You Again

by Ashlee Mallory

  “So…” She trailed her fingers along the edge of the dash, pulling him from his thoughts. He braced himself for her next question. “Do you think it’s a coincidence that, the day after I announce I’m going to start making a video to honor Mr. Williams, the room where I’m focusing my search suddenly catches on fire? Or that my car is vandalized that same night?”

  “It’s possible.” He glanced over to her, careful to keep his face neutral. “Do you have any reason to believe it isn’t a coincidence?”

  “I have a few thoughts. But—” She paused and gave him a sheepish grin before continuing. “I’m afraid if I say them out loud, I’m going to sound like a raving lunatic. I mean, this is my life. I’m boring and predictable. This kind of stuff doesn’t happen to me.”

  He didn’t like her evaluation of herself, but he wasn’t going to argue. It wasn’t as if he really knew her. “One thing I’ve learned over the past ten years while reviewing motives for murder,” he said slowly, weighing his words, “is that people are inclined to look past the most obvious answers because they can’t believe the truth could be so dark and evil. Evil, sensational things aren’t expected to happen to everyday Janes. They happen to drug dealers, thieves, people who are involved in criminal activities on a daily basis. But the people who choose to ignore the evidence are usually wrong. So, I’d say trust your instincts.”

  She exhaled and stared ahead of her. “Okay. Well. If I were going to throw out some theories, I’d guess this all has everything to do with the discovery of Mr. Williams’s remains. For the past fourteen years, everyone assumed he’d died after getting lost in the mountains.” She paused and looked down at where she’d been biting off the tip of her thumbnail. She stuck her hands under her armpits. “Nothing indicated otherwise. And why would it? Mr. Williams was one of the good guys. It doesn’t seem plausible anyone could have a bone to pick with him, let alone kill him.”

  “And maybe that was the problem,” Sam ventured.

  “What do you mean?”

  He glanced over and met her gaze for a few seconds. “The assumption that he was such a good guy. Such a Ward Cleaver. No one is as perfect as the image you have of Mr. Williams. He must have had faults. Made mistakes.”

  “Well, duh. Of course. I never thought he was perfect, but—come on. He was a nice guy. But you’re getting off point. We know now Mr. Williams didn’t die in the mountains. Someone buried his body—yards away from the school—and then drove his car into the mountains to make it look like he’d gone hiking. His body would probably still be hidden for another fifteen years if it weren’t for the peace gardens.” She stopped abruptly. “Come to think of it, when we first proposed the construction of the garden in that lot, there was an extraordinary amount of opposition and debate. More than I had anticipated.”

  Sam nodded thoughtfully. “The killer certainly wouldn’t have wanted the body to be discovered. Something the peace gardens construction would have made inevitable.” Ahead of him, the light turned yellow, and he slowed the car.

  She unconsciously nibbled on her thumbnail again. “Then I go spouting off at the meeting about my intention to dredge up all the memories from the time preceding his death, putting together some sort of memorial and video, looking through boxes of things that might indicate what really happened to Mr. Williams.”

  He watched, almost hypnotized as Allie pulled the elastic out of her bound her hair and used her fingers to comb through the ends. It looked silky, and he wondered what it would feel like splayed between his fingers.

  She glanced at him, and he turned his attention back to the traffic light as she said, “Destroying the boxes would be the best way to nip my plan in the bud. To make sure there’s nothing left to tie whoever it is to Mr. Williams.” She pulled her hair up again and smoothed it before winding the band around it in a more orderly ponytail. “And just to make sure I stay completely off the trail, they vandalize my car to send me a final message.” She let out a breath. “So. Am I completely delusional?”

  “Not entirely.” Someone beeped behind him, and he realized the light had turned green. “I’m not convinced the car vandalism was meant to send a message. Someone may have broken into your car to look for the boxes you’d already hauled out. Then they went a little overboard, destroying the entire windshield so it would look like vandalism.”

  “But the boxes weren’t in the SUV. They’re at my house.” She looked over at him, and her eyes widened in fear. “You don’t think they’ve…?”

  “I guess we’ll find out,” he said grimly and turned on the street into her neighborhood. He eased the car past her house and pulled up to the curb in front of a neighbor’s instead. “As a precaution,” he said when she looked at him curiously.

  They stayed in their seats, both searching the front of the house for any sign of trespass. Then Allie slung off the seat belt and reached for the door handle.

  He put his hand on her arm. “Stop for a second, Allie. Why don’t you let me go first, check the place for intruders—”

  “If there’s an intruder in my house, I sure as heck am not just going to sit here and wait. I want to know about it.” She pried her arm from his grasp and hopped out.

  “Damn it,” he said under his breath and reluctantly followed.

  The front door was shut. He didn’t see any broken glass anywhere that would indicate forced entry. They stayed along the perimeter of the yard until they reached the chain link fence that surrounded her back yard. He moved forward, wanting to take the lead. “Here, stay behind me.”

  She didn’t look at him, but instead unhooked the gate and stepped forward.

  He should have tied her up with the seatbelt.

  “I don’t see anything,” she whispered after they looked around. He had to agree. No signs of anything out of the ordinary.

  “I’d ask you to give me the keys so I can go in and check out the place, but I have a feeling I’d be wasting my time.”

  She grinned at him, then bounded up the steps to the deck. A few minutes later, they were both convinced no one had entered the house, or if they had, nothing was taken or disturbed.

  Allie glanced at her cell phone and groaned, apparently brought back to reality. “Oh, crapola. I’ve got to hurry, or I’m going to be late for that party. I hope I can catch Laney before she heads over. I need a ride.”

  “I have some time on my hands, if you need a ride.” Sam’s aunt was coming over this afternoon to visit with his mother, something he’d learned she did on a daily basis, playing card games to stave off the boredom. She would be in good hands. His own boredom, on the other hand… “Where can I drop you?”

  “No. You’ve done enough. Besides, it’s clear out in Riverton. It would take almost half an hour to drive there.”

  “I don’t mind.”

  She put her cellphone to her ear and held up a finger. He decided to check out the boxes still sitting on the kitchen table while he waited.

  “Darn. Voicemail.” She left a brief message, followed by a text.

  He pulled out four unmarked tapes. “Do you even have a VCR to play these things?”

  “With a six year old? Are you kidding? I have a DVD/VCR combo for Violet’s old Dora the Explorer collection.” She glanced down when her phone chirped. “Crap.”

  “Problem?”

  “Laney’s already there.”

  “I told you I’d be happy to drop you off.”

  She chewed her bottom lip and concentrated on something over his shoulder for a few seconds, then sighed heavily. “Guess I don’t really have much choice. Okay.”

  “Wow. Your gratitude is overwhelming.”

  She had the grace to look embarrassed. “Sorry. You’re right. Thank you. It’s just…well, you saw Laney’s reaction to you. I just don’t want to cause a scene.”

  He made a face. “No scenes. It’ll be fine.”

  She looked relieved. “I have to go get ready, but feel free to pop those in the VCR. It’s in the front room, in th
e media cabinet.”

  It wasn’t difficult to find and operate the old VCR/DVD combo, and soon he had a tape in and ready to watch. He sat back on the couch, a remote in his hand so he could fast forward.

  Behind the closed door where Allie had disappeared, the water turned on. He blinked. She must be in the shower.

  Naked. And wet.

  Ah, hell. He so did not need that image in his head. Not when he’d resolved that nothing could—should—happen between them.

  He tried to keep busy, scanning through a couple of the VHS tapes that ended up being nothing more than video covering the highlights from the school’s swim team in ‘89 and ‘90 and the school production of You Can’t Take It With You from ‘92.

  All the while, he tried not to imagine what Allie was doing in the shower. Or wishing he could do it to her instead.

  Strange, the affect she was having on him. Unexpected. And a bit unsettling. She was a fellow teacher, his coworker. He had firm rules about mixing work with his private life. He’d declined his attractive publicist’s blatant come-ons for that very reason. Yet, he couldn’t get Allie out of his head. Not just now because of the shower thing, but last night, too, and the night before that, and the night bef—

  Hell. Probably since he first saw her at the airport last Sunday. Had that really only been six nights ago?

  Worse than being a coworker, she came with baggage. A daughter, a rabid sister, a crazy grandmother, and per Allie’s own warning, a scary stepfamily that hated him sight unseen. Because of his book. A book he had researched for over a year, interviewing every possible witness and affiliates of witnesses he could find, poring over police reports and even interviews of the family and the accused. His book was accurate, and if—

  “Find anything?”

  He almost jumped off the couch. Allie was standing at the end of the room. He looked away and turned off the TV before he answered. “The first two were busts. I’m working through the third, but so far—” He finally glanced back at her and found his words had suddenly halted and he was giving the pretty, petite blonde a lightening-speed once-over. He hoped she didn’t notice. With a cough, he quickly continued, “That tape doesn’t look any more promising. As far as I could tell, there didn’t really seem to be anything interesting on any of them.”

  As she walked toward him, her short, blue skirt flipped around her knees, revealing toned, shapely legs. Pink-polished toes peeped out of low-heeled sandals. Pretty, in an understated way. Until you got an eyeful of the full breasts that a white, form-fitting blouse accented to full advantage. Wow. Who knew? She’d done a damn good job at hiding those assets at work. No wonder, with all the horny-teenaged-male hormones floating around St. Andrew’s. Not to mention the adult males…

  Sam felt decidedly underdressed in comparison in his shorts and long-sleeved T-shirt. But it wasn’t like he was going inside.

  She sat down next to him on the couch, and sighed. “So, I’ve got squat.”

  “Um. On the tapes…right.”

  She didn’t acknowledge his subtle complement. Maybe it was too subtle… “Guess we should get going,” she said, sounding as excited about going to her party as attending a wake.

  She fidgeted the entire twenty-five minutes it took to drive to Riverton, a small city at the south end of the Salt Lake Valley. Her nervousness increased the closer they got to their destination.

  “This is a party for your nephew, right? The return missionary?” He hoped to distract her from her nerves.

  She nodded. “Yep. Jared.”

  “And Jared is your brother’s son?”

  “Stepbrother,” she corrected firmly. “My dad married Peg when I was six. Ethan was sixteen at the time. We didn’t exactly hit it off. The last thing he wanted was a new sibling to compete with his mom’s attention—especially not a chubby, dorky sister who could open him up to ridicule from his friends. So Ethan decided to beat them to it.” A muscle in her jaw worked. “Laney came along a year later. She took a lot of the sting out of the whole stepfamily thing. She was like my own little doll.” Allie glanced out the window. “Take the next turn.”

  He slowed down and took the corner. She opened the visor and looked at herself in the mirror, smoothed her index finger over her ruby-colored lips, and pressed them together. Then smoothed them again.

  Did she know the effect she was having on him?

  “Why don’t you go ahead and drop me off here?” she said when they turned into the small street where her stepbrother lived. There were dozens of cars already filling the driveway and the road.

  “But isn’t that the house up there?” he asked, even though he knew the answer. There were about fifty blue and white balloons tied around the mailbox in front of a beige, two-storied stucco house, and a huge banner across the threshold that said Welcome Home.

  “Yes, but—”

  “You’re not trying to hide the fact you’re with me, are you?” he asked. She stared at him, and he couldn’t resist giving her a wide grin.

  Her face flushed. “You promised, remember?”

  “I said it’d be fine,” he corrected. He didn’t know why he was tormenting her. Other than that he loved the way her eyes flashed with emotion. He had no intention of causing the scene she so dreaded.

  “You met my sister,” she pleaded. “And she’s the nice one.”

  He took pity on her and pretended to relent. “Okay. I’ll be good. Very clandestine.”

  Only problem was, as soon as he pulled into the driveway of the house next door, a blue Ford Taurus pulled up and parked behind them. A tall, stern woman stepped out of the car and slammed the door before turning her laser-like attention on their car, which he had idling while Allie climbed out.

  Allie was half-way through the door when she spotted the woman. A small groan slipped out.

  Uh-oh. This should be interesting.

  “Allie, dear. I’ve been so worried about you.” The woman paused and looked back at the driver of the Taurus. “Yes. Go ahead and park there, John. It’s fine.”

  With the woman’s attention momentarily distracted, Allie tried to get rid of him. “Thanks for the ride, Sam. I’ll call you later.” She slammed the door before he could respond. However, the older woman was not so easily diverted. She walked behind the Escalade even as Allie sprinted over to her.

  And stood outside his window and looked at him pointedly. Damn. He rolled it down.

  “Hello. I’m afraid we haven’t had the pleasure of an introduction. You weren’t leaving were you?” The woman’s green eyes were sharp, and he doubted anything got past them. Her hair was smooth and straight, worn just above her shoulders. Despite the wind blowing around them, making Allie’s blond tresses wave in the air, the woman’s didn’t budge. Shellacked in place.

  “Sam, this is my stepmother, Peg McBride.”

  Ah. No wonder she seemed familiar. The woman at the airport, trying to groom her stepdaughter. “Nice to meet you,” he said politely.

  “Sam is a friend of mine from the school. I had an issue with my car today. He happened to be there when the tow truck came, and he offered to give me a ride. But I’m afraid he has to get going, so…”

  “Allie, I’m surprised at you,” Peg admonished. “Where are your manners? The least you could do is invite Sam inside to say hello and have a bite to eat. As gratitude for offering you a ride.” Her gaze returned to him.

  He tried not to notice the beseeching look Allie was giving him. “I would love to come inside, Mrs. McBride,” he said, and Allie looked like her head was about to swivel around. “But I’m not exactly dressed for the occasion,” he continued poker-faced, as her cheeks went crimson, and her eyes flashed with irritation. “I was assisting St. Andrew’s Academy’s soccer team at their match this morning.”

  “We’re not snobs,” Peg said in a tone that suggested the contrary. “We’d love your company regardless of what you’re wearing.”

  He really should come up with another excuse. It’s clearly w
hat Allie wanted—her eyes had grown wide with alarm. But he couldn’t imagine anything he’d like better than spending some time getting to know these people. See what made her so damn nervous. “I was just telling Allie I have a few things I had to do today, but I guess my errands can wait a few minutes.”

  “Good. We’ll see you inside then?” It was less a question than an order.

  “Can’t wait,” he assured her.

  He couldn’t help but grin at the look of abject horror on Allie’s face and the steam he could practically see coming from her ears. But Peg had already taken her arm and was leading her into the party, the white-haired gentleman who’d parked the Taurus ambling behind them.

  He chuckled. This was going to be fun.

  When he stepped into the entrance foyer of the home, a wall of family photographs lined both sides of the hallway and continued on toward the back of the house. Mixed among them were some religious pictures, a picture of a red-robed Jesus, and, finally, a picture of three older men in dark suits and ties.

  On the long table that ran along the wall under the photos were several magazines, fanned out so people coming in could see them. There was also a catalogue for Brigham Young University sitting on the corner. It hit him then that the blue and white balloons secured to the mailbox were probably in honor of BYU’s school colors.

  The first room next to the entry was empty except for two boys sitting in front of a piano. But rather than playing the keys, their attention was diverted to the Nintendo 3DS game systems in their hands. Josh had the same one. Ahead he could see where the heart of the party was. But he took his time getting there, looking through the photos in the hallway and the ones lining a staircase he passed.

  He was looking for any pictures of Allie.

  A-ha. There was one. An old eight-by-ten of the whole family. Allie was probably around nine, judging by the fact her sister, seven years her junior, couldn’t have been more than two. Laney did look like a little doll, plopped center of the picture on her mother’s lap, her blond hair accented with a pink flower. Allie’s father had white hair even back then and smiled mildly. Evan, the evil stepbrother, stood on one side of his mother, grinning like a weasel.