by Regina Duke
“Where is my car??!!!”
CHAPTER FIVE
Clayton returned to his hotel room, wishing he hadn’t forked over two hundred dollars. He couldn’t be sure that tow truck was actually looking for his dad’s Mercedes, but better safe than sorry. He settled at the table to count his remaining funds. A little over four thousand remained in his money belt. Thank goodness Austin hadn’t reserved a suite for him. He resisted the urge to raid the little refrigerator. No point in paying five bucks for a can of soda.
His musings were interrupted by a knock at the door. He had a wild thought that the tow truck guy had tracked him down because he’d gotten a better offer from his old man. Shaking his head in disgust at his own paranoia, he answered the door.
“Austin! Come on in.”
Austin Masters was shorter than Clayton, wore his brown hair moussed to the sky, and blinked shyly through wire-rimmed glasses. His ever-present camera bag hung from one shoulder.
“Good to see you, Clay.” He gave his brother a hug, which turned into an awkward grab and hold when Austin zigged and Clayton zagged.
Clayton laughed softly. “Same old clumsy Austin. How do you even keep your camera still when you’re doing a shoot?”
Austin pushed his glasses up his nose and replied somberly, “Tripod.”
“And what’s with the glasses?”
“My contacts. Lost my contacts. Erin ordered new ones.”
Clayton led the way to the little table. “Thanks for the room reservation, buddy. You know I’m good for it. Eventually. Speaking of Erin, where is the little bombshell?”
Austin settled his camera case on the foot of the bed and took the chair opposite Clayton. “I wanted us to have a few minutes in case we had brother stuff to talk about. Besides, she’s teaching. I would have been here sooner, but she called me between classes to tell me about some gossip. One of the teachers is married to a security guard, and he spotted a wreck over in the old quarry that he swears wasn’t there last week. Everybody talks to everybody in a small town. It’s good for the photography business.”
Clayton grinned.
Austin drummed his fingers on the table as a prelude, then jumped right in. “I thought you should know that Aunt Polly is in town, visiting the grandkids. Her grandkids. I don’t have any yet.”
Clayton nodded. “Thanks for the heads up. I was thinking of driving out to Thor’s cabin this afternoon. Maybe I should wait.”
Austin shook his head. “No point. Polly came for the holidays.”
Clayton frowned. “It’s October.”
“She says Halloween is a holiday. She plans to stay until January.”
“Uh-oh. That complicates things.”
“Were you hoping to stay at the cabin? Because they built her a mother-in-law’s quarters on the south edge of their property. She was complaining because it’s so far to walk up to the main house. So they bought her a Polaris to drive around on.” He laid his cell phone on the table. “Here’s a picture. Not very good. Just a snapshot.”
The mother-in-law quarters looked like a whole house to Clayton. “They made it match the cabin?”
Austin nodded. “Thor figures if the town council ever lets him start building his luxury housing, people will check out his place to gauge the quality.”
“I’m impressed.” Clayton sighed. “Well, at least we’re partway through the month. My cash should last until the next bank deposit.”
Austin tilted his head to one side. “Well, Thor and Ashley will have an empty guest room now, if you don’t mind helping with the little ones. Every visit turns into a pre-school class.” He laughed softly at his little joke. “Are you and Dad arguing about money again?”
“You guessed it, little brother.”
“Just start investing it.”
“I am,” said Clayton. “In a way.”
“Not a very profitable way, sounds like.”
Clayton chewed his bottom lip. “That’s why I haven’t told Dad what I’m doing. He’s into profit, big time. I don’t think he’d approve.”
“He says gambling is throwing your money away.”
Clayton let it lie. He didn’t want to burden Austin with the truth about where his money went. He trusted his baby brother, but he also knew his limits. Austin would try his best to keep a secret, and as a child, he never snitched. But as a man, his honesty could get in the way, and sometimes the truth managed to slip out of his mouth, usually when no one was expecting it. Clayton changed the subject.
“Hey, have you seen that gorgeous girl working over at the Feed and Grain? Lordy, she’s a sight.”
Austin shook his head. “Must be the Shanes’ daughter, Kenzie. Erin talks to Taylor all the time, and she said word is that Kenzie was coming home to help her folks out. Their farm isn’t doing very well, and I guess Kenzie sold some property in Denver before she moved home. Taylor told Erin she came to her interview in a classic Mustang, but today, she’s driving an old clunker. She probably left her good car at home with her folks.”
Clayton perked up. “No kidding? Good looks and money, too? Maybe I’ll ask her out.”
Austin made a clucking noise. “Be careful with that one. Erin says the Shanes are one of the oldest families in Eagle’s Toe, and they have a lot of friends.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt anyone. Why does everyone think I’m such a cad with the ladies?”
Austin laughed briefly, cutting it off when Clayton didn’t laugh along. “Sorry. Just save the playboy stuff for the big city. Erin and I want to live here a long time.” He pushed his glasses up on his nose. “Sorry we don’t have a guest room in our apartment.”
Clayton chucked his brother on the shoulder. “No worries. I’ll be fine. I need to talk to Aunt Polly about something anyway, so I suppose I should just head over there. And regardless of what you may have heard from Dad, I don’t really mess up everything I’m involved in.” He added silently, I just can’t tell him what I’m doing because he might pull my monthly deposit out from under me.
* * *
Kenzie found her duties less than challenging, but that was fine. It made her feel better about her hourly wage. Even so, she managed to mess up a couple of transactions while her mind was on Todd’s threatening texts. Red-faced, she apologized profusely to Taylor.
“Don’t worry about it,” said Taylor. “First-day jitters.” She patted Kenzie on the arm. “You can make up for it by coming in four inches shorter tomorrow.”
It took Kenzie a moment to get the joke. “Oh,” she said at last. “Sure thing. I’m sure I can find at least one person on the planet who wants to cut me off at the knees.”
“It’s after four,” said Taylor. “You’ve more than made up for the few minutes you needed to deal with your truck. And here comes Sunny for the late afternoon shift. Have you two met?”
Sunny breezed through the door with a ten-pound papillon in the dog carrier strapped to her chest. Her blond hair was in a French braid. She looked dusty, as if she’d already worked a shift somewhere else. “Hi, Taylor! I’m here. Is this Kenzie?” She held out her hand. “I’m Sunny Finch. I mean, Felton. Still not used to using my husband’s name.”
Kenzie shook her hand. “Cute dog,” she said. “Kind of small for working livestock.”
Sunny smiled. “Peanut is my champion trick dog. And my ‘heart dog.’ It’s like having a tiny soul mate with four paws.”
Kenzie nodded. She tried to be polite, but her mind was leaping ahead to the truck, the chores awaiting her at home, and more rude texts from Todd. And she hadn’t heard anything from Brady Felton yet.
As if reading her mind, Sunny said, “Brady got your truck running. He says it should get you home, but you’ll have to baby it along. He thinks it’s on its last legs.”
Taylor offered, “Brady runs the garage and Sunny runs the animal rescue.”
Sunny lifted Peanut out of his carrier and set him down. He immediately began his rounds, as if that were his assigned job.
> Kenzie watched the little dog as she said feebly, “Guess a lot of new folks have moved to town since I left for college.”
“A few,” said Taylor. “But most of us are pretty nice. Don’t worry, we all know your folks, and they are so proud of you.” She beamed at Kenzie as if they were related.
Kenzie lifted her purse from behind the cashier’s desk. All these mushy good feelings were making her nervous. Todd was only nice when he wanted something. She backed toward the door. “Nice to meet you, Sunny. I’ll be back in the morning, Taylor.” She turned and hotfooted it across the street.
She found a Post-It note on the steering wheel. “Baby this truck. Call if you need me. Brady.” He’d left his number, too.
Her phone buzzed against her hip for the tenth time in an hour. She pulled it out, turned it off, and tossed it back in her purse. Then she got behind the wheel and began the intricate two-step involved in getting the motor to turn over. Once it caught, she took a breath to calm herself. She had known Todd would be upset when he discovered the Mustang was gone. She laughed at her own understatement. He was fit to be tied and probably wanted to wring her neck. Imagine how mad he’d be when he learned what she’d done to it. She hadn’t yet got up the nerve to send the photo she’d taken of the Mustang’s remains. Maybe tomorrow. She needed to get home so her dad wouldn’t try to do all the evening chores alone. He looked so tired all the time. Had he looked that way when she was in high school? She couldn’t remember.
She shifted into reverse and tapped the gas.
Someone honked urgently behind her. She stomped on the brake, forgot about the clutch, and the engine died. “No, no, no!!!” She begged the universe to make the truck start again, but no luck. A moment later, someone banged on the driver’s door, and she nearly jumped out of her skin.
“You!”
“You!!”
They made their accusations at the same time. The last thing she needed was another confrontation with Jerk Face. She shoved the door open, hoping it would knock him on his behind, but he managed to get out of the way in time.
“What do you want?” she snapped. “You scared me into stalling my engine.”
“Well, you scared the heck out of me, too. You nearly backed up into my dad’s Mercedes. My Mercedes. Mine.”
“Okay, okay,” said Kenzie. “I get it. It’s your car. Possession is nine-tenths of the law. Now get out of my way. I have things to do.” Lots more important than staring at you, you big lug. Why do you have to look like a fresh-faced boy scout/movie star combo? Aloud, she added, “Shoo!”
“How are you going to get anywhere in this old rust bucket? That engine didn’t stall. It died. As in, bit the big one. Bought the farm. Know what I mean?”
Kenzie folded her arms and leaned against the side of the old truck. “Unfortunately, yes. I know exactly what you mean. Now I have to wait around for that dang tow truck again.”
The boy scout reached out and pushed at the side of the truck with one finger, as if that would help it move. “This baby ain’t going anywhere. You need a ride?”
“I’ll figure something out,” she snapped, but she already knew she had few options. Not even a cab, if her memory served. Maybe the garage still ran a cab service in town. She dreaded turning her phone back on.
The movie star shrugged and looked around, as if some parking lot pumpkin might turn into a golden coach. “Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. If you need a ride home or something, I’ll take you. You look like something’s on your mind.”
Kenzie looked him hard in the eye. In those dazzling green eyes. Her gaze shifted to his beach-boy hair, blond and streaked with sunshine. He was certainly a looker. But she didn’t need that right now. Another man was the last thing she needed, darn it. However, she did need a ride home. She should be safe. After all, this was Jerk Face. It shouldn’t take much to resist any charm he might dig up from deep inside.
“Okay,” she said. “I do need a ride.” She grabbed her purse and slammed the heavy metal door. “Lead on.”
“Clayton,” he said. “My full name is Clayton Jerk Face Masters. Just something to file away for future reference.”
Kenzie almost smiled. At least he had a sense of humor…and seemed devoid of hard feelings. She followed him behind the truck and let him hold the door of a very expensive-looking black car while she slid in. As he got behind the wheel, she cast a little shade on his evident prosperity. “Does your father know you stole his Mercedes?”
She nearly choked when he responded, “Does yours know you pushed your Mustang over a cliff?”
CHAPTER SIX
Clayton expected a barbed comeback. Instead, Kenzie fell darkly silent. After several uncomfortable seconds, Clayton said, “Um, hey, I was just teasing. My brother told me someone found a wreck at the old quarry. I didn’t really mean to make it sound like an accusation.”
Kenzie leaned back in her seat and took a deep breath. A moment later, she said evenly, “There are more things in this world than gossip. My father knows a lot of things because he believes a person should read the newspaper every morning. He deals in fact, not gossip. Did you know that American cod fishing is at an all-time low? That people in Maine are losing their family fishing boats because they can’t bring in enough to make a decent living?”
Clayton took his eyes off the road long enough to spare her a sideways glance. At least she was talking again. “No,” he said somberly, “I did not know that. Do you have relatives in Maine?”
“No, but I can still feel sympathy for people who are losing everything.”
Clayton nodded. “I see your point. What happened to your car?”
“I don’t own a car. I had to borrow one to get here.” She turned and looked out the passenger window.
“Oh, I see. So you’re driving your dad’s truck because you had to give it back. Got it. Do I turn left or right here?”
“Left.”
He pulled onto the two-lane. She was even more beautiful when her fire was up. Dark brown hair and eyes, two spots of hot pink on her cheeks, and a lean, lanky athletic build that made his blood race. He managed to check her ring finger. Empty.
“Are you single?” he asked, trying for an innocent question.
“Very.” Bang. Down came the cone of silence again.
Clayton waited a full minute before he spoke. “I’m batting a thousand, aren’t I? Is there anything I can say that won’t make you wish I was dead?”
Kenzie looked surprised. “I don’t wish you were dead.” She shook her head. “Like you said before, I got a lot on my mind.”
“Such as?”
“Such as figuring out how to kill the man I do wish was dead. Turn down that dirt road.”
Clayton obliged. “Well, I guess I deserved that smart remark. Let me offer a peace pipe, okay? Since your truck isn’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future, will you let me pick you up tomorrow morning and take you to work?”
Kenzie blinked at him as if she didn’t know whether to accept or not.
Clayton smiled. “It’s just a ride to work. Honest. No catches, no small print.” He stopped the Mercedes about twenty feet from the front porch.
Kenzie nodded. “Nine-thirty? My shift starts at ten.”
“I’ll be here.” He gave a mock salute.
Kenzie finally offered up a tiny smile as she exited the vehicle.
Clayton’s heart soared as he backed the Mercedes up to turn around. His new mission in life was to see a full-blown smile on that gorgeous face.
* * *
Kenzie’s smile faded by the time she reached the front door. Her heart was pounding. How could they have spotted the Mustang so soon? Thank goodness she hadn’t sent that photo to Todd. It would be proof that she had pushed the car over the edge.
But what about fingerprints? Would they bother to take fingerprints off the car?
Her breath tightened in her chest as she tried to think. Her own fingerprints were not on file anywhere, so the
y shouldn’t be able to match hers to anyone. But Todd’s? Well, they could trace the car back to him, probably, if they’d found it. Would he press charges?
She headed for the kitchen. Her mother was sitting at the table, staring out the kitchen window.
“Hi, Mom. I’ll get my boots and overalls on and go help Dad. Is he mad that I’m late? His old truck gave up the ghost. I had to get a ride home.” She stopped short when she realized her mother was still staring out the window. “Mom? Is everything okay?”
As if waking from a dream, her mother said, “Oh, hello dear. You’ll have to do the chores by yourself this afternoon. Your father isn’t feeling well.”
Kenzie frowned. “Has he got a cold? Oh gosh, he didn’t come down with the flu, did he?”
“No, no, nothing like that. Sometimes…sometimes he gets tired, all of a sudden like, and he needs to lie down.”
“Well, what does the doctor say?”
“You know your father. He won’t go to a doctor. He claims he would know if he were sick.”
Kenzie lowered herself onto a chair. “Mom, that doesn’t exactly sound healthy to me. Does it to you?”
Marigold lowered her gaze to her lap. “No, of course not. But I’ve talked until I’m blue in the face, and it just makes things worse.” She looked Kenzie in the face, and her gaze strengthened. “It won’t kill us to do the chores by ourselves now and then.”
Kenzie knew her mother well enough to know she was worried sick about her father. But he was probably the most stubborn man on the planet.
“I think your dad is worried about money,” she said. “We were hoping, when you close on your house sale, you might be able to lend us a bit.”
Kenzie rubbed her hands on her jeans. “Sure. Of course. I just haven’t seen any cash yet.” Liar, liar, pants on fire. How long can I go on with this deception?
Marigold pushed herself up from the table. “I can lend you a hand,” she said. “With the animals.”