A slight murmur passed through the crowd and Dom heard at least one person mumble, “He loved that cow.” Common knowledge in Mount Angus, and less irritating the more Dom heard it. Buddy continued once the noise died back.
“And I don’t know why it took you all so long to figure out that part of our brew surprise is double beers! Behold: the Christmas collaboration beers.” Buddy swept the cloth from the table, but Dom couldn’t see what was on it from where he stood.
The crowd ooed and began chatting again; Buddy held up his hands.
“I present to you the Naughty ElfPA and the Nice ElfPA, two EPAs, each with their own little twist. Are you feeling like a naughty elf this season? Try the EPA with spices. Or are you more of a nice elf? Have the EPA with citrus. Or mix and match for all your moods.”
“And relatives,” shouted Martha over the growing bubble of chatter. Laughter erupted. People pushed forward to get a taste, examine the labels, ask questions, but Dom hung back by Kiko.
“Dibs on a case of the Naughty,” he said, and Kiko grinned.
* * * *
Chapter 18
By the time the crowd around the beer had lessened somewhat Gaby had returned, arms full of a puffy bag, which she placed by Nathan’s feet.
“Sweater for Luke,” she said, then, “Are you going to grab some samples? Bring me back some?”
“Sure,” said Dom, and Kiko followed him as he wound his way up to the Naughty or Nice table. Buddy was positioned at the Nice side, warmly greeting everyone, while Martha served samples of Naughty ElfPA with a smile.
“Did you figure out what the goose meant?” asked Buddy as he filled cups.
“Could we get one for my sister, too?” asked Kiko, and Buddy shoved a third cup at them. Kiko was uncomfortable with this; as much as the séance had been interesting, he didn’t really believe as Buddy did. But he could no more crush the brewmeister’s spirit than he could a four-year-old’s in his store.
“Well…” began Dom.
“We’re working on it,” said Kiko. “But not certain yet.”
Buddy nodded solemnly. Martha was also only too happy to give them an extra sample for Gaby, who seemed more than grateful for the beer. Kiko and Dom left her to the kids and wandered through the crowd, weighing the flavors of one cup against the taste of the other.
“I’m not sure,” said Dom. “I’d drink them both.”
“I’m clearly nicer than you so I agree you can buy the Naughty,” said Kiko. Dom opened his mouth to protest but someone else spoke first.
“You must be Enrique Cooper.”
Kiko turned at the voice, the slick tone of it throwing up red flags, and saw a young man holding a beer, grinning smugly at him. He was white but so heavily tanned his skin was darker than Kiko’s. He brushed his long, dark bangs out of his eyes as he looked Kiko up and down.
“Yes,” said Kiko. “I own Yolks on You in town. Do you have immediate need for an egg-related product?”
The man chuckled and held out a hand.
“Davis Weintraub,” he said. Dom looked pissed but Kiko shook anyway. “I’m the new alcohol expert at Sander Koch’s restaurant over in Madison. You must have heard of it.”
That explained it. Davis released Kiko’s hand and swept his hair aside again as Kiko held back a sigh. So Sander had a new boyfriend and was sending him down to Mount Angus on a mission to flaunt in front of Kiko. Even Dom seemed to pick up on this, because he spoke before Kiko could.
“You look young,” he said, eyeing Davis up and down. This didn’t seem to bother him.
“I’m twenty-four. You have a problem with young professionals?”
“You don’t look like you’ve been alive long enough to develop a professional taste for alcohol,” said Dom. Davis laughed, the sound slick like the rest of his voice, and gave Dom a wink.
“Well, we’re not all good boys when we’re underage.”
Dom glared and Kiko decided it was a good idea to guide Davis’ attention back to him.
“If you’re on the hunt for quality beverages, Davis, you might want to consider talking to Buddy Miller over there. I don’t specialize in alcohol.”
Davis turned his slimy grin on Kiko.
“Oh, I know who Buddy is.” He took a drink. “Don’t tell me you don’t even do eggnog. Traditional. Perfect for the holidays?”
Kiko returned a smirk.
“It’s not worth the stars on Sander’s restaurant. He’s tried and rejected it before.”
“Hmm,” said Davis, examining Kiko’s tie now like it was the worst of its sort he’d ever seen. Sander had found a fairly good match, Kiko decided, a man finally as picky and stuck up as him. They wouldn’t last to Valentine’s Day.
“Surely he told you that,” said Kiko. Davis brushed the hair from his eyes.
“It never hurts to ask whether a recipe has been improved. And I’ve heard so much about you.”
“All bad, I hope,” said Dom. Davis laughed.
“He really loved you, you know.” He shrugged. “Your loss. That man can make one fine breakfast in bed.”
“Where does he cook the eggs?” asked Kiko. “When I knew him he didn’t have a George Foreman pillow.”
Dom laughed so hard Kiko was worried he’d choke. Davis’ smirk grew hard and forced.
“Well. It was certainly an experience meeting you,” said Davis. “But I can’t hang around all night, I have a distillery to hit up after this. Stop by the restaurant sometime and I’ll make sure you have the best of the cheapest wine we have.”
“What a dick,” said Dom as Davis wound his way through the crowd. Kiko shrugged, still amused.
“Isn’t it funny how Sander’s threatened by you?” he asked. Dom shot him a confused look. “He never renewed interest in me until he met you. I think he can sense just how close we are. He’s jealous.”
“It is a lot to send Davis all the way out to Mount Angus.”
Kiko finished his second beer sample and was about to suggest they make their purchases when he caught sight of Chad in the crowd talking to Angel. Evelyn was nowhere to be seen; someone should tell Chad he should be mingling with people more his age. Kiko was sure he’d seen Dill wandering around somewhere.
“Come on, let’s go save Chad before his mother notices what he’s doing.”
* * * *
Dom always thought Kiko was overreacting when it came to Chad. Sure, he was young, and sure, it was potentially problematic for an almost-nineteen-year-old to be chatting with someone who was fifteen, but Chad’s interest in Angel always seemed to be her gun hobby. This appeared to be the case again from what Dom could tell, based on what Chad was saying when they approached.
“And those are like, all your guns? So do you get to—”
“Chad,” said Kiko. The teen jumped.
“Oh, hey, boss. You see my stitches yet?” He pointed to his bruised forehead. “They put four in.”
“I’ve seen worse,” said Angel, shrugging.
“Yeah, but not on anybody’s head, you said.”
“I noticed Dill was hanging around,” said Kiko. Chad stared blankly at him.
“Dill’s boring. Angel knows shit about guns.”
Dom wanted to pull Kiko away. Chad was fine, Angel was fine, and Dom wanted to buy himself a full beer. Maybe two. Just in case he ran into Devin somewhere. Chad seemed to pick up on Kiko’s displeasure, though, because he immediately began to offer more.
“And she knows all about that mystery you and the boyfriend are going all Sherlock on,” said Chad, nodding eagerly at Angel. “She totally goes shooting with Justine literally every week.”
“I do not,” said Angel, shooting Chad a glare Dom would not want to be on the receiving end of. “Stuck up beyatch thinks I’m too beneath her to even shoot paintball.”
“Wait,” said Dom. He glanced at Kiko, who seemed curious now, too. “Justine does paintball?”
“Tell them what you told me,” said Chad. The teen looked about two sentences
away from getting paintballed in the groin. Angel tilted her head up, not even bothering to glare at him now.
“So I saw a paintball gun in Justine’s locker,” she said. “She’s new this year, I thought I’d be nice, right, see if she wanted to go shooting with me. I’d go easy on her, just targets, no battle.”
“And?” asked Kiko, abandoning his quest to save Chad from himself. Angel shrugged again.
“And nothing. She got all weird. Stepped in the way so I wouldn’t see it. Laughed at me and told me I didn’t see what I thought I saw.” Angel rolled her eyes hard and folded her arms. “Like that would actually work on me. I think I know my guns. I know we’re not supposed to have anything like that at school, but I wouldn’t’ve said anything.”
“Kiko,” said Dom, turning that over in his mind. If Justine had access to the paintball guns, then definitely she’d know about what her father was doing.
“Chad,” snapped an angry voice. Evelyn pushed past them, curling her lip and glaring at Kiko. She grabbed her son by the arm. “We’re going.”
“But they haven’t done the drawing yet,” said Chad.
“I don’t care. If I don’t have to talk to that Davis slimeball again in my whole life that won’t even begin to make it better.”
Chad groaned as his mother yanked him away.
“Seriously? I like, just got here…”
“Someone’s pissed Sander got a boyfriend, but it’s not you,” said Dom. When he turned back Angel had disappeared and Kiko was staring at him.
“That’s why none of this makes sense,” said Kiko. “Because Ben didn’t do it after all.”
“Kiko,” said Dom. “Ben did it. All the evidence is there.”
“But Justine had a paintball gun in her locker.” Kiko paused. “We need to get Cat and Gordon.”
“Get me for what?”
Cat showed up holding a twelve-pack of bottled Nice ElfPA, confused expression on her face. Dom wasn’t sure he was completely following, either. It seemed Kiko was implying that a kid had done all this. Not only that, a kid on track to make valedictorian, a kid that sounded like she had more sense when it came to organizing a business than her father. Dom couldn’t see how Justine had decided poisoning someone wasn’t a terrible idea.
“Dom and I don’t think it was Ben after all,” said Kiko, then leaned in close to Cat and whispered. “Justine had a paintball gun in her locker.”
“No,” said Cat as though she resisted believing it.
“Have you seen Gordon?”
“Kiko, let’s not drag Gordon into this,” said Dom. He couldn’t imagine how much the police chief would slow everything down, and beyond that, he still wasn’t completely with Kiko on this one. Maybe Ben wanted his daughter to hang on to the paintball gun for him. Maybe he was framing his own daughter. A guy who was completely comfortable with his daughter being a model like that was definitely capable of planting evidence on her to confuse everything.
Kiko shot him a look.
“I don’t want Gordon either,” said Cat. “And you’re investigating my problem. I haven’t actually confronted Ben yet—if it’s him, we’ll call Gordon.”
“Gordon will just slow us down,” said Dom. “Best we know who it is first.”
“That normally leads to us nearly getting killed.”
He had a point with that, but Dom shook his head.
“This isn’t the same as our other cases,” he said, liking the way that sounded. They had cases. “No one was murdered. And whoever is going after you wants to keep their distance. I think three adults should be fine confronting him.”
“Agreed,” said Cat. “Meet you at Angus Arts?”
Dom nodded. After she had hauled her box of beer off into the crowd he turned to a frowning Kiko.
“Maybe she was holding on to it for him,” he said. “Maybe she was trying to protect him or cover for him.”
“Maybe,” said Kiko.
* * * *
Kiko did not share Dom’s optimism, nor did he have such a stubborn fixation on Ben. There was something suspicious about the entire family, true, but then a lot of people in Mount Angus had family feuds and strange business plans. And regardless of how often Ben shot squirrels out his window, Kiko knew kids well enough to know that poisoning an animal was not beyond them. Kids were curious, interested in flexing their power and understanding just where harm began.
A teen was completely capable of poisoning food and flinging a brick, even if that teen was on track to be valedictorian.
“This night,” said Dom, shaking his head as Kiko drove. “Hell, this Christmas.”
“You should be able to avoid Devin until tomorrow now,” said Kiko. Dom didn’t relax in the seat next to him. “I’ll be off work on Wednesday. Think you can make it until then?”
“It’s not that,” said Dom. He paused so long Kiko was pulling next to Cat’s car in the Angus Arts lot. “You’ll still be around next Christmas, right?”
“I’m not going anywhere, Dom,” said Kiko, turning off the truck but not popping the door yet. “I mean it when I say I love you.”
Dom shot him a little half smile.
“If it somehow isn’t Ben, I’m coming to work with you tomorrow.” Kiko opened his mouth to protest, but Dom continued. “And if it is Ben, we’ll get Gordon down here immediately.” He snorted. “As immediately as a snail can go.”
“And if it’s Justine?”
“I hope a kid’s not trying to kill you.”
“Kids will do all sorts of things to protect their parents,” said Kiko. He opened his door to the cold air. Cat was standing in front of the truck now, waiting.
“What, did you stop to make out?” she asked, sounding annoyed.
“We had some very sexy arguing to do,” said Dom, shooting Kiko a look. Kiko threw up his hands but followed them up to Angus Arts, where Cat yanked open the door and stomped in.
“Whoa,” said Christian from the counter, normal boredom vanishing from his expression. “I don’t think you should be in here, Aunt Catherine.”
“I’d love to see your father throw me out,” she said.
“Good, because I’m about to,” said Ben from the stairs. He and Justine descended, his daughter holding what looked like a clipboard of spreadsheets. Kiko could see exactly why she was considered a good bet for valedictorian; she had her organization down. He didn’t want her to remind him so much of himself.
“Not until I’m done talking you won’t,” said Cat. “Or I’m calling the cops and telling them the evidence I have about who’s been vandalizing my place.”
Ben sneered.
“Oh, just let her,” said Justine, rolling her eyes. “She doesn’t have anything on you. Maybe you’ll shout less at family Christmas.”
“My daughter, the peacemaker,” said Ben, then glanced over at Kiko and Dom. “I take it you two found the evidence?”
Kiko shrugged, but before either he or Dom could respond Cat was talking, pointing a finger in Ben’s face.
“I knew it. I knew the moment you moved back you’d pull something. And an art place…You always hated art.”
“You don’t know that,” said Ben. “And I don’t care what you think of me. I’m back in the area, Angus Arts is here and open, and you’re just going to have to learn to deal with it. It’s not my fault if people hate your place and you can’t hold on to your artists.”
Cat let out a short laugh.
“Really? Then why do they already want back in with me?” She paused to take in Ben’s shock. “I’m not telling you who, but at least one of your artists wants to show with me now instead. That was fast.”
“You’re not going to scare me away, Catherine,” said Ben.
“I don’t have to. The evidence: you’re the one with the motive, Ben. And the paintball class. The paintball guns. Oh, and the paint in all the right colors. Care to explain your way out of that one?”
“Yolks on You was paintballed, too,” said Kiko, looking from Ben to hi
s daughter. Justine didn’t fidget, but she did look angry. Ben laughed.
“Paintball? You’re pissed at me for my creative classes?”
“I don’t care what sort of shitty classes you offer,” said Cat. “You paintballed us and cost me a lot of business. Red, green, yellow, and white paint sound familiar to you?”
Ben glanced at his daughter.
“What kind of paint do we have?” When Justine hesitated, he added, “Well? I want her off my case.”
“You did it, didn’t you?” asked Kiko. Next to him, Dom stepped closer so that their arms were brushing. Support or a warning to back off, Kiko didn’t know. A silence hung in the air for a minute.
“Red, green, yellow, white,” said Justine in a whisper. “Those are the only paintball colors we have.”
Ben was staring at her hard now.
“What did you do?” he asked. Justine scowled, gestured with her clipboard.
“Fine, I did it,” she said. “Happy? You found your little culprit. I stole all the eggs from the home ec class you made me take and got in through an unlocked door. I thought this would shut you both up—too angry to fight all the time.”
“No,” said Ben. “You couldn’t have. Justine, you’re so smart.”
Kiko winced at the line at the same time Justine did. He’d heard that before.
“And the paintballing?” asked Kiko. Justine shrugged.
“Yeah, that, too. Easy. And I did Yolks on You when I heard you were investigating. I thought it might get you to back off.”
“Whoa,” said Dom. “We were right?”
“You thought it was Ben,” said Kiko.
“If Cat’s pressing charges, it was me,” said Ben. Cat rolled her eyes.
“I’m not getting my niece in trouble with the law.”
This all seemed so very easy. Just a family disagreement that got carried away. Kiko stared at them as they quibbled now, Cat calling Ben a shitty parent, Justine pissed everyone was talking about her around her. The table even got brought up. But Mother was still dead, and Justine had only admitted to the vandalism.
“What about Kiko?” asked Dom over the noise. The room fell silent.
“What about Kiko?” asked Christian.
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