Where There's Smoke (15 page)

Since Jody had obviously influenced her, her lack of style was no surprise.
 
But even Jody's clothing made more of a fashion statement than Janellen's.
 
She was downright dowdy.
 
Her severe hairstyle was sorely unflattering.
 
It was as though she worked at making herself unattractive so that she would go unnoticed and remain in the large shadow that Jody cast.

Key brought up the rear.
 
Unlike his mother, he didn't march down the aisle undeterred.
 
He stopped frequently along the way to swap greetings and anecdotes with people he obviously hadn't seen in a while.
 
Lara picked up snatches of these friendly exchanges.

"As I live and breathe!
 
It's Key Tackett!"

"Hey, Possum!
 
You ugly son of a bitch, how's life treating you?"

While someone named Possum was expounding upon his successful feed and fertilizer business, Key happened to glimpse Lara.
 
When he did a double take, her stomach muscles tightened.
 
They held each other's stare until Possum, so nicknamed no doubt because he bore an unfortunate resemblance to the marsupial, asked him a direct question.

"Sorry, what?"
 
Key pulled his stare away from Lara, but not before Possum and others sitting nearby noticed who had momentarily captured his attention.

"Uh, I said .
 
. ."
 
Possum was so busy shifting his beady eyes between Lara and Key that he couldn't restate his question.

Thankfully, the high school principal chose that moment to approach the lectern on the stage.
 
He spoke into the microphone.
 
It was dead.

After fiddling with the controls, he blasted everyone's eardrums with,

"Thank y'all for coming out tonight."
 
He finally adjusted the volume and repeated his welcome.

Key promised to meet Possum the next day for a beer, then joined Jody and Janellen in the front row where the mayor had saved seats for them.

The meeting got under way, the school principal presiding.
 
He introduced the Fergus Winston family, who emerged as a unit from behind the gold velvet curtains.
 
Lara observed them with interest.

The teenage girl, who was introduced as Heather, seemed mortified to be seen with her parents in such a public arena.
 
Mrs. Winston didn't appear to be on the verge of collapse as the school principal's solemn tone suggested.
 
A picture of health, she was fairly bursting with vitality.
 
The stage lights made her red hair look like flames.
 
She demurely slid her hand into the crook of her husband's elbow.

Lara instantly distrusted her.

Fergus was a tall man with a perpetual stoop.
 
Thinning gray hair inadequately covered his pointed, balding head.
 
There were deep laugh lines around his wide mouth, but he wasn't smiling as he took the high school principal's place behind the lectern and gave his account of their harrowing experience.

By angling slightly to her left, Lara could see Key Tackett in the chair next to his sister's.
 
His elbows were propped on the armrests, and he was tapping his steepled fingers against his lips.
 
His anklethe one he'd sprained-was propped on the opposite knee.
 
He was slouching in his seat, and his eyes moved restlessly about as though he was finding the proceedings exceedingly dull, as eager for them to conclude as a young boy in church.

Lara looked again toward the stage and saw that she wasn't the only one watching Key.
 
Mrs. Winston had him locked in her sights, too.
 
Her expression was sly, almost smug.

"Well, that's all I've got to tell y'all," Mr. Winston concluded,

"except to say to be on the lookout for any suspicious characters, any strangers around town, and to report any unusual happenings to the sheriff."
 
To applause, he relinquished the microphone to the sheriff.

Elmo Baxter was a slovenly man who moved with the speed of a slug and had the world-weary expression of a basset hound.
 
"I preciate Fergus and Darcy sharing their experience."
 
He shifted his weight.
 
"But don't y'all get the fool notion of sleeping with a loaded gun under your pillow.
 
If you see signs of a break-in or notice a stranger hanging around your neighborhood, report it to my office.

Me or Gus'll check it out using proper police procedure.

"Don't go taking the law into your own hands, y'all hear?
 
Now, me and the city council decided we need a Crime Watch committee like they have in big cities.
 
This committee would organize folks in the different neighborhoods to keep a lookout on goings-on and help everybody stay informed.
 
Naturally it'll need a chairman.
 
I'll take nominations now."

"I volunteer myself," Darcy Winston announced in a clear, loud voice.

She received a burst of applause.
 
Fergus squeezed her hand and looked down at her with naked adoration.

"And I'd like for Key Tackett to serve as co-chairman," Darcy added.

Key jerked to attention.
 
His boot landed hard on the floor, and Lara saw him wince.
 
"What the hell did she say?"
 
Everybody laughed at his stunned reaction.
 
"I don't even live here anymore.
 
Besides, what do I know about committees?"

The amused sheriff tugged on his elongated earlobe.
 
"I reckon knowing about committees isn't a requirement, but if a man ever knew about taking care of hisself, it's you.
 
Right, Jody?"

She looked across Janellen at her son.
 
"I think you ought to do it.

Since when have you performed a community service?"

"Since he led the fighting Devils to the state championship!"

Possum leaped into the center aisle and began waving his hands high over his head.
 
"Let's hear it for the fearsome number leven, Key Tackett!"

Others stood and joined the cheering.
 
Antsy children used the interruption as an opportunity to escape their parents.
 
Rowdy teens gave one another high fives as they raced for the exits.
 
Regaining control was out of the question, so Sheriff Baxter placed his lips close to the mike and said, "All in favor say aye."
 
Motion carries.

Y'all are dismissed.
 
Be careful driving home."

Lara was swept along into the aisle.
 
Standing on tiptoe, she was able to see Darcy Winston imperiously motioning for Key to join her on the stage.
 
She looked like a woman fully capable of shooting a fleeing lover in order to prevent getting caught with him.
 
There was calculation in her perpetually pursed lips and tilted eyes.

"Excuse me.

Lara responded to the polite request coming from behind her and stepped aside, then turned to apologize for dawdling.
 
She came eye to eye with Janellen.

Janellen was caught in a hesitant smile that quickly turned into a small, round 0 of dismay.
 
Unabashedly she gaped at Lara.

"Hello, Miss Tackett," Lara said politely.
 
"Excuse me for blocking the aisle."

"You're .
 
. . you're "I'm Lara Mallory."

"Yes, I .

Even if Janellen could have formed an appropriate response, Jody gave her no chance to speak.
 
"What's the holdup, Janellen?"
 
When she too noticed Lara, her expression hardened with malice.

"At last we meet, Mrs. Tackett," Lara said, extending her right hand.

Jody acknowledged neither her outstretched hand nor the greeting.
 
She only nudged her daughter forward.
 
"Move along, Janellen.

I suddenly feel the need for some fresh air."

For several moments, Lara was immobilized by Jody's angry stare.

But the chance meeting hadn't gone unnoticed, and soon she became aware of the studious avoidance of the crowd.
 
Self-consciously she retracted her right hand.
 
As she moved up the aisle, she was given a wide berth.

She might as well have had leprosy.
 
No one even looked at her.

At the exit, she paused and glanced back at the stage.
 
Key had joined Mrs. Winston there.
 
Scornfully, Lara turned away.
 
They deserved each other.

Since Darcy was about as subtle as a carnival barker, Key was given no choice but to join her on stage.
 
After making such a production of flagging him up there, it would have aroused curiosity if he hadn't heeded her request.

As he had moved toward the stage, he had tried to locate Lara Mallory in the crowd, and was shocked to see her talking to his mother.

He watched as Jody spurned her handshake and brusquely herded Janellen up the aisle.
 
To her credit, Dr. Mallory didn't quail or lose her composure.
 
She didn't burst into tears or shout epithets at their retreating backs.
 
Instead she held her head high as she moved gracefully toward the exit.

Key was tempted to charge after her and do what?

Ask her why she had picked on his brother when there were thousands of randy young bucks in Washington, D.Cjust itching to get laid?

See if she could clarify for him the haunting circumstances surrounding his brother's death?

Demand that she leave town by dawn, or else?

He would look like a damn fool and he didn't want to give her that satisfaction.
 
Besides, he had a matter to settle with Darcy.
 
Best to get that out of the way before tackling another crisis.

He climbed the steps to the stage.
 
"Just what the hell are you up to, Darcy?"

"Hi, Key!"
 
She was all smiles, and, despite his angry scowl, she manipulated him into an introduction.
 
"Have you met my daughter?

Heather, this is Mr.
 
Key Tackett."

"Hello, Mr. Tackett."
 
The girl spoke politely, but she obviously had other things on her mind.
 
"Tanner's waiting for me," she told her mother.
 
"Can I go now?"

"Come straight home."

"But everybody's going out to the lake."

"At this time of night?
 
No."

"Mother!
 
Everybody's going.
 
Please."

The stare Darcy fixed on Heather conveyed unspoken warnings.

"Be home by eleven-thirty.
 
Not a second later."

Heather protested sulkily.
 
"Nobody else has to come in that early."

"Take it or leave it, young lady."

She took it.
 
After bidding Key an obligatory goodbye, she joined a handsome young man waiting for her in front of the stage.

While Darcy had been arguing with Heather over the girl's curfew, Key had been watching Lara Mallory's solitary progress up the aisle.

There was something very noble about her carriage.
 
Before she went through the exit, she turned and looked toward the stage.

"Key?"

"What?"
 
Only after the doctor disappeared did he turn his attention back to Darcy.
 
Having followed the direction of his gaze, she too was focused on the exit doors at the rear of the auditorium.

"So, our scandalous new doctor put in an appearance tonight," she remarked cattily.
 
"Have you had the honor of making her acquaintance?"

"Fact is, l have.
 
She patched me up after you shot me."
 
Key got a kick out of wiping off Darcy's complacent smile.