Chapter 27
Twenty-Seven
The inventor of the throat lozenge has died. There will be no coffin at his funeral.
—Text from Constance to Odin
Odin
“What about this?”
I glanced at the bottle she was holding up.
It was colorful and had a fancy name.
“Does your mom like wine?”
“She likes something called beer.”
I laughed. “That’s not wine. Maybe we should stop by the liquor store.”
“This place doesn’t sell it?”
“Not the good kind,” I said. “Do you remember what kind she likes?”
“The kind with the Clydesdales,” Wendy replied confidently. “I only know this because she said she likes Clydesdales. She cried at the last commercial they made about the baby.”
As we made our way through the supermarket, we started to fill our basket higher and higher.
Three-quarters of it wasn’t for dinner or dessert.
They were just things that Wendy had asked for and I hadn’t had the heart to decline.
Fruit chews—the healthy kind.
Brownies from the bakery—the really unhealthy kind.
Pre-made tacos—healthy if you don’t add all the ranch they sent with them.
Chocolate milk.
Little Debbies.
I hadn’t gotten so much junk food since I’d gotten my first paycheck in high school.
I was slightly embarrassed by how much junk I’d allowed when we ran into Janet and Israel.
Our buggies almost collided.
But that had a lot to do with the little girl who screamed at the top of her lungs, “Grandpa!”
I tensed and immediately relaxed when I saw who it was.
Janet glanced down at our spoils.
Her lips twitched. “Glad I’m not the only one that can’t tell her no.”
My freakin’ cheeks flushed. “Haven’t eaten like this since high school. Sadly, I was not one of those people blessed with the type of body that tolerated eating whatever I want. I have to work to maintain.”
Her eyes sparkled. “Me neither. But she’s young. She has a great metabolism. Just find the balance.”
Another box hit my cart.
This time it was a coffee cake.
None of us said anything.
“Where are you going after this, Grandma?” Wendy asked.
“Your grandfather and I are headed to the movies. We stopped for some snacks. You know how ridiculous the prices are for popcorn and candy.”
“Ohhh,” Wendy’s eyes went wide. “Are you going to see the alien movie?”
Janet shook her head. “Nope.”
“The one about superheroes?”
On this went until Israel said, “The one about the natural disaster. Can’t remember the name of it.”
“Tides!” Wendy declared. “I wanted to watch that one. Let me know if the ending is good. Odin and I are shopping for dinner. We’re going to go home and cook together. Then we’re going to have ice cream.”
“Sounds like a good night,” Israel said as he studied me. “We have some new dogs visiting. Make sure you stay away from them. They’re not very nice yet.”
“Okay.” Wendy nodded solemnly. “We gotsta go. Odin’s meeting the sheriff.”
Israel’s brows rose. “That so?”
I nodded. “He’s got some news on a case I’ve been working for him.”
“The teens?” Janet guessed.
“The teens,” I confirmed. “Hopefully we just caught a break.”
Janet let out a relieved breath. “Thank God.”
I ended up spending over two hundred bucks at the grocery store.
Then we stopped at the liquor store to buy beer.
Wendy was a freakin’ hit.
And I wondered if maybe I shouldn’t have taken her in there.
Was it appropriate to bring an almost six-year-old to the beer barn?
I didn’t know.
It’d have to be something I talked to Constance about.
Speaking of Constance, she and Black were on the porch drinking a beer when I arrived with Wendy and Peanut.
Peanut leaped over Wendy and ran around in circles, smelling all the smells.
“Mama!” Wendy screeched. “We went to Odin’s house. He has a big ass bathtub. And a Big Ass Fan. The Big Ass Fan is actually the name of the fan. Can you believe that?”
Constance’s lips twitched. “No, baby. I can’t.”
“Then we got Peanut’s food. And we stopped at the store. We bought literally everything.”
Constance’s eyes sparkled. “Is that so?”
“That’s so,” I confirmed. “Half the store will need a restock.”
Black tilted his head. “You bought junk food?”
“All the junk food.” Wendy stopped in front of Black. “Who are you?”
“The sheriff,” he answered, holding out his hand. “Black’s the name.”
“You’re not wearing a uniform.”
“I’m off duty.”
She eyed the beer. “That explains the beer.”
Black’s brows rose. “Are you sure you’re five?”
“I’m six in a month,” she assured him. “But I’m smart. I have an excellent vocabulary. And I was supposed to be moved to the third grade, but Mama said I needed to experience kindergarten. I think I’ll stay. I like my friends.”
Black’s lips twitched.
Then went really sad.
Which had my heart going out to him.
A long time ago, Black had a child of his own.
The child’s mother had taken off with his little girl, and he hadn’t been able to find her since.
I think she’d be around thirteen or fourteen now, if I remembered right.
She was around Wendy’s age when she went missing.
“Are you staying for dinner, Mr. Black?”
“If you’ll have me.”
“We’ll have you.” She narrowed her eyes. “You’re sad.”
“I have a little girl that looks a lot like you.” He tugged at her hair. “Minus the red hair.”
“Red hair is far superior.” Wendy patted him on the arm. “Let’s go get the groceries. I don’t want my ice cream to melt.”
Everyone got their butts in gear so an almost-six-year-old didn’t have melted ice cream.
Hours later, Wendy was in her room getting ready for bed.
Constance, Black, and I were at the kitchen island.
“Time to talk,” Constance said. “I’ve been very patient.”
I would say she had.
Much more patient than I would’ve been had I not been in on most of the information already.
“We’ve done a lot of digging into these cases, and you were right. There is a homeschooling co-op connection between them all. And Eustace does play on all the teams. Or he had. He quit about six months ago.”
“Did he say why?”
“I couldn’t really question him all that much. He needs a parent there. And I couldn’t find either one of them.”
“The mom works in Bozeman,” I said. “She has a long ass commute three times a week. Pendelton always complains about her job.”
“I’ll see if I can find her tomorrow.” He shook his head. “I stopped by Dr. Pendelton’s office, and the receptionist said he went home sick today. I headed to his house, but got no reply when I knocked. That’s when I dropped the kid off. I’ll try again tomorrow.”
“That’s not all, though. Is it?” Constance pushed.
“Not even a little bit,” Black said.
“Errol Fuller was found dead in his RV today,” I said. “That’s what we were doing all night. Watching his place. This morning, we finally decided fuck it. We went in and found him dead. Been dead a while.”
“I seriously didn’t believe it was him here,” she admitted. “I mean, he was getting sloppy if he did. Years ago, the old Errol wouldn’t have let me know that he was close. Not until he wanted me to know.”
“That’s what’s been bugging me, too,” I admitted. “I mean, this guy is fucking CIA.”
Black tapped at his chin thoughtfully. “You haven’t had a chance to examine him yet, but you gave him a time of death at about two months before now.
Those charges were charged on his cards about five weeks ago.
I’m guessing a dead guy can’t book a hotel.
I need to find out what this new place is under.
Gentry was doing that for me, but damn, I gotta know. ”
Black pulled out his phone and called Gentry.
Gentry answered in two rings.
“Hey, was just about to call you,” he said. “The RV site was rented under an alias. The truck that was registered to him was also bought under the same alias, now that we know what name to look for. And the person that Sage has been seeing come and go from the RV just came by.”
“What?” Black barked.
“That’s what she thought. She called me,” he said. “Went out to the house, and get this…it’s a fuckin’ kid. That one you called me about today.”
“Eustace?”
“One and only,” he said. “Caught him trying to break into the back of the trailer.”
“Son of a bitch.” Black pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ll be there when I sober up a little.”
“Take your time,” he said. “We know where he lives.”
“Call his parents again, too,” Black grumbled.
Gentry and Black hung up.
“So he killed him and stole all his credit cards,” Constance guessed, taking another sip of her beer.
Her fourth.
Damn, she was sexy when she drank beer.
Wished my cock was that damn beer bottle rim.
“It would be too easy.” Black shook his head. “The real question is…why did he keep going back?”
“My sentiments exactly.”
Black’s phone rang again. He put it on speaker again and left the phone in the middle of the table.
“What is it?”
“Dr. Pendelton was found dead in his home.”
“And let me guess, they can’t find Eustace,” I guessed.
“Nope.” Black sighed and stood up. “Thanks for dinner. Guess I need to head out.”
Constance put a hand on his arm. “You’re not going anywhere. You’ve been pounding those beers. Odin will drive you.”
Black paused, then nodded. “Yeah, that’s for the best.”
I winked at Constance. “I’ll drop him off and be back.”
She walked away, coming back with a key long moments later.
She handed them to me, then said, “The code to disarm the alarm is the same as yours.”
I grinned.
“And make sure you stay long enough that you can get all the information. I’m dying here.”
I winked, then tugged her close by putting a finger through the loop of her jeans.
She came willingly, then threaded her arms around my shoulders. “Be good.”
“I’ll try.” She winked. “Take care of him. He looks sad.”
I pressed a kiss to her mouth. “I will.”