Joie de Vivre

by Micheala Lynn

  Chapter Fifteen

  Riley sifted through more paperwork on her desk. Since breaking things off with Lisa two days ago she had poured herself into her work, trying her best to push everything out of her mind. She was failing miserably. Everywhere she looked, everything reminded her of Lisa, which she found a little disturbing. Why on earth would a departmental memo concerning proper use of office supplies remind her of Lisa? And forget about the schedule of events at the University’s Breslin Center—that one was just too much. There was no other way to put it. She missed Lisa. She even missed her cat, Breslin. But this was for the best. Best for Lisa. She kept telling herself that.

  She wadded up another stack of junk and pitched it in the bin beside her desk. Anything to keep her mind off things, right? Just as she grabbed another pile to sort, Bill popped his head into her office. “Riley, there you are. I was hoping to catch you. Is Grace around?”

  Riley dropped the papers to her desk and rounded on her visitor. She had had enough with the attacks on Grace and she was now going to put her foot down. “Look, Bill, you need to lay off Grace. It wasn’t her fault that little bastard filed a lawsuit. If you need to blame anyone, blame me.”

  Bill stood there in the doorway with his mouth hanging open as if Riley had slapped him. He quickly glanced over his shoulder as if debating whether or not he should make a run for it. He took a tentative step into Riley’s office. “Um…Riley, is everything all right?”

  “Yes, I’m fine Bill. I’m just sick of everyone attacking Grace. She deserves some damn respect from everyone around here.”

  “Yes, I couldn’t agree with you more.” Bill looked contrite “I heard how Grace was with that last case of yours. Detective Baugher said she was amazing with what he called one of the most difficult cases he had ever seen. I guess I was wrong about her, but that’s not why I’m here.”

  “Okay, sorry about jumping down your throat. What does bring you down here?”

  Bill walked in and sat in the chair beside Riley’s desk. “Well, I was hoping to find Grace here with you but I trust you can pass along the good news. Rod St. James, the University’s lawyer, just called. Apparently Joshua Evans and his lawyer dropped the suit. Something about a misunderstanding with some paper.”

  Riley snorted. Misunderstanding her freckled white ass. He got caught in a lie and turned tail. “That is good news, Bill. I can’t believe it went as far as it did. The entire thing right from the beginning was a load of waffle.”

  “I think our lawyers gave them a lot of rope to see if they’d hang themselves with it and it looks like they did.” Bill gave a wide jovial smile as he bobbed his head and stood. “Well, I’ll leave you be. Be sure to tell Grace the good news.”

  Riley noticed a much different Bill from the one in panic mode when he had first found out about the lawsuit.

  “Will do, Bill.” She also stood. “And if I don’t see you before then, have a good holiday.”

  Bill laughed again, this time resembling an academic version of St. Nick, minus the beard and red suit. “You too, Riley. You too.” And with that he scurried out of her office.

  She wasn’t sure how good a holiday she could have, not with Lisa out of her life. But, she reminded herself yet again, it was for the best. It was the best for Lisa. Besides, she had her work. That was what she needed to focus on now. And she certainly wasn’t any stranger to that.

  * * *

  Lisa made it through the rest of the week, but it was difficult. At work she simply concentrated on her kids. They helped. Their innocence and pure joy about Christmas lifted her heart in ways that nothing else could, except for maybe Breslin. When she was at home he was her constant companion, never failing in his efforts to cheer her up. Now that it was Friday evening, she planned on spending the next two days resting and trying her best to put everything behind her.

  Once home she kicked off her clothes, poured a large glass of wine and soaked in her bathtub until her skin began to resemble dried fruit. It may not have washed away all of her worries, but it was a good start. She climbed out and threw her robe over her shoulders, not even bothering to cinch it tight. She then grabbed her empty wine glass. It was time for a refill—perhaps the first of many.

  She had just rounded the corner to the kitchen when a loud knock at the front door startled her. Her heart thundering, she clawed at her robe dangling open. Who in the hell would be knocking this late anyway?

  Caroline and Susan. She should’ve expected them. She had been ducking Caroline at work. Even today she had scampered as soon as she had cleaned up her classroom in the hopes of avoiding her. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see her friend—of course she did, there was no one else that she would rather see—but she just couldn’t bring herself to share what had happened with Riley. At least not yet. But from the looks of it, now she might not have a choice.

  Caroline came stomping in, shaking the snowflakes from her shoulders. “Hey, Lisa, where have you been? I’ve been trying to get hold of you all evening. I was getting worried.”

  Susan followed at her heels. “She was too. I can vouch for that.” Susan rolled her eyes as she always did when she thought Caroline was overreacting.

  Lisa closed the door behind them and gestured toward the living room. “I’m sorry. I’ve been busy all week”—not a total lie—“and tonight I just wanted to relax so I shut off my phone and soaked in the tub.”

  “See, I told you so.” Susan nodded to Caroline as she sat down beside her on the couch. “Here you were all freaking out over nothing.”

  Lisa couldn’t help but laugh. She loved her best friend, but Susan was right—Caroline did freak out often over nothing. Well, Riley dumping her wasn’t exactly nothing, but she was trying not to think about it.

  “It’s not nothing.” Caroline shot a scowl at Susan, enough to make her flinch. “I’ve been worried.” She then rounded on Lisa. “And you’ve been avoiding me all week.”

  Lisa began to stammer. “I…I’ve been—”

  “Bullshit.” Caroline cut her off. “You’ve been avoiding me all week, Lisa, and you know it. Now I want to know why.”

  Lisa was now kicking herself. Maybe she should have just confided in her earlier and she could’ve avoided this scene. She slumped down in her recliner facing the two women and dropped her head into her hands.

  Susan swatted Caroline hard on the arm and pointed at Lisa. “Now look what you’ve done.”

  Caroline immediately softened her voice. “Hey, Lisa, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to yell. I’ve just been so worried about you.”

  Lisa waved her right hand out in front of her without lifting her head. “No, it’s okay. Really.”

  Caroline leaned forward, sitting on the edge of the couch. “What’s been going on? Last time I talked to you, you said you couldn’t get hold of Riley. Did you find her?”

  Lisa snorted out a bitter laugh. “Oh yeah, I found her all right.” She went on to describe the scene on Riley’s porch in all its horrible detail, how without even inviting her in Riley had dumped her and said they shouldn’t see each other anymore. “…and she ended with, ‘It’s just for the best.’ What the hell is that supposed to mean? What’s for the best? None of it makes any sense.” Now she could feel herself beginning to cry again, whether out of pain or frustration she wasn’t sure.

  “Oh, sweetie…” Caroline jumped up and ran over, throwing her arm around Lisa’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry. I never thought Riley would do something like that.”

  Lisa cried harder, harder than any time since Riley had broken up with her. “I just don’t know what’s going on. It’s almost as if she’s been keeping secrets from me. I asked her if she met someone else, but she assured me that she hadn’t. I don’t know what it is. All I know is that this started around Thanksgiving.”

  “Oh, shit.” Susan covered her mouth with both hands. “Thanksgiving?”

  Lisa now looked up, her face tear streaked. “Yeah, why? What happened?”

&nb
sp; Susan shook her head. “I’m afraid this is partially my fault. Let me just ask you, has Riley talked to you about the details of her job?”

  “No, why?” Lisa then rounded on Caroline. “You told me I needed to talk to Riley about her job too. Why won’t anyone tell me? She’s an anthropologist, right? Or is that a lie?” She slammed her fists into her thighs. “What the hell’s going on? Why is everyone keeping secrets from me?”

  Caroline pulled her in tight, resting her forehead against the side of Lisa’s. “Oh sweetie, no one’s trying to keep secrets from you.”

  “Well…that might not be entirely true.” Susan winced and bit her lip. “I was talking to Riley at Thanksgiving—she was concerned about how her job might affect you. It was only a couple days after that little girl who used to be a student of yours passed away. Riley saw how it had affected you so profoundly and she didn’t want her job to cause you more pain and grief somehow. I told her that if she was concerned about it, she should simply talk to you. Then I sarcastically said it was either that or continue keeping it a secret.” She let out a long groan. “Well, you know Riley—she can’t do anything the easy way, and she can be very literal. Apparently she thought it would be better to keep it a secret, which wasn’t what I was suggesting. But with Riley…”

  “What does that have to do with any of this?” Lisa ground her fists into her temples. Her head was spinning as if she had slugged down half a case of wine—bad wine at that. “Would someone…for the love of God…please tell me…what the hell’s the deal about Riley’s job?”

  Caroline turned to Susan. “Should I, or do you want to?”

  “I’ll do it, I’ve known Riley the longest.” Susan took a deep breath. “Lisa, the thing you need to know about Riley is yes, she is an anthropologist. But that’s not all. It’s the type of anthropologist that presents the challenge.”

  This still didn’t make a bit of sense. So, Riley was an anthropologist. She taught classes and went on archaeological digs. She studied cultures of the past. What was the big deal? And how did that affect her? “Susan, I know all this. Riley told me.”

  “Hon, I’m afraid she only told you the half of it. That’s what we were talking about at Thanksgiving. She was afraid that if you knew what she really did, it would push you away.”

  “But I’m not that way. You know me.”

  “I know, I know. I told her as much. But you know Riley…”

  Lisa let out a bitter laugh. “Everyone keeps saying that—you know Riley, you know Riley. But the more I hear that, I’m not exactly sure that’s true. I’m not sure I know Riley at all.”

  “You’re right.” Susan gave a firm nod. “This has gone on long enough. Riley is the Head of the Forensic Anthropology Lab at State. Among other things it is her job to identify human remains at crime scenes. She works with victims of fire, explosions, extreme decomposition, anything that makes it hard to determine and identify the cause of death. Stuff that a regular pathologist can’t do. We’re talking nightmarish stuff here. Believe me, I know. I’ve visited Riley at her lab on more than one occasion and wished afterwards that I hadn’t.”

  Lisa sat there listening. She had thought that Riley was a female version of Indiana Jones—a somewhat fanciful hybrid of eccentric anthropologist and adventurer—but that had been more her imagination than anything Riley had said. Sure, this was different than what she had pictured Riley doing, but what was the big deal? Unless she was missing something, that is. Finally, she found her voice. “Um… I won’t pretend that isn’t a bit shocking but…forgive me for saying this…but so what? What does that have to do with me? Why didn’t she just come out and tell me in the beginning?”

  Susan again let out a long, labored breath. “That would be my doing again. I told her before the two of you had even met not to bring up what she did for a living. She had chased away more than a few by sharing really explicit details about her job over dinner.” She laughed and shook her head, a crooked smirk on her lips. “You know Riley.”

  Lisa chuckled also. This time, Susan was right—she did know Riley, at least this aspect of her. She could picture Riley sharing the most disgusting minutiae of her work in the middle of an intimate dinner with virtual strangers. “But why didn’t she tell me later on?”

  Susan cocked her head to the side. “Well, she probably would have but then she saw how deeply affected you were when that little girl from your school died.”

  “Oh.” She was beginning to see. How many times had she said to Riley how difficult it was to think about what had happened to little Alicia, how hard it was for her to deal with? What must’ve been going on for Riley? God, how insensitive had she been?

  “I’m not saying I agree with what Riley did, but she did it so as not to hurt you.”

  She was beginning to feel like a total ass. Here she had been so wrapped up in her own world that she had been oblivious to how supportive Riley had actually been. This answered a lot, but there was still one more thing. “Okay, okay, I get it now, but that doesn’t explain why Riley left in the middle of the night or where she went.”

  Susan leaned forward, lowering her voice even further. “Actually, Lisa, yes it does. Riley gets a call whenever her expertise is needed, day or night. Remember that child that was found buried under a deck in Lake Odessa by the new owners, how the news said they had to call in a forensic expert?”

  Lisa was getting a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. “Yes.”

  “That forensic expert would have been Riley. I’m certain of it. And that also explains why she didn’t tell you where she was going.”

  “Oh. My. God.” Lisa clapped her hands to her open mouth.

  Susan nodded. “Now you know.”

  “We weren’t trying to keep secrets from you, Lisa.” Caroline gently rubbed her back. “We all just wanted to protect you. You’ve been through an awful lot, you know, losing Jessie and all.”

  If she had felt like an ass before, it was nothing to what she felt now. How could she have so misjudged Riley? And her words—it’s for the best—they made perfect sense now. It wasn’t for the best for Riley. No, not at all. In Riley’s mind it was for the best for her. Riley had been concerned for her. Ass didn’t even come close to what she was feeling. Again she fought back tears but this time, for an entirely different reason. “Oh, dear God, what am I going to do?”

  “Well, that’s easy.” Caroline dabbed the tear from Lisa’s cheek. “If you love her, go after her.”

  Lisa was now crying openly. After the past week, and after the night’s revelations, her emotions were raw. Yet there was a glimmer of hope. “Where will she be?”

  Susan stood and walked over to Lisa, laying her hand on her shoulder. “I think I can help with that. If Riley’s not home, she’s either in her office or in her lab. Guaranteed.”

  Long after her friends had left, Lisa replayed Caroline’s words of advice—if you love her, go after her. How exactly did she feel about Riley? If she were honest with herself she had fallen in love with Riley quite some time ago—deeply, passionately in love. There was no question. Even when everything seemed to be falling down around her, she still loved Riley. And finding out what she had tonight, she had fallen in love with her even more. So, that being the case, that left only one thing to do. She was going after Riley and she wasn’t taking no for an answer.

  * * *

  Riley leaned over the pile of bones laid out on the examination table. It had been months since she had been able to work on this particular cold case, trying to tease out one more clue, one more piece of evidence, anything that might make a break in the case. Of the roughly two dozen or so sets of remains she housed in her lab at any given time, this one troubled her the most.

  It was a young woman in her early twenties. Her remains, nothing but bones and a few strips of cloth, had been found by hunters six years ago. She could count on at least a body or two every hunting season. But this young woman had died—no, she had been murdered she corrected hersel
f. She slowly ran her finger over the small caliber bullet hole in the side of her skull and stared down at the slug she had dug out. Probably a .22 pistol at point-blank range, the powder burns still evident on the bone. This young woman had been murdered around about the same time Deana had gone missing, but it wasn’t her. She had checked dental records and it wasn’t a match—not even close. But still this case continued to trouble her. This young woman didn’t match any missing person descriptions or cold case profiles. Did she have a family somewhere that missed her? Did she leave behind anyone who cared what had happened to her? It was as if she had never existed. Riley finally stood up straight, giving her eyes a break. Since she couldn’t sleep anyway, she had been at it since six o’clock that morning.

  She had hardly slept all week but that wasn’t the worst of it. Her nightmares were back. Every time she drifted off, she woke up gasping and clutching at the blankets, a danse macabre parading through her head. And if it wasn’t that, it was aching for Lisa. Between the two it was a miracle that she got any sleep at all.

  She looked up, her eyes burning, as the door opened and Grace came shuffling in. “Hey, doc, I thought I might find you here.”

  “Yeah, well, you know me. But what are you doing here at…” She looked up at the clock on the wall. “Wow, is it really ten o’clock already?”

  “Actually, a quarter tick-tock past the top, doc.”

  Riley laughed at the Graceism. “Actually, the real question is what are you doing here? I thought I told you to find something else to focus on for a while—you know, take your mind off of all of this.” She peeled off her gloves and waved her sweaty hand over the scatter of bones in front of her.

  “Bah, I’m like you, remember? I can’t stay away, it’s in my blood.” Grace walked up to the table and stood across from Riley. “Besides, I did follow your advice.”