Center Stage: Magnolia Steele Mystery #1 (24 page)

I chuckled. “I’m a burr under my mother’s saddle. I’m sure she’s eager to get rid of me.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that. You should stay.”

I leaned back in my seat. “I wouldn’t even know what to do here. As my brother pointed out, I don’t have a college degree. Acting and waitressing are all I know, and I sure as hell don’t want to be a waitress for the rest of my life.”

“So if you don’t stay here, where will you go and what will you do?”

“I don’t know yet.” But hopefully it wouldn’t involve making license plates at the state pen.

Tilly cast a long glance at me, her face serious. “Before you go decidin’ anything, talk to your momma first, okay?”

“Tilly . . .”

“Just promise.”

“Fine,” I sighed. “I promise.”

Tilly pulled into the restaurant parking lot, saving me from further conversation, but my hands were shaking as we walked toward the restaurant.

I stopped outside the front door and grabbed Tilly’s arm, pulling her aside. “Tilly, what do you think of Roy?”

She rolled her head and grumbled, “
That’s
a loaded question if I ever heard one.”

“I know I shouldn’t put you on the spot like this. Just give me an overall impression.”

She crossed her arms and pressed her lips together. “He’s a weasel.”

I pushed out a breath. “Oh, thank God you see it too.”

“When did
you
see him?”

“Last night. Without Momma. It did
not
go well.”

“Well, that momma’s boy is with his momma today, so you’ll see a whole different side to him. Let’s go. I’ve got your back.”

If Tilly thought I needed backup, then I was even more worried about what I was walking into.

I
followed
her inside and forced a smile as I walked up to the table. Belinda gave me a worried look, then stood and gave me a perfunctory hug. “Magnolia, how are you feeling?”

“Much better, thanks.” I tried to give her as little attention as possible, not wanting to upset her dipshit husband.

They were sitting at a six-person table—Roy and Belinda on one side and Momma on the other. I sat down next to Momma, directly opposite my brother. Tilly gave me a grimace as she sat next to Roy. I tried to hide a smirk of amusement.

“We barely got a chance to talk last night,” Roy said in a breezy tone. If I didn’t know better, I might have thought there was genuine warmth behind his smile, but I noticed he didn’t go so far as to stand up and hug me. He probably valued his shins. “Tell me how life’s been treating you, Sis.”

“Just peachy, Bro,” I said, in a tone that matched his. “Why just the other day, I got a
very
sweet offer.”

His eyebrows rose, his discomfort obvious. “You don’t say?” Then he lifted his water glass to his mouth to hide a scowl.

But Momma perked up. “An offer? What kind of offer?”

Roy lowered his glass, looking anxious.

I kicked up my smile by several hundred megawatts. “I’m pretty sure it was a high
five-
figure deal.”

He choked on his water, spitting it out on the table.

“Oh, dear Roy.” My voice dripped with sympathy. “Are you okay?”

Roy’s mouth pinched into a tight line, and Momma shot him a look of confusion.

Tilly burst out laughing and said, “I’m eager to hear about this five-figure deal, Maggie.”

The look on her face told me she suspected who’d made the offer.

“Oh, there’s not much to tell really,” I said coyly, grabbing a sugar packet from the middle of the table and twisting it in my hand. I kept my eyes locked with my brother’s. “But I
can
tell you it involves relocation.”

My mother stiffened next to me. “Are you going to take it?”

My eyes narrowed slightly, still fixed on my brother. “I’m keeping my options open. I’m waiting to see the official offer.”

I couldn’t help thinking this new murder
had
to help clear my name. And once that happened, I could get on a plane and fly away and never come back. I had no proof that the texts and the flower were from the murderer from ten years ago, but I couldn’t let anything happen to Momma. Or Belinda. And much as I couldn’t stand my brother, I couldn’t let anything happen to him either. Maybe leaving was the best option.

But a sideways glance told me my statement bothered her. My mother had been our rock growing up. Most fathers carried the title, but ours had been a pushover. My mother had always worn the pants in our family, a true matriarch. But now she looked older and more worn than I’d ever seen her.

“Did you talk to Emily?” Momma asked. “I saw her at church and told her you were home sleepin’ off a migraine.”

“More like a hangover,” my brother mumbled.

“Roy.” Momma’s tone was short and blunt. The voice she’d used when we were kids. It had instantly gotten our attention then, and it was no less effective now, as evidenced by the look on my brother’s face. “Your sister has been through an ordeal. You should show her a little sympathy.”

His eyes narrowed, but he offered me a smile so obviously plastic I was surprised it didn’t break from stress. “Of course, I’m so sorry to hear about your implication in a murder case.”

I knew all too well
why
he was sorry to hear it.

I placed my hands on my chest, then said in a dramatic voice, “That was so heartfelt it brought tears to my eyes.”

“If that’s any indication of your acting ability, no wonder you lost your job,” Roy drolled.

Tilly hid a grin behind her hand, and Momma released a groan. “Can you two please get along? This is the first time we’ve been together in eight years. Can you let me enjoy the moment?”

“Of course, Momma,” I said, rubbing her arm. “I’m sorry.”

Roy turned his smile on our mother. “I’m sorry I upset you.”

She nodded and then looked down at her menu. I shot a questioning glance at Tilly. The momma I had grown up with never would have looked so resigned. Had age softened her
that
much?

Tilly held my eyes for several seconds before dropping her gaze.

Was this why Tilly was so insistent I talk to Momma before I made a decision to leave? Was Roy being abusive to Momma too? A new fire sputtered to life in my chest. I sure as hell wasn’t about to put up with
that
nonsense. I wanted to confront him then and there, but Belinda interrupted my plan.

“Magnolia, what did Emily say?” she asked, her hands clasped together and resting on the table.

I took a second to calm down enough to answer. “She has a source at the police station—” which I still found surprising, “—who told her the victim was a man.”

“And no suspects yet?” she asked.

“No.”

Momma put down her menu. “Have the police contacted you today?”

“No. The only calls I’ve gotten today were from Emily and—” I stopped myself before I said Belinda’s name “—and you.”

“They’ll want to know about your alibi,” Belinda said, worry furrowing her brow. “Were you with Colt all night?”

Roy placed his hand over Belinda’s, exerting a little more force than was necessary. “Belinda, darling. You need to stop that nonsense and let the police do their job.”

“I know,” she said, her jaw setting. “But your sister is a person of interest in another murder that occurred in the same house. It stands to reason that we need to make sure she’s got an alibi during the time frame of the second murder.”

His mouth gaped as he turned to her. “Didn’t I just say to let it go?”

“But Roy—”

“Belinda, darling, you plan
weddings
. You do not have the mind of a police detective. Playing with wedding dresses is nowhere near as important as police work. Leave legalities to the professionals.”

I could
not
believe what I was hearing.

“Are you
seriously
suggesting your wife is incapable of thinking for herself?” I demanded. Something deep inside told me to leave this alone, this was not my fight, but I needed to latch on to something I could win. And I had no doubt that I could outmaneuver Roy.

But the look of panic in Belinda’s eyes warned me that I was messing with her life too.

“Stay out of this, Magnolia,” Roy sneered.

“Roy.” Momma’s sharp outburst of his name made us all jump. “What has gotten into you?”

His face softened. “I’m sorry, Momma. I know I’m overreacting, but I love Belinda so much I can’t bear to see her get hurt. You know what a kind heart she has.” He looked back at her, taking her hand in his and squeezing. “People take advantage of that.”

Something he knew firsthand. My brother was a bully. An abuser. I’d suspected it after last night, but now I had ample proof.

Did my mother see it too?

But she was looking down at her menu, and I realized his movement had been carefully planned.

Fucking bastard.

But Tilly’s mouth pursed as her eyes drilled into my mother’s bent head.

Our carefully worded conversation over the course of lunch could have been a sketch on a comedy show, but the dark circles under my mother’s eyes suggested the farce was wearing her down. It made me realize she wasn’t getting any younger, and my own troubles had added to her stress. I really needed to make sure my brother wasn’t bullying her too.

Roy made a show of picking up the tab, and when we prepared to leave, he reached for me and pulled me into an awkward embrace.

I tensed and prepared to knee him in the balls if necessary, but he leaned into my ear and whispered, “It will take me a day to get the funds ready and make the transfer, so if you really want a five-figure offer, be at my office at two tomorrow. After you leave, I expect you to immediately skip town and never return. You don’t show, and the offer is gone forever.”

I pulled back and looked at him in disbelief.

“And just so we’re clear, there will be a five in front of that.” Then he winked.

Fifty thousand dollars
? I’d been trying to bait him at the table. I’d never expected him to follow through. But fifty thousand dollars could get me anywhere I needed to go.

Could I leave Belinda with this monster? Could I leave Momma?

He turned to Belinda and kissed her cheek. “I’ll go warm up the car, precious.” Then he smiled at our mother. “Momma taught me how to treat my lady right.”

He was out the door too quickly to hear Tilly’s snort, but my mother had a worried smile as she watched him walk out. Did she see it too? Maybe she saw more than she wanted to—no mother wants to believe her son has become a bad man.

“I’m going to go to the restroom,” she murmured, sounding tired.

Tilly moved in her direction. “I’ll go with you.”

They left Belinda and me in the restaurant foyer, along with several people waiting for their tables. Belinda kept her gaze on the window, wearing a goofy smile that made her look like she was on a parade float, and then she lifted her hand and gave a little wave.

My brother was outside the window watching her.

Taking her cue, I waved to him too. Trying to move my lips as little as possible, I said, “I need to talk to Amy. I need to see if she’ll tell me who was at the house so I can compare both guest lists.”

“I can’t go with you.”

“I know. Roy.”

She swiped at the corner of her eye. “I know you don’t understand—”

I pushed out a frustrated sigh. “Belinda, you don’t owe me anything, let alone an explanation about your marriage.”

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“But I will say this. My brother is an asshole, and you deserve better. Leave him.”

“It’s not that easy.” Her fake smile quavered.

“Nothing worth having ever is.” Someone had told me that once, back when I was struggling to survive after landing in New York.
Nothing worth having is easy.
I’d believed it back then, but now I had my doubts. Maybe life just wasn’t easy, period. Whether you got what you wanted or not.

“I’ll text you her number,” Belinda said. “And send you the guest list from the release party.”

The restaurant door opened, and Roy appeared in the opening. “Ready, precious?”

“Yeah,” she said with a brittle smile. Then she turned to my mother, who had just returned from the restroom. “I’ll call you later, Lila.”

My mother gave her a lingering look before nodding. “You get some rest. You look tired.”

Roy wrapped an arm around Belinda’s back and led her to his Lexus, the white steam from the exhaust billowing in the gray mist.

“Momma, can I borrow your car?” I asked, still watching the parking lot.

“Why?” She sounded suspicious.

“I need to check on a few things.”

“About this new murder? Does Emily know?”

I turned to her with a soft smile. “Yes to both. We think this will clear my name, but since my interrogation with Detective Holden went so poorly, we both feel the need to hedge my bets.”

“What happened with the interrogation?”

“Nothing you need to worry about. We’ve got it covered.”

Momma studied my face for a few seconds, a question on the tip of her tongue, but she handed me her keys. “Be careful, Magnolia. I didn’t just get you home only to lose you again.”

I leaned over and kissed her cheek. How many times had I done this as a teenager? “I will.”

I walked to Momma’s car, watching her and Tilly cross the parking lot. She seemed to be moving slower today than she had over the last couple of days, but I assured myself she just needed to rest. The stress was getting to her.

I got in Momma’s car and turned the key, letting the engine heat up as I tried to come up with a plan. I needed Internet, and a coffee shop was the best place to find it for free.

The rain must have inspired half the town to get hot beverages. Starbucks was packed, but I was lucky enough to nab a two-person table while I waited for my nonfat cappuccino.

I decided to start off by doing a little more digging into Paul Locke. He wasn’t famous enough for the tabloids to have gone digging into his personal life. But what little I could find hinted that he’d been raised by a single mother in a trailer park in Alabama. His first album had released two years ago, and his second was set to drop in a couple of weeks. An early release teaser single from the second album had shot to number two on the charts and hung there for several weeks before falling. A newspaper post from last week had suggested Paul was set to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars to Max—possibly millions—if his new album did as well as everyone expected.

I took a sip of my drink, and my phone dinged with a message from Belinda containing Amy’s contact information. I wasn’t sure how likely Amy was to answer a call from an unknown number, but it was a good place to start.

Surprisingly, she picked up on the first ring. “This is Amy.”

“Hey, Amy, it’s Magnolia. Belinda’s sister-in-law.” I left off
and person of interest in the murder at your boss’s house
. No need for overkill.

“Magnolia . . . is Belinda with you?” Her voice was shaky, and she sounded close to tears.

“No.” Did Amy know about her friend’s issue-ridden marriage? “She’s busy today, but I hope it’s okay that she gave me your number. We heard about the new murder.” She remained silent, so I pushed on. “I was happy to hear Luke’s okay.”

“Yeah . . .”

She sounded out of it. “Amy, are
you
okay?”

She hadn’t handled the stress of finding Max’s body well. Another murder might have pushed her over the edge.

“Yeah . . . no.” She paused. “
I
was the one to find the body this time, Magnolia.”

“Oh, my God. I’m so sorry. I know how shocking that is. Was it awful?”

“Yes.” Her whisper was so quiet that it worried me.

“Amy, where are you? Do you have someone with you?”

“No.” Then she cleared her throat, forcing strength into her voice. “I’m fine. I’m trying to control this publicity nightmare.”