Euphoria Lane (17 page)

She jumped and almost wet her pants. “I . . . I wondered what you kept in a freezer this big. You don’t have a large family.”

“Once a month we shop at one of those discount stores where you buy in bulk. One minute I’m eating samples, and the next I’m buying sausage by the ton. Tess says I’m a discount addict.”

Andi remembered Toto dragging sausage links down the street. Doctor Owens must have dropped them onto the cement and not realized it. She couldn’t picture a vet giving a dog that much sausage, if any.

“I can relate.” She eased the lid down. “I won’t have to shop for paper towels again until I’m sixty.”

He handed her the glass of water. “Are you going to the board meeting tonight?”

“It hasn’t been a month.”

“The board called an emergency meeting. They’re going to appoint me to the board to fill Bernice’s slot.”

“You’re going to be
one of them
?”

He nodded with a grim expression. “It’s temporary. I have no desire to do this on a full-time basis. I’m hoping they’ll pass along any information about the killer they discover. I’ll do anything to locate my wife.”

The rules required the board to give twenty-four-hour notice of any meetings. She intended to add this to the list of violations committed by Harry.

She caught the look of unbearable pain in the vet’s eyes. Her heart ached for him.

“We’ll do everything possible to find your wife.”

Luke entered the library, shook off the creepy feeling the jungle mural gave him, and marched down the hall to the meeting room. He dreaded every one of the meetings he attended on behalf of the Euphoria Homeowners’ Association.

He pushed the door open and, at first glance, was taken aback. Andi stood in the center aisle with Meg. A dozen of her neighbors, clad in red “Anti-Board” T-shirts, greeted her with smiles, thumbs-up signs, and pats on the back. The heat of a blush rushed up her neck and over her cheeks. Obviously embarrassed by the attention, she eased down to the front row, where Roxie waited.

The anti-board was growing—and so would the trouble. Luke located his usual seat at the table up front and turned when he heard the heavy click of male shoes. Harry and Valerie approached, both with smug expressions. The association president scowled at Andi and the anti-board before handing her two envelopes. The trouble came faster than Luke had expected.

He ambled over and Andi held up both envelopes for him to read. VIOLATION had been typed on one and FINE had been typed on the other.

“Harry, you’re a weasel!” She ripped up both envelopes and threw the pieces into the air. “
You
pay your own blasted fine!
You
dumped that trash and birdseed on my porch!”

Harry stepped closer. “Prove it, sweetheart.”

Luke stepped between them and the pungent odor of Harry’s onion-bacon-cheeseburger breath struck him like a weapon. “Harry . . .”

The president of the association narrowed his eyes into snakelike slits. “Don’t ‘Harry’ me. You are one call away from losing this account—and probably your job.”

“Luke,” Andi said, “This isn’t your problem.” She narrowed her eyes to mimic Harry. “The rules say there have to be two violation letters and a third offense before a fine can be assessed. You’ve littered my porch only twice.”

Valerie slapped a French-manicured hand to her lips. “Whoops. I forgot to give you this.” She handed Andi a picture of her messy porch dated Friday morning, another dated Saturday morning, and finally, a picture of a clean porch, except for two leaves, dated an hour ago. She pointed to the last picture. “That there is the third offense needed to fine you.”

“You’re fining me for two leaves on the porch?”

Harry smirked victoriously. “The rules say you have to keep your porch clean. They don’t
define
clean, that’s my job. Leaves don’t belong on your porch, therefore—”

“Your porch is
not
clean,” Valerie finished for him. She lifted her snooty nose as if Andi’s presence soiled the air.

“Enough.” Luke rubbed his chin, forcing himself to remain calm and professional. “Harry, this war is only going to escalate. Nobody will win in the end, especially the community.”

“I’ll win. You can count on it,” Harry snapped. His stare bore into Andi. “I don’t care what your anti-board throws my way, sweet cakes, because I’m not going to back off. Just the opposite. You won’t be able to get out of here fast enough.”

Harry placed his arm around Valerie’s waist and escorted her to the table up front. There was no sign of Paul, her soon-to-be ex-husband. So much for thinking a brush with death and a life with Valerie would put Harry in a better, more forgiving mood. They didn’t.

“I’m sorry.” Luke knew Andi couldn’t care less if he was sorry. She wanted—no, needed—results. “With your permission, I’ll take the picture with the leaves to our company lawyer. I sincerely doubt Harry can get away with declaring a porch dirty because of two leaves.”

Uncertainty flickered through her expression. “Why didn’t you do that for Meg? She told me Harry sent her a violation for a porch ‘dirtied’ by one leaf.”

“This is the first I’m hearing about it. He might have sent the letter before I took over the account.”

What else had Harry gotten away with over the years?

Luke was sure Harry would send creative violation letters only to neighbors who didn’t have the resources to take him to court. He preyed on the weak.

“Perhaps you didn’t receive a copy of the violation letter because it was part of his effort to embezzle money.” Andi looked at Harry as though he was the slime clinging to an algae-infested pool. “We can both agree he has stepped up his efforts to get rid of me. You’re assuming it’s because of the anti-board. What if the real reason is he heard I’m investigating the murder?”

If Harry was the killer, Andi had a lot more to worry about than violation letters.

Luke leaned in close. “If it’s all right with you, I’ll drop by your place after the meeting. I would like to talk to you.” He needed to impress upon her the importance of never being alone.  “In the meantime,
try
to stay out of trouble.”

“Who? Me?” She feigned innocence.

“Yeah, you.” Grinning, Luke strode off to the front table for the start of the meeting. From his vantage point, he scanned his surroundings. Mr. Decker, the cowboy, sat in the third row, looking as malcontent as ever.

He could be the killer.

Roxie cackled in the front row. He had always considered her eccentric.

What if she’s crazy? She could be the killer.

His line of vision fell on Doctor Owens.

What if the anti-board was right about Tess? What if she witnessed Bernice’s murder and ran off to hide? What if her husband killed Bernice because of her influence over Tess?

Next, he slanted a glance Valerie’s way.

What if Bernice had tried to stop the budding romance between Valerie and Harry? Everyone knew Valerie had her sights set on Harry’s money. Could she be the killer? Then there was Reverend Nichols. The police suspected him.

Luke ran a finger over his brow. Everyone had a motive to kill Bernice, but no one, other than Reverend Nichols, had a motive to kill Helen. She had lured him away from his beloved church and then dumped him.

Harry banged the gavel, calling the meeting to order. “Valerie, please note in the minutes that Helen and your soon-to-be-ex have resigned their positions and Tess Owens is not here tonight. Either she ran away or she’s dead, so she won’t be considered a board member for long.”

He did not just say that!

Luke shot Harry a warning look that he knew would be ignored.

Doctor Owens’s face turned red, then stark white. Several female neighbors patted him reassuringly on the shoulder and back.

Roxie loudly proclaimed, “Don’t worry, doc. I’m sure she’s alive. She probably just wanted a real doctor—like a surgeon.”

His jaw fell open at the insult and Luke cringed. He was working in a loony bin. He had to find a way out.

Since this was an emergency session, violation letters and homeowner concerns would not be addressed.

“I called this meeting to appoint a new member to the board,” Harry stated.

“Don’t we get a vote on who gets on that sorry excuse for a board?” the cowboy asked in his usual gruff voice.

Harry shook his head. “Voting by the community takes place only at the annual meeting. When a member of the board vacates their seat, or in Bernice’s case, is knocked off, then the remaining board members appoint the new member to fill the vacancy until the next annual meeting.”

“And we have no say?” the cowboy seethed.

Harry glared at him. “That’s correct. You have NO say.” He gestured toward Valerie. “
We
have decided to appoint Doctor Owens to fill the vacated seat left by Bernice.”

The crowd murmured, not sure if this was good news or bad. Luke wasn’t sure himself. He never got the impression that the veterinarian was another one of Harry’s yes-men, but then again, they never discussed rules and violations.

With a solemn expression, Doctor Owens took an empty seat at the table. Luke wondered why he would willingly make himself a target for the killer.

Was it worth it to him if it meant having access to information about the community? Did he think Tess was hiding in one of the condos, or was he hoping the board could tell him something that would help him find his wife?

Luke rubbed his face. He was tired of second-guessing everyone in Euphoria and dealing with Harry.

Meg surprised the room by standing. “I nominate Roxie to fill the other vacant seat.”

The room exploded in applause.

Harry glared at Meg as she sat. He pounded his judge’s gavel to quiet the room. “I make a motion we lower the number of board members from seven to six,” he stated smugly.

Luke groaned under his breath. Meg munched loudly on her cheese puffs in either a stress- or anger-induced frenzy.

“I second the motion to lower the number of board members from seven to six.” Valerie sent Andi a Cheshire-cat grin.

“All those in favor . . .” Harry continued with the vote.

In a show of solidarity, the board, including Doctor Owens, agreed to limit the number of seats on the board. The vet was off to an inauspicious start.

The meeting ended and the cowboy marched out with red in his eyes and a wad of chewing tobacco bulging one cheek. Luke hoped he didn’t have a six-shooter hidden in his glove compartment.

Once the rest of the homeowners left the building, the board entered the library lobby, preparing to exit. Luke followed, anticipating doom and gloom around every corner. He found Andi standing between Meg and Roxie at the library doors. She glared at Harry as if he was the devil himself, and then she gave his girlfriend an assessing once-over.

“You know, Valerie,” Andi said, matching the gold digger’s smug and arrogant attitude, “I may have to sell
way below
market value in order to get out of here as fast as possible. I hope that won’t have any effect on the sale of
your
condo. I would hate for you to lose money.”

Harry came up behind his pillow partner. “You can’t afford to dump your place. You’re a teacher.”

“Never underestimate an angry woman, Harry, especially one that can move back in with her parents. I’d rather ‘dump’ my place than pay your fines.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” he guffawed.

Andi watched them leave the building. “We’ll see who has the last laugh, you tyrant.”

Luke placed his hand on the small of Andi’s back and led her outside. “You only have to scare Valerie to make his life miserable, and I think you accomplished that.”

The cool evening breeze ruffled Luke’s hair as he took in the surrounding parking lot. He had expected to see a heated discussion of that night’s events going on, not a gathering of residents reading yellow sheets of paper. Harry snatched one from under a sedan’s windshield wiper and bellowed with laughter.

One woman leaned into her husband and then pointed in their direction. Not a good sign. Andi marched to her car, where a yellow paper waited for her. Meg and Roxie rushed to her side. Luke angrily tugged one out from under the windshield wiper of a van. The picture on the flyer featured Andi’s sister Jessie. She wore a skimpy outfit and was accepting money from a man. At the bottom of the page, someone had scrawled CALL ME along with Andi’s home telephone number.

“That horndog is behind this.” Roxie’s features twisted into a scowl.

Meg rushed to Luke’s side. “I saw Harry hand a shaggy-haired teenager an envelope before the meeting. I think he paid that kid to put these on our cars.” She pulled a handful of jelly beans out of her jeans pocket and popped them into her mouth.

He had noticed she was stress eating more often since forming the anti-board.

Andi held out her hand. “Got any more of those?”

Meg reached into her other pocket and handed over an assortment. Andi shoved over a dozen into her mouth. Luke watched her chomp down on her hatred before it boiled over into rage.

Roxie held the flyer with Jessie’s picture up to the circle of light provided by a streetlamp. “I didn’t know your sister was a hooker.” She tilted her head and examined it from another angle. “I have boots just like those.”

“My sister is
not
a hooker. She’s a cocktail waitress.”

Roxie handed Andi the flyer. “We believe you, dear.” Her tone didn’t match her words. “What do you want to do about Harry? I can hold his head under the water spout over there until he confesses. It’s some sort of torture they do to terrorists.”

Meg swallowed her candy. “Terrorist, President of the Euphoria Homeowners’ Association—all the same to me.”

Andi heard a knock on her door an hour after she had slammed her purse on her dining room table and screamed obscenities at the ceiling. Luke had said he would be over after the meeting. If he told her to run for the board again, she couldn’t be held responsible for her actions. Yanking the door open, she shot him a warning glare.

“Harry is evil. Pure evil!”