Poison in the Pansies Read online

  Doreen snorted. “You just told me that I should wait until I’m ready.”

  “You should wait until you’re sure that’s what you want,” she replied carefully. “But that’s a different story than making him wait.” Doreen stared at her grandmother in complete confusion. Nan tilted her head, smiled, and continued. “You know that words would go a long way for him.”

  “So would a lot of other things.” She gave Nan an eye roll. “I’m not ready for that either.”

  “And you don’t have to be,” Nan agreed. “But you know where you’re heading.”

  “I know where we’re heading,” she noted cautiously. “At the moment, that doesn’t mean that I am ready to be heading anywhere faster.”

  “Has he pushed you?”

  “No, of course not.” Then she sighed. “He’s actually been very patient.”

  “And there’s a reason for that.”

  Doreen stared at Nan, frowning.

  “Because he cares,” she stated gently.

  At that, Doreen slowly nodded. “It would appear so.”

  “And you’re still being so cautious about it.” Nan chuckled. “We’re talking about Mack here, not Jack the Ripper.”

  Doreen shrugged. “I’m not divorced yet. And that marriage was enough to scare me off of relationships completely.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me.” Nan shook her head, her grimace evident. “Your ex was quite a pain in the butt.”

  “Yeah, and he still is,” she muttered.

  “Have you heard from him recently?”

  “No, thank heavens,” she blurted out. “But that doesn’t mean he isn’t out there, waiting for an opportunity to get back into my life.”

  At that, Nan stared at her, her jaw dropping. “You wouldn’t let him, would you?”

  “No, no, no. Of course not,” she stated and frowned. “But that doesn’t mean that I don’t feel like he’s hounding me somewhat.”

  “Well, that’s scary,” Nan admitted. “Even hearing that is very disconcerting. He’s not a nice man.”

  “Ya think? No, I absolutely am not letting him back in my life,” she muttered. “But that doesn’t mean that he won’t try something.” Doreen sighed, frowned, then faced her grandmother. “After all, you just said he might stop me from getting anything from Robin’s will. And, since we know how he is about money and not wanting to let it go, if he loses that fight, then he might think a proper plan B would be to hook up with me to live off Robin’s money. … Or worse.”

  “Don’t go there. I know you deal with too many cold cases to not have it color your thinking too.” Nan sat back, studying her granddaughter. “Sounds like you need to have a talk with Mack about bigger issues than just your relationship.”

  “And what am I supposed to say?” she asked. “I mean, Mack already looks after me in many, many ways. He’s overly protective now. If I talk to him about this, these concerns about my ex—and they are just suspicions, not facts, not evidence, and you know how Mack feels about that—yet he could truly go overboard, sleeping in his truck outside my house, just to catch my ex in the act of stalking or whatever.”

  “Sure.” Nan reached over and poured tea into Doreen’s still half-full cup that she’d forgotten about that. “I do worry about him though.”

  “About my ex?” Doreen asked.

  Nan rolled her eyes. “No, of course not. He can go take a long walk off a short bridge, and the sooner, the better, as far as I’m concerned.” She snorted. “I mean, Robin was bad news, but she tried to do the right thing at the end. Now if your not-yet-ex-husband would kick the bucket, it would make a lot of things really nice right now.”

  “I won’t say it wouldn’t because it would certainly make my life a lot easier in terms of getting a divorce,” Doreen agreed, “but you also know that, just because it could make my life easier, doesn’t mean I’ll sit here and hold my breath that something untoward would happen to him.”

  “He does have a lot of nasty people in his world. Maybe one of them will do you a favor.”

  She chuckled. “Good thing nobody can hear us because, if he drops dead, and somebody heard this conversation, you know everybody would point the finger at me.”

  “Sweetheart,” Nan drawled and gave her granddaughter a droll look, “you’re the double-crossed and betrayed spouse. The public would blame you anyway.” And, with that eye-opening thought, Nan picked up her tea and asked, “Now, what’s your latest case?”

  “I don’t have one,” she replied.

  Nan looked at her over the edge of her teacup. “Really? Why don’t I believe you?”

  “No, really I don’t,” she confirmed, “but Mack does, and that’s what I’m hoping he’ll talk to me about when he gets back.”

  “Tell me more.”

  She nodded. “Well, it’s partly why I didn’t see you over the weekend.” She explained about their beach outing.

  “Oh, I once went skinny-dipping at Sarsons.”

  “Nan!”

  “I was young too, dear. So tell me more.”

  “Mack gave me a paddleboarding session. I’m not athletic at all.” And then she continued with the embarrassing details, Nan laughing quietly at her antics. Doreen grinned. “Honestly, I was terrible out there.”

  “You might have been terrible out there, my dear,” she grinned, patting Doreen’s hand, “but you went out there, and you tried something new, and that is worth so much.”

  “You’re a great cheerleader,” Doreen noted. “Honestly, it was pretty sad.”

  Nan laughed. “I bet it would have been a hugely fun time with Mack regardless. And I’m so happy you went out to enjoy the beach. It’s a beautiful area of town.”

  “It is, indeed,” Doreen muttered. “Anyway, we found this half-buried carton of rat poison in one of the gardens at that park,” she explained. “And I don’t know if it had any effect on the pansies, but something had killed the pansies around the box. I called Mack over because of the pansies, not even seeing the box, but I did note the white powder scattered about. While Mack was looking closer at the bed, he found the box. He called someone at the office to make sure that somebody came and got it.”

  Doreen stared off in the distance. “But you know what? I went there this morning to check to make sure the box was gone. And it was, although I don’t know who picked it up.” She frowned thoughtfully. “Something else to ask Mack.”

  “And what difference does it make?” Nan asked curiously.

  “What if the wrong person picked up the poison?”

  “How would discarded rat poison possibly play into a case?”

  “I’m not sure,” Doreen replied, “but he did mention something to me.” And she lowered her voice, leaned forward. “You can’t tell anybody.”

  Nan crossed her heart with a finger in the childish movement that was as old as time. “I promise.” Doreen gave her grandmother a stern look, and Nan nodded. “I know. There are times when I can talk, and there are times when I can’t. This is one where I can’t.” And then she grinned. “Tell me more.”

  So Doreen filled her in about the man who had gone to the cops, saying that he’d been poisoned. And that he’d died not too long afterward.

  Nan opened her mouth, stared at her, and then slowly closed it. “Oh my. Did Mack have anything else to add?”

  Doreen gave her a wry look. “Yeah, that it was a current case, not a cold case, and for me to butt out.”

  At that, Nan burst out laughing. “Oh, I do love to hear that.”

  Doreen looked at her. “Why?” she asked.

  “Because of course you’ll ignore him.” And then she gave her that gimlet look that reminded her of Thaddeus and asked, “Right?”

  Chapter 2

  Mack did arrive an hour and a half later for their dinner date, but she was home, waiting with the animals. When he pulled up into the driveway, Mugs raced to the front door, barking and wagging his tail, his whole body squirming and wiggling, like something was serio
usly wrong with him. Doreen laughed at his antics, as she opened up the door to let Mack in.

  “Hey,” he greeted her.

  She heard such fatigue in his voice that she felt bad. “Hey. Long day, huh?”

  He nodded. “Seriously long day.” But he bent to greet Mugs. “Yet I have to tell you, having a welcome like this? Well, it makes an awful lot of pretty ugly things go away.”

  “I hear you there.”

  He managed to finally get the front door closed and to get Mugs calmed down just enough for Thaddeus to hop up on Mugs first and then onto Mack’s arm and rubbed his head against Mack’s shoulder.

  “Not sure what’s wrong with the animals right now,” she noted, “but apparently they missed you.”

  “Right. I was just here yesterday.”

  “But you left early.” She laughed. “It’s almost like they know that they got cheated out of that time.”

  “Of course.” He grinned, as he patted Goliath, who was sitting at the top of the cat tree, his tail twitching in disdain. “Except for this guy, I never get quite the same welcome outta him.”

  “Are you kidding? He’s sitting there, letting you touch him,” she joked. “That is a welcome.”

  He laughed. “You know what? That’s probably quite true.”

  As they all walked into the kitchen, he said, “I am hungry too.”

  “Well, I’ve made a salad,” she noted, “and we have steaks marinating, and I did prep some veggies.”

  He looked at what she’d done and then smiled. “You know something? You’ve come a long way.”

  “Just not long enough,” she replied. “You’re tired. I’ve done nothing all day, so, by rights, I should have this well and truly cooked for you, but it involves the gas barbecue pit.”

  He walked out onto the deck, propping open the back door. “We do need the barbecue, so I’ll light it right now.” And, with that, he quickly turned it on.

  She watched while it ignited. “That’s the part I don’t like,” she murmured.

  He looked over at her, as they both returned to the kitchen. “What part?”

  “The gas part,” she replied.

  “It’s pretty safe.”

  “Pretty safe, yes,” she muttered. “But pretty safe isn’t the same thing as safe.”

  “And being safe isn’t the same thing as totally safe?”

  “Okay, putting it that way, I guess it’s foolish.” But she shrugged. “It’s just one more of those little quirks that I have to deal with.”

  “Nobody said you had to deal with them all right now,” he noted quietly.

  She laughed. “You’re always so quick to let me off the hook.”

  “Hey, is that wrong?”

  “I don’t know,” she murmured. “I wouldn’t want you to make excuses for me.”

  “A lot of people don’t like barbecues for exactly the same reason you gave,” he stated.

  She looked over at him. “Really?”

  “Absolutely. So, no, I’m not giving you an excuse. I’m explaining to you that this is just life.”

  “Okay,” she agreed, “I don’t feel quite so bad then.”

  “Why would you feel bad anyway?” he asked. “Besides, it gives me a reason to come over.”

  At that, she slid him a sideways look. “You need a reason?” she asked quietly.

  “Nope,” he replied, with a cheeky grin. “Besides, I mean, if you had your way, you would have chased me out of here a long time ago.”

  “Would I have now?” she asked, the corner of her lips twitching. “You do spend a lot of time here.”

  “I do, indeed,” he agreed. “I absolutely love it here.” And, with that, he snagged the plate of steaks and the veggies and stepped out onto the deck.

  She wasn’t sure what to make of his comment. Was it just the location? Was it the company? She didn’t know. She traipsed out behind him. “Even when I hound you all the time about your cases?”

  “Yeah, and wouldn’t it be nice if you didn’t?” He sighed. “Yet it’s part of your charm.”

  “Oh, at least I have charm,” she muttered.

  He looked over at her. “Rough day?”

  “I don’t know.” She gave him a lazy one-arm shrug. “Kind of an off day. Didn’t know what I should be doing really. So I did some cleaning.”

  Mack chuckled. “That’s like everything to do with applying on the internet nowadays,” he noted. “It’s almost anonymous, and you put in all these applications, like deep-sixing it into the garbage can.”

  “I get it,” she agreed. “I just … it’s so different from when I was a teenager, applying for work.”

  “You have been going in person to places though, haven’t you?”

  “I have,” she replied. “And I even asked at the Chinese food place, when I was there a few days ago. I went and treated myself to one dish,” she shared. “And I asked him if he was looking for help. He gave me such a horrified look that I realized he didn’t think I would be good for business.”

  When no answer came from Mack, she looked over to see his face working hard, as he tried to hold back his laughter. When she’d caught him, and he knew he had been caught, he burst out laughing.

  “I didn’t consider that I would be bad for business.” She raised her hands in surrender. “I just thought I could help out.”

  “And you could,” he agreed. “But he’s right too. I mean, people might just come because you’re an oddity. People might just come to get your autograph or to see the animals. However, I doubt you could bring your pets to work every day,” he noted. “I’m not sure that having you working there will make anybody come to get more Chinese.”

  “What if they just came to get Chinese food and not more than Chinese food?” she asked in a confused voice. “Surely that would be okay.”

  “Maybe, maybe not. I hate to say it, but a lot of people are very superstitious. And you’re dealing with a lot of murders. Maybe they think being around you will just invite more bad news to come in their direction. People make illogical links all the time. They could link you with sending them to jail because you do that, as you close these murder cases.”

  She stared at him. “But that’s not fair,” she cried out. “How can people hold that against me?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe because you keep getting involved in all these murder cases.”

  She glared at him. “That would still be very narrow-minded thinking on their part.”

  He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulled her close, and gave her a big hug. “See? This is why I like coming over here.” He grinned. “Don’t ever change.”

  She leaned back, looked up at him. “I don’t even know how to change.”

  He dropped a kiss on her temple. “I have to get the veggies on.” And, with that, he headed to the deck again and quickly popped all the veggies onto the barbecue.

  She watched with interest, still standing pretty close to him, wondering at the camaraderie and that connection that always seemed to exist between them. She sighed. “Nan says we’re getting really close.”

  He looked over at her. “Of course Nan would say that. Has she put bets on our love life yet?”

  She stared at him, nonplussed. “She wouldn’t …”

  His eyebrows went up, questioning her.

  “At least I would hope not,” she replied in dire tones. And then she stopped, looked at him, and asked, “She wouldn’t, would she?”

  “Yes, she would,” he stated, his voice firm. “Nothing you and I can say will change that.”

  She sat down on one of the nearby deck chairs and stared glumly out at the river. “She’s really got a problem, doesn’t she?”

  “It’s a problem, yes, but it’s a good-hearted problem and not one that any of us will go after her for,” he noted gently. “As long as she keeps it friendly and is not getting people in trouble, then we’re willing to overlook a certain amount of this bookie stuff that she’s got going on.”

  At that,
Doreen sighed. “I hope she doesn’t do anything like that to me. It would feel very much like a betrayal.”

  Surprised, he sat down beside her. “Why would you say that?” he asked. “You know that she loves you.”

  “Sure, but she also knows that I don’t like being talked about or being the center of attention.” At that, his lips twitched again. “Hey.” She crossed her arms and frowned at him. “Okay, fine. So nothing I’ve done involving the cold cases makes it seem like that’s how I feel. But I do.”

  “Maybe you should tell her that.”

  “I have,” she replied. “Well, at least I’ve told her that I would be very unhappy if she did do something like that with my love life.”

  “It will be interesting to see,” he noted.

  “We won’t know anyway. They’ll keep it to themselves.”

  “Of course they will,” he agreed, “and, even if she isn’t betting on us, you might want to consider the fact that somebody else there will, and that person won’t care about your feelings anywhere near as much as Nan will.”

  She stared at him. “But that just means—” And then she stopped, her voice dropping away.

  “It just means that you should let Nan run with it because, otherwise, somebody else will,” he noted, “and Nan at least will do it in such a way as to honor your feelings.”

  Doreen groaned at that. “No, you’re right.” She paused. “Dang. I didn’t think of that.”

  “No, it’s easy not to think about,” he replied. “And I don’t think it’s a big issue right now anyway.”

  She nodded. “That’s because I don’t have a love life.” At the silence beside her, she looked over and then winced. “I guess that didn’t come out quite the right way, did it?”

  He stood at the barbecue pit, watching the veggies so they didn’t burn, and didn’t say anything, but his back was unnaturally stiff.

  And she realized that she’d hurt him. “You see? That’s why I don’t have a love life. I always put my foot in it,” she explained. “Since leaving my ex and being able to say things on my own, it’s like I have to learn all over again what to say and what not to say and how it impacts people.”