All the roads on this side of Treehorn Lake looked the same. I made two wrong turns before I found the road to Grandpa Frasier’s cabin.
I grabbed the bag of clothes and walked to the front door. Light filtered out from the sides of the dark curtain at the window. The handle turned easily in my hand. I couldn’t believe Pepper hadn’t locked the door.
I walked in and was shocked to see her sitting on the sofa with a man. They both had a beer in hand. There were two empty bottles on the table and two full bottles still in the carton.
My mouth hung open. I was literally speechless.
“Jumping jeepers creepers! What happened to you?” Pepper asked, launching herself from the sofa and rushing to my side. She held her nose. “You smell horrible. What happened here?” She poked my arm, causing me to wince.
I gritted my teeth and said under my breath, “Have you gone mad? Why would you let someone in here?”
The old man stood and asked, “Are you ok? I used to play a doctor on TV. Let me take a look at that for you.”
Pepper giggled. I swear, I was going to strangle her.
“He’s not someone,” she said. “He’s Floyd Thompson.” She turned to the man. “This is Jo. She’s the sister I was telling you about.”
“I’m her only sister,” I said. I was becoming more aggravated by the minute.
He came to stand beside me and stared at the blood on my jacket. “Let’s get you a seat, and let me get a better look at that. Tell me what happened.”
He was determined as he took charge and led me to a chair at the table in the small kitchen area. I slipped off my jacket and said. “Someone shot at me.”
Pepper’s giggly attitude evaporated, and she began wringing her hands. “No! Someone tried to frame me for murder, and now they’ve tried to kill you? Why?”
My eyes should have fallen out onto my cheeks I had them open so wide. “Pepper, shut up!”
She quickly said, “You can talk in front of Floyd. I already told him everything. I trust him just like I would trust Grandpa Frasier. He and Grandpa were good friends, and he’s kept an eye on the cabin for years. That’s how he knew I was here.”
“This doesn’t look too bad,” Floyd said. “The bullet missed the biggest part of your muscle. Let me run get my bag, and I’ll stitch you up.”
I grabbed my arm, winced again, and said, “No you won’t. Pepper and I will figure out how to bandage it.”
Pepper couldn’t help another giggle. She sounded like Nancy. Giggling was Nancy’s thing. “Floyd was kidding when he said he used to play a doctor on TV. He’s a brain surgeon.”
“Retired,” he said. “But I can still wield a wicked needle. I’ll be right back.”
As soon as Floyd left the cabin, I turned to Pepper, fully intending to give her a piece of my mind for telling him about our situation, but the look on her face caused me to hold my tongue. Tears began to stream down her face.
“You could have been killed – all because of me.”
“Stop it,” I said sharply. “None of this is anyone’s fault other than whoever killed Tony, and we have to figure out why he was murdered. Have you been thinking? Do you know if he had any enemies? Did he harass anyone else at work?”
She shook her head. “I started cleaning in here as soon as you left, and I’ve been over it in my mind a million times. I can’t think of anyone.”
I just then noticed how much progress she had made on the cabin. Cleaning was Pepper’s thing when she was upset. All signs of dust were gone, and everything looked remarkably clean.
She put a pan of water on to boil. I assumed she found some coffee or tea in the cupboards. I grabbed the bag of clothes and took it into the bathroom. I stripped off my slimy clothes and shoes and tossed them into the shower stall. My face hadn’t gone in the water, and only the ends of my hair had slime. I tried to rinse the slime out in the sink.
The gash on my arm was still bleeding but not at an alarming rate. I dressed in some of the clothes I had brought for Pepper, but I left my bleeding arm out of the shirtsleeve and clapped a washcloth on it. Once again, I was surprised at how loose my clothes were. I didn’t know how much weight I’d lost when I wasn’t eating, but it was substantial.
Floyd was coming through the doorway when I walked out of the bathroom. I sat down again. Pepper brought a flat plastic bag to the table, opened one corner of it, and poof - it blew up to six times its size. There were extra towels and washcloths in it.
“Aren’t those things a miracle?” Floyd asked. “Your Grandmother put my wife onto those bags, and I still use them all the time. They sure keep stuff fresh when you’re not around for months at a time.”
“Or years,” Pepper said.
Floyd pulled a chair up to face mine and opened his black bag. Pepper pulled a chair close to Floyd’s and said, “I have water boiling and clean towels.”
“He’s only putting in a few stitches,” I said sarcastically. “He’s not delivering a baby.”
“No,” Floyd said. “This is good. We need to clean the wound, and hot water is always a good start.” He handed a flask to me and said, “It might not help, but this is going to hurt, and a few good belts of whiskey might take the edge off.”
I handled pain fairly well, but since I didn’t know what I was in for, I gladly belted the burning liquid back – several times. My stomach took a couple turns around my liver, but finally settled down.
“Ok, I’m ready,” I said.
Pepper handed a towel to me.
“What’s that for?” I asked.
“To put between your teeth. You can bite down on it when you feel pain.”
I pushed the towel away. “You watch too much television.”
By the time Floyd had my arm cleaned and stitched, I determined the repair hadn’t been so bad. It was the creepy feeling of the needle tugging at my skin that ended up being more bothersome than the sutures themselves.
It was nearly five in the morning when the three of us sat in the living room with cups of coffee.
I filled both of them in on what happened at Chummy’s and how I had thrown suspicion off Pepper by putting out the theory she had been kidnapped.
“That was some quick thinking,” Floyd said.
“Well, she didn’t kill Tony, so the real killer is out there somewhere, and the Buxley police need to be looking for whoever that is,” I said.
I let Pepper know I had called Buck and filled him in on the entire story. She had a moment of panic.
“You didn’t tell him I owned the cabin, did you?”
“Of course not. You can start that argument on your own.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Floyd smile.
I told her Buck wouldn’t be calling, and she should still leave her phone turned off. We didn’t want anyone tracking her from her cell signal. I honestly didn’t know if she could be found by her cell phone, but I didn’t think we should take the chance.
Floyd stood from the only upholstered chair in the room and said, “I best head on home. If you girls need anything, you let me know.” He looked at me and said, “Don’t you worry. Your secret’s safe with me.”
The minute he left, indescribable fatigue came over me. My eyelids felt like lead weights. Pepper grabbed another miracle bag from the closet and poofed it open. She pulled a pillow and two blankets from it. I flopped over on the couch, pulled my feet up, and allowed her to slip the pillow under my head and cover me with a blanket. Before dropping off, I managed to mumble, “Groceries in the truck.”
~ ~ ~
“If you break it, you buy it.” Roger shouted the words at an elderly woman who held a clown figurine in her hand.
She threw the clown at him and yelled, “It’s plastic, you moron.”
I smiled. When I first met Roger at the old flea market, I thought he was a jerk. Other than his face, all of his exposed skin was covered in tattoos. He was also a Harley-riding biker. He and Mama met online through a dating site, and they hit it off. They were, and still are, one of the strangest pairings ever, but they were happy, and I had to admit, Roger’s rough exterior covered up a teddy bear heart.”
I made my way to the snack bar at the back of the building and saw Arnie sitting on a stool at the end of the counter – just like old times.
I sat next to him and asked, “What are you doing here?”
“The better question is what are you doing here?” he asked.
“Coffee. And I want to talk with Kay Walker. I solved the case of her disappearing wonders.”
Mama raced to us from the other end of the counter. “Josephine Louise Frasier! I’m so mad at you right now, I can’t even speak to you.”’
She raced back to the other end of the counter.
I looked at Arnie and frowned. “I’m thirty-three years old. What are the chances I’ve lived my entire life not knowing I had more than a two-letter first name and a middle name?”
Arnie rarely laughed, but he couldn’t help himself and let out a hearty chuckle. “I’d say they’re pretty good.”
“Do you have any idea why she’s mad at me?”
“She had to hear about the murder at Chummy’s and Pepper’s possible abduction from that BS hotline. You probably should have called her.”
Pepper and I were horrible. We were so busy worrying about ourselves, we never gave Mama or Hank a thought. I walked down to the end of the counter and said, “I’m sorry I didn’t call you, but I’ve been out all night looking for Pepper. I’m here now.” I knew I still looked like crap, so it wasn’t hard to believe I hadn’t had any sleep.
“We could have helped,” she snapped. “The Blue Hat Society would have been able to spread out all over town. The first few hours after a kidnapping are crucial, and because of you, we missed the chance to find her. Now Sergeant Rorski wants me to stay here. He can’t count on you, and he needs someone reliable to call if they get any leads or find her. And Buck and the kids! I’ve been trying to reach him all morning. He needs to get his butt home right now.”
“I talked to Buck last night. He knows what’s going on. He’s heading for home tomorrow.”
Mama stared at me. Something flickered in her eyes. “Do you have any idea who took her or where she is?”
If ever I needed a poker face, I needed one now. “I don’t have a clue.”
Mama looked pensive and nodded her head. “Let me get you some breakfast. You need to eat. You’re wasting away to skin and bones. Roger just stocked up on microwave breakfast burritos. I’ll nuke you one.”
“No burrito for me. I want coffee. And pie. Do you have any of Jackie’s pies?”
She didn’t answer and turned away from me. I walked to the end of the counter and sat next to Arnie again.
I pulled a folder from my bag and handed it to him. “Kay’s problem was rats. They’re getting in somehow and getting into one of her cases through a hole on the bottom shelf. I’ll have to tell Roger to set some traps.”
Arnie looked at the photos and nodded his head. “Probably coming up from the basement.” He set the folder aside, leaned toward me, and asked, “Where is she?”
My eyes flew open wide, and I felt like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. I knew guilt registered all over my face.
“Somewhere safe. How did you know?”
“She’s either wanted for murder or she’s been kidnapped. You’re awfully calm for someone whose sister is on the lam or could be dead. I think I even heard you ask your mother for pie.”
“She didn’t kill Tony,” I said. “Someone shot him through the open window in his office – right in front of her. Then they put the gun on the cabinet behind him and booked out of there. She was set up. I have to find out why.”
He nodded and looked thoughtful. “Unless you can work yourself up into a lather, I suggest you stay away from people. If Rorski talks to you, he’ll know something’s up. So will that boyfriend of yours.”
“Speaking of which, what did you find out about the murder up in Youngstown?” I asked.
“Guy’s name is Wade Locke. He and his wife had quite a few fights over his riding with Barbie. After a big fight one night, he slept on the couch and didn’t bother looking in on her when he left early for work. He came home that night, and she was still in bed – dead. Shot in the chest. Time of death was during the night when the husband was sleeping on the couch. Says he had headphones on all night and didn’t hear a thing. He swears Barbie came in during the night and killed her to set him up, but there’s nothing to support that, and with the neighbors hearing the wife screaming at him earlier, he’s going to have a hard time beating the rap.”
“Do they have the murder weapon?”
“No, but the case they’re building is solid. Barbie and Wade were seen plenty of times having drinks after work, and some are saying they looked pretty chummy. No pun intended.”
“Did the neighbors hear the gunshot?” I asked.
“No one heard a thing.”
I felt sorry for the guy. It would be nearly impossible for him to beat the murder charge. The husband was always the number one suspect.
Mama slid a breakfast burrito and a cup of coffee in front of me. I groaned.
“I can’t eat the burrito,” I said and pushed it away. “Put a lid on my coffee. I have to run. I want to keep looking for Pepper.” I looked at Arnie and pointed to the folder on the counter. “Will you discuss this with Kay? And tell Roger about the rats?”
“Rats?” Mama asked. “What rats? You better not be telling people we have rats, or I’ll sue your dick business.”
A slight smile crossed Arnie’s face. “I got this,” he said. “Get on out of here.”
I grabbed my bag and coffee, rushed out of the building, and jumped into my truck. Pepper had folded a thick blanket and put it over the driver’s seat. My wet clothes and green slime from last night had defiled the seat in a big way. I scrunched up my face. The smell wasn’t going to get any better in here, and I was either going to have to have the seat replaced or find someone who could get it clean.
I went home without making any stops. Arnie was right. I needed to stay away from people. I wasn’t much of a crier, and there was no way I could fake the amount of emotion someone should have in a situation like this.
The coffee Mama had given to me was horrible. It had a cinnamon aftertaste. I made a fresh pot, wrapped my injured arm in plastic, and ran upstairs to take a shower. When I had scrubbed hard enough to remove all traces of swamp water from my body, and had dressed in jeans and a flannel shirt, I grabbed a cup of coffee and headed back upstairs to Clay’s television room – now my makeshift murder room.
I couldn’t help laughing when I looked at the wall. What was I thinking? It was as if a first grader had been in here drawing stick figure pictures.
I set the coffee down and grabbed a marker. To the left of Barbie’s house, I drew another house and labeled it Youngstown. I drew Wade Locke sleeping on the sofa, while Barbie stood beside an upstairs bed and shot his wife. Since no one heard the gunshot, I drew a silencer on the end of the gun.
I then shifted my focus to Tony Lucas’ murder. I added my encounter on the highway, the shot to my arm, and my tumble down the hill into the swamp.
I didn’t have an opportunity to observe the employees at Chummy’s after the shooting, but someone had to know something. If Tony was hitting on Pepper, he could have been hitting on another employee, too. Pepper said he wasn’t, but maybe she simply didn’t know. The other employee could have shot Tony and left the gun in the room, so it would look like Pepper did it. It had to be someone who hated both Tony and Pepper.
A light bulb went on over my head. That was it! The killer was someone who was in love with him. I knew from running the background checks for Chummy that Tony was divorced. Maybe his ex-wife killed him. Or the killer could be someone Tony jilted. But I was going to put money on it being one of Pepper’s co-workers who was jealous of his attention toward her.
I sat in the recliner, satisfied with my reasoning skills, and leaned back to put the footrest up. I knew if I closed my eyes, I would fall asleep, but I didn’t care. Three hours of sleep at the cabin wasn’t enough. A short nap wouldn’t hurt anything.
~ ~ ~
The sun was low in the sky when I was awakened by the sound of loud banging on my front door.