The Blonde Bear Café smelled of grilled burgers, French fries, and today’s special, hearty chicken noodle soup. In other words, yummy. My stomach growled.
“Someone’s hungry,” Eldin said as we scanned the busy restaurant.
“You should have been a detective, deputy.” I patted my belly. “You missed your calling.”
“How about we maybe poke around while we’re here?”
“You’re twisting my arm.”
A tall, broad woman with platinum blonde hair done up in a beehive and leathery tan skin came out of the back. Her smile split her face when she saw me. “Nicole, as I live and breathe, sugar. It’s so good to see you home. You and Eldin grab yourself an empty table.” She glanced around at the full house. “If you can find a spot.”
“Over here!”
I turned to the voice and saw Sunny Trimmel and her sister-in-law Chavvah. Sunny was pointing to the two empty seats at their table. They were both newcomers to Peculiar, but my folks liked them, and even more of an endorsement, my dad trusted them. Still, there was something about the Mayor’s wife that made me uncomfortable. I waved. “That’s okay. We’ll wait for a table to open up.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Sunny declared. “You’ll be waiting forever. Get on over here.” She stood up, and I worried she planned to drag me over if I didn’t comply.”
Eldin leaned to my ear. “I’ve found that arguing with Sunny is a losing proposition.”
I clenched my jaw, forced a smile, and said, “Fine,” through gritted teeth.
Sunny moved over a chair so that she was across from Chavvah. That put Eldin and me across from each other. “Hey, Ladies. Enjoying your afternoon?”
Chavvah nodded. “Sure are.”
Our waitress, Blondina’s daughter Selena, placed menus down on the table. “How you all doing today?” Her ruffled apron looked like she’d stuffed it with a basketball.
“Good,” we all answered in some variation of the polite response.
“Great.” She pulled out a pad with paper and said. “Let me get your drink order going while I give you a chance to check out the menu.”
“I’ll have some sweet tea,” Sunny said. Chav ordered unsweetened ice tea, Eldin a Dr. Pepper, and I ordered a coffee and ice water.
“It’s been a long day,” I explained.
When Selena left to fill our drink order, Chavvah asked, “How’s the investigation going?”
My mouth dropped open. I closed it. I looked at the two ladies.
“My husband is the mayor. There’s not much I don’t know,” Sunny explained.
Chavvah shrugged. “And her husband is my brother, so....”
“Besides, even if Babe wasn’t her bro, I tell Chav everything.” Sunny smiled.
“I’m not allowed to talk about an ongoing investigation, ladies. Sorry.”
Sunny leaned in conspiratorially. “Okay. But can you tell us when we can expect the scrumptious Dominic Tartan to arrive? I really thought you all would come to town together.”
A flush of warmth filled my cheeks. I avoided eye contact with Eldin. “Agent Tartan is on the way here. We are splitting up duties to gather as much information as we can.”
Sunny leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. “I know a certain doctor who isn’t happy that the babe-alicous bear is making his way back here.” Sunny wiggled her eyebrows in Chavvah’s direction.
The brunette woman rolled her eyes. “You’re dumb.”
“Those dreamy green eyes, those soft brown curls.” Sunny faked a swoon. “That fine, fine ass.”
“You got more?” Chavvah said, not rising to the bait.
“I’d love to hear more,” I interrupted. “What was it in particular that you liked about Agent Tartan’s ass?” I thought if I pushed her, she’d get embarrassed and back off.
I was wrong.
“Why, Nicole, I’m so glad you asked.” Sunny leaned forward and put her elbows on the table. “His bootie has the shape of two ripe cantaloupes attached to two thick tree trunks. I bet I could skip rocks on those rounded muscles.” She shaped her fingers like grabby claws. “They just make a girl want to reach out and—”
“Got it,” I said, leaning way back.
“I could go on,” Sunny replied.
“And she will,” Chav added.
“I’m sure you could.” But I hoped she wouldn’t.
Eldin started laughing. Even the stoic Chavvah cracked a smile.
Sunny giggled. “You’re so easy, girl. This started as a way to tease my friend here, but you’ve made it too easy for me to redirect.”
“That’s me. Easy.”
“Not that I recall,” Eldin said.
“Ooooo,” Sunny crooned. “Now this is getting more and more interesting as the conversation unfolds.” She turned to Eldin. “What exactly do you recall about Nicole?”
I groaned. “Eldin hit his head when he was in high school.” I glared a warning at him. “A lot. He has some memory loss.”
He nodded. “Sudden onset.”
Selena came back with our drinks balanced precariously on a round tray. She expertly set them down on the table.
I greedily picked up the coffee she’d set in front of me. I took a sip, and it was hot, hot. I put a cube of ice from my water in it. “Hey, Selena. I heard your brother is back in town.”
The waitress bobbed her pretty head. “He sure is. I’m happy he’s home, especially now that I’m pregnant again. He’s a great uncle. Oof,” she said. Her free hand rested on her stomach. “That was a hard kick.”
Sunny absently put her hand on her own stomach. “I remember how hard those babies kick. You should take it easy.”
Selena smiled. “Doc says I’m fine to work. I’m healthy as a bear.”
“How far along are you?” I asked.
The waitress perked up at the chance to talk about her pregnancy. “Three months. Only two left. I can’t believe how fast it’s going. Michael is more anxious than I am.”
Eldin nodded. “I can attest to that. It’s always baby this and baby that at work.”
Selena was married to Michael Connelly, one of my father’s deputies. The pairing had surprised the hell out of me when my mother had called with the news. I’m not sure it was unprecedented, but I’d never heard of a squirrel and a bear therian mating before. The result would be interesting.
“Congratulations,” I said. “Is this your first?”
“Second,” Selena said. “Sunny predicted six kids for Michael and me.”
I glanced over at Sunny who looked pleased. “She did, did she?”
Selena nodded. “She’s never wrong.”
Chavvah coughed. “Yeah, right.”
“All right,” Sunny said to her friend. “I’m wrong plenty. Just ask my husband.” Her expression soured. “Actually, don’t ask him.”
“Well, you’ve never been wrong about me. You told me my ex was a cheating jerk, and you were right, and you told me I’d find love with Michael, and I did, and we are already well on our way to a house full of kids,” she said with some indignation. She jerked her thumb at her chest to emphasize her next sentence. “If anyone says that you aren’t anything but awesome, you send them my way.”
“You hear that, Chav.” Sunny beamed. “I’m awesome.”
“I’ve known that for a long time,” she said. “But I worry that if your head gets any bigger, it won’t fit through the neck holes in your shirts.”
Sunny grinned, her bright green eyes sparkled. “I know how to use a pair of scissors.”
Selena chuckled. “Are y’all ready to order?”
“I’ll take the open-faced roast beef sandwich piled high with mash potatoes and extra brown gravy,” a man behind me said. I whipped my head around hard enough to wrench my neck. Dominic Tartan stood a few feet away. He raised his brow at my unasked question. “I finished up early in Springfield. Thought I would join you for lunch.”
I’d texted him about my plans, but I didn’t think he’d track me down.
He turned his gaze to the table, and his expression brightened immensely when he saw Chavvah. “Well, hello, Chav. Is it still Trimmel, or has the good doctor nailed you down yet?”
“He nails me every chance he gets,” she said as if she was commenting on the weather. The slight uptick of the corner of her mouth and the way she reached up to move a lock of hair from her shoulder told me she didn’t mind the flirting, but I’d seen her with Doctor Smith, and if Tartan thought he had a chance in hell with the tall, leggy brunette, he was sorely mistaken.
“So not married.” Dominic smiled.
“We’ve set a date,” she said.
“March twentieth,” Sunny said. “The Spring equinox or some such nonsense. Werewolves are a pain in the ass.”
“True story,” Chav said, “and they sure know how to ruin a perfectly good party.”
Dom spread his hands. “Well, if it’s a party you want...”
Selena, who had been waiting patiently for our orders, giggled.
I stood up. “There isn’t room at this table for another chair. Agent Tartan and I will take the one Mr. And Mrs. Smart just left.”
Selena’s smile grew tight. “I’ll get it cleaned up for you two.” She looked at the deputy. “Should I make it for three?”
I said, “yes,” while Dominic said, “no.”
Eldin shook his head. “You two go on. I’ll finish lunch with Sunny and Chav.”
After we sat at the new table, a small one near the kitchen, I sipped my coffee and glared at Dominic.
He ordered an iced tea then turned to me and said, “What?”
In a quiet shout, the kind that’s all about tone without volume, I said, “What top secret information did you learn that Eldin couldn’t hear?”
“Other than what’s in the files, there’s nothing new to learn.”
“But the victim is definitely a therianthrope?”
“They’re rabbit shifters.”
“That explains the five kids and another on the way. Though, we have a woman in town, a deer shifter, who would give those rabbits a run for their money.”
“You mean Ruth Thompson.”
I assessed him again. “I get you spent a week here a couple years back, but damn, you really paid attention.”
“Ruth is a friend of Chav’s.”
A knot formed in my throat. “Just how well did you get to know Chavvah Trimmel?”
“As well as any man could with a jealous werewolf breathing down his neck.”
I snorted. “So not as well as you’d have liked.”
Dom winked at me, and the knot in my throat tightened.
“Do any of the victims have ties to Peculiar? I really don’t see how any investigation here is going to produce a lead.”
“Actually, there is one thing that ties them all together.” He leaned forward. “They were all at the Tri-State Council Jubilee here in two summers ago.”
“When did you find this out?” Because if it was sooner than the past four hours I was going to be unhappy.
“I got the information when I was driving here from Springfield. You know Wilhelmina Boden, your dad’s new deputy?”
“Oh, yeah, the red-head engaged to Brady Corman.”
Dom’s eyes darkened. “That’s her. She was head of security for the Tri-State Council before her move to Peculiar. She managed to get her hands on a complete list of all the people who attended the event. She gave your dad and me a copy.”
“Did you find out if there are any more killings in this same vein prior to the last three?”
He shook his head. “Not yet.” I noticed for the first time how tired he looked around the eyes.
“We should get to the interviews with the Blonde Bear owners and staff. Mr. Lieberman’s life may depend on it. Though I don’t know what we can learn here. Strangers stick out like sore thumbs. I think Blondina and Roger would have told my dad if anyone around here fit the bill.”
“That’s just it.” Dom rubbed his chin. “I think it’s someone who lives here.”
I nodded, not wanting to agree, but there was no other explanation. “We need to start a list of people who could leave town without drawing suspicion.”
“Agreed,” Dom said. “And we need to do it in a way that doesn’t alert the unsub.”
In a town of less than two-thousand people, my partner was asking for a whole lot of impossible, but there were other things to consider with this criminal.
“This guy is smart. Organized. So, let’s narrow it down by skilled employment or white-collar work.” I planted my elbow on the table as another thought occurred to me. “This killer is real ballsy. He takes his victims outside their homes and returns them. That takes a lot of confidence.”
I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Sunny Haddock staring down at me. Her eyes were glazed, and her very worried-looking best friend stood behind her.
“What is it?”
Chav shook her head. “I’ve never seen her like this.”
With a blank stare in my direction, Sunny said in a monotone voice, “Duck when you see the yellow man. Step over the crack. Skipped stones on the lake. Beware the lying owl. Falling glass. Death.” Her voice grew even more hollow. “Death strikes at twelve.” She blinked, her pupils flexing to focus. “What in the world? That’s weird.”
I let out a noisy breath I’d been holding. “You’re not kidding.”