“Sure. I’ll meet you in the alley.”
Dernice was already waiting when Carlita got there. She let her in before taking a quick glance around and locking the door behind them.
“Where’s your niece?”
“Asleep in the spare bedroom.”
They zig-zagged from the kitchen and into the dining room, past Dernice’s Harley motorcycle, which was parked next to the table before entering a narrow hall. There was a locked door at the end.
Dernice patted her pockets. “Shoot. I need the keys. I’ll be right back.” She darted down the hall and returned with a set of keys. She unlocked the door and flipped the light on.
An antique four-poster bed was in the bedroom, and the walls were covered with various pieces of art. There were landscapes with majestic mountains and blue skies. Others were abstracts…a half of a man’s head, a trolley, the Savannah River.
A picture that looked vaguely familiar hung above the bed. “This is Elvira’s bedroom.”
“Yeah. You ever see her artwork before?”
“See it?” Carlita snorted. “She set my building on fire, working on some of her art.”
“For real? Sounds like something she would do.” Dernice crossed the room and opened the closet door. A black safe was anchored to the closet floor. She tapped the keypad on the front. The safe made a faint whirring sound, and then the door slowly swung open.
She pulled out a thick, manila envelope and handed it to Carlita. “Check it out.”
“What is it?”
“Remember the mailman and the certified delivery he’s been trying to make, the one Elvira kept telling me not to sign for?”
“Yes.”
“After Zulilly surprised me, I figured whatever was coming in from the lawyer had something to do with Elvira’s disappearance and her showing up. This explains a lot.”
The envelope was addressed to Elvira Cobb. “Elvira isn’t going to like us snooping in her personal business.”
“Then, she should be here handling it instead of leaving it to me.”
“True.” Carlita reached inside the envelope and pulled out a thick set of papers. Her eyes grew wide as she scanned the top sheet. “What on earth?”
Chapter 10
“This is a divorce petition.” Carlita studied the names on the paper. “Elvira Cobb and Greg Fontaine.” She cast Dernice a puzzled look. “Greg Fontaine?”
“Also known as Gremlin. He’s Elvira’s ex, Zulilly’s father and a weasel, although I guess that might not be the case…the ex part, I mean. He’s still a weasel.”
“He’s petitioning for half of her assets.”
“This explains a lot. No wonder my sister is freaking out. Somehow, the two never got divorced. Gremlin has decided to finally pull the trigger, and he wants half of what Elvira owns.”
Carlita couldn’t get past the thought Elvira had been…was married. “Elvira is married.”
“Not by choice is my guess. There’s more to Gremlin Fontaine than being Elvira’s ex,” Dernice said. “I started doing a little digging around. Follow me.” She led Carlita out of the bedroom and into the office, motioning for her to have a seat in front of the laptop. “Check out his professional background.”
Carlita squinted at the screen. “Managing partner at Atlantic Deep.” It took a minute for the information to sink in. “Atlantic Deep.”
“Which is also the company developing Coastal Adventures, the Tybee Island mega entertainment complex project.”
Dernice continued. “Elvira is in St. Augustine.”
“Right. You said you tracked her there.”
“It’s also where she and Gremlin were married. A coincidence? I think not. I think my sister thought she was divorced and found out otherwise.”
“She heard about it from Gremlin or his attorneys.”
“Or Zulilly.” Dernice twined her middle and index finger together. “Gremlin and his daughter are tight.”
“Maybe Elvira and Gremlin are working together.” Carlita leaned back in the chair.
“No way. They detest each other.”
“There’s bad blood between them?”
“Bad blood is an understatement. Back in the day, Elvira was a lot more carefree. She and Gremlin were both big into the hippie scene. Course we all were back then…free love…peace. They married at the county courthouse in St. Augustine, which is where they lived at the time. Until Zulilly came along, life was good. Elvira’s pregnancy changed everything. Gremlin wasn’t up for fatherhood. He took off, backpacking across the country.”
Dernice explained times were tough for the young mother and her daughter. “She filed for divorce, but Elvira had a hard time tracking Gremlin down. She and Zulilly moved around a lot, going wherever Elvira could make a buck.”
“Elvira cared for Zulilly.”
“She loved her unconditionally. Zulilly made up for the bad stuff, the tough stuff, including us being abandoned by our parents when we were young. Then one day, Gremlin showed up out of the blue. Elvira and Zulilly were living in a compound somewhere in the mountains. He served her with papers, claiming he had legal custody of Zulilly. The jerk ripped that young girl right out of her mother’s arms.”
“How horrible,” Carlita said.
“It broke Elvira’s heart. She tried to get her back, but with no permanent address, no steady job, no support system, the courts sided with Gremlin, who had cleaned himself up, gotten a steady job and moved to Hilton Head. He refused to let Elvira see Zulilly, even with supervised visits.”
“He sounds like a bad person.”
“Gremlin turned Zulilly against her mother. It took years for Elvira to start rebuilding their relationship. Fast forward to now. Elvira, seeing a business opportunity, purchased a prime piece of real estate, not knowing her ex – whom she doesn’t like – is part owner of the company looking to purchase it.” Dernice placed the divorce papers inside the desk drawer. “I think Zulilly is here doing her father’s dirty work.”
“Why would Elvira allow Zulilly to come down here, with all of this going on?” Carlita asked.
“She can’t tell Zu ‘no.’”
“I’m still confused. If Elvira is in Florida, dealing with
