Circle of Shadows (9 page)

“Neither is Arthur, I’d say.”

“No, he’s in his late forties
somewhere. Divorced, with a nine-year-old son who lives with his ex.”

“Too bad.”

“Oh, I think he’s enjoying his
freedom. He’s always talking about taking someone somewhere in his Jag. And he
always fought with his wife. That hasn’t changed. Now they fight over support
payments.”

The waltz ended and they moved
off to the side of the room. A minute later, a loud, fast beat sent the teen
crowd out into the middle of the room, cheering.

“Let’s get some air.” Ken slid
open the glass door behind them and led her out into the moonlight. A few
others were strolling on the deck and the paths down to the lake. It was a
star-studded, warm spring evening, and the scent of crabapple blossoms filled
the air.

He took her hand, and they
followed the path around the side of the house. When they were out of sight of
the others, he turned her into his arms. The urgency that had been building
between them as they danced exploded into heated action. As though they had
both been waiting for this moment, their lips met and bodies melded tightly
together.

His lips explored hers. She
wanted the kiss to go on and on, never to end. His hand slid up her side to
cup
the curve of her breast, while her fingers curled into
the crisp hairs along the back of his neck. His tongue slipped between her lips
to tease hers, as lines of fiery desire sang along her veins, making her cuddle
even closer to him.

Sliding his fingers through her
hair, he whispered, “I love your hair. It’s so soft and it smells like roses.”

She felt the hardness of his
response against her, and thrilled to the knowledge that she had that effect on
him.

The sound of voices coming closer
along the path finally separated them. Lili sighed as they drew apart. Ken
tucked her hand under his and they retraced their steps along the path.
Rejoining the party, they were quickly separated when Renee claimed Ken for a
dance.

Hours later everyone said their
goodnights as they prepared to leave. Ken smiled at her and sent her heart
fluttering again when he said, “We’ll have to do this again sometime.”

Reluctantly, Lili rounded up the
others to whom she’d given a ride to the party.

As she drove, they chatted about
the party, while her mind returned to Ken. Had he intended his parting remark
to have a double meaning? Her thoughts centered on the crinkle around his hazel
eyes, and the warmth of his kisses.

“Hey, you passed my driveway,”
Sally objected.

“Sorry, I was daydreaming,” Lili
said. She turned the car around, blushing furiously when she heard Sally
giggle.

“Yeah, we all know who you were
daydreaming about, too, boss,” Billy teased. Then he gasped, “Ouch
!
” as Sally poked the teenager for
his lack of respect for his boss.

“That’s okay. We all think he’s cute,
too,” Sally assured Lili. As she climbed out of the car, Sally flipped her long
blonde hair back and smiled kindly at Lili’s red face. “Even Anna danced with
Mr. Mills, and I didn’t think she knew how to dance! See you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight,” Lili said.
Honestly!
My store is like a small town
.
Everyone knows everyone else’s
business!

Sunday morning Lili worked around
her house restlessly. When there was no more dust to chase and all her laundry was
clean and back in the drawers and closets, she tried to concentrate on a book.
But her mind kept re-living the details of the party the night before.

Early in the afternoon Tami, her
best friend since childhood, called. Lili was pleased that Tami wanted her to
go to the mall for shopping and dinner.

Tami picked her up and they
happily chatted on the hour’s drive into the Twin Cities, catching up on each
other’s lives.

After spending hours walking
around the shops, they locked their full shopping bags in Tami’s car, and
settled in at a restaurant to enjoy seafood salads in bread bowls.

“So what are you dying to tell
me, that you haven’t?” Tami asked with a sly glance at Lili. She hooked her
long brown hair behind one ear with a perfectly manicured hand. Taking another
bite of her salad, she eyed Lili, waiting for an answer.

“What makes you think I have
something to tell you?”

“Don’t play games with me, Lili.
I’ve been listening to your secrets all my life. You have that same look in
those baby blue eyes that you had the time you and Lester put a live snake in
Mrs. Reid’s top desk drawer, remember?”

Lili choked on a chunk of tomato
and grabbed her glass of water. When she could stop laughing, she said, “I
remember.”

“You both had to sit in the
cloakroom the rest of the day,” Tami said, grinning.

“That wasn’t as bad as it sounds.
We ate all the cookies out of everyone’s bag lunch.”

“So that’s why you threw up.”

“See, I didn’t tell you
everything, even back in first grade,” Lili teased.

“Does that mean there
is
something you’re not telling me?”

“Well…” Lili found herself
telling Tami the details of her father’s will, and all about Ken Mills.

Tami listened patiently, biting
her lip as Lili ended with the dance at Ken’s house the night before. “So
you’re falling in love with Ken, and you’re mad at yourself for that?”

Lili gasped. “I didn’t say that.”

Tami shrugged. “Maybe not, but
your face and voice did. It’s written all over you as you talk about him.”

When Lili frowned and looked
away, Tami put her hand over Lili’s and said, “Hey, don’t knock it. Love
doesn’t come along every day. You have to take it where you find it.”

“But I just want to be rid of
him, and get control of my store back,” Lili protested.

Tami grinned smugly. “Do you? I
don’t think so.”

“You’re wrong.”

Tami stared at her speculatively,
then asked, “Would you really choose selling bananas over love?”

When Lili didn’t answer, she
sighed and said, “Come on, let’s go home.”

While Tami concentrated on the
heavy traffic on the now darkened freeway, Lili pondered her comments. Could
she be falling in love? With someone she had vowed to oust from her business
and her life? No way!

“A penny for your thoughts.”

“You wouldn’t get much of a
bargain,” Lili said. “Oh. We’re back in Landers already?”

“Yes. You were thinking so hard I
didn’t want to interrupt with small talk.”

“Nonsense,” Lili denied. “I must
have been dozing. All that walking in the mall wore me out.”

Tami grinned. “If you say so.”

“Could you stop at the store a
minute?”

“At midnight? Whatever for?” Tami
parked at the curb.

Lili dug her keys out of her
purse. “I just want to check to be sure everything is okay and properly locked
up for the night. You know, in case a fuse blew and the power is off to a
freezer or something. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

“Want me to come with you?” Tami
asked, looking doubtfully at the empty street and dark building.

“Of course not. I do this alone
all the time,” Lili said. She unlocked the door and flipped the front entrance light
switch. The rest of the store was dimly lit with night lights, so she walked
quickly through the store as she always did, without bothering to turn on all
the overhead fluorescent lights. The pungent scent of oranges and lemons filled
the air. The low humming vibration of a compressor kicking in on the roof
overhead broke the almost eerie silence of the store.

Opening a glass cooler or freezer
door here and there, she quickly ascertained that each unit’s compressor was
working properly. She had done this so often that she could judge the
temperature within a few degrees just by putting her hand on the metal rack
inside each case. The sharp bite of cold in the freezers and a comfortable
chilliness in the refrigerators told her that all was well.

Next she tried the door to the
basement to make sure it was locked and then went to check the back storage
room door.

A circle of shadows loomed ahead
of her as she stepped into the dark room and groped for the light switch.
Without warning, something hit her on the side of her forehead. Pain seemed to
burst into star shapes as she slumped to the hard wooden floor.

***

Minutes later Lili came to. Tami
was bathing her face with a cold, wet paper towel. Light from the main part of
the store streamed through the open storeroom doorway.

“Tami! Ooh, my head! What
happened?”

“Thank goodness you’re awake!
What happened is
my
question! Are you all right? Do you hurt anywhere
besides your head?”

Lili sat up, trying to focus her
eyes through the dizziness. “No, I guess not. Someone must have been in here
waiting for me.”

“Obviously,” Tami said dryly.
“When you didn’t come back out, I came in and found you. Is there a light
switch in here? I could only find the lights in the main part of the store.”

“Behind you, on that wall. Did
you call 911? Whoever hit me may still be nearby.” She tried to stand, then,
feeling woozy, quickly sat back down on some boxes of canned goods.

“Yes. You were out cold. Ah,
that’s better,” she said as she flicked on the overhead lights. She disappeared,
then returned carrying a plastic bag of ice cubes. Ripping it open, she wrapped
some ice in a paper towel and handed it to her. “Put this on your forehead.
That’s a nasty lump. You’re going to have a beaut of a bruise. What did he hit
you with, anyway?”

“Probably that can of soup,” Lili
said, waving a hand toward a lone can lying on the floor nearby.

“Hello in here? Police
!
” a voice called from the other
room.

“Thank goodness. Back here,” Tami
called back. A moment later two uniformed officers appeared, introducing
themselves as Sam and Jean from the county sheriff’s department.

Tami and Lili repeated the story
and answered questions while Sam took notes and Jean checked Lili’s wound and
pupils.

“I’ll take a look around outside,
just in case. Jean, check the rest of the inside of the store. Did either of
you see anyone?” asked Sam, stuffing his notebook back into his pocket.

“No,” Lili said.

Tami shook her head. “I just
followed Lili in when she didn’t come back out. I turned on the lights when I
came in. You wouldn’t catch me wandering around in here with only the night
lights on. It’s eerie.”

“
You always were afraid of the
dark. ‘A
bogeyman’ll
get you if you don’t watch
out!’” Lili repeated their childhood chant.

“Fun
—
ny
! You must be feeling better,”
Tami said. “Besides, the bogeyman
did
get you this time.”

“I don’t think it was a
‘bogeyman,’” Jean said, frowning. “Whoever it was obviously left through that
back door after you surprised them.”

“No sign of forced entry,” Sam
said, returning from outdoors. “Either they were already inside, or they had a
key. Say, this door can be opened without a key from the inside, can’t it?”

“Well, yes, it’s just barred and
bolted. Anyone could open it if they were already inside,” Lili admitted. “I suppose
it would be possible to hide in here during the day and then leave later. But
few people ever come back here, so not many people would know that.”

“But anyone who has ever worked
here would?”

“Yes, of course.”

“How about delivery people,
salesmen, company reps?”

“Yes,” Lili said slowly. “I see
what you mean. I’ll see that it is padlocked as well as barred after this.”

“I’ll just take this soup can to
check for fingerprints, in case we got lucky. Most burglars know enough to wear
gloves, though, from watching television.” He shook his head.

“Lili, do you feel up to looking
around to see if anything is missing?”

“Sure,” Lili said, getting to her
feet. As the room whirled, then settled down, Tami took her arm and said, “I’ll
go with you.”

They walked through the now
brightly lighted store, but could see nothing out of the ordinary. Lili checked
the change fund, and the tills at the front of the store.

“Nothing seems to be missing,”
she told the officers. “Cash and cigarettes are usually taken first. They
weren’t,” she added, waving a hand toward the full cigarette display beside the
tills.

“But the till drawers are open,”
Tami objected. “Doesn’t that mean someone was in them?”

Lili shook her head, wincing at
the pain that sudden movement caused. “No, we always leave them open at night,
because the cash registers are expensive, and thieves have a reputation for
smashing them if they’re locked. But we remove the cash, except for the coins,
which are still there.”

“How about the rest of the
groceries?”

Lili’s lips quirked. “It’s
totally impossible to tell you if a few items are missing or not. How could I?
Could
you
remember how many of each of thousands of items there are on
the shelf?”

“No, I guess not.”

“Although Anna might remember if
there were a lot of some items gone, or if full cases of groceries were missing
from the storage room.”

“Have her check in the morning.
We’ll make out a report and let you know if we learn anything.”

“Thanks.”

“Can you lock up here for now?
I’ll call you later tomorrow. You’d better have a doctor check you out.”

“I’m fine, really,” Lili
insisted.

“I’ll drive her over to the
emergency room,” Tami said firmly.

Nodding, the two officers left.

Lili allowed Tami to drive her
over to the hospital emergency room. After checking her over, the doctor agreed
with Lili that she would be fine.

On the way home, Lili said, “You
know what I’m dreading most about all this?”

“No, what?” Tami asked.

“Telling Ken in the morning.”

When she awoke the next morning,
Lili’s head still felt like it was splitting, so she called Anna and asked her
to open the store.

Next she called the local
locksmith who agreed to change all their locks before closing time that
evening. Relieved, she said, “Thanks, Oscar. I knew I could count on you.”

She took some aspirin and put on
the coffee, holding an ice-pack to her head while she waited for the coffee to
perk. After her shower, she dressed in a comfortable pair of slacks and
sweater. She put on some make-up to add some color to her white cheeks. Then
she brushed her long hair, trying to arrange a curve of it across the now black
and blue bump on her forehead.

Then she could no longer put off dialing
Ken. She listened to the phone ring, half-hoping he would have left for the
day, but had no such luck. His strong, confident voice sent a surge of
reassurance through her.

“Ken,
it’s
Lili. We had a break-in at the store last night.”

“What?” He listened as she began
to explain the details, then interrupted, “Are you okay?”

“Yes, except for the granddaddy
of all headaches.”

“Did you see a doctor?”

“Yes. Tami took me to the
emergency room last night. I’m fine, really.”

“Thank goodness. But what the hell
were you doing there alone so late at night?”

Her breath caught, and surprised
pain at his attack sent tremors along her already tangled nerves. She tried to
keep her voice even, as she explained, “I often check the store at night when
I’ve been out of town for hours. It’s no big deal.”

“No big deal!” he shouted. “You
could have been killed!”

Jerking the phone back from her
ear, she counted to ten. Quietly she said, “Well, I wasn’t, and you’re
shouting.”

She could hear him draw a long
breath. She braced herself to be told not to talk to her boss that way.

Instead, in a calmer voice, he
asked, “Why didn’t you call me last night?”