A Wild Fright in Deadwood (Deadwood Humorous Mystery Book 7)

by Ann Charles

  I snorted. “Now you’re trying to get me shot, too.”

  A grin warmed his cheeks. “You can help me wrestle the shotgun from her.”

  “No way, I have to sleep under the same roof with her.” I swirled the water in my bottle. “Why do you need me there?”

  “Because when you’re with us, she actually talks to me. When you’re not around, she won’t even let me in the door.”

  How ironic. Now I was channeling communication for the living as well as the dead.

  I wanted to help Reid, but … I blew out a breath. “You know I don’t love being a third party to your private conversations, right?”

  He nodded once.

  “Is this going to be one of those intimate deals where I stand there blushing and wishing the floor would swallow me up?” I asked.

  “No.”

  “Good.” I took another swig of water.

  “At least not at first, but I’m always hoping for a change in the tide.”

  “Fair enough.” I capped the bottle. “Hey, Reid, how about you come over for supper tonight? I was thinking of making pizza—the takeout kind. Six o’clock work for you?”

  His moustache twitched with mirth. “Sounds great, Sparky. Why don’t you let me bring the pizza? Pepperoni okay?”

  “My kids like black olives, too.”

  He clapped me on the shoulder. “Thanks. I owe you one.”

  “Yes, you do, because I’m going to get a major ass chewing after you leave, so you better make your payback a good one.”

  He left me standing there wondering what was so dang important that he was willing to risk getting shot by Aunt Zoe.

  With a shrug I climbed into my SUV and keyed it to life. I’d find out soon enough.

  My phone rang. The area code wasn’t familiar. A new client?

  I answered. “Violet Parker speaking.”

  “We want what belongs to us,” a voice whispered, then the line went dead.

  Chapter Seven

  It took a few seconds for the flood of fear to wash over me. During those seconds, I sat in my SUV staring blindly out the windshield. The caller’s whispery voice played over and over in my head.

  We want what belongs to us.

  We want what belongs to us.

  We want what belongs to us.

  Then the flood rolled in and I realized that I was panting.

  “Get a grip, Violet,” I told myself aloud. “You’ve handled a hell of a lot worse.”

  True, but that initial gut-wrenching bombshell was a real breath stealer.

  I looked down at my phone, contemplating my options. Ignoring my yellow-belly’s winning vote to run home and hide under the bed, I pulled up Doc’s number. He’d know what I should do. I hoped he had cell service wherever he was working down in Hill City.

  I waited through six rings and then received the message that his voicemail was full.

  Tossing the phone on the dash in disgust, I pounded both fists on the steering wheel. “Damn you, Tiffany Sugarbell!” The nut-ball kept filling up Doc’s voicemail box with who knew what neurotic, broken-hearted messages.

  “Okay, breathe,” my calmer, left brain spoke up. When my tunnel vision cleared, I grabbed my phone and selected another number.

  Cooper took his sweet-ass time answering. “This better be worth interrupting a meeting with the Chief, Parker.”

  “Am I on speaker phone again?”

  “No.”

  “Good. Meet me at Bighorn Billy’s ASAP.”

  “What?”

  “A.S.A.P,” I spelled it out slowly. “That means As Soon—”

  “I know what that fucking means, Parker.”

  “Good. I’ll see you there shortly.”

  “No, you won’t. If you need to talk to me, get your ass down here to the station.”

  “I’m not going near the police station unless I’m dragged there kicking and screaming.”

  “You really need to get over this police phobia of yours.”

  “It’s your freaking fault I have it, Coop.”

  Well, maybe only partly his fault. Besides the fact that the sight of a policeman now gave me hives—for which I blamed Cooper, someone at his station was batting for the bad guys’ team. Someone who liked to stick threatening notes in my purse.

  “That’s Detective Cooper to you.”

  “You really need to get over my calling you Coop like everyone else does.”

  He growled, low and menacing. “What do you need from me, Violet?”

  I growled back, not quite as low but more exasperated than threatening. “It’s frustrating when someone calls you and bosses you around, isn’t it, Detective?” I emphasized every syllable in his title.

  “Parker!”

  Suddenly, I remembered that I hadn’t called Cooper just to fight with him. I had bigger problems than a snarly detective.

  “If you want to know more about Wanda’s killer,” I said in a level, calmer tone, “meet me alone in the parking lot of Bighorn Billy’s in ten minutes.”

  “Or what?” he challenged.

  I was done with our fun and games and hung up on him.

  Eight minutes later I was sitting in the parking lot of Bighorn Billy’s Diner with my doors locked and windows rolled up tight. The diner only had a few other customers this afternoon, which didn’t surprise me since lunch had come and gone. Per Mona, the restaurant had shifted into its wintertime schedule recently. According to the sign posted on its front door, it was about to close for the day.

  Late fall through early spring meant slower evenings in the Black Hills. The skiers and snowmobilers breathed life into the economy each winter, but they weren’t as long-winded as the summer tourists who enjoyed tooling around on cool evenings after hot sunny days.

  A Deadwood police Durango with the stagecoach and horses emblem on the side skidded into the parking lot, locking up its brakes next to my SUV. When the cloud of dust passed, Cooper glared at me through his window, waving for me to come to him.

  I shook my head, pointing at him and then my passenger seat. For one thing, I didn’t trust that someone hadn’t bugged his police vehicle. For another, I was determined to win this pissing match with him.

  He slammed his door so hard the Durango rocked slightly. With a jerk and a grumble and another slam he was sitting next to me. His glare could’ve stripped the paint off a Boeing 747.

  “This had better be fucking good, Parker. It wasn’t easy getting out of that meeting without answering a shitload of questions about where I was going and why I had to leave all of a sudden.”

  “What did you tell them?”

  “That’s none of your goddamned business.” A muscle pulsed in his jaw.

  Okay, point taken, he was annoyed with me. Well, so what. I was scared, and according to Doc, Cooper wanted to help me keep the boogeyman away. If we were going to work together going forward, one of us needed to bend a little every now and then and not go ape-shit all over the other’s innocent ass.

  Being the bigger person, I started again. “Thank you for coming on a moment’s notice, Detective Cooper. How are your ribs these days? Still sore?”

  His eyes narrowed a fraction further in distrust. “My ribs are just fine. What do you have for me about Wanda’s killer?”

  I held out my cell phone for him to take.

  He lowered his gaze to it, his expression wary. “What’s this?”

  “It’s a cell phone.” At his exasperated lip curl, I added. “You need to look at the recent calls list.”

  He snatched the phone from my hand and tapped the screen, then looked up at me. “What about it?”

  “The third down on the list is a call that came in from Wanda’s killer.”

  His forehead crinkled up. “How do you know?”

  “Because when I answered, she whispered, ‘We want what belongs to us,’ and then hung up on me.”

  He did a double take. “You sure it was a she?”

  “Mostly.”

  He
focused on the screen again. “Fourteen minutes ago,” he said under his breath, then rubbed his forehead crinkles. “You called Nyce before me?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Did he tell you to call me?”

  “No. I got his voicemail.”

  “Did you leave him a message about the phone call?”

  I shook my head. “Tiffany Sugarbell keeps filling up his voicemail box.”

  That earned me a raised eyebrow. “Obsessed much?”

  “Her or me?” Doc had a way of turning women into rabid stalkers.

  “True.” He blew out a breath, leaning back in the seat. “You got a pen and paper?”

  I dug in my purse and then handed him both. He scribbled the number and time of call.

  “How is it you didn’t try calling the number back?”

  “Contrary to what you may think, Cooper, I do not always carry balls of steel around in my purse. Today I happened to have left my balls at home tucked away in my underwear drawer.”

  That earned me a little less of a frown from him. Thankfully he didn’t actually smile or I probably would have keeled over from the shock of it.

  “Do me a favor, Parker.”

  I waited without agreeing to his favor request.

  “Keep this to yourself until tonight.”

  “What’s tonight?”

  “I’ll stop by after I check into it and let you know what I find out.”

  I nodded. “Supper is at six. Reid’s bringing pizza with pepperoni and black olives.”

  “Reid Martin is coming over?” At my nod, he added, “Is your aunt going to be there, too?”

  I nodded again.

  “You better hide her shotgun or I’ll have to bring some of my police pals to the crime scene with me.”

  Aunt Zoe’s feelings about Reid sneaking ‘round her back door were no secret to anyone in Deadwood who knew both of them. “We’re going to surprise her with Reid tonight.”

  “You’re playing with explosives there.”

  “It was his idea.”

  “Not one of his brightest.” He handed back my phone and pushed open his door. “Remember, keep this under your hat until I get back with you tonight.”

  “I heard you the first time. Would you like me to pinkie swear with you?”

  “Not even a single word to Nyce.”

  “He’s in Hill City all day probably out of cell range with a full voicemail box.”

  “Knowing how crazy you and his ex are, that’s probably on purpose.”

  I flipped him off.

  One side of his mouth bowed upward for a blink, then he stared at me and his lips thinned again. He held up the paper with the phone number on it. “This isn’t good, Parker.”

  “I know.”

  “I could arrange for a unit to sit outside your house 24/7 until we get to the bottom of Wanda’s murder.”

  “No way. Knowing Hawke, he’d have me watched for a whole different reason.”

  “What do you have to hide?”

  “That’s not police business.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of, Parker. I’ll see you tonight.” He started to shut the door but then paused. “Who else will be at your aunt’s place tonight?”

  Not Natalie. “Just Reid and you, maybe Doc if he gets home early enough.”

  “Got it. Keep your big mouth closed until I see you again.” He shut the door instead of slamming it this time.

  A minute later I was still sitting there, speculating how much shit I was in now when my phone rang.

  Warily, I looked down at the screen.

  Tiffany Sugarbell was calling again.

  “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me!” I sent her to voicemail, put my phone on airplane mode, and shut it in my glovebox.

  * * *

  The rest of the day dragged on and on and on.

  Not telling anyone about the phone call I’d received meant I had to sit on all of the theories that kept billowing in my mind about who could be behind the notes and call. By the time five o’clock hit, my head had filled up like a hot air balloon, my feet barely touching the ground as I floated across the parking lot in a semi-daze.

  At home, I headed straight up to my bedroom. I changed out of my corduroy skirt and blouse into a pair of black velvet leggings and a soft fuzzy sweater, seeking warmth and comfort to offset a night that might be filled with Aunt Zoe’s cold shoulder and Cooper’s sandpapery tongue. Needing to keep a clear head, I stuck with hot tea in place of mind-numbing tequila and rounded up my kids to help pick up stray socks and gloves and toys before company arrived.

  Aunt Zoe stayed out in her workshop until ten minutes before the magic hour arrived. Magic as in when Reid was supposed to appear at the door out of the clear blue with a pizza in hand. She was washing her hands in the kitchen sink when the doorbell rang.

  “That’s probably the pizza I ordered,” I said and headed for the door. How much yelling was there going to be when she found out I’d invited Reid over? I wiped my damp palms on my pants before reaching for the door handle.

  I was wrong about who was behind Door Number One.

  “You’re early,” I told Cooper through the screen.

  He frowned at me. “Is that a crime?”

  “Probably in your book.”

  We stared each other down, taking turns seeing who could squint the longest.

  “Are you going to let me in the damned house or not, Parker?”

  I stood back, waving him inside. As I shut the door behind him, I whispered, “Don’t say anything about Reid.”

  He slipped out of his coat and hung it on a peg. “You haven’t told her yet?”

  I shook my head.

  “Why not?”

  “Because I’m a big chicken when it comes to Aunt Zoe.”

  Leading the way into the kitchen, I offered him a glass of lemonade.

  Aunt Zoe’s mouth opened in surprise at the sight of Cooper. “Hey, Coop,” she glanced around his shoulder. “Your uncle change his mind about coming over tonight?”

  “No,” I answered for him. “Harvey has a hot date. I invited the detective over for pizza.”

  “You invited him?”

  “Yep.”

  “Hmmm.” She grabbed some paper plates from the pantry.

  “Parker and I need to talk about something that happened today,” said Cooper.

  Aunt Zoe’s eyes widened. “Something involving the law?”

  “Sort of,” I said, giving Cooper a can-I-tell-her-or-not look.

  “Violet Lynn,” she started, only to be interrupted by the doorbell.

  Cooper and I exchanged pinched brows. “I’ll get that,” I said, racing out of the room. Reid was right on time, which was good. Unfortunately, Cooper’s early arrival had already set Aunt Zoe on edge. I glanced over my shoulder before opening the door, checking to see if she was watching from the archway into the kitchen, but it was empty.

  I was wrong about who was behind Door Number Two.

  “Doc!” Smiling in relief, I opened the screen and practically dragged him inside. My life raft in a stormy sea was here. I didn’t even give him a chance to take off his coat before wrapping my arms around his torso and tree hugging him.

  “Damn, you’re better to come home to than a lonely puppy.” His dark eyes searched mine when I loosened my hold so he could step back and shuck his coat. “Why is there a Deadwood Police vehicle parked at your aunt’s curb?”

  “Cooper’s here.”

  He hung his coat next to Cooper’s. “I figured it was him.”

  “I invited him for supper.”

  That gave him pause. “Who are you and what have you done with Violet Parker?”

  To be honest, I hadn’t felt like myself since … I had to search back through the day’s events. Wow. Had the whole Cornelius and Wilda episode been only this morning? That seemed like days ago.

  Rather than bombard Doc with my cringe-filled day, I caught his hand and laced my fingers through his. “I’m glad you�
�re here. How was Hill City?”

  He lifted our entwined hands and kissed the back of mine, his lips soft and warm. “Good try, Boots. Now tell me what’s going on.”

  The doorbell rang.

  I grimaced. “Here we go.”

  I was right about who was behind Door Number Three.

  Doc held the screen open for Reid while I grabbed the two pizza boxes from him so he could take off his coat and stay awhile—at least until Aunt Zoe chased him away with her shotgun.

  “Does she know?” Reid said quietly to me.

  “No.” In reply to Doc’s raised brows, I patted his chest. “I’ll explain after we eat.”

  With a wave for both to follow me, I led them into the lion’s den. Doc brought up the rear, followed by two bouncing and cheering pizza lovers. Sheesh, my kids could at least act a little sad that I wasn’t cooking their supper tonight.

  “Look who’s delivering pizza now on the side,” I joked with a big, dopey smile as I stepped into the kitchen.

  Aunt Zoe was in the midst of carrying silverware to the table when her gaze hit Reid. She faltered. I waited with clenched teeth for the fireworks to start booming.

  Instead, her voice was oddly calm when she eyeballed me and asked, “Did somebody call in a fire?”

  Cooper snorted. “I doubt Martin would do you much good if somebody had.” He leaned his hip against the oven door, watching the show with a hint of a grin. “He can’t even put out old flames.”

  Aunt Zoe’s focus shifted to Reid. “Good thing I can.”

  “Kiss my ass, Coop.” Reid took the pizza boxes from me and set them on the table. “Hey, Zo.” His stare traveled down over her pink button-down shirt and torn blue jeans like she was wearing a little black dress and sexy heels. “I hear you have a big order to fill by the end of the month.”

  When she looked my way again, I got busy serving up pizza to the kids, making sure they had plenty of napkins.

  “Did Violet and you plan this little get together to talk about my glass business,” she asked, “or is there some other reason you’ve stopped by?”

  “Some other reason.” Reid pulled out a chair for her to sit. “But first, let’s eat.”

  Cooper took the seat on the other side of Reid, next to Doc. I used the kids as a buffer between Aunt Zoe and me, dodging her stink-eye as we ate. Doc kept shooting me questioning glances when the conversation turned toward mundane topics like school and a new casino coming to town. I nudged my chin toward the kids, shaking my head.