Coughing & Donuts: A Mercy Mares Cozy Mystery (11 page)

Brandi cleared her throat, shooing her children away to find a seat in the crowd. She pushed her hair off her face with her manicured hands and adjusted her ample bosom before speaking to the employees and hospital board members.

“Um, hi. I'm Mikey's wife.” She cleared her throat again. “I mean, I'm Mike's ex-wife. Happily single.” She waved her palms in the air, so everyone could see that she wasn't wearing a wedding ring.

Next to me, Karen started giggling hysterically, her shoulders quaking from the pressure. I so wanted to bust out laughing too, but I didn't want to risk missing a second of this sideshow.

One of her daughters said, “Mom!”

She looked at her kids and shrugged. “Okay, anyway, I just want to say thank you for doing this for Mike. It means a lot to my kids that all of you are acting like you...”

Her son said, “Mom!”

“I mean, thank you for all your kindness. I just want to say that we don't blame you for letting a patient escape and not doing anything to help him.”

Rollie's knees went weak. Karen and I had to help him back to an upright position. Those around us started chattering and shifting uncomfortably. Brandi had placed the blame on everyone.

Oh, this was good!

Her eldest daughter stood up and rushed to her mother's side. “Really, Mom?” She looked up at the crowd. I could see that she'd been crying. I felt so bad for her. Casting her eyes down, she spoke softly. “Thank you for doing this. I know my dad wasn't all that great and stuff. It's really nice of you to do this. That's all we want to say.”

Brandi composed herself, adjusting her dress and her hair while her daughter walked back to her seat, sniffling.

“Yeah, that's Moe. She's our oldest daughter. I was knocked up when I got married, but we were so happy when her brother was born, then, we had her and our baby girl. She almost didn't want to come out. You should have seen me. I looked as big as a house.” Her eyes floated to her children. They must have said something to her because she changed her tone. “Anyway, I'm nervous. I'm not used to this many people looking at me at once. I kind of feel like I'm on display.”

Really? You never got that feeling before?

I tried to get her attention by standing up straighter so she could make out my face in the crowd, but that strategy backfired. As soon as she saw my face, her body language changed. She became defiant.

“Like I said, we don't blame you. We blame one... Well, we blame two people. They are the ones who broke my kid's hearts. They did this and I swear to all of you that I'll find out why. I've been talking to Lou and he says we're real close to proving how they did it.” Her eyes bore into mine as she spoke.

Karen leaned over to me. “Is she giving you the death stare?”

“I think she is.” I said, noticing that everyone else in the room had seen it too, and were now looking from her to me and back.

I knew I shouldn't have come.

Addressing me directly, she asked. “Why did you help him? Who put you up to this? Did he promise you money? Was it worth it?”

I couldn't breathe.
What was happening?

Rollie moved out of the aisle, we were in and ran up to where Brandi stood. “I'm so sorry for your loss, Brandi.” He said.

She pushed him away. “What you need to be sorry for is for hiring that woman. Don't you get it? That Pardo kid hired her to assassinate my children's father. That's why she's here! I saw it on television. A reporter exposed their scheme.”

I'd almost forgotten about that. I'd meant to have Diana look up the footage for me, but I forgot.

Did that reporter tell her viewing audience that I killed Mike Slowicki?

I was frozen in place. Off to the side, I could hear someone sobbing, but my limbs wouldn't move to let me see who had started crying.

Karen grasped my arm tightly as Rollie tried to calm the situation. He was ushering Brandi and her children out of the room. They scowled at me as they walked by me. I could see the anguish on their faces.

Brandi hissed, “Did you think I wouldn't find out? Believe me, I know that money talks. So, was it worth it?”

“Surprised to see me?”

Lou kept the car engine running as he stepped out to speak to me. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, well, I was just out for a walk and thought I'd stop by to say hello.”
That's the best you could come up with, Mercy?
I needed to practice my bluffing skills.

He looked around. “Are you alone?”

Obviously.

“Yes.” I wondered if I should have let Charlie know what I was planning to do.

“Well, you're here.” He reached into his car and turned off the engine. “What can I do for you?”

I figured this would probably be the only opportunity I'd have to get answers to my questions, so I didn't hesitate to ask.

“How did Mr. Slowicki die?” I asked.

His upper lip started to twitch. “I don't know. The coroner hasn't informed us yet.” He said.

Why was he lying?

“Well, then, how do other people know the manner of death?” I didn't want to reveal who had told me, but I wanted answers.

The vein in the center of his forehead popped out. He asked, “Who told you that they knew?”

I swallowed. I'd started this. Now, I had to figure out how to get myself out of it.

“No one. I just heard that someone knew that he'd been shot. Is that true? I can tell you right now that I never saw any evidence that he'd been shot. I didn't see any blood or any visible injury when I was in the office. I swear to you – he was alive when I left.” Groveling wasn't something that I liked to do, but I was plum out of options with the people in this town.

It had been a few days since I'd heard from him and I had the feeling that he was intentionally withholding information from me. I knew that I wasn't entitled to every bit of information, but since I was supposedly the last person to have seen Mike alive and people were blaming me, I did have a right to know some of what the coroner had said.

He moved closer to where I stood. “I meet liars every day and, honestly, I don't think you're one.”

I hadn't realized I'd been holding my breath until that moment. I had to take a quick breath.
What did he just say to me?

“Don't make me think that I'm wrong. I don't like to be wrong.” He nodded and sauntered to his front door.

I shivered. Everything I thought I liked about Lou when I'd first met him was now in question. Since this ordeal began, what I thought I believed had completely changed. He wasn't a nice man.

"My boyfriend's a Sheriff." I blurted out.

Why did I just say that? Charlie's not my boyfriend.

Lou smirked and poked his head out the door. "Congratulations!"

What was that supposed to mean? I could have a boyfriend.

I walked away feeling, a mixture of embarrassment and panic all at the same time. I'd blurted out words that I couldn't recall ever having said before in my adult life and I managed to make a cop that already didn't like me, not like me more. I was on a roll.

*

Charlie couldn't stop laughing. I sat across from him, glaring at him until he finally came to his senses.

"What was that supposed to do? Make him stop investigating?" He asked, struggling to regain his composure. "Mercy, I just don't get it. First, you call me and tell me about all that happened here and I hear you out and offer you advice. Then, you completely ignore my advice and go on this crazy sleuthing mission to catch a killer and get yourself in a world of trouble with everyone. The next thing I know is, you have your daughter out here interviewing people, so I hop on a plane to save you from yourself and you all but reject me. What is with you? Do you get some kind of pleasure in stirring up trouble everywhere you go?"

If looks could kill, Western Nebraska would be minus one sheriff. He had some nerve.

"I'm no damsel in distress and, no, I don't enjoy stirring up anything. I didn't ask you to come down here and what do you mean? When did I reject you and what am I rejecting you from? You didn't offer me anything?" I must have raised my voice too loudly because everyone in the restaurant was staring right at us.

Charlie leaned forward and whispered, "If I have to spell it out for you, just forget I ever mentioned it. Now, tell me what you were planning on discovering by showing up at Lou's house? Did you think he was going to confess something to you? He doesn't have to tell you anything. That's not how law enforcement works."

He was right, but I wasn't going to admit that. He would just gloat and bring it up in every conversation we ever had in the future.

"Of course not. I thought that maybe he'd tell me how Mike died." I thought back to my conversation with Lou. Minus the harsh words and the eerie tone, he did seem genuinely surprised that I knew how Mike died. I wondered if that was supposed to be a secret.

"You're going about this all wrong. I know you're not going to listen to anything I say because I'm no one to you, but I'm telling you that what you need to do is get on his good side, if he has one and quit rocking the boat. That does no one any good." Charlie advised me, but I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something to the way that Lou reacted when I told him that someone knew how Mike died.

"What if," I started, "I'm looking at this from the wrong angle? What if Lou was the one who did this?" I thought I'd finally solved it.

"Why would he do that? They were friends, right? What would he have to gain by killing his best friend and a fellow cop? That would be career suicide." Charlie watched Brandi as she served her tables.

"You like her, don't you? She looks like your type." I mumbled under my breath.

Charlie laughed. "Oh yeah? What's my type?"

I started to feel a little hot under the collar. Hot flashes? Probably not.

"Fake." I grinned at him.

"I like fake women? How would you know that?" He took a sip of his drink.

"You're a man. That's how. And, this dinner was supposed to give us time to talk, not give you time to ogle the victim's ex-wife." I snapped at him.

He turned and looked back at Brandi, then, back at me. By that point, the heat had risen to my face.
What was wrong with me? Was I jealous?

"She's interesting." He said, taking a bite of his skirt steak.

I rolled my eyes.

"No, seriously. She runs around like she has no care in the world. I get that she's the ex, but she also has children with him. Doesn't that count for something?" Charlie must have been thinking about his ex-wife and their divorce. I could see the sadness in his eyes as he thought about it.

"Yeah, but I think that's just who she is." I answered.

I took a bite of my food as I watched her move from table to table, flirting with male customers and flashing a big, friendly smile at the female customers. I could tell that she was an old pro when it came to this kind of work. She moved swiftly without once taking a break, but now as I watched her, it started to occur to me too. Why wasn't she showing any emotion? I'd seen tears well in her eyes when we'd spoken previously, but not any real despair.

I said, "People grieve in different ways. She has kids to feed." I told Charlie.

"Yeah, but I still think there's something else at play there. I just need to figure out what. At this point, we need to seriously consider if she is capable of committing murder." Charlie watched her wrap her arm around an older gentleman, wearing a custom tailored suit.

I was pretty good at investigation stuff because I was already one step ahead of him. I could think of a lot of reasons why Brandi would want her ex-husband dead. I just didn't know how she did it and Lou wasn't going to help me figure that out.

"What are you thinking now," Charlie groaned.

"Let's say, it's the middle of the night and it's raining like the dickens outside, does a woman who wears that much makeup and those kind of clothes go outside? And, how does she go unnoticed?" I asked, watching her flirt with another gentleman a couple of tables over from the last table she was at.

Charlie looked at her up and down, letting his eyes linger a little longer than necessary on her long, thin legs. I used to have legs like that!

"Someone would have seen her." He answered finally.

"So, could she have possibly been the one that killed him? No way would she have gone out and taken a chance on ruining her hair, just to kill him. That doesn't seem like something she would do." I said, covering my face with my hands when she noticed me sitting there. "Uh oh."

Charlie turned back to look at her. "Here she comes." He muttered. "Let me talk."

You got it, cowboy. Act like I'm not here.

"Well, look at this!" She began. "Why aren't you sitting in my area?"

Charlie grinned from ear to ear.

I kicked him under the table.
Keep it together!

"I didn't realize you were working." Charlie said. "You look great as always."

She blushed.
I retract my shin kick and give you a high five, Sheriff.

"Why, thank you. I'm afraid I don't always look my best when I'm working. So, just out for a meal or is this a date?" Brandi glanced my way.

"Oh, no. Just a dinner. My cohort here has stressed that we must remain friends, so sadly I'm still very much single." Charlie winked at her.

Remind me to kick you twice later, buddy.

To me, Brandi said, "I'm surprised you're out and about after what happened at the hospital this morning. The whole town is just so shaken up. I can't believe it. I really like him, too. He was always such a nice man and a great tipper."

"What are you talking about? What happened?" I asked. I hadn't heard anything, but I hadn't watched the news or read a newspaper for the day yet either.

Brandi stood up straighter, puffing her chest out. "Well, they found Rollie dead in his office this morning. I can't believe you didn't know that."

I choked on my tongue. I had no idea that anything was going on. I'd spent the day just existing and not one single person had mentioned that anything was going on, including the police captain.

Charlie's face had turned red. He glared out the window at the people passing by on the street. I couldn't think straight and didn't know what to say or ask, but something about this had upset him too.

Brandi cleared her throat. "Well, I can't imagine why no one would have let you know, but I'm sure someone will fill you in at the hospital. All I know is what people are saying and what Lou told me when I spoke to him earlier today. It's so sad, really. I know how difficult this must be for his wife and family. I know that pain really well." She walked away from the table as Charlie and I sat staring off into space.

"He's your friend, isn't he?" Charlie asked. "I'm so sorry."

I wanted to cry. I'd known Rollie and Karen for quite some time and I liked them. I couldn't believe he was gone.

"What do you think happened to him?" I asked Charlie.

"We need to go find out." Charlie said, looking at my nearly full plate of food. "Eat something. It might be a long night."

"I should call work." I said. "I can't eat. Poor Karen. What do I do here?" Tears spilled from my eyes. My heart broke for Karen. What would she do without him? They were so close and so very much in love.

"Let's go, Mercy. We need to find out what happened." Charlie took my arm and helped me out of my seat.