Sealed with a Kill (11 page)

“Mother!” A young woman came striding across the floor, looking furious. She had the same red hair as Lydia, but hers was not covering up any gray. She had large blue eyes and pale skin dusted with freckles.

She looked like the sort who could tell a good joke and liked to laugh, but not right now. At the moment she had a scowl marring her features, which made her look like she wanted to kick somebody’s patoot. Brenna scooted to the far edge of her stool lest it be hers.

“With all that has happened during the past two days, you’re here?” she continued her tirade.

Lydia looked at her with her eyelids at half-mast.

“Brenna, this is my daughter Kristin. Ignore her.” Her voice was gin soaked and slurred. “Now back to you, handsome. Where have you been all my life?”

“Mother, control yourself,” Kristin snapped. She snatched the drink from her mother’s hand and shoved the glass away. “Come on, you’re going home to sleep it off.”

“Such a party pooper.” Lydia frowned.

Kristin hauled her mother off of her stool and half carried, half dragged her to the door. The crowd parted for them, and Brenna could hear the hiss of whispers follow in their wake.

“What brings you here?” Brenna asked Dom. She tried to ignore the little flicker of hope inside of her that he had come here for her.

He smiled at her, and she could feel the energy coming off of him in waves. There was not a woman in the room who was not aware of his presence. If this really were a nature show about a pride of lions, he would unquestionably be the leader.

“I was invited by Mr. Montgomery,” he said. “He’s recruiting me for membership.”

“Really? I don’t think you fit the profile.”

“Why? Because my family is formerly mobbed up?” he asked.

“No, because you still have all of your hair,” she said. She gestured toward the balding, potbellied men surrounding the dance floor.

Dom flashed her a grin, and a deep laugh rumbled from his chest.

“So, did you have a nice afternoon with Julie and Suede?”

“Very nice,” he said. “You know redheads are my weakness.”

“Even when they come with surly adolescents?” she asked.

She tried to keep her voice neutral, but she suspected there was a tiny sprinkle of that earlier jealousy flavoring her words because Dom gave her a quick look of surprise.

“He’s got some issues,” Dom agreed. “But I think he’s a good kid. He’s just a little angry with his parents right now.”

“Hmm.” She went for the no-comment murmur. She really wanted to know if he was planning to see Julie again, but she couldn’t figure out how to ask without sounding like she was fishing, which she was.

“So, what’s with the outfit?” he asked.

“Oh, this old thing,” she said. “It’s nothing.”

“Nothing to it, at any rate,” he said. “What are you up to?”

“Me?” Brenna widened her eyes. “I’m just having drinks with friends.” She glanced at his watch. “Wow, would you look at the time. I’d better get going.”

She stood and feigned a big yawn.

“Yeah, I imagine butting into an investigation can be very wearying,” he said.

“I’m not butting in,” she protested. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to go find Tenley.”

“She already left,” he said. “She wasn’t feeling very well, and Matt arrived to take her home. She gave me her keys to give to you, but I don’t think so.”

“What do you mean you don’t think so?” Brenna said.

“How many of those martinis did you have?” he asked.

“One—no, two. I think it was just two,” she said. Her head felt fuzzy when she tried to remember.

“Yeah, I’ll be driving you home,” he said. “You and Tenley can come back and get her car tomorrow.”

Brenna blinked at him. He was doing that mafioso power thing on her. She knew he couldn’t help it, that it was as much a part of his genetic makeup as his dark hair and eyes. Still, she didn’t want to seem like a complete pushover.

“Well, I suppose that would be all right,” she said.

She pushed off the bar and went to walk, but her heels seemed suddenly wobbly. Dom steadied her with a hand on her elbow. Heads swiveled to watch them go, and Dom put an arm around her waist and pulled her close, as if to protect her from the leers that followed them to the door.

“When I get you home, I am burning that skirt,” he said.

“What? You don’t like it?” she asked. “Tenley said I needed to look like a desperate divorcée, and this was all I had.”

“There is nothing desperate about you,” Dom said as he retrieved her coat from the coat check girl and helped her into it.

They walked outside into the crisp autumn air. It felt good after the sweaty bar, and Brenna inhaled deeply, trying to clear her head.

When the valet brought it around, Dom helped her into his black Volvo station wagon. He had taken her out in it once before on their only official date. Again, she marveled at the man. From a mob family, and yet he went to MIT and drove a car for its safety rating.

“So, how goes the investigation?” he asked as they headed down the drive toward the main road. “And don’t bother telling me that you’re not investigating Lester’s murder; I know you too well.”

“Lydia Lester was not exactly drowning her sorrows in her martinis tonight,” Brenna said. “We toasted freedom, and she even toasted Tenley’s father for shooting her cheating rat-bastard husband.”

“Not exactly grief struck,” Dom agreed.

“No, but I like her,” Brenna said. “She has spunk.”

“Even if she’s a killer?” he asked.

“It does sound as if she has an excellent motive,” Brenna sighed. “But I hate to think it.”

They were silent as Dom navigated the dark roads. In minutes, he was driving up the winding road to the cabins.

He parked next to Brenna’s Jeep and circled the car to get the door for her. The martinis and the incredibly long day were catching up to her, and Brenna was grateful for the assistance.

He tucked her hand around his elbow and led her across the lawn to her cabin. Halfway there, her right heel sank into the grass, and her spiky stiletto was left behind. She tripped and fell against Dom, who caught her effortlessly.

They were face-to-face, and Brenna was struck again by the warmth of his gaze and the kindness of his smile. When he moved in to kiss her, she didn’t stop him.

His lips were warm against hers compared to the cool evening air, and his mouth sent a sizzle of heat spiking through her, heating her up from the inside out. The energy that always seemed to snap around him enveloped her in its embrace until she feared she might be consumed by it. She pulled back and took a shaky breath.

“I lost my shoe.” She gestured behind them.

She hopped on her other foot, as if she was about to go get it, but Dom stopped her.

“Allow me,” he said. He found her shoe and knelt in the grass and gently slipped it back onto her foot. She could feel the warmth of his fingers against her skin, and she shivered.

“Thanks,” she said. Her voice came out breathier than she’d intended, and he smiled at her. She suspected that he knew she was not completely immune to him and was pleased.

At her door, she fished out her keys, and he unlocked the door for her. She flipped on the light and winced against the sudden brightness. The martinis were not leaving her system graciously.

“You’re going to have a headache tomorrow,” he said. “Do you have any pain reliever?”

“In the medicine cabinet,” she said.

“Sit,” he ordered. He went to the kitchen and poured her a glass of water; then he disappeared into the bathroom and came back with two over-the-counter pain tablets. “Take these and drink all of the water.”

“You’re pretty bossy,” she said.

“Someone has to look out for you.”

“I thought that was my job,” a voice said from the door.

Brenna swung around to find Nate standing in the open doorway, looking none too pleased. Hank was beside him, and at the sight of Dom, he raced across the room and launched himself. Dom caught his front paws on his hip and ruffled his ears.

“How ya doing, boy?” he said. “Remember me?”

They had met once before, and given that Hank had never met a person he didn’t love, it was not a big surprise that he had taken to Dom immediately. Although, Brenna had to admit, it spoke well of Dom that he seemed to like Hank just as much in return.

Brenna popped the pills into her mouth and washed them down with several swallows of water.

“I can look after myself,” she said. “Thank you both very much.”

“Really?” they said together, and then exchanged a look.

Brenna narrowed her eyes. She knew that look. It was a patronizing look, as if they were commiserating on just how exasperating they found her. Well, she was not amused.

She rose from her stool and looped one hand around Dom’s arm and led him toward the door.

“Thanks so much for the ride home,” she said. “I really appreciate it.”

She kissed his cheek. He smiled. Nate scowled.

She looped her other hand through Nate’s arm and said, “And thanks so much for stopping by with Hank. I’d love to have him sleep over.” And she kissed his cheek, too.

Then she gave them both a gentle shove out the door. They turned to gape at her, and Brenna gave them a tiny finger wave, just before she shut and locked the door.

Hank barked his approval, and she laughed. “Come on, Hank, let’s go to bed.”

He ran a loop around the tiny cabin and then did a flying leap onto her bed. By the time Brenna had finished putting on her pajamas and brushing her teeth, he was sound asleep, with his feet up in the air and his head on the extra pillow. Brenna climbed in beside him, grateful for the company.

As she was falling asleep, she thought about her evening and realized that tomorrow she and Tenley had a new mission. If Lydia was right and Harvey had been cheating, then the next step was to find out with whom he’d been playing house. Surely that person would know what Harvey had been planning, and that might lead them to the killer, assuming that his playmate wasn’t the killer.

“So, what did you learn from Lydia last night?” Tenley asked.

Matt had dropped her off at Brenna’s bright and early, and they were driving back to the country club in Brenna’s Jeep to retrieve Tenley’s car.

“That dirty martinis are not my friends,” Brenna said.

“So, Dom gave you a ride home?” Tenley asked. She looked like she wanted to giggle but thought better of it. “I should have warned you about Lydia and her toasts. Sorry about that.”

“It’s all right. I got to know her pretty well,” Brenna said. “She’s a little bitter about Harvey leaving her for a younger woman. She even toasted your dad for shooting the rat bastard.”

“So, she thinks my father did it?” Tenley looked disturbed.

“Or she’s making a lot of noise to support that idea for reasons of her own,” Brenna said.

“Do you think she did it?” Tenley asked.

“I didn’t get murderess off of her,” Brenna said. “But as you know, murderers don’t exactly wear signs, do they?”

Tenley nodded.

“How about you? Anything interesting turn up?”

“No,” Tenley said. “No one really talked to me, and I started to feel pretty lousy. Sorry I ditched on you, but once I saw Dom there, I knew you’d be in good hands.”

Brenna felt her face grow warm. She was so not talking about her confused feelings for Dom right now.

“We need to find out who Harvey was shacking up with,” Brenna said.

“But how?” Tenley asked. “Unless . . .”

“Go on,” Brenna prompted her. “Unless what?”

“I could ask Kristin,” Tenley said. “Remember she said something about Harvey’s embarrassing midlife crisis. Maybe she knows who the other woman is.”

Brenna remembered the very angry redheaded woman who dragged Lydia out of the bar the night before. She couldn’t help but be relieved that Tenley was going to be the one to question her. Quite frankly, she scared Brenna.

After picking up Tenley’s car, they both went into town to open up the shop. They did a brisk business to tourists in the morning, and lunch passed in a blur. Before Brenna knew it, it was time for her afternoon class.

“Any idea who might show up for the class today?” Tenley asked.

“None,” Brenna said. “Preston offered the class to his leaf peepers as part of the nature hike, but after that trauma, I don’t know how many of them have stayed in town or whether they have any interest in decoupage.”

The bells on the door jangled and in walked Jan and Dan of the matching sweaters, although today it was matching sweatshirts emblazoned with DARTMOUTH across the chest.

“Hello, Brenna,” Jan said. “I hope we’re not late. We got distracted with today’s crossword and completely lost track of the time.”

“Not at all,” Brenna said. “In fact, you’re the first ones here. We’ll be working at the table in the back of the shop. Go ahead and have a seat.”