I sat in the hospital room’s chair, waiting to be discharged. My arm hung loosely in a sling and bandages covered my left shoulder and forearm and the bottoms of my feet. Javi stood, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, an amused expression on his face. Dayna sat next to me on my hospital bed. Javi had brought a large bouquet of flowers that stood on my windowsill, brightening up the room.
“Why does it always take forever for a hospital to discharge a patient? How hard could it be to get a couple of prescriptions for antibiotics, get my discharge instructions printed, and get me out of here?”
“Kate almost dies in a fistfight with an eighty-year old man, and now she’s anxious to get out of here?’ Javi said to Dayna.
“I didn’t almost die! I will admit, though, I am not proud that I lost track of my gun.”
“Yeah,” Dayna said to Javi, “That was the problem!”
“Hey!” I said. “Edward had everybody fooled, not just me. Who knew he could move so fast?”
“Not you, apparently.” Javi gave me a grin. “Honestly, Kate, we should all admit it. Not one of us was right about who was murdering the members of your HOA.”
“Okay, yes, I admit it! I was wrong, at least about it being Beatrice. You probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you I figured it out that day.”
“Whoa! What was that? Javi, did you record that on your phone? Kate actually stated that she was wrong!” Dayna said.
I laughed. “How did an eighty-year old survive a lightning strike?”
“The umbrella had a fiberglass handle. It attenuated the electricity from the lightning by a significant amount.”
“That was lucky for him.”
“Him? You were the one who got lucky! You got lucky that he was hit by lightning, and you got lucky that your friend Becca stopped and called the police.”
“Eh. I would have thought of something. No old man was going to get the best of me.”
Javier and Dayna exchanged a look, and I could swear I saw Dayna rolling her eyes.
“While you were tied up in the hospital, you missed all the fun stuff! Thanks to your tips, we interviewed Max the pool guy and Brady the bug guy, and they both admitted to giving Felyne kickbacks. We told both of them that the other had already confessed, but if they came clean right then, we would go easy on them. Those two men couldn’t start talking fast enough!
“And get this! They not only gave up Felyne, they also gave us the names of several other HOA managers that are doing this. It’s a poorly kept secret that certain managers get contracts for their favorite contractors in exchange for a little cash under the table. We’ve got a full-time person now just looking into all of the contractors and tracing them back to the HOA management companies that hired them.”
I shook my head. So many lies, so many crimes in one neighborhood. Actually, multiple neighborhoods.
“Felyne was for sure on the take, then?”
“Very much so. She was getting $50 every time Brady’s company came out to get rid of a wasp’s nest, above and beyond what was in his weekly maintenance contract. Felyne manages ten HOA’s, so she makes one call to Brady about a wasp nest in all ten of her managed HOA’s equals $500 for the day. Cash. And Brady wasn’t the one going to look for wasps. He had a teenaged kid he was paying minimum wage to who he told to arrive at the site in uniform and with all of the equipment, and if he saw something, he should spray it. The HOA pays Brady $145 per visit, Brady pays Felyne $30, pays the kid $15, and makes a cool $100. We’re still working out how many of Brady’s contracts had this deal, but say it’s ten total, then he’s making $1000 extra about every two weeks, and it all looks like legitimate income.
“For the pool, she was receiving $25 for a call to come shock the pool if a kid defecated in it. One call, Max goes out to each HOA pool, puts up a sign that the pool is closed for two hours, and she makes $250 in one day. And here’s the thing: on average, each HOA had a call for this about once per week, which gives Felyne roughly $1000 per month for pool shocking. Plus, the pool company has third-row, season tickets to the Los Angeles Lakers games, which they rotate through each of the managers they work with. Felyne not only gets the cash, she goes to Lakers games for free roughly ten times a season.”
“It’s no wonder she shut Cynthia down on hiring her new amore.”
“That’s right. And, there’s more. Every time a new annual contract was signed, like for grounds maintenance, irrigation repairs, pet waste pickup, there was a signing bonus, paid in cash to the manager. We found they varied, but it looks like the norm was about $1000.”
“What does Felyne say?”
“She’s adamant that she neither killed Angie nor did she try to kill Angie, and she’s still trying to make Cynthia the bad guy here.
“According to Felyne, Angie had hired that forensic accountant and was close to finding out about her more lavish lifestyle. First, she decided to talk to Cynthia about it to see what she knew, but Cynthia was too wrapped up in her affair to care.
“Felyne is no fool, though. While at the coffee shop, she handed Cynthia the jar of jelly and told Cynthia to take it to Angie’s as a peace offering. She was trying to make it so that if somebody found out about the jelly, it would be Cynthia’s problem. She told Cynthia that Angie had found out about her affair and was going to tell Tony.”
“Felyne says of course Cynthia was in on the kickbacks. She claims she knew all about them. That’s really what the fight at the coffee shop was about. Cynthia wanted her new boy toy to get the contract for pool maintenance, but Felyne didn’t want to give up the cash cow that was the current contractor. According to Felyne, Cynthia didn’t care about the money anymore. Cyn threatened Felyne with exposing the entire scheme if she didn’t give Lars the contract.
“Felyne said that’s how the jelly came up. Cynthia knew about Felyne’s special jelly and ASKED for some to give to Angie so that they could buy time to get all of this worked out, and Felyne gave her some at the coffee shop.
“Felyne thought if they gave Angie the jelly, she would be laid up, and she would have time to get the contractors to “update” their books so that the Forensic Accountant couldn’t find the money they gave her. But Angie never ate the jelly, so when Felyne was invited to Angie’s house that Saturday, she talked Angie into opening it and having some.”
“When I spoke with Cynthia, she said she knew about the kickbacks and the jelly, but it was all Felyne.”
“Yup. Felyne did a good job of trying to point the finger at Cynthia, but the fact of the matter is that the kickbacks were going into her own account, and the jelly was made with her own lilies. It’s a strong case against her. I don’t anticipate any charges for Cynthia since she came clean and gave us plenty of evidence.”
“And Beatrice? Was she involved?”
“Beatrice still claims not to know anything about the jelly or the plot against Angie. She was quite bitter. She’d been cut into the kickback deal and was receiving a more modest sum of money herself. From what we can gather, Beatrice received roughly 10% of Felyne’s income from Sunhaven HOA’s monthly extra deals, which doesn’t add up to much, but she also got 50% of the cash back for the annual contracts. So it wasn’t enough to buy herself a lavish lifestyle, but she was netting a couple thousand or more every year. It was a sweet deal for her, because all she had to do was approve Felyne’s contracts and then sit back and let the money roll in. When Angela was voted in instead of her, the money stopped, and Felyne decided to take all of it for herself.”
“That makes sense. Beatrice was exceptionally angry about that vote.”
“And now we know why.”
“Will she face any charges?”
“Oh, yeah. Her soon-to-be-ex husband is cooperating. He handed over all of their financial records. He didn’t want to have anything to do with any of this, at least, according to him.”
I nodded. “That tracks with what Peter Barlow told me.”
“Uh, yeah,” Javier glanced over to Dayna. “Would you mind trying to find the nurse to see if we can get this one out of here?”
Dayna grinned at the two of us. “Sure, Boss,” she said as she left the room.
Javier pulled a chair up right next to mine. “I’m sorry.”
“You seem to be saying that a lot lately,” I said, slightly bemused.
“I’m an idiot. You were right all along.”
“I get the feeling we’re not talking about the case anymore.”
“No, we were both wrong about that.”
“Yeah, but I was less wrong than you were.”
Javi laughed, leaning back and running his hand through his cropped hair. He took a deep breath. “How was your date with the accountant?”
“How did you find out about that? Dayna!”
“Not Dayna.” He used two fingers to point at his own eyes and then at me. “I’m law enforcement. I see all. Did he, you know, stay over?”
“That’s none of your business!”
“You’re right. Again. Look—” he scooched his chair even closer to mine. “I’m an idiot. I was resentful that your business was taking off and taking time away from us, and maybe I was even a little jealous. Nobody ever gets rich being a public servant, and I guess I thought a dog tech company was cute, kind of like a side thing.” Javi ran a hand through his hair. “I did think I wanted somebody who’d be there for me when I got home every night, but the reality is that Sheila is suffocating. You were always a lot of things, but you were never suffocating.”
“What was I?”
“What?”
“I was ‘always a lot of things.’ What was I?” I saw where this was going, but I needed him to work for it.
“Fun. And funny. And exasperating and stubborn as hell, and always a surprise.”
That sounded fair.
Silence between us swelled as Javi studied his hands. He was trying to tell me something here, and I was determined not to make it easy for him.
“I’ve left Sheila.”
“You’ve mentioned that before.”
“Yeah, but this time I really did it. I moved out of the house. I told her I want a divorce.”
Whoa! That was something. I wasn’t sure what, but it was something.
“I’ll admit it. I was jealous when you went out with that Barlow guy. I couldn’t believe you’d go for an accountant type.”
“He’s actually—”
“Doesn’t matter.” Javi put his hands up, stopping me from finishing that thought, and I laughed inwardly.
“And then when we got to your place, and you were dripping blood like crazy, I just…”
“I know.” I put my hand over his.
“I don’t think you do.”
“Javi, look at me.” He turned his tortured face towards mine. “I’m okay. I was always going to be okay.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
I was feeling a million things all at once - hope, concern, and there was maybe still some anger in there. But just like I had a million other times in board rooms and Venture Capital firms and in front of my employees when money was getting scarce, I had to put my feelings away so that I could examine them later, when I was much more clear-headed. I started to tell him as much when Dayna and my nurse showed up with a wheelchair.
“Are you ready to get out of here?” the nurse chirped.
Dayna gave me a big grin and raised her eyebrows at me. I shook my head and shrugged.
“Definitely! Can you give me a hand? My feet still hurt.” I could feel Javi and Dayna exchanging looks behind my back. That was okay. I had spent a lot of time in my hospital bed, after the doctors pulled a slug out of my shoulder, sewed up my forearm, and pulled glass out of many other parts of my body, rethinking a lot of my preconceived notions about people. Clearly, I understood pets much better than I understood people. That would be something else to ponder later.
We arrived at my house, and a sob caught in the back of my throat. For once, I was at a loss for words.
Across the front of my home, somebody had hung a banner that said, “Welcome Home, Kate!” About fifty people were hanging out on my front yard, and they all clapped as I got out of the car.
I felt overwhelmed. I’d never received this kind of reception for anything I’d ever done. Javi rushed to my side to help me walk up the drive, his arms warm against my waist. I leaned on him as I walked. “I’ve got you,” he said, low enough that only I could hear.
Seeing Becca in front of everybody else, I motioned her over and gave her the biggest, most crushing hug ever. It looked like for once, Becca, too, was at a loss for words.
I invited everybody in, and Mr. Tuttles ran up to me, his little paws also covered in bandages. I almost cried to see him as I picked him up, cuddling him close.
What in the world is happening to me? Am I becoming sentimental?
Tony Barron, Cynthia’s husband, greeted me at the door, offering me an arm to steady myself, and people poured inside. They had all put together a potluck with finger foods and desserts. “Thank you,” Tony said as he set me on the couch. “For all your help, and, well, everything.” He grinned at Cynthia from across the room, and she grinned back.
Looks like those two made up!
Tony leaned over and planted a gentle kiss on my cheek, and I swear I blushed. Stormy watched me from the staircase, her eyes wide circles of obsidian black.
Javi sat on the couch next to me while Dayna gave me a silent thumbs up and went to the kitchen, leaving me to greet everybody as they came by to say hi and thank me.
Cynthia came over and squeezed my hand. “Kate, I can’t thank you enough for everything you’ve done for me.” I felt a little ashamed at her words, since all I had mostly done was try to coerce her into giving me more information, but I squeezed her hand back and gave her a warm smile. She looked down at her shoes and then back up to me. “I’ve decided to give Tony another chance. He said the affair was three years ago when we’d separated, but all it did was make him realize how much he wanted to be with me, and then the other woman told him she was pregnant.”
“I’m sorry. That’s a mess. How are you holding up?”
“I’ll be okay. You’ve inspired me, Kate. You’re the strongest woman I know.”
Peter Barlow walked over with two glasses of iced tea, handed me one, and sat down on the other side of me. I rewarded him with a huge smile, and I felt my heart beat a little faster. Javi frowned at him.
Let him frown. A little competition never hurt anybody.
“I’ll agree with that.” Pete held up his iced tea and we clinked glasses.
“If by strongest, you mean most obstinate or single-minded, then I’ll agree too!” Javi said with a cookie in one hand and iced tea in the other. We clinked glasses again while I laughed.
“Look!” Dayna held up the local newspaper. “You’re famous!”
The headline read: “SUNHAVEN SLASHER CAUGHT! Former Palm Hills CEO solves case of HOA killer.”
I pointed to the headline. “That’s not particularly accurate, is it? Angie was killed by a hit over the head, not being slashed.”
“Sure, but I think that headline probably sells more papers.” Peter reached out and tucked a bit of hair behind my ear. “I don’t care what they call him, I’m just glad you’re okay.”
Javi gave Peter a look and put his hand on my shoulder. “We’re all glad you’re okay.”
I gave them both a happy grin. I was glad I was okay, too. I turned to Peter. “Does this mean we’re still on for another date?” I asked as Javier shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
“Well, the first time you ran out on me, and the second time you got yourself shot, which I’m hoping wasn’t a way to get out of another date with me.”
“It wasn’t, I promise.”
“Then, yes, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Javi coughed, turning his head away.
Dayna gave me a knowing grin, and I swear I blushed.
Retirement was looking better and better to me, and I thought I knew what I wanted to do with all of my new time, separate from sorting out my feelings for the different men in my life. I’d been researching criminal justice degrees online. I wasn’t sure what all of that would look like right now, but I found I was drawn to true crime. I sat between Javi and Peter and thought that, right now, I was just going heal and not think about the future. It seemed to hold a lot of promise.