Wanda Nell’s heart sank. She should’ve kept her mouth shut, but now she had no choice. She’d have to go through with it. At least it would put Mayrene in a good mood.
Mayrene futzed around, putting the finishing touches on Mrs. Bramble’s upswept red hair. “How’s that new girl working out down at the Kountry Kitchen, Wanda Nell?”
She leaned down close to Mrs. Bramble. “You look wonderful, honey. Mr. Bramble won’t be able to keep his hands off of you.” She picked up a can of hair spray and started spraying.
Over Mrs. Bramble’s giggling, Wanda Nell said, “Oh, she’s working out fine. She’s a hard worker.” She picked up a magazine from the table beside her chair and started fanning, hoping to keep the spray from drifting her way.
“What’s her name?” Roberta had come into the room. She was a bigger gossip than Mayrene, and she hated not knowing anything.
“Katie Ann Hale,” Wanda Nell said. “You know her?’
Roberta frowned. “I don’t think so. She from Tullahoma?’
“No, she said she’s from Goose Creek. Said her daddy had a restaurant there. Then she lived in Memphis and Jackson after her daddy died. She’s been in Tullahoma about a year, working at the hosiery mill.”
“Nope, I don’t know her,” Roberta said, sounding disappointed.
Mayrene turned Mrs. Bramble’s chair around so that it was facing away from her station. She removed the protective cape from her client and folded it. “There you go, honey.”
“Thanks, Mayrene,” Mrs. Bramble said. “Would you hand me my purse?”
Mayrene pulled the purse from somewhere behind her and handed it to Mrs. Bramble. She dug into it and pulled out some money, folded it and stuck it into Mayrene’s hand.
“Thank you,” Mayrene said.
“See you next week.” Mrs. Bramble beamed as she walked to the desk, Roberta trailing behind her.
Mayrene tucked the money away in a drawer. Turning back, she regarded Wanda Nell with a smile. “Come on, honey, climb aboard.”
Wanda Nell sighed as she sat down in Mayrene’s chair. “Just don’t go crazy, okay?”
“You can trust me,” Mayrene cooed. “You know that, Wanda Nell.”
“Uh-huh,” Wanda Nell said. “It could use a trim.”
“How about some highlights?” Mayrene asked, fingering one of Wanda Nell’s shoulder-length blonde strands.
“No,” Wanda Nell said firmly. “I don’t need no highlights. Maybe when I start going gray, I’ll let you do it.”
Mayrene chuckled. “I got news for you. It’s highlight time.”
Wanda Nell jerked up straight in the chair. “Where do you see any gray?”
“Relax, honey,” Mayrene said. ‘It’s only a couple of hairs. Nobody’ll even notice. The highlights can wait, if you’re sure you don’t want me to do ’em today.”
“I’m sure,” Wanda Nell said. “Just give me a good cut.” Mayrene’s large hands were surprisingly gentle. Wanda Nell usually just trimmed her hair herself at the bathroom mirror in an effort to save money. There was something soothing about the way Mayrene touched her head, though. She might have to reconsider having someone else do her hair.
Mayrene massaged her scalp. “You have beautiful hair, Wanda Nell. You really oughta take better care of it.”
“I know,” Wanda Nell said. “You’re always telling me that.”
“I think you need a good shampooing before we do anything else. This hair needs conditioning.”
Wanda Nell started to protest that she had washed her hair that morning, but she knew better than to argue at this point.
The other stylists were busy chatting loudly with their customers as Mayrene led Wanda Nell into the room where they gave shampoos. She put Wanda Nell into position, tucked a towel around her neck, then turned on the water. At least no one could hear them in here, Wanda Nell hoped.
“Mayrene,” Wanda Nell said, looking up into her friend’s face. “About last night.”
“What about it?” Mayrene asked, her hands busy wetting Wanda Nell’s head, then working in the shampoo.
“What I said about your new boyfriend,” Wanda Nell answered. Mayrene’s hands stilled for a moment then continued their work.
“You said something about a list,” Mayrene said softly. “What kind of list was you talking about?”
“You gotta trust me,” Wanda Nell said. “If it wasn’t important I wouldn’t be trying to tell you something about him. Not something as serious as this. Promise you won’t get mad at me.”
“I promise,” Mayrene said, sounding resigned. “I’ve known you a lot longer than I’ve known him. So go ahead. Tell me.”
While Mayrene shampooed, rinsed, and then added conditioner to Wanda Nell’s hair, Wanda Nell quickly filled Mayrene in on what she knew about the club and its members.
“So his name is on that list?” Mayrene stared grimly down at Wanda Nell.
“Yeah, it is.” Wanda Nell felt Mayrene’s hands squeezing excess water from her hair.
Mayrene started toweling Wanda Nell’s hair lightly. “That don’t mean he’s involved in everything the rest of ’em are doing.”
Wanda Nell sat up, taking the towel from Mayrene. “You’re nibbing too hard. And I’m afraid he is involved in everything. There’s one more thing I haven’t told you. He came with Billy Joe Eccles and his brother Tommy to Tuck’s office last night. They were trying to put pressure on him. They want Melvin to say he did it and they want Tuck to go along with it.”
“Go along with what?”
Surprised, Wanda Nell turned to find Roberta standing in the doorway, her face alight with curiosity.
How much had she heard?
Chapter 19
“Go along with what?” Roberta repeated her question. “What are y’all talking about?” She walked into the room.
“Go along on a fishing trip,” Wanda Nell said, watching Roberta’s face closely. “Talking about my son and his boss. They like to fish.”
“Oh.” Roberta looked mighty disappointed. “Where they gonna go? Somewhere out on the lake? There’s some real good fishing spots out there, if you know where to look.”
“They’ll find something,” Wanda Nell said. She eyed Roberta speculatively. Roberta did know a lot about what went on around town. Wanda Nell wasn’t sure how she did it, but Roberta always knew the latest.
“They’ve been talking about hunting, too,” Wanda Nell said. “I’m not much for hunting, but you know how men are.”
Roberta laughed. “Ain’t that the truth. One of my uncles thinks more of his hunting dogs than he does of his wife and kids. Course, knowing my aunt I don’t blame him.”
“I heard somebody talking about a fancy hunting club not too long ago,” Mayrene said. She exchanged a swift glance with Wanda Nell. “Sounded like it might be a pretty good club to join. You know anything about it, Roberta?”
“Well, I don’t know,” Roberta said doubtfully. “I know about several clubs. Which one is it?”
Mayrene shrugged. “I’m not sure what the name is, but only the big shots in town belong. It’s real exclusive.”
Roberta thought for a moment. “I bet I know the one you mean. My cousin Clarence told me about it. Nobody’s supposed to know about it but Clarence, he’s an electrician, and he did some of the wiring for it. They paid him teal good and told him to keep his mouth shut about it.” Considering he’s a cousin of yours, it didn’t do much good to tell Clarence to keep his mouth shut, Wanda Nell thought. “I wonder where it is?” she said aloud.
“Clarence said it was out by the lake, over on the east side. You know, near where the state park is.” Roberta grinned, pleased with herself for knowing so much about it. “Clarence said it’s kinda hard to find. He missed the road twice the first time he went out there to work, but he finally found it. Once you know what to look for, it’s real easy. There’s this big old oak tree that got hit by lightning, and the road’s right by it.”
Wanda Nell blessed Cla
rence, wherever he was, for being as chatty as his cousin was nosey. If she needed to find that club, now she figured she could.
“Sounds like it’s pretty expensive, if you have to be a big shot to belong to it,” Mayrene said.
“I reckon,” Roberta said. “Clarence didn’t see any of the members when he was there. The guy that hired him, though, he’s the brother of one of the big shots. You know Tommy Eccles?”
Wanda Nell nodded. “I know of him. I’ve never met him.”
Roberta shivered. “He’s pretty nasty. Clarence said Tommy was pretty mean about him talking to anybody, kept telling him he’d better keep his mouth shut.”
Wanda Nell and Mayrene exchanged glances. Apparently even threats weren’t enough to keep members of Roberta’s family from talking.
Roberta observed them. “It’s okay,” she said, her tone defensive. “It ain’t like Clarence has been running all over town talking. He told me about it, and he ain’t even told his wife. I ain’t told nobody but you. Nobody else’s ever asked me before.”
Wanda Nell considered warning Roberta not to talk to anyone else about it, but knowing Roberta, that would only make her more curious. Instead, she said, “Well, that club sounds like it’s too expensive for my son and his boss to join. They’ll just have to look somewhere else.”
“Yeah,” Mayrene said. “Come on, Wanda Nell, let’s get to work on that hair.”
Roberta preceded them into the other room and wandered back to her desk to answer the phone.
As Wanda Nell sat down in the chair and Mayrene placed a cape around her, she met Mayrene’s eyes in the mirror.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
Mayrene shrugged. She finished fastening the cape around Wanda Nell’s neck. “It’s okay, honey,” she said as she picked up her comb and scissors. “I should’ve known he was too good to be true. I don’t want no man who’ll go off to some club like that and get up to all kinds of shenanigans. If I ain’t woman enough for him, then I sure don’t want him sniffing around other gals.”
“When are you supposed to see him again?” Wanda Nell decided not to offer any more sympathy. Mayrene didn’t waste any time feeling sorry for herself when she decided to move on.
“Tonight,” Mayrene said shortly. “But I reckon I’m gonna have a real bad headache tonight and every night from now on.”
“Would you consider not cutting him off completely, not yet anyway?” Wanda Nell said slowly.
Mayrene’s hands paused. “Have you got some good reason why I shouldn’t?”
“I know it’s a lot to ask,” Wanda Nell said, “and if you say no I’ll sure understand. But maybe you could get him to talk.”
“You think I could get him to confess to murder while we’re basking in the afterglow?” Mayrene whispered fiercely as she bent near Wanda Nell’s ear. “Girl, I’m good, but even I’m not that good. What to do you take me for, anyway?” She straightened up and went back to snipping hair.
“I didn’t mean pillow talk,” Wanda Nell said, mortified. “Get your mind out of the gutter. What I meant was just talking to him. I don’t know. I’m just looking for ideas right now.”
“Well, I don’t think that one’s gonna work,” Mayrene said. “You sit still for a few minutes, and let me finish what I’m doing.”
Wanda Nell kept her mouth shut and let Mayrene work on her hair. Her mind buzzed with all sorts of questions. There were way too many things she didn’t know. All those men’s names on that list She had no way of checking up on all of them.
At that thought she almost jerked out of the chair. Mayrene placed a steadying hand on her shoulder, and she sat still again.
She had given Elmer Lee that fist yesterday. Had he done anything with it? She was surprised he hadn’t called her to make some kind of smart remark about her trying to do his job for him. Surely he was curious about where she’d found it
As soon as Mayrene had finished with her, she was going to call him and ask him. Make sure he knew what that list was. Seeing Tuck and TJ. yesterday had put it out of her mind for a while.
That set her mind going on another track. After the two talks she’d had with Tuck, she hoped T.J. would come talk to her soon. She wasn’t sure how long she could pretend she didn’t know anything. She didn’t want to force him to talk to her before he was ready, but if he didn’t do it soon, she might just have to sit him down and do it anyway.
“Wanda Nell, are you in there?”
She heard Mayrene talking to her, and she blinked. She’d been off in her thoughts and had completely forgotten where she was or what was going on.
“Sorry,” she said. “I was thinking.”
“I know,” Mayrene said. “I could see the smoke coming out of your ears.” She grinned. “I’m gonna blow-dry your hair a little, and then I’ll let you see, okay?”
Wanda Nell nodded. Blow drying sounded okay—it was the teasing and spraying she had been worried about. She continued to sit patiently still while Mayrene finished with her.
At last Mayrene laid all her tools aside. She turned Wanda Nell around so the chair faced the mirror. “Ta da!” Mayrene announced.
Wanda Nell stared at herself in the mirror. “Damn,” she finally said. “I look good.” She grinned at Mayrene.
“You sure do, honey,” Mayrene replied. “If I do say so myself. I took about five years off you with this cut. Don’t you like it?”
“I love it,” Wanda Nell said. She raised her right hand to touch her head. Before, her hair had hung long and straight down her back to just below the shoulder blades. Mayrene had cut it short and layered it, and her head felt ten pounds lighter. “Looks kind of like that skater, what was her name?”
“Dorothy Hamill,” Mayrene said promptly. “Yeah, that’s kind of what I had in mind. You’ve got a face kinda like hers, and that long straight hair just didn’t flatter it. This is a lot better for you.”
“The girls aren’t gonna recognize me,” Wanda Nell said.
“I bet you Jack will,” Mayrene sad playfully. “I bet you he’s gonna love it.”
“Maybe,” Wanda Nell said. “We’ll see. I still don’t know what I’m going to do about him.”
“Just take it slow,” Mayrene advised. “Your heart will tell you, one way or the other.”
“I guess so.”
Mayrene pulled the cape off and brushed Wanda Nell down for stray hairs. Wanda Nell, still marveling over her reflection in the mirror, wondered what kind of tip she was supposed to give her friend.
“Don’t you dare think about giving me a tip,” Mayrene said, as if she’d read Wanda Nell’s mind. “Me finally getting to do something with that hair of yours, that’s tip enough.”
Slightly embarrassed, Wanda Nell hugged her. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Mayrene hugged her back.
“Now, what we were talking about earlier.” Wanda Nell stepped closer and spoke in a low tone.
“I won’t do anything, or say anything, just yet,” Mayrene promised, “but I am gonna have a headache tonight” “Okay,” Wanda Nell said. “I’ll talk to you later.”
She paid Roberta and let her ooh and aah over the new cut Then she glanced at her watch. A few minutes past eleven. She’d better try to get hold of Elmer Lee.
“See y’all later,” she said, waving at Mayrene. She got out the door before Roberta could start talking again.
Once in her car with the air conditioner going, Wanda Nell pulled out her cell phone and punched in the number for the sheriff’s department. The way things were going, she reflected, she might as well put the number on speed dial.
She asked to speak to Elmer Lee and was told to wait She sat there for nearly two minutes before she heard his voice at the other end.
“Oh, it’s you,” Elmer Lee said when Wanda Nell identified herself. “And what do you want today?”
“Did you get what I dropped off for you yesterday?”
“I did,” he said. “And what the heck am I supposed
to do with it? Where’d you find it?”
She answered the second question first. “I found it in a drawer at Fayetta’s house when I was helping Miz Vance the other morning. I showed it to you then, and it wasn’t until I got in the car and started looking at it real close that I realized there was writing on the other side.”
“And what do you think the writing means?”
Wanda Nell wasn’t sure if he was playing dumb just to get her reaction or if he really was that dense. She never could tell with him, one reason he drove her crazy.
“I think it’s a list of the men Fayetta was blackmailing,” she said as patiently as she could. “Remember that savings account passbook I found? Well, I think those are the men supplying the money. Some of those numbers sure looked like amounts of money to me.”
“I reckon you could be onto something,” Elmer Lee drawled. “But I reckon you also saw the names on this list. I can’t exactly just march up to some of these men and ask ’em if they was being blackmailed, now can I?”
“I’m not saying you oughta do that,” Wanda Nell snapped. “They’d just deny it anyway. But there’s a connection you oughta know about, if you don’t already.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m pretty sure they all belong to the same club.”
“You mean like the Rotary?” Elmer Lee’s tone couldn’t have been more derisive. He snorted with laughter, and Wanda Nell was glad they weren’t face to face, or she might have been tempted to scratch his eyes out.
“Now you stop that,” she said, her patience gone. “Stop being a jackass and listen to me. All those men belong to a club, and it’s one that Fayetta worked at. She was supposed to be a waitress, but I’ll bet you what she was serving wasn’t food, at least not most of the time. You get my drift?”
“How do you know that?”
“I got my sources,” Wanda Nell said smugly. Then she remembered the key card. Had Tuck taken it to Elmer Lee yet?
“Has Tuck Tucker been by to see you today?” she asked.
“Yeah, he came by this morning,” Elmer Lee said. “And he gave me that card you found, Wanda Nell. That’s what all this is about, isn’t it?’
Murder Over Easy (A Trailer Park Mystery Book 2) Page 18
