Текст книги "Lunch at the Club"

Автор книги: Kate Kane

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Ben smiled.  “Are we feeling some empty nest syndrome right now?”

Lane laughed.  She had a big hearty laugh.

“That’s so funny.  Jamie’s still home.  And besides, even when I don’t have anyone really at home anymore, as long as I’m still writing tuition checks, my nest is not empty.” She took a drink of her iced tea.  “You know having a close family is important to me.”

Lane’s parents both died when she was four years old and she was raised by her mother’s younger sister Marta.  It was like being raised by an older sister.  Ben was close with his family, and that was what Lane wanted for her children.

Ben smiled and reached across the table to take Lane’s hand.  “I don’t think that’s a problem.  What is it you Parkers say?  Blood may be thicker than water, but Parker blood is thicker than molasses?  Come on, let’s get out of here and get you home to spend some time with your kids.”

Ben paid the check and they walked to the parking lot.

“So, you are going to join us tonight, aren’t you?”

“Of course, it’s Saturday, isn’t it?  Meet you at Church at 4:45.”

Chapter 4

Mom needs a chaperone

Jamie would turn 18 soon and somehow he’d changed from a gangly boy into a chiseled, hard bodied man.  Although Jess and Jake still treated him like their little brother, the change wasn’t lost on Lane.  Lane entered the house via the kitchen to find the three Parker kids around the breakfast bar, talking and chowing down on left over pizza.  “Jandy.” Lane smiled.  It was almost impossible to keep track of all of the nicknames Jamison Andrew Parker had.  Lane called him Jamie.  He was Jandy to Jake, and Jams to Jess unless she felt like calling him jelly, preserves, boysenberry, strawberry or any other fruit from which jam could be made… the list goes on and on.   It was a wonder that he didn’t have an identity crisis.  It was also a wonder that he put up with the harassment from his siblings; especially from his much smaller sister.  Jamie and Jake were about the same size.  Jake was six feet four inches tall and weighed 195 pounds.  Jamie was six feet four inches tall and weighed a well-muscled 210 pounds to Jess’s five feet four inches and about 100 pounds.  Jamie could snap Jess like a twig and yet he put up with it.

They seemed to be arguing over video games, and it made no sense at all to Lane.  The game room in the basement was full of gaming systems and games.  She’d learned a long time ago that there was no way to keep up with the video gaming systems, let alone the games.  And then someone thought up on-line gaming that the kids call MMORPG (massively multi-player online role playing game).  The current argument had something to do with EQ vs. wow, whatever those things were. They caught sight of her, and the argument went silent.

Lane got a glass of ice and a Diet Dr. Pepper, and joined them at the counter.

“Guess I really can’t leave you alone, even for football practice.”  Jamie said as he leaned over and gave her a hug.

Over Memorial Day, while the kids were diving to California, Lane had done a favor for a friend by finding the friend’s kidnapped son, and in the process she’d uncovered a drug ring. In late July, when Jake and Jamie were in Omaha and Jess was at school, she found a dead body in a movie theater; at first becoming the prime suspect and eventually being taken hostage by the murderer.

Lane smiled. “Guess not, but I did have adult supervision this time.”

“Yes, but you got away from me.”  Jess added.

“Yes, yes I did.  And that, my children, is when my trouble began.”  Lane smiled and took a drink of her soda.

Jamie began singing, “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen.”

They all joined in. “Nobody knows the sorrow.  Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen.  Nobody knows but Jesus.”

Lane finished. “Glory Halleluiah”

“Actually, Jake and Jess have already filled me in.  But you’ve just come from lunch with Ben.  I suppose there’s news.”

“Yes, there’s news.  The autopsy came back.  The cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head and blood loss.  The skull fracture could have been made anything, so the medical examiner isn’t ready to rule on method of death yet. For now it’s just a suspicious death and the detectives will continue their investigation.  In other words, I’m not out of the woods.”

They sat and talked and laughed about school and work.  Jess talked about when she’d be home during Thanksgiving break.  Lane talked to Jake about possible vacation, speculating whether or not they could do a family vacation over Christmas.  Since it was nearly September, and Christmas break was still more than three months away, they had some time to plan and talk.

“Besides, Mom, we’ll have to pray that you’re allowed to leave town in time to do a family vacation.” Jess laughed as she said it, but there was an unspoken undertone of concern that all three Parker kids felt.

“Okay, speaking of prayer, I told Ben we’d meet him at Church at 4:45.  I have a bit of a headache and I’m going to have a little nap.  Someone please make sure I’m up by 4:00.”

Even without a headache, Lane loved an afternoon nap.  Her mother had suffered from severe migraines, and had often forced napping on her only child so that she herself could rest.  Lane was likely to get up and go walk-about, so her mother would spoon Lane and hold Lane’s little feet in her crossed legs.  Her theory was that if Lane wiggled her little feet loose that she’d wake up.  It was a good theory, but Lane had wiggled free more than once, making her way to the big overstuffed chair in her parents’ bedroom where she would sit quietly and look at books until her mother got up.  “Headaches,” she thought as she drifted off, “one more thing to thank Mom for.”

Here’s the thing about sleeping, you have no control over what goes on.  Your sub-conscience takes over and goes where ever it wants to go.  It will make up things. It will put you at a family dinner with people who have been dead for years, where you interact as though they were still alive.  Lane dreamed that she was having dinner with her parents.  She sat at the table, in the kitchen of the house that had been sold over 35 years ago.  Her parents, who died when they were in their thirties, were still the age they were when they died and she was exactly as she was now, meaning that she was several years older than either of them.   Yet, in the dream, she was deferring to her parents as though she were still a child.  One minute she was sitting at the kitchen table eating macaroni and cheese, and the next she was roller skating through the house with her mother cautioning about falling. Then she was in the bathroom looking into the mirror, wondering who had scrawled “Hell hath no fury” on it in lipstick, while her father was emptying the waste baskets and talking about taking out the trash. The whole while Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels sang “Devil with a Blue Dress on.”

The next thing she knew Jess was asking, “How’s the headache,” as she gently shook Lane into consciousness.

Some people have to wake up slowly, needing their first jolt of caffeine in order to be coherent, and others are able to be coherent immediately after opening their eyes.  Lane fell into the second category.  Lane opened her eyes and practically jumped out of bed.  “Headache’s gone.”  She looked at the clock on her nightstand.  “I’m going to take a quick shower.  I’ll be ready to go in about 20 minutes.  Will you round the boys up?”

What followed was a scene that had played out at the Parker household hundreds of times. Lane hopped into the shower and quickly washed body and hair.  Jess went to the basement to pry her brothers away from the video game they were playing. The good news this time was that neither needed to shower or change clothes.  Lane was in and out of the shower in 15 minutes.  With nimble fingers she quickly wove her hair into a French braid.  She threw on her favorite jeans, sandals, and a Henley t-shirt. At 4:20 they were in the garage.  As Lane gave the keys for the Escalade to Jake, Jamie called shotgun.  She and Jess got into the backseat.

The house was less than a 15 minute drive away from the church, so the Parkers arrived at about 4:40.

Jake pulled into the parking lot and could see Ben leaning against his SUV.  As Jake parked, Ben approached the Escalade.  He saw Lane was seated behind Jamie.  He reached the SUV and opened Lane’s door.

“Hey Red.  I just got a call from Lila.  She wants you to answer some more questions.  I told her I’d check with you, to confirm tonight at seven o’clock at your house or tomorrow morning at nine o’clock at the station.”

Lane looked at Ben and then to the kids.  “We can do seven o’clock tonight at home.  If we order Jack Stack to go, pick it up, and eat at home.  It’ll feel less confrontational in my kitchen. You guys okay with Jack Stack to go?”

The kids looked at each other and then Jamie nodded agreement.

Lane looked at Ben as they ambled toward the Church’s entrance.  “Will Detective Hunter be coming or will it just be Detective Crane?”

Jake, Jess and Jamie had hung back a little and followed Ben’s and Lane’s path to the Church.  “Let’s get Mom to catch a ride back to the house with Ben.  We can volunteer to go to Jack Stack and get food and bring it home.”

Jamie nodded. “Yeah, give us time to strategize.”

Jess added, “Sounds like Detective Crane has Mom in her sights for this.”

After Mass, Jake put their plan into action suggesting Lane ride home with Ben while they went to the restaurant and waited for the food.  Jess started laughing as they made the drive to the restaurant.  Jake looked at her in the rearview mirror and Jamie turned around.

“WSF?”  Translation – “What’s so funny,” the guys said at the same time.

“It just came to me... How many Parkers does it take to solve a suspicious death?”

Now the guys laughed too.  They made up or had heard these jokes since they were kids.  Their friends often took any joke about how many blondes does it take to do something and turned it into how many Parkers does it take. They were a close knit little group and others who didn’t have close family ties didn’t usually “get” it.

“We know Mom didn’t do anything except try to help someone she thought was unconscious.  We need to figure out why this Lila Crane is after Mom.”  Jake told his siblings.

“One word,” Jess said from the back seat, “Ben.” Her brothers both turned to look at her.

“You weren’t at the police station.  I was, and let me tell you, Lila Crane’s eyes never left Ben.  This isn’t about Mom, it’s about Ben.”

Jake and Jamie had never heard anything so completely and absolutely ridiculous.  That’s the way it is with guys, they have trouble seeing their mothers as anything but mothers. Jess on the other hand saw her mother for the beautiful woman she was. When Jess was four or five, she had been with Lane when Lane found she had lost the ticket to get out of a parking garage.  When Lane approached the parking attendant’s booth, she explained to the young male attendant that she’d lost the ticket; he told her it was okay, no charge.  As they drove away, Lane marveled aloud that the sign said there was a $5.00 charge for a lost ticket.  Little Jess looked at her mother and said, “Sometimes it’s good to be a pretty blonde lady.”  Even at that age, Jess understood the power a beautiful woman had over men.  And even then she knew her mother was a beautiful woman.

She knew that Ben and her mom were finally actually dating; and while she understood what that meant, she was pretty sure her brothers were still oblivious to it.  She remembered a kid she knew in Omaha who had gotten into a really heated discussion with the Priest who was teaching religion class. The discussion was about Immaculate Conception and the Virgin Birth.  The guy would not believe that his mother, who was the mother of five more, wasn’t a virgin.  Sometimes it was hard for kids to think of their parents as people.

Then there was Ben’s looks.  She saw it a lot in L.A.  Guys or girls who were unspeakably beautiful and the way the ordinary people reacted to them. She didn’t understand it, they were just people. She’d witnessed the way women looked at Ben.  Yes, he had George Clooney looks and Kennedy charisma.  She just didn’t care, he was still just Ben to her.  But she’d seen women stop dead in their tracks, everywhere from church to the super market, when he walked in.  Of course, she’d seen similar reactions from people of both genders when her mother walked into a room.  She had accompanied her mother to a Cancer fund raiser two years ago, it was a formal affair at the Governor’s Mansion in Topeka, and she could still remember the hush that came over the room as she followed her mother in.  She also knew that neither Ben nor her mother was aware of the effect they had on people around them.

They only had a few days to sort this out, and then she would be jetting back to L.A.  They needed to resolve this or she’d be leaving Jake and Jamie to deal with it by themselves. The only consolation was that Mom wasn’t having to go through this one without them this time.

Chapter 5

The Enemy stays for dinner

The doorbell rang and Ben answered it.  Lila was dressed in black spike heels, tight black skinny jeans, and a black cami under a short black denim jacket.  Her blue-black hair was again pulled into a tight pony tail.

“Who was it?” Lane called from the kitchen.

“It’s Detective Crane,” Ben said aloud while mentally he added, “And she’s early.”  Lila followed Ben as he walked to the kitchen.

Lane had grown up in a rural region of Iowa where having friends or relatives drop by unannounced was almost a daily occurrence.  She was unflappable when it came to unexpected guests, even of the official police variety.  Lane invited Lila to sit at the table.

“Would you like something to drink – soda, iced tea, or water?  I can make coffee if you’d prefer. I’d offer wine, but I imagine that you’d prefer not to drink while you’re working.” Lane picked up Ben’s glass of iced tea from the breakfast bar and moved it to the table.  Lila looked at Ben’s glass.

“Is the tea brewed?”

Ben nodded. “Yeah, this is a raspberry and regular half and half blend that Lane does.”

“I have plain brewed tea if you’d prefer. I don’t put sweetener in my tea,” Lane said as she filled two rocks glasses with ice and poured tea from each pitcher for Lila to sample.

“Please, try both and let me know if you’d like a glass of either.  Don’t be shy about asking for something else if you don’t like them.”  Lane put the glasses in front of Lila then got her own glass before sitting.  “Ben said you had some additional questions.”

Lila took a sip first from one glass then from the second glass making a face after each.

“How about a glass of Coke,” Ben said as he stood and moved toward the cupboard where the glasses were kept.

Lila smiled, thinking it was a good sign that Ben still remembered her preferred non-alcoholic beverage.

Lane watched Lila staring at Ben.  What the hell was going on? She knew that Ben and Lila had dated and that it had been over for three months.  She also knew that Ben had stopped seeing Lila when he and Lane had started dating.  To say that there was something going on between them was an understatement.  The tension was palpable.  Everyone has heard or read about emotions in the air being so thick you could cut them with a knife; Lane was experiencing it.  She just wished she knew what emotion was in the air.

“Was your relationship with the deceased over, Counselor?”

It was becoming clear to Lane.  Lila knew he’d stopped seeing her for another woman.  She just didn’t know who the woman was.

“We weren’t romantically involved any longer, but we stayed in touch for a while after she went to Denver.” He replied. Then, in his head, “Which is what I told you the last time you asked.”  Ben smiled a broad smile that Lane noticed didn’t make it all the way to his eyes.

“Detective, you said you wanted to ask my client some questions.  If I’m the person you want to question, we can do it in the morning at the station.  And I’ll be sure to bring along a colleague.”

The door from the garage opened and the Parker kids bantered their way into the house stopping short when they saw the third person sitting at the table. The Parker boys could only guess the person’s identity, based on the description Jess had given them earlier. Jess of course knew it was Detective Crane.

Lane, again the perfect hostess, introduced her children to the detective.  Hellos were exchanged as Jess put the bags filled with barbecue on the breakfast bar.  Lane smiled.  It was so easy to go overboard with good barbecue.  There was almost enough food to feed a family of four for a month.

She turned to Detective Crane.  “Would you like to join us for dinner?”

Ben couldn’t believe his ears.  What was she thinking? Lane was a person of interest in a murder investigation and Lila was the investigating officer. This wasn’t a social call.  Lane had been friendly with Leawood detective Mickey McGuire last month during the other investigation, but Lila Crane was not Mickey McGuire.  Furthermore, it was just weird.  After all, he’d told Lane about his history with Lila. So now he sat in the kitchen of his best friend and the love of his life, while one of his former girlfriends batted questions about him, he was certain were personal and had nothing to do with the investigation around Carol Anne Woods’ death.

Ben was about to suggest that he walk Lila to her car when he heard her say, “I’d love to stay.”

Lila watched as the Parker family ballet began.  Jake reached into the cabinet, got plates and handed them to Lane.  Jamie grabbed silverware and handed it to Ben.  Jess took the food containers from the bags and placed them on the counter. Jamie opened each container and he and Jess put the food onto the platters and into the bowls that Jake had given to them and then Jess took the food to the table.  The perfect picture of domesticity played before her eyes. In May, Ben had told her that he and Lane were just friends, but clearly he was part of the family.  Just which part of the family, remained to be seen.

Lane’s kitchen had a French country feel to it; and the off white farm table that sat in front of the bay window, looking over the back yard, had seating for six.  Lane and Ben had set the table, and Jess had arranged the food. On the table was a barbecue feast of baby back ribs, beef ribs, chicken, potato salad, coleslaw, baked beans, onion rings, fried mushrooms, and cheesy corn.

The Parker family and Ben took what appeared to Lila to be assigned seats at the table, with Lane and Ben taking the same seats they had earlier.  Everyone reached to the person next to them to hold hands with Ben taking Lila’s right hand and Lane her left.

Jamie gave the blessing, “Father we come humbly and gratefully before you.  We praise you for your glory and give you thanks for the food before us and for the friends and family seated here.  We ask you to bless this food and all of the hands who brought it to our table from the grower who planted the seeds to those who prepared, boxed and served it. Father we ask you to bless us and keep us. Let your face shine upon us and be gracious to us.  Build a hedge of protection around us, especially Mom.  And Lord, bless and guide Detective Crane and her partner in their pursuit of justice in finding Ms. Woods killer. In Jesus name we pray.”

And everyone said, “Amen.”

Lila felt a little uncomfortable.  “Do you pray before all of your meals or was this a special occasion?”

“I guess it’s a habit. But we’re like everyone else in the world, sometimes we forget,” Lane said, as she and the other Parkers began passing the plates and bowls of food, clockwise, around the table.

“I grew up Catholic,” Lila said, “That wasn’t the habitual blessing I learned.”

Jake laughed. “Jandy’s a little more eloquent than the rest of us, but Wednesday and Saturday are his days to offer the blessing, so it is what it is.”

Jamie smiled. “What it was, was a sincere prayer for us and for you, Detective Crane.  You don’t know our Mother the way we do.  We know she didn’t do this.  You have a job to do, and I was just praying for God to guide you while you do it.  You’re a guest in our home and I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable.”  Lane patted Jamie’s hand.  He had grown into a strong, confident, respectful young man.

Lila looked at Jamie.  “Your brother called you Jandy. I’m usually very good at remembering names.  I thought your name was Jamie.”

Jamie laughed.  “I have so many nick-names, it’s hard for even the family to keep track.  My name is Jamison Andrew which is how Jake gets Jandy.  Jess is the one I have to watch.  She usually calls me Jams, her abbreviation of Jamison; but she might just call out some fruit from which jam can be made and expect me to answer, and she doesn’t care in front of whom she does it.”  He related the day she had dropped him off at school and in front of his fellow football team members and yelled, “Hey, Boysenberry, remember 5:30 right here, don’t be late.”

“When her Irish is up, I’m often whiskey boy.” Everyone but Lila laughed.  “You know, Jameson… Irish whiskey?”

“That’s right, Berry Boy, but remember it’s all done with love.” Jess, who was sitting next to Ben and across from Jamie, said as she tossed an onion ring to land on Jamie’s plate.

“Guys,” Jake said, “You know the rules, no food throwing in front of guests.”

They settled into comfortable meal time conversation.

“Jess, do you have any interesting roles coming up,” Jamie asked.

“I have an episode of The Following coming out soon.  You can all now do six degrees of Kevin Bacon and connect in two instead of four, through Mom’s friend who sang backup on a Reba CD.”

Lila looked at Jess.  “You’re an actress?”

Jess gave a little laugh.  “Yes, I have a SAG card and everything.  My main job is being a student at UCLA.  Being in Los Angeles, I’m able to audition for and take roles that don’t cut into my studies.  I’ve done a couple of commercials and have had minor speaking roles on several of the forensic crime dramas.  My specialty lately seems to be between playing convenience store clerks and dead bodies.  I’m the body on The Following, and as such I did a scene with the star.  I have a role in a Damien Lord movie that’s coming out over Christmas.”

“Speaking of Christmas, shall we talk about plans for the Christmas break,” Lane asked.  With Jake working now, Jess being at school and having acting jobs, and Jamie going to West Point in the summer, this might be their last opportunity to have a family vacation.

Jake looked at Detective Crane.  Christmas was only a few months away and if Jandy’s prayer wasn’t answered soon, there might not be a Christmas vacation.  Jake had gotten a security clearance for his engineering job at Burke and Jones. It was sort of surreal, like being under a microscope.  And weren’t they under a microscope of sorts again?  It wasn’t the same as the federal government conducting a security clearance he had needed to work for the international construction firm, but it was still a microscope, and the female guest at their table was holding it.

After dinner, Ben walked with Detective Crane to their cars and since it was Ben’s habit to go through the garage, it was the route they took.  As they passed through the garage, Lila noticed a set of golf clubs in the corner.  After she got into her car, Ben held the door open and bent down to talk to her.

“Lila, what happened between us has nothing to do with my client.  I hope you won’t take out any anger you might have toward me on her.  You saw her in there with her family.  Lane Parker is a genuinely good person.”

Lila pulled the door closed.  She started her Camry and glanced at the dash clock as she called her partner.  “Didn’t the coroner say the wound to the victim’s temple could have been made by a golf club?  I just had dinner at the Parker house.  Don’t ask. I saw a set of golf clubs in the garage. We need a warrant to search Lane Parker’s house.”