Summer Reading is Killing Me (Phee Jefferson Book 2) (11 page)

Chapter Twenty Three

At nine o’clock, I asked Anthony to take me home.
I had to work in the morning, and the effects of the third glass of wine dulled
my brain. I thanked Richard for a wonderful evening and promised I would
contact him if I learned anything new. He gave me a hug and closed the door
behind us.

Anthony drove slowly away from the lakeside cabin.
I leaned back in the seat and enjoyed the music playing on the car stereo. He
had interesting taste in music. A 1950s rockabilly tune echoed in the car.

“I know the song but don’t recognize the singer,”
I commented. I had an eclectic taste in music that spanned multiple eras.

“It’s my band,” Anthony said. “My former band. I’m
on the road too much with the campaign, so I had to give it up. Maybe one day
I’ll rejoin the guys or start another group.”

“Is that you singing?” I asked, impressed by
another revealed talent.

“No. I play string bass,” he answered. “I sing
back-up vocals, but I’m not good enough to sing lead. Not by a long shot!”

“You’re quite the interesting individual, Ziggy.
Senator Campbell is lucky to have you on his team,” I said. “He said he hoped
you and
Elody
would get together. She was a beautiful
girl. Can I ask why you never dated her?”

“You’re right. She was beautiful, but she was also
moody and prone to deep depression. I’m a firm believer in
joie de vivre
,
and I appreciate life every day. I work hard, but I play harder. I eat and
drink the best foods and wines I can afford. I’ve sky dived in New Zealand and sailed
on a boat with my band mates from Maine to Key West, Florida the summer before
I started college. My little brother died of leukemia when he was eight, so I
don’t take life for granted.” Anthony gave me a quick glance before returning
his eyes to the road ahead. His fingers tapped out a rhythm in time with the
song playing. He hummed lightly under his breath.

“I’m sorry about your brother, but you’re right.
Life is short and sometimes we forget and let the minor bumps in the road
bother us. We should get dessert. My motto is life is too short to skip
dessert. It doesn’t sound as sophisticated as yours, but it works,” I smiled at
him. I sang along with the CD and Anthony joined in. We rode through the dark
night belting out songs as loudly and as off-key as we could.

When we neared town, he slowed. “What’s still open
at this time of night for dessert?” Anthony asked.

“Nellie Jo’s is open until 10 and so is the
Quickie Cow. Your call,” I answered. “Quickie Cow is about two blocks ahead on
the right.”

“Quickie Cow it is.” He turned his blinker on to
turn into the parking lot. Despite the late hour, the little restaurant
operating out of a remodeled
Silverstream
trailer was
busy. The summer was the busy season for Carol Ann and Gracie. The sisters
stayed open late from May until September to accommodate the crowds. As Anthony
eased into a parking spot, I saw Clint sitting at one of the outdoor tables.
Across from him sat the blonde I spotted him with earlier. A hot blaze of anger
at Clint’s infidelity flashed through me. I gripped my hands tightly together
to keep from grabbing the door handle and jumping out of the car. I had a
momentary vision of running from the car and screaming at him. Fortunately,
common sense prevailed. If I made a scene, everyone in town would hear about it
before the rooster crowed tomorrow morning. I’d never be able to leave my house
again from sheer embarrassment.

“Can I be high maintenance? I’d rather have one of
Nellie Jo’s mini blueberry pies and a tea if that’s okay.” I unclasped my
hands. My fingernails left small half-moon bites across my palms. I took a deep
shuddering breath and calmed myself.

“Sure,” Anthony said, giving me a quizzical look.
He put the car in reverse, and we headed towards downtown.

The ride to Nellie Jo’s was silent except for the
music playing in the background. I stewed over Clint’s deceit. Maybe I wasted
the past twelve plus years of my life mooning over a man incapable of
commitment. I was an idiot. Once we parked and entered Nellie Jo’s, I kept a tight
grip on my emotions. Just twenty minutes before this, I’d had a blast while
joking and laughing with Anthony and Richard. I wouldn’t allow myself to
crumble into a sniveling mess now.

Anthony pulled out my chair for me, then seated
himself. Leaning forward, he reached out and touched my hand. “Are you okay?
You seem upset about something. I have great listening skills. Comes with the
whole aide to a public figure gig.” He gave me a half smile.

“You’ll think I’m a hot mess if I tell you.”

“You are hot, but you’re not a mess. Just human.
Spill it,” Anthony insisted.

“The guy I’m dating was sitting at the Quickie Cow
with a woman,” I said. I bit my lip and stifled a sob.

“Did you recognize the girl?”

“No, but it’s the same girl I saw him with earlier
today. I’m a fool,” I sighed.

“You could be jumping to conclusions,” he said. At
the skeptical raise of my eyebrows, he continued, “If he drove by here and saw
you sitting at the table with me, how would it look? You need to talk to the
guy. Give him the benefit of the doubt.”

I thought about what he said as Missy, the college
student who worked for Nellie Jo in the summer, took our order of blueberry
mini-pies. I asked for an herbal tea blend. Anthony ordered a blueberry cream
coffee, and I grimaced. “What? I like to walk on the wild side with my food and
drink choices. It will be the best coffee I’ve ever had,” he declared. I
remained doubtful.

“You’re probably right. Clint’s an honest guy.
I’ll ask him who she is. Thanks for listening,” I said. There had to be an
explanation. Clint might be a lot of things, but I’d never known him to cheat
on anyone he dated. I was acting like a jealous shrew which was the kind of
person I promised myself to never be. Clint didn’t play games with people’s emotions.
Juliet had planted a small doubt in my head, and I’d taken it to heart.

Missy set our order down in front of us with the
check. Anthony pulled out a twenty and told her to keep the change. Turning
back to me, he said, “You’re welcome. Dear Abby used to call on me for advice.”

“When you were what? Five? Nice try!” I laughed. I
took a bite of my blueberry pie. Delicious. “Can I ask you a few things about
Elody
?”

“Sure. I’ll answer what I can. I had little to do
with her in the past few years. She was away at college and then living on her
own when she dropped out. She and Richard had a falling out over her drinking
and public antics about a year ago.”

“The gossip columns said
Elody
used drugs. Could she have crossed the wrong person, and her death is related
to her partying?” I asked. I blew on my tea to cool it down before taking a
sip.

“
Elody
didn’t do drugs.
She drank a little too much, but she was rabid about people who took drugs of
any kind. If the press can’t find news, they make it up. A senator’s kid on
drugs sells papers regardless of the truth,” Anthony said. He sipped his
coffee. His eyes lit up. “This is amazing. You need to try it.”

“Ugh. I couldn’t swallow blueberry-flavored coffee
if you paid me. I’ll take your word for it.” I swallowed another bite of pie.
“So no drugs. What about the people she partied with in the city? I’m sure you
or the senator ran background checks on all of her friends. Don’t deny it.”

“He did. A few of them smoked pot, but most of her
friends were disgruntled debutantes with too much money and time on their
hands. They drank and stayed up all night dancing at clubs, but they were
fairly benign. Jay, on the other hand, is a criminal and a thug. Personally, I
believe he killed
Elody
, but how do I prove it?”
Anthony asked.

Chapter twenty four

Anthony and I sat in silence as we finished the
last few bites of our pie. I wasn’t surprised that Anthony thought Jay killed
Elody
. I hadn’t discovered any clear motive for killing the
twenty-three year old. A lover’s quarrel gone wrong made sense. He and Senator
Campbell could be correct in their suspicions, but I wondered if they had
blinders on when it came to other possible suspects.

“What about Tessa Brewer, the reporter?” I asked.
“She’s been like an attack Chihuahua with her articles about
Elody
. She treads a thin line between slander and news with
her past articles regarding drug use with
Elody’s
crowd.”

“Tessa Brewer is just like any of these other
jackals circling the governor waiting for an opportunity to feast. I don’t even
pay attention to her articles and neither should you. She’s a hack,” Anthony
deemed. “She’s a fan of Jay Burns’ art which should tell you a little about her
opinions and her taste. Tessa Brewer carries a torch for Jay and attacked
Elody’s
reputation out of jealousy.”

“My sister, Juliet, and I ate lunch with Jay
today. He seemed distraught over
Elody
whenever
someone mentioned her or when the cameras were pointed at him. The rest of the
time, I felt like he was mentally undressing me. It’s nothing I can put my
finger on, but Jay’s the type of guy who uses people to survive.” I sipped the
last of my tea and set the cup on the table. “I’d better get home. Summer
reading will kill me this year if I don’t get some rest. I have double the
number of children signed up as last year. It’s great for the kids and the
library, but it keeps me running to make sure shelves are restocked with books
and enough crafts are available for the families.”

We stood up and after waving goodbye to Missy,
headed towards Anthony’s car. As we cruised down Main Street, I thought about
the other people close to
Elody
. “What do you think
about
Elody’s
college roommate, Shawna Collins? Their
neighbor at the lake overheard Shawna and
Elody
arguing one night. From what the neighbor said, the argument sounded heated.
Shawna accused
Elody
of being stupid about something.
Shawna said she planned to handle things if
Elody
didn’t.”

“Shawna’s a good egg,” Anthony said. “She was
right to be upset with
Elody
. Shawna came by the
Senator’s office a few weeks before
Elody
dropped off
the social radar. According to her, Jay slapped
Elody
one night so hard it bruised her face.
Elody
refused
to say what the fight was about and wouldn’t press charges. Shawna wanted us to
throw Jay in jail. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy to do even for a bigwig in
Congress. A week or so later,
Elody
moved out of
Jay’s loft and came here, so we didn’t pursue it. Now I wished we had,” Anthony
said, a guilty frown on his face.

“I wonder if
Elody
planned to go back to Jay and Shawna tried to talk her out of it. It would
explain why the fight escalated. Love, even misguided love, makes people do
stupid things,” I said. “You missed my house. If you turn right here, we can
just go around the block.”

Anthony swung the wheel and made a quick right. As
he took another right around the backside of my block, I saw a dark figure
heading across Mr. Chambray’s backyard and towards mine.

“Slow down!” I barked, startling Anthony and
causing him to slam on the brakes. “Is that someone sneaking into my backyard?”
I pointed in the direction of the dark shape.

“I’m not sure but let’s find out.” Anthony sped up
and as he came closer to my house, he turned his headlights off and eased the
sedan into park a few houses down from mine. “Let’s go. Stay behind me.” He
reached into his glove box and pulled out a gun. He tucked it into the back of
his belt.

“A gun? Is that necessary?” I asked, shocked and a
little frightened that this funny, suave guy carried a handgun. It seemed
against his nature.

“The Senator receives threats every day. All of
his close, long-term staffers have concealed carry permits. If someone sneaks
through a yard late at night, they aren’t there to deliver Girl Scout cookies.
If you’re scared, you’re welcome to wait in the car,” Anthony offered. The
light-hearted charmer of earlier had disappeared and in his place was a
steely-eyed professional.

“I’ll wait here. Be careful,” I warned. Anthony slipped
out of the car and pushed the door shut without a sound. He slid into the dark
and out of sight.

I waited with my hand poised above the emergency
call button on my phone. I debated whether I should call the Sheriff or wait to
see what Anthony discovered. The minutes ticked by and just when I convinced
myself to call, Anthony emerged from the side of my house holding someone. A
hoodie covered the person’s face. He shoved the person roughly in front of him.
I jumped out of the car and rushed towards them.

“Someone decided to do some late night snooping in
your backyard,” Anthony said. He let go and pulled the hood down from Tessa
Brewer’s face.

I gasped in shock. “Tessa Brewer! What in Sam Hill
are you doing sneaking into my yard? I’m calling the sheriff.”

“Wait! I just wanted to get some pictures without
you knowing it. I heard you were the one who discovered
Elody’s
body. I’m just trying to make a living here. Everybody needs to chill out.”
Tessa’s voice slipped into an Arkansas drawl and she lost her sophisticated
demeanor under my angry gaze.

“You’re lucky I didn’t call them already,” I
admonished her. “Go home, Tessa. Take your mean-spirited gossip and innuendos
about folks and go home.” I was tired and had enough of this whole sordid mess
for one night.

“There’s a nugget of truth behind every item I
report,” Tessa said with a nasty laugh. “
Elody
Campbell wasn’t the sainted angel she appeared. She squandered her talent and
didn’t appreciate how easy her life was. Some people have to work hard to get
ahead. Not everyone is born with a silver spoon in their mouth.”

“Go home,” I repeated. “Anthony, thank you again
for a lovely evening. I’ll call you if I learn anything new.”

“Get some rest,
Phee
.
I’ll make sure she leaves,” Anthony gave Tessa a slight push towards the
street.

I trudged up my front steps and unlocked my door.
Stumbling to my bedroom and into my pajamas, I was asleep before my head hit my
pillow.