Lethal Affair (52 page)

Margie blushed. “Stop it. And enjoy
it. This only happens once in a blue moon.”

“
Don't forget I'm getting
married in December so I hope you've got another fancy concoction
in your closet for that event too.”

“
Nothing as snazzy as yours.
You're stealing the show and it's not just that dress. You're in
love. I can tell.” Her eyes crinkled with laughter. “You lucky
bitch!”

Will had been mingling with the men
nearby but returned in time to hear Margie's comment. He snaked an
arm around Kylie's waist.

“
Who's a lucky bitch?” he
inquired, as if he didn't know.

“
Apparently I am. Will, this
is my boss Margie Farmer. Doesn't she look great?”

He knew how to pour it on. “Ms.
Farmer, you look absolutely stunning. Love the heels.”

She teetered a little and her eyes
twinkled. “Everyone calls me Margie. I searched high and low for
the right ones so I appreciate the compliment.”

“
Well you did good. Kylie
tells me you run Valley Farms like a charm. We buy a lot of our
produce from you. Love your line of organic miniatures. Lyle, he's
our chef, says you guys have the sweetest strawberries grown
anywhere.”

Margie wrinkled her brow. “Didn't you
come out to the Red Barn for strawberries at some
point?”

“
Caught me. It's Jimmy who
picks up our orders, but I was on a mission that day.” He nodded in
Jimmy's direction. “That's him over there trying to pick up one of
my new waitresses.”

They all looked and Jimmy raised his
glass, then got back to hitting on the pretty new
recruit.

As Margie drifted off toward the
buffet table accompanied by her troop, Kylie sipped her wine and
perused the crowd. She spotted Rosemary Meesler looking healthy and
fit. They silently toasted across the room.

“
Where's Crane?” Kylie asked
Will.

“
You know that two way
mirror in my office? He's up there now, watching us like a
hawk.”

She scanned the crowd, taking in each
face, looking for one with a brutal scar.

“
I hate this,” she
mumbled.

“
What? The
wine...?”

“
The wine is divine,” she
rhymed. “I just hate the fact that here we are celebrating your
dream come true and that... that maniac is still front and center
in our thoughts.”

“
So long as he's not front
and center right here.”

The band started up a funky tune and
several people launched themselves onto the dance floor. Things
were picking up. The crowd was lively now, and the happy cries of
children from the rear blended with the wild cacophony from the
dancers as they gyrated to the jazzy number.

Jolene had Lyle kicking up his feet.
Giggling and giddy, she spun around him, whipping her slender body
in dizzying circles. He matched her step for step, amazing both
Kylie and Will as they joined the throng.

*

She was wearing that dress.

What the fuck!

That asshole Delaney was spinning her
around the dance floor like he owned her. Touching her, leaning in
for a kiss, and damn it if she didn't look like she was enjoying
every minute of it.

They had no right!

Drew's body shook with outrage. He
lowered his binoculars and slid down to the forest floor, gritting
his teeth in an effort to regain control of his broiling
emotions.

He'd come to check things out and if
the opportunity presented itself, to overpower and take what was
his.

His parents were here. What was up
with that? Were they all one big cozy family now? Plotting against
him. Leaving him out in the cold while they danced their lives
away!

Fucking Crane had his gooks
everywhere. He'd already made three of them: the one working as bar
assistant, a waitress whose hair didn't quite hide her earpiece,
and one of those babysitters looked like he was playing
kindergarten cop. There were more, he knew, but he hadn't spotted
them yet. Where the hell was Crane?

He gathered his wits and stood back
up. The copse of trees ensconced him in deep shadow, effectively
hiding him while giving him a clear telescopic view into the
festivities. He knew what he had to do. All he needed was a little
luck and a lot of balls.

He giggled to himself, rising to the
challenge.

*

After exchanging dance partners with
several others and coming full circle back to Will, Kylie signaled
a time out.

“
My ankle! Need a breather
here.”

Will grabbed a napkin off the bar and
mopped his forehead. “We're not half bad. Come to think of it,
don't we need to perform a special dance at our wedding? Maybe we
should practice.”

“
We need to chose a song.
Our song.”

“
How does one
chose?”

“
It's supposed to be a song
that means something to both of us.”

“
Hmm. How about,” singing,
“she'll be coming around the mountain when she comes...”

Kylie slapped his arm playfully.
“Really appropriate, Delaney. Oh I have it; how about,” singing
while doing a body ripple to match the lyrics, “I'm too sexy for my
hat, whad'ya think about that?”

Will gathered her in and whispered in
her ear, “I think we're in for one helluva night when we get back
to my place, that's what I think about that.”

“
It will probably be morning
by then.”

“
Then we'll stay in bed all
day and only come up for air when we need sustenance.”

“
Ooh.” Singing, “I'm too
sexy for this dress...”

A loud staccato of popping sounds
stopped her in mid song. She twirled around in Will's embrace to
find the source even as she felt his arms tighten around
her.

They were balloons. An imp in the
kiddie corner was systematically popping them one by one with a
fork, enjoying his quest of making the girls cry. One of them
wailed at the top of her lungs and her mother instantly recognized
her specific howl and came running. She scooped her up and tried to
shush her to no avail. “I want my balloon!” the tot demanded, her
little hands tight fists of outrage, her face turning bright
red.

Kylie gently pushed through the small
crowd and with a bright smile approached the woman with the little
girl. Teary eyes stared back at her full of sorrow.

“
What's your
name?”

Between snivels, “Suzy.” “What color
balloon would you like?”“Pink. Mine the only pink. That mean boy
broke it. Mommy promised I could take it home.”The child's mother
interceded. “Oh sweetie, I'll buy you a whole bag of pink balloons
tomorrow, okay?”

She kicked in her mother's arms. “No!
Want my balloon. Now!”

“
Look, here's a red one.”The
kid wasn't having it. At a loss, her mother looked helplessly at
Kylie.

Kylie answered her silent plea. “We
have more balloons in the back. I'll go and get a whole bunch of
pink ones, okay Suzy?”

Suzy's face brightened instantly.
“Okay,” she said solemnly, and laid a calm head on her mother's
shoulder.

“
Why don't you get Suzy
something to drink and I'll be right back,” she told Suzy's
mother.

Will caught up with her as she made
her way toward the kitchen. “Better get used to that. Our kids will
need strong leadership. I can see already you're up for the
task.”

“
Yeah, but are you?” she
rallied.

“
All the way, baby, all the
way. Where are we going?”

The unmistakable clatter of breaking
dishes came from the buffet area where an inebriated woman was
berating her male partner vehemently.

“
Aw crud,” Will mumbled.
“Ruffled feathers may need smoothing.”

Kylie watched as the woman picked up a
small plate and took aim. She shoved Will in their general
direction. “Go. Use some of your own strong leadership before those
two kill each other and we have a riot on our hands.”

He hesitated. “The damn balloons can
wait. Come with me.”

“
I'll be fine. Look at all
these people.” The kitchen was a hive of activity.

“
Okay, but wait here, I'll
be back in a jiffy and then we'll...”

Jolene bustled in looking flustered.
“Will, you'd better get out there. Lyle's outside overseeing a
fender bender in the parking lot.”

“
On my way. You girls stick
together.”

“
Like glue,” Jolene promised
as Will had run off. “Balloons, right? Is the tank still in the
back room?”

“
Yup. Let's go.” They headed
to a large storage room just off the kitchen. Opening the heavy
metal fire door Kylie flicked on the overhead lights to reveal a
long rectangular room with shelving along one side, large bins
stacked ceiling high on the other. In the center was a long wooden
table for unpacking and sorting goods.

The helium tank stood in one corner.
Recalling another party with balloons, they'd made sure it was well
away from small, curious hands. The valve and balloon nozzle were
covered with a plastic sleeve and the long hose to which the nozzle
had been coupled dangled down the side of the tank. Extra
precaution came in the form of a child proof shut-off
feature.

A box of balloons stood on the table
and Kylie rifled through it, pulling out all the pink
ones.

Jolene rubbed her arms as a chill
passed over her. She went to the tank, removed the plastic sleeve
and opened the valve. “I don't know why, but I'm getting the
creeps,” she told Kylie.

Kylie looked up at her. She stood very
still, on high alert as she too felt a presence. She scanned the
far wall where a small window was covered by a blackout blind and
saw that it moved on an errant night breeze. The window had been
opened. Her eyes searched the dark shadows at the corners of the
room, the small hairs on the back of her neck standing up as she
sensed they were not alone.

Adjusting to the darkness, she saw
him.

Drew stepped out from behind a file
cabinet, his eyes gleaming demonically, his smile wicked with gaps
where teeth should have been.

“
The jig is up,” he said
calmly, then shoved the file cabinet over the window opening,
blocking entry. “Are you girls running a special tonight? Two for
the price of one?”

Glancing behind her Kylie saw that
Jolene had frozen, her eyes lit with terror. Her heart hammered
against her ribs and her legs turned to lead, suddenly
immobile.

Drew took several bold steps toward
her. His scars were as glaringly livid as ever beneath his wild
untrimmed whiskers, his hair greasy and limp. Clearly he no longer
cared about his appearance.

He circled around them and went to the
open door. Closing it, he slid home the lock. They'd installed
that, Kylie knew, for the express purpose of having a safe room for
the employees if some maniac decided to wreak havoc in the
restaurant. Now it worked in reverse, effectively locking them
inside with the maniac and locking out the hope of
rescue.

One thought slid through Kylie's
brain. Will. He'd be furious that she hadn't waited for him. If she
lived through this that is.

Jolene grasped Kylie's arm in a death
grip.

Kylie's mind went into desperation
mode. Slowly, as Drew came forward, the two girls backed into the
corner where the helium tank stood ready to fill pink balloons.
Kylie felt the valve of the tank dig into the small of her back.
They had no where to go.

*

Through the two way mirror in Will's
office, Detective Crane observed the drama unfold by the buffet
table below.

One of the two officers with him
asked, “Should we go down and assist sir?”

Crane shook his head. “Nah. It's a
domestic disturbance and we've got bigger fish to fry.” He grimaced
at his lame restaurant humor.

“
Sir,” said the second
officer, “our main subject is not visible. Where is Kylie
Lambert?”

Crane searched the crowd below and not
spying her, felt his stomach knot with tension.

“
Maybe she's in the
washroom,” suggested the other officer. “The Sparta woman is not
visible either. They may have gone together.”

Crane got out his radio and called his
undercover attendant in the ladies washroom. “Is Kylie Lambert in
there?” he barked. When he got a negative reply he began calling
all other units, one at the kiddie corner, one a circulating
waitress and two more outside. The sharp edge of panic seeped in
when one of his outside team members didn't answer. On his last
call to his officer in the kitchen he hit pay dirt. “They went into
the storage room to get balloons,” he was informed.

“
How long have they been in
there?”

“
It's been five minutes
exactly now sir. Shall I go in after them?”