Death by Intermission

by Alexis Morgan

  “And when Tripp came running, was Owen with him?”

  “Yes, he was. You got there just minutes later.”

  “Thanks, Abby. That’s enough for now. Would you ask Tripp to come in next?”

  There were so many things she would’ve loved to ask Gage, but now was not the time. After making the sandwich she’d promised him, she packed it up in a paper bag along with some chips and cookies. That done, she took her coffee and the carafe down the hall to the dining room. She tried to ignore the white-knuckled grip her mother had on Owen’s hand, instead keeping her focus on Tripp. “Gage says you’re up next.”

  As he passed by her on his way out of the room, he gave her a sympathetic smile. “This shouldn’t take long. Once Gage cuts us loose, do you want to take Zeke for a walk?”

  “I’d love that.”

  After he left and closed the door, she turned her attention back to the couple seated at the table and held up the carafe. “Either of you need some coffee?”

  They both silently shook their heads. When her mother finally looked directly at her, her complexion appeared ashen. Was she not feeling well, or had something happened in the brief time Abby had been gone? If something was wrong, surely Tripp would’ve given her a heads-up before he’d left the room. “Mom, are you okay?”

  Her mother glanced away. “I’m fine.”

  That was clearly not true. When she showed no interest in continuing the conversation, Abby sat down and entertained herself by staring at the clock on the wall and counting off the minutes until Tripp returned. She couldn’t wait, because the tension in the room was becoming unbearable. The second Gage cut Tripp loose, the two of them and Zeke would make good on their escape. A long walk would clear her head and help put the events of the previous evening behind her. Maybe they could also make a quick stop at Something’s Brewing to let Bridey’s excellent coffee work its wonders.

  Sadly, after another glance in her mother’s direction, she was very much afraid it wasn’t going to be that easy.

  CHAPTER 6

  While the silence dragged on, Abby drew comfort from the familiar surroundings. She loved all the antiques that had come with the house her aunt had left her, but the Seth Thomas mantel clock sitting on the sideboard was a particular favorite. She could still remember the first time Aunt Sybil had allowed her the privilege of winding its mechanism. To this day, she took pleasure in twisting the key just the right number of turns to keep the clock running for another week.

  Right now, though, it ticked off the passing seconds with excruciatingly slow precision. Finally, footsteps were headed their way from the kitchen. She was so ready to grab Zeke’s leash and bolt out the door with Tripp. She was already halfway out of her seat when the pocket door slid open. To her surprise, it was Gage standing there. A second later, Tripp eased into sight just behind Gage’s left shoulder. While Gage looked to be in full-on chief of police mode, Tripp shot a hard glance in her mother’s direction before finally dragging his gaze back to Abby.

  Something was wrong. Seriously wrong if she was reading their body language correctly.

  “Gage, what’s up?”

  For a brief second, his demeanor softened. “I’m sorry, Abby, but I need to talk to your mother again.”

  Her stomach did a slow roll. She might not be happy with the woman right now, but she couldn’t imagine what Phoebe had done to incur Gage’s wrath. “Why?”

  She wasn’t sure if he would tell her. But before she could demand answers, her mother spoke out, her voice ringing across the room with self-righteous indignation. “Sorry, but you’ve already taken my statement, Mr. Police Chief. If you have any more questions, call my attorney. I’m done talking to you.”

  Great. Her mom had just succeeded in triggering Gage’s normally slow-to-burn temper. “Fine, Mrs. McCree. If that’s how you want to play it, we’ll take this discussion down to headquarters. You can wait for your attorney there.”

  Her mother blanched. “Not so fast, mister. I’m not going anywhere with you.”

  Abby stared at her mom as if she’d never seen her before. “Mom, that’s enough. Gage did us a favor by coming here. I won’t stand for you insulting him in my house. He’s only doing his job.”

  Her defense of Gage immediately drew her mother’s ire in her direction. “Abigail McCree, quit defending that man. I was right when I warned you he would try to railroad Owen for a crime he didn’t commit. I can’t believe you’d take his word over mine. I’m your mother, and you will listen to me.”

  Throwing her hands in the air, Abby snarled right back. “No, actually I won’t, not when you’re talking all crazy like this.”

  “That’s enough, Abby. I’m going to call my attorney right now.” Then her mom pointed at Gage. “Meanwhile, tell him to leave. My lawyer will contact him only when and if I have anything else to say to him.”

  It was as if the two of them had drawn a line in the sand and were daring each other to cross it. Okay, Abby would take the first step. She pointed at Owen. “If anyone needs to leave, it’s your friend there. You’ve been acting like a lunatic ever since you met him. Maybe when he’s gone, you’ll calm down and start making sense again.”

  By that point, Tripp had shoved his way past Gage to join her at the table. He put his hand on her shoulder, maybe in a show of support. More likely he was trying to make sure she stayed right where she was. “Abby, Mrs. McCree—can we take this discussion down a notch?”

  Then he shot a look at Gage before sitting down next to Abby. “I’m just guessing here, but I suspect there’s a small discrepancy in your mother’s version of what happened last night and what you . . . no, make that what we told him.”

  Her mother’s outrageous behavior made it difficult to make sense of what Tripp was trying to tell her. But if Abby understood him correctly, it could only mean one thing.

  “Mom, why would you lie to Gage?”

  Her mother’s face flushed bright red this time, but it was impossible to tell whether it was due to anger or embarrassment at having been caught out. Considering the woman didn’t try to deny it, the answer was obvious. “You tell him the truth right now.”

  “Stop bossing me around, Abby. I won’t have it.”

  Rather than argue with her anymore, Abby shot her one more disgusted look. “Gage, you have my permission to lock her up until she comes to her senses.”

  Okay, judging from the slack-jawed look on her mother’s face, she’d succeeded in shocking her maternal parent. “You don’t mean that.”

  “I do, Mom. With you in jail, at least I’ll get to sleep late tomorrow morning.”

  Owen, who’d remained oddly quiet through the entire discussion, finally spoke up. “Phoebe, Abby is right. You’re only acting like this out of a sweet but rather misguided effort to protect me.”

  He gently turned her mother to focus her full attention on him. “What kind of man would I be if I let you get in trouble with the law to protect my own hide? Worse yet, I don’t want to come between you and your daughter. Right now, you’re on the edge of destroying that special relationship you’ve always had with her. Don’t let that happen. Not because of me.”

  He brushed a lock of her mother’s hair back from her face. “I swear I didn’t kill that man, but Gage has to follow where the investigation leads him. He also can’t prove my innocence if he doesn’t have all the facts. Misleading him only makes me look as if I have something to hide. Please, for all our sakes, tell the man what he needs to know.”

  For a minute, Abby thought her mom would refuse. As Tripp had pointed out the night before, stubbornness was a trait both she and her mom had in common. Suddenly all the starch went out of her mother’s sails, and her shoulders slumped in defeat. She avoided looking in Abby’s direction, but at least she sounded a great deal more respectful when she spoke to Gage.

  “Chief Logan, it would appear that I need to amend my earlier statement.”

  Abby held her breath until Gage slowly nodded. “Fine
. Let’s go to the kitchen.”

  After her mother followed him out of the room, Abby and the two men all let out a slow breath, letting the last of the tension dissipate. She probably owed Owen an apology, but she didn’t have it in her to offer one right now.

  To her surprise, he was the one who expressed his regrets. “I’m sorry my relationship with Phoebe is causing problems for the two of you, Abby. For what it’s worth, I did not ask your mother to cover for me with Gage. I would never put her in such an awkward position. Besides, he already knows I left for a short time during the movie to check on my food truck. My assistant is new and also dealing with the loss of her father. It was just the two of them, so this is a rough time for her.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  She might as well bite the bullet and offer up her own excuse. “I shouldn’t have asked you to leave. Having you here is helping Mom deal with what happened last night. These things are never easy.”

  Then she shuddered. “Believe me, I know.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “Your mom said you’d been through something similar before this.”

  Tripp had started to grab another cookie but rerouted his hand to settle on top of Abby’s. He gave it a quick squeeze as he responded to Owen’s comment. “Yeah, our girl here has inadvertently discovered several new cases for Gage to investigate, so things have been more interesting for the local police department since she moved to town. It’s a real talent.”

  Abby appreciated that he was trying to keep things light, but that didn’t stop her from nudging him in the ribs with her elbow. “It’s actually more of a curse. I’m sure Gage and his people would be happier if things went back to the way they used to be.”

  He reached for one of the gingersnaps. “Maybe, but they’d also miss out on all those cookies you bake for them when this stuff happens.”

  Owen picked up one as well. After taking a bite, he smiled at her. “I can see why they’d appreciate the cookies if they’re all this good.”

  Her face flushed a bit hot at the compliment. “Thanks. I’m not all that fond of cooking, but I do enjoy baking, especially when I’m stressed out over something. Lately, my freezer is almost always jam-packed with containers full of cookies, but at least I have a tenant with a major sweet tooth who’s willing to take some off my hands.”

  Tripp leaned back in his chair with a satisfied smile on his face. He patted his stomach as he said, “Yeah, it’s a major sacrifice on my part, but I do what I can to help.”

  Owen took one of the last two cookies and then pushed the plate across the table closer to Tripp. “Well, if you ever find that it’s too much for you to handle alone, let me know.”

  Maybe it was time for a peace offering. She smiled at Owen. “Remind me before you leave, and I’ll give you a couple of containers to take home with you. I’ve got more of the gingersnaps, but there are also some sugar cookies and maybe some oatmeal raisin.”

  Then she frowned. “No, I take that back. Tripp took the last of the oatmeal raisin cookies to his veterans group meeting the other night.”

  “Don’t worry. I’m not picky. I don’t think there’s any such thing as a bad cookie.”

  Owen winked at her as he spoke, but then turned his attention back to Tripp. “I’m guessing that’s the veterans group Pastor Jack started. I’ve heard good things about it.”

  Tripp nodded. “Yep, that’s the one. It’s a pretty active group. Interested?”

  Abby waited to see how Owen would react. If he actually admitted to having served in the military, it would be the first scrap of information she would’ve learned about his mysterious past. He looked as if he were about to answer when he turned his attention toward the door. Sure enough, a second later her mother walked back into the room with Gage following closely behind. He held up the brown-bag lunch Abby had made for him earlier.

  “Thanks again for this, Abby. I’ll be going now.” Then he paused as if considering what else he wanted to say. Finally, he added, “At this point, Owen, take this as a suggestion. Now is not the time for you to disappear on one of your long fishing trips.”

  Her mother immediately tensed up, but Owen didn’t look particularly concerned. “Don’t worry, Gage. I’ll be around. If anything comes up to change that, I’ll let you know.”

  Abby followed Gage out onto the front porch, with Zeke following close behind. When she stopped moving, the dog sat down and leaned in hard against her leg, nearly knocking her over. She appreciated his show of support but really didn’t need a tumble down the front steps to cap off an already stressful day.

  “I want to apologize again for my mother’s behavior, Gage. Even if she’s trying to help Owen, that’s no excuse for the way she treated you.”

  Gage had gone down the steps to the sidewalk, but he turned back to face her. “You don’t have to apologize for your mother, Abby. She’s an adult and makes her own choices, and she probably wouldn’t appreciate your speaking on her behalf. Like Owen, I don’t want to cause any problems between the two of you.”

  The weariness she’d noted in his eyes earlier was back in full force. “Besides, it comes with the job. People aren’t always at their best in these situations, especially if they feel like someone they care about is being threatened. Your mom is worried about you getting caught up in another murder case, but also that the facts of the case might cause problems for Owen.”

  Abby knelt by Zeke and gave him a tight hug, mainly for her own comfort. “Is she right to be worried?”

  Gage rocked back on his heels as he shifted his focus to some point in the distance, his mouth set in a hard line. Whatever he was seeing inside his mind wasn’t good. Finally, he shook his head as if to clear it and started walking away. When he reached the police cruiser parked in front of the house, he waved. “We’ll talk more soon.”

  She was pretty sure that sounded ominous. Even if he hadn’t answered her question directly, she suspected he’d still managed to tell her that there was more trouble to come.

  CHAPTER 7

  Just back from their walk with Tripp, Abby unhooked Zeke’s leash and set him free. After she patted him on the head, the dog wandered over to his favorite spot in the shade and stretched out for what would likely be a long nap. She should probably go inside to check on her mom, but she wasn’t quite ready for that. Instead, she sat down on the porch steps and smiled up at Tripp. “Thanks for getting me out of the house.”

  She’d left room for him to sit beside her, but he remained standing. “Glad I could help, but I need to get going. I want to go over to the university library to work on my paper. Text me if anything important comes up.”

  Then he dropped his voice to add, “Especially if you need me to run interference between you and your mom. I’ll distract her with some slick moves I learned playing high school football so you can grab Zeke and make a run for it. We’ll rendezvous at Gary’s Drive-In, where you can reward my craftiness by feeding me a couple of Gary’s Number Three Specials.”

  It was hard not to laugh. She’d seen Tripp on one of his burger binges before. At least he wasn’t threatening to use his more lethal Special Forces skills on her mom. “I can probably handle her on my own. However, having one of Gary’s burgers for dinner tonight does sound good.”

  “Yeah, and it would for sure beat eating another one of Jean’s tuna casseroles.”

  Abby groaned, although she couldn’t say she was surprised. Their elderly friend had a bit of a crush on Tripp, and the octogenarian was always coming up with another new version of her favorite recipe to share with him. Abby thought it was rather sweet that he always politely thanked Jean for her generosity. He even ate the casseroles no matter what secret ingredients she decided to try next.

  “I didn’t know she’d brought you another one.”

  He gave a heavy sigh and nodded. “I really don’t want to hurt Jean’s feelings, but I’m not sure how much more of this I can take. Can people develop allergies to tuna?”

 
Without waiting for her to answer, he rubbed his hands together, clearly shaking off the gloomy specter of another night of warmed-over tuna and noodles. “Anyway, I can pick up dinner on the way home, unless you want to take Zeke for another walk along the river.”

  She gave the matter some thought. “I should probably check with Mom before I make any plans. Can you give me a call before you leave campus? Depending on what she has to say, we can either give you our orders or even meet you out there. It might do her some good to get out of the house for a while, too.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll catch you later, then.”

  Right after he disappeared into his own place, the door behind Abby opened. Without looking around, she patted the step where she was sitting. “Have a seat, Mom. It’s a nice day out.”

  Her mother approached cautiously, as if unsure of her welcome. When she came down the steps, she handed Abby a glass of iced tea and then set Zeke’s water bowl down on the ground where he could get to it. He immediately lumbered to his feet and trotted over to slurp up half of its contents. His next move was to lay his head on her mom’s lap, letting her slacks soak up the extra water he always stored in his jowls for just such an occasion. Instead of protesting, her mom smiled and patted Zeke’s wrinkled forehead as she pulled two chunks of his favorite jerky from her pocket.

  In an unexpected show of good manners, he immediately sat and waited patiently for her to formally offer his treats. When she held them out in her palm, he picked the first one up with great care and then did the same with the second one. Then, Zeke being Zeke, he stared down at her hand and then up with a hopeful look on his face.