The Art of Vanishing (A Lila Maclean Academic Mystery Book 2)

by Cynthia Kuhn

  He blinked twice quickly. “Are you joking?”

  “Not at all. Come with me.” I grabbed the drink the bartender had produced and motioned for Lex to follow me. As we walked, I told him what had just happened. He clenched his jaw and lowered his eyelids, as if he were shifting from party mode to detective mode. When we came around the corner, he pulled out his badge and held it up.

  “Excuse me—police business. Please clear the area.” The crowd parted quickly, and he knelt next to Damon, who was now sitting on the ground leaning against the wall. My mother was on one side with her arm around him, patting his shoulder. Mina was on the other, speaking intently to him, and Jasper was next to her, doing something on his phone. I thrust the drink at Damon while Lex asked him to recount what had happened. Damon’s version was basically the same as mine, though he opened with “I was just walking along, minding my own business, when Lila came charging at me...”

  No good deed goes unpunished, apparently.

  It wasn’t much of a crime scene, just a broken statue, but Lex explored it like the pro that he was. He even snapped some shots of the fragment pattern on the floor, and the area directly above, and the empty alcove where the bust of Minerva had once stood. I didn’t know if he was going to file an official report or if this was just habit for him, but it was nice to know someone had examined the evidence.

  “Why did it have to be Minerva?” Mina looked sad. “I wouldn’t have minded if Juno had been broken. But Minerva reminded me of my mother.”

  Jasper gave her a quick hug. “We should get one for our place. When we’re married.”

  She smiled at the thought. “I would love one. So I guess something good came out of this.”

  Lex returned and informed us that he was done.

  “Unless you can think of anything else?”

  We all shook our heads.

  “Please call me if you have any information.” He made a trip around the circle, handing out business cards, then everyone drifted slowly away.

  “Well, Lila,” he said, “you certainly live a dangerous life. Aside from the café, it seems like most times I see you, someone has just been attacked in one way or another. What is it about you?” He cocked his head, studying me.

  “That’s not fair,” I protested.

  “Really? Name one exception.”

  I wracked my brain, then smiled triumphantly. “Nothing happened at Roland’s memorial service last year.”

  “What about to Roland?”

  “But that was before the service started.”

  Lex considered this. “Fine. I’ll let you have that one.” He moved closer and peered into my face, speaking quietly. “But seriously, are you okay?”

  I took a deep breath and checked in with myself. “I was moving before I knew what I was doing, so there wasn’t really any time to be scared.”

  “That was brave.” He rubbed my arm slowly, which sent minor tremors down my spine.

  “The adrenaline is wearing off, I think,” I said. He inched slightly closer. The air between us was charged with tension, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

  I didn’t dislike it though.

  “Lila!” Nate was suddenly at my elbow, the lovely Amanda in tow. I took a step back from the detective and was surprised to see a flash of irritation cross his face at being interrupted.

  Nate and Amanda wanted to hear about the accident. Lex walked away and took a call on his cell phone while we chatted. A few minutes later, he mouthed, “I have to go.” I excused myself from the audience of two, promising to return momentarily.

  “Work,” Lex said, gesturing with his phone. “Walk me out?”

  We crossed the foyer and went out the front door. Most of the party guests had left, so the front drive was empty except for a lone red-vested valet leaning against the wall who stood up at our approach; he looked somewhat hopeful, perhaps anticipating a tip. Lex gave him the paper ticket, and he scuttled away toward wherever Lex’s car was parked.

  “Look,” he said. “This night didn’t really turn out the way I’d hoped. May I take you to dinner on Friday?”

  He’d hoped for something? I bookmarked that for future consideration.

  “Damon’s reading is on Friday.”

  “Oh right, they rescheduled it.” He stared across the front drive for a long minute. “Are you going?”

  “Yes,” I said. “Mandatory. Even if my mother weren’t suddenly attached to his right arm, I’d have to go for work.”

  “Ah.”

  “I’d ask you to accompany me, but it’s probably not your thing.”

  “What, pray tell, do you think my thing is?”

  I pondered that for a moment. His white smile was very bright and kind of distracting. “Something with explosions?” I ventured finally.

  He rolled his eyes.

  “Car chases?”

  “Talk about stereotypes,” he scoffed. “C’mon Professor. Stretch.”

  “Then you tell me. One of your things.”

  He chuckled but said nothing.

  “You’re going to make me work for this, aren’t you?”

  He waited.

  “I give up.”

  Still didn’t move a muscle.

  I sighed. “Okay, you enjoy...” I inspected him from head to toe. “Training bonsai trees.”

  His mouth fell open. “Where did that come from?”

  “I don’t know,” I confessed. “It was the furthest thing from explosions I could think of.”

  He laughed, a deep sound surprising me with its richness and warmth. It was the kind of laugh that made you want to laugh along. So I did.

  “What’s so funny?” Nate said from the doorway. I smiled at him but didn’t explain.

  Amanda echoed the question. I ignored her too.

  Lex squeezed my arm and started toward his car, which the valet just pulled up to the curb. “I’ll call you about dinner,” he said over his shoulder.

  Last time his calling me had led to my hanging up on him, followed by the disastrous voicemail message.

  But at least he was willing to try again. That was a positive sign.

  I watched him walk away, moving in his trademark style, which always reminded me of a secret service guy—all virile and powerful energy coiled up beneath a bland exterior. But then I remembered the way he had looked when he laughed tonight and upgraded “bland” to “appealing.”

  “Good night, Detective,” said Nate, appearing at my elbow for the second time that night, Amanda trailing again behind him like a small cloud. She was so ethereal she just seemed to float everywhere.

  He smiled down at me. I felt oddly irritated with him. It was fine he was with Amanda, but he didn’t have to keep bringing her over to me.

  “So, did he meet you here or...” Nate trailed off.

  “Yes,” I said. I was glad he’d worded it that way rather than asking me if we were on a date. I wasn’t even sure myself if we had actually been on a date or if Lex had showed up thinking it was a group thing. Or maybe his crime-fighter sense had tingled and he had come here to take care of business.

  But we were going out to dinner, in any case. That was definitely a date.

  “Wherever did you meet him?” asked Amanda, looking extremely interested. “He’s yummy.”

  Lex gave me a wave and drove away slowly and carefully. I liked that he didn’t have to peel out to show what a man he was, like some of my ex-boyfriends who seemed to believe women liked the squeal of tires.

  Amanda interrupted my thoughts with a soft touch on my forearm. “Really, where did you meet him?”

  “Oh, he thought I committed a murder,” I said airily.

  Her double take was priceless.

  Chapter 19

  I stood under the portico waiting for a valet to materialize. My mot
her had decided to go with Damon to his hotel to keep an eye on him, but I didn’t mind having a moment alone. There was only so much crowd I could handle, and the Arts Week events had exhausted me. I closed my eyes and concentrated on letting go of the tension in my shoulders. The cold air was refreshing, even though it made me shiver.

  My tiny serenity bubble was popped when Mina rushed up and seized my arm, her face pale. “Someone pushed me down the stairs,” she said in a shaky voice.

  “When? Are you okay?”

  “Just now.” She grabbed my other forearm and clutched them both as if she were a drowning person and I was the lifeguard.

  “Okay, take a deep breath and let it out slowly.”

  She did as I said, and we went through it several more times until her trembling lessened.

  “Better?”

  She nodded. “Thank you.”

  “Are you hurt?”

  “Dazed mostly. I’ll have some bruises, for sure, but I don’t think I broke anything.”

  “That’s good,” I said. “What happened? Can you walk me through it?”

  She let go of me and wrapped her arms around herself instead. “I went inside to get my purse...I think I dropped it when we saw your mom and my dad...you know.”

  We both made a face at the thought.

  “They’ve been turning lights off inside, and the upstairs hallway was dark. It freaked me out, so I ran over, grabbed my purse and returned to the staircase quickly. When I was right at the top, I heard a door close. I started to turn around, but before I could see who was behind me, I was falling.”

  “Did you look back up the staircase after you fell?”

  “Of course. But no one was there.”

  It would have been so much easier if the culprit had just stuck around.

  “We should tell someone.”

  She shook her head emphatically. “I don’t want to worry my father. He’s already poised to leave town as it is.”

  “I think we should tell him.”

  “Lila, please don’t. I’m fine. Really.” She moved her neck slowly from side to side, stretching—or checking—it. “If you tell him, you won’t have a reader on Friday.”

  “If you’re hurt, that’s more important. Could we at least go to urgent care, get you checked out? I can drive you.”

  “No,” she said, seeming steadier now. “Jasper will be here soon.”

  “Where are they? Didn’t you come together?”

  “Yes, but they went to get the car. Jasper didn’t want the valet to drive the rental. He didn’t buy the insurance, so now he’s obsessing over every potential scratch that could happen.” She laughed.

  A laugh was a good sign, right?

  “I would have bought the insurance and let the scratches fall where they may,” she added.

  “Me too,” I said. “Do you want me to walk you to the car?”

  “No—here they are,” she said, pointing to the shiny black SUV pulling up to the curb. Jasper, who was driving, made a hurry-up motion. Damon stared out the window from the passenger seat as the door on the side of the car slid back automatically. My mother waved gaily at me from the backseat. I waved back.

  “Have a good night,” I called out.

  Mina walked a few steps toward the car, then doubled back to give me a hug. “Thanks for helping me.”

  “I’m glad you’re okay,” I said.

  “Remember, not a word of this to anyone, okay?” Her eyes were locked on mine.

  “Okay,” I said. “But if it can help us figure out who is behind all of this, I might have to mention it to Detective Archer.”

  She shrugged. “Fair enough. But no one else.”

  “Deal.”

  The rest of the week flew by as I taught classes, did some advising, and tried to catch up on my grading. My mother, who appeared to have appointed herself official bodyguard, spent most of the week with Damon, Mina, and Jasper. Although I knew it wouldn’t have been fun for her to sit around my empty house while I was at campus, I did worry about her being in such close proximity to the trio who had been targeted by persons unknown. I couldn’t convince her to stay away; in fact, she tried to urge me to spend even more time with them. On Thursday night, under my mother’s orders, I showed up at The Peak House, where we were meeting Damon, Jasper, and Mina for dinner.

  “Darling!” My mother, in a chic black suit and pumps, came forward to greet me. “We’re sitting over here.” She led the way through the full restaurant to the booth where I’d seen Simone’s mother last time. I paused for a moment to imagine the two maternal forces meeting.

  Pretty sure my mom could take her mom.

  We arrived at the wooden table where Damon, Jasper, and Mina were already having cocktails. The three of them were on one side of the long table, with Mina in the middle. I sat next to my mother on the other side and greeted the group.

  We chatted for awhile about the places they’d gone this week.

  “Garden of the Gods was beautiful, but I could hardly breathe at the top of Pikes Peak,” said Mina. “I mean, I walked two feet and almost fainted. Luckily, Jasper caught me.” She smiled at him fondly.

  He put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer.

  “And the drive down—all twists and turns.”

  She shuddered.

  “We made it,” Jasper said, running his free hand through his spiky hair. “No worries.”

  “Builds character,” Damon boomed. “Man versus nature.”

  “Or car versus car,” Mina said, elbowing him.

  “That too,” Damon said, winking at her before taking a slug of his whiskey.

  “What’s the plan for tomorrow?” he asked Jasper.

  Jasper straightened up instantly and removed his arm from Mina’s shoulder in order to lean forward and face Damon. “The whole day is free until the reading.”

  “Is there anything you’d like to do?” I asked Damon.

  “Get out of this one-horse town,” he snapped.

  Nice attitude. We’d paid him double his usual rate for the displeasure of his company. The least he could do was be polite about it. I refrained from comment.

  “The sooner we get back to New York, the better.” Damon slapped the table for emphasis, which startled me. He saw me jump and gave a phlegmy chortle, studying me from underneath furrowed brows, the thick white hairs clumped like two furry caterpillars holding on for dear life. Eventually, he turned to Jasper. “I don’t want to do anything tomorrow but sleep late, eat some good food, and get this whole thing over with. Where in tarnation is our waiter, by the way?”

  “I’ll go find him,” Jasper offered, leaping up from the table.

  “Would you like to go for a walk?” my mother asked Damon. “Might be nice to stretch our legs before dinner.”

  “No,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest like a stubborn toddler. He probably knew he was going to get an earful for snapping at me.

  “Oh, let’s stroll a little,” she said, going over to him and rubbing his arm. “It’s lovely outside.”

  He sighed loudly and made a big production of standing up as slowly as possible.

  “Order me a steak,” he said to Mina. “Rare. Baked potato loaded. Skip the salad.”

  She nodded.

  My mother asked if I wouldn’t mind ordering her a California Club salad. She stressed the please, maybe to teach Damon some manners.

  I could hear him grumbling as he trailed behind her.

  Once he’d left, the energy in the room lightened. It was as though someone had opened a window and fresh air had come streaming in.

  The server arrived and took our orders, then Mina and I were left looking at each other across the table. She held up her left hand and straightened her engagement ring so that the large diamond was in the middle again.

&
nbsp; I complimented her ring.

  “Thank you,” she said, holding it out so I could do a closer inspection. “It belonged to Jasper’s mother. She passed away. His father too. Sailing accident.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I didn’t really know her,” she said softly. “Otherwise I would always be sad when I looked at it.”

  “So how did you and Jasper meet?” I asked her.

  “Grad school, though it was because of my father.” She looked down for a long moment. “I was at boarding school when my mother and grandparents died—”

  “I’m sorry,” I said again.

  “Thank you,” she said flatly. She lifted her chin and her eyes softened. “And I didn’t have anyone left in the world besides Damon. He was so good to me when I was young—my mother and I lived next door to him, and we spent as much time in his loft as we did in our own. They were my family, even though I didn’t know he was my real father until right before my mother died.”

  “That’s when she told you?”

  “Yes. She was going through a deep depression near the end, though none of us knew it was the end, of course. I mean, she might have known. The overdose could have been a suicide.” Mina looked down and twisted her ring again. “At boarding school, I missed them both tremendously. Damon doesn’t like to talk on the phone or email or write letters, so it was as if he disappeared. After college, I decided to apply to grad schools in New York to be close to him.”

  “And you were reunited.”

  “Yes, and it was wonderful.” She smiled at me. “Word got out during my first year at school that I was Damon’s daughter. So of course Jasper started to pay more attention to me: he was writing his dissertation on my father’s work, and he began to ask me questions about his earlier years. I tried to fill in the gaps for him and, in return, he helped me understand the literary significance of my father’s work. I’d already spoken to Columbia about housing my father’s papers, and I needed to learn as much as possible. Jasper knows everything there is to know about Damon Von Tussel’s work and reception. It was like having a crash course designed just for me.”