by Vicki Hinze
With a little shake of her head, Julia warned Dana. “You might want to check that out. Look at the bone structure.” Julia adjusted her sunglasses. “Jessup’s a clotheshorse, we all know that, and Vinn is… well, not, shall we say. But the bones don’t lie.”
Dana frowned at Julia, who shrugged. “Just saying.”
Swiveling her gaze back to Thomas, Dana looked at him as if for the first time, and the similarities between him and Vinn smacked her hard. The bone structure told the truth. Dana frowned and puzzled through the situation. Connie was nearly twenty years older than Thomas, for pity’s sake. Despite the similarities, Julia had to be out of her mind on this one.
But was she? Connie had been a teacher at the school when Thomas had been a student there. Good grief, it was impossible. Absurd even thinking about such an implication.
“It’s not impossible, is it?” Julia whispered.
Dana opened her mouth to deny it, but couldn’t seem to utter a sound. It wasn’t impossible. She surely wouldn’t be the first teacher to have an affair with a male student. But, oh, Dana hated to think she had for both their sakes and especially for Vinn’s.
“Sometimes it’s hard to see things when they’re hiding in plain sight, right under your nose.”
Dana searched for the words to refute Julia, but the truth was Thomas had reacted oddly in his office to Vernon, and Vinn did strongly favor Thomas. How had she not noticed that before now?
Fortunately, McCabe had taken to the podium and was addressing the crowd. Camera shutters clicked and flashed, and cameramen held their equipment on their shoulders, recording the event. Dana heard very little of it. Her mind swam from Thomas to Vinn, to Connie and Vernon, then back to Thomas. Was Vinn the cause of Thomas’s beta moment?
“Get real, McCabe.” Heidi Udall shouted out. Short and heavyset, she wore her Batter Up Bakery uniform of a white shirt and black-and-white checked skirt and hat. “That scrawny kid couldn’t have strangled Sylvia Cole to death. In hand-to-hand, Sylvia could take him.”
Gasps silenced the crowd.
Heidi’s jaw dropped open. “Did I say that out loud?” Clearly horrified, she looked at the faces of those around her which confirmed that she hadn’t just spoken it, she’d shouted it. “I’m so—“
“Unbearable, Heidi Udall.” Connie Bradshaw glared at her. “That scrawny kid is my son. My son who had dreams of being a brilliant nanotechnologist to perfect better drug delivery systems for people like you—all of you. He was a basketball player, a friend to many of your children. He had a life. All of it is gone now. Everything is… gone.”
Vernon moved to circle an arm around her. She shoved him away. “No. Don’t you touch me. I will have my say, Vernon.”
He held up his hands and backed up a step. “You were right about one thing, Heidi. Vinn didn’t kill anyone, and only a fool would believe he did.”
“He confessed, didn’t he?” A man shouted from the back of the crowd.
“He didn’t do it.” Connie got a wild look in her eyes. “I’m going to get him, and I’m taking him home. Right now.” She powered through the crowd.
“This is going to get nasty,” Julia warned.
“Very.” Dana motioned toward the doors. “Come on.”
Connie pushed her way into City Hall. Dana, Julia and Ana blocked the entry from the top of the steps. A cameraman did his best to push through to get inside.
“Not a good time,” Dana said, holding her ground.
Julia wasn’t as subtle. “One more step and it’s assault, Jack. Back up or face-plant the steps. Your call.”
The crowd turned its attention from the podium to the doors behind Dana and the women. Jessup and McCabe made their way up the steps. Dana and Julia parted so they could pass and go inside.
“Thanks,” Thomas said.
When the door opened behind them, Connie’s screams could be heard. Her arguing with Laney, who was sympathetic but insistent that Connie couldn’t take Vinn anywhere. Thomas’s voice blended into the mix.
The crowd waited silently, fixated on the door and straining to hear what was being said inside. Long minutes passed, tension ratcheted up. But it was Laney Holt who appeared in the cracked open doorway, not Connie Bradshaw. “Dr. Perez,” Laney said. “We could use a little help here.”
The screaming continued for long, tense minutes. The pharmacist from across the street rushed up the steps, carrying a small white prescription bag. “Dr. Ana—“
Dana and Julia parted and let him pass.
“She’s lost it,” Julia said. “Ana’s going to knock her on her—“
“She’s terrified.” Dana smiled reassuringly at the crowd. “If this were you, and he was your child, wouldn’t you be terrified?”
Thomas’s voice was soft and soothing at her back. “Connie, this isn’t the way. Let Ana help you. We’re going to get to the bottom of all this. I promise you, we will.”
“I don’t believe you,” Connie spat. “You have his confession. Why would you even look for anyone else?”
“We are looking at everyone else,” McCabe assured her.
“That’s right,” Thomas said. “What we need is for you to get a grip and let us do what we need to do to find out the truth, Connie. We all want the truth. You keep Chief McCabe and Deputy Chief Holt tied up with you, that’s time they’re not—“
“But this is my son, Thomas.” Her voice cracked and broke and the screaming started all over again.
“Ana,” McCabe said. “Do it.”
“I can’t. She’s in no condition to authorize—“
“Dana,” Thomas shouted to be heard above Connie’s screams. “Get Vernon.”
More spectators had joined the crowd, and a torrent of intense speculation was going on. Dana cringed. Vernon stood in the center of the group watching everyone, his mask in place. “Vernon,” she called to him and then motioned him to her. “Dr. Perez needs you inside.”
He went in and shut the doors behind him.
A few minutes later, the sobs so deep they tore at the soul ceased. Dana caught her first calming breath. “Okay, everyone. Let’s break this up now. And please, when you talk about this in front of the children, remember that they’re looking to you to see how they should react. If you’re calm, they’ll be calm. We’ve had more than enough upset, right? So be calm.”
People began milling away and soon the crowd had dispersed. “I can’t believe Heidi Udall said that.”
“Neither can she,” Dana told Julia. The last of the lingerers and gawkers abandoned the area, though tongues would wag about what had happened here for weeks. Maybe longer.
“True.” Julia dipped her sunglasses low on her nose, looked at Dana over the top of them. “I can’t believe all this.” Her resentment shone through as clear as the streaks of sun on the sidewalk. “I came here to get away from this kind of thing.”
Dana sighed her empathy. “Didn’t we all?”
Chapter Four
Dana’s cottage on Mill Street had character.
White clapboard trimmed in black with an inviting wide front porch, it charmed her. It had the first moment she had seen it, and it did now, seven years later.
She shifted the packages in her arm, careful to keep the box from Batter Up Bakery from tipping. The individual strawberry cheesecakes didn’t handle tips well. She keyed the lock and went inside, cut through the entry to the kitchen, dumped her handbag, keys and tote on the broad granite bar, then put the bakery box into the fridge.
Two hours later, Thomas arrived. He’d changed into a gray suit again. For him, that qualified as casual. Dana smiled.
Rubbing the night chill from his hands, he walked in. “Something smells great.”
“That’s non-bribe Mongolian Beef.”
“That, too,” he said, sniffing. “Sweet garlic soy sauce and onions, but something else.” He set the bottle of wine on the brown-swirled granite bar. “I can’t peg it.”
“Wonton soup, my special brown fried ri
ce, and broccoli.”
He stilled. “Should I have brought dessert?”
“We’re covered.” Dana hadn’t forgotten Thomas had a sweet tooth. In his book, a meal wasn’t a meal without dessert. “Strawberry cheesecake.”
“You even made strawberry cheesecake?”
“No way. Why should I bake when Heidi Udall makes the best desserts in town?” Dana retrieved the corkscrew from the top drawer and then passed it to him. “Of course, you have to catch her in the mood, on the right day, to get one of your favorites.” Heidi baked what she pleased on any given day. Cupcakes, she baked every day, but her specialty items were strictly potluck for the buyer. She followed her whims and what she baked when was solely her call. You could buy or not until she ran out or closed shop for the day.
“We got lucky. She won’t make strawberry cheesecake unless the strawberries are just right.”
“Ripe but firm,” Dana said. It was a great marketing gimmick. Shoppers dropped in to see what whim she was indulging that day. Most left with something. “And sweet.”
“Exactly.” He poured the wine into waiting glasses.
Dana checked the wine bottle. “Fetzer Gewürztraminer 2007. I’m not sure I’ve ever had it.”
“It’s supposed to be thick and sweet enough for dessert, but the perfect varietal for flash-fried Mongolian Beef. At least, that’s what the wine sommelier said.
“What is a wine sommelier?”
“The wine steward at Fitzgerald’s,” Thomas whispered. “I had no idea what wine went with Mongolian Beef so I called and asked. That’s what he recommended.”
“Works for me.” Fitzgerald’s was an upscale restaurant on Shutter Lake. Literally. From the shore, you walk down a wooden dock to it or you arrive by boat. The entire restaurant was built on stilts and surrounded by water. Beautiful sunsets regardless of where you’re seated, inside or on the wrap-around deck, and a bit pricy. Dana had been there for special occasions, but never for dinner. Sunday brunch, when Julia, who ate there often, joined her, Laney and Ana. That was the best time for them to plan being off from work.
Thomas often spoke of the beautiful sunsets there, though Dana couldn’t imagine they were any more beautiful than sitting in the dirt on the bank of the lake itself. Maybe the glow of the sun shimmering on the water was more magnificent from higher up, but she loved the view from the bank.
In the cottage’s dining room, Dana and Thomas enjoyed a pleasant dinner, chatting about light and ordinary things. Though curious about the topic of his beta-moment conversation, she wasn’t so curious she wanted to risk the spice in dinner and any added tension. One or the other, she could handle. But since Sylvia’s murder had resurrected Dana’s Phoenix ghosts, she wasn’t brave enough to tackle both simultaneously. Her stomach felt far too fragile. And, honesty forced her to admit, her heart was right there with it.
When they’d finished their meal, she said, “Let’s have dessert on the patio.” He hadn’t yet seen her renovations.
“Okay.” He slanted her a questioning look.
She ignored it. So he wasn’t enthused, but he had agreed. Not that she blamed him. The last time they’d sat on her patio, it’d been in two lawn chairs on the stone with a TV tray serving as a table between them. The makeover out there had been long, hard work, but the results were lovely. Warm and inviting. She prepared a tray with the individual cheesecakes and a carafe of piping-hot coffee, added cups and saucers, napkins and silverware, and then they headed out the back door.
“Wow! Dana, you’ve been busy.” Thomas looked shocked, and pleased. “I like it.”
“Thank you.” The stone patio was draped in white netting with bold black stripes at the two outer corners. Huge thick pillows in black-and-white geometric shapes circled a fire-pit and a slice of a tree on a short stump made a great side-table. Atop it burned three white candles. “Have a seat.”
They sat near each other and she served the cheesecake and coffee.
“I like this,” he said, clearly enjoying the crackling fire and its warmth.
“I do, too.” Her smile was genuine and heart-felt. She’d worked for weeks to get the patio and tiered stone beds just the way she wanted them. In spring, she’d enjoy a profusion of colored flowers. It seemed simple now—the design and layout and finishing touches. It sure hadn’t been when she was doing it.
“I wouldn’t have gone so bold, but I really do like it.” He glanced over at her. “It’s so you.”
“It’s great, and that’s that, Thomas. Eat your cheesecake.”
“All I meant was I love it that you take risks and try things. Bold things.” He picked up his fork. “It was a compliment, Dana.”
“Oh. Thank you, then.” She savored the first bite of strawberry cheesecake. “Oh, why would anyone make this themselves when Heidi is baking?”
“I can’t imagine. The woman might say things she shouldn’t without realizing it, but give her the due she deserves. She’s a fantastic baker.”
His reference was to Heidi’s shouted scrawny-kid comment to McCabe at the press conference that had set Connie off like a rocket. “Yes, she’s a wonder.” Dana sipped the hot coffee and watched him through the rising steam. “Have the concerned-citizens calls slowed down at your office?”
He nodded. “Down today, first day.” His expression clouded. “But after that gaggle of a press conference this afternoon, I expect tomorrow will be a nightmare. I warned Gracie to bring her Patience.”
“I expect she brings her patience to work everyday or she wouldn’t be there.”
“That, too. But I meant Patience, Gracie’s cat.” He polished off the cheesecake. “Having her around soothes Gracie and the people coming in seem to like her.”
Ambience. “Ah, I see.” Dana smiled to herself. It was hard to imagine Thomas Jessup letting a cat run loose in his prim and proper office. But if he thought it was positive imagery, he would tolerate and encourage it. Or maybe Gracie was loosening him up a little.
“What’s so funny?”
“Nothing at all. I just, well, I think it’s charming that you let Gracie bring her cat to the office.”
“It makes her happy. When she’s happy, my work goes more smoothly. It’s that simple.”
“Right.” Dana could see the logic in that remark, but Thomas was a softie at heart and even if he didn’t know it, Dana did. Apparently, so did Gracie. “I’m holding another ‘Express Yourself’ assembly for the students tomorrow.”
“Again already?”
She nodded. “After the press conference, the parents are bound to go home and get the kids all worked up. Which means we have to calm them down again or we’ll lose another day of actually teaching them anything.”
Thomas tilted his head, set down his cup on the wide lip of the fire-pit. “I’ve been meaning to tell you something for a long time, and I just haven’t. But now it seems right, if you’re up to it…”
“Of course,” she said on auto-pilot, then prayed whatever he said wasn’t something awful. At the moment, she was full-up on awful. “What is it?”
“We’ve never discussed it, but I want you to know I was wrong about you.” He sipped from his cup, then continued. “You probably already know after what happened to you in Phoenix, I thought hiring you would be a mistake.”
Now he was dissatisfied with her work? Where was this coming from? “Excuse me?”
“Let me finish.”
“Get to it then, because I’m getting less content the longer it’s taking you.”
“Don’t get me wrong. Your qualifications are sterling. But I didn’t think for a second you’d stick with us for the long haul.”
“Why not?”
“You’re young and beautiful, and life here is tranquil. Honestly, I thought a woman as vibrant as you would get bored and move on at the end of the first school year.”
“Do you want me to quit? Is that what this is about?”
“Lord, no!” His expression went from exasperated to horrifi
ed and then sobered. “In my own clumsy way, I am trying to admit I was wrong. It’s difficult, okay? I haven’t had a lot of practice—and I’m not bragging, just saying that’s the way it’s worked out.” He paused, gathered his thoughts and then continued. “You were the perfect choice to run the school here. I’m thrilled you’ve stayed. We’ve been a blue-ribbon school every single year, and with all this… I had no idea how badly we’d need your skills as an innovator or as a psychologist. You’ve done an amazing job. That’s all I was trying to say.”
“Well, thank you, Thomas.” Dana hadn’t expected that, and she calmed down. “And your being wrong about me is not a problem. Truthfully, back then I would have been skeptical of me, too.”
“Why?”
“Because I was still processing everything that had happened. I hadn’t worked through it all in my mind yet.”
“That’s understandable even for us non-psychologists. Yours was a traumatic experience, Dana.”
It had been traumatic. And heartbreaking. And terrifying. “Yes.”
He refilled his coffee from the carafe and then topped off her cup. “And it’s gracious of you not to rub my nose in being wrong.”
“Don’t give me too much credit.” She parked her cup. “I’ve had tons of experience at being underestimated.”
“Seriously?”
She nodded. “Most of my life. It happens when you earn dual Ph.D. degrees at the ripe old age of nineteen.”
“That, I wouldn’t know.” He smiled. “So may I ask you something?” He focused beyond the glowing light and out into the darkness. “Why do you stay in Shutter Lake?”
“For the same reason I came here.” She shrugged. “I feel safe…or I did, until recently.”
He rubbed at his folded knee. “So Sylvia’s murder rattled you, too.”
“Of course. It’s rattled everyone.” Everyone else expected her to remain calm and collected. They expected the same from Thomas. But his expecting her to remain unaffected surprised her. If anyone knew we all need someone to just be ourselves with, it should be him. In that regard, they were kindred spirits.
