“How do you know?” Abby said, turning her face further into his chest. “I’ve heard of Oregon Ninjas, you know. Very deadly.”
She could almost feel Gabe roll his eyes before he chuckled. She loved how the sound reverberated in his chest. “Well, for one, even if he does send Oregon Ninjas after you, everyone knows they are easily defeated by forest elves. Since I am officially part of the Forest Elf Club, you have nothing to be worried about.”
Abby chuckled before turning her face up to his, smiling into his hazel eyes. “That is true. Give me a kiss, Mr. Forest Elf,” she said before leaning up into his lips. They stayed like that for a few moments even as Cheerio circled them, getting bored. They would probably have continued kissing for a while except the sound of a car pulling up broke their concentration.
Looking over, they watched a familiar black sedan slide to the curb before Robert Carrington stepped out. He waved, smiling at them both as he walked onto the bridge.
“Sorry to interrupt!” he said brightly. “But I have some good news!”
Chapter 6
Abby watched Robert as he sat in one of the chairs flanking the comfortable sofa that Gabe and she were sitting on. Despite looking out of place in his well-tailored suit and tie, he gave an aura of easy confidence as he opened up his briefcase and handed a paper to Hazel.
“I’ve managed to get an injunction against the bridge closing, and I don’t think they are going to fight it,” Robert said, smiling at Abby’s grandmother. He watched for a few moments as Hazel read through the piece before handing it to Abby and Gabe.
“I don’t have a clue what any of that says, so I’ll just have to trust you, Robert,” Hazel said, smiling back at the lawyer. “When can they remove the barrier? Mr. Wilberson is just about to go drag it off of the bridge with his truck, but honestly I don’t think his truck will budge that thing.”
Gabe chuckled and shook his head. “I think I’d have a hard time moving it with even one of my big trucks. It would most likely end up ripping the undercarriage out from under his truck which would be a crying shame. That thing’s a true antique. I don’t even want to imagine how difficult it is to get replacement parts, much less a new frame.”
“You have no idea,” Hazel said, patting Gabe on his knee. “The last time he had to go clear to Utah to get a headlamp and it took him a month to find. He was in a foul mood the entire time, too.”
Abby opened her eyes wide. “Foul mood? You mean he’s not in a foul mood now?”
Hazel gave Abby a look. “He’s been practically giddy as of late,” she said primly. “Don’t talk badly about my fiancé, please.”
Abby grinned, seeing the twinkle in Hazel’s eyes that said she was entirely aware of why that was amusing. Mr. Wilberson was not a communicative man by anyone’s imagination. When Abby had first arrived, she had been sure that the old handyman hated her, but she slowly began to realize the man was just not comfortable communicating his feelings. Instead, he hid his true thoughts behind a gruff exterior.
It wasn’t until Abby had been blasted in the face by a black powder charge from an old shotgun that she’d seen the man’s concern for her. It had been a touching, if painful, moment but one which she remembered fondly.
“Do you think they’ll honor this timeline?” Gabe asked, pointing at a date on the piece of paper that he and Abby were reading.
Robert raised a hand and wiggled it back and forth. “Probably, though sometimes state departments can be slow to respond. However, I assure you that I will be communicating with them daily about the nature of the suit I’ll levy against them if it goes beyond the twentieth. They tried to tell me it would take a month to schedule a crew, but I reminded them that they were able to install it on short notice right in the middle of Christmas. That order was carried out within four days. I was nice and gave them twice that amount of time.”
Hazel beamed at the younger man and reached out, squeezing his hand. “Thank you so much, Robert. Even if they stall, at least it’s moving in the right direction.”
“It doesn’t hurt that interference from the Senator’s office slacked off after the Town Hall,” Robert said seriously. “If I didn’t know better, I would think the good senator was knocked off balance by something.”
They all sat in silence for a few moments digesting what Robert had said. Cheerio took the opportunity to push his nose into Robert’s lap and look up at him with big doggie eyes, only occasionally glancing at the scone that sat on the coffee table next to the red-haired lawyer. The dog was polite, but clearly not above begging for the occasional treat.
Abby shooed him away before taking a deep breath and nodding. “That’s the elephant in the room, isn’t it?” she said. “We all saw how angry he was, but was it only because of the vote to remove the mayor being foiled? Or was it something else?”
Robert looked at them all and nodded. “That is a good question. To be honest, he didn’t appear surprised at all that Don had been murdered. Angry, yes, but not surprised. Before you get carried away thinking he had anything to do with it, Senator Clark is a pure narcissist. There’s every chance it never occurred to him to be shocked. Truthfully, I think it’s more likely someone in the town wanted to protect the mayor, and took matters into their own hands.”
“So it might very well be one of our friends,” Gabe said slowly. “I hate to say it, but I agree with you. Right now, it could be anyone.”
“Not anyone,” Robert said. “We already know it couldn’t have been anyone that was sitting with us in the gym. No one in our little group stood up or left during that entire hour break. If I recall, that would be Lanie, Reggie, you, Hazel, Abby, Becky, Earl, Janice, and myself. Also, the senator and his aides stayed in the hall the entire time, as well. We probably won’t be allowed to know if anyone else has an alibi, though.”
“You’re a lawyer, though, right?” Abby asked. “Aren’t you able to do some legal mumbo jumbo?”
Robert grinned and shook his head. “In this instance, I don’t have any way to request that information. Neither you nor Hazel could have committed the crime, and therefore won’t be charged. That doesn’t give me a leg to stand on to request any information. The only way it could happen at this point is for someone to be charged, and for me to represent that person, but that would disallow me from sharing that information with you.”
“Ugh,” Abby groaned. “The law is so annoying.”
“Don’t worry, Abby,” Gabe said, grinning. “I’m sure you’ll get your fingers stuck into the information in no time. I think the sheriff is almost betting on it, at this point. Didn’t you say he told you to go talk to Lanie about the case? That’s pretty much asking you to stick your nose into it, right?”
“No, he asked me to go give Lanie a pep talk about running the investigation. He didn’t ask me to go stick my nose into it,” Abby said, giving Gabe a half-grumpy look.
“I’m going to pay for that later, aren’t I?” Gabe said as he chuckled good-naturedly.
“Yes, dear,” Hazel said, taking a sip of tea as her eyes sparkled. “Yes, you are.”
“You have been uncommonly involved in several of the town’s more harrowing occurrences,” Robert said carefully. “Has the sheriff asked for your help in the past?”
“Well,” Abby said carefully, “asking me to be involved might be the exact opposite of what he’s requested in the past.”
“Which would be what I would expect of most law enforcement,” Robert said, nodding in thought. “Still, it is interesting that he asked you to go speak to the officer in charge. Clearly, he’s looking at you as a resource in this instance.”
Abby pursed her lips, but really she had been thinking the same thing. The sheriff had warned her away quite often, so when he’d suggested going to talk to Lanie, she had wondered if he had been softening toward her. In a deniable way, at least. Or maybe he was just concerned, and decided that pulling out all the stops to solve the case was more important than his pride.
; Or maybe he just didn’t care anymore.
Sighing, she looked around at everyone seated in Hazel’s living room and asked the only question she felt comfortable asking. “Who wants more tea?”
Chapter 7
The next day, Gabe dropped Abby off at Becky’s Café for her shift. He needed his truck since all hands were on deck out at the national forest. Some of the hunters had reported possible poachers in the area, so Gabe and his men needed all their vehicles to go on patrols.
“So, aren’t you terrified?” Becky asked, wide eyed after hearing about the note. “Do you need me to have Billy Langers walk you out to your car when you go home?”
“Billy Langers? He’s sixteen and a stiff breeze would blow him over, even if he’s wearing three coats,” Abby said, speaking in a whisper since the subject of their conversation was only a few feet away bussing tables. “Don’t worry, Becky, Gabe said he’d have someone come pick me up. I can’t wait until that stupid barrier on our bridge is moved. It’s such a pain not having a car.”
“I know how you feel,” Becky said, “though I’ve gotten used to it by now. I’ve never owned a car, and I get by just fine.”
“Just be thankful we’re in a small town,” Abby said. “It’s pretty easy to walk most places. Besides, doesn’t Charlie pick you up and drive you all over the place now?”
Becky blushed but grinned. “I’m getting spoiled. We’ve gone to dinner in Salem three times this past week.”
Abby chuckled and shook her head. “You are getting spoiled. What are you going to do if you break up?”
“Don’t say that!” Becky said, swatting at Abby’s arm. “Besides, I don’t think that’s going to happen. I think it’s going to go the other way.”
“Oh! Has he made any suggestions?” Abby asked, leaning on the host counter and grinning at her best friend. “Or plans?”
“I think it’s still too early, yet,” Becky said. “It’s only been a few months, but he is planning to take me to Costa Rica in the spring!” Becky ended the sentence with a squeal which Abby joined.
Billy Langers, along with a few customers gave the two women looks which caused Becky and Abby to quiet down, though Abby did give her friend a hug. “It’s probably too early. Charlie doesn’t seem like the adventurous type to me, but I could be wrong.
“Oh, you’re definitely wrong,” Becky said knowingly. “Charlie can be adventuresome in the right, um, circumstances.” She would have continued but Abby had covered her ears.
“La, la, la” Abby said and shook her head. “You can just stop right there. I don’t want to hear what those circumstances are.”
Becky rolled her eyes but grinned at Abby and nodded, prompting her to uncover her ears slowly. “I wasn’t going to say anything, anyway. Things like that are private. What I was going to say was that Charlie can come pick you up and drop you off after your shift is over if Gabe can’t manage something.”
Abby pursed her lips but nodded. “I’ll call and ask him, just in case. Hopefully he’s not in an area without reception. I still don’t like him going out in the forest after what happened when he was looking for Frank.”
“I don’t blame you,” Becky said. “That was kind of scary. After Charlie was abducted by those bikers I really tried to think of something I could forbid him from, but I couldn’t come up with anything. It’s not like I can ask him not to let patients into the clinic.”
“Would you really try that?” Abby asked.
“No, not really,” Becky said. “At least not before he asks me to marry him in Costa Rica!”
Abby and Becky hugged and gave each other almost silent squeals, grinning at each other like demons before they were interrupted by a voice they both recognized.
“I hope I’m not interrupting something,” said Joe Forsyth in his deep timbre. Joe was a farmer on the outskirts of town who, among other things, grew and bought mushrooms. He was almost as old as Mr. Wilberson and while he shared many stoic aspects of that worthy, he had been a good friend to Abby when needed.
“Hello, Joe,” Abby said, smiling at the man. “Can I get you a seat? Our special today is clam chowder, shipped in special from the coast.”
“Clam chowder?” Joe asked, quizzically.
Becky nodded. “Yep! You can thank John Troutdale for that. He found a beautiful little place out on the coast called Ravenwood Cove and made a deal with some of the locals. He traded some of Hazel’s pies and our four-cheese macaroni-and-cheese for some home-made clam chowder. This is our first week having it. It tastes delicious!”
“That sounds great, Becky, but I’m not here for food today,” Joe said, giving both of them a look. “Abby, I heard you got a threatening note the other day. I think I might know who was behind it.”
Abby and Becky exchanged looks before both of them leaned in, waiting for Joe to continue. When he finally did, he didn’t look happy. “Demsey Danson, Buck’s brother, is back in town. If anyone had a reason to threaten you, it’s him.”
Abby froze, remembering the hulking, silent brother that had stood behind the excitable Buck Danson the last time they’d met. She just about launched into a furious set of questions, but then remembered she was still at work. “I can’t talk about it here, Joe,” Abby said. “Can I meet you over at McGradys after work? It will be about two in the afternoon.”
Joe nodded,” Sounds good. I’ll see you then,” he said before turning and leaving. Abby and Becky just looked at each other, their eyes wide.
“Oh, jackrabbits!” Becky breathed out.
Chapter 8
Abby wasn’t too worried when she left Becky’s since it was broad daylight and McGradys was only a two block walk once she turned onto Main Street. She kept her eyes open but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Main Street was where most of the shops in the town were, so it was fairly busy with people. A fact that gave Abby some comfort even as she walked just a bit faster than normal.
McGradys was a bar owned by Mike McGrady. Abby briefly reminisced about him as she opened the door to the bar. He had been a pleasant, good-natured soul who Abby had liked. It also turned out he was a killer after he’d taken to sniping at a biker gang that had come to town not so long ago. Though Abby didn’t condone it, she still felt guilty over figuring out it was him, since he had saved them from the same bikers when they’d attacked the police station in town.
After Mike had been put in jail, John Troutdale had decided to help him manage the bar while he was away at prison. John had been in the police station when the bikers had attacked and felt he owed the man for his trouble. Since John lived in Seattle, he’d sent one of his men to be the day-to-day manager. Reggie Bascom was equally as pleasant, though as opposed to John Troutdale’s smaller frame, Reggie was built like a two-story brick house.
When she walked in, Abby saw Reggie sitting over at a table with Lanie. The two had become an item shortly after Reggie had moved down here. Abby waved at them as she came in, then moved over to the table where Joe Forsyth was sitting. He already had a beer in front of him, though it looked dark instead of light.
“What are you drinking?” Abby asked, curious as she eased into the chair next to him.
“Liquid lunch,” Joe said, holding his glass up for Abby to inspect. “It’s a Guinness stout. One of the more famous brands, though a lot of folks up here in the Northwest come close. Still, you can’t beat a classic.”
Abby shuddered and made a face. She’d heard of Guinness and even tried one, but it hadn’t been her taste. She much preferred lighter fare. “I’ll stick to my ciders if you please.”
Joe laughed as the waitress came up and Abby ordered. She’d already eaten at Becky’s Café so wasn’t hungry, though a cider would be a nice dessert. After the waitress left, she became serious and looked at Joe. “So, Demsey Danson.”
Joe frowned and nodded. “Yes. A couple of my friends told me they saw him over at the Food Emporium so I asked around. He’s staying with a cousin out on the edge of town since his
and Buck’s apartment was re-rented.”
“I thought he was in jail,” Abby said slowly, thinking furiously. Demsey was Buck’s brother, the man who’d taken a shot at her the day she’d first met Gabe. He said he’d just been trying to scare her, but the bullet had grazed her, and that told her a different story.
Whereas Buck had been small and strong willed, Demsey was the exact opposite. He was large, greasy, and did whatever Buck told him to do. It had ended up with both of them having police records, and while Buck had been the brains, Demsey had been the brawn.
“So did I,” Joe said, taking another sip from his drink. “Maybe you could ask your friend, Lanie, what the deal is. She probably has the skinny on it.”
Abby nodded and glanced over to where Lanie was laughing at something Reggie had said. The big man was also grinning before leaning forward and whispering something else, which just made Lanie laugh that much more. She decided she wouldn’t interrupt them since they looked like they were having so much fun.
Turning back to Joe, she blew out a sigh. “How dangerous is Demsey? Do you think he would do something to hurt me?”
Joe didn’t even pause. “Yes. He’s a bit slow in the head, so it might take him a while to do it, but he would. He never was one for impulse control.”
“But would he put a threatening note on my car?” Abby asked.
“That’s a good question,” Joe said, taking a slow drink while he thought it through. “To tell you the truth, it sounds a bit more complicated than something he’d come up with. Maybe his cousin is helping him out. Gloria works out at the old mill, and I’ve never heard of her getting into trouble, but there’s a first time for everything.”
“Thanks for letting me know, Joe. I don’t like the idea of someone stalking me, but if anyone has a reason to do it, it would be Demsey.”
Abby smiled as the waitress brought her cider and took a long sip. She was glad that McGradys hadn’t gone away. John Troutdale had spruced the place up without changing much, more or less doing just an upgrade to what was already here. It looked good, and it reminded her about the Association that had tried to come in and tell him what to do. They had been so wrong, but how to tell them that? It was a conundrum.
Murderous Intent and Deadly Desires Page 3