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“Since there was no gross bodily harm or death, the city attorney plans to charge him with a Class A misdemeanor.” Wally polished off the rest of his beer and threw the bottle in the recycle bin. “That could result in a sentence of up to three hundred and sixty-four days of imprisonment plus as much as a five-thousand-dollar fine. But my guess is that Goodson will get supervision and community service.”

“So after everything, he’ll only spend a couple of nights in jail?” Skye wasn’t sure how she felt about Thor getting off so lightly. She did feel a tiny bit sorry for him, but he still should have consequences for his actions.

“If Goodson hadn’t decided to leave town and go hiking, he probably wouldn’t have spent any time whatsoever behind bars.” Wally put their dishes in the sink, took Skye’s hand, and led her upstairs. “If we’d been able to locate him and talk to him Tuesday, we’d have cleared him on the suspicion of murder and his lawyer could have gotten him bail that afternoon on the hazing. But with him being arrested on a Friday night, he’s stuck until the arraignment on Monday.”

“The more I think about it,” Skye said as she undressed, “the more I’m convinced that he decided to go to Starved Rock not because he was overcome with grief, but because he knew that what he and Blair had done to their teams was going to come out.”

“Me too,” Wally agreed.

Skye walked into the master bathroom. Before she turned her back on the shower, she cautiously eased open the glass door, glanced inside the stall, and closed it.

“You know, darlin’, I understand that seeing the movie
Psycho
terrified you.” Wally had followed her and
snickered as he observed her precautionary actions. “But what if one day when you check the shower for crazed killers, you find one? What’s your plan then?”

“Run like heck while you shoot him.” Skye snapped her towel at Wally. “You would protect me—right, sweetie?”

“With my life.”

“Good.” Skye brushed her teeth, and she and Wally climbed into bed. Before switching off the light, she said, “If Thor would have just faced up to his behavior and stuck around, things would have turned out a lot better for him.” She paused. “But that’s the real problem with him, isn’t it? He isn’t the kind of guy who is in control of his own destiny.”

“Yep.” Wally leaned over her and flicked off the lamp. “It surprises me that, for a coach, he isn’t much of a leader.”

“No, he isn’t.” Skye snuggled under the covers. Her eyelids drooping, she sighed. “And as an educator, he sure set a bad example for his students.”

*   *   *

Wally must have gotten up and fed Bingo and then gone back to sleep, because when Skye opened her eyes, bright sunshine was streaming through the windows and he was snoring softly with his arm curved around her waist. Turning her head, still halfway expecting to feel nauseated but grateful when she didn’t, she saw that it was almost nine o’clock.

The last time they’d slept that late was on their honeymoon and they’d been exhausted from a much pleasanter pursuit than investigating a murder. Which reminded her . . . Skye carefully rolled over and pressed a kiss to Wally’s chest. The feeling of the warm, smooth skin on her lips encouraged her to reach lower. Either her new husband was having an extremely good dream, or he was awake.

“Good morning, sugar.” Wally’s husky baritone tickled her ear.

“It is now,” she murmured, continuing her exploration. “Did you sleep well?”

“Like a big black cat.” He chuckled at their private joke about Bingo’s apparent habit of snoozing twenty-three out of twenty-four hours. “How about you? I think you were out the minute your head hit the pillow.”

“I was bushed. The last few days have been grueling. Truth be told, I deserve a bonus for making it through the week at school without stabbing one of my bosses or colleagues in the eye with a ruler.”

“I can just imagine.” Wally stroked her hair. “Your job takes way too much patience and tact. It’s a lot more fun to be the one issuing the orders than following them.”

“I’ll have to try that at home sometime.” Skye diverted her fingers from below his waist to the muscles of his arms, and Wally made a disappointed sound. “We haven’t seemed to have much time alone lately.” She looked up into her husband’s dark chocolate eyes and arched a brow. “Are you up for a ride, cowboy?”

“Always.” Wally flipped her onto her back and nuzzled her neck. “No morning sickness?”

“Nope.” Skye tilted her head to the side to give him better access to the sensitive skin underneath her ear and purred, “Let’s get this rodeo started.”

*   *   *

It was past ten by the time Skye and Wally finally made it downstairs. On the weekends Wally usually made his famous blueberry pancakes and fried up some of the venison breakfast sausage his father regularly shipped him from Texas. But since the next meat delivery wasn’t due until the following week and neither of them had made it to the grocery store, they had to settle for cold cereal.

Although Skye was still a little uneasy with the idea of a housekeeper, she had to admit that Dorothy’s efforts were a godsend. With the house clean and the laundry done, the Saturday chores that had eaten up most of Skye’s day were a thing of the past.

Lingering over a second cup of coffee, Wally said, “I’m going to run in to the PD for a few hours to help Martinez look through the vic’s possessions for her password.” He got up and washed out his mug, then dried his hands. “I wish I could call in a few more officers to assist with the search, but there’s no money left in my budget to pay them, and I need to keep at least one squad car on patrol.”

“Will you be back in time for the baby shower?” Skye asked. Vince had insisted on a coed party, something new to Scumble River.

“I’ll make sure that I am.” Wally kissed the top of Skye’s head. “I can’t afford to get on the bad side of my new mother-in-law.”

“Smart move.” Skye rose from the table and walked with Wally down the hallway. “We don’t want to take away from Vince and Loretta’s special day, so I’m thinking we’ll wait and announce our impending bundle of joy tomorrow, after the duck races.”

“How are we going to do that?” Wally asked, pausing in the foyer.

“Well, you know that Trixie’s fund-raiser has blossomed into quite an affair.” Skye put her arms around his waist. “The ducks are being released at the boat-launch area in the park at four, but a bunch of other events are scheduled earlier in the afternoon. How Trixie managed to pull it all together in less than a week is beyond me, but since I didn’t want to be drafted to help out, I didn’t ask her.”

“Good plan.”

“I thought so.” Skye grinned. “Anyway, Mom decided to have us all over for dinner after the race, to help her eat up whatever food is left over from today’s baby shower.”

“What does dinner at your mom’s house have to do with the race?”

“I have no idea.” Skye shrugged. “Maybe because she figured we’ll all be around for Trixie’s fund-raiser. Mom’s
invited Grandma Denison, Vince and Loretta, Uncle Charlie, of course, and also Trixie and Owen, which should make telling everyone at one time a lot easier. That way no one’s feelings get hurt because they weren’t the first to know. We can even get your dad on speakerphone.”

“Letting everyone know at once is definitely the way to go.” Wally gave her a sweet kiss, then reluctantly released her. “I can’t wait for the whole world to know that you’re having my baby.” He frowned. “I might be a little late for your mom’s dinner, though. The reason I’m out of funds for the murder investigation is that I’m using the rest of my overtime reserves to pull in all the officers that I can to patrol the park on Sunday. But with a big crowd expected, I’ll have to keep an eye on things, too.”

“That’s fine.” Skye smiled. “Much to my father’s displeasure, we aren’t eating until six thirty, because Trixie’s pizza party for the kids who were involved in the duck race doesn’t end until six. You’ll probably be free by then, and we’ll make the announcement after everyone is finished with supper.”

“Terrific.” Wally grinned.

Once Wally was gone, Skye grabbed her grocery list and headed to the supermarket. Ninety minutes later, their food supplies were restocked and Skye settled in front of her laptop. Vince and Loretta’s baby gift was wrapped, so she had two hours to read through Blair’s Open Book postings before she had to get dressed for the shower.

It took a phone call to Emmy and a couple to Justin, but Skye finally managed to enroll in Open Book and access Blair’s folio—which was what the site called the spot that held all of the members’ messages. As Skye and Wally had suspected, the privacy controls were set to unrestricted, and she could see everything Blair had ever put up. From the sheer volume, it appeared the volleyball coach had recorded and shared her every waking moment.

There were photos of Blair’s manicured toes, her cup of cappuccino, the view from her classroom window, and even the foil in her hair while she was getting highlights at the beauty parlor. Skye paused at that last one. It didn’t look like Great Expectations, Vince’s hair salon, but whoever had done Blair’s color was very good. Skye would have never guessed the color variations in Blair’s copper curls weren’t natural.

The meaning of the pictures was mostly fairly obvious, but some of the messages Blair had written were more puzzling. Several seemed like warnings. There was one that read:

Stop it, my Open Book pals! I understand that when the girls attend long practices, it’s an inconvenience, but the last thing you should complain about is my winning method of coaching. I fixed a broken team. Thank me. Show your appreciation. And shut the hell up! Or there will be penalties.

Skye jotted down that message and a few others, before coming to another cryptic note.

Hey, you all. My life must seem great, but it’s not perfect. Someone knows how to make me happier, but they aren’t cooperating. If that person doesn’t come through pretty damn soon, there will be consequences!

Wally needed to see this, too. Skye wrote it down, then checked her watch. It was after two thirty. She’d give herself half an hour, but after that, she had to stop and change clothes.

Scrolling through the pages of the folio, Skye quickly glanced through more photographs. There were pictures of teachers and other people she recognized from
around town, and nearly all of the snapshots seemed intent on capturing folks’ most embarrassing moments.

Skye was
tsk
ing at Blair’s meanness when she brought her cursor to a screeching halt. There in front of her were several photos of Skye climbing out of the pool, her bathing suit pasted against her body. It was not a flattering angle, and Skye cringed as she gazed at her sopping-wet appearance.

According to the time stamp, the pictures had been posted Monday morning at 6:21. Underneath the snapshots, Blair had typed,
This is our chunky school psychologist, Skye Denison-Boyd. She needs to either lose weight or announce she’s with child. I’m sure she won’t be thrilled that I’ve put up these pix of her, but maybe next time she’ll think twice before breaking my rules.

“Shit!” Skye screamed, her heart beating wildly. “Shit! Shit! Shit!”

“What in Sam Hill is wrong?” Wally ran into the kitchen, his hand on his gun.

“This.” Skye pointed to the laptop’s monitor. She had been so engrossed that she hadn’t heard him come home. “Do you think that everyone already knows that I’m pregnant?”

“I’m sure our phone would be ringing off the hook if that were the case,” Wally reassured her, then leaned in to inspect the picture more closely. He let loose a string of curses, finally asking between gritted teeth, “Did you know she’d taken those pictures of you?”

“Of course not.” Skye recalled the feeling of being watched that morning. “I would have never allowed her to photograph me.”

“How could you have stopped her?” Wally asked as he scrolled up and down Blair’s folio. “It looks as if she took pictures of whatever she damn well pleased, then put them all on Open Book. The more humiliating the snapshot, the better.”

“And my guess is Blair finally put up a photo or a
message that made someone mad enough to kill her. I didn’t see anything, but maybe it’s something that only the murderer recognizes.”

“Or maybe the killer is a hacker who somehow managed to take it down from the site,” Wally suggested. “I wonder if I can get a court order for Open Book to release its records.”

“Right.” Skye snickered. “By the time that happens, we’ll be retired and living in Florida.”

“Well, I’d definitely make the trip back here to prosecute the murderer.”

“Me too!”

CHAPTER 23

BGWM—Be Gentle with Me

“I
’ve never been to a baby shower,” Wally commented as he and Skye got into his Thunderbird. “What happens at these things?”

“They’re usually pretty boring.” She rolled down the window. The weather had finally warmed up, and the Ford was stifling inside. “We eat, play a couple of silly games, and then watch the guest of honor open gift after gift.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad.” Wally started to back out of the driveway, but stopped and asked, “It’s at your parents’ place, right?”

“Uh-huh.” Skye put the window up. Now she was cold. Pregnancy had thrown her internal thermostat all out of whack.

“Wasn’t the shower originally going to be held in Laurel at Harry’s restaurant?”

“That was never going to happen.” Skye adjusted the seat belt. Why was it suddenly cutting into her neck? “Loretta’s mother wanted the shower held at Harry’s, because she said any other venue made it look like the hosts were too cheap to spring for a restaurant meal.”

“Who exactly is putting on this shindig?”

“Technically, the cousins and I am.” Skye wrinkled her nose. “But Mom made all the plans. We just paid our share and shut up.”

“What a surprise.” Wally’s lips quirked. “Imagine May taking over.”

“Loretta’s mother tried to grab control, and the location of the shower became a battle of wills between the soon-to-be grandmas, but Mom insisted that generations upon generations of Scumble Riverites had always held their celebrations in their homes, and she wasn’t changing her family traditions for city folk.”