Be My Valencrime

by Amy M. Reade

  She and Laurel watched television for a little while before Lilly let Barney out one last time. Then they went upstairs. Considering all that had happened, it was a relaxing evening and Lilly wished all her evenings could be like that.

  She had made a little area for Barney to curl up by her feet and was just snuggling down under the covers when all her drifting thoughts came together in a flash of crystal clarity.

  “That’s it!” she exclaimed.

  Chapter 47

  She kicked the covers off, startling Barney with the suddenness of her movements. He barked once while she fumbled in the dark for her cell phone. When her hand closed around it, she picked it up and hurriedly dialed Bill’s number, dropping it twice in her haste.

  “Hi, Lil. What’s up?”

  “I’ve got something,” she said breathlessly. “Harry came over for dinner tonight. We had leftover tamales that Noley made. I got thinking about how Noley was saying the other night that she audited a Latin cuisine class when she was in school, and—”

  “Lilly, does this story have a point?” Bill cut in.

  “Stop being nasty and I’ll tell you,” she snapped.

  “All right. I’m sorry. Now what do you have?”

  “You mentioned that the detectives checked with the community college administration to see who was enrolled in Alice’s classes. But they probably didn’t ask if there was anyone auditing those classes. Usually a school will make a student pay for an audited class, but I’ve heard of professors allowing students to listen in to classes without registering, particularly in large lectures. If that happened in any of Alice’s classes, only the professors would be able to give detectives a complete picture of who was in each class.” Lilly let out a long breath.

  “So you’re saying that someone, unbeknownst to the college, might have been in one of Alice’s classes,” Bill said. There was just a hint of something in his voice. Was that excitement?

  “Exactly. And if the detectives didn’t talk to the actual professors and only questioned the administration, they might not know about extra students in the room.”

  “You might have something there,” Bill said. The cadence of his words had picked up. “Let me make a call. I’ll get back to you.” He hung up without another word.

  Lilly lay back against her pillow. Barney cocked one ear and tilted his head, probably wondering what was going on and why they couldn’t just go to sleep.

  “Soon, Barn,” she said. “I’m waiting to hear back from Bill.”

  She lay there, fretting, until Bill finally called back about fifteen minutes later.

  “You were right. No one asked Alice’s professors who might be auditing the class without the college’s knowledge. Someone’s going to head out there first thing tomorrow morning to start asking questions.”

  “Even though tomorrow is Sunday?”

  “Yes. They’ll visit the professors at home if they have to.”

  “Will you let me know what they find out?” Lilly asked.

  “It depends. I’ll try,” he said. “How’s Mom?”

  A pang of guilt began to tighten Lilly’s shoulders and neck. “I didn’t talk to her today. I’m the worst daughter, I swear. I’ll call her tomorrow and let you know. I guess you didn’t talk to her today either?”

  “No. If you’re the worst daughter, then I’m the worst son.”

  “Once all this is over, I can spend much more time with her,” Lilly said.

  “All right,” Bill said with a sigh. “I’ll call you later.”

  Lilly lay back once again. Barney seemed to sense that the excitement was over for the evening and turned in several circles on the bed before collapsing into a heap at Lilly’s feet.

  I wish I could sleep the sleep of a happy dog, Lilly thought. She didn’t know how long she lay there, hoping her suggestion to Bill would bear fruit. And as so often happens in the darkness, all her recent decisions flooded her mind to roost so she could spend the next several hours examining her conduct in each and every situation, wondering what she could have done differently.

  And in particular, she thought about Hassan. Though lying about her trip to Guy’s Place had seemed a good idea at the time, she now knew she had made a grave error in judgment. There was nothing she could do about it but apologize again, and she fervently hoped he would accept her apology. She had learned her lesson. But as comforting as it was to promise herself that she wouldn’t lie to him ever again, she wondered if she would ever get the chance to prove herself. Not knowing what he would say to her when he returned from Washington was beginning to eat away at her.

  She woke up grumpy the next morning, and was still grumpy when Harry called her cell phone.

  “Lilly, they found something.”

  Lilly was instantly on alert. Could the detectives have talked to the professors already?

  “What?” she asked eagerly.

  “They were able to pull a partial license plate from the video footage at Guy’s Place, but it wasn’t enough to narrow down the suspect list enough to shave significant time off their search. They’re running the numbers against anyone who might be related to the case. They wanted to know if I recognized the number.” Harry paused. “Who memorizes all the license plates they see? I told them I would have to visit everyone I know and write down their license numbers. I’ll do it, but it’ll take some time.”

  “I feel like we’re getting closer to finding Alice,” Lilly said. She told him about her idea about talking to Alice’s professors about students who might be auditing their classes without registering for them.

  “That’s great,” Harry said. “Maybe they’ll find something. I hope you’re right—maybe we are getting closer to finding Alice!”

  Lilly didn’t want to get his hopes up only to have them dashed if nothing came of her suggestion to the police, but she figured that feeling of hope might give him a little lift he so badly needed.

  “I’ll let you know if I hear anything,” Lilly said.

  Harry took a deep breath. “I hope they find something.”

  But Lilly didn’t hear from Bill that day. She knew he would call her the minute he knew something, so she didn’t pester him by phoning. Instead, she and Laurel went over to Bev’s house and told Nikki to take the day off. Then they spent several relaxing hours chatting, looking through old photo albums, and playing cards with Bev.

  It was just before lunch on Monday, three weeks after Alice had gone missing, when the little bell over the front door jingled and Lilly looked up from a receipt she was writing for a customer.

  Hassan stood there, his suitcase next to him on the floor.

  She inhaled sharply and dropped her pen. The customer turned around to see what had caused such a reaction from Lilly, and Hassan smiled slightly. Lilly’s heart skipped a beat at the sight of that familiar smile. She finished filling out the form with fingers that trembled just a bit, then the customer left.

  Lilly walked toward Hassan.

  “How was your trip?” she asked, suddenly at a loss for words.

  “Fine. How is your concussion?”

  “Fine. What’s going on?” It’s painful, talking like this, she thought.

  “I thought, if you’re not busy, we could grab something to eat at the bistro,” he said. He looks as nervous as I feel.

  “Let me check with Harry and see if it’s all right if I leave him alone for a little while.”

  Harry had gone into the office to look up something for another customer. She ducked her head into the office, where he sat frowning at the computer.

  “Do you need help with anything?” she asked.

  “Nah, I’m just trying to find something for the woman out there,” he said, gesturing with his head toward the front of the store. He stood up and walked toward her.

  “Do you mind if I go out to get something to eat?” she asked.

  “Not at all,” he said. “I’ll get something when you come back.” He preceded her into the front of the shop an
d went to talk to his customer.

  She followed him with some trepidation, realizing that she had been hoping he would say he needed her help for something. She wasn’t sure she was ready to talk to Hassan.

  “He’ll be okay by himself,” she told Hassan. “We can go.” She grabbed her coat from behind one of the counters.

  “Can I leave my suitcase here?” Hassan asked.

  “Sure.” She took the handle and pulled the suitcase behind another counter.

  He held the door open for her and they left. She noticed that Harry was watching them with a smile. She hoped it was warranted.

  They walked in silence to the bistro, where Hassan again held the door for her while she ducked under his arm to get inside. It was warm and the aroma of French food was enticing. Lilly knew just what she wanted—the flamiche with leeks and cream.

  She had ordered a small flamiche and Hassan had ordered a jambon-beurre when Lilly’s phone rang.

  “Sorry,” she mumbled. “I meant to silence that.” She looked at the caller ID. It was Harry—she hoped everything was okay at the shop.

  “Hi, Harry.”

  “Lilly, can you come back? Right now,” he said in a strange voice.

  “What’s the matter?” The tone of his voice had raised the hackles on her neck.

  “Please hurry.”

  Chapter 48

  “I’ll be right there.” Lilly hung up and turned to face Hassan, who had been listening to her side of the call.

  “I’m sorry to have to run, but Harry needs me at the store. Something’s wrong.”

  “Do you want me to go with you?” Hassan asked. He reached for his wallet to pay for his sandwich.

  “It’s up to you. But I have to go now.” Lilly grabbed a ten-dollar bill from her wallet and handed it to Hassan. “Will you pay for my lunch with this? If it’s not enough, I’ll pay you back. I’m not hungry anymore.”

  She turned and hurried out of the bistro and up Main Street to the jewelry store. She burst into the store and found Harry pacing.

  “What happened?” she asked breathlessly.

  “Bill called,” Harry answered tersely. “The detectives talked to all of Alice’s professors. They found out that there were two people auditing Alice’s classes.”

  A cold twisting feeling began in the pit of Lilly’s stomach. She didn’t know what was coming, but it couldn’t be good.

  “And?” she prompted.

  “And one of them was Mary Louise.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me,” Lilly said. “I’ve had my suspicions about her from the beginning and—”

  Harry cut her off.

  “Stu was the other one.”

  Lilly stood there, dumbstruck.

  “Stu, as in your friend Stu?” she finally asked. Harry nodded grimly. “I can’t believe it,” she said. “How did we not know this before now?”

  “No one ever mentioned it,” Harry said.

  “So what are the police doing now?”

  “They didn’t say, but I assume they’re going to question Stu.”

  “I need to call Bill,” Lilly said. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and was dialing her brother’s number when Hassan came into the store carrying a paper bag. He held it up and pointed to it, looking at Lilly. She gestured for him to wait.

  “Bill? Harry says his friend Stu is auditing one of Alice’s classes.” Lilly didn’t stop for niceties, but got right to the point of her call.

  “That’s right,” he answered, a determined edge to his voice.

  “So what happens now?” she asked.

  “They’re on their way to Stu’s workplace right now to talk to him,” Bill said.

  “What if he’s not there?”

  “Don’t worry about that. They’re detectives. If he’s not there, they’ll figure out where he is.”

  Lilly let out a shaky breath. “Stu is Harry’s friend,” she said quietly.

  “He may not be the friend Harry thought he was,” Bill said. “I’ll call you as soon as I know anything. They’re keeping me posted because they know Harry works for you.”

  “Thanks.”

  They hung up and Lilly turned to Harry. “Bill will let us know as soon as he can. They’re on their way to Stu’s work right now.”

  Next she turned to Hassan, who was still standing in the middle of the shop in his overcoat, holding the paper bag.

  “I brought lunch from the bistro,” he said simply.

  “Thank you. I don’t know if I can eat, though,” Lilly said. “I’m so nervous about what the detectives are going to find. Harry, do you want my flamiche?”

  “There’s no way I can eat right now,” he said, wringing his hands. “I’d throw up.”

  Lilly looked inside the bag. “I’ll try to eat some of it,” she said, then looked at Hassan. “Do you mind if we eat out here? I want to be here for Harry.”

  “That’s fine,” Hassan said. They placed the food on a countertop and ate while standing up. Lilly couldn’t have eaten sitting down anyway, such was her rising anxiety. Harry continued to pace back and forth across the front of the shop until a customer came in to drop off a necklace for a clasp repair. Harry glanced at Lilly.

  “I’ll take care of this,” he said. He squared his shoulders and led the woman to another counter where he examined the clasp closely. Then he wrote up a receipt for her and put the necklace in the office after the woman left.

  “I wish more people would come in,” he said. “It helps me to relax a little when I’m working.”

  “If it would help, why don’t you clean something?” Lilly suggested.

  “I’ll polish the countertops,” he said, “even though they’re already clean. Can’t hurt, right?” He gave a nervous laugh.

  He went back into the office and returned with a cloth and glass cleaner. He had bent down to clean the front of the case closest to the door when the bell jingled and the door opened. All eyes turned toward the person in the doorway.

  It was Stu.

  Harry looked at Lilly, who looked at Hassan and back to Harry.

  “What’s up, Stu?” Harry asked. His attempt to sound light was mangled by his tight, tense voice.

  “Nothing. What’s up with you?” Stu asked. He was taking one slow step at a time further into the shop.

  “Just working. I haven’t seen you in a few days. How have you been?” Harry asked. Lilly and Hassan stood still, watching the two young men talk.

  “Can I talk to you in private? Stu asked, ignoring Harry’s questions.

  Lilly found her voice.

  “Actually, I need Harry right now. You’re welcome to talk to him in here.” Harry threw her a grateful glance.

  “I guess you didn’t hear me. I asked to talk to him in private.” Stu’s words hung in the air, clearly challenging. Something clicked in Lilly’s brain. How dare this little thug talk to her like that?

  “I heard you just fine. He’s working now and I told you that you can talk to him in here.” Lilly’s hands were balled into fists at her sides. Hassan placed his hand on her arm.

  “Easy,” he said quietly.

  Stu stared at Lilly for several seconds; she stared right back at him. She hoped he wouldn’t realize how badly her legs were quaking.

  Harry spoke up. “Whatever you need to say, Stu, you can say it in front of Lilly and Hassan. They’re friends of mine.”

  Stu swallowed. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down in a slow, jerky motion. He turned around and walked to the front door, locked it, and turned back to his captives. Lilly moved forward with a start, but Stu held up his hand.

  “I gave you a chance to leave. You blew it. Now you’re going to stay in here.” He nodded toward the office door. “All of you, get in there.”

  Lilly, Hassan, and Harry all looked at each other. Lilly was pretty sure she knew what they were thinking because she was thinking the same thing. Did they dare try to overpower Stu? Three against one were pretty good odds.

  But b
efore any of them could make a move, Stu reached into his pocket and drew out a switchblade. He pushed a button on its hilt and a lethal-looking blade sprang out.

  “I told you to go in there,” he growled, gesturing with the knife toward the office door. Single file, Lilly, on legs that felt like jelly, led the way into the office, followed by Hassan, Harry, and Stu. Once in the office, Stu locked the door behind him and leaned against it. Lilly, Hassan, and Harry stood in the middle of the cramped space, wondering what would happen next.

  Stu shook his head in mock sadness. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. I wish I didn’t have to do this. I was only trying to talk to Harry alone.” He pushed himself away from the door and glared at Lilly.

  “Whatever you have in mind, you should know that my brother is a cop and he’s on his way over here,” Lilly lied.

  “Then he’ll have something to do when he gets here.” Stu sneered. He gazed at the knife blade, running his thumb along its sharp edge.

  “I’m sure we can talk this through,” said Hassan. “Stu, is it? You don’t want to do something you’ll end up regretting.”

  “I won’t regret it, believe me,” he said, now switching his gaze to Harry.

  “Stu, if this is about Alice, just tell me what’s going on. I want to help you,” Harry said. His voice held a pleading edge.

  “I don’t need or want your help, you sonofa—” He stopped and took a deep breath, as if he were trying to calm his own nerves. Or preparing himself....

  In an instant, he had knocked Harry down and was on top of him, trying to thrust the knife blade into Harry’s chest. Hassan sprang into motion, leaping onto Stu’s back and trying to pull him off Harry. Harry was twisting this way and that, trying to avoid the knife. Blood smeared on the floor where Harry was writhing, and he let out a roar.

  “You think this is bad?” Stu shouted, panting. “Just wait until I go home and try it on Alice!”