Fireworks in Paradise Read online

  After a moment, he pulled away. “About that rain check from earlier.”

  I took a breath and blew it out as I willed my heart to slow. “What about it?”

  “I know you said you were tired, but I was thinking now might be a good time to cash it in.”

  I leaned forward and kissed Kyle softly on the lips. “Now is good.”

  Kyle took my hand and led me to the sofa. He sat down and then pulled me into his lap. Every bit of fatigue I’d been feeling suddenly faded away as his lips once again met mine.

  Chapter 14

  Monday, July 3

  I woke up with a smile on my face. Last night with Kyle had turned out to be very datelike indeed. Not that Kyle wasn’t a perfect gentleman; it was, after all, part two of our first date, but first dates led to second dates, which led to tenth dates and the inevitable question of would we or wouldn’t we. Honestly, I couldn’t remember being quite so nervous about that particular question since the first time back in high school with Hunter.

  I had to wonder if Kyle was as nervous as I was.

  “What do you think?” I asked Echo, who was lying on the rug next to my bed. “Do I bring the subject up with Kyle and let him know how I’m feeling, or do I just let things go and see what happens?”

  Echo barked in response, but I wasn’t sure. If I just let things unfold naturally, was I setting myself up for an awkward and uncomfortable situation down the line? Would he be ready to move on to physical intimacy in the complete sense sooner than I was?

  I pulled my pillow over my head and let out a long groan. It was too early in the morning to be thinking about this sort of thing. I was sure that if Kyle did make his move he wasn’t going to make it today, so maybe I should just put the subject on hold and focus my energy on the murder investigation. The previous evening Kyle and I had decided to dig into Jennifer Reinhold’s murder today to see what we could find out after all this time.

  I rolled out of bed and headed to the shower. Kyle was picking me up in less than an hour, so I’d need to get going if I wanted to spend a few minutes with the family before I left. I felt bad I wasn’t going to be spending time at the resort, but Grandpa seemed to have everything under control, and we all really wanted to figure out who had killed Judge Harper.

  “Pancakes?” Grandpa asked when I made my way downstairs and into the kitchen.

  “No, thanks. Coffee is fine. Kyle will be here soon. We’re going to stop in to see Dad and then do some investigating. Do you have everything here at the resort covered?”

  “It’s all taken care of.”

  “Where’s Rosalie?”

  “She’s over at the vet clinic. She does discount shots on Mondays.”

  “Rosalie has kittens,” Gracie informed me.

  “Kittens? Where did she get kittens?”

  “Someone brought in a stray cat who was in labor. She said there are four. One has stripes. Can we get one?”

  “I don’t think so. We already have four cats. I think four is plenty.”

  “We have four cats, but we don’t have any kittens,” Gracie insisted.

  I poured some milk into my coffee. “Kittens are really just small cats.” I decided to change the subject before Gracie wore me down and we doubled the cat population in the house. “What are you girls planning to do today?”

  “Kristi and I are going to a movie,” Ashley informed me.

  “That sounds fun. What are you going to see?”

  “I’m not sure. Jenna’s going to find out what’s playing and then we’ll decide.”

  I turned toward my youngest sister. “How about you, Gracie?”

  “Kari’s grandma is going to watch us until Aunt Jenna gets off work. Did you know Kari’s grandma moved into Bookman’s big house?”

  “Yes, I did know that.”

  “Are they getting married like Papa and Rosalie?”

  “Yes, they are. Now finish your breakfast. I’ll call Jenna to let her know I’ll drop you both in town to save her the effort of coming out to get you.”

  Luckily, the girls and I were all ready by the time Kyle arrived. We dropped the girls off at their respective locations and then headed to the hospital to see Dad. He seemed to be doing better with each day that passed. I hoped he’d soon mend to the point where he could come home.

  Kyle and I were standing hand in hand waiting for the elevator when Hunter appeared. He gave us a funny look before he quickly recovered and greeted us.

  “Here to see your dad?”

  I nodded. “How’s he doing?”

  “Much better. He wants to go home, which I might consider in another day or two, but he’s going to need help getting around. Things are so busy at the resort right now, I was going to suggest that you might want to line up a nurse to come to the house, at least for the first week or so.”

  “I’ll talk to Rosalie about it, but that sounds like a good idea.”

  “You’ll need to set up a bed downstairs for him as well, at least until the cast comes off his leg. If you can get those two things handled, I might be willing to release him as early as Wednesday.”

  I felt such a sense of relief. “Thank you again for everything you’ve done for Dad.”

  Hunter shrugged. “Just doing my job.”

  He headed down the hall as Kyle and I entered the elevator. Our encounter had been awkward, but it could have been a whole lot worse. I hoped once Hunter got used to seeing Kyle and me together the weirdness would fade and we could all go back to being friends who were comfortable in one another’s company.

  I waved to the nurse at the station as we passed. She waved back but didn’t detain us in any way, so I continued down the hall to Dad’s room.

  “Tj, Kyle. I’m so glad the two of you stopped by,” Dad greeted us. “Now that I’m starting to feel better I’m going stir crazy just lying here.”

  I crossed the room and kissed him on the cheek. “We ran into Hunter on our way up. He seems to think you can come home later in the week so long as you’re okay with us hiring a nurse to help take care of you.”

  “I don’t need a nurse,” he grumbled.

  “Dad, you can’t walk. You need a nurse, at least until you can get around on crutches. I’m going to talk to Rosalie later, but I’m sure she’ll agree that temporary help is a must.”

  Dad made a face, although he didn’t respond.

  “I suppose I could just tell Hunter to keep you here until you can get around on your own.”

  “A nurse will be fine,” Dad said, giving in. “But only for a few days. Once I get my strength back I’ll be able to manage on my own.”

  “I’ll talk to Rosalie about it. I’m sure she’ll be glad to have you home. We all will.”

  Dad adjusted his position in the bed. The poor guy looked so uncomfortable. “I thought Rosalie might be by this morning.”

  “It’s Monday: clinic day,” I reminded him.

  “Oh, that’s right. She reminded me about it before she left last night. I guess I’m becoming forgetful in my old age. What are the two of you up to today?”

  I hesitated before I answered. I wanted to talk to Dad about the accident, but I wasn’t 100 percent certain if anyone had discussed it with him yet. I didn’t want to be the one to bring up the subject of his friend’s death if he didn’t already know. “We’re looking into the accident. Has anyone explained to you exactly what happened?”

  Dad frowned and then sighed. “Yeah. Bookman filled me in. I can’t believe Harold is gone. The whole thing seems surreal. One minute we were chatting about going fishing and the next he was fighting to control the car.”

  “Did Bookman mention that the car had been tampered with?”

  Dad let out a long breath. “Yeah. He told me it seems someone intentionally caused the accident. I’ve been thinking about that a lot this morning. I kno
w it seems as if someone murdered Harold, but I’m not sure that’s the case.”

  I crossed the room and sat down on the chair next to Dad’s bed. “What do you mean? Of course someone murdered him. The brake lines in his car were cut.”

  “I understand that, but hear me out,” Dad insisted. “I’ve spoken to Roy and it seems the brakes had a slow leak. The accident occurred five miles after we left the community center. Unfortunately, the brakes failed at the exact spot where the highway hugs the lakeshore after going up over the big hill that drops sharply toward the lake. When the brakes failed, we were going down the steepest part, where the sharp curve veers to the right. It just so happens there’s a significant drop-off in that exact spot. If the brakes had failed almost anywhere else on the road, the accident probably wouldn’t have been fatal.”

  “Maybe the person who cut the brake line was skilled enough to make sure the car failed at that exact spot,” I said.

  “While that could be possible—although, to be honest, I sort of doubt it—Harold wasn’t supposed to be on the west side of the lake that night. If my car hadn’t broken down and Harold hadn’t offered me a ride, he would have driven through town and then headed out to Lakeshore Estates. That road is completely flat. Harold would most likely have ended up on the beach or in a field. He certainly wouldn’t be dead.”

  “You don’t think the person who tampered with the brakes meant to kill him?”

  “I think the faulty brakes might have been meant as a warning. I don’t have any evidence to back that up, but I do think it should at least be looked at as a possibility. I told Roy as much when he came by earlier this morning.”

  I paused. Dad made a good argument. If the intention had been to send a warning to Judge Harper and not kill him, it could open up our suspect list. We’d only been looking at people we felt might be motivated to kill the judge. If we also looked at people whose motive might be to send a message, I was certain we’d find new suspects.

  “Suppose the reason someone tampered with the judge’s car was to send him a warning of some sort and not to kill him. Can you think of someone who might have wanted to send Judge Harper that warning?” I asked.

  Dad shook his head. “No. I’ve been thinking about it and thinking about it and I have no idea.”

  “Did anything else happen that night?” I wondered. “You’d just left a town council meeting. Did anything that was discussed stand out as being particularly controversial or important? Was Judge Harper worried about something? Had he argued with anyone? Was someone hanging around after the meeting?”

  Dad paused and considered my questions. He had a thoughtful expression on his face. “I can’t think of anything, but my memories of that night are still fuzzy. I keep hoping that if I think about it long enough something will come to me. You might ask the other council members about the meeting. Until my memory comes back completely they’d be better equipped to fill you in on the details.”

  “That’s a good idea.” I smiled at Dad and put my hand over his.

  “Did you ever find out why your truck wouldn’t start?” Kyle asked.

  “The battery was dead. I’m not sure why. The truck seemed to be running fine earlier in the day. I guess there could have been a drain on the system I wasn’t aware of. Roy had the truck towed over to the repair shop. He was going to talk to the mechanic to see if he can find out exactly what the problem was.”

  “Did you meet Roy’s new partner?” I asked.

  “No, he came alone, but he did mention that someone had been permanently assigned to the town. Roy could certainly use the help. He’s been running things on his own for over a year.”

  Roy definitely needed the help; I just hoped this specific help didn’t end up being more of a hindrance.

  When Kyle and I left the hospital, I decided to call Roy to ask about his visit with my dad. If Dad was right and the person who’d tampered with Judge Harper’s car had simply done so to warn him, perhaps even someone with a minor grievance, like a disgruntled town employee, could be to blame.

  “Hey, Roy, it’s Tj.”

  “Hang on.”

  I waited while he changed location. I could hear footsteps and then a door open and close. After a minute Roy got back on the line. “Sorry about that. Kate is using the computer in the other room, so I came into the office. What’s up?”

  “You know you’re her superior. You really don’t need to be afraid of her.”

  “I know. I’m not afraid. But we do have to work together, and it’s just easier not to ruffle her feathers. What’s on your mind?”

  “I understand you visited my dad this morning.”

  “Yes. I was glad to see him doing so much better.”

  “What do you think of his theory that the person who tampered with Judge Harper’s car meant to send him a warning, not to kill him?”

  “I think your dad could be right. If the judge had gone straight home rather than offering your dad a ride, the brake failure would most likely have resulted in nothing more than the car running onto the beach or into a field. If that had happened he’d be alive today.”

  I had to admit the idea that someone had simply been trying to scare Judge Harper rather than kill him made me feel somewhat better, although the end result was the same. “Theoretically we can open the suspect list up to people we don’t necessarily think would kill Judge Harper but might want to cause a minor accident to send a warning.”

  “Theoretically, yes.”

  “That could include anyone with a petty grievance.”

  “I’m afraid it does. Kate has been interviewing people who attended the council meeting and coming up with a list of suspects based on the observations of those attending. None of the suspects, in our opinion, had a beef strong enough to cause them to intentionally kill the judge, but to scare him? Maybe.”

  “So far all I have left on my list are Striker Bristow, the person who killed Steven Reinhold’s wife if he didn’t do it himself, and Sam Wilson.”

  Roy paused. “I think Bristow could be a real suspect. The person who killed Reinhold’s wife seems like a long shot to me. It couldn’t hurt to snoop around a bit, though it’ll be hard to find new leads on a crime that old. And Reinhold could be guilty.”

  “I agree it’s a long shot, but we figured it was worth a look. Kyle and I are going to try to speak to Clarissa Halloran today. Do you have any new information since the original trial that we should be looking at?”

  “No, not at this point. I haven’t had time to look at it.”

  I glanced at Kyle. “Is there anything else we should know?”

  “Like I said, Kate came up with a list and is in the process of interviewing the people on it, but I think we should leave that up to her. Let me know if you find anything when you speak to Ms. Halloran. If it looks like something’s there, I’ll find a way to bring it up with Kate without telling her where I got the lead.”

  “I’ll call you later either way.”

  I hung up and turned to Kyle. “It sounds like both Roy and Kate think my dad might be on to something with the idea that someone only meant to warn Judge Harper, not kill him. If that’s the case, we might need to adjust our criteria for the suspect list.”

  “You still want to talk to Clarissa Halloran?”

  “I do, but let’s head over to the county office first to see if we can talk Harriet into letting us take a look at Judge Harper’s office.”

  The county offices were nearby, so it only took a few minutes to make the trip. Harriet hadn’t returned my call, but she was as big a snoop as they came. I was sure we could use her curiosity as a means of gaining her cooperation. Kyle parked in the lot shared by the post office, sheriff’s office, library, and county office.

  “Tj, Kyle, so good to have you both back,” Harriet said as we walked into the lobby of the county office building. “I understand
your father is doing much better.”

  I smiled at Harriet. “He is. Did you know he was moved out of the ICU?”

  “I hadn’t heard, but I am so happy to hear that. This community has already suffered such a huge loss. I don’t know how we would have dealt with it if we’d lost Mike too.”

  “How are you doing with everything that’s happened?” I asked. This had to be as hard on Harriet as anyone. After all, she had worked closely with Judge Harper for the past year.

  Her smile faded. “I’ve been better. When I learned that the mayor was targeted specifically I almost broke down completely. Who would do such a thing to a man who’d spent his whole life serving this community? It makes no sense.”

  I felt awful for Harriet, especially when I noticed the bags under her eyes. It looked like she hadn’t been sleeping much, and now that I’d taken a closer look it appeared she’d lost weight as well. Harriet probably didn’t have anyone to talk to about things now that Helen was spending most of her time up at Bookman’s.

  I offered an encouraging smile. “Kyle and I have been looking into things, trying to find the answers we feel the community as a whole needs. It turns out this particular investigation seems to have a lot of things going on that, on the surface, don’t necessarily appear to be related. We had an idea that the judge’s role as mayor might have provided the motive and hoped that you’d allow us to look in his office.”

  Harriet hesitated for a few seconds. I could see that she was weighing my request before making a decision. She pursed her lips, began to speak, paused again, and let out a long breath before she eventually agreed. I wasn’t really worried that she’d come around. We’d known each other long enough for her to realize that Kyle and I really did have everyone’s best interests at heart.

  “What are you looking for?” Harriet asked after she unlocked the office and ushered us inside. “Maybe I can help you find it.”

  “I’m not sure,” I admitted. “Can you think of anything Judge Harper was working on that could have caused someone to want him out of the way so desperately they’d tamper with his brakes?”