Death by Coffee (17 page)

20

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” I said, shifting uncomfortably on the couch in the interrogation room. Officer Buchannan was leaning against the wall, leering at me, in almost the exact same position he had been in the last time I’d been here. Unfortunately, Paul wasn’t at my side to make me feel better. Neither was his mother, though I had a feeling I was going to be seeing her soon enough.

Buchannan smiled at me, nodded once, and then continued to stare.

Grumbling to myself, I leaned back, hoping the wait wouldn’t be too terribly long. Buchannan hadn’t taken the zip strips off. That meant that by leaning against the back of the couch, I was putting pressure on my shoulders and wrists. Right then, though, I didn’t care. If it had been any other cop, I probably would have been told to go home. But no . . . I got Buchannan, the man with a chip on his shoulder. His only purpose in life seemed to be causing me trouble, and all because I’d gone on a date with Officer Dalton.

I’d already tried to reason with him, but it was like talking to a wall. Heidi had told me to come in and Regina had grabbed for
me,
not the other way around. There really wasn’t anything they could charge me with.

Well, maybe obstruction. That one would be kind of hard to dodge.

The door opened and a tired-looking Chief Dalton entered. She looked me up and down, glanced over at Buchannan, who was grinning his head off, and then heaved a huge sigh.

“What now?” she asked. “Can’t you stay out of trouble?”

“I didn’t do anything wrong!” Maybe the claim would work on her, whereas it had been met with smugness by Buchannan.

“Mrs. Regina Harper claims you shoved her out of the way to enter the Lawyer residence uninvited in order to ask questions best left to the police.”

“I didn’t shove her,” I said. “Heidi invited me in and Regina was in the way. I may have bumped her, but she grabbed for me!” I twisted around on the couch to show her my arm, where only one mark remained. The scratch looked so small, it could easily have come from my cat. “I swear I wasn’t causing any trouble.”

“Well,” Patricia said, sitting down on the edge of the table. “Heidi Lawyer apparently agrees with you. Her mother doesn’t like it and has tried to press charges, but her daughter won’t have any of it.” She glanced back at Buchannan. “Why am I here exactly?”

His smug smile slipped a little. “I thought you would want to know about this.”

“I could have read the report.” Patricia stood. “And why is she still stripped? Why was it done at all? Did she try to resist?”

“Well, no. . . .”

“Goddamn it, Buchannan.” She turned to me. “Stand up.”

I stood so fast, it was as if I’d been shot. Patricia spun me around, whipped out a knife, and then cut away the zip strip. I immediately started rubbing at my wrists.

“I’m tired of this,” she said, walking over to where Buchannan was now cowering. “Just because she’s boffing my boy doesn’t mean you need to make an example out of her.”

“Wait!” I said. “I’m not . . . boffing him.” If I hadn’t already been blushing with embarrassment, I sure was now.

“Get out and do your job,” Patricia said, stepping back so Buchannan could leave. He gave me a glare that could have melted steel before storming out.

“The man is intent on making me look bad,” Patricia said, her voice much softer now. “He thinks I’m treating you differently just because of who you’re with.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. Denying sleeping with her son seemed out of the question—she was going to believe what she wanted to believe—and I really didn’t want to try to explain why I’d actually been over to the Lawyer place. I had no idea how Chief Dalton would react.

“You’re lucky this time,” she said. “Regina Harper isn’t one to mess with. That woman will sue anyone who irritates her.”

“Heidi told me I could come in.” I sounded petulant. It probably wasn’t the best way to win her over.

“Which is probably why you aren’t sitting in a cell right now.”

Okay, that was fair. I really needed to start thinking about my plans ahead of time. If I kept acting on a whim, I was either going to get myself into some serious trouble, or maybe end up as the murderer’s next victim. Neither scenario was all that appealing.

“I don’t want you going over there again,” Patricia said, putting on her serious “I’m in charge” voice.

“But what if... ,” I trailed off at the look she was giving me. There would be no
buts
here.

“No
buts,
” she said, as if to prove the point. “You don’t go over there. If you do, I’m going to have to stick you in the cell you’ve manage to avoid so far.” She gave me a sympathetic look. “I’ll have no choice.”

I grumbled a bit at this, but I nodded. I’d just have to find another way to get the information from Heidi. Without getting arrested, of course.

“Now,” Patricia said, standing, “I’ve had someone take your car from impound back to your house.”

“What? How am I going to get home?”

Patricia smiled. “I got you a ride.” She turned toward the door, paused, and then looked back at me. “It’ll only be a few minutes more before you can go. Sit tight and please try to stay out of trouble.”

I sat back down as she walked out, closing the door behind her.

I couldn’t believe this was happening to me.
Again.
A few days in Pine Hills and I’d already made more trips to the local police department than I had in all my time back home. It was as if this little town was truly bad for me. It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if I started forming hives or warts or something.

I just had to keep reminding myself that it would all work out in the end. As long as Death by Coffee survived, I would, too.

Then again, with the way things were going, I wasn’t so sure I’d have a job in a few weeks. We could only keep going at our current rate for so long. If we didn’t start pulling in customers soon, we’d be forced to give up the store, move back home with our parents, and more than likely have to start selling blood just so we could afford ramen noodles.

Could things possibly get any worse?

The door clicked open; and as if to prove that my night could indeed get worse, Paul Dalton walked in.

“Here again, I see,” he said, coming inside.

“I take it you’re my ride?”

He nodded. Of course, he was. His mother was still trying to play matchmaker, even though I’d been arrested twice already. Maybe she thought her son would be able to tame me.

“Mom told me what happened,” he said, leaning on the same spot on the table where Patricia had just vacated. I wondered if that is where all of the cops leaned when they were about to lecture someone.

“It was blown out of proportion,” I said. “Heidi told me I could go in. Regina just got in the way.”

“You shouldn’t have been over there, anyway.”

“And why not?” I was getting angry about everyone telling me what I could and couldn’t do. Sure, they might be right, but darn it, I wanted to make my own choices—no matter how dumb they might be.

“Because you are involving yourself in an active police investigation, perhaps?” He glanced down at my chest. “I don’t see a badge. Do you?”

I looked away. “No.” I crossed my arms and pouted. I felt sixteen again. If only I could recapture the smooth skin and trim body, then perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad.

“It’s too dangerous to go poking around on your own, okay?”

I nodded, frowned, and then turned to look at him, some of my stubbornness returning. “But I’ve learned some things
on my own.
”

Paul looked interested, but he tried to hide it. I think he’d been told to make sure I understood not to get involved, yet he was part of the reason I
was
involved. If he hadn’t taken me to Lawyer’s Insurance that night, I might not have continued with my own private investigation. In a way . . . this was all sort of
his
fault.

“First, do you know for sure if the dust was peanut?”

He nodded. “It was.”

“Okay. We know that Brendon Lawyer had two mistresses, one of them being his secretary, Beth.”

“We do.”

“And if the dust was placed inside the vent, then whoever killed him had to have access to the room, right?”

“Right.”

“That could be anyone who worked there, as well as those who had gone in to see Brendon that day, correct?”

“Yeah.” Paul’s face was passive. He was listening intently, but I had a feeling I wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t already know.

“And maybe someone who managed to get into the office the night before could have planted it?”

“Perhaps.”

I considered telling him about Heidi’s mysterious boyfriend, but I decided against it. I wasn’t sure it mattered. Just because she was seeing someone on the side didn’t mean she, or the man she’d cheated with, had killed Brendon. Maybe once I knew more, I could tell Paul. Until then, I wanted to cause Heidi as little grief as possible. Regina had been right about something; I’d already done enough.

“Did you know Brendon and Heidi were going to get back together?”

Paul frowned. “Where did you hear this?”

“Rumors,” I said with a shrug. “Heidi herself.”

Paul’s frown deepened. “She didn’t tell me this.”

“I don’t think many people knew.” I gave him a smug smile, one that told him I actually
was
being helpful. “But she told me.” I didn’t tell him that my interrogations had brought her to tears.

Paul scratched his head and then rubbed at his face. He looked tired, as if he’d been called in just after settling down for the night. Me being the reason he wasn’t sitting snug in his favorite chair or lying shirtless in bed probably wasn’t making much of a good impression.

I melted just a little. Paul Dalton. Shirtless. It sounded good to me.

“Krissy?”

“Hmm? What?” I came back to reality in a hurry. My traitor face flared red and I cleared my throat to hide the hitch in my voice. I knew he wouldn’t know what I’d been thinking, but damn . . . he was right there. I didn’t need to be daydreaming about him taking his clothes off, bit by bit, flashing those scrumptious dimples at me all the while....

“Krissy.” This time his voice was firm.

“Sorry,” I said, rising. If I sat much longer, I’d probably drift off into dimple-filled dreams.

Paul sighed. “I said, I don’t really see how the Lawyers getting back together is relevant. I suppose someone could have been jealous, like the mistresses, but . . .” He shrugged.

“It was Heidi’s idea,” I said. “She forgave him.”

“Why’s that?”

How could I answer that without smearing Heidi’s name? “I don’t know,” I said, mentally punching myself for lying. He was
so
going to hate me when I finally told him the truth. “Maybe she just decided she couldn’t live without him anymore.”

“Uh-huh.” He said it like he didn’t believe it. I admit, the story was sort of hard to swallow after you’d met Brendon.

“It could be relevant,” I said, hoping Paul wouldn’t totally dismiss it. “Like you said, maybe one of the mistresses got angry after Brendon broke it off. Maybe she wanted him all for herself.”

“Then why not go after Heidi?”

“Maybe she was just so mad at him, she figured that if she couldn’t have him, no one would. Brendon wasn’t exactly the nicest of guys. She could have been fed up with him.”

“Maybe,” Paul said. He glanced at his watch and yawned. “I think it’ll be okay to take you out of here now. I’m to drive you home.”

I gathered myself and followed Paul out the door. This time, when we walked through the station, all eyes were on me. There was suspicion there. I was getting the feeling that not everyone was certain of my innocence. I was beginning to wonder if Paul was starting to question whether or not I was involved in Brendon’s death somehow.

He opened the car door for me and I got in. I barely even noticed when he slid in beside me, started the engine, and then backed out onto the road. My mind was elsewhere, sorting through everything that had happened. I was new in town. The day after I get there, someone died. While it was a coincidence, not everyone would see it that way.

Paul stared straight ahead as he drove. I could almost see the wheels spinning behind his eyes and wondered if he was thinking about me or about the case. Or both. I’d been the one to point out the dust. I was the one who kept poking her nose into everything. Could he really think I was responsible?

Then again, if I’d killed Brendon Lawyer, why would I have told him all of this stuff?

Before I knew it, we were sitting in my driveway. My Focus was parked askew, back wheels in the grass. I vaguely wondered if Officer Buchannan had driven the car here and done it on purpose.

“Here we are,” I said. I didn’t make a move to get out of the car.

“Yup.” Paul didn’t, either.

“Want to come in for a few minutes? I can make some coffee.”

He was silent for a long moment before shaking his head. “I best go home and get some rest. I have an early morning ahead of me.” He barely looked at me as he said it.

“Oh.” I opened the car door and stepped out into the night. The air was cool on my flushed skin. I felt like a fool. “I’ll see you soon then?”

Paul nodded, hesitated, and then leaned across the seat so he could see my face. “Krissy,” he said.

For a moment I thought he might say something that would make everything better. He’d tell me he believed in me and that he had changed his mind and would come inside, not just for an hour or so, but for the night.

I leaned down, anticipating his smile, his dimples, and was instead rewarded with a concerned frown.

“Be careful.”