The Alvarez Family Murder Mysteries Book 10
by Heather Haven
Chapter Three
I woke up hours later with a start, not really remembering where I was or what was going on. I lay in bed with Tugger sleeping on one side of me, Baba on the other, both warm and familiar. I looked at the clock on the side table. Ten thirty-five a.m. Then it all came back to me. I reached out and clutched at each sleeping cat, realizing that orange, while it may be the new black, was simply not my color.
The landline rang. It was Mom.
“Are you awake, Liana?”
“Heart hammering nicely, thank you.”
“Then get dressed and come down. We are awaiting you. In the family room.”
Putting aside that my mother tends to stress certain words within sentences, that drives me mad, she also doesn’t use abbreviations, nicknames, or colloquialisms. In short, my mother tends to sound like a reading of a Charles Dickens’ novel. And often with Mr. Dickens’ ability to find the darkest moment of every hour. Watch Saturday Night Live or Bugs Bunny? Not happening.
“I cannot impress upon you the importance of this meeting,” she went on. “It is dire.”
“Who’s there?” I asked, throwing back the covers and getting up, much to the annoyance of the cats.
“In attendance are Richard, Mateo, Frank, and I. Victoria and Stephanie remain at home.”
“I wish little Steffi was there. I could use a friendly face. I’ll need a strong cup of coffee before I meet the ‘grand inquisitors.’”
She sniffed. “There are no grand inquisitors. We have a common purpose for this meeting. Your freedom. Humor is not appreciated at this juncture, Liana.”
“No, ma’am.”
“Coffee is waiting for you. As are we,” she added. “Ten minutes.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
But while the spirit was willing, the flesh was not. Every part of me ached from the evening’s wild chase ending with the cave-in I had to dig my way out of. I decided to take a shower to help with the stiffness but wondered if once I got in, would I just stand there and let the hot water run over me until it was gone? We had a large water heater. There was no telling how long it would take to run out of hot water. I forced myself to hurry, but it took a good fifteen minutes of running water to relieve tense muscles.
Already late, I threw on my favorite purple sweats, old and faded but clean, and ran down the stairs to the outside of the garage. It wasn’t until I got to the bottom of the staircase did I realize I’d forgotten to change out of my fake leopard-skin slippers and into actual shoes. Oh well. Mom already hated it when I wore sweats no matter how clean they were. May as well send her over the edge with fuzzy house slippers.
Out of breath from running across the backyard, I entered the family room and huffed a “good morning,” with a big smile planted on my face. No one returned it. Richard looked deep in thought, Tío concerned, Mom annoyed—especially after she got a load of my feet—and Frank worried. I liked it better when he looked angry.
“Sorry I’m late. I took a quick shower.”
Silence fell on the room. Then all of a sudden everyone started talking at once. I couldn’t understand any one person, but I did hear a lot of who, how, what, and when questions. Finally, Frank’s voice bellowed above all the rest. He gives good bellow.
“Quiet, everyone! Quiet!” The room fell silent again. “That’s better.” He turned to me. “I want every detail of what you did, who you saw, and what you said from the moment you entered the theater several days ago. No, start at the beginning of this assistant-magician fiasco. Oh, and there are your car keys, phone, and purse.” He gestured to a pile of my things on the coffee table. “I took them from the dressing room this morning. Fortunately, it wasn’t designated as part of the crime scene.”
“Thank you, Frank! You drove all the way up to San Francisco. That was so thoughtful.” I smiled at the man who was back to looking well-groomed and stylish. A mustard-colored cashmere V-neck sweater worn over caramel-colored slacks. The same brown loafers as last night, but of course, they worked better with this outfit.
“You’re welcome. Now start talking.”