by CeeCee James
She’s going to be okay.
Chapter 17
It had been a long day at the recovery center, and tonight was the Winter Formal. Elise pulled the brush through Lucy’s hair, marveling at how the light shone off of it. Silky. Beautiful. So different from when Elise first met her hiding down an alley, alone and scared.
“You’re beautiful, Lucy. Inside and out.”
Lucy rolled her eyes. “Elise, that’s so corny.” But she smiled, and Elise knew she loved it.
“Smart. Caring. Funny.” Elise added.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” Lucy said. Her cheeks turned slightly pink.
Elise spun Lucy around on the stool so she was facing her. A lump started growing in her throat and she tried to smile. That darn smile made her eyes water. “I’m so proud of you. You did great today. You have become my hero.”
Lucy’s eyes looked suspiciously misty themselves. The two women hugged tightly for a second, and then both pushed away to try to get a grip on their emotions.
“So, I think for this occasion, we should use my gold eyeshadow pallet. What do you think?” Elise asked Lucy in the mirror.
Lucy bit her lip and stared down at the floor.
“What?” No answer. “Lucy?”
“I, um, I might have borrowed it.”
Elise raised her eyebrow.
“I’ll be right back!” The teen scooted off the stool and ran to her room.
She was back in a flash, and soon Elise had Lucy’s make up finished. Then Elise started working on herself. Both she and Brad were going to the dance as chaperones. She had to admit she was kind of excited.
She went to look for her shoes and discovered those were missing as well. After yelling for Lucy to find them—and Lucy repeating, “I’m sorry! Sorry!”—she sat on the bed to wait.
While she waited, Elise grabbed her phone and searched up the Go-Fund-Me for Grandma Babe. The school had graciously offered a quarter of the proceeds of the ticket sales to the charity. Still, even with that huge lump sum, they were still quite a bit short. The total was now twenty-two thousand dollars.
Biting her lip, she exited out of the browser. Just as she was about to set the phone down, she noticed an unread text. She clicked it to see from Lavina,—Save your pennies because I have a feeling there’s going to be a ton of baby showers in nine months because of that power outage! Sarah Jane just messaged me that she’s pregnant!
Elise chuckled at Lavina’s prediction of Angel Lake’s population explosion do to the power outage. Too bad it knocked out the cameras at the rink. She was about to respond when Lucy yelled for her.
“Come out here! Hurry! Look what just pulled up!” Lucy squealed from the window seat. Elise hurried from her room and over to the seat, nudging Max out of the way to see.
A white stretch HumVee parked in the driveway.
“What the heck?” Elise said, pulling back the curtain even further to get a good look.
“It’s Brad!” Lucy squealed even louder. She bounced off the seat to run across the living room, dress held high, and tottering on her heels like she was a little girl in her Momma’s shoes.
The doorbell rang just as Lucy flung open the door.
Brad stood there with a bouquet of white roses. In the center was one single red, which he plucked out.
“Your chariot awaits. These are for you.” He handed the bouquet to Lucy. “You look lovely.”
Lucy’s excited pitches reached even higher, making Brad grin. She sprang off for the kitchen with her flowers.
Brad turned and slowly meandered toward Elise, his eyes doing a slow sweep. “What are you even doing to me? You’re so beautiful.”
He slowly kissed her and then handed her the single red rose. “For my rose.”
Elise dipped her head to breathe in its scent. “I love you.”
He took her hand. “I love you more.”
The Winter Formal was adorable, at least to Elise, not that she would ever dare utter that word outloud. These kids were so proud of the work they’d done decorating, and Elise was impressed.
Mistletoe hung from the doorways and white and blue silk curtains covered the walls. Crystals to mimic ice hung from every available surface of the gym. Even the air glittered from the strobe lights flashing on the silver confetti in the air. Fresh white flowers cascaded from huge floor vases. Around the edges of the room, circular tables sparkled with silver and white cloth, ribbons and snowflakes. And on every table, as well as a huge display at the entrance, was an embossed picture of Grandma Babe’s restaurant.
Elise picked up one of the cards to see the words, “In honor of Grandma Babe. Let’s save the peach pie!”
So cute. The music, on the other hand, was loud and pounding. Elise grimaced as the DJ cranked it up. “I must be crazy to be here.”
“What?” Brad asked, looking down at her.
“I said, I’m officially an old lady.”
Brad laughed and tucked her in close. “And I have a crush on the dance’s chaperone. Never thought that day would happen,” he admitted. He laughed again at the face she made. “Come on, kid. Let’s dance.”
Elise looked around as Brad led her to the dance floor. She was tickled to see Grandma Babe, dressed in a long purple gown, dancing with one of the guys, a football player judging by the size of him. The teen twirled her around and she had a grin from ear to ear. She nudged Brad to have a look, and they both watched, smiling.
Soon there was a circle around Grandma Babe and her partner. The audience started clapping and cheering, which only egged Grandma Babe and her partner on. The two of them twirled, hopped and swung. At the end of the song, he dipped her.
Everyone applauded with loud whoops. Grandma Babe’s face was flushed and full of hilarity as he pulled her back up.
Elise clapped until her hands hurt. She glanced around at the dancer’s cheering fans. And caught the glance of someone standing in the crowd she didn’t expect to see.
Grandma Babe’s grandson.
He was easy to spot because he was the only one not smiling.
“Brad,” Elise said, tugging on him, trying to get his attention. But it was too loud and crazy for him to notice. By the time he glanced in her direction, the grandson had melted back into the crowd.
As the evening wore on, Elise danced until she thought her feet would fall off. Every time she looked for Lucy, the teen always seemed to be having fun, either talking animatedly with friends, or dancing with laughter in her eyes.
Then it was time to announce the Winter Dance Royalty. Everyone screamed when Grandma Babe was crowned Queen, with her football dance partner the King.
The DJ called for the last dance and Elise couldn’t help but be relieved it was almost over. She found Brad again. “What do we do about Lucy?”
“Do?” he asked, looking for the teen.
“Yeah. Do we take her home now? She wants to go hit Dennys with her friends.”
He hugged her. “She was on her own before you met her. She can handle this. Let her go.”
“Oh, my gosh! You make me sound like a helicopter mom!”
“Aren’t you?” he asked, one eyebrow raised.
She shook her head and went to search for Lucy. She didn’t see her in the gym, so she headed out to hallway—breaking up two couples along the way—before starting for the bathrooms. There she found Lucy fixing her makeup and talking with her two best friends.
“Home by one?” Elise asked.
Lucy rolled her eyes, but said, “Okay.”
“I’ll see you later. Be safe and have fun,” Elise said.
Lucy waved before turning back to her friends.
Along the way back to Brad, she passed a short hallway filled with lockers. She glanced down it just to be sure everything was okay, and stopped short to see Grandma Babe and her grandson.
Grandma Babe’s crown sat crooked on her head, and her smile was long gone.
Elise paused to listen. Yes, she was snooping. But technically, that was
her job tonight, right?
Her spine stiffened as she heard Grandma Babe say angrily, and with more than a trace of fear, “I can’t believe you did that, Michael. The restaurant wasn’t worth this. What if you get caught?”
Chapter 18
Elise stood just out of sight at the entrance of the hallway.
“Shh!” Michael said furiously. “We’ll talk about this later.”
“Later? They’re throwing this dance in my honor! What if these people find out?”
“Grandma, I did what I had to do. Now I’ve got to go. You coming or what?”
Their voices started getting closer. Elise panicked. She turned around and headed as fast as she could in the other direction before realizing that wouldn’t work. Reluctantly, she turned back. Walking briskly, like she’d come from far away, she hit the hallway entrance just as they were coming out.
Their eyes both widened in surprise when they saw her.
“Hi, guys!” Elise said cheerfully. “You having fun?”
Michael immediately scowled and glanced away. Grandma Babe’s mouth moved soundlessly for a bit, showing she was flustered. But she got back on solid ground and reached for the tiara perched on her snowy white hair. “Any day I get named queen is a good day,” she said, straightening the crown.
“You bet it is!” Elise laughed, continuing toward the gym. “I’m looking for Brad. You seen him? No? Well, you two have a good night.”
“You too, missy!” Grandma Babe called after her. There was no response from Michael.
Elise hurried into the emptying gymnasium. A few other chaperones were herding the kids out like chickens from the scrap heap.
She reached for Brad’s arm. His welcoming smile disappeared when he saw the expression on her face. “What’s wrong?”
“We need to get out of here. I know who did it!”
“Did what?” he asked. His face started to take on the patient look that drove Elise nuts.
“Come on. Let’s go outside. Hurry!”
He glanced around and caught another chaperone’s eye. “We okay to go?”
The chaperone gave him a thumbs up, and the two of them headed outside.
Elise shivered as the cold air bit through her thin dress. It felt like it might snow again. Brad shrugged his jacket off and placed it around her shoulders.
“What’s going on with you?” he asked, giving her back a rub. “You came flying into the gym like you just found out the house was on fire.”
She glanced around the parking lot. It was mostly empty, with a few stragglers whooping it up outside various limousines and other rentals. A couple chaperones were standing about, making sure there wasn’t any trouble.
But she didn’t see Grandma Babe or Michael.
“Geez, what are you looking for?” Brad muttered, giving the lot a quick study. After not seeing anything out of the ordinary, he stared back at her.
“Just get me to the car and I’ll tell you,” she whispered, picking up her pace. Her breath came out in white puffs. Goosebumps trickled down her arms and she crossed them under the jacket.
The HumVee was waiting for them. The driver opened the door, and Brad gave her a hand up into the seat, which was difficult to navigate in her tight dress and heels. After she situated herself, he hurried around and climbed into the other side.
“Now,” he said turning toward her. “What’s this all about.” His eyes immediately cut across the parking lot again, casing it.
“You’re not going to believe this, but I heard them. I heard Grandma Babe and her grandson arguing down the hall. And her grandson was confessing!” Her words sputtered out in one long run-on sentence in Elise’s excitement.
Brad raised his eyebrows. “Whoa. Confessed what, exactly?”
Elise opened her mouth to answer. The words froze in her throat. What was he confessing? As she tried to answer, her well-formed idea started to slip away. “Well… I don’t know, exactly.”
“You don’t know?” He waited patiently.
The driver started the HumVee and shifted to drive. The SUV jerked forward as the driver took his foot off the brake.
“Brad! You don’t understand. Michael said he had to do it to save the restaurant! He had the perfect motive to kill Hamilton. Revenge!”
He nodded, slowly. “I believe you. That really sounds bad. But do what exactly? For all we know, he put out ads all over Craigslist as Skipper the Stripper, with the proceeds going to pay off the foreclosure.”
Elise groaned and covered her face.
“I’m sorry, honey.” Brad’s voice lowered in sympathy. “I know this is driving you crazy. You going to have to trust the detectives to do their work.”
“I do trust them. It’s just to hear him say that and then hear how mad and scared Grandma Babe sounded….” Her words trailed off.
“I’ll tell the team to give Michael another look again. But, I need to be honest with you. He’s way down on the list of suspects.”
“Are you serious? How can that be possible? He was right at the ice rink when it happened.” Elise was aghast.
“Simple law of physics.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The blow came from someone left-handed.”
“Well, lovely. I guess that narrows it down,” Elise said with a sigh. “To what, a billion people?”
“Well, it narrows him out, anyway. Unfortunately.”
“There’s no way you could fake it?” Elise asked. “Fake being left-handed to throw people off?”
Brad shook his head. “Nope. Not with a blow like that. It needs a certain angle with the force. It wouldn’t happen naturally for someone right-handed.”
Elise settled back in the seat with her arms crossed. Yes, she felt like pouting. She’d been so positive she had the murder suspect. She bit her thumbnail, brain still spinning. What could Michael have meant, then?
“Don’t worry too much about it,” Brad reached over and gave Elise’s knee a squeeze. “We’ll get ‘em.”
She stared glumly out the window. The oncoming traffic had dwindled at this time of night to just occasional headlights flashing by. After a moment, she pulled out her phone. Her signal wasn’t great, but she managed to search up Grandma Babe’s Go-Fund-Me.
Her mouth dropped open. A chill ran down her spine.
The total was one hundred and two thousand dollars. Elise scrolled through the list of donations, mostly all between ten and fifty dollars.
There it was. The last one. Eighty thousand dollars from one donor.
The donor’s name was Anonymous.
Chapter 19
“Brad!” she shrieked.
Brad gave a startled yell. He was instantly defensive. “Geez Louise, lady! You’re going to kill me scaring me like that!” He rolled his shoulders, trying to relax.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. It’s just that there’s been a donation to Grandma Babe’s Go-Fund-Me. An anonymous donation! In the amount of eighty thousand dollars.”
“Are you serious?” he asked. “This case gets more and more interesting.”
“Right! So maybe Michael did do something after all!” Elise sat back, arms crossed before her, feeling vindicated.
Brad chuckled softly.
Elise looked at him in surprise. “What?”
“There you go, leaping to conclusions again. Elise, you can’t just decide how to read the facts. They have to prove themselves. You don’t know who made the donation. You don’t know why. And, technically, there’s nothing illegal about it.”
“Can you guys contact Go-Fund-Me about it?”
“That will take a court order. If it warrants it, we’ll get it done.”
Elise rolled her head against the back of the seat with a groan. “I could never be a detective. Too many ups and downs.”
Brad laughed again. “Look, I’ll give you something to whet your appetite. We tracked down the ice-skate.”
“Yeah?” Elise looked over interest
ed.
“It was a vintage 1975 Super Tacks hockey skate. Super heavy. Perfect for breaking a neck.”
Elise shivered and rubbed the back of her neck. “That’s gruesome. But it’s a good clue. Now where did it come from?”
Street lights flashed against Brad’s face. He shrugged. “You can find them on eBay.”
Elise groaned and flopped back against the seat.
“The real news is that it was a goalie skate. Which makes sense because it’s the heaviest they made.”
“So we have the skate, the note to me, and now the anonymous donation. We have what might be a forged genealogy and a possible fake son, and a crumbled note that turned out to be a date for the gift of a new pocket watch. Yet, at the time that he was supposed to show up to meet his wife at the restaurant, he went to the ice skating rink instead. None of this makes any sense.”
“And that’s why I like investigating,” Brad said with a smile. “Really makes you think. It’s like the ultimate puzzle.”
“A puzzle that includes the pieces of people’s ruined lives.”
“Yeah, but the sweet taste of victory when I can put the scum bag behind bars. Makes it all worth it.”
Elise went to bed that night, still trying to sort through everything. She tossed and turned well past the point when Lucy returned home and tiptoed to her own bedroom.
Finally, she gave up. There was no point in trying to force sleep if it wasn’t going to come. She wandered out to the kitchen with Max at her feet. Even in the middle of the night, the cat was loyal enough to stick with her anywhere.
Either that or he wanted food.
She got down a mug and scooped in some hot chocolate powder. After adding water, she gave it a stir and set it in the microwave.
There was something missing. Something obvious.
At the ding of the machine, she brought the drink over to the table and opened up her computer. Max rubbed against her ankles, so she scooped him on her lap. Leaning forward, she searched for the hockey championship again.