The Lake

But Mace sure looked attractive. Tanned complexion, sun-streaked hair. A regular California surfer look.

The Beach Boys.

Yuck.

Nowhere near as ancient as the Beach Boys.

Mace’s maybe thirty-six—going on thirty-eight?

Same age as Mom?

He is sexy, though…in a tough, die-hard kinda way. A body like that, he must work out pretty much every day.

Mace’s eyes held hers briefly.

A tight smile flicked across his face before he returned his attention to Leigh.

“Could be we’re getting closer,” he said. “Not often perps get to call their victims and apologize for their misdeeds.”

“No, I guess not,” Leigh said. “Coffee?”

“Thought you’d never ask.” Mace grinned.

“Sugar?” Leigh asked as the coffee started to perk.

“No,” Mace said. “Gotta keep in shape, y’know.”

“Mmm, some shape,” Deana murmured.

So soon after Allan…What kind of schmuck am I?

Forgive me, Allan. Please.

Leigh sent her a warning look.

Deana threw a quick glance in Mace’s direction. Had he heard her last remark? Watching him settle back into the sofa, she decided there was no way of telling if he had.

She hoped he hadn’t heard.

If he had, it would be too embarrassing for words.

Anyway, where’s Mattie tonight?

Or is this a personal visit?

Mace accepted his coffee from Leigh. No cream. No sugar. Deana pictured his abs. Taut. Toned. A regular Rocky. A regular blond Rocky.

Suddenly, Mace was all cop. “Now, ladies,” he said. “Tell me again what happened when Nelson called.”

There’s your answer, Deana. He’s here on business…

Deana and Leigh pieced together the conversation as best they could. Finally, Leigh said, “And I just know he took my lucky necklace. Must have been a coupla weeks ago. I was real upset about it at first—thought I’d lost it for good. Then I remembered I’d left it at the restaurant. Nelson didn’t admit it, but I somehow know he’d taken it, just to spook me.”

“And now he’s disappeared.” Mace’s tone was brisk. He was more interested in Nelson’s future plans than in Leigh’s shell necklace.

“Yeah. He did sound pretty downbeat.” Leigh hesitated as another possibility struck her. “D’you think he’s going to kill himself?”

“Maybe. Sounds like he confessed—or apologized, whichever way you look at it. Had a fit of the guilts and aimed to pull the plug. You said he maybe left the phone hanging. Didn’t terminate the call?”

“No ‘maybe’ about it,” Leigh told him. “Nelson said he’d seen the light in Deana’s bedroom half an hour before his call. My guess is, he was lying; that he hadn’t been here at all.” She shook her head.

“He just wouldn’t have had the time. To be outside our house and then make the phone call from the Golden Gate Bridge at the time he did.”

“The Golden Gate?”

“Yes. I held on to the phone for a while and heard traffic zooming by. Nonstop and a lot of it, I’d say.

“And I could swear there was a foghorn in the distance.”

TWENTY-TWO

“Mace is quite a guy, don’t you think?”

“Deana!”

“No worries, Mom. I don’t want him. Believe me, after…you know…I need some space for a while. ’Sides, he’s too old for me!”

“Just remember, my darling daughter, that Mace is here to do a job of work. As in nailing Allan’s killer.”

Leigh had had a special meal brought in from the restaurant. We both deserve a break, she’d decided. These last few days have been a nightmare.

Beef Willington may have been off the menu, but Carl, her new, hastily appointed chef at the Bayview, had produced a wonderful dinner of marinated swordfish topped with spicy mango and tomato salsa.

Squishy chocolate dessert followed.

Deana’s favorite.

“Here’s to us! One door closes, another opens,” Leigh proclaimed with a wry smile. She took a sip of cool sparkling Californian wine. “Mmmm. This is good. And Carl’s doing great, too.”

“Yeah. Good riddance to you-know-who.”

“Well, not exactly, honey. Nelson did have his moments. And he’d made a name for himself. In Tiburon, at least. Apparently, his previous experience came from working with some fancy Italian supremo at a top joint in New York. So he told me.”

“Pity he hadn’t stayed there.”

“Mmmm…” Leigh was more relaxed than she’d felt since Mom and Dad departed after the family get-together.

Only it hadn’t turned out to be a proper family get-together.

All that awkward stuff with Mom…And Deana and Allan leaving so soon after dinner…

Thank God, Mom and Dad had gone off to Boulder to be with Aunt Abby. Before everything happened.

Leigh glanced fondly at Deana. So young to have gone through such an awful experience. But, apart from her bruised jaw and a faraway look in her eyes now and then, Deana seemed to be holding up.

As funerals went, Allan’s had been pretty tense and grim. Understandably, she reckoned. Mary Powers, a single mother, so it turned out, was pale, tearful, and near to collapse. Luckily, there’d been a sister, Allan’s aunt Beth, to support her and help her through the ceremony.