Murder in Death's Door County (19 page)

“Wait. I thought he was married?”

“If he’s married, he’s even more of a scallywag
than I thought. He seems to favor blondes.”

“Is he that good looking?” I asked.

“Oh, heaven’s no,” Joyce laughed “He
looks like a younger version of Abe Vigoda.” A small laugh escaped me. “You
know who he is then, do you? No, I think the women were after,” her voice
dropped to a whisper, “his money and power.”

“Power?” Keep in mind, I still wasn’t
sure we were talking about the same person. I hadn’t met Marcos face-to-face
and she didn’t know if he definitely lived in that house. If anything, she
seemed intent on confirming Millicent’s allegations of exaggerating.

“Mob.”

At that, she insisted she couldn’t say
more and invited me over.

Quickly I agreed, before she could
change her mind. I wrote down her address (which was one house down from
Effie’s). One o’clock would be perfect since I knew Lizzy would want to come
along and I knew she worked a morning and evening split shift. And Lizzy posing
as a faux photographer gave her the perfect cover to be along.

“T
HANKS FOR GIVING ME A
RIDE
home,” Lizzy said as
she hopped into her car.

“Well, thank you for letting me borrow
your truck while they’re fixing my brakes.”

Lizzy pouted a bit, which was so unlike
her, I blurted out, “What’s wrong? Do you need your car back?”

“No, it isn’t that. I’m not sure… it’s
just that…,” she couldn’t seem to get it out. Patiently, I waited. I had
noticed that the sunsets were quite spectacular in Door County. While Lizzy
organized her thoughts, I drove on and enjoyed the oranges, pinks, and purples
streaking across the sky.

I whispered, “Amazing.”

“Annie, I need to talk to you about
something and I’m not sure how,” Lizzy hesitated. “I mean, I know we’ve become
fast friends, but we haven’t known each other very long. Oh look! There’s Janie’s
car!”

“Where?” I could see a winery-slash-wine
bar just ahead on the right side of the highway.

“There!” Lizzy pointed to the wine bar’s
parking lot. “Let’s go meet her. It’ll be fun.”

“Didn’t you want to talk to me about
something?”

“Wine can’t hurt it,” Lizzy replied as
she smiled at me. Whew. Okay. I had been worried that I offended Lizzy somehow.
Pulling into the parking lot, I parked as close to Janie’s blue Volkswagen as I
could.

As we headed into the wine bar, I
insisted that Lizzy let me treat tonight.

“You are on! Thanks—what’s the occasion?”

“Please! Isn’t you letting me use your
truck enough of a reason?”

We made our way to the bar and ordered
our wine. I got a wonderful Shiraz wine, and Lizzy got a yummy wine zinfandel.
Quickly spotting Janie and a man, we found a table where we would see the whole
room.

I poked Lizzy, “Did you know Janie was
seeing anyone?”

“No idea. I wonder who he is, though. He’s
cute!”

I looked over at Janie and her date.
They looked comfortably flirtatious together, His cool blonde looks set off her
exotic dark-haired beauty perfectly.

“Ahem. I said, ‘Speaking of cute guys,’”
Lizzy interrupted my thoughts.

“What? Oh, I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying
attention.” I sighed a little, adding, “They look happy together.”

“You could have that too.”

“I could? With who? What are you talking
about?”

“Oh look, they have tapas!” Lizzy
exclaimed and tried to make a break for the appetizers. While I’ll admit the
appetizers looked delicious, I lightly grabbed her sleeve.

“Please, Lizzy, no more distractions.
First, tell me what’s up, please. I’m dying of curiosity.”

“Okay, okay. Here it goes... what is going
on between you and Donovan?”

I stared at her, open-mouthed. “There’s
nothing going on.” I hated lying to Lizzy, but Donovan had asked me to keep his
FBI involvement quiet for now. I knew he was acting as my “behind-the-scenes”
protector, but he had said that I shouldn’t tell anyone else besides Kitty. I
know I blurted out his FBI-status the night that the mug broke, but Lizzy and
Kitty hadn’t seemed to notice.

“Okay, fine, be that way. But I see the
way you light up when you’re around him.”

Taking a sip of my drink, I avoided
making eye contact with Lizzy. Part of me was annoyed with her for pointing out
the attraction I felt but couldn’t act on, and the other part of me was annoyed
with myself for being so transparent.

Lizzy gently placed her hand on my arm, “Look,
I really don’t want to butt in-”

At that moment, Jane and her escort came
to our table.

“Hey, how are my two favorite sleuthers?
Sleuthers? Is that a word? Anyway, Lizzy and Annie, I’d like you to meet Paul Wolff.
Paul, this is Lizzy Holloway and Annie Malone.”

We exchanged pleasantries as Janie and Paul
found bar stools to sit with us awhile.

“So how long has Janie known you two?”
He looked at Lizzy first.

Lizzy told him she’d known of Janie
since high school, and really gotten to be friends with her since working at
the Lighthouse Inn. When he looked at me, I explained that I was new to the
area, but have loved getting to know Janie.

“I completely agree,” he said, putting
his arm around Janie’s shoulders. “She is something special. And to think I
almost didn’t come up to Door County!” He gazed admiringly at Janie, who
blushed prettily. With a flourish, he lifted his wine glass, and added, “To
Janie!”

Janie blushed even more as we drank to
her. For the next several minutes, we chatted and enjoyed our wine. I felt like
we had walked onto a movie set, the whole scene seemed a little surreal. My
life had changed so much in such a short time. Yet, other than the trauma of
Harry’s murder, I liked the changes.

Before going back to their own table, Janie
looked over at Paul and Lizzy. Paul was asking Lizzy some questions about the
area. Janie whispered in my ear, “Don’t worry about how things are with Donovan
right now. I have a feeling that everything will work out just fine.” Oddly,
that quiet message gave me immediate peace about the situation.

Even so, I needed confirmation so I whispered
back, “How do you know?”

“Oh, sweetie, some things you just know.
You know?” Smiling, she rose and said out loud, “We just wanted stop by and say
hi. Paul wanted to meet my dear friends. We’ll leave you now.”

We all hugged and said our good-byes. Paul
steered Janie back to their table.

“What a great couple,” Lizzy sighed. “I
hope he’s as good as he seems. Janie deserves some happiness. What did she tell
you anyway?”

Now it was my turn to blush, “she told
me to give Donovan another chance.”

Lizzy looked at me sternly, and asked, “Are
you going to now?” She teasingly added, “It’s two against one.”

“I’ll see what I can do. You know, it
isn’t just up to me,” I stated.

“Well, that’s a given. Look, Annie, I’ve
seen the way he looks at you. Why don’t you call him right now?”

“Okay, I will,” and quicker than quick,
I grabbed my phone. I slid off my stool, and made a dash for the entryway. I
tried to call him, but got his voicemail. I wasn’t sure what kind of message to
leave him. I mean, I wasn’t completely sure of his feelings and didn’t want to
leave him a weird voicemail message. Resolving to borrow Lizzy’s car after our
winery stop, I figured I could stop by his house later that night.

Making my way back to our table, I had
to clear a newly-formed cluster of people. Someone jostled my arm and my phone
flew through the air, landing a few feet away. A slightly smarmy guy grabbed my
arm, saying with a slight accent, “Oh no! Are you okay? I’m so sorry. When I
talk, I talk with my hands, you know?”

“Yes, I know.” In spite of myself, I
smiled, thinking of Lizzy’s coffee encounter. “It’s okay, I understand. But,
have you see my-?” Right then, one of Mr. Smarmy’s friends, Mr. Too-White-Teeth
presented me with a phone.

“Your phone?”

“Yes, whew! I don’t know what I’d do
without this!” Thanking them and shaking their hands, I finally got back to our
seats. Lizzy had a plate piled with awesome tapas happiness. I decided to do
the same.

Once I got some bruschetta, crudités,
and chicken satay, I headed back to our table, and announced, “Now, back to
matters at hand.” I explained about our meeting with Joyce the next day, and
asked Lizzy if I could borrow her car later that night to talk to Donovan.

She smiled at me, “No, you can’t borrow
my car.” I must have looked shocked. “You can’t borrow my car because Donovan
is here.”

I turned around and saw him perfectly
clad in a dark blue shirt and jeans. He wore my absolute favorite black leather
jacket. I walked towards him.

—
–

I turned around only to stand face to
face with the subject of my thoughts. Well, now we had to talk.

“So, how do we do this?” I asked
Donovan.

“I say ‘I’m sorry’ and tell you I’m can’t
get you out of my head,” said Donovan.

“I suppose that sounds reasonable. When
you didn’t stop in and say ‘Hi’ at Maggie and Nick’s, I wasn’t sure if you
really liked me or were just using me for information.”

“I know, but you understand my position,
right?”

My ability to speak left me as I stared
up into his gorgeous green eyes. Shyly, I put my head down and nodded lightly.

Donovan held up his hands in mock
surrender. “Annie, one thing does bother me about you, actually.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you. Are you the real thing? I
find it hard to believe that a woman as pretty as you gets flustered so easily.”

I just gaped at Donovan in disbelief.

“Oh c’mon, don’t tell me no one has ever
told you how lovely you are? You cannot expect me to believe that!”

“Actually, only my Aunt Helen has ever
told me. And I thought she was just being prejudiced.”

“Really?”

“Yep. Ahem. Well, anyway, before I lose
my nerve, I have a question for you.” I needed to get the question out quickly
before my blush burned my ears off. I had never had a conversation like this.
Growing up in an overprotective family had led to me being a little more
sheltered than the average thirty-year-old woman. Since moving out on my own, I
had shed some of that naiveté, but my natural tendencies leaned toward
protecting myself by staying in a sort of a cocoon. Donovan jolted me out of my
comfort zone, which was part of what attracted me to him.

“Ahem... are you still going to ask your
question?” Donovan broke into my thoughts. “I await your question with bated
breath.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I have a lot on mind,
which is part of my question.”

“I’m intrigued and getting more
intrigued by the minute.”

I took a big gulp of air and just rushed
out with, “Oh, this is just so silly!”

“I’m sure it isn’t silly. C’mon, what do
you want to know?”

“Who called you when you left the bar
that night?”

“Ooooh, that night?”

Too late, I was bright red. Clearing my
throat, I croaked out, “Yes, the night you wanted to see my manuscript.”

“Weren’t there notes? There were
supposed to be notes, too,” Donovan whispered, staring deeply into my eyes.

“Donovan!” I stomped my foot in mock
protest.

“Okay, okay. What do you want to know
about that night?”

“Who called you at the bar? Why did you
leave?”

“The mechanic. I had told him to call me
if he uncovered anything suspicious about your little, ahem, accident. Anyway,
that call was the police station telling me that a detective had just gotten
back from the mechanic. The detective confirmed what we already knew—that the
brake line was cut.”

So, he didn’t leave me to talk to some
other woman! My insides did cartwheels. I tried to keep my face calm, as I
smiled up at him. Oddly, the real reason for that call was the best news I had
gotten in long while.

“Well, I’m glad to hear that.”

“I’m glad you’re glad. What do you say
to a proper date once we catch Harry’s killer? In the meantime, I know I
shouldn’t do this, but I have a favor to ask you. Would you mind coming with me
to interview Tina Delvecchio?”

“What? Really?” I knew my eyes had lit
up like a Christmas tree. “Do you need her address or something? Because I don’t
have it. I thought you FBI guys had connections.”

Wryly, he said, “We have her address,
Annie. She lives in Sturgeon Bay now. I’d like to have you along because you
are familiar with her story and involvement with Marcos.”

Humbled, I responded, “Oh.”

“Well, will you?”

Feeling I might have shown too much
excitement, I tried to downplay it a little, “Sure, that sounds good. What time
should I be ready?”