Blind Dates Can Be Murder (40 page)

“If it’s Your will,” he said, “then make it happen. If not, please give me the grace to accept that and move on. Amen.”

Lettie was freezing.

The darker it got the colder it became, but she remained at her post, watching the Palace from a distance and listening to Chuck on the phone.

He went on and on with a long, complicated story about bombing Silver Shield and a secret casino next door and how Mickey and Frankie had played him for a fool so they could rob the place. At least what he was telling her filled in an awful lot of gaps into what she’d been doing here in Mulberry Glen. She already knew that Mickey had sent Tank here to look for money that had been stolen from Frankie’s farm—and that they all suspected Jo Tulip had stolen and hidden it. Now, however, Lettie got the bigger picture. Frankie hadn’t been stalking Jo, he had wanted to meet her so she could help him get the dye out of money that he had stolen from someone else. Then, once he died, she stole it from him! Like a puzzle, all of the pieces clicked into place.

All except the question of where the money was now.

“But, Chuck,” she asked, interrupting him, “even if you find it, what good is the money if it’s all stained with dye?”

“It may not be anymore,” he replied. “My guess is that Jo Tulip’s got it soaking in some secret solution right now—and that once I find it, it’ll already be clean and ready to use.”

Lettie didn’t care. There wasn’t enough money on the planet to get her to go back with Chuck. She just wanted the cash she had earned and her passport. From what Chuck had said on the phone, he’d already found her stash, so that was a wash. But he hadn’t mentioned the passport, and her hope was that it was still tucked away in the side pocket of her suitcase, unseen.

All that remained now was to find some way to get Chuck to leave the hotel. If she could only get inside the room and grab her passport, she could get out of there. And though she didn’t want to kiss those thousands of dollars goodbye, at least she still had the flash drives in her purse. She would call Mickey tonight and sell him the data and that would give her enough cash to get to Central America. Once she found Melissa, of course, she’d be fine. The money she had sent on ahead would be available to her there.

“I tell you what, Chuck,” Lettie said now, summoning all of her nerve for the biggest lie she’d ever told. “If you can find that money, I’ll consider getting back together with you.”

“Okay, but this works both ways. What about your money—the cash you’ve been earning from Mickey since I’ve been gone? Where is that?”

“You found it already, in the box of books.”

“Don’t lie to me, you idiot. If you’ve been working hard for three years, you’ve made a lot more than this.”

Lettie was quiet for a moment. She couldn’t exactly tell him the truth.

“It’s safely put away, Chuck. Like a nest egg.”

And that was sort of true.

“Well, between your nest egg and my money from Mickey, things will be different now,” he said. “They really will. I promise.”

“Prove it,” she challenged. “Go find that money and then we’ll talk.”

On her way home from the police station, Jo stopped by the discount store and bought the Watkinses a new universal remote. Danny had said there was no big hurry, but she wanted an excuse to see him again. She felt so utterly lost without him living in the house behind her.

Was that true love?

She didn’t know. Her heart heavy with a feeling she didn’t understand, Jo walked to the audio section of the store, chose the correct remote, paid, and left.

From there, she drove straight to Danny’s parents’ house, her stomach in knots as she walked to the door. In response to her knock, Danny called out “Come in!” She opened it to see him sitting on the couch, foot propped up, a GameBoy in his hands.

“Danny?”

“Jo, hey,” he said, surprised, and as he struggled to sit up and smooth his hair, she couldn’t help thinking that yes, her heart did beat faster when she saw him. Yes, there was something about being with him that lit up the room.

“Whatcha doing?”

She stepped inside and closed the door.

“I got the new remote.”

Stiffly, she pulled it from the bag and held it up so he could see.

“That was fast. Sometimes I forget how efficient you are.”

“Is your mom around?” she asked. “I wanted to apologize one more time.”

“She’s gone to church,” Danny said. “So has my dad. Everybody’s gone.”

“You’re here alone?”

“Yep. Just me and Donkey Kong.”

Jo felt a flutter in her stomach. Alone. They’d been alone a million times, but somehow now it was different. Summoning her nerve, she walked toward him and took a seat on the easy chair to his right.

“Well, I hope I’m an improvement over a big ugly monkey,” she joked.

“Hmm,” he said, holding up both hands like a scale. “Beautiful Jo, hairy gorilla, beautiful Jo, hairy gorilla. Yep, you win.”

Smiling, their eyes met and held. For a moment, Jo wanted to sink into his arms and never come out again. Surely, that was love.

“I can’t stay,” she said softly, not leaving.

“Are you kidding?” he teased. “You can’t stay away.”

She started to protest, but then she realized it was true. She couldn’t stay away. Her breath caught in her throat.

“Jo?” he said, shifting a bit on the couch. “Would you sit here? Beside me?”

Swallowing, she put down the remote and moved next to him on the couch. As she sat, he moved in such a way that his arm was around her shoulders and she was resting right up against him. Silently, with his other hand, he brushed the hair from her face.

“I just need to hold you,” he whispered.

Then he wrapped both arms around her and pulled her in tightly. Closing her eyes, she melted into his embrace, her face pressed against the warmth of his chest. Something about being there, with him, felt so utterly safe and yet so utterly terrifying all at the same time.

Finally, slowly, he leaned down and kissed her neck, kissed her cheek.

Kissed her lips.

This time, there was no pretending. This was no show for someone else to see. This was just Jo and Danny, alone, moving from what they had been to what they could become. Truly, she’d never felt so connected to anyone in her life. It was as if their lips, their mouths, had been made for each other.

When the kiss was over, Danny moved his lips to her forehead, kissed her there, and then simply held her. Stroking her hair, he couldn’t have been more sweet or gentle. For some strange reason, Jo felt her eyes fill with tears. She didn’t deserve him.

“I love you,” he whispered.

Oh, how she wanted to answer him back. But the words wouldn’t come. Instead, fear gripped her throat.

“I-I,” she stammered, “I have to go.”

Before he could protest—or even reply—she pulled away and went to the door.

“What are you scared of, Jo?” he called after her.

She turned around and looked at him, tears streaking her face.

“I don’t know, Danny,” she cried before closing the door and walking away. “I just am.”

Lettie sat up straight, her heart pounding at the sight of Chuck coming out of the room.

He looked good, really good. From this distance, it appeared as if he had bulked up quite a bit. There was a broadness to his shoulders that hadn’t been there before, and a wariness to his step that she didn’t recognize. Wearing tight jeans and an unfamiliar leather jacket, he seemed like the person she knew best in the world and also a total stranger—all at the same time.

He didn’t go straight to the car but instead walked to the motel office. A minute later, he came back out, followed by the grizzly old man who ran the front desk.

As Lettie watched, she realized that the yellow Impala was Chuck’s and that the old man was out there to help jump a dead battery. It only took a few minutes and then the old man returned to the office and Chuck was on his way.

Hardly breathing, Lettie waited until he reached the end of the block and turned. Then, gripping her cell phone in one hand and clutching her keys in the other, she ran along the side of the road all the way to the motel. Fortunately, things were quiet tonight. She made it to her room, sight unseen, and let herself inside.

Looking around, she realized that all of her things had been destroyed. From the looks of it, Chuck had systematically gone through and ruined each of her possessions, including all of her clothes. Somehow, none of that mattered now.

“Please be there, please,” she whispered as she picked up the pieces of the suitcase from the floor.

The suitcase itself was completely broken, of course, but deep inside the front pocket, flat and apparently unnoticed, was her passport.

Intact.

Untouched.

With a sob of relief, Lettie pressed it to her chest and kept moving. Summoning all of her nerve, she slipped outside. The yellow Impala was nowhere to be seen.

Quickly, heart beating in her ears, Lettie took off down the road. Running full out, she made it to the warehouse, along the side, and around the corner. In her gut, she almost expected to see Chuck standing there, leaning against her car, waiting for her.

Instead, it was just dark and quiet and empty.

Thanking her lucky stars, she started the ignition and drove off into the night. Pulling onto the interstate, she bid sweet little Mulberry Glen farewell.