Whiskey and Gunpowder

by Liliana Hart

  “Bingo,” I said. I put everything back inside the freezer and pocketed the flash drives. There was no telling what was on it.

  I joined Rosemarie in the bedroom and she was going through his nightstand drawers.

  “Can you believe it?” she asked. “Not even a dirty magazine. How does a man in the prime of his life go without sex for ten years? I’ve never seen him with a woman or even look like he was interested in anyone. And believe me, I looked. Because that man is hot. I wouldn’t have minded being a preacher’s wife. Just like Whitney Houston in that movie. I like a good church choir.”

  “How would you have felt about being a murderer’s wife?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. I was pretty desperate there for a while after my divorce. Anyone would’ve looked good after Roger.”

  I looked under his mattress and beneath the bed. Rosemarie was right. There wasn’t anything even the least bit naughty. “Maybe when he became a preacher he really found God,” I said. “Maybe he’s on the up-and-up now and repented. I mean, he’s still going to go to jail, but at least he’s saved his soul.”

  I heard a noise from the living room and I froze. Rosemarie’s eyes got big and round and her head swiveled back and forth, like she was trying to decide whether to hide in the closet or crawl under the bed. If it was someone we’d known, surely they would’ve called out instead of trying to be sneaky.

  I put my finger up to my lips to signal her to be quiet and moved to the side of the door. The only weapon I could find was a small vase sitting on a secretary. I picked it up and held it over my head. Rosemarie made a little squeak and clapped her hand over her mouth.

  My heart was racing a mile a minute and I was going on pure instinct. I brought my hands down just as someone walked through the door. Before I knew it, my wrist was numb and the vase had fallen to the floor.

  Savage just stared at me and shook his head. “Aren’t you carrying a gun? That wouldn’t have been your first choice of weapon?”

  “I forgot,” I said, completely humiliated. “Besides, it’s too hard to get to.”

  “I’m sure the bad guys love that.”

  “Except it’s just you,” I said.

  “I can be bad,” he said, and then he winked.

  “Good Lord,” Rosemarie said and fanned herself.

  I rolled my eyes. “What’s going on?”

  “Crime scene team is here. Did you find anything?”

  “Yeah, the door was open and we thought there might have been a break-in. So we came in to make sure Pastor Charles was okay.”

  “That’s very neighborly of you,” Savage said.

  “And while we were looking for his body, I stumbled across these,” I said, handing him the flash drives. “They were right in the middle of the floor in plain sight.”

  “Careless of him to leave them laying around.”

  We followed Savage back outside, and I noticed the parking lot of the church was full of official-looking vehicles.

  “Now what?” I asked.

  “Did Charles have any close friends? Anyone he met with on a regular basis?” Savage asked. “If he’s not dead, then he’s close by. Cardonas is playing with him. He’s got eyes on him, and the dead body is a message. He knew Charles would see the body.”

  I called Beverly again.

  “Is he dead? Did you find him? I’m worried sick. My phone’s been ringing off the hook.”

  “We haven’t found him yet,” I said. “Did Pastor Charles have any close friends? Anyone he met with on a regular basis?”

  “He was friendly with everyone, of course.” Then she paused. “Ohmigoodness. I’m using past tense like he’s already dead.”

  “I’m sure he’s fine,” I lied.

  “Well,” she continued. “He’d have Bible study with a group of men on Tuesday mornings at the café.”

  “Do you know if he met with them this week?” I asked.

  “No, he had to cancel. He canceled all his appointments for this week or passed them on to Pastor Becky. She’s been doing double duty. And she’s scheduled to preach on Sunday too. Pastor Charles said he had some personal matters to take care of this week. I didn’t pry.”

  “Can you text me a list of the people he met with most often?” I asked. “Or whoever he was closest to?”

  “Sure, I’ll do my best.”

  She hung up and I relayed the conversation to Savage. “You said earlier that you had a theory,” I said. “What is it?”

  “Oh,” he said. “It was a theory about you. Not the case.”

  I looked at him quizzically. “What theory?”

  “You sure you want to know?” he asked.

  “Of course. Can’t wait to hear it.” Savage never got personal. I was expecting him to come up with some cockamamie reason Nick and I shouldn’t get married.

  “Okay,” he said. “I think you’re pregnant.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  I was having an out-of-body experience. That’s the only way I could think to describe what I was feeling. If I’d been capable of speech, I would’ve denied Savage’s theory. As it was, I couldn’t make my mouth form words.

  “Oh,” Rosemarie said, and then looked me up and down. “That makes sense. I knew she was acting more nuts than usual, but I figured it was the wedding.”

  I shook my head no, but I was frozen. I couldn’t be pregnant. And then I started doing some math in my head.

  “Think about it,” Savage said. “You cry at random times for no reason, your sense of smell is heightened and you’ve been nauseous. And I didn’t want to say anything, but your breasts are…” He made a gesture with his hands. “They seem bigger than normal.”

  “They’re huge,” Rosemarie said. “They look like they could feed the whole town.”

  “Ohmigod,” I said, looking down. They were right. Scarlet had jinxed me. I was going to have a seven-month baby. “What do I do?”

  “Well, I wouldn’t tell Nick until after you say ‘I do’,” Rosemarie said. “Just in case history tries to repeat itself.”

  “Maybe you should start with a pregnancy test,” Savage said. “Just to confirm.”

  “I can’t buy a pregnancy test in Whiskey Bayou,” I hissed, looking around just in case there was anyone to overhear. “Everyone in town will know before I walk out the door with it.”

  “I can’t do it either,” Rosemarie said. “Everyone knows I can’t have children. They’ll assume I’m buying it for Addison.”

  “You have to do it,” I told Savage. It was the first and only time I’d ever seen him completely taken aback.

  He had a deer-in-the-headlights look and took a step back. I grabbed his arm. “Please. I’ve got to know. I can’t wait.”

  “And while you’re doing that, I can get some pie,” Rosemarie said. “This has been a stressful day. I don’t know if we’re ready for a baby. I’m looking at a career change.”

  Savage blew out a breath. He was looking a little pale. “Fine,” he said. “Let’s go.”

  I was actually surprised he’d agreed. Now that this was happening, I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the outcome.

  “Park around the corner,” I said. “And then you head to the drugstore. Rosemarie and I will walk over to the cafe. After you go to the drugstore, walk back around the building like you’re going to your car and then cut across the alley to head back to the café. They’ll be watching to see which direction you go.”

  “This is way too complicated,” he said.

  “It’s Whiskey Bayou,” Rosemarie and I said in unison.

  Savage headed toward his Tahoe, and Rosemarie and I walked down the street to the café. It was a silent trip. I think both of us were in shock.

  When we walked into the café a roomful of people turned to look at us. It was the morning crowd, plus a few extras who were wanting to know what was happening over at the church.

  I was greeted with looks of horror as people took in my black eyes, and then a lot of enthusiastic hellos and
mentions of the wedding. Nothing could dampen the potential for an open bar. Everyone was looking forward to the party. It looked like there would be a party whether there was a wedding or not. Now that we were without a location, things were looking grim again.

  “We’ll figure out something,” Rosemarie said, reading my mind. “Even if we have to do the ceremony outdoors. We’ll just bundle up good. All that matters is that you’re married. One way or another. Especially now,” she said out of the side of her mouth and pointed to my stomach.

  There was a corner booth available back by the restrooms, so we took a seat and waited for someone to come by and take our order. Two waitresses were bustling about, trying to keep up with refills and getting orders filled. Jolene came out of the kitchen carrying a tray of food and delivered it to a table not far from us. When she was done she headed in our direction.

  “Good grief,” she said. “What happened to your face?”

  “Had a runner,” I said. “Just part of the job.”

  “Huh,” she said. “Never happened to Magnum P.I. Going to look like the Corpse Bride come tomorrow night. Hope you got a thick veil.”

  “She’s got drag queen makeup,” Rosemarie said. “It’s like putting Kilz all over your face. Nothing shows through.”

  “Good to know,” she said. “We’re busier than usual this morning. Heard there was a body found over at the church. When I realized you and that sexy FBI hunk were in town I figured you’d know the details. Where is he?”

  “Doing FBI stuff,” I said. “We don’t know much right now. All I can tell you is it’s not Pastor Charles or anyone else local.”

  Her lips pinched tight and she turned our coffee mugs over, filling them up with the pot she carried. I turned a third one over and had her fill that one for Savage.

  “Well, that’s good news at least,” she said.

  “Has anyone seen Pastor Charles?” I asked.

  “I put the word out like you asked,” she said. “Mitzi Gerbauch said she thought she saw him driving a maroon Buick yesterday afternoon. She thought it was weird because she’d never seen the car before.”

  I figured Charles had spent a good part of his life in hiding. He was probably pretty good at disappearing when he wanted to and moving under the cover of darkness.

  “Y’all want anything to eat?” she asked.

  Now that she mentioned it, my stomach was pretty empty after the egg incident.

  “I’ll have a full breakfast,” I said. “Eggs scrambled. And apple pie instead of the pancakes.”

  “I’ll have the same,” Rosemarie said. “And some antacids.”

  Jolene headed back toward the kitchen, and I watched as Savage came through the door. You’d never know by looking at him what he’d just been doing. He looked calm, cool, and totally in control.

  He made eye contact and headed toward us. Instead of sliding into the booth he grabbed an empty chair and pulled it up to the end of the table.

  “Please never ask me to do that again,” Savage said.

  “I can’t imagine there’d be more than one occasion for it,” I said. “Did you get it?”

  “It’s in my pocket. I didn’t want to carry the bag in.”

  “That’s smart,” Rosemarie whispered. “I can see why you’ve excelled in the FBI.”

  “Just drop it in my purse.” I held my bag open underneath the table and Savage dropped it inside. Then I excused myself and headed to the bathroom.

  I’d had a pregnancy scare once before, so I was experienced at test-taking. Once I’d finished my business, I put the test back in the bag and shoved it in my purse. And then I washed my hands and went back to the table. My heart was hammering in my chest like a jackrabbit.

  “Well?” Rosemarie asked.

  “I’ve got to wait five minutes,” I said. “It’s in my bag. Did you order?” I asked Savage.

  “Pie,” he said. “It’s definitely a pie kind of day.”

  I smiled. It was good to know I could rattle Savage about something.

  “Thanks for doing that, by the way,” I said. “That goes above and beyond friendship.”

  “Yeah, well,” he said. “I’ve got a sister. I recognize the signs well. I hope everything works out for you.”

  There was something in his voice that caught my attention, but I couldn’t interpret it. I was having trouble focusing. All I wanted to do was check the results. I looked at the timer I’d set on my phone. Two minutes left.

  Savage checked his phone. “It looks like there was ID on the victim,” he said. “Probably a fake if he’s an associate of Charles. But we’ll run his prints. I’m willing to bet he’s already in the system. They grabbed prints from the rectory too and should be able to confirm that Charles and Carlos Rodriguez are one and the same.”

  “What about the flash drives?” I asked.

  “Agent Scott just looked at the first one. It’s an address book with current names and location of cartel members. It wasn’t password protected. We don’t know about the second one yet.”

  “So basically we have two murderers on the loose,” I said. “Jolene told me Pastor Charles was seen driving a maroon Buick. Could belong to the victim from the church.”

  “I’ll check it out,” he said. It’s not your problem. It’s in the FBI’s hands now. You can still get married with a clear caseload.”

  Jolene came out of the kitchen with another tray and all our food stacked up, and she slid plates in front of us with practiced ease. She filled our cups, winked at Savage, and then took off again.

  I checked my phone again, butterflies racing in my stomach, and then I dug into the pie. Sometimes you needed dessert first, and this was one of those times.

  “I can’t stand it anymore,” Rosemarie said. “It’s like how they always cut to commercial right before he gives the rose on The Bachelor.”

  I finished my pie and then saw my timer had run out. It was the moment of truth. I opened my bag and rummaged inside the little paper bag where I’d dropped the test. And I looked at the results.

  “It’s positive,” I said softly. And then I looked at Savage and Rosemarie.

  Rosemarie burst into noisy tears and grabbed a bunch of napkins from the dispenser. “I’m so happy,” she said, sobbing into the napkins. “I’ve got to go compose myself.” She scooted out of the booth and ran to the bathroom, leaving me alone with Savage.

  “Congratulations,” he said.

  I kind of wanted to cry myself. Nick was going to freak out. We hadn’t even really talked about having kids. At least not seriously. It was always one of those later down the road conversations.

  “Thanks. I’m kind of numb.”

  “It’s definitely an adjustment,” he said.

  “What’s going on with you?” I asked. “I mean, really. I thought you were taking time off this week, but you’ve been all over this case. You just seem…different.”

  He sighed and took a bite of pie, choosing his words, I hoped, instead of choosing not to answer personal questions.

  “I needed some time off to think,” he said. “I’ve been offered a job heading up a special task force. I’d be in charge of the FBI field office, but I’d also be working closely with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. There are lots of drugs and other things passing through the reservation, but because of the laws it’s not easy to stop it. It would definitely be new and exciting. And a step in the right direction career-wise.”

  “That’s great,” I said. “But?”

  “But I’d have to relocate to South Dakota.”

  “Oh, wow,” I said. “That’s far. What’s stopping you?”

  He looked at me for a long time and then finally said, “Nothing anymore. I’ve decided to take the job.”

  I needed some alone time after the morning I’d had, so once we were back at the agency I got in the van and drove to Tybee Island. I parked on the beach and watched the waves come in.

  I had no idea how to tell Nick I was pregnant. Would he be angry? We wer
e just getting started. Just figuring things out. And now we were going to bring a baby into the fold. What was I going to do with my career? I couldn’t go getting punched in the face or falling out of trees nine months pregnant.

  Everything was changing too fast, and I was completely overwhelmed. I had a good, long cry and then I fell asleep.

  When I woke up it was getting dark and a police officer was shining his light in my face through the window. We both jumped. I guess he’d thought I was dead and I surprised him when I moved.

  I assured him everything was okay, and that the black eyes were nothing to be concerned about. And then I drove back home. There was nothing else I could do but wake up the next morning and hope that I was married by the end of the day.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Friday

  I knew something was weird before I opened my eyes the next morning. I laid in the dark with my eyes closed, trying to use my other senses and evaluate the situation.

  I remembered going to bed the night before and Nick coming in sometime later. He’d been excited because they’d been able to get warrants and there were a lot of very angry rich people about to have their lives turned upside down. The neighbor’s security cameras had proved helpful and it looked like a professional team had been hired to kill the Haywoods. Nick had been confident that between the pressure from his grandfather and what was being discovered during the investigation, that someone would eventually go down for murder.

  Nick had been pretty revved up with the news and in the mood to fool around, but I’d pretended to be too sleepy because all I could think about was the baby. I was afraid if I opened my eyes he’d somehow know.

  He’d left before the sun had come up and told me he had to wrap up some things before the wedding, and that he’d meet me at the church. I was perfectly okay with this. The more time I had to avoid the matter at hand, the better.

  “I’ll pick up the rings,” he said on the way out.

  I knew Nick was gone, but it still felt like I wasn’t alone. I cracked open an eye and screeched when I saw Scarlet’s face, barely an inch from mine.