A Reason to Kill (Reason #2) (12 page)

“Curly?” I shouted as I pounded on his cabin door. His cabin looked small, maybe a room or two, like those old settlers cabins you see with single gables and a fireplace on the side. The whole cabin was in disrepair, weeds filled the flower gardens out front, as old tires, and airplane parts were decaying in the sun. His cabin was set in a cove on Crystal Lake a few miles outside of town. Secluded. Peaceful.

Maxine had given me directions to his cabin and I was determined to make a deal with the old man. Fly us up to Grizzly Pointe each day and then pick us up and fly us back down. I figured if we offered him enough money to keep quiet that no one would be the wiser. That way the chief could investigate Donald’s murder while assuming we were biding our time at Maxine’s house. Then, when he finally got it through his thick skull none of us was the killer, we could get the hell out of Dodge with our research complete.

Now I just had to find the old man.

“His truck and plane are here, maybe he’s around back,” I mumbled to myself.

Jumping off the porch, I headed towards his back yard. Half way around I looked towards his plane and saw what looked like a foot sticking out of the reeds near the bank. Squinting, I stopped and then changed directions heading towards the bank. Five feet from the shoe, a leg appeared and I picked up my pace. When I reached the banks edge and looked down, I could see him lying in the shallows his eyes lifeless, mouth opened in surprise and an axe buried in his head.

“This isn’t happening,” I mumbled in shock, eyes glued to his forehead. The hair on the back of my neck raised, so I whipped around and looked around the yard. Was the killer still here? Was he watching me now?

Hands shaking, I pulled my cell from my pocket as I kept my eyes on the forest behind his house. I was too afraid to move, at least with the lake behind me, I could dive in if someone came at me. Before dialing 911, I saw the number Max had given me the night before, for emergencies, and I hesitated. I knew I should call the police first, but even knowing that, my finger seemed to think otherwise. Swiping call, when I heard a man shout down the line “Max is up a tree, unless it’s an emergency, you’ll have to leave a message,” I started to cry.

“I can’t believe you’re arresting me,” Mia shouted as Stetson shoved her in the back of his squad car. Seeing that, Max jumped out of his truck as his temper spiked.

He’d been up a tree when one of his men hollered at him that a frantic female was on the phone. Something told him it was Mia and he’d climbed down quickly. When he’d heard her voice, the panic in it, and her broken breath as if she’d been crying, he’d jumped into his truck. Then he’d asked her what the fuck she was thinking going out alone. Reminded her the killer had already tried to get at her once as she tried to defend her actions. As he listened to her, he felt his anger shift to worry when he realized she was alone, miles from town. Needing her attention, he’d shouted at her, interrupting her rant, “Call nine-one-one right fuckin’ now” and then hung up and headed straight to Curly’s.

From his location, it took him thirty minutes to get down the mountain and around to the other side of the lake. Now he was about to get arrested for assault if Stetson didn’t back down.

“Stetson, you wanna tell me what the fuck you’re doin’?” he shouted as he made his way towards the chief. Stetson turned and narrowed his eyes at Max, and Mia started shouting from inside the car, “I didn’t kill anyone you big doofus.”

Max would have laughed if he hadn’t been so fucking pissed at that moment. He’d have thought finding Zimmer’s body would have kept her at his mother’s and out of trouble. If she’d stayed put, instead of coming out here alone, she wouldn’t be in this mess. However, he was learning quickly that just like his mother, Mia tended to act before she thought things through.

When he reached Stetson, the man turned, crossed his arms, and then ordered, “This is a crime scene, Hunter. Get back in your truck and leave.”

“I asked you what the fuck you were doin.’” he stated, pinning the chief with his eyes.

“Arresting Ms. Roberts on suspicion of murder, now get back in your-”

“Jesus, you think
this
woman has the strength to kill Curly?”

“I’ve got two bodies, both with one thing in common. You do the math. I’m not going to ignore the possibility she’s a killer because of her size,” Stetson argued.

Patience gone, Max bit out “And I’m not gonna ignore a police chief that harasses a defenseless woman. Consider your contract with the town of Trails End under review.”

Stetson’s face turned red as he moved closer to Max. Staring Max down for a moment his expression turned cocky as he threatened, “Maybe I should look into
your
whereabouts this morning, Hunter.”

Done with this sonofabitch Max leaned down, got right in his face, and seethed “Fuck with me and you’ll lose, you hear me? You’re a contracted employee who I don’t much like. Unless you’ve got her prints on both axes that killed Zimmer and Potter, and I’d wager my entire business that you don’t, you let her go right fuckin’ now.”

Stetson’s jaw tightened as he considered his options. Then, much to Max’s satisfaction, his eyes popped to Officer Chester Tallchief, one of Max’s good friends, and ordered, “Let her go.”

Chester opened the door and pulled Mia out while Max kept his eyes trained on Stetson. When the cuffs were gone, she turned to Max and shouted, “I am not a defenseless woman. I’m clumsy, there’s a difference.”

She was dressed in jeans and a “Muttley Crew” T-shirt depicting the dog from the cartoon “Whacky Races.” Max didn’t know whether to laugh since it was his dog's name on her chest or put her over his knee.

He went with pissed.

“Get your ass in the Jeep and head back to my mother’s.”

“Why? Am I under house arrest?” she questioned and then looked at Stetson.

“Yeah, “he lied before the chief could respond.

“I am
so
calling my lawyer when I get back,” she snapped and then stomped towards Max.

“As for you, I’ve decided you’re no longer Thor, God of Thunder, you’re more like Loki. He’s gorgeous and makes you think he’s a good guy, but underneath he’s just mean. He’d yell at a crying woman too. Thor, unlike
you
, would have been sympathetic,” she declared. Then she whipped around, stomping her tiny feet and swinging that tight ass of hers as Max watched, his lips twitching the whole time.

She made her way to the Jeep and got in, gunning the engine and kicking up gravel as she left. Max watched her leave, shaking his head in disbelief.

Jesus, she got cuter by the minute, Max thought.

He knew then, after last night and his reaction to her being in danger, he had a phone call to make to Annie. Casual or not, he respected Annie enough to end things with her as if they weren’t casual.

“You really think after that performance, she killed anyone?” Max asked Stetson as he turned back to the chief.

“Could be an act,” he argued.

“Christ, for an officer of the law you’ve got shit instincts, Duke. The only thing that woman is capable of is bringing a man to his knees.”

Seven

How to make a man lose his mind

“That jackass Stetson wouldn’t know a killer if one hit him between the eyes,” Martha commented.

I’d made my way back to Maxine’s, not that I was following Max’s orders mind you, it just seemed like the safest place to be. I’d just informed Lucy, Frank, Martha and Maxine of Curly’s demise, and my subsequent five minutes in the back of a police car. After the initial shock had worn off, Maxine got up, pulled out five beers, and put them on the table. We each grabbed one as Maxine raised hers and said “To Curly, the kindest man this side of the tundra.” We all clinked our bottles together and drank deep remembering the man.

Then the “who would kill Curly’s” began.

Our conclusion, based on the fact the murders were the same, he must have seen something he shouldn’t and was killed to keep him quiet.

We sat in silence, each one of us reflecting I supposed on the loss of life the past two days, and in my case, who the hell was doing it.

“Where do we go from here?” Lucy asked, “If we keep pushing to go back up the mountain, will others die?”

“Stetson's sure I'm the killer, he won't look for the real one until he is convinced otherwise. We have a responsibility to this town not to push if it threatens people’s lives.”

“Christ, we’ll lose five years of research,” Frank mumbled.

“Better to lose the research than anyone else loses their life,” I told him.

“If Stetson ain’t gonna pull his head out of his ass, I guess we’ll have to find the killer ourselves,” Martha stated out of the blue.

Surprised by her comment, I questioned her sanity.

“Are you nuts? We aren’t looking for the killer.”

“Not look for the killer, look for evidence. If Stetson doesn't ask around, because he’s convinced it’s you, then I don’t see any harm in us asking. Someone might have seen someone on up Grizzly Pointe yesterday,” Maxine jumped in.

“Maxine, whoever this is they’ve killed two people, one an old man. He or she won’t hesitate to kill you or Martha if he finds out you’re asking questions,” I pointed out.

“Missy, at my age, I could die in my sleep. I don’t give a rat’s ass about dying, but I do care about this town. If this person keeps on killin’ my friends, you might as well kill me. Stetson isn’t gonna do shit so I’ll do what I can to help get you back on Grizzly Pointe,” Martha vowed.

“Count me in, Martha. We can start in the morning,” Maxine told her.

Frank and I bugged our eyes out at each other, thinking these old ladies were nuts, but Lucy had a different opinion. She stood suddenly and announced, “I’m in I can knock on doors.”

“Lucy, none of you should—”

“Count me in too, I’m not about to let you ladies take a risk like this without my muscles for backup,” Frank interrupted and my eyes shot to his. He shrugged, said, “We got nothin’ better to do with our time and I don’t think you can stop them, Mia. Better to tag along and keep them safe than to sit back and worry.”

Then all eyes were on me.

“Fine, but I highly suggest you don’t tell your son what we’re up too. After the ass-chewing I received today, I’m steering clear of him for the rest of my life.”

“You just gotta know how to handle him. I’ll explain the complexity that is Max while we cook.”

“I don’t need to know anything that is Max.”

“I’d say last night says otherwise.”

“That was the alcohol.”

“That was my son. Are you sayin’ you’re not interested?”

“I’m sayin’ I’m here to do work and then go home.”

“Well, see,” she mumbled.

“Okay, now that that’s settled,” Martha chuckled, “we need to get crackin’ on the rest of the refreshments. Who wants to help me make my famous cock n’ balls?”

Lucy and I nodded with enthusiasm as Frank stood and announced, “That’s my cue to leave,” as headed towards the great room.

“The key to these is to use enough dough that you can make nice big balls on the side. The ladies love bitin’ into them,” Martha chuckled.

Just like that, we moved on from the killings and on to, well, sex. I’ll be honest though, the whole time we worked to get the house ready for the party, I expected the police to show and haul me away in handcuffs. In addition, after the lecture I received from Max I expected him to drop by as well. Thankfully, he had a business to run and didn’t have time to follow me home and chew on me again (Note to self: Never call brooding males when you’re in trouble.)

The next few hours we rolled, shaped, froze, and decorated for the evening’s festivities. This month’s theme, “Cockzilla,” the strap-on penis to put all other strap-on penises to shame, or is that penes?

Anyhow, Martha and Maxine had just received a new shipment and the ladies of Trails End were chomping at the bit to get a hold of one of these bad boys. According to Martha, the ever-growing sixty-plus crowd in town was looking for ways to spice up their sex life. Or in some cases have one. Again, according to Martha, men over a certain age have a hard time getting it up and keeping it up. In addition, if they did “get it up,” they couldn’t keep it there long enough to please their significant others. Therefore, the “Cockzilla” comes in handy..