Ham Bones (23 page)

"What can I do?"

"Did Gabriel give anything away?"

She considered her answer carefully. "Nothing solid.
Since I've talked to him, he doubts you did it, but he wants someone to blame. I told him that it appeared to us
that Renata had deliberately set you up as the killer, and
he admitted she had a vengeful streak. But he said she
was a fighter. She'd never deliberately let herself be hurt
by anyone. That was the only thing he was positive aboutshe would never play the victim. Whoever did it-she
wouldn't cooperate with her or him."

"We have to find the killer, and I believe Renata's past
is the key. Someone she knew, something she did-that's
going to lead us to the killer."

"Gabriel wasn't much help there. In many ways, he
never knew Renata as the big Broadway star. His memories are of a young girl struggling to keep them alive, and
some of the things she had to do were unpleasant."

"I can see that"

Cece finished her glass of champagne. "Before this
past year, what Gabriel knew of his sister, he disliked. I
think it was guilt that made him come all this way to point
the finger of blame at you. He didn't love her, and now he
feels badly because guilt has convinced him that he should
have been a better brother. Someone should have loved
her, and he's that logical candidate."

Cece was giving me a real education into the twisted
emotions of Gabriel and Renata. "That makes sense"
And it did. Guilt and regret are hard companions to travel
with. I knew from personal experience.

"Look at that." Cece nodded at Gabriel and Kristine in
the other room. The two were standing close, and Gabriel
had picked up Giblet and was stroking the dog's head. "If
I'm not mistaken, I see sparks of romantic interest between those two"

"Are you okay with that?" Cece had shown a flare of
interest in Gabriel when he first blew into town. She wasn't
acting territorial now, though.

"Yeah" She shrugged a shoulder. "He's too serious for
me. He's a guy looking for a mission to throw himself
into-something bigger than he is. The woman he chooses
to love will always come second."

"How can you say that?" I put my arm around Cece.
"You and Tinkie are the optimists of the group. You always believe in love ruling the universe."

I do still believe in love, but I also know that my definition of love isn't everyone's. I want that passion that
comes from intense connection. I think Gabriel wants a
lover who's passionate about the same cause that he's devoted to-a love born out of mutual commitment to an
issue." She tugged my hair. "Kristine is the walking embodiment of a person committed to a cause. They're perfect for each other."

For a moment I watched Kristine and Gabriel. Whoever would have thought a man so immaculately turned
out would have a soft spot for dogs. In that split second, I
saw the future for the two of them-a king-sized bed
filled with Gabriel and Kristine and the stray animals they
rescued.

"How did you get to be so smart?" I asked Cece.

"I gave up my masculinity for the wisdom of estrogen"

My laughter was impossible to contain. Suddenly, I
felt much better. "Thanks, I needed that laugh."

"Anytime, dahling." She kissed my cheek. "I'm going
to slip away. Tell Gabriel that I had a deadline. Ask Kristine if she'll give him a ride home"

"Sure" As I watched Cece do a runway walk to the
door, I felt pride in my friend who knew herself well
enough to walk away. I delivered the messages to Kristine
and Gabriel, both of whom seemed delighted.

An hour and three glasses of champagne later, I found myself standing beside Harold as he proposed a toast to
me and the show. In a far corner of the room, Coleman
glowered, but he lifted his glass and drank to my success.
He'd made no effort to talk to me, yet he hadn't left. Curiouser and curiouser.

"Sarah Booth, you revealed a dimension of yourself
on the stage that we all suspected but never saw." Harold
brushed my hair from my cheek and kissed it softly.
"Whatever else happens in your life, you're going to be
legend in Delta drama circles."

I smiled and fought back the image of me performing
The Snake Pit in the prison cafeteria. "Thank you,
Harold. And thank all of you who supported me ""

Graf stepped forward. "To Sarah Booth, the next
Southern star to shine bright in the Hollywood sky."

Everyone cheered and swilled the champagne.

Not to be topped, Tinkie held up her glass. Magically,
waiters with glasses of champagne and little candy lipsticks appeared among the gathering. "To my friend and
partner, innocent of murder but guilty of stealing all of
our hearts" Tears shimmered in her eyes.

I blinked back my own tears, and my gaze was caught
by Coleman as he signaled me outside. "Thank you, Tinkie" I gave her a big hug.

As soon as I could, I excused myself from my friends
and slipped to the front porch. The night had grown cold,
and I had no jacket, but what I had to say to Coleman
wouldn't take long. He stood in the darkest corner, an outline among the shadows. Perhaps he'd always been that
and I'd fleshed him out with my desperation and imagination.

"Time for another interrogation?" I asked. "Or maybe
playing nursemaid to your wife has grown tiresome so you came here for a break from the routine." My imitation of a striking cobra surprised even me. My anger was
an indication of how badly he'd hurt me. Like any other
animal, I was fighting back.

Coleman closed the distance between us so fast that I
almost yelled. His hand caught my arm in a hard grip,
and before I could cry out or fight back, his lips covered
my mouth, and he kissed me.

At first I struggled, but my anger dissolved. Time and
place fell away, and the only things that mattered were
Coleman's lips and arms. This thing that I'd longed for
was so much sweeter than I'd ever dared to dream.

His kiss said all of the things that neither of us could
express. My response told him my heart and my fears. In
my thirty-four years, I'd been kissed thoroughly and with
expertise. Never had I been told a story of love by a kiss.

His hands moved over my back, caressing and claiming. I held onto his neck, twining my fingers in his hair,
clinging to the strength I felt pulsing through him. An
hour or a week could have passed. Nothing mattered except him.

"Tch, tch, tch. Sarah Booth, Coleman, you're out here
like two teenagers"

Tinkie's voice cut into my dream and split it wide
open. I stepped back from Coleman, my lips and body
tingling.

"Half the town is in there" Tinkie's voice was thick
with worry and anger. "If Booter or someone else had
stepped out here and seen this little display, everything
we're doing to help prove Sarah Booth's innocence would
have been for nothing."

She had a right to be angry, but I wasn't about to apol ogize. Coleman took a deep breath. "You're absolutely
right, Tinkie. I lost my head"

"You're going to lose your girl if you keep acting like
a lovesick teenager." She rounded on me. "And you! After
all this work to make it clear Coleman isn't going to be
prejudiced in your favor-it's hard to sell that story if
you're out here necking in the dark at a party."

"You're right." I spoke softly, not daring to look at
Coleman because I knew with one hint of encouragement, I'd be right back in his arms.

"Now, Coleman, you go home. Sarah Booth, get your
ass back in there and entertain your guests" Tinkie put
her hands on her hips. "Now!"

We scattered like a covey of flushed quail. When I got
to the door, I met Booter's sneer. "What's going on out
here? Did the sheriff finally decide to get you off the
streets for the safety of the town?"

I was just about to stomp her ass when I felt Tinkie's
restraining hand on my arm. "Rooter, dear, I saw there are
only two canapes left. You better grab them so you don't
have to leave empty-handed" She maneuvered me so that
we both brushed past Booter.

"That was too close for comfort, Sarah Booth" Her
fingers gripped my arm. Tinkie was petite, but she was no
pushover. "Have you lost your mind? You and Coleman
both!"

Apologizing would do no good. "I didn't intend for
that to happen. I went out there to cuss him out"

She nodded and turned to face me. "I believe that."

Something else was bothering her. Tinkie's brows
were drawn together in a frown.

"What is it?"

"Gordon ran a background check on Gabriel Trovaioli."

Scanning the room, I saw that both he and Kristine
were gone. I had a bad feeling. "He's a successful California architect and . .

"He did some time in jail for drugs"

I tried to let the information settle before I jumped to a
conclusion. My mind was playing connect-the-dots so
fast I felt dizzy for a moment. Graf had been bringing
drugs into the United States, according to his story, for an
unnamed source, allegedly a New York loan shark ring.
And Renata was willing to pay an exorbitant bribe to
spirit him back to America without a criminal record
dragging behind him. Was it possible that Renata and her
brother were drug smugglers? Had a drug deal gone bad
ended in her murder?

My face must have reflected all of my thoughts because Tinkie nodded. "How do we know Gabriel arrived
in town after Renata was dead?"

I gazed around the room, searching again for the handsome architect and Kristine Rolofson. They were gone.
"We don't know that," I said, "and Kristine and Giblet
may be in great danger."

Tinkie's thought was to tell Coleman on the spot, but
when we looked for him, he'd fled the scene of the crime.
"Let's just go check it out," I said. "We can do it without
arousing Gabriel's suspicions."

She was still reluctant, but we got our coats and slipped
away from the party. It wasn't until I settled into the leather
seat of Tinkie's Cadillac that I realized how tense my body
was. So much had happened in such a little time, my response had been to tighten every muscle, and now I
couldn't make them relax.

"We should at least call Coleman." Tinkie drove like a
bat out of hell, but it didn't stop her from thinking.

"Let's see what the situation is." By having the law
pull up with sirens wailing, we might put Kristine in danger if she wasn't already.

"How are we going to handle this?" She pulled the
Caddy into the motel parking lot and stopped.

Easing out of the car, I stood for a moment in the cold
night. The lights of Kristine's room burned dimly, and the
curtains were drawn tight-either for purposes of murder
or love. "I'm going to knock on the door," I said. "I'll act
like I need to talk to her."

"And me?" Tinkie's look was dubious.

"If Gabriel is in there with Kristine, I want you to
leave me here. Head straight to his room at The Gardens
and use your charm on Gertrude Strom to get her to let
you into his room. Then find whatever you can"

"No.

Tinkie was not normally so short-winded in her obstinacy.
I took it as a signal that she was going to be truly difficult.

"This is the best plan."

"It's the most dangerous for you. What if he's the
killer, and he takes you and Kristine hostage?"

I smiled, even though my cheeks were freezing in the
night. "I can handle it."

Now Tinkie was doubly doubtful. "I don't like the sound
of that"

"I'll be fine. This is our perfect opportunity. Tinkie,
time is running out. Gabriel, Graf, Bobbe, Kristine, and the
elusive Robert Morgan are all suspects. But I'm the one
who's going to be left in Zinnia when all of them go back
to their lives."

"This isn't safe" Her chin jutted out, and she refused
to look at me.

"If Gabriel's in there, you can call Gordon and ask him
to stop by on the pretext of looking for me. That way I can
hitch a ride home with Gordon"

"What, exactly, am I looking for in Gabriel's room?"
she asked.

"Anything that incriminates him for the murder of his
sister."

"Oh, that's all."

I could stand in the cold and argue with Tinkie, or I
could put my intuitions to the test. Gabriel was preoccupied with Kristine, and Tinkie and I might never have another chance to search through his things.

Running across the parking lot to the motel door, I
eased to the window. There was a tiny crack in the curtains, where I could just make out a body flung nude
across the bed. A tangle of auburn hair hid Kristine's
face.

My heart started pounding double-time. I couldn't see
Gabriel. Was it possible he'd hurt Kristine? I shifted positions to try another angle of the room. Gabriel's bare bottom came into view, and I inhaled sharply. Talk about a
room with a view.

Tinkie was still waiting, the motor of the Cadillac
sending up a white plume of exhaust in the cold. I waved
her on. She hesitated, and I stood and used both arms to
signal her to take off.

She eased out of the parking lot, and I knelt by the
window again. Gabriel had joined Kristine on the bed.
Her moans were those of pleasure, not pain.

They were inside all hot and bothered, and I was outside freezing my butt off. To top it all off, Giblet was
somewhere in the room, softly howling what sounded
vaguely like "Moon River."

Something about this was very, very wrong! I took one more look and realized that I'd never seen a human
body bend like that. Kristine looked like a circus performer and Gabriel was taking full advantage of her flexibility. I tore myself away.

For ten minutes I paced up and down in front of the
door, trying to give them time to conclude their encounter
before I knocked. At last, when my ears felt as if they
might snap from my head, I raised my fist and brought it
down on the door.