Murderous Lies (8 page)

And why did he have to look so damn good? Max had cut his hair, shaving the sides close and spiking it on top. Her libido took a jump seeing him so put together, while at the same time she felt angry to see him here with Julie.

He was driving her crazy, plain and simple. She couldn’t figure him out. She’d planned on stopping over at the garage after work tonight to catch him and find out what was going on. Judging by the looks of things with Julie, maybe he didn’t want to be caught.

Struggling to keep her face in a neutral position, she nodded at him. “Do you want a menu, Max?”

He shook his head. “I’ll just take a cheeseburger and fries, plus a strawberry shake. Thanks.” He turned his attention back to Julie, barely seeming to notice Rose.

Were they on a date? What the hell was with the man? They almost stripped each other down six days ago, and then she heard nothing from him. She didn’t understand and was starting to lose patience. At this point, it didn’t matter if he was innocent or guilty. If he didn’t want to spend time with her, all he had to do was say so, not bring in another girl to flaunt in her face.

She filled two water glasses and returned to the table, setting them down with exaggerated care to keep from slamming them down. “Your food will be out soon.”

“Yeah, okay.” Max kept his eyes on Julie and leaned closer to her. “Tell me more about this. You’re not in any danger are you?”

Rose spun on her heel and fled the pair, escaping to the heat and relative privacy of the kitchen. She was confused and out of sorts, and didn’t like the feeling. It seemed Max had decided Julie was in danger and moved on to protecting her, totally ignoring Rose. Maybe she’d overplayed things, getting carried away last week and wanting to go to bed with him. He seemed to want her at the time, but maybe it scared him off.

His hot and cold attitude was getting out of hand. He claimed he wanted to clear his name and get her back, but every time they moved one step closer together, he ran ten steps away. Now he dated Julie.

In a way, Rose could see how Max would feel indebted to her, since it was her testimony that got him freed from prison. Did they form a deeper connection because of that?

Though she didn’t want it to be true, Rose was very afraid she might have blown her chances with Max by not believing in him. How could she have ever thought he could kill someone? Looking back, she should have realized from the beginning that it wasn’t true. She had hurt too much to think about anything rationally, however, and after that she was kept busy with work and her mom.

“Is Rose back there?” called the high-pitched voice of Tammy, the other day server.

“She’s here,” the cook confirmed.

Rose grimaced at him, but pushed away from the wall and waved at Tammy through the order hatch. “What’s up?”

“Calvin Black just came in. He requested you as his waitress.”

Sighing, Rose made her way to the dining room. It was impossible to know if Cal was there keeping an eye on her or Max, but it didn’t really matter. He always tipped well. True, that was before she rejected him, but maybe he wouldn’t hold that against her paycheck.

She approached his table. It didn’t escape her notice that he’d positioned himself so he might overhear what Max and Julie talked about. “What can I get you, Cal?”

“A dinner date with you?” He grinned broadly and winked. “But for now a soda would be great. Maybe an order of chicken strips?”

Looked like he hadn’t been discouraged by her unenthusiastic response to his declaration of love. He hadn’t been in for coffee at the gas station all week, so she figured she’d offended him. Maybe he just bounced back quickly. Cops could certainly be cocky and all swagger, and Cal fit in with the most stereotypical of them.

“I’ll put the order in for chicken.” It would be best to ignore his request for a date.

As she passed Max and Julie’s table, Max’s arm darted out, and he grabbed her wrist.

“Did Cal just ask you out?” Max’s deep voice had a dangerous edge that shot adrenaline down Rose’s spine.

Although his intensity was somewhat alarming, she wasn’t about to show her intimidation. She lifted an eyebrow, putting every ounce of challenge in her gaze that she could. Max didn’t own her. If he was free to date, so was she. “Unlike some people, Calvin isn’t hot and cold in his feelings for me.”

She yanked her arm from Max’s grasp and walked to the order hatch, calling through Calvin’s food request. As luck would have it, Max’s burger and shake were ready.

Certainly everyone in the diner saw her jerk away from Max, and the story would circulate the rumor mill quickly. Time for damage control, or she’d receive more unsolicited advice from well-meaning but irritating acquaintances from town.

With a deep breath, she put on her best waitress smile. She didn’t want to provide more amusement for anyone. Beaming, she made her way to the table and placed Max’s food in front of him. “Can I get you anything else? Mustard and ketchup are on the table.”

He shook his head, his eyes touching on hers briefly before dancing away. “Julie and I aren’t on a date,” he said in a low voice that she almost didn’t catch. “You do realize that, right?”

Relief flooded through her. He hadn’t traded her in for a younger model. Still, Max absented himself from her life all week, so she didn’t know what she was supposed to say now. In fact, the more she thought of it, the angrier she felt. Why had he been ignoring her? Even if he was busy at his new job, surely he could have stopped by the gas station to see her for a few minutes in the evenings.

She leaned close to his ear. “Who you date is none of my business.” After straightening up, she raised her voice so the other patrons could hear. “Enjoy your meal, Max. It’s so great to see you getting your life back to normal. Tell your mom and Uncle Frank hi from me.”

Her knees only trembled slightly as she made the rounds to check on her other customers.

***

“M
aybe meeting here wasn’t the best idea, Max.” Julie clasped her hands in front of her, as though forming a shield against the curious eyes surrounding them. “Everyone already hates me for telling the truth. I shouldn’t give them more reasons by being seen with you. Besides, we pissed Rose off.”

“Don’t worry about Rose. I’ll explain things to her later. She has a hot head, but she doesn’t hold a grudge.” He should know. The fact that she’d even consider being with him again after everything that happened proved that.

“Sure. I hope she listens. I know how much you care for her.” Julie hunched down in her seat further, seeming to shrink in on herself.

Max hated seeing her so upset. Julie had always been a bit high strung and nervous, but her pretty face was now ravaged from an obvious lack of sleep. She constantly licked her lips and glanced around the room as though expecting an attack at any moment. When she did speak, her voice was so timid and quiet that Max strained to hear her.

“What’s going on, Jules? Has someone done something since the retrial?”

Julie glanced next to them where Calvin Black sat and then shook her head slightly. “It’s fine. Nothing I can’t handle.”

“Then why did you ask me to meet with you?”

“I know you’ve been looking for the real killer.” She leaned in. “Jimmy’s telling anyone who will listen that you sent a letter to Sage. I argued with him about it. Told everyone how Sage left with me that night, and Jimmy was nowhere around. How would he know she got a letter?”

Max nodded. He heard that before when she explained it to the judge. She made a credible witness and the judge could tell she told the truth. “Maybe he sent it to her?” he asked, trying to act as though that might not be the truth, just in case Julie reacted badly. Not everyone would be receptive to Max accusing Jimmy of being the killer.

Her blue eyes turned even brighter as tears pricked the corners of them. “Sage was supposed to stay at my house that night. I was sleeping so soundly, I never heard her leave. It wasn’t until morning that I discovered her missing.”

That news made him as angry to hear today as it had at his last trial. Julie’s parents must have known Sage went there that night and therefore Jimmy lied about the note. Why didn’t they step forward and save him all those years in prison? It would have negated Jimmy’s claims and the cops could have searched for the real killer. He ground his teeth together and counted to ten silently, hoping Julie couldn’t sense his agitation.

Her parents died in a car accident two years earlier; she didn’t need to hear anything bad about them. Their death was probably the only reason she finally stepped forward with the truth, and now Clarkston’s residents hated her for it. In some ways, she’d had as tough a life as he had since Sage’s murder.

“You can’t blame yourself,” he finally made himself say. “Sage should have told you she was leaving and who she went with. She always was impulsive.” A lot like her older sister, he thought, watching Rose circle the dining room, refilling water glasses and murmuring polite conversation.

“I always thought of Sage as fearless, not impulsive.” The admiration was clear in Julie’s voice. “I loved her so much. All I ever wanted was...” She broke off and shrugged.

That’s when it hit Max. Julie had never married. He’d never even heard about her dating anyone. “Oh, Jules.” He reached across the table and patted her clasped hands. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry. That must have been hard.”

The tears shining in her eyes finally broke free. “No one knew except Jimmy. He’d figured it out earlier that year. He said if I didn’t go along with his story about the letter, he’d tell my mom and dad about me.” She broke her hands apart to wipe her tears. “They were so against people like me, saying it was unnatural. If they found out I was in love with Sage, they would have disowned me. That seemed pointless to me. There was no reason to upset them. Sage was dead, I couldn’t be with her.”

It wouldn’t have been for no reason—it would have kept an innocent man out of prison. Stating that would only tell her what she already knew, however. At least she finally came forward with the truth and got him free.

“Can you ever forgive me, Max? I was just a kid, a freshman in high school. I was confused and thought I should be ashamed of who I was. No one else I knew was like me and I...” She broke off again, darting a glance at Calvin’s table.

The past couldn’t be changed. “I forgive you. I know you didn’t mean to hurt me.”

“I really
did
think you were guilty,” she explained. “Jimmy made it sound so reasonable. I didn’t think it could be anyone but you. That’s why I went along with it for so long.”

Max was sure Jimmy had. “Has Jimmy been threatening to tell people about you, now that you stepped forward and defended me?” Maybe that was why she looked so tired.

To his surprise, she shrugged. “It’s getting to the point that I don’t really care if he does. My sister moved to California right after she graduated. She knows the truth. She’s always trying to set me up on dates. With my folks gone, no one else’s opinion matters. Not everyone hates like the people of this town can.”

It looked like Julie had gone from being a scared teenager into accepting who she was. At least that much had gone right in her life. “You should go stay with your sister. You might find the woman of your dreams in California.”

Julie finally smiled. “Maybe. I’ve been considering it. First, I want justice for Sage. She’s the only person I’ve ever been in love with. I want her killer behind bars.”

Max nodded, understanding completely. Their motives for wanting to find the killer might differ, but they were of one mind in doing it. Neither of them could move on with their lives until the truth came out.

“Be wary of Jimmy,” Max warned. “I think he had good motive.”

She rolled her eyes. “Why? Because he wanted Rose, even though he slept with my Sage?”

How that must have killed her inside, every time Sage slept with Jimmy and then told Julie about it. The whole situation was sadder than Max had even guessed, wrapped up in his own pain as he’d been.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “That’s the motive I was thinking about. Pinning the murder on me gave him free access to Rose.”

“Not that Rose dated him long.” Julie let out a little huff of breath. “She figured him out pretty quick, even if he did talk big about finally scoring with her to all the guys around town.”

Max’s stomach twisted painfully and a surge of jealousy burned down his chest. “Can we change the subject?”

“Sorry.” Julie picked up her shake, but didn’t drink it. “I was just agreeing about his motive. I think he’s the guilty party.”

“Problem is, how do we prove it?”

“He’s been bothering me a lot lately, but I might have an idea to convince him to confess.”

R
ose watched Max and Julie leave together, still walking close and seeming to block out the world. He said they weren’t dating, but it sure looked cozy.

Kelsey walked in just as they were leaving, and her elegantly shaped eyebrows flew to her hairline. She quickly crossed the room to Rose’s side. “What’s that all about? Are you okay?”

It seemed their fight was over in Kelsey’s eyes.

“I don’t know, and I’m fine.” She smiled to let Kelsey know she wasn’t mad anymore either. The woman had been her truest friend for the past eight years. Rose was stubborn, but she knew Kelsey only wanted the best for her. “I’m sorry for flying off the handle and not talking to you after our fight. I know you just worry about me because you care.”

Kelsey threw her arms around Rose in a quick hug. “Oh, don’t worry about that. If everyone spent their days gossiping about me, I’d be a little touchy too.” Kelsey glanced at the crowded dining room. “It must be hard having all eyes on you.”

“Thanks for understanding.” Rose dug tickets out of her apron pocket. “Some of my tables are ready for their check. I’ll pass them out and then come to the break room to tell you what’s going on with the other tables.”

Kelsey nodded and disappeared to the back of the restaurant.

It felt good to no longer fight with her friend. Rose was sure lucky that a few people were willing to put up with her. She’d been too touchy for far too long. If people gossiped about her, so what? It didn’t affect her life. She needed to remember that. Sometimes, though, she wished she lived in a slightly larger town. If no one knew her, they wouldn’t want to talk about her or her screwed up life.