by Karen Harper
“Oh, is Dale moving back in?” she asked them. “It’s all so sad. I’m Betty—live right over there three doors away, the one who identified the poor dead woman for the police from her photo. Why, I’ve told the other neighbors and the newspaper people it was terrible to see her all frozen with her mouth open like that.”
Even without Claire, Nick knew he could nail this woman’s character exactly. But rather than brushing her off, what could he learn?
“We’re friends of Dale’s,” Nick told her as the little dog looked up at its mistress with the curiosity that Nick suddenly felt too. “And that was such a help to the police that you could quickly identify Dale’s friend.”
“Yes, well, she and Dale were tight, if you know what I mean,” she said with a nod of her white, curly head. “But really, I was friends with his mother, Lucinda—Lucy, I called her. She had him quite late in life, you know—could have been his grandmother age-wise. The Brauns lived quietly, but she said they had money, and that Cyndi was a gold digger, because she probably knew the truth about their wealth—mostly land wealth.”
“I guess it’s always good to know the truth,” Nick said with a nod at Bronco who nodded back. “So you knew Dale’s mother well?”
“Years, lots of talk time, especially after she was widowed, like me. I really regretted it when she started to get so terribly confused with dementia. It changed her from a sweet person to a crabby one, even nasty sometimes.”
“That’s very sad. So maybe that’s why she really didn’t like Cyndi—it was just her personality with dementia.”
“That and, I think Cyndi reminded her of someone she didn’t like, someone who gave the Braun family a bad name or a bad time. I think,” she said, lowering her voice and leaning closer, “Cyndi reminded Lucy of a woman who had ruined the family, because she said that woman was in with the Nazis. I mean, who thinks about the Nazis anymore?”
“Did Lucy ever mention Hitler?”
“The more she lost common sense, the more she seemed to go back in time. Yes, she mentioned Hitler. I told her he was dead and gone. But she not only thought Dale’s father was still alive, but Dale’s great-uncle too, the one who came from Germany and built that mansion that’s in ruins.”
She dropped her voice to such a whisper that Nick almost had to read her lips. She was much shorter than him, so he leaned closer. “But the one Lucy really blamed was some relative named Eva.”
“Really?” Nick asked as Bronco stopped leaning against his car and stood up straighter.
“Yes, it was a bit confusing, but it was a woman she hated. Anyhow, Lucy thought Cyndi looked like or acted like—I don’t quite know—this Eva, and that’s another reason she didn’t approve of poor Dale’s fiancée. Why, I recall those awful days of World War II when I was young. I put things together since Lucy’s last name was Braun, but she explained the Eva Braun connection to me anyway. I wish Lucy hadn’t been so out of touch before she knew that Dale was splitting up with that gold digger. Why, a nice, hardworking young man like Dale ought to be married, don’t you think? Just not to some gold digger!”
Nick didn’t know what to think and with a nod and a “thanks for all your insights, nice to meet you” headed for the car. Claire would have known how to get more out of this woman, but he could bring her in later if evidence led to the possibility that an old woman with dementia could have strangled a much younger, stronger Cyndi—thinking she was Eva—and somehow lifted her into that freezer.
14
That evening Bronco took Nita out to dinner, so for the first time in a few days, it was just the family at the table. Claire had held Trey in her lap to feed him, burped and walked with him, then had laid him down to sleep. Sprawled on the sofa, Lexi was reading a book on butterflies because her teacher, Miss Gerald, had shown the class her butterfly collection, though Lexi didn’t like that they were “dead and stuck with pins.”
“Finally, peace and quiet,” Claire told Nick as she slipped back into her chair across from him to eat her dessert.
“Quiet anyway,” he said, finishing the rest of his wine.
“Why are we whispering?”
“‘Little pitchers have big ears,’ to quote my mother.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning,” he said, reaching across the table for her hand while she met him halfway, ignoring her caramel flan, “I need to tell you I got a call from Ken Jensen before you got home. Private, so I didn’t bring it up before Nita and Bronco left, but not private from you.”
“He had the ashes tested? Were they Cyndi’s or just fake?”
“Unfortunately, the lab can’t tell—meaning he’d tell us if he knew. It turns out DNA is destroyed during cremation.”
“Darn. So that ashes-on-Dale’s-car threat does not necessarily point to Cyndi’s brother Tanner.”
“Could, but doesn’t. Here’s the kicker. I couldn’t figure out why Jensen didn’t pursue not only Tanner but also Cyndi’s former fiancé. But he admitted, when I pressed him on it, that he was calling from Atlanta and he’d been to Zebulon. He said neither Tanner nor Cyndi’s once-upon-a-time high school sweetheart are currently in what he called ‘scenic’ Zebulon where he went to interview them. Tanner, of course, could still be here, but maybe the former boyfriend is too. Jensen said he would never have divulged that except he’d learned both men were volatile, and we should tell Dale to be extra careful.”
“And he meant, I’ll bet—nice guy that Jensen really is—that we should be careful too. Whoever put those ashes on Dale’s car did it in our driveway.”
“I don’t think that was aimed at us. But it does worry me if Dale’s being followed.” He nodded and heaved a heavy sigh. “Let me put things away here, while you get Madame Butterfly over there in bed. Bronco and Nita won’t be out long, and he’s got instincts like a guard dog, so I’ll hate to see them go. Maybe we should keep them around a little longer. Nita won’t mind. And tomorrow’s our big day to finally celebrate our marriage with friends and family.”
They clasped hands together tighter over the table. “I’m so looking forward to it,” she said. “Despite complications sometimes, I’ve never been happier.”
“Me too,” Nick said and blew her a kiss, a promise she knew he would make good on tonight—tomorrow—all their days together. She’d once thought she was happy married to Jace, yet that had gone all wrong. But had Reaching Woman reached out to the wrong man at first? And then paid some sort of terrible price—her life?
* * *
Sunday morning, while Bronco and Nita went to mass—Nita was praying hard for the Virgin Mary to cleanse and bless their new house—Claire and Nick took their children to join Darcy’s family at their church.
Nothing like a real family day from beginning to end, Claire thought. Besides, she got to show off Trey to people she had known when she used to attend here with Darcy, and Lexi was only too happy to see her cousin and almost-sister, Jilly. Drew, Darcy and Steve’s son, now seven, who thought it was beneath him to have to put up with two younger girls, was the only one who fidgeted at all.
Claire had not realized there was going to be a full water baptism at the beginning of the service or she would have explained it to Lexi. Especially when the pastor lifted the person from the water tank behind the altar, she herself felt as riveted as Lexi was at his words:
“And from the Book of Romans, I say to you these words, ‘Buried in death, but raised to walk in newness of life.’”
“What does that really mean, Mommy?” Lexi asked in a stage whisper.
“I’ll explain later. It means the person is choosing a new life.”
But after church, even after Claire tried to explain to Lexi about changing a former life to make a new beginning, those words haunted her. The Black Bog bodies had been buried in death—two of them a violent death—but had now been raised from the grave. The bodies, if not the peop
le, had a new life, to be studied, probed and puzzled over.
In a way, Claire agonized, the three ancient people she knew best and would get to know more would not let her go as if they walked beside her, clung to her, especially Reaching Woman. She surely had meant something to both Hunter and Leader. She was trapped between them, stretching out her hands to both, asking for something. Yet had one of them ordered her death or taken her life?
Why? What had she done to them? Or what, as so many times in history and even in modern life, had the men of her society done to her?
* * *
Later, as Claire dressed for the reception, fastening the double strand of pearls Nick had given her around her neck, she thought of Reaching Woman’s broken necklace of smooth polished stones and shells. She would have to ask to see it after it was cleaned. She knew an examination of the woman’s wounds might reveal if the dagger that had killed her had been similar to the one Hunter held. She would like to see and touch those, to really feel items they had used and treasured.
“Claire, you ready, sweetheart?” Nick’s voice broke into her thoughts. “Time to go. Nita’s got Trey ready, and Lexi’s driving everyone crazy. Oh, yeah, and Jace just called, because Brittany had a problem with that pregnant lioness at the zoo, but they’ll be there later.”
“Coming,” she told him, shaking off her almost-visions of long-dead people. She reached for him to keep him close a moment and to kiss him. “Yes, I’m ready.”
* * *
Claire had sent Bronco and Nita ahead with potted orchids for the buffet table and the one with the cake, while their country club hostess, Mary Ann, had brought in other plants and decorations. The Blue Room entrance led to the glassed-in verandah where everything was set up.
Nick lifted Lexi so she could see what was written on the large, one layer cake: Never Too Late to Celebrate Love. The only other thing on the table with the cake, plates and napkins was a large crystal bowl of pink punch. A coffee urn and bottles of wine were set up on an open bar at the end of the verandah, staffed by a bartender from the country club.
“That means love for all of us, right, not just grownups?” Lexi asked, pointing at the cake. “Even Trey?”
“Especially you and Trey,” Nick told her as Claire blinked back tears of joy. The cake—in more ways than one—was beautiful, with elaborately scrolled words and iced orchid flowers to carry out the theme.
“Well, where is everybody?” Lexi asked as Nick put her down. “Mommy, will you save Jilly and me good corner pieces with lots of frosting?”
“Yes, but we’ll cut the cake later,” Claire told her, straightening the child’s taffeta puff sleeves. “We are going to have nice, polite talks with our guests, then they can have the food from the buffet table, and the cake and ice cream will come last.”
“Pretty much like a birthday party,” Lexi said with a nod as she scampered over to Nita who was seated and holding the sleeping baby on her lap.
To Lexi’s chagrin, the earliest guests were Nick’s law partners and staff. Claire was glad to share time with them under these relaxed circumstances. She hadn’t seen Nick’s longtime secretary, Cheryl, for quite a while and had a good chat with her before taking her place in the informal reception line.
She and Nick stood near the verandah door to greet guests. The noise level rose: chatter, laughter. It felt so good.
Heck came in with Gina, home for the weekend from medical school in Miami. Claire hugged her while Nick and Heck huddled for a moment in a lull. “How are things?” she whispered to Gina. She still looked as beautiful as when they’d first met her in Cuba, though the lack of sleep was showing.
“Tough, but that’s good. My Spanish really helps me in the clinic, though I know I got—have—a too-strong accent in English. Anyhow, it’s great to be helping others too,” Gina told her.
She pulled Claire a bit aside and lowered her voice. “Please tell Nick I’m worried about Heck. He’s so set on this extra facial recognition firm consulting job. But he finally admitted there’s a lot of competition to control that technology in the future—big money, political power. And another firm—I had to pry this out of him—is playing tough ball.”
“Hardball? Meaning what?”
“There’s a rogue firm—not the one Heck trusts—well, the brakes on one guy’s car who wanted the job Heck is up for got tampered with and he had a wreck—who knows what’s next? Cutthroat competition, very bad, especially if it is aimed at my man. Like he always say, Caramba!”
“I’ll tell Nick, and he can talk with him. Maybe he’s telling him that right now.”
Speaking of being in trouble, Claire thought, here came Dale, looking sporty as usual but nervous. He kept fooling with his pocket handkerchief and shifting his weight from one foot to the other.
“Glad you came,” Claire heard Nick tell him as Gina snared Heck and headed for the bar. Claire joined Nick and Dale. “You have a lot of people in this room who support you,” Nick tried to assure him with a nod.
“And a lot who still look at me like ‘There’s the guy who might have killed that girl.’”
“I know it’s difficult to keep your chin up,” Claire told him. “But it’s important for how it looks—and for how it feels for you too.”
“I keep worrying about how it’s going to look if that Marian James woman blabs about my heritage on top of everything else. And she hinted she’s got wealthy, important backers. Look, sorry,” he added with a shrug. “You’ve both been great to me, and I don’t mean to darken this occasion. Congrats to you both on a great marriage and two darling kids. I’d love to get there someday—you know what I mean.”
As if that had summoned Lexi, she came over, dragging Nita who still held Trey. “You said you wanted to show him off, Claire,” Nita said. “He’s a magnet and being so very good.”
“It’s ’cause he’s sleeping,” Lexi put in. “When he’s awake, Nita, you know he’s not always good, but I am.”
Claire’s gaze met Nita’s. Lexi had not shown a bit of jealousy before, so they’d have to work on that. Claire took Trey in her arms and he stirred. So beautiful, so innocent.
Soon others arrived including Darcy, Steve, Drew and Jilly, who could barely stand still until she saw Lexi across the room and ran to meet her. Hugs all around. Steve and Nick talked off to the side, then Nick showed them the family table Claire had staked out.
Kris arrived in her new outfit she’d bought recently. “Thanks for including me,” she told them.
“Of course,” Nick said and gave her a quick, one-armed hug. “After all, you’ve known Claire longer than anybody here except her sister.”
“I don’t do crowds well,” she whispered. “But I will recognize your kids. Oh, dear,” she added as she looked across the room. “There are two little girls over there, but I’m guessing Lexi’s the one on the left.”
“You are right,” Claire told her. “Just remember the taffeta dress with puff sleeves. The other little girl is her cousin Jilly, the closest she has to a sister.”
“At least so far, but you never know for the future,” Nick put in with a little laugh and a waggle of his eyebrows as he put his finger in Trey’s fist when the baby stirred awake at last.
Claire and Kris both laughed. “Wish I had that problem—a man who loved me making innuendos,” Kris said. “You know, Nick, Claire and I used to kid about us being ‘womjeps,’ women in jeopardy. I think we’ve both found our niche, though I admit a good man is hard to find.”
With Trey still in her arms, Claire took Kris over to meet Heck and Gina, then came back to Nick when Jace and a beaming Brittany came in. It made Claire’s day to see both of them so happy, and she hoped things worked out better for them than it had for her and Jace, who kissed her cheek for the first time in ages.
“He’s just so darling,” Brit told Claire as she cooed “hi-there-handsome” to Trey,
who thought she looked pretty interesting too. Claire let Brit hold the baby.
“She never says that to me,” Jace deadpanned.
“Lexi’s been waiting for you,” Claire said. “See if you can keep her from going into her flower-girl mode this afternoon and sticking her finger in the icing before we cut the cake.”
“Speaking of the birds and the bees—which we weren’t,” Jace told them, “I see Kris Kane is here. Do you know if she’s seeing anyone? I don’t like to play matchmaker, but I have a friend who would like to meet her.”
“She just said she wished she had someone. I think her face blindness has held her back in the men department, plus how dedicated she is to her work. You know, Jace, she always picked you out because she thought you looked like a Viking—her focus on the buried past coming out there. But I’m sure she’d be interested. Sounds perfect.”
“Yeah, well, he’s a pilot too, and I know that can cause problems.”
“Sometimes,” Claire said.
Nick cleared his throat almost in unison with Brit. Claire realized she and Jace had been having an intense, two-way talk. She pulled her gaze away from him and glanced at the huge window behind the cake table. Because the trees of the orange grove beyond were thick and dark green, the window made a muted mirror. And there she was, with her hands lifted slightly toward not only Jace but the taller Nick. Reaching Woman flashed through her mind again, caught somehow between Hunter and Leader.
“Enjoy, you two,” Nick said to Jace and Brit in the sudden lull as Brit handed Trey back to Claire. “Get something to eat and talk to Kris. She really doesn’t know anyone here but us and Lexi. And there’s a great view, Jace, out the window to watch the golfers on the eighteenth green.”
