Murder for Choir

by Joelle Charbonneau

  I raised an eyebrow.

  Dana laughed again. “Okay, I think I said something like if Greg was smart, he’d go into hiding; otherwise, I’d tie him up with my yoga straps and beat him to death with the heel of my shoe. Yoga equipment is mostly made of cloth or foam, otherwise I would have chosen something more appropriate. Greg thought my yoga teaching was a joke.” She gave me a sadistic smile. “Turns out I got the last laugh.”

  Climbing back into the Caddy, I was more confused than when I’d arrived. Dana was in the clear. That was good, but I still had no idea where Larry was. That was bad, especially since I was now seriously considering him as a suspect in Greg’s murder.

  Not sure what else to do, I cruised over to Larry’s house. Maybe he’d turned up since last I checked.

  Nope.

  The place was empty and locked up tight. If any clues inside led to his whereabouts, the cops would have to find them. I wasn’t about to break and enter with the neighborhood watch on duty. She was camped out on her front porch with her binoculars at the ready. The good news was, if Larry came back, she’d send up smoke signals to the cops.

  The only other place that might hold answers about Larry was the school, and I still didn’t have a key. Tomorrow was the first day of classes, albeit a shortened one. The decision to start the school week on a Tuesday seemed odd to me. Wasn’t the school week supposed to start on a Monday? To top it off, tomorrow’s school day was less than three hours long—just enough time for kids to visit every class, figure out where the classrooms were located, and meet the teachers.

  Larry had asked me to sing for all his classes in the hopes of interesting some of the kids in voice lessons. I’d agreed. Without Larry there, I wasn’t sure if the sub would want me to perform, but I figured I’d show up just in case. Besides, I had to attend a show choir meeting immediately after school. I hoped Larry would turn up before then. If not, I was in charge.

  Suddenly, it struck me. Starting tomorrow, I was a teacher.

  Yikes.

  This revelation shouldn’t have been a surprise, but it was. Teenagers would be looking to me to help them achieve their goals. They may not like it, but they needed me—especially now that Larry was missing in action. This might not be the career I wanted, but for now it was the one I had, and I didn’t want to let the kids down.

  I pulled into Millie’s garage, went inside the house, and dialed Devlyn. If I was going to give this teaching thing my all, I needed to be prepared.

  Devlyn answered on the first ring. “Are you okay? You didn’t call me back last night.”

  Oops. Between Mike’s late-night visit and the car explosion, I’d totally forgotten. “Sorry. Things have been a little crazy.”

  I explained about last night’s gig and this morning’s car excitement. The latter had Devlyn freaking. “Oh my God. Is your aunt’s friend okay? Are you okay? Do the police have any leads?”

  Yes. Yes and no. “The police are working on it.”

  “I don’t like the idea of you being alone.”

  Neither did I. A quick lap of the house told me Millie wasn’t around, and Killer didn’t count as company. In a crisis I wasn’t sure who he’d attack—me or an intruder.

  “Millie should be home soon.” I hoped.

  “We still have some work to do on our choreography. Do you want me to come over?”

  Yes. No. Crap. I wanted to practice for tomorrow, but while Mike said Devlyn was in the clear, he also didn’t trust Devlyn. What if Mike was right? I didn’t feel comfortable being alone with him.

  “Are you still there?”

  Oops. “Yes. I’m trying to remember when Detective Kaiser said he was going to drop by.” A murderer wouldn’t want to stop by if the cops were coming for a chat. Right?

  “If he’s coming over, I should definitely be there. He might try to intimidate you or something.”

  After last night’s kiss, I would agree with the “or something.” Huh. Devlyn had passed that test, but I wasn’t feeling any better about being alone with him. “Do you think Felicia would want to come over?” I asked.

  Devlyn paused before answering. “I can ask. We can give her a demonstration of our dancing prowess and see if she thinks it’ll work with the costumes.”

  Sounded good to me. Felicia might not be big, but she looked scrappy. If Devlyn turned out to be a bad guy, I’d have an ally ready to do damage with acrylic nails.

  Devlyn promised to check with Felicia before swinging over. If she couldn’t make it, I’d call the whole thing off. Impressing the kids tomorrow wasn’t worth dying over.

  I headed for the stairs to grab my dance bag and froze as I heard the front door handle rattle. Someone was trying to get in. The front door swung open, and Aunt Millie strolled in followed by a very happy-looking Aldo. Someone at the hospital had taken pity on the world and given Aldo a pair of green scrubs to wear. Millie was also wearing scrubs on the bottom, but was sporting a GOT DRUGS? T-shirt on top. She spotted me and smiled. “Look who got a clean bill of health from the doctors.”

  “I’m glad you’re okay, Aldo.” The tightness in my chest eased as the little Italian man gave me a toothy grin.

  “Oh, Aldo’s just fine.” Aunt Millie steered the man in question toward the kitchen. “His heart just got a little excited when he saw flames shooting from the engine. The doctors said his blood pressure shot up and he passed out. But just to be certain, they asked that someone keep an eye on Aldo for a couple days.”

  “That makes sense to me.”

  Aldo took a seat at the table, and Aunt Millie beamed. “See, Aldo. I told you Paige wouldn’t mind.”

  “Mind what?”

  My aunt grabbed the coffeepot and filled it with water. “Well, Aldo lives alone in a retirement community condo. They have strict rules about overnight guests.”

  “The ladies on the condo board donna like the idea of anyone not married having the sex,” Aldo quipped as he smoothed the white tufts of hair behind his ears. “I thinka they haven’t gotten any in a vera long time. They do not-a remember how nice it is. At our age, you forgeta things when you haven’t-a done them for a while.” He waggled his bushy eyebrows at my aunt.

  She giggled and blushed. “Anyway, I insisted Aldo stay here for the next couple of days.” Aunt Millie hit start on the coffeepot and wiped her hands on a towel as Killer trotted into the room. He spotted Aldo, parked his rump on the floor, and began to growl.

  “Oh, stop that, Killer.” Millie gave Aldo an apologetic smile. “Between the break-in, the shooting, and the car explosion, Killer is feeling a little protective. Aren’t you, sweetheart?”

  When put that way, I had no idea why Aldo would want to stay here. The fainting spell must have affected his brain. Although, by the way Aldo’s eyes were following Millie’s backside, I had no doubt his brain wasn’t the one doing the thinking. For some reason his blatant interest in my aunt made me happy.

  Killer bared his teeth again.

  Millie sighed and pulled a rawhide out of the cupboard. “You’ll just have to find a way to get along with our guest.” Killer snagged the rawhide between his teeth and settled onto the rug next to the back door. His eyes never left Aldo as he gnawed. Creepy.

  “Devlyn and I were planning on rehearsing in the living room,” I mentioned. “But I can call and cancel.” If Aldo needed peace and quiet, I was going to do my part. He’d already had one medical scare because of me. I wasn’t about to add another.

  “You need a piano player?” Aldo cracked his knuckles.

  “Aunt Millie doesn’t own a piano.”

  Aldo wagged a wrinkled finger at Millie. He began listing reasons why a piano was a necessary investment as the doorbell rang. Devlyn had arrived. The minute I opened the door, he grabbed me and squeezed. Then a voice behind Devlyn said, “It’s hot out here. Are we going in or am I going home?”

  Devlyn let go. Oxygen and blood began to flow, and Felicia strolled in the door in skin-tight black jeans, a low-cut red tank top
, and four-inch heels. An enormous silver bag was slung over her shoulder. “Devlyn said you needed an audience for your rehearsal. I hope you don’t mind, but I have to cut out early. I have a date.”

  Not a surprise.

  “Well, then,” I said. “I guess we should get to work.”

  I retrieved my dance bag and a CD player from upstairs. When I came back down, Millie, Aldo, and Felicia were seated against the back living room wall. Devlyn was in the middle of the carpeted floor stretching. Something I probably should have done. Oh well. A pulled muscle was the least of my worries.

  Devlyn helped me set up the machine, then hit play. It was showtime. The intro started, and Devlyn and I strutted our stuff. The double turns and spins were harder to do on carpet, but I was grateful for the soft landing material in case I took a dive.

  Nope. Devlyn lifted me up onto his shoulder. I hit the final pose, and he even got me back down to the floor without either of us getting bruised. Things were looking up.

  Aunt Millie and Aldo applauded. Felicia cocked her head to one side and asked us to do it again with a couple modifications. Her ideas were good, so we worked them into the dance. It took four more tries, a lot of sweat, and one face-plant into the carpet (by me) before Felicia declared it fabulous. “Not even Chessie Bock can find fault with that routine.”

  “I think Chessie could find fault with just about anything.” Devlyn wiped his face with a towel.

  I tended to agree. “Especially anything that has to do with me.”

  “That girl doesn’t realize how lucky she is to have you teaching her.” My aunt climbed to her feet with a frown.

  “At this point, I’d settle for a cease-fire.” Sad, but true.

  Devlyn shrugged. “Chessie will come around. I’ve directed her in a lot of shows and had her in class. Trust me. She’s ambitious. Once she realizes someone can help her reach her goals, she becomes their biggest fan.”

  Fan? Something told me that was never going to happen.

  “Well, I should get dinner started.” Aunt Millie hoisted herself up off her chair. “Devlyn, would like to join us? I’m making spaghetti and meatballs.”

  I psychically sent Devlyn a message: Run. Save yourself.

  “That sounds great. Thank you.”

  Either my psychic powers sucked or Devlyn was a glutton for punishment.

  Beaming, Aunt Millie bounded off to the kitchen with Aldo trailing behind her. Felicia glanced at her watch and said, “I have forty-five minutes before my date. What other numbers do you have to show me?”

  Ugh.

  We went through two other songs we’d started working on. Thank God one was a slow number. Felicia gave us a couple ideas to work with, then got up to leave. “Devlyn, would you mind if I have a private moment with Paige? Just some girl stuff we need to discuss.”

  Devlyn gave Felicia a wounded look and walked over to the other side of the room with his water bottle. Felicia lowered her voice and said, “I think you should keep an eye on Devlyn. Just in case…you know…”

  I couldn’t imagine how Felicia could know about Devlyn’s interaction with the North Shore High School football coach. That meant I had no idea what she was talking about. “In case of what?”

  “As the theater teacher, Devlyn spends a lot of time with his students.”

  “And?”

  Felicia rolled her eyes. “If he wanted them to be nice to you, they would. They might also follow his instructions if he wanted someone scared off or maybe killed?”

  I blinked. “You think Devlyn ordered his students to kill Greg Lucas?”

  “I don’t know what to think.” Felicia twisted her hands together as her eyes bore into mine. “But I do know that I don’t want anything to happen to you.” She reached out and touched my hand. “I heard about the note you found in your bag. That sounds like something a teenager would do to piss you off, don’t you think? Devlyn could have set that in motion. He told me last week that he’d seen you in a lot of shows. He could have known about that review.”

  My stomach clenched at the idea of Felicia reading that review. Was that vain? Yes. At this moment, did I care? No.

  I turned and watched as Devlyn practiced tangoing across the carpet. Detective Mike said Devlyn had an airtight alibi, but what if Felicia was onto something? Maybe Coach Bennett knew Devlyn had instructed a student to kill Greg and was blackmailing him with that information. It seemed far-fetched, but anything was possible.

  Killer trotted in from the kitchen, walked over to Devlyn, and bumped his head against Devlyn’s hand. Devlyn gave him a couple of pats and then continued dancing. Seeing Killer be nice to Devlyn made me even more nervous. The dog was a menace. Perhaps it recognized one of its own.

  “Just think about what I said.” Felicia reached down to pick up her bag. “Devlyn was right when he said Chessie was ambitious. She’d sell her soul to get ahead. If Devlyn promised her a leg up…well, I just think you should be careful.” With a jaunty wave at Devlyn, Felicia sashayed into the foyer and out the front door.

  “So, what terrible thing did she have to say about me?”

  I jumped as Devlyn appeared at my side along with his new best friend, Killer. I hadn’t heard him move. His stealth was unnerving.

  “What makes you think she had something bad to say about you?”

  Devlyn laughed. “Felicia loves gossip. The only reason she’d remove a member of her audience is if she’s gossiping about them. So what wonderfully awful thing am I guilty of?”

  I could tell the truth or lie. What the hell…

  “She thinks you convinced Chessie and her friends to murder Greg Lucas and terrorize me.”

  Devlyn’s mouth spread into a goofy smile as he started to laugh. “Felicia’s outdone herself. Normally, she just busies herself with gossip about affairs and cross-dressing. I’m glad she saved something so sinister for me. I think I make a great puppet master, don’t you?” He pretended to pull strings on a marionette.

  “She also thinks Chessie was behind the threat in my bag.”

  Devlyn stopped laughing and pursed his lips together. “Now that you mention it, that sounds like something Chessie would do. But I didn’t put her up to it. And I certainly would never ask a student to kill someone for me. You know that.”

  Maybe. “I saw you and Coach Bennett talking in the hallway yesterday.”

  Devlyn froze. His eyes met mine, and his voice was dangerously quiet as he cocked an eyebrow. “And what do you think you heard?”

  “Coach Bennett is blackmailing you into helping him get his star player back on the team.”

  “Blackmail is a strong word.”

  “He’s threatening to reveal whatever secret you’re hiding unless you help him. What would you call it?”

  “I concede the point.” He crossed his arms and cocked his head to one side. “And now you’re wondering what that secret is.”

  “Do you blame me?” I asked.

  “No, but I do expect you to trust me.”

  “I barely know you.”

  Devlyn ran a hand through his dark hair and blew out a loud burst of air. “Okay. Yes, I have a secret. Yes, Curtis Bennett knows what it is. He let me know what he discovered and asked me to do a favor for him. End of story.”

  Funny, but it sounded like the story ended just as it was getting to the good part. The two of us stared at each other for what seemed like forever. My heart pounded in my throat. I swallowed hard as Devlyn’s eyes pleaded with me to believe him. I wanted to. I really did. But I needed to be sure. Not making sure might raise the body count. “Are you going to tell me what Coach Bennett has on you?”

  His shoulders stiffened. “Are you asking me if I killed Greg Lucas?”

  Yes. “I don’t know. Am I?”

  Devlyn shook his head, turned on his heel, and stalked over to his gym bag. With Killer at his heels, he shoved his towel into the bag and zipped it shut.

  “I thought you were different. Guess I was wrong.” Turning to me,
he said, “Tell your aunt I’m sorry I had to leave. I just lost my appetite.” Without another word, he marched to the front door and slammed it shut behind him.

  Killer looked up at me and rumbled a low, menacing growl followed by several loud barks. Translation: What the hell were you thinking? Answer: I wasn’t. No, I didn’t think Devlyn ordered his students to kill Greg Lucas. But after everything that had happened, I couldn’t shake the twinge of doubt that I might be wrong. And now I’d upset the only person interested in helping me make a success of my job. After that performance, I doubted Devlyn would show up at tomorrow’s rehearsal. I was officially on my own.

  My head began to throb as Aunt Millie popped out of the kitchen. “Dinner is served.”

  Oh goody. Well, maybe Millie’s terrible cooking would finally come in handy. If I was lucky, I’d contract food poisoning.

  No such luck. For the first time ever, the food from Aunt Millie’s kitchen was not only edible, it was tasty. Too bad I had no interest in eating it. My stomach was still churning from my confrontation with Devlyn. I was thankful neither Millie nor Aldo noticed my lack of appetite or Devlyn’s disappearance. They only had eyes for each other.

  After thirty minutes of languorous looks and compliments on each other’s lack of aging (which was sweet, considering Aldo’s bald head had more wrinkles than a best-in-show mastiff), I excused myself and headed upstairs. Maybe preparing for tomorrow’s half day of school would take my mind off Devlyn’s hurt and angry expression.

  With Larry missing in action, I had no idea whether I’d still be singing for each class. Figuring it was best to be prepared, I sorted through my music and picked pieces I hoped would impress the students. I threw some dance clothes into my bag and a can of Mace. Then I vowed to check the bag before I left in the morning just in case Millie decided to add her own pink accessory. There was no way I was taking a gun into a school no matter how scared I was.

  That settled, I pawed through my wardrobe looking for something suitably hip but professional. I decided on a black-and-white diagonally striped dress, a thick red belt, and killer red heels. If nothing else, the boys might decide to give me the benefit of the doubt based on the heels alone.