“I have no idea,” May said. Then, not meeting her daughter’s eyes, she added, “You’ll have to ask your father-in-law how it all happened.”
“Fine.” Skye was pretty darn sure Carson had pulled some strings. “But why did the Quinns want to leave Chicago in the first place?”
“Because of their daughter.” May wiped her fingers on a napkin. “Although they lived in a nice area of the city, Jerita was adamantly opposed to Jenna attending a school in Chicago, even a private one.”
“That seems odd.” Skye wondered if the woman had regretted that decision after her run-in with Homer. “How did Loretta come to hire Jerita?”
“When Loretta said she was looking for help, Carson may have mentioned that Jerita had been a paralegal in the city.”
“My father-in-law has been a busy little bee, hasn’t he?” Skye bit into the chewy cookie and moaned at the delicious hit of butterscotch. “I wonder if he knows the Bakers.”
“I don’t see how he would.” May’s voice was firm. “He wouldn’t have anything to do with Bord du Lac people. They weren’t affected by the tornado and certainly don’t move in his circle of friends.”
“Are you sure of that?” Skye teased. “After all, he is dating Bunny Reid.”
May lips formed a hard line and she glared at her daughter. “I’m not discussing that woman, so drop it.”
“You’re awfully bossy today.” Skye could have said her mother was bossy every day, but she didn’t want to risk May taking the cookies away.
“I’m not bossy. I just know what everyone should do,” May said without a shred of humor.
Understanding that the subject of Carson’s love life was closed, Skye asked casually, “How’s Dorothy doing? Has she been able to replace the clients she lost due to the tornado?”
“No.” May sighed. “Having one of her regulars murdered put off some folks, and a lot of people are hurting financially because the insurance companies haven’t agreed to payments for their damages yet.” May brightened. “But that is getting better since the new adjuster took over.”
“That’s good.” Skye crossed her leg. “How’s Dorothy managing?”
“She’s struggling.” May crumpled up her napkin. “She mentioned trying to get on at a factory, but at her age that’s going to be hard.” She gathered up the empty glasses as she headed to the kitchen, then asked, “Are you planning on having her back once the house is finished?”
Before Skye could answer, the telephone rang and May answered it.
A second later, she returned and said, “The baby’s here and Vince gave me the okay to come to the hospital.” Rushing down the hallway, she emerged from the spare bedroom with a drowsy April. Then as she jogged out the back door she yelled, “Talk to you later.”
Skye slowly gathered Eva and CJ and headed to her car. It was time to have a chat with Carson, but first she needed to make a pit stop at the RV. She’d been so intent on quizzing her mom she’d forgotten the twins’ diaper bag. And from the smell, one, or both, of the babies was in urgent need of a change.
Chapter 10
Anyplace I Hang My Hat Is Home
Turning into her driveway, Skye spotted the tricked-out F-150 Platinum SuperCrew Cab parked by the RV. When Wally’s father had decided to stay in Scumble River for an extended period of time, he’d had his truck brought up from Texas. The Ford’s distinctive metallic ruby exterior made the luxury vehicle easy to distinguish from any of the other pickups in the area.
As soon as Skye pulled to a stop behind the truck, Carson hopped out of the cab and hurried over to the SUV. Although in his early seventies, he was still trim and heartbreakingly handsome. His dark hair was mostly silver, but he had the same warm brown eyes as his son.
The minute Skye stepped out of the Mercedes, Carson asked, “Everything okay with you and my grandbabies?”
“We’re all finer than frogs’ hair.” Skye liked to try out down-home sayings on her father-in-law and grinned when he chuckled.
“Glad to hear it.” Carson opened the door to the back seat and began unbuckling Eva. “How’s your ma?”
“On her way to the hospital to see her new grandson.” Skye walked to the SUV’s other side and went to work freeing CJ from his car seat.
She didn’t bother to ask how her father-in-law knew she’d been visiting May. When he’d arrived at the RV and she wasn’t home, he’d doubtlessly called the babies’ security team to find out their location and demand a safety check.
“That’s great.” Carson followed Skye up the metal stairs. “I know Miss Loretta was getting mighty tired of being pregnant.”
Entering the RV, Skye almost stepped on Bingo. Prior to the tornado, whenever she’d arrived home, the black cat would be in the foyer demanding petting and chin scratches before allowing her past him down the hall. But since the storm, the relocation to the motor home, and the birth of the babies, he’d spent most of his time on one of the living room chairs or guarding the twins while they slept in the bedroom.
At Bingo’s age, the changes had been hard on him and he’d seemed lethargic. His vet, Dr. Quillen, had assured Skye that he was fine, but she’d still been worried. He was the last thing she had of Grandma Leofanti, and she wasn’t ready to lose him like she’d lost the rest of her keepsakes from her grandmother in the tornado. Which was why she was thrilled to have him greet her with his previous affectionate rub against her ankles.
Once Bingo was sure he had her attention, he strolled toward the kitchen. Sitting in front of the cupboard that held his food, he glanced back at Skye, and she could swear he raised imaginary eyebrows as if to ask What’s taking you so long? I’m starving.
Quickly handing CJ to Carson, who nestled the baby in his free arm, Skye complied with Bingo’s implicit demand. Flinging open the cabinet door, she grabbed the bright-yellow bag containing the cat’s favorite treat.
Dr. Quillen had warned her about Bingo’s weight and told her not to feed him between meals, but she wanted to encourage his return to normal behavior so she hurriedly tore off the top strip off the package. At the loud crinkling sound, the cat’s purr echoed off the RV’s walls. Glancing down at Bingo, she smiled at his enthusiasm for the square brown tidbits.
He paced back and forth in front of her, his green eyes mere slits as he stared at the shiny bag as if to say Hurry.
“Just a second, sweetie,” Skye cooed as she poured a handful out onto the floor and bargained, “We’ll be in our new house soon, and your routine will be almost back to normal.” She looked over her shoulder and saw that Carson had settled the babies in their swings. “I know you love CJ and Eva so they won’t bother you, right?”
Bingo ignored her, demolished the treats, and licked his chops, then strolled to his water dish, sniffed the full bowl, and gave a disdainful meow.
“I take it you’d like your beverage upgraded?” Skye asked, emptying the bowl, then grabbing a bottle from the fridge and showing it to the finicky feline as if it were a fine wine. “Perhaps some Dasani?”
Wally had been the one to fill Bingo’s dish that morning and he claimed there was no way the cat could tell the difference between what came from the faucet and the expensive stuff. Skye knew differently.
“Remember our policy,” Skye cautioned. “Don’t tell Daddy about this.”
Bingo purred his agreement. Once Skye put down the refilled bowl, he touched the liquid with his nose, licked off the droplets, then contentedly lapped up the purified water.
The sound of Carson’s chuckles reminded Skye that she had an audience, and instead of explaining her behavior, she said, “You must have read my mind. You’re just the person I wanted to see, Dad.”
“I didn’t get a chance to talk to you when you came back from the Quinns’ because I’d just gotten a text from Bunny to pick her up so we could head over to Walmart.” He took off his oilskin rancher jac
ket and laid it over the back of the sofa. “They’re almost done repairing her apartment and she was over there making a list of what we’d need to buy to move back in.”
“That was fast. But I heard the damage wasn’t as bad as they first thought,” Skye commented. “How much longer for the bowling alley to reopen?”
“Probably another month.” Carson rubbed his chin. “They had to gut the area where the bomb went off, as well as most of the bar and grill.”
“I bet you two will be glad to get out of that tiny cabin.” Skye chuckled to herself at the picture of her billionaire father-in-law living with his ex-Las-Vegas-showgirl lady friend at the Up A Lazy River Motor Court in accommodations that hadn’t been refurbished since the fifties. Heck! She could probably sell that image as an idea for a reality television show.
Skye took off her coat, hung it up, then walked over to CJ and sniffed. Nope. It wasn’t him. She took a whiff of her daughter. Yep. It was Eva with the full load.
Carson trailed Skye as she took the baby into the bedroom to change her, and while she cleaned up the little girl, he said, “Yeah. I can’t wait to get back to where we can cook our own food again.”
“Would you like to stay for supper tonight? I’ve got a southwest stew in the slow cooker and I’ll make those biscuits you like.”
“Wish I could, Sugar.” Carson took his freshly diapered granddaughter back to her swing. “But I promised Bunny a night out.” He muttered, “She’s not too happy I’m not taking her with me tomorrow.”
“Oh?” Skye followed her father-in-law into the living room and sat on the couch. “Any particular reason you don’t want her with you?”
“Well…” Carson’s ears reddened, indicating either guilt or embarrassment, a tell he shared with his son. “This is sort of a delicate meeting. It seems some folks are upset about a certain Christmas carol that’s playing in our holiday ads.” He rolled his eyes. “Evidently, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer’s line about all the other reindeers calling him names is a trigger for individuals who were bullying victims.”
“Seriously?” Skye tried to be sensitive to others’ feelings and she often worked with students who were bullied, but that someone would be triggered by a carol about a reindeer was ridiculous. Sometimes she just had to wonder if people had too much time on their hands. “What’s the company’s response going to be?”
Carson smirked. “What I’d really like to do is put up a billboard that says Hello, Everyone! What are you offended by today?” He made a face. “But in reality, we’ll probably vote to remove the music from the ad. And that’s going to annoy a lot of the board of directors, which isn’t exactly the best time for them to meet Bunny.”
“She might surprise you.” Skye smiled, then said, “Anyway, I’m glad to see you before you left because I was hoping you could give me a little insight on the Quinns and their marriage.”
“Let me think.” Carson sat on a chair kitty-corner to the sofa, held his Stetson in his hand, and ran the brim between his fingers. “Beilin worked as a general contractor for a construction company that built an office building for me in Chicago. He’d been a residential GC previously and was looking to get back into that game.”
“So you contacted him after the tornado?” Skye asked. She couldn’t quite recall how everything got settled once she and Wally decided to build a new house rather than try to fix their old one.
“Yes.” Carson crossed his legs. “Wally mentioned that all the contractors you and he had approached had waiting lists of more than a year before they could even get started on your place.”
“Right.” Skye shuddered. “I thought we’d be living in this RV until the kids were in preschool.” She patted Carson’s hand. “Not that we don’t appreciate you providing it for us. Otherwise we’d probably be living with my parents, and you know how that would end up.”
“May’s a force of nature all right.” Carson chuckled and said, “Anyway, I went through my files to see which firms my company had used, and that led me to Beilin. I recalled him talking about his experience in residential construction, and when I contacted him, he was thrilled to put in a bid for the job. His price was reasonable, and he could start right away.”
“That was a stroke of luck.” Skye wondered if Carson had somehow stacked the deck to make Beilin both available and interested.
“Yep. His only caveat was being able to find a home to buy in the area since he wanted to move his family here and make a fresh start,” Carson explained. “Beilin felt that there’d be plenty of work for him what with all the tornado damage, and that your house would be a great advertisement for his new company.”
“Besides the work, did he say why he wanted to leave the city?”
Carson pursed his lips. “As I recall, it had something to do with his daughter.”
“Mom said it was because his wife didn’t want her in Chicago schools,” Skye commented. “That seems sort of silly. In addition to private ones, there are a lot of good public schools in the city.”
“I’m trying to remember, but I don’t believe it was the quality of the education.” Carson closed his eyes for several seconds, then shook his head and opened them. “Nope. Beilin never said exactly why, but I got the feeling that it was something else.”
“Hmm. I wonder what.” Skye made a mental note to tell Wally they should find out the real reason Jerita didn’t want Jenna to attend school in the city. Then she lifted a brow at her father-in-law and said, “So along with everything else, you hooked up Jerita and Loretta?”
“Not really.” Carson ducked his head. “I just told them about each other. I let Jerita know that Loretta was looking for someone to hire and I informed Loretta that Jerita was a paralegal.”
“You’re quite the matchmaker.” Skye couldn’t help but smile at her father-in-law’s delight in helping people. He was one of a kind.
“For some reason, I’ve become the local employment agency.” Carson shrugged. “I’ve met a lot of folks volunteering and some of them tell me they’re in need of a job, and I tell ’em who’s hiring.”
“Do you get the info on who’s hiring from working on the cleanup crews and serving at the shelters?” Skye smiled fondly at Carson. He had such a heart of gold it was difficult to remember that he was the CEO of a multibillion-dollar company.
“No. I just pick up things here and there around town.” Carson twitched his shoulders. “Mostly at the American Legion. Bunny likes to go there for their bingo games, so I hang out at the bar while she plays.”
Skye blinked at the thought of Bunny elbow-to-elbow with all the little old ladies but didn’t comment.
Carson checked his watch and stood. “I need to mosey on. Bunny doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
“That’s sort of surprising since she’s rarely on time for anything herself.” Skye snickered at how much that trait annoyed her son.
“True.” Carson laughed. “Her motto is that it’s better to be late than to be ugly.”
Skye giggled. “You have your hands full with that one.”
“That I do.” Carson kissed CJ and Eva, then turned to Skye. “I almost forgot the reason that I stopped by was to tell you not to worry about the house. I spoke to Beilin and he plans to keep working on it and have it finished when he promised, if not sooner.”
“If he needs to take some time off…” Skye forced herself to offer.
“I asked if he wanted me to bring someone else in to tie up the loose ends and he said no. He’d rather keep busy than sit and brood.”
“Understandable.” Skye rose to her feet. “Everyone handles grief differently.”
“That they do.” Carson gave her hug. “And you’re in the profession to know that.”
They walked to the door, and when Carson reached for the knob Skye said, “I just remembered one other thing that I wanted to check with you about.”
“Do you know of any kind of link between Jerita Quinn and our missing woman, Edie Baker?” Skye asked. “Have you ever seen them together?”
“No. And nothing comes to mind to connect them.”
“Shoot!”
“You be careful when I’m gone.” Carson kissed her cheek. “I won’t try to talk you out of investigating this murder with Wally, but promise me you’ll notify the security guys if you’re going anywhere at all dicey, and call them for help if you get into any trouble. Remember, if you press the star on your cell phone, it will act as an alarm for the team. They might be assigned to the twins, but they know you’re a priority too.”
“I have no plans to do anything risky,” Skye assured him. “My involvement will probably be talking to people in the controlled environment of the police station or with Wally by my side.”
“Good.” Carson ran down the steps, then shouted from the bottom of the stairs. “When I get back, I’m buying you a Smith & Wesson Model 66, teaching you to shoot, and enrolling you in concealed carry classes.”
“No thanks!” Skye waved and shut the door, knowing she hadn’t heard the last of that subject, but determined not to let her father-in-law turn her into Annie Oakley. Until the apocalypse hit, she’d stick to pepper spray.
After checking on the babies, and finding them happily occupied with their toys, Skye tapped her chin. Who should she talk to next?
Skye paced the short distance between the front door and the entrance to the bedroom. Loretta was unavailable. Wally wouldn’t want her talking to Homer until they determined if he was the pumpkin seed spitter. And there was no way Earl would answer his phone.
She’d like to quiz Piper to see if the intern had picked up on anything while she was working with Jenna. But that was better done in person, and Skye would have an opportunity to do it tomorrow.
Come Homicide or High Water Page 10
