by Tim Myers
“They smell so good, I’ll have one of each.” He poured three circles of batter onto the griddle. “Coming right up.”
Cindy handed me a cup of coffee when I sat down I said, “You actually let him cook?”
She smiled. “He handles the grilling outside and the pancakes in here, and that’s about it. I wasn’t about to say no when he offered.”
I took a sip of coffee, then asked, “Where are the odds?”
“They’ve been out playing for an hour,” Bradford aid as he flipped the pancakes. “I didn’t think you were going to ever get up.”
Cindy swatted at him with the paper. “Now be nice, Jennifer had a late night.”
“And too much excitement,” I said. I started to get up when Bradford said, “Sit back down, young lady, tour breakfast is almost ready.”
“I’ve got too much to do before I open the shop,” I said.
“Thanks for thinking of me.” Cindy said, “Jennifer, if you think he’s going to let it get out of here without breakfast, you don’t know your brother very well.”
Those pancakes did smell awfully good. “I suppose I’ve got time for one.”
He slid all three off the griddle, then put them on my plate. “If you’ve got time for one, you’ve got time for three.”
Then he poured more batter onto the grill. “Three are plenty,” I protested as I poured some warmed syrup on the short stack.
“These aren’t for you, little piggy,” Bradford said. “The cook has to eat too, you know?”
“You’ve already had one breakfast,” Cindy protested.
“Hey, I’ve been slaving over a hot griddle all morning. I deserve a little extra.”
She got up and moved in behind him, and I could tell Bradford was expecting a hug. Instead, his wife pinched his love handles. “I’d say you had more than a little extra, wouldn’t you?”
“Just more to love, woman,” he said. “Tell you what, I won’t eat all four of these. I’ll show remarkable restraint and just have three.”
“One,” she said firmly.
“Okay, but you drive a hard bargain. I’ll limit myself to a measly two.”
Cindy gave him a narrow glance, then said, “Just this time, and only in honor of your sister’s visit.”
Bradford winked at me as I ate. “You can stay as long as you want; you know that, don’t you?”
“So you can keep grabbing extra portions?” I asked.
“Hey, it’s a win-win situation as far as I’m concerned.”
I took the last bite of pancake, finished off my coffee and stood. “As much as I’d love to hang around, I really do have to get back to my place and find someone to fix my door.”
“If that’s all you’re worried about, Ethan’s been working on it since seven. I’m willing to bet that he and his carpenter friend have that new door hung already.”
“What do you have on him, anyway?” I asked.
Bradford shrugged, but Cindy said, “Stop trying to be so mysterious. They’ve been friends forever, though neither one of them is likely to ever admit it.”
He rolled his eyes toward his wife, then said, “Either way, you’re covered. Do you want these two? I hate to just throw them out.”
I glanced at the two orphan pancakes and was ready to give in, despite my promise to cut back, when Cindy said, “Stop picking on your sister. Jennifer, they freeze great, and the kids eat them as after-school snacks. Have some if you’d like, but he’d never just to them.”
That helped. “I’m going to stop then, as good as they were.” I stood and kissed my brother on the cheek. “Thanks.”
“Wow, you’re easy. I got a kiss with just three pancakes? I bet you’re a popular girl at the breakfast table.”
I slapped him gently on the arm. “I wasn’t thanking you for the pancakes. I just wanted you to know I appreciate everything you did last night.” He put the spatula down and said, “Jennifer, I honestly didn’t do much of anything. By the time I got here, you’d handled him all by yourself.” I shook my head. “You’re the one who taught me a swing like that.”
“Well, I’ll accept your thanks for that, then. Seriously, though, you don’t have to rush off. You and your two roommates are welcome to stay as long as you want.”
I looked into my brother’s eyes and said, “Thanks, but if I don’t go back right now, I may lose my nerve altogether.”
Cindy said, “Would that be such a bad thing? How can you live there now after what happened?”
“You’d be amazed what you can deal with if you I lave to,” I said. “I was going to ask to leave Oggie and Nash here, but since you’ve arranged to have my door fixed, we’re going home.”
Bradford started to say something, but Cindy glanced at him and he shut right up. I swear, those if two had a level of nonverbal communication going on between them that never ceased to amaze me.
Bradford said, “Fine, but at least let me hang out with you a few minutes before you go.” He took the apron off and threw it over the back of a chair.
“You can come back while I get the cats into their carriers,” I said.
Cindy said, “You two go on. I’ll finish this batter.” Bradford told his wife, “I expect fresh pancakes after Jennifer leaves. It’s the least I deserve.”
She laughed. “Do you really want to talk about the least you deserve with me?”
“No,” he said. “You’re right. Forget I said anything.”
My brother followed me back to my room, and as I suspected, Oggie and Nash were still soundly asleep. “Come on, you two, rise and shine.” At least they were pretty docile just waking up, and I didn’t have too hard a time getting them back into their camera.
Bradford took one from me, then grabbed my bag, too. “Listen, I really do need to ask you a few things about last night. I’m truly sorry.”
“Don’t be; it’s your job.” I took a deep breath, then said, “I was on the couch when Wayne started pounding on my door just after midnight. He tried to get me to let him in, and when I refused, he started banging on the door. That’s when I grabbed the bat and called you. What did he use, anyway?”
“He had his equalizer,” Bradford said softly.
“What does that mean?”
My brother looked embarrassed, but he admitted, “Wayne used to brag about his personal protection device, a chunk of iron bar he carried around in his truck. I thought he was all bluff and steam, but I was wrong. Jennifer, I’m sorry. I never should have let it get that far.”
I touched his arm. “You can’t be responsible for his behavior any more than I can control these two cats. Is that all you need from me? I really am running late.”
“You’re free to go,” he said. “I’ll take you home.” We walked outside and I waved good-bye to Cindy. The best decision my brother had ever made had been marrying her. I wondered if I’d ever get that lucky myself.
Outside, I stowed the cats in the back of his patrol car, then climbed in front with him.
“I’m proud of you, Jennifer,” Bradford said as he drove toward my apartment. I wondered how proud of me he’d be if he knew Lillian, Sara Lynn and I were conspiring against him.
“Thanks, but I don’t deserve it. I didn’t have much choice. Honestly, I was scared to death.”
“But you didn’t freeze up,” he said, “You did what you had to in order to protect yourself.” I couldn’t take another ounce of his niceness, not with what I was doing. “Listen, there’s something you should know.”
I was ready to tell him when he said, “What, that you and Lillian are looking into Maggie Blake’s death?”
“Now how on earth did you know that?”
He smiled. “I am the sheriff here. I knew you couldn’t just leave it alone, and when Lillian asked me to come to the funeral, it didn’t take much to figure out what you two were up to.”
“Sara Lynn’s helping too,” I blurted out, and that news seemed to surprise him. “How’d you manage to get her involved?” he asked
, his gaze steady on the road ahead.
“Well, we were at Maggie’s house last night and—”
“What?” he snapped. “Jennifer, you had no right. That’s trespassing, and you know it. How did you get in? Did you break a window?”
So much for my brother’s sympathy. I should have kept my mouth shut. “We had every right to be there,” I said.
“How do you figure that?”
“Patrick Benson hired us to clean the place up and put Maggie’s things into boxes.”
“Do I even want to know how you managed to get that assignment? Forget it; ignorance is truly bliss at fee moment.” He pulled up in front of my place and shut the engine off, though Bradford made no move get out of the car. I normally parked in back with the rest of the tenants, but my brother had a mind of his own. “So what did you find?” I wasn’t about to give up my hard-earned information that easily. “I thought you ruled it an accident.”
Bradford swiveled and stared at me. “Don’t be petulant. I’m the first person in the world to admit that I’m not perfect. Knowing the three of you, I’m sure you think you’ve got something.”
I blurted out what we’d uncovered. “Some of Maggie’s scrapbooks were gone, her tools and supplies for card making were all missing, and we found a card she’d made about breaking up with her boyfriend.”
“She could have given the tools and scrapbooks away,” Bradford said, “but I didn’t realize she had a boyfriend. Who was the mystery man?”
“Jeffrey Wallace, the man who lives downstairs.”
“Are you talking about the young guy from last night? You’re kidding.”
“No, I mean the other one,” I said, not wanting to get sidetracked about who was appropriate dating material for a middle-aged woman and who was not.
“That still doesn’t mean anything. People break up all the time. Do you have anything else a little more concrete?”
I considered telling him about Howard and Betty and my other suspicions, but I had even less solid proof about everything else. If the missing equipment and books weren’t going to convince him, nothing else was either. “I’m working on it.”
He shook his head. “That’s the problem with this business. There are too many amateurs wanting to get involved without formal training. How in the world did you rope Sara Lynn into this? I thought she was more sensible than that.”
“She’s having trouble at home,” I blurted out, silently asking my sister’s forgiveness in my head.
“I know.” Bradford nodded. “It’s been brewing for a while.”
“You knew about it and didn’t tell me?” I asked; outraged. “I have a right to know, she’s my sister, too.”
“Take it easy, Jennifer; the signs have been there, for quite a while. I’ve been wondering when it was going to blow.”
“Do you think it’s serious?” I asked. Sara Lynn and Bailey had been married forever. I couldn’t imagine the two of them apart, no matter what the justification.
“It’s always serious when it goes on too long,” Bradford said. It was obvious he was uncomfortable with our discussion topic. “So do you want some help with those two felons of yours?”
“Thanks, that would be nice,” I said. I was perfectly capable of handling both carriers and my bag, but if I was being honest with myself, it might help me to climb those steps with my brother beside me. Instead of the sound of drills and saws upstairs, it in was dead quiet.
“I guess Ethan couldn’t make it first thing after all,” I said.
“Don’t bet on it,” Bradford said. “Do you mind if I go up first?”
“Lead on,” I said. The vision of my shattered doorframe was strong in my mind, and I wasn’t at all certain I could handle seeing it again. Ethan was sitting on the top step, spinning a set of keys around one of his fingers. “Took you long enough,” he said, smiling at Bradford. “I’ve been waiting for hours.”
“If you finished that fast, you didn’t do a good enough job,” Bradford said.
“Let’s see you try to get through it, I dare you.”
I looked and saw that the door was replaced as well as the frame. “That must have been a lot of work.” “Honestly, it’s easier to replace the entire unit than repair a frame, but that’s not why I did it this way. Your brother insisted on steel all the way around.” I thought about the bill and wondered if I’d have enough in my account to cover it. “Let me get my checkbook,” I said.
“No need to,” Ethan said.
I turned to Bradford. “You’re not paying for this. I won’t let you.”
Ethan grinned. “He doesn’t have to. I’m billing the owner of the building. After I leave you two, I’m trotting right over to Hester’s to get my check.”
“She’s the realtor,” I said. “She doesn’t own the place.”
Ethan raised an eyebrow. “Last I heard her name was still on the deed.”
“But I thought—”
He cut me off. “Lots of folks around here think she’s just scraping by, but Hester’s loaded. She’s worth a mint, and it’s not just in property.” He tossed me the keys, then said to Bradford, “See you.”
“See you,” Bradford said, bobbing his head for a split second in a country boy’s wave.
“You never know, do you?” I said as I let the cats out of their carriers. They scudded away the second they were free, and I had a feeling they’d be ripping through the place, examining every fresh sight and smell until they were satisfied that everything was as it should be. I just wished it were that easy for me.
“You want me to hang around awhile?” Bradford asked. “I’ve got time.”
I shoved his chest. “No, go on, I’m fine. I know you’ve got work to do.”
“You kidding me? This town practically polices itself.”
“Then you’re grossly overpaid,” I said, walking him through the new door.
He paused outside the threshold. “I’d trust Ethan with my life, but deadbolt this thing for a second, would you?”
I did as he requested, then heard him throw himself into the door. It didn’t even quiver.
I opened it back up and Bradford was rubbing a shoulder. “It’ll do,” he said.
“Go on, you big goof.”
Once he was gone, I deadbolted the door again after him. The place was remarkably tranquil after the events of just a few hours ago. Would I ever be comfortable there again? At that point, I just couldn’t say. The clock caught my gaze, and I realized if I was going to open my shop before noon, I’d better get moving.
But I had a phone call to make first. If Gail found out what had happened last night without hearing about it from me first, she’d be crushed. “Hey, I hope I’m not calling too early,” I said when she answered on the fourth ring.
“No, I was awake,” she said, but I could hear her asking a yawn.
“I’ll make it quick. Do you remember me telling you about Wayne Davidson?”
“The creep that works for your brother? What about him? He didn’t make another pass at you, did he?”
“It’s worse than that. He tried to break in last in night.”
There was silence on the other end. “Gail? Are you still there?”
“Jennifer, what happened?”
“I took him out with my baseball bat,” I said. “No big deal, but I wanted you to hear it from me first.”
“There’s no way I’m letting you get away with leaving it at that. Scoop, girl.”
“I will later, I promise, but I’m running behind as it is. I just wanted you to know that I was all right.”
She chuckled softly. “It sounds like you’re a whole lot better than that. Call me soon. And Jennifer?”
“Yes?”
“Thanks for letting me know.”
“You’re welcome.”
Forty minutes later I was ready to face the world again. Sometimes the only solution to a problem is a long hot shower or an equally cleansing soak in the tub. As I walked down the stairs, I saw Jeffrey�
�s door start to open. I didn’t know if he’d been waiting for the sound of my footsteps on the treads, but as far as I was concerned, his timing couldn’t have been better.
“Good morning,” I said. “Do you have a second?”
He nodded, and it looked as though my neighbor hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, either.
“Sorry about the noise so early this morning.”
Jeffrey shook his head. “Nonsense, it’s perfectly understandable. I want to apologize again for my delay in helping you last night.” He cast his gaze to the floor, then said, “I thought I’d need reinforcements, and it took me forever to get Barrett to the door.”
“He was busy,” I said, not wanting to discuss his liaison with Penny. “I need to talk to you.”
Instead of inviting me inside as I’d expected, Jeffrey stood in the opening, one hand on the door.
I looked at him and said, “Do you really want to do this out here?”
He glanced at his watch. “I really don’t have time for a long discussion, Jennifer; I’m late as it is.”
“Fine,” I said, “we’ll do it in the foyer, then. Why didn’t you tell me Maggie broke up with you?”
He looked as if someone had hit him with a bat instead of Wayne. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he stammered.
“Come on, Jeffrey, don’t lie to me.”
“I don’t care enough about what you think to lie,” he said. “Besides, it’s none of your business.”
“You’re wrong there,” I said. “Maggie made it my business before she died.”
“What did she tell you?” he asked, suddenly very defensive. “Certainly we had our share of tiffs from time to time, but we were two adults in an adult relationship. Things were good between us.”
“Then why did she make this for you?” I pulled out the card we’d found at Maggie’s the night before and stuck it in his face.
He read the front, then opened it and stared at the words she’d written inside. “How do you explain that?”
Jeffrey’s face was almost white. “I don’t have to, not to you or anyone else.” He took a step inside and slammed his door shut. “Hey, I want that card back,” I protested. It was the only real evidence I had that there had been trouble between them.
