Strung Out to Die (12 page)

The wind started up a little more, and the trees began to sway more violently. 

“Who is that?” Bernadine pulled her glasses out of her pocket and put them on. “It sorta looks like…”

Suddenly, the moon came out from behind a cloud and lit up the lakeshore as bright as day.

“No.” Flora gasped in disbelief, as one of the shadows stepped into the moonlight.

The silence of our little group was absolute as we watched full-figured Marlene stomp back to her car, leaving the two others angrily screaming at her from the dock. 

“Marlene?” Ginger looked over at me with a questioning look in her eyes.

Sure, there were some things about Marlene that we didn’t know. Like how both her husbands had died, or where she was from, or if she’d ever had a job other than the part-time one I’d given her at the shop. Okay, there was a lot of stuff we didn’t know about her, but she seemed to fit in with everyone. Everyone that is, except for Ginger. Even though Ginger was my best friend, that wouldn’t Marlene any reason to leave a threatening note for me or frame me for murder.

Cheri grabbed hold of my shirt and pulled me back out of view. The other two women at the dock waddled back to their car.

“I know them,” I whispered to the Divas when Marlene’s headlights passed over them.

Flora, Ginger, Cheri, and Bernadine asked in unison, “Who are they?”

Cheri’s eyes grew wide and her mouth formed an O as her jean jacket pocket started singing
Don’t Be Cruel
.

“Shhh!” The rest of us didn’t realize how loud we were being.

“Who’s there?” One of the two women shouted from the car and pointed the flashlight into the woods. “Who’s there?”

Instantly, we took off running. I had a sharp pain in my side from being out of shape. I used to be able to run that distance with no problem, but I couldn’t seem to catch my breath. I didn’t look back until we were halfway to the cottage. There were branches breaking underfoot behind me.

Flora emerged from the trees with her heels under her arm. Bernadine was right behind her and looked like a modern day version of a Greek goddess with leaves sticking out from her hair. They were followed by a tangled mass of scarves flowing in the wind, and I knew Ginger had to be in there somewhere. Bringing up the rear was the ever-so-cool Cheri with her beret perched on her head like a bird’s nest.

“ Holly, I’m so sorry.” Cheri bent down trying to catch her breath. “I totally forgot my phone was on.”

“Who were those women and why was Marlene with them?” Flora asked.

“Did Marlene write that note?” Bernadine asked, pushing Cheri’s hair back up in her barrette. She had apparently forgotten we were on a stakeout and not on a runway.

I put my finger to my lips and motioned for them to follow me. I didn’t hear any sounds of movement, and was sure the women couldn’t have caught up to us. I wasn’t sure if the coast was clear, but we made it into the cottage and plopped down on the couches without turning any lights on.

I parted the curtain just as a pair of headlights passed by, and I figured it was the two women leaving. I flipped on the light and instantly began screaming along with the other Divas.

“Really? This is what the oh-so-great divorced Divas do at their meetings?” Sean was sitting at the kitchen table with a smug look on his face.

“No, don’t kill us!” Bernadine grabbed Flora whose phone was pressed up against her ear. “Call 911, Flora.”

“I’m not going to kill anyone.” Sean laughed.

“Why should we believe you?” Ginger asked and hid behind Bernadine who was hiding behind Cheri. Cheri was barely visible behind Flora, but I knew she had her keys in her fist.

“Did you kill my brother?” Ginger squeaked out her question.

“Hang up the phone.” I said to Flora and then turned back to Sean. “Why are you here and sitting in the dark?”

The Divas were piled on top of each other like Keystone cops and standing still as posts. There wasn’t a single twitch. This was the first time I’ve seen the Divas go more than one second without saying a word.

“Girls, he hasn’t killed anyone, and he isn’t going to tonight. Right?” I said and looked for confirmation from Sean.

“Right. I just needed to talk to Holly, and I saw the suburban outside. I didn’t know who it belonged to, so I let myself in and waited in the dark.” He never took his eyes off the Divas. “I didn’t want someone calling the police if they noticed the lights were on and Holly’s bug wasn’t here.”

He did have a point. If I would’ve come home and saw that my lights were on, I would’ve driven right back into town to the police station. Maybe I should get a cell phone.

“Where is your car?” Cheri asked.

Flora nodded her head like a bobbing buoy, “Yeah, good point. Where is it?” She pointed her slender finger with the big diamond from her ex-husband in his direction.

“I parked it up the hill, off the road.” He got up and the Divas stepped back, still holding onto each other. “Listen, I’m outta here. Call me tomorrow so we can talk.”

I put my hand up. Doug’s murder and our sneaking around had stirred up a little too much excitement for everyone.

“You should stay. They were leaving anyway.” My eyebrows lifted and I made a zipper motion across my lips. “We can talk tomorrow.”

“What about Marlene?” Ginger whispered to me on the way out.

“I’ll be right back.” I told Sean and followed them out to Bernadine’s truck.

The night was black as coal, and there was a new chill in the air. Soon, the night fog would be rolling in and it would be nearly impossible to drive in. Sean and I could talk, and I’d have Bernadine drive me to the shop in the morning before her yoga class.

“Don’t say a word to anyone about what we saw here tonight.” I had to sort through what I knew about Marlene and try to piece some things together.

“I knew Marlene was no good from the moment I set eyes on her. I bet she offed my brother too,” Ginger said, looking angry.

“Uh-huh.” The divas all agreed with Ginger.

It was no secret that Marlene wanted Doug any way she could get him. But did she really want him dead?

They didn’t have to say it, but I know they were curious about why Sean, who left a very bitter taste in my mouth, was making himself all too comfortable in the cottage.

I didn’t stay to watch them pull out. I was freaked out enough and wanted that night to be over. Sean was sitting on the couch with Willow curled up next to him, snoring. She didn’t mind all the ruckus as long as she could sleep.

“What were you
divorcees
up too?” He drug out the word he secretly hated.

When we were going through the divorce, he’d never say it. He thought “split-up” sounded better—better for his lying, cheating heart.

“It’s really none of your business.” I said. “How did you get in here?”

He flipped my spare key at me. “Pig’s mouth.”

Damn
, I forgot that I’d had to call him from the shop a few weeks ago and asked him to let Willow out. She was recovering from a bellyache, and taking care of a sick pig was just as bad as taking care of a sick kid.

“Why are you here, Sean?” I opened the door, went outside, and put the key back in the ornamental concrete pig’s mouth. I was going to have to find a new hiding spot, but this was not the night for it.

“So, are you trying to frame me, Hol?” He asked.

I hated when he used that shortened version of my name. Especially when the lighting in the cottage was making his green eyes sparkle more than usual.

“Well?” He asked again. “Are you?”

Frame him?

“You really think I’d be stupid enough to kill someone in my own shop, using my own inventory? And you don’t have the right to call me Hol anymore.” I rolled my eyes at his stupidity. “Now, you, on the other hand, have many reasons to have killed him in
my
shop with
my
beads.”

“Why is that?” He stood up and crossed his arms.

I rubbed my waistband again. Every time he looked at me, I felt him judging my appearance.

“You weren’t getting any jobs that weren’t clean-ups from Doug’s messes. If he was out of the picture, you’d get all the jobs.” I stormed over and stood nose to nose with him. “Second, if I was in jail, you wouldn’t have to pay alimony.”

He threw his head back and laughed hysterically.

“Why is it that you never take me seriously? You never did when we were married, and now that we’re both suspects, you think it’s a big joke.” I poked him in the chest. “Listen. We are all we got, whether we like it or not.”

“You’ve watched too many episodes of this.” He picked up a Veronica Mars DVD case off the top of the TV. “I think I’ll leave it to the police.”

I nearly jumped out of my skin when the phone rang. I checked the clock. It was after eleven and no one ever called that late.

“Who could that be?” Sean peeked out the window like someone was watching us.

Chills washed over me and I began to shiver.

Letting out a little moan, I cautiously answered the phone in a soft tone, “Hello?”

“Oh my God! Someone has destroyed the shop!” Cheri screamed through the phone, sounding panicked.

I stood speechless for a moment, replaying what I’d heard in my head.

“Hello? Holly?”

Sheer fright swept over me. There was definitely someone after me. So much for a relaxing night after such a crazy day.

Chapter Sixteen

“Do you know who could’ve done this?” Noah asked.

I had called the police on the way over. I’d need a report to file an insurance claim if something was missing or damaged or dead. Just by luck, Noah was on duty.

“Did you do this?” Noah asked me and then turned to Sean.

I was starting to become annoyed with his accusations.

“Yeah, Noah. I took everything I’ve worked to create and just decided to trash the place.” I gestured around the shop.

Sean let out a loud sigh and rolled his eyes. That might’ve been the first time he and Noah had come face to face since the fight that ended their friendship. I never found out what the fight was about. I made a mental note to ask Sean about it.

It wasn’t as bad as Cheri had made it out to sound. The front window was busted out and the tables and chairs had been flipped over. They obviously didn’t want to do more than cause me a headache, because all the beads were left hanging and in the bead bins.

“It just looks suspicious, you know.” He wrote away on the pad of paper like he was really taking notes.

That damn notepad. I secretly wished I could take a look at it.

He glanced up quickly and then looked back down. “To try and throw me off the trail. We find a dead body, and then someone breaks in. It makes it look like you’re trying to clear yourself.”

“When do you think you’ll have the report? I’ll need it to send to my insurance company,” I said.

I wasn’t going to let his accusations bother me. The awning over the shop’s broken window was flapping in the wind, and I wrapped my arms around my body to shield it from the cold night air.

“It’ll be ready tomorrow.” Noah continued to write whatever it was he always wrote on his little pad. “Come by the station around noon.”

Glass crunched under his black shoes as he left. He didn’t bother stepping around it like any normal person would’ve done. I shook my head and wondered if there was any inventory missing. Of course, this would happen the one time I didn’t check the items off the packaging slip.

“Dang,” I muttered as I walked back to the office, hoping Marlene had left the slip sitting on the desk.

I barely caught myself as I tumbled over something.

“You okay?” Cheri asked me.

Sean was outside, sweeping the glass off the stoop.

I flipped on the office light, praying that I didn’t just kick another dead body. Shards of glass glistened all over the desk. I picked up the brick I had tripped over and removed the note that was attached by a rubber band.

“Yes.” I hesitated, wondering if I should tell them about this note. I yelled back, “I’m fine. Just a lot of glass.”

I shut the office door and flattened the note out. If Marlene and the two women had something to do with Doug’s murder and were trying to frame me for it, I wanted to know why. Doing it on my own might be the only way to clear Sean and me.

I read the note slowly, making sure I didn’t miss anything. “I want the bead. What you did tonight only made matters worse.” What bead?

I folded the note up and slipped it into my back pocket. I tugged my elastic up on my jeans and grabbed the extra broom from the storage closet. This was not going to make me close the shop. I was going to remain open no matter what. I didn’t have a choice.

“I went ahead and put up some really strong plastic across the window.” Sean pointed to the front of the shop.

Thank God, he was still at my house and drove his work truck. He always carried the craziest stuff in that truck. “Never know when you’re going to need something,” he’d say. And he was right tonight.

“Great. The office window has a little hole too. Do you think you can put some of the plastic on it?” I asked.

I was careful not to look at him. He was always able to read me and I didn’t want to have to lie about the brick and the note. Marlene had been my friend from the time she joined the Divas and I didn’t want to believe she had something to do with this.

“Too bad you don’t have a security camera,” Sean said.

“Yeah, too bad.”

Maybe it was time I invested in a little more security. Not only for the shop, but also for myself. I admit if someone came up behind me, they’d be able to take me down. Granted, with my extra pounds I could possibly hurt them by falling on them, but I’d much rather be able to protect myself.

“Cheri, are you still taking that karate class at school?” I held the dustpan while she swept the broken glass into it.

“It’s not karate. It’s self defense,” she corrected.

Karate, self defense, it’s all the same when you want to do damage to someone. 

“Are you interested in coming? We’d love to have you,” she said and looked up.

I thought for a second about all the college kids in there and then me. I laughed.