Doc LaLone stared into Chloe’s eyes, watching her pupils as he shined a light in different directions. She sat on the same exam table I had not too long ago. He ran her through a series of tests I recognized well, and then looked at me with a raised brow as I sat in the same chair Nik had, probably feeling the same way I did right now.
I shrugged and lifted my hands palms up.
“What am I going to do with you both?” He wrote something in Chloe’s chart, then he leveled a no-nonsense look at me. “I get the feeling you are not taking my advice seriously. You are supposed to be taking it easy and staying out of trouble, not running around playing cops and robbers.”
“I swear I wasn’t investigating anything. I was only shopping while Chloe was getting her family heirloom necklace appraised. Who would have expected that to be a dangerous activity?”
“I’ve seen my wife during a sale.” He looked at us both with wary eyes. “I know how crazy you women can be.”
“Oh, I hear you, Doc, but this wasn’t about any sale.” I slowly shook my head, still in shock over the news we’d heard. “I nearly fainted myself.”
“I never imagined in my wildest dreams that my necklace would be worth a fortune.” Chloe fanned her face. “I’m lucky I didn’t have a heart attack.”
“No, but now you have a concussion as well. Not as bad as Kalli’s, but still one to take seriously. You only get one brain in this life, ladies. Maybe I need to outfit you both with helmets while in public.”
“And ruin my hair?” Chloe patted her perfectly styled cut, looking at him with wary eyes now. “I don’t think so, Doc.”
“Beauty before common sense. That sounds about right with you women.” He chuckled, then grew serious. “I was only half-kidding about the helmet, but you do have to be more careful.” His eyes met mine. “You both do. Your brain can only take so much. If you keep abusing it, you could end up with permanent damage.”
I suddenly wondered if my gift was damaging my brain every time I read someone’s mind. How much stress could my brain take?
“Are you okay, Kalli? You look a little pale,” Chloe asked, staring at me with worry-filled eyes.
“I’m fine, but I think Doc is right.” I stood up and grabbed my purse. “We both could use some rest.”
“I couldn’t agree more. Finally, you’re making sense,” Nik said from the open door to the exam room. “Thanks for calling me, Doc. Joan said it was okay for me to come back here.” Joan was Doc’s wife who was also his nurse, and their daughter Cindy was his receptionist in their small family practice.
“I told her to send you back. These two need babysitters, as you can see. I don’t want either of them driving for the rest of the day.”
“Hey, I’m not the one who fell,” I said.
Doc reached out and took my wrist in his hand, staring at his watch and counting. He dropped my arm. “Just as I suspected. Your pulse is too fast. You might not have fallen, but this event definitely affected you.”
“Don’t worry, Doc. I’ve got this.” Nik gave us both a stern look. “I’m putting them both on house arrest.”
I gasped. “Under who’s authority?”
“Mine.”
Ten minutes later we were on our way back home.
“What about my car?”
“I already sent an officer to drive it home.”
Out of options, I sulked in the backseat silently.
“The whole town is buzzing over the jewelry store incident,” Nik finally said, glancing in the rear-view mirror at me with a frustrated expression then over to his ma. “What you were thinking, Ma?”
“What, I’ve always been curious about how much our family heirloom was worth. There’s no harm in that.”
“Are you kidding? There’s still a murderer on the loose and a Bandit wreaking havoc on our town. You just put yourself and Kalli by association in a great deal of danger. That kind of money is enough to make even family members turn on each other to get their hands on that necklace.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry. I don’t even have it.”
Nik swerved and nearly went off the road. Jerking the car back between the white lines, he kept his eyes straight ahead and focused. “Ma, where is the necklace?”
“Nelson Rockwell has it. He asked if he could keep it for a couple days to verify his appraisal.”
“And you let him? He’s already been hit once by the Bandit.”
“I’m not worried. He doubled his security.”
“The Bandit is no amateur.”
“Stop worrying, Nikos. Everything will be fine.”
“Well, I’m doubling my security. People don’t know you don’t have the necklace on you. There’s no telling the lengths they’ll go to for something as valuable as that. I wish you’d left it in the safe where it belongs.”
“Nelson Rockwell told us he saw Thalia having lunch with Benny Balboa at a remote restaurant on the outskirts of town when he was with a client,” I said, more than ready to change the subject.
Nik nearly went off the road for a second time.
The thought of having that heirloom around and the possibility of being in danger was giving me major anxiety. I practiced my deep breathing and tried to relax, but Detective Dreamy’s driving was making that impossible.
“Wait, did I hear you right?” Nik gripped the steering wheel, keeping his gaze trained on the road.
“That’s what he said, and he has no reason to lie. He hates Benny, and he’s worried the same fate as Ariana and the widow Simone will fall on Thalia. I don’t get it. Your cousin made it clear she can’t stand Benny, so why would she have lunch with him?”
“I don’t know, but you can bet I’m going to find out.”
“Speaking of finding things out.” I watched him through the mirror. “Do you have any updates on the murder cases?”
“Actually, yes. Detective Matheson said when they searched Nina Simone’s house, they found the same sleeping pills Doc prescribed Ma by her bed.”
“You know, I was supposed to go on my first date with the captain that night,” Chloe chimed in. “But after my run in with Ariana and Penelope at the grocery store, I wasn’t in the mood. Nina was in the liquor store when I bought the bottle of Ouzo. I’m not proud of myself, but I have to admit I made sure she knew about my date. Do you think she drugged me to make me fall asleep and ruin my date?”
“Maybe Ariana caught the widow in the act so she killed her in a moment of panic and then fled,” I offered my two cents.
“Maybe, but then everyone knows Ma isn’t dating anyone with the murder investigation going on. So why try to approach her at my house? And who killed Nina?”
“That’s true,” I agreed. “Besides, I don’t think the diamond earring was hers, either. Nelson said she tried to sell her late husband’s jewelry which wasn’t worth much because she was hurting for money. I doubt she would have bought diamond earrings.”
“All these questions are making my head hurt and making me stress out even more.” Chloe pinched the bridge of her nose.
“I couldn’t agree more.” I nodded as Nik pulled into our driveway.
“Good because both of you need to relax. Doctor’s orders, remember?”
I remembered, all right. And I had the perfect solution in mind.
Nik left to follow up on some leads about the Business Bandit, while I asked my Aunt Tasoula to bring the girls for an emergency house call. The town had come together and donated all sorts of supplies to hold her over until her new shipment came in. Clearview was like that. Everyone always looked out for each other.
“Where is she,” Aunt Tasoula asked when she arrived a few minutes later.
I pointed to the living room of my house. I didn’t want Wolfgang disrupting our spa afternoon with all his germ-filled saliva love. I could hear his whining through the walls. He hadn’t stopped whining since I’d taken his sweet YiaYia Chloe from him. He was getting a little too used to her always being around. I was afraid how he would be once she went back to her own place.
He's not your problem, Kalli. Remember, you and Nik are just friends. Just like you wanted. I sighed. To be honest, I didn’t know what I wanted anymore. Except for some answers. I definitely wanted those, and I was determined to get them.
“Oh, you poor thing,” my aunt said to Chloe. “My girls will pamper you today with a manicure and a pedicure.”
“Aw, that’s so sweet. You don’t have to go to all that trouble,” Chloe said, then sank a little deeper into the couch, holding her head as if it were about to fall off. Just moments ago, she’d been sitting up straight, reading a book.
“Girls, hurry. Chop-chop.” Tasoula clapped her hands twice. “Grab the aloe. She’s fading fast. She needs some TLC stat.”
I bit back a giggle. I could tell Chloe was loving every minute of it, and well, my aunt loved to be involved in everything and feel needed. My ma was going to have a fit when she heard about this because she was stuck at work.
The doorbell rang, and I slipped out of the room to answer it. I looked through the peephole and smiled as I opened the door. “Thalia, I’m so glad you could come. Your aunt mentioned you, so I thought you should know.”
Chloe had mentioned Thalia. That much was true. I would just let Thalia assume her aunt wanted to see her, when I suspected she really wanted to throttle her.
“I was so worried when I found out what happened.” Thalia stepped through the front door and looked around. “Where is she?”
“Follow me.” I led the way to our living room. Prissy hissed then went out on the deck through the sliding door I left partially open for her. She wasn’t liking strangers intruding on our sanctuary. If I were being honest, I felt the need to follow them with a can of Lysol, but I forced myself to control the urge.
As soon as we walked into the room, Chloe Stevens spotted Thalia. She bolted up straight like I knew she would and thrust her finger in her niece’s face. “Young lady, you have some explaining to do.”
Thalia jerked to a stop, her eyes widening, then she pursed her lips. “I have some explaining to do? You’re the one who fainted.” She put her hands on her hips. “What the heck is going on, Aunt Chloe?”
“I can’t blame her,” Aunt Tasoula chimed in. “If I had a million-dollar necklace around my neck, I would have succumbed to a fit of the vapors for sure.” She leaned closer to Chloe. “Are you royalty? Where is the necklace now? Can we see it?”
Everyone stopped moving and stared.
Chloe paused and her eyes met mine for a moment. Nik’s words were going through both our minds by the look of it. That even family might do some crazy things when it came to that amount of money.
“It’s in a safe place,” she said vaguely. “It’s too valuable to keep here. Make sure you spread that news around town.”
“Oh, well, I understand that. Keep the desperados away. I’m sure what once was thought of as a blessing is now most definitely a curse.” Tasoula made the sign of the cross. “You were wise to get rid of it.”
“I didn’t get rid of it. It’s a family heirloom to go to my granddaughter one day. I just want it safe until all this craziness goes away.” Chloe’s eyes veered over to Thalia’s. “And you, young lady, are the craziest one of all.”
“Oh, my Zeus?” Tasoula and her girls all turned their attention on Thalia. “What did you do this time?”
“I didn’t do anything,” Thalia sputtered. “I came here to see if my aunt was okay because I thought you wanted to see me.” Thalia’s eyes turned suspicious as they settled on me then gave me a hard look.
I shrugged, playing the innocent card.
“You know what you did,” Chloe said, drawing her attention once more. “Just wait until I tell your mama.”
“Okay, but can you tell me first?” Thalia threw her hands up. “Because I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You had lunch with Benny Balboa.” The room grew quiet as a tomb. “Care to tell us what that was about?”
I walked discreetly behind Thalia as she responded.
“I was warning him to stay away from the rest of my family and friends, if you must know,” she said, and I touched her shoulder and squeezed in support. I hate him. I really don’t want him to hurt anyone else I care about, but I have to finish this.
Finish what?
I had no clue, but I had a feeling there was more to her story than she was letting on, and Detective Stevens wasn’t going to like it.