“It’s a police baton. Some call it an asp.” She held it up in front of his good eye. She smiled with pride. “It works pretty good, huh?”
What? “Where’d you get it?”
“On eBay.” She closed it down to hand size. “I had it tucked in my waistband in case Deke got cranky.”
Noah shook his head. HJ was something else; a constant surprise.
He just might have to marry her.
Deke’s whimpering changed to groaning. Noah had to work fast so he wouldn’t get up again. “Please tell me that baton came with handcuffs?”
“Nope. But I think I still have the duct tape in the car.” She collected the rolls and Noah got Deke on his stomach. The quarterback didn’t give much of a fight once Harper pulled her baton back out. Instead, he waited until Noah got him seated on the curb before addressing her.
“Hey, Harp.” Deke grinned through a bloody lip as cell phone clicks sounded in the background. “How’s it going?”
Smack. She hit him across the face, at full force, with an open hand. His head jerked sideways.
The famous Deke grin barely wavered. “I guess I deserved that.” He licked his lip. A woman fainted on the sidewalk. She had nothing on Harriet.
“I’m sorry I set you up,” he added. “But it was so damn easy.”
She glared and flexed her hand. “I have two questions. How did you get into my motel room and apartment to gaslight me?”
“My uncle was a locksmith,” he said with a shrug. “I worked with him for two summers in high school.”
Harper puffed a breath. “Second. Was it you that called 911 when I was in the hotel room with Gerald?”
“I did. On a burner phone.”
“Bastard.”
Noah stepped in before she could clock Deke again. “Lansing is a long way to drive to gaslight Harper.”
“Two of my girlfriends live in the area,” the quarterback explained with a smug expression. “I didn’t have to go far.”
What would the Merry Widow think about that?
“Does Betty Anne know about these other woman?” Noah asked. The quarterback was a jerk.
Deke smirked. “Not unless you tell her.”
* * * *
By the time the police—and Betty Anne arrived—Deke was trussed up like a Christmas goose and a sizable crowd had gathered to gawk. There would be viral videos all over the internet by sundown.
Betty Anne ran over and dropped down in front of Deke’s face and the two of them cooed at each other while Harper tamped down her gag reflex. How had she ever respected that ass?
Four officers took him by the arms and legs and carried him to a nearby patrol car. “I looooove you, Lambkins!” Deke called out as they shoved him head first into the back seat.
“I’ll wait for you!” Betty Anne called back.
An officer walked over to take Harper and Noah’s statements while the widow waved enthusiastically at the car as it pulled away. She sobbed when they vanished from sight.
The entirety of the chase, arrest, and aftermath took almost two hours, allowing Detective Mignon time to arrive on the scene. He grumbled and groused at the pair, then had them go over the basics of the takedown. When they finished the short version, he nodded.
“You’re lucky he wasn’t armed.”
Harper smiled. “A thank-you would be in order, don’t you think? I also assume I’m no longer a suspect?”
“You will not get a thank-you for putting a stadium full of people at risk.” He looked over where one tire of the rental wreck was up on the curb and the motorcycle was lying in the weeds. “How about I don’t have you arrested for reckless driving and we call us even?”
She stuck out her hand. He slowly took it. “Deal.”
As he walked away, she was sure he was smiling. The gruff detective wasn’t so bad after all.
“Let’s get out of here,” Noah said. They left Betty Anne to be taken home by one of the officers. Harper couldn’t stomach another minute with her.
Once on the expressway, they got up to a cruising speed of fifty-six mph. “See. All your worries didn’t come about. Harvey helped us close the case without one breakdown.”
Noah stared at her. “I don’t want to discuss the car ever again. You’re free now and our professional partnership is over. What’s next for us, Harper?”
Talk about a surprise attack. The man was to the point and his expression serious. She was sure that he wasn’t talking about dinner, or sex, when they got home.
She wasn’t ready for the “what about our future” talk. Her mind was still processing the day.
“We just caught Deke, Noah. Can we just enjoy the moment?”
“Fine.” He rubbed a hand over his head. He had great hands. “Then what about tomorrow?”
“I haven’t made any plans,” she responded lightly. “I was thinking about asking Irving to give me a job.”
His jaw pulsed. “You know I still love you.”
Oh, no. “Do we have to do this now?”
“Yes, now.” He rubbed his chin. “I know that you’ll avoid me otherwise and probably take off in the middle of the night tonight without a good-bye. I can’t lose you again.”
“Noah.” What do you say to a man who tells you he loves you and you can’t say it back? “This isn’t about you.”
“Which means it’s all me.” He leaned back with a harsh sigh. “You still don’t trust me.”
This one she could answer. “I trust you with my life.”
“But not with your heart.” He was angry. “I was eighteen and buried in shit and I made a mistake. I’ve regretted it every day since. How long will you hold this against me? Forever?”
She had no answer. The rest of the ride home fell into painful silence. And that was all her. She wanted to tell him that she loved him, too. Yet, she had to be sure of what she wanted. Emotion had no place in deciding her future.
When she pulled into the driveway, Angel the stripper was seated on her porch. Harriet lay next to her getting a belly scratch.
A sigh escaped. “I’ll never get rid of that goat.”
Noah pushed from the car. “I have something for you.”
Please don’t let it be an engagement ring!
He walked to a tree in the yard. Hanging from the trunk was something like a deer trail camera that she hadn’t seen before. He fiddled with it, then came back and handed her a jump drive. “This should solve your goat issue.” He looked at Harriet. “I’ll take her back.”
Resigned, Noah wouldn’t meet her eyes. She wanted to kiss him and tell him how she felt. Instead, she shook her head. “No. I’ll do it.”
Nodding, Noah turned. “See ya, HJ.” He walked away.
Her heart ached. Why couldn’t loving him be easy? She did love him. She just couldn’t say the words.
Angel got to her feet when Harper walked over. “I hope you don’t mind that I tracked you down,” she said. “My lawyer knows Noah.” She smiled and cupped her belly. “I decided to fight for my baby’s inheritance.”
Harper took the pink leash from her. “That’s great.”
Angel looked down at Harriet. “I didn’t know you had a goat.”
“I don’t. Long story.”
She pulled Harriet to her feet and unlocked the door. “Come on in and tell me everything.”
Fatigued and emotionally wrung out, she collected her laptop while Angel told her story. It sounded like the lawyer was just who she needed to beat the Covingtons. “My lawyer won’t let them take my baby from me.”
“That’s excellent.” Harper booted up and inserted the jump drive. Angel came around behind her. The pictures downloading were in black and white, though clear. As suspected, the culprit had a familiar face.
“What are we looking at,” Angel asked.
“The mystery of the goat caper has been solved.” Thank you, Noah. She frowned as Estelle and Harriet climbed from her truck and she deposited the goat on Harper’s porch. “I knew that old woman was up to something.”
“Hey, stop that!” Angel said as Harriet chewed the pocket of her blue skirt.
“Don’t yell at her,” Harper said quickly, but it was too late. Harriet bobbled and went down, rolled, and her skinny goat legs jerked a couple of times and went still.
“Oh my goodness,” Angel exclaimed. “Did I hurt her?”
“No, but I will if she doesn’t get up.”
Harriet jumped to her feet and took off for the bedroom. Harper ran after her. “You’d better stay off my bed, goat chops!”
* * * *
An hour later, Harper, Harriet, and Angel were loaded up in Harvey and heading to the farm. When she’d found out the stipulations the lawyer had laid out to help her case, Harper encouraged Angel to ride along.
Angel had to get a job, a safe place to live, and she needed family or friends’ support for her and the baby. Harper had an idea to cover two of those.
“What do you think of old people?” Harper had asked when she’d closed the computer and reached for her keys.
“I love old people,” Angel replied.
Excellent. “What about cranky old people?”
The former stripper smiled, puzzled by the question. “Cranky old people are my favorite.”
“Then I have someone you’ll want to meet.” Harper filled her in on her idea. Angel initially dragged her feet. “It’ll be fine, I promise.”
As the car chugged along ten minutes later, and wanting to fill the silence and keep her mind off Noah, Harper succumbed to curiosity.
“Is Angel your real name?”
“Nope.” She patted Harriet. “It’s Juliet.”
“Nice name.”
The woman sure did like the goat. Harper snickered when she glanced back at the newly decked out farm animal. At first Angel thought she was crazy, then had just as much fun dressing Harriet up as Harper had. “I think you made a new friend.”
Juliet grinned. “I love animals.”
The rest of the ride to the farm was a comfortable camaraderie. Harper found they had some similarities in sense of humor and crappy romantic histories. Harper hoped they might someday be friends.
When they pulled into the driveway, Angel visibly tensed. Harper put a hand over hers. “Trust me?”
Once the words were out, she found it ironic that she’d asked a total stranger for trust when she hadn’t given Noah the same courtesy.
“I do.”
Estelle was in the yard surrounded by chickens. A black clad figure tried to corral a brown hen into a pen. The chicken had other plans.
The older woman squelched her smile when Harper stepped out of the car. Her mouth twitched when Harriet jumped out of the vehicle and shook her goat head when a ribbon fell into her eye.
“What did you do to my goat?”
Decked out in a pink and purple tutu made for a large dog, a matching neck ruff with feathers, and a hat with ribbons and bows, Harriet was something else.
“I figured since you’ve been dropping her off at my house, she’s become my goat, too.” She fluffed the feathers. “So I can dress her how I like.”
Estelle frowned, but her eyes sparkled with mischief. She didn’t deny sneaking around after dark with the goat.
In that moment, Harper confirmed her and Noah’s earlier suspicion: Estelle was lonely. She’d played her pranks to get Harper to visit and had grown to like her.
Yet, one question remained. “How did you know where I lived?” Harper asked.
“I have my sources.”
Vague. “Hmmm.” It appeared that anyone could get her address without much effort. When she moved out of the apartment this week, she should watch that she wasn’t being tailed.
A chicken protest brought their attention around to the highly agitated brown chicken now trapped in a corner of the pen. The bird appeared to have a leg injury.
Harper recognized the face of the girl. “Wednesday?” She flushed. “I mean, Francie? What is she doing here?”
Estelle smiled when her great granddaughter caught the brown chicken in a pair of skinny arms and held her up like a trophy. “Got her!”
Estelle clearly loved the girl. “A car service dropped her off an hour ago. She found out that her mother is marrying Gerald’s killer tonight, at the jail, if she can find a judge to perform the ceremony. So now Francie wants to live with me.”
“That’s a quick marriage.” Harper wasn’t surprised. Betty Anne had issues. “Deke’s intake paperwork is still drying.”
The older woman nodded. “I’m going to make sure Betty Anne has no chance to ruin that sweet girl.”
The chicken settled and Francie examined her leg. The idea of the Goth girl living on a farm seemed absurd, but she appeared happy to help with the chickens. Harper hoped it all turned out well.
“Who is that in the car?” Estelle asked. She bent for a better look through the windshield.
Harper waved Angel out. The young woman left the safety of the car, smoothed down her skirt, and slowly walked over. Her eyes had a frightened doe look.
“Hi,” Angel said with an awkward wave. Without the makeup and harsh bar lighting, she looked young.
“Estelle, this is Juliet,” Harper said. The older woman nodded. Unsure how Estelle would take the news, Harper moved close to Angel. “There is no way to say this but to jump right in. Juliet is carrying Gerald’s baby.”
But for a slight narrowing of her eyelids, Estelle had no reaction. Angel flinched.
“She’s suing Gerald’s estate for support for the baby.” She knew Estelle appreciated bluntness. “She’s afraid Willard will try to take the baby from her.”
Estelle’s gaze dropped to Angel’s tiny belly. “You’re sure he’s the father? I don’t want to end up embarrassed on the Maury show when six other potential fathers enter the DNA roundup.”
Angel lifted her chin. “I’m 100 percent sure. I plan to take a DNA test after the birth to end all doubts.”
After a moment, Estelle seemed satisfied with her answer. What she said next was what Harper had hoped for.
“You should move in here with me and Francie. Willard wouldn’t dare try anything with you under my roof.” She smiled tightly and her eyes flashed. “I scare him.”
Harper laughed. “You scare everyone.”
“You hush,” Estelle snapped. Harper hushed. “I’m talking to the mother of my great grandchild.”
Angel visibly relaxed and smiled shyly at Estelle. “Okay.”
The bonding, and a new family, was underway. Harper was happy for the women and suspected the goat caper had come to an end.
That made her kind of sad.
“I should go,” Harper said and hugged Angel. Juliet. “Good luck with the baby and your case,” she whispered and looked into her eyes. “Keep me updated, okay?”
“I will.” Angel pulled back and tears filled her eyes. “Thank you for everything.”
Harper choked back tears and nodded to Estelle. “Take care of her, and this darn goat.” She hugged Harriet and spun toward the car. Her eyes blurred and she got about five feet.
“Hold up.” Estelle’s voice called out and she stopped. Harper glanced over her shoulder. Estelle wasn’t smiling exactly but her expression was soft. “Don’t be a stranger.”
Harper smiled wide. “You’re gonna get sick of seeing me around, old woman.”
Lips twitched. “I already am.”
Chapter 43
Harper parked the Chevy Cruze and walked into Brash & Brazen, both apprehensive and hopeful over her meeting with Irving.
Without asking, Noah had confiscated Harvey five days ago and brought b
ack the Cruze for her to drive. The only contact was a key in an envelope and a Post-it with one short sentence explaining the change.
It had been nine lonely days since Deke’s arrest and her last day of seeing Noah. Although he’d been living next door, she’d seen no sign of him. Wherever he was he’d effectively avoided her, and shut her out.
Gretchen wasn’t at her desk. She knew the way back so she headed for the hallway. Alvin almost ran her over when she rounded the corner.
“Sorry,” she said and stepped back.
With her face at chest level, she spotted what looked like an orange striped cat head on a light blue knitted background peeking out from the open V of his black sport coat.
She pointed and scrunched her nose. “Is that a cat?”
“Say. Nothing.” The command was low and threatening. His eyes bore a hole through her head. “This is all your fault.”
“My fault?”
“If you’d have kept your big mouth out of my business, Gretchen wouldn’t have decided that since the news was out about us, we should have at least one matching sweater set.”
Harper bit her lips together to keep from laughing beneath his thunderous glare. Alvin in a cat sweater was freaking hilarious!
“I’m so sorry.” So not sorry.
He saw her struggle, snorted, and rolled his eyes. “Women.” He stalked past her and out of the office.
Once out of the danger zone, she laughed for a good minute. Gretchen was just what Alvin needed. He was too surly.
Irving exited his office when she walked up. An attractive older woman held his arm.
“There you are,” he said and grinned. The man had perfect white teeth. “I thought I’d miss you. Doris and I have lunch plans.” He introduced them, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a key badge.
“This is for you if you decide you’d like to come and work for me. My current crop of PI’s are too bossy and fussy. I need someone on my side when they get to telling me what to do.”
Good natured grousing rose behind her. She peered back and saw Taryn, Jess, and Summer standing in an open doorway. They frowned at Irving and stared hopefully at her.
How could she refuse? “I accept.”
The Sweetheart Mystery Page 24