Totally Buzzed (A Miller Sisters Mystery) (22 page)

"Buzz, I asked you to come down here because you're heading up this investigation. What I didn't ask for, no offense Miz Miller, was your mom, and your sister. Dr. Connor…I assume you are here at Buzz's request, though I'll be damned if I know why."

He held his hands out, palms down. "Now I don't want anyone taking offense, but
–
" Everyone promptly began talking at once. Alejandro looked scared. Wesley walked up and shook doggy slime on him. Alejandro looked as if he was waiting for us to come to blows, or for the sheriff to start shooting. The other deputies should have heard the noise and come barreling in, but they wisely stayed away.

Hands flying, dogs barking, people shouting to be heard over the others. Alejandro looked overwhelmed and ready to bolt out the door. I figured a little order was needed. I put my index fingers to my lips and let out an ear-splitting whistle, compliments of one of my dad's important childhood lessons.

"Yo, everyone–knock it off!"

Even the dogs shut up.

"J.J., to answer your questions, Mag is working on the case with me and she should be in on everything. Turns out our friend Dr. Connor isn't
just
a plant biologist at the university. His day job is working for the FBI." Jaws dropped, and heads turned in his direction.

"Mom saw us when she and Joy came out of the diner and followed us over. She wouldn't take no for an answer, so I thought maybe you could threaten her with obstruction, disorderly conduct, or something. Wes and Hilary are just a bonus."

Wesley licked J.J.'s hand and placed his head on his arm, gazing up adoringly at him. J.J. sighed, rubbing his ears.

"If you will all excuse me for a moment?" He eyeballed Ian and said, "You, Mr. FBI-Let's-Not-Tell-the-Local-Sheriff-I'm-in-Town, follow me.

"You," pointing to Alejandro, "Stay put. You," pointing at Mom, "Go home or I'll call Bill to come get you."

He jerked a thumb in my direction. "Buzz, you're with me. Mag, meet Alejandro. Alejandro, meet Mag. Stay here
–
both of you."

With that he stomped out of the room. Clenching his jaw, Ian followed. I shrugged my shoulders at Mag and in sign language said, 'later'. All that angry testosterone was pretty intimidating and I trailed far behind both of them.

18

J.J. had a full head of steam going. He bulldozed his way past dispatch down the hall to the break room. One look cleared everyone out, and J.J. slammed the door. He calmly crossed the room and poured himself a cup of coffee. He plunked himself down in a plastic chair, put his feet up on the table, and crossed his arms over his belly. He narrowed his eyes and sent an evil look toward Ian.

"So who are you really and what are you doing down here?"

Ian strolled over to the coffee pot and picked up a Styrofoam cup. He filled it and turned, hoisting himself up onto the counter. He set the coffee down next to him and leaned forward, folding his hands between his legs. I stood there looking stupid.

"J.J.," I began. He immediately held up his hand.

"Buzz, if you please, first things first. Let me get this out of the way, and don't start making excuses. I'll deal with
you
next."

I slid into a chair like a whipped pup and waited for Ian to start.

"Sheriff Green, I'm Ian Connor. I am a forensic botanist for the FBI, Milwaukee Field Office. I do occasional work for the State Crime Lab and for the university. A friend of mine over at the crime lab called me to ask for help, but since this might be connected to another case the FBI is involved in, I had orders to remain undercover until I found out who the players were down here, and if this case could possibly be connected to the other."

J.J. looked at him for a long moment. "Why didn't you use our local lab at the morgue if you needed a lab? Why run off with the evidence to Keokuk or wherever you took it?"

"I had to use the Milwaukee labs because they had the software I needed. I have a couple of findings I know you'll be interested in hearing about.

"Sheriff Green, I am not one of those asshole Fed guys who comes onto a scene and throws his weight around. I want to
–
no, I
need
–
to work with you and your people on this. We're meeting at Mag's house for an update after we're through here."

J.J gave me an 'I don't get it' look, so I jumped into the conversation.

"Yeah, J.J. We're grilling out and we have everything from salads to desserts. We can all get fat and solve a crime together."

J.J. winced. "As long as your mother made the brownies and Mag didn't cook at all." Ian held his stomach and made gakking noises.

"It's Chez Buzz all the way
–
well, Wesley helped a little, but you can hardly tell."

J.J. straightened up and headed for the door. "Okay. I'm in. Right now let's go see if your sister performed her
Mag
-ic on our star witness, or if she drove him over the edge." He turned to me and grabbed the front of my shirt. He jerked me forward and got in my face. "Don't think I've forgotten about your stunt from the other night. We still have a date to talk about it. I'll call you
–
then
I'll yell at you." He let me go and stalked away.

I saluted him with my middle finger. "O-Tay Mr. Sherwiff. I'll be waiting by the phone until you call. Pant, pant."

"I heard that, Smartass," he said, as he barreled into his office and slammed the door.

We followed him in, Mom was gone, and Mag had already begun the interview. She stopped Alejandro and turned off the recorder. She looked up and smiled.

"Great timing, folks. Alejandro needs a bathroom break and I'm thirsty. Grab a seat and we'll get right back at it."

She gestured to J.J.'s office as she whisked out the door like she'd been interviewing subjects all her life. J.J. turned to me and pointed at the door.

"Okay, who is that, and what has she done with your sister?"

I was still staring after Mag, somewhat bewildered. "I don't know, J.J., but something sure is different. Hey, Ian, didn't we lose the old Mag somewhere back at the drug lab?"

J.J. loomed over me. "Are you telling me that Mag was at the Graff's place with you? Are you out of your frigging mind? She could have been killed, Buzz; then where would you be?"

He whirled on Ian. "And you! You're supposed to be a professional! Where in that fancy FBI handbook does it say it's okay to take a Biology teacher on a shootout with some very bad men?" He threw up his hands and stalked toward his desk. He collapsed in his chair and rubbed his hand back and forth across his brow. "Wait. Hold on a minute. We'll deal with this later. I need Montoya's story right now."

He glared at me. "I'll just add this to my list of grievances for tomorrow's pow-wow."

He crossed his arms and spun his chair so he faced the window. One could almost see the green smoke coming out of his ears. Ian stood and made as if he were going to confront him. I grabbed his arm, shook my head and mouthed, 'later'. We all turned at the sound of the door knob rattling.

Mag reentered the room, oblivious to the tirade that had just occurred. Alejandro followed behind her, and took his seat. Mag picked up the recorder, hesitated. She looked at the recorder and then held it out to J.J. "I'm sorry, J.J. I didn't want to butt in, but Alejandro wanted to tell his story. I thought I would record it so he didn't have to repeat it again."

J.J. held up his hands. "No, Mag, that's just fine. You started, you finish. You talk Alejandro through it and we'll see if I have to have him explain further. I'll be right here if you get stuck."

Mag shrugged her shoulders and grinned sheepishly. She turned on the recorder and set it on the table near Alejandro. She took a deep breath.

"Mr. Montoya, your last statement before we took a break was," she consulted the paper in front of her, 'And then I ran out of the tack room and saw blood all over the stall'.

Alejandro looked at her with tears in his eyes. She put a calming hand on his arm and said, "Take your time, Alejandro. This must be very painful for you."

He nodded and drew in a shaky breath. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Yes, I ran out of the tack room and saw my Princesa thrashing in the stall, screaming in agony."

He continued his grisly tale. For the next two hours, we sat transfixed by the gruesome and shocking events that eventually led him to Sal's diner and the meeting with J.J. His voice died with the last of his narrative. His look touched each of us as the silence in the room lingered.

Ian was the first to comment. "Wow. Drugs inside the mares. Does that not beat all?"

I was beside myself. "Those rotten, no good rat-bastards! Can you imagine what would happen to those poor horses if one of those bricks came open…OH MY GOD!"

They all stared at me. One by one it hit each of them. Alejandro sat for a second with a stricken look on his face. He jumped up out of his chair and shouted as he streaked toward the door, "I need my cell phone! Oh my God! I have to call Texas!" He ran to his truck and ripped the cell phone out of its charger. He frantically searched his address book and punched Donny Ray's number. He reached the voice mailbox, and near hysteria, left a message. "Donny Ray, Montoya here. Check that sample for drugs. Illegal drugs! I know that is what killed the mare, and that is why they stole the body before you could autopsy! Call me as soon as you can, and be careful. If they find out you know, I think they will come for you." He also read J.J.'s number off the business card he had taken from the lobby. He flipped the phone shut and slumped against the truck door.

J.J. put an arm around his shoulders and steered him back to his office. He sat silently in the chair and stared straight ahead. We were all silent, trying to put it all into perspective.

J.J.'s voice was like cannon fire in the stillness of the room. "Well, that about wraps it up for now, folks. It's getting on toward afternoon and we should call it quits for today. Alejandro, what kind of plans did you have for the next few days?"

Alejandro started and looked thoughtful. "Actually, I was hoping to stay around a while. I had thoughts of looking for a new job if I liked it here, and I do. I certainly cannot go home."

J.J. nodded and picked up the phone. He asked Alejandro, "You're staying over at Journey's End Bed and Breakfast, right?" At Alejandro's nod, J.J. finished dialing. "Hi, Cheryl? Yeah, it's J.J. Listen, One of your guests is staying on for a few more days. Send his bill for the week to the Sheriff's Department, okay? Yeah, he's working with me on something through the end of the week. Uh-huh, Montoya, Alejan…Yep, you got it, and thanks, Cheryl. Talk to you later
–
what?" He turned his back to us and spoke in a quiet voice. "Oh, uh, yeah, I guess so. Saturday? I'll see if I can make it, uh, okay, you too. Bye now."

He hung up the phone and Alejandro spoke right away. "Sheriff Green, you don't have to pay my bills. I have money and credit cards. I'm okay
–
really."

J.J. interrupted him. "Look, as long as you're here working with me, I'll pick up the tab on the room. We still have a lot of work to do on this. Number One priority is to try to get ahold of that boss of yours
–
Martinez. Next, we retrieve the horse trailer from the airport. We can probably park it out at Miller's farm." He grinned at me, "That will give your mom something else to lord over her friends."

Mag jumped on her cell phone and called Mom. She nodded and waved that it was okay to J.J., and continued talking.