| |
“I need you to be my lookout, Freddie,” I said after I parked in the alley behind Debbie’s house and her neighbors’. She had a detached, single-car garage in the back, facing the alley. There had been a fence to keep people from the alley out of her yard, but I had removed that when the dumpster was brought in and was fired before I had a chance to put it back. I was able to get close to the back porch, and hence the flower pot where Debbie hid a key to the house, without being seen by the neighbors.
Fred had other ideas. He had been left in the Jeep too long when I was at the coffee shop, and now he wanted out. The last thing I needed was for him to bark and alert the neighbor, so I let him out of the Jeep. “Can you be quiet and promise to behave?”
He answered with a loud bark. I might as well have asked him to run over and knock on Crazy Mary’s door.
“Shh, Freddie,” I said and bent down to his level so we could talk. “Do you want her calling the cops on us?”
He barked again, only this time I looked up to see why. “Lisa? You’re back?”
“How could I stay away from my two favorite guys?” she said from the back porch. She had been sitting on the top step, much like she had the day I’d first met her. Only this time it was the rear of the house, and she wasn’t wearing her khakis with the big pockets. She had on loose shorts and a Royal’s sweatshirt.
Fred broke loose from my grip and ran toward her wagging his tail.
“I missed you, too, Freddie,” she said, leaning down to ruffle his hair.
“You weren’t thinking of breaking into my house, where you, Jake?” Her smile assured me she hadn’t called the cops...yet.
“I seem to have lost my Sawzall. I must have left it here. I tried calling you a hundred times. When did you get back?”
She moved over to make room for Fred. The big ham loved every minute of the massage she was giving his neck. “This morning,” she answered, lowering her eyes. Her smile drifted away with her gaze. “I wanted to call you back, Jake, but I couldn’t.”
I went over to the stairs and sat crossways on the bottom step. “Hey, it’s not like we’re married. I just wanted to know what happened to you.”
She took a deep breath and sighed. “I lied about having to get back to work. The truth is, Jake, I am married.”
Fred sensed the change in her mood and put a paw on her lap.
It brought her smile back, but only for a moment. “We haven’t been getting along for some time. I thought the trip out here would give me a chance to clear my head. I didn’t expect to meet someone like you.”
Fred let out a short bark that made her laugh again. “And you, too, Freddie.”
She pretended to whisper in his ear, just loud enough so I could hear. “Don’t tell your master, but I missed you the most.”
I hadn’t thought about another woman since Julie died and now that I found one I really liked, I find she’s married. I had to cut this off before it went any further. “Well, I’m glad you’re okay. I was afraid whoever shot Ryan might have done the same to you, too.”
She stopped petting Fred and looked up. “Someone killed Ryan?”
“In your minivan. It’s why I kept calling you.”
“Oh, my God. I’ve been so mad at him because I had to rent a car to get here from the airport when he wouldn’t answer my calls. How horrible.”
I inadvertently glanced over at the garage, wondering where she’d parked the rental. “Then you didn’t know?”
“No. This is the first I’ve heard of it,” she answered, getting up.
I rose as well, but Fred didn’t. He looked up at Lisa, reminding me of one of Dickens’ street urchins begging for a handout. “So is it okay if I look for my saw?”
“Sure,” she answered. I thought she was going to lead the way into the house, but she picked up a tennis ball that had been stuck under the porch rail and threw it. Fred went after it before it cleared the porch. “You know the house better than I do, Jake. I’ll stay here with Fred while you get your stuff.”
***
THE BACK DOOR LED INTO a room that might have been a washroom at one time. There was a huge, cement sink that must have served as a place for servants to wash clothes. I doubt if Debbie had ever used it, for there was a matching front-loading washer and dryer next to the sink. Next to the dryer was a free-standing cupboard. I’d seen one like it on an antique shopping trip with Julie. She had called it a Hoosier cabinet. I wasted no time searching it for the letter I was sure Brendon had left for me to find.
“That’s a funny place to put a saw.” I’d been so intent in my search, I didn’t hear Lisa and Fred come inside. I closed the cabinet drawer and turned around. She was standing with her hands on her hips and a frown on her face. She didn’t look happy.
Fred sensed the change as well and came over to attach himself to my thigh. “Damn, you scared me, Lisa. I didn’t hear you come in.”
Her eyes narrowed. I had to think fast before she literally blew up. “Out of sight, out of mind,” I said, moving away from the cabinet. “I put my more valuable tools in there where another worker couldn’t see them.”
Her hands went from her hips to under her biceps as she crossed her arms. “Well, please don’t go through any more antiques unless you ask. That’s been sold to a dealer in Loveland and he wouldn’t be too happy if you broke it on him.”
“You sold it?”
“Yes, and most of the other antiques, as well. I plan on having a garage sale for the rest of it.”
“But you said you just got here. How did you manage to find buyers so soon?”
She uncrossed her arms, dropping her hands to her side. “I took pictures before going back to Missouri and put them on Craigslist, not that it’s any of your business.”
I began to wonder if Lisa was bipolar. Ten minutes ago it looked like she wanted me to hop into bed with her and now she acted like I’d run over her cat. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get you upset. I’ll just run upstairs. Maybe I left the saw in the bedroom I was working on. I promise I won’t look inside any more cabinets.”
I didn’t wait for her answer and headed toward the servant’s stairs. It was a feature the finer homes had when the upper-middle-class could afford servants. They didn’t want the hired help to be seen unless they were called. Fred didn’t need to be told to follow—he was still attached to my leg.
“Now will you try to earn your keep and guard the stairs for me?” I whispered to Fred once we’d made it to the third level. Lisa had stayed behind. I’d seen her walk over to her precious Hoosier cabinet when we had reached the second level. It was a U-shaped staircase that required a change in direction at each level, giving me a clear view of her as she checked out the cabinet.
Fred didn’t argue with me this time, so I went down the hall toward the bedroom where I’d found the first letters. I turned around before entering the bedroom to see Fred looking sadder than a seal locked up in a pen, but he hadn’t moved an inch.
“Where would I hide something I wanted to be found?” I said to myself.
I was about to answer myself when I saw it. Another letter, exactly where the armoire had been, stuffed behind some exposed lath with just enough envelope exposed so it could be found by even a failing Braille student. I quickly extracted the letter from the wall, put it in my waistband, and pulled my undershirt and sweatshirt over it. Fred barked just as I finished.
“Did you find it?” Her tone had suggested she was no longer upset with me.
I had found what I’d come for, so it was time to gather my flock and go. “No. I’m sorry I bothered you, Lisa. Maybe it’s buried in my shed somewhere. I’m not exactly the best-organized handyman. Fred and I’ll get going before we do break something valuable.”
Lisa closed the distance between us and reached out for my hand. She looked up at me without saying a word and wrapped her arms around my neck.
The kiss only lasted a second and then she was gone. I stood there, immobilized and confused. I could feel hormones swimming through my body that I thought had died. Then I looked over at Fred who had seen it all. He just sat there, looking at me with a wicked grin. “What are you looking at, you grungy mutt?” I swear his grin grew wider.
I soon forgot Fred and let my thoughts drift back to Lisa. Did she want me to follow her? Part of me wanted to, but I couldn’t. I’d let my hormones make the mistake of getting involved with a married woman once before and still felt guilty about it, even though I knew that marriage had been long over. Lisa solved the dilemma for me when I heard the back door slam shut. I looked out the window in time to see her going over to Crazy Mary’s.