The Deep End (A Saints & Strangers Cozy Mystery Book 2) (13 page)

“Cut to the chase, Stallion,” Thora said. “Have you arrested anyone for the cheerleader’s murder? Inquiring minds want to know.”

“Well, Thora, since you asked so nicely, I’ll tell you that we haven’t.” He held up a hand against the torrent of groans. “We are as eager to close this case as any of you.” His gaze rested on Rebecca. “Okay, maybe not you.”

“You seriously don’t think Rebecca is a suspect, do you?” Phyllis asked, grabbing Rebecca by the chin. “I mean, look at this earnest face. Does this look like a woman who drowns people in a swimming pool?”

“If she did do it, then she did Westdale a favor,” Adelaide said. “We don’t need trash like that dragging down the town. God knows she would have turned Oak Lodge into a den of filth. Of course, we don’t know much about her brother, do we?”

Romeo looked mildly amused by Adelaide’s comments. “We’ve been in regular contact with Mr. Krieg,” Romeo said.

“Is he still a suspect?” Thora asked.

Romeo glanced quickly at Rebecca. “I really can’t discuss the investigation in any detail.”

“Especially not with a suspect right here,” Adelaide pointed out unhelpfully.

“You’ll all be happy to know that Rebecca is no longer a suspect,” Romeo said. “But she could have told you that already since we cleared her a couple of days ago.”

Rebecca clasped her hands behind her back, looking sheepish. “I guess I should have mentioned it.”

Charlotte squeezed her sister’s arm. “No one believed it for a second anyway.”

“I’ll admit, I’m a little disappointed,” Adelaide grumbled. “It would’ve been justifiable homicide, in my opinion.”

“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” Kit said.

“Too late for that,” Adelaide shot back.

Rebecca debated whether she should tell Romeo about Kristy's casino night confession. She’d blurted out the whole story to Kit at three in the morning when Kit had found her crying in the kitchen. She’d made Kit promise not to tell anyone, especially Romeo. Rebecca could see how the revelation might be viewed as a motive for Jake to kill Jasmine and take control of the Tilton fortune. At this point, if she told Romeo, she wouldn’t be sure of her own motivation — whether she did it in order to catch a killer or to punish Jake for his deceit. Rebecca felt torn. She wasn’t even certain that Kristy was telling the truth. There were plenty of attention-seeking nutcases in the world. Kristy could easily be one of them.

“So why are you here early on a Sunday morning, if not to officially update us on the case?” Kit asked.

Romeo pulled out his phone and waved it. “An anonymous text inviting me to a bocce ball tournament.”

Everyone turned and stared at Thora, who shrugged innocently. “What? He was such a hit at the last party.” She was referring to a barbecue at her house after the case of the skeleton in Kit’s house had been resolved. Romeo had loosened up after a few beers and performed impressive dance moves for the Thornhill Road ladies. Kit had to drag him away when Thora attempted to relive her favorite scene from Dirty Dancing.

“Do I smell croissants?” Romeo asked, sniffing the air.

Thora snapped her fingers. “One of you girls with working legs grab him a croissant.”

Charlotte dutifully retrieved a croissant from the tray on the porch and brought it to him on a napkin.

“Thank you,” he said, smiling at Kit. “See how well I do with women? Why wouldn’t your mom like me?”

Kit doubled over with laughter. “You think these ladies are anything like my mother?”

Thora, Phyllis and Adelaide shook their heads in unison.

“You’re in for a world of hurt, if that’s your attitude,” Adelaide said.

“Why do you want her mother’s approval?” Phyllis asked slyly. “Are you courting our little Kit?”

Thora elbowed her in the ribs. “No one courts these days. Hell, no one really courted in our day either.”

“You didn’t court,” Adelaide said. “You just married every date you ever had.”

Thora shot her a menacing look. “Watch it, Pye. This ball might just slip and land somewhere painful.”

Romeo stepped between them. “Okay ladies. No threats of bodily harm in my presence, okay? I don’t need any more work in Westdale.”

“Yes, how can he woo Kit if he’s too busy solving crimes?” Phyllis queried.

Romeo threw his hands up in exasperation. Growing up he’d thought the women in his South Philly neighborhood were dogged, but he’d quickly learned that they were mewling kittens compared with the ladies of Westdale.

Chapter Seven

As the days ticked by, Charlotte and Rebecca’s melancholy slowly lifted. Charlotte resumed classes on a regular basis and squelched all thoughts of Brendan while Rebecca immersed herself in loan applications. Kit forced them outside as often as possible to keep their spirits up and, selfishly, to help with lawn and garden maintenance. Kit was still getting the hang of home ownership and appreciated having two more able-bodied women to help her. This morning, she’d dragged the sisters out of the makeshift library in the living room to help with the latest crop of weeds in the front yard. She hadn’t noticed them, but Thora was kind enough to identify each and every one in a series of photographs sent to Kit’s email account.

“Aren’t you ever tempted to kidnap your gardener from Greyabbey?” Charlotte asked, yanking a stubborn weed from the garden.

“Not yet,” Kit admitted. “I actually like doing this stuff on my own. It feels strangely gratifying.” She held out her phone. “Here, take my picture with the rose in my teeth. I want to post it.” She placed the rose in her mouth and quickly spit it out when the thorns scratched her tongue.

“You post a lot of selfies,” Rebecca said matter-of-factly.

“Habit,” Kit admitted. “Anyway, if I go twenty-four hours without a post, my friend Jordan sends threatening text messages. He’s my best stalker.”

“Do you miss it?” Charlotte asked. “The attention and everything.”

Kit looked thoughtful. “I liked my job. I’d like to go back, if and when they’ll have me, not for attention, though. I get plenty of that here.”

“What about Romeo?” Rebecca asked. “Would you leave him behind?”

Kit’s pulse quickened at the mention of the handsome detective. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

“But you like him,” Charlotte chided her. “And he likes you. Why isn’t he your boyfriend?” With a start, she realized how envious she was of Kit right now. Kit was standing on the threshold of a wonderful relationship with a good man. All she needed to do was gather her courage and take the next step. Charlotte, on the other hand, had proven once again that she lacked good judgment — she’d thought it was limited to distance and the space around her, but it seemed to extend to romantic relationships, too.

The sound of a car turning the corner drew their attention. Rebecca noticed the Connecticut license plate and her breath hitched.

“It’s Jake,” she said.

Charlotte’s head swiveled toward her sister. “Did you know he was coming?”

Rebecca shook her head emphatically. Charlotte quickly moved a few stray hairs out of her sister’s face and pinched her cheeks.

“I don’t think I need any more color,” Rebecca scolded her. “We’ve been out here for an hour.”

Jake stepped from the car and smiled when his eyes found Rebecca. “This is, by far, the prettiest garden in Westdale.”

“We don’t have half of Thora’s flowers,” Kit said, pointing to the glorious garden next door.

“Oh,” Jake said distractedly. “I hadn’t noticed the flowers.”

“Jake, what a wonderful surprise,” Rebecca said, fighting the urge to pummel him with questions. She pushed all thoughts of Kristy to the back of her mind. She promised herself that she would raise the topic at the right time.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I should have called first, but once I realized I’d be able to come by, I didn’t want to waste time.”

“Jake, you know you’re always welcome to visit us,” Charlotte said.

“Are you here to meet with lawyers about Oak Lodge?” Charlotte asked. “Have you been there? How does the house look?”

Jake shoved his hands in his pocket, looking as awkward as he felt. “Well, the library is still missing, but most other rooms are still intact.” He grinned at Charlotte.

“Charlotte, let him come inside and sit down before you start hammering him with questions,” Rebecca said.

“Yes, I’ve already been through a few rounds of questioning,” Jake said, his expression grim.

“Come inside,” Kit said. “We could all use a drink, I’m sure.” Romeo hadn’t mentioned that he’d asked Jake to come down for questioning so she was anxious to hear what their visitor had to say.

Once inside, Charlotte and Kit escaped to the kitchen, leaving Rebecca and Jake alone in the living room.

“Now I see where the library has escaped to,” Jake commented, glancing around the room at the piles of books.

“It’s temporary housing,” Rebecca said. “Kit said she likes the look. Puts her into the mindset of an academic.”

“Always playing a role, isn’t she?”

Rebecca wondered the same about him. “So what brings you back to the area?” she asked. “Did the police really question you again?”

“Well, your lotto jackpot is at an all-time high. I thought I would stock up.”

“Some might argue that you’ve already hit the jackpot,” Rebecca said, her hands folded neatly in her lap.

“Ouch,” Jake said and winced.

Kit swept into the room with two glasses of iced tea while Charlotte carried two more. Kit handed one glass to Jake and the other to Rebecca.

“I hope you don’t mind iced tea,” Kit said. “It’s either that or water in my house.”

“That’s only because your mother has a monopoly on all the gin in the state,” Rebecca said wryly.

“I heard that your Monte Carlo event was a huge success,” Jake said. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you,” Charlotte replied. “Rebecca put a lot of work into it so it was a proud moment for us.”

“How did you hear about it?” Rebecca asked, seeing an opportunity to probe him about Kristy.

Jake looked mildly surprised. “Your invitation, of course.”

“But you said that you heard it was a great success,” Rebecca replied.

“Oh, of course,” Jake fumbled. “It was covered in the paper. I believe it was your cousin’s article.” He looked at Kit for confirmation.

“Yes, Crispin was there,” Kit said, perched on the arm of the sofa.

“We were hoping you’d come,” Charlotte said.

“I’m sorry if I disappointed you,” he said and Rebecca felt his eyes on her. “I’ve been backed up with work. I’d stayed here longer than expected due to…circumstances.”

No one needed reminding of the circumstances.

“So what did the lawyers say?” Charlotte pressed him. “Are you going to inherit everything?”

Jake fidgeted. “I did see a lawyer, but not about the estate.”

Rebecca immediately understood. “Did they arrest you?”

“No, thank goodness.” He unfastened the top button of his shirt. “I just felt that I needed legal support in case they tried to pin the murder on me.”

“And did they?” Kit asked.

“They asked a lot of questions,” Jake said vaguely. “A lot of questions that I’d answered before. It seems to me they should be directing their resources into finding Brendan instead of harassing me.”

Rebecca waited for a mention of Kristy but none came.

“When will the estate be settled then?” Charlotte asked, eager to know the fate of her fortune.

Jake shrugged. “These things take time, apparently. It’s slower when there’s no will.”

“Why wouldn’t the estate be split between you, Rebecca and Charlotte?” Kit asked.

Jake shifted uncomfortably. “If their father and Jasmine had had children of their own, I’d split the inheritance with those children.”

“But not us,” Rebecca finished for him.

“I did promise you the return of Oak Lodge,” he said, gazing at Rebecca, “and I intend to keep that promise.”

Rebecca longed to ask about the rest of the inheritance, but she didn’t want to hear the answer. He’d likely use the money to win the approval of Kristy's parents. She stared into her lap, trying to squelch her feelings for him.

“You seem quiet today, Rebecca,” Jake said, jolting her. “Less sparkle than I remember.”

“I could say the same about you,” Rebecca replied, her voice even.

“Yes, but no one has ever thought of me as sparkly to begin with.”

“Only people who haven’t seen you perform karaoke,” Kit said with a smile.

Jake looked embarrassed. “A moment of insanity.”

“Well, we haven’t changed a bit,” Charlotte insisted. “Smaller quarters maybe, but same sisters.”

“Not too small, I hope,” Kit added.

“You should see my hotel room,” Jake interjected. “I can nearly touch the walls on either side of the bed.”

Rebecca’s brow furrowed. “Aren’t you staying at Oak Lodge?”

Jake shook his head. “It didn’t seem right when it isn’t officially mine.”

Kit studied him, remembering an episode of
Fool’s Gold
where a killer was being protected by a high-profile family’s legal team. “And your lawyer advised you to stay somewhere cheap and humble.”

She noticed the flash of fear in his eyes. “It was suggested that I be respectful of the investigation and not put the cart before the horse.”

Rebecca’s insides twisted. “How long are you staying then?” Part of her wanted him to stay forever and the other part wanted to hurl him off a bridge into the Lenapehoking River.

“As long as my presence is required,” Jake said. “I’ve taken a leave of absence from work until this mess is taken care of.”

This mess. His sister’s murder. Rebecca disliked the way he said that. Then again, everything he said sounded distasteful and dishonest now that she knew about Kristy. The fact that he still made no mention of her convinced Rebecca of the fox-faced woman’s truthfulness.

“You seem tired, Jake,” Charlotte said. “It’s been stressful for us. I can only imagine how it’s been for you.”

Jake relaxed slightly. “I’ve seen better days, that’s for sure.”

“We all have,” Rebecca agreed, certain it was the most truthful thing he’d ever said to her.