A Good Day to Buy

by Sherry Harris

  CJ sat next to me on the couch. He held himself rigidly like if he let loose he might smash something. Pellner paced. A few minutes later, Stella hustled back in with a cup of tea. I took a sip. She’d added lemon and honey, and it felt soothing on the back of my throat. After a few more sips, I put the cup down and told them what had happened in a voice scratchier than an old record. After I finished, I noticed a pulse in CJ’s neck beating a wild tattoo. Pellner was already on his radio telling someone to check out the construction site at the VA in Bedford.

  “Where’s Luke?” CJ asked.

  “I don’t know. I’m afraid for him. What if he was captured or killed?” I grabbed CJ’s hand and gripped it in mine. “Why didn’t Luke run too?”

  No one answered.

  “I don’t understand why they let me go. How I ended up in my own bed.” I repressed an outward shudder. Inwardly, I was a shuddery mess. Who had carried me up the stairs and tucked me into my bed? “Did you hear anything, Stella?” I drank more of the tea.

  “Not a thing. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault,” I told her.

  “I have to get ready for class. I’ll be home later if you need anything,” Stella said as she left.

  “I’m going to call Brad,” CJ said. He walked into the kitchen. I could hear the murmur of his voice. Pellner talked quietly into his radio. When CJ came back in, he rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. “They found a security guard hog-tied in the trunk of his car this morning. All he had on was his underwear.”

  “So someone used his clothes and his car to get to me.” I paused for a moment. “To get to Luke. They didn’t know I’d be there.” I stopped again. “I was a complication for them.”

  “We’ll get a forensic team here to go over your car. Maybe they left some fingerprints behind,” CJ said. “They can dust doorknobs in here.”

  “The fake security guard I talked to last night knew who Brad was. He said he was taking me to Mr. Carson’s office and Chief Hooker would meet us there. It’s why I went with him. He acted like he knew both of you.”

  “They are clever, whoever they are.” CJ frowned. “You were supposed to come to the station and listen to the 911 calls today. If it’s too much, we can hold off until tomorrow.”

  “I’ll do it today.” I might as well get it over with. Maybe it would help Luke instead of making things worse for him. “Anything new on Ethan?”

  “We don’t know. We’re investigating.” CJ glanced at his watch. “I have meetings I have to be at,” CJ said. “Pellner can take you to the station and then stay here with you until I get back.”

  “That’s crazy. The department can’t afford to assign me a personal bodyguard. Besides, I have an appointment at one this afternoon. I won’t even be here.”

  Pellner drifted out into the hall, which meant he wasn’t expecting CJ to react well to my news. I held up a hand before CJ could speak.

  “I’ll be with Gennie Elder. I’ll be as safe with her as anyone.” Gennie was not only Stella’s aunt, but a recently retired mixed martial arts expert and cage fighter. In those circles she was called Gennie “The Jawbreaker.” “I’ll go nuts if I just sit around here.”

  CJ frowned again. “Okay.”

  “I’ll need my car though.”

  CJ shook his head. “Your car won’t be done by then.” He dug in his pocket and handed me a set of keys. “Pellner can drive you over to my place and you can take my car.” He pulled me to him. “I’m begging you to stay out of this. Quit putting yourself at risk. Luke is obviously in some kind of serious trouble. I don’t want to lose you because of it.”

  * * *

  By twelve-thirty, I sat in one of the interrogation rooms at the police station. Pellner had set up the equipment for me, then left me alone in the stark room. The calls were all variations on the same theme. Someone’s hurt, someone’s dead, there’s an emergency. Some of the calls were frantic, some calm. I could have quit listening halfway through because I’d recognized Luke’s voice right away. His call was the fifth one.

  I’d listened to all the others, hoping to hear something that would point the finger at someone other than Luke. Nothing came to me so I played Luke’s over and over, my heart breaking a little more each time I heard it.

  “Two people are injured,” he said.

  He didn’t know Mr. Spencer was dead.

  “Where’s the emergency?”

  Luke rattled off the address way too easily. I hit pause. It didn’t help me pin suspicion on someone else. Did I even want to? He’d brought up the incident at the Spencers like he knew nothing about it the day we had lunch in the Callahans’ kitchen. I’d told him everything I’d seen, heard, and felt. I restarted the tape.

  “What’s the emergency?”

  “Like I said, two people are injured.” His voice panted a little.

  Was he running or stressed?

  “What kind of injuries?”

  “I’m not sure. Two down.” Luke’s breathing was even more strained. He was running. And the police would think he was running away because he’d done something horrible to the Spencers.

  “I’ve dispatched response units. Please stay with me on the line.”

  I heard a click.

  “Sir? Sir? Are you there?”

  But there wasn’t an answer, and the next call clicked on. I closed my eyes and pictured that day. It dawned on me then. The person I’d seen running toward the woods behind the Spencers’ house. It had been Luke.

  Chapter 16

  At one o’clock, I stood in the foyer of Gennie’s Colonial house. She was in the process of opening an art studio in Dorchester, which she planned to live above. Last fall, she’d hired me to sell her incredible collection of antique and vintage furnishings. Each room had been decorated with pieces from different eras. I’d realized selling everything at once would be complicated and would lower prices. Last October, I’d sold her knickknacks, lamps, and objet d’art. Over the winter, we’d done the artwork. Now, in our last phase, it was time to sell her furniture.

  I slipped off my jacket and unwound the scarf around my neck. When I saw Gennie staring gape-mouthed at the bruises, I remembered I’d planned to leave the scarf on.

  “What happened to you?” Gennie asked. She planted her muscular arms on her hips, Her feet slightly apart as if she was ready to go into fighting mode at any minute.

  I quickly explained in my new soft, whispery voice. Although I left out the bits about Luke being at the scene, about his asking me about what had happened at the Spencers’ like he didn’t already know. The 911 call proved Luke had betrayed me in ways I couldn’t imagine or understand. If the sale wasn’t this weekend, I would have gone home and climbed into bed. Gennie shook her head the whole time I was talking. Her long brown braid flipped back and forth as she did.

  “Do you have any kind of self-defense training?” she asked.

  “No.”

  Gennie blew out a puff of air. “That’s it. I’m going to start self-defense classes. It’s crazy women run around not knowing how to protect themselves.”

  “Art studio and martial arts? Sounds, um, unique.”

  “Unique maybe, but practical. You will be my first client and we start right now.”

  My eyebrows shot up. “Now?”

  “You want to wait until someone attacks you again?”

  “But the sale.”

  “It can wait. Safety can’t.”

  Forty-five minutes later, I dripped sweat on the mat in Gennie’s basement. She’d loaned me workout clothes. I’d wanted to quit thirty minutes ago, but Gennie wouldn’t let me.

  “One more kick,” she said. “Make this one count.” She held a punching bag for me to kick. Not one of my kicks had been strong enough to even make her move. This one was going to be different.

  I side kicked my leg out, slipped in my own sweat, flew into the air, and smacked down hard on my rear end. I lay there, panting. Gennie stared down at me with a grin.

&nb
sp; “Get up.”

  “Can’t,” I panted. Gennie reached down, grabbed my arm, and hauled me to my feet before I could blink.

  “Getting you in shape is going to be fun. Let’s go to the kitchen and get some water.”

  Gennie trotted up the stairs and was out of sight as I hit the bottom step. I clung to the rail and dragged myself up one step at a time. Gennie watched me as I slid onto a stool with a little moan and gulped down some water.

  “You have good upper-body strength,” she said. “I need to teach you how to use it to your advantage. That’s what we’ll work on tomorrow.”

  Tomorrow? No way. “I’m booked all week.” Thank heavens.

  Gennie snorted. “Yeah, you’re booked with me every afternoon. We’ll use part of the time for your training.”

  I opened my mouth, but shut it. I had no good excuse not to come.

  * * *

  CJ was waiting outside my apartment door at five-thirty with a pizza box from DiNapoli’s in his hand. Maybe it was time to give him a key. I didn’t climb the steps quite as quickly as normal. I groaned a little as I moved up them.

  “Are you okay?” he asked. “Did something happen?”

  It looked like he was ready to go into full cop mode. I waved my hand around. “I’ll be fine.” My voice now sounded more throaty smoker than breathy Marilyn Monroe. I gave him a kiss and inhaled the smell of the pizza. After I unlocked the door, CJ followed me into the kitchen. I grabbed a bottle of wine, rummaged in a drawer for the corkscrew, and started the process of opening the bottle. CJ took out plates and napkins.

  I moaned again as I tried to pull the very stubborn cork out of the wine bottle. CJ took the bottle from me and easily slid the cork out.

  “What’s wrong? Do I need to force you to go to the doctor?”

  I sat down at my small kitchen table. It was covered with a vintage tablecloth with red roosters decorating the corners. I opened the pizza box. Oh, yum, a Greek pizza, with feta cheese, olives, artichokes, red onion, and chicken. I took a bite before I even set it on my plate. Getting kidnapped and working out made me really hungry. CJ stared at me.

  “Gennie decided I needed some self-defense training. We started this afternoon. I’m a little sore.”

  CJ burst out laughing. “Good for Gennie.”

  “Did the team find any fingerprints?”

  “Nothing yet. They eliminated yours, but are still running the others. It will take a while.”

  “How long is a while?”

  “It could be weeks. I brought the Suburban back.”

  “Great.” I never felt safe in CJ’s small Sonic. “Any word on Luke?”

  CJ shook his head. “You?”

  “Nothing.” We ate silently after that. Me worrying about where Luke could be and CJ worrying about . . . who knew? I hoped he wasn’t worrying about me. He had enough going on without me adding to it. I vowed to be a better partner. One who would make his life easier, not harder.

  * * *

  I barely budged Wednesday morning when CJ kissed me as he headed out to go to the gym over on Fitch. It was a rare day when he missed his morning workout. Workout. I ran through the reasons I shouldn’t go over to Gennie’s this afternoon, but couldn’t come up with one. Her sale was this Saturday, and I had to have everything ready.

  When I woke again at eight, I hopped out of bed. Woo-hoo. I wasn’t as sore as I’d expected. Running yard sales had made me stronger than I’d realized. After showering, I slipped on a black turtleneck. That way, I didn’t have to look at the ring of bruises and neither did anyone else. Jeans, makeup, and a blow-dry for my shoulder-length blond hair, and I was almost as good as new. Until I thought of Luke.

  I grabbed my phone, hoping Luke had called. I did a quick check. Nothing, no numbers I didn’t recognize, no calls at all. The workout and good night’s sleep had made me realize Luke hadn’t betrayed me. He was protecting me while he gathered information. Luke must have a good reason for having been at the Spencers’ and for leaving. At least I hoped that was true.

  I made a Fluffernutter and opened my computer to my virtual garage sale site. Things were humming along swimmingly since I’d added another administrator to help out during yard sale season. It was the easy part of my day—now for the hard stuff.

  Two men were dead and Luke was missing. Surely he would have called me if he was okay. I found the photos I’d taken of the list of names Luke had in his notebook. CJ had taken the actual notebook when he’d left this morning. I studied the list. Nothing popped out at me. I still didn’t recognize any of the other names. It seemed like a dead end.

  I looked at the list of cities and started Googling them one at a time. The only thing I could find was most of the cities had a VA hospital. Luke had been on VA hospital grounds the last time I’d seen him.

  There’d been a lot of scandals surrounding the VA hospitals and vets getting the services they needed. Maybe Luke was here investigating them, but I had thought it had been investigated and reported. Which left me with no answers at all.

  I heard Stella singing an aria below, something I didn’t recognize. Most days listening to her sing made me happy. Today, it meant she was home. Time to go confess I’d used the empty apartment and tell her what had really happened at the Callahans’.

  * * *

  Twenty minutes later, Stella sat staring at me with a slight frown on her face. “Why didn’t you just tell me?” she asked, after I told her the whole sorry story of hiding Luke in the building. Tux was curled on the couch between us. Stella stroked his back and he purred with contentment. At least one of us was happy.

  “Luke asked me not to tell anyone he was here.”

  “But you could have asked to use the apartment for a couple of days. I would have said yes.”

  “I didn’t want CJ or Awesome to know.”

  “Then you could have told me that too.”

  Stella had been wonderful to me and I’d been a complete idiot. “I’m sorry. I screwed up,” I said.

  “And?”

  I looked at her, trying to figure out what I was supposed to say next.

  “And you won’t let it happen again, right?” Stella said.

  “I promise it won’t happen again. I’m sorry.”

  Stella stood. “Enough with the ‘I’m sorries.’ Want some coffee?”

  Oh, whew. She forgave me. “Yes. I’d love some. How’s Awesome?”

  “Awesome.”

  I opened my mouth. Did she mean he was awesome, or was she asking me if I meant Awesome?

  “He’s great. As in awesome,” Stella said with a laugh as she poured the coffee. The smell of the rich, roasted beans wafted up. “My mom invited him over for a family dinner this Thursday night. Meeting Mom and my aunts ought to be really interesting.”

  My eyes popped wide open. Besides Gennie, her other aunt was our town manager. As a group, they could be terrifying. “Do they know about his, well, fatal flaw?”

  Stella laughed. “Which one? That he knows nothing about music?”

  “No, the other one. The more important one.”

  “That he’s a Yankees fan?” She shook her head. “Not yet they don’t.”

  “But it’s bound to come up. They’re playing each other at Fenway for the next three days.” Stella’s family had had tickets at Fenway since the beginning of time. They were passed in wills from one generation to the next. And the Yankees were their sworn enemies.

  “How bad can it be?” A small line formed between Stella’s eyebrows. She handed me one of the two mugs of coffee. “What else is bothering you?”

  I held the mug of coffee in both hands trying to warm them. “Luke made a list of cities and names. I’m trying to figure out what it all means. Most of the cities has a VA hospital. But the names aren’t complete. They’re only first names, or in some cases just a last name.” I drank some of my coffee. “I haven’t heard from Luke. I’m worried.” Very worried.

  The line between Stella’s brows deepened. “I�
�m sorry you don’t know where Luke is. Want me to take a look at the list?”

  I whipped out my phone and found the picture. Stella took the phone and we huddled over it.

  Stella studied the list closely before handing the phone back to me. “If only one of these names was more unique. Then we’d have something to work with.”

  “Thanks for trying.” I finished my coffee. “Ugh. I’ve got to go talk to the Callahans now. They are going to think I’m crazy.”

  “You’re in luck. They left for Vermont this morning to spend the week watching their grandchildren.”

  “I’d almost rather get it over with. Hey, want to meet me at Gennie’s house this afternoon? She’s teaching me some self-defense moves.”

  “Thankfully, I have to teach a class this afternoon. But I’d pay good money to watch.”

  I gave her arm a light smack as I stood to leave.

  “Someone’s coming by to look at the apartment this evening. If you want a say on our next tenant, be here by five.”

  * * *

  At ten, I walked into Mrs. Spencer’s room. I was flummoxed to find Brad Carson sitting on a chair next to Mrs. Spencer’s bed. “Brad?”

  “Sarah, I’m surprised to see you.”

  “No more surprised than I am to see you sitting here,” I said. I moved into the room and to the foot of the bed. Mrs. Spencer’s condition seemed unchanged since the last time I’d been here. Tim had told me she was improving, but it didn’t look like it to me. She was still hooked to all kinds of machines. Her skin was as pale as the blanket tucked under her armpits. She lay very still. Soft swooshing noises came from all the equipment.

  “I knew Mr. Spencer from the VA hospital.” Brad looked distressed as he watched Mrs. Spencer. “This is a bad deal.”

  Had he mentioned that when I ran into him in the lobby on Monday? I don’t think so. “I came to see how Tim and Mrs. Spencer were doing. Where’s Tim?”

  “I sent Tim off to get something to eat. He looked like he could use a break.”

  “That was nice of you. I’m here for the same reason. I still feel guilty all of this happened during their garage sale.”

  “You can’t blame yourself, Sarah.” Brad studied Mrs. Spencer and then looked at me jerking his head to the door. I stepped outside with him. The bustling hallway felt jarring after the quiet of Mrs. Spencer’s room.