Софи Райан - Telling Tails

“I heard that,” Liz said in the background.

“Well, obviously I meant you to,” Rose retorted.

I knew how this was going to play out. “Okay, hang on,” I said. “Let’s just skip the step where we argue back and forth and go right to the bottom line.”

“I need to go over there, Sarah,” Rose said. “I could have just let Liz take me home and then headed over once she was gone, but I didn’t.”

She had me. I closed my eyes for a second and tried to exhale quietly so she wouldn’t hear me sigh.

“How about this? You and Liz drive over and park in front of the Clarks’. I’ll be right behind you. Then we’ll figure out what we’re going to do.”

“Hang on a minute, dear,” Rose said. I heard voices again just far enough from the phone that I couldn’t make out the conversation. Then Rose came back on. “Liz wants to talk to you,” she said with what sounded like a touch of self-righteous indignation in her tone.

“Fine,” I said.

After a moment Liz’s voice came through the phone. “Are you crazy?” she asked.

“It’s a possibility,” I said lightly. “I’ve never been officially tested.”

“Well, maybe you should be so we can get confirmation.”

I laughed. “I’m right behind you. Less than five minutes, I promise. If Rose tries to do anything rash, get the dog to sit on her.”

“Easy for you to say.” Liz gave a snort of skepticism.

Rose came back on the phone. “Thank you, darling girl,” she said. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

When I got to the Clarks’ I turned in the driveway and parked behind Liz. She and Rose were standing in the driveway with Ashley Clark and Casey. The big Lab was sitting beside Rose and her hand was in his fur. It was pretty clear she had a friend for life.

I walked over to join them. Ashley smiled. “Hi, Sarah,” she said. “It’s good to see you again.”

“You, too,” I said. Casey turned to look at me and I reached over and scratched the top of his head.

“Ashley says she just saw Leesa leave about forty-five minutes ago,” Rose said.

Liz pressed her lips together and narrowed her eyes at me but didn’t say anything.

“Okay,” I said, gesturing with my sunglasses. “We’ll go down there for five minutes.” I held up five fingers. “If it doesn’t trigger any kind of a memory, that’s it.”

Rose nodded. “That’s fine.”

“Do you want to take him with you?” Ashley asked gesturing at the dog. “He’s a softie, but people who don’t know him don’t know that.”

“Will he go with us?” I asked.

The big Lab was leaning his head against Rose’s leg.

His owner laughed. “I think he’d happily live with Rose.” She walked over to the front steps and picked up the braided leather leash that was lying on the top one. She snapped it on the dog’s collar and handed the end to Rose. “He knows how to heel and sit and stay,” she said.

“Thank you,” I said. “We’ll only be a few minutes.”

Ashley reached over and patted the dog’s head. “Take care of Rose, boy,” she said.

We walked along the road to the Camerons’ cottage. Casey stayed by Rose’s side and I got the feeling that if anyone gave her any trouble the dog would cheerfully chew their arm off.

There were no signs that anyone was home at the small green cottage. Nonetheless, being there made me antsy. Rose stood in the middle of the driveway. “Sit,” she said to Casey, who did as he was told. She looked around the yard and then she closed her eyes for a moment.

Liz and I waited. “This is a waste of time,” she muttered.

“Do you have a train to catch?” I whispered back.

Rose opened her eyes. She looked at us and shook her head. “I’m just going to stand on the steps,” she said.

I glanced back down the road. There was no sign of any cars coming. I walked the rest of the way up the driveway looking for anything that might have made Rose think of those old tea chests. Nothing twigged.

Rose stood on the steps and, just as she had on Wednesday night, peered through the window. She sighed. “I don’t know why I thought of those old tea chests,” she said. “I guess it doesn’t mean anything after all.” She came down the steps, and she and Casey started down the driveway toward Liz, who was standing in the shade of a tall maple tree.

I climbed the stairs and took a quick look in the sunporch. There wasn’t anything in it or the kitchen beyond that looked like a wooden tea chest. I turned, and as I did something on the small deck on the other side of the porch caught my eye. I stopped and took a second look.

Someone seemed to be sitting on a wooden Adirondack chair looking out toward the water. Something about the angle of the person’s head made the hairs come up on the back of my neck.

“Just stay there a second,” I called to Liz.

“Why?” Rose asked.

I was already on my way down the few stairs. “Just please stay there for now and I’ll explain in a minute,” I said.

I started around the side of the house. I only went far enough so I could see what I already suspected. Leesa Cameron was slumped in the chair. And it was clear she was dead.

Chapter 15

I called 911 and we waited for the police at Ashley Clark’s small house. She took one look at Rose and Liz and invited them inside for iced tea.

“Go,” I said. “I’ll wait out here for the police.”

I leaned against the SUV and wondered if I should call Michelle. Or Nick. Ashley came out with a tall, frosted glass of tea for me. “Thank you,” I said, taking it from her and taking a long drink.

Ashley looked over her shoulder down the road. “You . . . um . . . you found Leesa, didn’t you?” she asked. Her hair was loose around her face and she wasn’t wearing any makeup. She didn’t look any older than Avery.

There wasn’t any reason not to tell her the truth. I nodded.

She blanched and swallowed a couple of times. “She’s dead, isn’t she? I mean, she has to be because otherwise you wouldn’t be here.”

“She’s dead. Yes.”

Ashley shivered even though the sun was warm and wrapped one arm around her midsection. She shook her head. “I would have sworn that was her who drove by barely an hour ago.”

“And maybe it was,” I said. “The police will figure all of that out.” I gave her a smile I didn’t really feel. “Thank you for the tea and for taking Rose and Liz inside. Why don’t you go in and wait with them? The police won’t be very long. I’ll come and get you.”

“Okay,” she said, and she headed back across the lawn to the house.

The police arrived less than five minutes later, a patrol car followed quickly by the forensic van, Michelle’s small sedan and Nick’s truck.

“Bring me up to speed,” Michelle said. Nick stood silently beside her, his hands in his pockets.

I gave them a brief rundown of our visit with Nicole Cameron and how we’d ended up at the cottage. “I took a quick look through the porch window, thinking maybe I’d see something that might explain Rose’s memory. I caught sight of . . . Leesa Cameron on the deck. There was uh . . .” I stopped and cleared my throat. “The angle of her head and neck seemed wrong. There was an empty bottle of vodka on the table beside her.” I had to stop again for a moment. “And a pill bottle.”

Michelle said nothing; she just nodded as I recited how I’d called 911 and we’d come back here to wait. After I finished I took her inside and she talked to Rose and Liz and Ashley Clark. We waited maybe another twenty minutes while she went down to the Cameron cottage before she came back to tell us we could leave. Nick had stopped long enough to put a hand on my shoulder and ask if we were all okay before he’d headed to the cottage as well.