Mayhem & Mistletoe

by Amanda M. Lee

  Marvin’s brow furrowed. “What’s his name?”

  “Cal Shepperly. Er, well, Calvin Shepperly.”

  “Actually, now that you mention it, that name does ring a bell. Hold on.” He pulled up a file on his computer and started tapping on his keyboard. He had a unique filing system — one I didn’t entirely get — but it worked for him. After a full minute, he turned back to me. “I remember this guy. He was caught with two kilograms of meth when cops pulled him over.”

  I was horrible at drug weights. “Is that a lot?”

  He snickered. “It’s a heckuva lot. It was one of the biggest meth busts in the county at the time. Meth has exploded even more since then, so we’ve had bigger busts. It was a big deal at the time.”

  “But he got off.”

  “Yeah, if I remember correctly, there was some backdoor dealing ... the prosecutor’s office would never admit. Word is he rolled over on other dealers to get the charges yanked.”

  “There would still be a court record of that.”

  “Unless they were trying to protect him and just made it go away. We all know that law enforcement is only a stickler for the rules when it’s in their best interests. In a case like this, when he might’ve been able to lead them to other dealers and drug houses, they probably would’ve looked the other way.”

  The information bothered me. “Why would a guy who got busted for drugs be put in charge of a halfway house?”

  “That I can’t answer. Maybe securing employment was part of the deal.”

  “Maybe.” I was so lost in thought I almost didn’t notice a pair of legs invade my personal space. Marvin and I were already almost on top of one another, so adding a third body to the limited area was more than I could take. “Can I help you?”

  Sabrina’s smile was so wide it almost swallowed her ears. “I finished the story I was helping Duncan with. It was some ... dating story. Apparently he’s going to start internet dating and do a first-person piece on it.”

  “That’s so ... Duncan.” I rolled my eyes until they landed on Marvin, who looked downright tickled at the news. “You’d be better off doing something like that. Your first-person dating stories would be filled with catastrophes. That’s always funny.”

  Marvin’s smile disappeared. “I’ll have you know that I’m getting better at the dating thing. Women everywhere are lining up for a piece of the Potts.”

  It took everything I had not to burst out laughing at his earnest expression. “If you say so.” I turned back to Sabrina. “I’m sorry you got stuck helping Duncan. If it’s any consolation, everybody here hates him.”

  “Except Duncan,” Marvin volunteered. “He loves himself enough to cover for the entire building.”

  “There is that,” I agreed.

  “I’m done helping him for the day,” Sabrina said. “I asked Mr. Fish what I should do next and he suggested I find a reporter who needed help.”

  Uh-oh. I sensed trouble. “I bet Marvin has something you could help him with.”

  Marvin brightened considerably. “I’m sure I can come up with something.”

  Sabrina shook her head. “I thought I could help you. You are working on the biggest story in the county.”

  “That is true,” Marvin agreed.

  I shot him an annoyed look. “It’s also a story that will fall apart if there are too many cooks in the kitchen,” I said pointedly. “It’s a delicate balancing act and I need to work it alone right now.”

  “But ... I want to help you.” She was plaintive. “I want to learn from the best and you’re the best.”

  I was officially at the end of my patience. “That’s all well and good, but I don’t want anyone hanging on me right now. This is an important story, and I don’t need some enthusiastic newbie blowing it out of the water. So, I’m sorry if it upsets you, but I don’t want you anywhere near me right now.”

  Sabrina’s lower lip began to plump and shake.

  “Oh, don’t do that.” I glared at her. “Crying will only make me hate you more.”

  “I just wanted to help.” She burst into tears, turned on her heel, and ran for the hallway. I had no doubt she was making a beeline for the bathrooms, where she would proceed to burn my name in effigy to anybody who would listen. I was pretty much hated throughout the building, so she would have plenty of willing listeners.

  “What happened?” Duncan demanded, appearing at the end of the aisle. “What did you do to her?” His gaze was accusatory. “I’m reporting you to Human Resources for upsetting her.”

  Yup. I should’ve seen that coming. “I didn’t do anything but tell her the truth.”

  “Somehow I doubt that.”

  “Ask Marvin.” I tilted my head toward my friend. “He witnessed the entire exchange.”

  Rather than immediately jump to my defense, Marvin shifted on his chair, clearly uncomfortable. “Yeah, I can see where I would be your best bet on this, but I’m going to have to abstain from voting.”

  I was incredulous. “Excuse me?”

  “He’s saying you were mean and deserve to be punished,” Duncan hissed.

  I ignored him and remained focused on Marvin. “I didn’t do anything but tell her the truth.”

  “And you crushed her poor little heart in the process,” Marvin argued. “She’s a sweet girl. She deserves to be happy. You’re a good reporter, Avery, but sometimes you’re a bad person. You shouldn’t be a bad person to such a sweet girl.”

  I glared at him. “You’re just saying that because you want to see if she falls for it.”

  He nodded in agreement, his frown flipping upside down. “Yeah. How was I? Do you think she’ll believe me?”

  Disgust rolled through me. I was done with men. They were all driving me crazy.

  20 Twenty

  Eliot didn’t look surprised when I popped through the door of his shop.

  He didn’t give me an ounce of grief.

  “Let’s go.” He flipped his ledger closed and slid from behind the counter.

  “That’s it?” I asked. “I thought for sure you would say, ‘I told you so’ or something.”

  “I asked you to include me. You included me. You held up your end of the bargain. I’m not going to punish you for that.”

  “I guess thanks are in order.” It was hard to admit, but I owed him. “So ... um ... I’ll totally do dirty stuff with you later.”

  That earned a full-fledged smile. “I’ll hold you to that.” He turned to Mario, who was watching Tiger King on Netflix. “You’re in charge.”

  “That’s just the way I like it,” Mario replied without looking up.

  “Don’t do anything weird,” Eliot admonished.

  “You’re running off on an adventure with Avery and you’re warning me about doing weird things?”

  “Just ... remember what I said. If you sell anything to a hot girl, I’m checking the price.”

  “You’re, like, zero fun.”

  Eliot put his hand to my back and prodded me through the door, halting when Mario called out his name. “What?”

  “What if I sell something to a girl who is only okay looking and has low self-esteem?”

  “I’ll beat the crap out of you.”

  Mario didn’t look particularly frightened. “Avery will protect me.”

  “No, Avery won’t,” I said. “I love watching my cousins get their butts kicked. That was my only form of joy between the ages of five and ten.”

  “Whatever.” Mario went back to watching the show. “Have I mentioned that I think I’ve found a new calling in life?”

  I was somewhat familiar with the show as Eliot and I had stumbled across it while bored one night. Before we realized it, we’d plowed through four episodes. We were saving the other three for bad weather, when we needed our spirits lifted. “You’re going to grow a mullet, aren’t you?”

  “I might ride a Jet Ski, too.”

  “Sounds fabulous.”

  “I thought you’d be in my corner on this.”<
br />
  ELIOT WAITED UNTIL WE WERE IN his truck on the highway to ask the obvious question.

  “What have you got?”

  I gave him a brief rundown, and even though I hadn’t intended to include my altercation with Sabrina, I blurted that out, too. “I don’t think I was overly mean, do you?”

  “You’ve been way meaner. Heck, I’ve seen you be way meaner to your mother.”

  I made a face. “When did you decide you were on her side?”

  “I’m not on her side. She’s a pain in the butt. That doesn’t mean you don’t give as good as you get with her.”

  “Um, I’m an angel.”

  “Yes, all you’re missing is a halo.”

  “I’m serious. I’m a total angel.”

  “Of course you are.” He deftly navigated onto the freeway. “Do you think Cal is involved in this?”

  I pondered the suggestion. “I think it’s a good possibility. I mean, how did he get that job?”

  “Technically he doesn’t have a criminal record. Charges were dropped.”

  “I know but ... come on. The dude had two kilos of meth. That’s a lot. I know because I asked.”

  He chuckled. “That’s definitely a lot of meth. My guess is he turned over on a bunch of other dealers in exchange for his freedom.”

  “That makes the most sense. It’s just ... weird. Would you hire a guy who got caught with two kilos of meth, even if he wasn’t convicted?”

  “No, but I’m guessing the job at the halfway house isn’t in high demand. I don’t know anybody who would take that job, no matter how desperate.”

  “Maybe his reasons for taking the job were strategic. Maybe he wanted to get close with people he knew were likely to break the law again.”

  “That’s entirely possible. We wondered how a guy that small managed to keep the others in line. Maybe it’s because he was supplying the money.”

  I thought back to Van. “Do you think that big guy was on something the night he attacked us? I thought he was just a jerk. Maybe he was high.”

  “I’ve been thinking about that a great deal. Part of me thinks he was obviously high. The other part isn’t sure. My ego would prefer it if he were lit like a Christmas tree.”

  “You put up a good fight.”

  “And got slaughtered. He was a beast, but at the time, the only drug I considered a possibility was steroids. He didn’t seem messed up otherwise.”

  “Do you think Cal was putting on a show for us?”

  “If he’s involved, it doesn’t make sense for him to work with us, offer any help. He could’ve just turned us away that first night.”

  “Unless he was manipulating us. I don’t know about you, but I was convinced he was straight ... right up until I found that court case.”

  “Yeah, he wasn’t on my radar either.”

  “We’re usually good at reading people. He didn’t ping for either of us.”

  “There’s a chance it was some sort of mistake,” Eliot offered. “Maybe he only had the drugs because he took them from someone else. Maybe he told the prosecutor that, provided some sort of proof, and they let him off. There’s always a possibility that we’re wrong on this.”

  “I’m very rarely wrong.”

  He laughed. “You have good instincts, but I wouldn’t say you’re never wrong.”

  “I said rarely wrong. Everyone is wrong at one time or another.”

  “I wouldn’t say you’re rarely wrong either. You usually discover the truth eventually. Some of your hunches, though, tend to be weak.”

  I slid him a sidelong look. “And here I thought we were at a good place in our relationship.”

  “I’m not going to lie just to make you feel better.”

  “You should give it a try. I mean ... you might like it.”

  “I’ll consider it. For now, what’s the plan?”

  My answer was simple. “I want to talk to Cal.”

  “Are you going to accuse him?”

  “I’m going to feel him out ... and then probably accuse him.”

  “I’m taking a gun this time.”

  “Try not to shoot anyone unless it’s absolutely necessary. I don’t want you to get arrested.”

  “Oh, you’re so sweet.”

  “There will be nobody to cook me breakfast if you get arrested.”

  “You should remember that when I propose.”

  My stomach did a little dance. “Must you always bring it up?”

  “Just until you’re used to the idea.”

  “What if that never happens?”

  “Oh, it’s going to happen. You’re almost there.”

  He sounded more certain than I felt. “Just ... park around the corner. I don’t want to draw unnecessary attention.”

  “Your wish is my command.”

  CAL WAS OUTSIDE ARGUING WITH A man I didn’t recognize when we made our way up the sidewalk. Eliot grabbed the back of my coat and pulled me flush with his chest as we stilled behind a hedge to listen.

  “We have one rule here, Joe.” Cal’s voice was low and cold. “What’s that one rule?”

  I’d heard this speech before and wasn’t overly impressed. I glanced at my phone screen to check the time. It was mid-afternoon. Why would he be grousing about somebody being late for curfew so early in the day?

  Joe made a wheezing sound of complaint. “Don’t give me grief, Cal. I didn’t break the rules. I simply felt out another guy I knew to see if he was interested in joining the team. I didn’t squeal.”

  “That’s exactly what you did!”

  The sound of one thing hitting another caused me to stand straighter. Eliot tightened his grip on me and slowly shook his head, pressing a finger to his lips. I wanted to point out that I wasn’t an idiot and had no intention of alerting Cal to our eavesdropping, but that would’ve been a dumb move, so I rolled my eyes instead.

  “I didn’t,” Joe snapped back. I peered through the hedge to see if I could get a gander at his face, but it was too thick to find an opening. “You said we needed more bodies after the others quit. We’re down seven people. I didn’t tell him any of the good stuff. I just asked if he was interested in making extra money. He has a family to use as leverage, just like you want.”

  Quit? Seven bodies down? That was a little too convenient. I looked up at Eliot, who looked just as intrigued. If the way he kept darting looks out at the street and trying to use his body as cover was any indication, he was also extremely worried.

  “What I don’t want is attention drawn to us,” Cal shot back. “We have people coming out of the woodwork to question us because of Beau ... and not just the cops.”

  “I don’t know nothing about that,” Joe argued. “You said they quit, so they quit.”

  Apparently, Joe wasn’t all that smart. Even I could read between the lines of that statement.

  “Yes, they quit,” Cal agreed. “They quit because they’re weren’t team players. You don’t have that problem, do you, Joe?”

  “Of course not. I love being a member of your team.”

  “That’s good.”

  Eliot moved his hands to my hips and gripped them tightly, pulling me back down the sidewalk instead. I wanted to struggle, but that seemed unwise given our proximity to the house. If Cal found out we were eavesdropping, he was likely to paint us as targets. We were already on his radar. We had to play it smart. I opened my mouth to tell Eliot just that, but a deafening roar filled the air before I could speak.

  I froze, my eyes darting around. Eliot reacted immediately. He wrapped his arm around my waist, and instead of dragging me to the ground, he yanked me toward a car parked in the street. He hunkered down, his back to the car, and drew me in, doing his best to cover me.

  “Put your head down,” he ordered as I tried to get my bearings.

  “I ... what was that?” I knew what it was. I’d heard gunshots before.

  Before he could answer — if he even planned to — another shot rang out. Eliot shoved my head down unt
il it was level with his stomach and then drew his gun.

  “Stay right here,” he hissed. “Don’t even think about moving.”

  I did as he instructed. My heart was hammering too hard to make a break for it anyway.

  DETECTIVE ANDREW MAHORN, THE SAME OFFICER WHO arrived after the altercation with Van, didn’t look happy.

  Eliot had kept me hidden behind the car until uniformed officers arrived. They zeroed in on us right away, peppering us with questions. Even though I was flustered by what happened, I knew better than to talk out of turn.

  “We were hoping to question Mr. Shepperly about one of his former residents,” Eliot told them smoothly, keeping his arm around my waist. He’d holstered his weapon. “We were walking up the sidewalk when we heard the shots.”

  Mahorn didn’t look as if he believed the statement. “You were here the other night.”

  “We were working on the same case.”

  “You’re not a police officer,” Mahorn pointed out.

  “I’m a private detective.” Eliot was generally unflappable under questioning, and that was on full display now. “Ms. Shaw and I often combine forces when certain stories fall into her lap.”

  “You combine forces?”

  Eliot nodded. “We live together. She’s a diligent and dedicated professional. I don’t particularly like it when she goes into dangerous areas alone. I often volunteer my time to make sure she’s safe.”

  “That’s mighty magnanimous of you,” Mahorn drawled, his eyes darting to the lawn.

  I had trouble staring in that direction. What was left of Cal and Joe wasn’t pretty. I wasn’t an expert when it came to firepower, but whoever had taken out the two men knew what he was doing. There was no chance either man could’ve survived.

  “I don’t think of it as being magnanimous,” Eliot replied. “She’s my girlfriend. She tends to find trouble.”

  “I’ll say she finds trouble. After the sheriff of Macomb County showed up here last time to protect her, I ran her name. She has quite the colorful background.”

  I gritted my teeth. I knew what I wanted to say, but we weren’t on our home turf. If I opened my mouth, it would likely backfire on both of us ... and probably in spectacular fashion. I had to hold my tongue, but it was freaking difficult.