Murder Can Confuse Your Chihuahua

by Rose Pressey

  Caleb scrunched his brow. “Oh yes, I see who it is now.”

  He’d tried to sound neutral, but I knew he was a bit worried about the outcome of this situation. Now that we’d stopped, my brothers finally spotted us. Their faces lit up with happiness. They were a pain sometimes, but, of course, I loved them. They really could be sweet most of the time. They just did things that were questionable sometimes, and they acted out before really thinking things through.

  Caleb and I got out of the truck and walked toward them.

  “What’s going on, guys?” I asked.

  “Oh, we ran out of gas,” Stevie said.

  “We were trying to make it to the station, but it didn’t happen,” Hank said.

  “I told him to put gas in the car.” Stevie shoved Hank.

  “I put gas in the car last time. You were supposed to do it this time,” he said, pushing back.

  They continued arguing about who had put gas in last.

  I clapped my hands. “Guys, guys, don’t argue.”

  “If you want to hop in the back of the truck, I can give you all a ride to the gas station.” Caleb gestured.

  “Yeah, man, that’s great. Thanks a lot.” Stevie smacked Caleb on the back.

  My brothers climbed into the back of the truck. At least, they knew not to try to put me back there. Caleb and I slid into the truck.

  “Thanks for doing this,” I said. “I know my brothers can be a bit . . .”

  “Quirky?” Caleb finished for me.

  “Yeah, that’s the word. That word works for the rest of my family too.”

  Caleb pulled out onto the road. He was laughing now, but that might not continue when he got to know them better. Thank goodness, it wasn’t a long drive to the gas station. We had barely rolled to a stop when my brothers jumped out of the back of the truck. I got out and stayed with them as they pumped gas into the container they’d brought. Caleb stood beside me as he watched my brothers.

  “So are you guys a couple now?” Stevie asked.

  I was afraid this would happen. My brothers were always full of awkward questions. Maybe I should’ve left them back on the road and made them walk to the gas station. It wasn’t that far. They had walked farther. I supposed I just had to deal with their antics now. I knew they were this way, so why had I expected them to behave?

  Caleb’s expression told me that he didn’t know how to answer. And I didn’t either. My brothers just laughed when we had nothing to say.

  “If you don’t want to discuss it right now, that’s okay,” Hank said. “But you will have to talk about it eventually.”

  “Don’t you have to pay for that gas?” I asked, changing the subject.

  “Why? Don’t you have the money?”

  “Give me the money, and I’ll go and pay for it.” I wiggled my fingers. “That way we can hurry and get you back to your car.”

  “Why? Do you want to get rid of us?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “You catch on fast.” I waved my hand again to get the cash from him.

  “You mean you’re seriously not paying?” Stevie asked.

  “Very funny,” I said.

  After reaching into his pocket, he handed me a few crumpled-up bills, and I headed for the store. Should I really leave Caleb alone with them? There was no telling what they would say. I rushed my steps so that I could get back out there before they caused more damage.

  When I stepped inside the gas station, a blast of cold from the air conditioning hit me in the face. I went straight to the counter and gave the money to the woman behind the counter. When I spun around, I spotted him. He was at the back of the store by the refrigerator section. Danny was in the gas station.

  Panic set in, and I wanted to get out of there right away before he saw me. He was reaching into the refrigerated section for something to drink. More root beer? I had to get away before he noticed me. It was too late. Our eyes met. All I could think about was getting out of there quickly.

  I raced toward the door without checking to see if he was following me. Breaking free from the store, I headed toward the truck. My brothers were just putting the gas container on the back of the truck when they noticed me rushing. I ran over to them. Caleb had disappeared. Had they chased him away? It was like ninth-grade prom night all over again.

  “What’s going on?” Stevie asked. “Are you all right?”

  My mind shifted through a bunch of thoughts, wondering exactly how to answer.

  “He’s in there, and I wanted to get out right away,” I said breathlessly.

  “Did someone bother you?” Hank asked. “Are you talking about Caleb?”

  Anytime they thought someone was bothering me, they were ready to let the guy have it. Needless to say, dating was tough when I was younger. Who was I kidding? Dating was still tough.

  “No, it’s not Caleb. And the guy in the store isn’t really bothering me, I suppose,” I said.

  “You don’t sound convinced about that.”

  My brothers raised an eyebrow at each other. This was their silent signal to spring into action.

  “I think we need to go talk to the guy.”

  “Where’s Caleb?” I asked.

  I knew they had probably scared him away.

  “He’s taking a call and went over there somewhere to hear better with less noise.”

  I didn’t spot him anywhere, but I took their word for it. They’d better not have chased him away. My brothers marched toward the gas station like a two-man army, and I followed them. The last thing I wanted was for them to get into trouble. I didn’t know what Danny was capable of, even though there would be two against one. But that one was possibly a murderer. My brothers were really like big teddy bears. It wouldn’t be a fair fight.

  My brothers stepped into the gas station and marched up to the counter. They spotted Danny standing there paying for his root beer. Yes, the same root beer that he had been drinking at the fair. That was no surprise to me.

  “Guys, I don’t think you should do this. Caleb can talk to him.” I grabbed my brothers’ arms.

  But there was really nothing else for Caleb to say to Danny. He was a murder suspect, and that was all the info we had right now. If looks could kill, Danny would have murdered us all by now.

  “Hey, are you causing problems with our sister?” Stevie said, stepping up to the Danny.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Danny grabbed his bottle and headed toward the door.

  Hank stopped in front of him. “Just leave her alone.”

  “I don’t know what your problem is,” Danny said.

  Caleb came into the store. “Is everything all right here?”

  “Not really,” Stevie said as he stepped closer to Danny.

  “All right, guys, break it up.” Caleb stepped between the men.

  Danny stormed out of the store.

  “I told you guys not to say anything to him,” I said.

  “What? We thought he was bothering you. We didn’t want to let him get away with that,” Stevie said.

  “Guys, we have everything under control,” Caleb said.

  “Do you really?” Hank asked. “I don’t know if you do. My sister’s still upset. I don’t know if you have it under control.”

  I waved my hands. “I’m not upset, guys. I just told you who he was, but there’s no problem.”

  “Based on the way you ran out of that store, I’d say there’s a problem.”

  “Did Danny say anything to you before you came out?” Caleb asked.

  “No, it’s just that same smirk that he always gives, but I’m used to that by now,” I said. “All right, let’s go, guys.”

  I opened the door and insisted that they follow me back to the truck. Danny wasn’t there. Still on high alert, my brothers climbed into the back of the truck. Thank goodness, nothing else happened as we headed back toward their car.

  CHAPTER 20

  Consider giving away small gifts to lure customers. But don’t try gi
ving away your ghosts. They won’t like that.

  A short time later, we arrived back at my brothers’ car with no other complications. Danny hadn’t appeared anywhere along the way, and my brothers hadn’t posed any other questions. Thank goodness, Caleb was nice enough not to mention anything that had happened back at the gas station. He’d ignored the questions from my brothers. I really wanted to ask Caleb about Danny. If he didn’t mention him, though, I would have to drop it.

  We pulled up to my brothers’ car. Caleb and I got out with them, making sure that they filled the tank up and got the car started.

  “All right, Celeste and Caleb, so we’ll see you all at the festival tomorrow, right?” Stevie asked.

  I had hoped they’d forgotten.

  “Well, I will be busy with wrapping up the fair. Caleb will be busy too,” I said.

  “Oh no, you can’t get off that easy. You have to hang out with your family,” he said.

  “We’ll see you there,” Caleb said.

  Stevie and Hank shook Caleb’s hand. Apparently, my brothers approved of Caleb and his willingness to hang out with them. Family get-togethers with Caleb? This was a lot more than I expected.

  After everything that had happened, I was ready to just go back to the trailer and collapse into that tiny bed. Van would be ready to snuggle up with me too. After saying good-bye to my brothers, Caleb and I got back into the truck.

  “Thanks for helping them,” I said as he merged onto the road.

  “I’m happy to help,” Caleb said.

  Soon we arrived back at the craft fair. The night sky was full of sparkling stars. Caleb parked close to the trailer so that we wouldn’t have a long walk.

  As we got out of his truck and headed along toward the trailer, he peered up at the sky. “It’s a beautiful evening. Very romantic.”

  As soon as the words left his lips, my whole body tingled. I’d never heard him mention anything about romance. I didn’t know what to think about the comment, but I couldn’t help feeling giddy inside. Was he feeling the same way? Was that why he had mentioned the romantic setting? That had to be the reason. Why else would he make such a comment? He was right, though . . . it was romantic.

  Well, it was if I ignored the fact that a murderer could be walking nearby. There was hardly anyone out at the craft fair. Everyone had gone to bed for the night, I supposed.

  “We really did a lot today,” I said around a yawn, trying to make the conversation casual again.

  I wasn’t sure why I was avoiding any kind of talk of relationship and feelings.

  “It’s late. I should let you get some sleep,” Caleb said.

  I supposed he had taken the hint. We walked up to my trailer.

  “Well, thanks again for coming with me tonight,” I said.

  Caleb stood in front of me. As our eyes met, a nervous feeling settled in my stomach again. He moved closer, and I knew what would happen next. He leaned down and kissed me. His lips felt soft as they moved across mine. As we kissed, I had my eyes closed, though almost immediately, I sensed something and opened them. From over Caleb’s shoulder, movement caught my attention. Pierce stood at the side of my trailer. He’d definitely seen me kissing Caleb.

  Caleb realized something was wrong and moved his lips away from mine. He checked over his shoulder and saw Pierce too. Without saying a word, Pierce walked away. I wasn’t sure what to say either. Part of me wanted to run after him and tell him that I didn’t know what my feelings were for Caleb. But another part of me didn’t want to hurt Caleb’s feelings either. Because I liked him.

  This dating thing was tough, and I didn’t know how it worked. Both guys were nice, and I wasn’t sure who I wanted to date. I supposed it would work itself out as I spent more time with the men. I’d spent the most time with Caleb.

  “I didn’t know anyone was back there,” I said.

  “I’m sure Pierce was just checking things out,” Caleb said.

  I could tell he was a bit upset thinking that Pierce had been watching us. As if things couldn’t get worse, I spotted a piece of paper taped to the front of my trailer door. I knew right away what it was. It certainly wasn’t a notice telling me that I had sold all my paintings, that was for sure. I hurried over and pulled it from the door.

  “What is it?” Caleb asked.

  “Another warning, apparently.” I handed it to him.

  You’re close, but you’ll never be close enough.

  After reading it, he said, “This has to stop. I don’t think I want you to stay here at the fair anymore.”

  “I have to stay. I have to sell my artwork. Besides, I think it’s just someone messing with me because they realize that I’m poking around the investigation.”

  “Or maybe the killer is messing with you. Why don’t you take me seriously when I say it’s dangerous, Celeste?” Caleb asked.

  “That isn’t exactly a threat,” I said. “It’s more of a taunt. Besides you’re only a couple booths down if anything happens, right?”

  “I guess,” Caleb said.

  CHAPTER 21

  Secure your belongings when you have to step away from your booth. Unfortunately, you can’t ask a ghost to watch your things. It has to be a person.

  Later that night, I needed to grab the bottles of water I’d bought from my truck. I’d only stepped away from my trailer for a short time. I didn’t think anything would happen to my paintings and especially in such a short time. I might not be safe from an unknown danger, but I thought my paintings, which I’d left out front before taking them in for the night, would be fine. I was completely wrong.

  When I reached my trailer, I stopped in my tracks. It felt as if someone had punched me in my stomach. I was unable to breathe for a second, as if the air had been sucked out of my lungs. I thought I might be sick right there.

  The slashed canvases took my breath away. In the middle of several of my paintings, the canvas had been cut. Who would do such a thing? Peering around for the culprit, I saw no one else out at their trailers. However, I had a feeling the person was close by. Someone obviously didn’t like me and was trying to send a message. Perhaps the same person who had left the notes. It wasn’t just a random person who had come along and stumbled on my paintings, deciding to destroy my hard work.

  I suspected either Danny or Karla. And I intended to get to the bottom of this. They wouldn’t get by with doing this to my artwork. Who should I confront first? Now I was angry. At first, I’d been scared, but now anger had taken over.

  I walked toward Karla’s place. Maybe Danny had really done it, though. Either way, I was going to confront someone. I knew whoever did it wouldn’t want to admit their guilt, but at least if I knew who it was, I’d be aware of their violent nature in the future. And I wouldn’t let them get away with what they’d already done.

  Of course, if the person who’d done this was the killer, they’d already showed their nature toward Erica. What was I supposed to do? Allow this to happen without saying a word? No way. That wasn’t my style.

  The light was on at Karla’s trailer. I intended to knock on the door and ask her about slashing the paintings. Of course, I was anxious as I approached the door. I reached up and pounded on it. It was now or never. I would just have to come right out with it.

  Now that I had knocked, second thoughts crept into my mind. Should I really do this? When Karla opened the door wide, I knew that I had no choice but to go through with it. Anger filled her expression as soon as she saw me.

  “What do you want?” she yelled.

  “I want to know why you destroyed my paintings,” I said.

  When I threw the anger right back at her, I hadn’t expected such rage to fill her eyes.

  “Exactly what are you talking about? I know you’re not accusing me of something like that.”

  I stood my ground. “Yes, I am accusing you. I know you’re angry with me for confronting you with Erica’s murder. And you think I stole your wallet. So that’s the perfect excuse for you to tr
y to get revenge against me. Someone destroyed my paintings, and I know it was you.”

  Rage filled her eyes, and I thought she might jump right out of her trailer and attack me.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t leave your things out where people can destroy them.”

  “So you’re admitting it?”

  “I’m not admitting to anything,” she said.

  “Stay away from my things,” I said.

  “What makes you so sure that it was me? Maybe it was one of your other neighbors? Like that creepy guy on the other side with those horrific paintings. It could be your boyfriend the cop. Did you make him mad? I saw the other one lurking around. If you’re going to point fingers, definitely do it at them and not me.”

  “I’m sure you just want me to think it’s the crazy guy. That would be the obvious choice. And don’t even think it’s one of my friends.”

  “You’re such a fake. You go around trying to be all nice, but I know that we should really watch you. You try to be a sweet little girl, driving that pink truck and the pink trailer. You’re trying to act like you’re innocent. Well, I’m not buying that act. How do I know you didn’t slash your own paintings so that you could accuse me of doing it?”

  “I’ve heard a lot of crazy things, but that’s the craziest,” I said.

  There was no sense in talking with her any longer. I spun around and headed back toward my trailer.

  “What’s going on here?” Caleb called out.

  Thank goodness, Caleb was there.

  “Look what she did to my paintings,” I said, pointing.

  “Don’t accuse me of that.” Karla lunged toward me. Caleb jumped in front of her.

  “Celeste, go back to the trailer, and I’ll be right there, okay?” Caleb held Karla back with his arm.

  After giving one last glare, I marched the rest of the way over to my trailer. I was so upset that I wanted to scream. Many of the paintings were ruined. I had very little left to sell now. Even if the craft fair was almost over, it still meant potentially less profit for me. There would be no time to replace them. Plus, I’d lost all the hard work that had gone into the paintings.