Coughing & Donuts: A Mercy Mares Cozy Mystery

by Ava Mallory

  I laughed involuntarily, remembering what Lou had said about her and Mike's parents.

  Brandi and Charlie looked at each other, their eyebrows quirking up.

  “Sorry, I was just remembering something a friend said earlier. Go on. Don't let me interrupt.” I tried to look serious.

  She continued, “Anyway, we had what you'd call a whirlwind romance. We were hot and heavy from the get go, so no one was surprised when we eloped, but some people, ahem, his parents were not happy campers. They just about disowned him, but his mother loved him so much, she couldn't totally cut ties with him.”

  Charlie asked, “His family wasn't happy about their baby boy getting married?”

  Brandi laughed a sinister laugh. She was getting a kick out of this walk down memory lane. “Not. At. All. His mother cried for years. I kid you not. Every time she saw him, she'd cry. And, well, his dad... I never truly understood what happened there. I just know that somehow Mike got cut out of his will and that changed everything.”

  Now, this was getting interesting.

  “They took him out of their will? They were really hurt when he married you.” I mused.

  Brandi squinted her eyes at me. “Some people just don't know how to say goodbye. He was a grown man and we had a baby on the way. What did they expect him to do?”

  “You were pregnant?” This was getting better and better.

  “Yep, four months. When River was born, things calmed down, I guess. They treated my kids just fine. My kids adored them.” Brandi explained.

  “Are they gone now?” Charlie asked, referring to Mike's parents.

  She nodded, showing true emotion for the first time. Behind the layers of makeup she painted on and the blonde locks was an actual normal human being. I was surprised. She fanned her eyes to dry up the tears that had formed in her eyes. “They were good people. I was just never good enough for their only child.”

  Mike was an only child. No wonder they held on so tightly to him. I couldn't blame them. If my daughter brought home someone that I wasn't sure about, I'd be over protective too.

  “If he was an only child, what happened to their estate? Did they put him back in their will?” Charlie asked.

  I did a mental calculation of how much her personal upkeep and maintenance would cost her and, on a waitress' salary, I wondered how she was able to survive on her own.

  I asked, “Did they leave their money to your kids?”

  She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Part of it. It's in trust for their education. There wasn't a lot, but it's a lot more than I'd ever be able to give them myself.” Brandi said.

  “Who got the other part?” Charlie asked, confused by who else could have mattered that much to Mike's parents.

  Brandi stood up, putting her hands on her hips. “We never really knew. We had our suspicions though.”

  I couldn't believe it. No wonder he was so angry. He was removed from his parents' will. That had to be devastating, but I didn't believe that she didn't know who got the other part of the inheritance.

  Charlie seemed to be a step ahead of me. “Did he follow you here because of the money your kids inherited? Is that why he was so angry?”

  Brandi's hands started to tremble. She raised them to her face to shield her face and started to sob.

  “He used to love me. We were supposed to be together forever, but that money changed everything. He became someone I didn't recognize. He was always mad and always accusing me and the kids of hiding information from him. We didn't know anything about it until their attorney phoned us a few weeks after my mother-in-law died. My father-in-law passed away a little over a year before she did.”

  Charlie stood up and spoke in a firm voice. “Who got the other part of their assets?”

  Brandi looked at me with pleading eyes. Why was she so frightened all of a sudden? Who had they willed their money to besides her children?

  Chapter Nine

  I'd been running on pure adrenaline all day long and couldn't get myself to calm down. After my last shift, I'd naively believed that commiserating with Wagner would somehow help to calm my frayed nerves, but then he showed up on my doorstep and feelings I never wanted to explore again crept up and took a seat right next to my already jumbled nerves and the multitude of problems in my life.

  To top it all off, I still had this cloud of suspicion over me, not to mention, another shift to work in a few hours and an ever-expanding list of questions that I had no hope of finding answers for anytime soon.

  My cell phone rang and I knew another day of the pandemonium was promised ahead. Going into work wasn't going to ease my tensions because I assume I was still barred from working with certain patients, the staff would still be avoiding contact with me, and the local police department would still have me on their radar, so no matter what I didn't or didn't do, my fate was sealed.

  “Hello?” I answered, rubbing my eyes.

  “Well, it sure is nice to hear your voice again, Mercedes Benz!” Nubbin's hearty laughter warmed my heart.

  “Well, hello yourself! How is my all time favorite patient?” I asked, feeling the tension in my shoulders relax. I'd spent three months working with Nubbin on my last assignment and missed seeing him and hearing what the latest nickname he made up for me was going to be for the day.

  “All time favorite, huh? Sounds like you need to start taking care of a higher class of people, Range Rover. If I was the best you got, then, you need to step up your game.” He laughed again. In my mind's eye, I could just see his ample belly flopping up and down as he chuckled a throaty chuckle.

  “I heard that you missed me. What are you up to today?” I asked as I forced myself out of bed and into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee.

  “Not much, just trying not to die today either.” Nubbin answered with one of his infamous witty comments.

  “Either?” I asked.

  “Yep, tried the same thing yesterday and wouldn't you know it? It actually worked.” He paused to clear his throat. “Now, say, the reason I'm calling you is I have to tell you something.”

  I pulled a chair out and sat down. Knowing Nubbin like I did, I knew this story was going to be a doozy.

  “Me and Tina here we heard a little rumor.” He liked to drag his stories out for as long as people would let him.

  “Oh, are you referring to my favorite nurse Tina?” I just adored Tina. She and I had become close since I'd left my last assignment. She was such a sweet girl and reminded me a lot of myself at her age. She was probably the only nurse at the facility Nubbin lived in who had enough patience and a kind enough heart to put up with Nubbin's sometimes fussy behavior and, more often than not, his tendency to be quite dramatic.

  “You know the one.” He said. “What I was going to tell you was that a little bird with a big mouth told me that Wagner is planning on going out to California to see you and help you out of a bind you got yourself into, Cavalier. Is that true?”

  Suddenly, I felt the guilt a young girl might feel if her father asked her the same question. What did I have to feel guilty about? Last I'd checked I was inching up on forty-five years of age and I was single.

  I answered, “Well, only part of that is a rumor. Charlie... I mean, Sheriff Wagner is in California, but I didn't get myself into any trouble.”

  “Sure, you didn't, Nissan, and my last names not Schmeckpepper either.” Why did he ask me the question if he already knew the answer?

  “Nubbin, things are fine and the Sheriff is just here to help me think things through. Are you trying to be overprotective? That's so sweet.” I teased.

  “No, no. Now, don't say that. If I'm protecting anyone, it's from the likes of you, Lincoln. If that Wagner goes and loses his head, we'll be out of a sheriff and, if we're out of a sheriff, then, who will be around to take up space, doing nothing in the Sheriff's office?” Nubbin wasn't the type of man to show affection. He was born and bred on the farm and believed that men should be men and niceties were for the weak, but
beyond his rough exterior, lived a man who truly cared about people and I was lucky enough to be one of them, so I let that remark go.

  “So, how is Tina? Is she standing right there with you?” I asked.

  “She's here. She always here. Ever since you left, I think she's the only one who does anything around here, so if you add it all up together, aside from bothering me all the time, nothing else gets done.” Nubbin quipped, prompting playful screams of protest from Tina.

  “Be nice, Nubbin. She loves you. Can I speak to her for a moment?” I asked, finally, taking my first sip of coffee for the day.

  “Hi, Mercy! How is everything?” Tina sounded chipper. I was glad. She should be happy.

  “Okay, I suppose. How did Nubbin know about Charlie?” I asked.

  Tina said, “Charlie comes down here twice a week to have dinner with him. I guess, Charlie said something to him the other day. Are you two finally seeing each other now?”

  “Nope.” I answered quickly. “I didn't even know he was headed this way, but...” I stopped myself, nervous about what might possibly have come out of my mouth next.

  “Uh oh, is something wrong, then? Are you okay?" I could hear the worry in Tina's voice.

  "No. I'm fine. Sorry. I didn't mean for it to sound like he came here out of nowhere because something was wrong. That's not it at all." I explained.

  "Okay. Well, good. Is he on vacation?" Tina asked.

  I should have known better than to think that she would just take my explanation as all there was to the story. Of course not! That would be ridiculous. I'd ask more questions too, if they tables were reversed.

  "Maybe there is a little bit of a problem, but it's not a big deal." I didn't even believe it myself, so I don't know why I thought she'd buy that story.

  I could hear Nubbin speaking in the background, so I hesitated to say anything else, since she was calling from work and technically she shouldn't have been talking to me on his phone in the first place.

  "I have to go. Kathy's the Charge Nurse today and you know how that goes." She and I knew all too well what kind of nurse Kathy was, so I completely understood her rush to hang up, then, it occurred to me. "Why aren't you the Charge Nurse? You took your boards, right?"

  She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Kathy got all bent out of shape because they were giving me shifts and the aides weren't doing their jobs right, so she threw a fit and the nurse manager put me on the floor instead."

  "With the aides?" I couldn't believe it. Tina was a nurse and had no business still working the floor as an aide permanently. Now, I didn't mind working alongside the aides. They are notoriously a hardworking bunch, but to just be essentially demoted because some bullying nurse didn't like you, wasn't right.

  "Yes, which is fine because I'm still getting nursing wages, but I'm not getting any real experience and I'll probably be stuck here forever because of it, but I guess I'll live. I've been through worse." She tried to sound okay with it, but I could tell by her tone that she was disappointed.

  "Sorry, honey. I've said it before and I'll tell you again, you should really take Ruby up on her offer. Come work for the agency and get some experience here. You can work with the home health nurses and you'll get paid a lot more than you're making there." I really wished she'd decide to move out to California. I'd even started decorating my spare rooms to accommodate her and her little boy, Noah, but I hadn't told her that yet because I didn't want to add more pressure on her.

  "I'm beginning to think I should. I just thought that... Well, I'll tell you later. Are you working tonight?" She asked.

  "Yes, but I'll give you a call tomorrow afternoon and we can talk. Take care, hon, and give Nubbin a big old smooch for me." She laughed and hung up.

  I enjoyed an another cup of coffee as I thought about how fun it would be to have a little one in my house again. I know Diana would love to know that I'm not all alone, if they came to live with me for a while.

  My phone rang again. I picked it up, noticing that my battery was dying.

  "Hey, what did you tell Nubbin and Tina about coming down here to see me?" I didn't bother with the small talk. I wanted to know what Charlie had told people about us.

  "Well, good morning to you too, sunshine. I didn't tell them anything, other than you got yourself in the middle of another one of your situations and I was going to fly out to get you out of it." He answered.

  "Why would you say that? You know how excitable Nubbin is. And, poor Tina thought that you and I were dating. You really need to be mindful of what you say to people." I scolded him.

  He didn't say anything at first. I checked the phone to see if he'd hung up or if it had gone dead yet. According to the screen, I had 10 percent battery life left, so that wasn't it and it showed that we were still connected.

  "Are you still there?" I asked.

  He sighed.

  I thought I'd gone too far and started to apologize, but he interrupted me.

  "What? Are you mad that I made someone think you were my girlfriend? Is that what your problem is? Well, if it's any consolation, I never used those words. Why would I want a sassy, too nosy for her own good woman complicating my life?" For the first time since our friendship started blossoming, he tone was quite serious, but he didn't know who he was messing with.

  "Excuse me? I'm too nosy? What about you? You're the one who hopped on a plane to California to meddle in something that is none of your business, not me!" Why was I so angered by his words? He wasn't my boyfriend. He was my friend. His words shouldn't have bothered me.

  "You're right. My mistake." Charlie hung up the phone.

  He hung up on me? The nerve of him!

  *

  "Don't you want to see my name badge?" I asked the guard as he waved me past the front gates.

  "Nope." He answered without so much as looking at my face.

  I sighed. I didn't have time for another heated exchange today. It was bad enough that I was operating on no sleep and I'd not heard back from Charlie all day long, but now I was going to have to spend the next twelve hours working with people who didn't want me around.

  As I got out of my car, I noticed Alma walking Phoebe around the perimeter. She waved at me and within two seconds Phoebe was barking.

  I should have listened to the dog when she was trying to tell me to get out of here.

  "Hi!" Alma yelled. "How are you?"

  What does she want?

  I waved back at her.

  Please, leave me alone. I don't care anymore.

  "Is your daughter still in town?" She asked.

  I looked at my watch. I still had twenty minutes before I needed to clock in and was in no hurry to sit and do nothing before my shift started, so I dragged myself over to where Alma stood to at least try to act like a decent human being.

  "Hi, Alma." Phoebe growled at me. "She went home. How are you doing?"

  She wrapped Phoebe's collar one more time around her wrist. "Good. We're just out for a late night stroll as usual."

  As soon as she said it, something triggered in my brain. I'd not asked her about that.

  "Do you go out at the same time every night?"

  "Sure do. Phoebe's bladder runs on schedule." She answered.

  "Do you always go the same route?" I asked, looking back at the guardhouse to see what I could see from that far away.

  "I'm a creature of habit." Alma answered. "Why? Did you want to go for a walk with us?"

  No, because I'm not a dog.

  "I was just curious because you would probably notice if something was out of place or seemed out of the ordinary, right?" I wondered if maybe she'd seen the murderer and hadn't even realized it.

  She looked from me to the guard tower, then, back to me. “What do you mean? I didn't see anything that night.”

  “No, of course not. It was raining that night. You're right. Mike was alive in the morning, so of course you wouldn't have noticed anything unusual at night, but I'm sure you must walk Phoebe in the morning
too.”

  She nodded. “Well, yes, but what does that have to do with anything?”

  “I'm not sure. That depends on what you saw.” I hoped I wasn't grasping at straws, but she was the only other person that had seen and heard me that night. She could vouch for me and tell Lou why I had been upset. It wasn't any reason to kill a man.

  She looked at her watch. “You better get in. You're going to be late, aren't you?”

  “You didn't answer my question.” I didn't want to be late, but I also didn't want to let her walk away without knowing whether or not she'd seen or heard anything unusual on the day Mike was murdered.