Chapter 9

CHAPTER NINE

N earby Cumberland Falls State Resort Park had a seafood buffet on Friday and Saturday nights, and Aaron told Maisey that was where he’d planned to take her for dinner. When they stepped into the dining room, she got a big surprise.

Carly was there with Ross, her firefighter husband. So was ShawHarrison, a local conservation officer and friend of Aaron’s, and his wife, Cherilyn, was with him. The three couples had become great friends, which had been easy with the men’s friendships already in place, and the fact that Aaron worked for Carly. Maisey couldn’t believe it. “You all managed to get sitters too?”

“My parents are looking for excuses to keep Belle for us,” Ross said with a smile.

“Where are yours?” Aaron asked Shaw.

“They’re over at Mom and Dad’s. When we left, Candace and Maya were trying to learn some dance they saw on Tockity and Lara was trying to do it too. Took everything I had not to laugh,” Shaw answered, grinning.

“I know she’s disabled, but it was still funny,” Cherilyn said with a little laugh.

“Couldn’t be any worse than me,” Maisey said. “I can’t dance to save my life.”

They stayed for several hours, laughing, eating, and drinking, and when it was time to leave, all three men left a twenty-dollar bill on the table. Even though it was a buffet, the server had kept their glasses filled, plates picked up, and mess generally contained, and repeatedly asked if they needed anything. They wanted her to like them so they’d be treated well when they came back.

Maisey and Aaron plopped down on the sofa as soon as they stepped through the door at home. “Oh, god, I ate too much,” Aaron moaned.

“You? I think I ate five hundred boiled shrimp,” Maisey groaned.

Aaron laughed. “I had enough of that steamboat round of venison that I’ve probably got deer DNA mixed with mine now.” They both finally stopped laughing, and he turned his head to look at her. “Are we doing the coat thing tonight?”

Maisey let out a quick sigh. “I need to.”

“She’ll still be just as―”

“I know. Just as dead tomorrow. But the sooner I figure this out, the sooner we can solve it. And I’m hoping when we solve it and find her killer, she’ll be at rest and I can wear the coat without getting stabbed every time I put it on.”

Aaron chuckled low in his chest. “That sounds horrible.”

“Yeah, but that’s how it feels.”

“Well, I hope she keeps haunting it,” he announced.

“Why?”

“Because the damn thing is ugly as sin!” As soon as the words were out, Maisey picked up a magazine and slapped him in the head. “Oww! It’s true! It’s hideous!”

“No, it’s not! It’s cute. I like it.” She sat there for a second before she said, “Let’s just do it and get it over with.”

“Okay. Let me go to the bathroom and I’ll be right back.”

“I get a turn after you,” she called after him as he disappeared down the hallway.

Ten minutes later, they were on the deck just like before. Maisey stuck her arms into the coat. “Ready?”

Aaron gave her a look. “I should be asking you that.”

“I’m ready. Here we go.” She gripped the lapels, pulled the coat forward, and let it fall onto her shoulders.

Blackness. And little pinpricks of light far, far away. The same figure. But the voice was clearer. She heard him say something new, and it gave her pause, but soon enough, he was thrusting the knife into her midsection. Same hands, male and younger. Not VinceSkidmore’s hands. She’d made sure to look at them.

As soon as the visions faded and she could focus on the lights of the bulbs on the patio, she dropped the coat onto the deck. “Well? Anything?”

“Yeah. Those hands… They’re not VinceSkidmore’s. Too young. And even though I didn’t want to, I looked at Will’s hands while we were there. Not his either. His fingers are fat enough that the knuckles aren’t knobby. These are.”

“Okay. Anything else?”

“Yeah. Something new. That stupid high school comment?” Aaron nodded. “He said, ‘She’s just a stupid high school girl.’ Wonder what that means?”

“Hmmm. Maybe she was cheating on Will with somebody else who was cheating on her? And they told her it was just a stupid high school girl? But that doesn’t sound right.”

“No. It doesn’t. This person, they’re really, really mad. I mean, really mad. Furious. Talking about ruining things, somebody being a good man. I don’t get it.”

Aaron was still kneeling in front of her, and he took her hands in his. “We’ll figure this out. And babe, I was just kidding. I don’t like the coat, but if it makes you happy, that’s fine. I hope solving this brings her peace and she can leave you alone with the coat.”

“Thanks.”

“And now will you tell me about the swimmin―”

“That’s it. You’re sleeping in the guest room tonight,” she snapped.

“I’m just kidding! Just kidding. I love you, Maise.”

“I love you too.” Would she tell him the story if his life depended on it?

She’d have to think about that, but probably not.