If Fried Chicken Could Fly (31 page)

I sat against the wall and held my hand to my bleeding neck and tried not to faint as Jerome slugged Miles in the jaw and then in the gut. Miles made strange and unusual noises. He was hurt and confused, not understanding where the blows were coming from, and I had a front-row seat. I couldn’t help but enjoy the show.

Finally, Jerome grabbed Miles’s arm and pulled him toward the trapdoor hole. The fall probably wouldn’t kill him unless he could bend in some impossible pose, but he wouldn’t be able to get out unless there was a ladder close by or he managed to get through the wall. Jerome made it fast and clean as he dropped Miles in the hole. I heard a
thump and a loud yell. At that moment, I didn’t care how badly Miles was hurt.

“Isabelle, why didn’t you run?” Jerome asked as he crouched beside me and pulled my hand from my neck.

“I would have had to turn the light on to see. The light would have ruined everything.”

Jerome studied my neck. “You are going to be fine, I promise. Have a doctor throw a little whiskey on the cut, maybe a stitch or two, and you’ll be good as new.”

I nodded, smiled, and cried.

We both looked at my bloody hand in Jerome’s. His hand felt like any other man’s I’d ever held, and the list wasn’t long.

“How did you know? I mean, I didn’t even know,” Jerome said.

“You looked so real,” I said. I felt a tear roll down my cheek. I wasn’t a big crier, but considering the circumstances I thought a tear or two was appropriate.

“I had no idea,” he said again as he put his other hand on my not bloodied cheek. He laughed. “Thank you. I didn’t remember how wonderful a woman’s skin felt. Thank you.”

If he liked the feeling of skin, I was either about to push him into overload or make his day. I leaned forward and kissed him gently. He kissed me back and his mustache tickled me pleasantly. It was a sensation I’d remember forever.

“Isabelle,” he said. “Isabelle.”

“I know. You’ve got to go. I figured this would use up the last bit of your battery power. Go with my blessing, but come back someday. I know I’ll need you.”

“I’ll do my best.”

And then he was gone. The only light left in the auditorium was a small spit coming up from the trapdoor hole. I didn’t know if it was from my cell phone or Miles’s. I stood on my less than reliable legs and flipped the switch. The light hurt my eyes, but it didn’t matter.

I made my way off the stage, through the auditorium, and into the lobby. Before I left the theater, I glanced at the picture of Belinda and said, “Lucky girl.”

Of course, everyone thought I was part of an Old West act; everyone except Jake, who saw me tumble down the street toward the hanging platform. He met me there, took my arm, and helped me into the saloon. A doctor, Jim, Gram, and Teddy were by my side in only a few minutes.

I explained everything to the best of my ability, but I suppose everyone will always wonder how I managed to beat up Miles without so much as a bruise or cut on my hands. I claimed that the bullet grazing my neck had pumped me with enough adrenaline to take down more than one homicidal pool hall owner if I’d needed to. I didn’t even tell Jake and Gram the truth; it was something I needed to keep to myself for a while. Miles was so confused that he didn’t know what to say.

Somehow we managed to continue the cook-off and keep
the unlawful activities a secret from the tourists. The only hitch in their day was that one of the judges claimed to fall ill and had to leave the contest, leaving only four judges, which meant Gram would have to be the tie-breaking judge if needed.

Much to Gram’s and my surprise, though, there was no need for a tie-breaker. Missy Landon won in a 4-0 victory. Her version of Gram’s fried chicken had the judges swooning in their seats, and her chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting effectively sealed the deal.

Miles was hurt, but he would survive. He really didn’t know that Jenna was Everett’s daughter. He didn’t know that both Everett and Jenna were descendants of Jerome’s. Jenna didn’t know it either. In fact, she hadn’t even known she was adopted. She probably struggled the most with the information about her life that was suddenly heaped upon her. Fortunately, she had a good sense of humor and was interested in getting to know her birth mother, but none of us were sure how that would go. We all hoped for the best.

Everett had been leaving his home in Springfield early every morning and returning late, sometimes even after days had passed. He’d told his wife that he’d found a job in sales that kept him on the road. Though she’d been suspicious of his activities for a long time, it was when she found Gram’s business card on his nightstand that she thought he might be having an affair. Her appearance and accusations the night of Everett’s murder were merely the result of horrible timing.

When Everett and Gram hadn’t noticed the coins in and on the tombstone, Miles was convinced that Everett’s discovery of the treasure was imminent. Miles greeted Everett
after Gram had gone back inside the school and told him he wanted to show him something in the supply room. Gram had spilled the food coloring and then got distracted by a student’s question. Miles’s timing had to be perfect so Gram wouldn’t catch him. Miles claimed to kill Everett in a fit of obsessed rage. As Gram had concluded, he had walked through the food coloring and had to clean up the mess he’d made. He also cleaned off the soles of his shoes, but he wore them the night of the fire, when the singed chicken breast flew through the air. He changed them by the time the students were called back for questioning, though.

If only someone had noticed the red spots.

Miles shot at Jake and me for the reasons he’d mentioned in the Jasper. He was convinced that whoever had access to the archives would somehow figure out that he was the one who’d killed Everett. He had no idea how confusing the archives had actually been. Jim claimed that Miles had become so caught up in himself that he thought everyone was seeing what he was seeing. When he wasn’t able to kill us, he thought he could at least steal the archives. He said he thought he’d at least put Jake in a coma, but again my best friend had beaten the odds and survived Miles’s second attempt to take him out of the picture.

Gram said that Everett had no idea that Jerome’s treasure was hidden underneath the theater. She claimed that even finding Belinda’s obituary hadn’t given him the final clue. If he’d been “giggling like a schoolgirl and talking to himself” while reading the obituary at the pool hall it was just the result of finding something interesting or entertaining. The treasure hunt had turned into more of a fun diversion than a real hunt. Everett had taken Gram’s business card so he
could give it to his wife when he told her what he’d been up to. Everett thought Gram might be able to ease the blow of learning about Everett’s “crazy idea.”

Before Everett had come to Broken Rope, he had no idea that Jenna was his daughter. But not only did Jenna look like Belinda, she looked like Everett’s mother, too. Before they were married, Everett and his wife had had a baby, a little girl they couldn’t afford to raise and they thought would be better off with a family that could give her the best in life. The resemblance caused Everett to search further, and Gram claims that he somehow found out she was adopted and he hinted—though never admitted it to her—that he thought Jenna might be his daughter. Maybe he had contacts in Topeka, too, but none of us would ever know.

No one knew who placed the small pieces of paper, the copies of the word
Jasper
, in the tombstone and in Everett’s desk. No one. Of course, I could never be sure, but something told me they came from the same place that Jerome was now, not from him exactly but from “that place,” wherever it was. It was a disconcerting thought and not something I wanted to dwell on, but maybe someday I’d think about it more. Maybe someday I’d talk to Jerome about it. I hoped at least.

It turned out that the familial connections didn’t mean much of anything when it came to Everett’s murder. The only one who’d seemed to figure them out beforehand was Verna, and until the meeting I’d called with her and Gram, she never thought those connections meant anything important. She never admitted to the anonymous note, but come to think of it, I don’t think anyone asked her outright.

I was fine. The doctor threw a little alcohol over my
wound and put in a couple stitches for good measure. I hoped I’d have a scar.

Other than the bad things, it turned out to be a pretty good opening day.

Jerome’s treasure was buried right where he’d said. It was gold—a lot of gold. Jim had it excavated without any damage to the Jasper and then he sealed off the area underneath the stage and theater. Never again would anyone be able to get into that space. Unless they were a ghost and could do those sorts of things. Later we’d learn that Amy had told Mabel that Everett had touched her inappropriately. It was a horrible accusation. And, it wasn’t true according to the story Amy was now sticking to. Amy had said what she’d said because Everett wouldn’t let her into a movie without paying. Mabel and Amy hadn’t done anything to Everett, but Mabel admitted to thinking about it.

We’d all been called to a meeting in Jim’s office. Gram, Teddy, Verna, Jake, Cliff, and I were all there as Jim called the meeting to order.

“There are laws we must abide by. This is gold, folks, and someone else’s gold at that. It’s a historical find, and there are certain things we are required to do,” Jim said.

None of us wanted the gold, had ever wanted it. In fact, Gram and I had been pushing Jim to give it all to Everett’s widow if that was possible. It wasn’t. There were laws and such.

“That makes sense,” Verna said. Miles had tried to hire her as his attorney, but she’d refused. “Give us the scoop.”

“This is what’s been worked out with the authorities. I hope you’re all in agreement. Even if you aren’t, there’s
nothing we can do, though I feel they’re being very generous,” Jim said.

We looked at him and waited.

“Everett’s widow will get some. Some will be given to Jake for archiving purposes only. I’d like Jake to put something together that shows our visitors who the real Jerome Cowbender was.”

I swallowed hard and clenched my fist to keep my hand from reaching for the bandage at my neck or tearing up.

“I’d love to do that,” Jake said.

“Verna, you’re getting some to cover your attorney fees for Miz,” Jim said.

“Hell’s bells, Jim, I can pay,” Gram said.

“I didn’t do anything anyway. I wasn’t going to charge her,” Verna said.

“Yes you were,” Gram said. “I wouldn’t hear of you working for free.”

“There, I fixed it. Verna, you’re getting some,” Jim said firmly. Gram and Verna both looked perturbed but didn’t say anything more.

“Betts, you’ll get a little for pain and suffering.” Jim looked at me.

“I don’t want any…wait, I take that back. I would like a small bit. One coin would be fine.” I suddenly had the desire to carry one of Jerome’s stolen coins with me.

“You’ll get a few coins.”

“You can give what you don’t want to me,” Teddy said with a big Teddy smile. “Kidding, sis, kidding.”

“The rest will go to the state historical society. The town will receive some compensation, a finders’ fee of sorts, but the amount is unclear. I thought we’d do repairs on the Jasper
and the pool hall and whatever else might need a little something. Everyone good with the plan?”

We looked at each other and nodded.

“I think we’re all for the plan, Jim. Good work,” Gram said.

The now-familiar metallic plunk sounded from the front of the jail. The handcuffs had fallen again.

“I do not understand what is going on with those handcuffs,” Jim said.

I looked at Gram. She winked at me.

The meeting was adjourned and Cliff walked me out to my car. I still owned the Nova. I’d decided not to invest in the Mustang, no matter how wonderful it would have been.

“You okay, Betts?” Cliff asked as we stepped out into the bright sunshine and into a group of tourists who seemed to be headed toward the gunfight at the other end of the street.

“I’m fine. I might have a scar, but I’m just fine.”

“I’m sorry about what you’ve been through. If there’s anyone I want to protect, it’s you.”

I blinked.

“That was a bit much, huh?” Cliff said.

“No. Actually, it was great to hear. I’m just…” The words that were in my head were something about me being actually glad he was back but not knowing exactly why. Suddenly, I wasn’t pining away for what we once had. Suddenly, I saw him as he was now, not as he was then. And suddenly, I was excited to get to know this him, one step at a time. “It was just great to hear.”

“Good.” He smiled.

“Hey, sis, Cliff.” Teddy burst out the jail doors. “You two getting back together again anytime soon, or are we going
to have to watch while y’all torture us all with your puppy-dog eyes and batting eyelashes?”

“Oh stop, Teddy,” Gram said as she came out behind him. “Betts has never been an eyelash batter.”

“Who says I was talking about Betts?”

We all laughed. It was good to laugh, and it was suddenly good to be a resident of a place that was full of surprises: Broken Rope, Missouri. Or as I liked to call it, home.