Whispering Pines Mysteries Box Set 3

by Shawn McGuire

  “This has been going on for years,” she complained. “Bee and I have learned to ignore it because it’s usually just one of them poking at the other. She and I make tea and play cribbage while they go at it on any number of topics. Even if they agree on something, they’ll argue about it.” She turned to face her husband. “That’s it. No more of this. If Benji comes out of this—”

  “If?” Abner paled again. I was a little worried he’d pass out. Good thing he was sitting.

  “You heard what Sheriff Jayne said. He could have brain damage.” She swatted his arm with the back of her hand as though trying to get his attention. “Brain damage, Abner. You might have brain-damaged your best friend.”

  “Is he awake?” Abner asked me.

  “He is. Drake is pumping him full of oxygen. As soon as an ambulance can get through safely, he’s going to the hospital for thorough testing.”

  Abner stood and headed for the door.

  “Where are you going?” I asked.

  “I’ve got to get to Benji. We need to make a pact.”

  Gail grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “Sit down, you old coot. You’re not going anywhere. The last thing he needs is you in his face upsetting him.” She turned to me. “It’s going to be like bringing a new cat into a house that already has a cat. Bee and I will have to keep them on opposite sides of the room. Let them get a scent of each other but keep them apart until they learn to play nice.”

  I pressed my fingernail into my thumb to stop myself from reacting. Like Bee and Benji, Gail and Abner were hilarious, but now wasn’t the time to laugh. Gail had this under control for now. Any punishment I dished out wouldn’t compare to the scolding he was about to get from his wife.

  I zipped my coat, ready to leave, and told them both, “If you want to do something helpful, check on Bee. Not only is she hobbling around on that ankle, she’s scared for her husband.”

  “I’ll bring her some soup. We’ll play cribbage.” Gail walked me to the door. “This won’t happen again, Sheriff, I promise.”

  “I don’t doubt that.” What I wasn’t so sure of was whether the severity of this had registered with either of them. “Gail, you need to understand something. If Benji suffers any long-term effects from this, Abner could face charges. He made the choice to tamper with that latch.”

  “How could we know about the carbon monoxide?” she objected.

  “I’m not sure. Maybe a detector like you mentioned. Look, I know Benji was trespassing. And I know your husband didn’t intend for this to happen, but I’ve seen lifelong friendships fall apart over seemingly minor issues. If the four of you can work through this amicably, I’ll stay out of it.” I smiled. “That’s the benefit to living in a small town. If you need my help, as a moderator perhaps, call me.” I held her gaze and then using my stern sheriff voice cautioned, “What you said about ‘no more of this,’ make that stick. I won’t risk something like this again. Next time, it could end in tragedy.”

  Chapter 13

  Like Bee and Gail had, my dad must have been waiting for us to get home. Or Meeka had been sitting in the office window and alerted him when we drove up. Either way, they both met us at the front door, and neither of them was happy.

  “I thought you said you’d check in with us.” Dad gave Tripp the same look he would’ve given him for bringing me home from a date past curfew.

  “We were a little busy.” I offered him a hug to settle him down.

  “Too busy to pick up the walkie talkie and push the button?” he countered, ignoring my open arms. His attention was on Tripp.

  I sighed and let my head drop forward, the twinge of guilt in my chest turning hot. “Believe it or not, Dad, Tripp was busy keeping me safe. We took his truck. That means he drove. Would you have preferred he not worry about the road and call you instead?”

  “No, but—”

  “Would you prefer I call even if it meant missing something crucial while searching for people who were possibly in mortal danger?”

  “No—”

  “I was focused on helping people. Is your peace of mind more important than me doing my job?” I was tired, cold, hungry, and taking all of that out on my dad in a big ugly way. The thing was, I was a full-grown adult sheriff. He didn’t get to stroll back into my world after a two-year absence and try to tell me how to manage things.

  “You could have called her,” Briar told him as she appeared from the sitting room. She was pretty much the only person in the house who could have gotten away with that comment. Then she looked at me. “And you. Don’t speak to your father that way.”

  We looked at each other and mumbled, “Sorry,” at the same time.

  Morgan came around the corner at the end of the hall from the kitchen side. “How about some lunch?”

  My shoulders dropped with appreciation. “Yes, please. I’m starving. What’ve we got?”

  “River is preparing grilled cheese sandwiches, and I’ve made tomato soup.”

  My stomach growled. “Not from a can, I assume.”

  She gasped, hands clasped to her chest, feigning offense. “If I don’t have time to prepare a meal from scratch, I go out to eat and let someone make it for me.”

  “I like that plan,” Rosalyn said, joining the group. “I think I’ll adopt it for myself.”

  “You don’t know how to cook.” Tripp held out his hand for my coat. “You’ll be eating out every meal.”

  Rozzie tapped her forehead and gave a sly nod. “Exactly!”

  “Is it ready?” I asked.

  “We need ten more minutes,” Morgan responded.

  “Fabulous.” I pointed up the stairs. “I’m going to run up and check on Jola and the crew.”

  Morgan nodded and turned toward the kitchen and then added over her shoulder, “We made plenty. Let her know River will bring up a tray for them.”

  While Tripp brought our wet snow gear down to the basement to dry, I went upstairs and found Jonah lurking in the hallway outside the Jack room door.

  “What are you doing?”

  He jumped and gave me the guiltiest look I’d seen in ages. “Sorry. Curiosity about this woman you’re hiding in there got the best of me.”

  “We’re not hiding her. We think she was in a car accident. Jola is keeping her calm and quiet until we can get her to a hospital.”

  “You think she was in an accident?” His tone was judgmental. “You don’t know?”

  I blinked at him, thinking of the tongue lashing I’d given my father and how Jonah would be wise to not push me right now. “She wandered into the grocery store parking lot and basically passed out. She hasn’t regained consciousness yet, so we don’t know anything.”

  “Do you know who she is? I mean, is she a local?”

  Why was he so concerned about her? Must be bored. Maybe I should give him a task. Like clearing the snow off the lake.

  “No, she’s not a villager. And that’s all I’ll tell you about her. If you were thinking about it, don’t go in there.”

  Something flashed in his eyes. Not guilt. Not anger. Defiance was probably the best word. I knew from personal experience that Jonah did not like being told what to do. Especially by a woman.

  I reached between him and the door and took hold of the knob. “Morgan and River are about to put lunch on the table. You and Millie should go on down.”

  He didn’t move. Just stood there, inches separating us, and looked me in the eye. Then the angry look turned sultry. Was he seriously flirting with me? In my home? With Tripp downstairs and my Glock . . . upstairs. I hadn’t worn it today. However I suddenly felt the need to carry it concealed beneath my shirt.

  A tidal wave of emotions surfaced in me since I saw him standing in my house yesterday. I had to admit that while most of those emotions were negative, a few fond memories had come back too. Most of our seven years together had been good. It wasn’t until we graduated from UW-Madison and he started law school that things headed south for us.

  Correction.
It wasn’t until I graduated from the police academy after college and started working as a cop. It didn’t take long for him to become unsupportive of my career. That, of course, led to the decline of our relationship.

  We never went to counseling. We never tried to work through our problems. I left without him fully understanding why, blindsiding him at the top of the Eiffel Tower when I refused his proposal of marriage. Regardless of the whys, it boiled down to the simple fact he wasn’t the right man for me. Nor was I the right woman for him. If Millie was, more power to them both.

  I took in a breath, steeling myself to protect the patient behind the door from him if necessary, and caught a whiff of his cologne. The same one he’d always worn. I’d given him a year’s supply for our last Christmas together. One of those bottles was probably in the bathroom of The Side room right now.

  “I have to check on Jola and the others in there,” I told him.

  He stared deeper into my eyes before saying, “You should do that. That is your job, right? To protect those in danger?”

  Was I being paranoid, or was there something hiding beneath those words? It felt more like he was confirming facts rather than asking a question.

  “To protect those in danger,” I echoed, “and to enforce the law.”

  Just that fast, he stiffened, and the sultry look turned neutral. At that same moment, Meeka came trotting around the corner from the Grand Suite. She stopped in front of me, sitting between Jonah and me, and stared up at him.

  Jonah looked down and took a step back.

  They had never gotten along. He hadn’t wanted to share me with anyone. Meeka, however, stole my heart. Not right away. She’d been trained in cadaver search first but never really took to it. I now knew that too many dead bodies depressed her. So it was fortunate that even though bodies kept popping up around Whispering Pines, at least we hadn’t needed to search for them. They were usually out in plain sight.

  Since the department had already invested so much time and money in training her, they attempted to retrain her for narcotics. That was a better fit, but Meeka preferred to work on her own schedule rather than follow commands. Or so the others at my station thought. I was pretty sure she simply wasn’t being respected. Who wanted to work for people who didn’t respect them? After that second chance and it was obvious she still wasn’t going to cut it as a K-9, MPD got its money back from the trainer and put her up for grabs for a dollar. By that time, she had my heart.

  Funny, that was basically Deputy Reed’s story too. Being disrespected.

  Now, Jonah was as thrilled by her presence as he ever was. “You always loved that dog more than me, didn’t you?”

  Here? Now? Did he really want to discuss this in the middle of the hall? “It wasn’t that I loved her more, Jonah. I’ve got room in my heart for more than one person. Or being in this case.”

  “She never liked me.”

  “You never tried to like her.”

  “That might be true.” Out of nowhere, his attitude and tone turned cold and aloof. “I could have denied her from the start, you know.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “It was my apartment. I made the rules. I could have told you no or brought her to the pound. Any one of those times you left her with me so you could go serve and protect, I could’ve made her go away.”

  Did he really just say that? Jayne in my head asked, dumbfounded. He hasn’t always been this hateful, has he?

  I wasn’t sure. Had he?

  Meeka started to growl.

  Jonah backed away. “She won’t bite me, will she?”

  I must have misunderstood him. Maybe he meant he could have taken her away but never would have. Still, a strange, hurtful thing to say. Maybe Morgan’s truth spell had kicked in and he didn’t know what he was saying.

  Sheriff Jayne took over. “She will attack if she senses I’m in danger. And by the way, did you just threaten my dog?”

  He took another step back. “Threaten her? You must be hearing things. Of course I didn’t. I know how much you love this dog. I’d be lying, though, if I said I never thought about bringing her to the pound. We were both crazy busy with our jobs. A dog didn’t fit in with our lifestyle. You would never have forgiven me if I’d done anything to her.”

  Feeling confident and in control, Sheriff Jayne laughed. “Good, because this is my house. I make the rules here.” Another laugh, colder and tighter this time. “If I thought you were threatening my dog or any of my friends or family under this roof, I’d have to escort you to the front porch and lock the door.”

  His eyes went wide, and he raised his hands in a stop gesture. “Wow, Jay. This job has stolen your sense of humor. Or maybe this weird little village did.”

  Now he was disrespecting my village? “I think it’s more that I’ve learned who and what is important to me. I’m actually a very loyal person. If you’re part of my pack, I’ll be at your side until the end.”

  “And I’m not part of your pack anymore?”

  “Jayne?” Dad’s voice came from the corner by the stairs.

  As I turned that direction, I saw Jonah take off out of the corner of my eye. He was nearly to his room down the hall when Dad appeared.

  “Lunch is ready, sweetheart.” He walked closer and took my hands. “I’m sorry I upset you earlier. I was afraid something had happened to you. Neither of you called, and I didn’t know if I should bother you . . .”

  “It’s okay, Dad. I’m sorry I snapped at you. I’m frustrated because we didn’t find a car, so I still have no answers for this mystery woman.” I jerked a thumb at the door behind me.

  “You’ll figure it out.” He kissed my forehead. “Come get lunch. Food will help.”

  “I haven’t checked on Jola yet. I’ll be right in there.”

  Dad noticed Meeka standing like a pointer and staring in the direction Jonah had gone. “What’s she doing?” He turned to me and narrowed his eyes. “Are you okay? Did something happen?”

  If I told him, things would get very uncomfortable around here very quickly. I needed to treat Jonah like any other guest, not my ex-boyfriend. He was a stranded traveler in need of shelter. I was a bed-and-breakfast owner with rooms available.

  I shook my head. “Everything’s fine. I’ll be right there.”

  I knocked softly, and Jola opened the door. “Come on in.”

  Lily Grace was sitting by the patient. The room was warm and cozy with cloud-filtered daylight illuminating it and an incense blend providing a comforting aroma.

  “Were you sleeping?” I asked Jola. “I’m sorry, I wanted to check on our patient.”

  “I wasn’t sleeping,” Jola insisted. “We’ve been smelling something wonderful up here and it’s not the incense.”

  “Morgan and River made lunch. He’ll bring a tray up for you in a few minutes. Unless you’d rather come downstairs.”

  “I’ll stay here,” Lily Grace said softly. “I love your family, but I’m not crazy about your ex.”

  Had she overheard us outside the door? Had she interacted with Jonah at all? Then again, she was a fortune teller. It’s not like she needed to talk to a person to know them. Either that or she was sensing my negative feelings about him.

  “No more terrors,” Jola reported of the woman. “I think she might be coming out of it.”

  “Really? That’s encouraging. Right?”

  Jola shrugged. “It’s nothing dramatic, so don’t get too excited. She wiggled her toes and flexed one of her hands wide for a second. It could be simple muscle spasms, or she might be reviving. Only time will tell for sure.”

  I gave her a brief rundown on our search for the car and where we went. “We didn’t find anything. It’s possible there’s still a vehicle out there, but if there is, it’s covered in snow.”

  “Her fingers twitched,” Lily Grace blurted, pointing. “Just now. She clenched them instead of flexing them this time.”

  “More movement.” Jola gave a half-smile.

  “M
ore positivity,” I added. “I’ll tell River you’re ready for that tray.”

  “A glass of milk would be great,” Lily Grace ordered. “And I wouldn’t turn away a few cookies.”

  I stood at attention, shoulders back, chin raised. “Ma’am, yes, ma’am. Can’t get it if you don’t ask for it, ma’am.”

  A throw pillow came flying across the room and narrowly missed my head. I might have to deny her a cookie for that.

  Chapter 14

  Tripp and I had only eaten with our B&B guests once. We had a group stay with us at Thanksgiving—Tavie, Gloria, Melinda, and Silence—and the girls insisted on cooking for and eating with us. We didn’t feel it was appropriate otherwise. This meant we rarely got to enjoy our beautiful dining room filled with my grandmother’s antique furniture and eclectic collection of china in shades of blue. Except for Jonah and Millie, this meal was a gathering of friends and family, so we didn’t hesitate to join in. River seated Tripp at the end of the table on the far side of the room and me at the end closest to the hallway. That wouldn’t work. The cop in me hated not being able to see what was going on behind me, so I asked Tripp to switch places.

  “She still does that, hey?” Jonah asked Tripp.

  “It’s no big deal.” Tripp replied. “I don’t care where I sit. And she’ll let me know if someone’s sneaking up on me.”

  River held out the chair to my left for Morgan. When he pulled out the one next to her for himself, Millie slid onto it.

  “Thank you,” she gushed. “So formal.”

  Morgan smirked and nodded at the chair across from her. “You can sit between Jayne and Mama.”

  “Surrounded by charming women,” he inclined his head to Briar, who was sitting next to Dad. “I am fortunate indeed.”

  The soup was thick and creamy and perfectly seasoned, and the sandwiches were like works of art.

  “What did you do to this?” I asked River after the first bite of my grilled cheese.