“I haven’t gotten any alerts on my phone.” She dug her cell phone out of her purse and checked for messages. “Nothing. Dakota?”
“I can’t solve Mr. Dixon’s death if I’m in some lame English class.” Dakota crossed his arms, his look belligerent.
“I was wondering if you could get off work for an hour or so and come with me to the school,” I said. “Maybe if we make a united front—”
“Since there’s no man in the picture? That’s what you mean, right?” Angela dropped her phone in her purse.
“I didn’t say that. I thought you wanted my help.” Sometimes she did, and at other times, I got the attitude.
She sighed. “I’ll take an early lunch. Let me tell Wayne.” She clomped down the hallway on four-inch heels.
“When did you become such a stick in the mud?” Dakota glared at me.
“Only when it’s important. Like school.”
Clomping heels signaled Angela’s return. I’d never understand how walking like a cow could be considered sexy, but since she was never without a boyfriend, I had to be missing something.
I slid into the driver’s seat of my car, Angela taking the passenger side and Dakota got in the back. I turned the key in the ignition and thrust the car into reverse before glancing into my rearview mirror.
A face loomed.
I screamed.
“Rusty home!” He banged on the trunk and stalked away.
I rolled down my window. “That is not the way to announce yourself. I could have killed you.” With my heart in my throat, I backed out and headed for the school.
When we arrived, I asked Dakota to step out of the car before turning to Angela. “Lance Miller, the principal, is on my list of suspects. I need you to flirt with him and make him comfortable.” I eyed her exposed cleavage. “Bend over a few times.”
“This is the real reason you offered to come.”
“No, just one of the reasons.” I grinned and shoved open my door.
Mother and son wore matching expressions of doom and gloom as we entered the administration office of the high school. I approached the counter. “We’d like to see Mr. Miller, please.”
The secretary glanced at the clock. “Let me see if he’s free. School releases in an hour, you know?”
I didn’t, but I hoped our meeting wouldn’t take that long. “Thank you.”
We sat for a few minutes before a man in his early forties approached us with hand held out and a broad grin on his face. “I’m Mr. Miller. How may I help you?”
“Could we step into your office, please?” I asked. No sense in broadcasting our personal business all over town.
“Certainly. This way, please.” He led us down a short hall and into an office with a large wood desk. Two chairs were placed before the desk and another two around a small table in the corner. “Sit there, son.” He waved Dakota toward the table.
With a sharp glance at me, Angela turned her charm on the principal. She leaned forward, just a tad, and fluttered her false eyelashes. “I’m wondering why I haven’t been informed about my son missing the last few days of school.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. We’re usually very good at keeping parents alerted to their student’s behavior. What’s your son’s name?”
“Dakota Nelson.” She smiled from under her lashes.
I wanted to gag, but I could tell her act was working. The man’s attention was completely on her bosom, giving me the opportunity to study his office.
On a credenza against the wall were several framed photographs of Mr. Miller with a smiling brunette and two children of elementary school age. So, the man was married. Hmmm. I couldn’t help but wonder how long ago he’d visited Norma, and why he was now a client of Dixon’s. Or had Norma meant his wife was the client and Miller the one who would kill to keep things quiet?
“What is your phone number Mrs. Nelson?” Miller grinned.
“Oh, it’s Miss,” Angela giggled. “Plenty of people make that mistake.”
“Considering you don’t look old enough to be this boy’s mother, I can totally see that.”
Angela giggled again and gave him her number.
I rolled my eyes and tried not to gag at the over-zealous flirtation of a married man.
“Well, I see the problem now. We have a different number for you.” He rattled off a very familiar phone number.
I punched it into my phone. From where Dakota sat, we heard the theme song to Jurassic Park. One mystery solved.
Angela shot him a sharp look. “I take my child’s education very seriously, Mr. Miller. What type of discipline do you enforce in situations like this?”
“After school detention for five days or two all day Saturdays. Which would you prefer?” Mr. Miller was suddenly all business. Most likely in a vain attempt to impress my sister.
She stuck her manicured pinkie in her mouth. “I think the Saturdays should suffice.”
“Mom! I have things to do with my off time.” Dakota lunged to his feet. “I have to help Aunt Stormi!”
“I guess that will have to be confined to the evenings.” She stood and held out her hand to Mr. Miller. “Thank you for your time, but I must return to work. Dakota will finish out the short amount of the school day he has left.”
“One moment, please.” I stopped Miller as he made a move to walk my sister out. I handed him one of my business cards. “As a client of Mr. Dixon’s, who is sadly no longer with us, I want to give you the opportunity to enlist my services.” I grinned. “I now have his files and will be taking over his business.”
Mr. Miller paled.
10
“You have all his files?”
Miller’s words stopped me in the doorway. I turned and smiled. “Yes. He gave me all his files and recordings. Let me know if I can help you with anything.” Feeling quite proud of myself, I sailed out the door and joined my sister in the reception area. Obviously, I missed Dakota slinking off to class.
“Did you get what you came for?” Angela asked, smiling at Miller who peered around the corner of the wall.
“Yep.” I pushed open the front doors. Now to find a reason to visit the other two prime suspects on my list. Hank Caldwell, owner of Caldwell Construction could be hired for a project, maybe, but I had no reason to visit Susan Burnett, our ex-mayor’s wife.
After dropping Angela back at work, I sat in my car, engine idling, and pondered my next move. Someone rapped on my window.
I shrieked and shrank back.
Miller stared in at me for a second before running around to the passenger side and hopping in. “I knocked first so you wouldn’t shoot me.”
“It was still a dumb move.” I glared. “What do you want?”
He shut the door and turned sideways in his seat. “Do you really have Dixon’s files?”
“What part of our conversation did you not understand?” And this man was responsible for the town’s youths?
He licked his lips and exhaled sharply. “There are…certain…things, I don’t need the town to know.”
“Like, the fact a married man enjoys the company of prostitutes? I won’t say a word.” Eeew, the man grew slimier by the minute. “Or the fact you keep a mistress? Which one of those is a secret?”
He shrugged. “I have needs my wife can’t fill. While I love her dearly, and would hate for her to find this out about me, it’s something I must do.”
“How far will you go to keep your secrets, Mr. Miller?” I casually slid my hand into my purse, reassured by the touch of my Tazor.
“I’m not sure I know what you mean.” He frowned.
Maybe he really was as dense as he seemed. “Why are you here? You didn’t really leave school to question a conversation we already had, did you?”
He seemed to think for a minute, then nodded. “I just wanted the reassurance that you can be trusted.”
“I’m a licensed Private Investigator, bonded by the state, Mr. Miller.”
“But…you write those books. My wife is a hug
e fan by the way.”
“I change the names in my books.” I’d also be taking a signed copy to Mrs. Miller. Perhaps she was a bit brighter than her husband. “You can get out of my car now.”
He did, then leaned inside for one last remark. “I sincerely hope you are honest with your assurances. I’d hate for the same thing to happen to a pretty lady like you that happened to Dixon.” He slammed the door and stormed to a black SUV parked behind me.
So, the threats begin. The only good thing about them is that threats signify I’m on the right track. I headed for the bakery to get Greta to use her skills in finding me Miller’s home address. A chocolate cupcake wouldn’t hurt either.
“Good afternoon,” I said, entering the bakery.
Mom and Greta smiled at me from the other side of the counter.
“What do you need today?” Mom opened the display case. “I just made a fresh batch of red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.”
“Sounds perfect.” I swung open the waist-high saloon doors that kept customers from entering the back and took the delectable treat. “Greta, could you use your resources to get me an address for Lance Miller, the high school principal?”
“Sure? Mind sharing why?” She rolled her stool over to the computer.
I explained my visit to Norma as I ate. “If you have any bright ideas for meeting the other two at the top of the list, I’m all ears.”
“Susan Burnett is head of the local beautifying committee,” Greta said as her fingers flew across the keyboard. “You could always visit her on the pretense of making your yard look better.”
My hand froze halfway to my mouth. “Is my yard ugly?” I thought Rusty did a good job.
“You could try planting some flowers come spring.”
I shrugged and shoved the last of my treat into my mouth. “I suppose it’s as good a reason to pick her brain as any. What about Caldwell? I don’t really have any construction projects that need doing.”
“You could finish the bathroom in the basement,” Mom said. While she’d chosen the basement as her apartment under my house, it only had a toilet and a pedestal sink. “A bathroom in the attic for your sister would be nice, too.”
“I guess I’m just made of money.” I wasn’t too sure I wanted to hire a potential killer to do any renovations.
“Oh, hush.” Mom tapped me on the head with a drying cloth. “You have plenty of money. Besides, what did you buy an old house for if not to fix it up?”
“I didn’t expect to have the whole family move in with me.” Now, that they had, I didn’t want to change a thing. Until Matt I got married. Then, I might have to make some changes.
“Here’s the address.” Greta handed me a slip of paper. “Do you want me to put it in your GPS? I learned how the other day.”
I grinned. “I can handle it, but thanks.” I slipped off the stool I’d perched on. “Flowers, huh? Well, I guess Rusty can handle those along with the lawn and bushes.”
“You might have to pay him more than ten dollars.” Mom laughed.
I actually paid him eighty dollars to be my gardener, but he was stuck on ten because it’s a larger number than eight. “I’ll think of something.” I gave her and Greta a hug and moved back to my car.
I must have slept wrong the night before because my lower back was starting to burn. It wouldn’t hurt to take a nap before Matt came over for dinner. Speaking of…I had no idea what I was cooking. Since I hadn’t spent time filling the freezer since we got back from New Orleans, I didn’t have anything to thaw.
Wonderful. So much for a nap. I started the car and headed home.
My cell phone rang. It was the venue I’d chosen for my wedding reception, saying that they accidentally overbooked and could I choose another day? Really? Because it made sense to redo invitations and mail them out again. I told them no, and mentally added finding another venue at a late date to my to-do list. Matt and I should have eloped.
Back at the house, I set some steaks on the top of the fridge to thaw where Sadie couldn’t reach them and headed for my office to find another venue. The Victorian garden and gazebo would have been perfect.
As luck would have it, I was able to find a venue by the lake. The white gazebo with party lights and autumn trees looked just as pretty as my first choice. A quick phone call later, I had a new venue that cost a few hundred more dollars. I sat back and stared at the picture on the website. Maybe…I wouldn’t have the ceremony at the church. Getting married at sunset in that gazebo would be beautiful. I sent Matt a text, asking him if he was set on a church wedding.
He replied: As long as I’m marrying you, I’d get married in the middle of a dirt road.
Oh, how I loved that man.
I fished a bottle of Ibuprofen from my desk drawer and swallowed them with stale water from a bottle left on my desk. Hopefully, my back would get better fast.
In the kitchen, I tossed the empty bottle in the recycling bin and opened the refrigerator to check the items for a salad. Bless you, Mom, for going grocery shopping. I pulled out the needed ingredients, groaning as I straightened. What in the world was wrong with my back?
I spent the next half an hour preparing the salad and rooting in the cellar for the biggest potatoes we had. Steak, salad, and baked potatoes. What man wouldn’t be happy with that?
If felt as if something jabbed me in the back. I groaned and leaned against the counter. I really did need to lie down on the heating pad for a few minutes.
Sadie raced past me, barking as if the hounds of hell were right outside the kitchen door. She placed her front paws against the window.
“Hush, girl.” I swiped a hand across my sweating forehead.
Her barks continued. I shuffled to the door and opened it. Well, one of hell’s demons was there, actually.
Rachel stood, another stupid doll in her hand, holding a lit lighter to the doll’s back. When she spotted me, she dropped the doll and the lighter and raced off, laughing.
I darted out the door and down the steps to take chase until she disappeared in the forest behind the house. The last thing I wanted to do was let some deranged jilted woman lure me into the woods. I glanced at my watch.
Just enough time to lie down for an hour before everyone came home. “Come on, Sadie.” I tossed the burnt doll into the trash can and locked the kitchen door behind me. Seconds later, I climbed in bed and fell asleep.
“What is this?” Mom woke me, shaking the doll I’d thrown in the garbage in my face. “Did you get another one?”
I rubbed my eyes. “I caught Rachel in the backyard with it. Go away.”
“It’s time to get up and cook.” She pulled the blankets aside. “Are you sick?”
I lay there for a moment. “No, I feel fine.” No backache or headache. All I’d needed was a bit of sleep. “Is Matt here?”
“He’s firing up the grill.”
“Good.” I grabbed the doll out of Mom’s hands and marched down the stairs and outside. “Rachel left me another present. Can I punch her in the throat?”
He laughed and pulled me close with one arm. In the other, he held a spatula. “Only if I can watch.” He bent down and kissed me. “Put a restraining order on her in the morning.”
All was once again right with my world.
11
While I didn’t hold much stock in restraining orders, I visited the police department and had one drawn up for Rachel. If she wanted to get close to me, a piece of paper wasn’t going to stop her. Another good night’s sleep and my back was as good as new.
I waited for Angela to put me in the system and checked my text messages. Norma sent me another suspect. Doctor Amanda Pritchard, famous plastic surgeon, known for her not so discreet infidelities. I didn’t want to ask how Norma might know her, although I’ve suspected for a while that her ample bosom might not be the one God gave her.
“You ought to buy a charm,” Angela said, handing me a copy of the order. “It would probably work better than this.”
“Again, I don’t believe in that stuff. See you later.” I folded the paper and put it in my purse which still held the giant cross necklace. It was all the charm I needed. I was picking Maryann up from the coffee shop with our morning fuel, then on to see Mrs. Miller.
I pulled into a parking spot and left the car running while she got in, handing me my drink. “You got Norma’s text?” she asked.
“Did she say why the woman was a suspect?”
Maryann shook her head. “Only that she’d heard things.”
It might the hardest excuse yet to come up to see her since I had no desire for plastic surgery of any kind. I supposed I could use the same ruse I used on Lance Miller; that I was taking over Dixon’s business.
As we drove, I told Maryann about switching wedding venues and my desire to have the wedding ceremony in the same location as the reception. “It’ll be beautiful and no one will have to drive somewhere else.”
“I think it’s perfect. Will they let us decorate the day before?”
I cut her a sideways glance. “I didn’t ask. I guess I should have.”
“I’ll take care of it. As your maid-of-honor, it’s one of my jobs.”
I laughed. “You have a lot of jobs on my behalf.”
“Good thing you pay well.”
We talked about wedding details until I turned down a street of modest ranch-style homes. Checking the houses on each side, I found the one the Millers owned and turned into the driveway.
Maryann handed me a copy of my first book, I signed it, and we exited the car. I didn’t have a clue how to bring up her husband hiring Dixon, and prayed the opportunity to mention it would arise.
As we marched to the front door, I took note of the fall foliage in large barrels on each side of the porch. Not only were they overflowing with mums and greenery, but reflector balls caught the sun’s rays. Along each side of the house were climbing rose bushes that must be beautiful in the spring. Maybe we could talk about flowers to break the ice.
I lifted the metal rapper on an ornate doorknocker and waited.
The door opened two inches. “If you’re soliciting, we don’t want any.”
Nosy Neighbor: All 7 complete Nosy Neighbor cozy mysteries PLUS: 2 short Christmas stories (A Nosy Neighbor mystery) Page 95
