Heart of the Storm

by Nicole Stiling

  “Of course,” Sienna answered. “Follow me, I’ll show you to your bedroom.”

  Juliet swallowed and walked behind Sienna. Her hair was still damp, and her body smelled like a mixture of baby powder and lotion. It was intoxicating.

  “I’m sorry,” Juliet said when they were well away from the living room. “I know this is awkward.”

  Sienna turned to her. “It doesn’t have to be. What happened down there was a reaction to what was happening around us. I don’t want you to feel like I’m some sort of predator who’ll be waiting to jump on you at any moment. I’m not. We can talk about it later if you want, or we don’t have to talk about it at all. It’s completely up to you.” Sienna toyed with the hem of her shirt and looked straight ahead. Juliet’s heart sunk in her chest.

  “I think we should. You know, talk about it. We can wait until a better time, though, that’s fine. I know we’re both exhausted. I’m just going to get clean and then fall right into bed.” Juliet avoided Sienna’s eyes at all cost.

  “Sure,” Sienna said. “The bed has fresh sheets and there’s an extra blanket in the closet if you get cold. I’ll be in my room if you need anything.” She pointed to the far end of the hallway. Sienna hadn’t been kidding. She really had put Juliet in the guest room farthest from her.

  “Thank you,” Juliet muttered as Sienna closed the door behind her. The room was tastefully decorated in earth tones, with a small television perched on the side of the dresser. The attached bathroom had a stand-up shower and a double sink. No wonder Declan enjoyed spending time there. Everything was neat and organized and she’d feel comfortable eating off the spotless floor. It sparkled like floors do in commercials.

  And the shower was exactly what Juliet needed. She scrubbed her face with a bar of Ivory, probably a little harder than she needed to. She wasn’t trying to remove Sienna from her lips; she was trying to wash away the feelings that had welled up inside her when their lips had touched. Her son, Sienna’s stepson, was just down the hall. Will, her friend, Sienna’s estranged husband, was in the pool house, which could be seen from the bathroom window where Juliet had just pulled down the blinds. There had been a sort of flirtation between the two of them since that day in the car, and while they’d both semi-acknowledged it that night at Neptune’s, Juliet had sealed the deal in the basement. It was no longer a hushed secret or an unspoken crush. It was there, out in the open, and they’d both felt something. It would be hard to ignore that going forward. Juliet continued to scrub until her skin was a bright pink.

  * * *

  The following morning, Juliet finished buttoning her uniform and headed out before anyone else was up. She’d slept pretty well considering she was in a strange bed, while a few miles away her own house was in ruins. It was much earlier than she was used to, but she didn’t think she had it in her to make small talk.

  She drove by her house on her way to the station. Nothing much had changed in the few hours or so since she’d seen it last. Shingles and wood were everywhere. She was lucky her windows had all remained intact. Juliet sighed deeply and continued on to work.

  Quinlan and Leland were already there. The smell of fresh coffee was a perfect invitation to begin what would probably be another shit storm of a day.

  “Morning, L.T.,” Leland greeted Juliet at the Keurig machine. “You’re all set with the library at this point, right?”

  Juliet frowned. “We’ve been over everything in the building, yes. Why?”

  “It’s our biggest public structure that didn’t sustain any damage. Town council has set up relief in the school gymnasiums today for those who had their houses destroyed or badly damaged, but we want to get the kids back on their normal routine as soon as possible. The chief gave me the okay to set something up in the library. It’s comfortable and spacious and there’s plenty to keep small kids and adults alike entertained. And honestly, it’s been closed long enough. We have to reopen it.” Leland said the last part softly, like she expected Juliet to take issue with it.

  She knew it had been closed too long already, and if they were in a city district, it most likely would have been reopened the following day. But since the town was small, and law enforcement was on her side, she had the luxury of keeping the public out of the one place she felt like she’d be able to find a link to Richard Kowalski’s murder. The heart medication that had presumably been used to kill him was kept in his desk. Thirteen pills were missing from the bottle. Tara Wolfe’s secrecy and Richard’s booze and the way he must have stumbled out of there…Juliet shook her head. If the county detectives wanted to come in and close it as suicide, there wasn’t much she could do to stop it. She just had to try to work smarter and faster.

  “Sure.” Juliet dumped a packet of sugar into her mug and stirred furiously. “Just keep Kowalski’s office locked up, okay? I don’t want anyone in there for any reason.”

  Leland nodded. “Of course, Lieutenant. We can do that.”

  Juliet’s cell phone buzzed as she sat at her desk. MEMA would be there soon, and she was sure calls would start flooding in once people realized what hazards the storm had left behind.

  The text was from Will. Heard from Brian. Good news. They can have a new roof installed in about a week. I told him to go ahead and get started today. You’ll be back home in no time, Jules. We’ll figure out the insurance thing after the fact.

  Juliet sent him back a quick thank you with a bunch of hearts while guilt flooded her, hot and uncomfortable. He was a good man, and a good friend, and all she could think about was his wife. She cracked her knuckles and shoved the phone to the side of her desk. She officially felt like a living, breathing, piece of shit.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Sienna planned on heading over to Gretchen’s house as soon as she was finished with her oatmeal. She’d assumed that a good night’s sleep would provide some much-needed clarity, but it hadn’t worked. She hadn’t slept well, and she still had zero clarity.

  It was odd that a tornado in their small town was the secondary news item on her mind. She could easily explain the kiss away if she tried. Moments before, they’d feared for their lives. People always did crazy things when they thought they might be at the end. One last conversation, one last reflection, one last human touch before it all gets swallowed into the darkness. The fact that they were out of danger when the kiss happened had little bearing on the situation. Could have been delayed panic, that sort of thing happened all the time.

  There had been nothing concrete said or done that had led up to that moment. Sienna was attracted to Juliet, which had never been in question. She’d been fairly confident that Juliet found her attractive as well, especially after their conversation at the beach. But it didn’t matter, because their family dynamic was too enmeshed to allow any sort of romantic entanglement between the two of them. It was an exciting dream, nothing more. A beautiful moment that would ignite the butterflies in her belly and the heaviness in her heart, but Sienna had the good sense to acknowledge it for what it was—a moment.

  As she walked outside, Sienna saw Will sitting on one of the chaise lounges speaking to someone on the phone. He held up his hand to wave good-bye, which Sienna returned. Declan had still been sound asleep in his room, grateful for an unexpected day off from school after the terror of the previous evening.

  The air was still damp, and clouds covered the sky. It was noticeably cooler than it had been over the last few days, and it finally felt like fall. Sienna grabbed the light sweater on her back seat and draped it over her shoulders.

  Gretchen’s house hadn’t sustained much damage, thankfully. Her chain link fence in the backyard had taken a beating. A few panels were completely flattened by wind and debris, but otherwise her property was in good shape. Sienna was grateful; she didn’t think Gretchen would be able to deal with the house she and Richard shared together being ripped to shreds. Monique’s car was parked in the driveway.

  Sienna put on the sweater she’d been carrying to fight
off the chill she couldn’t seem to shake. Monique answered the door, apparently surprised to see her.

  “Yes?”

  “I’m here to see your mom,” Sienna said. Duh.

  Monique moved out of the doorway, her mouth pursed. All of the blinds were still down, and the living room was dark. The power crews must have been working double time, since the part of town Gretchen lived in had their electricity back already.

  “Good morning, Gretchen. You okay?” Sienna asked, seeing Gretchen in her rocker with her eyes closed.

  “I’m okay. Never in my life have I seen a storm like that come through. Those are the storms of the South and the Midwest, not the Northeast. I thought I was a goner. I’m thankful the physical therapist was here at the time. He carried me down to the basement like I was a sack of potatoes.”

  “I’m glad you weren’t hurt. It was terrifying, that’s for sure. The town’s in rough shape, but the good news is that there were no fatalities and only minor injuries. We’ll all be fine once the dust settles.” Sienna gave Gretchen’s hand a pat.

  “I would’ve thought so too. But with everything that’s happened lately, I feel like this town has a black cloud over it. Maybe we’ve done something to anger the gods and we just don’t know it yet. Rich was the sacrificial lamb who got the ball rolling.” Gretchen still lay back against the recliner with her eyes closed.

  Sienna frowned and looked over at Monique.

  “She’s got it in her head that we’re a cog in this grand plan of destruction. I tried to tell her she’s being crazy, and Rich’s death wasn’t some great design. It was just an accident or a random act. But she won’t listen.”

  “Well, she’s certainly not crazy.” Sienna looked at Monique pointedly before turning back to Gretchen. “I can understand why you feel that way, Gretchen. Something really terrible happened to your husband, and happened to you, and now our whole town was nearly wiped off of the map. Of course it seems like the world is coming to an end. I’d be concerned if you didn’t feel that way.”

  “You’re a good girl,” Gretchen said, nodding slowly.

  “I have a question for you,” Sienna said. She needed to be delicate. “Did Rich drink much? And did you ever have a problem with it?”

  Gretchen furrowed her brow and then chuckled. “Oh, you must have found his secret stash. He thought he was being so sneaky. He knew I didn’t like drinking. My father liked the drink and he could be nasty. So, I never encouraged it. In the beginning, I used to balk and complain, but he never did abuse it. So, I let him think I didn’t know, but once in a while I could taste it on his lips. Where was it? His trunk?”

  “No, it was actually at the library. They’re going to run it through some testing to see if there’s anything there.”

  Gretchen pursed her lips. “I thought of something. It’s probably nothing, but Charlie Goodman has a truck. I just don’t remember if it’s red or black.”

  “Mom, don’t—”

  Sienna held her hand up to stop Monique. She really seemed to hate her mother having any sort of feelings or opinions that didn’t align with her own.

  “Who’s Charlie Goodman?” Sienna asked. “Should we invite Officer Leland or Lieutenant Mitchell over to take a statement?”

  Gretchen shook her head vigorously. “No, no, nothing like that. I don’t want to leave a trail of breadcrumbs that ends in nothing but a moldy loaf. They should continue looking for Rich’s killer the way they’ve been doing it.”

  Sienna knew there were almost no leads and no evidence pointing to anyone in particular. But she obviously couldn’t share that with Gretchen. “I think they’d appreciate hearing whatever you have to say. They’re not giving up, but I’m sure they’ve hit a few roadblocks. They always do in these kinds of investigations.”

  “I’d rather just talk to you, if you don’t mind.”

  Sienna wasn’t sure if she’d be allowed to relay a statement from someone else, but she wasn’t going to force Gretchen into anything she wasn’t ready to do. She held up her phone. “Of course. Do you mind if I record it?”

  “I’d prefer that you don’t, if it’s all the same to you. I’d like to have a conversation without feeling like I’m giving a statement.”

  “This is silly.” Monique picked up the teacups from the coffee table and stormed into the kitchen.

  Sienna ignored her. “Okay. Who’s Charlie Goodman?” she asked again.

  “He’s an old friend of Rich’s,” Gretchen said. “I never liked him much. They met at an antique car show and got to talking about business. They kept in touch and Charlie decided it was finally time to go off on his own. He was working at some shop up north. Rich gave him a small loan some years ago to get his garage business off the ground. The plan was for him to be a partner, but it didn’t work out. I told him that I didn’t trust Charlie, but Rich told me I was too judgmental. Maybe I am. But Rich loved cars. We just never had the disposable income for him to have more than one. He always said he’d have a Corvette in the driveway one day.” Tears filled her eyes.

  “And you think he might’ve had something to do with Rich’s death?” Sienna asked.

  “Not really. But I noticed he’d started calling again. After years without a word. They had a falling out when they couldn’t agree on how the business should be run.”

  “If he runs a garage, doesn’t that mean he’d have access to all sorts of cars and trucks?” Sienna asked. She scribbled down his name and the few details Gretchen had provided on the back of an envelope she plucked from her bag. She was afraid if she pulled out her notebook and made it too formal, Gretchen would clam up.

  “Yes, he would.”

  “Did you find him to be suspicious or dishonest?” Sienna asked.

  “I didn’t get involved with the business. Rich talked to me about it here and there, but I tuned it out. That was his thing, not mine. I don’t know exactly what happened between the two of them, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was a questionable businessman. Like I said, I never did like him. But I don’t see why he’d come after me. Or Rich, for that matter. It was just a thought.”

  “He wouldn’t do that to you or Rich,” Monique piped up. “I don’t know him very well, but people just don’t go around murdering other people because they had an argument a few years ago. That’s just nutty.”

  “Monique, I think your mom is just trying to cover all the angles. She’s not accusing anyone of anything.”

  “Don’t you want to know who killed Rich? Who tried to kill your mother?” Gretchen sat forward, her eyes angry in a way Sienna hadn’t seen before.

  “Mom. I just want you to start trying to accept what most likely happened. Rich forgot he took his pills, took a few more, and by the time he left the building it was too late. And you even said yourself that you were driving slower than usual because of the dark. Maybe it was some kid who was trying to get around you, a punk. That happens a lot.”

  Monique was on her knees in front of her mother’s chair. Her pleading with Gretchen to let go of her theories was the most earnest Sienna could remember seeing her, and it was good to know she could be genuine.

  “No,” Gretchen said. “He always knew when he took his pills. And from what the lieutenant said, he had enough in his system for about eight doses. He wasn’t a fool, Monique. And he wasn’t suicidal. So no, I won’t accept what didn’t happen.” She paused. “If you two don’t mind, I’d like to take a nap. Sienna, I know we said we’d start going over the bills and Rich’s online banking thing, but I’m really tired. Monique called a friend over to look at my fence, so she’ll be here for a while. At least until the nurse shows up.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t mind staying. We don’t have to do the bills today if you’re not up for it.” Sienna hated the idea of leaving Gretchen in such a state of upset, but it was ultimately her choice.

  “I told you I’d help with the bills,” Monique muttered.

  Gretchen didn’t acknowledge her. “Yes, I’m sure. Come
back tomorrow.”

  Sienna gathered her things and said a hurried good-bye to Monique who was outside on the stoop, leaning on the railing. Monique just nodded at her.

  Before driving away, Sienna dialed Juliet’s number and stuck her phone in the cup holder. At least the damn cell signal had been fixed.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  “And everyone is accounted for?”

  Juliet fought the urge to rub her eyes. She was tired and didn’t feel like presenting a facade of solidarity behind the mayor and next to the chief while they spoke with MEMA. It wasn’t that there wasn’t solidarity; Juliet just didn’t want to be there, among the people talking about red tape and making plans around budgets. She wanted to be at her desk looking over files that she’d read through a hundred times, in her own space without having to talk to anyone.

  “Yes, everyone is accounted for. We’ve had some minor injuries reported, but there have been no fatalities. This is Chief Patrick Quinlan and Lieutenant Juliet Mitchell. Chief, Lieutenant, this is Mr. Mullen, the resource unit leader,” the mayor told them.

  “Good to meet you, Mr. Mullen,” Juliet said, shaking his hand. She needed to focus. “Preliminary results put us at an EF2. They estimate that we had winds of about 145 miles per hour. We didn’t set up any semi-permanent shelters, as we didn’t feel they were necessary. Those that were displaced congregated in the high school gym, and a local motel is offering drastically reduced rates for everyone who needs to assess the damage and plan for repairs the tornado caused.”

  Mr. Mullen nodded, and Quinlan suggested they move inside the police station to discuss the red tape minutiae. The meeting wrapped up when the final budgetary considerations were finished, and Mullen left to finish surveying the area. Juliet exited Quinlan’s office to find Sienna standing near the infamous basement door.

  “Hey.” Juliet motioned toward her office. “You looking for me?”

  “I am, yes,” Sienna said.

  Juliet hated the way a blanket of tension seemed to be strangling them. She was angry at herself and, irrationally, angry at Sienna. Why did she have to be so attracted to her? Why did she have to feel things when she was anywhere in her proximity? Complications weren’t part of her plans at this stage of the game. Juliet had decided a long time ago that she’d take life as it comes. And if something didn’t feel right, then it was time to walk away. She was happy with her career, her social life, her home. The one constant in her life was her son, and she was perfectly fine with that. Nothing needed to change.