Chapter Thirty-Two

Joe was sitting at the kitchen table, peacefully eating a ham sandwich, when he heard Cece come home and go upstairs to her room. A few minutes later, she wandered into the kitchen wearing a red velvet robe. "Don't you like to eat regular meals? I would've been happy to have Petra cook you a proper dinner this evening, but you and your friend took off again, like last night." She frowned at Joe's sandwich. "At least Brent said he was going out to eat. From the looks of things, I'd say you haven't eaten since lunch."

"I haven't." Joe crunched a potato chip, then reached for his glass of coke. "I got in early, but I wasn't hungry until now."

Cece called for Lupe. "Bring me a glass of the Margherita di Cascia Pinot Noir. And bring one for Joe, too. In fact, just bring us the bottle."

Joe tried to protest but Cece silenced him with a motion of her hand. "This is an excellent vintage, and if I don't share it with you, who will I share it with? They say it's not good for a person to drink alone."

Joe sighed. "You know, Cece, for all your talk about how lonely you are, I find it hard to believe you couldn't get plenty of company if you wanted it."

Cece ran a hand through her curls. "You flatter me. I know how you men are, though. You like the young ones."

"You're hardly old," Joe pointed out.

Cece fussed with the collar of her robe, exposing her cleavage. Before she could speak again though, the maid set a glass in front of her. She set a glass in front of Joe too, opened the wine and poured a little for each of them. Cece took a sip. "Thank you, Lupe. You can leave the bottle on the table." After Lupe left, Cece leaned toward Joe. "This is an excellent vintage that I picked up in France on my last vacation. I brought home several bottles, much to the dismay of the customs agent."

Joe took a sip of his wine, then set the glass back on the table. "It's fine, but it doesn't go with my potato chips."

Cece put her elbows on the table and rested her chin in her hands. "So tell me why it is you think I should have no trouble finding a man," she said, returning to their previous topic. "You think I'm still pretty?"

Joe looked down at his plate. "I'm sure there are plenty of men who find you attractive."

"Do you find me attractive?"

"That's not the point." Joe pushed the remainder of his sandwich and chips away and stood up. "I'm tired. If you'll excuse me--"

"Don't go," Cece said, jumping to her feet. "We won't talk about me any more. That was completely inappropriate, and I'm sorry. Please sit down."

"I'm not mad at you. I'm just tired. I've had a busy day."

"Well, you could at least tell me how your search for Elise is going. Have some more wine. Please."

Reluctantly, Joe sat down and reached for his glass. "My 'search,' as you call it, isn't going anywhere. You're the only lead I've got, and you aren't talking."

Cece's mouth dropped open in surprise. "Am I really your only lead? I thought with all your comings and goings, you must have other clues."

"No, we don't. Brent and I have been visiting old friends to pass the time. Other than that, we're waiting on you."

"I'm doing all I can."

Joe tossed back the rest of his wine and reached for the bottle. "No you aren't Cece. In fact, you've been about as unhelpful as you could possibly be, stringing us along, making us think you're going to get us in touch with Elise, when day after day nothing happens."

"Can I help it if she refuses to see you?"

"Why don't you just tell me where she is and let me see for myself if she'll talk to me or not?"

Cece held out her glass for Joe to top it off. "I can't do that. A promise is a promise."

"Maybe so," Joe said. "But what are any of us really gaining by all this? You're stuck with two extra mouths to feed and the disruption to your household. Brent's about to lose his job, and I'm climbing the walls." He leaned across the table. "You're doing no one any favors by keeping this stupid promise of yours, if you even made one at all."

Cece sipped some wine to keep from having to speak for a moment. "I think that's the most words I've heard out of you since you arrived. And maybe you're right-- maybe I could be doing more to help. But we women have to stick together, especially since she was there to give me her emotional support when I was going through my own difficulties."

"Like when your husband died? Kind of unusual circumstances, don't you think? I mean, the man had never been sick a day in his life."

"Some people drop dead just like that, you know. Aneurysms, heart problems, things like that."

"Except that no one ever could find evidence of any 'things like that.' Odd."

"Yes, it was." Cece met Joe's eyes steadily.

Joe sucked down the rest of his wine. "This has been an interesting conversation, as always. I'm going to bed now." He headed toward the stairs, but heard the patter of Cece's footsteps behind him. "What do you want?"

Cece paused, one foot on the bottom step. "I just wanted to make sure Lupe got your room ready for you."

"I'm sure it's fine." He started back up the steps.

Cece hurried after him. "Why are you mad at me?"

"I'm not mad at you, Cece," Joe said, turning down the hallway toward his room.

"You are too mad at me," she said, chasing him to his doorway. "Surely you don't believe those awful rumors about me?"

"What happened between you and your husband is none of my business. I just want you to quit interfering between me and my wife." Joe stepped inside the room, turned around and placed a hand on the door. "Good night, and thank you for your hospitality."

"You're certainly welcome. May I come in and make sure you've got enough towels?"

"I'm sure I have plenty."

"I'd feel better if I checked. I want to make sure my maids are doing their job." She pushed past Joe before he could protest again and disappeared into the bathroom. When she reappeared, she had taken off her robe, revealing a red silk nightgown. She walked across the room and then sat on the edge of the bed. "So tell me," she said, leaning back a little and gazing up at Joe, who was standing in the middle of the room with his arms folded across his chest. "Has this room been okay for you? Not too cold or too hot, is it? Have you had everything you needed? Enough pillows, blankets, things like that?"

"Everything's fine."

"Oh, good. I worry, you know, since I don't have many guests and my maids aren't used to it." She looked around the room, as if she hadn't ever examined it closely before. "Kind of a big room. Don't you get lonely?"

"Not really. Now, if it's all right with you, I'd like to get some sleep."

Cece stood up and put her arms around his neck. "Let's you and me quit playing games. You must be lonely without your wife, and I've been lonely, too." She grasped a loose lock of his hair and twined it around a finger. "Let me take your mind off things for awhile."

Joe reached grabbed Cece by the shoulders and pushed her away. When she tried to move toward him again, he held her at arm's length. "Stop this. You're making a fool of yourself."

"Don't be such a prude. Elise left you. You aren't obligated to her now."

"This isn't about Elise," Joe said. "I just don't want to."

Cece paused, a hurt expression on her face. "I thought you liked me."

"I do, but not that way."

"Maybe if you just gave me a chance..." she made to put her arms around him again.

Joe took a step back, caught his ankle on the bed and fell onto the mattress. "You have got to be the most persistent woman I've ever met." He tried to push her off him as she attempted to seat herself on his lap. "Why won't you believe me when I tell you no?"

Just then there was a tap at the door and Cece jumped to her feet as Brent pushed open the door and stepped into the room. He looked from Joe to Cece and back again. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Before Cece could speak, Joe jumped up. "Cece was just saying good night."

Cece smiled primly at Brent. "Yes, and good night to you, too."

Brent took in Cece's slinky attire. "Looks like you might get cold running around in that."

Without a word, Cece went into the bathroom, then stormed back out, pulling her velvet robe about her as she hurried away down the hall.

Brent went to the door, peeked into the hallway, then came back in and shut the door behind him. "Can I say 'I told you so' now?"

Joe sat on the bed and ran a hand across the top of his head. "If you must."

Brent hesitated a minute, then pulled up the desk chair and sat down. "I don't think I will. You seem traumatized enough as it is."

"I knew she was pushy, but not like that."

"Kind of a cute getup she had on," Brent observed. "I can envision the two of you together, you know. I'm surprised you were able to resist."

Joe was about to make a smart remark, then realized Brent was teasing him. "Why don't you go knock on her door and tell her how attractive you think she is? Make her evening."

"No, I don't do much for her, I'm afraid."

"Maybe now that I've turned her down, she'll reconsider."

"I hope not." Brent loosened his tie. "What have you been up to tonight, besides fending off our hostess?"

"I went to see an old friend. My old probation officer, actually."

"What for?"

Joe gave an embarrassed shrug. "Guilt, I guess. Here I've been a model member of the community all these years and now in two days I've been guilty of assault, trespassing, theft, drug possession, and breaking and entering. I needed to talk to someone about it, get it off my chest."

"Maybe you should've gone to see a priest instead."

"I thought about it, but Ott understood where I was coming from. I didn't have a real dad around when I was growing up, and Ott was like a father to me. It's because of him I didn't end up dead or in prison. He straightened my head out. Not too many guys like that out there, especially working as probation officers."

"So you feel better now?"

Joe shrugged. "I guess so. Not that he did me any good."

"What do you mean?"

"After I saw him, I came back here and broke into Cece's study."

Brent let out a whoop. "Go forth and sin no more."

"I don't suppose you want to know what I found out."

"Did you find out where she is?"

"No."

Brent turned away with a small shrug, as if to say that anything else was beneath his concern.

"Cece was once suspected of murder."

Brent leaned forward in his chair, suddenly all attention. "Her husband?"

Joe nodded. "Very mysterious circumstances. And he left everything to her, cutting out his mother, sister, and a child from a previous marriage."

"I thought something wasn't right around here."

"Doesn't relate to our case of course," Joe went on, "But it gives us an idea what kind of woman we're dealing with."

Brent nodded. "We were wrong to trust her for even a minute."

"I think she's harmless enough, but she was obviously lying through her teeth when she said she was a lousy actress. Judging from her little performance with us, I'd say she's Academy Award material."

"We'll put a stop to that," Brent said, standing up. "Maybe she can get away with murder, but she's not getting away with this. We're still on for tomorrow, right? We're going to insist that she let you listen on the other line when she calls Elise?"

"That's still the plan," Joe agreed. "I'm not sure what I’m going to do when she tells me I can't, but one way or another, we're going to get this resolved."

"It'll work out," Brent said. "Even if we get nothing out of her, at least we'll be able to cross this lead off our list and move on." He took a few steps toward the door. "Well, good night. I just wanted to drop in and check we were on the same page."

"Glad you did, or I might never have gotten Cece off of me."

"Happy to be of service."

"I know it's none of my business, but where were you tonight, anyway?"

"I met with an old friend. She has some good connections and she's going to try and find out if Elise has any travel plans coming up."

"How soon do you think we'll know something?"

"That depends," Brent said with a small look of annoyance.

"Depends on what?"

"On whether or not she remembers anything in the morning. Selene is a sweet girl, but she's become a drunk."