“You’re circling, Harper. Why don’t you just come right out and say what you want to say?”
“Okay.” Harper wet her lips. “Luther is having an affair with Lexie.”
Barbara’s demeanor never changed. “Don’t be ridiculous.”
“I heard what they were saying just now. I ducked down to eavesdrop because ... well ... I’m a busybody. I know you heard what they were saying, too.”
Barbara hesitated and then shook her head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I didn’t even see Luther. He said he was going to lunch.”
“With Lexie?”
Impatience had Barbara’s forehead wrinkling. “She’s our secretary. We often take her to lunch.”
Harper refused to back down. “She’s pressuring him to leave you. Apparently he’s made promises about some life they’re going to live together. He seems reticent about it, to the point I think it’s likely he’s just stringing her along. That doesn’t change the fact that he’s cheating on you.”
“You have no idea what you’re talking about.” Barbara was beyond testy. “Luther and I are very happily married.”
“It wasn’t happiness I saw on your face when you appeared. I know you heard them.”
“You don’t know anything. This doesn’t concern you. Why can’t you just mind your own business?”
“Because a man died here,” Harper replied simply. “I don’t want to make life more difficult for you because it’s obvious you’re going through a terrible ordeal. Some things aren’t adding up, though. One of the things I’m having the most trouble with is why Morton was on this property.”
“Why does anybody visit this property?” Barbara challenged. “Maybe he has a loved one buried here and he was paying a visit.”
“At night? Jared says the autopsy shows that he was killed after dark. Why would he be here after dark?”
“Why are you here after dark?”
“To talk to ghosts.”
“Oh, don’t run that nonsense on me.” Barbara let loose a dismissive hand wave. “You can tell your clients whatever you want to tell them, but I know better. Ghosts aren’t real. I work in a cemetery, for crying out loud. If ghosts were real, I would’ve seen one by now.”
“Not everybody can see them. That’s neither here nor there, though. Morton doesn’t strike me as the sort of guy who spent a lot of time communing with the dead.”
“No?” Barbara arched an eyebrow. “People might say the same thing about you. From afar, you’re just a pretty blonde with a nice personality and a hilarious sidekick. Who would ever believe that you see and talk to ghosts?”
“It’s not always easy to ascertain the truth about people,” Harper agreed. “Lexie, for example. I would’ve pegged her as a brainless airhead until I saw her in your office yesterday. Just for the record, we figured out Luther was having an affair with her before the conversation I overheard a few minutes ago. That was simply a confirmation of sorts.”
Barbara flicked her eyes to the ground for a moment and then slowly raised them. “What do you want from me?”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” Harper promised. “I get that you’ve been dedicated to Luther for more than thirty years at this point. You guys have been married a long time. I’m guessing the surgery was a way to save the marriage.”
“I was sick! How many times do I have to tell you that?”
“I understand wanting to protect your privacy. I wouldn’t want to talk about it either. That doesn’t change the fact that a man is dead, your husband is cheating on you, and the location of the murder scene puts you in a bad spot. I’m trying to help.”
“Well, you’re not. You’re making things worse.”
Harper tilted her head, considering. “This isn’t the first time Luther has cheated on you, is it? You’re used to him running around and acting like a cad.”
“Luther is my husband.” Barbara’s tone was chilly. “We made promises to each other and we’re not the type to get divorced.”
It was a non-answer and it bothered Harper on several levels. “You deserve better than a man who can’t keep his promise.”
Barbara’s snort was disdainful. “That’s easy coming from you, isn’t it? You’re still young. Everything is fresh to you. Do you think that man you plan to marry is going to be faithful to you forever? That’s not how it works.
“Sure, you guys are gooey in love right now and he wouldn’t even consider stepping out,” she continued. “Eventually, though, he will. You won’t look as fresh as you do now. That won’t mean he doesn’t love you. It will simply mean he won’t be able to stop himself from looking at a new fresh face.”
“Luther is doing more than looking.”
“Luther will stay in this marriage. He won’t leave.”
“What if you’re wrong?”
“I’m not.”
“It still hurts, though, doesn’t it? You can make excuses for him, but Luther’s betrayal still hurts.”
“Luther is who he is. I am who I am. Together, we are who we are. That’s not going to change.”
Pity rolled into a hard ball of disgust and lodged in Harper’s stomach. “You deserve more.”
“What I deserve is a little peace. I don’t need you sticking your nose into my business. If I want your opinion on my marriage, I’ll ask. Until then ... mind your own business.”
With those words, Barbara turned on her heel and stalked back in the direction of the cemetery office. She didn’t once look over her shoulder.
SINCE THERE WAS NO REASON TO HANG around the cemetery, Harper led her group to a local deli to meet Jared for lunch. He was already seated and flipping through a file when they arrived.
“And how was your day, dear?” Jared teased when Harper leaned over to give him a kiss. He read the trouble in her eyes almost instantaneously. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m fine,” she reassured him. “I didn’t pick up even a single scratch or bruise.”
“I’m happy to hear it. That wasn’t the question I asked, though.”
“I just had a thing with Barbara,” she admitted, sinking into the open chair next to him.
“Before you tell him about the thing, do you want your usual, Harp?” Zander asked. “I can order for you.”
Harper sent him a grateful smile. “That would be great. Get me a double dose of the potato salad.”
Zander tipped an invisible hat. “Absolutely. That is the best thing on the menu.”
With her lunch order handled, Harper launched into the tale of her day. Jared’s only reaction was to grimace when she got to the part about confronting Barbara, but he listened until she was finished.
“I feel sorry for her,” Harper admitted, rubbing her forehead. “She’s adamant that Luther is her forever and he mistreats her.”
“Do you think he physically mistreats her?” Jared asked as he rubbed soothing circles across her back.
“I doubt it. Luther is lazy. Hurting her in that manner would require work. He’s not a very good worker.”
“No, I can see that.” Jared pursed his lips. “Just for the record, what she said about me isn’t true. I’m always going to want you, and only you.”
The fact that he would grab onto that thread and tug nudged a legitimate smile out of Harper. “I know. I’m not insecure when it comes to your feelings.”
“Good. You’re it for me. That’s never going to change.”
“I feel that here,” Harper reassured him, tapping the spot above her heart. “The thing is — and this is about Barbara and Luther, not you and me, so don’t get wound up — I’m sure Barbara thought that Luther was going to be faithful to her at one point.”
“But he obviously wasn’t. You don’t think Lexie is his first affair.”
“No, from what I saw, he was placating her. She really thinks he’s going to leave Barbara and give her a life in the lap of luxury. To be clear, I don’t believe Lexie is in love with Luther. She’s simply lazy and doesn’t want to w
ork and figures a sugar daddy is the way to do it.”
“And this being Whisper Cove, there aren’t a lot of sugar daddies for her to choose from,” Jared mused, smiling as the others moved to the table with trays full of sandwiches and salads.
“Here’s yours,” Zander said as he plopped a tray in front of Jared. “Don’t get used to me waiting on you. It’s a one-time thing.”
Jared shook his head. He was under no delusion that Zander delivered his lunch out of the goodness of his heart. No, Zander understood that no matter how tough she was, Harper was troubled by her conversation with Barbara and needed to use Jared as a touchstone until the turbulence in her mind smoothed out.
“Thank you, Zander,” he sang out. “You’re such a good provider.”
“Whatever.” Zander made a huffy sound as he sat. “I don’t need the sarcasm.”
Jared clapped him on the shoulder and then shifted his gaze to Nick. “You were there for all of this, correct? What did you think?”
“Harper did the questioning on her own,” Nick replied. “I was there making sure nothing would happen — you know, just in case — but I thought it unlikely Barbara would talk to her in front of me.”
“I get it,” Jared reassured him. “If Barbara had been our killer and decided to quiet Harper, you would’ve been there in seconds to stop her.”
“I would have,” Nick agreed. “I am the designated babysitter, after all.”
Jared’s smirk was pronounced. “I take it you don’t like that title.”
“I don’t like the job. Watching Maddie is one thing — she’s my wife and I know her moods, even now when they swinging at a terrific rate due to hormones — but these two.” He jerked his thumb at Harper and Zander. “Do you know they carry nylon chairs in the trunk of the car so they can sit comfortably in the woods while spying?”
“I’m well aware,” Jared acknowledged. “I’ve caught them at it a few times.”
“Doesn’t that drive you crazy?”
Jared hesitated before shrugging. “I’ve learned to live with it.”
“Then you’re more tolerant than me.”
“It’s just who they are. They can’t stop themselves.”
“And we’re fabulous at it,” Zander said as he opened his container of potato salad and inhaled. “This is the stuff. I love it when they make it fresh in the summer. It’s amazing.”
“It’s pretty good,” Nick agreed, digging in. “As for what I think about Barbara, it’s hard to say. She seemed more upset that Harper knew about her surgery and Luther’s philandering ways than she was about anything else. It’s as if appearances are all that matter.”
“She’s still sticking to that illness story,” Harper said. “Nobody believed that story back when she was spouting it in December. Given how she came out of things, looking fresh as a daisy, people might allow her to keep telling the story, but I guarantee nobody believes it.”
“Hmm.” Jared bit into his sandwich and methodically chewed, swallowing before he continued speaking. “Bad relationship choices with women looking for sugar daddies seems to be the name of the game. Darren Barton has much the same situation with Pammy.”
“That’s the bimbo he’s living with?” Harper queried.
“Bimbo is a strong word.”
“Is it the right word?”
“I don’t particularly enjoy casting aspersions on the intelligence of young women, but she’s all over the place. She puts forth a veneer that screams bimbo and yet I’m not a hundred percent convinced it’s not an act.”
“Really?” Harper was officially intrigued. “Do you think she’s playing an angle?”
“I think she believes she’s got Darren exactly where she wants him. Today, when we got there, she was lying on the front lawn in the world’s tiniest bikini.”
Harper frowned. “How did she look?”
“Nobody looks better than you, Heart,” he reassured her, leaning in for a kiss. “You have nothing to worry about. She’s so not my type.”
“Do I look worried?”
Jared used his thumb to wipe away remnants of potato salad from the corner of her mouth. “You look like the prettiest woman in the world.”
“Nice save, man,” Zander offered on a thumbs-up.
Jared ignored him. “I will admit that all this talk about idiotic men letting young women lead them around by the ... nose ... has made me uncomfortable. I don’t understand the inclination.”
“That’s because you’re not a weak man,” Maddie volunteered. “You’re not afraid to love. Nick’s that way, too. I’m guessing Luther and Darren were never truly comfortable in their own skin. They strike me as the sort of men who need validation from women, and as we all know, when they get older, women aren’t in the mood to constantly bolster a man.”
“Does that mean you’re going to stop referring to me as the hottest man in the world at some point?” Nick teased.
“No.” Maddie was serious when she answered. “Because, in my case, love trumps beauty. You’re always going to be the most beautiful man to me because I love you beyond reason. It’s the same reason you’ll never look elsewhere for love. Love keeps you true.”
“Oh, that might be the most romantic thing you’ve ever said to me, Mad.”
“Oh, yeah? Try this on for size. This potato salad is so good I want to get some to take back to the hotel so we can eat it naked in bed.”
Nick chuckled. “I was wrong. That was the most romantic thing you’ve ever said.”
“Yeah, I’m all about the romance these days.” Maddie patted her stomach and grinned. “I’m being serious, though. Not all men are created equal. Not all love is created equal either. I think some people are willing to put up with less than they deserve because they’re fearful of losing what they have.”
“That’s a very good observation,” Jared acknowledged. “I like it and it gives me something to think about. The thing is, when you break it down, the situations are different.
“Darren was locked in a marriage with a difficult woman who had a drug problem,” he continued. “He admitted that she got addicted to Oxy over the course of their marriage.”
“Will you arrest Heath?” Harper asked.
“We’ll at least talk to him. I don’t know that we have enough to arrest him. If he thinks we’re watching Cady, though, he might drop her as a client. That could be the push she needs to go into rehab.”
“Or lose it and kill someone,” Zander countered.
“Or that,” Jared agreed. “We’ll play that situation by ear. No matter how you work it, though, I don’t see where Cady would have enough money to pay for a hit. Heath might be an idiot — and upon further inspection of his record he’s likely not too bright — but I don’t see the benefit of killing a plastic surgeon from his point of view.”
“So, you’ve ruled out Cady,” Harper mused.
“Not completely, but she’s low on the list. I am intrigued about the Barbara situation. She seemed to be a controlled individual when I met her in the cemetery office yesterday. I don’t know her well, but the story you just told me about her reaction to being called on the carpet about the surgery and Luther’s wandering eye doesn’t suggest a woman who loses it and kills her former surgeon on the cemetery grounds.”
“No,” Harper agreed. “I’m still trying to figure out what Morton was even doing in the cemetery at that time of day. Was he meeting someone? Did the killer lure him there? It’s a lot to think about.”
“It is, and that’s an interesting theory to toy with,” Jared said. “I don’t know how to feel about any of it. Maybe Morton was really visiting the cemetery and saw something he wasn’t supposed to see and it was simply a crime of necessity.”
“You’re suggesting Morton saw Luther with Lexie and Luther killed him to keep the affair a secret,” Nick surmised.
“It’s possible, right? Luther didn’t want Harper and Zander on the property that night. You’ve already told me that. Maybe that’s beca
use he knew there was a body there.”
“That’s interesting.” Harper was thoughtful as she ate her potato salad. “Will you question Luther?”
Jared shrugged. “Probably. I have to talk it over with Mel first. I think we’re heading back to Morton’s office this afternoon to pressure Janice.”
“What good will that do?” Maddie asked.
“They were having an affair. She won’t admit it, but it’s fairly obvious.”
“That doesn’t mean she killed him,” Maddie argued. “I know it doesn’t count for much, but I worked with her years ago. I don’t think she has murder in her heart.”
“I'm glad for that. Even if she doesn’t, though, she knew Morton’s secrets. She might know a great deal more than she’s admitting.”
“Ah.” Maddie bobbed her head in understanding. “She’s a blabberer, can’t seem to keep her mouth shut. If you apply the right amount of pressure, she’s likely to crack.”
“That’s exactly what I’m counting on. What about you guys? What’s your plan for the afternoon?”
“Shopping,” Nick replied automatically.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Harper shot back. “We’re going back to the cemetery. This time we’re hunting down a ghost and making him answer some questions.”
“Of course.” Nick rubbed his forehead. “I honestly should’ve seen that coming.”
“You should have,” Jared agreed easily. “I don’t see what the issue is. How hard can it be to watch three people? I mean, one of them is pregnant and your wife.”
“She’s not the problem. In fact, my Maddie is never a problem. It’s the other two.”
“Just think of it as practice,” Jared said. “This is what it’s going to be like when you have a few kids under your belt.”
“Zander is like ten kids,” Nick shot back. “I guarantee we’re not having ten kids.”
“Then a day spent with Zander will make having a baby seem like a dream,” Jared offered. “Either way, it’s good for you.”
“Whatever.” Nick looked legitimately whipped. “I’ll keep an eye on them. You have my word on that.”
Ghostly Graves: A Harper Harlow and Maddie Graves Mystery Page 15