Chapter 4 #2
“Doug’s wife is going to sue me? For what? For talking to him at a Rotary meeting?” Harper spun to confront Carson directly. “She can’t do that. Can she?”
A shadow of doubt darkened Harper’s expression, edging out her visible anger at the possible ramifications of this new development.
Even if she wasn’t found guilty of murder by heart attack by the district attorney, what if the courts awarded the widow a monetary settlement in civil court?
Harper made a good living writing. But not good enough to turn over a hefty million dollars or even a couple of hundred thousand to Doug’s widow for the loss of her husband should the court deem it.
Natalie, Gabe and Rick all pivoted to stare at the deputy as well. The man needed to fork over some answers and now.
Carson held strong against the scrutiny for about five long seconds before he finally gave up. “Fine. The widow is looking to bring a wrongful death lawsuit against Harper for causing his heart attack by arguing with him last night.”
“What? He started the argument with me,” Harper declared.
Gabe slapped his forehead with one hand. “And now she just admitted to fighting with the man. Jeezus, Nat, shut her up.”
“Exactly. Tell the doll not to say another word to the coppers without a suit there to represent her,” Rick agreed.
Carson glanced at Natalie and then toward Harper again. “There was also the matter of your unauthorized use of his likeness as a character in a book.”
“Wha—It’s fiction!” Harper reiterated the same refrain as last night at the meeting.
Arms folded over his chest as he looked on, Gabe shook his head. “This is going downhill fast.”
Natalie widened her eyes in warning. “Harper, I think you should stop talking now.”
“About damn time she said something,” Rick muttered.
“A little late, if you ask me. Hope Aunt Agnes has some bail money lying around,” Gabe grumbled.
The ghosts weren’t wrong.
This could get bad for Harper. Very bad. Prison. Financial ruin—from legal fees and possible settlement payments. The devastation of her public writing career. Any or all of the above were possibilities.
Even a determination of innocence by the courts wouldn’t insure the same from the court of public opinion. Harper could be canceled by her readers. Her career could be over.
Natalie knew how wrapped up Harper’s identity was with her writing. Losing that part of her life would be as good as a death sentence to her.
She couldn’t let this happen to her friend. Natalie pulled her cell out of her pocket. “I’m calling Dee Flanders.”
As Harper reached out and braced her hand on the nearest bookcase at the mention of the lawyer, Carson swung his head. “Natalie, Harper’s not under arrest.”
Lowering her phone, Natalie narrowed her eyes at him. “Then I think she’s done answering questions.”
The front door of the shop flew open amid a jangling of bells and the quick shuffling of small rubber-soled feet.
“Stop this interrogation immediately!” Alice demanded, heard but not seen as she made her way from the front, through the labyrinth of display tables and tall shelving, back toward them.
Harper shook her head. “How in the world could Alice already know that Carson is here?”
“And what in the world is that parked on the sidewalk in front of my window?” Natalie asked, staring at the baby blue three-wheeler sporting multiple floral-bedecked baskets in the front and back and a fringed sun awning.
“Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you. Alice joined a triker gang. It’s like a biker gang, but for electric trikes,” Gabe explained.
Alice wasn’t visible until she cleared the tall bookshelves.
When she did, Natalie saw the vest.
White leather. Or at least it had been to start. Before the rhinestones.
It was what a motorcycle club cut would look like if it had wandered into a craft store and gotten a senior citizen’s discount.
In her matching white leather flat-top cap, a silver chain draped along the brim, the ninety-year-old looked both slightly unhinged and weirdly badass.
When she reached the group, she turned slowly, deliberately like she’d practiced the move, to face Carson head-on.
That’s when Natalie got the full view of the design on the back of the vest.
Bucket List Riders
The gang name was spelled out in an aggressive font in sparkly pink and purple rhinestones. And below it, in smaller lettering read, B-Listers for Life.
Alice poked Carson in the arm with one pointy forefinger. “I’m watching you, bud.” Then she pivoted on her white sneakers to face Harper. “He read you your rights?”
Carson let out a breath. “As I’ve said, Harper is not under arrest. I’m just looking for any relevant information about the deceased's activities during and after leaving the meeting last night.”
“We all walked home together from the meeting. Agnes, Liam, Harper and me. Doug was still at the community center, alive and well, when we left. Ask anyone,” Natalie supplied.
“And me,” Gabe chimed in. “I walked with you.”
“And Ghost Gabe too. He left with us,” she added.
Though Carson looked particularly freaked out at the fact there were not one but two ghosts—that he knew of—in his vicinity, he scribbled in his little notebook then his gaze went to Alice. “What about you, Alice? When did you leave?”
“Right when they did, but I didn’t walk with them. I hopped on my bike and headed to the clubhouse. Had some club business to attend to,” she said in a grave tone that invited further questions. Questions no doubt everyone thought but no one asked.
Now Carson had the deer-in-headlights look, like he didn’t know how to process Alice and her new persona.
Good. Keeping the law off kilter could only help Harper’s case. At least that’s what Natalie hoped.
Finally, knocking himself out of Alice’s bedazzling spell, Carson flipped his little notebook closed and let out a sigh. “All right. That’s all. For now. But if any of you think of anything—”
“We’ll be sure to tell you,” Natalie jumped in to end this thing.
“After we contact our lawyer. Dee is the club VP and parliamentarian,” Alice added to Harper and Natalie as an aside.
“I’ll walk you out,” Natalie said as she began edging toward the door. Thankfully, Carson followed.
At the exit, he paused. “Is Liam in the lab?”
“I’d assume so. He’s got a new brain he’s excited to start slicing into.”
Carson paled a bit at the mention of sliced brains.
Ghosts, cadavers and brains. Being a deputy in Mudville definitely wasn’t a typical gig for the lawman. But since he seemed to always be targeting her or someone she loved, Natalie felt no remorse for being the cause of Carson’s discomfort now.
That’s what he got for thinking Harper could cause a man’s death just by having a discussion with him.
Or that she should be blamed for it even if the heated discussion that he had started had given him a heart attack.
If that were the case, everyone should be afraid to speak to anyone in case they dropped dead in the middle of the chat.
It would be ridiculous if the situation weren’t so dire for Harper.
After the door had closed behind Carson, Harper visibly slumped, as if remaining upright any longer was impossible. “The people in this town are going to hang me out to dry for Pompous Doug’s death. Natalie, I don’t have a chance. They hate me.”
Alice nodded. “Yeah, they do.” Her vest sent sparkly rainbows chasing along the ceiling with every move she made.
“No. They don’t hate you,” Natalie said with a pointed glare at Alice. “But you might want to stop calling him Pompous Doug.”
Harper threw both hands in the air. “Of course, I should. I shouldn’t have come up with that name for him in the first place. I’m a horrible person.”
“Stop. You’re not. You’re a good person.”
“Am I? I’m not so sure anymore. I’ve been so busy being offended by these people for criticizing my writing career from day one, that I’ve turned right around and made it my life’s work to offend them back. I’m no better than them. I’m worse.”
“Maybe it’s time for a truce?” Natalie suggested.
“It’s too late for that. They’ve been against me since the day I moved here and they’re certainly not going to change their minds now. Natalie, I’ve been so horrible I literally killed a man. I can’t even defend myself against that.”
Having been on the receiving end of this town’s perception and judgement herself, Natalie wasn’t bold enough or a good enough liar to tell Harper she was wrong.
She glanced at Rick and Gabe for help but neither one looked like they had any comfort to offer.
At a loss, she glanced at the shelves stocked with bottles. Owning a book and wine shop was good for something. “Hey. How about some wine?”
It wasn’t even near noon yet, and it wouldn’t stop the prosecutor’s case or the civil lawsuit from ruining Harper’s life, but it might make her less likely to collapse in the middle of the shop. Desperate times, desperate measures, and all that.
Alice turned to look up from the book she’d been inspecting. “Sure. If you don’t have any stronger hooch, I’m up for some wine before I head over to meet the gang at the dispensary. Today’s the day we pick up our monthly supply of gummies. It helps with the arthritis.”
Natalie, Harper, Gabe and Rick all stared silently and let that soak in.
Finally Harper said, “Sure. Wine can only help, right?”
“Right,” Natalie agreed.
Just like yesterday, today was turning out to already be one hell of a day, and it had just begun.