Random Acts of Murder: A Holly Anna Paladin Mystery, Book 1 (Holly Anna Paladin Mysteries) (25 page)

I contrasted those images with those of living in my mom’s house. Going to work every day for a
supervisor who hated me. Continuing on, feeling surrounded by people yet surprisingly alone.

Chase won by leaps and b
ounds.

“What would you do if I said yes?”

“I’d say, let’s go.”

“No preacher would marry us in a day.”

“Maybe he could write us in for later this week. You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?”

“It’s tempting.”

“Just give in, Holly. Do something for yourself. You’re always so concerned with others.”

I nodded. “After the election is over, if we both haven’t decided this crazy whim is just that, then let’s do it.”

He picked me up and spun me around.

Maybe my first kiss would only be shared with the man I married after all.

CHAPTER
42

I spent the night at Alex’s. I just couldn’t stand the thought of staying in the other house by myself.

Chase and I had spent the rest of the day yesterday at his place. We’d watched old movies and ordered pizza and just enjoyed being together.

He’d driven me to Alex’s place, kissed me good
night, and promised to call me today.

I’d awoken early, poured some coffee, and plopped myself on Alex’s couch to watch the news.

The headline story was about Rex. How he’d turned over key information that had led to the arrest of Orion. How he was a hero.

I
dreaded talking to Ralph or Brian today. I couldn’t begin to imagine how many percentage points he’d drop.

Just then, Ralph’s picture
came on the screen.

“In other news, Ralph Paladin’s family was given a
devastating blow recently when they found out that sister Holly Anna Paladin has been diagnosed with terminal cancer.”

I sat up straighter. What? I could hardly breath
e.

Brian’s face came on the screen. “As you can imagine, the family is devastated.
Holly is doing well, though, and she’s insisting that her brother go forward with his campaign.”

My mouth dropped open. I glanced at my cell phone.
It was dead, and that was probably a good thing. My phone was going to be ringing off the hook. I had to talk to Alex and Ralph before they heard this.

Or did Ralph already know?

How did Brian know?

I rubbed my temples.

Tomorrow was election day. It appeared that both candidates were pulling out all of the stops.

Alex’s phone rang. I jumped up to answer, but she must have just gotten out of the shower and grabbed it.

I braced myself. Sure enough, she stomped down the stairs a few minutes later, her eyes wide and on me. She wore a robe, and her hair was pulled up in a towel. Based on the water sprinkled across her face, she hadn’t even had time to dry off.

“Is it true?” she
demanded.

“Alex—”

“Don’t do that mumbo jumbo where you give a long-winded explanation before answering. I just need a yes or no.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “Yes.”

I waited for a lecture. For anger. For accusation.

Instead, my sister threw her arms around me
and didn’t let go. “I can’t believe it. Why didn’t you tell me? You’re my baby sister.”

“I didn’t want to worry you. Especially not with the wedding coming up.”

“Why have you been carrying this alone? I could have been there for you. Throughout meetings and decisions and heartbreaks.”

“I was going to tell everyone. After the election and wedding. Those deserve to be happy times.
”

She hugged me again. When she pulled back, I saw the tears in her eyes. She carefully wiped them away with
the edge of her robe. “This is going to take a while to sink in. You told Brian?”

I shook my head. “I have no idea how he found out.”

“Well, Ralph is going to give him a piece of his mind. Then I’m going to jump in. How could he do this to us?”

“
Anything to win. I guess he milked the Melinda story for all it was worth and he needed something new.”

“Holly, I just don’t know what to say. I have so many questions.” She shoved the phone in my hand. “
But first you have to call Ralph.”

***

Two hours later, Alex left. I insisted that she should. She told me she was going to wrap up things at the office and then come home early. She would take today off to be with me, and tomorrow because it was election day. I figured there was no need to argue with her.

I found my phone, plugged it in to charge, and checked my texts. I had a whole slew of them, mostly from people who’d watched the news.
Awesome.

I had some damage control to do.

My eyes stopped at an email from Doris. “I heard the news. Why don’t you take some medical leave? You’ve got it coming. I think it would be best for everyone’s sakes.”

My jaw dropped open. I was pretty sure
she was just looking for a way to get me out of the door.

Impulsively, I emailed back. “That sounds like a great idea, Doris. I think I will take some time off. Indefinitely. I’ll talk to Helen about this as soon as possible.”

Life was too short to deal with people like Doris. I’d find another way to help those families.

I got ready for my day,
not feeling at all optimistic. Just as Peggy Lee started singing “Is That All There Is,” the doorbell rang.

Who now? I prayed it wasn’t the press.
Knowing my luck, that’s exactly who it would be.

When I opened the door, I was surprised to see Jamie standing there.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me lately, Holly,” she started.

“What are you talking about?”

She shook her head. “Can I come in?”

“Of course.” I opened the door wider.
“How’d you know I was here?”

“Your cell is going
straight to voice mail. I called Chase instead.”

“How do you have Chase’s number?”

She shrugged. “He gave it to me when my brother disappeared. Of course. Did you think I was stalking him or something?”

“Just curious.
” I closed the door and ushered her to the couch. “What’s going on?”

She hit her hands against her hips and sighed.
“I don’t know why I’m letting my insecurities get the best of me, Holly. It’s like the old, fat me who didn’t believe in herself still pushes to the surface sometimes. I automatically think the worst of people. Something about being around Rex brought that out in me.”

I swung my head back and forth, regret gripping me.
“I should have told you about John. I just didn’t know what to do. He made me promise and—”

“
You were between a rock and a hard place. I should have tried harder to understand. I just . . . I just feel like you’re leaving me, and I’m trying to hold on and control everything else in my life.” Tears glimmered in her eyes.

“How’s that working for you?”
I whispered.

“Terribly.” She sniffled before letting out a weak chuckle.

My heart ached with loss. “I’m sorry, Jamie. I really hate messing up. Like, really hate it.”

She nodded. “
Girlfriend, I know.”

We hugged each other.

Part of me wanted to jump in and tell her everything:
Did you see the news story about Rex? About Ralph? Chase and I could be getting married.

Instead, I stayed quiet.

“There’s something else I need to tell you.” Jamie’s lips pulled into a tight, trepid line.

I nodded. “Okay.”

“But I need to wait until Chase gets here.”

“Chase is coming?”
It was the first I’d heard of it. My apprehension deepened.

She nodded and glanced at her phone. “He should be here any minute—”

Just then, the doorbell rang again.

“I’ve got it,” I insisted.

Sure enough, Chase stood on the porch. He stepped inside, gave me a quick kiss, and nodded at Jamie in the background.

“I saw the news,” he muttered.

I frowned. “Yeah, we’re trying to get to the bottom of it. I don’t know how Brian found out.”

“What a w
ay for your family to hear, huh?” His voice sounded low, sympathetic.

“I’ve been doing damage control all morning. My whole family will be here this evening so we can talk. My mom’s even coming back early from her trip.”

“Do you want me to be here with you?”

Some of my tension melt
ed away. “Yeah, I’d really like that.”

“Something you two want to tell me?” Jamie asked behind me.

I turned around, pulling my hand from Chase’s chest. I hadn’t even realized it was there. I pointed back and forth between the two of us. “We’re kind of . . .”

“Together,” Chase finished, wrapping an arm around my waist.

Jamie’s eyebrows shot up. “Nice. I like that news.”

“Me, too.” Chase straightened. “Now, what’s going on, Jamie? You said you needed me to stop by?”

She nodded, any of her delight from just seconds ago disappearing from her features. “Can we sit at the table?”

“Of course,” I told her.

We all settled at the round table, watching as Jamie pulled out her laptop. She started typing, her frown deepening with each keystroke.

“So,
I was working on some of those after-election articles,” she began. “I started doing a piece on Rex’s high school days. I justified it, thinking as long as we weren’t officially dating that there was no breach of ethics. Anyway, I thought it would be cool to talk to some of his old teachers and classmates. His English teacher lives in Pittsburgh now, so I called her.”

I nodded
, anxious to find out where she was going with this. “Okay.”

“Well,
she said all of these nice things about Rex. He was charismatic, had a hard upbringing, rose above all of it. Then she started telling me that she’d just gone through some old papers and she found one he’d written. He was apparently obsessed with Roman times.”

“What are you getting at, Jamie?” Chase asked.

Uncertainty wavered in her eyes as she met Chase’s gaze. “The paper he’d written was on Caligula and how he was misunderstood.”

Cold washed over my entire body. “You mean, you think Rex is Caligula?”

“I don’t know what I mean, Holly. I just know that something doesn’t feel right.” Concern tightened her features.

“Why would Rex risk everything for this?” I shook my head, trying to gather my thoughts. “I remember a
couple of weeks ago Brian said that his campaign was in serious financial trouble. They didn’t have enough money. Would he have gone this far?”

“What about Orion? The evidence against him is pr
etty incriminating,” Chase said. “It’s hard to refute.”

“What if Orion
was set up?” I asked. “You said the chief was anxious to put a lid on this case. Maybe the chief isn’t covering up anything, but what if he inadvertently helped Rex?”

“
Rex’s schedule gave him the perfect alibi, though,” Chase said.

“Good point
,” I said.

Chase’s phone beeped. “You guys, I have to get this. It’s T.J.”

I nodded.

Chase rose and paced into the kitchen to answer.
The next thing I heard was “What are you talking about? Why are you still on this witch hunt?”

Jamie and I glanced at each other.

Finally, Chase hung up. He paced over to me, a knot between his eyebrows. “That was T.J. He just said someone reported an anonymous tip. They said you were at Dewayne’s house on the night he died.”

The blood drained from my face. “Someone reported that?”

Chase nodded. “That’s crazy, isn’t it?”

Jamie and I exchanged another look.

“What are you saying, Holly?” Chase stared at me, confusion in his gaze.

I desperately wanted to make that look—that brief moment of doubt—disappear from his gaze. But I couldn’t lie. Not anymore.

“I tried to tell you,” I started. My throat went dry and I felt queasy all over.

His eyes widened,
and he took a step back. “Wait. Are you about to say that you were there?”

“I—”

He held up a finger, tension straining his features. “How . . .? Why didn’t you . . .? What were you doing . . .? You know what—don’t tell me anything. I don’t want to have to lie to my captain.”

“But—” I started
again.

“Really. Don’t say anything.”
His gaze held mine, leaving no room for argument. I saw the disappointment there. Maybe even distrust.

I sighed
, feeling defeated. I’d ruined everything, hadn’t I? “What does this mean?”

C
hase locked his jaw. He closed his eyes and shook his head, as if still trying to reconcile his image of me with this new information. “It means that T.J.’s looking for you, Holly. I told him you weren’t at home. He wants to bring you in.”

Adrenaline surged in me.
“We’ve got to find the evidence to nail Rex first.”

“I’m glad that’s your biggest concern and not spendin
g the rest of your life in jail.” Chase raked a hand through his hair and started pacing. “It’s bad enough that I’m going to lose you to cancer. But to this?”

I stood
, desperately wishing I could rewind my life. “Chase . . .”