Chapter 12
D inner was pork chops with purple pole beans and mashed potatoes or veggie burgers with yuca fries. I went with the pork chops, making sure to get a little gravy on them as well as the mashed potatoes. Benni was at our usual table already but no one else.
I sat across from her. “How are you?”
“Good.” She yawned, then laughed. “Sorry. I was up too late last night. As soon as I’m done eating, I’m pretty much going to bed.”
“Did you go planetside?”
“No. I wanted to, but Will and I had to replace a handful of cracked sensors in one of the panel arrays. Stupid space debris.” She reached into the sleeve pocket of her jumpsuit and pulled out a disc-shaped rock about three inches across, then dropped it on the table with a soft clatter. “Look at that thing. Found it wedged between the sensors like a kernel of popcorn in someone’s teeth.”
I laughed and picked it up. It was smooth, black, and one end, where it had been chipped, revealed a glassy interior. “Pretty neat, though.”
“You think? You can have it.”
“Yeah? Thanks.” Maybe it was juvenile, but the thought of having my very own space rock was kind of cool. My second thought was how I couldn’t wait to show it to Frank.
Zanya and Vashti arrived as I was putting it in my pocket. “There you two are. Busy day?”
Zanya shook her head. “I was so into one of those new books you gave me that I got off on the wrong deck.”
Vashti sat beside me. “Thanks for those chocolates, by the way. Which book was it? I might need to check that one out.”
“It’s a detective series,” I answered. “By Louis Newton. Former police detective who was wrongly accused of being on the take sets out to prove his innocence and uncovers a serial killer no one knew existed. The creepy thing is the killer leaves a dead mouse on every victim.”
“Wow,” Benni said, her brows shooting up. “I might have to check that one out myself.”
“Mice?” Vashti gave a little shudder, like the woman whose job involved blood and body parts was suddenly squeamish about a rodent. “I’d rather hear about your new boyfriend.”
I sighed good-naturedly. I’d known this was coming. I sliced off a bite of pork chop and ate, letting them get all their little comments out. When they were done and I’d swallowed, I answered. “He’s not my boyfriend. He’s just a friend.”
“A very handsome friend, from what I hear,” Zanya said.
I smiled. How could I not? “He is attractive and considerate and funny, and he likes books and food.”
“Well,” Benni said. “He sounds perfect for you.”
He kind of was. I lifted one shoulder to express my indifference. “We’re just friends.”
“I’m happy for you,” Vashti said. “With everything going on, you deserve someone nice in your life.”
“Oh, right,” Benni said. “The whole dead botanist thing. How’s that going?”
I shook my head. “It’s not. Not for me anyway. I have no idea what, if anything, the ASF has found.”
“Can’t you ask Hazel?” Vashti said. “She’s about as well-connected as you can get. She ought to be able to tell you something.”
“I hate to bother her. She’s so busy. And I’m sure if she’d heard something, she’d tell me.” Still, it wasn’t a bad idea. “But I’ve been digging into Andrew Woolsey myself. Well, not really him so much as his associates.” I lowered my voice. “He worked with a woman named Sarah Fenchurch, and I saw her as I was leaving his place that night. I’m trying to figure out if they were more than colleagues.”
“I might be able to help,” Zanya said. “Kelle Watts does the laundry for Woolsey’s deck. I can ask her. You’d be surprised what laundry reveals.”
“Actually, I don’t think I would.” I laughed all the same. It was a little gross to think about. “Anything you can find out would help. I would be in your debt.”
Zanya nodded. “I’ll ask her as soon as I see her.”
Benni was the first to finish her dinner, which made sense, since she’d started before us. “Sorry, all. I’m beat. I’ll see you guys tomorrow. Don’t have too much fun without me.”
“Night, Benni,” I said.
Vashti and Zanya said their goodbyes. As we went back to eating, my wristband vibrated. I checked to see why. I had a message from Frank.
Are you around? I talked to Scotty and want to fill you in.
I swallowed the bite I’d just taken and lifted the band to my mouth. “Eating dinner. Twenty minutes? My place?”
See you then , he responded.
“Making a date?” Zanya asked, her eyes twinkling. Vashti was smiling.
“Sort of, but it’s not what you think. Frank knows Andrew’s brother, Scotty. He promised to talk to Scotty today and see what he could find out.”
They both stopped smiling. Vashti’s fork paused over her salad. “Do you think he had something to do with Andrew’s death?”
“I have no idea, but Andrew had a very valuable rug. Valuable enough that he might have been killed for it. It’s possible Scotty knew about the rug and thought it would come to him as next of kin. I don’t know; that’s all speculation. But like I said, I haven’t heard anything from the ASF about progress being made on the case, which means I’m probably still a suspect. If that’s true, I can’t just sit back and hope for the best.”
Vashti gave a little nod. “You’re right to do what you can. How can we help?”
“I don’t know yet, but if I need you, I will definitely ask.”
“Good.” Vashti put her hand on my arm. “It’s going to be all right. They’re not going to accuse the vice-admiral’s mother of such a thing and get away with it.”
“I haven’t actually been accused of anything yet. Thankfully. But I hope you’re right.”
“Still,” Zanya said. “The fact that they haven’t told you you’re off the hook isn’t good, either.”
“No, it’s not,” I agreed.
She scooped up a forkful of mashed potatoes. “I’ll have an answer for you tomorrow about whether or not there were signs Andrew was seeing someone.”
“Thanks.”
Vashti finished her meal and pushed her plate away. “We should have dessert.”
“I can’t. I need to meet Frank and see what he’s found out.”
“Oh, yes, sorry.” Vashti nodded in understanding. “Then Zanya and I will eat a dessert for you.”
I laughed. “You really are the best.” I ate my last bite, then said goodbye and headed back to my quarters. I was craving something sweet, but I had a good supply of chocolade from Aetrea to dig into. That would be just the thing with a decaf coffee.
Frank arrived exactly on time. I let him in. “How are you?”
“All right. You?”
“Same. I found something interesting today, but I’ll let you go first.” I gestured toward the Instachef. “Decaf?”
“Sure.”
I made him a cup, and we sat on the couch like we had the night before. Harry, who’d been sleeping on the bed, strolled out. “Hello, Frank.”
“Evening, Harry.”
“I thought he was only supposed to talk to me?”
Frank grinned. “Jealous?”
“A little.” I shook my head to show him I was kidding. Harry hopped up and lay down between us. “Go ahead, tell me about Scotty while I find something sweet.” I left my cup on the table and went to look through the cabinet where I kept my goodies.
“Well, Scotty was pretty upset about his brother’s death. Seemed genuine to me. He said he hadn’t seen his brother in two weeks and the last time they talked, they ended up arguing. He felt bad about that. Said he wished his last words to Andrew had been different.”
“That’s interesting.” I looked at the Aetrean chocolades, but instead I grabbed a bag of chocolate chip cookies that needed to be eaten before they went stale. I went back to the couch. Frank was stroking Harry’s belly. Harry looked comatose with joy. “Did he say what they’d argued about?”
“I did ask. All he said was, ‘Family stuff. You know how it is.’ Which could have been anything.”
I nodded as I ate a cookie and thought. A new question popped into my head. “Did the rug come up?”
Frank took a deep breath. “I asked him if he was in charge of his brother’s estate now, and he said he had no idea. He looked like the idea hadn’t occurred to him.” He reached for his cup and took a sip, then said, “He also told me the ASF had sent an officer to talk to him.”
“Well, that’s something.” I offered Frank the bag of cookies. He shook his head. “What was your overall impression of him?”
“My gut says that he had nothing to do with it.”
“Sounds like that to me, too. And I trust your judgment.”
“Thanks. Maybe I will have a cookie. You said you found out something about Sarah Fenchurch today?”
“I did.” I handed the bag over, glad not to be the only one eating something bad for me. “I looked through her entire library history. For the most part, she stayed in a very particular lane. Feel-good, wholesome, Hallmark-movie sort of vibe. However, there was one standout.”
Frank’s brows went up, but his mouth was full, so he said nothing.
I answered the implied question. “She took out a book called The New Antiquities of the Modern Interstellar World. Two things about it are interesting. One, it’s got a whole chapter on Rygger, the home planet of the Sha’rossi, who are the makers of that rug. And two, the book was co-authored by Vivak Diptha, a researcher and interstellar anthropologist who happens to be on board the Athos .”
Frank’s eyes narrowed, and he nodded. “That name is familiar.”
“He gave a lecture a while back in the Galaxy Amphitheater.”
“Yeah,” Frank said. “Now I remember. I went to that.” He took another cookie before handing the bag back. He gestured at me with that cookie. “That’s good work. You think she was trying to authenticate the rug? And do you think she could have talked to Vivak about it?”
“Maybe and I don’t know, but I was thinking there’s a good chance Andrew told Vivak about the rug. I know he was at the lecture because I saw him there. That’s exactly the kind of showing off he loved to do.”
Frank bit off half the cookie and chewed for a second before speaking again. “Vivak would certainly know the value of a piece like that. I wonder if he ever saw it for himself. Maybe just to confirm Andrew actually had such a thing. Or maybe Andrew would have even asked him to appraise it.”
I could see where Frank was going. “That’s an interesting theory. Not sure how we check it out.”
“Do we even know if the rug is still in Andrew’s quarters?”
“No idea. My guess is that his place is sealed until this has been put to bed.” That made me glance at the time.
Frank leaned forward. “I should go, huh?”
I quickly shook my head. “That’s not why I was looking at the time. I try to walk the observation loop on Deck 18 three times a week just to make sure I get some steps in. I doubt you ever worry about that. You probably never stop moving in your job.”
“It is pretty active.” He hesitated. “You ever take company with you on your walks?”
“You mean Harry?” I teased, knowing that wasn’t who he’d meant. The thought that he wanted to come along sent a little flutter through me.
Harry, still enthralled by Frank’s attention, didn’t bother opening his eyes to make his comment. “Harry needs sleep, Mum.”
Frank laughed. “I was thinking more along the lines of another biped.”
“I’d love the company, but you need to know I walk fast and with purpose. The whole idea is to burn some calories and get some exercise, not a leisurely stroll.”
“I’ll do my best to keep up. Not sure I’m as fit as I was in the military, but I’ll give it a real effort.”
“I need to change into my walking gear. Oh, hang on.” I stuck my hand in my pocket and pulled out the rock Benni had given me. “Space rock that was stuck in one of the solar panel arrays. My friend Benni is an EMS. She gave it to me.”
Frank took it, nodding as he inspected it. “That’s a pretty nice gift.” He handed it back. “Even I don’t have one of those.”
I wasn’t sure what he meant by that. Did he collect rocks? Before I could ask, he gave Harry one last pet, then got to his feet. “I’ll go change and meet you at the observation loop. Eighteen, right?”
“Yes. Thirty-nine is too full of cruisers. See you in a few minutes?”
He nodded. “Yep. Bye, Harry.”
Harry rolled over. “Bye, Frankie.”
Frank gave a little snort, then glanced at me, smiling, before making his exit.
I went straight to the bedroom to pick out my cutest exercise outfit, which ended up being my hot pink and navy capri leggings with a white T-shirt and a navy zipper jacket with hot pink trim that matched the leggings.
After putting my space rock in my nightstand drawer for safe keeping, I tied on my white sneakers, checked myself in the mirror, changed the scarf in my hair for a pink cloth bandanna I kept for walking, then headed to the observation deck with Harry, who’d changed his mind at the last minute and decided to tag along.
I was sure Harry’s change of heart had everything to do with Frank and not nearly as much to do with spending time with me, but I understood. Frank was quite a guy.
He was already there in gray track pants and a gray T-shirt bearing the Space Marines logo. The T-shirt showed off his muscular arms and flat stomach nicely.
My stomach fluttered again. Something told me he wasn’t going to have any problems keeping up.