“That doesn’t sound good.”
“It probably isn’t, which is why I was asked to set things straight. Nellie is afraid that if Rudy does it himself he’ll manage to talk his way into trouble."
"Now this sounds interesting," he said. “I imagine I don’t need to ask who involved you.”
I smiled. “I doubt you do.”
“Sit down. The sheriff can wait."
"It seems that Rudy is the one who took the guitar."
That surprised James.” He stole it?"
“In a manner of speaking. He went back to the house the morning after the body was found and removed it for safekeeping. He was afraid someone would take it or could get misplaced.”
“Or held as evidence.”
“Or that.”
“So he took it.”
“Sure, but only because he knew who it was supposed to belong to next and he wanted to make sure it got to him.”
"Okay, that needs explanation."
I took the envelope that Rudy had given me out of my purse and handed it over. "This is Old Joe’s will. He’d given it to Rudy for safekeeping.”
“That seems odd.”
“A year or so ago he got real sick. He recovered but it made him think about writing his will. Aubrey downloaded an online will form and printed it out. Joe filled it in, then brought it to the bank in town and had it notarized. He put it in a sealed envelope and asked Rudy to hold onto it in case anything happened. He mentioned one item that Rudy had to pay attention to, the only thing of value that could actually disappear."
“And it mentions the guitar specifically?”
"Right."
"And he told Rudy who that went to."
"Yes."
Woodley opened the envelope and read the will. "Short and to the point."
"It looks pretty legal," I said.
"To me too. It was good that he had it notarized."
"So I guess Leander can’t buy the guitar."
"Nope. He just has to pick it up from Rudy." He propped his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his hand. ″Is there a particular reason that Rudy neglected to mention this to me?”
“Fear. He was already a suspect and he thought that might make him look worse. He didn’t even tell Nellie he’d gone back there for it until after you announced it was an accident."
"So I should treat it as a minor violation of protocol rather than the crime of removing evidence from the scene of a crime?"
"Which turned out not to be a crime at all."
"Point taken." He sighed. "This town. Nothing is ever straightforward. I’ll see that this gets filed with the court." He glanced at the paper. "Looks like the Phlints are going to own an even bigger piece of the swamp now too. And another still.”
"Nellie will love that. She always wanted more land out there. She said they could become swamp barons and that would sound better than rednecks."
"It does."
“Aren’t you supposed to be catching a con man, you and the sheriff?“
He winked. “We got interrupted by important business. Tell Rudy to just give Leander the damn guitar."
“I will.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The next day I asked Nellie to open the salon. She would anyway but I wanted to give her a heads up. I walked Sarah off at school, watching her run off across the field that passed for a playground to join Ginny. Then I took Finnegan to the salon dropping him off before meeting James at BaconUp for a lazy coffee.
“You seem to be able to take time off pretty easily these days. I thought Pete’s fame was bringing in extra business.”
“It is, but Pete has been taking over management chores, so he can learn the business and Donna, his new hire is going to take care of my first client. Pete asked that I make myself scarce so she wouldn’t be nervous. He's even talking to another stylist who is interested in apprenticing to Louisiana’s prize winning stylist, the impressive Pete Dawson, and he is going to talk to her.”
“Are you working yourself out of a job?” he asked.
I wondered that myself. Late breakfasts with James could be habit forming. They certainly were pleasant. With Pete training Donna to do more every day and the possibility of bringing in someone else, I could see that if I was going to stick around I needed to redefine my role. “I wish I knew exactly what I was doing. And how about you?”
“Me?”
“By now you should have enough points accumulated to convince them to transfer you to a less stressful post, say running counter terrorism operations in Knockemstiff.”
James flinched at the idea. "You know I love this town," he said. “I like being around you and the town is okay. But living here? I’d go crazy. I need to be able to get out to the blues clubs once in awhile and I do like the nice restaurants. It’s just a little too far to go to New Orleans for a weekend.”
"I know. You’d be suffering withdrawal in no time."
"But what about the other option?"
I played dumb. "What option?"
“I know there are some great schools in New Orleans that offer programs that would let Sarah shine.” He grinned. “She and Ginny both like the same school, as it turns out.”
“How do you know that?”
“I’m a cop. We have sources.”
“Paula. But she is more of a move to New Orleans booster than a source.”
“Same thing in this case. She has inside knowledge. And I’ll bet that, if you wanted to just cut hair for a while, there are some dynamite salons where you could work and not have to be the boss."
"I sort of like being the boss."
He gave me a half smile. "Sometimes you like being the boss."
"And when I want to be…"
"Sometimes they let you be. You know that Pete and Nellie could run this place. You could offer them a partnership that let them buy you out over time. Or you could keep part ownership."
"A rabbit hole to run to if I needed it?"
"I wasn’t thinking of it that way. I was thinking more of financial security. But whatever works."
"I’m sure you are right." I put my hand on his. "James, this is a big deal. Remember that I moved to a city once and it didn’t go so well."
"Baton Rouge doesn’t count. It’s just a satellite city of The Big Easy. Hardly a city at all.”
"Joke all you want."
"Sorry."
“With you and Paula and Ginny aligned against me, and with Sarah’s pretense at indifference, I half expect to have a thick report land on my desk any day now."
"So decision time approaches.”
"I haven’t even mentioned the most important factor I have to consider." He lifted his eyebrows. "You’ve talked about us moving there, but the discussion hasn’t gone much further than that."
He sighed. "True. The thing is, I don’t see how it can go further than that until we are in closer proximity. We need to spend more than the occasional investigation or holiday together if we are going to discover if there is an us."
"So in a way, unless I move to the city and we have some time together, we can’t know more."
He looked unhappy. "That makes it sound like I’m giving you an ultimatum of some kind instead of just voicing my own insecurities."
"You aren’t allowed to have insecurities," I said. "That’s my part."
"Sorry, but they come with the territory. I don’t want to hurt you and I don’t want to get hurt. We like each other, we get along well… I just enjoy spending time with you. I think Sarah is a pistol. I could love her dearly, I think. But I’ve never dealt with kids. And the truth is that a woman like you… you can be a little intimidating at times."
"This from the big, bad cop."
"Sorry."
"Well, this helps me understand things more, I’ll say that."
"Good, because unfortunately I have to get going."
"Back to the city?" I wasn’t quite ready for that yet.
“At the moment, only as far as Chief Tanner�
��s office to sign a giant pile of reports that Nadine assures me cost her a nail. I think I have to pay for a manicure. After that, if it’s all right with you, maybe now that the investigation is over you could arrange to take some time off.”
“Time off?”
“While Sarah is in school, maybe we could talk over some of these insecurities of mine. In the evenings we can all spend some time together.”
A feeling of the rightness of things came over me as I digested what he’d said. Feeling like I’d been swept up into a dream, I watched James call for Margie to bring the bill. My puzzle brain kicked in, summarizing what I knew. James was a good man, and a good looking one too. He liked me and Sarah. If I expected to have any sort of relationship with him, or anyone, I needed to act more decisively. Inaction would be a choice in itself. “You can stay in town for a couple more days?"
He nodded. “If you like my plan, I’ll take some vacation days."
"You will?"
"Like you said, we need to talk about this more. You and I, and Sarah too. If there is any hope of something there, we have to find a way forward that works for all three of us."
"That’s absolutely wonderful.”
“Besides, I want to be around to take you to the concert tomorrow night.”
“Concert?”
“Leander is playing a memorial concert for Old Joe on the man’s old guitar.”
“Leander’s new guitar. Sarah will demand to go.”
“And of course she should. A child should not grow to maturity without proper exposure to the blues. That’s another reason that you and Sarah have to come visit the city. You can check it out to see what the possibilities are and I will make sure you ladies enjoy the cultural highlights.”
“Trust me. We can and will.”
“And we need to talk to Sarah about all of this.”
“We?”
“You, me, and Sarah Jameson.”
“The three of us?”
“Exactly. We need to sit together and talk about what is possible, and what isn’t because if I haven’t made it clear, I’m not inviting you to move to my city, but to share it with me.”
My heart pounded. “Then will you come for dinner tonight?”
He nodded. “That sounds terriffic. I’ll bring the wine. And mango juice. I’ll swing by Paramabet’s during the day.”
“I even won a bottle of Bayou Shine if you want something stronger after dinner.”
“I’d like that.”
“When you are at Paramanbet’s, if you need a light lunch, Rashmi makes a mean empanada with a chicken curry filling."
His mouth twisted. "That sounds like sort of cultural atrocity."
"It helps to think of them as giant samosas. Once you bite into them you won’t care what they’re called." I grinned and couldn’t help adding, “I doubt you’ll find those in New Orleans.”
His grin said he knew I was teasing him. “I will freely admit that there are things a person could miss about life in Knockemstiff,” he said.
“Choices are about tradeoffs, I suppose.” I tried not to sound too sad about that.
He looked away for just a second before turning back to face me and giving me a serious look. “Savannah, I’m not saying that the choices you have to make are easy, or even obvious.”
“I know. It’s just that they need to be made or they are made for you.”
He nodded. ″And I want you to know where I stand.″ Then he squeezed my hand, and then he left. I sat, sipping coffee, not really wanting to move, letting my mind consider the possibilities and probabilities.
“That’s one handsome guy,” Margie said as she refilled my cup.
“Yes.”
“Course, there are other things that matter to a person, but…”
“It isn’t easy. Life has many mysteries.”
“Never is.” Then she smiled. “You always solve the mysteries though, Savannah. You always have.”
I sighed. “I better get this one right.”
“Sarah will help. Smart girl, that one.”
“I might have to leave town.”
Margie clucked her tongue. “There’s worse fates than being forced to move to New Orleans and be with a man you care about and trying something new.”
I started to say something, but Margie moved on to other customers leaving me alone in a booth in BaconUp, in Knockemstiff, Louisiana, with my mouth hanging open, wondering just how much change a girl could handle. I sat alone, trying to understand what, exactly a girl named Savannah wanted from the next phase of her life.
Whatever happened, whatever I chose, things would be different.
THE END
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The We’re Not Dead Yet Club
Fetch a Pail of Murder
Wedding Bells and Death Knells
Murder or Bust
Witchy Women of Coven Grove Series
The Witching on the Wall
A Witching Well of Magic
Witching the Night Away
Witching There’s Another Way
Witching Your Life Away
Witching You Wouldn’t Go
Witching for a Miracle
Teasen & Pleasen Hair Salon Series
A Hair Raising Blowout
Wash, Rinse, Die
Holiday Hooligans
Color Me Dead
Caesar’s Creek Series
A Frozen Scoop of Murder (Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book One)
Death by Chocolate Sundae (Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Two)
Soft Serve Secrets (Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Three)
Ice Cream You Scream (Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Four)
Double Dip Dilemma (Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Five)
Melted Memories (Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Six)
Triple Dip Debacle(Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Seven)
Whipped Wedding Woes(Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Eight)
A Sprinkle of Tropical Trouble(Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Nine)
A Drizzle of Deception(Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book Ten)
Sweet Home Mystery Series
Creamed at the Coffee Cabana (Sweet Home Mystery Series Book One)
A Caffeinated Crunch (Sweet Home Mystery Series Book Two)
A Frothy Fiasco (Sweet Home Mystery Series Book Three)
Punked by the Pumpkin(Sweet Home Mystery Series Book Four)
Peppermint Pandemonium(Sweet Home Mystery Series Book Five)
Expresso Messo(Sweet Home Mystery Series Book Six)
A Cuppa Cruise Conundrum(Sweet Home Mystery Series Book Seven)
The Brewing Bride(Sweet Home Mystery Series Book Eight)
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A Sinister Slice of Murder
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Curse of the Bloodstone Arrow (Whispering Pines Mystery Series)
Fright Night at the Haunted Inn (Whispering Pines Mystery Series)
Mad River Mystery Series
A Wicked Whack
A Prickly Predicament
A Malevolent Menace
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False Nails and Tall Tales (The Teasen and Pleasen Hair Salon Cozy Mystery Series Book 5) Page 17