Steamed to Death (26 page)

Mertz was coming toward them, his face as black as a storm cloud.

Chapter 24

Gigi didn’t know what to do, so she closed her eyes again, crossed her fingers and wished with all her might that some fairy godmother would transport her somewhere else—anywhere else. Antarctica in a blizzard would be preferable to seeing the hurt radiating from Mertz’s eyes.

Mertz stopped shy of Gigi and Declan. “I heard someone in a red MINI had gone off the road. I thought it might be you.” He sounded breathless, as if he’d been running, and Gigi could see the muscle jumping in his cheek. “If anything happened to—” He bit the words off abruptly.

Declan looked back and forth between the two of them. “It looks like you’re in good hands. I’ve got to get back to the restaurant. I came out for some salt. Believe it or not, we ran out.”

Both Gigi and Mertz were silent as they watched Declan make his way toward his SUV parked at an angle off the road behind Gigi’s crumpled MINI.

Mertz sighed. “What happened? When I heard that someone in a red MINI had been involved in an accident, I . . .” He wiped a hand across his eyes and took another deep breath. “Are you all right?”

Gigi nodded. “I’m fine.” She gestured toward the ambulance, whose crew was hovering. “I don’t think I’ll be needing that.”

“It would be a good idea to get checked over. You never know. Your neck, your back could be affected. Might not show up for days.”

It was the same thing Declan had said, but Gigi didn’t mention that. “Sure,” she said to reassure Mertz. “I’ll let them have a look.”

Mertz nodded, satisfied. “I didn’t mean to interrupt you and your . . . boyfriend.” Mertz said the word as if it burned the inside of his mouth. “I apologize.” He stared at his feet.

“He’s . . . he’s not my boyfriend. I hardly know him. He came along in back of me, and I guess . . . I guess I kind of lost it for a minute there.”

“Oh.” A smile lit Mertz’s face.

Just then one of the EMTs came over. He had a stethoscope draped around his neck and a clipboard in his hand. “Sorry, miss, but we need to check you out before we take off.”

Gigi succumbed to his ministrations and allowed him to take her blood pressure, temperature and pulse. He gently felt her neck and up and down her back. “I’d feel better if you let us take you in for an X-ray or a CAT scan.”

Gigi looked imploringly at Mertz, but he shook his head in assent.

“Fine.” Gigi allowed them to strap her to a gurney. “But what about my car? And what about Reg?” she said on a note of panic.

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of the car, and if you’ll give me your keys, I’ll drop Reg off at your place.” Mertz squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. He glanced toward the spot where her cheerful red MINI was tangled with the guardrail. “It looks like there’s damage to the fender, but I’m guessing it can be repaired. Of course, you might be riding a bike in the meantime.” A broad grin cut a swath across his face. “At least it will be easy enough to park.”

Gigi started to laugh but then realized that it hurt. Her ribs, in the area where her seat belt would have been, felt slightly bruised.

“If you’re ready?” The EMT looked from Gigi to Mertz and then back again.

He was about to pick up the back end of the gurney when Mertz stopped him.

He leaned over Gigi. “If you wouldn’t mind quickly telling me what happened. I gather you threw a tire?”

Gigi nodded. “I had them rotated last month at Smith’s, and it looks like one of the workers forgot to tighten the lug nuts.”

Mertz shook his head, grim-lipped. “Someone might have done this on purpose. To stop your investigating.”

Gigi felt her breath catch in her chest. That had never occurred to her. What if the murderer had been rattled? And they’d decided to scare her off . . . or worse, do away with her? She shivered.

“Leave the investigating to me from now on, okay?”

“Okay,” Gigi said, her voice coming out breathless and very tiny.

The EMT once again began to hoist the end of the gurney, but once again, Mertz stopped him. He leaned over Gigi for a moment and then quickly bent and kissed her cheek.

Mertz turned to the EMT. “Take care of her, okay?”

The EMT nodded and sketched a brief salute before loading Gigi into the ambulance.

• • •

It was midnight by the time Gigi was released from the Woodstone ER with a clean bill of health. She had a couple of bumps and bruises—or hematomas, in the parlance of the ER—but nothing more serious. Except for an overwhelming case of the heebie-jeebies. The idea that the murderer might have been trying to . . . kill . . . her, left her hyperventilating. She’d been thinking about nothing more than getting back home to her cozy cottage, and now the very thought scared her nearly half to death.

Oliver came to pick her up at the hospital. He offered to stay with her, but once Gigi saw her home, the windows lit with welcoming light, and heard Reg’s bark carrying on the cold night air, she felt her fears dissipate. She reassured Oliver that she would be okay, and rather wearily made her way up the front steps and through the door.

Gigi didn’t wash her face or even brush her teeth, but fell into bed and was immediately deep in sleep.

• • •

When Gigi awoke, light was already streaming through the windows. She didn’t immediately recall the events of the day before, but turning over in bed brought everything rushing back. She groaned softly, and Reg sat up in alarm, his ears high and alert. Gigi reached out and scratched his head.

“It’s all right, boy, I’m a bit sore. Nothing to worry about.”

But life still had to go on. Gigi eased her way out of bed and immediately popped two ibuprofen. That, followed by a hot shower, had her feeling almost as good as new. She just had to be cautious about making any sudden moves.

She brewed a cup of coffee and began work on breakfast for Bea and Madeline. She was trying something new, and she hoped they would like it—quinoa cooked in low-fat milk topped with chopped apples, walnuts and the merest drizzle of maple syrup.

Gigi put the pan on the stove, poured in the milk and quinoa and turned on the burner. While that cooked, she put some walnuts in the oven to toast lightly and began peeling, coring and chopping the apples.

She was thinking over the events of the day before when she realized that Mertz had actually
kissed
her! It had been only a quick peck on the cheek, but then the way he’d told the EMT fellow to look after her . . . Gigi felt her face get warm from the memories.

• • •

Sienna was picking Gigi up to make her early morning deliveries, and then dropping her off at Alice’s. Alice still wasn’t able to drive, so she was loaning Gigi her car until the MINI was repaired. In exchange, Gigi was going to ferry Alice to and from the police station so she could continue her part-time job, albeit with one arm. Alice was positive she would be able to handle it, and Gigi knew how important the income was to her.

Gigi was looking out the window when Sienna arrived. Sienna struggled to get her stomach around the steering wheel and when she’d finally extricated herself, stood for a moment with her hand on her back. She was panting slightly.

Gigi had the door open before Sienna even mounted the steps. Her normally fair complexion was even paler than usual, and the circles under her eyes had deepened to a charcoal hue.

“Are you okay?” Gigi asked in concern.

“Sure.” Sienna stopped on the top step to catch her breath. “Other than that I’m the size of an elephant and about as graceful. I can’t breathe, I can’t sleep, and I haven’t seen my toes in a month.”

It sounded horrendous, and Gigi was surprised to feel a pang of actual jealousy. Would she find her own Mr. Right soon enough to have a baby herself?

“Only a few more weeks to go, and I can’t wait.” Sienna tried to bend down to scratch Reg’s head, but it was impossible. “I wish we didn’t have this huge cloud over our heads. That’s not making it any easier.”

“I’m sure the police will find the killer soon, and you and Oliver can relax.”

Sienna sighed. “I hope so.” She looked at Gigi. “Ready to go?”

“Just a sec. Let me get my meals.” Gigi looked down at Reg. “Sorry, bud, but you’ll have to stay home this time. I’ll be back before too long.”

• • •

Alice’s decade-old Taurus was parked in the driveway when Gigi got there. Gigi looked at it in dismay. How she missed her MINI! But the garage had assured her they would perform the repairs as quickly as possible.

Gigi turned and waved good-bye as Sienna backed out of the driveway, and then she started up the path to Alice’s front door. Flowers on either side of the path had succumbed to the early frost and were lying gray and limp in the garden. Gigi knew Alice was an avid gardener, and it must be killing her to not be able to get out and put her precious plants to bed for the winter.

Alice was ready and waiting when Gigi rang the bell.

“How is Stacy?” Gigi asked tentatively. She didn’t know if it would upset Alice more if she asked about Stacy . . . or if she didn’t.

Alice shrugged and opened the hall coat closet. “I don’t know.” Her voice echoed strangely with her head halfway in the closet. “I’ve called over there a couple of times, and she’s never home.” Alice handed Gigi a tan, belted raincoat, and Gigi held it out for her. “Unless she sees it’s me on the caller ID and doesn’t pick up.” Alice was slightly breathless from struggling into her coat.

Gigi held open the front door.

“I’m dying to get out of the house,” Alice said as she handed Gigi the keys to the Taurus. “If I watch any more daytime television, my brain will rot. I did catch a couple of episodes of
For Better or For Worse
, though. Reruns. I’ll be curious to see how they deal with Felicity’s absence.”

Gigi held the passenger door open for Alice.

Alice got in and grabbed for the seat belt and missed. “Oh, I hate being one-armed!”

Gigi stuck her head in the car and helped Alice fasten the belt. “I wonder if they’re bringing someone else in to take over the part.”

“Could be. I know Vanessa was hoping they would make her role bigger.”

Gigi got behind the wheel, and Alice looked at her with concern. “How about you? How are you doing? I heard about your accident.”

Gigi shrugged it off. “Nothing worse than a couple of bruises.” She pulled out the newspaper clipping she’d found and had tucked in her purse. “Do you know anything about this?” She handed it to Alice.

Gigi waited as Alice read the short piece.

“I do remember that. At the time, a lot of people thought the maid”—she gestured toward the grainy black-and-white photo in the clipping—“had gotten a bum deal. It was just as likely that Derek was the one stealing the money from Felicity’s handbag.”

Gigi nodded slowly. She should have thought of that given Derek’s history. “That woman looks so familiar, but I don’t know why.”

“You weren’t here at the time, so you couldn’t possibly have known her.”

Traffic on High Street was fairly light, and before Gigi knew it, they were pulling up in front of the Woodstone Police Station. The geraniums the Woodstone Garden Club had planted out front were shriveled and wilted.

Alice tut-tutted when she saw them. “They should have swapped those out for some mums weeks ago. If I weren’t being held hostage by this thing”—she gestured toward her casted arm—“I’d do it myself.”

Gigi waited while Alice got her purse and lunch tote together and exited the car. She watched as Alice mounted the front steps. Suddenly the image of Sienna and the dark circles under her eyes flashed across Gigi’s mind. She thought of the blackmail note she’d found but had yet to show to the police. She really should bring it to Mertz. Even though he would most likely pooh-pooh it. Unfortunately, now she was feeling peculiarly shy about seeing him. That kiss he’d given her . . . while only a peck, it had signaled . . . something.

She pulled away from the curb, drove the several dozen feet to the Woodstone Police Station parking lot and pulled in. Gigi found a space in the last row, parked and turned off the engine. She sat for a minute, giving herself a pep talk. She had no right withholding this evidence from Mertz if it could in any way help find Felicity’s murderer. She would have to gather up all of her courage to go in and present it to him. He could dismiss its importance all he liked, but she would have done her duty.

Maybe he won’t be in his office
, Gigi hoped as she got out of the car and locked the doors.

Gigi approached the woman behind the bulletproof glass in reception. She dutifully dialed Mertz’s extension, and they both waited while she listened to the buzzing of the telephone. Gigi crossed her fingers behind her back. She really hoped Mertz wasn’t in. Really. It would be so much easier to leave the note for him to look at later, after she was gone. Long gone.

It was not to be. The woman led Gigi down the hall to Mertz’s office. He was on the telephone but gestured with his chin toward the empty chair in front of his desk. Gigi perched on the edge. She wished she hadn’t eaten breakfast—nerves were gnawing at her stomach.

She looked at Mertz out of the corner of her eye, and he looked nervous, too. That made her feel slightly better.

Mertz finally hung up the phone, and his normally serious face broke into a smile. “You’re looking good. I mean . . .” The color Gigi suspected she’d seen in his face earlier deepened. “I mean, you look none the worse for wear . . . I mean . . . after the accident.” He seemed to realize he was digging himself in deeper and suddenly became quiet.

The silence lengthened, and Gigi grabbed for her purse. She extricated the note she’d found in Felicity’s bathroom and held it toward Mertz as if it were a sacred offering.

“What’s this?” He frowned as he took the ragged piece of paper.

“I found that on the floor in Felicity Davenport’s third-floor bathroom.”

Mertz’s eyebrows shot up.

“I wanted to freshen up, and I didn’t want to use the first-floor powder room because Winchel had guests, and I knew there was a bathroom on the . . .” Gigi realized she was babbling and ground to a halt.