by Amy Lilly
"Shari! I am glad you could come this evening. You must be thrilled to have Grant home with you," I said.
"Most definitely, Phee. You and Grant should stop by next Saturday. I will make you my famous fried chicken. I remember how much you loved it as a girl." Shari was a soft-spoken woman, and I had to lean in to hear her over the band.
"I'd love to. I'm happy as a kitten in cream to have my best movie buddy back home." I bumped Grant with my hip and he smiled.
"Wait a minute there, Phee. You can't just use me for my outstanding taste in Whoppers, popcorn and Jujubes,” Grant joked. "Mom, let me get you settled at the table. I am going to show Phee my show stopping dance moves. Fred Astaire has nothing on me." Grant did a little shuffle with his feet. He tucked his arm around his mother and led her towards a corner table.
"I can't believe how fragile his mother looks. She has always looked strong and tan from all of her gardening, but now she just seems faded," I remarked to Juliet. "I loved going to her house after school because she was always so much fun. She made the best root beer floats for Grant and me. Mr. Davis' death has really taken its toll on her. She has aged twenty years overnight."
"Sad," Juliet said shaking her head. "I bet you're glad to have Grant back. You know he has had a huge crush on you for forever."
"You're wrong," I replied. "He and I tried to go on a date once in high school. We both decided that our friendship was too important to risk. I'm just sad we lost touch."
“I’m telling you. I know when a guy is interested in a girl as more than friends. Grant may say he is okay with just being friends, but his body language says differently.” Juliet gave me a knowing look.
Grant walked over to me, bowed and held out his hand to me. "M'lady. Might I be honored with the pleasure of your company on the dance floor?"
"Why, sir, I'd be delighted!" I said in my best Scarlett O'Hara voice. I took his hand. As we walked to the patio where the other couples were dancing, the band began to play Doris Day's Again. Grant swung me into his arms and we began to sway back and forth.
"I remembered this was one of your favorite songs," Grant said softly. I felt his hand tighten on my lower back as he guided me around the small dance area.
"You have a great memory, my friend," I said lightly. I loved Grant but only as a friend. Maybe Juliet was right, but I hoped not. I didn't want things to be uncomfortable between us.
"We could be more than friends," Grant said huskily. "I mean, we're no longer teenagers, Phee."
"Can I cut in?" A deep voice asked from behind me. Clint was standing off to the side. He held his hand out to me.
"Sure. Why not?" Grant responded with a voice that was just short of a snarl. He handed me over to Clint and stalked away.
"Lover's quarrel?" Clint raised an eyebrow and looked down at me. He pulled me closer to him.
I sighed. "No. I am just starting to realize that maybe he wants something more than I am willing to give. It's complicated." I looked up at him and noticed the dark circles under his eyes. "You look exhausted."
"I am, but I couldn't disappoint your parents. Besides, I needed to dance with the prettiest girl in the room." His eyes swept over me and paused at the plunging neckline of my dress. "You look beautiful, Ophelia."
"Thank you," I whispered and ducked my head. I moved a little closer to him. We danced under the moon and the world faded away. In my mind, it was just the two of us out there on the patio. All too soon, the music ended and the band began to play ABBA's Mama Mia. My mother and Sheila Dawes began to sing and dance in a spoof of the musical and the moment was over.
Clint walked me over to the makeshift Tiki bar that my Mom had set up just for the party. Ordering a Cosmopolitan for me and a tap beer for himself, he handed my drink to me. We walked over to the corner farthest from the band. Clint yawned.
"Late night?" I asked, hoping it was from work and not from a new girlfriend.
"Yes." He took a long draw from his beer. "I spent the night over at Chris Karsen's. Phee, I might as well tell you now since there will be a press release in the morning. Carla was murdered. The autopsy results came back and I had to break the news to Chris. He took it hard."
I gave out a shocked gasp, "How?"
"At first, they thought it was just severe food poisoning. She and Chris had gone to the benefit breakfast over at the fire department Saturday morning. She was the only one who became ill, so that pretty much ruled food poisoning out. Based upon her symptoms and the contents of her stomach, she ingested some kind of poisonous mushroom. It had to have been intentional. With half the town at the breakfast, it's going to be next to impossible to narrow down the suspects at this point. Heck! Your brother was there, Grant and his mom, Cincinnati, your sister and Wade were all there helping out and eating. It is going to take me a week just to get all the witness statements." Clint ran his fingers through his dark hair in a frustration.
"This is awful. I feel even more horrible because I got into an argument with both Carla and Huey last week. I should have been nicer." I felt lower than a worm. First, I had gotten angry with Huey and then I had insulted Carla. They weren’t nice, but I should have been the better person.
"I know you said you didn't like Carla, but I didn't realize you had argued with her. What about?" Clint took another sip of beer.
"It's no big secret. She wanted to tear down the library and build a new recreation center with a gym and pool. She had already approached the rest of the town council. Carla was browbeating me to accept defeat and skulk away with my tail between my legs. I refused and told her that just because she couldn't read, didn't mean the rest of the town was illiterate." I grimaced at how harsh I had been. "I guess I wasn't very nice."
"Who else knew about your argument with her?" Clint asked.
"Anyone who attended the town council meeting, as well as anyone who talked about it afterwards would know. Cincinnati was with me when she accosted me on the sidewalk the other day. Pretty much anyone in town knew that there was no love lost between the two of us. You had already graduated, but she made my life a living hell in high school and hasn't let up much since. She is the reason Grant and I became friends. He came to my rescue after she played a joke on me." I shook my head. "Sorry. I'm not much help, am I? I wish I could narrow it down for you."
"What about you and Huey Long? Who knew about your problems with him?" Clint asked.
"A lot of people. I wasn't quiet when I yelled at him after he made some nasty comment about how he had a library card and would like to check me out. This was after he pinched me on my butt." I shuddered as I remembered the hungry look in Huey Long's eyes as he leered at me. Huey had a habit of looking at me like I was a steak and egg breakfast, and he was a starving man.
“Hmm..." Clint frowned. "Well, this isn't common knowledge, so you need to keep this to yourself. Huey was the prime suspect in a series of rare book and map thefts in the area. It appears he was going to the university libraries throughout the state and somehow cutting illustrations and maps from rare texts and selling them overseas. Your buddy, Grant, was actually Huey's defense attorney. He was probably casing the library’s rare books and used his obnoxious behavior to ensure you wouldn’t bother him."
"Holy Toledo! I didn't like the man because he was always really slimy to me. He just made me feel like he was undressing me every time he looked at me. I never imagined he was a thief, too." I was dismayed when I realized that he might have stolen from the town library.
Clint placed an arm around my shoulder. "Phee, it looks like someone is killing off anyone who mistreats you." Shocked, I looked up at him and saw that he was deadly serious.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“What happened to your fingers?” She’s referring to the Band-Aids that cover four of my ten digits.
“Mushrooms. Spongy little bastards don’t appreciate being sliced.” - Emma Chase, Tangled
"What are you two kids doing holed up in the corner?" Sheriff Jaime Dawes sidled over to us
. A short man, he had his Hispanic mother's dark eyes and hair and his father's Irish features. The swagger was all his own.
"Sir," Clint nodded his head respectfully to his boss. "This isn't the best time but after talking to Phee, I think I found one thing that Huey Long and Carla Karsen had in common."
"What's that?" Sheriff Dawes inquired.
"Her." Clint pointed at me. "Both victims had conflicts with her in the days leading up to their murders. Phee had an alibi for Mr. Long's murder, so she's in the clear, but it might be someone close to her."
"I was at work Saturday when Carla was poisoned," I volunteered.
"That's good to hear," Sheriff Dawes said jovially. I wondered how many beers he and my father had already drank together. "Come into the office tomorrow and we'll talk about this some more, but tonight...tonight we are here to celebrate my friend's birthday." He raised his beer in a toast and began a tango across the patio to his wife, Sheila.
"He's a little bit toasted already, I think," I smiled. "Can we please forget about all this death and nastiness for tonight?"
"I'm sorry," Clint frowned. "I wasn't thinking. Of course we can. I have a beautiful woman standing next to me, and all I can do is talk about work. Let's go get something to eat." He held out his arm to me. Not hesitating for a second, I reached out and took it. We walked across to where the caterers had set up the food. Clint handed me a plate and took one for him. We filled our plates and then looked around for some empty chairs. We spotted two chairs next to Grant and his mother and wended our way through the dancers to sit next to them.
"Thought I had lost you for the evening," Grant said a little sullenly when we sat down.
"No. Clint just had some news to share with me." I was annoyed with Grant’s slightly possessive attitude.
"This has turned out to be a wonderful evening," Shari chimed in.
"It has," I agreed and smiled warmly at her. "Clint, you were a senior when Grant and I were freshmen in high school. I doubt you and Grant knew each other too well.” I hoped my pitiful attempt at small talk would ease some of the tension. Grant and I were going to have a talk about our friendship. Clearly, he was becoming a bit too possessive.
"You were a first class debate team captain if I recall." Clint helped me to steer the conversation back to neutral ground.
"Thanks. I think I knew even then that I wanted to be a courtroom attorney." Grant puffed up a little. "Phee, did you hear about Carla Karsen?"
"Yes,” I said evasively. "Terrible way to die. She and I were definitely not friends, but I didn’t really want her dead."
"Well, I can't say that I feel that bad. I actually saw her Saturday morning at the benefit breakfast at the fire department," Grant said. "She knows you and I are friends, Phee, yet she went on and on about how you were standing in the way of progress."
"Well, I hope you defended me!" I tried to joke even though it wasn't really a joking matter. "Did you know Huey Long?" I tried to be nonchalant, but Clint rolled his eyes and made a cutting motion out of sight of the others to me.
"I did,” Grant did not continue.
"How did you know him?" I persisted. If looks could kill, Clint had slain me and left me drawn and quartered on the floor. I ignored him. It wasn't him that was inciting violence and death. Clint needed information, and I was helping him get it.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to say anything now that he’s dead. Huey was a client at my firm. But I can't give you any more details than that or I would be violating attorney client privilege," Grant offered up. "I will say that he had a bit of a crush on you, Phee."
"What the heck?!" I exclaimed. "No way! He was always such a creep to me."
"That's surprising. He actually commented to me that he thought you were "pretty nice looking for a nerd." I think those were his words. I have to say that on one thing, he was correct. You look amazing tonight," Grant said.
"Thank you," I accepted his compliment. "But you say that only because you’ve seen me after chugging Boone's Farm and upchucking behind the bleachers after a football game. Anything would be an improvement over that!”
"You kids!" Shari laughed. "I remember that night because your mom called me to make sure that I grounded Grant for as long as she grounded you. Now the two of you are all grown up and ready to settle down and start a family."
An awkward silence filled the air after Shari’s comment. Realizing that Clint was being left out since he was already off at police academy when Grant and I were up to our teenage shenanigans, I said hurriedly, "I hope my dad's having fun with this evening. My mom went a little crazy getting everything ready."
"It looks like they are having a great time." Clint nodded in my parent's direction. They were slow dancing to Aerosmith’s Angel.
My Uncle Paul walked up to our table and pulled up a chair. After leaving the Marines, he had given up the high and tight and morphed into a full mountain man. He had a bushy gray beard and had taken to wearing flannel on a regular basis. His footwear would never change though. He still wore his combat boots no matter what the occasion. He probably wanted to be buried in them.
"There's my girl!" Uncle Paul boomed. "I've been looking all over the place for you. Where've you been hiding all night?"
"I've been right here," I stood up and gave him a hug. "How are you, Uncle Paul? Any new projects up there on the mountain?"
"I'm good. I'm good." He nodded. "I've been studying up on wild foods. I've been learning how to identify mushrooms and other edibles. Morels, fiddleheads, all sorts of things. In fact, I met a fellow just the other day out in the woods who said he knew you, Phee."
"Me? Who was it?" I asked.
"He was a long-haired hippie that went to school with you and Grant. I think his name was Duane. Real interesting fella. He could identify every mushroom in the forest. He pointed out which ones were poisonous and which were okay to eat. I don't know. I might just stick with the store-bought ones. Seems a bit safer that way." Uncle Paul declared.
"Duane and I were good friends in school," Grant offered. "He spent most of his free time outdoors. I loved going out with him and learning about the different plants and animals. You're right, Paul. He could tell you all about mushrooms. I remember him telling me about one called the 'avenging angel' or something like that."
"I think he called it the 'destroying angel'. The way he tells it, it can kill you in less than a day. It causes all sorts of bad crap to happen. You hallucinate, become delirious and sick as hell to your stomach before you up and meet the big general in the sky. And that is exactly why I think I will be buying my mushrooms from the local grocer. Like my sainted mother always said, it is better to be safe than sorry," Uncle Paul finished emphatically and took a draw from his bottle of beer.
Clint had been listening closely during the discussion. "What's the name of this friend of yours? He's an expert on mushrooms?"
"Duane Phillips. We were all classmates. He comes in the library all of the time. As a matter of fact, he just did a presentation there two weeks ago for the public," I said. I wondered why Clint was asking about Duane. Then it hit me. Carla was poisoned by a mushroom.
"I'd like to meet this friend of yours," Clint said. "I think I need to ask him a few questions about poisonous mushrooms."
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“She says nothing at all, but simply stares upward into the dark sky and watches, with sad eyes, the slow dance of the infinite stars.” ― Neil Gaiman, Stardust
The party started to wind down around ten o’clock. My dad was over the moon with joy at my present. The band was closing down the evening with a series of Journey tunes. I decided to take a break from the crowd and walk down to the beach. I picked my way down the pebble path and found my favorite fallen oak tree near the shore and took a seat. I loved sitting down here and listening to the sound of the water lapping at the rocky beach. In the distance, I could hear the hoot of a horned owl somewhere in the trees near the lake shore. The warm September breeze nudged a wisp of
hair loose from my chignon.
"Is this seat taken?" Clint took a seat next to me. We sat quietly together for a few minutes while savoring the beautiful evening. The music drifted on the night air, and I could hear the band singing Faithfully. Clint stood up and silently held out his hand to me. I took it, and he pulled me into his arms. We began to slowly dance in the sand. I rested my head on his chest. He smelled of leather, wood smoke and a hint of citrus. I inhaled deeply as I tried to memorize the scent of him. As the last notes of the song wound down, Clint placed a finger on my chin, bent down and softly kissed me. I leaned into him and when our lips parted, I felt his arm tighten around my waist. He gazed down at me.
"Ophelia," Clint whispered. "What are you doing to me?"
"I don't know," I whispered back to him. "I just know that I'd like for you to kiss me again." Clint gave a low throaty chuckle and leaned down to kiss me again. A sudden snap echoing from the woods startled us apart. Clint's hand went to his hip where he normally had his gun. Realizing it wasn't there; he held his finger up to his lips and moved towards the tree line. There was a rustle in the leaves.
"Hey guys! We've been looking everywhere for you!" Juliet's voice called out from the path above us. I looked up and saw Rick stumbling down the path with Juliet. Both of them were laughing. Clint stopped his movement towards the woods. He took one last look, shook his head and turned back towards me.
"What are you doing down here, PheePhee?" Rick asked.
"Oh, I was just down here getting some fresh air and taking a break from the music. Clint came down here to get me and bring me back to the party," I said smoothly. "We'd better head back up there. I am sure people are getting ready to head home." I began to walk up the path towards the patio. My heel caught on a stone and as I stumbled, I felt strong arms grasp me.
"You'd better hold onto my arm before you fall." Clint held his elbow out to me. Taking it, I felt a small ripple of happiness as I walked next to him.
