by Misty Simon
****
Eggnog flowed fast, and the rum with it, making the crowd jolly. I’d talked with everyone while Ben changed into a swashbuckling costume after his stint as Santa. I was trying to help with the hostess duties so Bella could have a little snuggle time with Jared in his matching pirate outfit. I got pulled into a fast boogie by my father, then laughed my way to the door when the bell rang for the tenth time that night.
Yanking the door open a little harder than necessary (I didn’t drink hard liquor often, and it was going straight to my head), I said the usual Merry Christmas greeting, then stood and stared at Chrissie with Chad at her side.
Chapter Twenty-Six
To say I was baffled would be a serious understatement; it was more than that. It was like expecting the sky to be blue when you stepped outside and finding it was a violent pink not found in nature.
I wasn’t sure exactly what to do in this situation. I mean, on the one hand, Chrissie had been invited to the party and told she could bring a guest. On the other hand, that guest being Chad, who’d threatened Bella and nearly broken into her house, I was pretty sure he wouldn’t be welcome.
I was saved from having to make the sticky decision when Bella came up behind me and choked on her eggnog. “What the hell are you doing here?” she demanded.
Chrissie jumped in while Chad was just opening his mouth. “I told him he could come with me, Bella. If you don’t want him here, it’s okay, but he really wanted to talk with you for a second and explain. He’s not as bad as he seemed, and I think it would be a good idea to hear him out.”
Ben in all his swashbuckling glory arrived, too, and I physically restrained him from doing something he might not regret now but possibly would in the future. “Bella doesn’t have to listen to anything from you,” he said through clenched teeth. A pretty mean feat, if you asked me. “You forfeited your right to any leniency when you broke her windows.”
The heart-stopping, charming smile popped out on Chad’s face, tinged with what looked like regret. “I know. I know I haven’t made any friends here, but I wanted to take a moment to explain where my mind was during that time, as well as ask for forgiveness. Isn’t it the season for forgiveness?”
Oh, he was slick, all right, and I could see Bella softening a little bit. I sympathized. I felt it inside me, too. What was it about this guy? He was a complete bastard and yet you still wanted to trust him to do the right thing.
“You can come in for a second,” Bella said as Jared came up behind her with his own protector-growl on. She patted his arm and he stopped. “We’ll use the spare bedroom for our talk. I want Ivy and Ben in there, though, and no funny stuff. I have a house full of guests who are enjoying themselves at Christmastime, and you won’t ruin it for them, or me. Jared, you stay here and make sure everyone continues to have fun.”
Jared opened his mouth, but Bella cut him off. “I’d rather not have the local fuzz in there just yet.” She leaned up and whispered something more in his ear. The grim look on his face didn’t change much, but one side of his mouth did kick up in a slightly naughty smile.
“Get moving, Chad, and this had better be good,” she said as she pointed a finger at him. “Remember Jared is going to be right outside the door, and he is not currently amused.”
Chad looked properly chastised. He made a little mock bow to her before taking Chrissie’s arm and ushering her inside. We went through the kitchen, to avoid the majority of people, but still got some pretty pointed and baffled looks from those standing in the kitchen talking. Bella walked by with her head held high, so I did the same thing, even though I desperately wanted to stop and explain everything.
Once we arrived at the bedroom, we all stood around. There wasn’t anywhere to sit. The chair Tarrin had died in had been removed, and that only left the bed, which the five of us couldn’t comfortably sit on.
Chad took a position by the chest of drawers on the far wall and Chrissie stuck close to his side, clutching his arm. “I’ll start off by saying how sorry I am about the whole thing, and how much I hope you, Bella, can find it in your heart to not press charges against me.”
Bella stood silent and waiting, her arms crossed, tapping her finger against her half-full glass.
If Chad was waiting for some immediate reprieve, I thought he’d see hell freeze over first.
He must have gotten that impression, too, because he went on, more quickly this time. “I can’t tell you all the details, since part of it isn’t mine to tell, but I made a deal with the police. No one was supposed to buy that particular sideboard you picked up, Ivy, but they had a new girl there, and she sold it even without a tag. When I went into the upstairs room at the estate sale, I was shocked and horrified to find the sideboard missing, and along with it the diamonds.”
I wasn’t hearing anything new here, and from the expressions on Ben and Bella’s faces, they weren’t, either. I crossed my own arms and waited while Chad visibly gulped.
“Anyway, I found out the thing had been sold to you, Ivy, and went to retrieve the diamonds. But you interrupted me and I had to do something. I’m so sorry I locked you in the closet.” He turned to me and gave me the imploring-eyes thing.
I was still understandably miffed about the whole mess. His weak apology wasn’t doing anything for me. “Go on,” I said in my best lady-of-the-manner voice.
He shook his head. “The only thing I can really tell you about all of this is my part. I was supposed to get the jewels into the furniture and then someone would come, buy whichever piece they were in, and do whatever it is they do with them after. My only part was in having the hiding place.”
“But how did you have the hiding place?” I asked. I’d never have tied him in with the estate sale in the next town over.
Ben jumped in at this point. “The place is called DarMine. Chad’s dad was the Dar part and passed his share down to him when he died last year.” He turned to me. “I meant to tell you.”
I ignored it for now. “So, Chad, you decided to use it for your own nefarious plans? Nice way to take care of your inheritance.” I was thinking of my own inheritance from Great-Aunt Gertie, and how I would never do anything to jeopardize it.
“It wasn’t my best idea, and this next part gets into the things I can’t rightfully tell you.” He scratched his chin and looked off into the corner. “When Tarrin—God rest her soul—and I came here, she didn’t know about the other business. I’d gone into some debt getting her all the things she wanted and having the best of the best. I got in touch with an old college buddy who I thought was legit, though it turned out he wasn’t. But by then I was already so far in, I couldn’t see a way out. I went along with his plan for this mess to get myself out of my own mess.”
Bella had been very quiet this whole time, but cocked an eyebrow at him now. “So your tale of woe is that you were roped into this and found out you were in over your head before you knew it. Poor you.” She looked down at her clogs and then zeroed back in on him. “Which still doesn’t explain why you scared the living shit out of me and broke my windows trying to get into my house.”
His grin faltered and then came back, sheepish. “I’d just found out about a new round of theft these people wanted accomplished and I didn’t know what I was going to do. Tarrin promised so many things when we moved here. People were supposed to need all my skills and ideas. But after pounding the pavement for the last three weeks, I’ve found nothing. I felt like I was between a rock and a hard place, and the guy was hammering harder at me. With Tarrin’s death, the bottom of my world dropped out. I guess I went a little crazy.”
“A little crazy?” Bella cocked that eyebrow again. Man, I wished I could do that, it was so cool.
“Okay, a lot crazy, but it was controlled. I wouldn’t really have hurt you.”
“Could have fooled me.” I said it under my breath, but Chrissie shot me a fulminating look.
“So what was the purpose of your little crazy episode?” Ben asked, irritat
ion evident in his stance and voice. He’d cut straight to the meat of Chad’s babbling, and I squeezed his bicep to let him know I appreciated his astuteness. He laid his hand over mine while crossing his arms.
“Smart, Ben. I admire that.”
“I couldn’t care less what you admire, Chad.” He made the name sound like the lowest form of earthworm. “Answer the question.”
A mulish look cruised across Chad’s face and was replaced by the smarmy smile less than a second later. Despite his explanation, I did not like him any more today than I did when he’d attacked Bella and me.
“Truth time, I guess. I wanted to get caught so I’d be safe and hopefully able to work out a deal, exactly like I did.” His smug attitude did nothing for my opinion of him. He thought he was so smart, and it galled to admit everything had worked out as he had planned.
“And what about your previous fiancée?” Ben asked.
The question appeared to hit Chad out of left field. His eyes popped open and his mouth dropped. After about a second, he composed himself and stood tall. “Lorraine has nothing to do with any of this. I didn’t do what the police said I did, and they’ll never prove something I didn’t do. I would never take another person’s life. Maybe you should ask yourself if you can say the same thing about your little bed buddy.”
I did my damnedest to hold Ben back. It took all my strength and weight to keep him from plowing one into the arrogant bastard’s face. “Ben, I love you. Don’t do this. Please. He’s not worth it. And if anyone gets to hit him, it’s me.”
Ben’s green eyes narrowed, and I saw him think about it for a second. “Make it a good one.”
“I’m not going to make any kind of one at all,” I said, keeping his focus on me. “If I hit him, it might feel good, but it could also negate anything we plan to do to him, like press charges. Think. His words don’t mean anything if we don’t let them.”
“Fine,” Ben said, walking to the bedroom door and opening it. “Thanks for sharing, Chad. Now, if Bella and Ivy don’t have any more questions, I suggest you leave.”
“But...” Chad sputtered.
“I’ll show you out, Chad,” Bella said. “And don’t think for a moment I’m going to drop the charges. Not happening. I want you punished, and to the full extent of the law, make no mistake.”
Two seconds later we were at the front door again, other partygoers trailing along behind us as Bella ushered Chad out, all but pushing him. “Thanks for coming by. Don’t come back.” She turned to Chrissie. “You’re more than welcome to stay, if you want.”
“No, she’s coming with me. Thanks for nothing, you—” Chad said.
“I wouldn’t finish it if I were you,” Ben warned, with Jared standing menacingly behind him.
Chad stomped off in the gathering snow, tugging Chrissie behind him. She turned back toward the house and gave us all a look I couldn’t decipher. At least there hadn’t been any blows exchanged, or bodies for me to trip over.
“Well, that was interesting.” Bella closed the door and turned to her guests. “Sorry about the unpleasantness here. Let’s all go back to the party and have some fun. Who’s up for a game of wenches and wastrels?”
The party went on, but I kept throwing Bella looks, trying to get her attention so we could talk about what had happened. She pointedly ignored my every signal, and I finally let it go. I certainly didn’t want to ruin this night for her.
People started to leave around midnight, going out into the cold and snow, bundled up in their coats, scarves, and gloves. They weren’t nearly as bundled as I was going to be, though. Every time the door opened, I felt a gust of wind blow up under my skirt and freeze my thighs. Even with the car, I could look forward to being downright chilled. I thought for a minute about staying at Bella’s house for the night, but my dad told me not to wait up for him as he left with Martha (both of them dressed as cabin boys). That meant I could have the house to myself and sleep with Ben in a real honest-to-goodness bed. The opportunity was worth any number of frozen parts, as long as Ben agreed to warm all of me up.
I found him leaning against the wall in the kitchen, talking with Bella and Jared. We were the only ones left in the house. The soft glow of the overhead stained-glass lamp illuminated Ben beautifully and was easy on my tired eyes. “Ready to go?” I asked. “Did you need me to help you with the clean-up, Bella?”
“No, you guys head on home. Jared’s offered to help me with the house.” She gave him a smile that could have struck a man blind at twenty paces. “Then we’re hosting breakfast for you and Ben tomorrow morning. Be here at eight.”
Woo-hoo! Good for her. Ben got our jackets, and Jared went along to help. Bella pulled me aside in the kitchen and giggled. “God, I’m really going to do this.”
“Do what?” I played dumb to get as much information from her as I could, and also to irritate her a little. Hee-hee.
She smacked me in the arm. “I’m going to walk his plank tonight.”
“Wow, that’ll be some trick. You’ll have to tell me all about the experience.”
She laughed—giggled, actually—and it was nice to hear. I wished her well with her plank walking, when the guys came back in, and got puzzled smiles. They didn’t need to know everything. A little mystery was a good thing. I promised Bella we would be there the next morning and told her I wanted to talk about the whole Chad thing at the same time. She put her finger against Jared’s lips when he started asking questions, telling him to hush.
Properly bundled for tundra weather, I blew air kisses to Bella and wished her a good night. No way could someone actually fit their arms around me in my get-up, so it sufficed. I waddled my way out to the car with Ben laughing behind me in his knit cap and leather jacket, the bastard.
Once back at my house, I pushed the key into the lock, expecting resistance because it was so cold outside. Who knew if door locks froze? Would we have to spend the whole night in the car? But the door moved open all on its own.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Ben put a restraining arm up and gestured for me to hush. He mimed he was going in, and I was to stay out here.
I huffed and puffed, nearly tilting back and falling in the snow from the force of my breathing. Stupid men with their stupid need to go stupidly in first. I fumed a little until I heard a crash and muffled cursing. I couldn’t stay out here now; I had to find out what had happened and what the crash was.
I crept through the door, listening hard for more commotion. I had no idea where the first crash came from and didn’t want to walk into something without being prepared. Closing the door behind me (burglar or not, he wasn’t paying my heating bill), I went to the back of the house, shed my bulky parka, and moved forward. No one was in my room or my dad’s room. My bathroom was unoccupied, too. I heard moaning from the guest bathroom and paused outside the door. Was that a Ben moan? I tiptoed to the door and gave it a gentle push. No use alerting the perpetrator I had come in.
From the soft glow of the plug-in nightlight, I could see Ben bound and gagged on the toilet. His eyebrows drew together. He shouted something from behind his cloth before I could come any closer. It sounded suspiciously like kitchen and I repeated it, only to have him nod his head at me.
I crept back out of the bathroom, not very happy to be leaving Ben in his current position, but he’d continued to shoo me with his body. The amount of time we’d spent having our silent argument, I probably could have untied him. But he kept making his thrusting motions, and I couldn’t get near enough to him to get anything done.
Back in the hallway, I took off my boots and walked in my stocking feet to the kitchen. A woman stood in the muted light of the ventilation hood on the stove. Her hair wild, she was chattering away to herself and apparently cooking something. The smell was horrendous, but the sound of boiling in the pot masked my entrance.
She muttered about being hungry because I’d pushed her out of the party without a single snack. I’d had a feeling it was Chrissie, but
that comment confirmed it. She could have eaten at Bella’s if she would have let go of Chad. Her choice, not mine. And I sincerely hoped she was not going to eat whatever was in the stinking pot.
I had two choices here. I couldn’t see a gun in her hand, but if I shouted it might turn out she had one, and I could be dead two steps in. If I tiptoed and crept up on her unaware, I might have the advantage. I still didn’t know who she was, but I had a pretty good idea.
I chose option two. Creeping, creeping, creeping along, I tried my best to stay out of her line of vision. Surprise wouldn’t work if she saw me, and I was too far away to jump on her. When I was within arm’s reach of her, she suddenly whipped around, and I got the scare of my life.
The woman was Chrissie, but not Chrissie. Her hair stood up on end like the time she’d answered the door for us, but now it looked electrified. Her eyes danced from one object to another, never straying too far from me as she bared her teeth. She reminded me of a lion on one of those nature shows, about to pounce, seeing dinner on the horizon.
I tried reason first, though it looked as if she were beyond such rational things. “Chrissie, hi. How are you?”
She snarled at me like when Sigourney Weaver in Ghostbusters turned into the Gate Keeper. It was frightening, let me tell you. I backed up a step but held my ground after that. The woman was at least three inches shorter than me and about eighty pounds lighter. I could squash her like a bug. I was ready to do just that, with a tackle to her midsection, when she grabbed a knife from my conveniently located knife block and brandished it at me.
I took another step back; I’m not stupid. No way could I tackle her now without opening myself up to serious bodily harm.
“Think you’re so damn smart, don’t you, Ms. Ivy. Have your great store and your little perfect house. A man who loves you for who you are and what you are.”
“Was that a rhetorical question?” I asked. Yes, I know, not very intelligent to goad the crazy lady with the knife, which I found out when she poked at me with it. She came within inches of my new outfit, and I backed up again; I did not want blood on the three-hundred-dollar costume. Or me, for that matter.