Read Between the Tines (2 page)

"Well, to be fair to Chief Lawson," something I couldn't believe I was attempting to do, "there were a few other things pointing suspicion my way."

Lisa, eyes frenzied, rapped on the window again, this time rolling her hand like cranking an old movie camera, our signal to go to commercial.

I was very happy to oblige. "I'm sorry, Weed Whacker, but we need to take a short commercial break. If you'll hold on, we'll make sure this problem is resolved. For the rest of our audience, stay turned for more of
Through the Garden Gate
when we'll return to answer your
gardening
questions."

"What's going on?" Lisa's perturbed voice boomed through the open doorway. "I talk with the next caller for a few minutes and come back to find you up to your neck in murder."

"You're the one who let Daisy through. Didn't you ask why she was calling?"

"Well, no. She usually asks something kind of dumb, but it's always been gardening related in the past."

"Hmm, gardening related. That's an idea. Maybe I should tell her to get the new shovel I recommended last month, dig a deep hole, and—"

Lisa groaned. "Paige, seriously, you need to get rid of her. We're back in a minute thirty."

"Fine." I would dispatch her during the commercial then get on with my program. I picked up the phone. "Daisy, why on earth did you call here?"

"I tried your cell, but you didn't answer. I had to talk to you right away. I knew it was time for the show, but Lisa was so sweet and put me right through. So are you coming?"

I glanced at my soon to be ex-best friend who still held the phone to her ear and remained clueless about her part in this radio travesty. She appeared as angelic as her twin three-year-olds in sleep mode. I turned back to the phone. "You need to call the police, Daisy. Even if I wanted to come, I have to finish the show."

"I didn't want to do this, but you owe me, Paige. I saved you last month. If I didn't you'd be. . .well, you'd be. . . dead."

I was beyond grateful for Daisy's help in keeping me alive and thought about it often. Especially at night when I rehashed how close I'd come to being killed. And Daisy was right. She did save my life. I thought I had paid back my debt when I gave her a job at my shop, The Garden Gate, and kept her on staff despite inept skills. Obviously, she didn't think so. "Low blow, Daisy."

"I'm sorry. I really am, but I was there for you when you needed me. Now I need you." I recognized her stubborn tone. She wouldn't give up until I agreed to help.

"Fine, but this makes us even. And if I'm hassled even the least little bit by our illustrious chief, I'm gonna. . .I'm gonna—oh I don't know what I'll do, but I'll do it." I punched the disconnect button and rushed into Lisa's booth. "Put on a 'best of' show. I'm leaving."

Her head popped up. "You
are not
going down there. After all you went through last month? Paige, don't. You're just asking for trouble."

I pulled my keys from my pocket. "Don't you think I know that? But what choice do I have? Daisy played the you-owe-me-for-saving-your-life card."

"You still don't have to go."

"Relax. Knowing Daisy, this is all a big mistake, and there won't be a body. I'll let you know what happens."

I rushed down the long hall, past Roger Freund's office. He called my name, but I kept going. Roger tuned in to all of KALM's programs and never missed
Through the Garden Gate
, the top rated local show. Not a hard won honor, I grant you, with competing shows like Success Serendipity Style, the Farm to Market Report and Rainy Day Crafts. With such a limited lineup, I could afford to ignore Roger this one time.

I charged into the sunshine, climbed into my truck, and sped toward Daisy's location. Nearing Cedar and
Main
, my phone chimed in the tone I'd assigned to Adam Hayes, a criminal defense attorney and my new boyfriend. We met that horrific day I'd discovered Bud Picklemann's body on my construction site and Adam was called in to defend me from an overzealous police chief.

I pressed my Bluetooth headset and gave the man who was threatening to capture my heart a warm greeting.

"You are not on your way to the ball field," he said, all bossy and demanding, quickly melting my warmth.

"Well, hello to you, too."

"Paige, come on. Tell me you're not in your truck on the way to the field."

I looked out the window at the buildings zipping past and laughed. "I'm not in my truck on the way to the field."

He went silent for a few seconds. "You are, aren't you?"

"Yeah, but you told me to tell you—"

"Stop right there. What are you thinking?" His voice thundered through my phone like a sonic boom. "It's only been a little over a month since your near brush with incarceration."

"Ooh, I love it when you talk all lawyerly."

He groaned. "It doesn't matter what I say, does it? You're still going."

"I have to. I owe Daisy. But after this, we'll be even."

"Right. Something tells me you'll need to get it in writing."

"I might just make her sign in blood." I laughed again, feeling the tension lightening. "Hey, wait. How did you know about this anyway?"

"I was listening to your show. When you didn't come back from commercial I knew where you were headed."

A flush of warmth spread through me. He tuned me in. A man who hated gardening had only one reason for turning his radio dial to my show. He loved me. Or wait, maybe two. His day was moving along at a slug's pace and he was bored. Probably the second one. "Must be a slow day in the office, huh?"

"A good day in my opinion. One where I could have caught up on my paperwork. Now I'll need to head over there." His tone had turned a smidge testy.

"Why? I can handle this."

He snorted. "You can handle Chief Lawson?"

"Sure, why not?"

"The way you handled him the last time."

I chose to ignore his insinuation that I nearly melted, okay, totally melted under Mitch Lawson's threats to arrest me last month. "I might not even see Mitch. With Daisy's ability to misunderstand things it's possible there's no body."

"True, but—"

Before he could argue further, I blurted out, "So don't bother driving all this way. I'll call if there's a problem. Talk to you later." I disconnected and pulled the truck into the ball field parking lot located at the bottom of the hill behind
Serendipity
High School
. I dropped my headset into the cup holder as I only used it while driving to comply with
Oregon
's hands free cell phone laws. Hopping out, I listened to screaming fans and inhaled the mouthwatering aromas from the concession stand drifting on the slight breeze.

My desire for a salty bag of popcorn nearly had me veering off course, but I was here to see if Daisy really found a dead body, not go to a movie, so I tamped it down. I skirted the field, keeping to the perpendicular line of trees. If there was indeed a body ahead, I didn't want to draw attention from the crowd before we could decide how to handle the situation.

Picking my way through trees grouped forest-close, I searched for any sign of the bright green pickle costume. In a small clearing about thirty feet into the woods, I spotted Briny's head on the ground next to a tree stump holding Daisy. Still cocooned in Briny's suit, she'd opened the costume to her waist. The soft folds of the fabric scrunched up around her face.

Even clad in a pickle body, Daisy's waif like appearance reminded me of Russian sage. I could easily have dubbed her a daisy, but she didn't embody the easygoing, sturdy nature. She fit Russian sage not only for its light, airy foliage and flowers, but her actions and motives were often so hard to understand, it seemed as if she were transplanted from a foreign country.

I searched the area around her, but saw no dead body.

"Daisy," I called out, "is this some sort of joke? Where's the body?"

"Over there." She pulled her hands from behind and pointed to the right.

Her Briny gloves were soaked in a red liquid. Was that blood? Anxiety mounting, I followed the line of her finger to the wooded edge of the clearing. Two large black shoes, soles scuffed, jutted from a pile of leaves. On top of what I assumed was the man's head, lay a thick log covered in blood.

Hold up! This didn't seem to be a false alarm after all.

I shot my gaze back to Daisy's blood-soaked hands. Had she indeed
found
the body or was this worse that I'd feared? Had she'd gone off the deep end and murdered a man and, if so, who in the world could it be?

"Paige, thank goodness you came." Daisy's thin face cleared and a wide smile turned up her full and abundantly lacquered lips.

What?
She was smiling. Didn't she get that someone, namely me, might think her guilty of killing this man?

She awkwardly lurched to her feet and took hasty toddler steps toward me. A few rapid plops of the big vinyl Briny feet and they tangled together, pitching her forward.

"Oomph," she cried out as she landed on the large belly of the costume. She looked up, her face blanching, and stabbed a finger at me. "You called the cops. How could you, Paige?"

"No I didn't." Following the direction of her shaking finger, I spun around.

Someone did. Probably someone who heard the radio show. Big, burly Chief of Police Mitch Lawson with two officers tailing him charged through the trees. As if he had dead body radar, his focus zeroed in on the man partially covered with leaves. "Well, well, well, Paige. What do we have here?"

I groaned at his implication. This was not happening. Not again. No way I'd let him accuse me of any part in this guy's death. Nor would I let him railroad Daisy as he'd done to me when I'd found Bud.

Ignoring Mitch, I helped the disheveled Daisy to her feet. "Be careful of what you say to him, Daisy. In fact, you don't have to say anything without an attorney."

Mitch glared at me. "Best not to get on my nerves today, Paige. I already have enough to run you in for obstruction of justice."

My mouth dropped open. "Say what?"

He clamped a large hand on his holstered gun, a habitual gesture I assumed he thought demonstrated power. "When your friend called to tell you about the body, you were obligated to report it. Instead, you came over here like you intended to help cover it up."

I crossed my arms. This was crazy. He was crazy. "Okay, first of all, when Daisy called, I wasn't even sure there was a body. And second, if you were listening to the show, you would have heard me tell her to call you."

Mitch gave us his practiced bad cop glare. "Ahh, but then you changed your mind and drove out here. How do you think your actions look? Your best bet right now is to cooperate, fully."

I clenched my fists. He had us right where he wanted us. Just like bamboo, the plant name I'd assigned to him. The big ole stalks of disorderly-running-take-over-your-property type of bamboo had pushed through my barriers and gotten me all flustered. But I wouldn't give in so easily.

I ripped my phone from the clip and dialed Adam. "Come. Now. To the ball field. Mitch is in a snit again."

Adam sighed. "I'm already on my way."

Instead of getting mad at him for ignoring my earlier request, I was happy his drive from nearby McMinnville had already begun. I thanked him, stowed my phone and clamped my hand around Daisy's fur-covered arm. Jerking a thumb over my shoulder, I glared at Mitch. "We'll be over there waiting for you. You can question Daisy when Adam gets here."

Daisy, eyes wide, let her gaze dart between us.

"Don't worry," I said to her. "I'll take care of everything."

Mitch scoffed, but for once said nothing. He turned and strode toward his men who had rushed to the body as fast as deer would race toward freshly planted flowers.

"The chief didn't seem too happy with us," Daisy whispered. "I'm not sure you should have made him so mad."

"Listen," I said as we returned to the stump. "If you don't stand up for your rights Mitch will run all over you. I learned the hard way, and I can help stop you from being railroaded."

She blinked her thick, false lashes. "I don't know."

"Then why did you call me? You wanted help, right? So trust me." I dropped onto the edge of the stump and patted the spot next to me. As she sat, the Briny suit brushed softly against my bare legs. Though tickling my skin, I was in no mood to laugh.

"Mind telling me how you got covered in blood?" I asked, trying to keep my suspicions out of my tone.

"What? You think I killed the guy?" Mouth gaping, she jumped up and drew Mitch's attention.

"Shh. Mitch is staring at you." I pulled her down. "Whether you killed the man or not, you'll have to explain the blood. If you tell me what happened, I can think about it until Adam gets here and maybe I can come up with something to help."

"Oh. . .help. . .yeah, thanks." She rested her hands on her knees. The blood had dried on the edges of the gloves leaving a brown tinged ring. "When I got back here and saw the big log on the guy's head, I thought, oh no, the log fell off the tree and trapped him. I need to free the poor guy."