Poison Me (2 page)

“She did what?” Ruby prompted.  “Did someone hurt you?” Her eyes darted to the shadows looming in the large apartment. Who was this “she”?

“Yes.” Anne nodded. “Yes.” She gulped for air and then with a heave forced out the words, “She… poisoned… me.” Her head lolled to the side and the coughing ceased.

“Anne!” Ruby screamed.

Chapter Two

Chanel opened the passenger door of her Jetta and lifted a box of exercise tubing into her arms. She shut the door with her hip and walked towards the retirement center. A few more loads and all the equipment would be ready for armchair aerobics. She smiled. The residents were going to love this class, and she loved that she was here to teach it to them.

Had it really only been a week ago that she’d escaped Las Vegas with a load of clothes, her severance pay, and a scrap of paper that said, “Cub River Retirement Palace is hiring an activities’ director”? She’d been offered a job minutes after arrival. Now if she could forever bury her memories of Vegas and her ex-fiancé, Ace.

“Dr. Schovil, no,” a deep voice called from a few feet away. The man groaned. “Oh, please, sir. Don’t do that.”

Chanel’s head snapped in the direction of the visitor’s voice, she hadn’t seen many men her age since coming to the retirement home. Grimacing, Chanel wished she hadn’t looked. Dr. Ira Schovil, a resident, manifested the early stages of Alzheimer’s. The elderly physician had dropped his pants, displaying a wilted derriere while watering the lush flowerbeds.

“Would you like me to help you find a bathroom?” the dark-haired man asked.

“Why? The gardens are my urinal,” Dr. Schovil snickered and aimed at a pink begonia.

Chanel tried to sneak past the men and reach the columned front entrance without being noticed.

The young man pivoted away from the elderly doctor, shaking his head. He tugged at his tie and unbuttoned the top button of his long-sleeved dress shirt. Chanel wondered why he would wear long sleeves in this heat and hated herself for noticing the contrast of his handsome, dark-skinned face against the white shirt.

He caught sight of her and flashed an embarrassed grin. “Excuse the anatomy lesson.”

Chanel’s fingers dug into the cardboard box, his smile was as perfect as the rest of him. “The good doctor’s given me a few of those.”

“I’ll bet he has.” The young man’s eyes sparkled at her. “Look at what you’ve done, Doc. You’ve embarrassed this beautiful lady.”

Dr. Schovil zipped his pants and whirled around. “Beautiful lady? Oh, oh, oh. Yes, she is.” He did a quickstep, crossed the grass, and opened his arms wide to embrace Chanel.

She backed away, lifting the box in her arms to ward him off. “Maybe
after
you wash your hands, I could have my hug.”

“Good, good. Washing hands is brilliant. I always scrubbed before surgery.” His head bobbed. “She’s smart
and
beautiful, sonny.” Dr. Schovil shook a bony finger at her. “Cleanliness saves lives.”

“Yes, it does,” Chanel said. “We need to wash our hands and make sure we use a bathroom next time.”

“Use a bathroom, what a waste.” Dr. Schovil cackled and hurried past her, repeating, “Gotta find a bathroom and wash my hands, gotta find a bathroom and wash my hands.”

The young man watched her, his dark eyes warm underneath darker brows. “I think you’re in for a hug whether you like it or not.”

Chanel couldn’t help but grin back. “The problem is he usually forgets that he’s given me one, so I end up with ten hugs per day. And his fingers don’t always stay on my back.”

His eyebrows lifted. “Smart old Doc.”

Chanel tried to scowl. “You wouldn’t say that if he was fondling you.”

“Now
that
is an awful thought.”

Laughing, she shifted the box in her arms. “I thought I’d take these bands into the activity closet, but maybe I’ll sneak around to my apartment instead. If I give Doc a few minutes, he’ll find one of the attractive older ladies and forget about me.”

“I don’t think you’d be easy to forget.” He winked at her, but then his smile faltered and he jammed his long fingers through his dark, wavy hair. “Horrible thing to lose your mind. Dr. Schovil was my physician. Brilliant man. A lot of people have forgotten how much respect he deserves.”

Heat flooded Chanel’s face. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Sometimes it’s easy to see these people as old, forget they had a former life.”

“Don’t be sorry. I’ll bet it would be hard to remember.” The young man lifted an arm towards the three-story building. “It’s different for me—I’ve known and loved these people all my life.”

“You have the advantage over me,” she said. “I’ve just started loving them.”

His chiseled face broke into a grin. “Good for you.”

Chanel hefted the box and walked a wide arc around him. “Nice talking to you,” she murmured.

She glanced back before she rounded the corner of the building to find him still watching. She couldn’t deny he was good-looking. She should’ve prolonged the conversation, introduced herself.
No
, she thought, shaking her head. After her last experience with a man that attractive, she’d vowed to stick with someone non-threatening—like the azalea-watering doctor.

Chapter Three

Breakfast had been cleared from the commons area that served as the retirement center’s dining room and social gathering spot. Various card games were underway this morning. The room bounced with cheers of triumph when a good hand surfaced, and shouts of protest when someone got caught cheating.

Ruby played the card game Baseball with Ellie and Marissa, her closest pals—minus their friend Anne. They sat at their usual spot, while other residents shuffled past their table and murmured condolences and assurances of prayers in their behalf. Ruby rolled her neck, gazing up the vaulted ceiling. The summer sun streamed through hundreds of panes. She frowned. The sun shouldn’t be shining today.

She rubbed her forehead with aching fingers, hoping to ease the pounding of her skull. Then she pulled her hand away and held it out in front of her. When had those ugly veins poked through the thinning skin of her hands? Her turn came. She drew a 10 and immediately placed it onto the discard pile.

“Anne would appreciate us playing her favorite game,” Ellie reassured Ruby.

Marissa drew a card. “You should be resting,” she said to Ruby, flashing her newly acquired joker around the table for all to see. With a smirk, she replaced her queen and tossed the high-points card at Ellie.

“Thanks,” Ellie muttered.

“I already tried to rest.” Ruby brushed impatiently at a stray hair. “Every time I close my eyes, I see Anne struggling to catch a breath and coughing. That cough was horrible. I kept praying for her to stop coughing, but then…” She shuddered. “Oh, it was awful. Wasn’t it, Ellie?”

Ellie shrugged her shoulders and focused on her cards.

Ruby glanced past the manicured rear gardens, studying the forest flirting with the southern edge of the canyon. Anne had loved exploring the paths in those trees, and now Ruby would have to explore alone. “It was just a cold,” she said. “I can’t figure out why someone would take Anne away from us. She was still so young.”

Ellie snorted. “Give it up, honey. She wasn’t that young.”

Ruby’s gaze snapped from the view to her cynical friend’s glare. “She was seventy-five.”

“And that’s some young filly?” Ellie pushed the vase of fresh-cut daisies to the side, the emerald color of her eyes intensified as she challenged Ruby.

Ruby drew a 9 of spades and slammed it onto the discard pile. “It is when you’re seventy-two.”

Marissa patted her hand. “You got a lot of life in you for an old lady.”

She yanked her fingers back and snapped them at Marissa. “Don’t give me that baloney. I’m only six months older than you.”

Marissa smiled and said in a singsong voice, “Still older.”

A rush of warm air announced a visitor. Ruby’s grandson, Jake, strode through the sliding glass doors. His dress shirt stretched across his broad shoulders. His tie was loose, his dark hair unruly, his face rough with a couple day’s growth. Marissa sighed and drew bright pink fingernails to her heart.

Ellie fluttered her salon-enhanced eyelashes. “If that isn’t
the
hottest man I’ve ever seen.”

Marissa gasped. “That’s a crude word, young lady. He’s not hot.” She whistled, twisting a lock of white hair into place. “He’s fine.”

Ruby ignored her friends and smiled at Jake. How she loved the boy she’d raised as her own.

When he reached them, he bent and kissed her cheek. “I came the first break I had. How’re you holding up?”

Ruby breathed in his warm cologne and felt wetness building behind her eyelids. She hadn’t cried when Anne stopped breathing. She hadn’t cried while she and Ellie waited twenty minutes for the paramedics. She hadn’t cried as the policeman scoffed at her story of foul play, then covered her friend’s body with a thin sheet and helped the mortician haul her away. But one kind word from her grandson, and Ruby turned into a blubbering imbecile.

Ruby blinked. “Sit down, sweetheart.”

He pulled out a leather-upholstered chair and reached for her hand. “How are you?”

“I’m okay.” She sniffed.

Jake tilted his dark head to the side and lowered his long-lashed eyes. “Don’t you lie to me. You look upset.”

Ruby bit her lip, wiping at a tear that escaped. “I’m…” She searched for a cuss word that was strong enough. “Flippin’ mad.”

Jake lifted one eyebrow. “Grandma, such strong language.”

Ellie chortled. “You almost got her to swear, Jakey.”

Ruby clenched her jaw as heat flooded her face. “Well, I am
darn
mad. It wasn’t Anne’s time. Someone killed her, and the policeman thought I was an idiot.” Her eyes narrowed. “He said, ‘Old people just die.’ The punk.”

“Are you mad at the police, or upset because one of your closest friends is gone?” Jake asked.

Ruby looked away. “A little of both.” She exhaled slowly. “No, you’re right. I’m more upset about Anne. Hang the police.” She stared at her grandson for half a second before pursing her lips and snapping a finger at him. “Stop psychoanalyzing me, Jake.”

He grinned.

“Whoo-ee,” Ellie said. “With a smile like that you can psycho-whatever me, anytime you like.” She extended her thin fingers and leaned her gray head to the side. “If you’ll hold my hand.”

Ruby swallowed, staring at her friend. Ellie refused to let the conversation linger on Anne’s death. Maybe Jake
should
analyze her.

He smiled. “Sorry to neglect you, Aunt Ellie.”

“Forget this aunt business. We ain’t blood.” Ellie winked. “I’m young enough you could think seriously about taking me to dinner sometime.”

Marissa groaned. “You’re over seventy years old, woman. Stop throwing yourself at the poor boy.”

Jake inclined his body towards the last member of the group. “How are you, Marissa?”

She shook her head, gnawing at her lip. “We’re all so affected.”

“Some of us more than others.” Ellie winked.

Ruby glared at her friend. “You were there last night. You saw everything I saw. How can you be so flippant about Anne’s death?”

“Hell-freeze, Rubes. We’re all gonna die—what’s wrong with it? So, we’ll miss Anne. She’s with James now and that baby she lost.” Ellie shook a small fist at Ruby. “Think about it. She’s healthy. She’s happy. She’s holding that baby. She’s kissing her husband’s ugly mug. Stop being so selfish and look at the bright side.”

Ruby tapped her fingers on her arm. Her once-firm skin seemed even spongier today. “It wasn’t her time to go.”

“That’s the Lord’s call, not yours,” Ellie said, glancing down her nose at Ruby.

Ruby frowned. “Not if someone poisoned her.”

“Oh, no, not this again.” Ellie patted Ruby’s hand condescendingly. “Let the authorities deal with it.” Ellie angled to face Jake. “Are you going to play cards with us? It’s Baseball in memory of our sweet Anne.”

Jake shrugged. “Deal me in. I cleared my schedule until after lunch.”

Marissa reached out to gather the cards.

Ellie leaned over the table, her small bosom protecting the piles. “Wait just a rockin’ minute. We haven’t figured out winner and loser.”

Marissa rolled her eyes and sat back.

Ruby shook her head. “Are you really going to do that? It was Anne who cared about the score and enforced the penalty.”

Ellie grabbed all the piles. “Yes, I’m going to do it. It’s what Anne would do.” Silence reigned for a minute as she added up the scores. “Aha. As I suspected. I was in the lead and…” She grinned viciously at Marissa. “No wonder you tried to grab those cards so quickly.”

Marissa sighed. “What’s it going to be?”

“Hmm.” Ellie tapped her fingers against her chin. “I believe a monkey is in order.”

Marissa stood, shoved her hands into her armpits, and said, “Eee, eee, eee,” then quickly sat back down.

Ellie rolled her eyes. “That was pathetic. Around the room if you please.”

“You’re not going to make me.”

“You’d make me if you won.”

Marissa stood again, glowered at Ellie, and shot off across the room, rubbing at herself with her hands and screeching horrifically. Jake watched with a bemused expression.

Ruby looked away and said, “Anne was always the best monkey.”

Ellie nodded. “Yes, but her pig imitation was my favorite.”

Marissa returned to the table and sank into her chair, her pale face pink. “I’m going to kick your butt this game,” she muttered to Ellie.

“Are you three ever going to grow up?” Lanna asked as she ambled past their table.

Marissa ignored her, gathered the cards, and reshuffled. “How are the babies today?” she asked Jake as if nothing had happened.

He smiled. “Squawking like little monkeys.”

Marissa took a swat at him. “Not another word. You might lose this game, and I’ve seen how funny you look as a donkey.”

Jake nodded. “As long as Ellie isn’t the winner, I’m not too afraid.”

“You’re pretty brave,” Ellie said, “starting a pediatric practice in a town as small as Preston, Idaho.”