She Drives Me Crazy

by Leslie Kelly

  Emma didn’t think the pecans-for-lemons thing worked, but she was too interested in hearing the woman’s idea to say so.

  “What are you getting at?” Doris asked.

  “Yes, please explain,” Emma added.

  And Jane did.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  JOHNNY HAD FIGURED there were only three places Daneen could be. The first was a bust—she wasn’t home. He’d even checked her garage to make sure her little blue car wasn’t parked inside.

  Next he cruised past Dan Brady’s house. It was possible Daneen would have gone to her father for support. Dan might not know about Daneen and Jimbo’s personal relationship—might not—but he’d certainly lend a shoulder to a daughter whose boss had been murdered in her place of employment.

  Nobody was there, either. Which left the jail.

  Pulling up outside, he saw a number of familiar cars in the lot. A couple of cruisers—including Dan’s and Fred’s—plus Daneen’s car. And, to his surprise…

  “Hey, you didn’t return my call,” his brother Nick said as he stepped out of his car.

  “I tried a bunch of times. It’s been busy,” Johnny replied as he joined his younger brother on the sidewalk.

  “Sorry. I’ve been checking up on some things.” With a shrug he admitted, “Dan Brady did give his speech Tuesday.”

  “We’re on the same wavelength, I guess,” Johnny said, pleased his brother was already at work.

  “That doesn’t mean whoever heard our conversation in the office Tuesday didn’t tell him about it afterward.”

  Johnny nodded. “Speaking of our conversation…”

  “Yeah?”

  Johnny voiced another possibility, one he’d been mulling over all day. “Remember what Emma said? Hannah was supposed to come to the courthouse to get some protest permits on Tuesday.”

  Nick raised a brow. “The victim’s wife?”

  “He was a slug. And maybe, if she heard for herself just how much of a slug, she went over the edge.” He knew it was implausible, given Hannah Boyd’s cool, demeanor and reputation. Still, stranger things had happened.

  “Possible.” Then Nick, sounding more resigned than concerned, asked, “You think Sheriff Dan’s gonna go for his gun the minute I walk in the station?”

  “I’ll go first to block the way.”

  “You always did,” Nick murmured.

  Johnny paused.

  “I mean,” Nick said evenly, “with Pop.”

  Their eyes met and held, saying a wealth of things they’d never said before. Then, with a brief nod of understanding that came from surviving the same hardships—and coming out stronger for them—they walked into the jail.

  Inside the building, Johnny immediately spied Dan Brady, sitting in his private office with his daughter. Fred stood at the front desk, talking quietly with another deputy.

  “Have you heard from the state police yet?” Johnny asked.

  Fred nodded, though his eyes flashed with resentment. Not unexpected. Any cop disliked the interference of outsiders on his turf. “They’ll be here by six.” Then Fred turned to eye Nick. “Didn’t get a chance to welcome you home the other night.”

  Nick managed a smile. “Hey, Fred, good seeing you. I didn’t expect you to come back here after college.”

  Johnny suddenly remembered that Nick and Fred had once been friends, though they’d been complete opposites. Quiet, studious Fred, volatile troublemaker Nick.

  They’d both played on the Joyful High football squad—with Johnny during his senior year, then again together during their own. Fred, for all his quiet demeanor and unprepossessing features, had once been a hell of a fullback, strong as a bull and fast on his feet. He wondered when the man had started looking so old and worn-down by life.

  “I dropped out after freshman year,” Fred told Nick. “Missed Joyful too much. Like your brother, I guess. And other folks.”

  Ha. When he’d been off at college, Johnny had missed Joyful about as much as a sailor would miss a case of the clap.

  Before Nick could comment—and he could only imagine the kind of disdain his brother would show at the idea of moving back here—another voice interrupted.

  “What do you want?”

  Johnny stiffened at Dan Brady’s words. The man stood in the doorway, shielding his daughter from their view.

  “We were looking for Daneen,” Johnny said.

  “She doesn’t want to talk to you.” Then he cast a hard glare at Nick. “Either of you.”

  Nick, completely unperturbed, leaned his hip against the front desk and crossed his arms, leaving things in Johnny’s hands. Johnny stepped smoothly between the two men. “We thought she might be able to help with the investigation.”

  Dan pointed an index finger at Nick. “He’s not investigating this. My people are.”

  “Actually, the state police are,” Johnny replied, his voice low and even, and deadly serious. “There’s no reason we can’t get some background information for them to go on.”

  “I don’t want him here.”

  From inside the office, Johnny heard Daneen’s voice. “Let them in, Daddy. Please.”

  Retaining his surly expression, Dan stepped aside, though he continued to scowl as they entered his office.

  Daneen sat in a chair opposite her father’s desk, clutching a big, white handkerchief to her makeup-smeared face.

  “Where’s Jack?” Johnny asked, concerned for the boy who was still his nephew, as far as he was concerned.

  “He went home from school with a friend,” Daneen replied. Then she focused on Nick. “You can sit down. Daddy’s not going to…do anything. I’ve told him the truth about us.”

  His brother and the sheriff exchanged a long, disdainful look which said more than words ever could have. Dan obviously didn’t care about the circumstances of his daughter’s marriage—just that Nick had left her. And Nick still smoldered with resentment at the man whose temper and reputation had forced him into one of the biggest mistakes of his life.

  “You okay?” Nick finally asked his ex, managing to sound concerned, though Johnny knew he could hardly stand her.

  Daneen nodded. “I can’t believe he’s dead. I mean, I wanted to kill the son of a bitch myself last night, but knowing someone actually did it is too horrible to believe.”

  “What?” Johnny asked, stunned at her words.

  Dan answered for his daughter, disgust ringing in his voice. “Jimbo fired her last night. After all the years she worked so hard for him in his two-bit office, he let her go.”

  Daneen shot a quelling look toward Nick, which Johnny intercepted. So, she hadn’t been completely honest with Daddy about her uh, more personal relationship with Jimbo. Hence Dan’s relative calm. Either that, or the man was one hell of an actor, and he’d known the truth for a while. At least long enough to pay an early morning visit to Jimbo’s office.

  But before Johnny could think too hard on which of the two Bradys knew more about Jimbo’s death, the ring of his cell phone interfered. He almost ignored it. Then he saw the name on the caller ID: Let Your Hair Down. “Excuse me,” he said to the others before answering. “Hello?”

  “Johnny, it’s me,” Emma said. “I need to talk to you.”

  “Uh, I’m in the middle of something right now, can it wait?”

  “No,” she said, sounding out of breath and near panic. “I think I know who killed Jimbo.”

  Trying to maintain a calm expression, he asked, “Who?”

  “Daneen. I remembered something just now when I was washing the permanent solution out of your mother’s hair. By the way, Johnny, she looks adorable with curls.”

  Like he wanted to hear about his mother’s hair now, when Emma had just accused the woman sitting next to him of murder? “What were you saying?”

  “Oh, yeah, I had to reach you because I want you to stay away from Daneen. Remember the driver I saw Deputy Fred pulling over by Jimbo’s house? It was Daneen. I saw her car the night of the reunion,
but didn’t connect it with the one I saw last night until a few minutes ago.”

  He sensed there was a lot more to the story, and that Emma was trying to cut to the chase. But the way her voice shook also told him she was very upset. He tried to calm her down. “It’s okay, that might not mean anything.”

  “It means she was in a rage. She was driving like a bloody maniac, after being parked outside the victim’s house, furious…because he’d fired her!”

  “I heard.”

  Suddenly Emma sucked in an audible breath. “Oh, my God, you’re with her right now.”

  “Correct again.”

  She muttered a hard curse word that sounded shocking coming from what he knew were two beautifully soft lips. “Get out of there before she does her Van Helsing act on you, too.”

  This time, he couldn’t prevent the small chuckle. Lord have mercy, the woman could be warped. He liked that about her. “Look, Nick and I are here in the sheriff’s office, but when I’m done I’ll meet you at your place, okay?”

  “You’re not alone with her? There are witnesses?” She sounded only slightly relieved. “Okay. But show up by five-thirty or I’m coming out looking for you. And Daneen had better have more than a frickin’ campaign sign to fight me off if she hurts you.”

  “Bloodthirsty, aren’t you?” he couldn’t help mumbling, even as he chuckled a little.

  Saying goodbye, he hung up, only to see his brother, Nick, grinning like a man who sees another man acting like a total sucker over a woman.

  Johnny managed to smother a sigh, knowing he was doomed. A man in love. With a woman who threatened violence to anyone who might hurt him, no less.

  Getting back to business, he hit Daneen with the information he’d gotten from Emma. “Daneen, why were you parked outside Jimbo’s house last night?”

  His ex-sister-in-law sat up straighter, looking wary.

  “She wasn’t,” her father said. Then he studied Daneen’s face. “Were you, baby? Did you come out to Jimbo’s last night?”

  Daneen’s slowly nodded. “I was upset. I had a neighbor pop in to stay with Jack after he went to bed, and I went for a long drive.” She gave them all a pleading look. “But I didn’t mean to do anything, or confront him about dumping…I mean, firing me. I just parked there. Then I took off. Fred can tell you I left while your car was still right there in Jimbo’s driveway, Daddy.”

  Fred’s lie earlier today suddenly made sense. He’d been protecting Daneen. The man hadn’t cared that he’d been leaving Emma Jean out to dry, which enraged Johnny.

  Dan stood and called to his deputy, who entered so fast, Johnny suspected he’d had his ear pressed to the closed door. After being confronted by his boss, Fred admitted that he had pulled Daneen over the night before.

  Dan frowned. “No record of it in your nightly report.”

  Stiff-jawed, Fred replied, “I didn’t think it was worth embarrassing anybody by making a record.”

  “And you didn’t think it was worth coming clean when Emma Jean Frasier looked to you to help prove she hadn’t been stalking the victim last night,” Johnny bit out from between clenched teeth.

  Fred flushed. But didn’t say a word.

  “So,” Nick said from his chair, where he’d been sitting quietly for the past few minutes, observing them through partly lowered lashes, as if bored by the entire conversation, “Daneen, you were in quite a state last night. How about this morning?”

  “You watch your mouth,” Dan said.

  “It’s a reasonable question.” Nick rose to his feet and towered over Brady. “One the state police are going to ask as soon as they start nosing into this.”

  Daneen’s eyes were wide, her mouth working, but no sound was coming out. And Johnny began to wonder, for the first time, if maybe Emma hadn’t been onto something. Because Daneen looked about as guilty as anyone he’d ever seen.

  Fred cleared his throat. “She didn’t go to Jimbo’s office this morning. She didn’t kill anyone.” Shooting a half-tentative look toward his boss, he added, “Because, after I followed her home, I stayed. She was with me, right up until I got the call about the murder.” He swallowed visibly. “We were together all night long.”

  EMMA WATCHED the minute hand of her watch sweep down to the six and glared at the front door, ordering it to open. Just before she grabbed her keys, determined to go find Johnny, it did. “You’re here,” she said, launching herself into his arms before he’d even had a chance to cross the threshold.

  He was warm and solid and fine. Just fine. Wrapping her hands in his hair, she tugged his mouth to hers and gave him a slow, lingering kiss, wanting to imprint his taste and his scent on her brain, to store up her reservoir of calm against future moments of panic.

  When they parted, she gave him a wobbly smile, breathing normally for the first time in an hour. “Where is she? Has Daneen been arrested?”

  “It’s not that simple,” Nick said.

  Emma hadn’t even noticed him entering the house behind his brother. Shooting him a grateful look for serving as Johnny’s backup, she gestured toward a chair. “Sit down and tell me.”

  Johnny she kept firmly by her side, dragging him to sit with her on the sofa where they’d made such incredible love last weekend.

  “I don’t think she’s strong enough to put a stake through a man’s heart,” Johnny said.

  “Ever heard of adrenaline? Extraordinary strength produced by rage?” She glared at Nick. “You’re a cop, back me up.”

  “I think that’s just in comic books,” Nick said with an apologetic shrug.

  Emma nearly growled in annoyance.

  Chuckling, Johnny tenderly brushed his fingers through her hair before tugging her closer. “Daneen’s got an alibi.”

  Across the room, Nick watched them, an enigmatic smile on his face. “And while my ex-wife might be a lying, cheating little she-devil, I honestly don’t think she’s a murderer.”

  “Neither do I,” Johnny said.

  Men. Pfft. “If Jimbo fired her and dumped her, all on the same day…”

  “There are other people who might have done it, Em,” Johnny said, obviously trying to calm her down.

  “The victim’s wife,” Nick pointed out.

  Johnny nodded. “Daneen’s father. Or Jimbo’s mysterious business partner.”

  “No, it’s not her.” Seeing Johnny’s surprise, she quickly explained everything she’d learned today at Let Your Hair Down.

  “You mean Mona Harding made sex movies? She’s gotta be in her sixties.” Then he chuckled. “Wait’ll I tell Virg.”

  Nick snorted. “Bet he’ll be looking at his video collection differently from now on.”

  They were laughing, grinning like fools while they sat here discussing murder. “I think you’re crazy. Daneen had to be out of her mind angry with Jimbo.”

  “She has an alibi, darlin’. Believe it or not, she spent the night—and the morning—with Fred Willis.”

  Emma let that sink in. Daneen and Fred. Wow. “You’re sure?”

  Johnny nodded. “He confessed it right in front of her father, who looked ready to tear him a new one. We got outta there quick.”

  “Fred Willis,” she whispered again, having a hard time picturing brassy, sexy Daneen with someone so…so ordinary. “He’s so quiet. And nice. He seemed really embarrassed about having to lock me up last week. He could barely meet my eye when I ran into him at the reunion and at the courthouse Tuesday.”

  “Fred had a crush on Daneen in high school,” Nick admitted. “Followed her around like a puppy dog through freshman year. ’Course, she hardly gave him the time of day.”

  “Well,” Johnny said, drawing out the word in a slow drawl, “she obviously gave it to him at least once in high school.” He and Nick met each other’s stares and Nick slowly nodded.

  “What?”

  “As it turns out, Fred might very well be Jack’s real father.”

  Emma couldn’t help it. Her jaw dropped completely. Then
she looked back and forth between the two impossibly handsome men sitting in her living room.

  “Somebody start explaining. Right now.”

  DANEEN ALMOST DID IT. She almost allowed Fred to cover for her. But in the end, full of grief and guilt and shock and dismay, she just couldn’t.

  She had to admit the truth, though not to her father. She’d barely gotten out of the jailhouse without breaking down under his disappointed frown.

  God love Fred, he’d put himself right into the line of fire of a much-too-overprotective father with his lie. He’d lied to help her. Heaven forgive her for every unkind thought she’d ever had about the man.

  Knowing there was one person she had to confess to—before the state police showed up—she headed straight toward a house she’d never imagined visiting. Emma Jean Frasier’s.

  When she arrived and saw all the cars in the driveway, she realized this wouldn’t be as easy as she’d hoped. She wouldn’t only be confessing in front of Johnny and Emma, but also her ex-husband. Who happened to answer the door after she halfheartedly knocked.

  “Nick.”

  “Hello, Daneen.”

  He somehow managed to look unsurprised, as unflappable and unreachable as ever. God, how different might her life have been if she’d been able to hold on to this man?

  “She’s here?” she heard from inside. Emma Jean strode to the front door, shouldering Nick out of the way and blocking Daneen out. “What do you want?”

  Ms. Ladylike Emma looked all riled up and angry. Protective, even. It almost made Daneen smile, the thought of Emma needing to protect the wicked Walker brothers from her.

  “Is Johnny here?”

  “He is.”

  “I need to talk to him.” Daneen swallowed her pride. “Please, may I come in?” Then, softly, so softly she almost didn’t hear her own voice, she added, “I have a confession to make.”

  JOHNNY WASN’T entirely sure what to expect. He damn sure didn’t think his ex-sister-in-law was going to confess to murder. Because he didn’t think she’d done it, whether she had an alibi or not.