The Cracked Pot (12 page)

"I want the best for him, too. Surely you know that."

Was she crying? I wasn't sure, and the sound stopped nearly as soon as it had started. Finally, she said, "Look un der one of the columns. There's a bit of detail work hiding the key. You have to push on a slight paint smear and it opens up."

"You've got to be kidding me," I said as I got out of the car in search of this secret hiding place. It was obvious the others wanted to know what I was up to, but to their credit, they followed me in relative silence. I studied each col umn's base and couldn't see a thing that looked out of the ordinary. "It's not here."

"The key's gone? David must still have it," she said.

"No, I'm talking about the paint smudge. It's simply not on any of the bases."

"Are you sure you're looking carefully enough?" Annie asked.

"I can see a smudge without my glasses," I said abruptly. "Which column is it in? Do you remember?"

She paused, then said, "I think it's on the right side. It's not the key I use, but Tamra told me about it in case I lost mine."

"I started from the left," I said, "but I'll keep looking."

"I'm sorry, I'm just not myself."

"It's all right, dear," I said. "I can't imagine how hard this is for you."

"Thanks for being so understanding, Carolyn."

"That's what I do," I said. "I'm looking, but I still don't see it." The others must have thought I'd lost my mind, but they didn't say a word as I stared intently at the column bases. I explained what I was looking for, then Butch got down on his hands and knees and started studying one him self. He frowned a second, then poked a spot I'd missed. To my surprise, a small door opened, and there, inside the base, lay a key.

"We found it," I said.

"We? You didn't bring the police with you, did you?"

"Of course not, Annie. Now I've got to go."

"You won't tell him I told you, will you?"

"I promise," I said, and then I hung up. I stared at Butch

as he handed me the key. "How on earth did you know to do that?"

"It was pretty obvious, wasn't it?" he said, trying not to sound too smug.

"Maybe to you," I said.

I took the key and approached the door.

Jenna put a hand on my arm before I could try it. "Are you sure we shouldn't ring the bell first? We might frighten him off if we just barge in."

"I'll call out his name as soon as we get inside," I said.

I slipped the key into the lock and gently turned the knob. As I slowly pushed the door inward, I saw a handgun leveled at my chest, and David's finger nearly white on the trigger.

Chapter
7

"Would you mind pointing that somewhere else?" I asked David as calmly as I could manage. This was the second weapon pointed at me today, definitely a trend I wanted to discourage.

"Sorry, I didn't know it was you," David said as he low ered the gun to his side.

Butch walked past me and took it from David's grasp. "You should never point one of these things at somebody unless you're willing to use it," he said. "And before you can do that, you've got to take the safety off, like this." He moved a small lever and handed the gun back to David. "Now it's ready to shoot."

"Give me that," Jenna snapped, and David handed it to her. She put it gingerly in Butch's hands. "Put the safety back on, unload it, and then, David, put it back where you found it."

"Fine," he said. "What are you all doing here? Annie told you where I was hiding, didn't she?"

I wasn't about to tell on her. "It wasn't that difficult to figure out," I said before the others could stop me. "You left the security code wadded up on the couch. The alarm's not set right now, is it? We wouldn't want the sheriff showing up." I added with a frown, "Nice housekeeping in the shop, by the way."

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "I was in a bit of a rush to get out of there. That still doesn't explain how you knew to come here. Annie must have told you where I was, and where to find the key."

Butch grinned at him. "I used to be a crook, remember?" The man was taking a page from my book, lying convinc ingly by telling the truth. There was an art to it, one Butch had obviously mastered long ago.

"I can't even hide right," David said miserably.

Sandy approached him. "Do you know about your father?"

David's head shot up. "That man is not my father. He walked out on my mother before I was born. What was he thinking, coming back here after all this time?"

Jenna asked softly, "You know he's dead, don't you?"

David looked wildly at us. "I didn't kill him!"

"We believe you, but if you didn't have anything to do with his death, why are you hiding?" I had to know.

David looked at me as if I'd lost my mind. "You're the one who keeps saying what a fool Sheriff Hodges is. If I show my face, he'll arrest me for sure."

"You don't know that," I said. "And I never said Hodges was a fool. He's a lot of things, including lazy, but he's not stupid, David. You're just making things worse for yourself hiding like this."

"I can't just walk into town now, can I?"

Butch stroked his chin. "Why not? You haven't done anything." He paused for a few seconds, then smiled. "In fact, that's exactly what you should do. David, you need to head back into town with us, go to work with Carolyn at the shop, and call your mother. She's worried sick about you."

David looked ill at the suggestion. "I tried to call her this morning, but she wasn't picking up her cell phone."

"That's because she left her phone on all night so you could call her," I said. "I agree with Butch's plan, with one change. You'll borrow Jenna's cell phone and call your mother on the way down the hill."

"So you honestly think I should just act like nothing's happened? What about you, Jenna? What do you think?"

"I have to agree with them, David. If you haven't done anything wrong, there's no reason to hide. Don't forget, I was a lawyer long before I was a judge. I'll stay at the shop for the rest of the day, in case you have any trouble with the sheriff."

"You'd do that for me?"

"Of course I would," she said. "We will all do whatever we can to help you. We're here, aren't we? Now let's forget this foolishness and go to Fire at Will."

He looked relieved that we'd stepped in. At least until Jenna handed him her phone. "Call your mother," Jenna and I said in unison.

He nodded reluctantly. "Fine. Can I call her before we go, though? I'd like a little privacy."

"Need I remind you all that we're here unlawfully?" Jenna asked. "It wouldn't do to tarry."

"I won't be long. I promise," David said as he walked back to the bedroom area.

The four of us waited in the living room, and I saw Sandy frowning. "Is that what I think it is? No, it couldn't be."

She was admiring the Monet I'd spotted on my first visit to the house, but before I could confirm it, Butch glanced at the painting and said, "It's the real thing, all right."

Jenna said, "Now how could you possibly know that? You barely glanced at it."

"Would you really like to know?" Butch said, barely able to hide his grin.

"Forget I asked," she said as David rejoined us.

"That was quick," I said.

"She's going to meet us at the shop," David said. After expressing her relief, Hannah undoubtedly had blistered him for taking off the way he had. I wasn't looking forward to being privy to part two of their little chat, but Fire at Will wasn't anywhere near the size of Tamra's house, and if they raised their voices above whispers, we'd all be able to hear what they were saying.

After David put Tamra's gun away properly and set the house alarm, Butch locked up and returned the key to its resting place. We then rode down the hill in relative silence. I half expected to see Sheriff Hodges waiting for us when we got back into town, but there was no sign of anyone in front of Fire at Will as Butch pulled into a parking space near my doorway. I normally liked to keep those spots open for new customers, but I wasn't about to ask Butch to move, not after all his help this morning.

He must have caught my glimpse, because as we were getting out, he stayed put. "I'm going to move this to the up per lot. I'll be right back."

"You don't have to," I said.

"But you wouldn't mind, would you?"

I was still looking for a polite way to answer when he grinned. "It's fine, Carolyn. I know the way you like to do business."

I unlocked the front door, and everyone went inside.

David looked around the shop, then asked, "So what do we do now?"

"There's not much we can do but wait," I said.

Sandy said, "I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to have a little fun while I'm here."

"That sounds delightful," Jenna said. "What shall we do?"

"Help yourselves," I said. "I've got some things I need to take care of. David can teach you anything you'd like to learn. Don't worry about fees; this lesson is on the house." I walked up front to work on my display a little more while they continued discussing which new project to try.

The front door chimed a few minutes later, and I looked up, expecting to see Butch returning from parking his car, or even Hannah making an appearance.

What I had not expected to see was our illustrious sher iff.

At least not so soon.

"Where is he?" the sheriff demanded as he walked in.

"Who exactly are you looking for?" I asked. Not that I really had to guess, but he was using a tone of voice in my shop that I didn't approve of, at least not when it was di rected at me.

"Don't get cute, Carolyn. I'm not in the mood for it."

"I wouldn't dream of it."

David poked his head around the corner. "Are you look ing for me?"

"Where have you been?" the sheriff said as he moved to ward him quickly. "Let's go. You're coming with me."

"Hold on, Sheriff," Jenna said as she joined us. "David has a right to an attorney, and I'm going to represent him, if he agrees to it."

"Sure, that would be great," David said.

Sheriff Hodges didn't look happy about the prospect, but there wasn't much he could do about it. "Are you really go ing to hide behind her?"

David started to reply, but Jenna touched his arm. "David, from now on, you're not to speak without express permission from me. Do you understand?"

Instead of answering, he just looked at her and nodded.

"Let's go," Sheriff Hodges snapped.

When I started to follow them out of the shop, he said, "Not you. You have no standing in this."

I looked at Jenna, who shook her head slightly.

Taking her cue, I said, "Fine, I'll stay here."

Jenna said, "Don't worry, I won't leave his side, and I'll call you the second I learn anything."

Butch came back in after they were gone. He found Sandy and me discussing what had just happened. "I leave you alone for five minutes, and now half the group's gone. Where's Jenna?"

"She's with David. The sheriff came by to talk to him, and Jenna agreed to represent him."

Butch smiled, and I added, "This is not the slightest bit funny."

"I'm just thinking about how Jenna's gonna shred him. Come on, don't you find that a little amusing?"

Sandy smiled. "I don't envy our sheriff. If we're not go ing to work on anything else, I'm going to go."

"Back to work?" I asked.

"Are you kidding? I'm taking a sick day, remember? No, I'm going to snoop around and see what I can find out about Richard Atkins."

Butch asked, "Would you like some company?"

"Sure, why not?" She looked at me and added, "Carolyn, you're more than welcome to come, too."

I was tempted, but I finally said, "No, I'd better stay here. I might get a customer. Stranger things have happened. Be sides, Jenna expects me to be here, so I'm going to stay."

A little arm-twisting and I would have gone with them, but they both left, and I was at Fire at Will alone.

Not for long, though.

"Where is he?" Hannah asked as she stormed into the shop. "Where's David?"

"He's not here, Hannah." Before she could explode, I added, "The sheriff took him in for questioning, but don't worry, Jenna Blake's with him."

"And you just stood there and let it happen?"

"Well, I thought about stopping them, but the sheriff had a gun, and all I had was some pottery."

"Don't be ridiculous," she said.

"Then give me a little credit, will you? David's in good hands."

"I can do better than a retired judge," she snapped.

"In Maple Ridge? I doubt it. Let Jenna handle it, Han nah. She knows what she's doing. I'd let her defend my own sons, if it came to that."

"Good for you. I'm going to find someone else."

Before I could talk her out of it, Hannah was gone. Wow, a great many people were walking out on me today. The phone rang, and as I picked it up, I asked, "Jenna?"

"No, it's Bill. Your husband, remember?"

"Oh."

He paused a second, then said, "I've had warmer wel comes in my life. What's wrong?"

"What makes you sure something is? You don't know everything about me."