Half Past Mourning (11 page)

Two days later Peter reported, during the twice-a-week driver coaching Nina had been giving him, that the sheriff was as good as his word. The T-Bird had been photographed, examined, and gone over from headlights to trunk latch by a corps of deputies.

“I showed them where the trunk lining was split,” Peter assured her. “Fortunately I hadn’t taken it out or replaced it yet. And they must have taken a whole roll of film to get every angle on that mark on the steering wheel. I wouldn’t have been surprised if they took the car itself in. They asked me about my copy of the title, too. I said I’d get it to them. I had the car at school, planning to come over here after my last class, so I didn’t have the car papers with me.”

Nina felt a twinge of alarm. “They don’t think you faked finding Danny’s license or anything, do they? That would be awful.”

Peter headed the Thunderbird down the road to Eldon Lassiter’s car empire. “No, they seem to be satisfied that I just came in on the third act of this drama. I’ve only had the car a few months, just moved to Pueblo last September, and didn’t have any ties to Danny, you, or this car two years ago. Don’t worry about me.” His words eased her concern, but a shadow of unease remained. Peter had gone out of his way to help; he shouldn’t fall under suspicion for his kindness.

He pulled into the enormous parking lot behind the restoration shops, beyond the museum proper. “Wow! There’s enough room for a circus back here. Your Uncle Eldon planning his own raceway?”

Nina saw the huge lot so often she forgot how big it seemed to newcomers. “He and Danny had visions of holding events out here.” She waved at the berm at the end of the lot. “They planned to hold gymkhanas and antique car shows with music and a dance in the evening. Family entertainment at reasonable prices. Danny got the parking lot done before...” Nina shook off the rest of the memory. “Getting the berm in kept Uncle Eldon going, distracted him, gave him a job to do. Between his arm twisting and Ron’s personal supervision, it got finished. I think they were trying to convince everybody that nothing had changed. It had, of course.” She stared out at the green swath at the end of the lot, its steep slant giving a full view of the asphalt arena. “We’ve never used it for an event. We just couldn’t, without Danny here to be a part of it.”

Peter brought her back to the moment. “What’s on the agenda for today, Miss Driving Instructor? Am I coasting around pylons, learning the old heel-and-toe, or do I have a new set of problems to tackle?”

He’s really made some dramatic progress. He’s better than he realizes.
Nina leaned against the car, her hands braced behind her on the low door. “You’re about ready to graduate, Peter. Today you get to do your stuff for Uncle Eldon. He’ll tell you where you still need practice and if you’ve developed any bad habits, but I’m ready to cut you loose. Next time this car enters a gymkhana, you’re going to be driving. You may not win the first time, but by the third or fourth, you’ll be leading the pack.” She stepped away from the car and waved at Eldon Lassiter wheeling his chair over the tarmac.

“You aren’t going to turn me over to your uncle and leave, are you?” Alarm and a hint of uncertainty echoed in his query.

Nina had to suppress the chuckle that bubbled up. “I am, and you’ll be fine,” she told him. “I have some practicing to do myself.” She couldn’t hold back her excitement over her own afternoon plans. “I have to start getting used to driving the Princess.” The look on Peter’s face changed to one of pure envy, though he grinned in appreciation at her elation.

“Your uncle is letting you drive the Isotta?”

“Yes, in the antique car rally for the Fourth of July. I can’t wait. I’ve wanted to drive that car practically my whole life.” Nina looked toward the barn doors where Ron Reeves and two of the shop boys were rolling the behemoth out of its lair. “Isn’t she gorgeous? Of course, I’m going to have to get used to that right-hand drive. That’s the first thing. And she has a tricky three-gear transmission, with no power steering, as well.” She waved a dismissive hand toward Peter’s astonished face. “You go on with your practice sessions, and I’ll catch up with you later. I have a date with a Princess, and you just don’t keep royalty waiting.”

The afternoon was a good one, free for the moment of all the questions, revelations, and fears that had darkened the last few weeks for Nina. The Princess was all she’d hoped for, and though the car proved to be a challenge to drive, it wasn’t an unmanageable one. Nina steered the gleaming machine back through the shop doors and let it roll to a stop under Ron Reeves’ watchful eye.

“No trouble?” he asked, wiping away a spray of dust from the chrome.

“Not a bit,” Nina assured him. “You did an incredible job on the finish, too, Ron. The Princess didn’t look one bit better the first time her tires touched the road in 1924 than she does right now.” She knew Ron, an artist at heart, took pride in the work he and the boys in the paint shop did for her uncle.

“She’s a pretty piece of work, isn’t she?” He put the chamois away and opened the side door for Nina. The whine of an engine caught Ron’s attention, and they both turned. Nina saw the sheen of yellow breezing past the open doors. Ron froze for a second, and she looked back at him. Surprise pulled his normally cheerful face into alarmed lines. She remembered he’d been away for a while, visiting his parents, and wouldn’t have heard the T-Bird had been located.

“Am I seeing things, or is that Danny’s yellow T‑Bird out there in the lot?”

Nina put one hand on his arm. “No, that really is Danny’s car.” She gave him a quick update on the events. Ron’s brows wrinkled and his hazel eyes narrowed as if the news distressed him. Nina realized Ron must have known of Danny’s other, darker side. She hurried to assure him she’d learned of it, as well. “It looks like Danny did run out on me, Ron. And maybe sold the car before he left. Or traded it for something less obvious.” She gave his arm a reassuring squeeze. “It’s all right, Ron. I’ve learned a lot about Danny that’s pretty hard to swallow. I guess you knew more about him than I did, just from working around him. Maybe you were too kind to tell me, but I know now. I’m going to be okay. I’d rather know than go on the way I have been. Sheriff Hayes is really looking, and he’s certain he can find out where Danny is. Whatever he learns will be better than not knowing, even if it’s things I don’t want to hear.”

Shaking his head as if he still couldn’t trust his eyes, Ron Reeves walked with her back to the parking lot. “Danny and me, we got along, but I can’t say I ever really got close to him. He was a rich kid playing at working, and me, well, if I don’t get a paycheck, I don’t eat. It kinda put a wall between us. I knew Danny had a wild side, and he talked a lot about what he’d do when he cut the apron strings at home. Wanted to get out and see the world, kick up his heels. Never thought he meant to dump you, as well. Maybe he decided to make a clean break with everything, even the car.” Ron shrugged. “Of course, he could buy whatever he wanted. He never had to worry about affording anything; he could always write a check. So if he wanted another car, any car, I guess he’d just order it.”

Nina heard a tinge of bitterness in Ron’s words.
He must have resented Danny, and I never realized it.
Ron had been one of the youngsters Eldon Lassiter took under his wing. A couple of years older than Danny, Ron had had a brush or two with the law before he found his niche in the paint shop, restoring classic cars and creating custom paint jobs for individual clients. He was a skilled craftsman, painting anything from classy advertising for a delivery van to fiery flames for a show car. He’d been working since he was just a lanky teenager. Nina could understand how Ron, poor but talented, working for bare necessities, would resent Danny—indulged, wealthy, and taking for granted luxuries others only dreamed of having.

“How are your folks doing?” she asked to redirect the conversation. Ron had been estranged from his parents when he was running with a wild crowd. She was glad the breach had been healed once he settled down. Health problems had sent his parents to a drier climate, and Ron visited them often to make sure they were comfortable.

“They’re just great, Nina. Dad’s thinking about taking up golf again, and Mama’s signed up for a ceramics class. They’ll live to be a hundred the way they’re going.”

“That must be a relief for you.” Nina watched Peter guide the T-Bird around one last course of complex curves and head for the parking area.

“Want to take a look at the T-Bird?” she asked. “I know you always liked it.”

Ron turned away. “Thanks, but I need to wipe down the Princess and put her away for the boss.” He gave Nina a strained smile. “Wouldn’t want her to get the sniffles or anything.”

Nina waved at Peter as he pulled the sports car to a stop at the side of the long shop wall. He looked pleased, a satisfied smile lighting his face, his hair a mass of coppery tufts from the wind. Something about that smile, the tumbled hair, the easy way he sauntered toward her, pulled at her heart. He’d become such a reliable friend since she first saw him in the college parking lot, the first real friend she’d had since Danny.

She met him at the edge of the building. “Uncle Eldon give you good marks?”

He draped a casual arm over her shoulders in a companionable hug that left a surprising warmth when he moved a step away. “He said you’d taught me all I was going to learn till I tried out the competition. Experience is all that’s going to make me better now.”

“That’s what I thought he’d say,” Nina assured him. “You’re going to have a lot of fun getting the fine points down.”

Peter tapped one long finger on her shoulder. “Looked like you were having a pretty good time with the Isotta. Are you sure you want to risk that gorgeous piece of machinery in a road rally? What if it gets a ding or a scratch? That car has to be worth a fortune.”

Nina glared at him. “A ding or a scratch? With me behind the wheel? You don’t seem to have much confidence in my abilities, my friend. The car was made to run, not sit up on a pedestal to be admired. Worth a fortune or just a couple of dollars, cars need to be on the road.” Struck by a sudden impulse, Nina stopped short. “Can you read a stopwatch and a compass?”

Peter folded his arms across his chest. “Well, I was a Boy Scout. Of course I can read a compass, and I was playing with stopwatches before you were in grade school. Why?”

She chuckled. “It just happens that the road rally requires teams of two, a driver and a navigator. I thought, since you’re so worried about the Princess, maybe you’d like to go along as my navigator, just to be sure the old girl doesn’t pick up a—What was it?—a scratch or a ding?”

“Me? You want me to make the run in the Princess with you?” Peter’s face lit up and his grin grew wider. “I’d be honored to escort two Princesses to that particular ball, madame. Are you sure your uncle won’t have someone else in mind?”

Nina waved the question away. “Driver has the final say on who navigates,” she assured him and then added as an afterthought, “Oh, yes, the teams have to be in period costume suitable for the vintage of the car. That’s 1924, in our case. Can you manage something?”

“Costumes? The roaring ’20s?” Peter gnawed his lower lip. “I haven’t done a costume party since grade school, Nina. You sure we have to?”

“We have to,” she insisted. “It’s in the rules.” She’d seen the longing look he’d given the elegant red car and the excitement in his eyes when she invited him to the rally. He’d find something to wear.

“All right,” he agreed at last. “I don’t know what it will be, but I’ll do it. I don’t suppose you could help me out here?”

“Nope, you’re on your own. I have my own flapper finery to find.” She glanced down at her blue pedal pushers and striped top. “I’m afraid we’ll both be pretty hot and tired by the time we get to the end. The Fourth of July, an open car, and extra layers of clothing equal a lot of heat. But it’s going to be fun.”

“For a chance to spend the day with two fabulous ladies, I’ll make the sacrifice.” Peter glanced at his wristwatch. “It’s getting late, Nina, and I have final exams to grade. I need to head back.”

Surprised at the regret she felt at ending the afternoon, the last of her coaching sessions with Peter, Nina agreed. School would be out for her fourth graders at the end of the week, and she had end-of-school duties to complete. “We’ll be having an all-day play day at school on Friday, with a softball game in the morning and hot dogs for lunch. I’m pitching and I’m also in charge of the equipment for the kids. It’s time for me to get the bats ready and see if we still have a few balls around. I’d better get home, as well.”

“You’re pitching? I’d like to see that.”

“Pitched for my team in college, I’ll have you know.” Nina flexed her arm. “I was pretty good back then.”

“A full-blown tomboy, huh?”

“To my mother’s endless dismay.”

He held the door for her, and Nina settled into the yellow-and-black seat. For a moment she had a sense of loss, a feeling that a special time had passed. She’d miss the afternoons she’d spent with Peter. He was good company, and he’d helped her deal with the shock of finding Danny’s hidden sides. His good humor and common sense had steadied her as the revelations took their toll. He’d been a good friend, an entertaining companion. Peter slipped into the driver’s seat and headed the convertible down the narrow drive. At the stop sign, he reached over and took her hand.

“I want to thank you for taking the time to coach me these past few weeks, Nina. I never would have enjoyed this car as much if you and your uncle hadn’t shown me how to make the most of it.”

“I enjoyed it, too, Peter. It’s been fun to watch you discover how good you are.”

“What about the search for Danny, Nina? The sheriff came to see me, but I didn’t learn anything. Has he said anything more to you? Any idea where Danny went or how he got away from here?”