by Lynn Cahoon
“I’m teasing.” I thought about the self-help books. Maybe Toby would have a suggestion. “Hey, do you know of any books about being assertive without turning into a complete …”
“Tiger?” When he looked into my face, he laughed. “I saw the book in your purse. Listen, you’re just fine the way you are. Sure, you care about what people in your life think. But everyone does, except people like that author, who probably doesn’t have a family or friends who will still talk to her.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I keep hearing I should be more confident.”
“Why don’t you sit down? I’ll get you a piece of cheesecake, and you can tell Father Toby all about your problem.” Toby swung a towel over his shoulder and leaned over the counter, resting on his forearms.
“I prefer the anonymity of a good shrink book, thank you anyway.” I laughed and took my own apron off. “Besides, I’m meeting Amy this afternoon to run into Bakerstown.”
I left off the part about stopping by the model’s house to see if she’d killed Kent. If things went right, I’d have Greg’s investigation solved and we’d be able to spend Monday at the beach. Or Greg would be mad and not talking to me for a week or more. I paused and thought about my promise to Amy.
Toby hadn’t moved from his spot, where he still watched me. When I turned back, he shook his head and backed away, dumping out an almost-empty pot of coffee to make more. “I know that look. You’re going to get me in trouble.”
“I’m just leaving an address with you, just in case.” I quickly wrote the information on the back of a take-out menu card Aunt Jackie had printed up last month.
Toby stared at the paper like it might bite him. “In case of what?”
“If you don’t hear from me this evening, give this to Greg and tell him Amy and I went to visit with this woman.” I tried for an innocent look. “No big deal, Amy just wants someone to know where we are. The whole Kent thing has her spooked.”
I could see Toby’s mind whirling as he tested the idea, and then he nodded, letting me off the hook for additional questions. “I know Justin’s kind of a mess right now. The guy called me last night and we talked for over an hour about life and death. I didn’t think we were friends, but I felt bad for the guy.”
And now I felt bad for lying to Toby. But instead of backing up, I kept going. “Amy’s worried about him. It will do her good to get out of town for a few hours today.”
He picked up the menu card and tapped it on the counter. “What time should I send in reinforcements if you don’t call?”
I calculated the drive time and a few stops in town, like maybe a mani-pedi appointment. “I’ll call you before nine. Does that work? Or do you have plans tonight?”
“Nine’s fine. I’m heading back to the apartment tonight to do some laundry and grocery shopping for the week. You know, bachelor stuff.”
A woman who’d just entered the store approached the counter. I recognized her as one of Toby’s cosmetology school regulars. “You know you don’t have to be a bachelor, Toby darling. I’m sure I’m not the only woman who’d be glad to do your laundry for a few concessions on your part.”
Toby started making the woman’s drink. “Now, Debbie, you know I’m dating someone right now. I can’t be playing the field if I’m going to get anyone to take me seriously.”
“Who says it has to be serious?” The woman winked at me. “I’d settle for a few one-night stands.”
I decided it was time for me to leave. “I’ll call you later. Have a good shift.”
As I walked out the door, I heard Debbie laughing at Toby’s response. Toby had a way of making every woman who walked into the shop feel special. Even if he was off the dating market.
I walked home and got ready for our secret agent outing. I took the laptop and printed off a copy of the Facebook page, writing down the Bakerses’ information from the local phone book. I grabbed a few bottles of water, put them and an ice pack into a minicooler, and grabbed Emma’s leash. She could at least lick the attacker to death if we were put into a difficult position.
I packed it all up in my Jeep, put Emma in the backseat, and headed back into town. I parked on the street in front of the bike rental shop where Amy rented the top floor apartment, right behind Sadie’s Pies on the Fly tiny car. The PT Cruiser was hard to miss with the dark purple color and the big slice of pie logo applied to each door, including the hatchback in the rear. I rolled down the windows for Emma, told my dog I’d be a few minutes, and headed toward Amy’s door.
Sadie left the bike rental shop at the same time, her face turning a bright pink as soon as she saw me. “Oh, Jill, I didn’t expect to see you here. Isn’t today your day off?”
I felt my lips curl upward into a large grin. “I bet you didn’t. And yes, typically, this is the start of my weekend, but Aunt Jackie took the day off. What are you doing? Planning a bike trip?”
Sadie slapped me on the arm. She looked around and, lowering her voice, she muttered, “You know what I’m doing here. I just don’t want the whole town or Darla to find out.”
“You’re right about that. If Darla knew you were dating Dustin Austin, it would be front-page news.” I gave her a quick hug. “Don’t worry, your sex life isn’t the most interesting thing going on in South Cove these days.”
Sadie’s face turned a brighter shade of red. “Don’t say ‘sex life.’ It’s trashy. I don’t want to be seen as a wanton woman.”
Honest to God, I broke out into giggles. When I could catch my breath, I wiped my eyes and focused on the now-frowning Sadie. “There is no one in town who would ever call you wanton. You’re the most churchgoing, friendly, helpful, caring, and utterly awesome woman in town.”
Sadie inched toward her car. “Well, that being said, I still don’t want to be a subject of gossip. I’ll see you Tuesday morning with your shop order.”
And with that, she put the car into gear and almost burned rubber getting away from me. I turned and found Amy standing next to me, watching Sadie leave.
“What’s got into her? She’s been acting weird lately.” Amy went over to the car and gave Emma a pat on the head, before ordering her to return to the backseat. She waited for my dog to settle on the backseat before opening the passenger door. Emma liked Amy and listened to her. Not like me. Sometimes I can talk till I’m blue in the face, and my dog will still ignore my commands.
I climbed into the driver’s seat and wondered what I should say. Amy was my best friend. But I considered Sadie a friend, too. Finally, I went with a shrug. “Beats me.”
Fortunately Amy had already moved on to the next topic: Justin and his issues. As I drove, Amy listed off all the positive and negative qualities of the man. As we pulled into Bakerstown, I realized she was doing a pros and cons list. “Are you thinking about breaking up with him over this Kent thing?”
It was Amy’s turn to shrug. “I don’t know. But it’s weird, isn’t it? You’ve found a dead body before and you didn’t go all hermit on me.”
She was right. I had found a couple of dead bodies in the last year. First Miss Emily, who appeared to have died in her sleep. Then last fall, I’d been the one to notice that Ted Hendricks had taken a bullet to the brain in his precious Mustang. I keyed the address into my GPS and waited for it to load. “You’re wrong about one thing. Finding someone dead does leave a mark. Even on me. I guess I just handled it differently than Justin is. Cut the guy some slack.”
Amy stared out the window as the GPS told us where to go. “Now you think I’m a bad person.”
“I do not think you’re a bad person. You’re jumping to conclusions because you’re scared, that’s all.” I thought about the fear I’d seen in my friend’s face when she’d told me Justin wanted to take her home for Christmas. “He’s a good guy. Let him work it out.”
The GPS lady told me to take the next left and we’d be at our destination. I turned down the wide residential street and slowed to check out the minimansions on what appeared to be
acre lots. “I sure hope Pat was wrong about this woman. Seems like dating Kent would be a downgrade in status.”
Amy was focused on the large houses, too. “I don’t know. I hear Kent had a few bucks stashed. He was always flashing money like he made it at the bank. With a printing press or something, I mean.”
Something Amy said was making my internal radar go crazy. Kent and the bank and his apparent wealth. Made sense that Sherry would go for that type. He had the money to keep her in the style that she preferred, if not deserved. I was trying to focus on the niggle when Amy pointed to the left. “That’s the house.”
I pulled the Jeep to the side of the road and watched as a woman dressed in a sleek tracksuit, opened the door to the house leading a large wolfhound. I heard Emma’s whine from the backseat. “And that’s her. Stay here with Emma.”
I quickly clambered out of the Jeep and sprinted over to meet the woman before she started her run. She glanced up and put a hand on her dog, who immediately sat by her side. A great trick and one I wished Emma could learn. “Evelyn Baker?” I called as I walked toward her. “We need to talk about Kent Paine.”
CHAPTER 12
The woman’s face went from a bright welcoming smile to a look of fear, her long black hair making her tanned skin seem twice as pale. She glanced toward the house, then nodded. “Can we walk?”
I fell into step beside her. “So you knew him.” I let the statement hang, wondering how she would play this.
We’d reached the end of the first block when she nodded. “I knew him. And if you’re here asking questions, you know I had an indiscretion with him.”
“I’ve heard rumors.” I looked both ways before we crossed the street, but the neighborhood was oddly quiet for a Sunday afternoon. Too many people out of town or just enjoying a weekend afternoon out on their back deck.
“His girlfriend confronted me at the modeling gig. I thought it was funny he wanted me to take the job, but he said he knew the owner and it would be a big favor to him.” She shook her head. “I think he wanted to break it off without him doing the heavy lifting.”
“So you stopped seeing him?” I thought back on the Business-to-Business meeting from hell and the gleam in Sherry’s eyes as she talked to Kent.
“That woman told me if I didn’t, she would e-mail my husband. And she said she had pictures.” She quickly added, “I don’t know whether that’s true. I mean, we never took shots while we were together, but you never know what type of games people play. I never would have started something with him if I’d thought he was with someone.”
The irony of her morality around sleeping with an attached man didn’t escape me. “It was okay for you to cheat, but not him?”
She sighed and pulled the dog away from a flower bed he was attempting to flatten. “You may not believe me, but I respect marriage. My husband and I have an open arrangement. Mostly on his side. He likes to experiment. I guess I was feeling lonely and Kent just kind of was there.”
Not my type of relationship, but who was I to judge? “You wouldn’t mind if your husband found out? So why did you stop seeing Kent?”
“Because I minded that he was cheating.” She put her hand on my arm and turned me to look at her. “Believe me, I have no interest in messing with anyone’s relationship. He told me he was single.”
We started walking again, and I thought about Evelyn’s reasoning. It made sense in a twisted way.
“And before you ask, I was at a play with my husband in the city on Wednesday. We drove up Tuesday night and came back Thursday. I didn’t kill Kent.” There was intensity to her words and I believed her.
“Date night?” I didn’t like the snark in my voice, but there it was anyway.
“Look, we’re trying. He’s agreed to stop sleeping around and I told him about Kent. I think he just needed to know I’d play the game, too, if he didn’t stop.” Evelyn let the dog’s leash extend as she continued. “Kent was my financial advisor. I have a little money my grandmother left me, so he was helping me invest. I don’t know much about the stock market, so he was teaching me what to buy and what to stay away from.”
“And one night it went too far?” I guessed.
A strained smile crossed her face. “One night we were celebrating the stock split of an investment. We bought wine for dinner. Thomas was out of town, and, well, you know the rest.”
“I need to ask: Would your husband kill Kent because of your relationship?” I studied the woman and knew she’d had the same thought.
We were at the end of a cul de sac and turned back toward the house before she spoke. “I don’t think so. Honestly, I don’t think he cares that much what I do.”
I said my good-byes and wished Evelyn Baker well. Watching her walk up the steps toward her beautiful home, I hoped she could find some peace within the stone walls. Having worked family law, I knew women sometimes stayed in relationships longer than they should for all the wrong reasons—including big houses.
I climbed into the car and got a wet doggy kiss from Emma. Amy put her phone into her purse, watching me expectantly. When I didn’t answer before I started the Jeep and pulled a U-turn toward the highway, she prompted, “Well?”
“I don’t think she killed Kent.” I hit the speed-dial for the shop and Toby answered.
“Coffee, Books, and More, what can I prepare for you today?” His low voice filled the cab of the Jeep and Emma let out a short, friendly bark. “Oh, hey, Emma. Who’s a good girl?”
Emma wiggled in her seat and smiled in her doggy way. I took my eyes off the rearview mirror and my happy pet and focused back on the road. “Oh, she is. I guess you have this effect on all types of females, huh?”
“Now, boss, don’t go dogging on my special talent. It brings in the business.” Toby laughed and I heard him welcome a customer into the store. “I take it you’re fine and on your way home?”
“Definitely. Just wanted to check in. See you on Tuesday.” I clicked off the phone and snuck a glance at Amy.
“You told Toby, not Greg?”
“You said someone needed to know where we were going. There was no reason to get Greg all upset before we knew something.” I sped up and merged into the highway traffic.
“And now?” Amy prodded.
I sighed and turned up the music. One of my favorite dance tunes from the eighties was talking about the abundance of men. I hoped it was true since my boyfriend just might dump me after this stunt. “Now I have something to tell him.”
I dropped Amy off at her apartment, waving at Dustin Austin as he sat in the sun, dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts, looking more like a tourist than a local business owner. The only thing that identified him as a professional was the laptop he had powered up on the table. As I watched, he turned the screen down as Amy walked by. Typical, he was probably surfing porn.
When I got home, I let Emma out the back, filled a Crock-Pot with a couple of frozen chicken breasts and a jar of salsa, and sat on the back porch with my phone in my hand. I took a sip of the iced tea I’d poured and speed-dialed Greg’s cell.
“Hey, you.” His voice came over the line warm and deep, and for a second, I regretted I’d ever made the trip into town. But you can’t change the past.
“Hey, yourself. Can you stop by the house for a few minutes? We need to talk.” My heartbeat raised as I waited for his answer.
“You ditching me for a younger man? Maybe someone who has bankers’ hours and weekends off?” He chuckled.
“Not funny. I just need to tell you something.” I threw the ball Emma had dropped on my feet out to the yard.
“I’ll be over in a couple of minutes. I need to take a break or I’ll blind myself on all this paperwork anyway.” He paused. “You aren’t in trouble, are you?”
“No. Just come over.” I felt the distance between us growing as the call extended. No way was he going to just take the information I had and run with it. It was time to pay the piper and ’fess up that I’d been playing
amateur detective again. “Please.”
“Give me five minutes.” Then he hung up. No “love you,” no “see you soon,” only a dial tone. Yep, I was in for a lecture. Or worse.
I was still outside when his truck pulled into the driveway. When I heard the knock, I called out, “On the porch.”
He came around the corner and my heart rate sped up. With long dark Wrangler jeans, boots, a pressed sheriff’s shirt, and his black Stetson, he looked like a hero out of one of the romance novels I had shelved at the store. He leaned against the porch rail and folded his arms. “What have you done now?”
“That obvious?” I pulled my legs up under me and settled in for the ride.
“Honey, I can read you like one of those books you sell.” He leaned down to pet Emma, then tossed her ball out to the backyard. “So spill.”
“I’m trying to figure out where to start.” I took a sip of tea. “You remember the woman who followed Kent out of the store the day we had the Business-to-Business meeting at Vintage Duds? The model?”
“Vaguely.” Greg’s eyebrows raised. “Who was she?”
“Long dark hair, skinny, her name’s Evelyn Baker. Pat told me that she was having an affair with Kent.” This time, I threw the ball for Emma.
He pressed his lips together. “Pat told you? When did you start hanging around with her?”
“Amy and I had drinks with Sherry and Pat a few days ago, but I’m not her friend. She came over yesterday out of the blue. You can ask Aunt Jackie, she was here when Pat showed up.” I shook my head. “Anyway, Pat said Sherry thinks you’re convinced she killed Kent, so Pat wanted me to know there were other suspects.”
“Typical. You should have sent her right to me rather than listening to her stories. You know she’ll say and do anything for Sherry. When we were married, Pat lied to me countless times on where my wife was and who she was with.” Greg’s eyes darkened. “Can’t you just stay out of things?”
