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Authors: Joyce Lavene,Jim

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BOOK: Wicked Weaves
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The door opened finally, and Chase walked in carrying a briefcase that had seen better days. “Are you ready to go home, Jessie?”
Four
Chase had shaved and put on a suit and tie that was a little wrinkled. But still he’d dressed up and come for me. I was amazed, shocked, and very pleased. I threw myself against him, and he fell back against on old table with me on top of him.
I didn’t care about my mantra or the fact that he was never going to amount to anything. I locked my arms around him and kissed him until I had to come up for air. “We can never have a permanent relationship,” I told him before I kissed him again.
He dropped his briefcase on the floor. “Okay. I can handle that. I thought we’d just be friends forever.”
“I was worried about that, too.” I couldn’t believe he was saying this to me. “I didn’t think you even noticed me. Not like
that,
anyway.”
We kissed again, our arms struggling to hold each other tighter. Then we rolled off the table and hit the hard concrete floor. It was enough to bring me to my senses as well as make a few bruises. “How is this happening? Why are you here?”
“To get you out of here.” He tried to kiss me again.
I moved my head. I couldn’t believe I moved away, but the logical part of my brain, which hadn’t turned to pudding like my body, refused to let it go. “I appreciate the effort. But unless you have
Legal Aid for Dummies
in your briefcase, I don’t think we can walk out of here just because you got dressed up and shaved.” I didn’t mention how good he smelled or how hard it was not to kiss him again.
“Actually, I’m a lawyer.” He smiled at me like he’d found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and had decided to share it.
“And a paramedic. And a ski instructor.” I pushed myself off the floor before someone came in and found us there. “You’ve done a lot of things since I’ve known you, Chase. You can’t
just
pretend to be a lawyer or you’ll end up in here with me and Mary.”
“No, I really am a lawyer.” Chase got off the floor, too. “I took the bar and everything. I work as a consultant, mostly over the Internet. But I’m sure I can get you out of here. You didn’t do anything. They know that. They’re just fishing.”
I didn’t know whether to believe him or not. He reminded me so much of Tony when he’d told me he was a certified pilot because he’d taken one lesson. “Do you have some kind of proof? They’ll ask you for proof, you know. They won’t just take your word for it.”
He pushed at my forehead with his fingers. “You always get these cute little frown lines when you think. You might want to consider Botox before they become permanent indentations.”
I wiggled my eyebrows up and down. I needed a mirror. “I suppose
you
could do that, too.”
“Look, do you want to get out of here or not? I had to borrow this suit from Milton, and he needs it back for a date tonight.” He checked himself out in what I thought was a two-way mirror. “It fits pretty well, too.”
I felt my forehead furrowing and made myself stop frowning. “Who’s Milton?”
“He’s that new guy from the University of Minnesota. He’s a knight. Livy already has her eye on him.”
“And every other part of her, I’m sure.” I looked at him, purposely not frowning. “Are you
really
a lawyer? You’re not just saying that?”
“I’m really a lawyer. I don’t have my license to practice with me, but I could run back and get it if it would make you feel any better.”
“Then why aren’t you out making the big bucks?” I pushed his shoulder. “Why are you still hanging out at Renaissance Faire Village?”
“I have my reasons. I’m not going to talk about them right now.”
“I don’t know if I trust you.”
He picked up his briefcase. “That’s fine. I’ll get Mary out and leave you to rot in prison with a cell mate named Tiny Tina.”
“I thought you said the police don’t have anything, and I could go.”
“You could,
if
you trust me.” He smiled and took my hand. “These fingers deserve to be punctured by sharp-edged grass and needles again. I can make that happen.”
My heart—and the rest of me—was melting. There was no going back from those kisses. I didn’t know how Chase felt, but I wanted more. I wasn’t likely to get more of anything with me in prison and him back in the Village, surrounded by pert little fairies and lonely ladies-in-waiting.
Besides, what was the worst that could happen? If Chase
wasn’t
really a lawyer, he’d get in trouble, not me. I wouldn’t be any worse for the opportunity. “Since you put it that way, get me out if you can.”
He grinned, dark eyes making me wish we were somewhere more private. “I’ll be back in a flash. You stay right here and try not to get in any more trouble.”
“Ha-ha. I hope your legal skills are sharper than your sense of humor.”
But before he could leave me, Detective Almond and a man in a blue suit, who introduced himself as the assistant district attorney, walked in and shut the door behind them. A woman with a tape recorder sat down in one corner of the room.
I hoped no one else was planning to join us. The room wasn’t made for that many people and I was beginning to feel claustrophobic.
After introductions all around, we sat down at the little table Chase and I had recently occupied. The two men from the city stared at me intently. I could feel the frown lines coming back on my forehead.
“Miz Morton,” Detective Almond began. “I’m sure you’re trying to help your friend, Miz Shift. But the best thing you could do for her now is tell the truth. She may be sick. She may need help. She won’t get it unless you tell us exactly what happened.”
I started to open my mouth and tell them I would never betray Mary, no matter what they did to me, but Chase spoke before I could get myself into more trouble. “My client has already told you everything she knows about what happened.”
The ADA smiled in a slimy way that made me want to take a shower. “I’m sure your client wants to help us punish the one who did this terrible thing. We’d like to hear the story again from her.”
“I don’t see much point in that when you already know what she’s going to say.”
“We’d like to hear it anyway.” The ADA nodded at Detective Almond, and they both looked at me.
I was ready to tell them everything I knew, starting with kindergarten and working up through college. There was no secret worth spending time alone with these two men. But before I could spill everything, Chase put his hand on mine. “I’ll allow her to give you a short statement. Then we’re leaving, unless you’d like to file charges against her.”
“Nobody’s talking about filing charges right now,” Detective Almond said. “This is part of our preliminary investigation. We’ll take a statement from her, and then she’s free to go. We may need to speak with her later, depending on how our investigation proceeds.”
Chase nodded. “She’ll leave you her cell phone number where you can reach her.”
“I’ll need a permanent address, too,” the ADA added.
“We can do that.” Chase looked at me. “All right, Jessie. Tell him
briefly
what you know about Mr. Shift’s death.”
I could tell by the way he said
briefly
that I was supposed to keep it under one or two sentences; maybe 125 words. That’s all. They didn’t need any more.
But when I opened my mouth, it all came tumbling out: “My brother, Tony, owes me a hundred dollars, and I know I’m never going to see it. He’s got some slutty fairy this year that’s going to suck up all my money by the end of the summer. If that’s not enough, I spent months getting ready to make baskets for the beginning of my dissertation on Renaissance crafts, only to find myself making change and conversation in Wicked Weaves when I’m not poking my hand with sharp grass and bleeding all over the baskets.”
“Maybe that explains the dried blood we found on the basket weave.” Detective Almond nodded to the ADA, and they both took notes. “Would you be willing to give us a sample of your blood?”
“Not without a court order,” Chase answered.
“That won’t be hard, Solicitor,” Detective Almond promised. “Some cooperation would go a long way right now.”
“Are you talking about a
real
blood test?” I asked. “Or a finger prick? I could do the prick but not the whole needle thing. I
really
hate needles. I think it’s because I had so many shots when I was a kid. I was sick a lot, and we were always going to the doctor.”
I saw the shocked, deer-in-the-headlights look on their faces. Even the clerk couldn’t seem to write it all down. But I couldn’t stop myself. “Now we have a dead guy. We weren’t sure if he was dead at the Village, and Chase had to touch him. He almost fell on me, and I got out of the way in time. Then Mary says it’s her weave that strangled him, but not her weave as in she didn’t personally strangle him. And really I don’t know how a little tiny woman like that could strangle that great big man or when she would’ve been able to do it.”
I drew a breath to start again, but Chase stopped me. “That’s fine, Jessie. I think they got all they need. In the interest of cooperation and because my client is innocent, she’ll allow a blood sample.”
“But only a finger prick,” I reminded them. “If you show me the basket weave, I can probably tell you if it’s mine.”
For the next hour, they got a sample of my blood and brought the pathetic looking piece of basket weave in for me to inspect. It was definitely one of my failures. I guess that’s why Mary never actually claimed it. But she must have known. Maybe she was trying to protect me. “This is mine. That’s why it looks like Mary’s, because I’m learning from her. But if you’d ever seen her work, you’d know the difference. You might want to take a look in the trash can outside Wicked Weaves. That’s where this came from.”
Another hour passed as they compared my blood to the blood on the basket weave. I glanced at Chase, who stayed with me through the ordeal and wished they’d left us alone for a while. But someone was with us the whole time.
Detective Almond finally came back in the room. “Looks like you’re free to go, Miz Morton.”
I was starting to get into the whole process. “Are you sure? There are a lot of really weird things going on out at the Village.”
“I’m sure you’re right. But those things will have to keep while we conduct this murder investigation. We appreciate your help.”
I tried to say more, but Chase and Detective Almond hustled me out of the room. Before I knew what had happened, I was outside in the sunshine on the front steps of the police station. “You did it! You got me out!”
“I think you did it by yourself,” Chase said. “I think they were afraid to keep you. Do you know the meaning of the word
brief
?”
“I don’t care.” I twirled around in my heavy linen. “I’m free! And I didn’t incriminate Mary.”
“Are you saying you did all that on purpose?”
I grinned. “I’m not stupid, you know.”
“That makes me feel better. I wish it could stop my ears from bleeding. Next time, warn me, and I’ll stuff cotton in them.”
“What about Mary?”
“I’m going to get her out, too. You find someplace nearby and stay put. I’ll find you when I’m done. This may take a little longer. I have a feeling she can’t talk as fast as you.”
“Thank you, Chase. I’m really glad you came for me.”
“You’re welcome. But next time, do what your lawyer tells you.”
“Okay. Go get Mary.”
I watched him walk back into the police station before all the strength left my legs and I had to collapse on the green grass next to the stairs. A man with a poodle smiled at me in a strange way and said, “I’m sorry. Buzzy went right there, and you sat down before I could pick it up. Would you like a paper towel?”
 
 
I went inside and cleaned the poop off of my skirt. I couldn’t do much about the smell, but at least it was clean. I knew the costume keepers wouldn’t be thrilled when they saw a dog poop stain on the linen. As I was drying the skirt with a hand dryer in the bathroom, a woman smiled and asked me if I was at the police station for a historical event. “I visited Old Salem,” she said with a ditzy smile. “Is that the same thing?”
I explained the difference between the Civil War and the Renaissance as I finished drying my skirt. “You should come out sometime. It’s really nice out there at the Village.”
The woman said she’d try to visit, and I started thinking about how the news of Joshua’s murder was going to affect tourists. People expected fake things to happen at the Village, but real-life death was completely different. I hoped it wouldn’t mean the end of Renaissance Faire Village.
I walked back out of the police station, hoping Chase would be out there with Mary, but no such luck. That’s when I decided to sit down and practice my plaiting with some of the taller grass.
I didn’t want to think how this event had altered my relationship with Chase. The logical side of my brain said that I was overwrought and emotional. That explained my jumping him when I saw him. The other part of my brain said it was about time. Of course, I had to worry about what Chase thought. He didn’t seem to be resisting. He seemed to enjoy the experience as much as I did. But how could I know for sure?
BOOK: Wicked Weaves
5.96Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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