Laina Turner - Presley Thurman 01 - Stilettos & Scoundrels Page 16

  I jumped out of the car and jogged up to the porch where I saw my parents and Dirt waiting.

  “So, who did this, Dirt?” I asked breathlessly. I needed to start getting some exercise. Whew! I was winded just from running a few steps. I thought if I didn’t wait for Brian to get out of his truck, he might get the hint. No such luck as he was right behind me, and not winded at all. Of course. Bastard.

  “Who the hell did this?” I demanded again. “Someone tell me what’s going on.”

  As I spoke, Brian started rubbing my arm, I assumed in an attempt to console me or something. Are you kidding me? I thought, trying to subtly move away from him with a little side step. He was starting to creep me out. Did he have amnesia and not remember our discussion the other night? Had he not understood me clearly enough? What part of “let’s just be friends” did he not understand? Why did I always have to deal with those things? The men I wanted were difficult to get, and the men I wanted to leave me alone couldn’t take no for an answer.

  Dirt looked strained. He shook his head. “I don’t know, Pres. That’s what we are trying to figure out here.”

  “Who have you been bothering, Presley Thurman?” My mother asked sternly. “The note said to quit interfering or more than a window would be broken. I told you to leave people alone.”

  “Seriously, mother, the only person I’ve ‘bothered,’ as you put it, was Ruth. And I hardly think she came by the house and threw a rock at your window.” Normally her behavior would tick me off, and I would go on the defensive and fire right back. But after what had happened, my mother was justifiably upset and I figured she had the right to bitch at me. I even felt bad enough that I thought I might even volunteer to help her in the garden. Ok, I wouldn’t volunteer, but I would feel the right amount of guilt to give in quietly if I were to be asked.

  “Now, now, sweetheart. It’s not her fault.” My dad was always trying to be the peacemaker.

  “I haven’t done anything, Mother.” Although now may be the time to come clean about seeing Helen and the mystery man in a heavy make-out session the other night. Not so much for my mother, but for Dirt’s sake.

  “Thank God no-one was home when the rock went through the window,” my mother said. She kept staring at me, making me want to squirm. Why did it seem that she somehow knew I was keeping things from Dirt? She couldn’t possibly know anything. Maybe it was that “Mother’s intuition,” but more likely, she was just mad.

  “That’s one reason we don’t want to blow this out of proportion. Obviously, the person who did this made a point to do it when nobody was home. That means they were probably not out to hurt anyone,” Dirt resumed talking. “As much as we’ve been able to narrow down, it happened sometime between the time your parents left at two and four-thirty, when they came home about a half hour ago.” I looked at my watch, a knock-off Cartier but completely authentic looking, and saw it was a little after twelve thirty p.m.

  “Did you talk to the neighbors yet?” I asked, moving away from Brian who kept inching closer and closer. As big as this porch was, I was about to run out of room. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that my dad was looking at me and trying to hide a smile. Leave it to him to be amused by my discomfort while having to deal with a broken window. “Maybe it was kids. You know, just a prank.”

  “No one heard anything, and I doubt it was kids. Their pranks include mailboxes and graffiti. Usually not something as close and personal as breaking a window,” Dirt replied.

  That wasn’t surprising. My parents didn’t have any close neighbors, and those in the area had kids who were all grown. It would have been easy to pull this off undetected. I started to ask Dirt something else when another car pulled into the driveway. What was this, the new Grand Central Station? I squinted into the sunlight. It looked like Cooper’s SUV. I was relieved he was here, but also tense because I knew Dirt wasn’t going to take kindly to Cooper stopping by. I hadn’t really thought that part through when I called him. I just knew I wanted him to know what was going on and wanted him there. Cooper knew what kind of treatment he was bound to get since he knew Dirt would be here.

  I looked over and saw that Dirt had noticed Cooper’s SUV. Brian was oblivious to the entire thing, focused solely on me. If it wasn’t so annoying, I might find his persistence cute.

  “What are you doing here?” Dirt asked Cooper as he stepped up onto the porch. “This is none of your concern.” Dirt took a step forward and my dad put a hand on his arm. For a second, it looked like Dirt wasn’t going to back down, but then he stepped back. Cooper just stood there, not saying anything, which was probably smart under the circumstances.

  “I called him,” I said, defiantly taking in how good Cooper looked in his faded jeans. “I thought he should know.” Even though I had my own issues with Cooper, I was even more annoyed by Dirt’s attitude. Couldn’t these guys just talk about things and get past this—whatever “this” was? Wasn’t solving the murder more important than some kind of pissing contest? Men. “Do you think it could be related to the Senator’s murder at all?

  Dirt glared at me, which didn’t faze me at all. I wasn’t about to be intimidated by someone I had known for years.

  “Why did you call him? Why not me, Pres?” Brain asked. I just looked at him, actually grateful for the interruption to break from Dirt’s stare, but that was short-lived. I started to answer when Dirt interrupted.

  “Why did you call him, Pres? He has no place here,” Dirt snapped.

  “Oh, for the love of Pete! I felt Cooper had a right to know what’s going on. I have the right to tell anyone I choose, so get over it.”

  Dirt turned to my dad, “Mr. Thurman, I’m about done here anyway. I’ll try to catch the Thompsons on my way out. Maybe they’ll be home by now. I’ll give you a call back tonight or tomorrow and let you know if I find out anything.”

  While he finished talking to my dad, I turned to Brian. “Brian, why are you here anyway? Did my mother call you?”

  “I most certainly did not, young lady,” my mother interjected. I held up my hand.

  “Mother, please. Let me handle this.”

  “Your mother didn’t call me. I heard it on the police scanner at my shop. I listen to it for company sometimes. I wanted to make sure everyone was okay,” he said, rubbing my arm again. He was far beyond the annoyance stage now. I had to put a stop to this, no matter what my mother wanted.

  “Presley, I need you to stop by the police station as soon as possible to speak to the FBI.” Without even waiting for a response, Dirt turned and walked away. Whatever, I thought. I would have to try to talk to him later.

  “Listen, Brian. I thought I made it clear the other night,” and then I stopped. Another car was coming up the drive. For God’s sakes! Who was it now? Half the town was already here. This car I didn’t recognize at all. A royal-blue Dodge Neon. I didn’t recognize the girl driving either. Her brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail and the serious frown on her face made her not quite as cute as she probably normally was. Brian saw the car and blanched.

  “Oh shit,” he said under his breath, thinking this was not going to be pretty. There were a few minor things he had not told Presley, and he knew she would be pissed when she found out, especially after the way he had acted toward her.

  They all looked at Brian. I raised my eyebrows questioningly at him and he looked thoroughly embarrassed, as if he had been caught doing something wrong. Brian looked back at me sheepishly then toward the newcomer. He took a step back and I turned around to follow Brian’s gaze. A petite brunette in jeans, adorable yellow sandals decorated with flowers, and a plain yellow t-shirt stomped up onto the porch. She was cute in a wholesome way, I would give him that. So cute, I wondered why he had been pulling shenanigans with me. However, this girl was also extremely pissed off at finding Brian here. I shook my head at him. Some people never changed, and I couldn’t wait to see how he was going to get out of this one.

  “Brian Roger Ames! What the hell a
re you doing here? You said you were working. Last time I looked, this wasn’t your shop,” the brunette screamed, getting ready to take a swing at him. Cooper stepped in and tried to calm her down. Too bad, this was just getting interesting. I would love to see Brian get beaten up by a girl, and this girl seemed like she had quite the temper. He so deserved that. I could tell that my mother had no idea Brian had a girlfriend and was just figuring it out, making things even more interesting. I had no doubt his mother would be getting the full scoop of what happened here, my mother would make sure of it. I almost started feeling sorry for him, but not quite. This was pretty funny.

  “Hi, I’m Presley Thurman,” I said, holding my hand out to the brunette. I wasn’t sure what Cooper said to the girl, as I had been too busy enjoying the look of horror on Brian’s face, but it seemed to have calmed her down a bit. She still looked mad, but not ready to do bodily harm.

  “Barbara George,” she replied, shaking my hand while staring Brian down at the same time. If he knew what was good for him he would say something. I just wanted to laugh. Poor guy.

  Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Brian spoke. “Barbara is my girlfriend.” He seemed to have a hard time saying the words. I assumed it wasn’t because he didn’t want to admit Barbara was his girlfriend, but rather, because he had to admit to me he had a girlfriend after the way he had been acting. I was sure he wondered if I was going to bust him or keep my mouth shut. As much as I would have loved to rat him out, I thought keeping my mouth shut and having something to hang over his head might work more to my advantage down the road. Plus, I didn’t want to hurt Barbara’s feelings over what was really nothing.

  “We just moved in together,” she said. I raised my eyebrows at this. I was just at Brian’s house the other night. Where had Barbara been? Oh my, that would have been awkward. I glared at Cooper as I saw him suppress a laugh, which made me want to start laughing. Barbara looked at me funny, wondering what I found so amusing, while Brian stood there with a hang-dog expression on his face. He knew he was in trouble with both Barbara and me, and he still wasn’t sure if I was going to keep his actions just between us.

  “I’m sorry, Barbara. It has just been a long stressful day. Brian just came to check on my parents. Didn’t you, Brian? Someone threw a rock through the window, Barbara, so we’ve had a bit of drama here.”

  “Oh no! I hope no one was hurt. I’m so sorry to hear that.”

  “No one was home. Probably just kids.” While I knew that wasn’t true, I saw no reason to tell her what was really happening, especially since they weren’t even sure. “It was nice of Brian to come out and check on them.”

  “That’s my Brian. Always concerned for other people,” she said and took his hand. It took all I could manage not to gag, but as long as they were happy, who was I to interfere? I was sure he still had some explaining to do, but he wasn’t totally in the doghouse. Barbara seemed to accept everything he said. This made me think Barbara was either stupid, or so in love that she was temporarily stupid. Maybe I was being too cynical. Either way, it wasn’t my problem and now I was sure Brian would leave me alone.

  They left hand in hand, with Brian talking in earnest, no doubt to further try and smooth things over. Once they were out of earshot, I started rolling with laughter. Cooper joined in while my mother looked at us with disapproval.

  “It’s just so ironic. Brian made me feel guilty because I didn’t have feelings for him, and here he is, moved in with some chick. I think I’ve seen this episode before, ten years ago.”

  Even my dad had to laugh at that. My mother, on the other hand, was not at all amused. She frowned at us and stomped into the house, probably to call Brian’s mother. Poor Brian. He still had some trouble to face, much worse than what Barbara could dish out.

  “Seriously though, King. What happened here tonight?” Cooper asked me.

  “What does it look like? Someone threw a rock through my parents’ window.”

  “There’s more to it than that,” Cooper said, brushing my face with his hand. There was that spark again. Damn that spark. I could tell by the look he gave me he felt it too. I wished we were somewhere a little more private. Cooper had a strong suspicion that this incident was not kids playing pranks. It was way too much of a coincidence. He needed to make some phone calls and get to the bottom of this. He couldn’t bear to think of me, or my family, in any kind of danger.

  “See you kids later. I need to get started on boarding up this window until the repair folks can get out here. It’s supposed to rain, and we don’t want any animals crawling in to sleep with us.”

  “Bye, Mr. Thurman.”

  “I’ll be back in a few, Dad.”

  Cooper suggested we go for a walk, so we went down behind my parents’ house. There were woods and trails that went on for miles. As a child, I spent hours running up and down the trails. Even though I hadn’t been on them in years, they still looked familiar.

  “C’mon,” I said to Cooper, “Follow me.” I went down the path on the right. I knew it ended up at a little creek, as it had been one of my favorite spots as a child, and even as a teenager for that matter. Though as a teen, I liked it for different reasons—mainly because my parents never came back here looking for me. This spot had seen a lot I would never want them to find out about. As we neared the spot, I was excited to see that the rock formation that had always been my hideaway was still there. Time hadn’t changed anything there. I walked around the larger rock to sit on the smaller one that overlooked the creek. It was getting a little chilly as the sun started to go down, but I didn’t feel it. I could only think about Cooper and that kept me warm enough. I decided this might be a good time to ask him what happened all those years ago. Why we seemed to have such a great time, but yet, the next day, he acted like I didn’t exist. Even though it didn’t matter now and was probably really stupid, it was just curiosity that I wanted to satisfy. It was strange how something forgotten for years could come back and just annoy the hell out of you. Must be why closure is so important. I sat down on my favorite rock and motioned for him to do the same. His body next to mine radiated heat, and he put his arm casually around me, which radiated a lot more than heat. What was it about him that aroused me so much? I couldn’t remember a time where the mere presence of someone could make me feel this way. Talk about a chemical reaction. I put my head on his shoulder and just sat there for a few minutes lost in thought, enjoying the moment.

  “Cooper, can I ask you a question? One that is silly.”

  “Sure, Pres.”

  “I know you remember that night so many years ago. I thought we really connected. Well, as much as teenagers can. I thought you liked me.”

  “I did like you. Why?”

  “Well, that Monday at school, you acted like I didn’t exist. I went to talk to you and you completely blew me off.”

  “Oh, Presley. Is that what you think I did?” He gave me a slight squeeze.

  “Well, isn’t it? What do you call ignoring me in the halls and not replying to the notes I sent you? I know it sounds so juvenile now, and honestly, it doesn’t matter why. I’m just curious after all these years.”

  “Okay, okay,” Cooper said laughing.

  “Stop laughing,” I leaned back and punched him in the arm. “I know this is stupid and petty, but I just want to know. I need closure,” I said with a smile.

  “I don’t mean to laugh; it just sounds so funny to hear you talk about passing notes. But you’re right. I guess to you it looked that way, and I can’t blame you, but I was just scared of you rejecting me. I figured there was no way you would ever want people to know we were friends, so I wanted to spare you that.”

  “Shouldn’t that have been my decision? And really, after how well we got along that night and everything we talked about, I don’t see how you would think that.”

  “I’m sorry, Presley. But I was a kid, a stupid kid.”

  “Was?”

  “Ha!”

  “Yo
u owe me you know. For all the mental anguish you caused me.

  “Oh, I’m sure you have suffered greatly.”

  “Maybe I have. Maybe I have had many sleepless nights over the last ten years wondering why you rejected me. How do you know I haven’t had years of therapy to deal with this trauma?”

  Cooper looked at me as if to say yeah right. “Well, I’m sorry. Forgive me?”

  “Hmmm…I don’t know.”

  “What will it take?”

  “What do you have?”

  “This.” Cooper then leaned over and kissed me.

  I decided this was definitely worth all my mental anguish. It was just causing anguish of a different kind. But this kind was welcome.

  Chapter 10I came out of Home Depot squinting in the sunlight, thinking I could finally go home. I was exhausted after spending all morning running errands for my mother. After getting up at the crack of dawn, I was tired and dirty. After the events of last night, I had been guilted into doing my mother’s bidding. My mother had been furious at Brian for withholding the fact he had a girlfriend. In fact, I thought my mother was more upset over it than I was. Sue also held me responsible for the broken window. I had called Dirt earlier to try to smooth things over and to see if he had any leads on who could have broken the window or killed the Senator for that matter. Unfortunately, he was no closer to figuring out who had done either one. However, he still wasn’t happy with me, and I didn’t know if he would have told me anything if he did know it. My dad boarded up the window, and my mother, I figured, spent all her free time on the phone with her friends, reliving the drama and complaining about me. I thought I should get points for giving my mother something concrete to complain about.

  As I walked out to my car, I thought maybe I would make a quick run back to talk with Betty. The gossip I heard while in Katy’s salon yesterday made me think of a few more questions to ask the town baker, and I felt I deserved a muffin. A girl had to keep up her strength, and the cranberry walnut muffins Betty said they would be making today were calling my name. I also had to make time to go talk to the FBI; Dirt had reminded me that I had to do that today. Since the police station was right down from Betty’s, it would be a crime not to stop in for a muffin.