A Good Day for Chardonnay (Sunshine Vicram #2) - Darynda Jones Page 0,77
me you did it.”
Zip.
“Then again, half the town has confessed to that killing.”
Zero.
“Including Jimmy.”
That got him. He turned to her in surprise. “Jimmy?”
“Mind telling me why half the town is confessing to a fifteen-year-old murder?”
“My nephew, Jimmy?”
“The one and only.”
He cursed and turned away from her. “They’re all lying.”
“Including Wynn? The DNA test came back with a match. Wynn Ravinder.”
He looked down in confusion, then said, “That’s not possible.”
“DNA tests don’t lie.”
“But people do.”
“You have another explanation?”
“I already gave it to you. I killed him.” His tone was razor-sharp when he added, “He’s playing you.”
Sun looked out the window. “The evidence says otherwise. He’s requested to be moved to Santa Fe. The DA is getting it done as we speak.”
As though that answered everything, he leaned his head back, the barest hint of a smile lining his mouth. “Of course.”
“He also says he knows who Kubrick’s accomplice was,” she added, her stomach clenching at the thought. “Auri’s biological father.”
The stunned expression he turned on her made her take a mental step back. “Is that what this is about?” His reaction was genuine. Nobody was that good.
“He’s going to sign a full confession,” she said, testing him further, “and tell me who the accomplice was in exchange for the move.”
Her phone rang, the sound just sharp enough to cut through the tension.
“Hey, Quince,” she said, thankful for the interruption.
“You aren’t going to believe this.”
She sat up straighter and put him on speakerphone. “Try me.”
“Guess who got paroled a couple of weeks ago. And there’s no way this is a coincidence, boss.”
It took her a sec, but then it dawned on her. “No way.”
“Yep. Matthew Kent. Elliot’s father.”
16
Caller reported a suspicious man carrying
duct tape, rope, and a shovel.
Chief Deputy Cooper responded.
It was the stock boy at Del Sol Hardware.
—DEL SOL POLICE BLOTTER
Mrs. Kent still lived in the same house she had during Mr. Kent’s trial. The same house Elliot went missing from. As happened often in child abduction cases where the children were never found, she’d never moved. She even drove the same maroon minivan, now scarred and falling apart.
Sun knocked on the door, and the woman who answered was hardly recognizable. Her lids were lined with red, her nose pink from a fresh bout of tears.
“Mrs. Kent?” Sun said, stepping closer.
“My husband isn’t home,” she said. She started to close the door, but Sun showed her ID to stop her. It was only then that Mrs. Kent took a closer look.
“I’m Sunshine Vicram. I was the lead detective on Elliot’s case.”
The surprise that registered on her face was unmistakable. “Detective Vicram?” she said, as though unable to believe it.
“Sheriff now. But please call me Sunshine. How are you?”
Her demeanor did a one-eighty. Changed from surprise to wariness. She looked over her shoulder, and said, “I’m okay. Is there—is everything all right? Have you heard anything?”
“May we come in?”
She hesitated, trying to come up with an excuse not to let them in. Apparently finding none, she reluctantly opened the door. She seemed healthy and yet there was a frailness to her. A nervousness.
When Levi stepped across the threshold, she gasped aloud. “Occupational hazard,” he said to explain his general appearance.
“Are you going somewhere?” Sun asked. The entryway was lined with luggage.
A child, no more than six or seven by the sound of his voice, called out to her, “Mom, can I bring Harold?”
“Sure, honey.” She looked back at Sun. “His turtle. I’m … we’re going to my mother’s house in Albuquerque for a few days.” She kept them as close to the door as she could without being rude.
“Oh. Is your husband going, too?”
She bit down. “No. He’s not. In fact, he’ll be home any minute. Is there something you needed?”
“Yes. Do you know a man named Keith Seabright?”
Sun’s poker face needed a little work done—a nip here, a tuck there—but Addison Kent’s needed a complete transplant.
“No,” she said after wresting her expression back into neutral. Sun put a hand on her arm. “Addison, you know you can tell me anything.”
Her nerves fried, she shook her head. “There’s nothing to tell, Sunshine. Is that all you wanted? We need to get on the road.”
A young boy ran into the entryway and plopped down a cage with a turtle in it. “Are you here for Daddy?” he asked.
Levi laughed softly.
“No, honey,” Sun said. “Is this Harold?”
“The second. Harold the first escaped last year.”
“Oh. Little scoundrel.”
He laughed and took off again.
“Addison, are you in danger?”
“What?”
“Your husband just got out of prison and you’re escaping