A Mother's Day Murder (Mt. Abrams Mysteries Book 1) (5 page)

He gestured toward the doorway, and Carol and I filed neatly out.

We were walking to the exit, and I felt like my head was going to explode. Lacey left Doug. Of course she did. And I had to go make a fool of myself in front of such an attractive man. I caught my breath. Where did this come from? I still had fantasies getting back together with Marc, yet, and here I was, practically paralyzed with what—lust, love, need, want? I remembered when I was sixteen years old, and Bobby McGowan walked into art class. I fell immediately in love. That’s exactly how I felt, only, you know, with thirtysomething years of wisdom and experience telling me how crazy it all was. But—whatever it was, I could not ignore it.

I came to a full stop. “Hold on, Carol. Was it just me, or was there something going on between Detective Kinali and myself?”

She sighed. “Really? You have to ask? Good Lord, there were sparks flying across the table.” She lifted her eyebrows and tightened her lips. “I half expected you to sit back and light a cigarette.”

“I’ll be right back.” I turned to march back toward Detective Kinali.

Let me put this out there right now—I’m not brave. I don’t take lots of chances. I’m also not very impulsive. So I cannot explain why I went back to his desk and sat down abruptly across from him, except that, if I didn’t, I’d hate myself for the rest of my life.

He tilted his head and smiled at me. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

My tongue was frozen to the roof of my mouth. All I could imagine were those strong hands around me. “Yes. Would you like to have a drink with me tomorrow night?”

His smile broadened. “As a matter of fact, yes. Nicola’s at eight?”

I nodded, then bolted from the chair and practically ran back to Carol.

I was hyperventilating by the time I burst outside. Carol grabbed my arm and shook me, hard.

“Ellie, what happened? What did you say to him?”

“I asked him out. And he said yes.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Good for you. That man is hotter than a witch’s tit.”

She patted down her hair and walked calmly towards the car.

Yes, he certainly was.

M
y work was finished
. I had done a bit of snooping, satisfied my inner Nancy Drew, then gone to the correct authorities, and now the situation was in the hands of people who actually knew what they were doing and would probably find Lacey hanging around a pool in the Caymans with a studly twenty-three–year-old. So I did not spend the day not working, staring out the window, and thinking about what had happened to Lacey. I spent it not working, staring out the window, and thinking about Detective Sam Kinali.

I’d had this kind of blind, all consuming crush before. After Bobby McGowan set the bar in high school, at least three equally momentous attachments had followed throughout college. It all ended when I met Marcus Symons, three days after I got my first job as a very junior assistant to an assistant in a major publishing house. Right from the start, I knew Marc was different, because I didn’t just want to spend all my time with him naked. I also wanted to talk to him. Marc had been the smartest, most interesting person I’d ever been close to, and talking to him became one of my life’s real joys.

Now, I wanted to talk to Sam Kinali. I wanted to know if he’d ever been back to Turkey and what it had been like for him growing up in the United States with immigrant parents. Why had he become a cop instead of a lawyer? Why had his marriage failed? What was his favorite food?

I’ll be honest and admit that I also wondered what he’d look like without all those clothes, if he’d be hairy—not that I’d mind—how his skin would feel, and if those lips were as soft as they looked. And all that controlled energy—how would
that
translate?

By the time I had to pick up Tessa, I was so hot and bothered I felt like I should take a shower.

“When is Daddy coming?” Tessa asked.

I swung her backpack over my shoulder. “When does Daddy always come?”

“Five-thirty.”

“Okay, then. There’s your answer.”

She raced ahead. Maggie fell in step next to me. “How did it go with the police?”

I glanced around. No one was too close. “We gave all the info, and a detective said he’d check some things out,” I told her. “His first thought is that Lacey packed herself up and took a powder.”

Maggie made a face. “Yeah, I guess that’s just as likely as Doug killing her, then packing up all her things nice and neatly, stashing them in her car, then driving the Suburban into the lake.”

“The detective, Sam Kinali, is going to be my new fantasy boyfriend.”

Her eyes lit up. “Do tell!”

“He’s big and sexy and dangerous-looking, and his eyes are beautiful, and he’s Turkish, so I keep imagining us in the middle of the desert somewhere in a big tent, drinking sweet wine and lolling around on pillows.” I glanced at her. “I asked him for a drink.”

She snorted. “Oh, Ellie, did you switch to editing romance novels? Is that where this is coming from?”

“No. I just finished a tedious mystery with no character development and a plot full of holes. If the author doesn’t do a complete rewrite, she doesn’t stand a chance of selling a single copy.”

Maggie made a face. “Ouch. What happens when you tell a person something like that?”

I shrugged. “If they want to get their money’s worth, they’ll do what I say. If they want a cheerleader, they’ll get another editor. I get paid to be a hard-ass.”

She laughed. “And you’re such a softie in real life.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, well, that’s because you don’t get paid for real life. See you tomorrow.”

I had not seen Cait all day. She yelled good-bye at some point in the morning and did not reappear until just before her father was due to pick her and Tessa up. Kyle Lieberman? I dared not ask.

Marc beeped from the curb, and the two girls tumbled out of the house and into his car. I waved from the porch, then walked over to Shelly’s house.

Shelly lived a bit farther down the hill where the houses were still from the late 1800s but were smaller, with even more embellishment. In fact, her whole block looked like a Christmas card in winter, without the snow, of course, a row of gaily painted visions gilded with candles and gingerbread trim. Shelly lived in a long but narrow house with a deep front porch and double glass doors in front. I knocked, then pushed my way in.

Shelly and I had been going in and out of each other’s houses for so long that our respective dogs didn’t even bark anymore. I went past her sons, sprawled on the couch watching television, and back into the kitchen.

She was standing over the stove, stirring something and muttering to herself. She glanced up, saw me, and grinned. “So, you’ve hooked a hottie?”

I slumped against the counter and peered into the pot. “Chili? Are you grumpy about chili?”

“I’m not grumpy about the chili. I’m just grumpy in general. They’re setting up a new billing system at work, and you know how I am about computers.”

I did know. Shelly apparently had a special electromagnetic force surrounding her that invariably infected every electronic device that came into her orbit. She’d been through so many cell phones that I wouldn’t even let her borrow mine. The things that happened to her various computers and laptops would have sent all of Silicon Valley into a tailspin.

“Sorry,” I said. “And yes, I have a date with a very sexy man, and I haven’t dated in twenty-six years. Do you think much has changed?”

“Ask Carol. Then again, don’t ask Carol. When I saw her earlier she was trying to decide what color pantyhose to wear to meet Leon. I didn’t know anyone wore pantyhose anymore.”

“Just Carol. At least I feel better about Lacey. I mean, this detective seemed to take us seriously. I think he’ll really find something out, if there’s anything
to
find. But I’m pretty sure he’s right, and Lacey just…left.”

“Yeah, I get having a bunch of money and leaving the old life behind, but her kids? She wasn’t exactly the warm and fuzzy type, but I think she really loved those two boys.”

I was trying to think. “How was she when she picked them up Friday afternoon? Do you remember? Did she seem like she was extra clingy because she was never going to see them again?”

“I’m not there for pick up, remember? Ask Maggie. As for you, you got a date out of it. Sounds like a good day all round. Marc has the girls, right? Want to stay for chili?”

I shook my head. “No, thanks. Celery and cottage cheese tonight. I have to save calories for tomorrow night in case things get crazy and there’s an appetizer with the drinks.”

“Well, it’s paying off. You look really good. Pre-Tessa good.”

I looked down at myself. “Thanks. I was going to fill you in on my day, but as usual, you know more about it than I do.” I shot her a look. “What’s with Cait and Kyle?”

She grinned. “Doesn’t that sound so cute? Cait and Kyle?” She shrugged. “They’ve been seen down at Zeke’s. A couple of times. That’s all. Why don’t you ask her?”

I shuddered. “Ask my daughter about her love life? Are you kidding? We agreed on Don’t Ask Don’t Tell when she was sixteen. Well, I’m outta here. See you tomorrow.”

I walked back home, ate carrots, cottage cheese, and celery with all-natural peanut butter. I called my brother, inviting him to fly out for the weekend, but he was spending the day with Cal’s mother. We talked for a long time. Ted was not just my brother, he was one of my best friends, and we always had lots to share. I finally hung up, and since I had gotten very little work done, I went upstairs and made it a point not to look out my window toward the Mitchell house.

I was in the zone when the girls came home, because I didn’t even hear the car or the front door slam. I snapped out of a rather spicy interrogation scene and hurried downstairs at the sound of Tessa’s yelling.

I turned into the kitchen and stopped short. Marc was there.

I hadn’t been in the same room with him in over six months. When Tessa announced she was old enough to go from house to car door without an escort, Marc and I stopped needing any regular face-to-face interaction. But I knew why he was in my kitchen. Tessa was throwing a fit, and he was trying to calm her down.

He was on his knees in front of her, and she was yelling at him, her little face mere inches from his own. Cait was slumped against the doorjamb, looking miserable.

“Whoa, Tessa, stop yelling,” I said, loud enough for her to hear. She turned and ran to me, throwing her arms around my waist.

“Daddy won’t make Cait stay home,” she wailed, then burst into tears.

Well, damn.

Marc looked up at me miserably. “I don’t know what to say,” he said over the sound of Tessa sobbing.

Tessa was getting tall and was all gangly arms and legs, but she was still my baby. I picked up my little girl and carried her up to her room.

She took a while to cry it out, but she finally settled into a hiccupping bundle, half on her bed and half in my arms.

“Tessa, honey, you are making us all very sad by acting this way,” I said softly. “You’re hurting Caitlyn and your Daddy and me. I know you love your sister and don’t want her to leave, but this is important to her. And when you love somebody, you can’t keep them from following their dreams.”

She sniffed. “What about my dreams?”

I stroked her hair. “What are your dreams, baby?”

“That Caitlyn and I live together on a farm with six horses and a goat.”

“Oh.” I kissed the top of her head. “And when were you going to do that?”

“After I got out of vet school.” She sat up and wiped her eyes. “And we were going to have lots of rescue dogs, and I’d take care of them for free.”

“That’s a great dream, Tessa. But isn’t Cait going to have to wait an awfully long time for you to get out of vet school?” She nodded, then looked at me with narrowed eyes. She was a smart kid. She knew where this was going.

“So, while she’s waiting,” I went on, “shouldn’t she be able to do what
she
wants?”

She took a deep breath. “But she’ll be gone for two years.”

I hugged her. “I know. I’ll miss her too. But we can Skype and stuff. She can still text you all the time.”

She buried her face in my side. “Not the same.”

“I know. But it’s what we’ve got.”

She nodded.

“Good. Now go downstairs and say goodnight to Daddy, and then take a quick shower, OK?”

She uncoiled herself and slid off the bed and out the door. I sat there for a few minutes, looking around her room. She was still in the princess stage, the pink and purple stage, the stuffed animal stage. I knew that at any moment I would turn around, and she, too, would be going off on her own into the great unknown.

A few minutes later, Cait and Tessa came back upstairs. I got off the bed and met them in the hall.

“How are my favorite girls now?” I asked.

Cait gave me a hug. “She’s a tough bug, but I think we’re good.” She glared at Tessa, who promptly stuck out her tongue and scurried to the bathroom.

“Dad’s still downstairs,” Cait said, then went into her room.

I went downstairs slowly. I could hear Marc talking, and I knew he was lecturing Boot. He had been crazy about that dog and would spend evenings lecturing her on various subjects, from proper canine behavior in public to how to properly clean her butt. Cait had especially loved those times, and she would be collapsed in giggles by the time Marc was done.

But tonight he was sitting alone in what used to be his living room, and I could hear him…

“And don’t forget to go in everyday and smell Cait’s room. You don’t want to forget her,” he said.

I paused to watch him, sprawled in the corner of the couch, Boot practically on his lap with her ears perked in intense concentration.

“Spend more time with Tessa, until she becomes a pain, then pee on the floor a little so she goes away on her own.”

“Please,” I said with a grin, “do not be telling that dog it is okay to pee in the house.”

He looked up and smiled. “I told her just a little.”

His smile could still make my stomach do flips. When he left, he had truly broken my heart. It had taken me three years to get over his being gone. I never got over being in love with him. Looking at him now, I could still feel his body against mine. I knew the way his skin tasted, and the sound of his breath in the night.