A Geek Girl's Guide to Arsenic (20 page)

“I’m not sure I can do this.”

His normally stormy eyes twinkled. This was his turf. His land. His good time. “Swing your leg over and have a seat. It’s like riding a horse.”

I shook my head. “Uh, not at all.”

He barked a laugh. “Correct. Now, hurry up so we can chase them.”

Eric and Parker raced through the dark field beside Jake’s house, watched by a sky full of stars.

I sucked it up and lowered my body behind Jake’s. There was nowhere to hold on. “Um.” I placed my palms gingerly against the sides of his coat.

In a lightning-quick move, Jake grabbed my hands and pulled them tight around his middle, bringing my body flush against his. “Hold on.” He released me in favor of the handlebars and revved the engine.

Every muscle in my body tensed. I squeezed his hips with my thighs.

The machine jumped into gear and we tore through the night. Brisk autumn wind whipped against my face.

“Ahh!” I screamed and laughed and bounced over things I couldn’t see in the dark, secure and fearless in Jake’s care.

When we got back to Jake’s, my beanie hat was soaked in mud, along with the rest of me. The tension, however, had dissipated. The wild ride had shaken my inhibitions loose. Who needed alcohol when there was ten acres of farmland to destroy?

Mudding was my new favorite.

* * *

It was after one when Jake pulled into the lot outside my building. The night was different in my world. Peppered with traffic sounds and generally well lit. Nothing like the place we’d left behind.

I walked slowly to my building, stretching each leg as I moved. “I don’t think I’ll be able to walk straight tomorrow.”

Jake snorted. “I’m going to leave that statement alone.”

I unlocked the door and waited, but Jake didn’t budge. “Do you want to come up?”

He looked at his feet, the sky and then me. “Nah. I’ll catch up with you tomorrow.”

Disappointment and rejection blazed stupidly through me. “Okay. If you’re sure.”

“Unless you want me to. I mean, I can if you need me to check the rooms for you.”

“No. I’m fine.” I slipped inside the building with my shoulders, back and chin up. “Talk to you later.”

I rounded the corner to the elevator and bounced the heel of my hand off my forehead. The drive to my place from his took an hour. He’d driven me all the way home just to leave.

My phone buzzed with a text from Jake as I stepped out of the elevator on my floor.
Text
me
after
you
look
in
all
the
rooms.
I
won’t
leave
until
I
get
the
all
clear.

I ran through the rooms, peeping behind curtains and under furniture.
All
Clear.

No. No one waited in my apartment.

No one waited for me anywhere.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Nate arrived at my office an hour before I finished work. He greeted me with a wink and coffee. “Don’t mind me. I’ve got plenty to keep me busy.” He produced a smart water from his bag and set it on Fifi’s desk. Small pieces of fruit floated inside.

She smiled.

He set up his laptop on the printer table and stuffed earbuds into his ears before I could object.

My mind wandered ruthlessly over a list of possible culprits and ways to inflict extensive pain on the one who hurt my sister.

“Come on.” Nate slapped my desk. “You’re daydreaming. You haven’t touched your keyboard in ten minutes, and it’s five. Let’s go. The sooner you get to the Faire and see Bree gleefully shaking her bottom onstage, the sooner you’ll believe things are better than you think.”

He was right. I wanted to see Bree. Let her sass me. Complain about my life. Whatever she wanted. “Fine.”

We walked Fifi to her car before heading to my place.

I unlocked my apartment door and held it with my hip for Nate to pass. “Did you drive all the way to Horseshoe Falls so I didn’t have to walk home alone after work?”

He pulled a face. “No.”

“Ah, then this visit was planned. You’re coming tonight to watch Bree perform.”

“No again. That’s an image I don’t want in my head. I have an appointment with a financial planner tonight. Spending all that money on REIGN has given me nightmares. What if this venture fails and I end up with no savings, living in one of those old age homes for people without money? Do you know what happens to those people?”

I let my head fall forward in bad friend shame. “Life keeps distracting me. I’m good for half. I promise. I’m so sorry I haven’t gotten it to you yet.”

“Don’t worry about it. I need to get my finances in order anyway. I’ve been putting this off for over a year, and I finally have sufficient motivation. Do you know I’ve been out of grad school for six years? My student loans are paid off, and the money’s accumulating. Banks only offer a half percent interest on savings accounts. It’s insane. There must be a better way to save.” He peered into the empty fruit bowl on my island and frowned. “My stock portfolio isn’t bad, but it could use a professional eye.”

I opened the freezer and tossed him a bag of frozen pizza rolls. “Make sure the planner doesn’t screw you. That happens way too often. Nuke those if you’re hungry. I don’t think the bag’s been tampered with, but eat here at your own risk. Don’t make any for me.” I zoomed to my room for a quick change.

The microwave hummed to life.

Nate’s voice carried down the hall. “Friendsgiving was fun.”

My cheeks warmed with memories of roaring through the dark with Jake. “Yeah. You and Fifi seemed cozy.” I thumbed through a row of fresh-pressed Guinevere gowns in my closet in search of my favorite, a crimson-and-gold velvet number with a square neckline and billowy sleeves. Bingo. I hoisted it over my head and yanked the zipper between my shoulder blades. My curling iron heated on the vanity as I twisted my hair into the elaborate updo I preferred with this dress.

“I like her. She’s fun and not at all like anyone would expect by looking at her.” His voice was closer.

I pulled my door open. “Is this zipper stuck?”

“No. It’s all the way up.”

“Oh, okay. I have to finish my hair. Come on in.”

He collapsed onto my bed, and I got to work with the iron. Nate sighed. “I miss Baxter.”

“Yeah. Me, too.” I still talked to him when I was alone. I’d sent emails to his account for weeks after his death. The process of letting go was slower than I’d expected, and the guilt was crushing.

A few curls later, I jammed a dozen extra bobby pins into the style for good measure and wiggled my head. Nothing moved. “Okay. Done.”

Nate turned his head to face me but didn’t get up. “Is it like we’re replacing Baxter, if we let Fifi into our little group?”

“No. Can you even imagine what Baxter would say if he saw her? I take a hit on my self-confidence every time she walks in the room.”

Nate didn’t argue.

I did a mental raspberry and headed for the kitchen. “Your pizza rolls are probably done.”

He beat me to the quiet microwave and hauled out the steaming plate. “Have you talked to Bree today?”

“Yeah. She’s fine. The doctors said the doses she and Tom got weren’t lethal, not even enough to do real damage. Whoever poisoned them knew what they were doing.” I poured a glass of water from the sink.

Nate straddled a stool at my counter. “What about the manny?”

“They’re testing him for plant-based poisons now.”

“Did you know belladonna means beautiful lady?”

I scoffed. “Duh.”

“How about the fact it was used in Italy during the sixteenth century to open a woman’s pupils? They thought it was pretty. It’s been used for everything from asthma to hemorrhoid suppositories over the years.” He shoved a pizza roll into his mouth.

“I think I just threw up a little.”

“What? Hemorrhoids happen. Wait until you have kids.”

I choked on my water and shoved my palm between us like a traffic cop. “Shut. Up.”

“I read articles on
Web Doctor
all night. I’m thinking of getting my MD. It’s not that many more credits and MCATs seem easy enough.”

“Who says that? Do you know how many people plan their entire lives around becoming a doctor but they can’t pass that test? You’re such a narcissist.”

“Oh, right, and you think they’d be hard? You think you couldn’t pass?”

I walked away. “Hurry up or I’ll be late. I have to watch Gwen so Bree can do a quick run-through before the cabaret. This is opening night.”

He carried the plate with him to the door. “I can’t believe she’s still performing.”

“Are you kidding? It’d take the apocalypse to keep Bree off a stage.”

Nate looked pensive when we boarded the elevator but didn’t voice whatever bothered him.

I eyeballed the plate of pizza rolls in his hand. “You have to give that back, you know. Wash it first.”

We stepped into the day together and he stopped at my car. “Hang on.” He dug his phone from one pocket then stuffed it back. “Kenna.”

“Jake asked about you two. What’s going on there?”

“Nothing. She’s young. Hot, but young. We had nothing in common. Do you know she prefers the new
Star Wars
movies? Hasn’t even seen four, five or six.”

I clucked my tongue, appropriately dismayed. “Kids these days.”

“I know. Right? Anything new with you and your marshal?”

“Nope. You know how it goes. There’s no love for a geek girl.”

He opened his mouth to argue, but “Flight of the Bumblebee” buzzed though my phone, and he closed his lips.

I pressed the speaker button. “Bree? I’ve got you on speaker. Nate’s here.”

“I need a favor.”

Nate smiled.

I pulled in a long breath. I could feel the request coming. She wanted me to go out with her little weirdo director. “The real Renaissance man.”
Yuck
. Then again, it was the least I could do after the mess I’d gotten her into. Thirty minutes on a bench with Adam, some coffee and a hot pretzel should make us even. “Yes. I’ll go out with Adam. If you say he’s my perfect match, then who am I to argue?” He wasn’t even close to perfection, but I owed her.

She squealed. “That’s amazing! I’ll call him. Wait. No. You tell him. That’s why I’m calling, actually. I got dressed for the show and when I got in the car, I started crying. Don’t you dare tell anyone that, Nate. Ever.”

He leaned through my open window. “Of course not.”

A wave of nausea stole my breath. “Are you okay? You’re not sick again, are you? Did you eat anything today?”

“It’s nothing like that. It’s probably PTSD. I think I’ve mentally associated what happened with the performance, which I realize is nuts, but you know what that’s like.”

I exchanged a look with Nate. “I do.”

“Great. Then, it’s settled. Mom picked up my costume and will meet you at the Faire. Dad will help her at the booth, and you’ll go on for me tonight.”

“What?” I screeched. “Nononononono.”

Nate disappeared. He landed on the ground, pulsating with silent laughter.

I opened and shut the door to bonk him. “I cannot do that, Bree. I can go out with Adam for you. I’ve been on my share of crappy dates. I can do that. I can’t perform a burlesque routine in front of an audience in that little slip of silk you call a costume. No.”

“Mia!” Her voice snapped from sweet and cordial to I-will-pull-your-hair. Hard. “Yes, you can, and you will. You have an eidetic memory. You’ve seen me practice the routine multiple times. You can do this.”

“I’m not a dancer. You’re the dancer. You do. I watch. It’s how we survived adolescence.”

“Exactly. Just switch places with me like we used to. No one will ever know. If you make a mistake, everyone will think it’s me. What do you have to lose?”

My mind? “No.”

“Please?”

“Uh-uh.”

She huffed into the phone. “I didn’t want to have to do this, but I can’t let the whole cabaret down, Mia. I wouldn’t be experiencing this panic if it wasn’t for you drawing some lunatic’s attention our way. Lots of people knew John. Lots of people were there when he died. Only you jumped in feetfirst like one of
Charlie’s Angels
and pissed the killer off!”

I sucked air. “That’s low.”

Nate peeped over the edge of my door before straightening himself and making a replica telephone with his thumb and pinky finger. He mouthed, “Call me later,” and got out of Dodge before I exploded.

I fumed at the phone in silence. Did I owe her? Was it my fault? Jake said it wasn’t, but did it matter what he thought? At the moment, it seemed to matter what Bree thought, and she thought it was my fault she was poisoned.

“Mia?”

“Fine, but I hate you.”

She made kissy noises and disconnected.

Jerk.

Nate texted me five times on my way to the Faire.

Break a leg!

Wait. You said yes, right?

I can’t believe I’m missing this for financial planning.

Please ask someone to tape it for me.

Call me when you’re done.

* * *

In keeping with Murphy’s Law, my life and other things that sucked, Dan and Jake Archer were front and center when I arrived at practice in the world’s smallest, most ruffled ensemble.

Dan noticed me first. “Hey, Bree. You sure you’re up for this?”

Jake turned my way. His gaze drifted over my figure before hopping back to my face. Instant recognition dawned.

Dan’s smile faded as he waited for my response.

“Yep. Yeppers. Yepp-ee?” I ducked my head and walked around them.

Dan matched my stride. “I wondered if you have time for a couple questions before the show. You were a little out of sorts at the hospital, and I didn’t want to bother you. Now that you’re back at the scene, do you recall anything unusual about last night? Maybe someone delivering the food was different than who you’d expect? Maybe someone was lurking around the table during practice? Anything at all.”

“No. Nothing I can think of.”

Jake chimed in. “How are you feeling?”

“Nervous.”

He curved his lips into a smirk. “That’s to be expected.”

The unspoken
for your first time onstage
loomed between us.

I focused on Dan. “Why are you here? You aren’t staying for the performance, are you? I’m certain a cabaret isn’t an appropriate way to spend your work hours.”

Jake interjected again. “Actually, we’re planning to speak with everyone who was here last night, then stay for the show. In case anything else happens.”

I swallowed hard. What else might happen? Besides me falling off the stage in a black-out face-plant. “You don’t need to stay.” I scrambled for a good reason they should leave immediately. “You assigned me a detail. They’ll keep watch and let you know if they need you.” Thank goodness for that dumb detail.

“Right. Right.” He rubbed his chin. “Where are they? I’d like to leave some parting instructions.”

They were at Grandma’s, watching Bree and her family like they were supposed to do. “Backstage.”

Dan gave Jake a long look and headed backstage. “I’ll go talk with them.”

Jake turned heated eyes on me. “What are you doing in that outfit?”

“Bree’s claiming PTSD. She’s afraid to go on tonight, but she didn’t want to ruin it for all the others who worked so hard. I agreed to take her place, but you can’t tell anyone.”

He pressed both oversized palms to his face and groaned.

I adjusted the ostrich feather in my hair and gave the girls a boost. The extra ten pounds Bree kept after having Gwen made her costume roomy up top, which was a bad idea in something already so revealing. One wrong move and I’d be exposed.

Dan called from backstage. “Hey, Marshal. Can you come back here a minute?”

Jake leveled me with a curious stare before walking away. “Stay put.”

I grabbed my cloak and checked the time. Something had played at the back of my mind for far too long. An idea ignited like a medieval torch. The florist would have an understanding of the belladonna plant. He’d be the most obvious one for ordering papyrus. And when I’d seen him with a woman at the privy, his Scottish accent had slipped into something more Jersey than Ohio.

What if he was the killer?