A Deep and Dark December (15 page)

“Probably for the best. Not many young men’d want their minds read. Not many old men either.” Elmer gave the door Erin had left through a thoughtful look. “Then again, there aren’t many women with a caboose like hers, is there?”

Graham’s irritation ratcheted up a notch, but there was no denying the truth of Erin’s attractiveness. “No. There’s not.”

Elmer’s laugh creaked out as he left. “Good for you, sonny. Good for you.”

Graham shook his head, remembering just how fine the ass in question had felt in his hands last night. He hadn’t planned to kiss her. Hadn’t planned to back her up against that tree. Hadn’t planned the way his body had reacted to hers or hers to his. He didn’t regret it either. It was probably for the best that she’d sent him home instead of inviting him in. He didn’t want or need the complications that would have caused. She was dating someone else and he wasn’t looking for another reason to stay in San Rey. The sooner he got through this case, the sooner he could figure another way out of this town.

He pressed the play button. Erin’s voice filled the room, surrounding him. With her scent still lingering, he closed his eyes, allowing the sensation of her to press in at him, penetrating every pore until he could almost feel her. Almost recreate what it had been like to have her near.

Someone cleared his throat, jolting Graham back to reality. He switched off the recording. Mayor Ted Bhare more than filled the doorway with a good portion of him spilling into the room uninvited.
What the hell does he want?

“Got a moment, Graham?”

Graham set aside the recorder and his notes and motioned the man in. “What can I do for you, Mayor?”

“Call me Teddy. We’re all friends here, right?” Teddy lumbered into the room and wedged himself into a chair. He wheezed and shifted, finally settling into his seat like a great nesting bullfrog. “The fine citizens of San Rey are concerned about recent—” Teddy moved the next word around in his mouth before finally spitting it out, “—
incidents
. I’ve come for your report. Give me something I can take back to my people.”

“Your people.”
What fresh bullshit was this?

“The citizenry are understandably concerned. Murder and mayhem have come to San Rey. Their way of life has been suddenly and inexplicably—” He did some more word chewing. “—
challenged
. They’re looking for answers. We’re all looking for answers and you’re the man holding them.”

Graham folded his arms and leaned back in his chair. He’d had limited experience with politicians, but enough to know they only slithered out from under their rocks when they wanted something or were plotting reelection.

“We’re working leads and gathering evidence.”

Teddy waved a meaty hand. “Come now, Graham. We’re friends. You can give me more than that.”

“I really can’t. None of the lab work is back. There are no autopsy reports yet. I haven’t even gotten a chance to do all the interviews I need to. Any information I give you now wouldn’t do you or the citizenry any good. All we have are two victims and a lot of questions.”

“Your impressions, then.”

“My impressions are that I can’t comment on a case that hasn’t been fully investigated.”

Teddy’s jaw worked. “
Semantics
.”

“It would be irresponsible of us both to give the fine citizens of San Rey inaccurate or incomplete information. You’re just going to have to tell them that we’re working every possible lead.”

“I understand your position. I really do. So we’ll just keep this between you and me.” Teddy winked with the effort most people put into a push up.

Except with a politician, nothing was likely to stay where it didn’t do him the most good. Why was Teddy pushing so hard? What did he want with the information? What was he going to do with it? Could he somehow be involved in what happened at the Lasiters’ house? Great. He was going to have to add the mayor to his list of possible suspects, which was pathetically short.

“I’ll tell you what. As soon as I have something, you’ll be the first to know.” Graham stood. “I give you my word.”

Teddy heaved himself to his feet, his face mottled red with the effort as he faced Graham across the desk. “I respect your family’s fine…
tradition
. Your father was a sheriff who knew his job. I expect he’s got a few ropes he still needs to show you.” Teddy’s marbled gaze rolled about the room, over the portraits of Graham’s ancestors, coming to rest on the badge clipped to Graham’s shirt pocket. “I expect you’ll learn the way of things…
yet
.”

As Teddy lurched toward the door Graham felt the eyes of his forefathers watching, judging. He’d only been on the job a couple weeks and had already made an enemy of the mayor. Damned small town with its small minds and small town politics.

He dug his fingernails into the underside of the polished walnut desk. The ever-present urge to get the hell out rose up inside him, lodging hard and suffocating in his chest. He shouldn’t have come back to San Rey. Shouldn’t have let his father guilt him in to taking over as sheriff.

And he sure as hell should never have touched Erin December.

Rumors and speculation catapulted what had happened at the Lasiter house into the story of the century in San Rey, with Erin at the center of it all. People who hadn’t spoken to her in weeks suddenly sought her out, wanting the gory details, when they weren’t pointing at her and whispering about her behind their hands with their friends. She was now notorious for an entirely different reason.

She wouldn’t have risked an outing to the hair salon unless she was desperate. As usual for a Saturday, the Clippity-Do-Da was packed. Erin tried to keep to herself and ignore the furtive looks from the other ladies having their hair done. So when the blatant stares turned away from her and toward the door, Erin couldn’t help but turn to see what or who had snagged their attention.

Graham.

He looked haggard and drawn. She hadn’t seen him since the morning she gave her statement, but she could tell the case was wearing on him. Her own dark circled eyes and pale complexion gave away the fact that she wasn’t sleeping well either. She had to admit that she’d missed the sight of him. The usual feminine salon chatter shrank to appreciative whispers as the door whooshed closed behind him.

He spoke to the receptionist who immediately approached Erin’s hairstylist to let her know that Graham was there to see her. Erin slid deeper into her seat. Graham recognized her anyway with a twitch of a smile. Ignoring the stares and murmurs of the lady patrons, he settled onto the waiting area couch with a People magazine, giving it all of his attention.

Leaning close to Erin’s foiled head, Candy whispered, “He’s here to talk to me about Deidre and Greg. I still can’t believe they’re gone.”

“Me either,” Erin responded. Candy was one of the few people who hadn’t pumped her for information about the murder/suicide.

“I just don’t get it. How could Greg have killed her?
Why?
Their divorce was amicable. I know he’d recently lost his job and was losing his house. It’s just so…”

“Horrible.”

Candy met Erin’s gaze in the mirror. “Yeah. I guess you’d know about that. Did Greg say anything? Tell you why he did it?”

And there it was. The question she’d been asked a million times. Erin dropped her voice so no one would overhear. “He didn’t kill her.”

“He said that?”

Erin nodded.

Candy shook her head. “And you believed him? Why?”

How to answer? Candy had been more of a friend to her than anyone, but it wasn’t as though Erin could tell her about the vision of Deidre opening the door to her killer or seeing the murder through the killer’s eyes. There were some details she couldn’t bring herself to think about, let alone talk about. Except with Graham.

“I just do,” Erin finally answered.

“I’m going to miss her. Deidre could be…difficult sometimes, but she didn’t deserve to die.”

“No. She didn’t.”

Candy continued to work on Erin’s hair, but she didn’t ask any more questions. Thankfully she changed topics to talk about something funny her dog had done. Erin was grateful she didn’t press for more.

Candy painted color onto the last foil and folded it up. “Come on. Let’s put you under the dryer.”

Erin followed Candy to the bank of dryers at the back of the salon where a couple of other clients sat getting pink cheeked. Candy fiddled with the knobs, then lowered the hood over Erin’s head. Erin had a perfect view of the front of the salon. She watched Candy stroll up to Graham with a little extra swing in her skin-tight jeans. She flipped her purple streaked hair and laughed as Graham rose from the couch and tossed the magazine aside. They went outside and sat at the café table in front of the window.

“They’d make a nice couple,” the woman next to Erin said with a sigh to her friend on her other side. “We need a sheriff who’s settled.”

“He should be spending more time controlling crime than flirting with girls,” the friend harrumphed. “It’s gotten so I won’t go out at night.”

“Me either. Did you hear how Doreen got her purse snatched right on Main Street?”

Erin tuned out the complaining women, too caught up in the scene at the front of the salon. Candy leaned an elbow on the table, her chin in her hand. Every now and then she’d reach over and touch Graham’s arm as he wrote in his notebook. At one point he smiled at something Candy said. His real smile, the one he’d teased Erin with. Erin tried not to be jealous of Candy and had almost convinced herself she wasn’t when Graham leaned closer to Candy. He said something, then winked, eliciting a lingering stroke on his arm from Candy. Was he flirting with Candy? Erin knew she didn’t have the right to be mad at how close Graham and Candy were, but
son of a bitch
. It wasn’t that long ago that Graham was paying Erin that kind of attention.

The tone of the conversation outside seemed to change. Graham and Candy’s body language shifted, going from teasing to serious. They moved a little closer across the table, mirroring each other’s poses. Candy pulled the pen out of Graham’s grasp, reached for his other hand, and wrote something on his palm. She tapped the end of the pen against her lips, then handed it back to him. They rose from the table as Erin’s dryer clicked off. Candy gave Graham a hug and waved goodbye to him, then stood a few minutes more, watching him walk away. She turned to come back in with little a shiver.

Candy couldn’t seem to suppress her grin as she made her way to Erin. She dipped her head shyly when one of her coworkers teased her about Graham, but didn’t comment.

“Let me check to see if you’re done,” Candy said, lifting the dryer hood and opening one of the foils on Erin’s head. “You’re good. Let’s get you shampooed.”

Erin followed Candy to the shampoo area, then lay back in the chair with her head in the shampoo bowl. The scent of permanent wave solution and bleach was sharper here, stinging Erin’s nose as Candy pulled the foils from her hair and began rinsing the color out.

“You know there’s just something about a man in uniform,” Candy said with a sigh. “Or maybe there’s just something about Graham Doran.”

Erin couldn’t help the little arrow of jealousy that had worked its way into her chest and sprung open into claws that wouldn’t let go. “So what exactly did he want to know?”

“He asked me a bunch of questions about Deidre. Who she was seeing and when was the last time I saw her. Stuff like that.”

“I guess as her hairstylist you’d know what was going on with her better than most.”

“You’d think, but Deidre’d been kinda secretive lately. She didn’t talk too much about what was going on the last few times I saw her. Although I got the feeling something big was about to happen. I didn’t think it would be her dying though.” Candy trailed off, a sad frown digging between her brows.

“Who could’ve known?”

“It still doesn’t feel real.”

“No. It doesn’t. What do you suppose that big thing was?”

“I don’t know for sure. Like I told Graham, she seemed really happy, but I don’t think it was about the divorce. I think she might’ve been seeing someone new. The last time she was in she asked for a new style.” Candy wrapped Erin’s hair in a towel and helped her sit up. “Come on back to the chair. Are we cutting your hair today or are you still growing it out?”