'Vaughn's the best,' she agreed, but she was unable to get his first statement out of her mind. His reason for missing the party was a bald-faced lie. 'I saw the last football practice. Nobody got hurt.'
Roy paled and glanced at his watch. 'I gotta get going. Work calls.'
She nodded in understanding. 'You must be busier than ever between the last break-in and now the fire damage.'
'Like I said, busy, busy.' Roy stepped backward in a sudden rush to leave.
Since she hadn't been the one to initiate the conversation, Annabelle let him go. She stopped at the counter for a brief conversation with Joanne before heading outside..
Just in time to see Roy puffing on a cigarette beside his car. And for a brief second, his gaze met hers. Right before he dropped the butt and ground it out beneath the toe of his boot.
ANNABELLE'S THOUGHTS spun more quickly than the tires on her hooker mobile. Roy. Cigarettes. Fire. She needed to talk to someone about her suspicions, but immediately dismissed Vaughn from her list.
He had enough on his mind without having to cope with her half-baked assumptions about his head foreman, too. And surely that's all they were-ridiculous assumptions about a lecherous but otherwise harmless man. Still, needing someone to bounce things off of, she drove directly to Mara's apartment and began to bang on her door.
She heard sounds from inside but nobody answered. She knocked louder.
'Okay, okay, maybe I should just give you a key after all.' Mara yanked the door open wide. 'Annabelle,' she said, clearly surprised.
'I guess you were expecting Nick?'
Mara ran a hand through her disheveled hair. 'Yeah. Well no I wasn't expecting anyone, but with all the banging, I thought he'd come back. Never mind. Come in.' She waved Annabelle inside.
She walked into the small but pretty apartment with enough windows to provide lots of sunlight and enough plants for Annabelle's liking. 'I'm sorry to barge in when you're home sick but it's important.'
Mara shook her head. 'It's just a cold. I woke up with it this morning. But between the fire, the smoke and all, I thought I could get more paperwork done here. What's up?'
Annabelle twisted her hands together, feeling ridiculous. 'It's about the fire. The marshalls said it was caused by a cigarette, right?'
Mara nodded.
'Let me ask you something. Did you know Vaughn's ex-wife?'
Mara shook her head. 'They didn't live in town but from what I understand, she was a mistake he hates to talk about. Why?'
'The police think she could be a suspect but I have another idea I need to run by you.'
'Shoot.'
'If you count everyone we sent invitations to, who didn't show up last night?'
'Hmm. Let's sit down a minute so I can think. Want something to drink?'
'No, thanks.'
Mara poured herself a large glass of orange juice and joined Annabelle at a small white kitchen table. 'It's hard to know since it was so last minute. There were no place cards and no official RSVP was required. Off the top of my head, the only two noticeably missing were Roy Murray and Fred O'Grady. Fred's wife went into labor and the only time Roy's predictable is when he's hitting on women or pushing his son's athletic agenda.'
Annabelle nodded. 'See? That's motive right there,' she said, her voice rising.
'What's motive? And for what?' Mara sneezed.
'Bless you.'
'Thanks.' Mara grabbed a tissue from the box she'd been carrying around with her. 'Have Kleenex, will travel,' she said laughing. 'Now talk to me. What are you thinking?'
'You have to promise not to laugh.'
Mara nodded. 'Swear.'
'Well, I ran into Roy at the coffee shop. I wanted to leave, he tried to buy me a drink, I said no, but he made me stay and talk. Until I mentioned he'd missed the party. Then he couldn't wait to be gone.'
Mara rolled her eyes. 'There's no doubt about it, Roy's an odd duck.'
'But there's more. He lied about why he wasn't at the party and when I walked outside he was grinding a cigarette butt into the ground.' Her stomach jumping, her nerves rioting, Annabelle tapped her fingers against the Formica tabletop.
'Look, I understand why you're upset, but with Roy it could be as simple as the fact that he was cheating on his wife last night and doesn't want to get caught.' Mara paused to blow her nose. 'Rumor has it Roy's wife told him if he strayed again, he'd be out on his ass and she'd file for sole custody. And you know how much his son means to him.'
Once again, Annabelle's hunch was strengthened. 'That's just it! If the lodge were destroyed, Vaughn would be free to take the coaching job. It's Roy's dream for his son to go pro and he thinks the boy needs Vaughn to do it.'
Mara frowned. 'Even without the lodge, Vaughn wouldn't take that job. He'd rather help in his own way.'
'You know that. I know that. Any sane person knows that, but is Roy sane?' Annabelle pressed her fingers against her pounding temples. 'I just don't know what to do with this theory of mine. I'm afraid the police will laugh me out of the building, and Vaughn and Nick have enough on their plate without me adding stupid ideas to their list of problems.'
'Obviously you don't think it's all that stupid or you wouldn't be this upset,' Mara said softly. 'And really how much more lame is your idea than blaming Vaughn's ex-wife?'
Annabelle bit down on the inside of her cheek. 'If I do something about it and I'm wrong, I've accused an innocent man. Innocent of arson, anyway. His cheating is a foregone conclusion. But if I'm right about the fire and I say nothing, the lodge is still at risk.'
Mara touched her hand. 'The lodge is at risk until
She rose and shook her head. 'It's probably my imagination acting overtime. I'm going to go.'
Mara stood. 'Annabelle, wait. You're upset. Let's talk some more.'
'You need your rest. Besides, Roy was going back to work. I can talk to him there. I need to get a feeling one way or another before saying anything to Vaughn. Besides both Vaughn and Nick are watching everyone right now. It'll be okay,' she said as much for Mara's benefit as her own.
'Well I'm here if you need me.'
'Would you watch Boris for me?'
Mara nodded.
'Thank you. And don't worry.' Annabelle forced a smile. 'It'll be okay,' she said, hoping to convince herself and relieve the gnawing gut feeling that just wouldn't disappear.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
VAUGHN RUBBED HIS FISTS against his burning eyes. He hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours and was so exhausted he could barely concentrate. Yet hours after Annabelle had left his office, he still couldn't stop thinking about her. He had financial statements to go through, he would have to put thousands of his personal money into the lodge to keep it afloat, and yet the only thing on his mind was Annabelle.
She never ceased to surprise him. From showing up here this morning, to covering any emotional reaction to his disappearing act the night before, to making sure he had food in the fridge, the woman simply blew him away. So much so he hadn't had the heart to tell her he wouldn't be home to share meals because he planned to live, eat and sleep at the lodge until the culprit was caught. He'd just have to arrange to have the contents of his full refrigerator delivered to him here. As for Annabelle…
He reminded himself he couldn't afford any more distractions if he didn't want to end up bankrupt, his dream gone up in smoke. Literally.
'The insurance adjuster thinks we'll recoup enough to rebuild,' Nick said as he strode into the office.
Vaughn glanced up at his partner and friend. 'That's good news. In the meantime I've arranged to liquidate
