The Double Cross

by Clare O'Donohue

  “Pot calling the kettle, I’d say.” Eleanor tapped her fingers on her blue jeans as if she were considering whether to jump up and give Rita a piece of her mind.

  “But at least I got some good information out of it,” I said, to distract her from whatever plan she was forming. “She’s hiding something. Maybe an affair.”

  “They were well suited to each other, George and Rita,” my usually charitable grandmother said. “I wonder what their daughter is like.”

  “We’re about to find out. I’m going right now,” I said.

  “Do you think Rita has even bothered to tell her that George is dead?”

  “If she had, wouldn’t the daughter have come? I don’t care how estranged they are, she would have come home to be with her mother at a time like this. She only lives about an hour away.”

  “I walked around the house today, looking for clues. I noticed there were no personal items anywhere so . . .” Eleanor paused. “I peeked into Rita’s room. The sitting room actually. The door to what I assume was a bedroom was locked.”

  “What if she had found you?”

  “She was with you.”

  I laughed. “You’re sneakier than I give you credit for. Did you find anything?”

  “It’s what I didn’t find that’s interesting. There was a framed photo of Rita and George when they were younger, with a little girl of about five. That’s it. Then just photos of George and Rita in Paris, in Greece, in China.”

  “But no daughter in those photos.”

  “I guess they left her at home.”

  I tapped my fingers on the bed, thinking, until I realized I had unintentionally imitated my grandmother. “You said the bedroom door was locked.”

  She nodded. “As you know, their room is the on the third floor. They seem to have the whole floor to themselves. There’s an empty room on the left, and on the right there is a door. It was slightly open so I walked in. That was the sitting room. There was another door at the back of the room. That one that was locked.”

  “Why lock the bedroom but not the door to the suite?”

  “No idea. Yet.” Eleanor smiled. “This is kind of fun, isn’t it.”

  I laughed and hugged her. “I’m glad you finally see that I’m right to interfere in police investigations.”

  “I didn’t say that,” she said. “I just said that sometimes doing the wrong thing for the right reason is a little fun.”

  “If you were a man, I’d marry you.”

  “I think you’re already spoken for,” she said. “Any man who drives all the way up here to see you must feel something.”

  “Maybe he just felt the need to get away.”

  “Nell Fitzgerald, for someone so good at solving mysteries it’s amazing you can’t solve a puzzle when the answer is so apparent.”

  She was the second person in two hours to suggest that Jesse’s sudden appearance in Winston was a declaration of love. But I wasn’t convinced. It wasn’t that Jesse didn’t care about me. Even I could figure that out. It was just this nagging feeling that he had come for some other reason, that he was keeping something from me.

  A few short months ago, I was the kind of woman who would have devoted all my time to discussing, analyzing, and debating each of Jesse’s actions in the hope that it would bring me the fairy-tale ending I was supposed to want. But I had quilts to make, a murder to solve, and a friend to help. Realizing I wasn’t waiting for Prince Charming to complete me was the first time anything had made sense all day.

  “I’m going to Saratoga Springs to find the daughter.”

  “You can’t go this evening. It’s a long drive, and Jesse is looking for you. He said he wants to discuss something important.” She smiled. “I wonder what that could be.”

  “I think he wants to tell me about his conversation with McIntyre and Frank.”

  “That’s progress, isn’t it? Keeping you in the loop on an investigation.”

  “I guess so, except it isn’t his investigation.”

  She smiled. “Maybe he likes doing the wrong thing for the right reason too.”

  At that Barney woke from his nap and walked to the bedroom door, whining the whole way.

  CHAPTER 26

  I passed the activity in the dining room, walked Barney out the inn’s front door, and waited while he found the perfect spot. For a dog that had appeared to be in such a hurry to relieve himself, he seemed pretty picky about where he would do the deed. The afternoon had turned cool, and I wasn’t sure I felt like standing outside while I waited for him, so I drifted back toward the house. But before I could walk in, Frank stormed out. I was glad to see, especially considering his mood, that this time he wasn’t armed.

  “I have had it with that woman,” he shouted to no one in particular.

  “Everything okay?”

  He spun around and glared at me, then took a deep breath. In seconds his face changed from anger to smiling.

  “I didn’t expect to see you,” he said. “I thought you were helping your grandmother or that boyfriend of yours.”

  “I was in town with Rita.”

  He stared at me for a moment. “Rita? What did you ladies do, have lunch or something?”

  “Or something.”

  “Did you two have a nice talk?”

  “Does anyone have a nice talk with Rita?” I wondered. “I just gave her a ride into town,” I said. “You said you’ve had it with that woman. Were you talking about Helen?”

  He blinked slowly. I could feel him watching me, and it felt uncomfortable. “I may have overreacted,” he said. “I’m an emotional guy.”

  “I can see that,” I said. “What made you so emotional?”

  “I’d have thought that would appeal to a woman like you.” Frank moved closer.

  “How so?” I turned and saw Barney sniffing at some flowers. I loved that Barney was a gentle soul, but at the moment I wished he were an attack dog.

  “I thought you modern women liked a man who could talk about his feelings.”

  “You were shouting,” I pointed out.

  He took a step away from me. “I just don’t like the way she’s getting all upset about George.”

  “I thought he was a friend of yours.”

  “Rita is his widow, not Helen. That’s my whole point.”

  “Rita doesn’t seem too upset.”

  I thought I’d throw that in to see Frank’s reaction, but I wasn’t expecting what I got.

  “That woman is wonderful.” Frank seemed on the verge of tears. “A true beauty and a fine spirit. You shouldn’t disparage her.”

  “I wasn’t,” I said. Well, I was but I wasn’t about to admit it to Frank. “You obviously like Rita very much.”

  He moved a few steps toward me, and as he did, I saw coins drop from his trousers.

  “Looks like have a hole in your pocket,” I said.

  He bent down, frustrated. “That’s what Helen should be doing. Mending my clothes, not crying over George. I think there’s a hole in nearly every one of my trousers, but do you think she cares?”

  “You could sew them yourself.”

  He stared at me, and I didn’t like how intimidated I felt by it. “You like to butt into people’s business. That’s what I hear about you. You like to help,” he said the word as sarcastically as possible, “but you are just interfering. That can get a person in trouble, especially when you go around saying bad things about good people like Rita . . . and George.”

  He turned his back on me and walked toward the inn, banging the door as he walked in.

  “He sure told you.”

  I turned and saw Jesse walking from the woods.

  “Apparently Rita has a fan,” I said. “So far that makes one.”

  “A pretty unstable one,” Jesse said. “I’d stay clear of him.”

  I looked toward my—whatever he was—my friend, I guess. He looked concerned. Barney looked up from his flowers and saw Jesse, then ran toward him, tail wagging. Wanting to lighten
the moment, I called out, “Get him, Barney. Knock him down!” Much to my surprise, Barney did just as he was told. Coincidence, I was sure, but just to check out my theory I pulled Barney back a few feet from Jesse.

  “Stand there,” I told Jesse.

  “What are we doing?”

  “I think Barney heard me.”

  “Nell, Barney is always knocking me over when he sees me. He likes me.”

  “So you have one fan, as well,” I said. “And you can have two if you stand there.”

  I knelt down beside an excited Barney. I knew he didn’t know what we were doing, but he did know it was some sort of game, and he liked games. I pointed to Jesse, who tapped his foot impatiently.

  “I thought we would have dinner together,” Jesse called out.

  “Be quiet.”

  I grabbed Barney’s face and loudly said, “Get Jesse.” Then I pointed to Jesse.

  Barney took off, knocking Jesse off his feet in seconds.

  “That was amazing,” I said. “Let’s do that again.”

  He pulled the dog off him and scrambled to his feet, laughing. “Why?”

  “It’s funny,” was the best reason I could come up with. “Besides, Barney likes it.”

  I called the dog back to my side, and after he wandered toward a bush, sniffed at some grass, and peed, he walked over to me.

  “One more time,” I told him. “Go get Jesse.”

  This time Barney stared at me.

  “Jesse,” I pointed. “Go get him.”

  Barney went running over, jumping at Jesse, who managed this time to stay on his feet. Then Barney sat down, revealing his tummy in the unmistakable dog language that roughly translates to “pet me,” which Jesse did for a few minutes before he looked up at me.

  “Are we done here?” Jesse asked. “I want to go to dinner.”

  “I guess. I’m a bit hungry too, but we could probably get a snack. Dinner won’t be for at least a couple of hours. Susanne said she would cook, and I don’t think she’s even started yet.”

  “I’d like to take you out.”

  “Really?” I smiled. “You want to be alone with me?”

  “I have to get cleaned up first.”

  It seemed like this might be the romantic gesture Eleanor and Carrie thought he’d come to Winston for, but nothing about his actions suggested that Jesse had romance on his mind. I’d been right, I decided. He wanted to go over his conversation with McIntyre and Frank. “We do have a lot to talk about,” I said.

  Jesse blushed and his tone turned serious. He seemed embarrassed to look at me. “Yeah, we do.”

  Without another glance my way, he walked toward the house, leaving Barney and me standing there. Whatever he wanted to talk about, it wasn’t George’s death. Suddenly I wasn’t that hungry.

  CHAPTER 27

  The waiter poured my glass of wine while Jesse stared at me from across the table. He had one of those enigmatic, Mona Lisa smiles, so I wasn’t sure whether he was going to propose or arrest me.

  “So why are we here?” I eventually asked.

  He had taken me to the local Italian restaurant, next to the office building Rita visited earlier. The place oozed romance, with dimmed lights, white tablecloths, roses everywhere, and Dean Martin playing softly in the background.

  “I thought it would be nice to get away from the others and have a quiet dinner.”

  I stared at him.

  He laughed. “Seriously. I just wanted to have dinner alone with you.”

  “So much that you drove up and abandoned your only child?” I said teasingly. Jesse was the best father I’d ever seen, but I did wonder how he managed without his daughter.

  “I talk to Allie three times a day, and all she wants to know is what toy I’ll bring back,” he said a little defensively. “I don’t think she even misses me. And why would she? She has my mother wrapped around her little finger.”

  “I’m just guessing here, but even though you’re really into rules and doing things the right way, I’ll bet she likes having you around.” I smiled, and he nodded and smiled back. “And I know you wouldn’t leave her unless you had a really good reason, so what is it?”

  He buried his face in the menu and spoke, almost without stopping, about his agonizing decision between the chicken marsala and shrimp with angel-hair pasta. Even though we’d known each other only a few months, I’d already learned that when Jesse talked non-stop he was nervous. I suppose by not giving me a chance to interrupt, he was hoping to keep me from saying something that might make his nerves worse.

  “What are you getting?” After five minutes he finally looked up from the menu.

  “What are you doing in Winston?”

  “Nell, I’m starving and everything looks so good that I can’t decide. What are you getting?”

  “Pasta primavera. What are you doing in Winston?”

  “I thought you might need my help.”

  “You thought I couldn’t take care of myself?”

  “I thought . . .” He paused and considered his words. “I knew you could take care of yourself. I just wanted to see you.” He paused again. “And when I got here, you had been drugged, so maybe my being here is a good thing.”

  I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms, trying to look tough, but I couldn’t help smiling. “You left Archers Rest so fast that you didn’t even tell your deputies until you were on the road.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I have people everywhere.”

  His face turned red and I knew I had him. Unfortunately for me, at just that moment the waiter came over to take our orders. It was the break Jesse had been looking for. Rather than press the issue, I uncharacteristically let him off the hook. I didn’t want to be cruel, and even though I was curious, I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear what he had to tell me, so instead, as we ate, I told him about my afternoon with the students and later with Rita, as well as my encounter in the woods, and he told me about the conversation he and McIntyre had with Frank.

  “He didn’t like the guy,” Jesse said. “He said George was not to be trusted.”

  “In what way?”

  “He told McIntyre they went hunting together a couple of times, he and George and that Pete guy from the quilt class, and the three of them got separated. They didn’t find George again for a couple of hours.”

  “Where did he go?”

  “Apparently George said he got a call from Rita and had to go back to the house.”

  “I’m stuffed,” I said, as I put my fork down for the last time. The food had been so good that I’d eaten more than I needed to. “That’s plausible, what George said, isn’t it?”

  “According to Frank a man who abandons a hunt is not to be trusted. But he made sure to add that George wasn’t much of a hunter anyway.”

  “Based on how he dressed, I don’t think he was a natural outdoorsman.”

  “Maybe not, but Frank is something. He also made it clear that he didn’t think too much of Pete. He didn’t give a reason, just made it clear that he didn’t like the guy.

  “I noticed that,” I said. “I don’t think Pete likes him much either. Kind of makes you wonder why they went hunting together.”

  “I have a feeling Frank likes being alpha male. Maybe he was trying to prove he’s a better man than Pete or George.” Jesse gestured toward the waiter. “I want coffee and, knowing you, you probably do too.”

  “And we can split a tiramisu?”

  “I thought you were stuffed.”

  “I thought you knew me.” I laughed.

  As we pulled up in front of the inn, Jesse took my hand and stared at it. I waited but he didn’t seem in any hurry to say anything, and I wasn’t going to fill the space with empty chatter. Though the wait was killing me, it was clear he wanted to say something, and I was determined this time to let him say it.

  When he looked at me, he seemed almost scared. “You know what you said earlier about having people everywhere?”

>   “I meant Carrie and Natalie. They ran into one of your deputies.”

  “I know who you meant.” He took a deep breath. “I saw Carrie earlier in the week, when I was having dinner.”

  Oh. That was what this was about. The redhead. If he was going to tell me he’d found a new love, I wasn’t sure this was a conversation I wanted to have.

  “Carrie mentioned it,” I told him. “It’s no big deal.”

  He cocked his head to the side the way confused puppies do. “Why isn’t it a big deal?”

  “I can’t speak for you, Jesse. I just mean that if you want to date someone else, obviously you’re free to do that. You did tell me that I wasn’t the right person for you.”

  “I never said that.”

  “You once said I wasn’t like your wife. She was more sensible, more restrained, more predictable. More suited to you.”

  “I know. But you’re more . . .” He seemed to be struggling. “You.”

  “And if you like that, why go out with other women?” I asked.

  “My mother fixed me up with a woman she knows from her volunteer work at the church.”

  I relaxed a little. Blind dates arranged by your mother rarely turn into love matches. At least I assumed they didn’t. My mother never set me up on blind dates. She and my father had left for France when I graduated from college, and had been slowly making their way around the world ever since.

  “When I saw Carrie, I knew she would tell you and I knew you would read something into it, and so I called to explain, and then you told me what was going on with this place and . . .”

  “You got on your white horse and rode up here to save the day?” I leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. “I appreciate that and I’m really glad you’re here, even though I can take of myself.”

  “I knew that.” He kissed me on the lips. “I get that, with you and Eleanor and the rest of them. You have things under control. I just want to be available if I can be of assistance.”

  I kissed him back, and our faces stayed close, just in case the urge to kiss overtook us again. “It’s nice to have you around.”

  “Nell, if I’m uncomfortable with you being so . . .” He searched for a word.