Morning Cup of Murder (17 page)

When Jason set her down outside the building, she rounded on him.

“What are you doing? How can you possibly take his side?”

“I’m not taking his side, Lacy. I’m keeping you out of jail. He wasn’t kidding about arresting you. He levels those charges at anyone who disagrees with him, and he would have had me cuff you just because he’s that mean and petty.” He ran his hands through his hair, causing it to stand on end. “What are you thinking? Can’t I leave you alone for a minute without you getting yourself into hot water? You can’t go around yelling at the second most powerful man in the county that way. He’s not the sort of man you want as an enemy.”

“What am
I
thinking? What are
you
thinking? How can you swallow your pride and wallow in the misery he emits, day after day?”

“Because I don’t have the luxury of letting him have it and then walking away. I work here. I work for him.” For emphasis, he pointed his finger toward the building. “Like it or not, he’s my boss. What happened to miss ‘I’m not emotional, I’m a planner, I’m a thinker, I’m rational?’”

Hearing him toss her words back in her face had an oddly cooling effect on her. It was no secret that she had a raging bad temper, but she had always respected law and authority before. She looked Jason up and down while she thought. He was dressed in civilian clothes and his hair was in wild disarray. Not to mention that his hands were fisted on his hips, his feet spread wide in a fighting stance, and he was scowling at her. She couldn’t help it; she giggled.

His scowl deepened. “What are you laughing at?”

“You.
Me.
Us. This whole absurd situation. I mean, two weeks ago I could never have imagined myself yelling at a detective because he arrested my grandmother for murder.” Another giggle bubbled up and she suppressed it. “What are you doing here, anyway?” He didn’t begin work until noon, and it was only a little after nine.

“I heard through the rumor mill that you had this appointment today. Color me clairvoyant, but I thought something like this might happen.”

“Did you just roll out of bed?” she asked, ignoring his backhanded insult.

“I work second shift,” he reminded her. “Most nights I’m not in bed until after two.” He swiped a weary hand down his face before resting his arm on her shoulders and turning her toward the parking lot. “C’mon. Do you have time to grab a cup of coffee?”

“I’d better not. I’ve already had four cups today. And I have a funeral to attend.”

They reached her car and faced each other. “Do you really think you’re going to learn something by going to her funeral?” he asked.

“No, but it’s not about that anymore. This woman died all alone in the world, and no one cares. I feel like I need to go because someone needs to be witness to her passing. Does that make sense?”

“It does, and it also proves you are as sweet and lovely as I thought you might be.”

She smiled up at him, enjoying the sight of his sleep-swollen eyes and tousled hair. “Why don’t you go home and get some more sleep? You look tired.”

“I am tired,” he said, sounding groggy.

Before she could talk herself out of it, she put her hands on his chest, leaned in, and kissed his cheek. “Thanks for coming to get me.” When she pulled away he was staring at her, dumbfounded.

“I thought you said no kissing,” he said.

“Cheeks don’t count.” She winked at him, and gave him a little wave before turning to duck into her car. He caught her wrist, holding her in place.

“Lacy, what’s gotten into you this morning?”

I don’t want to die alone like Barbara Blake and Mr. Middleton.
“Maybe it’s all the coffee I drank.” Her flippant tone was sharp contrast to her inner turmoil. Already it had been an emotionally draining morning, and she still had a funeral to attend.

“Then by all means let’s get you one of those hats with two cups and a straw. We’ll keep you caffeinated all day long.”

She laughed, feeling some of the weight shift slightly away from her chest. She started her car and poked her head out the window. “Did I get you in trouble with him?” She bit her lip and looked worriedly toward the building.

Jason leaned down and pressed his palm to her cheek. “Don’t worry about it; I’ll be fine. You take care.”

For a split second she closed her eyes and leaned in to his touch. Then she opened her eyes, blinked back a few tears, and sped away, leaving Jason standing in the parking lot with his hand still outstretched.

Chapter 14

The funeral was a small gathering. Lacy sat by herself off to the side and watched as her grandmother’s friends wandered in, along with Mr. Middleton, and a handful of people she didn’t know.

Tosh took the platform, looking very clerical in his black robe and white collar. His eyes sifted the crowd until they rested on Lacy, and they shared a brief smile before the service began.

He gave the facts of Barbara Blake’s life and paused as if uncertain how to continue. Then he pulled out a children’s book and commenced reading. Lacy remembered how, yesterday, she had laughed when he proposed the idea of reading a children’s book, but she found no humor in the actuality. Instead, a great sadness came to settle somewhere over her heart, pressing down on her like a boulder. How tragic that the end of this woman’s life was summed up by a book about a lost puppy, and how horrible that no one seemed to care.

All over the church people sat dry-eyed, looking almost bored, all except Mr. Middleton who once again had that unreadable expression on his face. He was the only person in the room showing any emotion, except for Lacy who found to her shock that she was crying.

Well, good. Someone needed to cry for this woman. Even if she had been a horrible person, she had once been someone’s little girl. Everyone, good or bad, deserved to have at least one genuine mourner at their funeral.

Unfortunately, Lacy’s supply of tears ran dry before they did anything to ease the odd ache in her chest. She had a feeling that the press of anxiety wouldn’t go away until her grandmother was out of jail, and maybe not even then. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew part of her problem was the fact that she needed to make up with her sister, but she wasn’t ready for that yet--not by a long shot. Until she was, there would always be a part of her that felt unsettled and restless, as if there was something she was missing.

The service ended and the church emptied. Lacy didn’t want to file past the body, but she did because it was procedure, and she lacked the emotional stamina to buck tradition. Once outside the building, she leaned against the bricks, drawing deep breaths and trying to cleanse her nose from the stench of lilies. When she opened her eyes and looked around, the parking lot was nearly deserted. Had the procession left without her?

But, no, there was no procession. Tosh joined her a moment later and lightly touched her elbow.

“Where did everyone go?” she asked.

“They left,” he said. “There are only a few people going to the gravesite. Lacy, you don’t have to do this.”

“Yes I do,” she said.

“Then at least ride with me.” He kept his hand on her elbow and used it to guide her to the car, opening the passenger door for her when they reached it.

Once settled inside the car, he reached for her hand and clasped it, resting their combined hands on her knee.

“Performing a funeral is much harder than I thought it would be,” he said. His tone was somber, and Lacy was thankful. She wouldn’t have been able to stand it if he had been his usual jovial, carefree self.

“You’re doing a great job,” she said. She gave his hand a comforting squeeze.

He turned to smile at her. “It helps having you here. I don’t know why you’re doing this, but I’m glad.”

“Someone needs to be sad this woman is gone,” she said.

“It seems like your principal is. Besides you, he’s been the most stalwart attendee. He’s coming to the graveside, too.”

“He’s not sad,” Lacy blurted.

“Then what is he?”

“I don’t know,” she said.
Relieved,
was the first word that popped into her mind, but she didn’t know why. If Mr. Middleton and Barbara Blake had grown up together, why would he possibly be relieved at her passing?

They arrived at the cemetery, and Mr. Middleton was the only other person in attendance. He and Lacy stood beside each other while Tosh read the requisite scripture, and then it was over.

“Wait,” Lacy said, causing the two men to look at her in surprise. She searched her mind for something, anything personal she could say about this woman. “Barbara Blake was beautiful. She took excellent care of herself, and she liked nice things. She had excellent taste in clothes, shoes, and perfume. She was very memorable. Even after a fifty year absence, people in this town never forgot her. And she held on to her parents’ house, which says something good about her, I think,” Lacy said. She was grasping at straws and she knew it.

Beside her, Mr. Middleton stared at her like she was crazy, and then he faced forward and began to talk, too. “Barbara was always beautiful, since the day she was born. She could light up the room with her smile. Her laugh was like a bell and she turned heads wherever she went. She always had impeccable style, and there was one thing she did right in her life, one thing that I’ll always be grateful for.”

Tosh looked between them to make sure they were done, and then he picked up a handful of dirt and tossed it on the grave. “’Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection into eternal life.’” And then it was over. Mr. Middleton walked away without a backward glance, and Lacy and Tosh walked to his car.

“I’ll take you home,” Tosh said. “You can get your car from the church later.”

“All right.” The church was only a few blocks away. She could walk there and pick it up at any time. But not now; right now she was weary. She just wanted to go home, change into something comfortable, and possibly send herself into a sugar coma with prune cake.

But that wasn’t to be. Lacy was in such a daze, she didn’t notice that the front door was ajar, but Tosh did. He put his arm around her and swept her behind him. Using his elbow, he pushed the door all the way open and called out.

“Hello, anyone in there? We’re home; now’s the time to run away.”

When there was no answer, he took a tentative step inside, Lacy so close on his heels that she held onto the back of his shirt to avoid bumping into him. They inched into the house as Tosh called out a few more warnings, but there was no answering sound from inside.

“Whoever was here is long gone, and they left a mess behind,” Tosh said. “I’m sorry, Lacy.”

She stepped around him to get the full effect and gasped. The house had been tossed. When she was little and refused to clean her room, her mother used to say that it looked like a cyclone had hit it. Now Lacy understood what that meant. Her grandmother’s house looked like a natural disaster had swept through the place, emptying its contents onto the floor.

“It’s like someone shook a snow globe,” Tosh said. “Is anything missing?”

“I have no idea,” Lacy said. Among her grandmother’s possessions, she was clueless. She only had a vague idea of what belonged where. “I’ll check my room.”

“I’ll go with you,” Tosh volunteered.

Lacy had thought the living room was bad, but then she reached her bedroom. It was unrecognizable. The mattress had been flipped, the drawers dumped onto the floor, and all her clothes thrown from the closet.

“Is anything missing in here?” Tosh asked.

“I don’t think so,” she drawled, taking a cursory glance at the mad jumble. The only two items of value she owned--her laptop and her phone--were safely inside the bag on her shoulder. To be sure, she slipped it off and looked inside. And then she froze.

“I think I know what they were looking for,” she said.

“What?”

“These.” She pulled out Barbara Blake’s journals and laid them on her bed.

“Oh, this is bad,” Tosh said. “We should call the police and make a report.”

“I suppose,” Lacy said listlessly.

“You don’t want to?” Tosh asked. Absently, he picked up a journal and flipped through it.

“Jason is on duty. I think he’s had enough drama from me for one morning.”

“Maybe they’ll send someone else,” Tosh said hopefully.

“There is no one else,” she answered. “One patrol officer at a time is on duty, and if they need backup they call the state patrol.”

“That’s crazy and dangerous,” Tosh said. “Even in a town this small bad stuff can happen sometimes.”

She shrugged. “Budget crisis. Last year half the force was fired. It’s a wonder Jason survived the cut.”

“Still, I really think you need to fill out a report,” Tosh said.

She nodded. He picked up her phone and dialed. She was glad he was taking care of things. Her mind felt numb with shock. At some point she would need to put the house back together, but not now. Now she sat on her bed staring dazedly at herself in the mirror. Beneath her, the possessions that had been haphazardly torn asunder made for a lumpy seat, but she barely noticed.