A Good Day for Chardonnay (Sunshine Vicram #2) - Darynda Jones Page 0,123
that necklace? It’s an antique ivory cameo, so it is valuable, but I looked them up. They aren’t worth that much. Four thousand dollars? Maybe five? And the casing is just brass.”
“Exactly.” She poked her with a spindly finger, then pointed to her purse, a small fuchsia thing sitting on the overbed table.
Auri handed it to her then watched as she filtered through her belongings.
“And why did that girl’s family make such a fuss about their niece running away with it? They were more concerned about this damned necklace,” she said, lifting the necklace out of her purse, “than they were their own niece.”
Auri gasped. “How did you get it?”
“I insisted the paramedics allow me to grab it when they brought me to the hospital.”
“They let you take evidence from a crime scene?”
“I’m old, dear. You’d be amazed at what you can get away with when people think you’re senile.”
Auri’s admiration increased tenfold.
She took Auri’s hand and placed it on her palm. “I want you to take it.”
Guilt assaulted her with such force, it paralyzed her lungs and stung her eyes. “I couldn’t possibly, Mrs. Fairborn.”
“I insist. You two saved my life.”
“After we put it in danger.”
She gave her a dismissive wave. “Tom-ay-to, tom-ah-to. I trust you to do the right thing and think about why that family cared so much about an ivory-and-brass necklace.” She closed Auri’s fingers around it and patted her hand.
Auri’s curiosity got the better of her. “There has to be more to this.”
“Precisely. I never figured it out. Maybe you can.”
26
Beer: So much more than just a breakfast drink.
—SIGN AT THE ROADHOUSE BAR AND GRILL
“Are you kidding me?” Sun walked in to find her parents frantically searching for her daughter. “You lost her again?”
They turned to her, frazzled and exasperated. Only Aurora Dawn could do that to them.
“You guys are fired.”
A tiny voice floated to them from the doorway. “Hey, Grandma. Hey, Grandpa.”
The queen of mischief hobbled in dragging her IV stand like a set of golf clubs.
“Auri,” Elaine said, rushing to her and pulling her into her arms. Cyrus soon followed. “Where did you go?”
“For a walk.”
Sun crossed her arms over her chest.
Auri caved like a cardboard roof during a rainstorm. “I went to apologize to Mrs. Fairborn.”
“Auri,” Sun scolded, helping her daughter into bed. “That poor woman doesn’t need you traumatizing her anymore. Seeing her without her permission at this point borders on unethical, honey.”
“But you’re about to take her home. It was now or never. And she was moaning.”
“I’m going to check on her. You stay.”
Auri’s tiny shoulders sagged but Sun didn’t miss the reassuring smile she cast across the hall to Cruz. They must’ve been exonerated by Mrs. Fairborn, which would be a weight off her chest.
They were releasing Mrs. Fairborn that afternoon, and Sun offered to drive her home. It was the least she could do, all things considered. She threatened her parents one last time for good measure, then went in search of a serial killer.
“That girl of yours is clever,” Mrs. Fairborn said after an hour of almost complete silence on the ride home. Mostly because she’d fallen asleep the instant they headed out of the parking lot.
“She is. Thank you.”
“Oh, can you run me by the Swirls-n-Curls, honey? I need to grab a couple of things.”
“Of course.” They pulled in back and Mrs. Fairborn handed her a list. Sun laughed and went inside to gather the essentials, which were already bagged and waiting for her.
Next, they went to the grocery store, where Mrs. Fairborn only needed toilet paper and Dr Pepper, and would she mind? Then to the hardware supply store where she swore she needed three rolls of electrical tape. It wasn’t until they ended up at the bait shop that Sun began to suspect the woman was leading her on a wild-goose chase, but to what end?
Sun couldn’t help but wonder if she was afraid to go home. No one would blame her. Several members of the community cleaned the crime scene at her house after forensics finished. They even replaced a couple of broken windows, fixed a leaky faucet, and brought her some individually packaged home-cooked meals.
But she was still attacked in her home. Her sanctuary invaded. The one place she felt safe had been violated. Sun couldn’t imagine how that felt.
“This is the very last stop,” she promised.
“Mrs. Fairborn, is there somewhere else I can take you? You don’t have to go home if you don’t want to.”