by Shari Hearn
“That’s because I never tried to cook for you.”
“On your right!” Gertie’s voice called from behind. I stiffened as Gertie sailed past me, howling with delight. Seconds later Ida Belle whizzed on by.
Carter turned toward me, skating backward, his arms folded. The show-off.
“Carter LeBlanc is a skater?”
“Sinful’s a small town with not much to do. If you were a thirteen-year-old boy and you wanted to meet girls outside the girls you met at school—”
“You went skating in Mudbug.”
Carter nodded.
“And you’d sneak out when your mom wasn’t looking and go make out somewhere.”
Carter nodded again.
The organ music we were skating to ended abruptly. The lights dimmed.
“Time for couples’ skate,” the hundred-year-old organist announced before hacking into the microphone. He cleared his throat, then said in a gravelly voice, “Grab a partner and hold her close while I serenade you with a little Isn’t it Romantic?”
After hacking one more time into the mic, Organ Man began playing the romantic number.
“Oh… uh…” What now? My CIA partner, Harrison and I had played boyfriend and girlfriend on more than one job. Much easier to do with someone I had no romantic feelings for.
Carter took my hands in his. “Andy just came in.”
I guess it was showtime.
“How do we dance on skates?” I asked.
He smiled. “Just let me do everything. As hard as it may be for you to do that.”
With Carter skating backward and facing me, we glided effortlessly over the wooden skate floor. Our eyes met briefly and we both looked away.
“I wish we’d done this a week ago,” Carter said.
I didn’t. If we had done this a week ago, it would have made it that much harder not to be with him. I looked off to the side of the skating rink and spotted Gertie and Ida Belle watching as we skated by. They both had smiles on their faces. Gertie flashed me a thumbs-up, but I shook my head. Her smile disappeared, replaced by the look of pity she’d been giving me ever since the breakup. Ida Belle made a subtle point of her finger toward Andy, who was putting his skates on several yards away from them.
“A woman just walked up to Andy and touched his shoulder,” I said. “Do you recognize her?”
“Uh-huh. Anna Chabot.”
“Does she look like Francine? I think Lila Rose mistook the woman for Francine when she said the café owner was maybe involved somehow.”
Carter shook his head. “I knew you couldn’t resist sticking your nose in it.”
“Hey, I never asked Lila Rose anything about this case. She was more than happy to just let out all her thoughts.”
“They’re coming on to the track,” Carter said.
“During the romantic song? And he’s married, right?”
“They both are.”
Carter danced us closer to the middle of the track and decreased his speed. He flicked his head toward the outer part of the rink as Andy and Anna, who had about ten years on him, glided past us side by side, holding hands. Moments later Andy released her hand and slipped his arm around her waist.
Carter then swung around next to me and slipped his arm around my waist. “Just keep watching them. Lila Rose said he was supposed to give her something.”
I nodded. A few minutes later Andy released Anna and skated slightly ahead of her and then turned, facing her. He put up his right hand and she her left. Their hands met and he wrapped his other arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. His eyes wandered a moment from her face and gazed in my direction.
“Kiss me!” I whispered to Carter.
He pulled me close and planted his lips on mine. If this were Harrison and me, it would have been one of those stage kisses meant to fool anyone looking at us. But this was no stage kiss. Frankly, a stage kiss between Carter and me just wasn’t possible, not with our history. My entire body tingled. He deepened the kiss before…
“Hey, watch out,” a man to our right yelled. Carter broke the kiss. He swerved slightly to get out of the other couple’s way, interrupting his smooth glide across the floor. “Get a room,” the man added, laughing.
My legs wobbled beneath me and I stumbled. Carter was quick, clutching onto me to prevent me from falling.
“You okay?” he asked, holding me tightly.
“Yeah.”
We stared in one another’s eyes. Beautiful agony was the only way I could describe this moment. His eyes and his kiss were the beautiful part. That there could be nothing beyond this evening, the agony.
It was then I realized the song had ended.
“Resume open skating,” the organist announced as he began playing a jaunty organ piece while the lights grew brighter. Non-coupled skaters began streaming onto the skate floor. I regained my footing and Carter let go of me.
Gertie skated up from behind. “You were right,” she said to me. “The mystery woman does look like Francine. But Anna wasn’t on the list of patrons at the library the day Waddell died. Of course, she could have slipped in without anyone noticing.”
“How’d you know who was on that list?” Carter asked. “That list is official police business.”
Gertie wrinkled her nose. “Bye.” And sped off.
Carter glared at me.
“What?” Yeah, I could have come up with some lie, but he knew damn well the list of names was leaked to us.
Carter opened his mouth to no doubt lodge a reprimand when something caught his eye. “Andy just reached into his pocket and gave a piece of paper to Anna. They’re coming our way.”
Carter slowed and soon Andy and Anna skated past. Ida Belle came up shortly thereafter. “It would be nice to know what he gave Anna,” she said.
“Word,” Gertie said from behind as she slowed to join us.
“Yeah, it would,” Carter said. “But I can’t ask him to show me anything because I have no probable cause yet. But at least I know the woman he was meeting and that it matched up with Lila Rose’s story. I can at least bring him in and see if I can lean on him to reveal something.”
“So that’s it?” I asked.
Carter nodded. “I’m the law. There’s only so much I can legally do.”
“Uh, huh,” Gertie said. “Ida Belle, could I have a word with you?”
Gertie skated ahead and Ida Belle joined her. They became animated, Gertie making little skating motions with her fingers, while Ida Belle shook her head vigorously. Gertie threw her hands in the air and jabbed her finger at Ida Belle, making a point.
“I don’t like the looks of that,” Carter said.
Ida Belle appeared in thought a moment then shrugged her shoulders and the two started skating together, moving away from us at a rapid pace.
“Whatever it is, Ida Belle agreed to it. She’s the sensible one. She wouldn’t say yes to something that was a bad idea.”
He lifted his eyebrows. “Whose idea was it to ride a motorcycle through a chicken coop?” Carter asked, referring to the time Ida Belle and I made a getaway from the Swamp Bar on her motorcycle and ended up plowing through a horde of chickens.
“Oh, crap.”
We watched as Ida Belle and Gertie approached their old Derby adversaries, who were skating at a moderate pace and deep in conversation. Gertie tapped Bunny on the shoulder. Some words were exchanged before Gertie and Ida Belle zoomed away, with Sadie and Bunny in hot pursuit. Gertie flashed me a thumbs-up as they passed us again. Soon, Bunny and Sadie sped by. I had a feeling this was going to go from “this doesn’t look good” to “disastrous” in a matter of seconds.
Bunny stuck her elbow out as they caught up to Gertie and Ida Belle.
“Watch out, Gertie!” I yelled.
Gertie turned, causing Bunny’s elbow to miss her side by inches. She then delivered a shoulder-blow into Bunny’s chest, letting out a war whoop and pumping her fist in the air as Bunny fell backward. Sadie then rushed over, ja
bbing Gertie sharply in the side.
Bunny recovered and was on her feet, heading for Gertie. But Ida Belle was quick, and ran interference, skating up to Bunny and getting her into a headlock, before releasing her and pushing her in the opposite direction.
“Something tells me that’s an illegal move,” I said to Carter.
“You think?”
Sadie was about to get another blow into Gertie when Ida Belle came from behind and pushed Gertie out of the way, using her arm to deflect Sadie’s jab as she skated ahead and joined Gertie.
Sadie skated over to Bunny. By the looks on their faces, this was war. They increased their speed, and were soon skating to the side of Gertie, who taunted them with words I couldn’t hear. Bunny responded by lifting her left skate and scraping it against Gertie’s right skate wheels, before she and Sadie sped off.
Gertie was thrown off balance, but quickly recovered. She turned her head to Ida Belle. Even above the organ music and sounds of skates gliding across wood we heard her yell, “Whip me, Ida Belle!”
Ida Belle grabbed Gertie’s left arm and they quickened their speed. Using Gertie’s arm like a bat, Ida Belle swung, then released Gertie, sending her hurtling around the track toward Bunny and Sadie.
And that’s when one of Gertie’s wheels broke away from her skate. Gertie screamed. The wheel shot across the rink, throwing a few skaters off their balance. Carter grabbed me and pulled me away from a three-skater pileup happening several yards in front of us.
I followed Gertie’s screams and saw she was skating on one foot, holding the disabled skate leg inches from the floor.
Heading straight for Andy and Anna.
“Will you be okay?” Carter asked.
“Yeah, yeah, go!” I yelled.
He tore off across the rink toward Gertie, dodging other skaters and getting cursed at in the process. Ida Belle was speeding toward her as well.
Gertie yelled for Anna to watch out, and as she passed Anna, Gertie grabbed onto her, pulling her along. Anna then grabbed onto Gertie for support. They sailed around the curve of the rink until finally starting to slow. When they were almost at a complete stop, Gertie began flailing her arms and she and Anna tumbled onto the skate floor. Carter, in the process of skating up to them, couldn’t brake quickly enough and he tumbled on top of them.
The organ music stopped. “Clean up on aisle one,” the organ player said dryly into the microphone.
I soon caught up to the others at the crash scene as Carter pulled himself from the floor. He and Ida Belle helped Gertie stand. Andy had skated over and was helping Anna.
“You okay?” Carter asked Gertie.
“Nothing a good crack from a chiropractor won’t fix,” Gertie said, stretching her neck.
“Good thing you grabbed onto me,” Anna said after Andy helped her to her feet. “I’m an expert skater and was able to help us stop.”
Carter folded his arms and shot a look at Gertie. “Yeah. Convenient would be more like it.”
“The Lord was looking over me tonight,” Gertie said.
“Hallelujah,” Ida Belle added.
Carter shook his head. He had the same idea I had. This accident was planned.
“But, you’re an expert skater yourself, aren’t you, Gertie?” Andy asked. “Didn’t you and Ida Belle used to be on a Roller Derby team?”
Gertie shrugged. “I guess I forgot some of my skills. So nice to see you two here tonight. Together.”
Andy looked away from our group. A guilty man if ever I saw one. “Yeah. Who knew there’d be so many Sinful faces here tonight. And to think I didn’t notice any of you here.”
“You all right, Andy?” I asked.
He swung his face back at us. “You can’t tell my wife you saw me here.”
“And why is that?” Carter asked.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, Andy,” Anna said. “They’re not going to spoil the surprise.”
“Surprise?” Gertie asked.
Andy sighed. “I’ve been taking skating lessons for several months now. For my anniversary. Darla always wanted me to take her skating. So for our twentieth, I thought I’d not only take her, but learn some dance moves.”
“My husband, Chuck, teaches him the fancy ‘guy’ moves. We trade off every other week,” Anna added.
“Though tonight will be our last night,” Andy said. “Hopefully I’m ready for my big anniversary surprise.”
“You are,” Anna said.
Carter patted Andy on the shoulder. “You looked good out there. Don’t worry, your secret’s safe.” Then to us, “We should be going.”
We weren’t more than a few feet outside the skating rink when Carter laid into Gertie. “You planned that accident, didn’t you?”
“Planned it? I have a sore butt that says I didn’t.”
“Number one, you’re too good a skater to have let a broken wheel send you sailing around the skating rink. Number two, you happened to collide with one of the people we were watching tonight. Number three, you used the crash to distract Anna from realizing you cleaned her pockets out.”
Ida Belle sighed. “It didn’t go exactly as planned.”
“You trash talked the two Mudbuggers so they’d come after you,” Carter said.
“Maybe,” Gertie answered.
“You wanted it to look like they knocked you off your stride so you’d run into Anna and it wouldn’t look planned. Luckily no one was hurt.”
“Luckily you can’t feel my butt. Because, yes, it does hurt. I took one for the team. You’re welcome.”
“Oh, I’m not thanking you.” He looked at me. “Walk me to my truck?”
“Sure.”
He took one last look at Gertie. “You should probably return the piece of paper we saw Andy give Anna. Most likely it’s a check for the dance lesson. But it doesn’t matter. Whatever it is, you stole it. I can’t use it as evidence. So return it.”
When we got to his truck we stopped. Despite the kiss we exchanged inside the roller rink, I knew nothing had really changed between us. In fact, the kiss may have made things worse.
He unlocked his toolbox and gave me back our weapons and smiled. “So… all those times I caught you with the Terrible Two and you had flour all over you, or you were pretending to fish, or Gertie was throwing dollar bills at the TV during a movie about male strippers… those were all just to cover up after disasters much like tonight’s, right?”
“No, most of those times went smoothly.” I paused. “Some of them.” I cringed. “Okay, just a couple.” And, actually, I was thinking of our dealings with the local mobsters, Big and Little. It helped when they provided their support. But some things still needed to be kept from Carter. And our involvement with the local mobsters? Definitely something he should never find out.
“I hope what happened didn’t compromise your investigation of Andy. I mean, even though tonight didn’t pan out, Lila Rose still overheard the mailman and Waddell talking.”
He shook his head. “I think it’s obvious it was all in Lila Rose’s head, don’t you think?”
“No, I don’t think. And what about Janice? Gertie shared our suspicions about her with you, didn’t she?”
He touched my shoulder. “I know you have a great set of skills. I’ve witnessed them first hand. But this is my arena. I grew up with Janice. I can’t see her murdering someone. It’s time for me to pursue other leads.”
“Other leads?”
He smiled. “Nice try.” He held my gaze and cleared his throat. “Hey, uh, about the, uh, kiss back there…”
“We had to,” I said quickly. “So they wouldn’t notice us.”
“Oh… Yeah. Yeah, that’s all it was.” His eyes flashed a mixture of anger and disappointment as he unlocked his door and opened it.
Could I have admitted the kiss was real? Sure. But then that might lead to more kisses. And those kisses would lead to something even more wonderful. But sooner or later we’d end up having the same discussion we had a couple d
ays ago. Was I willing to stop being a CIA agent? No. Did he want a woman who had my job? No. Best not to go there again. Just too painful.
I could tell he was having the same internal discussion with himself. He touched my hand lightly. “Goodnight, Fortune.”
“Goodnight, Carter.”
There was no kiss between us. His eyes hinted at the sadness inside him. I’m sure mine were doing more than hinting. I felt my throat constrict, hoping he would leave before I started to tear up. But he didn’t leave. So I touched his hand and turned and walked away. The tear came streaming down my face as I heard him get inside his truck and start up his engine. I wiped the traitorous tear from my face and joined Gertie and Ida Belle.
“Were you crying?” Gertie asked, touching my shoulder.
“No. Yes. Just one tear.”
“I was hoping that kiss in the rink was real.”
“Oh, it was real.”
“And that’s the problem,” Ida Belle said.
I nodded and did what I always did, focus on work. “So what was the paper they exchanged?”
Gertie held it up. “Carter was right. It’s a check for tonight’s dance lesson. I bruised my butt for nothing.”
“Maybe not,” I said. “Lila Rose got it half right. There’s still her observation of Andy and Waddell having a heated argument behind the bushes.”
“Andy’s shoes,” Ida Belle reminded me. “Lila Rose said she didn’t see Andy, but remembered his shoes.”
“The wild, jungle-print hi-tops?” Gertie asked. “I saw Andy changing his shoes tonight. He wasn’t wearing anything like that.”
I sighed. “I don’t think Carter’s putting much stock into what Lila Rose saw.”
“Or thought she saw,” Ida Belle said. “I’m sorry, but I tend to agree with him.”
Our ride back to Sinful was spent tossing out more theories. Ida Belle and Gertie were leaning toward Lila Rose’s daughter, Janice.
“She has a motive and the knowledge of needles,” Gertie said as she, Ida Belle and I trudged up the walkway to my house.
I agreed that Janice looked good on paper. “But Lila Rose said she didn’t think her daughter was capable of murder.”
Ida Belle and Gertie shot one another a look. “You know, she may not have the best judgment. Even before her breakdown Lila Rose was always a little kooky,” Gertie said. “She once challenged Sheriff Lee to a duel.”