Authors: Audrey Claire
Susan stood at the back wiping her face with a towel and drinking from a bottle of water. I offered her a quick nod and continued past her into the hall. My T-shirt clung to my skin, and I was pretty sure I wobbled as I walked, tilting more to the right. The movements put me in mind of the old commercial when a person needs a V-8. Otherwise, they walk at an angle. I needed a lot more than a drink that tasted like tomato soup.
“Makayla.”
I paused in my slow progress and turned around. The jerking of my neck brought a moan to my lips, and I swallowed it. Susan approached. “It gets easier,” she said. “After a couple weeks.”
Her concern silenced me a few moments. Then I pulled myself together. “Thanks. To be honest, I’m not sure I can hold out that long.”
She shrugged. “About Pattie. You’re right. She wasn’t with me the night of the murder, but it wasn’t what you think.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Oh?”
“No one but me and Louisa knows this but Pattie’s having to decide whether to terminate the life support for her father. They weren’t close. He was a monster to her and her mom. The two of them left him many years ago and moved to Briney Creek. He’ll die but making the decision to pull the plug is in a way like getting revenge for all the hurt he caused her. He’ll go either way. I tried to tell her that.”
Susan shared the information with cold detachment. I couldn’t understand her. Now I knew why Pattie walked around in a zombielike state. She struggled with a tough decision, and I could guess it tore at her because she wanted to do it, if just to get the tiniest bit back. I knew because at one time, I wanted the death penalty for Colin, and I wanted to administer the drug. Call me psychotic, but if you’ve never suffered the level of pain and loss we have, you don’t know how it feels.
“Pattie would never have killed Alvin,” Susan asserted. “She’s innocent.”
“Because she loved him.” I was blunt because of the way she had shared with me and because there wasn’t any sense in pretending.
Susan’s eyes flashed annoyance rather than hurt or anger. “Yes, she loved him. Pattie would have done anything for Alvin. Maybe she would have done anything to
get
him too.”
I shivered at the intensity of her words and the conviction I felt on Pattie’s behalf. She’d given me the same impression. So why should I believe Susan that Pattie hadn’t killed him in that well-worn excuse if I can’t have him no one will? More importantly, why should Spencer believe it?
At my silence, Susan placed a hand on her narrow hip. She couldn’t be more than a size two, maybe a zero, I thought. “You think I did it for the money.”
I opened my mouth to answer, but ladies from the class wandered by. They smiled and gave me a thumbs-up. I shot one back and even added a wink here and there. Gosh, I was a fraud. Susan shifted her weight from one foot to the other with impatience.
“I don’t know what you did or didn’t do, Susan, but I want to help.”
“Why would you?”
I had my answer ready, an easy one I believed in. “Your husband didn’t deserve to die.”
“Someone disagreed with you. Listen, we had our issues. Yes, he had more money than I do. Yes, I wanted it.”
I winced at her easy admission.
“I didn’t kill him for it. Simple as that. I was willing to stay with him despite—” She broke off.
“Despite what?”
“That’s none of your business.”
She moved closer to me, and I stiffened, thinking she was about to attack. Up until that moment, I had never pictured Susan as getting physical. Like bopping me over the head physical. I thought of it then and readied myself to scream if her arm muscles weren’t just for show. They were sleek and womanly still but definitely defined much more than any woman I had ever met.
Susan eyed me with such spite, but I didn’t believe it was aimed at me exactly. I was the only one there to take out her resentment on.
“Why would I protect him now?” she asked.
I said nothing. Let her continue if she chose to. All the same, relief flooded me when she did.
“He didn’t love me. No, correction.” Her lips thinned. “He didn’t
only
love me, and I didn’t mind too much.”
“The money,” I said.
“Bingo. The money.” She simpered. “A long time ago I thought I was in love with Alvin Aston. What woman in Briney Creek wasn’t? I didn’t care if he loved others as long as he stayed with me.”
I tried not to show what I thought of this arrangement, but Susan’s expression of anger and superiority told me I had failed. Again, I didn’t say a word. Let her talk. Maybe she would spill something that would help us to understand what happened to Alvin.
She switched gears. “You’re dating the sheriff, right?”
I coughed. “Dating is such a definitive word.”
Susan poked a fingertip into my chest. “You tell your sheriff I didn’t kill my husband.”
“He’s hardly mine, Susan.” My words rang on deaf ears. The fact was, he and I had probably been reported as spending an entire night together by one spiteful old lady in pink, purple, or green. Then having breakfast at a public restaurant the next morning gave my protest a hollow sound. I felt uncomfortable talking about my own love life, so I tried to turn the tables.
I glanced up and down the hall to be sure we were still alone. Then I focused on Susan. “What are the Brinlees hiding?”
She blinked at me. “Come again?”
I pinned her with an unwavering stare, suspecting she knew what I meant as soon as I asked the question. “There is some secret a few people know.” I had started to say Ollie but didn’t want to get the man in trouble in case Susan decided to fire him from tending to her lawn.
“
Who
told you this?” Susan insisted.
“Does it matter?”
She seemed to consider what she would admit to me, but alas whatever mood she had been in to share even as much as she did, it faded away, and she went back to being her usual aloof self.
“I’m too busy to spend my time nosing into other people’s business.”
I was most firmly put into my place.
She stuffed her water bottle and towel into the large shoulder bag she carried and snapped the bag closed. “If you want to know anything about the Brinlees, might I suggest you ask them directly?”
She started down the hall but then looked back.
“Oh, and Makayla, don’t let your curiosity get you killed. Who knows if that attack on my husband was really meant for you.”
I gasped, and now my ire rose. “Is that a threat, Susan?”
“Of course not, sweetheart. If it were, I would make myself very clear.”
In the end, I had learned nothing other than the news about Pattie. Spencer should have no problem confirming Susan’s story. In all likelihood, Pattie, the sweetest one of the three friends, hadn’t killed Alvin. My faith in humankind wasn’t lost, but I was no clearer to figuring anything out. I would call Spencer and ask to see him so we could talk over what I had learned. Yes, that’s why I needed to see him. The case.
Chapter Fifteen
Say what you will, I had every intention of discussing the case and only the case with Spencer when I met with him. So why was I climbing out of my bed naked as the day I was born, serenaded by his early morning snoring? Um, never mind. Let’s move on.
I showered and dressed, then left my apartment on tiptoe. Spencer hadn’t stirred. Granted, he had arrived last night well past midnight, after having to cancel our dinner date because of work. At the time when I laid eyes on him food and talk was the last thing on my mind. One has to understand a woman who has been alone for too long. Now, I know there are ladies who will feel Spencer was using me, not taking me out but getting straight to the intimate stuff, but my argument is, so was I, and was it ever so good.
Before Spencer had arrived the day before, I had received a phone call from one of my clients. Our session had been moved up because of an unexpected emergency on her part. So, I needed to run errands and get back before the photo session. See? I was busy too.
At nine, I was still strolling with a cart around Home Depot with no idea where I could find what I needed. What often happens is when I want to ask an associate for help, they are never around. When I don’t want to be bothered and want to just stumble aimlessly through the store, they’re everywhere. Today I was alone in a sea of toilet seats, solar panel kits, and paint. Not all together, mind you. I’m just pointing out how much I had traveled around the store.
My cell phone buzzed, and I pulled it from my purse to find a text from Spencer. I slid a finger over the screen to initiate the unlock code.
“You should have woken me up.”
“You looked comfortable.”
“Meet me for lunch.”
I thought about it. My appointment was at two in the afternoon. I could spend time with Spencer, catch him up on what I knew as well as just enjoy the man himself. After arranging the place and the time, we ended our conversation with the excuse of needing to get back to work. I went in search of an associate because I had wasted enough time.
At eleven thirty, I drove in the direction of the Briney Creek police station and parked my car outside on their lot. After locking it, I headed for the building, but Spencer appeared before I could get to the door and turned me around. “Are you ashamed of me, sheriff?” I teased.
He opened his car door for me, and I sank into the passenger seat. “If I were, I would have met you at the restaurant.”
“Fair enough.”
We arrived at the diner five miles outside of Briney Creek, which looked like it had landed on its current spot straight out of the nineteen fifties. Since I was the one that had chosen it, maybe the question should be was I ashamed of the sheriff. I wasn’t. I just preferred not to be stared at today as we enjoyed each other’s company. When I had suggested it, Spencer had asked if I was sure. I was, and here we were.
We grabbed a booth, and I opened the plastic menu which had been braced between the napkin dispenser and the condiment holder. Okay, I could have chosen a classier place, but why? I had come by this diner on my way into Briney Creek and loved it.
“Do you know what you’re having?” Spencer asked, studying his menu.
“Steak and eggs, hash browns, grits and a buttermilk biscuit.”
He frowned. I was also not ashamed of my appetite on a date or otherwise. I just
try
to do better.
“It’s lunch time,” he said.
“They serve breakfast twenty-four seven. It’s what I’m in the mood for.”
“Sounds good. I’ll have the meat lover’s omelet,” he told the waitress when she arrived at the table and added my order to his. Neither of us wanted coffee, so we opted for sweet tea for me and a cola for him.
“So you ran off,” was his first comment after our food arrived and we had both tucked in.
“I don’t know why you insist on saying that,” I said with as light a note in my voice as I could infuse it with. In reality, I felt a bit cagey.
He watched me, raising a fork piled high with omelet to his mouth. I say omelet as if the bite was mostly egg. In reality, the diner owners weren’t joking when they named the dish meat lover’s. As much bacon, sausage, and ham as possible had been stuffed into the meal, with egg and cheese as an afterthought. Spencer chewed all in obvious elation, and I recalled how much more meatballs he had given himself than he had to me the night he cooked dinner.
“You seem determined to prove to me your take on what we’re doing,” he said.
“My take?”
He pulled a napkin from the dispenser and tore it to shreds before it came all the way free. I brushed his hand aside to try, working slowly.
“You want it to be casual.”
“Isn’t it?” I raised my eyebrows. I knew I held him at arm’s length to protect my heart. He shouldn’t know it, or care for that matter. He was the one that still loved his ex-wife.
“I’ll tell you about Penelope.”
I hurried to interrupt him. “You don’t have to. We can discuss the case.”
“We can talk about the case after.”
Stubborn man. I waved a hand as if it were all the same to me.
“Penelope, as you know, was spoiled, used to having her own way. Her family had money, so she was used to enjoying life on a certain level.”
“I wonder what she would say to being invited to this diner.” I was being a bit snarky and spiteful, but Spencer just smiled.
“Simple. Her car tires wouldn’t be soiled on the lot.”
I winced. “And yet, you’re so…”
“Ordinary?” he suggested, amused.
“Regular, but I suppose they’re one and the same.”
“You are anything but,” he countered, and I blushed to my utter annoyance. Looking at him, I could see he didn’t believe my downplay of his character. Spencer was trained to read people, and it seemed his emotions or even his physical response to me didn’t get in the way of him seeing the real me. Then again, it could be that the good sheriff couldn’t conceive of any woman, least of all me, could resist his charms.
So there he was reading me correctly, and there I sat, confused. I didn’t like it.
Spencer leaned back in his chair, gaze far off, remembering. “Penelope is similar to Susan with less anger and confrontation. She does expect the world to revolve around her, but she doesn’t demand it. The world just
does
.”
“You still love her.” I couldn’t help myself.
“Yes and no.”
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, and his gaze met mine an instant then flitted away. I celebrated a spark of satisfaction that he wasn’t so perfect and unaffected. Then I recalled he admitted to loving her. Here I was attracted to a man again that loved someone else.
“I love her, but I’m not
in
love with her any longer. I didn’t want the divorce. My parents were together fifty years before they passed, and they went within a couple months of each other. I suppose we all wanted the same, me, my two brothers, and my sister.”
“Three boys and a girl,” I said. “Are you all close? Do you still talk to them?”
He smiled. “I’ve been here less than a month. They live in my hometown, so yes, I talk to them and plan to go back at Christmas.”
Silver eyes met mine. I saw something there I hadn’t expected to see.
“I felt like a failure, and I was embarrassed when she and I separated. The truth is, if she would have stayed, I would have left things as they were to save face.”
“That’s awful. Everyone deserves happiness no matter what our family thinks.”
He pushed fingers through his hair, reminding me that my hand had been there countless times during the night. “That’s just it. They didn’t condemn me. Yeah, they thought I should have fought harder, but they didn’t write me off as a loser. I did that to myself.”
I breathed a sigh of relief, although I had nothing to feel better about.
“Makayla, I can’t promise you love, but I do want to be with you. I mean date you, not just find time to take you to bed every now and then. I don’t want to use you.”
“Well, that’s mighty kind of you, sheriff,” I said in a terrible southern drawl, “but what if I don’t want more than an occasional bed partner?”
“Yes, you do.”
“Because I’m a woman?” I got on my high horse, eyes snapping and hands on hips.
“Because you’re you.”
I had no words for that, and my anger deflated. “What if I say no?”
He tapped fingers on the table, not looking at me. “I hope you don’t.” He looked up then, his gaze skittering over me, taking me in, making me shiver.
Spencer was the one that insisted we talk, but now he shied away from admitting he understood why I hesitated. I didn’t want to be hurt. I had determined I would never be so vulnerable again at the hands of any man. Just like he said, he had been in town just under a month. We had spent a handful of times with each other alone. I knew we weren’t talking of love this soon, but we were discussing potential and current standing. He guessed I needed to be careful, while he hadn’t healed. We were dysfunctional and probably ill-fitting.
“None of this makes sense to me,” I said.
“Let’s simplify it.”
I nodded.
“We’re dating. That means we go out together sometimes. We stay in often.”
I chuckled at that last part but agreed.
“Most of all…” He paused, and I swallowed. “We don’t hide. I’m not that kind of man, Makayla.”
“All right. Fine.”
Imagine a woman bristling at a man telling her he didn’t want to hide the fact that he was seeing her. And he didn’t want me to fall in love with him?
Give me something I can’t work with, please.
“We’ll do it your way and don’t question it. We’ll just have fun.”
“Good. Now, the case.”
I told him what Susan had shared with me, and he frowned, listening.
“That’s easy enough to verify. Anything else?”
“No, she was close-lipped about what she might know about the Brinlees or what that had to do with her husband. At least she didn’t pretend to be grieving for Alvin again. What are you going to do next?”
He ran a hand over his eyes. “I’m going to question her about the jewelry. It’s possible all of it wasn’t for one woman alone. Maybe he spread it around. If I can account for each piece, then we might move forward.”
“Great idea.”
He smirked.
“This is all a day in the life for you, isn’t it?”
“It is.”
“Well, then I trust you to resolve the case soon.”
He made a noise of agreement, but already his mind seemed to be elsewhere. We finished out meal. Spencer insisted on paying, and I let him. Afterward, he kissed me in the car until I was breathless, and we drove back to the station. Spencer promised to call me later, and returned home to wait for my client.