Chapter 17
Noah
Ihelp Lottie load everyone into the minivan, twins in car seats, Lyla Nell bouncing in her booster, Ava and Olivia with the cats still trapped in those ridiculous bubble backpacks, and that massive stuffed giraffe claiming half the cargo space like it paid for the privilege.
“Are you good?” I ask Lottie through the driver’s side window.
She looks exhausted. Hair sticking up in three directions, baby spit-up on her shoulder, and that slightly glazed expression that says she’s running on fumes and sheer willpower.
“I’m fine,” she says.
She’s not fine. But she’s Lottie, which means she’ll power through anyway and probably solve a murder before dinner.
“Text me when you get home,” I say.
“I will.”
I watch her pull out of the parking lot, making sure she’s clear before I turn back toward the fairgrounds.
And that’s when I see him.
Alex.
My brother is standing near the funnel cake booth, holding his almost-one-year-old son, Levi, on his hip and somehow looking ridiculously handsome, never mind that he’s covered in what I’m pretty sure is drool and possibly mashed banana.
Alex is a year younger, but we’re identical in every way. Same dark hair, same green eyes, same build. The only difference is he has this easygoing grin that makes people trust him on sight, while I apparently have what Lottie calls my cop face.
I head over, and Alex spots me immediately.
“Noah!” He grins. “Look who decided to join the circus.”
“Funny,” I say.
“I’m serious. I heard you signed up for the Local Legends thing.
What are you doing? Juggling? Tightrope walking?
Please tell me you’ll be donning clown makeup.
I always thought you looked good in lipstick.
” He laughs himself silly while I take a moment to glower at him, which only makes him laugh harder.
“I’m still deciding.”
“Translation: you have no idea what you’re doing.”
“Accurate.”
Levi babbles something and reaches for me. I take him, and he immediately grabs my nose like it owes him money.
“Hey, buddy,” I say.
Our father, Wiley Fox, appears from the cotton candy stand holding two cones, one pink and one blue, and looking entirely too pleased with himself.
Wiley’s our twin too, just decades older. Same dark hair, though his is graying heavily at the temples now. Same green eyes. Same jawline. It’s like looking at a preview of what Alex and I will be in thirty years, assuming we age into the same smug grin.
“Boys,” Wiley says, handing Alex the pink cotton candy.
“Dad,” I say.
Alex takes a bite of cotton candy. “So, Noah. What’s the deal with Mom and Jump? Spill.”
I glance at my father, who’s suddenly very interested in his blue cotton candy.
“You know about that?” I ask.
“Everyone knows about it,” Alex says. “Small town. Big gossip. What I want to know is whether Dad knew.”
Our father manages to look up, indignant. “Your mother never had anyone after me. I was the best she ever had. Whatever you’re hearing, they’re just vicious rumors.”
Alex snorts. “That’s not what we’re asking.”
“I’m just saying,” Dad continues, puffing up slightly as the crowds begin to thicken. “She had her chance with other men, and none of them measured up. I set the bar too high.”
“High?” I balk. Someone here is high, all right. “Dad. Focus. Did you know about Jump?”
He shrugs. “I heard rumors. But your mother’s love life stopped being my business the day she kicked me out.”
“Maybe so,” Alex concedes with a shrug.
“Do you think she killed him?” I ask bluntly.
Dad takes a bite of cotton candy and chews thoughtfully, as if the answer is somewhere in the spun sugar. “If she did, we should help her out. You know. Look the other way.”
I blink. “Excuse me?”
“I’m serious. We can’t let her go to prison. I’ll do whatever you need. You need to bury a body? I’ve got a shovel.”
Again with the shovel. Although it’s a testament to my mother that people would put their own freedom on the line to secure hers. And if I’m being honest, I’m one of them.
Alex’s grin widens. “Dad is ready to commit felonies for Mom. You have to admit that’s kind of romantic.”
“It’s not romantic,” I say. “It’s obstruction of justice.”
“Same difference,” Dad says, waving his cotton candy like a verdict. “Just don’t tell Miranda. The fewer people who know, the less trouble we’re bound to be in.”
As if on cue, Miranda appears, practically glowing at the sight of my father. She loops her arm through his and beams up at him like he just hung the moon and didn’t, two seconds ago, volunteer the family for a felony.
“There you are, handsome,” she says.
Dad lights up. “Miranda, you know I’d never stray too far from you.” He gives her a peck on the lips, and she giggles like a schoolgirl.
They’ve been dating for a while now. Which is still weird, considering Miranda is Lottie’s mother and my ex-mother-in-law. But they seem happy, so I’m staying out of it.
“Boys,” Miranda says, nodding at us before settling on me. “How’s the investigation going?”
“It’s going,” I say carefully.
Miranda frowns. “I don’t need a road map to tell me what you’re discussing. Did Suze kill that circus man or not?”
My father shrugs. “If she did, he probably had it coming.”
“Dad,” I say.
“What? I’m just saying, your mother’s got good judgment. If she killed someone, they earned it.”
Alex snorts. “That’s not how the law works.”
“The law doesn’t know your mother like I do,” Dad says. “She doesn’t act without a reason.”
Miranda squeezes his arm. “That’s oddly sweet.”
“It’s realistic,” Dad corrects. “Suze is a lot of things, but she’s not impulsive. If Jump’s dead and she’s involved, there’s a story there.”
“A story that ends with a knife in his chest,” I point out.
“Exactly,” Dad says. “And I’d like to hear her side before everyone jumps to conclusions.”
Alex raises an eyebrow. “You really think she did it?”
Dad considers it. “I think she wanted to. Whether she went through with it, that’s what you need to find out.”
Lily appears, looking flushed and happy. She spots Levi and her whole face brightens.
“Can I steal him?” she asks.
“Please,” Alex says, handing over the baby. “He’s been drooling on me for the past hour.”
Lily takes Levi and immediately starts cooing at him. “Who’s the cutest baby? You are! Yes, you are!”
Alex turns to me. “So. The circus. Are you really joining?”
“I’m really joining.”
“Why?”
“I’m investigating,” I say.
“Right. Investigating.” He laughs. “And it has nothing to do with impressing a certain baker?”
I glance in the direction Lottie took off in. “It’s part of the plan.”
“Sure it is.”
Lily wanders off toward the midway with Levi, and Alex claps me on the shoulder.
“Good luck with the juggling, big bro.”
He heads off after Lily, leaving me with my father and Miranda.
Dad takes another bite of cotton candy, really getting his whole face into it. It’s disturbing on many levels. “You know, if you need help with the investigation, I’m available. I’ve got experience.”
“Experience doing what?” I ask.
“Living. Observation. General wisdom.” He leans my way. “And I’ve pulled off a felony or two without landing in the big house.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Miranda squeezes his arm. “He’s very wise. And wily!” She chortles at her own joke as they wander off together, and I’m left standing in the middle of the fairgrounds, surrounded by carnival games and screaming children and the lingering smell of fried dough.
My mother might be a killer.
My father’s ready to help her bury the body.
And I just signed up to join the circus.
This investigation is going exactly as planned.
Sort of like my love life.