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“You know what, it’s all going to be fine,” Lucy announces. “Because we are all team Nora and who better to orchestrate a murder cover up than four detectives and their significant others. And Becca,” she adds magnanimously with a pat to Becca’s shoulder. “In fact, Becca can take Mel’s place because we all know she should never be involved in the cover up of anything. She already suspects you two are hiding something, but I don’t think she knows exactly what.”
“So we just have to make sure she doesn’t figure out that what you’re hiding is that Nora is the one that killed Ian Wharfman,” Becca says pragmatically.
“Too late,” Mel says from the doorway and I swivel around to see her standing there with wide, panicked eyes, and that’s when I start to think maybe we should all just bite the bullet and head to Antigua to start a new life.
Chapter 16
Nora
TEN MINUTES AFTER Mel’s arrival in the kitchen I’m squashed between Mel and Jack in the backseat of Lucy’s red Jeep. Emily is up front in the passenger seat and Lucy is at the wheel. Becca had to go to work, but said we’d better keep her informed of any developments. Then she announced that my new code name for any texts about the case would be Monica and instead of using the word murder, we should say vacuum. The example text she verbally supplied went like this: Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help Monica hide the vacuum.
Lucy thought this was brilliant, but Jack’s face turned so red I thought his face might explode. “No texting about any of this! Period!” he shouted at the whole group. Sadly for him, they all thought his anger on my behalf was sweet rather than scary.
I myself am less sure what to make of Jack’s recent behavior toward me.
The thing is, Jack is a caretaker by nature. This is a byproduct, I presume, of growing up with a sister with Down Syndrome. He was always her advocate, her defender…her best friend. That’s right–friend. Jack has always been excellent at being someone’s friend.
So that’s got to be what’s happening here. He’s showing up for me today, going all out for me today, because he’s my friend.
I just wish I knew what to do with all of the feelings I’ve been feeling about my friend.
At least thinking about this is a nice distraction from the whole ‘I murdered someone last night’ business.
Not for long, though, since we are currently headed over to Ian’s house to talk to his wife about last night. Once everyone had calmed down about Mel finding out the truth, Jack said we had to get moving so that we could talk to the wife before the police got a chance. Then he insisted Mel stick with us for now, so that we could babysit her. More specifically, so that we could babysit her mouth.
The whole time we were having this discussion, Mel kept nodding vigorously along with what he was saying and forcefully pursing her lips together over and over. I’ve seen Mel blab secrets firsthand, so I’m fully aware of the threat her knowing that I’m the murderer poses to me, but honestly…it still feels good to have the truth out there. The way all of these women immediately sided with me, no questions asked, made me feel a sense of security I would never have expected to feel today.
I would hazard a guess that generally when you commit murder, the less people that know about it the better. But in my case, I like having this team of people around me.
Even if that doesn’t make practical sense.
It makes emotional sense.
Plus, them knowing meant that I got to change out of my green dress and into something a bit more well-suited to a murder coverup expedition. Along with the dresses (and my underwear) Jack also put a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved striped shirt in my suitcase, so that’s what I have on now. Jack changed too and looks impossibly good in a pair of faded jeans and a flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. I have a lot of special memories of working with Jack in his barn and almost all of them involve him in jeans and a flannel shirt.
And okay, sure, almost all of them involve kissing too.
So, yeah…anyway. Where was I? Oh, right. I’m okay with them all knowing. With not having to lie to them anymore.
Of course, Jack is far more agitated by the exponential growth of our murder cover up team, but I think he’ll come around to it eventually.
Everyone likes to be part of a team.
Besides, it’s not as if we’ll be ordering team uniforms or anything. It’s a secret team.
“What’s the plan when we get there?” Lucy asks from the driver’s seat. I know Jack would’ve preferred to drive, but then I pointed out that, given how he never exited the premises after entering, the guard from last night might have his picture on file, so he relented and agreed to take Lucy’s Jeep.
It’s not exactly roomy back here between Mel and Jack, but I can’t say I mind having my body pressed up against the side of Jack’s body. Besides that kiss after we were pronounced husband and wife, this will probably end up being the most physical thing to happen between the two of us on our wedding day.
Jack, who has been busy doing something on his phone this whole time, sets it down to focus on Lucy as he replies. “I just set up an appointment with a realtor.” Ah. That's what he was doing on his phone. Here I thought he might’ve just been trying to keep up his Wordle streak. “There’s a house for sale a few doors down from the Wharfman’s house,” he goes on. “You three are going to meet the realtor there under the guise of Emily being interested in buying it. I picked Emily,” he adds as Lucy opens her mouth presumably to ask this very thing, “because she’s a business owner. It's most believable that she’d be able to afford the house.”
“Oh.” Lucy’s mouth snaps shut around the word.
“Why does anyone have to look at the house?” Emily asks.
“That’s just how we’re going to get into the neighborhood,” Jack explains. “While you three are busy with the realtor, Nora and I will go talk to Connie Wharfman. That way Nora can just approach her as an employee coming to offer her condolences for her loss.”
“That makes sense,” Emily concedes. “But who are you supposed to be?”
