Board Stiff (An Elliott Lisbon Mystery) (25 page)

“Looks like they’re taking photos with the school kids,” Matty said after the second inning of horseshoes. “Don’t you want to go over there? You deserve it for organizing this whole thing.”

I watched the Ballantynes with the crowd of players and coaches. Flash bulbs sparkled as the photographers snapped the couple surrounded with the kids in uniform. “No, I could use a break from the attention. I’ll meet with the players later, deliver the equipment, something like that.”

He lobbed a horseshoe straight at the stake. He hadn’t missed one yet. “You could help coach the team next year. I’m sure they’d love to have you.”

“Ha. Turns out I throw like a girl.” I pitched a horseshoe at the post and it hit with a satisfying clang. “Except in horseshoes, of course.”

“Of course.”

We walked over and picked our horseshoes from the sand. I’m sure true diehards might balk at the use of sand instead of dirt around the stakes, but I could only carry so much hand-sanitizer.

“Good thing we’re playing house rules or we could be here all night,” I said as we both scored points in the next inning.

“I wouldn’t mind that at all. But one more for me, and I win,” Matty said. He lifted his last horseshoe up and effortlessly slung it down the lane. It clomped into the sand, sliding right around the ring.

He leaned in close with his hand low on my back. I felt his heat through my shirt. “Too bad we didn’t have something riding on this game. I say next time we make our own rules.”

My knees weakened and I nearly slipped in the grass. Hey, I like changing the rules just as much as the next slightly obsessive, barely compulsive hot-blooded girl.

The dinner bell rang on the other side of the backyard. We slowly made our way to the dinner line. He held my hand in his. I couldn’t remember the last time a man took my hand as we walked. Or when I wanted one to.

Matty and I followed the end of the line toward the buffet. Tod and Carla manned the front table, Chef Carmichael ran the last table, and liveried servers assisted guests with their dinner plates. I was all but starved by the time we reached them. The passed hors d’oeuvres consisted of jumbo shrimp, lump crab cakes, Cajun scallops, and one lone non-seafood item: fried green tomatoes.

“A buffet, Carla?” I said.

“Yes, I know you hate them, but table service on the back lawn would be a nightmare and you know it. My fried chicken would wilt.”

“I know, I know. But still. All this food out in the open, people sneezing on it, and then I’m supposed to just eat it?”

“Yes, just like Weird Al says,” Tod said.

“You’re invoking Weird Al?”

“It seemed appropriate.”

“You’re a special person, Tod,” I said.

Carla handed me a covered plate from behind the table. “So are you, Elli, so are you. Now go on and enjoy, I doctored this up just for you.”

Buttermilk fried chicken, coleslaw, macaroni and cheese, and mashed sweet potatoes. “Carla! Thank you so much.” It looked fantastic. And so much better than Matty’s which was piled with catfish, dirty rice, and collard greens.

I followed Matty to the last table with open seats. It sat beneath a blooming magnolia in the center of the lawn. Deidre Burch and her husband, Anton, were already there.

“I have an exciting new project for the board,” I said to Deidre after we sat. “Leo created the most wonderful proposal for the Shelter Initiative, a new homeless program for the county. We’ll have a dedicated center with a kitchen, semi-private sleeping rooms, and counselors. Plus, full funding from the Ballantyne. I just need someone to chair the committee.”

“It sounds wonderful,” Deidre said in her lovely southern drawl. “And an easy committee to chair. Always a good thing. I’m sure the board will approve it as soon as it’s proposed.”

I smiled and jumped with inner glee. “It will go on the agenda for the very next meeting. You’ll be perfect.”

“I appreciate the thought, but I’m proposing a new literacy committee. I can’t possibly chair another committee. Don’t you worry, sugar. It’ll be a snap to find someone else on the board.”

I nodded and kept my smile in place. Some snap. I was almost out of board members to ask. I took my first bite of sweet potatoes and nearly choked on them when Reena and Ransom approached our table.

“May we join you?” Ransom asked.

I felt Matty stiffen beside me. Reena didn’t look too pleased either, but she sat down anyway.

“So Reena, how is your Mumbai project doing?” Deidre asked after they settled in.

“It’s a daily struggle, Deidre. Half of the people don’t want the help while the other half are merely indifferent,” Reena said. “We have a new teacher arriving in Mumbai next week. He’s very charming and quite entertaining. We are hoping he will be able to encourage the students to return each day.”

I chewed and swallowed my chicken without actually tasting it. I couldn’t have been more uncomfortable with Matty’s arm around my chair, Ransom sitting across the table, and Reena shooting death-ray eyes at me.

“Elli, I’ve been meaning to ask you all night,” Deidre said. “How’s your car? What a fright for you, and so violent, right here on the island.”

Ransom’s head snapped up. “What happened to your car?”

“All four tires slashed,” Matty answered. “I’m surprised you haven’t heard, seeing how you’re a detective. I bet the entire island knows by now.”

Ransom’s gaze flicked to Matty and then to me. “She didn’t mention it when we were together last night.”

“Last night?” Matty and Reena said at the same time.

I stuttered, which only made it worse. Not a single real word came out.

Reena laughed. Seductively. Her hand on Nick’s arm, her eyes on me. “Nick was with
me
last night. Until
very
late.”

“Our engagement was earlier,” I said to Reena. “He saw me first.”

“Excuse me?” she replied.

Did I just say “he saw me first?”

Ransom leaned over to Reena, but she was pissed. She threw down her napkin. “Where exactly did you two meet?”

I looked at Ransom, then back at Reena. And never once up at Matty. I put my hand on his thigh instead. Rock hard and unforgiving.

“We met to discuss wine,” Ransom said smoothly. “Elliott here suggested a vintage I hadn’t paid much attention to. It was very brief.”

Reena’s glare never left me. She picked up her fork, her grasp so tight, I almost ducked. It was one thing to throw pastries, but another to throw the silver. Those tines were sharp. But then she set it back down. “I’ve forgotten the chutney. If you’ll excuse me.”

Ransom stood. “Let me,” he said to her.

She smiled warmly at him. “Thank you, Nick, but I’ll only be a minute. I need the walk.”

I watched her walk toward the buffet in her ivory chemise with silk buttons and an ostrich feather in her hair.

“What happened to your tires, Elliott?” Ransom asked.

“A particular student at Seabrook Prep didn’t appreciate my investigative techniques and gave me a parting gift,” I said.

“So this happened under your nose, Gannon?”

Matty leaned back in his chair. He looked calm on the outside, but his leg muscles were still clenched beneath my palm. “I’m Headmaster, not security. It had more to do with the murder investigation you have yet to solve than it does with one of my students.”

“Were you questioning Tra—” Ransom said.

I threw up my hand to stop him. Deidre and Anton were watching the conversation like spectators at a ping pong match.

“I’m questioning whomever I deem necessary, Ransom. As Matty said, you haven’t yet solved your case.”

“The case is solved, Lisbon,” Ransom said. “You’re just stubborn.”

Pot, meet Kettle, I almost said, but stuck my chin out instead and pointedly looked away. I was not going to engage Ransom in front of Matty or the Burches. I saw Reena fawning over Mrs. Ballantyne near the buffet. I mentally rolled my eyes, then caught sight of Jane striding across the grass with Chas closer than her shadow, practically chasing her. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I didn’t have to. Chas looked ready to rip Jane’s head off by her hair.

“It looks like we both want the same thing,” Matty said. “Elliott to stay away from you.”

I jerked my head back. “What did you say?”

“I never said I wanted her away from me,” Ransom said. “Just my investigation. I certainly didn’t mind it yesterday, did I, Red?”

Oh Lord. In front of Matty and Deidre and everyone else. How did I get wrapped into a love triangle (rectangle?) and a murder investigation. “Excuse me, I have to settle something. You two aren’t the worst of my problems right now.”

I left the table as Reena sat back down. Fine, I thought. Let her feel the heat for a while. I climbed the steps to the patio and watched in alarm as Jane and Chas tangled near the pool.

“Don’t you dare threaten me, Obermeyer,” Jane hissed. “I have the law on my side.”

“Bullshit. You blackmailed Leo into giving up that land and then you killed him. You’re going down and I’m going to watch. Hell, I’m going to help.”

“Go on home and drink away your sorrows. Your little Buffalo Bill’s project will never see the light of day, not as long as I’m heading up the Historic Society. And the Ballantyne board, come to think of it. What have you got? I’m not sure a mountain of debt will actually help you, you know?”

“You bitch,” he yelled. “You’ll not only rot in prison for killing Leo, but I’ll wipe your name through the mud so deep, no one will find it a hundred years from now.”

“Stop it, you two,” I said. I marched between them and pushed Chas back. “Enough. We’re at a
party
, people. The Ballantynes are less than a hundred feet away.”

“Maybe I should have a long chat with Edward,” Chas said. “Let him know what his little pet has been up to in his absence.”

“You’ll do no such thing, Chas,” I said. “Just back off.”

He pointed his finger at Jane’s face. “I’m suing you for everything you’re worth.”

“Get in line, asshole,” Jane said with a laugh as Chas stormed off.

“Are you crazy, Jane? Mr. Ballantyne will croak if he hears about this.”

“He’ll croak when he hears what a crack investigator you turned out to be. Elliott, you are an idiot. You’ve caused more problems than you’ve solved.”

“I got you out of jail for your auction! Do you know how hard that was?”

“Please. My attorney did that. But if you don’t start figuring this shit out, I could lose my seat on the board.”

“Jesus, Jane, aren’t you paying attention? You could lose your
life
.”

“Don’t be so melodramatic.”

“South Carolina is a death penalty state. Leo’s murder was premeditated. They will kill you. You were there. A witness saw you driving away from Leo’s house right after the murder!”

“I was not there. This is your problem. You don’t listen. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to call my attorney. Chas is like a dog with an old soup bone with this ridiculous Buffalo Bill’s project. I may have to snatch it away before he really digs in.”

“No way, Jane. Not a chance. No one is suing anyone. That won’t solve anything.” 

“No, Elliott. It will solve everything,” she said and calmly walked away.

Great, I thought. Great, great, great.

I turned around and slammed right into Ransom.

I punched him in the chest. I think it hurt me more than him. “What is wrong with you? How could you tell the entire table about our…
thing
yesterday?”

“Clearly I didn’t mean to. And you didn’t help by calling it an engagement.”

“Discreet, Ransom. I’m supposed to be discreet. Quiet, private, on the down low. You can’t blab every move I make to a full table at a dinner party!”

“Why didn’t you tell me someone’s threatening you?”

“It’s not your concern.” I took a step back. “Why are you here, by the pool?”

“I saw you follow Jane. I wanted to see what she was up to.”

“You think she’ll just blurt out that she killed Leo?”

“She’ll admit it sooner or later.”

“You’re wrong, Ransom. So so wrong. Jane didn’t do this and you’re not listening to me.”

“Why can’t you trust me, that I know what I’m doing?”

“Trust you? Never. You had your chance.”

“This isn’t about us. It’s about you withholding evidence and obstructing my investigation.”

“I’m not obstructing.”

“The hell you’re not. You’re protecting the Foundation.”

I threw my hands up in exasperation. “Of course I am, but I’m not protecting a killer. You are set on Jane but there other suspects. Travis, Chas, Joseph, Cherry. You’re just mad you didn’t find out about the red car yourself so you could tuck it away before anyone else heard about it.”

Ransom took a step toward me. “Watch it, Lisbon. I admit you’re damn sexy when you’re all worked up, but be careful with your accusations.”

My temperature started to rise. Either because he called me sexy or because he was frustrating the shit out of me. “Someone framed Jane, I know it.”