It Must Be Magic (16 page)

Tanner was making her more nervous. She wasn’t displaying the emotions she was supposed to display under the circumstances. If he hadn’t been staring at her like that, assessing her, making her jittery, she might have felt worse about the break-in. Perhaps if something had been missing or destroyed she could have mustered the emotions she was sure Tanner wanted her to have.

And Einstein. That was the oddest thing.
Her
Einstein sat at Tanner’s feet, tail flicking in the dust. Every so often, she’d look up at Tanner and blink. The weird part was when Tanner looked down, almost as if they were…communicating.

Lady Dreadlock surpassed Lili’s own abilities as an animal psychic and now this. It was almost too much to bear.

Lili stepped closer to Erika. “We should back off and let Sheriff Gresswell do his job.” And not piss off the sheriff when Lili needed his help. Tanner had said he’d back her up about Fluffy and Lady D., and she wasn’t about to let the opportunity get away from her, even if Tanner had effectively gone no-mail.

“I want to watch,” Erika whined. Lili had never heard the girl whine, but even the best of the best couldn’t be perfect every time.

Roscoe grabbed Erika’s arm and walked her back at least ten paces. “You don’t have to be that close, chickadee. Give the sheriff some breathing room.”

“This could be very educational, Grandpa.” She turned her big blue eyes on her father. “Dad, you’re always telling me to learn as much as I can about new things.”

Sheriff Gresswell shot a glance over his shoulder. “Little lady, I do like the way you think.” He cocked his head and regarded Erika as if he’d suddenly started seeing her as a real person. “Tell me, did all of you go in the house?”

Erika nodded eagerly.

“Did you all touch the doorknobs and the like?”

Again that eager little nod. Erika liked the attention being paid to her by an adult.

“So, what do you think that did to my crime scene?”

Erika’s mouth made a big
O,
and her eyes went as round as saucers. “Messed it up?”

“Yup.”

“We’re sorry, Sheriff.”

Lili put her arm around Erika’s shoulders. “We didn’t know it was a crime scene until after we’d gone in.”

The sheriff tipped his hat back. He’d changed from his Sunday best into the khaki green his department wore. “I’ll get the boys out here anyway. I doubt we’ll be able to get a match, but we might find something that could be viable later on.” Then he turned directly to Lili. “So, we have a forced entry, but nothing missing, the day
after
you find a body out in the woods. Don’t you think that’s coincidental?”

Lili felt as if he were shining the spotlight in her eyes. “Well, um, yes. But Tanner and I looked everything over, and I don’t see anything missing. Nothing’s even misplaced.” Yet the sheriff’s implication made her neck itch. The murder and the break-in might be connected. Duh.

“This isn’t some crackhead breaking in for hardware to sell, which is why we’re not going to find any prints we can get a match for in the system.” Then he shrugged. “Ah, hell, we might get lucky, but I doubt it.”

“Sheriff, we don’t say —”

Roscoe jabbed Erika in the arm with his thumb. “We don’t interrupt the sheriff’s train of thought.”

Sheriff Gresswell wasn’t about to be sidetracked. He folded his arms over his chest and stared Lili down. “You seen Patsy?”

For a moment, Lili forgot who Patsy was. “Oh, Lady Dreadlock. Not since this morning in the park.”

“Interesting.”

Lili glanced at Tanner. From the impassive nonexpression on his face, she got that go-ahead-and-handle-it-yourself she’d expected this morning in the sheriff’s office. Removing the sunglasses wouldn’t help one iota.

“Did you find her yet?” she asked. Hopefully the woman had her clothes on.

“Nope. In fact, no one’s seen her since
you
saw her.”

Something traveled along Lili’s arms and lodged in the very pit of her stomach. He gave the slightest emphasis on
you
as if perhaps he didn’t believe her.

Tanner’s biceps flexed where he had his arms folded over his chest, but he didn’t move another muscle.

With a renewed attack of nerves, Lili couldn’t keep her mouth shut. “I think she saw the murder, Sheriff. That’s what I’m gathering from Fluffy. It was all murky from Fluffy’s point of view, but I’d be willing to stake my life —” ooh, that didn’t sound good “— I’d bet she was there when it happened.”

Gosh, that statement made it sound as if she were trying to shift attention, or blame, from herself to Lady Dreadlock.

“Well, hell and damnation, so now we have two witnesses.”

“Yes.” A cat and a mentally misdirected person. Even Lili felt silly saying that aloud. She wanted to take Tanner’s hand. He’d been so good up there in the bedroom, no pun intended.

What had happened? Where had he gone, emotionally speaking?

“It would be great if you could talk to her.” It was such an innocuous statement, Lili ended up feeling useless again. She’d failed miserably with Fluffy, with the whole murder thing. Lady D. had to do better. Even someone who couldn’t talk to animals would do better. She glanced at Einstein, who blinked, lifted a back paw and scratched vigorously behind her ear.

Which could mean,
You’re too boring to contemplate,
or
You’re so useless you give me fleas.

Lili was starting to feel mentally demoralized. Maybe even mentally misdirected.

She thought the sheriff would ask all sorts of questions about Lady Dreadlock and what Lili thought the woman had seen, etc., ad nauseum. Instead, he changed the subject. “Why don’t you tell me more about that helmet you say Fluffy saw.”

“The helmet?”

“The one you saw our killer wearing.”

“Erika, go in the house.” In a belated reaction — or perhaps it was the use of the word
killer
that got to him — Tanner pointed through the hedge without shifting his gaze from the sheriff.

“Da-ad.”

“Actually, Mr. Rutland, children can be a great help. Very observant, and they sometimes see so much more than adults. She might have something very important to add. So if you don’t mind —” the sheriff waggled his brows “— I promise to watch my p’s and q’s. No hells or damnations or sh —”

Tanner’s jaw tensed, then he held up his hand. “Fine.”

The sheriff turned to Lili. “You said it was more like a Harley helmet than a sport-bike helmet.”

“Yes. A flower pot.”

“Could it have been another kind of helmet?”

“What kind?”

“That’s what I’m asking you.”

“Oh. You’re trying not to lead me.”

“I’m trying not to but I’m not doing a helluva —” Looking at Erika, he covered his mouth like a little kid. It was so incongruous with his sheriff persona, a smile jumped to Lili’s lips. “Oops, sorry,” he said. “What I mean is could it have been something else,
anything
else?”

“Well, it wasn’t dreadlocks, if that’s what you mean.”

“I’ve already gotten that one down.” He raised that mobile eyebrow again. “
Something
else?”

Lili knew she was giving him a totally blank-eyed look.

The sheriff sighed. “Could it have been military?”

She rocked her head from side to side. “It could have been, like what you see on the History Channel from World War II.”

“And Buddy Welch collects a bunch of that stuff.” It was the first thing Tanner had contributed to the discussion. “So that’s where this is headed.”

“It’s not headed anywhere, Mr. Rutland. I’m simply in info-gathering mode.”

“Linwood Daniels has a helmet to go with his medals from the Korean War.” Erika jumped and gaped at Roscoe. “Grandpa, why’d you step on my toe like that?”

Roscoe ignored her. “I doubt Linwood could even lift the stick Lili told the sheriff about,” he defended his friend, “let alone stay up after midnight.”

“Yes, but we’re thinking about suspects, Grandpa, and no one can be overlooked. Not even you. Besides, sometimes Linwood and Chester and Hiram stay later than midnight.”

The sheriff smiled indulgently, crinkles bracketing his mouth and a twinkle in his eye. “Little gal, there’s something called motive. What motive could Linwood possibly have?”

Erika considered that with a wrinkled brow. “Since you don’t know who the victim is, you have no idea about the motive. Why, it could have been anything. Maybe this person was Linwood’s long lost child that he hasn’t seen since the baby was born, and the boy searched all over for his birth parents but then they fought about why Linwood abandoned him.”

The sheriff eyed Erika, then turned to Tanner. “Is she going to be a writer or something?”

“She watches too much TV,” Tanner offered, but Lili detected a hint of a proud smile lifting one corner of his mouth.

“I’m going to be a CEO for a big corporation like Exxon. Especially if the price of oil keeps rising. But I’ll make sure that everyone can afford the gas and that the company is doing adequate research into alternative energy sources.”

Lili could do nothing but stare at Erika. That quirk of a smile on Tanner’s lips grew, but oddly, Lili detected a frown across his forehead as if he couldn’t quite decide whether Erika’s amazing thought processes were a good or a bad thing.

“That’s very humanitarian of you.” The sheriff regarded Erika as if she were an alien life form or she’d had a brain transplant from Bill Gates. “How old did you say you were?”

“I’m twelve.”

Roscoe rolled his eyes. “And going on thirty,” he added.

Erika was indeed smart, but there was something sad about a child —
child
being the operative word — whose life goal was to be head of a corporation, even if she was going to fund research. It would have been better if she’d said she was going to discover the alternative energy source herself. That showed imagination. Children
should
have unrealistic goals and fantasies at her age.

“To put your mind at rest,” the sheriff said with the most serious of tones and a glint in his eye for Erika, “it’s safe to say that Linwood Daniels isn’t our prime suspect at the moment. But you’re right, we don’t know anything for sure until we know who our victim was.” He tipped his head forward and perused Erika over the rims of his glasses. “Maybe you should consider a career in forensics.”

Tanner coughed. “Please, Sheriff, don’t give her ideas.”

“Just a thought since she’s got the aptitude.” Sheriff Gresswell folded his reading glasses and popped them in his pocket. “Well, folks, if you wouldn’t mind staying off the premises, I’ll have the boys do a once-over, and see what we see. But I’m not counting on finding much.” From a distance, he studied the mutilated door frame once more. “No one uses this much effort to break in, then doesn’t take anything.”

Lili felt a chill in her bones. If they’d been here once and hadn’t found what they wanted, they might very well come back. And who were “they”? It was scary to contemplate it could be the murderer.

“If you see Patsy hanging around, I want to know about it right away.” The sheriff shook his finger at her. “I don’t want to hear about it through the rumor mill.”

“You don’t think it was Patsy, do you?” The idea was beginning to bother her. Lady Dreadlock — Patsy — seemed to be a common denominator. Could she have broken into Lili’s house? But for what? Maybe she wasn’t as crazy as she pretended.

Lili’s jitteriness grew with each new question.

The sheriff looked from the door to Lili. “Breaking a window would be more her style. And I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t bandy about that your cat said Patsy saw our murder.”

“It wasn’t Lili’s cat. Fluffy’s mine.”

The sheriff pointed at Erika sternly. “Don’t
you
bandy it about. We don’t want to put Patsy’s life in danger.”

Erika blinked serious eyes, then zipped her lip slowly and shook her head for punctuation.

Sheriff Gresswell then pointed at Roscoe. “And don’t be telling Linwood and Chester anything this time.”

The sheriff had figured out who had spilled the beans to whom.

Roscoe zipped with exaggerated ceremony.

Lili had one more thing. “Don’t you want to know what Fluffy said to make me think Lady — I mean, Patsy, saw the murder?”

The sheriff spread his hands and put his head down like a bull ready to charge. “No, ma’am. I’d rather find Patsy and have her tell me herself.”

Lili felt more than a tad itchy inside. Was Lady Dreadlock in danger herself, or a suspect? Despite what the sheriff had said to Erika, Lili couldn’t be sure.

“Wow,” Erika said, “it is like
Law and Order
where they solve all the crimes just by asking a bunch of questions.”

The sheriff smiled. “Yup. It just about is. I’ll see what I can do about talking your father into letting you do a ride-along.”

T
ANNER WOULDN’T BE SURPRISED
if there was a recall election put on the ballot fairly soon. Gresswell took the prize. He hadn’t batted a lash, rolled an eye or even scratched his forehead. He was either a believer, or he’d mastered a poker face he could have won millions with.

Tanner decided it was the poker face. The man was wasted here; he should have been in Tahoe, or better yet, Vegas.

Not that it mattered. There was only one thing to do. It was
not
letting his daughter go on a ride-along.

When Erika would have followed Lili and Roscoe into the house, Tanner held her back. “Let’s talk a bit, sweetheart.”

“I’ll start dinner, and Lili can help me.” Roscoe turned to Lili. “You can’t back out this time since you can’t go home.”

“I’m worried about the cats.”

“They’ll be fine.” Roscoe shut the screen door behind them.

Tanner had allowed Lili to tell her story uninterrupted. Putting his foot into it could only have been a mistake. The entire time, he’d considered the last few days’ effect on Erika, and again, he wondered what kind of father he’d become.

Her natural curiosity did give him pause. Was he guilty of stifling her? Okay, he was extremely proud of how her mind worked, that she moderated an entrepreneurial spirit with a streak of philanthropy.

Yet she
was
only twelve years old. Maybe, just maybe, that was too young for her current mind-set. She should be thinking about…well, not dolls. Erika had never been one for dolls. He wasn’t sure what he wanted her pondering, only what he didn’t. He had an inordinate fear of the Internet and sites like My Space. He wasn’t even sure if what he’d already taught Erika was so bad.

That was the terrifying concern about being a parent. You were never sure of anything. He wanted to exert control to keep her safe, yet he wanted her to be independent. He wanted to know everything she did and everyone she talked to, yet he wanted her to learn sound judgment. Being a parent was about dealing with the dichotomy of keeping them close and letting them go. The older Erika got the more difficult his choices became.

“Let’s swing,” Tanner said, heading out into the backyard. The grass was long; they’d had a lot of rain last month, and he hadn’t beaten it back into submission. A lot of people let the wild things take over, but Tanner wanted a yard for Erika. He’d kept the redwoods, the old oak and the pines, but he’d planted grass, dogwoods, azaleas and rhododendrons.

Erika had an old swing set from years ago. Tanner couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen her play on it. Was she too old for it now? In the teenage years, everything you’d done before the age of ten was child’s play, then you hit adulthood and wished you had the time to sit on a swing and shoot yourself to the sky.

Tanner hadn’t done that since he was ten. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his daughter do it.

“Dad, it’s too small for your behind.”

True. “If I didn’t know what you meant, I’d be insulted. Now sit down and talk to me.”

Erika sat, then stuck a tennied toe in the dirt to set herself into a rock. “I know it’s not a game, Dad. Murder is a very serious business. Honestly, I know the difference between reality and TV.” She tipped her head. “Except when we get to reality TV. That’s a bit of an oxymoron, don’t you think?”

Oxymoron? Where had she learned that word? And learned to use it correctly? He wrapped one hand around the metal chain, and just stared at her. He wanted so badly to tell her what an amazing creature she was. She surprised him every minute of every day, and he thanked God she’d been allowed to come to him and not someone else who wouldn’t appreciate the absolutely marvelous human being she was.

“You know I love you.”

She rolled her eyes and cast off with one foot. “I know, Dad,” she said, then continued as if Tanner had added a “but” at the end of his declaration. “Only I can’t help it if I thought everything the sheriff said was very interesting.”

“You’re not going on a ride-along.”

“Dad, he was joking. Even
I
could tell that.”

Since when had he lost his sense of humor in his daughter’s eyes? “I wanted to make sure you did. But —” He hesitated. He knew what he wanted for his daughter. He knew the woman he wanted her to grow up to be. Was that what
she
wanted? “Are you interested in investigating a career like that, forensics?”

God forbid she should actually want to be a cop or an FBI agent. He shuddered to even give the possibility a toehold in his psyche. So what the hell would he say if her answer was yes?

“I don’t know, Dad, but I think I’ve got a lot of time to decide. I figure I can change my mind at least eight more times and still graduate from college right on schedule.”

She was so practical, the way he wanted her to be. But what about fun? What about proms and boys? What about gossiping with girlfriends and sleepovers? Did they do sleepovers past the age of twelve? Maybe that was child’s play, too.

He’d never thought of these things before. Maybe because he was a man, but still, that sounded like a lame excuse for not paying attention to his daughter’s needs.

“I’ve thought it would be good for you to have a woman friend to talk to.” He dug his shoe into the earth and pushed off lightly. “You’re getting to the age where there’ll be stuff you might not feel comfortable talking to me about.”

“You mean, like when I start menstruating?”

He tried hard not to cringe, but he did see spots before his eyes and felt a little faint. God forbid the day she should ask to start wearing thong underwear and let her bra straps show. “Yeah, things like that.”

“They handled that at school, Dad, in health education.”

“Sometimes you need more than a teacher in the middle of a classroom. You might need someone like, well, like Lili. A woman old enough to be able to advise you, but young enough to understand.” He pulled in a deep breath and let it rush out through his mouth. Jesus, this was worse than the original birds-and-bees talk.

“You mean you want to marry Lili?”

He almost fell out of his swing seat, because it was too small for his ass and his daughter was too big for her britches. His heart pounded in his chest like a jackhammer. He had the hots for Lili, but the attraction was miles from marriage.

“I was thinking more in terms of a friend for
you,
like Big Brothers, Big Sisters or a mentoring program.”

“But you said Lili specifically. That must have meaning.”

Erika was amazing all right, and she had him right on the spot. “Because she lives close, and you already know her.”

“But if you married her, she’d be closer than next door.”

Holy hell, what had he created with this topic? But a man had to take the bull by the horns when it stopped right in front of him and wagged its head. “Do you want me to get remarried? I’ve often heard that teenagers can resent the intrusion of a stepmother or -father.” It sounded good, not that he’d paid much attention because he’d had no intention. “Theoretically speaking, mind you.”

“Theoretically speaking, Lili’s pretty cool. She’d be able to teach me an alternative view of life, and I could sort of keep her grounded when she needs it.”

Damn. Erika had given it real thought. He’d believed she was fine with their way of life, and he was only beginning to see she was far from fine. But marriage? To Lili? “Kiddo, I can’t get married just because you’d like for me to do so.”

“I know that, Dad. But you like Lili.”

“I do like her, but that’s a far cry from marriage.”

His blood rushed in his ears. His daughter was precocious, and, as the sheriff had said, observant, and Tanner wasn’t altogether sure he’d hidden his attraction. In a Lili-induced fog, he’d been capable of all sorts of missteps.

“I think she’d be good for you, Dad, so you should at least date her. Then you wouldn’t have to sneak around anymore.”

He glared at her. “Sneak around?”

“I mean, since we already know her, you wouldn’t have to hide her like you do your other dates.”

“I don’t hide the fact that I date from you.”

“But you never bring them home.”

“Because I don’t want you to get attached.”

“But I want to get attached.”

Ah, hell. “Maybe
I
don’t, Erika, and that’s the problem with bringing dates home unless I’m very, very sure about them.”

“Well, I’m very, very sure about Lili. And I’m sure we could get Einstein and Fluffy to work things out between them, but what would we do with the rest of the cats?”

“Isn’t Lili supposed to be finding good homes for them?” Then he wanted to smack himself on the forehead because he shouldn’t be encouraging his daughter. “What I mean is that no matter what Lili does with her cats, that doesn’t mean she can suddenly be a part of our family.”

“I wasn’t thinking
suddenly,
Dad. You have to date for a while, and we all have to see how it comes together, but if you never even give it a chance, then, it’s like the missing link.”

He jiggled his finger in his ear. “Huh?”

“If you never even look for the missing link, you certainly aren’t going to find it.”

“Lili isn’t a missing link.”

“Da-ad. It’s a metaphor. Or a simile. I always forget which is which.”

Tanner wanted to forget the whole thing. “Sweetheart —”

She sighed and hung her head, shoving off with her foot once more, then whizzing past him as she gained speed.

His daughter was right. He’d stopped looking for his missing link long ago.

The truth was he no longer believed the missing link even existed. At least not for him.

S
HE’D EXPECTED A VAN WITH
the latest gadgets and gizmos, but from the Rutland kitchen window, Lili spotted a sedate four-door pull into her drive. An older gentleman got out carrying a case like a doctor’s bag.

It was sort of unimpressive. She’d feared another cat freak-out, but this was as unassuming as you could get. The cats were, however, out in the yard hiding under various bushes or the plaster statuary Wanetta had been fond of.

“You grate the cheese and chop the tomatoes.” Roscoe handed Lili a humungous block and three vine-ripened tomatoes. She’d spent the last ten minutes explaining about Lady D. and what had happened this morning. Well, everything except the flower shop. That was hers to keep close to her heart.

She sliced the cheese into manageable quarters. “What are we having?”

“Tostadas à la Roscoe. They’re to die for if I do say so myself.” He tapped himself on the chest as he checked on the chunk of hamburger he’d put into the microwave to defrost.

She waggled the knife at him, pointing to his midriff. “How do you stay so skinny if you eat like this all the time?”

“The secret is to eat, not overeat. When I was a cook, I learned never to test more than one taste.”

“You were a chef?”

“A cook at a diner, but a man has his pride, and I made the best eggs Benedict you’ve ever tasted.”

“But I thought you were a composer.” Wanetta had told her.

Roscoe smiled, breaking the not quite defrosted meat into smaller pieces. “Had to feed the family. And I fed them pretty damn well, too.” He slammed the microwave door. “What do you suppose they’re talking about out there?”

Lili didn’t have to wonder who “they” were. Tanner hadn’t looked at her; he’d looked through her. He was probably out there telling Erika to steer clear of her. Things had gone to hell right after Tanner had asked her to talk to Erika — maybe finding the body had something to do with that, duh! — and while Lili kept hoping they’d get better, at every turn events only deteriorated.

Deep in her thoughts, she almost grated off the ends of her fingers. She grabbed another piece of cheese. “I couldn’t venture a guess about their discussion.”

Roscoe sighed and shook his head, throwing the defrosted crumbled bits of hamburger into the frying pan. “He’s probably reading her the gospel according to Tanner.”

This time, Lili could venture a guess about which gospel.
Number one, don’t confuse efforts with results.

“I love my boy, but he’s got that poor girl’s head filled with trash. You heard her. She wants to be a CEO. What kid wants to be a CEO? It’s unnatural.”

At that age, Lili had wanted to be a superhero. “She’s smart.”

“Her friends don’t invite her over for sleepovers or parties anymore. They think she’s a geek.”

“Oh, my God, that’s terrible. She’s not a geek.”

“I know she’s not and you know she’s not, but no one else does. Tanner’s ruining her.”

Near the end of that bit of cheese, Lili didn’t even get close to grating her fingers. She stopped, and gave Roscoe a stern glare. “That’s not fair. I’ve never seen a child who’s more well behaved, or smart and loving. You make it sound like he’s verbally or physically abusing her. He loves her to death, and she loves him.” She picked up the tomato knife and shook it at Roscoe. “And don’t tell me that’s Stockholm syndrome.”

Roscoe concentrated on pitting his avocado. He made a sound, either a snort or a sniffle. Lili couldn’t tell.

“I know you love her, too, Roscoe, but you have to respect how much Tanner loves her. He’s doing a wonderful job raising her even if you don’t agree with everything he does.” She realized she was saying the opposite of what she’d been thinking two days ago. In fact, she’d been judging exactly as Roscoe, but Tanner loved his daughter to death; he’d do anything for her.

If only Erika didn’t have those dark circles under her eyes.

“You need to help them both, Lili. Erika likes you a lot.”

“She hardly knows me.”

“Kids don’t take long. And Tanner, he’s so smitten he can’t see straight half the time.”

“Smitten?”

“Yes. That boy’s so in lust with you, you could wrap him around your little finger and make him do anything you wanted.”

“Roscoe!”

“Don’t ‘Roscoe’ me. It’s true. You’ve got to use that to our advantage to help my granddaughter.”

“You’re suggesting I seduce your son to help Erika?”

“I’m suggesting you marry him.”