He squeezed my arm, his hand lingering a little too long for normal formalities. “One more thing to love about you.” He turned toward Ralph. “You’ll never believe what I just discovered.”
Ralph sat up straighter. “What?”
“One of the major campaign donors to Rex Harrison is Orion Enterprises.”
Ralph offered a half shrug. “Okay . . . they’re based out of Cincinnati. Manufacturing and textiles, I believe.”
Brian nodded. “That’s right. The guy who owns it, Orion Vanderslice, is loaded. Absolutely loaded. There’s also an investigation under way about his company.”
“Why?” I couldn’t resist jumping in. After my encounter last night with Rex, the last thing I wanted was for him to win.
“Apparently, some of his warehouses are practically sweatshops. On the outside, he acts like he’s all about the little people. But if you dig deeper into his company, he doesn’t put into practice any of the principles he professes.”
“What does this have to do with Rex?” I questioned.
“He’s accepting money from someone who’s shady. That’s going to reflect poorly on him. It might mean that he’d do anything to win.”
Another thought rammed into my mind.
Brian seemed like the type who’d do anything to win.
Would he even sell drugs to lure people into votes?
CHAPTER 25
Brian jangled the change in his pocket, his excitement obvious. “We can use this if we have to. I’m going to do some more digging. We have to time the release of the information perfectly, and we’ve got to prove that Rex knows Orion Vanderslice is dirty. We let the media know about this a few days before the election, and this could seal the deal. You could win.”
“I want to win, but fair and square,” Ralph said.
“I don’t know what’s not fair and square about this. Deeds done in the darkness will be revealed. Isn’t there a proverb about that somewhere?”
“The Bible,” I mumbled. “It’s from the Bible.”
“That’s right! Who wants to argue with the Bible? Well, a lot of people, truth be told, but I’m not one of them.” He stepped back. “Okay, I’ve got to get back to work. I just wanted to let you know.”
“Thanks, Brian.”
Brian turned toward me as he took a step back. “You up for tapas yet?”
“Maybe after my brother wins the election.”
He chuckled. “I like that. Just one more thing to motivate me to work extra hard.” He patted my arm. “I love this girl. See you both around.”
As soon as Brian disappeared, I turned to Ralph and shut the door. Ralph stared at me, a funny expression on his face. “Brian’s not your type, is he?”
I shook my head. “No, he’s not.”
“I just don’t want to see you with someone else like that Rob guy. He was a jerk.”
I frowned. “He was a jerk. But really, the fact that he broke up with me was a blessing. It was hard to see in the moment. But now I’m so thankful I didn’t marry him. And I would have married him. Sometimes we only see the things we want to see, don’t you think?”
Ralph nodded. “You’re becoming quite the woman, Holly. I know Dad would be proud of you.”
I forced myself not to cry. Almost every time my dad was mentioned, tears wanted to well in my eyes. I missed him so much.
And while Ralph didn’t act like my dad, there was no denying that he looked like a younger version of him.
“Thank you, Ralph. He would be proud of you, too, you know.”
Ralph leaned back. “Sometimes I like to think that he’s here, watching everything, and smiling.”
“That sounds about right.”
“Brian, he’s a nice guy. But he’s not for you. Sometimes I think he would do anything to get votes.”
My throat squeezed. I’d been thinking that same thing yet trying to dismiss it.
I remembered Brian visiting Desiree. I remembered the unmarked warehouse he’d entered. What was Brian not telling Ralph?
Brian was worried that Orion Vanderslice could ruin Rex. What if Brian was doing something that could ruin Ralph’s chances? It was a possibility I had to consider.
I cleared my throat. “Anything?”
Ralph’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Not anything anything. I just mean he’s determined and a little too intense for you. He’s too rigid and looking for a trophy wife, if you ask me. There’s nothing plastic about you. You’ve got a lot of depth to you, Holly.”
Outwardly, I smiled. But inwardly, I remembered that I’d broken into someone’s house. I remembered what the consequences could be if I were found out.
I wondered if my brother would say such nice things about me if I cost him this election.
***
As I left the campaign headquarters and climbed into my car, my phone rang. Again.
I knew without even looking that it was Jamie calling. We always checked in, usually once in the morning and once in the evening.
I hadn’t called her last night, and I hadn’t called her this morning either.
My friend was no dummy. She had to know something was up.
I frowned before putting the phone to my ear and starting up Sally. “Hey, girlfriend.”
“Girl, I thought something had happened to you. I almost started calling hospitals in the area to make sure you were okay and that you hadn’t been admitted. My goodness, I even almost called your mom!”
I swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. I’ve been busy.”
“What’s going on? And don’t tell me ‘nothing.’”
I started down the road. “How about if I come by after work? Is that okay?”
“I don’t know if I can wait that long. You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. There’s just been a lot going on.”
“Okay, I’ll see you at my place. Whatever you do, don’t make this a late work night. Please.”
I swung by my house quickly before heading back to work. I’d been thinking nonstop about those buckets and mops. Maybe, I’d decided, I needed to take them somewhere and dump them. Literally. As in, take them to the dump and leave them somewhere no one would ever find them in my possession.
I didn’t, after all, want to be framed for a crime I didn’t commit.
I parked at my house, went into the garage, and climbed into the attic. I opened the door to the little hidden cubbyhole and squinted.
The space was empty.
That couldn’t be right.
I knew I’d left them there.
My blood went cold at my next thought.
What if the killer had come back to retrieve them? He’d now have my fingerprints all over them.
I was trembling when I climbed back into my Mustang.
My trembles only deepened when I looked across the street and saw Frank Jenkins close his car door and pull away.
***
I knocked at Jamie’s door at precisely 6:00 p.m. My nerves were getting the best of me all day, ever since the cleaning supplies had disappeared and I’d seen Frank Jenkins watching me. Now I considered what to do if John answered the door.
Act clueless?
Look him in the eye and demand answers?
Be a friend and see if he’d confide in me?
None of those scenarios were necessary, because he didn’t.
Jamie’s mom answered instead. I adored Jamie’s family. Her mom had a bum knee, which was why Jamie had moved back in after college. She complained about it often, but I knew she wanted to help out.
Her mom worked as a nurse’s aide for a hospice agency, and her dad played trombone for a jazz band, teaching music lessons on the side. They weren’t perfect, not by any means. But there was something very comforting about hanging out with people who knew their flaws and were okay with not always having it all together.
Louis Armstrong music floated in from the stereo in the background, only it wasn’t a stereo, I realized. That was actually Jamie’s dad p
racticing in the sunroom.
“Holly, girl,” Mama Val said. “Good to see you. You’re not coming around here much anymore. Everything okay?”
Jamie’s mom weighed well over three hundred pounds, and she had a large personality to match. I also knew that I never, ever wanted to make her mad.
“I’m fine, Mama Val.”
“That’s good because God’s been putting you on my mind lately, Holly girl. Every time I think about you, I pray, ‘God, be with Holly Paladin. I don’t know what’s going on with her, but watch over her.’ Can I get an amen?”
“Amen,” I muttered.
“What was that? I didn’t hear you?” She cupped her hand around her ear.
“Amen!” I said it with more enthusiasm this time.
“That’s right. You know that Mama Val is there for you if you ever need it. Okay?”
“Thanks, Mama Val.”
“All right, Jamie! Where are you? Can’t you hear that your friend is here?”
I smiled. I always loved being around Mama Val. She was such a contrast to my own reserved, always socially correct mother. I loved my own mother, too. It was just nice to see people who weren’t afraid to go against the grain.
“Come on in. Let me go find that girl.”
I stepped inside. In the background, I saw the three little disciples running around in the living room. They stopped running for long enough to give me hugs—they called me Aunt Holly—and then they went right back to their swordplay.
I smiled as I watched them. I couldn’t remember my brother, sister, and me ever playing like that. Of course, they’d been older. But my earliest memories, outside of hanging with my dad, were of taking piano lessons, and volunteering for community cleanup days, and redecorating our house every three years.
Jamie came downstairs and rolled her eyes at her mom. “I was doing my oil pull. Patience, Mother. Patience.”
“Oil pulling? Makes no sense to me. You put coconut oil in your mouth, swish it around for fifteen minutes, and suddenly all of your health problems disappear? Sounds like voodoo to me.”
She rolled her eyes again. “It’s not voodoo, Mom. Several doctors back up the scientific study behind it. It works. And it makes my teeth feel smooth.”
“I’m surprised it doesn’t rot your teeth. I don’t understand it. Do you, Holly?”
I stepped back. “I’m out of this one.”
Mama Val raised her chin. “I see how you are. Okay, you two get along. Go play. I’ll stay out of your way.”
She lumbered off.
I turned to Jamie. “She has a point, you know. I really don’t understand how oil pulling is supposed to be beneficial.”
“I’m telling you, I haven’t had one cold or sinus infection since I started doing it. Don’t knock it until you try it.”
I nodded and held up my hand. “Okay, maybe we should talk about something else.”
“Let’s. Come on up to my room.”
I followed her upstairs. Her house was old and outdated, but clean and neat. It always smelled like cooked greens and fried foods, and there were gaudy remains of the art deco style that had once decorated the place: fake-marble-covered tables, shiny steel fixtures, faded pastel colors.
We went into Jamie’s room and she closed the door. I plopped down on her daybed, just as I’d done so many times before.
“I’m surprised you didn’t want to meet at that vegan pizza place,” I told her.
“I would, but I have a flat tire.”
I tried to keep my expression neutral. “Really? What happened?”
“Oh, I let John borrow the van last night, and he said he ran over a nail. Go figure. Now I have to wait until my paycheck comes in so I can buy a new tire.”
“Ouch. What was he doing last night when he ran over a nail? Donuts in a construction parking lot?”
She snorted. “Sounds like something he’d do. I don’t know about that boy. He said he was meeting some friends. I have no reason to doubt him.”
“Of course.”
“So, what’s new? I need the inside scoop. You helped Chase yesterday, right?”
I frowned. “His partner is onto me. He thinks I have something to do with it.”
Her eyes widened. “Are you sure?”
“Pretty sure. He’s made it clear he’s not a fan of mine.”
“What does Chase say?”
“It’s weird. It’s like he’s trying to protect me. He told me to take anything T.J. says with a grain of salt. That he probably doesn’t like me because he’s friends with Rex and knows my brother is running against him.”
“Rex, huh?” Jamie smiled.
The weight on my chest pressed harder. Jamie was a big girl, I reminded myself. She needed the freedom to make her own choices.
And she was smart. She had a good head on her shoulders.
I was stressing out about nothing.
“Yeah, speaking of Rex.” I reached into my purse and pulled out the paper he’d given me. “He stopped by the youth center last night.”
She cocked her head. “The youth center? Why? I thought he’d already been there.”
I licked my lips, not wanting to let the words leave my mouth. I forced them out anyway. “He actually wanted to talk to me. About you.”
Her eyes widened and she let out a soft squeal. “What?”
I nodded. “Yeah, he wanted me to give you his personal number. He wants you to call him.”
“Why? Why in the world does he want me to call him? Is he trying to hire me? Does he need a reporter on his campaign staff? Not that I would ever accept the position. Not with your brother running and all.” Her frown looked a little too forced.
“He wants to ask you out.”
Her squeal was much louder this time. “Are you serious? Rex Harrison wants to ask me out? You’re kidding? Girlfriend, if you’re kidding, I’m going to give you the biggest wet Willie that you’ve ever had.”
I raised my hands. Despite myself, a small laugh escaped. I loved seeing her so excited. I just wished it wasn’t about Rex. “I’m not kidding. But, Jamie, you’re not going to go, are you?”
Her smile disappeared faster than a feather on a windy day. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“It’s . . . Rex.”
“Exactly.” She nodded, her eyes scarily wide and adamant. “It’s Rex.” She fell back on her bed. “I never imagined in a million years that someone like him would give me the time of the day. Not only did he do that, but he went out of his way to find me. To track me down. That’s what every girl dreams about.”
I had to find the right words, but it was so hard. “Do you trust him, Jamie?”
“How can I trust him? I don’t know him. He was a police officer, though. He started a nonprofit. If he wasn’t running against your brother, you would like him. Admit it, Holly.”
I shook my head. “I can’t admit that. There’s something about him that bugs me.”
She sat up and narrowed her eyes. “For once, can’t you just be happy for me?”
“I’m happy for you a lot, Jamie.”
“No, you’re not. You’re not going to be here, Holly. You’re leaving me. I need someone else in my life. Rex would be someone.”
Her words felt like a slap in the face. I stood and stepped toward the door before my emotions got the best of me. “I see. Well, you should get on with your life.”
“Holly, I didn’t mean it like—”
“No, you’re right. Life is too short to live for the approval of others. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“Holly, please.”
I stepped into the hallway and hurried down the stairs. I ran to my car and took off, fighting tears.
I’d been determined not to feel sorry for myself. But right now, all I felt was sorrow.
How did one come to terms with death? With the realization that life would go on without you?
I didn’t know. But one way or another I had to figure it out.
Because real
ity was feeling realer and realer all the time.
CHAPTER 26
My phone rang as I cruised down the road. It was Chase.
“Hey, can we meet? I want to talk over a few things with you.”
It beat going back to my house and feeling sorry for myself. “Sure thing.”
He picked a café that overlooked downtown in the Mount Airy section of the city. I found him at a table by the window. The waitress was obviously flirting with him. He smiled back, saying something that made her giggle.
Why did my heart tighten at the sight? Chase and I could never be together. I knew that. Even if he was a changed man, there were still so many reasons to stay away. Disappointment still nibbled away at my spirit, though.
He looked over at me, something in his eyes shifting when he saw me. “Holly.”
He stood and pulled out a chair. I willed my cheeks not to flush as I sat down. I loved being treated like a lady, though. It was almost like he knew the way to my heart.
Which was a shame, since he was just flirting with the waitress.
“She was just telling me that she’s dropped two plates already today. She considered it fair warning,” Chase offered. “I’m passing that info along to you now.”
That released some of the tension I felt. Maybe he hadn’t been flirting. Maybe he’d just been being friendly. “I see.”
I let out a slow breath and smoothed the black tablecloth. “A Kiss to Build a Dream On” played on the overhead, and the comforting scents of bacon and eggs filled the air. I’d been here once before, and I knew the Cosmic Café prided itself in taking familiar foods and making them different. The whole café felt a little otherworldly with its brightly painted walls and open, airy design.
“I’ve been thinking about you all today,” Chase started.
That lump—becoming all too familiar—appeared in my throat. I glanced over at Chase and tried to swallow. “Have you?”
“For the record, I thought T.J. was a jerk yesterday. I can’t apologize for him enough.”
I played with the water glass in front of me. “He has strong opinions.”
“That’s one way to say it. But he had no right to accuse you. I almost think he wants to nail you in this so his friend can win the election.”
Random Acts of Murder: A Holly Anna Paladin Mystery, Book 1 (Holly Anna Paladin Mysteries) Page 14
