The dim light in the entrance brought Sunny to a stop as she blinked several times to adjust her eyes to the surroundings. She held the arrangement with one hand and wiped at her nose with the sleeve of her jacket to brush away the putrid smell filling her lungs. The clipboard bumped her forehead and she winced.
As her gaze traveled around the rectangular hallway she noticed bags of garbage sitting outside the door to her left. She sucked in one shallow breath and walked with quick steps toward the staircase which would lead her to the second level, the floor that held only two apartments, each belonging to the Slater family.
Sunny moved along the banister avoiding the stair chair lift on her right to round the first tier of the staircase. Instead of the well worn stained oak steps, the remaining six stairs were fashioned from bare plywood. A single light bulb hung low from the ceiling and to avoid it she turned sideways to squeeze past. The walls of the stairwell that had once been a cream color were filled with graffiti. An uncontrollable urge to drop the flowers and run from the building released a shudder across her body, but she closed her eyes for a brief moment and willed her legs to take the next step.
“It smells in here, it’s creepy, and if I could trade places with you now I would.” It comforted her that Judson heard everything she said due to the microphone tucked beneath her shirt, but it didn’t stop her spine from tightening as she stepped onto the landing.
Sunny glanced around the small hallway looking for apartment six. Since there were only two doors she found it quick enough, noticing that someone had turned the six so it appeared to be the number nine.
Sunny’s heart thumped against her ribs as she stepped toward the painted blue wood door with the Christmas wreath in the center. She smiled and wondered if Slater’s mom was ahead of schedule for her holiday decorating or if she’d fallen behind and hadn’t bothered to remove it from last year. Her knock echoed in the hallway and before she could take a breath the sweet voice of an elderly woman sounded through the door.
“I’m coming, hold on.”
The door opened to reveal a cute silver haired lady resting her weight on a walker decorated with a flowery basket, which held a book of crosswords and a newspaper. Judging from the old lady’s kind chocolate brown eyes and bright smile, Sunny speculated Slater must have been adopted.
“Maggie Slater?” Sunny returned the older woman’s smile, her apprehension eased.
“Yes, yes I am. Can I help you honey?” Slater’s mom moved her walker closer and peered past Sunny to look down the hallway.
“I have a delivery for you.”
“For me?” Maggie’s eyes widened when she noticed the flowers. “Are you sure? It’s not my birthday.” She raised an unsteady hand from her vice-like grip on the walker and patted the back of her short permed hair as if she were prepping for her cameo on a Publisher’s Clearing House commercial.
“Well, if you’re Maggie Slater, then these are for you.” Sunny held out the arrangement. “I’d be more than happy to carry them inside, just tell me where you’d like them.”
“Who they from, honey?” The older woman moved aside and Sunny stepped past her into the sitting room.
A typical grandma type room greeted her. Well lit with five lamps burning brightly, the sofa, matching chair and loveseat were a soft floral print, and the faded rug in the center of the room was adorned with pink and red roses surrounded by tiny green leaves. Pictures of family and friends from past to present filled the walls.
Sunny relaxed, turning toward Maggie. “There wasn’t a signed card, just the arrangement with your address and a request to deliver today.”
“Now that’s odd. It’s not Mother’s Day is it?” She hobbled farther into the room, pushed aside a photograph sitting atop a tan doily and gestured Sunny to put the vase down.
“No, but maybe one of your kids sent it just because.”
Maggie’s chuckle sounded girlish, playful, and an instant bond of protectiveness rose inside Sunny.
“I only have one son and I doubt his wife would let him spend money on me, especially for something as extravagant as a vase full of flowers.” She bent over the arrangement and breathed in the scent. “Lavender, lilac and violets, they smell as beautiful as they look.”
Sunny’s heart melted at the older woman’s response. From what she’d found out about Slater’s past, his mother’s life had been rough, but it certainly hadn’t affected her demeanor.
“Could you have a secret admirer?” Sunny chuckled and Maggie laughed with her. “Well, maybe your son thought you deserved it and snuck in the order.”
“You’d know better than that if you ever met my son’s wife Vivian. She’s ruler of the roost and he doesn’t do anything she doesn’t dictate. I still can’t figure out what he sees in her. I regret the day Benny met that DeVito girl. When he broke up with Vivian she was quick to latch onto my son.” Maggie shook her head, thin lipped.
Sunny’s skin pricked as she realized getting information from Maggie Slater would be quicker than she’d thought. It appeared Maggie wasn’t a fan of her daughter-in-law, and she shared it with anyone who would listen.
“Sounds like quite a story.” Sunny kept her tone casual in the hopes Maggie would elaborate without her having to probe.
“It was a long time ago, but it could rival today’s soap operas, honey. My boy’s best friend was the one that dated Vivian. After they graduated high school he met a cute little thing from across town. She was a good girl, the type any mom would love to see her son marry. Her daddy was a fancy detective too.”
“It has all the makings of a perfect afternoon soap.”
Maggie made her way to a well worn sitting chair and positioned herself in the center, sliding her walker to the left so she could see Sunny. “Take a seat, honey. Can you stay a minute?”
“You’re my last stop, so I can stay for a bit.” Sunny sat across from the woman on the sofa, placing the clipboard across her thighs. The protective plastic which covered the couch whined and moaned as she adjusted her weight.
“You thirsty, honey? I have ice tea in the fridge.”
Sunny didn’t want to be rude, but at the same time she didn’t want the older woman to shuffle around with her walker waiting on her. “No thank you, Maggie. I’m fine, but thanks for offering.”
Maggie nodded her head and lowered her voice. “What I’m telling you is between just us girls, don’t you go telling my daughter-in-law nothing.”
Sunny crossed her heart with her fingers and leaned toward Maggie. “It’s our secret.”
Maggie giggled, took a deep breath then leaned back in her seat. “Vivian’s parents owned the grocery down the road. Vivian and my boy still own the building, but it’s not a store any longer. They use it for junk collecting; at least that’s what I call it.”
Sunny bobbed her head, digesting the information for later use.
“Anyway, for some reason Vivian thought this made her neighborhood royalty. Well, when Benny broke it off for the other girl, Vivian’s heart broke. She couldn’t believe he’d left her for someone else. I’m sure she thought they’d get married one day.”
“This Benny and Vivian dated a long time?”
“All through high school. When Vivian was fifteen, sixteen she was in a horrible car accident with her dad and he died. It was touch and go for several weeks with Vivian, but she pulled through.”
“Oh no.”
“I’m not sure of the details. Vivian won’t talk about it with me, but the accident left her unable to have children. Benny always wanted a family and I think he stayed with her afterward out of pity, nothing more. When he met the DeVito girl, he only had eyes for her and he finally told Vivian it was over.”
“How horrible for your daughter-in-law.” Sunny’s heart sank at the realization of what Slater’s wife had been through.
“Don’t go reaching for a tissue just yet, honey. Vivian is no wimp. She can handle her own plus some.” Maggie frowned, slid a small ottoman in fr
ont of her chair and lifted her legs onto it. “Practically before Benny said goodbye to Vivian, she was at the door to cry on my boy’s shoulder. To this day I feel like she hoped by her dating my son, Benny would get jealous enough to come back to her.”
Sunny leaned forward, even though she knew a lot of the story, she was intrigued to hear it from someone who witnessed it firsthand. “Did they get back together?”
Maggie’s burst of laughter filled the room, bringing a smile to Sunny’s lips. “Heaven’s no. I gotta confess Benny is no dummy. He stayed with the new girl for awhile, but something happened and they broke up temporarily, then they got back together which infuriated Vivian even more.”
“I can imagine.”
The tiny woman sat straight, a conspiratorial look on her face. Her eyes shifted around the room then her voice lowered, which brought Sunny to the edge of her seat to hear what she said. “When they got back together it was like they’d never been apart. They’d come over quite often to visit, she was such a dear. One visit Benny told me they were getting married and he was going to be a daddy. They were so excited.”
Sunny tensed at the news of Karina’s pregnancy. That was information she’d never uncovered in any of her reading. Mr. DeVito had never made mention of it either. The blacked out autopsy report started to make much more sense.
With unexpected agility, the older woman rose from her chair, reached across the ottoman to grab a silver framed photograph from the coffee table. “Here’s a picture of the pair, Benny and Karina, taken right here in my apartment.” As soon as Sunny had a hold of the picture, Maggie sat with a heavy sigh.
Sunny looked at the photograph and almost choked. The picture was a duplicate of the one left on her front seat with the first note a few weeks ago. Too stunned to look up, she studied the picture as if she were viewing it for the first time. Details she hadn’t noticed jumped out at her. More than the smiling faces of Benny and Karina, but the long silver earrings with the blue stones dangling from Karina’s ears. They were so close to the ones Benny made for her, she thought for an instant they might be the same, but then she noted Karina’s earrings had what looked like three tiny crystals above each stone.
“They look very happy,” Sunny whispered.
The breath that Maggie forced from her lips foretold the ending to the story Sunny already knew. “They were happy, but it was short-lived. Not long after their pregnancy was announced poor little Karina was found murdered, strangled in her own apartment.”
Sunny’s hand covered her mouth when a small gasp escaped. The sting of tears blinked away as a deeper feeling of sadness welled up inside of her. Even though the outcome of the story wasn’t something new to her, hearing it from someone that knew the pair, instead of reading it on paper, put it in a different perspective.
“I guess her father tried to solve the case for years, but never did.”
“How…how sad.” Sunny couldn’t think of anything more to say.
“Poor Benny never got over it. Everyone thinks he did it, but I know he didn’t.”
“How do you know for certain?” Sunny’s pulse leapt into her throat.
Again, Maggie’s gaze darted around the room. She crooked her finger issuing a silent command for Sunny to lean in closer. “I think my boy and Vivian had something to do with it.” She grabbed another photograph on the small octagon table by her side and held it out for Sunny.
The picture showed Slater, at least twenty years younger, standing next to a woman with big, black eighties hair. The thing which struck Sunny more than anything was the fact the woman wore the earrings Benny had made for Karina. She could be sure because knowing Benny as she did, once he made those earrings for Karina, he would never have duplicated them for anyone else.
“Is this your son and Vivian?”
Maggie nodded. “It was taken on their one year anniversary. Do you know that they got married less than a month after Karina was killed? Odd to get married when your best friend’s life had just fallen apart in the worst possible way.”
Sunny couldn’t believe what she heard. Slater’s own mother believed her son had something to do with Karina’s death, the death of his best friend’s pregnant girlfriend.
“Why—why would you think your son, or his wife, had something to do with it?” Sunny’s throat went dry and she rubbed the roof of her mouth with her tongue to make it water enough so she could swallow.
“My boy loves Vivian with all his heart. He’d do anything for her, and she knows it. She hated Karina for stealing Benny, but when she became pregnant with his child, Vivian lost what little good she had inside of her. Either Vivian tricked my son into killing Karina, had him hire someone to kill her, or had him cover for her.”
Tiny beads of sweat pricked along the back of Sunny’s neck and she blew out a long breath. “Do you have proof, proof you could show the police.”
Maggie gave a half-hearted giggle and lowered her voice farther. “Nobody will listen to the ramblings of an old woman that hears things through the wall.”
She sounded like a senile old lady, but Sunny sensed she was more right-minded than most people decades younger. Maggie probably heard quite a bit over the years through the thin walls separating her apartment from Slater and Vivian.
“You might be surprised, Maggie.”
A coo-coo clock on the wall behind Sunny sounded, she jumped and Maggie chuckled. “Look at the time, honey. Sorry to push you out the door, but my dinner will be delivered soon. The nice lady downstairs cooks for me and has her son bring it up. He’s a wonderful errand boy.” Her smile turned wistful as she reminisced. “Her boy reminds me of my son when he was young and polite.”
Sunny stood. “I’m sorry for keeping you, Maggie.”
The tiny woman held out her hand. “Don’t I need to sign a receipt showing I received the flowers?”
The clipboard in her hand was forgotten and she glanced at it, then Maggie and smiled. “Thanks for reminding me. You’d think it was my first day on the job.” Sunny held out the clipboard as Maggie plucked a pen from the basket on her walker, and with delicate care printed her name on the receipt.
“It was nice to meet you, honey. Thanks for listening to an old lady’s story.”
“Very much my pleasure, it was good to meet you. Enjoy your flowers, Maggie.” And she meant it. If anyone deserved flowers it was definitely Slater’s mom.
Chapter Nine
Sunny awoke to bright sunlight streaming through her bedroom window, and the smell of bacon and eggs. She rolled over, stretched, and licked her lips.
She jumped out of bed, ran her fingers through her tangled hair, and trudged to the kitchen with her robe thrown over her night shirt. Judson whistled as he banged pans around the stove top and pulled utensils from the drawer.
“Morning.” Sunny leaned against the archway.
He glanced in her direction and grinned. “Morning yourself. Hungry?”
She smiled, nodding. “I didn’t realize how much until I smelled your cooking.” She shuffled into the kitchen then grabbed the plates and silverware from the counter to set a casual table. “I’m not big on breakfast, but your cooking smells wonderful.”
Judson grabbed the pan from the stove and chuckled. “Food always smells better when someone else is cooking.”
“That’s the truth.”
Judson scooped scrambled eggs and thick slices of bacon onto each plate. Buttered toast filled a separate plate already on the table.
“Orange juice?” he asked.
“You know it.” Sunny hurried past him to the fridge. “Let me get it. You’ve done enough.” She grabbed the pitcher of juice from the top shelf.
“It’s the least I can do since I invaded your space for another night.”
Judson rubbed his neck as she placed the glasses of juice on the table. Dark fingers massaged his skin, and he twisted his head from side to side.
“Sorry about the accommodations, the futon isn’t sleeper friendly,” she sa
id.
They both sat. Sunny spooned some eggs onto a piece of brown toast and took a bite.
“That’s an understatement.”
“I told you to sleep on the sofa, that’s where Paxton sleeps whenever he visits.” She scanned his face and noticed he had the start of a real mustache. “He’s about the same height as you.”
“Maybe next time,” he said.
“You make it sound mandatory.” Her gaze lowered to her plate, and she hid her smile when she took another bite of toast.
“I don’t like you here alone. Your mystery clue supplier knows you’re on the case, and more importantly, where you live. Either you stay at your dads, one of your brothers, my place, or let me camp out on your sofa until this is wrapped up.”
“As long as I’m guaranteed breakfast each morning, you can stay here,” she said, teasing.
“I can pour a bowl of cereal as well as I can scramble eggs.” His cup clinked against his plate when he lowered it to the table. “We sure got a lot accomplished last night.”
“You should reconsider your job in Montana.” She grinned at him. “You could stay in town and we could partner up on investigations. We’re a great team.” Part of her liked the idea of him sticking around, but the practical voice in her head warned her not to get involved with a man still clinging to the memory of his dead girlfriend. And get involved she would if he was in her life day after day.
“Food for thought.”
Her stomach tightened. Once again she’d spoken before she thought. Sunny played with the eggs on her plate, sipped her orange juice, and pushed her half eaten breakfast away. Her appetite disappeared with the reminder of Judson leaving.
“I enjoyed talking to Maggie.”
Judson grinned. “She’s quite the character.”
“Interesting that even Slater’s own mother thinks he’s involved.”
“Just don’t convict him until we have more information.” His fingers hovered over the uneaten bacon on her plate. He lifted an eyebrow in a silent question. Sunny nodded, sliding her plate closer to him.
Some Like It in Handcuffs Page 11