“Did he tell you anything?”
“No, he didn’t,” Wanda Nell said, “but he made some vague threats.”
“He threatened you? Bert Vines?” Elmer Lee was patently incredulous.
“Yeah, he did,” Wanda Nell said. “It wasn’t real obvious, but he hinted around about my insurance on the trailer not being enough if something bad happened. How would you interpret that?”
Elmer Lee shrugged. “Maybe he was just trying to sell you more insurance.”
“Oh, come on,” Melvin said impatiently. “You ain’t that stupid, Elmer Lee. You know perfectly well what Bert was getting at when he said that to Wanda Nell.”
“Maybe,” Elmer Lee said, “but if I was you, buddy boy, I wouldn’t talk about nobody being stupid. You understand that?”
Melvin didn’t respond. Instead, he pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, shook one out, and lit it. Wanda Nell sniffed hungrily at the smoke. Now was one of those times she definitely wished she hadn’t quit smoking.
“Okay, Bert Vines was one person you talked to,” Elmer Lee said, focusing his attention back on Wanda Nell. “Who was the other one? You said a couple.”
“Scott Simpson, the football coach at the high school.”
“I know who he is,” Elmer Lee said. “Why on earth was you talking to him?”
“Because somebody overheard him having an argument with Rusty.”
“And what did the coach have to say when you asked him about it?”
“He wouldn’t tell me anything neither,” Wanda Nell said. “But it was real obvious to me that he did know something, but that he was holding back. I think he’s real scared of somebody, otherwise he would’ve talked to me.”
“Otherwise why? Why would he have talked to you?” Elmer Lee was a lot quicker than she had thought, Wanda Nell realized with dismay. She shouldn’t have said it like that. She expelled a breath. “I caught him in what I’d guess you call a compromising position, and
I told him I might get him in trouble for it if he didn’t talk to me.”
“If he was doing something illegal, Wanda Nell, then you better start talking to me right this minute.”
Elmer Lee was getting more annoyed with her by the second, and Wanda Nell didn’t see any way out of the situation, other than to tell Elmer Lee exactly what she had seen. Otherwise he probably wouldn’t believe her about how scared Simpson was.
Tersely she reported what she had seen. Elmer Lee didn’t say a word until she had finished. “You have any idea who the girl was?” he asked.
“No,” Wanda Nell said, “though I think she probably was seventeen or eighteen.”
“She might be legal,” Elmer Lee said, “but that still don’t make it right. He ain’t got no business fooling around with students like that. He must be crazy.”
“What are you going to do about it?” Wanda Nell asked.
“Never you mind,” Elmer Lee said. “I’ll take care of it. But going back to what you said. He was more scared of somebody else than he was of you telling on him about the girl. That’s what you’re saying?”
“Yeah,” Wanda Nell said.
“There’s something really bad going on here,” Elmer Lee said, “and I don’t like it. But I’m for damn sure going to figure it out.”
He turned to Garrett, who had been busy jotting things down in a notebook the whole time the others had been talking. “You got everything down?”
“Yes, sir,” Garrett answered.
“Okay, Wanda Nell,” Elmer Lee said. “I’m going to be looking into this, and we’ll communicate with the PD about it, but I doubt we’ll know for sure who did this. In the meantime, you can go on and get your tires fixed, and if the insurance company hassles you about any of this, you let me know.”
“Thanks, I will,” Wanda Nell said. There were times when she actually almost liked Elmer Lee, and this was one of them.
“I’ll help Wanda Nell with her car,” Melvin said. He flicked his cigarette butt away. “Come on, I think I know where we can get you a couple of tires tonight.”
He led Wanda Nell to his pickup while the two deputies got back in their car and drove off.
One of Melvin’s buddies owned a tire place, and Melvin persuaded him to get out of bed and come sell Wanda Nell a couple of tires. Melvin even talked him into giving Wanda Nell a really low price, and Wanda Nell was very grateful. This kind of unplanned expense always worried her, and she needed every break she could get.
The man even offered to come and change the tires for her, but Melvin assured him that wasn’t necessary. They loaded the tires in Melvin’s truck and headed back to the Kountry Kitchen.
It took Melvin about twenty minutes to get the two new tires installed. Wanda Nell stood by, ready to help, but Melvin insisted on doing it himself. “No use you getting all greasy when you got to go to work,” he said between grunts.
“You’re a good friend, Melvin,” Wanda Nell said. He was wiping his hands on an old rag from the toolbox on his truck. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.”
“You just try to be careful,” Melvin said. “I don’t want to have to do this again for you anytime soon.” He grinned.
“I hope you don’t have to, or nobody else either,” Wanda Nell said. “They better leave me and my family the hell alone.”
Melvin took a quick look under the hood to make sure whoever had done the slashing hadn’t messed with anything else. He also got down under the car with his flashlight and checked things. “Looks all right to me,” he finally pronounced. “Should be safe to drive.”
Wanda Nell gave him a quick hug, then jumped into her car and headed off to work. By the time she arrived it was a quarter to midnight. She explained to her boss what had happened, then endured questions from some of her coworkers, but as soon as she could, she got to work and concentrated on that. She didn’t want to think about any of this for a while.
When Wanda Nell’s shift ended at six the next morning, she was exhausted and ready to get home to bed. She followed several coworkers out into the parking lot, suddenly apprehensive that something else might have happened to her car.
It appeared untouched, and wearily she climbed inside, cranked it, and started for home. The sun was just beginning to rise as she turned into the entrance to the Kozy Kove Trailer Park. Yawning, she inserted her key into the lock on the front door and twisted it.
There were sounds of activity inside as she entered. She could hear the shower running in her bathroom. That meant Juliet was up and getting ready for school. From the kitchen she could hear someone moving around.
Dropping her purse on the coffee table, Wanda Nell went into the kitchen. Mayrene was at the stove, scrambling some eggs. Wanda Nell sniffed the air appreciatively. She was actually hungry.
“Morning,” Wanda Nell said.
Mayrene turned with a smile. “Good morning, honey,” she said. “I figured you might be ready for something to eat when you got home.”
“I am,” Wanda Nell said, “though I thought I was going straight to bed. Instead, I’m starving.” She went to the cabinet and found a mug. She poured herself some coffee from the pot Mayrene had made.
“You just sit right down there, and this’ll be ready in a minute.”
Gratefully Wanda Nell sat down at the table and sipped at her coffee. She shouldn’t be drinking caffeine right before she intended on going to bed, but she was tired enough that maybe she’d go to sleep anyway.
“It’s decaf,” Mayrene told her as she set a plate of steaming eggs and toast on the table in front of her.
“Thanks,” Wanda Nell said. “I was thinking I shouldn’t be drinking caffeine right now, anyway.” She picked up a fork and started eating.
Mayrene poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table with her own plate.
Between mouthfuls Wanda Nell told Mayrene about her slashed tires.
“Those bastards,” Mayrene said, her face grim. “I’d like to get my hands on th
em for about five minutes.”
“I wish you could, too,” Wanda Nell said, grinning. “But I reckon I’ll leave it up to Elmer Lee for once.” Mayrene sniffed. She didn’t think much of Elmer Lee. “How was everything here last night?” Wanda Nell munched on a piece of toast. “Did you find anything Rusty might have left behind?”
Mayrene had a sheepish look on her face. “I’m sorry, honey, I never got around to looking. Miranda was real nervous about me not being in the trailer with them, and I thought maybe I’d go over when they all fell asleep and look around.” She grinned. “But I fell asleep on the couch. I was tireder than I thought I was, I guess.”
Wanda Nell was disappointed, but she didn’t want to let Mayrene see that. “That’s okay, Mayrene. I sure appreciate you coming over and staying with the girls. If they wanted you to stay with them, I sure don’t blame them. I’d have been nervous myself.”
“Well, I’ll try to have a little look around before I go to work,” Mayrene said. She picked up her empty plate and took it to the sink. She came back to the table for Wanda Nell’s plate and put it in the sink, too.
Wiping her hands on a cloth, Mayrene said, “Now, if it’s okay with you, I’m going to head home and start getting ready for work. You call me if you need anything, you hear?”
“I will,” Wanda Nell promised. She thanked her friend again, but Mayrene waved her off.
As the door closed behind Mayrene, Juliet came into the kitchen for some breakfast. Wanda Nell spent time talking with her, deciding for the moment not to burden her with the story of the slashed tires. Miranda came in with Lavon, and Wanda Nell listened to the girls and Lavon chatter about various things.
With Juliet off to school and Miranda set to give Lavon a bath, Wanda Nell went to bed. She climbed gratefully between the cool sheets, and almost before her head touched the pillow, she was sound asleep. For once she was too tired even to let her worries keep her awake.
At three o’clock, Wanda Nell’s alarm had barely gone off when the phone started ringing. Yawning, Wanda Nell sat up and threw back the covers. She went into the bathroom and washed her face.
Miranda burst into the bathroom, waving the phone. “Mama, it’s for you. It’s Mayrene, and she sounds real excited.” She handed the receiver to her mother. “Mayrene, what’s going on?”
“I been waiting till you got up to call,” Mayrene said, the excitement obvious in her voice. “You ain’t going to believe this, girl, but there’s been another murder.” “Who?” Wanda Nell felt the bottom drop out of her
stomach. It couldn’t be Rusty, she told herself quickly. If it had been, Mayrene wouldn’t have called her this way. She took a steadying breath.
“The football coach,” Mayrene said. “Somebody blew his head off last night.”
Chapter 12
Wanda Nell turned and leaned against the sink. Her knees felt weak. “Oh my Lord. When did you hear about it?”
“About three hours ago,” Mayrene answered. “Like I said, I was waiting till I knew you’d be up before I called. From what I heard, when he didn’t show up at school this morning, they went looking for him. And that’s when they found him, right there in his own living room.” Her voice dropped to a whisper. “And the way I heard it, most of his head was gone.”
“What is it, Mama? What happened?” Miranda stood in the doorway, her face alight with curiosity.
Wanda Nell was still trying to take it in. She was doing her best not to visualize Scott Simpson with his head blown off. Instead, she focused on her brother. Was he involved in this? Had he been murdered, too? Was his body somewhere just waiting to be found?
She felt like she wanted to throw up, but she made an effort to steady herself. She told Miranda what had happened, leaving out Mayrene’s graphic description, and Miranda’s eyes grew large.
“Wanda Nell. Are you talking to me?”
“Sorry, I was just telling Miranda what you told me,” she said. “I’m trying to take it all in. This is awful. But I’m surprised they didn’t find him before this morning. Surely one of his neighbors must have heard the shot that killed him.” She pushed away from the sink and motioned for Miranda to precede her into the bedroom.
“He don’t live in town,” Mayrene said. “Guess I should say he didn’t, now. Anyway, he lived out in the country, and his nearest neighbor wasn’t very close. Besides, I guess whoever did it could have used some kind of silencer, like they do on TV all the time.”
“Maybe so,” Wanda Nell said. “Well, thanks for letting me know. I’d better wake up and start getting ready for work.”
“If you want, I can stay with the girls again tonight,” Mayrene said. “But I can’t take off early this time, though. You think they’ll be okay until I get there, about five-thirty maybe?”
“If you could stay with them again, I’d sure appreciate it,” Wanda Nell said. “I hate the thought of them being here without somebody. I’ll call T.J. and see if he can’t come out for a little while.”
Miranda poked her mother’s arm. “T.J.’s already here, Mama. He wants to talk to you.”
“Oh, Miranda is telling me T.J. is here already,” Wanda Nell said into the phone. “I’ll check with him, but I’m sure he’ll stay, one way or another.”
She and Mayrene said good-bye, then Wanda Nell clicked off the phone. She handed it to Miranda, saying, ‘Tell T.J. I’ll be ready to talk to him in a few minutes. I’ve got to shower first and get dressed for work.”
“Okay, Mama,” Miranda said. She disappeared down the hall.
While she showered and then dressed, Wanda Nell thought hard about the second murder and what it meant. She had to believe that her brother was still alive and that he wasn’t the killer. If she started doubting him now, she just couldn’t handle all this.
But none of this would have happened if he hadn’t come back to Tullahoma, intent on seeing to this business of his. She had to find out what it was before anybody else got hurt, especially before someone harmed her, or the girls and the baby, or even T.J.
Her son was sitting on the couch playing with Lavon, when she walked into the living room some twenty minutes later.
“Hey, Mama,” T.J. said, standing up with the baby in his arms. Lavon seemed fascinated by the diamond stud in T.J.’s left earlobe, and T.J. had to keep those busy little hands from pulling too hard on his ear.
Wanda Nell hugged him, then took the baby into her own arms. She kissed his cheeks, and he started talking to her. She listened for a minute or two, talking with him when he seemed to expect an answer. Then she set him down on the floor, and he wandered off, looking for a toy to play with.
Wanda Nell sat down on the couch with her son.
“What’s up, honey? Miranda said you wanted to talk to me.”
“I do, Mama, but I’m a little worried about all this stuff that’s happening. You want me to stay with the girls tonight while you’re at work?”
“If you could stay with them till Mayrene gets home, about five-thirty she said, I’d appreciate it. After that, they’ll be okay. Mayrene will look after them.”
“Her and that shotgun of hers.” T.J. grinned, and Wanda Nell’s heart turned over as it often did at such moments. He looked so much like his daddy had at that age, about twenty-three. “I don’t mind staying all night if you want me to.”
“Maybe tomorrow night,” Wanda Nell said. “That way Mayrene can have a break. As long as this mess is going on, I don’t like to leave the girls alone here, and I can’t take off work right now.”
“Don’t worry about it,” T.J. said. “We’re not going to let anything happen to them. Miranda told me about somebody trying to break in while she was napping with Lavon.”
Wanda Nell shivered. “I can’t stand thinking about that, not with everything else that’s happened. But maybe they’ll leave us alone, especially if they see somebody’s always here, watching the place.”
“I think the sheriff’s department is keeping an eye out, too,” T.J. sai
d. “I saw one of their cruisers sitting out there on the road when I drove in, and I bet he’s still out there.” “Well, bless Elmer Lee’s stony little heart,” Wanda Nell said, surprised. “I’ll have to thank him.”
“You ask me, he’s kind of soft on you, Mama,” T.J. said teasingly. “Maybe Jack has some competition.”
Wanda Nell rolled her eyes. “He can tolerate me, but that’s about it.” Secretly, though, she wondered if T.J. wasn’t right. She still remembered that odd scene between her and Elmer Lee after Bobby Ray’s funeral. Right now, she preferred not to think about it.
“Tell me what you wanted to talk about,” she said instead.
T.J. breathed deeply, then faced his mother squarely. “I came to a decision, Mama. I’m going to talk to Grandmother tonight and tell her the truth.”
Wanda Nell blinked. She’d been after him for quite some time to do this, and now that he said he was going to, she was surprised.
“Are you sure you’re ready, honey?”
T.J. nodded. “Yeah, I’m tired of pretending with her. I know it’s not fair to her, and even if she wants to take back the truck she gave me and everything else, well, I’ll just have to see what happens. Besides, Tuck really wants me to move in with him, and I want to, Mama. I really do. I want to be with him, and it’s hard, me still living with Grandmother.”
Wanda Nell was impressed. “Sounds like you’ve really made up your mind this time, sweetie, and I’m glad you’re going to do it. It’s better to be honest with her, and maybe she’ll take it better than you think she will.”
T.J. shrugged. “You never can tell with her. But I feel bad about leaving her alone in that old house by herself if she kicks me out.”
“I have an idea about that,” Wanda Nell said, smiling. “I’m sure you’ve met her cousin Belle.”
Rolling his eyes, T.J. said, “I sure have. She’s going to be staying with Grandmother for a few days. I never met a woman who could talk more about nothing than Cousin Belle. I swear, that woman’s tongue must be loose at both ends, the way she talks.”
Best Served Cold (A Trailer Park Mystery Book 3) Page 11