A Justified Murder (Medlar Mystery #2)(84)

“The boys can deliver the invitations,” Kate said.

“We’ll dress them up.”

“Jack’s clothes should fit but they may be a bit small,” Kate said.

“Small?” he sputtered. “Like hell they are. I can deliver the damned notes. We don’t need—”

“Need what?” the twins asked as they entered the kitchen. They had bed-tousled hair, no shirts on, and low-riding jeans. They looked like tall angels come to life.

Jack saw the smiles on the faces of the women and stood up. “Get dressed, you brats.”

When no one moved, Jack half pushed the boys down the hall. The giggles of the women echoed behind him.

It took them less than an hour to make out invitations to a book club for that afternoon. Tea with Sara Medlar, it read.

“It’s very short notice,” Kate said, “and it’s a weeknight, but I still think they’ll come.”

“Unless they get suspicious,” Sara said.

“Or more likely that will make them come,” Jack said.

Sara and Kate looked up at him. He was wearing a shirt with a collar and black dress trousers.

“Where are you going?”

“The bank.” Jack’s face seemed to go pink.

Kate and Sara stared at him. They didn’t believe him.

Jack sighed. “Okay. No bank. I thought I’d go see Leland.”

Sara turned to Kate.

“Ten minutes,” she said. “Meet you at the MINI.”

“I don’t think—” Jack began.

Sara spoke up. “You are going to talk to Leland alone? You’re practically in competition for his wife’s favor.”

“And you’ll lose your temper,” Kate said.

“I won’t do that. I—” He gave up. “Ten minutes, then I leave without you.”

“Sure you will,” Kate said. “Good one.”

It took thirty minutes as they had to organize the boys. They couldn’t drive without an adult with them and their mother was unreachable. The hotel said she was having a deep tissue massage.

In the end, they took Kate’s car. Jack and Sara were in the front bucket seats and the boys sandwiched Kate in the back.

“Let’s drive home,” Max said as he smiled at Kate. “Only take a few hours.”

Jack made them get out near Valerie Johnson’s house. “Just give her the invitation, then leave. You have other stops to make and you can walk.”

The boys winked at Kate and waved goodbye.

“Their father needs to take them down a peg,” Jack muttered as he drove away. He acted like he didn’t hear the smothered laughter of the two women.

By the time they got to Southwest Ranches and pulled into the long drive to Charlene’s house, they weren’t laughing. Their minds were back on the murder—or murders.

The gate was open and they pulled in. No one answered at the house or Charlene’s studio. They walked around, but the place had a feeling of abandonment. No one was there.

They were about to leave when a sleek blue BMW pulled in. The man behind the wheel was Leland, Charlene’s husband. The look on his handsome face told of his misery and worry. And his fear.

He stood beside the car for a moment as he looked at them, unsurprised to see them. With a movement of his head, he motioned for them to follow him inside.

Kate thought how her first visit there had been so happy. Charlene had been laughing and talking about how wonderful her life was.

Leland sat down heavily on the couch, while the three of them sat across from him and waited in silence.

“If you need to talk to my wife, I don’t know where she is. She doesn’t have a car or credit cards or her passport. I—” He ran his hands over his face, then looked out the window for a moment. “I guess you want me to tell you what I know.”

“Yes, we would,” Sara said softly.

He nodded. “I just got back from seeing Tayla.”

Kate drew in her breath.

“Yeah,” Leland said. “Exactly. She’s taking the blame. She—”

He took a moment to compose himself. “I didn’t know of the bootie until Tayla told me this morning.” He blinked back tears. “Where do I begin? Janet—” He swallowed at the name. “Janet Beeson babysat our boys four times. We thought she was ideal, a sweet little old woman who said she’d taken care of hundreds of children in her lifetime. She said she used to teach school.” He looked at them for verification.

“Not that we’ve heard,” Sara said.

“Our kids and the Nesbitt boys were friends.”

Again, Kate gasped.

Leland shook his head. “I guess you’ve met Kyle. He hated the woman. Said she complained about everything he did. Trees, noise, deliveries. Everything displeased her.”

“The boys probably heard his complaints,” Sara said.

“Kyle said he figured that’s part of why the kids thought she was a witch.” Leland looked up, his eyes brimming in tears. “I didn’t believe him. I like Kyle, but he gets angry too easily. I felt sorry for the woman. She—” He took a breath. “So we said yes when she said she’d love to babysit for us.”

“Did the boys like her?” Sara asked.