Fever Rich: A Mercy Mares Cozy Mystery (13 page)

“Why are you looking at it like that? What did you expect?  A hamburger joint?” Ruby nudged my shoulder to shake me out of my stupor.

“Who knew Kitty actually had some class.” I couldn't believe it. I intentionally didn't dress up for the luncheon because I figured that it would be a low key affair. Boy, was I wrong. I looked down at my blouse and jeans. “I need to change.”

“Oh, no, you don't. We're going in there and you are going to be as sweet as sugar with Katharine and her entire family. I think her kids will be here too.” Ruby grabbed my arm to prevent me from high tailing it back to her car.

“Do I have to?” I whined, but the reality was that if I intended to maintain the good relationship I'd always had with James, I'd have to learn to live with Kitty and her tendency to annoy the patience out of me. “One hour. That's all she gets. I know my limits. Got it?”

Ruby rolled her eyes. “Did you ever stop to think that maybe somebody feels the exact same way about you?”

I pretended to consider for a moment, then said, “Nope. I'm not annoying.”

*

“Stop the car!” I yelled, tugging Ruby's arm. “Look at that! Isn't that Margie's patio set?” I pointed to a makeshift swap meet set up on the corner of a busy intersection – the only busy intersection – in the middle of town.

“I don't know. I'm sure they made more than one John Wayne covered patio set.” Ruby answered.

“Seriously? Just pull over and let me check it out.” I urged Ruby.

As we approached, I could clearly make out my statue, wind chimes, and an assortment of my neighbor's lawn ornaments neatly arranged among what I figured were other innocent people's stolen goods.

I looked back at Ruby behind me. “Can you believe this?”

Ruby was already on her phone, dialing the police. “Who steals trash from someone's yard just to sell a few blocks away?”

This lawn ornament chop shop had all the makings of the worst garage sale ever. There was no rhyme or reason to what was available for purchase and the inflated prices were enough to make me giggle. Who in their right mind would pay hundreds of dollars to sit on
The Duke's
smiling face?

A tall, thin gentleman, wearing a bow tie and dress shirt emerged from a blue van parked behind the tent. “How can I help you ladies?” He asked, offering a smile that was too wide for his skeletal face.

“You can help me by returning all of the items you stole from me and my neighbors.” I said staring directly into his beady little blue eyes.

His cheeks flushed. “I'm sorry? I don't understand.”

I grabbed my Betty Boop statue and held it up in front of his face. “You see this? My ex-husband's soon-to-be-new-wife gave this to me just the other day. Have we met before because I don't recall giving you permission to take a parting gift home with you, thief?”

The young man's eyes narrowed. “I didn't steal nothing. All this stuff is legit.”

“I'm sorry, but your grasp of the English language doesn't match that pathetic tie you're wearing.” If he wanted to challenge me, I was prepared to meet him toe to toe.

Ruby ended her call. “The police are on their way,” she whispered. “Don't get this guy going. What if he has a weapon?”

She had a point. What if he had a weapon or a band of other like minded thieves, anxious to prey on the first person who challenged them?

I needed to keep them here. If they took off, the chances of getting all of my neighbor's things back would fly right out of my hands. I needed a distraction big enough to keep them occupied, but not so over the top that they'd consider upping the ante and turning their petty theft ring into a kidnapping or worse.

“Mercy?” Ruby watched me as I thought about my next move. “Don't do anything dumb.”

“I won't,” I answered. “I have a plan.”

Ruby groaned. “I don't want to go to jail.”

And, they say I'm dramatic!

I walked behind the young man and started gathering all the items I recognized as belonging to my neighbors. Without saying a word, Ruby followed closely behind me and helped me carry things.

“Here, hold my wind chimes and Helen's gnome and Margie's frog.” I piled them into Ruby's arms.

“Hey, you can't do that unless you plan on buying all that stuff!” The young man yelled.

I could see flashing lights coming in the distance. I hoped they were for us, otherwise Ruby and I would have had to run with that stuff in our arms and hope that Mr. Bow tie didn't catch us.

He looked behind him and groaned. “You called the cops?”

Ruby smiled. “Sure did, Buttercup.”

The young man called out, “Lisa, wake up. We have to go. These broads called the cops.”

A young woman emerged from the back of the van, her hair in her face. “Why are you yelling?” She asked as she brushed her hair back. I recognized her immediately.

“You're that cookbook girl!” I exclaimed, pointing at her so that Ruby could take a good look at her.

“My friend paid you for that cookbook and you stole stuff from me?” I dropped what I had in my hands and went running toward her. She owed me one whopper of an explanation.

“Run!” The bow tied thief yelled.

“Don't run!” I yelled in response, but it was too late. The girl was halfway up the block before I reached the van, but I was still desperate to retrieve all the items that went missing because of these two, so I did the next best thing. I jumped in the van and started the engine.

Ruby stopped at the passenger side door, shrugged, and got in. “I don't know what you're doing, but I have to see how this ends.”

I moved forward, tugging on the tarp that covered the stolen goods. The young man with the bow tie stopped running. I could see him contemplating whether or not to stay and fight for his van or to run before the cops got there. He chose the latter.

I put the van in reverse and gunned the gas, bringing the tarp down over the tables filled with stolen goods and jumped out as the police finally arrived.

The police officer stepped out of his vehicle, his hand covering his weapon and shook his head. “Mercy, what in the holy...”

I stopped him. “They stole this stuff. Catch them!”

Ruby pointed down the block. “The two kids that ran right past you. Get them!”

*

“You did what?” Tina had asked the question three times since Ruby and I returned to my house. “That is way too cool. I need to start hanging out with you two.”

Diana set a bowl of popcorn down on the coffee table. “No, you don't. My mom forgets that people are dangerous sometimes.”

She had a point, but it sure did feel good to catch a bad guy every once in a while.

“So, last night you find a missing little boy and today, you caught a couple of thieves. What's next?” Tina asked. “Are you still going to try and figure out who killed the accountant?”

I didn't know how to answer that question without starting a riot. Both Diana and Ruby had asked me to leave that situation alone. They both claimed that it was none of my concern and they were probably right, but I still couldn't shake the feeling that I was somehow responsible. Not knowing whether or not I could have saved that poor woman's life will haunt me for the rest of my life if the case is not solved.

“You're hesitating,” Ruby said. “Please, don't tell me that means you plan on investigating further.”

I shrugged. “Okay.”

The three of them asked at the same time, “Okay, what?”

“Okay, I won't tell you,” I offered.

They immediately began to argue their feelings, but I had my reasons, so I sat back and let them go on and on, all the while knowing just how I planned to find out who was responsible.

I got up, grabbed Barney and his crate and walked out the door.

“Where are you going, Mom?” Diana asked.

“I'll be back soon.” I said.

“Mom!”

“Mercy, where are you going?” Ruby ran behind me.

I turned to her and said, “Call Charlie and tell him to meet me at the Rich's in two hours.”

“No, I'm going with you.” She protested.

“Ruby, please, just do what I asked. It will be fine. I know what I'm doing.” I urged her.

“I'm sorry. Come again?” Tanner asked.

“You have young ears. I'm sure you heard me. Can you do it?” I asked.

He sat back, his hand to his chin. I'm sure he was trying to figure out an angle that would make him look good and would boost his ratings. From what I understood, his last investigative report ended in a lawsuit that his network had to dole out hundreds of thousands of dollars for to get the story to quietly go away.

“Alright, I'll do it, but you have to make sure there's no way I could get into any kind of trouble for this.” He said.

“Trust me.” I offered.

“That's just it. I don't know if I can trust you, but if what you're saying is true, this could be a really juicy story.” He said.

I turned to Zoey. “You won't arrest us, will you?”

She put her head in her hands. “I can't believe I agreed to this.”

“That didn't answer my question.” I said.

“This violates so many rules and regulations. If anything happens to either one of you two, it's my keister that will be on the line.” She didn't sound too convinced that my plan would work. I wasn't even convinced I was right, but I thought my idea had merit.

“Okay, so does that mean we'll go to jail or not?” I asked again just to be sure.

“Jail should be the least of your worries.” She warned me.

“Good. I've already written up some questions for you to ask, Tanner. If you just stick to the script, we should get all the evidence we need. I hate to say this, but I kind of hope I'm wrong, because if I'm right, someone who doesn't deserve it, is going to end up with a very broken heart and I'm going to have to live with that.” I was putting a lot on the line for this one.

I walked out of the room and made the phone call that would seal the deal for me.

“Mom, where are you?” Diana asked.

“Honey, could you take your dad out for a bit? Take him to dinner or something, okay?” My voice shook as I asked.

“What? Why? What are you up to?” Diana asked.

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. “Could you please just do it? Now.”

She hesitated for a couple of minutes. I felt horrible for putting her in this position, but things would go much smoother if James was out of the house when I arrived.

“I'll do it, but promise me that whatever you're doing won't get us all into trouble.” She said.

*

My phone rang as soon as I put it back into my bag.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Durango, did you get it figured out yet? Did you lock the wife up?” Nubbin asked.

I smiled. “No, not yet. How are you doing, Nubbin?”

“Apparently, I'm doing life in this dump they like to call a nursing home. Where's the young one and her even younger one?” He asked.

“She's at home. Can I call you back later? I am out running errands.” I didn't want to tell him anything more. There was no reason for him to be involved too.

“What are you so uptight about, Focus? That video footage get you thinking too?” He asked.

“What video footage?” I hoped he wasn't about to go into a long story about something that happened years earlier. Normally, I'd be inclined to listen because Nubbin's perspective always made me chuckle, but I didn't have the time for it now. I had a murderer to catch before it was too late.

“The one on the news. Don't you have a television there in Hollywood, Volvo? It's been all over the news all day.” Nubbin snapped, but he meant no harm.

“I've been a little busy. I haven't seen the news. Hey, I think I'll go check it out right now.” I said, hoping he'd understand that I had to hang up.

“Like I told you, no one looks at anyone that way unless its for love or hate or both. Follow the money on this one and every murder for that matter. Now, bye. I have to eat.” Nubbin hung up.

“What was that?” Zoey asked.

“Oh, one of my old patients. He said he saw something on the news about the murder.” I explained.

Zoey looked the footage up online and, sure enough, there was an interview with Nathaniel's estranged wife making the media circuits.

“You have to see this,” Zoey said, handing me her phone after she watched it.

I watched it twice. “Did you see what I saw?” I asked Zoey.

She nodded. “I think I did.” With new resolve, she looked at Tanner. “Are you ready now?”

He swallowed hard and said, “Let's do this. Let's catch a killer.”