Borrowed Time Read online

  Lula snorted. “I’m sure he ate that up. He had the ego for it.”

  “He did. He wasn’t going out with anyone at the time, but he clearly wasn’t interested in Grace, although he’d joke around with her some. It was an unrequited love,” said Felicity.

  Luna said, “Scott was a mess, but I feel bad for him. He didn’t deserve what happened to him.”

  Felicity said, “That’s the second time I’ve known someone who’s drowned. I may never swim again. And I do feel badly . . . especially for Scott’s mother and brother. This must have been a devastating shock for them.”

  I noticed Felicity didn’t seem to suffer from the heavy sense of guilt some of the other guests had felt. I wanted to find out what she was doing around the time Scott died so I offered my own alibi. “I just wish I could have done something to help. It gives me this sort of helpless feeling to know I wasn’t far away and could have maybe stopped this. Instead, I fell into a really sound sleep. Too much sun and too much wine, I suppose.”

  Luna glanced over at me and I could tell she understood what I was trying to do. She stayed quiet and Felicity said, “I know what you mean. Part of me knows Scott was on a path of self-destruction that night, but somebody decided to help him on his way. I wasn’t any help at all, of course. I could hear loud music still playing in the pool area all the way in my room. I thought about going down there and asking everyone to turn the music down, but I didn’t want to deal with Scott again so I just plugged my ears up with my earbuds and played some soft music. Then I didn’t hear a thing from downstairs.”

  Luna blurted out, “So what do you think, Felicity?” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “Who did this? The police think it was someone at the party.”

  Felicity shook her head. “I’m totally in the dark. I can’t believe any of us could have done it. But let’s face it—he made everybody mad. Well, not the two of you, although his attitude probably annoyed you to death. But everybody else was totally done with him. Technically, any one of us could have done it. The only way I can make sense of it all is that it must have been completely unplanned. Someone got fed up, lashed out impetuously at Scott in anger, and then were probably shocked at what they did and are lying to cover it up.”

  I said hesitantly, “There was one thing I wanted to ask you about, Felicity. I overheard Scott and Kelly at one point over the weekend and Scott was saying there was something he needed to talk to you about.”

  Felicity nodded. “He asked me for the name of a good tax lawyer. He figured I might be connected to some through my job or at least have heard of some.”

  Luna made a face. “That doesn’t sound good.”

  Felicity shrugged. “It sounded like he needed some help with his business. I told him I’d send him the name of someone, but then . . . well, I didn’t end up needing to.”

  She stopped as Kyle pulled up a chair and sat down with them.

  Felicity said, “How is Scott’s family holding up? I saw you’ve been speaking with them.”

  Kyle shook his head. “They’re really shaken. I feel awful for them. They did ask me if I could lend them a hand with Scott’s things. I told them of course I’d help out.”

  “That’s nice of you,” said Luna. “I didn’t even think about that. It would be tough for them, especially living in another state.”

  Kyle nodded. “I feel like I should be able to help them more, but at least this is a start.”

  He turned and said to me, “By the way, thanks again, Ann, for the book club information. I’m hoping to make the next meeting.”

  Felicity raised her eyebrows. “I didn’t realize you were interested in the book club. I could have filled you in, myself. Ann gave me all kinds of information on it.”

  Kyle flushed a little. “Oh, I overheard you and Ann talking about it last weekend and thought I might want to check it out.”

  “I’d gotten the impression you were a big reader already,” said Felicity. “I’m surprised you can find time to fit it in.”

  Kyle’s eyes crinkled in a smile. “I’m a big reader, for sure. The problem is that I always find myself picking out the same types of books. I’ve been thinking about joining a book club for a while, hoping I could broaden my list and fit in some other genres. I don’t read a lot of nonfiction. This club sounded right up my alley.”

  The rest of the lunch was spent talking amiably about books and other things before Luna and I once again spoke to the family, and spent the rest of our day busily engaged at the library.

  That night, I was curled up in bed sleeping awith Fitz snuggled against me when my phone rang. There’s nothing quite as jarring as an incoming phone call at 3:30 a.m.

  I answered it, my voice hoarse and alarmed.

  It was Luna. “Ann, it’s me. Roz is dead.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  I went from dead asleep to wide awake in a matter of seconds.

  “What happened?” I put the phone on speaker, swung my legs off the bed, and was already changing out of my PJs.

  Luna’s voice shook. “Burton came by. He said she’d been murdered. She was found on the stairs at her apartment building. She was hit on the back of the head.”

  I put shoes on and glanced again at my clock. “She was on her way to work?”

  “That’s right. She had a 3 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift. Can you come by? We could use a steadying influence here—Mom’s in a state and I’m not much better. I’m sorry to ask you to do this.”

  “Of course I’ll be there,” I said. I’d automatically started changing into work clothes, even though it would be hours before we had to be at work, just in case.

  A few minutes later, after feeding Fitz and giving him an apologetic rub, I arrived at Luna and Mona’s house. The lights were all on in the house, standing out in stark contrast the rest of the dark street.

  Mona was wearing a long robe and slippers and her eyes were red as she gave me a quick hug for coming over. Luna had apparently gone ahead and dressed for the day and looked grimly at me.

  “I’ll make you some coffee,” said Mona briskly, ignoring my protests.

  Luna waved a tired hand at me. “She doesn’t want to hear the recap again. Who can blame her?”

  “What happened?” I asked quietly as Mona busied herself in the next room.

  “We don’t know much. Burton was so thoughtful to come by and deliver the news before we heard it from anyone else. He knew Roz and I were cousins.” Luna grimaced. “Mom insists on calling her sister herself later. Thinks it’s her responsibility. It’s going to be awful.”

  I said, “So Roz was on her way to work. And it sounds as if someone was waiting for her when she left. But it wasn’t a robbery?”

  Luna shook her head. “No one touched her purse or took her phone.” She took a deep breath. “Somebody from this weekend did this, Ann. One of Roz’s friends. There’s no other explanation.”

  I said, “Did you get the sense Roz knew something? Did she say anything to you?”

  Luna sighed. “She didn’t say a word. I wish she had. But I did feel like she was holding something back. Roz looked worried.”

  “Where was her room situated? You went by there, didn’t you?”

  Luna said, “Yeah, I stopped by her room and visited a couple of times when I was just walking past. She had a perfect view of the pool room.” She made a face.

  “So Roz could have seen something. Maybe she spotted something that at first didn’t even seem like a problem. But then she could have realized someone’s alibi or story wasn’t completely accurate.”

  Luna sighed. “And the problem is that Roz was the kind of person who would have just gone right ahead and confronted the person with whatever information she had. Of course she should have gone right to Burton. But that wouldn’t have been Roz’s usual M.O. She was always really upfront.”

  Luna’s phone started ringing and she frowned. “It’s not time to go to the library, is it?”

  “Not even close.”

&n
bsp; She fished out her phone from the depths of a pocket and frowned at it. “Kelly?” she asked as she answered it.

  I could hear sobbing on the other end of the phone line and saw Luna frown again as she tried to figure out what Kelly was saying. She shrugged at me and shook her head, unable to make it out.

  “Kelly? Kelly. Look, we’re going to come over there to be with you, okay? Ann’s here, too and we’re on our way.” She paused for a moment to allow more indecipherable words to be said and then continued, “Right. We’ll be right there.” She hung up and gave me a look. “Well, obviously, Kelly isn’t taking the news of Roz’s death very well.” She called out to her mom to make sure she was going to be all right and Mona waved her on.

  I said, “I can drive us over there if you direct me.” Luna wasn’t a great driver under ordinary circumstances and these were far from ordinary.

  A few minutes later and after making a couple of wrong turns along the way, Luna and I were knocking at Kelly’s front door. She lived in a cozy Cape Cod house with a perfectly-trimmed yard and a lush hedge around the house.

  The door flew open and a haggard Kelly stood there. She gave us both a hug and led us inside her tidy home. The only signs of anything awry were with Kelly herself. Her hair was sticking up around her head and she was wearing a bathrobe and slippers. Her eyes were swollen from crying but I noted she’d calmed herself down a little as we’d made our way over here.

  “Thank you so much for coming over,” she said fervently as we sat down in her living room. “I don’t think I could be alone right now. My mind is racing around in circles. I feel so bad for Roz.” Her voice broke again.

  Luna reached over and clumsily patted her hand. “We all do. But from what the police told me, Roz’s death must have been almost instant. She didn’t really have a chance to even register what happened.”

  “I’m so glad. But there must still have been a few seconds when she felt herself being pushed.” Kelly shuddered and then clamped her lips shut. A few moments later she added, “I’m so sorry, Luna. She was your cousin. You’re right—the police said her death was practically instantaneous. I just feel so helpless. I was here, sleeping, when she was battling for her life.”

  I said, “It seems unbelievable, doesn’t it?”

  Kelly nodded. “It does.” She hesitated. “But I did have an inkling something might be wrong. I didn’t think it would be something this wrong. But I sent Roz a couple of text messages last night and she didn’t respond to them. She’s always really good about responding to text messages.”

  Luna frowned. “But she didn’t fall until the middle of the night. When did you text her?”

  “Oh, Roz always turned in super early. Maybe eight o’clock on nights she was working. So I’d send her a text and she’d reply in the middle of the night while I was sleeping. I’d continue the thread after I woke up in the morning and she’d respond when she took a break. That was sort of our routine.” Kelly stopped short as if realizing this was another thing that wasn’t going to be continuing any longer.

  I said quietly, “So it was really unusual for Roz not to write back. When did you realize she hadn’t? Were you up some last night, too?”

  “Actually, I was. I woke up at three o’clock to use the restroom and glanced at my phone then. Usually Roz would have already responded by then, so I was surprised. But I figured maybe something had come up at the hospital and she was too focused on getting to work to reply.” Kelly sighed. “I tried to get back to sleep, but I kept thinking how weird it was. I ended up calling the hospital to see if Roz had made it there okay. They told me she hadn’t come in.”

  Luna glanced over at me and then said to Kelly, “I thought you’d found out about Roz from the police.”

  Kelly shook her head. “I knew something was up when the hospital told me she hadn’t come in. I drove over to her apartment and that’s when I talked to the police. They were already all over the place there.”

  I said, “I wonder how they knew to come.”

  Kelly gave a shuddering breath. “They told me a neighbor heard a loud noise on the stairs outside her apartment. She stuck her head out to see what it was and then called the police.” She stopped for a few moments and said, “This had to be someone from the party. There’s no other way. Roz wasn’t robbed. She was silenced.”

  Luna glanced at me again. I said, “Did she say anything to you about hearing or seeing something at the party? Something to do with Scott’s death?”

  Kelly gave her a dull look and groaned. “She said something after we’d gotten back home from Grace’s house. But she didn’t really tell me what it was that she’d seen. She only said she was worried about something she saw the night Scott died.”

  Luna frowned. “Did you ask her what she meant by that?”

  Kelly covered her eyes. “No. I didn’t. Now I feel so stupid for not being a good listener. I was still reeling from Scott’s death. He and I really had something special together.” She uncovered her eyes and must have seen Luna and I looking skeptical because she quickly added, “I know what it must have looked like over the weekend. Believe me, I feel really ashamed of how I was acting. I was reacting way too much to everything Scott was saying instead of just letting it wash over me. But deep down, he and I had a really remarkable relationship. We’d known each other for so long that I knew what he was thinking and vice versa. I could finish his sentences for him. No matter how many rough patches our relationship went through, we always had that special connection.”

  I said, “You’re really lucky to have had a relationship like that.” Kelly perked up at this and beamed at me. I cautiously continued, “So Roz didn’t really explain what she meant by being worried about something she’d seen?”

  Kelly’s expression clouded again and she shook her head. “She didn’t. And I feel terrible for not asking her about it. Like I said, I was too wrapped up in grief over Scott’s death. I just know Roz wasn’t entirely sure she could trust her own eyes.”

  I asked, “She said that?”

  Kelly nodded. “She was really hesitant about saying anything because she said she’d been drinking so much champagne after we got back from the club, she wasn’t really sure how accurate what she’d seen was. Or the timing of it.” She paused and then sighed. “Considering what happened, I’m guessing she saw something really damaging. She must have seen somebody down at the pool with Scott. Maybe somebody who’d said they’d already gone to bed for the night.”

  I said, “You know everybody who was at the party really well. What do you think happened to Roz?”

  Kelly said sadly, “I think she probably called or spoke in person to whoever she thought she’d seen with Scott. After all, her room had a clear view of the pool. She wouldn’t have wanted to tell the police if she wasn’t really sure she’d seen something suspicious. Roz would have contacted the person to clear it up—‘Hey, I know you said you’d already turned in, but I think I saw you down at the pool again.’ She’d have wanted to clear it all up.”

  Luna rubbed her forehead as if it hurt. “I just don’t get how somebody knew to lie in wait for her like that. I mean, were they there all night, waiting for her to go to work? Wouldn’t that have been really dangerous? One of the other apartment residents could have seen whoever it was.”

  Kelly gave her a rueful look. “I don’t think the person did that at all. Remember how we were all talking about work over dinner? You and Luna talked a little about the library and then Roz talked about her schedule and when she leaves for work—just because it was so freaking early that it was a point of interest to everyone. So the whole table heard her routine and when she left for work. Whoever did this could have easily parked their car, gone up to her apartment, and waited in the shadows for her to come out.”

  I said slowly, “Who might have been capable of something like that?”

  Kelly gave another harsh laugh. “I’d have said nobody I know was capable of that, but now I know differently. After
all, somebody already killed Scott and now they’ve killed Roz. Someone is a lot more dangerous than I ever realized. But like I already told the police, I don’t know anything. I didn’t see or hear anything. I can just guess as to who might have done it.”

  Luna put her hands on her hips as if squaring herself for battle. “And who comes to mind?”

  Kelly shrugged and then sighed. “I don’t know if you’ve heard about this, but the police have been talking to me. They know I came back to the party the night Scott died.”

  I carefully made sure my face was blank. Kyle hadn’t told Burton about this, but clearly somebody else had seen Kelly return. Kelly continued, “I know that sounds bad. I’m not sure if either of you were awake when I came back in.”

  I said ruefully, “I slept pretty soundly that night.”

  “Me too,” said Luna. “All the alcohol knocked me out, I guess. I’m just not used to it.”

  Kelly said, “I’m not sure who told the police about me coming back, but I’m guessing it was Kyle.”

  “What makes you think that?” I asked. I knew it wasn’t Kyle, but I did want to hear Kelly’s opinion of him.

  Kelly blew out a gusty sigh. “Nothing, really. I mean, I’ve known Kyle for a zillion years. Like I said before, I can’t really imagine any of my friends getting rid of Scott. But let’s face it—Kyle was really annoyed with Scott and it wasn’t just because of his behavior over the weekend, either.”

  Luna said, “I heard something about Kyle and Scott falling out over business stuff.”

  “Not really. I mean, they didn’t really fall out. I think Kyle can be something of a pushover and he didn’t really protest when Scott took over the company Kyle helped found and develop. Scott bragged to me that he’d undercut Kyle and hadn’t really compensated him properly for his part.” She shrugged. “He thought it made him a shrewd businessman.”

  I frowned. “But they didn’t argue over that?”

  Kelly shook her head. “Nope. Kyle continued hanging out with Scott. I even brought up to Kyle privately one time that I’d heard he should have done better when Scott bought him out. But Kyle defended him. That’s the way he’s always been. But I wonder if this weekend was the final straw for him.”