Witches of Three_Philomena (12 page)

“Do you know the people who live here?” the police officer asked.

“No, yes. I mean we were acquaintances.”

“Then you’ll have to leave.” He held out his hands as if to corral her from charging forward.

“My sister is Charlie!” Phil rose up on her toes and shouted, waving frantically.

Charlie looked up and started walking toward her. At that moment, a familiar pick-up truck that had been behind her on the road swung into the dirt drive going way too fast and came to a stop mere inches from her car. Beck jumped out and stalked toward her.

“You promised you wouldn’t go off on any more dangerous outings,” he growled at her, his mouth grim.

“I couldn’t help it. Charlie needed me.”

“I needed you?” Charlie had arrived in time to hear her last statement. “What are you doing here, Phil?”

“I saw you driving down this road and I knew you were coming back to Lenny’s trailer. Knowing how he behaved last night, I didn’t want you to face him alone.”

“He wouldn’t have hurt me,” Charlie said. “He won’t hurt anyone ever again. He’s dead. Someone sliced him up pretty bad last night.”

Beck’s grip on her arm tightened and Phil knew he wouldn’t be put off. How to deflect his anger? She felt herself losing it and to her mortification, she keeled over into Beck’s arms.

Chapter Ten

Okay, so she wasn’t that mortified. She’d done it on purpose and Charlie seemed to be on to her. Her sister’s expression registered cynicism and absolutely no concern. Not so with Beck. He cradled her in his arms and laid her back on a grassy spot.

“Phil,” he said urgently, patting her gently on her cheek.

“That won’t do it,” Charlie said and the next thing Phil felt was a stinging slap.

“Ow!” she cried, sitting up and rubbing her cheek while she glared at her sister.

“See, I told you that would work,” Charlie said smugly. Her eyes narrowed into one of her sanctimonious glares she used when she’d bested Phil.

“Darling, are you all right?” Beck asked, pulling her into his arms and rocking her slightly.

Phil relaxed against him and made a face at Charlie. After all was said and done, Phil had a man like Beck in her life and poor Charlie had no one.

At that moment, a tall man in uniform stalked over to them. His hair was black as a raven’s wing and his eyes were frosty blue.

“Spencer, what the hell are you doing here? I thought this was your day off.”

Charlie swung around and actually blushed. Charlie? Blushing? Not in this world, except that she was.

“Hello, Chief.” She tried smiling, but Phil could see it wasn’t working, so Charlie rushed on. “I…I heard the call and thought I’d drive out and see what’s going on,” she stammered. That was another thing, Charlie never stammered.

“Who are all these people? “ His gaze settled on Beck. “What do you have to do with this, Beck?”

“Not a damn thing,” Beck answered in the same hard voice the chief had used.

“This is my sister and her fiancée, Beck Crawford,” Charlie said in a low voice. “And this is Chief Nicholas Hilliard.

“I know Crawford,” the chief said. “What I don’t know is why the hell he’s out here. You mind telling me?”

“I followed Phil out. I was worried about her and about Charlie.”

“Why would you be worried?” Hilliard asked. His handsome face had settled into stern lines.

“Let’s just say I’m a worrier,” Beck answered noncommittally.

“Phil and I drove out here last night,” Charlie said. “We were looking for clues as to who might have killed Diane Crawford.”

Hilliard’s eyes narrowed as he glanced from one to the other.

“You know better than that, Spencer. You can’t go off on your own like that. Who knows, maybe you got Barnes killed with your snooping.” His glance at Beck was telling.

“Where were you last night, Crawford?” he demanded.

“He was home with me,” Phil said hotly.

“We already know you weren’t home last night,” Hilliard snapped. “You were right out here.”

“We didn’t stay long. He had a gun, and he sicced his dog on us.”

“Would that be the same hound you’ve got cowering in the backseat?”

“No, that’s…that’s my dog.”

Hilliard turned his attention to Beck again.

“Don’t leave town,” he advised.

“I don’t plan to,” Beck said stonily.

“As for you, Spencer.” Hilliard turned his attention back to Charlie. “We’re supposed to keep the crime scene uncompromised. We can’t have family reunions whenever we fancy. Now get rid of them and get your fanny out of here. You’re off duty.”

“You can’t talk to her like that,” Phil snapped. “That’s sexism.”

The man turned to confront Phil with such a scowling face that she automatically moved back a space, but Beck was there at her back, his arm going around her protectively.

“You’re damned right,” Hilliard said. “If she were a man, I would have said ass and a lot worse.” He paused and studied Phil then shook his head. “I should have known,” he muttered. “I heard there were three of you.” He turned to Charlie. “When’s the other one due to arrive?”

“I’m sorry, sir. I’ll secure the perimeter.” Charlie waved Phil and Beck away.

“I’ll have someone else do it, Spencer. Just get out of here,” Hilliard snapped.

Phil and Beck headed back to their respective vehicles. Phil could hear Charlie’s boss bawling her out before he finally stalked away. When Charlie joined them, she seemed thoroughly chastised.

“What a jerk!” Phil said.

“He’s not so bad,” Charlie said, although she still looked crest-fallen.

“He was just doing his job,” Beck said and opened Phil’s car door for her. “Can you get away, Charlie?”

“Oh, yeah,” she said with some exasperation.

“Let’s go back to the house and have some of Phil’s tea and talk this over.”

“I have a better idea,” Phil said. “Let’s go back to the bar where this all started. I want to thank Tammy for her tip.”

“Sounds good to me. I could use a good stiff drink,” Charlie said.

“I’m game if they’ll let me in,” Beck said and they all got into their cars.

As they rolled out of the driveway, Phil looked back and saw Hilliard talking to two uniformed officials, but he lifted his head and stared after them.

“Okay, I want to hear everything,” Beck said, when they were settled around a table with glasses of cold beer. No one had challenged his being there, not even Junior Boniface who was playing pool with a pal. The big man cast Beck a glance and ducked his head as if absorbed in his next shot.

“I don’t see Tammy anywhere,” Phil said, looking around. Even the bartender seemed not to notice they were present.

“Boy, talk about being a persona non grata,” Charlie said, lifting her beer glass.

“We seemed to be talking all around what happened today,” Beck said with some irritation. “I want to know what hornet’s nest you girls stirred up and how it came to a man’s death.” He scowled at Phil and her sister.

“I honestly don’t know why,” Charlie said in such a way that made her sound as if she knew something but wasn’t telling.

“Spit it out, Charlie,” Beck ordered.

“She doesn’t know anything,” Phil said. “That’s just her way. I told you once. We came here and Tammy gave us a tip about Lenny and Joey Strada.”

“So we went to see Strada and he lied to us,” Charlie broke in. “He said Lenny wasn’t around, but he was.”

“We saw him when we went into the carwash,” Phil rushed on.

“We followed him out to his trailer and were going to snoop around but he had a vicious hound and you know how Phil’s afraid of dogs.” Charlie cast a derisive glance at Phil.

“So we ran and he chased us with a gun and poor T-bone and when he couldn’t find us, he kicked T-bone,” Phil finished the narration.

“Why couldn’t he find you?” Beck asked, his gaze fixed on Phil’s face.

She looked away. “We…we…”

“Oh, don’t be shy about it,” Charlie snapped. “He knows we’re witches.” She paused and looked at Beck. “You do know we’re witches?”

Beck nodded.

“Well then we changed into crows and flew up into the trees.”

Beck sat quiet for a long moment, gazing from one to the other then sighed deeply.

“Hello, Beck,” a quiet voice said and they looked up to see Tammy standing nearby. She glanced at Charlie.

“What’s going on? I heard the police sirens going off a little while ago. Someone said there’s trouble out to Lenny Barnes’ place.”

“He was murdered overnight,” Phil spoke up. “Do you know anyone who would want to kill him?”

Tammy stood with her mouth hanging open, her gaze darting from one side to the other.

“Do you know if he was into drugs? Could it have been someone he owed money to?” Phil persisted.

“I don’t know,” Tammy said, her voice so low they could barely hear her. “I have to go.” She turned to walk away then stopped and glared back at them.

“What happened to his dog?” she asked.

“What?” Phil asked, surprised by her question.

“That hound he had. Did they find him?”

“I have it,” she answered, sharply. “Why do you ask?”

“I just wondered, that’s all,” Tammy said, averting her gaze then she raised her head and met their gazes defiantly. “Lenny treated that poor animal so badly. That creep got what he deserved.” She walked away then without looking back. They watched her leave the bar and walk toward her car. However, she paused then slammed her car door closed without getting in and trudged back toward the bar.

“She’s coming back,” Phil informed Beck and Charlie. “I’m glad we have a chance to talk to her some more, even if she doesn’t want to. She must know something that can help us.”

“We can’t force her to talk,” Charlie said.

“She’s innocent, Phil,” Beck put in. “I’d bet my life on it. She’s had a rough time of it and when Joey Strada threw her aside, she just fell apart.”

“How long ago did that happened?” Phil asked, something clicking around in her brain. Something had been revealed that she should have caught. She couldn’t remember what.

Beck shrugged. “A couple of years.”

“You said Diane had a thing with Joey, right?” Phil asked in a low voice. She hated to question him further about his wife’s infidelities, especially in front of Charlie, but she felt she had to know. A knot was burning inside her and she feared it might consume her if she didn’t push forward with what she’d started.

“Diane had a thing with just about every eligible man in town, even some that weren’t. I understand she wasn’t choosy.” He took a long pull of beer, set the glass down and turned to her, his expression calm.

He’d stated a fact and he seemed unbothered by it. Phil didn’t know whether to be happy or sad for him that he’d gotten over his ex. She knew such rock solid acceptance had come from a long time of pain.

“Let’s get out of here,” Charlie said. “I thought coming back here might bring us some insight, but it isn’t happening for me. Let’s pick up a pizza and go out to your house.”

“They have great burgers here,” Beck said absently as he stared at the door where a man had entered.

Joey Strada!

“Burgers sound great,” Phil and Charlie said in unison.

Beck placed the orders and they settled back to wait. Shortly after Strada entered the bar, Tammy reappeared. Her expression was dark as she made her way to her usual table in the corner and intently watched the carwash owner. Joey had joined Junior Boniface at the pool table. Junior said something, nodding his head at Tammy and laughed loudly. Joey glanced at Tammy and shrugged then turned away in a deliberate gesture that dismissed her entirely. Phil studied the woman’s face, which was distorted with rage and a sudden image of an entirely different sort filled her head.

“Beck,” she said in a low voice, laying her hand on his arm.

He glanced at her and smiled, his hand going to take hers, his fingers entwining. She saw so much love in that look and gesture. She squeezed his fingers.

“I have to leave for a minute and while I’m gone, if things get a bit weird, please don’t be upset, okay?”

“Where are you going?” he asked with sudden alarm.

“You’ll know soon enough.” Phil glanced at her sister. “Explain it to him.”

“Explain what? I don’t even know what’s going on,” Charlie said, but Phil had already slipped from her chair and was hurrying across the bar toward the lady’s lounge.

Phil entered the bathroom, made a pirouette then exited and headed to the bar. She patted down her dark auburn hair and raised her chin. She resembled Diane or at least the pictures she’d seen of the woman, but she still felt very much like Phil. She hoped she could pull this off.

Everything went quiet when she entered the main bar. Even the click of pool balls fell away as the room went silent. She gazed around and smiled then hitched her hip to one side.

“Hello, boys,” she said in a throaty voice. She had no idea what Diane Crawford had sounded like, but she knew she looked the part and that was seventy-five percent of the charade. Deliberately, she moved toward the men at the pool tables.

“Have you missed me?” she asked coquettishly, stopping before each man to play with a shirt button or straighten a collar. When she got to Joey, who was speechless, she smiled and leaned against him.

“Did you miss me, baby?” she asked softly and gave him a long, lingering kiss.

At first, he stood stiff and unresponsive then his arms closed around her and he dragged her closer while his kiss grew more possessive. It felt as if his embrace might last forever, if a shrill scream hadn’t penetrated the heavy, smoke-tainted air.

Joey jerked his head up. Phil glanced around and saw Tammy moving toward them, a sharp knife held high over her head, ready to plunge downward.

“You’re dead,” she yelled in seeming disbelief. “I killed you once. I’ll do it again.”

Tammy lunged at Phil, obviously believing she was Diane, but Beck was right behind her. Before Tammy could drive the blade down at Phil, Beck’s powerful hand closed around the crazed woman’s wrist. The blade deflected, missing Phil by mere inches.