Wedding cake crush, p.8
Wedding Cake Crush, page 8
“Guess he wasn’t as happy as Mrs. Peach thought. Or she’s forgotten what it was like. We color our memories. Remember them the way we would like to. After someone dies or… leaves our life. We can rewrite things to be just the way we want them to be.” He looked wistful. Like maybe there were some things in his past that he would have liked to have rewritten. Erin was sure there were probably plenty of things he would have changed. Even if it were just to have spent more time shooting hoops with his father.
“The thing that I don’t get is how she could have ignored the smell of a decomposing body,” Erin confided. “I mean… they smell really bad.”
Joshua’s eyes danced. “Can I quote you on that?”
“I didn’t mean that I have smelled a decomposing human body. Just that… I’ve lived in houses where a mouse or something had died in the walls, and it was really bad. You couldn’t just not notice it unless you had no sense of smell. And that’s just something small. A human, especially one the size of that man…” Erin shook her head. Her eyes were practically tearing up just imagining the smell. She had to suppress a gag.
“I didn’t ask her about that,” Joshua said. “I guess I’ll have to call her back.”
“I wish you wouldn’t interrupt her on her vacation. She’s supposed to be having a nice quiet holiday. She’s never had one before.”
“If she wanted to have a quiet vacation, then she shouldn’t have left a body in the wall for the construction workers to find,” he teased.
“Do you want me to talk to your mother about that attitude?”
He suppressed his smile. But it wasn’t like he was worried she would really follow through on the threat. “I have a deadline to meet,” he said apologetically. “I’ll need to call Mrs. Peach to get some more details before we go to print.”
CHAPTER 15
Erin emailed a few pictures to Melissa to see how she liked the ideas Erin had for the cake and checked the time to see how long it would be before Terry got home. It was later than she thought, and he should be arriving any minute. Erin hadn’t even started anything for supper, and it wasn’t one of the days that she had assigned to Terry, so she couldn’t really put it on him either. She ran through a list of possibilities as she heard his truck pull in front of the house. She called Orange Blossom and Marshmallow to the kitchen. It had been a nice quiet day, so Orange Blossom wasn’t holed up in a closet this time, but trotted to her quickly, starting to yowl. Terry entered the house and Erin fed the cat and rabbit.
He looked around the kitchen, undoubtedly noting the lack of food. “Hi, honey.” He bent down to kiss her. “How was your day?”
“It went by fast. I thought I could get done more than I did since I wasn’t working. But stuff just piled up.”
She hadn’t been planning on visiting the sheriff or having an interview with Joshua when she had made her list and blocked in her schedule. The unfortunate discovery of the body had thrown a wrench into the works.
Terry nodded. “Work expands to fill the space allotted.”
“That’s stupid. I should be able to do more when I have more time.”
“Not always the way that it works, unfortunately.”
“Huh. So as you can see, I don’t have anything on the table. Not even on the stove. How about we go out to eat today?”
She was prepared for him to push back, saying that he had just gotten home and didn’t want to go out again. That he was tired and just wanted to relax at home. But he didn’t.
“Sure, if you want to. Do you have the time?”
It would take more time to go out and eat at a restaurant than to open a can of soup or make some sandwiches. But Erin had been through a lot over the past couple of days, and she didn’t want soup or a sandwich. She wanted real food.
“If work expands to fill the space allotted, then I can take all of the time I need for supper, because I’ll be able to fit the work into a smaller space.”
“Unfortunately, it doesn’t always compress to fit into a smaller space. But you’ve got lots of time before the wedding. So let’s go ahead. If you’re okay with that.”
Erin looked at the other animals. “Do you want to feed K9 before we go?”
“Just give him a cookie to bring with him. That will hold him until we get back home.”
Erin got one of the Auntie Clem’s gluten-free dog biscuits from the cookie jar on the counter and handed it to K9. “You can eat that in the truck.”
K9 seemed confused about being given a cookie and immediately leaving, but he carried it in his mouth back to the truck and, once they got in, he lay down in the back seat of the extended cab and munched on his treat.
“What do you feel like today?”
“Chinese?” Erin suggested, having already visited the family restaurant with Joshua.
“Chinese it is,” he agreed.
When they reached the Chinese restaurant and looked around, waiting to be seated, Erin saw Vic and Willie were also there. Erin gave a little wave. Vic waved back and said something to Willie. After a moment of discussion, Vic waved Erin and Terry over. There was space at their table. Vic motioned for them to sit down.
“Come and join us. The more, the merrier. We haven’t even ordered yet so, if you want, we can order dishes to share or order dinner for four?”
Erin looked at Terry to ensure he was okay eating with Vic and Willie, and he nodded. “Sure. Works for me.”
They sat down and looked at the menu to discuss what they wanted so that everyone got one of their favorite dishes.
After flagging down the waitress to order and handing their menus back, Erin looked around the restaurant, then back at her dinner companions.
“This is nice. It’s a while since we’ve done something all together.”
Vic and Terry nodded their agreement.
“I’m surprised you want to be seen with me,” Willie said, looking at Terry. “I would think you wouldn’t want to be seen fraternizing with a known criminal.”
Erin’s face got hot. She studied Willie, trying to read his face. As always, his skin was stained dark by the mining and processing he did on his own, making him look dirty and unkempt, even though Erin knew that he was a habitually clean person. He washed off the dirt, but his skin remained stained. It made it harder to read his expression. Or maybe she didn’t want to see any negative emotions there. She didn’t want Terry and Willie fighting. Willie was normally a pretty laid-back guy, but Terry had suspected him of being involved in more than one crime around Bald Eagle Falls, maybe even still involved with the Dyson organized crime family he’d been a part of when he was younger. Even though Willie had made it clear that he didn’t move in those circles anymore.
“Let’s just have a nice evening,” Terry said, sighing.
They all looked at each other for a moment. Erin was surprised that Terry hadn’t risen to the bait, at least engaging in discussion with Willie on the matter of his alleged illegal activities.
“You’re not going to bust my chops over everything you think I should or shouldn’t be doing?” Willie asked.
Terry shook his head. “There are times in this job when things become very isolating. Right now… I don’t feel like I have much of an opportunity to do anything with a friend in this town, so if you don’t mind, let’s just eat and have a pleasant conversation.”
Erin put her hand on Terry’s arm, trying to express sympathy with her touch. “Had a bad day?”
“No. The day went fine. It’s just that people don’t see police the same way anymore. There was a time when they were heroes. People looked up to cops. Appreciated them keeping the peace. Children played cops and robbers, and most of the kids wanted to be cops. Not the robbers.” He took a sip of his water. “Now… police are the villains. Whenever anything is reported in the media, no matter what city or state is involved, that shows the police in a bad light, then suddenly, we’re all painted with the same brush. Violent, racist, crooked… people to be feared and avoided. Not admired or trusted. And sometimes, I’m just not sure if it is all worth it.”
They were all quiet for a few minutes, unsure how to respond to this revelation.
“I don’t think you’re bad,” Vic said. “I don’t think that you’re any of those things.”
“I appreciate that, Vic. But there are still things you wouldn’t say in front of me. Things you don’t want to reveal about your past. The operations of the Jackson and Dyson clans. Your family. Maybe even parts of your life now. Because you’re afraid of what I would do as a law enforcement officer.”
“Well, maybe,” Vic admitted. “It isn’t like you clock out at the end of the day. You’re always a cop. Always on. Listening and judging.”
And there had been times when each of them had been suspects. Erin herself. Vic and Willie had both been suspects just recently in crazy Theresa’s death. And not just because they might have had motives to kill her. Erin suspected that Terry, like the rest of the town, still thought Willie had been the one to kill Theresa, even though the feds had told the police department to stay out of it. And she was sure that the recent revelation that Willie was somehow still involved with Nelson Dyson, a member of the Dyson family, had not served to soothe any of his suspicions about what criminal activities Willie might be involved in.
“We’re not going to talk about any of that over dinner,” Erin said decisively. “This is just a group of friends getting together to enjoy some good Chinese food. I’m really looking forward to the General Tso’s Chicken.”
“Always a good choice,” Willie agreed. His eyes were softer when he looked at Erin than when he looked at Terry. Erin considered Willie a good friend, someone who had protected her in the past and would do anything to keep Vic safe and happy. He was a good guy, no matter what his business scruples were.
“And don’t forget the fortune cookies,” Vic agreed. “Just watch out for those gluten-free ones.”
Erin rolled her eyes. The fortune cookie fiasco was not far enough in the past for her to laugh it off. She still regretted the pain that her carelessness had caused Mary Lou.
CHAPTER 16
Look here.” Willie leaned forward. He had downed several beers with his dinner and was waxing loquacious. “You can’t worry what other people think,” he told Terry. “Do you think I spend my time worrying about what other people think of me?”
They all looked at each other, not sure what to say to this.
“I know how people talk about me. What they think of me. Willie, the deadbeat. The dirty, shiftless no-good who even washed out of the clan. What kind of criminal can’t even make his place in the Dyson family? You think I don’t see how women pull their children closer when I enter a room? How people cross to the other side of the road? Everyone is sure that I killed Theresa Franklin. Even you.” He pointed at Terry. “You’ll take any opportunity to saddle me with another suspected crime. Not because you can prove it. Just because you know that I must be doing something. I must be up to no good.”
Terry shrugged, leaning back in his seat. He hadn’t had as much to drink as Willie, and didn’t take any offense at his words. “I follow the evidence, Willie. Wherever it leads me.”
“Oh, yeah? Funny how it leads to me more often than it does to anyone else.”
“Yeah. It is, isn’t it?”
They both stared at each other for a few seconds. But there wasn’t really any hostility between them. Just comfortable old arguments.
“You can’t worry about it,” Willie reiterated. “Just like I don’t worry about what you think.”
“That’s good. Wouldn’t want you worrying about what I think.”
Erin rolled her eyes at Vic, shaking her head. “Maybe we should all be heading home.”
“You’ve got more friends here than you think.” Willie ignored Erin and continued to address Terry. “I may not appreciate your opinion or the way you come after me when you think I might have stepped over the line, but you’re still a friend.”
Erin looked at Terry to see what his reaction to this announcement was. There had always been a strange relationship between Terry and Willie. Terry called on Willie to help him out, especially if he needed to run search and rescue or navigate the cave systems in the area. He trusted Willie implicitly in these areas. But he still couldn’t trust him in others. He still didn’t believe that Willie was no longer in the Dyson clan and that his activities were aboveboard. And while Willie might not like the suspicion Terry cast in his direction, he did seem to respect Terry and had helped to rescue him in the past. They were like polar opposites. The ends of two magnets that pulled together.
Terry’s lips pressed together slightly as he tried to come up with something to say to this. Willie reached across the table and slapped him on the shoulder.
“You’re okay, Piper. Don’t waste your time thinking that no one in this town cares about you, because they do.”
Vic drove Willie back. Erin had been watching Terry’s alcohol consumption level and behavior and deemed him fit to drive, so she didn’t have to wrestle the keys away from him. At home, they fed K9, and Erin started her evening routine.
“You should do more with the others in the police department,” Erin told Terry as she opened her planner and sat down on the couch next to him.
“What?”
“If you feel like you don’t have any friends outside of the police department, then you should do more things with the other law enforcement officers. Even Beaver. We could do things with her and Jeremy, too.”
Jeremy was one of Vic’s older brothers and was in a relationship with Rohilda Beaven, an agent with an unnamed federal law enforcement agency. She was nothing like Terry, but had worked with him on several cases and, while Erin knew that Beaver aggravated Terry sometimes, they got along okay. There was no reason they couldn’t do things with Beaver and Jeremy now and then as well as Vic and Willie. And the men that Terry worked with in the police department—Sheriff Wilmot, Stayner, and Tom Banks. Maybe even Clara and her husband, though Erin knew nothing about him. Or with Melissa. Clearly not with Davis Plaint, who would be a guest of the penitentiary for many years to come. Maybe the police dispatcher who worked from her own home. Erin couldn’t remember her name.
“What about a police department party? We could get together for a barbecue. A Christmas party in December. Why don’t you guys ever get together for anything?”
“Because we work with each other all the time. The point is to get away from work to relax.”
“But you get along with each other. And you can understand each other’s perspectives; you won’t automatically misjudge them and think that they’re bad cops because of something you heard on the news. Like you said outsiders do.”
“Well, no. I’m not going to do that.”
“Then maybe give them a chance. Why don’t you pick a day, and we can set something up?”
“Don’t you think that you have enough to do already with the wedding?”
“Well, it would have to be after the wedding, of course,” Erin admitted. “But that’s so soon. As long as we pick a date that’s a month or so out, we should be just fine.”
Terry put his arm around Erin and leaned into her. “We’ll see. It’s a nice offer, but I don’t know if anyone would want to get together. Like I said, we spend so much time together during the workday.”
“You really don’t, though,” Erin countered. “Not like people who work at an office together. How much time do you spend with the sheriff during the day? You don’t. You go on patrol while he works at the office, go out to separate calls. Have some meetings together. But it isn’t like you’re on top of each other all day. Not like people who work office jobs. And you and Stayner are usually on opposite shifts, so you don’t spend a lot of time together. Vic and I spend a lot of the day together, but we still do other things together too.”
“Well… maybe you’re right. I don’t know. We can talk about it another time, when you’re not also trying to organize this wedding stuff.”
“I’m only doing the cake and the catering. Nothing else.”
“Well, that seems to be a pretty significant piece of the action.”
“I just think you should think about it. If you’re feeling isolated, then we should reach out to some of the others.”
CHAPTER 17
Erin had been up for some time when she heard Terry’s phone ring. She paused and listened to see if it would wake him up. Usually it did, of course, but sometimes if he were really deeply under, he would sleep right through it.
Apparently, he’d gotten enough sleep that waking up was not a problem, and Erin heard him clear his throat and answer the phone, sounding clear, as if they hadn’t woken him up.
“Piper. Yeah. Uh-huh. We have a name?” He paused and listened for a few minutes without saying anything. “Okay. Good. I’ll see what I can find out. Ask some questions.”
If he said anything else after that, Erin didn’t hear it. She waited in the kitchen and, after using the bathroom, he made his way out in bare feet and pajama pants. He rubbed his eyes and blinked in the sun.
“Morning.”
“There’s coffee,” Erin offered, nodding to the machine.
He helped himself to a cup and watched Erin. “What are you doing?”
“Sourcing out some ingredients and cake decorations.” Erin scrolled down the list of search results on her tablet. She wasn’t using a full computer at home, but was finding a tablet to be handy. She still didn’t use her phone as a computer. Vic and the younger kids seemed to be able to do anything on their phones, but she had grown up without cell phones. Even if she’d had one, at a couple of foster homes, they were just cheap pay-as-you-go flip phones, and she had to give them back when she moved to the next home. So she didn’t see them as an appendage like so many of the other people her age. She liked her planner notebook, and she was getting to like the tablet. Maybe someday she would turn into a smartphone user.
