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So why would someone follow him to Globe and kill him in the Airbnb where his ex-girlfriend was staying?
I didn’t have a clue…literally.
Chloe emerged from the back of the station then, looking a little pale but otherwise composed. Loretta was with her, although she seemed cheerful enough as she said, “She needs to stay in Globe, but otherwise, the judge hasn’t put any restrictions on her movements.”
Some people might have said that having to stay in my adopted hometown with its population of barely seven thousand people was restrictive enough, but I thought I understood. If the judge had truly wanted to be a hard-ass, he could have given my little sister house arrest, either at my and Calvin’s place or at Hazel’s Airbnb.
Such harsh measures apparently hadn’t been necessary, though, which was something.
“Thanks, Loretta,” I said. “Then I think we’ll all head home.”
She nodded, and all of us got up from our seats — with Calvin steadying me once again — and headed out to our cars. Once we were in the parking lot, though, I looked over at Chloe.
“Do you know where your parents are heading?”
“To the Best Western,” she said. Her delicate features were still pale, but otherwise, she looked calm enough.
“That’s not a very good place for a meeting,” my mother put in, her tone firm. “We should all gather at Tom’s and my house.”
This invitation made me blink. “Are you sure?” I asked.
Meaning, Are you really okay with having my biological father and your husband in the same room?
It seemed she was, because she said, “Of course I’m sure. We’ll have the most space there. Also, it’s closer than your house.”
Well, that was true. The living room at the cozy adobe home I shared with Calvin was big enough for everyone, but we lived a good ten minutes farther outside town at the end of a gravel road that wasn’t exactly friendly to regular passenger cars. The Victorian mansion my mother and Tom used as a vacation home was also located at the edge of Globe, true, and yet it was still much easier to get to.
I glanced over at Chloe. “Do you think they’ll be okay with that?”
“Sure,” she said, although something at the edges of her voice seemed a bit shaky, as if the word was a little more emphatic than her actual view of the situation. However, she got her phone out of her purse, adding, “What’s the address?”
My mother supplied it to her, and Chloe typed out a quick text and waited for a moment.
Then her phone binged, and she said, sounding relieved, “They’re fine with meeting at Elizabeth and Tom’s house. My mom says they landed about fifteen minutes ago and just picked up their rental car, so they should be here in about an hour and a half.”
“Just in time for a late lunch,” my mother said. Her expression was far cheerier than it should have been, given the situation, but I had a feeling that was because she was just relieved to have something concrete to focus on, and throwing together an impromptu midday meal for seven people was exactly what she needed to distract her right then.
Which was fine by me. My quiet life might have been upended once again, but the baby I was carrying just wanted to make sure I kept both of us well-fed.
Henry hadn’t impounded Chloe’s VW — it seemed he’d realized he’d found the one piece of useful evidence in it, after searching the entire trunk and dusting it for fingerprints — so she reclaimed it from the parking lot behind the shop and then joined our little caravan, with Tom’s Porsche Cayenne in the lead, followed by Calvin and me in my Renegade, and the Bug bringing up the rear.
Tom pulled into the garage once we got to the property, while Calvin parked the Renegade off to one side in an open space nearby and Chloe did the same. Soon enough, we were all trooping into the house.
“I have lemonade and tea,” my mother said. “Do you think we should order from Olamendi’s or Cloud Coffee?”
“Cloud Coffee,” I replied promptly. “Sandwiches will probably last better if it turns out that Chloe’s parents run late, for whatever reason.”
My mother agreed that sounded like a good idea, and after consulting with Chloe as to her parents’ sandwich preferences and getting orders from the rest of us, she got her car keys out of her purse.
“I thought I’d go to Walmart and grab some fresh fruit and salads as well,” she said. “You all don’t mind if I leave you alone here for a bit, do you?”
Although it would probably be a little awkward to have her gone, I knew it made more sense for her to do the shopping. She could have given Tom a list, I supposed, but she had a much better idea of what was available at our local Super Walmart and could get the errand handled far more efficiently.
“No, we don’t mind,” Tom said, and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “We’ll hold down the fort while you’re gone.”
She gave him a grateful smile, promised that she’d be as fast as she could, and then headed back out. Those of us left behind glanced around the group, suddenly awkward.
“Well, I can get all your drink orders while we’re waiting,” Tom said, clearly realizing he needed to play host. “Who wants lemonade, and who wants tea?”
