Just Evil (14 page)

“Hey, the minute Cade hit me; I called the police, didn’t I?
They hauled his sorry ass to jail. Thank God for the restraining order.”

“Like that did Kit any good,” Baylee pointed out.

But Quinn gave her a quick, questioning look, “You should
have seen the way Jessica went on and on about what a saint Alana was. She ticked
off all her charity work, which I don’t remember at all. The woman I knew
didn’t have a benevolent thought in her head about anyone, and she sure as hell
wouldn’t give a dime to a charity.

“Then Jessica couldn’t keep her trap shut long enough for Connor
to get a word in edgewise. He tried, he really did, but every time he opened
his mouth to say something, Jessica interrupted him. That was the highlight of
the whole thing really, watching those three grown men try to support mommy
when mommy hogged the spotlight.” The idea had her snorting with laughter. “And
now she’s gone and killed herself.”

Quinn’s outburst triggered a reminder of something Collin
had said earlier that morning. Quietly Kit said, “I don’t think she killed
herself, Quinn.”

“But that’s what they said on the news. They said her car
was locked from the inside. The police said…”

“Doesn’t matter what they’re saying. Can you honestly sit
here and tell me the woman you knew was prone to suicide?”

She had a point, Quinn realized. “Well, if she didn’t kill
herself, then that means…oh my God, Kit…”

“First Alana, now Jessica.”

“I guess they finally pissed off the wrong person.”

Baylee had her own dark thoughts. She’d purposefully kept
quiet, but now listening to Quinn talk about the Boyds had her desperate to run
from the room. But while nursing Sarah that was a little hard to do at the
moment. To keep from hearing anymore about the Boyds, Baylee changed the
subject and blurted out, “You’ll never guess who Kit spent the night with last
night.”

An eyebrow arched over one eye as Quinn noticed Kit send
Baylee a disgusted look. “Okay, I’ve clearly fallen into The Twilight Zone.
Alana’s been murdered. They think Kit did it. Jessica’s dead. And Kit’s having
sex. I must be dreaming. This is a parallel universe, right? Obviously the two
of you have kept the best for last.”

She stood up with renewed energy, looked around. “I need
coffee.” She held up a staying hand when Kit started to speak. “No wait, I
can’t handle all this yet. I need caffeine. And chocolate. Point me in the
direction of anything chocolate.”

“We sold out of chocolate yesterday. And since Kit didn’t
bake this morning we can only offer you a day-old muffin I saved for later.
Sorry.”

Kit looked sheepishly at Baylee, grinned. “Well, I did put
back a pan of double fudge brownies yesterday. For emergencies,” she added
quickly. 

“Now we’re talking,” Quinn said, rubbing her hands together.

“Where’d you hide them?”

“Mini-fridge, behind the half and half, the orange storage
container.”

Amused, Kit got up and walked behind the counter, began to
arrange brownies from the fridge onto a tray. She purposefully took her time
just to string out Quinn’s chocolate craving.

When they’d settled back around the table without saying a
word, Quinn noticed the stupid grins on their faces. Hoping to get the
conversation going, she hurriedly poured everyone refills of coffee. Staring
intently at Kit, waiting for the dam to burst, got her nowhere.

She noticed Baylee looked like she’d swallowed a canary
whole and was about to explode with feathers. Not in the mood for a long drawn-out
guessing game and never a patient person, Quinn was about to detonate with
curiosity when she finally boomed, “Okay, spill, who’s the lucky man?”

When Baylee’s grin turned into a snicker and Kit simply sat
there gloating with information, an exasperated sound came out of Quinn’s
throat. Baylee finally threw out a hint, “Think back to the past; who has Kit
been in love with since she was old enough to lust?”

When she saw no recognition, obviously enjoying the moment,
she couldn’t resist another hint. “Think older man,” she offered and wiggled
her eyebrows up and down.

Quinn’s eyes grew wide. “You mean…Jake Boston’s back in
town?” She exchanged a knuckle bump with Kit.

With her free hand, Baylee touched her nose. “Ding, ding,
ding. We have a winner.” With all the movement from her mother, Sarah stopped
nursing long enough to look up at all three women and grin as if she were in on
the joke, too.

“So you finally did the deed with Jake. How was Mr. Hottie?”

Without bothering to clear up the misconception, Kit watched
Baylee enjoying herself as she threw in, “And Jake broke Collin’s nose this
morning when he showed up drunk.”

Quinn’s eyes glazed over with confusion. Still trying to
wrap her mind around Kit being a murder suspect, Quinn struggled to digest
everything she’d heard, rubbing at her forehead as if it hurt.

Kit took pity and explained everything including what
happened with Collin. When a couple came in looking for tips on how to play
poker, Kit left them long enough to help the customers. After ringing up the
sale, Kit settled back down and dug into the batch of double fudge brownies
with her friends.

As the chocolate and caffeine kicked in, Quinn began to
think more clearly. “You say Collin comes by your house all liquored up, making
an ass out of himself, and then Connor phones you confirming Alana’s so-called
generosity. Don’t you think it’s odd that Connor’s on the clock, working, the
very morning he finds out his mother’s killed herself in the middle of an
intersection?” Eyeing Kit’s face, she added quickly, “Okay, maybe mommy doesn’t
kill herself, but she’s dead and the guy’s on the clock a couple of hours after
he hears the news, dealing with Alana’s will. That’s weird.” 

“I hadn’t thought of that,” Kit said, thinking back to the
conversation with Connor. “Collin wasn’t hard at work mere hours after mommy’s
death. In fact, he looked as if he’d never gone to bed.”

“Get a lawyer, or better still, ask Mr. Software for some
advice. It’d be a good way to test him and see if he really is, you know,
interested in something more than a quick roll in the hay.”

Kit had already decided to do just that, but she couldn’t
let go of the subject of Alana’s will. “Don’t you think it’s odd she left me
anything?”

“Yeah, I do. But hey, maybe she suddenly grew a conscience.”
At the idea of that, Quinn stuck her finger in a meaty brownie, pulling out a
chunk of chocolate, and then stuck the whole thing in her mouth, letting out a
laugh. “Okay. Not. Just testing to see if everyone’s paying attention. But all
kidding aside, maybe the woman said all those things to you just to be mean,
get a reaction, and then leave you the whole enchilada.”

“I don’t buy it. She did everything she could to convince me
I wasn’t smart enough to answer the phones at her real estate office. Remember
how she reacted when she found out Gloria and Morty gave me the
gofer-slash-file clerk job at the law firm? The woman was mad as hell for
weeks.”

They all three nodded, remembering those bad years. Then out
of the blue, Quinn changed the subject back to Jake. “You went out with this
guy last night, right? Please tell me you got all gorgeous, wore that little
black dress that leaves nothing to the imagination, and made the jerk sit up
and take notice.”

“I was so gorgeous he was rendered speechless.”

“That’s my girl, make him suffer. Make him suffer, then have
mind-blowing sex, right? Good plan. I like that plan. It’s time you had great
sex.”

Kit gave her an embarrassed stare. “Sex isn’t on the agenda.
It was just dinner…and wine…lots of wine. He doesn’t even like me. Very much.
Remember, he’s never liked me.” And then her brain recalled that mind-blowing
kiss.

Baylee snickered. “Yeah, right. If he doesn’t like you then
why’d he take you to dinner? And break Collin’s nose?” Like they’d done in
their teens, Baylee mimicked Kit’s words, and then all three women burst out
laughing.

“Wait a minute, seems to me I remember the night you saw his
wedding announcement in the paper, you went home, choked down a pint of Chunky
Monkey, and cried your eyes out for a week. Is this guy really ready for a
relationship or is he still hung up on his wife?”

“Geez Quinn, give me a break.”

“Okay. But if this guy hurts you, he’ll have to answer to
me.”

“And me,” Baylee said, before adding in a low voice, “if
he’s the kind of man that won’t take no for an answer, he’s a user, a rotten
bastard you don’t want to be around anyway.”

Kit and Quinn shot each other a knowing look. Was this the
opening they’d waited for? Was their friend on the verge of sharing more? But
when their look lasted a little too long, their answer came when they noticed
Baylee take a step backward, figuratively, in retreat. It wasn’t so much her
body language as it was the mortification that crossed Baylee’s face that had
Kit deciding this wasn’t the time to open up a festering wound and pry.

Instead of reaching over and shaking Baylee unconscious
until she spilled her guts, Kit turned to Quinn and chided, “Let me get this
straight, a minute ago you were all ready for me to jump the man’s bones and
now you’re trying to protect me?”

“You’re vulnerable. You’re going through a rough time.”
Quinn shot Baylee a glance, but didn’t voice the concern she felt for both of
her friends. What was it with these two anyway? Baylee shows up with a baby,
all wigged out about everything. How was she supposed to tiptoe around that?
Now Kit was a murder suspect. “I don’t want to see you hurt.”

“Just having sex,” added Baylee, trying to keep the mood
light. Already willing to put her momentary lapse of control behind her, she
simply wanted to enjoy being around the two people she considered her sisters.
She told herself she needed this time with them. Absently, she wondered if she
too might have to take off again for parts unknown in the middle of the night.
Putting that worry aside for now, Baylee considered when the three of them
might be together like this again. It wasn’t Quinn’s brutal schedule at the
hospital that might keep them apart, but whether or not Kit stayed out of jail.

Turning more serious, Baylee pointed out, “You’ve only dated
a couple of times since you moved here, right? If you haven’t had sex in a
while, don’t just jump in bed with Jake because you think you know him. It’s
been a year. People change; guys change.”

“Good advice. Just because you knew him way back when
doesn’t mean you know him now. Has it really been four years since you’ve done
the deed? If so, I think that makes you almost virginal, a saint or something.”

“Hardly. But thanks for the vote of confidence.”

When Quinn stood up to leave, she held up a curved pinky in
the air on each hand, a gesture they’d practiced since they were eight, a
symbol of their unity. Kit held out both of hers, linked one with Quinn’s, and
waited for Baylee to put Sarah back in her crib to perform the ritual. Now
forming a small circle, in unison, in sing-song fashion, the three repeated the
words, “Together we let no one hurt us. We are most powerful when we are one.
We draw strength from each other. One.”

With that, they fist-bumped each other.

Kit sighed. “I don’t know what I’d do without you guys.”

“We don’t intend to let you find out,” Baylee reminded her
with a hug.

Quinn grew serious. “I’d get someone to look at those files
Connor sent you, the sooner the better.”

“I could call Jake, see if he has time to sort through the
stuff, but I don’t want to leave Baylee by herself. She was swamped this
morning.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. You go ahead. It’s
important to get this taken care of quickly.” Then maybe Connor Boyd wouldn’t
have a reason to call Kit again. “I’d rather you go see a lawyer though,”
Baylee reasoned.

“Look guys, I’ve got to get going. I pull another long shift
at the hospital tonight, so I may be a little scarce for a while. Doesn’t mean
I’m out of the loop or that either one of you can’t reach me if you need me.”

Sending a quick what-if-Kit-gets arrested look in Baylee’s
direction that confirmed they were both on the same page, she winked and added,
“But if things heat up with Mr. Hottie, text me. I’m never too busy for those
kinds of deets.”

Before leaving for Jake’s office, Kit was wiping down the
counter when the towel she was using knocked off something shiny sitting next
to the cash register. The object went flying through the air. The shiny thing
landed on the hardwood floor with a thud and Kit automatically reached down to
pick it up. The object was a little larger than a toy soldier, except that it
wasn’t a soldier. She felt the heavy weight as she held it in the palm of her
hand. The piece was pure gold, minted in the shape of a cowboy sitting astride
his horse in front of a rounded sunset in the background.

The artist in her appreciated the intricately woven design
of the sunset interspersed with the painstaking detail of the cowboy. A lot of
work had gone into minting this piece, she thought.

She didn’t know why, but all of a sudden, her mind wandered
to her father. In an instant, her imagination kicked into overdrive and the
cowboy depicted on the gold trinket resembled him. She shook her head.

What was wrong with her? She blew out a quick breath and ran
her hand through her hair. It was a toy, nothing more. Baylee had probably
found the thing somewhere in the store. A child had dropped his toy as he’d
shopped with his mother. She tried to remember if she’d seen kids in the store
earlier in the day, and then remembered she’d been late getting there.

It didn’t matter, she decided. She shook off the weird
feeling. Why finding such a thing would have her feeling so edgy she didn’t
know, other than the fact that since Saturday she’d had the strangest sense
about everything.