Page 66 of Heidi Lucy Loses Her Mind

“Probably a good idea,” I say, remembering how unaffected he seemed.

“And what about Mr. Foster?” She looks up from the pad of paper, her eyes landing on me. She traces the pen around her lips, her eyes narrowed in concentration. “I feel like murder is a little extreme as retribution for someone reporting your dog.”

“Maybe,” I say slowly, “but we don’t know exactly how much he got fined. Stanley Riggs said it could be up to five hundred per offense, right?”

She nods.

“So that could add up to quite a lot. I’d put him down, even if it seems unlikely.” I hesitate, and then add, “Write it down. Now.” If I have to keep watching her trace that pen over her lips…well.

You told her you wouldn’t kiss her again, I remind myself.

She raises her brow at me but writes it down. “How do we figure out who she was blackmailing?” she says then, looking back at me.

“I’m sure the police are already doing their own thing on that front,” I point out.

“I know,” she says. She bites her lip and then goes on, “I’m just anxious to figure this out. I keep thinking—I keep thinking—” She sighs. “I can’t shake the feeling that I knew something was going to happen to her. And Ireallythink that if I can figure out what happened, I might remember what I’ve forgotten.”

I nod. “I understand. We can only do so much, though,” I say gently. “Do you know when the police will return the security footage?”

“No,” she says, sounding frustrated. She runs one hand through her hair. “I don’t know. I guess I could ask them.”

Rushing them doesn’t seem like it would make a very good impression, and we really don’t want to get on their bad side. Not when they’re already looking sideways at us. “Tell you what,” I say. “Let’s wait and see what happens over the next few days, okay? If we need to in the future, we can try to visit Carmina’s house again. Maybe see if they’d let us look in her room.” Normally I would worry about bothering the grieving family, but…they don’t really seem to be grieving.

“For now, let’s go to the hair place,” I go on. “We might get some insight on your missing day.”

“Yeah,” she says with a sigh. “All right.”

My phone buzzes in my pocket as she stands up, and I pull it out. One message fromJuniper Writing Group.I don’t think I’ll forget her name or mix her up with any of the other Junipers I know—none—but it’s how I entered her contact information anyway. My heart picks up speed as my thumb hovers over the message; this might be her feedback. She said she was going to read the rest of the stuff I shared when she got home and then tell me what she thought.

But do I want to know? Do I really want to know if my work in progress is a flaming pile of crap?

No—and yes. I don’t want to know, but I need to know. So I take a deep breath and then open the text.

Hi Soren, this is Juniper Bean from our critique group,it begins.I finished reading your chapters. I don’t know what you’re worried about; it’s looking great. I left comments in the doc!

My heart flutters with relief—I exhale loudly and then take a few more breaths before getting to my feet.

“What’s that all about?” Heidi says.

“It’s Juniper,” I say. “In my writing group. She likes what I’m working on.”

Heidi rolls her eyes and rests her hand on my arm. “I’m not surprised,” she says. “I think you’re the only person who thinks it’s bad.”

I stare down at that hand, where it’s in contact with my skin.

She’s touching me. I am being touched. By Heidi. Heidi is touching me.

Snap out of it.

“Up until today, I was the only person who’d read it,” I point out, my eyes still stuck on the slender fingers, the little silver ring. This is so stupid. I’m being so stupid. My heart should not be racing. It’s her hand on my arm. That’s it. Completely benign.

She shrugs, blissfully unaware of my internal debate. “Well, now it’s fifty-fifty. You think it sucks, and she thinks it’s good.”

“Fifty-fifty isn’t anything to write home about,” I say, and I finally force my gaze back to Heidi’s face.

“Come on,” she says. She gives my arm a squeeze and then lets go. “To the salon.”

I nod. “To the salon.”

---