Minnie Crockwell - Will Travel for Trouble 01 - Trouble at Happy Trails (9 page)

Her smile broadened. She seemed to have a well-developed sense of humor. “No, but I would expect you to tell the park owner.”

I shrugged again. “Maybe.” I returned her smile. At least, I wasn’t a suspect. Hopefully.
 

And I
had
asked for something exciting to happen. Here it was. A visit from the police!

“If there’s anything else you think of, give me a call.” She rose and handed me her card. “Now, which sewer hose was it? And you say Mrs. Brothers said it was a package of notes? That’s all?”

“That’s what she said.” I opened the door and let them out. I pointed to the sewer connection. They stopped to look at it, looked at each other and then returned to their patrol car. It seemed as if they were leaving without stopping to talk to Karen or Jim. I breathed a sigh of relief. Well, at least, I wouldn’t have some irate, grieving woman pounding on my door tonight.

Goodness!
Ben said.

“I know!”
 

Those inquiries seemed extensive for an act of suicide, did you not think so?

“I wonder if they came up with something they just didn’t tell me about? I mean if any guy was likely to get murdered, it was Carl.”

Indeed!

A knock sounded on the door, and I jumped. I looked out. It was Karen. Oh, no! Had she figured out I had snitched on her already?
 

Chapter Six

I opened the door.

“Hi! Can I come in?” Karen asked.

I looked over my shoulder toward the interior of the RV, maybe for a possible escape. She wasn’t going to murder me, was she? Wasn’t this just how Carl must have gone?

I couldn’t hold back.

“You’re not carrying a gun or a knife, are you?”

She wrinkled her nose.

“What? No!” She looked over her shoulder. “I just don’t want Jim to see me here. I told him I was going for a walk.”

I didn’t see her packing a weapon, so I backed up the stairs and let her in.

“So, what did the police want? I saw them here!” Her blue eyes were bright. Her nose was red as if she had been crying again, but she revealed no sign of grief at the moment. In fact, she seemed excited.

“Well, they wanted to know what I knew about Sally and Carl.”

“You didn’t tell them about
me
, did you?” She took a seat on the couch, but I chose to lean against the kitchen sink, ready to run if need be. I bit my lip and thought fast. Not fast enough though. Nothing came to mind but the truth. Generally, I hated lying, and I was truly awful at it.

I nodded. “I did. I’m sorry.” I could have offered excuses like “they made me do it,” but that wasn’t the truth. I waited for her reaction.

“Minnie!” Karen gasped. She jumped up and ran to look out of the front door window as if the police waited for her. The cruiser was gone though. She turned back to me. “Why? Why would you do that?”

Why indeed! I’d forgotten why.

“I just thought I should tell them everything I knew, Karen. I
am
sorry. I wouldn’t have the faintest idea what to hold back and what to tell them, or why I would hold anything back.”

“You must be a lousy friend!”

Ah! An unworthy insult. Do not listen to her, Minerva. She is afraid.

I let her vent. I was actually pretty good at keeping secrets for friends, but probably not from the authorities.
 

“Well, what did they say?” she asked.

“Nothing, really. They stopped to look at the sewer drain, but I don’t think they were going to look down it for your notes.”

“You told them about the notes! Minnie! What is the matter with you?”

I shrugged with a sheepish smile.
 

“It seemed pertinent, Karen. Now, you know why I asked if you had a weapon on you.”

Karen, looking out the window again, turned back. “Yes, I can see why.”

A shiver passed up my spine. Her bright blue eyes had taken on a cold hue again. While I had only been partially kidding, she looked very serious about her response.

Perhaps she should leave now, Minerva.

I’m thinking maybe she should, Ben. Some days, I wish you were a real guy so I could hide behind you.

Silence. I realized what I had said.

No, I know you’re real, Ben. I’m sorry.

And I am sorry that I cannot protect you, Minerva.
 

I shrugged back my shoulders. “I really am sorry, Karen. Maybe nothing will come of it. I have some things to do now, so…”

“Well, since you sang like a bird, did you at least tell them
my
suspicions?”

She showed no sign of leaving, other than her hand on the door where it had been.

“You mean that Carl didn’t kill himself?”

“Good! I suppose I should be expecting a visit from them anytime now.”

“I don’t know,” I said.
 

She opened the door and stepped out. “I just hope you didn’t convince them that
I
did it!”

“I didn’t, Karen,” I said. “Good night.” I pulled the door shut.

Well done! She took on quite an ominous air, did she not?

“And then some,” I said as my weak knees forced me to drop to the couch. Confrontation, while sometimes a necessary part of life, always made me uncomfortable, especially now.

“I’m sorry I said what I did, Ben. I know you want to protect me. I know you’re real.”

But I failed you two months ago, did I not? When the ruffians attacked you on the street in that small town? Though they sought only your money, you struggled. I raged when one of them struck your face repeatedly, but it was an impotent rage. I could do nothing to protect you. I do not forget that. Nor do you, it seems.

I didn’t know whether I sympathized more for Ben or myself. I was jumpy now. I had developed a small case of posttraumatic stress disorder that now made me more jumpy than the average bear when startled. Or so a therapist I had seen for the subsequent anxiety and nightmares had said. But Ben seemed to take the assault harder than I had. He had raged, he had mourned, he had cursed himself and blamed himself. He had watched me get smacked around, and he could do nothing about it.
 

“It’s not your fault, Ben. You and I both know that.”

That knowledge does not help me protect you.

“I’m a big girl, Ben. I don’t need a knight in shining armor. I’m tougher than both you and I think.”

I am no knight.
He chuckled.
But I am a gentleman, and it is only natural that I should wish to protect you—a woman alone, my traveling companion, the lady to whom my spirit is inexplicably bound for the foreseeable future.

I grinned. “Awww, Ben. I feel for you. An 18th century man stuck with a 21st century woman. It can’t be easy.”

My bond to you is not without its pleasures and comforts, Minerva.
His voice was silky, caressing.
 

I blushed. “Okay, enough flirting for now, Ben.”

Flirting indeed! I beg your pardon.

I heard his wonderful laugh and smiled. I wouldn’t admit it to him, but I enjoyed his flirting. Ben was incredibly handsome and very charming. Although admitting that to myself was as good as telling him since he could more often than not read my thoughts.

On occasion,
Ben slipped in.

“Stop!” I said. I put my hands to the side of my head as if I could stop him from reading my mind.

A knock sounded on the door.
 

“Who now?” I said aloud.

It is the park owner. The “handsome,” and I quote you, Mr. Nick Granger.

“Really? I wonder what he wants.”

I opened the door and looked out. Yes, indeedy, the handsome Nick Granger stood there. He held a bottle of water in his hand and looked as if he had been jogging. A sleeveless T-shirt revealed well-muscled arms and his running shorts showed tanned, toned legs.

“Oh, you didn’t mention you were a jogger, too,” I teased. “How you’ll find time to manage the park in between jogging and golf, I can’t imagine.” I grinned.

He smiled broadly. “Well, that’s just what I wanted to see you about. I really don’t want to do this all summer. Heck, I’d rather get in an RV and get back onto the road than sit here and babysit campers all day.”

I stepped down and shut the door behind me.
 

“Ouch!”

“Well, it’s not like I would say that to just anyone.” He grinned without remorse. “You seem to have a sense of humor.”

“Thank you, I think.”

“So, I was wondering if you would be interested in taking on the job of hosting this place.”

My eyes bulged.

“What? Me?” I shook my head vehemently. “Oh, no! I don’t think I could.”

“Why not? You have an RV. You seem intelligent. What else would you need? You look a little young to be retired, so I thought you might still need to work.”

I reared back. “Well, I don’t need to work, thanks. I’m all set in that direction. But I don’t want to settle down either. I just got on the road a few months ago. I want to travel.”

He took a swig of water from his bottle.

“Well, you could travel in the winter. Head south and golf.”

I laughed as he repeated my suggestion to him. Over his shoulder, I saw window blinds move slightly in Jim and Karen’s RV. We were being watched, and probably overheard. I lowered my voice.

“Thanks anyway, Nick, but campground hosting is not for me. I know nothing about maintenance.”

He nodded.

“Well, that
is
a drawback, I’ll admit. It’s good to have a couple who can do both paperwork and maintenance.”

“There you go!”
 

He didn’t move away, and I waited to see what else he had to say. He chewed on his lip for a minute.

“The police stopped by to see me today.”

“Me too. I thought I was going to be arrested.”

He smiled absentmindedly.

“I think they’re thinking Carl was murdered.”

My heart jumped in my throat.

“Well, it
is
possible.”

“I knew the guy was a jerk, but I never realized he was sleeping with the paying guests.”

I quirked an eyebrow.

“I didn’t realize you knew him, but of course you did. You probably hired him.”

“He was my uncle.”

My knees buckled, and I drew in sharp breath.

“Oh, my gosh. I didn’t know! I’m so sorry!
You’re
the nephew Sally mentioned.”

“Thank you,” he said. “We weren’t particularly close. I hadn’t seen him since I was a little boy, but I gave him a job when he asked. My mother would have been happy that I did.”

“Your mother’s not alive?”

“No, both my parents passed away.”

“I’m sorry.” I grimaced. “I seem to be saying that a lot, but I mean it.”

“I know you do.”

“This must have been awful for you. If the police think Carl might have been murdered, did they say who they thought might have done it?”

He shook his head. “No.”

I looked around as if murderers lurked in every RV.
 

“It could have been anyone at this rate,” I mumbled.

“Yup. Any number of disgruntled wives or husbands.”

“Do you have any suspicions?”

He looked at me, blinked and looked away.

“I’m pretty concerned that it might have been Sally. I probably shouldn’t say that to you. She likes you,” he said.

“I wouldn’t blame her.”

“Why do you say that?” he asked. He didn’t seem angry at my statement.

“Well, she told me he was violent with her.”

Nick nodded. “Yes, I think he might have been. I never saw it, but I knew he had a temper.”

“Well, she’s out of it now.”

He nodded again and took another drink of water.
 

“I’d better get going. Just enough time to get home and get some sleep before I have to get back up and return to the park.”

“Good night,” I said.

“Night.” He strode off in the direction of the office, and I returned to my RV.

I think we can eliminate the handsome Nick Granger as a suspect, can we not?
Ben asked.

“What are we? Some amateur sleuthing team?” I smiled.

It would seem so. I find it interesting that you have become the repository of so much information.
 

“Yeah, that’s weird, isn’t it? I’m not even social!”

Yes, I thought you were a bit reclusive when we first met, but you seem to have blossomed into quite the butterfly of late. Perhaps Mr. Granger could remark upon this.

“Oh, for goodness sake, Ben! I just went to find out what was going on. The man wants me to
work
for him, not date him!”