by Tonya Kappes
“Hey, buddy.” Duke had his paws and nose pressed up on the front window. When I opened the door, I saw the blinds had come crashing down on the hardwood. I bent down and gave him a good scratch while I let him lick my face. “You smell like Jolee’s food truck.”
I pulled back and looked at his nose. The edges were dotted with white powder. Duke was known to get into baking flour a time or two and I was sure today was no different.
I picked up the blinds and shook them toward him. “I guess another set of blinds bite the dust.” I leaned them up against the wall.
Screwing them back up was going to have to wait. I was tired, I needed a bath, and I was hungry.
He tucked tail and darted off down the small hallway.
My house was small. It had two bedrooms on the far end of the house with a Jack and Jill bathroom between them. The family room and kitchen were down the small hall on the opposite side of the bedrooms. The family room was in the front of the house. Behind it, in the back of the house, was the kitchen.
A good cup of decaf coffee would be nice after a long hot shower, plus I needed to let Duke out into my fenced-in backyard. When it came to living on Free Row, Duke was even more effective than my gun. His size made people think twice.
“’Bout time you got home.”
My skin crawled like someone had dragged their nails along a chalkboard. I knew who was in my kitchen before I even turned the corner.
Without looking at Mama, I went over to the coffee pot, grabbed the carafe and stuck it under the sink, turning the faucet on.
“If you were going to break and enter, the least you could’ve done is make a pot of coffee.” I kept my eye on the rising level of water. “I didn’t see your car out front. What are you doing here?”
“Your daddy had to go to the Jaycee’s club meeting.” Mama never did like to stay by herself when Daddy was gone.
The Jaycee’s was really a club for men up to forty. Daddy was far past forty, but he was their main consultant, grand poo-pa in the community. Even though he complained that no other businessman in Cottonwood would step up to the plate, secretly I knew he loved it.
“We heard about Doc’s murder and the jewelry store break-in. I figured I’d better stop by and hear about it for myself instead of gossip from the Euchre club.” She drummed her fingers along the table. The drumming stopped, but the pointing began. “This occupation you have decided to go into.”
“Mama, I won’t have you coming into my house and telling me that I need to go to beauty school and work at Tiny Tina’s.” I slammed the faucet off and set the pot of water on the counter so I could let Duke out.
He had already scratched the hell out of the door casing; the last thing I needed him to do was tunnel a hole through the outside wall.
Mama stood up when I came back into the kitchen. “Look at you,” she said. It was like I was looking into a mirror. “You look tired. You are a young woman. Vibrant and of the marrying age.”
It was hard looking like her. All the men in town always told me how pretty she was and how lucky I was and that any man that stole my heart was going to be lucky too. She wore her hair long, like mine, and though her olive skin did have a few more wrinkles than mine, she was still gorgeous. She and I stood about the same height, five feet five inches, and we had the same body type, though she had a little wider hips. We had curves in the right places. We weren’t too thin or heavy. And we wore the same size eight shoes.
Life between us was great once. She was my best friend, until I told her what I wanted to do with my life. That was the day it all changed.
“Oh, Mama.” I threw my hands in the air. “Who on earth am I going to marry from Cottonwood?”
She shrugged. She knew I was right. There were no men in Cottonwood, not single anyways.
“And I’m sure Daddy is fine.” I shook my head. “Otherwise, he’d have called me himself.”
“Well, you are killing him.” She sashayed over in her Capri khaki pants and yellow short-sleeved tennis shirt. She took the pot of water off the counter and poured it into the coffee maker. “And living on Free Row doesn’t help either.” She twirled her finger in the air. “One of these people in your own backyard is probably who killed Doctor Walton and broke into Viola’s place.”
“It was good enough for Poppa.”
“It was different then.” She was good at reminding me. “Do you have any leads on who killed Doc?”
I leaned my hip against the counter and crossed my arms. “You know I can’t tell you anything about the investigation.”
“I’m worried about you.” She flipped the coffee maker on. “After all, you are the one responsible for putting yourself in this situation and my only child.”
She wouldn’t be my mama if she wasn’t worried.
“And I’m going to be fine.” I sucked in a deep breath. Fighting with her was not on my priority list. Her complaining wasn’t going to change anything. “I’m getting a shower.” I shook my head and headed down the hall to end the conversation.
It took a lot for me to not get into a screaming match with my mama. She’d start on her hissy fit and get me worked up before bed. I wasn’t about to let her get the upper hand. Not in this case. This was real sheriff business.
I turned on the hot water as high as it would go and steam rolled out into the bathroom as I got undressed. The bathroom mirror quickly fogged. I took Poppa’s pin off my sweatshirt and carefully laid it on the little glass shelf above the toilet. Sticking my hand under the water, I jerked it right back out and turned on the cold water, making it a desirable temperature and not one that would require me to go to the clinic for third-degree burns.
I stepped in and pulled the shower curtain closed, letting the water run over my head with my eyes closed. Images of the day kept popping inside my head though I tried to just enjoy the moment. The stick symbol bugged me, as did the stab wounds. The idea of mercury poisoning made my skin crawl. Who would think of something so awful? Wasn’t the stabbing enough? This killer was vicious, and I had to get him or her behind bars before the community found out just how awful the murder truly was.
Finn. I made a mental note to give him a call to see if he’d found anything else at the jewelry store. Then there was Wyatt. I had mentioned to him that I was going to see if he could get appointed as my temporary deputy, but he never gave me a definitive answer. I thought I better call him before it got really late.
I jumped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. Without drying myself off, I darted back down the hall to grab my phone. It was getting late and I didn’t want to wake up Wyatt if he was sleeping.
“The coffee smells good.” Wearing only the towel, I stopped in the doorway of the kitchen. Then I saw Finn sitting at the kitchen table while Mama scurried around to get him a cup of coffee.
“Your friend Finn stopped by.” Mama acted like she had the best southern manners in the world as she opened the cabinet to get a coffee mug. “Nice young man. Don’t ya think?” Mama turned around.
Finn’s mouth dropped. He threw his hand up over his eyes and tucked his chin to his chest.
“Kendrick Lowry!” Mama shrieked, dropping the mug, which shattered all over the kitchen tile floor. She rushed over, throwing her arms around my shoulders and pushing me back down the hallway into the bathroom. “This is why you need a good paying job. Stop pretending to play Nancy Drew all day long. When are you going to grow up?” She shoved me in the bathroom, slamming the door behind me.
I looked at the full-length mirror on the closed door at my reflection. It was still framed in steam from the hot shower, but the full image of me standing there dripping wet with a towel was right there. There I stood, with my long honey-colored hair plastered to my head, dripping big drops of water down onto my towel. Only the towel looked like moths had eaten it. There were holes in
it exposing parts of my body that didn’t need to be exposed, leaving Finn with an eyeful of things he shouldn’t have seen.
“Get some new towels!” Mama screamed from behind the closed door, followed up by stomping feet and a slam to what I hoped was the front door.
A little giggle escaped me, turning into a hysterical laugh that caused me to take a seat on the edge of the tub, looking at myself in the full-length mirror. As much as I tried to keep it in, the laughter poured out of me and tears piled up on my eyelids. I had heard about these moments of insane laughter but had never experienced one until now.
I felt like I was on the edge of insanity and in an episode of This Is Your Life, because today had been eerily similar to both.
The image of Mama huffing it down Free Row’s sidewalk made me cackle more. My stomach hurt as I doubled over trying to catch my breath. The knock at the bathroom door brought my laughter to a halt.
“Are you okay in there?” Finn’s voice was borderline concerned, a “do I need to call the paddy wagon to come get you” concern.
I fanned my hand in front of my face, but not without a big smile.
“I’m happier than a dead pig in the sunshine,” I called out, knowing I was going to have to face him at some point. After all, he was standing in my hallway trying to check on my mental status.
“Well…” Finn paused. “I’m not sure what that means, but I’m going to let you get some rest. I think you might need it.”
“Of course you don’t know what that means,” I mumbled. The fit of laughter left my body as quickly as it came. Too bad. “When a pig dies while in the sun, the sun dries out the body and pulls its skin tight, leaving the pig with a toothy grin. Get it now?”
“Huh,” Finn said flatly.
“I called Betty at dispatch to get the mayor to schedule an emergency town council meeting. I think I need to appoint Wyatt deputy until this is solved.” I clamped my teeth together and squeezed my eyes shut when there was silence from the other side of the door as he hesitated. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings like he wasn’t helping, but he was only here temporarily. Who knew how long the reserves would let me keep him here. “I’m hoping to get a meeting set for tomorrow night.”
“We can grab dinner beforehand if you want so I can tell you what I find out,” he finally said.
“Did you find out anything yet?” I was curious as to why he had stopped by or even found out where I lived. It wasn’t like he couldn’t ask any Joe Schmo off the street. Everyone knew everyone and everyone’s business. That’s just the way it was in a small town.
“Nothing real solid,” he said. “I’m still going down the list of patients we divided. I hope to have those done by tomorrow night.”
“Great. Ben’s before the meeting if Betty can get it set up by then?” I asked.
“Yeah. See you then,” Finn said, followed by footsteps.
“Shut the door on the way out,” I said so I could come out of hiding. I had to admit, I was a little embarrassed he saw me in my towel. A little more of me than I wanted him to see. But it was worth the look on my mama’s face.
I didn’t tell him to lock it. No one on Free Row ever bothered me, and I dared them to now—especially after the day I’d had so far.
Chapter Ten
The next morning while my coffee was brewing, I took Duke on a quick run. I wasn’t sure if I was going to take him with me since I’d hopefully be chasing some leads on the two investigations. I didn’t like the idea of keeping him in the car all day, so letting him get in a little exercise this morning to get out some energy was the plan, though it was a good stress relief for me too.
I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table. I dialed my parents’ phone number.
“Good morning,” Mama sang into the phone. She was always a morning person. “Lowry residence.”
“Good morning, Mama.” I took a sip of coffee to let her digest that it was me calling so early. “I wanted to make sure you made it home last night after you left here on foot.”
“Why, Kenni.” Mama gasped. “You waited this long to call? I could’ve been dead on the side of the road or kidnapped in one of your neighbors’ creepy houses and you’d’ve never known.”
“Mama, if someone kidnapped you, they’d give you back because you’d wear them out with all your talking,” I assured her. “I just wanted to tell you good morning.”
“Good morning.” She sounded like a spoiled brat, which I blamed on Daddy. He always did spoil Mama and gave her everything she wanted. “Are you going to be looking for clues in the murder?”
“Goodbye, Mama.” I sighed. “I’ll call you later.” I didn’t offer her any other chance to talk before I hung up the phone.
I gave Duke some kibble and freshened up his water bowl before I went to take a shower and get ready for the day. I feared it was going to be a long one. My first stop into town would be Kim’s Buffet. She didn’t open up until eleven for lunch. I’d take my time to get ready since I already knew I was going to be home late tonight.
When I turned off the shower, the phone was ringing. I let it go to the answering machine, but no one left a message. When the phone rang four more times and didn’t leave any message, I knew someone was trying to get in touch with me.
This time I made sure I was dried off well, and retrieved another towel from underneath the cabinet that was in better shape than the last one. Granted, there were still a couple of holes, but not nearly as many as the drenched towel on the floor.
I gripped the edges of the towel around me while I grabbed the old yellow rotary phone hanging on my kitchen wall, then pulled the tangled-up cord apart while trying to let Duke in.
“Kenni, where are you?” Betty Murphy quipped from the other end. “I’ve been calling you on the dispatch walkie-talkie but you aren’t answering me.”
“I’m at home trying to take a shower before I put on my Wonder Woman cape for the day.” I knew it was a smart-aleck thing to say and quickly regretted being mean. “I’m sorry, Betty. I’m a little on edge. What’s up?”
“You aren’t going to be any happier. Doolittle Bowman called and said to expect a big turnout at the town council meeting tonight. She even asked local area businesses to close.”
Closing shop wasn’t much of a big deal because most of Cottonwood closed down by nine p.m. anyway on a weekend, seven p.m. on weeknights.
“That doesn’t make me unhappy.” I wasn’t sure why the news that really wasn’t news would make her think I’d be upset.
“Can I finish?” Her sarcasm didn’t go unnoticed. She continued, “She said everyone is in an uproar and they’re demanding something be done.” Betty talked so fast my ears couldn’t keep up. All I understood was I was going to be hanging in the middle of Main Street from the big oak tree on the courthouse lawn if I didn’t have some answers before the meeting.
“That’s fine. I had expected as much. I’ll have some information for the good people of Cottonwood,” I lied into the receiver. It was better to go along with what the community wanted, and right now they wanted to be reassured that there was no need to be afraid. “I’m glad it’s scheduled for tonight. Good work.”
“You do have some information?” Betty asked, curiosity in her voice.
“Thanks, Betty.” I hung up, not giving her any of the details I didn’t have. I knew if I’d said a word, everyone in town would know before sundown.
Sunlight peeked through the front windows in the family room. Duke lay on the floor sunning himself in the stream. I walked over and bent down, running my hand along his warm body. Eagerly he groaned, rolling over on his back for a good belly rub.
With my towel securely wrapped around me, I lay in the stream of sunshine next to him and let the sun hit my face while I scratched his belly. Before I knew it, my eyelids got heavy, and clo
sing them, I went off into a realm of unconsciousness.
Images of Doc Walton’s Sharpie tattoo and the spray-painted carpet from White’s danced in my head in some sort of weird pattern, along with images of Finn sweet-talking everyone who came into his line of vision, including Lulu and my mama. Oddly I found myself standing in the background, my Poppa standing behind me.
“You don’t want to stay back here. You are a Sims. Not by name, but DNA. You take control of this situation,” my Poppa’s voice whispered in my ear.
“But I don’t know what to do,” my dream self pleaded with him. “I don’t know how to look for clues in a murder. Please help me.”
“You have this.” Poppa’s finger touched my chest right where my heart lay. A warm feeling, like the sun on my face, overtook the very breath in my lungs and every single beat of my heart. “And this.” He held out the pin I had found in the truck and placed it in the palm of my dream self’s hand.
“But I want you. I need you to guide me.” There was a frantic feeling swirling inside almost like a panic attack; I desperately didn’t want my Poppa to go back to where he had come from. I felt my real self coming out of my dream. “No!” my dream self screamed. “Don’t send me back! Don’t send me back alone!”
I jumped up when I felt Duke lick my cheek. My heart sank, as did my stomach, when I realized I was in the present in a towel with the sun beaming down on me.
“Hey, buddy.”
I ran my hand over my forehead where sweat had beaded along the hairline and glanced up at the anniversary clock I had gotten from Ruby’s Antiques when I first bought the place. The plate on the anniversary clock read “Congratulations to Dick and Bob.” I didn’t question where Ruby got it nor did she offer, though she did tell me it was from a breakup. Lucky for me that Dick and Bob didn’t work out, because I got the perfectly used clock for a few bucks.
Regardless, the clock said I hadn’t dozed off long and that I better get going if I was going to have anything to report to the town council tonight.