Elbow planted on the table, she rested her cheek in her palm. “I hope so.” Blinking eyes determined to droop, she suppressed a yawn. “It’s two o’clock. I need to get some sleep before we leave in the morning.”
He frowned. “Before I leave. You aren’t going anywhere.” His scowl deepened. “I’m not willing to risk your safety. We talked about this, Sam.”
“That was before some cretin spray painted a warning on your windshield.”
“Doesn’t change anything.”
She took a calming breath. “He’ll be watching you, too.”
“Then I’ll take a dog with me and spread the word I’m headed out of town to meet with a potential buyer. One casual comment to Mavis at the snack counter in the gas station, and the whole town will know what I’m doing.”
Frustration simmered. “Damn it, I want to do something, too.”
“Didn’t you tell Lenore you’d help her with the fall festival tomorrow afternoon? Actually, today now.”
Teeth gritted, she glanced over at him. “Do you always have an answer for everything?”
He stood, pulled her out of the chair, then wrapped his arms around her waist. “You mean too much to me to take chances. Who knows what this creep will do if he feels threatened?”
She relaxed against his chest. “You’re right. I know you are, but I’ve always been a hands on sort of person.”
“You can put your hands on me.” His breath whispered across her ear.
Her heart fluttered then beat a little faster. “You’re a funny guy.”
“I should go.” He bent and kissed her, his lips lingering. “You’re tired.”
“Probably because someone kept me up last night.”
He kissed her again. “Neither one of us will get any sleep if I stay.”
She ran her thumb along the stubble on his jaw. When he pressed closer, the strength of his desire prodded her stomach. Her need for rest dissolved in a surge of passion.
“Sleep is overrated.”
“Are you sure?” His eyes clouded with emotion.
Desire, certainly, but there was concern, too, and caring in their depths. Mixed together, they looked a lot like love. Sam’s chest tightened. Words stuck in her throat, and she could only nod in response. Taking his hand, she led him to her bedroom.
****
“I’m in trouble,” Sam said.
Juliette’s eyes widened. “Did that—person—do something else?”
“No, it’s Ethan.”
She dropped her tuna on rye back on the paper plate in a shower of lettuce. “What’s wrong? You two didn’t have a fight, did you?”
The other tables in the deli were unoccupied, though a pair of teenagers and an older man stood in line at the counter. The strong scent of onions and vinegar permeated the air. Soothing new age music drifted from hidden speakers but failed to calm Sam’s jangled nerves. She’d been going crazy waiting to hear from Ethan and had talked Juliette into meeting her for a quick lunch to take her mind off what might be happening in Placerville.
“Did you?” Juliette repeated.
She shook her head. “Just the opposite. He’s the sweetest guy, always thinking about me. But he’s not too nice, if you know what I mean. Ethan has a confidence and strength of character I admire.” She sighed and poked at the pickle spear on her plate. “I’m falling in love with him.”
“That’s great, Sam. How does he feel?”
“He cares—a lot. I know he does, though he hasn’t exactly said the L word yet.”
“Have you?”
Glancing up, she briefly met her friend’s gaze before looking away. She forced out a breath. “It’s not something I say easily.”
“I know it isn’t.” Juliette took a bite of her sandwich and studied her.
When the scrutiny didn’t waver, Sam squirmed. “What, do I have mustard on my nose?”
“I’m just trying to figure out why you look so glum. I’d think you’d be happy. I know I would be if I had a great guy giving me his undivided attention.”
“I am, really. When I’m with Ethan…” She closed her eyes for a moment as memories of the night before crowded in. “It’s going to kill me when it’s over.”
“It doesn’t have to end.” She laid her hand on Sam’s arm and squeezed. “You’re ready for a change, a commitment. Take a leap of faith. You may regret it forever if you don’t.”
“You’re right. You’re always right. That’s why I come to you with all my man problems.”
Juliette’s big, brown eyes clouded. “I don’t know about that. My marriage turned into a huge disaster.”
“Through no fault of yours.” Sam bit off a hunk of pickle and chewed furiously. “I still wish you’d let me kick that ex of yours where it’ll hurt the most.”
“Sam!”
She shot over an innocent look. “In his overinflated ego. Where did you think I meant?”
The shadows faded from her eyes with her smile. “Talk to Ethan. Be honest with him about your feelings.”
Sam polished off the pickle and wiped her hands on a napkin. “I will, just as soon as this threat we’re all living under is neutralized.”
“Who knows how long that’ll take.”
“Maybe not as long as you think.”
Juliette paused with her sandwich halfway to her mouth. “What have you done?”
She wadded up the napkin. “Not as much as I’d like. They identified the body. The woman was Iris Jansen.” Her voice lowered as the silver haired man in a button down shirt walked by with his takeout order. “Ethan drove to Placerville this morning to talk with one of her old college friends.”
“How did you—”
“Social media is a treasure trove of information.”
Her companion's lips formed a round oh. “This friend agreed to speak to him?”
“Not exactly, but I’m counting on Ethan to charm her. She’s single and loves cats.”
“Now I see why you’ve been so twitchy. I swear you’ve checked your phone for messages at least five times since we got here.”
“I don’t understand why he hasn’t called yet. I hope nothing went wrong.”
When the phone she’d set on the table vibrated, she lunged for it and knocked over her ice tea glass. Ice cubes slid by on a river of pale brown liquid. Both women leaped to their feet.
“Is it Ethan?”
Sam nodded as Juliette pulled paper napkins from the dispenser.
“Talk to him. I’ll clean up the mess.”
****
“Jennifer Reed isn’t home.” Ethan leaned against the thick trunk of an oak tree and eyed Ebony, who sniffed a fast food bag stuck in the lowest branches of a bush. “I made discrete inquires at the hospital. Shift change for ER nurses isn’t for a few hours.”
“Well, that bites.” The frustration in Sam’s tone was obvious. “I’ve been a nervous wreck waiting to hear from you. Ask Juliette. I nearly poured my ice tea in her lap.”
He grinned and shifted the phone to his other ear. “At least Ebony is enjoying our outing. That dog is actually growing on me.”
“Maybe you should keep her.”
A maroon, compact car slowed as it passed the park. Brake lights flashed when it turned right into the driveway leading to Jennifer Reed’s small, ranch style house. The engine died, the door opened, and a woman with curly, red hair stepped out. Jennifer, he presumed.
“Ethan, are you there?”
“Must be our quarry’s day off. She just pulled into the driveway.”
Sam’s breath swooshed across the line. “You’ll call me?”
“As soon as I know anything. Gotta go. I want to catch her before she goes inside. Bye, babe. Hang in there.”
“I’ll try.” Her voice sounded strained.
He clicked the phone off. Stuffing it into his pocket, he whistled to Ebony and crossed the street with the dog at his side.
The woman lifted two bags of groceries from the backseat of the car and kicked t
he door shut then turned just as a huge, gray cat with a plumy tail stalked down the sidewalk.
“Ari, how did you get outside?” Her voice carried clearly on the breeze.
Ebony stilled, ears on high alert, then tore up the driveway. The woman screamed and dropped her groceries. Cans rolled in all directions.
“Shit!” Ethan sprinted toward the impending disaster.
When Ebony reached the cat, she stopped, her whole body quivering. Green eyes narrowed as the gray beast reached out a paw and swiped it across the dog’s nose. Ebony yelped and lurched backward.
“I’m sorry. She won’t hurt your cat, honestly.”
Hand pressed to her chest, the woman turned to face him. A mop of curly, red hair dominated freckles and brown eyes. “Your dog scared me, coming out of nowhere like that.”
“I’m really sorry. Usually Ebony has better manners, though your cat certainly put her in her place.” He smiled. “Let me help you with your groceries.” Without waiting for a response, he snatched up two cans of cat food that had ended up at his feet and dropped them into the half empty bag.
She studied him with wary eyes as he gathered up the rest of the cans and boxes.
“At least I didn’t buy eggs.” She gave him a shy smile as he set a head of lettuce on top and lifted the brown paper sack. “Thank you. Just put that on the porch.”
Setting it down on the top step, he walked back to her car. Neither Ebony nor the cat had moved, just stared at each other, neither giving an inch.
He pointed at the sticker on her bumper. “I see you’re a UC Davis alumna. My older brother went to school there. Class of ’96.”
Her eyes widened. “Really? That’s the year I graduated.”
“Small world. Joe Williams, economics major, I don’t suppose you knew him?”
She shook her head. “I took mostly science classes.”
“It’s a big campus.” He scratched his arm and glanced casually about the yard. “I was still a kid when my brother was in school. He told me all sorts of wild stories about campus life. One, about this girl he met at a party his junior year, scared the bejeezus out of me. Joe asked this girl out, but she said she had a boyfriend. Then a week later, she just vanished.” He frowned then added a little shrug. “I don’t mind telling you it gave me a few sleepless nights imagining what happened to her.”
“Are you serious?” she gasped.
Reaching out, he touched her arm. “What did I say? You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Do you need to sit down?”
“No, I’m fine.” She leaned against her car and fisted shaking hands. “It’s a smaller world than you think. Something like that happened to my roommate.”
“No! What are the odds?” Giving her his most innocent look, he prayed his acting skills didn’t suck. “Joe mentioned the girl wore a pink jacket.”
“Oh God, it was Iris all right.”
“What happened to her? I’d love to clear up the mystery for my brother.”
Her sigh was long and heavy. “Nothing good, I’m afraid. They found her body not long ago. Hard to believe after so many years.”
“They what? You’re kidding! Hey, I’m sorry. I sure didn’t mean to dredge up a bad memory.”
“I haven’t thought much about Iris in years, but it all came back when I heard they’d finally found her body.”
“I’ll bet.” At this point, he didn’t have to pretend sympathy.
Lines bracketed her mouth, and a wealth of sadness filled her eyes. “Iris was a really sweet girl.”
“I guess it’s lucky for my brother he didn’t get that date he wanted. I expect the police will question the boyfriend.”
She frowned and ran the toe of her sandal along a crack in the cement. “I know Iris wasn’t happy the week or so before she disappeared. The guy she was seeing was a bit of a control freak. I only met him a couple of times. They usually hung out at his apartment.”
“What was his name?”
The frown lines deepened. “The police asked me that when she disappeared. Iris called him J.R. I never knew his last name.”
“Joe told me the girl he talked to at the party kept looking across the room at a big guy.”
“It was probably J.R. He was good looking, tall, with dark hair.” She closed her eyes for a second and rubbed her temples. “I can’t imagine he had anything to do with what happened to Iris. The guy was controlling, sure, but it was because he cared so much about her. You could see it every time he looked at her.”
“These intense types…”
She rolled her eyes. “J.R. was a football player. I’m not sure you’d call a jock like him intense.”
Ethan shook his head. “Maybe not. Well, I won’t take up any more of your time.” He whistled to Ebony. “I’ll be sure to pass along the news about—Iris, was it—to my brother.”
She bent and scooped up her cat, pressing her cheek against its furry head. “I haven’t seen you around before. Are you new to the neighborhood?”
“No, just visiting an old friend. It was nice meeting you…”
“Jennifer.” She held out her hand.
He shook it. “Ethan.”
Her wistful smile followed him as he turned to leave. With a final salute, he ran down the driveway with Ebony at his side.
Chapter Ten
Darby stopped on the sidewalk and turned to face Sam. “How many J.R.’s could there have been on the UC Davis football team that year?”
“Apparently none. No J.R.’s, but there were a couple of Juniors and a few players who’s first and middle names begin with a J and an R. Ethan is spending every spare minute checking to see if any of them have ties to Ravenswood.”
“What are the police doing?”
“I haven’t asked, but Ken would have called if they’d arrested someone. He knows Ethan and I feel a connection since we discovered the body.”
Uneasiness sent a shudder through her. With each passing day they kept quiet about what they’d witnessed, her worry that they would be in serious trouble with law enforcement escalated. Would they all be arrested for obstruction of justice when it was over? Maybe the cops would be a little more understanding if—when—they found the man responsible. She forced the thought away and pushed open the door to Sierra Sports. Bells jingled overhead.
“I’d be more use tracking down this J.R. guy, but I promised Lenore I’d help with set up for the fall festival.”
“I’m glad I’ll be in town for it this year.” Cute and spunky in a pair of skinny jeans and an azure top that matched her eyes, Darby glanced around the sports store. “It looks different in here, more open.”
“Logan made a lot of changes after he bought out old man Harper. I guess he learned what works best in his other two stores. He owns a Sierra Sports in Tahoe and another one in Mammoth.”
Running her hand along the soft fabric of a fleece jacket, she shot a look in Sam’s direction. “Sounds like a regular mogul. Logan who?”
“Nash. His grandfather lives in the big old house on the south edge of town that we thought was haunted when we were kids. According to Ken, Logan’s been staying there while he renovated this place.” She waved her arm in a sweeping gesture.
Darby bumped into a display of sleeping bags and put out a hand to keep them from falling. “Guess I’ll meet him soon enough. His grandfather is my latest client. That’s why I drove up to Ravenswood for a few days, to meet with Irving Nash.”
Sam stepped back and stared. “You’re going to be working here in town?”
“Yep. Soon as I wrap up my current project, I’ll start researching the Nash family history. My mom was talking to Irving at the post office one day, and he said he wanted to trace his roots before he dies. Of course she bent his ear and then some with a glowing account of her daughter’s credentials. He’s a feisty old guy. Should be an interesting…” Voice lowered, she angled her head. “Who’s the hunk?”
The new owner of Sierra Sports was headed their way. He wore a pair of khaki
pants and a forest green polo shirt that stretched across a broad chest. Gray eyes with hints of silver fastened on Darby before he slowly glanced in Sam’s direction and smiled. Dimples gave him a boyish charm.
“Lenore told me you’d be by to pick up the lanterns. I have them boxed and waiting.”
“Thanks, it’s wonderful you’re letting the fall festival committee use them for the dance tomorrow night.”
“They’re my display models, so I’m not putting a dent in my inventory. Anyway, I’m happy to support a worthy cause.” His gaze roamed back to Darby. “I’ll help you ladies carry the boxes out to your car.”
“Logan, I don’t think you’ve met my friend, Darby Kincade. She’s actually in town to—”
His smile faded. “My grandfather mentioned he’d spoken with you, something about tracking the origins of the ghost story connected to the family home. If you think you’re going to fleece an elderly man with a lot of crap—”
Darby held up a hand inches from his nose and waved it. “Stop right there.” Blue eyes sparked. “I’m a genealogist, not a ghost hunter, and I wouldn’t think of fleecing anyone. Your grandfather wants to trace his family history with my assistance. If you’d like me to provide references, I’ll be more than happy to do so.”
Sam checked Logan for frost bite and shivered, surprised he hadn’t flash frozen to the glossy wooden floor. When she was still in college, Darby had acquired a knack for reducing people to the size of a termite without even raising her voice. Her skill had only improved over time.
Logan didn’t look intimidated. His gaze remained fastened on his adversary’s face, and a hint of amusement tilted his mouth upward. “My mistake. Possibly I jumped to conclusions.”
“Possibly.” Darby bestowed her most charming smile, one with a distinct edge. “It’ll be a couple of weeks before I can start on your grandfather’s project, but I’m certain we’ll be in contact once I do.”
“Count on it.” He turned toward Sam. “Where are you parked?”
“I borrowed Ethan’s pickup and left it behind the store.”
“Great, we can go through the storage room and out the back door.” He spun around, and they fell in behind.
We'll Never Tell (Secrets of Ravenswood) Page 9
