Maximum Security (A Dog Park Mystery) (13 page)

“Living with Peter could make
things easier on you, couldn’t it? Wouldn’t he be willing to pick
up the slack?”

“Maybe, but what will he expect in
return?” Lia threw a hand up in the air. “Right now he’s unhappy
that I’m going over to Renee’s because Kate Onstad is staying
there. He can’t create too much of a fuss about it because we’re
not living together. What if we move in together and he starts
telling me what I can and can’t do, the way Tom did? What if he
expects me to put him before my painting?

“Then I’ve given up my place,
which I love, and I’m stuck starting over. A nice, inexpensive
two-family in Northside is hard to come by. It took me a year to
find the place I have now. I don’t want to go through that again.”
Lia looked at Bailey helplessly as her rant ran down.

“I see what you’re saying. I have
an idea.”

“What are you
thinking?”

“Have you ever heard of synastry?”
Bailey asked.

“What’s synastry?”

“That’s what they call it when you
compare charts in astrology, to see how two people are going to get
along together.”

“Astrology? Seriously,
Bailey?”

“Synastry is what convinced me
that astrology works.”

“How is that?”

“I took my chart, and I compared
my planets to each of my ex-boyfriends’ planets, and the result was
the story of our relationship,” Bailey explained.

“Seriously?”

“Seriously. It took a weight off
my shoulders. It showed me that I didn’t do anything wrong. Things
were meant to be the way they were. Like when you add bleach to
ammonia. You always get chlorine gas. No amount of self-help books
will ever change that.”

“I don’t know, Bailey . . .
.”

“It can’t hurt to let me try. Do
you know what time your were born?”

“I can find out, but won’t you
need that information about Peter, too? You want me to ask Peter
when he was born so you can tell me if our stars align?”

“That would be best. I can still
tell a lot with just his birthday.”

“Ha! I can just see telling him
I’ll consider living together if he’ll let you run an astrology
chart on him.”

“You never know. He might go for
it.”

“I hope you brought an appetite,”
Renee said as she led Lia to the breakfast nook. “Esmerelda is
making her special potato pancakes. I thought Kitty could use some
comfort food.”

Despite what she’d said to Peter,
Lia had been hoping to avoid Kate, since she was the one who ratted
her out.
It was bound to happen. Best to get it over
with.

Kate Onstad was seated at an oak
pedestal table set in front of a bay window with a view of Kentucky
hills on the other side of the river. She looked up from her paper
and smiled hesitantly.

“You must be Lia. Renee tells me
you’re responsible for me having a good lawyer and a quiet place to
stay. Thank you.”

Lia relaxed, relieved. “I’m so glad
you’re okay. I had no idea Peter was going to arrest you. I feel so
bad about that.” She took a seat and poured coffee from the carafe,
added cream.

“You didn’t know what was in my
trunk. I didn’t either. I was the one who let them look in my
car.”

“I imagine that was quite a
shock,” Lia said.

“I didn’t understand what it was
at first, because it was all black and jumbled. I’ve never seen a
crossbow before. It looked like a child’s toy rifle with this
contraption on the barrel.”

“Should you be talking to me about
this? You do know I’m in a relationship with the detective in
charge of George’s case, don’t you?”

“Renee explained that to me. I
suppose my lawyer wouldn’t approve, but I honestly can’t think of
anything I could tell you that would make my situation
worse.”

“How bad is it?”

“Well, I knew George, and I knew
where he was going to be. The crossbow and his wallet were in my
trunk. But I also had that flat tire the day he died. The tire
couldn’t be fixed because someone stuck a screwdriver in the
sidewall, and you can’t patch that. It took hours before they were
able to get me into a new car so I could get back on the
road.

“They won’t find my fingerprints
or DNA on anything in that trunk. I never got into it. Of course, I
don’t have a motive. I loved George.”

“Martha thinks they’ll have a hard
time making a murder charge stick,” Renee said. “And they’ll think
twice about trying, with her as your defense attorney. Our best bet
is that they look in another direction and find the one who did
it.”

Lia was charmed. The woman who was
so diffident at the park was now warm and compassionate, exuding
gratitude when many would be bitter. “What do you think happened?
Do you mind me asking?”

Esmerelda interrupted with plates
bearing potato pancakes and fried eggs with crisp bacon on the
side. The three women busied themselves with the food while Kitty
considered her question. “I hate to point fingers, you understand.
I know so little about his life here in Ohio. I wonder if his wife
found out about us. She was supposed to be at work, but maybe she
got someone to do it for her?”

“It wouldn’t surprise me,” Lia
said once she’d chewed her bacon and swallowed. “That woman is a
piece of work.”

“Oooh, do tell,” Renee
urged.

“I don’t know much, but she went
off on me when I asked about Daisy. Then she was totally
unconcerned when I offered to look for Daisy, like she couldn’t
care less that her dog was running around, lost and traumatized.
You know, in all the time George came to the park, no one ever saw
her with him. What kind of woman doesn't want to walk in the woods
with her husband?”

“She doesn’t sound like a
romantic, that’s for sure,” Renee said. “Maybe she had to
work?”

“Not in the summers, she didn’t.
She’s a school counselor.”

“Oooh, good point,” Renee said.
“So what was her motive?”

“Besides George wanting to divorce
her?” Lia clapped a hand over her mouth. “Oops, I should not have
said that.”

“He did?” Kitty asked. “How do you
know?”

“Well, I guess the milk’s already
spilt. Peter said he had several calls in to a divorce lawyer on
his phone. That’s not proof, but it’s suggestive, isn’t it? What if
Monica knew he was going to leave her and didn’t want to split the
assets?”

“I don’t know, but I’m so glad you
told me.” Kitty wiped a tear from her eye. “He said he wanted us to
be together, but you never know if a man really means that kind of
talk or not, especially when all you’ve had is the
internet.”

“Please don’t mention this to your
lawyer. Peter will never tell me anything ever again if it gets out
I told you.”

“I imagine Martha will find out
soon enough through discovery, don’t you think?” Renee
said.

“That’s quite all right.” Kitty
said, smiling, mistily. “You have no idea how much this means to
me.”

“Kitty, how did you and George
meet?” Lia asked. “I hope I’m not being too nosy.”

“I don’t mind, and please, call me
Kitty. I met George back in high school. It was very
West Side
Story
, or maybe
Grease
. He was from the wrong side of
the tracks. George was really smart, but he never showed that to
anyone. He was always doing this Elvis sneer.” Kitty’s smile told
Lia the memory was a fond one.

“Then one night, he rescued me
from this party after I caught my boyfriend making out with another
girl. George took me for a drive out in the woods to cool down, and
he was so sweet. I just fell in love with him.”

“Oh, my,” Renee said, patting her
chest. “Be still my heart.”

Kitty bit her lip, looked at them
with a gleam in her eye. “I lost my virginity in the woods that
night. It was the most amazing night of my life. All those
hormones, all the newness, and George treating me like I was a
goddess.”

Renee fanned her face. “Whew, is it
hot in here or just me?”

“That’s quite a story,” said Lia.
Breakfast forgotten, she leaned forward, chin propped up on her
hands. “What happened?”

“Like I said, he was from the
other side of the tracks and he a rough life. I didn’t know this
until recently, but he’d decided we wouldn’t work out as a couple,
so he might as well end it while the memory was a good one. I
didn’t see him for several days, and then when I did, he acted like
we didn't know each other. I was so crushed.”

“I imagine,” Renee
said.

“What brought you back together?”
Lia asked, riveted.

“George was so unhappy. He tried
to hunt me up on the internet, but couldn’t find a way to contact
me. Turns out we had a mutual friend on Facebook. Neither one of us
had any idea. Then one day, he saw a comment I made on our friend’s
page.

“He pursued me after that. I was
so suspicious. It had been thirty years and I’m no prize these
days. He said it didn’t matter, that our night together changed
things for him. It took a while, but I came to believe it would be
worth the risk to see him again.”

Renee’s neglected coffee sat
cooling as she placed a hand on Kitty’s. “Was it worth
it?”

“Something in me broke that day
when he ignored me. Coming here healed me in ways I’m just now
beginning to understand. We had less than two weeks together, but
we were happy. I’ll always be grateful for that. I’ll never forgive
myself if it turns out I was the reason he died.” She sniffed and
dabbed discretely at her nose with her napkin.

Lia took Kitty’s other hand, looked
directly into her eyes. “No matter why someone says they killed
him, the only reason he’s dead is because a murderer made the
choice to take a human life. Whatever you and George were doing,
there were other options. Don’t let them victimize you.”

“Thank you for that. Renee says
you’re an artist, and you’re painting a picture of Dakini. Will you
let me see what you’re working on?”

“Sure thing. Let me fire up my
laptop.”

An hour later, Renee walked Lia to
her car. “So what did you think about Kitty’s story?” she
asked.

“I thought it was very romantic,
but I’m not married,” Lia said. “What would you do if Harry left
you for a high school flame?”

“Oh, I’d kill him. There’s no
question about that. A crossbow sounds just about right for the
job. But I’d also walk in the woods with him. There’s no excuse for
allowing a marriage to grow empty like that.”

“And yet it happens all the
time.”

“It’s work, keeping a marriage
going. But it’s worth it.”

“I wonder about that. Peter wants
more out of our relationship, but I’m scared it will spoil
everything.”

“I don’t know all the answers, but
I do know it’s important to be with someone who is willing to work
things out with you, who listens and takes your feelings seriously.
And you both better be able to laugh at yourselves, because there
will be times when that’s the only thing left to do.

“It’s best when expectations are
clearly stated. So many people get married with this picture in
their head about how things are going to be and their partner
doesn’t know anything about it. That’s one thing Harry and I got
right. We made sure we understood what we each wanted from marriage
before we got engaged.”

“I moved in with a boyfriend right
after I got out of college,” Lia admitted. “Once I signed a lease
with him, he started expecting things. I was supposed to be a
little
hausfrau
, and my painting was never as important as
whatever he had going on. It was like he was on good behavior the
whole time we dated, until I signed for that apartment. Then the
real him came out.”

“It didn’t last long, I take
it?”

“Longer than it should have. It
took me a while to recognize what was happening, and then it took
me a while to realize it wasn’t going to get any better. When the
light finally came on, I couldn't get out of there fast
enough.”

“I can see why you’d be nervous
now. Have you thought about talking to a professional about this?
Something like premarital counseling might help you and Peter
figure out if you’re on the same page, or even reading the same
book.”

“That’s like religious counseling,
isn’t it? A church thing? I don’t know if I want to do anything
that has the word premarital in it, unless we’re talking about
sex.”

“Where have you been while I’ve
been tracking down hunters?” Peter asked as Brent set a cardboard
box down on his desk. “Out showing off your new
girlfriend?”

“I talked to Munce’s lawyer, then
I decided to do some detecting. I detected that bow hunters for the
deer cull are required to pass a marksmanship test with the exact
weapon they will be using while hunting. Being a smart detective, I
wondered if there was a record of applicants’ tests that included
their weapon. I wondered that over the phone to the park board and
they put me on the trail of the original hard-copies. I hope you
didn’t have any plans for this afternoon.”