Crushed in Christmas River Read online

  I could tell from the look in Riley’s eyes that there was something he wanted to talk to me about, so at our five-minute break, we went out in the hallway to talk.

  I couldn’t help thinking about the dream I’d had that morning, and I also couldn’t help feel downright embarrassed about the whole thing.

  I tried not to look in his eyes too much as we spoke, afraid that he’d somehow be able to guess the subject of my midnight movies.

  “I went down to the police station this morning and told them about the SUV almost hitting me the other night,” he said in a low voice.

  After talking to Cinnamon earlier, I’d called Riley to tell him what she suggested.

  “Good,” I said. “Did they tell you anything else about June’s case?”

  Riley shook his head.

  “I don’t know if they took what I said seriously, either, to be honest. They seemed to think there was most likely no connection between the two incidents. Did you hear anything back from your friend?”

  I shook my head. Cin said Daniel was looking into it, but that there were no updates yet. She’d also said that since June hadn’t gotten a good look at the car, there wasn’t a lot to go on.

  “I did go and talk to June in the hospital, though,” I said.

  Riley raised his eyebrows.

  “How’s she doing?”

  “Okay, I think. But she mentioned something interesting. She said she was entered in that big ballroom dance competition. You know that one in a few weeks?”

  Riley nodded, his eyes growing a little wide.

  “Well, it got me thinking. Gertrude had entered in it, too. And maybe it’s just a coincidence, but maybe—”

  I stopped speaking, noticing that Riley’s face had gone pale.

  “What?”

  “If it’s a coincidence, then it’s a pretty damn big one,” he said.

  “Why’s that?”

  He gazed at me.

  “Because I’m entered in that contest, too. And so is Valley. She’s my dance partner.”

  I felt my jaw drop.

  “So you’re saying… you’re saying that all of this doesn’t have to with the play, Riley. It’s the—”

  “The dance competition. Yeah. That’s the thing tying it all together.”

  Just then, Doreen’s screechy voice echoed out into the hallway from the auditorium.

  “Places, actors! Time to return to your places!”

  I glanced back at Riley.

  “But why… I mean, who would want to hurt the dance contestants?”

  He rubbed his face, deep in thought. Then, after a long moment, he shook his head.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “But we need to find out, Kara. Before it becomes more serious than a broken leg.”

  Chapter 12

  I called John, letting him know that I would be a little late, asking if he could pick Laila up from Edna’s house. While his mother-in-law could get on my nerves more than anybody I had ever met in my life, I had to hand it to the old lady — she was good with Laila. And she’d really helped us out these past few busy weeks, offering to look after her granddaughter at the drop of a hat as long as it wasn’t on her bingo night.

  The clouds were gathering in the dimming sky as we drove, and it seemed to me that we might be in for a stormy evening. Usually, the thunderstorms this time of year hit in the afternoon. But occasionally we’d get one that swooped down out of the mountains in the darkness of night and we’d get a real show from Mother Nature. I had my bets on tonight being a real barn burner of a show — I could feel electricity in the air.

  Of course, maybe that had more to do with Riley sitting next to me than it did with the impending storm.

  “So you’re a ballroom dancer, too?” I said, glancing over at him.

  He shrugged.

  “Not really. I took a few lessons for my sister’s wedding years ago. And then Valley asked me to be her partner when her husband dropped out. That top prize sounded good, so I agreed.”

  He let out a sigh, looking out the window at the dark clouds.

  “If I’d known it would lead to all of this, though, I would have never done it.”

  I pulled up into the parking lot and killed the engine. I was about to get out of the car when Riley stopped me by placing his hand gently on my arm.

  “Listen, Kara.”

  I raised my eyebrows, looking over at him.

  “I know that you have better things to do with your time than helping me play Encyclopedia Brown. I just want to let you know that I… I really, really appreciate it.”

  I smiled weakly. Goosebumps had broken out across my skin.

  “It’s no problem. I mean, I don’t want to see anybody else get hurt.”

  His eyes lingered on me for a split second too long and that electricity in the air hung thick like cigarette smoke.

  My heart beat hard in my chest.

  After a moment, I pulled my arm away and cleared my throat.

  “Encyclopedia Brown? What are you, from the 1960s?” I said, smiling nervously. “That was old when I was in school.”

  “Are you kidding? I loved Encyclopedia Brown. Those books were great. And anyways, what’s that quote? The older the wine, the sweeter the flavor?”

  He looked at me for a long moment after saying that.

  I opened the car door.

  “Sometimes,” I said. “But sometimes old is just old.”

  Chapter 13

  When we walked into the empty dance studio, it smelled of cedar incense and Indian sitar music was coming from the back room. Riley and I glanced at each other, then headed to where the music was coming from.

  I knew from Laila’s dance schedule that Judith Duncan didn’t offer classes on Fridays. She kept the doors open, but on those days, she worked on her own interpretive dance routines. A few times a year, she would put a show on in Portland, and she used Fridays as her personal time to develop her work.

  The music got louder as we approached the back room. We walked in, finding Judith in a small studio that had several large rose quartz crystals hanging from the ceiling. They caught the light, sending small shards of pink reflections across the space.

  Judith’s dance routine was mesmerizing to watch. She was in her late-forties, but when she danced, she was ageless. Her movements were infused with grace and reminded me of a swan. The woman could have set a dance routine to a Van Halen song and still could have made it classy and beautiful.

  I felt reluctant to interrupt, but I didn’t know how long the routine would take and we didn’t have all day.

  “Judith?”

  She turned around, smiling when she saw me. She went over to the speaker, turning off the music.

  “It’s so good to see you, Kara,” she said, coming over.

  She turned her attention to Riley.

  “And you — I know I’ve met you before, but I can’t remember where…”

  “I’m Riley,” he said, sticking out his hand to meet hers. “I was here for the ballroom competition registration day.”

  Judith smiled and nodded.

  “Oh, of course. You’re Valley’s partner.”

  She glanced from me to Riley and I could see where her mind was about to go, so I said something before she could get any ideas about the two of us.

  “We actually, uh, we wanted to ask you a question, Judith. If you’ve got a moment?”

  “Sure. What can I help you two with?”

  “Well, this will seem odd, but we were wondering if you’d be able to give us the roster for the ballroom dance competition.”

  A look of confusion swept across her face. She folded her arms over her chest.

  “Um… I’m sorry, but I guess I don’t follow.”

  “We figured you would have it since you’re one of the organizers of the competition,” Riley said.

  “Yes, I do have it. But I’m confused about why you need to look at it.”

  “I know it’s strange,” I said, stepping in. “
But… well, did you hear what happened to June McKinney last night?”

  Judith’s face fell slightly.

  “Yes, I did. Poor girl. I had her as a student for five years. She’s one of the contestants in the competition, too.”

  “Well, that hit and run? We don’t think that was an isolated incident. There’ve been other… strange things. And we think…”

  I trailed off.

  “We think someone is targeting the ballroom dance contestants,” Riley said, finishing my sentence.

  Judith folded her arms tighter across her chest.

  “That’s preposterous,” she said. “Who would do that?”

  “That’s what we’re trying to find out,” I said. “But there’s a lot of money on the line in the competition, isn’t there?”

  “Yes, I suppose there is,” she said, looking down and rubbing her chin. “But it’s just so—”

  “Unbelievable?” Riley said. “Yeah, that’s what I thought, too, until I was almost run down by an SUV the other night.”

  Riley said it in a strong voice to impress upon Judith the seriousness of the situation, and it seemed to do the trick. Her eyes went wide and she fell silent for a long moment.

  “So can we see the roster?” I asked.

  She drew in a deep breath, then nodded.

  “Yes. Yes of course. I’ll print both of you a copy in my office. Just give me two minutes.”

  She grabbed a towel and headed out of the studio. Riley looked over at me.

  “Nice work, Kara,” he whispered.

  “You weren’t too bad yourself,” I said, smiling a little.

  I averted my eyes as I said it though.

  That way lay madness, I reminded myself.

  All sorts of it.

  Chapter 14

  “Wow, Kara…”

  Cin looked up from the roster I’d handed to her a minute earlier, eyeing me with a look I couldn’t read.

  “What?” I said a little defensively.

  “No, nothing. I’m just surprised,” she said, dusting her hands off on her apron. “This seems like a really good lead. And I’m impressed that you went to Judith Duncan and got the roster.”

  I shrugged, trying to play it cool.

  “Yeah, well, I don’t want to see anybody else get hurt.”

  Cin nodded, flipping to the next page of the document and peering at it.

  “There sure are a lot of people entered in this dance competition,” she said.

  I hadn’t spent too long looking at the roster myself. As soon as we’d gotten it and left the dance studio, I dropped Riley off at his car and came directly to Cin’s pie shop, knowing she’d be able to offer a good perspective on the whole thing. Cin was always good at figuring things out. And though Riley had asked me if I wanted to grab dinner with him and pore over the names on the roster together, I had politely declined.

  I had to keep my eyes on the prize here. Not on the good-looking fireman over a decade my junior who I was beginning to realize had a thing for me.

  “What did you say the grand prize amount was again?” Cin asked.

  “$10,000 for each dance partner.”

  Her eyes bulged a little.

  “Makes the Gingerbread Junction look like small potatoes,” she mumbled.

  “I know. I mean, it’s nothing to kill over. But a person who really needs the money might just be induced to hurt a few people to get it.”

  Cin glanced up and nodded.

  Just then, the oven timer went off. She left for a moment and I watched as she pulled out a pan of bubbling cherry pies from the oven.

  The smell of sweet cherries and warm sugar nearly made my head spin, and my stomach let out a loud grumble, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast.

  John was making dinner again tonight, and the thought of that suddenly snuffed out the hunger pangs.

  Cin came back over to the roster.

  “Can I take this home so Daniel can take a look at it?”

  I nodded. Riley had the other copy, and I figured having the Sheriff study it couldn’t hurt.

  “The case is still being handled by the local city police,” Cin said. “But if Daniel finds something, I don’t think they’ll fight him too hard on the county taking it over. I don’t mean to be condescending, but Captain Lou isn’t the brightest crayon in the box.”

  I smiled. Cin rarely said less-than positive things about people, so when she did, some small gossipy part of me reveled in it.

  “Anyway, what time do the festivities begin tomorrow?” she asked.

  “The parade is at ten sharp,” I said. “And the play is at noon.”

  Cin nodded, setting the papers aside.

  “I’ll be there,” she said. “And, uh, there’s something else I…”

  She drew in a deep breath.

  “Look — I don’t want to alarm you, Kara. But Gertrude was in the shop this afternoon with some of her friends. I overheard her say something about you and—”

  I could feel my cheeks flushing red and steam coming out of my ears suddenly.

  “Some thanks I get from that old hag,” I said, crossing my arms. “I save the whole stupid play for her, and how does she repay me? She goes around telling everyone about me and Riley. I can’t believe some people. I mean—”

  I stopped talking, noticing that Cin’s face had scrunched up into a look of puzzlement.

  “What?” I said.

  “I was going to say that Gertrude was talking about you and how you had a big argument with Doreen or something. That you almost quit the whole play over it.”

  I gulped hard then, feeling Cin’s quizzical stare burn into the side of my face.

  “What was all that about you and Riley?”

  If my cheeks were flushed before, they were now as dark as the cherries in Cin’s pies.

  Normally, there wouldn’t have been anything more that I wanted to do than to stick around and chat it out with my best friend.

  But I didn’t feel like it now. I felt confused and tired and weirdly guilty even though I hadn’t done anything wrong.

  I stood up, grabbing my purse.

  “Oh, it’s nothing,” I mumbled. “You know how town gossips are.”

  I forced a weak smile, but I could tell Cin wasn’t buying it.

  “Wait, tell me what’s going—”

  “See you at the parade tomorrow?”

  I didn’t wait for her to answer.

  “Great. See ya, Cin.”

  I headed out of the pie kitchen as quick as I could.

  Chapter 15

  I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, listening to the low rumbling of thunder in the distance and thinking about what I’d said earlier.

  How in the big scheme of things, $20,000 wasn’t that much. Not the kind of thing that a person would kill over.

  But that wasn’t necessarily true.

  A person who really needed the money might just do that very thing.

  I’d been lucky that I’d lived most of my life in relative comfort. But there’d been a time in my early twenties when I’d tried making a go of it down in San Francisco. I’d moved in with a friend who lived there for a couple of months. The only job I’d been able to get was scooping ice cream at a Haagen-Dazs downtown. The job paid next to nothing, and I’d barely been able to afford my rent, let alone Top Ramen.

  In those days, $20,000 would have meant a heck of a lot.

  Luckily for me, I came to my senses back then and returned to Christmas River. For a while, I felt like a failure for not being able to make it in a city. But over the years, I’d come to learn something.

  There were people who thrived in crowded, concrete jungles. Then there were people who needed open spaces, fresh air, and a little peace and quiet to shine.

  It’d taken me some time to figure out that I was of the latter variety, but when I did, I never felt bad about moving back home to Christmas River ever again—

  My blood turned to ice as a soft tapping er
upted from the front door downstairs.

  I glanced over at John. His deep breathing continued without interruption.

  Normally, we had an agreement that if someone knocked on the door at night, I’d let him get it. John was old-fashioned like that, and his old-fashioned chivalry was one of the things that had captured my heart in the first place.

  But I didn’t want to wake him. Especially since I had a feeling who was at the door.

  I slid quietly out of bed and pulled on my flannel robe, tying it tightly around my waist. I descended the steps as another round of low knocks echoed through the house.

  I stood on my tiptoes, peering through the eye hole.

  Goodness, he seemed to get better looking every time I saw him. His hair was all tousled and messy and his skin was glowing like he’d just come out of a tanning bed.

  I opened the door and stepped outside, putting a finger up to my lips to let him know to keep his voice down.

  “Riley, you should have called,” I rasped.

  “I know — and I’m sorry. But this couldn’t wait.”

  He tapped the paper in his hands. Then, as if to give it even more dramatic effect, a huge crack of thunder broke out overhead after he said that. I jumped, letting out a muffled cry. He reached out to steady me, and the touch of his skin on mine caused my whole body to break out in goosebumps.

  I stepped back after a moment, shaking my head.

  “What couldn’t wait?”

  He flipped the pages of the roster, pointing to a name.

  “This.”

  My eyes scanned over the name several times.

  I looked up at Riley.

  “You think that...?”

  “Everyone knows the theater’s in trouble,” he said. “Twenty-thousand-dollars might just be what they need to save it.”

  There was another crack of thunder overhead.

  But this time, I managed to hold my ground.

  Chapter 16

  The next morning, I got into my Mrs. Claus costume: the wig, the wire-frame glasses, the blouse, the velveteen vest, the wool skirt, the heels, and the rouge. Laila watched me as I put my makeup on, her eyes wide.