by S. Y. Robins
“But he must have seen the truth after a while,” she offered. Daisy had been with Silas for two years, after all.
“You’d think, wouldn’t you?” Daisy smiled grimly. “But he never did. I tried to get to know him, too, and he just thought I was sucking up. He’d blame me for Silas’s drinking and when I asked what he thought I could do to help, or if it was really worse, he’d accuse me of trying to pry into Silas’s life. It was a nightmare. I couldn’t win with him. Even when…”
“Even when what?”
“Nothing.” Daisy shook her head. Her face hardened. “And he’s such a hypocrite about the cheating. If you ask me, they should be looking at Caroline.”
“Caroline?”
“His girlfriend. She wanted to get married to him, you know. She hated it when he cheated. God, the fights we all saw. She was always confronting him in public, like that would make him too embarrassed to keep doing it to her. It never changed anything. It wasn’t like we didn’t know he was scum, and he wasn’t ever going to change. She should have left him years ago.”
“How long have they been going out?”
“They were high school sweethearts,” Daisy explained with a shrug. “And then he got handsome, and now he’s determined to live like a rock star. If you ask me, that’s why he was so jealous of Silas. Always wanted anything he had…” She swallowed hard and looked away.
“So you hated him,” Shannon said softly.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I’m glad to see him dead,” Daisy said firmly, having guessed the drift of Shannon’s thoughts. “Sure, he was a jerk. But I can’t think who’d want to kill him over it, you know?” She sank her head into her hands. “And I can’t go to jail for this, Shannon. I refuse. I won’t. He tried to ruin my relationship with Silas and it worked, and I’ll be damned if I let him ruin my whole life.”
“I won’t let him,” Shannon promised. She knelt at her sister’s side and enfolded her in a hug. To her surprise, some part of her that she had thought was gone stirred to life. She was protective—even of Jeffrey, once. Now she could take solace in that, and pull herself out of her sadness over the divorce.
She refused to let Daisy take the blame for this.
3
The sound of clanking came from inside the food truck and Shannon hesitated. This was probably a bad idea. Noah’s business partner was hardly likely to be Shannon’s best friend in this investigation. Still, she could hardly speak to Caroline directly—the woman was probably stricken with grief.
That was, if she wasn’t a murderer.
Shannon shook her head. This was a mess, and she wasn’t going to find out anything more about it until she did her research. She’d managed to track down Noah’s business partner from the few scraps of information Daisy dropped her way, and had then found a mention on social media that their food truck, One Smart Cookie, would be on 5th Avenue at midmorning.
She’d come this far, and she needed to just take the initiative. Shannon screwed up her courage and knocked on the door of the food truck before she could stop herself. She waited, hands in her pockets, and then knocked again. The door slammed open a moment later, and she found herself staring into cold grey eyes.
“Yes?” the man asked, unceremoniously.
“Er…are you Harry Holt?”
“Yes.” A normal person might have added, why to keep the conversation going, but Noah’s business partner was clearly not inclined to help Shannon at all. He crossed his arms over his apron and stared her down.
“I’m Shannon Thompson,” Shannon said, swallowing.
The man raised his eyebrows, as if to tell her that not only did her name mean nothing to him, he also didn’t care to learn more. Beginning to be annoyed, Shannon pressed on.
“I just started a food truck as well. Warm Me Up?”
The man gave a snort. “And you’re not selling and you want to know why? Because it’s a stupid concept, that’s why. Grilled cheese and tomato soup? Who did you think you would sell to, three year olds?”
“That’s not why I’m here,” Shannon said, nettled.
“Oh? Well, you’ve wasted enough of my time for one day. Go away.”
The door slammed shut.
“Hey.” Shannon wrenched it back open.
“I said—”
“You wasted your own time by insulting me,” Shannon said furiously. “Listen, I’m here about Noah Pole.”
“What, you’re with the cops, too?”
“No,” Shannon said patiently.
“Why do you want to know about him, then?” He looked her over. “Were you one of the ones he was cheating with? You want to know if there were others? There were. Face it, honey, Noah slept with anything that moved. You weren’t the only one by a long shot. And if you want my advice, you’re well rid of him. He had it coming.”
Shannon stared at him, her mouth hanging open.
“Didn’t think I’d be that blunt, did you?” Harry returned to cooking, giving her a scathing look. “Come on, get over him. There are plenty of other guys.”
“I wasn’t sleeping with him,” Shannon said finally. It wasn’t a good answer, but it was the best she could do.
“Oh. Then why are you here?”
“You know, I keep trying to tell you that and you keep getting in my way.” Shannon crossed her arms.
“Oh, well, by all means.” He spread out a hand, mockingly.
“Well, I suppose you kind of answered one of my questions. Do you know anyone that would have had a motive to kill him?”
“Yeah. Pretty much everyone he knew.” The man threw her a glance and went back to chopping.
“Because…” Shannon prompted wearily.
“Because he was a bastard, that’s why. He never wanted to do the work for anything—not for relationships, not for a job, not for anything. He screwed over more women than I can count. He must’ve been sleeping with half the city, and you know what? He had one of the most gorgeous, perfect girlfriends I’ve ever—” Harry shook his head, swallowing hard. His voice was low and ugly. “Why she stayed with him, I’ll never know.” He paused, looking down at the cutting board, but she sensed he saw none of it. “He was the best liar I ever saw,” he finished bitterly.
“He must have lied to you, too,” Shannon guessed.
“What gave it away?” He looked over at her, his mouth twisting. “You want to know if I have a motive? Sure, I have a ton. He was screwing around on the woman I loved, for one thing.”
“You were in love with Caroline?” She should have known it from his tone, Shannon thought. When he described Caroline as perfect, there had been a yearning there.
“Yes. Since grade school, if you want to know. But it doesn’t matter. She was in love with him. She never believed her own eyes when she saw what he was like. She’d be raging at him one day, heartbroken, and the next day she’d take him back.”
Shannon nodded and looked down. She knew what that was like. She couldn’t find it in her to judge Caroline, not after the years it had taken her to leave Jeffrey—and the years it had taken Daisy to leave Silas. It was hard to believe that the person you loved didn’t really exist. That they were choosing not to exist.
“And he was behind on his payments here, too,” Harry said finally. His voice had softened slightly, as if he saw something on Shannon’s face that touched him. He cleared his throat awkwardly. “He never came into work. We went in on this food truck together, and I was just as stupid as Caroline. I knew he’d never actually help. But he was so…charming.”
“You miss him,” Shannon guessed. There was genuine grief in his tone.
Whatever moment they’d been having, it vanished abruptly. His eyes hardened. “Miss him? No. The man messed with everyone’s heads. He was a jerk. He never went through your wallet and stole things, he talked you into handing them over. And then you felt like too much of an idiot to call him on it.” He shook his head. “He was like that with women, too. His whole schtick was that he never prete
nded he was a good guy. It worked like a charm.”
“I’m…sorry.”
“What, because I was in love with Caroline? Don’t be. And don’t think she was stupid, either. She…just had a lot of hope.” He grimaced, then frowned. “Why are you here?”
“Because they think it was my sister,” Shannon said, before she could stop herself. When he shook his head, she clarified: “Daisy.”
“Daisy is your sister?” He looked at her, and then shook his head. “I should have seen the resemblance. Look, this is an ugly case. I wouldn’t be surprised if your sister was involved—hey, not saying she was, just saying that I frankly wouldn’t be surprised about anyone at all. Look…you should steer clear of this. It’s going to get ugly, I’m sure of it.”
“I can’t,” Shannon said at once.
“Look, lady, Daisy’s an adult.”
“She’s not just an adult,” Shannon said instantly. “I mean, okay, look. I know she can take care of herself, okay? But she’s my sister.”
“You know, usually by adulthood, people let their siblings handle their own problems.”
“Yeah, well, if Daisy had done that, I’d be living on the street.” Shannon met his eyes. “When I lost everything, Daisy was there for me. Maybe she can stand on her own right now, but she won’t have to. She’s the only good thing in my life, and I’m going to be there for her.” She trailed off, seeing the funny expression on his face. “What is it?”
“Nothing,” he said finally. “I’d just…I’d stay out of this. Noah wasn’t a great guy. He had this coming. And you’re going to get tangled up in it. So just stay out of it.” Gently but firmly, he pushed Shannon out the door of the food truck and closed it in her face.
Sighing, Shannon turned…and found herself face to face with the red-haired woman she had seen outside the food truck the other day.
“Hi,” she said reflexively. “I’m Shannon.”
The other woman smiled, but it was only a twitch of pale lips. There were shadows under her eyes and she looked as if she hadn’t slept in days. “I’m Caroline,” she said.
4
“You’re Caroline?” Shannon raised her eyebrows.
“Yes.” Caroline frowned.
This, apparently, was the paragon of perfection that Harry was pining over. Shannon tried to picture how she must have been before the murder. With an oval face, creamy skin, and her flaming red hair, Caroline would always have been striking. But her face was a little bit long for classic elegance, and her lean body was more thin than slim. She looked like someone who had been worn down over time, and Shannon was very aware of Harry’s reminder that Caroline had watched Noah cheat with almost anything that moved.
Now, the woman cleared her throat. “Do I know you?”
“I…no, we haven’t been introduced.” Shannon waved a hand behind her at the food truck. “I was just talking to Harry.”
“I see that.” The woman looked for a moment to where the sounds of slamming cupboards and cutlery could be heard.
“I’d wait a while,” Shannon said. “I think I upset him.”
“Oh?” Caroline turned and followed as Shannon moved away, along the street. “What were you talking about?”
Shannon hesitated. “Noah,” she said finally.
“You knew Noah?” Caroline’s look was sudden and sharp.
“I’d never met him,” Shannon assured her. When the sharp look disappeared, she cursed the fact that she was about to make it return. “My sister…is Daisy Harrod.”
Knowing how much Noah despised Daisy, it was no surprise to see Caroline’s face close off. She looked angry now, and she turned away to walk the other way. When Shannon reached out to take her arm, she wrenched it away.
“Wait! Please.”
“What the hell do you want from me?” Caroline demanded.
“I just want…I just want to help,” Shannon said quietly.
Caroline laughed. The sound was a bit wild. “You want to help? Really? How?” Her gaze narrowed. “And why?”
Shannon remembered Harry’s strange reaction to her speech about Daisy, and she knew that Caroline was not likely even to be conflicted about Daisy’s guilt. Whatever fight Noah and Daisy had had, Caroline had quite clearly taken Noah’s side. Shannon drew a deep breath and tried to consider what to say.
“Look, I know you won’t believe me,” she said finally, “but she’s my sister and I honestly believe Daisy is innocent.”
Caroline’s lips pressed together and she turned away, and Shannon raised her voice.
“Wait, please. Please. Even if you don’t believe me, Noah Pole is dead. Don’t his family and friends deserve the truth? Don’t they deserve justice?” When Caroline turned back, her face a mask, Shannon said quietly, “Don’t you deserve justice?”
Caroline said nothing for a long moment. Then she smiled bitterly.
“I find I’ve lost any belief in justice.” Bloodless lips were still curled. “Justice means people get what they deserve. Justice would be if Noah was still alive…and if he was the man he should have been.” She spoke fiercely, emotions roiling between the surface, and Shannon heard Harry’s words echoing in her mind: Noah had it coming. Grieving as she was, Caroline was also angry at everything that Noah had done to her. And she must know, on some level, that his actions were what had doomed him.
Shannon would have expected her to be relieved, in a way. If Noah was such a master of manipulation, there would be freedom for Caroline in his death. She could move on now, no longer tied to the hope that Noah would turn into an honorable man.
But it had only been a couple of days. Shannon grimaced and looked down, aware that this woman was coping with something she could not even imagine. What if Jeffrey had died before she could make her peace with what he was? She might well be in the same state.
“I’m sorry things were so bad for you,” Shannon said finally.
Caroline’s lips twisted. She looked so miserable that Shannon wanted to hug her, and yet also utterly furious. “Everyone knows now.”
Shannon raised her eyebrows in a wordless question.
“It’s such a cliché,” Caroline said, dashing tears away with the back of her hand. “He made a fool of me almost every day we were together. I knew it. It made me feel like I was an inch tall but I kept thinking I could persuade him. I was always trying to keep other people from finding out. I was covering for him. I was the one telling the lies. And now everyone knows.” She turned away. “I can’t help you.”
“But you can,” Shannon said. “Look, I know Noah hated Daisy, but…”
Her voice trailed off as Caroline began to laugh. The woman doubled over, holding her sides. She could not seem to stop laughing, even when tears began running down her face.
“What is it?” Shannon asked.
“You don’t know? You came here looking like you knew, but you don’t, do you? Oh, that’s rich.” Caroline turned away, running her fingers through her flame-red hair. “What, did Harry tell you about Noah cheating on me?”
Shannon nodded. She wasn’t going to throw Daisy into the fray until she knew what was going on.
“That bastard,” Caroline said quietly. She shook her head. “He always thought it made me look like a martyr. He kept thinking if he told enough people, if people knew, Noah would stop. And then I’d…what? I don’t even know. He shamed me. He kept shaming me.”
“What, Harry?”
“Of course, Harry!”
Not Noah? But Shannon kept her mouth closed on the words. “Because people knew?”
“Yes. They knew I couldn’t keep Noah faithful.”
Shannon wanted to enfold the other woman in her arms, but she held herself back. Caroline might not take that too kindly. Still, she knew that sort of pain: blaming herself for someone else’s transgressions.
“I gave him everything,” Caroline said. She did not look up. “I gave him all my money for that stupid food truck. I was going to Harry to see if…” She rubbed at
her head. “I need to talk to him.”
“Wait. What was it about Noah and Daisy?” As she said the words, Shannon felt the realization hit her. But she could not believe it. It wasn’t possible…
“Really? You still don’t know?” Caroline shrugged one thin shoulder. “Fine. They were sleeping together.” Her eyes narrowed, and there was a bitter smile on her face. “She didn’t tell you that, did she?”
“She said he hated her,” Shannon said, disbelieving.
“Oh, he did.” Caroline lifted one shoulder as if it wasn’t important. “But he also wanted to sleep with her. So he did. I’ll bet you he even told her he hated her. I’ll bet he said it to her in bed. I’ll bet…” She looked away, grimacing.
Noah wanted anything Silas had, Daisy had said. He’s such a hypocrite. And now she remembered the screaming match outside the food truck. Noah had accused Daisy of breaking Silas’s heart, because Daisy had cheated on him…
…with Noah.
Oh, Daisy.
Caroline saw Shannon’s grimace of distaste, and her own face split in a smile. She looked more spiteful than Shannon could bear, shining bright with malice.
“What you should ask yourself,” she said, contemptuous, “is if Daisy’s hiding all that from you, is she really as innocent as she claims? Because she wanted him. She wanted him to love her. She wanted a whole lot that he wasn’t willing to give her.”
5
“How could you not tell me?” Shannon burst in the door of the house, storming into the kitchen where she knew Daisy was mixing a trial batch of soup. The smells of fresh vegetables and spices should have been comforting, but Shannon was far too angry for that.
“How could I not tell you what?” Daisy’s face was wary.
“That you and Noah were sleeping together,” Shannon said flatly. At the guilty sideways flicker of her sister’s eyes, she threw up her hands. “Oh, my God! How? How did you even—you said he hated you!”