“Chad,” said Kiko as the kid walked by yet again, “why do you keep going to that side door? I don’t think anyone is going to be dropping by anything else you need to watch out for.”
Chad fidgeted and Dom could tell something was up. But before he could say anything Chad was off again, moving to help a customer.
“When does his shift end?” he asked Kiko.
“One,” said Kiko. It was nearly that now and they’d been getting an off-and-on lunch crowd. Dom had been helping serve egg salad croissants and eggnogs while Kiko rang everyone up, but it did seem like Mother’s absence was affecting things. Dom had seen several people drop by, go to Mother’s pen as though the dead goose would be lying there, then leave. And he wondered if Saturdays were always this slow.
“Weird kid.”
Kiko ran a hand over his face.
“I’m beginning to suspect he didn’t tell his mother he was working today. He said she wanted him to take a few days off after his ladder fall but he didn’t need to.”
“What a terrible kid,” said Dom, rolling his eyes. “Wanting to put in hours and earn money.”
“Evelyn gets protective of him, you know that.”
“That’s why you have more than one kid,” said Dom, noticing a table that had empty plates on it. “Spares so one or two can die.”
Kiko shot him a don’t-talk-like-that-around-my-customers look but Dom was already on his way to clear the table. Kiko seemed to be doing better the longer the day dragged on which was a relief; he probably wouldn’t need Dom at all tomorrow. Dom was just trying to figure out what to do with his time and how best to avoid Devin when he heard the crash. It was loud, glass breaking, the sound of a voice crying out in pain, the screams of several customers. Kiko was rushing across the store and Dom joined him, reaching the far door just behind him.
Someone had thrown a brick through the door; Dom could see it lying among the fragments of glass. The pieces shimmered like icy snow on a sunny day, far too cheerful for the fact that Chad was on the floor, groaning and clutching his head. His hands were bloody.
“Chad,” said Kiko, crunching over the glass and crouching to the kid. “How bad?”
Chad swore. Kiko motioned to Dom to get everyone back, so he turned around and made sweeping motions with his arms.
“Sorry, but you’ll have to stand back,” he said, thinking Chad must have the worst luck in the world. It would almost be funny if he wasn’t bleeding. Injured twice in less than a week—even Chad should find that funny.
Yolks on You was rapidly growing cold as the winter air seeped in. Dom wanted to kick everyone out of the store until he and Kiko had this handled but didn’t think Kiko would appreciate it. He was glad now there were only a handful of people left from the lunch crowd, although as he tried to herd them back someone pushed through.
“What’s going on?” said a young man, maybe about twenty years old. He was Hmong, a little out of place in Mount Angus, probably a tourist passing through. Dom waved him back.
“I need you to stand back right now,” he said, and was met with a cool stare.
“I’m in med school. I heard your window break. Is there anything I can do?”
Dom was only too happy to let him by and follow him back to where Kiko was trying to pull his phone out and calm Chad all at once. There didn’t look to be enough blood for Chad to be in real danger, but the med student rushed over and immediately crouched to him.
“Chad?” he asked, and Dom glanced at Kiko, who had abandoned calling anyone to stare. “Are you cut?”
“Oh, it’s nothing,” said Chad.
“Your head is bleeding. Let me look.”
Gentle hands pried Chad’s away to reveal his injury and Dom moved to help Kiko get to his feet. He was very confused about what was going on and rapidly getting annoyingly cold.
“He says he’s in med school,” said Dom to Kiko’s confused look, then watched understanding dawn on his face. “What?”
“You must be Roy,” said Kiko as the med student let Chad clutch his head again and complain about a headache. “Chad didn’t say you were coming.”
“Sorry, boss,” said Chad as Roy helped him get to his feet. “I didn’t want you, like, telling my mom. She thinks I’m out at a movie…Owww.”
“Do you have a clean cloth?” asked Roy. “It’s not bad, but he’s going to need a couple stitches.”
“Sweet,” said Chad, and Roy shot him a hard look.
“This was not how I wanted to spend my day off with you. Back at the hospital? At least it shouldn’t take too long.”
Kiko returned with a clean cloth before Dom even realized he’d gone.
“You’ll drive him in, then?” he asked. Roy glanced at the broken door.
“Yeah. Looks like you have enough to deal with here.”
Dom could almost hear Gordon’s slow voice at that.
“Before you go,” said Kiko as Roy started leading Chad to the other door, “you didn’t see who threw the brick, did you?”
“Nah, I was looking for Roy,” said Chad, and then he and Roy were gone, leaving Dom and Kiko standing in a puddle of shards.
* * * *
Chapter 16
“Huh,” said Gordon, turning in a half-circle to stare from the door to the brick, “sure looks like someone wants to kill you.”
Kiko refused to look over at Dom, who was fidgeting more than usual and probably worried as hell now. If even Police Chief Gordon admitted something was going on, then it was certainly a problem. The old man was stubbornly against anything that made him put forth additional effort, sometimes dangerously so.
“Great,” said Dom. “The poison?”
Gordon hitched up his pants.
“Too soon. Don’t have the lab work back yet. It’s days to Christmas, boys, I can’t promise you anything.”
Kiko was really beginning to feel the cold now. He and Dom had cleared everyone out after Roy had led Chad off and Kiko was seriously considering closing Yolks on You early. It was freezing inside and he didn’t want anyone hurting themselves here. He still needed to sweep up the mess and put plastic over the door. And by the time that was done, he’d want to go home.
Gordon took out his phone and began taking pictures of the scene. Kiko risked a glance at Dom and nearly laughed at the expression of shock on his face. Gordon replaced his phone, rubbed the underside of his nose with a finger, and muttered something about bagging the evidence before shuffling off back to the police car.
“Twice in two days,” said Dom when the police chief had gone. “I don’t think I want you going into work tomorrow.”
“It’ll only be for a few hours,” said Kiko. He would not let anyone drive him away from his store, and he was not going to let Dom talk him out of it, either.
“Kiko…”
“I won’t have Chad or Katie in.”
“They’re not the ones being targeted,” said Dom, scowling. His hands were clenched.
“That isn’t a point, Dom. Someone threw a brick at Chad today. Being here is dangerous.”
“Dangerous for your customers, too,” muttered Dom.
“Do I have to ask you boys to tell me what you’re arguing about?” asked Gordon, and Kiko shook his head. The police chief knew just how long he took to conduct an interview; it was an adequate threat.
“No, sir,” said Dom. “Just discussing closing the store for the weekend.”
“Day,” said Kiko.
“Uh-huh,” said Gordon, bending slowly to bag the brick. “One of your better ideas.”
Dom shot Kiko a see? look but he ignored it, trying to think. Dom did have a point about the customers; Kiko didn’t want to put them in danger, even if he was the real target. Obviously anyone—even a child—could have eaten those sweet rolls yesterday, and Chad was attacked today. But closing entirely several days before Christmas…Kiko normally got a small surge of last-minute shoppers and it would be difficult to turn those away. But he wasn’t the kind of person
to put people needlessly in danger. He thought.
Maybe this could all get cleared up by tomorrow.
“And no one saw anything,” said Gordon, straightening slowly, brick in a bag.
“Unfortunately Chad wasn’t looking at whoever threw the brick at him,” said Kiko.
“They weren’t looking too hard either if they thought Chad was you,” said Dom. Kiko sighed.
“Yolks on You will absolutely be closed the rest of the day,” he said. “I’m turning the signs now.”
He moved to do so, trying to remember who was the local window and door business. Kiko hoped they could see to the store before Christmas. He did not relish having to run the heat so many days while it all got sucked out a gaping hole. But since he couldn’t let his pipes freeze, he’d have to eat the cost. And the insurance would have to inspect the damage…
“You look like you could murder someone,” said Dom, startling him. He glanced around for Gordon, but the police chief had left. “Is it Chad? He’s not your kid.”
“I want this over with,” said Kiko. Dom followed him as he took his own pictures and then went to find the broom. “This never should have escalated.”
“Ben seems to be hiding a violent streak.”
“Is it Ben?” asked Kiko. Dom grabbed the dustpan for him. “I’m very interested in whether Cat’s been getting threatening notes, too. If she’s being vandalized but I’m being given death threats…”
“Are you saying they’re not related?” asked Dom. “How can they not be?”
Kiko didn’t know, either. The only thing that made sense was that they were connected.
“It makes sense that whoever’s going after Cat is going after me to stop our investigation. But if someone is actually trying to kill me—”
“You still think it’s Cat,” said Dom, but he didn’t sound annoyed about the idea now. “Well, shit. You’re saying if she scares you enough we’ll back off and not discover she wrecked her own place.”
“It’s possible.”
“Good thing we’re meeting her tomorrow then,” said Dom. “You have anything to cover this with? I’m not putting my coat on until it’s time to leave.”
Kiko smiled at him.
“I have some plastic we can duct tape over it.”
* * * *
Dom didn’t want to tell Kiko he was relieved that whoever had thrown that brick had aimed at Chad; Kiko would hate it. And he didn’t want Kiko going back to work until they found out who was trying to kill him, but he didn’t think he could really keep him from opening Yolks on You back up, not unless he could come up with a watertight argument that Kiko’s logic would accept. That would be a challenge.
He mulled it over as they swept up all the glass, even the bits in hard-to-reach places. He considered multiple angles as Kiko pulled up the plastic tarp from the basement and passed him the duct tape. He wondered whether he could even get Kiko to shut the place down tomorrow as he pressed the tape against the tarp and wall, not having any better argument than that Kiko’s life was in danger, and that didn’t seem to be enough at the moment.
The door jingled. Kiko swore.
“I turned the signs,” he muttered.
“Should have locked up, too,” said Dom. He turned to see Martha striding across the store to them, something like but not quite a smile on her face. Dom’s stomach plummeted. He’d figured if he failed to call Buddy back, he’d just drop the whole commune-with-the-dead-animals thing. Martha’s knowing glance at him said otherwise.
“I’m sorry, Martha, but I’m afraid Yolks on You is closed for the rest of the day,” said Kiko, flashing his deal-with-a-customer smile, but even Martha seemed to notice it was forced.
“Oh, I’m not here to buy,” she said, then winked. “Although thanks for that last cookbook. Buddy and I really enjoyed that one. Who even knew you could do that with—”
“Martha,” said Kiko. He looked immensely tired to Dom, so he moved over to take Kiko’s hand. “I’ve had a long day…”
“Buddy has some cold ones waiting for just that reason,” she said. Kiko looked confused. “Didn’t Dom extend our invitation? The séance?”
Dom couldn’t meet Kiko’s questioning gaze.
“I didn’t think he was serious,” he said. Martha laughed.
“Of course Buddy was serious! Mother might have something important he needs to pass along to you. Do you want to drive or catch a ride with me?”
“Wait,” said Kiko, pulling his hand from Dom’s grip. “Mother wants to communicate with me through a séance? Am I understanding that right?”
“Dom didn’t tell you?” asked Martha, and suddenly Dom felt everyone staring at him.
“I didn’t think he was serious,” he repeated. “Do you want to go to a séance, Kiko?”
“Mother came to Buddy Angus last night,” said Martha as though it wasn’t even slightly ridiculous. “And Buddy Angus visited Buddy. That’s how he knew.” Her expression had taken on a sympathetic seriousness. “We’re going to have another séance tonight, just to see what Mother wants to pass on before he passes on. Not every ghost stays like Buddy Angus.”
Dom expected Kiko to decline. Of the two of them, he was the one more grounded in logic, much as Dom hated admitting it. To his surprise, Kiko nodded.
“Dom will drive,” said Kiko. “We’ll be over when we’re done here. The brewery or one of your houses?”
“The brewery,” said Martha. “Buddy will be glad you’re coming out. He says Buddy Angus was very agitated about everything.”
The sun was going down by the time they had finished with the tarp and Kiko had shut down the computer. Dom kept expecting Kiko to say he was only joking, but the time came to pull on their coats and shut off the lights and Kiko had said nothing.
“We’re really going, then?” asked Dom as he unlocked his car.
“Why not? Buddy and Martha clearly want us to, and it gets us away from Devin for a while.”
Dom didn’t want to argue with anything that got him away from Devin, but it worried him that Kiko didn’t seem to care how lacking in logic the entire thing was.
“I’m not taking this seriously, you know,” said Kiko as they pulled into the brewery lot. “But I am curious.”
“I didn’t say you believed it.”
Kiko laughed.
“You’ve had this astonished expression on your face ever since I agreed to show up.”
Dom knew objecting would only make Kiko laugh harder, so he took his hand and led him inside the brewery. There were still people there at this hour, drinking samples and buying souvenirs, but the last tour had ended a half an hour ago. Dom saw Buddy Miller motioning to them from the door leading into the brewing section of the place.
“Glad you could make it,” the brewmeister said, sounding relieved. He led them back past kettle after kettle, shining copper monstrosities. The atmosphere felt a bit spooky to Dom, their footsteps echoing down the line until they came to a little corner at the back of the massive building. Martha was already there, lighting candles.
“Buddy told you about Mother?” asked Kiko as Dom looked around. This area of the brewery was practically a shrine. All the pictures, awards, and memorabilia of Buddy Angus that had been out in the storefront area had apparently been moved back here, coming together to make an overwhelming collection. Dom saw a picture of the cow that Buddy Angus had stepped on with a hoof like a signature sitting on a small table next to a giant foam die.
“Is that what you used for the Presidential Pig Races?” asked Dom, remembering Buddy telling him about having Buddy Angus roll a die during the summer.
“Yes,” said Buddy, then turned back to Kiko. “And yes. Took me ages to understand Buddy Angus hadn’t passed on. Now we get messages regularly.”
He looked too happy about it to Dom. But then, it was Mount Angus wisdom that Buddy Angus had been everything to Buddy. His love for the cow seemed to surpass even his affection for Martha, though she didn’t seem to min
d.
“Come on,” she said as she lit the last candle. “Grab a Muddy Angus. Let’s get started.”
* * * *
Kiko accepted his Muddy Angus beer and took a drink, amused at how wary Dom seemed to be that they were here participating in this. At the moment Kiko was willing to do anything that would put off having to think about death threats or his store or family issues. Gaby still seemed irritated with Devin, and Kiko was still raw about Mother’s death.
“Sit, sit,” said Buddy, indicating the concrete floor. They were directed to a rough circle, Dom on Kiko’s left, Buddy on his right, Martha across from him.
“How do you know this is going to work?” asked Dom.
“We’ve done it before,” said Martha. “We’ve channeled Buddy Angus.”
“I didn’t even realize what I saw at first,” said Buddy. “It was Martha’s idea to see if the shadow that was following me around had something to communicate. And it did. I always knew Buddy Angus wouldn’t really leave me.”
“You’ve seen Mother?” asked Kiko.
“Yeah, sorry,” said Buddy, taking a swig from his beer. “Thought it was weird, last night Buddy Angus’ shadow on the brew kettles was so active. Then I noticed the little one. Birdlike.”
Dom breathed out.
“Don’t give him hope,” he said.
“I’m only saying what I saw,” said Buddy. Martha clapped her hands.
“Shall we begin?” she asked. When her question was met with nods she got up, set her beer on the table next to the foam die, and shut off the lights to this area of the brewery. It fast became eerie, the flickering of the candles, the massive curves of the brew kettles, the strange echo of silence in such a large space.
“What do we do?” asked Kiko as she sat. “Hold hands?”
“Please.”
“And close your eyes,” said Buddy. Kiko took Buddy’s hand and then Dom’s, which he squeezed. Dom squeezed back. Kiko would have expected him to be more interested in this, but then maybe he was worried Kiko actually believed that Mother’s spirit was running around the Mount Angus Brewing Company with a long dead cow. Kiko smiled to himself. It was a nice, feel-good thought, but not one he could entertain as realistic.
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