Hung Out to Dry: The Misadventures of the Laundry Hag, #4

by Jennifer L. Hart

  I looked up at my husband. “If Neil will watch Mae and the boys for a few hours. Marty has to work tomorrow.”

  Another man might have protested, but Neil simply shrugged. “Why not?”

  I looked back to Sylvia. “It’s all good then. But let’s wait until two. I want to drop by and see Penny first.”

  Sylvia nodded and left.

  Marty was changing Mae’s diaper in the living room with Atlas peering over his shoulder anxiously. The big dog had bonded with the baby and appointed himself her guardian.

  “How can such a little girl poop so much?” Marty asked as we passed by. “I just changed her twenty minutes ago.”

  “One of God’s mysteries,” I said, breathing through my mouth. “How was Laura with her?”

  Marty used his shoulder to swipe at his nose. “Fine, I think. I checked for puncture wounds and everything, but she’s good.”

  “I told you, my mother likes babies,” Neil said.

  I raised a brow. “Because they are crunchy and good with ketchup?”

  “You know”, Neil said thoughtfully as he followed me into the kitchen. “We do have another option for babysitting. Mac could use the money. That way, I could come give you a hand with the heavy lifting at the Dale estate.”

  I washed my hands as I thought about it. It seemed like Sarah’s house was more of a mess than it had been before we’d started and any reason I got to spend more time with my husband was A-Okay in my book. “Check and make sure Marty is good with that and then give Mac a call and see if she’s free.”

  “Your wish is my command,” Neil said and pulled me into his arms.

  “Save that thought for later,” I breathed in his ear.

  Atlas came charging into the room barking like mad, slid on the linoleum and then took off down the hallway. There was a crash and a shout from the bathroom as the dog burst in on Josh.

  Neil made a face. “Much later.”

  So Neil, Sylvia, and I loaded our capable selves into Sylvia’s Prius the next day and drove out to the Dale estate. I watched Neil’s face closely but if he had any reaction to Sarah’s massive home, he showed no signs of it. The amazing adaptable SEAL, unfazed by whatever life threw at him.

  Ick, jealousy did not look good on me.

  I rang the doorbell and waited for the usual sounds of tiny dogs losing their minds at the intrusion, followed by Sarah’s footsteps. Nothing. “That’s odd.”

  “She’s expecting us, right?” Sylvia asked.

  Nodding, I knocked in case she hadn’t heard the bell. “Even if she left, we should hear the mutts freaking out.”

  “Where does she usually keep her car?” Neil asked.

  I frowned. “Now that you mention it I don’t even know if she has a car.” Maybe that’s why she had wanted me to drive her to Shady Elm yesterday and hadn’t invited me for moral support.

  “Why don’t you call her?” Neil asked.

  I reached into my back pocket, withdrew my smartphone and scrolled through the recent contacts. Inside I could hear the house phone ringing but no one picked up.

  “I’ll go check the stables,” Sylvia offered. “Maybe she’s out for a ride.”

  “Maybe,” I stretched the word out to see if it would fit better. It didn’t. Typically, Sarah rode in the mornings when it was cooler which was why we often started afternoon. And if she was out on a horse somewhere, where the heck was the passel of furballs?

  Neil, being both the athletic and restless sort, hopped off the porch and into the flowerbeds.

  “The gardener will skin you alive if he sees you tromping through his annuals,” I warned my husband. The man was a cantankerous old bastard who didn’t speak so much as grunt whenever I called out to him. He’d kept his distance but I often saw him mucking about with the greenery. He did a hell of a job on the landscaping so I guess a few personality quirks were worth the grumpiness.

  Neil didn’t answer, just shaded his eyes and pressed his face against the glass of the drawing-room. “Oh shit.”

  “What?” Adrenaline spiked and I bounced on my toes as if that could show me what he saw.

  “What do you see? Is it Sarah?”

  Neil stepped back and looked around. “Try the door, see if it’s unlocked. Otherwise, I’m going to have to break this window.”

  I did and instantly felt like an idiot for not doing so sooner. Of course, it was unlocked, Sarah had been expecting us. I rushed in and heard a distinct thump as Neil landed on the porch behind me. My sneakers squeaked on the marble floors as I raced for the drawing-room.

  What I saw flash froze my blood. At first, I thought they were sleeping, they were so still. But I’d become familiar with the dogs over the last few days, they would hop up and start barking the instant they heard a noise.

  Neil pushed past me until he reached the nearest one and reached down for it “She’s alive, I have a pulse, though it’s weak. Where’s the closest emergency vet?”

  I thought about it for a second. “Probably the one where we take Atlas. What happened to them?”

  Neil shook his head. “I don’t know. Help me get them loaded in Sylvia’s car.”

  He handed me two of the limp forms and then scooped up the other three.

  Together we raced outside just as Sylvia appeared over the rise. When she saw what we were carrying, she ran all the way down the hill.

  “Sarah’s not there. The groom said he hasn’t seen her, which is odd. She rides faithfully every day. What’s the matter with them?”

  “We don’t know.” Neil said as he laid the last canine down into the car.” You and Maggie get them to the emergency vet. I’ll look for Sarah.”

  “Not by yourself, you won’t.” I slammed the door. “Sylvie, take them to the vet off Shaker Way. I’m staying here.”

  “Maggie,” Neil began. Then shook his head. “You’re right, it’ll go faster if we’re both looking.”

  Sylvia looked torn. “I can’t just leave you here. What if she’s hurt, what if you get hurt?”

  “We’ll call 911,” I said, showing her my phone for good measure. “It’s okay, Sylvia, go.”

  She hesitated another minute then went.

  Neil turned to me. “I could be wrong, but I think it’s carbon monoxide poisoning. The dogs would have succumbed first since it collects near the floor. We need to limit our exposure. If you know where Sarah’s bedroom is, go right there. And come out again the second we find her.”

  “I’m not sure which room is her bedroom,” I admitted. “I only know for sure that it’s upstairs. We haven’t done any clearing out up there.”

  “You take the right side of the staircase, I’ll take the left. Shout if you find her.” With that, he took a deep breath and then headed back inside.

  The first two rooms I checked were empty, but I struck gold in the third. Sarah was in her bed, her pallor deathly pale. “Neil!”

  He was by my side in an instant. “Go outside, I’ll get her.”

  He went in, scooping Sarah up. Her head lolled to the side, her small frame appeared boneless.

  We thundered down the stairs and I already had the line connected to 911 by the time we hit the gravel. A flat Bostonian accent picked up on the first ring and barked. “911. What’s the nature of your emergency?”

  “An unconscious woman found in her bed. We got her out of the house.” I rattled off the address then added, “We think it might be carbon monoxide poisoning.”

  “Her heart stopped,” Neil reported as he began chest compressions.

  “Help is on the way.” The man on the other end assured me.

  “Hang on Sarah,” I muttered, hoping it would arrive in time.

  Chapter Nine

  “It’s too much of a coincidence,” I hissed at Neil as I paced the hospital waiting room. Sarah was in the ICU, hooked up to oxygen under the hawk-eyed stare of the medical staff. Since we weren’t immediate family we hadn’t been allowed to see her, but with no car, we were stuck. I had a call into Leo,
who was on his way to get us. Neil and I had both taken a few hits of O2 ourselves but since our exposure had been limited, we weren’t being admitted, thank all that was holy.

  “Maggie,” Neil said my name tiredly. “Sit down.”

  No way could I sit, I was full of juice and squirrely as all get-out. The medicinal smells had made me queasy at first sniff, but I was doing my level best to distract myself from the knowledge that I was in a hospital. “Think about it, Neil. Yesterday the senior Mr. Finn announces that he thinks Sarah’s grandfather was murdered and today she almost died. What else can we make of that?”

  My man wasn’t buying it though. “It’s an old house with an old furnace. It got cold last night and when the heat kicked on, carbon monoxide leaked out. It was an accident, and unfortunately, it happens more often than it should.”

  “But what about the search of the house? And the relatives who are contesting the will? You’re telling me you can actually sit there and accept that this is all a big coincidence?”

  Neil gave me a flat stare. “What I believe is that you are on the warpath on the word of some old guy who probably has dementia. You said he was what, eighty-eight?”

  My hands went automatically to my hips in classic she’s got her dander up pose. “Eighty-nine. That doesn’t mean—”

  Neil pushed himself out of the chair and backed me into a corner. “So he’s almost ninety years old and he probably spends his days watching reruns of Matlock.”

  I lifted my chin stubbornly. “His pals all agreed with him. And the relatives, Neil. They were horrible about it. They are pissed off because Sarah got the house. Just from looking at them you know they’re the types to think, Gee, wouldn’t it be easier if she just died in her sleep and saved us the court fees? I’m telling you there’s something going on.”

  He turned away from me and ran a hand through his hair. I pressed my advantage. “Admit it, if you really believed this was all just some big coincidence and that I was in no danger, you wouldn’t be so upset.”

  He stopped, hand dropping to his side. I watched the fingers curl into a fist. “You’re right, I am concerned. Not that I really believe your theory, but you have a knack for finding corruption and rot where others would overlook it. The fact that your instincts are singing again scares the crap out of me.”

  It wasn’t a wholehearted, I believe you, Maggie, goddess of my heart, but I would take what I could get.

  He sighed and reached for me, pulling me into his embrace. “Would it do me any good if I ask you to quit? To stay away from Sarah Dale and whatever is going on with her?”

  I pulled back so I could look up into his hazel eyes. “And leave her alone to deal with all this? How could I? Even if we didn’t need the money, which we do, I would still feel obligated to see it through to the end.”

  He smoothed hair out of my face. “You just met her. Why the sudden attachment?”

  Taking a deep breath I admitted, “She’s alone and grieving. I know what that’s like, to feel as if everyone in the world has abandoned you.”

  Neil inhaled slowly and pulled me back against him so I could hear the steady beat of his heart. “Okay,” he rumbled. “Under three conditions. One, you do not go there alone, ever. Take me, Marty, Sylvia, Leo, my mother, I don’t care who so long as you don’t go there alone.”

  That seemed reasonable. “Agreed, though I can’t imagine ever asking your mother for help cleaning. What else?”

  “Two,” his face had turned to granite, a man that would not be easily moved. “You need to talk to the police about this. Call Detective Capri.”

  I made a face. That was a little trickier, and not just because the last time I’d worked with the woman she’d served me up on a silver platter as a murder suspect to the FBI. “I already told Detective Finn about the possible break-in. Can’t I just—”

  “Detective Finn doesn’t have jurisdiction.” Neil pointed out. “Capri is the devil you know and she probably already has information about Chester Dale’s death. She’s your best bet for a quick and painless resolution.”

  Crap, he was right. “And the third condition?”

  “It’s a two-parter.” A hand cupped my cheek. “You let me teach you some self-defense, including how to use a firearm.”

  The laundry hag: armed and dangerous. My palms started to sweat just thinking about it but from the resolve in his steady gaze I knew this was non-negotiable. It made sense, there were only so many times I could narrowly escape death before my luck ran out. I could use a few extra notches in my skill set. I licked suddenly dry lips and whispered, “Okay.”

  His thumb followed the line of my cheekbone. “And two, I want check-ins every hour you’re out of the house.”

  “Every four hours,” I said. “I won’t get a thing accomplished if I’m always watching the clock.”

  “Two,” he countered. “Set a timer alert to remind you.”

  “Three.” I shot back. “And two and a half if I’m doing anything outside of my normal routine.” Like snooping.

  “Agreed.” The corners of his mouth tilted up and I knew he’d gotten what he’d wanted. You didn’t grow up as the only offspring of two corporate attorneys without picking up a few pointers on conducting shrewd negotiations.

  I stuck out my hand. “Shake on it.”

  He took the hand but then pulled me tight against him, his head lowering until he could brush my lips with his own. “Sealed with a kiss,” he whispered.

  His lips were warm and firm and tasted like home. Though I wouldn’t admit it out loud, I was glad he’d imposed conditions. Not only did they make me feel as though we were in this venture together—regardless of how it turned out— but he demonstrated his trust. Neil truly believed in me.

  We broke apart, the steady rush of footsteps in the hall outside, the sound reminding us both that this was not the time or place to get lost in each other.

  “You’re really the best husband ever,” I told him.

  His expression held a shadow. “If I saw any other way to keep you safe, I’d take it. I considered everything from having you committed to moving to the other side of the country. This was just the most expedient solution.”

  He always warned me that he possessed a villain’s heart and I thought deep down he might actually believe it. I knew better though. “Keep on telling yourself that, slick. I’m going outside to call Sylvia.” I needed fresh air and checking on the pooches was as good an excuse as any.

  “I’ll be here.” Neil resumed the seat he’d claimed earlier, leaning his head back against the wall and shutting his eyes.

  It took me a little while to find the exit, mostly because I was planning my next move. Out of all Neil’s conditions, talking to Detective Capri was going to be the biggest challenge. I really didn’t like how we’d left things. The last time we’d seen each other I had been flat on my back in this very hospital and she’d offered incredibly half-assed apologies for having me hauled in as a murder suspect. I shuddered. Not my favorite memory.

  Once outside and free of the hospital stench I took several deep breaths and dialed Sylvia’s cell. She picked up on the second ring. “The dogs are all going to be okay. How’s Sarah?”

  “She’ll pull through, though they are keeping her overnight for observation.”

  “Good to know, I’ll tell the vet to hang on to the pooches too. Do you and Neil need a ride home?”

  “Leo’s coming to pick us up. In fact—” I waved as I saw Leo’s beat-up Taurus pull into the visitor parking area. “He just got here.”

  “Did you try to stop in to see Penny again?” Sylvia asked.

  I flinched. We’d gone to visit Penny earlier in the day but a nurse had said she’d refused to speak with anyone. “I didn’t. You know we’ve never really gotten on and I think out of everyone, I’m probably the last person she wants to see.”

  There was a pause and I heard her inhale. Uh oh, I wasn’t going to like what she said next. “From the reading I’ve been d
oing about postpartum, it’s important for new mothers to have a strong support network. Penny might feel like we’re all on Marty’s side, not hers. We should make a little extra effort so she knows she’s not alone. If she doesn’t want to see you that’s her call, but it might help if she knows you keep trying.”

  I sighed as we ended the call. She was right, damn her. I always promised myself that I would make more of an effort with Penny and yet somehow had never gotten around to it.

  Leo approached, keys in hand. “Ready to jet?”

  I shook my head. “Got a stop to make first.”

  To my surprise, the nurse who’d turned us away earlier that day beckoned me to the door of Penny’s room. “I think she was overwhelmed earlier, too many visitors and her hormones all out of whack. Keep it quick, she still needs her rest.”

  Penny appeared more rundown than I’d ever seen her, with dark shadows hollowing her cheekbones and a glassy overmedicated look in her eyes. Her hair was loose around her shoulders in a snarl of strawberry blond tangles. She didn’t smile as I entered the room, just turned her gaze toward the window.

  “Hey,” I said, feeling like a heel.

  “Hey.” Her voice sounded far away, uncaring.

  Asking how she was feeling was pointless. I should have sent Neil in here. He always said the right thing. Or maybe Leo. He didn’t actually need the person on the other end to reply to hold a conversation.

  I had dropped off a bag with some of her things during the earlier trip. It sat unmolested in the chair beside her bed. Marty had packed it, just a few toiletries, a book on crystal healing from Sylvia plus one of my trashier romances in case the crystals didn’t cut the mustard. A hoodie in case the subarctic air conditioning in the hospital had gotten too much for her plus a few pictures of Mae.

  Since she didn’t seem interested in talking and I desperately needed something to do, I reached for it, intending to unpack. I stopped as I found the hairbrush. “Would you like me to brush your hair for you, maybe braid it?”