A Healthy Homicide

by Staci McLaughlin

  I sucked in my breath. I’d been so wrapped up in my thoughts, I hadn’t heard her approach. I took one last look at the door, clinging to the ridiculous idea that it might pop open by magic, and then slowly turned around, my heart hammering.

  Erin was no more than three feet away. In one hand, she held a wickedly sharp pair of office scissors. Chills broke out all over my body.

  “Erin, hi,” I said with fake cheer, taking care not to stare directly at the scissors.

  “I asked what you were doing,” Erin said.

  “I was driving by and saw the door was open. I thought I’d stop to see if you needed any help.” That almost sounded plausible and was even partly true. I waited to see if she believed me. My hands were clenched so tightly into fists, I could feel my nails cutting into my flesh.

  Her eyes narrowed. “Then what were you doing in the office?”

  I tried to smile but couldn’t. “Looking for you, of course. I’d already checked the other rooms, and the office was the only one left.” In my panicked state, I couldn’t remember how long it had been since I’d heard her come in. Would it have taken me that long to walk down a single hallway and look in a handful of rooms?

  Her face struggled through a series of emotions, from disbelief to acceptance to confusion, like she wanted to believe me but couldn’t. She began pacing before me, gripping the scissors. “Didn’t you hear me come in? Why didn’t you come right up front?”

  “I, uh, well, I got distracted by that box of photos. I guess I didn’t hear you.”

  Erin pointed the scissors at me. They were so close, I could have grabbed them, but I was frozen to the floor. “When I came down the hall,” she said, “it looked like you were trying to escape out the back door.” The words came slowly, as if she was thinking things through as she spoke. She frowned. “That doesn’t sound like someone who stopped by to help me.”

  I was hoping she hadn’t noticed that part. I tried to think up another lie, but my mind was blank. Outside, a loud rumble came from the direction of the street, and I felt a burst of hope. As noisy as the sound was, the front door must still be open. Would anyone hear me if I screamed? Was anyone even out there?

  A self-satisfied smile spread over Erin’s face as the rumble abruptly stopped. “Sounds like Ricky is here to help me deal with you.”

  I was already afraid to move, and now even my breathing stopped at the mention of Ricky. Was she right? Would Ricky back up Erin and her craziness? Or would he somehow give me a chance to escape?

  I wasn’t sure if my situation had just gotten better . . . or a whole lot worse.

  Chapter 23

  My hands tingled as I faced Erin and her twisted smile. I’d be smiling, too, if I were her. Not only was she holding a deadly pair of scissors, but now Ricky had arrived to help her, too.

  From down the hall, I heard the faint sound of whistling growing louder. Then Ricky’s voice drifted toward us. “Erin? You in here?”

  Erin’s grin grew wider. “I’m back here. Come see what I caught.”

  Ricky came into view over Erin’s shoulder as he entered the hall from the lobby. With Erin’s back to him, I didn’t think he could see what she held in her hand. He saw me and gave a nod like everything was fine.

  “Hey, I remember you. You’re popping up all over the place.” He stepped up next to Erin and glanced down. His eyes locked on the scissors clutched in her hand, though he seemed more befuddled than anything. “What are you doing with those?”

  “Protecting myself,” Erin said, her voice high. “I saw them in one of the drawers earlier, so when I heard a bunch of noise, I grabbed them and came back here to find out what was going on. Good thing I did.” She gestured toward me, and I flinched as the scissors swung near my face. “I caught this one snooping around. She must have walked right in while I was off getting my dinner. Who does that?”

  “You left the door open,” I said.

  Erin looked like she was about to say something, but Ricky spoke first. “Did you call the cops?”

  “Great idea,” I said. “Let’s call the police.”

  Erin took a step away from Ricky. “Not yet. I’m still waiting for her to tell me what she was looking for.”

  I turned my attention to Ricky, hoping I could reason with him, since Erin wasn’t cooperating. “I already told Erin I wasn’t looking for anything. I noticed the door was open when I drove by, and decided to stop in and see if she needed anything. I was back in the office when she came in because I’d already looked in the other rooms, but she wasn’t there.”

  Ricky looked at Erin. “She might be telling the truth, you know.”

  “Why was she back here so long?” Erin asked. “And why did she even come in? She’s just like Patricia, always sticking her nose in other people’s business.”

  Ouch. That hurt. I jutted my chin out. “I’m nothing like Patricia.”

  Erin gave me a withering look. “Right. That’s why you came inside as soon as you saw the spa door was open, even though I hardly know you.”

  Ricky placed a hand on Erin’s arm. “None of that matters. You need to put the scissors down before someone else walks in. I don’t want you to be the one who gets in trouble. She’s the one who broke in.”

  Tears sprang to Erin’s eyes, and her face turned a mottled red. “That’s exactly what would happen, too. I’m always getting blamed for stuff that isn’t my fault. It’s not fair.” She lowered her arm and let it hang limply at her side.

  That was definitely a good sign, but I couldn’t allow myself to relax yet. She could still stab me with one solid thrust.

  Ricky must have been thinking the same thing. “Why don’t you give me the scissors?” he said softly. “I don’t know why you even have them.”

  She whirled on him. “Because there’s a killer out there! Someone murdered my aunt, and I need to defend myself. What if they come back?”

  Ricky held out his hand. “I’m here now. You don’t need them anymore.”

  Erin looked at the scissors, then at Ricky. I held my breath. After several excruciating seconds, she laid the scissors in his palm.

  My body sagged in relief as he reached over and set the scissors next to a fern on a small table nearby. “I’m sorry I upset you,” I told Erin. “I never should have come in here.”

  “You got that right,” she huffed. “You should’ve at least let me know you were here, instead of scaring me like that. I’ve totally been on edge after what happened to Aunt Carla.”

  She’d calmed down considerably now that Ricky was here, and I couldn’t help feeling bad for her, never mind the danger I’d been in.

  “We’re all on edge,” I told her.

  “But I have the most reason to worry,” Erin said. “My aunt is the one who was killed, and nobody knows why. What if I’m next?”

  “No one’s coming after you,” Ricky said. He slid an arm around her waist and pulled her close. “I’ll protect you.”

  I studied the two lovebirds. A pair of innocent victims or the dynamic duo of death? Now that Erin was no longer threatening me with bodily harm, I couldn’t resist the urge to try to weasel a little information out of them both. “Maybe you witnessed something the night Carla died that could help the police find the killer.”

  Erin shrugged out of Ricky’s embrace and put her hands on her hips. “What do you mean? I was in class when she was killed.”

  Ricky was studying me closely. I thought of the scissors, which were still within easy reach for him. At least the front door was open. Maybe I could sprint past these two if things got out of hand.

  “What are you getting at?” he asked.

  “I heard Erin was with you when you had a car accident right down the street that night.”

  Erin gasped, her eyes wide as she turned toward Ricky. “How did she—”

  “Quiet,” he said.

  “Look, your accident was covered in the newspaper, only I didn’t make the connection that you were the driver until recently
.” Actually, Jason had realized that Ricky and Richard were one and the same, but I didn’t want to drag his name into the situation right now.

  Ricky shrugged like he didn’t care, but his shoulders were stiff. “So I got in a little fender bender. No big deal.”

  “But witnesses said you had a female passenger with you, and she ran off. That’s kind of a big deal when a murder happened right down the street.”

  Erin’s hand crept up to her mouth. “I knew I shouldn’t have run.”

  Ricky turned to face her. “I told you to hush.”

  Erin pointed at me. “But if she knows, the police must know. The one time I cut class—”

  “She’s only guessing.”

  They glared at each other, seemingly locked in a silent argument. I used the temporary distraction to turn my body and sidle along the wall toward the lobby. I was close enough to smell the cigarette smoke clinging to Ricky’s clothes, and I hurried my steps. I didn’t like having my exit blocked. Ricky and Erin were too unpredictable.

  Once I’d moved past them, I spoke again. “Aren’t you worried that if I guessed Erin was with you, other people will, too?”

  Ricky jerked his head and exhaled sharply. “Man, you really do butt into people’s stuff. I should have listened to Erin.”

  Erin gave me the same snarky look that Ashlee used to give me when Mom sided with her during an argument.

  “The police aren’t idiots,” I said. “Why not admit you were there and see if you can help catch Carla’s killer?”

  Without warning, Ricky swung his arm up and slapped the wall next to him with a thud. I jumped, while Erin reached for his hand. She bent over his palm to take a look, cooing at him as if he were a small child with a scraped knee.

  “Look, lady,” he said to me, “I already told the cops I was alone. I can’t change my story now, and neither can Erin. You need to mind your own business.”

  I backed up a couple of feet closer to the lobby. “You’re not some teenage girl,” I said to Erin. “And you’re old enough to drink, right? So why run?”

  Erin dropped Ricky’s hand and leaned into him. “Because of Aunt Carla. With the accident so close to the spa, I was worried she might drive by on her way home and see me with Ricky. We’d already gotten in a huge fight that afternoon about me dating Ricky. She said she’d kick me out if I didn’t break up with him. I couldn’t let her see us together.”

  My eyebrows came together. “But I thought you had already told her you were moving out because of Ricky.”

  “That’s what I said, but I was only bluffing. I needed a place to stay until I can graduate.”

  Ricky wrapped his arms protectively around her, his anger gone. “I already said you can stay with me.”

  Erin shook her head. “Your mom has so many medical problems. She wouldn’t want me underfoot in the trailer all day.”

  “She wouldn’t mind. She’d probably like the extra help.”

  I could feel them slipping into their own private conversation. “Once you found out Carla had died, why not tell the cops the truth then?” I asked.

  “For what?” Erin asked. “So they would know I was basically outside the spa at the very minute my aunt was murdered?” Erin sneered. “Why should I give them a reason to suspect me? Patricia would love to hear about that.”

  Ricky scowled. “And with her big mouth, you know she’d tell them about your mother’s—”

  Erin cut him off, her eyes flashing. “We don’t talk about that.”

  “Sorry.”

  I could only assume he’d been about to mention how Erin had stabbed her mother’s boyfriend. Maybe not, though. Maybe Erin had even more to hide.

  “If you want to talk about something,” Erin said, “how about the way Aunt Carla offered you that money for—”

  “Knock it off,” Ricky growled.

  They fell silent, the discussion evidently at an end. I would have loved to know what Erin was about to say, what money Carla had offered Ricky and why, but in that moment I realized exactly how exhausted I was. Being threatened with a pair of scissors did that to a person.

  “I’m gonna take off now,” I said. “Sorry again for the misunderstanding.”

  Erin nodded, while Ricky gave me a two-fingered salute. I left them in the hallway and made my way outside, breathing in deep lungfuls of cool evening air, feeling like I’d never get enough. I stood for a moment and watched cars drive up and down the street. No one would ever guess that I’d been trapped in the spa just now. Main Street had probably looked much like this the night Carla was murdered.

  Hands still shaking slightly, I climbed inside my car and locked the door behind me. I pawed through my grocery bag until I located one of the chocolate bars I’d bought earlier. Peeling back the wrapper, I took a bite and let the chocolate soften and melt in my mouth. Then I glanced back at the building and stopped. Why on earth was I still sitting here? Erin had threatened me with scissors! I needed to go.

  I threw the rest of the chocolate bar in the bag, started up the car, and backed out of the space. As I pulled out of the parking lot, I noticed the spa door was still wide open. The lingering remnants of sweet chocolate turned sour in my mouth.

  Erin had done a fine job convincing Ricky and me that she’d grabbed the scissors because she feared for her life. But if she was so scared, why had she left the door open when she’d gone down the street for dinner? If it had been me, I’d have locked the place up tight before stepping outside. Better yet, I would have asked the diner to deliver so I wouldn’t have to bring my food back to an empty spa where my aunt had been murdered. For a woman living in fear, the open door seemed awfully careless.

  Maybe Erin wasn’t as afraid as she wanted Ricky and me to believe. Maybe she’d played the sympathy card so she didn’t come across as a nut job who threatened innocent people with office supplies. She might have intended to use those scissors on me, after all, and Ricky’s arrival messed up her plans.

  That idea made me clutch the steering wheel even tighter, and I almost pulled over and finished the candy bar. If Ricky hadn’t shown up when he had, I might have been Erin’s next victim.

  Chapter 24

  By the time I got to my apartment, my neck was stiff and my hands ached as I thought about what an idiot I’d been to go inside the spa alone.

  I clenched my teeth together to keep them from chattering as I grabbed my groceries and locked the car. I had run the heater for the entire drive home, but I still couldn’t ward off the chill that had settled in my gut. The milk I’d bought at the Meat and Potatoes market felt warmer than I did at this point.

  Once I’d lugged the bags up the stairs, I unlocked the front door and entered the dimly lit apartment. I flipped on the light and saw a message on the magnetic refrigerator pad, letting me know Ashlee was on a date with Chip. Perhaps their relationship wasn’t kaput quite yet.

  After putting away the groceries, I sat on the couch and squeezed my hands between my knees to try to warm them. I listened to the refrigerator hum. From outside, the sound of a car motor reached me. Then a new sound, a popping noise, came from the direction of the bedrooms.

  I sucked in my breath as I pictured someone outside my bedroom window, trying to find a weak point to gain entry into the apartment. Maybe Erin had changed her mind and decided I was a threat, after all. Another popping sound came, and my brain recognized it as water dripping in the shower. I exhaled loudly, disgusted with myself.

  I snatched up the TV remote and turned on the TV, increasing the volume until it blocked out my thoughts. The reporters for the evening news were covering a recent spike in crime in San Francisco, and I immediately clicked through the channels to find lighter fare. I tried to concentrate on the TV, but every time I thought I heard a strange noise, I’d mute the volume and freeze like a rabbit caught in the beam of Esther’s flashlight when she checked the vegetable garden at night.

  After another minute I tossed the remote on the couch and walked around the apar
tment, inspecting each room in turn, flipping on the lights as I went. I knew no one was here, but I still had a case of the creepy crawlies. My little encounter with Erin had shaken me more than I cared to admit.

  When I finished looking under the beds and behind the shower curtains, I headed for the kitchen to throw together dinner. As I passed the coat closet by the front door, I couldn’t resist opening it again, even though I’d already looked inside once.

  Still empty.

  Feeling silly now, I shook my head and poked through the kitchen cabinets. My cell phone trilled from its place on the counter, and I snatched it up, thankful for the distraction.

  “How’s my favorite girl?” Jason asked when I answered.

  “To tell you the truth, I’ve felt better.” My skin prickled, and I looked over my shoulder, swearing to myself it was the last time.

  Concern filled his voice. “You’re not sick, are you?”

  “All I’m suffering from right now is a case of an overactive imagination.”

  “Then I’ve got the perfect cure. Come over tonight. I’ll make you dinner.”

  I hesitated. The idea of walking out to my car, even if it wasn’t quite dark yet, filled me with trepidation. The parking lot was full of cars and trucks, plus two Dumpsters, creating dozens of hiding places. Then again, getting out of the apartment held more appeal than sitting here and jumping every time a neighbor slammed a door or a driver on the street honked a horn.

  “Sounds great,” I finally said. “Give me thirty minutes?”

  “See you then.”

  I hung up and went into the bathroom for a quick shower. After blow-drying my hair, I dressed in dark jeans and a lightweight cream sweater and applied a touch of makeup. Satisfied with my appearance, I went into the kitchen to erase Ashlee’s message on the fridge and replace it with one of my own. I turned off all the lights except the kitchen one, grabbed my purse, and left the apartment, locking the door behind me. I twisted the knob several times to make sure it stuck.

  Prepping for my date had definitely improved my mood, but I still paused at the top of the stairs and studied the parking lot. As I watched, a neighbor I knew vaguely by sight pulled in, and I used the opportunity to trot down to my own car and get in while I wasn’t completely alone.