Софи Райан - No Escape Claws

“I have lots of time,” I said, unfastening my seat belt. “I can do that for you right now.”

Charlotte was shaking her head before I finished speaking. “Thank you, but I really want Nick to change that lightbulb. If you do it for me all I’ll get is a working lightbulb, but if Nick does it I’ll get a working lightbulb and three boxes of his junk out of my garage.”

I smiled and refastened my seat belt. “I’ll pass on the message,” I said.

I had just enough time to head home, shower and change. When I got to The Black Bear I found Jess holding court with Liam and Nick. I slid onto the chair they had been saving for me and looked around for a waiter but couldn’t seem to catch one’s attention.

“Do you want food?” Jess asked. She had her hair up and she was wearing a hot pink boat-neck sweater that kept slipping down over one shoulder—which was probably why she’d decided to wear it.

“Yes,” I said. “I didn’t have any supper.”

She looked around, somehow caught a waiter’s eye and raised a finger. The waiter immediately headed toward us.

“How do you do that?” I asked, slumping against the back of my chair.

“I just have a naturally commanding presence,” Jess said with a grin.

More like she had a killer smile and lots of confidence.

I ordered two fish tacos and coleslaw. Then I briefed Liam on the judge’s sunflower window project. “Can you help?” I asked.

“Yeah, maybe,” he said. “I’ll call Liz in the morning and get some more details.”

“Thanks,” I said.

He nodded but his focus had shifted from me to someone he’d spotted across the room. “I see someone I need to talk to,” he said, getting to his feet. “I’ll be right back.”

Nick reached out and swiped a chunk of tomato from my taco.

“I didn’t know you asked Liam to come,” I said. “Why didn’t you say something? We could have had supper.”

“ You didn’t have supper,” he pointed out, nicking a bite of fish from my plate.

I smacked his hand. “Apparently neither did you.”

“I invited Liam,” Jess said. “I told you. Remember?”

I looked at her. She had told me that. “I do now.”

“Sarah, do you have a problem with that?”

“No,” I said. The moment the word was out of my mouth I realized how less than enthusiastic I sounded.

One eyebrow went up. “You sure?” Jess asked.

Nick took advantage of what I’m sure he thought was my distracted focus to swipe another chunk of fish from my plate.

“Yes, I’m sure,” I said. I didn’t sound very convincing even to myself.

“Sarah is afraid you’re sleeping with her brother,” Nick said.

I yanked my plate out of his reach with one hand, made a fist with the other and slugged his shoulder. Hard. “You’re not helping, and stop eating my food!”

“Are you afraid I’m going to break Liam’s heart or something?” Jess asked. She seemed amused by the idea.

I hesitated, exhaling slowly to buy a little time. “No. I’m mostly afraid he’ll break yours.” Liam didn’t seem interested in a serious relationship with anyone.

She laughed. “There’s nothing to worry about, Sarah. Liam and I are just friends.” She gave me a wicked grin. “Actually we’re perpetrating a ruse.”

“A ruse?” I said.

“Oh, this should be good,” Nick chortled. He leaned against the back of his chair. “Do tell.”

Jess rolled her eyes at him before turning her attention to me. “You know how Rose and the others were trying to pair you off with Nick and”—she glanced at him again—“well, pretty much just Nick?”

I nodded.

“Well, now they seem to have switched their efforts to Liam’s love life. So he told them we were going out.”

I pressed my lips together, but the laughter escaped anyway.

“C’mon, it’s not funny,” Jess said. “You know what they’re like.”

Nick was grinning as well.

“I know exactly what they’re like,” I said, shaking with laughter. “And it’s hilarious.”

Nick and I had had Rose and Liz and his mother inquiring and poking in our love lives for years. Liam, on the other hand, had pretty much been exempt from their . . . advice. I couldn’t help being tickled that the tables had been turned.

Liam came back to the table then. “What did I miss?” he said.

“Nick was stealing my food.” It was the first thing that came to mind.

Liam frowned at his friend. “Hey, don’t do that.”

I smiled at him sticking up for me. Meanwhile, he leaned over and grabbed a chunk of fish out of the taco I was holding. “Only I get to swipe Sarah’s food,” he said with a grin.

I made a show of looking around the pub. “Is there anywhere else I can sit?”

Jess grinned and held up a hand. “Okay, guys,” she said. “No more teasing Sarah.”

I jabbed a finger in Nick’s direction. “I almost forgot. If you don’t go and change the lightbulb in your mother’s garage this weekend I’m going to go and do it for her and at the same time I’m going to take the three boxes of your junk that are still in the garage and give them to Cleveland.”

“You can’t do that,” he said, setting down his beer. “That’s all good stuff.”

I folded my arms over my chest. “If it’s such good stuff then why is it all in Charlotte’s garage and not your apartment?”

He made a face. “You are so mean.” I knew he wasn’t really mad. The corners of his mouth were twitching. I also knew he’d get over to his mother’s on Saturday and get those three boxes because he wasn’t a hundred percent sure that I wouldn’t give his stuff to my best trash picker.

“And you stole my food,” I retorted.

The band came out then and there was no more time to talk.

By the time the first set was over my face was flushed and I was pulling at the neck of my T-shirt. It was warm in the bar and I’d spent most of the time dancing. Both Liam and Jess got up to stretch their legs. Once they were out of earshot, Nick turned to me. “How did the visit with Judge Halloran go?” he asked.

I shrugged. “I learned he had a thing for Gram when they were young and he’s convinced he saw Mike Pearson walking away from that burning house.”

Nick made a face. “Okay, I don’t even know what to do with that first part, and as for the rest, well, we pretty much knew that was what he’d say.” He picked up his beer, realized it was empty and set it back down again. “So what do you think?”

“You mean do I think this means Mike Pearson killed his wife?”

He nodded.

I rubbed a hand over the back of my neck. “The truth is, I’m less sure than I was before.”

His eyes widened in surprise. “Why?”

“First of all there was a bed for Gina in rehab,” I said. “The judge had pulled some strings and told Mike there would be a place for her in Haven House in the morning. Mike had been trying to make that happen. He was desperate for any kind of help for his wife. Why on earth would he kill Gina now that she was about to finally get that help?”

Nick nodded slowly. “Okay, that makes sense.”

“The other thing is, one of the reasons the judge is so credible is because he knew Mike. He even described the ball cap that Mike was wearing. Apparently he wore it all the time.”

Nick held up a hand. “Hang on,” he said. “Why does that matter?”

“From what I’ve learned about Mike Pearson, he’s not a stupid man. So if he’d just killed his wife and set the fire that ended up destroying his house, why didn’t he make an effort not to be seen as he left? It’s not like he didn’t know the judge might see him. He’d talked to Judge Halloran earlier when the judge was just starting to clear out his driveway.”