by Tamara Woods
He raised an eyebrow. "Is that right?"
She tsked in impatience. She only had ten minutes. She didn't have time for games. "Of course it's right. Isn't that your SUV outside with the tinted windows? Were you parked at The Rec when that kid died?"
His mouth dropped open in surprise. "That's my ride yes. Was I there? Hell no. I'm at this rusted bucket of nails every single night and then I go home to my wife. Why the hell would I be there?"
"There aren't that many cars like yours in town."
"That doesn't mean it was mine. You don't know what vehicle everybody drives."
She felt foolish, but she had had to put it out there.
"Look at the rings on your fingers."
He looked down with her.
"They're pretty expensive. And your nails show me that you don't work on your bikes and vehicles yourself. All of that takes money. And it's probably not just the money that you're pulling down here."
"You're just like your aunt, aren't you?"
"In some ways," she said, mimicking his manner of speech. She didn't want to give him any more information than he was giving.
"I like your aunt. Good woman. Always treated me right," he said. "And that's why I'm warning you to walk away from all of this."
"What is all of this?" she countered.
They sat starting at each other for a minute.
She noticed a plant that was not thriving in the least. She followed her queasy gut. "You know, a fiddle fig tree is hard to keep alive. But that one still looks alive. You should trim off the brown of the leaves."
Rusty's eyes looked shocked. "You know plants?"
She smiled. "I'm a librarian. I know things."
He nodded. "Indeed you do."
He looked at her assessing her in a different way until he seemed to come to a conclusion.
"I've been trying to figure out that plant for a long time. My old lady is getting ticked off at me over the stupid thing." He shook his head. "Damn woman. She should've known better. I don't know nothing about no plants."
Isa sat quietly, letting him get to what he was planning to say. This was more than he'd said since she'd walked through the door.
"You've helped me. I'm gonna help you. Chad was involved in some dirty business. Nothing that I'm involved in. I move some things, but nothing like that. We're into natural products. Teas. All on the up and up."
"Like what? Kratom?" she asked. She'd read some articles about the supplement, but she was still on the fence about it. It seemed a little too risky to her.
He reared back in surprise and then chuckled. "You are a surprise. Nobody around here knows about that stuff, but they should. Especially around here."
She nodded. She knew people took Kratom to get off of opiates, which was a huge problem in her home state. And there was a lot of debate about how safe it was and who should or shouldn't use it. Right now it was legal, but that didn't mean it would be legal forever.
"Are you growing it yourself?" she asked, dubiously looking at his sad plant.
"Hell no, we wouldn't make a plugged nickle if I were farming. No, I'd call it more of a distribution center than a grow facility."
"Is that what Chad was into?" she asked.
He shook his head. "Oh no. He was working with somebody who had money invested in pharmaceuticals. He was moving pills. In a big, bad way. He might have got in somebody's way and that's why he ended up dead."
Rusty looked her in the eye and made sure she was meeting his. "I don't want you to wake up dead, too."
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
"I HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS read Mrs. Reynolds," Isa said putting the older woman's steamy romance in her bag.
"I'm sure I will honey," Mrs. Reynolds said, with a wink and a little shoulder shimmy.
Isa couldn't help but laugh. Even when she was in high school, the older woman had picked up copies of her bodice rippers as she liked to call them. If a glistening hot bod wasn't on the cover, Mrs. Reynolds wasn't buying.
After Mrs. Reynolds had left, she had plenty of downtown between customers. She went around and picked up a bit: straightening stacks, throwing away trash, and some light dusting.
Her aunt had gone to the church to work on a fundraiser and left Isa in charge of the shop.
It was that perfect time mid-morning when there was a lull before the lunchtime rush. Isa was still processing last night's little "adventure." She rolled her eyes thinking about Clare's fake boobs. That woman was going to be the death of her, she thought with a smirk.
She sobered up quickly. It sounded like Chad had been involved in some pretty heavy stuff. Oxycodone was opiate pain reliever with a huge in the black market in West Virginia. It seemed like every day there was another death or arrest related to the opiate. It was scary how much people were involved in all of that. It made her sick to think that Chad was moving those things. He was from a wealthy well-to-do family. What did he need to move drugs for?
And then a thought occurred to her.
Was Travis involved too? Is that why he had told her to back off? The Travis she'd known would never do that, but like Clare and Auntie kept reminding her, people changed. And it wasn't always to the good.
Had someone that Chad was working with taken him out?
She had too many questions and not enough answers. Her phone vibrated in her pocket. She gave it a look.
Why won't you talk to me? Let me explain.
Isa deleted the message. It was her ex again. He'd been sending her messages like this on the regular. She knew she should just block him, but she couldn't make herself click that button. And it was giving her a certain amount of satisfaction for him to be begging to speak to her, after she'd spent so much time begging him for any crumb of attention he'd give to her.
She shook her head, shaking the thoughts off. That trip down memory was definitely one she didn't want to take. No thanks. Her stomach did that thing where it dipped and felt sour. She felt that feeling of foreboding. She stopped sweeping and looked at the door, waiting.
A steady stream of customers finally trickled down and Isa had a moment to think. These rumors were getting more and more ridiculous. She couldn't but wonder what was going on? The Hammills may be irritating as a family, but they were clearly business-minded people. And her aunt would be able to track down her payments, so would why they be trying to say she was in arrears with her rent? It didn't make sense.
She worked on autopilot while she served their customers. She had to confront this thing with the Hammills head-on. She had to do what she had to do to protect her Auntie and the family business. Aunt Maybel would be lost without the Mystic Eye. And Isa wasn't going to lose another family member to tragedy. The lost of the bookstore and the family secrets inside would be a horrible burden.
Time had passed quickly and she was able to close the shop. She was done with closing up shop pretty quickly. The more she thought about the building and all of the confusion surrounding it, the more she felt the need to do something. She grabbed her coat and purse from the coat rack in the office and was out the door before she could change her mind.
It was still pretty early in the evening, but there weren't that many people out. The wind blowing in Isa's face definitely had a bite to it. It smelled like snow and Isa wondered if she'd have someone to cuddle up to in the winter. Right on cue, she walked pass the Coalminer's Daughter and gave a wave to Brendan, who seemed to be watching the street for something. She kept it moving. She didn't want to stop on her mission.
At the end of Main Street was the Spencer Hammill law offices. It was a fairly modest brick building with the corner lot. It had parking lot in the back, which was at a premium downtown. The town's founding fathers hadn't bothered with adding silly things like parking to their plans.
She pushed open the front door and everything had that muffled sound. It was all whites with a wooden floor and red chairs. Fica plants were in the corners. At the front desk a familiar face greeted her.
"Justine Jones? Is that you?" Is
a said with a smile. Jussy looked up from her phone in surprise.
"Isa Cofendager! What are you doing?" Jussy asked. She'd been one of the few black people in town. She'd moved to Whisper Valley when Isa was still in grade school. They hadn't had a lot in common, but had hung out occasionally during their school lives.
"I wanted to speak to Spencer Hammill about my aunt's property and some issues surrounding that," Isa said.
"You should've called first and saved yourself the trip." Jussy's tone was more judgmental than friendly.
"I've left several messages and he hasn't returned any. I think I've been patient enough," Isa returned, a frown on her face.
Jussy gave an echo of a smile. "Of course you have Isa. I'm sorry, but Mr. Hammill has been out of the office in court all day. He generally only has one or two days in the office."
That's pretty surprising for a such a small town, Isa thought. "Do you know which day he'll be available this week?"
"Let me check his schedule," Jussy said. She clicked around on her desktop and made a sympathetic noise. "I'm sorry. He hasn't emailed me his schedule for the week yet. Sometimes he does that."
"That doesn't seem very professional," Isa said.
Jussy shook her head. "No, it doesn't, does it?" She leaned forward and gestured for Isa to come closer. "I'll tell you something else that's not professional. The stuff they've been saying about your aunt's property."
"What do you mean?" Isa asked, matching her tone.
"I don't want to say too much here, I don't want to lose my job." She looked around cautiously at the obviously empty office.
"Do you want to meet up for coffee sometime chat?" Isa asked.
An emotion flashed across her face so quickly that Isa couldn't quite catch it. Anger? Disgust? She wasn't sure, but she felt a little off-balance here.
"I have a better idea," Jussy said. "Meet me here tomorrow night in the back. 9 on the dot. I'll show you exactly where their plans are."
"Are you sure that's wise? Don't they have security?"
"I know the schedule for the security guard, it will be fine. You need to know what's really going on."
"Okay great, thank you so much—"
"You should probably go now," Jussy tone was dismissive.
"Right, thanks again," Isa said, leaving as quickly as she came.
Isa kept her head down and walked as quickly as possible back to The Mystic Eye. She didn't want to talk to anybody right now. Fortunately, the evening's chilly air seemed to be working in her favor in that way. Soon, she was back at the Mystic Eye. She took the stairs at the back up to the apartment door. She felt unsteady after her unexpected meeting with Jussy. Something hadn't gone right with her, but she wasn't sure what. She pulled the door closed behind herself, lost in thought.
Isa frowned, feeling even more confused now than ever before. This new wrinkle wasn't going to add a matching wrinkle to her forehead.
"Black don't crack," Aunt Maybel said, as though she was reading her mind. Isa startled, grabbing her chest.
"Auntie! You scared the fluffernutter right out of me!" she said taking a few deep breaths to calm down.
"I thought you saw me. You must've been in some really deep thoughts." She gave her niece a curious glance, but when nothing else was forthcoming, she went on. "You'll never guess who I saw at the church."
Isa opened her mouth to respond-
"Meredith! And whoo-ee was she in a tizzy. I wanted to tell her that she needed her chakra's aligned and that I could help her to sort herself, but before I could go into, she was out the door."
"I wonder what she was so worked up about?"
Auntie shrugged, putting her bag on the counter, pulling out a sandwich. "I don't know, but when she saw that I was there, she got real agitated and mumbled something about putting things right."
She abruptly changed the subject. "Now, did you eat? You ain't have breakfast did, ya? Did you even take a break today? Go on in the kitchen and grab yourself sandwich fixings. I'm going to watch my stories."
Isa entered the kitchen and grabbed an apple instead. She wasn't all that hungry. What would she find if she went to the law office? And Meredith. She went way back with Isa's family. What had freaked her out?
OF ALL THE PLACES ISA had wanted to visit in her life, catching up with a friend at the jail just hadn't been on the top ten to-do list. After returning from the law office, she'd changed into more casual clothes and met up with Clare for this inevitable meeting.
There were too many questions and not enough answers. Travis had to come through with some information, regardless of whether he wanted to, or not. Obviously, she was in it now.
Isa pushed open the heavy door and hoped for the best. A new person sat at the police desk. He had a very pressed, prim and proper look to him, and Isa wondered if he was brand new to the team. His lips were pressed thinly together.
"How may I help you?" he asked.
"We wanted to visit Travis Garris," she said. He shuffled paper around on the desk and pulled out a clipboard and a pen.
"Are you on his list?"
"I wasn't aware of any lists," she said.
He tsked and shook his head. "As a murderer—"
"Alleged, he hasn't even had a hearing yet—," Isa protested.
"—he isn't allowed to see the general public, according to the sheriff."
"The Sheriff?" Isa echoed, surprised at how all of this was headed.
"Yup, according to me, Isadora," Sheriff Watson strolled up to them, a satisfied smirk on his face.
The first fission of anger grew inside of her. "You can't create arbitrary laws to suit your purposes, Sheriff."
He frowned down at her, "I don't create the law. I am the law."
"No, you're just here to enforce it," Clare said. She held up her phone recorder. "I'm sure my readers would like to know more about your views, Sheriff Watson. Travis may have done some stupid things in the past, but he's still a darling of the community. Will your people see this is a black mark against you, if they find out you're letting your personal feelings get involved in all of this?"
He swallowed thickly. "What you think you're going to bring me down?"
"Not just her," Isa said. "The area is small, Sheriff. A post on Facespace with a recording of you telling us how you are the law would spread like wildfire."
"You got 10 minutes. And she stays," he said, pointing at Clare.
"I don't think—"
"That's fine," Isa said quickly. She didn't want to have a huge argument. She just wanted to check-in on Travis. His face contorted for a moment and then he led her to the back to a room that had two seating areas with large table and a clear glass in the middle. Watson grunted and pointed at the chair nearest them. She took a seat and waited.
It didn't take that long for Travis to shuffle in. His eyes were so dark, she wasn't sure if he hadn't been sleeping or eating right, or if they were bruised.
His eyes widened and then narrowed. He shook his head, but slowly sank down to the chair. He waited until Watson walked away from him and stood by the door with his arms crossed. Glaring.
"You can't be here."
"Interesting. I am here. And you need to tell me what's really going on."
"What do you mean?" he frowned and then shook his head. "Nothing is going on. It's none of your business."
"Listen Travis, you're going to be sitting in here until they have a better idea. Nobody is in any hurry to get you out other than me. I suggest you let me help you." And she waited.
He heaved a sigh and rubbed his hands over his hair, reminding her of days long gone. That was always his way of showing stress, whether it was a final or when he'd told her that they needed to break up. On his arm, he had a new tattoo, one she definitely didn't remember seeing before. But it reminded her of something...
"What do you want to know?" he asked finally, his gaze on the table in front of him.
...and the memory was gone. She'd get back to it later. Now wa
sn't the time for reminiscing.
Her gaze hardened, and asked with no hesitation, "Were you pushing pills?"
He reared back, like her words physically repelled him. "Or course not. Who do you think I am, Isa?" She could almost feel his hurt, and guilt flooded her. She didn't want to cause him pain, but she didn't have time to baby him. She needed to know his truth was.
"Then why don't you tell me everything? I can't help you if you don't tell me what's going on. And I do want to help you." She'd always been a person who guided herself with her instincts. And this path felt right.
"This is all messed up."
The seconds he spent staring at his hands, felt like days. He opened his mouth was and seemed to start to speak. He closed his mouth again without speaking a word. Isa watched him, allowing him the chance to gather his thoughts, even as the clock rolled down.
"Me and Trav used to be really tight when we were in high school. When you were busy, I was alway hanging with him. When you were around, I just wanted to be with you. Remember?"
She nodded with a soft smile. They used to annoy the other kids with how much they liked spending time together. It felt like it was them against the world, sometimes. Her smile faded. That was a long time ago.
"After you left, we were together all the time. And things got real."
"How so?"
He had trouble meeting her eyes, clearing his throat. She stifled the urge to push, but she knew Watson was watching that clock run down.
"We were just messing around. We'd get wasted and we'd do whatever. No big deal. Nobody was hurt." He shrugged defensively, like she was arguing.
"The thing was, Chad always wanted to do more. Always drink more. Push it more. Do too much. Make it as fu—er— messed up as possible."
Isa smiled a little, "You can cuss around me these days."
"Old habits," he said with another shrug. When she was in high school, she didn't like people to swear around her. Even now, she kept her language pretty clean. She liked to think that she could think of other words instead and convey her feelings more than a well placed f-bomb.
Though sometimes a f-bomb was appropo.
