The Black Cat Knocks on Wood (22 page)

I noticed the girl held a cell phone.

“Had to charge the damn thing before I could send a text,” she said.

A text? Is that all young people thought about anymore?

“What text?” I said.

She didn’t even look at me. “Why does that woman even bother having a phone if she doesn’t keep it charged? Send texts?”

“Who are you talking about?”

The person who doesn’t send texts. Pearl. Does she have Pearl’s phone?

“What did you do with Aunt Rowe and Pearl?” I said.

“Nuthin’.” Mimi’s face screwed up. “I didn’t need them, just the phone. She never knows where she puts the thing.”

As Mimi’s thumbs worked the phone, she recited, “Got the last laugh. Crystal wouldn’t sell to me. I showed her.”

She held an index finger over the phone, then pushed a button with a flourish. “Send. Perfect. Gotcha.”

I used all my concentration and forced myself into a sitting position.

“You’re trying to frame Pearl?” I said, wiggling my hands. The rope loosened a bit, and I kept working on it.

Mimi grinned at me. “You’re a smart one. That’s a problem.”

“I’m a writer. I know when a plot won’t work, and yours is thin. Riddled with holes. No one will ever believe Pearl killed Crystal.”

“Shut your mouth.” Mimi came toward me with a hand held high as if she meant to swat me, but then she started sneezing.

Once. Twice. Three times.

She wiped her nose on her shirt sleeve.

“I can’t believe you’re helping Cody with this,” I said. “Not a smart move.”

“Cody?” Mimi laughed. “That mama’s boy would never have gone for this.”

Realization dawned. “You thought he was your ticket out of a bad home life. I get that, but killing his mother?”

“The falling bricks killed her,” she said.

“Someone conveniently placed her dead body under those bricks. The sheriff knows Crystal was dead before the bricks hit her, Mimi. You’ve made a huge mistake.”

The girl threw her hands out to her sides. “How else was Cody gonna get his money from that witch?”

I swallowed hard. “Cody’s not leaving Lavender, you know. He’s decided to stay here.”

“He is
so
leaving,” she screamed, but her voice was cut off by another volley of sneezes.

“You’ll never get away with this.” The rope around my
hands had loosened more, and I worked it furiously. “I suppose you’re planning to kill me, too.”

“Won’t have to.” She tipped her head. “All I have to do is open this gate. Rambo takes care of the rest.”

My heart stopped for a second, but I willed myself to stall for more time. “They’ll find me tied up,” I said. “The sheriff will know it was no accident.”

Mimi paused, and I wondered if she was just now realizing she hadn’t thought this plan all the way through. Then the sneezing started again.

Hitchcock jumped up on the gate.

“You’re allergic to cats, huh?” I pulled my hands free of the rope but kept them hidden behind my back. “Tough break.”

She looked at Hitchcock. “That’s the bad luck cat,” she managed between sneezes. “Do you take him freakin’
everywhere
?”

A second cat jumped up next to Hitchcock. And another. More cats appeared. Hitchcock had rounded up some friends. They jumped into the stall and swarmed around Mimi, rubbing against her legs.

“Get them—” Mimi couldn’t talk for the sneezing. “Off. Me.”

While she was distracted in her sneezing fit, I untied my legs and jumped up. I took the longest section of rope and looped it over Mimi’s torso, then wound it around so her arms were pinned to her body. As I worked to restrain the girl, I heard Aunt Rowe’s voice.

“Sabrina?” she called. “Where are you?”

“In the barn,” I hollered, then looked at Mimi.

“Hitchcock is
not
bad luck,” I said. “Matter of fact, he’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”

The barn lights flicked on. Seconds later, Aunt Rowe ran up the aisle between the stalls and spotted me. She didn’t look especially rattled, and I knew she couldn’t see Mimi from where she stood.

“Noticed Hitchcock runnin’ around,” Aunt Rowe said, “so I figured you were here somewhere.” She gave me a once-over from my tangled hair to the grit and straw clinging to my sweat-drenched clothes. She homed in on the piece of rope I held.

“If you wanted in on the goat tying, Sabrina, you should have said so. It’s not too late to order you a shirt.”

Glenda, Tyanne, and I sat together, waiting for Lavender’s first Senior Pro Rodeo to begin. Tyanne’s daughter, Abby, and Pearl’s granddaughter, Julie, sat on the bench in front of us, sharing a cotton candy. Seeing the little girls together warmed my heart and reminded me of the fun summer days Tyanne and I spent together when we were their age. I felt more relaxed than I had in a long time. Not only was the murder solved—I’d sent my revised manuscript off to my agent, too.

Advertising for the pro rodeo had announced guest appearances by several famous performers who’d long since retired from their rodeo days. Former pros, which is what I thought when I first heard about the event, even though locals other than Aunt Rowe and her friends were slated to perform, too.

Doc Jensen and I had placed an ad for the black cat adoption event in the program, taking advantage of every opportunity to attract cat lovers far and wide to come and adopt a
new fur-ever friend. The program also included a Devlin Realty ad in memory of Crystal. Lance had decided not to press charges against Jordan Meier for her brief “misappropriation” of company funds, and she was still overseeing the business.

A medley of George Strait hits came through the loudspeakers. Off to one side of the arena, Aunt Rowe and friends were on horseback, lined up for the processional that would start off the night. The rodeo regulars—barrel racers, bull riders, and Hayden Birch—were taking part. The clown was busy entertaining the crowd, no doubt relieved that the murder case was solved and he still had his job. Hayden had admitted to me after Mimi’s arrest that he feared Lance had murdered his wife. On the day I’d spotted him as he tried to leave the sheriff’s office without being noticed, Hayden had reported some things he knew about the couple’s doomed relationship. Luckily, their irreconcilable differences would have simply led them to divorce court, not to one of them killing the other.

I turned my attention back to the processional and spotted Luke Griffin, lined up with half a dozen other Texas game wardens in uniform. He noticed me looking and lifted his arm in a wave. I waved back and felt as giddy as a kid under his attention.

“What’s the grin for?” Tyanne said, then followed my gaze to see Luke on horseback.

She smiled knowingly. “Oh, I see. What’s going on with you two?”

“Nothing,” I said, “other than we’re enjoying each other’s company.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’m just glad I lived to see this day and to have the killer behind bars.” I shook my head. “Even though I’m so sorry that Mimi ruined her life the way she did.”

“She wasn’t right in the head,” Glenda said. “Had a rough childhood with that daddy of hers. He mistreated those kids
from the get-go, and her mother wasn’t much better. Not an excuse for what Mimi did, mind you.”

“A more rational killer might have succeeded in getting rid of me and framing Pearl for the murder,” I said. “Sending a fake text wasn’t the brightest idea Mimi had, as if Pearl would incriminate herself in that text to her own son. The girl was smart enough, though, to take the job in Crystal’s office so she could rummage through papers and find the details about the trust and when Cody would get his money.”

“Why’d she run Rita off the road?” Tyanne said.

“She knew Lance and Rita were working together on legal documents,” I said, “and I’m sure she feared that Cody’s trust money was in jeopardy. But if the lawyer died and Cody turned eighteen . . .”

“The kids would be home free,” Glenda said. “California, here we come.”

“Right,” I said. “But she went off on a tangent without a foolproof plan.”

“Thank goodness for that.” Tyanne turned to Glenda. “I must personally thank you for taking Hitchcock to the rodeo to rescue Sabrina.”

“He wouldn’t have it any other way,” Glenda said. “There I was trying to finish dinner and the darn cat’s up on the windowsill howling for all he’s worth till I let him in, then he was on the kitchen counter between me and the food, gettin’ hair in everything. Finally, I figured he was tryin’ to tell me something. Had to involve Sabrina. Luckily, I knew where she went, so I called Thomas and asked him to bring us out here.”

I laughed. “Bet Thomas loved that. Riding in the same car with the bad luck cat.”

“He argued, but I straightened him out right quick,” Glenda said. “He still made us sit in the backseat.”

Tyanne said, “Poor Thomas. He’ll grow to love Hitchcock one of these days.”

“Don’t count on it,” I said. “He feels the same about Hitchcock as I do about
that woman
.”

“What woman?” Ty turned to see Rita Colletti coming up the aisle toward us.

The lawyer was decked out in a western bling shirt, with jeans and boots, her arm in a tight sling. The people from the law firm wouldn’t even recognize her in that getup.

I leaned closer to Tyanne. “I had such high hopes she’d already gone back to Houston.”

“Maybe she stayed for tonight,” Ty said. “Rowe’s been talkin’ her performance up. She and Rita are chummy, you know.”

I grimaced. “Yeah, I know.”

Rita reached us, and I forced a smile.

“That aunt of yours sure is something,” Rita said. “Out there on that horse looking like she does this every day.”

“She’s something all right,” I said.

“I’m looking forward to getting to know her a lot better.”

Good grief. Are the two of them BFFs after knowing each other a few days?

I tried not to frown and lost the battle. “I imagine the firm is expecting you back soon, right?”

“Maybe so,” Rita said.

“I don’t know how they survived without you.” She’d said those words to me plenty of times when we worked together.

How would this place ever survive without me?

“They’ll have to figure it out,” she said. “’Cause I’m not going back.”

My heart rate shot up. “What?”

Tyanne and I exchanged a glance.

“That’s news,” Ty said. “What are your plans?”

“I’m staying right here in Lavender,” Rita said. “Already got my office picked out. The county has plenty of work for a family law attorney. All I have to do is find a place to live.”

A voice came over the loudspeaker. “Welcome, y’all, to the Lavender Senior Pro Rodeo. Tonight we welcome that star bronc-bustin’—”

“Better get to my seat,” Rita said. “Later.”

I looked at Tyanne. I tried to say something, but nothing came out except a couple of gasps.

“Don’t worry,” Ty said. “You probably won’t see much of Rita once she gets settled into her own place.”

I rapped my knuckles on the bench beside me.

“Knock on wood,” I said.

Black Bottom Cupcakes

BATTER

1½ cups flour

1 cup sugar

¼ cup cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup water

⅓ cup oil

1 teaspoon vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla

chocolate chips

FILLING

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese

1 egg

⅓ cup sugar

⅛ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine ingredients for batter and filling in separate bowls. Fill cupcake papers halfway with batter. Drop 1 teaspoon filling into center of each cupcake. Put 6 or 8 chocolate chips on top. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes. Yield 15 to 18 cupcakes.

Texas Cowboy Cookies

1 cup packed brown sugar

½ cup sugar

½ cup shortening

½ cup butter

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt, optional

3 cups oatmeal (quick or old-fashioned)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease cookie sheet. Beat sugars, shortening, and butter until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Combine flour and baking soda (and 1 teaspoon salt, if desired). Add to shortening mixture; mix well. Stir in oats; mix well. Drop by rounded tablespoons 2 inches apart onto prepared cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown. Let stand 1 minute before removing to racks to cool.

Variations:
Stir in 1 cup of any of the following with oats: semisweet chocolate chips, raisins, chopped walnuts, chopped dates, or shredded coconut.

No-Bake Cherry Cheesecake

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

4 cups nondairy whipped topping

2 cups graham cracker crumbs

⅓ cup packed brown sugar

½ cup butter, melted

1 can cherry pie filling

Beat the cream cheese, sugar, and lemon juice until smooth. Beat in whipped topping until smooth.

To make the crust, mix graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and butter. Press into a 9 x 13 x 2–inch cake pan. Spread filling over crust and chill. Top with cherry pie filling. Chill until set, and serve.