I stewed over tomorrow’s agenda of investigating while I got showered, dressed, and glammed up for my band’s gig later that night. I’d had beginner’s luck with Tuttle, but not everyone would be so puny as to let little old me intimidate them into telling me their darkest secrets. Unfortunately, no makeup in the world could cover up the exhaustion and anxiety written all over my face. Of course, my bandmates noticed it the moment I arrived backstage.
Rhetta Turner put her arm around me and shook her head. “I cannot believe you wanted to perform tonight. You know we would have called off our gig in a heartbeat. We still can. Just say the word.”
Callie Drayton nodded. “You are our first priority. Not some dumb performance.” She held up her drumsticks. “Chicks before sticks.”
Pepper Fox gave her a strange look. “I think you got that phrase wrong, Cal.”
“It fits the situation,” Callie replied defensively.
Pepper snickered. “I’ll give you that. But they’re right, Quinn. You’ve been through a lot. If you need a break, give me the sign.”
I smiled. “Thanks, you guys. I think the best thing for me is to put all the craziness out of my mind and concentrate on the music. I honestly think it will help.”
“You got it, sister,” Pepper said, strapping on her bass. “Let’s do this.”
The four of us walked out onto the tiny stage in the dingy bar, which was surprisingly half-full on a Tuesday night. Pepper, our lead singer/bass guitar player, waited patiently until Callie maneuvered her eight-months-pregnant body behind the drum set and sat down. Once we were all in place, Pepper gave the nod, and Callie started us off, exploding into our cover of “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll” by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts.
The crowd seemed to love it, so we went into “Celebrity Skin” by Hole. My guitar playing had been a little off on our opener, and I hadn’t joined in the background vocals like I usually did. But by the time we got to the second song, one of my favorites, I was totally immersed in the music and singing along at the top of my lungs.
Once we’d got the crowd’s attention with a couple of songs they knew, we switched to doing songs we’d written over the years. Pepper was the hardcore musician of the group. She had a real band she played with that scored decent venues rather than the dive bars our little band could get, but she refused to give up on Sister Wildfire. She got us our gigs, and she made sure we kept a regular practice and performance schedule. Callie had two kids and one on the way, Rhetta was manager of a bank branch, and of course I had the B&B, so it was easy for us to get sidetracked with life. Pepper had always kept us together, which we were grateful for.
After our first set was over, Pepper slung her plum-colored hair out of her eyes and said, “Thank you! Sister Wildfire will be back after we take a quick break.”
We exited the stage and huddled in the backstage area, which was really nothing more than a glorified storage closet.
Pepper said, “Awesome set, ladies. One more to go. I think my mic is a little loud, but other than that, we’re sounding great. Our set list has a lot of pretty hard rocking songs on it tonight, so I think we should give Rhetta a solo so the crowd can appreciate her mad keyboard skills.”
We all voiced our agreement.
Callie had found an overturned mop bucket to sit on. Her blue eyes bright, she said, “Can we talk about what’s really important here? Tucker Heyward is in the crowd tonight.”
As the three successful, grown-up women in front of me turned into giggling schoolgirls, oohing and aahing over the captain of the football team, my stomach did a flip-flop. Tucker was here? Why in the world would he come to this bar when there were several dozen closer to home? If he’d followed me here, we were going to need to have some words. And if he’d come here to make fun of my band like his group of friends had in high school, we were going to have even more words.
Noticing my angst, Rhetta turned to me. “What’s the matter with you? You still got that chip on your shoulder where Tucker is concerned?”
I sighed. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. And it’s even worse now because he’s moved back into one of his parents’ rentals across the street from us.”
Callie cocked her head to the side. “How exactly is having Tucker Heyward living only a few feet away a bad thing? He’s even hotter now than he was in high school.”
“And even more infuriating,” I retorted. When they all stared at me, I added, “He just moved in over the weekend, and he’s already been coming over to the B&B and bothering me. He even listened in on a practice session of mine.”
“Okay. And…?” Rhetta asked, clearly not getting the problem here.
“And making fun of me, telling me he’d missed hearing my music.”
Pepper squinted at me. “Tucker always liked our music. Remember, he would come to our gigs sometimes in high school?”
“So he was in the crowd a couple of times when we played. Big deal. He was probably there for another reason.”
Again, they all looked at me like I was crazy.
I went on, “Plus, he was being all kinds of invasive, asking me questions about last night. He’s unfortunately my alibi for Jason Green’s time of death, so he’s lording that over me, too.”
Callie’s eyes bulged out. “You were with Tucker Heyward last night? And you didn’t tell us?”
“I wasn’t with him. Last night was when he was eavesdropping on my practice session from across the street.”
“So he told you he missed your music and sat and listened to you practice last night, and then he saved your butt by vouching for you to the police. He’s been coming over to your place to see you, and now he shows up tonight.” Callie gasped. “He likes you!”
I crossed my arms. “Well, I don’t like him.”
Rhetta said, “Wait. Tucker’s back in town, and the first thing he does is look you up and come to one of our performances?” She shook her head. “I’d say Callie’s right, and you could do worse.”
I frowned. “Regardless, I’m not looking for a relationship right now.”
Pepper held up her hands. “I think we’ve bothered Quinn enough. Let’s play some music.”
Now that my brain knew Tucker was in the crowd, my fingers didn’t seem to want to do what they were supposed to do. I misfingered simple chords I’d known practically all my life, and on one particular guitar solo, I crashed and burned so hard Pepper had to cut in and improvise a bass solo to cover up my glaring mistake. My vocals were strained, and I even mixed up the words a couple of times. My head was not in it. Darn Tucker Heyward!
I was already feeling bad enough about my current life situation, but after the pitiful performance I gave tonight, I was now bummed about my inability to tune out the world and focus on my music. I could always do that. Music was the one thing that made uptight Quinn fade away and fun Quinn take center stage.
At the end of our performance, I was mortified and more than ready to go home. My friends had other ideas.
“Have one drink with us, Quinn,” Rhetta said, her hand gripping mine like a vise as I tried to duck out the back door.
“Oh, no thanks. I’m tired,” I replied.
Callie let out a bark of laughter. “It’s only nine, old woman. Even I’m not tired, and I’m tired all the time.” She fluffed out her blond curls and smoothed the fabric of the dress stretched across her enormous baby belly. “Besides, we have a smokin’ hot man to flirt with.”
“Callie Drayton, you have a wonderful husband and two delightful children waiting for you at home!” I exclaimed.
She snorted. “Yes, and I’m carrying around another entire human being, so I deserve some fun. I’m not dead, Quinn. I can look. I’m just not gonna touch. I’ll leave that for you.”
As she winked at me, I felt my face flame up. I didn’t want to touch Tucker Heyward. And I surely didn’t want to sit down and have to play nice with him. But when Callie took my other hand and Pepper pushed me from behind, I knew I wasn’t getting out of this.
Tucker stood as the four of us approached his table. “Wow, you ladies are amazing. I thought you were good back in the day, but now…I’m speechless.”
“That’s a first,” I muttered under my breath.
Callie elbowed me in the ribs. “It’s good to see you, Tucker. It’s been a long time.”
“It has,” he replied, smiling wide as he glanced at her belly. “Motherhood suits you, Callie. You’re absolutely radiant.”
“Oh, go on.” Good gravy. She was as giddy as a schoolgirl. Again.
Tucker grabbed a couple more chairs and set them around his table. “Sit, please. Let me buy y’all a drink.” He pulled out the chair next to his. “Here, Quinn.”
When I didn’t make a move to sit, Pepper gave me a forceful nudge from behind, sending me off-balance enough that I had to take a step toward the chair. It was too late to refuse, so I sat and allowed Tucker to push my chair in. My three friends met my glare with barely contained smiles of sheer glee.
After we’d made our drink orders, Rhetta tossed her long micro braids over her shoulder and asked, “So, Tucker, what brings you back to town?”
He shrugged. “To make a long, boring story short, I got divorced, decided I hated living up North, and moved back home. I had a contracting business in Boston, which I’m hoping to establish here.”
Callie leaned toward him. “Contracting. How interesting. What’s your specialty?”
It took all I had not to roll my eyes. Tucker Heyward was again holding court, a gaggle of adoring girls hanging on his every word. It was like I was back in high school again.
He said, “Interior finishing is what I like best, especially restoring old woodwork. But I also do general contracting work, coordinating building houses from the ground up. Enough about me, though. Tell me about your lives.” He turned to grin at me. “I’ve been lucky enough to catch up with Quinn already.”
While Callie, Rhetta, and Pepper each launched into their adult life stories, I sat back and sipped my white wine spritzer. I considered texting Delilah and asking her to get me out of here by calling with a fake emergency at the B&B, but she would never go along with it. I knew she had to have been the one who told Tucker about our performance tonight. The bar did little to advertise for us, and since he clearly hadn’t yet spoken with any of the girls in the band, Delilah was the only person I knew of who could have given him the heads-up.
Before I realized what was happening, my three bandmates were standing, saying their goodbyes. I began to hop up as well, but Pepper placed her hands on my shoulders and held me in my chair. For as tiny as she was, she was strong.
She said, “Quinn, I know you wanted us all to stay for a while and chat, but we’ve gotta bail. I’m sure Tucker wouldn’t mind hanging with you while you finish your drink.”
Before I could object, Tucker said, “I’d love to stay with you, Quinn. It was great seeing you, ladies. I’ll be back for your performance later this week.”
As my mutinous friends left me alone with my nemesis, I began thinking up ways to get out of there fast. I could fake some nausea. Men always steered clear of a potential mess.
Tucker turned to me. “I guess it’s just the two of us.”
I pushed my drink away. “Actually, I’m going to have to go, too. I’m not feeling well.”
“Bull. You don’t want to be alone with me.”
My eyes widened. People didn’t usually call your bluff on gastrointestinal distress. I had no response.
Smiling, he leaned back in his chair. “The way I see it, you owe me.”
“Excuse me? I owe you?”
“Yeah. Without me, you have no alibi. I figure that should at least get me the honor of having one drink with you.”
Of all the nerve. I stared at him. “I owe you nothing for telling the truth to an officer of the law. It’s your civic duty.”
“I suppose that’s true, but—”
“And were you spying on me later that night as well? Officer Morrel said you told him you saw me leave the house. That was several minutes after our conversation ended.”
“I was still out on the front stoop and happened to see you walking across the square. I wasn’t spying, Quinn.” He regarded me thoughtfully. “I feel like you think I’m some kind of weirdo out to get you or something. I’m not. I’m the same Tucker you’ve known forever.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I think you’re still the same old Tucker.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
I stood. “It means that you wouldn’t give me the time of day in high school. In fact, you and your buddies took every chance to ridicule me, my sister, and my friends. But now that I’m front and center in a murder investigation, I’m suddenly interesting to you. Maybe you’re one of those true-crime fanboys or something. I don’t know. But I think I’d like it if you stayed away from me.” I turned to leave, but couldn’t help adding, “Thank you for the drink.”
The next morning, I threw breakfast together quickly, gaining some strange looks from Delilah and Papa Sal. Even though I wasn’t excited about what Drew and I had to do today, I wanted to have as much time as possible to speak to the people on our suspect list. I’d mentally crossed Tuttle off it, since Delilah had told me she’d seen him herself backstage after the Bitter Winter performance. Instead of admitting to her about the sleuthing mission Drew and I were on, I’d managed to get the information out of her by way of being conversational. I hadn’t told Papa Sal about any of it, either. The two of them would only worry, and I was hoping to have it all over and done with today, anyway.
When I went into the dining room to serve breakfast, there were a few empty seats at the dining table. It wasn’t too unusual to have latecomers and no-shows—the beds upstairs were pretty comfy and guests often overslept. I quickly ran through my usual “good morning” spiel, and right as Papa Sal was beginning to speak, I got a text from Drew: The police have pulled up with their lights on in front of my place. I think I’m in trouble.
Stifling a gasp, I bolted out of the room and out the front door, my feet pounding the pavement all the way to Green. I got there just as Officers Morrel and Carter were escorting Drew down the sidewalk in handcuffs.
“Wait! Wait!” I cried, gasping for air after my mad dash down the street. “You can’t…you can’t do…this.” I got between them and their police car while I tried to think of a way to stall them.
Officer Morrel frowned at me. “No, Miss Bellandini, you can’t do this. Step aside.”
Drew was speechless, staring at me with a mixture of disbelief and fear clouding his face. Officer Carter actually looked the slightest bit amused.
“Officer Morrel, wait,” I pleaded. “You don’t think this man killed his own brother, do you? Do you even have any evidence against him?”
“Yes, Miss Bellandini, when we arrest a person it’s implied that we have evidence against him.” I believed I detected a hint of sarcasm in his tone. “Out of the way. Now. Don’t think I won’t slap an obstruction of justice charge on you.”
Drew shook his head. “Quinn, don’t. I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but please don’t get yourself into trouble. Can you find me a lawyer? One that won’t cost an arm and a leg, preferably.”
I nodded, stepping out of their way. “Anything, Drew.”
As Officer Carter helped Drew into the back of the police cruiser, Drew glanced up at me and added, “Oh, and call Valerie, too. She’s at work. Have her get in touch with my aunt and uncle.”
A single tear slid down my cheek. “Okay, I will.”
Drew gave me a sad smile as they drove off.