Grapes of Death Page 4

  “I don’t understand,” Elise leaned forward with false concern. “What has Uncle Edmond done?”

  Pam scrambled out of the booth, babbling madly. “I will not watch my business go under because of that loser, I’ll tell you that right now.”

  “Where is Uncle Edmond, Pam?” Elise asked as the owner turned to stalk away.

  Pam spun around and glared at her. Elise held her breath, thinking the woman might have a complete meltdown right then and there. But after a moment she shook her head. “I haven’t seen him since this morning, but if he comes back here, I just may choke the life out of him with my bare hands.”

  Once Pam was out of range, Elise let out the breath she hadn’t been aware she’d been holding. Yep, crazy lives right there behind Pam’s eyes, she thought.

  Another glance at her watch told her she had plenty of time to order some lunch. When she was finished she could even run a few errands and be right on schedule to drop by her uncle’s place before heading home for the day.

  Her phone later rang while she was in line at the post office, but it was Stuart and she let it go to voicemail. She didn’t have the energy for another push-pull conversation at the moment.

  Her next stop was dropping off some soil samples at the Extension Service, where her friend C.C. Duncan worked in the office. They’d been meaning to make plans for a girl’s night out anyway, so she spent thirty minutes chatting and piddling around there before heading out to her uncle’s.

  Edmond lived in a small house on the outskirts of Delphine, and it was just shy of four o’clock when Elise pulled into his driveway.

  She didn’t see his truck and decided it couldn’t hurt to take a look around. As she crossed the small wooden porch, she glanced through the living room window. Though she thought she heard something inside, she saw no movement.

  When her knock went unanswered, Elise rationalized her next action as something anyone would naturally do. She tried the door and found it unlocked. She convinced herself she should at least go in for a minute, make sure everything was okay. Seriously, like the old commercial said, what if he’s fallen and can’t get up?

  She giggled at her own joke. At least that’s what she’d say if she got caught snooping around!

  Slowly she eased the door open. “Hello? Uncle Edmond? Anybody home?”

  When she got no answer, she entered the house. Her first thought was a flashback to a line from an old black and white movie: What a dump. Empty pizza boxes and beer bottles littered the living room, along with dirty clothes that looked as if they’d been dropped where they’d been removed. Old newspapers and unopened mail covered the dining table, and the smell of stale smoke seemed to permeate the walls.

  Good Lord, she thought. Could this be any more disgusting?

  The idea that her uncle would prefer to live like this rather than to move out to the vineyard as her mother had suggested was dumb-founding. The air in the small space was as humid as outdoors but without the benefit of the occasional breeze. How the Texas air could be so humid and the soil so dry, she’d never understand.

  Picking up a ballpoint pen, Elise poked around in the paperwork on the table. There were lots of unpaid bills, and a few hand-written receipts for what looked to be sports bets. That couldn’t be good, but her mother had said he owed money.

  And then she ran across something even more unexpected and disturbing: paystubs.

  And not just any paystubs—these were from Kohler Winery. What the heck was going on? She wasn’t even aware that her uncle had a job, let alone one at a rival vineyard. If she hadn’t seen the proof with her own eyes, she would never have believed it. This was the ultimate betrayal.

  But why work for Henry Kohler? Hadn’t her mother said she’d offered him a job several times, but Edmond had turned her down? Was Henry the buyer her uncle had lined up in his ridiculous scheme to get out from under his debt? Though every vineyard owner in the area was looking for ways to increase their earnings, she couldn’t see Henry Kohler involved in something so underhanded. Besides, she was pretty certain Kohler Winery didn’t have that kind of cash just sitting around.

  Elise sighed. This entire thing was making less and less sense. Though it probably wasn’t a stellar idea, she shoved a few of the gambling markers and a couple paystubs into her purse. Heaven knew Edmond would never miss them in this mess, but they were something the others would need to see.

  Not wanting to venture any farther into her uncle’s rat’s nest for fear of being caught, Elise retreated to her car. She didn’t realize how guilty she felt about poking around her uncle’s house without his knowledge until her cell phone rang, startling her. She jumped and let out a nervous laugh.

  “Hey, El,” Ross greeted her. “Just wanted to let you know that I got a hold of Jackson, and he’ll be at the vineyard by eight thirty tomorrow morning.”

  “Oh, goody!”

  Ross snickered. “I can hear the nasty thought behind that sarcastic false joy of yours. And yes, it means another early morning for my sister, the night owl.”

  “Sadly, I do seem to be the only one in the family who didn’t get the early gene,” Elise said with a shake of her head. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was adopted. But that’s okay. I’ll drag myself out there at the crack of dawn—again.”

  “Yeah, well try not to be late. We get tired of waiting on you.”

  “Bite me,” she replied good-naturedly and then grew serious. “Ross … there is something I need to talk to you and Mom about, something important you should see. But I think it would be better to do it privately tomorrow morning—without Jackson present.”

  “That’s certainly sounds cryptic. What is it?”

  “I don’t want to discuss it over the phone.”

  “What’s going on, Elise? Where are you?”

  She almost didn’t tell him but in the end decided to fess up. “I’m at Uncle Edmond’s house,” she said and then had to pull the phone away from her ear when Ross began to yell.

  “What the hell are you doing out there? Have you lost your damn mind?”

  “I know, it was stupid, but I just wanted to hear his side of the story, you know? Don’t blow a gasket; he’s not even here, so it’s not a big deal.”

  She heard his deep sigh on the other end. “Get out of there before he comes back and catches you hanging around. It’s after four. Go home, El, and let it go. You have to accept the fact that Uncle Edmond is a lost cause. You can’t save everyone.”

  After she hung up, Elise drove back to her apartment with a heavy heart. She knew Ross was probably right, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was coming. And when bad things happened, you counted on family to see you through.

  Unfortunately, her uncle was about to lose what was left of his.

  As she drove out to the vineyard the following morning in the still-oppressive heat, Elise tried to make some kind of sense of the thoughts running through her mind. Sadly, she wasn’t having much luck. Stuart had called last night and brought up the job offer yet again. Their conversation had felt drawn out and tense, and she hadn’t even mentioned her uncle’s latest antics.

  Being the only one who didn’t live on the vineyard, she was again the last to arrive. Even Jackson was already there when she parked in front of the main house, so she didn’t have time to talk to Ross or her mother. Her visit to Pam’s restaurant and the news about finding the markers and the paystubs would have to wait until later.

  Grabbing a diet soda from the fridge, Elise sat down at the table as Jackson began to explain the process for filing the restraining order.

  “Once this order is signed and in place, Edmond won’t be allowed on Beckett property,” he told them. “If he shows up out here, you give us a call. We’ll come out and take him away. It’s as simple as that.”

  “Nothing is that simple, Jax,” Ross said wi
th a frown. “And I still say this isn’t enough. I can guarantee this won’t stop his harassment.”

  “It might not stop the harassment, Ross, but if he disregards this order, he faces a jail cell. That will be his choice.”

  “Jackson is right, Ross,” Laura said. “And we all agreed that this would be the first step. We’ll see how it plays out and go from there.”

  Before they could finish their discussion, there was a pounding at the back door. Laura got up and opened it to a frantic Carlos, accompanied by another vineyard employee. Both men nervously stepped into the kitchen.

  “Sorry to bother you, Señora Beckett,” Carlos began. “But we need the deputy right away.”

  “What’s the matter, Carlos? Why do you need Jackson?”

  “He must come quickly. There is a body.”

  “A body?” Elise jumped up, stunned by his statement. “Holy crap!”

  Madison gasped. “Seriously? As in, a dead body?”

  At the vineyard worker’s nod, Jackson stepped forward. “Calm down, Carlos,” he said, putting a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Where did you find this body?”

  “Down by the river. Please, you must come. We pulled him out of the water,” Carlos said, his eyes wide and words a bit disjointed. “I watch those crime shows, I know we shouldn’t have touched anything, but we didn’t think it was right to just leave him there, in the water.”

  “Him? It’s a male?”

  “Sí. It’s Señor Edmond.”

  Four

  The chaos that ensued following Carlos’s statement was epic. The room erupted into a cacophony of voices, all trying to speak at once, which resulted in no one actually being heard.

  Jackson braced himself, shook his head, and finally ended the melee with an ear-piercing whistle. “Holy smokes, y’all! Would everyone please just shut the hell up? I can’t hear myself think, let alone what Carlos is trying to tell me.”

  “Carlos, are you sure it was Edmond?” Laura asked in the lull. Hope that the farmhand might have been mistaken was written all over her face, and she looked crestfallen when he nodded.

  “Sí, Señora Beckett, I’m afraid so. He was face down in the water along the bank when we found him. But when we pulled him out and turned him over … well … it’s him.”

  “Tell me what happened from the beginning, Carlos.” It was obvious the guy was freaked out, and Jackson gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze as he tried to coax more details from him.

  The older man swallowed hard and briefly glanced in Elise’s direction. “There are several rows of vines down along the river at the south end of the vineyard that Miss Elise asked us to remove.”

  Jackson looked over at her for confirmation, and she nodded. “That section was planted years ago with a pretty frail variety. Those vines aren’t as disease-resistant as I’d like. Add in the drought we’ve been having, and they’re going to cost us more money in the long run than they’re worth. I asked Carlos to remove them to make room for the next wave of my hybrids that are almost ready for transplant.”

  Satisfied with her explanation, Jackson turned back to Carlos. “So, you and your crew went out to removes some vines. How did you find the body?”

  “We were unloading our tools from the truck and Bernardo spotted him. We all went running down the bank to pull him out, but it was obvious he was already dead. I had Bernardo and Casey stay with him, and Antonio and I came to get help.”

  This was so not the way Jackson had expected or wanted the situation with Edmond to end up. Rubbing a hand over his chin, he shot a quick look at Ross before addressing everyone in the room. “I’m going to have the men take me down to the scene, and I’d like a family member to come along. The rest of y’all should probably wait right here.”

  “Fine by me.” Abigail plopped down in a chair. “I didn’t much care for the man in the first place. I certainly have no desire to see his dead body.”

  “Mom!” Laura’s mouth dropped open. “For the love of God.”

  “Well, it’s not like it was a secret, Laura. I’m sorry he’s met with misfortune, but I’m not about to be a hypocrite, either.”

  “Think what you like but please keep it to yourself. And have a little more consideration for the dead.”

  At Abigail’s grunt of disapproval, Laura turned to Jackson. “Having said that, I’d rather not go, either. Ross can go with you, if that’s okay.”

  “Why Ross?” Elise wanted to know.

  “Why not me?” Ross asked. “I am the business manager for the farm.”

  Jackson watched Elise roll her eyes at that and thought, Here we go.

  “Big deal,” she returned. “I make sure the grapes grow and produce so you have something to manage. What difference does that make?”

  Deciding he’d better nip this argument in the bud before it got too far along, Jackson stepped in between them and put up a hand in both directions. “Okay, seriously? You want to argue over sibling crap now? Since you seem to need it, let me give you a reminder: your uncle is dead. He may not have been the most well liked man on the face of the planet, but I would think that you two would have a bit more consideration, like your mother just said.”

  When the two continued to stare at each other, he went on. “Elise, you’re more than welcome to come along, but I can guarantee it’s not going to be pleasant. Ross is probably just better suited—”

  He took a step back before he could stop himself when she rounded on him with her hands on her hips. “If you say he’s better suited because he’s a man, I just may have to thump you.” She took a breath and then blew it out slowly. “Look, this has nothing to do with sibling rivalry, trust me. And I realize how unpleasant it will probably be. I mean, how could it not be horrible, right? Uncle Edmond was family. And no, I’m not looking forward to it, but I think there should be at least a couple of family members present, that’s all I’m saying.”

  “Well, I don’t want to go down there,” Madison spoke up. “I’m with Gram. I have no wish to see any dead body—for any reason.”

  Jackson looked to Laura for confirmation, and she nodded. “Ross and Elise can go with you, if that’s what they want to do. The rest of us will stay here and wait, just as you asked.”

  With that settled, Jackson took his keys out of his pocket and gestured toward the back door. “All right, fine. Let’s go.”

  The five of them piled into Jackson’s cruiser and it didn’t take long to get to the spot where Edmond had apparently met his maker. As they pulled up, Jackson saw that the two vineyard employees chosen to stay behind with the body stood off to one side looking very uncomfortable. Finding a dead body had to rate as one of the crappiest ways to start your morning.

  Putting the car in park, he turned off the engine. “I don’t suppose y’all would agree to stay in the vehicle while I check this out?”

  “Not gonna happen.” Ross shook his head and put up both hands in surrender when Jackson gave him a hard look. “But I promise we won’t get in your way.”

  He climbed out, opening the back door for Elise. Together with Carlos and Antonio, Elise and Ross went to stand with the other employees while Jackson approached Edmond’s supine body.

  The morning air felt sticky and close, holding the earthy scent of river bottom and sandy loam. The warm sunshine made the dew that had accumulated overnight sparkle like a million tiny jewels. Elise reflected that it was the start of another lovely day, with the exception of a man lying dead on the riverbank thirty feet away.

  “Poor Uncle Edmond,” Elise said, her words sounding stark even to her own ears. “What on earth was he doing down here this morning?”

  “Who says this is where he died or that it happened this morning?”

  Elise frowned at Ross.

  Seeing her confused expression, he went on, keeping his voice low so the others couldn’t hear. “Well, thi
nk about it, El. When was he last seen? We know he was here causing trouble two nights ago, but he could have died anytime between then and now. He wasn’t at home when you stopped there yesterday, right?”

  She quickly put a finger to her lips in an effort to silence him. Until they found out exactly what had happened here, she’d just as soon not broadcast that she’d been poking around at her uncle’s house only yesterday afternoon—especially with a sheriff’s deputy within earshot.

  Ross snuck a glance at Jackson, who was taking photos of Edmond and the surrounding area. “Look, all I’m saying is that we don’t know when this happened yet. It’s entirely possible that he went into the water upstream, and this is just where he ended up.”

  Ross had brought up some good points. But as Elise studied the river and thought about his comments, she had to reject his theory.

  Shaking her head, she pointed out at the water. “Look out there, Ross. The current is really slow along this stretch of river. I mean, it’s barely moving here. And it’s wide as well for at least half a mile in both directions.”

  “So? What are you getting at?”

  Elise rolled her eyes. “Well, if he did go into the water upstream, depending on when and where, I’m wondering how he ended up in the shallows right here.” She watched Jackson snap several more photos of the body. “Plus, you know Uncle Edmond was on the swim team back in his high school days. He may have been older, but he was still a strong swimmer; with that sluggish current, he would have easily been able to get himself to shore.”

  Ross obviously wasn’t convinced. “Not necessarily. If he wasn’t conscious when he went into the water, it wouldn’t have mattered how well he could swim. He wouldn’t have had a chance to save himself. But we don’t know what happened yet, El. He could have fallen and hit his head. He knocks himself out and goes into the river. Game over.”

  “Maybe,” she replied, as Jackson searched Edmond’s front pockets and came up empty. Until they figured out just what had happened to her uncle, she knew this whole thing was going to prey on her thoughts. In her mind the mystery was compounded by the odd paystubs and numerous betting slips she’d found at his house. She hadn’t mentioned that aspect yet, but the whole thing was beginning to take on a decidedly sinister feel.