Class Reunion of Murder (12 page)

He pulled her close and hugged her again. “Geez. How did I eat lunch with those people every day and not know how horrible they were? I can’t believe he put his hands on you. This is not going to go well for him.”

“Jason, think of your job.”

“I am, and all the ways I’ve learned to cripple a man,” he said.

She would attach herself to him until he calmed down enough to be rational before confronting Brady, but for now his protective anger was comforting.

“I’m sorry my phone died,” he said. He sounded miserable.

“Stop beating yourself up. You didn’t do anything wrong. You’re not responsible for me every second of the day.”

“Yes, I am, and the sooner you stop fighting it, the better off we’ll both be. How do you feel about one of those baby slings? If we could find one that fits you, then I could have my hands free.”

She giggled, glad that she was over the stage where she felt embarrassed for being giggly around him. He often made her laugh with carefree delight, something of which she didn’t believe she was capable until she reconnected with him. She felt him smile against the top of her head and knew the worst was over. Then his smile of relief and amusement quickly changed to something else. The air between them crackled and hummed with electricity.

“So, Kimber’s not here, huh?” he said as he began herding her backwards.

“She could arrive at any moment,” Lacy said.

“A chance I’m willing to take.”

He had backed her as far as she could go when there was a knock on the door. “Kimber must have lost her key,” Lacy said. She ducked around him.

“I demand a rain check from this establishment,” Jason said.

“I’ll check with the owner,” Lacy promised. She was laughing as she flung open the door, but her laughter soon faded as Riley bypassed her, stalked inside, and flung herself onto Lacy’s bed. Lacy was about to shut the door when Tosh pushed it open and followed his wife inside.

“Stop running away from me,” he yelled.

“You won’t listen to me when I talk. What else am I supposed to do?” Riley yelled.

In the corner, Jason tried to blend into the woodwork. He began rearranging Lacy’s suitcase, probably sorting alphabetically and by color. She had haphazardly looked through it and tossed things inside. It was a mess, but he loved a cleaning challenge.

“You’re supposed to stay and work it out,” Tosh said.

“How can I do that when talking to you is like talking to a wall?” Riley said.

“Maybe you should call your good friend Robert and talk to him,” Tosh said.

Jason and Lacy made eye contact. How had Robert gotten dragged into this mess? “I told you I only returned his call to tell him goodbye,” Riley said.
Oh, so that’s how,
Lacy thought.

“Right. You were engaged to the guy and I’m supposed to believe you have no feelings for him,” Tosh said.

“I told you I don’t. I dumped him, remember?” She turned and pinned Jason with a glare. “Jason, you met Robert. Tell Tosh he has no reason to worry.”

“I’m folding underwear. How did I get sucked in?” Jason asked. He set Lacy’s lingerie aside and took another step back.

Tosh whirled and faced Lacy. “He was your ex, too, and it took you years to get over him. How can someone be so bad if two women in the same family were engaged to him?”

“Hold it,” Jason yelled and now everyone turned to look at him. “No, just no. You are not dragging Lacy into this and pinning her between you two. And no one is bringing up that weasel-faced loser again in my presence. In fact, get out.” He strode to the door and held it open. “Go back to your own room and act like a twenty-eight-year-old
pastor
and his twenty-four-year-old mature wife. Or don’t. I don’t care, just leave Lacy out of it. Go!” he thundered when everyone remained staring at him. He said it with so much authority that Lacy almost ducked out, too. Tosh and Riley filed silently from the room with their proverbial tails tucked. Jason slammed the door behind them, as much as one could slam a solid oak hotel door.

“Your money would be better spent buying an island,” Jason said.

“You are the most spectacular…” she broke off, hesitating.
Boyfriend,
was the first word that popped into her head, but she didn’t want to be the first to define them. “Human. You’re the most spectacular human ever.”

“Thank you, Earthling. Now, I believe someone mentioned a rain check. With interest.” He reached for her and the door opened again. “Geez,” he breathed, dropping his arms and jumping aside to avoid being hit by the door.

Kimber breezed in, yawning. “Hey.”

“Kimber, where have you been?”

“Hanging out,” Kimber said. “I thought I texted you.”

“No, you didn’t,” Lacy said.

“Sorry,” Kimber said. She saw Jason and flinched. “Lurk much, Jason?”

“I don’t always hide behind the door, but when I do, it’s because I can’t get a minute alone with Lacy.”

Kimber laughed and shrugged off her shoes as she slipped into her bed. “Boy, if you want a minute alone, you better move her out of this town. Everyone still knows everyone’s business. I was in the diner this morning, and some old lady asked me if I thought the hotel was going to make a profit when you resold it. I’ve never talked to that woman before in my life.”

“What did she look like?” Lacy asked.

“Tall and a yeller.”

“Rose,” Lacy said. Now that Tosh was safely off the market and Lacy’s love life was more settled, her grandmother’s group of friends had moved on to bestowing financial advice. They had even formed a committee on her behalf to meet weekly and research investments. When they tried to get Lucinda to become a day trader, Lacy and Mr. Middleton had put their collective foot down.

“Speaking of breakfast, there’s a brand new box of cereal at my house with your name on it. It has a lot of sugar and no nutritional value whatsoever. And my house is empty, so very, very empty,” Jason said.

“Sounds perfect,” Lacy agreed.

“No, I can’t make it, but thanks for asking,” Kimber said, her sleepy smile giving way to a yawn.

Jason opened his mouth to retort when his phone buzzed. “Ah, geez,” he mumbled as he pulled it out and answered. He listened while someone else spoke for a while. “I’ll be there in a minute.” He closed his phone and stuffed it away. “That was dispatch. Brady is in a coma. Someone found him unconscious in Grigsby’s parking lot this morning, beaten and strangled. They’re not sure if he’s going to make it.”

“Uh-oh,” Lacy said. Was she the last person to see Brady conscious?

“Did anyone see your altercation with him?” Jason asked.

“Not the one outside. Everyone saw the thing with the bull. Do you want me to write a statement?”

“No, not yet. Let me see where things stand. I need to figure out how this relates to Summer.”

“What if it doesn’t?” Lacy said. “Summer was drowned. What kind of killer drowns one victim and beats another?”

“A really angry one,” Kimber volunteered.

Jason took Lacy’s hand and led her to the hallway, making sure the door was closed soundly behind them. “We’re not sure Summer drowned,” he whispered. “There was a lesion on her head and ligature marks on her neck. The coroner is supposed to figure out today if there’s water in her lungs.”

“You mean someone bashed her on the head, strangled, and then drowned her?”

He nodded.

“Wow, they were really thorough.”

“Yeah, so I need to take a look at Brady and see if his wounds match hers, and I don’t want to bring you into this until I have to.”

“I have nothing to hide,” Lacy said.

“Yes, but there are some on the force who might see things differently.”

Detective Arroyo, she knew, would love nothing more than to nail her to the wall, but would he be willing to try and find a crime when there was no crime, just to pin something on her? She had tried hard not to put Jason in the middle of her feud. Apparently her efforts were for naught. “I’m sorry, Jason,” she said.

“It’s not that big of a deal,” he replied. “I need to go. I’ll see you when I can.” He gave her a perfunctory kiss, waited until she was safely inside her room, and then he was gone.

“Are we sure he’s not a superhero of some sort?” Kimber said. “He disappears with alarming frequency whenever there’s an emergency.”

“No, he’s definitely flesh and blood,” Lacy said, shuddering as she remembered his too-close call with a stray bullet. The sight of his ashen face as it lay in his hospital bed would never leave her memory, and she never wanted to repeat the experience.

“Are you going back to bed?” Kimber asked with a yawn.

“Can’t,” Lacy replied, suppressing a yawn of her own. “Someone from the governor’s office is coming today for a final walk through of the centennial presentation, and they want to see the StakelyBuilding.” She meandered into the bathroom and put paste on her toothbrush before remembering she had already brushed her teeth. Figuring that a double dose couldn’t hurt, she started to brush and walked back to the bedroom. “You didn’t say where you were last night,” she said, hoping Kimber would be able to interpret her brush-stuffed mumble. It was a moot point, though, because Kimber was already asleep.

She continued to sleep while Lacy showered, dressed, dried her hair and applied makeup. This morning she applied her precious pomade. She thought she had probably gotten to her wild hair just in time. One more day of absorbing the universe’s energy and it might become sentient. Her mouth ached to remind her that she had forgotten to wear her retainers the previous night. She would have to wear them today. A few days of retainers was better than a few more years of braces, or so she tried to tell herself as she cleaned them and stuffed them in her sore mouth.

At least her chin was better today. She could almost cover the sidewalk rash with makeup. One had to look closely to see the marks. Jason was the only person who ever got that close to her, and he didn’t care. She smiled stupidly at her reflection.
He doesn’t care,
she thought.
He doesn’t care that my hair might try to take over the world if left to its own devices, he doesn’t care that I had to revert to glasses, he doesn’t care about the retainers, he doesn’t care that I am and forever will be a band geek.
What he did care about was her, of that she was certain, and that certainty brought a new kind of peace and reassurance she had never experienced before.
He likes me; he really likes me.

She was still on cloud nine as she made her way to the Stakely building. The representative from the governor’s office was set to arrive at ten. Lacy arrived with a half hour to spare. In her personal life, she was often running behind. In her professional life, she liked to be early. What did that say about her? She had no idea, and she pushed the thought away, not wanting to delve too deeply into her psyche on such a splendid day.

Michael intercepted her as soon as she arrived, but he was holding doughnuts, so she smiled. “The lady from the bakery dropped these off for you. I think she knows your grandmother is out of town and is hoping for a financial boost in the interim,” he said. “She was worried these wouldn’t make it to you, but I told her we’re all aware of the consequences if you find out the doughnuts have disappeared before you’ve had your share.”

“I won’t be baited into annoyance with you today,” Lacy said. She picked up a chocolate-covered, custard-filled confection, her favorite. The day kept getting better and better.

“Pity,” Michael said. “Do you want me to carry the rest of these up to your office for you so we don’t have to pretend not to see you sneak back to the box eleven times?”

“No, I’m not going to be here for much longer. Give them away.” She eyed the box with something like possessiveness. Lacy had no problem sharing her wealth; doughnuts were another story.

“You sure?” Michael said. “Because the way you’re looking at these makes me think you’re going to attack me as soon as I turn my back with them. I’ve seen feral dogs with friendlier demeanors.”

“Let me walk away first. That might be easier.” She turned and put her hand up to block her view of the doughnuts. She had to be especially careful the next few days because she foresaw no time to exercise. Lacy liked to think that it was low metabolism that made her gain weight so easily; in reality, it was probably her raging sweet tooth and penchant for using food as a solution to her problems.

To balance the doughnut, she took the stairs. Just because Jason liked her as she was didn’t mean she could be complacent. She still needed to watch what she ate a little better and keep up with her exercise, something that was becoming harder to do as he pressed her to run with him. She hadn’t jogged much since they started dating. She needed to start again, and she was running out of excuses to keep him at bay. Somehow it felt like the last test of their relationship, and she wasn’t ready for it. Everyone everywhere made fun of her for the way she ran. She didn’t want Jason to join those ranks. Though he already knew she wasn’t much of an athlete, there was something about him seeing her clumsiness in action she found disconcerting. He liked to say that there was no way he would lose his attraction to her if he saw her run, but Lacy wasn’t sure. She was pretty certain she knew how bad she looked while doing it, especially after she heard a toddler tug her mother’s hand, point at Lacy and say, “Mommy, what’s wrong with that lady?” When the mother replied, “I don’t know, honey,” Lacy had stopped running in public for a while.

Now she reached the third floor and bit into her doughnut as a reward. It was highly probable that three flights of stairs didn’t equal the calories of one chocolate-covered, cream-filled doughnut. Lacy tried not to dwell. Today wasn’t the day for rational thinking. A former schoolmate was dead, another was in a coma, Lacy might be a suspect, and her retainer-filled mouth throbbed. But all that paled in comparison to the fact that she was finally comfortable in her own skin, Kimber was home for a visit, and things with Jason were going well. The StakelyBuilding was thriving, and the Heritage Inn looked great. This was her time, the pinnacle of her life so far. No matter what happened today, she was determined to have a good attitude and enjoy it.