Killer Party

by Lynn Cahoon

  “Hey, what are you doing awake? Don’t you work tonight?” I opened a second chair that had been leaned on the side of the shed and sat. Emma came up to give me kisses and then sat on my foot, claiming me as her own.

  “Couldn’t sleep so I thought I’d keep Emma company while you were gone. I expected that you’d be home earlier. Did Deek come in late?”

  Leave it to Toby to notice my extended hours.

  “Actually, he took over our assignment on the festival committee so I watched the store until he got back. Then I went to Diamond Lille’s for lunch.” I closed my eyes and let the sun warm my face. Maybe I’d take a nap this afternoon. Allison and Mikey’s fight at the diner had left my nerves on edge. I hated listening to people fight. Probably a holdover from when I was a kid listening to first my parents, then my mom and step dad. No matter where it came from, loud, angry voices made me crazy.

  “Anything exciting happen?” Toby reached out and scratched Emma on the chin. “Especially at Lille’s?”

  “How did you find out so fast?” I knew Toby was hooked into the gossip mill, but this was ridiculous.

  “I got a text from Tim. I guess Lille called the station after she sent Tiny out to break things up.” Toby yawned. “He said he saw you walking out of the diner when he pulled the cruiser into the parking lot. He wanted to make sure you were okay.”

  “I was fine. I didn’t fight with my husband in a public place.” I closed my eyes, remembering how hurt Allison had looked when she ran to the restroom. “What did Tim do? Did he have to arrest Mikey?”

  Toby barked out a laugh. “No way, he didn’t want to explain to Greg that he arrested one of his best friends.”

  “Greg’s buddies sure have made things interesting around here.” I shook my head. “It was just supposed to be a fun weekend. Now, one person’s dead, and people are fighting. It’s like those chickens that fight each other when the heat gets turned up high.”

  “Terrance needs to figure out who killed Levi and fast. I don’t think legally he can ask those people to stay around much longer.” He stood and stretched. “And I don’t think we’d like it if we had to see much more of them. Sometimes old friends are best left in the past. That’s why high school reunions are only a weekend. Any longer and you realized which ones are really bat-crap crazy.”

  He folded his chair. “I’m heading to bed. Glad to see you’re home safe. I thought maybe you’d get involved and tick the guy off. You tend to go all Wonder Woman and try to save the day when people are being hurt.”

  “That’s not true.” Well, I guess it was true a little. “Besides, Allison wasn’t hurt. Mikey yelled at her but he didn’t hit her, at least what I heard. Did he really hit her?”

  “No, but I bet they’ll either be seeing a marriage counselor or a divorce lawyer as soon as they get released from The Castle.” He rubbed Emma’s head. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “Sleep well.” I folded my own chair and walked with Emma to my back door. Glancing at my watch, I had a few hours before Greg would come home. And it was Friday, so we might go out for dinner rather than cook. I pulled my book out of my bag. Time to finish the story.

  *

  “Where are you?” Greg called out from the living room. I hadn’t heard him drive up as I’d fallen asleep on the swing. I had almost finished the book before my eyelids were drooping and soon, I was in dreamland.

  “Out here,” I said as I struggled to sit up. The book fell and hit Emma who had been sleeping under the swing. She jumped up like someone had attacked her, turning to bark at the book now on the porch floor.

  Greg came outside, the screen door banging behind him. The sound made Emma give up her hunt for the vicious book and she ran to greet him. My dog was picky with who she loved, but she loved some people with all her heart. Greg knelt and gave her hugs. “Before you ask, I’ve already heard about Allison and Mikey. That’s why I’m a little late. I went up to The Castle and talked to them both.”

  “Is she okay?”

  “Mad as hell, but okay.” He stood and gave me a quick kiss. “Mikey’s going to have to work hard to get himself out of the dog house for this.”

  “Who did he think she had an affair with?” I thought I already knew the answer, but it wouldn’t hurt to get independent confirmation.

  “Levi. I guess he had a habit of seducing Mikey’s wives. Which explains why he kept coming up with a new one every few years. Too bad about Allison. I kind of liked her.” Greg sank into the swing next to me, picking up my book and handing it to me.

  “So could he have been so mad he killed Levi?”

  Greg looked at me, fatigue filling his eyes. I could see the idea had been considered and already discarded. “I really don’t think Mikey could do something like that. I know, I know, people deal with jealousy in different ways, but Mikey?”

  “Love makes people do strange things.” I pointed out the obvious. “But you don’t think that’s what happened.”

  “I’m sure Terrance is investigating all angles.” He turned away and put his forearms on his knees. I couldn’t be sure, but it seemed as if he was avoiding looking directly at me. Body language experts would surmise that Greg was either lying or holding back something. Right now, I’d have to agree.

  “Greg?” I put my hand on his arm to get him to look at me.

  He stood up like he’d been shot with a cattle prod. “Let’s forget all of this and go out to dinner. I’m calling a date night truce. No talking about Levi or the gang, or anything else that could be considered as a negative conversation. We’re just a couple in love tonight.”

  I still wanted to know about the laptop and what had really happened during high school, but I knew he’d been working hard and trying to keep the gang from going off the deep end after Levi’s death. The group had seen Levi as some sort of pack leader. And now, there was a gap in leadership. Either the group would disband and go their separate ways, or someone new would step in and take over. I realized Greg was waiting for a response. “Date night sounds great. Where do you want to eat?”

  After changing into our more formal duds—black jeans and a blue dress shirt for him, a sundress and crocheted sweater for me—we left the house. I beelined to Greg’s truck and the passenger side, but it was locked.

  I looked inside. The laptop sat on the passenger seat.

  I heard the click of car locks behind me. As I turned around, Greg was holding my Jeep’s door open for me.

  “I thought we’d take your car. I need a little break from old blue.”

  I moved over to the other side of the driveway and settled into the seat, moving my dress out of the way so he could shut the door. The guy was sneaky. He knew I was curious, but right now, he wasn’t talking. I gave up. Tonight, was going to be just about us. Come hell or high water, as my grandpa used to say.

  The high water mark arrived with dessert. Greg got a text on his phone. He picked it up, read the message, then typed a quick response. I held my fork over the chocolate lava cake that had just arrived with a cup of really good coffee. Greg had his own apple and pear tart. “Do we have to go?”

  “Actually, no. That was Butch. He wanted to apologize for Lois telling you the story about Levi and the football player.” He took a bite of his dessert. “Why didn’t you say something?”

  I set my own spoon down. “It’s not like we have talked a lot about Levi’s death since you sent me on an investigation that you don’t seem to want to know anything about.”

  “That’s not true. We’ve talked every night about this.” Greg didn’t look at me.

  “So tell me the rest of the story. Was Levi involved in this kid’s death?” I twirled my spoon in the cake, wanting to take a bite, but holding back for his answer.

  “No. Not in the way you think.” Greg sipped his coffee and leaned back in his chair. “I’ll tell you, but it has to end here. This is the past and has nothing to do with his death.”

  “You’re totally convinced of that fact?”
Now I decided to focus on my dessert and let Greg tell the story at his own pace. “If you are, I’ll leave it alone.”

  “I know you. If you don’t have all the answers, you can’t leave something alone.” Greg motioned the waiter for more coffee and we waited in silence while he refilled our cups.

  I finished off my dessert during the wait. Hey, a girl’s gotta eat, right?

  “So this guy was bullying Levi. Bad stuff. Taking his clothes out of his locker, beating him up after class. Any time he found him alone, Levi would suffer some new kind of humiliation. We tried to keep him in sight. Butch became his body guard and the rest of us filled in when Butch couldn’t be there. Finally, Levi got fed up. He hacked into the kid’s computer and found something.” He sipped his coffee.

  “What did he find?”

  “Copies of every test for every class the kid was taking that year. Rumor after the suicide was his father bought the kid’s access to higher grades in exchange for supporting the boosters. Our football star who was all but moved into his dorm at Stanford was hiding a secret.” Greg shrugged.

  “So Levi threatened to expose him?” Now I got it. The kid killed himself rather than be outed as a cheater by the runt he’d been bullying. “And the kid couldn’t take the chance of losing his scholarship, no longer being the golden boy. So he killed himself.”

  “Honestly, I’m surprised he didn’t kill Levi instead.” Greg played with his spoon in the tart. “The kid’s dad was all up in Levi’s face that he had killed his son. And honestly, maybe he had. But not by his own hand. The police investigated, ruled it a suicide, and left the parents to grieve. Levi told the guys what he’d found, mostly because he was scared that Mike Lord’s dad was going to kill him.”

  “That is so sad.” I placed a finger on my lips. “What about the father, could he have killed Levi?”

  “He moved away years ago. I heard he was killed in an auto accident in Boston. Before you ask, there was no other family.” Greg waved the waiter down for the check. When it came, he held out a hand. “Can we go home now?”

  I could see that telling the tale had drained him. What was it about old friendships that kept us tied to the past and the secrets so tightly?

  The ride home was quiet and when we reached the house, he paused in the living room. I stopped at the bottom of the stairs, watching him. “Do you want something to drink?”

  “I think I’ll stay up for a while and listen to music. Do you mind?” He met me at the stairs.

  “Do you want company?” I had to work in the morning, but I could power through with a few hours of sleep. I pushed his hair out of his eyes. He needed to get it trimmed. Of course, I liked his hair a little longer but he said it made him look like Dustin Austin, our resident lost in the sixties hippie.

  “Actually, I’ll just put on headphones and chill.” He reached up to kiss me. “All this stuff with Levi has me feeling melancholy.”

  “Reliving the glory days?” I tried to make my tone teasing. I didn’t want to leave him alone, but I knew he didn’t want me there. Not tonight. Tonight he was going to grieve his friend and the life Levi would never live. He’d held himself out as the strong one for too long. It was time for him to release his friend to the fates.

  His lips curved into a small smile. “Honey, as far as I’m concerned, the years since I met you are the glory days.”

  Emma paused at the bottom of the steps and finally chose to join Greg. I didn’t blame her. I wanted to be in what had been my office, sitting on the loveseat next to him. Instead I climbed the stairs, drew a hot bath, and then poured myself into bed after the water cooled.

  *

  Saturday morning, the alarm woke me. I reached over to turn it off and noticed Greg’s side of the bed empty. Either he’d never come to bed, or he was already up and busy with weekend tasks.

  I showered, got dressed, and then wandered downstairs to find him. A note sat on the kitchen table. I poured myself a cup of coffee, then picked it up, reading it aloud: “I’m going out with Jim and the guys on the boat. We’re doing our own kind of wake for Levi. I forgot to tell you last night. Love Greg.”

  For a second, I was angry. I didn’t mind that he was going out with the guys, but something about the whole thing bugged me. It had been the same feeling I’d had during the weekend. Girls against the guys. The other women seemed resigned to not being part of the conversation. I wasn’t. And Greg had never treated me that way. Until now.

  “Get a grip, Jill.” I chided myself. “He just lost a good friend.”

  The stern talking-to didn’t make me less mad, but it did make me realize I was going to be late for opening if I didn’t get moving. My phone rang as I power walked to the shop. It was Amy.

  “Hey girl, do you have plans today?” Amy was chipper even at ten to six in the morning.

  I waved to Harrold who was setting up a new train in his display window. I loved The Train Station, even if I didn’t want a model train. It was fun just watching the kids hang around the window, especially during the holidays when Santa rode the rails. “Besides working until ten when Deek takes over, no. Why?”

  “I’m taking you to the city for shopping. I’ve heard there’s a new designer opening up shop and I want to see what they have.”

  “You’re not much of a designer girl, are you?” Amy lived in either swimsuits or for work, long shorts and light flowy tops. If you opened a dictionary to California girl, her picture appeared.

  “Justin is taking me to a faculty dinner next month and I need something formal. I’m going crazy. Just say you’ll come with me. You have excellent taste. And you know formal. You used to do that, right?”

  I smiled. As an attorney, I knew formal attire in and out. “My firm used to make us attend charity events. If you don’t find anything you could just look in my closet. You might have to have them taken in, but I’ve got a ton of gowns and cocktail dresses just gathering dust in the third bedroom.”

  “You really should take those to Vintage Duds and consign them,” Amy told me, and not for the first time. “Just because Sherry runs the place, doesn’t mean it’s the devil.”

  I wasn’t going to argue the fact, but I wasn’t sure Amy was right. In my mind, Sherry and her store were the enemy. We made plans for Amy to pick me up at the shop exactly at ten. As I walked past the consignment clothing store, I knew one thing: I wasn’t going to take my lovely dresses into Vintage Duds and have Sherry bad-mouth me. We might not be mortal enemies, but I wasn’t her favorite person—even if I hadn’t been Greg’s new relationship.

  CHAPTER 16

  We had not one but three dresses in the back of Amy’s VW Bug when we left the city. One was the typical little black dress. One, a shift silk number in an aqua green made her look like a tall glass of water. And my favorite, a bubbly blue cocktail dress that I thought made her look like a princess. She couldn’t choose one over the other so she bought all three, presumably with the idea she’d make a decision later and take two back. I had a feeling all three would stay in her closet long after the date to return for a refund passed. As we drove through Bakerstown, I remembered the conversation about the sale of The Castle. I hadn’t been back to look up new filings since early in the week.

  “Hey, if I buy us an early dinner, will you stop at the college for a few minutes? I need to research something.” I pulled out my notebook and checked my to-do list. The fact that rumors were beginning to surface made me wonder if my computer search had just been too early. Without turning my head, I threw the winning punch. “We could go to that seafood place you love.”

  “Sure. And I could go check out Justin’s office and see if he’s around.” Amy turned the car onto the road that led to the college. “I’m going to give him a fashion show with the new dresses tonight. I hope he likes at least one of them.”

  “I’m sure he’ll love all of them.” Justin adored Amy so whatever she loved, he did too. She parked in the administration parking lot and we walked into the quad. T
he library was on the right and the history department, where Justin taught, on the left. Amy flipped back her blond hair, smoothing it as if there might be some strand out of place. There wasn’t. “Meet back here in twenty minutes, then it’s off to dinner.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” I headed toward the library. Not only did I want to check the real estate title filings, but I also wanted to research Levi’s company. I didn’t know a lot about prenups that I hadn’t learned through celebrity rag gossip, but I suspected the prenup could hold a clue to the reason he was killed. Or maybe my curiosity about Jessica’s new wealth was clouding my judgment. Were those kind of documents public domain since Levi was answerable to the board of directors? I made a note to go visit Jimmy Marcum on Monday. He’d kind of slipped my mind and as I landed at an empty research table, I made a note in my book for Monday’s to-do list.

  Greg always joked that if it wasn’t on my list, it wasn’t going to happen. Especially after he saw my planned ‘impromptu’ date nights on my calendar. So sue me, I like to know what’s happening in my life.

  I keyed in my student password and accessed the county real estate filings. It didn’t take me long before I’d found it. The Castle had been purchased two weeks ago and now instead of being owned by the nonprofit board, it was owned by one person. Jessica Lorraine Cole. So Levi hadn’t bought the property, Jessica had. As I waited for the deed filing to print, I thought about Jessica and her background. Where had she gotten the money to purchase something that expensive? The original board had brought in several different investors to purchase it from the estate. But Jessica bought it all by herself? Something didn’t add up.

  Tucking the printouts into my notebook, I did a search for Wallace Software, Inc. Several different websites were listed, but when I narrowed the search for ones in North Carolina. I found Levi’s company. Opening the website, I saw a large plot of land with a modern building including solar panels and some sort of rain water collector and filter system. I went to the About Us page, and Levi’s picture and bio was front and center. He’d been the heart behind the company. The website hadn’t been updated since the death and his email address still was listed at the bottom of the page under a banner that read: QUESTIONS? ASK OUR CEO.