Peggy Dulle - Liza Wilcox 01 - Death Is Clowning Around Read online

  Afterwards, he even let me help him clean up. Again I caught him starting to say something but he held back. When the kitchen was cleaned, I asked. “Where to now?”

  “There’s a fireplace in my bedroom.”

  It was getting cool in the house, and I hated to be cold, but up to the bedroom, already? “That’s fine, but is there someplace to sit besides your bed.”

  “Yeah, but what for?” His expression wasn’t hard to read. He had one thing on his mind.

  “Maybe to talk for awhile and find out a few things about each other.”

  The corners of his mouth angled up in a crooked smile. “Okay.”

  We grabbed our sodas and walked up stairs to his bedroom. He had a king-size four-poster bed that was a good three feet off the ground, made of cherry wood. He had a few candles lit in the room, filling the room with a nice vanilla scent. I looked at him and rolled my eyes.

  He raised his eyebrows. “You want me to put them out while we talk?”

  “No, that’s okay.”

  I went over to the small couch and two chairs in front of a huge picture window. The view of the pine trees and the surrounding mountains was breathtaking. I set my drink down on the coffee table and sat down on the couch. Tom sat next to me. He put his feet up on the table, so I did, too.

  I leaned my head down on his shoulder. “This is nice.”

  “Yes.” He kissed me on my forehead.

  I put my hand up. “Wait a minute, buddy. First we talk.”

  “Okay,” he huffed, loudly. “What do you want to talk about?”

  “Well, the only thing I know about you is that you’re a sheriff, your house is being remodeled, and you don’t own a dog.”

  He sat up straight and eyed me disbelievingly. “I do too have a dog.”

  “You do?”

  “Yeah.

  I looked around. “Where?”

  “He’s at the vets.”

  “Why?”

  “A few days ago there was a robbery at a warehouse outside of town and he was shot.”

  “Your dog was shot?” The color drained from my face. I didn’t even like it when I had to take Shelby to the vet for her yearly shots.

  “He’s a police dog. It happens sometimes.”

  “Then he’s not a pet.”

  “Yes, he is. I’m a policeman and he’s a police dog. Duke and I go together.”

  “What kind of dog is Duke?”

  “A German Shepherd.”

  “Of course.”

  He reached over and stroked the side of my face. “Anything else you’d like to know.”

  “Yeah, just about a hundred different things.”

  He pulled his hand back and crossed them over his chest. He looked like one of my students pouting. I never give in to them, so he wasn’t getting off that lightly. “Tell me about your family.”

  “Fine. My mom’s name was Blaire and my dad’s name was Ethan.”

  “You say ‘was,’ so they’re dead?”

  “Yeah, they were killed in an auto accident about twenty years ago.”

  Making him talking about his dead parents. There’s a mood killer. But since I’d already killed it, I might as well push forward. “What about siblings?”

  “I have a younger brother named Duane. I raised him, so he pretty much hates me.”

  “I can understand that. I have a younger sister, Jordan. She’s a district attorney in New York and we don’t agree on anything. She tells me I’m too soft and I tell her she’s too hard. I haven’t seen her in a couple of years.”

  “Is Liza your real name or is it short for something?”

  “My full name is Elizabeth. My sister couldn’t say it, so she started calling me Liza and it stuck.”

  “What about your parents?” He finally seemed to be into this “let’s learn about each other” talk.

  “My parents were both killed in a plane crash a few years back. My dad was a pilot and he owned a small Cessna. They were flying back from a vacation in Mexico. Some bad weather came up quickly and their plane was hit by lightning.”

  “I’m sorry, Liza.” He put his arms around me again. “I guess we’re both orphans.”

  “Yes and we both have siblings that don’t like us.”

  He turned my face toward him. “We like each other.”

  “Yeah,” I said quietly.

  “Enough talking?” he asked, with a sideways glance at his bed.

  “Yeah.” I leaned over and kissed him.

  He stood up and pulled me to my feet. Then he picked me up and carried me to his bed.

  Chapter 9

  Tom and I took it slowly, exploring each other’s body. Several times my hair got in the way and I tried to pull it back.

  He reached over and stopped me. “I love your hair.”

  “You don’t have to deal with this mop on a daily basis,” I grumbled.

  “I wish I did.”

  He buried his head in my hair and we continued. An hour or so later, I sat up. “Okay, I’m hungry again. What’s for dessert?”

  Tom shook his head and sat up. “You eat more than any other person I know.”

  I patted my stomach. “That’s why I carry a few extra pounds. I’m always hungry. I think it’s because during school I don’t really have time for lunch so I just graze all day long.”

  “What do you mean graze?” He frowned.

  “Snack at ten o’clock recess, yogurt at twelve when the kids leave, and then I keep working. At three I have another snack, a light dinner at five and then I’m looking for more by seven.”

  He checked his watch. “Your stomach’s right on time. It’s seven o’clock.”

  “Do you have something that I can wear?”

  Tom got up and brought me a dark blue terrycloth robe. “How’s this?”

  “Just fine.” I wrapped myself in the robe. “Tell me you’ve got something to eat in the refrigerator besides dinner leftovers. Although the salad was really good and I could probably just eat that again if that’s all you have…”

  He put his hand over my mouth. “You do ramble a bit.”

  I pulled his hand down. “I know. Where’s the food?”

  He put on a robe and we walked back into the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and we both stood in front of it. It was empty except for the salad we’d had for dinner. I really didn’t want more of that. I looked up at him. “What’s in the cupboards?”

  “Not much. Remember I haven’t been living here in the last several weeks.” He opened the cupboard.

  I grabbed the bag of tortilla chips and horded it under my arm.

  He put his hands on his hips. “Those probably belong to the workers.”

  “Too bad. Finder’s keepers.”

  “I’m a cop. I might have to arrest you for stealing.”

  I turned and headed back up the stairs, then looked over my shoulder. “Then bring your handcuffs.” I had food and I was feeling very generous.

  He came running after me, which caused Shelby to go nuts. She started barking and chasing him. Then he tripped on the stairs and hit his eye on an exposed board that the contractors had left. I rushed down. His face was red and already starting to swell.

  “What the hell?” He rubbed the side of his face.

  “I’m sorry. She’s part Sheltie. It’s a herding dog. I know not to run or she chases me.”

  “I think I know that now, too.” He looked gray, unstable and mad. His eye was already starting to puff up and turn black and blue. I went down to the kitchen, got some ice, and put it in a towel. I brought it back to him. He was still sitting on the stairs.

  I sat down next to him. “Do you want me to call a doctor?”

  “No,” he replied gruffly. “It’s going to be hard enough to explain this without adding an ambulance ride.” He put the ice pack on his eye. Shelby came over and started licking his hand. He petted her. “It’s okay, girl. I just learned something today. Don’t run around you.”

  I reached up and pushed
the hair out of his eyes. “Do you want to lie down?”

  He lifted up the ice pack and smiled.

  We walked upstairs and he lay down on the bed. I sat next to him and ate my chips.

  A few minutes later he took off the ice pack. I picked it up and put it back on his face. “If you don’t leave this on, it’s going to get worse.”

  He took it off again. “It’s going to look bad, no matter what.” He grabbed the bag of chips. “Besides, I’m hungry too.”

  We sat in his bed and ate chips. When the bag was empty, he put it on the nightstand.

  His eye looked terrible. “Does it hurt?” I reached up to touch it.

  He grabbed my hand. “No, it’s feels just fine.”

  “You’re a liar.” I shook my head.

  “Okay, it feels terrible.”

  “What can I do?” I replied, sympathetically. “Do you want some more ice?”

  “No, how about you stay the rest of the week and nurse me back to health?”

  “No, I’m leaving tomorrow. I’ve got to get Shelby home, so I can get to clown camp.”

  He reached up and pulled my face down to his. “Then nurse me back to health tonight.”

  “I can try.” And that’s exactly what I did. We spent the rest of the night together. It was wonderful to feel his arms around me while I slept.

  When I got up in the morning, Tom was still sound asleep. I quietly walked to the bathroom and took a long hot shower. Unfortunately all my clean clothes were still at the hotel, so if I was going to put on dirty clothes, at least my body would be clean. I wrapped the robe around me and came out of the bathroom. He was gone, hopefully downstairs finding me some breakfast.

  I looked around and couldn’t find the clothes that I’d taken off last night. Did Tom hide them so I couldn’t go home? What a brat! I tied the robe tighter and went in search of that man.

  I found him fully dressed and downstairs cooking waffles. They smelled wonderful. I’d have settled for last night’s Chinese Chicken Salad, but fresh homemade waffles sounded like a great way to start the day. Then I remembered about my clothes. “Hey, have you seen my clothes?”

  “Yeah.”

  I walked into the kitchen and kissed him on the back of the neck. “Where are they?”

  “I threw them outside.”

  “You what!” I bellowed. “How dare you! I want them back right now!”

  He started laughing, then cringed and held his face. His eye looked worse this morning. “Just kidding, my dear. Boy, do you fire up quickly.” He pointed to my bags at the front door. “I went over to the Inn and got your stuff. I also fed Shelby since she didn’t get to eat last night.”

  I leaned over and kissed him gently on his uninjured cheek. “Thanks. How did you manage to get in and out without anyone seeing your eye?”

  “Very carefully.”

  “I’ll call them and pay my final bill over the phone.” I found my cell phone. I had a message on it and pushed the code.

  “Hey Teach. It’s Justin. I did some more research on your Uptown Clowns. It’s definitely a cult of some kind. They talk about meditating into a new plane. Finding the way to happiness through something called ‘clownship.’ There aren’t any female clowns either. I think they use the women for the porn sites. Tell your friend to be very careful of these people. If his son has already given them his real name, I’d be extremely careful. I sent you an article written by one of their ex-clowns to your email address. It makes for very interesting and frightening reading. Take care and tell your friend to do the same. See you later today.”

  Tom looked over from the kitchen. “Long message?”

  “Yeah, it’s just one of my students telling me about an award he won.” I hated lying to Tom but he wouldn’t understand or let me get anywhere near the Uptown Clown camp if he knew what Justin had told me.

  “Do they do that often?”

  I brought my attention back to him. “Do what?”

  “Call you.”

  “Oh yeah, I give out my cell phone number to everyone. I’m terrible at answering my school or home voicemail. In fact my recordings say, ‘Don’t leave a message or you may never hear from me again.’ It’s just easier to give them my cell phone number. I still keep in touch with several of the kids who I used to teach.”

  “Don’t they call you at all hours of the night?”

  “Sometimes, but only when they’ve got great news or there’s a real problem. And I’d rather know about a problem late than have them coming at me in the morning. By then they’re even more upset.” I dialed the Inn and paid the rest of my bill. Sarah wished me a safe drive home. I thanked her for all her help and hung up.

  “Come on over and have some waffles.”

  “I thought you’d never ask.” The waffles were as wonderful as the meal had been last night. If I spent too much time with this man I might have to give up my commitment of never exercising.

  After breakfast, I took my bag upstairs and changed. When I came down, Tom was standing at the door. His face said it all. His eyes were narrow, his brow and jaw tight. He didn’t want me to go.

  “I’ll be careful.”

  “You will call me at least four times a day. Once when you first get up, then around noon, then in the afternoon, and again before you go to bed. If I don’t hear from you, I’m coming to camp and drag you by that beautiful hair away from the clowns.”

  I walked over and leaned my body against his. “Are you going to miss me?”

  He reached down and kissed me, hard and passionately. My body reacted like a volcano. I couldn’t catch my breath and my hands shook. I stepped back and put my hands out. “Okay, you’re going to miss me.”

  Then his face became serious. “I don’t want this relationship to end here.”

  I reached up and stroked the side of his face. “Me neither. I’ll make sure I call you four times a day and maybe you can come down next weekend and stay at my place.”

  His face lit up. “That would be nice. You can show off your new boyfriend and what your dog did to him.”

  I laughed and Shelby barked. “Okay.”

  “One more thing before you go.”

  I didn’t have time for him to drag me back upstairs, and if he kissed me again, I might be the one doing the dragging.

  He stepped forward and held out a small handgun. I put my hand up. “I don’t like guns.”

  “I’ve already figured out that I can’t talk you out of going to clown camp but before you go, I’m going to give you a shooting lesson. You are not leaving without this gun and knowing how to protect yourself. According to their website we know that the clowns are into pornography. If they are also kidnappers, they are dangerous people.”

  “I’m going to clown camp. And just like they have two different websites, I’m sure they keep their legal and illegal activities separate.”

  “Just the same, I either handcuff you to the swing on my front porch or I teach you how to shoot.”

  I didn’t want the gun. I didn’t believe in guns. Why was I getting involved with a man who carried a gun for a living? But I knew he wouldn’t let me go unless I took it. Then I’d lock the gun up and give it back to him when I saw him next weekend.

  Tom took me outside in the back of his house. I watched as he showed me how to load the gun and then slowly squeeze the trigger. When he finally handed me the gun, I ejected the clip, slammed it back in and fired at the tree – striking it with each shot.

  He raised his eyebrows and inclined his head toward the tree I’d pummeled.

  “I said I didn’t like guns. Not that I didn’t know how to shoot.” I ejected the clip, made sure there wasn’t a bullet in the chamber, and handed them to Tom.

  “That’s great. Who taught you to shoot?”

  “My dad taught me and my sister to shoot several different kinds of handguns, including a rifle and shotgun.” My parent’s might have been staunch environmentalist but they were also realists.

  “Was yo
ur dad a hunter?” Tom asked, as we walked back toward the front of his house.

  “No, but my dad used to say that the world is full of many different kinds of people – some good and some bad. He wanted me and my sister to be able to protect ourselves, so he taught us to shoot and some self defense moves.”

  “I feel better already about you going to clown camp. When you are at the camp, load the gun and keep it loaded. And if you can, keep it with you at all time.”

  I put my hands on my hips and smiled. “Where in my clown suit do you suggest that I put it?”

  He didn’t take my joke very well. He cleared his throat. “Liza, be serious. If you can find a way, keep it with you, okay?”

  “Fine.”

  Tom drove Shelby and me to my car at the Inn, parked, then he picked up my bag and put it in the car for me. I saw Sarah in the window with her mouth open. Was it seeing Tom with me or seeing Tom’s face? Either way, I’d given her something to talk about for the day. I leaned over and kissed him goodbye on the mouth.

  “Was that for me or Sarah?” he teased.

  “Both.” Now I’d given her something to gossip about for a week.

  I waved goodbye to Tom, and Shelby and I were on the road home. It was the middle of the week and day, so traffic was light. A couple of times I thought I saw a white van following us. I laughed out loud. I was never paranoid before of clowns.

  I thought about Jessica and wondered if she was alive or not. Thinking about her made me think about my best friend, Sandy. I still felt like I had never done enough to help find her. I hated to fail. A tear ran down my cheek. Damn it! The therapist my parents sent me to after Sandy was kidnapped and killed told me I needed to find closure so that I could move on. Maybe looking for Jessica would give me what I needed.

  Two hours later we pulled into my driveway. It was nice to be home. When I let Shelby in she went directly to her water and food feeders. I went straight for the refrigerator. Nothing there. I found a frozen pizza in the freezer. That would do. I popped it in the oven and opened up my laptop. I wanted to see what the ex-clown had to say about Uptown Clowns.

  Chapter 10