by Kym Roberts
Tiny grinned, and I heard Nathan’s muffled moan from underneath him.
“He’s alive!” Reba Sue screamed.
“Not for long,” Tiny said with a grin. He lifted his body ever so slightly and threw it back down.
Daddy leaned over and looked Tiny in the eyes as several women tried to pull him off Nathan Daniels to no avail. “Get off him, son. You don’t want to kill him.”
“Who says?” Tiny asked.
Daddy wasn’t swayed by Tiny’s comment. “Come on. Give me your hand.”
Tiny’s beefy hand wrapped around my daddy’s, and I noticed for a second time that he had scratches and bruising all over the knuckles. It was the type of injury a man got from being in a fight, which wasn’t a far stretch with a man who had a temper, like Tiny. It also wasn’t a far stretch to believe he’d gotten them from punching a woman and shattering her cheek.
“Sheriff!” Reba Sue yelled. “He’s killing him!”
Mateo squeezed through the crush of people gathered around and helped Daddy stand Tiny up. I wasn’t sure the man could have gotten up without assistance.
“What happened?”
“I fell on him.”
“You tried to kill him!” Reba Sue said from her position on the floor next to Nathan Daniels.
“I wasn’t trying to kill him. But if he died, it would be no loss.”
I had to agree with Tiny on that one, even if I didn’t trust him. “Tell the sheriff what you said about him killing Maddie.”
“He paid me for information on the residents of Hazel Rock last summer. He said it was for his research. Then he went and killed Maddie.”
“You know that he killed your sister?” Mateo asked.
“He wrote about it before it happened, didn’t he?”
Mateo looked at Nathan, who hadn’t moved. Nathan almost looked like a miniature version of Tiny as he lay on the floor and tried to catch his breath. Reba Sue patted his hand and talked to him until Nathan sat up without assistance. He grabbed his ribs and moaned but didn’t say anything.
“Detective Youngblood is on his way, Tiny. I’m going to need you to give a statement to him.”
Tiny nodded but I doubted his interview would be as telling as what he’d said in the heat of the moment. Mateo walked over to Nathan and talked to him in a low voice that I couldn’t hear. Nathan stood up, his pale thin chest glaring with the lights from the Barn. Reba Sue pulled his arm over her shoulder, insisting she help.
Like Princess, Sugar snorted and walked away. She didn’t look back until she was standing in front of the pastries, eating an oatmeal-cranberry cookie and sipping on a glass of sweet tea.
I didn’t blame her one bit for the eat-your-heart-out shirt or the matching expression she gave the author who had turned her life upside down. I just hoped Mateo found out what happened before someone else’s life was put on the chopping block.
Chapter 21
Cade walked into the Barn and looked around at the empty lobby. “I missed all the action, didn’t I?”
“Yep.” I moved a box of books to the steps and set them down.
“Is that Nathan Daniels’s trailer parked out front?”
“Yep.” I reached for a second box, but Cade stepped forward and took it from my hands. “I get the impression you’re not talking to me.”
“Nope.” I made sure he couldn’t grab the third box by turning away from him and carrying the box all the way up the stairs.
Cade followed with my other two boxes. “Princess, someone tried to kill you. I don’t want you to be targeted because you’re my campaign manager.”
“Did you and Mateo ever think that maybe I wasn’t the target, but that you were the target?”
“We did, but either way, it puts you in danger.”
I turned on him with my hands on my hips. “What about me told you two that I couldn’t make up my own mind? That I couldn’t worry about my own safety?”
“We just thought…”
“That’s the problem. The two of you ‘thought’ without thinking of asking for my opinion.”
I stomped down the steps, and Cade followed me. “Are you telling me that you still want to be my campaign manager?” Cade asked.
I stopped at the bottom of the steps. “Is the position still open?”
“There isn’t anyone else I’d rather have.”
“How much are you willing to pay me?”
“The same amount that you’re making here.”
“That’s hardly worth my while.” I wasn’t about to let him off that easy.
“I’ll double it.”
He had my attention with that, but still… “Just a moment ago you didn’t want me.”
“You know you drive me nuts, right?”
“Fine. I’ll take double and a half.”
“You drive a hard bargain, Princess.”
“But I’m worth it.”
“Yes, you are.” Cade turned away and grabbed the hand truck behind the register and started walking toward the back of the Barn while talking over his shoulder. “Since you’re working for me, I need you to help me load up the boxes from the tearoom. My campaign office is ready to open.”
I followed in his tracks. “What? You didn’t tell me you had a campaign office?”
He slid the door open and asked, “What do you think all those renovations in the old barber shop were for?”
“I thought you were renovating it to rent out.”
“I was. I’m my first customer. After the campaign is over, we’ll see if I turn it into my office or rent it out to someone else.”
“Oh, you won’t be renting it out. That old barber shop will be your office for years to come. You didn’t get rid of the barber pole, did you?”
Cade pushed the hand truck into the tearoom. “No. I kept it and had it refurbished along with one of the chairs.”
I laughed. “What are you going to do with the chair?”
“It’s a part of this town’s history. I wasn’t going to just wipe it off the face of the map.” He stopped next to the side door and saw my overflowing bin of recycling. “What’s this?”
“The recycling truck didn’t come today. I called Dallas, but I haven’t heard back from him.”
“That’s odd. You’re the third person that has told me their recycling wasn’t picked up. Normally Dallas is very responsive. I better call him and see if something is wrong at the plant.” Cade pulled his phone out of his pocket, and I remembered what Tiny had said about no one sorting the recycling. I grabbed Cade’s arm. “Ummm, we may have a problem.”
I could tell Cade didn’t want to hear what I had to say, but he asked anyway. “What?”
“I don’t know if there’s any validity to what I heard or not.”
“I can tell I’m not going to like it. What is it?”
I sighed. Being the bearer of bad news was not my forte. “Tiny said that there hadn’t been any sorting going on at Bin Dover since he was laid off two weeks ago.”
“How would Tiny know that if he was laid off?”
“I don’t know. I know that Dallas said he laid Tiny off because Tiny hit his sister.”
“Maddie?” Cade asked.
“Yeah, and I noticed abrasions all over Tiny’s fists too. You don’t think that he killed his own sister, do you?”
“Why would he be going off halfcocked all the time and bringing attention to the case if he killed her?”
I didn’t have an answer for that.
Cade frowned and tapped in Dallas’s phone number into his phone. He stood there, not moving as he waited for Dallas to answer. I could see it on his face that something was wrong; then, he started talking. “Dallas this is Cade Calloway. I’m calling about the recycling. I’ve heard from a couple of the businesses that their recycling wasn’t picked up
this morning. If there’s a problem with the trucks, or something is wrong, we need to talk. This program is important to our town. I also wanted to talk about the reported theft of the aluminum. Call me, and we’ll sit down and get things worked out.”
Cade hung up but he wasn’t happy. “This isn’t just bad for the town. This could break my campaign.”
I punched Cade in the arm. “I’m sure there’s an explanation for it. If there’s a problem, we’ll find a solution. Remember? I’m your running back.”
“Then help me load up this dolly and take it out to the truck so we get that office opened for business.”
“Yes, sir, Senator.”
“Not yet. So far, it’s just mayor. This time next year, you can call me senator.”
“That’s the Cade Calloway who stole my vote.”
“Besides, if I didn’t get these out of the Barn today, Scarlet said she’d shave my head the next time I came in for a haircut.”
“She does have big plans for the tearoom.”
“What’s she planning?” Cade asked as he began stacking the boxes.
“There’s going to be a wedding.” I smiled because Dean and Sugar deserved their happily ever after. Cade didn’t say a word, and we made thirteen trips to his pickup with me pushing a load on the hand truck and Cade carrying several boxes. By the time we were finished, the tearoom almost looked like new. Almost. Now I had to figure out what to do with the recycling.
Cade made me promise to come into the office the next morning to set up my desk and to help organize the office. Since it was my day off, it wasn’t going to be a problem. He took off, and I began the process of cleaning the tearoom. Scarlet planned on coming over that evening to start the decorating. I wasn’t sure what she had planned, but she said she had a Pinterest page set up and Sugar was pinning things she liked. My job was to make sure the tearoom was clean.
Easy peasy. I could handle that.
Princess walked in and squeaked at me. I looked over, and there she stood with her boyfriend looking for a handout. I froze, unsure how to proceed.
“Princess, you need to take him outside,” I ordered.
She sat up on her hind legs and blinked at me. Her boyfriend looked at her and did the same thing. Then he blinked as well. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I wouldn’t have believed it. As it was, no one was going to believe me when I told them.
Maybe I shouldn’t tell anyone, just in case they were too scared to take a chance to come for the wedding.
The bell at the front of the store rang, and I nearly panicked. “Sorry, the Book Barn Princess is closed!” I called out. “We’ll be open tomorrow morning at ten!”
The person didn’t answer, the bell didn’t ring again, and I got the crazy feeling that things on the other side of the wall were all wrong. I looked around for something to use as a weapon. I had a couple plates, a butter knife, a glass. Nothing that would protect me if someone was out there with a gun. Nothing except for a skunk.
“I advise you to leave. I have a skunk in here, and he’s ready to spray whoever walks through that door!”
Princess got down and waddled toward the door. Her boyfriend followed. It was my chance to grab a frying pan.
“You’re the only woman I know who would have a guard skunk,” Mateo said from over the top of the stall wall.
I swung around and grabbed my chest. “Geez Louise, Mateo you nearly scared me half to death. Why didn’t you answer?”
“Because it’s five o’clock, and you were telling me the Barn was closed when I know for a fact it doesn’t close until seven o’clock. Why didn’t you just tell me there was a skunk in the store?”
“I didn’t want to scare off a customer or tell someone who was coming to the wedding that there was a skunk, and I certainly couldn’t risk someone making him spray in the store again. That would be a nightmare.”
“How did he get back in the store?”
“Princess brought him in for dinner. I’m not about to feed a skunk and encourage him to come back.”
“He doesn’t look like he’s going to leave if you don’t.”
The skunk had rolled up in a ball and was sleeping right in the middle of my aisle. I couldn’t get out of the tearoom unless I used the side door and came around the front or back of the store.
“Princess you have lousy taste in men,” I complained.
Princess sniffed and put her nose up in the air. I didn’t think she cared what my opinion was. She was hungry, and they weren’t leaving until she said so.
“God, you can be stubborn.” I reached into the refrigerator and pulled out the container of mealworms I kept for Princess. I wasn’t about to give them anything but organic food.
Mateo pulled himself over the wall of the stall with ease and hopped down on the floor.
“Is this the way you’re going to be when your teenage daughter brings home a boyfriend?” he asked.
“Is that your idea of a tactical entry?”
Mateo laughed. “I’ve heard mother-daughter relationships can be volatile.”
“I don’t think they’re any different than father-son relationships.”
“You got me there.”
Mateo put his arms around my waist from behind and hugged me tight. “I’m sorry for this morning.”
I stopped fixing the food for Princess and her boyfriend and enjoyed the moment. “Me too.” But there was one thing he needed to know. “I’m going ahead with the job as Cade’s campaign manager.”
Mateo stiffened, and I braced myself for the lecture. He turned me around and looked me in the eye. “I’d rather you didn’t.”
“I understand that, but you have to trust me to make decisions that I think are in my best interest and decisions that I feel strongly about.”
He could tell I wasn’t backing down. This was an important stage in our relationship. I didn’t take orders from anyone unless I was working for them. And even then, there were conditions. He leaned his forehead against mine and closed his eyes.
“This is important to you?”
“It is. I believe in him, Mateo.” To lighten the mood, I told him about my pay. “And I’ll be making two and a half times what I make at the Barn.”
Mateo smiled. “Well, if I knew you’re going to be robbing Cade blind—”
“I resent that!” I said but laughed because the tension was broken.
Until he turned serious again. “I need to tell you something.”
“That sounds like bad news.”
“It’s not good news.”
I took a deep breath. “Spill it.”
“I got the ballistics test on the bullet that someone fired into Cade’s Tesla.” Mateo stared into my eyes.
“And?”
“They match the round that the ME pulled out of Maddie’s body.”
“You’re kidding.”
Mateo shook his head. “I wish I was.”
“Was it Nathan Daniels? Tiny said he killed Maddie.”
Mateo shook his head. “We’re still working on it. I have at least one piece of evidence that will tie the killer to the scene, but it’s going to take some time to get our search warrants. I’m hoping my detectives will get a confession.”
“What evidence?”
“I shouldn’t tell you.”
“But what if I know something about it and can lead you back to the killer. I’ve had a lot of contact with Tiny and the women have been talking about Nathan Daniels like crazy. I might be able to help.”
Mateo sighed. “It goes without saying that you cannot tell anyone else about this.” He waited for me to nod before continuing, “I have a rare coin we fished out of the water tank. I think it may have been on a chain and Maddie pulled it off her killer.”
“A rare coin?”
“That’s all I’m going to
say about it. Do you know if either of these men collect or own rare coins?”
I thought about it long and hard, and although I felt like I should be remembering something, nothing came to mind. “I feel like I should, but I just can’t place anything.”
“Call me if you think of anything, okay? Don’t go off looking for clues. In fact, I’d rather you didn’t go running around tonight. I want you to go straight to your apartment from inside the Barn, and I want you to stay home.”
“Mateo—”
“Listen to me on this one, Charli. Just give me a couple days. You can go to work and lunch, and even dinner. But I’d rather know you were safe at home at night until I catch this guy. I don’t want him to hurt anyone else. Especially you.”
I had to compromise. I knew I did. And Mateo had to compromise when he didn’t like me working for Cade. It was a matter of being in a relationship and making it work. We were going to have to act like adults. Fuzz buckets.
“Fine.”
Mateo grinned and then tickled me. Princess squawked, and her boyfriend grunted.
“I think that’s their way of saying they’re not going to wait any longer,” Mateo said.
“I think you’re right. The last thing Princess and I need are two irate boyfriends.”
We finished pouring their food into a couple bowls, and I slowly inched toward the door. Mateo waited in the tearoom.
“Are you telling me you’re not going to protect me from a skunk?”
“I think you can handle this one. He likes you better.”
“You protected Liza,” I complained as I made my way past Princess and prayed the skunk didn’t decide to share his scent.
“I protected the skunk from Liza and he misinterpreted my actions. You and he seem to be on the same page.”
He was right. Princess’s man seemed to like me. He waddled after me with his nose in the air and ran out the back door as I opened it. I put the food down and slowly backed into the store.
Mateo was waiting for me. He reached around and locked the door. “That’s the last time you go out back, promise me.”
“Cross my heart.” I meant every word of it.
