Page 15 of Fluffed and Folded

“I work at the assisted living facility where she’s been staying. Does she do this sort of thing to you often?”

“Not really. You must be special.”

“According to my mom, I’m the most special boy in the whole world. She’s really specific about that last part; that’s how you know it’s true,” Eli said, and felt relieved when she laughed.

“Wow, two women agree. That has to mean something. I guess it’s a good thing I was free tonight,” Sheena replied.

“Judging by this crowd, I think it would have been worth it for the creamed corn alone,” Eli said, motioning to the sea of white hair around them.

“I usually bypass the crowd and have it delivered directly to my residence, in an unmarked container,” Sheena said, and now it was his turn to laugh.

The date continued, pleasant and comfortable, until it was time to leave. He walked her to her car and felt the first stirrings of awkwardness. There was no way he was ready to kiss a womanhe’d only met ninety minutes ago, but on the other hand it felt far too impersonal to see her to her car and drive away.

“So,” he began, then reached out a hand and lightly poked her bicep.

She laughed, apparently amused by his awkwardness. That boded well. “Yes?”

“Maybe we could do this again sometime,” he suggested.

“This specifically?” she asked, motioning to the restaurant behind him. So dependent were they on their early birds that they were already beginning to tear down and mop the floor of the empty restaurant, and it was only seven thirty.

“This or watch a marathon ofWheel of Fortuneand complain about inflation. I don’t want to brag, but I have an entire litany of geriatric date ideas at my disposal.”

She whistled. “Wow. I’m impressed, and now I’m invested enough to see what you’ll spring on me next.”

They exchanged numbers and Eli drove away feeling positive about the date. For the first time in a long time, this had the potential to be something, to turn into something more, possibly the something more he’d been longing for.

The evening had worked to push all negative thoughts from his mind, especially those about his landlord. So it came as a shock when he pulled next to the parking lot of his apartment building and saw that it was roped off with police tape. Eli tried to turn in and was halted by an officer.

“The lot is closed for everyone but residents,” the officer explained.

“I’m a resident,” Eli said, trying not to squirm under the man’s suspicious gaze. “What’s going on?”

The officer removed the tape so he could drive in and park, then leaned down and spoke through the window. “There’s been a murder.”

CHAPTER 10

Everyone in the apartment complex, plus a few people Eli didn’t know, stood in the parking lot, staring at the building. Eli parked and joined them, probably feeling what they felt—waves of shock. Was this always the way people felt when someone they knew died? Eli didn’t know; this was the first time it had ever happened to him.

“Did you know the deceased?” An officer sidled close and, though it was an offhand question, the keen way he observed Eli made him think it wasn’t as casual as he pretended.

“By name,” Eli said, still staring at the apartment. Watching officers come and go felt surreal; everything felt surreal.

“Nothing more than that?”

Eli squinted, trying to remember if he and Asher Cline had ever had more than a passing conversation, but he couldn’t remember. He wasn’t certain he would know Asher’s last name, if it wasn’t on his mailbox. A movement to his right caught his attention and Eli turned, catching Darby in his peripheral. She seemed to be trying to disappear, which was an impossibility. Women like her couldn’t disappear from anyone, but she gave it a good try, skulking and lurking on the periphery, as if unaware of how every man in residence darted her looks that lingered. ToEli she seemed wan and twitchy. One index finger kept darting to her mouth where she bit it, frowned, yanked it out, and forced it to her side before repeating the entire process again.

“Can you think of anyone suspicious you’ve ever watched enter or leave the apartment building?” the officer asked.

Darby, who must have been eavesdropping, froze and darted Eli a pleading glance. Did she really believe he would rat her out to the cops? Should he? He squinted harder, thinking quickly, trying to find an answer to what shouldn’t have been a complicated question.

“No,” he said. Did Darby sag in relief, or was that his imagination? She must have a tender conscience if she was scared enough to believe he would actually go to the cops about her midnight visit, as if they would care in the midst of a murder.

“If you think of anything,” the officer said and eased away.

Eli turned, searching for Darby, but she was nowhere in sight.

Somehow, Eli slept. He had always been good at shoving away unpleasant thoughts and turning off his brain. Apparently murder fell into the category of the unpleasant things he was able to ignore.

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