Janet Evanovich - Full Bloom

Annie grabbed his arm. "Oh no, you don't. Not until you explain what you just said."

"I don't r'member."

"Then you'd better search your memory, because I'll call Lamar and have you thrown into detox if you don't finish what you started."

He looked hurt. "You'd do that?"

"Damn right. Now, start talking."

"I don't want to cause no trouble," the man said, glancing at Annie. "I could be wrong, but I thought, um …" He glanced down at the floor.

"What did you think?" Annie said. "That I killed Charles?"

Erdle shrugged. "I just wondered, that's all. I mean, I knew the two of you didn't get along. Far as I'uz concerned, he was a no-' count husband, and I didn't much care what happened to him. 'Sides, I figured you had a damn good reason. So I kept quiet." He looked up. "Reckon I was wrong."

Annie was clearly stunned.

Theenie had begun picking her nails.

"I think he's had too much to drink," Wes said to Annie. "Why don't I help him to bed?"

"I can make it," Erdle said. "I've had a lot of practice." He looked at Annie. "Can I go now?"

She shrugged and turned away.

He let himself out the back door.

Theenie was the first to speak. "You can't take Erdle seriously. He's a drunk."

"Who else in this room thinks I murdered my husband?" Annie asked.

Theenie gave a snort of disgust. "Don't be ridiculous."

"It never crossed my mind," Lovelle said. "I wouldn't have moved in if I had thought you were responsible for his disappearance."

"I know damn well you didn't do it," Destiny said.

Annie looked at Wes. "And you?"

"Would I be looking for the real murderer if I thought you'd done it? Erdle is just whacked-out on booze."

Annie went to the table and sank tiredly onto a chair. "My life sucks. I've got a drunk for a handyman, a crazy, senile neighbor, and a spirit in my house stealing everything."

"Speaking of which …" Destiny carried her sandwich to the table. "I think I'm finally gaining Lacey's trust. I had a long talk with her when they threw me in the rubber room. She stayed with me most of the time to keep me company."

Theenie gasped. "You were in a padded cell?"

Destiny's look was deadpan. "The Hyatt was full."

"She wasn't in a padded cell," Lovelle said. "They only put dangerous nutso cases in those kinds of places."

Destiny went on. "I met with a guy from the historic foundation, Mr. Hildenbiddle, this afternoon, and he gave me some interesting information. Also told me about some of your more colorful ancestors," she said to Annie. "But you already know, because Mr. Hildenbiddle said he'd shared the information with you a long time ago."

Annie's face pinked. "Okay, Destiny, you insist on airing my dirty laundry, so I may as well tell it all. Your spirit, Lacey Keating, was my great-great-grandmother, and madam of the bordello which she named Passion's Fruit. In her diaries, she claimed she got the idea because at the time there were dozens of peach trees on the property."

"Why didn't you tell us, dear?" Theenie asked.

"I didn't particularly want to share that information with anyone, but I suspect a lot of people already know."

"People aren't going to think badly of you because of what your great-great-grandmother did," Lovelle said. "My brother married a lesbian stripper, and nobody held it against our family."

Theenie looked confused. "He married a lesbian stripper? How does that sort of thing work?"

Lovelle shrugged. "Beats me."

Destiny reached into her pocket. "I don't know if this means anything, but Lacey gave it to me. I have a feeling it's significant." Destiny set a single sapphire earring on the table. Tiny diamonds surrounded the blue stone.

Annie's eyes widened, and she reached for it.

"Don't touch it," Destiny said. "I'm hoping if I hang on to it a couple of days I might get some vibes. Find out who it belongs to and why Lacey seemed to think it was important."

"Don't bother," Annie said. "I recognize it. It belongs to Donna Schaefer."

* * * * *

Annie and Wes remained at the kitchen table as, one by one, the others drifted off to bed. Although Annie was embarrassed that the entire household had witnessed what Theenie referred to as Annie's "hissy fit," she was still hurt over seeing Wes with another woman.

It was no wonder Erdle had suspected her of killing Charles; she had to do something about her temper.

But right now she needed to accept the fact that Wes did not feel as strongly about her as she did about him. She had only been a diversion.

"Annie, I can see the wheels turning in your head," he said finally. "We need to talk."

She shook her head. "It's late, and I don't want to discuss our relationship …" She paused. "Correction: what I thought was a relationship. I'm not going to insist that you leave tonight, but I would appreciate it if you would vacate the room as soon as possible. Preferably in the morning."

"No."

She looked up. "Excuse me?"

"I'm not going anywhere. Not until your name is cleared." When she started to object, he held up his hand. "But right now, you're going to listen to what I have to say."

She crossed her arms. "Five minutes."

"There is absolutely nothing going on between me and the woman you saw me with tonight."

She did an eye roll. "Jeez, where have I heard that before?"

"Probably from your dearly departed husband, and by the way, I don't appreciate being compared to him. The blonde, Peggy Aten, is my ex-partner from when I was a cop."

Annie gazed back in disbelief. She remembered how nervous she'd been at the thought of him living there, recalled Destiny telling her Wes Bridges was not what he seemed. "You were once a cop and you never mentioned it to me?"

He shrugged. "I didn't see the need. I got out a while back because I could tell I was getting burned-out after spending ten years as a homicide detective. I needed a change."

"So you became a photographer?" she said, thinking it an odd choice.

Wes gazed down at his hands for a long moment, his eyes troubled. He looked at Annie, opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it as though he'd changed his mind. "I'd rather not talk about that right now," he said. "I need to concentrate on the problems before us. I'm just asking you to trust me. And know that I have your best interests at heart."

Annie pondered it. Trust didn't come easy for her. Not when men were involved. But the concern in Wes's eyes, as well as the numerous unanswered questions about her husband's murder, told her it was best not to press him for more information.

"I wish you had told me about the cop part earlier," she said. "I would have worried less knowing I had an expert investigating the murder. Instead of someone who made his living taking pictures," she added.

He almost smiled. "Peggy was able to get her hands on some valuable information. You might be interested to know that Norman Schaefer never checked into his hotel the night of the murder. The night his wife claimed he was out of town."

"Oh yeah?"

"He was supposed to be at a real estate seminar.

It wasn't listed on his expense reports, charge card, or checking account. In other words, he never showed."

"How did this Peggy person find out all of that?"

"She has friends in all the right places. The less you know, the better. If the case was to go to court and Norm was a potential suspect, Nunamaker would naturally ask him to produce proof of his whereabouts the night his wife claimed he was out of town."

"What do you think it all means?"

"It sounds suspicious as hell, if you ask me. But it gets even better. Norm had an oil change the week before your husband came up missing, and they recorded his mileage. A week later he had a small fender bender, and the mileage was included in the report. Had Norm attended a sales meeting in Savannah or Hilton Head, he would have put at least a couple of hundred miles on his car, only the odometer listed less than one hundred miles during that period."