Fixin' To Die (A Kenni Lowry Mystery Book 1) (7 page)

Chapter Eight

“Kenni, hi!” Ruby Smith waved at me from across the street. Her short red hair sparkled in the early morning sunshine. Her orange-lipstick-lined lips parted, she called, “Wait right there!”

Ruby weaved her long and lanky five-foot-nine frame in and out of Main Street traffic, looking like Frogger in her green jumpsuit, flailing her hands at oncoming traffic to stop and let her pass.

“Use the crosswalk!” someone yelled when they passed her.

Ruby threw her middle finger up and kept going. “I’ve got a two-for-one special today.” She threw both middle fingers up. “People are so rude.” She shook her head at me.

“Well, jaywalking is against the law, Ruby.” Not that I would give her a citation, but she did need to know she was completely in the wrong when the crosswalk was just a few steps away.

She pushed her wrists toward me, a bag dangling from her grasp.

“Cuff me.” Her chin lifted in the air, her eyes sweeping down at me. Her green eyeshadow sparkled. “Take me to jail.”

“Ruby.” An exhausted sigh escaped me. “I don’t have time for this.”

“You apparently don’t have time to do laundry either.” Her lashes whipped up, her eyes as wide as the full moon.

“It’s been a long day.” I wasn’t about to get into a discussion over my attire; I already knew I looked like I had just rolled out of bed.

Which I had this morning, but in my defense, I hadn’t planned on seeing anyone, nor investigating a murder or a break-in at White’s.

“I just wanted you to know that Viola White called and told me about the robbery.” Ruby tucked a loose hair behind her ear. “I called Doolittle Bowman and told her to call an emergency town meeting, but she said someone else had already called in to suggest the same thing.” She leaned down and whispered, “And Doc Walton? You need to check out that Doctor Shively.” Her painted-on brows arched. “When I went to Ben’s for a cup of coffee yesterday, Doc Walton was in there having a heated discussion with Doctor Shively. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop so I didn’t hear anything.” She gave a theatrical wink. “Toots came into the shop the other day and Doctor Shively was at the register. The two of them avoided each other like the plague. When I asked Toots about it…” She cleared her throat. “Not that I was nosing, but it is my civic duty since I am on the town council.”

“Of course you weren’t. And of course you are only doing your civic duty.” I knew better. Ruby knowing something was as good as putting it in the newspaper. Better, even.

“Toots said Doc Walton and Doctor Shively had seen the same patient and didn’t see eye to eye on the patient’s treatment.” Slowly her head nodded up and down. “I’m sure you’ll hear about it at the town council meeting.” She wiggled her brows.

The meeting would be like a firing range, only I would be the target and the people of Cottonwood the bullets.

“Thank you for the information about Doc Walton. I’ll look into it.”

I had to find out what the doctors were fighting about. Why didn’t Toots tell me about it?

I held my hand up for a slight wave, and she grabbed it.

“What on earth did you do?” She held my finger up to her eyes and took a good look. “You’re bleeding.”

“I am?” I jerked my hand out of hers and looked at the Band-Aid.

She was right. The blood trickled down through the Band-Aid and in the creases of my hand.

“Crap.” I ran the finger down my shirt.

“Such language,” Ruby hissed.

“Really? You just gave someone the bird and you’re fussing about the word ‘crap?’” I looked at my finger again.

“They were going to hit me.” She stomped her foot.

“You were jaywalking.” The pin poke continued to let out little dots of blood. I waved her off. “Listen, I was going to come see you because I found a pin of my Poppa’s from when he was sheriff.”

“He was such a good sheriff.” A smile crossed her orange lips. “He would’ve been all over these crimes. Not that you aren’t. Now, what about that pin? I bet it would fetch a pretty penny.”

“Oh no.” I shook my head and pointed to it on my shirt. “I’m not selling it. I want to wear it on my uniform but I need one of those butterfly clasps to keep it on.”

“Darling,” Ruby held her bag in the air, “I would say it was your lucky day, but it clearly hasn’t been. But I just so happen to have picked up a bunch when I went antiquing yesterday in Clay’s Ferry.” She opened the bag and put her hand in, pulling out a handful of clasps and extending her palm to me. “I didn’t go back to the shop after I found these gems and I was going to put them out today.”

Clay’s Ferry was another small town known for their antique shops. In order to get there, people had to drive through Cottonwood, which was why Ruby decided to open her shop.

“That is so strange.” My head cocked at the coincidence of her having exactly what I needed. “How much for one?”

She put them back in the bag, keeping one in her pincer.

“Take it.” She stuck it in my palm and curled her hand around it, making mine into a fist. “Maybe wearing the pin will give you some mojo to help solve the crimes like your Poppa would’ve.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but quickly shut it when she tapped the bottom of my chin.

“It’s not ladylike to gawk with your mouth open. If you let your mama mother you, I’m sure she’d have taught you that. I’ll see you tonight.” She turned away as if her jab was everyday talk and darted across the street, but not without flipping the bird to another car that almost hit her.

Chapter Nine

By the time I got home, it was dark. There was no sense in going to Kim’s Buffett this late. It wasn’t like I was going to get any more answers about Doc’s murder tonight and any evidence wouldn’t be back this quick.

I owned a little cottage off Broadway Street on the south side of Cottonwood, known as “Free Row.” Everyone in town knew exactly where that was and not many people thought it was a good thing.

Most of the people who lived on my street were on commodity cheese and food stamps. Yeah, there were cars in the front yard propped up on cement blocks, ripped-up couches on porches, and maybe an unruly teenager or two—who didn’t think I knew they were unruly—but I gave them the stare down if I saw them outside to put a little fear in them. No one on Free Row ever bothered me or they knew I’d be loading more than my washer and dryer.

Living on Free Row didn’t bother me. My house wasn’t much, but it was my Poppa’s and he’d left it to me in his will. Duke and I enjoyed it and that was all that mattered.

“Hey, buddy.” Duke had his paws and nose pressed up on the front window. When I opened the door, I saw the blinds had come crashing down on the hardwood. I bent down and gave him a good scratch while I let him lick my face. “You smell like Jolee’s food truck.”

I pulled back and looked at his nose. The edges were dotted with white powder. Duke was known to get into baking flour a time or two and I was sure today was no different.

I picked up the blinds and shook them toward him. “I guess another set of blinds bite the dust.” I leaned them up against the wall.

Screwing them back up was going to have to wait. I was tired, I needed a bath, and I was hungry.

He tucked tail and darted off down the small hallway.

My house was small. It had two bedrooms on the far end of the house with a Jack and Jill bathroom between them. The family room and kitchen were down the small hall on the opposite side of the bedrooms. The family room was in the front of the house. Behind it, in the back of the house, was the kitchen.

A good cup of decaf coffee would be nice after a long hot shower, plus I needed to let Duke out into my fenced-in backyard. When it came to living on Free Row, Duke was even more effective than my gun. His size made people think twice.

“’Bout time you got home.”

My skin crawled like someone had dragged their nails along a chalkboard. I knew who was in my kitchen before I even turned the corner.

Without looking at Mama, I went over to the coffee pot, grabbed the carafe and stuck it under the sink, turning the faucet on.

“If you were going to break and enter, the least you could’ve done is make a pot of coffee.” I kept my eye on the rising level of water. “I didn’t see your car out front. What are you doing here?”

“Your daddy had to go to the Jaycee’s club meeting.” Mama never did like to stay by herself when Daddy was gone.

The Jaycee’s was really a club for men up to forty. Daddy was far past forty, but he was their main consultant, grand poo-pa in the community. Even though he complained that no other businessman in Cottonwood would step up to the plate, secretly I knew he loved it.

“We heard about Doc’s murder and the jewelry store break-in. I figured I’d better stop by and hear about it for myself instead of gossip from the Euchre club.” She drummed her fingers along the table. The drumming stopped, but the pointing began. “This
occupation
you have decided to go into.”

“Mama, I won’t have you coming into my house and telling me that I need to go to beauty school and work at Tiny Tina’s.” I slammed the faucet off and set the pot of water on the counter so I could let Duke out.

He had already scratched the hell out of the door casing; the last thing I needed him to do was tunnel a hole through the outside wall.

Mama stood up when I came back into the kitchen. “Look at you,” she said. It was like I was looking into a mirror. “You look tired. You are a young woman. Vibrant and of the marrying age.”

It was hard looking like her. All the men in town always told me how pretty she was and how lucky I was and that any man that stole my heart was going to be lucky too. She wore her hair long, like mine, and though her olive skin did have a few more wrinkles than mine, she was still gorgeous. She and I stood about the same height, five feet five inches, and we had the same body type, though she had a little wider hips. We had curves in the right places. We weren’t too thin or heavy. And we wore the same size eight shoes.

Life between us was great once. She was my best friend, until I told her what I wanted to do with my life. That was the day it all changed.

“Oh, Mama.” I threw my hands in the air. “Who on earth am I going to marry from Cottonwood?”

She shrugged. She knew I was right. There were no men in Cottonwood, not single anyways.

“And I’m sure Daddy is fine.” I shook my head. “Otherwise, he’d have called me himself.”

“Well, you are killing him.” She sashayed over in her Capri khaki pants and yellow short-sleeved tennis shirt. She took the pot of water off the counter and poured it into the coffee maker. “And living on Free Row doesn’t help either.” She twirled her finger in the air. “One of these people in your own backyard is probably who killed Doctor Walton and broke into Viola’s place.”

“It was good enough for Poppa.”

“It was different then.” She was good at reminding me. “Do you have any leads on who killed Doc?”

I leaned my hip against the counter and crossed my arms. “You know I can’t tell you anything about the investigation.”

“I’m worried about you.” She flipped the coffee maker on. “After all, you are the one responsible for putting yourself in this situation and my only child.”

She wouldn’t be my mama if she wasn’t worried.

“And I’m going to be fine.” I sucked in a deep breath. Fighting with her was not on my priority list. Her complaining wasn’t going to change anything. “I’m getting a shower.” I shook my head and headed down the hall to end the conversation.

It took a lot for me to not get into a screaming match with my mama. She’d start on her hissy fit and get me worked up before bed. I wasn’t about to let her get the upper hand. Not in this case. This was real sheriff business.

I turned on the hot water as high as it would go and steam rolled out into the bathroom as I got undressed. The bathroom mirror quickly fogged. I took Poppa’s pin off my sweatshirt and carefully laid it on the little glass shelf above the toilet. Sticking my hand under the water, I jerked it right back out and turned on the cold water, making it a desirable temperature and not one that would require me to go to the clinic for third-degree burns.

I stepped in and pulled the shower curtain closed, letting the water run over my head with my eyes closed. Images of the day kept popping inside my head though I tried to just enjoy the moment. The stick symbol bugged me, as did the stab wounds. The idea of mercury poisoning made my skin crawl. Who would think of something so awful? Wasn’t the stabbing enough? This killer was vicious, and I had to get him or her behind bars before the community found out just how awful the murder truly was.

Finn. I made a mental note to give him a call to see if he’d found anything else at the jewelry store. Then there was Wyatt. I had mentioned to him that I was going to see if he could get appointed as my temporary deputy, but he never gave me a definitive answer. I thought I better call him before it got really late.

I jumped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. Without drying myself off, I darted back down the hall to grab my phone. It was getting late and I didn’t want to wake up Wyatt if he was sleeping.

“The coffee smells good.” Wearing only the towel, I stopped in the doorway of the kitchen. Then I saw Finn sitting at the kitchen table while Mama scurried around to get him a cup of coffee.

“Your friend Finn stopped by.” Mama acted like she had the best southern manners in the world as she opened the cabinet to get a coffee mug. “Nice young man. Don’t ya think?” Mama turned around.

Finn’s mouth dropped. He threw his hand up over his eyes and tucked his chin to his chest.

“Kendrick Lowry!” Mama shrieked, dropping the mug, which shattered all over the kitchen tile floor. She rushed over, throwing her arms around my shoulders and pushing me back down the hallway into the bathroom. “This is why you need a good paying job. Stop pretending to play Nancy Drew all day long. When are you going to grow up?” She shoved me in the bathroom, slamming the door behind me.

I looked at the full-length mirror on the closed door at my reflection. It was still framed in steam from the hot shower, but the full image of me standing there dripping wet with a towel was right there. There I stood, with my long honey-colored hair plastered to my head, dripping big drops of water down onto my towel. Only the towel looked like moths had eaten it. There were holes in it exposing parts of my body that didn’t need to be exposed, leaving Finn with an eyeful of things he shouldn’t have seen.

“Get some new towels!” Mama screamed from behind the closed door, followed up by stomping feet and a slam to what I hoped was the front door.

A little giggle escaped me, turning into a hysterical laugh that caused me to take a seat on the edge of the tub, looking at myself in the full-length mirror. As much as I tried to keep it in, the laughter poured out of me and tears piled up on my eyelids. I had heard about these moments of insane laughter but had never experienced one until now.

I felt like I was on the edge of insanity and in an episode of
This Is Your Life
, because today had been eerily similar to both.

The image of Mama huffing it down Free Row’s sidewalk made me cackle more. My stomach hurt as I doubled over trying to catch my breath. The knock at the bathroom door brought my laughter to a halt.

“Are you okay in there?” Finn’s voice was borderline concerned, a “do I need to call the paddy wagon to come get you” concern.

I fanned my hand in front of my face, but not without a big smile.

“I’m happier than a dead pig in the sunshine,” I called out, knowing I was going to have to face him at some point. After all, he was standing in my hallway trying to check on my mental status.

“Well…” Finn paused. “I’m not sure what that means, but I’m going to let you get some rest. I think you might need it.”

“Of course you don’t know what that means,” I mumbled. The fit of laughter left my body as quickly as it came. Too bad. “When a pig dies while in the sun, the sun dries out the body and pulls its skin tight, leaving the pig with a toothy grin. Get it now?”

“Huh,” Finn said flatly.

“I called Betty at dispatch to get the mayor to schedule an emergency town council meeting. I think I need to appoint Wyatt deputy until this is solved.” I clamped my teeth together and squeezed my eyes shut when there was silence from the other side of the door as he hesitated. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings like he wasn’t helping, but he was only here temporarily. Who knew how long the reserves would let me keep him here. “I’m hoping to get a meeting set for tomorrow night.”

“We can grab dinner beforehand if you want so I can tell you what I find out,” he finally said.

“Did you find out anything yet?” I was curious as to why he had stopped by or even found out where I lived. It wasn’t like he couldn’t ask any Joe Schmo off the street. Everyone knew everyone and everyone’s business. That’s just the way it was in a small town.

“Nothing real solid,” he said. “I’m still going down the list of patients we divided. I hope to have those done by tomorrow night.”

“Great. Ben’s before the meeting if Betty can get it set up by then?” I asked.

“Yeah. See you then,” Finn said, followed by footsteps.

“Shut the door on the way out,” I said so I could come out of hiding. I had to admit, I was a little embarrassed he saw me in my towel. A little more of me than I wanted him to see. But it was worth the look on my mama’s face.

I didn’t tell him to lock it. No one on Free Row ever bothered me, and I dared them to now—especially after the day I’d had so far.