by Tonya Kappes
“Good work, Kenni-bug.” Poppa bent over the plate of brownies and took a nice long whiff. “You might have a shot at this sheriff thing after all.”
Toots Buford had never been on my mind as a suspect. She’d gone from not being on the radar at all to being at the top of the list alongside Viola.
I stood in the doorway looking into the room at all the women. My eyes zeroed in on Viola. I just couldn’t imagine her stabbing someone. She smiled. Her teeth were nice and straight. Did she have a partial?
I took my phone out of my pocket and sent a quick text to Finn.
Just found out that Doc fired Toots over a week ago. Why was she at his house the morning of the murder? Stop by her house and see what she has to say about that.
He replied quickly: Will do.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“Kenni!” Jolee smacked the table between us. I jumped in the air along with my nerves. My head wasn’t in the game. I tried my hardest to listen in on Mama and Viola’s conversation, and my hand was on my phone. I couldn’t wait to see what Finn had found out from Toots. “Are you wanting me to pick it up?”
She brought my attention to the King of Hearts sitting on top of the kitty pile.
Though it would have been a strong trump card, there was no way I was going to tell her to pick it up when I had a handful of low cards in all four suits.
“I mean, it’s a big one,” Jolee coaxed, her lashes wide open.
“I’ll pass,” I whispered and fell right back into my thoughts and the possibilities of Toots being the killer.
She might have a reason to have killed Doc Walton, but what was the connection to White’s Jewelry?
Viola White was Euchre partners with my mama and I could easily mosey over there and drop a few questions.
“Kenni?” Jolee questioned my move of over-trumping her when I didn’t need to.
I raked the pile close to me and smacked down a nine of hearts, which was clearly not going to win the hand.
“It’s all I got.” I shrugged and got up from the table, knowing I had just thrown the game and our chance of moving on with the quarter tournament.
“What is with you?” Jolee settled back into her chair, a little disappointed. “I haven’t seen you this scattered in a long time.”
“It’s this case.” I glanced over at Viola White, knowing I was going to have to seize the opportunity to ask her about the insurance. It was lucky she’d stepped up to the plate to be Mama’s Euchre partner since Missy Jennings was sick. “I’m racking my brain about who and why someone would want Doc Walton dead.”
“Don’t you let this community stop you from investigating and doing what you need to do to bring the killer to justice.” A smile crossed Jolee’s face. “And maybe you need to do some late night rap sessions with one Finn Vincent.”
“It’s not like that.” I could tell her mind was playing some type of romance scene in her head. “Besides, he’s not interested in me. And if he was, I’m not interested in him or a relationship.”
My heart fluttered and I put my hand up to my chest.
“Not interested, huh?” Jolee’s eyes focused on my hand.
“Heartburn,” I lied. “I always get heartburn after eating too many of my mom’s peanut butter brownies. Can you let Duke out for me after this?”
“I’m surprised he isn’t with you.” She stood up and pushed her chair in.
“I wasn’t sure how many stops I needed to make and keeping him in the car isn’t fair to him.”
“I’ll let him out.” Jolee dropped her hands from the back of the chair. “I’m going to go eat. Are you leaving?”
“I’m going to check on Mama and Viola, then I’m out.” I stood up, taking a little courage from Jolee’s words about not letting the community stop me. I was going to confront Viola White. Maybe not in front of everyone now, but the opportunity would present itself at some point tonight.
The Euchre games were well underway and everyone was talking about Jolee’s and my ten-week winning streak and how it had just come to an end, leaving my mama and Viola in the running for first place. Missy was going to be so mad when she found out Viola was a better partner for Mama.
“I might be old, but I’m going to go it alone.” Viola pumped her jeweled hand in the air.
“That’s my girl!” my mama screamed with pride. “You got this. I’m going to the bathroom.”
Mama got up and I took her seat across from Viola.
Katy Lee Hart and Gina Kim were their opponents and each let out a long sigh along with an eye roll. When someone “went alone” in a Euchre game, it meant they were confident enough to be able to take all the tricks of that hand, winning full points for their team. Mama and Viola only needed to win this last trick to win the game and make it into first place.
When it came to Viola, she was no stranger to going alone and probably a reason they had been in second behind me and Jolee. She was a good stand-in partner when we needed one. She and Mama were vicious tonight and normally that would fire me up to beat them. But not tonight. More important things were on my mind. A killer.
The four rounds of cards were over in seconds.
“Yes!” Viola pounded the table with her hand and belted out the famous line of Queen, “We are the champions, my friend.”
“Shut up.” Ruby snorted over the top of her spade-shaped glass filled with brandy. “Not for long.”
“Long enough,” Viola snarled, gathering the deck of cards into a nice neat pile.
Katy Lee and Gina got up, leaving us alone.
“Viola, can I ask you a couple of questions?” I asked.
“Sure, honey.” Her hands were busy shuffling the deck and doing all sorts of fancy folding tricks with the cards. “Did you find my big diamond? I told Wyatt it was stolen and I want it back.”
“No, I’m sorry, I haven’t. Yet. Though it’s my understanding that you don’t own the building where your store is located, that Doc Walton did.” Since she was taking her sweet old time shuffling the cards, I took the opportunity to text Finn.
Did you find anything out?
He answered, She wasn’t home. I left a note on her door.
I wrote back, Did Wyatt say anything about that big diamond Viola had in her shop? She said it was stolen during the robbery.
Not a word to me, Finn replied.
“He wasn’t going to renew your contract.” I put the phone back in my lap.
“He’s a fool,” she said. She tapped the edges of the deck of cards, her hands as steady as her voice. “I made him money.”
“Don’t let up, Kenni-bug,” Poppa encouraged me.
I gulped and took a deep breath.
“He said he was going to move his office back into town, when you and I both know he couldn’t do that.” Her chest bumped out when she let out a puff of air. Her eyes slid from the deck of cards up to my face. “You can’t possibly think I murdered him.”
She looked at me like I had two heads, appalled I could even think such a thing.
“Well…” I eased back in my chair and glanced around to make sure no one was listening. Everyone had gone to get dessert and spread more gossip. “Anger is a good motive for killing someone, and there was no forced entry into your shop.” I bit the corner of my lip and thought for one second about what I was about to say. “Plus, you had a pretty good insurance plan on your jewelry.”
“How do you know that?” Her brows knitted in curiosity. “There are only two people who know about my insurance dealings.” Her mouth dropped open, and I took the opportunity to take a quick look inside to see if I saw any dentures or partials.
“I am the sheriff. I have to check out everyone who had dealings with Doc Walton, and it sure does seem like you had dealings.” I shrugged.
“I don’t like what you are trying to say, Kendrick Lowry.” Her voice was calm, her gaze steady.
Chapter Twenty-Six
“I don’t know what got into me,” I groaned, looking down at the tip of my shoe. I shoved my toe in the broken concrete at the threshold of The Tattered Cover Books and Inn, which was next door to Ben’s. “It was like I went crazy. I continued to batter her with questions that I should’ve brought her in for questioning to do. Not in front of everyone.”
I looked up and blinked the tears from my eyes, because I wasn’t sure if I was seeing things. Finn Vincent stood at the door of his hotel room without a shirt on and his jeans unbuttoned.
The sign in the background illuminated Finn’s face, giving it the glow of an angel. Or maybe it was just me hoping he could be my angel and save me from the embarrassment Viola White was about to bestow upon me.
Finn shut the door, leaving me standing there in the night air.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve called first,” I grumbled, turning around to walk down the sidewalk to my car parked down the street.
“Wait.” Finn opened the door and stepped out, shutting it behind him. He skipped up beside me. Fully dressed. “I had to put on a shirt.” A corner of his lips tugged up, sending my heart into a flutter.
“Shirts are optional in Cottonwood.” I smiled.
“Have you been drinking?” he asked, tucking his hands deep into his jean pockets.
“No, but that might help.” I shook my head and pointed toward Ben’s. He nodded.
“Nah. It will only cloud your judgement even more.” He held the door of Ben’s and ushered me in.
I stopped in front of him and watched his eyes address my outfit.
“What? This is a Euchre tournament outfit. Comfort.” I referred to my jeans and oversized sweatshirt.
“Okay.” He shrugged.
He danced around me and pulled a chair out for me at the same table near the window we had sat in before.
“Thank you,” I said and blushed.
“I do have good manners,” he said and took the seat across from me.
Ben looked over and smiled. Ignoring him, I threw two fingers up in the air.
“Make it three,” Finn said getting Ben’s attention.
I put three fingers in the air. Ben acknowledged us.
“Okay. What did you do? And is it going to compromise the case?” he asked.
Ben walked over, two cups in one hand for me and one cup in the other for Finn.
“I’ll be back with cream.” He held a finger up and on his way back flipped the front door sign to “Closed.”
“He’s closed.” Finn started to get up.
“Don’t mind that.” I waved him to sit back down between sips. “He’s used to seeing me here at all hours of the night. Plus, he lives upstairs. I’ll lock up on my way out.”
Ben ran the creamer over and went back to sweeping the floor, not paying a bit of attention to us. Not much anyway. I did see a couple of glances, but it was probably his curiosity getting to him.
“I pretty much accused Viola White of Doc Walton’s murder.” The words coming out of my mouth made me sick all over again. “It was horrifying.”
“Why did you do that?” Finn looked how I felt. Appalled.
“I was going off the tip that Doc Walton wasn’t renewing her lease and her high insurance policy against theft.” I paused and took a sip of coffee. “I tried to look in her mouth to see if her teeth matched the bite marks, but I can’t tell the difference between real teeth and fake ones.”
“After I went to Toots’s house and she wasn’t there, I went by Cowboy’s Catfish to see Wyatt so I could ask him about the diamond. He wasn’t there.” Finn tapped his finger on the edge of his mug. I noticed he wasn’t drinking much. “Have you seen him?”
“No. I know he’s probably tired from all the paperwork he had to fill out for the forensic lab. He isn’t used to working so much, but we do need to make sure that he filed the missing diamond report,” I said. “Viola will hire the best lawyer if we don’t file her stolen jewels exactly by the book.” Finn was staring out the window. His eyes held a faraway look. I pointed to his cup of coffee. “Aren’t you going to drink it?”
“Yeah.” He shook his head like he was shaking off an idea. “I was just thinking about something.”
“What?”
“Nothing.” He smiled from behind the steam coming up from his mug as he took another sip. Then he must’ve changed his mind. “I looked around Wyatt’s desk to see what reports he had filed. I didn’t see the diamond file, but I wasn’t wanting to snoop either.”
“I’ll ask him in the morning. I’m sure he did it.” I shook my head and let out a sigh. “Viola’s got a lot of clout in this town.”
Finn nodded. His eyes slid to the pin on my shirt. I raised my hand to touch it.
“I heard you’ve never really gotten over his death.” He gave that empathetic smile that I hated. I was used to that smile from everyone telling me how sorry they were about Poppa.
“My mom?” I asked. I wouldn’t put it past my mama to tell Finn everything. She was already scheming ways to get us down the aisle.
“Wyatt,” he responded, giving me a little shock.
“Wyatt?” I repeated with a little bit of disbelief.
I took another drink of my coffee and pondered Wyatt’s motive to tell Finn about my relationship with my Poppa.
“It’s nice to see another side to you.” Finn’s finger tapped the edge of his cup.
My brows cocked and my head tilted. Anger poured out of my mouth. “I’m not sure why he’d be discussing my history with you.”
“Actually, he was saying how this case has made him see glimpses of your Poppa and how great a sheriff he was,” Finn said. “I’d take that as a compliment if I were you. And I agree, you are a good sheriff.”
Reaching over, he cupped his hand over mine. The warmth of his palm sent an unfamiliar sense of chill bumps over my wrist, up my arms, and down my body.
“I…” I was a nervous wreck. I swallowed. Hard. “I am starting to understand what my Poppa went through.”
“No!” Poppa smacked the table, making the coffee cups rattle. My second cup of coffee spilt over the rim. “Do not touch her!”
Finn and I jerked apart.
“What was that?” His brows furrowed.
“Ouch!” My face scrunched up in pretend pain and I stuck my leg out from underneath the table, swinging it back and forth. I rubbed my thigh. “Cramp. Cramp.”
I did my best Oscar-worthy performance trying to cover up Poppa’s crazy outburst.
“It’s the coffee.” He pointed between my two cups. “You drink way too much caffeine.”
“It’s not enough coffee.” I swung my body back around and grabbed my coffee, taking a big long sip of it.
Poppa stood next to Finn, taking a good long look at him.
“That was fast.” Finn grabbed a couple of napkins and threw the pile on top of my coffee spill.
“What was?” I sopped up the coffee mess and left the saturated napkins in a pile.
“You got over that cramp real fast.” He smiled. “Or did my hand make you flinch?”
“Don’t be a jerk.”
Damn, he was good. Or I was just a bad actor.
“What am I going to do about Viola?” I changed the subject, taking the heat off of my fake cramp.
“Nothing.” He shrugged and pushed his coffee away from him. “It’s business. You used your instinct and now we can investigate her motive even more.”
I eased back in my chair. Finn was right. I had to remind myself that even though Cottonwood was a small town and everyone knew everyone’s personal business, they didn’t need to know the sheriff’s business
.
“Maybe he isn’t so bad.” Poppa bent down and looked directly into Finn’s eyes. “I want him to be your partner in your job. Not your life, even though I can see he makes you happy.”
Finn blinked a couple of times. His head moved back slightly and he squinted as though he was trying to focus on something in front of him. Poppa.
“Are you okay?” I fished, clenched my teeth, and popped my eyes open and took a long look at my Poppa, hoping he’d get the hint.
“Yeah.” Finn rubbed his eyes with his thumb and finger. He squinted a couple of times as though he was trying to get his eyes to focus. His chair squeaked across the old tile flooring when he pushed back from the table. “I’m just tired. I was half asleep when you knocked on the door.”
“Drink your coffee.” I sighed in relief when he didn’t mention Poppa.
Finn was quiet for the rest of the night, even on the walk back. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence because my mind was still going over everything about the investigations.
“Kenni.” Finn stopped in front of the Tattered Cover with his room key out and ready. He reached out and put the same warm hand on my arm, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I’m here for you. I have a lot of resources and I know you’re holding back on me.”
It was the first time Finn called me by my nickname, and it made my heart flip flop.
“I’m not,” I pish-poshed his idea. “It’s no secret that a small town like Cottonwood likes to gossip, and you just never know who’s on your side and who you can trust.”
“I’m not from Cottonwood, and I’m not just someone.” His eyes were compelling and magnetic. I tried to look away, but my eyes wouldn’t cooperate with my brain. “Let me in as a friend. I’ve found things really click with partners when I’m friends with them.”
