Kaleidoscope Summer (Samantha's Story) (13 page)

She tugged
the bot
tom of her sweater
over
the waist of
her jeans
. “
Logan
,
you sit right here—t
his is your chair. I’ll
get
some refreshments.”
She was
out of the room before I could answer.

Nicole
rolled her eyes
. “
Your chair?
Is she for real?”

I
move
d
to the sofa. “
No need to add
fuel t
o h
er
delusions
.
”

Lilyan
returned with a tray and placed it on the table in front of the sofa.

“I have—
”

“
Lilyan
,
sit. We
need
to talk.” My words sounded more abrupt than
I intended
.

“Okay
.” She perched on the opposite
end of the sofa
.

Nicole
pulled out her notebook
. H
er voice changed to the level
one uses to sooth
e a child
. “
W
e need your help.”

“
What can I do for you?
” Her
smile held a
poor
imitation of sweetness
.

“
If my information is correct,
you attende
d the quilting session at the church
.”
Lilyan
nodded and
Nicole continued.
“Maggie’s tires were tampered with.
Did you see
anything
out of the ordinary
?”

“
Samantha
looked
upset when she saw me a
t class.
”
She shrugged.
“
She
even
followed me outside
,
accus
ing
me of lying
. I didn’t want to
cause trouble so I left
.”
She
glanced
at the floor
. “
Samantha
looked prett
y in her white sundress
.”
She raised her eyes
,
directing her
comment
at
me
.

Nicole lifted
her pen from her notepad and looked up. “Lilyan, d
id you
notice
anyone in the parking lot
as you were leaving
?”

“A
guy working on Maggie’s
red car.
”

“Have you been watching
Samantha
?”

“
I went t
o see her at the bookshop,
to let her know how it was between Logan and me.
You remember, Logan, I
passed you on the way out?” She
casually
f
olded her hands.

H
ow could she sit there and keep talking about
us
? Was
it possible she
bought into
her own lies
?
Lilyan
stood and
moved toward the entry.

“O
ne more thing
. Can yo
u describe the man
you saw working on
Maggie’s
car
?
”
Nicole kept her voice soft
and even
.

“
Older
, I think
. T
hick glass
es. A cap
.” She opened the front door
and stepped
back
. W
e were being dismissed.

“
Lilyan
.”
I blew out an exasperated breath
.
“
W
e’ve
never even had dinner together
.
I wouldn’t
even
say we’re friends
.
”

“
I
t’s okay
. Everyone in town
knows about us. W
e don’t need to hide o
ur feeli
ngs.”

“
T
here is no
us
. Why do you persist in making these things up?”
M
y
jaw t
ightened
and the tension stiffened in the back of my neck
.
W
ords were
not
pene
trating
th
e circuit
between her brain
and reality
.

Lilyan
opened the door wider.
“
Y
ou should go
.”

We both looked
back as I inched away from the curb
.
Lilyan
remained
in
the doorway. She
lifted her hand and waved.

“
Wow.
Your words
ricochet
ed
right off her
,
as though
she
spoke a different language.
”
Nicole tucked her bag next to her feet.

“
She’s always been odd—b
ut not
like this
. Do you know
Dr. Jefferies, the psychiatrist at
the hospital in
Mariner Bay
?
I’d like
his opinion on
these absurd
claims of
Lilyan
’s
.”

“
I’ve heard of him.
Good idea.
But e
ven with her irrationality
, she doesn’t seem dangerous.
”

“
No, just out of touch with reality
.
”

“
How about her description of the guy she saw around Maggie’s car?
”
Nicole read
the details
from her notes.

“
Samantha also mentioned the guy wore a cap
.
” I
pulled back into the station
’s lot
and qui
ckly sent Alec a text. Then
nodded to Nicole. “Thanks for going with me. And tell Hank I can be reached on my cell.”

“Will do.
I’ll review my notes and write up a report.” Shouldering her bag
,
she
headed inside.

Alec
jogged
out of the station
and
replaced
Nicole in the passenger seat.
He
had about
a decade on me. We’
d work
ed together ever since I started with the department, which was going on eight years now. H
e
stood
five
eleve
n
and carried a few extra
pounds,
although nothing to interfere with his
job. A
lways showed up with
his
uniform fr
esh and shoes
polished, except
he did tend
to wear his brown
hair on the long
s
ide
.
He and his
wife Peggy li
ve
d on the edge of town. When
had
I last
ask
ed
about his family
?
“How are
Peggy and the kids?”

“
Ethan
is away at college and Brenda is graduating
from high school
this year. Pegg
y had a difficult time when our son
first left to attend seminary
, but
now we’re
looking forward to an empty
n
est this coming year.” He
wiggl
e
d
his
eyebrows.
“
Mi
ght
take a few road trips,
even
hold
hands
.”
Alec
poi
nted. “There’s the
Makenna
farm.”

“I haven’t been out here in a while
.” I slowed to make the turn, the tires crunching
and spit
ting
gravel
.
T
wo
gnarly
looking hounds bounded toward us
. “Think they’re
friendly?
”
I breathed easier
when
John
stepped outside
and called
off
his dogs.
With caution
,
I
eased
out
of the truck
and
Alec
crept
around the tailgate to where I stood.

“T
o what do I owe this pleasure? The
chief
and his deputy.”
His voice filled
with
sa
rcasm
.

“Hey
,
John
. Y
our granddaughter’s in town.”

“
Me and Liz d
on’t have
any
grandchildren
. Looks like you wasted a trip.”

“Ha
ve you been to town recently?” At the risk of losing a hand, I
rubbed the head of the dog sniffing my leg.

“Can’t say I have. Betsy, our neighbor, picks up
our groceries
. C
an’t see to drive much anymore.”
He opened the scree
n door and held it by the frame.

“Someone’s been painting
defamatory
remarks on the bookshop windows.”

“If you’re thinking
I had any part in it,
you’r
e wrong. I could n
ever disgrace my daughter’s memory
.
I
hope
this person
she left it to understands how much Anne loved her bookshop
.”

“
John
, yo
ur granddaughter is a special
young woman.”

“
We
don’t have a grandchild—t
hat was decided years ago—let it be. Why dredge up the sins of the dead?”
He sliced his hand through
the air
and turned to go back inside.

The hound’s snarl had us back inside the cab in record time
.
I moved
the gearshift and
reversed out of
the
driveway
.

“
H
e’ll be think
ing about Anne’s daughter
. Have you considered
talking to Thelma? D
idn’t she grow up with Anne
?” He
tapped his fingers on his knee.

“
Worth a try
. Although
Sam
should be the one to tal
k
to Thelma.
”

“W
ant me to take your shift?” He momentarily paused the tapping of the
tune only audible to his ears.

“
I’m good
.
”
I shook my head as I zoomed into the station’s driveway.

“Catch you later.” He climbed out and gave the pa
ssenger door a swift push
.

In
response
to my rumbling stomach
,
I
hit
Rubi’s for a sandwich. I acknowled
ged Tiffani
,
working
behind the counter. “Corn beef on rye
,”
I call
ed out
,
saving her a trip.