Character Witness (28 page)

Stunned, everyone stopped: Sarah to lay on the floor her arms, legs and hair splayed out around her, Kathleen froze mid-stride and Michael stopped as he opened his mouth to howl in outrage. They all stared at the open door and then Louise Booker stepped into the living room, grinned and gave a Miss America wave. Her nails were lapis. Rod Stewart was the guest rocker.

Sarah Booker had beautiful china. It was old and hand painted with lilacs. Another time, Kathleen would have asked its history. Another time Kathleen would have actually enjoyed fixing tea and sitting in this little house in the canyon, surrounded by trees, settled in for a long chat over a warm cup. As it was, she was cranky and dirty and not a little unhappy that Louise was standing in Sarah Booker's kitchen, too.

''
Gerry told me where she lived. What's the big deal? My horoscope said 'make peace and financial gain will be yours'. It was a sign, Kathleen. Besides, I thought I could just talk to her a little, you know convince her woman-to-woman to tell me anything that might help this case. If she would, I was going to just drop the whole nonsense against the estate, and then she wouldn't have to worry about her future.'' Louise scratched her head, nail tips only. Kathleen's eyes narrowed. The Pinocchio move. ''Whatever future she had, that is. . .'' Kathleen huffed.

''
I was doing just fine, thank you. I was doing what a responsible attorney would do. I was methodically gathering information and following up leads.'' She yanked open the pine wood cabinets, found the tea and put the tin on the counter before turning to look at Louise. ''You weren't coming to talk to her at all. You were going to browbeat her and she could have sued the pants off you, Louise. Where are your brains? Not only that, that woman could have killed you.''

''
Oh, right,'' Louise scoffed, those nails were now more interesting than Kathleen. Louise buffed old Rod for good measure.

''
Okay, don't take my word for it. Grab a flash light. Take a look outside. Those aren't woodpecker holes out there in that wooden garden thing. Take a look at us! Take a look in the front closet. She shot at us.'' Kathleen fumed and ripped off the top of the tea tin wishing it was Louise's head. ''With a shotgun. If Michael hadn't been here, I would have been dead.''

Kathleen ran the water into the kettle. Behind her Louise breathed a sound that seemed like a horrified 'no', but when Kathleen turned triumphantly to receive the other woman's apology, Louise had abandoned her. She was mincing back to the living room on Lucite wedgies, her arms held out toward the one eyed Sarah.

''
You didn't. Did you really take a gun to these two?'' Louise cooed in a voice one might use to compliment the hostess's lemon cake.

Louise settled herself beside Sarah who sat stiff with terror. A more unlikely pair one could never hope to see. Sarah swathed in another gray sweater, this one with a shawl collar, and a nondescript blouse tucked into her jeans; Louise in a gold lame blouse and black skin tight jeans that sported open lattice work. The peek-a-boo ran down the outer side of the legs. The less than demure cutouts let the world see that cellulite was not a problem for Louise Booker. Louise crossed those skinny legs of hers and took Sarah's hand.

''
You are one gutsy little broad,'' she said solemnly. Louise picked up the ice pack Sarah held against her head and checked out the bruise. It was ugly. ''Wow, I didn't realize how bad that was. How're you feeling?'' Louise clucked, touching the miserable knot on the side of Sarah's forehead. ''I didn't think you had it in you. That's really amazing, you standing your ground like that. I didn't think the estate meant that much to you.''

''
It doesn't,'' Sarah groused, coming to life as she eyed Louise warily. Rudely she pulled the ice pack back. Louise crossed her arms, taking no offense. On she talked, addressing Sarah, the watchful Michael and Kathleen, who brought out two cups of tea and put them on the coffee table before going back for two more. Louise raised her voice so Kathleen wouldn't be left out.

''
This is something, isn't it? To find out that Sarah and I have something in common after all. I suppose we had to have had something in common. Lionel wasn't a dummy, was he, Sarah?'' Louise batted her lashes at her new friend. They were blue tipped with little balls of iridescent mascara. ''That's what I loved about him. He was smart. His priorities were just a little screwed. But the thing that bothered me was that he wasn't consistent. First he marries someone like me.'' She actually raised a hand to her coifed hair as if they needed reminding of exactly who -or what - she was. ''Then he goes and does the same thing with someone like you.'' The look she gave Sarah was pitying. ''It didn't make sense 'till now. But now I get it.'' Louise raised her arms as if inviting them to join in a refrain. ''Strong women. That's what Lionel needed. Really, really strong women. You had me fooled, Sarah. You really did.''

''
Excuse me, but can we cut the bull?'' Michael re-taped the gauze on his hand and looked at Louise, nonplused.

Louise lowered those flashy lashes, and her voice, as she leaned toward Michael. ''You're not much a of a woman's man are you? If you're thinking of bullying this little lady,'' she jerked a thumb toward Sarah, ''you just watch it 'cause I'm here now.''

''
And so am I,'' Kathleen rejoined the group of misfits. ''And I'm not going to let anyone do anything that isn't legal or appropriate.''

''
Don't look at me, it's him. He's the one that wants to be so heavy handed, or haven't you taken a look at Sarah's eye? What's your name again?'' Louise pushed her chest out just a tad more. Sarah, while now a sister, wasn't half as interesting as a good looking man.

''
Crawford. Michael.''

''
Oh, I love a man who talks like that.'' Louise pulled back and turned a cold shoulder his way to show she wasn't as impressed as she really was. ''And what's your business here?''

''
I came with Kathleen,'' he said evenly. Any other time he would have found Louise Booker interesting, currently she was a pain in the butt. ''I was Lionel's supervisor.''

''
Oh, God,'' wailed Sarah burying her face in her hands. The ice pack fell to the floor with the muffled thump of half-melted ice against rubber.

''
What, honey, what?'' Louise crowded her on the small chair. Sarah would have ended up on the floor if Louise hadn't grabbed her around the shoulders. She gave Michael a scowl that didn't make a dent in his peevishness.

''
Kill me,'' Sarah wailed, lowering her hands, raising her face. Joan of Arc about to be tied to the stake couldn't have looked more pathetically heroic.

''
This is ridiculous,'' Michael stood up. Sarah tried to but he turned on her. Kathleen didn't bother to move. ''I'll tie you to that chair if you move again. Now start talking some sense. Kill you! Ridiculous. No you don't,'' he whipped a look at Louise who was about to leap to Sarah's defense. ''I swear I'll tie you to her and I'll gag you. Now, both of you listen up. I'm an auditing supervisor at Tysco Industries. That's it. Nothing more. I came here because Kathleen wanted me to drive her to see Sarah. All I wanted to do was take her to dinner.

''
But now I'm here. My hand is killing me. I've been shot at and I've groveled in the dirt. I'm a mess and I'm surrounded by crazy women - excuse me -'' the latter he directed toward Kathleen who nodded back curtly, acknowledging herself as the exception. ''Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get what we came for and what we came for is information. That's all. We don't want to pillage. We don't want to kill you. We just want to know what in the heck had good old Lionel riled before he died!'' Michael did a three sixty-his hands in his hair. He gave a little frustrated tug to the hair at the sides of his head and looked back at Sarah Booker. The silence grew fat and heavy and almost unbearable. ''Are you going to say anything?

There was another strained moment. Finally, Sarah nodded.

''
When?'' He asked.

''
Now?''

It was going to be a long night.

''
He wasn't mad in the way you think. Lionel never got upset that way - like with himself. Did he Louise?''

Michael and Kathleen leaned forward, straining to hear Sarah's voice. Louise plucked at her cuff, trying to snag a tiny thread that eluded her talons. She shook her head.

''
Sarah's right there. You could walk all over Lionel, and he wouldn't even get mad at you, would he Sarah?''

''
No, not at all, but I never tried to take advantage,'' she reminded Louise shyly, pointing out that there were still some differences between them after all. ''Lionel really hated unfairness. That made him crazy. Cheating, that was another thing that made him crazy. Meanness, too. That's why Lionel never felt badly toward you, Louise.'' Sarah's narrow, pale brow puckered but it hurt her eye so she let her face relax. ''You never tried to cheat him, Louise. He respected that.''

''
And I appreciate you telling me. I want you to know I never hated Lionel, Sarah. I just hated the time I wasted with him. You understand?'' Louise gave up the thread hunt, her attention riveted once more on Sarah.

''
I do. I do,'' Sarah said sincerely. ''Time is so important. I never realized that until Lionel was gone. You had too much time with him, Louise, and I didn't have enough.''

Kathleen slid her eyes Michael's way. Sarah's kind of love for Lionel was rare indeed, but neither could take too much more of the budding affection between Louise and Sarah Booker. Michael cleared his throat. Sarah blinked. She was back from the past and still wary of the only man about.

''
Yes, I'm sorry. Well, I don't really know much about it, you understand. This thing that was bothering him, I mean.'' She was back to picking at her sweater. ''Lionel liked working at Tysco. Everything was in its place. He knew what his job was, they paid well and the benefits were very good. It was a perfect situation. That job left his mind free to pursue the more spiritual aspects of life. You know, to just sort of enjoy all of this.''

''
You're kiddin. . .'' Louise started to laugh. Kathleen was close enough to give her ankle a kick. Louise closed her mouth and collectively they contemplated the small, well kept house, the grounds, the pretty china. Kathleen thought there was something to be said for Lionel's priorities. Sarah sighed. She looked pitiful with her swollen eye and worn sweater.

''
One day something came across his desk. Some bill or some kind of accounting document that was meant for someone else. I don't know a lot about this,'' she said again, apologetic and distressed by her ignorance. Her audience nodded their encouragement. ''Well, okay then.'' She took a deep breath. ''Lionel said that, no matter what department they were from, they didn't look right. In fact, he was really, really angry. He said the system was like an idiot child that did whatever a smart person told it to do even if it was an unscrupulous smart person who was telling it to do things. Lionel believed that the actual cash flow in the part of the company those bills came from, and maybe some others, was being manipulated.''

''
That would be pretty tough to do,'' Michael commented, one hand over his eyes, a barrier to deflect whatever nonsense was to come. The other arm, the injured one, dangled over the side of the chair.

Sarah gazed at him mournfully. ''I don't know anything other than that. I'm not very good with this kind of thing. I work at the potter's down the way. We don't bill anybody. They just buy their pot and leave.''

''
It's okay,'' Kathleen assured her, but even she was weary. This was one of those times when Dorty & Breyer looked like a step up. ''Just go ahead.''

''
Well, Lionel said he went to his supervisor with the problem and was told not to worry about it. But Lionel couldn't just ignore the whole thing. So he went a few times more, but his supervisor got angry. Lionel found out who his supervisor's boss was and he was going to go to him.'' Sarah rubbed her temple gingerly. Kathleen winced. Sarah did not. ''He said he'd go to the top if he had to. When he put on his suit, I knew that it had probably come to that. He didn't say it had, but why else would he put on a suit? He looked very handsome.'' This she directed to Louise who was kind enough to simply nod as if she too admired the image of his reed thin body turned out in his Sunday best. ''I didn't want him to do anything crazy. If he lost his job at Tysco I don't know what we'd do.''

Kathleen couldn't resist a glance at Michael. He smiled. He was gorgeous, even after their tussle on the ground. She put her hand to her hair and pushed back her bangs, then gave up on hoping that she might make herself look at least presentable. It would be great to have a brush and her lipstick. Not that it would have mattered to Michael; he was getting into his conversation with Sarah.

''
Lionel didn't ever mention a name? Jules Porter was his supervisor before me. Did he say whether or not Jules Porter had threatened him with a personnel action for pushing the matter?''

''
No.'' Sarah thought hard. She only knew what she had been told; there would be no extrapolation that might enlighten them. ''He just went off. He kissed me good-bye. I've always been grateful for that. The next thing I knew Lionel was dead. I was devastated. He was my best friend. I really didn't have anyone else.''

''
You do now, kiddo.'' Louise lifted the sofa cushion to look underneath only to sit down when she didn't find whatever she was looking for. Kathleen thought a codicil -
whether you like it or not -
should be added to that statement
but she remained silent.

''
Anyway, I was home lying down all day after I'd gone to identify his body. I couldn't believe he was dead and I never believed that he took drugs. Just to be sure I searched this house top to bottom looking for something that might prove that he did.''