Tears were imminent all week and I wanted everything to be over.
Things were getting serious. The situation was no longer isolated to one murder or even the threatening letter in my house. Too many coincidences tied everything together, first David and then Grant?
Nobody liked me enough to kill out of jealousy. I didn’t even have any jilted lovers or anything else exciting. All I had going for me was my writing and even that was fairly secret. Paul Davis wasn’t an ex-boyfriend and the man was a straight cop. He was overly anal in following the rules.
Robyn stepped off to the side, talking to Ryan. She was near tears and spoke fast, caught up in the release of adrenaline.
Grant and I wandered to the side of the patio, claiming a seat on his wicker love chair, our knees almost touching. I looked out over the yard that was in blue-white tones from the LED light. Someone had been out there. I was so tired and my eyes blinked as if in slow motion. “Do you think we’ll ever get a normal night's rest?” I tried laughing, but it came out sounding more plaintive than playful.
I still gripped my phone like a lifeline, staring around me like I was seeing the world for the first time. My phone buzzed in my fingers, jolting me with another burst of energy. Who was calling me at 1130 at night? Turning over the phone to see the screen, I furrowed my brow at my Aunt Kathy’s name and picture flashing on the screen. I answered, leaning forward with worry. “Aunt Kathy? Is everything okay? Is bingo just getting out?”
Her answering laugh brought me up short. “Oh, honey, we don't play bingo. That’s for old people. Our age in years may be high, but we’re not old. We've been out at some dance clubs. Actually, we were wondering, if you could come pick us up. Something's wrong with the car, and it won't start. Cari doesn’t want to try Uber. She thinks serial killers will get us.”
I raised my wide eyes to Grant and held my hands out. “Sure, Aunt Kathy. I can come get you. Would you like to just stay at Robyn's house with us tonight? We can take you to your place in the morning.” I didn’t have to ask Robyn. We had a standing relationship where we acted first and explained later.
Grant pulled his phone from his back pocket and made a call, standing from the chair and moving to the edge of the porch. His voice was too low to make out his words but not too low I couldn’t feel his tone skimming down my back.
Her answer was unconcerned. “That sounds fine, dear. We’re at the gas station in Athol. Can we expect you in fifteen or twenty minutes?”
I agreed, turning off the phone and tucking it in my pocket. For someone who was stranded, Aunt Kathy didn't sound very upset.
Robyn hung up on her call and claimed Grant’s abandoned seat, crossing her legs and leaning her arms on her knee.
Grant ended his call and approached Robyn and me. “They’re going to send a team to process this mess. We can’t be here when they arrive. Robyn, is it okay if I crash at your house again tonight? I know it's going to be crowded with Olivia there, but I need a place to stay.” He didn’t look at me but I knew he was as aware of me as I was of him.
I cleared my throat. “I just got off the phone with Aunt Kathy. They’re stranded over at the Athol gas station. And that’s not all. They need to stay at Robyn's tonight, too. We can drop them off at their place in the morning.” I pressed my lips together. The aunts would get my room and I’d be stuck with Robyn or – great – in the living room with Grant.
A mischievous grin spread Grant’s lips in a lopsided curve. “I like your aunts. This should be fun.” He chuckled. Of course he liked them, he was male and they fawned over good-looking men.
I would have to get more details from him in the car as to just why he liked them, though.
“Oh, my word. It's going to be crazy in Casa de Robyn tonight.” Robyn rolled her eyes, but smiled. She didn’t care. And after what we had just dealt with, I had no doubt that she was grateful for the company. She might change her mind after a night with my aunts.
I sat beside Robyn in her car and turned to face her and to also include Grant in the conversation. “Did you tell Craig about the scissors and the high heels? I never mentioned the scissors. The Press didn't either.”
“What makes you say that?” With her hands on the steering wheel, Robyn glanced at me and slowly braked to a stop at the intersection of Clagstone and Highway 54. She drove sensibly with her cop brother in the car. She cared more about what he thought than if I lived or not.
Grants braced his hands on the back of the car seats. He leaned closer, the fresh ocean scent of his cologne distracting me for a moment.
I shifted on my seat and narrowed my eyes. “Craig said something about the scene at the critique session. But I don't think it's him. I keep getting things wrong. I didn't mention the scissors to anyone. He knew the details like he’d been there. He said he was talking to you, Kami, and Tesha. If you didn’t tell him, and Kami and Tesha weren’t there, then how did Craig know? I can't figure out what's going on here.” I rubbed my aching elbow, watching the headlights of other cars pass us in the opposing lane.
Grant touched my shoulder. The dim insides of the car made the moment more intimate than I was ready to deal with. He glanced between Robyn and I. “He lives in Spokane, doesn't he? Let's stop by and see him tomorrow when you drop off your aunts. I can’t go back to work until tonight’s event is cleared from being involved with my case. I don’t have anything to do. I can go with you two.”
“You guys are going to have to go without me.” Robyn pulled into the gas station, pointing toward my aunts standing off to the side of the ice freezers, a Styrofoam coffee cub in their hands. She grinned at me, avoiding Grant. “I have a hot date with Ryan all day tomorrow.”
Clenching his jaw, Grant climbed out of the car and met Aunt Kathy and Cari. He motioned toward the back door of the car.
I climbed out of the front seat and motioned Aunt Cari over. I let her have my seat, climbing in the back alongside the window and Grant who was squeezed into the middle of the bench seat. Aunt Kathy claimed the spot on the other side of him, grinning like she’d taken a healthy hit of laughing gas. She closed the door and giggled. “Cari, looks like I'm the one who's going home with the guy tonight. Didn’t you get it last time?”
Grant’s grin was wide as he settled in beside me, the bulging muscles of his arm pushing across into my space. I wasn’t complaining, but come on. How aware of a man did I have to be? “I'm in a car full of beautiful women.”
Aunt Kathy reached over and lightly tapped his cheek. She gave him a knowing smile. “You’ll learn that experience will get you everywhere.”
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. Oh Mylanta. My aunt was hitting on Grant. Propositioning him like they were meeting at the bar.
Leave it to me and my unbelievable luck – my evening had gone from potentially relaxing and boring to an attacker and picking up my lusty aunts.
How many times would I catch them trying to slip into Grant’s bed that night? I suddenly felt like I was going to be the chaperone to my older aunts and the guy I’d loved since school.