Perilous Poetry

by Kym Roberts

  Sugar agreed, and we spent the next hour going through papers that the police had obviously already searched. We had everything spread out on the dining room table and had divided it between personal, business, and junk mail. There wasn’t a whole lot of personal items, photos from when he was a kid and a few from college. I got the impression he didn’t finish since his transcripts stopped after two years. He had a couple letters from his parents and it seemed sad that there was no one left to cherish them. I was just about to give up, when I saw the return address on an envelope with a card inside that read:

  JK

  1327 Windmire Rd.

  Denver, CO 80222

  I grabbed the card and opened it. It was a birthday card with a beautiful brunette warrior princess wielding a sword on the front and a bubble caption that said, “You slay me.” Again, it was very well done, just not my cup of tea. The interior of the card said Happy Birthday and it was signed:

  Happy Birthday to the best graphic artist I know. Thank you for making me beautiful. Love Juicy

  “Fuzz buckets.” I knew that name…so did my cousin. Unfortunately, so did Lucy Barton—it was her daughter—and Jamal’s business partner.

  Sugar looked up from the stack she’d been going through. “What’s wrong?”

  I hesitated. I didn’t want the Mystery Moms jumping to conclusions and I couldn’t be sure Sugar wouldn’t share this information with them. “I just remembered that I told my cousin I’d be home at four o’clock to go over some of the plans for the book signing.” I lied. “Do you mind if we take off? I’ll come back and help you clean, I promise.”

  “It’s not a problem. I kind of need some time to get my mind right about the clean up anyway.”

  Sugar stood up and stretched. I took that moment to knock the card and some papers on the floor. “Geez, I’m such a klutz,” I said, as I reached down and shoved the card and envelope in my purse and picked up the rest of the papers and set them on the table. I didn’t think Sugar would mind me taking the card, I just didn’t want to get the gossip mill started before I talked to Jamal.

  “I’m sorry we didn’t find anything,” Sugar said.

  “Me too. I’m sorry I asked you to come out here and we found all of this.” I waved my arm at the living room walls.

  “I suppose some people might find it appealing.”

  “A single guy with no hopes of marriage.” I smacked my hand over my mouth. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

  Sugar laughed. “I’m sure Eduardo forgives you. Besides, I need the laugh.”

  We locked up the house and were back at the Barn a few minutes later. Sugar and I made plans to go shopping for real after the book signing and she left.

  * * * *

  Mateo had responded to my text about the truck and said that he had seen the damage on the truck and he had it processed at the time of the search warrant. As of yesterday, everything was at the lab. I kind of felt like one of the Mystery Moms processing his crime scene after he’d already done it. I also felt like I might be a pain in his backside. He didn’t say it; I just felt it.

  I’d sent my dad on his way when we returned, telling him he’d also spent too much time at the store and I might agree to close the Barn on weekends if he didn’t leave. The ploy worked. He left a few minutes later. During a lull in business, the phone rang and I answered. “The Book Barn Princess, how many I help you?”

  “I just got a package.”

  “You got the sticky buns? That was fast.”

  “Sticky buns? What are you talking about?” Scarlet asked. “This was not a treat.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, someone left a box of roses at my back door.”

  “Are you telling me Dalton Hibbs is back in town?”

  “If Dalton Hibbs was in town and left me this box, I’d be giving that man the what for.”

  “Why? What’s wrong with the roses?”

  “They’re dead.”

  “Then send them back to the florist. They can’t send you dead flowers.”

  “I think these were intentionally sent this way. They’re black.”

  “Get out.”

  “You have to stop hanging out with your cousin.”

  I ignored the comment and asked, “Are you serious? You literally have black roses on your back stoop.”

  “Along with the creepy poem.”

  “What’s the poem say?”

  “Are you sure you want to hear it?”

  “Of course, I want to hear it. I’d be over there to read it right now but Dad’s gone for the day.”

  “Okay. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Scarlet cleared her throat “Roses are dead. Scarlet is too, Sugar’s in the tool shed, and Charli is through.”

  “O.M.W.”

  “That’s my line, not yours.”

  “But if I didn’t use yours, what came out of my mouth would be much worse. Who sent that?”

  “It’s signed J.K.”

  “Is that someone you know?” I prayed it wasn’t Juicy Killer, but rather someone Scarlet knew who would think that morbidity was funny.

  “If I knew, do you think I’d be calling you?”

  “Well, I hope you’d let me know. Have you called Mateo?”

  “I was calling you to see if it was some kind of joke. You know, JK—Just kidding—because of the Midnight Poet Society reading last night?”

  “That would have to be one heartless, lowlife thing to do if someone left that as a joke. You need to tell the sheriff and we need to call Sugar. Even though it’s not a direct threat against her, she needs to be aware. Dean should know as well, just to be on the safe side.”

  “Why would anyone threaten Sugar?”

  “I don’t know what’s going on, but things are starting to get very serious.”

  Scarlet promised to call the police, and I immediately got on the phone to call Sugar. Dean had taken the day off and was with her when I called. The man quickly became wound up tighter than a windmill in a hurricane. I didn’t think anyone was going to get within three feet of Sugar without Dean taking their head off.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  I wasn’t all that comfortable going outside and walking through the dark alley. I’d called Mateo and told him about the artwork and JK and made plans to give him a full statement the next day—after I talked to Jamal about his business partner. I really didn’t think Scarlet’s recent poem was a threat to my safety, but I was going to be cautious just the same. I’d made mistakes in the past and I wasn’t going to make the same ones again.

  I knocked on the bookcase just to make sure Jamal wasn’t changing in the bedroom, but he didn’t answer. I pushed the shelves open and went into my apartment. As much as I liked having my cousin living with me, there were some drawbacks. My privacy was nonexistent and he left my pitcher of sweet tea empty.

  I found Jamal in the kitchen grilling fish. Bacon lay off to the side on a plate covered with paper towels. The fish sizzled with seasoning in the bacon grease and was surrounded by chopped up bell peppers.

  “Hey, bud, where’s your mom tonight?”

  “She went out to dinner with some of the ladies, said they had something to discuss.”

  The timer went off on the oven, and I opened it see what he was cooking: cheesy butter herb biscuits that were golden brown and ready to come out. I grabbed a pot holder and pulled them from the oven.

  “What’s the occasion?” I asked. He’d never cooked the entire time he’d been at my apartment.

  “I figured I owed you at least one home-cooked meal. Especially after the sheriff called me.”

  I turned to look at my cousin. “And what exactly did Mateo say?”

  “He said someone’s made a threat on your life. He asked me to temporarily shut the app down.”

  I put the biscu
its down on the counter. “You’re not gonna do it.”

  “How can I continue to run the app if someone’s threatening you?”

  I sighed and told him what I knew. Part of his world would crash once he found out Lucy Barton’s daughter was behind some of the weird things going on, but Jamal deserved to know the truth. “I know who the poet is.”

  “What? What poet?”

  “The one who sent the roses to Scarlet. She signed the poem.”

  Jamal turned away from the skillet. “She? You know it’s a woman?”

  “Yeah.” I pulled the card out of my purse and gave it to him. Jamal recognized the picture of JK immediately.

  “That’s Juicy. I don’t understand. Juicy wouldn’t send that to Scarlet.”

  “Is that her on the card?”

  “Yeah, but this was created by the same guy who did our cover art for the app and the same guy who designed the Book Kreeper who I haven’t been able to contact.”

  I dropped the other bombshell on him. “The Book Kreeper was Eduardo Rodriguez, and I just came from his house here in Hazel Rock.”

  “Get out! He lived in Hazel Rock?”

  I nodded. “Mateo seems to think he moved here after you commissioned the art. It would explain how the Kreeper was developed. He’s also the one who ran you off the road in my father’s truck.”

  Jamal’s eyes rounded. He stared at me in disbelief. People he’d considered his friends were turning out to be very different than what he’d thought. He scrunched his nose in distaste…until he saw Eduardo’s artwork on my phone I had yet to show him. Woah. Is that Scarlet? That’s pretty good.” He stared at the image of Scarlet until I pulled the phone away.

  “So, where’s Juicy?” I asked.

  Despite everything, Jamal stood by his friend. “Juicy wouldn’t throw all this away. She wouldn’t kill Eduardo. She liked the guy and she wouldn’t hurt her mom’s career.”

  “And the roses and the creepy poem?”

  Jamal’s shoulders slumped as he turned back to the stove and the sizzling meal that was making my stomach growl. As he stared at the food, I could tell he was thinking he needed to shut down his app.

  “We don’t know the murders are connected. We don’t know if your anonymous investor is behind anything but giving you money. J. C. has reason to want Delbert dead. There’s no motive for anyone to kill Eduardo. At least not one that anyone has identified. Sterling Koch has every reason in the world to want to close down the Book Barn Princess even though we can run side-by-side with the Book Grove without either business hurting the other. We just don’t know. Don’t even think about closing the app down.”

  “But what about the Barn? What about your book signing?”

  “The barn has been busier than ever since the app went live. People are coming in and spending money hand over fist, getting tickets for the Lucy Barton signing. We are making money off your app. Even the business at the diner has picked up because of people collecting the Southern Grill Cookbook for their bookshelf on the front porch. Once there, people smell the cooking and want to sample what the diner has available. Betty said the traffic at her quilt shop has picked up. Franz just told me he had a record week of sales last week for this time of year. That’s saying a lot. And I’ve heard the owners of the antique stores are saying their foot traffic has been good as well. It’s not just me, my daddy, and the Barn benefiting from the app. You’re not the only one who has seen a positive return from your project. You can’t throw that away.”

  Jamal looked up from turning the fish, his young face had stress lines I’d never notice until then. “I don’t know what the right answer is, Charli. If I shut it down, my mom’s life could be in danger. If I keep it running, you or someone else could be killed.”

  “I could get hit walking across the street to the diner tomorrow. I could be struck by lightning in the storms tonight while I lie in my bed.”

  “Or someone could break in and put an ax in your chest.”

  “Somehow, I think our killer has been there, done that. I think whoever is doing this has a score to settle. I’m not sure it has anything to do with you, or me, or the app. We have to continue to live our lives, otherwise we may as well close the doors to the Barn and not let anyone in.”

  Jamal remained quiet as he pulled the fish from the skillet and put a seared plank on two plates he had set out on the counter with greens and other vegetables on top. He broke up the bacon strips over the top of the fish and vegetables. I put a biscuit on each of the plates, and we moved to the table to eat.

  “I need to say grace.”

  I smiled. I understood Jamal’s desire to find comfort in his faith, and we bowed our heads together. We ate most of the meal in silence until my phone rang.

  “What’s going on, Princess?”

  I hadn’t heard from Cade and wasn’t sure if he was talking about us, the store, or the threats Scarlet had received. I went with the obvious. “Going on with what?”

  “I heard there were threats against you, Scarlet, and Sugar. Is that true?”

  I sighed. “Scarlet received a spooky poem with the dead roses.” I didn’t think more explanation was needed, so I took my last bite and tried not to let my stomach turn. I wanted to enjoy the delicious meal Jamal made.

  “When were you going to tell me?”

  “I didn’t know I needed to,” I said around my food. Not the politest thing to do, but I was determined to enjoy that last bite.

  “The app is now putting you and two other women in town in danger. It’s time to shut it down, Charli.”

  I wasn’t about to tell Cade about Juicy. Somehow, I thought that would make the whole thing worse. “Has Mateo said they’re connected to the murders?” I asked.

  My question was met with complete silence on the other end. I could tell Cade was struggling to keep his composure.

  “I care what happens to you, Princess.”

  “How many threats did you receive while running for office?”

  “That’s different.”

  “Really? How so?”

  “I knew what I was getting into when I ran for office. I knew there were crazies out there that would oppose my beliefs. I knew the dangers.”

  “I appreciate your advice, Cade. I’m well aware of the dangers. But I don’t think they’re very high for me or Scarlet or Sugar. If it makes you feel better, I will talk to Scarlet and Sugar.” I changed the subject because I had questions of my own that needed to be answered. “Did you know Delbert Perkins had a lawsuit against J. C.?”

  Again, silence rang through the phone before Cade finally responded. “What was he suing my father for?”

  “For back pay when he worked for Calloway Industries. He was one of their IT techs. He got fired for threatening J. C. when the company refused to pay him overtime for his callouts.”

  “Did he threaten J. C. face-to-face?”

  I wiped my face with my napkin. “I’m not sure. I just know that he filed suit against him.”

  “If he filed suit against J. C., then he also filed suit against me.”

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  “I mean, I own the other half of the company. If one of our employees names the executive branch of owners in a lawsuit, I’ll be on that list as well.”

  “Wouldn’t you know if you were being sued?”

  “We get sued by employees daily. Our lawyers keep track of the litigation and let us know if there are any cases that will be a problem. I’m guessing Delbert’s case was not an issue. I wasn’t aware of it and I’m sure J. C. wasn’t either.”

  “Oh.”

  His voice hardened. “Does that take J. C. off your list of suspects?”

  I stuttered a little bit. “J. C. wasn’t on my list.”

  “He was just working his way toward it?”

  “It was just
something I needed to follow up with.” I knew that wasn’t completely true. I held as big a bias against J. C. as he did against me. Our relationship was the most adversarial relationship I’d ever had in my life…and it didn’t seem to be getting any better.

  I ended the conversation before Cade could argue, and looked to my cousin. As much as I wanted him to continue with the app, I did have to consider the feelings of my two best friends.

  He saw the pained look on my face and immediately stopped me from saying anything.

  “I think it would be easier to protect my mom than the entire town. It’s time to shut it down.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  It was official. Today was the day. Jamal was meeting with my dad and Aunt Violet at his house to have a videoconference with Jamal’s attorney. Business already felt like it was dying. Which was ridiculous—I hadn’t even opened the store yet.

  I poured myself a glass of sweet tea and headed to the register with Princess at my feet. From the moment my alarm went off, she’d been by my side. She followed me to the bathroom and waited right outside the door for me to finish my shower. When I put her food in her bowl, she looked at it and followed me into my bedroom to get dressed. It was the telltale sign that something was wrong. Princess didn’t skip meals. Especially since she’d been on a diet. I was beginning to think Daddy was right—animals did understand.

  Princess knew that I was not having a good day. She knew I felt isolated and alone. Why else would she lean against my leg as I sat to open the register? Or follow me to the front door when I unlocked it for business. She even stood by when Mac Patterson shuffled in the door. She loved Mac.

  “Good morning, Mac.”

  Mac nodded his head and stood still in front of me and looked at the floor. His eyes darted from side to side as he rung his hands and attempted to say something.

  “Is there something I can help you with?”

  “I… I…need a book.”

  Proud of our progress, I smiled. “Well, you’ve come to the right place.”

  Mac shuffled toward the computer section. When I didn’t follow, he stopped and looked back, then begin twisting his fingers on his left hand.