Sweet Ginger Poison 11

Lacey had slept for nearly three hours after making love to Danny. She didn’t know how long he had been awake or what he had been doing. But now he wanted to drive down to Longview and party at his favorite dance club. Lacey would have preferred to sleep until morning. But she wanted to please Danny, so she got up.

The warm spray of the shower and the lathery soap refreshed her skin. But it couldn’t erase bad memories or wash away guilt.

Was she making another mistake? Did Danny really love her, or was he just using her like Navy did?

She had been so in love with Navy. They would be together forever. That was the plan. So, when she realized he was on a path to self-destruction, she tried to save him. But Navy didn’t want to be saved. Who did she think she was, telling him what to do? He didn’t need her. There were plenty of other women ready to jump in his bed. So, that’s all she was to him?

Danny might prove no more reliable than Navy, she thought. And this time she couldn’t run home to Grandma Greendale. Her grandmother had been the one person she could always count on in times of trouble.

Lacey and her parents had lived with her grandmother from the time Lacey was fifteen. They had moved in shortly after Lacey’s grandfather died. Lacey’s father said he didn’t want his mother living all alone. They would take care of her.

The truth was that Gabe Greendale was a bum. Lacey finally understood that. Her dad was not a good father, or a good husband, or even a good son. And her mother, Marika, was no better. All either of them ever thought about was themselves. Somehow that was their bond. They enabled each other’s selfishness.

When Lacey told her parents she was moving to Dallas with Navy during her senior year in high school, they did nothing to stop her—probably because they didn’t care about her. She was just a bother to them, just another responsibility—like a collection agency nagging you every month. You just want it to go away.

By the time Lacey’s grandmother found out what was going on, Lacey was already in Dallas. This led to a huge fight between her grandmother and her parents, resulting in an ultimatum: either Lacey’s parents would drive to Dallas and bring Lacey back home, or they could find somewhere else to live.

They moved out.

Gabe and Marika had been planning to relocate to California. They both wanted to make it in the movie industry: Marika as an actress, Gabe as a screenwriter. They would never fulfill their dreams unless they moved to L.A. So, Gabe figured that being thrown out of his mother’s house was just the ‘kick in the butt’ they needed.

Lacey’s grandmother had gladly welcomed her back into her home when Lacey left Navy in Dallas and returned to Coreyville. Lacey had not heard from either of her parents since her mother called over a year ago begging for money. She sounded like she was either drunk or doped up. Lacey didn’t have any money to send. And her grandmother refused to help. Lacey understood why.

After Grandma Greendale’s funeral, Lacey was more lost than ever before. She went home to her grandmother’s house and curled up in bed to die.

But Ginger Lightley had been a long-time friend of her grandmother, and must have been keeping an eye on Lacey to make sure she was okay. Ginger dropped by the house with a home-cooked meal the day after the funeral. She knocked on the door and then on Lacey’s bedroom window to get her attention. Lacey dragged herself to the door and let Ginger in with the tray of food.

Lacey would not have eaten the meal. She would have gone back to bed as soon as Ginger left. But Ginger wouldn’t leave. She insisted on staying until Lacey had eaten every bite. And she offered Lacey a job at her bakery. Lacey didn’t think she was up to it. She needed more time to get over her grandmother’s death. But Ginger told her that she knew Lacey’s grandmother would agree that Lacey should get out and get to work right away—be out there among other people. It would do her a world of good.

Lacey knew Ginger was right. It was exactly what her grandmother would have told her. And besides, Ginger had just lost her Baker Trainee. Lacey was doing her a favor by agreeing to start on Monday.

That was five weeks ago. And things had been going well. She loved the people she was working with—especially Ginger—even though at times Ginger could be such a perfectionist that it got on Lacey’s nerves. She sometimes reminded her of her grandmother—who was more of a mom than her than her real mother had ever been.

Two weeks ago, she had hooked up with Danny. She was drawn to his sense of humor. Then she had discovered his temper. But they were in love, weren’t they?

She turned off the water, stepped out of the shower, and began to towel off.

The doorbell rang. Who could that be? she wondered. Pizza. Danny must gotten too hungry to wait until they got to the club.

“Danny, can you get that?” she yelled to the living room over the blaring TV.

The TV sound went dead.

“Yeah, I’ve got it.”

She could barely hear the conversation at the door.

“Good evening, Sir. I’m Chief of Police Daniel Foenapper, and this is Mrs. Virginia Lightley. I’m sorry to disturb you at this hour, but I need to speak to Lacey Greendale. Is she here?”

“Uh, yes,” said Danny. “Come in.”

Lacey wrapped a towel around her wet hair and quickly put on her underwear. She could only imagine the look on Ginger’s face. This wasn’t the way she had wanted Ginger to find out that she and Danny were dating. She slipped into her bathrobe and walked out to the living room.

“Hi, Lacey,” said Ginger.

“Please, y’all have a seat,” said Lacey.

The chief and Ginger sat down in the chairs on opposite sides of the TV.

Lacey and Danny sat on the couch.

“What’s this about?” said Lacey.

“Well, as I’m sure you know,” said the chief, “Navy Newcomb died this morning.”

“Yes,” said Lacey.

“And the medical examiner has finished his autopsy,” said the chief. “We just came from his office.”

Lacey felt sick at the thought of Navy’s body stretched out across a cold, metal table, being butchered like a slab of beef.

“And he has determined that Navy was poisoned. That’s what killed him—anaphylactic shock.”

“So, it was murder?” said Danny.

“More than likely,” said the chief. “He was apparently allergic to fish oil.”

“Shell fish,” offered Lacey. “He was highly allergic to it.”

“The chief thinks somebody put it in his food,” said Ginger.

“Specifically,” said the chief, “a coffee cake.”

“One of our coffee cakes?” said Danny.

“I’m afraid so,” said Ginger.

“He loved Ginger’s coffee cakes, didn’t he, Lacey?” said the chief.

“Well…,” she glanced at Danny. She didn’t like being the expert on Navy’s likes and dislikes. “…yes, he did.”

“Did he have a favorite?” said the chief.

“Sweet Ginger Cake,” said Lacey. “That was his favorite.”

“I see,” said the chief. “Okay, thanks.” He stood up. “That’s it for now. But I may some more questions for you later.”

“Sure,” said Lacey, “no problem.”

Ginger stood up, and she and the chief walked toward the door. Lacey and Danny followed them.

Then the chief turned around. “Oh, yes—I knew I was forgetting something. And you might find this particularly interesting, Lacey.”

“What’s that?”

“He didn’t have an Epi-Pen with him,” said the chief. “Wonder why?”

“Uh, I don’t know. He used to carry one around in his car.”

“In the glove compartment?” said the chief.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“We didn’t find it. And obviously he didn’t find it either—otherwise he’d still be alive.”

Lacey didn’t know what to say.

“No Epi-Pen,” said the chief. “But we did find something interesting under the front seat of his car.”

Lacey felt her face quickly turning red, but she couldn’t stop it. “What?”

“A pair of panties,” said the chief.

Lacey could feel Danny staring at her, waiting to hear her response.

The chief added, “They’re kind of unusual. They lace up on the sides.”

Lacey hoped Ginger would tell the chief to stop making these ridiculous innuendos.

The chief went on. “And there were two words printed on the front of them—‘Unlace Me.’

“I’ve never seen any like that,” said Lacey. Then she saw the disappointment in Ginger’s eyes—as though she didn’t believe her.

“Well, I guess that’s it,” said the chief, opening the door. “Thanks again. Goodnight.”

Ginger said goodnight to Danny and Lacey as she followed the chief out the door.

Danny locked the door and then spun around. “What was that about?”

“Navy was murdered,” said Lacey.

“I know that—but why did they want to talk to you?”

“Probably just wanted to talk to somebody who knew about his allergy.”

“Yeah, but what’s this about the panties?”

“How should I know? I guess they belong to his girlfriend. Who knows?”

“I saw those exact panties in your little lingerie catalog.”

“What are doing looking through my catalog—checking out all the half-naked women?”

“They were just like the ones the chief was talking about.”

“The panties they found in Navy’s car are not mine.” She wondered whether she had stated it forcefully enough.

Danny didn’t say a word. He just stormed off into the bedroom.

She waited a minute and then went after him.

He was sitting on the other side of the bed, with his back to her. She walked around to face him—and wished she hadn’t.

“What are you doing with that thing?”

He held up the pistol. “This thing?”

“Be careful.”

“I think you’re lying about the panties.”

Lacey was about to start telling him he had it all wrong and to beg him to get rid of the gun. But then something snapped.

She snatched the pistol out of his hands. He was so surprised that he didn’t have time to react.

Lacey stepped back with the gun and pointed at him. “Get out of my home. Now!”

“I’m sorry, Lacey. I should have believed you. I do believe you, Honeypie.”

“No, you don’t! Get out of here now before I do something we’re both gonna regret.”

He eased his hands into the air. “Okay. Take it easy. I’m going.”

She followed him to the door. Once he had closed it and walked away, she locked it.

Lacey didn’t need a man in her life. Not one who didn’t trust her. But on the other hand—why should he? Especially since…she was lying.