by Wendy Byrne
"He might be cute, but he is a bit intense," Dolly said.
"Maybe she should go to Jeremy's house instead of Otis's? That way we'll be able to fly under the radar of anyone who might be casing the joint," Alice volunteered.
I wasn't sure if it was their 24-7 viewing of Murder, She Wrote or their new favorite show Monk that had their investigative skills spot-on or whether just knowing the ins and outs of a small town gave them an edge. But I had to admit they had some good ideas—even if sometimes their suggestions skirted the edge of crazy. This one was perfect for flying under the proverbial radar.
"Let's finish up our coffee and rolls," Ramona said. "If we get there by lunchtime, I imagine he'll be up and moving after closing the bar late last night."
It didn't take us long to get to Jeremy's place. The dilapidated house needed a paint job, had a broken fence around it, and the screen door had lost its screen. A dog was running around the backyard chasing a half-naked guy with a Frisbee who looked like he might still be drunk from last night. I had a strong suspicion we might be walking into a scene from Animal House Part II, even if they weren't wearing togas. Before we got to the front porch, Jeremy opened the front door and walked outside.
He wore a baseball cap and long basketball shorts but no shirt as he emerged, an arm wrapped around a girl's waist.
A collective snicker erupted from the Qs when Alice said, "At least somebody's getting lucky around here."
Jeremy gave the girl a kiss before sending her off with a wave and, no doubt, promises of how he'd call tomorrow. The girl looked like she might be still in college but close to Jeremy's age.
The Qs made a show of shouting his name and waving to him, while the girl in question quickened her step as she walked past. Nothing like a group of grandmotherly types witnessing your walk of shame to put a little pep in your step.
Despite the redness in his cheeks, he gave us his bartender's patented smile—a cross between swagger and confidence. "Good morning, ladies. To what do I owe the pleasure?" He pulled his cap down lower to shield his eyes from the sun. Based on the circles beneath his eyes, he'd indulged after work and hadn't gotten a lot of sleep either. "I'm not sure I should be talking to you, Izzy, after you blew me off the other day on the trail."
His remark caught me off guard. I expected a little diversion from any questions relating to his woman for the night, but instead he sucked me into a conversation I hadn't expected. "What do you mean?"
"You were running on the trail that goes by the high school, and I shouted your name. You turned around but then kept on running."
I shook my head. "I haven't been on the trail alone in weeks. Most times I go there with Gabe." I'd learned Iowa wasn't quite as safe as I'd anticipated—at least as far as I was concerned—so I usually went with somebody. Besides, running with Gabe forced me to push myself. "It must have been some other ravishing brunette you saw." To be honest, I was probably the only woman my age with dark hair in town, unless somebody had a visitor from out of town around my age who looked like me. That might be possible. Improbable but possible.
He took off his hat and hit it on his knee as if that would conjure up the memory. "Are you sure? The woman looked exactly like you, even had on that pink running shirt and pink cap you like to wear." His forehead wrinkled as his lips twisted to the side, and he winced.
"I think you need a little hair of the dog there, fella," Alice said and patted his arm.
He smiled. "You might be right, but I probably should settle on some pain killers since I have to work in a few hours." He rubbed his stubbled cheeks. "But I could have sworn it was you."
Weird. "She probably just looked like me from a distance."
Jeremy reluctantly nodded like he thought I was lying to him. I wanted to assure him but dropped the conversation.
Of course, the Qs, who were always happy to sniff out the smallest whiff of a mystery, wanted to delve further, based on their murmuring. "Maybe you have one of those twins? What do they call them again?" Alice asked.
"You mean a doppelgänger?" Dolly asked.
"Yeah, I've heard about that. They say everyone has one," Ramona said.
I shook my head. "I don't think so. There might be somebody who resembles me, but my twin? No way." My father liked to sow his oats, as they say, so I guess it was possible I had a sibling out there somewhere—not that I wanted to consider that possibility right now.
Besides, I'm pretty sure my dad would have given me a heads-up. Right? Hmm…maybe I should ask him about that. No, that wouldn't be too awkward.
"Let's not get distracted as to why we came here, ladies," Viola commented as I breathed a sigh of relief. Sometimes when in investigative mode, I felt we ran around in circles for a long time before we managed to get to the point. More than likely because we did often run in circles until we got to the point.
I cleared my throat and focused my attention back on Jeremy. "The reason we came here is to ask you some questions. I don't want to get you in trouble with anybody, but could you tell us a little bit about what happened when Nate and Jen met at the bar last night? Did it get loud and were threats made like we've heard? Who left first? Jen or Nate? And did you notice if anyone came in or left with Jen?"
"I'm not sure I'm supposed to tell you. That Detective Chaz dude called a little bit ago and made it pretty clear that I needed to keep quiet about what I saw and heard. He's coming to talk to me later this afternoon."
"Oh, he says that to everybody, but nobody pays any attention to that nonsense," Alice said.
"Besides, it's not like we're gossips or anything," Dolly said.
Ramona couldn't hold in her laughter. "Let's be honest here. Yes, we are gossips, but never when it comes to our investigations."
"We take those things very seriously and leave no stone unturned," Viola said.
Oh man, they were giving him the hard sell. I saw his expression go from pensive to positive in the space of thirty seconds. These were his surrogate grandmothers, and he probably wouldn't object to anything they asked of him, no matter what the potential consequences might be.
Jeremy sighed. "It wasn't very pleasant. Jen was drunk or high or probably a combination of both. She was talking really loudly and accusing Nate of being a bad father and saying that she was going to take Emily from him through whatever means necessary. He was pretty cool about it and tried to calm her down until she threatened him with Emily. That's when he lost it and told her to leave town if she knew what was good for her." He hesitated a few seconds before continuing. "It didn't look like she was with anybody, but there were a few people there I hadn't seen before, so I can't say for sure."
There was a group intake of breath as the implication of the words settled in around us. Finally, I spoke. "But who left first?"
"Nate did. She stayed around and had a couple more beers before she left."
"Well that's good," Alice said.
"Yep, he probably went straight home after that," Ramona added as the confidence within the group seemed to amplify. Things did not appear as dark as they had seemed just a few minutes ago.
"Except he came back about five minutes later and gave her some cash. And then threatened her not to come anywhere near their daughter." Jeremy sounded a little shakier.
No one said a word for more than a minute. Finally, Viola spoke. "Surely he didn't say it quite like that."
Jeremy shook his head. "Worse. Nate said he'd kill Jen on the spot if she came within fifty feet of Emily and that no one would ever find her body."
Nate was in some deep doo-doo. And it didn't look like he'd get out of it anytime soon.
CHAPTER THREE
Gabe had been out of town for a couple of days and missed everything that had gone down with Nate. When I opened the door to his house and he greeted me with a sexy smile, I put my arms around his neck and kissed him.
"I missed you," I murmured into his ear.
"Me too." He rubbed his hand down my back before looping his arm aro
und my shoulder and leading me toward the kitchen.
I sat at the counter enjoying a glass of wine while he cooked—thank goodness. Only bad things could happen if I'd cooked. I related all that I'd learned about Nate and what Jeremy had said, trying not to bite my fingernails while I gave him the gory details. Things didn't look good for Nate, but I'd let Gabe figure that out on his own.
"Nate doesn't have it in him to hurt anyone, let alone somebody he once loved," Gabe said as he cut up the peppers for fajitas and warmed up the skillet.
"That's what I thought too, but Jeremy said it got really heated when Jen threatened to take Emily from him." I couldn't bring myself to repeat exactly what Jeremy had said, partly because we'd promised to keep it confidential and partially because I still didn't want to believe it had happened.
"I'm not going to say anything about asking questions of a witness in an investigation, which is illegal by the way." Gabe shook his head. "Nate's smart enough to know that's an empty threat from her. The woman has a drug problem. Nate is a respectable guy with an impeccable record. There's not even a chance she'd get Emily. Nor do I think she wants Emily. She wants to do her own thing and not be encumbered by a child."
"Do you know Jen well? Did you know her before they were married?"
"Not at all. Nate and I kept in touch while we were both in college. Because I was at school in Iowa and he was at Georgetown in Washington, we usually saw each other on holidays and stuff. I was best man at their wedding." He shrugged. "It wasn't much, more like a courthouse kind of thing." He made a weird face. "I've got to say, I didn't understand what Nate saw in her even back then when she wasn't yet a drugged-out lush looking to cause trouble."
"What didn't you like about her specifically?" I needed to get information from somebody, and Gabe knew her better than anybody other than Nate.
"She was sneaky and underhanded, even on the day of the wedding. She lied about having a fabulous new job, but then somehow it all fell through. Nate was going to go to Georgetown Law but instead went into the FBI because he felt like he had to carry the weight of the family."
"What do you mean?"
"She told Nate she was pregnant but then miscarried a couple of days later."
"You think she lied about being pregnant to keep him from going to law school?"
"I can't say for sure, but Nate said he always used protection, and she was on the pill. Now, if I remember anything from high school sex-ed class, under those conditions, pregnancy would be possible but I think unlikely."
"Who was at the wedding besides you?"
"Just Mel and me." He avoided looking at me when he mentioned his ex-wife's name. I wasn't sure why.
"What else do you know about her?"
"Not all that much. Except she was crazy jealous too. She stalked one of Nate's old girlfriends at Georgetown when they'd just started dating."
"That's bizarre. What did Nate think? It seems odd that he'd go ahead and marry her if she was that unbalanced."
"I think he felt sorry for her because of her family. I kept asking him if he was sure what she'd told him was true." Gabe sighed. "But he wouldn't listen and went ahead and married her."
"What about Jen's family? Do you know anything about them? I heard she was raised on a farm somewhere around here."
"According to Jen, she grew up in Kyleen. She told Nate that her family died in a farm-related accident but never specified what had happened."
"That is weird. Why would she lie about her family and claim they're dead?"
"Exactly. Who does that kind of thing? She told Nate she was in pharmaceutical sales when they met. But now I'm not sure it was of the legal variety."
Wow, that was some major information he'd divulged. There was still more to get, but it was a great start. "I'm worried. Every time I think about Nate and Emily, it makes me sick to my stomach."
"Nate is going to be fine. Without any evidence, they can't indict him, let alone take this case to trial."
"But innocent people go to jail all the time. It's always a rush to judgment about the spouses. Before you know it, he'll be tried and convicted. Ten years down the road he might get exonerated, but by then Emily will be a teen, and you know that won't go well. Besides, who's going to take her in? Nate doesn't have any living family—"
He rubbed his hands along my shoulders before he kissed me on the forehead. "I'd take her in of course."
I let a little warmth from his proclamation simmer through before I spoke. "And she'd be one lucky girl, but I'm just saying it would be tough to be without her father. Take it from me."
"You and your dad on the outs again?"
"I feel like I don't know the guy…well…probably because I don't. He doesn't tell me anything."
"Do you tell him all the ins and outs of your life?"
"No. But that's beside the point." I shrugged while he tossed cut-up chicken breasts into the sizzling skillet. "We had a moment there when I saved his life, or he saved mine, depending on how you look at it, but since then it's been awkward between us."
"Can you start small, like have coffee together or something and talk about the weather? You don't have to delve into the messiness between the two of you."
"If he'd stick around for more than a day or two at a time, maybe we could arrange something." I pouted rather than say the thoughts that had been swirling around my brain—namely that I suspected Daddy Dearest was up to something. While I'd just met him less than a year ago, his history of scamming people in the past couldn't be ignored. "But enough of that nonsense. Did I tell you that I decided to post a for-rent sign at the storefront below my loft?"
"Nope." He shook his head and smiled.
"I'm trying to spruce it up in the meantime, especially since I still have the artwork from Spring Fling that didn't sell. It would be great to be a part of revitalizing downtown Inez. You know, one storefront at a time. Who knows? It could be a huge tourist draw."
He laughed. "You had me going until the last part. A tourist draw? Inez? Are you that desperate to get a tenant?"
I shook my head. "I'd like to see downtown Inez spruced up and new young families settle here."
"I love that you're a dreamer." He moved in close and pressed his lips to mine.
Yum. I got that same feeling every time he did that. Initially I thought kissing Gabe would become less yummy, but not so far. Just when things were starting to get interesting, the doorbell rang.
"Maybe they'll go away," Gabe mumbled against my lips as he kept up the crusade to make me go mindless. And he was winning that battle.
Whoever was at the door had other ideas and kept on ringing. "I know you're in there, Gabriel. Open the door. Now. You and I have to talk." It was a woman's voice.
Gabe spewed a series of expletives. He didn't do that very often, so I couldn't help but be interested in who might annoy him so much.
I grabbed the front of his T-shirt and brought his focus back to me. "Who is it?"
"My ex-wife." He shook his head while his jaw locked tight.
Booyah! I'd finally get to meet the infamous Mel. The picture in my head was of a mouth-breathing sloth, but I was betting that wasn't totally accurate.
I trailed after him but tried to keep a respectable distance behind, which wasn't an easy thing to do when I wanted to crawl up and over his back and throw open the door myself. Not that I was curious—okay, yeah, I was super curious. Any woman would be.
There were so many questions I wanted to ask and so many things I wanted to see for myself. While he didn't talk about her much, he knew everything there was to know about my ex, Joseph. I figured that it was only fair if I asked a few questions of my own.
I knew she lived in New York, so why was she traipsing around in Iowa? And why was she pounding on Gabe's door at nine o'clock at night? I pushed away thoughts of a booty call scenario and focused on what I needed to do.
When he opened the door, he didn't invite her in, rather cracked it open about eight inches or so. Wh
ile I couldn't be sure, I suspected he wanted to prevent me from seeing her and vice versa, which only ticked up my curiosity quotient. I was still pulling for her looking like a sloth but figured I was SOL on that one. I had to admit she did sound a little like a toad based on voice alone—whiny with a little froggy croak in the way she said Gabe's name—except she called him Gabriel.
"What do you want?" Having been the recipient of that growl in his voice myself, I knew it meant he was annoyed.
"Why didn't you call me about Jen?" She pushed her way inside but stopped short when she spotted me. Her mouth opened in an O as she scanned me from head to toe, but then what I could only describe as a sneaky little grin lit up her face. Part of me couldn't blame her since Gabe and I had gone for a run before heading to his house for dinner and I probably looked like I'd just done exactly that—ponytail askew and messy, worn-in running attire versus her designer suit and kitten heels.
I immediately hated her. Who was I kidding? I hated her before I laid eyes on her. While Gabe hadn't said all that much about her, his description of her didn't bring about warm and fuzzies.
With Mel dressed smartly in a candy apple red suit accentuating what appeared to be surgically enhanced breasts—since they were so perky and perfect—we looked like a before and after in a What Not to Wear episode. Matching lipstick outlined her pouty lips, while blonde hair fell to her shoulders in perfect wisps.
"Geez, invite yourself in, why don't you?" Gabe snarled.
She ignored his snipe and continued on to the kitchen like she'd been to his home before—a thought that made my heart clench inside my chest.
"You know that Jen and I are friends. Don't even tell me you're defending Nate over her?" She arched one perfectly plucked eyebrow as she folded her arms across her chest.
"First off, she's missing. No one says she's dead. And no one says Nate had anything to do with it."
She released a bitter laugh. "Yeah, that's what all murderers say. In this Podunk town, they'll never prosecute him. But I'm here to see justice is done for my friend."