Bad Girls Don't (25 page)

“Understood.”

“Just don’t go putting the fear of God into anyone without my permission, okay?”

“You might want to tell Sister Mary that. I heard she looked furious when Milton walked into the thrift shop a couple minutes ago.”

Nathan leapt to his feet. “Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”

“I figured a nun wasn’t going to do anything criminal to him. Would she?”

Nathan sighed. “I’d better go find out.”

 

 

Skye walked into the thrift shop to find Sister Mary yelling at Milton.

“You should be ashamed of yourself!”

“No,
you’re
the one who should be ashamed! Defending a sinner like that Skye woman.”

“Don’t yell at Sister Mary and don’t insult Skye,” Wally warned him.

“Let he who is without sin cast the first stone,” Sister Mary said.

“Don’t you dare go quoting the Bible at me.” Milton’s face was turning as red as the cherries on Wally’s shirt. “And don’t give me that holier-than-thou look either. I’m not the villain here.” He pointed at Skye. “She is!”

“Chill out, Milton.” Skye slyly lowered her gaze. “Your bad vibe is showing.”

Milton automatically looked down and checked his fly before realizing what she’d said. “I’m not the one who’s bad. You are.”

“So?”

“So you admit it? You’re bad?”

“Sure I am.”

“You heard her.” Milton looked around at Sister Mary and Wally. “She just admitted—”

“The fact that some people think I’m bad. That doesn’t mean I steal lottery tickets or that I’m a thief.” Skye paused. Well, there was that shoplifting charge on her juvenile record. And she had told Julia she’d stolen one or two things made in child labor camps from a store in Serenity Falls, just to bring attention to that cause. But she’d been yanking Julia’s chain a little on that one. Skye had sent a press release to the media about the conditions in such camps and listed the store selling the items. But she hadn’t actually taken anything. Not that she hadn’t been tempted.

Milton pounced on her momentary hesitation. “You want to swear with your hand on a Bible, in front of Sister Mary, that you’ve never stolen anything?”

“Don’t answer that.”

The command came from Nathan as he walked into the thrift shop. “What’s going on here?”

Silence.

“Don’t all of you answer at once.”

“Milton was just showing off his bad vibe,” Skye reported.

“Stop saying that! Make her stop saying that,” Milton ordered Nathan.

“Milton was insulting Sister Mary,” Wally volunteered.

“I did no such thing,” Milton said vehemently.

“Sister Mary, would you care to insert a word or two here?” Nathan said.

“I was just chastising Milton for his bad behavior,” she replied.

“And I told her I wasn’t the one who’s bad, she is.” Milton again pointed at Skye.

“Which I readily admitted,” Skye said.

“Yeah, I figured you would.” Nathan sighed. “Listen, folks, why don’t you all just calm down and head on back home. The party’s over here.”

“Party pooper,” Skye drawled.

“Are you going to let her speak to you like that?” Milton demanded.

“It’s a free country,” Skye said. “At least, it was this morning.”

“Still is,” Nathan assured her. “Now I’m sure you all have more important things to do than stand around here and bicker.”

“Bicker?” Skye raised an eyebrow. “What kind of a word is that?”

“Now she’s picking on your word choices!” Milton’s voice was shrill. “Are you just going to stand there and take it, Sheriff?”

“He doesn’t have to,” Syke said. “I’m leaving.
My
choice. I have a theater to restore.” And she flounced out.

But the next morning, Skye entered the Tivoli with her daughter to find paint splashed all over the marble floor of the lobby and the walls.

Chapter Thirteen

“Someone
was messy,” Toni said.

“Come on, honey, let’s leave.” Skye’s voice shook.

“Don’t want to. Want to finger-paint.”

Skye scooped Toni up in her arms. “This is the wrong kind of paint. You can finger-paint at home. We’ll go there now.”

She ran into Angel, Tyler, and Violet on her way out. “I’ve never seen such messy painters.” Violet’s forehead wrinkled with disapproval as she looked around.

“What’s going on here?” Tyler said to Skye.

“Someone must have broken in last night—” Skye began.

“Did you call the sheriff?”

She shook her head. “Not yet. I just got here.”

Tyler took control of the situation, using Angel’s cell phone to notify Nathan.

“I’m taking Toni upstairs,” Skye said.

“I’ll do that,” Angel volunteered, taking Toni. “Maybe you should stay here and talk to the sheriff when he comes.”

“Nathan will be right over,” Tyler said, handing the cell phone back to Angel.

“Don’t leave her alone, please,” Angel told Tyler.

“I won’t. Don’t worry.”

Angel shivered. “I feel such negative energy in this space now. Do you feel it, Skye?”

Skye nodded.

“I don’t feel anything,” Violet said flatly.

Angel sighed. “That doesn’t surprise me. Come on.”

Violet refused to budge. “I want to stay here.”

When Tyler went to check the auditorium for more damage, Violet cornered Skye. “Are you and this sheriff person serious? Because what you were doing on that stage looked very serious to me. Does Ethel know about this? Not that she’d think anything of it, given her history.”

Skye’s eyes narrowed for an only slightly toned-down version of her Sicilian death stare. “A word of warning,” she said. “You do
not
want to insult my mother. And her name is Angel.”

Violet sniffed, a sure sign she was peeved. “I’m just trying to be helpful. You don’t have to jump all over me for being concerned about my granddaughter.”

“And you don’t have to insult my mother to make yourself feel better.”

“That’s not what I’m doing!”

“Isn’t it?”

Violet was prevented from answering by Nathan’s arrival. He had his cop face on.

“The back door was forced open,” Tyler announced as he rejoined them.

Nathan took off with him to investigate, leaving Skye alone again with Violet.

Skye used the opportunity to address something that had been bothering her. “Why did you say the other day that you were frightened of your husband? Did he hit you?”

“He didn’t have to. He believed a wife should obey her husband. It was part of our wedding vows, and he took it very seriously. To love and obey.”

“Doesn’t sound to me like he took the love part very seriously.”

“He loved me in his own way, just as he loved Ethel before she got so rebellious . . . I don’t want to talk about those days,” she said abruptly.

Skye would have said more, but Owen showed up, his face filled with concern. “I saw Nathan rushing over here. Is everything okay?” He paused as he surveyed the theater’s damaged lobby. “No, obviously, everything isn’t okay. What happened?”

“Vandals broke in overnight. The sheriff is here now investigating.”

“Skye, aren’t you going to introduce me?” Violet patted her hair to make sure it was still in place. Since she used enough Aqua Net to choke an army, there was no chance of that hair helmet moving one iota.

“Owen, this is Violet, my long-lost grandmother. And this is my friend Owen.”

“Owen, I’m so happy to meet you,” Violet trilled. “And I appreciate your concern over my granddaughter’s safety. I wasn’t harmed in the attack either, thank heavens.”

Skye rolled her eyes. “You weren’t anywhere near the theater last night. You’re staying with Angel over in Serenity Falls.”

“Even so, I’ve been inside the theater.”

“Yes, I know.” Skye remembered all too well how Violet had walked in on her and Nathan. And even if she hadn’t, Violet had taken great pleasure in reminding her.

“So, Owen.” Violet batted her heavily mascaraed lashes at him. “What do you do here in Rock Creek?”

Skye answered on his behalf. “He owns the funeral home.”

“Oh, my.” More eyelash batting. “Well, that’s a noble profession. You know, neither my daughter nor Skye have shown me around town. Perhaps you’d be willing to do that?”

Owen appeared flustered. “Well, I . . . uh . . . sure, I could do that. Not that there’s much to see. Of course, we do have that World War II tank in Memorial Park. Well, it’s more just a small, tank-size area than a real park.”

“I was a young girl when the war started, but I still recall that time so vividly. Young people nowadays don’t realize what sacrifices we’ve made for them.”

Owen shook his head sadly. “A lot of men died in that war. I lost an older brother on the beaches of Normandy.”

Owen had never told Skye that. Why was he confessing something so personal to Violet, of all people?

“I’m sorry for your loss.” Violet comforted him with a hand on his arm, which looked Super-Glued there.

“It was a long time ago.”

“And yet so fresh in our memories”

“Yes, it is.”

“I’d love to see this memorial park. Do you think you’d have time today?” Violet asked.

“Well, business is slow at the moment,” Owen admitted. “Not that I’m looking for people to die.”

Violet patted his arm. “Of course not. I saw that sign outside your funeral home. The one about not hurrying, that you’ll wait? Maybe people are taking that literally.”

“I don’t mind waiting.”

“Young people these days do seem to mind waiting. But I’m with you, Owen. I think it’s much more exciting to let the anticipation build. Don’t you agree?”

Owen nodded and then checked his watch. “I have a few things to do first, but I could meet you here in two hours to give you a tour of the area. Would that work for you?”

“Absolutely. That will give me time to calm Skye.” Violet’s commiserating look was as fake as her eyelashes. “She depends on me so.”

“She’s lucky to have you here,” Owen said. “Skye, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help. I’ll see you later, Violet.”

The moment Owen left the theater, Skye confronted Violet. “What do you think you’re doing, flirting with Owen like that?”

Violet primped, pulling out a mirrored lipstick case and outlining her lips before speaking. “What’s the matter? Are you jealous?”

“Owen is a good friend of mine.”

“Like the sheriff?” Violet snapped the lipstick case shut with an impatient snap. “Don’t you think that’s a bit greedy of you, wanting all the best men in this town for yourself?”

“Owen is nothing like Nathan.”

“What are you going to do about Sheriff Nathan?” Violet asked.

“Why do you care?” Skye countered.

“Fine.” Violet sniffed. “Don’t tell me. I can see where this is going. You’re as stubborn as your mother.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

Violet sniffed again before turning on her heel to march out. Skye didn’t even ask where she was going. She had other cosmic-sized problems to overcome.

Staring at the disturbing mess surrounding her, she kept wondering who would do such a thing. Roxy Rothafel’s saying over the theater entrance—“Don’t give the people what they want, give them something better”—seemed to mock her now. Plus, it reminded her that she still didn’t know who the hell Roxy was. She hadn’t Googled him yet. Another chore to add to her “to do” list, had she been the kind of person to keep such a thing, which she wasn’t.

“Did you touch anything?” Nathan asked as he rejoined her.

“Just the front door when I unlocked it to come inside.”

“Tyler was right, the back door was forced open. Most of the damage seems to be in this area though.”

Skye thanked the fates for that. Replacing seats and carpeting or the screen would have been very expensive.

“Have you worked on that list of people who might not want you to succeed in this project?” Nathan said.

Skye shook her head.

“Tell me more about the run-in you had with Milton at the thrift shop yesterday.”

“It was mostly between Milton and Sister Mary. I was just a bystander.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

His words, meant to tease her, she supposed, infuriated her. “No surprise there. You find just about everything about me hard to believe.”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

“Do I? How am I supposed to know that? I may be good at reading some people’s minds, but not yours. You keep it locked up tighter that those tighty-whities of yours.”

“If you’ll just calm down a second—”

“I’m not going to calm down. I’m pissed. Seriously pissed! We were just making progress here, and now look at it. Everything is a big mess.”

“Did you hear anything suspicious last night?”

“No, nothing. But if I find out who did this, I’m going to kick some serious butt.”

“That’s my job. Who aside from Milton might be upset with you right now?”

“Right now, this very minute?”

“You know what I mean. When did Violet come to visit? Before or after the first vandalism incident?”

“So now you think my long-lost seventy-something grandmother is behind all this?”

“I’m not ruling anyone out.”

“Except for Sister Mary.”

“Not even her.”

“She likes me.”

“She could be angry that Owen didn’t give the money to her charity instead of to you.”

“But she’s not. She told me so.”

“I have to consider everyone a suspect.”

“That’s a terrible way to live.”

“It works for me.”

“Well, Owen can’t be a suspect.”

“Maybe he regrets giving you the money.”

“Stop it.” She put her hands to her ears. “I don’t want to hear any more.”