Diva 04 _ Diva Cooks a Goose, The (17 page)

I heated a mini-baguette in the oven and cut thin slices of turkey breast. With relief, I found Mom had left a good bit of cranberry sauce behind. My mouth practically watered at the treat of turkey and cranberry sauce.

I slid the bread out of the oven, halved it, added a bit of mayonnaise to both sides, layered the slices of turkey breast on one side, and added a generous dollop of the burst berries. I had just placed the top on my sandwich when Daisy growled and raced for the sunroom.
Oh no!
The only person she’d been growling at lately was Kenner. I hoped he wasn’t back, imagining some sort of romantic connection. I turned off all the overhead lights and crept into the sunroom.

A shadowy figure lurked outside the door.

SIXTEEN

The shadow knocked tentatively. “Sophie!” It was a desperate whisper.

Shawna?

She knocked again, ever so softly.

I neared the door and recognized Shawna peering through the glass. Quickly, I unlocked the door to let her in.

She trembled with fear. “Thank you! Thank you, Sophie,” she whispered. “Is anyone else here?”

Normally I wouldn’t have let a killer into my house, nor would I have admitted to being alone, but something about Shawna struck a chord with me. She seemed pathetic and frightened. If Hannah were in the same situation, I hoped Laci would help her.

“No one is here but me. They’re all out looking for you.” I switched on a small lamp.

She pressed bloodless fingers against her face. “I don’t know what to do, where to go. I didn’t kill Bonnie. Honest, I didn’t. That horrible Detective Kenner has me in the electric chair already. You believe me, don’t you?”

I was searching for a vaguely reassuring but noncommittal response when I realized that I did believe her. I had run up against Kenner before and knew how stubborn he could be when he thought he had figured out a crime—even if he was dead wrong. I also trusted Bernie’s judgment, and had doubts about Shawna’s ability to conceive and construct the devious method of killing Bonnie.

She rubbed her hands together to warm them. “He convinced Beau that I murdered his mother.”

Far be it from me to defend Kenner, but I had been there when Beau found out his mother died, and he’d blamed it on Shawna without any help from Kenner, or anyone else for that matter.

“I’ve lost everything, Sophie. My life is over. They’re saying I poisoned her with some kind of gas. I don’t even understand how a person would do that.”

Either she was being honest and I was right about her being innocent, or she was a talented actress.

I reached for her jacket. “You’re sopping wet!”

“I’ve been out in the snow, dodging through alleys.”

“Go upstairs and take a hot shower. You’re taller than I am, but maybe you can find some dry sweats in my closet? Meanwhile, I’ll try to reach your dad. Okay?”

She nodded, handed me her jacket, and shuffled toward the stairs.

While she showered, I made her piping hot chocolate, carried it upstairs, and left it next to the sink. If she didn’t warm up, she would get sick. I heard the water stop as I returned to the kitchen.

I phoned Phil on his cell phone number. Maybe he would be able to hire an attorney who could smooth the way if Shawna turned herself in.

When Phil answered his phone, I tried to convey the message in code in case anyone was listening. “We’re reconvening at my house.”

He promised to be there soon. As I hung up, Daisy headed to the front door. Moments later, I heard a clatter. Not Kenner! Oh, please, not Kenner! He would toss us both in jail if he found Shawna at my house.

I peered through the peephole in the door, wondering if I dared not open it. Was it illegal not to open the door for a cop? I tried to still my hammering heart. I couldn’t make out anything through the peep hole. Was Shawna dressed yet? Could she escape out the back before Kenner figured out that she was here? Had he followed her? What if he had listened to my phone call?

Kenner had warned Laci and me about harboring a criminal. Had he come back with a search warrant for my house?
Argh
. I beat my head gently against the door. What now?

I peered through the peephole again. Why hadn’t the person knocked on the door yet? Shawna was upstairs, and I couldn’t imagine who else would dally at my door.

Leaving the safety chain in place, I eased the door open for a better look. There, under the romantic glow of the Christmas lights surrounding my door, Hannah had locked lips with Zack.

My initial relief faded as I gently closed the door. He was still a cop. Hannah had surely told him about Shawna. He may have even made some phone calls to find out more. What would he do if he found her in my house?

I stood with my back against the door, as though it would send some sort of psychic message to Hannah to get rid of Zack.

It didn’t work. I could feel the door handle turn against my back. Hannah barged in, holding Zack’s hand.

They shook snow off their coats, laughing about a branch that had deposited its snowy load onto them. I gently shooed them into the living room and suggested Zack light a fire. I eyed Hannah. Should I risk telling her Shawna was upstairs? Or was she so deep in the throes of new love that she would blab?

I scurried around the living room, turning on the lights on the tree and on boughs of pine decorating the mantel. It turned out they’d eaten at Bernie’s, so I offered to whip up after-dinner drinks for them—anything to keep them in the living room, where they’d be least likely to see Shawna.

To cover up the sound of Shawna’s footsteps upstairs, I turned on lively Christmas music and was immediately rewarded with “It’s Cold Outside.” Not the noisiest song, but Hannah and Zack would relate to it tonight.

I rushed into the kitchen to make their drinks and saw a car cruising slowly down my block, as though the driver sought a parking space. Crossing my fingers, I hoped it was Phil and that we could get Shawna squared away before any of the rest of us got into trouble.

My stomach rumbled, out of nervousness as much as hunger. I reached for my sandwich. A few crumbs dotted the plate but the sandwich was gone. Daisy looked up at me innocently. I was about to scold her, but realized she wouldn’t have left crumbs. She wasn’t licking her chops, either. But if she didn’t take it, then where did it go? Shawna!

I sped to the sunroom and gazed into my backyard. The gate to the alley closed behind someone. Hoping I’d been right about the car cruising the street, I ran through the house and out the front door, in search of Phil’s car.

Someone was trying to parallel park a boat-size car in a spot far too small for it. I sped up and knocked on the window. Thank goodness I’d been right—it was Phil. “She’s in the alley.” I pointed to help him understand.

“Is she okay?”

“Fine, but confused. She needs your help.”

“This is all my fault,” he moaned. “I just wanted to make Marnie jealous, but now I wish I had never met Bonnie. I needed to prove to Marnie, and maybe to myself, too, that I was attractive to other women. I guess I’m not. I lied about seeing other women. Bonnie was the only one, and now I think she was using me to break up Shawna and Beau. Who knew that Bonnie would be crazy enough to announce our engagement at her party?”

“But you were engaged?”

“No! I have no idea where she got that ring she flashed around. Never in my wildest dreams did I think anything like this would happen.”

I peered through the window at him. Could I believe what he was saying? He seemed sincere. But if Phil hadn’t been engaged to Bonnie, what would have possessed her to make such an announcement? She’d obviously planned it since she brought along a ring.

“Why didn’t you say something then?”

“She took me by surprise. Plus, I would never embarrass a lady in front her friends and family like that. I figured I’d deal with it later, but then Shawna ran out of the room and the whole thing just spiraled out of control. Now Bonnie’s dead and the cops are after Shawna. I’ve been driving around in circles, looking for my little girl and chastising myself for bringing this horrible situation on my family.”

I appreciated his grief, but he didn’t have time to linger. Shawna could turn down another alley and be lost in the shadows in seconds. Besides, I’d noticed a movement in a nearby car. It was too cold to just hang out in a car—I had a bad feeling Kenner had charged someone with the unenviable duty of watching my house.

“Phil, I think we’re being watched. I’m going to act like I’m wishing you a nice holiday, okay? You need to find Shawna while she’s still in the neighborhood.”

Phil put the car in gear, and I backed away from the driver’s window, shouting, “Happy Holidays! It was great seeing you.”

I stood in the middle of the street hoping to prevent Kenner’s henchman from pulling out immediately behind Phil. Fortunately, there wasn’t much traffic, but the cold had permeated my turtleneck and snow collected on my shoulders and head. I shook it off and used the motion as a pretense to get a better look at the person in the other car. To my complete surprise, Kenner sat behind the wheel watching me.

Phil’s taillights disappeared around the corner at the far end of the street. I said a little prayer that he would find Shawna. I couldn’t imagine being alone on the streets on a frigid night like this.

Although I thought I would drop any second from the cold, I decided I’d better stall Kenner. I rushed over to his car and he rolled down the window.

“Awfully cold to sit out here,” I said.

“Are you inviting me in?”

“Look, Kenner—Shawna is not in my house. You can sit here all night and freeze your nose off for all I care.”

He held out a hand. “I swung by to bring you this.”

SEVENTEEN

Guilt saddled me for a moment, but only a moment. There was no doubt he’d been spying on my house. “What’s that?”

“The key to Bonnie’s office. You’ll need access for the auction.”

“How did you know about that?”

He grinned, his horsey teeth gleaming in the semidark. “I’m in charge of the auction for the Alexandria Police. Beau asked me to give you the keys.”

Argh.
How did I get myself into these messes? The last thing I needed was more contact with Kenner. I sighed and took the key from his palm, but he closed his fingers over mine and pressed. A shiver sparked down my back, and it was
not
from the cold air.

I tried to jerk my hand away, but Kenner held fast. There just wasn’t any good way around this. As sweetly as I could, I said, “I’m sorry, Kenner. The truth is that I’m seeing Wolf.” There. It was out in the open, plain as it could be, clear enough for anyone to understand.

Kenner didn’t release my fingers. “Married?”

I tilted my head in irritation. “No.”

“Engaged?”

“No.”

“Then consider this my declaration of a good old-fashioned fight for your affections. He leaned forward and kissed the back of my hand.

Ugh!
I was so horrified that I jerked it out of his firm grip. Fortunately, the key was in my possession.

I should have said something clever. Should have shot back a retort, but he left me speechless, and I marched to my house without so much as a glance back at him.

I did, however, continue to surreptitiously spy from my windows. His car remained in place, even after I fed the kittens, Mochie and Daisy, ate a turkey sandwich, and went up to bed.