Down Home and Deadly

kill someone, though. Lots of folks look out for number one. And they don’t kill whoever gets in their way.”
    Oh boy. To think I’d been trying to smooth things over. “You’re both right,” I said. “And the suspect list is pretty sparsely populated. The only other person I’ve thought of so far is Larry.”
    “Who’s Larry?” Elliott asked.
    I told them about Larry and the way he had acted when he nearly ran me down at the gym. And how he’d yelled at Lisa.
    “Sounds like a rough character,” Elliott agreed. “And you think his motive would be jealousy? If he did it, I mean.”
    “I guess so. If we knew the motive , I think we could figure out who did it.” I glanced at Carly. “Unless it was a stranger like Carly hopes.”
    He nodded. “I agree with Carly. I don’t like the thought of someone from Lake View being a cold-blooded killer.”
    I smiled at Alex. Finally , I’d found something they agreed on. He gave me a discreet thumbs - up.
    At Sam’s Club, Alex and I left Elliott and Carly to gather restaurant supplies while we wandered among the books and CDs. Before too long, Alex met a fellow lawyer , and they were soon engrossed in the intricacies of trout fishing : fly fishing versus live bait.
    I listened for a while, but finally my attention span reached its limit.
    “I’m going to go help Carly,” I whispered and received an absent nod in response. “I’ll call when we’re done.”
    My stomach was growling, and I figured the sooner we got supplies taken care of, the sooner we could eat. A fajita was calling my name. I headed toward the back and had flipped my phone open to call Carly , when I heard her voice, strangely agitated. I closed the phone but could still hear her loud and clear. Apparently from the next aisle.
    “I can’t help it, Elliott. I don’t think it’s the right thing to do.”
    “You think keeping secrets is the right thing? Come on, Carly. I think you’re avoiding the issue. Your family is so close. How will they feel when you finally tell them? Someone, probably Jenna, will want to know when you found out. Then what?”

Chapter Nine

    Barkin’ up the wrong tree

    I stayed out of sight but waited for my sister to answer. What was going on?
    “I think I know my family better than you,” Carly answered tartly.
    “Fine.” Elliott sounded more resigned than angry.
    My curiosity meter was on full alert. Secrets? From the family? Did this have to do with the whole Travis situation? Or was there something else? And what was that ‘probably Jenna’ crack about? I retraced my steps to Alex. I’d lost my desire to help gather supplies, as well as my appetite.
    I was thankful Alex was alone when I found him. I quietly told him what I’d heard.
    He put his arm around me , and I stood for a few second s listening to his steady heartbeat. “I know it’s hard,” he said softly. “But maybe this is something personal between the two of them. And that’s really a good thing, isn’t it? You are hoping that they’re getting serious, right?”
    “You mean like maybe they’re about to get engaged and she isn’t ready to tell us yet?”
    He shrugged. “I don’t know if that’s it or not. But she’ll tell you when she gets ready.”
    I nodded. “How do you do that?”
    He raised an eyebrow. “What?”
    “Make me feel better.”
    His dimple flashed. “It’s a gift. Now let’s find the secret - keeping couple and go eat.”
    I kissed him on the cheek. “Thanks.”
    “Anytime.”
    We met Elliott and Carly rolling two loaded carts toward the checkout. “Did you buy out the store?” Alex called , and they laughed. Any awkwardness I felt vanished. Alex was right. Carly would tell me when she was ready.
    At the Mexican restaurant, my appetite returned with a vengeance. The swarthy young waiter brought chips and white cheese dip then took our order. He repeated each thing we said as he wrote it down and waited for a nod.
    “He wants to be sure he gets it right, doesn’t he?” I said after he left. As a newly minted waitress, I couldn’t imagine how hard it must be to have a language barrier in addition to all of the other difficulties of the job.
    “That reminds me of Marco ,” I said.
    Carly nodded. “Speaking of Marco ,” she drawled , “I wonder if he has problems with his roommates or something. He acts like he never wants to go home.”
    “Yeah, I’ve noticed that , too. But he does a really good job , ” I said.
    “I think because