"And I have a long list of clients to train. I'll need help catching up. I'll have to find Daisy."
They were on the sidewalk in front of Curves discussing whose car to take when Bonnie pulled up and parked. "Oh, no," April gasped, her solid frame blocking Gretchen's view. At first, Gretchen thought April was overacting because of the killer clown. Maybe Bonnie's stiff red wig and painted face reminded April of her all-too-real fears. Matt's mother tended to look a bit clownish.
Gretchen watched the passenger door open and Matt's rodeo date step out. Gretchen heard Nina inhale sharply behind her. She felt her blood pressure rising.
Bonnie, who claimed she wanted Gretchen and Matt to get together, was parading his new woman right in front of Gretchen. And at Curves. The group's special place. What nerve! What a slap in the face!
"Hey," Bonnie called. "Are you girls done working out already? What's the story? You should have called me. We could have come earlier."
"We're in a hurry," Nina said with narrowed eyes and a reddening face. She was working up some steam on Gretchen's behalf. She sashayed forward with her hands on her hips, snorting fire. "And who might this be?"
"Let's go, Nina," Gretchen said, placing a hand on her aunt's shoulder. "It isn't important. We'll be late."
"Not quite yet."
April popped into the conversation. "I think we should go."
"Not quite yet."
"What's wrong with everybody?" Bonnie said, her penciled eyebrows in one big question mark. "Usually a workout puts everyone in a better mood. You sure are crabby."
No one answered. Nina snorted again while Bonnie searched their faces for clues. Gretchen risked a glance at the woman. She was blonde and beautiful. Not a blemish on her porcelain skin. Gretchen had dolls with worse complexions. The woman passed Gretchen and peered into the workout room.
"You go on ahead," Bonnie said to her. "I need to talk to my friends for a minute."
"Former friends," Nina said.
"What is going on?'
The model/Hollywood star opened the door and disappeared inside.
"Who is that?" Nina demanded, pointing a ramrod-stiff arm at the empty space where the woman had just been standing. "And why in the world would you bring her to Curves, of all places? You knew Gretchen would be here. Didn't you? Admit it."
"What are you talking about? Meggie-"
"That was so underhanded," April chimed in.
"Let's go," Gretchen pleaded. "This isn't worth destroying our relationships over."
"If someone doesn't tell me what's going on, I'm going to scream," Bonnie shouted.
"I'm leaving," Gretchen said.
Bonnie let out a scream so high and piercing, windows within two miles were sure to blow out. Nina and April had their hands over their ears.
The Curves door opened. Starlet peeked out, looking worried. "What's up?" she called loudly trying to be heard over Bonnie. She glanced at Gretchen apologetically. "She hasn't been herself lately. That's why I'm visiting for a while. Auntie Bonnie!"
Bonnie quit screaming.
Nina's mouth fell open.
"Coming, Meggie," Bonnie said meekly. "Sorry, ladies."
"This was all a misunderstanding," Nina said. She hugged the confused president of the Phoenix Dollers Club.
Gretchen couldn't help it. A big grin spread across her face.
"We're losing her," April said. "I knew I should have driven."
Gretchen was trying to keep up with Nina on the drive over to the Scottsdale police station. Her aunt drove like a NASCAR racer, darting and weaving through traffic without so much as a backward glance to see if her niece was still behind her.
The three dogs were in Nina's Impala, and Gretchen caught a glimpse of them in the backseat now and then. After running through several questionable yellow lights to stay behind Nina, Gretchen gave up. She used her cell phone to call the station and ask for an address. Nina disappeared from sight after another acceleration and another yellow light. Gretchen didn't care. She was elated.
Model Girl, aka Meggie, was Bonnie's niece. That made her Matt's cousin. Gretchen couldn't see the family resemblance, but then she didn't see any between Bonnie and Matt, either. She should have guessed, or at least considered the possibility that the blonde woman was a family member. Had Gretchen wanted to think the very worst of Matt?
Was that how she planned to dodge commitment for the rest of her life? By being overly suspicious? She should have communicated her concerns to Matt instead of leaping to conclusions. It was apparent she still hadn't recovered from the residual effects of her last relationship. The scars ran deeper than she thought.
"Next time I'm driving," April announced. "I could keep up with her." Gretchen didn't say anything about the condition of April's Buick. It had more crumpled metal than a demolition car. No way was she ever riding in a car with April at the wheel. "I'm off my diet," April said.
"Let's stop for food."
"That was a hard diet to follow. Why don't you try the Curves diet? Everyone says it works. Or try Weight Watchers."
"I lost what I wanted," Gretchen's friend said from the folds of a yellow muumuu. "Can't you tell?"
"I thought you looked especially slim and trim," Gretchen punted.
"The clown theory really bothers me. How can we trust Ryan?" April said, abruptly changing the subject. "You can't believe anything that kid says. He's a druggie. They lie."
"What are the odds he would have described the same clown I ran into?"
April waved a dismissing hand. "They all look alike."
"No, they don't."
"By the way," April said, "You never told me how you got into the intensive care unit."
"I stealthily moved through the hospital like a Ninja shadow until I found the nurses' lounge. There, still stealthing, I discovered a uniform and cloaked myself in disguise," Gretchen said. "After that it was easy. I only had to take out one security guard before I completed my mission."
April laughed. "You walked right in, didn't you?"
"I'll never tell. Next time you'll have to come along if you want the details."
"You sure do have a silly smile on your face. Matt Albright's got to you good."
Gretchen grinned. Matt's cousin! What a great day!
Nina and April were talking at the same time. From a conference room chair, Gretchen listened to her friends' accounts of events relating to Charlie's murder while Detective Brandon Kline took notes and asked them to clarify details. It was a convoluted trail. Gretchen pitched in when she could get a word in, trying to keep the story on a linear path.
It began with the discovery of the unknown kitchen room box and the miniature peanut butter jar. "We found out what all the room boxes were modeled after," Nina said, using 'we' very loosely. Gretchen didn't remember much participation from her aunt. She was too busy reading fortunes.
"They were replicas of famous murder scenes. Except for one. At first we didn't think it belonged with the others. Then we decided it must belong to the person who killed Sara."
"An unveiling," April added, "in which the killer would be revealed."
"Dramatic," Brandon said, scribbling away.
"That's what I thought," Nina, the drama queen, agreed.
"The display case was inscribed with Sara's name," April said. "Murder scenes. Can you believe it! Very spooky."
"Then Ryan Maize viciously attacked Gretchen."
"And Bernard Waites was blown up with bug juice, and we found out he was a thief."
The stories went on.
"Since Evie covered up for Bernard's embezzlement,"