It was more like half an hour before the man and woman who had bought the dresser showed up to get it, and then it took time to get it loaded securely in their borrowed half-ton truck. Elvis, Rose and I were an hour late leaving the shop.
“Did Mr. P. find out anything more about the FTC investigation?” I asked.
“Not yet,” she said. “But he’s going to do a little more digging around tonight.”
Mr. P. had the computer skills of a first-class hacker. I knew what “digging around” could really mean.
“Rose, do you think that life insurance policy is important?” I asked.
“I’m not sure,” she said. “It could be that Mac is right and Leila bought it to protect her sister. It certainly seems as though she cared a great deal about Natalie.”
“But,” I said. “I know there’s a ‘but.’ I saw the look you gave Alfred when Mac said that he and Leila talked about everything.”
Rose sighed softly. “It’s just that we want to believe the best of family but it doesn’t always mean that’s what we get.”
When we got home Elvis followed Rose down the hallway. “Do you two have plans?” I asked, standing in front of my own front door.
“We’re making egg rolls,” Rose said as if it was perfectly logical that my cat would be helping her.
“Umm, okay, then. Have fun.”
“You, too, dear,” Rose said as she stuck her key in the lock of her front door. “And try not to dump any food on Nicolas because salsa is so hard to get out of a light-colored shirt.” She smiled sweetly at me and she and Elvis disappeared inside the apartment.
Since I was running late I had a quick shower and pulled on shorts and a blue-and-white-striped tee with loose sleeves that I’d bought in the spring when I’d injured my hand and had to wear a brace, and then hadn’t worn it since. I left my hair down and was looking for my favorite sandals when there was a knock at the door. Rose, I guessed, probably bringing something I could have for breakfast, but when I opened the door Nick was standing there.
“I need to talk to you,” he said.
“I’m meeting Jess in a few minutes,” I said. “How long is this fight going to take?” Jess and I—and quite often Nick—had a weekly date at The Black Bear for Thursday Night Jam.
He braced one hand on the doorframe. “No fighting, I swear. I already had an argument with my mother over the Angels working on Mac’s case and I don’t want to fight with everyone in my life.”
“I thought you said you were going to stop squabbling with your mother and Rose about their cases.”
“I was,” he said. “I am. I—” He let out a breath then he stepped inside the apartment, closed the door and leaned back against it.
“You’re assuming the worst about Mac,” I said. “You know him. You know he’s a good guy.”
“Sarah, he’s lying. No matter what Mac says, he did meet Erin Fellowes right before she was killed. Michelle has a witness.”
“The witness is mistaken,” I said flatly.
“No. The witness isn’t wrong.”
“You’re going to take the word of a stranger over Mac?” My voice was getting louder. I stared up at the ceiling for a moment and took a couple of deep breaths. I didn’t want Rose coming down the hall to separate us again.
“The witness knows Mac.”
My frustration got the better of me. “I don’t care who it was,” I said. I repeated the words, enunciating each one carefully. “I. Don’t. Care. Whoever it is, they’re wrong.”
“No, I’m not,” Nick said.
I’m not.
I stood there, body rigid, just staring at him. His cell rang then. “Let it ring,” I said. I couldn’t pull my eyes away from his face.
“I can’t,” he said, pushing away from the door. “I’m on call.” He answered the phone, spoke briefly and then ended the call. “I have to go.”
“And we have to talk.” I felt desperate to hear more, to understand why Nick was so sure he’d seen Mac.
“I know.” He made a helpless gesture. “There’s a body. I have to go.”
“Go, then,” I said.
“You can’t tell anyone, anyone, what I told you.”
“I won’t.” I knew if I said anything it would cause problems with Michelle for both of us. Nick gave me a long, searching look and then he left.
I stood there in the middle of my living room, unsure of what to do now. I knew Nick wouldn’t lie and given his keen observation skills I didn’t see how he could be mistaken.
But.
But I knew in my gut that Mac wasn’t lying. I rubbed the middle of my forehead with the heel of my hand and thought that I was starting to think like Rose.
I realized that I needed to leave if I wanted to make it to the jam on time. It seemed like a better alternative to sitting at home eating a carton of mocha fudge and trying to figure out why Nick was so sure he’d seen Mac. I gave up on my pretty sandals, stepped into my red Keds and left.
Jess had gotten us a table close to the front. I slid onto the empty chair. She took one look at me, raised a finger and somehow even with the crowd, a waiter appeared at our table. “What would you like?” she asked.
I hesitated, my mind a blank.
“Fish tacos and vinegar coleslaw for both of us,” she said, giving the waiter a smile that had him tripping over his own feet as he headed for the kitchen. Jess had that effect on men. She was curvy in all the right places, with thick, dark hair and a smile that could make a guy forget his own name.
“What’s up?” she said to me, reaching for the glass of wine in front of her.
I gave her a brief rundown on what was going on, how Mac had a wife in a coma and how her friend had come to town to see him and now she was dead.
“And let me guess,” Jess said. “Rose and her cronies are on the case and Nick’s got his man panties in a wad.”
I couldn’t help it, that last part made me laugh. “In a nutshell, yes.”
“Nick being the nut.”
I slumped against the back of my chair. “I feel like my loyalty is being pulled in two opposite directions.” I made a face. “I wish I were an amoeba.”
Jess frowned. “How exactly would being a microscopic, single-celled organism help? Aside from the fact that if no one was able to see you they wouldn’t be able to pull you in any direction.”
“I could undergo binary fission and then there would be two of me so I wouldn’t have to pick a side.”
Jess shook her head. “Yeah, but you couldn’t eat fish tacos if you were an amoeba and the ones I see coming look pretty darn good.”
Our waiter was back with our food and Jess was right, the fish tacos looked delicious and smelled even better.
“Wanna know what I think?” she asked around a mouthful of crispy battered fish, corn taco and salsa.
“Yes,” I said, reaching for my fork so I could try the coleslaw. “Because otherwise I’ve just been whining to hear the sound of my own voice.”
“Don’t take a side and yes, I do know how hard that is. Just for now, follow the facts and see where they go.”
I laughed. “I thought you were going to say something like ‘follow your heart.’”
She shrugged and gave me a smile. “That’s not a bad idea, either.”
Chapter 7
The next morning, just after Elvis and I arrived at the shop, Liz showed up with Avery. The teen hugged Charlotte and me tightly. She’d had more layers cut into her dark hair and the shaggy style suited her.
“I missed you so, so much!” she said. She bent down, picked up Elvis and kissed the top of his head. “And I missed you.”
He nuzzled her chin, cat for “I missed you, too.”
“We all missed you,” Mac said. “It was way too quiet around here.”