Pretty Poison plgm-1

by Joyce Lavene

  Peggy told her what she knew. “It sounds bad for Keeley. If the police hadn’t already built a case against Mr. Cheever, I’m sure they would’ve taken her into custody.”

  “Wow!” Selena’s eyes were wide with wonder. “Imagine Keeley and that rich old banking dude. Who would’ve guessed?”

  “He wasn’t that old. He was only thirty-nine.”

  “That’s almost old enough to be her father! People that old shouldn’t have sex anymore.”

  Peggy put on her apron and stood beside her. “Did I tell you that I might be dating again?”

  Selena smacked herself in the head. “I know. But I didn’t mean you. And besides, that’s different. You wouldn’t date someone younger than you.”

  “He’s forty-five. I was fifty-two in September.”

  “I think I’m leaving now before I say anything else.” She picked up her book bag. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Peggy. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help Keeley.”

  Peggy laughed at her. “Bye, sweetie. Don’t worry. The old people of the world who are still having sex aren’t going to come after you. You’re young, and you don’t know any better. We make allowances for that.”

  It was only two hours until closing when Selena left. Sam called in, and Peggy told him everything that had happened. They were due for another shipment of pansies that would be planted outside the uptown library building. With Keeley gone, other arrangements would have to be made.

  “I’ll call Dawn or Brenda,” Peggy told him. “One of them might be able to help with the planting. Do you have a design in mind?”

  “Yeah. I had this swirly kind of universe-in-motion idea. But the library board didn’t like it. They want straight rows. No imagination.”

  “I guess that says it all. What time is the shipment due tonight?”

  “It shouldn’t be too late. Maybe you could go and get supper, then come back. I’m sorry I can’t be there.”

  “That’s okay, Sam. I’ll be fine. I’ll talk to you later.”

  Peggy decided not to go out for dinner. She ran to Emil’s shop and picked up some tea and a bagel. She didn’t need any rich, French food or spicy Caribbean. What she really needed was some time to mull over everything that had happened. Somewhere, all of it made sense.

  She set up her portable radio, changing the station to NPR. Then she put her legs up on the garden bench and ate her bagel sandwich while she looked through some new gardening catalogs. There was a lovely new miniature blackberry bush she marked to buy. Also some antique-looking garden implements she thought might go over well in her market. In Charlotte, the next best thing to real antiques were faux ones.

  She called Hunter when she finished eating. She was out; Peggy left her voice mail. She glanced at the big clock on the wall. It was almost seven-thirty. She was wondering when the delivery truck would come when she heard it make the turn into the back. Putting on her jacket, she walked to the loading dock.

  The back light still wasn’t working. She went inside for a flashlight, worried that the truck driver would back right through her storage area if he didn’t have some light. The truck was moving into place when she emerged again. She switched on the flashlight and went to stand at the end of the dock. Not sure how to signal the driver, she tried waving the flashlight back and forth like they did at the airport.

  It was cold despite the sunny warmth of the day. Sunset brought a biting wind and a clear, starlit sky. She could smell the Dumpsters behind the shops around hers. The sweet aromas of baking bread and cinnamon were long gone from the bakery a few doors down. Everything was shut tight in the courtyard.

  As she was looking up into the sky, a hand came out of the darkness behind her and pushed her off the dock into the path of the truck. It was so startling, so fast, it took her a moment to realize what happened.

  Her knees and hands stung from hitting the gravel. She couldn’t catch her breath. The truck kept coming, not seeing her. The flashlight had rolled to the other side of the dock. Red taillights coming closer pushed her to her feet. She had to get out of the way.

  Reeling from shock and pain, she limped to the stairs and collapsed. The wood was hard and real under her. As hard and real as the hand that pushed her off the dock.

  She glanced back into the shadows and took out her cell phone. Her hands were shaking so badly, she could barely push the numbers. When the 911 operator came on, she gave the address and explained what happened. Her voice sounded weak and pathetic to her ears.

  The truck was in position at the dock. The cab door squeaked open and slammed shut. Footsteps started toward her. “Hey! Whatcha doin’ down there? I coulda hit you. It’s dark back here. Ain’t you got no light?”

  She couldn’t find words to explain to him. She still couldn’t believe someone had tried to kill her. She couldn’t see another way to say it. And that’s what she told the police officer who came right after the paramedics.

  “So you say someone pushed you off the loading dock?”

  “That’s right. I couldn’t see anyone because it was dark. The light isn’t working. The truck was backing up, and someone pushed me.” She winced as the paramedic cleaned the scrapes on her hands and knees.

  “You should probably go in for some X rays on your wrist and knee,” the technician told her. “You’ve got some swelling. I don’t think either one is broken, but it wouldn’t hurt to check on it. You’re lucky you didn’t fall on any glass back here.”

  The officer looked skeptical. “Are you sure you didn’t take an extra step off the dock?”

  “I know what I felt,” Peggy insisted. “Someone pushed me.”

  He shrugged and took out his notebook. “Okay. I’ll write it up as an assault. We’ll take a look around and see if we can find anybody. You should probably go with the ambulance. These people know what they’re talking about.”

  Peggy knew they were right. Her knee felt tight and swollen. She asked the truck driver if he’d unload the pansies for some extra money. He agreed, and she waited to leave in the ambulance until she could lock up behind him.

  SHE WAS STILL WAITING to be X-rayed at Carolinas Medical Center when Al and Paul found her. A nurse had left her in a wheelchair in the drafty hallway about an hour before. She was starting to get impatient and thinking about leaving.

  Paul crouched down beside her. “Are you okay? Al caught what happened on the police scanner and called me. Why didn’t you call me?”

  “It’s not that serious. I think the knee is wrenched. I’m pretty sure my wrist isn’t broken either.”

  “That doesn’t matter, Mom. You should’ve called me. I feel like some kind of moron that I had to hear about it this way.”

  Peggy sighed. “I tripped going up the stairs at the house two weeks ago. I didn’t call you then either.”

  “This is different,” Paul insisted. “You were assaulted. What happened?”

  She explained everything. Al wrote as she spoke. “I already told the officer at the scene. I didn’t think homicide detectives had time to investigate assaults.”

  “This homicide detective has time to check out anything that happens to an old friend. Who do you think did this to you?”

  “I’m not sure. I don’t even want to think there’s someone lurking around my shop who wants to kill me.”

  “Maybe it’s involved with the murder somehow,” Al suggested. “Maybe questioning people around town has hit someone the wrong way.”

  Peggy didn’t have time to answer. The X-ray technician came for her, and she spent the next twenty minutes with him. By the time she came out, Al was gone, but Paul was waiting for her.

  When a nurse didn’t come for her, he pushed her wheelchair back up to the emergency room. “You know, you might be right about your homeless friend not being responsible for Warner’s death. If someone came after you, there might be something else to hide. They must want you out of the way.”

  She waited to answer while the nurse told them it would be anothe
r hour until the X rays came back. “I’ve talked to a lot of people, Paul. I don’t think I could zero in on any one suspect who seems more likely than another.”

  “I wish you’d leave this alone. If the killer is out there and worried about you finding out about him, this may only be the beginning. Al is taking a forensics team to check out the loading dock. Hopefully, whoever did this left something behind.”

  The fall had rattled Peggy, but the idea that someone thought she was on the right track kept her focused. It also made her angry. Did they think it would all go away if she stopped asking questions?

  “I’m going to get a Coke from the machine,” Paul said. “Do you want something?”

  “I’ll take the same. I don’t think I have to worry about the caffeine keeping me awake. Thanks.”

  He started to walk away, then turned back. His thin, young face was anxious. “Will you be okay by yourself? I don’t have to go, if you need me to stay.”

  She held his hand a moment. “I’ll be fine with all the nurses and orderlies walking around through here. Thank you for coming, honey.”

  “All you had to do was call. I love you, Mom.” He squeezed her hand, then went out the door that led to the hallway.

  A moment after he was gone, Peggy pulled her cell phone out of her pocketbook to check the time. It was almost one in the morning. She knew she wasn’t supposed to have the phone. She’d turned off the ringer, hoping no one would notice. Before she could put it away, it started to vibrate. Glancing around, she opened it. “Hello?”

  “I was wondering where you were.” The voice on the other end of the line was husky, unfamiliar.

  “Who is this?” she whispered back, knowing the answer before she asked the question.

  “How many times are you going to ask me that, Nightrose?”

  The same odd feeling of being watched brought a chill to her spine. She looked around the crowded emergency room. “Where are you? How did you get this number?”

  “Where I am doesn’t matter. I was worried about you. Are you all right?”

  “If you won’t tell me where you are, then tell me how you got my cell phone number.”

  A throaty laugh followed. “I’ll be glad to exchange information with you. You tell me how serious your injuries are, and I’ll tell you how I got your number.”

  Peggy looked at every man in the emergency room. “I’m bruised and battered, but otherwise, I’m fine. Your turn.”

  “There are several companies who will research cell phone numbers and call records. I use one out of Atlanta.”

  “Is that legal?” Peggy wheeled her chair around a corner to look for anyone else using a cell phone. He had to be close by.

  “Probably not. But for the right price, you can get anything, legal or not,” he responded. “How did this happen?”

  “Since you know so much, Nightflyer, you should be able to pay someone to tell you that, too. Don’t call me again.”

  “I’m sure you’ll change your number. Tiresome and expensive for me since I’ll have to look it up again. Rest well.”

  Peggy looked up as the phone went dead. A big nurse was looking back at her.

  “You can’t use that in here. Turn it off.”

  “I was just checking the time,” Peggy lied. “But I’ll put it away.”

  “What are you doing over here, Mom?” Paul found her. “Are they moving you to a room?”

  “No. I was looking around.” She closed the cell phone and tucked it away. She couldn’t believe Nightflyer tracked her down. She’d heard stories about being stalked by people on the Internet. She didn’t think it could happen to her. And she wasn’t sure what to do about it. Suppose Nightflyer was the one who pushed her off the loading dock. Al and Paul would be looking in the wrong direction for her assailant.

  She thanked Paul for the Coke, and he sat beside her in a dark green chair. She wanted to tell him about Nightflyer but couldn’t find the words. If he knew about that, too, he might actually move back home. She needed to talk to someone besides her son about the problem.

  An hour later, a doctor approached and showed them Peggy’s X rays. Her knee and wrist were sprained. He gave her a brace for each of them and told her to visit her family doctor the next day for further care instructions.

  Paul drove her home and insisted on spending the night. Peggy couldn’t climb the stairs and refused to let him carry her. They bunked down together in the family room, talking and watching CNN.

  Peggy looked at her son after he’d fallen asleep. He didn’t look so different from when she’d watched him sleep in the nursery upstairs. She hoped everything that happened was going to bring them closer together. She missed him.

  THERE WAS A LOUD banging noise at the front door. Peggy yawned and looked at the sunlight streaming in through the windows. Not wanting to wake Paul, she limped to the door. She couldn’t see anyone through the peephole. Cautiously, she opened the door. A moment later she was flat on her back with a Great Dane sitting on top of her, licking her face.

  A car pulled up in the drive. Jo-Jo’s master was yelling for him. She took a deep breath and wished someone would tell her how to stop the merry-go-round. She was ready to get off.

  10

  Primrose

  Botanical: Primula vulgaris

  Family: Primulaceae

  Common Name: Cowslip

  The goddess Bertha is supposed to entice children into her enchanted halls by offering them beautiful primroses. The mysterious number of primrose petals represents woman. The five petals represent birth, initiation, consummation, repose, and death.

  “WHAT DID YOU DO to make him come here? Do you have a secret dog whistle or something?” Jo-Jo’s owner stood over Peggy as the dog joyously licked her.

  Paul rushed out of the family room. “What’s going on?”

  “I’m here to take my dog back! She can’t keep him. I’ll call the police!”

  “I am the police.” Paul fumbled in his pocket for his badge.

  Peggy put her hands up on either side of the dog’s head. “It’s okay, boy. You have to get off of me.” The dog finally moved away from her, but her hands came away bloody. “What in the world?”

  Both men looked at her as she carefully examined Jo-Jo’s neck. Some kind of spiked collar had dug into the skin, leaving open sores behind. As she ran her hand down his back, she found other abrasions that were new.

  “What’s wrong?” Paul asked when he saw her face.

  She held up her hands so he could see the blood, then turned on Jo-Jo’s owner. “What did you do to him?”

  “I had to make him listen,” he defended. “He’s a damn big dog. He doesn’t listen worth a crap. He broke his collar and ran off. I followed him here. But he’s my dog. I can do what I want with him.”

  “That’s not true,” Peggy said. “There are laws against animal cruelty. I’m going to press charges against you for abusing this dog!”

  The man grimaced and looked at Paul. “If you’re really a cop, I want to press charges against her first. I don’t know how she did it, but she enticed my dog to come here. She wants to kidnap him. Book her!”

  Paul ran his hand around the back of his neck. He was still half asleep. “I’m sorry, sir. There are no laws to cover dog enticement. But from what I saw, she could press charges against you for assault as well as animal cruelty. Your dog wasn’t leashed, and he viciously attacked her when she opened the door. We do have laws for that.”

  Peggy smiled at him. That was her son. Then she faced down the other man. “We can solve the whole problem without anyone getting arrested. I’ll give you whatever you paid for the dog. You give me his papers and a sworn affidavit stating that you won’t ever bother him or me again.”

  “That’s illegal!” Jo-Jo’s owner turned to Paul. “You heard her. You’re my witness. She’s trying to blackmail me.”

  “All I heard was an offer to buy the dog from you,” Paul answered. “If you’re not interested, I’ll get my sho
es and jacket. I can take you into the station so she can press charges against you.” Paul walked toward the family room.

  “Wait!” The man shuffled his feet, glanced at the dog, and glared at Peggy. “Fine. I paid five hundred dollars for him. I’ve only had him a month. I still have his papers in the car. I’ll take a check. But it better be good!”

  Paul smiled at him. “I’ll need to see proof you paid that much for him.”

  “Okay, three hundred,” he compromised, “and I have a receipt for it.”

  “Then I suggest you get it and his papers and get the hell out of here. I patrol this area. If I see your car anywhere near my mother’s house again, I’ll arrest you for stalking.”