I had a hard time believing that she’d have taken his SUV that night, though. Heck, I had a hard time imagining her leaving her house and going to the hotel. However, I couldn’t be sure.
What if she really had killed Blake, and I made her nervous? We might be newfound relatives, but if Joyous did kill her brother, we weren’t well enough acquainted for me to know if she’d hesitate to kill a fifth cousin to cover her tracks.
The door opened and the doctor came in. She stopped, put her hands on her hips, and tsked. “Ellie, I hear your posterior met with a hard concrete surface at a rather high velocity this afternoon.”
I smiled, and found myself relaxing. “That’s one way to put it.”
“Shall we take a look?”
Dr. Eliza Scott was a tall African-American woman pushing fifty who wore her gray-streaked hair in a thick braid down her back. Her compassionate eyes viewed the world from behind thick black-framed glasses, and she always seemed to smell faintly of strawberries.
I did not hop onto the table, but did climb slowly. The doctor poked and prodded and moved my legs this way and that, all the time quizzing me about whether it hurt here or there or more or less.
Finally, we were done, and she proclaimed, “You have a severe hematoma, but that will heal. Nothing’s broken. We’ll take a few films to make sure everything is okay with your spine, though. Better safe than sorry, you know. Oh, and let me write you out a prescription for painkillers.”
She looked up at me from under her brows as she tore off a sheet from prescription pad. “You’re going to want them tonight, for sure.” She turned and rustled through a drawer. “Here are a couple of sample packets in case you just want to go right home.”
I sighed and slid off the table. “After the x-rays can I see Astrid?”
She checked her watch. “Sure. The muscle relaxant should be wearing off in another twenty or thirty minutes. When it does, you can take her home.”
“Thanks, Eliza.”
She smiled and patted my shoulder. “You’re very welcome.”
A nurse I’d never met before came in and led me to the x-ray room. When that was finished, she said they’d contact me if there were any problems and took me to see my friend.
At least Astrid was in a real bed, in a nice room that, while small, looked more like a hotel room than a recovery room in a clinic.
She saw me come in and raised her head. Instantly, it fell back to the pillow, and she closed her eyes. “I’m a little woozy,” she said.
“Don’t worry. Doc Scott said you’ll feel better in twenty minutes or so.”
“Muscle relaxer,” she slurred. “I know. God, I can’t think straight.”
“I’ll stay with you, and then when you’re ready, you can come home with me.”
Her eyes widened in alarm. “Oh, no no no no, Ellie. Not that.”
My brow knitted. “What’s wrong with my place?”
“Ooooh, that staircase.” She made a swirling gesture with her hand. “It’s so twisty! Whew! It makes me dizzy to think about it.”
I laughed. “You don’t have to go upstairs. The love seat folds out. It’s super comfy, and the television is right there, too.”
She blinked. “Oh. Well, then that’s fine.” Her eyes started to drift closed, then snapped open. “Can I watch Game of Thrones?”
Smoothing her hair back from her face, I said, “All night long, if you want.”
“Mmmkay, then.”
In seconds, she was snoring.
I was itching to go see Harris and find out what he knew about Vaughn Newton, but Astrid needed me. I needed to get her settled at home first. I looked at my watch. After two. There was plenty of time.
I waited for a whole five minutes before I couldn’t take it any longer. Waving at the ebullient receptionist, I went out through the peach-and-maroon waiting room to the parking lot and called Lupe.
“They weren’t out at the Sontag place,” she said without benefit of greeting.
“Vaughn Newton and Polly?” I asked.
“Right. I’ve gone by the real estate office, and they don’t have any idea when Polly will be back. I called the number the receptionist gave me, but she isn’t answering.”
“Polly loves her cell phone,” I said. “It’s strange that she’d not answer.”
“I plan to keep trying,” she said. “Listen, I have to go. Max wants to talk to me.”
“Ugh. Sorry.”
“Yeah, me, too. Later.”
I called Colby next. He answered on the second ring.
“Els, I don’t know what you did, but Larken is back here with me.” The relief in his voice was palpable.
“I almost got run down in the street,” I said.
“What?”
“You mean the news hasn’t reached you guys yet? An attempted hit-and-run in front of Scents and Nonsense. There’s a good chance that whoever was behind the wheel was aiming for me, and since I’m pretty sure I haven’t made anyone that mad by making perfume, it must have something to do with Sontag’s murder. Lupe thinks I’m getting too close to the truth.”
“My God, Ellie. Are you okay? Did they hit you?”
Ruefully, I rubbed my backside. “I’m fine. Astrid has a dislocated shoulder, but the doctor fixed her up and we’re heading home soon.”
“If I hadn’t asked you to help Larken—”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I called to find out whether you reached that lawyer.”
“Not yet.”
“Well, keep trying. It would be nice to have someone on retainer if we need them, but Larken might be out of the woods since she was being questioned by the police when I was almost hit. Hard to ask for a better alibi than the police themselves.”
I heard him take a shaky breath. “Thanks, sis. I’m glad you’re okay. Do you think it would help if we left town?”
“No, Colby, I do not think that would help.”
“Okay, okay. What do you need me to do?”
“Just sit tight,” I said. “I’ll call if we need anything. I’ll be taking Astrid to my house to recuperate in just a few minutes.”
We hung up. As I turned to go back inside, I realized we had a slight logistical problem.
• • •
ASTRID was awake when I came back into her room. Not only awake, but sitting on the edge of the bed and sliding her feet into her Birkenstocks. Her arm was held immobile by a royal blue sling. She looked tired, but otherwise back to my old Astrid.
“I’m ready to go,” she said.
“Me, too,” I said. “Unfortunately, Lupe gave me a ride, so we don’t have a car.”
She sighed.
“Don’t worry. I’ve called Spence. He’ll be here any minute.”
She looked surprised but didn’t comment.
There were lots of people I could have called, of course. Colby would have come and picked us up, but I knew he’d have to pack up everything in the Westfalia first. Not only would that be a pain, it would probably take a while, and I wanted to get going.
Astrid signed some paperwork at the desk, and we went out to wait on the bench in front of the clinic. Spence pulled up within less than a minute. We bundled my friend into the back of his rental sedan, and I slid tentatively into the passenger seat.
“You were right about the dislocated shoulder,” I said. Astrid murmured agreement from the behind us.
“And your . . . back?” Spence asked.
“All x-rayed. Doctor Scott thinks it’s fine. Did you get another sandwich from Kneadful Things?”
He nodded.
“What kind?” I asked.
A snort sounded from the backseat.
His lips twitched. “Ham and Swiss on marble rye with avocado, alfalfa sprouts, mustard, and mayo.”
“Wow.”
As
trid giggled. “You are so weird, Ellie.”
“She’s still kind of drugged up,” I said in a low voice.
“I see,” he said, a smile still tugging at his lips.
We’d reached the end of Corona by Scents & Nonsense. A small school bus was parked in front, painted white and decorated with green trim.
“Oh, no,” I groaned. “It’s the church bus from Silver Wells. They usually let me know when they’re going to be here.” For all I knew, they had. I hadn’t exactly been checking my e-mail as faithfully as usual.
“What’s the problem?” Spence asked.
“I closed the shop. Darn it. They spend a ton whenever they show up.”
We got out, and I heard voices coming from behind the store.
“Oh, they wouldn’t.” I shook my head. “They wouldn’t just go into the garden if I wasn’t here, if the store was closed. Would they?”
Swearing under my breath, I abandoned Astrid to Spence and trotted to the half-open gate. I pushed inside to find two dozen people milling around the Enchanted Garden. Adults pointed out the fairy gardens to children, and more than one hand clutched one of Astrid’s dandelion cookies.
Wait a minute. How did these people get cookies?
“Ellie’s back!”
I turned to see Maria standing on the back patio. Gessie stood beside her, and I saw Thea pass by inside the open sliding door.
The librarian hurried over. “Maggie called. Said you needed help.” She blew a wisp of hair out of her eyes. “Boy, I’ll say. This crowd is buying up everything. Oh, there’s Astrid!” she said looking over my shoulder. “Honey, is that bulldog one of yours?”
“Sure is,” Astrid called.
Tears stung my eyes. It had been a long and strange day already. I’d reconnected with my boyfriend, gained a cousin, almost been killed, eliminated at least one murder suspect in Tanner Spence, and seen my best friend lying in the street, injured. Not to mention my own bruises.
But this simple, practical gesture, and by so many of my friends, to step in and take care of my business when I couldn’t—it undid me.
I let out a sob, but managed to clamp a hand over my own mouth as a couple of customers looked over.
“Come on,” Spence said, and guided both Astrid and me down the path to my house. He nodded to people as we went, friendly but not inviting comment.
I fumbled out my keys and got the door open. Dash and Charlie greeted us at the door. Spence closed the door behind us, and led Astrid to a chair.
“This sofa folds down, as I recall,” he said.
Her eyebrows climbed her forehead.
My laugh was shaky, but it damped down the urge to cry. “The tiny house article, remember? Spence knows all the space-saving features of this house.”
“Uh-huh,” she said.
He just grinned.
“Jeez, you two,” I muttered.
He helped me unfold the bed. Then he took the dogs out back to let them run in the meadow for a few minutes while I got her situated. When he brought them back inside, he headed for the front door. “See you later.”
“Wait!” I said.
“You need a ride someplace?”
“No, it’s not that. I just wanted to say thanks. You know—again.”
“You’re welcome again,” he said. “And I’m still going to call.” He waggled his eyebrows and went out, closing the door behind him.
“What a great guy,” Astrid said from the love seat behind me. “Not to mention hot.”
“Here,” I said and reached toward the shelf by the television. “Let me show you how to use the remote.”
CHAPTER 22
WITH her blessing, I left Astrid on my sofa with Charlie and Dash on either side to keep her company. She was drowsily watching the television when I slipped out the door.
The church bus had loaded up and trundled away, leaving me with a till full of sales, and a store in disarray. I didn’t care about the mess.
“You guys are so awesome,” I said. “Thank you for coming to my rescue.”
“Pshaw,” Gessie said. “You’d do the same for me. Heck, I think you might have found me a full-time employee, if I can get her to stay.”
“Larken?” Thea asked.
Gessie nodded. “The girl doesn’t know everything, but she’s smart as a whip and willing to learn.”
“I like her,” Thea said. “Colby chose well.”
“I think so, too,” I said. “But she’s not out of danger yet. Not until Blake Sontag’s real killer is found.”
“You let us know if there’s anything we can do, okay?” Thea said.
“Well . . .”
“Spit it out,” Gessie said.
“I hate to ask, but I think Harris might know something about this whole business.”
Maria let out a low whistle. “You’re kidding.”
“I don’t know for sure. But I’d like to go talk to him.”
“And you need us to keep watching the store.”
“You’ve already done so much,” I said. “And all those sales! It’ll be okay if I close—”
“Nonsense,” Maria said. “We don’t have any programs going on at the library until this evening. My assistant can take care of things.”
Gessie nodded. “I can stay for another hour or so, but then I have a lesson.”
“I have a delivery to make, but I can come back in an hour,” Thea said.
My eyes grew hot again. I coughed. “Thanks. I don’t think I’ll be gone too long.”
“You’re going to the Roux?” Thea asked. When I nodded, she said, “Get yourself a burger. You don’t eat enough.”
“I am kind of hungry. Can I bring anyone back anything?”
They all turned me down. As I went to leave, Thea followed me. “I’ll walk you out.”
On the boardwalk, she stopped me. “You and Ritter okay? When I talked to him he sounded pretty down.”
I smiled. “We talked this morning. Now that they have phone and Internet, I think we’re going to be fine.”
“Glad to hear it. You two are good together.”
“I think so, too,” I said. “I’ll see you later.”
• • •
OLDER Jeeps are not known for providing a smooth ride, and the Wrangler was no exception. For all I knew, the shocks had never been changed. I sure hadn’t had it done, and now I regretted that fact with every bump in the road, every pothole and manhole cover, and every raised crosswalk on the six-block drive to the Roux Grill.
It was too late for the lunch crowd, and too early for the happy hour crowd, but there were customers all the same. A few were scattered in the outdoor seating with cool drinks and appetizers. An Australian shepherd lazed at the feet of one couple, supplied with a water bowl from the restaurant.
Rhonda was taking their order and saw me. She waved with the tips of her fingers and gave me a look as if we had a secret. In a way we did. Not everyone knew what it felt like to discover a murder victim.
The cinnamon chocolate scent of mole sauce overrode everything except the garlic that had likely become part of the actual structure of the Roux Grill. I inhaled deeply, my mouth watering. It took days for Raleigh to make a big batch of his famous mole. He did it only a few times a year, and when it was gone, it was gone.
Forget the burger. Chicken mole was in my very near future.
I sidled up to the bar and waited for Maggie to finish mixing a bloody Mary. She handed it to the customer and came down to where I stood.
“Pull up a stool, hon. Too early for a martini?”
After my day, I almost said no. “How about a ginger ale?”
“Done.” She eyed me as she poured the fizzy liquid into a tall glass filled with ice. “How bad are you hurt?”
“Not as bad as Astrid.” I filled her
in on the details. “And I want to thank you for calling Maria. I got back to the shop this afternoon and found a bus full of people checking out the Enchanted Garden and buying things up left and right. That wouldn’t have happened if not for you.”
“Hey, it’s in my interest for you to make money. You can afford to hire me for more hours, then.” She winked.
I laughed and took a swig of ginger ale. The sticky sweet iciness of it slid down my throat like a balm. “Is Harris around?”
Her lips pressed together. “In his office.”
Turning toward the back of the restaurant, I nodded. “Thanks.”
“Ellie, he’s not alone.”
I paused.
“Detective Lang is back there, too.”
Great.
It was one thing to brace Harris about Panama Hat, but I’d never get anything out of him with Max there.
“Hmm. Changed my mind,” I said. “I think I’ll order some of Raleigh’s mole and wait a few minutes.”
“Good plan,” she said with a grin. “I’ll put in the order.”
When it arrived, I took the plate over to a table in the corner and eased myself into the seat. I soon lost myself in the complex flavors of the Roux’s head chef’s version of the dish—creamy and spicy, laced with garlic and pineapple, peppers, and plantain. I was wiping up the last of the sauce with a soft corn tortilla when a shadow fell across my plate.
I looked up to see Max Lang standing over me.
Sitting back, I finished my bite and swallowed. “Detective Lang.”
“Miz Allbright.”
“Have you tried the mole?”
“I’m not here for the food.”
“That’s a shame. It’s some of the best in town.”
“Is that why you’re here? Or are you on another one of your illegal investigations?”
“Illegal?”
“You’re not licensed.”
There was a time when he would have intimidated me. Not now. “I’m not getting paid, and I don’t need a license to ask a few questions.” I stood. Even so, I came up only to his chest. I didn’t care. “But you are getting paid, and you should be asking questions. There are a lot of possible suspects in Blake Sontag’s murder. Suspects other than a girl who’d never even met the victim before.”
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