The Crimson Brand (24 page)

“Mr. Price made the city council hire Mr. Creepy?”

“I doubt it,” Zoe said.  “He probably only had to ask.  But yeah, we think Mr. Price got him that job.”

They slowed now, putting a little more distance between themselves and the nearest lunchtime stragglers.  Once again they would be the last in the building, though, and they’d have to run to make it in time.

“But why?”  Penny felt like she was still missing something.  If she was, so were Katie and Zoe.

“I don’t know.  Maybe to keep him out of trouble or out of the way.”

They slipped inside a few steps behind the last of the lunch crowd, and the door swung shut behind them.

“Michael says there have been a lot of complaints about him.”

“What kind of complaints?”  Penny was grasping for any missing detail that might shed a bit of light.

“Nothing he can get in trouble for,” Zoe said.  “Rudeness, tardiness, giving people the creeps.”

Penny couldn’t think of anything else to ask, which was just as well.  She made it through the door of her next class just as the bell rang.

*   *   *

They met at the hollow almost immediately after school, while Katie’s dad and Susan were still at work and Zoe’s grandma was enjoying an afternoon nap.  Ronan was, thankfully, absent.  Penny wanted to warn him about Duke’s plans to lure Susan out of town, but she didn’t want him to guess that they had been investigating the Dukes behind his back.

“You have got to tell Susan!” Katie almost shouted in her alarm at Penny’s latest news.  “He’s up to something …!”

“I know, Kat,” Penny interrupted, not wanting Katie to build momentum and launch into a full-blown rant. 

Of course I have to tell her
, Penny thought. 

But I don’t want to
.

She could already imagine the look of hurt, the betrayal in Susan’s eyes.  She didn’t even want to be there to see it, let alone be the one to cause it.

Zoe maintained a distracted silence, working on her new wand while Penny filled Katie in on Morgan Duke’s plans for Susan.

“Almost finished,” Zoe said in a painfully obvious attempt to break the tension.

They turned to find her fitting her prized silvery Ruthenium crystal into the tip of her new wand and twisting it into place.

“What do I do now?” Zoe asked Katie, finally satisfied with her work.

“Just point it at the sky,” Katie said.  “It’ll do the rest.”

Katie turned back to Penny, not content to let the subject drop.  “Tonight?”

“Okay,” Penny said.  “I just hope she believes me.”

“Why wouldn’t she?” 

“Because she
likes
him, and she knows I don’t.”

“Maybe Michael could back you up,” Zoe said, resigning herself to the debate now that she had nothing else to distract her from it.  “She’d believe him.”

“No!”  Penny spoke more sharply than she’d intended.  She made herself calm down before elaborating.  “Susan’s already going to be embarrassed.  I don’t want her thinking the whole town knows.”

And with those words she convinced herself that it would have to be her, that it would have to be that night.  Better a small hurt now than a big one later.  She cared for Susan, and she owed her the truth … or at least as much of it as she could safely share.

“Go on, Zoe.”  This time it was Katie’s turn to provide a tension breaker.  “Try it out.”

“Okay … here goes,” Zoe said, and steeled herself as she pointed her new wand skyward.

The First Magic spell worked and Zoe’s new wand filled the hollow with an ultraviolet black light that they could hardly see but that made everything within glow like the interior of a discotheque. 

“That was awesome,” Zoe said, and laughed with pleasure.

*   *   *

Penny was waiting for Susan when she walked through the door, a fresh cup of jasmine tea in hand—Susan’s preferred after-work drink—and lasagna cooling in the kitchen.  It was not going to be a pleasant night for either of them, but it was going to be harder on Susan.  Penny would do anything she could to make it a little easier. 

“Hi, Susan,” Penny said, stepping from the kitchen as Susan shut the door.

Susan jumped, startled by the unexpected greeting.  Penny was almost never around when Susan came home from work, and, if she was, she was usually upstairs.  It wasn’t her habit to greet Susan at the door.

“Penny, you startled me.”  She laughed and kicked her shoes off, then regarded the tea with surprise bordering on suspicion.  “Thanks.”

“Dinner’s done, too … lasagna.”  Penny gestured over her shoulder into the kitchen.  “It needs to cool down but it’ll be ready soon.”

“Okay,” Susan said, taking the tea from Penny’s hand.  She sniffed it with obvious enjoyment, but the look she turned on Penny a moment later was dubious.  “What are you softening me up for?”

“What?”  Penny endeavored to sound innocent but knew that the hot blush rising in her cheeks wasn’t helping her case.  “I just wanted to do something nice for you.”

“Hmmm,” Susan considered her for a second longer, unconvinced, then made her way into the living room.  “Well, whatever it is, give me a chance to get off my feet and relax for a few minutes before you spring it on me.”

Indignation won out over embarrassment.  Penny crossed her arms and followed Susan.  “Maybe I was just trying to be nice.”

Susan set her handbag down next to her recliner and settled in slowly.  She gave Penny her dubious look again, then smiled. 

“Thanks Penny.  It smells great.”

Penny relaxed a little.

“I hope you made enough for three, though.” She winked at Penny and took her first sip of the jasmine tea.  “I invited Morgan over for dinner tonight.”

“He’s coming here … tonight?”

“We were going to make tacos, but lasagna is fine … great actually.”  She winked at Penny.  “Especially since I don’t have to cook now.”

Penny settled into the sofa across from Susan’s recliner, suddenly at a loss for words.

“Oh, Penny, just give him a chance.”  There was a plea in Susan’s voice that made Penny’s task even more unpleasant.  “I know he’s a little old for me, but he’s sweet, and I like him.” 

Penny turned her eyes away from Susan’s agonized face, chewing her lip, trying to pick her next words with as much care as possible.

She
hated
this!

“Are you afraid he’ll make me choose between you?”

Penny’s head snapped up and saw true concern on Susan’s face.

“No,” Penny said, and, though that wasn’t the point, knowing it made her love Susan even more.

“Why don’t you like him, Penny?” 

Anger flushed her face, and for the second time that day Penny was terrified that her inner fire within would overwhelm her.

“He’s working with Mr. Price.”

For a moment Susan regarded her with unblinking eyes, her fair face paler than usual.  Then slowly the pleading expression melted away, shifted into a guarded, neutral one.

Penny couldn’t hold that gaze.  She looked down at her feet and had to clench the edges on the couch cushion to stop herself from running from the room.

“How do you know that?”  Susan’s voice was cold, without inflection.

Penny tried to speak but couldn’t.  Her mouth was too dry, her throat locked up.  She could barely breathe.

“How do you know that?” 

Penny swallowed, cleared her throat, whispered.

“Penny…?” Susan was clearly struggling to control her anger.

“Kat’s brother,” Penny croaked.  “Michael overheard the sheriff talking about some land deal his brother was working on with Morgan.”

Penny dared to look up and wished she hadn’t.  She stared down between her feet again.

“Kat knew Mr. Price wants our land, so she asked Michael what he knew about the deal.  He didn’t know anything, but …,” and Penny’s power of speech abandoned her again.

Penny heard the creaking of springs as Susan rose from her recliner, the soft patting of her feet on the floor, but didn’t look up.  Then Susan’s feet were in front of Penny’s, almost toe to toe, and Penny tried to brace herself … for what she didn’t know.

Shouting?

Denial?

Penny flinched back as Susan grasped her arms, firmly but gently, and guided her to her feet.

Penny closed her eyes.

“Penny,” the anger was still in her voice, but now mixed with another emotion Penny couldn’t readily identify.  “Look at me.”

Penny looked into Susan’s face.  Her expression was less guarded now, the hurt plain in her eyes. 

Susan bent down and wrapped her arms around Penny.

“Thank you for telling me,” she said.

The embrace was short, and when Susan released her the neutral expression was back in place, but the lines on her brow were as deep as Penny had ever seen them.

Penny could almost pity Morgan Duke.  Almost.

“Would you set the table?  I need to call Michael.”

Penny nodded and rushed toward the kitchen, relieved to escape the tension that had built up and still lingered in the room.

Susan’s hand settled on her shoulder before she made it to the foyer.

“Set it for three,” Susan said.  “We have company on the way.”

*   *   *

“Good evening, ladies,” Morgan Duke said, hamming it up with a deep bow to Susan and Penny.

“Come in, Morgan,” Susan said.  She had her emotions under control.  Her greeting was pleasant, inviting.  She stepped aside and allowed him in, and gently closed the door behind him.  The strain of maintaining this pleasant front showed in the rigidness of her smile, which looked almost painful.  Penny thought her jaw might cramp up if she didn’t relax it soon.

Morgan swept in between them, bending a little to favor Penny with his wide, patronizing smile.  “Young Miss Sinclair, always a pleasure.”

Get bent
.

“It’s good to see you,” Penny said, now smiling so widely she thought her own jaw might cramp.

Morgan sniffed the air theatrically as he rose, then grinned.

Penny wished he would stop smiling.  Just once, she’d like to see an honest emotion on the man’s face.  She thought that tonight she might get her wish.

“Is that lasagna I smell?”

“It is,” Susan said, returning his fake grin with interest.  “Penny is treating us tonight.”

“It smells fine,” Morgan said, turning that infuriating grin on Penny again.  “I can hardly wait!”

“You don’t have to,” Susan said, taking his arm and guiding him into the kitchen.

Penny barely picked at her food, but Morgan demolished his first helping enthusiastically before settling back in his chair and patting his large gut. 

“So,” he said at last, winking roguishly at Susan.  Penny wanted to vomit.  “Have you discussed your spring break plans with the young lady?”

Susan, who Penny now saw hadn’t touched her dinner at all, sipped from her water glass, then nodded.  “Yes, Morgan, we’ve discussed it.”

“Good!”  He clapped his hands together and leaned even further back in his chair to regard them both.  “I’ve made the arrangements already.  You two will have a nice condo on the beach, full service, and I’ll be right next door.”

“I do have one question,” Susan said.  She picked up her water glass to take another sip and Penny saw it shaking slightly.

Morgan saw this, too, and his own manufactured cheeriness faltered.

Penny grinned, a real grin this time.

“Ask away,” Morgan said.

“How much is Ernest Price paying you to work me?”

Morgan’s eyes widened at the mention of his silent partner.

“And is our vacation purely business or were you planning on having a little fun with me too while we were away?”

Morgan Duke gaped in astonishment.  He seemed frozen in place.

The dash of cold water that hit him a second later broke the paralysis.  He spluttered and coughed, shoved himself away from the table and sprawled onto the floor as his chair tipped over.

Penny would not laugh—she knew that this was hurting Susan—but she did enjoy the stunned look on Morgan’s face as he rose from the floor.

“Come on now, Susan, don’t do this.”

“Don’t do what?”  Susan shouted at him.  Her chair flew out from beneath her as she jumped up to face him.  “Don’t do this?”

Susan snatched Penny’s water glass and gave him a second dousing. 

His face and the pink dome of his head shone with moisture, and the shoulders of his immaculate black suit were soaked.

“Or what about this?”  Susan lunged for the utensil drawer and yanked it open, nearly spilling its contents.

For a second Penny was certain she was going for the carving knife, and the look on Morgan’s face suggested he was thinking along the same lines.

She withdrew a nicked wooden rolling pin by one handle and pointed it at him like a sword.

Or a wand
, Penny thought.

Susan was awesome in her rage, and slightly terrifying.

She regarded Morgan over the formidable shaft of the rolling pin, eyes narrowed and head tilted.

Morgan watched Susan in pure terror, beads of water still running down his face.

“Susan, just … calm down.  Don’t do anything ….”

“Crazy?”  Susan raised a sardonic eyebrow at him.  “Haven’t you ever heard what they say about a woman scorned?”

“Mr. Duke,” Penny said.

He reluctantly turned his gaze to Penny.

“I would get out of here now if I were you.”

Keeping his eyes on the business end of Susan’s rolling pin, he sidestepped toward the hallway.  Once in the hall, he dashed to the front door.

“Ladies,” he said, regaining a measure of bravery as he put some distance between himself and Susan.  “I did try to do this the easy way.”