Poison Me (13 page)

Ruby spun to face him. Her heartbeat quickened. “Leave us alone.”

“I don’t think it’s safe to.” Michael’s blue eyes twinkled. “What did you find in Richard’s apartment?”

Ruby backed up a step, her mouth open. “You’ve been stalking us?”

“Don’t act so shocked.” Michael splayed his hands, the epitome of innocence. “I’ve been doing it since you were fourteen.”

Marissa giggled.

Cackling, Ellie scratched at the peeling paint on her nose. “Thank you, sir, for saving me from my misery.” She made a grandiose gesture to Michael and tugged Marissa past him. “I think we’ll leave you two alone.”

“Get back here,” Ruby demanded. “You can’t leave me. We haven’t found anything yet.”

Ellie’s eyebrows arched, and webs of lines appeared in the paint on her forehead. She looked around the spotless room. “You keep at it. Wake me up when you’re ready to go confront the murderer.” With that she and Marissa exited the room and slammed the door behind them.

Ruby turned to stare at Michael. He shrugged and smiled that lopsided grin she used to love. Used to.

The door swung open and Ellie poked her blackened face in. “Hey, don’t forget to lock the door. I’m the responsible party here, you know?”

The door banged shut and Michael laughed. “Responsible for breaking and entering?”

Ruby let herself smile. “She takes her job seriously.”

Michael moved two steps closer. She didn’t back up as she normally would have. She thought of his arms around her this morning and yearned for that feeling again. Michael didn’t disappoint. He reached out and enfolded her in his strong embrace. Ruby inhaled his scent. It wasn’t the spicy cologne she remembered, but soft and musky. She leaned into his firm chest. She should’ve pushed away, but her body wouldn’t respond to her brain’s commands.

“What are you doing, Rubes?”

She forced herself to pull away. “Trying to figure out who murdered Richard and Anne.”

Michael nodded. “Okay. I’ll help you.”

“You’ll help me? You believe me?” Tears welled in her eyes. She should’ve known she could rely on Michael.

He held onto her elbows. “I might not be a hundred percent convinced that Anne and Richard were murdered,” he said with a smile. “But you’re absolutely beautiful. How could any sane man pass up an opportunity to be around you?”

Usually, she would’ve responded to such a comment with anger. Instead she found herself laughing. “Compliments will get you everywhere.”

His grin widened. “Oh, I hope so.”

***

Chanel bent over a patch of Shasta daisies. They were spreading too fast. She dug out a few with the shovel and transplanted them to a bare spot in the garden. A bit of grass poked out of the dirt. She ripped at the roots and tossed it into her bucket.

“The last gardener they had here didn’t look nearly so nice leaning over.”

She straightened, her back stiff. “Maybe you should stop checking out people’s backsides.” Whirling, she came face to face with Jake. “Oh. I, uh…” She ducked her head, looking at him from underneath her eyelashes. “I didn’t know it was you.”

He arched an eyebrow. “If you’d known it was me, would you have shown me your backside again, or bit my head off more cleanly?”

Chanel laughed. “Try your line one more time and we’ll find out.”

“Did they add gardening to your job description?”

“I just enjoy it out here.” She pointed at the mini forest behind them and the lush vegetation surrounding them. “How could you not?”

He nodded, staring at her face instead of the foliage. “How could you not enjoy looking at such beauty?” He gestured down the path. “Want to walk?”

Chanel dropped her shovel and gloves, and Jake offered his hand.

They walked past patches of aspen and pine trees interspersed with dogwood and lilac bushes and seasoned with perennial flowers. Chanel’s fingers tingled from Jake’s touch. She loved the secluded, sprawling garden that encompassed half of the Palace’s backyard and blended into the wooded hillside that formed the southern canyon wall.

“How’s your cell phone?” he asked, drowning out the song of the robins twittering above them.

“Dead.” She gazed up at him. “Yours?”

“Working like a champ. Thanks for asking.” Jake grinned, his nose scrunching like a little boy’s. “How ’bout I take you to town and buy you a new phone.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Bit of sarcasm there?” Jake asked.

“Yeah. A bit.”

He pulled her to a stop. “Which company are you with? We’ll drive to Logan and buy you a new phone today. A better one.”

Chanel shook her head. “It was a company phone. The managers already took care of it.”

“Oh.” His face fell. “Could I buy you something else to make it up to you?”

A soft laugh escaped her throat. “Just itching to spend some money?”

Jake shrugged, the warmth of his gaze negating the shade trees protecting them from the sun. If he kept looking at her like that, she’d need to reapply her Lady’s Speed Stick.

Ruby, Ellie, and Marissa were suddenly in front of them. Jake released Chanel’s hand and smiled at the older women. “Look who found us,” he said.

Ellie cocked an eyebrow and said to Marissa, “I love these two. He’s got more sex appeal than James Bond, and she feeds right off of it.”

“Ooh la la. C’est chouette,” Marissa murmured.

“So, Chanel,” Ellie said, “tell me what you and Jakey have been accomplishing hiding out in the garden. A little nibbling on the neck, perhaps?” She raised her eyebrows.

“Ellie!” Ruby said sharply.

“What are you ladies up to today?” Chanel asked.

“Oh, come on,” Ellie said. “Nobody cares what
we
are up to. You and Jake give us a little show—that’s all we need. You don’t have to share all the gritty details.”

“The filthy details?” Marissa asked, then covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh my.”

“Enough,” Ruby said.

Jake folded his arms across his chest and studied the top branches of a nearby maple tree. Chanel rubbed her birthmark.

Ellie grinned wickedly. “Relax, Chanel, we don’t want all the
filthy
details, but we would appreciate you pretending we aren’t here. We like watching you flirt with Jakey.”

Ruby snapped her fingers, and Ellie stuck out her tongue.

“You can stop now, Aunt Ellie,” Jake said.

Chanel noticed Jake staring at her fingers as she rubbed her birthmark. She forced herself to clasp her hands together.

Ignoring Ellie, Ruby turned to Chanel. “We were just planning a pool party at Jake’s house.”

Jake arched an eyebrow. “Really? And when were you going to inform me of this party?”

“After we planned it,” Ruby said with a sweet smile. “Would you come, Chanel?”

“Uh, well…” Chanel looked around at all the expectant smiles. “Of course, I’d love to come.”

When Jake grinned at her, Chanel knew she’d answered correctly.

“Good,” Ruby said. “Ellie decided we needed a break from all the stress of the murders, and for once I agree with her.” Ellie tried to interject, but Ruby kept talking. “Is this afternoon at three okay with you? Then we’ll be back in plenty of time for dinner.”

“That sounds great,” Chanel said. “Can I bring anything?”

“Just yourself,” Ruby replied.

“Just your string bikini,” Ellie said.

Ruby snapped her fingers again.

“What?” Ellie said, feigning innocence. “Jake already said he’d like to see her in it.”

Chanel shook her head. “I was raised to dress modestly.”

“Good one, Chanel,” Marissa cheered.

“Don’t be so boring,” Ellie said. “You can repent when you’re my age. When you look like that” —she gestured with a small hand— “you need to show it off.”

“Weren’t you just saying yesterday that young girls shouldn’t show off their bodies?” Ruby asked.

Ellie spoke out of the side of her mouth. “That was on those magazines. I’m trying to look out for my boy.” She winked at Jake.

Chanel glanced at him. He was grinning at the interchange. She blushed and promptly excused herself, not wanting to offend Ellie by telling her to take a vacation far away. “I better get back to work. I’ll see you all in a few hours,” she said. Then she added as a parting shot, “In my tankini.”

She walked away to a chorus of goodbyes. Her friends’ eyes burned into her back. When she turned a corner in the path and was hidden from their view by a dense cluster of pine trees, she released a breath.

Footsteps pounded after her. She slowed to let him catch up. Seconds later, Jake was by her side—alone. She turned to face him.

“Sorry about Aunt Ellie.” He jammed his hand through his dark hair.

Chanel sighed. “That’s just Ellie. I shouldn’t let it embarrass me.”

Jake reached out and touched her pink cheek. “I like that it embarrasses you. And you did a great job battling her.”

“Thanks.”

“Thanks for saying you’ll come this afternoon. I’m sure Brinley and Trevor will be there too.”

“I’d love to see them again,” Chanel said. “Trevor is adorable.”

“He’s fun.” Jake shoved his hands into his pockets. “Are you busy tomorrow night?”

She couldn’t hide a cheesy grin. “No, no plans tomorrow night yet.”

Jake grinned and leaned so close she could smell the peppermint gum he chewed. “Pick you up about eight?” he asked.

“I’ll be waiting.” She turned and walked away, this time enjoying the fact that he was watching.

***

Ace and Willy sauntered down Preston’s wide main street. After driving from Boise, they had checked into a dumpy motel and decided to walk the streets and work out the kinks of a long drive after an even longer plane ride. Willy would not book their plane tickets again.

“Good town,” Ace said.

Two pretty women approached, pushing double strollers with preschoolers prancing by their sides. He touched the tip of his baseball cap and smiled a greeting. They both smiled warmly in return.

“Why do you say that?” Willy asked after the women passed.

“Everyone’s friendly. They love tourists. They think everyone comes here because of
Napoleon Dynamite
. It’s big enough that we can blend in, but small enough the police force shouldn’t be very proactive.”

Willy grunted, turning to get one more glimpse of the attractive mothers. “Proactive?”

Ace rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“No.”

They waited for a car to drive by, then crossed to the east side of the street.

“The police aren’t overly efficient.” Ace looked at Willy and saw confusion in his murky green eyes. “They aren’t busting butt.”

“Okay, I see what you’re saying, but Preston is bigger than I thought. I was thinking there would be a couple hundred people, not thousands. How we gonna find Don?”

Ace opened the glass door of Big J’s, a hometown hamburger joint, and waited for Willy to walk in ahead of him. “He owes us,” Ace growled. “We’ll find him.”

“But how?”

“I’ve got a plan. Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it.”

Willy clenched his fist and glared at Ace.

Ace ignored him, smiling at the teenage girl behind the counter. “What’s the best thing you have here, sweetheart?”

Chapter Thirteen

Jake pressed the button to open the pool cover and wondered why Chanel wasn’t here yet. It was—he looked at his watch for the third time—five minutes past three. Five very long minutes. Was she habitually late? Did something come up? Maybe she only said yes to be nice.

The tightly wound pool cover banged against the edge of the pool as the motor continued to grind.

“It’s open, Jake,” Ellie yelled.

“Oh.” He released the button and paced along the concrete sidewalk surrounding the pool.

The turquoise water sparkled with the afternoon sun. Ellie was already slipping into the warm water, her tiny body encased in a black swimsuit. “Where’s your girlfriend, Jakey?” she called. “Did she chicken out?”

Trevor hurtled off the diving board, making a terrific splash. His lifejacket quickly brought him to the surface. “Did ya see me, Unca Jake? Did ya?”

“Yeah, good one, buddy. How about a 360?”

“Yes.” Trevor used the ladder to climb out on the deep end. He pumped his little fist in the air. “A 360! And next time a flip.”

“No flips,” Brinley called from the patio, rubbing sunscreen on her arms.

“We’ll work on flips when your mom isn’t around,” Jake said.

He cheered for his nephew’s trick off the board before walking into the shed and retrieving the skimmer. He carefully cleaned the water’s surface, not wanting Chanel to see a bug, fly, or strand of grass.

Brinley eased her swollen body into the pool. “Oh, that feels good. I think I’ll stay here until August 10th.”

“What’s August 10th?” Ellie asked, paddling by with a noodle under her arms.

“My due date.”

“Two more weeks.” Ellie whistled. “I thought you were already past due.”

Brinley made a face. “Thanks a lot.”

Trevor kicked to the shallow end and kissed his mom. “Hiya, beautiful,” he said.

“Hiya, handsome.” Brinley smiled, but then her eyes narrowed. “Who taught you that?” She glanced up. “Uncle Jake?”

Jake shrugged. “I thought you’d like that one.”

“Yeah. It’s adorable—until he says it to some girl at preschool.”

Trevor smirked. “When you’re beautiful, you gotta hear it.” He climbed the stairs and exited the pool, sprinting for the diving board again.

“Don’t run,” Jake yelled.

Trevor jerked to a halt, looking at his uncle in shock.

“I don’t want you to get hurt, buddy,” Jake said.

“Okay, Unca Jake.” Trevor tiptoed along the pool deck.

“The water takes some pressure off when you’ve gained weight, doesn’t it?” Ellie said to Brinley.

She nodded.

“What did your doctor say about the gestational diabetes?” Jake asked.

Brinley elevated one shoulder, her eyes grave. “He said it could cause complications and the baby has a higher chance of juvenile-onset diabetes.” She wrinkled her nose. “Plus, it’s making me huge.”