The Reunion (14 page)

“He was in his car, and he says, in his room,” Suzanne answered.

“Do you believe him?” Meghan wondered.
Would I? Probably not. I’d demand an explanation.

“Sure. I think his stash is hidden in the car. Maybe in the trunk somewhere, like the spare tire well.”

Zach raised his eyebrows. “His stash?”

“Coke. He probably grabbed a couple of packets, went to his room, and snorted a line or two.”

“And he wasn’t sharing, right?” Meghan inquired in a cool, but nasty tone.

Suzanne turned a frosty gaze her way. “Look, Miss Goody-Two-Shoes, I don’t do drugs. A little pot in high school, but that’s all. My husband made it real clear that if he ever caught me with anything stronger than a martini, I was history. Besides, drugs are for losers—like Dave Coryell.”

Zach frowned. “So Dave’s a cokehead. It sounds like he might have an alibi after all. The only problem is we don’t have a timeline for any of it.”

“He could have been in the garden, come across Annabelle, thought it was Suzanne, and killed her,” Meghan said, thinking out loud. “Kind of taking advantage of an opportunity.”

“Dave doesn’t have the guts,” Suzanne told them, contempt dripping from her voice. She glanced at her rival and pouted again, curling her fingers around Zach’s wrist and hugging it to her bosom. “At least, I don’t think he does. Oh, Zach, I’m not sure I’ll be able to sleep tonight. Would you come back to my room with me? We can sit and talk. I’d just love to hear how the class computer geek ended up on the Fortune Five Hundred.”

Meghan moved beyond awarding points. She discovered jealousy, once entwined in the soul, was hard to ignore. Suzanne was in serious jeopardy of losing her eyes and most of her hair.

I’m jealous—so jealous I could kill her
. She stifled a gasp at the sudden direction of her thoughts.
Oh, my God! Is that the answer? Is Annabelle dead because of jealousy?

Her mind raced back through the evening. Suzanne had come with Dave, but Meghan hadn’t paid that much attention to the two. Maybe Suzanne, bored when Dave ignored her, had batted those damned eyelashes at the wrong man. Could this be a woman’s crime after all? Could a wife or girlfriend, angry at Suzanne for flirting, have been jealous and pissed enough to kill? And a stun gun was a woman’s weapon. But who?
So many men, so much flirting, and way too much opportunity.

She turned to voice her suggestion just in time to see Zach’s reaction to Suzanne’s flirting. He removed her fingers from his wrist and smiled.

“Suzanne, I’m not interested. I have a date. It’s been twenty years. Grow up. Oh, by the way, the sheriff wanted to talk to you. I suggest you wait here.” He turned to Meghan and smiled. “Would you like another drink?”

“I’d love one.” She pushed back her chair and rose.

Suzanne’s mouth hung open. Then she snapped it shut and glared, but said nothing.

Game, set, and match
.

Chapter Eight

Meghan and Zach walked into the bar holding hands and found a table. Dave was gone. The lounge had also emptied. Instead of the crowd they’d left, she saw less than half the number of people including Eileen, who appeared well on the road to recovery from having found Annabelle. Her voice carried across the room.

“And I can’t begin to tell you how horrified I was when I realized it was a body. I ran like the wind back to the terrace. I just knew the killer was right behind me. I swear I heard him breathing.”

“Looks like Eileen is re-living the drama,” Meghan whispered.

“I’m sure that by the end of the night, she’ll have sold the movie rights,” Zach replied.

The waitress stopped by their table looking as tired as Meghan felt. Zach looked at Meghan. “Don’t know about you, but I’m having coffee.”

“Iced tea sounds good to me.”

The waitress nodded and left.

“Tell me more about stun guns,” she asked. “Aren’t those the things with the long threads attached that police use to subdue unruly suspects?”

“No, those are tasers and in some states are available only to law enforcement or people who are licensed to carry guns. Anyone can buy a stun gun,” he informed her. “Our killer didn’t use a taser. They’re large and hard to conceal. Next to pepper spray, stun guns are the self-defense weapon of choice for women.”

“How powerful are they?”

“They can zap an attacker with anything from twenty thousand volts to a real wallop of over a million.”

“What! My God, the electric chair only sends twenty-five hundred volts. How come the streets aren’t littered with dead bodies?”

Zach smiled. “It’s not the voltage that kills, it’s the amperes—amps.”

“Amps?”

“Volts represent pressure and amps intensity. The higher the amps, the higher the chances of death. Even simple household items can kill, which is why those warning labels about unplugging the device before servicing are slapped all over.”

“I’ve never seen a stun gun. What do they look like?” The weapon both fascinated and repelled her. She made a mental note to incorporate one into a future book.

“They vary. Some can be six to eight inches long and others much smaller. The business end has two protruding electrodes maybe an eighth of an inch long. Jam it against your opponent, press a button, and the gun sends a shot of volts right through clothing. The stronger the voltage, the bigger the zap. Some are disguised as cell phones and I saw one not too long ago that looked like a pen.”

“How do you know all this?” Meghan wondered in amazement.

Zach shrugged. “I’m a technology junkie. A woman in my office bought one. I got curious and investigated on the Internet. I’d say that at two and a half centimeters, this one must resemble a large cigarette lighter. Just the right size to slip into a pocket.”

“What happens when you’re nailed with one? Do you go unconscious?”

“Not necessarily. It’ll tingle and jolt, just like any shock, but the voltage disrupts the body’s electrical impulses. Muscles go into spasm and while your mind might function, you won’t be able to move.”

“Incapacitated,” she murmured. “How long do the effects last?”

“Depends on how long the contact is,” he said. “A quick zap of less than a second wouldn’t last long, but keep it buzzing for four or five and it would be several minutes until you regained full control.”

“I wonder how long Annabelle had to endure it?” she murmured. “Would she have been able to move at all?”

“Maybe, but I doubt it. She was zapped just long enough for the killer to hold her head under water.” Zach’s lips thinned into a firm line.

“How do you keep from zapping yourself?”

“It has an on/off switch.”

She pictured the killer creeping up behind Annabelle, thinking it was Suzanne, sending God only knew how many volts charging through her body, and then drowning her without having ever seen the face of his victim. And Annabelle would be conscious, aware of what was happening, but unable to defend herself until the effects wore off. By then it was too late.

The miserable, cold-blooded bastard. I want to find this guy in the worst way.

She shot a glance toward Eileen and her audience. “Are you ready to tackle our classmates with subtle questions?”

“How do we go about it? One on one or group sessions?”

“Ray’s right. Most people wouldn’t have seen or heard anything. But if we could corner those on the terrace during that time frame, we might be able to uncover new information.”

“The only problem is finding out who was on the terrace. If I’m not mistaken, we were kind of busy.”

Her breath caught remembering his lips and the heat they aroused within her. The other events of the night had almost wiped that from her mind—and Meghan wanted to remember. Oh, yeah. Remember and then some. Maybe repeat the experience later.

She cleared her throat. “Only for the last few minutes. We talked earlier. For instance, I remember Marcella Sanders and her husband walking down the steps into the garden. Elizabeth and Rudy Conrad did the same thing.”

The waitress returned with their coffee and tea. Zach paid, adding a fifty percent tip for the young woman. Meghan’s heart fluttered at the kind gesture. She liked generosity.
Another mark in the plus column for Zach Dunbar
.

Zach sipped his coffee before saying, “So Dave has a cocaine habit and needs money for a floundering business. What if he was checking the trunk of his car for a place to hide stolen goods—like jewelry?”

“He could have had a stun gun in the car, too. Maybe he didn’t realize his mistake until Annabelle was dead.”

Zach frowned and rubbed a hand over his chin. “In which case, he put on a hell of a performance on the terrace later.”

“Damn, I forgot. I don’t think he’s that good an actor.” She lifted her glass of iced tea and drank. “Besides, if he was drunk and high like Suzanne says, then his reaction must have been real.”

“Their exchange at the table when the sheriff left sounds like Suzanne threatened him, maybe more than once. Not a healthy thing given the circumstances. Should we warn her?” Zach asked.

“I imagine Suzanne can take care of herself under normal conditions, but there is a stun gun floating around out there. Maybe we should mention it to her.”

“I don’t think Ray wants that information released yet. I shouldn’t have blown her off. I should have played along and kept tabs on her, at least until she was safely locked in a new room.” He frowned, his eyes showing concern.

Another point in his favor. He’s piling them up tonight. He doesn’t particularly like Suzanne, but is concerned about her. Nice guys are hard to find. I need to hang on to this one.

The object of their discussion walked into the bar, scanned the occupants, and slid onto a stool. She spoke to the bartender who served her immediately.

“I wonder if Ray talked to her about changing rooms,” Meghan said.

“If he hasn’t, he will now,” Zach replied, nodding toward the doorway.

Ray spotted them, strode over, and pulled out a chair.

“How goes it?” Zach questioned.

“It won’t be long now. I don’t think there’s anybody left who can give us anything.”

The waitress paused beside the table. “Get you anything, sheriff?”

“A cup of coffee would be nice. I’m going to need all the caffeine I can get. It’s gonna be a long night.”

She looked at Meghan and Zach. “Anything for the rest of you?”

“I’m fine,” Zach answered.

“Me, too.”

The server nodded and walked away.

“I cornered Dan Masterson, and when I told him he’d been seen on the terrace he changed his story. He admitted going for a walk in the garden to cool off, both physically and emotionally. Suzanne really pissed him off.”

“Enough to kill her?” Meghan wondered.

Ray shook his head. “Not Dan. He’s too conscious of his image to risk anything like that, but I’ll bet he thought about it.” His coffee arrived, and he doctored it with a packet of sugar and two little containers of cream. “From what I’ve heard, Dan wasn’t the only one Suzanne had words with tonight.”

“Well, she never did have a problem speaking her mind,” Meghan told him, sipping her tea.

“One woman walked past the table and heard Suzanne having words with Annabelle.”

“About the dress?” she asked.

Ray nodded. “Suzanne was insulting.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” Zach said. “Dave was ignoring her, and for the first time in her life, she sat alone while others had fun.” He finished his coffee. “If we’d found Dave in the pond, I’d have no problem suspecting Suzanne.”

“She also gave Glory the rough side of her tongue,” Ray told them. “Called Divine a pain in the ass and the reunion boring.”

“So, she’s an equal opportunity insulter,” Meghan stated. “How is that new? She and Tami used to slice and dice everyone.”

Ray eyed her. “Including you?”

“Occasionally. I once stepped on Tami’s foot in gym class. She called me a fat cow. But for the most part, I stayed below her radar.”

“How about you, Zach? Did you ever run afoul of Eddie and Dave?”

“Eddie tried to bribe me once. He wanted me to let him copy the answers during a math test. I refused, and later he gut punched me in the hall. As I recall, Dave just stood there and laughed.”

Ray drank half his coffee in one gulp, rose, and glanced toward Suzanne. “I guess I’d better talk to Mrs. Crocker again. Get her side of the story.”

“Don’t forget to suggest changing rooms,” Zach reminded him.

Ray nodded and sauntered over to the bar.

Meghan finished her tea. “I guess half the graduating class had run-ins with the four of them.”

“Yeah, they thought they had the world by the tail. Hello, Ruth, Gary,” he greeted two classmates who stopped next to him.

“Hello, Zach. Nasty business,” the man said.

“Very nasty.”

“Poor Annabelle,” the woman replied, shaking her head. “I was talking to her just before she left. Suzanne Wayland had made fun of her dress and jewelry earlier, and Annabelle was still upset. Claimed she needed a cigarette. Wish now I’d gone with her.”

“Did you see anyone following her?” Meghan probed. Why not start interrogating classmates now?

“No. I stepped out about fifteen minutes later. Dan Masterson was coming up the steps so fast he nearly knocked me down. Didn’t even apologize. He looked angry,” Ruth answered.

“Masterson’s an arrogant ass,” her husband commented smoothing a hand over his dark hair.

Ruth’s blue eyes filled with tears. “Honey, I’m tired. This reunion has turned out to be less than fun. Let’s go home.”

“I’m with you. Good luck. Hopefully, we’ll meet again under better circumstances.”

Zach waved a hand. “Good to see you, Gary. Goodnight, Ruth.”

“Goodnight. By the way, the two of you look fabulous,” Ruth remarked with a smile.

Meghan accepted the compliment with a nod. “Thanks, Ruth. Take care.”

She watched the couple leave, and then turned to Zach. “So, Dan Masterson was in the garden at the same time as Annabelle.”