Advance Notice (9 page)

Chapter Sixteen

I was pretty positive the voice I heard was
Stacy’s. Who in the world could she be threatening so cold-heartedly?

Leaning against the concrete block walls
of the building, I tried to ignore the fact I stood in a dirty alley and
focused on my breathing. The purchases on the counter needed paid for and taken
home, regardless of an overheard phone conversation that sent spiders dancing
up and down my spine.

After taking a couple of deep breaths, I
moseyed back into the store and approached the counter. “Do you have my order
ready? The one I placed earlier this morning?”

The girl looked at me as if my eyes had
turned yellow. “This stuff?”

“Yes, of course. Thank you so much for
having it ready. How much do I owe you?”

“I’ll … have to ring it up.” She shook
her head and glanced over my shoulder, shrugging.

I followed her gaze. Stacy glared from
the section of baby shower items.

“Are you following me?” she asked.

“No, I’m picking up decorations for my
daughter’s party tomorrow. Are you planning a baby shower?” Amber didn’t show
yet in her pregnancy, but some people were known to start things early.

“I’m just browsing.” She looked as if she
wanted to say something else, but instead, turned and rushed out the door.

“This has been the strangest morning,”
the cashier said. “You throw things at me, she yells at someone on the phone,
and some guy comes in to buy balloons, starts to cry, and doesn’t buy
anything.”

“I didn’t mean to toss my purchases at
you.” There was no explanation that wouldn’t make me sound like a Looney Tune,
so I left it at that. After leaving her a card with the newspaper’s advertising
information on it for her to give to the owner, and with my purchases now in
bags, I headed back down the sidewalk to my car.

If I’d planned ahead, I would have
thought to drive down the street and save myself the back and forth walking.
Although, the exercise has done me good.
Between two jobs,
limited time to dig into my M&Ms, and parking away from shopping, I’d
managed to drop a few pounds.

The door to the dress boutique beckoned.
When had I turned from overalls to dresses?
Maybe a new dress
for dinner that night.
Duane actually had the night off from football
practice and was taking me out to eat somewhere other than Wanda’s Diner. I stowed
my bags in the trunk of my car and almost skipped to the boutique.

What? Locked? I cupped my hands around my
eyes and peered through the glass.

Maybe the shop was closed because of
pregnancy? In mourning because of Danny and his deadbeat mother. Oh, well. I
had another dress I’d bought last week I could wear to dinner. After another
glance through the window, I turned,
then
stopped.

When had the store started selling black
combat boots? Those didn’t fit the rest of the inventory at all, and I’d
definitely spotted a pair tossed next to the counter. I fished my cell phone
from my pocket and called 9-1-1.

Ten minutes later, Bruce runs down the
street, one hand on the butt of his pistol. He stopped next to me and bent at
the waist, panting for breath. “Should…have…known.”

What? That I would be here? “I think
Amber, the clerk in this store, is injured inside.”

“What makes…you think so?” Bruce
straightened, hands on his hips.

“They don’t sell combat boots here, and
there is a pair next to the counter. Plus, the store is closed in the middle of
the day. Don’t you think that’s odd?”

“I think you need to pray to the Almighty
God to cure you of your affliction.”

“What affliction?”

“The one that compels you to stick your
nose where it doesn’t belong.” Bruce tapped on the locked door,
then
peered inside.

“See the boots?”

“Yep, and I see the striped sock that
goes in them, too. I think.” He took the club off his belt and bashed in the
door. “Stay back.”

I’d stay back while glass rained down,
but I’d follow him so closely in the store, we’d share the same perfume. We
rushed around the counter. The shoes were empty. The striped
socks
was
actually a scarf draped over the heel of one of the shoes.

“That’s weird.”

Bruce shook his head. “I should’ve known
nothing was up the moment I found out it was you that called.”

“Oh, stop it. It’s still strange that the
door is locked in the middle of the day.”

“Whatever.” He continued through a door
behind the counter and down a short hall.

I followed, peering into a closet and
small restroom. Regardless of Bruce’s opinion, something was not right. I
pushed open the door to the alley.

Amber and Danny jumped apart like two
scalded cats. From the smear of scarlet lipstick on Danny’s mouth, they weren’t
whispering secrets. I crossed my arms and grinned at sneaky young love. Stacy
would have a heart attack.

“This is why the store is locked?” High
spots of color glowed on Bruce’s cheeks. “Your mother would have a fit if she
knew. Once she recovers from her stroke, she’s going to be coming back to work
and doesn’t need to pull this place back up from the dumps.” With a curt nod,
he marched away.

Amber’s eyes filled with tears, and she
two-hand shoved Danny away from her. “I told you this was not a good idea.”

“We’re just kissing.” He followed her into
the store.

Well, it had been a long time, but if I
remembered correctly, kissing is what started everything that resulted in me
having Lindsey. Mystery of the locked store solved, I strolled back to my car
and drove to the grocery store to order Lindsey’s cake and giant sub. Mom was
probably having a fit by now, wondering what was taking me so long.

I checked my cell phone.
Nope, no messages.
I sent Mom a quick text telling her I was
still shopping, then pulled out of town and headed down the highway. The small
store in River Valley wouldn’t have the type of cakes suitable for a sweet
sixteen, and I wanted my baby’s day to be as special as I could make it.

###

“Wow.” Duane stepped through the front
door. “You look amazing. What’s up with the change?”

“You’ve noticed?” I smoothed the skirt of
my dress.

“That you’ve been dressing in something
other than overalls and getting thinner?” He put his hands on my waist and
pulled me close. “You bet I have. I like it. I didn’t think it possible for you
to get any better.” He nuzzled my neck, making my knees weak. I giggled.

“I thought we were going out to dinner.”
I planted my palms on his chest. The feel of his sculpted muscles did things to
me that should be unlawful. “If you keep kissing me, we’ll never leave.”

“Promises, promises.” He planted another
lingering one on my lips, then stepped back. “Hurry up and set a wedding date,
would you? I’m dying over here.”

That made two of us. Blood simmering like
a pot over a low fire, I stepped into the early evening air and made my way to
Duane’s truck. Heels, even low kitten ones, made walking on gravel tricky.
Maybe I should’ve practiced.

Duane took my arm to steady me and helped
me into his truck. “Maybe you should wear sneakers to the wedding.”

“Ha
ha
.” I
smoothed my dress and clicked the seatbelt into place. I’d already planned on
wearing flip-flops.
Bejeweled ones, of course.

We spoke of love, the someday wedding,
and other routine things until we sat down at the table and ordered our steaks.
I glanced around the restaurant, approving of the muted lighting and scattered
tables which provided a little privacy.
Very romantic.

“So, I heard you didn’t show up for work
today?” Duane reached across the table and took my hand.

“Mom has a big mouth. I had a meeting at
the paper, then went shopping for Lindsey’s party tomorrow.” Which, thankfully,
I’d finished. I filled him in on the rest of the day’s strange proceedings.

“Hmmm.” He straightened and reached for
his glass of ice water. “That doesn’t look good for Stacy, does it? But then
again, people threaten to kill people all the time.”

“Yeah, but most of them don’t mean it.” I
stared at the flicker of the candle in the center of the table. Dad always said
he hated dim restaurants. Couldn’t see where to put the food in order to
eat.
 
“I think she was talking to
Danny.”

“And then he rushed right over to the
shop to smooch on his girl. Brave boy.” Duane straightened as the waitress
brought us our food.

“Or stupid.” We bowed our heads while
Duane said the blessing, then I cut into my steak, forking a piece to my mouth.
Yum. Crusty
blue-cheese
on top of a perfectly cooked
filet. Pure heaven. “I have to admit, though, that I haven’t a clue as to who
is killing off these old ladies. I’m really worried about Dottie. Time is
running out.”

“Have you stopped to pray about it?”
Duane patted my hand. “No offense, sweetheart, but everyone knows how you tend
to take the reins and gallop off without guidance.”

“True, and no, I haven’t taken the proper
time to pray.” Remorse spread through my stomach. Why didn’t I pray first and
act second? I knew the proper way to approach any situation, yet I constantly
forgot. God must spend a lot of time shaking His head at me.

“Once you do, things will start falling
into place.” Duane winked. “Just remember, you promised not to go investigating
alone.”

“I won’t.” I wasn’t sure if he would be
relieved to know I didn’t go anywhere without my pistol or my
Tazer
. That might raise a bunch of new worries. It still
boggled my mind that such a handsome, got-my-life-together, man wanted to marry
me.

I glanced out the window into the
gathering dusk. Stacy stood next to a pillar on the patio, phone to her ear,
arms waving with punctuation to her conversation. Why did that woman show up
everywhere I went?

“Don’t even think about it.” Duane set
his fork and knife on the edge of his plate.

“What?”

“It’s killing you not to rush out there
and find out what has her so upset.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean I will.” I
reached for my iced tea. Seriously. People were always thinking the worst of
me. You’d think I had no sense of my own.

“She’s dealing with a lot right now.” He
leaned on the table. “Since her mother suffered that stroke, Stacy is
struggling to work her own job, keep the store going, and watch out for her
younger sister. That’s a lot for one woman to have to do alone.”

“I did it alone for years, Duane.” From
the moment my husband died to Duane’s return, I’d been a single mother. Sure, I
had my mom’s help, but I could sympathize with Stacy.

“Not everyone is as strong as you.” He
crossed his arms and leaned back in the booth.

“Maybe not, but everyone appreciates a
little help now and again.”

He sighed. “Are we arguing over the fact
I left town and didn’t return until a few months ago?”

“I don’t know. Are we?” I raised my eyebrows.

“Is that why you’ve held off setting a
wedding date? Because you’re afraid I’ll leave again?” His face fell. “I love
you, Marsha. Someday, you’ll accept the fact you can be loved for the wonderful
person that you are, and you’ll accept the gift. For now, I’ll wait.”

My insecurities wanted me to ask if he’d
wait forever if that’s what it took, but that wouldn’t be fair to him. “I’m
sorry. I really don’t know what’s gotten into—”

Duane reached across the table, dragged
me across the polished surface, scattering dishes to the floor as he dove

Chapter Seventeen

Duane half-carried, half-dragged me toward the
kitchen as a green sedan crashed through the window behind where I’d sat. Glass
rained on the table and onto the floor, crunching under my feet. Screams rent
the air. The car’s alarm blared.

“Are you okay?” Once behind the swinging
doors of the kitchen, Duane turned and cupped my face. “You aren’t cut
anywhere?”

I shook my head. “No, a few bruises
maybe, but I’m fine.” I stood on tip-toe and peered out the glass circle in the
door. “We should go see if anyone needs any help.”

“Stay close.” Duane took my hand, and we
re-entered chaos.

What poor fool had lost control of their
car? I pulled free of Duane’s grip and rushed toward the car, him close on my
heels.

No one sat slumped behind the wheel. I
searched the floor and surrounding area. Had they walked away? Been moved by
someone? “There’s no one here.” Without touching the car, I peered through the
window. “Duane, come look.”

An elastic cord stretched from the
steering wheel to somewhere under the seat. A rebar was propped on the gas
pedal and wedged against the seat.
Pretty old school, but
effective.
“Someone ran the car through the window on purpose.” And
right toward the table where Duane and I were eating.

Somebody meant to run over me. Since I’d
still been checking obituaries regularly, and hadn’t spotted my name, I must
have been closer to solving the mystery than I thought. If his pale face was
any indication, Duane obviously had the same thought.

He knelt to help a woman cut by flying
glass, the muscle in his jaw ticking. Poor man. First, we almost get into an
argument, then we’re almost killed, and then we were surrounded by people with
minor bleeding wounds. I moved to help, and stopped.

Duane was almost killed.

Someone was after me.

The man I loved had also become a target.

I sagged against a table. How could I get
out of trying to find the killer? If doing so put Duane in danger, I wanted
nothing more to do with any of it. Not even if it meant Dottie might be harmed.
She was Bruce’s responsibility. Duane was mine. For the first time I could
remember, I contemplated quitting something.

“What’s wrong?” Duane righted a chair and
helped me into it. “You look really pale.”

“I need to find a way out of this.” Panic
rose in my throat, threatening to choke me.
To take away my
breath and cloud my mind.
Of course I was pale. We’d almost been
squashed by a runaway vehicle. “You’re in danger. My family is at risk.” I
gripped his shirt. My breath caught. “How do I get out?”

“Settle down.” He crouched beside me,
taking my hands in his. “You can’t. Not from the moment someone shot at you.”
He exhaled slowly, the sound as sad as the escape of someone’s hope. “All we
can do is try and stay safe until the culprit is caught.”

I shook my head hard enough to send my
hair flying around my face.
 
“It’s
impossible. Someone I love is going to be hurt.” His face swam in front of me,
followed by Lindsey’s and Mom’s. A sob rose in my chest, constricting my
breathing. Not usually prone to anxiety attacks, I couldn’t breathe, which only
served to increase my panic.

Duane noticed my distress. “Did someone
call 9-1-1?”

“I did,” an older woman said.

“Me, too.” A teenager squatted next to a
man in black slacks, the sleeve of the man’s arm stained with blood.

The room looked as if a bomb had gone
off. My chest tightened, and my vision grew blurry. What was wrong with me? I
slumped forward.

When I woke, I was lying on a stretcher in
the middle of the parking lot with an oxygen mask over my face and Bruce
frowning down at me. Not a sight I thought I’d ever wake up to. I pulled the
mask away from my face. “What do you want?”

“Oh, good, you’re alive.” He pulled out
his notebook. “So, someone tried to kill you?”

“Who told you that?” I struggled to a
sitting position. My head spun.

“Duane said you said something to that
affect then passed out. The paramedic said you most likely had an anxiety
attack, and they’d take care of you after they patch up the bleeding folks. So,
here we are again, me asking you questions because someone no longer wants you
around.”

“There are others who aren’t going to be
around much longer if you don’t start doing your job.”

“We’re short staffed, Marsha. I’m doing
the best I can. No one has forgotten about the threat against Dottie.”

My shoulders slumped. “You’re right. I’m
sorry.” I had no choice but to see this thing through. Lives depended on me.

“Mom?” Lindsey barreled through the
onlookers and threw herself at me. Behind her, rushed Mom and Leroy.

“Bruce called us,” Mom explained. “Are
you all right?”

“I’m fine.” I tightened my arms around my
daughter and held on for dear life. What if I’d never seen her beautiful face
again? Witnessed that teenage roll of her eyes whenever I annoyed her?

Mom petted my head. “We have to stop
this. People were only injured today, but they could’ve been killed. This
parking lot looks like something out of a nightmare.”

“All because someone wants me to stop
investigating.”

“They won’t stop now.” Mom shook her
head.
 
“There’s too much at stake.
They’ll still go after Dottie. They’ll most likely keep coming after you, so
we’ll keep searching. How do we get mixed up in these things?”

“There is no ‘we’, Mom.” I struggled to
my feet. “I’m doing this alone now.” I glared at Bruce, daring him to
contradict me.

He closed his eyes and shook his head. “I
never thought I’d say this, but I need all the help I can get. Even if the only
help available is a nosey woman.” Still shaking his head, he meandered off to
interview someone else. I could’ve sworn a pig flew across the sky at that
moment.

“Oh, no, you don’t.” Mom planted fists on
her hips. “We’re in this together. Except for Lindsey. We don’t want to risk
her. She’s young and still has her whole life ahead of her.”

There went the eye roll from my daughter I
loved so well. I held out my hand. “Help me up, kid.”

Lindsey grabbed my hand and yanked.
“Anyone want ice cream?”

“Me, just as soon as the paramedics are
convinced it’s safe for me to get out of here.” I spotted Duane by the
ambulance and waved.

He trotted to my side. “Ready? They said
you could go home.”

“We’re going out for ice cream.” I put my
arm around Lindsey’s shoulders. “To celebrate life. You want to come?”

“Wouldn’t miss it.” He slipped an arm
around my waist. “We all have some plans to make.”

Oh, I liked the sound of that, maybe.
Wait. What if the plans were for Duane to become more involved in finding the
murderer? No, I couldn’t sit back and let him put himself in more danger. I’d
stop him somehow.

Lindsey rode with Duane and me to the
local ice cream parlor. My body ached from Duane’s tackle, and it would sport a
variety of colored bruises tomorrow, but if my daughter wanted an ice cream
with me, then that’s what she’d get. Time spent together became more rare the
older she got.

We all managed to squeeze into a large
booth at the ice cream parlor, me squashed between Duane and Lindsey. After
asking what everyone wanted, Duane left to fill our orders.

“Were you scared?” Lindsey peered
sideways at me.

“I didn’t know what was happening until
Duane yanked me across the table. Thank God, he saw the car coming.” If he
hadn’t, we’d both be in the morgue and my precious daughter would be staring at
my lifeless body.

“Playing football gave that boy fast
reflexes.” Mom tapped a straw on the table. “We could use him on our sleuthing
team.”

“I don’t want anyone else involved.” I
squared my shoulders. “Someone is after me. If one of y’all get hurt or killed
because of a choice I made, I’ll never be able to live with myself.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Mom drew air
through her nose loud enough for me to hear. “I’m your mother. If I want to
help you, I will. Same goes for your future husband.” She patted Leroy’s
shoulder. “Not even a loving husband can keep a momma bear away from her cub.
Leroy won’t say a word to stop me.”

He opened his mouth to say something,
then closed it and shrugged instead.

I smiled, her words warming my heart.
“We’re not arguing about this. Now, anyone have any idea whose car went through
the steak house window?”

“Not a clue,” Leroy said. “But, I’ll be
asking around tomorrow. My guess is that the car was stolen. Somebody is pretty
smart in these parts. Takes some skill to blow up houses and rig up a car the
way that one was.”

“Oh, pooh.” Mom smacked his shoulder.
“You can learn anything on the internet. Everyone knows that.”

“Maybe so, but I still don’t think we’re
working with a dummy.”

I agreed with Leroy. We weren’t working
with a dummy.
Now, to find out the identity of that
non-dummy.

“Any great crime solving discussed while
I was gone?” Duane handed out chocolate-covered-peanut-caramel pieces of heaven
on a stick.

“No.” I bit into my treat, relishing the
taste of frozen chocolate. “But I’ll be keeping an eagle eye open at Lindsey’s
party tomorrow.”

“Don’t embarrass me, Mom.”

So much for daughterly
concern.
“I promise I’ll be subtle, sweetie.”

“Yeah. Right.”

I’m pretty sure if Duane didn’t have her
blocked in, she would have scooted out and deserted us. A few months ago, she’d
gone sneaking past the very window I now looked out of while chasing a boy who
happened to be a primary thief suspect. Instead, he’d turned out to be a nice
boy, one she got tired of rather quickly and dumped. Or maybe Bobby dumped her.
Either way, their relationship didn’t last long.

Not only had she gone chasing after the
boy, but she’d caught me in a compromising position with Duane after we
attempted to chase her down. Oh, the delights of being a mother in love with a
teenage daughter who I constantly kept on the verge of ridicule from her friends.

“How many of your classmates are coming
tomorrow?” I asked.

“Pretty much all of the
Sophomore
class.”

“Oh. How many exactly is that?”

“About ninety.”

I needed to buy a bigger cake. The ice
cream sat like a cold stone in my stomach. And we’d need a few more sub
sandwiches.

Lindsey giggled. “Just kidding. I didn’t
invite everyone. Only about eighty.”

Oh, well, that was so much better. Eighty
teenagers and assorted adults meant the party would have to be moved outside.
Good thing we’d had good weather so far.

Maybe Leroy and Duane could man a fire
pit and we could add
S’mores
to the menu. I really
should have bought invitations for her to hand out so we could’ve kept a better
handle on the amount of people invited.

The only good thing I could come up with
for that many people is the amount of information I might be able to gather.
Surely with half the town in my backyard, somebody would have a clue what was
happening in River Valley.