“I…I didn’t see you there. I just thought of something I’d forgotten to do.”
“I’m not buying it, Craig. What were you really doing July Fourth when you told Kathy you were going to work?”
He leaned toward her, his breath sour, his pupils pinpoints in the cold gray irises. He poked a finger in Jaymie’s face and said, “You stop trying to pin Kathy’s murder on me, or I’ll…” He stopped and shook his head.
“Or you’ll what?” Jaymie asked, her heart pounding, curious about what he’d come up with as a threat.
But he said nothing, and whirled, stomping out of the donut shop as everyone in there watched.
“I’ve never seen him that angry,” Valetta said, her eyes wide behind her glasses. “Why? All you did was ask why he walked away from the tea shop.” She paused and thought, then said, “And what he was really doing on July Fourth. Guilty conscience, maybe?”
“I never even got to ask him about his relationship with Lily Fogarty.”
“I think we know enough about that, don’t you?” Valetta said.
“Not really. We don’t know anything, we’ve only guessed.”
“What do you mean? It was so clear he was in Wolverhampton to meet her.”
“But why was he meeting her?” Jaymie asked, tightening her ponytail with a yank. This was irritating, having just to guess about things. “For all we know he’s…I don’t know, blackmailing her, or giving her a message from Matt, or saying good-bye forever, or that he never really cared for her anyway. We don’t know anything.”
“True. Darn you! Why do you have to ruin a perfectly good theory with common sense?”
“I guess we may as well go home.”
Jaymie dropped Valetta and her bags from the thrift store off at her cottage, then trundled home, got her own bags inside and wrestled her bookcase upstairs to her bedroom with encouragement from Hoppy, who yapped at her the whole way. It was such a girly room, she thought, looking around as she huffed and puffed, catching her breath. It had been her room since she was little, and she loved it, from the butter yellow walls to the iron bed with the handmade quilt.
But she didn’t know another woman her age who was still living in her childhood home. Becca had once said in exasperation that Jaymie was living in a bubble, protected from real life by the safety of their childhood home. She didn’t agree, but in fairness, Becca did have a point. Could she picture marrying and living with her husband, leaving this house? Or was she like Jane Austen’s Emma, only with an old house in place of an old father? Would her husband have to agree to put aside his own preferences to live with her in her geriatric home?
She’d never find a Knightley, she feared.
The thought of books spurred her on to find a home for the new bookcase. She first needed to thoroughly clean it, though. The rest of her afternoon was spent in that soothing occupation, and by the time she went to bed that night, her collection of Mary Balogh, Mary Jo Putney and Jo Beverley historical romance novels snuggled alongside her Brontë and Austen collections.
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING was Shady Rest time, of course. She cooked eggs, sausage and bacon to order for Anna’s guests, then sat down for a coffee and muffin with her friend, a ritual that had become their version of “girl time,” while Tabitha had her own “tea time” at her little table in the corner of the kitchen. This morning she had noticed that Anna’s eyes gleamed with excitement at something, and she whispered once that she had news for Jaymie that she couldn’t wait to tell her. As Jaymie made them both coffee, Anna finally closed the door on her guests, allowing them to eat in peace.
“So what’s got you all worked up?” Jaymie asked. It must be something about the baby-to-be, or something about Clive’s job, Jaymie thought. Maybe he was up for a promotion that would help with their two-home lifestyle.
Anna grabbed a newspaper that was folded off to the side of the round kitchen table. “This is the woman, the one I told you about, who I saw kissing Craig Cooper in his office,” she said, tapping the front-page photo of the Wolverhampton Howler.
Jaymie grabbed the paper and stared down at a photo of Lily Fogarty at a public event. The caption explained that she was shaking hands with a well-wisher at the Fourth of July evening parade in Wolverhampton. But it was a face in the crowd near her, watching her with burning intensity, that caught Jaymie’s attention: Craig Cooper. If this was an evening parade and went on to an event in the town square, as it stated, and if Craig Cooper was with Lily there, as it seemed, then he could not have been in Queensville in time to kill Kathy behind the washroom.
“Well, this confirms it!”
“So at least I did you some good?”
“You sure did.” She told Anna about her trip into Wolverhampton the day before and her sighting of Lily Fogarty and Craig Cooper. She also explained how the photo cleared Kathy’s husband, pointing to him in the crowd, all the while wondering why Craig hadn’t just told her and Valetta that he had been with Lily that evening. Of course, why should he? He had probably told the police, and that’s all he needed to do.
“So he was—is, I guess—serious about Lily Fogarty,” Jaymie mused. “Wonder how that’s going to affect his and Matt’s partnership? What a mess. I suppose that’s one reason why Craig called off the hunt for commercial property in Toledo. He knew he was going to leave his wife.” It made her sad to think of it. Kathy would have had a lot to go through if she had lived, but she would have made it, because she was stronger than she seemed. “Poor Kathy.”
When Jaymie got home, she checked her e-mail. There was a message from Heidi to call her, but just as she was reaching for the phone, it rang.
“Jaymie?” Valetta said. “I found something out, but I don’t know what it means. Johnny told his lawyer he gave the bowl to Uncle Sam.”
“What? Why would he say that?”
“I don’t know!”
“But he originally said that he brought the bowl back to our table.” To Jaymie it sounded an awful lot like scrambling to try to disassociate himself with the bowl. There were probably ten men—and a couple of women and a dog or two—in the park dressed up like Uncle Sam. It was a clever excuse, or it could be the truth, she supposed. Was he smart enough to make that up?
“I just don’t know what he means. I told the lawyer about all the people dressed up as Uncle Sam in the park that day. I wanted to ask specific questions, get a better description, but the lawyer doesn’t want me talking to Johnny. Says it will taint his recollection if I ask him questions. He told me he’ll tell the cops, and they can ask Johnny about it, with him there, of course.”
“I guess he knows what’s best.” Jaymie thought there was probably another very good reason his lawyer didn’t want Johnny talking to Valetta. He was likely afraid his client was guilty and didn’t want him confessing to the one woman in the world who would still, despite her friendship with the guy, feel compelled to tell the truth to the police, for better or worse. If Johnny was guilty, Valetta would not try to keep him out of jail. “One thing we can try to do is find out who all was dressed up as Uncle Sam.”
“I know a few right away, but there were bound to be some I didn’t know about.”
“Maybe you can find out more. I’ll try, too.”
“Oh, and another thing,” Valetta said. “That other insurance policy that Kathy had? The money goes directly to Kylie for her to use. It’s not in trust for Connor. She gets the full million.”
“Wow. Really?” Jaymie needed to see Kylie again. She was so confused.
She told Valetta what she had found out about Craig’s Fourth of July photo in the paper and what it implied, and Valetta seemed relieved.
“I’m glad. I didn’t want to think Craig had killed Kathy, but with him being so evasive…you never know with couples, especially when there’s cheating involved.”
“I know you don’t want to think it’s Johnny Stanko, but I don’t think we’re any closer to knowing who else it could be, do you?”
“Let me sniff around.”
“I really would like to talk to Kylie again. Where does she live?”
“She moved into Andy Walker’s house last year. Kathy threatened to call child protective services, I heard, if Connor and she kept living in the farmhouse. She told Kylie it wasn’t a fit situation for a child. I don’t think she foresaw Kylie and Andy Walker becoming friends, though, because they’d had such a falling-out after Drew’s death. Kylie moved in to room at Andy’s house and, as far as I know, she’s still there.”
“As sad as it sounds, I have to go with Kathy on this; you haven’t seen it, but that farmhouse was not a healthy or safe environment for Connor. As a matter of fact, it’s not healthy for Mrs. H., either. My mom is going to get together with some ladies—and us younger women too—to help the poor woman clean her place up.”
“You can count on me, but it may be a bit of a struggle. If Mrs. H. is a hoarder, like you say, she won’t give up her junk without a fight.” Valetta watched a lot of reality shows, among them The Hoarder Chronicles, kind of a cross between the shows about antique hunters and troubled hoarders. “Mrs. H. is a senior citizen. Let me see if there are any agencies that could help her with emotional support.”
“Thanks so much, Valetta,” Jaymie said. “Mom said that she’d get some of the ladies she knows to check in on Mrs. H., too. I feel so bad for the woman, knowing that Kathy was really her only connection to the world most of the time. Kylie can’t possibly fill in.”
“Then it’s up to the rest of us,” Valetta said. “Kylie’s got work and Connor, so her time is taken up, for sure.”
“Where does she work?”
“She works evenings at the Wolf Whistle restaurant. That’s why living with Andy works so well, I guess. He’s a mechanic at the marina down by the docks, strictly a day job, so he can babysit Connor at night while Kylie waitresses.”
“The Wolf Whistle? Kind of like Hooters without the class, isn’t it?”
“I know, I know,” Valetta said. “Gross to work someplace where your main attribute is a good-size bra, but Kylie needs the tips to survive. Brock says she does a good job.”
“Brock?”
“He goes there for the spicy chicken wings, he says.”
“Sounds like you don’t believe him,” Jaymie said with a chuckle.
“I don’t, but he’s my brother. I don’t think I want to know any more. Anyway, he says Kylie is a good waitress, and not as flirtatious as some of the others. Maybe because of having a kid, or maybe she’s just not that flirtatious by nature. It was so hard on her when Drew died; she really loved that guy.”
From there they went on to talk about Jaymie’s bookcase, and finally signed off, as Valetta had a customer walk in. Jaymie immediately called Heidi and caught her at home, for once.
“I’m so glad you called!” Heidi said.
“What’s up?”
“Can I come over?”
“Sure. Is Joel home?”
“He was, but he’s off again,” Heidi said. “Some kind of sales conference at headquarters in Atlanta. He actually wanted to know if I wanted to go. To Atlanta? In the summer? No way! I’m getting heatstroke just thinking about it.”
Jaymie laughed. “Come here for dinner, then,” she said. “Give me a couple of hours, then come on over.”
Heidi walked over, arriving at about six, and Jaymie already had dinner made. It was informal, just salads and hot dogs, so they ate out in the garden, sitting in the vintage Adirondack chairs Jaymie kept carefully repaired. Heidi seemed to have something to say, but she waited until after dinner, when she’d opened the bottle of wine she had brought and popped in the fridge. “How are you and Daniel getting along?” she asked, pouring a couple of glasses.
“All right. He had to go to put out some fire at headquarters in Phoenix. He’s called a couple of times, and we’ve talked, but it sounds like he hasn’t figured it all out yet.”
“What about that sexy detective fellow?” Heidi asked, waggling her eyebrows.
“What about him?”
“Have you thought any more about what Bernie said? That he likes you?”
“I think she was mistaken, or it’s just a stupid rumor,” Jaymie replied. “He’s not interested in me. In my limited experience, if a guy likes you, he’ll make sure you know it.” She did briefly think about him, his palm gentle against her cheek, concern warming his gray eyes. Then she shook her head.
“Unless the guy is gun-shy,” Heidi said. “Bernie said that the rumor is, the detective got fired from his last job for getting involved with a witness, and now he’s super wary. She says that he’s trying to get back onto a big-city police force, and until then, he isn’t putting down any roots.”
“All the more reason not to get too excited about some vague rumor that he likes me.” Heidi opened her mouth, but Jaymie put up one hand. “No, Heidi, that’s enough. I’ve got my hands full with Daniel, and I don’t even know how serious I want to get with him.”
“Because of Joel?” she asked, her voice soft and her blue eyes wide.
Jaymie thought about it for a moment. “I guess at first that was true, but now…I’m just beginning to figure myself out. I don’t think I’ve ever stopped to do that before. I coasted. But now I’m getting to a point where I know that I want something out of life, something more than a boyfriend or even a husband. But I’m still not completely sure what.” She shrugged irritably. “I just don’t know. Can we change the subject?”
“Sure. I’ve got another one lined up,” Heidi said with a chuckle. She took a long drink of her wine and set it down. “I talked to Joel while he was home. I wondered why he was so evasive about Craig and Kathy and Matt and Lily. I mean, we all did have dinner together. We hung out a little. Why didn’t he say that to you when you asked?”
“And…?”
“He says he knows too much, but he doesn’t feel comfortable spilling the beans.”
“What does he know?”
“He knows what Matt Laskan’s big secret is.”
Eighteen
“WHAT IS IT?” Jaymie asked. She knew already, but she wondered what Joel knew and how.
“That’s just it, he won’t tell me. He says it has nothing to do with anything.”
Darn. No new info, then, unless…“Heidi, do you call or text Joel while he’s away?”
“Sure, all the time.”
“Can you text him now?”
Heidi whipped out her cell phone and was ready, the dipping sun glinting off the screen. “What shall I say?”
Jaymie thought about it for a moment. “Ask him if he knows about ML’s legal trouble in PH.”
Heidi tapped away and hit send. “What does that mean? I get that ML is Matt Laskan, but what is PH?”
“Tell you in a minute.” They talked for a while longer with a few pleasant silences as the air cooled to comfortable and the animals came out of the shade to roll around at their feet. Heidi’s phone rang, a funky little popular tune. She picked it up, looked at the display and answered.
“Hey, baby, what’s up? What do you mean, how did I find out about Matt? That was a message from Jaymie. How does she know? I don’t have a single clue. Do you want to talk to her? Sure, she’s right here. Why is she right here? I’m at her place; she invited me over for dinner. Okay, wait a minute.” Heidi covered the phone with one hand and made a face. “Joel’s kind of angry. He wants to talk to you.”
She took the phone. “Hi, Joel.”
“How’d you find out about Matt’s trouble in Port Huron?” he said.
“Nice to talk to you, too! We’re just sitting here outside with some wine. How’s it going in Hotlanta?”
“Very funny. I’m serious, Jaymie. Leave the poor guy alone!”
Jaymie sighed. “I’m kind of tired of being warned to leave things alone. First Craig and now you, on Matt’s behalf.”
“What do you mean, ‘first Craig’?” he said.
“Nothing.” She was no
t about to blow Craig and Lily’s little secret; that was up to them. “Look, I just found out that Matt had some legal trouble in Port Huron. I know what the charges were going to be. Until they were dropped.”
“I mean it, Jaymie; you should really keep your nose out of other people’s business. It’s not what it sounds like.”
She thought about it for a moment. “If it’s not what it sounds like, why don’t you tell me what it is, then?”
There was silence on the other end. “Let me think about it,” he said. “I’ll be home tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, and I’ll decide before then what I should tell you.”
“Fine,” she said tightly. “You decide. I’m handing you back to Heidi.” She thrust the phone back to Heidi and took their wineglasses back to the kitchen to refill. It wasn’t fair, she supposed, to be angry, because Joel was clearly torn between telling her and keeping a secret for a friend. But it was frustrating to be so close to an answer and yet not to get it. He said it wasn’t what it sounded like. What else could attempted kidnapping be but what it sounded like?
When she came back out, Heidi was staring down at the phone in her hand with a perplexed frown. “You really got him mad!” she said. “Joel told me to get away from you, that you’re a bad influence.”
“Really? Me, a bad influence?”
“Yeah.”
“Cool. Are you going?”
“No way!” Heidi said, accepting the refilled wineglass from Jaymie. She grinned, her eyes glittering. “This is too much fun, getting him riled.”
“Good for you!” So there was some spirit in pretty little Heidi after all. “Okay, now about Lily Fogarty…What do you know about her? Do you like her?”
“Not really. She’s too…oh, she’s too darn smart!”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
“It is when she makes me feel like a dumb bunny.”
Jaymie watched her expression, halfway between a pout and a grimace. Denver hopped up onto her lap and settled. “I can’t imagine you feeling threatened,” Jaymie said, petting her cat and watching Heidi’s face. “But are you?”
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