by Curry, Edna
“I’ve told Marion all about this, Ben,” Lacey said, guessing he was uneasy about how much to reveal.
Ben sighed. “In this town, not much stays a secret for very long anyway. And perhaps that’s okay. Goodness knows we need help, and someone else must know something that will help. Did you see anyone unusual around the time it must have been taken, Marion?”
“Not really. Most of the women you saw working out there now were here. But people have been coming and going all day, dropping off things they are donating for the sale. Literally dozens of townspeople have been in and out.”
“A big help.” Ben sighed ruefully. He threw a suspicious glance at Mark and Lacey, asking, “Where have you two been all day?”
Lacey quickly explained, apologizing for keeping him in the dark, explaining that they only wanted to help find the killer. Ben frowned at the news of their finding Aunt Helen, and the probability that Jake knew where she was all the time.
“This is getting off the track a bit, I fear. I’m sure you’re pleased to solve a family mystery, but that’s quite another story, and inheritance settlements are outside my jurisdiction. But Lacey, I want you to be extra careful. I don’t know who is behind Henry’s murder yet, or where it will all lead.”
“You think Lacey may be in danger, too?” Mark said, frowning at Lacey’s suddenly white face. He reached out to cover her hand with his reassuringly.
“Yes,” Ben said grimly. “I don’t want to upset you, Lacey, just make you cautious. Promise me you will keep your eyes open and your doors locked.”
“All right, Ben.”
Mrs. McKnight stuck her head in the door saying, “Marion? You know that picture you thought was missing? I just found two of them in a box under the table.”
“What?” They all followed Mrs. McKnight out to the tables to look. Ben picked up one of the pictures and Lacey picked up the other. She stared at it, seeing nothing out of the ordinary.
“This is the one Kate gave us,” Marion said. “But where did the second one come from?”
“It looks like the one Henry had in his shop,” Lacey said. “The scrolled frame is quite unusual. I remember that Henry was disappointed that someone had painted the frame, making it less valuable, in his opinion.”
“But why would someone take it, then give it away again?”
“Perhaps to get rid of the evidence, since word has probably gotten around that we know it was taken the night of the murder. I’ll check it for prints, but we’ll probably find that it was wiped clean.”
“What in the world does someone want with these old prints?” Lacey asked in a frustrated tone. “It looks just like any other copy.”
Ben turned over the picture in his hand, then said grimly, “I don’t think it’s the picture they want, but something hidden behind it. Look, the backing has been recently cut, then re-taped. Let me see that one.”
Lacey turned over the copy she was holding. It, too, was freshly taped along two sides of the back.
“Let’s have a look, too,” Ben said grimly. They carried them to the kitchen and Ben opened them both. But he found nothing, as he’d expected.
“Do you suppose anything was there?” asked Lacey with a shudder.
“If he found what he wanted, he’ll stop hunting for more copies of that picture. If not, he’ll keep looking. At least now we know that whatever he wants is quite small.”
“Perhaps rare coins or stamps?” Lacey guessed frowning.
“Or a treasure map?” Marion guessed.
“Or another valuable painting, hidden under this cheap print?” Mark guessed.
“I’ll just hang onto these copies for now,” Ben said.
“If they’re checking out every copy of The Lone Wolf, how about the one you bought today, Mark?” Lacey said.
They walked out to his car and examined it. That copy had the original sealed backing. Slitting it carefully, Ben found nothing there.
“I’ll keep this one for a while anyway, too,” Ben said, putting it with the others in his squad car.
“That’s fine with me, Ben,” Mark said with a shrug. “You’ll find both Lacey’s and my fingerprints on it, though. We were just trying to help.”
“Well, no more ‘help’ out of either of you. I’ll check on the rest of these names myself, okay?”
“Yes, Sheriff.”
“Well, I’d best be getting back to work. Mark, I’d like a few minutes with you before you leave.”
“Sure thing, Ben. See you at Marion’s house at six, Lacey,” Mark said, waving good-bye.
Lacey and Marion went back into the church. Lacey glanced back at Mark and the sheriff, wondering what else was being said that was being kept from her. She sighed as she and Marion went back to work, trying to avoid the other women’s curious questions.
***
Dinner was a delightful barbecue held on the patio in Marion’s back yard. Lacey and Marion had gone back to the house early to start the chicken cooking. They had barely arrived when Mark and Dave appeared and insisted on lighting the coals and watching the chicken while the women prepared the vegetables and salad.
Lacey watched in surprise as Marion tied an apron on both the men and handed them the tablecloth and dishes to set the table. Mark was showing her new and appealing sides of himself every day. Glancing out the glass doors to where the men worked, Lacey was struck by the homey scene, and truly began to relax for the first time in a week. Her imagination ran rampant, and for an irrational moment she pictured the four of them doing this often, perhaps married and with a half-dozen little ones running around playing tag on the grass.
In her mind’s eye, she imagined a boy looking like Mark chasing a little girl with Marion’s long dark hair across the lawn. She could almost hear Marion calling out to them to not step on her marigolds.
Shaking herself out of such a foolish dream, she went back to cutting up the tomatoes for their salad.
After eating, they sat talking, too replete to move. Finally, tired of rehashing the day’s events, they all shared the cleanup chores.
“Last one in the pool is a rotten egg,” Marion called out the back door, dredging up a childhood taunt. “Lacey and I will change in my bedroom, you guys can have the bathroom.”
The sun had set and the night was quite dark. Only the street light shone down the block. Marion turned on the back yard light. The light from the dining room shone through the patio doors, dancing on the rippling surface of the pool. A heater in the pool kept the water warm, but the air was cool, so they had to stay in the water once they got wet.
They splashed and played for hours, reveling in the first outdoor swim of the season.
The phone rang and Marion went inside to answer it. Dave followed when she called that it was for him, leaving Lacey and Mark alone in the pool, each leisurely swimming laps.
As Lacey reached the far end of the pool, she pulled herself up to the ladder for a breather, then let out a squeal as she was pulled back under the water.
Strong arms wrapped around her, turning her around and pulling her against a strong male body. As they surfaced, she saw it was Mark. “You idiot,” she scolded, sputtering, as he laughed at her surprise. “You scared me half to death.”
“Nonsense, you knew I was the only other one in the pool,” Mark returned.
He lowered his head to hers slowly, asking permission for a kiss with his eyes just before his lips met hers.
He looped one arm around the ladder to keep them afloat. Then he teased her lips open and explored her mouth, sending shivers up and down her spine that had nothing whatever to do with the cool temperature of the soft evening breeze.
His other hand slid down the scanty top of her bikini and explored the tip of the full breast he had uncovered. Waves of delight shimmered through her and she clung to him, her anchor of far more than staying afloat in the water.
Her back felt the hardness of the metal rods of the ladder as he pressed closer. A giggle rose in her throat as she
realized how similar was the feel of his hardness against her front. Boldly she slid her hand down between them to rub the firmness in his bathing suit, eliciting a groan of pleasure from him against her lips.
His mouth slid down the side of her neck, making her squirm at the delightful signals that ran through her body like electric shocks from his lips. But he held her fast. He lowered his lips to the peaks of her breasts. By turns, he took them into his mouth, sending surges of pleasure singing along her veins until she moaned in delightful agony. She grasped his hair, trying to push him away to stop the wonderful torture, yet was unable to make herself do so.
Sliding a hand inside her bikini bottom, he teased the soft curls between her legs. Then he slid his fingers down into the hot crevice to add to her delight with slow, sliding motions, as his mouth once more claimed her lips to quiet her moans of pleasure.
Only the sound of the patio doors opening and Dave and Marion’s voices returned them to reality.
“Let’s continue this at your place,” Mark murmured, releasing her.
Thankful it was so dark, Lacey quickly straightened her bikini and together they swam back to the other end of the pool.
They were not at all sorry to hear that Dave had to leave to tow a car in from an accident, and changing back to street clothes, said their goodnights to Marion.
Suddenly feeling a bit shy, yet not wanting to spoil the progress in their relationship, Lacey said little on the drive back to her cabin. Mark seemed quiet and watchful, and she twice saw him check the rear view mirror. Not exactly absorbed in thoughts of making love to her, she thought.
Wondering anew whether he had meant what he said about continuing their lovemaking, she paused after unlocking her door, to allow him freedom to change his mind. But he guided her inside and turned to lock it, then swept her up in his arms.
Settling his lips on hers to stifle her surprised cry, he carried her up to her bed. He laid her on it, then still holding her delighted gaze, he stood back and slowly unbuttoned his shirt, watching her reactions. Shoes and socks followed and still she said nothing, watching in fascination. Her tongue slid out to lick her lips as he unzipped his jeans and slid them off, then his jockey shorts, until he stood naked and ready before her. His eyes watched hers widen as she saw his manhood for the first time, pulsing and full with desire, awaiting her pleasure.
When Mark reached down to her, she came alive, frantically helping him remove her clothing, until they became a hot twisting mass of arms and legs, lips and tongues, touching, tasting, giving and getting with no holding back. Lacey had never known she had so many sensitive spots. From the inside of her thighs to just below her ear, he seemed to find them all, until she was a mass of wanting.
“Mark, please.”
He grinned and quickly reached for his pants. He found a foil packet, tore it open and covered himself, then came back to her.
With a last nip of his teeth on her nipple, he moved up to slide inside her, pausing to enjoy her pulsing acceptance of him as she involuntarily tightened around him.
“Oh, that feels good!” he murmured, smiling at the pleasure on her face. He bent to claim her lips with a kiss as he began the rhythm of the ages. Tension built inside her as he moved, coaxing her own answering movements, as he satisfied the itch at the very center of her being. Higher and higher the tension built, until at last, as a bubble bursts after floating too high, it eased slowly back down.
He smoothed her hair back from her moist forehead, then traced the curve of her ear. “You’re so beautiful.”
“So are you. Stay with me tonight.”
“All right.” Then, holding her in his arms, he rolled them both to their sides, cuddling her as he caressed her hair, then slid his hand lower to rest on her hip.
In a moment she saw that he was asleep, and pulled up the blanket to cover them both.
When she awoke, it was daylight and she felt cold. She saw that the blankets were pushed to the foot of the bed, tangled under Mark’s legs, and Mark lay naked beside her, one hand under his head.
A warm feeling rushed through her as she remembered the events of the night before. Her eyes settled on the soft curve of his manhood, now relaxed and shorter than she remembered.
Unable to resist, she reached out and traced it with the tip of her finger, wondering at its ability to change so much. To her surprise, it began to enlarge. How could that be if he was asleep?
Glancing quickly at his face, she met his open eyes, and saw his smile. She snatched back her hand in embarrassment, but he caught it.
“Don’t stop, Lacey. It feels great.”
“I...I thought you were asleep.”
He grinned mischievously. “I’d much rather you did it when I was awake.” He drew her to him and kissed her, sliding her full length against him. “You’re cold.”
“I guess the covers got pushed off.”
He moved his legs and reached down to pull them up, snuggling the blanket over them and warming her against his body.
“I know just how to warm you up,” he whispered in her ear. This time he took his time, savoring each kiss and caress, getting to know every inch of her body and her reaction to every touch and movement. At last they both lay panting and satisfied.
“Happy?” he asked, watching her, his face solemn.
“Mm, very. But I think it’s time to get up and face the world.”
“Couldn’t we just spend the day here?”
“Not a chance. I have just three days left to get Henry’s shop inventoried before I have to be back at my job at Armstrong Investigations.”
“I’ll help you.”
“But...”
“No ‘buts.’ I’d rather spend the day with you than do anything else. I can write things down for you as you go through them. It’ll go much faster with two people won’t it?”
“All right,” she agreed, but a niggling doubt again tugged at her. Was he really being so helpful only to be near her?
He reached out to trace her breast where it peeked out from under the sheet. She pulled away and got out of bed.
“Last one in the shower is a rotten egg,” she taunted, trying to get back to the lighthearted mood of the evening before.
Chasing her to the bathroom, he cornered her against the door of the shower and pressing his naked body against her equally bare one, he kissed her thoroughly. Then he ran the water and adjusted the temperature.
“You win, go ahead,” she acquiesced.
“No need for winners or losers, is there?” he asked, pulling her into the shower stall with him, and sliding the door shut. “Let’s just share.”
“Mark, you nut!” she squealed, laughing with him. Then she closed her eyes to savor the delicious sensations of warm running water and his big hands soaping her from head to toe. She opened her eyes and saw that he was watching her reactions. With a smile she took the soap from him to return the favor. Making white swirls in the tight brown curls on his chest, she worked lower as he groaned in pleasure. She turned him under the spray and rinsed him only to be pulled under herself. Then the tingle of the warm spray on her breasts was replaced by his mouth as he began again the tasting, teasing.
“Mark, again? This is not getting us down to breakfast.”
“I’d rather have you for breakfast!” he growled and continued the wonderful torture, which could only end, as they both knew and wanted, in hot climax.
***
Considering their very late start, they got a lot of work done at the shop. Except for occasional sensuous looks or kisses, Mark turned businesslike and followed her directions on doing the inventory. Always in both their minds, though, was looking for the motive for Henry’s death. His death was impossible to forget when they were in the shop where he had been murdered.
“I keep thinking we might find something which will make some sense of it all,” Lacey sighed. “But there’s really nothing so far that seems one bit different from the way it always was when Henry was alive.”
<
br /> “Henry certainly had a variety of stuff. I never realized there were so many different kinds of just glassware,” Mark said. “We could spend days, just listing them all.”
“They’re already all listed on Henry’s computer,” Lacey said, “or at least, all the valuable ones.”
“Hungry?” Mark paused, pulling out his handkerchief. “Let’s go get something to eat. Here, let me fix your face, first.” With a smile, he wiped away a smudge on her cheek.
“Mark!” She accepted his ministrations and then his kiss. It was so nice working with him like this. He was helpful and pleasant and so loving. Would it last?
They lunched at the Flame. Ben was eating there also and stopped at their table to inquire whether they had any news.
“We haven’t found anything out of the ordinary, Ben.”
“Try to watch for something in Henry’s records which would be small enough to hide behind one of those pictures, and yet very valuable,” Ben instructed. “I’ve been over and over that list without getting anywhere. Now I think we were looking for the wrong thing. Maybe if we attack it from the angle of what was valuable, rather than where it is now, we’ll be able to figure out who knew about it.”
“That’s easy for him to say,” Lacey said, frowning at Ben’s retreating back. “But how do we know which item it might be? Who would have hidden something behind that picture, anyway? And why?”
***
The afternoon slipped by as fast as the morning had. Lacey was pleased by how well they worked together. However, they found nothing they could identify as a clue to who would have wanted to kill Henry or why.
The real estate agent Lacey had called dropped by and she signed an agreement to put the shop on the market. She agreed to give the agent a list of inventory when they completed it and had checked it against Henry’s computer lists. The agent left.
“I’ll have to be back at my job at Armstrong on Monday,” Lacey said. “Whatever I don’t finish here will have to be done on weekends.”
“We have three more whole days. I’ll help you with it,” Mark offered.