Julianna Morris - Honor Bound

Sugar?

The way he said it made her long for a shower to wash off the slime. “I’m not on the committee, Mr. Stone. I’m the city’s liaison with them. I can’t make them do anything.” She looked at the mayor. “However, I reminded the chairman several times that a formal invitation is customary.”

The mayor puffed out his chest in affront. “You had to remind the chairman? You would think they didn’t want me in their parade.”

“They’re shorthanded with the flu season hitting so early. And since your devotion to civic duty is well-known, they assumed you planned to participate. They naturally felt you would understand under the circumstances.” She hated playing to his ego, but it made things easier in the long run.

“Oh, yes, yes, quite so,” Phillip agreed, appeased. “We’re all part of the same team. And speaking of team-work, my brother has decided to stay in Sand Point for a while instead of tending to his business up north. I feel safer having him here after receiving all those death threats.”

The policeman standing behind them looked disgusted. Kelly sympathized. It was hard to believe anyone was serious about hurting the mayor, and standing guard on him had to be one of the most boring jobs in the world.

“I’m sure Police Chief Santoni…” Her words trailed. She couldn’t bring herself to say Ben would appreciate the help since she was certain that he wouldn’t appreciate a single thing about Frank Stone. Frank was smarter than his brother…and a dead loss in every other way.

“Oh, we aren’t discussing this with Santoni,” Frank said heartily. “He might be threatened by my presence, being new on the job and having trouble with it so quickly. Shame he can’t seem to find those killers.”

“I’m sure it’s only a question of time.”

“Perhaps,” the mayor said. “But carry on. We were just going to breakfast.”

Kelly tried to regain her good humor as she went upstairs.

When she entered her office, Ben was lounging in a chair as if he owned the place. “Hey,” he said.

Tarnation.

The man did not respect personal space. Of course, she had to admit that she’d invaded his office several times, so she shouldn’t complain.

“What?”

“I wanted to apologize for calling so late.”

Kelly grimaced. Whatever game he was playing, she wasn’t going along with it—the Stone brothers had used up her supply of patience for the day. “So apologize.”

He scratched his jaw. “Did I actually wake you up?”

“Are you actually going to apologize?”

Ben grinned lazily. “Probably not. I got to thinking and realized that you kept answering my questions with other questions.”

“Did I?”

“See? There you go again. I asked two questions. No answers, just two more questions.”

Kelly shoved his feet to the floor so she could get to her own chair. The Public Affairs office was barely big enough for a desk and wastebasket. A man as tall as Ben Santoni made it seem that much smaller.

“Maybe I don’t appreciate dumb questions.”

“Wow. You really don’t like me,” he said conversationally. “But it doesn’t make sense. We were friends before I left. In fact, we were getting along great—even if Uncle Henry wouldn’t let us use the truck after we got caught out at the point that last time.”

“You didn’t leave. You ran.”

Ben had hightailed it out of Sand Point a week early, without even saying goodbye. She’d come home from her morning job at a local doughnut shop, bringing him a bag of his favorite apple fritters, only to have Henry say he was gone. Henry had tried to be kind, but there isn’t any kind way to tell a teenage girl that her boyfriend has run out on her.

“You’re still pissed about that after fifteen years?”

Kelly shrugged. “It was over a long time ago.” She turned the memory over in her mind, but it was ancient history. Back then she’d been convinced she would end up the same as her mother. Shanna James fell in love quickly, but it never lasted—something would happen, and that would be that. One broken heart after another. Mr. Right always turning into Mr. Nowhere-To-Be-Found.

Then Shanna died.

And later Mitch.

Those were the losses that still hurt.

“There has to be a reason you don’t like me any longer,” Ben insisted.

She laughed. “Wow. You have the same overinflated ego as ever. You’re forgetting that except for that one summer—which was just about sexual curiosity anyway—we never liked each other. Why start now?”

“Sheesh. And Henry and Gina think you’re so sweet.”

“And I thought you were the sophisticated type. I hate to break it to you, but it’s a myth that girls are made out of sugar.”

“I know all about women.”

Ben’s tone spoke louder than his words. Kelly knew he was raising Toby by himself. Divorce could make people cynical about the opposite sex, and he’d grown up already cynical and angry. Aside from Henry and Gina, he didn’t have faith in anything or anyone, much less basic goodness and decency. She might have been angry, too, if her mother had kept sending her away like his parents.

“You don’t know everything,” she said, more tired than before. “Is there anything new on the case?”

Ben regarded her stonily.

“Because I have to brief the mayor when he comes back from breakfast…unless you’d rather do it.”

“There’s nothing new. I’ll have Lasko follow up with the state crime lab this morning, and then canvass the area again for possible witnesses. Fairmont is going to redo the original interviews they conducted. Somebody must have seen something.”

“I hope so. I didn’t think much of Harvey Bryant’s business practices, but Simon was nice.”

Ben suddenly seemed wide-awake. “You knew the homeless man?”

“I used to walk on the docks every day,” Kelly explained. “I started seeing Simon there a couple of years ago. Off and on at first, and then more often. In the beginning I’d just say ‘hi’ when I saw him. He was polite and well-spoken. He seemed to drink a lot, though he never acted or sounded drunk.”

“You used to walk there?”

“Yes—at lunch or on a break.”

“That’s not what I meant. Why did you stop?”

“Oh. It was Simon. He didn’t think it was safe for me and said I should stay away for a while.”

“For a while? As if something questionable was going on—something that might be over soon?” Ben glared. “Isn’t that something you should have told the police when he got killed? Did you tell anybody?”

She glared back. “No, because it wasn’t related to his murder. Simon said there had been fights between workers and management because of the strike, and he thought I should stay away until it was over. The strike was settled before he died. I just haven’t gone back to walking down there.”

“Okay.” Ben made a visible effort to be calm. “Fine. What else did he say?”

Kelly swept her hair away from her neck. “Nothing much. He spent most of his time drawing. I have a number of his pictures—he was really talented. I would bring him sketchbooks and art pencils every week or so…. I guess I hoped it would make him feel there was someone who cared.”

Ben gave her an odd look. “People usually won’t talk to the homeless. What else?”

She put her purse in a drawer, trying to think. Had there been anything significant in those exchanges? Their discussions seemed so trivial and meaningless now. “I…we chatted about the weather…”

Ben rolled his eyes.

“He drank from a bottle in a brown bag. He seemed kind and intelligent. And sad. I figured he’d once had a family and lost touch with them. He was so lonely.” Kelly sighed. She’d liked Simon and felt guilty that she hadn’t done more to help him find a decent place to live.