by Peggy Staggs
I started writing.
»§«
Something cold, wet and soft tickled my face. I brushed it away. The tickling sensation returned. I opened my eyes to a small pink nose and a flurry of whiskers.
“Meow.”
“It must be breakfast time.”
The big cat sat down and glared at me.
“Sorry, buddy, you’re going to have to wait until I take a shower and get dressed. There isn’t any food out here. I can see this becoming a definite problem.” The cats weren’t going to like being relegated to the back woods. Jane wasn’t going to like a kitchen without company.
I sat up. “You shouldn’t have let me fall asleep on the floor.”
I got a not-my-problem look.
“Fine. I’ll hurry.”
Half an hour later, the three of us walked into the kitchen. “Good morning.” I set the basket on the floor.
“How was your night?”
“Uneventful...sort of.”
“Did those ghosts bother you?”
“It wasn’t the ghosts.” I stopped. I’d been so tired, I’d fallen asleep on the floor. Granted, there was a soft rug between me and the hardwood. If I were that tired, would I have heard anyone breaking in? I’d locked the doors. After Kenny secured the house. Jane didn’t think much of him. But, he was her sister’s son. And he was one of Jack’s—the Sheriff’s deputies. He wouldn’t let someone untrustworthy work for him.
“Miss, you’re all caught up in something. I can tell.”
Nope, Miss, didn’t work for me.
“Kenny came by last night to check on things. How did he know I was out at Glenn House?”
“Probably Jack.”
“I haven’t seen or talked to the Sheriff since we got back from Boise. What’re we doing for breakfast?” The clock over the opening to the dining room, like all the wall clocks in the building, were left from the school days. “What time should we serve breakfast?”
“For this crowd, early.”
My phone rang. The caller ID read Jack Trace. Another ring. In my short time in Idaho I’d discovered one thing above all, nothing went the way I planned. It rang a third time.
“You going to answer that?” Jane asked.
“Yes.” I held my breath and pressed the button. “Hello.”
“Doc, we need to talk. Dinner tonight at seven.” He hadn’t asked. It sounded more like an order. I do not take orders well.
“I might be busy.”
“I’ll come there. I have something you need to see.”
I could see a whole world of problems with that. “No. Seven is fine.” I hung up.
Jane stood on the other side of the center counter.
“What?”
“There’s something big weighing on you. Only way to fix it is to clean. Let’s get Glenn House in order after breakfast. If you’re going to stay there, you need cleaned up.”
Right now, that didn’t sound like a bad idea.
“Knock, knock. Good morning, ladies.” Mr. Tyson stood on the other side of the serving window. “When’s breakfast?”
“It’s not fancy today. Eggs, bacon, hash browns, fruit and toast.”
“Coffee?”
“Right there to the side,” Jane said. “Lunch will be ready by the time you finish eating.”
The two of us set about scrambling eggs, frying bacon and hash browns. I was surprised how little time it took.
The men ate everything. I mean everything. There wasn’t any fruit left.
“It was great,” Mr. Tyson said. “I can see we picked the right place.”
They all agreed.
“Been a while since we’ve had guests. Tomorrow, it’ll be better and earlier if you like.”
“Seven is fine,” Mr. Tyson said. “We don’t have far to drive.”
They picked up their lunches and left.
With the big dishwasher, cleanup was equally as quick as the preparation.
Jane, the cats, and I went back to Glenn House. We spent the rest of the day pulling sheets from furniture, dusting, and generally getting the place livable.
That afternoon we sat at the dining room table to plan out the meals for the rest of the week. Jane had great ideas for the lunches. I promised her I’d be there to help with breakfast every morning. Our plans made, I asked, “Is there someone in town who can remove a few of the smaller trees?”
“There’s lots. Guys who were working up the hill and lost their jobs with the pullout.” Jane stared out the window. “Would be nice to clean up the yard. Maybe some flowers in the spring.” She stole a sideways glance at me. “If you’re here.”
Okay, I needed to ask how she knew. “Why do you think I’m leaving?”
“Why would you stay?”
“I don’t have a job to go to.”
“Smart woman like you? I can’t think there’d be a problem.”
She had no idea. “We’ll see in the spring.”
“Winters here can be hard.” She didn’t take her gaze off me. “You might not take to them.”
There was subtext in her words. I just wasn’t sure what it was. So I changed the subject. It’s my go to distraction. “Did you get someone to fix the broken windows?”
“They came and measured yesterday. The glass should be in next week.” Jane pointed to the large clock in the hall. “Better get ready if you’re going to dinner with Jack at seven. I’ve got to get things ready for morning. And I’ve got to check to see if Mazie did a good job.”
She left me to get ready.
At six-thirty, the cats and I went back to the B&B. I was prepared to make two trips since I couldn’t carry both of them and my purse. I was glad it suited the big cat to walk along with me. And I didn’t want cat hair all over me.
Jane shook her head when she saw me. “Won’t do. Lacey is going to be all over Jack like stink on...well she has her sights set. I know you city girls have lots of fancy clothes. Now, go put on something real nice. Something that’ll show off your...” She grinned. “You’re not going to have that figure forever. Better let him see what he’s missing.”
“This is strictly business.” There was no way on God’s green earth I was going to put on date wear. Now, or ever. We had to solve the missing letter thing. That and my patio faux pas. This wasn’t going to be a nice quiet dinner. I could feel the knot twisting in my stomach already. There was the possibility at the end of the evening we’d never speak again. The thought stung.
The only reason he could be coming was because he’d finally gotten the letter from Irwin.
“Jane, this isn’t a date. Nothing’s going to happen between the Sheriff and me.” I’d made sure of that. And he’d made it crystal clear how he felt.
“Don’t you Jane me. I got myself a husband and a lover and it wasn’t wearing clothes that make me look like a Sunday school teacher.” She put a dish on the floor for the big cat and set about dipping her finger in the baby food and offering it to the tiny one. “Go. Change.”
I figured she wouldn’t let me out of the house in anything less than date wear. I’d compromise. I hurried back to Glenn House. I didn’t have much time. I rummaged through my closet. There had to be a happy medium in here somewhere. In the end, I settled on a raspberry cashmere sweater, black pants and a blazer. I set it off with a gold necklace, for Jane.
It was five minutes after seven as I hurried back to the B&B.
Jack’s truck sat in the driveway.
I took a deep breath.
Chapter Twenty
“I hope this will do,” I said as I entered the kitchen brushing a hint of cat hair from my pants.
“I’d say it does just fine,” the Sheriff said. The smile on his face was disarming. This guy was fast becoming a real handful. Great. He was all nice and seductive. That didn’t help things at all.
This was going to be hard. I liked him, but what? The conundrum rolled around my brain like an unbalance bowling ball. “Thank you.” I turned to face Jane. “What do yo
u want to do with the cats?”
“I have a key. I’ll put them out back.” She indicated Glenn house. “You have fun and don’t worry about anything.”
The Sheriff opened the door of his truck for me. “Does everyone around here drive a truck?” I said as I grabbed for the handle to pull myself up and onto the seat. He took my elbow, giving me a little extra momentum.
“I’ll bring the car next time.” He indicated a tarp in the bed of the truck. “I had to pick up some supplies.”
Next time? I suppressed a sigh. Next time.
“I like your sweater,” he said as he backed the truck up and turned around.
“Thank you.” I went over my plan. I’d start out all business, first the letter, then any new information and so on. Then, before dinner when there were lots of people around...no maybe I should start with that. It would save him the price of my dinner and I wouldn’t have to...what? Suffer through a meal with the most handsome men ever I’d ever seen, let alone gone to dinner with. This was going to be one of the most uncomfortable—
“Ensley?”
“What?”
“How was your day?”
“Busy. Did you find out anything new?” I saw a smile start to form on his lips. Had he asked me something I hadn’t heard?
“I’m still waiting. They’re rechecking the fingerprints.”
“Hold on here. You said you had something you thought I should see.”
He picked up a folder from the seat beside him and handed it to me.
I opened it half-eager and half afraid to see what was inside. “This is the autopsy on Tully Hayes.” I scanned the report. “This only tells us what we already knew.”
“And now it’s official. Look at the time of death.”
I did. “He died right after the town meeting. It had to be those two men who followed him after the meeting.”
“Yes. And that means someone knew why he was here.”
“That’s not good.”
I laid the folder on my lap. “Sheriff.”
“Are we back to that?”
“Yes. It’s what you wanted.” Yup. It had slipped right out there. Heart above head. No filter. I just said it.
He pulled to a stop in front of his office, shut off the truck. For a long minute, he didn’t move. Then he angled toward me. His eyes locked on mine.
This was it. This was where it ended between us. Well, it couldn’t end, it hadn’t begun. I needed to slow down. I was making too many decisions under too much stress. This was where I found out...what? It didn’t matter. I had to limit my connections to this town anyway. I wasn’t staying.
“Ensley?” He paused, then said, “If you say it, we can deal with it.”
It was logical, direct and reasonable. And that annoyed me. I was supposed to be the logical one. The one in control of her emotions and the situation. Stop thinking about it and say it.—Ensley? What happened to Doc?—I cleared my throat. I could do this.
“Ensley?” he repeated. My heart began to pound.
“I found out something. We need to get something straight.” My hands were shaking. He’d gone out of his way to be gracious and I’d been stupid. The knot of fear in my stomach cinched tighter. “It’s like this.” My mouth went dry. Damn it. This was unbearably hard. It shouldn’t have been. I mean, a few too many glasses of wine and a pass. Really? There wasn’t anything here besides lust. I steeled myself and faced him. Lines of concern clouded his face.
I turned and looked out the windshield. “First, I want to apologize for the other night. I had too much to drink. With everything...I’m sorry. It changes everything. I know we can’t go back to the way things were...I just...I know...” I could almost feel him sitting there. “Are you just going to sit there and let me ramble on? I don’t know what else to say, except once we solve my dad’s murder you won’t have to deal with my impulsiveness anymore. I won’t be staying. I’m going to find a job on the west coast. Maybe San Diego. It’s sunny down there all the time. But I don’t know what’s down there. I know I can’t stay here because of, of everything. And, I stupidly didn’t stop to think someone like you would have someone. I just...It was...” I couldn’t look at him. My face had gone white-hot. I knew it probably looked like I was about to explode. Which I was.
He reached over and took my hand.
Great. That made things so much easier.
“There isn’t anyone else.”
“Special. That’s it. Sorry, you’re not my type. Or is it, I’m not interested. Or maybe it’s the old, it’s not you, it’s me. Which is it?”
“We have a job to do.”
“Well, at least that’s a new one.” He was being logical and my craziness was ready to meet his logic with indignation. “And don’t hold my hand.” I grabbed it back and concentrated on the front of the truck.
He put his hands on my shoulders and turned me toward him. “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. And you’re smart. And more than a little crazy. Ralph was one of the best men I’ve ever known. I want...”
This was going so badly. Wait, I was beautiful? I knew the smart part. And the crazy part had been pointed out on numerous occasions. But beautiful. And Most Beautiful.
“Oh, no. No. It was all I could do the other night to say no.” Obviously, my poker face had failed me again.
We sat there for a long minute. Me remembering the softness of our drunken kiss. Him holding my shoulders.
Finally, he let go. “There’s more, isn’t there?”
“How do you know these things? You’re just plain scary, sometimes.”
He smiled. “I aim for scary. Now, tell me the rest.”
Here goes. “It’s the letter. The one Irwin Lansky said he sent you. You haven’t told me what you found out.”
Without a word he got out, walked around and opened my door.
“Hi, Sheriff,” Phillis called as we entered. “Pretty sweater,” she said to me.
“Thank you.” Instead of sounding thankful, I sounded nervous. I had no idea what Jack was going to do about anything.
He stopped at Phillis’ desk. “Do you remember a letter that Irwin delivered here a couple of weeks ago? It would have been right after Ralph went missing.”
She gave him puzzled look. “I told you this earlier.”
“I want the Doc to hear it.”
She nodded. “I put it on your desk. I remember because he was weird about it.”
“Weird?” I asked.
“Yes, he handed it to me and said to give it right to Jack and not let anyone see it. He didn’t let go of it until I promised. I took it right into Jack’s office.” Her gaze traveled from me to Jack. “Is there a problem?”
“Did you see anyone go into my office after that?” he asked.
“I’ve been trying.” She shook her head. “But I still don’t remember. So much has happened since then.”
“Thanks.” He guided me back out to the truck. Without a word, he opened the door for me.
Something had to be said. I needed to say it. I agonized about it as he walked around the truck.
When he closed the door behind him I said, “I’m sorry. I don’t know what to do next. Everything circles around on itself.” I started to cry. “I hate to cry.” I haven’t cried this much ever.
“Don’t, then.”
His words had a hard edge to them.
“Oh, sure easy for you to say. In the last three weeks you haven’t lost your dream job, had a ground-breaking research project of a lifetime shredded, the man who said he loved you and wanted to marry you...betray you, not be able to get a job in your field anywhere, have to move across country to find your Dad, only to have him bleed to death in your arms and...” I had no more words, only tears. “Damn it.” I was saying that a lot. “And you make me swear.”
He put the center console up and reached over and put his arms around me.
“Doc, we’ll get through this. And if you like, I can fly back to DC and beat the crap ou
t of March. After all, it would be more or less a public service.” He loosened his embrace and smiled at me.
“No, he was my brother’s handler.”
“I know it does complicate things.”
“I know.” Time out. “You know?”
He started the truck. “I do.”
“How do you know?” That wasn’t public knowledge. I was pretty sure it was classified. CIA things usually are.
He smiled and said nothing.
Fine. “Where are we going?”
“To talk to a lawyer.”
Chapter Twenty-one
We drove directly to a small house in an older part of town. A light shone through the picture window. Trees had pushed their roots up through the sparse grass and buckled the concrete, making the short walk to the front door an obstacle course that rivaled downtown for bumps and cracks.
Jack rang the doorbell. No one answered in a split second, he pounded on the door.
“Hold on,” a voice called. “I’m coming.” The porch light blinked on. Cobwebs, dirt, and insects coated the inside of the light fixture. The result was a spray of sickly yellow light. The door creaked open. There stood Irwin Lansky in a t-shirt and slacks. “Sheriff, Doctor Markus, what—”
Jack pushed past him. “May we come in?” I followed. The iconic theme song of Law and Order was playing on the big flat screen TV. It looked too big for the room.
“What’s going on here?” Irwin shut the door. “You can’t barge in here without a warrant.”
“Oh, put the law books away. You left town when I told you I was coming for the letter. Care to explain?”
The iconic bum, bum of the TV show sounded as the lawyer stood opened mouth, looking from Jack to me.
“I had to get somethings recorded in Mullen.”
Jack shook his head. “Where did you go?”
“My sister—”
“I talked to your sister. Try again.”
He shook his head. “I had to visit a client in jail.”
“That wasn’t so hard. Was it?”
How did Jack know these things? He was really good at his job.
“Now, what was in the letter?”
“I’d never breach a confidence of a client.” He gripped one hand with the other.
