Now You See Him

by Stella Cameron

  Lil’s reaction suggested she feared Cyrus had lost touch with reality.

  “Run along,” he said. “I insist.”

  “Ozaire’s over at the church, mowing,” Lil said, but she put her spoon on a rest. “He’ll want to get finished.”

  Spike almost said he’d never known Ozaire to turn down a free anything.

  “Tell him I said he’s to take you out. You both need it.” Spike picked up a phone and called Pappy’s. He arranged for Ozaire and Lil’s bill to be paid. Then he gave Lil a hug. “I’ve felt bad that I couldn’t help him with his plans for a gym. Maybe a space will open up somewhere in town.”

  You’re overdoing it, Spike thought.

  Suddenly flustered, Lil took off her apron and picked up her purse. Faced with a gift, she managed to set her surliness aside and thank Cyrus. She actually gave him a girlish smile before she set off in the direction of St. Cécile’s. Before long she and Ozaire returned and got into their truck.

  “Off they go,” said Cyrus, and caught Spike and Madge exchanging grins. “Lil may be difficult, but she does take good care of me. She’s pleased with being told to take a break. That’s a good thing.”

  “Yeah,” Spike said. “Do you think it would be a good idea to go sit outside? I wouldn’t want Guy hearing us talk about him.”

  Taking coffee and one of Lil’s big molasses cookies each, the three of them walked downhill toward the bayou and sat in old wooden chairs with their legs sunk a couple of inches into the ground. A lot of rain had done its stuff.

  “Today we got a new curve ball,” Spike said. “Guy hasn’t exactly been lyin’ to us, but he’s kept the truth too close to the vest.” He continued on, telling them exactly what he and Joe had found out in New Orleans, paused then added, “He really loved her, see, but he didn’t want anyone to know. He thought a wife and children would be a handicap to a cop. That’s what he said. But I know what he wasn’t saying. He worried about the safety of a cop’s family. I understand that.”

  Cyrus and Madge fell silent, then they looked at each other. Spike stifled a sigh. They were empathizing with Guy because they understood how he must have feared losing the one he loved.

  The two of them worried him sick. He hoped there were things in life he didn’t understand and that this was one of them. “Off the subject, but we’ll come back to it and decide what to do. Vivian and I are expectin’ a baby. Vivian, Wendy and I, that is. Wendy thinks the baby’s for her.”

  Madge gave a very un-Madgelike squeal. “Spike! Ya’ll are havin’ a baby? I know how much you’ve both wanted it. I am so excited.”

  “Congratulations,” Cyrus said. “I’ll expect to see the three of you in baptism classes. Has Wendy been baptized?”

  Shit. Spike shook his head slightly.

  “Well, that’ll make it all the better. We’ll do the two of them at the same service. The whole town will show up for mass—which will be a first.”

  Spike felt himself getting hot. “Vivian and I will talk to you, Cyrus.”

  “Y’know?” Madge said wistfully. “I’ve never been a godmother.”

  Panic wouldn’t help him, Spike decided. He’d like to tell her they hoped she’d be the baby’s godmother, but in truth he and Vivian hadn’t even thought past being pregnant.

  “You should be one,” Cyrus told Madge. “Any baby would be lucky to have you. Don’t you worry your head about it. I’ll put an ad in the bulletin offerin’ you for some lucky little tyke. I bet there’re all kinds of people who would ask if they didn’t think you’ve already got too much on your hands.”

  Spike felt worse and worse, so bad that when he saw Doll Hibbs trotting toward them, he was grateful. Madge’s eyes were suspiciously moist.

  “Ellie and Joe went to New Orleans, too?” Cyrus said with a question in his voice.

  Spike nodded. “Yup. Probably still there. I think they had a lot of talkin’ to do.” He and Guy had been walking toward Royal Street with Joe when Ellie intercepted them. The truth was he and Joe were holding Guy up between them. For a quiet woman she surely could say a lot with her eyes. She was one angry female. “We should let them have their space until they say otherwise.”

  “Hi, y’all,” Doll called out. “Can I have a word? Wouldn’t want to interrupt anything.”

  Cyrus went to greet her. Spike unearthed the legs of another chair and settled it nearer to the others.

  “Doll Hibbs, have you been to sleep lately?” Madge asked. “Get yourself over here and rest. Would you like coffee or somethin’?”

  Doll sat down and Spike could swear she looked bashful, but then, he’d been known to misunderstand a woman’s feelings before.

  “Nothin’, thank you, Madge,” Doll said. “I’m such a fool. A silly fool who never got past pretendin’ to be in charge when I’m not. I make believe I don’t give a hoot about anybody’s thoughts, but I’m scared silly to speak my mind when I should. Now I’ve really done it.”

  Spike tipped his hat back on his head and squinted at Doll. A valiant Louisiana sun hung low in the sky and turned moist haze into a dazzling sheet of yellow-tinted gray.

  Cyrus leaned toward Doll and said, “Would you like to walk with me to the church?”

  Embarrassment made way for misery in Doll’s pale eyes. She shook her head no. “I just got to speak up. Y’all need to hear it. I come to Jilly’s place to tell you some of it. That was yesterday. I couldn’t make myself butt in on everythin’. It occurred to me y’all would think I was just makin’ somethin’ up so’s I’d be important.”

  “It can’t be that bad.” Cyrus sat on the edge of his chair. “Just say whatever it is and get it over with.”

  “It’s Ellie I’m worried about,” Doll announced, looking around the circle. “Everythin’ adds up now but who’s gonna believe Doll Hibbs?”

  This was a moment to let her ramble on until she came to the point, Spike decided.

  “I thought Jim Wade was as nice a man as you could want to meet,” Doll said. “Quiet. Polite. He didn’t say much but he was decent when he did talk. Into his business and…”

  Spike waited for her to gather her wits. Cyrus looked into her face and Madge at her own hands.

  “The day before Lucien got hurt, that would be the day before yesterday, I was cleanin’ up in Mr. Wade’s room. That was in the afternoon. In one of his drawers…” She blushed but went on in a firm voice. “I looked in the drawer and saw photographs. They was mostly of Ellie and I don’t think she knew they was bein’ taken. There was some of the outside of Hungry Eyes, several pictures of Joe Gable and his offices—the whole building.”

  Spike took off his hat, scrubbed at his hair and plopped the hat on again. “That’s interestin’.” He avoided eye contact with Cyrus, who would know what Doll said was a lot more than interesting.

  “He had some papers in there but I didn’t look on account of…I didn’t want him to catch me. But I did see a piece of newspaper. There was Ellie, again.”

  All Spike wanted was for her to get everything out before someone else turned up or she lost her nerve.

  Doll held out a shaking hand. “I should’ve told you when I saw you, Spike. Or called you right then. But I didn’t.”

  “You’re tellin’ me now,” Spike said. He had to move on this. “Jim doesn’t know you saw anythin’?”

  “I don’t know. He didn’t have breakfast today. I just checked his room and he’s up and gone. Not a thing left behind.”

  28

  The bitch. This is her fault. The schedule wouldn’t have changed if she had kept her nose out of things.

  I don’t make mistakes, wouldn’t have made this one if I hadn’t had too much going on. All she had to do was accept what came her way, stop fighting and poking around and mouthing off.

  Between her, the deputy and the horny lawyer, my plans are about shot. The cop from New Orleans didn’t help.

  I’ve had some luck, though. Lucien got way too close and if I hadn’t caught him he’d have blow
n everything. I thought I’d finished him, I should have, but even if he recovers he isn’t likely to be much help to them.

  So I’ll be real calm and do what I’ve got to do—even if I’d rather wait for the date I had planned on.

  When I think of it that way it makes me smile. It is almost over. The rush is back, the sexual thrill that comes with the promise of the kill.

  29

  If he could turn the clock back to last night and start over, he would, Joe thought. Right now he’d do about anything to get Ellie to smile.

  Tape still stretched across the alley, and a deputy sat in his car at the entrance, so Joe had parked under the sycamore tree where he used to park before he’d moved in above the offices. He and Ellie had entered the building through the front door to Hungry Eyes and she continued to stand right there, leaning on the jamb, not saying a word.

  And she looked whipped. He almost wished the anger hadn’t gone out of her face. At least he could try to fight that, but this distance left him helpless.

  “Ellie,” he said tentatively. “Will you at least talk to me?”

  “We couldn’t talk in New Orleans or driving back. This definitely isn’t a good time, either. It’s too late.”

  “I tried to talk. I tried to talk at the restaurant. Don’t do this to me. If I don’t know, I can’t do anything about it.”

  The cat sailed between them, looked from Ellie to Joe and chose his legs to wind herself around. Joe bent to scratch her.

  “Our relationship isn’t healthy,” Ellie said.

  You are so wrong. “That’s crazy. Absolutely crazy. What we’ve had to deal with hasn’t been healthy for anyone, but you and I are great together.”

  She gave him a measured stare and he didn’t miss the way the corners of her mouth jerked down. He’d grasp at any hopeful sign and she didn’t look happy about being cool with him.

  “I never expected to say this to anyone, but I’m in love with you, Joe.”

  He took a step toward her but she held up a hand and shook her head.

  Joe dropped into a chair at the closest café table. He felt elated and desperate and the mix tightened his scalp. He ran his fingers through his hair and closed his eyes. “Ellie, I love you. That isn’t a knee-jerk reaction to what you just told me. I think I’ve loved you for a long time.”

  “It doesn’t give us the right to think for each other,” she said. “There’s something in me—just being a woman, I guess—that makes me love your protectiveness. But there’s a difference between being protective and suffocating someone.”

  Suffocating? “How have I ever suffocated you?” This was a twisted joke—for her to say what he wanted to hear, to know the two of them felt the same way, only to walk into whatever fight was going on in her head.

  “When you left the police station with Spike, I followed you.”

  “You what?” His mind moved fast over the events in New Orleans. “You sneaked around after me? You shouldn’t have done that. Now I’m sure I should have refused to take you with me.”

  “Because you want to manipulate what happens to me without letting me in on anything that’s going on?”

  “It was a bad idea.” And he felt like a fool.

  “I sat in the booth behind you in that bar. Poor Guy. He’s lost so much and I wanted to get up and hug him. But I hated it that you talked between you, you and Spike, as if I don’t have any right to be treated like an adult.”

  Joe got up. He couldn’t sit and watch and listen to her anymore, not when there was nothing serious standing between them. “You are an adult,” he told her. “So am I. You’re not made to deal with people who play sick practical jokes.”

  “Stop it!” She pointed at him. “Just stop it right there. I heard everything, I told you. I heard how you think I’m a potential murder victim. You’re just playing with me because you think I’m not strong enough to deal with what’s going on.”

  He did think that, at least when it came to having a killer a few steps behind. “You’re a strong woman. You’ve made it through a lot.”

  “We need a chance to be normal.”

  “Meaning?” His heart thudded.

  “We’ve never even dated,” she said. “We were thrown together because of something that happened to me.”

  “So what?” What was so unusual about that? “You’re upset about something else and you’re taking it out on me.”

  “No. But you help make me sure I’m doing the right thing,” Ellie said.

  “And what is it you’re doin’? I’m not real clear here.”

  Finally she left the door, but only to pick up the cat. “If we’re going to have any chance together, I’ve got to be allowed to stand on my own feet—just like I always have. I’m not afraid anymore and I thank you for that. You made it possible for me to adjust. As long as everything’s locked up around here, I’m fine. It’s time you spent your nights in your own place.”

  “Baloney.”

  “There’s someone guarding the place and I promise you I’ll come running if anything happens.”

  She was mangling his mind. “How will you come runnin’ if someone bigger and stronger than you decides he won’t let you?”

  “Don’t talk like that.” Her voice sank low, and whether she knew it or not, she pleaded with her eyes. “I’ll call your cell phone, just in case you step out.”

  “Please, Ellie, think. Damn it, will you see this clearly? If he wouldn’t let you go, why would he let you make a phone call?”

  “Once you leave, I’ll lock up,” she told him again. “There’s no way for anyone to get in here without keys, and the locks have been changed so I know exactly who has a copy.”

  “I’m not leaving you here on your own.”

  “Yes, you are. That’s the way I want it and I’ve got my reasons. I don’t want us to ruin any chances we have. What we’ve been doing isn’t normal…I don’t mean I regret sleeping together. I loved it. You’ve given me the best memories I’ve ever had.”

  Joe crossed his arms. “You make it sound as if there aren’t going to be more times like that for us.”

  “You’re hearing what you want to hear. Leave it for now. Will you take a look around before you go?”

  He swallowed and glanced back at the bookshelves. It was all so still and she was vulnerable here, damn it.

  “Joe,” she said softly. “The last time I called Dr. Weston was while you were at the counter in the sub shop. He said Daisy’s getting stronger and he’s almost sure she can come home tomorrow.”

  “So why not wait for tomorrow to send me packing?”

  “Because it has to be now.”

  “You’re stubborn.” And he could be just as stubborn. “Daisy isn’t going to be ready to take anyone on. Anyway, I haven’t seen her do a great job protecting you in the past.”

  The fire returned to Ellie’s eyes. She walked past him and picked up two stacks of neglected mail that had grown high in the past few days. Wazoo piled it up there. “You don’t know everything Daisy’s done for me. It wasn’t her fault I had her muzzled out at Pappy’s. The next time, she did go after him but he was ready for her. She’s a big dog, but it wouldn’t take much chloroform to make her collapse. It’s no wonder she took so long to come back.”

  “Chloroform? You never mentioned chloroform to me.”

  “I forgot. I’ve had a lot on my mind.”

  If Daisy had been chloroformed, where did it happen? She couldn’t have been lying in the street. “I haven’t heard anything about what might have been in the glass Lucien had in his mouth. Does chloroform just disappear or would they know if it had been there?”

  “I don’t know,” Ellie said. “The vet said people can get kidney damage from it—and other nasty things if they get too much. Daisy seems okay so I don’t think she got more than a quick whiff.”

  “I’ll sleep down here if you’d feel better about that.” What he wanted to do was common sense. Why couldn’t she see that?

 
; “Please let it alone,” Ellie said. “I think you should go. I also think a call should be made to the hospital where Lucien is, and to Spike. They need to know about the chloroform. Why I didn’t realize that before, I don’t know.”

  She saw frustration tighten Joe’s mouth. He turned away from her without another word and left the shop for the apartments. He would never know how heavy her heart felt about confusing him, and he was confused. Men seemed to see things as basically simple. He loved her, she loved him. He had explained his reasons for treating her like a child and now they should go to bed.

  She heard him overhead and didn’t have to see him to know he was putting his feet down hard. He thumped back and forth, opening and closing doors.

  The phone rang and she hurried to pick it up. “Hungry Eyes.”

  “Spike here. I need to talk to Joe.”

  Everyone assumed Joe could be found with her at night. “You just caught him. He’ll be going home any moment. Let me get him for you.”

  Spike started to say something about that but she held the phone away and called Joe. It sounded as if he only landed on about three steps on the way down. “Spike for you,” she told him when he came into the shop again.

  For a couple of minutes Joe listened while Spike did the talking. Then Joe grunted and launched into the chloroform possibilities. More listening followed before Joe hung up. With his hands in his pockets, he looked into the distance.

  “What did Spike say?” Ellie asked when it seemed he wouldn’t tell her anything.

  “Lucien had surgery early this evening. They had to release the pressure from swelling inside his skull. He’s got slivers under his fingernails, too, and the ends of his fingers are chewed up. That’s from the forensics people. Apparently they’ve got some theory about what happened.” Narrowing his eyes, Joe said, “I think they must have known about the possibility of chloroform, even though you rarely hear of it being used anymore. Spike says they’re looking for the top of the bottle. He also said something to back up your two-attackers theory—maybe. Two blows to the head, two weapons.”