Girls' Night Out Murder (Ryli Sinclair 2) Page 16

  Aunt Shirley dropped into a chair at the kitchen table. The little girl leapt into Aunt Shirley’s lap and began playing with Aunt Shirley’s hair.

  “Pretty colors,” she said, repeatedly running her fingers through Aunt Shirley’s hair. She giggled as the bright colors now stood up in spikes around my aunt’s head.

  “I want some, Mommy,” the little girl demanded.

  Debbie rolled her eyes. “I need you to go into the living room with your sister and brother. Mommy needs to talk with the grown ups right now.”

  This didn’t phase the girl in the least. She crossed her arms and stared her mother down. “I want pretty hair.”

  Debbie sighed. “Your daddy would kill me if I did that to your hair.” Debbie quickly added, “No offense, Aunt Shirley.”

  Aunt Shirley smiled. “None taken. And you, Missy,” Aunt Shirley said, jiggling her knees and smiling as the little girl threw her arms in the air and squealed in delight, “have to be older to have awesome hair like this.”

  Tia stopped smiling and crossed her arms again. “Then I want to be older now.”

  Just when I was thinking the kid was a huge pain, Aunt Shirley declared, “I really like this kid. Reminds me a lot of myself.”

  Oh, boy!

  Panic flashed in Debbie’s eyes. Guess she didn’t much like the sound of that declaration, either. “Tia, Mommy needs you to go into the living room now.” I guess Tia knew that tone because she quickly hopped down from Aunt Shirley’s lap.

  “Goldfish, goldfish, goldfish,” she chanted as she threw her hands in the air and leapt out of the kitchen and into the living room.

  Debbie sighed. “That one will be the death of me.” She turned toward the coffee pot. “Can I get anyone some coffee, water?”

  “How about some coffee,” Aunt Shirley said, setting Debbie at ease.

  Debbie busied herself with the coffee. She set the pot on a flat, silicone potholder in front of us on the table. Next she set out cream and sugar. With nothing else to do, she sat down. The poor woman looked dead on her feet.

  “I just keep running this through my mind,” she said as she stirred some cream and sugar into her coffee. “I don’t know who would do this to both Julie and Jim. It makes no sense. At first I thought maybe it was a robbery or something at Jim’s place, but now I don’t know what to think.”

  No one said anything while we fixed our coffee.

  “What can you tell me about Whitney and Jolene?” Aunt Shirley asked.

  Just jump right in there, Aunt Shirley.

  Debbie tilted her head. “Like are they friends? Do they hang out? No, I don’t believe so.”

  Aunt Shirley tried again. “Do they like each other?”

  Debbie grunted. “Not hardly. But then again, Jolene doesn’t seem to like any of us. It’s like she blames us for taking Susie in, watching over her, when everything went to hell.”

  “Do you think Jolene could’ve killed Jim and Julie?” I asked.

  You could have heard a pin drop in the kitchen. We all waited with baited breath as Debbie mulled it over. “How?” she asked. “I mean, she’s usually so strung out on whatever drug she’s doing that she can hardly function. She’d have to get the upper hand on both Jim and Julie. I just don’t see that happening.”

  I did. Drugs could make a person have superhuman strength. I’ve watched those videos on Facebook and YouTube. I’ve seen some crazy shit people do when drugged up.

  “What’s Whitney’s deal? I get why she doesn’t like Jolene. But why did she hate Julie?” Aunt Shirley asked.

  Debbie said nothing, stirring her coffee. “When the fire first happened and Susie didn’t have anywhere to go, all of us girls wanted to take her in. But the truth was, most of us couldn’t. Even our parents wanted to, but it just wasn’t feasible. Except Julie. Her parents could afford it. So that’s where Susie went. It wasn’t a big deal, we were just glad we got to stay together. But Whitney was so jealous. You know how she always wanted to be something she wasn’t. And the fact Julie was able to take her in just ate at Whitney. She really started making Julie’s life miserable.” Debbie took a drink. “I mean, Susie always made Whitney stop, but when Susie wasn’t around, Whitney was horrible to Julie.”

  “So it wouldn’t be a leap for Whitney to finally snap if the man she wanted went for Julie?” I asked as innocuously as I could.

  Debbie’s coffee cup landed with a heavy thud on the table. “Oh, my God…do you think that’s what’s happened? Whitney killed Jim and Julie?” Tears fell from her eyes.

  “Now, we aren’t saying that,” Aunt Shirley said. The sternness in her voice had Debbie nodding. “We’re just asking questions is all.”

  Aunt Shirley may not be saying it, but as far as I was concerned, Whitney just moved to suspect number one in my book…incorrect needle size or not.

  * * *

  The rest of the ride home was silent. We were all lost in our own thoughts. I was trying to put all the pieces together, but I needed to see it on paper. I glanced in the rearview mirror and met Paige’s eye.

  “I’m thinking we don’t mention any of this to Matt, okay?” Paige said.

  I grinned at her. “Duh! He finds out what we do on the side, he’ll have a coronary. That means he’ll die, and I’ll never have nieces and nephews to spoil.”

  I was happy to hear Paige chuckle. I was worried what all this was doing to her nerves. She was getting married in twenty-four hours, and instead of primping and relaxing, she was being a lookout for a B&E and running from a drugged-out rapist.

  Not our best day…but not our worst day, either.

  Pulling into the driveway to the lake house, I couldn’t help but look over at Jim’s house. On those rare times when we shared a beer together, I’d really gotten to know and like him. Now I’d never have those times again.

  “Hurry, hurry,” Paige chanted behind me. “I see the guys are here. I really need to see Matt right now.”

  Coming to a stop in front of the house, Paige flung open the car door and jumped out. Matt must have been watching for us, because he’d already bounded down the stairs before Paige even closed the car door.

  I tried to tune out their mushy hello. Mainly because I was jealous. I really missed Garrett. I’d started to become more and more dependent upon him over the months. I was so impulsive that I needed his grounding. Watching Matt and Paige together just left me lonely.

  Aunt Shirley patted me on the arm. “C’mon, let’s go inside and get a drink. I can’t take much more of these two lovebirds necking.”

  Following my nose I walked into the kitchen…only to see my mom canoodling with Doc Powell. Doc was our local veterinarian. When all the stuff went down with the murders a few months back, I honestly thought Doc might be involved. But it seems the “big secret” he was keeping wasn’t he was a murderer…it was he was seeing my mom. The fact he saved Miss Molly’s life when Sharon poisoned her just made him perfect in my eyes.

  “Doc,” I cried, giving him a long hug. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  Doc hugged me back. “I wouldn’t miss it. I was able to get away from the clinic and decided to ride down with Matt and Nick. Did you girls have fun this week, all things considered?”

  Not counting the two murders, dealings with sexist pigs, breaking and entering, and handling a druggie octopus man…sure!

  “Yep.”

  I snagged a stuffed mushroom. “Hey, not too many,” Mom scolded. “Those are for after the rehearsal tonight.”

  I’d almost forgotten about the wedding rehearsal! The preacher at the church we occasionally attend while staying at the lake house agreed to marry Paige and Matt. Nick and I were the only ones standing up with Matt and Paige, so I didn’t figure the rehearsal would take too long.

  “Just making sure they’re good enough to serve,” I laughed.

  Mom narrowed her eyes. “Did everything go okay in town?” she asked.

  I quickly popped one more mushroom in my mouth, keeping m
e from saying something I shouldn’t. She’s good at catching me in lies. Realizing I couldn’t stall forever, I slowly swallowed the mushroom. “Everything went fine. Chief Taggart mainly asked for our alibis. Also why we thought someone would want to murder both Jim and Julie.”

  I could tell by her skepticism she didn’t exactly believe me. “Did he say who he thought committed the murders?” Mom asked, staring me down.

  I was glad I wasn’t sitting down or I’d be squirming in my chair. “Well,” I hedged, “he said he had someone in mind…and that an arrest would be coming soon.” I grabbed one more mushroom and shove it in my mouth, grinning at her.

  “I’m sorry to hear about your friends,” Doc said.

  I swallowed the mushroom past the sudden lump in my throat. “Thanks. It’s been a rough week, that’s for sure.”

  “Go get freshened up. The preacher should be here in a couple hours. Afterward we’ll have some finger foods.”

  Jogging down the stairs to my bedroom, I pulled out my phone and called Garrett. I was curious how the burglary ring was going. It went straight to voicemail. I left a message telling him to call me whenever he got the chance. I wanted to tell him about my interview at the police station.

  Grabbing clean clothes to change into for the rehearsal, I headed for the shower. I wanted to wash the stench of the trailer and the would-be rapist from my body.

  Chapter 23

  Thirty minutes later I was feeling like a new woman. Changing into a long-sleeve gray and black maxi dress, I left my hair to dry naturally. A quick swipe of mascara and lipstick and I was ready for the rehearsal.

  “How’d it go?” Megan said, startling me as I walked out the bathroom door.

  “Fine. I think the Chief still thinks I’m involved. I don’t want Mom to worry though,” I said.

  “I could tell she was a little worried this morning, but she totally tried not to let on.” Megan shifted her clothes in her hands. “Well, I’m going to jump in the shower if you’re done. We finished everything upstairs for tonight and tomorrow. We scattered to go get ready.”

  I knew how hard they’d all been working to make this so perfect for Paige. On impulse I reached out and hugged her. “Thanks for everything you’ve done for Paige,” I said.

  Megan smiled. “She’s my cousin and I love her. I’d do anything for her. I just wish things could’ve gone a little better for her this week.”

  “Me, too.”

  “Okay, out of my way…I wanna look extra good tonight. That Nick is a cutie.” She winked at me and walked into the bathroom.

  I laughed and couldn’t have agreed more.

  I opened my bedroom door and nearly gagged. “Get a room, you two!” Paige and Matt were snuggled up on her twin bed acting like they hadn’t seen each other in years instead of a few days.

  “Go away, brat,” Matt said between kisses.

  “Mom catches you down here and she’ll skin you alive,” I taunted. They both threw pillows at me…never once coming up for air.

  Deciding to bow out gracefully, I headed upstairs to bounce around a few theories with Aunt Shirley. I knocked on her door. I knew better than to just walk in…sometimes every day is naked day for Aunt Shirley. Take my word on it. An image I’ll never get out of my head.

  “Who’s there?”

  “It’s me,” I whispered through the door. I didn’t want Mom or Bea to overhear. “Do you have time to go over some theories?”

  The door swung open. I was glad to see she was dressed in a bathrobe. She’d obviously washed the vile from her body, too. “Only if you go get me a drink. We drank all the tequila the other night, and your mom’s being a pain in the ass and won’t let me have anything before the rehearsal!”

  Smart thinking on Mom’s part. It’s hard enough to predict Aunt Shirley when she’s sober…nobody wanted to see a drunk Aunt Shirley at the wedding rehearsal.

  “I’ll go see what I can do. Grab paper and pen for when I get back.”

  I walked into the near-empty kitchen. It was the first time I’d seen it that way since we arrived. On the island sat veggies, dips, and other yummy-looking appetizers. Mindy sat at the table sipping hot tea.

  “Everything looks wonderful,” I said, sitting down across from her at the table.

  She lowered her cup and smiled. “Thanks. We just finished up. It’s been fun doing girl time with your mom and Bea. I can’t remember when I’ve enjoyed myself so much. I’m almost sad to see it end.”

  “Me, too. Although I have to admit, I kinda miss the guys.”

  “Speaking of which,” Mindy said smiling, “Hank said you better have something about the murders for him when he gets here tomorrow.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Maybe I spoke too soon.”

  I got up from the table and snagged a bottle of red wine and two glasses. I knew Aunt Shirley would be pissed I got her wine instead of tequila, but she was gonna have to live with it.

  I opened her bedroom door and gently shut it behind me. I didn’t want to alert too many people in the house as to what we were doing. Aunt Shirley was sitting on her bed still in her bathrobe.

  “You wanna get dressed?” I asked, hoping she’d take the hint.

  “Nope. Hand over the drink.” She thrust her hand in my direction and I pulled the wine up for her to see.

  Aunt Shirley recoiled…hitting her head on the wall. “What the hell is that? I don’t want no red wine.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Emphasizing every word? Really?”

  “Well, obviously you didn’t understand me when I said I wanted a drink. Tequila is a drink. Red wine is something you have when all the tequila is gone, and I know there’s some out there.”

  I shoved the glass in her hand. “Deal with it.”

  She took a tiny sip and shuddered.

  God, give me strength!

  “Okay, let’s brainstorm what we have so far,” she said.

  “We have a syringe, which is used by both Whitney and Jolene, found at the crime scene,” I said.

  “Okay. But which one has the most to gain from the murders?” Aunt Shirley asked.

  “Neither one,” I said. “Jim was making Whitney a lot of money with his houses. She outsold Julie by a landslide. Killing Jim hurts her financially.”

  “Yes, but sometimes the heart does funny things. If she couldn’t have him—and we all heard her say she didn’t think Julie should have him—then she could have made sure no one had him.”

  “What about Jolene?” I asked. “I mean as far as I can see, she gains nothing.”

  “Oh, but she has the best motive—revenge. Julie, herself, admitted Jolene hated and blamed her for some reason. And then when Julie’s family took in Susie, I’d say Jolene totally lost it. She spent years in a psychiatric hospital just trying to deal with everything,” Aunt Shirley said. “Jealousy and hatred…both are motives to kill.”

  “But why would Jolene kill Jim?”

  “To make sure Julie hurt before she died?” Aunt Shirley mused. “Something along those line.”

  I took another gulp of my wine thinking about what she said. I knew from my previous dealings with psycho killers that pretty much anything could set them off to kill.

  Aunt Shirley and I hashed out our theories a little longer, but we really didn’t seem to be any closer to capturing the killer. We did, however, finish off the bottle of wine.

  “Don’t tell Mom I let you drink…she didn’t want you drinking before the rehearsal,” I informed her.

  “Don’t worry,” Aunt Shirley said, finishing off the last of her wine. “She’ll never know.”

  I wasn’t near as confident as she was.

  I was heading downstairs to fix my hair when my phone rang. I looked at the caller and my heart lurched.

  “Hey, Garrett.”

  “Hey, Sin. Got your call. Good news on our end, we caught the guys doing the robberies late last night at a house in Granville. We finally got the last one to confess this afternoon.”

/>   Relief flooded me. Even though I know it’s his job, I still get nervous when Garrett’s on the job. And seeing as how he’s the Chief, he’s always on the job. “That’s great! I was beginning to get worried they’d never be caught. Congratulations.”

  “Thanks, babe. What about you? How’d it go down at the station today?”

  I felt my eyes fill up with tears. I didn’t want to be such a sissy, but I was really getting scared I’d be arrested soon. “Not good. Taggart really has it in for me. He all but said he’d be arresting me soon!”

  I heard my breath catch on a sob and I wanted to kick myself. I didn’t want Garrett to worry. “Do you want me to drive down tonight? Now that we’ve caught the bad guys, I can let Officer Ryan finish up.”

  “No, no, don’t be silly. You need to sleep,” I said. “And the thing is, Taggart has no proof. It’s not like he can get anything to stick to me…because I haven’t done anything!”

  I bit my lip, wondering if I should tell Garrett what we’d done today at Julie’s house and Jolene’s trailer. Garrett usually hated it when I poked my nose into police business…even though it’s what brought us together a couple months ago.

  “What did you do,” Garrett sighed.

  “What do you mean? How do you know I did anything?”

  Garrett laughed. “You hesitated. What’s up?”

  I told him about going to Julie’s house, which resulted in a lot of curse words. Then I told him about finding a syringe inside Julie’s house…which resulted in even more curse words and shouts of “contaminating the crime scene,” and “tampering with evidence.” By the time I got to being at Jolene’s trailer, I could hear him practically hyperventilating.

  “You’re going to get your butt thrown in jail for more than just multiple murders if you don’t stop breaking the law!”

  I sighed. I don’t know why I ever thought he’d take me seriously. I proved I could do it a couple months ago with Sharon. It’s like he’s totally forgotten what I did.

  “What Aunt Shirley and I discovered,” I continued like I hadn’t heard his hissy fit, “is that both Whitney and Jolene use syringes.”