Part 15 (2/2)

____.

I sat down and tried to concentrate on reading the newspaper, but the words blurred and jumbled in my mind. Ray's question came back to haunt me. Who had I p.i.s.sed off this week?

If Maury Boor had made off with my sister for either good or nefarious purposes, he might not like to have me hot on his trail. But which of the many people I'd spoken to about him had leaked my questions back to him? No one had really had a kind word for him. It was hard to imagine any of them secretly pa.s.sing information about my visit on to him. Still, stranger things have happened. Or maybe Erica had told him I would never rest until I found her. Maybe Maury thought he'd put me to rest instead.

I rose and closed the living room shutters. No sense making a target of myself.

I dropped back onto the sofa.

My only other new acquaintance this week was Leslie Flynn. From all appearances, she now loved me. She had a new style, more confidence, and no further interest in purchasing a Caterham at this time. All that and I hadn't even charged her a penny. In fact, I bought her lunch. Although I never sold her anything, I'd list her as a satisfied customer. Surely she wasn't mad at me for talking her out of buying a Caterham.

But I had asked her about her brother and if he knew Jessica James a.k.a. Josie Montalvo. She never got back to me on that question. What if she had asked her brother and mentioned my name during the course of the conversation? Would he come after me for some unknown reason? It seemed strange he would run from me in the grocery store then come back to shoot at me. Could he have a connection to Jessica James' death? He was known to frequent The Cat's Meow. I would have to ask Ray if he could get Leslie's brother's DMV picture to show the girls who worked there. Maybe he'd been one of the men Jessica had arranged to meet outside of work.

Otherwise, I was at a loss to figure out who would want to take a shot at me. Whoever it was must have seen Danny sitting in the Lexus, but hadn't had any interest in him. Or were the shots fired because of him? Ray hadn't interrogated Danny about his father, because he couldn't be the bad cop and the boy's foster father, too. But I had asked Danny a lot of questions and gotten some pretty interesting information about his father in return. Ray had questioned his father after that. Did Ray let it slip that Danny had confided in me? Had his father spoken with one of his friends and sent one after me to prevent Danny from confiding in me any further? I would have to ask Ray if Danny's father had received any other visitors at the jail.

Danny's father must know that Jessica James was dead and that he topped the suspect list. Maybe the attack had been designed to frighten me into asking Social Services to place Danny with another family. All the shots had missed, after all. Or maybe someone thought having shots fired at me would cause Social Services to take Danny away from us, preventing him from sharing any more information that might point to his father as a killer. Shots fired in our home had been one factor in the judge's decision to award custody of our sweet foster baby, Noelle, to her birthmother. Anyone who read the local paper would know that.

I got up and started to pace, watching the clock and waiting for Ray to come home. Did Danny know more that might incriminate his father? What would his father tell Danny tonight about his mother and aunt? Were Ray and I dismissing an obvious link? All I had was unanswered questions.

And where the h.e.l.l was Erica? Did Maury Boor figure into all this somehow? Was my sister in danger from him, or just herself like usual?

I started straightening stacks of magazines and blowing dust off the mantel, anything to take my mind off my worries. It didn't work.

When Ray and Danny walked through the door hours later at nine-thirty, I was in the kitchen making a cup of Chamomile tea to calm my overwrought nerves.

I darted into the living room just in time to see Danny's bedroom door close behind him.

Ray hung up his coat and followed me into the kitchen. He took a stool at the breakfast bar. ”Danny wants to be left alone.”

”Why?” I offered Ray tea, which he declined. Then I climbed onto the stool next to him. ”What happened?”

”Danny saw his father in the visitor's area. I waited outside in the lobby.”

”Did Danny tell you what they talked about?”

”No, but I could tell he'd been crying when he came out.”

”Did you ask him why?”

”No, Jolene. Danny was trying to hide the fact he'd been crying. Maybe it upset him that he could only see his father on the other side of the gla.s.s. Maybe it's dawning on him that his father isn't going to be released, and he's stuck with us. It could be he's just sad. I wasn't going to ride him about it. You ask him tomorrow when I'm not around. He'll tell you.”

”But, Ray-” I stopped short and told myself it wouldn't do any good to ride Ray, either. Instead, I filled him in on my tortured thoughts from earlier in the evening.

He heard me out and gave my ideas a few minutes of thought.

I started to get antsy, squirming on my barstool. ”So, what do you think?”

”It's not Danny's father.”

”How can you be so sure?”

”Danny's father doesn't know Danny confided in you, unless Danny told him. And even if Danny did, the guy hasn't had any visitors other than Danny. He hasn't placed any phone calls. His only contact has been with his public defender, who would never help arrange for a hit on you, Darlin'. It doesn't fit.

”But I will look into Leslie Flynn's brother. Leslie may have gone home today and asked him about Erica and The Cat's Meow. Maybe that tipped him off. He might have denied the whole thing to her, but now he knows you're interested in him. He may also know you're married to me. That fits.”

Ray stood and stretched his arms toward the ceiling. ”I'll check him out first thing in the morning. And I have the whole department on the lookout for Erica. She and Maury are bound to turn up soon.”

His s.h.i.+rt slid out of his waistband and hitched up, exposing his hip bones and muscled abs and the fine dark hairs around his belly b.u.t.ton.

I couldn't take my eyes off him.

He noticed. His hand slid under my chin, lifting my face. His normally copper-colored eyes looked black. ”I'll keep everyone safe. I promise.”

I smelled coffee on his breath. I didn't drink coffee, but I sure loved the smell of it. It always reminded me of Ray.

A s.h.i.+ver racked my body.

He rubbed his nose against mine and planted a wet kiss on its tip. ”What is it?”

I was thinking Ray never liked to go long without s.e.x, either. It had been a couple months now. He'd been awfully patient with me. Maybe he'd been a little depressed after Noelle's departure, too. He'd just chosen to work through it differently.

He stepped back, waiting for my answer.

I pulled my legs up onto the stool and slid onto my knees, bringing my face level with his. I held out my arms.

He stepped into them.

I wrapped my legs around his waist and whispered in his ear.

His arms tightened around me with alarming intensity.

”A born-again virgin? Awesome.”

The next morning I couldn't get the stupid grin off my face. I felt like Scarlett O'Hara the morning after a drunken Rhett ravaged her. Even Ray had a new spring in his step and added warmth to his voice. We were back in the groove as a couple.

Danny kept sneaking looks at us over breakfast, but he didn't say anything. Hopefully Ray and I hadn't made too much noise last night. I wondered what Danny knew about s.e.x. Wasn't sixth grade the year the kids lost their innocence about that issue forever when the school health teacher showed up? Would Ray and I still be his foster parents when the time arrived to talk about s.e.x? When Ray and I went to school, they told us about the birds and the bees. Now we have the birds and the bees, the bees who preferred bees, the birds who preferred birds, the birds that looked like bees but liked birds and vice versa and versa vice-a, then the birds who actually had the surgery and took the medication to become bees or vice versa. Who could explain all that with a ”don't-worry-it's-all-part-of-growing-up and growing-up-is-great” face?

I pushed that intimidating thought out of my mind. Nothing was going to ruin my day. It didn't even bother me when Ray suggested I accompany him and Danny to see Princ.i.p.al Travis in her office. I had a new pair of pants to wear.

Ray followed my Lexus to the school parking lot and kept his eyes open as we entered the building. With all the buses circling, the ma.s.ses of kids milling about, and Danny inches from my elbow, I doubted anyone would take a shot at me on the school grounds anyway.

When the secretary ushered us into Princ.i.p.al Travis' office, we found another boy and his parents waiting with Mrs. Travis. The boy's nose was in a splint, both eyes red, purple, and black. He reminded me of the riddle what's black and white and red all over?

I tried to arrange my face into a sympathetic expression as I sat down.

Princ.i.p.al Travis introduced us to the other boy's parents and the boy. His father rose and shook Ray's hand. His mother gave me a tentative smile. Neither of our sons acknowledged each other.

<script>