Murder Likes It Hot

by Tracy Weber

  A forty-something bearded man approached us. “Got any spare change?”

  “Now’s not a good time,” I said. Bella lifted her lip and added a low growl.

  He held up his hands and backed away. “Okay, lady, never mind. No need to sic Cujo on me.”

  Bella lifted her chin, then gave three quick air sniffs. With a low, happy woof, she charged toward the tent with the lanterns. I stumbled behind her; Michael and Echo jogged behind me. Bella skidded to a stop outside the tent, nuzzled the entrance, and whined.

  A blonde head peeked through the opening.

  Rainbow.

  Her face broke into a surprised smile. “Bella!” Then she saw Michael and me. The smile vanished, replaced by something that looked an awful lot like panic. She reached for her pack, preparing to bolt.

  Echo grabbed her arm. “Stop. They’re here to help you.”

  Rainbow shook off Echo’s grasp, but she didn’t run. “Three hundred dollars. I gave you three hundred dollars to hide me, and still you ratted me out the second you finished shooting my money up your veins. You’re a selfish junkie, just like my mother.”

  Echo didn’t flinch. “I never said you could stay here forever. Be glad I didn’t snitch to the cops.”

  “What’s the difference? These two aren’t going to hide me. They wanted to turn me in before Gabriel was even shot.”

  She whipped toward me, face so red it was practically purple. “I didn’t do anything except protect myself from my psycho stepfather. But it doesn’t matter, because no one believes me.”

  She was wrong. I believed her. One look at my husband’s face and I knew he believed her, too. Rainbow had obviously been through four very tough days. The jeans and sweatshirt I’d given her were filthy. The bright green Seahawks slipper socks sagged over her shoes. She looked impossibly thinner than she had on Wednesday, and her eyes were shiny with stress. But I saw no signs of a recent life-or-death struggle. No dried blood on her outfit, no defensive wounds on her hands. No guilt in her voice, either. Just fear. And betrayal. And anger.

  “At least I won’t have to go back to that scumbag,” she scoffed. “I’d rather be some prison hag’s wife than get raped by Sergeant Psychopath.” She held out her hands, daring me to cuff them. “Go on,” she said. “Book ’em, Danno. You know you want to.”

  I kept my voice deliberately calm. “Put your arms down, Rainbow.”

  “Why should I? You’re turning me in, aren’t you?”

  “No.”

  Michael’s eyes widened. “We’re not?”

  I ignored him and kept my eyes pinned on Rainbow, preparing to grab her if she tried to run. “We’re not turning you in; you’re turning yourself in. But first you’re going to talk to my attorney friend, Dale. He’s going to help get you out of this mess. We all are.”

  Rainbow didn’t reply, but she didn’t argue either.

  I took Michael’s hand. “Rainbow, you’re not alone anymore. Michael and I are your friends. Let us help you.”

  eighteen

  Forty-five minutes later, Rainbow and I sat across from each other at my kitchen table while Michael stir-fried an early dinner for Rainbow of mixed vegetables and tofu. I suspected that she would have preferred something less healthy—a cheeseburger and fries, perhaps—but meat wasn’t part of our vegetarian kitchen.

  Michael plated a steamy concoction of bright orange carrots, dark green broccoli, snow peas, and brown rice. The scents of garlic and ginger made my stomach rumble, even though I’d eaten lunch just a few hours ago. Rainbow eyed the plate warily.

  Michael handed her a fork. “Go on, eat. I didn’t drug it, I promise.”

  Rainbow gulped down the food like she hadn’t eaten in days, which, in retrospect, she probably hadn’t. I held off asking questions until she’d finished her second large helping, then invited her to follow Michael and me to the living room. She perched on the couch, one eye on me, the other on the door, as if preparing to make a run for it. Bella hopped on the couch next to her, sighed, and laid her chin on Rainbow’s thigh.

  I sat on a chair across from her, hoping against hope that I could make her see reason. “You know you can’t keep running, right? If you’re lucky, the police will catch up with you. If not, you’ll end up like Echo, selling your heroin-riddled body to any scumbag who offers you a twenty.”

  “And try to enjoy it, because those will be the good days,” Michael added. “Before long, you’ll be dead.”

  Our words were abrupt, but now wasn’t the time for niceties.

  Rainbow gripped the loose skin around Bella’s neck. “I don’t want to go to prison. It’s not fair. I didn’t hurt Gabriel.”

  “I know you didn’t.” I wasn’t placating her. Rainbow wasn’t the predator in this story; she was the prey. “But what you and I know doesn’t matter. We have to convince the police. As far as I can tell, there’s a single road out of this mess for you, and that’s to prove that you’re innocent. Working with my attorney friend Dale is your best bet. But I won’t lie to you. He’ll make you turn yourself in.”

  “If I turn myself in, they’ll take me to jail.”

  I nodded. “To juvenile detention, yes.”

  “For how long?”

  “I don’t know. For a while, likely, unless Dale can arrange bail.” What I didn’t tell her was that the odds of Dale getting bail for a runaway arrested for murder were less than his odds of winning the next Lotto jackpot without holding a ticket.

  “I know it sounds grim,” Michael said. “But the only way this can end well for you is if you go to the police. The longer you run, the guiltier you look. Will you do it?”

  Rainbow stared at Bella’s black fur as if the answer lay hidden somewhere deep in her undercoat. After several long seconds, she gave a single nod yes.

  “Good.” Michael reached for the phone. “I’ll call Dale.”

  “Not yet, honey. We need to talk first.” I assumed Dale was still two hours away in Olympia, but I couldn’t risk it. I turned to Rainbow. “I’ve helped solve a few mysteries myself, so I don’t plan to let Dale do all of the work. But if I’m going to help you, I’ll need information. Dale’s a good guy, but once he enters the picture, he won’t allow you to tell me anything.”

  It wasn’t a guess. I’d seen Dale handle murder investigations two times before. Three, if you counted the time I was his client. Dale’s rules of attorney-client privilege left no room for anyone else, including a self-proclaimed yogi detective.

  Rainbow released Bella’s fur and frowned. “Look, I get that I have to turn myself in. I don’t have anywhere else to go, anyway. And I’ll talk to this Dale friend of yours. But I don’t promise to let him be my attorney. I couldn’t afford him even if I wanted to.”

  I considered telling Rainbow about her trust fund but decided to leave that particular Pandora’s box closed, at least for now. “We’ll figure out the money later.”

  Rainbow’s tone left no room for argument. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not going to let some … ” She paused. “Some man I don’t even know boss me around. I got enough of that from the drill sergeant.” Her expression grew stony. “My life, my decision.”

  My stomach dropped to my toes. How could I have been so naïve? I’d assumed Rainbow would jump at the chance to have an attorney—any attorney—in her corner. But why would she? Adults hadn’t exactly had her back before now.

  “Rainbow, you need an attorney, and Dale’s the best. I’ve trusted him with my life before. So has Michael.”

  She glanced sideways at Michael, who nodded solemnly. She turned back to me. “If you and this lawyer dude are so close, why would he stop me from talking to you?”

  “Because anything you tell me won’t be privileged. I might be called to testify against you in court.”

  Rainbow’s jaw tensed, but her face grew ashen.

  “I k
now that’s frightening, but I hope your case won’t get that far. I have a … ” I paused at the word. “I have a gift, I guess you could say. My solve rate is pretty darned good.”

  “Then why do I need a law—”

  I didn’t let her finish. “Trust me. You need an attorney, and Dale’s as good as they get.”

  The three of us were silent for one second, then two, then three. Finally, Rainbow spoke. “I said I’ll talk to him. No promises after that.”

  It was the best I was going to get, for now. “Okay. We’ll call him in a minute. First, tell me what happened Wednesday night after you left Michael and me, and don’t leave out any details.” I grabbed my notebook and pen from the end table. “Do you mind if I take notes?”

  She shook her head, then reached down to ruffle Bella’s ears. She stared at my canine best friend for several seconds. I assumed she was gathering the courage to continue. “It all started when I overheard you and Michael talking.” Her eyes flicked between Michael and me, as if she expected us to chastise her. “I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop or anything, I promise. I just wanted to show you that your cat is a sweetheart.” I withheld the impulse to roll my eyes. “But when I overheard you tell Michael that you’d call the police, I freaked. I knew the cops would send me back to my stepfather.” She avoided my gaze. “I meant what I said, Kate. I’d rather die than live with him alone. I figured my best option was to get out of town, so I bolted.”

  Michael wore an expression of pure unadulterated guilt. “I’m sorry about that, Rainbow. I made a mistake. We ran after you, but we couldn’t find you.”

  “I jogged down to Market Street and hitched a ride from there to downtown. I walked the rest of the way to Teen Path HOME.”

  I blurted out a stupid question. “You hitchhiked? Don’t you know how dangerous that is?”

  Rainbow cringed. “I couldn’t exactly stand around waiting at a bus stop. I knew you guys would try to catch me.”

  “Why Teen Path HOME?” Michael asked.

  “I needed money to get out of Seattle. I’d already spent the cash that I swiped from Kate’s purse.” Her upper lip trembled. “I’m sorry for taking your money, Kate. I didn’t know you well then. I know that doesn’t excuse stealing from you, but … ” Her voice trailed off.

  “Don’t worry about that, Rainbow,” I replied. “We have bigger issues than a couple of twenties you swiped from my billfold.”

  “It was more than a couple of twenties.” She opened her pack, pulled out a small spiral notebook, and flipped through the pages. Midway through, she stopped and held her index finger against the paper. “I took forty-seven dollars and fifty-three cents from you,” she replied.

  “You wrote it down?”

  “I’m keeping a tab. I’m going to pay back everything I stole someday, I promise.”

  I didn’t reply. The promise sounded genuine, if naïve.

  “I swear, I only take what I need. I don’t have a choice. I can’t get a legitimate job without someone finding out I’m a runaway, and I won’t sell drugs. Not after what they did to my mother. That leaves stealing and prostitution. Stealing is the lesser of two evils.”

  I couldn’t disagree with her.

  She continued. “I would have taken the cash and left your wallet under the table, but I was afraid someone else would swipe it and use your credit cards. I couldn’t exactly turn it in to lost and found.”

  “Is that why you kept it?” I asked.

  “Yes. I was waiting for an opportunity to get it back to you when you wouldn’t realize I’d swiped it. I would have thrown it out, but the photo inside seemed important.

  Part of me didn’t want to know what had happened next, but I prodded anyway. “So you went to Teen Path HOME to get money?”

  “That and food. Chuck has a petty cash box for kitchen supplies and a stash of protein bars he gives out to his workers. There’s a window in the kitchen that doesn’t completely lock, so getting what I needed from the kitchen was a sure bet.”

  She unconsciously placed her hand on her backpack. “I should have grabbed the money and run, but I needed to get something else, too.”

  “Your drawing.” My voice sounded flat.

  “You know about that?”

  “Yes. The police do too. Didn’t you realize that taking your own artwork was like leaving a calling card?”

  She chewed on her lower lip. “I wasn’t there to hurt anyone. I was just swiping some petty cash. I didn’t think Gabriel or Chuck would even bother reporting it. If they did, what difference would it make? I was planning to head out of town in a day or two. The cops don’t exactly send out a search party for a few hundred dollars. The drawing has meaning for me, you know?”

  “It’s okay,” Michael said. “What happened next?”

  “My drawing was part of a display outside Gabriel’s office, so I went there and grabbed it. Gabriel’s door was open and a few lights were on, but I honestly didn’t think much about it. I figured they left the lights on to scare off burglars.” Her cheeks turned pink. “Anyway, after I rolled up the drawing and stashed it in my pack, I heard a shower turn on upstairs. That was the first time I realized I wasn’t alone. I figured someone else must have come in through the window like I did.”

  “How many people know about that window?” I asked.

  “No one talked about it, but I’m pretty sure most of us who worked in the kitchen knew.”

  “If it was so obvious, why didn’t somebody fix it?” Michael asked.

  “It wouldn’t have been obvious to the staff. Casing easy entry points is a survival skill for us street kids. We’re always on the lookout. Adults who have money and a comfy place to sleep at night don’t pay attention.”

  “I don’t know, Rainbow,” I replied. “Certainly Chuck would have noticed. He’s in that space every day.”

  Rainbow stood. For a moment, I thought she was preparing to flee. “Rainbow, where are—”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll be back sooner than you think.” She left her pack behind and walked to the kitchen. Bella trotted behind her. The door to the back yard opened, then closed again.

  Michael stood. “I’ll go outside and keep an eye on her.”

  A minute later, I heard an upstairs window slide open.

  What the …

  I stood to check out the sound and saw Rainbow waving at me from the top of the staircase.

  “Hey there, Kate.” She winked.

  Michael and Bella meandered back through the kitchen.

  “Unbelievable,” he said. “She scaled right up the trellis and crawled in through the bathroom window.”

  “Believe me now?” Rainbow asked. She flopped back onto the couch. Bella jumped up, turned a quick circle, and sank down beside her again. “I blocked that window latch open four days ago, and you never noticed. I told you, casing easy entrance and exit points is a survival skill.”

  I glanced at the stairwell, concerned about how quickly Rainbow had broken into my supposedly secure home.

  She followed my gaze. “Don’t worry about the window. I fixed it so it won’t open from the outside again.”

  Don’t worry, indeed. I was calling a locksmith. Pronto.

  Rainbow picked up the conversation as if it had never been interrupted. “Like I was saying, I heard the shower turn on upstairs, and I realized I needed to get out of there. I hustled back to the kitchen, found the petty cash box, and pried it open with a butter knife. Then I pulled out my gun, shoved the money into my pack, and headed to the cabinet where Chuck keeps the protein bars.”

  “Why did you take out the gun?” I asked.

  “It wouldn’t do me much good buried under a pile of food. I was going to put it back after I snagged the protein bars, but I got distracted by Ed and Lonnie.”

  “Ed and Lonnie?” Michael asked. “The rats?”

 
She nodded. “Someone must have forgotten to latch their cage again. Ed was chasing Lonnie across the kitchen floor toward the compost bin. It freaked me out, because Chuck said he was going to put out rat poison, and I figured he might hide it in the compost container.”

  Her fingers tensed around Bella’s scruff. “The only way I could be sure Ed and Lonnie were safe was to catch them, and I couldn’t do that with a loaded gun in my hand, so I laid the gun down on the counter and ran after them.”

  I wanted to scold her. To shake her, even. Leaving a loaded gun out in the open—especially while committing a crime—was hugely irresponsible. But how could I? I’d made plenty of stupid choices in the past, especially when I was trying to help an animal in need.

  “Those little suckers are fast, though. I knocked over the compost bin trying to grab Lonnie. Gabriel must have heard, because he slammed into the kitchen a few seconds later. His shirt was unbuttoned and his hair was dripping.”

  “Did he recognize you?” Michael asked.

  “Totally. He tried to grab me, but I got past him. I barely had time to snag my pack before I scrambled out the window. There was no way I could have gotten the gun.” Her eyes welled with tears. “I left Ed and Lonnie behind like a selfish coward. I didn’t even tell Gabriel they were loose. They probably ate some awful poison because of me.”

  “Don’t worry about the rats,” Michael said. “They’re fine. The little monsters are destroying my pet store for now.”

  A smile brightened her face. “Good. That’s good.”

  I wished I felt as relieved as she looked. “Rainbow, that gun you left behind was used to shoot Gabriel.”

  “I know. Echo told me. That’s why the police think I killed him.”

  “You left it on the kitchen counter?”

  “Yes.”

  “The police found it stashed outside, behind the dumpster. It was inside the petty cash box.”

  Rainbow frowned. “When I left, the gun was in the kitchen. Someone must have found it and taken it outside.”

  Michael set his Guinness on the end table and leaned forward. “Rainbow, here’s what I don’t get. You stole the money so you could leave town. Why didn’t you?”