4 Arch Enemy of Murder (18 page)

“Let’s let it simmer,” Jason suggested.

“Seriously? You’re going to send me away kissless?”

He nodded.

“You’re sort of driving me crazy here,” Lacy said.

“Welcome to my world.”

When she saw that he was serious about not kissing her, she took a step back.

“I’ll pick you up at six tonight. We’ll go somewhere fancy.”

“Sounds good. I guess I’ll see you later then,” she said.

He watched as she turned and walked away. “Hey, Lacy,” he called when she reached the sidewalk.

She paused and half turned in his direction again.

“You can kiss me, you know. These things work both ways.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she said.

“See that you do.”

Lacy walked to the Stakely building. Hours of work awaited her, but her concentration was shot.

“I remembered something,” Joe said when he greeted her on the steps.

“Something about what?” What was he talking about? In her mind, she saw the image of a pot simmering its way to a full boil, and she had trouble dislodging the thought to concentrate on Joe.

“Last Tuesday. You said to remember. There was something niggling in my brain, but it’s a little short circuited because of the drugs.” He tapped his temple. “But I kept working at it until I remembered. I saw someone carrying a gun.”

They were inside and ascending the stairs at this point. Lacy stopped. Joe grabbed the banister to keep from banging into the back of her. “Was it a man or woman?”

He shrugged. “It was dark, and the person was large. I saw the silhouette of a gun when they turned.”

“Where was this?”

“I don’t remember that part, but I do know there were trees.” He gave her a hopeful smile, waiting for approval. She forced cheerfulness, but inside she was wondering if the final nail had just been put in Pearl’s coffin. Had she inadvertently found a witness to Jonah’s murder? If so, Tosh would be devastated.

“Do you think you might recognize the area if you saw it again?” she asked.

“Maybe,” Joe said. He sounded uncertain as he scratched at his stubbly chin. “It was dark and, to be honest, I get a little confused sometimes. But we could try. Where are you going?”

She had bypassed him and was now heading back down the stairs. “We’re going to drive around a little and see if anything looks familiar.”

“I thought you had lots of work today,” Joe reminded her. “That’s what you said yesterday.”

“I do, too much. But this is more important, and hopefully it won’t take too long.” She only intended to drive him two places.

“But…coffee,” he glanced longingly toward the office.

Lacy smiled and clasped his hand, leading him down the stairs. “Joe, you’re a man after my own heart. We’ll buy coffee today.”

“That’s probably better anyway,” Joe said, sounding cheerful once again. “Your coffee is terrible.”

“Don’t spare my feelings, Joe. Tell it like it is.”

“Well, the company’s pretty good,” he said.

He sounded almost shy. Lacy smiled at him and squeezed his hand, and she could swear she saw him blush under all those whiskers.

She pulled out her phone and called Tosh as they walked toward the church. “Can I borrow your car for a while?”

“Sure. Where are you going?”

“I’m taking Joe somewhere. I’ll tell you more later if it turns out to be something.”

“Cryptic. Good thing I trust you completely.” He hung up and tossed her the keys as they met on the steps of the church. Lacy missed and sighed as she bent to pick them up.

“Sorry, I forgot about your impairment,” he said.

“What impairment?” she asked.

“Your complete lack of motor skills. Bring her back safe, Joe.”

“Okay,” Joe said, nodding his head as if the charge had been a serious one.

They got in Tosh’s car and she drove Joe to the woods where she and Tosh had been the night before. She still hadn’t been able to make sense of all the shooting, although she hadn’t given it much thought. There hadn’t been time for review. After Tosh woke her up and drove her home, she stumbled to bed and fell sleep again. Then first thing in the morning she had grabbed coffee and headed to Jason. Now that she thought about it, though, the shooting was more than odd. Why would so many people have been shooting in the same area at night?

“There aren’t any military installments around here, are there?” Lacy asked.

“No. There’s a National Guard base a couple hours away. I had a cousin who used to work there.”

“Why would a group of people fire guns in the forest at night?” Lacy asked. Hunting at night was illegal. She could see one person doing it, but a whole group? That was almost asking to get caught.

“Dunno,” Joe said.

He stared ponderously out the window, but for all Lacy knew he might be thinking of what he was going to eat for lunch. His synapses didn’t always fire in the correct order. She had learned that his mind wasn’t always where she thought it was.
 
“Does this look familiar?” she asked as they approached the woods.

“Yes.”

“Is this where you were when you saw the person with the gun?”

“Oh, no. I thought you meant had I ever been here before. I used to play here when I was a boy. No, this isn’t where the person was. There were houses.”

“Okay,” Lacy said. She decided to circle around to Pearl’s neighborhood, and as she began mentally calculating the route, she realized with a sinking heart that it was almost on the opposite side of the woods. All Pearl would have had to do was walk through the woods, wait for Jonah’s car, shoot him, and walk home again.

She drove slowly, thinking. She would have to break the news to Tosh. And Jason, although Jason had probably already thought of it. It was his job to look for those kinds of connections, after all. He would undoubtedly have realized the ease and access from Pearl’s house to the murder location.

“You should live here,” Joe said, startling Lacy out of her daydreams. She looked around and realized they were in the chicest neighborhood in town, a subdivision filled with doctors and lawyers. “These are nice houses,” she agreed. “But I don’t think I want to live here. Would you believe me if I said the money is a burden sometimes, Joe?”

He nodded. “After so many years in prison when all I had was an orange jumpsuit and a bunk, it’s hard to have possessions again. It feels like too much.”

“Exactly,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong, I like being comfortable. But I want to do the greatest good with what I’ve been given. Sometimes that feels overwhelming.”

“I’m glad you bought the Stakely building,” Joe said. “I always liked that place.”

“Me, too,” Lacy agreed.

“It makes me feel like there are better things out there,” Joe said.

Lacy nodded. She knew what he meant. The beautiful architecture of the Stakely building had always affected her the same way, like a painting that stirred the soul to higher purposes, or poignant music that had the same effect.

“There,” he said. She stopped the car, although she had temporarily forgotten why they were there. And then she saw it, and she was filled with dread. Joe was pointing to the spot right behind Pearl’s house. “That’s where I saw the person with the gun.”

“You’re sure,” Lacy said.

He nodded.

“Are you sure it was Tuesday?”

He nodded again. “That was the night my sister made curry. Believe me, I won’t soon forget that.”

“Did you see the person go into a house?”

He squinched his eyes closed and tried to remember. “No. I saw whoever it was come out of the woods, and then I turned away and went somewhere else. I don’t remember where.”

“Okay, Joe. Thank you. Let’s get some coffee and go back.” She tried to keep her voice normal, but inside her emotions felt a little tattered. She had definite proof of Pearl’s guilt. Tosh would be disappointed. Jason would be angry that she hadn’t kept her nose out of the case like she promised. She would need to tell both of them, and how was she supposed to work that into her overloaded schedule today?

She picked up coffee for both of them and stopped in front of Tosh’s church. “I need to run these keys in. I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll do it,” Joe volunteered. “You look like you’ve got a lot on your mind.”

“I do,” Lacy admitted. She handed the keys to him. “Thanks, Joe. Please tell Tosh I’ll talk to him later.”

He nodded and they parted ways. Lacy trotted as quickly as she could back to the Stakely building. Her feet still hurt. They had woken her the last few nights with Charley horses. She never wanted to see high heels again, but knew she would probably have to wear them with whatever torturous outfit Riley selected for the party.

As soon as she entered the Stakely building, her grandfather pounced and held her captive the rest of the day as they moved from one last-minute emergency to the other. She had no idea where his energy or stamina came from. She was exhausted by lunch, but he showed no signs of slowing down. As soon as they finished their quick meal, he was back in the game, managing contractors and construction workers like Randolph Hearst probably once shepherded reporters. She thought he was going to miss the hustle and bustle of working every day when it was over.

“We should get supper,” her grandfather finally announced. Lacy looked at the clock with a yelp. It was quarter ‘til six.

“Jason is picking me up in fifteen minutes,” she said as she looked down at her dusty self in dismay.

“Let’s go,” Mr. Middleton said. Always quick and calm in an emergency, he bustled her toward the door and drove her home posthaste.

She ran inside, unbuttoning her clothes as she ran down the hall. She prayed Riley wouldn’t be home and hogging the bathroom. Her prayers were heard and answered because Riley was nowhere in sight. Lacy jumped in the shower and made the military proud with her fast wash and sparse use of water. She didn’t have time to wash her hair, but it had been piled in a bun all day. Hopefully it would lay well when she took it out.

As she toweled dry, she took her hair out of the bun and shook it, and then caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She was a mess; her hair wasn’t behaving, and she wore no makeup. As she dashed to the bedroom and threw off her towel, she mentally reviewed her wardrobe. What had Jason not seen her in that would look good? While she frantically flipped through her clothes with one hand, she brushed her hair with the other. Her fingers landed on a brown dress. On its own, it was drab, but it fit her well, didn’t clash with her hair, and could be dressed up with jewelry. She tossed the brush on the bed, threw on the clothes, grabbed shoes and jewelry, and sprinted back to the bathroom.

The bathroom floor was covered with water, and she slid, smacking her shoulder on the door.

“Everything okay in there?” Mr. Middleton called.

“Fine,” Lacy called.

“Slow down; he’s not here yet, and when he gets here, I’ll stall. It’s probably time for us to have another conversation anyway.”

That statement made Lacy hurry faster. If Mr. Middleton had another “conversation” with Jason, then he would wind up as anxious and frazzled as she was. She applied her makeup in record time, finishing just as the doorbell rang. She turned toward the living room when she remembered that she hadn’t applied deodorant. With a frustrated huff, she dashed back to the bathroom, slathered herself in deodorant, added a tiny dab of perfume, and grabbed the necklace she had draped on the counter.

Jason was prompt, but Lacy was ready. Unfortunately, she was also hyperventilating. She paused on the threshold of the living room, leaned against the wall, and forced her breathing to return to normal. Then she stepped into the living room and realized all her work was for naught. Jason was holding flowers, and he looked so good that Lacy began to hyperventilate all over again.