The three of them were standing close together at the door of the big white brick house by the lake. Ray and Sue Ellen each carried two bags of fresh produce and groceries. Tony had one bag, the one with the wine in it. The sling on his right arm got him out of the heavy lifting. A snow covered Jaguar was in the drive. She had to be home. Ray rang the bell again.
The door finally opened. Lakisha was wearing jeans and a maroon sweatshirt with a bright yellow M on the front. She wasn’t smiling. Neither was Ray. Tony had a big grin on his face though, and tried to break the tension.
“We wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas…” He was singing loudly and winced when he nudged Sue Ellen to join him with his bad wing. It worked. Lakisha smiled and stepped back to let them in.
“I know it’s a little early, but hey, what are holidays for?”
It was a week after the shooting, a week after the surgery to repair Tony’s slashed arm, a week after Karen Hewes, still in the hospital, had been charged with the murder of Deanna Fredrickson.
A week after Lakisha Marland had been arrested as a felon in possession of a firearm.
Ray hadn’t known about the pistol. Neither had Tony.
“You a fool, you know that?”
Lakisha took the bag from Tony and kissed his cheek, careful of his slinged arm. She shooed them into her kitchen and surveyed the bounty they began unloading from the Lund’s bags. Tonight would be Italian from the look of things, and Tony de Luca was in charge. They all agreed the boy knew his gravy. But first, it was decided, some wine and some conversation.
They sat in the atrium area, looking out over the frozen lake. New smooth ice was shiny gray-and-blue. Wisps of snow blew across it, dancing across it now and then in a small whirlwind, and after a pirouette or two the ballet disappeared.
“How you holding up?” Tony and Sue Ellen could see the affection in Ray’s smile when he asked Lakisha the question. She had taken the shooting hard, even though everyone assured her she had done the right thing, the only thing she could have.
“I’m still angry.” Angry was a surprise until she explained further. “I know between the tape and what she’s been saying that Karen’s going to prison for Deanna’s murder.” Everyone nodded. “But it’s not enough. I hear there’s a plea.”
Lakisha locked eyes with Sue Ellen. Karen’s fate was in the DA’s hands now, not the detective’s.
“I’ve heard that too. She’d be a fool not to try to finagle one.”
“That ain’t right.”
Tony and Ray stared out at the lake. They agreed with Lakisha, both of them. They had gotten into the lives of all the people involved, just like Ray said they would have to, to solve the crime. Deanna Fredrickson had been a good person.
“If it makes you feel any better we’re going after her on a completely separate charge regarding Stuckey. The premeditation factor…well, the charge is going to be murder in the first for Stuckey.”
Lakisha peered over the lip of her wine glass. “Will it stick?”
“We think once it’s reduced to murder-two it’s got legs. Karen Hewes’ life, as she knows it, is over. I have no doubt whatsoever that justice will be served.”
“Well then, I propose a toast,” Ray ahemed and raised his wine glass. “To rookie detective Anthony, I shoulda’ zagged, de Luca on solving his first murder. And his second, as far as that goes. This one’s in the win column, no matter how it turns out, and you did good, son. Real good.”