4 Arch Enemy of Murder

by Vanessa Gray Bartal

  “How do you think that will go?”

  “About as well as anything with Riley can go,” Lacy said. “Are we done? I don’t want to be here when the secrets start flying.”

  “I thought you liked secrets.”

  “Theoretically and when they’re about other people. When they involve me, not so much. I don’t think the truth is going to go down well, and I would like to avoid the fallout as much as possible.”

  “There’s my brave girl,” Jason said. Someone other than their waiter delivered the check. Jason signed for it and stood. “I have an idea.”

  “What?” Lacy asked.

  “You can give me a sneak peak grand tour of the Stakely building,” he suggested. “I’m anxious to see all the changes.”

  “I would love that,” Lacy said.

  “So would I,” he said. They left his car parked at the restaurant and walked hand in hand the few blocks to the Stakely building. Outside the temperature was perfect—somewhere between hot and cold—and the sun was just beginning to set. Lacy’s hand shook a little as she fumbled to unlock the door. She was inexplicably nervous about showing Jason the building’s progress. He hadn’t seen it since she first bought it. What if he didn’t approve?

  He was quiet as they toured the marketplace. She pointed out Michael’s store which was larger than most of the other spaces. The ice cream shop was her newest tenant, and they had only just started to set up. Cindy’s bead store was next. She was inside still working on trying to set up her displays. She smiled and waved; Lacy returned the wave but quickened her pace.

  “What have you done with the fourth floor?” Jason asked.

  “Nothing, but that’s where Riley’s staging the party. Let’s go up and take a look.”

  She felt like she was sneaking in her own building as they fled lightly up the stairs. She unlocked the door, glad Riley was safely occupied with their grandparents. She had left a crew of workers and a watchdog, however.

  “Ah, ah, ah,” Michael said as he backed her out the door and blocked her view. “What did I tell you last time about trying to sneak in here, love?”

  “I’m showing Jason around,” Lacy said.

  Michael seemed to notice him for the first time. “He can see it tomorrow with everyone else. I have to go. Go away.” He went back inside and locked the door.

  “Another one of your friends?” Jason asked.

  “Just a tenant,” Lacy said. “And an annoying one,” she yelled to the door.

  “Hmm,” Jason said. “Let’s go to the roof.”

  “Don’t you think it will be cold?”

  “Maybe.”

  “And high. It’s very high.”

  “Roofs usually are,” Jason said.

  “I should probably tell you that I’m a little afraid of heights, and by a little I mean a lot.”

  “It will be okay,” Jason promised. “C’mon.” He tugged her up the stairs, took the keys to the roof, and opened the door.

  Reluctantly, Lacy left the safety of the stairs and stepped onto the roof. The last time she had been on the roof hadn’t ended well since someone tried to kill her and then fell through. Now the space was transformed. The repair work had been massive. On the opposite side of the roof were a giant air conditioning system and a field of solar panels. And about ten feet in front of them was a blanket and a backpack.

  “What’s this?” Lacy asked.

  “Dessert,” Jason explained.

  “You packed a picnic? When?”

  “I brought it over earlier. Your security stinks here. You should really think about installing a system and hiring a guard. No one stopped or questioned me. And do you know how easy it was to pick the lock?”

  She sat, feeling a little dazed. “I can’t believe you did this.”

  He busied himself by unloading the backpack. “I sort of owed you.”

  “Why did you owe me?”

  “That night I busted you and that guy up here. I interrupted your picnic.”

  “No, it was over. You didn’t owe me.”

  He concentrated very hard on opening whatever was in his hands. “The truth is that I’ve been thinking about this for a while. I felt like an idiot that night. First I was jealous of what turned out to be a priest, and then I was sort of shamed because this random guy did something I should have done a long time ago.”

  “What?”

  “Effort. He put effort into the evening. We always meet up randomly and go out. There’s never been any real effort on my part, and I feel bad about that. I’m not the dating loser I seem to be.”

  “I’ve never once thought that you were,” Lacy said. “Believe me—a loser is not how I think of you.”

  He paused and smiled. “Oh, yeah? How do you think of me?”

  Lacy smiled. “What have you got there?”

  “Some kind of mousse concoction I bought at the bakery.” He pulled a spoon from the bag, dipped it into the mousse and held it out to her. She reached for it, but he pulled it back. “What are you doing so far away? Come closer.”

  “You’re preying on my Pavlovian response to chocolate,” Lacy said. She scooted closer and landed in front of him, crossing her legs so they brushed his.

  “I’ll do whatever works,” he said. He fed her a few bites of mousse.

  “Aren’t you going to have any?” she asked.

  “Will I like it?” he asked.

  “One way to find out.” She took the spoon and fed him a bite.

  He grimaced as she swallowed. “Mm, chocolate air.”

  “I’m not sure I trust someone who doesn’t like mousse,” Lacy said.

  “There must be something I can do to improve your opinion of me.” He set the mousse aside and rested his hands on her knees, and just like that the simmer turned up to a boil.

  “What did you have in mind?” Lacy asked.

  He eased closer. His fingers skimmed her thighs. “Well, I could…”

  “Excuse me.”

  A timid voice spoke to Lacy’s right. She jumped and scooted away. Jason dropped his hands. “Cindy?” The word sounded like a question, although clearly it was her.

  “I’m so sorry to interrupt, but I’m having a slight emergency. I was trying to put up a display, and the drill got caught in the wall. I thought Michael was here, but I can’t find him, and…” Her tone was full of distress. Lacy shifted it to see if she was sincere. The situation was a common ploy for Riley, but Cindy sounded genuine. Jason must have thought so, too, because he stood and brushed at his pants.

  “Let me take a look,” he offered.

  And that was how Lacy ended her date—standing at the edge of Cindy’s booth while she and Jason worked on releasing the stuck drill from the wall. They talked and bantered with the ease of two people who had known each other a long time and felt completely comfortable in each other’s presence. The jealousy-induced ache in Lacy’s chest grew and grew until it became painful to breathe.

  An hour later, the drill was unstuck and the shelf hung. Cindy was relieved and apologetic. Lacy was silent. “That took longer than I thought,” Jason said. They walked in silence back to the restaurant and his car. He either didn’t mind or notice the silence. In fact, he seemed a little pleased over it, as if he knew Lacy was jealous and was reveling.

  He was smiling as he drove her home and walked her to the door, but when he caught sight of her expression, his smile died. He cleared his throat. “Sorry we were interrupted. Thanks for being patient. I think Cindy’s a little overwhelmed with the opening this weekend.”

  “Aren’t we all?” Lacy said.

  Jason tried to reach for her, but she took a step back. She rested her hand on his chest to hold him at bay. “Let’s let it simmer,” she said. She nudged him aside, walked into the house, and slammed the door in his face.

  Chapter 14

  On the morning of the party, Lacy was sick. While it was possible that she was ill from too many breadsticks and chocolate mousse the night before, in actuality
she knew it was probably nerves.

  Her grandfather was sitting in the kitchen when she entered. She poured a cup of coffee and sat at the table. “How did it go with Riley last night?”

  “I don’t know,” he said. “She was quiet.”

  “She didn’t say anything?”

  He shook his head. “She thanked us for supper and said she needed to get back to work. We dropped her at the Stakely building and came home.” Absently, he rimmed the coffee mug with his index finger. Lacy guessed he had probably been hoping for more of a response from Riley. She had no idea if silence was a good thing or a bad thing. “Are you ready for today?”

  “As I’ll ever be,” Lacy said.

  “We’re going to finish today. Everything will be fine, you’ll see.”

  “I know,” Lacy said. “And there’s no way I would have been able to do any of this without you. You know that, don’t you?”

  “Nonsense. You would have done just fine.”

  “No, I really wouldn’t have. You’ve given advice, offered support, and worked miracles with the contractors.”

  “They just needed a firm hand,” he said.

  “Exactly. They would have run roughshod over me. The project would have taken four times as long. I can’t believe it’s happened this quickly, and it’s all because of you. So thank you.”

  “Well, you’re plenty welcome, but I know you could have done this on your own. You can do anything you set your mind to.”

  “Spoken like a truly biased grandfather.” She patted his hand.

  Riley stumbled in and headed for the coffee pot. Since this was the first time she had emerged from her room before noon, Lacy and her grandfather watched in amazement. “Do you know what time it is?” Lacy asked.

  “I try not to look at the clock before eight,” Riley said.

  “What are you doing up so early?” Lacy asked.

  “Work. Lots to do. Stop talking.”

  Lucinda bustled in looking chagrined to see everyone already there. An early riser, she prided herself on being the first in the kitchen. “Oh, everyone has coffee already?”

  “I sneaked in and made it,” Mr. Middleton said, his tone apologetic.

  “I can make cake,” she said.

  “That sounds great, Grandma, but I have to go,” Lacy said.

  “Me, too,” Riley grunted.

  “Me, too,” Mr. Middleton chimed in. Then, sensing her disappointment, he added, “But we can have dessert tonight after the party, just the four of us to celebrate. Right, girls?”

  Lucinda’s expression cleared into a smile. “That sounds nice. What would you girls like for dessert?”

  “Anything you make is great,” Lacy said and meant it.

  “Something fat free,” Riley requested.

  “I suppose I could whip up an angel food cake,” Lucinda said.

  “Don’t listen to her, Grandma. She’s delirious from lack of sleep. No one eats angel food cake as a celebration,” Lacy said.

  “Why does a celebration have to be synonymous with a three thousand calorie overload?” Riley snapped. “We can celebrate with fruit once in a while.”

  “It’s like your lips are moving, but I don’t understand the words you’re saying,” Lacy said.

  Riley growled, shoved away from the table, and stomped from the room.

  “I could make both angel and devil’s food cake,” Lucinda said. “That would be sort of fun, don’t you think?”

  “Don’t go to so much trouble,” Lacy said. “The angel food cake will be fine. Don’t tell Riley, but she’s probably right; it wouldn’t hurt me to eat a piece of fruit and something light once in a while.”

  “It’s no trouble,” Lucinda protested. “I want you both to be happy.”

  “We’re happy, Grandma,” Lacy told her. “It’s going to be a good day, and all is right with the world. Don’t knock yourself out cooking today; I want you to have energy for the party.” She stood, gave her grandma a sideways hug and a kiss on the cheek.

  “How could I not be happy with both my girls here?” Lucinda said. She reached up to pat Lacy’s cheek. Lacy wondered at what age she would stop being referred to as a “girl.” Never, she hoped, at least when it came to her grandmother.

  “Hear, hear,” Mr. Middleton chimed in. He lumbered slowly to his feet. It was only when he moved that Lacy was reminded of his age. Other times he seemed as timeless as Jason had accused him of being. And he had the energy of a man half his age, if his hard work of late was any indication. He had been putting in as many hours as Lacy, and sometimes more. She wanted to do something for him, but what?

  “Ready?” he asked.

  She nodded. Together they walked from the house to his car. “I’m getting spoiled by my chauffer,” Lacy said.

  “Maybe now that the building is finished you’ll have time to buy a car,” he suggested.

  “I suppose,” Lacy said. She still felt no pressing need to own a vehicle. What did it say about her that she was happy not to own anything at all? Propriety demanded that she buy a house and a car to start establishing herself as a real grownup. And yet she was happy to walk everywhere and live in a tiny room in her grandmother’s house. Worse still, she owned two livable spaces and had no idea what to do with either of them. Was something wrong with her? Perhaps, but she put the question away for another day. The upcoming one was too busy for speculation or anything but hard work.

  Joe was waiting on the steps like usual, but unlike usual they didn’t go up to her office. Instead they were greeted at the door by contractors with questions and problems, and tenants who were trying frantically to move in and arrange their merchandise. Mr. Middleton was dispatched to help the contractors while Lacy and even Joe began helping the tenants move in.

  She worked through lunch again, doing manual labor she hadn’t anticipated. She had expected to be busy answering phones and questions, but it turned out that her part of the day was hands-on. She was glad she had worn jeans and sensible shoes. She had no idea what time it was and probably would have kept working until the party, but Riley sought her out.

  “Come on, Lacy, you have to get ready.”

  Lacy checked her watch. It was five and the party started at six. “I’m going to run home and change in a few minutes.” She resumed trying to hang a picture on the wall of the ice cream parlor, but Riley was undeterred.

  “You’re not going home; you’re going upstairs. C’mon.” She latched onto Lacy’s arm and physically dragged her away. Lacy tossed the hammer to Joe who stared helplessly, not sure if he should intervene or not.

  “Make sure and be there tonight, Joe,” she called. “And bring your sister.” She hoped he heard, but she couldn’t be sure because Riley was dragging her at a fast clip, and there was a lot of noise and confusion in the building. “Where are you taking me?”

  “To hair and makeup,” Riley said.

  “I can do my own hair and makeup.”

  “I’ve seen what you can do. My guy is better.”

  “Guy? You have a guy?”

  “Rule number one: Always hire hair and makeup for parties.”

  “What’s rule number two?” Lacy asked.

  “Always charge it to the person who is throwing the party.” She dragged Lacy into the bathroom and flung her into a chair in front of the mirror. A man began working on her with all the seriousness and intensity of Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel. He spray painted her face with what she hoped was makeup and spent a long time sculpting her hair on top of her head. She hadn’t worn her hair in such an intricate arrangement since prom.

  After hair and makeup, she was squeezed into a corset—one that Riley took a little too much pleasure in lacing—and then an emerald velvet dress. The dress, though not quite of modern design, wasn’t what Lacy would describe as Elizabethan. And when she saw Riley’s very normal brown dress, she was confused.

  “I thought this was a costume party,” Lacy said.

  “I know you did. That’s why i
t was funny. If you read the paper carefully instead of flying into a tizzy, then you would have noticed that I also said one of the princes would be making a surprise appearance and you would be headlining karaoke.”

  “What?” Lacy said.

  “It was a fake flier. I hung it in the door of the Stakely building to mess with you. As if I would throw a costume party with a champagne fountain. What are we, flappers? This isn’t a Fitzgerald novel.”