A Justified Murder (Medlar Mystery 2)

“Yes, of course. The kick.”

“Hey! Do you think maybe Lisa killed Janet? If she did, that makes me really mad. I don’t know what I’m gonna do now. Janet was going to pay for the lawyer I need to get to Gil. She said he ought to marry me, then I’d have a place to live forever. I left Asheville to come here for him so Gil owes me for that, doesn’t he? He ought to pay my expenses. Janet said—”

She stopped because Sara stood up. “How about if you and I keep what you told me to ourselves?”

Zelly stuck out her lower lip. “Now you sound like Mom and Janet. They were always saying that to me.”

“What did Janet tell you to keep secret?”

“About staying on the boat. I had to sneak in and out of it. I still don’t know why I couldn’t stay with her. She had room or she could have gone online to get me a motel.”

Sara was standing, looking down at her. “Did you ever see Janet with a computer?”

“Yeah. All the time. She had three of them. I asked if I could use one but she said no. Right after that she said she had to go get some keys then she was going to put me on a beautiful boat. You know what? After she left I looked for a computer but couldn’t find any of them. Which is strange because her place was really clean, so they should’ve been easy to find. If you ask me, that house of hers was too clean. It needed some pictures around the place. My mom had pictures of me everywhere.”

“You want some breakfast?”

“Sure. You have any Frosted Flakes?”

“Fresh out, but I can make you an omelet.”

“Eggs. Yuck. But okay. Then maybe we can go see Gil. I bet he’s gonna be surprised to see me.”

“Oh yeah,” Sara said. “Real surprised.”

* * *

Sara got Zelly nestled in front of the TV and put on a surfing movie about Laird Hamilton.

“He’s old but he’s hot,” Zelly said. “Do you remember things like that?”

“I do remember last night, yes.” Sara smiled at the young woman’s look of confusion, then went to the kitchen to start breakfast. She mixed up a batch of carrot muffins for people who were not on the keto diet—which was everyone

but her.

Kate came into the kitchen at 7:30 a.m. She nodded toward Zelly on the couch, saw that her eyes were glued to the TV with its pictures of men surfing. “What’s with her?”

Sara kept her voice low. “She’s a veritable fount of information. Sees and hears a lot but has no idea what it means. Where’s Jack?”

“Not with me. His bed was empty.”

They looked at each other, then Kate took off running. She was back in minutes. “His truck is gone and Chet has the door closed but he’s talking to someone. So last night you two didn’t...?”

“Spend the night together? No.” Minutes later, Sara was taking the muffins out of the oven when Jack threw open the door to Kate’s suite. From his look, something bad had happened. “You talked to Gil.”

“Without me there?” Kate sounded hurt.

“Yes to both.” He glanced at Zelly but she was absorbed in her movie. He went into the kitchen. “Gil wouldn’t talk to me. Said it was none of my business. How can he say that when we’ve been friends since elementary school?”

Sara put her hand on Jack’s chest and half pushed him onto a stool. “He’s worried. He’s terrified. He thinks that being quiet will save him.”

“Not with her calling in lawyers.” Jack kept his voice low. “One word about postpartum blues said with tears and a judge will—”

Kate turned on the blender to drown him out.

Sara split a muffin, buttered it, and gave it to him on a plate.

Jack took the hint and shut up.