In the Event of My Death (14 page)

1

Laurel didn’t try sleep in bed. She covered herself with the afghan and curled up on the couch. As soon as Kurt left, April and Alex joined her, burrowing under the afghan, snuggling as close to her as possible. She knew her white slacks and sweater would be covered with dog hair in the morning, but it didn’t matter. A cleaning bill was nothing in comparison to the comfort they offered.

“Denise, Crystal, and Monica are really going to be mad at me,” she told the dogs. Talking to them as if they were people had become a habit for the last couple of years after she’d begun living alone with them. Alex tilted his head, seeming to give her his full attention. “But I had to tell Kurt. I know everyone will be shocked about how Faith really died. She was my best friend—it might even affect business. Dad will be furious. But I’d do it again. Talking to Kurt was no mistake. I should have told him as soon as I heard about Angie’s murder…”

She continued to mumble to the dogs until sometime in the middle of the night she fell asleep. Bright sunlight streaming through the front window awakened her.

Laurel looked at her watch. Eight-fifteen. She hadn’t slept this late for months. The dogs were already up, staring at her expectantly. “Breakfast is late, isn’t it?” she asked in a voice thick with sleep.

She threw off the afghan and stood up. Although the couch was long and comfortable, she felt stiff. If only she could take the day off and relax. But this was one Sunday she couldn’t stay home. Because of the uproar with Zeke and Mary on Friday and her early closing time yesterday, she had a few orders left to fill for the Angela Ricci visitation tonight.

A hot shower, a couple of aspirin, and a cup of coffee made her feel almost human again. Dressed in jeans and a heavy red sweater, her hair tied back carelessly with a ribbon, she went to her car and once again inspected the damage, looking at the battered bumper and slightly buckled trunk lid. Kurt had said he would take the car around to mechanics for estimates. She didn’t think she could expect that favor now.

She left home at ten and put on a pot of coffee when she reached the store. Her eyes seemed grainy from all the sleep she’d lost this week, but she wasn’t hungry. She felt an odd mixture of relief that she’d told Kurt and misery over his reaction. He didn’t understand. Isn’t that what Monica had predicted? That
no
one would understand? That the remaining Six of Hearts would become pariahs in the town? She’d probably been right, but that didn’t change Laurel’s mind. She’d done the right thing, no matter what the consequences.

Laurel had been working for about an hour, sticking flower stems in Instant Oasis, the damp green base used in all fresh arrangements. She was just adding leather leaf into a basket of carnations, gladiolas, and daisies when she heard someone tapping on the front door.

It’s Sunday morning, she thought irritably. Couldn’t the person see the hours painted on the door or the Closed sign?

Maybe it was Kurt, she thought suddenly. Quickly she wiped her damp hands on her jeans and ran to the front door.

Neil Kamrath peered through the window at her.

Laurel hesitated. Did she want to be alone in the store with him? For all she knew he’d murdered Angie. But his smile was disarming and it was daylight. She saw a couple walking across the street. Certainly Neil wouldn’t risk doing anything violent with witnesses around, and it was a great chance to talk to him.

Slowly she unlocked and opened the door, looking at him questioningly. “Hi, Laurel,” he said pleasantly. “I called your home a while ago. I thought you might be here.” She continued to stare at him, trying to make up her mind about letting him in. “I really need to talk with you,” he said, ignoring her bad manners. “May I come in?”

Laurel hesitated, then stepped back, opening the door wider. A vampire can’t come in unless you invite it, she thought inanely, then wondered why she’d come up with that piece of important information. She’d probably read it in one of Neil’s books.

“Do you usually work on Sunday?” he asked.

“No. I gave everyone an early quitting time yesterday, which would have been fine if the wholesalers had delivered early as I requested. Unfortunately, they were late and not all the orders are filled for Angie’s visitation tonight.”

“I see.” He made a wry face. “I think I’ll skip the visitation. Judging by the reaction I got when I walked into the party last night, my name is still mud in this town.”

“Not with everyone.”

“Then why are you standing stiff as a ramrod, not even giving me a little smile?”

Because this is the first time I’ve been alone with you, she thought. “I guess I’m still a little shook up about that doll business last night.”

“That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Oh?”

He nodded. “I saw something that’s been bothering me.” Laurel looked at him questioningly. “Oh, not who scared the little girl, but I saw the doll. Or, more important, what was on the doll.”

“The locket?”

He nodded. “A week after Faith died, I went to the Howard house to see how they were doing. Zeke wasn’t home. Mary came out on the porch and started screaming like a banshee at me. She said neither she nor her father wanted to see me. She said she held me responsible for Faith’s death. She threw my class ring at me. I said I thought Faith had been buried with it. She shrieked that she’d never let Faith be buried with anything of
mine
. ‘The only piece of jewelry buried with my sister was the locket my mother gave her,’ she said. ‘It meant more to her than even a wedding ring from you would have.’”

Laurel frowned. “Mary said the locket had been buried with Faith?”

“Yes. At the visitation Faith was in a closed coffin, as I’m sure you remember. The condition of her body…”

Laurel’s stomach wrenched. “I remember.” She glanced away. “But obviously the locket
wasn’t
buried with her. The necklace on the doll
was
Faith’s. I’ve seen it hundreds of times.”

“That’s what I wanted to confirm with you. I didn’t get as close a look at it as you did last night.”

Laurel frowned. “Neil, I didn’t see you when Wayne was playing the piano, right before Audra came downstairs. I thought you’d left.”

“No. I was edging toward the door, but I hadn’t made it outside when the little girl came down the stairs. I didn’t leave until you read the initials on the locket. Then I bolted. Emotional reaction, I guess. The poor little kid looked terrified.”

Did she believe him? Yes. He must have been there. He knew
she
had held the locket in her hand and pronounced it Faith’s. “Neil, when you got outside, did you see anyone running away from the house?”

“No.” He took a deep breath. “You must wonder why I’ve come to you like this. It’s because I can’t confront the Howards and I don’t want to go to the police. Thirteen years ago they suspected me of murdering Faith.”

“Only briefly.”

“Still, your friend Kurt’s attitude toward me is typical of the entire police department’s. Even Crystal looks at me like I’m a madman.”

“Crystal is a bit fragile right now. Three miscarriages, a stillbirth last year. Then Chuck leaving. Everyone pretty much ignores her irrational reactions and mood swings.”

“I’ve never said more than ten words to her—I don’t care what she thinks of me. But I wonder about the Howards. Mary works for you. You know her well and you care about her. I’m sure you don’t want to say anything negative, but I’ve still got a big problem with what happened last night. Let’s say Mary lied to me and Faith wasn’t buried with the locket. That means Mary has had it all along. So what the hell was it doing on that doll?”

“Someone wanted to scare Audra.”

He looked impatient. “Yes, but why?”

“I don’t know,” Laurel said stiffly. “Audra didn’t even know Faith.”

He stared at her. She had the feeling his smoky blue eyes were seeing right into her brain. “This isn’t the first weird incident that’s happened, is it? That’s why Monica was giving me the third degree, even asking exactly when I’d arrived in Wheeling. I got the feeling she was trying to track my movements, especially around this time last week.” He blinked twice. “Around the time Angela was murdered!”

Great, Monica, Laurel thought in annoyance. The subtle inquisitor.

“I’m right, aren’t I?” Neil demanded.

God, why had she let him in? What was she supposed to do now? Go on playing dumb and enrage him further? Or pretend that he was a trusted friend whom she wanted to take into her confidence? She made an instant decision.

“Neil, if you have some time, I’d like to talk to you.”

“You mean question me some more?”

“No, I mean tell you some things—things that are going on now, things that happened a long time ago. Come back to the kitchen and let’s sit down. This is a long story.”

After she poured each of them a cup of coffee, she started just as she had with Kurt, explaining about the Six of Hearts, the increasingly disturbing games they’d played, and finally describing the night in the Pritchard barn. She paused after that while Neil gazed out the window. His hand had tightened on his coffee mug and his face turned pale. Finally he muttered, “I always knew Faith wasn’t the suicidal type.”

“She wasn’t.”

He pinned her with his gaze. “Did you know about her pregnancy?”

Laurel shook her head. “She never said a word to me. She’d been acting odd for a couple of weeks—”

“Odd?”

“Moody. One hour quiet, withdrawn, even depressed, the next almost boisterous. That’s how she was the night of her death. She’d barely said a word all evening, then she was gung ho to go to the Pritchard barn. She insisted on putting her head in that noose, even though most of us were trying to stop her.”

“
Most
of you. Let me guess who encouraged her. Monica.”

“Monica really wanted Denise to do it. Denise refused.”

“And if she hadn’t, she’d be dead instead of Faith,” he said coldly.

“Not necessarily—”

“And when Faith died, you all kept your mouths shut.”

“Neil, we were afraid people would think we’d gotten drunk and murdered her. At the very least we might be charged with manslaughter.”

“That’s Monica talking, even then. All I know is that you kept quiet and let me take the blame, let everyone think Faith had committed suicide because she was pregnant with my baby and I wouldn’t marry her!” He stood, towering over her, his face red with anger. “Damn you, Laurel! Damn all of you and your sick little club. I hope you all get exactly what you deserve!”

Laurel thought he was going to strike her. Time slowed for her as she mentally and physically braced for the blow. He raised his hand, glared at her with the desperation and fury of a man driven to the edge, then turned on his heel and stalked from the kitchen.

When Laurel heard the front door slam, she let out her breath. She ran to the door, locked it, and looked through the front window. There was no sign of Neil.

Abruptly she realized she was trembling and sank to the floor, crying as she hadn’t cried for years.

2

Laurel still hadn’t heard from Kurt when she slipped on a navy blue dress and gold button earrings. In twenty minutes she was leaving for Angie’s visitation. She’d thought she’d be going with Kurt.

Her hopes lifted when the phone rang. They abruptly plummeted when she heard her mother’s voice. “Laurel Damron, why didn’t you call me about Angie? My goodness, how many nights has that girl stayed under my roof? You two were friends since grade school and I have to hear about her murder on television!”

“I’m sorry, Mom. Things have been hectic around here.”

“Too hectic to give me a ten-minute phone call?”

Meg Damron could harangue for an hour straight when she was in the mood, and she was definitely in the mood. “Mom, I didn’t want to upset you.”

“But I left four messages! Don’t you ever check your machine?”

“You know I’ve always been careless about that. I’m really sorry. How’s Claudia?”

The change of subject worked. “We had a false alarm yesterday. Spent hours at the hospital. Claudia got rather…well, rude with the doctor when he wouldn’t do a cesarean and get the whole business over.” I’ll bet she was rude, Laurel thought, grinning. Claudia had a lightning temper and an extensive vocabulary of expletives. Laurel could just imagine the scene she’d created. “Your father got upset and told her if she got pregnant again, we were moving back to West Virginia. I was angry with him for losing his temper with her, but it did quiet her a bit.”

It threw her into a sulking spell, Laurel thought. She genuinely wished she liked her sister, but she didn’t. She wanted all good things for Claudia, but she couldn’t stand to be around her for long, and she knew the feeling was mutual.

“Now tell me how this awful thing happened to Angie,” Laurel’s mother said abruptly.

“I don’t know any more than you do. I was just getting dressed to go to the visitation tonight.”

“And there are no flowers from your father and me!”

“Yes there are, Mom. A huge basket. I wouldn’t forget something like that.”

“Good. Oh, Angie’s poor parents. They adored her. Spoiled her rotten, of course.” Laurel rolled her eyes. No one could have been more spoiled than Claudia. “They spent a fortune on all those singing and dancing lessons.”

“Well, they paid off. She was a Broadway star.”

“Yes.” Meg Damron sighed. “Sometimes I wish Claudia had taken that route.” Impossible, Laurel thought. Angie had phenomenal talent. Claudia only had good looks. “How’s Kurt?”

“He’s fine. I’m expecting him any minute,” Laurel lied, wanting to cut the conversation short. She could
not
talk about Kurt. “I have to go, Mom.”

“All right. We’ll be seeing you in a few days. Give the Riccis your dad’s and my heartfelt condolences.”

“I will, Mom. Talk to you soon.”

Laurel drove to the funeral home without even turning on the radio. Usually she enjoyed singing along as she drove, but not tonight. She dreaded this visitation even more than she thought she would. After the scene with Kurt last night and the one with Neil today, she wanted nothing more than to be alone. When she pulled into the funeral home parking lot, she thought of simply going home again. If she went to the funeral tomorrow, that would be enough…