Goddess, Guilted

by Jacqueline M Green

  I smiled as I released her hand and reached for my bag.

  Sandy was reaching for a tissue as I left the store, throwing a glare over my shoulder toward Maya. I wondered how long she had been standing there. Did she hear our conversation?

  Maya focused her eyes on Sandy. The store owner took a deep breath, then lifted her head as if she could shake off all of her troubles.

  Poor woman. Sandy might not be the easiest person to deal with, but she had been dealt a tough hand in life.

  The bad news was that if Sandy had heard that CeCe and I were helping Josie, then surely Neil and Cindy had heard it, too, and that did not bode well for me. But I had given Josie my word and I intended to stand by that.

  As I marched toward The Yoga Mat, Josie’s brother, Deangelo, struggled out of the hardware store, arms full of paint and supplies. I hurried toward him.

  “Can I give you a hand, Deangelo?”

  Josie’s brother’s face was etched with a frown as he peeked over the top of his purchases. When he saw it was me, a weak smile appeared.

  “Can you grab my truck key? It’s in my jeans pocket.”

  I backed up and stared at him, holding out my hand like a stop sign. “Whoa, dude. You really want me to go digging around in your pants pocket in the middle of Main Street? You do know your sister is law enforcement, right? And so is mine, for that matter.”

  Deangelo’s cheeks flushed and then he started to laugh. “Maybe just hold this stuff in my right hand and I’ll get the key?”

  I reached out and grabbed the bag with one hand, still holding on to my own bag with the other. Deangelo quickly hit the button to unlock the doors and turned back to take the bag, which I appreciated because it was heavier than it looked.

  “Thank you, Mariah.” Deangelo turned back to me after getting everything situated in the passenger seat of the truck.

  “Looks like you have some projects ahead of you.”

  He nodded and smiled sadly, his dark eyes crinkling in his handsome face. “You bet. That’s why Tamara and I came up early before your workshop. I wanted to help Mama take care of some things around the house. Josie and Sammy help her out with the day-to-day chores, but sometimes, those bigger projects pile up.”

  I patted his arm and smiled. “I know your mom appreciates it and is so glad you’re home for a while.”

  He laughed ruefully, shaking his head. “It sure hasn’t turned out like we thought it would.”

  “Deangelo,” I wasn’t sure if I should broach the subject or not. “Why would Neil, I mean, Detective Samuelson be keeping Angelica in jail?”

  He raised his hand as if to ward off questions. “I don’t know. Something about protecting Tamara. Not that she needs protecting.”

  “Did she ever talk about what happened to her when she was a kid here, why she left early that one summer?”

  I wasn’t sure Deangelo would answer. His eyes searched my face, as if he was looking for a sign as to how I would respond. I tried to look sympathetic, which I was, so it wasn’t difficult. Finally, he spoke.

  “Yeah, she did. But not until we got back together in L.A. I finally asked her why she had left. You know, she broke my heart pretty bad back then. I couldn’t figure out why she just left and didn’t tell me goodbye or anything.”

  “Did you believe her?”

  He looked stricken – and angry. “Of course! Nobody makes up stuff like that. It took years for her to heal from it.”

  “So you were angry at Jerry McIntyre?”

  Deangelo slammed shut the open door, rattling the truck to its rims before he answered. His eyes were dark as he looked at me, taking a step closer. I stepped back.

  “Of course, I was angry. Who wouldn’t be? Are you interrogating me, Mariah? Is that what’s going on here?” He stepped closer, shoving his pointer finger in my face. “I was so angry I could have killed him. Is that what you want to hear? Well, it’s true. I was that angry. But I didn’t kill him, and neither did Angelica and neither did Tamara.”

  He backed up, shaking his head and reached for the door handle without looking at me. “If you weren’t a friend of Josie’s…”

  His voice trailed off, apparently deciding more words was not the way to go. Pulling his keys back out of his jeans pocket, he wrenched open the truck door and leaped onto the seat. I stepped back on the sidewalk and watched him leave.

  Deangelo was angry enough to kill and, judging by how easily he had jumped up onto that seat, he was strong enough to do it, too.

  “Mariah, wait up!”

  My heart sank as Maya Anderson called my name from across the street. She looked both ways, then trotted toward me.

  “Hey, Maya. What’s up?”

  “Just wondering if you had any new leads in Jerry’s murder.” She re-situated her bag and pulled out her notebook, looking at me expectantly.

  “Do I look like a Sheriff’s deputy?” I tried, but I just couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of my voice.

  Maya’s face creased as she smiled. “Now, Mariah, I know you’re helping Josie try to get Angelica off. Tough gig, if you ask me.”

  “I didn’t.” My voice was colder than I wanted it to be. I couldn’t afford to alienate Maya. “There are suspects everywhere, you know. For instance, I was wondering how it was that you knew Jerry was dead before he actually was. I mean, the ambulance was taking him away.”

  Maya stared at me and sputtered. “I didn’t know. I mean, how could I?”

  “That’s right. How could you know?”

  She looked at me a moment too long. “I’m not sure I like what you’re insinuating, Mariah. Why would I want Jerry dead?”

  I shrugged. “You and Jennifer Parks are close, and she seems pretty broken up about it.”

  “Because Jerry’s dead, not because I killed him.” Maya leaned in close to my face. “Be careful who you are accusing, Mariah. Some of us might not take it too kindly.”

  Then she turned and stepped quickly across the street. I blew out a breath I didn’t know I was holding and stared after her. We might have to look into Maya Anderson a bit more carefully.

  I started to step into The Yoga Mat, then remembered Stormy was there. What I wanted was quiet. Or information. Or both. What was I missing? How did Neil do this day after day without his head exploding?

  Perhaps a visit to Angelica was in order. I didn’t want to embarrass her by visiting her in jail, but I needed more information.

  Checking my watch to make sure I was good on time, I turned away from the studio and headed down the street. The Sheriff’s Department was at the other end of Main Street, on the edge of downtown. That way, officers could easily access the freeway and other roads to reach the nearby towns they served. We were lucky to have the post in Jasper, besides the fact that my sister was the boss there.

  I was sweating when I reached the big gray building containing the Sheriff’s Department as well as other law enforcement agencies and the county jail. Josie sat at the front desk behind the bullet-proof glass.

  “Yes, ma’am,” she said into the microphone. “How may I help you?” Then she made a face at me.

  I laughed. “I came to see Angelica.”

  Josie nodded and checked the schedule on the clipboard by her elbow. She pressed a button to open the door and let me in.

  “I’ll take you back.” She motioned to the other deputy at the desk, who was on the phone but nodded in response. Following Josie through the dark narrow hallway brought back unpleasant memories. My arms scrunched to my sides, a chill went up my back as I remembered walking this same hallway last month when I had been accused of murdering my student. I shivered involuntarily.

  Josie leaned toward me as we walked.

  “Any luck with the Red Jasper?” Her voice was barely a whisper.

  I shook my head. “They sit out on the counter in the boxes. Anyone could take them. But Sandy seemed upset about Jerry.”

  “Understandable. It’s only been a couple of days.”

  �
��How about you?” I asked.

  Josie shrugged. “About the same. A couple of the stores sell them, but it seems like they all get them from Sandy.”

  We stepped through the door at the end of the hallway.

  Angelica was in her cell, moving. I smiled as I recognized Sun Salutations, a flow that helps to ground the practitioner and promote strength. She lifted her hips into Downward Dog as the door clanged shut behind us. With a grin at us beneath her arm pit, she then effortlessly swung first one foot and then the other into a standing position. Bringing her hands to her heart in a prayer position to “seal” her practice, she smiled again and stepped to the bars.

  Josie blew a kiss to her sister but stayed by the door, her hands at her side, near her gun.

  “Protocol,” she said plainly. “I have to stay where the camera can see me.”

  I turned back to Angelica. “You don’t seem to be doing too badly in here.”

  She smiled and pointed to an aluminum foil-wrapped package. “I’m getting Mama’s fresh tamales. It’s almost worth it to be in here.” She smiled broadly and then chuckled, her face softening. “This is not my first rodeo, Mariah. However, it is the first one when I’ve been clean and sober and, oh, yeah, actually did not do what they’re accusing me of. I feel oddly relaxed about it.”

  “Seriously?” I stared at her in amazement. “When I was in here, I was a basket case.”

  “Yeah, but you were also in here with a drunken miscreant.” Josie joined in the conversation from across the room.

  I looked over at the cell where he had been. “That’s true enough. But still. How are you really doing?”

  Angelica held up her hands. “I am surprisingly not worried. I figure it like this: If they got the right person when they arrested me all those times before, then they’ll get the right person again.” She leaned toward me and lowered her voice. “Besides, there were an awful lot of times I should have gotten arrested but didn’t, so I figure it’s a little bit of karma going around.”

  “I heard that.” Josie spoke up again, and we all laughed.

  “Angelica,” I tried to get serious with the young woman before me. “Why would they think you killed Jerry, besides the fact that you were holding the knife?”

  Angelica took a deep breath and stepped closer to me and the bars. Her voice was quiet. “I had a slip a year or so ago, not a big one. I was at a party with some friends and my boyfriend was flirting with some girl, and I got mad and drank a little Jack Daniels.”

  “How much is a little?”

  Angelica grimaced. “A fifth.”

  Oh.

  “I was out of commission for a day or two while I recovered and Tamara helped cover for me at the hospital program because I missed a couple of days.”

  “Did she know why?”

  Angelica nodded. “She was really understanding, but she said she would only help me this one slip. The next time it happened, she wouldn’t help me.”

  “That’s harsh.”

  “It’s what I needed at the time. I came back to recovery and threw myself into it all. I owe Tamara so much.”

  Realization dawned and I stepped closer to the cell, putting my hands on the bars.

  “Back away from the cell, Mariah.”

  I recoiled from the cell at Josie’s sharp words, glancing over at her. “Dang, deputy, that’s harsh, too.”

  She shrugged. “How do I know you’re not passing her something?”

  “Anyway…” I turned back to Angelica. “So, the Sheriff’s detective thinks you would do anything to help Tamara, including taking revenge on Jerry?”

  Angelica nodded.

  I took a breath and glanced back at Josie, who looked like she wasn’t listening, but who apparently hadn’t missed a thing.

  “Would you?” I asked. “Would you do anything for Tamara?”

  Angelica thought for a moment, her hand playing with her long ponytail, then shook her head. “I would do a lot, but I wouldn’t break the law and I definitely wouldn’t kill for her. It would mess me up so much inside that I’d probably drink and use again. I got off easy this time, with just a fifth of whisky. I might not be so lucky next time.”

  She paused, pulling her hands to the back of her head and readjusting her ponytail, which seemed a little too perky for the Jasper County Jail.

  “Besides, I kind of feel that I’ve nearly paid her back for all her help and was thinking of quitting when we got back to LA. I need to focus on my studies for my final semester.”

  I pursed my lips and studied Angelica. No matter what Neil said, not one single vibe from Angelica screamed, “I’m a killer!”

  “Where were you before you showed up at the hotel?”

  “I was at the house, helping Mama make sopapillas. They’re my favorite.”

  I involuntarily licked my lips. I’d heard about her Mama’s baking. “Are there any left?”

  She smiled. “Probably not, Mariah, but I bet Mama would make you some more.”

  I shook myself out of my food detour. “What made you come to the hotel that night?”

  “Tamara called and asked me to come at seven o’clock.”

  “She said specifically seven? Did she say why?”

  Angelica shrugged. “I think she was going to dinner or something beforehand, but she would be done by seven, she said.”

  My face screwed up at that. How could Tamara have already gone to dinner when she and Deangelo were just leaving right after the police arrived? The timing seemed wrong.

  With that, I said my goodbyes, gazed longingly at the tamales, then Josie and I turned and left the room. If I were the suspicious type, I would wonder why Tamara wanted Angelica to show up at a specific time and then lie about the reason. Could it be coincidence that a dead man greeted Angelica, or was Tamara trying to hide something?

  Chapter 15

  Cindy waited for me when I walked out of the dim hallway. I wasn’t surprised. Word travels fast at the Sheriff’s post.

  I nodded to her. “Sheriff.”

  “Little sister.” She waited, giving me that little head tilt with the questioning eyes that read “I know you’ve been up to something.” She had great wait time. “Anything you want to tell me?”

  I shrugged. “I was visiting Angelica. She’s been helping set up Tamara’s workshop.”

  “Uh-huh. Is that all?”

  I held up my hands palms-up in the international sign of “I’m innocent. What more could there be?”

  Cindy laughed and shook her head. “Anyway, got time for an early dinner?”

  I glanced at the big round clock on the wall and realized I was starving. That half-doughnut did not hold me through the afternoon. I agreed, and we headed out the door with a wave to Josie.

  Once we had settled into our booth at the diner, sipping our respective ice teas, Cindy closed her menu and looked at me across the table.

  “I know Josie asked you to help clear Angelica.”

  “Why would you think that?” I was almost positive Josie had not told her boss she had asked an amateur sleuth to poke around in the case.

  Cindy rolled her eyes and looked at the ceiling for a moment. “Do you really think I’m so bad at my job that I don’t know these things? I know Josie well and I know you well and I know people all over town who tell me things.” She paused and sipped her water. “Did you learn anything from visiting Angelica?”

  “I learned that Angelica is far too level-headed to have stabbed a man she had barely seen in a decade.”

  Cindy shrugged and nodded at the same time, being as noncommittal as possible. “Even though she was standing over the victim with the murder weapon in her hand?”

  “Yes, even then. There must be some way forensics can show she came to the scene late?”

  Cindy silently applauded with both hands. I couldn’t tell if she was being sarcastic or not. “Nice sleuthing, sis. Forensics data does indicate that there would have been blood splatters on Angelica’s t-shirt.”

&
nbsp; “Were there any?”

  She shook her head. “There were some smudges at the bottom of her T-shirt, which would track with her leaning into the body to grab the knife.”

  “Well, that’s something.”

  “It’s not conclusive, however.”

  “Cindy, Angelica didn’t have a motive. She told me she wouldn’t kill for someone else, even Tamara.”

  “Even though Tamara had bailed her out before, literally?”

  “Even then.”

  “She did say that Tamara asked her to come to the hotel by the back way promptly at seven o’clock.”

  “Yes, we knew that, too.”

  “So, I was wondering if Tamara might have set her up.”

  “Why would Tamara want Jerry dead?”

  I looked at her in surprise. “If I’ve heard the rumors, surely you have? I mean, you were here when it happened.”

  “I was here, and I talked to Sandy. She said it never happened.”

  “And you believe her?”

  Cindy played with her water glass. “Who would you believe? The woo-woo yoga goddess or the wife of the victim and an upright citizen never in a moment’s trouble?”

  I sighed in frustration. “Why don’t people ever believe women?”

  “Mariah, they’re both women.”

  “Yes, but you’re believing the scenario that is easier for you instead of the one where a man might have hurt a girl.”

  Cindy sucked in her lower lip, usually a sign that she was thinking through something. She blew out a breath and slowly nodded. “I could see where it might look that way.”

  Bev stopped over just then to take our orders. Cindy chose the chicken with au gratin potatoes. I paused before I ordered. The potatoes sounded good. I went for the potatoes with broccoli.

  “Are you sure you’re getting enough protein ordering that?”

  I can’t even count the number of times well-meaning friends and even strangers have asked me that question since I quit eating meat. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and blast Cindy, even though she had questioned me about my eating habits many times before.