Ring Around the Rosy (18 page)

An eclectic neighborhood, Thayer’s
Crossing was first developed as an upper-middle-class neighborhood with large
lots and fancy homes with lots of gingerbread. It soon changed to accommodate
the laborers in the industrial valley when the wealthy residents moved to the
suburbs.

Susan loved the ornate churches
with soaring towers and onion domes. The area became known as Thayer’s Crossing
after one of the bridges in the area. Now people in the area were afraid to go
out at night. She wanted her safe neighborhood back.

Susan especially loved the old
Victorian style homes in the area. In fact, the whole Victorian era fascinated
her. Maybe she’d do an article on the area. It certainly held a lot of interest
for her. If she had to write “fluff pieces,” at least she could do one about
something she enjoyed.

If she believed in reincarnation,
she would have thought Thayer’s Crossing was part of her previous life. Funny,
Clare also had a fascination for Victorian, even buying antiques of the period.

Susan envied Clare’s ability to
hunt down the pieces, going to auctions and visiting antique stores and flea
markets. Of course, Clare had the time and the means to do it, not having to
support herself, and Steve provided well. Kate, the total opposite, liked the
sleek new modern look. Funny, Susan thought, how the sisters were so different.

“Hey Susan,” someone yelled as she
walked along, oblivious to everyone around her. So absorbed in the renovation
projects and the autumn colors, she had forgotten what Dave said about being
observant. Normally, her writer’s eye took in the surroundings as well as the
people.

Greg came up alongside her,
carrying a bag of groceries. “I see you were at Meliti’s, too.”

Susan nodded; glad they were
almost to her apartment. She didn’t feel like talking. She hurried along with
Greg at her side.

“I was wondering,” he said. “If
you’d like to have dinner with me sometime.”

Why were men so interested in
asking her out all of a sudden? Had she blossomed into a raving beauty
overnight or something? First Ray, now Greg. Darn, she hated being put in this
position. He probably wanted to pump her about the murders, too.

“I’m sorry. I’m kind of involved
with someone.” The same refusal she gave Ray, only this time, it was true. This
time, she was involved with Dave. Susan gave him her most winning smile. Who
would’ve thought she’d be able to say that twice in one month, or at all for that
matter.

Who would’ve thought she’d find
someone interesting enough to be involved with, or more to the point, someone
who found her interesting enough. It never mattered before — not until Dave. Of
course, Dave wasn’t most men. He was special. And if her scanner came across
with something, especially the murder, Dave became involved, too.

“Oh, are you involved with that
cop that comes around?” Greg looked dejected. “I thought it was just part of
the investigation, although I noticed him leaving at all hours.”

Was Greg watching her? Goosebumps
ran up her spine. She didn’t much like the idea of Greg spying on her.
Grateful, they had reached her apartment and she didn’t have to answer, she
unlocked her door and went inside. Dave sat at her counter.

She looked at her watch. “You’re
early.” She set the groceries down and went into his arms. He seemed tense,
uneasy.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” she
asked as she snuggled against his chest.

“A lot of things, really. I got
reamed out today by my boss for not booking your bracelet into evidence. Now
he’s questioning your innocence. That story did a lot of damage to your
credibility, and the retraction didn’t help. Not to mention your father and the
story the Riverdale Rag ran about you.”

“Shoot.” Susan looked away. How
was this going to affect their relationship?

As if reading her thoughts, Dave
smiled. “You know I don’t believe any of it. But the chief… well, let’s just
say he’s skeptical. Anyway, he pulled me off the case and assigned Greenwood to
it. They’re investigating me.”

“I’m sorry.” Susan didn’t know
what else to say.

“Not that it matters. I have to
leave for a couple of days.” He pulled away and looked into her eyes. “My
mother’s ill. I have to go to Florida.”

Susan’s heart dropped.

What would she do without him?
Lord, what was the matter with her, thinking of herself when Dave looked
worried sick. Not to mention his poor mother.

“I’m sorry. Is it serious?”
 
Susan couldn’t believe something that stupid
came out of her mouth.
  
“I mean, what’s
wrong? How bad is she?”

“Serious enough for me to go. She
might have to have surgery. I’d like you to come with me.”

Susan stared at him. He looked
almost as surprised as her. Had he meant to ask her to go along? Or was this
one of those spontaneous things that surprised him, too? Heck, who cared? She
wasn’t going to think twice about it. He wanted her to go along? She’d go with
him to the ends of the earth. He wanted her with him.

Not long ago, she was single,
unattached, with no perspective males in her life, and happy and content with
that fact. In the past few days, two men had asked her out, and now Dave wanted
her to go to Florida with him. Her heart swelled. There was nothing to prevent
her from going. No pressing feature stories, with the exception of the nursery
rhyme murderer, and she’d like nothing better than to get away from it. Of
course she’d go with him. How could he even doubt that she would?

“We have to leave tonight.” He
took a soda out of the refrigerator. “Since I’m off the case, anyway, there’s
nothing to keep me here. Who knows? Maybe they’ll crack it while we’re gone.
I’ll call the airline and get two tickets.”

“Will the investigation be done by
time we get back? I mean to clear you — put you back on the case?”

“I don’t know. I hope so. There’s really
not much to investigate. Greenwood worked on it with me. He knows you didn’t
have anything to do with these crimes. And it was my call to book the bracelet
or not. After I talked with you, I decided not. I knew you weren’t involved.
How the hell did Hill get hold of that information? Unless Greenwood blabbed.”

“I thought you gave it to him. At
first I thought you still considered me a suspect.”

Dave’s jaw tightened, and Susan
cringed.

“I thought that’s why you were
hanging around.” There, she said it. It was out in the open now.

“A suspect? You’re kidding,
right?” He stared at her. Just for a moment, Susan saw something flash in his
eyes. Distrust? Suspicion? She wasn’t sure.

“Susan, I...” He pulled her to him
and kissed her instead, squelching all her fears.
 
“Get packed. I’ll be back in an hour.”

Susan called her mother, sisters,
and Ernie so they wouldn’t worry.

“You’re going where, with whom?”
Her mother’s voice reeked with surprise and skepticism. “I didn’t know you were
seeing anyone seriously, Susan. How long have you been seeing this man and why
didn’t you tell us about him?”

Susan detected the hurt and
disappointment in her mother’s voice.

“Actually, you did meet him, Mom,
at the hospital with Dad. And until recently, there hasn’t been anything to
tell.”

“Is that the nice policeman that
came to the hospital with you?”

Susan laughed at the hopeful
inflection in her mother’s tone after hearing that she was going to meet Dave’s
parents.

“I’d like to talk longer, Mom, but
I really need to pack. Kisses to you and Dad, and I’ll see you when I get
back.” She ended the call and hung up.

Kate and Clare were almost as bad,
hurt that she hadn’t shared her good news with them.

If Susan had known there was good
news, she definitely would have shared it with them. Heck, she’d have shouted
it from the rooftops. But this just came up, and... and what, she wondered. Why
did Dave want her to go along?

Was it because he cared about her?
Or was this because he didn’t want to leave her at the mercy of the killer? No
matter, she was going. Wild horses couldn’t stop her, especially after that
last kiss. Something was building between them, and she wanted to explore it
further.

She packed quickly and waited for
Dave to pick her up. It was going to be great getting away for a few days. The
tension from everything that happened lately really frayed her nerves. She only
wished it was a pleasure trip, and hoped Dave’s mother would be okay. She
wasn’t sure she could handle another tragedy.

Dave said it had something to do
with her heart. She shot off a quick prayer for his mother, and another that
Dave’s partner would catch the murderer while they were away. Nothing would
please her more.

Ernie hadn’t liked the idea of her
trip, either. “Who’s going to cover the story while you’re gone? You’re the
main connection.”

Susan laughed at the irony of it.
First he had assigned it to someone ‘more experienced’ and even fired her, now
he relied on her for the coverage. “Assign it to Hill,” she said, and hung up.

She didn’t mean to feel smug about
it, but she couldn’t help it. If Hill found out about the police investigating
her, he’d have a field day with it. Thank God, she wouldn’t be around to see
those headlines. But her parents would, and so would her sisters. She should probably
tell them about it, but she didn’t want to deal with it yet. Besides, Dave
would be here any minute. For the next couple of days, she didn’t want to think
about any of it.

* * *

Dave hurried back to Susan’s
apartment, whistling. What prompted him to ask her to go along, he’d never
know. The words flew out of his mouth before he even had time to think. But
heck, why not? If she went with him, he wouldn’t have to worry about her back
here alone.

Besides, he wanted her to meet his
family. Well, he sort of did. He knew they’d make a big deal about it. He’d
never brought a woman to meet them before. Susan had looked so… What was the
word? Relieved? Excited? He couldn’t let her know he’d just made the decision.
He took out his cell phone and, fortunately, booked her on the same flight and
in the next seat.

It bothered him that she thought
he’d given that information to Hill. Dave could see by the look on her face she
didn’t completely trust him. Okay. Maybe at first, he could understand it, but
not now. Didn’t she know him better than that? Didn’t she know that he cared
about her? Didn’t his actions speak louder than words? When he kissed her, she
had relaxed against him. Just that small action assured him she understood. He
had hated to pull away, but they needed to get going.

He knocked on her door instead of
using the key she gave him. Why, he wasn’t sure. Maybe he still felt the need
to put some distance between them. The idea almost made him laugh. If he had
his way, there wouldn’t be any distance between them at all.

He didn’t like the way his mind
pulled him back and forth, but he didn’t have time to analyze it further,
because she opened the door.

“Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

Dave followed her inside and
picked up her bag. “Just what I like — a girl who packs light.”

Chapter Fifteen

Susan sighed when the plane landed
smoothly onto the runway at the Fort Myers Airport. She hated flying, except
when necessary, at times like this, and the benefit of traveling over a
thousand miles in just a couple of hours — a trip that took a couple of days by
car.

“My brother, Rudy, is supposed to
meet us. Hopefully he’ll be here, and we won’t have to wait,” Dave said.

 
Her stomach flip-flopped as they neared the
time she was to meet his family. When she accepted the invitation, meeting
Dave’s parents and family, especially at a time of illness, hadn’t crossed her
mind. The thought of Dave wanting her with him, and getting away from the whole
mess of murder, secret admirers, and investigations was uppermost in her mind.
The reality of it hit her on the plane only minutes before they landed.

Dave had talked nonstop about his
family, apparently nervous, himself, and contributed to her jittery mood.

What would they think of Dave
bringing a total stranger to meet them at a time like this? Heck, what would
they think of her at all? Had he told them about her? More to the point, what
had he told them? How would his mother feel about her son bringing someone to
meet her under these conditions?

A man, looking enough like Dave to
be his twin, approached them as they walked through the airport.

He embraced Dave with a bear hug.
Susan stood back amused at the distinct disadvantage Dave had, because both his
arms were at his side, a suitcase in each hand. The poor guy looked helpless.

Susan almost laughed aloud. Never
had she thought of big, strong Dave as helpless. The luggage fell to the floor
as Dave’s brother squeezed him in a grip that soon turned into horseplay.
Punching each other in the arms, the brothers obviously enjoyed their playful
teasing. She enjoyed watching the lighthearted, family affection. She finally
coughed to draw Dave’s attention.