Chapter Nine

James leaned out of his car window, staring up at Lily. “Launch party, huh?”

She bit her lip and hung her head in shame. He hadn’t believed her story in the first place. If he knew Lily, she’d been out tonight chasing some theory and wound up in trouble. He wondered how much trouble he could handle. “Get in. Any idea who would slash your tires?” 

Lily walked around to the passenger side and entered the vehicle. She hadn’t looked him in the eyes yet. “Yes, I have a theory but you’re not going to like it.” Her eyelashes fluttered as she glanced at him. 

The silver-grey of her eyes lit up the darkness around them. He struggled to stay mad at her for lying and getting herself into trouble. “I know I’m not going to like it. That’s the basis of our entire relationship. And I’ll still try and stop you.”

“Well, you’re really not going to like it this time.”

James couldn’t even bring himself to drive. Even though cars would have to go around them, he put the car back in park and leaned back in the seat, waiting for the news that might change their relationship forever. His heart began to thud in anticipation.

“Marcia and Rick are dating.” 

James smiled, and then let out a chuckle. “That dirty dog. I knew he’d find someone eventually but not right under our own roof.” He chuckled a bit more but then stopped when Lily’s expression remained unamused. 

“Exactly,” she said coldly. ”Don’t you think it’s odd he chose someone working for us?” 

“No, what I think is odd is picking you up here because someone you’ve clearly bothered has slashed your tires.”

“James, it’s Rick. He slashed my tires. You’re right, I did not go to Gina’s hair care launch party and I’m sorry I lied to you. But I had a good reason.”

His right eyebrow rose. “What are you talking about?” 

“Earlier today I overheard Marcia talking to him on the phone about going to dinner tonight and I thought I could catch them red-handed.”

“You could catch them doing what? Going out to eat? You’re telling me that my good friend, Rick—who is currently staying with us so that he can babysit your business while we go on our honeymoon—slashed your tires because you found him eating with Marcia?”

Lily swallowed. “Yes, that’s what I’m telling you. I think Rick is not who you think. And I believe he’s using Marcia and us to further his cause.”

“His cause?” James’s head pounded. He hoped she wasn’t about to tell him what he feared she might say. “Let me get this straight. You think he’s the body snatcher?”

“I think it’s very possible that he is the body snatcher.” She said it without looking at him.

“Lily, I will help with this case, but I will not consider Rick as a suspect. I think you’ve gone too far this time. We all feel the pressure to solve the case, but this is way beyond credible.”

Her arms went out. “Then who would slash my tires?”

“We can try to collect any surveillance video from homes or businesses in the vicinity of your car; we’ll also check to see if anything was left behind. Who knows? Maybe you really pissed off the wrong person.”

She nodded. “I did. It was Rick.”

“Did he run out of the restaurant in between courses to come and slash your tires and then run back to have dessert?”

“Kind of. They did leave rather abruptly. I don’t think they even had dessert.”

“So then he ran over to your car with Marcia—a trustworthy employee—slashed your tires as she looked on and got out of there before you were the wiser.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what happened. Who among us really knows Marcia that well?”

“I’m fine with you checking her out. But your theory that Rick is some cult leader, stealing bodies out of a funeral home is way off.”

James put the car in gear and drove toward the next light. His heart sank as he felt the wedge growing between them. He knew she would pursue this until the end—whatever that meant—but he didn’t know how it would impact their relationship. 

“James, I promise I won’t lie to you again, but I am going to follow my instincts.”

“I know you will.” He paused. “Now Rick knows you suspect him. How’s that going to work? He’s supposed to be babysitting the funeral home while we go on our honeymoon. Why would he even bother now?”

“He doesn’t know I think he’s the body snatcher. All I did was call them out for dating, which as her boss, is not that strange. Plus, Shanna can babysit the funeral home.”

“I wanted to leave some muscle behind while we were away and you’re not going to win any popularity contests for outing people.”

“It’s a good thing I was never popular and therefore, I don’t care about that.”

“You weren’t popular in school?”

From the corner of his eye he noticed her staring his way. “Me? The red-headed girl whose parents were murdered in their sleep? Oh, yeah, I was the belle of the ball back in the day.”

He said nothing. He wanted to tell her that in his eyes, she won all the popularity contests that ever existed. She held the number one spot in his heart. But he couldn’t. She lied to him and almost sabotaged his honeymoon plans for a crazy theory involving his friend. He couldn’t pretend to be supportive. “I hope you’ll consider the consequences of your actions, Lily.”

She looked away from him. “It will all make sense in the end.”

“I hope you’re right.”

****

He was mad. She hated that, but in her heart, she knew she was right. Once James realized it, he would forgive her for everything. And he didn’t need to know about her dirty tactics either.

Or so she hoped as she stared at Marcia’s purse in the funeral home’s kitchen, trying to resist the urge to rifle through it. The back of her neck prickled with anxiety. As Marcia’s employer, Lily knew what she was about to do was wrong but at this point she’d already pissed off enough people, including her husband. Why stop now? Plus, after hiring Marcia when her previous employer went to prison for murder, she felt certain that Marcia needed the Reynolds Funeral Home more than it needed her. Lily would have to see this through the end. 

She eyed the simple black canvas tote bag with handles that stuck up in the air. Lily listened for footsteps, but lunch wasn’t for a few hours and everyone had already come in and grabbed their morning coffee. Now was a good time for inappropriate behavior. 

Unzipping the top portion, she began investigating its contents. A slim navy-blue wallet took up a large amount of space amongst crumpled up paper receipts and face powder. In the smaller compartment she found keys, gum and a pen. Her shoulders slumped. What did she think she would find in there? A treasure map pointing to Rick? A tape-recorded conversation between them revealing who he really was?

She felt foolish—until her fingers landed on a piece of folded paper. Pulling it out, she opened the unassuming document. Her heart thumped once she realized what it was. In her hands Lily held a copy of the Zeus pamphlet James had shown her.

Lily scrambled to analyze it before anyone decided to step in for a snack. The front fold looked exactly the same as the one James had shown her with the lone word Zeus. But the inside page had more. Under the picture of the house was one word: Rubin.

She knew it! She’d known the abandoned Rubin mansion would be a perfect spot for secluded illegal activities. Now she had proof. 

The sound of a door opening down the hall drove her into action. She folded the brochure and stuffed it back in the purse, pulling the zipper closed as fast as possible. Then she opened the fridge and began rifling through the plastic containers for her potato salad.

“Hungry already? It’s barely eleven o’clock,” Marcia said, tossing a peach pit into the trash and an empty plastic water bottle in the recycle bin. 

Lily closed the refrigerator door. 

Marcia had a smile on her face. She, apparently, was going to pretend that nothing was bothering her after Lily caught her having dinner with Rick.

“How’s the day going for you?” Lily asked. 

“Not bad. It’s been busy since the shutdown of Innovations Funeral Home. I already did six makeovers and it’s not even noon.” 

“That’s pretty good. At least news surrounding the body snatcher hadn’t circulated yet.”

Marcia returned a generic smile but said nothing.

“And hopefully, there aren’t too many things distracting you from your work.”

Marcia cocked her head. “No distractions here.”

“Well, it wasn’t my idea to have Rick stay with us. I hope he’s not pestering you. If he is, I can ask him to leave.”

Marcia smiled. “He’s not bothering me. Quite the contrary.”

Lily didn’t know this version of Marcia. Last time she checked, the woman acted scared of her own shadow. Dating Rick had given her some gumption, or maybe being part of his cult of weirdoes gave her a boost of confidence? Either way, she had to get to the bottom of things.

She put a hand on Marcia’s arm. “I want you to know that I’m here for you. If you feel like you’ve gotten yourself involved in something that you can’t get out of, I can help.”

A flicker of recognition shown in Marcia’s eyes, then her smile vanished. “Rick has been nothing but good to me.” She put her hand flat against her chest. “He saved me from a meaningless existence, and you helped when you gave me this job. I’m so grateful. It was the first step in leaving my past behind. I never knew my father and my mother drank herself to death when I was twelve. You could say I’ve been alone and lost ever since bouncing around from family member to family member. But after Innovations Funeral Home shut down, you gave me a chance here and that led me to Rick.”

Great. 

Dread filled Lily’s body. The poor girl had gone from the evil incarnate: Tina Collins of Innovations Funeral Home to Rick Drakon, cult leader.

And indirectly, Lily was responsible for it. “I’m sorry you’ve had such a rough time. I can certainly understand life without a solid family foundation but not everyone is who they seem.”

“I am certain Rick has saved me. In fact, I want to spend my whole life with him.”

Ugh. Brainwashed.

The only way to get her out of Rick’s cult was to get rid of its leader. 

“Why do you think he has saved you? You have a good job, a place to live. What is he doing for you that you can’t do for yourself?”

“He makes me feel wanted and worth something.”

As much as she could try, Lily knew she couldn’t argue with her. She knew how it felt to be lost and searching for meaning but she’d been lucky to have Shanna to keep her in check and the business to keep her busy.

“You can’t rely on a man to make you feel worth something. You’re worth something without him. In fact, you’re probably better off without him.”

Marcia smiled respectfully. But the glassy look in her eyes meant she wasn’t listening. This felt even more personal. Not only was Rick stealing from her business, but he was also stealing Marcia’s soul. 

“I appreciate the concern but I’m all right. In fact, I’m great. Rick has been nothing but helpful to everyone and the business as far as I can tell. No need to worry.” Marcia shrugged, her entire demeanor nonchalant. 

But Lily had no idea what else she could say to save Marcia from Rick. A nervous smile was all she could manage. 

“I’ve got a client waiting for makeup so I better get back to work.” With a wave, Marcia left the kitchen.

Lily’s heart stung. Marcia sounded so lost. Given the challenges in Marcia’s background, she could empathize. Plus, it made it all the harder to investigate her. But if Marcia was just an innocent bystander, Rick wouldn’t be bothering with her. He was using her. Lily needed to find out how deeply Marcia was involved.

To do that, she needed to check out the Rubin house.