The phone rang before the sun rose the next morning. I grabbed for it on my nightstand. “Hello?” I croaked.
“Humphrey, good, you’re awake,” Chief Rose said. By her tone, I could tell that she was pleased with herself for waking me up.
I wished I had water for my dry mouth. “Is something wrong? Is Billy okay?”
“His name is not Billy. It’s Walter.”
I struggled to a seated position on the bed. “Fine. Is Walter okay?”
“That’s why I’m calling. He’s stable and sober. His leg is broken and the wound on his head is shallow. He’s lucky to be alive. The doctors think the fact that he was dead drunk worked in his favor. He was completely limp when he fell. Had his body been able to tense up, his injuries may have been much worse.”
I exhaled. “That’s great news.”
“Now that Walter is sober, he wants to talk to you and Troyer. He refuses to talk to me unless his lawyer is around.”
I wasn’t eager to see Billy again. “Tyler is his lawyer. I’m sure he will cooperate with you.”
“You’re not getting off that easy, Humphrey. He’s willing to talk to both of you without Hart there. You will listen to what he says and report back to me. You’re going to do this for me because you screwed up royally yesterday. Got it?”
“Got it.” I punched my pillow. “Have you called Timothy to tell him?”
“No. Troyer is on my punk list at the moment. I will leave that up to you.”
“How much longer do you plan to stay mad at him?”
“I haven’t decided. I might make him sweat until next year.”
“Next year is only five days away.”
“Don’t tell him that. Seriously, Humphrey, if anyone in this town should know the cost of a stunt like that, he should have. Give him the message.” She hung up.
“He knows,” I whispered. I called Timothy’s number from my cell phone. No answer. I repeated the message that Chief Rose gave me.
Gigabyte saw that I was awake and yowled into my face as if to say, Since your eyes are open, you must be able to feed me.
I rolled over on my side and covered my head with my pillow. “Go bother Becky,” I said in a muffled voice. “You won’t like what I give you anyway.”
He pawed at the pillow and yowled again, closer to my ear. His best Siamese screeches could crack glass.
I groaned. “Fine, but as soon as I’m done, I’m coming right back to bed.”
He gave me a pleasant meow and hopped to the floor. I swore the cat understood English.
Tanisha was in the kitchen drinking coffee. She gave me a small smile. “I guess I’m not totally accustomed to the trans-Atlantic time change yet. I’m sure I will be just in time to fly back to Italy.”
“Probably so.” I removed Gig’s cat food from the cupboard. The tawny-colored animal wove in and around my ankles, purring as if two of his feline lives depended on it.
“Chloe, I just want to apologize for last night. I didn’t know you would be so upset or that it was such a big deal. I gave Becky the haircut she wanted. I didn’t know there was anything more to it than that.”
“I know. It’s as much Becky’s fault. She knows what a haircut meant for her.”
“Can she really not go back to the Amish?”
“I don’t know. I know that she doesn’t want to go back, but if she doesn’t, Aaron will be the one who will have to make the tough choice about leaving.” I sighed and set Gig’s food dish on the floor and turned back to Tee. “I’m not upset that Becky cut her hair. If that’s what she wanted to do or felt that she needed to do, I supported her all the way. I was upset because you did it.” I smiled sheepishly. “And I might be a little jealous that I wasn’t here.”
“Ah,” Tanisha said and pointed to a nine-by-twelve envelope on the table.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Becky’s hair. She said that you thought she should donate it to charity, like Locks of Love.”
I smiled. “I did. I’m glad she remembered. It will be a blessing to someone who needs it.” I sat at the table and picked up the envelope. It was already sealed and addressed in Becky’s handwriting. “Becky’s so angry with me. I need to apologize, but I won’t see her until she finishes work later this afternoon.”
“We could go there and talk to her.”
I shook my head. “Aaron will be there. I don’t want to have the conversation in front of him.”
Tanisha set a mug of coffee in front of me. “Extra milk, just how you like it.”
“Thanks.” I curved my cold hands around the ceramic surface.
“Enough about Becky and her hair.” Tanisha grinned. “I have a few hours left here. What should we do?”
Chief Rose’s instructions to visit Billy in the hospital came to mind, but it was too early in the morning to do that. “Are you up for some sleuthing?”
“Oh my, yes. I think that is just what the doctor ordered.” Her brow wrinkled. “Why did you come home so late last night?”
I took a deep breath and told her about my near-death experience.
Her eyes widened. “Why didn’t you tell me yesterday?”
“Because of everything that was happening with Becky. I didn’t want to add to the drama.”
Tanisha stirred a fourth spoonful of sugar into her coffee. “Are we going to talk to this Billy guy?”
“No, we’re going grocery shopping.”
Tanisha added a fifth scoop of sugar. She wasn’t a big fan of coffee. “Groceries?”
I nodded. “To pay a visit to your good buddy, Jason Catcher.”
Tee grimaced as she sipped from her mug and made a face. “Will I have to sit on him again?”
“Not this time,” I promised.