by Lucy Quinn
A waiter with a tray full of food passed them, wafting the sweet and savory odor of barbequed meat their way. “Did he have any close friends or a high school girlfriend?” Evie asked. “Anyone that might still be in town? We’re just trying to connect with anyone who might know why someone would’ve wanted Kyle dead.”
The coach pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes as he concentrated.
Dora leaned forward, hopeful he had something more for them to go on.
Unfortunately, he shook his head. “Most kids leave. He dated a cheerleader, though.” The man frowned for a moment as if he was searching his memory. “Julie Littleton. Smart girl who got into an ivy league school. Definitely gone.”
Dora sighed. “That’s too bad. Thank you, though. We really appreciate your help.”
“I’m not sure I was able to be useful.” He turned to Evie. “Can I get your number? If I remember something, I could give you a call.”
Evie smiled up at him, pasting on a coy expression. “Sure. Give me your phone and I’ll add it to your contacts.”
He reached in his pocket and pulled his iPhone out so quickly he fumbled it. The unprotected phone fell with a loud thunk on the cement. When he picked it up, he grimaced. “Shi—shoot! I still have five months on the contract.”
“Oh, poor guy,” Evie soothed, rubbing his arm. “That sucks. Does it still turn on?”
The coach fiddled with the phone, and Dora noticed the shattered screen as he tried to get it to power on for a long while. Finally, he gave up and slipped it back into his pocket. “It’s dead.” He turned to Evie. “Why don’t you take my number and text me tomorrow. I should have a new one by then.”
“Sure.” Evie grabbed the phone she and Dora were sharing and tapped in the number the coach rattled off. When she was done, she grinned at him. “Got it. Now what does a girl have to do to get some barbeque around here?”
Tom Johnson moved so fast off the bench Dora had no trouble imagining him running up and down a football field. “I’m on it. Ribs? Coleslaw? Potato salad?”
“Yes. Two orders, please. Both of us are dying to try it.”
“You got it.” He disappeared back into the restaurant, leaving Dora and Evie alone.
Dora lifted one eyebrow. “Did you really put his number in the phone?”
“Sure. What if we want to ask him another question? Or need football tips?” She winked at Dora.
Dora took the phone back from her and looked up Coach Johnson. Sure enough, the number was there. “You really did keep it. You know he doesn’t have any more information, right?”
“We don’t know that,” Evie said easily. “And if I save it, then two days from now when we have a question, we won’t wish I had.”
“Right,” Dora said. It was a little scary to her that Evie was thinking more logically than she was.
Even more scary was the little growl Evie let out when Tom returned with two overflowing platters of food.
“Down girl,” she muttered to Evie as her friend dove into her ribs.
“I thought of something else,” Tom said as he sat down at their table as if they’d invited him to join them again. “While I was in the kitchen, one of the dishwashers was talking about his second job mowing lawns, and I remembered hearing that Kyle went to work doing landscaping for some real estate mogul. That guy who has that show about making money off rentals. Roland something or other.”
“Roland Mitchem?” Dora asked vaguely recalling some show she’d seen in the waiting room of the dentist’s office.
“Yeah. That’s him.”
“Oh!” Evie said with her mouth full of food. She held up her hand to cover her mouth and mumbled. “Great show.” She then let out a moan and reached for another rib, clearly more interested in her meal than the tip they’d just gotten.
“Thanks, Coach. That’s really helpful,” Dora said as she tried not to recoil in horror over the little moans of satisfaction Evie was making over her food.
“Tom,” the waitress said when she came to their table. “You’re wanted in the kitchen.”
“Right.” He smiled at Evie, who was licking her fingers and had a face covered in barbeque sauce as if she were a small child who didn’t feel it. “Call me.” He gave her a wink, making Dora think there was something seriously wrong with the man or that perhaps he had a sauce fetish.
“See?” Evie said after she washed down her food with a drink of her Bloody Mary.
“Fine. He did know more.” Dora noticed Sunshine lying in a patch of sun, one paw on her belly and the other one over her eyes. If she’d been human, Dora would’ve been sure she was sick to her stomach. She must not be impressed with her mistress’s table manners either. “Sunshine?” she asked.
The dog moved her paw and turned her head to look at them, and the expression made Dora wonder if the little pup was sick. “Are you okay, girl?”
Sunshine let out a sigh and placed her paw over her eyes again.
“She’s sunbathing,” Evie said just before she shoved a huge forkful of potato salad into her mouth.
Dora wasn’t so sure and got up to move to the dog’s side. “Are you working on your tan, girl?”
When Sunshine reached her paws in the air in a deep stretch, Dora realized she probably was. She patted her belly and then leaned down to give her a kiss on her nose. “Always the drama queen.”
“It’s part of her charm,” Evie said as she let out a sigh. “My god, I just can’t get over how good these ribs are.”
Dora sat back down at the table, and when Evie reached for some of her food, she pushed her plate toward her friend. She figured the sooner they got out of there the sooner she could research Kyle Young and look for why he may have been killed.
15
Evie let out a sigh as she drove the bus down the highway toward a campground for the night. She was almost as surprised about how much barbeque she’d eaten as Dora was. What could Evie say? It had been an eating day. The kind where it was impossible to feel full.
After the Bigfoot experience, Dora and she had decided it would be best to get to a campground while there was still plenty of daylight. They even remembered to call and make a reservation so they wouldn’t end up in a flooded pit like the night before.
She glanced over at Dora as she took a wide curve and asked, “Find anything yet?”
“I’m trying, but cell connection is spotty. There’s a newspaper article linked to Kyle’s name that’s loading right now.”
After finding out Matt’s real name was Kyle Young, they were tempted to google him right away, but they figured it would be better if they investigated the guy out of sight from his old football coach. Tom Johnson had payed Evie close attention, even while she was eating as if she hadn’t had a meal in weeks.
“Finally—” Dora glanced at Evie and frowned. “You’ve still got sauce on your face.”
“So?” Evie said defensively as she reached up, felt for the stray food, and scratched at the crusted sauce on her cheek. “Just read the article.”
After a moment, Dora shook her head. “Boring. Just a small-town sports column about a football game. He was mentioned for some play he made.”
“Try his name along with Roland Mitchem and see if anything comes up.”
“Already on it,” Dora said as her finger tapped on the phone. They were in a pocket where reception was good, and her search provided results right away. “Whoa. Looks like Mr. Mitchem is known for more than his real estate investments. His wife was murdered.”
“What?” Evie asked as all sorts of theories about Kyle raced through her head.
“Says here the woman was shot and they are investigating the murder.”
Evie exchanged a look with Dora as she thought about Kyle’s journal entry that spoke about hearing a gun go off. Perhaps he had witnessed the murder. “What else is there?”
“Oh, this might be interesting,” Dora said. “A celebrity gossip blog about Nadine Mitchem’s death.” Dora began to read the
sensational article out loud, and when she got to the part where the columnist mentioned a handsome gardener as one of the suspects, she paused. “They could mean Kyle.”
“Keep reading!” Evie demanded, wishing she were manning the phone instead of driving.
“Definitely Kyle.” Dora held up the phone for Evie to see a picture of Kyle in what appeared to be a surveillance photo from some paparazzi.
The guy was shirtless and digging in a garden. “Nice. We hit the jackpot. Think Nadine had a thing for him?”
“Maybe. Or maybe he had a thing for her and it didn’t work out so well. Since we’re pretty sure he was running, I think we’ve figured out what happened.”
“Me too,” Evie said. “Now we just have to find out why.”
Evie’s skin itched, and as she ran her hand through her greasy hair, she shuddered with revulsion. She felt as if they’d been on the road for hours, but really it was still before noon and they were only a few miles away from Windy’s compound.
“How is it you still have barbeque sauce on your face?” Dora said from the passenger’s seat.
Evie glanced in the rearview mirror. “Where?”
“By your right ear.”
She ran a hand over her skin, fingered the dry sauce, and yearned for a nice long shower. They campground spot they’d been the previous night had been a lovely location. Unfortunately, Evie hadn’t enjoyed it much. She’d woken up with a barbeque-induced stomachache and spent way too much time in the campground bathroom, listening to disturbing nighttime sounds.
“All I want to do is take a nap.” Dora stretched her arms over her head and let out a little moan.
Evie tightened her grip on the wheel and kept her eyes fixed on the winding road. If they didn’t get to Windy’s cabin soon, she was going to stop and jump in the river, fully clothed and all. It would be better than the way she felt at the moment.
“Relax. We’re almost there,” Dora said.
Evie glanced at her friend. “Easy for you to say. You actually got a shower last night before the waterline broke, leaving me high and dry in the shower. I bet you feel great. I feel like I’ve been rolling around in pig slop.”
“You don’t look like it. Well, except for that barbeque sauce in your ear.” She cracked a grin.
“Shut it. You’re not helping.” Evie scowled and leaned forward as she took the sharp turn that led to Windy’s long driveway.
Dora cackled and ran a hand down Sunshine’s back. The little dog was curled in Dora’s lap without a care in the world.
The moment they pulled into the compound, Windy came out of her cabin and headed straight for the bus.
Evie rolled her window down. “Hey, Windy. We got some good information.”
Sunshine whined, jumped into Evie’s lap, and then placed her paws on the driver’s door as she wiggled her tail, clearly saying hello to Windy.
“Hey, sweetie. Did you miss me?” Windy tugged Sunshine from the car and cradled her against her chest as she snuggled her.
“Looks like it,” Evie said dryly, mentally telling herself it was petty to be jealous. It didn’t work though, and she contemplated snatching her dog back. Instead, she kept her hands glued to the steering wheel.
“We’ve got a bond,” Windy said, sporting a smile that took a good ten years off her features. And just like that, Evie felt bad for her attitude. Windy had been working her pot farm for much of her life while staying isolated from the public. Who was she to begrudge the woman a little joy with Sunshine?
“What did you find out?” Windy asked.
“For starters, we learned that Matt’s real name was Kyle Young.”
“Huh,” Windy said as she tucked a lock of long silver hair behind her ear. “That’s solid information. Good job, ladies.”
“We have more to tell you, but I need a shower in the worst way.” Evie said. “Do you want to spend some time with Sunshine while we go get cleaned up?”
“Sure. That would be great,” Windy said. “But first the pigs and chickens need to be fed.” She gestured to the work truck they used around the farm. “It’s ready to go. The rest should be easy.”
Easy, right. Evie turned to look at the truck and honestly felt like she was going to cry. It had been a long drive, and her stomach was still a little queasy after the barbeque overdose. If she took one whiff of the slop, she was likely to start dry heaving.
Dora put a hand on Evie’s leg. “Why don’t you go ahead and get a shower. I’ll take care of the pigs and chickens.”
“Seriously?” Now Evie did tear up.
“Seriously. Go.”
“Thanks.” Evie made her way to the cabin for a long hot shower while Dora went to the barn.
Warmth beat down on Evie’s shoulders as steam curled up into the air of the cabin’s small bathroom. She let the heat of the water soothe her aching muscles from the long drive as well as rinse away three days’ worth of travel grime. She recalled the entry in Kyle’s journal where he described his reoccurring nightmare. One that had him witnessing a woman crying out for her life. But was it a life he took, or did he just see it happen?
She was anxious to read the journal entry again now that she had more information and see if anything jumped out. So anxious she actually cut her shower short so she could work on putting together the pieces of why Kyle may have been running.
Evie was curled up on her bed reading Kyle’s dream recollection for the fifth time when Dora walked in. She looked up at her friend. “This can go either way.”
“What can?” Dora asked.
“I’ve been reading Kyle’s dream about the gunshot and the woman lying in a pool of blood. It’s not entirely clear if he did it or he witnessed it.”
“It’s also a dream. Those take twisted paths, and who knows what parts are fact and what parts are fiction?”
“True,” Evie said as she leaned back against the wall to flip through more of Kyle’s journal.
Dora said, “Windy wants to talk to us once I take a quick shower. The good news is Simon’s making us something delicious for dinner.”
Evie grimaced. “As long as it’s not barbeque.”
Dora chuckled. “Fish and veggies.”
“Perfect. One can never eat too much of that.” But of course, you could, Evie thought as she heard the tap squeak when Dora turned on the shower. Too much power, too much lust, too much greed led to things like Nadine Mitchem’s and Kyle Young’s deaths. And that could be the very key to figuring out the crime they were trying to solve.
16
Dora sipped on a crisp, tart sauvignon blanc as she sat across from Windy and next to Evie at the kitchen table. Simon was at the stove with pans simmering and sputtering as they settled in to discuss the trip to Wheatonville and what they’d learned about Kyle.
“Kyle, huh?” Windy said. “Matt suited him better. Kyle sounds like a pretty-boy name.” She chuckled. “Prom king.”
“He might have been,” Evie said. “He was quite a good football player who had his career cut short by an injury.”
“Well, what do you know?” Windy said as she lifted her wine glass for a sip. “I never would’ve guessed he was a jock type. He was more of an introvert who kept to himself.”
Dora thought about Windy’s impression of Kyle and wondered if he might’ve been be a good actor hiding a dangerous secret. “His behavior seems a little suspicious, and even more so based on something we found in his journal.”
Evie placed the journal she’d been holding on the table with a soft thump and opened it up to the dream entry for Windy to read.
The woman grabbed a pair of reading glasses out of the front pocket of her overalls and read the page. When she was done, she looked at Dora and Evie. “That’s disturbing. He must have been so tortured.”
“I agree,” Evie said. “The thing is though, we can’t tell why. Either he saw that murder—"
“Or he did it,” Dora interrupted. Not to be cruel, but to be sure they didn’t base their the
ories on emotions alone.
Windy shook her head. “I’m not convinced he shot the woman in his dream. It could be that he witnessed it, was about to be framed, and ran away.” Her gaze darted between Dora and Evie. “I think we all understand how situations like that can happen.”
“We do,” Dora agreed. “I also think we have to remember that journal entries and dreams don’t necessarily speak the absolute truth.”
Windy’s eyes narrowed at Dora, and there was definite tension in the air when Evie steered them in a different direction. “We learned Matt was Kyle through his football coach, Tom Johnson. He told us that Kyle and his mother moved from Wheatonville after Kyle graduated. Seems he wasn’t sure what to do with himself after his college football dream ended. Tom heard Kyle had taken a job landscaping for a guy named Roland Mitchem.”
“Roland Mitchem?” Simon asked. He turned from the stove to face the group. “The famous one?”
Dora nodded, recalling the picture she’d seen of Kyle working on Roland’s grounds.
Simon said, “He was the star of Flophouse Finds. Great show. Sketchy guy, though.”
“How so?” Dora asked.
“Apparently, he’s had a few wives who died untimely deaths. Maybe he’s your killer.”
“Really?” Dora grabbed the phone to google more information.
“You might not find it on the internet easily,” Windy said. “I’m pretty sure a guy like that can bury information if he wants to.”
She’d know, thought Dora, as Evie said, “You might be right.”
Dora frowned at her phone when she came up empty handed with the search-term string wives of Roland Mitchem. “She is right. I’m not finding anything about Roland’s marriages.”
“Hang on.” Simon wiped his hand on his apron before he yanked his cell out of his back pocket. “I think I remember where I read it.” After a moment, he said, “Found it.”
Evie grabbed the phone, and both Windy and Dora read the article over her shoulder. It was another online celebrity gossip magazine, but the information was backed up with images of death certificates that seemed credible.