by Nicole Ellis
“Ooh,” I said, “that’s horrible. Did they tell you it was Lindsay’s fault?”
“Bill told me.” Her lips quivered. “He always was the nicest of them. I could tell he felt really bad about the decision the others had made.”
She looked at her watch. “You know, at the time, I thought that all my dreams for the future were over. Now, I know I was meant for other things.” She motioned to the dental office. “If I stayed with those three, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to help out so many children that desperately need my help. True, I’d probably be rolling in dough right now, but this makes me happy.” An optimistic gleam appeared in her eyes. “This was actually the best thing to ever happen to me.”
“Well, sometimes these things just work out for the best.” I eyed her face for any tells that she wasn’t being truthful. There were none that I could see.
“I better get going,” she said as she unlocked the door of the beater I’d parked next to.
“Well, even if these weren’t your sunglasses, it was nice to meet you. I guess I’ll have to put these in the lost and found.” I held the sunglasses up in the air.
“Nice to meet you too.” She opened her car door and started to climb into the driver’s seat.
Something occurred to me. “Wait, why were you and Declan arguing? It sounded like everything between you happened years ago, and you’re in a good place now.”
She gave a harsh laugh. “A long time ago, when we discussed opening a practice together, I invested some money to start the business. By the time Lindsay managed to get me thrown out of the group, it was too late to recoup my investments—they’d already been spent. They promised me they’d pay me back when they started making money. I’d completely forgotten about it until I saw Declan when I was jogging by the Boathouse last week. I asked him if he could please send me a check for my share. I wasn’t asking for anything other than what I’d contributed.”
She shook her head. “That jerk had the nerve to tell me that I wasn’t getting my money. He said the practice was almost bankrupt. I may not be friends with any of them anymore, but I still hear talk around the dental community. There is no way their practice was hurting for money. If he won’t give me back my money, I’m going to have to involve my lawyer.” She tapped her watch. “I’ve really got to get going. It was nice to meet you.”
She shut her door and roared away, exhaust belching out of the muffler like a miniature smokestack.
I coughed and waved the exhaust away before putting the sunglasses back on and getting into the car. Janelle seemed to sincerely enjoy her current job, but did that mean she hadn’t killed Declan? Money was a powerful motivator, and he had refused to give her what she was owed. Could she have been enraged by his declaration and followed him to the Boathouse last Wednesday night? It seemed a little far-fetched, but having a man murdered at the Boathouse seemed just as strange.
12
After a quick chat with the florist, I left Everton for my shift at the preschool. I wasn’t looking forward to the parking situation as the lot was rather small, and heaven forbid I park in one of the reserved parking spots. I’d already been chewed out by Nancy for that in the past. When I got there, I was pleased to see fewer cars in the parking lot than usual because it was summer and fewer children were enrolled in summer camp than in regular preschool. Of course, Nancy’s van was there.
When I entered the school, I was surprised that they had changed the layout of the classroom since I’d met with Nancy last week. The theme for this week was Sail Away, and someone had taped a giant mural of a seascape on the wall. On the floor, a turquoise-streaked navy blue rug had replaced the ABC rug that the children usually sat on for storytime. A few of the smaller tables had been pushed together to form one large table, and it looked like there was some sort of craft project set up on it.
Children were starting to arrive for the day, including Mikey. Adam had walked over from our house with both of the kids. He held Ella in his arms, and I wondered if he’d left the stroller at home—if so, his arms must be killing him. Mikey saw me and ran over to me.
“Mommy! I missed you this morning.” He wrapped his arms around me, his little hands barely reaching my waist.
I kissed him on the forehead. “I missed you too, little bunny. But you got to spend some time with Daddy. Wasn’t that nice?”
Mikey grinned. “Yeah. He made us chocolate chip pancakes.”
I widened my eyes. “Ooh, lucky! Those sound yummy. I’ll have to try those one day.”
He nodded. “Daddy said Grandpa Lincoln used to make them for him.”
“Ah. Well, good thing the tradition continues.” I stood and ran my hand over Ella’s gleaming red hair that matched mine. Adam held her in his arms with a pained expression on his face.
“She didn’t seem as heavy at home, but by the time we got here I felt like she’d gained twenty pounds.”
“You didn’t push her in the stroller?” I took her from him.
He stretched out his arms. “No, it didn’t seem necessary. I’m regretting that decision now.”
I smothered a grin. “That’s why I usually use the stroller when we walk to school. Do you want to take my car? I don’t need it today, and I could use the exercise from walking home from work.”
“That might be best,” Adam said, a sheepish smile on his face. I handed him my keys and he shoved them in his pocket.
Mikey tugged on my arm. “Mom, Mom! They’re starting.”
“Well, you’d better get in there.” Adam winked at me and nodded his head at the classroom. “Have fun in there, sweetie. I see they’ve got some fun crafting on the agenda for you today.”
I glared at him and handed Ella back. He wisely took that as his cue to exit. My husband knew me too well. I wasn’t fond of craft projects. I’d never been very coordinated, and cutting and gluing things together weren’t my strong suits.
I followed Mikey into the classroom. Ms. Shana, Mikey’s regular teacher, was leading the summer camp session.
She clapped her hands three times, and the kids followed with three claps of their own. I stared at her, amazed at her ability to control the chaos. I could barely get one kid to be quiet, much less twenty. The other parents, a man and woman who I vaguely recognized from drop-off, had the same expression of awe on their faces as the one I knew was on mine.
“Ok, class, we’ve got some fun stuff planned for you this week. As you may have guessed, this week is Sail Away summer camp.”
“Ooh,” they said collectively.
“Are we going on a real boat?” The little girl who’d asked looked like she was about to cry. “I’m afraid of going out on the water.”
Ms. Shana patted her arm. “Don’t worry, Susie. This is all pretend. We aren’t going out on any real boats this week.” Susie’s smile returned. “The first thing we’re going to do today is to make our own wooden sailboats. Then, later in the day, we will float them outside and maybe even have some races.” She turned her attention to me and the other two parent volunteers, who were standing nearby, looking just as awkward as I felt. “If I could get two of you to go over to the craft table and one of you to help Ms. Nancy with snack preparation, that would be great.”
The other mom jetted off toward the kitchen. Shoot. I’d lost my chance, although snack prep was with Nancy, so maybe crafting was the lesser of the two evils. I shuffled off toward the craft table, trying to put an enthusiastic smile on my face before the children got there. I spent the next hour cutting out sails and decals for the kids to put on their wooden sailboats.
“Miss Jill?” The little girl I’d been helping held up the triangle I’d cut her for a sail. “This doesn’t look right.”
I examined the cutout. She was right. I hadn’t done a very good job of cutting it, and it was rather lopsided. I made her another one, but that still didn’t meet her standards. On my fourth attempt, I gritted my teeth and cut the sail as best as I possibly could. Finally, she declared it accept
able and glued it to the mast of her sailboat. I glanced at the clock. Being in the same room with so many demanding preschoolers at a time was making me crazy.
Not any too soon, Nancy called out that it was time for snack. The kids ran back to the kitchen area, where she and the other mom had placed napkins with Pirate’s Booty and apple slices on each table. My stomach rumbled. I hadn’t had time for breakfast that morning. It looked like there were plenty of apple slices left, so I grabbed one off a plate on the counter. I was taking my first bite when I noticed Nancy glaring at me. I lowered the apple and met her gaze.
“Jill, those are for the kids.” I nodded and lowered my hand. I wanted to tell her where she could stick the piece of fruit, but I was on her turf and I didn’t want to do anything that would get Mikey in trouble.
After snack, Ms. Shana read stories about boats to the kids, and the dad who had helped me with crafts taught them how to tie a sailor’s knot. I wasn’t actively involved with any of these activities, so I had time to think about how much coordination was still needed for Bill and Becca’s wedding. My stomach started to ache from all the twisting in my guts. Finally, it was almost the end of the summer camp day.
“Ok, kids,” Ms. Shana said. “It’s time for what you’ve all been waiting for. We’re going to take our sailboats outside and float them in the kiddie pool that Ms. Nancy set up for you.”
The four-year-olds bumbled around, trying to locate the sailboats they’d made earlier in the day. Daniel, my friend Dorinda’s son, and another little boy were hanging around the Lego bin with their sailboats. I saw the other boy stick a Lego man into his pocket, and they both giggled.
Unfortunately, Nancy saw them too. She was on them before they could wipe the grins off their faces.
“Daniel! Evan! Put those toys back in the bin. This center is closed. You know better than to play with things from a closed activity.” She turned to me and ice filled my veins. Being around her was like being back in elementary school and having the teacher reprimand me.
“And you need to be watching them and keeping them on track. It’s time for them to be outside with their sailboats now.” She shooed them away, first making sure that Evan had replaced the Legos he’d taken.
My mouth dropped. It was one thing to alert me to what she wanted me to do, but it was another to do so in front of the kids. “Really, Nancy?” I said, eyeing her with disdain.
She pursed her lips together. “Maybe you should have been keeping better track of them.”
Without another word to her, I swiveled around and nudged the remaining kids outside. They raced to the playground, where Nancy had set up a small kiddie pool and had tied a string across the middle of the pool, bisecting it into two racing lanes.
I divided the kids up into two lines and had them stand next to the pool.
“Cool!” one of the kids said.
Ms. Shana instructed them on how to race their sailboats and then went back inside to prepare for the next day. I stood to the side of the pool, cheering them on. Nancy was at the far side of the playground watching the kids who had completed their races.
A little girl giggled, and I looked down. Daniel was making a Lego pirate jump up and down on the side of his boat.
“Arr, matey, walk the plank.” He laughed.
“Where did that toy come from?” I hadn’t seen Daniel bring it outside, and I knew Nancy had confiscated Evan’s pilfered Legos.
He grinned at me and hid the pirate under a piece of cloth he’d laid across the back of his boat. Then, he gave the boat a shove, sending it spinning off toward the other side of the kiddie pool. I shook my head and glanced around. Nancy wouldn’t be very happy if she knew that he had taken Legos outside. The water wasn’t going to hurt the plastic toy, though, so I didn’t say anything. Plus, I was happy to see Daniel making friends at school now, and I felt a bit rebellious by actively disobeying her.
By the time the last child had finished, parents started to arrive to pick up their children. Mikey was staying in aftercare today because I had to go back in to work. In the past, Beth would watch him after preschool summer camp when Adam needed to work, but she obviously wasn’t available now. I really needed to find a babysitter for him and Ella. That task had to go to the top of my priority list.
When I had a free moment at work, I called my in-laws. It wasn’t something I had been looking forward to doing, but I had to let them know what was going on at the Boathouse. I knew that the circumstances weren’t my fault, but I still felt like they were.
I dialed and held my breath, almost hoping they wouldn’t pick up. Lincoln answered his phone on the second ring. I expelled the air in my lungs and greeted him. “Hi.”
“Hi, Jill, it’s nice to hear from you. How are things going up there?”
“Uh, not so great actually.” I rolled a ballpoint pen between my fingers, digging the clip into the pad of my thumb.
“Have things become worse?” Normally, Lincoln was calm in all situations, but now, I heard a tinge of worry in his tone.
“Let me talk to her.” Beth’s voice came over the line.
“No, Lincoln, don’t put Beth on. I don’t want to cause her any stress.”
I heard a shuffling noise on the other end.
“Jill. What’s going on?” she demanded.
I sighed. So much for keeping it from Beth. “Too much. On Saturday someone stole baby gifts out of a client’s car in the parking lot. They weren’t too happy about it. Now, based on all the bad publicity surrounding Declan’s death, we’re getting cancellations.”
“Cancellations?” she echoed. “How many?”
“Only two so far, but I won’t be surprised if there are more. The press has been hanging around, and everyone in the entire area knows what happened here.”
Beth was quiet, and then in a steely voice said, “We’re coming home.” She muffled the phone, but I heard her tell Lincoln to pack their bags.
“You can’t come home. You’re not supposed to travel long distances yet.” Adam would kill me if he found out I was responsible for his mom getting sicker.
“I’m fine,” she scoffed.
“No, you’re not,” said Lincoln, who now had control over the phone. In the background, Beth loudly protested his declaration. “Jill, we’re not coming home until next week. But we’ll handle calling the insurance company and figure out what we should do. I can’t believe this is happening.”
I could almost see him shaking his head.
“Ok. I’ll send you all the details about the theft and anything else I can think of. Thanks, and I’m really sorry to have to bother you about this.”
“It’s not a problem. We appreciate you stepping in to help with everything while we’re away, and we’re confident you’ll do great at handling all of this. Right, Beth?” His voice was fainter through the phone line as he talked to his wife.
“Right,” she called through the line. “Thanks, Jill. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Bye.”
I hung up the phone, relieved to have that distasteful task completed. Thank goodness Beth had come to her senses and realized it wasn’t a good idea to travel. Or rather Lincoln had made that decision for both of them. I knew he’d take care of everything on the business end; now it was just up to me to do everything I could to make the negative publicity come to an end.
13
Tuesday morning, I showed up to work extra early. My to-do list was full, and I had to head over to the preschool a few hours later for summer camp. I had managed to check several items off of my list when Desi appeared in the doorway of my office.
“Hey,” I said. “What are you doing here? Are you baking this morning?” I nodded in the direction of the kitchen and sniffed the air. I hadn’t smelled anything yummy that morning, but maybe she’d gotten a late start. At least, I could hope. A pastry sounded pretty good at the moment.
“No, sorry. But I do have some good news for you.” She bounced up and down on the balls of her fee
t, causing the skirt of her flowing maxi dress to ripple.
I folded my hands in front of me on the desk. “What is it? I could use some good news.”
“Jill, Declan didn’t drown at the Boathouse.” Her eyes gleamed and she tossed her curly hair back from her shoulders.
What was she talking about? Of course Declan had drowned at the Boathouse. As much as I wanted to believe there was a possibility he hadn’t, it seemed too coincidental that he could’ve drowned elsewhere in the Sound and then had his body wash up near the docks of the same place he’d had dinner that night.
“What do you mean?” I leaned forward.
“They found freshwater in his lungs, not saltwater.”
“Freshwater? Like from a lake?” That was even stranger. How was it possible that Declan had drowned in a lake and then turned up next to our dock on Puget Sound?
“Yes, a lake. Lake Elinor, to be exact.”
“How do they know which lake it was?” This was sounding too good to be true.
“The water in his lungs is an exact match for the water composition and something called the filamentous algae that they have at Lake Elinor. I think it’s all that green stuff you see floating in the lake.” She grimaced as if remembering how gross the algae looked on the shore.
I sat back in my chair. “Whoa.”
“No kidding.” Desi put her hand on the back of the chair opposite me. “Now maybe people will stop blaming us for his death.”
I thought about what she’d had said about Declan having died at Lake Elinor. “So it’s not Janelle.” It was unlikely that she would’ve followed Declan back to Lake Elinor, so I thought it was a safe bet to cross her off my list of suspects.
“Who?” She tilted her head to the side and gave me a questioning look.
