ALL THAT GLITTERS, chapter 1

chapter 22

Chapter 22

Lucky took off her jacket, stuffing her gloves, scarf, and hat into the sleeves. She packed the bulky mound against the shelf of travel books to one side of the stairs, and scrunched up against it. Michelle, Jon, and Roger came up to join her, leaving Sean Perkins perched in the wooden chair by the shipping desk. Michelle and Jon, of course, sat close together, arms around each other.

In a funny way, Lucky felt better as she observed Roger’s hesitation on where to sit down. His shoulders pointed toward her and at first he headed for the spot next to her on the small platform where the staircase turned. Then he seemed to remember they’d split up, and he moved toward Jon – then turned abruptly and sat next to Lucky anyway, but with a hand’s distance between his legs and hers on the carpet. Lucky realized she was smiling warmly at his choice, and she carefully calmed her expression a bit, not wanting to hint at anything.

But inside, the warmth remained. Boston pre-law college student though she was, Roger still liked her. More than liked her, she was sure. It complicated life, but it felt good.

And that was enough of feelings. Protecting her dad, getting her mom out of police focus, and making sure she could go back to school with a settled situation – for that, she needed to lead this investigation. She needed to know what Roger and Jon had discovered, out in the snowstorm.

“So, you guys have two things to tell us about, right? The cemetery and the state police barracks? Here’s Sandy and Terry,” she added, with a nod toward Sandy’s new girlfriend who’d just arrived. “Hey, Terry, good to meet you. Thanks for the research already. Choose a step to sit on, and let’s hear what the guys found out.”

The newest person to join the group of friends was tiny, with French-Canadian bone structure, and a cap of gleaming dark hair. Delicate filigree earrings sparkled as she nodded back, smiling, and sat down snugly leaning against Sandy. To Lucky, Sandy had never looked so happy – her athlete’s squared face glowed, piercings and all. It was good to be in Montpelier, Vermont, where Lucky’s oldest friend could be herself and still find romance and joy. Lucky’s brother Jake would be happy for Sandy, too.

Jake! Lucky held up a hand to stop Jon from speaking. “Hold on a sec – let me just ask – has anyone heard from Jake or my mom? Did she get back to the hospital yet? Anything else going on up at my dad’s room where Jake’s standing watch?”

Michelle cut in smoothly. “I’ve been checking in with them. Your mom’s second taxi got her up there, and Jake said she’s asleep on a cot next to your dad. He’s got the doorway blocked, got the nurses working with him, and says there’ve been two more hang-up phone calls to the nurses’ station. And by the way, twenty minutes to Davila arriving, if she’s on time.”

Good news, bad news. Temporary safety for her folks, but Lucky didn’t like the way somebody still focused on her father. Somebody obviously thought he still had something or knew something dangerous. It reminded her: She needed to know why her mom needed a gun, who’d been stalking her mom. She thumbed it onto a list on her phone of things to check next, and asked Jon to go ahead – quietly. No point in letting scuzzy Sean learn too much from overhearing them.

Jon let go of Michelle's hand and gestured, drawing an air map. “So the State House is halfway down Main Street, here, and that’s where you found us the fresh track from the snowmachine, Lucky. This time it didn’t cut toward Hubbard Park, though – it headed up Terrace Street toward the old state police building, then cut across toward Green Mount Cemetery. So with the truck, we had to circle back to State Street, then down to the cemetery. We actually caught up with the guy there, but not soon enough to know why he was there – we realized he must have done something that kept him there for maybe fifteen minutes or longer, because we practically ran him over.