“Right, that’s your favorite food.” He pretended to be contemplating and said, “Snowman.”
Since it never snowed in Salinas, this was perfect. “Snowman it is.”
It was nice to see everyone back to normal, and just enjoying the party. I listened as Charles regaled everyone with the details of the set up.
“Have you ever been to one of those murder dinners? Anthony and I went to one for Halloween. That’s when we got the idea.” Charles animatedly waved his hands around as he gloated.
“But at those parties, everyone knows there is a fake murder. All of the clues are built in,” Jackie said. She was still drinking out of her champagne bottle, so her words were a bit slurred.
Willis said, “Actually they’re scripted.”
Jackie winked at him. “You know something about everything.”
Willis shook his head.
“Yeah, yeah, I know, but that wouldn’t have been any fun. And Mimi has come across so many dead bodies this year, so I thought it would be fun for everyone to be in on it but her,” Charles gloated.
I glared at Charles. “Yes, so fun.”
“It was.” Anthony beamed. “And it went off without a hitch.”
Without a hitch; they had humiliated me. I was a good sport though. I could handle this. (I am already plotting my revenge).
“I’m curious, who the hell invited April?”
Charles cocked his head. “Okay, maybe there was one hitch, but just added one more suspect to the list.”
“So you didn’t invite her?” I asked.
Anthony raised his hand. “I’m so sorry, I did.”
All eyes were on Anthony now. “What?” Charles gasped.
“She was standing outside on the sidewalk last week when I left here.” Anthony looked at Charles. “We’d just finished lunch, and I was heading home. She asked me if Mimi lived here and I said no, but it was her business.”
I shook my head, not believing what I was hearing. “So you just offered up information without even knowing who she was?”
Anthony looked at me like “duh” and said, “Your name is on the sign, right under the business name.”
“Oh, that’s right,” I thought, but wasn’t going to say it out loud.
“She said you two were best friends in college, and that she knew Nick, and she was interested in seeing you again. Catching up.” He looked resigned. “I told her your schedule was unpredictable because of the work you do, but that you’d be at the party tonight. I invited her to stop by.”
“You didn’t put her on the guest list,” Charles admonished.
“I really didn’t think she’d show up.”
I sighed. “She did. And wasn’t that a hoot?”
During this conversation, Nick had been very quiet and very still. I looked down at him as this wasn’t like him.
“Did you know about April?”
By the look in his face, I was sorry I’d asked the question.
“I didn’t know she’d be at the party, but I did know she was in town.”
I wanted to scream at him for not telling me, but I realized he was only trying to avoid a confrontation. I didn’t blame him; he dealt with enough confrontation in his life without adding me to the mix.
April had to be up to something. I didn’t think she’d changed a bit in all these years. “Why is she here?”
Nick fidgeted a bit, and I stood up. He grabbed my hand. “She wanted to see why I’d come back here.” He paused. “She also wanted to get together, have lunch and ‘whatever happened after lunch.’”
I hated her now as much as ever. Sometimes I think I deserve for her to hate me, but I didn’t break her and Nick up, she had done that all by herself. Remember when I said she’d betrayed him?
One day after practice, Nick was getting out of the shower when he saw a fellow player flashing a pair of red lace panties. Immediately Nick saw red, pun intended. They were April’s panties. Her way of leaving something to remember her by, April would leave her panties behind after sex. Before Nick could confront her about it, he found out she was engaged. Even though he felt sorry for the guy, he dumped April, glad to be rid of her.
So see, I had nothing to do with their breakup.
“Did you two have lunch?” Jackie asked the question before I could.
Nick looked me in the eye and said, “I told her I was seeing someone and I didn’t think lunch was a good idea.” He stood up and grabbed me by the hand. “Come on, let’s go enjoy the real party.”
Nick walked me out the back door, grabbing a bottle of champagne and a bottle of cider on the way. He put me in the passenger seat of his car and handed me the bottles.
Before I knew it, Nick had me in his bedroom, undressing me as I stood with the bottles in one hand, and crystal flutes in the other. Just as my dress dropped to the ground, the ball dropped in Times Square.
Nick kissed me on the lips and whispered, “Happy New Year.”
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Tagged, You're It (a novelette) (Gotcha Detective Agency Mysteries) Page 5