Wild Blue Mysteries Boxed Set

by Diane Bator

  “Won’t you be hot in that coat?”

  He shrugged. “Better than getting road rash if someone hits me.”

  “Ah, the motorcycle makes its spring debut. You know if anyone hits you, road rash will be the least of your worries.” She turned to face him and tilted her head, her long black ponytail a dark waterfall down the front of her white tank top. “Is everything okay? You don’t normally come out during the week. Aren’t you on call or something?”

  His sister had built-in radar. It was eerie how she always knew when something went on in his life. Business or personal.

  “Yeah. I asked Bobby to cover for me so I could spy on you and Ray. I’ll go back tomorrow.”

  “Dinner’s at six. If you could grab garlic bread, you’d save me some work.”

  Danny grinned. “Are we having spaghetti for dinner?”

  “Lasagna. Flowers would look good on the table.”

  “Is that a hint?” Her cooking was worth a lot more than one lousy bouquet of flowers. He’d get a bottle of wine and dessert, too. “Is Ray coming?”

  “I’m not sure. Maybe you could pick him up. Oh, never mind. I forgot you’re taking your bike.”

  Which wouldn’t be good for flowers, either. “Maybe I’ll tell Ray to pick up some flowers on his way.”

  “Sure.” She hesitated. “Don’t get into trouble.”

  He feigned innocence. “Me?”

  “Oh, right. Your partner in crime isn’t here.”

  “Who?”

  “Leo.” Hannah laughed, reminding him so much of their mother it startled him. “I’m not surprised you ended up working together. You two are notorious. If there was ever a prank to be done, it was by the two of you.”

  “You worry too much. See you later.”

  “Behave, kiddo.” True, she was three years older, but he was six inches taller and hadn’t been a kid for years. “Oh, and get some lotion for that rash on your chin. Maybe you shouldn’t shave for a couple of days to let it heal.”

  The marks from the glue. He supposed her smothering had more to do with being his caretaker after their parents died than anything. She, Leo and Ray kept him from self-destructing.

  The drive into town through maple and birches made him homesick for the swimming holes and hiking trails. He’d spent many summers in the hills around Packham. It wasn’t the first time he’d thought about moving back. He wandered down Main Street to soak in the atmosphere and stopped in at Java Jo’s. The aroma of fresh brewed coffee greeted him like a warm hug.

  The lady behind the counter flashed a huge smile. “Hey, stranger. How are you?”

  “Great. How’s life treating you?”

  “Wonderful. You here for business or pleasure, Officer Walker?”

  He flinched. “Why would you ask?”

  “You don’t normally come to town unless something’s wrong with Ray or Hannah.” She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. I’m always glad to see you. You have good timing. Ray’s due any minute. He picks up coffee for the girls at the store on his way by.”

  Danny frowned. “Ray doesn’t work at the store any more. He sold it.”

  “That hasn’t stopped him from being there every day anyway.” She chuckled. “I thought you, of all people, would know that.”

  Normally, he would have. “I haven’t been around town much lately.”

  “What’s been going on?”

  “Nothing. Been busy at the station.” He glanced around the empty cafe. “I’m thinking about looking at a property to invest in.”

  Her eyes widened. “Moving back? Good for you. It’ll be nice to have you around again. Hannah must be thrilled.”

  “She will be when she finds out.”

  “There’ve been some changes around town. Have you met our new bookstore lady? You should pop in and say hi. Ray will happily introduce you to her. I swear that man still thinks he lives there.”

  “Are you trying to set me up?” Danny’s face warmed. “I don’t need help. Work kind of consumes my life, if you know what I mean.”

  “Hers, too, from what I hear. If you want to check her out, Laura told me she’s getting a haircut at Queenie’s this morning. If you go now, you might catch her.”

  “Catch who?”

  “Katie Mullins. The lady who took over Ray’s bookstore.”

  His head bobbed. “Keep that coffee warm. I’ll be back in a few minutes. I forgot to pick up something for Hannah.”

  She giggled. “Like a haircut?”

  “Very funny. For your information, I promised I’d bring flowers and dessert for dinner.”

  “She loves maple coffee. I’ll grind the beans while you get your hair cut.”

  “You have a shrewd little mind. Do you know that?”

  She winked. “Tell Queenie I said hello. Oh, and call Penny when you’re serious about moving back.”

  Danny frowned. What made her think he wasn’t serious?

  Chapter 10

  Katie

  Katie expected a mousy, nondescript, small-town woman. Instead, her hairdresser was about twenty beneath the bold theatrical makeup. She stood nearly six feet tall, was supermodel thin and had shoulder-length black hair streaked with burgundy highlights. Her burgundy fingernails glittered with tiny stars every time she moved.

  “You have beautiful hair.” The hairdresser sighed, a dreamy expression on her face. “You have hair like Mimsy Lexington’s. She’s such a bookworm. I go to the retirement home once a week to do the ladies’ hair. Mimsy’s is so long and thick it takes an hour to wash, dry and style.”

  “Have you seen her glass slippers?”

  “Seen them?” She leaned back, swinging her long hair out of her way. “Honey, I bought them for her at a convention last week. She nearly fell off her walker when she opened that box.”

  “At a stripper convention no less.” The salon’s owner and namesake, Queenie, rolled her eyes. “Did you tell Mimsy that part?”

  “Of course I did,” the hairdresser laughed. “She thought it was cool and wants pictures of their costumes the next time I go. Something about research.”

  “Did you tell her your mother nearly strangled you for going?” Queenie asked.

  Her lips pursed. “I kind of skipped that part. Mama was beyond mad.”

  The shop was quiet so Queenie sat in the next chair to curl her grey hair. Before long, a cascade of ringlets hung down the sides of her face.

  “They have conventions for strippers?” Katie looked up in surprise.

  She grimaced. “This was the first year I’d heard of it. Anyway, I made a lot of great connections and got some job offers from salons in Newville.”

  “Most from horny guys who wanted blow jobs.” Queenie scowled.

  “Cut that out.” Her hairdresser put her hands on her hips.

  Katie nearly doubled over laughing.

  “Actually, there were nightclub owners who want to make their dancers look more professional. This one guy, Joey Roland, plans to build a casino and needs a makeup artist and a hairdresser for his chorus line. He even offered to give me a free weekend at his hotel once it’s finished.”

  Katie swore her heart stopped. Joseph Roland had always had ambitions Maddox shut down to avoid competition. Her hands shook and sweated beneath the black cape. Had that added to the dissention in the company? On the verge of a panic attack, she closed her eyes.

  Queenie rolled her eyes again. “Take my word for it. Guys like that only want one thing.”

  “Oh, please. He’s a legitimate businessman who wants to open a chain of gyms, including one in Packham. He already has investors, too.”

  Katie broke up the argument to distract her anxiety. “With all those job offers, why are you still in Packham?”

  The hairdresser ran her fingers through Katie’s hair. “You should put some lowlights in your hair. I haven’t done those since I worked in the city. Women here don’t like them as much.”

  “The lady asked you a question.” Queenie primped in the mir
ror.

  “Mama won’t let me leave.” She frowned. “She insists she’ll have a heart attack if I go. She did good when I went to Hawaii to visit family for six weeks, but if I even joke about moving away, she has chest pains. She has nine-one-one on speed dial.”

  Queenie refreshed her bright red lipstick. “She’s not doing this girl any favors. Any talk about moving and her mother, Noni, faints right here on my floor. It saves me sweeping up but doesn’t look good when we have customers. She’s not very easy to step over.”

  The salon’s door chimed as the hairdresser finished blow-drying Katie’s hair.

  Katie twitched, amazed how many sounds still made her jump. She shut her eyes and drew in a deep breath. Roland and Maddox were miles away and she was still safe.

  “Well, if it isn’t my favorite hunk in the whole world,” Queenie said.

  Katie opened her eyes.

  A tall, broad-shouldered man filled the doorway and scanned the room reflected in his sunglasses. Tight blue jeans, an unzipped black leather jacket and a white T-shirt hugged his muscular body. A fringe of little black curls turned up against the back of his collar. Katie itched to run her fingers through them.

  When his eyes met hers over the top of his sunglasses, her chest tightened. Something about his eyes and the way he stood in the doorway, like he owned the place, made her heart pound. It was like she knew him from somewhere, but she would have remembered the curve of his jaw unless he’d had a lot of facial hair. Since she wasn’t a fan of beards or moustaches, she probably wouldn’t have looked at him closely.

  Queenie approached him with open arms. “Honey, I haven’t seen you since Christmas. What are you doing back in town? Are you looking to get a trim?”

  He slid off the sunglasses and stuck one arm of them into his collar so they hung off his shirt. His voice was smooth and buttery. “You got time?”

  “For you, darlin’?” Queenie hooked his arm and led him to a chair in the back. “All the time in the world. What happened to your chin? Shaving accident?”

  “Something like that.”

  Katie’s mouth went dry when he walked past and smiled at something Queenie said. When his gaze met hers for a heartbeat, her stomach lurched.

  The hairdresser glanced over her shoulder, lips barely moving. “He is cute.”

  “Yup” was the most intelligent thing Katie could say.

  “What do you think?” Her hairdresser handed her a hand mirror and turned her chair.

  Katie used the hand mirror to take a quick look and stole a glance at the man in back with Queenie. “Looks great.”

  While Queenie seated him, Katie followed her new favorite hairdresser to the front. Her attention was still on the man at the back of the shop.

  “I’ll bet he’s married with kids.” The hairdresser sighed. “Guys that yummy are never single for long. If they are, there’s a good reason.”

  “True.” Katie gave her a nice tip. “I think I’ve seen him in the store once before.”

  “You think? How could you forget? Holy cow. That face is etched in my brain already. He’ll definitely appear in my dreams later.”

  Drugs. Alcohol. He could have been one of the men Maddox brought to her or he could have simply been a man getting his hair cut. It was unlikely she’d ever remember.

  The man chatted, a serious expression on his chiseled face. He was a definite heart-stopper. She scolded herself. She wasn’t in the market for a man. Any man. Considering what her life was like a short time ago, it was best she kept a low profile.

  “I’d love to run my hands through his hair.” The hairdresser winked. “Don’t you dare tell Queenie I said that. She’d tell my mama and I’d be grounded for the rest of my life.”

  Katie stole one last glance at the man in back and shut her imagination down cold. Outside the salon, the air was muggy with the scent of roses and car exhaust. She stopped at Java Jo’s for a muffin and latte and headed to work relaxed and energized.

  One glance at the cardboard and books scattered across the floor and the showdown taking place would make customers run the other way. Apparently, neither Laura nor Ray had heard the chimes. They stood nose to nose in the middle of the store, Ray’s jaw was tensed but the fierce look in Laura’s eyes said he didn’t stand a chance. She’d clobber him with the cardboard shelves in her hands if need be.

  Katie gave a loud whistle. “What on earth is going on?”

  Laura folded her arms across her chest. “I was trying to set up the new display like you wanted, but Grouchy won’t let me.”

  “What’s the problem, Ray?”

  “It’s ugly. She doesn’t know squat about displays.”

  Katie was certain Ray had never put up a display in his life. “It’s a cardboard bookshelf. You put it together and load it with books. How could she get it wrong?”

  “I built it exactly like the instructions showed.” Laura’s arms remained in place.

  “It’s ugly.” He hauled the cardboard display toward the back of the store.

  Laura followed, complaining at the top of her voice.

  Katie’s breathing quickened and her nostrils flared. “Leave it.”

  They both stopped in their tracks and turned, eyes wide. He dropped the cardboard on the floor, looking at Laura in confusion. “What’s her problem?”

  “Beats me. You want coffee? I’ll go to Jo’s. By the way, your hair looks cute, Katie. I would’ve told you sooner but you don’t seem to be in a very good mood. You coming, Ray?”

  “Nah.” He climbed the stairs to settle in his wicker chair.

  Katie leaned her head back and thumped it on the wall several times. “You’re going to make them lock me up and throw away the key.”

  “Careful or you’ll give yourself a concussion.” A man’s voice startled her.

  Her arms flailed and she leaned on the counter to catch her balance. She’d made so much noise banging her head it was the first time she hadn’t heard the chimes. “That’s the least of my concerns. What can I do for you?”

  He ran a hand through his short blond hair and wore a thin smile. “My wife, Penny, and I need a pregnancy book to guide us through the next seven months since it’s not good enough for her that her husband’s a doctor. I suppose she’d feel differently if I wasn’t a veterinarian.”

  “Penny Clayton?” Katie left the sanctity of her stool to show him the prenatal books. “How’s she doing?”

  He jammed his hands in his front pockets and hunched his shoulders. “Hard to tell. She’s in the bathroom so much lately I don’t really see her.”

  “It’s hard to enjoy that.” She handed him a couple books. “These are my best sellers.”

  “If I take one, maybe she’ll stop calling Dr. Milton five times a day.” He sighed. “Our grandmothers tell horror stories of bearing kids in the old days and she’s convinced she’s not having a normal pregnancy. It’s driving me nuts.”

  “That would do it.” Katie had heard similar stories when her sister was pregnant, which was why she never wanted kids. Ever.

  He tossed a pack of flowery sticky notes onto the counter then pulled out his wallet. “She’ll mark things for me to read later. Animals are so much less complicated than the females of our species, you know. They get pregnant, gestate and give birth without sudden hormonal outbursts and midnight runs for chocolate ice cream.”

  “Amen,” came a voice from the loft.

  He grinned. “Hey, Ray. How’s it going?”

  “Better now I’m not outnumbered.”

  Laura came back into the store balancing three cups of coffee in a tray. “Hey, how’s Penny?”

  “Great.” He forced a smile.

  “Did you get real coffee this time?” Ray asked. “You know I don’t like those mocha-latte-fluffy things.”

  Katie bagged the veterinarian’s purchases and groaned. “Here we go again.”

  “Ray and Laura are at it again? You know, at work, I lock the animals in separate cages.”

/>   “Thanks but I don’t think that’ll work. They’d poke each other with sticks.” She hesitated. “How much would two extra large cages cost?”

  He let out a laugh. “Give my office a call. I’ll give you a good discount.”

  Katie finished her cold latte as well as the large raspberry chocolate coffee Laura brought then buzzed around the store high on caffeine. She dusted every shelf within reach, as well as the banisters. That done, she headed into the back room to drag out the big ladder to reach the tops of the wooden bookshelves. It was buried behind three boxes of books and a box of paper towels.

  She huffed and set to work digging it out.

  “We have a customer.” Laura peered around the doorway. “A really good-looking man is here for a book on dating.”

  Katie groaned. “So serve him. I’m kind of busy back here.”

  “I could send him to give you a hand. He’s a friend of Ray’s.”

  She dropped one of the cases of books and caught her big toe. “Damn it! Laura, just go help him before I kill myself back here.”

  “Right.” Laura laughed. “No more coffee for you today.”

  She withdrew from the storage area and left Katie to peel off her sock and nurse her throbbing toe.

  “Sorry, she’s busy breaking bones right now. You’ll have to come back later when she’s in a better mood. I think she has a dust allergy. Cleaning makes her grouchy.”

  “Oh, that’s nice. Thanks.” Katie rolled her eyes and pulled her sock back on. By the time she’d wrestled the ladder around the corner, the customer was long gone.

  Laura leaned on the counter with a smug grin. “He said he’d come back later. Something about picking up coffee and flowers for dinner tonight.”

  “I’m just surprised he bothered to even show up.” Ray, usually in his seat until closing, got up to leave around one. “You guys are no fun today. See you tomorrow.”

  “Bye.” Katie waved from her precarious perch at the top of the ladder.

  “Ahem.” Laura motioned to the magazine Ray had stuffed beneath his arm. “You need to pay for that.”