to the porch.” Jan hobbled over the paving stones and eased herself onto a chair.
Lacey’s phone rang. “McCrae.”
Wayne was terse. “Vault guy’s unavailable. Take off early. See you in the morning.”
Crap. Two hours’ pay down the tubes. He’d have found something else for her to do if she hadn’t left the building. Or did he know she was too shaky to work, anyway? Did he despise such weakness in an ex-cop? Would the next message be telling her not to bother coming back? She could end up working mall security by the weekend.
At least malls tended to be large, open spaces, almost like here. She looked out over the valley. The museum, with its nearly fatal vault, was a toy building down below, but behind it the river churned. Was it eating at the riverbank beyond the museum’s terrace? Was that the next fear she would face — being trapped down in the classroom level while murky water beat against the windows? She shuddered and turned away. Never again.
Jan was squinting in the sun, enough Adderall behind her eyes now to lift the sag out of her face. Lacey revised her age estimate down to the midthirties. Almost a contemporary.
“Thanks for the ride.” Jan walked almost steadily to the door. She didn’t fumble her key in the lock at all, just strode on through as if her previous shakes had never happened. The door shut behind her, leaving Lacey alone on the paving stones with the sweet June breeze whispering through the treetops and the museum far below, tiny and too postcard-like to have caused such mayhem in her life by three o’clock in the afternoon.
Even though her body was crying out for a nap after the disturbed night, she hated the thought of going back to Dee’s, to the barking dogs and the omnipresent rumble of the swelling river, not to mention whatever mood Dee had swung into by this time. A long, winding drive out over the open plain would feel great right about now, but driving would not get the motion-sensor lights installed. If she did those first, she could run into Calgary for extension cords and pick up more clothes from Tom’s at the same time. With luck, she’d even miss rush hour traffic.
Except, she realized, as she backed up the car to leave the sharp-edged glass house behind, she had yet to inquire closely into which individuals really might be out to get Dee, in case she hadn’t imagined the whole thing. The suspect list might start with Dee’s ex, Neil, but it had to include that protester outside the museum and the rich man up the hill. Just because he was helpful with the dogs didn’t mean he was truly a friend or ally. And the man who’d killed her dog last winter — she was set to testify against him. That was motive enough for some people.
All this was in Lacey’s mind as she sat across the black granite breakfast bar from Dee two hours later, eating some divine pasta Dee had imported from one of the trendy restaurants down in the hamlet. There was a glass of wine to go with it, of course, a crisp California chardonnay. But, mindful of the impending drive into Calgary, she wasn’t having any beyond a sip of Dee’s to see what she was missing. Someday, she might lose her overzealous adherence to alcohol limits, but not while her life remained in this highly unstable state. Getting busted for .08 would be a serious handicap to finding a proper job, not to mention house hunting and eventually moving.
“We have to take this seriously,” she said past a mouthful of succulent seafood and sauce. “Start with the protester. What does he hope to gain, with the Centre nearly finished? What did he lose because of this project your company helped finance?”
“The rural municipality approved the museum’s development. According to his handouts, he thinks the arts are a waste of time and money. It’s not an uncommon attitude in Alberta. I heard a rumour, too, that he’d had his own plans for the land, but his proposal was outvoted. It was before my time on the board, though, and I don’t think he blames me for it. He’s careful to stay off the edge of the property, so he’s doing nothing illegal. Just a nuisance.” Dee paused for a sip of her wine. “I hope he gives up when we open. It won’t do the tourist traffic any good.” She clearly thought the protester harmless; Wayne thought him a potential mass murderer. Lacey thought she’d better investigate a bit further, as soon as time permitted.
“What about Jake Wyman? You said he had a grudge.”
“I said he might have been holding a grudge. He hasn’t acted like it, though. And he’s never asked for his ex’s address again. Maybe she got in touch with him and he just hasn’t mentioned it to me. Not my business. I wasn’t involved with her divorce; I wasn’t her friend. I just manage her property while she’s out of the country.”
“Any other legal matters that might have led to a grudge? Someone you outmanoeuvred in a development deal, or whatever you real estate lawyers do?”
“I don’t see how. My listed address is a postal box, not my house. And anyway, lawyers don’t stalk each other. We sue.”
“Is there any possible way Neil could benefit by driving you to sell this place?”
Dee groaned. “Again with Neil. I know you didn’t like him, and yeah, you were right. He’s shallow and vain and manipulative, with an ego bigger than Castle Mountain. But to come after me? It would take too much of his valuable time to drive all the way out here. He might miss out on some breaking deal or glam social event.”
“You were right about Dan, too,” Lacey said, surprised it was so easy to admit. “He’s a rule follower to the core, and that core is a true-blue chauvinist. He couldn’t stand me outranking him at work, and he took it out on me at home.” She wasn’t ready to go into details about his methods, and hurried on. “Neil’s in real estate, too. Could he get the house back if you felt you had to move? Maybe to sell for a profit?”
“In this market? He wouldn’t touch it. I had to take a second mortgage to pay out his share, and now the market is slumping, so I’m stuck with it. Besides, his girlfriend’s house is bigger.” Dee shook her head. “If it’s him, I’m counting on you to catch him at it and make him explain. Beat it out of him if you have to. Not that you’ll have to. He’s a coward at heart. When he sees your car in the drive, he’ll know I’m not alone and he’ll call off whatever little plan he has. If it’s him.”
“Unless he’s driven by jealousy and thinks you have another man in here. Who knows what he’d do then?”
“He wouldn’t care. He doesn’t love me. Sometimes I wonder if he ever did.”
There was nothing to say to that, so Lacey said nothing. She spooned up the last of her seafood sauce, moved her plate to the dishwasher, and said, “I’d better get on the road if I’m going to be back to plug in those lights before the mosquito hour. Will you be all right on your own for a bit?”
“I’ve got lots of paperwork to keep me entertained. And I’m sure there will be another half-dozen crises at the Centre that’ll have to be dealt with tonight.” Dee’s voice was light, but the lines were back around her eyes, and she couldn’t stop herself glancing at the open window. Would Lacey return to find the house buttoned up tighter than a meth lab again?
Chapter Five
Jan clattered pots into the kitchen sink, squinting a bit in the light from the west-facing window. The evening sky glowed, brilliant as midday this close to the summer solstice. The mountain shadows would take hours to creep as far as her house. It felt like the day could last forever. “I can’t believe how crystal clear everything is,” she said over her shoulder. “Every sound, every sight is crisp and clean. As if time has slowed down, giving my brain as long as it needs to process every signal.
