Southern Fried Son of a Gun (A Willow Crier Cozy Mystery Book 4) (Willow Crier Cozy Mysteries)

by Lilly York

  The next morning Willow hummed to herself as she drove to the ice cream shop. In fact, a few times she sang out loud. And she giggled. Like a school girl. She didn’t care who killed Clancy. Well, maybe she did. But, it was the last thing on her mind. She burst through the back door singing “I’m Walking on Sunshine” as loud as she possibly could.

  Janie peeked through the kitchen door. “What on earth is going on?”

  “I’m happy.” Willow beamed.

  Janie scowled. “Weren’t you involved in another murder?” She draped a dishtowel over her shoulder and looked at her with mild curiosity. “And what are you doing up so early?”

  “Involved? I would hardly call it involved. Innocent bystander is more like it. And sleep? Who could sleep on such a beautiful morning?” A crash of thunder interrupted their banter.

  Janie looked out the kitchen window. Storm clouds. “Who drugged you?”

  Willow pressed her hand against her heart. “I’m wounded.”

  “Ha! Never mind. You were with Steve last night, weren’t you?”

  “Maybe.” Her smile nearly split her face.

  The front door jingled and Janie looked behind her. “Speak of the devil.”

  Willow quickly looked in the mirror and tamed a few stray auburn hairs while Janie went out front to greet Steve. His presence always made her stomach flutter. She wasn’t sure if this was normal behavior for a 43 year old, but since when had she ever been normal?

  She sucked in her cheeks trying to look stoic. It didn’t work. Her eyes were still dancing. She allowed her smile to follow suit. Willow loaded a tray with mugs, a fresh pot of coffee, muffins, and their new menu items of bacon Swiss, and asparagus gruyère quiches to the table. And Janie wanted to know why she was in so early. She should have guessed!

  Her smile was still in place when she placed the tray in front of Steve.

  “What’s this?”

  “It’s a surprise. We’ve added quiche to the menu.” Willow set the table then placed a bacon quiche in front of Steve and the asparagus gruyère in her spot. “You can have a bite of mine if you’d like to try this one.” She poured them coffee then sat down and took a bite.

  Steve didn’t say a word until he was a few bites in. “This is delicious.” He stuck his fork in her quiche. “It’s good. I’ll stick with the bacon though.”

  Willow nodded. She’d known what his favorite would be from the get go.

  Steve pushed his chair back after finishing his breakfast. “I just realized, you’re here.” He glanced at his watch. “Willow, it’s 10 o’clock. What is wrong with you? You normally don’t come in until lunch time.”

  “If I don’t come in during the morning lull, I’ll miss out on this. We’ll be out by lunch.”

  “So, food is enough to get you going in the morning?” He looked to Janie. “Why hasn’t anyone told me this before now?”

  Janie shrugged. “It’s not always food. And it won’t be quiche for long. Pretty soon she’ll realize she’s the boss and can have us put one away for her.” Janie winked at Willow.

  “Why didn’t I think of that?” She took the last bite of her breakfast then slowly savored her coffee. Now that her stomach was satisfied, her mind quickly returned to the murder victim. “Steve, how well did you know Clancy?”

  Steve started laughing. “Nothing like interrogating the police chief.”

  “I just thought you might know why five different people broke into his house yesterday. He can’t have that many secrets, can he?”

  “We all have secrets.” He stared intently for just a second before allowing a slight grin.

  Willow blushed. On more than one occasion Steve had asked about Embry’s dad. She had successfully changed the subject each time with ease. At least she had thought so. She wasn’t ready to open that can of worms. Someday, just not yet. She sat silently, waiting for him to answer.

  “Clancy bought the cabin across the lake shortly after my grandparents did. Dad always taught us to be respectful of him and our mother, our teachers, our pastors, people in authority—police officers, firemen etc., elders in general, and men who served our country. So when Clancy moved in, we had a real life hero living a stone’s throw away from us. We had him over for weekend barbecues and eventually, he became a friend, especially to my dad.”

  “So, you aren’t aware of any dark secrets? Anything at all to tarnish his hero reputation?”

  Steve shook his head. “No, nothing serious. I’d caught him changing his story a few times but I chalked it up to getting older and being forgetful. He’d had some problems way back when with a woman, my dad told me the basics. But we never held it against him. War does crazy things to people.”

  Willow looked around. Business was slow this morning. It wouldn’t be long before the lunch crowd would start filtering in. For now, they had the place to themselves. “Had you met Abel before? He appeared out of nowhere. I didn’t see him at the range and he wasn’t part of our gun club. I’m not sure how he came to be there.”

  “I had never met him before. Apparently they’ve been friends for a while. Even served together. What did his granddaughter say? Exactly?”

  Willow explained how fraught the girl had been and told him what she said. “I was going to ask her why she thought her grandfather murdered Clancy, but he came back and they left before I had a chance. I would really like to chat with her.”

  Willow added a dose of steaming coffee to her cup. She inhaled deeply. “I think I need a nap.”

  Steve, who had just taken a drink from his own cup, snorted coffee up through his nose. “A nap? You just got up.”

  “What? Clover kept me up all night. I think there’s a coyote hanging out at our place and it’s driving her mad.” She lifted her sandaled foot up. “Besides, every time my toe hit the covers, I would yelp in pain. So maybe I was keeping Clover up.”

  Steve and Janie leaned over to look at Willow’s toe. Both made a face. Her big toe was nearly twice the size it should have been, red, and oozing nasty.

  Janie just shook her head. She’d tried to get her to the doctor and it didn’t work.

  Steve wasn’t taking no for an answer. “Janie, what time do you leave? This girl’s going to the doctor.”

  Willow protested. “I have to work.”

  “I’ll call in a part-timer to help this evening. We’ll be fine.” Janie turned to Steve. “If you can get her to the doc, I’ll give you free coffee and muffins for a week.”

  “Hey. That’s my coffee and muffins you’re promising.”

  Janie ignored Willow. “She’ll never know. She’ll be sleeping.”

  Steve stood up. “Come on. Let’s go.”

  Willow scowled but stood up. She’d done such a good job hiding how terrible her toe actually was. She mumbled. “How embarrassing. Who gets an ingrown toenail?”

  Steve turned. “What did you say?”

  “I’m coming.” She hobbled after him.

  A half hour later she was sitting in urgent care biting the inside of her lip. “This is gonna hurt.”

  Steve tried to console her. “You’ve been walking around in pain for the last three months. Don’t think I didn’t notice. It’ll feel better before you know it.”

  The doctor walked in with a needle kit. A long needle kit. He looked her toe over. “I’m going to make sure this is really good and numb before I start cutting the nail away. You won’t like me much tomorrow, but today you won’t be feeling any pain, OK?”

  She nodded. She knew she needed to deal with this darn toe. She’d been hoping she could do the deed herself. But every time she started to touch the toe, she’d cry out in pain. It just wasn’t happening.

  The doctor inserted the needle between her toes. “This should take care of it. I’ll be back in 15 minutes or so and we’ll see if you’re numb.”

  As promised, the doctor returned. “OK, close your eyes.” He touched her toe and she jerked it away.

  “Ouch.”

  He pulled ou
t the needle. “I’m gonna have to go straight in under the toe nail. This isn’t going to be pleasant.”

  Willow sat perfectly still.

  “Can you feel that?”

  She nodded, her face turning a few shades of white.

  The doctor raised his eyebrows. “You are tough.”

  “Doc, this must be your favorite procedure.”

  “Hmm…well, I like one better– bowel obstructions. Those are my favorite.” He grimaced. “In fact, my first day as an intern, the residing took a look at my hands and said, ‘you’ll do’ then told me to find some gloves. Best way to start my career. Let me tell you that was a fun day.”

  Willow laughed. Maybe toes weren’t the worst. A close second, but definitely not the worst.

  Five shots later and a toe that had turned white from so much numbing medication, the doctor finally began cutting away the toenail. She didn’t watch the procedure. She didn’t have to. The faces Steve was making was enough to know it was gruesome.

  “I’m going to send you home with a prescription for some pain meds. You should be numb for a while with all the shots I gave you but tomorrow you’re going to be hurting.”

  She nodded and hobbled out on her wrapped foot.

  Thirty minutes later they were in the drive up line at the drugstore when her toe started throbbing.

  Willow perched in her recliner with her foot up and downed two pain pills. Within minutes, she started getting loopy and her eyelids began to flutter. She smiled at Steve. “I love your dimples.”

  He grinned but didn’t say a word.

  Her snoring started out like a small kitten’s purr. An hour later when Embry showed up, she had turned into a lion. “Mom’s gonna be so embarrassed tomorrow.”

  Steve headed for the front door. “She won’t be if you don’t tell her.”

  Embry grinned. “Yeah. Not going to happen.”

  Steve chuckled. “You are mean. Janie will be here a little after 2 and I’ll be back to relieve her at 6. You work till late, right?”

  “I’ll be here as soon as I get cut. Might not be until midnight or so.”

  “That’s OK. I’ll hang out with gimpy. We can watch a movie.”

  “If I know mom, she’ll be trying to solve a murder.”

  Steve shook his head. “Try to talk her out of it, will ya?” He waved and headed to his truck.

  Dinner was nearly ready when Embry heard moans coming from the recliner. “Mom, you’re awake.”

  Willow barely glanced at her daughter. “This is killing me. I need my pain pills.”

  Embry glanced at her watch. “You’ve got another hour before you get more.” The look on her mother’s face caused her to slowly back up. “OK, OK, I’ll get them.” She handed her mother one pill.

  Willow snatched the bottle out of her daughter’s hand and added a second pain pill to her mouth then lowered the footrest on the recliner. “Ow. Ow. Ow.” She muttered the entire way to the bathroom.

  When she returned, Embry had a streaming bowl of Zuppa Toscana with a large chunk of Italian bread on a television tray next to Willow’s recliner. Willow sniffed it appreciatively. Even in pain she was thankful for good food. “How long have I been sleeping? When did you get here?” She looked around the room. “Where did Steve go?”

  “Well, he decided it wasn’t appropriate for the town’s police chief to spend the night with his main squeeze, so he called me.”

  “Oh, tell me he didn’t say that.”

  Embry’s devious smile told Willow absolutely nothing. “You better eat. Those pain pills are going to knock you out again.”

  Willow scowled. “He did not say that. I know better.” She perked up. “Did he say anything about Clancy?” She stared at her wrapped toe. “This could have waited. How can I think clearly with these drugs in me?”

  “You can’t. Maybe he did this on purpose to keep you from getting into trouble?”

  “No, he wouldn’t do that, would he?”

  Willow woke up in pain. Darn toe. She hobbled to the bathroom. Clover was sticking close. She knew something was wrong and she was scared to death that Willow was beyond repair. At least that was Willow’s guess by how her dog was behaving. She petted the dog’s head. “I’m all right, Girl. Just a little bump in the road. I’ll be throwing you sticks before you know it.”

  Embry was sleeping soundly on the other side of her bed, just in case Willow needed her during the night. She scooped up her pain pills and phone, then quietly closed the bedroom door as she exited.

  Willow made a couple pieces of toast and poured herself a glass of milk. The pain pills seemed to settle better with food in her stomach. She carefully propped herself up in the recliner and went through her phone messages while Clover snored softly by her side. Poor dog’s schedule was so messed up.

  Willow smiled at Janie’s text. I’ve got quiche for a late lunch tomorrow. Don’t eat before I come. I’ll be there a little after two. Hope your toe feels better.

  She decided not to text her back. She glanced at the time. After 4. Then again, she did get an early start at the ice cream shop. She punched in a quick reply. Toe hurts like a bugger. Quiche sounds great. See you tomorrow.

  After reading texts, she listened to her voicemail. Jordina? How did she get my number?

  Willow listened carefully. “Mrs. Crier.” Willow would have to fix that little error when she talked to the girl. There was no Mrs. Crier. “I need to talk to you. It’s important. Meet me, please. Tomorrow. 7 p.m. At the library.” The phone call ended as abruptly as it began.

  Chapter 7

  Willow’s toe was throbbing. By the time Janie left and Steve showed up, she’d been off her pain medication for nearly 12 hours. Her last dose had been 4 a.m., just before she listened to her voice messages. Now the hard part—talking Steve into taking me. She was counting on the lawman in him to be the slightest bit curious as to why one of their suspects wanted to talk to her. She crossed her fingers.

  Her stomach grumbled.

  “You hungry?”

  She pasted her sweetest smile on. “Yeah. I’d kind of like to get out of the house though. Want to grab a burger?”

  He studied her as if he knew something was up. “You’re supposed to be resting. I’m surprised you’re not sleeping.”

  She glanced at her toe. “It’s doing much better. Really. If you aren’t hungry for a burger, how about we run over to the library in a little while. I wouldn’t mind getting a book to read.” She pointed to her chair. “If I’m going to be in that thing for another day or two, I need something to do besides watch TV.”

  “What’s really going on?”

  She slunk down in her chair, defeated, and played the voicemail for Steve. After it finished, she looked up at him and frowned. “Just to the library, I promise. Then we’ll come straight back here where I’ll remain with my foot up. And I’ll take my pain pills so I can get some rest. I’ll be good.”

  Steve blew a long breath out. Willow couldn’t help but notice as she was waiting for his answer. She remained quiet. She was at his mercy and she knew it. Unfortunately.

  “OK. I’ll take you. Do you still want a hamburger out? We could run by Molly’s café. I’m sure she will spoil you rotten. Being injured and all.”

  Willow jumped up and instantly regretted it. “Ouch…ow. Oh, my stupid toe.” She hopped around on one foot until the pain subsided then threw her arms around Steve’s neck. “Thank you! I promise I’ll share everything she tells me.”

  He pushed her back. “You won’t have to. I’ll be right there with you.”

  “But…but…” she stammered.

  “No buts about it. If we’re going to see what a potential murderer has to say I’ll be with you.” He gave her foot a quick glance. “Besides, what if she decides you know too much. You can’t even run.”

  “She’s not the murderer and you know it. If anything, she’s trying to protect her grandfather.” Her stomach grumbled. “And yes, dinner sounds divine. Molly’s
is perfect. But, let’s eat after.”

  Willow slipped one foot in her sandal. Her other foot was too swollen and even the thought of trying to put a shoe on sent pain ripping up her leg. She shuddered.

  “Perhaps we should reschedule.”

  “No, I’m fine, really.” She hobbled out the front door then turned to Clover. “Hold down the fort, Girl. I’ll bring you a treat back.”

  Steve dropped Willow off in front of the library then found a parking place.

  Willow slowly made her way to the front door, wincing in pain with each step. She sure hoped Jordina had something useful to share. A whole day with no pain meds was taking its toll. She was fighting tears the pain was so bad. She couldn’t let Steve see just how much it hurt. If she did, he’d make her head back home. She opened the front door and was greeted by the librarian, Mrs. Peterson.

  “Willow dear, what happened to you?”

  Willow looked down at her foot, which was wrapped in white gauze. “Ingrown toenail. They had to cut away the nail. Hurts like a bugger.” Willow tried to walk through the front door but Mrs. Peterson blocked the way. She kept making funny gestures with her eyes.

  “What?”

  “You’re not looking at the sign.”

  Willow was getting irritated. “What sign?”

  “No shirt, no shoes…” she looked down at Willow’s shoeless foot, “…no service.”

  “I can’t get a shoe on my foot, Mrs. Peterson.”

  “I’m sorry. The rules are for everyone.”

  Steve jogged up to the dueling duo. “What’s going on?”

  Willow turned to him. “She won’t let me in.”

  Mrs. Peterson tilted her chin up and crossed her arms in front of her. Willow was surprised she didn’t dig in her heels while she was at it. “The rules are the rules. You better than anyone should understand that, Steve.”

  He nodded. “I do understand.” He glanced at her feet and shrugged. “I’ll be right back.” He took off jogging again for his truck. A few minutes later he returned. “Think you can slip this on?”

  At first, Willow could only stare. She looked from the rubber pants to Steve and back to the pants. “You have to be kidding me?”