Skein of the Crime (23 page)

Kelly moved into the spinning alcove for more privacy. “And what did Tommy say? How did he react?”

“Dan said Tommy went white as a sheet, then blurted out everything that happened Friday. He told Dan about his argument with Holly and his walking out. He even admitted he’d been with Lynette until late that night before he drove back to Denver.”

“Did Dan believe him?”

“Yeah, Dan told me he didn’t pick up on any signs that Tommy was lying. Like I said, Kelly. Tommy’s a real straight arrow. There’s no way he could have deliberately harmed Holly.”

“You’re probably right, Burt. I was simply raising questions, that’s all. I don’t have any knowledge of Tommy’s character. He certainly appears to be everything you say he is. I was curious, that’s all. People under pressure do things they wouldn’t normally do.”

“Well, you can relax about Tommy. Matter of fact, I think I’ll call him tonight and see how he’s doing.”

“Keep me posted, Burt.”

“As always, Kelly.”

 

 

 

Kelly took the turn into the Lambspun driveway on two wheels, her stomach in knots. She couldn’t believe she’d screwed up again. She’d spent an enjoyable early evening at Curt’s ranch house, complete with steak dinner and good conversation. Then she’d stopped by Mimi and Burt’s to check if Burt had spoken with Tommy. Of course, Mimi brought out her delicious coffeecake, so Kelly’s quick stop had lengthened considerably. Once again, she’d lost all track of time.

The problem was her cell phone was in her jacket pocket, hanging on a peg in Mimi’s foyer, far from the family room. And as the Fates would have it, Steve had—once again—found some free time and had driven back to Fort Connor. Once again, hoping to spend some time with Kelly. And once again, Kelly wasn’t available.

Kelly jerked her car to a stop, jumped out, and raced over to the cottage front door, bursting into the living room. Steve wasn’t there. His truck was in the driveway, though. “Hey,” she cried. “I’m back. Where
are
you?”

Steve stepped around the kitchen corner, a slice of pizza in his hand. “I’m here. Where were
you
?” He took another bite.

That now-familiar cloak of guilt dropped over Kelly’s shoulders again. It felt heavier this time. “I was at Curt’s ranch having dinner with them. Then I dropped by Mimi’s and Burt’s to talk about stuff,” Kelly explained. “I wish you’d called earlier. Then I could have cancelled the stop at Mimi’s.”

Steve finished swallowing, then looked at her with an annoyed expression. “Or, you could have your phone with you. Where was it this time? In the car?”

Kelly noticed his tone of voice but ignored it as she walked toward the kitchen. “It was in my jacket, but that was hanging in Mimi’s foyer so I couldn’t hear it ringing. Like I said, if you’d called earlier, I wouldn’t have gone out. I’d be here. But I never figured you’d be coming back on a Monday night.”

“There’s no way for me to call earlier because these breaks just suddenly come up in the schedule. No way to know ahead of time. Turns out I finished the entire project early, and Fred told me to take the rest of tonight off.” He took another bite of pizza.

Kelly watched him chew. His cool tone was bothering her. She’d been hearing more and more of it lately. And she didn’t like it. She’d try apologizing again. See if that thawed him.

“Steve, I’m sorry I missed your call. But I just can’t walk around with my cell phone in my hand all the time.”

“Ever heard of pockets?” He tilted his cola can and drank deeply.

Kelly counted to ten. Then twenty. “Okaaaay, I promise I’ll keep my phone in my pocket from now on. Providing I’m wearing something with pockets. But it never occurred to me that you’d come back on a Monday night. So naturally, I wasn’t prepared for your call.”

Steve didn’t answer for a moment, simply finished off his pizza, then took another slice. “When did you finish dinner at Curt’s?”

“About seven thirty. Then I went over to Mimi’s and Burt’s to talk about stuff. You must have called right after that.”

“Yeah, around then. What sort of stuff? Something happening with the shop?”

Kelly shook her head. “Naw, I just wanted to see if Barbara’s son Tommy had talked with Burt. I was curious how Tommy was doing after the police questioned him. They wanted to know his whereabouts the night Holly died.”

Steve screwed up his face. “Police? Who’s Holly? What are you talking about, Kelly?”

Kelly realized Steve didn’t know anything about Holly’s death except that she was the same girl who’d appeared in Kelly’s backyard three weeks ago. Steve didn’t know who Barbara or Tommy were, let alone their connection to Holly or to the people at Lambspun. And Steve certainly didn’t know that Kelly had been sleuthing for details about Holly’s last night alive.

“Holly was the girl they found dead on the trail a few weeks ago, remember? She was the same one who showed up on my patio. One of Mimi’s teachers has a son, Tommy, who was Holly’s boyfriend. Tommy’s in med school in Denver and asked Burt and me if we would try to find out who gave Holly those pills. At the party, that is. She was at a big party that night.” Kelly stopped talking because the expression on Steve’s face had gone from puzzled to annoyed once again.

Steve dropped the pizza slice to the counter. “I don’t believe it. You were out sleuthing tonight when you could have been
here
? What in hell is the matter with you, Kelly?”

Kelly stepped back.
Whoa
. She wasn’t expecting an angry reaction. “What do you mean? There’s nothing the matter. Tommy is up to his neck with medical studies, and Burt and I are trying to help, that’s all.”

Steve stared at her, clearly getting angrier. “You’re out helping other people when you could be here with
me
. Dammit, Kelly! I need your help, too!”

That did it. Steve’s flash of anger sparked Kelly’s own. “You won’t
let
me help you!”

Steve’s dark eyes flashed. He pushed away from the counter. “I told you I’m not going there, Kelly.”

“But,
why
? Working those two jobs is grinding you down so far I don’t even recognize you anymore,” Kelly charged. “Hell, if you don’t want to borrow money from me, then borrow it from Curt. That way you wouldn’t have to work the second job. It’s stupid.”

Thunderclouds darkened Steve’s face. “I don’t wanta talk about it. I’m going to watch the game and sleep on the sofa,” he said, storming out of the kitchen.

“
Fine!
Sleep on the sofa. It doesn’t make what I said any less true,” Kelly shot back, her pulse racing. Her Irish was up and that was always dangerous, as her dad would say.

She marched to the fridge and grabbed two bottles of their favorite ale and a foil-wrapped package. Stalking out to the living room, she placed one ale and the package on the coffee table. Steve had already sprawled on the sofa.

“I made Helen’s gingersnaps for Megan and Marty’s party, and I saved you some. Enjoy.”

With that, she grabbed her laptop and stalked off to the bedroom, slamming the door behind her. Might as well spread some of that guilt around.

Kelly
looked up at the burst of wind and energy that blew into Lambspun’s main knitting room. “Hey, Megan, we haven’t seen you around here during the day for a while. Have you and Mimi finished the wedding prep list already?”

Megan dumped her large knitting bag on the library table and fixed Kelly with an incredulous gaze. “You’ve got to be kidding. I’m only on wedding cakes, third on the list. It’s hard finding time to balance work and interviewing vendors every day. I’m beat.”

“Well, sit down and catch me up. We haven’t had a chance to talk at practice or game nights lately.” Kelly returned to the bright red yarn on her circular needles. “What’s happening? Have you found a favorite bakery?”

Megan rolled her eyes and plopped into a chair on the other side of the table. “Oh, I’ve got plenty of favorites, but they’re all so expensive. Mimi almost had a heart attack when she found out how much wedding cakes cost.” She gave a dramatic shudder.

Kelly played along and pretended to flinch. “Okay, tell me. I’m ready.”

“Some of the fancier cakes can cost six dollars per slice. Now, multiply that by the number of guests, and you get the picture.”

This time Kelly didn’t have to fake the flinch. The accountant in her took over. “
What!
I don’t believe it.”

“Believe it,” Megan intoned, digging in her knitting bag. She withdrew a rose-pink half-finished sweater. “If you have two hundred guests, then the cake will cost over twelve hundred dollars. And we’re gonna have at least two hundred guests. More, probably.”

“What if some of us take a pledge not to eat cake, will they give you a discount?” Kelly teased, slipping a crimson wool stitch off her needle.

A smile peeked out finally. “I don’t think it works that way, Kelly. Plus Marty has lots of nephews and nieces and cousins, so there will be bunches of kids there. And you know how much kids like cake.”

Dollar signs flashed before Kelly’s eyes. “Whoa, I see what you mean. By the way, have you come up with a preliminary budget yet? Sounds to me like you need to.”

Megan kept her attention on her knitting. “We’re working on it. We’ve come up with a list of things we really, really want for the wedding. You know, like food, drinks, music, flowers . . .”

“And a wedding dress, or were you planning on wearing that bedsheet?”

“Don’t remind me. I cannot believe we have to go looking for wedding gowns again. And in Denver, next time. But Mimi insists. I swear, I can’t face any more tulle or ruffles for a while.”

“Don’t take it out on the tulle,” Jennifer countered as she hurried into the room and dumped her knitting bag. “It’s not the tulle’s fault you’re on wedding prep overload.” She pulled out the chair beside Kelly.

“I can’t help it, guys. Lace and ruffles give me an itch. I’d much rather interview bakers and hotel managers.” Megan’s lightning quick fingers moved, stitches forming faster. Kelly had noticed long ago if Megan was upset or excited about something, she knitted even faster than usual.

“How’s the banquet room search going?” Jennifer asked, pulling a burgundy-and-gold scarf from her bag. A match for her burgundy sweater, no doubt.

“Nowhere, I’m afraid. We’re on the waiting list for the two largest hotels in town, but there are at least three or more people ahead of us. It doesn’t look good. We may have to rent one of those church halls.”

“That’s not bad, Megan,” Kelly offered, more red stitches forming on her needles.

“I know, I just wanted something really pretty, since we can’t be outside.”

“Why not? Are those park places reserved, too?”

“They’ve been reserved for months. That lodge near the river and the National Park entrance is booked out the yingyang. We’d have to delay the wedding another year to snag that spot.”

Kelly heard the familiar sound of her cell phone and quickly dropped her knitting. Digging out her phone, she pushed away from the table. “Excuse me, guys.” Patty’s name and number flashed on her phone screen.

“Hey, Patty, how’re you doing?” she said as she walked into the central yarn room.

“I’m okay, I guess. Do you have a moment to talk? I have to work at the steakhouse in that shopping center near the shop, and I wondered if you were at Lambspun.”

“Yeah, I’m here taking a knitting break. What’s up?”

“Kind of hard to explain over the phone. I’ll meet you in Pete’s café in half an hour, okay?”

“I’ll be there,” Kelly promised, wondering what was bothering Patty. She sounded different.

“Is that Patty, the covert college agent?” Jennifer asked as Kelly returned to the table.

“Yeah, the same Patty.”

“Who’s this?” Megan asked.

“She’s one of Tommy’s friends. Tommy is Barbara’s son, remember?” Kelly explained, picking up her knitting where she left off.

“Ohhhh, yeah, now I remember. He’s in medical school, and Holly was his girlfriend.” Megan shook her head. “So sad to die that young.”

Jennifer’s fingers moved at their usual warp speed. “After Holly’s death, Kelly and I went over to the Grill one afternoon to have lunch and interrogate one of the waitresses. Based on covert college agent Patty’s observations.”

Megan looked up with a puzzled expression. “Who were you interrogating? What in the world are you sleuthing, Kelly? I thought you said that girl died from an overdose.”

“Nothing, really.” Kelly tried to downplay Jennifer’s description, even though it was accurate. “I’m just poking around into some stuff, that’s all.” She tried to affect a nonchalant tone.

Megan glanced from Kelly to Jennifer and back. “She’s got that look, Jennifer. Ordinarily I’d be on her case trying to find out what she was up to, but I have got entirely too much aggravation in my life right now with all this wedding preparation. You’ll have to ride herd on her.”

“Excuse me?” Kelly said archly. “I do not need herding.”

“Yeah, you do,” Megan retorted, not even glancing up from her knitting.

“I’m on it,” Jennifer promised. “If I need help, I’ll call in Pete.”

“Hey guys, I haven’t done anything,” Kelly protested. “I’m only talking to people, trying to help Tommy.”

“Speaking of talking to people, I have
got
to find Mimi. She was going to check on florists.” Megan dropped her knitting to the table and was out of the room in a flash.

“Who was that masked woman?” Jennifer joked, glancing in Megan’s wake.

“I don’t know, but she’s in hyperdrive. Let’s hope she saves some of that energy for practice tonight,” Kelly said, picking up her knitting where she’d left off.

“What are you knitting?” Jennifer asked.

“I thought I’d knit another winter hat for myself and felt it. Now that I’ve learned how, I want to do it again.”