Eventually, both of the strangers had filled out their paperwork to Terry’s satisfaction, and far from wanting to have a fight with each other, they were both eager to just get back into their cars and, presumably, out of Bald Eagle Falls.
Terry watched them both drive away, and then resumed his patrol with K9. K9 had seen Erin and drifted away slightly to go to her. Terry said a sharp word to bring him back to heel, then spotted Erin.
“I didn’t see you there. What’s up?”
“Oh… I was just going to The Book Nook to get some serving platters when…” Erin circled her finger to encompass the street and the cars that had previously been there. “All of this happened, and I just kind of hung around to see what was going to happen.”
“Happy to provide entertainment.”
Erin felt her face flush, but tried to remain nonchalant. “It was all very exciting. What exactly do you think he was hiding in his glove box?”
“Either a weapon or drugs. Or both. But he was determined not to give me any opportunity to find them.”
“Did he have any warrants?”
“If he had, I would have arrested him and searched the vehicle. But he didn’t have anything outstanding.”
“Does he have a record?”
“Yes, he does.”
Erin raised her brows questioningly, not asking the next question.
“I’m afraid I can’t really share any of that with you.” Which Erin already knew. “But suffice to say… I’m quite sure he had something in his glove box and wasn’t just embarrassed that he’d forgotten his papers or that his cubby was messy.”
From Terry’s previous comment, she assumed he had previous arrests for drugs and guns. Not the kind of person they wanted hanging around Bald Eagle Falls.
“Why do you think he was here?”
“Hopefully, just passing through. I don’t want to see his type hanging around here. We try to keep them moving right through.”
“There aren’t any major problems with drugs in Bald Eagle Falls, are there?”
“No. Not really. It’s mostly confined to the city, and any of our people who go to the city to party or bring back enough for personal use. Not a lot of dealing going on, other than maybe some pot and prescription meds to school kids. Not the huge problems with meth and crack and some of these other nasty drugs that you get in the city.”
“And we want to keep it that way,” Erin summarized.
“Exactly. Walk you to The Book Nook?”
It wasn’t far. Just half a block. But Erin didn’t get to spend much time with Terry during the day, so why not? They walked side by side down the street, back toward The Book Nook and Auntie Clem’s Bakery.
“You need any water?” Erin asked.
“Not yet. Might stop by for some later.” They reached the front of The Book Nook. “You take it easy, right Erin? I don’t want you getting involved in anything…”
Erin wondered what he was thinking of in particular. The murder? Covering for Jeremy? The two strangers having a collision in the middle of Main Street? She wasn’t involved in anything. He was welcome to do the investigating, she didn’t want anything to do with it.
Chapter Seventeen
E
rin thought all afternoon about the strangers suddenly showing up in Bald Eagle Falls. They didn’t get a lot of tourist traffic through the town. A few people who wanted to stop at the General Store to pick up some homey novelty item, someone who wanted to explore caves or do some camping, but mostly Bald Eagle Falls didn’t attract outsiders. Even though Erin had been there for a year, she was still considered a newbie. In some neighborhoods, she would be considered part of the old guard after a year. But in Bald Eagle Falls, anyone who hadn’t been born there was considered an outsider. And even some of those who had been, if they moved away for a significant length of time.
Bella had seen two strangers arguing with Don Inglethorpe. Erin had seen two people arguing in the middle of the street, almost coming to blows over damage that was so minor Erin hadn’t even been able to see it.
It couldn’t be a coincidence. And if one of those arguing strangers was a drug dealer, then how had he been connected to Don Inglethorpe? Was Inglethorpe a drug user? Was he a dealer? Someone who was just curious? And what about the woman?
Jeremy was there when Erin got home. In spite of her talk with him, she wasn’t sure if he would be, or if he would again take off without letting her know where he was. He hadn’t taken it upon himself to make supper, and Vic was likely out with Willie, so that left it up to Erin. Ordinarily, she would probably visit one of the local eateries on a Saturday night when she was by herself. Or she and Terry would go out somewhere. But with Jeremy there, she didn’t feel comfortable just abandoning him to go eat on her own.
“You want to help with supper?” she suggested to Jeremy. “I’m not planning on doing anything big, but I wouldn’t mind a hand.”
“Sure, of course,” Jeremy agreed. He went ahead of her into the kitchen and checked the supply of frozen dinners in the freezer. “I should have thought of it before. I could have had something waiting for you.”
“No, you’re my guest, you don’t need to do that. I just thought that since you’re here…”
He was competent enough in the kitchen, even if he was slow and seemed to always be consulting his mental record for how to do things. Like he’d been trained, but didn’t have much experience. Erin suspected that his mother had given him instruction to make sure that he could get around the kitchen in a pinch, but that he hadn’t had a lot of opportunity for building up his skills. He would have spent more time on the farm equipment than in the kitchen.
Erin was still thinking through the day’s events and puzzling through what it might all mean.
“What reason would a drug dealer—or any criminal—have to be seeing a lawyer?” she asked Jeremy. “Not a lawyer representing him in court, but like a corporate lawyer.”
Jeremy looked at her, frowning. “Why?”
“Just something I’m thinking of. Say a drug dealer. He’s in town to see a lawyer. Why?”
“Just like anyone else, I guess,” Jeremy said, still looking puzzled and slightly disapproving of the subject. “Maybe he needs a will or needs a company created.”
“Would a drug dealer need a corporation? Like an LLC?”
Jeremy was chopping vegetables for a salad. He diced them small, frowning. “Not a small-time street dealer, no. But a bigger operation… they’re sometimes built up to look like legitimate businesses.”
“The lawyer could be helping him launder money. Taking it from his illegal business and running it through a company that does something else.”
“Right.”
“Like a bakery?”
“What are you getting at, Erin? Is this hypothetical?”
“Yes, of course. I wouldn’t know anything about any actual criminal enterprise.”
He looked at her, eyes narrow. “Where is this all coming from? You think there’s something going on in Bald Eagle Falls?”
“Oh, there is definitely something going on in Bald Eagle Falls,” Erin said with a laugh. “I just don’t know what it is.”
“What?”
Erin explained to him about the drug dealer and the collision in the middle of town.
“What makes you think this had anything to do with the lawyer who died?”
“I don’t know that it did, I’m just thinking about possibilities. We don’t get a lot of tourists through Bald Eagle Falls. What are the odds that a couple of strangers would be having an argument with Inglethorpe before he died and then a couple other strangers would be having an argument in the middle of town today?”
“It’s possible. It could all be unrelated.”
“You’re right. I could be putting together two things that had nothing to do with each other. I just find it difficult to believe that they don’t have something to do with each other. And if this drug dealer did have some argument with Don In
glethorpe, then maybe he had something to do with his death too.”
“But why would this guy stay around? If you killed someone and you didn’t have a legitimate reason to be in town, you wouldn’t stay on the scene.”
“Maybe…” Erin tried to puzzle it through. “Maybe Inglethorpe wouldn’t agree to do what he wanted, so he had to get someone else to do it instead? Maybe he’s here to see another lawyer.”
“He’s here now?” Jeremy looked toward the door.
“Well, not now. He looked like he left town after Terry talked to him. But that doesn’t mean he’s really gone. Or if he is, there’s nothing to say that he can’t come back or send someone else.”
Jeremy nodded slowly. At a tug on his pant leg, he looked down and saw Marshmallow sitting up on his haunches expectantly. Erin laughed.
“You can give him a few veggies.”
The tension in Jeremy’s manner melted away, and he talked to Marshmallow and gave him the ends of the vegetables he’d been cutting up. Orange Blossom mrrowed and hurried over to see if he was going to get a treat as well, but when he discovered that all Jeremy had were vegetables, he hunched back and swished his tail crossly.
“Come here, Blossom,” Erin called to him. He looked at her and didn’t move out of his sulky pose.
“If you want a treat, you should listen,” Erin told him. “If you’re just going to pout, you’re not going to get anything.”
He looked at her for a moment, then got up and approached her. “That’s a good boy. You don’t think I’m going to forget to feed you, do you?” She opened the fridge and got out some leftover chicken. Orange Blossom immediately perked up, rubbing against her legs and purring loudly, letting out the occasional excited yip.
Chapter Eighteen
E
rin was happy when she heard the familiar knock at her door, but was also nervous about the fact that Jeremy was still there, shut away in Clementine’s room. She had advised him that if he wanted to stay under the radar, he’d better stay quiet and behind closed doors while Terry was there. It would be pretty hard to keep his presence a secret if he decided to shower or use the commode in the middle of Terry’s visit. Trained to be observant, the police officer might just notice.
“Hi, Terry.” Erin accepted a kiss from Terry and gave his partner an ear scratch. “Hi, fur face.”
K9 panted and sat back with a happy doggie grin.
“Long day today?” Erin asked Terry.
“Things do seem to heat up when there’s a murder in town,” he admitted. “Even stuff that’s totally unrelated to the murder. It seems like everyone just gets a little crazy.”
They sat down together, cuddling up with each other and then waiting while the animals made themselves comfortable.
“I know I saw you today,” Terry said, “but I feel like it was ages ago. And I didn’t find out how you are doing. I mean, if you’re okay after finding the body.”
Erin nodded. “I guess. I’m trying not to think about it, mostly. I didn’t really know Mr. Inglethorpe and if I keep thinking about it, I’ll make myself sick. So I’m just trying pretend nothing happened.”
“Good.” He stroked her hair. “I don’t want you to be traumatized by it.”
Erin tried to lighten the mood. “It isn’t like it’s the first body I’ve come across.”
“No, but the violence of this one… the others were not so gory.”
“But still violent. And when I think of poor Bertie…” Tears stung Erin’s eyes all of a sudden. “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought I was over that…”
Terry hugged her to him. “Don’t be surprised that this stirs up old feelings. That’s normal. And out of everyone who has died, Bertie was the only one who was really your friend.”
“Well…” Erin sniffled and reached for a tissue from the side table. “There was my father, too.”
“I didn’t mean he’s not important. But it was such a long time since you had seen him, and the memories are pretty dim. With Bertie, though… that was very tragic, and right in front of you.”
Erin dabbed at her eyes, trying not to cry in earnest. If he’d just stop talking about it, she’d have a much easier time staying calm.
“Have you talked to a therapist?” Terry asked. “It could be very helpful, after some of the things you’ve had to deal with lately.”
“No. I’m fine. I don’t need any therapy.”
“It’s not a bad thing, you know. It’s not a show of weakness. It just means that you know you could use a bit of help to get through something traumatic or troubling.”
Erin shook her head adamantly. “I dealt with enough therapists in the system. Now that I’m adult, you can bet that I’m never doing that again.”
Terry didn’t say anything, just stroking her hair. She had been expecting a fight, but not getting one, wasn’t sure how to react.
“It’s up to you. I’m not going to force you into anything.”
Erin let her breath out. “Good.”
“Just remember that everybody needs help sometimes, there’s no shame in getting it when you need it. Whether it’s counseling or something else. You don’t have to do everything on your own.”
She knew that she tended to do just that, insisting that she could handle anything that came her way all by herself. But it had been good for her to get Vic to help her at the bakery, and then Bella to help out part time. She had found that she could delegate and get others to do some of the work and not have to do it all herself.
“I know. Thanks.”
They were both quiet.
“So how is the case going?” Erin asked tentatively.
“You know I can’t talk much about it, especially when you are… a person of interest… but so far, we don’t have a lot of leads. There are not a lot of people who had motive to kill Don Inglethorpe. Unfortunately, you are one of the few, with your livelihood possibly being threatened by him changing his vote to allow Charley to open The Bake Shoppe.”
“There must have been others. Or something to do with his business. Bella saw him arguing…”
Terry raised an eyebrow. “I thought you were not investigating this one.”
“I’m not… I just… people tell me things, because they know I have an interest in the outcome.”
“I’ll bet they do. Yes, it’s possible that it was something to do with his business. An irate client or somebody he did wrong in setting up a deal or settling a lawsuit. People sometimes get riled up over the strangest things.”
“Maybe he was laundering money.”
Terry’s eyes narrowed. Erin hated that look of suspicion and kicked herself whenever she saw it come into his eyes.
“I don’t know anything,” she told him. “It’s just speculation.”
“Money laundering is always a possibility. But we would need to show a connection with criminal enterprise. Organized crime. So far, we don’t have anything pointing in that direction.”
“And you don’t think he’s involved with this drug dealer?”
“What drug dealer?”
“The one today, that got into the fight. I thought that he might be one of the people that Inglethorpe was fighting with the other day. He obviously has a temper.”
“It’s quite a jump to the idea that he was somehow involved in something with Don Inglethorpe. You don’t even know that he was a drug dealer. Because I certainly didn’t tell you that.”
“Well… not exactly, no.”
“I didn’t.”
“Okay. You didn’t say he was a drug dealer. But he sure looked like one.”
“Things aren’t always as they appear.” Terry’s gaze was steady. Then the dimple appeared in his cheek. “And sometimes they are,” he admitted, eyes twinkling.
Erin laughed. She snuggled against him. “I just want it to be solved. I don’t want to have to worry about it, and I don’t want you to have to worry about it. I just want things to go back to normal.”
“Normal for Bald Eagle Falls
hasn’t been normal since you arrived here, I’m sorry to say.”
“That’s just… an anomaly. I didn’t have anything to do with any of the… increased crime. I’m just minding my own business.”
Terry nodded. “I know you didn’t do anything… except maybe ask questions when nobody wanted you poking your nose into their business. And that’s not going to happen anymore, is it?”
“Do you hear me asking questions about anything?”
“Well, I do.”
“But that’s you and me, not anyone else. And you’re not going to try to kill me for asking you how the case is going, are you?”
Terry nuzzled her hair. “No. You’ve got me bewitched.”
“You’d better not say that too loudly. They’ll burn me at the stake.”
“I’m not on shift in the morning.”
“That’s good. You can take a Sunday off for once.”
“And you’re not at the bakery in the morning.”
“Nope. Vic and Bella have it covered.”
Terry didn’t say anything. Erin turned her head to look him in the face. “What?”
“I was just thinking, neither of us has anywhere to be tonight, and neither of us has anywhere we have to be in the morning. That doesn’t happen very often.”
Erin started to grow warm. She searched his eyes for his intent, and then dropped her gaze. She’d been waiting for some time for him to make the next move and give her some sign he was ready to go beyond spending a few stolen minutes together or exchanging a kiss.
She wanted badly to pursue his suggestion to its natural conclusion, but all she could think about was Jeremy in Clementine’s bedroom. If Terry stayed the night, Jeremy would be forced to reveal himself. Erin didn’t know what Jeremy was involved in, but she had promised him and Vic to keep his presence there a secret. Especially from Terry.
“Erin?” Terry’s voice was uncertain, clearly worried that he had misjudged the situation.
“Uh… yeah. You’re right. We should go out for dinner.”
“Haven’t you already had dinner? You don’t usually want to stay up much later than this.”
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