Chapter 7
Nona watched Ivy leave Nick's cabin, and her heart sank. Nick had two older, wiser women to play around with-why would he be interested in a young inexperienced girl? Especially one who stuttered and couldn't express herself?
She wished now she hadn't followed Nick and Ivy and spied on them. Watching had simply intensified her loneliness and sense of inadequacy.
Nona had also witnessed the visit of the deputy sheriff, and she hoped the law wouldn't bother Nick. He couldn't have had anything to do with
Zelda's death. She, Nona, could clear his name easily. But what would happen to Lucy if the truth came out? Jud might kick her out!
Nona was sure Nick wouldn't reveal his alibi and in doing so possibly ruin a marriage.
II worst comes to worst, I'll tell, she thought.
It comforted her to know that she possessed valuable knowledge with which she could help Nick, if necessary.
Ivy came through the door, looking just a little mussed and flustered. Nona observed that Ivy's lipstick was slightly smeared. She imagined Nick's mouth on Ivy's, and quick, sharp jealousy repossessed her.
"How was your s-swim?" Nona asked.
Ivy tossed her transistor radio and towel and handbag on the sofa and sank down beside them. She crossed her long, tanned legs.
"I ran into Nick at the beach."
With her guilty knowledge uppermost in her mind, Nona asked, "D-did you two have fun?"
Ivy sighed. "Well-naturally. But we were interrupted."
Nona felt her cheeks turn hot. "Th-at's too bad ... What happened?"
"You sure are curious! It's as I've been telling you, Nona. You have to go out and hunt them sometimes."
Nona flushed. "I saw that sheriff over by the parking lot. . . "
"Yes, he came by to see Nick-at the wrong time!"
"Y-you mean you-didn't?"
Ivy laughed. "I told you, we had fun. . . Oh, I hear somebody coming."
Nona was glad for the interruption, in spite of her curiosity. Lucy appeared outside, and stepped up to the opened door.
"Come in," Ivy called out.
Lucy entered. She wore attractive shorts and a halter of bright red. Slender, beautiful-and she knew so much about men! She perched on the edge of a chair, her legs carelessly spread.
"I just had an idea," she said. "Why don't we have a party tomorrow night? Jud's coming up a little early."
"All right with me," Ivy drawled. "But won't we be short of men?"
Lucy giggled. "I'm sure Nick will come and Nona can invite Andy." She looked at Ivy. "Jud can bring along somebody for you. I just talked to him on the phone."
"No," Ivy said. "If you think Nick can be there, I'll be all right!"
Lucy raised her eyebrows. "Well, that would even things out. What do you say, Nona?"
She remembered her argument with Andy. But she had no one else, really. "W-why don't you have Jud bring somebody up for me?"
"Hear, hearV Ivy said. "You'd take a blind date?"
Nona knew her cheeks were hot. "Yes."
"What happened to Andy?" Lucy remarked. "I-I'd rather not say...."
Ivy and Lucy laughed until the tears flowed.
"But-what about the-murder?" Nona asked.
"Oh, this deputy ought to have that solved by then," Lucy said. Probably one of those bums around the tavern. Or that so-called "Ridge-runner."
"H-has anybody ever seen this man?" Nona asked. "What does he look like?"
Lucy shrugged. "He was on the loose last year. I guess he's thin and ragged. Usually just takes stuff to eat. . . "
The man Nona had glimpsed in the binoculars could be called thin and ragged. He had had a revolver or some kind of pistol, but he had simply shot it up in the air, scaring Ivy and Nick out of their heated clinch.
Lucy stood up to leave. "Well, we'll plan on the party. Jud wanted it on the beach, but if it's too cold we can hold it at our place. I want to get some more pictures, too."
"Girlie shots again?" Ivy asked.
Lucy giggled. "like to get a few men in 'em once in a while. Might be more fun that way!"
"Naturally!" Ivy said.
Lucy shot a look at Nona. "Still sure you want to tackle a blind date."
"Yes!"
"I'll tell Jud to shoot his best lick!"
Nona tried to be casual about it, but already her heart was going too fast. She still thought it rather bad taste to hold a party so soon after a murder in the village. Lucy was headstrong, though-and supposedly none of the invited group had known Zelda Nesbitt.. .
Nick slipped along the shadowy trail toward the Marker cabin. A cool pine-scented breeze hushed through the bushes. He would have preferred going to see Ivy, but Nona was there, and then he had to make sure Lucy wouldn't start talking around and spoil his alibi.
He had to set things right with the brunette, even at the cost of rolling her on the bed! He had told Hinton he had been alone Wednesday night, at home alone. He was a stranger. Might be handy for the deputy to pin suspicion on him.. .
When he stepped on the wide porch of the Marker cabin he looked over at the lighted windows of the next building, where Nona stayed. He remembered the photos of her in a bikini. A real blond honey-young, full-breasted. But why was she so backward and shy?
Ivy had said Nona had a crush on him. But already he had more or less chosen. It was understood that he would be with Ivy the next evening, for the party. Lucy had called about that. Jud was bringing somebody from town for Nona.
Nothing wrong with Ivy, though. She had fine responses. She was a lot more woman than Lucy would ever be.
The door opened, and Lucy drew him quickly inside. She locked the door. A cloud of her expensive perfume invaded his senses. She wore figure-hugging red lounging pajamas. Her dark hair glistened in the subdued light.
"I just had to see you, honey!" she said, her fingers tightening on his arm. Her lipstick matched the color of her ensemble. Lovely, decorative.
He wondered idly how many other men she had tried. He wondered if Jud could turn her on. Probably not. Clever girls could simulate passion so easily!
He squeezed her pliant waist, patted her sculptured, firmly-contoured bottom. She wiggled playfully.
"I thought maybe you'd wait till tomorrow night," he teased.
"Heck, I'll have to make over Jud-you know that!"
Infidelity didn't bother her. Perhaps her husband knew she would have men around her, always. She was a showpiece. Some men sacrificed all they had to keep a good-looking broad in the house.
"I saw that deputy over at your place," Lucy said.
He pulled her to the sofa, and sat down beside her. "Yes, I want to get something worked out. Where I was Wednesday night, at about the time this girl was murdered."
"I thought about that, honey.. . Well, don't worry. I won't say anything!"
He grinned. "I didn't think you would. I was alone at home. Understand?"
"Honey-you keep on treating me nice, and I won't peep! I mean, I'm not going to talk anyway-but...." She leaned nearer, pressing her breast on his arm. "I'm sure it will all be cleared up soon. Now, let's forget all that nasty murder stuff and have fun!"
He nodded. As before, with her, he wasn't unduly excited. But she represented a challenge. He didn't usually fail. It bothered him that he hadn't been able to stimulate her deeply enough for a good climax.
He reached for the top button on her pajama-top. He opened it. She held her mouth for him. Her lips parted knowingly, moistly. Her fingers combed through his hair, caressing the nape of his neck. She arched her mounds against his hand.
He had suffered two disappointments recently. He was determined to make this a successful encounter.
Her mouth came away and she nipped his neck with her teeth.
"Honey-talk to me!" she whispered.
"I thought you were going to show me some pictures," he answered. He looked down at the contour of her creamy, hard little breasts, dark-tipped, jutting out enticingly, and he caressed them until finally a little shiver rewarded his efforts.
"I will, honey! But I love this! I'm awfully sorry about the other night...."
He smiled to himself. "Do you always have trouble-in the clinches?"
"Yes, damn it! I get so mad-and upset." Her voice lowered to an intimate whisper. "I had trouble when I was a girl. I went with this fellow and I wouldn't let him go the route, so we did the next best thing-and after that I couldn't do it right. I just-never have! Nick-help me! If I could, once, I think I'd be a real wife-and get more kicks out of life!"
It was an old story for Nick. Some of them never put it into words, some of them never wanted any more than a minor climax. But at least Lucy had set a goal-she was after the rest.
So she dabbled with photography, lived a good life with a reasonably successful husband and hoped she could turn into a woman. Her penchant for girlie poses indicated a possible lesbian streak and maybe she had dabbled with that, too. he didn't really care, one way or another.
She wouldn't be telling about that. Not to any male, at any rate.
"I'll see what I can do," he murmured.
He followed her into the boudoir. She turned on a lamp at the head of the bed. The spread was pink and tufted, silky smooth. The reading light would give just the right amount of radiance.
She slipped out of the bedroom and he finished undressing. He found some extra pillows on a love seat and placed them on the counterpane. He stretched out, face upward, smiling to himself. The bed had wonderful resilience.
When she returned, her dark eyes sparkling, the pajamas still unbuttoned, she carried a tray with two bottles, two glasses, ice and mixer. She set the tray on a table beside the bed.
"What a sight you are!" she exclaimed, gazing at his middle.
He looked at the sweet lines of her body, molded by the pajamas, her pert breasts peeking out of the upper half of her outfit.
"You're something to look at yourself," he told her. "But I thought it was action you wanted, and not words."
"You're the one who's talking," she murmured breathlessly and came down beside him on the bed.