Rebels and Roses (Winslow Heights #2)

Chapter 20

20

J ane knocked on Erica’s hotel room door, waiting for an answer. She’d offered to come speak with Erica, and it was her own idea. But frankly, if Erica had anything to hide, she wasn’t going to open up and suddenly tell the truth. Even if the truth could easily be verified by the hotel records.

It begged the question…why was Erica lying? Did she have something to hide? Had she been with Tom that night? And if so, had she been there when he’d died?

All of this situation didn’t make much sense. Cooper felt strongly that there was more going on here, although he couldn’t put his finger on exactly what it was, only that Tom had died right after complaining of being watched and followed.

The death was suspicious. She couldn’t argue Cooper’s train of thought, although so far, they hadn’t made any progress except to find out that Tom had received a phone call the night he died. Her feeling was that the call was from Erica, who would have just arrived in town, but she couldn’t prove it.

She couldn’t prove anything, to be honest. That’s why she was frustrated.

“Who is it?”

The question was muffled by the heavy, closed door.

“Jane Taylor, can we talk for a moment?”

Erica, apparently, didn’t need any time to think about it because the door immediately swung open. The woman had clearly been crying, her eyes red-rimmed and watery. Tom had two women crying over him.

“Come on in. Fiona is here, too.”

Jane hadn’t expected Erica to have visitors, least of all Fiona. Weren’t they arguing in court about Tom’s body? Had there already been a ruling?

Erica’s hotel room was a large suite with a sitting room and small kitchenette in the main area and the bedroom and bathroom through another door. Both rooms had sliding glass doors that opened up over the pool area which was currently deserted due to the dark skies and sporadic rain that had started as Jane had driven to the inn.

Fiona was standing in front of the coffeemaker pouring two cups. When she saw Jane enter, she reached up onto the shelf and grabbed a third.

“I just made a fresh pot. Have a cup with us.”

Sitting around and sipping coffee with Cooper’s ex-wife wasn’t Jane’s idea of a good time. She didn’t, however, want to seem churlish. She liked coffee, and it wouldn’t be a big deal to have some. It did put a kink in her plans to talk to Erica. She didn’t want to bring up the issue of when Erica had arrived in town in front of Tom’s sister.

The two women were standing in the same room and being nice to one another. Jane didn’t want to be the person that rocked the boat.

“Thank you, that sounds lovely.”

“Come sit,” Erica invited, patting the cushion next to her on the sofa while Fiona brought in three steaming mugs that smelled like caffeinated heaven. “Isn’t it wonderful? Fiona came to see me to say that she’s dropping the lawsuit. We’re going to work together to make sure that Tom gets the sendoff that he deserves.”

“That is good news.”

Color me shocked.

Fiona placed the cups down on the small table between the loveseat and an overstuffed chair before settling into the latter, hands wrapped around her coffee mug. There were cream and sugar packets on the table, and Jane doctored the dark brew with both.

“I guess I was just in shock about being an aunt,” Fiona explained. “First, losing Tom and then the news. I was just…I don’t even know how to explain it. I’m not proud of my reaction. After all, we’re going to be a family, and we need to start acting like it. I’m sure Mom and Dad are going to welcome Erica and the baby with open arms.”

They probably would. Cooper had said that they were pretty decent people. But how would they feel about Cassie’s and Tom’s baby? Would those arms be as open? And what if there were even more women walking around pregnant?

Either way, Jane wasn’t going to be the one to mention Cassie or anyone else. That was something the family attorney could tell them at a later date. It was a positive move to see the two women not at each other’s throats. Erica looked like she’d been crying, but it might simply have been tears of relief that she wasn’t going to have a long drawn-out court battle.

“I’m just going to drink this one cup,” Erica said, taking a sip and smiling. “Doctor wants me to control my caffeine intake, but damn, I do love a good cup of coffee.”

“I’m not sure I would classify hotel room coffee as good, but it’s decent,” Fiona replied. “It could be worse, I guess.”

“It’s fine,” Erica replied with a smile, drinking deeply from her cup. “I really needed this more than I realized. So, Jane, what did you want to talk about?”

Well, shit. Erica had put her on the spot. The women were at peace, and she wasn’t going to throw a grenade in the middle of all this familial togetherness.

Think, think, think.

“I just wanted to reach out and see if you needed any medical recommendations while you were here. Doctors and such. I wasn’t sure how long you would be in town, but it occurred to me that you might need medical care until you could get back home.”

That sounded plausible. Pretty much. It was the best she could think up in a short space of time so it would have to be good enough.

“That’s so sweet,” Erica exclaimed. “Everyone in this town is just so nice. You must love living here.”

“I do,” Jane replied. “It is a wonderful town.”

“I’m more of a big city person,” Fiona said. “I love a city that’s twenty-four-seven. And speaking of that, I don’t think the sheriff works those kinds of hours. Why don’t we head to the sheriff’s station and let him know that he can release Tom to Erica? I’m sure he’ll be relieved.”

“I can just text him,” Jane offered, reaching into her handbag.

“I think we have to sign papers or something official,” Fiona said with a shake of her head. “It’s a bunch of legalese to me, but we want to do this by the book. We don’t want any delays in getting the final arrangements set up.”

Erica drained her cup, and then stood up, wobbling on her feet slightly.

“Oopsies,” she giggled. “I think I stood up too fast. I got dizzy for a moment. Let me get my shoes, and we can go. Jane, do you want to go with us? We can get some food afterward at Tate’s. My treat. I’m just so happy that we’ve been able to work everything out, and now my baby is going to have his daddy’s family, too. As much as I hurt that Tom is gone, I’m grateful that we’ll still have a part of him.”

“I feel that way, too,” Fiona said. “Tom’s baby is going to be such a blessing to all of us. I want to say that I’m sorry again for how I acted. I was just shocked and all.”

“I can understand that. So, what do you say, Jane? Will you go with us? I’d like you to. You’ve been so kind to me since I arrived in Winslow Heights.”

Jane didn’t think she’d been all that nice or anything. She hadn’t been mean, of course, but she hadn’t necessarily gone out of her way either. She’d talked to Erica, and tried to get to know her, comforting her when they’d found Tom dead. It didn’t feel like going above and beyond. It was more like being a human being.

“You don’t need to invite me,” Jane replied. “I probably need to head back anyway.”

“You’ll just end up at Tate’s with Cooper,” Erica pressed. “Just go with us. It will be fun.”

Fiona hadn’t piped up with any words of encouragement for Jane to go with them. It was still awkward being in the same room with Cooper’s ex-wife, especially knowing that the woman had made a few passes at him.

Did Fiona really want Cooper back, or was she simply trying to get him in bed so that she could say that she did? While the woman looked at Cooper with an admiring gaze, there was no emotion in her eyes other than desire. No love. No tenderness.

“I don’t want to intrude?—”

“You’re not intruding,” Erica replied, coming back into the sitting area with her shoes on. “Now that this is settled, I think I might be able to eat. I haven’t had much appetite since…you know.”

Erica had that hopeful look on her face that made Jane feel like a jerk if she kept trying to bow out. That meant that she was going to sit at a table with Fiona and pretend that she didn’t want the woman on the next plane, bus, or train out of town. Perhaps once she was gone, things could go back to what passed as normal in this town.

“I guess I could eat.”

“Let’s go then,” Fiona said brightly, holding up her car keys. “The sooner we talk to the sheriff and sign the papers, the sooner we can get Erica something to eat. We can’t let the baby starve.”

Arguing was futile. Dutifully, Jane followed the two women down the elevator and out of the hotel where Fiona’s rental car was parked close to the front door.

“I can meet you there,” Jane said. “I have Cooper’s car.”

Fiona pressed the button on the car remote, the lights flashing and then a chirp on the sedan.

“I’ll bring you back here when we’re done. It doesn’t make sense to take two cars and burn twice the gas. You’ll ride with us.”

Jane wanted to argue that the same amount of gas would be used either way, but for some reason, her thinking was getting fuzzy, and she was having a hard time expressing her thoughts. A wave of fatigue had come over her unexpectedly and she, frankly, just wanted to sit down for a few minutes until it passed.

Maybe I had too much caffeine today. I should probably lay off a bit.

“Just ride with us,” Erica pressed. “It will be fine. We can chat on the way.”

The last thing Jane wanted to do was chat, but she didn’t seem to have the energy to argue either. The drive was only a few minutes anyway. It wouldn’t be a big deal to come back and get Cooper’s vehicle.

Erica sat in the passenger seat, and Jane sat in the back. Fiona fired up the vehicle and turned left out of the parking lot.

“Do you mind if I turn on the radio?” Fiona asked.

“Sure, go ahead,” Erica replied, shaking her head a few times. “Damn, I’m so tired these days. I’m exhausted. I could lay down and take a nap.”

“Close your eyes,” Fiona urged. “It won’t hurt to take a quick catnap on the way.”

For some reason, Jane was feeling the same way. Her lids felt like they weighed about a hundred pounds apiece, and she was having trouble keeping her eyes open. Her limbs were growing heavier with each passing moment, and the scenery out of the window zipped by so quickly that she couldn’t quite make heads or tails of it.

They should have been passing houses, but there were only trees. That wasn’t right.

“I think,” Jane began, her tongue thick and unwieldy. Her voice didn’t sound right, the words echoing inside of her head. Was she really speaking or just imagining it? She couldn’t tell. “We’re going the wrong way. We need to turn around.”

She tried to focus her eyes on Erica, but the young woman had clearly fallen asleep, her mouth slightly parted as she softly snored. Jane couldn’t express what she was thinking or feeling, but something was wrong. Very, very wrong. She tried to catch Fiona’s gaze in the rearview mirror, but she wasn’t able to focus that long.

“This isn’t right,” Jane said, her voice still echoing in her brain and her tongue thick. “I think we’re going the wrong way.”

She tried to sit up and lean forward so she was closer to Fiona’s ear, but somehow, she’d slumped down into the seat - her body was almost dead weight. She found herself staring at her hands as they went in and out of focus. She couldn’t move them. They simply sat there as if not connected to arms. Were they even hers? She couldn’t be sure of that either.

The car began to spin, and her head fell back as she closed her eyes to try and keep control, but it was a fruitless effort. This was a battle she wasn’t going to win. Her brain was screaming that she needed to move, that something wasn’t right. It was all wrong. Her body, on the other hand, was seductively urging her to give in - close her eyes and let sleep take over.

She tried to get her fingers and arms to work together to get her phone out of her purse to call Cooper, but they wouldn’t cooperate. She grunted with the monumental effort, but nothing happened. She might as well have wanted to lift a building with one hand. She didn’t have the strength to even curl her toes.

Cooper, I need you. Something is going on here. This isn’t right. None of this is right.

Exhausted, she could feel the line of sweat that had popped out onto her forehead, yet she couldn’t even wipe it away. She was shutting down, and there was no way to stop it. She tried to call to Fiona again, but her now desert-dry mouth had long given up the fight to continue functioning. Fiona was still driving, but the scenery was simply one big blur now.

Her brain lost the battle and the war, her lids dropping for the final time. She gave in, not strong enough to fight the siren call of sweet sleep. Her last thought before the darkness was that she desperately needed to talk to Cooper.