Deadly Greetings (Book 2 in the Cardmaking Mysteries) (26 page)

“
Wow, you’re easy. I got a
kiss with just three pancakes? I bet you’re a popular girl at the
breakfast table.”

I slapped him gently on the arm. “I wasn’t
thanking you for the pancakes. I just wanted you to know I
appreciate everything you did last night.” He put the spatula down
and said, “Jennifer, I honestly didn’t do much of anything. By the
time I got here, you’d handled him all by yourself.” I shook my
head. “You’re the one who taught me a swing like that.”

“
Well, I’ll accept your
thanks for that, then. Seriously, though, you don’t have to rush
off. You and your two roommates are welcome to stay as long as you
want.”

I looked into my brother’s eyes and said,
“Thanks, but if I don’t go back right now, I may lose my nerve
altogether.”

Cindy said, “Would that be such a bad thing?
How can you live there now after what happened?”

“
You’d be amazed what you
can deal with if you I lave to,” I said. “I was going to ask to
leave Oggie and Nash here, but since you’ve arranged to have my
door fixed, we’re going home.”

Bradford started to say something, but Cindy
glanced at him and he shut right up. I swear, those if two had a
level of nonverbal communication going on between them that never
ceased to amaze me.

Bradford said, “Fine, but at least let me
hang out with you a few minutes before you go.” He took the apron
off and threw it over the back of a chair.

“
You can come back while I
get the cats into their carriers,” I said.

Cindy said, “You two go on. I’ll finish this
batter.” Bradford told his wife, “I expect fresh pancakes after
Jennifer leaves. It’s the least I deserve.”

She laughed. “Do you really want to talk
about the least you deserve with me?”

“
No,” he said. “You’re
right. Forget I said anything.”

My brother followed me back to my room, and
as I suspected, Oggie and Nash were still soundly asleep. “Come on,
you two, rise and shine.” At least they were pretty docile just
waking up, and I didn’t have too hard a time getting them back into
their camera.

Bradford took one from me, then grabbed my
bag, too. “Listen, I really do need to ask you a few things about
last night. I’m truly sorry.”

“
Don’t be; it’s your job.” I
took a deep breath, then said, “I was on the couch when Wayne
started pounding on my door just after midnight. He tried to get me
to let him in, and when I refused, he started banging on the door.
That’s when I grabbed the bat and called you. What did he use,
anyway?”

“
He had his equalizer,”
Bradford said softly.

“
What does that
mean?”

My brother looked embarrassed, but he
admitted, “Wayne used to brag about his personal protection device,
a chunk of iron bar he carried around in his truck. I thought he
was all bluff and steam, but I was wrong. Jennifer, I’m sorry. I
never should have let it get that far.”

I touched his arm. “You can’t be responsible
for his behavior any more than I can control these two cats. Is
that all you need from me? I really am running late.”

“
You’re free to go,” he
said. “I’ll take you home.” We walked outside and I waved good-bye
to Cindy. The best decision my brother had ever made had been
marrying her. I wondered if I’d ever get that lucky
myself.

Outside, I stowed the cats in the back of
his patrol car, then climbed in front with him.

“
I’m proud of you,
Jennifer,” Bradford said as he drove toward my apartment. I
wondered how proud of me he’d be if he knew Lillian, Sara Lynn and
I were conspiring against him.

“
Thanks, but I don’t deserve
it. I didn’t have much choice. Honestly, I was scared to
death.”

“
But you didn’t freeze up,”
he said, “You did what you had to in order to protect yourself.” I
couldn’t take another ounce of his niceness, not with what I was
doing. “Listen, there’s something you should know.”

I was ready to tell him when he said, “What,
that you and Lillian are looking into Maggie Blake’s death?”

“
Now how on earth did you
know that?”

He smiled. “I am the sheriff here. I knew
you couldn’t just leave it alone, and when Lillian asked me to come
to the funeral, it didn’t take much to figure out what you two were
up to.”

“
Sara Lynn’s helping too,” I
blurted out, and that news seemed to surprise him. “How’d you
manage to get her involved?” he asked, his gaze steady on the road
ahead.

“
Well, we were at Maggie’s
house last night and—”

“
What?” he snapped.
“Jennifer, you had no right. That’s trespassing, and you know it.
How did you get in? Did you break a window?”

So much for my brother’s sympathy. I should
have kept my mouth shut. “We had every right to be there,” I
said.

“
How do you figure
that?”

“
Patrick Benson hired us to
clean the place up and put Maggie’s things into boxes.”

“
Do I even want to know how
you managed to get that assignment? Forget it; ignorance is truly
bliss at fee moment.” He pulled up in front of my place and shut
the engine off, though Bradford made no move get out of the car. I
normally parked in back with the rest of the tenants, but my
brother had a mind of his own. “So what did you find?” I wasn’t
about to give up my hard-earned information that easily. “I thought
you ruled it an accident.”

Bradford swiveled and stared at me. “Don’t
be petulant. I’m the first person in the world to admit that I’m
not perfect. Knowing the three of you, I’m sure you think you’ve
got something.”

I blurted out what we’d uncovered. “Some of
Maggie’s scrapbooks were gone, her tools and supplies for card
making were all missing, and we found a card she’d made about
breaking up with her boyfriend.”

“
She could have given the
tools and scrapbooks away,” Bradford said, “but I didn’t realize
she had a boyfriend. Who was the mystery man?”

“
Jeffrey Wallace, the man
who lives downstairs.”

“
Are you talking about the
young guy from last night? You’re kidding.”

“
No, I mean the other one,”
I said, not wanting to get sidetracked about who was appropriate
dating material for a middle-aged woman and who was not.

“
That still doesn’t mean
anything. People break up all the time. Do you have anything else a
little more concrete?”

I considered telling him about Howard and
Betty and my other suspicions, but I had even less solid proof
about everything else. If the missing equipment and books weren’t
going to convince him, nothing else was either. “I’m working on
it.”

He shook his head. “That’s the problem with
this business. There are too many amateurs wanting to get involved
without formal training. How in the world did you rope Sara Lynn
into this? I thought she was more sensible than that.”

“
She’s having trouble at
home,” I blurted out, silently asking my sister’s forgiveness in my
head.

“
I know.” Bradford nodded.
“It’s been brewing for a while.”

“
You knew about it and
didn’t tell me?” I asked; outraged. “I have a right to know, she’s
my sister, too.”

“
Take it easy, Jennifer; the
signs have been there, for quite a while. I’ve been wondering when
it was going to blow.”

“
Do you think it’s serious?”
I asked. Sara Lynn and Bailey had been married forever. I couldn’t
imagine the two of them apart, no matter what the
justification.

“
It’s always serious when it
goes on too long,” Bradford said. It was obvious he was
uncomfortable with our discussion topic. “So do you want some help
with those two felons of yours?”

“
Thanks, that would be
nice,” I said. I was perfectly capable of handling both carriers
and my bag, but if I was being honest with myself, it might help me
to climb those steps with my brother beside me. Instead of the
sound of drills and saws upstairs, it in was dead quiet.

“
I guess Ethan couldn’t make
it first thing after all,” I said.

“
Don’t bet on it,” Bradford
said. “Do you mind if I go up first?”

“
Lead on,” I said. The
vision of my shattered doorframe was strong in my mind, and I
wasn’t at all certain I could handle seeing it again. Ethan was
sitting on the top step, spinning a set of keys around one of his
fingers. “Took you long enough,” he said, smiling at Bradford.
“I’ve been waiting for hours.”

“
If you finished that fast,
you didn’t do a good enough job,” Bradford said.

“
Let’s see you try to get
through it, I dare you.”

I looked and saw that the door was replaced
as well as the frame. “That must have been a lot of work.”
“Honestly, it’s easier to replace the entire unit than repair a
frame, but that’s not why I did it this way. Your brother insisted
on steel all the way around.” I thought about the bill and wondered
if I’d have enough in my account to cover it. “Let me get my
checkbook,” I said.

“
No need to,” Ethan
said.

I turned to Bradford. “You’re not paying for
this. I won’t let you.”

Ethan grinned. “He doesn’t have to. I’m
billing the owner of the building. After I leave you two, I’m
trotting right over to Hester’s to get my check.”

“
She’s the realtor,” I said.
“She doesn’t own the place.”

Ethan raised an eyebrow. “Last I heard her
name was still on the deed.”

“
But I thought—”

He cut me off. “Lots of folks around here
think she’s just scraping by, but Hester’s loaded. She’s worth a
mint, and it’s not just in property.” He tossed me the keys, then
said to Bradford, “See you.”

“
See you,” Bradford said,
bobbing his head for a split second in a country boy’s
wave.

“
You never know, do you?” I
said as I let the cats out of their carriers. They scudded away the
second they were free, and I had a feeling they’d be ripping
through the place, examining every fresh sight and smell until they
were satisfied that everything was as it should be. I just wished
it were that easy for me.

“
You want me to hang around
awhile?” Bradford asked. “I’ve got time.”

I shoved his chest. “No, go on, I’m fine. I
know you’ve got work to do.”

“
You kidding me? This town
practically polices itself.”

“
Then you’re grossly
overpaid,” I said, walking him through the new door.

He paused outside the threshold. “I’d trust
Ethan with my life, but deadbolt this thing for a second, would
you?”

I did as he requested, then heard him throw
himself into the door. It didn’t even quiver.

I opened it back up and Bradford was rubbing
a shoulder. “It’ll do,” he said.

“
Go on, you big
goof.”

Once he was gone, I deadbolted the door
again after him. The place was remarkably tranquil after the events
of just a few hours ago. Would I ever be comfortable there again?
At that point, I just couldn’t say. The clock caught my gaze, and I
realized if I was going to open my shop before noon, I’d better get
moving.

But I had a phone call to make first. If
Gail found out what had happened last night without hearing about
it from me first, she’d be crushed. “Hey, I hope I’m not calling
too early,” I said when she answered on the fourth ring.

“
No, I was awake,” she said,
but I could hear her asking a yawn.

“
I’ll make it quick. Do you
remember me telling you about Wayne Davidson?”

“
The creep that works for
your brother? What about him? He didn’t make another pass at you,
did he?”

“
It’s worse than that. He
tried to break in last in night.”

There was silence on the other end. “Gail?
Are you still there?”

“
Jennifer, what
happened?”

“
I took him out with my
baseball bat,” I said. “No big deal, but I wanted you to hear it
from me first.”

“
There’s no way I’m letting
you get away with leaving it at that. Scoop, girl.”

“
I will later, I promise,
but I’m running behind as it is. I just wanted you to know that I
was all right.”

She chuckled softly. “It sounds like you’re
a whole lot better than that. Call me soon. And Jennifer?”

“
Yes?”

“
Thanks for letting me
know.”

“
You’re welcome.”

Forty minutes later I was ready to face the
world again. Sometimes the only solution to a problem is a long hot
shower or an equally cleansing soak in the tub. As I walked down
the stairs, I saw Jeffrey’s door start to open. I didn’t know if
he’d been waiting for the sound of my footsteps on the treads, but
as far as I was concerned, his timing couldn’t have been
better.

“
Good morning,” I said. “Do
you have a second?”

He nodded, and it looked as though my
neighbor hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, either.

“
Sorry about the noise so
early this morning.”

Jeffrey shook his head. “Nonsense, it’s
perfectly understandable. I want to apologize again for my delay in
helping you last night.” He cast his gaze to the floor, then said,
“I thought I’d need reinforcements, and it took me forever to get
Barrett to the door.”