He put his arm around me as we started running when the first raindrops fell. “There’s a long way between saying that and proving it, Jessie. Got any ideas on how we do that?”
Nineteen
“The killer has to be staying here somewhere.” That was my brilliant deduction as we brooded about it over supper and ale. Tonight was dinner at Baron’s Beer and Brats. Apparently, the baron had made a few too many brats and offered them to the residents.
“That’s true,” Chase agreed. “It probably wouldn’t be that hard to track him down. He either has to be hiding in one of the closed shops or staying with someone.”
The rain beat a steady rhythm on the roof. The eatery was full of hungry Village residents looking for whatever establishment was doling out free food that night. Everyone seemed subdued. There was none of the usual loud banter between tables.
Debby, my student, came to sit with us accompanied by Fred the Red Dragon. It seemed they had discovered each other this summer.
“You guys look down,” she said. “Is something up?”
“Yeah. You guys breaking up?” Fred snickered.
“There’s nothing down or up,” I assured them. “We were just talking.”
“Talking leads to trouble.” Fred tore into his brat as he philosophized. “Take my word for it; men and women weren’t meant to talk.”
Debby stared at him. “What does that mean?”
“Nothing, baby.” He rubbed her back, then winked at Chase.
I hadn’t finished eating, but I was ready to go. The fun had gone out of communal eating for me. Chase had just started on his third brat and wasn’t responsive to my nonverbal eye commands. I sat back and let everything wash over me.
Roger walked in exactly on a crack of lightning that filled the dark doorway. It was ominous. Of course, I thought Roger was a little ominous on his own without the storm. He stood there for a few minutes dripping water without trying to wipe his face then focused on us and stalked across the room to our table.
“What the hell do you mean, accusing me of murder?” He glared directly at me, water drops dripping from his nose and chin.
“I didn’t accuse you of anything.” I looked at my companions for backup.
“Officer Grigg seemed to have a different story,” Roger said. “He said you and Livy think I killed Joshua Shift. Did you say that to Detective Almond?”
I looked around again. Debby and Fred only had eyes for each other and whatever they were doing under the table. Chase had his mouth full of brat and was valiantly trying to clear it. There was only Roger, who was dripping water on the table, and me.
“I never said you killed anyone.” It was relatively true. I said it was possible, and knowing what I knew about him and Mary, it seemed even more possible. Except that Abraham was still my top suspect. His motives were much stronger than Roger’s.
“I don’t appreciate people gossiping about me, Jessie. I’m an ex-cop. I know how it goes. Officer Grigg gave me the low-down on your investigation into me. All I can say is, watch out. It’s a two-way street. You and Chase were right there, too. You could be involved.”
Was he threatening me? I got to my feet, prepared to do battle. “Look, Roger—”
But before I could tell him he didn’t scare me, Chase had finished his brat and stood up beside me. “We were speculating on everyone in the Village. It’s nothing personal. You should know that, being an ex-cop and all.”
I knew Roger liked Chase. I could see his features soften as they talked. “You know I think you do a good job here, Chase,” Roger said. “But some people are troublemakers. This murder investigation is bad enough. Let’s not get at each other’s throats over it.”
Chase reached out his hand to shake Roger’s. The two men nodded, and the air seemed to clear. Roger grunted and frowned at me, then walked back out into the rain. The door closed behind him, and I took a deep breath.
“Wow! He sounded pretty guilty to me,” Fred said aloud what I was thinking. “You know how it’s always those guys who know so much and tell everybody they didn’t do it that end up being the ones who did it?”
Debby giggled, and Chase shook his head. I wasn’t sure exactly what Fred was getting at, but I felt the same way. If I hadn’t heard Jah and Abraham arguing in the shop, Roger would be my suspect.
“I think we should go if we’re going to explore that other possibility.” Chase gave me a meaningful look.
“What other possibility?” I was totally confused and wondered how many tankards Chase had consumed. Or was it the brats? I got to my feet and took his hand. If nothing else, he shouldn’t be wandering around by himself. Besides, I was ready to leave. The world had become strange. Maybe it was the rain. We stood in the alcove just outside Baron’s for a moment.
“So, what were you talking about?” I asked Chase.
“I think I’ve come up with where we might find Abraham. He seems to show up at Wicked Weaves a lot. And if your theory is correct, he could’ve been watching for Joshua and Jah to put in an appearance. He needed to be close to her shop. The Three Chocolatiers have that outbuilding they sometimes use for extra staff. It’d be a good command post.”
Chase was right. It was the only empty place around Wicked Weaves. If Abraham was hiding out there, he could keep a close eye on Mary. “Is that the possibility you were talking about?”
He kissed me as the rain changed direction, and we started getting wet. “You got it, baby.”
I laughed. “Well, what are we waiting for?”
We ran through the shuttered Village together. The rain was heavy but warm with all the sweetness of summer. The few trees along the King’s Highway bent and swayed with the storm. There was a clap of thunder followed by a burst of lightning that made me recall the statistics for being hit by it.
The lightning didn’t make me nervous, but the revelation it brought with it when I looked up into Chase’s handsome face made me cringe. I was pretty sure I was in love with him. I hadn’t asked for it; I didn’t want it. I wasn’t looking for it. But there it was. It was like the lightning was Cupid’s arrow striking my heart.
It sounded stupid and romantic. Nothing like me at all. But I realized Chase had always been there waiting for this moment. I tried to ignore it, but a big, sloppy grin spread over my face and almost made me blurt out what I was feeling. I didn’t know if Chase was ready for that yet.
We ran under the shelter of the Three Chocolatiers’ porch, pushing wet hair out of our faces. I was glad I’d changed out of my heavy linen into shorts and a tank top. Linen was terrible when it was wet. I smiled at Chase but didn’t make eye contact, scared he’d see some of what I was feeling. I couldn’t help wondering what he was feeling, if anything different.
“There it is.” He pointed to the shed. “There’s no light on. If Abraham is staying there, he may be caught out in the rain somewhere in the Village. Now could be a great time to take a look.”
I was a little disappointed that Chase’s thoughts were of sneaking into the shed. I guess I wanted him to be thinking of me. I realized he might not feel that flash of insight that was still tingling through me. “What are we waiting for?” I asked. “Let’s go.”
We raced across the wet courtyard. I’d stayed in this particular shed/residence before, actually. It was small but not as tiny as the little hut I’d been assigned this year. It was cozy, really, and more than one person fit in the bed.
I mentally slapped myself for picturing Chase and me in that bed. Pull yourself together. You can’t go around daydreaming all over the place.
The door was locked, but Chase had one of the master keys. He opened the door slowly, like we could sneak into a one-room shed without being noticed. If Abraham was inside, he’d know we were there.
Someone jumped up in the dark room and yelled, “Who’s there?” but it wasn’t Abraham. I hit the light switch at the doorway. I knew that voice.
My brother Tony was there, wearing only a pair of jeans, his tan
chest bare along with his feet. I glanced at the bed, but there was no sign of Tammy. “You scared the crap out of me,” he complained, putting down a spatula that he apparently was going to use on us.
“What are you doing here?” I asked. “I thought you were in Vegas.”
“Yeah. Well, that didn’t work out. At least not for me. Tammy seemed to like it.”
“You can’t just stay here, Tony,” Chase told him. “You’ll have to reregister as a resident and be assigned a place.”
I thought about the great upstairs loft he’d given up to have his try at Vegas. It was above Sir Latte’s Beanery, right across the street from Wicked Weaves. “This may be a wash, but I have another idea where we could find Abraham.”
“Okay.” Chase glanced back at Tony, who had slumped down on the bed. “Take care of it if you want to be back on the payroll. I won’t say anything for a couple of days.”
“Yeah, like that’s something special.”
I felt like kicking my brother, but I could see he was too busy doing it for me. He didn’t need my help. “Are you broke?”
“I had to ask Bo Peep for her leftover cinnamon roll for supper tonight. What do you think?”
“They might still have some brats at Baron’s.” I gave him five dollars. “If not, this might get you something.”
“Thanks, Sis. I know it was stupid for me to leave. I thought I could do something right for once. I thought I could get out of here and do something worthwhile. I guess I was wrong, huh?”
I hugged him. “Let me buy you breakfast in the morning, and we’ll talk. I love you.”
He kissed my cheek. “Love you, too. Nice catch.” He nodded at Chase, who waited by the door. “The bailiff is a good choice. About as close as either one of us will be to normal.”
His comment bothered me, especially since it came right on the heels of my revelation about feeling the L word for Chase. I hadn’t realized I wasn’t normal until Tony told me. Then I started worrying about all of my so-called relationships. What if Tony was right? What if I was clinging to Chase because I couldn’t find what I wanted in my own life?
“So what’s this new idea about finding Abraham?” Chase asked when we were outside.
I told him about Tony’s loft. “Maybe he moved in there after Tony left. What are the chances Village housing would notice?”
“Not many.” He glanced at the shed. “I’m sorry if I came off too rough about Tony registering again. But they come to me if something like that shows up. I’m supposed to know everything that goes on around here.”
“That’s okay. I was surprised to see him. I’d hoped he’d managed to escape this place.”
“Why do you keep coming back if you don’t like it here? Lots of people do worse stuff for a living than live in a Renaissance Faire Village and Market Place.”
“I don’t really have anything against it unless you’re using it to hide out from the rest of the world. That’s what Tony does. I thought that’s what you did, too.”
He kissed my forehead. “Must be too much sun. Come on. Let’s check out the Beanery. Maybe we can make Jonathan as angry as we made Roger.”
Chase and I left Tony at the shed and started walking past Fabulous Funnel Cakes. The Beanery was on the other side, conveniently next to the Glass Gryphon. It had stopped raining as hard, but a light mist had settled over the Village. It looked surreal, like a gauzy, romantic painting. A few lights flickered in the windows of the shops we passed. The rain must’ve knocked out the streetlamps. The King’s Highway was dark.
From the distance I could hear the animal sounds from the end of the street. Elephants trumpeted, and camels snorted. Sheep and horses added to the symphony. The smell from the rain hitting the dry pens was a little ripe, but it added an interesting note to the evening.
Chase was right about there not being a better place to live than this. Yes, it was commercial, but it had almost as much charm as a real Renaissance village. I guess I was scared of winding up here with nowhere else to go. I didn’t want that for me or Tony. As unique and charming as it was, many of the people here were hiding out.
“You can stay down here if you want to,” Chase said when we reached the bottom of the steep stairs that led to the loft over the Beanery.
“That’s okay.” I started up. “I don’t want to miss anything.”
He came up behind me, our combined weight making the wet stairs sway a little. “I think this needs to be repaired.” He put his hand on part of the banister, and it broke away, crashing to the cobblestones beneath it. “It definitely needs to be repaired.”
“I don’t think Tony stayed here a lot, even when he was officially living here. There’s always been a fairy or a flower maiden ready to take him in for the night.”
I waited at the top of the stairway on a narrow landing beside the door. The rain was starting again. A few large, fat drops fell into my face.
“I think this whole thing needs to be replaced,” Chase said when he reached me. “That bothers you about the fairies, doesn’t it?”
“Not really. Not the way you mean. He’s my brother, not my boyfriend. I just want what’s best for him.”
“Fairies don’t mean that much to anyone. I’m sure Tony is safe. You worry a lot about him, don’t you?”
I watched him put the master key in the lock. “He’s all the family I have. I guess I feel a little more maternal about him than I should. He needs someone to worry about him. I guess that’s why I do it.”
He shrugged. “He’s a big boy, Jessie. He can take care of himself. I don’t think he needs you to save him from his mistakes. In fact, he may make more of them because he knows you’re always there to bail him out.”
“What do you mean? I don’t bail him out exactly. And he makes plenty of mistakes.”
“Okay. I’m sorry I brought it up. I was just saying you might be doing more harm than good.”
“You don’t understand what it’s like to be alone without anyone else who cares about you. I’m there for Tony, and he’s there for me.”
Chase paused before he opened the door. “I know you’re there for him. I’m not sure he feels the same way about you. When was the last time he bailed you out of a jam or did anything besides worry about himself?”
That was taking things too far. But my brother was my responsibility, not his, and I didn’t expect him to understand. “I’m not worried about it. Tony would be there if I really needed him. You don’t know him like I do.”
“You’re right about that. He doesn’t develop personal friendships with anyone. Except the fairies, and I think they shore up his backbone like you do.”
“Not everyone our age has had a long-term relationship with one partner.” I tapped my fingers on the banister until I realized I might push the whole thing down. “Have you?”
“Not yet. But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t commit to the right person.” He looked at me and asked, “Would you?”
I let loose with an entire barrage of excuses as to why I wouldn’t. He stood and listened as the rain fell harder, soaking through what was left of our dry clothes. If Abraham was hiding in the loft, he had to wonder what was keeping us.
“I think that must be every excuse known to men or women,” Chase said. “But what’s the real excuse, Jessie?”
I felt drained and exhausted. I hoped I could make it back down the stairs without falling. It was hard denying what I felt for Chase, especially since he kept looking at me with those big, dark eyes. I wanted to tell him that everything had changed for me, but I was too afraid. I couldn’t have told him what I was afraid of. I wasn’t even sure myself. Was I ready for the personal commitment he was looking for?
“Until this year, I’ve never met anyone I thought I could commit to for more than a summer,” I ground out. “Maybe now things will be different.”
I couldn’t see the look on his face, even in the shadows. I was breathing fast, my heart pounding in my chest. I’d given everything away, and t
here was no response from him. I was terrified he didn’t feel the same way about me. Maybe Chase was the one man I could really love, and he might never care for me the same way.
“Door’s open,” he said finally. “He must know we’re out here. I guess we’ll go in.”
We walked around the dark loft. There were only two rooms and there was no sign that anyone was staying there.
I didn’t know what to say. All my thoughts were jumbled. Why couldn’t he have waited until the end of the summer for this discussion? Everything seemed wrong and stilted with him now. I didn’t see how we’d go on together for the next few weeks.
Wicked Weaves Page 22
