Braking for Bodies (12 page)

“Nothing better than that.”

“You two would go to the ends of the earth for each other. If one of you showed up dragging a dead body, the other would grab a shovel, lead the way to the garden no questions asked and start digging, and when the cops came you'd hide each other in the attic.”

Rudy put down his screwdriver and looked me dead in the eyes. “I got a feeling we're not just talking about me and Irma now, are we.”

“I think Fiona has a friend, a really good one, and my guess is that whatever's on that phone that we can't find involves someone Fiona's close to. She's not freaking out about her own well-being but someone else's, and she is not going to give him or her up. I'd say it's why Fiona left L.A. She'd had enough when Peep's peepholing got personal. Maybe she even got fed up enough to knock Peep off when he showed up here with his threats. You know Fiona, I know her, and she's true blue, one of those till-death-do-us-part kind of people.”

Rudy's eyes darkened. “That's a big leap, Chicago. And we have other suspects, you know, good ones.”

“We do have other suspects,” I said, not feeling nearly as confident as I wanted to. I grabbed the screwdriver and handed it to Rudy. “But it's a darn good thing we have an attic in this place, 'cause we just might have to use it.”

“Use what?” Cal asked as he rolled through the door.

Rudy gave me a wide-eyed look that said
what do we do now?
Cal was a great guy, a soldier for real some
years ago, and it was how he ended up in the chair. He did the reenactment thing now but still took protecting the law seriously, proven by the
protect our butterflies
assignment. And he was a good friend of Sutter's. This was not a man who needed to know about Fiona in the attic.

“Use our connections to find Rudy a euchre partner,” I blurted, needing something to fill the void. “I don't know a spade from a club, so I'm out, and my mom's a ringer, so no one will play with her.”

Cal shrugged his broad shoulders, pulling his T-shirt that read
Honk if you find men in wheelchairs sexy
tight across his broad chest. “I do a little Texas hold 'em, so I'm not much good either.”

He rolled his way to the workbench. “Thought I'd stop by to see if you'd take me on here. I bought the Newfoundland and now I've got to figure out a way to pay for the thing.” He grinned. It was the boyish kind of grin that made women swoon. “I was over at the VI and Nate was there getting coffee to go; he was on his way to the Grand. Seems one of those Hollywood hellions got her bracelet stolen, a gold turtle or something. This Peep Show thing sure keeps old Nate hopping; we'll never get a chance to do some fishing if this keeps up. He said you needed a fill-in for Rudy here when he's on his honeymoon.”

Zo's turtle? The one that used to belong to Fiona? Drat! Another nail in Fiona's coffin, and the reason I found out about it was from Cal here in the shop talking to me. So, maybe Cal being Sutter's pal wasn't
such a bad thing after all. Maybe it was a good thing in that if he worked here I'd be the one getting information for a change.

“You're hired,” I said to Cal. From behind him Rudy shook his head and mouthed,
Have you lost your mind?
Okay, I got that because just as I might find stuff out about Sutter and what was going on, Cal could very well carry tales back to our dear police chief. A lot of chitchat went on at Rudy's Rides, but it was worth the gamble of what got spread around. I needed information.

“And,” I added, “Rudy here will teach you how to play euchre.”

“I will?” Rudy's eyes bulged.

Another great place for local gossip was the Stang. I put my hand on Cal's shoulder and pointed to the trophies. “Wow, just look at those beauties all big and shiny. One of those babies is what you need to keep that Best Chili Ever trophy you got company. Just picture them side-by-side in your mahogany trophy case with the light shining on them. Great idea, huh?”

Cal's eyes glistened, his jaw slacked and a little drop of drool caught at the corner of his mouth. It was the same reaction I had when looking at a new Coach purse. “Yeah,” Cal said, all breathy. “It is a great idea.”

“Perfect,” I rushed on before Rudy could protest. “You can start now. Rudy will show you around the shop and how it works and where he keeps his lucky euchre deck. I'll get us some fresh scones to celebrate. Yippee.”

Both dudes looked at me as if I needed Prozac. I guess the
yippee
was a bit over the top. I grabbed Nancy Drew and raced out of the shop. I hoped it dawned on Rudy what I was up to with getting Cal as an in-house informer. If not, I'd explain things later. Hey, Rudy couldn't be too upset; I found him a euchre partner, didn't I?

I pedaled toward Cadotte and the Grand Hotel instead of heading for the Blarney Scone. I was a quart low on fat and sugar and could really do with another scone, but it would have to wait. What mattered most right now was Fiona. What had she gotten herself into with stealing the bracelet, and how close was Sutter to locking her up for real?

It might also be a good idea to pay attention to what I was doing and not get lost in the fog. I still couldn't see a blasted thing and someone was behind me, I thought. Another bike? I heard them approach and pedaled my little heart out to get to the side and out of the way, till I was rammed hard.

What the—I held on to the handlebars but it didn't help. Again I went flying ass over appetite, not sure which of those body parts would hit the ground first because this time there was no dead body to stop me.

“L
ike, my favorite turtle bracelet is gone, I've looked everywhere for it,” Zo screeched from inside the Grand Hotel. I could hear her as I limped up the back steps, nearly running into Idle coming down. She took one look at me and hurried off.

“It was that Fiona person, I tell you,” Zo went on as I got to the lobby. I joined the growing crowd of hotel guests, maids and waiters and even a few of the morning gardeners wandering in to see what all the hoopla was about. Hoopla was not a common occurrence at the Grand; the place was more martinis, Manhattans, high tea with piano music . . . usually. Today the yellow-shirted Corpse Crusaders, orange-shirted Body Baggers and purple-shirted Murder Marauders wrote
furiously in their notebooks and Sutter had one of those
Lord take me now
expressions on his face.

“Like, she still thinks that bracelet belongs to her even though she, like, gave it to me years ago,” Zo ranted on.

“It
is
hers.” Walt elbowed his way through the crowd. Geraldine followed behind him, clutching a refill stack of
Town Criers
. “Her mother and I gave Fiona that bracelet with the turtle when she graduated college to remind her of Mackinac. The island's shaped like a turtle, in case you didn't know.”

Zo sneered. “Yeah, right. This place is, like, nothing but a chunk of rock in a lake. Big deal.”

Geraldine jabbed her finger at Zo. “You got that bracelet when Fiona was desperate for money out in that L.A. hellhole, and you wouldn't let her buy it back like you promised.”

“I didn't promise anything. That turtle is my good-luck charm; I wear it all the time except to sleep. I even had a turtle necklace made to match it.” Zo reached in her blouse and slid out a thin gold chain with a turtle suspended at the end. “And now Fiona's broken the set, she's broken my good luck.” Zo glared. “She never did like me or Peep.”

“What's to like?” Geraldine roared.

Zo gazed toward the ceiling and made the sign of the cross, only she did it backward like someone who didn't do it all that often, probably never, and this time was just for effect.

“Fiona robbed me of my favorite piece of jewelry
and my beloved Peepy and my luck,” Zo sobbed, a tear trickling down her cheek. “She even stabbed a knife into the pillow on my bed to prove just how much she hates me. She's a full-fledged lunatic. First she got Peep out of her life, and now she's going after me. I think she wanted Peep for herself, that has to be it. When he, like, chose me instead, she left L.A., and now that we're here she's jealous that we were, like, so happy. Oh, the shame of it all.”

“You're the lunatic,” Walt growled.

“I'm not the one accused of murder and stabbing pillows,” Zo blubbered.

“We should take this into my office,” Penelope interjected, looking pale and nervous. “This isn't the sort of thing to be talked about in public at the hotel.” She hooked her arm through Zo's and faked a sweet smile. “We'll give you some privacy so you can collect yourself and sort this all out and—”

“Like, I don't want privacy.” Zo yanked her arm away and jabbed Sutter in the chest with her index finger. “I want justice, like, right now for my Peepy, and I want my luck back. I want everyone to know Fiona for the kind of person she is. You're the law around here; like, arrest her.”

“We don't know who's responsible for what,” Sutter insisted in his flat cop voice, his face unreadable except for a little vein throbbing at his temple. “But we will look into the matter, and you need to go down to the police station and give us a formal statement about the theft. Maybe you just misplaced it.”

Zo's face turned the color of the geraniums in the carpet. “Like, you're going to wait till that woman puts a knife in me before you do anything about all this?”

“One can only hope,” Penelope muttered under her breath.

“Like, I heard that,” Zo huffed. “You're probably in cahoots with Fiona. You didn't like Peep any better than she did, I could tell. You put us in a crappy room.”

Penelope smacked her palm against her forehead. “There are no crappy rooms at the Grand Hotel. You got the room you paid for; if you wanted a better room you had to pay more money. I personally gave him that option when he checked in, so quit your whining.”

Sutter held up his hands as Molly made her way through the crowd. “Miss Zo, you go with my sergeant here to the police station and give a statement.”

“And you'll find Fiona,” Zo insisted as Molly led her out of the lobby with Zo still calling over her shoulder. “She took my bracelet and she took my Peep. She should pay for her sins.”

The crowd paused for a beat, then burst into wild applause. “That was the best performance yet,” Gabi insisted as
bravo, bravo
erupted from the rest of the onlookers. “I think Zo should get the award for best actor. She's fantastic.”

“Our own little Penelope here should get an award too,” one of the Body Baggers chimed in, patting Penelope on the back.

“Or you, Mr. Dreamboat,” a brunette gushed. She gazed up at Sutter and batted her eyes, both hands
perched on his chest. “You're as good as that Hugh Jackman guy any day of the week.”

“Are you kidding, he's so much more handsome than that,” a blonde panted. “I think we should put up a poster here in the lobby and let people vote on who they think is the best actor and supporting actor and”—she looked to Sutter and sighed—“the most handsome.”

“I'm ordering the trophies tonight,” Gabi added. She turned to Penelope. “We need to have a banquet for the presentation at the end of the week. We can have it as part of the dinner hour right here in the hotel with an open bar and a red carpet right down the middle of the dining room. We all want the red carpet; it makes it official looking.”

The blonde glanced at me and snickered. “You sure won't be walking on any red carpet or winning any awards; you're always a mess. Just look at you now. I think you look this way 'cause you want people to feel sorry for you. Well, honey, it's not working. Get a life and take some acting lessons, and you really need to clean yourself up.”

“And with a little luck maybe you'll be the next one on the slab over at the morgue,” I offered with a fake smile, every bone in my body hurting. “That would get the award for best live-action scene for sure.”

Sutter hauled me toward the hall behind the reception desk with an
Employees Only
door on one side and farther down the hall
Annex 1
and
Annex 2
. “You're not helping to calm things down here.”

“Hey, that woman started it, and will you slow down?” I whined. “This isn't exactly my best day ever.”

“Maybe you should just hide under your bed and do us all a favor.” Sutter entered the
Employees Only
room as Madonna was coming out. She waved a stack of papers at Sutter. “All this legal stuff about Peep has to be faxed to L.A. I need a death certificate; I need the doctor to sign off on the body. When can I take Peep's sorry cheating butt home and get out of here?”

Sutter hunched his shoulders. “When we catch the killer.”

“Fiona
is
the killer.” Madonna slammed the door shut behind her, and Sutter tramped across the room. Guess that flat cop voice and bland look was more of a front than I thought. “How'd I ever let you talk me into this murder weekend idea?”

“At the time it beat yelling
killer on the loose, barricade the doors
.”

“And it's good for business,” Sutter ground out.

“There is that.” I sat at a desk cluttered with printers, fax machines and telephones. Office supplies lined the far wall; a small table with breakfast goodies sat off to the side next to the utility box and a stack of bottled waters. A well-hydrated staff is a happy staff. “I just hired Cal and all the shops are making money. Think of it this way, you're our hero.”

“I'd rather just be the police chief, and what the heck happened to you? You look like you fell in a blender.”

Lying to Sutter was always a little tricky, but if I told Sutter the truth, that someone had tried to run me
down, he'd either toss me in jail again and this time not let me out or stick to me like white on rice. With the possibility of needing to hide Fiona in the attic, I didn't need Sutter hovering.

“An accident.” When you're lying, a partial truth works best. Another little something I learned from siblings Trevor and Lindsey and one of the reasons why they were really good attorneys. “Bikes and I aren't a great mix.”

“You should put that on a T-shirt.” Sutter pulled tissues from a box on the desk and handed them to me. “I'm guessing the reason you showed up here is that Cal mentioned the bracelet being stolen.”

“He said you were up here and I knew you'd think Fiona took the bracelet, and that's crazy. Why would she do such a thing? It makes her look guiltier. She's too smart for that.” Oh, I so hoped I was right.

“Or after knocking off Peep, Fiona figured stealing a bracelet is no big deal.”

“What about Walt and Geraldine?” I swiped at my knees to clean out the scrapes and bit back a string of ouches so as not to look like a wuss in front of Sutter. “Those two are out there in the lobby right now and would steal the bracelet they gave Fiona in a heartbeat. And they hated Peep.”

“But they love Fiona. Love trumps revenge. They wouldn't do anything to get her accused of murder or robbery.”

“Idle Summers sure would. Maybe she's setting up Fiona. It gets her off the hook. Or maybe Peep and the
bracelet gone aren't related, what about that, huh? Madonna could take the bracelet to drive Zo bonkers, and then there's the maid. If I had to clean Zo's room I'd knife her pillow too, and something's going on with that Luka guy. I don't think he's just an engineer.”

Sutter wandered over to the breakfast table, no doubt to take the chocolate bagel I had my eye on. Instead he stared out the window and started folding the paper napkins into neat triangles and arranging them into a circle. “Neither do I.”

Agreement? Well, dang, that got my attention, and so did the napkin thing. “What does Molly say?”

“Molly's taking Italian classes, and I can't understand a word she says half the time; she's waltzing around the office singing ‘That's Amoré' and answers the phones with
ciao baby
. When she signs her name the end of the
y
forms a little heart.”

Sutter lined up all the coffee mugs, then turned the handles in the same direction. He started for the door. “I got to get back.”

“To set out the dinner plates and ring for the butler?” I nodded at the napkins and mugs. “Are you moonlighting as a waiter or something?”

A blush inched up his neck. Sutter never blushed. Sutter growled and swore and grumbled. “I really have to go. When I left Molly she was on her third double espresso and reorganizing the office. By noon I won't be able to find a blasted thing, and you need to stop off at the medical center and get cleaned up, you're still bleeding.”

“Ah, you're worried about me?”

“Heck no, you're upsetting the fudgies and that makes you bad for business.”

I hurled a poppy seed bagel at Sutter's big thick head. He snagged it right out of the air, laughed, took a bite, opened the door and left. I started to follow, but there was a chocolate bagel that needed eating, or so my stomach insisted. My hips totally disagreed, and my head had no idea who to listen to as Penelope's voice drifted in through the partially open door.

“Okay,” she whispered. “That Peep's history, but I still can't find that dang phone and I've been through her room twice.”

I grabbed the bagel and crept closer to the door as Penelope continued with, “What if L.A. girl out there has the phone and starts blackmailing us? It'll wipe out all that we've worked for.” There was a reply I couldn't make out, and then Penelope added, “We're shorthanded tonight and I don't get off till after the last show up at the Cupola Bar. Without the big bosses hovering around, it's better for us. We'll talk then.”

The door opened more and I darted under the desk as Penelope walked in. Well, dang. Peep really did have something on Penelope? How'd that happen, and what could it be? The guy was one fast operator; he was only here a few hours before he croaked. Maybe Penelope orchestrated the croaking, and who the heck was she talking to in the hall?

Penelope walked around the room, her footfalls heading for the breakfast table. With a little luck she'd
get her coffee and leave. Her cute black shoes with little tan bows passed in front of the desk, heading for the door. They looked expensive; in fact, I think Mother had a pair. If I were on my feet as much as Penelope, I'd get good, expensive shoes too. I heard the doorknob turn and held my breath. I was almost home free till the phone rang on the desktop right above my head and Penelope's footsteps hurried back my way.

Okay, don't panic
, I reassured myself as she picked up the phone. If Penelope didn't sit down at the desk, I was okay. She'd never know I was here, and I could find out what she was up to and what Peep had on her. And was it enough to do the old boy in. Penelope gave information on reservations and location and spieled off a list of things to do on the island, and for crying out loud, couldn't whoever was on the other end of the phone just Google
Mackinac Island
?

Penelope hung up, started for the door, came back and sat in the desk chair, our knees touching. She bent down, eyes huge, her gaze fusing with mine.

“Hi.” I held up the chocolate bagel. “I dropped it and it rolled under the desk. Slippery little devil.”

Penelope backed up the chair and I crawled out. My poor knees would never be the same. “So,” I said, all smiles and happiness as I stood and dusted myself off, though, considering my ripped blouse and muddy jeans, it was an exercise in futility. “You think it's going to rain today? I see some clouds out there on the horizon.”