Death Waxed Over - Tim Myers [58]
“It’s going to be that easy?”
April grinned. “You just told me I couldn’t ask about it. Besides, if I push you on it now, you’re going to have to come up with a lie, and I don’t believe in lying between friends.”
“You’re one of a kind,” I said.
“And more of the world should take notice of it,” she said. “Now what can I do for you?”
“I need you to hide this for me.”
She took the covered jar, then said, “Is it dangerous? Will it bite, explode or leak?”
“No, if you look at it that way, it’s perfectly safe.”
She nodded. “But it’s dangerous nonetheless, gotcha. Consider it in safe hands.”
I hugged her, and as I pulled back, I saw April blush slightly. “Thanks,” I said, “I do appreciate it.”
“Not a problem. I would like to ask you for a favor myself. Don’t worry, I’ll hide this no matter what your answer is.”
“What is it?”
“When this is all over, will you tell me what I’ve been hiding?”
“I promise.”
As I drove back to River’s Edge, I felt a wash of relief getting that makeup out of the complex. Now I needed to find out who had placed it there, and why they were so eager to set my friend up.
I decided to stop off at Party World on my way back to the candleshop. Eve wouldn’t be happy about the delay, but I had to find out how tough that greasepaint was to buy. I was hoping that maybe, just maybe, the killer had slipped up somehow.
“I’m looking for some greasepaint, the kind that clowns wear,” I asked the clerk at Party World. The building, full of costumes, balloons, plates, cups and everything else needed for a celebration, was laid out like a maze, and I hadn’t had any luck after searching the aisles for ten minutes. I’d finally found a teenaged employee who was more interested in making time with the female clerk beside him than helping me. Only by standing directly between them did I finally manage to get his attention.
“Aisle 7, next to the fright wigs,” he reluctantly admitted.
“Thanks, you’ve been a great help.”
“No problem,” he said, missing my sarcasm completely and turning his attention back to his comely coworker. I hated that expression more than his behavior. When did “no problem” enter the common vernacular, and where had I been when they’d taken the vote? It was dismissive and disrespectful, and I didn’t care for it.
I headed off to the fright wigs and clown makeup, hoping that the tube I’d held was a special-order item, something they could trace.
There were three dozen tubes on the shelf just like the one I’d found under Pearly’s workbench. So much for following that lead. It was time to head back to the candleshop. No doubt Eve was ready to put out an all-points bulletin on me, I’d been gone so long.
I got back to the shop, ready with a dozen apologies for my employee, but one look at her face told me that something bigger than my absenteeism was going on.
She said, “Thank goodness you’re here. You need to get to the hospital as quickly as you can. Your friend Becka’s been attacked.”
Chapter 15
“What happened to her?” I asked.
“She was jogging by the river near here and some maniac mugged her. She tumbled down the bank and fell into the water.”
“Is it serious?”
Eve said, “They wouldn’t say, but she’s been asking for you. Go, Harrison, I can stay here as long as you need me to.”
I tore off toward the hospital, fighting to keep myself from driving too far over the speed limit. Wrecking on the way over there wasn’t going to do either one of us any good.
I found the nurses’ station and was directed to Becka’s room. It was semiprivate, so at least she wasn’t in Intensive Care. One side of her face was scraped, and her right arm was in a cast. Her room was an explosion of color and scent; someone had already gone out of their way to make her feel cared for.
“Hey there. Are you okay?”
She nodded as she offered me a slight smile. “I think so. They just gave me something for the pain. I don’t feel like there’s really any reason for me to stay here overnight, but they want to keep an eye on me. Evidently I blacked out at some point.”
“So what happened?” I asked as I stood beside