Kissing Arizona (29 page)

Sarah gave her a noncommittal ‘Mmm' and got ready to go. Just inside the door she turned and asked, ‘By any chance, do you have a copy of that contract here? Could I see it?'

‘What, you think I might be making it up?'

‘No, I—'

‘I never bluff,' Laura said. ‘I never have to.' She pulled it out of a drawer and watched Sarah read it. ‘You recognize the signature?'

‘Yes.'

‘I've got my scanner right here,' she said, with a smug little smile. ‘Would you like a copy to take along?'

Watching her make the copy, Sarah said, ‘It's pretty unusual, isn't it, signing a contract to manage a store that isn't built yet? How did you happen to do that?'

‘Well, you know how men are,' Laura said, enlisting Sarah in her women's club. ‘When he first started talking to me about the new store, Frank said he already had somebody to manage it. But after he knew me for a while he said he'd rather have me, and I said, “Let's get that in writing before you change your mind again.”' She chuckled. ‘Frank said, “You are one shrewd little cookie, you know that?” Besides the sex, he liked that I was smart.'

Shortly after lunch, Delaney looked out and saw Leo hunched in front of his computer, not typing. He walked out to the cubicle opening and said, ‘Leo?'

Without turning his head, Leo said, ‘Isn't it quitting time yet? I've had such a long, terrible day.'

‘Leo, it's only a little after noon.'

‘So?'

‘Was Nicole difficult?'

‘No,' Leo said, ‘Nicole Cooper was not difficult. She was impossible. Beyond impossible, actually – somewhere in the realm of the perverse, with overtones of mulish intractable rage. I think it's safe to say –' his voice rose and cracked – ‘that Nicole Cooper has not met with serious opposition or questions about her judgment in years and years.'

‘Better come in my office and tell me about it.' When Leo stood up, Delaney saw that his shirt front was streaked in subtle tones of bronze, light umber and slate.

‘You asked her about the fake payments?'

‘Sure. And she denied everything, to begin with,' Leo said. ‘Told me I was a disgrace to the department, going around accusing upright citizens of wrongdoing because I was too ignorant to read a profit-and-loss sheet. Offered to send me back to school at company expense.'

‘My, my. How did you—'

‘Fortunately I took Tracy along, and you know, he's pretty good at slinging big words around, too.'

‘I have noticed that,' Delaney said. ‘Is he too distracting, though?'

‘No, no, he's a genius. I should have had a Tracy years ago, my whole career might have been different.'

‘What did Tracy do?'

‘Cornered her with plain and fancy math. When she saw she couldn't talk her way around him she went all passive-aggressive on us, said she really didn't control anything in this company and was only following orders from Daddy. Well, and occasionally Mommy, if I wanted to get picky about that other weekly draw. I'm just the bookkeeper, remember, she said. They said this is the way we want you to handle it, so that's what I did. And by the way do you have any idea what a huge percentage of police salaries and pensions are paid by our taxes every month?' Leo took a big pull off his water bottle and blew hair out of his eyes.

‘We went around that maypole a couple of times and then she had a temper tantrum that she must have been saving since she was four years old. Turned blue in the face and almost passed out, and
then
she hurled herself on my fatherly shirt-front and wept bitter tears. My wife's got another good sturdy rag for her hooked rug basket.'

‘But I don't seem to hear you saying you found the LadySmith.'

‘No,' Leo said. ‘Nicole's into money, not guns. Let's hope Sarah found the right Laura Hughes and
she
likes to shoot.'

‘I don't know about that,' Delaney said. ‘She called a half-hour ago. All she said was, she was on her way home but she had a stop to make.'

A few shoppers browsed the aisles of the North Oracle store, but the morning rush of contractors was long past, and the after-work crowd hadn't hit yet. Good time to talk, Sarah thought, and asked the clerk at the first checkout counter inside the door to page the manager.

‘Anything I can help you with?' the concerned retiree in the Cooper's Home Stores apron asked her. ‘Something you can't find?'

‘No, thanks, I just need to talk to Phyllis a minute.' Sarah gave him the friendly-but-firm smile, trying not to show her badge. He got on the horn, and in less than a minute Phyllis walked out from behind a rack of drip irrigation parts and waved. When they met halfway Sarah said, ‘Sorry to drop in without notice but I was going by and decided to see if . . . I just have a couple of things about the case we can clear up fast if you can spare me a minute.'

‘Let's go in my office,' Phyllis said. She moved a couple of thick sample books off the chair in front of the desk. ‘Always have so much
stuff
,' she said. ‘Have a seat.'

‘I'll get right to it,' Sarah said. ‘First thing, I want to review the new store controversy. Nicole said her mother was against it but she agreed with her father that it was a good idea. Were you in favor of it too?'

‘Well, sure. I mean, if it was what he . . . what they decided to do, then I'd be for it, of course. But I told you, I'm just a hired hand.'

‘But a key employee,' Sarah said. ‘And slated to be more important soon.'

‘Well, yes.'

‘And you had every reason to care about the success of the project, didn't you? Since you expected to manage it.'

‘Yes. That's kind of irrelevant now.'

‘OK. But I'm asking what your feeling was at the time. Did you think this was a good time to open a new store?'

Phyllis held her right hand up and rocked it. ‘I thought it was very risky but if Frank wanted it badly enough, he had a track record that indicated he could make it happen.'

‘So you didn't argue against it the way Lois did? It didn't affect your relationship with Frank?'

Phyllis sat back, cleared her throat, and said, ‘Why would it? I keep telling you, I just work here.'

‘Oh, but you had a little something going on the side, didn't you?' She pulled out a page of notes and read, ‘“Too much fun last nite Big One – Cheeks had bruises!”'

Phyllis's mouth and eyes formed three round circles in her flaming face for a long couple of seconds. ‘How do you know . . . ?' Her eyes darted everywhere. ‘How did you find out . . . ?' By the time she got herself back in control, she realized she'd confirmed that she was Cheeks.

She tried for indignation. ‘You read our personal emails?'

‘Afraid so,' Sarah said cheerfully. ‘When there's a homicide, you know, we dig through everything!' She did her best to make it sound like a booster message from the Police Benevolent Association.

‘That is so . . . utterly filthy.' Phyllis said. She leaned across her desk and whispered furiously, ‘People have a right to their own personal lives!'

‘Ordinarily, yes. And let me say right off, Phyllis, we have zero interest in your sex life except as it relates to this crime. I understand how you feel and it's just a shame when innocent bystanders get caught in the crossfire like this. Believe me, we'll do the best we can to protect your privacy. But until a homicide investigation is closed, everything's fair game, nobody gets to hide anything.

‘So here's my next question. You told me earlier you didn't want to carry a gun. You said Frank offered you one but you turned it down. But a little over a year ago he sent you this message: “Great session at the range yesterday. Proud of you, hitting the kill zone so many times – my sexy Deadeye.”'

Phyllis turned the full force of her remarkable eyes on Sarah's face and looked as if she might be deciding where on the jugular to sink fangs. Sarah plowed right along, as if reading to her book club. ‘Then there's this: “Don't forget I'm almost out of ammo, so bring me some of yours if you want to ‘shoot first and screw later' on Sunday, my naughty one.”' She put the paper in her lap. ‘So he gave you the LadySmith. Why lie about it?'

Phyllis raised her tense, beautiful hands alongside her face with the fingers spread. ‘Oh, you know the answer to that perfectly well, Detective. Frank and Lois were dead and nobody knew Frank and I had a relationship outside the store – we were careful. I had no idea he was going to go off half-cocked and kill his wife. When he did, I thought, why not leave the gun and our love affair out of it? Easier for everybody. After all, what we did – it might not meet with everybody's approval, but it had nothing to do with the crime, either.'

She rested her head against the back of her leather chair and closed her eyes for a moment. When she spoke again she was calmer. ‘I never wanted that damn gun anyway. But Frank could be so . . . insistent. He liked the his-and-hers aspect of those guns, it turned him on. And, as I guess you know if you've read all those messages, I always tried to please him.'

‘Except there was some kind of a lover's quarrel right at the end, wasn't there?'

Sarah lifted her notes again and read, ‘“Told U it could be like old times, now do you luv your Cheeks?” You'd been apart for a little while there, right? And a little later: “No must C U today – MAKE TIME!” That was on the day of the murders, Phyllis. Did you see him that day?'

‘You bet I did. As the saying goes I was mad as hell and not going to take it any more! But it was all about my job. There I was, working my butt off at the store, all four Coopers off doing as they pleased and they hadn't done any of the things they'd promised to do on Friday before they left! Nicole forgot to transfer a slew of inventory, left me short to fill orders at both stores. Lois was supposed to call in a replacement for a sick checkout clerk and didn't, east side was swamped at ten thirty when churches got out – I mean, I suppose it was because of that fight they were having Friday at lunch, but I said to Frank, Is this any way to run a great organization?'

‘That does sound difficult,' Sarah said. She let a little silence build before she said, ‘I thought it might have been about this.' She slid the copy of Laura's contract across the desk.

It was only two pages long. Phyllis read it once quickly and again a little slower. By the end of the second read she was beginning to wheeze. When she slammed the paper onto her desk her whisper came through her rattling throat like a message from the lowest reaches of hell. ‘I should have shot that lying bastard in the nuts first and watched him suffer a while.'

Sarah waited a long minute to see if Phyllis was going to choke on her rage. When her breathing had calmed a little, she said, ‘I understand about Frank. Why did you kill Lois?'

‘I don't think we're going to talk any more,' Phyllis said. ‘I think I need to speak to an attorney now.'

FIFTEEN

‘
I
thought out here in the ‘burbs'd be perfect.' Dick said. ‘But there's always somebody going in and out.'

‘Folks moving
furniture
,' Rod said. ‘Ever see anybody so slow? And neighbors with farewell gifts, shee-it. Stand in the door and hug.'

‘And I'm starting to feel too conspicuous out here in this car. Lotta these old guys really eyeballing it, reminds them of when they were young.'

‘You two ever listen to yourselves?' Freddy said. ‘Sound like Whiners Anonymous.'

‘Well, we can't spend the rest of our lives waiting to cap one stupid little piece of cooz. Gotta get
on
with it,' Dick said. ‘Got things to
do
.'

‘You don't have to get high every day,' Freddy said. He turned sideways on the seat and gave Dick a searching look. ‘Or do you now?'

‘No, of course not,' Dick said. But he looked away. He sniffed a couple of times, then jumped and said, ‘What?' when Freddy touched his arm.

‘Tía Luisa's van following that last load,' Freddy said. ‘Let's go get set up on Bentley.'

Denny tried not to get in the way, but she couldn't resist trotting from room to room to see how Grandma Aggie's furniture fit in this house. The sweet little three-drawer dresser from the spare room in Marana made her old iron bed look like a real antique, she told her grandmother.

‘Well, it is an antique, sweetheart,' Aggie said. ‘I slept in it myself when I was your age. Figure it out.' Her neighbors had brought her picnic food for moving day, so she didn't need to worry about cooking as she toured the rooms with Denny. Howard and Will were on the way back to Marana for the last load, and Howard had agreed he could stay for supper. ‘Because Sarah just called and said she'd be home by six,' Aggie told him. ‘It'll be a chance for you to visit for once.' Howard was friendlier when his wife wasn't around.

The cleaning crew was working its way out the door. ‘You are better than elves,' Aggie told them, as they loaded their gear in the van. ‘I'll see you back here next Tuesday, will I? We'll have made a mess of ourselves all over again, unpacking.'

‘We will be here,' Tía Luisa said. ‘And you will recommend us to your neighbors out there? We always looking for more work.'

‘Absolutely,' Aggie said. ‘Tell them to call me.' They were all out on the sidewalk, feeling good in the sunshine, smiling like neighbors saying goodbye. Aggie said, looking across the street, ‘Isn't that an attractive car? You hardly ever see those anymore, do you?' Then she gave a little yelp of alarm because Vicky, whose face was suddenly a mask of terror, dropped her work basket with a clatter and ran full speed toward the corner.