Authors: Marion Faith Carol J.; Laird Lenora; Post Worth
Tags: #Fluffer Nutter, #dpgroup.org
Threatening notes and phone calls seemed a bit mild for them. Drive-by shootings were more their style.
The file was too long to absorb in one sitting. Matt sent it to the printer, including the court transcripts, to read at home.
“Working late, Mac?”
Matt looked up from his computer to see the sheriff's broad frame filling the doorway.
“A little. Getting some homework on that case your wife sent me on this morning.” The laser printer spat out pages at breakneck speed. “What do you know about Lorie Narramore at the county library?”
Frank's sandy eyebrows rose. “I looked over your report. On the surface, the note doesn't sound like much, but, given her background, I don't like it. I was hoping she'd left her troubles in San Diego.”
“Do you really see an international cartel coming after someone in our little county, Frank?”
“I wish I could say no and mean it.” The sheriff ambled into Matt's tiny office and plunked down in the blue upholstered visitor's chair. “The way things have been going lately on the illegal-drug front, I'm not so sure.”
Matt leaned on his desk. “I'm not going to find anything in here about Ms. Narramore that I won't like, will I?”
“Depends on what you don't like.”
Matt wasn't happy with the answer, but knew Frank wouldn't say any more until Matt had had a chance to read through the file and come to his own conclusions. But what would he find? True, she'd been acquitted, but the nagging question remained.
If she'd truly been innocent, why had she ever been tried for murder?
THREE
J
ust as Lorie was about to depart for the day, her desk phone jangled.
“Leave it, why don't you?” Jen slung her purse over her shoulder and held out Lorie's. “You know it's past closing time.”
“It might be Mom. Her church is getting ready for Vacation Bible School, and she has some idea I can help.”
“Why wouldn't she call your cell phone?”
Lorie shrugged. “I'd better get it.” She lifted the receiver. “Dainger County Library, Lorie Narramore speaking.” Mom's cheery voice would pipe up any second.
A slight hissing was the only indication anyone was on the other end of the line.
“Hel-
lo,
Dainger County Library.”
Lorie's repeated greeting brought no response. “Is anybody there?”
Jen made “hang it up” gestures with her free hand.
She'd give it five more seconds. “Five, four, thrâ”
“Murderer.”
Lorie froze. “What didâ”
“Murrr-dererrrrr.”
The whisper was hoarse, drawn-out.
Not again!
Lorie slammed the receiver into the cradle. Her heart thundered against her ribs.
“What's wrong?”
Lorie shook her head, unable to speak.
Jen's eyes grew huge. “It wasn't Matt with bad news about the fingerprinting
,
was it?”
Lorie's mouth opened, but no words came out. Shaking her head, Lorie shivered.
“Okay, that settles it. You've coming home with me for supper.”
“Butâ”
“No arguments.” Jen shoved Lorie's purse at her until she took it. “It's just takeout from Old West Pizza, but you don't need to be alone.”
The phone's ring shattered the stillness. They stared at it. Another two rings would take it to voice mail.
Jen's hand reached out before Lorie could stop her.
“Dainger County Library, this is Jen. How can I help you?”
A split second later she held out the receiver so Lorie could hear the dial tone.
Shuddering, Lorie clutched her purse to her chest. “You're right. I don't need to be alone.”
* * *
Matt drove back to the Dainger County Library when his shift was over but one glance at the parking lot told him he'd already missed her. He'd forgotten; that was right. The library was open late only on Fridays.
He pulled the pickup into the empty parking lot and phoned J. T. Burkhalter. The voice of the family's four-year-old answered.
“Bookhawtew wesidence.”
“Hi, Bobby. Put your daddy on, please.”
“Okay. DAD-DEE! TEWEPHONE!”
Matt jerked the cell phone away from his ear at the first bellow, so he wasn't totally deafened when J.T. picked up.
“Hey J.T., it's Matt.”
“What's up, bro?”
“Something strange happened at the library today. I wondered if Jen had mentioned it.”
J.T. chuckled. “You mean the âPuzzle of the Purloined Poison Pen?' She did bring up the subject a time or twelve.”
“Could I swing by and ask her a few questions?”
“Sure. Come for supper. Jen brought home pizza.”
Matt smiled. He hadn't been angling for an invitation, but pizza sounded good.
“I'll see you then.”
Five minutes later, Jen opened the door when Matt arrived. “Come on in before it gets cold.”
Matt keyed the automatic lock on his red F-150 SuperCrew and walked into the organized chaos that was the Burkhalter house. Bobby immediately tackle-hugged him around the knees.
“Unca Matt!”
“Hey, Uncle Matt's here!” Not to be left out, eight-year-old Kevin raced toward his honorary uncle, holding out his latest freebie from the fast-food kiddie meal.
“Ooh, scary dinosaur!”
His comment earned Matt an instant grin from Kevin, who growled and waved the green plastic tyrannosaurus in Matt's face.
Chrissy typed something on her phone, giggled and put it into her pocket before waving at Matt.
“New boyfriend?”
Chrissy shook her head. “Oh, no, Uncle Matt.”
“Good. You're too young to date.”
Chrissy giggled again. It was such a normal sound. How old was she now? Matt had lost track.
“I'm thir
teen.
All my friends are dating.” Her phone buzzed again, and she snatched it out of her pocket to check the latest text.
“All the more reason.” Matt thought of himself at thirteen, a mass of pimples and hormones. He shuddered. He was so thankful he didn't have kids. He wasn't sure he could take the stress.
“Jen, where do you keep the soda glasses?”
Matt started. Lorie Narramore was here? Alarm bells clanged in his brain. He whirled to face Jen.
“Upper cupboard over the counter next to the refrigerator.” Jen rolled her eyes at Matt. “Turn off that expression, Deputy. I invited Lorie before J.T. asked you over, so you can stick your suspicion right back in your detective kit.”
Lorie emerged from the kitchen carrying two glasses in each hand.
“Chrissy, put the phone away and help Lorie.”
Chrissy barely missed colliding with Matt on her way to help. She snatched the glasses from Lorie just as Lorie spotted Matt. Good thing. It looked as though she'd have dropped them if Chrissy hadn't intervened.
“Deputy? Why are youâdid Jen phone you?” Lorie still looked alarmed. Had the note been
that
disturbing?
Matt put a smile on his face.
“Nope. Just called to catch up with J.T., and he invited me for supper.” Noticing that Lorie's expression hadn't changed, his trouble radar kicked in. “Why? Has something else happened?”
Before Lorie could answer, Jen called the rest of the family to the table. J.T. brought the two Old West Pizza family-size to-go boxes from the kitchen and set them in the middle as the thundering herd of children took their places.
“I want to sit by Miss Lowie!” Bobby announced.
In the table shuffling that followed, Matt ended up on Lorie's other side. J.T. held out his hands to Bobby and Kevin, who were seated next to him. The prayer circle quickly formed around the table. Lorie's hand was soft but firm. Matt wondered if she still played an instrument. He ignored the warmth that traveled up his arm at the contact.
“Lord, thank You for the guests You've brought us, and thank You for keeping us all safe today. Please bless this food and our fellowship, in Jesus's name. Amen.”
A round of hearty “Amens” preceded an immediate scramble for pizza slices. Matt felt a gentle tug and realized he hadn't let go of Lorie's hand.
“Oh. Sorry.” He released her.
“No problem.” Lorie concentrated on the slice of pizza in front of her, effectively cutting off conversation.
The Burkhalter children chattered about upcoming church camp and dozens of other subjects. Matt could barely keep up. He did keep a surreptitious eye on Lorie, noticing as color slowly returned to her fine cheekbones.
Matt waited until after the kids had scarfed down their pizza and scattered to their rooms before bringing up Lorie's distress.
“Something else has happened since that note.”
Lorie turned to look at him. She nodded slowly.
“What?”
“Somebody called.” Jen spoke before Lorie could. “Just as we were leaving for the day.”
“And...?”
Color drained from Lorie's face.
“She wouldn't tell me what he said.” Jen sounded irked. “But it must have been pretty bad.”
Matt waited until Lorie turned to him. Her anguished expression revealed more than words.
“You should have notified us immediately so we could put a trace on the call. Was it the person who sent the note?”
Lorie gulped. “I don't know. Maybe. Probably.”
“So I insisted she come home with me.” Jen took another swallow of sweet tea.
“Good idea.” Was Lorie going to tell him voluntarily, or would he have to drag the information out of her? “Well? What did he say?”
Tears formed in her eyes, making them glisten. She blinked them away.
“Just one word. It was enough.”
Matt raised both eyebrows in a question.
Lorie took a deep breath, and, as she let it out slowly, breathed her answer. “Murderer.”
Jen's hand flew to her mouth. “You didn't tell me! Oh, you poor thing! No wonder you were so shaken. Do you think
that's
what the note meant?” She reached over the table and patted Lorie's hand.
Lorie nodded.
“You were cleared completely.” Matt's words were firm. “There's no reason you should have to put up with this kind of harassment.”
Lorie flashed him a grateful smile.
Matt turned to look at Jen. “Speaking of the note, what was the story with the invoice you tried to hide from me?”
J.T. got the expression of a foxhound that had just picked up the scent. This was apparently news to him.
“It was for an order of books from a new publisher. One of the patrons put in a request. Unfortunately, he happens to be on the library committee in the county board of supervisors, so we had to order them.”
What books would Jen find so objectionable? “Smut?”
“No.” Jen sighed. “Worse. Books claiming the Holocaust never happened.”
The pizza and salad soured in Matt's stomach. His grandfather had been among the troops that freed the prisoners at Dachau. He'd shown Matt the photographs, pictures of things he'd never imagined one human being could do to another. Then again, that had been the problem. The Nazis hadn't considered their victims to be real human beings. He fought against the rising indignation and managed to keep his voice calm.
“Who is it?”
“I don't know if I shouldâ”
“Who?”
Jen sighed. “Supervisor Pitt.”
Ouch. Joseph Pitt was a prosperous businessman who not only had friends in high places but was headed there himself. His radical beliefs hadn't kept him out of office. He always managed to gloss over the more controversial aspects of his beliefs when not among his fellow extremists. But, after a long conversation with the man at a social event when Pitt had been much the worse from whiskey, Matt knew way more than he ever wanted to about the repellant way the man's mind worked.
“Why didn't you tell me earlier?”
“I was embarrassed.” Jen picked up her plate and headed toward the dishwasher with it, even though it still had leftover pizza on it. “I detest having that hate-filled propaganda in our little county library. But I need the job.”
Matt looked at Lorie again. “Did you know about this?”
“Yes. When he explained why he wanted them, he said it was just to present both sides of the issue.”
“And you believed him?”
Lorie straightened up. “Mr. Pitt has been nothing but good to me since I came back to Dainger County. He swayed the library board in my favor after they had second thoughts about hiring me. He even gave my Mustang a free tune-up at the Pitt Stop. I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt.”
J.T. snorted. Matt flashed him a warning glance. Retreating behind his napkin, Jen's husband turned the snort into a cough.
“Supervisor Pitt has always been careful to stay on the right side of the law.” Matt turned to Lorie again. “But I wouldn't get too close to him if I were you.”
“Why not?”
Matt gave the obvious answer. “He's a politician. Isn't that reason enough?”
Lorie smiled, the first relaxed smile he'd seen since they'd parted earlier at the library. A surge of elation rose in him at the sight of it, and he squashed it. Lorie Narramore was a citizen, and he'd protect her as he'd protect any other citizen.
He had absolutely no reason to get carried away with emotion.
None.
* * *
Lorie was still sorting the books from the overnight drop when Jen arrived for work the next morning. She joined Lorie in the cubbyhole where they stored supplies.
“Any more notes?” Jen took a stack of books from Lorie and put them onto the rolling cart.
“No, thankfully. I'm beginning to hope it was just somebody's idea of a joke.”
Jen snorted. “Pretty sick joke if you ask me. And what about that phone call?”
Lorie rubbed both hands up the sides of her face and through her hair, messing it up thoroughly. “I know. Yesterday seems like a bad dream.” She scraped her hair back into a ponytail again.
“I hope you were careful driving home.”
“Extra careful.” She'd watched every driver with exaggerated caution, but there hadn't been any problems. Still, her dog and cats were nowhere close to being as happy as she was when she arrived home.
“Sleep okay?”
Lorie shook her head. “I kept hearing noises, but it was nothing, every time.”
“Every
time?” Jen's eyebrows rose. “How many times?”
“I don't know. Four or five.” Lorie rubbed at her sleep-deprived eyes. “I'll be okay.”
“I knew you should have stayed in our guest room. Then if you'd been woken up, you'd have known it was only one of my hooligans.”
Lorie nodded. “I appreciate it, but in case things get ugly, I don't want your family in the middle of it.”
Jen muttered something as she rolled the book rack out the door. It sounded like, “Things are already ugly.”
Wednesday at the library lasted forever. A few regulars came looking for their favorite authors, but up till three o'clock, it stayed quiet. Lorie busied herself going through the stacks, checking to see whether any books needing repair had sneaked past returns.
As she was in the 799s, she noticed a book spine sticking out at a crooked angle. She reached up to shove it back into place.
Just as her fingertips touched the spine, she spotted a scrap of white sticking out of the top.
Fingerprints.
Lorie snatched her hand back. Could it be the vanished note from yesterday?