Crazy as a Quilt (A Harriet Turman/Loose Threads Mystery Book 8) (26 page)

“Please tell me you aren’t considering pleading guilty to something you didn’t do.”

“Harriet, I have to be realistic. For voluntary manslaughter, I could get as little as ten years. Twenty would be the worst-case scenario.”

“But you’d lose your license.”

He gave a sharp laugh.

“I think that would be the least of my problems. I can go back to Uganda. They don’t care if you have a license or not.”

“Oh, Aiden. I can’t believe you’re even thinking about it.”

“I’m thinking about how I would survive spending the rest of my life locked up.”

Harriet pulled her hand back from his.

“I’m going to have to figure out who really killed Marine before you have to make a decision.”

Aiden’s lips twitched up at the corners.

“I do love you.” He paused for a moment. “But please…promise me you won’t do anything crazy.”

She smiled at him.

“Me? Never.”

They both stood up. Aiden looked over at the guard.

“We done?” the man asked. He followed Aiden out one door and when the lock clicked, the other door opened and a different guard ushered Harriet out.

The Loose Threads and a few of the Small Stitches were already seated at the big table in the back room at Tico’s Tacos. Lainie came skipping up behind Harriet as she took her coat off.

“Mom said to tell you she’s dropping Etienne off with me and you should ask Tom to take him to Mr. Renfro’s house when we’re done here.”

Harriet glanced in the direction Lainie had just come from, and there, at a side table, sat Etienne, drawing in a sketchbook and dipping corn chips into a bowl of warm queso.

“Does Tom know about this plan?” she asked.

Lainie made an exaggerated shrug.

“I don’t know.”

Sharon got up from the table and came over.

“Do you want to come sit by me? We need to make a plan for our quilting session.”

Lainie’s face lit up, and she began chattering to Sharon about her plan for her next quilt.

Harriet looked around the room, but Tom hadn’t arrived yet.

Aunt Beth pulled out the chair beside hers.

“Here, sit down before you fall down. You look terrible. What’s wrong? I mean, besides all this.” She gestured at the assembled group.

“I stopped by the jail to see Aiden. He’d been in a fight.”

“Oh, honey, is he okay?”

“Physically, yes. Emotionally, not so much. He’s talking about taking a plea deal to a lesser charge because he’s afraid he’ll be convicted and get life in prison.”

Mavis leaned in from Beth’s other side.

“Surely we aren’t to that point yet. It hasn’t even been a week yet.”

Harriet slumped into her chair.

“For Aiden, I’m sure it feels like years. And the police get to lie to him. They can tell him anything. His lawyer is probably telling him not to panic and not to listen to them, but I know Aiden. He’s obsessing twenty-four-seven.”

“Did you set him straight?” Mavis asked.

“I told him we’d figure this out. We know he didn’t kill Marine. We just have to find out who did.”

Aunt Beth looked past her to the front door.

“Francine is coming.”

Lauren was standing across the room on the other side of the table. Harriet gestured to catch her attention and pointed at Francine. Lauren jostled Jessica and, when she had her attention, glanced at the door and then back at Sharon.

“Hey, guys, how about we go on over to Harriet’s and start working on those quilts?” she said.

She got Sharon up and grabbed Lainie’s coat and bag. Jessica collected Sharon’s purse and coat and handed them to her as Lauren led them toward the kitchen.

Jessica turned sharply and went to the side table where Etienne was still drawing pictures in his book. She gathered book and coat and hustled him toward the rest of the group.

“We’re going to take a little tour of the kitchen on our way out,” Harriet heard Lauren say as they disappeared.

“I’m surprised Francine showed up here after that scene at the church.” Mavis whispered.

Glynnis went over and asked Francine if she could get her something to drink.

“Have you got any beer?” the woman asked in a loud voice.

“I’m not sure we have alcohol available,” Glynnis told her, blushing.

“No beer? What kind of Mexican place is this?” Francine went on.

Jorge came out of the kitchen with two bottles of beer in one hand and a frosty glass in the other.

“Señora, would you care for Mexican or American?”

Francine grabbed both bottles.

Jorge herded her to the table and pulled out a chair for her.

“Let me get you some food to go with that.” He went back to the kitchen and returned with a large plate of nachos. When she was settled, he came around the table and sat down beside Harriet.

“This is the best I can do,” he told her and Beth in a quiet voice. “A couple of beers and a belly full of food, and she should settle down.”

A look passed between him and Aunt Beth.

“Thanks. We were just saying it was surprising she showed up here after the scene at the church,” Beth said.

“Lauren told me what was going on as she and the others sneaked out through the kitchen. I put lots of beans and cheese on her nachos—lots of calories. Wait till she’s on her second beer, and then you can talk to her and see if she knows anything.”

Harriet looked up at him with appreciation.

“Aren’t you the sly one.”

“We can’t let Aiden sit in jail any longer than he has to. I talked to him on the phone, and he’s not doing well.”

“I know,” Harriet told him. “I went to see him before I came here. He didn’t look good.”

“He sounded very down. He was talking about plea deals,” Jorge said.

“I told him we were going to figure out who really did it so it wouldn’t come to that.”

Jorge smiled. “I told him the same thing.” He looked over at Francine. “I’ve done what I can. See what you can get out of that one.”

He picked up two empty plates and took them back to the kitchen.

Mavis, Aunt Beth and Harriet made their way around the table, stopping and talking to Glynnis about how the retreat had gone along the way. When Francine was on her second beer they approached her. Aunt Beth sat down in the chair next to her.

“Are you doing okay?”

Francine looked up. Mavis stood by her shoulder.

“Can I get you anything?”

“I wouldn’t mind another cold brew.” Francine gave her a weary smile. “It’s been a long day.”

Mavis headed for the kitchen. Harriet sat down next to Aunt Beth but kept silent.

Aunt Beth reached out and patted Francine’s shoulder.

“It’s always sad losing a child.” She paused. “It must be especially hard with her just having come back to town after being away for so long.”

Francine’s eyes were red, but Harriet suspected it was more from the beer than from tears.

“You know my Marine was an actress. She played the maid on
The Edge of Tomorrow
.”

“Yes, I’d heard she was an actress,” Harriet said.

Francine picked up her beer glass and sipped at it, seemingly unaware it was empty. She set it down on the table and looked toward the kitchen.

“You know, the reason she came back to town was so she could play Elvira in
Blythe Spirit
. Did you know? Michelle Jalbert hooked her up with the director. She’s had a little trouble, my baby, but she was making a comeback. She said Elvira was the lead role. And now…”

A tear slid down her cheek, and Aunt Beth handed her an unused napkin. Francine stared across the room. Mavis came back from the kitchen carrying a bottle of beer. Harriet was sure her friend had been listening over the intercom and had waited for Francine to stop talking before bringing another drink.

“We’re all very sorry for your loss,” Aunt Beth said as she stood up. She patted Francine on the back and moved back around the table. Harriet followed with Mavis, and they gathered their purses and coats and headed to the door.

Harriet paused and put her palm to her forehead.

“What?” Aunt Beth asked her.

“Tom never showed up. I’m supposed to pass Etienne off so Tom can take him to the Renfros’…or something. Michelle passed instructions through Lainie, and I don’t know if Tom is in on it or not.”

Aunt Beth opened the door to the parking lot.

“That’s easy enough to solve. Call the man.”

Harriet pulled out her phone and dialed Tom’s number. When he didn’t answer, she left a message asking him to call and let her know if he planned on picking up Etienne and offering to drop him at the Renfros’ if this was the first he was hearing about the plan.

“Can anyone join this party?” Harriet asked when she came through her studio door. Sharon and Lainie were sitting at the two sewing machines, stitching four patch blocks together. Lauren was ironing seams for them, and Jessica sat at the cutting table with Etienne drawing quilt patterns on graph paper and coloring them with colored pencils.

Lauren looked up from the ironing board.

“You can join if you fetch some snacks for the two hoodlums. It seems they escaped Tico’s without filling their bellies.”

Harriet crossed to the kitchen door.

“Let me take Scooter out; then I’m sure I can find a dry bread crust or something.”

Lainie looked up, her eyes big, checking to be sure Harriet was joking.

“We already took the little rat out. Carter’s in the kitchen with him if your cat hasn’t eaten them both.” That got a giggle from the kids. “You think I’m kidding? Fred’s a tough customer.”

“I’ll let you know,” Harriet said over her shoulder as she disappeared through the door.

The phone machine was beeping when she came into the kitchen. She pressed the button and heard Connie’s voice.

“I have some information for you. I have to go to the store later, and I can drop by on my way home.”

She raised her eyebrows. It must be something interesting if Connie felt she needed to deliver it in person.

Harriet greeted the two dogs, who were dancing around her feet. She noticed that, contrary to Lauren’s expectations, Fred had, in fact, helped the little dogs get into trouble, having opened one of the kitchen cabinets and knocked several granola bars onto the floor. The dogs had ripped through the packing, leaving a trail of oats, nuts and torn paper in their wake.

For his part, Fred had found the butter dish Harriet had left out, pushed the lid off and eaten half a stick of butter.

“I hope you have a cleansing experience after all that grease,” she told her delinquent cat.

Fred sat on the counter in dignified silence.

Harriet cleaned up the mess before digging in her snack cabinet and pulling out the box of ginger snaps. She poured two glasses of milk and got a plate for the cookies before returning to the studio. Lauren took the cookies from her and filled the plate, setting it on the cutting table and pulling up a chair for Lainie. Harriet put a cup of milk at each place.

When the kids were settled, the women went to the reception area by the door and sat down.

“Anyone want tea or coffee?” Harriet asked them.

Jessica held her cup up. “We all helped ourselves, so just fix yourself some and tell us what Francine said.

Lauren had pulled two wheeled chairs up opposite the two wingback chairs, and when Harriet had her drink fixed, she sat down.

“I already knew Francine was a bit of a wreck, and she didn’t do anything to change my opinion, so I’m not sure how reliable anything she said is.”

“Okay, we’ll factor that in,” Jessica told her. “What did she say?”

“The most interesting thing is, she claims her daughter came back to Foggy Point because…” Harriet lowered her voice to a whisper, keeping her eyes on Lainie and Etienne to see if they were listening. “She said Michelle had arranged for Marine to have a lead role in the play that’s coming up at the Foggy Point Theater.”

Sharon straightened in her chair and pulled her eyebrows together.

“Do you believe that? She had a minor, barely-a-speaking role on a soap opera. Somehow, I can’t see her qualifying for a lead role in anything.”

Jessica sipped her tea, holding her cup with two hands.

“Especially in the shape she was in.”