The Secrets of Rosa Lee (27 page)

Sidney shook her head. “I don't remember a wooden rose.”

“We'll go look. There's bound to be one in the woodwork of that house somewhere.”

Ada May and Beth Ann agreed it was time for another search, providing they all stop for lunch first.

L
ora dragged herself into work Wednesday morning bundled up like an Eskimo and trying to rub her headache away. She was getting too old for this, she decided. After Sidney's party, Billy and she had stayed up half the night talking in his dorm room. They'd watched the snow fall outside his window and listened to the noises of dorm life. She hadn't told so many stories about herself since she'd been a teenager at slumber parties.

He'd finally fallen asleep on the futon that doubled as his bed and she'd driven home trying to figure out why she liked being around him so much. He was a good listener. She talked his ears off. Anyone would think they had nothing in common, unless you counted the committee. But she could be herself around him. He was there as a friend right when she needed one. He didn't seem to want anything from her and he never tried to make her into someone else.

That was it, she thought. He liked her just the way she was and no one had ever done that before.

“Morning,” Lora said as she passed the center desk in the showroom of her father's dealership. “Going to be a slow day, I'm guessing.” No one wanted to buy a car on snowy days.

Dora Smithee smiled as she was paid to do. “Your father
left a message that he wants to see you when you come in. And—” she leaned over the counter and added in a whisper “—that good-looking Mr. Hunk is back in your office looking ever so fine and holding flowers. Everyone says he'll be our governor in twenty years. If you play your cards right you could be sitting beside him in the governor's mansion.”

Lora groaned. “Thanks for the warning.” Dora's definition of character involved a sentence that always had something to do with how a man filled out his jeans. To her,
looking deeper
meant checking out how much cash he carried. The woman had been test-driven more than any car on the lot.

Lora pulled off her sunglasses and stared through the glass wall at Talon Graham propped on the corner of her desk. She'd hoped not to have to face him again. At least not until after the vote. She knew what he wanted and, despite his protests, it wasn't her. He was far more interested in the pending deal with the mayor.

He flashed her a perfect smile as she stepped into her glass-walled office. “Morning, honey.” Talon grinned.

“What is this obsession men have with pet names?” she mumbled as she passed him and stored her purse behind her desk.

He looked downright sensitive. “I'm terribly sorry if I offended you. I thought we knew each other well enough for endearments.”

Not in this lifetime,
Lora thought as she rolled her eyes. “How can I help you today, Talon?”

He handed her the flowers, the most expensive spray the grocer carried. “I just had to come by and say how deeply sorry I am about the other night. I've been under a lot of pressure from the office in Austin to wrap up the Altman
deal and I guess I tried to drink my troubles away. I hope I didn't talk too much about business.”

He'd only had two topics, business and sex, as she remembered. “I've told you before, Talon, I can't talk with you about how the committee plans to vote. First of all, I don't know and second, it wouldn't be ethical.” Her actions with Billy at the truck stop Sunday morning surely made it plain there wouldn't be any sex between her and Mr. Hunk.

Now, he looked hurt. The man was a chameleon. “How can you even think I'm here because of that? I wouldn't play you like that land man from Houston is playing the professor. Every time I see him in town, he's either near the house, or someone on the committee. I'd never do that.”

For once, he had her attention. “Are you talking about Sloan McCormick?” She knew Sloan was in oil, but she'd never thought that he might just be using the professor.

Talon smiled. “He's smooth, isn't he? I'll bet that old maid has no idea what hit her. I almost feel sorry for him. He may have to sleep with her to get the vote he wants out of your committee, but if I know Sloan McCormick, he'll do whatever it takes.”

Lora didn't like what he was implying. Sloan seemed a straight-up guy. She hadn't noticed him trying to talk Sidney into anything. And the professor was no starry-eyed girl. She'd keep her head about her. “What makes you think he's playing her?”

Talon smiled that perfect smile she was learning to hate. “It's his job, Lora. Part of the game. You've been in the big leagues before. You know. Deals get done in more places than boardrooms. Business is a game and you do whatever you have to do to win.”

That was it, she thought. She did know. Never, not for one moment, had she believed that Talon was interested
in her. Even the flowers he'd brought and sent to the house were simply a business expense. It occurred to her that he'd finally realized he couldn't play her so his next move would be to make sure Sloan, his competition, made no progress with the chairman. Classic strategy for the game. But Sloan
had
fooled her, Lora thought. She'd believed he truly cared about the professor. Part of her still believed it, or wanted to anyway. She had to give McCormick credit, he was either telling the truth, or he was the best at playing people she'd ever seen.

Kicking Talon out of her office took about as much effort as emptying the trash. Lora thought of tossing the flowers as well, but decided to give them to Dora at the front desk. She even wrote Dora's name on the card and claimed Talon was only delivering them for a friend. Maybe the mystery man who sometimes sent Dora daisies would think the woman had another suitor.

“Your father still wants to see you,” Dora said after she gushed over the flowers.

“Tell him I'm going to the library,” Lora yelled on her way out.

Dora shrugged as if expecting the answer. She probably figured as long as Lora worked for her father, she had job security as the messenger.

Lora drove twice the speed limit to the library, but couldn't find any of the committee. She asked at the desk and wasn't surprised to learn that the librarian on duty had heard every word. She even knew all their names, except Sloan, whom she referred to as “the noncardholder.”

“They're meeting Reverend Parker for lunch at the downtown café and then they plan to go search for something at the Altman place.” The librarian thought a moment. “I'm sorry, that's all I heard. Someone phoned and I had to step into my office.”

“That's great.” Lora headed for the door thinking Clifton Creek's librarian could go straight into the FBI without further training. “Do you happen to know if they found what they were looking for here?”

She nodded once. “I believe they did. Professor Dickerson checked out one book on Portland roses.”

When Lora left the library, she wasn't surprised to see Talon Graham's car parked across the street. He'd leaned back in his seat as if taking a nap, but she knew he was watching her. When she pulled out of the parking place, she noticed he also started his engine. He must have nothing else to do before he learned of the vote, so he might as well follow her and see what trouble he'd stirred up by telling her about Sloan McCormick. Only Lora decided not to play the game anymore.

Three blocks later, they took the last two spaces left in front of the café, but he made no effort to go in. As she walked to the door, she noticed Billy carefully climbing out of his car. He still had on his worn leather jacket, but his clothes now looked more like he belonged in college than on the streets. Lora knew he hadn't had time to shop, so he must be wearing his Sunday best: tailored khaki pants and a white button-down shirt.

“You shouldn't be driving!” she yelled as she hurried toward him.

“The Rogers sisters called and invited me to lunch. When I found out we were eating out, I couldn't say no.” He lifted his one good arm around her shoulder. “How you doing, babe?” His words were light, but his eyes told her he cared about her answer.

She glanced back and noticed Talon watching. “I'm fine. Aren't you going to give me a hello kiss?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Are you serious?”

“Sure. Lay one on me.”

His arm tightened, drawing her to him as he lowered his mouth to hers.

The kiss wasn't as long as Lora would have liked to display to Talon, but it was very pleasant just the same.

“I got a feeling there's going to be pain somewhere in this greeting,” Billy whispered. “But it was worth it.”

She wrapped an arm around his waist and walked with him toward the door. “I've decided to stop beating you up. There's too many people in line ahead of me.”

Two farmers walked out as she opened the door. They'd probably passed the morning with coffee and talk. One removed his hat. “Morning, Lora,” he said politely.

“Morning, Jake,” she said.

Both men looked at Billy. “Mornin',” Jake said to Billy and moved out of the way. “Glad to see you getting around so good. We was worried about you. Ain't right, someone jumping you like that when you was just doing your duty watching over that old Altman place.”

The other farmer agreed and leaned forward to pat Billy on the shoulder in awkward comfort.

Once she and Billy were inside, he laughed. “That's the first time either of them have ever said a word to me. I would have sworn they didn't know I existed.”

Billy didn't comment on how the men knew about his beating.

Lora waved at the Rogers sisters. As they moved across the room, she felt every set of eyes on her, watching. Several people spoke to her, a few to Billy. The town was keeping up with what had happened at the Altman place.

He slid into the booth beside Lora and across from the Rogers sisters. “Am I in the right town?”

Lora laughed. “I know what you mean. People smiled at me without the usual
poor thing
kind of look in their
eyes. Nothing like stepping into another crisis to get you out of the one you think you're living in.”

Ada May interrupted. “Of course they stare at you. The committee is the talk of the town today. I'm starting to feel like a rock star.”

“How do you know what a rock star feels like, Ada May? Have you ever been a rock star? I don't think so,” Beth Ann said.

“I was just guessing.”

“Well, not me. I'm not saying I feel like something when I don't have any idea what that feels like and neither do you. You've never even been near a rock star in your whole life.”

“Yes, I have,” Ada May corrected. “I touched Willie Nelson's car once when he was in Amarillo. I went right up to it and touched the door where he probably put his hand before he got in.”

“Hope I'm not interrupting something,” Micah Parker said as he took the last seat in the long booth. He waved away a menu and lifted one finger, indicating he wanted the special, which was what anyone with sense ordered if they wanted to be served before two o'clock.

Billy grinned. “Hopefully, you are interrupting.” He pointed with his head toward the sisters. “They're already into round two.”

Both sisters looked as if they had no idea what he was talking about. After giving their order, they rejoined the group.

Ada May leaned close to Micah. “The professor stood right up to the mayor and told him we needed more time. This afternoon, we're heading over to the house to do more investigating.”

Micah glanced at Sidney.

“Actually, I asked if we could have one more day. There
are a few things we have to settle. I promised we'd have the answer by tomorrow morning at nine.”

Micah waited as Sidney explained. She ended by saying, “Sloan and I plan to go visit the widow of Dr. Eastland. We're hoping she might remember something about Rosa Lee.”

“Good. I've got my own lead. I'm going out to Luther Oates's place and see if I can find out what he remembers,” Micah said. “A friend of mine told me about a religious group that called themselves the Brotherhood. She said Oates and Altman might have been in it. I've been dying to hear if any of the stories are true. And if he knows anything, he might know if the house was used as their meeting place.”

Sloan shook his head. “I don't know. The road's unpaved and bound to be bad, plus the Oateses aren't known for welcoming company. We've got a few rigs near there and some of the men swear they've been shot at taking shortcuts across Oates's land to get to our rigs. Maybe you should wait until I can go with you. We'll be back from Eastland's by three.”

Lora looked around Ada May and almost shouted, “I'll go with Sidney to see the widow. Sloan, you take Micah.” She didn't miss Sloan's doubt. “Then we can cover ground twice as fast. We're running out of time. We'll meet back here in two hours for coffee, then go out to the house.”

Sloan nodded, but obviously wasn't happy with leaving Sidney. He even insisted on giving her his extra cell phone. Lora couldn't help but wonder why. Was he doing his job and didn't want to miss anything, or was he being a caring friend? Talon Graham might be worthless, but he'd opened her eyes to watching Sloan and if Sloan McCormick stepped out of line, Lora planned to be there.

“I could go over to the house and look for the wooden rose while everyone else is out visiting,” Billy offered.

Everyone at the table said no at the same time.

Billy shrugged. “It was an idea.”

Beth Ann patted his bandaged hand. “Ada May and I will go with you. While they are interviewing everyone, we can start with the grounds before it gets any colder. A cold front is on its way in.”

“Then—” Ada May picked up the plan “—we'll come back here for dessert and warm up while we learn what Sidney and Micah found out.”

Sidney glanced at her watch. “All right, we meet back here no later than four and go back to the house for a final search.”

Her troops were too busy getting their hamburgers to answer, but finally, between bites, Ada May mumbled, “I don't know about anyone else, but when we go back to the old place tonight I'm going armed.”