Sunny Side Up (Lake Erie Mysteries Book 1) (15 page)

“Okay. Good. Now we need something to break our fall so we don’t break our legs. Oh no! I jinxed us when I said that stupid stage phrase I thought was good luck!”

“Snap out of it, June! We don’t have time for you to panic right now.” I couldn’t remember ever seeing her so close to losing control. She was supposed to be the calming presence in our duo.

“Okay, wait, I think I might have an idea.” She rubbed her fists in her eyes, ran her fingers through her hair, then shook her hands vigorously at her sides. “Do you still have those water-activated rafts you bought at Sirena’s shop?”

I rummaged in my handbag and found the turquoise iridescent shopping bag containing the novelty rafts. “Yes! Here they are! I have them both.”

My smile of accomplishment faded the instant I realized what was missing. “How are we going to activate this thing?”

June was already busy ransacking boxes in search of some kind of liquid. By sheer luck, she stumbled upon three cases of Veen, argued to be the freshest and purest water in the world. Good thing it was fake. At forty dollars a bottle for the real stuff, we would have had to think twice about what we were about to do with it.

The air was getting thicker with smoke. “Use these,” I gasped and tossed June some very stylish Hermes scarves to cover our faces.

We breathed through the scarves and clutched as many bottles of water as we could, stumbling our way to the perilous staircase leading to the upper level of the warehouse. By this time, flames were licking the edges of the doors and smoke was quickly taking the place of oxygen in our lungs. On the third step, I heard a crack beneath me, and my foot went right through the plank. A splinter the size of a sequoia tree ripped into my shin, but I didn’t have time to stop. I had to get to the top before the whole thing collapsed under me.

Finally, I made it, gasping and choking, to a narrow walkway beneath the windows looking out over the wooded lot behind the structure. Once I got my balance, I clutched my fancy counterfeit umbrella baseball bat-style and whacked at the glass like I was in the ninth inning of the deciding game of the World Series.

Meanwhile, June uncapped water bottles with a vengeance and poured their contents over a raft that was meant to be a gift for one of my children.

“I may never see my sweet babies again! We’ve got to get out of here. Now!”

As soon as the water hit the raft, it began to enlarge and bloat up like a giant pillow.

“Hurry Francie. Clear the jagged glass from the window edges so we don’t puncture this thing! It’s almost too big to fit out the window already.”

“It’s all clear. Hurry June, hurry!”

There was just enough time and space for June to dump the last bottle of water onto the raft and shove it out the window. It landed on the sticks and debris-covered ground twenty feet below us with a strange, slurpy thud.

“On the count of three! One. Two...”

“Wait! Do you mean on three or after three?” It seemed important to me at the moment.

June tugged me to my senses and we jumped as if our lives depended on it. (Oh yeah, they did.)

We landed in the middle of the enormous, spongy raft; elbows and knees flailing and bumping until we came to rest in a tangled heap. “Are you okay, June?”

“I think all my body parts are intact. My camera, not so much.”

We struggled to free ourselves from the giant flotation device and stepped back to take a look at the damages.

“Oh my God! What is that thing? June, what is that?”

June was beside me, speechless for the first time I can remember. When she recovered enough to form words, she sucked in air and tried to reply. I wasn’t sure if she was gasping, crying, or laughing. I was still staring in disbelief.

“It’s a... It’s a... Oh my gosh! It’s a giant penis!”

“So, I wasn’t hallucinating from the smoke.”

“Francie, what did you buy? Wasn’t that supposed to be for the twins? What’s wrong with you?”

Of course, I had no idea what shapes the dehydrated rafts would become when water was added to them when I bought the last-minute gifts. I didn’t actually read the fine print on the package. My reading glasses were always in my voluminous purse, but not always as easily accessible as when I remember to stash them in their designated pocket.

“Geesh. I’m wearing my glasses from now on. At least in the checkout aisle. Thank God that thing never made it to its intended destination.”

Not even a full minute had passed when Detective Jack Morgan came roaring up the street in his official car, lights and sirens blaring, and screeched to a halt in front of the two us. He got out of the car slowly, put his hands on his hips, and stood staring at us with those soul-piercing eyes, mentally taking a precise inventory of the scene before him, right down to the sticks and soot clinging to our no-nonsense tan and navy blue work uniforms. What could we do except stand there slumped, defeated, and in my case, bleeding, in front of the giant pornographic floaty toy. I’m sure the corner of his lip was twitching. To his credit, he neither laughed nor yelled at us.

June broke out of her mortified silence before I did, and went from zero to one hundred in a matter of seconds. She hurled herself at the detective and began babbling about how he was our hero and how scared we were. After that, it became hard to hear what she was saying due to the wailing of the four volunteer fire trucks that had arrived seconds behind Morgan.

“Thank God you showed up to save us and finally get to the bottom of this mystery. Now you can arrest the criminal trying to ruin Ruby’s life. And murder us.”

“I don’t think I’ll actually murder you, but you two certainly are causing a lot of commotion around here.”

“Huh? You know what I meant! Someone is trying to kill us!”

Morgan held June for a moment and let his gaze take in her sweet, pixie-like features streaked with ashy soot and complemented by a crooked dangling mustache. He composed himself and set her aside, but his eyes held her for an extra beat.

Meanwhile, I overheard the volunteer firefighters who were not having any luck curtailing the inferno. They had decided to let it burn out as a controlled fire and concentrated on keeping it from spreading to the trees and vegetation around the building. What I gathered from their conversation was that the abandoned structure’s value was minimal compared to the risk of harm to the men on the job.

“Listen to me!” I cried, as I ran back and forth between Morgan and the fire chief. “All of the evidence will be destroyed! We have to get back in there. We have to prove what was going on! These knock-offs might be linked to the mob and some rich dead guy from Chicago.”

Morgan stood his ground. “Listen, ladies. There’s a lot more to worry about than some fashion crime. A murder victim was found in the debris at Ruby’s, and so far, the only suspects of any crime happen to be the two of you and your husband, Francie. And by the way, where is Mr. Egge? He still isn’t returning my calls to either his cell phone or the messages I left with his office secretary.”

I responded automatically. “He left for home yesterday morning. Something came up at work that needed his attention.”

June’s eyes were wide with shock. “Murder victim? What are you talking about? Who is it? What happened? You mean it wasn’t an accident?”

I was one step behind in my reaction to what Morgan had just said. Thinking about Hamm had sent my attention in another direction.

“Wait a minute! Start over. I know that you said that someone died in the fire at Ruby’s. Are you saying now that it was intentional? This is terrible. How could this happen?”

Now Morgan was looking concerned. How did everything go so terribly wrong in such a short time?

When Detective Morgan spoke next, he directed his words directly at me. His voice was low and controlled.

“Francie, no one from Hammond’s firm has had any contact with him since Thursday afternoon. Are you saying you haven’t heard from him, either? He is currently wanted for questioning, so if you know something, you better tell me right now. This is very serious business. I’m sure by now you are aware of the incriminating remarks your husband made to Mrs. Burns. Numerous people from the Beacon Pointe Yacht Club have also corroborated his threatening remarks. Apparently, it’s no great secret how Hammond felt about the Burns’ establishment.

“Listen Francie, I hate to be so hard on you, and I’m trying my best to get the facts straight because, frankly, after spending some time with him, I didn’t think he was the kind of guy who could pull off such a thing. I’m a pretty good judge of character, but I have to say that right now things are not looking good for your husband. It has also come to my attention that Hammond prosecuted a serial arsonist a few years back who used some pretty unique fire igniters. You wouldn’t know anything about how involved he was in the research for that trial, would you?”

I felt all the blood drain from my face. My hands were trembling. I was having a hard time coming to grips with what Morgan was saying to me. And where was Hamm? If I could just talk to him, I was sure all of these awful accusations would be cleared up.

I was trying so hard to focus and remain calm that I didn’t even notice the golf cart until it came to a stop inches from where we were standing. Sirena stepped out and scanned the scene.

“What’s all the excitement? I was heading to my shop when I saw the flames then heard sirens and decided I better come see what’s going on around here. A girl could start getting paranoid. Is everyone okay?”

She stopped talking just then and raised her eyebrows in surprise. She looked from June to me, taking in all the details: disheveled torn work uniforms, hair in utter disarray, and of course, the bloody shin, sooty faces and partial mustaches. Considering what we looked like the last time we ran into her, I wondered if she thought of our current state an improvement. To her credit though, she didn’t mention anything. Instead, she directed her next comments to Detective Morgan.

“What was in that building? I was under the impression it was just an empty warehouse. Do you know how the fire started?”

Morgan addressed her questions politely.

“We haven’t even begun to process the scene, so I really don’t have anything to report. No one was injured, and I really need to clear the area so the firemen and I can get to work here. Could you help me out by giving Francie and June a lift? If it’s okay, I’d like for them to wait for me at your shop. I’ll be by in a while to tie up some loose ends. These ladies have had enough excitement for one morning.”

Sirena smiled sweetly at Morgan and agreed. “Anything to help get to the bottom of all this. Hop on, girls. I’ll take good care of you.”

June helped me onto the back seat of Sirena’s golf cart where we mutely stared at the receding scene as it disappeared under a soft gray blanket of smoke. Numb with shock, neither of us spoke a word during the short trip to the Jewel of the Bay boutique. My shin was throbbing and my mind was reeling with everything Detective Morgan had just told me. None of this could really be happening.

Sirena parked the golf cart on the side drive, walked around to where we still sat motionless on the bench seat, and held out both her hands.

“Come with me, dears. I’ll get you settled.” Her voice was warm and soothing like whiskey and honey on a sore throat.

She took one of each of our hands in hers and gently escorted us through the shop door into the cozy sitting area near the back of the store. Two pretty chairs upholstered in watercolor shades were arranged at forty-five degree angles around a coffee table made from local driftwood. As soon as we were seated, Sirena swept through the doorway covered by pearlescent curtains that I had assumed was a storeroom the first time we visited the boutique. That seemed like years ago. A short while later, she reappeared, carrying a silver tray with warm towels and chilled white wine in laser-etched goblets. She set the tray down on the varnished table top between us and sat quietly in a third chair, this one a straight-back piece painted a rich emerald green and positioned directly across from us. Sirena looked like she was holding court, posture perfect, hands folded serenely in her lap.

I picked up one of the soft, white towels and dabbed absently at my shin through the torn fabric of my pant leg. The wound was not as nasty as I had anticipated, and after I wiped away the dried blood and extracted the splinter, it instantly felt better. “Ouch!” I gingerly touched my face and winced when I felt the pinch and tug of stage adhesive below my nose. What a sight we must be! Our disguises seemed beyond ridiculous now. How could we explain our get-ups to Sirena without sounding like certifiable idiots? Why did we ever think we could pull off our ludicrous plan?

Rather than cleaning up, June chose to concentrate on the wine. She held the cool goblet to her forehead with both her hands for a moment, then lowered it to her lips and tilted her head back. When she set the fancy glass back on the tray, it had a little brown swish of a mustache stuck to its rim. We were two ugly ducklings in the royal pond being attended to by the princess swan. Sitting there in that beautiful room surrounded by lovely things, we looked at one another and finally broke out of our state of shocked stupidity. Neither of us was to the point yet of laughing at our foibles, but we were making progress. June turned her gaze to Sirena, who was still sitting peacefully in the chair across from us.

“How can we begin to thank you for everything? You’ve done so much for us and we hardly even know you. I can’t even imagine what you must be thinking! Let me explain.”

“There’s no need to explain, June. I’ve learned since coming here that what goes around comes around. It’s important for all of us to keep an eye on one another.”

“Well then, let me thank you again. The wine was just perfect. Exactly what I needed. In fact, I’d swear it’s my favorite Pinot Grigio, Ecco Domani.”

Sirena stood up and made a quick trip back to her storeroom. She returned with an open bottle of Ecco Domani.

“Let’s toast then.” She refilled June’s glass, and poured one for herself. We all raised our glasses and said, “Ecco Domani! Here’s tomorrow!”

Those two little words would be remembered for a very long time.

I raised my glass with both of my shaky hands and took a sip. The cool wine tickled the back of my throat and snapped me out of the debilitating funk that had me on autopilot since I first heard the news about Hamm.

“Sirena, can I bother you for one more thing? May I borrow your cell phone? I lost mine somewhere back in all the confusion. It’s probably a pile of ashes by now.”

“Of, course, Francie. Anything I can do to help.”

She pulled her phone from a deep pocket in her long skirt and handed it to me. I took a deep breath and composed myself. I needed to be calm. I needed to talk to Hamm. I needed to find out what was going on.

I pressed the button at the bottom of the phone to activate it and then followed the familiar cue, “slide to unlock.” I swiped my finger across the screen and was ready to place my call. When I hit the green phone icon at the bottom of the screen it pulled up the last screen used. It happened to be “Recent Calls,” and at the top of the list was a very familiar number. In fact, it was Hamm’s cell phone number.

“What the…?” I looked up at Sirena who was still standing in the middle of the room. “Sirena, why do you have my husband’s personal number in your phone? Or better yet, when and why did you dial this number?”

I didn’t want to seem rude after everything she’d done to help us, but I really needed to know. This day was getting weirder by the minute.

Sirena laughed lightly, then reassured me.

“After we all met, I asked Clifton for all your contact numbers. As a businesswoman, this is just standard operating procedure. I thought if I got any new merchandise that would help June with her research or got something I thought one of you might like, I could give you or your husband a call. Men are always so clueless when it comes to gift buying. And I understand your husband is not much of a shopper.”

When she said this, my brain was flooded once again with all of the awful insinuations flying around about Hammond. How could I possibly help him? I knew in my heart that he was absolutely innocent, but I had no idea where he was or how to find him. Suddenly, I wasn’t feeling all that thankful or trusting toward Sirena or anyone else for that matter. Instinctively, I put a smile on my face and directed my comment to Sirena.

“Sounds reasonable, I guess. It would be actually pretty nice if someone gave him a heads up once in a while. Sometimes I get tired of picking out and purchasing my own birthday and anniversary gifts. Thanks for letting me use your phone and for everything else.”

I lowered my voice, turned my face away, and dialed my call.