by Alexie Aaron
“But who fired the gun?” Grady said.
“Guns,” Wayne corrected. “Cam said there are differences in the .38 bullets he recovered.”
“Okay, guns,” Grady said, leafing through his recent correspondence. “Calvin, you are aware that two bodies have been recovered on the edge of your property back up by the old road?”
“Yes. Are they the missing teens, Ken Smith and Jason Lake?”
“No. We think they’re the laborers someone hired to brick up a side room in the cellar. We’re pretty sure there is evidence down there. I think, by killing the laborers, the killer was hoping to bury it forever.”
“What evidence?” Calvin asked.
“The reason for the shooting in the first place,” Cid said.
“Drugs,” Grady and Calvin said together.
“Drugs are only part of it,” Cid said. “There is a printing press in the sealed-off room and, possibly, the bodies of Ken Smith and Jason Lake. We’re at a disadvantage here, all of us. With the exception of the sheriff, we aren’t from here. We don’t know the history, and, Sheriff, you were a child when this happened. I’d like to bring Macy Eggleston in on this investigation. She has the means at her fingertips to give us a good accounting of what was going on in Stepner in 1964. Her father, along with Jeff, investigated the murders. I’m sure that he would be more candid with his daughter than us.”
Calvin looked at Cid for a few moments. “You haven’t told her anything have you?”
“No, but she’s going to find out anyway. I’m worried that she’ll walk into something blind and get herself hurt investigating. Why not join forces? We’re going to open up the room tomorrow, so why not invite Macy and her father to be part of the unveiling?”
“Let’s hope it’s not a Geraldo Rivera fiasco,” Grady mumbled.
“If my guys say there’s evidence down there, there’s evidence down there,” Kiki stated. “I’ll risk my reputation on it. Come on, what do any of us have to lose?”
Calvin nodded his head. “I’m in.”
“Let’s try to keep it hush hush,” Grady implored. “I’ll work out a deal with Macy to not to write this up until we have a good case built. Two of those bastards have heavyweight lawyers on retainer.”
“What about Luminosa?” Calvin asked, watching Grady’s face. “Ah, I see she has made her presence known to you too.”
“I’ll have our asset speak with her,” Cid said. “But with anything paranormal, I can’t vouch for what she’ll do if any of these men step foot on this property. If they do, I suggest you don’t get between her and them.”
Chapter Twenty-one
Mimi flipped through the clothes on the boutique’s racks without really seeing them. She was mad. She had dropped everything and come to her sister’s aid only to be rejected at every turn. The chimes of the boutique sounded as a tall brunette walked in.
“Macy!” the sales clerk greeted the woman as if she were an old friend.
“Abbie, good to see you’re back. How’s your baby girl?”
“Cutting teeth. I, for one, was ready to get back to work,” Abbie said with a smirk. “Can I help you find something?”
“Date clothes. It’s been so long since I’ve dated, I have no idea what to wear,” Macy said, turning around. She spied Mimi and gave her a once-over. “Excuse me, aren’t you Kiki Pickles? Wait, you can’t be; you’d be on crutches. Editor Makes Obvious Observation.”
“I’m her identical twin sister Mimi. I’m here to take care of her. Right now, I’m trying to bring her wardrobe style from early construction to being the boss of a construction company.”
“Abbie, you now have two missions. I take it, you’re the same size as your sis?” Macy said.
“Yes, identical means identical.”
“Good. Let’s make a day of it. Abbie, we are at your disposal. Dress us, please.”
Mimi got caught up in Macy’s infectious good mood. They took on the large dressing room and left modesty aside as each struggled in and out of the clothes Abbie brought.
“Abbie, I have never been a size ten, will never be a size ten…” Macy sneered.
“Those are for Mimi,” Abbie said and tossed an armload to Macy before removing the castoffs to hang up properly.
“You called yourself an editor?” Mimi asked as she zipped the terry yoga jacket.
“Yes, I’m the managing editor of the Stepner Gazette. What do you do when you’re not trying to make a silk purse out of… Well, you know.”
“I teach third grade normally. I’m on hiatus, preparing a paper for Washington on the importance of not teaching the bloody test.”
“Good for you. When you’re finished, email me a copy of your presentation, and I’ll feature it here,” Macy said, digging a card out of her purse.
“Will do.”
Macy’s phone pinged. “Excuse me,” she said, digging it out of her purse. Her eyebrows lifted, and she responded back, sending a copy to her father for his response.
Curious, Mimi asked, “Breaking news?”
“Maybe, one with a lot of strings attached. I would discuss it but…” Macy tapped her head. “Ask your sister. I’m sure she’s involved.”
“Ask her what?”
“Something’s going on tomorrow at High Court.”
“I’ll make sure I do.”
Macy stuck her head out of the dressing room and called, “Abbie, find me something that would go well with Timberland boots.”
Cid looked up from his phone. “Macy’s in. She says to expect her father to join us unless she calls back,” he reported.
“Well, I better get my team scheduled to transfer the supports,” Wayne said, excusing himself.
Jesse typed furiously on his phone. “Damn it to hell. Kiki, will you call Dita Espina? She’s scheduled to come in tomorrow. I’m trying to put her off, and she’s giving me a problem.”
“Here,” Kiki said, taking his phone. She spoke as she typed, “Dita, Kiki has okayed a stopover at Las Vegas, on the company. She’ll pick up the campground fees but wants ten percent of your winnings.” She handed back his phone.
The response came in, and Jesse smiled.
“You have one extra day to find your balls, Scrub,” Kiki said and hobbled away on her crutches. “Oh, and make sure the roof is ready over the old office and laundry.”
“About that,” Calvin said, walking over to where Kiki was. “I would like to incorporate a memorial of some kind. A plaque. I’ll take care of the plaque. You just make sure that there is an appropriate place for it.”
“We had discussed opening up the east side of the building and making a covered courtyard. Someplace for the artists to congregate in the warmer months. How about a fountain? You must have an artist who would do the sculpture for the waterworks. We could call it the Bautista Courtyard,” Kiki suggested.
Calvin didn’t ask how much more this was going to cost; he only said, “Perhaps someone from Marcel Duchamp’s studio?”
“It’s your bank vault,” Kiki said. “Wayne will do the plumbing, so that will save you bucketloads.”
“Clever,” Calvin said. “I’m sorry for taking so long to ask. How are you feeling?”
“Sore, but so happy to be working again. I’m a horrible patient. My sister is trying, but she is trying. Know what I mean?”
“Two monarchs occupying one throne room is too much for either one of them,” Calvin detected. “Your sister is used to being adored, but your knights are fiercely loyal to their queen.”
“You’re very observant,” Kiki said. “But if I’m their queen, they have an odd way of showing it. Clark’s dating the local newswoman, Scrub treats me like I have an STD, and Walrus, well, we won’t go there.”
Calvin couldn’t help laughing. “Kiki, I think it’s you that dug the moat between you and them. So, don’t fault them for reacting the way they do.”
“So not only are you an art expert, you’re the new ‘Dear Abby’ too?” Kiki asked.
&nbs
p; “Oh, I would never give relationship advice. I’m as married to my art as you are to your buildings. I can only commiserate.”
“Luminosa,” Faye called as she walked through the construction site. “Luminosa,” she called again, puzzled by the ghost’s lack of response. Faye moved to where the east wall was being dismantled. She didn’t find the ghost there. Faye turned around and studied the shadows that the big trees were casting as the sun headed towards the horizon in the west. One was a bit darker than the others.
“Luminosa,” Faye hissed as she approached.
“Why are you bothering me, little ghost?” Luminosa said sadly.
“I’m here to tell you good news.”
“Go on.”
Faye reported to the ghost what she had heard at the meeting and added Cid’s request that she stand down until they collected the evidence in the cellar of Cabin 4.
Luminosa looked at Faye with renewed interest. “So, these awful men, they were responsible?”
“We’re not 100% sure yet. Did you know Calvin and your husband were friends?”
“No. I never got any of Pedro’s letters, just the notice of his death.”
“Your Silvia and Raúl were adopted by Calvin and his first wife. They live in New York and lead happy lives,” Faye reported.
“They have forgotten their mother.”
“No, but they are trying to live a life under the cloud of their loss. I’m sure they think of you every day.”
“They were too young. They have forgotten,” Luminosa said morosely.
“Luminosa Bautista! I’m ashamed of you. You act like you want your surviving children to have sat their entire lives tearing their sleeves and moaning about their misfortune. I’m not sure you’re worth having your justice,” Faye said and started to leave.
“Wait! I’m sorry, I’m just feeling sorry for myself. You see, I can’t even see my children alive or dead. I was standing here trying to see Miguel. I know now, he’s in that building in the town, but I can’t leave here.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Can’t leave. Not until I get my justice.”
“You could if you forgave your murderers,” Faye counseled.
“Never!”
“I’d rethink that. They will be brought to justice. You may as well make peace with your maker now or you’ll not see Miguel, Pedro, Carlos, or Leticia again. They will join their father in the Elysian Fields and worry why you have not come to be with them.”
“I don’t want them to worry…” Luminosa said and disappeared into the shadows again.
Faye looked out over the valley and then turned and looked at the motel. What a difference a day of reconstruction made. She hoped that Miguel was watching. He could be proud of how he helped in the investigation that, Faye hoped, would soon bring the killers to justice. The story needed to be printed, and if she couldn’t tell it, she would make sure that Macy Eggleston did or she wasn’t Faye… Faye… Was she even called Faye? “No, let me at least have a name,” she pleaded. “I must have caught Luminosa’s bad attitude. I’m Faye, and I was an investigative reporter, or a script writer, or…”
The sun fell below the line of pines. Cid rubbed his arms, regretting he’d cast off his jacket earlier. He walked over to the construction office to retrieve it.
“Whoa, is your knocking hand broken?” Kiki snapped, visually surprised by his entrance into the trailer.
“I’m sorry, I assumed you went home already.”
“Nope, just checking the books. Wayne did a fine job with the paychecks. You can distribute them tomorrow morning as planned.”
“Yes, boss.”
“I think 84 Lumber’s invoice is a little high. Can you check and make sure we received what they said they shipped?
“Hold on, I put the checked invoices is in the outbox,” Cid said, digging through the pile. He handed it to her.
“Oh, damn, my fault. I had forgotten I ordered the extra cedar,” Kiki said.
“I can see you’re tired. Can I take you home?” he asked softly.
“It’s more pain than fatigue,” Kiki clarified. “That’s why I’m so crabby.”
“I hadn’t noticed,” Cid lied.
“Liar,” Kiki said. “You’re a lousy liar, Clark. Hey, let’s get out of here and go someplace where we can bitch. There must be a bar somewhere near here?”
“I’m not that familiar with the bars around here, but there was a place on the lake I noticed when I took a right instead of the prescribed left.”
“You got lost?”
“I have a lousy sense of direction. I would get lost every time I left O’Hare after dropping off or picking up. I’d end up taking the long way home,” Cid admitted.
“Gee, I thought smart guys…”
“Are perfect? Hardly,” Cid said. He opened the doors, tossed her crutches out, and swept her up and carried her down the steps.
Kiki waited until he set her down and handed her crutches to her before she trusted her voice. “Don’t forget to lock up.”
“I was going to,” Cid complained, pulling out his keys and pulling the door closed before he locked it. “Stay there, I have to go get my truck.”
“Righto,” Kiki said and frowned. “Righto, where the hell did that come from?” she mumbled as Cid disappeared around the corner of the trailer.
A few of the local workers waved as they passed her on their way home. She smiled back, feeling dumb just propped there waiting. Cid soon pulled his truck around. He got out and opened the door before picking her up and putting her in the passenger seat. The crutches, he slid behind the seat. He shut the passenger door, giving Kiki the briefest moment to figure out how she was going to keep her distance from someone she clearly was developing feelings for.
“Have you heard anything from Jake?” Cid asked, getting in.
“I think he’s hunkered down with Ted. He spent a lot of time on our problem. I think Ted needs his total concentration now. I forget sometimes, he’s not a computer,” Kiki admitted.
“I have the same problem with Ted.”
Kiki started laughing. “I really have to meet this guy - from all I’ve heard from you and Jake. Also, if your Mia is head over heels in love with him, he has to be amazing.”
“Looks tend to be deceiving,” Cid said, pulling out of the High Court drive. “I met Ted in middle school. He and I weren’t well-liked in school. I had the chubby, four-eyed, smart kid going for me, and him, the large nose that he never really grew into. He and I challenged each other in school. I excelled in the softer things like English, philosophy, and the arts, and he had languages, the sciences and math all figured out. Kids used to groan when he entered the room. It didn’t really bother him. He knew he was going places, and he promised to take me along for the ride.”
“Were you guys picked on?”
“Hell yes. But we got even by making odd but good choices. The only thing that hurt was how the girls avoided us like we had the plague.”
“I bet they’re kicking themselves now,” Kiki said.
“I don’t really know about that.”
“You’re a handsome man, Cid. You turn heads when you walk by,” Kiki said honestly.
“Thanks… Crap, now I’m blushing. Guys aren’t supposed to blush,” Cid complained.
“We all blush, so cut it out. I even think ghosts blush,” Kiki said.
“They have no blood to rush to their faces,” Cid pointed out. “The powerful ones can produce a blush, though. Or Faye. Faye doesn’t know the rules, so there aren’t any in regards to her.”
“She’s different.”
“Yes, very different than I’m used to.”
Cid pulled into the lot of Benjamin and Bernie’s. It looked like a nice establishment. The signage outside said that Benjamin and Bernie had bragging rights to the best bottled beer.
“How classy,” Kiki said. “Glad Mimi made me take off my white sweatshirt.”
“The one with the grape jelly stain?” Ci
d asked. “I liked that one.”
“Oh Lord, when the help notices the clothes, time to go shopping.”
“So, I’m back to being the help,” Cid teased.
“No, right now, we’re away from work, so I may even call you Cid.”
“So, I can call you Kiki?”
“No, boss will be just fine,” she said and laughed.
“Well, boss, would you like me to carry you or will you crutch your way in?” Cid asked.
“I’ll use my crutches. I don’t want to put your back out.”
“I’m used to it. Mia injures herself a lot.”
“Is she klutzy?” Kiki asked.
“No, Mia is a warrior. She is about this tall,” Cid said, holding his hand out, “and fights things that are this tall,” he pulled his other hand high over his head. “I wish I knew her in high school. It would have saved me a broken nose and two cracked ribs.”
“You’d let a girl fight for you?”
“Yes,” Cid said. “And I’m not a coward. I know my strengths, and fighting things I can’t see isn’t one of them.”
Kiki was intrigued. She hobbled her way to the door and the hostess sat them at a table by the windows so they could view the lights reflecting in the water of the large calm lake.
The waitress left with their bar and appetizer order.
“You said, things you couldn’t see in high school. Were you a ghost hunter in school?”
“Oh, no, the first thing a bully would do is knock my glasses off, and then I was basically blind. Imagine trying to defend yourself if you couldn’t see the fists coming. It all started because I mouthed off to an insecure jock. Not one of my better days.”
“I knew you used to wear glasses, but I didn’t think you were blind.”
“Lasik, one of the best investments of my life. It took me forever to save for the surgery but well worth the wait. Thank you, by the way, for not assuming Mia and I are a thing. I know it’s an odd arrangement me living with her and Ted, but we’re family.”
Kiki wondered why she was relieved to hear him say that. “It must produce a lot of gossip.”
