The Gray-Haired Knitting Detective Series: (Books 1 - 3)

by D. E. Haggerty

  Izzy shrugs. “It’s a small town. Everyone’s up in everyone’s business.” She winks at me. “But personally I think the ladies just keep getting crazier and crazier.”

  I stare at her and realize I really don’t have a choice. If I want to live in this town, I’m going to have to put up with the crazy grandmas. I may have to run again when Brock … Nope! Not going there. Not even in my head. I nod at Izzy. She pulls out and drives us to her house.

  The driveway is packed with only just enough room for Izzy to maneuver her car into the garage. She just manages to park before Noel barges into the garage and opens her car door. “Are you okay?” He looks really concerned.

  “Why wouldn’t I be?” She turns to me and raises a hand to point to her head as she circles her finger in the universal sign for crazy.

  “Jack said you hit your head.” Noel is trying to grab Izzy’s head and look for himself, but Izzy just bats his hands away.

  “Jack has a big mouth. I barely touched my head to the clothing rack.” She huffs, but Noel grabs her and folds her into his arms. He kisses her temple and whispers to her. “You’re having my baby. I’m allowed to be concerned.” Izzy shakes her head but doesn’t respond.

  I realize I’m staring at a very private moment between the couple and clear my throat. I should go into the house, but I don’t feel comfortable just walking into Izzy’s house. Grandma comes rushing out. She grabs my hand and pulls me into the house. “Everyone’s in the sunroom.” Guess that’s where we’re going then.

  Grandma stops right before we enter a room that, judging from the giggling coming out of it, is the sunroom. “First of all, I forgive you,” Grandma whispers to me. I scrunch my nose at her. She shakes her head in exasperation at me. “For not wanting me to go with you,” she explains.

  “I didn’t even…” I try to explain to her that I didn’t know I was going to a lawyer this morning, but she cuts me off.

  “Secondly, I apologize.” She’s still whispering.

  I just stand there staring at her. What is she talking about now? Did everyone over the age of 40 go crazy in this town? She doesn’t respond and instead pushes me into the room. The laughter stops immediately and four pairs of sharp eyes turn their attention on me.

  “Um… hi,” I mumble as I walk to the loveseat Betty is pointing at as if she’s a cop directing traffic. Grandma joins me and grabs my hand to squeeze. Izzy tumbles into the room giggling with Noel hot on her heels. His smirk makes him look like a very satisfied man. I roll my eyes at him. He sits in the armchair in the corner and pulls Izzy into his lap.

  “Okay,” Betty claps her hands to gain everyone’s attention. “Let’s get started.” She turns to me. “So what did the lawyer say?”

  My mouth opens, but then I close it again. What the heck am I supposed to say? It’s not their business anyway. I look to Izzy and she nods in encouragement. I’m saved by the loud banging of the front door.

  “Sorry we’re late,” Jack yells as he barges into the room. Damien is following behind him. “Did we miss anything?” He asks as they take chairs next to Izzy and Noel.

  “Delilah was just going to tell us about her meeting with the lawyer,” Betty answers on behalf of the gang of grandmas. I have the feeling she does that a lot.

  I don’t speak. My mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water. I have no idea what these ladies want to hear, but I’m pretty sure I’m not going to tell them any of the stories I told Sherry Johnson.

  Noel speaks up and saves me. “What does the lawyer think about your chances to keep the protective order?”

  Ah, that I can answer. “She’s pretty confident that the judge will order a final protection order at the hearing.” Everyone in the room is all smiles with that.

  “Well thank goodness,” Grandma says and squeezes my hand. I probably should invest in some hand moisturizer considering the amount of hands I seem to be holding lately. “Brock will be gone and you can start your new life.”

  Izzy clears her throat. “That’s not exactly all is it, Dee?”

  I stare at her. Did the woman, who keeps saying she’s my friend, just sell me down the river? I scrunch my eyes and give her the evil eye. She laughs. The crazy, klutzy woman just laughs at me and shakes her head. “Welcome to my world,” she mouths.

  “What’s going on? What does Izzy mean?” Betty is throwing out questions like she’s an interrogator at the Spanish Inquisition. I hope I never get on her bad side. The idea makes me shudder.

  “Ms. Johnson wanted me to start divorce proceedings against Brock,” I reply because that lady scares the daylights out of me.

  “What did you decide?” Grandma whisper-asks from beside me. I look at her and her face is full of hope and anticipation. My heart crashes against my chest. Did I do this? Have I caused my grandma to suffer because of my marriage to Brock? I shake the thoughts away from me. I can take a trip down guilty-lane later.

  “I said okay.” I stare at Grandma as I answer and her face turns from hope to relief to happiness. She offers me a brilliant smile before grabbing me into a hug. I let myself feel the love and comfort from her hug for a few moments before the clapping and cheering from the others reaches my consciousness. I pull back and stare at the odd assembly of people who are quickly becoming my best friends. I shake my head at them.

  Jack stands. “Got any champagne in the frig, Iz?”

  Izzy shakes her head and points at her baby bump. “What do you think?” When Jack starts to pout, she laughs. “Of course I do, you numbskull.”

  Jack does a little jump, claps, and heads off to the kitchen. He returns only moments later holding a bottle of sparkling wine and several champagne glasses. Damien is right behind him with more glasses. They set the glasses down on the coffee table. With a flourish, Jack opens the bottle. When it makes a loud pop, the ladies cheer and clap.

  Glasses are poured and handed out. When everyone has a glass of champagne, we stand and Betty nods at Grandma. Grandma turns to me and smiles. She raises her glass. “To Delilah, for having the courage to start a new life!” Shouts of “Here! Here!” follow.

  When everyone sits back down, I sigh. Again my relief is short-lived. I should probably be on alert anytime the group of elderly knitters is around. “So,” Betty says as she turns toward me. “How does this divorce work? Do you have to prove he’s at fault or what?”

  I close my eyes for a moment to formulate an answer. Izzy answers before I have a chance to gather my thoughts. “She’s asking for a no-fault divorce.” She shakes her head at me. “She’s not asking for alimony or a settlement or anything.”

  Note to self – never tell Izzy anything I want to keep secret from the gray-haired grandmas. That woman’s mouth doesn’t have a brake. “Is that true?” Rose asks. I shrug.

  “I don’t want anything from Brock. I just want to be rid of the man.”

  Rose leans forward. “I thought Brock was wealthy.”

  I shrug. “I don’t know if he’s wealthy-wealthy, but he makes good money.”

  Rose tilts her head at me. “Then he can afford to give you a settlement.”

  I nod. “Yep, but I don’t want anything from him. Not even his last name.”

  “You should take him to the cleaners for what he’s done to you. The bastard.” I look up in shock at the venom in Jack’s voice. I’ve never heard Jack be nasty to anyone. I raise my eyebrow at him and he shrugs at me. “Just saying what everyone else is thinking.” I look around the room and am surprised to see everyone nodding at me.

  “If I ‘take him to the cleaners,' it’s going to be a big fight with lawyers and judges and everything.” I shake my head. “He’ll fight me tooth and nail for every dime I get. I don’t want to see him, let alone spend months and months fighting with him through lawyers. I want peace.”

  “But you would have plenty of money to start your business and you wouldn’t need to work at Jack’s store anymore,” Ally says in her quiet voice.

  I smile at Jack. “I
like working at Jack’s store.” He beams back at me.

  Grandma clears her throat. “If Delilah doesn’t want to take Brock to the cleaners, that’s her decision. And we’re going to support her on that. Aren’t we?” She nails each of the ladies with a stare. They nod at her and the discussion is closed.

  “Now,” Jack claps his hands. “Who wants more champagne?”

  Chapter 10

  “A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it's in hot water.” Eleanor Roosevelt

  I never did make it back to work on Monday. So when Noel shows up at the store on Tuesday morning, I’m not a happy camper. I need the hours to earn enough money to pay my rent because there’s no way I’m moving back in with Grandma. Unfortunately, Noel is heading directly for me. He takes a deep breath before speaking. “Can I see you in the back, Dee?”

  I roll my eyes at him. “Noel, I really need to work. I can’t be running out of this place every day.”

  Noel nods as if he understands, but he doesn’t budge. “It’s not a request.”

  I raise an eyebrow at him. “What? Not a request?” What the heck is the man talking about?

  “I’m a cop, Dee. You need to come with me.” His eyes plead with me to understand, but now I’m even more confused than I was.

  I shrug. “Whatever,” I mumble my tiny bit of defiance under my breath before following Noel through the employee door leading to the back of the store. He doesn’t stop, just continues to the exit. Hand on the exit, he turns to me. “I’m sorry. I can’t say anything. This was the best I could do for you.”

  And I thought I was confused before. I just stare at him until he looks away and opens the door. Standing on the other side of the door are two uniformed police officers. Noel nods at them and moves to the side. He motions for me to come forward. What in the weird world is happening?

  One of the uniforms moves forward. “Are you Delilah Clark?” I nod. “We’d like you to come with us to the station for questioning.”

  “Station? Questioning? What’s going on?” I look to Noel for answers who avoids my gaze and finds the ground around his feet suddenly riveting.

  The officer reaches forward and grabs my upper arm. I flinch. “Don’t touch me.” I grit out between my teeth. In a flash, Noel’s there. “Get in the car, Dee.” He opens the back door of the patrol car and motions for me to get in while he blocks the officers from me.

  “What’s going on, Noel?” I ask as I climb into the car.

  Noel shakes his head. “I’m not at liberty to say.” I stare at him as he walks away after shutting the door. The officers climb in the car and follow Noel’s vehicle to the police station. When we arrive, Noel hops out of his car and runs to my door. He opens it and motions for me to get out. This is just getting more and more baffling.

  We shuffle into the police station with Noel shielding me and making sure no one touches me before he opens the door to a room and points to a chair. I sit and look around. He motions for me to hand him my purse and then he’s gone. It seems like I’ve landed in an interrogation room. The walls are painted gray and the floor is cement. One wall of the room is covered by a mirror. The only furniture is a table and four battered chairs. My love of true-crime novels and detective shows tells me this room is most definitely an interrogation room. Crap.

  There’s no clock and I can’t check my phone as it was in my purse. I don’t know how much time passes before Noel walks in with another man who is dressed similar to him with dress slacks and a button down shirt. Well, that is except for the stranger’s clothes look rumpled and his beer belly is trying its best to make an appearance. I assume he’s another detective. What in the Sam Hill do the detectives want with me? Noel leans against the wall furthest from me while the other man sits in a chair directly across from me. He places my purse as well as a pile of files on the table in front of him.

  I cross my arms and sigh. “What’s Brock done now?”

  The detective’s sharp eyes focus on me. “You mean, Brock, your husband?” I nod. “Why do you assume this has anything to do with Brock?”

  I snort. “Maybe because I got a protection order against him last week and filed for divorce yesterday.” I add the word ‘duh’ to the sentence in my mind because really, who is this dunce? Of course this has to do with Brock.

  “When was the last time you saw Brock Clark?”

  “Sunday, a week and a half ago when he came to my grandmother’s house and tried to forcefully get me to return to Oklahoma City with him.”

  “Oklahoma City?”

  I stop myself from rolling my eyes at the detective. Don’t these guys have to take tests to ensure they’re not total idiots? “Yeah, that’s where we live. Well, where Brock lives. I live here now.”

  The detective stares at me for a long time. I’m really not in the mood for any baloney that Brock is throwing at me. I throw up my hands. “What am I doing here? What’s going on?”

  The detective leans back and crosses his arms over his chest. “Mr. Clark’s dead.”

  My eyes nearly bug out of my head. “Dead? How? What?” I can’t breathe. I start to hyperventilate. Somewhere in the fog of my mind I hear Noel curse. A strong hand is on the back of my neck pushing my head between my knees. “There you go, darling. Just take deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out.”

  Slowly, the fog clears and I start to breathe normally again. I push against the hand on my head and the pressure immediately disappears. I sit back up and turn to Noel. “Brock’s dead?” He nods. “You couldn’t have told me? You brought me here instead?” My voice sounds like a screech. I’m beyond peeved. What the heck? I though Noel was my friend.

  Noel blushes slightly and moves away from me. The other man, who still hasn’t introduced himself, speaks. “Detective Blackburn is not allowed to be involved in this investigation. He’s here as a courtesy to you.”

  “Investigation?” I stare at the man. “What do you mean investigation?”

  “Brock Clark was murdered.”

  “Murdered?” My eyes start to blink out of control.

  “Shot in the head at his place of residence.”

  “Shot?” I sound like a parrot, but I don’t care. The words this man is speaking don’t make any sense. Brock murdered. “Who would kill Brock?”

  “That’s what we’re trying to figure out.” He stares at me and then I finally get it. They think I did it. They think I killed Brock. I shoot up from my chair. It clanks to the floor behind me.

  “What the…? You think I killed Brock! Are you out of your mind?” I start to hyperventilate again and Noel reaches for me, but I bat him away. “Why the hell would I kill Brock?”

  “Because he abused you and was stalking you.” The man’s eyes are hard, evaluating me.

  “You don’t kill someone for that! I have a restraining order. I’m divorcing him!”

  The detective is undeterred. “But what about the fact that he was cheating on you? Maybe you wanted revenge?”

  This stops me cold. Cheating? I didn’t know Brock cheated on me. I mean, I suspected, of course, I’m not an idiot. I just I never cared enough to find out the details. I shrug. “Good,” I say. “If he was fucking someone else, then he wouldn’t have the need to force himself on me.”

  Noel growls, but I ignore him. I throw a hand up at him to stop as he again starts to approach me. “What else you got?” I don’t even know who this woman is right now. I don’t swear. I don’t confront people. I guess when someone accuses you of killing your rat bastard husband, all bets are off.

  The detective shrugs. “He’s worth a lot of money. If he’s dead, you’re a widow and the money’s all yours.”

  I laugh; only it sounds brittle. “I don’t want his money. Talk to my attorney. I asked her yesterday to file for a no-fault divorce and not to ask for any settlement.”

  The detective stares at me. “Maybe Brock was already dead by then.”

  I shake my head at him. “I don’t want his freaking money,�
�� I push the words out from my clamped jaw.

  But the man isn’t done with me yet. He pulls a Kindle from between the files on the table. “What about this?”

  I scrunch my nose at him. Seriously, the police department needs to start testing these detectives’ IQs. “Is that my Kindle?” I ask even though I can tell from the cover it is. There aren’t too many people with Hello Kitty covers on their Kindles. “I don’t understand what that has to do with anything.”

  He shakes the Kindle. “Why are you obsessed with true-crime novels, Mrs. Clark?”

  I snort. “I also read shifter romance novels, but I’m pretty sure I’m not a werewolf.” And with that, I’m done. “Am I under arrest?”

  Mr. No Name shakes his head. “I’d like to leave and I’d like my things back, please.” From the corner of my eye, I see Noel nod and his lip is twitching as if he’s holding back a smile. I guess I did the right thing.

  I reach out and grab my Kindle. I then walk forward and grab my purse from the table. “It was so not nice meeting you Mr. I-don’t-even-know-your-name-because-you’re-too-rude-to-introduce-yourself.” I turn to Noel and he opens the door for me.

  I hear a commotion as I step out of the room. “Where is my granddaughter? I demand to know right now!” Grandma yells from somewhere I can’t see. Noel chuckles behind me before stepping in front of me and motioning for me to follow him. We turn the corner and there stands the entire grandma gang with Izzy, Jack, and Damien.

  Noel walks forward and kisses Izzy before turning to Jack. “Thought you’d hold them off for me.”

  Jack shrugs. “I tried, really I did, but I couldn’t stand the idea of Dee back there being interrogated. Hasn’t she been through enough already?” He glares at Noel as if everything is his fault.

  I walk forward. “I’m fine everyone.” I take a deep breath. “Brock’s dead.” I hear several gasps and I speak before the gazillion questions, I’m sure are on the tips of their tongues, start. “He was murdered. Apparently some a-hole thought I was responsible.”

  As one, everyone turns to Noel. He holds his hands up in surrender. “Not me. I fought this as long as I could. But I can’t do much because it’s a conflict of interest.”