Chapter 3 #2
“No, you stay!” she insisted as Nikki drained her cup, then scraped her chair back, arms outstretched for the handoff as Pierce passed his daughter into her arms.
“Gotta work,” he explained.
“It’s Sunday,” Nikki protested, and Pierce arched an eyebrow.
“There’s a possible homicide, and when did the weekend ever stop you from working when you were on the trail of a hot story?”
“Fine.”
“I’ll see both my girls later,” he promised. While Chloe squirmed, he pressed a kiss onto Nikki’s cheek before striding out the door.
Seconds later, Nikki heard the rumble of the garage door opening and the sound of Pierce’s Jeep’s engine sparking to life.
Chloe wriggled out of Nikki’s arms and toddled to the door to the garage, but was thwarted in her escape as she couldn’t yet work the knob.
This was their morning routine, and for the most part, especially on the good days like today, Nikki loved it.
Still, a part of her missed going into the office—well, kind of; she and her editor at the Savannah Sentinel had never seen eye to eye, but the kinetic atmosphere in the newspaper office always energized her.
Even though actual newspaper sales had tumbled and most of the reporting was done online these days, there was still an electricity to the workplace.
She spent the better part of the next hour getting both herself and Chloe bathed and dressed; then they fed the animals together. As Mikado dived into his bowl and their tabby, Jennings, picked at his food, she thought of Billy Huber’s dog, injured and probably scared.
Lily, yawning, appeared downstairs after making her way from the guest bedroom. “There’s still coffee, right?” she asked and beelined for the pot, still warming on the coffeemaker’s burner. “I don’t suppose you’ve got a ciggie?” she asked hopefully.
“No, and you quit, remember?”
“Ugh. Yes. Bad idea.” Nikki’s older sister, now an ash blonde, had taken up residence with them.
Temporarily supposedly. And part of the deal was that she would give up the long, black cigarettes she loved.
Years before, Lily had confided to Nikki that they made her feel “sophisticated” and “continental,” though that time was long over.
Lily was, and always had been, impossibly thin, an academic who embraced literature and philosophy and ballet in her younger years and had never had a nine-to-five job.
She’d gotten pregnant years before, had the baby, and refused to mention who Ophelia’s father was.
Maybe she didn’t know. It was a secret Lily swore she’d keep to her grave, though Nikki thought that might be impossible these days, once Ophelia turned eighteen and could get her own DNA kit and take a test that would link her to any relatives in the system.
So, as much as Lily loved to have an air of mystery about her, that little secret might eventually come to light.
As for her smoking, she’d sworn she’d quit, and to be fair, Nikki had never caught her lighting up. But every once in a while, when her sister returned after being out with friends, Nikki thought she caught a whiff of tobacco smoke wafting in the air, mingling with Lily’s perfume.
A thump sounded. Then the sound of running footsteps overhead, on the second floor, signifying that Ophelia had awoken.
Lily said, “I think the dead has risen,” as she settled into a chair at the island with her cup.
Seconds later, Ophelia, barefoot, her nightgown billowing around her, burst into the room.
At eleven, “Phee” was on the gangly side, with light brown hair that was always a mess, freckles bridging her nose, and a wide smile with teeth that were still a little too big for her face.
She loved horses and Taylor Swift and was begging to get her ears pierced and her hair highlighted. So far, Lily had resisted.
At the sight of her cousin, Chloe beamed. “Phee-Phee,” she said happily and was rewarded by being swung off her feet and twirled into several tight circles. Mikado barked, and Jennings slithered under the couch, while Chloe giggled in ecstasy.
“Where is all this enthusiasm on a school day?” Lily asked, though, in Nikki’s estimation, Phee was always cheery and in high gear. As cynical and somewhat world-weary as her mother was, Phee embraced life and was always running at a speed ensured to break the sound barrier.
“Let’s go outside,” Phee said to Chloe as she set the still-dizzy toddler onto the floor, then shot through the patio door.
“You all right?” Nikki was about to pick up her daughter, but Chloe was already drunkenly toddling out the open door to the patio.
“God, I wish I had Phee’s energy,” Lily said, eyeing the black coffee in her mug.
“But there isn’t enough caffeine in the world to pep me up like that.
” She took a sip. “You know, she reminds me of you when you were a kid.” At that thought, Lily pulled a face.
“Oh, Lord, I hope she doesn’t turn out like you. ”
“Thanks so much.”
“Oh, you know,” Lily said with a flip of one hand. “Always getting into trouble, always nosing around, always chasing after nutjobs and criminals and—”
“Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa. That’s not all I do.”
Lily cocked a doubting eyebrow. “Sure. Whatever you say.” She buried her nose in her cup and let the subject drop.
They talked about the day stretching before them.
Lily was going to take the kids to the park and then visit their mother; she hoped to convince Charlene to consider moving to a retirement community, a place where she could be independent until she needed more care.
So far, their fierce but frail little mother was balking and had refused.
Whenever the subject was brought up, Charlene always smiled sweetly and said, “Oh, bless you, honey. Of course I will. Just as soon as hell freezes over.”
“I’ll get the girls breakfast,” Lily said.
“Do we have any Pop-Tarts? Phee is all over them right now. Really into Frosted Strawberry Milkshake or Frosted Hot Fudge Sundae, or something like that, and for God’s sake, Nikki, don’t give me the evil eye.
I know it’s not the best breakfast in the world, but I’m happy she slows down long enough to get anything into her, and she’s getting really picky. ”
“You were, too,” Nikki pointed out. “So is Mom. Still.”
“Yeah, yeah. I know.”
“Don’t worry about Chloe. She already ate. Fruit and cereal.”
“Okay.” Lily scraped her chair back to rummage in the cupboard and withdraw the box of Pop-Tarts. As she slipped two into the toaster, she asked, “And so what is it you’re going to do again?”
“Working on a new book. Might have to go out for some research.” Nikki was pointedly vague about her day. The less anyone knew about what she really was planning to do this morning the better. And that included Lily. If Lily needed to reach her, Nikki would have her iPhone with her.
Damn Pierce for being so tight-lipped about the case.
Other than the fact that Huber’s dog had escaped, all Nikki had gleaned from him was that a deputy had been sent out to check on Billy on a wellness call after his daughter, Janelle McGowan, had phoned from Jacksonville.
Janelle had been concerned, as she hadn’t heard from her father in several days after he’d promised to phone, something he did every week.
Janelle also had known about the storm that had ripped through the Savannah area, so she’d been concerned enough to phone the authorities.
Bad weather had been the least of Billy Huber’s problems, Nikki thought, as she reached into the refrigerator for the remains of Phee’s barely eaten hamburger, all that was left from a Happy Meal from a day or two earlier.
She rewrapped the burger and dropped it into her tote.
Then she gathered her laptop, phone, and notebook, before taking the time to kiss her daughter goodbye, promising to be back by midafternoon.
“Bye-bye,” Chloe said, waving from the cradle of Lily’s arms. This was their usual morning routine, and so Chloe wasn’t distressed.
As opposite as Nikki was from her sister, she thanked her lucky stars that she had someone she could trust to care for her daughter while she worked.
She gave Phee a quick hug before snagging one of Mikado’s extra leashes from a hook in the laundry room and adding it to her oversize bag.
As she made her way to the garage, she checked the tote to make certain she had packed a small flashlight, a separate recorder, and a set of lock picks that she hoped Pierce would never find. Tools of her trade.
As she fired up her Subaru, she convinced herself she wasn’t really lying when she’d told Lily she was doing research. Not when she had a feeling that Billy Huber’s death might be fodder for her next book.