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PEPPER FLOPPED ACROSS the backseat of the Cadillac, worn out from work and trying to keep all the rumors straight in her head. After a couple of deep breaths, she sat up and greeted Ida Belle and Gertie, asking how their day had gone and if they had learned anything interesting.
Gertie provided the first update. “Well, Carter didn’t get much sleep this morning. Less than three hours after he walked into his house, he was back outside. Myrtle told me that when Deputy Breaux told him about the military news, Carter’s swearing could be heard across the entire police station.”
Ida Belle continued, “The man knows everyone lies about something, but I think he really liked Owen. Now that the trust is broken, I don’t even know if he’ll let them leave the station.”
“Oh, come on,” Pepper replied. “So they left out part of their history. That doesn’t exactly tie them to the crime. Besides, I happen to know Owen is an awesome person inside. There’s no way he was part of this.”
Gertie exchanged a significant look with Ida Belle. Pepper realized she may have said too much, but she couldn’t take it back now.
Ida Belle cleared her throat before demanding, “And how, pray tell, would you know anything about Owen Bryce? Because if you’re holding out on us, I’m pretty sure superfan Gertie will skewer you with a knitting needle until you talk.” Gertie’s solemn nod sent a sliver of fear through Pepper. It was time to lay all their cards on the table and see what floated to the surface.
“Funny thing,” she began, trying to lighten the mood. “It turns out Owen and I knew each other in college. I just didn’t recognize him until we got to talking last night at Jaxson’s place.”
The disapproval was evident in Gertie’s voice when she said, “And you didn’t think to tell us this?”
“Well, it’s not really that big of a deal. It was almost twenty years ago.”
Ida Belle took a turn. “And you don’t think that maybe, just maybe you have something to do with why Owen Bryce ended up in Sinful, Louisiana yesterday? We’re not exactly on the main highway between New Orleans and Houston.”
Taken aback, Pepper thought for a minute before replying. “Seriously? How would Owen even know I was here? Much less care? This is a coincidence, pure and simple.”
“Right. Just like Owen’s bus exploding was probably a coincidence.”
“Maybe it was.”
“Not according to the state crime lab. They finished their investigation.”
Pepper leaned forward to ask, “Did they find Courtney?” Good grief, why didn’t they lead with the most important news item?
“No. They found some sort of remains, but word is they think it was a resident’s pet pig who happened to find its way onto the bus.”
Completely surprised, Pepper sat back to think. “So, what really happened? And where is Courtney?”
“That’s what we need to find out,” Ida Belle said.
Gertie made an extremely careful turn into her drive, which had Pepper highly suspicious about what they could be hauling. Gertie was only cautious when she delivered loads of Sinful Ladies cough syrup to Walter’s General Store.
“Getting ready to make a delivery?” Pepper inquired.
“How did you know?” Gertie asked.
“Your driving has improved by nearly a hundred percent.”
Gertie sniffed and said, “I’m scheduled to drop something off later this afternoon, but I thought first we could check on Lisa and have a powwow. When we get to Walter’s store, Scooter can help unload, and maybe we can get some information about his houseguest Marty the bus driver.”
“Scooter has one of the tour group staying with him?” Pepper asked in astonishment.
Ida Belle shrugged. “He volunteered, and Carter didn’t want another person staying at his own house.”
“Huh. Why didn’t Marty stay with Walter?”
“Scooter offered to have his mom cook, and Marty practically drooled.”
Pepper laughed. “Obviously the guy doesn’t know how good of a cook Walter is.”
Gertie opened her door. “If you two gossip-mongers don’t mind, I’m getting out of this heat and into my nice cool house. This body needs sustenance.”
“You mean cake.”
“You bet your britches I mean cake. Let’s go.”
Cake sounded better than another minute in this oven of a vehicle, so Pepper was right behind Ida Belle and Gertie as they made their way to the kitchen door at the back of the house. When they opened the door, Pepper thought it was safe to say the scene that greeted them was completely unexpected.
The kitchen was a disaster area. Flour dusted every surface, pots and pans were scattered about on the stove, counters, and table, butter wrappers and egg shells were lying in a congealed mess on the counter. Gertie’s eye began twitching, and her mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. From the other room, Lisa’s voice floated back to them.
“I’ve been lying low since we got here. Today I’m baking.”
Whoever was on the other end of the phone conversation said something that made Lisa laugh. She said, “I know, me —baking. Hilarious, isn’t it? It’s way more likely you would see me at a gun range, trying to keep up my sharpshooting skills, but Owen’s staying at the only gun range around and I don’t have a way to get out there. First of all, I don’t want Owen getting suspicious. Second, the old lady I’m staying with is actually pretty nice. She’s a sugar fiend though, so I thought I would do something sweet and bake a coffee cake. Actually, I need to go, the cake is probably almost ready. I’ll call you later. By then I should have an update on Owen and whether he looks ready to break yet. I think we’ve almost got him where we want him.”
Pepper exchanged a look with Ida Belle and Gertie. Lisa had definitely jumped to the top of their suspect list.
“I’m not old,” Gertie hissed just before she motioned the other women to quietly back out the kitchen door.
“But you do love sugar,” Ida Belle whispered. “She’s got you pegged, that’s for sure.”
The three women stood on the back porch, collecting their thoughts before making a louder entry. If they played it right, Lisa would have no idea they had overheard her conversation. Pepper realized this was the second time Lisa had given them clues because she couldn’t keep her mouth shut. Who was she talking to? Why was Lisa giving this person updates about Owen? And what did she mean by “got him where we want him?”
It was obvious they couldn’t discuss their investigation around Lisa, but by this time Gertie was jonesing for coffee cake. She insisted they go inside for at least a few minutes, have cake, and see if they could discreetly get some information out of Lisa.
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AN HOUR LATER, PEPPER knew their plan to get information out of Lisa wasn’t going to work. All she could talk about was how much she loved her job, how soon they would be able to leave, and how unfair it was that Carter said she couldn’t post anything online about their current trials and tribulations.
While Gertie downed three slices of coffee cake, Pepper asked how long Lisa had been a media manager.
“Well, Owen is my first ‘in-person’ gig where I travel and manage from the road. But I’ve been doing media management from home for years, specializing in social media for celebrities and busy professionals.”
“Wait,” Ida Belle broke in, “You manage social media for other people?”
“Of course.”
“Famous people don’t send their own tweets or post their own things on Facebook?”
Lisa laughed disdainfully. “Almost never,” she said. “Only an idiot personal manager would allow their high-profile client access to their own social media accounts. It’s much too volatile of a platform and must be carefully managed.”
Gertie grunted and said, “Maybe you should offer that service to politicians.” She was rewarded with a brilliant smile from Lisa. They could practically see the lightbulb turn on above her head, and she ran out of the room to make a note for herself on her phone.
“I’m done here,” Pepper said. “We’re not getting anything. I’m going home, where I can at least do something more useful than talk about Twitter with a flighty twenty-something. Let me know if you learn anything from Scooter when you make your delivery to Walter’s, okay?”
Ida Belle and Gertie agreed, and Pepper left, walking home slowly to minimize the sweat factor on this scorching hot day. The contractors should be gone for the day, and she should be able to get some work done.