by Renee George
I guffawed. “That would be Richard Stenson. He’s the new president since Lowry stepped down. He’s an opossum therianthrope, and he’s been with the council for twelve years. A hard man, but fair. Still,” I giggled, “he does have a porn-stache. I want to hand him a jar of shaving cream and razor every time I’m summoned to his office.” I shook my head. “There’s no way you could have known Stenson sent me. Usually, my orders come from lower on the power pole.”
“I also saw you at Blonde Bear Cafe with Brady Corman. The chemistry between you was electric.”
“Well, that definitely hasn’t happened.”
“Yet.”
I dipped my sourdough bread into my soup and let it soak up the juices as I pondered Sunny’s revelation. “I’m not sure things are going anywhere with Brady.”
“Why?” She dipped her bread and took a bite.
“I think he might be hung up on a ghost.”
“Rose Ann isn’t a ghost. At least not anymore.”
I choked on my bite of food. “I didn’t mean literally. You see ghosts?”
“Only shifter ghosts, apparently.” She shuddered and rubbed her arms. “Judah, Babe’s brother, showed me what those hunters did to him and those other men.” She took a deep breath. “And Rose Ann. I hate to even think about what would have happened to Chav if we hadn’t found her. Well, I got kidnapped by the assholes, but that’s beside the point. I am just glad I was able to help all those victims finally find peace.”
I didn’t know what think about Sunny’s proclamation of psychic abilities and seeing shifter ghosts, but I did have a question burning inside me. “What do you know about Rose Ann?”
“She was agreeable for a ghost. From what Jo Jo has told me, she was the glue in their family. When she disappeared, Brady thought she’d run off on him. It destroyed him. I think he still holds on to the shame of those years. Rose Ann was able to say goodbye to her family through me, but for Brady, that meant she also was able to see the mess he’d made of his life. The mess he’d made of being a father to their son.” Sunny’s eyes teared up. “All those wasted years of hate and bitterness. I’m afraid he’s overcompensating these days. The problem is, Jo Jo doesn’t need him the same way. I worry his guilt is going to keep him from having anything good in his life.”
My heart ached for Brady, for Jo Jo, and even for Rose Ann, as Sunny talked about them. How could he ever be mine if he was still clinging to his dead wife? If she still held that kind of sway over him?
“I’d like to talk to Doc Smith today about Evelyn. I might be able to help with the case. Do you think he’d speak to me?”
Sunny nodded. “I’ll call Chav. He’ll talk to you if she asks him.”
“I appreciate it.” Brady might not be ready for a relationship, but it wasn’t going to stop me from fulfilling my promise to him.
Sunny got up from her seat, walked over to me, and gave me a hug. “Thanks,” she said.
“For what?”
“For keeping my secret.”
“I haven’t made up my mind what to do yet.”
She grinned. “Yes, you have.”
I shook my head. “Balls.” She was right. I had.
“Balls!” Jude yelled. “Balls, balls, balls!”
I gave Sunny a guilty look. “At least I didn’t say something worse.”
My phone rang. Sunny said, “Tell Brady I said hello.”
I looked at the screen. My stomach fluttered. “Hey,” I said when I answered.
“Hey,” Brady said back. “You want to have dinner with me tonight?.”
“Uhm.” I shook my head at Sunny. “Sure. Where and when?”
“Is the Blonde Bear Cafe okay? I can pick you up at Ruth’s around six-thirty.”
I widened my eyes at Sunny. She really was psychic. “Yeah, great. I’ll be ready.”
I stood up and looked at Sunny. “I guess I have a date tonight. Does it end well?”
“I’m not a fan of spoilers,” Sunny said. She winked. “I’ll call Chav now. You head on out to the clinic.” She wiped Dawn’s face. “I know two little coyotes who need baths and afternoon naps!”
“Before I go.” I paused. I’d never believed in psychics, but for whatever reason, my instincts and my heart told me Sunny was the real deal. “Do you have any idea who killed Evelyn Meyers?”
She shook her head. “Sorry. I told you I was a bad psychic, right? I get the feeling though, that whoever stabbed her felt justified. I got the impression that the act of running a sword through Evelyn made the murderer sick to his or her stomach.”
“You’ve been working closely with her for the past couple of weeks. Any suspects jump out at you?”
“I wish there were fewer suspects and more mourners. That woman wasn’t liked. At all.”
“She had a lot of money. I know she owned an antique store, but it couldn’t possibly make the kind of money Evelyn had.”
Sunny shrugged. “She owns a couple of duplexes. You might ask Milo Greene. He’s the bank manager. I think they were neighbors, too.”
Greene sounded like he could provide the right information, but I wasn’t sure he’d talk to me.
“Just flash him your Tri-State Council badge. I think you’ll find it holds some weight with the elders in the community.”
I gave Sunny a curious look. “You’re a good friend to have, Sunny Trimmel.”
She grinned. “Yes. Yes, I am.”
Chapter Eight
Doctor Smith’s clinic was just north of town past the bridge leading into Peculiar. As I drove down the gravel road, I passed a yurt-like structure on the left. The outside walls might have been made with tanned hides or canvas, I couldn’t tell from the distance, and I was not an expert anyhow. At the top of a hill on the right, there was a sign that said, “Peculiar Medical Center Parking.” Four vehicles were parked there, three trucks and a mid-size car. A covered porch spanned about thirty feet on the very long ranch-style building, and when I pulled in, I saw a door that said, “Clinic Entrance.”
On the way, I’d called Richard Stenson and told him that I couldn’t find anything strange with Sunny. I didn’t like lying, but I would have liked exposing Sunny even less. I told him about Evelyn Meyers’ murder, mostly to move the subject off my psychic friend. His voice was strained when he ordered me to find out more about her death. I agreed, of course, since I was already investigating. He wouldn’t tell me why a small-town woman’s death mattered to the Tri-State Council, and I was smart enough to let shit pass, especially when it served my own interest.
When I turned off the ignition to my truck, I felt rather pleased with myself. I was now on official Tri-State Council business. It gave me a card to play if anyone, like the sheriff, tried to block me from the investigation. Sunny had told me that the doctor’s clinic was attached to his home, so I figured the security door on the right side had to be the personal entrance. It was only three-fifteen, which meant the clinic would still be open. I hated to bother Doc Smith during business hours, but I had to find out the official cause of Evelyn’s death.
I walked in. On either side of a waiting area, two cushioned benches were affixed to the walls. A man with a wrapped hand sat in one corner. A teenager picked his nose and played on his phone. He sat next to Sabrina, the desperate young woman from Sunny’s Outlook. She absently twirled one of her brown curls around her finger. Next to them was another woman with straight black hair, pale skin, and barely-blue pale eyes. She read a book on her tablet. At the front of waiting area, next to another door was a small counter in a window with a sign-in sheet. I wasn’t there for an appointment, and since no one manned the counter, I wasn’t sure how to go about getting the doc’s attention.
“Is somebody working here?” I asked the raven-haired woman.
She blinked up at me. “Yeah, the doc.”
“I mean like a secretary.”
She smiled. “Doc Smith doesn’t have a secretary. He’ll be out in a bit. Just sign in.”
“B
ut I don’t have an appointment.”
“He takes walk-ins,” said the man with the wrapped hand.
Sabrina looked at me like she recognized me but didn’t know from where.
“I’m a friend of Ruth’s. I stopped by your rehearsal yesterday afternoon.” I didn’t bother to say that I’d seen her at the restaurant. I didn’t want to embarrass her.
“Oh,” she said.
I held out my hand. “I’m Willy Boden.”
She took it and gave me a quick shake. “Sabrina Miller.” She cast a sideways glance at the teenage boy. “My son Josh.” She patted his shoulder. “He has growing pains.”
“Don’t we all,” I told her.
The kid, whose hair was darker than his mom’s but just as curly, glanced at me before rolling his eyes and returning his attention to his cell phone.
I took the empty spot on the other side of the reader and addressed Sabrina. “Tragic what happened to Evelyn Meyers, huh?” Every eye in the room pinned me. “I’m not trying to be indelicate. I found the body, and I’m still a little shook up,” I lied. Sabrina had been pretty desperate yesterday, and I was curious as to how far she might have gone to alleviate that desperation.
The woman with the black hair said, “You found her?”
“Yes. It was awful.”
“Evelyn had her share of problems. Most of them her own creation.”
“It sounds like you knew her pretty well.”
“As well as anyone could know her, I suppose.”
The door next to the counter opened. Billy Bob Smith, all six and a half feet of him, poked his head through and said, “Come on back, Nicole.”
The woman put her tablet in a pink satchel next to her feet. “I’m Evelyn’s niece. You know my mom and dad, Sid and Jean Taylor. He told me about you last night.” She smiled. “Nothing bad. No worries.”
Doctor Smith looked at me. “Chavvah called. I’ll see you but after my patients. Okay?”
Since I didn’t have any choice, I said, “Okay.” I hoped it wouldn’t be too long. I really wanted to shower and have a little time to work on my hair before my dinner date with Brady. The humidity had turned my copper curls into copper wire.
“She was a hateful woman,” Sabrina said after Nicole and Doctor Smith left.
Her son put in his earbuds. Teenagers. He might not want to hear what his mother had to say, but I did. “I haven’t heard much good about her since all this happened.”
Sabrina wrung her hands. “And you won’t. Evelyn Meyers didn’t care about anyone but Evelyn Meyers.”
“I don’t mean to pry,” I said, even though I really did. “What did Evelyn do to you?”
“Nothing.” Sabrina sighed. “I did it to myself. When Josh’s dad left, I could barely afford the rent on a jewelry store clerk’s salary and put groceries on the table. I’ve had some extra bills lately, and it’s put me way behind.”
The teenager abruptly stood up. “Jesus, Mom. I’ll wait outside. Come get me when Doc is ready to see me.” He stomped out of the waiting area.
“He’s been like that for two years. It would have been different if Clay had died, but the bastard left us to start a new life somewhere else. He barely sees Josh anymore. It takes its toll.”
Hearing your mom talk about all your dirty laundry in public setting probably took its toll as well. I didn’t fault Sabrina, though. Raising a child with someone would be difficult enough, and if I’d had to do it on my own, I’d probably drown in anxiety.
Like Brady had after his wife disappeared.
I nodded sagely. “He’ll probably grow out of it.”
“Will he?” she asked hopefully.
I had no idea. “Sure.” What the fuck did I know? I’d been single for my entire thirty-three years. “Are you enjoying the play? I’ve always been interested in acting.” Kind of like I was doing right now.
“It’s been...stressful. Evelyn made it hard to enjoy. I guess now that she’s gone I’ll take over the role of Gertrude.”
“Yeah? How come?”
“I was Evelyn’s understudy. You know how theater is.”
I really didn’t. “Sure. What part were you playing before?”
“I was a handmaiden. A pretty small role. No lines.”
“Where you at rehearsal last night?”
“Yes, but...” She rubbed her hands on her slacks. “I...” The door opened again.
The doc stuck his head out. “Where’s Josh?”
“I’ll get him.” Sabrina leaped to her feet and pounded on the front door. Josh, apparently familiar with that method of communication, jerked the door open and sauntered in looking surlier than when he left. Sabrina gazed at me. “It was nice talking to you, Willy.”
“Maybe we can do it again sometime,” I said.
She smiled. “I’d really like that.” Josh had already followed Doc Smith to the back.
I stood and went to the counter, scribbled my name and number on the bottom corner of the sign-in sheet, and ripped it off. I handed it to Sabrina. “Give me a call sometime.”
She placed the number in her purse. “I better get inside. Josh will deny all problems if I’m not there.”
I gave her a sympathetic smile. “Boys can be difficult.” At least the ones I’ve dated in the past had been.
After she went inside, the man with the wrapped hand stared at me. “You’re not from around here, are you?”
“Nope.” But I wanted to be. “I’m just in town for a visit.”
“I’m Elton Brown,” he said. “I own the furniture store downtown.” He held up his hand. “Cut myself on a band saw this afternoon. I make furniture to order.” With his free hand, he grabbed his wallet from his back pocket and took a card from it. He held it out. “If you decide to stick around, give me a call. I have a way of matching wood to a person, and I just got in a large hunk of black walnut that has you written all over it.”
“Uhm, thanks.” I took the card. “I’ll let you know.”
He put his wallet back. “I’m the gravedigger, by the way.”
Was that some kind of euphemism? A veiled threat? I didn’t say anything, because, what was there to say when a guy tells you he digs graves? The furniture maker added, “In the play. I’m the gravedigger. You know, the guy who finds Yorick’s skull.”
Oh, Hamlet. Duh. I started to ask him about rehearsal last night, but Doctor Smith picked that moment to open the door. He held it for Nicole Taylor who’d been trailing right behind him. The dark-haired beauty held a small bottle of pills. “Thanks, Doc. I’ll let you know if these help her anxiety.”
“You’re welcome.” Billy Bob Smith gave her a warm smile, his soft gray hair framing his wide cheeks. Damn, Chavvah was a lucky gal. “It’s nice to have you back home. Tell Jean she should come in next time though.” He shifted his attention to Elton. “You’re up. Let’s get that hand taken care of.” Almost as an afterthought, he cast his silver gaze on me. “Still here, huh?”
“Yep. Still here.”
He sighed. “It might be another half hour.”
“I can wait.” A half hour had already passed so it would be four-thirty before I talked to the doctor. Maybe another half hour before I got on the road to Ruth’s. Damn it. I wondered how Brady felt about women in hats.
Chapter Nine
Every ticking second spanned an eternity. At one point, I started to think the doc was torturing me on purpose. Like he knew I had important plans and was determined to make me late, so when he finally discharged Josh Miller and Elton Brown, I heaved a relieved sigh.
The tall lycanthrope led me back to his office. Paperwork cluttered the desk. His filing system was non-existent. “I know you want to see Evelyn Meyer’s autopsy report, Ms. Boden, but I can’t share information from an ongoing investigation.”
“Doctor Smith,” I said.
“Call me, Billy Bob.”
“Fine, if you call me Willy.”
“It’s a strange name for a girl.”
I laughed. “You’re one to talk.”
“Billy Bob is a perfectly fine name for a man.”
“But strange for a doctor. It doesn’t exactly scream ‘I have an advanced degree.’”
“I get that a lot.” He shook his head. “Like I said, Willy, I can’t share information with you, no matter how much it might irritate my mate.”
“I’m afraid it’s official business now. You can call the Tri-State Council office if you want to verify, but President Stenson himself has asked me to investigate independently of the sheriff’s office.”
Billy Bob narrowed his gaze on me. “Why would he do that? Did you say something to him to make him think Sheriff Taylor couldn’t handle it because that man has over twenty years of experience in law enforcement--”
I held up my hand. “I didn’t diminish Sid in any way. I barely even mentioned him in my report. Evelyn Meyers was on Stenson’s radar, and for reasons he didn’t make clear to me, he wants me to look into her death. I do what I’m told.”
“I’ve heard that about you.”
Wait. No doubt Chavvah and Billy Bob knew about Sunny’s abilities. I was stunned that a town this size could keep a secret that big. “You know about Sunny?”
“Sunny knew about you.” He thinned his lips in a frown. “Weeks ago. Are you going to tell the council about her?”
“What did Sunny say?”
“You can be trusted.”
“And what do you say?”
“The jury is still out.”
“Fair enough, Billy Bob.” I didn’t want to bring pain to anyone in Peculiar. “So, what can you tell me about Evelyn’s death?”
“Well, she didn’t die from exsanguination. I believed getting stabbed with the foil occurred after death or close to it. There was very little blood loss, and when she arrived here, livor mortis was already apparent.”
I wasn’t a forensics expert, but I knew livor mortis meant Evelyn had been supine after she died. When lying face-up in a horizontal position, blood pools in the body’s tissues causing purplish-red discoloration. “How long does it take for livor mortis to occur?”