by Tonya Kappes
Fifi ran in, grabbing my attention. She scurried under the bed.
“Hey, girl.” I smiled at her heinie sticking up in the air while the rest of her was under the bed. “I wish I had your energy.” I looked at the window one more time. “I’ll tell Henry to fix it.”
Fifi and I headed back out into the early morning after I locked the door. Fifi darted ahead of me. The sky was a little brighter on the other side of the mountains of the park. There was a light blue tint that would soon turn to a light pink as the sun greeted our little place in the Daniel Boone National Park. This was a sight that never got old.
“Drop it,” I told Fifi, who was standing at the top of the steps leading up into our RV. She had a little stick in her mouth. “You know you can’t eat sticks.”
She dropped it, eagerly wagging her tail since she knew it was breakfast time. The stick fell, making a clicking noise on the steel steps and grabbing my attention.
“Go on in.” I opened the door and took the two steps down to look at what she’d dropped. It wasn’t a stick - it was an ink pen. “Lypsnk.” I held it up a little closer to make sure I read it right. “Lypsnk. What on earth is that?” I wondered and headed back up the steps into the camper.
I put the ink pen in the counter, gave Fifi a scoop of her kibble, and grabbed a cup of coffee to take back to the bathroom with me while I showered.
I was quickly running out of morning and I had a lot to do before school started. I wanted to stop by and see if Agnes knew any information and I also was supposed to meet Violet at Cute-icles.
I decided on a more casual outfit than the pant suit. I wanted to mingle with the students and pick their brains. I was hoping they’d be more open with me if I wore was an outfit that was younger looking, but still appropriate for teaching. I opted for khaki pants, a light blue sweater, and a pair of brown flats. With a fist full of hair, I pulled it all back at the nape of my neck. I didn’t need that getting in the way.
“You be a good girl,” I told Fifi. “Dottie will be here to get you when the sun is up.” I glanced out the window. “It won’t be long.” I bent down, giving her a little rub on her curly head, and laughed when I realized we did have the same hair. “They say a dog and their owner start looking alike.”
Fifi danced around as though she knew what I was saying.
The lesson plan book and my notebook were on the café table, I grabbed them along with the ink pen Fifi found and threw them in the old attaché case I’d pulled out of my storage bin. It must’ve been Paul’s and Stanley had put it in my stuff by mistake. Regardless, I needed it now.
I started the car and pushed the Bluetooth phone feature.
“Call Hank,” I told the voice activated feature.
“Good morning,” he answered the phone. “I’m sorry again about last night.”
“In the past,” I said, letting him off the hook. It was how I had learned to live my life. If I’d continued to carry around the baggage of my past, I’d be even more tired at the end of the day than I already was. “I noticed when I let Fifi out that the camper has been released.”
“Yeah. I meant to tell you that last night, but with everything going on, I forgot.” He sounded like he hadn’t gotten any sleep either. “We took the bed sheets and the rug.”
“Did you notice the rubber around the screen in the bedroom window was pulled out of the frame just a little?” I asked.
“What did I tell you about leaving the investigation to me?” He was back on his tantrum about me not getting in the middle and how he just couldn’t bear it if I was to get hurt.
“I just noticed it, that’s all.” I decided to keep my mouth shut about it. “Anyways, did you want to come over tonight?”
“Let me see what’s going on with work and I’ll get back to you. Are you headed to school?” he asked.
“I am.” I wasn’t headed there right now, but would be after a few stops. He didn’t need to know my entire schedule. “What time do you go in?” I asked to know if the coast was clear this morning to make good on my donut run promise and go see what Agnes knew.
“I have a meeting at the coroner’s office in about an hour and after that I’ll be going to the station.” The all too familiar sound of kibble getting put into a dog’s bowl came from his end.
“You feeding Chester?” I smiled at how Hank had become a responsible dog owner.
“You don’t miss anything, do you?” He laughed.
If he only knew. . . then he’d for sure use me on cases when I offered it to him.
“Just checking in,” I said.
The Cookie Crumble Bakery sign flashed OPEN. My mouth watered.
I pulled the van into an empty spot. There was no better place to take donuts than a police station. It was perfect treat to sweeten them up and distract them if I did get a chance to see Agnes and what she might know.
“Good morning,” Christine Watson greeted me with from behind the bakery’s counter.
The freckles on her face scrunched together on her plump cheeks as her eyes squinted from the smile on her face. Her brown hair was pulled back in its usual ponytail.
“You got here just in time.” She walked down the long, glass case with rows and rows of different kinds of donuts and stopped at a full rack of sweet treats she’d not taken off the pans.
“It smells so good in here.” I sucked in a deep breath of cinnamon, chocolate, lots of sugar, and a little hint of coffee that was dripping from the coffeemaker, filling the pot.
“You can try my new spring lemon drop cookie.” She had plucked a piece of white parchment paper from the box. She pulled one of the pans from the cooling rack and looked around. “This one has the most icing.”
She used the paper to take the cookie off the pan and pushed it back on the cooling rack.
The bell over the door rang.
“Good morning,” Christine called out and quickly glanced at the door. She handed me the cookie over the counter.
My teeth sank into the buttery cookie with a hint of citrus, bringing all of my taste buds to life.
“I’ll take a dozen,” I sighed.
“Told you you were going to love it.” She moved down the counter to help the other customer, letting me stand there enjoying this moment with my eyes closed.
“Mae West? Is that you?”
My eyes flew open and my head twisted to find Ellis and Natalie standing next to me.
“Ellis.” I gave a good ol’ Baptist nod. “Natalie.”
“You two know each other?” Ellis’s chipper voice was like fingernails on a chalkboard. “Fun.” She clapped her hands together. “We are old pals.”
“I’m going to grab my donut so I can get to a meeting with Hank.” Natalie tapped the glass display with her fingernail. Her long, perfectly manicured nail. “Nice purple.” Her eyes focused on my fingernails before she moved down the donut display, leaving me and Ellis alone.
“I have no idea what she sees in Hanky Panky, but she’s had what I’d call a burning desire for that boy since he hit puberty.” Ellis rolled her eyes.
Was she trying to get my goat or was she simply letting me know that she approved of Natalie over me?
“I’m sorry about last night. Agnes and I’ve never seen eye to eye on things.” She didn’t call Agnes Granny, which I found a little strange. ”Personally, I think she’s jealous that she and Mama have never been friends like me and Mama are and she’s taking it out on me. You know, that mother and daughter relationship?” She stuck her finger in the air. “Wait. You don’t know that. Orphan, right?”
“Why don’t you go pick out your donut?” I suggested to Ellis.
“Heavens, no!” She waved off my suggestion. “There’s no way I’m putting that in my body. I have to stay in shape. My agents get me gigs all over that I may have to jump on a plane at any given moment to get to.”
“Here you go, Mae,” Christine called me over to the register.
“I’ll see ya.” Ellis scrunched up her n
ose in a dismissing way.
Natalie and I passed each other on her way out the door, neither of us looking at the other.
“Don’t mind her and Hank.” I overheard Ellis say, but not the rest due to the chatter of new customers coming in the door. When I turned around, I noticed it was a group of kids with high school letter jackets on. On one sleeve of each jacket was bars with a bow and arrow.
“These are so good.” I handed Christine the cash. “Be sure you add them to the Happy Trails consignment.”
“Don’t worry. I will.” The Cookie Crumble Bakery was one of the shops that donated something to the guests at the campground in order to get them to stop by the shop. “Congrats on the key. I’m sorry about the you know what overshadowing your day.”
“It’s no big deal.” I looked at the high school girl next to me. She had straight brown hair parted down the side like most of the girls in the school. “Are you on the archery team?”
“On the team?” One of the boys with her laughed. “Dude, she is the team.”
“And only one of a couple getting out of this town on a full scholarship,” another boy said.
“Nothing is guaranteed.” The young girl said.
The way she said it, I wasn’t sure if she was being modest or if there was something more to it.
“I’m sorry to hear about your coach.” I watched her point to the sprinkle donut when Christine walked over to us.
“Yeah. Shame.” She shrugged and didn’t sound so upset.
“I guess you were close, since you’re the best on the team. I’m sure you spent a lot of time together.” I made the observation.
“Something like that.” She handed Christine the exact change over the counter. “See you tomorrow, Christine.”
“Have a good day, Beth.” Christine walked back down the line.
“How did the coach get along with the team?” I asked, trying to figure her out.
“You know what, lady? I’ve gotta go. If you want to find out what kinda team we’ve got, I think our record stands for itself.” She took a bite of her donut. “If anyone should take credit for the success of our team, it’s our parents for showing us how to use a bow and rifle at a young age by taking us hunting. Not some guy. . .” She stopped talking after the group of other kids came up to us. “I’ve got go to school. It’s an early day.”
“Early day?” I questioned.
“Yeah. A few times during the spring, we start school an hour early, that way we can help out our parents with the tourist season.” She shrugged.
They all pushed out the door. I trailed behind, wondering what on earth she was going to say about Scott Goodman’s character before the others interrupted us. She definitely wasn’t going to say anything in front of them. At least, it appeared that way.
I stood on the sidewalk and watched them all walk away, towards the school.
“Lambert,” I read the name on the back of her letter jacket. “Beth Lambert,” I said her name to remember it so I could look her up in the school database now that I had access.
SEVEN
There was no time to go see Agnes Swift or the gals at the Laundry Club. I had to get to school and be in the classroom before the bell rang. Though it was only a couple of blocks from downtown, I still had to hoof it across the one way streets around the grassy median and cut through Smelly Dog Grooming before I could get to a sidewalk that’d take me straight to the school.
The parking lot was packed. Idling cars were lined up along the front of the school as parents waited for the school resource officer to flag them on so they could drop their kids off at the door.
“Morning,” I was greeted by a man in a one piece gray work outfit. Janitor was stitched on the front pocket. He was standing in the parking lot when I crossed.
“Good morning.” I smiled and passed him by. “It’s going to be a great day.”
“If you say so.” He snickered.
With a few honks and beeps and students hollering for each other in the background, I finally made it to the front door, where I still had to be buzzed in.
“Hi, Gracie,” I greeted the school secretary. “Am I going to have to be buzzed in every morning?” I asked, though I guess I could’ve entered through the student entrance.
“You probably shouldn’t’ve stopped to get donuts.” She eyed the donut bag. “See the Janitor about a key.”
The opening of the bag was crumbled up in my fist. I shoved it in my bag with Coach Scott Goodman’s planner that Principal Bass had given me. And more importantly, the team rooster.
“I have a confession.” I smiled, thinking I was going to be witty. “I had no idea until I saw Beth Lambert at the bakery that school started early today.”
“I’m not a priest,” Gracie said flatly.
“I’m sorry, huh?” She had me all confused.
“You said you had a confession and I’m sick and tired of everyone telling me their little secrets.” She huffed off. leaving me standing there.
“What was that about?” Mathew Tillman walked out of the teacher’s lounge with a couple other teachers. Each of them had a Styrofoam cup in their hand.
“I made a joke, but I don’t think she took it that way.” I was so happy to see at least one happy face.
The sound of squealing tires caused both of us to turn around and look outside. Puffs of black smoke came from the tires of a red Ford Mustang zooming out of the school’s parking lot.
“Whoa.” My jaw dropped as I looked out the front office window. “The poor janitor almost got hit.”
“Carl. Nah. He’s a tough guy. Here.” Mathew gave me the coffee cup. “Teaching a bunch of high school students is tough, but the parents are worse. You’re going to need a lot of coffee.”
“Great,” I groaned and took the coffee. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He gave a student a high five when the young man walked into the office. “Do you know where you’re going?”
“No.” I patted the bag. “I’ve only got the planner.”
“Sam. Mrs. West.” Mathew introduced me to the young man that was now sitting behind the counter.
“Miss West.” I guess I should probably change my name since I was divorced, but that required too much effort.
“I’m sorry. Miss West.” Mathew put his hands together. “Forgive me.” He bowed. “Sam, can you take Miss West to Coach Goodman’s class?”
“Sure, Dr. Tillman. Let me hang up my jacket.” He peeled off his letter jacket, hanging it up on the coat tree near the desk. The name on his letter jacket read Patterson.
My eyes grew and I silently gasped, almost squeezing the Styrofoam cup in half.
“Good luck, Miss West.” Mathew made a fist and gave me the go get ‘em.
The excitement of having Sam Patterson to myself was stronger than the fear I felt about teaching.
“I’ve never seen you sub around here before.” Sam lead the way down the hall, weaving in and out of students, most of them holding fancy coffee drinks.
“I’m not a sub.” I shifted my shoulders left and right to get through the crowd. “I mean, I am. I’m teaching a six week course about economics in Normal.”
“You’re the campground lady. Move it, Beth.” He put his arm out to scoot Beth Lambert out of the way of the classroom door.
“You wish I’d put the moves on you, Patterson.” She joked and stopped laughing when she saw who he was with. “Ma’am.” She nudged the boy next to her to move.
“Davey,” I grumbled.
“Mae,” he gasped. “What are you doing here?”
Kids, I groaned as I remembered how a few kids, including Davey Bass, had stolen an RV from Happy Trails a few months ago.
“What’s up, people?” Another male student walked up, giving everyone a high five. “Looks like we all get As. A dead teacher means lot of stress and automatic As.”
“Shut up!” Beth shoved the kid at the shoulder. When he fell into me, Beth’s eyes grew wide. “Sorry,
Ma’am.”
“Guys, be cool.” Sam put his hands out. “This is Miss West.”
“I’m the sub.” I patted my bag and walked into the room. “Sam,” I called after him before he left. “Can I ask you a few questions about the coach?”
“It’s shocking,” Sam’s voice cracked.
The bell rang and the students shuffled in.
“I know, but do you know why anyone would want to kill him?” I asked, trying to speak over the conversations the teenagers were having.
“Why would I know that?” He shrugged, his face had a smirk on it. “He’s the one who was mean to everyone.”
He turned to walk out the door and I called after him, but the students were shuffling around and getting into their seats and he didn’t hear me.
I put the coffee cup on the desk and hurried out of the classroom, shutting the door behind me.
“Did he do something to you?” I asked, remembering overhearing his mom tell the others at the campground that if Principal Bass didn’t do something about the coach, her husband would be taking matters into his own hands. “To make your parents mad?”
“Did he?” Sam laughed. “You do know why we are here an hour early, right?”
“Why don’t you tell me,” I suggested, ignoring the bell that signaled the start of class.
“We are here because most of our families have some sort of business related to tourism. It’s spring, the beginning of our busiest season. If I can’t go home early and help my parents clean out a couple of the rental cabins or weed the flower beds or whatever they need me to do, then we won’t have a top cabin rental review. That’s how we keep food on the table.” He paused. “My parents want me to get out of Normal.”
I could relate to everything this kid was telling me.
“You, you stayed and somehow made it. But me, what’s there for me? I don’t want to live paycheck to paycheck. I don’t want to work just for the tourist season, but I also can’t afford to go to college without a scholarship.” He looked down at his feet. “I don’t get the best grades. I especially don’t get good grades in this class and missed out on a scholarship because Coach wouldn’t let a few grades slide so my GPA would go up a tiny bit.”