by Phil Edwards
He waited. Conrad bit his lip and looked down at his knuckles.
“I’m sure that Melissa would offer to show you around the residences.”
Conrad spoke like he was holding his breath. He didn’t exhale.
“Right. I thought Mel might be busy.”
“Do you know her well?”
“Not really.”
“You don’t?”
“No.”
He looked at the wallpaper. Now it seemed like it was peeling.
“Is there anything else that I can show you, Mr. Russo?”
“I’m fine.” He let the key fall deep into his pocket.
“Then let me escort you out.”
The man held his arms out and directed Jake toward the hallway door. He had no choice but to go. He walked outside and heard Conrad following behind him, blocking him so he couldn’t get back in. Conrad’s next question came from behind and floated over Jake’s head.
“How did you even enter the hallway? Our outer doors are all locked.”
“This one was open.”
“I doubt that Mr. Russo.”
“Someone propped it open. Forgetful minds, I guess.”
They entered into the light and Conrad shut the door behind him. He pressed forward on the handle and shook the door slightly.
“The locking mechanism seems to work.”
“Someone had propped it open.”
“I see.”
“In the future, Melissa will show you around. Won’t you, Melissa?”
She was walking down the path with a binder in her hands.
“Jake? Conrad? What are you two doing here?”
Jake felt one of his bruises deepen as Conrad grabbed him at the shoulder.
“I found him inside of Building B.”
“Building B? That’s where Charlotte’s room was. What were you doing there?”
Jake stared at her and Conrad tightened his grip. He kept squeezing.
“Melissa, who is Charlotte? What is the significance of her room?”
Jake looked at her. If he could just make eye contact with her for a second, he knew it would be OK. He wondered what color his shoulder was turning under the pressure of Conrad’s hand. They waited. Then Mel broke her stare at Conrad and looked at Jake. He shook his head, a millimeter each direction. He didn’t know if it would be enough.
“Oh.” She brushed her hair and put her hand to her chin. “I just thought of Charlotte because I’m going to her room. I have to finish the handover documentation. Her daughter is coming down in a couple of days, so we need to have all the reports finished by then.”
“I see.” Conrad barely moved when he spoke.
“Just a funny coincidence.”
“Very well.” He nodded and let go of Jake’s shoulder. Jake felt his muscles loosen again. “Perhaps you can show Mr. Russo a residence hall in the future. We wouldn’t want him getting lost, would we?”
“No, of course not.”
“Of course not.” Conrad smiled, keeping his lips pressed tight together. “I have to find Mr. Rothschild.”
“Good seeing you.”
Conrad walked up the hill without responding.
Mel approached Jake tentatively and waited until Conrad turned the corner before she started talking.
“The beach.” She was almost whispering. “It was our beach, wasn’t it? That’s the beach where you were attacked.”
“Yes. But wait.”
“What?”
“I don’t want to start saying too much. I don’t want you to get in the middle of things.”
“It’s too late for that.”
She looked around. At the top of the hill, a child pushed a woman in her wheelchair. Both of them were laughing. They seemed happy and far away.
“What really happened to your face?”
“I was approaching someone on the beach and they turned around and hit me. Again and again. And then they kicked me while I was down.”
“I can’t believe it.”
She touched his face and brushed the black spots under his eyes. Her hands were warm and he couldn’t feel her fingernails. He wanted to lean forward and kiss her but was afraid she wouldn’t want it.
He didn’t have to wait. She touched the back of his neck and pulled him down to her. For the first time since he’d seen Conrad, he felt relaxed again. She was warm and tasted like orange. She spoke softly like she’d just woken up.
“I’m glad you’re OK. But I don’t understand.”
“I don’t know if you should.”
“It’s already too late. I lied and said you didn’t know Charlotte.”
He looked back up the hill.
“They wouldn’t know you lied.”
She grabbed his hand and pressed her thumb against his palm.
“That’s over now. But whatever happened isn’t.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“If you want me to cover for you, you have to do one thing.”
“What?”
“Explain it to me. Explain what you are looking for.”
She looked up at him and waited for him to answer. He looked down. She didn’t need to know about Charlotte. She shouldn’t. He didn’t know what he’d say until he said it.
CHAPTER 31:
The beach was relatively crowded. Members of the community, visitors, and even a few children were enjoying the sunny day. That was good. The more crowds the better.
“This is where it happened. This is where I was attacked.”
“And you were going to see Abram Samuels?”
“He’s the one who saved me.”
He’d asked her one last time if she was sure she could handle it. All the complications, the conflicts, the risks of losing her job or worse. She just touched his face and nodded silently. They walked away from Sunset Cove and to the beach. They might be seen, but at least they wouldn’t be heard.
“And why were you meeting Abram?”
“Because we think Charlotte Ward was murdered.”
She looked out to the water and then around again. An elderly man dipped a toe in the water and stepped back with a frown on his face.
“Jake, how could someone have killed her?”
“Simple. They just kept her away from her meds. They pulled her out to the beach and left her. Without her walker, she couldn’t get back. That’s all they had to do.”
“Oh God. But who would do that? And why?”
“We think Sheryl Goldfein knows something about it. Before she was killed, Charlotte had bad blood with Sheryl.”
“You think Sheryl killed Charlotte?”
“I don’t know.” He sighed. He wanted to hold her close, but they were sitting a few feet apart. They’d have to face it separately. For now.
“For a while I thought it was Sheryl. Then Abram. The other complication is that, in order to spite Sheryl, Charlotte was investigating a radical environmental group. The Saving Tomorrow Initiative.”
“Who are they?”
“Remember the banquet? Remember the bearded man?”
“That’s them?”
“Yes.”
She put her hands over her face.
“This is too much. We have to tell the police.”
“We can’t yet.” He touched her arm. He didn’t care about appearances. “I think we can figure it out. Sheryl shifted the community’s charity funding to this group. What’s suspicious is that the group also had every reason to stop Charlotte from finding out about them.”
“I suppose so. It just seems…”
“What?”
“I don’t think Sheryl would do it.”
“You never know.”
He could tell it hadn’t sunk in. He rubbed her forearm between his fingers. She shook her head.
“That kind of thing doesn’t happen here. It shouldn’t happen here. These people are family. Why am I doing this if they aren’t like that?”
“I know.”
“Why do I stick aroun
d and bother?”
“I know.”
They looked out at the beach. The concession building was open now, they could tell from the line in front of it. People walked away with overfilled ice cream cones and sweating soda cans. And smiles. Big, open smiles.
“I have this.” He took the key out of his pocket and showed it to Mel. He dropped it in her hand.
“What is it?”
“It’s the key to Charlotte’s room. I was going to look inside her apartment. Then Conrad showed up.”
“How did you get it?”
“Abram gave me the key.”
“Of course.”
“You knew?”
“I think most of us did.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It was idle gossip. Not life and death.”
She sighed. She leaned forward and started spreading sand across her feet. They were already half buried.
“You know that’s why Sheryl kicked Charlotte out of bridge.”
“Abram hinted at that. I thought he was just arrogant.”
“Sheryl wanted him for herself.”
“And Charlotte thought it was all about bridge.”
“I think so. Sheryl knew it would hurt her.”
“And then Charlotte retaliated by investigating this group. That’s when the real trouble started.”
She didn’t seem interested in talking about it anymore. He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her against his body. Her feet emerged from the sand, the grains slowly falling to the sides.
“I’m sorry you’re a part of this.”
“There’s a problem.”
“What?”
“The key.” She handed it back to him. “Once Charlotte’s daughter comes, she’ll have keys. She can change the locks, stay there, or do whatever she wants. If you use the key, you’ll have to do it before she arrives.”
“When is she supposed to get here?”
“A couple of days. Obviously you can’t go right away, since you almost got caught today. But you should have time.”
“Great.” He squeezed her upper arm. “That helps a lot.”
They sat on the beach a little longer and he held her to his chest. When she spoke, he felt her voice vibrating her back.
“How are you going to find out if Sheryl knows what happened?”
“I have an inside man.”
“Abram?”
“Better than Abram.”
“Who?”
“Gary Novak. Right now, he’s busy charming her. And hopefully he’ll learn something.”
“Gary?”
“That’s right.”
He felt her ribs shaking as she laughed.
“How does Gary Novak pull that off?”
“I don’t know what to tell you. He’s a natural Don Juan. And they are both romantics.”
She took his hand in hers. Someone’s grandson dropped a hot dog and seagulls dove for the bun. Instead of crying, the child laughed and clapped. Mel looked up.
“This is nice. Despite the circumstances.”
“Yeah. It is.”
“Can you tell me why I didn’t hear from you before all this?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why didn’t you call?”
“I’ve been really busy. Just putting this together. Between work and everything.”
“I can imagine, now that I know what’s happening.”
“And it wasn’t that long, was it?”
“A few days.”
“Right.”
He looked at her and shook his head.
“I just didn’t want to scare you off.”
She laughed.
“You know I like you, right?”
“Do you?”
“Yes.” She kissed him on the cheek.
“I just have a problem with taking charge. Putting myself out there, it’s scary. And with you…”
“With me what?”
“With someone like you, it just seems improbable.”
“Why?”
“Just look at you.”
She kissed him again and stopped.
“Déjà vu. You’re vibrating again.”
He picked it up. It was déjà vu.
“Hi Gary.”
“Jacob! I’m calling you on a cellular phone.”
“I know.”
“Where are you? Are you in Charlotte’s apartment?”
“I got caught too early. But I’m going soon.”
“Did you find anything?”
Mel leaned in and listened. He let her. She deserved it.
“I found some things,” Gary shouted. “I’m so tired of talking about light. It gets boring after a few times!”
“I’m sure. But what about with Charlotte?”
“What do you mean?”
“Did you find out anything about Sheryl and the Saving Tomorrow Initiative? Did she say anything else?”
“I didn’t ask directly.”
Jake heard a click.
“Are you there?”
He heard Gary yell to Sheryl.
“I’m just seeing when he will give me a ride back.”
“Gary?”
“I am sorry. I had to answer her. She made me a carrot cake.”
“A cake?”
“Yes. I’m taking it to go.”
“You can’t take Sheryl’s cake to go. What will Meryl say?”
“She wouldn’t want me wasting good food. And did you know carrots are good for your eyes?”
“Gary.”
“Your generation, it just throws away everything.”
“OK.” Mel laughed. “We’re off track.”
“I asked Sheryl what she was doing the night Charlotte died.”
“How did she react?”
“Well, I didn’t tell her it was the day Charlotte died. I just mentioned the day of the week.”
“Did she react?”
“She had forgotten. She had to look it up on her calendar, even though it happened so recently.”
Jake turned to Mel.
“If she actually didn’t remember, that definitely removes some suspicion. Even if she was lying, you’d think she’d have memorized her alibi.”
“And then,” Gary continued, “once she looked up the date, she yelled back to me that she’d been busy.”
“Doing what?”
“Bridge. It was one of the games that they didn’t let Charlotte play.”
“But if they were playing bridge, that means there were witnesses. All those people who could testify that Sheryl was with them. A clean alibi.”
“Jacob?”
“Yes?”
“I can tell you more, but please pick me up soon. She wants to show me vacation photographs and have me critique them.”
“OK, I will. Good work.”
Mel seemed confused. He closed the phone and put it in his pocket.
“What are you thinking?”
“I know Sheryl couldn’t do it,” she said. “I just know it. And if she had an alibi, then that proves it.”
“She could have hired someone.”
“I guess. But I just don’t think she would.”
“Why?”
“She’s not a bad person.”
“I know.” He squeezed her arm. “It’s clear that this is bigger than Sheryl. I think the Saving Tomorrow Initiative was involved.”
Mel brushed her hair back and started to get up. He pulled her down.
“Where are you going?”
“I should get back to work.”
“No. Stay here.”
“Thank you for telling me what happened.”
“I’m sorry I told you. I didn’t want to get you involved.”
“I’m glad you did.”
“To be honest, I am too. We’ll figure out what happened.”
“It will connect.”
He thought of something to say. It was corny. Sappy. It would scare her off. Make her reconsider and see him for what he was. But he
still tasted the orange. He still had her in his arms, for now. Why not say it?
“It will connect,” he said. “But I’m glad we did already.”
She laughed a little and rolled her eyes. But then she put her hand on the back of his neck again. Softly, they kissed in the middle of the beach, in the middle of the day.
CHAPTER 32:
“Coconut! It’s our old friend Jacob! Be nice!”
The dog scampered around Jerry Rubenstein, wrapping the leash around his body like string tied around a Christmas tree. He was small at the top and big at the base. He laughed and untangled himself from the leash.
“He loves to put daddy in a leash, don’t you Coconut?”
The dog sniffed Jake’s feet and barked.
“I guess that’s a yes.”
“Come inside.”
Jerry guided him inside the office. A portrait five feet high and five feet wide was hanging over a large wooden desk. Jake stared until Jerry saw where he was looking.
“Do you like it?”
“I’ve never seen such a large portrait of a dog.”
“That’s Coconut I. Coconut II’s mommy. Isn’t that right, Coconut?”
The dog looked at the portrait and barked a few times. He looked almost identical to the dog in the painting. Jake laughed a little.
“You love dogs, Jerry. Don’t you?”
“They love me. I just give it back.”
He laughed and clapped Jake on the back. The bruises hurt a little, but they didn’t hurt as much as they would have the day before. Jake started walking toward the chair in front of the desk, but Jerry directed him to a couch and chair on the other side of the room.
“We have to be able to relax. We’re having a conversation, not making a deal.”
They sat down. Jake quickly. Jerry took a little longer. The dog jumped up on the couch and onto Jerry’s lap. He started petting it absentmindedly.
“We enjoyed the article about the Palmstead Homes.”
“You did?”
“Immensely. Thank you for writing it.”
“My editor cut it down a little. But it stayed mostly intact.”
“Will you be talking to Simeon?”
“Oh, we already spoke a while ago. I interviewed him over lunch.”
“Did it go well?”
He’d told Simeon Rothschild that his new name was Harold Longwood.
“It went well enough.”
“That’s good.” Jerry leaned forward, depressing the cushions on the large couch. “Jake, I don’t mean to be impolite. But I can’t help but notice your face.”
