A Frosty Mug of Murder (The Grumpy Chicken Irish Pub Series Book 1)

by Constance Barker

  I was dialing my phone. Guardrail answered. “Listen, I may need you to help us keep Robert from leaving. He has a plane ticket to get out of the country.”

  Guardrail used his best tough guy voice but it didn’t work because he was chomping on some other food from the fair while he spoke. “I already heard from Ida. Me and the fellas are ready to help with anything he might try, even if things get rough. If you know what I mean.”

  “I’m not sure what to expect, but we don’t need any heroics. Can you get back to the pub to be with Ida and Piper and be able to roll at a moment's notice?” He agreed and I continued, “Good. With the fair and murder investigation our Sheriff and deputies are pretty busy. You might have to be my cavalry today. Thanks.” I hung up.

  Mae was waiting for me to finish. She said, “The best place to start is the Holland place. But we’re on our own. The Sheriff is already at the fair, so he is going to look for Robert there in the event he went down to there like everyone else. We should go and check the house now before Robert gets wind that we know about his plane ticket. Does anyone else know about this?”

  “No. Well maybe. Guardrail did know so maybe Ida told some others.”

  Aunt Mae grabbed her hat and put it on, adjusted it just right, then said, “We better move then! Lets do this.”

  We loaded into the car and made the short drive over to the Holland house. Aunt Mae parked out front and we both popped out of the car.

  Mae held up her hand and said, “Whoa, Missy. Where do you think you’re going?”

  “To help you.”

  “Nooooooo, you wait here. This could be dangerous. Stay here.”

  I snapped back, “But you can’t go up there alone.”

  “Yes I can. I’m trained for this, but you’re not. You watch my back from here and if something happens, you call for help and stay out of sight. Unless I tell you different, I don’t want you leaving the cruiser. Got it?”

  I nodded yes and added, “Good luck!”

  She smiled reassuringly and turned to head up the cat infested front walk. I knew Aunt Mae my entire life, but I was seeing her in a new light now. She had one hand on her holstered weapon and needed to watch the house for danger while moving up the sidewalk with all those pesky cats around her feet. She was far more graceful than I had been the last time I used this front entrance. And I wasn’t chasing a potential murderer when I fell over a cat making that same walk.

  Aunt Mae made it up the porch stairs to the front door and knocked. I was surprised at how hard and loud she rapped on the door, but if anyone was in there it would be hard to miss.

  The door opened and I saw Elias. Aunt Mae talked to him for a short period, then she sprinted to the car, hurdling a couple of cats on the way. When she was about ten yards from the car she shouted, “He’s at Daryl’s place, doing some last minute business with Amber! Get in the car, we need to move quick. Elias said he had packed bags and took his golf clubs too. He’s definitely on the move!”

  I reverted to a ten year girl and bellowed, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe this is happening!” I jumped into the cruiser and buckled up.

  Mae did the same, flicked on the lights but kept the siren off. Then she put it in gear and sped off for the realty office. Normally, it would have been a ten or fifteen minute walk, and it should have been a two minute car ride, but the fair made it harder. We arrived via back roads and parked in the rear on River Street as most of Main Street was blocked to traffic.

  Mae jumped out and ordered, “Same rules as at the Holland house, stay with the car!” Then she cautiously approached the realty office run by Daryl Reid. As Aunt Mae made it to the back door of the office, I saw Edith and Lily coming down the alley road between the realty office and the sandwich shop. I fluttered my hand in the air to flag them down and they slowly made their way to the police car. I got out and stood next to the car waiting for them. At that point, I saw Mae greeted at the door by Daryl and she entered the office. Lily and Edith took a minute, but finally made it over to me. I asked, “Did you see Robert at the fair?”

  Lily answered, “If he was there I would have seen him. But he wasn’t. Funny, Sheriff Morrison asked us the same thing again.”

  I pointed to the building and said, “We think he is in the realty office, but we’re not sure.”

  In response to my last comment, Aunt Mae emerged, chatting with Daryl. Seemed she just poked her head in to take a quick look. They shook hands and she moved back to the car. Aunt Mae threw her hat through the car window and clicked her talk button once again. “Kelly, he’s not at Daryl’s place. Daryl says he was there earlier, but left to pick up some special order items at the general store. Did you see him over there?” She paused. “Really? I have the cruiser and will head back out to the Holland place.” Mae clicked off and shot me a look over the roof of the car. “Let’s go!”

  I almost swore. “Crap, I should call Ida, have her keep an eye on his travel plans.”

  Edith piped up, “Ginger, we’ll tell her, ask her to try and track the status of the plane ticket. Ida might even be able to cancel his reservation. We got it covered. Go find Robert.”

  I jumped into the car and before I snapped the buckle in tight Mae floored it. She kept her eyes on the road while she talked. “Amber was with him. Robert told Daryl that after picking up some stuff at the general store he was heading out to Donnie Freeman’s garage. Amber was going to drop him off to get one of Donnie’s rental cars. Then he planned to drive out to the Savannah airport. Kelly is going to head over to the Freeman garage with Deputy Wise and he told me to get over to the Holland house in case they head back there for some reason. At a minimum, Amber should be coming back to the house and we want to talk to her too.”

  Then my phone rang. I answered and heard Guardrail’s voice. “Ginger, Edith told me you’re running around ragged with Mae. I’m heading over to my shop to pick up my motorcycle. It’s fast and can get around town easier with the street fair going on. I can help you, but where do you need me to be?”

  “I’m not sure. Believe it or not, we’re heading out to the Holland place again, but Sheriff Morrison might need some help at Donnie Freeman’s place.”

  Mae took one hand off the wheel and started waving at me. “NO! I don’t want you or your friends getting involved anymore than you already are.”

  “Um, Guardrail. I’m not sure we need you to do anything right now, so stay put with Ida and Piper at the pub for now. I need to go and will call back if we need something. I gotta go.” I hung up.

  Mae put both hands back on the wheel. “Good girl. This is getting out of control. I wish we still had those state and federal guys here to help. They show up for doughnuts, but when we need some real work done, they’re back at their cushy offices.”

  “Wow! That’s as close to a mean thing as I’ve heard you say Auntie.”

  She glanced over to me quickly and added, “This thing isn’t over yet. You might hear me say something far worse before it is.” And at that point, she locked up the brakes and we skidded to a halt in the same place in front of the Holland house that we had just left a few minutes earlier.

  I stayed in the car and Mae made a hasty exit. She didn’t even bother to put her hat on. Once again she made her way up the walk, but halfway, she froze. After a few seconds, she turned and headed back down the front walk. She got back in the car and looked white. She said, “There are two cars on the side of the house. One I think is Robert’s and the other looks like one of Donnie’s rentals. I think they both came back to the house.” Mae clicked her talk button, “Kelly, I got two cars here. It’s possible that they both came back here. You find anything?” She listened for a moment. “I think you should get out here then. I’m alone with no backup.” She nodded slightly and said, “Thanks.”

  I asked, “Well, are we going to just sit here?”

  “For a few minutes. The Sheriff confirmed Robert did pick up one of Donnie’s rentals, but he left already. So a suspected murderer migh
t be in that house with potential hostages. I need backup. And Sheriff Morrison is on the way.” Mae scanned the road. “With all this traffic for the fair, I wish I could block off the roads, darn it.”

  “I got that covered.” I picked up my phone and called Guardrail. “Hey! Listen, I need you and Dog over at the Holland place, with some help if possible, to shut down the roads around the house. And I need you here quick. ... Thanks.”

  Mae was giving me the stink eye. “Ginger, can you tell me when you went deaf? Because you don’t seem to hear anything I tell you anymore. They really need to stay out of this.”

  “Blocking the roads is safe, easy work they can do while staying out of your way. They can at least do that to keep other innocent people away from this, from maybe getting hurt.”

  “I hate to say it. But with the fair going on just down the road, blocking off the roads around here would help. I wish we had a bigger force. Kelly did say he would have Deputy Wise with him, so we should be in good shape if Guardrail can block off the roads. Let’s hope nothing happens at the fair because we’ll have all three of the Potter’s Mill police officers here in a few minutes.”

  We waited for a few minutes, watching the house for signs of movement. Mae decided to quietly move the car to block the driveway and just as she was about to park, we heard it. Loud rumbling of motorcycle engines. Our attempt to stay quiet was for naught. Guardrail and Dog appeared on their motorcycles, each with riders on the back. And to my surprise, Edith and Lily were the ones riding shotgun.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Guardrail and Dog parked their bikes next to the cruiser, smiling ear to ear. Lily and Edith were also smiling and their gray hair was unkempt, making them look wild and, well, different. I rolled the window down and Guardrail asked, “Where do you want us?”

  I greeted them with, “Why didn’t you bring Digger?”

  “The cats, he doesn’t like ‘em. And Lily and Edith wanted to come.” He was looking at the house as he spoke to me.

  Mae cut us off, “We need to keep civilians away from here till we have the situation under control. Can you shut down Main Street out here and divert traffic while we move to take any suspects we find into custody?”

  Guardrail snorted, “Suspects? That sounds so official.”

  Mae glared back at him, “It is. Do what you need to in order to divert people from this place, that’s all. Nothing more, got it? And stay out of our way. No one is to to do anything stupid or interfere with police business.”

  Dog Breath raised his eyebrows, “Wow! Never seen you so official and commanding, Mae. That’s hot in a woman.”

  I flinched. “Dog, sometimes you need to keep your fleeting thoughts to yourself. I think you need to go now and direct the traffic.”

  Edith and Lily were fixing their hair and giggling like little girls. Edith prattled, “I haven’t been on a motorcycle for weeks.”

  Lily shot back, “Oh, don’t exaggerate, it’s been longer than that. But I have to admit I still love the exhilaration of riding on the back of a hog.”

  Guardrail shivered and said, “That just sounds weird coming from Lily.”

  Mae raised her voice. “Are y’all done being teenagers? You have a job to do! Let’s get to it!”

  Dog stood straight. “Yes ma'am!” He had a silly smile on his face, which didn’t help the awkward moment.

  Guardrail grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and said, “Come on soldier, you’re with me. We got traffic duty. You too, ladies, I want ...” His voice trailed off as they walked out to the middle of the road to set up a traffic detour.

  Mae had rested her noggin back on the headrest. “This is the team you’ve been poking around the murder investigation with? I’m surprised no one's got hurt yet.”

  I smiled. “Well, Digger did get taken down by the cats.”

  Mae chuckled. “I heard about that this morning when I bought my breakfast at the waffle place. But you know what really bothers me, you found the plane ticket, not us, with a crew like that.”

  “Technically, Guardrail or Dog didn’t find the plane ticket, Ida did. She’s pretty good on the computer.”

  “And how much of what she did was illegal.”

  “Can I plead the fifth?”

  Mae eyed me sternly and we were spared further uncomfortable discussion about Ida’s techniques when Sheriff Morrison showed up with the only other deputy Potter's Mill employed. Mae got out and met them at his civilian car. She gave him a summary of the situation and the Sheriff replied, “Deputy Wise, you head around back to cover the rear. Deputy Owens, I need you to watch my back here in the front. I’ll approach the front door to determine who is inside and try to talk them out of the building. Simple plan but let’s be careful. We have no idea who is here or how violent they might be.”

  Deputy Wise headed round back and Deputy Owens, my normally kind Aunt Mae, drew her side arm and held it at her side. Sheriff Morrison made his way up the front walk and when he encountered a cat, he simply prodded it out of the way. I wondered why I hadn’t thought of that.

  Mae whispered to me through the window. “Can you call Ida, see if she found anything else about the plane ticket? He may have changed his plans. It would explain why he came back here.”

  I dialed the phone and made the request. For some reason Piper answered Ida’s phone and she told me nothing had changed. She promised to call back with anything new. I informed Mae and I saw her nod to confirm she heard me, but she stood firm using the cruiser as cover and never took her eyes off the front of the house.

  The Sheriff knocked on the door and I held my breath. But to my surprise nothing happened. Mae’s posture was taunt, almost nervous looking, and I heard her mutter, “Come on, answer the door.” Then Mae got her answer, but it wasn’t what she expected. She put her hand to her ear and exclaimed, “We got a problem!”

  Sheriff Morrison sprinted down the front stairs and around the side of the house. He moved fast and Mae sprinted up the front walk and followed him. Apparently someone was trying to leave from the rear of the building.

  I got out of the car and stared at the place feeling useless. Then I heard some yelling out back and knew I had to help. I moved without thinking around the house, using the side opposite the one taken by Aunt Mae and Sheriff Morrison.

  I peeked around the corner of the house and took in the terrifying sight. A tall man I'd never seen before was holding a gun to Amber’s back. He must have hit her earlier because her eye was swollen and she seemed groggy. The Sheriff, Deputy Wise, and Aunt Mae were taking what little cover they could find and held their weapons at their sides, carefully pointing the guns at the ground, ready if needed. Elias was there too and he whimpered, “Why are you doing this?”

  Robert answered, “It’s best if you just keep quiet Elias.” Then he addressed the tall stranger. “Dominic, we’ve been partners for years. Why are you doing this?”

  The stranger snarled at Robert, “If you hadn’t been so greedy and just given me what I asked for, this wouldn’t have happened.”

  Robert shot back, anger in his voice, “If you had just done your job and gone back to Atlanta with the payment agreed to, everything would have been fine. But no, you were the one to get greedy. You had to have more.”

  The gunman barked again at Robert. “There was more money involved than you told me. You lied to me. I’m done being lied to by you and always being on the short end. Always having to hide and do the dirty work” Dominic looked over at the deputies and Sheriff Morrison. “You get them to leave or I will kill her.”

  Robert’s face drooped and went white. “Please, don’t hurt her. We’ve known each other for a long time and Amber is innocent. Let her go. If we get out of this, I’ll give you whatever you want.”

  Sheriff Morrison yelled, “This is the police. Lower your weapon. We have you surrounded and there’s no escape. It’s best if you just lower the gun and surrender.”

  Dominic shouted back, “I don’t think so. I have tw
o hostages and you’ll do what I tell you. I’m in charge here.”

  And right after the gunman finished speaking, Gypsy picked the worst possible time to find me and look for attention. She meowed, numerous times and loudly. Everyone heard the cat mewing and looked in my direction. The stranger brandishing the gun included.

  Dominic was now aware that someone might be sneaking up on him from his blind side and that caused him to make a mistake. He tugged on Amber and took a single step backwards towards the safety of the house. But there were two cats playing with a leaf behind him and they decided now was a good time to sharpen their claws on his pants leg. He tripped over them with Amber crashing down on top of him, losing his gun in the process.

  And that was the cue for Deputy Wise and Sheriff Morrison to rush the scene. Robert also acted and he kicked the gun away from Dominic and Amber. Robert then jumped on top of his partner and pinned him to the ground. But just moments later, the Sheriff and Deputy Wise piled onto Robert and Dominic. The officers tried to pin them both to the ground, however Dominic had other ideas.

  He must have been strong because Dominic flung Deputy Wise off him easily. After that he sprung to his feet and sprinted off for the trees just beyond the back yard. But as he approached the tree line, Guardrail appeared from behind a large trunk and held out one of his meaty arms. The arm caught the fleeing man in the neck and clothes lined him, causing him to come off his feet and fall hard on his back. The process left Dominic disabled, on the ground, and gasping for air.

  The Sheriff made Robert lay on the ground, face down and cuffed him. Deputy Wise sprinted over to the now gasping Dominic and quickly put the cuffs on him, giving Guardrail a quick side glance as a kind of thanks-for-the-help gesture.

  Aunt Mae ran over to attend to Elias and Amber. She escorted the two over to the back steps and helped them to sit and take a moment to calm down.

  Sheriff Morrison read Robert his rights then helped him to his feet. Robert couldn’t help himself and blurted out, “You must be a lucky man. There is no way a small town, know-nothing police department could figure something like this out.”