One Deadly Sister (Sandy Reid Mystery Series #1) (33 page)

She called from the bedroom, “You can do the wine. The bottle I want is on the counter. Opener is somewhere.”

He opened the wine and found two glasses. “This view is great,” he yelled back.

“The value is in the view. I couldn’t afford to buy it at today’s prices. I should sell it straight away before they squeeze in another building in front of the ocean.”

She came out wearing what he would always remember as perfect: a pink-flowered silk top with matching pants. Not sheer, yet close fitting enough for him to suspect she wore nothing underneath. Her remarkable body was definitely liberated under there.

She shuffled through some CDs. “Classical guitar okay?”

They walked out on the balcony. They sipped their wine, listened to Villa-Lobos and looked out at the waves. The contrast between this scene and jail was wider than the ocean that stretched out until it met the sky.

There was a half-hour of daylight left. The air was warm. The ocean breeze playfully tugged at her hair and pressed her lounging outfit so tightly against her body it appeared she wore only a silky layer of paint. Instinctively he stared.

She slowly turned to put the light wind at her back. “It must feel great being out from behind bars. You and your sister have worked hard. How’s your defense going? Is there anything I can do?”

She had interrupted his image of her posed there like a poetic goddess heroically facing the ocean naked, with the taut nipples of her breasts boldly aimed at the horizon. One of the wonders of the universe.

“Jail isn’t on my mind just now. I don’t want to be reminded of it tonight.” He politely changed the subject. “It appears you’ve been in Park Beach quite a while.”

“Has to be fifteen years or so. I remember it was an election year. Towson was running for mayor. I was clerking in a department store. I was young and idealistic and got interested in his campaign. He was so tall and distinguished looking. That year was the first I’d ever voted, even though I was twenty-something. I remember a lot of excitement as there was also a Presidential election that year.”

“Who was running for president?”

“Good question, let’s see, fifteen years ago who was running? You know I don’t remember. You’re the history expert, you tell me,” she laughed.

“So, the wide-eyed young girl joins his campaign and ends up working for him?”

“Well, there’s a story in that. The salad’s already done. Let me start the pasta and I’ll tell you.”

He followed her into the kitchen.

She fussed around with the kitchenware, and then began, “I was at the election night gathering of all the campaign workers at the Legion Hall. As word of the victory spread, well-wishers poured in from the street. Air conditioning couldn’t begin to handle the overflowing mob plus the TV lights. The hall was hot and we were exhausted. It had been a long day. I took off my painful shoes, and they got kicked over, I didn’t know where. I remember I was soaked, trying to keep my damp stringy hair out of my eyes and sipping on a beer. Looking as I did, I kept ducking to avoid all the cameras.”

She watched the boiling water and gave stir to something in a small saucepan. “I’m skipping the garlic tonight.” In between her cookery, their eyes would reconnect.

“A special time for you.” He wondered if she could feel his eyes on her body whenever she looked away.

She went on with the dinner preparations. “I was running on adrenaline and couldn’t have been happier. An hour later, the cameras were gone and the crowd thinned. Tony Hackett, his campaign manager, came over as I hunted for my other shoe. He said Mayor Towson wanted to meet me. Tony obviously enjoyed saying ‘The Mayor.’ I told him no way. I was a mess. I needed to freshen up, which was impossible there. Tony said just come on the mayor is waiting. I asked if the mayor was thanking all the block workers. No, he was alone and asking for me by name.” In time, she finished in the kitchen. They moved to the dining table.

He refilled the wine glasses, and she proposed a toast to “new relationships.” Ray was all in favor of new relationships—could she mean them?

“I had never formally met him and never dreamed he knew I existed. So, there I was in my bare feet carrying one shoe and following Tony to some room in the back. He introduced me to the great man. When Al noticed I wasn’t wearing any shoes, he reached down and slipped off both of his own shoes. Wasn’t that sweet? I’m standing there sweating, straggly hair hanging down, looking like a barefooted third-world refugee, and he takes off his shoes.”

“Very classy. What did he want?” His eyes wandered around her hair and her warm blue eyes. He decided that he liked her a lot.

“Two weeks earlier, our precinct captain had failed to show up for a get-out-the-vote canvass. We volunteers started to disperse so I stood up and told them we could do it without a leader. I fumbled through it.”

“Actually, you became the leader.”

“Somehow, Al heard about it and wanted to thank me. He offered me a job at City Hall. He was mayor for eight years. I was his personal assistant. I started selling real estate part time.”

“You must have been pretty close to him. I heard about the disposition of his estate.”

“A complete surprise. His attorney called me to his office. He said Al had changed his will recently, and left me those Chinese dishes and that rare Chinese trader’s catalog that he told you about. I wouldn’t know what to do with them. I’ll give them to charity unless you want them. You’re the only person I know that understands what they are. I know you’ll appreciate them.”

“That’s far too generous. I could never accept them. They are extremely valuable and you must be very careful about disposing of those items. You’d be making a big mistake by causally giving them to charity. Promise me you’ll not take any action until you talk with an appraiser. I’ve a friend at Sotheby’s in New York.”

“I’m sure they’re very nice, but I’ve no use for them. She reached across and closed her hand over his. “You want coffee now or shall we stick with the wine?”

“I had coffee in jail. Let’s stick with the wine.”

She stood by the sink while he cleared the sorbet dishes from the table and handed them to her. She turned and gave him a quick, light kiss on the lips. “You know, you’re very nice, Ray. I’m certain that you’re innocent. I hope everything works out for you.”

He wondered what would happen, if he just pulled her to him and kissed those lips hard. What he actually did was mutter, “Thanks.”

They moved with their wine glasses to the couch and sat side by side.

He was aware that an unexpected degree of closeness with Tammy had begun. Although he had no particular expectation, he did know that he wanted to spend more time with this woman. He had detected a value and an attraction to her that went beyond her physical beauty.

He would need to move carefully. Let things progress naturally. If a friendship developed out of this, then it would be worth it. He hoped the evening had gone pleasantly for her. He would wait a day or so. Not appear too anxious. Then ask her out to dinner. Would she accept? That would be the mighty test of whether she wanted to see him again. He didn’t dare dream of what might happen after that.

Then he noticed Tammy had moved closer to him on the couch.

She reached over and rested her hand on his thigh, and said, “Now just because I made you dinner, I don’t want you to feel obligated to sleep with me.”

W
hen Ray nervously phoned Loraine Dellin the next day, he was surprised she didn’t hang up. In fact, she agreed to meet with him provided it was at some public place. He wanted some answers about why she had trapped him. He didn’t know why she agreed.

They met in the parking lot of the public library. She backed into a parking space but didn’t get out, sat there with the window down and the engine running. Ray leaned over at her window. “There’s a bench over there, we could sit and talk.”

She didn’t budge. “This is fine, under the circumstances.”

“Yes, the circumstances being you’re ready to speed out of here as soon as I try to reach in there and grab you by the throat.”

“Is that what we’re going to talk about, retaliation? Just don’t make any sudden moves. I’m not joking about that.”

“What, you have that little Smithy Wesson next to you there in the car? Little risky carrying around the murder weapon, isn’t it?”

“I didn’t murder anyone. However, I know who did. That’s why I agreed to meet you. I wanted to tell you. I figured I owed you that much.”

“You owe me plenty. I know you’re not here to help me. Okay, let’s have it, if you didn’t do it who did?”

“Norma Martin. Did you know Martin is a Hispanic name? She’s actually Cuban.”

“Cuban-American and runs a Cuban café. Some secret.”

“Don’t you get it? Everyone knew Al was having an affair. Well, she’s the one. He thought he could handle being involved with her. But she had him all sexed up so the whole tribe could rob him blind. You sleep with one of them, and the entire family climbs into bed with you. That’s the way they operate.”

“Where are you getting this nonsense?”

“Al was into some big Tampa real estate deal with her not knowing her family was setting him up. The deal went bad and he broke off with her. The family was afraid he’d reveal their secrets, so she killed him. She was actually seen leaving his apartment the day of the murder.”

“Loraine, you’re mixing up pieces of several different rumors. Who’s your source on all this?”

“I can’t tell you who. You might be wearing a wire.”

“Me? No, are you? Don’t forget which of us is the suspect. You’re the one flitting around uncharged. You’re the one causing all the trouble. For some reason the police are afraid to come after you.”

“Prominent citizen trumps irrelevant stranger every time.”

“You were quite the actress putting on that oversexed and helpless routine at the motel.”

She relaxed, unhooked her seatbelt, leaned back and smiled, “You went for it. Show a man some skin and his brains slide down into his pants.” She changed to a slow, mocking voice, “Isn’t my little bikini just the cutest thing you’ve ever seen? You do like to look at me, don’t you?” Then back to normal, “Thank God I had to wear it only once. You’re a regular Boy Scout aren’t you, running around like that?”

“Pretty dumb of me, huh, trying to help a bunch of strangers.”

“You and one other guy at the party were the type I was looking for, horny and gullible. I was working both of you. I figured one of you would catch fire.”

“What fun! And I was the winning stooge. The loser is happily going on with his life somewhere.”

She looked directly at him. “You didn’t seem to mind.”

“No, I didn’t at the time. I paid an incredibly high price for that piece of sex, wasn’t worth five seconds of my freedom.”

“You surprised me when you turned me down at the motel. The bikini was to get you going, and when I took it all off, you were supposed to go all stupid. I overestimated your horniness. I expected I’d have to screw you again to keep you properly motivated. You know, make you think there would be regular sex, if you kept doing what I wanted. But you didn’t require it, thank God. You just charged off like Don Quixote to right the wrongs of the world.”

“You must have known
when
Towson would be murdered, and you got me to his place at the proper time. I was the stranger with only some cockamamie explanation for being there. Supposed to appear that in my delusional mind I was in a love triangle.”

“He was such a sick pup, your Honor. He imagined that with Senator Towson out of the way he’d have me all to himself.”

“Sex is merely a weapon for you, isn’t it?”

“I’m over seventy. No man is going to do anything for me without some manner of sex.”

He believed that was the first honest statement of her feelings he had heard from her. “That’s not true,” he said. “You’re just afraid to find out.”

“I’m getting what I want my way.”

“You tried to get my fingerprints on that gun box in the motel room, didn’t you? How did that box end up in Tammy’s closet?”

“Now, wasn’t I clever? I caught Barner going through some things in my bedroom when he was there exterminating months ago. I told him to never come back. When I failed to get your prints on the box, I called him. I bluffed him saying I knew he’d been pilfering things from customer’s homes. He begged me not to turn him in. It would ruin his business. I told him I needed a favor. Such an ignorant man.”

“You blackmailed him into leaving that small shopping bag in Tammy’s closet when he serviced her place the next time. Naturally she would look through it and get her prints on the gun box.”

“Yes, apparently he found time in between smelling her panties.”

“Why did you bring Tammy into it anyway?”

“Two reasons, the first is strategic. If you’d just gone to see Towson and left, no one would know you’d been there. I couldn’t count on you leaving fingerprints. I couldn’t even count on him letting you in. My plan needed Tammy. I knew you’d find her and tell her you’d gone to Towson’s. Then she’d give evidence you were at the crime scene.”