Chapter 10
“Echo’s home from work?” Floyd asked.
“Only if she’s coming home in a police cruiser,” Liz said. “Five bucks says the cops are here to question us about the shooting.”
“They’ve already chatted with you. I guess it’s my turn.” Floyd handed his dinner napkin to his wife and stepped out of the house.
Through the window, Liz watched him greet the officer. There was a lot of hand gesturing, mostly on her husband’s part, and a lot of head nodding on the officer’s part.
The conversation continued until Floyd motioned him toward the house.
Liz hurriedly returned to the counter, pretending to clean up the dinner dishes.
The men joined her in the kitchen.
“Liz, this is Officer Tisdale with the Montbay County sheriff’s department.”
“Hello.” Liz offered a small smile. “I remember Officer Tisdale. He stopped by earlier to ask me about the private plane going down.”
“Tristan Keller,” the officer replied. “If you remember, I told you his plane was shot down and asked about guns you might own.”
“And I told you I would rather have my husband here to show them to you,” Liz said. “I’m not sure where Floyd keeps all of them.”
“I’m gonna take Officer Tisdale into my office and show him what I have.”
“And I’ll be here continuing to hone my domesticated skills.” Liz waited for them to pass through the kitchen and hurried to the hall. She eased her head around the corner and watched as her husband and the officer disappeared inside his office.
Liz tiptoed down the hall and pressed her ear against the door. She could hear muffled voices—Floyd’s voice and the officer’s voice, and then the cop laughed. She gave her husband a silent thumbs up and returned to the kitchen, which is where the men found her, humming under her breath while she covered the leftovers and placed them in the fridge.
“Done already?” she asked.
“Yep. Officer Tisdale has everything he needs.”
The cop shook Floyd’s hand, an easygoing smile on his face. “Thanks for the hunting tips. With any luck, I’ll get my buck on Saturday morning.”
“Don’t forget to send me a screenshot.” Floyd gave him a friendly pat on the back. “Let me walk you out to your car.”
Moments later, he returned. “The visit went well.”
“It sounds as if you made a new friend.”
“We share common interests. He likes hunting and fishing. I like hunting and fishing.”
“So, we’re no longer suspects in the shooting?” Liz asked hopefully.
“I wouldn’t go that far. What I will say is he’ll be taking a closer look at some of the other neighbors.” Floyd ran a light hand over the stubble on his chin.
“You look like something is bothering you.”
“Tisdale mentioned the FAA takes these matters seriously. He’s almost certain they’ll send someone here to investigate.”
“Meaning the matter would be turned over to them.” Liz began to feel lightheaded. “Federal prison time.”
“Yep,” Floyd said grimly. “I’m pretty sure the big boys won’t be interested in chatting about hunting and fishing.”
Echo arrived to pick up her pup. Floyd gave his wife a knowing look and told her he was heading to the pigpen to feed Pepper and Piper.
After Echo and Floyd left, Liz turned the kitchen television on and began flipping through the channels, searching for the evening news.
She was still flipping when her cell phone rang. It was Gloria.
“How’s it going?”
“Great. I made dinner, didn’t burn the house down and it actually tasted good.”
“Did you try one of those Missy’s Meals in Minutes’ recipes I sent you?”
“I did. I whipped up a Mediterranean baked chicken dish. It was easy and breezy. Floyd gave it five stars.”
“Look at you?” her sister teased. “You’ll be making gourmet meals in no time.”
“Remember MOD—Meals on Demand? That’s my future plan.” Liz drifted to the window. “Officer Tisdale came by to talk to Floyd.”
“How did it go?”
“Good. Floyd gave him some tips on deer hunting.”
Her sister chuckled. “No, I mean about being suspects in the shooting.”
“According to Floyd, we’re not off the list. The good news is we’re not the only ones being questioned.” Liz told Gloria about finding a target practice in Echo’s backyard.
“You don’t think Echo shot the plane down, do you?”
“I don’t know. She was freaked out this morning when she dropped Teddy off. Maybe she accidentally shot the plane.”
“How do you accidentally shoot a plane?”
“Firing a warning shot but hitting it instead of missing. All I know is that it’s nice and peaceful tonight. Keller was clearly harassing us, harassing our neighbors. Who knows what someone is capable of when they’re ticked off and tired from being rudely woken up at all hours of the night?”
Gloria’s voice grew muffled. “Sorry. Paul was asking me a question. He’s heading out to make a few repairs to his deer blind.”
“Tis the season. Could be whoever put the deer blind up across the road shot the plane. Think about it…hunters need calm and quiet to lure deer out into the open. Keller kept buzzing around, not only making noise but throwing stuff. Maybe a hunter got fed up.”
“Anything is possible. The reason I’m calling is that I was wondering if you caught the evening news.”
“Not yet.” Liz sucked in a breath. “Floyd said he saw a Channel 5 news van out front earlier. Don’t tell me we’re on the news.”
“You are. Unfortunately, there’s more,” Gloria said. “Something tells me Keller isn’t going away quietly.”