“Not that part. Disgusting. Who was it?”
“What makes you think I know?”
“Because Abby’s right. If you’re not the one who’s dead, then you’re the one who found it.”
“Actually, Hal found it.”
“Same difference,” he said. “You two are matching beacons for trouble. I knew I should have come with you. Letting the two of you go off together was asking for woe.”
“Woe? Nice vocabulary, King James.”
“Sadie,”
“Luke.”
“Why can’t you ever just answer the question?”
“What was the question?”
He paused. “I don’t remember. How do you do that? Start from the beginning and tell me exactly what happened.”
“We were in the pumpkin patch and saw someone. We gave chase, lost him, ended up in the salvage yard, and Hal smelled decay. We followed his nose to a car and found the body. The end.”
“I’m going to pretend I don’t know how much you edited that story,” Luke said. “Who’s the dead guy?”
“The missing person I told you about.”
He shook his head.
“Do you know something I don’t?” she asked.
“I know that you’re getting sucked deeper into this case, and you shouldn’t. This isn’t your mess, Sadie. Leave it alone.”
“Do you know who is sheriff of this county?” she asked, then answered without giving him a chance to reply. “Fergus McGee.”
“So? He’s been sheriff for years, and I haven’t heard anything bad about him.”
“Probably because nothing bad ever happens here and he’s had no chance to screw it up. Luke, you should have seen the way he handled things. It was horrible. He jumped to conclusions like a poodle through hoops. He made an arrest without doing an investigation or even confirming the dead guy’s identity.”
“So you don’t think the guy they arrested is guilty, and you’re going to prove it. Saint Sadie, the righter of wrongs, is that your thing now? Is this another way to delay the inevitable moment you run away and never come back?”
“Not everything is about me and you,” Sadie said. “And not every case has to be either mercenary or selfless. Fergus is an idiot and he’s railroading a conclusion. Maybe Tom is guilty, but doesn’t the law give him the benefit of the doubt? Who’s actually looking at the facts here? No one.”
“And this newly discovered passion for justice has nothing to do with the fact that you’re avoiding me,” he said.
“My, my, aren’t we full of ourselves today,” Sadie said.
“At least I know I’m not the only one who’s full of something,” he said.
“You got up on the wrong side of the bed,” she accused.
“I woke up really cheerful, but the forty minute drive up the mountain to make sure you weren’t dead put a definite damper on my day.”
“You woke up cheerful?” she asked dubiously.
His eyes slid to the left of hers and focused on her pillow. “I woke up.”
She grinned. “You missed me, and you’ve been as grumpy as a beaver in a trap without me.”
“You’ve adapted well to the homey mountain jargon,” he groused.
She poked his side. “You missed me. Admit it.”
“I missed my routine. You know I’m a creature of habit.”
“And seeing my face over your morning coffee has become a habit,” she surmised.
He wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of admitting how dreary the morning had been without her. “Abby made Cream of Wheat,” he blurted, his tone accusing. “With no sugar.”
“Poor Luke,” Sadie said. She put her hand on his and he clutched it without really meaning to.
“Are you coming home today?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Sadie.”
“Luke. If you could bottle that exasperation and find a buyer, you’d be rich, rich, rich.”
“Come home.”
“I need to find closure here. My employer’s ex-husband was just arrested, and I still haven’t figured out who has been tampering with her pumpkins.”
“This is no longer about pumpkin tampering; this is about murder, and that’s too much. I want you home.”
She smiled up at him. “Finally, an admission.”
He rolled his eyes, but he was smiling, too. “I swear, Sadie.”
“You do that a lot.”
“Only since you came back.” He reached out to push the curls off her face. “You know what I’m thinking?”
“Usually.”
“I’m thinking this is what the three bears must have seen when they found Goldilocks, and I’m thinking they were crazy. I wouldn’t have chased you away.”
“Lucas Sawyer, are you flirting with me through the guise of a children’s story?”
“I can’t help it. It’s like the clownfish and anemone. Without daily contact, I’m losing my immunity to your poison.”
“Wow, Nemo, good analogy. I feel all warm inside my venom sac.”
A knock sounded on her door. Hal pushed it open enough to poke his head inside. “Breakfast is ready. We should probably talk about what’s next on the agenda.” He withdrew his head and disappeared.
“What was that about?” Luke asked.
“I put Hal in charge of the case.”
Luke doubled over, laughing, as Sadie eased by him and began gathering her clothes. “Why is that funny?” she asked.
“I clearly misheard you because it almost sounded like you put Hal in charge of the case.”
“I did.”
He laughed again.
“That’s getting annoying,” she said.
“You did not put Hal in charge of the case,” he said.
“I did.”
“You didn’t.”
“Why do you keep saying that?” she asked and stepped into the closet to change out of her pajamas. He waited to answer until she emerged.
“Because you couldn’t put anyone in charge of anything. You have to be in charge. Always.”
“I do not,” she said.
“Do I need to have my mother send me the picture on my phone?”
“First of all, your mother wouldn’t know how to send a picture to your phone if your life depended on it. Second, what picture?”
“The one where we were eighteen months old and you grabbed my ankle to keep me from getting to the ball before you.”
“That’s not what happened,” she said. “We fell.”
“You dragged me down two stairs and sat on me,” he said.
“You can’t possibly remember that,” she said.
“My mom told me. She thought it was funny. Little did she know it would be the start of a lifelong pattern.”
“Look, I’m really tired of your allegations that I’m a control freak. I don’t always have to be the leader; I don’t always have to be in charge. I can take a back seat on this case. I already have.”
“I believe you completely,” Luke said with no sincerity. Sadie pounced and tackled him, pinning his arms over his head. “This is a clear demonstration of your submissiveness,” he added.
“I could tickle you. I know the spots,” she threatened. A barking laugh rang out from the direction of the kitchen. Sadie’s grip tightened painfully on his wrists.
His smile dimmed. “This is probably a good time to tell you that I brought Vaslilssa along.”
“You thought I was dead so you brought your girlfriend?”
“She was there when I watched the news and asked to tag along. What could I say?”
“No.”
“Sadie, come on. She’s my girlfriend.”
“Yes, she is,” Sadie said. She hopped off the bed and straightened her rumpled clothes.
“Sadie,” Luke called, but she was already gone. Vaslilssa sat at the table, pounding a full plate of sausage, apples, and fried potatoes.
“Sadie,” she sang out though a full mouth. “Your hair
is mashed.” She waved her fork in the direction of Sadie’s curls. She hadn’t looked in a mirror yet, but she had seen herself first thing in the morning too many times to have to wonder over her appearance. Natural curls plus sleep rarely ended well.
“Vaslilssa, you…” Sadie began but quickly ran out of steam. The woman was perfect. No one had ever made Sadie feel dowdy by comparison before, but Vaslilssa came close. “Good morning,” she amended, stuffing down any possible retorts along with her insecurity. Vaslilssa was beautiful, but she was nothing to sneeze at. They were different, that was all. With Vaslilssa out of her mind, she focused on the person in her peripheral vision.
“Bo!” she exclaimed. He nodded in her direction as he sipped his coffee. “Don’t you have some duck calls to carve today?”
“Good one,” he said. It was the most she had ever heard him speak. She sat beside him. Luke sat to her left. Heaping plates of food appeared before them as if by magic, but it wasn’t magic; it was Fiona, working so hard her cheeks were red with exertion and heat.
“Fiona, can I help you?” Sadie asked.
“I’m good,” Fiona said.
“Sit with us,” Sadie said.
“I’m fine,” Fiona said.
“I already tried,” Hal said. “Fiona’s the hostess with the mostest.” In the corner of the room by the stove, Fiona smiled. Now Sadie realized that her cheeks were pink because of a blush. Hal had apparently been heaping praise, probably providing a handy distraction from the events of last night. Fiona set a mounded bowl of grits on the table and returned to the stove while the bowl made the rounds. With Fiona happily distracted, Sadie turned her attention back to Bo.
“What brings you this morning, Bo?”
“It’s afternoon, and Fiona invited me for breakfast,” he said.
Sadie glanced at Fiona again. Apparently after their conversation last night about needing to look into Bo, Fiona had devised a plan. Sadie appreciated her craftiness. “Where are you from?”
“Alabama,” he drawled, not looking up from his plate.
“How long were you in the army?” Sadie asked. He froze and finally regarded her with a chillingly flat stare.
“I never said I was in the army.”
“Weren’t you?” she asked.
“Just because a man wears fatigues doesn’t make him a soldier,” he pointed out.
“No, it’s your plate. You arranged it according to military tradition—small piles, nothing touching. And you’re eating clockwise with rapid bites. I’ve only seen two types of people eat that way—soldiers and prisoners. Which are you, Bo?”
He smiled, a creepy maneuver that did nothing to make him friendlier. “I might ask the same of you, ma’am. How does the cousin of an investigator know so much about soldiers and felons?”
She shrugged and smiled. “I’m an astute observer of human nature. People are surprised because they think blond hair makes you stupid. I bet you get that a lot.”
“Maybe you are stupid because my hair’s not blond,” he pointed out.
“No, but you’re quiet. Quiet people are often taken for stupid.”
“Not by smart people,” he said. “Smart people understand that silence is often a testimony to wisdom.”
“Or laryngitis,” Hal added.
Bo turned his laser focus on Hal.
“Please don’t scalp me,” Hal said.
“More sausages?” Vaslilssa said, raising her plate in the air as a request.
“Back to the army,” Sadie redirected while Fiona filled Vaslilssa’s plate for what was probably more than the second time. “You never said how long you were in.”
“No, I didn’t,” Bo said.
Sadie waited him out, staring at his face while she ate. She could be silent when she wanted, too.
“A few years after high school,” he said at last.
“Long enough to acquire skills with weaponry and hand-to-hand combat,” Sadie observed.
“A man doesn’t need the army to learn those things,” Bo said.
“That’s right—there are also video games,” Hal added. “Although, thanks to Street Fighter, I constantly scream out ‘hadouken!’ and give away my best move.”
“Where else did you learn?” Sadie asked Bo.
“Around,” he said.
“Sausages,” Vaslilssa announced, holding her empty plate aloft again. Sadie reached over the table and snatched it away.
“There are only so many pigs in the world,” she snapped as she began piling grits on Vaslilssa’s plate. “Have some filler material.”
“Sadie,” Luke warned.
Vaslilssa gave the grits a dubious poke and then tucked in, finishing the steaming pile in record time. “What are these being made from?” she asked when she was finished.
“The dried bones of former communists,” Sadie muttered.
“Sadie,” Luke said. To her right, she could swear that she heard Bo chuckle, but when she looked at him, he was dabbing his lips with a napkin. He stood and tossed the napkin onto his plate.
“Delicious, Fiona. Thank you.” The assembled group watched him walk out of the kitchen and through the back door, with the exception of Vaslilssa who had commandeered the grits and was eating straight from the bowl.
“It’s not often you get to have a murderer over for breakfast,” Hal said.
“You think he’s the killer and you let him eat with us?” Luke said.
“I don’t know what to think,” Sadie said. She patted the place Bo had vacated. “Fiona, sit. Let’s talk.”
Fiona sank wearily to the chair and rested her bust on the table. “For all his faults, and he’s got a lot, I just can’t see Tom as a murderer. The thought of him rotting in that jail, well, it hurts me.” She broke off and twisted her fingers together, her expression miserable.
“Are you saying you want me to look into it?” Sadie said. To her left, Luke let out a puff of what was either exasperation or frustration, or maybe a bit of both.
Fiona nodded.
Vaslilssa finished the bowl of grits and let the spoon drop with a clatter. “Lucas has promised to take me to house of cheese. We go now, yes?”
“I guess,” Luke said. “I’m obviously not going to have any effect here.”
“The cheese shop downtown is very nice,” Fiona added helpfully.
“We’ll come, too,” Sadie said. “I need to talk to people, to get a feel for what’s happening in the town.” She stood and began clearing plates. Hal, Luke, and even Vaslilssa stood to do the same, though Sadie thought Vaslilssa’s interest lay in snatching rogue sausages off plates. They helped Fiona do the dishes and tidy the kitchen, and then they headed for the door. Vaslilssa clapped her hands together like a trained seal.
“I am so excitement for the house of cheese,” she said.
“Fifty bucks says she thinks the house is actually made of cheese,” Sadie whispered to Hal. Luke overheard and shot her a withering glare.
“I can’t wait to see you in action, Hal,” Luke said. “Meaning I can’t wait to see Sadie not in action. This should be good.” He rubbed his hands together in gleeful anticipation.
“Don’t do that near your girlfriend’s mouth. The combined friction and sausage fumes could cause an explosion,” Sadie said.
“You two are especially contentious today,” Hal remarked.
“The anemone theory,” Luke said.
“Ah.” Hal nodded, leading Sadie to believe they’d had the conversation before, possibly many times. She didn’t ask. Sometimes it was better not to know what might be lurking deep in their nerd brains.
They piled together in Luke’s car with Luke and Vaslilssa in the front. “How’s that back seat, Sadie?” Luke asked.
“Free of grease prints,” she replied. Before he could form a retort, he caught sight of the passenger side and the orange remnants Vaslilssa had left on the window after her last bag of Cheetos.
“Car needs washed anyway,” he said.
“You might
want to get the EPA’s permission first so you don’t get fined for creating a toxic oil slick,” Sadie said.
“There it is!” Vaslilssa screamed and pressed her nose to the window. “It is the cheese house, and they are having samples!”
“And in about an hour, they are going out of business,” Sadie added.
Vaslilssa tugged Luke’s arm, jerking the wheel as he tried to park. “We must hurry before they go out of business.”
“They’re not going out of business,” Luke said. “Sadie was joking.”
Vaslilssa turned a furious glare on Sadie. “Why did you make joking about the cheese shop?”
“Lactose intolerance has made me bitter,” Sadie said.
“You are not funny, Sadie. And you are short,” Vaslilssa returned.
“That’s because I can’t ever get enough food to grow. Too much competition,” Sadie said, but Vaslilssa’s attention had once again been captured by the cheese store, which was shaped like a Swiss chalet.
“It is beautiful,” Vaslilssa exclaimed. “The cheese house is my new favorite place.” She hurdled from the car, grabbed Luke’s hand, and began dragging him behind her. He tossed a glance toward Sadie and Hal. Sadie was pleased to see that he didn’t look happy. In fact, he looked a little desperate. The evil part of her hoped Vaslilssa loaded up on all the garlic, horseradish, and limburger cheese the Bateman Cheese House had to offer.
“I don’t get why he’s still with her,” Hal said.
“I think he stays with her out of habit. Once Luke gets settled in a pattern, it takes something cataclysmic to jolt him out of it.”
“Maybe we should hit him over the head a few times and see if it works as a reset button. Do you know how many sausages she ate this morning? I don’t because my abacus doesn’t go that high. What does he see in her? Okay, she’s gorgeous and a whiz at quantum physics, but…wait I forgot the question. Maybe I should tell him I want her. He would probably give her to me.”
“Do you want her?” Sadie asked. Maybe Hal had a secret crush on Vaslilssa, one he hid well so Luke wouldn’t know.
“Who wouldn’t?” Hal said. His tone was evasive, and she began to worry that he did have a secret crush on Luke’s girlfriend. That would be awkward. They were about to enter the town’s only market. She put her hand on his arm and drew him to a halt.
Salvaged to Death Page 8
