Chaos in California

by Lucy Quinn

“You can?” Dora asked without thinking.

  “Of course I can. I was a nursing aid for six weeks, remember? While I was there, I helped a nurse stitch up no less than half a dozen patients.” She turned to Fiona. “I have a real steady hand, too. If you have a needle and thread, or even fishing line, I could take care of that for you.”

  “Stitch it for me?” There was horror on her face as she shook her head. “No. I’m not letting a lunatic near me with a needle.”

  Evie shrugged one shoulder. “Guess I can’t blame you there. But I swear I’m not usually this crazy.” She let out a chuckle. “Pregnancy hormones are as insane as everyone says they are.”

  Fiona frowned at her, and then a slow smile formed on her face before she chuckled herself. “My girlfriend got a little psycho when she was pregnant, too.”

  “It’s wild, right?” Evie said in commiseration that wasn’t actually far off the mark. “Do you have super glue?”

  “Yeah.” Fiona eyed her suspiciously. “Why?”

  “If the cut isn’t too deep, that will do the trick.”

  Dora nodded. “She’s right. I’ve used it more than a few times myself. Worked like a charm and it leaves minimal scarring.”

  Fiona hesitated for a moment but then turned and disappeared into the back room again. It didn’t take long for her to return with a first aid kit and a tube of glue. She plopped onto the stool and held out her hand. “Do what you can. I can’t afford to go to the urgent care.”

  “I completely understand,” Evie said. After slipping a pair of the latex gloves on, she went to work on unraveling the makeshift bandage on Fiona’s hand.

  Dora had to look away. Doctoring wasn’t ever going to be one of her strong suits. She could barely stand getting blood drawn, much less watch gory movies on television. Besides, ever since the gun had gone off and her boss had been shot, the sight of blood made Dora want to throw up. She focused on cleaning up the mess, being extra careful to keep from slicing her own fingers with the broken glass.

  Just as Dora was getting ready to ask where she could find a broom, Evie said, “All done. Isn’t that better?”

  “You’ve really got the touch,” Fiona said, awe in her tone.

  Dora turned her attention on them. Fiona’s index finger was the only thing that was bandaged, and there wasn’t a spot of blood anywhere to be found. She smiled at Evie and mouthed, Good job.

  Sunshine, who was still cozied up with the Frenchie, let out a yelp of approval as well.

  Evie practically preened.

  “Really. You have a gift. Have you thought of being a nurse?” Fiona asked.

  “Me?” Evie pressed a hand to her heart and shook her head. “Oh, no. I’m going to be an act—”

  “Accountant,” Dora said, cutting her off and giving Evie a shut your mouth glare. The last thing they needed was for Fiona to find out Evie wanted to be an actress. Talk about inviting trouble.

  “Uh, right. Accounting. I just loooove numbers.”

  Way to oversell it, Dora thought, mentally rolling her eyes.

  “Oh.” Fiona wrinkled her nose. “That’s not what I pictured you doing. I would’ve thought something that involved dealing with people, like a massage therapist or something.”

  Evie and Dora’s eyes met, and while Dora’s face blazed with heat, Evie let out a tiny snicker. Then she covered it with a cough. “I did that once. There were a few clients that turned me off of the gig though. I’m not fond of gropey, sweaty guys who think massage is code for… well, you know.”

  “Ugh. Men can be so gross.” Fiona glanced around at the shop and nodded at how it had been restored to order. “That’s better. It doesn’t make up for my lost inventory, though. Some of those crystals are damaged goods now.”

  Dora wasn’t sure what exactly made them damaged. They were uncut and unpolished, but what did she know about crystals? Nothing. But she wouldn’t be surprised if Evie’s knowledge was PhD level. The girl was a walking encyclopedia of random facts.

  “I really am sorry about that,” Evie said again. “But speaking of gross men, would you mind answering a few more questions about Jared? I really do need to find him.”

  Fiona swept her gaze over them, and Dora noted a calculation in the woman’s eyes she hadn’t seen before. “I think you still owe me some labor to make up for the mess and mental duress you caused before I tell you anything else.”

  Mental duress? Dora mentally rolled her eyes. Besides the cut on her finger that couldn’t have actually been that bad if Evie had gotten the bleeding stopped so soon, there wasn’t a thing wrong with her. Dora was starting to think the woman was more conniving than she’d given her credit for.

  “Sure. Anything,” Evie said. Then, as almost an afterthought, she added, “Just as long as we keep this between us.”

  “Between us?” Fiona narrowed her eyes. “You mean, you don’t want me to tell Jared you tried to knock me out with a paperweight?”

  “Right,” Evie said. “But you know, also anyone else. Like, no need to file a report or anything.”

  Fiona let out a laugh that bordered on maniacal. “You mean you don’t want me to call the cops.”

  The clerk had gone from sweet and innocent, to blowing her lid, to calculating in the span of one hour, and Dora was uneasy. But once again they were stuck between a rock and a hard place. They needed information on Jared, and she was their only lead at the moment. Dora cleared her throat. “We’d appreciate it.”

  Fiona waved an unconcerned hand. “Don’t worry about them. Me and the sheriff aren’t exactly on the best terms. It’s better to leave him out of it.”

  This time it was Evie who was starting to catch on, and she said, “All right. Name your terms. What do we need to do in order to score information about my loser husband?”

  Fiona smiled a cat-that-caught-the-canary grin and said, “There are some loose shingles on the roof that need to be secured, and the gutters need cleaning. Take care of those, and I’ll tell you everything I know.”

  Evie let out a shocked gasp and pressed a hand to her abdomen. “You really expect a pregnant woman to go up on your roof?”

  Fiona tsked. “You’re not pregnant. Drop the act.”

  “How did you—” Evie started, giving herself away. Dora groaned while Fiona’s grin widened.

  “The tools are in the shed. Come find me when you’re done. I don’t know why you want info on Jared, but I guess I don’t really care as long as my roof stops leaking.”

  19

  “How do we get ourselves into these things?” Evie asked as she wiped the sweat from her brow. They’d been on the roof for less than thirty minutes, and already she was sweating up a storm. Although she had to admit it was more from nervousness than actual heat. The fog was starting to roll in over the shoreline, bring cooler air with it. At least Sunshine was still safely in the store, making eyes at the cute Frenchie.

  “We?” Dora mocked. “I’m not the one who—”

  “Threw the paperweight. Yeah, yeah. I get it. No need to keep reminding me,” Evie grumbled and shoved another pile of dead redwood needles into the garbage bag Fiona had given them. “When do you think she last had these gutters cleaned?”

  Dora, who was holding a hammer, peered over Evie’s shoulder and muttered, “Never? We’re suckers.”

  “That’s what I figured.” She sat back on her heels and eyed Dora’s progress. A few loose shingles had really been an entire section. And Evie was pretty sure no amount of nailing down anything was going to stop a leak. What Fiona needed was an actual roofer who could replace some rotting boards and seal up the area around her chimney. But she’d asked them to do a job, and they were apparently going to do it. No matter how grimy. Evie glanced at Dora again. “You have black gunk on your face.”

  “And you have pine needles in your hair,” Dora said without looking up. She lined up the hammer with the head of a nail, and with one swing, drove the nail into the shingle.

  “That was impressive,” E
vie said.

  “You’re not the only one with random skills.” Dora repeated the maneuver, and Evie couldn’t help but be impressed.

  “Dang, Dor. You’re a rock star at this.”

  Dora opened her mouth to say something, but the sound of a car pulling up to the shop had her closing it when she glanced over the edge. “It’s a black BMW.”

  Evie eyed the man who was unfolding himself from the driver’s side. He was tall with dark hair, and while he was wearing jeans and a polo shirt, everything about him screamed money. And even though she couldn’t see his face clearly, there was no doubt in Evie’s mind that the man walking into the gift shop was none other than Jared Mitchem.

  “It’s him,” Dora whispered.

  “Yeah. What should we do?” Evie’s instinct was to scramble off the roof, storm into the store, make a scene, and then demand to know everything about Kyle Young. But she also knew that way was a complete dead end. Guys like Jared didn’t respond to the troublesome females of the world. There was also the tiny detail that Jared had never seen Evie in his life, let alone had a relationship with her. It would be better to follow him somewhere away from Fiona and then show up scantily clad in a sexy outfit to get his attention. She figured she could flatter the information out of him.

  “It’s probably best to wait and watch for the moment,” Dora said.

  “Not from here. We need to be ready to follow him when he leaves,” Evie countered.

  “Right.” Nodding, Dora moved closer to the ladder that leaned against the roof on the back side of the building. “Keep an eye out while I climb down.”

  “I’m on it.” Evie kept her eyes locked on the door to the shop while Dora worked her way toward the ladder. But before Dora could reach it, Fiona started shouting and so did Jared. Fiona appeared to be angry about his unfaithfulness, and he was just as angry at her assumption that they were exclusive. They both flung insults at each other, and Evie was certain Jared was going to storm out at any second. “We need to get down to the car, now,” Evie insisted.

  “Right.” Dora started for the ladder once more, and just as her foot hit the top rung, she noticed the ruckus below had switched gears. The shouting had been replaced with loud grunting and moans of pleasure.

  “Dor? Are those sounds what I think they are?” Evie asked, pressing a hand to her throat.

  “Yep,” Dora said matter-of-factly. “No doubt about it. Those two are going at like two coeds in heat.”

  Evie let out a low growl as jealousy began to spike in her. “I knew I shouldn’t trust her. Can you believe, after all we’ve been through, she’s doing it with my guy?”

  “Evie,” warned Dora.

  She shook her head. “Right. Man, I’m good at getting into character, aren’t I?”

  “Yeah. And now I need you to get into a different one.”

  “The stealthy kind who can get off this roof and search Jared’s car while he’s busy?”

  “That’s the one.” Dora began to descend the ladder, and Evie followed her. Once they were on the ground, they approached the BMW Jared had arrived in.

  Evie said, “Jared’s a pretty boy. And rich enough to hire someone to do it for him. If he was the one who killed Kyle, I’m not sure he intended to.”

  “I agree,” Dora said as she used the bottom of her t-shirt to cover her fingers as she opened the passenger door of the car. She crouched down to peer under the seat.

  Evie imagined what might make someone throw a guy off a cliff. “So, if he accidently killed Kyle, tossing him off the cliff may have been to make it look like an accident.” She bent down to inspect the floor of the back seat.

  Dora moved to peer across the cushions at Evie. “If you don’t plan to kill, then you don’t have a weapon. What would you use in a pinch?”

  “Whatever’s in the trunk.” Evie smiled as she walked to the back of the car. “Like a lug wrench.” She lifted the trunk and located the hatch which revealed the spare tire, a jack, and a lug wrench. “Bingo.”

  “Use your shirt to lift it out,” Dora said.

  Evie shot her friend a glare. She was tempted to tell Dora they’d use hers, but she was still hot and sweaty from the roof work and was relieved to remove a layer. She disengaged the lug wrench from the jack kit it was nestled in. Twisting it around to inspect it, she said, “If he used this, he probably wiped it clean.”

  “You’d think, but is that a speck of something on the end there?”

  Evie squinted at the brown fleck that might have been a small blood spatter or just dirt. “Maybe. How do we find out without one of those fancy lights or something?”

  Dora smiled. “You’re not the only one who knows about first aid. We need hydrogen peroxide.”

  “Huh?”

  “Yep. Chemistry 101, well, 401 actually, and Sam Beaker. If we put hydrogen peroxide on blood it will turn pink.”

  Evie laughed. “Oh wow. I forgot about your little fling with the scientist. I’m never going to get over a chemist with the last name Beaker.”

  Dora laughed with her, but her expression turned to a frown quickly. “The only trouble is we’d have to get inside the shop to get the first aid kit.”

  Evie sighed and wondered how they were going to get past Fiona and Jared who were also inside. Along with Sunshine! “Is my dog still in the shop?”

  Dora and she glanced over at the trinket store just as Sunshine came sauntering out the partially open door with her collar askew and one ear flipped up.

  “Girl,” Evie crouched down for the approaching pup. “I don’t think I want to know what you just did.” She scooped up her dog and straightened her collar.

  “I’ve been saying that to you for years,” Dora said. “Maybe Sunshine is in heat.”

  “Can’t be. The shelter spayed her.”

  Dora’s eyebrows rose in skepticism before she leaned in and spoke to the pup. “Think you could sneak back into the shop and get something for us?”

  Sunshine tilted her head, but there was the mischievous glimmer in her eye that assured Evie the dog wouldn’t let them down. She said to her pup, “There’s a small brown bottle with the medicine kit. It’s on the shelf under the register. Think you can get it?”

  Sunshine let out a little yip and hopped out of Evie’s arms to trot back toward the store.

  Dora shook her head. “That dog is something else.”

  Evie knew she was referring to the human qualities Sunshine shouldn’t possess, but she was more concerned with the fact that Sunshine was acting like she was in heat and how that could be possible when the shelter had spayed her. “Don’t I know it.”

  20

  Dora knew Sunshine shouldn’t be able to understand more than simple commands, but somehow the dog managed to sneak past two adults in the throes of passion, rummage in a medicine kit, and come out of the souvenir shop with a small bottle of hydrogen peroxide in her mouth. She squatted down to retrieve the liquid from the pup. “Sunshine, you’re a marvel, girl.”

  Evie scooped up her dog and cooed, “She’s the best little puppy in the whole entire world. Yes, she is.”

  Dora was anxious to test for the blood on Jared’s lug wrench before he and Fiona finished their business. But she took a moment to do an internet search to make sure she knew how to do the test and then cursed when she realized she needed another solution to add the hydrogen-peroxide to in order for it to work. Chewing her bottom lip, she ran another search and sighed in relief when she saw a black light would do the job.

  “New plan,” she said. “We need a black light because this isn’t going to work. It says here the light will make the stain turn completely black, instead of glowing.”

  Evie cursed. “It figures that was too good to be true.” Glancing around, she eyed the VW Bug and with a hope and prayer, she opened the hood and started rummaging around in the contents. “Ah-ha! Thank Windy for her hippy ways.”

  “You’re kidding,” Dora exclaimed. “There’s really a black light in there?”
>
  “Yep.” Evie held it up and handed it to Dora.

  She grabbed the metal rod using Evie’s shirt, lowered it into the storage area of the Bug, and then flicked the light on. “That sure looks black to me.”

  Evie peered at the tiny speck. “That it does.” She grinned. “We’ve got him.”

  “Maybe,” Dora agreed. But if she’d learned anything in the past few weeks, she knew nothing was as easy as it seemed. “But we’d better be sure. Think we could finagle a confession out of him?”

  Evie nodded with an evil look in her eyes. “Think he’d be up for the promise of a threesome? Say in some remote area like near a cliff?”

  Dora grinned back. “I like how you think.”

  Sunshine let out a yip, hopped out of Evie’s arms, and ran toward the shop.

  “Dora,” Evie whispered.

  She knew why. The noise from the shop had ceased. Dora quickly replaced the lug wrench and returned the tire kit before shutting the trunk with a soft thud. She shoved the hydrogen peroxide bottle in her pocket just in time, because when she glanced toward the door, she noticed Jared emerging, looking as disheveled as Sunshine had been just a few minutes earlier.

  Panic made her suck in a breath before she remembered that Jared didn’t know who they were. Evie must have come to that conclusion too, because she whispered again, “Showtime.” Her friend puffed up her chest, which was covered by only a lacy white bra since they’d used Evie’s shirt to retrieve the lug wrench to avoid transferring their fingerprints. “Hey, there,” Evie said in a sing-song voice to Jared. “Is this your car?”

  The man’s gaze was on Evie’s assets when he answered. “Sure is, darlin’. Looking for a ride?”

  What a total player! Dora had all she could do to keep her revulsion for Jared to herself. And she pasted what she hoped was a sexy smile on her face. “You might say that,” she drawled out in her best attempt at being seductive.

  Sunshine emerged from the gift shop with a pair of pink fleece-lined leather handcuffs in her mouth and stopped in front of Dora with them. She picked up Sunshine as Evie made a show of checking Jared out. “How are you with a stick shift in overdrive?”