Just like the day before, she sang her heart out, and she ended with a bow and a standing ovation.
“I really think she’s got what it takes to make it here,” Grandma said. “I just feel it in my bones.”
“It’s supposed to rain tomorrow,” Irene said, nudging Grandma. “What you’re feeling is arthritis.”
Grandma Dean ignored her and walked up to Amy as she walked off the stage. “Somehow, you out did yourself from last night.” Grandma told her.
“Thanks,” Amy said, smiling. “It helps when there are more people in the audience.”
“Well, we’ll let you go talk to them,” Grandma said, “but we’ll try to be back to see your show tomorrow.”
Amy thanked us, then walked over to greet her new fans.
“She’s such a lovely girl,” Virginia said as she walked away.
“You know,” Greta said, “that other girl, Madison Paige, she’s opening for some other act in town. If they still have tickets left, we can catch her.”
We were all on board, so Greta pulled out her phone on the way to the SUV to see if she could get us tickets. “Done!” she exclaimed about the same time we finished buckling our seat belts. “Virginia, here’s the address.”
As Virginia drove to the next theater, Grandma’s phone buzzed. “I just got a text from Archer Nash. He wants to know if we’d like to meet him and the gang at the diner again tonight.”
“We don’t have to drink root beer floats again, do we?” Irene asked. “As long as we don’t, then I’m in.”
“Me too,” Virginia added.
Hattie surprised us all. “You know, I might have you drop me off at the hotel after the show.”
Grandma’s mouth fell open. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah, now that I think about it, I think I’ll pass too,” Irene said, changing her mind. “Hattie and I are going out for breakfast early in the morning, so we shouldn’t stay out too late.”
“Okay,” Greta said, turning from the front seat to look at them. “What are you two up to?”
“Nothing,” they said at the same time.
“You two are never not up to something,” Grandma added.
“Is it really that hard to believe that we want to get up early and enjoy a nice breakfast?” Irene asked.
“Yes!” we all said together.
Virginia looked at Irene from her rearview mirror. “I’m assuming you want to take my vehicle.”
Hattie and Irene looked at each other. “Um, we don’t know yet,” Hattie answered. “We’ll let you know.”
Now we were really suspicious. Grandma gave me a look like she knew some kind of scheme was going on, and I gave her one right back.
We pulled up at the theater, and unlike the one Amy performed in, this was the real deal. Even with nearly thirty minutes to showtime, the parking lot was packed.
As we entered the building, my stomach suddenly felt like it was in knots. Last night at this time, we were walking into a theater expecting a great show, and we left seeing a dead body. I hoped this night wouldn’t end the same.
7
The show was about to start, and the theater was full, though I’m guessing it had more to do with the main act, a family of seven who all played instruments and sang and danced. But I was curious to see just how talented the beautiful Madison Paige was.
The lights went down, and I felt excited for some reason. The stage was dazzling with a silver-and-blue metallic backdrop, but there wasn’t a single instrument in sight. I never looked at the flyer, so I didn’t even know what Madison did, other than sing Barbara Mandrell songs.
A light lit up center stage, and I heard the violin before I saw where the beautiful notes were coming from. Then Madison Paige came from the ceiling much the same way Archer Nash had done the night before. But instead of being on a platform, she was on a trapeze. Hanging upside down as she played, she swung in the air. I couldn’t help but notice there was nothing on the stage to catch her if she fell. Another trapeze was pushed toward her from the side, and she was able to stop playing for just a moment, flip onto the other swinging bar, and continue playing.
I looked over to Grandma. “What is happening? What is this?”
Grandma whispered to me, “Apparently, she’s an acrobat violinist. It didn’t say anything about this in her flyer. It just showed her on stage singing.”
She was lowered to the ground where she finished her song. The crowd cheered. She took a bow, and a large ribbon was lowered from the ceiling. She wrapped it around her waist and leg and then was hoisted into the air. While twirling, dropping, wrapping herself back up, going up in the air and back down again, she played and smiled her winning smile.
Eventually, she was standing on the stage again, and that’s when she started singing. She sang mostly old country music. At some point, someone brought her a banjo which she played with high energy. Soon, the crowd was clapping along with her.
When it was over, Greta looked over at me and Grandma. “Wow! What a show! The instruments and the acrobats and the singing!”
Grandma shrugged. “Her violin playing was amazing. It reminded me a lot of Louise Mandrell, but if I had to choose a singer between her and Amy, I’d choose Amy.”
“I agree,” Virginia said, getting up. “Amy has the voice of an angel. But that Madison Paige,” Virginia shook her head like she was still in disbelief, “she’s an entertainer.”
“Where are you going?” I asked as she scooted by us.
“I’m heading to the bathroom. There’s no way this old bladder can hold on through another show.”
The other grannies decided to go with her, so I sat by myself and kept watch over their sweaters and purses. I looked around and took in the architecture of the theater. It was a beautiful place—all wood with carvings along the walls. There was a balcony that looked like it was full of excited vacationers, all waiting to see the Seven Sven—the Swedish family that was the main show.
I felt my phone buzz in my pocket and saw that Owen was trying to call me. I sent him a quick text letting him know I couldn’t talk because I was in a theater, but I would give him a call the next day. To my surprise, he texted back that he was hoping to talk tonight and wanted to know when I would get back to the hotel. I thought for a minute. The show wouldn’t be over until ten o’clock, and we were meeting at the diner at eleven. I told him it would probably be after one in the morning before I got back. It took him two minutes to reply, but finally he said that was fine.
As I put my phone away, the grannies were coming back to their seats.
The lights were dimming as soon as they got situated. I sat back in my seat, ready to see what the Seven Sven were all about. I just hoped it was entertaining enough to keep my mind off my future call with Owen. What could be so important that he would want to talk to me when I got back to the hotel well after midnight? I was afraid to find out.
8
“Isn’t it amazing,” Virginia said, driving toward our hotel, “how different the shows are here? The Seven Sven were nothing like I had ever seen before! What a talented family!”
“It was like The Sound of Music mixed with the Jackson Five . . . plus two more,” Greta laughed.
“And Madison was amazing,” I added. “I’m glad we ran into her after the show, and we got to talk to her for a minute.”
Greta nodded. “I thought it was interesting that when we complimented her for making it big, she said she was still hoping to make it even bigger. Were you like that, Geraldine? Always wanting to make it bigger?”
“Oh yes,” Grandma said with a sigh. “Success feels elusive even when you’re living it. You reach your next goal, and before you even celebrate it, you’re planning your next one.”
We pulled into our parking lot, and Grandma leaned forward in her seat, putting her head between Hattie’s and Irene’s. “Are you sure you two don’t want to come with us?”
Hattie fake yawned. “I need to hit the hay.”
&nbs
p; Irene unbuckled her seat belt. “Yeah, we need our beauty sleep. You gals have fun, though.”
“Do you need my vehicle tomorrow . . . so you can go to breakfast?” Virginia looked at Hattie and Irene suspiciously.
They looked at each other. “No,” Irene replied. “We’ll call an Uber.”
With that, they climbed out and walked up to the hotel. We watched as they disappeared inside their room.
“What do you think they’re up to?” Grandma asked.
“I have no idea,” Virginia said, driving us back out of the parking lot. “But I’m sure it’s a doozy. It always is with those two.”
Shortly before eleven, the guys came in the door of the diner, and soon the other performers from the night before filed in. I was surprised Roxy Rococo and the Kodiak King were there. I didn’t expect them to show up. But one person was missing, Casius Nine.
“Thanks for letting me join you guys again tonight,” Roxy said after ordering a sundae. “Have you heard anything about Lou?”
I looked over at Archer Nash. Would he tell her it was now a murder investigation? Instead, he glanced, and Billie and I caught the slightest shake of his head. Archer turned back to her. “No, we don’t know anything yet.”
Roxy slunk down in her chair. “When is the funeral? I’d be happy to sing something if you’d like.”
Willie spoke up. “I think we’re going to hold a memorial service next week at the theater. If you’d like to sing, we’d love that.”
Then Kodiak King, whom everyone called Kodiak, leaned forward. “What was it like performing without him tonight?”
“Real hard,” Billie answered. “I’ve got a good buddy that knows the routine in case one of us gets sick, and he steps in from time to time. Does a real good job. But it wasn’t the same without Lou. We’re going to have to hire someone else to permanently replace him. But I can’t even think about that right now.”
The table fell quiet for a moment, and I couldn’t help but wonder where Casius was. I pulled out the card he had given me earlier and typed in his number. I sent him a text letting him know we were all at the diner if he wanted to join us. He responded immediately and said that he was on his way to Urgent Care. He had slipped in something wet behind the stage in between magic acts and hurt his ankle when he fell. He wanted to make sure it wasn’t broken.
Since all the other grannies were paired off with a guy, I sat at the end next to Kodiak.
“Everything okay?” he asked me. “You look upset.”
“I’m okay, but I just got a text from Casius. He’s on his way to Urgent Care.”
Billie heard me say his name. “Don’t you believe anything that guy tells you. He lies more than a sack of dogs.”
He went on ranting, but I didn’t hear anything else he said. I was too busy picturing a sack of dogs.
Kodiak ignored Billie and turned to me again. “Is he all right?”
Billie was just ending his rant, and I didn’t want him to start up again, so I just passed my phone to Kodiak so he could read it himself. He frowned and handed the phone back to me.
“You want to go check on him?” he asked me. “I can drive you over.”
I shrugged. “I’m sure Casius has plenty of people there with him. I would just look silly showing up.”
“Well, he’s pretty much a loner, sticks to himself mostly. The only person he really counted on was Lou, and now that he’s gone . . .” Kodiak went quiet.
“Maybe you should just drive over there, then,” I said. “You know him. I would just feel weird if I went too.”
He leaned close to me and nodded toward my phone. “I’ve known him for years, and I don’t have his number. If he gave it to you, then for some reason, he trusts you.”
I sat there thinking about that for a minute. Why would he trust me? He didn’t even know me. I looked up at Kodiak. “You’re okay if I ride along?”
He clapped me on the back so hard I thought my teeth were going to fall out. “Let’s ride!”
I walked over to Grandma and whispered to her what was going on, and she told me to give her an update as soon as I could. When I got to the door, I looked at them, all huddled around a table in the back. Greta sitting next to Willie, laughing about something. Virginia leaned in close to Billie as he told her some crazy story. And Grandma and Archer Nash sitting at the head of the table, each the leader of their own group. He put his arm around her and said something that made her laugh. My heart swelled. They had lived their lives, had their husbands, and now it was like they were starting all over again. They looked so happy. But as I turned to go out the door, something else caught my eye. Roxy Rococo giving Grandma a cold, hard stare. Suddenly, I didn’t trust her, and I made a promise to keep my eye on her.
9
Kodiak opened the door of his truck for me. Climbing up into it was quite a job. Finally, I was in, and we were on our way across town.
“So,” I said to end the awkward silence. “What happened to your eye?”
He looked confused and then he pointed to his eyepatch. “Oh, this?”
To my shock and horror, he ripped off the patch and looked at me. I tried to brace myself for what I was about to see. But then I was confused.
“You look totally fine!” I yelled, then hit him in the arm for scaring me. “Why do you even wear that thing?!”
He let out a deep and hearty laugh which made me laugh. “It’s a crazy story.”
“Well, now you have to tell me!” I insisted.
“Okay, well, when I first started out here, I was just opening for other small acts, but I really wanted to have my own show. You have to start small and work your way up. So, my next plan was to open for a bigger show. But no one wanted a big, burly man who makes animals do tricks.
“Then one day, I was out driving in the country, heading to my little ranch, and I decided to open my truck window. As soon as I rolled it down, something struck me in the face. I drove off the road and came to a stop in a field.”
“Oh my gosh! What was it?” I asked.
“I didn’t know at the time. All I knew was that my face was bloody, and I was disoriented. It took me a minute to realize my nose was broken. I have some real nice neighbors, and one saw me crash through their fence, so he came to see if I was okay. He took one look at me and made me scoot over to where you’re sitting, and he drove me to the hospital.”
“That was so nice of him,” I said, in shock over his story. “What was wrong with your eye?”
“Whatever flew through my window hit me in the eye and scratched my cornea. It also cut just below my eyebrow, and I had to have stitches. It broke my nose, and I had a concussion.”
“Did you ever find out what hit you?”
He nodded. “It turned out the reason my neighbor saw me drive through his fence was because he was out there shooting doves. I just happened to drive by as he shot one, and when I rolled down the window of my truck, it got sucked in and hit me in the face. We found it in the back seat.”
“No way,” I said, laughing. “There is no way that’s a true story.”
“I’m telling you! That’s what happened! I had the dang thing stuffed, and I keep it on my fireplace. It ended up being my good luck charm! After that, people took me more seriously. It turns out people think an animal trainer is more interesting if they think he lost an eye. So now I keep the patch on during my shows or when I’m out in public. I take it off otherwise.”
“That is crazy!” I laughed.
After a minute or so, Kodiak grew serious. “I’m going to tell you something, and I don’t want it to leave this truck.”
That didn’t sound good. “Okay,” I promised.
He stared out the windshield. “I heard that Lou was murdered.”
I pretended to be surprised, but he shifted his eyes to me without moving his head. “You heard already?”
“Am I that obvious?”
He gave me a look that said yes, I was that obvious.
“So, who
do you think did it?” I asked.
He grew uneasy. “I don’t know if I should say.”
“Oh, come on,” I begged. “You can tell me.”
“All right, but this is just a feeling. I don’t have any evidence or anything.”
I nervously bit my lip, waiting for him to tell me. But I was definitely not prepared for his answer.
He looked at me, his eyes filled with sadness. “I think it might have been Archer Nash.”
“What!?” I practically yelled. “Why would you think that?”
“Now, just calm down. I know your mee-maw is into him and everything . . .”
“My mee-maw?” Grandma Dean would have a fit if she heard him call her that. “First of all, that is not what we call her. She is my mother’s mother!” What in the world was wrong with me? As soon as those words left my mouth, I felt like a crazy woman had taken over my brain and was overriding any kind of rational thought. “And secondly, she’s not into him. She used to be an entertainer herself, and she is just enjoying the company of a fellow performer!”
He threw his hands up in the air. “I wasn’t tryin’ to be disrespectful. I have a mee-maw. Geesh, it’s an endearing name. You act like I called her the worst thing in the world. My mee-maw would fight tooth and nail to keep that title!”
I took a deep breath. Why was I getting so upset?
“I’m sorry,” I said to him after collecting myself. “You can tell me why you think Archer Nash would murder Lou.”
“Forget it,” he said looking over at me, still in shock over my outburst. “I don’t want to talk about it if you’re going to bite my head off.”
“I said I was sorry! I don’t even know why that upset me. I guess I’m just overly protective of my grandma. And if you think he’s really a murderer and then I just left her with him . . . well, it just freaked me out, I guess.”
We sat there quietly for a minute, and I could tell he was debating on telling me. Finally, he let out a big breath. “I’m afraid that if you get upset that easily, you’re really going to be upset with me after I tell you the next thing.”
Road Trip (Glock Grannies Cozy Mystery Book 6) Page 5
