Linda Lovely - Marley Clark 02 - No Wake Zone by Linda Lovely

Author:Linda Lovely [Lovely, Linda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mystery: Cozy - Security Officer - Widow - Iowa
ISBN: 1603184856
Publisher: L&L Dreamspell
Published: 2012-05-16T05:00:00+00:00

FOURTEEN

In the sunroom, Darlene waved me to a seat before walking over to a large paisley-covered ottoman. Raising the cushion that served as its lid, she extracted a half-finished knitting project and a new skein of yarn.

“I’m making this for cousin Tina’s first grandchild.” She held up the start of a baby afghan. “Mind if I knit while we talk? It relaxes me. If I don’t do something to keep my hands busy, I’m liable to start smoking again—and it’s been twenty years since I quit.”

The afghan captured a rainbow of hues. “It’s beautiful. Wish I had the patience.”

“Did you see Jake’s obituary in the morning paper?” Darlene asked.

“Yes. Very nice. But I was a bit surprised to see you’re holding the Tuesday visitation at Larsson’s Funeral Home. Weren’t you planning to have it here?”

“The sheriff and FBI vetoed that. Security reasons.” Her knitting needles clicked. “Frisking anyone kind enough to pay a sympathy call seemed a little tacky. Guess the authorities figure there’s still a slim chance Julie and I might be victims rather than killers. Delaney doesn’t want to be responsible if more people die.”

Made sense. I nodded. “Good decision. Larsson’s is big and set up to handle a crowd.”

“Yep, it’s also neutral territory. We can stake out one corner, and Kyle, Olivia and Eric can take the opposite one. That’ll leave a demilitarized zone between us for noncombatants.”

Darlene’s industrious fingers flew.

“Still might be a good idea to pat down Jake’s relatives for weapons,” I said. “I had a run-in with Olivia today. What a donnybrook. Seems she shares Kyle’s rather dim view of you and your friends—me in particular.”

Darlene glanced up from her knitting. “Where on earth did you see Olivia? She normally avoids any place she might encounter—how shall I put it?—riffraff like you.”

Figuring my tale of department store intrigue would cheer Darlene, I recounted how I’d stalked Olivia after I heard her voice. My friend shared my merriment right up to the moment I described Olivia’s reaction to my dig about Kyle’s mother being in residence.

“What did you say?” Darlene dropped her knitting and clamped onto my arm, her grip a vice. “Nancy is living with Kyle?”

“Yes.” I’d assumed Darlene knew. Obviously I was wrong. “When Anna Huiskamp cleaned May’s house today, she mentioned that Nancy had moved in with Olivia and Kyle.”

“Dammit! Jake detested that gold-digger. Said the woman lacked any maternal instinct or sense of decency. He kept little Kyle because he didn’t think any child should be raised by an uncaring slut. Jake loved the boy, even though he knew Kyle wasn’t his.”

Darlene blushed scarlet and squeezed my arm with a wrestler’s fervor. “Marley,” she pleaded. “Promise you’ll never repeat that. Jake wanted that secret buried with him. He raised Kyle, loved him as a son. He never wanted Kyle to learn he wasn’t his flesh-and-blood. Jake figured Nancy would never tell the boy differently.”

“Of course I won’t tell.”

My mind reeled. Perhaps a scorecard would help me keep track of all the secrets tumbling around in my brain.

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