“You’re not allowed to sell around here,” she said without removing the cigarette. It bounced in her lips so violently Charlotte took a step back, readying herself for it to launch at her from Tracy’s lips.
“I’m not selling anything. We met yesterday with the sheriff. I’m—” She was about to say I’m a friend of Lyndsey’s to ingratiate herself to the woman, but that was really a lie. She barely knew Lyndsey. “I’m working with Mr. Kimber Miller’s family, trying to tie up some loose ends.”
“What kind of loose ends?”
“Oh we’re getting the will finalized and whatnot.” Charlotte didn’t want Tracy to know about Lyndsey’s inheritance yet. “Do you mind if I come in for a moment?”
The woman shook one shoulder in a jerky attempt to shrug and took a step back to let Charlotte in. A reality television program blared from a television six inches too wide on either side for the table it had been perched upon. It looked new.
“Nice television,” yelled Charlotte, hoping to both break the ice and make it clear it was much too loud for them to talk.
Lyndsey’s mother picked up a remote and paused the show.
“Thanks.”
“Well, I won’t keep you. I just had a couple of questions for you.”
Tracy pulled the cigarette from her mouth and crushed it in an overfilled ashtray made out of an inverted sea shell. “Did I get something in the will?”
“You?” Charlotte blinked at the woman. “Why would you get something?”
Tracy smiled, flashing the yellowed teeth she had remaining. She was missing one upper canine. “There’s a reason.”
“Is it because Kimber Miller is Lyndsey’s real father?”
Tracy’s eyes widened. “How’d you hear that?”
“They just read the will.”
“They did?” Tracy gasped and glanced at her phone, lying silent on the table between her comfy chair and the television.
“Did you know Kimber was Lyndsey’s real father?”
Tracy snorted. “Of course I did. You think I’m some kind of whore who doesn’t even know who’s putting babies up in her?”
Charlotte winced. Yikes.
“No, I didn’t mean to imply that at all.”
“Well you kind of did.”
“Sorry. I guess what I meant to ask was, did Lyndsey know?”
Tracy shook her head. “No.”
“She had no idea?”
“No.”
“Did Mr. Miller?”
“Yeah. He knew.”
“That’s why he took her in?”
“Sure. Why else?” She grabbed the crushed pack of cigarettes from the table and shook it. Finding nothing inside, she glared at Charlotte as if she’d stolen the last one.
“Did Mina know?”
“Who’s Mina?”
“The sister.”
“Oh right. No.” Tracy coughed. “Of course, he never treated her like a proper daughter. He preferred those fancy twins…”
“What makes you say that?”
“Lyndsey told me.” She shrugged. “She’s my daughter, too. After what I did, I was afraid he’d treat her mean.”
“After what you did?”
“You don’t know?” She laughed and cleared her rattily throat. “I’m the one who killed his brother and his wife. That’s why I was in the slammer.”
Charlotte’s jaw fell. “They were killed by a drunk driver.”
“That’s me.”
Charlotte covered her gaping mouth with her hand.
Why didn’t Mina tell me?
“It all happened at once?” she asked.
“What’s that?”
“He took in the twins and Lyndsey all at once, all of them orphaned by the same accident?”
Tracy scowled at her. “Not orphaned. I was in jail, not dead.”
“Right. Sorry.”
“Why didn’t you tell Lyndsey that Miller was her father?”
“Didn’t know how she’d take it. Figured he’d tell her if he wanted, and he didn’t.”
A phone sitting on the table buzzed to life and Tracy held up a finger to request a pause in the conversation.
“That’s her now, I bet.”
Charlotte nodded. She’d been hoping Lyndsey would call. She wanted to watch Tracy’s reaction to the news of her daughter’s windfall.
“Hey baby,” said Tracy. Charlotte heard a loud voice on the other end of the line, but Tracy cradled the phone to her cheek, obscuring the sound enough she couldn’t make out the words.
“You got what? Really?”
Tracy looked up at Charlotte, her eyes bulging. “Did you know about this?”
“About what?” asked Charlotte, trying to appear as if she didn’t know about Lyndsey’s millions.
“The detective lady is here. Uh huh. I know. Well, come on over when you get a chance.”
Tracy hung up, grinning. “Ain’t that somethin’. That old bastard left her millions of dollars.” She squinted. “But you knew that.”
Charlotte stood. “That was all I wanted to ask you.”
Tracy stood with her to poke a boney finger in her chest. “This is Mina, isn’t it? She sent you here to get the money for herself.”
“I don’t know anything about that,” said Charlotte heading for the door. Tracy shadowed her.
At the threshold, Charlotte paused and turned. “Where were you the night Miller was killed?”
Tracy flashed her horrible smile again, appearing impressed Charlotte had come out and asked the question directly.
“I was here gettin’ a puppy, remember?”
Charlotte nodded. “Right.”
She was barely off the landing before the door slammed shut behind her.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Charlotte pulled into her driveway deep in thought. Tracy’s up to no good. She could chalk it up to the rough edges years in prison had given the woman, but it was more than that. For one, she couldn’t shake the feeling Tracy had known the will would include her daughter. Had she found a way to strongarm Miller into making Lyndsey his heir? And if so, had the next logical step been to hasten his demise?
What if Tracy had been the one to sneak into the house and clunk him
