by Ann Roberts
A soft knock got his attention. Andre stood in the door, almost fearful to enter.
“What do you need, kid? Don’t worry. I’m not going to pull you into this mess yet. You’ve got your forty-eight hours.”
He slid into a chair and pulled out his notebook. “I just wanted to run some ideas by you.”
“Go on.”
“Okay. So the front desk clerk at Uptown Fitness, who seemed to know everyone by name, couldn’t match Lola’s description.
“She wore a disguise.”
“Exactly,” Andre agreed, “but I was hoping her general physique might trigger a match.”
“It does,” he snorted, “for most of the women who go to a gym.” Andre looked thoroughly dejected at the thought of losing the case. “So what should you do now?”
He threw up his hands. “I need help. I need someone who could picture her in a wig or a different outfit and say, ‘That’s her.’” He paused before he said, “I need Molly.”
Chapter Eleven
Ari smacked the phone receiver down with force, angry that the wake-up call had robbed her of a wonderful dream. She had been playing in the waves with Molly, who had carried her into the surf and threatened to drop her into the icy water. They’d been laughing so hard she couldn’t catch her breath. Then the phone rang.
She cried softly into the pillow, grateful they were in a suite and Jane was in the other room. The dream had been so real. It had been such a long time since she’d heard Molly’s laugh, and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen her smile. The weeks leading to the break-up had been so stressful. Perhaps it had been inevitable.
She heard rustling in the living room and pulled herself away from the luxurious bed to investigate. She found Jane ordering room service.
“Did you like your massage?” she asked when she hung up.
“Very much. Thank you.”
She didn’t want to mention the massage to her heart that she’d experienced. It was too difficult to explain, and Jane would probably spring for a year of massages if she knew the depth of Ari’s pain.
Jane glanced at the journal sitting on the table. “Why can’t Biz get here sooner?”
“She didn’t say. The text was very short, but I sensed whatever she’s working on is frustrating her.”
“I’ll bet,” Jane snorted. “I’m sure she’d much rather be here with you.”
She ignored the comment, unwilling to speculate about a future with Biz. She was attractive and they had chemistry but she wasn’t ready, not when she was still dreaming about and crying over Molly.
They ate breakfast and hurried out the door, arriving at Brayberry Elementary School shortly before eleven. Evan had arranged for them to speak with Lark Tuppin, Nina’s best friend and closest colleague at the school, who was also Michaela’s teacher.
“As a school administrator, I can’t discuss anything without breaking confidentiality, but the teachers have more latitude,” he’d said, implying that Lark would be willing to bend the rules if it meant solving a murder.
A helpful office assistant took them to her room, an explosion of posters, charts and brightly colored bulletin boards displaying student work. Ari found the pint-sized furniture adorable, but she couldn’t remember ever having a classroom so dedicated to learning.
Lark Tuppin was as cute as her room. She bounced over from her computer and greeted them. Ari and Jane towered over her by at least a foot, and her baby face suggested she was a recent college graduate. She wore a smock with pockets over her bright red-print shirt and chinos. She was one of those people whose appearance fit her job: she looked like an elementary school teacher.
“Hi, I’m Lark. Thanks for coming by.” She might as well have been announcing the cruise activities for the day with her perky voice and bright smile. She gestured to a small kidney-shaped table and four pint-sized chairs.
“Sorry,” she apologized.
“It’s okay,” Ari said. “It’s been a while.”
“Everybody says that. We forget how small everything was when we were little.” She automatically glanced at the clock. “I only have about twenty minutes so how can I help?”
“We understand that Nina’s work sometimes forced her to make unpleasant choices and we’re wondering if anyone connected to her job might’ve wanted to her hurt her.”
Lark gazed across the room and Ari guessed she was trying hard to hold it together.
“I can’t imagine anyone wanting to hurt Nina. She was a dear person.” She wiped a tear from her eye and sniffled. “But there was one family that had problems.”
“You’re Michaela’s teacher, right?” Jane interjected, and Lark looked relieved that someone else had brought up the girl’s name.
She nodded. “I was the one who originally suggested Nina start seeing her on a regular basis. I can’t really discuss the details, but I suspected there was something going on. Initially Eden, that’s her mom, agreed, but after about four sessions I found this very angry voice mail on my phone ordering the sessions to stop. Eden didn’t sound anything like herself. It was almost like she was reading from a script. I guess Nina got the same message.”
“So did the sessions stop?” Jane asked.
“Officially, yes, but we interact with the kids all the time. Nina made a point to show up in the lunchroom when Michaela was there or be out at recess with her. Since Michaela adored her, she was like a magnet stuck to Nina’s side every time she saw her. I think she told Nina a lot, and a few weeks ago, Nina called the authorities.”
Ari leaned forward. “So what happened then?”
She shook her head and sighed. “There was a big blow-up in the office lobby, right in front of other families. Bobby, Eden’s boyfriend, stormed in and demanded to speak to the principal. Since she was out, Evan talked to him, and I heard it didn’t go well. Bobby blew out of his office, yelling that the ‘bitch social worker’ was going to regret ever messing with his family.” She raised her hand and added, “This is totally hearsay so I’m not breaking any confidentiality laws here. I have no idea if what I’m saying is true. It could be nothing more than gossip.” She paused and added seriously, “But I doubt it.”
“Have you met this boyfriend?” Jane asked.
Her eyes widened. “Oh, yes. He came to parent-teacher conferences and wasn’t very pleasant. He made a lot of demands while Eden just sat there like a timid mouse. It was almost like he was the blood relative and Eden was the girlfriend who had no legal rights, not the other way around.”
Jane couldn’t hide her irritation. “Why does he have any say?”
“Because it’s whatever the parent wants, and if Eden says he can be in Michaela’s life, then he can. Even if he is abusing her,” she added under her breath. “Did I say that out loud?” she asked with a sweet, primary teacher expression on her face.
Ari sensed she knew a lot more but was holding back to preserve her professionalism. “Where’s Michaela’s biological father?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I doubt he’s around.”
“Do you think Bobby is capable of committing murder?”
“Definitely. I wasn’t in the office when he came in that day and made a scene, but my source told me that Evan was lucky he didn’t get punched in the face or stabbed in the heart with a pencil. She said that Bobby Arco was so mad, he looked like he could’ve murdered somebody.”
* * *
They returned to the office and found a well-built man arguing with the school secretary. Dressed in dark workpants and a blue work shirt with the sleeves rolled up, he looked like an auto mechanic. The name patch that should’ve been over his pocket was gone, but Ari saw a name tattooed on his exposed bicep—Eden.
“That’s Bobby Arco,” she whispered to Jane.
“I need to see her now!” he bellowed. “I know she’s on her break.”
“Her preparation period is about to end,” the diminutive secretary said evenly. “She needs to pick up her students from
art, and she must be on time.”
She guessed that he’d shown up to speak with Lark, but he was too late. He glared at the secretary; she held her ground, but Ari could see the woman was petrified.
“Then let me talk to Mr. Garritson. I want to file a complaint.”
“I’m afraid he’s busy,” the secretary said. “You’ll need—”
“That’s just great!” he screamed. “I come down here on my break because I have serious problems and no one will help me. I have rights! I’m a parent.”
“What’s going on?” Evan asked, appearing from his office.
“We need to talk,” Arco said, pointing his finger. “Those cops won’t leave us alone and it’s because your teacher can’t keep her mouth shut.”
Evan motioned to the hallway. “Why don’t you come back—”
“I don’t have time. My break’s almost up. You just tell that teacher of yours that she needs to shut up.”
He stormed past three parents, who quickly moved out of his path, and left in a huff. Evan whispered to the secretary, who explained what had happened. He patted her shoulder and noticed Ari and Jane. He offered a half-hearted smile and led them to his office.
“I’m sorry you had to see that. I’m sorry everyone had to see that.”
“He’s pretty scary,” Jane said.
“I think he’s more bluster than anything else, but we try not to push his buttons. Still, he has to follow the rules, and we don’t give in to demands just because he raises his voice.”
“Have you ever called the police?” Ari asked.
“No, he’s always calmed down or left. It’s the ones who won’t calm down...”
He didn’t bother to finish the thought, but Ari understood.
“I hope it was helpful to talk to Lark,” he said, changing the subject.
“It was, and after what we just saw, I think Bobby Arco is a definite suspect. I’m guessing he was angry because the police are investigating him?”
“I believe so,” he said, watching an email pop up on the screen as he spoke.
She imagined multitasking was a part of his day and few people got his undivided attention.
“The police asked me about Nina’s relationships with people at work. They took several pages of notes about Eden, Michaela and Bobby, including the huge meltdown he had here in the office.”
“That wasn’t a meltdown?” Jane interjected.
“Hardly,” he replied, “when compared to some of his past appearances.”
Ari leaned forward in her chair. “And the big blowup happened about two weeks ago?”
Sticky notes and scraps of paper covered his calendar. He flipped back to October and pointed to a Wednesday morning. “October fourteenth. I remember because he made me late for a meeting with the superintendent.”
“Did Nina ever mention Bobby calling her or confronting her after that incident?”
“No, she wasn’t even aware that he’d threatened her until I said something. I think her mind was on other things.”
“Like what?”
He rested his chin in his palm. “Probably Sam breaking up with her. I didn’t understand why he did that. They were still in love.”
“You didn’t understand or you didn’t agree?”
He looked up with a sheepish grin. “Good point. I understood why he felt it was necessary, but if she’d been my girlfriend, I never would’ve sacrificed her for Dad’s career.”
There was fervor in his voice, a strength Ari hadn’t heard before. She was about to ask him about it when the principal knocked and entered.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” she said. An older woman with set hair and a conservative dress, she had an air about her that made Ari sit up straighter in her presence. She held out a massive key ring stuffed with keys of every color and shape imaginable. “Evan, which one is the master? We can’t find the combination for one of the athletes who withdrew.”
He flipped through them and held one up for her. It looked very familiar to Ari.
“Hey,” Jane said. “Isn’t that—”
Ari kicked her in the shin, shutting her up. It appeared the administrators hadn’t noticed Jane’s interjection, too busy studying the keys. After the principal had departed, Ari grabbed her bag.
“Well, we should be going, Evan. I know you’re busy. Thanks so much for your time.”
“No problem,” he said. “Are you coming to the service?”
“When is it?” Jane asked.
“Tomorrow morning. Sam and I are arranging it since Nina didn’t have any close family.”
They glanced at each other and nodded. His phone rang and Ari said, “We’ll show ourselves out.”
They ducked into the women’s restroom, and Jane leaned against the sink, rubbing her shin. “Thanks a lot. I’ll have a nice bruise on my ankle.”
“I’m sorry, sweetie, but I don’t trust Evan.”
“Why? You think he may be the killer?”
She pulled the key from her purse. “I don’t know what to think, but I’m almost positive he had feelings for Nina.”
“You think?” Jane asked sarcastically. “I thought he was going to cry.”
“Exactly. I’m not sure where he fits into all of this. Maybe Nina knew he loved her and she refused him. That could certainly drive a person to murder.”
Jane scowled. “I don’t see it. Evan’s too mild-mannered, like Steve.”
“Perhaps,” she replied, “but we need to find the locker that this key belongs to.”
The restroom door swung open, and Jane and Ari dropped their conversation immediately and stared into the sink.
“Unbelievable.” They turned to see Rory, shaking her head. “Are you two following me?”
Chapter Twelve
The minute hand on Dr. Yee’s bookshelf clock inched toward the nine, and Molly knew her hour was nearly over—finally. She’d only agreed to see a shrink once a week as part of her severance package. It was the department’s way of showing they cared. At first she’d hated going, but after five sessions of facing the petite, older woman who kept her hands folded in her lap while she spoke in the calmest voice Molly had ever heard, Molly had decided to trust her. Maybe she could help her understand why Ari had cheated on Valentine’s Day.
“So you were disappointed when you didn’t find the photograph in the nightstand?” Dr. Yee asked after she recounted her reconnaissance through Ari’s bedroom.
“Yeah.”
“Where do you think it might be?”
“I don’t know.”
“No idea?”
She rubbed her forehead, sorry she’d mentioned it. She felt terribly guilty for snooping and foolish for caring. “It could be in one of the drawers I didn’t search, or in a box in her closet, or it might be at her office. Maybe she threw it away,” she said wistfully, praying it wasn’t true.
“Was that the only picture of you two?”
She chuckled. “Yeah, I’m not big on photographs. We were up in Prescott with her friend Jane, who demanded that we pose inside the gazebo, you know, the one outside the courthouse?”
Dr. Yee nodded. “It’s a lovely location for a picture.”
“It turned out pretty good so Jane made us copies and put them in these nice wooden frames.”
“Where’s yours?”
She stared at the leather armrest. “In my nightstand drawer.”
“I see.” She paused and then said, “Molly, you’re an incredibly bright woman and we both know that my role here is just to get you thinking, but I won’t insult your intelligence. You don’t need me to connect those dots for you, so I’m going to change the subject. After you left Ari’s house, how long did it take you to quell the urge to drink?”
“About three frames,” she joked, and Dr. Yee looked at her quizzically. “I went bowling.”
It hadn’t been easy. She’d actually driven to Hideaway and hopped out of the truck. She’d had every intention of marching through the front door, pushin
g whoever was on her stool onto the floor and demanding Vicky serve her a scotch. But fate had interceded. Biz had walked out of Hideaway as she’d taken a step away from the truck. She’d hurried in the opposite direction toward the closest business, a bowling alley.
“You weren’t tempted to drink at the bar?”
“No, I know how bad the drinks are at places like that. It’s all watered down.”
“So you didn’t drink because it wasn’t appealing, not because you tempered the urge.”
She fidgeted in the wingback chair. “Not exactly. If I’d been really thirsty I would’ve downed anything.”
Dr. Yee stared at the ceiling. “What if the first business you’d seen had been a decent restaurant or another bar?”
“Rarely are there two bars in the same strip mall,” Molly commented.
Dr. Yee’s eyes narrowed. “You get my point.”
She nodded glumly, watching the clock hand move closer to the twelve. Somehow they always circled back to the topic she hated the most. “What does this have to do with Ari? She’s the one who—”
“Say it,” Dr. Yee said, leaning forward, her hands resting on her knees.
It was their code phrase, the one she’d heard endlessly during the first two visits as she’d ranted and raved about Ari’s indiscretion and her annoying perfectionist attitude, which she blamed as much for their break-up as the kiss.
“Say it.”
Her anger retreated like a child who’d been threatened with a swat. She’d learned it couldn’t survive against the truth.
“I’m an alcoholic.”
A buzzer went off and she glanced at the clock’s minute hand sitting perfectly on the twelve.