Stilettos & Scoundrels (21 page)

“Of course I heard that! I do spend all of my days in a beauty salon, where the goal is to have the most gossip. My phone was ringing off the hook all morning at home since the salon wasn’t open. But what does that have to do with you? I don’t get why it’s such a big deal, so enlighten me.”

I
dropped
my
voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “
Cooper
showed up at my house at six o’clock this morning to grill me,”
I
said, rolling
my
eyes dramatically. “Then halfway through that lovely experience, which happened before I got any coffee mind you, Dirt showed up and all but threw
Cooper
out of the house for interfering in a police investigation. I tell you, something is going on between those two and I would like to know what.”

“Who cares about that? Tell me what you know about the Senator. I don’t remember anything like this happening here before. How was he killed?” Katy shot rapid-fire questions, snapping her fingers. “C’mon. C’mon. What did they tell you? Who do they think did this?”

I
looked around before saying quietly, “I don’t know, but
Cooper
said that the Senator was found early this morning by the housekeeper. Someone
stabbed
him. Can you believe it?”

“Oh my God! In this town?” Katy said excitedly.

Not since Old
Lady Hubbard shot her husband when she found him with that slutty bar server had there been a murder in Alkon. That was over twenty years ago, and most people thought he deserved it for screwing around on his wife. In fact,
I don
’t even think
she
got any jail time for it. Justifiable homicide is what they called it. This murder was definitely earth shattering news for a little sleepy town where the biggest crime was usually a kid drag racing through town. That may sound a little cliché, but seriously, nothing ever happened here. Hence,
that was part of why I
moved to Chicago right after high school
—I
needed some action.

“Should we really be talking about this?” Chris finally opened his m
outh. It startled me. I
had been so wrapped up in telling Katy the story
that I
forgot Chris was still sitting with us
.

“
Why not?
I
,
for one
,
am really curious a
bout
who would kill the Senator. Especially here in Alkon
;
it’s not like this is Capitol
Hill,” I
said. “C’mon
,
Chris, you can’t tell me you aren’t the least bit interested.”

“No. It’s none of my business. And you shouldn’t be going around spreading gossip,” Chris snapped.
I
just looked at him.
Men
. Always thinking they were above gossiping. So why did it seem sometimes they were the worst offenders?

“This isn’t gossip, Chris. This is a fact that he was killed. Why shouldn’t we talk about it? Maybe we can figure out why.”

“Think of how Helen feels. Don’t you think that the more people talk about this and start speculating and spreading rumors, like everyone in this town does, the worse it’s going to make Helen feel?” Chris asked. “Don’t you have any compassion?”

I
just stared at him. He couldn’t have surprised
me
more than if he showed up at the diner with purple hair. Since when did Chris Stone care about Helen Daniels?
I
doubted they traveled in the same social circles. Did he even know her?
H
is brother Tobey did work for the Senator, so maybe he was concerned on his behalf
,
but still that seemed like a stretch.

“You know, I did overhear someone at the salon talking about how Tom and Helen were having marital problems and Helen was having an affair,” Katy said,
ignoring Chris’ stance on
gossip. “Do you think maybe Helen has a lover who wants her all to himself and decided to get Tom out of the picture? Wouldn’t that just be so Hollywood?”

Katy and her love of pop culture and celebrities.
I couldn’t say too much though, I knew all the celebrity gossip too
.

“Katy, I doubt that Helen was having an affair and even if she was, don’t you think it would be back in D.C.? Not here in Alkon,” Chris said condescendingly
. He
seem
ed
tense
. “I mean
,
really…who here would be good enough for her
?
”

“Excuse me
?
” Katy said
,
offended.

“You know what I mean, Katy. I mean good enough for her in
her
eyes.”

“Well, maybe they followed Tom and Helen here because it was easier to get to them
here than in D.C.?
” Katy fired back. “Or maybe Helen’s lover just can’t bear to be without her so he followed her here. Chill out, Chris, I’m just having some fun.”

“We’re just speculating, Chris. Besides, since when did you become the expert on extramarital affairs? And why do you care again?”
I
asked.

“It’s just common sense, Pres. Who in Alkon would she possibly be interested in? I mean, c’mon, look at her,” Chris replied. “She’s way out of anyone’s league in Alkon.”

“Ummm… she’s from here, remember. Geesh, you’re awful testy, Chris. Didn’t you take your happy pill today?”
I
said, trying to lighten the mood.
What was his deal?
“If Helen was having an affair, maybe she wanted a divorce and the Senator wouldn’t give her one. That would be motive to kill him, wouldn’t it?”

“She is not having an affair. Blame it on something else,” Chris said defensively.

“How would you know?”

“Tobey works, or rather worked, for Senator Daniels
,
remember? From everything he tells me
,
they are a loving couple. As much as anyone else
,
anyways. And Tobey doesn’t need the extra stress in his job that this will bring, much less people making it worse by making things up.”

“Speaking of Tobey, what does he think of this? Does he have an idea who might have killed him?
He has to know who might have had it in for the Senator.”

“Like I already said
,
Pres, it’s none of our business.
And w
e haven’t even had a chance to talk about it
anyway
.
I am sure he is too busy today.
”

“Did you ask
Cooper
who he thought may have done this?” Katy asked
me
.

“I tried, but he wouldn’t give me the time of day. He was too busy trying to ask me questions. He was being a jerk
,
actually.”

“Why? Because he wouldn’t give you information on a murder investigation
?
You two are unbelievable.
” Chris shook his head. “
What do you expect him to do? Give you all the inside information?”

“It’s not like he’s a cop or anything. Besides, I was telling him everything I knew. Is it too much to ask to have him reciprocate?”

“Yeah, Chris,” Katy jumped in,
eager to
needl
e
him even though she had been all lovey on him
just
a few minutes ago.
H
e was getting on
Katy’s
nerves.

Chris sighed.
“He is a professional and spreading around sensitive information wouldn’t look good for his reputation. Is that too difficult for you to understand?”

“I remember a time when he didn’t care about his reputation. In fact
, in those days,
he seemed to do whatever he could to make his reputation seem worse,”
I
retorted.
I
knew
I
was being bitchy and somewhat baiting Chris
,
but it was his fault
;
he was being such an easy button to push about this.

“That was years ago. You have no idea what he has done since then or been through. Grow up.”

“What is your deal
,
Chris? We’re just playing around. If you’re that concerned, tell us what he has been through. I, for one, would like to know.”

“This is none of your business
, Presley
. You should drop it and leave it to the professionals,” Chris replied.

“I can’t help that I’m curious and want to know what happened. I came here to write about Senator Daniels and this will make an even better story. People have a right to know.”

“True,” Katy said. “The public is always more fascinated with people posthumously.”

“That’s sick, but oh so very true. I wonder why.”

“You girls are crazy. Just stay out of it
,
or you might hurt someone or end up hurt.” With that, Chris got up and stormed out of the diner.

“Wow. He was in a mood. What did he mean about us getting hurt
?
W
e aren’t doing anything bad
,
are we? And what’s the deal calling us
‘
girls
’
?”
I
said, highly offended.
I
was a woman,
d
ammit.
I
hadn’t ever been much of a women’s libber, but sometimes
I
felt like taking up the cause. And the term
“
girls
”
was just downright insulting
—
especially
coming from a man
.

“I don’t know, but I haven’t seen him like that before. He
’s
really
been on edge lately
,” Katy explained.

“What’s the deal with people in this town? Something is going on between
Cooper
, Dirt, and now Chris.

“I guess everyone has a right to be moody. Maybe it’s just a coincidence
.
” Katy shrugged.

“No, this goes deeper than that.
”

“I think you’re reading too much into it, Presley. Chris is probably just having a bad day.”

“Are you sticking up for him? How did he get so lucky?”

“Well…” Katy blushed, embarrassed.

“Don’t think I didn’t notice how low your shirt i
s
unbuttoned. Or, how you kept leaning into him when he was talking. He’s not that fascinating,”
I
teased. “But he is cute.”

“Maybe he is,” she shrugged trying to act as she hadn’t noticed
—and failing
.

“You have a thing for him again? You do, don’t you?” After seeing the look on her face in response to
my
question, it was quite obvious. “Didn’t you learn your lesson with him already?” Katy and Chris had dated on several occasions
and it always
ended badly
, s
tarting with him blowing her off for Missy Stevens, a blond bimbo of a cheerleader, in high school. Then two other times in the subsequent years. Katy just had a thing for him that wouldn’t go away
, e
ven to her detriment.

“He’s different now. Not everyone is the same as they were in high school. Besides, that was a long time ago. Anyway, who cares?” she said with a wave of her hand. “It’s not like we are that serious. It’s just fun.”

Katy might
try
to tell herself she was only having fun
,
but
I
could tell by the look on her face
that
it was more than that.

“Well, what happened to John – or Don – what was his name again?”

“Please! It was Jim. Besides, he’s been history for a long time. A girl can have her fun, can’t she? I told you
that
Chris and I are nothing serious.”

“You’re crazy to go down that road again. But hey, you’re a big girl. There is something else I wanted to tell you before
the men around here
sidetracked
us
, and I didn’t really want to talk about it in front of Chris. Especially after I saw how he was acting.”

“What? Tell me.” Katy leaned in.

“I saw Helen Daniels going hot and heavy in a parked car on Main St
reet
last night on my way to Brian’s.”