Imminent Affair

He shrugged, then looked closely at her. “I think I do remember something about you.”

She squared her shoulders, lifting her bosom a bit higher. “You do?”

“I seem to recall your pretty handwriting.” He paused for effect. “Calligraphy.”

Aha, Allie thought. Daniel was trying to trap Glynis. They hadn’t told her that calligraphy had been used during the vandalism. If she reacted defensively, she would give herself away.

She didn’t get defensive. In fact, she stunned them by saying, “No, no, darling. That’s Margaret. She’s the one with the lovely penmanship.”

“Margaret?”

“My housekeeper.”

The bulldog who protected Glynis? Could she be the vandal? Had she done it for Glynis? Were they in on it together? And if they were, why was Glynis being so open about it?

Allie shot Daniel a quick glance. He seemed to be pondering the same questions.

Glynis popped up and walked over to an antique desk and opened the roll top. She returned with a fancy envelope. “Margaret is going to address these for me and mail them later today. See? She already put my return address in her calligraphy.”

Daniel took the sealed envelope. “What is this?”

“An invitation. I’m having a Christmas party. Oh, here’s a novel idea. Why don’t you come?” She turned to Allie. “You, too. Just think, you can stress all evening about me poisoning you. What fun that will be.”

Hardy har har. Glynis had a twisted sense of humor. Under different circumstances, Allie might have learned to like her.

Or not.

“We’ll think about it,” Allie said, wondering if the party had been arranged for her and Daniel’s benefit.

“Don’t think too long. You’ll need to RSVP.”

“We’ll let you know.” Daniel stood up.

“I do hope you’ll attend, darling boy. It was so very nice to see you.”

Glynis didn’t walk them out and neither did Margaret. Daniel and Allie left on their own, the invitation tucked safely into his pocket.

Daniel opened the truck door for Allie and watched her climb inside the vehicle. They didn’t discuss the situation, not until he got behind the wheel and started the engine.

“What do you think?” she asked.

That was a loaded question. His mind was crowded and confused, his thoughts clinging like cobwebs. “About Glynis? About Margaret’s calligraphy? About whether or not we should go to the party?”

“All of it. But start with Glynis.”

He pulled away from the curb. “I honestly don’t remember her. Nor does she seem like my type.” Which made his confusion that much greater.

“You don’t think she’s attractive?”

“It isn’t that.” Glynis Mitchell had a great body and fascinating sense of style, but she seemed cold and calculating. Not like Allie. He turned away from the windshield to glance at her. “I prefer softer women.”

“Maybe you used to like tough girls. I can be tough sometimes, and you used to like me.”

Daniel tried not to smile, to make light of her admission. She seemed to believe that her supposed toughness had drawn him to her. But he doubted that was the case.

She fumbled to explain. “Even Glynis commented on your attraction to me.”

He decided not to expound on that attraction, to discuss it beyond a few sentences. “I don’t trust Glynis. It was rude the way she flirted with me in front of you. Those poison remarks were deliberately bitchy, too.”

“Yes, but they seemed more humorous than threatening. Of course, who knows? I never could figure her out.”

“And now we’ve got Margaret thrown into the mix.”

“Yes, ugly old Margaret and her pretty calligraphy. Somehow I can’t see her being the vandal, not unless she did it for Glynis.”

He stopped at a red light. By now, they were in the middle of some fairly heavy traffic. “I’ll have Rex run a background check on Margaret, and I’ll give Detective Bell the party invitation, so the police can compare her handwriting to the calligraphy on your wall.”

“Good idea. We’ll wait to see what they say before we decide if we should attend the party.”

“I hope we don’t have to even consider it. I hope this case is solved before then.”

“Me, too.”

But how likely was that? Nothing was ever that easy, at least not for Daniel. Having amnesia was making his life seem like a crap shoot.

His cell phone rang and he answered it, using the hands-free device he kept in his car. “Hello?”

“It’s Rex.”

Before the other man could proceed, Daniel said, “You’ve got great timing. We just left Glynis’s. It’s possible that she’s the vandal. Her or her housekeeper.”

After they discussed what had happened at Glynis’s and Rex agreed that a background on Margaret seemed essential, the P.I. stated his business, the reason he’d called.

“I’d like you to meet me at your dad’s house tonight. I already spoke to him, and he revealed something about your past that could be pertinent.”

“Why can’t you tell me now?”

“I think it’s something all of us should discuss together.”

“All of us?” Daniel assumed that meant Allie, too. Rex wasn’t on speaker, so she couldn’t hear everything that was being said, but it was enough to make her curious. He could sense her looking at him.

“Is that okay?” Rex asked.

“It’s fine.” His stomach went tight. “Will this discussion involve a girl from my past?”

“Yes, it will.”

He focused on the road, the tightness getting tighter. He didn’t dare glance at Allie. “A dead girl?”

Rex’s voice jumped. “How did you know that?”

“I just did.” Daniel wasn’t clairvoyant, but apparently his instincts were strong. “I was having sad feelings about her earlier.”

“Do you remember her?”

“No. Just the sadness. Is there a connection between her and the vandal?”

“I can’t say for sure, but there could be.”

It must be complicated, Daniel thought. If it wasn’t, Rex wouldn’t have requested a face-to-face meeting. “What time do you want us to meet you?”

“Around seven. Your dad offered to feed us.”

Daniel frowned. His old man would probably put on a pot of spaghetti and make a batch of cheese-loaded garlic bread. He would probably try to keep things homey. But maybe that would be less stressful for Allie. She liked gathering around a table. She liked the domestic stuff.

Daniel ended the call, and as soon as he hung up, he waited for her to comment on what she’d heard. She did, after about two beats of heart-thumping silence.

“Rex wants to talk to us about the dead girl,” she said.

He nodded. “Strange, isn’t it?” Daniel couldn’t decide if Rex’s timing was coincidence or fate.

“I hope this isn’t going to get creepy.”

“Me, too,” he responded, even though they both knew it was too late for that. It had proved creepy from the start, and it seemed to be getting worse.

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