Cupid's Treasure - Mystery of the Golden Arrow (8 page)

“Have you ever thought of contacts?”

“They make my eyes puffy,” Amber said quickly.

Jessie popped her head in the door. “You are up!” She smiled. “I was hoping that I would get a chance to talk with you this morning before I had to go to work.”

“Why don’t you join us on the back porch for coffee then?” Charlene asked.

“I’d love to, but we might need to have it in the kitchen with that man still at large,” Jessie said.

“Oh, my,” Charlene said. “Haven’t you been listening to the police scanner?”

Jessie shook her head as Charlene went on. “They apprehended him last night—the one in the diaper.” She nodded. “You know Miss Darcy just around the corner here on Maple and Beacon Streets? Well, she saw him hiding in the bushes
and called in a Peeping Tom report. They picked him up about two in the mornin’.”

“That’s great news!” Jessie smiled at Amber.

Amber was glad now she hadn’t left last night. That was a little too close for comfort.

“Now, you have your life back.” Charlene nodded.

Amber watched the women with their easy camaraderie and ready friendship and wished that she could have a life that allowed for such. “That is great news,” she said. At least now she wouldn’t have to leave until she got her car back.

“We’ll just give you the chance to get dressed, sugar,” Charlene said. “Hurry on down. I think Gloria has some sweet rolls in the oven.”

“I’ll be right there,” Amber said as they shut the door. She quickly changed into her skirt and oversized sweater, brushed her hair until the volume of poof resembled a cotton ball, and critically inspected herself in the mirror. She added some powder to dull her complexion. “Good.” She nodded with satisfaction. She looked appropriately dull.

“Hmm, hmm,” Charlene commented as she and Jessie walked down the stairs. “Did you get a load of that?”

“Who would have guessed?” Jessie nodded.

“That girl is in serious need of a makeover!” Charlene whispered.

“Did I hear something needs a makeover?” Gloria asked as she came out of her bedroom which was decorated in the Yosemite Sam motif. “Other than that room, that is.”

“You don’t like Ol’ Yosemite Sam?” Charlene asked.

“Good mornin'” Gloria greeted her with delight. “I think he may be wearing off on me. . . . I’m starting to think about toting a six gun myself.”

Both Jessie and Charlene laughed. “I carry one,” Charlene said.

“You carry a gun?” Jessie asked.

“Of course, sugar, don’t you?” Charlene asked. “That’s how the West was won.”

“I’m afraid of them,” Jessie said. “I don’t even like to hold a knife.”

“How can you say that when you’re a doctor?”
Charlene looked at her.

“Surgery is not my favorite part,” Jessie said. “I have to talk myself into it.”

“Well, I’m not giving up my civil rights!” Charlene said. “Hank’s just come back from a tour in Afghanistan. I just don’t understand some people. Why can’t they see that the only reason they have the right to speak out is because we have an army with guns protecting us?”

“I guess they figure with the army they don’t need to have the civilians armed anymore.”

“Then they don’t understand why that was put into the Constitution in the first place. Power to the people,” Charlene said. “I just know that if law abiding citizens hand over their weapons, then our country is going to be full of a bunch of armed hoodlums who aren’t about to hand over
their
weapons. . . . It’s not like they bought them legally in the first place.”

“I think some people are afraid that they add to the violence,” Jessie said.

“I see enough domestic violence in my line of work, sugar,” Charlene said. “And trust me; if someone decides to put the hurt on someone else, they can do it with a fist. What are they going to do about that?”

“This is a grim discussion for the morning,” Jonathan said as the ladies entered the kitchen.

“You pack a gun?” Charlene asked him.

“Is that a trick question?” Jonathan asked.

“See? I told you.” Charlene looked at Jessie and Gloria. “That’s just the way it is down here. I can promise you, nobody is going to invade this country going through the swamps.”

Katie joined the ladies a second later. “I have a concealed permit.”

“Oh, I love that color,” Charlene said when she turned and saw her. “Do you think you could do mine like that for Valentine’s?” She looked at Gloria.

“Of course.”
Gloria smiled. “You just come by the salon, and we’ll do it!”

“How long does the tint last?” Charlene asked her.

“A few weeks is all that it stays in,” Gloria said. “But the natural dyes are much healthier for your hair and won’t dry it out.”

“Perfect,” Charlene said. “I think Hank will really like it.”

“Good morning,” Amber said to the kitchen at large which was jam-packed with people.”

“Good morning.” She received the collective answer.

“Did you hear the good news?” Jonathan asked her.

“Yes, I did.” Amber nodded, trying not to look at the way his wet hair curled slightly over his collar. He looked like he was fresh from the shower and smelled even better than the cinnamon rolls on the counter.

“Tom still needs us to give him a statement, but after that you can put the whole incident behind you.” He smiled, watching her carefully.

She nudged her glasses up and accepted a plate that held a steaming sweet roll from Gloria. “Thank you,” she murmured self-consciously, wishing he would just ignore her. His attention was far too disconcerting.

Jonathan continued to watch her as she followed the ladies out to the back porch. She wasn’t exactly exuding the joy or relief that someone might upon hearing that the suspect had been caught. Of course, he knew there was more to it. He just didn’t know how much more.

“What are you doing today?” Jacques asked him.

Jonathan realized that he’d been watching him watch her as she sat in the big wingback on the porch outside. “Keeping an eye on my favorite librarian,” Jonathan answered.

“How are you going to spend the whole day in the library?” Jacques asked. “Are you planning on writing a report?”

“Already taken care of.” Jonathan grinned. “My mother has already called the mayor’s wife and the city council and cleared it for me to go over the wiring in the building. There may be some work for you, too, if you’re interested,” Jonathan said. “Apparently, one of the big bookcases fell last night.”

“Hmm.”
Jacques noted.

“Hmm, what?”
Jonathan asked as the doorbell rang.

“I wonder who that could be,” Gloria said as she went to answer it.

Jonathan was still waiting for an answer from Jacques who shrugged.

“It is just not like Agnes,” Jacques said.

“And who is Agnes?” Jonathan asked curiously.

“She used to be the head librarian.”

“I thought her name was Marcy Dimity,” Jonathan said.

“I meant last century,” Jacques commented when Gloria walked back into the kitchen with Bob from the towing company.

“Speaking of last century,” Bob said, joining the tail end of the conversation. “That car has seen better days. Are you sure you want that Pinto back?” He glanced at Jacques’s lawn shirt that looked like he had been shopping at the two hundred year old plus second hand store. “I’d be doing you a favor to let it out to pasture. If you want, I could take it to the junkyard.”

Jonathan took out his billfold and handed him fifty dollars. “I appreciate you bringing it over.”

“Yeah,” Bob said. “I’m glad to get rid of it. Damn rust bucket leaked oil all over my new drive strip.”

“Coffee?”
Gloria asked him.

“Love some,” Bob said, pulling up a chair and sitting down at the table. He sniffed the air and then sighed. “Hmm, do I smell sweet rolls?”

“Yes, you do,” Gloria said as she handed him a plate.

“You wouldn’t happen to have any flavored creamer?” he asked as he took a bite and continued to speak. “I dropped it off on the street since I didn’t want the same thing to happen to your driveway. Miss Katie may not be too pleased with me if it did.”

“Thank you,” Gloria said. “That is very thoughtful of you.”

Ding-
dong.

“My goodness,” Gloria said as she headed toward the front door. “It’s like Grand Central Station here this morning.”

She passed a white kitty in the hallway. “Well, hello,” she said as she passed her. “How did you get out?”

Muff
.
The cat answered as it hurried along to the kitchen.

Gloria looked up and saw the door to the Betty Boop room slightly ajar before she glanced at the newcomer through the glass. “Yes?” she asked as she opened the door. “What can I do for you, officer?”

“Is Jonathan Peterson or the new librarian here?” the policeman asked.

“They certainly are,” Gloria said. “Won’t you please come in? We were all just enjoying some fresh baked sweet rolls and coffee. Would you like to join us?”

“Why, yes, ma’am,” Tom said. “That would be nice.”

“Follow me,” she said, leading the way.

“Hey, Tom,” Jonathan said when the officer walked into the kitchen.

“Jonathan,” Tom nodded, “Bob.”

“Howdy,” Bob said.

“I was wondering why the diner was empty this morning.” Tom chuckled.
“Seems that everyone is here.”

“You have to try these,” Bob said, taking a big bite.

“I plan on it,” Tom said as Gloria handed him a plate with a huge bun on it and a cup of coffee.

“Hello.” Jacques extended his hand, the ruffled sleeve of his shirt stretching across the table. “We haven’t met. I am Jacques, Jessie’s husband.”

“Oh, yeah,” Tom shook his hand, “the new vet in town.”

“That’s her,” Jacques said with pride.

“Nice to meet you.” Tom looked at his shirt. “Are you in the theater?”

“
Non
, why?” Jacques responded with surprise.

“Ah, no reason,” Tom said, receiving a chuckle from Bob. “Your wife saved my Lab’s life a few weeks back. He was kicked by a mule if you can believe it.” Tom took a bite and fell silent for a moment, looking like he was in heaven. “These are
the best cinnamon rolls I’ve ever sunk my teeth into,” he said to Gloria who beamed.

“I heard you caught the shooter last night,” Jonathan said.

“We did.” Tom nodded. “I was hoping that, along with that statement I need, you’d come by and pick him out of a line up.”

“Are there that many men running around town in a diaper?” Jacques asked.

Tom chuckled. “You’d be surprised.”

Bob coughed around a bite and took a sip of coffee.
“So the busy bee’s report last night wasn’t a fluke? There really was a man in diapers? Boy, I thought her exposé on the Mayan Calendar was farfetched. You know, the one where she supposedly journeyed to the city of El Dorado.”

“
Non,
Really?” Jacques asked.

“Yeah, really.”
Bob nodded. “And then there was the one about the ghost pirate that supposedly haunted this place that had all the kids in town digging up the yard.”

“Just don’t remind my mother about that one,” Jonathan said, taking a sip of coffee.

Bob shook his head. “If you ask me, it looked like all that footage of her by the banks of the river could have been taken anywhere in the swamps here. I bet they just Photoshopped those photos of ruins,” Bob said.

“You can Photoshop anything nowadays. It’s the biggest problem in fraud,” Tom said.

“I heard they were changing the twenty dollar bill again because of it,” Bob said.

“Last week I had to arrest a couple who was posing as the owners of a house at a real-estate closing with forged documents.”

“That’s terrible,” Gloria said.

“Identity theft is on the rise,” Tom said. “We’re starting to really crack down on it at the station.”

Jonathan glanced at Amber who was listening to the ladies chat. She laughed at something they said before she noticed him. Her expression became guarded, and she fidgeted with her fork.

Amber wished he would stop watching her. Her awareness of him made her every sense more alert.
Not exactly what I want when I’m striving for dull,
she thought.

“What about you, sugar?” Charlene asked her. “Have you ever thought about a makeover?”

“I was actually considering it last night,” Amber said.

“Really?”
Charlene leaned forward excitedly.

“Well, just my hair,” Amber said. “I was considering having it dyed right when those arrows started flying.”

“That must have been so scary,” Jessie said, noticing that Amber looked uncomfortable talking about it.

“I’m going to sneak away for a minute,” Katie said, “if you don’t mind.”