by Karen White
Thirty-two
SUGAR
Sugar sat on the porch swing next to Wade and watched the police cruiser and unmarked sedan head back down the driveway. They’d barely turned onto the road before Merilee’s minivan pulled in from the opposite direction, making Sugar believe that the timing had been planned.
“I just need to know one thing, Wade,” Sugar said.
“Oh, no. Ever since I was a little kid, those words always got me in trouble. What do you need to know?”
“Are your intentions toward Merilee honorable?”
He looked relieved. “What do you mean by ‘honorable’? Do you mean do I intend to marry her? I have no idea—we’re too early in our relationship. Assuming what we have might actually be called a relationship. Do you mean will I respect her and stand beside her right now? Then yes. I think she needs a friend now more than she needs a lover.”
She patted his leg. “Good boy. Although I suspect your definition of ‘lover’ isn’t the same as mine, but let’s not split hairs.”
He sent her a sidelong glance as he stood to greet Merilee and the kids, knowing she’d seen the police vehicles. She’d been back to work for less than a week, and he was fairly sure the police had known this, too, which was why they’d planned to be at her house when she wasn’t.
The minivan screeched to a stop as the rear door slid open and Lily and Colin ran toward the porch. “Did you see the police car?” Lily asked.
“Did you bring cookies, Miss Sugar?” Colin asked simultaneously, racing up the steps on his sister’s heels.
Before anyone could answer, Merilee slammed her car door and stood in front of it, trying—and failing—not to look worried. “Why were the police here?”
Wade held up a copy of the paper the policeman had given him. “They had a warrant to search the premises.”
The two children squeezed onto the swing on either side of Sugar as Merilee put her foot on the first step and stopped like she was too tired to continue. “What on earth could they have been searching for?”
Before Wade could answer, Sugar patted the children’s knees. “I brought cookies. Why don’t you two run inside and watch some TV before you start your homework?”
“Cookies!” Colin shouted as he slid from the swing and raced inside, letting the screen door slam and leaving the front door wide open.
Lily sat calmly, her frown lines deeper than Sugar remembered. “I know you’re trying to get rid of us for an adult conversation.”
Sugar patted her back. “That’s correct, young lady. Be glad you’re a child, and try to stay that way as long as you can. You’ll be an adult for the rest of your life, so you might as well enjoy it now.”
Lily’s frown deepened, but she slid off the swing and entered the house more sedately than her brother, closing both doors quietly behind her.
Wade waited a few moments to give Lily time to move away from the door. “I’m not sure what they were looking for, but I think they might have found it. They didn’t leave empty-handed.”
Sugar patted the seat next to her, but Merilee shook her head. “I’m sorry, dear. They asked me if I was the landlord and if I had a key, so I let them in. Otherwise they’d just come back later, and I didn’t think you would want the children here for that. I gave them my own key, even though it would have been easier to use the key you keep under the mat.” She sent Merilee a reproachful look.
“What did they take?” she asked.
“A couple of things,” Wade said. “The detective said he’d leave an inventory sheet on the kitchen table. I didn’t want to intrude, but if you want me to go get it now, I will.” He put his hands gently on Merilee’s shoulders and moved her toward the swing. “Sit down. You look like a strong wind could blow you over.”
Merilee did as she was told, surprising Sugar. Or maybe she shouldn’t have been surprised. There were many times in her own life when she’d needed a moment between crashing waves to catch her breath.
“Thanks, Wade,” Merilee said. “I might as well know. It’s not like the whole town won’t know what they took after this week’s edition of the paper comes out.”
When Wade returned, he handed her a white piece of paper, the words SWEET APPLE POLICE DEPARTMENT clearly printed at the top. Merilee took a moment before glancing at the top item. “Heather’s ring. They took Heather’s ring.”
“One of the officers said it was stolen,” Sugar said. At Wade’s questioning look, she said, “People assume I’m hard of hearing, which is correct, but I have a very good hearing aid.”
“But it wasn’t stolen,” Merilee insisted. “I sold it to Dan at the store. It was an anniversary present for Heather. At the party, Heather told me to hold it for her because it was too big, and she didn’t have a place to put it. So I wore it all night and didn’t have a chance to give it to her after . . . after . . .” She stopped. “I thought I’d hold on to it for safekeeping for now and return it later. But I haven’t had a chance because she won’t answer my phone calls.”
Wade cleared his throat. “I noticed it on your finger, so I’m guessing a lot of other people saw it, too.”
Merilee stared unblinking at Wade. “But why would Heather think I stole it? She handed it to me—at the top of the stairs, remember? You were standing right next to me, and she’d just grabbed you to fill in at the receiving line until I could find Dan.”
“I remember standing there, and her leaning into you, but I don’t remember her giving you the ring. I just remember seeing you wearing it.”
“Oh, God,” she said, sinking back in the swing. “Couldn’t they have just asked me for it?”
“That’s exactly what I asked,” Sugar said. “Sounds a lot more polite than going into somebody’s house and taking it. That nice detective said that if he’d done that, you might have hidden it.”
“But why would I . . . ?”
“Because they were told it was stolen,” Wade said gently.
“But it wasn’t,” Merilee said again, her voice rising. “And Heather knew that. Do you think she forgot with all the stress over Dan’s death?”
Wade met Sugar’s gaze. “Merilee . . .”
She waved her hand at him. “I know, I know. I’m just trying to pretend that everything is normal and that I haven’t walked into this alternate universe where nothing is making sense.” She closed her eyes tightly, then opened them again quickly, reading the rest of the list. Sugar watched as what little color on Merilee’s face disappeared. “No. No. This isn’t right . . .”
With shaking fingers, she handed the paper to Sugar, who could read the header without her magnifying glass but little else. She immediately gave it to Wade.
He read out loud. “One high-heeled purple Christian Louboutin—I have no idea how to pronounce that—woman’s evening shoe.” He frowned. “Sounds like the ones you wore to the gala. But I thought you lost your shoes at the party.”
“I did.” Her chest rose and fell like she was trying to suck in enough air to keep her alive. “The police found one of them on the dock, near where Daniel went into the water. The other one was missing. The detective told me that Daniel was hit on the back of the head with what looked like a stiletto heel and that’s what knocked him into the water. And he was too drunk . . .” She stopped. “But I wasn’t wearing those shoes when I came home. I know I wasn’t. Am I going crazy? I know I didn’t have that shoe.” Merilee was shaking so badly that Sugar felt the vibration through the swing.
“But the police would have to have had a reason to search for these things . . .” She stopped, her eyes widening with realization. “Sharlene Cavanaugh. When she came to tell me she couldn’t carpool with me anymore. She could have called, but now I’m thinking Heather must have sent her. To see if she could come up with a reason for the police to search my house. She must have seen the ring. I had it in the box on the hall table to remind
me it needed to be returned to Heather.”
“And the shoe?” Wade asked.
“Whether she saw it or not, I didn’t put it in my house. I know that for sure.”
Sugar felt a tightening in her chest, a strange feeling that had come on suddenly a few days before and then decided to stay. Maybe it was her grief over Daniel, or rather her bottling up of her grief. Or maybe it was her heart breaking, having finally reached its capacity for loss. She took Merilee’s hand and held on.
Wade grabbed on to the swing’s rope to steady it, then squatted in front of Merilee. “You were wearing flip-flops when I brought you home that night—or early morning, I should say. And you had that tiny black purse that wouldn’t fit a shoe. I’ll go to the police and let them know that there’s a kink in their story. That should help. Or at least let them see that there’s something wrong about this whole thing. I’m sure they’re planning on interviewing me again, but I’ll beat them to it.”
Sugar pressed her lips together. “As Detective Olivia Benson would say on Law & Order: SVU, Merilee, you’re being set up.”
Merilee jerked her hand away. “That’s ridiculous. I’m sorry, Sugar, but seriously. This is real life. That kind of thing doesn’t happen in real life. And especially not in Sweet Apple.”
“You’re right,” Sugar agreed. “Detective Harrell said that the most common crime he deals with nowadays in Sweet Apple is identity theft. Maybe I should try that, see what it’s like to be a twenty-year-old again. Of course, I’d have to live through the years in between all over again, and I don’t think I have the stomach for it.”
Merilee sent her an angry look, making Sugar glad. Because anything was better than the helpless-victim persona Merilee appeared to be adjusting to a little too well. “But who would have put that shoe in my house? And why would Heather tell the police that I stole a ring when she knows that I didn’t?”
Both Sugar and Wade looked at her, waiting for her to answer her own question.
Merilee sat against the back of the swing, deflated. “Heather knew that I kept the key under the mat. She also knew all my passwords.” She put her head in her hands. “Oh, my gosh. She’s the one who told me to take off my shoes so I wouldn’t trip down the basement stairs.” She shook her head. “It’s like I made everything so easy for her. Practically helped her set up every single piece of evidence the police have to make me look like I had something to do with Dan’s death.” She jerked her head back. “Including a motive. Those pictures on Facebook.” Her eyes widened. “The whole Tybee house incident—all things Heather orchestrated to make the police think I was having an affair with Dan. Like I would ever do that to his family—or mine. Like my kids and I haven’t already gone through all the trauma of Michael’s infidelity.”
Wade rubbed her back, and Sugar watched as she tensed, imagining Merilee resisting the desire to lean on someone. She’d made that mistake before, and Sugar doubted she was eager to repeat it. Sugar wanted to let her know she understood but that sometimes you needed a friend to trust. Just as much as she knew that Merilee would have to figure that out on her own.
“She killed him, didn’t she?” Merilee said, her hands limp on her lap. “She killed Dan, that poor, sweet man. And now she’s trying to set me up to make me look like I did it. I’m so stupid. So incredibly stupid.”
“There has to be a reason, Merilee,” Wade said softly. “This is so out-of-this-world crazy that I can barely wrap my brain around it. Is there anything, anything you can think of why Heather would want to hurt you like this? Because if we can figure out her motive, we might have enough ammunition to point the finger of blame at the right person.”
She shrugged away from his touch and he dropped his hand. “I told you, I don’t know.” She sat back, her face miserable. “And why would Heather want to hurt Dan?”
Sugar snorted. “Money, plain and simple. In addition to the houses and business, I bet there’s a very hefty insurance policy, too. She married him for his money; I know that for sure. Remember how she used to call you after she was married, Wade? Even on her honeymoon.”
Merilee sent Wade an accusing look. Apparently they hadn’t yet reached the full-disclosure phase of their courtship.
“And I’m betting Merilee wasn’t randomly selected to take the fall,” Sugar continued. “I could call Heather all sorts of names, but stupid wouldn’t be one of them. My guess would be she somehow found out about that whole business with Merilee’s first husband and, being the horrible person she is, decided to use it.”
Merilee sucked in her breath, as if ice had just been poured down her back.
“I’m sorry, Merilee,” Wade said softly. “We can’t tiptoe around the sad facts of this case. There’s too much at stake.”
Sugar turned to Wade. “Who are Heather’s people? I know she’s from Georgia, but where was she raised? We never met her family during all those wedding parties, and I can’t seem to recall why.”
“She was born in Augusta. Her parents were in their late forties when she was born—she was an only child, but not the kind whose sudden appearance at their age was welcomed by her parents, according to Heather. They were killed in a car accident when she was in middle school, and she went to live with her aunt and uncle nearby. They were dirt poor, from what Heather implied, and I don’t think they welcomed another mouth to feed. I never met them—even after our engagement. They weren’t close, and I don’t think Heather had any contact with them after she graduated from high school and went on to Georgia State. I remember her telling me that she spent the school holidays with friends. Then she moved to Buckhead to associate with the types of people she thought worthy—her exact words—and worked for an interior design store until she married Dan.”
Merilee was slowly shaking her head, staring down at her hands. “None of that intersects with my own life. None of it. I have no idea how she might have found out about John.” She turned her hands over, palms up, as if she were begging. “I need to talk with Heather, confront her. Because she’s the only one who has the answers.”
Sugar actually wagged her finger at Merilee, something she’d been wanting to do for a long time. “That woman wouldn’t help you any more than a hawk would help a rabbit cross the road. You stay away from her or you’ll end up jumping from the frying pan and into the fire.”
“Think about it,” Wade said. “Heather killed Dan—I think we all know that’s true. She’s the only one who would benefit from his death—and let’s not forget she was at the party and was involved in every piece of circumstantial evidence the police are using to build their case against you. And now she’s trying to get away with murder and set you up.”
Merilee lifted her gaze from Sugar’s finger to meet her eyes. “I just wish I knew why. What if it was something I said or did that made her target me?”
Sugar gave her the sternest look she could muster. “This is not your fault. Heather is crazy, and you can’t reason with crazy. So stop wallowing in what-ifs. Unless you killed someone, none of this is justified. You need to get more angry and less sad. And then go do something about it.”
Merilee pulled back as if she’d been struck. “I didn’t kill anyone. Contrary to popular belief that I’m a serial killer, I’m a nice, normal person. Or at least I used to be.” She stood, jolting the swing. “I have to call my lawyer now and tell her about the search, and find out what the hell I’m supposed to do next. And hopefully it involves hanging Heather with her own rope.”
Sugar sat back, trying not to look smug, while Wade took Merilee’s hand as she moved to the door. “Do you want me to stay?”
Without looking at him, she shook her head. “I’m not good company right now.”
He let her go and she entered the house, closing the door softly behind her.
Sugar moved the swing with her foot, her memories thick around her, as they always were when she was at the cottage.
The wind seemed to blow at them from different angles, as if confused as to its purpose, scuttling dry leaves along the steps and walkway. She’d have to remember to bring Merilee a broom.
“What are you thinking?” Wade asked. “Whenever you put your jaw like that, it always warns me that you’re up to something.”
“Of course I am—and so are you. This whole business with Merilee is worrisome. It’s a circumstantial case, and the police know it, but my friend in the mayor’s office says Heather is pushing for an arrest. She’s promising to bring down all sorts of hellfire and fury on the chief of police if an arrest isn’t made soon. They’re all feeling the pressure to find something incriminating. Like a shoe that they find hidden in plain sight.”
Wade lifted a brow. “How do you know all this?”
She pressed her lips together. “I’m an old lady, which means I’m harmless. Whenever I ask a question, I always get an answer. I expect they think I’ll forget it before I can repeat it.” She allowed her lips to lift just a little.
“I’m going to the police station now, to speak with that Detective Harrell. Let him know I remember the flip-flops,” Wade said. “And thank God that I do.”
“Why?” Sugar asked. “Do you need the evidence to convince yourself that Merilee is innocent?”
He shook his head. “No. I don’t need evidence. I just need to sound sane when I speak to somebody else. Nobody believes in blind faith anymore.”
She stood carefully, pausing a moment for all her blood circulation to know that she was now upright.
“Where are you going?” Wade asked.
“To make a good dinner for Merilee and those children before she orders pizza again. That delivery boy is here so much I’m going to start charging him rent.”
Wade took her arm and helped her down the steps but knew better than to ask if she wanted a lift back to her house. At the bottom of the steps, she turned to face him. “I’ll tell you one thing. I don’t know what’s going on, but I know for sure that Heather Blackford is responsible for all of this. And that woman doesn’t know who she’s messing with. Karma or not, she’s got it coming to her, and I want to be there when it arrives.”