Take Stock in Murder (2 page)

“You’re just being political, Joanne.” Carrie smiled. “But thanks for the compliment. I’ll be sure and pass it on to Charles.” By profession, Carrie was a photographer, but she
had starting doing some article writing for the local magazine published by her husband’s firm, Faraday Press.

Carrie left the ballroom and headed down the hallway, turning toward the dining room. She stopped for a moment and looked into the full-length, gilt-trimmed mirror hanging in the hallway. She was pleased with what she saw. The six pounds she had lost made the dress hang just right, and the double strand of pearls Charles had given her on their first wedding anniversary was the perfect accessory.

She continued down the hallway, passing several open French doors. It had been a dark and stormy afternoon, but the clouds had cleared, and a beautiful night had emerged with just a touch of cool air. When she entered the dining room, she realized very few people were still eating now that the dancing had started. There was no sign of Charles nor Dan.

As she turned to leave, she ran smack into Todd Barrington. Todd was the youngest son of the soon-to-be president of the Tri-County Country Club. With his blond hair and boyish face, he didn’t resemble the rest of the Barrington clan. Nor did he act like the other members of this conservative family. He was known for his drinking, his pranks, and his lack of respect for the family business.

“Todd, have you seen Charles?” The minute the words left her mouth, she was sorry she’d said them.

“Why, Ms. Carrie, I do declare you’re the prettiest woman at the dance,” he said, doing a bad Rhett Butler impersonation. It was early, but Todd was already drunk and staggering.

“Why, thank you, Mr. Barrington, for the compliment, but you do seem to have surpassed your previous record for drinking
too much at a Club function.” Carrie used her best Southern voice but at the same time started to move away from him.

Todd grabbed her arm. “Now don’t be impertinent, Ms. Carrie, not after I said how pretty you were. Let’s look for that handsome Mr. Charles together. Perhaps I can challenge him to a duel.” He made this comment as a husband and wife passed by them.

“No, thank you, Todd.” She tried in vain to escape his grip. “I think I’ll look for him myself.”

“No, I should help you look for him. After all, maybe I can convince you that marrying that older man wasn’t a good idea.”

“Oh, Todd, grow up! Charles is only six years older.”

“Six years is too much when you want to dance and have fun, and your silver-haired husband is too tired to dance and more interested in conducting business deals in the bar. He’s probably trying to convince those men he was with to finance another magazine to go with the ones he already has.”

“Thank you, Todd. You were helpful after all, since you mentioned the bar.” Carrie turned, with Todd still attached to her arm, and headed down the hall toward the bar. Todd leaned heavily on her arm, giving them both the appearance of staggering. Mrs. Heathrow and Mrs. Spinner were coming out of the powder room and practically ran into the two swaying bodies.

“Oh, Carrie, why are you taking me away from the dance floor?” he said loudly as the ladies passed.

Carrie pushed Todd away. “Todd, you’re loathsome. Now go away and leave me alone.”

“You’re ’fraid, aren’t you?”

“Todd, I’m not afraid of you,” she responded, annoyed.

“I don’t mean you’re ’fraid of me. I mean you’re scared that Charles will find out about us.” Todd announced this fact to two more people who passed them.

“There’s no ‘about us’! That’s just nonsense. I want you to stop saying those things,” she demanded.

“You want me to stop talking about the fact that we’re madly in love,” he continued.

“Oh, Todd, I really must find Charles.” She turned and walked away.

“Oh, Carrie, Carrie!” He practically screamed her name.

She turned and walked back to him. “Todd, will you stop screaming?”

“
Never, never will I leave you
.” He was singing from
Camelot
. “Besides, I know where Charles is,” he said smugly.

“You already told me he was in the bar.”

“Did not.”

“You did too.” Carrie stopped herself as she realized she was being drawn into his childish game.

“I said he made deals in the bar, not that he was actually there. Actually your darling husband is in the library,” he said with certainty. “And here we are at the door of the library.” He opened the door, then stood back to allow Carrie to enter the room ahead of him.

Carrie proceeded into the library. She looked around the large room, with its huge fireplace, dark-paneled walls, and overstuffed leather chairs and sofas. She turned back to Todd. “He isn’t here.” Her voice showed her disappointment.

“No, my darling, but I am.” Todd lunged forward and grabbed Carrie by the arm.

“Todd, let me go,” she stammered. But as she tried to wriggle away, his grip became tighter.

“You loved me once. If you had only waited, I could have supported you in a fine style, just like Charles. I now have money, and we could have fun together.”

“Todd, what are you talking about? We hardly know each other. I certainly never loved you, and besides, you just don’t get it. This has nothing to do with money or age or silver hair or even fun. It has to do with love. I just happen to love Charles.” She stared straight into Todd’s eyes.

“You want love? I’ll show you love.” Todd pushed her toward the sofas.

“Todd, I warned you.” And with that Carrie slapped Todd across the face.

The minute her hand slipped away from his face, she knew she shouldn’t have hit him. His eyes, glassy with alcohol, now showed rage.

“You shouldn’t have done that, Carrie. I’ve always been in love with you, and now I’ll just have to show you how much.” In a split second, Todd pinned Carrie’s hands and flung her down on the nearest sofa. With one hand holding her arms, he trapped her legs and the rest of her body beneath his. He used his free hand to paw at her clothes.

Carrie tried to grab his arm, but the most she could do was pull his cuff link off. She saw it sail in the air and heard the light thud as it hit the carpet. Carrie had never felt fear like
this. She lost control over her ability to stop him. “Todd, please don’t do this.” She tried to speak calmly.

“You know you miss this. I bet you entertained quite a few lads before marrying that old man.” Todd’s hand was under her dress and moving rapidly up her leg.

She closed her eyes for a brief second, trying to think of what she could do.
Scream
, she thought.
What’s wrong with you? Scream!
She concentrated all her energy and opened her mouth to scream, but barely a murmur came out. She was in full panic mode.

Then she suddenly felt Todd’s weight being lifted from her. She opened her eyes to see him rising above her with a surprised look on his face.

t was Charles. He had Todd by the collar with one hand and the seat of his pants with his other as he pulled him off Carrie.

Todd was suddenly quite coherent. “Charles,” he gasped. “Well, I guess the truth is finally out. Carrie has been trying to seduce me all evening. I finally gave in to her demands.”

Carrie still couldn’t get any words out, but she bolted into an upright position at this outrageous suggestion. Charles, whose six-foot-two frame towered over Todd’s five-nine height, spun Todd around so he was facing the door.

“Look, fool! Do you see the door? It’s still closed. I’ve been in the room the entire time. Sitting in that wonderfully overstuffed chair by the fire.”

Todd said nothing. He was caught!

Charles tightened the grip on Todd’s collar and shoved the palm of his hand into Todd’s face. All three heard the pop of Todd’s nose and saw the blood begin to flow.

“That’s for being a cad, a liar, and a fool.” Charles’s voice was incredibly calm.

“You bastard. You broke my nose. I’ll get you for this—”

“You’ll get no one,” Charles said. “If you ever act this way again with my wife, you’ll get more than a pop in the nose.”

Charles pulled Carrie off the sofa and helped her straighten her dress. One strap on her gown had snapped. She tucked it inside the dress and aligned the bodice so the top would stay up. She hugged Charles. As they walked past Todd, Charles stooped and picked up Todd’s cuff link, then took his handkerchief from the pocket of his tuxedo. Todd drew back, but Charles gently placed his handkerchief up against Todd’s nose. He took one of Todd’s hands and used it to hold the handkerchief, placing the cuff link in his other hand.

“Your nose isn’t broken. That procedure just pops a vessel and causes a great deal of blood. Get a towel and some ice on it, and you’ll be fine. However, luck may not be with you the next time you pull a stunt like this.”

Charles and Carrie turned to go out and faced Jim Heathrow and Frank Albright, who stood at the door. These men were two of the oldest members of the Club. Carrie held the corner of her dress to keep it from slipping down.

“Charles, is there a problem in here?” Heathrow asked the question in a commanding voice, left over from his military days. Carrie found his question understated against the backdrop of the situation.

“The only problem is standing over there bleeding. Perhaps you gentlemen should help him find some ice and some
additional towels. My handkerchief won’t hold much more of his blood. Todd, please don’t feel that you need to return my handkerchief. Keep it with my compliments, as a souvenir of the evening.”

Carrie and Charles turned back to look at Todd. Charles’s white handkerchief was now completely red. The two other men rushed forward to help Todd.

Jim Heathrow took control of the situation. “Frank, use your handkerchief and get some ice from the bucket. Todd, don’t lean forward. Put your head back and gently squeeze each side of your nose.”

Outside the library, Charles turned to Carrie. “Are you really all right?”

“I am now, thanks to my shining white knight.”

“Silver-haired knight would be more like it,” Charles said. Carrie kissed her fingertips and placed them against the hair on the sides of his head.

“Charles, about what just happened…”

“It’s all right, darling. I really was in the room. I know you didn’t encourage Todd’s advances.”

“I was looking for you, and Todd insisted on tagging along. I can’t believe he got so out of hand,” she said.

“Why were you looking for me?” Charles gently changed the subject.

“To find you and tell you the Edward Barringtons were selected by the Marshalls as the first-dance couple.”

“Yes, I saw.”

“You saw! Where were you?”

“I was standing over by the band, hoping to find you for a dance. When I didn’t see you, I left the ballroom to find you.”

“I went out the door on the opposite side, looking for you. That’s when I ran into Todd, who told me he knew where you were.”

“I went down the opposite hallway, couldn’t find you anywhere, and returned to the library, where I was earlier with Dan. I mentioned to several people I passed that if they saw you, to let you know I’d be in the library. By the way, is that all you wanted—to tell me about the Barringtons? I thought you weren’t interested in Club politics.”

“I also wanted to see if you wanted to dance.”

“Do you still want to dance?” he asked with a twinkle.

She stared back at his blue-gray eyes. “No, I think I’ve had enough of this dance for one evening. Besides, I’ll be lucky if this dress stays up long enough to get us out of here. It would never survive a dance.”

“Losing your dress would certainly liven up the old Club.”

“I think TC3 has had enough excitement for one night.” Carrie used the familiar nickname for the Tri-County Country Club.