by Alexie Aaron
Cid walked around and climbed in. Mimi was looking at her reflection in her compact mirror. Yes, she was the mirror image of Kiki, but also the mirror opposite. He thought about Picasso’s Girl before a Mirror and pondered how opposite they were. He didn’t get an evil vibe off the sister; if anything, he got a nurturing one.
“Kiki didn’t want to take you away from your class.”
“Actually, I’m on a leave right now. I’ve been asked to prepare a paper to oust the teaching the test curriculum and bring back actual teacher-student interaction which includes recess. Before you ask, Kiki doesn’t know because she rarely reads my emails.”
“She’s pretty busy.”
“Don’t make excuses for her – although, I sense it was more to spare my feelings than to get your boss out of trouble. My sister is a very complex person. She’d rather spend time with men who aren’t available than dip her toe in the water of the relationship pool.”
“I don’t really know her that well to comment.”
“Trust me,” Mimi said and then asked, “What about you?”
“Me?”
“Are you involved with anyone?”
“I’m not really sure. I met someone, and we really clicked, but she’s a newspaper woman, and I’m stuck in nondisclosure world with bad gossiping habits. I think I’d better steer clear.”
Mimi laughed. “Take a chance, Cid. What’s the worst that could happen?”
“I could get fired or sued.”
“I see you’ve thought about this.”
“I think too much about everything,” he admitted. “It makes me awkward around people I just meet.”
“But not me,” Mimi said. “I’m not going to judge you, but I’m going to hit on you.”
“Please don’t. I’m already being called Clark by Kiki. I don’t need something more colorful.”
“For the record, that wasn’t Gary’s fault, us dating,” she clarified. “Calling him ‘Holy Shit’ is just plain mean.”
Cid started to laugh. Mimi joined in.
They arrived at the hospital. Cid pulled out her luggage and escorted her into the hospital and up to the surgical waiting room. Wayne got up and enveloped Mimi in a bear hug, lifting the woman off the ground. He set her down gently. “She’s going to be fine. The orthopedic guy is a confident, talented bastard according to the nurses.”
“Is she in a lot of pain?”
“Drugs have kicked in, but her feelings are raw, and she’s determined to sue the cops.”
“Can I see her?”
“She’s in room 348. Before you go, let me give you Kiki’s stuff. I’ve got to get back to the site. We rented you a sedan for your time here. I know how much you hate her truck. Jesse will bring it to the hospital sometime this morning.”
“Thanks, Wayne, how considerate. I’ll go and see Kiki. Cid, would you mind hanging around until Jesse arrives?” she asked.
“Just wake me when you need me,” he said, organizing her suitcases and the bag Wayne had given Mimi next to a row of seats Cid would soon turn into a napping couch.
They had walked a few yards from the waiting room when Wayne took Mimi aside. “Don’t mess around with Cid.”
“He’s single, and you’re not his mom.”
“He’s too valuable for you to cause problems between him and Kiki.”
“Carpenters are a dime a dozen,” Mimi said and walked off on her own.
“Not this carpenter,” Wayne said under his breath.
Cid, who had heard the exchange, had mixed feelings about Wayne’s interference. One, he had no interest in becoming involved with Mimi. Two, he was worth more than a dime, and Walrus confirmed it. Three, he was tired, too tired to get involved in a sister power play. So he leaned back and closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.
He heard Walrus return and opened them. “Is everything alright?”
“Yes, go back to sleep, Cid. I’m headed back to the site.”
“Text me,” Cid said, patting his pocket, “if you need me.”
“Will do,” Walrus said and walked quietly away. Damn, he had forgotten about super-ears Garrett. Good thing the guy was asleep. He was worried about the pain Mimi could cause Kiki. Kiki would never admit to liking Cid, or Jesse for that matter, but there was more than employer/employee concern when Kiki discussed either of them.
Wayne suspected Kiki felt the same about him. Although, there had never been any impropriety between them. Wayne was married to a wonderful understanding woman, who had a very busy life of her own to live, and Kiki was married to her job. He loved working for her. Not only was the money great, but she chose the most complex and unusual buildings to work on. There was never a dull moment on a Kiki Pickles job.
Wayne pulled into High Court and was stopped by a deputy getting out of a lone sheriff’s car. He got out and showed the deputy his ID and waited for it to be called in before he proceeded any further.
“The sheriff asks you to not disturb any of the taped-off areas more than you have to. He understands you guys live in those trailers. Otherwise, you would be asked to steer clear. One of us will be on-site until you replace your security guys. I’m Deputy Bianchi, but I’ll answer to just Deputy if you forget.”
“Thanks,” Walrus said. He drove past the burned-out car and around to where his fifth wheel was parked. He backed in. He noticed the cops hadn’t bothered roping off where he found Kevin, which was a good thing as it was half a foot from his steps. He unlocked his door and checked the place out. He put on a clean shirt, grabbed a handful of cookies, and left the trailer. He was on duty, and that meant the construction office. Cid said that he would go through the security footage when he got back, so that left Walrus with looking at the schedule and making a few calls when the sun rose over the horizon.
“How is Kiki?” Faye asked, materializing beside him.
“Her knee is fu… messed up. She’s going to be out of play for a while. Are you ready to report on what went on here while we were gone?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Follow me to the office. I don’t want yonder deputy to think I’ve lost my mind and am talking to myself.”
“What about contractor’s shorthand?”
“You heard that, huh?”
“Yes, I hear a lot of things. The difficulty is separating the wheat from the chaff.”
“I hear you,” Wayne agreed, unlocking the trailer.
Faye decided to wait until he opened the door to go in. Normally, she would just move through the window. The steel of the trailer was difficult but not impossible to move through as long as the iron content was low.
He pulled up a chair for Faye before he sat down. She smiled at his need to see her as a living being. She managed to sit down. She didn’t connect with the fabric of the chair, but it was close enough to fool Wayne.
“So, tell me what you heard while we were gone.”
“First of all, the state police and the deputies of the Sheriff’s Department basically hate each other. I think it’s a territorial thing.”
“I can see that.”
“Sheriff Grady gave the patrolmen a good dressing down. He said, ‘I don’t know if it’s a race thing or a chauvinist thing, but if I ever hear of you manhandling a woman like you did Miss Pickles again, I’ll have your badge, and you’ll spend time in my jail.’ He also had them assist the forensic investigator from the fire department in picking up every piece of metal they could find before they could leave. Why do they do that?” Faye asked.
“Evidence. Anything that isn’t part of the car could possibly have been used to blow the vehicle up,” Wayne explained.
“They won’t find anything. Luminosa did it.”
“What?”
“Luminosa started a fire under the gas tank of the car.”
“And how do you know this?”
“I heard her mumbling. I’ll have to paraphrase, as my Spanish is rusty. ‘I see them ignoring the Japanese woman. I fix them with fire.’ So, I walked a
round, and the only burned spot I found was obviously the exploded car. The rest I assumed.”
“You’re telling me that Luminosa can conjure fire from the ground?”
“Well… maybe she just heated up the tank and it exploded.”
“I don’t understand. How?”
“You have to ask Cid. He’s smart. I’m just repeating what I heard. She also started crying, ‘No one cares about my poor Mexican family.’”
Wayne tapped his pencil on the desk while he was thinking. “How do we tell her that we care and are trying to find out who killed them?”
“I could tell her.”
“Could you also tell her that we need her to back off so I can collect some evidence?”
“I could try. Do you want to do it right now?”
“No, I better wait until we have more people around to distract the deputy.”
“I could do that,” Faye offered.
“No, let’s wait until later. Did you hear anything pertinent to who may have assaulted our guards?”
“Only that Sheriff Grady feels it was a planned attack because the attacker knocked out Kevin and then used Kevin’s gun to knock out Richard. It was a failed attempt to make Kevin look like he tried to kill his partner. He said, ‘Normal people don’t think this way.’ I agree with him.”
“So, what’s the deal with Cabin 4?”
“I can go behind the wall if you want me to,” Faye offered. “Except, I can’t see in the dark. I know, a ghost that can’t see in the dark, sheesh what a loser, but I can’t.”
“What if I got a flashlight to you. I could dig a hole large enough for me to get a light to you. Do you think you could hold it?”
“Yes, for a while,” Faye said. “Do you want to do this now?”
“Not until we have backup.”
“What do you want me to do now?”
“Keep me company. Tell me what you remember about yourself.”
“Really?” Faye asked. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree.
“Yes.”
“You’re my new favorite contractor,” she said.
Wayne smiled.
Chapter Ten
Jesse shook Cid awake. “Changing of the guard,” he said to the befuddled, sleep-deprived brain of Cid.
“How are you feeling?” Cid asked, getting to his feet.
“Arm hurts like I was stung by bees, but I’m functional. My ears feel like I’ve been to a rock concert, but I’m sure that will go away. How’s Kiki?”
“The surgeon came out and reported that she has a torn ACL. So, I guess her football career is finished. He repaired as much as he could. If she follows his advice, she should be up and walking soon. Running is a few months down the road though.”
“Where’s Mimi?”
“Probably sleeping in Kiki’s room. I stuck around just in case she needed something.”
“Well, I’m here now. Go home and get some sleep. I shut up your trailer and put away the rest of your groceries. Nothing got spoiled. If you want some easy breakfast, the drive thru is open at Hog Heaven. They have great sausage sandwiches. If you stop, you may want to bring a couple back for Wayne. He’s been holding the fort.”
“Got you. Now, Hog Heaven is where?”
“Just before Third Street on your way out of town.”
Cid nodded and grabbed his coat. He turned to Jesse. “I did right by calling Mimi, didn’t I?”
“Kiki will sort it out, don’t worry. Mimi will take good physical care of the boss, but she can be a disruptive factor to the order Kiki is used to.”
“As most siblings are. Time I was off.”
Jesse watched as Cid made his way down the hall to the elevator. He didn’t see the way the female staff looked at him. Cid was oblivious to all but the down button of the elevator.
“Did Cid leave?” Mimi asked, looking into the waiting room.
“You just missed him. Here are your keys. You’re driving a red Buick Verano. It’s the only one in the visitor lot.”
“How are you getting home?”
“Cab. Or Wayne will be along in a few hours.”
“Do you want to come home with me?”
“No.”
“Just thought I’d ask,” Mimi said. She reached over and rubbed the stubble on Jesse’s face. “No wonder she calls you Scrub.”
“Be nice.”
“I’m trying to be nice, but you boys won’t let me,” Mimi pouted.
“I believe you’re here for Kiki.”
“Yes, I am, but Kiki doesn’t need me right now…”
“If you’re going to get along with your sister, try not playing patty-cake with her crew,” Jesse advised.
“Jesse Holden, you have turned into a giant stick in the mud.”
Jesse smiled. “Maybe that stick has finally become well grounded.”
“Has another great bachelor fallen for a woman needing roots?” she asked.
“No, but I’m no longer looking for temporary situations.”
“True love doesn’t coming knocking on your door. You have to go out and look for it. Before you go in to see Kiki, would you mind helping me with my bags? Kiki may be a packhorse, but I am not.”
Kiki listened to the nurse about how to operate the morphine drip if she needed it. She was tempted to use it when Mimi returned. Her brief conversation with her sister did nothing to dispel the worry that Mimi wasn’t going to leave soon.
“Why would you hire a nurse when I can do these things for you free?”
“You’re never free. There is always a cost.” Kiki regretted now what she had said. Coming out of anesthesia, her tact was absent. There was no filter between her brain and her mouth.
Mimi bristled and got up. “Well, I’m going to check out your rental house and get it ready for your arrival. Kiki, I would appreciate if you would try to remember we are sisters, twin sisters, and we have so much in common. Try to look at this experience as an opportunity to get to know each other.”
“Knock knock,” Jesse said from the doorway.
Kiki looked over at him and tried to smile.
“You were either deep in thought or riding the morphine horse,” he said, walking over. He pulled up a chair and sat down where she could easily see him.
“Sister shit,” Kiki said dismissively. “Update me on what’s going on at the site.”
“Wayne’s there, as is a deputy, until the new security can get here. Sheriff Will Grady from Stepner County is officially in charge of the investigation. Which is good news for you. He doesn’t believe you had anything to do with the state police cruiser blowing up.”
“Are we going to be able to get any work done today?”
“I doubt it. Wayne is rescheduling everybody. Frankly, I think we need to get a handle on this Bautista nightmare first. Wayne said Faye is almost certain that it was Luminosa who started the fire. Of course, we’re keeping that to ourselves. Sheriff Grady thinks it’s the same individual, or individuals, who attacked Kevin and Richard.”
“I’m in no condition to make any decisions, as my nurse just reminded me, so I’d be happy if you three sort this out until they release me.”
“We’ll do our best, but we’re no Kiki Pickles,” Jesse said.
“Mimi would say that is a selling point.”
“Are you sure? Seems to me that the two of you assume too much about the other. Is your sister disruptive? Yes. Does she do it to make your life harder? No.”
“I think it’s mostly me that comes between us. I fought the whole twin thing when we were kids. I like being accepted for who I am, not that I’m part of a matched set. Mimi takes the twin thing in stride.”
“Moving on, is there anything you need?”
“Cid’s handling Calvin, but I need you to…”
“Handle Cid.”
Kiki smiled. “It’s not that I’m not convinced he has our best interests at heart...”
“But you don’t know him like you know Wayne and me,” Jesse finished.
“Hard to say. But I’d rather have the ghost hunter right now. If this ghost can blow up a car, Kiki, then we have a real problem on our hands.”
Cid slowed his vehicle and stopped. He waited until the deputy approached his truck. Cid handed him his ID before anyone spoke.
“Cid Garrett. Sheriff Grady would like you to give him a call after you’ve gotten some rest. This afternoon would be fine. I’m Deputy Bianchi.” The deputy repeated the cautions of not touching anything on the roped-off areas of the site and handed him a card. “The sheriff can be reached at this number.”
“Thank you, Deputy Bianchi. Would it be considered a bribe to give you a sausage sandwich from Hog Heaven?”
“No, sir, that would be appreciated. I’ve been here since last night.”
Cid handed the wrapped breakfast sandwich to the deputy and drove slowly through the lot and parked in front of the office trailer. He took his and Wayne’s breakfast inside, pleased to be greeted by an amiable Wayne and the smell of freshly brewed coffee.
“Jesse said you’d be along. Thanks for the grub. What do I owe you?” Wayne asked.
“It’s on me,” Cid said, sitting down and unwrapping his meal. The smell of pork sausage and hot biscuit filled the trailer.
“Coffee,” Wayne said, handing him a mug.
“You remembered how I like it.”
“Details, Cid, details.”
“What’s going on?”
“It’s pretty quiet out there. Faye and I have been devising a plan.”
“Devising is good enough. What you’ve just said is, basically, planning a plan,” Cid pointed out.
“You’re very pedantic.”
“I yam what I yam,” Cid said in his best Popeye voice.
Wayne laughed. “Classic.”
“What’s the plan?” Cid asked.
“First, you recover the footage of Kiki’s arrest, if any, and then you get four hours of sleep, then we’ll talk.”
“When did you get any rest?”
“I’m used to twenty-four-hour days,” he explained. “I called in the troops. My forensic friend has been notified. He’s received permission to work out of the sheriff’s office. I have the three guards Kiki asked for. I didn’t hire locally because we still don’t know who is involved in the sabotage here.”