by Diane Bator
“Talk about what?” She leaned precariously to one side then caught her balance.
Danny grinned. “It’s late, you’re cold, and you’re drunk. Let me walk you to your front door. Small town or not, there are people who’d look at you and think Christmas came early.”
Her face hardened and her nostrils flared. “Why should I trust you?”
“Do you have a better offer?” He looked around and shrugged.
Lucy turned and walked away. “Do you plan to sit in your car all night just in case I make a run for it?”
Danny followed as close as he dared, just out of her arm’s reach. “Nope, I’ll go home once I know you’re safe inside your house.”
“You’ve sat there and spied on me for weeks.” Her chin quivered as she fumbled with her house keys and dropped them to the welcome mat. “Why help me now?”
“Because it’s the right thing to do.” He picked up the keys and opened the door. “That’s part of why we need to talk tomorrow. After you’ve had a little sleep and a lot of coffee.”
“So you’re not going to push your way in an attack me?”
Danny laughed. “No, I think you’ve had to defend yourself enough for one night. Besides, I have a girlfriend and she wouldn’t be very happy if I did anything so stupid.”
She studied him in the semi-darkness then took her keys back and slammed the door in his face.
He wandered back to Clancy’s backyard and peered around the corner where remnants of the party lay strewn about the deck. Wine glasses, beer cans and empty paper plates littered every flat surface. The stench of beer met his nostrils. A pretty elaborate ploy for Clancy to get Lucy into bed. So much for finding out more information about her.
“I’m gonna kill him.” Leaving the mess on the deck untouched, he walked back to the Honda. He’d need both sleep and caffeine before he dealt with Clancy.
The next morning, Danny banged on Clancy’s door before the sun cleared the roof of the house. He stepped back to kept his distance so he didn’t reach out to strangle his friend.
Clancy opened the door bleary-eyed. “Hey. You’re up early.”
Danny snorted. “If you ever pull another stunt like you did last night again, I’m gonna kick your sorry ass all the way to the tattoo parlor and lock you inside.”
“What are you talking about?” He yawned and rubbed one eye.
“You were so drunk last night you nearly cost us this job.” Danny scowled. “Did you say anything about being a detective to anyone? Lucy, maybe? Did you even bother to ask her about her husband or his girlfriends while you were throwing yourself at her?”
“No.” His eye twitched, then he led the way to the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. “No one knows about the case. Lucy only knows I’m a detective, because she’s a mystery writer and wanted some advice on a book she’s writing.”
“And why’d you bother to tell her that much?” Danny flared his nostrils, sticking a cup onto the burner in place of the carafe to capture the first cup of coffee. “Tell me you didn’t try to sleep with her last night.”
“How’d you know that?” Clancy’s jaw tensed. “You asked Mitch.”
“Actually, he’d gone to bed by then. I’m a detective and had a hunch.” Danny’s mouth twitched. “I started to go into your backyard and ran into Lucy who was wrapped in a towel and upset.”
Clancy sagged onto a chair and leaned an elbow on the table. “You wanted to know if she was sleeping around and had any affairs. I can tell you first hand, she’s not the kind of person her husband’s described. She’s been hurt bad, Danny. She’s far from ready to climb in bed with anyone.”
“She turned you down?” Danny forgot about the coffee and stared.
“Flat.” Clancy scrubbed his face with both hands. “In fact, when I put the moves on her, Lucy got upset. Trust me, there’s no other man in her life and I doubt there will be for a long time.”
Danny grabbed the nearly full coffee cup and placed the carafe on the burner. He added milk to the cup and took a sip. “So why would her husband tell us she’s abusing the kids and cheating on him?”
Clancy’s voice rasped. “I don’t know. He’s the one who walked away from them and put them through the wringer.”
The room grew quiet except for the gurgles of the coffeemaker.
Danny pulled out the toaster and shook his head at the greenish bread. “Don’t you ever go shopping? Get some real food, will you? If I were Lucy, I’d be a basket case too. This is why I hate divorce cases.”
Clancy sat across the table and blew out a breath. “Maybe you should follow Roger instead. I’m telling you Lucy’s not the person he says she is. We need to give her some breathing space.”
“You’re not exactly a leading expert on women.” Not like Danny was one to talk. Not so long ago, his current girlfriend was involved with a money-laundering psychopath. “We should? Or do you want me to back off so you can do the surveillance thing alone? Maybe from up close and personal like last night?”
“What are you saying?”
Danny met his gaze. “I’m saying maybe you’re getting too close. We’re on a case, not a dating reality show.”
“So it’s okay for you to take those chances, but not anyone else.” Clancy rolled his eyes. “Weren’t you working a case when you met Katie?”
“It wasn’t a divorce situation and I didn’t try to sleep with her. You trying to sleep with Lucy was a huge mistake and it better not happen again.” Anger surged beneath his skin and he pitched the bag of green bread into the trash. One more word and he’d be tempted to punch Clancy. He blew out a long breath and held up his hands. “Do what works. If you want to be her friend, then be her friend. If it goes farther than that, I don’t want to know. Keep in mind you could put Lucy and the kids at risk.”
“Then pull me off the case.” Clancy’s words hung in the air amid the scent of fresh coffee and stale booze. “I’m just telling you everything your client says—”
“Our client.” Danny sat back on the creaking wooden chair and watched the steam rise off his coffee. “I don’t want to pull you off the case.”
Clancy sat back and folded his arms across his chest. “Our client is playing us for fools. If you don’t believe me, go ahead and keep Lucy under surveillance. All you’ll see is a whole lot of nothing while you sit in your car getting heatstroke.”
“Well, then that’s what I’ll report back to Roger on the weekend.” If he got in touch with Roger again. The room fell silent again except for the hum of the refrigerator and the final gasps from the coffee maker.
“So what do we do in the meantime?” Clancy asked. “I know we’re investigating Lucy, but I also know we’re not going to find anything incriminating. She’s really not like that.”
“I know.” Danny frowned. “But there’s that little detail of last night. What were you thinking? If that story gets back to Roger—”
“Nothing happened last night, Danny.” Clancy reddened. “I tried to bring out her true nature and we both know how the evening ended. She pushed me away and left. What kind of woman does that?”
He averted his gaze. “An innocent one.”
“She just wants what we all want. For things to be normal and easy. That’s not going to happen anytime soon.” Clancy’s phone buzzed. He glanced at the screen and frowned. “My dad. Mom talked to my sister.”
“That’s good news.”
Clancy winced. “I wish I could believe that. The second my dad gets in the middle of the conversation, things go to hell in a shopping cart.”
Danny sipped his coffee and sat back. “At least it’s a start.”
Chapter 18 ~ Lucy
There’d been no answer to Lucy’s calls either at the cabin or Roger’s cell phone. She Lucy made a second pot of coffee and paced the house aimlessly. Before the pot finished brewing, she dressed in faded, baggy shorts, and a tank top then pulled her hair up in a sloppy ponytail. She slid on her flip-flops and walked out into the b
ackyard to face the day.
It was too early in the day to want to hide from the world, yet that was exactly what she wanted to do. Hide from the world, particularly Clancy. The sunshine warmed her face and melted the chill which claimed her earlier. Too restless to sit and write, she planned to attack the old garden ties in the flower bed she’d thought about moving. Today was a good day to dig them out. They’d find a new home around the side of the house where she planned to plant a vegetable patch.
The morning was peaceful and still except for the stab of her shovel into the dirt. Lucy stuck the shovel into the ground and stepped on the metal. Her flip-flop slid off and her bare sole hit the metal.
She bounced around on one foot, cursing until the pain subsided, then put her flip-flop back on and tried again. Most of the four ties came out easily. The shortest one refused to budge, held tight to the ground by an iron rod which appeared to be several feet long.
Lucy sighed. She had two options; keep digging and pull the whole contraption out or dig a wider hole around the rod and bury everything several feet down. She dug enough dirt out from beneath the tie and tried to lift. The wood wiggled, but didn’t budge. After digging deeper, she was able to get a better grip. When she pulled the second time, the wood slid off the metal rod and smacked her in the mouth. She swore, not caring who heard, then put the tie back onto the rod and pounded the whole thing into the ground in frustration.
“You want to keep the noise down? I’m hungover and trying to work on my truck. Stop making such a racket.” Clancy stood at the far end of the yard with a smirk.
“Jerk.” Lucy scowled. Beads of sweat cut trails through the dirt on her arms and her lip swelled from the block hitting her face.“Go ahead and laugh. I don’t care what you think.”
He chuckled. “Are you burying someone or still picking out the right spot for a body?”
“Don’t start.” She picked up the shovel. “I’m trying to take the ties out of this flowerbed, but can’t get the last one out.”
Clancy walked toward her. “That explains the dirt from head-to-toe.”
“Here, you give it a shot.” She handed him the shovel.
“So, how’d you get the fat lip?” He caught her chin between his thumb and index finger.
She debated what to tell him then kicked the two-foot long piece of tie, which wobbled in place. “When I tried to lift this part out, it came off.”
He stared at the small pit she’d dug where the section of four-by-four was still anchored into the ground by the metal rod. Still rooted deep into the earth, the tie danced around like a bobble-head toy. “And it hit you in the face?”
“Right in the kisser.” She blushed at the amusement on his face. “I mean…”
“It’s okay. I got it.” He took the shovel and leaned on the handle. “So, now what do you plan to do with it?”
“I dug a hole to bury it.”
Clancy raised his eyebrows. “You’re going to bury the whole thing in the garden?”
“Yup.” She shrugged. “Well, unless you can get it out, but otherwise…”
He got down on his knees and dug even deeper around the rod without finding the bottom. Finally, he put his hands beneath the block of wood and pulled.
“Clancy, don’t!” Lucy lunged forward, but was already too late.
The tie broke loose from the rod and hit Clancy square on the chin. His head snapped back throwing him onto the grass where he lay and stared up at the sky.
“Are you okay?” Lucy leaned over him. “I’m sorry you got hurt. I should’ve just buried the stupid thing and moved on. Your chin’s bleeding, I’ll go get some ice and a bandage.” She started to get up.
He let out a laugh, his lower lip already twice its normal size. “You mean like you did for your fat lip? No thanks.”
She knelt in the grass and scowled. “I didn’t do anything for my lip.”
“Exactly. Some nurse you are.” Clancy sat up slowly and groaned. “Oh, great. You’ve gone from having a block on a rod stuck in the ground to having a bare rod sticking out of the ground. We’d better deal with that thing before anyone gets hurt.”
“You mean like us?” She touched her cut lower lip. “How do we do that?”
He rubbed his jaw, which had already turned a pale shade of purple. “I’ll see if I can pull the whole thing out.”
Lucy stared wide-eyed. “What am I supposed to tell everyone if you impale yourself with a metal rod in my back yard? I’m sure most of the neighbors already think I’m crazy.”
“I doubt that, but it would be a great way to kill me off in your book.” He tried to grin but winced in pain instead.
She put her hands on her hips. “Do you know you’re not funny?”
“Actually, I’m hysterical. You just don’t know me that well, which is a shame since you had your chance.” He winked. “You don’t happen to have a sledgehammer handy so we can pound that sucker into the ground, do you?”
Lucy grimaced. “Why don’t we just put the tie back on top and step on it?”
Clancy’s jaw dropped. “You want me to put the stupid thing back on? Are you crazy? I nearly knocked myself out cold getting it off in the first place.” When she frowned, he rubbed his face with one hand then took a coin out of his pocket. “Heads we get a sledgehammer and pound the rod in the ground. Tails we put the block back on and bury the whole damn thing.”
Lucy sighed and met his gaze. “You’re being awfully nice to me. Are you sure you don’t have better things to do than hang out and get slugged in the face by garden ties?”
“Of course I do. So do you. Didn’t you say you had a deadline to meet?” He waggled a finger. “Are you procrastinating, young lady?”
She blinked back tears and brushed her hands on her shorts. “I’ve tried to call the kids a few times, but there’s still no answer. I just end up worrying about them instead of writing anyway.”
“Sounds like you’re a bigger procrastinator than I am.” Clancy grabbed her hand and seemed to study the dirt under her nails. He traced a cut on her knuckle.
“I guess I am procrastinating.” She forced a smile. “Are you sure you don’t have a girlfriend?”
“Why, because I’m too good to be true?” His gaze was on their joined hands. “No girlfriend. I’ve had girlfriends in the past, but nobody special. I’m kind of used to being alone. What about you?”
“No, no girlfriend.” Lucy laughed when he looked up. “Kidding. I don’t have time to date and spend half the night worrying about why some guy hasn’t called me, I’ve got three kids to take care of and a career to build. The last thing I want to have to worry about is someone’s delicate ego getting bruised.”
Clancy nodded. “Amen. Even grown-ups need friends to talk to though.”
“I do have friends.” Superficial friends who were never there when she needed them most. “All they do is study fashion magazines, complain about their husbands, and talk about how lazy their kids are. I want to talk about real things.”
“Like poison and murder and how to blow up your neighbor’s truck?”
Her face warmed. “Something like that.”
“Parker stopped by the other day. He wants to help me work on the truck sometime.” Clancy let go of her hand and picked up the shovel. “He’s sure you won’t let him since you don’t like me or my truck. I said he needed to talk to you so I didn’t look like some kind of a…”
“Pervert?” Both Parker and Shawn needed a father figure, but she wasn’t so sure Clancy was a good candidate. There would come a time when she’d have to trust her son to be in the world alone. Perhaps if she knew Clancy better, she’d be more comfortable letting Parker help him. “I’m sure he’d like that. He was really disappointed when Roger sold the old car they’d planned to fix.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Oh, yeah? What kind of car did they have?”
“I don’t know, I actually never saw it. Roger bought the car, but never brought it home.” She wasn’t even sure he�
�d actually bought one, but only told the boys he had. To get the boys off his back. I’m sure Parker helping you wouldn’t be a problem.”
“You want to run a background check on me first?” He laughed then grew serious. “You know whatever you’re thinking, it never hurts to ask.”
Lucy took a deep breath. She needed to take a chance. “Were you serious when you offered to help with my research?”
He opened his mouth then paused to study her before responding.“Of course, I was. I can’t say I know everything, but I have a connection or two. What do you want to know?”
She bit her lip. “Actually, there’s something I need to show you.”
“Is everything okay?” Clancy grasped her upper arms. “You just went from pink to pale.”
“Yeah. Give me a second. I’ll be right back.” Lucy went into the house.
The shaving kit was right where she’d hidden it behind her daughter’s shoes. She drew in a deep breath and prayed she doing the right thing in showing the jewelry to Clancy. Aside from finding the local police station, she had no other option. One more deep breath later, she descended the stairs.
He sat on the edge of the couch in the livingroom. “You sounded so serious, I thought talking inside away from prying eyes of neighbors might be best. If that’s okay with you, that is.”
“That’s probably a good idea.” She clutched the bag to her stomach. “I found something when I was packing the kids’ clothes. Something Roger seems anxious to get back.”
Lucy set the shaving kit on the coffee table and cleared away the newspapers to make room to spread everything out. She carried over a lamp and placed it on the table in front of Clancy.
He smiled. “That seems like overkill for a shaving kit.”
“Believe me. Not everything is as is appears.” She knelt by the table and tugged open the zipper. One by one, she withdrew the bags of jewelry and business cards.
With each new piece, Clancy’s face whitened until he rubbed his jaw with one hand. “Where did these came from?”