by Tamara Woods
In the kitchen, Isa and Clare sat at the marble island in the middle and opened the file Elie Mae had created for them. She'd photocopied some pages and taken handwritten notes on others.
Isa realized how much trouble Elsie Mae could get into if anybody knew she'd given the actual paperwork.
"We have to make sure nobody sees this," she said to Clare, who nodded in agreement.
To do all this, she must have been feeling pretty desperate for a break, Isa thought.
Clare sat on a stool beside of Isa and flipped open the manila folder. The first page was the initial intake for Travis. Nothing new was there. It documented him being arrested at her house and taken to jail.
Isa flipped through those pages fairly quickly, scanning it for new information.
"Sounds like he kept his cool the entire time. That's something at least," Clare said. Isa nodded.
The next part of the file had people's character witnesses about him, to get a better feel for who he is? Isa thought. Even though they were just the county over and knew of Travis, the sheriff hadn't exactly known him all that well. Just well enough to hate him.
But that seemed to be a common theme in these docs.
"What is up with all of this stuff?" she asked Clare. "This doesn't sound like the Travis I know at all."
Person after person talked about the wrong that Travis had done to them. Whether it was toilet papering a house, stealing someone's girlfriend, or stealing a liquor bottle at a party (really?), everyone was airing their grievances to the police.
"Are they taking this information seriously?"
Clare shrugged. "Who knows? They may have included this stuff in his file, because it was part of the information they'd gathered. You can't tell by reading it, how important it is to everything."
"Let's hope not. A lot of this stuff is just petty. When did toilet papering a house equal a murderer?"
"Maybe they'd argue that this was an escalation of his bad behavior," Clare said.
Isa snorted. "Going from grabbing a woman's butt and running in the grocery store to murder is one heckofa jump."
She started flipping through the pages. At this point, she needed to learn the actual evidence. She flipped the back of one of the descriptions of his heinous behavior of spiking the punch during junior prom. In Elsie Mae's flowery script, she'd taken short hand on the information they'd had about the scene of the crime. And the evidence they had against him.
His blood was found on Chad's body.
"Where was it found?" Isa scanned through the pages, not seeing anything else. "They'd been in a fight that night. Travis had punched him in the face pretty hard. It makes sense that he might have scraped a knuckle on him."
The fight seemed to be part of the evidence. And also the other ensuing arguments leading up to the fistfight. They'd been having falling outs in public for the better part of the year.
"Why weren't they getting along?" Clare murmured, reading over the pages that Isa was passing along. Isa shook her head. She didn't see any research about Travis and Chad's relationship. It didn't seem like they'd asked any of these witnesses much about it either.
"Shouldn't their friendship be something that came up?" Isa asked. "I'm not even seeing if they asked them about Chad at all."
"Why would he be entirely omitted from the investigation? Shouldn't they be trying to find out if Chad had any other enemies who would want him gone?" Isa continued, flipping over more pages.
"Something's weird is going on," Clare said.
"You don't know the half of it." Isa gave her friend a run-down of Travis's surprise phone call and how weird his voice had sounded. "I think someone had hit him, maybe? I'm not for sure."
"This is really bad, Isa. If someone is getting to him in the police station, couldn't they get to us too?"
A shiver ran down Isa spine and she considered what Travis had said again. He'd been warning her away from the investigation, even before it had gotten started.
"It sounds to me like they have decided that Travis is their man and they're just trying to find information to confirm it," Isa said.
"Confirmation bias. Going in with a pre-determined outcome could skew any investigation," Clare nodded. "But what can we do?"
"I'm not exactly sure. Things aren't making sense. They're not even looking at the personal affairs angle. Did you know that Travis and Meredith messed around?"
"They did what?" Clare's voice seemed a little bit more strident than the situation warranted.
"Clare, is there something you should tell me?" Isa asked.
Something flashed across her friend's face, but before she could go into a, a little voice behind her said, "Can we hava pop?"
Isa casually closed the folder. "Nope, it's much too late for Mountain Dew. Want me to grab you some water or milk?"
He shook his oversized Hulk fist at Isa and stuck out his lower lip. He was obviously tired and it was about to get to him. "No. I. Want. Pop!" He stomped his foot to illustrate his words.
One of his brothers, came in waving a foam sword. Why are they giving these kids a plastic arsenal? Isa thought. The third brother came in with his Nerf gun. He pointed it at Isa and said in the deepest voice he could muster, "Gimme the pop and nobody gets hurt."
"Hey wait a second.I thought you were supposed to be an Avenger?" Isa asked, looking confused.
"Yeah, so what?" He shrugged.
"Avengers don't go around pointing weapons at everybody so they'll do the stuff they want. They're the good guys," Isa said.
"My daddy said that everybody has a dark side," the sworded boy said. "And he said we're his dark side."
Isa blinked rapidly. Is he training his kids to be supervillians? What in the world is going on here?
Clare huffed impatiently and snatched the Nerf gun out of the one boy's hand and the sword out of the other. "No more weapons. We'll hook you up with some water or milk, but that's it. And it's time to get off the game anyway, so just go ahead and get ready to go upstairs."
They started loudly protesting and she head up the sword above her head and shook it like crazy, startling them into being quiet.
"We'll make you delicious breakfast in the morning. And you can play all day. But even the Avengers had to sleep. Look at you, you barely have your eyes open."
Each boy's eyes were drooping. Without their weapons, they were losing steam fast.
"Milk or water?" Clare asked again. Each boy opted for milk. Isa filled their Avenger cups halfway for each other, assuming that they'd probably fall asleep before they finished their cup.
"Does anyone want a story before bedtime?" Isa asked.
They looked back in surprise.
"You don't have a storytime?" she asked. The librarian in her was feeling super judgy, but she had to remind herself that not everybody was a reader. Even if they should be.
They shook their head.
"I'll tell you one tonight," Isa said, handing the cups to Clare to carry up the stairs. The boys led their way up to their shared bedroom.
"Who's your favorite Avenger, Captain America?"
"Hulk Smash!" One of them said, brandishing his fist proudly.
"Alrighty, let me tell you a story about the Hulk. Do you remember his name when he's not the Hulk?"
"Bruce Banner!" the little fist wielder said proudly.
"Excellent. Let me tell you a little something about Bruce. Once upon a time..." Isa wove a story for them, that got them settled into their twin-sized beds and their blankets up to their chins. As she told them this story of Bruce being in grade school and stepping in to defend another kid from a bully, their eyes started to droop, until finally they were asleep.
The two quietly left the room, leaving the door open a little, so they could hear if the boys cried out.
"How do you know so much about those nerdy things away?" Clare asked as they settled into the faux leathers couches front of the TV with glasses of ginger ale. Even though they could've used some wine, it felt odd
to drink while caring for someone else's kids.
"My ex loved the MCU, but he hated DC comics," she answered without thinking.
"The MCU?"
"Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's kind of like a different timeline than the comics, but it borrows some from it. It's really interesting when you think about it—"
Clare shook her head. "It's really not."
"No?"
"Not even close. Nerd."
"Whatever, nerds are cool now. You need to get with the times."
"Do you know that's the first time you've actually mentioned the ex to me with real words?" Clare's voice was quietly contemplative.
"No, I hadn't realized," Isa replied the truth of her friend's words hitting her. "I know I need to tell you more."
Clare made a sound of agreement.
"It's really hard. And I'm not entirely sure of what to say. But I need to tell Auntie too. I'll have to tell y'all together to make the telling a little easier."
"You can have your time," Clare said. "But don't take forever. I think you need to talk about it more than I need to hear it."
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
"DO YOU KNOW WHEN THEY're supposed to be back?" Clare asked, exasperation oozing from her every pore.
"Tomorrow, I think?" Isa said with a grimace.
They were surrounded by the carnage the boys had left from the morning. Their play area easily drawfed Aunt Maybel's living room. It was dominated by a huge sectional that must've been Scotch guarded to heaven and back to not be full of stains. An area rug decorated with Marvel characters took up most of the floor space, though it couldn't be seen All of their playroom toys were strewn all over the room. Half-eaten plates of food where precariously stacked. Empty cups had been dropped where they'd finished them. And even their precious video game controllers were dropped. Their joyous yells could be heard from outside and as they ran after a neighborhood cat, wielding their weapons and wearing their towel capes.
"Do you think this is why Ellie Mae is so bitter?" Isa picked up one of the shirts that was on the floor with a grimace. She wasn't sure what was on that shirt, and sure as sure could be was not going to sniff it to find out. Elsie Mae hadn't picked up very well before they'd come to babysit. But after seeing those boys in action, she couldn't blame her. She decided to try to give the house back to the exhausted parents as clean as possible. First step was putting together the laundry.
"Wouldn't you be?"
Isa shrugged. "I don't know. She and her husband seem to get on pretty well. And even if the boys are a little rough around the edges, surely there's good there."
Clare looked up from putting the toys in the bins. "You sound a little wistful."
"Wistful? Me? You should get your hearing checked." Isa's laughter felt forced, and she avoided Clare's eyes.
"Sure." Clare didn't sound convinced, but she didn't press the issues either.
It was before noon and soon they'd have to call the boys in for their lunch. According to Ellie Mae's instructions, she just put together whatever they wanted and that's what they had. Isa didn't want to go through the trouble of having three different orders.
"We'll make mini pizzas," she said declaratively.
"Oh really?"
"Everybody can have the toppings they want and we'll cut down on arguments. Also, I think I'll ask them help me to make them."
Clare's eyebrows almost shot off of her forehead. "Are you sure about that?"
"Of course, what could possibly—"
"Don't finish it."
"—go wrong."
Clare threw her hands up. "Well, that's just tempting the fates."
When the smoke was rolling out of the oven an hour later, Isa had to admit her friend may have been on to something.
"Where's the fire extinguisher?" Isa asked out loud, not really expecting an answer. The pizzas had been going fine. She had to break up a fight with the boys, first finding the toy they were arguing about, and then when they wouldn't share it, putting it up out of their sight, amid a great outcry. And then redirecting them to play something else. And before she knew it, everything was burning.
Clare and Isa opened a few windows to let the smoke out. Isa rushed to the oven to pull out the pizzas, but couldn't find an oven mitt.
"Here use these." Clare threw the oven mitts at her friend, hitting her in the butt. Isa turned with a glare and was met with Clare's smiling face.
"Where were you anyway?" Isa snapped, fanning the smoke as she opened the oven. "Why didn't you take the pizzas out?"
Clare's smile faded. "Hey I was on my phone. Don't get ticked off at me."
The smoke alarm felt like it was setting up shop inside the headache that was firmly planted behind Isa's eyes.
"We're in this together. I was dealing with their craziness. You could've helped me out."
She pulled the pizza trays out of the oven and thumped them down on the island. The smoke stung her eyes. They looked like mounds of burning. When she turned to turn off the oven, she saw that someone had turned the oven up to broil. Well, no wonder, she thought.
"I'm dying, I'm dying," one of the boys said, clutching his throat and rolling his eyes around his head.
One of his brothers threw himself on the floor and started rolling around, yelling "Stop! Drop! And Roll!"
The third brother's eyes grew incredibly large and his eyes started to fill up. "Are we gonna die?" his little voice was wobbly.
"Of course not kid. Unless the oven explodes or something," Clare amends. His crying started to outdo the smoke alarm for destroying her head.
"Clare!"
"What? I was just sayin..."
"Say less and open more windows."
Isa took a kitchen towel and and tried to wave it near the alarm. She had a feeling with a house like this, Ellie Mae probably had an alarm system on it. The last thing she wanted was to have the fire department...
A siren split the air outside the house.
She closed her eyes and groaned. This day had gotten out of hand real quick. Maybe she didn't want any kids after all. She rushed to the door to let them in before they destroyed the front door.
Isa pulled open the door. "Listen, we're fine. I burned the pizza and it made a lot of smoke. I'm trying to clear it up, but it hasn't worked yet."
The fireman gave her a narrow-eyed look. "Do you live here?"
She frowned. "No, I'm babysitting. Why do you ask?"
"You don't look like you belong in this neighborhood."
Her mouth dropped open. "You've got to be kidding me."
One of the boys came yelling from the kitchen, "She's trying to kill us! She's trying to kill us! Save us!"
"What?!"
The other boys came trailing behind him, yelling about stop drop and roll and exploding ovens. She gave them her best librarian shush face and they immediately stopped.
Works like a charm.
Sheriff Watson stepped up the stairs to the large home. "Isadora, what are you doing here?"
"I'm babysitting for Elsie Mae and Jonathan."
"I didn't know you were close to them."
The alarm stopped abruptly and Isa'a voice carried when she fired back. "Do you feel the need to know everything about your employees?" She winced. Not her day at all.
"I'd like to come in and look around." The fireman started to step in and Isa put her hand up.
"First off, I've been cleaning in here all day. You're not mucking up these floors with those big, filthy boots."
He looked down. "They're not that bad," he murmured. He looked at Sheriff Watson, "Are they?"
The sheriff nodded. "They're pretty bad."
"Second," Isa kept on ignoring the interruption. "I have to figure out what to make these kids for lunch now that it's burned to an absolute crisp."
Struck by a thought she looked down at the boys who were crowded around her. "By the way, who played with the dials on the stove?" They looked at each other and made a beeline to their playroom and away from
her line of fire.
Great, just great.
"Third, you probably have something else you need to take care of."
"Like me," Clare said, almost shoving Isa out of the way. "How've you been, Darrel?"
He took off his hat. "Clare! Hey, I uh, didn't know you was here. I'm pretty good."
"I'm going to figure out what's going on around here," Sheriff Watson stepped around them and headed into the house. Isa's eyes widened. The file! She couldn't remember if they'd put it away or not. She followed him into the kitchen, calling after him. She glanced into the playroom while she walked down the hallway. They were sitting too close to the television watching a cartoon.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that her bestie had put away the file.
"There are the offending pizzas. Are you going to book 'em, Danno?"
MUCH LATER THAT NIGHT after the pizza debacle and when bedtime had come and gone, Isa and Clare were pouring over the file again. Ellie Mae and her husband would be back bright and early in the morning. She'd offered to come home earlier after the sheriff called her to confirm that Isa and Clare hadn't broken into her place to burn up pizzas.
Isa sank into the corner seat of the sectional. She took a sip of her sweet tea, surveying the area. They'd managed to get the kids to put away most of their toys. That counted as a win. Now that the kids were in bed and the room was clean, Isa could pay attention to its details. The furniture was heavy and dark, probably in deference to their little Gremlins. Pictures of the family graced the walls at different photo shoots and candid shots, along with a few of their parents when they were dating and at the wedding.
Her mind seemed to slip automatically into thinking about Chad and Travis and how they needed more pieces to this puzzle. She couldn't shake the idea that Chad had been involved in something pretty big. The town was so nosy, but she hadn't heard any rumors about anything. How had he managed that?
"Sheriff Watson really needs a Sherlock," Isa said, shaking her head. "He gets involved in the stupidest stuff, but doesn't pay attention to the big picture details."
Clare looked up from her phone. "What do you mean?"
"He was sure ready to lock me up today for babysitting. If I had been stealing from the house or trying to kidnap the kids, why would I have opened the door?"