Deadly Notions (16 page)

For a moment Melissa said nothing as she traced a pattern across the tablecloth with her nail-bitten fingers. When she finally spoke, her voice was strained, her words wooden. “I feel awful that everyone is being harassed because of a party I threw. A party that you and Rose and Dixie and Leona had no reason to be a part of except to lend moral support.”

“We were there because we wanted to be there, Melissa.” She strode across the room to the window and glanced outside, the sight of her friend’s brood bringing a smile to her lips despite the topic at hand. “And I’d be willing to bet Debbie and Beatrice don’t regret bringing Jackson and Luke to Sally’s party, either.”

A snort from Melissa made her turn. “That might be true about Debbie but I’m willing to bet it’s not where Beatrice is concerned. That poor girl is terrified.”

“Of Chief Dallas?”

Melissa nodded. “Among other things, yes.”

“Other things?” she asked as she retraced her steps across the kitchen and leaned against the counter.

“The Johnsons aren’t happy about Beatrice’s possible involvement in Ashley’s murder. They told her they’d give it a little time to see how it plays out but that looking for another source of employment might be a good idea.”

She sucked in her breath. “Are you serious? Luke loves Beatrice. And anyone who knows that woman—as his parents should—knows she couldn’t hurt a flea.”

“You’d think that, wouldn’t you?”

“So what’s the problem?” She pushed off the counter and rejoined her friend at the table. “Why are they giving her a hard time?”

“Because Regina Murphy belongs to the same golf club as the Johnsons do and her rage over Ashley’s murder is starting to spread around to all the members.”

“Ahhh, and now those members are starting to question why the Johnsons are keeping one of the possible culprits in their home, is that it?”

Melissa nodded. “That about sums it up.”

“Did Chief Dallas arrange a meeting with her for today as well? Or did he just show up on her doorstep in much the way he did mine?”

“He just showed up. And, if her voice on the phone afterward was any indication, she is absolutely terrified.” Melissa pulled her hands into her lap and sighed. “Just like I am—and I imagine everyone else is.”

One by one Tori drummed each of the fingers of her right hand on the table only to repeat the process again and again, her mind replaying every question Chief Dallas had asked her that morning while juxtaposing it with those she imagined he asked of everyone else. “Why do I feel like we’re part of a witch hunt right now?”

A swell of voices, followed by running footsteps, signaled the rapid approach of six of the seven Davis kids. Lowering her voice to a whisper, Melissa leaned forward. “Because we are.”

Tori inhaled Melissa’s words just as Jake Junior ran into the kitchen followed by Julia, Tommy, Kate, Lulu, and Sally. “Mom, can we use the sidewalk chalk on the back patio? I want to show them how to play a game we learned in gym class today.”

Melissa’s face brightened as she drank in each of her children’s faces. “Is it a game everyone can play?”

“Yes.” Jake Junior smiled broadly as Lulu made a beeline in Tori’s direction.

“Miss Sinclair, Miss Sinclair. I didn’t know you were here!”

She motioned the child over to her chair and pulled her in for a hug, the aroma of play dough, shampoo, and cookies that seemed to cling to the little girl’s hair providing a much needed boost after a day that had been entirely too long. “I came by to visit with your mom for a little while.”

The little girl beamed from ear to ear. “I’m glad.”

Jake Junior nodded. “I am, too. Lookin’ after the lot of us has to get a mom tired sometimes.”

Melissa’s mouth quivered. “There’s nothing in the world I’d rather do than look after the six of you.”

A babble emerged from the handheld baby monitor on the kitchen counter. “That’s Molly reminding you to say
seven
, Mommy,” Sally said.

“I stand corrected. There’s nothing in the world I’d rather do than look after the seven of you.”

A second babble brought a chorus of laughter to the room. “And that’s Molly saying she’s happy you said seven, Mom.” Jake Junior planted a kiss on his mom’s cheek. “So can we? I promise to pick up every last piece of chalk and put them all back in the bucket when we’re done.”

Melissa glanced at the wall clock over the sink. “Okay, but only for about thirty minutes. Then it’s time to come inside and get washed up. We’re having pizza tonight when your dad gets home.”

“Pizza?” shouted Kate.

“With just cheese?” Julia inquired.

“And lots and lots of yummy crust?” Sally piped in.

Tori laughed. “Well, Mom?”

Melissa nodded, her trademark happy smile returning to light her hazel eyes. “Yup, just cheese and lots and lots of yummy crust.”

Two little arms shot into the air. “Yes!”

And with that they were gone, six sets of sneakers smacking against the floor followed by the sound of the door banging shut in their wake. Tori looked back at Melissa, noted the way her friend’s smile was slipping from her face once again. “It’ll be okay, Melissa.”

Their gazes locked. “But what happens if it’s not?”

“Did you kill her, Melissa?”

Her friend’s eyes widened. “Of course not!”

“Then it has to be okay.”

“Does it?”

She contemplated Melissa’s words, let them conjure up memories of her own time as a murder suspect and the stress it had caused in her life. The last thing she wanted was to do it again. Or to watch her friends go through it, either.

Squaring her shoulders, she pushed back in her chair. “It does because we’re going to make it so.”

“We are? How?”

She stood and wandered back over to the window. Glancing down, she watched Jake Junior draw a large square with four sections onto the patio. Then, with painstaking patience, he explained the longstanding game to his siblings. “We’re going to do what Jake Junior is doing.”

Melissa, too, stood and joined Tori at the window. “Draw a square?”

“No. Work together.” She met her friend’s questioning brow with a determined inhale. “To figure out who
did
kill Ashley Lawson.”

Tori flopped onto her back and stared at the ceiling, her own words looping their way through her mind.

We need to w
ork together. We need to figure out who killed Ashley Lawson.

“Since when did you become Nancy Drew?” she mumbled beneath her breath.

Turning her head to the left, she took in the time on the digital clock beside her bed.

 

10:00 p.m.

 

Was it too late to call? To give Leona a little comeuppance?

Feeling the first real semblance of a smile since the Davis kids breezed into Melissa’s kitchen, Tori reached for her cell phone and dialed the familiar number.

One ring morphed to two and then three before Leona’s voice filled her ear.

“Yes?”

“Leona, it’s Tori.”

“Good heavens, dear, do you have any idea what time it is?”

She pushed away the momentary bout of guilt to lay out the facts as she knew them. “I do. But I also know that your favorite TV show just ended so you haven’t gone to bed yet.”

“Did you see it? Did you see how completely and utterly fantastic Ray Morgan looked when he took off his shirt and ran into the water to save that poor pathetic wretch of a woman who was drowning?”

She laughed. “No, I didn’t.”

“It almost made me wish I could be that pathetic if only for a few moments.” Leona sighed into the phone. “Then again, if I was, I would make sure I was wearing my most attractive bathing suit and that my nails were at least manicured. I mean,
really
, who would summon a lifeguard like Ray Morgan with the kind of nails that woman had? What was she thinking?”

“It’s a TV show, Leona. The woman was a hired actress.”

“A hired actress with hideous nails.”

Touché.

“Oh, Leona, you have no idea how badly I needed this kind of banter tonight.” She scooted her head up to the pillow and pulled her afghan with her.

“Bad day, dear?”

“I’ve had better.”

“What time did he stop in and see you?”

She gripped the phone tighter. “He? You mean Chief Dallas?”

“Who else, dear?”

“Around ten-ish, I suppose. He saw Melissa at eleven and Beatrice sometime after that.”

“Beatrice was at noon, then. He got to the antique shop around one thirty and he mentioned having stopped for lunch after visiting with her.”

“Visiting? Is that what he called it?” she asked.

“When you offer someone chocolates and wine—as a good hostess should—it’s a visit, dear.”

“Chocolates and wine?
I
didn’t offer him anything.”

An exasperated sigh echoed from the phone. “Why ever not?”

“Let me count thy ways,” she mumbled.

“Victoria, was that a mumble I just heard?”

She gulped.

“Victoria?”

She swallowed harder. “Um, kind of? I’m sorry, Leona, I just find it hypocritical of Chief Dallas to show up at my workplace completely unannounced, badger me with questions for nearly an hour, and then run off on his merry way, leaving me stressed ever since.”

“He is conducting a murder investigation, dear.”

Determined to wipe away the stress before bed, she allowed herself to focus on the aspect that had perpetuated the late night call to her friend. “Hmmm. Seems to me there’s been a lot of that going around Sweet Briar this past year or so.”

“I know, can you
imagine
such a thing?”

She felt the grin as it stretched across her face. “You’d think I could after living a few years in Chicago, wouldn’t you? But, well, I can’t. Sweet Briar is unique in that way.”

The silence in her ear made her smile even bigger. “Leona? Are you still there?”

“Did you call simply to gloat, dear? Because if you did, it’s most unbecoming.”

She laughed out loud. “I wish I could say I didn’t but, well, I did.”

Leona’s voice dropped an octave as she addressed someone Tori couldn’t see. “Victoria interrupted your sleep to try and make a point but it’s fallen on deaf ears.”

She looked at the clock again as a feeling of remorse swept in. “Oh, Leona, I’m sorry. I didn’t know you had company.”

“Would my baby like a carrot to make up for Victoria’s insensitivity?”

Rolling her eyes skyward, she felt the smile return to her face. “Please, pass my sincerest apologies along to Paris.”

“Paris, darling? Did you hear that? Victoria is very sorry for her boorish behavior. She realizes the error of her ways.”

“I wouldn’t go that far, Leona.”

“Shhh. You don’t want to upset Paris further, do you?” Leona hissed in her ear.

She stifled back the laugh that threatened to result in her friend hanging up. “Um, Leona? Paris is a bunny. I think he’s probably fine with what I just said.”

“Well, I’m not.”

“Then I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re not.”

“You’re right.” She let the laugh win, the sound bringing an audible smile to her ear.

“I thought about you this evening when I was taking Paris for a walk.”

She closed her eyes around the image of Leona strolling along the town square with a garden-variety bunny wrapped in Egyptian cotton and nestled in her arms. “And?”

“I’d rather hoped the phone call Milo got was from you.”

“You saw Milo?”

“I did. We were just getting ready to pass each other on the sidewalk when that silly song he has on his cell phone made Paris’s ears bolt upright.” Leona’s voice grew louder as she returned her full attention to their conversation. “And within no more than thirty seconds he was shoving it back in his pocket and taking off in a sprint in the other direction.”

She sat upright on the bed. “Did he look upset?”

“I couldn’t tell if he was upset or eager. But, either way, he didn’t even acknowledge my presence.”

She worked to soothe Leona’s rumpled feathers all the while her mind was picking through reasons Milo might have reacted in the way he had. Had his mother fallen ill? Had something happened at work? She gripped the phone still tighter as she swung her gaze toward the clock one last time. “I better go, Leona. I want to make sure Milo is okay.”

“You haven’t heard from him yet this evening?”

“No.”

“You really must train that young man better, dear.”

For a moment she considered correcting Leona, but opted instead to let it go. Making sure Milo was okay was higher on her list of priorities than trying to correct Leona’s outlandish ways of dealing with the opposite sex. “I’ll work on it, Leona. Have a good night and give Paris a kiss for me, will you?”