven’t been completely honest with you.”
“Really?” He sat back in his chair. “What a surprise. That you’re actually admitting it.”
Ignoring him, she moved past the barb, not letting her temper with him get the better of her. For once. “What do you know about palytoxin?”
“I failed chemistry class.”
“That’s funny. I would’ve thought you did just fine with chemistry.”
His eyes darkened as his gaze dropped to her lips. “Maybe I missed my calling.”
“I . . . um.” Cordelia’s cheeks flushed. They’d gotten off track. Damn those inconvenient pheromones. “It’s a toxic substance.”
“A what now?” His forehead furrowed as the spell he’d been under seemed to lift. “What does a toxic substance have to do with anything?”
“That’s what killed your daddy.” Cordelia took a deep breath. Here went nothing. “Someone slipped palytoxin into a bottle of wine, hoping Corbin Abernathy would drink it, but he gifted it to the pastor instead. I’m sorry.”
“Hold on.” Archer stood, holding his palm out as he pinched his brow. “How do you know any of this?”
“Your daddy didn’t die in the church.” Cordelia pinched her lips together, knowing what she said next could ruin everything between them.
“He died in Daisy’s room after drinking poisoned wine.
We moved his body because we thought he had had a heart attack and should be found someplace more respectable. For your momma’s sake.”
“Son of a—” He began pacing. “And you’re just telling me this now?”
“We thought you’d pin it on Daisy.” Just saying it out loud made Cordelia realize how wrong she’d been about not telling him from the get-go. “We tampered with a body and evidence and all that.”
“Hell, Delia. What am I supposed to say to that?” He buried his hands in his hair. “I knew y’all were lying to me, but I thought he’d gotten sick at Daisy’s and she kicked him out and felt guilty about it or something. Not this.”
“I know.” Cordelia could feel the panic rising in her chest, her breath getting shorter.
“I screwed up, and I’m so sorry, but I’m trying to be a hundred percent honest with you because we’ve got a bigger problem on our hands now.
Sean O’Leary kidnapped Edna Abernathy tonight.
Don’t worry, she’s fine, but now I’m certain he plans to take us all out. ”
“For crying out loud.” Archer collapsed in his chair. “What exactly have y’all gotten yourselves into? Sean O’Leary is not someone you want to mess with.”
“It started when you told us your daddy had been poisoned.”
Cordelia went on to explain the steps they’d taken to find the real killer.
From the trip to Bramble Park, Val’s winery and the stolen guest book and their sudden appearance at church, why she’d been so distracted on their date, the whole fiasco at Benedict’s, why they’d broken into the Abernathys’ warehouse, how they’d gotten mixed up with Sean O’Leary, what he suspected about the Chickadee’s history, what she suspected about the sheriff, and how they ended up rescuing Edna out in the brush country.
She spared no details. By the time it was all said and done, he knew it all.
And he was not pleased with her.
“You know how much trouble this would’ve saved if you’d come to me immediately?” Archer swore under his breath. “Do I even need to ask if you destroyed the wine bottle?”
“It went out with the trash that week.”
“That’s just great. I’m going to guess you’ve also got a perfectly reasonable explanation for why Daisy didn’t end up poisoned as well?”
“She doesn’t drink on the job. It’s in her code of ethics.”
“Of course it is.” He got on the phone with someone and sent them out to round up Sean and Jameson, then hung up. “Chances are, he’s long gone by now. I don’t want any of you ladies staying at the Chickadee tonight. A B&B just opened up in town. I’ll get you a guard.”
“You don’t have to do that,” Cordelia muttered.
“Unfortunately, I do.” Archer flung his phone on the desk. “Tell me more about this palytoxin. Knowing you, I assume you’ve researched all the ins and outs of it.”
“It grows on coral, so it can only be found in saltwater tanks. It can be deadly to humans and causes cardiac arrest, which is why Daisy thought your daddy had a heart attack.” Cordelia knotted her fingers together.
“It was how we initially tried to track down the killer. Saltwater tanks are hard to maintain and not a lot of people have them.”
“You said this toxin is only found in saltwater tanks?” The color drained from his face. “Are you sure about that?”
“I mean, I suppose it could grow on coral in the Gulf, but that seemed less likely.”
“Damn it.” Without warning, he jumped to his feet and stormed out the door.