Truth or Die Read online

  Truth or Die

  (The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries, Book Six)

  Amy Saunders

  Truth or Die

  Copyright © 2017

  http://amysaundersauthor.com

  Smashwords Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  Other Books by Amy Saunders

  The Belinda & Bennett Mysteries

  Cliffhanger (Book One)

  Auf’d (Book Two)

  Drive-Bye (Book Three)

  Overkill (Book Four)

  Misfortune (Book Five)

  Two to Tango (A Mini Mystery)

  Unexpected (A Short Story)

  Personal Shopper (A Short Story)

  Royal Ties

  A Royal Affair (Book One)

  The Birthright Series

  Inborn (Book 1)

  Marked (Book 2)

  Descent (Book 3)

  Standalone Titles

  Biohazard (A Novella)

  The Jester’s Apprentice

  Dead Locked

  Chapter 1

  Belinda did not see that coming. Even if she’d imagined what this moment might be like, and she had, nothing remotely like this ever entered her consciousness.

  Kyle, her twin brother, had been gone for around seven months. After planning and saving and talking about it, he’d finally left as part of the crew of a sailing yacht owned by the father of his high school friend, Mark Nichols. A childhood dream finally realized.

  Belinda had never been so excited for him in all her life, even if a little–well, maybe a lot–sad that he’d be away so long. They’d shared a home all that summer, and she’d grown used to him being around all the time. But Kyle deserved to go, and they’d seen him off last fall with nothing but good feelings.

  Kyle had made it safe and sound to Sydney, Australia, and kept in touch pretty frequently his whole time away. Belinda adjusted to having the house they rented together all to herself, maybe a little too much, and kept busier than she expected over the winter. Before she knew it, it was spring again, and Kyle was coming home to Portside, their coastal Rhode Island home.

  That morning, Belinda awoke with excited and nervous butterflies competing for attention in her stomach. She had no reason to be nervous. She knew Kyle was safe, and it had only been a few months, not years. But her stomach still twisted up as she met with her parents to greet her brother at the marina. And whatever she thought, or worried, might have changed him in all that time was completely wrong.

  Belinda snagged a runaway strand of blonde hair and pushed it behind her ear. She’d rolled her waves into a bun to combat the wind, her crochet-knit cardigan buttoned and tied over a light pink, flowery sleeveless blouse to pin them down. It was the right decision to pass over the skirt she’d considered wearing, going instead for her white skinny jeans.

  She stood on her tiptoes to see, finally making out the top of someone who could be him. He drew closer, other crewmates moving aside. Belinda bounced on her toes as the definite form of her brother came into focus. She almost yelled out for him, but the words caught in her throat as Kyle left the spectacle near the yacht.

  Belinda expected him to be more bronze than usual, probably hauling the duffle bag he’d left with. She did not expect him to come striding toward them holding hands with a woman she’d never seen before. All the butterflies in Belinda’s stomach crashed into each other and exploded.

  Her mom waved her arms overhead, and Belinda stared wide-eyed and straight-mouthed as Kyle saw them and grinned, his teeth sparkly against his sun-kissed face. His golden-brown eyes, the same as Belinda’s, were hidden behind sunglasses, while his brown hair blew off his forehead in the wind. It still appeared longish and shaggy, though possibly a little lighter than when he left. He wore the sailing crew’s uniform of boat shoes, shorts, and a polo shirt, and he’d gone all Portside-style, flipping up the collar.

  The woman followed him down the dock and up the ramp to the parking lot where his family waited. All of Belinda’s bubbles had burst at once, and she couldn’t move from her spot, her flats glued to the cracked pavement. Their mother only hesitated a moment, then lunged, squeezing the life out of him first. Then she grasped his face in her hands, her eyes sparkling. “My baby still looks the same! I was so worried I wouldn’t recognize you…”

  Everyone talked over each other as Kyle moved on to their dad, clasping hands, then embracing. Belinda watched like she was an outside observer, her eyes darting to the woman with dark, wavy hair that cascaded below her shoulders hanging back at a polite distance.

  In a trance, Belinda started at someone’s touch, realizing that Kyle was standing right in front of her. He grasped her shoulders, pulling her in for a hug. She wrapped her arms around him mechanically, proving this was all real and not one of the weird dreams she’d had about his return. She made herself smile wide as he pulled away and backed up toward the woman still lingering in the vicinity.

  Kyle put his arm around her, bringing her closer to the half-circle Belinda and her parents made. Belinda had to force herself to concentrate as he said, “Mom, Dad, Bels...I want you to meet my girlfriend, Gisel.”

  Kyle and Gisel smiled, and several seconds crept by until her parents exchanged a look and reached out to shake hands with Gisel. “So nice to meet you,” their mom said. And their father repeated the sentiment a few seconds later. Then Kyle and Gisel turned toward Belinda expectantly, and she forced her feet, which felt cemented in place, forward to also do the congenial thing and shake hands.

  What she wanted to do was ring Kyle’s neck.

  How many times had they talked or emailed since he left? And not once–not once–did he say a thing about having met someone! Never mind that it was serious enough to call her his “girlfriend.” But there they stood, casual as sea cucumbers, not the least bit ruffled that this might all come as a shock to his family.

  To her.

  But she smiled and shook hands like this was the greatest thing ever.

  “So,” Kyle said, “Gisel and I have to help finish up here and then we’ll meet you back at the house.”

  We’ll? Belinda thought.

  “If that’s okay with you?” Kyle added, glancing between their parents. They nodded out of sync that it was fine, their mother giving a reassuring smile to Gisel.

  “Of course,” their mom said. “We’d love to have you! Just hurry up. We can’t wait to hear about everything!”

  Everything presumably meaning how on earth there’d come to be a “we” in this scenario.

  Kyle grinned at Belinda again, who attempted to return it. Her mouth drooped as she watched her brother and his girlfriend jog back to the hundred-foot beast of a sailboat, the navy sides starting to glisten in the sunlight as deckhands sloshed soap and water onto it, rinsing away the salt. They climbed aboard, the girlfriend laughing at something Kyle said.

  Belinda harrumphed internally, crossing her arms.

  “Well...” Her m
other, Rosalind, turned toward Belinda. “That was...unexpected. Then again, Kyle is always full of surprises.” She tilted her head. “Though I am surprised he never said anything to you, honeybee. Unless you were sworn to secrecy.”

  Belinda shook her head, her eyes still on the boat, though Kyle and the girlfriend were out of sight. “He never said a word.”

  Her mom pursed her lips and inhaled, but turned to more practical matters, worrying if they had enough food at the house. Her father shrugged, saying, rather automatically, that he thought it would be fine. Her mom turned to her for an opinion, but Belinda could barely process anything else, nodding absently that she thought they had enough. They split up to get back to the house and make sure everything was ready, and Belinda stalked back to her silver Mini Cooper parked at the far side of the marina lot to return to their family home across town.

  She hated surprises. Especially like this. And Kyle knew that.

  Of course, that didn’t mean he always paid any mind to it. In fact, she could think of plenty of times he totally ignored it, and shrugged when she blew her top.

  Belinda sighed, crashing into her car. No matter how she sliced it, this might be a long afternoon.

  Chapter 2

  In a different section of Portside closer to the Gilded Age mansions dotting the ocean cliffs, Detective Jonas Parker stared down into a backyard pool–and the floating corpse of a young woman. Her body, facedown, drifted closer to his side. Jonas’ mouth arched down, his eyebrows knitted together above his green eyes.

  The woman was fully clothed, in something you might wear out to dinner, if he was correct, but missing shoes. Her long, chestnut brown hair floated out around her, her jacket billowing up to the surface. There was something about her figure that reminded him of his girlfriend, Ardith.

  “Her mother found her this morning.”

  Jonas blinked, straightening up to face his sometimes-partner, Soto. He stood with legs splayed, tie blowing around, and notebook open. Jonas cleared his throat. “That’s unfortunate.”

  “Yeah...but what is fortunate is that she didn’t touch anything.” Soto locked his clear brown eyes onto Jonas. “She saw the body and ran back inside and called us.”

  “And no one else has been out here?” Jonas squinted, scanning the back of the house. It was a white two-story building with columns supporting a front porch, and top-story dormer windows. The back patio, tiled with smooth stone, was also sheltered by a roof and led out to a small inground pool with a fringe of grass and sea grasses right around the ten-foot fence that lined three sides of the back. But Jonas couldn’t blame them. It was a community of clustered homes of all varieties. The little land for each house meant neighbors on all sides.

  “The mother says she told everyone to stay in until we came, and she insists they obeyed.” Soto tapped his pen on his notepad.

  “Who’s ‘they’ exactly?” Jonas stepped aside as a crew pulled the body out of the pool with direction from the medical examiner. A torrent of water gushed off the dead woman. They laid her out face up, her skin ghostly, eyes closed.

  “The victim’s sister was also staying here. And they have a housekeeper, who made breakfast for the family today.”

  Jonas wagged his eyebrows. “Not bad.”

  “No kidding.”

  “I see the family is set up decently. But tell me about our victim.” Jonas jutted his chin in the direction of the body.

  “Her name is Abigail McBride.” Soto enunciated slowly. “She was in Portside with her family to celebrate her engagement. Her fiancé…”–Soto glanced at his notes–“Evan Mitchell is also in town. The only person missing is another sister, who couldn’t come.”

  Jonas nodded, kneeling by the victim, looking closely at her face and hands and feet, the only parts of her skin exposed. She had cuts and bruises galore, and her clothing was torn in places. “So, she’s not from Portside?”

  “Not anymore. But she did go to a Portside private high school.” Soto bent next to him, frowning. “Looks like the poor kid took a beating.”

  “I don’t know.” Jonas pointed to her feet. “Her feet got the same treatment, which is a little odd.”

  “Huh...you’re right.”

  “No obvious signs of death...” It appeared she’d been in the water for a while, so his first guess was drowning, but you never knew. Jonas nodded to the medical examiner, and they stepped away, leaving her to uncover the details.

  “The family’s waiting inside.” Soto waved his arms toward the house, and Jonas followed him in.

  They stepped through a short entryway with a bathroom and utility room on either side, then through to a living room that encompassed that side of the house. To the right was just a dividing wall with beadboard covering a third of it, but the opposite side sported a fireplace that took up the better portion of the center. The couch sat in front of the picture windows, chairs flanking its sides. When Jonas glanced behind him, he noticed the TV on the back wall.

  Only a young woman sat in the middle of the couch, leaning on her knees and staring into space. Soto whispered to Jonas, “This is the other daughter–Emily.”

  Jonas took a seat in an opposing chair. As he did, Emily seemed to awake from a dream, brushing at her cheeks and rubbing her lips together. Her walnut-size eyes zeroed right in on his, the icy blue of her irises coming into focus, almost hyperalert.

  “I’m Emily,” she said, her voice scratchy. She held out a hand that trembled when he took it. “My mother’s upstairs–I don’t think she’s up for more questions right now.”

  Jonas half smiled. “That’s fine. Are you? I promise I’ll keep it short.”

  She nodded without hesitation, clasping her hands on her lap. “Anything you need.” Emily straightened up, scooching back on the sofa. Soto took the chair near Jonas.

  “Can you give me a snapshot of your sister’s activities yesterday?” Jonas said, glancing at Soto to take notes.

  “Sure...” Emily rubbed her hands on her thighs, taking in a breath. “We were all here together in the morning, then our mom, Abigail, and I went dress shopping–for Abby because she’s getting married. We had dinner as a family, and Abby went out later.” Emily licked her lips. “That was the last time I saw her.”

  Jonas nodded. “Do you know where she went?”

  “Um...she said she was going out for drinks. I assume with her fiancé, Evan, but I didn’t ask.”

  “Do you recall about what time she left and when she got back?”

  Emily glanced up at the ceiling. “She may have left around nine, but I wasn’t paying attention.” Her eyes dropped to the ground, like realizing how important such a minor detail seemed now. “But I never heard her come in, and our rooms are right next to each other. I think I fell asleep just after midnight.”

  “Alright.” Jonas gave her a reassuring smile. “Were you close?” Out of the corner of his eye, he could see family photos on the mantle, which always gave the impression of a tight-knit family. But he thought it was strange that Emily had no idea whom Abigail met for drinks last night.

  Emily met his eyes, and she hesitated. “Not as close as Abby and Sophia were.”

  “Were?”

  “Yeah...we all live in separate areas now. It makes it harder to stay in touch.” Emily cast her eyes to the mantle briefly.

  Jonas tilted his head, his fine hair sweeping across his forehead. Was that a sign that not all was well between the three of them? “I understand your other sister couldn’t be here this weekend. That’s a little odd since they were so close.”

  Emily shrugged. “Sophia’s very involved with her work.”

  It wasn’t exactly an excuse, just a statement. Like Emily wasn’t interested in trying to excuse her sister, but what she said was just the truth. He couldn’t tell if it was irritation or just acceptance.

  Jonas pushed into his legs to stand, and Emily followed suit. “I need the fiancé’s current location, if you don’t mind.”

  “No, of cou
rse. I’ll write it down.” Emily shuffled off to the kitchen, and Jonas and Soto exchanged a glance.

  Soto got closer, whispering, “Sounds like some sibling differences going on.”

  Jonas nodded as Emily reappeared, handing him a slip of paper with the fiancé’s name and where he was staying. “I’m a little surprised he’s not staying here,” Jonas said, eyes on the paper.

  Emily shrugged again. “His choice. I don’t know Evan that well.”

  Jonas folded the paper. “Just one more thing: do you know anyone who would want to hurt your sister?”

  Emily’s eyes widened ever so slightly. “No…are you…are you saying someone…?” She didn’t finish, letting Jonas and Soto fill in the blanks.

  “We don’t know the cause of your sister’s death yet,” Jonas said softly. “I’m just gathering information so we can come to conclusions more quickly. For everyone’s sake.”

  Emily relaxed, nodding in understanding. “I don’t know anyone who would hurt her. But I haven’t been in her life that much lately.”

  Jonas smiled, thanking her as she saw them out through the front door, closing it behind them. They sauntered down the brick path, heading out to the road. “Could’ve been an accident,” Soto said. “Emily says her sister went for drinks. Maybe she went out to the pool when she got home and just...” He shrugged as if to say that was that. Abigail fell in and drowned. “Her car’s here, so it’s not impossible.”

  Jonas stopped at the driveway’s edge, twisting his mouth up in thought. “I’d like you to stay and look for Abigail’s shoes.”

  “Her shoes?” Soto folded his arms.

  “She was barefoot, and I didn’t see any around the pool. If she got here herself, I figure she’d still have had shoes on. And search Abigail’s car. Maybe she didn’t drive herself.”