Bouquet of Lies (17 page)

“I guess that makes sense.”

“There’s usually a reason for it.”

“I think the reason is Randy. He’s the possessive type. He may be trying to keep her all to himself.”

The detective nodded. “It’s certainly food for thought.”

Twenty

“COOKIES AND MILK?” Lacey looked at the plate of raisin-oatmeals Henry had just placed before her and Jake. She felt like she was five again.

“I’ve never seen such mopey faces. Eat.” Henry closed the oven door and took off the oven mitt. Then he sat down at the table with Lacey and his son. “What’s going on?”

Lacey grabbed a cookie. “Jake’s in love with Darla and she’s going to marry another man.” She took a bite.

Jake opened his mouth in protest and quickly shut it.

“Tell me something I don’t know.” Henry patted Jake’s shoulder. “Well, I didn’t know about the other man, but I knew how he felt about Darla.” Jake looked as glum as a kid who’d slept through Christmas. “You wear your heart on your sleeve, son.”

There was something comforting about Henry’s accepting the situation as it was. Like it wasn’t such a big deal because if it needed to change, it would.

“I’ve always been in love with Darla,” Jake admitted and he bit into a cookie.

Henry turned his attention to Lacey. “And what about your sorry mug?”

“I think my mother isn’t dead.”

“Her mug’s not sorry, it’s confused,” Jake mumbled through the cookie.

“How come your mug doesn’t look surprised?” Lacey said, wondering how Henry could not tell her all these years if he knew.

Henry pointed at his face. “Years of practice. My surprise muscles are slow on the uptake. I had no idea. I was hired long after she—well, evidently didn’t die. I’m bowled over.” He shook his head and looked thoughtful. Lacey wondered what he was thinking about.

“You know things, don’t you? Secret things. About the family.” Her eyes followed him as he stood up and put the cookie sheet in the sink.

“Part of my job description is to keep my mouth shut.”

“But Harper’s dead now, and I guess that makes me your boss. Unless you find it too weird to work for me and plan on leaving. Please don’t.”

He smiled. “Well, Edward’s still around. But my loyalty’s not to him. And with Harper gone and Edward still here, you should know.”

“Yes, I should. I definitely should. Know what?”

Henry sat down. “This happened a long time ago . . .” He stalled. The normally ice-calm Henry appeared nervous. He rubbed his face. “I probably should have gone to child protective services, but I would have just been fired and who’d have kept an eye out then? And if Darla had been taken away, foster care is a mixed bag. Who knows where she’d have ended up?”

Lacey sat frozen. He was being ominous and had her full attention.

“You know, some people get away with murder all their lives and Edward’s a case in point.”

“Murder?” Lacey swallowed.

Henry held up a hand. “It’s an expression. Anyone could see he resented both of you girls. But he hated Darla, that little wisp of a thing. He had a special pocket of hatred in his heart for her. And after that incident in the house.” He looked at Jake. “You told me about it, remember? The game of Hide and Seek where Darla came up missing?”

“Yeah,” Jake said.

“I don’t,” Lacey said. “We never played Hide and Seek in the house.”

“Not after that,” Jake told her.

“What happened?”

Jake wiped some crumbs from his mouth before he began. “Darla got lost and we couldn’t find her even though we could hear her and Edward stood there laughing at us. He tried to stop me from going to get Harper for help.”

Lacey shook her head. “I don’t remember.”

“Trust me, it happened. Harper knew exactly where to find her and after that he told us to play outside or to stay in the playroom. All he said to Edward was ‘Leave the kids alone.’”

“Hmmm,” Lacey said. She looked at Henry. “So go on.”

“One day I heard the Cadillac start in the garage. Now, no one drives those cars but me, and I thought someone was boosting it. I grabbed the phone and looked out the window. I saw Edward at the wheel and Darla was in the car. I should have followed him.” He sighed like all this had happened yesterday. “But I didn’t. What I did do was turn on the tracker. They all have them. I figured out that he’d gone to the mall. It was weird, but, it wasn’t exactly my business. When he came back and there was no Darla, I panicked. I didn’t confront him. That wouldn’t have done a bit of good. I drove to the mall and I searched. I could follow his path exactly with technology the way it was and it didn’t look like he’d parked for any length of time so he probably hadn’t gotten out of the car. I figured he’d dropped her off in the parking structure. I drove around and found her. She couldn’t have been out there for more than forty minutes between the time it took for Edward to get back and for me to then drive to the mall, but that’s a really long time for a five-year-old. She was scared to death. I brought her home and told Harper about it. I don’t know what he said to Edward. Don’t think he mentioned me because Edward never confronted me or treated me any different.”

“Maybe he said the cops found her and brought her home and that scared the bejeebers out of him,” Jake offered.

“Anything’s possible,” Henry said. “He never tried it again. Not that I know of.”

Lacey sat on her bed, back against the headboard, knees up, cell phone in her hands. Henry’s story was interesting and she was glad he’d told her. But it certainly wasn’t anything that would be in Maggot’s missing file. His file was about her mother and who knew what else? It had to be something about Edward or Edward wouldn’t pay. So how did that add up to her father, then Maggot, being murdered?

Courtney called. Sigmund called to tell her a joke. But Dan’s ID never lit up the cell window. She must have run him off for good.

Don’t think about him.

Crystal, a.k.a. Tiffany, didn’t call. After what Uncle D had told her about the death certificate, she was more certain than ever that Crystal and Tiffany were one and the same. Why hadn’t she thought to get Honey and Crystal’s phone number? Then it occurred to her. They’d be listed. They wouldn’t pay to keep their names and numbers out of the phone book.

Honey sounded absolutely giddy when she answered the phone, and the good mood caused her to be a lot more forthcoming than when they’d had their face to face.

“Look, honey,” she said after Lacey identified herself. “I told you I’d tell her about you, but she ain’t come home yet. That’s right, she’s still working. She cleans houses. I don’t know what houses. I don’t go with her. I don’t want to be talking out of school here, but you seem like a nice kid. She cleans houses and I don’t. She used to do what I do, but to hear her tell it, she’s cleaning up her act. Pun intended.” Honey laughed. “Ain’t the nicest thing anybody ever said to me, but I don’t hold a grudge. And all that aside, I pick up a bit of business when they call for her. I just tell ‘em I’m her. Ain’t nobody complained yet. So, you see. She’ll call you when she knows to. I’ve got me this date and I’ll leave her a note. That’s the best I can do.”

Tiffany . . . Crystal . . . was a hooker? Or had been a hooker. Their mother? Lacey thought of the mansion she lived in. Their mother had gone from this to that? Why would she run off when apparently she had nowhere to go but the streets? Maybe she did have a place at the time. Maybe she had somebody else back then. Lacey felt nauseous. Her mind went in circles.

Harper was gone. She couldn’t ask him questions. And Edward would snort and cackle if she went to him. He’d be glad she was upset. He’d relish it. And he’d either lie about Crystal or wouldn’t talk.

Who could she ask? The family lawyer? Henderson? What did he know? Maybe everything, maybe nothing. Harper switched lawyers the way hotel maids changed sheets. Henderson had been around the longest, but not that long. He might know something. But what about lawyer/client privilege and all that crap?

And speaking of crap, she needed to start thinking about business school, college, becoming a CEO. She slid down on the bed. Actually, she had a year to think about that. Missing, lying, absconding moms were more pressing. And should she be including murderous among those adjectives? Had Darla really seen Crystal in the library with the poker? Not Professor Plum. Not Miss Scarlett. Not Colonel Mustard in the conservatory with the candlestick.

After torturing herself for an hour and getting nowhere, she called for Tiffany again. The answer machine picked up and she almost left a message, but then thought she better not.

She hugged the pillow, the phone clutched in her hand, as her mind traveled down a list of what was what:

Father murdered, relationship never to be mended. Check.

Deadbeat mother discovered alive, may be a murderer. Check.

Baby sister, mixing romance novels with reality, is about to get married to someone she doesn’t know. Check.

Grandfather Edward still here, still drunk, and still a toxic personality. Check.

Jake ready to ride off into the sunset to take his mind off Darla. Check.

Dan-the-Man, nowhere in sight. Double check.

Uncle D circling the wagons. Help!

She’d never felt so lonely in her life. She sat up and shook her body as if she were a Malamute emerging from a lake.

When lonely, don’t mope around. Call someone. Go somewhere. Buy a bride magazine. Help Darla pick a wedding dress. That might be carrying things a little too far.

She chuckled and then stopped. The upcoming nuptials were no laughing matter. But she had no way to stop it and she’d told Darla she’d help her, and laughing helped. She started to scoot off the bed when her phone rocked out. She stared transfixed. The caller ID said: Ticket Master.

Twenty-one

FOR THE LIFE of her, Lacey couldn’t figure out what it was about Dan that had her so intrigued, so enamored, so desirous.

Lots of guys were good looking and without a doubt more fun. Sometimes he had the personality of a stone. So what was this hold Dan had over her? Just because he called, she’d said “Yes, come pick me up. Yes, I’ll go to the Santa Monica pier with you. Yes, we need to talk.”

We need to do more than talk. We need to pick up where we left off in the kitchen that night.

Protect your heart.

He arrived in a green Dodge Challenger SRT8 and she nearly fell over. Strolling around the zoom-zoom machine, she glanced from it to him. Nice car, but it wasn’t him. At least it wasn’t how she thought of him. See? She didn’t even know him. The car had dual, full body stripes and he had dual, full body personalities. “What’s going on?”

“I bought a car.”

“This car?”

“Yes, this car. From a friend of a friend. You’re the first to see it. What do you think?”

“It . . . it’s . . . shocking!”

“Shocking?” He laughed. “Why is that?”

Had she ever seen him laugh? She didn’t think so.

“You don’t like to go fast.”

“I don’t like you to go fast. On city streets. And I ride a motorcycle.”

“For work.”

“I also race at the drags.”

“Oh.”

She must have looked stunned because he laughed again.

Viewed from the top of the Ferris wheel, the sky and sea came together as if they were one piece of black slate. City lights split the expanse and defined the Pacific Ocean coastline. The bright LED bulbs that edged the wheel blinked and chased and made merry. Down below, rides on the pier glowed. It was a balmy evening with no wind. The mild scent of salt air let riders know they were suspended above the ocean even if it appeared as a vast void because it was night.

Dan turned to Lacey with a serious stare. He’d been chattering all evening, talking like she’d never heard him talk. It was as if a dam had burst. As if he’d bottled up everything he wanted her to know about him and had chosen this moment to spill his guts.

He mentioned he had a wife who died. He didn’t explain any more than that, except to say she was the reason he learned to drink wine with dinner and why he learned to ballroom dance.

He said his aunt and uncle had taken him in when he was fourteen because he’d lost both of his parents by then. He said he’d been a Marine. That explained his perfect posture. He talked about the car he just bought. How he recently had gone back to the drag strip.

He talked about how he was thinking of selling his house and buying another one. About how he might make a career move and study to become a lawyer so he could become a judge. Maybe even run for office one day.

Ethical Dan-the-Man. She’d vote for him.

He took her hand and the smile fell from his face. The Ferris wheel car rocked ever so slightly. “I need to tell you something and I feel guilty about this.”

He was back to the Dan she was familiar with. Mr. Serious, Block-of-Wood. She wasn’t big on feeling guilty and shook her head. “And we were getting along so well.”

He let go of her hand. “I followed you.”

“I hope I went somewhere interesting.” She was curious, not bothered. She’d followed
him
home that one day. Had he forgotten?     

“To the Hotel Pamela.”

Okay, now he had her attention. If he asked her what she was doing there and she didn’t tell him, would he arrest her? Haul out the old handcuffs? There was that provocative image again.

“You look amused.” The worried edge in his face vanished.

“Turn about’s fair play.”

“You mean because you followed me.”

“Yeah. So we’re even.”

“You followed me because you wanted to know where I lived. I followed you because I thought you were keeping something from my uncle.”

“Really?” So he
was
going to ask about the exquisite Hotel Pamela.

“I do. But then I decided, that’s his job and if it’s true, he’ll get it out of you.”

Dan’s matter-of-fact manner sort of stung. What was Uncle D going to do? Apply Chinese water-torture? Drop out of the sky and rock the Ferris wheel car until, terrified, she sang?

Dan laughed and, as if reading her mind, said, “He has his ways. Terror isn’t one of them.”

It appeared her face could be an open book. She quickly covered. “I wasn’t worried. So you followed me. I forgive you. Let’s move on.”

Away from the Hotel Pamela. Away from Tiffany.

“Can’t. It isn’t just the following you I need to confess.” He stalled. “When I saw you on the back of that motorcycle with another guy, my good sense went right out the window.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I wanted to pull the guy over and make you get off the bike.”

“Really?” She grinned. “So why didn’t you?”

“Huh?”

“You wanted to do something, why didn’t you do it?”

“Because it was wrong. Because you have every right to have your arms around some other guy, if that’s where you want them to be. I hadn’t expected it. I hadn’t expected to feel jealous.”

His candor surprised her. “Jealous, huh? Not so sure there’s much you can do about it. I mean, it’s a fairly common emotion. I’ve felt it myself from time to time. But I can tell you right now, Jake would have laughed. He’s like a brother to me and I’m like a sister to him. You could have pulled us over and—”

“Stop! I don’t know if you make fun because honest emotions make you uncomfortable or if it’s because you want me to get only so close.”

She didn’t know the answer to that herself. Humor helped get her through most things. In a household like she’d been raised in, what else was there to do but joke? And now that she thought about it, had she ever had a close, serious relationship with a male?

His voice went low. “I’m trying to tell you something. I’m trying to tell you that you matter to me.” There was an intense sincerity in his eyes she hadn’t seen before. “If you don’t want that then you need to tell me. I’m not saying I can stop how I feel, but I am saying I won’t come around. I won’t call you.” He took her hand again. “I won’t touch you.” His lips came close to hers. “I won’t kiss you.”

She felt his breath on her face. His fingers brushed her cheek. She melted. Her insides went hot. Then they went cold. Then they were hot again. She closed her eyes and her heart raced. His lips were suddenly upon hers, his hands on either side of her face.

The Ferris wheel began to rotate and with it any sense of control she might have had over the situation blew away with the breeze. He’d confessed emotions he’d tried to keep in check. If she were honest with herself, she didn’t want them kept in check. There was a burning sensation at her core. She was crazy about him. She’d stop the jokes, let him get close. But what would happen then? Her head began to spin.

Did she have the guts to tell him how she felt? How he was always there in the back of her head? How the feel of his hands upon her right now was insanely wonderful? How his mouth devouring hers made her want to surrender herself to him then and there?

On a Ferris wheel?

She pulled back and murmured, “I think I’m dizzy.”

“I know I am,” he said and he kissed her again.

Between thoughts of how wonderful their second and third kisses had been, how nice it would be to go to his house and experience more, how fantastic it felt to have his strong arms around her as they strolled the pier together, Lacey forgot about Tiffany, her sister and her dead father.

For over two hours life was good. Nothing but the two of them mattered. Trouble had stopped knocking at the door and their relationship seemed filled with promise.

They rode the rides and lost at the arcade games until finally, Dan won a large purple monkey which he gave to her. They stopped to play Break A Plate where Lacey smoked the ball and won handily. Dan whistled and shook his head. “That’s one mean arm.”

“Just the right one.” She curled it and tensed the bicep. “The left one’s meek and mild.” She shifted the purple monkey and curled her left arm, but didn’t do anything to bulge the muscle. “See?”

The arcade attendant awarded her a stuffed tiger and she presented it to Dan. “For the best date ever.”

He accepted the tiger and gave it a pet. Then with an exaggerated, faux appraisal, he looked at Lacey’s face. “I’m not so sure there isn’t something significant about the way you cracked that plate to pieces. Maybe some pent-up anger issues I should know about? You know, just in case.”

She played along. “No, I don’t think so. Maybe the one arm, but that’s about it. The rest of me gets a little grouchy when I’m hungry.”

“Are you telling me you need to eat?”

“No. Just for future reference.”

“Duly noted.”

It was approaching midnight as they walked along holding their stuffed toys. Without discussing it, they found themselves on the beach, seated not too far from where the tide was rising. The sound of the rolling surf was louder than the background noise of the activity on the pier. Lacey took off her sandals, and with their furry animals set to the side, she and Dan snuggled against each other.

“You know, you redeemed yourself just in time,” Lacey said.

“Oh, yeah? How did I manage that?”

“You finally laughed. I was about to add another name to my collection for you. Stoneface.”

“That’s not so bad. I’m sure the people I ticket call me a lot worse.” He smiled and then looked out toward the waves. “This was fun. Not exactly what I planned.”

“You planned for us
not
to have fun?”

He chuckled. “You’re always so quick. No. I thought we would eat and talk and share some of our most intimate secrets. All I’ve learned tonight is that I love being with you. You love to laugh. You could probably pitch for the Dodgers and help them out of their slump. And second kisses with you are even better than first ones.”

She leaned her head on his shoulder. “Well, watch out for the next one.”

He laughed and his arm tightened around her. “I’ve been talking all night. Tell me something I don’t know about you.”

“Something you don’t know? Hmmm. What you see is what you get.”

“There’s more. I’ve caught glimpses. You’re more complex than you want to let on.”

“You think so, huh?”

“I know so. Tell me about your family.”

Ugh. There it was. The last topic in the world she wanted to discuss. She kept her head on his shoulder and didn’t open her mouth.

“Like talking about them that much, huh?” He glanced down at her.

She breathed in the smell of the sea and allowed the rhythmic sound of the waves to relax her. Why hadn’t she come down here more often? She could have brought Darla. Well, when Darla liked being with her. Darla would have enjoyed the sand with the surf rolling and breaking. She could have sketched the people, the birds and maybe even fantasized about the cute lifeguards . . .

“I love my sister,” she said. “We’re nothing alike.” She paused. He didn’t say anything. “She was always fragile right from the start.”

The breeze blew some hair into her mouth and she pulled it away. She pictured Darla as a young child, so small, taking her hand, a tear trickling down her cheek because of some mean thing Edward had said.

“We had separate rooms since always, but I ended up in her bed a lot because of the nightmares. She had them several times a week. When I heard her cry, I’d go in and fall asleep beside her. She’d sleep until morning then. And me too. I did that until I was older. Then I started going back to my room.”

She paused again, her mind reaching into the past to a memory she’d long since dismissed as a dream, but now allowed to surface as something else.

“One night. I think I was six. I fell asleep beside her, but woke up a couple hours later.” Lacey dug her toes in the sand and stared out at the black expanse of ocean. “I saw a woman sitting on the foot of the bed. She was hugging Darla and rocking her. Darla was sucking her thumb. Her head lay against the woman’s chest and she looked so peaceful. I wasn’t scared or anything. It seemed all right. And then the woman turned her head and it wasn’t all right anymore. She looked like our mother. At least, the image I still had of our mother in my head, and that threw me into a tizzy because I knew she was supposed to be dead. I scooted back as far as I could and that’s when she spoke. She said, ‘Please don’t be afraid. You’re both so beautiful. And I miss you. I miss you so very much.’ But she was dead and I didn’t understand. It didn’t matter how she looked at me or what she said, she wasn’t supposed to be there. I pulled my knees up to my face and put my arm there and bit it.