The Comeback Kiss (34 page)

She shrugged. “
Look, I
’
m done kissing up to Mary Ellen Neeley. Wench wants a fight, she
’
ll get one. But... yeah. It won
’
t help at all if any charges are pressed against Izzy.”

Finn watched her for a long moment, then ran h
is hand through his hair and sighed.

“
Okay. No police. But I think I should stay here, then.”
Tessa blinked. “
You were going somewhere?”

“
I thought... well.”
He shrugged. “
I didn
’
t want to assume... you know. Just because I crashed on the couch for one nig
ht, that
’
s not an open invitation. But now, with the insane arsonist and everything, I think maybe it
’
s a good idea. And I
’
m glad to see you agree.”

Tessa couldn
’
t help but smile at that one. “
You
’
re glad to see I agree?”

“
You making fun of me?”
he said, a
trace of indignation in his voice.

Tessa moved closer, placing her hand against his chest as she sidled up next to him, enjoying the
thump-thump
she felt under her fingers.

“
Little bit,”
she said, angling her head up to look at him. “
You
’
re just always so
quick with the verbal. It
’
s kinda fun to see you off your game.”

He looked down at her and smiled, letting his arms circle her waist. “
I am not off my game.”

She could hardly believe how good it felt just to relax in his arms.

One side of his mouth quirke
d up in a smile. “
How did this conversation get dangerous again?”

“
I think we just do that,”
she said.

“
Yeah,”
he said. “
I think we do.”

With that, he kissed her chastely on the nose and released her, clearing his throat as he walked toward the dining room
table.

“
So, uh,”
he said, “
I guess we need to work on tracking down Vickie Kemp, then.”

Shot down twice in one day, she thought. Has to be some kind of record.

She watched as he grabbed a pad of paper and a pen from the hutch in the dining room, and could
n
’
t help but smile at how businesslike his demeanor was. She knew he was just playing it safe, and she had to respect that. She
’
d been doing that herself for quite some time.

The only thing was, playing it safe got you a whole lot of nowhere. It had taken
a long time for that lesson to make its way through her thick skull, but now that it had, Tessa knew she was all done with safe.

Finn looked up at her.

“
You gonna come in here and help me figure this out, or are you just gonna watch me with that stupid gri
n on your face?”

“
I beg your pardon,”
she said with mock indignation as she headed toward the dining room. “
This just happens to be the smartest grin I own.”

***

Vickie Kemp sat on the olive green beanbag chair in Margie Fletcher
’
s basement and drummed h
er fingers against her arm. She
’
d been down there for almost a full week, and there was no sign she
’
d be leaving anytime soon.

And, as much as she loved Margie, the woman
’
s cooking was really atrocious. But, bright side, Vickie thought she might be losing
some weight. She glanced down at her middle-aged middle, sucked it in, let it go.

Eh. Maybe not.

“
Sorry I
’
m late,”
Margie said, traipsing down the basement stairs carrying a pizza box, paper plates, and a two-liter bottle of soda.

“
That better be pepperoni
,”
Vickie said.

Margie gave her a look as if to say “
Duh,”
then settled down on the futon and put the pizza and soda on the old glass coffee table. Vickie pushed herself up from the beanbag
—
no mean feat for a forty-eight-year-old woman
—
and walked over to t
he minibar in the corner.

“
Oh, no,”
Margie said, hand on the flat stomach Vickie tried hard not to envy. “
No rum for me tonight.”

“
So, what then?”
Vickie glanced at the stock of liquor. “
Vodka, scotch, or that awful homemade cranberry wine Astrid made last
year?”

There was a slight pause. “
Vodka.”

Vickie retrieved the other bottle, then sat on the futon and mixed alcohol and soda while Margie settled the pizza slices on the paper plates. It was the picture of twenty- first-century domesticity
—
two middle-age
d divorcees getting blitzed over pizza on a Thursday night.

“
So,”
Vickie said, grabbing a slice, “
what
’
s the news?”
Margie
’
s face registered disappointment. “
No news. Although Finn did visit me at the store today.”

Vickie paused midbite and pulled back fro
m the pizza. “
That
’
s news. Did you tell him anything?”

“
No.”
Margie
’
s expression was pensive. “
I
’
m just not sure we can trust him yet. I think he
’
s staying at Tessa
’
s.”

“
That
’
s good; he can protect them,”
Vickie said.

“
I guess.”
Margie
’
s eyebrows rose in
reluctant approval. “
He bought daisies.”

Vickie put her hand to her chest. “
Ohhhh! His love is loyal and pure!”

“
Eh. Maybe.”
Margie dropped her pizza on her plate. “
I just don
’
t trust him. After what he did to Tessa, I wanted to kill him. And now here he
’
s
back after all these years, and...”
Margie took a big swallow of her drink. “
I don
’
t trust him.”

“
You
don't forgive
him,”
Vickie said. “
Give him credit where credit
’
s due. He did save my store.”

Margie rolled her eyes.

“
And he bought daisies.”

Margie gave
a grudging shrug. “
And he took in Bitsy.”

“
Oh, honey.”
Vickie winced. “
You
’
ve gotta stop calling that mutt Bitsy. It
’
s got a penis. Give it some dignity.”

Margie took a bite of her pizza, chewed thoughtfully for a moment, then spoke. “
If that boy hurts
Tessa again, I
’
ll hunt him down and kill him, I swear I will.”

“
Oh, please. You will not. You
’
ll do exactly what you did last time
—
be there for Tessa.”
Vickie paused for a moment before saying what she had to say next. “
Besides, I think we
’
ve got bigger th
ings to worry about.”

Margie
’
s eyes met Vickie
’
s, and her face darkened. “
What are we gonna do now?”

“
I don
’
t know. I
’
ve been trying to formulate a plan B, but considering how stupid plan A was...”

“
It wasn
’
t stupid,”
Margie said. “
He did try to burn your
place down. We just didn
’
t catch him.”

“
Which was the whole point of plan A, if I recall,”
Vickie said. “
The part where we catch the bastard.”

“
Look, I said I was sorry,”
Margie said. “
I realize now I
’
m too old to be doing stakeouts.”
She shrugged. “
But a
t least we know he got in there between the hours of three and six. That
’
s something.”

Between the hours of what?
“
I thought you said you only fell asleep for twenty minutes.”

Margie refused to meet Vickie
’
s eyes. “
Are we gonna argue about details, or are
we gonna figure out a way to catch that asshole? People are beginning to seriously wonder where you are. And I
’
m getting nervous. I told Finn you were in Bimini.”

“
Bimini?”
Vickie had to laugh. “
Why the hell would I go to Bimini?”

“
I don
’
t know,”
Margie wh
ined. “
I was under pressure, and he was looking at me like he didn
’
t believe me, and I
’
m a terrible, terrible liar. You know that. I wasn
’
t supposed to be getting questioned by people. That was not in the plan. Now, if he looks into it, he
’
ll find out you
’
re not there and...”

“
Finn
’
s the least of our problems.”
Vickie downed another swig of her drink. The vodka went right where it was supposed to, and she smiled. “
Do you think it
’
s possible we
’
re not catching Matt Tarpey because we
’
re getting drunk every ni
ght?”

Margie paused with her drink half lifted, raised an eyebrow and smiled, then sallied forth and downed a large swallow.

“
You know,”
Vickie said for probably the tenth time in the last two days, “
Finn
is
a private detective. And we
’
re both too old and
too drunk to pull this crap off on our own. I think we
’
ve pretty much proven that.”
She paused, then swung for the fence. “
I really think we should consider bringing Finn in on this and letting him nail the bastard.”

“
Maybe,”
Margie said, looking unconvinc
ed.

Vickie sat back. A “
maybe”
was progress. Every night prior, Margie had responded to Vickie
’
s sensible suggestion with rounds of creative cursing. Man, that woman could hold a grudge like no one Vickie had ever known.

“
You know we
’
re gonna need help,”
V
ickie said. “
I can
’
t hide out in this basement forever.”

“
I know.”
Margie paused for a moment, her expression troubled. “
Izzy was acting weird again today at work. I don
’
t know what she
’
s up to, but I
’
m worried about her. If Matt Tarpey realizes it
’
s Izzy
and not us who
’
s been snooping around
—”

“
He won
’
t,”
Vickie said. “
We
’
ll just have to keep his attention on us, and draw him out before he can suspect Izzy knows anything. And if Finn
’
s staying with Tessa and Izzy, it
’
s even more reason to let him in on eve
rything. It
’
ll be easier to protect them if he knows who he
’
s protecting them from.”