Elizabeth C. Main - Jane Serrano 02 - No Rest for the Wicked (23 page)

Chapter 23

After
the meeting
disintegrated
,
we
didn’t find much to say
. Tyler and I
packed up the folding chairs
,
Bianca gathered discarded cups and plates,
and
Wendell snuffled around in search of stray cookie crumbs.
I
stowed
extra
chairs in the office,
and then
leaned against the desk, discouraged.

Laurence poked his head inside the back door.
“
They gone?
”

“
Oh, yes. They certainly are.
”

For once I was glad he hadn’t been here. This SOS meeting would have put him off the group forever.

Tyler
carried in
a double armload of chairs.
“
Grandpa!
Y
ou’re here.
”

H
is grandfather
looked
at him sharply.
“
Where else would
I be?
”

“
I thought maybe you’d
…
slept in or something.
”
Tyler’s lame attempt to hide his relief apparently agitated his grandfather further.

“
I don’t need a morning nap, sonny.
Waited out back
’
til that bunch of old f
ools stopped milling around.
”

“
How ’bout I find
us
some lunch? Tuna melt from Gifford’s, with pickles and chips? Won’t take ten minutes to get it here.
”
Tyler picked up the phone without waiting for an answer.

From the anticipatory expression on Laurence’s face, I could see that
Tyler had diverted
him, though the old man spoke gruffly.
“
I’ll be out front, working. Somebody’s got to keep
an eye on things around here.
”

Was it my imagination, or was Laurence limping more than usual? I watched from the office as he made his slow way to the front counter. Laurence had a real sweet tooth, so I was surprised when he shook his head at Bianca’s offer of
Minnie’s giant oatmeal cookies.

Tyler still had his hand on the phone after placing the order when the phone rang, so he picked it up. His shoulders slumped as he listened. At my questioning look, he mouthed
“
Mom
”
before trudging to the front of the store to where his grandfather stood. Tyler started to hand him the phone, but
,
at the last minute
,
he jerked it back against his chest, covering the mouthpiece.

“
I can’t go live with her again. Please, Grandpa. I don’t care about your problem. I’ll take care of you.
”

“
What are you talking about? Give me that thing!
”
Laurence
tore
the phone
from Tyler’s hand
and glared at
him
.
“
What’s the matter with you these days?
”

Obviously stunned by the heat in his grandfather’s voice, Tyler retreated several steps, backing into me where I hovered near the doorway. Laurence continued to stare at his grandson
.

Tyler finally smacked the doorjamb with the flat of his hand and brushed by me into the office.
“
Might as well s
tart packing.
”

I followed him and let the door swing shut behind us
. Avoiding even a stray glance a
t
Tyler
,
I sat at the desk
and shuffled through a stack of year-old invoices
.

Tyler crept back to the closed door, muttering to himself.
“
Sound normal
, Grandpa
. Please, just for
a few minutes, sound normal.
”

We didn’t bother to pretend we weren’t eavesdropping, but we could make out only an occasional word. When quiet finally descended on the front room, Tyler glided away from the door and picked up a book at random from the
shelf behind the
desk.

The door crashed open
,
and Laurence limped in.
“
What’s this business about wanting to go live with your mo
ther? First I’ve heard of it.
”

Tyler whirled to face him.
“
I
never said
I wanted to go there.
”

Laurence fixed Tyler with a long look.
“
You didn’t, eh?
S
he can be convincing. Fooled me more than once along the way. Still, maybe you’d be better off there
,
since you—
”

Tyler produced barely a whisper.
“
What?
”

Laurence closed the two steps between them.
“
Since you’ve been following me, hounding me—
”

“
I have not … maybe, but
only because I care about you
.
You’re meeting someone and acting all mysterious about it.
”

“
Who I see is none of your business.
”
Laurence’s voice had risen with each word and his face was turning a dangerous shade of red.

“
Laurence, you’re not supposed to get excited,
”
I said.
If nothing was wrong, why would Laurence be reacting so strongly?

Tyler swallowed, but stood his ground.
“
I’m afraid he’s
dangerous.
”

“
Why would
you
think
that?
”
Laurence gripped Tyler’s arm.
“
You haven’t been talking to him?
”

Tyler wrenched
away
from Laurence’
s grasp.

“
Suppose
he’s involved in … in that murder?
”

The hurt in Tyler’s eyes made me jump to my feet. If I could see it, why couldn’t Laurence?

Laurence stepped back,
as
though slapped
.
“
If you think, if you could entertain the notion that I’m mixed up
in
something like that, you’d better go live with your mother.
”

“
Not mixed u
p in that … just mixed up.
”

Tyler’s words hung in the air.

Finally
,
Laurence shook his head in disgust.
“
Even you. You think I’m losing my marbles, don’t you? Everyone says, ‘Come to the SOS meetings
.’ T
hose meetings are for silly old fools who can’t think straight. I had a heart attack last year, not a brain meltdown.
You’re treating
me like a baby.
”

“
Can’t you see he’s trying to protect you?
”
I’d stayed
out of it
as long as I could
.
T
hey were talking right past each other
.
“
From yourself
, Laurence
. From sleazy people who
might
want to take advantage of you.
”

Tyler softened his tone.
“
I don’t think you’re a baby
, Grandpa. Look, I found the key to your desk … the sweepstakes entries and stuff.
”

Laurence made a strangled sound in his throat
.

Tyler swept on.
“
Yeah, I snooped through everything. I followed you. I listened in on your phone calls—
”

“
You did what?
”
Laurence’s question was a howl of outrage.

“
To help!
”
Tyler’s voice rose in frustration.
“
That’s all I was
trying to do
. Everybody needs help sometimes, Grandpa.
”

“
Do you?
”
Laurence fired back
.

Tyler blinke
d in surprise.

“
Yes. I need your help. I want to stay with you, but
they won’t let me
if you
keep sneaking around
like this, acting crazy.
”

I held my breath waiting for Laurence’s response, knowing Tyler had just risked the one thing he wanted more than anything:
t
o stay right here with his grandfather.
They
stood toe
-
to
-
toe, the two of them glaring like roosters about to fly at each other.

“
Crazy? Is that what you think?
”

Like magic, the tension drained out of Laurence’s face and he dropped into the chair I’d just vacated. I was relieved to see that his complexion was starting to return to its normal color. He sat looking at his knotted hands for a few minutes, thinking. Finally, a smile pulled at the corners of his mouth
.

H
e looked up at me.
“
Feisty, isn’t he? Chip off the old block. Tyler,
my boy, we need to talk.
”

I tried to slip out of the room, to give them some privacy
.

Laurence stopped me.
“
Stay put. Seems you already know more than I do. Might as well hear the rest.
”
He paused and shifted in the chair, then sighed.
“
There’s no good way to say this. All that stuff … the plain truth is that I thought I could show you all a thing or two. Hate to admit it, but I’m an arrogant old fool
.
”

Tyler got it before I did.
“
You’ve been using yourself as bait!
”

“
Trying to
,
anyway. Responding to bogus roofing ads, that kind of thing. Started a few months ago when you were hounding me about joining that old folks’ group. Then
,
when Alix’s ex-husband got himself murdered, I thought maybe I could
really
do something.
T
he man you saw me with downtown? I even thought he might be the killer, or maybe an accomplice.
”

“
Laurence, what were
you thinking?
”
I was outraged.

“
You put yourself in danger, Grandpa.
”
Tyler sounded half
-
shocked, half
-
thrilled.

“
T
hat was the idea
,
”
he said with a grin
.
“
But
I didn’t. That two-bit chiseler was a big waste of my time. He wouldn’t know a murderer if he saw one.
”

“
Thank goodness
,
you weren’t hurt
,
”
I said.
“
A man your age, running around like some undercover cop. You should’ve stayed out of it.
”

“
The same way you do, Jane?
”
Laurence’s smile widened as he observed my consternation.
“
You might be right.
But so what? Most fun I’ve had
in a long time
. Last year, I didn’t get to help at all
when you solved
that murder.
”

“
You were in the ICU at the time,
”
I reminded him
.
“
Or
had you forgotten?
”

He waved this away as a minor point.

“
We’ve asked you a million times to join us at the Murder of the Month meetings. You’ve never shown the slightest interest.
”

“
Don’t want to sit in a damn rocking chair reading about crimes, unless maybe it’s Dostoevsky doing the writing.
”

“
Would being a guest speaker for the SOS group count as fieldwork?
”
I asked the question half in jest, but I immediately started to see some possibilities.
“
You could tell them what you learned while you were undercover. They’d be fascinated.
”

“
Didn’t learn much.
”

“
You did
great
, Grandpa.
”
Tyler’s smile was back full force.
“
Remember, I saw your
act
. You
sure fooled that chiseler.
”

“
Bah!
He was a
ll bark and no bite.
”

“
How can you be
sure? Tyler told me he seemed to threaten you.
”

“
He did. Tried to scare me
into paying him money I didn’t owe him
.
”
Laurence looked positively exhilarated as he recounted the experience.
“
I’ve done enough blustering of my own to recognize a blowhard when I see one.
He’s no problem.
”

“
Maybe
not to you
, but
he is a con man,
right? What
if he’d
threatened
one of those old ladies from the group?
”
Tyler continued.
“
Might’ve scared her to death. You can give a firsthand account about what to watch out for.
”

“
I’ll think about
it
.
”
Laurence levered his bony frame to a standing position, looking about ten years younger than he had only a few minutes ago.
“
But this afternoon, I’m busy. Right after that sandwich you promised me, I’m going over to describe my oily friend to the police. Didn’t plan to originally, but since that knuckleheaded sheriff of ours has gone and arrested Alix, it’s about time to widen his view of the possibilities.
”

I breathed a sigh of relief.
“
My sentiments exactly.
”

“
Thought you’d approve.
”
Laurence turned and put a hand on Tyler’s shoulder
.
“
Now, about your mother.
”

“
What’d you tell her?
”

“
The truth.
Told her I couldn’t run Thornton’s without you, that I still needed your help.
”

“
And she was okay with that?
”
Tyler sounded dubious.

“
She’ll have to be.
”
Laurence hunched his shoulders in an exaggerated way.
“
I’m just a frail old man, you know. Need a lot of help. Now, suppose you could stop jawing long enough to get out front and sell some books? Abou
t time you earned your keep.
”