Murder of a Small-Town Honey

stumbling back into his desk.

'Don't touch me again, or when I call the police this time it will be to report an assault.' Skye backed away, putting a chair between them.

Lloyd stopped. She could almost see his mind work­ing. He visibly forced himself to calm down. 'In the fu­ture I would prefer to make those kinds of decisions. We often handle minor problems in-house.' He smiled insin­cerely and sat down behind his desk. 'You do under­stand.'

Uninvited, Skye also sat. 'Yes, I understand that. What I don't understand is what makes you think you have the right to shout and manhandle me.'

Pushing up the sleeve of her blouse, she displayed the angry red mark where his fingers had grabbed her.

He looked uneasy.

'I sure hope Uncle Charlie doesn't notice if this turns into a bruise.'

'I apologize.' He spoke through gritted teeth. 'We'll want to keep this episode between ourselves. You know how easily rumors get started.'

Skye smiled slightly. 'Yes. Rumors certainly do start easily and die hard. In fact, there was something I heard about you yesterday that I wanted you to clarify.'

'Fine. I have no secrets,' Lloyd replied jovially, appar­ently attempting to make up for his earlier behavior.

'You've probably heard that my brother, Vince, was taken in for questioning regarding Honey Adair's murder?' Skye looked at Lloyd, who nodded. 'I'm very concerned about this, and so I've been trying to find out more about Honey when she lived here.'

'What has this got to do with me?' Lloyd fidgeted in his chair.

'Someone told me you were her softball coach the sum­mer before her senior year.'

'Really? I don't recall.' Lloyd continued in a patroniz­ing tone. 'After all, I coached numerous sports for many years. I can't be expected to remember every student on every team.'

'From what I was told, you should remember Honey. I understand the two of you had a closer relationship than you would have had with most of your students.'

Lloyd's face reddened with angry color, and he lunged to his feet. 'Who told you that? It's a lie! If I hear you re­peating that piece of crap, I'll not only sue you for slander, I'll make sure you're dismissed. And don't think Charlie Patukas can protect your job. I've been talking to people at your old school. I know that you were fired, and I know why.'

Skye was so upset by her confrontation with Lloyd that she was halfway home before she remembered that she had to get her paycheck in the bank before her account was overdrawn.

She pulled up behind a bright-green 'duallie' truck with four rear tires instead of two, giving it the appearance of a toad. A purple bumper sticker read, MY KED CAN BEAT UP YOUR HONOR STUDENT. Skye had liked the original bumper stickers boasting of having a child who was an honor stu­dent, but trust Scumble River to come up with a grotesque variation.

Her banking took longer than she planned. Gillian, one of her least favorite relatives, was on duty at the teller's window, dressed in a hot-pink zip-front suit. The jacket was open to the waist, revealing a black stretch-lace camisole with a low neckline. Skye blinked and looked again. She didn't remember Gillian's being so well endowed. Skye

would have bet money that Gillian was wearing either sili-cone or a Wonderbra.

'Well, if it isn't my long-lost cousin Skye. Ginger said she saw you last night at the grocery store. When are you going to come visit?' Gillian asked.

Gillian was Ginger's twin sister. Both worked as tellers at Scumble River First National Bank. This often confused the customers, as well as the management. The twins were proof that evolution can go in reverse. Instead of getting smarter and learning from their experiences, both women tended to repeat the same mistakes over and over, with in­creasingly dire results.

'As soon as I get settled, I thought I'd have you and my other cousins over for lunch.' Skye dodged Gillian's ques­tion while nudging the deposit slip toward her.

'We were sure surprised to hear you were coming home. This is such a small town, and we all have such small minds. Everyone thought you'd be living in New York or California by now.'

Pasting a smile on her face, Skye shoved the check closer to Gillian. 'Life is full of surprises. Maybe next year I'll be in Alaska. You can never tell.'

'After all the times you said you'd never come back, it must be hard to face people.' Gillian slowly started to tap the keys of the adding machine. 'Especially after having gained so much weight.'

Skye managed to keep a pleasant look on her face by thinking, Yes, it is. Thank you for announcing it to the world. If brains were lard, you wouldn't have enough to grease a skillet. She looked pointedly at the line grow­ing behind her. 'It's been great talking to you. We'll have to have lunch sometime. But I really need to get going now.'

'Sure. We've really missed you at the family gatherings. It's a shame we never got to meet that fiance of yours be­fore he broke up with you.' Gillian completed the transac-

tion, giving Skye the deposit receipt and counting the cash into her hand.

Skye made her escape and hurried next door to the dry cleaners. For once it was a relief to pay the ransom for her clothing. At least none of her relatives worked there.

CHAPTER 16

It's Impossible

Skye was stretched out across her bed with an ice­cube-filled washcloth covering her eyes. Her only movement was a fingertip idly tracing the stitching on the quilt. It had deep rose-colored diamonds and ivory rings on a cranberry background, and had been on every bed she'd owned since her Grandma Leofanti gave it to her when she turned sixteen.

After the scene at the junior high and the run-in with her cousin at the bank, Skye was emotionally exhausted. Upon reaching home, almost before closing the door, she'd shed her clothes and kicked off her shoes. She'd grabbed a hand­ful of ice from the freezer and a cloth from the bathroom, then flung herself across the bed and tried to forget her en­counters with Lloyd and Gillian.

The harder she tried to think of something else, the more the confrontations bothered her. As a psychologist I'm sup­posed to know how to deal with people. Instead, I'm alien­ating them left and right. First Darleen, then Wally, and now Lloyd. Who will be next? Gee, I haven't spoken to the superintendent of schools yet. Or how about the mayor? Maybe the pope will grant me an audience.

A loud ring from the telephone interrupted her self-casti-gation. She reached for the handset without removing the washcloth from her eyes. 'Hello?'

'Good, you're finally home. Where have you been? It's almost five-thirty.'

'Vince, I've had a bad day,' Skye said in a don't-mess-with-me tone.

'I'm just calling to make sure you remember our double date tonight.'

'Oh, my God!'

'You did forget,' Vince said accusingly.

Skye responded petulantly, 'Gee, I'm sorry I forgot something so important, but I have been a little busy trying to clear your name.'

There was silence on the line, and Skye wondered briefly if he had hung up.

'Yeah, well, ah, thanks. That's good, because Wally was by the shop again today,' Vince mumbled.

'You didn't say anything, did you?'

'No. He said he just wanted to make an appointment for a haircut.'

'Well, you don't really believe that, do you?' Skye sat up.

'Of course I don't. I'm not as stupid as everyone in the family thinks.'

'This is a stressful time, Vince. No one thinks you're stupid. We need to stick together.' She swung her feet to the floor.

'Okay. Let's forget this stuff and have a good time tonight. What are you wearing?'

'Where are we going exactly?'