Jingle Bones (3 page)

“They're going to learn some hard lessons.” It was one thing to mess with me, but endangering my animals was something else entirely.

“Remember, they have no appreciation for consequences. That makes them very dangerous.” Coleman pushed his hat back. “I'll do what I can to prove they did this, but”—he shook his head—“without an eyewitness or physical evidence, I can't charge them.”

“I'll take care of it.”

“Be careful, Sarah Booth. They're juveniles, and their mother defends everything they do.” He put a hand on my shoulder. “We need to find some time to talk over the holidays.”

Coleman's determined look gave me pause. “About what?”

“There's unresolved business between us, Sarah Booth. I respected your choice with Graf, but everything is changed. This is fair warning that I intend to press my case.” He gave my shoulder a little squeeze to back up his words. “Now what can I bring to the dinner party?”

A fire extinguisher? He'd actually flustered me. “Just yourself. Millie is helping me cook, and everyone is helping me decorate. It's a collaborative effort.”

“Looking forward to it. Friday at eleven, after the pageant. I still can't believe you talked everyone into attending the Final Harvest Christmas pageant.”

“I think it'll be the event of the year.”

“I'll drive your car home if you want to walk the horses.”

“Thanks, Coleman.” My heart did a little flutter when he leaned down to kiss my cheek.

“Love the pajamas,” he whispered, his breath warm against my neck. “Betty was always the sexiest cartoon around. And even with your hair standing out at all angles, dough on the point of your chin, and mismatched boots, you are one sexy Christmas delight.”

*   *   *

Candy and cookies could wait. Coleman's teasing whisper had ignited a fire under me and I needed action, not baking. I would call Tinkie and we'd employ the divide-and-conquer tactic. She bird-dogged Heathcliff while I shadowed Lord Darcy. The hellion was obviously out for a little Christmas shopping, and I had no choice but to discreetly follow along.

Forty minutes later, I had Lord Darcy cornered in a dressing room at the Casual Corner, a boutique that catered to wealthy socialites and their men. I'd caught the foxy little boy red-handed, shoplifting a jade necklace. I had my phone with the video footage to prove it. After I'd forced him to return the necklace to the display, we'd ducked into a dressing room for privacy.

“So what?” he bluffed. “I didn't actually steal it.”

“Because I made you put it back. This is a serious crime. That necklace was worth a couple thousand dollars, which translates into grand larceny. You'll do time for this.”

“Mom will buy any jury. She'll get me out of it.”

“Do you know Judge Bingham?” I could see he did. “She'll hear the case. Not a jury. I seem to recall that you and Heathcliff slashed her car tires as a prank.”

“What do you want?” He was nobody's fool. I had him by the short hairs and he knew it. Negotiation was the smart alternative.

“I want to know where the crèche doll is, and I want you and Heathcliff to withdraw from the Christmas pageant.”

He frowned as he calculated his best option. “The doll is nailed to the wall in our tree house. And okay, we don't want to be in the stupid pageant anyway. Mom made us. She hates Theodora.” I dialed Theodora and handed him my phone. “Heathcliff and I withdraw from your stupid pageant.” He disconnected and handed the phone back to me.

“You're smarter than you look, Lord Darcy.”

“Bite me.”

I didn't care that he was totally unrepentant. My case was solved with only three hours of work, the hour it would take to recover the doll and write a report. It was time to celebrate.

*   *   *

“I'm dreaming of a white Christmas.…” I sang the words with all my heart, even though my friends looked on with amusement. “I love Christmas songs,” I said for the hundredth time. “I wish I could sing.”

“And oh, lord, so do we,” Harold said, causing everyone to laugh. We sipped the nutmegy eggnog in the parlor—Tinkie and Oscar, Cece and Jaytee, Millie, Harold, and me. The house twinkled with lights and candles, and fresh cedar spiced the air. A number of wrapped gifts had magically appeared under the tree, thanks to my friends. Even the cat was in the mood. Pluto found a jingle bell bow and batted it around the floor while Sweetie and Chablis chewed the bones Millie had brought from her café.

We'd gathered at Dahlia House for a pre-pageant toast. The llama had been the draw when I'd convinced my friends we had to see the Final Harvest pageant. Then we'd return to Dahlia House for a midnight dinner. I missed my former fiancé, Graf Milieu. And I missed blues wunderkind Scott Hampton, who was away on business. Coleman and DeWayne would join us for dinner, but they'd gone to help supervise parking at the church. Showtime at the church was two hours away, so I poured another round of eggnog and went to put the pitcher in the refrigerator.

The sound of jingle bells came to me and I turned around. Jitty, all decked out in a red velvet mini-frock with a white collar and cuffs, sashayed toward me. “Girl, I have to hand it to you, you did an excellent job. Your mama couldn't have done any better.”

I would have put my hand on her forehead to check for a fever, but it would go right through her. She seldom complimented me. “Are you sick?”

“Sick with pleasure at seein' you surrounded by friends.” She sighed.

“What's wrong?”

“Your time here is a short road, Sarah Booth. It is for all of us. If I could make every day just like this one, I would do it.”

“You make every day better, that's for sure.” Normally we sniped at each other, but Christmas was a time to tell those you loved your deepest feelings.

“Lord, the Christmas spirit has jumped on both of us.”

“You won't ever leave me, will you?” The thought of Jitty moving on was too much to bear.

“I'll be here as long as you need me. Count on it. But don't count on me being so nice.” With a laugh and a little jiggle of the bells on her shoes, she was gone.

The kitchen door opened and Cece entered. “You need some help?”

“Thanks to my friends, I have help whenever I need it.” I hugged her impulsively. “I'm so happy for you. I really like Jaytee.”

The doorbell rang and Cece took over the eggnog service while I answered it. Maybe it would be carolers! The perfect thing!

Perry Price, dapper as ever, stood at the door. “Is Sheriff Peters here? I was told I could find him here. Theodora is missing. I felt I should report it.”

“Isn't she at the church?” I asked.

“No. And the pageant starts in two hours. I fear she's been abducted. There was a note.”

The lined notebook paper he pushed at me sent up a red alert.
Cancel the pageant or Mrs. Prince dies.
The handwriting was youthful. “The Rush boys?”

Perry nodded. “I believe so.”

“Come in. I'll call Coleman.” Calling in the law qualified as smart. I doubted Theodora was in serious trouble from two pint-size gangsters, but the Rush boys were also smart and didn't care about consequences.

As soon as the law officers arrived, Perry handed Coleman the ransom note. I watched him struggle not to laugh. I, too, had to turn away until Tinkie kicked me in the ankle bone hard enough to straighten me up.

“When was the last time you saw Theodora?” I asked.

“About an hour ago. She was going out to Jackson Farm to supervise the transport of the farm animals. Mr. Jackson said she never arrived.”

Somewhere between the church and the farm, which was about twenty minutes away, the Rush boys had waylaid the pageant director. How did two preteen boys mastermind a kidnapping? Especially of someone like Theodora, who could peel the bark off a cedar tree with one glare.

“Sarah Booth, could you head out to Jackson Farm and see what you can learn?” Coleman asked. “DeWayne and I will talk to Marjorie Rush.”

“Better take a warrant. Marjorie isn't cooperative.”

“Theodora can't be far, Perry.” Tinkie was all consoling kindness. “We'll find her.”

Perry cleared his throat and looked down at his shoes. “Uh, maybe it would be best if you didn't.”

Coleman's eyes widened. “You don't want me to search for her?”

“If I don't search for her and something terrible happens, will I be criminally liable?”

Tinkie and I held our breath, waiting for the sheriff's answer. “Not as long as you weren't involved in the abduction. No one can make you search for a missing spouse.”

“You don't want to find your wife?” Tinkie asked.

It was my turn to kick her ankle.

Perry held her gaze. “I don't. I don't want anything bad to happen to her, but I really don't want her to be found and returned to me. She's a good woman, but she wields her goodness like a club. Nobody can live up to her expectations. She only sees the flaws in others. Maybe I'm ready for a little bit of badness in my life. I'd like to try a bite of the apple before I die.”

From the dining room the clear sound of a bell ringing echoed through the house. Pluto and his jingle-bow had interjected himself into the case. The bell rang again.

“An angel just got his wings,” Tinkie said.

“Holy Christmas,” I whispered. “And I thought we had made some easy money for once.”

*   *   *

Jackson Farm was a well-manicured petting and teaching facility. The animals were tame and friendly, and I had great memories of grammar school field trips. The same couple, Vannessia and Huey Jackson, still ran the facility.

“Have you seen Theodora Prince?” Tinkie asked Vannessia after we'd gotten out of the Roadster. I'd chosen to take my car. Both dogs and Pluto sat primly in the backseat. The animals loved it, but Tinkie was right—the convertible was a lot more fun in the warmer months.

“I've been waiting for over an hour for her to arrive. We're going to have to load up without her.”

“Have you heard from her?”

“She called an hour ago and said she was on the way.” Vannessia frowned. “Nothing after that. Now I'm happy to talk to you, but I really have to put the animals in the trailer.”

The array of animals haltered and ready to load included three sheep, two donkeys, a llama, and a large black-and-white pig who did not look like a happy camper.

Tinkie nudged me. “There's no pig in the Bible story.”

I'd been thinking exactly the same thing. “What's with Porky?” I asked Vannessia.

“Oh, Elmo,” she pointed at the llama, “won't go anywhere without Petunia. They're bonded. Petunia will wait in the trailer during the pageant. It's the only way I can get Elmo to load.”

As soon as Petunia got on board, Elmo followed. Vannessia climbed behind the wheel. “Look around all you'd like. Huey's in the back pasture, but Theodora isn't here. When you find her, tell her to meet me at the church.”

“Dead end,” Tinkie said, stepping back from the dust kicked up by the dually. We were both still dressed for dinner and church. “What now?”

“Coleman.” I placed the call and put the phone on speaker. “Did you find the Rush boys?” I asked.

“Marjorie was extremely uncooperative, as you warned. Luckily Judge Porter signed a search warrant.”

“What did you find?”

“We searched their rooms and found nothing concrete regarding Theodora's abduction, but the Rush SUV is missing and no one will tell us where it is. Marjorie refuses to say anything, so I'm taking her down to the courthouse and holding her on obstruction.”

“Can you do that? If so, can I come take a photo?”

“It's debatable whether it's legal or not, but I'll keep her until after Christmas, because Judge Porter said if we interrupted him one more time he'd put us all in jail. And no, you cannot mess with her. Gotta go. DeWayne found something. I'll get back with you.”

After a few hours in a cell surrounded by Christmas drunks, Marjorie would break. I would be willing to pay good money to watch that YouTube video! I could make a killing.

“What next?” Tinkie asked.

“Let's look for Theodora's car. She was driving out here. If the boys ran her off the road, they'd have to leave the car behind.”

“Excellent deduction, Sherlock.”

We plotted the route that Theodora would have driven to Jackson Farm and worked backward. I had a cue-beam light in the car for horse emergencies, and Tinkie shined it on either side of the road as we rolled slowly toward the church. The black Jaguar would be easy to miss on a dark December night. Tinkie had to keep the window rolled down, which had both of our teeth chattering.

We'd almost given up when we found the sedan. The passenger fender was badly dented and that tire was flat. Theodora had hit the ditch hard and rammed into a speed limit sign. If the boys had caused this accident, they had terrific timing.

It didn't take long examining the car to discover the right front tire had been blown to smithereens. “I think those little bastards put an explosive device on the tire and triggered it.” Tinkie was appalled and impressed. “They aren't even teenagers and they have perfect criminal instincts.”

“They could have killed her.” I was all for a good prank, but causing wrecks didn't qualify.

Tinkie opened the car door to find the keys still in the ignition and blood on the steering wheel.

“Looks like Theodora smacked her head hard enough to cause a gash. She could be really hurt.” Tinkie dialed Coleman and reported the accident. “He's on the way here,” she said.

Blood frozen on the ground got my butt in gear. Red was a great color for Christmas, but not bloodred. “All of this over a Christmas pageant.”

“Speaking of which, it starts in thirty minutes.”