“Wow, don’t we all look pretty,” Katie said. She looked at Dirk, but I chose to believe she included the rest of us.
“You look fabulous, Katie.” And she did. Her curly black hair had been drawn back and up, leaving a few teasing tendrils at her forehead. She wore a figure-hugging strapless red dress that highlighted her curves. Dirk whispered in her ear. Her brown eyes widened.
Feeling as if I intruded on a private moment, I turned to Ginger. “Sweetie, you are gorgeous.” Ginger also wore a little black dress but hers looked classic where Nicole’s didn’t. Of course, the understated diamonds at her neck, ears and wrists didn’t hurt the overall effect. She had wound her red hair into a smooth French twist. Nicole Kidman never looked so good.
We had such a convivial table, I hoped the two remaining chairs remained unfilled. Turned out that the reunion gods weren’t done messing with me.
Travis strolled up, followed closely by Nicole. “Mind if we join you?” Travis pulled out a chair and sat beside Cam without waiting for an answer, leaving Nicole standing.
Rob jumped and extended the remaining chair for her. She smiled at Rob, leaning against him before sitting. His gaze lingered on Nicole’s pushed-up cleavage. He licked his lips. Nicole murmured and he bent closer, his arm along the back of her chair.
I wanted to reach across the table and slap Rob silly. Instead, I looked away, unsure how Ginger would take my interference in her marriage.
Ginger’s mouth tightened, her cheeks reddened. Katie mouthed words at Ginger, who leaned back with a small smile. She sipped wine. When she replaced her glass, her hand hit the side of Rob’s head. He sat back, blinking.
Katie winked at me. I knew I’d hear the whole story later. Good news travels fast.
Nicole leaned closer to Travis and captured his hand. Travis ignored her, instead studying Cam. “You look familiar, but I sure don’t remember your name.” He accompanied the statement with his trademark lop-sided grin. He pulled smoothly away from Nicole, extending his hand. “Travis Knowles.”
“Cam Darrow. I graduated a few years behind you.”
“Red Darrow’s little brother? That’s more than a few years, isn’t it?” Travis’s glance moved to me with eyebrows raised. His mouth had fallen open, but he clamped his lips shut and tried a debonair look. “So, you’re what, from the class of 2004?”
Cam grinned at him and hugged my shoulders. “2006, but who’s counting?”
I ducked my head and hid my smile. Dating a younger man had unrealized benefits, especially when confronting old, unfaithful boyfriends.
Cam must have put pressure into the handshake, because Travis’s mouth had tightened into an almost grimace. Dirk, not slow on the up-take, gave Travis another strong grip when they were introduced.
Nicole, who abhorred losing the spotlight, jumped into the testosterone pool. “So, here we all are. Who’d have guessed how we’d turn out? Some of us successful, others not?” She studied the men. “And accompanied by such gorgeous males. I almost can’t believe my luck.”
As if the men had attended at her invitation. Without escorts.
Katie lobbed a lethal glare at Nicole and opened her mouth for a verbal blast when a cell phone sounded. Dirk grasped Katie’s arm with one hand while the other reached for his inside pocket. Meanwhile, Nicole pulled a ringing phone from her purse. Looked like she’d been saved. For now.
She answered, “Daddy? What’s wrong?”
Though she smiled, I noted what looked like fear race across her face. The mayor had raised Nicole as a single dad after her mother died when she’d been three. He’d marched Nicole across more speaker platforms than I cared to contemplate, and didn’t look to be less demanding on her time now.
She rose, placing her hand across the phone’s speaker. “Excuse me. I have some business. See you in a minute.” Smiling at Cam, she sashayed off.
I heard her distraught reply. “But I did what you asked. I’ve worked hard when you needed me. Wait. Why should you get half—” She moved out of eavesdropping distance.
Maybe life as the mayor’s daughter hadn’t been so hot, after all.
Travis picked up the conversation. “So, Cam, what’s your business?”
Katie leaned forward. “Cam works with me, Travis. At Get Solid Builders.” She smiled at Cam. “He’s a sweetie and our best crew supervisor.”
Dirk settled back in his chair, his lips quirked up. He extended his arm across the back of Katie’s chair. He looked like he’d enjoy some popcorn with the show.
A startled glance zipped across Travis’s face. “Really.” He addressed me. “You always did prefer jocks.”
Katie’s forehead crinkled. “What does that have to do with anything? Cam treats women like queens. He’s no sleaze.”
I shifted, uncomfortable, not relaxing even when Cam took my hand under the table. We’d waded into bad history, and even though people relive the past at reunions, I prefer the present.
“Travis, I hear you have your own company.” Ginger to the rescue. “Want to fill us in?”
Travis’s face lost its red hue as he described his investment firm. He and Rob had plenty in common, and they soon left the rest of us lost in industry speak.
Nicole returned along with the first course serving. Whatever her business had been, it hadn’t been successful given her frown. She visibly shook off her funk and charmed Rob and Travis over gazpacho.
Only Cam’s company helped me relax enough so I could choke down the meal. Nicole’s presence at the table made no sense. Not until she addressed Dirk and made her strategy clear.
“Dirk, have you made any progress on Clarice’s murder?”
So that’s why she bullied her way into our group.
He glanced at her from under his lashes, his face expressionless. Putting down his drink, he straightened. “You know I can’t comment on an open case.”
She laughed, her trills grating in my ear. Once again, my last image of Clarice alive and resembling Nicole tickled my memory, as it had done several times over the past two days. I knew I should speak with Dirk, but now was not the time. And, the mistaken identity idea seemed kind of silly. Nicole acted like an ass most of the time, but that didn’t mean someone wanted to murder her.
“Oh, come on, Dirk. Give us a break. We’re all friends here. Besides, it’d be nice to announce that you’ve found the killer this weekend. Clarice was part of our class.” She fixed her gaze on me. “You must have leads, right?”
Clarice’s murder dominated the gossip rounds tonight, so Nicole’s request for information could be considered reasonable. Except we all knew her question had an ulterior motive or three. Like asking for information when the investigator, along with the person who’d found the body, sat at the same table. She could simultaneously embarrass me in front of my friends and push for my arrest. I was glad Katie had broken the boy-girl-boy seating rule and sat next to me.
Dirk lowered his head. Running his finger through the condensation on his glass, he seemed deep in thought. Meanwhile, Katie glared at Nicole.
“Sorry. No comment.”
“Well, have you at least figured out a motive for her death?”
Dirk shook his head. “Can’t say.”
“You’d answer if my daddy asked.”
Dirk sipped his drink. “Pulling rank, Ms. Polk? I didn’t expect a friend would put me on the spot during a social event.”
I checked for steam over Nicole’s head. No explosions yet, but her stare made an industrial-strength laser look blunt.
He sighed and pushed his glass aside. “Look Ms. Polk, I can’t give you any answers. I pass information to my boss, and he talks with the higher-ups. That’s the way it works. You want details? Ask my boss. Or better yet, your father.”
Dirk stood and held his hand to Katie. “Come on, let’s get a drink.” They left the table and an ominous silence fell.
Travis threw back a shot, one of several he’d downed after joining us. “That went well, hey Nic
?” He put his arm around her shoulders. “You used to be better at seduction.”
She pulled away from him. “You’re such an ass. I don’t know what I ever saw in you.”
Ginger, whose composure had grown progressively cooler the more Rob flirted with Nicole, answered her. “Maggie. You went after Travis to hurt Maggie. That’s what you saw in him.” She took a quick sip of her drink.
Temper past control, I picked up the gauntlet Ginger had dropped. “I’m surprised no one has hurt you yet, the way you cat around. We’ve all heard the stories about you bopping Clarice’s husband. You were in the spa at the same time. Could be you’re the one who broke her neck. I hear Clarice’s husband is loaded. Isn’t that one of your criteria?”
“Me? I’m not the one with strong hands and arm muscles like a guy. She got killed on your massage table. I don’t know why the cops didn’t toss you in jail the first night.”
I took a deep breath, ready to hit back. Good thing Dirk had left the table because I seethed, about to blow.
“Maggie couldn’t hurt anyone,” Ginger said. “She’s a healer.” Ginger’s color had risen and her chin jutted out. “Not like some people at this table, who are better described as tramps.”
Katie and Dirk hustled toward us. Silence had fallen in our part of the hall, as everyone at neighboring tables stopped their conversations and turned in our direction. Travis appeared almost sober, grabbing for water instead of a shot glass.
I caught Nicole’s eye. “Clarice and I were friendly. I’d never hurt or use her.” I heard my voice quiver and inhaled deeply. “Not for a man, not for money or status, never.” Cam squeezed my shaking hand under the table and put his arm around my shoulders. “You are a nasty-ass back stabber. Why couldn’t you have died instead of Clarice?”
Oh, shoot. When had I turned into one of the mean girls? I knew my conscience would eat at me for days because my temper had triumphed. I matched and held Nicole’s angry gaze.
She threw her napkin on the table and stood, her chair legs squealing. “You’re a bunch of losers. I’ve had it with this hick town. As soon as my investments pay off, I’m leaving. I don’t need your crap.”
Travis raised his head. “Bye, bye, Nic. Better make sure those ’vestments don’t bite you in the butt.”
“You should know, you loser,” she bit off. She pushed a blowsy former drill team member aside as she stalked off.
The silence at adjoining tables rapidly segued into a low conversational buzz. Nicole’s argument with my friends and me would hit the far sides of the ballroom in about thirty seconds.
I swallowed against the tension that filled my throat. Once again, I wished the past could stay unmolested. Perhaps other people had fond memories of high school. Not me.
Cam whispered in my ear. “Now I understand why you didn’t want to come tonight. Let’s get out of here.”
I glanced at Ginger and saw that she and Rob were in a heated but low-voiced argument. Katie and Dirk stood aside, having their own intense discussion. My friends had stood by me. I couldn’t walk out on them.
“Can’t right now,” I whispered back.
Cam took in the drunken Travis, fighting friends and empty seat at the table. He moved closer, putting his arm over my shoulder. “Then let’s neck.”
Yep. It coulda been senior prom again. I’ll repeat: the untouched past is best.
Chapter Five
Cam and I didn’t neck at the table, possibly the only thing that could have saved the dinner experience.
Nicole’s empty chair acted as a portal, a siphon, or maybe a magnet, attracting people I didn’t want to see. Or maybe the scene we’d caused earlier continually drew obnoxious people our way. After a series of embarrassing encounters, the next arrival had me in double-take mode.
His nametag read Bradley Crosby. Alias Sad Brad, class nerd and proven hacker extraordinary. This man must have arrived from another planet because he looked like no one I remembered.
Sad Brad had morphed into Bad Brad. As in bad-to-the-bone gorgeous. His once stringy blond hair curled over his nape in loving curls and waves. Broad shoulders filled out a suit that looked like silk to my tee shirt and denim jean accustomed eyes. His clothes caressed his frame in a huge change from the over-large, mismatched plaids he’d favored in school. He no longer walked hunched over as if protecting himself from the class bullies. Narrow frames replaced the dark, heavy glasses that had echoed Buddy Holly without the cool factor. Above and beyond the physical, Brad radiated confidence.
Brad’s hand touched my shoulder, his fingers lightly caressing. “Hi, Maggie. Mind if I join you?”
He sat without waiting for my answer. In Cam’s chair, not realizing my guy had gone for drinks. Oh, glory be.
No one had followed Sad Brad’s progress after graduation. His mother had bragged to her friends who repeated stories, but I never paid much attention. On top of his unfortunate appearance, Brad had also been a Mama’s Boy. That boy had disappeared, and given the looks from women at surrounding tables, was not lamented. Talk about your Clark Kent makeovers.
“So, Brad, how are you?” I gave myself high marks for biting back the question I really wanted to ask—what the hell happened? And, how long did it take you to grow from geek to glorious?
He moved his chair closer. “You look fabulous.”
Travis lifted his head from contemplating an empty shot glass. “You.” He hiccupped. “Still got the hots for Maggie, huh?”
Actually, it took me a minute to translate what sounded more like “hosh fer Meg-gurgle.” When I did, I shot a glare at Travis, not that it’d hit him until tomorrow. If then.
I put my hand on Brad’s arm, drawing his attention. “Ignore him. He’s an ass.” Throwing another barbed stare Travis’s way, I turned back with a smile. “I’m surprised you’re here.”
Actually, no one I knew had bothered asking about Brad. We’d assumed he hadn’t changed, and shame on us. No matter how nerdy, he’d gone through the torture of Granville Falls High School with the rest of us. Especially given the hell he’d suffered from the bigger, less intelligent guys in our class. And girls like Nicole. I wished I’d seen her face when Brad walked in. Talk about revenge. Yowsa.
Appearance pointed to Brad coming out a winner in the battle for most successful graduate if it had been put to popular vote tonight. Too bad Nicole had won that award this year. Knowing her, the honor had been her idea. I couldn’t remember other classes bestowing recognition on one person.
Brad sipped from his glass filled with a brown-hued liquid. I had a feeling he didn’t drink ice tea. He rubbed my shoulder with his as he shook hands and exchanged greetings with Rob.
“Why don’t you sit at our table for a few minutes, Brad? If you can ignore Travis, that is.”
Cam’s warm hand squeezed my shoulder.
“Looking cozy, Maggie. Mind introducing me?”
I covered Cam’s hand with mine. Making the introductions, I clearly indicated Cam as my date, but Brad didn’t move. I waggled my eyebrows at Cam, and he took the hint and Nicole’s abandoned chair.
If a headache didn’t threaten, I’d have laughed. An old boyfriend, new lover and unrequited crush lined up beside me. I hoped Katie would continue hanging out on the dance floor. I could hear her comments now.
Dang. The comments were real, whispered in my ear. “Got your mojo working, huh?”
She plopped down next to me and made a point of reading Brad’s nametag. “Brad?” She coughed. “Long time no see.” Seemed she hadn’t recognized Brad, either.
“Hi, Katie.”
Cripes. He ogled Katie’s neckline. Good thing Dirk didn’t notice or his elevated male hormone level would choke everyone in the room.
Cam stood and moved behind me. “Mags, we haven’t danced yet tonight. The next song is our special number.”
After only six weeks of dating and no sex, not until we blew this place, we didn’t have an “our song.” I smiled over my shoulder at him. Either h
e wanted me away from Brad, or he’d moved to get us out the door. Either way worked for me. Brad’s new look had made me uncomfortable. The changes in him were incomprehensible.
I stood ready to walk from the table when all hell broke loose. My foot connected with Brad’s chair leg and when I jerked, I lost my balance and fell against Brad’s broad chest. Meanwhile, Brad’s flailing arms sent me flying toward Travis. My chair hit Cam in the stomach.
I’m not sure what all else happened, but the farce ended with me flashing Brad way too much cleavage, Brad falling toward Cam and several drinks soaking my boyfriend’s dark shirt and silk tie.
Dirk had pulled Katie out of the fracas while Ginger and Rob looked on, mouths open. Katie covered her mouth and, I suspected, a huge grin. Dirk grabbed napkins and pushed them at Cam then helped me from Travis’s lap.
Okie dokie then. Guess we didn’t need much more of an excuse for leaving.
****
“He’s harmless.” I unlocked my front door and flipped on a light.
“I don’t think so.”
If Cam had sputtered after his pronouncement, I wouldn’t have been surprised. “So tell me why you don’t think he’s harmless. Other than that he ruined your great tie.” And shirt. And jacket. Likely his slacks too. I didn’t want to check his shoes. If Cam and I hadn’t been drinking vodka tonics, I knew he’d smell like a dive besides being partially soaked.
“This is a vintage Jerry Garcia design. Silk. My dad’s from the 1990’s. I only wear it for special occasions.”
Dang. I knew I’d be heating up Amazon and my credit card looking for a replacement tomorrow morning. Or rather, later today.
Wait. He’d said “special occasions.” My heart warmed. “Maybe Brad isn’t totally harmless, but I don’t think you can blame him for an accident.”
Cam pulled off his jacket and plucked his shirt away from his chest. He lifted his tie, his fingers headed for the knot. “Ha. That was no accident.”
Death Rub Page 5