Person of Interest (A Celeste Eagan Mystery) (6 page)

“Detective.” Kelsey laced her fingers together on the tabletop. “Are you following me?”

“No, ma’am. But I do have some follow-up questions.” He whipped out his notebook, then settled his other hand on the back of an empty chair. “Do you mind?”

The twenty-something turned off her flirt mode and was in the agitated mode we all knew from school when we tried to get supplies from her—you’d think she paid for them out of her own pocket the way she hoarded pens and pencils. “Do I have a choice?”

Muldoon started to tuck the notebook back in his pocket. “I could ask you questions down at the station if you’d prefer.”

Kelsey sighed. “Fine. Sit. Whatever. Levi, will you excuse us for just a moment, please?”

“Oh sure.” I nodded and moved to another table two seats away, still within earshot but with my back to Muldoon. I took a long sip of water. All the damn makeup was hot as hell. Add in my nerves at Muldoon’s appearance, and it was a wonder I didn’t spontaneously combust in the middle of November.

“Can you give me a reason why Celeste Eagan would say you were at school last night if you weren’t?”

“Jealousy.”

“Ugh.” Water shot out my nose as I coughed.

“You okay, Levi?” Kelsey asked.

I waved my hand in the air as I dabbed at my mustache. Too much water and it would curl up on my lip like a sun-dried caterpillar.

Muldoon resumed his questioning. “And why would that be?”

“She had a thing for Chad. I mean Principal Jones.”

A thing, my ass. I shoved my water bottle to the far side of the table. Better not risk injury by choking to death. Or hurling it at the bimbo’s head.

“And did Principal Jones return the sentiment?”

“Heavens, no. He and I had been dating for the last year.”

If I’d have been a cartoon character, my eyeballs would have bugged out of my head and probably knocked the water bottle to the floor.

“And this would make Mrs. Eagan lie to the police about you, why?”

“I don’t know. You’d have to ask her. She’s always had it in for me. I tried to be friends but, well, it got to be uncomfortable with her always hitting on Chad.”

“Did Mr. Jones ever say anything to Mrs. Eagan? To get her to stop?”

“He didn’t want to cause a scene. He was afraid she would run to the board and start complaining.”

“If he had a legitimate beef with her...”

“Do you know who Coach Eagan is? Of course you do, you were up at school interviewing everyone. He’s a big deal at Peytonville Prep. He made it into the NFL, believe it or not. But he hurt his knee or something like that and couldn’t play.”

“Yes, I know,” he replied with a dry, irritated tone.

“Well, the board absolutely loves him. Chad was afraid they’d take Celeste’s word over his because of Colin. So not to lose their game-winning coach... Chad just put up with all her advances.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Colin stand up for me? Not likely. And since when was Chad afraid of the board? But seeing how I was some loosey-goosey man-eater hitting on poor Chad, I suppose it was all possible—when hell froze over and turned purple.

“Can you tell me where you were last night?”

“I was here, of course. I am always here. Just ask anyone.”

Liar, liar, pants on fire.

Lot of good knowing the truth did for me. I couldn’t exactly lean over and tell Detective Muldoon that she’d just admitted to me—old man me—that she hadn’t been here. That would blow my cover and get me back to square one with Kelsey.

Despite her claims, we’d always been civil to one another. There was no reason for her to throw me under the bus unless she had something to hide. For the briefest moment, I wondered if she’d had anything to do with Chad’s death. But seeing her reaction when she walked into his office, I doubted it. She was not that good of an actress to pull off those kind of hysterics. Something, though, kept her lying lips moving.

And then, in the blink of an eye—or rather, I’d guess the bat of long eyelashes—she went from defensive witness back to bimbo floozy. She turned on her charm and was mercilessly flirting with Detective Muldoon.

With her simpering and him all but breathing down my neck—I might be a touch paranoid, dressed up as a man while he was mere tables away—I decided to cut my losses and get the heck out of Dodge. Pronto. A crowd of teenagers came in making a loud enough ruckus to draw people’s attention to the other side of the room. I scurried from the table and out a side door. I was fumbling with the keys to the Lexus when a hand clamped down on my shoulder.

“Excuse me, sir. May I ask you a quick question?”

I turned and faced Muldoon but didn’t meet his gaze. “Yes?”

“Did you happen to see Ms. Pierce here last night?”

“No, sir. I just ran into her today.” Ha. I didn’t lie to the good detective. Maybe omitted a thing here or there, but I did not out-and-out lie. It shouldn’t make a difference as I was dressed up as a man—that pretty much was a lie in itself—but in my warped little mind, it mattered.

“Oh. Okay, thanks.” He looked me over for a long minute. “Have we met? There is something familiar about you.”

Sweat rolled down the back of my neck. “Do I look like a hardened criminal to you?”

Muldoon chuckled—close-lipped, of course. “No, sir.” He tucked his hands in his pockets. “But looks can always be deceiving.”

Chapter Six

“That was too close.” I handed Levi the short-haired wig. “Forget the gardener.”

He’d set up his computer at my kitchen table. The eBay website up, I wondered how many little tchotchkes would be whisking their way to his house. He held up a finger, typed something into computer, then closed the lid. “Kelsey didn’t recognize you, did she?”

I ripped the mustache from my lip and tossed it onto the table. I poured myself a cup of coffee and added the necessary tweaks before I took a long sip. “No. Kelsey was all smiles and eyelash batting. Muldoon, however—” I motioned at Levi with the mug “—was awfully suspicious.”

“He’s a cop. It’s his job to be suspicious.” Levi stood and refilled his own coffee. “It was a fluke you ran into him. Nothing more.”

“I guess.” I’d already told Levi what I
did
learn. And what I didn’t. “She is knee-deep in something. I just don’t know what. Not only did she lie to the police, but she lied
about me
to the police. It’s just so odd. Colin has no sway whatsoever with the board. He’s not even the head coach.”

“And you never once made a pass at that man, so don’t let it get you all bent out of shape.”

I scrubbed at my flattened hair. “You’re right. You’re always right.”

Levi chuckled. “Stitch that on a sampler and let’s move on. Mmm.” He snapped his fingers together. “I forgot to tell you, Colin called. The police haven’t dropped the charges but Coz got him out on bail.”

“That’s good.”

“He wants Paige to come over for a bit. Something about being locked away makes a man reprioritize.” Levi studied his nails. “If you ask me, I think he’s a little freaked out about clearing his name.”

“That’s ridiculous.” I removed the sports coat and hung it on the back of the chair before I untucked the shirt tails from the trousers. “Colin has never been freaked out about anything in his life that didn’t revolve around football.”

“Really?” Levi’s eyebrows twisted comically. “He didn’t try to insult me even once. Was—” Levi paused and waved his hand “—polite even.”

“That’s not like him.”

“I know, right.”

I sighed. What started out as me trying to clear my name just morphed into me trying to make sure my daughter’s weekend visits with either of her parents weren’t surrounded by armed guards and barbed wire.

Colin would be fine, though. Once the affidavits came through, Detective Muldoon would look to someone who had the means and opportunity to hurt Chad.

If you listened to Kelsey, someone like me...

“How’re we going to find Danny’s home address?”

* * *

After a good night’s sleep I almost chickened out, but too much time on my hands, an empty house and a best friend who made my flair for the dramatic pale in comparison, and I was up to my hair follicles in costumes again. At least I got to dress like a woman. I shifted the fanny pads under my skirt. I shook my head. Levi said it added authenticity to the getup.

How Levi found Danny’s home address—it wasn’t in the school directory—I didn’t bother to ask. The young gardener lived right next door to an assisted-living home. We decided it was best if I pretended to be a lost little old lady to get him talking. Yeah, it sounded better when I was in front of my mirror adding wrinkles and blemishes.

I should’ve used my own car. My woolen skirt, Peter Pan collar shirt and funky shawl didn’t really mesh with Levi’s pink Lexus, but, like with Kelsey, we were afraid Danny might recognize my car. I parked the Lexus on the street in front of Danny’s apartment building just before noon.

Of course, the man had to live on the third floor. Despite the chill in the air, I was huffing and puffing with little beads of sweat at my temples by the time I got to the landing. My plan to pretend to be confused and in the wrong place lost any validity as I passed umpteen apartments to get to his. Hell, I’d just have to wing it.

I knocked and waited. Then I knocked again. Sure, it was presumptuous that he had nothing better to do than wait at home for the theater teacher in disguise to show up and question why he lied to the police. I knocked for a third time when the apartment next to Danny’s opened.

“He’s gone.” A scraggly guy in his mid-twenties peeked his head into the breezeway.

“Gone?” I patted my chest. “Oh my, really?”

“Yep. Said something about needing tape, I don’t know.” The guy scratched his hairy chin.

I fought to keep from rolling my eyes. “Gone? To the store?” I tucked my little man-hitting purse on my elbow as I was considered wielding it at the boob. “Did he mention when he’d be back?”

“It’s not like I’m his secretary or anything. You probably passed him on the stairs.” Without so much as a goodbye, the guy eased back into his apartment and shut the door.

I hadn’t passed anyone on the way up, but with all the stairs surrounding the building, he could have gone down anywhere. “Damn, damn and damn again.” Each and every step back down to the ground floor, I cursed Danny—and his neighbor—for making me go up and down three flights. My brain went into overdrive trying to remember what kind of car he drove. And then it hit me, or nearly did, when I stepped into the lot.

“Watch it, lady.” Danny’s red Jeep whizzed past me and onto the street.

“Hey.” I waved the gray leather purse in the air. “Wait.”

When he didn’t stop, I hoofed it over to the Lexus. You can’t believe the stares an old lady gets sprinting down the block. “What, you’ve never seen an octogenarian run before?” At least that’s what I’d have said if I hadn’t been so damn winded. I guess I shouldn’t have given up my gym membership.

Once behind the wheel, I peeled out onto the street and in the direction that Danny had headed. I finally spotted him two intersections up, stopped at a light. Traffic was heavier than usual so early in the afternoon. I tried to weave up into a better position next to him, but couldn’t catch a break.

When a spot opened beside me, I cut into the next lane and floored the sedan. Two car lengths behind Danny and I was digging in my purse for my cell. Maybe if I hadn’t been looking down, I’d have noticed the light in front of me changing. That and the police car on the cross street. I will say he had no trouble seeing me. And once he turned on the colorful flashing lights, there was no mistaking him anymore.

I pulled over and watched Danny’s Jeep get farther and farther away.

“Double damn.”

I snatched my wallet from my purse, rolled down the window and waited. It wasn’t until the uniformed officer came to my door and said, “License and insurance please,” that I realized I was in deep, deep doo-doo.

“Well, you see...”

* * *

A couple of hours in the Fort Worth Police lockup and I’d earned a new respect for the Peytonville PD cages. They were vastly more private. And it didn’t take three hookers and a swearing biker chick to convince me. They also smelled worlds better; I hazarded a glance at the offending biker chick.

“Bitch, keep your eyes to yourself.”

I nodded and looked anywhere that wasn’t at Matilda—her name was stitched on the front of her leather vest. As well as tattooed on her well-honed biceps. I have to tell you, it was darn hard not looking at her, though. She was gorgeous, and minus the tattoo and burly vest, she could be a supermodel.

From my precarious perch on the end of the wooden bench, I made an effort to keep my eyes trained on the bars or the floor. The cell was larger than Peytonville’s. All in all, my tour of holding cells across Texas better be coming to an end very soon. It was becoming tedious.

“Mrs. Eagan?” a young female officer called.

I stood and white-knuckled the bars. “Here. Right here.”

Triple damn. Detective Muldoon stood next to the guard. “That’s not her.” He looked back at the guard, confused and a little bit irritated—his typical expression when he was around me.

I cleared my throat. “Actually, it is.”

His jaw literally dropped to his chest before he regained his composure. “Celeste? What the...”

“I can explain. I swear.” Just get me the hell out of here, I mentally begged.

The corner of his mouth quivered. He gave me a head-to-toe once-over, then squeezed his lips together. He looked like he might just walk away. But if I just had a chance...to explain. To him.

When the policeman pulled me over—because, really, when you hand him a license that has one set of statistics but you’re sitting in a borrowed Lexus that’s not on your insurance card while dressed as an eighty-year-old gray-haired granny, he tends to stop listening—I gave up trying to explain. There was no way to convince him not to drag me in to jail.

To be fair, the arresting officer did drive me to the assisted-living home first to see if they’d lost me. For some reason he wasn’t buying anything I was telling him anyway. When they’d declined to claim me, I was then taken to the downtown Fort Worth precinct where I was fingerprinted—second time in less than a week—and frisked and, despite their only slightly veiled laughter, asked to remove anything that wasn’t real body parts. Wig, padding, fake teeth and all went into a bag and left me drooping.

Still, they didn’t ask many questions. Which makes one wonder how often they see this.

I didn’t want to call Levi. The “I told you so” would have never ended. Colin, oh God, I couldn’t tell him. He was watching Paige and I’d sworn to her I wouldn’t end up in jail again. What a liar I am. Plus, I did not want Colin to see me like this. As I contemplated who else I could call, an officer found Muldoon’s number wedged between my Macy’s card and a doctor’s appointment reminder. I asked them not to call Muldoon, but I got the impression they’d rather pawn me off to a different police department. Rude.

The guard came to the cell, keys in hand. For a long moment she just stared at me, then she unlocked the cell and released me. As I passed, she whispered, “Girl, you have your hands full with that one.” She all but purred.

If Muldoon hadn’t been standing with his hands on his hips and those killer brows smashed down tight over his eyes, I might have asked what she meant by that, but truth be told, I didn’t think I wanted to know. And I was more than ready to put as much distance between me and any uniformed law enforcement personnel. Matilda waved her fist at me when I glanced back over my shoulder.

A shudder ripped through me as I turned to Muldoon. “I don’t even know where to begin.”

Muldoon took hold of my elbow. “Let’s keep the confessions to nil until we get to my car, please.”

“Your car? I appreciate you getting me out, but—”

“They towed your car, whoever’s car that was.” He waved a sheet of paper at me. “So unless you want to walk back to Peytonville...”

“I uh, no, thank you. I appreciate the ride.”

We stopped and gathered my belongings. Neither of us spoke through the halls and the parking garage of the downtown precinct. It was the quietest ten minutes I’d had in a long while. Finally, we were nestled away in his car—a black Camaro. Of course he drove a Camaro. The inside smelled of leather and Muldoon. I closed my eyes and breathed in the comforting fragrance. It would be so easy to get lost in the cocoon of Muldoon, even if it was just his car. And only briefly.

So close to succumbing to a little nap, I opened my eyes and sat up straighter as Muldoon drove through downtown Fort Worth. The soft, lulling rock song on the radio transitioned to head-banging grind and ruined whatever moment I might have imagined—or hoped for.

Muldoon sighed. “Can I take a guess? You went to talk to Danny Eems to see why he contradicted your claim that he was at the school the other night.”

“How’d you...”

“I am a detective, Celeste.” He reached over and turned off the radio. “You were picked up a few blocks from his building. You’re dressed like—” he took his eyes off the road and glanced at me for a moment “—a bag lady?”

“A granny. You’d had to have seen the whole outfit for the full effect.” I shook the bag with my fanny pad, wig and teeth. “Since he lives next to the nursing home, I thought I could pop in and get him talking.”

“Did it work?”

“I’d just missed him.” I dropped my gaze to my lap. “I saw his Jeep—the little prick nearly ran me over, no respect for the elderly, I tell you. Anyway, I was following him. When I got pulled over for running through a light.”

“Hmm. That wasn’t the brightest thing to do, you know. You could have...” Muldoon jerked the wheel and pulled off to the side of the road and up to the curb in front of an office building.

“Figures you can find a parking spot on a Friday afternoon.” I tried to joke but my throat was suddenly dry.

“Stop, Celeste.” A horn blared behind us as he slammed the car into park and shut off the engine.

I gripped the bag in my lap tighter. “Okay. Sorry.”

“Look at me.”

I turned my face to his but didn’t meet his gaze. Muldoon snagged my chin and tilted my face up higher. “In the eyes. Look at me.”

I did.

He narrowed his gaze at me. “Goddamn, Celeste. The weird-looking guy? At the coffee house?” He released my face. “I knew there was something familiar.” He slammed his fists on the steering wheel. “For someone who claims to be innocent, you’re not doing yourself any favors here. What were you thinking?”

“That Kelsey and Danny lied. And I wanted to know why. Because I
did
see them up at the school.” I took a deep breath. “I didn’t do anything wrong but I don’t know how to prove it. I don’t even know what was stolen from the school. But I can tell you Kelsey told me she wasn’t at the coffeehouse last night—and by me I mean the ‘weird’ guy me.” I used finger quotes when I said
weird
. Anything to keep from fidgeting in front of Muldoon. “And for the record, not weird at all. Distinguished. She was digging on him. Me. Whatever.

“But that’s not the point.” I waved my hand. “Before I could get any info, you showed and started questioning her. She told
you
she was there. I’d bet if you asked, the folks there would say they saw her because when you frequent a place, people just assume you’re there.”

I shook my head. “And before you ask, I know this because a few years ago I broke my leg and missed two weeks from the Grind Effects I frequent. When I showed up on crutches, no one even knew I’d been gone, they just assumed it was same old same old and couldn’t have been more surprised to see me with a cast.” I ran my fingers through my hair.