“I have thought about this moment all morning.”
“I feel much better now that you are here.” She hugged him tighter. “Tess left another threat.”
Luke pulled back. “What?”
“She broke in and wrote a message on my mirror with lipstick. She warned me to watch my back.”
“I don’t understand. I thought you stopped working for Doctor Owens.”
“It’s a long story,” she said. “Why don’t we sit down and eat? I’ll tell you every sordid detail.”
Meg rushed through the open door. “There’s a huge crowd marching down the street. I think they’re going to lynch Harry!”
“I guess Harry didn’t come home last night, or he would be dead already.” Luke joined Meg at the door. “We had better stop them before they end up in jail. That’s where Harry belongs, not the neighbors.”
If it wasn’t one thing in this place, it was another.
Andi locked up and joined them. Nearing Harry’s condo, they found a TV news van and camera crew among the growing crowd.
Roxie handed out picket signs to the neighbors while an attractive reporter interviewed her. After chanting the quotes on the signs, “Ban HOAs,” “Abolish HOAs,” “Protect Your Wallet from HOAs,” Roxie pointed to Harry’s condo. “The man who lives there is the president of our homeowners association and he’s a—”
“He has been interpreting the rules in such a way that it is nearly impossible not to break one,” Meg interjected before Roxie could finish her description of Harry. “And the board is nothing but a group of puppets who follow his lead. Instead of limiting his power, they keep adding to the rules.”
“And the board spies on everyone daily,” Andi said, wanting to add her two cents.
“No matter how hard you try to follow the rules, you can’t.” Meg took over the conversation. “They make them up. They send you violation letters for having a broom on your porch or feeding a pet outside. They’ll decide these actions are against some vague ‘no nuisance’ rule or a vague ‘keep your porch clean’ rule. After paying all of these fines, we don’t have the money to take them to court. And if we do, and lose, we have to pay their fees as well as our own. If they lose, then everyone here will just be given an extra assessment to pay their lawyer fees. It’s a lose-lose situation. At least for the neighbors.”
“What do you think should be done?” the young reporter asked, flicking her hair off her shoulder like the popular girls did in high school. The move detracted from the seriousness of the situation and, from the reporter’s pose, it was obvious she cared more about how she would look when the segment aired than their plight.
Meg took it in stride and continued to push the cause. “Homeowners’ associations should have limited power. Aside from maintaining the roads and landscaping, they should be allowed to control only the color of the buildings.”
“What about homeowners who want to fix cars in their driveways?” the reporter asked. “Many associations ban that. Are you worried that grease and car parts could detract from the overall look of your complex?”
“Communities should get together and decide on no more than a dozen rules,” Meg said. “The rest should be abolished. You don’t need to micromanage your neighbors to maintain property values.”
Impressed with her speech, Luke and Andi clapped. The rest of the crowd applauded her as well.
The reporter turned toward the camera. “Are you hoping your demonstration will persuade the state legislature to reduce the power of associations?” She handed the microphone back to Meg.
“They already have in some situations, but it isn’t enough. Instead of depending on politicians to solve the problem, communities can take it upon themselves to limit their own power at annual homeowners’ meetings.”
Andi beamed with pride. “Who would have ever thought Meg had it in her to be so articulate?”
“Not me,” Luke said.
A loud, shrill scream brought the interview to a halt.
Andi and Luke ran in the direction of the screams—toward the pond. Andi tried her best to keep up while questions raced through her mind.
Did someone fall in? How deep is the water anyway?
Spotting one of the neighbors sitting on the grass with her head down between her legs, Andi jogged to a stop. Meg, and the others following, slowed behind her.
The young woman, who couldn’t have been more than twenty, lifted her head. The greenish hue of her face warned Andi to tread carefully. She surveyed the scene, not sure she really wanted to know what had brought on the screaming. Closer to the water’s edge, the cowboy held a fishing pole with a burgundy ribbon hanging from the hook. Bent at the waist, he appeared to be studying a large object floating near the surface of the pond.
“Stay back, little lady,” he ordered.
Little lady?
Andi didn’t appreciate the title, but remained still. It didn’t take a brain surgeon to know there was something in the pond the younger woman saw and, as a result, was about to puke up her guts. Andi’s own gut told her it was a body. She hoped it wasn’t human, but she knew better.
The rest of the crowd reached the grassy area and Luke held up his hands to keep them back. “Let me take a look.” It took him less than a minute to investigate and return to her side. He rested his hand on her shoulder. “It’s Tess. You don’t want to see this. It’s much worse than Bernice.”
“Tess is dead?” Her mind had trouble accepting the news.
A murmur traveled through the crowd. The bravest, or the most curious, inched closer.
“Please stay back!” Luke held up his hands again. “She must have been in the water for more than a few days. It is not a pretty sight.”
The young woman on the grass confirmed his statement by vomiting. One of the older women pushed through the crowd to assist her by holding her hair back. A few neighbors backed away. Many stayed in place, straining their necks to get a better view of the body, but they didn’t move forward per Luke’s request.
As Andi watched the poor girl heave again, she thought about the body in the pond and what it might look like. A sudden wave of nausea overcame her, and she gripped Luke’s arm for support. “If Tess has been dead, then who—”
“Left you the threatening message?” He glanced back at the pond. “I don’t know.”
The reporter and cameraman rushed to the pond. Judging by the determined looks in their eyes, no one could stop them. Luke must have known better than to try. He placed his arm around Andi and led her away.
Andi remembered seeing a burgundy ribbon recently. “Luke, please ask Mr. Decker where he caught the ribbon attached to his hook.”
She forced herself to release the grip she held on Luke’s arm and immediately missed the stability his strength had offered. The realization that she had been missing him for years began to take hold. She had never wanted to face the truth before. Crossing her arms over her chest, she hugged herself for comfort while she watched Luke talk to the cowboy.
He returned a moment later. “He says it was wrapped around a necklace hanging from her body. He yanked it off by accident when he pulled Tess toward shore.”
“Does it have a cross at one end?”
Luke lifted a brow. “How did you know?”
“Reverend Nichols was holding on to a bookmark just like it the day I interviewed him.”
More proof of his guilt.
The sound of more commotion caught her attention. The crowd parted and Jessie marched over the grass. The two uniformed officers following her set about securing the crime scene.
Luke nodded at Jessie. “I’m glad to see you’re here to take over, Officer Stevenson.”
Jessie’s eyes widened.
“Officer Stevenson?” Roxie repeated. Surprise lit up her face.
Andi recoiled as if slapped. This wasn’t happening.
Jessie grabbed onto Luke’s forearm and leaned close. “I’m not with the police. They just happened to show up when I d
id.”
Andi caught Valerie rushing away. She glanced back at them with a grin before running off. “You think she heard him?”
Jessie looked at her like she was slime floating on the pond. “She heard all right, and she’s running straight to Harry.”
Andi wanted to crawl in a hole. She should have told Jessie that Luke remembered her attending the police academy. She had avoided the conversation because she didn’t want to explain how he had figured out that Jessie was Lenny. He had promised he wouldn’t say anything.
Luke’s jaw fell open, and he blinked before speaking. “I’m sorry, Jessie. You walked over here with the other officers. I thought your undercover assignment was over and you were back to regular duty.”
“My undercover assignment?” Jessie turned to Andi. “I trusted you. Now I have to call my boss and tell him my little sister blew my cover. Excuse me.”
Andi’s heart sank. “Jessie, I . . .” She watched her sister walk away, feeling like her world had ended.
Family comes first. I betrayed my sister for a man.
“It was a mistake, Andi,” Luke said. “I didn’t mean to say anything that would compromise her work.”
Andi thought back to college and the times she had kept her sisters’ secrets from him. It had been the right thing to do. She should have continued to keep her mouth shut. Her sister would never forgive her. She would never forgive herself.
“I have to leave.”
“Andi,” Luke called after her. “Talk to me, please.”
She couldn’t even look at him. “I can’t. I have to fix this.”
Roxie planted her hands on her bony hips and laughed. “Who would have thought the hooker was a cop?”
SIXTEEN
Andi found her sister storming out of her bedroom, buttoning up her police uniform.
“Jessie, I’m sorry. Luke remembered you were a police officer.”
“You told him I was working undercover.”
She nodded. “He guessed that you owned Lenny’s agency. I didn’t want him to tell anyone.”
“You told a secret to force him to keep a secret? That doesn’t even make sense.” She rushed back into her bedroom, where she grabbed her gun belt from the queen-size bed.
“I realize that now.” Andi sat on a corner of the bed, watching her getting ready for work. “Now what?”
“The rest of my team is making the arrest as we speak.”
Andi remembered Jessie telling her they were hoping the owner of the diner would reveal his drug source. “Do you have enough evidence to get the owner to talk?”
“I don’t know.” Jessie pulled her hair back in front of the dresser mirror. “I really don’t want to talk about this right now.”
“You mean you don’t want to talk to me.” Andi ran her hands over her face.
“I can’t deal with this right now, Andi. For your own safety, I need you to stay out of everything that involves me and my job.” Jessie marched out the door.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I let you down.” Andi flopped back onto the bed and stared at the ceiling for more than half an hour.
Emotionally spent, she ambled into the living room and turned on the television. A mystery movie played on her favorite channel. Settling into the sofa, her mind wandered back to hearing the woman scream at the pond.
Tess is dead.
The police would look for evidence linking Doctor Owens to his wife’s death. The husband was almost always the primary suspect until proven innocent. She doubted there was any evidence linking him to either death or the attempted murders. He had no motive.
Who killed their wife during an argument over a golf membership at the country club? And why would he cut Harry’s brakes? The doctor made good money; he could pay the HOA fines. He also had no reason to plant peanuts in Helen’s creamer and frame the reverend.
Andi watched the bad guy on the television break a vase over his wife’s head.
Assuming Doctor Owens killed his wife—why? What was his motive?
She rubbed her temple as if the action might help her think.
What if Tess came home wanting more money? Doctor Owens could have killed her, knowing everyone would assume Bernice’s killer was responsible. He might have wanted to frame the reverend by stealing his bookmark ribbon to tie to her necklace. The reverend was a natural choice since he was already a suspect.
Her mind turned to hiding the body. The freezer would have been the perfect hiding place. When the coast was clear, he could have dumped her body into the pond. He could have cleaned up any mess back home with the bleach that killed the fish.
She sighed and slumped farther into the couch. She knew there were two problems with her possible scenario. First, it would mean there was still another killer living on Euphoria Lane.
What were the odds?
And second, the fish were already dying the first time Tess asked Owens for money.
The idea of solving mysteries no longer appealed to her. She flipped off the television and sat in silence, allowing feelings of despair to overwhelm her. There were over a dozen nice neighborhoods she could have chosen.
Why did I have to move to Euphoria? HOA hell. And the very same community managed by Luke. Luke . . . We were so close to finding our way back to each other. Why did he have to say anything? Why did I have to say anything?
She fell onto her side, wishing she could sleep for a week. Everything was such a mess. Her sister probably hated her. Andi couldn’t even think of continuing her relationship with Luke when he expected her to share her sisters’ secrets. She had learned her lesson.
She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling.
If everything happened for a reason, why did Luke come back in my life just so I could lose him again? Perhaps I needed closure.
Sometimes when she felt lonely, she would reminisce about the past, about the good times they shared. If nothing else, this disaster taught her they were not meant to be together. At least this time she was older and could handle losing him. An unsettling feeling in her heart told her she was lying to herself. She sat up straight.
No. I will not suffer all over again.
Swinging her legs off the couch, she stiffened her resolve. She was much stronger now than she was during college. She was also stronger now than when she first discovered Bernice’s body, thanks to Harry.
She was tough, and it was time to prove it. After slipping into her tennis shoes, she tightened her laces. “I’m going to face danger head-on.”
That meant throwing out the trash—without tossing it on top of the dumpster and power-walking away. She opened the lid to the kitchen trash can and yanked out the bag. A paper plate fell to the floor. Undaunted, she shoved it back inside, tied the bag, and set her course to the dumpster.
Taking long, deliberate steps, she closed the distance to the metal receptacle where she had found Bernice’s dead body. Despite the memories, she felt no need to turn back. She had a mission to accomplish.
Reaching the wooden enclosure, she unlatched the lock and pulled open the gate. There before her stood her nemesis. The dumpster. A huge metal box full of coffee grinds, milk jugs, and pudding containers. The trash Harry had tossed on her porch. A sense of calm spread throughout her body. She no longer felt afraid. Dealing with Harry had made her stronger. She had faced that demon and survived.
Andi casually pushed open the lid and took a long, deliberate look. White trash bags, cardboard boxes, and a broken television set littered the cavern inside the metal bin. She held her own bag high and dropped it inside before gently lowering the lid back down. Triumphantly, she slapped the dust from the lid off her hands and onto her jeans.
The hum of an engine grew closer as she closed the gate. Valerie was driving her way.
Feeling brave, Andi marched to the middle of the street, planted one hand on her hip, and held the other out straight in a “halt” position.
Valerie drove her gold sports car closer and closer, as if
she didn’t see her.
Andi stood her ground. She was a new woman. Not afraid of anything or anyone—other than her sister’s wrath.
The car rolled closer, until it was just yards away.
She could see the indecision flicker across Valerie’s face. Andi lifted her hand higher, keeping her legs straight as a board and her feet planted firm.
The car slowed but continued on its course to run her over.
Andi refused to budge. Refused to picture her mangled body in the hospital.
Ten feet separated them. Nine feet, eight feet, seven feet, six, five, four . . . Valerie slammed on the brakes.
Valerie pounded her hands against the steering wheel. She shoved open the door and practically fell out of the car. “Are you crazy?” Holding on to the door frame, she tugged her stiletto heel out of a crack in the asphalt before continuing. “I could have run your fat butt over and saved us all a lot of trouble. You are so stupid!”
“If you had driven away, I wouldn’t have been able to warn you.”
“Warn me? About what?”
“Harry’s been lying to you. He’s broke. He doesn’t have a million dollars.”
“You’re the one lying. Not that it matters. I love Harry for who he is, not for his money.”
“Of course you do,” Andi tossed back, her words dripping with sarcasm. “He’s still lying.”
“Is not!” Valerie stomped her feet like a toddler.
“His credit cards are maxed. Look for his financial records and you’ll see I’m telling you the truth.”
“I don’t believe anything you say. You are a mean, hateful person.”
Andi almost laughed. The pot was once again calling the kettle black. “I’m warning you because even you don’t deserve to be suckered in by that man. If you truly love him, even if he’s poor, then good for you. But if you threw away your marriage because you think he’s going to bankroll your future, he’s played you for a fool.”
“What’s going on?” Harry strode down the street, ready for a fight. “You leave Valerie alone!” He pointed at Andi like a parent scolding a child.
Valerie spun on him. “I want to see your financial records when we get home.”
Euphoria Lane Page 22
