Chapter Four
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It was like kicking a cute and tiny puppy.
Dizzy was a sweet woman. A little weird, but sweet. He wasn’t sure what she’d witnessed tonight but she hadn’t deserved that police officer’s asinine questioning. She hadn’t done anything wrong. She wasn’t lovesick or drunk or whatever other excuse Baker had dreamed up. She truly believed she’d seen something. That much he knew was true. Everything else, however, was a mystery.
She was probably simply…confused. That was it. She was confused. She might have fallen asleep and woken, bleary-eyed from a dream and thought she saw something that had actually only been in her imagination. Of course she was going to call the police, and as quiet as Tremont was he doubted the cops had been busy with other major crimes. He’d bet whatever money was in his pocket that they’d been at the diner drinking coffee and eating apple pie. Tonight might be the most exciting thing that had happened to Officer Baker in months. Maybe years.
Leann had dug out three soda cans from the refrigerator and was currently pouring them into glasses, all the while slamming cabinets closed and just generally stomping loudly around the kitchen. Scowling, she shoved a glass at Easton after handing one to Dizzy, who accepted it with trembling hands.
“Thank you,” he said, not wanting to argue with his cousin. Better to make nice if only for family harmony. “I can drive you home whenever you want to go.”
Leann gave him an incredulous look. “For a man that graduated at the top of his class, you’re not very smart. I can’t leave Dizzy here with a murderer next door. Have you lost your mind?”
Easton didn’t want to have to state the obvious. Trip Stanford wasn’t a killer. The cops had proved that less than an hour ago.
“You don’t have to stay,” Dizzy protested. Her color looked much better than it had only minutes before. She’d always been a tough little kid. “I’ll be fine.”
Leann rolled her eyes and groaned. “I bet you don’t even have a gun in this house to protect yourself.”
Good guess. Tamara and Louis Foster had been lovely parents to Dizzy but a trifle on the hippie side. He couldn’t see them teaching their daughter to shoot a gun as they were always vocal about hating violence. The Andersons hated violence too but everyone still learned how to handle a firearm by the time they were in their teens.
For the first time that evening, Dizzy smiled. “Actually, I do have one. I took lessons at the firing range to learn how to shoot it too. Don’t tell Tami. She’ll think I’ve turned to the Dark Side.”
Another strange thing about Dizzy’s mom and dad. She called them by their first names. They were more friends than parents, which was funny considering they had been older when they’d had her. All through Dizzy’s childhood they’d encouraged their daughter to express herself. Don’t conform. Consequently, their little daughter had taken some major shit from the kids in school when she put one foot outside the lines of what they considered normalcy. Through it all Dizzy acted as if she didn’t care one iota. In fact, Easton couldn’t remember one instance of complaining or crying on her part. Not one.
Not until tonight when they’d thought she was a liar.
“Your secret is safe with me but I’m still not leaving,” Leann vowed. “You can’t stay here alone. You’re the only witness to a murder and that puts you in danger.”
If there had actually been a murder, Easton would have wholeheartedly agreed. Except…there hadn’t been and Leann was only feeding into whatever Dizzy had going here. A dream. A fantasy. A peyote vision. Whatever it was, Leann was encouraging it and she needed to stop. For Dizzy’s sake.
Easton placed his hands on the kitchen counter. “Now let’s think logically about this for a minute. Let’s say that Trip Stanford did murder someone tonight. He knows that Dizzy called the police and that they’ve talked to her. If something happened to her, don’t you think the first person they’d look at is Trip? He wouldn’t want to call attention to himself. It would be crazy to go after Dizzy in any way. Better to keep her alive and not believed than to create more suspicion by hurting her.”
“He’d make it look like an accident,” Leann hissed, her face scrunched up.
“West and Jason are always saying that criminals aren’t very bright,” Easton shot back.
Dizzy hopped up from her chair and placed her glass next to the sink. “He was smart enough to kill a woman and hide her body so well that the cops couldn’t find her. So he’s not stupid.” She sighed and rubbed at her temples. “I feel about a hundred years old right now. Everyone thinks I’m a gigantic liar but I know what I saw. Even if you don’t believe me.”
That last sentence was directed at him, of course. She was upset with him and in her shoes he wouldn’t blame her. Except that the roles weren’t reversed and he was apparently the only one in this house thinking clearly.
Scraping his fingers through his hair, he chose his words carefully. “I know you saw something here tonight. I’m just not sure that it was Trip Stanford strangling a woman.”
Dizzy’s brows shot up. “Please tell me what I might have mistook for a murder. A rousing game of Twister, perhaps?”
That did bring up an interesting theory.
“Maybe…they were…you know…”
Both women were looking at him like he was the dumbest person on the planet.
“I think he’s speaking of sex,” Dizzy said with a huff. “You can say it, you know. Nothing bad will happen if you say the word sex out loud. We’re all adults here.”
When the hell had that happened? Just yesterday he’d been helping Dizzy with her math homework and now she was a grown woman talking about sex. Crossing his arms across his chest, Easton kept his impatience under control. Leann and Dizzy were like little sisters to him and he didn’t talk about sex with his little sisters. “Fine. Sex. Maybe they were having sex. Kinky sex.”
Dizzy nodded as if she agreed. “Sure, that could be it. They were fooling around. With the creepiest foreplay I’ve ever seen.”
The last part was said loudly as she threw up her arms in disgust. She apparently didn’t think much of his theory.
“I’m willing to entertain this little story.” Leann sat down and crossed her legs, her body language belying her words. “If Trip Stanford was simply getting his freak on, why did he lie and say he was home alone and asleep all evening? Where was the woman?”
Easton shrugged. “These are all questions for West. I’m not a cop. Maybe she was married and didn’t want to be found out. Maybe he was ashamed to be seen with her. I don’t know. I’m just saying that there might be another explanation other than Dizzy lives next door to a killer.”
A knock on the back door startled all three of them, interrupting any snarky reply the two women might have given. Dizzy opened the door and Easton couldn’t believe his eyes at who stood there.
Trip Stanford. Just about the last person Easton expected to see. From Dizzy’s wide eyes she hadn’t expected it either. She’d taken several steps away from him which let Trip step into the kitchen.
The neighbor smiled weakly and shifted on his feet. “Um, hey. I just thought I should come over and tell you that there’s no hard feelings, Dizzy. I mean that too. I’m sure you thought you saw something.” He smiled more widely. “Maybe you saw a ghost or a spirit of some sort. The house is old, after all.”
“A ghost?” Dizzy echoed dully. “You think I saw a ghost?”
This could get ugly fast. What had Stanford been thinking? Tonight wasn’t a good time to discuss this. Maybe tomorrow. Or the next day. Or ignore it and never speak of it. That’s what Easton would have done. He was the king of ignoring something so it would go away. Ask any of his former girlfriends.
“It was probably just a nightmare,” Trip replied, his gaze finally moving from Dizzy to Leann and then finally to Easton. “I’m Trip Stanford, by the way. I…uh…work for you. We’ve met a few times at the company Christmas party and the summer picnic.”
The other man chuckled and Easton stepped forward to shake his hand, hoping Leann would do the same. It would be rude not to show some form of friendliness. The poor bastard wasn’t having a good evening. Cops at his door. His house searched. He had to be wondering who he’d pissed off, karma-wise.
“Nice to meet you again. I think you’re in the marketing department, right?”
Stanford grinned and nodded. “I am. Five years now. Very happy.”
To his relief Leann had also moved closer, shaking Trip’s hand and introducing herself. Because she’d been in Florida for so long, she hadn’t yet met many of their employees.
“So…” Trip turned his attention back to Dizzy. “Seriously, it’s okay. I just hope that you’re fine because whatever sort of dream or nightmare you had must have been really scary and terrible. You might want to give up spicy food.”
The neighbor had tried to make a joke but only Easton laughed a little. Dizzy and Leann were staying quiet. That was probably a good thing in the long run, although it was awkward as hell at the moment.
“I guess I’ll go home.” Trip stepped back onto the porch. “You all have a good evening.”
Dizzy appeared to have woken up from whatever trance she’d been in. “Thank you for coming by, Trip. It was so…nice of you to let me know that you’re not angry with me.”
“Not mad at all,” he assured her with a grin. “Now I’ll say goodnight. See you at the office, Easton. Leann.”
The younger man strode back to his house, entering through his own back door. Dizzy and Leann practically had their faces pressed against the windows watching him until he disappeared.
“Whew, that was creepy,” Dizzy declared whirling around and shuddering visibly. “What the hell did he want, anyway?”
Leann was still staring out of the window, half-hidden by the daisy-covered curtains. “I don’t know but he’s up to no good. I think he was checking you out and maybe trying to find out what you saw or knew.”
What in the hell?
Easton held up his hands. “Just stop this nonsense. He came over to say he wasn’t pissed off. I think that was mighty nice of him. Not many people would do that, Leann.”
Dizzy groaned and rolled her eyes. “No one would do that. No one. At least if they were innocent. They’d be angry and rightfully so to have been accused of murdering someone when they’re innocent. And they sure as hell wouldn’t get over that in less than an hour unless they were some sort of saint or heavily medicated. Only a guilty person would hurry over here and find out what was going on. I bet he’s watching us right now. He wants to know what we’re going to do.”
Now it was Leann shuddering, rubbing her hands up and down her arms.
Easton had two women in front of him that had wild imaginations.
“He didn’t ask anything about what you saw,” Easton said. “He didn’t try and get you to talk. He just came over to tell you that he’s not mad. That’s it. And he had to be pretty brave to do it too.”
Dizzy elbowed Leann in the ribs. “Your cousin thinks we’ve blown this entire situation out of proportion. He thinks we’re not being logical and that we need to be reasonable.”
“I can’t deny it,” Easton growled. “That is true. Have you tried logic? It makes life so much easier.”
He’d inadvertently lit a fuse and now both women were red in the face mad. At him.
“I didn’t see a ghost.” Dizzy stepped forward so they were toe to toe. The strawberry scent of her shampoo tickled his nostrils, incongruous with the little firebrand ready to kick his ass. Dizzy was a tiny thing, all big brown eyes and long chocolate-colored hair that she usually wore in a ponytail. “I didn’t drink too much wine. I didn’t fall asleep and have a nightmare. I didn’t see Trip’s television. I saw him strangle a woman with his bare hands. It might have been some kinky foreplay but she definitely fell to the floor when he was done. I. Saw. A. Murder. You may not like it when I say it but that doesn’t make it any less true, Easton. I only wish you’d witnessed it too because I know that’s the only way you’d believe me. It’s just the way you are. You can’t help yourself.”
This entire night had gone into the toilet and it had all started at that stupid party with the psychic. Now it was ending in Dizzy’s kitchen. She was a good person, giving and sweet, but he couldn’t allow her to continue entertaining this fantasy. It did no one any good to humor her.
“I wish I had too,” he finally said. “Try to get some sleep tonight and maybe things will look different in the morning.”
The corners of Dizzy’s lips turned up. “You mean maybe I’ll have come to my senses. That I’ll become…logical. More like you. That’s not going to happen. I saw a woman being murdered tonight. That’s not something that’s just going to go away after a few hours’ sleep. I need to figure out what I’m going to do about it. What the next step is.”
Oh hell no. He needed to nip this in the bud right now.
“There is no next step,” he said firmly. “You’re not going to do a goddamn thing. Leave this alone, Dizzy. Leave Trip Stanford alone too or he will sue you. Or call the police on you for harassment. Just leave it all alone.”
Dizzy and Leann exchanged a glance that Easton didn’t like. They’d always get into mischief whenever they were together. Dizzy was a bad influence on Leann. Or vice versa.
“Please say that you’ll leave it alone,” he pleaded. “Promise me.”
“I’ll do nothing of the kind,” Dizzy replied crisply. “Frankly, you’re beginning to piss me off, Easton Anderson. You’re pretending to be on my side but you’re just like Officer Baker and all his men. You think I’m weird and a liar. Now you can leave my house. I’ve had quite enough of people telling me what I did and didn’t see for one night.”
The tiny tornado of a woman strode over to the front door and opened it. She just stood there waiting for him to move, her toe tapping on the maple flooring.
“So you’re staying then?” he asked Leann, palming his car keys in his pocket. He was ready to leave. Dizzy might be tired of him but he was exhausted from her. Heaven help the man she ended up with. She’d have him chasing his tail on a daily basis. The poor asshole would have to lock himself in a closet to get a moment’s peace.
“I am.”
He walked to the door where he paused in front of Dizzy. He hadn’t wanted to hurt her but he clearly had. Good intentions and all that. But he also couldn’t believe her wild story when the police had found no evidence that it had happened.
Real physical evidence. She had zero. How could she expect him – or anyone else – to believe her?
“I am sorry,” he said before he left. “As I said earlier, I believe that you believe something happened.”
She looked up at him, her normally soft brown eyes dark with hurt. He’d hurt her and he’d try and find a way to make it up to her. Somehow.
“It’s no big deal. As I said before, you can’t help yourself.” Dizzy shrugged but he could see her lips tremble with emotion. His chest tightened uncomfortably at how vulnerable and sad she looked. As if she needed to be protected from life, except that was nonsense. Dizzy had been taking care of herself for years. Just fine too.
Your soulmate is innocent….naive even….but she is surrounded by evil. She’ll need you to be her champion.
To his chagrin, the words of the psychic earlier in the evening came rushing back. But Dizzy wasn’t his soulmate. Heck, they barely spoke to one another when they were in the same room. If she was the one, he would have known long ago. Right?
“I have to go,” he said, his fingers tightening on his keys. “Call me if you need me.”
Leann waved him away. “We won’t. Now go.”
Having officially worn out his welcome, he jumped into his vehicle and pulled out of the drive, heading straight for home. He needed a whiskey and a comfortable bed after the day and night he’d had. If Leann wanted to indulge Dizzy’s fantasies then she was welcome to. He wasn’t going to do it. Someone had to be the rational one around here, and lately that job had fallen to him.