Needled to Death

by Sefton, Maggie

  “Not quite. Geri didn’t have another income like I did, so Vickie loaned her the money and had it secured by a lien against Geri’s property. Kind of like a second mortgage. Geri made monthly payments, market rate, of course. I know because I deposit all the checks.”

  “Did she pay on time?”

  Jayleen nodded. “Last year, she did. But she’s been late several times this year. I remember Vickie being upset about that, too. She didn’t like waiting for her money. That’s why I always paid on time every month.”

  “Boy, if she’d nearly lost her property once, why would she risk gambling again? You’d think it would have scared her away,” Kelly mused out loud, watching Jennifer walk toward them.

  “Being scared doesn’t even faze you, Kelly,” Jayleen explained. “When you have an addiction, nothing else matters. It’s a compulsion. And you’ve gotta admit you’ve got it before you can cure it. I offered to take Geri to the weekly meetings they have in town for gamblers. But she almost bit my head off for suggesting it. Boy, I wish I’d tried again.”

  “Hey, what are you two so serious about?” Jennifer asked as she strolled up.

  “Nothing much,” Jayleen said and walked toward the ladies room.

  “Something I said?” Jennifer asked, pointing.

  “No, I just saw a friend come out of the casino, and Jayleen told me she’s a compulsive gambler who’d promised to stop. Now I’m worried about her,” Kelly explained without saying too much.

  Something in the back of her mind niggled at her. What was it? Something Geri had said when they were talking once. What was it? She’d remembered it for some reason. The day Geri came to the shop and introduced herself, wanting to hear all the details about Vickie’s death. She recalled Geri saying, “My luck is about to change.” When Kelly asked what luck had to do with the alpaca business, Geri had given her a sly grin and replied, “More than you think.” There was something behind that grin that had bothered Kelly. Now, she wondered if Geri was talking about gambling and dreaming of “a big win.”said

  “I’ve heard that’s a hard habit to break,” Jennifer said with a sympathetic nod. “I’m sorry for your friend.”

  Kelly stared out into the casino. She liked Geri a lot, and she didn’t like the thoughts going through her mind right now. Maybe she was jumping to conclusions. Maybe there was another reason Geri was here this afternoon. Kelly wished there was some way she could know for sure. Perhaps she could ask someone here at the casino. Surely they would remember regular players.

  She turned to Jennifer, an idea forming. “You know, I don’t want to jump to conclusions about my friend. I want to find out. But I’m going to need your help.”

  “Sure. What do you want me to do?”

  “They must have a bartender here, I bet. Why don’t you go and chat him up and ask him about my friend. Tall older woman with dark hair in a braid down her back. She just left. She was wearing a red top with jeans. Find out if she comes here often. Say you were surprised she came here, blah, blah, maybe you two can share a ride next time, you know, whatever works.”

  “Don’t worry. I know how to handle it, but I’m curious. Why don’t you go ask him?”

  Kelly grinned. “Because you’re ever so much better at getting guys to talk to you than I am. You’re a master.”

  “So let me get this straight. You’re ordering me to flirt? On command?”

  “If you would, please. Pretty please.”

  Jennifer gave a dramatic sigh. “Well, if you insist. See you later. Don’t let anyone eat my chili burger.” She headed for the far side of the room where Kelly glimpsed the bar.

  “Where’s she off to?” Jayleen asked when she returned.

  “I sent her on a mission to pump the bartender. I figured he might know if Geri was a regular customer,” Kelly explained. “I wanted to make sure we weren’t making assumptions.”

  “That was smart,” Jayleen said. “I remember lots of gamblers at the bar with me in the old days. They’d drink after they won, and they’d drink after they lost. Usually, they drank a lot after they lost.”

  “I like Geri a lot, Jayleen, and I don’t want to jump to conclusions. Maybe she was here for some other reason.”

  “Boy, I hope we’re wrong, but after your seeing her here today, I’ve got this bad feeling I can’t shake.”

  “Me, too,” Kelly confessed. “That’s why I sent Jennifer in there to flirt and find out.”

  “Flirt and find out?” Jayleen said, smile winning out.

  “Yes, I ordered her to go—”

  “Hey, Kelly, go help Steve, will you?” Megan said as she approached them, hands filled with carryout bags. “He’s got most of the orders. We’re still waiting on a couple.”

  The unmistakable aroma of french fries permeated through the bags and straight to Kelly’s nose. Her stomach growled on cue. “C’mon,” she beckoned Jayleen. “We don’t want the guys lifting all those heavy burger bags all by themselves.”

  “Curt gave me his key, so I’m putting these bags in the truck. Soon as we’ve got everything, we can leave,” Megan called over her shoulder as she headed for the door.

  “Why don’t you help Megan. I’ll help the guys,” Kelly suggested to Jayleen as she turned toward the restaurant.

  She found Steve and Curt leaning against the takeout counter, waiting for the last of the orders. Kelly wasn’t the least upset at the delay. After all, even a consummate flirt like Jennifer needed a little time to extract information. Waiting patiently, however, was not one of Curt’s strengths, so she tried to distract him with the continuing saga of Carl and the golf balls. Curt seemed mildly amused, but nothing really worked until the orders arrived. Then Curt was all smiles and heading for the door.

  Kelly deliberately lagged behind her hungry friends, hoping to spot Jennifer, when she scurried up from the side and fell into step.

  “Here, let me help you carry these. That way I can steal some fries,” Jennifer said as she reached for a bag. “Flirting for hire has its costs.”

  “Did you find out anything?” Kelly probed. “Did he remember her?”

  Jennifer nodded, as she popped fries into her mouth. “Oh, yeah,” she said when she could. “She comes regularly. Usually comes at night, though. He was surprised to see her this afternoon.”

  Kelly pushed through the entrance doors, her worries about Geri solidifying. “Darn, I was hoping it wasn’t true,” she said sadly as they crossed the hot asphalt. Heat shimmered off the surface at this hour.

  “I know, Kelly. And I can tell you want to help her, but you can’t. She has to do it.”

  Everything Jennifer said was true. Kelly knew it. But she didn’t have to like it.

  Kelly wiped sweat from her forehead and adjusted her Kitty Hawk cap. This was getting painful. The Greeley team’s best batter was at the plate again. He’d probably hit another homer and bring in the runners on second and third, just like he did last time, she thought dismally.

  She couldn’t believe how badly her team was playing. Lisa couldn’t throw a strike, the catcher dropped crucial throws, the infield bobbled balls, and the basemen dropped them. Everybody stunk tonight. Kelly couldn’t understand it. When she and Megan starting dropping balls, she chalked it up to their road trip to Wyoming. Hours in a truck must have dulled their edge. But then everyone on the team started messing up, as if it were contagious or something.

  Crack. The batter popped the ball high and took off for first. Kelly’s foot instinctively touched the base as she watched the ball land foul. Maybe their luck would change. Maybe the other team’s bats would go cold. Maybe she could get a hit this time rather than strike out. Maybe—

  The batter connected on Lisa’s next pitch, and Kelly squinted her eyes into the setting sun as she watched the ball sail up, up, up as if it were headed for the foothills. She exhaled an exhausted sigh. And then again, maybe not.

  “I still can’t believe how badly we played,” Sherrie said, staring morosely at her beer.<
br />
  “We stunk pretty bad,” Kelly commiserated before she took a sip of her favorite ale, Fort Connor’s pride and joy. The prizewinning ale slid down her throat, bringing its familiar and welcome tang. Even better, it was icy cold. “Whatever it was tonight, we were all off,” she added.

  Kelly leaned back in the outdoor café’s metal chair and let the summer night settle over her. Glancing around the plaza of Fort Connor’s quaint Old Town, she saw other groups like hers—friends out together on a summer night, sharing stories, celebrating victories and consoling defeats, enjoying each other. Enjoying the sweet summer languor that drifted by in the night breeze like the delicate white gauze from the cottonwood trees.

  She liked it best like this, before the nightlife arrived in full force, ready to dance till dawn . . . or as long as the management would allow. Kelly didn’t know how Jennifer did it. There was no way Kelly could keep numbers straight if she’d spent the whole night partying. She’d never been much of a partier, even in college. Wild binges and over-drinking never had appealed to Kelly. She liked being able to remember what she did the night before and not be embarrassed. That type of partying had never looked like fun to her.

  Face it, maybe you’re just boring, that insidious little voice in the back of her mind whispered. Kelly pondered that. Maybe she was. She’d always noticed the “wild and crazy” guys steered a wide path around her, even in college. Of course, that drop-dead-you-moron look she cast their way probably had something to do with it. It was fine with Kelly if they stayed away. Those guys seemed so childish. She always felt more grown-up than a lot of her peers. Maybe that was it. She was older. She was surely getting older. The Big 3-0 loomed this fall. Ye Gods!

  Megan’s voice caught her attention. “Personally, I think it was the bull’s fault. My whole timing was off after that.”

  Kelly joined her teammates and their shared laughter around the table.

  Steve came up to their table and leaned over Megan. “Well, I’m glad you guys have something to celebrate. We were whipped bad tonight,” he complained.

  “Us, too. We’re just celebrating the bull,” Megan joked. “Hey, let’s toast Steve. He saved Kelly and me today.”

  Mugs and glasses were raised all around amid cheers and more laughter. “You’re a good man, Steve,” Kelly said, raising her glass before she drained it.

  “Thanks, thanks, but I was just trying to get a workout after chowing down on Megan’s biscuits. Those are lethal. Hey, maybe that’s why we all lost tonight,” he said with a wicked grin.

  “Megan, don’t you dare bake again,” Kelly teased as she pushed back her chair and rose to leave. “See you guys later.”

  Waving good-bye to Megan and her teammates, Kelly started off through the plaza. Steve fell in beside her, she noticed.

  “Hey, I’ve been thinking about old Carl’s predicament, and I’ve got an idea that might get my buddy out of bondage,” he said.

  “Tell me, because Captive Carl is really laying on the guilt. I know he’s running around when I’m not there, but whenever he sees me, he falls on the ground and lies there. Mister Morose.”

  Steve laughed. “What you need is something that will keep him from climbing over the fence, that’s all. So you could either use a hot wire, you know, electrify the fence—”

  “He’d get fried!” Kelly exclaimed as they walked through the adjoining streets lined with boutique shops of every description.

  “All it takes is a couple of zaps, and dogs get the message. After a month or so, you could probably turn it off.”

  Kelly pictured Carl getting zapped and didn’t like it. Plus, the image of a month’s worth of fried squirrels piling up on her lawn wasn’t appealing. Even Carl would get tired of squirrel.

  “Ooooh, I don’t know about zapping.” She shuddered.

  “Then you could have angle arms installed and string fence wire around the top. That always works with climbing dogs. The arms angle in and keep the dog from reaching the top. They try, but they always fall off.”

  That idea sounded better. “They don’t hurt themselves falling off?”

  Steve shook his head. “Nah, they don’t get that far up. It’s the angled wire that keeps them in.”

  “That sounds promising,” she said. “Is it expensive?”

  “Not that bad, and cheaper than repeated court fines,” he said with a grin. “I can give you the name of one of my contractors who does fencing. He’ll give you an estimate. He’s good, and he’s fair.”

  “Boy, you have a contractor for everything,” Kelly teased as they rounded a corner. “My car’s parked down here. Where are you parked?”

  “One street over,” he said, pointing behind him, but staring at the building across the street from them.

  “Something wrong?” she asked, watching him stare for a full minute.

  “Nope, just dreaming,” he said. “I’ve always thought about what I’d like to do with this building.”

  Kelly scrutinized the dilapidated old warehouse that occupied half of the small block. “Is it for sale?”

  Steve shook his head. “No, a packing company is using it to assemble their shipments. But some of the other Old Town warehouses have already been renovated. Like that one over there, on the corner.” He pointed. “That used to be a dairy, and now it’s shops below and lofts above.”

  Kelly surveyed the stylish lines of the building. The architect had captured some of the same design elements as the vintage buildings in Old Town. Yet, there was an updated, modern flair to the building as well.

  “Retail and residences, huh?”

  Steve grinned. “Yeah. Something like that. That’s why this warehouse appeals to me. It’s got potential. And that always fascinates me.”

  “I’m glad you can see it. It looks pretty sad to me,” Kelly observed.

  “Hey, that’s the challenge,” Steve said. “That’s what makes it interesting. You understand that, Kelly. You can’t resist a challenge, either.” Steve winked at her before he turned to walk away.

  Fifteen

  “Okay, Eduardo, fill ’er up,” Kelly said, grinning at the café’s grill cook as she set her mug on the counter.

  “Hey, don’t you mess with Eduardo. He’s fixing my order,” Jennifer intervened, grabbing Kelly’s mug. “I’ll get your coffee.”

  Kelly surveyed the café. Every table was filled. “Looks like you’re pretty busy this morning.”

  “We’re busy every morning, which sure helps my budget.” Jennifer pointed to the outdoor deck. “See those guys with Pete? They’re builders. He’s thinking about adding on. Isn’t that great?”

  “Wow,” Kelly said in admiration. “Pete has to be doing well to consider remodeling. That’s a big investment.”

  Jennifer leaned against the counter. “Remember a few months ago, when we were all afraid Mimi would lose the shop and Pete would lose the restaurant? Boy, what a difference a few months can make.”

  “You’re right,” Kelly agreed, remembering the role she’d played in that situation. “I’m so glad Lawrence Chambers was able to convince the owners to keep the property.”

  “Gotta take care of my customers,” Jennifer said, pushing away from the counter. “See you later. Your scarf looks great, by the way.”

  “Thanks,” Kelly said, touching the peacock blue scarf for the fifth time since she’d draped it around her neck that morning.

  It did look great, Kelly had to admit, catching sight of herself in a wall mirror as she headed into the shop. This scarf was different from everything else she had in her closet, but she didn’t care. It was bold and bright, and it made her happy.

  “Kelly, how are you?” Mimi greeted as Kelly turned a corner into the main room. “Isn’t that your new scarf? See, I told you it would look fantastic. Now you should make another with a different kind of yarn.”

  “Let me bask in the pleasure of finishing this one first,” Kelly said, admiring the new yarns Mimi was arranging for display. The round map
le table was the focal point of the room, and it never failed to capture Kelly’s attention, especially since Mimi and her staff kept the displays changing frequently. She fingered the ribbony yarns spilling from the top of a glass vase. Shiny rainbow colors, muted earth tones, an entire spectrum of light captured in each skein. “Wow, these are great. Would they work as a scarf?”

  “Sure. Or, even better, an open lacy vest like the one Lisa made.” Mimi pointed in the corner where a vest of ribbon yarns dangled. “It’s simply the knit stitch with larger needles, of course.”

  Kelly stroked the ribbony yarn, now entwined in neat, open rows. Every time she saw a new yarn, her to-do knitting list got longer. The mention of to-do lists prodded her again.

  “Oh, that reminds me, Mimi. We brought back some of the fleeces from the ranch. Mr. Chambers said it was all right. I want to give you first pick.”

  “Oh, Kelly, you’re so sweet,” Mimi said as she rearranged a bin of fringed yarns. “You don’t have to do that.”

  Kelly waved away her objection. “Nope. Not a word. They’re my fleeces, so I decide what to do with them. Besides, once this process is completed, I’ll have so many I won’t know what to do with them all. I’ll have to put Burt on retainer to spin for me. And I’ll have to find another miller, because Ruth will be too busy to process all of these.”

  Mimi’s smile disappeared. “I’m not sure Ruth will be able to take on any more, Kelly. She came in yesterday with some of my fleeces, and she didn’t look good at all. She was so drawn and pale, I made her sit and drink a cup of tea with me before she left. I tell you, I’m worried about her. Maybe this work is too much for her. You know, lifting the bags, all that.”

  Bags of fleece don’t weigh much, Kelly mused. Something else was wrong. “Does Ruth have any health problems you know of? She looked fine to me a couple of weeks ago when Steve and I went to their house for dinner. Then again, I’d never met her before, so I couldn’t tell if she was always that pale or not.”