Highlights to Heaven (7 page)

Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to her feet. Her vision narrowed, and her head swam dizzily. Hunger pangs struck, nauseating in their intensity. All that effort had required extra fuel. She lifted her purse from the ground and rummaged a shaky hand inside. A moment later, she’d stuffed a Lifesaver into her dry mouth. Those things had a literal meaning, she thought wryly as she headed for the entrance.

Hoping her car would still be where she’d left it, she limped down the dirt road. She hadn’t gone far when a human cry of outrage reached her ears. They must’ve discovered her absence. Fear gave her the impetus she needed to charge ahead until her Toyota came into view. Refuge, at last. She dove inside, slamming down the locks before sticking the key in the ignition.

Trembling from head to foot, she didn’t allow herself the luxury of rest. Her pursuers might come after her. She drove off without another minute’s hesitation.

Taking her cell phone from its charger, she dialed her mother’s house. Her hand shook so badly, it took her several tries to punch the numbers. “Hi, Ma. I’m running late, but I’m on my way. Don’t get upset when you see me. I can explain.”

Right. How will I tell her why I’m bleeding, covered in dirt, and stink like an unkempt zoo
?

After she got cleaned up, she’d be able to think more clearly. A calm, orderly dinner would be balm for her wounds.

Or not.

“What in heaven’s name happened to you?” Anita demanded upon opening her front door.

“I’ll tell you as soon as I get washed.” Utterly fatigued, she dragged herself across the threshold.

“Use my bathroom. I’ll get you some clean clothes.”

“Something that fits, I hope,” Marla muttered, watching her mother’s petite figure disappear down the hall. Stopping in the kitchen to get a glass of water, she paused when she heard voices coming from the living room. Oh no! She’d forgotten Ma had invited Roger and Barry for Shabbat dinner.

Her attempt to slink by them unnoticed failed. “Good God, woman, were you in an accident? You’re a wreck,” Roger stated bluntly, shoving his large bulk from a chair. Marla noticed he’d been enjoying the appetizers. Only one cracker remained on the chopped-liver platter, and the herring dish was empty.

Barry jumped to his feet. “Can I help? Do you need to lie down?” His ocean blue eyes reflected astonishment mixed with concern.

“I’ll be fine once I wash away this filth. Go ahead and start the meal without me,” she urged her mother when Anita returned with a towel and washcloth.

“I hung your suit in the bathroom. You gave it to me for our Hadassah chapter rummage sale, but I’m sure you can squeeze one more use out of it. You can’t go to services wearing pants.”

Her scowl of disapproval got on Marla’s nerves. “I would have gone home and changed if I hadn’t gotten locked in that aviary. There’s probably bird glop in my hair. I’m lucky I got out, or I would have ended up as feed for their next meal.”

“What aviary?” Anita asked with a worried frown. “I hope another killer wasn’t chasing after you again.”

“Again?” Barry queried, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s a long story.” Marla trudged toward the lavatory, looking forward to a quick shower. As she soaked away her fears along with the grime, she said a silent prayer of thanks for her narrow escape.

“Your mother says you need to settle down,” Roger said when Marla joined them at the dining table. “She’s told us all about your encounters with criminals. It’s her opinion that if you had a husband, you wouldn’t go chasing around town looking for excitement. You’d find it home in bed.” He guffawed loudly, patting his belly.

Her scornful gaze swept over the paper napkin he’d tucked into the collar of his blue shirt under a lemon yellow sport coat. The latter looked about to burst its button over his girth.
You’d think his son would have told him to wear something other than dark green pants with that yellow shirt
, she thought with an inner shudder. His colorful outfits reminded her of the parakeets in the aviary.

“My mother thinks she knows what’s best for me, but she isn’t always right.” Unable to suppress her hunger, Marla helped herself to a few slices of roasted chicken, a heaping spoonful of kasha varnishkes, some tzimmes, and green beans with pimento. Breaking off a piece of challah, she said a quick
Hamotzi
prayer followed by the Kiddush for her kosher wine.

“So tell us why you showed up looking like a
schlepper
,” Barry said, his eyes twinkling.

“Ma already told you,” she answered blithely. “I’m tracking another criminal, maybe more than one. They caught me snooping, but I got free.”

“Aren’t you concerned about the danger?” His handsome face sobered. “If they know who you are, they could come after you again. Shouldn’t you let the police handle things?”

“My neighbor Goat is missing.” She regarded him beyond the burning Shabbat candles. “The detective believes Goat may have murdered a man found in his house. I think Goat was a witness and is hiding from the real killers.”

“So why is it your responsibility?”

“It’s not; I just want to help a friend.”

If that ranch hand, Jimbo, described her to Evan or Cutter, she could become their next target. That is, if she wasn’t already singled out by virtue of being a former member of Cutter’s class.

As Ma would say,
az me shloft mit hint shtait men oif mit flai
. If you lie down with the dogs, you get up with the fleas.

It was a chance she was willing to take.

“Do you see any possibilities with Barry?” Tally asked Marla after they were seated at Legal Sea Foods in the Oasis at Sawgrass Mills. There had been a short wait for a table, unlike the crowds at the Cheesecake Factory or Wolfgang Puck. Saturday night was bound to be busy anywhere in Broward, but with the cinema here, shoppers competed with moviegoers for restaurant tables.

“I like him. He’s good-looking, quiet in a dependable sort of way, and sincere. It’s his father who I can’t stand.”

“That your mom’s problem.”

“Roger does seem devoted to her. I wonder what would happen if I fixed Ma up with someone else?”

Tally laughed. “That would be a switch!”

“I know Ma approves of Barry. Here I thought she had begun to accept Dalton. I guess deep down she still wants me to marry a nice Jewish boy.” Her ex-spouse, Stan, didn’t count. While he qualified by being Jewish and a lawyer, he wasn’t nice in any sense of the word.

“Barry is an optometrist, and he’s never been married. That makes him a good catch,” Tally said, tucking a stray blond hair into her French twist.

“Whose side are you on?”

Tally tilted her head. She looked svelte in an ankle-length flowered dress with a cranberry sweater tied stylishly around her neck.

“Well, you told me you were mad at Dalton because he’s too strict with Brianna, and he wouldn’t listen to your advice. Children won’t be an issue if you go out with Barry.”

Marla shifted in her seat, tugging at her long black skirt. It had felt oddly comfortable to sit next to Barry at services last night, chanting hymns and reciting verses in unison. His broad-shouldered figure beside hers seemed to belong there. He’d looked debonair in a navy sport coat that brought out the deep hue of his eyes, and often she caught him glancing at her. His interest made her feel softly feminine.

Or maybe she’d just been grateful to the Almighty for sparing her harm, and her sensitivities were on overdrive.

“Let’s change the subject,” she said to Tally. “I went to the Sunrise Academy of Beauty to look up those names Giorgio had given me.” She paused to sip from her glass of chilled chardonnay. “Remember how he mentioned Louise Cunningham was a hit-and-run victim? Another stylist drowned last month. Her name was Eileen McFee. They were both in my class taught by Cutter Corrigan.”

“Interesting.” Tally watched her expectantly.

“Yani Verkovich was Cutter’s client. Yani’s body was found in Goat’s house, and Goat is missing. Along with his pet snake, I might add.” She shut her eyes, remembering the snakes at Evan Fargutt’s ranch. It might be wise to take Spooks out on his leash for the next few days, rather than let him run loose in her fenced backyard.

“Are you okay?”

She snapped her eyes open at her friend’s solicitous tone. “I’m not done. I decided to ask Cutter about my classmates, but he was just leaving when I reached his salon. I followed him to a ranch owned by his cousin, Evan. From what I could gather, Evan breeds exotic birds. He probably sells them to pet stores or local tourist attractions. Evan was arguing with some guy named Wake Hollander about a delayed shipment.”

“So he imports specimens as well.”

“Yeah, and I don’t think they’re all legal, either.”

Their soup arrived, and they paused to dig in. “What does Evan’s business have to do with Cutter?” Tally continued between spoonsful of clam chowder.

“I have no idea, but they mentioned Yani’s name and some friend they were tracking. I wonder if they meant Goat.”

“If so, that means they don’t know where he is.”

Marla waved her fork. “I’ll bet he’s afraid of them, and that’s why he’s hiding. Goat didn’t kill Yani, but he knows who did.”

“Cutter or his cousin? Or are you being blinded by your friendship for Goat, as Vail believes? Maybe Goat murdered Yani, and that’s why Cutter and Evan are after him.”

Marla shook her head. “Goat wouldn’t harm anyone.” Her gut feeling might be irrational, but she’d learned to listen to it.

Tally leveled her gaze on Marla. “You said Goat looked up information on Martha Matilda Harper. Tell me more about her.”

Marla leaned forward, warming to the subject. “I wrote a paper about her for a college history class, so I can tell you more than you want to know. Harper started out in Canada as a servant in the late 1800s. She worked as a housekeeper for a doctor who taught her about hair growth. He shared his secret formula for a hair tonic. When she moved to Rochester, New York, she worked for a childless couple who encouraged her to produce the tonic in their tool-shed.”

“Is that all? What made her so special?”

“Her enterprising spirit.” Marla wagged a finger. “In those days, hairdressers attended clients in their homes. Harper saw this as another form of servitude, so she opened her own salon. It wasn’t easy finding a location. She approached a landlord who believed cosmetics were inappropriate for ladies. He was afraid her shop would attract undesirables. She had to get a lawyer in order to rent a room.”

“How did she get customers?”

Marla grinned. “Next door was a music teacher. While the mothers waited for their kids, Harper offered her salon as a waiting room. The women were impressed by the professionalism of her staff. Harper promoted healthful hair treatments instead of styling and products like we do today. She cared more about her customers’ well-being than about how they looked. In her view, beauty came from good health, not from services that enhanced your image from the outside.”

Tally’s eyes twinkled. “Is that why your new shampoo girl gives clients such a good scalp massage?”

She nodded. “People want to relax when they come into a salon. Massaging the scalp helps to relieve tension.”

“So Harper was your model for customer service.”

“That’s not all. She helped women open their own salons and provided training. By expanding her range, she began the first business franchise system in the country. Harper ended up with over five hundred salons worldwide. We owe her big-time.”

Marla leaned back while the waitress delivered their entrees. She ate several bites of grilled salmon before resuming her train of thought. “I’m not clear about how any of this relates to what’s going on at Evan’s ranch. Or why Goat needed those articles about Harper’s followers.”

“You said two stylists from your class were dead, and you were attacked.”

“It may be coincidental, or not. I’ll talk to my classmates who still live around here. They may know more.”

Sunday afternoon, Marla found two of the stylists at home, neither of whom remembered much about their school. Not yet discouraged, she tracked down Tina Yarborough at the chain salon franchise where she worked.

“I really like it here,” Tina said, brushing cut hairs off her chair.

“The benefits are good, and I can just go home and relax. I don’t want the responsibility of my own place. We get a brisk business, especially on weekends.” The salon was open seven days a week.

Tina still maintained a petite figure, Marla noted enviously, glancing at the younger girl’s miniskirt and open-necked blouse. She switched her attention to the modular units. This type of cookie-cutter design plan didn’t appeal to her. A hair salon should reflect the personality of its owner. “I have a place in Palm Haven,” she said. “You should come visit sometime. Remember our instructor, Mr. Corrigan? He has a fabulous place on Las Olas.”

“I don’t like Cutter. I saw him at a show and said hello, but he ignored me.” Tina tossed back a strand of bleached blond hair that framed her face in a pixie cut.

“You ever hear any dirt on him?”

“Not really, why?”

“A couple of gals from our class had fatal accidents within the last few months, and I was attacked the other day. The incidents might be unrelated, but I’m still worried.”

Tina’s mouth dropped open. “Like, you think there’s a Jack the Clipper doing in hairstylists?”

“I don’t know. I wanted to touch base with the people in our class, see if everyone’s okay.”

“So why are you asking about Cutter?” Tina popped a piece of gum into her mouth.

“He taught our group, that’s all. A few people from our class have dropped out of sight.” She mentioned their names.

“Man, I haven’t kept track of anyone. How about that bunch you used to hang out with? You were a tight group. I’m surprised you didn’t keep in touch.”

Marla shrugged. “Everyone went their separate ways.”

“Go see Darcy King. She’s working at some little place in Lauderhill on University Drive. It’s next to a Mongolian barbecue restaurant. I’ll bet she can give you the scoop.”

A smile lifted Marla’s lips. “You’re right; Darcy always kept on top of things. Thanks for your help.”

She found the salon where Darcy worked without much trouble, but it was closed until Tuesday. Recalling her other urgent business, she spent the rest of the afternoon driving to toy stores looking for wooden chess sets. None of the pieces she saw matched the one Spooks had destroyed. Neither did hobby shops nor department stores possess the item she sought. Maybe she could find it in a gift catalog at home.

Speaking of gifts, she still had to get Brianna something special for her thirteenth birthday, so she ended up at Macy’s jewelry sale. After purchasing a sterling silver and marcasite bracelet, she wandered toward the clothing section. By the time she exited the Fashion Mall, her stomach was growling for dinner.

That’s the trouble with you, Marla. You get distracted too easily
. How would she locate Goat if she spent her time shopping? Putting the bags in her Toyota, she remembered Brianna’s plea to come along. Guilt pulled her heartstrings. Just because she was mad at Vail didn’t mean she should ignore his daughter. The girl needed her advice.

Upon calling Vail’s house, she heard Carmen’s voice answer. “This is Marla. Is Brianna home?”

“Sorry, she is over a friend’s house. You want to speak to Senor Vail?”

“No thanks. Could you leave Brie a message for me? I’d promised to take her shopping, and we should go before her party next week. Please have her call me.”

“
Si
”

“You’ll write her a note?”

“I tell her before I leave. She’ll be home soon.”

“Please don’t forget. It’s important.” A glimmer of an idea had hit, and she couldn’t wait to share it with the soon-to-be teen. Vail didn’t have to know what she had planned.

Tuesday rolled around fast, but unfortunately Marla wasn’t able to get away from work to track down Darcy. She mentioned her research to Giorgio while waiting for her customer’s perm to set.

“I looked up the girl who drowned last month. She was in my class at Sunrise Academy of Beauty. So was Louise Cunningham, who you’d mentioned was killed in that hit-and-run accident. Then I was attacked in my neighborhood. Your warning hit home.”

The handsome Italian thrust a hand over his heart. “Were you hurt?”

“No, just scared. But I’m beginning to wonder if it’s coincidence or not.”

His dark eyes studied her. “Have you found your missing friend?”

“Not yet, but I’m following some clues.”

He wagged a finger at her. “You should take a vacation, leave town. This is not a safe place for you. Leave the police work to your boyfriend.”

Nicole edged into their conversation. “Yeah, how is the hunk? I haven’t seen him around lately. He usually pretends he’s passing by and stops in.”

“Huh! I’m sure he’s too busy.”

“Come on, I thought you’d be over your argument by now.”

Joanne, the new shampoo assistant, saved Marla from having to answer by calling for her to come over. As Marla responded to her summons, she thought how lucky she’d been when the girl and her sister had walked in for interviews. They’d fit the bill perfectly for what she had been looking for in replacement staff members. She nodded at Jennifer, a small-framed blond stylist, on her way to the rear. After answering Joanne’s question about which conditioner to use on a client, Marla returned to her station. She finished her last customer at five-thirty, then tore out of the salon.

Darcy was just getting ready to depart when Marla arrived at her beauty parlor. “Marla Shore, what are you doing here?” she called in an overly loud voice. A dyed blonde with a frumpy figure, Darcy looked as though she had gained considerable weight in the interim since beauty school. She wore a bright red turban, flowing caftan, and frayed sandals.

“You look great,” Marla lied, thinking she appeared more like a fortune-teller than a hairdresser. “How’s it going? I’m looking up members of our class. You weren’t updated on the roster, but Tina knew where to find you.”

“Tina’s a pip. I run into her at Sally’s Beauty Supply all the time.”

“Can I buy you a cup of coffee? I need some information, and I was hoping you could help.” Darcy had been the class yenta, and Marla didn’t think the woman would pass up a chance to gossip.

“You don’t mind if we get something to eat, do you? I’m absolutely starved.”

If a free meal would loosen her tongue, so be it. After they were seated in a deli at Lincoln Park West, Marla stated her case. “Two girls from our class are dead,” she began, forced to pause while Darcy ordered a bowl of beef barley soup, salad, and a roast turkey platter.
Don’t forget dessert
. Hopefully, she had enough cash to pay for this unexpected repast.

“I read the news,” Darcy snapped.

At least Marla didn’t have to give her the details. “I’m wondering if these accidents were related. Have you kept in touch with anyone from school?”

“Only Harriet and Julie.”

Marla couldn’t suppress her disappointment. “How about Cutter?”

Darcy slurped her Miller Lite. “What about him?”

“Heard anything about who he’s hanging with these days?”

The woman grimaced. “How should I know? Probably some cute guy.”

“I figured he’s gay.”

“No kidding. I could tell when he hit on Wyeth.”

“Oh my, I’d forgotten about him. He’s not on the roster.” Grabbing her purse, she withdrew the sheet of paper Virginia had provided. How peculiar. She scanned the chart but didn’t see Wyeth listed.

“What was his last name?” Maybe a typo accounted for the omission.