Euphoria Lane (29 page)

“As soon as she dumped him off at the hospital, she drove back and put out notices alerting everyone to an emergency homeowners’ meeting.”

Luke read the flyer Meg handed to him: “If you want a say in how things are run around here, you will want to be there.” He searched the crowd for Valerie, but she hadn’t arrived yet. “I can’t wait to see what she has up her sleeve.”

Andi entered the library and sat in the front row. She met his gaze and quickly turned away, obviously not wanting to see or speak to him. His whole world had turned upside down since she moved to Euphoria and now that he had messed up everything, he felt like he had lost his balance—or worse, his foundation.

Once Valerie arrived, Luke took his place at the front table and Meg joined Andi and Roxie in the front row. Mr. Decker kept sneaking glances over at Meg.

What’s up with that?

Luke remembered Andi asking the cowboy about his back. He had appeared in good health the night he helped destroy the front gate.

Did she think Decker could have killed Bernice? He had motive. He hated the entire board.

Watching the man sit close to Andi gave him the creeps. He wanted to step down from the table and take her away, but she would resist. He had lost the right to play the role of her protector when he slipped up and told everyone within listening range that Jessie was a police officer. A wave of guilt washed over him.

Valerie smacked the gavel down at exactly seven o’clock. “Thank you for coming to this emergency meeting.”

Harry’s former girlfriend was the only board member in attendance. The reverend was still in jail for a crime he may or may not have committed, and Doctor Owens was home grieving over his wife. According to the rumor mill, he’d shot himself full of dog tranquilizers. He told neighbors he wanted to escape reality.

Luke scanned the library meeting room. Despite the short notice, word had gotten out that this was going to be the event of the year, and most of the community made sure to attend. Once again, the red “Anti-Board” T-shirt was the costume of choice. The room was a sea of red. Blood red. The thought reminded him that there was still a murderer out there.

Or in the room.

He watched Roxie and the cowboy laughing together. A feeling of unease settled in his gut. With what he knew about the both of them, he wouldn’t be surprised if they had committed the murders together.

“I’ve called this meeting to appoint new members to the board,” Valerie announced. She held a paper high. “I have proxies from both the reverend and Doctor Owens, and since Harry is in the hospital, he can’t come.”

A few yahoos encouraged the crowd to clap.

“Harry will be okay,” she continued.

The crowd booed.

Valerie raised a hand for silence. “Despite the rumors, I am here to tell you it really was an accident, and I would like to thank Andi Stevenson for telling everyone it was an accident.”

The crowd’s opinion divided. Some cheered. Some booed.

Andi slumped down in her seat.

Valerie, the new acting president, tapped on the microphone to regain everyone’s attention. “Since Harry’s not here to veto anything, I want to appoint Andi and Meg to the board.”

The crowd jumped to its feet in an overwhelming show of support. Andi turned to her new friends and lifted a questioning brow. Roxie and Meg grinned in response. She realized they must have known ahead of time. Luke motioned for her to come to the table. She hesitated at first, then slowly made her way up front.

Once seated at the long table, Meg spoke first. “As a newly appointed board member, I would like to make a motion that all fines owed to the association be forgiven.” More clapping and yahoos followed. The motion passed unanimously.

Their next official motion was to change the number of board members to add Roxie and the cowboy, which stacked the board against Harry if he chose to return.

Roxie stood, and with her arms stretched high in a sign of victory, she yelled, “Next we are going to get rid of those blasted rules!”

This time the crowd stomped its feet along with more clapping and chanting. Luke shook his head in pleasure and disbelief. If he wasn’t seeing it with his own eyes, he would have never believed these events to have been possible.

Once the celebrating settled to mumblings in the audience, every rule was discussed, debated, and then voted on. Enough residents stayed to maintain a quorum of homeowners—otherwise they would not have been able to vote away most of the rules. The library director happened to be a resident of Euphoria Lane, so he gladly kept the building open for them. The meeting officially ended at one o’clock in the morning.

The newly appointed board chose to keep three rules: No one could change the paint color of their building, no one could add on to the structure without permission from the board, and no one could leave car parts overnight on the driveway. Harry would return home a pitiful, powerless former president. Valerie officially took over the position of president. Luke had to admit that a tiny part of him felt sorry for Harry—he had lost the woman he loved. Luke knew how that felt. A dark void grew in his chest where his heart had been.

Andi opened the lid to the plastic container securing her cookie cutters. After selecting daisy, tulip, and rose cutters, she sprinkled flour over the kitchen counter and then removed cookie dough from a glass bowl. She heard Jessie open the front door as she dusted the rolling pin with flour.

“You will never guess what happened,” her sister announced with an I-told-you-so attitude. After closing the door, Jessie placed her badge and gun on the table, and then leaned over the counter that divided the kitchen from the dining room.

Andi was so glad her sister was talking to her, she almost forgot to answer. “I’ll take the bait. What?”

“The reverend signed a confession to both murders an hour ago.”

“What!?”

How could I have been so wrong about the man? The whole monastery in his condo was creepy, but he had sounded intelligent and sincere when he asked me to prove his innocence.

“You’re right, I am surprised. I can’t believe this. Why did he kill them?”

“He didn’t say.”

Andi shook her head in disbelief. “Wow! I was in a room alone with a killer and that fact doesn’t even bother me. What does that mean?”

“That you are stronger than any of us give you credit for. If you want to work for me again part-time, let me know. I promise to assign you to less-dangerous cases.”

She shook her head in disbelief. “You want me to work with you after I betrayed you?”

Jessie clasped her hands together on the counter. She allowed herself a moment of calm contemplation before speaking. “Andi, you didn’t betray me. You never would. As you explained, Luke guessed what was going on.”

Why is she being so forgiving?

“Ah, you must have arrested the owner of the diner.”

A chuckle gave away the truth. “You know me too well.” Jessie slapped the counter with one hand. “He flipped on everyone involved in the drug ring. We made over twenty arrests. Right after we booked them all, I gave my two-week notice. The boys are throwing me a farewell party tomorrow night and you, my dear sister, are invited.”

Andi still couldn’t believe her sister had forgiven her so easily. “That’s wonderful!” She pushed the rolling pin over the dough on the counter. “I’m so happy for you. I’m just not sure I should continue working for you. I was convinced Reverend Nichols was innocent.”

“Don’t beat yourself up. We all make that mistake at least once.” Jessie entered the kitchen and patted Andi’s shoulder. She grabbed herself a bottle of water from the fridge. “I’m off to the gym. It feels like an eternity since I worked out. This case consumed my life, but not anymore.”

It was good to see her sister smiling again. Andi doubted Reverend Nichols would ever smile again.

But she still wasn’t convinced he was guilty.

Several hours later, she dabbed pastel-pink frosting on the last of her edible roses and then licked the remnants off her finger. “A masterpiece, if I say so myself.”

While creating her cookie flower garden, she couldn’t get the reverend off her mind. Back in college, her philosophy professor had once said a person knows the truth when he hears it. If that was true, then why didn’t she feel like she heard the truth when Jessie told her Reverend Nichols was guilty?

But then, if he was innocent, why would he sign a confession? Perhaps his lawyer convinced him to take a plea bargain because there was so much evidence stacked against him.

She mentally combed through the facts. Trials were usually won and lost over motive. Nichols may have had motive to kill his mother and Helen, but not to cut Harry’s brakes or kill Tess. He wasn’t receiving violation letters like the rest of the community. On the other hand, that meant almost everyone else on Euphoria Lane had motive to try to kill the board.

The same board I’m now on. Not a settling thought.

Doctor Owens had convinced her Tess was guilty. For about a minute she thought he might be guilty, but he was one of the few who didn’t have a motive to kill the board.

He wasn’t receiving violation letters because Tess was on the board. Did he need to believe Tess was the murderer because she left him? Was his ego that fragile? Had Tess run into the killer when she came onto the property to demand money from her husband? What if Doctor Owens was right? What if Tess had lost her mind, killed Bernice, and hid the body in the freezer until after her husband took the sleeping pills that night? She could have tried to kill the others because she thought they might suspect her, or she might have blamed them for something they hadn’t uncovered yet. Later, she decided she couldn’t live with what she had done and committed suicide at the pond. Perhaps she stole the cross attached to the bookmark, hoping God would forgive her for taking her own life. She could have thought it had a stronger connection to God because it belonged to the reverend.

Andi’s theory was all conjecture, she knew.

But then who else could be the murderer?

This was a puzzle she needed to solve to her satisfaction. If Doctor Owens still thought Tess was guilty of Bernice’s death, he might let her spray the garage with Luminol to search for signs of Bernice’s blood. No matter how well a person cleaned up a murder scene, traces of evidence would remain.

Luke had just wrapped up a last-minute meeting with the landscaper when one of the neighbors reported that Reverend Nichols had been arrested and signed a confession. He had to admit he never saw that coming. Andi had been convinced of his innocence, and her reasons sounded compelling. She wouldn’t take the news well. He wanted to stop by her place to talk, but he figured she would probably slam the door in his face.

On his way back to his Chevy, he stepped out between the buildings across from Andi’s and found her placing a bag into her Mustang. She quickly closed her trunk when she spotted him. He knew that undeniable look of guilt.

“What are you up to now?” he asked, knowing she might not answer.

“None of your business,” she snapped.

“I deserve that, but I’m worried about you. I heard about the reverend and I know you well enough to know you are not going to let this go.”

She shrugged. “I have an idea. It’s nothing for you to be concerned about.” She rolled her eyes when he waited for her to explain. “I think Tess killed Bernice and hid the body in their freezer. I’m hoping Doctor Owens will allow me to spray Luminol in his garage.”

“Where did you get Luminol?”

“Jessie had a bottle at the detective agency. I was just adding gloves to the bag when you arrived.”

He knew she wouldn’t listen to him, but he had to try to dissuade her from investigating further. He still cared—he still
loved
her.

“Someone left a message on your mirror, remember? Reverend Nichols was in jail the night it happened, so unless he hired a thug he met in his cell, someone here is trying to scare you off. If he or she sees you talking to Doctor Owens, you might be next on the hit list.”

A sparkle lit her eyes. “The reverend
was
in jail when that message was written! The police were so glad he confessed they overlooked that fact. He should not have signed that confession.”

Luke sighed. “You’re missing my point. Investigating could be dangerous to your health.”

She stared at him as if he was her archenemy and, at that moment, he knew he probably was.

“Then come with me.” She snatched the gym bag from her trunk. “I don’t have all year!”

Resigning himself to the inevitable, he took the bag from her and shrugged it over his shoulder. It was a lot lighter than he had expected.

“Andi, promise me you will not go anywhere near the doctor without me or Jessie. The killer is watching his condo. The killer is watching
you
.”

She quickened her steps. “I promise this is the last time I’ll visit the doctor’s home. Now let’s go see a man about a murder.”

The veterinarian didn’t take long to answer the doorbell. His appearance was shocking; his eyes were framed by huge dark circles and his five o’clock shadow left him looking dirty. He was taking his wife’s death hard. He let them in and offered them a drink.

“No, thank you. I hate to bother you so soon after . . .” Andi grimaced.

The doctor sank on a corner of the ottoman. “It’s no bother. How can I help the both of you?”

“I was wondering about the cross bookmark your wife had wrapped around the necklace she was wearing. I believe it belonged to Reverend Nichols. Did she have it with her the last time you were together?”

“The last time I saw her alive?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to say the wrong thing.” Andi lowered herself to the sofa.

Luke placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. She shifted away.

So much for hoping she was on the road to forgiving me for betraying her trust.

“It’s almost impossible to say the right thing when a man has recently identified his wife’s body.” Owens ran his hand through his dark hair. “Please don’t worry yourself. I’m on so many medications, I doubt I’ll remember this conversation in the morning.”