“I’ll never let you talk me into another one of your adventures. Somebody hit me if I do. You’re criminally insane, Summer.”
I tuned her out. Obviously, April didn’t know how to have fun.
Ta-da! At the end of one of the rows of magazines sat a battered desk and a computer. The little green light showed it was on. Now, if only Larry didn’t use a password. . .
My fingers flew across the keyboard, and I held back a shout of triumph. He didn’t. The man obviously didn’t expect someone to snoop through his computer. Another few taps of the keys, and we were in. I scrolled down his history usage. Chat room after chat room. I clicked on one and read as quickly as my eyes could scan the words. Who was Lola? Whoever she was, she laid on the flowery talk. Obviously Larry had an Internet sweetie.
“We shouldn’t be doing this.” April leaned over my shoulder. “Eew. Such talk. Who is this guy?”
“A little mouse of a man. I only saw him once. At Mae Belle’s funeral.”
The sound of the front door squeaking open reached us. The car! I’d left it out front. Nothing like announcing our presence. I shoved April. “Run! Out the back door.”
She spun and bumped into a tower of magazines. I reached for the wobbling mass of paper then dodged to safety as it fell, knocking my flashlight from my hand. On my knees I dug through the papers and tried to stifle my giggles. A sense of déjà vu overcame me. I’d done the same crawl and search in the fun house at the fair.
“Snowball?” Larry’s voice sounded shrill in the dark room. “Are you knocking things over again?”
April tugged at me. “Come on. Please.” Her harsh whisper seemed loud as it bounced off the towers around us.
“Wait.” Found it. I jumped to my feet and clicked off the light. Which way? I grabbed April’s hand and pulled her to the right. Dead end. We swerved in another direction and found ourselves in the bedroom. Piles of laundry blocked our path. We bolted for the window.
“Bad kitty.” Larry’s voice followed us. “Making more work for Daddy.”
With a heave, I shoved the window open and slammed my palm against the screen. It fell to the ground with a clatter. April barreled into me, sending us both over the sill and crashing into the bushes outside. I landed on my sore knee and bit my lip to prevent myself from groaning. I struggled to my feet, pulled the window closed, and did an awkward limp-sprint kind of lurch around the corner of the house. April stayed close behind. My knee throbbed again, worse than when I’d fallen in Joe’s office. I held up a hand for April to stop.
We doubled over, breathing labored. My heart beat a thousand times its normal rate. I coul nR
dizedn’t stop the grin that split my face. What a rush. This sneaking into places could easily become habit forming.
“What. . .is so. . .funny?” April stood, chest heaving, hands on her hips.
“Don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy that. Wouldn’t I make a great cat burglar?”
“Almost getting caught snooping through someone’s personal things? That’s not my idea of fun, and cat burglars are silent. Come and go without being seen or heard.”
“Don’t be such a stick-in-the-mud. Come on.”
“Where are we going? Home? And why are you limping again? We could have been killed. Lord, help us. My brother is going to annihilate me.”
“I told Ethan where we were going, and I banged my knee again falling out the window. I’ll be fine. Stop exaggerating.” I glanced over my shoulder. “Larry’s seen the car, April. We have to say
something
to him.”
“What?”
“I’ll be honest.”
“That’ll be a first.”
Another comedian. “I’ll tell him about finding his name in the appointment book, it seems to have worked with everyone else, and that we were wandering around looking for him.”
“Well, there’s your chance.”
A light cut a swath through the darkness. Grabbing April’s hand, I yanked her onto the porch. With any luck, he’d think we’d been there the entire time. I plopped into a battered wicker love seat, pulled April down beside me, and scanned the man for any sign of a weapon. A habit I’d developed since the last two cases I’d worked on. He seemed to hold nothing but a massive flashlight.
Please, Lord, don’t let him bash my head in.
“May I help you?” He shone the light in my eyes.
I held up a hand to shield my face and stepped forward. “Mr. Bell, I’m Summer Meadows, cousin of Mae Belle. I saw you at the funeral and wanted to pass on the family’s thanks for your attending. I’m sure it would have meant a lot to my cousin.”
“Couldn’t stand the woman. I had business with the dentist. Needed to set up an appointment. That girlfriend of his don’t always answer the phone after hours. Not everyone works nine to five, you know.”
“O–kay.”
Strange place to make an appointment
. I shrugged off April’s clutching hands. What was with the clinginess?
“I thought you were going to be honest,” she whispered.
“I am.” My answer came out as a hiss. I tur nR
dt>
“Nosy, meddling, lying woman.” He spat in the dirt at his feet. “Got what she had coming to her, if you ask me.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Burrowed beneath the down-filled comforter on my bed, I wanted nothing to do with any more investigating. Or wondering what the list of suspects thought about my late cousin. Could Mae Belle, or any one woman, possibly have been so despised? What if people felt that way about me? I’d been warned plenty of times what happens to people who put their nose where it doesn’t belong. I flopped onto my side and glared at the clock. Five a.m. The only reassuring thought about the day was Aunt Claudia’s leaving.
In a fit of supersleuthing, I’d made an appointment with another person on my list. The dentist, Hubert Smith. A fate worse than death, as far as I was concerned.
With a groan I tossed aside my warm blankets. Might as well get this day over with. It promised to be anything but a joy.
Aunt Eunice sat at the kitchen table, a silly grin on her face, as I padded into the room in my teddy bear slippers. Her giddy look made me nervous, and I skirted a wide path on my way to the coffeepot.
Curiosity won. “Why are you so chipper this morning?”
“She’s gone. Left first thing this morning.” Aunt Eunice’s eyes widened. “That sounded horrible, didn’t it? Lord, forgive me, but I’m grateful my sister doesn’t live close. Sad, too. I would’ve loved a sister who was also a friend.”
I patted her on the shoulder as I passed. A mug of coffee warmed my hands. After sitting in a chair opposite my aunt, I inhaled the aroma. “Don’t feel bad. It makes me sick that so many people disliked my cousin. She lived in Mountain Shadows almost a year. I should’ve gotten to know her better. Maybe I could’ve helped her. Everyone loves Joe, and I seem to be well liked, at least to my face and by people not on my suspect list, but poor Mae Belle.”
With a mother like hers, I guess she never had a chance. “The Meadowses are one of the founding fathers of Mountain Shadows. Of course, we’re well liked, but same as any other family, we’ll have a black sheep or two. I’m sure your cousin left Oklahoma to get away from her mother.” My aunt pushed to her feet. “Enough of that. What are your plans for the day? There’re more creams to be dipped. We’re getting low on peanut brittle, and—”
“I’ve got a dentist appointment.”
Aunt Eunice almost choked. “Are you all right? It isn’t time for your cleaning.”
“I made an appointment with Hubert Smith.” I blew into my mug.
“It seems like every time you get involved in a mystery, I end up doing more work at the store. I hope Ethan puts a stop to this nonsense once y’all are married.”
A twinge of guilt tweaked my conscience. “Ethan will support me in whatever I choose to do.”
“Humph.” Aunt Eunice put her empty mug in the sink.
“Keep on dreaming, sweetie. And I don’t think Dr. Smith plays Disney theme songs in the background or gives you something to relax—just for a cleaning.”
With those encouraging words, she left me alone.
Perspiration dotted my upper lip despite the crisp air. I wiped my damp hands on my pants. I should have stayed home and played a game of hide-and-seek with Truly. The lengths I’d go to keep a promise.
God, help me
. With that prayer, I pulled open the brass-trimmed glass door, shivered in beat with the melodic jangle that played over my head, and shuffled toward the receptionist.
Things looked a little brighter when I read the name on her nameplate, Edna Mobley. Wasn’t she the one who was once engaged to Hubert? Regardless, she was a name in Mae Belle’s book. I signed in. Edna gave me a tight-lipped smile in return and nodded toward the waiting area. Friendliness did not ooze from the woman or ease my trepidation about being here. I took a seat in a green-striped chair.
My hands shook harder. How would I question Hubert if I let him put dangerous tools in my mouth? And why was his ex-fiancée working for him?
Minutes ticked by, foretelling my doom. I couldn’t do this. No way. Bolting to my feet, I headed for the door.
“Miss Meadows? Dr. Smith is ready for you.”
Her words had the same effect as a bucket of ice water on my head. Taking a deep breath, I willed my limbs to stop their trembling, turned, and forced a smile on my face. Maybe if I kept him talking, we’d never get to the actual exam.
A pert girl who didn’t look old enough to be out of high school shepherded me into a chair, laid a million-pound x-ray jacket over me, shoved what felt like stiff cardboard in my mouth, cutting into my gums, then told me to hold still. I rolled my eyes. Like, I’d actually planned on dancing a jig.
That only happened once. Under the influence of the wonderful laughing gas. I’d giggled and hallucinat vR
dhe waitinged myself dancing a lively Irish dance with Ethan on the overhead light. I willed myself back to that place.
Torture accomplished, she removed her death preparation tools and informed me Dr. Smith would be right in. Not if I could escape first. I leaped from the chair, clutched my purse, and ran into the man, hard enough to clunk our heads together. Stars swam before my eyes.
With one hand on his forehead and the other gripping my arm, Dr. Smith led me back to the chair. “Are you all right? That was quite a wallop we got.” He called the assistant back in and before my eyes could focus, there were metal utensils in my mouth. Cotton balls and floss rested on my chest.
Horror
. There was no getting away now.
I clutched the armrests tight enough to lock my finger joints and grunted in response to endless mundane questions. How did they expect me to answer with my mouth full?
“You’ve got remarkably clean teeth, Miss Meadows. When was the last time you had them cleaned?”
One month. I held up a finger. How much was this day’s sleuthing going to cost me?
“A year? Remarkable. You really take care of these little babies. They look as if you just had them done. You might want to lay off the coffee. I see a few stains here.”
Stains? Oh my. Vanity is slain. I stared into the man’s oversize hazel eyes. His bottle-glass spectacles reminded me of a bookworm I’d seen in a cartoon once. He squeezed my shoulder. “I’ll leave you in the capable hands of my assistant. She doesn’t hurt too much.”
Great. I’d endured unbelievable torture and hadn’t gathered one clue. With my eyes squeezed shut, I drifted to my happy place until the dental hygienist finished. When she removed the bib and told me I was done, I almost cried tears of relief.
Back in the reception area, I paused. Hubert leaned against the counter, speaking in a soft tone to Edna. Bright circles of scarlet dotted the woman’s thin cheeks. Maybe the love wasn’t dead after all. Before I got caught lurking behind a potted silk plant, I pasted another smile on my face and stepped forward.
“Y’all make a cute couple.” I tried not comparing them with Mr. Toad and a sparrow, but their physical characteristics made it impossible. “I heard through the grapevine you’d been engaged once.”
Edna’s lips pursed. I immediately wished for a stronger hinge on my tongue.
“Once is correct.” Edna straightened an already neat stack of papers in front of her.
“A situation that could be remedied.” Hubert placed a hand over the woman’s fidgety ones.
“We’d have to begin the planning all over again.” Edna raised a brown-eyed gaze to Hubert. “I’m not sure I can go through that.”
“You used Mae Belle, right?”
They both turned to glare at me. Did my cousin have any satisfied customers? “I’m sorry. It’s really none of my business, but I find myself now having to plan my own wedding. A challenge, but fun.”
“If your cousin had done her job properly, we’d be married now.” Edna stood with enough force to shove her rolling office chair against a file cabinet. “I’m not getting any younger.”
“All the more reason to take Hubert up on his offer.” I withdrew my insurance card. The company probably wouldn’t pay, since I’d had the same services performed last month, but it would prolong my time in here. “You could always elope.”
