Chapter Seventeen
Friday, Feb 1st
Ronnie stood at Grady’s kitchen sink, staring blankly out the window into his backyard.
She wasn’t really seeing the large old barrel cactus that had been here since he and Elizabeth had bought the house, or the tall ocotillo reaching for the sky behind it, or the needle-covered cholla and prickly pear sharing the same small cacti garden. The flagstone walkway and thorny shrubs lining parts of it were a blur, too, same as the leafless desert willow back near the detached garage with last year’s dried bean pods still shivering in the morning breeze. The carved stone bench under the green limbs of the paloverde tree and the spinning kinetic metal wind wheels weren’t reeling her in either.
Nope.
Since she’d woken up this morning alone in Grady’s bed, her mind was locked onto one thing and one thing only—Lyle’s latest fuck-job of her life.
Because of her rotten choice when it came to picking a husband years and years ago, she was now a wanted woman.
Oh, the irony. For so long, back when Lyle would disappear for days on end, sometimes weeks, she longed for someone to want her. Really want her. Not for her ability to host a party for well-to-dos. Not for her knowledge of how to perfectly set a table. Not for her fake blond hair or her fake eyelashes. To want her, the real her.
Now she was wanted in all senses of the word. Ruby wanted her to help with bookkeeping. Butch wanted her to take on Kate’s old duties. Claire and Mac wanted her to continue working at The Shaft after they bought it. Grady wanted her in his bed every night. And all sorts of strangers wanted her dead—or at least close to it. Or whatever it would take to hurt Lyle for screwing them over. A toe. A pinky finger. An ear. Maybe even her whole head before it was all said and done.
The thought of what was waiting outside of these walls every day had her wanting to burrow under Grady’s bed, but she couldn’t keep living like this. Scurrying through her days and nights like a lizard running from one hiding spot to the next was no good in the long run. She was turning thirty-six in a few days. She needed to get her shit together, put her past behind her, and figure out what she wanted for the rest of her life. Or at least for the next few years.
Blinking away her worries and wonders, she finished her cup of coffee and rinsed the mug in the sink. On a high note, it turned out that the anonymous text she’d received while in the grocery store was from some poor sucker who was given a wrong number at a bar by a girl he thought he’d impressed on the dance floor. Grady told Ronnie last night that the guy had nearly swallowed his tongue when a sheriff from Arizona called back to ask what in the hell he meant with that text.
Her phone pinged on the way out of Grady’s front door. Speaking of texts …
She pulled it from her purse as she made her way down the sidewalk to his truck, which she was borrowing yet again.
She made a mental note:
Get-Shit-Together List—
Figure out how to buy own vehicle in spite of bad credit.
In the meantime, Penny was supposed to bring Grady by The Shaft later this evening so he could use his own rig to drive Mindy Lou home after her shift was over. Ronnie planned to spend the night at Ruby’s place, wanting to get some bookkeeping done in the morning before heading back into work.
As she tapped the text message to open it, she heard a diesel engine idling nearby. She looked to the south. Across the street a couple of blocks down was a gray pickup. A big and bulky-looking shadowy figure sat behind the wheel, but Ronnie couldn’t see any details due to the glare of the morning sunshine on the windshield. The truck looked clean as a whistle, though. At least from this distance.
Something about the whole scene made her think of when those first two FBI guys had come to town before Mississippi took over. They’d been so obviously not-locals.
The text was on the screen when she looked back down at her phone. It was from Butch. Today’s grocery list included a few more vegetables and a big pack of napkins.
It was funny how they’d run low on different items in between stock deliveries. Sometimes napkins, sometimes cleaning fluids, sometimes hamburger buns. Once she’d even had to pick up four boxes of condoms of varying sizes to fill the vending machine in the guys’ bathroom. Boy, had that purchase earned her a set of raised eyebrows from the checkout guy at the drugstore.
She called Butch back but got his voicemail, so she left a quick message saying she was running a little late this morning but was on the way to the store now and would be at work soon to help open. Pocketing her phone, she fished the keys for Grady’s pickup from her coat pocket and unlocked the door.
“Morning, Veronica!” a voice called from behind her.
She screeched in surprise, dropping her purse when she whirled around.
“Sadie,” Ronnie said, holding her palm over her thumping heart. “What are you doing here?”
The question was silly, sort of, because Sadie was jogging in place in front of her, breathing somewhat quickly. She was obviously out for a run. Her black spandex pants and zipped-up utility jacket matched her stocking cap and … combat boots. Who jogged in combat boots? She had to be ex-military. Didn’t they run in boots during basic training? And that utility jacket—that wasn’t normal running gear either. Ronnie preferred something body-fitting and lighter weight when she jogged or walked.
“I like to run around town in the morning.” Sadie stopped jogging in place and scooped up Ronnie’s purse for her. “Is this where you live?”
Something about Sadie being here right now made Ronnie hesitate before answering that question. This was the third day in a row that she’d run into the woman. Or rather the woman had run into her.
“It’s where I sometimes spend the night.” Ronnie didn’t elaborate about it being Grady’s place.
“Ahhh, I get it,” Sadie said with a grin and a wink, handing Ronnie back her purse. “Hey, do you mind driving me to the store?”
Ronnie clutched her purse to her stomach. “I thought you were out jogging.” Couldn’t Sadie jog to the store? It was only about six blocks away from Grady’s place. Why would she need a ride when she was this close?
“I was, but my knee is starting to tighten. It’s an old injury that flares up now and then. If I take it easy for an hour or two, everything will loosen again and be fine.”
“How do you know I’m going to the store?”
“Because I overheard you on the phone as I was coming this way. I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, I’ve just always had really good hearing.”
Ronnie glanced up the street and then back toward the south, wondering from which direction Sadie had come.
The gray pickup was no longer idling. The form behind the wheel was not there either. Ronnie tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear as she eyed the pickup and the area surrounding it. When had the driver gotten out? Her heart pounded in her ears.
Ronnie hadn’t heard the engine cut out or a door slam or anything. She should’ve been watching, paying attention instead of looking at her stupid phone.
She tried to take a breath and suddenly couldn’t. She coughed, her lungs felt like they were full of sludge.
Where was he? Had Sadie been behind the wheel? No, the driver had been bigger and bulkier than Sadie, with shoulders twice as wide. Then who was it and where had …
Take back control, damn it!
Control started with breathing right. She took a deep breath. Then another. And another.
“Are you okay?” Sadie asked.
Ronnie was now, mostly. “Listen, I can take you to the store, but I’m running late and still have to pick up one of my coworkers, so I can’t drop you off back at your place afterward.”
Not that she knew where Sadie’s house was. Ronnie just wanted the woman to know that there were people expecting her to show up at certain places today. In other words, she would be missed if she didn’t arrive on time. This was a self-defense tactic she’d learned years ago and decided to use in case Sadie wasn’t as harmless as she had seemed so far.
“Works for me,” Sadie said with a smile.
They climbed into Grady’s rig. Ronnie scooted the seat forward so she could reach the gas and brakes while Sadie buckled up.
“So,” Ronnie started as she shifted into drive. “Are you done being mad at me for saving you yesterday?”
“I’m a little less mad now.” A small smirk settled on Sadie’s face as she stared out the windshield.
They drew closer to the gray pickup. Ronnie slowed down, trying to see through the shaded side window.
“Look out!” Sadie yelled, jerking Ronnie’s attention forward again.
“What?” Ronnie didn’t see anything in the road, but her pulse was now rocketing between her head and toes.
“Sorry, it was a lizard. I didn’t want you to hit it. Those little guys are so cute.”
“Holy hairy moly, Sadie. That’s the second heart attack you’ve almost given me this morning. Are you trying to kill me? And after I saved your bacon, too. Have you no respect for your guardian angel?”
Sadie settled back into the seat with an audible huff. “Just drive me to the damned store, woman.”
As they bumped along the streets, Ronnie shot a couple of glances at her passenger. “What do you do for a living?”
“I’m an independent contractor.”
That sounded important, but vague.
“In what?”
“The health industry.”
Did that mean she was a nurse? Or a doctor? Or a pharmaceutical sales rep? Whatever she was, Sadie was being tight-lipped about it, so Ronnie switched to a different subject. “How’s your mom doing?”
“Great. My turn now. How’s it happen you sometimes spend the night in town?”
Ronnie shrugged. “Sometimes I don’t feel like going home to the rest of my family.” Again, she made sure to let Sadie know she wasn’t alone very often, just to be extra safe.
“I get that.” Sadie nodded. “But you don’t stay here in Yuccaville at your sometimes place every night?”
“I like the option to choose.”
That was sort of true. After what had felt like living in a fortress mostly alone for years while Lyle traveled constantly, not having an official home had its merits. Although it would be nice to have a small place to accumulate some new clothes. She’d been wearing her sisters’ stuff for long enough.
“You going to be there tonight again?” Sadie asked.
“Why do you want to know?”
“Just wondering if you want to go for a run with me in the morning. Running is more fun when you’re not alone.”
Ronnie glanced Sadie’s way. “That sounds suspiciously like an offer of friendship.”
“Well, I’m not going to ask you to wear my ring or high school letter jacket.”
Ronnie chuckled. “I’m not going to be at my sometimes home tonight. I have another job in the morning that I need to go to.”
“Cool.”
“But if you want to exchange phone numbers,” she said as she pulled into the store parking lot, “I can text you the next time I’m in town and available for a morning run. Although I’m not very fast and probably can’t run as far as you.”
“If you’re interested, I can show you some breathing techniques that will help with your stamina.”
That sounded for sure like something taught in the military, didn’t it? Or in the health profession?
After Ronnie parked, they exchanged numbers.
As she shut and locked the door, she asked Sadie, “You heading inside?”
“No, I’m gonna go next door for some coffee.” She pointed toward the small café the next block over. “Rest my knee for a while before walking home. Maybe ice it.”
“I’ll see you around, Sadie.” Ronnie tossed a quick salute her way. “Try not to get yourself killed in the meantime.”
Sadie shook her head, muttering under her breath as she walked away with a slight limp.
* * *
Claire was washing her hands in the campground bathroom when Kate rushed inside and closed the door behind her, leaning against it as if she were holding back a horde of zombies.
Huh. Another day, another cuckoo version of Kate.
“You’re late, jailbird.” Claire grabbed a paper towel from the dispenser. “I’d dock you an hour’s pay, but sitting on your bumpkin with your feet up on a five-gallon bucket while you watch me toil away isn’t really working.”
Kate waved her off. She reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a keychain with three keys hanging from it, holding it out toward Claire. “Voilà! Sophy’s house keys have been found. Now, when are you gonna go?”
“When am I gonna go?” Claire tossed the paper towel in the trash. “Don’t you mean when are we going to go?”
“No, I mean you.” Kate scowled. “After the crapshow in Yuccaville yesterday, Valentine is keeping me on a short leash because the sheriff is breathing down his neck. Damned nosy Grady. If he’d just do something about his stupid deputy.”
After Kate’s most recent stunt at the sheriff’s office, Claire wasn’t surprised by Butch’s increased monitoring. She’d overheard Grady talking to him last night about trying harder to keep Kate away from Yuccaville and his deputies.
“Is he tracking your phone yet?”
“You mean Deputy Dipshit? The chum-head better not be or I’ll—”
“I meant Butch.”
“Oh.” Kate’s eyes narrowed to tight, menacing squints. “Valentine better not be tracking me. Not if he wants to keep Big Jim and the twins healthy and happy. I’ll rip them clean off, I swear.”
“Big Jim and …” Claire cringed, realizing which parts of Butch’s anatomy were at the risk from Kate’s potential wrath. “Kate, please refrain from telling me your nicknames for Butch’s nether regions in the future. I have to work with him every night. Now every time the name ‘Jim’ comes up, I’m not going to be able to look the guy in the face.”
“I’m sorry. Does that hurt your delicate sensibilities? Try having a stranger do a rubber-glove inspection of your hoochie-coochie every few weeks.”
Claire rolled her eyes. “Kate, your cannon is loose. Lash that sucker back down. And that’s not a stranger examining you, it’s your OB-GYN.”
“You can stack a bunch of letters after your name on a piece of paper and nail it to the wall, but in the end—in my end, anyway—you’re still an uninvited guest at my private party who is sticking your fingers where they don’t belong.”
Claire sighed, staring at her reflection in the mirror over the sink. “How did it come to this? I just needed to pee and then grab something from the tool shed. Where did I go wrong?”
“You asked if Butch was tracking me.”
“Oh, right. And did you give me an answer in the midst of that churning dust devil of a reply?”
“I checked the location settings on my phone and I should be off-grid. However, Valentine told me he’ll be texting me throughout the day, and if I don’t answer within a few minutes, he’s going to come looking for me.” Kate harrumphed. “That man is making me barking mad.”
More like howling mad. Like a monkey. Ever since the baby hormones started coursing through her body months ago, Kate’s brain had been hanging from the chandelier and throwing bananas and poo at anyone passing too close.
“Listen, Mad-dog Morgan,” Claire said, moving toward the door. She wanted to get back to the platform where Luke and Chester were enjoying some quiet sanity well away from Kate while making progress on the build. “I understand how frustrating it must feel to be under a microscope, but you have to admit that if you hadn’t holed up in Grady’s jail cell yesterday, Butch wouldn’t have you on lockdown today.”
“That wasn’t my fault.” Kate walked over to the three bathroom stalls, pushing the door open on each.
Claire crossed her arms.
“It wasn’t, Claire, so don’t be giving me that look.”
They’d already had this discussion on the way home from jail. “You entered the holding cell of your own free will. How can that not be your fault?”
“I had to do it for my own protection.”
Kate moved to where Claire had been standing and started checking her reflection in the mirror above the sink. Claire watched as her sister adjusted her sunhat and then batted her lashes at the knucklehead staring back at her.
“I think you need to go to Sophy’s today when you’re done out back,” Kate said, glancing at Claire before returning to her self-inspection. “You need to get whatever is under the dresser in her bedroom and then bring it to The Shaft later and show me when nobody else is around.”
“I can’t go there today,” Claire told the preening peacock.
“Why not?”
“Because the lumber for the brewery is supposed to arrive sometime this afternoon. I’m waiting for a call from the delivery driver, so I can meet him there.”
“That won’t take all day. You can sneak over to Sophy’s afterward.”
“No, I can’t. You of all people know how busy The Shaft is on Fridays. Butch will need all hands on deck, so as soon as Luke and I finish screwing on the composite decking, I’ll be donning an apron and helping serve the masses.”
Kate scowled. “Claire, we need to get whatever Sophy has squirreled away to her as soon as possible. If Joe is still out there creeping around, waiting to strike, we need to beat him to the punch and attack first.”
“If Joe is still out there, Kate, we probably need to tell Grady and let him and his deputies do the attacking.”
“Grady is never going to believe Joe is still alive unless we deliver him on a silver platter with an apple crammed in his mouth.”
“I disagree. With the right proof, I think Grady will listen to us. After all, he has a vested interest in this family now.”
“Not according to his ex-wife.” Kate finished dolling up and turned her back on the mirror. “Did you know Elizabeth is telling people that he asked her to marry him again and that she said yes? That mad dreamer needs to be taught a lesson about lying.”
Elizabeth was totally unscrewed and rattling as she rolled, there was no doubt about that, but this particular problem was out of Kate’s jurisdiction. “Does Ronnie know Elizabeth is saying that stuff?”
Kate shrugged. “If she does, she’s not letting on about it. And don’t you go telling her, either. Ronnie has enough trouble with the potential killers coming for her. She doesn’t need to deal with an out-of-whack ex-wife who can’t seem to decipher fiction from fact.”
“It’s not like I was going to run out of here and find Ronnie. I am a little busy at the moment working on a bird viewing platform, remember?”
“What’s Luke’s story?” Kate said, switching gears.
It took Claire a blink and a head shake to catch up. “What do you mean? He’s here to help out and meet his new step-grandmother.”
Luke hadn’t been able to make it to visit Gramps and Ruby when they’d traveled to South Dakota last fall, so this was his first time getting filled full of sweets and treats by Ruby, and she was doubling down. If Claire didn’t stop sharing in the candied fruits and sugary cookies of Ruby’s labor, she’d have to switch from jeans to sweatpants soon.
“I don’t think that’s the only reason he’s down here,” Kate said.
“Well, Natalie did contact him and let him know we could use his help when he had some free time.”
“I don’t think that’s the real reason, either.”
“Okay, Detective Bigbrain, why is Luke here?”
“I think it has something to do with woman troubles.”
“Kate, why do you have to go fishing for drama? We have all sorts of nets full of it without you trolling for more.”
“Mark my words, there’s a woman haunting Luke.”
“How about I mark your forehead with a good old-fashioned knuckle-rub instead?”
“You wouldn’t hurt a pregnant woman.”
“True, but I might give you a wedgie.” Claire pointed at the door. “Now, can I get back to work?”
Kate rushed over and blocked it. “Not until you promise me you’ll take the keys to Sophy’s place and go get whatever is hidden under her dresser today.” She held up the keys again. “Come on, I spent half the night searching for this, tiptoeing around the house while Valentine slept.”
“I told you I have the lumber coming today.”
“Fine, then go tonight.”
“I’m working, remember?”
“You’ll be off by midnight.”
Claire scoffed. “You want me to go to Sophy’s place at midnight and sneak inside her dark house to find some sort of proof that the man who we thought has been dead for over a year is still alive?”
“You don’t need to sneak. She gave permission. And turn on the lights while you’re there.”
“Kate, why would she leave the power on? That’s a bill to pay and she’s behind bars for a long time yet.”
“So take a bunch of flashlights.”
“No way. I’m not going up there alone in the dark.”
“Why? Are you too chicken?”
“Yes.” And Claire wasn’t ashamed to admit it. “I’m very chicken. That’s the place where I was shot.”
“You didn’t actually get shot. You fell and hit your head.”
“Sophy shot at me, I just happened to knock the shotgun barrel aside first.”
Kate snorted. “That’s not the same as being shot.”
“Tell you what, I’ll aim a double-barreled shotgun at you and pretend to pull the trigger and see if you can tell the difference between attempted murder and straight-up murder.”
“Sheesh. Talk about being a drama queen, Claire. I’m not asking you to face off with the devil in the dark, only to go to an empty house and find whatever clue is under the dresser. Then come home. Easy-peasy.”
“I’m not going up there alone. Period. End of story. I’m walking away from this.” She nudged her sister and the keys aside and pulled open the restroom door.
Kate followed her out into the late morning sunshine, which warmed the top of Claire’s head in spite of the cool breeze that kept ruffling her collar today.
“You know I’d go with you if I could, but there’s no way Butch will let me escape while he’s on watchtower duty.”
“Then Sophy’s secret will have to wait until you can get away.”
“That could be weeks, Claire.”
“Then we wait weeks. I’m a little busy building a few things right now, in case you haven’t noticed.”
Kate grabbed her elbow, tugging her to a stop. “You’re stalling.”
“I’m not going up there tonight, Kate.”
“Fine, but at least take these damned keys. If Valentine realizes they’re gone, he’ll frisk me from head to toe, so I need them out of our house.”
Claire took the keys and pocketed them. “There. Happy? Now let me get back to work. I’m hoping Luke and I will have the decking secured before I get the call about the lumber being here.”
“You’re not going to tell Mac about the Sophy deal when he gets here tomorrow, are you?”
Claire wasn’t sure. She didn’t like hiding things from Mac, but if he didn’t ask about Sophy, which he shouldn’t since he had no idea they’d called the prison beauty queen, it wasn’t really “hiding,” was it?
“I’m not planning to go out of my way to let him know about any of this, if that’s what you mean.”
Kate’s lips pursed. “I don’t think that’s the same thing as what I’m asking.”
“It’s the best you’ll get from me at the moment.”
They walked along in silence for a few steps.
“Oh,” Kate said. “Have you had a chance to think about that ancient knife?”
“Shhhh.” Claire looked around, worried about eavesdroppers. “That’s not something you just announce out loud like that.”
“I wasn’t announcing anything,” Kate snapped. “I was inquiring.”
“Well, inquire more quietly next time. You never know when someone might be listening in around here.”
“Fine,” Kate whispered. “How’s this? Quiet enough?”
“No. I’d prefer you were totally muted and mimed your thoughts and ideas from here on out.”
Kate held up her middle finger in front of Claire’s face. “Like this?” She held up her other, too. “And this?”
Claire knocked both of her hands away. “Grow up already. Your sister is turning thirty-six in a few days, which means we’re getting older, too.”
“What are we doing for Ronnie’s birthday party?”
“I don’t know. You’re the party planner, not me.” Claire veered toward the tool shed. “Maybe she doesn’t want a party. Have you checked with her?”
“Ronnie needs a party. She’s had a shitty year and we need to help her put the past behind her and start fresh for the last half of her thirties.”
“I still think we should check with her before throwing any parties,” Claire said. “If she wants a quiet night with Grady instead, we need to be considerate.”
“Fine, I’ll sleuth around to find out what she wants. In the meantime, I need you to help me figure out the origin of that kni—” She stopped. “That special thing I mentioned a few minutes ago.”
“I already know the origin.”
“You do? Did you do some research on it?”
“I didn’t need to.” Claire lowered her voice. “The origin is the Maya people.”
“Oh, you!” Kate backhanded her shoulder. “You know what I mean. We have to find out where it came from before someone comes looking for it here.”
Claire already had put some thought into that knife and its origins—the post-Maya ones. Something didn’t feel right about it. Having worked on some of Joe’s other mysteries, Claire realized that the puzzle of the knife was too easy. Sure, it could belong to some rich collector of ancient artifacts, but if she’d learned anything about Joe, it was that he had more eccentric tastes when it came to his fenced goods. That didn’t mean he liked to collect rare gold-plated trinkets, more that he liked to use elaborate brainteasers to conceal where he stowed the stuff that he stole.
The knife was too simple all around. An obsidian blade. A jade handle. Tucked away behind some books—a simple hiding place.
Claire wondered if the trick to that particular fenced good had something to do with the carving on the jade handle. She would have liked to see exactly where their mom had found the knife and how it had been placed. If it were pointed in a particular direction, or at some book, or at another item on the shelf in particular. Or maybe at a certain wall in the office.
The way Joe’s puzzles worked was rarely as simple as taking the artifact at face value. Especially an item that wasn’t locked away in his wall safe behind the bookshelf or hidden down a mine shaft.
“I’m going to need to see it again,” Claire told Kate.
“I can arrange a meeting for that.”
“What are you, some kind of arms dealer now?”
“I told you before, I’m an ace detective.”
“More like an ace criminal, according to Deputy Dipshit.”
Kate snarled. “Mark my words. I’m going to find out what Elizabeth and Ernie are up to and remove both of those bungholes from the equation.”
Claire frowned. “Careful there, Kate. If the sheriff hears you say stuff like that, he’ll lock you in his cell simply to protect the general public.”
“Did you know that Elizabeth is messing with Penny now, too?”
Maybe, but Claire played dumb. “Like how?”
“She’s posted bad reviews about The Mule Train Diner on multiple online sites and is spreading rumors that Penny is talking bad behind her business associates’ back.”
Yeah, Claire knew all about that. “She sounds like a real sweetheart of an ex-wife. Grady and Ronnie know how to pick winners, don’t they?”
“Don’t tell anyone else this, especially Mom, but I think they’re good for each other.” Kate sniffed. “I sure wish he wasn’t a lawman, though. If Ronnie marries him someday, we’re going to have to either toe the line for the rest of our lives, or commit crimes behind our sister’s back.”
“You really think Ronnie wants to get married again? Last time she talked to me about her future, another husband wasn’t on the list of wants she mentioned.”
“When was that? Back when she was living with you and Mac in Tucson?”
“No. It was last month.”
“Really? I wonder if Grady knows that. He seems really keen on her.”
“Keen?” Claire chuckled and unlocked the door to the tool shed. “Who are you? Beaver Cleaver’s mom?”
“There’s nothing wrong with the word keen. For example, I’m very keen on you getting your ass up to Sophy’s place today. The sooner we get her what she wants, the sooner we can figure out how to find Joe.” Kate shuddered. “I really don’t like the idea of him waiting out there somewhere, watching us. He’s probably planning on taking out Gramps for marrying Ruby.”
“If it’s not Joe watching us, it’s one of the people he’s skimmed from looking for their goods, or it’s one of Ronnie’s hitmen.” Claire searched the hills around the RV park. “Do you remember what it was like when we lived in South Dakota and didn’t have someone trying to hurt us?”
“Yep.” Kate pulled out her phone. “It was a real snooze-ville.”
Yeah, it sort of was, but … “Sometimes a dull life doesn’t sound too bad, especially these days.”
While Kate played with her phone, Claire stepped inside the tool shed and grabbed a charged impact drill battery to take back to the worksite. She looked around the small, crowded shed to make sure there wasn’t anything else they needed.
When she stepped outside, Kate was talking to a young girl with light pink hair. Something about the girl’s Cleveland Browns paint-streaked sweatshirt reminded Claire of Jess. It could be that she was young and bouncy and chewing bubble gum. Or, now that Claire looked closer, maybe it was that the sweatshirt was Jess’s.
Claire approached Kate, glancing around to see if there was a parent or some other responsible adult lurking nearby.
The girl gave Claire the stinkeye. “Who are you?”
“An adult who lives here. Who are you?”
“I’m Jess’s best friend.”
“Since when?”
Claire knew all about Jess’s life, whether she wanted to or not. From the first time they’d met back by this very tool shed, Jess had made a point of oversharing her life story and had continued ever since to fill Claire’s ears with jibber-jabber about lip gloss, nail color, and which girl was French-kissing what boy in the halls each day during school.
The girl’s cheeks darkened. “Since last week when she started tutoring me.”
“Ohhh.” Claire nodded. “You’re Hailey.”
The girl gasped. “How do you know my name? Have you been stalking me?”
“Sure, kid. That’s what I do in all my spare time. I go around stalking gum-chewing nimrods who like to skip class so often that they’re failing math and English even though they are supposedly really smart.”
That pretty much summed up what Claire had been told about Hailey, Jess’s newest “project.” Oh, and that she was a foster kid who needed a good friend.
Hailey pouted. “I only skipped class three times.”
“That’s three too many,” said Kate, the ex-teacher. “School is your job at this point in life. Take it seriously and respect your teachers.”
Hailey raised her hands in surrender. “Sheesh, Kate. Take it easy on a poor kid who came out to bring you a message.”
“Why couldn’t Jess play messenger?” Kate asked.
“She’s working the register at the store.”
Claire stuffed the drill battery in her toolbelt. “She could have texted one of us. Why aren’t you two in school?”
“Teacher workday,” Hailey explained, adding, “Jess can’t find her phone and her mom said she’s not allowed to leave the register except to go to the bathroom.” She shook her head. “Adults can be so bossy. It’s like they think we have no lives outside of serving them.”
“What’s the message?” Claire needed to get back to the worksite. They were on track to get the decking finished today if they kept at the pace they’d been working so far. Kate had delayed her enough as it was.
Hailey looked back toward the General Store, a frown lining her brow “Well, it was …” She chewed on her lower lip and squinted. “Umm. Jess said that … shoot, what was it?” She jammed her hands into the front center pocket on the sweatshirt. “We were talking about irrational numbers and the phone rang and …” She bounced up and down a couple of times, as if that would jumpstart her brain, and then she frowned at Kate and Claire. “Dang it. I can’t remember.”
“Then it must not have been very important,” Kate said.
Hailey tipped her head sideways, eyeing Kate. “Are you really banned from the library for six months?”
“Yes.”
“You did cuss a lot at the librarian.”
Kate glowered at the kid. “I know. I was there.”
“Jess said you went to jail, too.”
“Jess is technically wrong.”
“I saw the whole thing.”
Kate’s forehead turned a shade of pink that almost matched Hailey’s hair. “It wasn’t one of my finer moments. You probably shouldn’t repeat some of the words I said.”
“I don’t think the librarian has heard some of those words before.”
Claire probably had. Kate had the biggest potty mouth of all three of them. It was probably due to that big IQ she liked to blab about to everyone and their brother.
“When I said I saw the whole thing,” Hailey said, pausing to blow a bubble and then pop it herself. “I was talking about the part afterward when that sheriff’s deputy got out of his pickup and rushed over right as you scurried out the door.”
“I didn’t scurry.” Kate bristled. “I walked out backward while stating the final arguments for my case.”
Hailey chewed her gum, nodding. “That deputy was a jerk. He’s the one who got in your way.”
“Right! That’s what I told Grady,” Kate said to Claire.
“And I’m sure he made a note of that,” Claire returned. After all, the sheriff knew Kate and Deputy Dipshit had a turbulent history.
“I think the deputy was just pissed because he dropped his knockers.”
“He’s always pissed when it comes to me,” Kate muttered.
Claire frowned at her sister and then Hailey. “You should watch your language some,” she told both of them. They didn’t need Hailey’s foster parents calling Ruby to bitch about …
“Wait.” Claire turned to Hailey. “What did you just say?”
“Deputy Dipshit was pissed,” Hailey said.
Claire held up her hand to stop the kid. “Where did you hear that nickname for him?”
Hailey pointed at Kate. “She called him that when they were having their yelling match outside the library.”
When Claire glared at her sister, Kate grimaced and looked down at her shoe, kicking a stone away.
“Listen, kid,” Claire said. “Please don’t use that name for the deputy again. It could get you in big trouble.” She shot Kate another glare for her lack of control when it came to flapping her gums. “Kate and Ernie have known each other for a while and don’t get along well. They both tend to call each other not-so-nice names.”
Although, to be fair to her sister, Claire had started calling Ernie that after the first time he’d shown up during a potential crime situation and acted like a total dipshit while talking down to her.
“That’s enough, Mother Teresa,” Kate said to Claire. She frowned at Hailey. “I screwed up. Don’t be like me.”
“You mean pregnant and nutty as squirrel poop?”
Kate’s gaze hardened in a flash. And then her left eye twitched. Twice. “I’m starting not to like you, Hailey.”
Hailey took a step toward Claire. “She’s scaring me,” she whispered out of the side of her mouth, smelling like bubble gum.
“She’s been scaring me for most of my life,” Claire told the girl. “You said something about the deputy dropping some ‘knockers’? Do you mean like a pair of brass knuckles?”
“I don’t know what brass knuckles are.” Hailey was still watching Kate with a wary look. “I said ‘knockers,’ which is what a little kid I used to live with called binoculars.”
“So, the deputy had a pair of binoculars with him when he crossed to where Kate was?”
“He had them in his monster truck. When he hopped to the ground, they fell out. I think they broke, because I saw glass fly.”
“Maybe he keeps them in his door,” Kate said. “I’m pretty sure he’s a hunter judging from that sticker on his back window of a deer with a target over it.”
Hailey nodded. “If so, he was hunting you yesterday.”
“Why do you say that?” Claire asked.
“Because I saw him staring through them at the library for a while before your sister started screaming at that Ginger woman.”
“I wasn’t screaming.” Kate huffed. “I was making a point.”
“How long was he spying on Kate?”
Hailey shrugged. “I wasn’t watching the clock, but I’d say he must have been sitting across the street playing peekaboo pretty much since Kate and Jess and I got there.”
Claire turned to Kate. “Why do you think he was eyeballing you?”
Had Kate done something before showing up at the library that would have gotten his attention? Something like trying to lock him in his own cell again?
“Because he’s stalking me. I keep telling people that, but nobody believes me, especially not Grady. He thinks that I’m—”
“Oh! Oh!” Hailey held up her hand, waving it in the air as if she were sitting behind a school desk.
“What?” Kate asked, exasperated.
“Jeez. You’d make a mean teacher.”
Claire laughed. “She has you pegged.”
Kate jabbed Claire in the shoulder with her index finger. “Keep it up and I’ll peg you to the wall of your tool shed.”
Ignoring her sister, Claire looked at the pink-haired gum chewer. “Did you have a question, Hailey?”
“No, but I remembered what I was supposed to come out here to tell you guys.”
“What?” Claire and Kate said at the same time.
“Jinx!” Hailey giggled.
“Hailey!” Kate snapped.
“Fine. Sorry for breathing wrong, meanie.” She sniffed. “Jess talked to someone on the phone, and when she hung up she told me to come warn you. She said you should hide.”
“Hide?” Kate repeated as if Hailey were speaking a foreign language.
“Why?” Claire asked.
Hailey shrugged. “Something about Jess’s stepsister being on her way home.”
Kate looked at Claire with wide eyes. “Mother!”
“Son of a b—” Claire remembered Hailey at the last minute. “Big-butted baboon!”