Deadly Notions (9 page)

Margaret Louise clapped her hands sharply. “Dixie, that’s enough.”

“Seems to me you’d like me pointing that out on account of the fact it deflects attention from the things
you
said.”

“It’s already been established I wanted to strangle her,” Margaret Louse reminded Dixie in a voice that was uncharacteristically sharp for a woman who seemed to smile twenty-four/seven.

“But has it been established that you talked about the best way to untie the kind of knot Milo used to secure the rope to the tree in the first place?”

More gasps erupted around the room.

“Dixie, why are you doing this?” Tori pleaded, her heart sinking at the fear in her friends’ eyes. “You made a comment or two yourself that night.”

The elderly woman stopped just short of the hallway that led to the bathroom. “You’re right, I did. And I suspect those words will come back to bite me just as all of yours will do for you. But knowledge is power, Victoria. And knowing what can be used against us will help us to prepare.”

Leona tossed her magazine onto the coffee table and swiveled to face Dixie. “Prepare?”

Dixie nodded then offered an explanation that made perfect sense. “To prepare a defense.”

“A defense against what?”

“The kind of scrutiny that comes with a murder investigation. The kind of scrutiny each one of us is going to be under until Ashley Lawson’s killer is finally caught.”

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been sitting there in the dark. Maybe a half hour, maybe more. It was hard to know exactly without getting up off the couch to check her cell phone—an effort that seemed too great.

In fact, if Tori was honest with herself, she knew the effort to do much of anything at that moment seemed too great. Especially when the events of the past twelve hours were weighing on her shoulders like a pile of bricks.

The moment she’d heard of Ashley Lawson’s death, she’d known the offhand comments made during Sally Davis’s birthday party would come back to bite them. But it wasn’t until that evening’s circle meeting that she’d truly begun to realize just how ferocious that bite might be.

There was no doubt about it, Dixie had gotten the circle riled up, her stick poking offending more than a few members. But when Tori had allowed herself to step back and be objective, she knew Dixie was right. People tended to look out for themselves. Self-preservation, after all, was part of human nature.

Knowing that, though, didn’t make the fallout from Dixie’s comments any easier to take. Never in the past year had Tori ever seen Debbie get as defensive about anything as she did regarding her feelings for Ashley Lawson. And never, in that same amount of time, had she ever known Margaret Louise to be anything but happy and fun-loving—a far cry from the demeanor the woman had exhibited on the heels of Dixie’s cross-examination.

Even the normally shy Beatrice had shown something resembling a spine when Dixie had mimicked the victim’s opinion on what constituted correct party attire, the nanny’s flaming red cheeks and trembling hands merely a hint to the animosity she still harbored.

Pulling her knees to her chest, Tori wrapped her arms around them and stared at the swath of light streaming in through the blinds from the street lamp two doors down. She knew she should probably consider getting ready for bed, or, at the very least, laying out her clothes for the next day, but she couldn’t. Her mind was simply too keyed up—and her heart too heavy—to move.

A soft knock at the door made her look up, her eyes squinting toward the transom window that framed the right side of the door. Suddenly, a hand rose up against the glass and waved, the identity of the person on the other side of the door all but certain.

She dropped her feet to the ground and stood, a smile tugging her mouth upward as she closed the gap between them in record time. When she reached the door she yanked it open. “Milo! Hi!”

“Hi.” Smiling sweetly, he held a white paper sack into the air. “I brought you back some dessert. The waiter called it Death By Chocolate and the second he did, I immediately thought of you.”

She tried to smile. She really did. But on the heels of what had transpired that day, the name of the dessert didn’t sound quite so appealing.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” He lowered the sack to his side and glanced down at his wristwatch. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“No.”

A frown furrowed his brows. “Are you feeling poorly?”

“No.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“It’s been a rough day with Ashley Lawson’s murder and all.”

Milo’s mouth hung open. “What?”

She stared at him, his reaction not what she had expected. “You didn’t hear?”

“No. What happened?”

Stepping back, she waved him inside. “She was found in her car this morning.”

He strode into the darkened living room and then stopped, retracing his steps over to the light switch on the wall. With a flick of his finger, her living room was bathed in light. “And they think she was murdered because . . .”

“Of the rope that was tied around her neck.”

“Wow.”

That was one word for it.

She followed him over to the sofa and sat down. “Even more of a wow is the fact that I’m pretty sure it was the same rope you used to secure the tire swing for Sally’s birthday party.”

He dropped onto the cushion beside her, his mouth gaping open once again. “What?”

“I suspect that’s one of the reasons Chief Dallas was in my office just after ten o’clock this morning.” She heard the wooden quality to her voice yet could do little to stop it. The day had taken its toll on just about every ounce of her being.

“Huh?” Milo swiveled to face her, his hand reaching for hers. “Wait. Tell me he’s not looking at you for this.”

She shrugged. “If he is, I’m one of many.”

“I don’t get it.”

She closed her eyes as his fingers entwined with hers. “Do you remember what I told you last night after the party? How I was afraid the rope might be too tempting for Margaret Louise after expressing her desire to strangle Ashley Lawson?”

His face paled. “Oh my God, I forgot about that. You don’t think—no, there’s no way. Margaret Louise would never do something like that.”

“Do you remember how I told you she wasn’t the only one who wanted to strangle her?”

He nodded. “Oh. Wow.”

“Unfortunately those feelings were muttered aloud—shared behind hands and hinted at via whispered innuendos by the likes of Margaret Louise, Debbie, Beatrice, Rose, Dixie, Leona, Melissa, Caroline Rowen, Samantha Smith, and in a roundabout way, me. And they were overheard, and then shared with the police shortly after Ashley’s body was found.”

“Shared?” He released her hand, raking his own through his burnished brown hair. “Shared by whom?”

“Ashley’s boss, Regina Murphy.” She grabbed the throw pillow to her left and hugged it to her chest, the memory of Regina’s face crystal clear in her mind. “I remember when she walked up. The kids were taking turns on the swings and Ashley was holding back the line so Penelope could take a ride without having to wait like the other kids.”

Milo rolled his eyes.

“When Penelope’s turn was over, Jackson was waiting. Penelope asked to ride again and Ashley agreed. When Jackson started to cry, she told him to grow up. That’s when Debbie muttered her desire to strangle Ashley. A desire that was seconded several times over by everyone standing there.”

“And Regina heard that?”

She nodded. “And now it’s all one big mess.” Resting her chin on top of the pillow she closed her eyes. “You should have seen our circle meeting tonight. By the time it was over, everyone was pointing at everyone else just to get the heat off of themselves.”

His arms came around her and pulled her close. “I’m sorry, Tori. I really am. But don’t you worry, Chief Dallas will figure out who really did this and the heat will dissipate. It has to.”

She willed herself to keep the doubt silent. Expressing it didn’t do any good. Instead, she opted for something a little closer to wishful thinking. “You’re right, Milo. It’ll be okay.” For a moment she simply breathed in his nearness, allowed it to bolster her spirits as much as possible. “Wait! How was your dinner with Beth?”

“It was okay,” he said. Ever so gently he stroked the side of her face with his hand in a gesture she’d grown to love. “It would have been better if you’d been there with us.”

“She might have been surprised if I was.”

His hand stopped. “Why would you say that? She knows about you.”

“To hear her talk she doesn’t.” The second the words were out she wished she could recall them, the general sentiment sounding almost bitter.

“When did you see her?”

She told him about meeting his college sweetheart at Debbie’s Bakery just that morning, describing, in detail, the things that had been said. Including the part where Beth seemed clueless as to Tori’s place in Milo’s life.

When she was done, he simply scratched his head. “I don’t know, Tori. Maybe she was more distracted than I realized last night when we met. I mean, she was all keyed up about everything from some deal she’d just ironed out to the new company name she needs to design into a logo and how all of that is going to take her to the top. Maybe she was so focused on
that
she didn’t really listen to the things
I
had to say.”

“Maybe.” She grabbed his hand in hers and rubbed it against her cheek until he took over on his own once again. “Or maybe she just wants you all to herself.”

He laughed. “Not likely.”

She sat up straight, unsure of the tone in which his words were spoken. Had she heard disappointment? Or wishful thinking? Or was her imagination in hyper I’ve-been-hurt-by-love-before mode? “Wh-what’s not likely?” she stammered.

“That I’d ever let that happen.”

“No lingering feelings? No haunting what-ifs?”

“None.” His hand dropped to her shoulders and squeezed. “How could there be when I’ve got someone a gazillion times better?” His back pocket vibrated against the sofa, making them both jump. “Hey now, who on earth would be calling at this hour?”

“You could answer it and find out,” she teased.

“Good idea.” She nestled into the crook of his arm as he flipped open his cell phone and held it to his ear. “Milo here.”

A woman’s voice fairly purred from the phone, filling the miniscule gap between them. “It’s Beth. I wanted to call and tell you what a lovely time I had with you again tonight, Milo.”

He turned his head and whispered a kiss across Tori’s forehead. “Uh, me, too, Beth. It was great. We’ll have to do it again sometime soon . . . when Tori can join us.”

“Tori?”

“My girlfriend. I told you about her last night and you met her at Debbie’s Bakery this morning. In fact, I’m here with her now.”

“Oh.” Silence followed only to be cut short by a giggle. “My timing never was very good, was it, Milo? Remember when I called you on your wedding night?”

Tori tilted her head upward to meet his gaze. His nod confirmed the woman’s words. “You’re fine, Beth.”

A long sigh emanated from the phone. “I’ve been working on my company’s new logo ever since I got back to my room. And you know what? I think I’ve finally found the perfect font for the P and the C. Which is great because all that’s left then is the overall color scheme.”

He leaned his head against the sofa, his breath warm against Tori’s head. “I’m sure you’ll get it.”

“I need to get it
perfect
. So the clientele associates the company’s name every time they see these—” The giggle returned. “Oh, look at me. I get so excited talking to you, Milo, that I almost let the cat out of the bag. And I can’t. Not yet, anyway. Everything needs to be just perfect before I do.”

A thought struck Tori and she met his gaze again. “Her company does something with pageants, right?” she whispered.

He nodded.

“Does she know about what happened to Ashley Lawson?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Know? Know what?” Beth interjected through the phone.

“Tori was wondering if you knew a woman named Ashley Lawson?”

When there was no response, he pulled the phone from his ear and checked the screen. Realizing they were still connected he held it loosely to his ear once again. “Beth? You there?”

“I’m still here.”

“Did you hear my question?”

“Uh, no, I’m afraid I didn’t. There was a—a sound out in the parking lot just now. I guess I was distracted.”

“Tori was wondering if you knew a woman named Ashley Lawson?”

“Vaguely. I mean, we’re in the same business but that’s all. Why?”

“She’s dead.”

A gasp sounded between them. “Dead?” Beth echoed.

“She was found in her car this morning.”

“I—I don’t know what to say . . .” The woman’s voice trailed off only to return in a slightly softer pitch. “What happened?”