Lily Sprayberry Realtor Box Set

by Carolyn Ridder Aspenson

  Her ankles survived, and luckily, my body broke her fall on the way down, but the heel on one of those cheap stilettoes of hers didn’t make it, snapping off with a sharp pop.

  “Oh heavens, that was an expensive pair of shoes,” she said.

  Millie picked up the broken heel and examined it with a narrowed, critical eye. “Sure don’t look like it to me. Think I saw these up at the Walmart last week.”

  Ginnie snatched it from Millie’s hand. “I’ll have you know I paid good money for these shoes, thank you. Now, I do not appreciate you saying I’m spreading gossip. You take that back.” She smoothed out the wrinkles in her pants as she tried to balance herself on one heel.

  Millie moved a fly away from Ginnie’s now half up and half down bun, and Ginnie whacked her hand away, teetering off balance again on her one heel. I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing out loud. Whether my eternity was cursed to a burning pit for being catty or not, that right there was funny.

  “What you’re spreading is silly old gossip, and it’s hurtful, Virginia Slappey, and you know it. Why, if your mother was alive, she’d tan your hide with a switch the size of a River Birch tree, and you know it. Shame on you.” Millie poked Ginnie on the arm and said, “Shame. On. You,” again.

  Oh my.

  Ginnie grimaced. “But I heard—”

  “You heard no such thing. You heard what ifs, and that’s all you heard.” Millie smiled at me. “You want something to drink, Lilybit? It’s on the house.”

  I nodded. “Sounds wonderful, Millie. Thank you.”

  Ginnie gathered herself. “I can always get my coffee at the QuikTrip. They’ve got several different flavors, you know.”

  “You go on now and do that,” Millie said.

  I shut my car door and walked into the café with Millie. When the door closed behind us, I snuck a peek outside. Ginnie Slappey’s mouth was maybe an inch from the ground, she was so flabbergasted at the way Millie had just treated her, and her eyes were bigger than coffee cup saucers. I was quite shocked at the whole event too, but proud of Millie for standing up for truth, justice, and well, my boyfriend.

  I leaned my head onto her shoulder. “Thank you, Millie.”

  She wrapped her arm around me. “Wasn’t nothing, little girl. Your momma would have done the same. Bramblett County folk stand up for what’s right. At least the ones that know what’s right.”

  “What was she talking about? I just spoke to Dylan. He didn’t mention anything about talking to the athletic association, or arresting Bobby Yancy.”

  She shrugged. “A bit ago a few of the booster club parents were in here having a meeting. I didn’t hear it all, but I guess some of them are worried. Word is a few of the kids don’t have the grades to play that game, and Carter’s death has caused the association to take notice, so I guess there’s worry of the association people coming to meet with the school, and maybe even talk to your boyfriend.” She stepped behind the counter. “What can I get you to drink?”

  “Oh, just a regular coffee is fine, thank you. I just spoke to Dylan, and he didn’t mention anything about that.”

  She poured my coffee into a to-go cup but left the lid off so I could add my fixings. I handed her a five dollar bill. She refused it.

  “I said it was on the house.”

  “And I appreciate that. This is called a tip. You do know what a tip is, right?”

  She rolled her eyes and stuffed the bill into the large glass jar on her counter with a label that read, tips for exemplary service only, please. “Thank you.” Her tone was genuine and kind.

  “You’re welcome. Thank you for the coffee and the other stuff.”

  She leaned toward me, flicked her eyes toward a table with two women I recognized from the community sale at the school, and whispered toward my ear. “You going to call your S-O and see if it’s true?”

  I whispered back. “My S-O?”

  “You know, you’re significant other.”

  “Oh. Yeah, I’ll give him a call.”

  “Good. Keep me in the loop then, will ya? Us criminal justice warriors got to stick together.”

  “Criminal justice warriors?”

  “Bonnie’s grandson Nicholas called me something like that a bit ago. Said people that want to help others are social justice warriors, but when he showed me what that meant on the world wide web, it had some negative connotations, so I decided to switch it up a touch. I figured I’m more of a criminal justice warrior. It’s kind of a do-gooder for the betterment of keeping Bramblett County safe.” She winked at me. “Like you.”

  A criminal justice warrior. Huh. I nodded. “I like that, Millie. I like that a lot.”

  She smiled. “I do, too.”

  I headed toward the door after I’d added some half and half to my coffee. “Thanks again, Millie.”

  Belle typed away on her laptop when I arrived back at the office. “Find anything worthy of our client’s money?”

  “I did, and I want it, too.”

  “Let me guess, white house, wide stepped porch, open floor plan.”

  I unpacked my bag and placed my laptop on my desk. “You just get me so well.”

  “It sounds like the perfect bed and breakfast house.”

  “In the middle of a subdivision in Cumming, Georgia? I doubt that.”

  Her cell phone rang. “Saved by the cell phone.”

  Lucky me, I thought. I organized my to-do list, and though it wasn’t work related, gave follow up with Dylan a star for priority status and got right to it.

  He answered on the first ring.

  “Hey, what’s up?”

  “Are you planning to talk to the state athletic association?”

  “Word travels fast in this town, doesn’t it?”

  “So, that’s a yes?”

  “Shouldn’t you be at work doing what it is you do best?”

  “I am, actually.”

  “If you’re going to continue to involve yourself in my investigation, will you at least abide by some basic guidelines I set for you?”

  I shrieked and jumped in my seat. Belle covered her phone and asked if I was okay. I nodded. “I’ll do whatever you ask. I’m a criminal justice warrior, at your service, Sheriff.”

  “First, don’t ever call yourself that.”

  “Party pooper.”

  “Second, when I tell you to stay out of something, I mean it.”

  “Yes, sir.” Mostly.

  “I know I’m going to regret this.”

  “Said no one, ever, when they go into business with me.”

  “So, is it true? Are you meeting with the state athletic association?”

  “Sort of. They’re coming to review the practices at the school. I guess they received an anonymous call about Carter’s death. They want to talk to me, but since this is an active investigation, I’m not able to share much with them at this time.”

  “Oh, pulled the sheriff card, I see. Clever.”

  “Not clever, Bean. True.”

  “So, are you actually meeting with them?”

  “I said I’d make myself available, but haven’t heard back.”

  “Got it. I guess there was a big discussion about this at Millie’s.”

  “The parents are getting heated. Keep your ears open. If you hear anything, please let me know.”

  Ah, I knew exactly why he wasn’t pushing me to stay out of his investigation. “Now, I get it. You want to use me as a mole, don’t you?”

  “You have a certain set of skills, I’ll give you that.”

  “You are so making me dinner this weekend.”

  “Deal.”

  “They said you arrested Yancy. Is that true?”

  “Not yet, but looks like we are heading that direction.”

  “Word travels fast around here.”

  “He’s got means and motive, so it’ll likely happen.”

  “Keep me posted.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  I promised I’d keep him up to date
on what I could find out and got back to work.

  Minutes turned into hours, and before I knew it, Bo’s day care was fixing to close. I rushed to gather the rest of my work, stuffed it haphazardly into my bag, and made a beeline for the door and down the street to my car. I got to day care just seconds before being charged a late fee. Much like children’s day cares, if dog owners were late to pick up their dogs, they were charged five dollars per minute. Per minute. I’d yet to be fined, but I’d nearly missed hearing the buzzer sound by mere seconds several times, so I said a prayer of thanks every time I skated in the door and heard the lock click behind me just as that loud buzzing sound vibrated in my ears.

  The day care manager, a squatty young woman who always smelled like a mixture of sweaty dog, kibble and unfortunately for all of us, dog poop, stood up from behind the front counter. She wasn’t much taller than the shoulder high counter, and I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her because I wasn’t even five feet five inches tall, and I could barely see her over the counter top. She called herself a garden gnome, and I kind of understood why.

  “Hey Miss Lily, I swear Bo knows when you’re on your way. He’s been hanging up by the door for the last few minutes.”

  Just then he barked.

  “Told ya.”

  She opened the door and my sloppy, drooling mess of love bounded over and pounced at me, his mammoth sized paws nearly taking me to the ground. “Hey big guy, how’s my boy?” I rubbed his ears, which were level with my eyes. “Did you miss your momma today?”

  He draped his tongue across my face and then gave me another lick downward, lapping the underside of his tongue over my nose. The slimy texture of his under tongue always grossed me out.

  “Thanks for that, buddy.” I wiped my face with the back of my hand. “Appreciate it.”

  I paid the forty bucks for a full day of play, shared a few laughs about his desire to befriend the newbie girl in town, Blossom, and we headed out to run some errands; first to get some groceries, then home for some fresh bought food and a night in front of my favorite crime shows.

  Only things didn’t work out quite the way I’d planned.

  Chapter 5

  Seven women had blocked my entrance onto my front porch when I arrived home, and the leader of the pack was none other than Ginnie Slappey.

  She tapped her foot liked she owned the place. I glanced down, noticed she’d changed her shoes, and nodded at them. “Those are quite lovely, Ginnie. Walmart?”

  Her foot froze, and when I raised my eyes to her face, I noticed her lips twitched. “Lily, dear, you need to stop this travesty of events, and you need to stop it now.”

  What was with this woman? I had no control over this travesty, as she called it, whatever that meant, and I certainly had no desire to help her.

  “Ginnie, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I pushed through the group of women, corralled Bo to follow, even though one of the women had a bag of treats with her and had given him a handful. His whimper told me he wasn’t pleased, but none the less, he was a loyal dog. I had treats all the time, and gave the best ear rubs.

  “Of course you know. The association, it suspended the entire athletic program indefinitely, and it’s all your fault.”

  I opened my door to let Bo inside, but he stuck by me, so I shut the door again. “My fault?”

  Several of the women yapped at me at once. I couldn’t make out any full sentences, but I did hear various words like, sheriff, relationship, murder, Carter, arrest, anonymous, you, Bobby, uppity, high-falootin’—I had a feeling those two were in reference to me in some way—and a few other choice adjectives my momma would not approve of my repeating.

  When I was a kid, Daddy would whistle by using his finger and thumb to call me inside for supper. The sharp, shrill sound always got my attention—and the attention of the rest of the kids with me—and I sprinted to my house knowing Momma would give me extra chores if I was even a second late. Over the years, I’d learned to whistle just like Daddy.

  I used that whistle on those ornery women. It got their attention, too.

  One of the them, I thought her name was Traci Jo Murray, a tall blonde who never wore her hair in any style other than what Belle liked to call ditzy blonde cheerleader ponytail, squealed in this awful, high, shrill pitch that seriously made my ears hurt. She wasn’t at all a drama queen. She clutched her chest and said in a breathy voice, “Oh my, that was not ladylike at all.”

  Bo barked at her feet, and she jumped back, bumping into Ginnie. Ginnie’s face warped from a mix of snarky know it all, I’m in control kind of smile to an appalled, you’ve just ruined my completely planned snarky, know it all, I’m in control kind of smile, and now I’m embarrassed for it, one.

  I rolled my eyes and blew out an obnoxiously exaggerated sigh for affect. “As if what y’all are doing is anything even close to ladylike.”

  That shut them up faster than a cat cornering a church mouse. “Ladies, how about you tell me what in heaven’s sake you’re talking about and then perhaps I can help you?”

  Clarissa Mooney stepped forward to take the lead as head mean girl, but I wasn’t worried. I’d successfully survived middle school, so I knew how to handle mean girls. “Lily, we have a serious problem.”

  Again with the verbal free for all. I raised my hand to my mouth and prepared to whistle, but that action alone silenced them.

  “Can just one of you speak? It’ll be easier that way.”

  “Your boyfriend’s arrested Bobby Yancy, and now the school’s gone and cancelled the lacrosse program entirely. All because one of the parents ain’t worth two cents.”

  A woman I recognized from the community sale piped up and said, “One bad seed and the rest of us suffer. How’s that fair?”

  I blinked. “Dylan arrested Bobby Yancy? I thought they just brought him in for questioning.” I wanted to check my phone. I thought maybe I’d missed a text message from him or something, but it wasn’t the right time. Dylan had said they would likely arrest Bobby, but he’d also said he’d keep me posted. I was surprised he hadn’t. In his defense, he was the county sheriff, and his job was more important than just updating his girlfriend.

  “Nope. Arrested him,” Clarissa said.

  “And now the entire lacrosse program is cancelled, and it looks like the state athletic association is reviewing the entire sports program for the county. You’ve got to talk to your boyfriend about this.”

  Dylan’s county vehicle pulled up onto the side of the road in front of my house. I tried to send him a telepathic message to cut and run, I failed because he sauntered toward us anyway.

  I had a feeling this incident would hit the gossip chain and light the town on fire fast, and it would be uglier than when the Bulldogs lost their third SE football playoff game to Alabama in the last few minutes of the game. And trust me, that was ugly.

  I strongly suspected they thought I could influence him to handle his investigation in a way that benefited their children, but the fact was, I couldn’t. And even if I could, I wouldn’t. Rules are rules for a reason, and they’re meant to be followed.

  When the women saw Dylan approaching, they marched toward him as if charging to battle. I wasn’t quite sure who would win, but I leaned toward the women, mostly because they were in a tizzy, but also because they had numbers on their side, and well, they were women.

  * * *

  “You arrested Bobby Yancy?”

  He put his feet up on my family room table as he leaned his head back on my couch. “Yup.”

  “Did you find more evidence against him?”

  “Yup.”

  “Care to share?”

  He rubbed the top of Bo’s head, which was already on Dylan’s lap. “Principal gave us access to Carter’s school email. Yancy had sent several threatening emails over the past month.”

  “Threatening how, and about what? According to Carter, he was just telling Bobby he was suspending his son if his grades didn’t improve at t
he box game Saturday night.”

  “It wasn’t about that. There were a few, and they were all different. Making sure his kid got enough play time, criticizing his coaching philosophies, telling him how to run the program, that kind of thing.”

  “And they were threatening?”

  “Enough that the district attorney felt they solidified the fingerprints on the syringe and justified his arrest. There’s a lot of motive behind his actions, Lily.”

  “I guess if that’s the way y’all are looking at it, I’d expect the fingerprints would be enough to have him arrested.”

  “He’s the janitor at the school. He touches a lot of garbage. Any defense attorney could argue that right into an innocent verdict.”

  “I hadn’t thought of it like that.”

  “That’s why I’m the sheriff and you’re the real estate pro.”

  I rested my head onto his shoulder. “Those women almost had you for dessert tonight.”

  He massaged his temples. “Man, they were rough. I think I’d rather face a group of gang members than moms.”

  “You’d probably have better odds of winning with the gang members.”

  “Probably.”

  “But you did okay. Probably shouldn’t threaten to drag them all into the station by their ponytails and throw them behind bars next time though.”

  “I didn’t exactly say it like that.”

  “Perception is reality.”

  He laughed. “They were scary.”

  “They’ve got gumption, that’s for sure.”

  “That’s a nice way of putting it. I’d probably choose another way.”

  “It’s that Y chromosome. It really messes y’all up. The power is in the double X.” I leaned into him. “So, tell the truth, did you have anything to do with the state athletic association shutting down the program?”

  “Not a thing.”

  I steely-eye him.

  “I promise. Listen, I’m just a county sheriff. I can’t force a state association to do anything. Besides, why would I? They saw the school wasn’t doing what they’re required to by the associations guidelines, so they decided to shut down the program. And they were notified of that because of an anonymous letter, not because of the sheriff’s office, so these women got on my case for no reason.”