below her, but drifted back to sleep, awakening for good at five-thirty. Gray light was trying without much success to illuminate her room as she gathered her clothes and went down the hall to the bathroom.
Her shower may not have been a substitute for a good night's sleep, but she had to admit she did feel better. She reached for the doorknob at her room and then froze.
The door was ajar. She'd taken care to shut it without making noise when she'd left for her shower. She stepped back, then reached out and pushed the door open.
'Who's there?” she demanded.
'Oh, please, skip the dramatics and get in here,” Lauren snapped.
'Where have you been?'
'Not here,” Lauren said. “Tell me what you've got.'
'Do you realize the police are looking for you?'
'Well, duh.” She sat on the other bed, her slender legs crossed, her foot bobbing nervously.
'Where
'My brother saw the police arrive and heard them mention my name. He came and found me. I stayed at his place. Don't waste any time worrying about ratting me out-I won't be there again-but I need to know. Have you found out who killed Selestina?'
'So far, everything I've found says you did it,” Harriet said and sat down on her bed opposite Lauren. “And for what it's worth, I don't think it's a wise move hiding from the police.'
'Yeah, that's easy for you to say. You're not the one being framed. Innocent people go to jail all the time.'
'So far, all I've found is a lot of contradictory information. Selestina's son at the very least has the knowledge to prepare the poison that killed her, and he freely admits he's trying to change the direction of the business, but it's not obvious he needed to kill his mother to do that. We did find the quilt counterfeiting operation thanks to a tip from your brother, but so far that hasn't gone anywhere. I don't know what else to tell you.'
'You need to get cracking. I can't stay hidden forever. Someone wanted the old bat dead. You're supposed to be the big crime solver-figure it out.'
'Wait a minute! I never claimed to be able to solve crimes.'
'You figured out who killed Avanell, and if you can do it for her, you can do it for me. Besides-'
'I know,” Harriet cut her off. “I owe you.'
Lauren gave her a smug smile. “Yes, you do, so get to work. Now, I've got to go get some clothes and get out of here before someone wakes up and sees me.'
She jumped up and swept out of the room. Harriet flopped back on her bed and put her hands on her forehead.
'What am I going to do?” she asked the ceiling.
No answers were forthcoming, so she got up, pulled her gray sweatshirt on over her jeans and green T-shirt, grabbed her wallet and went downstairs.
The kitchenette was dark, and she didn't want to turn on the lights and chance waking one of the early risers, so she went on out to the porch. She never tired of the forest that surrounded the Tree House. The smell of damp earth and pine needles was calming. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She was about to sit on the porch swing when she heard a rustle in the bushes.
Harriet quietly stepped down the stairs and around the side of the Tree House toward the restroom building. She could hear voices coming from the trail, and quickly slid behind a large rhododendron.
'That was a really foolish move,” a low voice whispered.
'I had to do something, didn't I?” Both people were whispering, and she couldn't identify either one.
'You need to decide whose team you're on, and if it's not mine, we have a problem. And you know how I feel about problems.'
Harriet wiggled around, but the foliage was too thick for her to see anything. She felt her bush move as someone pushed past it and went on down the trail. She held her breath and a few seconds later, heard footsteps crunching the gravel on the trail going in the opposite direction. She waited what she estimated to be five minutes then crept back to the porch.
Aiden arrived just as she started to sit on the swing for a second time.
'Did you see anyone on the path or in the parking lot?” she asked.
'No, should I have?'
She quickly recounted the conversation she'd overheard.
'Oooh, so it's a conspiracy,” he said and pulled her into his arms. “I've missed you.” He wrapped his arms around her, pressing her against his chest.
'You have a funny way of showing it,” she complained, but slid her arms around his waist.
'Hey, I defended your honor, what more do you want?'
'You mean when you clocked some poor guy in the jaw just because he touched me?'
'Some poor guy who might have killed his own mother.'
'Well, there is that,” She looked up into his white-blue eyes, barely suppressing a laugh.
Aiden's face grew serious. “I should have hit him harder. If he did kill his mother, he's probably the one who ran me off the road and tried to burn you and Carla alive.'
'That's a big if,” Harriet said and let go of him. “Come on, you promised coffee, and it's cold out here.'
He leaned in and kissed her lightly, sending shivers all the way to her toes, then turned and led the way up the path to the parking area. She sighed and followed. No matter how she fought it, he did make her heart go pitty- pat.
'Guess who was in my room when I got back from my shower,” she said when they were both buckled into their seats in the nondescript rental car.
'Don't even say Tom Bainbridge.'
'Lauren,” she replied.
'Isn't she staying in the Tree House?” Aiden pulled out of the parking lot and headed for Angel Harbor.
'She was until she went on the lam.'
He turned and looked at her.
'Hey, watch the road. One accident this week is enough,” she said.
'Are you serious? Lauren is hiding from the police?'
'They're looking for her, and she didn't come home last night. She said she stayed at her brother's, but she won't be there anymore. And before you say anything, yes, I told her she was being foolish and she should turn herself in. She said innocent people go to jail all the time. I have to admit I couldn't argue with that.'
'This is getting crazy,” he said as he pulled into a parking space in front of a cedar-sided building overlooking the harbor.
'You know what's really crazy?” Harriet said when they had both ordered their drinks, switching to cocoa at the last minute, and were settled on a worn purple sofa that faced a window overlooking the water. “What's crazy is that I've been spending a lot of time with Carla this week.'
'If you think that's crazy you need to get out more,” Aiden said with a smile.
Harriet gave him a playful punch on his shoulder. “If you would let me finish.'
'Please, continue.'
'Carla's been working at the quilt store for a couple of months now, and attending the single mothers quilt group for longer than that, but somehow, none of us picked up the fact that she's living with her baby in a borrowed van.'
'How can that be? Foggy Point has a homeless shelter-my mom donated a lot of money to it. And I'm pretty sure there's a women's shelter, too.'
'She told me herself, so I'm sure it's true. She's not battered, so she probably doesn't qualify for the women's shelter, and frankly, if I were faced with taking a baby to the homeless shelter, I'd probably choose a car myself. She said she takes the baby to a free daycare program. She begged me not to say anything, but I can't stop thinking of her and that baby parked on the street at night.'
'That's really harsh.'
'I've been toying with the idea of asking her to move into Aunt Beth's place with me. It's certainly big enough.'
