Dora gaped at Windy. The woman had just insulted Evie and her for their hair, which, to be truthful, was fair, since she looked like hers had been cut in the dark and Evie’s mop of pale pink curls could be a clown wig. But what really shocked her was that Windy knew who they were. Were they on the news all the way in California? “How did you know who we are?”
Windy tapped her temple. “I’m a lot smarter than people think. I thought you both looked familiar, and when you mentioned New Orleans, it hit me where I’d seen you before.” She leaned in and eyed them with concern. “Your faces were plastered all over the national news the other night.”
Dora’s heart sank. If the police knew they were just in New Orleans, they might be hot on their tail.
“Crap,” Evie said as she tugged on one of her curls as if she could make it grow faster. Dora felt a pang of guilt. She knew Evie had only cut her hair to make Dora feel better, and it was going to take forever for her curly locks to grow long again. Evie said, “It might be time for wigs.”
Windy waved her hand. “You’ve got nothing to worry about around here. Most everyone in this town has run away from something, too. People don’t ask questions in these parts, and they sure as heck don’t give answers to strangers, especially cops.”
Plates of scrambled eggs with cheese and pico de gallo thumped before them, and Simon gave Dora a wry smile as if he sympathized with the pickle Evie and she were in. She scooped up a forkful of food to eat even though hunger was the furthest thing from her mind. Dora guessed Windy had a past she didn’t want discovered, too, and she couldn’t wait to google the woman to see what she could dig up. But first she needed to know what their hostess planned to charge for her secrecy. “What kind of deal are we talking?”
“According to the news story, you two have managed to solve a couple of murders and a charity scam. How about doing a little sleuthing for me? In exchange, I won’t tell anyone who you are, and you can lay low here for a while where nobody will bother you.” A smile played on her lips. “You’ll also be assigned some chores.”
Dora looked at Evie and could see her mind was working, too, trying to figure out what chores Windy meant. The big barn they’d passed didn’t seem to have any animals in it if her nose was working right, so other than chickens, she didn’t think there would be tasks that were too horrible. She imagined they’d be cleaning the house and weeding flower beds. Maybe there were vegetable gardens behind the house that needed tending too.
Evie shrugged her shoulders at Dora, and Dora asked, “What about the Buddha bank? We get that too, right?”
“Really? Because I’d think you want what’s inside more.”
Windy’s condescending tone was starting to get on Dora’s nerves, and it was all she could do to keep from rolling her eyes. “Yes. We want what’s inside the bank, Windy.”
“Tell you what. I’ll give you the bank and the contents if you solve the crime.”
Dora bit her lip. Without the flash drive stored in the piggy bank, she couldn’t prove her innocence. Windy really had them over a barrel. Dora didn’t know what Windy had done in the past, but she’d bet the woman was darn good at whatever illegal activity it was, and she was a little concerned about what the crime might be.
“What kind of crime are we talking about solving?” Evie asked, even though it didn’t matter, because both she and Dora knew they had no choice but to try to solve it.
“Murder.”
Dora let out a sigh. “Of course, it is. Care to tell us why you can’t go to the police?”
“My face is plastered on a wanted poster, too. Has been for around fifty years. And no, I didn’t do it.”
That’s what they all say, Dora thought.
“Drugs?” Evie asked. She leaned in closer with her excitement. “Were you at Woodstock? I heard it was a-ma-zing!”
Windy chuckled. “No. Something more serious. There was a nuclear power protest, and a power plant explosion went wrong.” She shrugged. “I was caught in the middle.”
“Whoa,” Evie said. “Dor, she was an activist.”
A tiny smile played at the older woman’s lips, but she didn’t respond to Evie’s statement.
Dora was not quite as enamored with Windy as Evie was, but she said, “Fine. We’ll solve your murder for you. Give us the details.”
“Wonderful,” Windy said. She glanced at a large wristwatch which Dora recognized as a smart watch that was usually paired with a phone. It struck her as odd that the woman would care to keep up with texts or counting steps, considering the fact the overalls she was wearing hung loosely on her thin shoulders. “I’ll tell you all about it while you earn your breakfast. Your first chore has just arrived.”
Dora still didn’t have an appetite, but she had a feeling she was going to need her energy, so she scarfed down the rest of her food as she got up to take her plate to the sink the way Evie had. Then she followed Windy out of the house, wondering what she’d just agreed to.
When they got to the barn, the odor of rotting fruit mixed with sour milk wafted toward them. “Ugh,” Dora said as she held her nose and gazed at the pickup truck that had pulled up near the barn, convinced the vehicle likely hadn’t passed inspection in the last decade. There was a large plastic garbage can in the bed, and that was where the odor was coming from.
“Hop in.” Windy slapped the tailgate of the rickety old truck, indicating that’s where Evie and Dora were sitting. “Sushi,” Windy said as she crouched down and scooped her up. “That’s not your real name, is it? No matter. You’re sitting in the front with me where you’ll be safe.” Windy smiled at Dora and Evie. “It’s time to meet the girls.”
Dora watched Evie step on a wheel, since the bumper was held on by zip ties, and hoist herself into the truck with ease. She felt a twinge of jealousy, because while Dora continued to feel like a fish out of water in almost every situation they’d found themselves in, Evie seemed to have skills that made it easy to adapt. She took her friend’s outstretched hand and stepped on the tire before swinging her leg over the side.
As soon as the truck started moving, the contents of the garbage can sloshed. “God,” Dora said. “What is in there? Dead bodies disintegrating in acid?”
Evie peered inside the can and chuckled. “Slop. I think the girls we’re about to meet are pigs.”
“Gross.” Dora glanced around to see they were on a dirt road that wound around the back of the house and were driving through a cleared meadow with a field of tall corn. A sudden jolt from a pothole made slop splash up, and Dora scurried as far away from it as possible.
“Dor,” Evie said softly. Her brow was knit with concern, and she carefully stood up to get a better view of the land. “Yep. Just what I thought.” Evie shaded her eyes from the sun with her hand and let out a long whoosh of air. “Wow. This explains the nice things in the cabin.”
“What?” Dora asked as she clung to the cab of the truck and stood up to look over the corn too. She saw dozens of clear translucent greenhouses containing a plant she didn’t recognize. One that had five—
“Oh my god.” Dora looked at Evie in shock as she whispered. “This is a pot farm.”
“Cannabis,” Evie corrected. “And it’s legal in California now.”
“For the last fifty years?” Dora hissed.
“I’m pretty sure cannabis farming has been legal for medicinal purposes since the 90s.”
“That many plants?”
“No. Probably not. Not unless she’s a legit supplier, but if she’s wanted for a crime, I don’t see how that’s possible.”
Dora shook her head. “How do you know these things? It’s like hanging out with a criminal Trivial Pursuit expert.”
“I listen, Dor. I had a client at the massage parlor who was looking at getting into the cannabis business.” She chuckled. “I could have started one too by the time I got the knot out of his shoulder.”
The vehicle jerked again, and Dora nearly lost her balance before she sat down. The metal edge of the truck bed dug into her back as she pressed against it, trying to stay as far away as possible from the slop sloshing over the sides of the garbage can. Now that she knew what it was, she realized the odor wasn’t all that bad. It was kind of like walking through an ethnic marketplace with all sorts of food odors combining in the air.
Evie said, “People will tell you all kinds of things if you let them. Something you should try once in a while.”
“Why?” Dora grumbled. “I’ve got you to keep me informed.” It occurred to her that if they’d just seen the worst of Windy’s illegal activities, which were now likely legal, she could live with that.
The truck stopped in front of a barn that was noticeably smaller and much more unattractive than the blue one near the entrance of Windy’s property. It wasn’t painted, and Dora’s nose twitched at the odor of animal waste as chickens came over to investigate.
“Aww, look at them.” Evie said as the sound of pigs grunting filled Dora’s ears. “They know we’ve brought breakfast.”
Dora glanced at the pen containing nearly a dozen pigs as Windy and Simon walked to the back of the truck. Windy handed them each a utility bucket along with a scoop for Dora. “Fill ‘er up.”
The soupy mix splatted into a bucket as Dora filled it up, and when she handed it to Simon, Windy lifted up a clear plastic bag full of pieces of rolls. “Dora, come help me give the chickens a treat.”
Dora exchanged a quick glance with Evie before hopping out of the truck and following Windy to the far side of the barn with Sunshine trotting along by her side as if she was the pup’s new best friend. While she was still a little nervous about the woman, something about Windy was comforting too.
Once they were out of earshot from Evie and Simon, Windy said, “They say I was the mastermind behind an explosion that killed eight people.”
Dora saw sadness in Windy’s eyes, and it appeared genuine. She recognized the haunting pain she often felt about Steve Franklin’s death.
“Three of them were my friends.” Windy shook her head. “My crew was all about peaceful protests. I never would have participated in such a thing. None of us would have.”
Dora believed the emotions Windy was displaying were real, and she took the rolls Windy handed her while Sunshine wandered through the chickens, milling at their feet and sniffing with curiosity. Dora began to rip off pieces of the bread to toss at the chickens as she imagined what it must have been like to lose friends in such a tragic way. “Do you know what really happened?”
Windy sighed. “Best I can figure is that another group caused the accident and laid the blame at our feet. I’ll never really know.”
“There was no way to prove you didn’t do it?”
“No. Larry, the guy who managed to get away with me, only lasted a couple years hiding out. He turned himself in and ended up being convicted. I could have gone to trial and taken my chances, too, but I’ve gotten used to this life.”
“It’s not a bad one.” Dora tried to envision how Evie and she could ever become as successful while hiding out from the law. “You have a beautiful place to live and seem to have done well for yourself.”
“I have, and it’s nice to be in a position to help other innocents who are running from the corrupt law as well.” Windy handed Dora another roll. “Kindred spirits seem to find me. Like Matt.” Windy looked at Dora for a long moment before she said, “He was only with me for three weeks before he died. The police think his death was an accident, but I know better. That’s why I need you to help me prove it.”
Dora nodded, and they didn’t talk for a while, listening to the chattering of the chickens as they scrambled for chunks of bread. Dora processed what Windy had just told her. Figuring out who killed someone whose death was ruled accidental by the police in a town where people don’t ask or answer questions wasn’t going to be easy. But she knew they had no choice. She also knew Windy had just confided in her to build trust.
When Dora finally took a deep breath, it was because she knew Windy was waiting for her to share her story. “I’m an accountant.” As soon as the words came out of Dora’s mouth, she realized how boring it sounded. Not only wasn’t she the woman who was just an accountant, but she wasn’t sure she’d ever want to be again. “Was. I worked for a restaurant chain, and when I discovered the owner’s son was laundering money, I was going to go to his father with the intention of telling him. I figured out pretty quickly that the father was also involved, and I managed to mail the evidence I had to Evie before he threatened me with a gun, and…”
Dora replayed the scene in her head. She remembered how she had acted quickly and turned the gun away from herself just in time. When it went off and killed Steve Franklin instead, she’d definitely freaked out, but she’d also reacted in a way she never would have expected from herself. She managed to get out of there safely instead of falling apart.
She looked at Windy. “I protected myself, and when he pulled the trigger, he shot himself instead of me. Steve’s son Marco and his buddies erased the security footage that would have proved it. All I have is the flash drive, which Evie and I sent to Gertie to keep it safe.”
“You actually knew her?”
Dora chuckled at the absurdity of her situation. “No. We stuck it in a package that was in a mail truck. And when we went to retrieve it, we discovered she was dead.”
Windy shook her head gravely, but then she chuckled too. “You sure know how to step in it.”
Dora gave her a wry smile. Despite the fact that Windy was keeping the flash drive hostage until Evie and she helped her, Dora did feel the kinship Windy had mentioned. Maybe it was because she imagined what Windy’s life had been like over the past fifty years. Hiding from the law, giving up everything you knew before running, and still managing to make the best of it in ways she hoped Evie and she would be able to manage if they had to.
Evie would probably say they had a deep connection that defied scientific logic. Something Dora would usually scoff at. But not today. She couldn’t explain it, but she felt compelled to help Windy solve her crime. “Tell me about Matt. What makes you think someone killed him?”
“I will, dear,” she said. “But let’s find your friend first. It’ll be easier to just tell it once.”