by Misty Simon
“Now. Back to the fabric, Bella. Please forgive Ben for being stupid. What were you saying?” Because Ben was standing behind and to the side of me after I’d turned back to Bella, I saw him open his mouth, with my peripheral vision, and reached back to clamp his lips shut with my hand. “Shhh.”
Bella giggled, not earning points with Ben, from his muffled grumbling, but continued, “Anyway, I think this is the same fabric used in their merchandise. Maybe Tarrin was strangled with one of the outfits, and then the perpetrator took your scarf and wrapped it around her neck to make it look like you’d done it? It was a good plan, if that’s what he did. Look how long it’s taken for anyone to get a lead.”
She had a point, and a damn good one. With everything else going on, I had completely forgotten about my little scarf tests. Maybe we could take my theory to the police now and not get laughed out of the precinct. If only I knew what kind of outfit the material came from. Actually, it probably didn’t matter. I could use the Naughty Policewoman thing I’d gotten in the mail.
****
“So is this like standard foreplay for you guys? Should I leave and give you some privacy?” Bella stood in the back room of the Masked Shoppe with her arms crossed and her foot tapping, watching as I sat Ben in a chair and wrapped the lingerie around his throat.
“You are so not funny.” I yanked and Ben gurgled, but the fabric didn’t break. I released my hold and tried again. It still didn’t break. I went to try one more time and Ben put his hand between the garment and his neck, yanking the thing away from me. I fell onto his back and rested there for a second, squishing my breasts into him. As soon as an appreciative hum started in his chest, I removed myself and my breasts, flouncing away with a saucy smile.
“Tease,” he said, making a grab for me.
“Yep.” I evaded capture and danced over behind Bella, whose mouth opened as if to say something. She must have thought better of it, because she snapped her lips closed and shook her head.
“You two are quite a pair,” she finally said. She took the outfit from Ben and gave it a good yank. Still the thing didn’t rip. “This wouldn’t be any fun if you wanted to rip it off someone.”
Completely not a picture involving Bella I wanted in my head. Time for a subject change. “Okay, we have evidence that my scarf wouldn’t have done the job of strangling someone. We have the piece of cloth from Bella’s and the lingerie here. What do we do with it all?” I paced from fabric-paneled wall to fabric-paneled wall, thinking.
Bella and I both looked at Ben, and he started vigorously shaking his head. “Oh, no, you don’t. I’m not walking into the police station with black Officer Naughty clothes in hand.”
I loved proving him wrong and sending him into a police station with said garment in hand. Bella and I waited in the car for him to come back. I sat in the front seat and Bella in back. Turning and cocking my knee on the seat, I watched her watching out the window. “Looking for someone?”
“Hmmm. Yes. No. Uh, maybe.” She fidgeted in her seat and took off her seatbelt, adjusting the plunging collar of her plum V-neck sweater.
“Ooooh, are we waiting for Officer Jared to come out of the building so we can ogle him?”
She blushed a bright red. “Maybe.”
“I’d say probably, or most definitely.”
“Okay, I admit it. I wouldn’t mind seeing him right now. I’m also not afraid to admit I want what you and Ben are working on having.”
Her words set me back for a moment. I hadn’t really thought about Bella as having no one to share intimate things with. She always seemed so self-sufficient, self-contained, it never struck me as something she missed. Huh. Maybe we would have to work on this attraction she had for the burly Jared.
Before Bella’s avid eyes, the man himself walked out the front door, looking left and right before crossing to our side of the street and unlocking his vehicle.
“Go get him, Bella.” I made shooing motions she totally missed because she was drooling on the window. “Go! Hurry, before he drives away.”
She bit her bottom lip and pressed her palm to the glass. “I don’t think so.”
I took matters into my own hands and reached behind me. Releasing the door lock and pulling the handle out, I opened the door and watched as she nearly fell out onto the pavement. Because she was cool, calm Bella, I knew she’d right herself long before she hit the street. She didn’t disappoint me, though she did throw an ugly look over her shoulder and stick her tongue out.
By this time, Jared had seen her and stopped everything he was doing. He looked transfixed as he stood there, his hands limp at his sides. Bella strolled up to him. I couldn’t see her face because her back was to me, but I could see his in the light of the old-fashioned gas lamps. He, for all his avoidance earlier at Bella’s house, looked like he’d been pole-axed and Bella was the pole. Her strut became more pronounced the closer she got. Her hips swayed from side to side, and his gaze dropped down; his eyes nearly fell out of his head. Heaven, and people with a better view, only knew what he was seeing.
Within seconds, she’d reached him, coming to a full stop mere inches from his body. Even in her spiked heels she was still several inches shorter than he was, barely reaching his shoulder. She crooked a finger, and he bent down. I knew he was about to be flummoxed and hoped Bella would feel the same thing. She needed flummoxing in her life. No one should be in control all the time, as far as I was concerned.
I felt like a voyeur but couldn’t tear my eyes away from the unfolding scene. It was like one of those really steamy romance novels where their eyes meet across the room and they’re magnetically dragged toward each other. I needed some popcorn—lots of butter, please.
Ben walked out of the station at the same time Jared cupped the back of Bella’s head and bent to within an inch of her face. I squirmed in my seat, waiting for The Moment. Ben jumped in the car and slammed the door. The sound barely registered with me.
“I—”
“Shhh. Do not interrupt. Quiet.”
“But—”
“If you value your newfound sex life, you will be quiet right now.”
He grumbled, but kept silent.
I was all but pressed up against the glass at this point. When Jared closed the small distance between their lips and tipped Bella back a little, my heart fluttered. I didn’t need to see it all to know Bella’s toes were curling, so I turned back to Ben.
“Now, what did you find out?”
“That’s Bella and Jared.”
“Yes.” I flicked a quick look over my shoulder. They were still going at it. “Now, what did you find out?”
“Do I ever dip you back like that?”
“No. Ben, pay attention to the conversation we’re having here.” I moved to block his line of sight to Bella and Jared. “I’m right here and would like some answers.”
But instead of talking to me, he grabbed me practically by the ears and kissed me more ardently than he ever had. When he finally let me up for breath, I was shaking. “Woo, what was that for? Not that I’m complaining or anything, but wow. Where have you been hiding this latent kissing talent of yours? Your other kisses were great, but this last one about blew the shoes right off my feet.” I was a babbler when I got flustered. Just add it to the list of my other quirks.
And then Ben laughed, hugging me to his side and planting his lips on my cheek. “You looked so taken by their kiss, I wanted to see if I could do the same thing for you. You are the absolute best, Ivy. Have I told you lately?”
“No, you haven’t. And I might forgive you—might being the operative word—if you kiss me like that again.”
Eventually, Bella got back in the car. Jared had to go on patrol. Ben started the ignition and drove off.
“So, what happened with the police?” I asked while Bella hummed under her breath in the back seat.
“They took our theories and the evidence, thanked me for my concern and time, and pretty much told me not to let the d
oor hit me on the ass on my way out.”
“Not good.”
“No, it wasn’t good, and the embarrassment from having to hand them the black lingerie was enough to last me three lifetimes. Who knew there were so many jokes about a man and cross-dressing? One of them even propositioned me.”
“No way.” I giggled from my perch on the front seat and got the full-on glare from Ben in return. Straightening, I stopped the next peal of laughter and made my face as sober as possible. No more laughing. I snickered. Ben’s face grew stormy. Okay, now, no more laughing.
****
Tonight was going to be a busy one. Since the police station was close to Tarrin’s sister’s house, we stopped there before going home. Ben hadn’t had any luck getting hold of her on the phone, and said her boss told him Melissa hadn’t been in for days.
The house was dark and the window shades were all drawn when we pulled up outside the garage apartment Melissa rented, two blocks from Main Street. A far cry from the huge house Tarrin had lived in. We climbed the rickety stairs attached to the outside of the garage.
Ben banged on the door—loudly. I had no idea who owned the main house, but I hoped we weren’t disturbing them. No one answered the door, so Ben knocked again.
A door opened, but behind us instead of at Melissa’s. I heard a distinctive click and froze.
“You ain’t getting my paper products.” The gravelly voice meant business and so did her big old shotgun illuminated by the porch light. “What are you all doing out here?”
I elected Ben as official spokesman by nudging him in the ribs with my elbow. “Say something,” I hissed out of the corner of my mouth.
“Uh, hello!” he called, waving from our position on the small landing. He moved to the stairs, and the woman down below brought her gun to her shoulder.
“Don’t move.”
“Okay,” I squeaked, causing her to put me in the sights of the no-nonsense rifle. “We’re not here to steal anything.” I continued in my little voice, “We just wanted to talk with Melissa.”
The woman didn’t relax an ounce. “She ain’t here.”
“We’ll move along, then.” I guess I was the new spokeswoman. Bella was still frozen to the spot, and Ben had gone silent.
“Hang on a sec,” Shotgun Annie said. “Aren’t you the one who killed Melissa’s sister?” The gun didn’t waver at all.
Truth or explanation? I tried for a little of both. “I’m the one they’re trying to pin it on, yes. But I swear, it wasn’t me.” The shotgun lowered enough for me to breathe easier. “We wanted to talk to Melissa to see if she had any ideas.”
The shotgun came all the way down, and the woman leaned on it like a cane. “Now that’s going to be mighty hard, because she left yesterday and took all her stuff with her. Seems she came into a bit of money when that sister of hers turned up dead. Melissa’s off to lead the high life.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Armed with this new information, the next afternoon I dropped in on Mr. Winnet, my lawyer from when my Great-Aunt Gertie passed. I was sure other lawyers existed in the area, but I trusted Mr. Winnet. Bella had an appointment at the salon, and Ben was at work as usual, so this was all me.
“Hello, Miss Ivy,” the older, dapper gentleman said when his receptionist announced me. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
Mr. Winnet had an old-world charm I adored. “The pleasure’s all mine, sir.”
“What exciting questions do you have for me today?” He rubbed his hands together.
He looked so eager, I was happy I had something for him. “I know you have client confidentiality to consider, but did you know Tarrin Daniels and her sister, Melissa?”
He sat back in his chair, tapping his index fingers together. “The ethical answer to the question is ‘I can’t say.’ But for your purposes, let’s say yes.”
I grinned and went hypothetical on his behalf. “Hypothetically speaking, would you know anything about some sort of inheritance, or funds, a woman could have received upon the death of a relative? Do these things always have to go through probate?”
“No, not necessarily. If everything is in the will, liquidated and under a certain amount, or if it is in a trust, the inheritance can be transferred with a few signatures.”
“So let’s say someone died and someone else inherited. Could they have the money within days?
“Most likely.”
Hmmm.
****
My next stop was Mad Martha’s. If anyone knew about the goings on in this town, she would. At least this time when I came in she didn’t avoid me like the plague.
“Hey, Ivy.”
“Martha. How’s it going?”
“Can’t complain. Your dad’s taking me out tonight if I can get him to think it was his idea.” She winked and I laughed.
“Good luck with that. Hey, I have a quick question if you have a minute.”
“If I know, you’ll know.”
“Do you know Melissa, Tarrins’ sister?”
“What a silly question. Of course I do, and so do you.” She swept her rag along the counter.
I plunked down on a red vinyl counter seat. “Huh? How did I know her?” I was pretty sure no one in my handful of acquaintances was Melissa.
She gave my arm a playful slap. “Ivy! She worked here in the morning for months. You’ve been served by her before. She’s the reason I had to hire and train Erica, the new girl.”
“No way. Lissa was Tarrin’s sister?” Somehow I hadn’t connected the two and had forgotten Ben’s info about talking to Melissa’s boss—that would be Martha. Way to go, Ben and his partial information.
“Way. She left yesterday for Vegas. Seems after Tarrin passed, Lissa was at loose ends. Together they inherited money from their relatives some time ago, like you did. But they had to split it. It’s all Lissa’s now, and I say good for her. The girl hasn’t had a single day without trouble in months. Her birthday was the night before the lingerie party you were at. So now she’s twenty-five and has access to everything in the bank.”
“Are we talking a lot?”
“We’re talking millions. And now it’s all hers. I’d be tempted to start somewhere new also.”
****
I ran back to my house, where Bella and Ben were due soon. Ben was bringing dinner and Bella the dessert. Dad had taken Martha out, and I had the house to myself for a few seconds.
Bella got here first. We put her Double Chocolate Death Knell in the freezer after I took a quick nip. I pulled out the veggie-and-dip tray I’d put together, and we sat at my kitchen table, nibbling.
She could not stop talking about Jared and, as exciting as it was in the beginning, it was now getting a little annoying. It seemed every other sentence contained the word Jared. Upon further thought, though, I remembered I was this annoying when I first met Ben, so I throttled back on my irritation and let her talk.
According to her, Jared was the epitome of manhood, so sexy, smart, funny, and kind. He had all the qualities she’d ever looked for in a man, in spades. Blah, blah, blah.
Once I got her to calm down and talk about something besides how fine Jared’s tush was, we planned more details for her pirate party. She was trying to talk me into special-ordering matching pirate costumes for her and Jared when Ben came back.
“Oh, thank God, you’re here.” A little too much desperation tinged my voice, and I got a nasty look from Bella.
“Hi, Ben. Don’t you think Jared and I should go to the party as a pirate and his wench?”
“Okay,” he said, taking off his leather jacket and displaying all those yummy inches of broad shoulders. Man, he was built like a brick house, and I wanted to snuggle up inside. We still hadn’t really talked about where we were going with this relationship. I shied away from the thought. It sounded a lot like Bella’s obsessing over whether or not Jared really liked her, like really, really liked her. Oy! Plus, we’d only been together for two months; it wasn’t like I expe
cted a marriage proposal or anything.
Anyway, I cut into the conversation before she could rope Ben into answering and me into ordering some pricey costume she didn’t even know if she could get Jared into. “The police’s answer isn’t good. We’re going to need to step things up. I’m not willing to sit around and wait for them to differentiate between their rear end and the hole in their head where brains should reside.”
Ben smiled his wicked smile and rubbed his hands together. “I think I have a plan.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Ben’s plan wasn’t spectacular, but it was workable, and that’s why we were standing out in front of Chrissie’s apartment instead of in a warm house. I could feel the temperature drop with every breath I took, and I did not delight in seeing my breath hanging in the air.
Ben knocked, and then we stepped back to wait for someone to answer the door. We’d left Bella at her house to make smoochy noises over the phone with Jared.
I shifted from foot to foot on the stoop. The forecast called for snow tonight, and I had been looking forward to it in a stay-at-home-in-front-of-a-cozy-fire way, not standing outside without my hoodie and insulated gloves.
When no one answered the first time, Ben knocked again. We waited some more. “Can we go home now? This is obviously not working, and I’m freezing my rear end off.”
He took a moment to rub my freezing part and heated up my face with a blush—what if someone were watching?
“Restrain yourself,” I said. “We’re in public.”
“I know. That’s what makes it so fun to tease you.”
“I’ll give you teasing.” I stood in front of him and backed up, pressing myself against the long length of him. With a little hip-and-dip action, which wasn’t exactly little, considering I wasn’t little, I felt him harden. I was really getting into the whole friction thing when the door whipped open and a disheveled Chrissie stood inside. Just my luck.
I was the first one to recover. “Hi, remember me, from the other day?”