4 Arch Enemy of Murder (25 page)

None of them had identifying marks. What had she been expecting? Dog tags? She shook her head at her stupidity, and movement caught her eye. She froze, trying to determine if her overactive imagination was on fire again, but the figure in her peripheral vision moved again. Whoever it was stood on the opposite end of the porch, deep in the shadows, trying desperately to slink away before Lacy noticed. Lacy turned and took a step as if she hadn’t seen the person, and then before her mysterious someone could get away, she did a one-eighty and charged, knocking the person off the porch as she tackled.

“Riley!” she yelled as she caught a handful of what could only be her sister’s massively curly hair. “What are you doing here?”

“Get off,” Riley said. She tried to wriggle free, but Lacy had the advantage and wouldn’t budge.

“Not until I get an answer. What are you doing here?”

“What do you think?” Riley asked.

“I have no idea. I thought you were home with Grandma and Grandpa.”

“No, they won’t start the cake until her royal highness arrives. I couldn’t take the adulation anymore, so I left and came here.”

“Why here?”

“Because it belonged to my grandmother, and I wanted to know more about her.”

“Did you see who brought the gnomes?”

“You’re ridiculously slow-witted. Who else would have brought them?” Lacy went slack with the shock of learning her sister was a gnome thief. Riley used it to her advantage and shoved Lacy aside as she sat up.

“Why did you do this?” Lacy asked. “Why did you take everyone’s gnomes?”

“Because those old women are horrible. They care more about their stupid gnomes than they do Sean. He’s a great kid, and they treat him like dirt. I was so angry; I wanted to do something to annoy them.”

Lacy snorted a laugh and put her hand over her mouth. “That’s sort of hilarious.”

“It’s not supposed to be hilarious,” Riley said. “Stop laughing.”

Lacy laughed harder. “I can’t help it. All this time I thought you were sneaking out to meet a man, and you’ve been stealing gnomes from Grandma’s friends.” She bent over and laughed until her stomach ached.

“I mean it, Lacy. Shut up and stop laughing, or else.”

“Or else what?” Lacy asked as she wiped her eyes. “You’ll steal my gnome? Sorry, I don’t have one.” She snickered again, at least until Riley reached out and punched her in the face. For a few seconds, they stared at each other in shocked silence. Lacy’s eye socket exploded with pain, and tears streamed from her left eye. “You hit me,” she said.

“You had it coming,” Riley said.

“For what? Laughing at your stupid prank?”

“No, for being born first, for getting everything so easily, for being pretty, for being
good
. I hate you so much.” She drew back her fist again, but Lacy was ready for her this time. She leaped aside to deflect, and then her own pent-up anger unleashed. She had never hit anyone before, but that didn’t stop her from balling her fist and popping her sister in the face. Riley fell over backwards and they began fighting in earnest—punching, biting, scratching, kicking, and pulling hair. And as they fought, their vitriol flew.

“You stole my fiancé,” Lacy said. “My very first boyfriend, and you stole him. You could have had anyone. Why did it have to be my boyfriend?”

“I did you a favor. Robert was a loser, and we both know it. I’m so tired of hearing you whine about that. You inherited a
million
dollars
.” The last two words were punctuated by kidney punches. “She was my grandmother, too, and she didn’t leave me anything.”

“She was a horrible, lonely old woman, and the money is tainted,” Lacy said. She bit Riley’s wrist to stop her from scratching her face.

“Then give it to me and be free,” Riley said. She kneed Lacy in the ribs.

“No. You’ll blow it all on clothes and makeup. Grow up.” She rolled her onto her stomach and ground her sister’s face into the dirt.

Riley wriggled fee and threw a handful of dirt in Lacy’s face before using her palm to split her lip with a slap. “You’re the one who makes horrible decisions. You could be with Jason, and you chose to spend time with someone as poor as Tosh.”

“Tosh isn’t poor,” Lacy said. She used the edge of her shirt to wipe the blood from her lip as she pinned Riley to the ground and sat on her stomach. “He’s a multi-gazillionair, which goes to show how much you know about people.”

Riley went completely still. Lacy thought she pressed too hard on her chest and made her pass out. “Tosh is rich?” she asked.

Lacy sighed. She had made a tactical error. “Tosh is rich, but he doesn’t live that way. He lives on what he makes from the church. He has a trust fund. But I know you, Riley. Don’t start playing up to Tosh just because he has money. He’s smarter than that.” She hoped that much was true.

“Don’t tell me what to do!” Riley screamed. She lunged for Lacy, and the fight started all over again. They grew slower and clumsier as the fight wore on. Lacy was exhausted. Everything hurt. Still, she didn’t give up. It felt like years of pent up anger and resentment were being released.

“Stop this!” A commanding voice spoke overhead. Riley and Lacy fell back against the ground, panting. Mr. Middleton towered over them looking angry and severe. “This is no way for two grown women to behave. Your grandmother is worried sick because we were supposed to have cake together. I’ve been driving the streets looking for you for the last half hour. Imagine my surprise to find you here. Shame on you.”

Lacy’s lower lip quivered. She had never disappointed her grandfather before, and he wasn’t done with his lecture.

“I’ve had just about enough of this kind of behavior.
 
I’ve spent too long without my family to watch my family behave this way now. You’re intelligent, beautiful, and talented women. It’s time you stop comparing and competing with each other. Stand up, brush yourselves off, apologize, and stop acting like two spoiled teenagers.”

When Mr. Middleton spoke in his best principal’s voice, there was no disobeying. Lacy swiped the blood, dirt, and tears from her face. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

Riley swiped her own tears and blood, though she was somehow less filthy than Lacy. “Sorry,” she mumbled.

“That’s better,” Mr. Middleton said. “Now go to the car. We’re going to drive home, forget this ever happened, and put on a happy face for Lucinda.”

Lacy wasn’t sure how that would be possible since her left eye was already swelling and blood from her lip was flowing down her chin. But maybe they could salvage what was left of the evening with her grandparents. She and Riley shared the back seat like the two errant children they were. They drove to the house in silence.

“Get cleaned up. I’ll stall Lucinda,” Mr. Middleton said. He opened the door and herded them inside. Riley went to her room and Lacy to the bathroom. She took a quick shower, wincing as the hot spray hit her many cuts and bruises. She hurried, knowing Riley would need to shower, too. She dressed in comfortable yoga pants and an old sweatshirt and then went to the kitchen.

Her grandmother’s smile turned to a gasp when she caught sight of Lacy’s face. “What happened?” Lucinda asked.

“Nothing, Grandma. It’s really okay. Riley and I had a little tussle, but all is well now.”

Lucinda looked like she might cry. Lacy felt horrible. She had no idea the enmity between her and Riley was causing her grandparents so much pain. “It’s really okay,” Lacy soothed. “We cleared the air. All will be well now, you’ll see.”

Her grandmother nodded and forced another smile. “I hope so. We love both our girls equally.”

“I know,” Lacy said. “The cake looks delicious.” Turning attention to food was always a good idea.

Lucinda’s face cleared and her smile became genuine. “I found some cookie dough in the freezer, so we’ll have two desserts.”

“Thank you,” Lacy said. She sat, feeling exhausted and drained. Riley entered the kitchen, and there was a knock on the door. The family looked at each other.

“Who could that be this late at night?” Lucinda asked.

“I’ll get it,” Mr. Middleton said. He left, and Lacy followed. She hoped that it might be Jason, coming to make amends. Her grandfather opened the door, and Lacy gasped. Tosh stood on the other side, and he was covered in blood.

“Tosh,” Lacy said. She surged forward, but he held up a hand to stop her.

“I’m okay,” he said. “It’s not my blood.”

“Who…” she started, and then she knew by the look on his face.

“Lacy, it’s Jason,” he said, and everything went a hazy shade of gray.

Lacy slumped against her grandfather. His arm shot out to brace her, but she quickly regained her equilibrium. She shook her head to try and clear the shock-induced fog. “What are you saying? What happened?”

“I wanted to check out the scene of the shooting again to think or look or, I don’t know. Something. So I stopped, and I saw a car, his car. But there was something weird about how it was parked. So I went to check. He had been shot, and there was so much blood.” He stopped and looked over her shoulder. Riley had emerged from the kitchen and was lurking at the back of the room.

“Wh-where was he shot?” Lacy asked.

“It was just the arm, but the blood, and he was unconscious. I pressed my hand over the wound and called an ambulance. They got there really quickly along with a bunch of officers. But he was colorless, and the blood…”

Lacy felt like she was going to swoon again. Mr. Middleton gave her shoulders a bracing shake. “He’s going to be okay,” he said. The strength and conviction in his voice rallied Lacy again. She stood upright.

“I’m going to go to the hospital,” she said.

“I’ll take you,” Tosh said, but he didn’t sound any more coherent than she felt.

“No.” Everyone turned to look at Riley who had piped up from the back of the room. “You need to go home and get cleaned up. I’ll take you. Mr. M…
Grandpa
will take Lacy to the hospital.” She and Mr. Middleton exchanged a look and a nod. Apparently they were the assigned caretakers for the evening. Lacy didn’t care; she simply wanted to get to the hospital. Her grandfather herded her out the door and to his car. Lacy hadn’t said anything to Tosh, but she knew he would understand. She would talk to him later when everything was over.

They were silent on the drive to the hospital. She jumped when he spoke. “I’ll drop you here while I find parking. Go on up, and I’ll come find you.”

Lacy nodded and sprang from the car. She jogged to the hospital and went to the information desk. “Jason Cantor,” she said. The words wrenched from her too-tight throat.

“He’s in the ICU,” the woman at the desk informed her. “Wait…you can’t go up there. Miss…” her voice faded as Lacy jogged away. Too impatient to wait for the elevator, she took the stairs up to the fourth floor, but the doors were secure.

“Lacy,” someone called her name from the waiting room. She saw Travis and almost lost it. He hugged her and offered support. “I knew you’d be here; I waited for you.”

“What happened?” she asked. “How is he?”

“He was shot in the arm, but it nicked the brachial artery. If Tosh hadn’t found him when he did...They had to give him multiple units of blood just to keep him from…Anyway, he’s in room four thirty two.” He ushered her to the hall and looked around. “I worked out how to get the doors open while I was waiting for you, but once you’re in there, you’re on your own. They’re going to notice you. Security is tight.”

“It’s okay,” she said. “Just get me in.”

They sneaked to the doors. He pulled out a paperclip he had bent into a hook configuration. When he pushed the button, the doors jiggled but didn’t open because he hadn’t entered the PIN number needed to access the wing. The jiggling was enough, though, because he caught the edge of the door, slipped the paperclip in, and a second later the door swung open. “This may be triggering an alarm. Good luck.”

Lacy slipped through the opening and looked around for the signs indicating room numbers. No one was at the nurse’s station, and she took that as a good omen. Stealthily she walked toward Jason’s room. Her hand was on the door when it opened and a nurse stepped into the hall.