Scarlet Nights (17 page)

“Yeah. So? What’s your complaint?”

“That’s no way to conduct business, that’s what. You know how this town gossips. If you didn’t care about how people see
you
, you should have thought of Tess. She’s going to be living here.
With
her children.”

“So how should I have done it?”

Sara couldn’t contain her anger. “In a businesslike way. Sit in a
chair
in
front
of the desk and talk to her in a respectful way.”

“You wanted me to
politely
ask her to do your work? To spy on her own clients? And to gather information for a federal investigation but keep her mouth shut about it?”

Sara was aghast. “You told her about Mitzi?”

“Of course not. I told her I’m from the U.S. Bureau of Health and Disease—which doesn’t exist—and I’m investigating an STD outbreak. It seems that everyone in Edilean is sleeping with everyone else.”

“You didn’t say that!”

“I did.”

“Do you have any idea what people are going to say when they hear such a lie?”

“Who’s going to believe what an outsider like Erica says? And for that matter, I’m not sure she’ll tell anybody. Besides, Erica strikes me as a person who’d like to know that other people have some sexually transmitted disease. Wanta put money on it that she’ll be at her doctor’s this afternoon?”

“The point isn’t
what
you said but
how
you said it. Don’t you have any pride?”

“Enough to believe that most women—except for you—like me.”

“That’s because I think on a higher plane than just physical attraction. And for your information, there’s more to being in love than just sex.”

“You sound like a woman whose well is dry.”

“That’s absurd—and vulgar.” Looking away, Sara busied herself with the wreaths. “Not that it’s any of your business, but Greg and I have a fulfilling relationship in every possible way.”

When Mike said nothing, she looked up and saw that he was smiling as though he didn’t believe her.

“So how long’s it been?” he asked.

“He’s only been gone a few days.”

Mike kept his smug smile.

Sara narrowed her eyes at him. “So how long has it been since
you
have been with someone?”

“Years. Centuries. It’s been so long the crack of dawn is in danger.”

Sara tried not to laugh, not even to smile, but she couldn’t help herself. She looked back down at the wreaths.

“Are things settled between us now?” When she didn’t answer,
he said softly, “Sara, I do what I have to in order to get criminals off the streets. In normal life I wouldn’t come on to some woman the first time I met her, but I needed something done, and that was the fastest way to achieve it.”

“You do know, don’t you, that now Erica’s going to expect you to go to bed with her?”

“I don’t think so,” he said solemnly.

Sara gave a sigh. “All right, what did you learn from her?”

“I think she has a boyfriend.”

“Erica? She never leaves town.”

“So it must be someone in Edilean.”

“I’d know about it if she did. Everyone would, and I’ve not heard a word. She’s a workaholic, and she’s with Greg twelve hours a day.”

When Mike made a little sound as though to say “ah ha!” she glared at him. “Don’t even think it. Whatever complaint people have against Greg, he’s a hard worker. And no one says he isn’t. Well, except for Joce, that is, but she …”

“She what?”

“Nothing. What are you going to do today? My mother stuck me with making wreaths for Luke’s booth for the fair.”

“Do you need some help?”

“Sure. If both of us work together we can get these done in half the time.”

“Sara, uh, I meant that maybe someone here could help you. Don’t you have some female cousins?” He took a step back.

“Okay, I can take a hint. This is a girl thing and you want to get away. Going to visit Erica?” She was being facetious, but when she glanced at Mike there was a dull shine in his eyes that she was beginning to recognize.

“I thought I’d go to the gym in Williamsburg for some
cardio, then to the outlet mall,” he said. “I still need some more clothes.”

There was something so awkward about the way he’d said that, she knew it wasn’t true. “You’re lying,” she said calmly. “You are flat out, going-to-hell lying.”

“That’s ridiculous. I need to go.”

Sara looked at the wreath in her hand for a moment, then back up at him and smiled. “I hope you have an enjoyable day, and I bet I get at least a hundred of these made. I’m sure they’ll sell really well.”

Her change from anger to sweet agreeability puzzled him.

She kept smiling. “How about if I make dinner tonight?”

“Tuna casserole?” he asked in a teasing voice.

“Tuna surprise.”

“Sounds great,” he said, but he was frowning. “Are you sure you’re all right?”

“Couldn’t be better. Go on. Get your new clothes. You can show them to me tonight. Maybe even model them for me, and I’ll save my best wreath to show you.”

He was walking backward. “That sounds great. See you about five?”

“Perfect.”

Still frowning, Mike turned away and went to his car. Why had she given in so easily? he wondered. One second she was saying he was going to hell for lying and the next she was wishing him well.

It hit him in an instant. She knew where he was going and why. When he’d driven into the lot at Nate’s Field, he’d noticed Sara’s car parked under a big tree. It took him about two minutes to get there, and he wasn’t surprised to see her leaning against the tree, her handbag on her shoulder.

“Took you long enough to figure it out,” she said. “Are you
sure
you’re a cop? My car or yours?”

“Sara …”

“Yes?”

Visions of tying her up, putting her in the trunk of his car, and taking her someplace safe ran through his mind. But she was at the center of everything, and he had to keep her nearby. “Mine. That thing you drive is a piece of garbage.”

“Aren’t you a snob? We can’t all have five-liter V10s with five hundred horsepower that do zero to sixty in four-point-six seconds.”

He looked at her in astonishment.

“I looked it up on the Internet.”

“You snooped through my room
and
researched my car? What other devious things have you done?”

“Wouldn’t be much of a secret if I told you, would it? Have you ever considered that it would save a lot of time if you just told me the truth about what you’re trying to find?”

“If I swear on Tess’s life that I don’t know, will you believe me?”

“Yes,” she said seriously. “But I am the key, aren’t I?”

When they reached his car, he looked at her sharply.

“You don’t have to tell me,” she said. “I’m not stupid. I know I’m one of the women you flirt with to find out things. Is it because I own the dress shop and have access to people?”

It wasn’t yet time to tell her about Stefan. “Yes.” He unlocked the doors and they got in. “Sara, I really can’t tell you everything, but you must trust me. The truth is that you
are
the center of this case. It may be about the dress shop, but we aren’t sure. I can’t tell you why or how, partly because I don’t know, but we believe you have something or know something that Mitzi wants.”

He could see that she was trying to be calm, and to act as though he hadn’t just hit her with a thunderbolt.

“My aunt Lissie left me some jewelry in her will,” she said at last. “Maybe it’s valuable.”

Mike wanted to put his arms around Sara, but they were in an area that was too public. Instead, he made himself think of the list of jewelry Mitzi Vandlo had accumulated over the years. Her clients gave it to her in gratitude for what they thought she’d done for them. “Maybe.”

“You are truly the
worst
liar in the world. This case is bigger than some pieces of jewelry, isn’t it?”

“Unless she left you the Hope diamond, the answer is yes.”

As he started the car, she could see a muscle in his jaw working. “Did you talk my mother into piling those wreaths on me?”

“Yes.”

“And I guess you told her she was to keep Mr. Lang away from Merlin’s Farm today.”

“Until four.”

“You and my mother have become thick, haven’t you?”

“Whisper a few words about enzymes to her and she’s mine. What’s Luke going to think when his wreaths aren’t done?”

“It’s okay. I have two older sisters who are super achievers. They love to excel at everything.”

“What does that mean?”

“When they find out that I walked away from all those wreaths and left poor Luke in the lurch, they’ll trample over each other to show me up. I learned long ago to just look helpless and I’d get out of a lot of work.”

Mike shook his head at her. “Who in this world besides me knows what you’re really like?”

“My dad—and Tess a little bit.”

“Not your mother?”

“She thinks I’m a wimp.”

“How about the boyfriend?”

“I assume you mean Greg, my fiancé. No, he thinks I’m sweet and quiet and agreeable to his every idea.”

“Is a lie like that a good basis for a marriage?”

“Maybe
you
could teach me about honesty in a relationship.”

They looked at each other for a moment, then laughed together.

12

I
THINK YOU SHOULD
be more cautious when you snoop around Merlin’s Farm,” Sara said from beside Mike as he drove along the curving road. “I know you hide evidence that you’ve been there, but if Mr. Lang found out … Well, he’s notorious for his retaliations.”

“Such as?”

Sara was watching Mike drive. He never took his eyes off the road, and the way he sat, with both hands on the wheel, looked like he was prepared for something bad to happen. “No one can prove anything, but we know in Edilean that if you cross Mr. Lang, you get punished. It’s something we’re all told from childhood up, and I was told that his father was just like him.”

Mike glanced in all three mirrors.

“Are you expecting someone to follow us?”

“With this case, I never know what I’ll have to do.”

“I guess that includes oozing all over someone as sex-starved as Erica.”

Mike gave her a quick glance out of the corner of his eye.

“All right.” Obviously, Erica was not something he was going to discuss further. “Let’s see. Where do I begin? I’ve heard these stories all my life. When I was about twelve, a man who worked in Williamsburg moved here with his family and he prided himself on his plum jam. I remember my mother telling him that Mr. Lang would be his competition at the local fair and that he usually won.”

“Lang has to win or else?”

“Oh, no. He’s lost before, but his produce is so good that it’s rare for him not to win. But when he lost that time, he went to my mother, who was a judge, and told her the man had cheated. I remember my mother being angry and saying Mr. Lang was a sore loser, so, unfortunately, she didn’t investigate the matter.”

“What did he do?” Mike asked.

“You have to understand that Mr. Lang is a very keen observer of people.” Sara paused. “The truth is that he’s a Peeping Tom. No one’s been able to prove it, but we all know it’s true. If you cross him, he tells you secrets about yourself and what you’re doing that you don’t want people to know about.”

“So what did he do about the plum man?”

“I didn’t see it but I was told that at the next class assembly at a high school in Williamsburg, they were treated to a slide show of the man kissing the principal’s wife. And they were wearing very little clothing.”

Mike couldn’t help chuckling. “Let me guess. Your mother investigated the jam.”

“Oh, yes! It contained white rum, which was against the rules. Mr. Lang also said the fruit had been stolen from his trees, but that couldn’t be proven.”

“It would be interesting to know if when Lang was sneaking
around whether he was looking at pretty girls or spying in general.” Mike thought that if the old man was snooping, he might have seen something useful.

“I’ve never heard it said that he watches girls dressing. I think he does as much listening as he does looking. Mother says he has no life of his own, so he watches other people’s lives.”

“And no one in this town has done anything about him?”

“The Langs are part of the place and we know to keep our curtains drawn.”

“Doors left unlocked but windows covered,” Mike said, shaking his head. “What else has he done?”

“One time some man was determined to get the McDowells to lease Merlin’s Farm to him. Ramsey’s dad said he could have it if he could get Mr. Lang out. The poor man didn’t know that Uncle Benjamin was joking. My mother refused to tell me the details of what Mr. Lang exposed about the man, but he resigned his position at William and Mary, and moved to Maine.”

Sara paused. “But, to be fair, Mr. Lang’s done some good too. When I was a teenager, a little girl ran away from home, and Mr. Lang not only knew where she was but why she’d run away. After she was found and was able to talk, a neighbor was put in jail.”

“Interesting,” Mike said. “Has no one tried to spy on
him
?”

“Sure. Luke and Ramsey dedicated a lot of their childhood to trying to see what Mr. Lang was up to. They used to hide in the bushes around Merlin’s Farm and try to watch him, but except for one time, he always found them.”

“Lang didn’t hurt anyone, did he?” Mike asked sharply, thinking about the traps.

“He knew better than to do that. He shouted at everybody who came near—and his dogs were great at guarding. All the kids said Mr. Lang was part bat, that he could hear and see in the dark.”

“His senses probably are better, since he spends so much time alone.”

“Are all the things you know about him from your grandmother?” When Mike nodded, she added, “Since she loved the farm and Brewster Lang lived there, maybe they were sweet on each other.”

Mike snorted. “Grans said she used to laugh about the way he looked at her when he thought she wasn’t looking. But she told Tess and me that if she owned the place, he would be her servant boy.”