Florida Heat

  Julie pulled the sunglasses from the case the sales clerk had provided at no charge, ha ha, and wondered why anyone would want to pay so much for something they were probably going to lose anyway. I’m dead, she thought miserably. She tried the glasses on and surveyed herself in the mirror. They were really great glasses. She gently placed them back in the case and pulled the blouse from the bag in the closet. Slipping her shirt off she pulled the blouse over her head and turned back to the mirror. The tangerine color made her skin glow and the off the shoulder style was sexy but wouldn’t make Mom crazy. Until she looked at the price tag, she thought. Quickly she cut the tag off the garment then snipped it into a dozen small pieces. Destroy the evidence. She carefully removed the blouse and hung it in her closet. Flopping down on her bed she stared at the ceiling and tried to figure out how she was going to get permission to go back to the mall so she could return the sunglasses before her mom found out.

  * * *

  Sherry Roberts sat at the small student desk she pretended was a vanity. She’d been so excited when Ma had picked it up at one of the school’s discarded furniture sales. Of course she’d been in second grade then and it was way too big for her, but that only made her feel more grown up.

  Now she’d die if any of her friends saw it. Even with the purple remnant she’d tossed over it you could still tell it was a wooden student desk. Sherry looked around her room. Who was she kidding? Her single bed with its saggy mattress wore a faded spread and was home to the yellow and red stuffed parrot she’d won at the carnival when she was nine. Her desk or pretend vanity, and a folding metal chair completed her vast collection of furniture. Ma had tried to make curtains, but the bunny fabric had long since faded and hung limply at the window with one side a good three inches longer than the other. Ma never could sew, she thought. And her attempts at home decorating were feeble at best. She could hear her mother’s equally feeble attempts at cooking from the pots and pans that banged in the kitchen. God but she hated this house with its walls so thin you could hear someone fart in the next room. She hated this house, this town, her life.

  Grabbing her mascara, she added another coat to her already dark lashes. Well not for long, she thought popping her gum. If she played her cards right, she could leave this dump and for good.

  Sherry heard the front door slam and groaned. He was home. Mentally she counted – she hadn’t even reached ten before the shouting started. She checked her watch, newly acquired from the dollar store where the clerk assured her it could pass for a Rolex. She knew the sales pitch was a load of crap but it did look pretty and made her wrist look slim. Three more hours she thought. Just let me stand this for three more hours. By then the old man would be passed out in front of the TV with his scotch and Ma would have snuck out to meet her ‘friend’. Three more hours and I can make my exit, she thought. She raised her window while her parents continued to scream. With all their shouting, no one would notice the loud squeak the window made, but later when the house was quiet, the sound would be loud enough to wake the dead.

  She sat down again and reached for her eyeliner. That stuck up Nicole and her gang would be hanging on the phone gossiping about who was going with whom to tomorrow night’s football game. What babies, she thought, and wondered if she dared sneak a smoke. Ma wouldn’t notice, but lately the old man was really becoming a drag. Better not chance it, she thought, fussing with her hair. Ricky had said he loved the way it tumbled about her face. She hadn’t told him it was because the rubber band from her ponytail had broken. She sighed and, reaching for her stuffed parrot, hugged it close. Tonight Ricky had promised to take her to his favorite bar. She checked her watch again and smiled. Nicole and her snobby friends would be doing homework and she, Sherry Roberts from the wrong side of town, would be in a real bar, on a real date, with a real man. She checked her watch again – just a few more hours.

  * * *

  Jo smiled as she got out of her car and watched Kate pull in behind her. “Hey, girlfriend, you following me?” she called.

  Kate just rolled her eyes. “You get my message?”

  Jo held up the take out bags from the Golden Wok. “Dinner is served.” Then she frowned when Kate pulled an animal carrier from her car. “Is that what I think it is?”

  Kate hefted the cage and started toward the house. “Not a what but a who. And yes, it’s Midnight.” With that, the cat let out a disgruntled yowl that was instantly met with barking from inside the house.

  “This is going to be fun,” Jo said sarcastically. “My dogs and your cat.”

  “You don’t have to worry,” Kate said as Jo opened the door. “I’ve had a long talk with her and she knows we’re visiting, so she’ll be on her best behavior.”

  Jo held the take-out bags with one hand and greeted her dogs with the other. “We’ve got company,” she stated dryly.

  Kate put down the cage and greeted both dogs. “Now listen,” she said sternly. “We are all going to get along okay.” Blitz yipped in agreement while Bella just sat and watched warily as Kate opened the cage and Midnight strutted out. The long-haired Persian took one look at the dogs, arched her back and hissed. Bella backed up and Blitz raced into the kitchen to protect his dinner bowl. “See,” Kate said, “I knew this would work.”

  Surprisingly, it did. Midnight claimed a perch on top of the piano in the living room, Bella stayed at Jo’s side and Blitz stuck to the kitchen guarding the food. When dinner was over and the leftovers stored in the refrigerator, Kate and Jo retreated to the back porch.

  “I never did meet with Aggie,” Jo said taking her favorite rocker. “You still have the house sealed off as a crime scene, so I went to the hotel where she was supposed to be staying but she wasn’t there. Is she still on the top of your list?”

  “I don’t know,” Kate sighed. “We searched the house, went through the trash and still found nothing. I hate thinking she could get away with this.”

  “You’re positive it was her?”

  “I don’t have any other leads.” Kate stared at her wine. “But something’s going on ‘cause every time I try to talk to the kid he clams up. I think he knows something.”

  “Do you think he saw her put something in the drink?”

  “That’s the thing that keeps bugging me. When we had Aggie in interview she kept insisting that wasn’t Danny’s drink. Said he only drank Power-up. We only found one bottle of Replenish and all the rest were Power-up. Something doesn’t make sense.”

  “If it was Aggie, and she wanted to be done with him, why wouldn’t she just put the poison in the brand he usually used?”

  Kate shook her head. “I don’t know. But something just doesn’t feel right.”

  “Do you think she switched so he would notice the drink tasted different?”

  “Could be, yeah, that makes sense. If his regular drink suddenly tasted different he might not finish it. But she was adamant she’d never bought that brand.” Kate sighed, “Will you have time to see her tomorrow?”

  Jo tossed a ball for Blitz who dashed off the porch after it. “As much as I’d like to, I’m booked solid tomorrow. Rhonda’s out and I’m taking her cases as well as my own.”

  “She okay?”

  “Yeah, she’s going to a Federal Department of Law Enforcement meeting in Tampa. She’s driving down and she’ll be back on Monday, so tomorrow is the only day I’ve got double duty.”

  Kate worked at not letting her relief show. If Jo were tied to the office all day then she wouldn’t be out in the field where some crazy killer could make an easy target of her. “I guess you didn’t have any luck finding the ID of the guy you saw in the park.”

  “No, I got to the school first thing. Had an appointment with Christian’s teacher. Whew,” Jo grimaced. “That woman is a bitch.”

  “You don’t like any teachers.”

  “True, but she was awful. Looks sweet as pie – like your favorite grandmother. Then she opens her mouth and you want to crawl in a hole. I tell you she gave
me the creeps.”

  “Made you feel like you forgot your homework?”

  “And then some. Made me really glad I’m not in school any more. Heck, that woman even said, ‘Thank you.’ in an admonishing way.” Jo shuddered. “So what’s your next step?”

  “With Aggie or your missing body?”

  “Either.”

  “We’ll start digging into Danny’s financials and see if anything pops there. Something doesn’t sit right. Aggie told me she drove clear across town to make a bank deposit when she had to pass two closer branches to do it.”

  “Did you call her on it?”

  Kate nodded and propped her feet on the porch railing. “Yeah, she said that’s where Danny told her to go. Said she wasn’t allowed to use the other two branches ‘cause they weren’t as good.”

  “And she bought that crap?”

  “Evidently. Danny was the puppet master and really pulled all the strings. So tomorrow I’m going to take his picture to the two branches she wasn’t allowed to go to and see if I can find the missing pieces to this puzzle.”

  “Then what?” Jo prodded.

  “Then I toss all the facts up in the air and try to look at them from a different angle until I can see the whole picture. Someone wanted Danny Witmore gone and picked a very nasty way to do it.”

  “Poison, not a nice way to go.”

  “No way is a good way to die,” Kate said flatly. “But according to the M.E. this morning, Danny’s way was extremely painful. Someone not only wanted him dead, but wanted him to suffer in the process.

  * * *

  Friday evening Julie floated through the front door to find her mother still up and watching TV.

  “How was the game?”

  “We won!” She did a victory dance then leaned down to kiss her mother goodnight.

  “And how was your date with Marques?”

  “Wonderful,” Julie sighed dropping down into an easy chair. “His brother is on the football team and he scored the winning touchdown.”

  “Marques has a brother who’s a senior, too?”

  “No, Nigel is only a junior.” Julie rose to sway round the room. “Marques said Nigel was the only junior on the team to make first string. He’s a wide receiver,” she recited. “Just like, um, Lynn Swann.”

  Her mother smiled taking in her daughter’s flushed and dreamy expression. “And since when do you know football facts?”

  “Marques told me,” Julie continued, flopping back down on the couch. “He knows everything. And you should have seen him run.”

  “Marques?”

  “No Mom, pay attention. Nigel was in the game, not Marques. And when he took off the other team couldn’t touch him.”

  “Then Marques must be very proud.”

  He hugged me, Julie thought, grabbing a throw pillow and hugging it to her chest. They had all been on their feet screaming as Nigel had run down the field. And when he had crossed the goal line Marques had grabbed her in a rocking bear hug. She closed her eyes to savor the moment again.

  “Julie?”

  At the snap in her mother’s voice, Julie’s eyes flew open. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

  “I said Marques must be very proud. What sport does he play?”

  “Marques isn’t into sports,” Julie’s eyes went dreamy again. “He’s a musician. He’s first chair sax in the Jazz Band this year.”

  “A musician.” The tone of her mother’s voice brought Julie back to earth with a jolt. “He’s not like Dad, Mom, he’s not.”

  “And you know this from just one date? I thought we had talked about this.”

  “He has great grades and he has a part-time job.”

  “Uh huh, and just where does he work?”

  “At the music store,” Julie said quietly.

  “A musician,” Her mother’s voice had gone cold and bitter.

  Julie set the pillow back on the couch. “I’m tired Mom, I’m going to bed.” She got up quickly and leaned over to give her mother another kiss. “Goodnight.”

  “We’re going to talk about this more tomorrow,” her mother called as she left the room.

  Julie quickly made her way to her bedroom and closed the door. What was she thinking? She never should have mentioned the Jazz Band. Ever since Dad… well, she wasn’t going to think about that now. She sat at her vanity and gasped. The sunglasses were sitting in plain sight. Had she left them there? She was sure she’d tucked them away in the drawer. Or had she gotten them out to see how they’d look with her new outfit? Grabbing the glasses case, she quickly stuffed them in her makeup drawer. Her terrific mood now completely deflated, she stared at the mirror. Now she had three problems. Get the glasses back to the store, find a way to earn money to make up for the extra she spent on the blouse, and convince her mother all musicians were not like her father. She stood and swayed before the mirror. But, darn, she did look good. And tonight Marques had said she looked pretty. With a smile, Julie pulled off her clothes, dropped them on the floor and crawled into bed to dream. But her dreams turned to nightmares as Principal Bradshaw stood on the counter of the office and threatened to quit, and her mom opened the Visa bill and saw the true price of the blouse and those dratted sunglasses.

  The next morning came all too soon as Mrs. Finch rapped smartly on Julie’s door. “Julie, you’ve got to get up now! I’ve been calling you for the last five minutes!”

  Julie hugged the pillow more tightly to her chest and mumbled, “I’m up.”

  Her mother stepped into the room and yanked the covers. “I said you have to get up now. I’ve got to leave soon.”

  As the tone of her mother’s voice finally broke through, Julie sat up and stared at her mother. “I’m up,” she said groggily. Glancing at the clock she groaned. “Jeez, Mom, it’s not even 8:30!”

  “And you’ve got a lot to do today. Come on you’re going to be late.”

  Julie stumbled out of bed and gave her mother a bleary stare. “Late for what?”

  “Come into the kitchen,” Mrs. Finch said leaving the room. “I’ve got your breakfast started.”

  “Late for what?” Julie mumbled as she made her way to the bathroom. She entered the kitchen clad in her favorite purple robe and still thinking of Marques.

  “Sit and eat,” her mother said, setting a plate of runny eggs in front of her.

  “Mom,” she groaned, “you know I don’t like eggs this way.” She stood up and put her entire plate in the microwave. “And it’s Saturday. Why did I have to get up this early on a Saturday?”

  Her mother rinsed her coffee cup and placed it in the sink. “Because you volunteered to help at the animal shelter, remember? I’m going to be out all day working on the charity fundraiser so you’re going to have to do a few more chores around the house.”

  Julie pulled her plate from the microwave and sat back at the table. “If you’re going to be out, how am I getting to the shelter?”

  “Mary Fitzpatrick is picking me up so you can have the car.”

  Julie sat up straighter as her mind started to kick into gear. “Really? How long will you be gone?”

  “Most of the day. Now, you’re to come straight home after the shelter. No driving around to who knows where.”

  “But, Mom.”

  “No buts. You were just at the mall two days ago so there is no reason for you to go back. Besides, I don’t want you hanging around there. The news last night said there was a big problem with teens shoplifting and I don’t want you to be anywhere near there.”

  “Mom, not every kid that goes to the mall shoplifts,” …just the ones I know, she thought miserably.

  “No, that’s the end of this discussion. I’ve left a list of things I need you to do today and that should keep you busy enough after you get back from the shelter.”

  A horn sounded and Mrs. Finch grabbed her purse. Blowing Julie a kiss, she headed for the door. “Remember,” she called, “come straight home after the shelter.”

  “Sure, Mom,
” Julie mumbled as the door closed. Rising, she dumped her now rubber eggs into the trash and went to the refrigerator for a Pepsi. Popping the top she picked up the list her mom had dropped on the table. Empty the dishwasher, change the sheets on her bed, vacuum the living room…. Jeez, she thought, now I’m the maid. Grabbing a handful of cookies to go with the soda, Julie walked back to her room. She had to be at the shelter for four hours, but if mom was really going to be gone all day… she began to smile. This could be the answer to her prayers. She’d finish at the shelter and then just stop by the mall to return the sunglasses. Stopping by wasn’t like hanging out, she reasoned. Besides Mom would never know. She carefully tucked the receipt for the sunglasses into her purse. Yes, she thought, dressing in her favorite tank and shorts, things were really looking up.

  Chapter Six

  Jo rinsed her cereal bowl and put it in the dishwasher as Kate walked into the kitchen. “I thought you were off this weekend.”

  Kate poured herself a cup of coffee and leaned against the counter. Her black hair was artfully curled while her khaki slacks held a perfect crease. Her stylish white top would have pegged her for a model going to a shoot until you noticed the gun hooked to her belt. “I’m putting in some unscheduled overtime today. You hear the weather report?” She took in Jo’s cutoff jeans and sleeveless tee.

  “Sun, sun, and more sun. Predictions of reaching the high 90s by noon and 100 by early evening.”

  “Damn,” Kate swore softly and put Midnight’s cat food on the opposite side of the kitchen from the dog bowls. “No chance of rain?”

  “Nope, just another day in paradise.”

  “I guess there’s no chance you’d stay home today and hang around the house?”

  “Nah. The animal shelter is at its capacity and they really need a hand. I told them I’d volunteer today.”

  “I guess that’s better than wandering in the woods taking pictures.”

  “Besides,” Jo grinned, “who’d think to look for me there?”

  Kate shook her head. “Yeah, tucked in among the mongrels, you’ll fit right in.” She waited while Jo shook with laughter. “Seriously, Jo, you’ve got to be careful.”