A Drizzle of Deception: A Cozy Mystery (Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book 10) (5 page)

“Papaw, do you want me to spend the night with you? I’ll catch whoever it is and punch them into next week.”

Jeb shook his head and leaned against one of the porch posts. “Naw….you go on home and be with your husband girl. I’ll be alright.”

Jeb seemed weary and I couldn’t blame him. He’d been through an emotional journey tonight. And if there was someone out there scaring an old man on his own property….well, God help them.

Chapter Ten

I took Stormi home and then decided to run by the shoppe to check on a freezer that wasn’t cooling down properly that day. After ensuring the freezer was at the right temperature and my ice cream cakes were freezing well, I heard someone yell in from the back door.

“What are you doing here? I thought you closed up early.” It was Paige and her daughter Sammi.

“I did.” I closed the freezer door. “Just wanted to check on this freezer and make sure it was still doing its job.”

I told them about Stormi and me visiting Jeb’s place and how he’d finally allowed us into the buildings and what was inside.

“That’s remarkable he had all those things stored away,” Paige replied. “I think a museum would be a great idea, if he’s willing.”

“We didn’t push him. I know it was difficult for him just to let us in. You could see the tears in his eyes as he remembered how he and Jeanette use to collect the items.”

Paige looked at the floor. “How sad…but maybe it’s good for him to finally go through this stuff. It sounds like he was dreading it, but now that it’s over, maybe he can be at peace with it.”

“Yeah, he probably would if whoever is terrifying him would stop.” It made me angry to think about it.

“So you think someone is causing the lights and noises?” Sammi asked.

I nodded. “Yes I do. We found scratches on one of the outbuildings, only they were up near the roof and a cracked window up there as well. You couldn’t reach it unless you were on a ladder. But there’s no way anyone could move an extension ladder fast enough before tripping the alarm and Jeb racing out there.”

“Well that really gets my hackles up.” I knew Paige would be just as angry as I was.

“What’s a hackle?” Sammi asked.

Paige ignored her daughter. “Someone is tormenting that poor man.”

Suddenly I remembered something. “Hey, would you guys want to accompany me on a road trip out to the Hodges estate?”

“Is anyone living there right now?” Paige asked.

“Lincoln Hodges the son is. Lizzy says he comes into the coffee shop quite a bit.”

“He owns the big black Hummer.” Sammi’s eyes got big.

“How do you know that?” Paige asked.  I believe there’s a lot Sammi didn’t tell her mother.

“Oh my friends and I have seen him around town. He goes into Lizzy’s and sometimes we’ve seen him at the diner eating or picking up a to go order. In fact, he might be there now.” Sammi seemed fascinated with Lincoln.

“Why would you think that Sammi?” I gathered my bag and car keys.

“Abbey and I go there sometimes after studying at the library and get a milkshake or a plate of fries.” Oh to be young and have a speedy metabolism. “We see him there quite a bit. He eats by himself.”

Paige studied her daughter. “Do you have a crush on this Lincoln dude?”

Sammi turned red. “Noooo….”

“How old is he?” Paige’s inquisition had begun.

Sammi shrugged. “How do I know? We just see him in the diner and he stands out because of that big black Hummer he drives.” I had a feeling he stood out for more reasons than his vehicle. Good looks and money might be a couple more.

I suddenly remembered the black vehicle that had startled me pulling away from the shoppe. I only saw the back of it, but I believe it said Hummer in white letters on the rear. Interesting.

I headed for the door. “So you think he’d be there right now?”

Sammi nodded. “He might be. We could go and check it out.” Paige’s eyes narrowed.

My plan was to look around the Hodges estate for the labs, but maybe it would be better to get a gander at the man himself first.

We arrived at the Classic Diner at around 7:30. The diner was a throw back to another era, complete with framed posters on the walls of James Dean and Elvis. A jukebox sat in the corner and red booths lined the walls where we grabbed one and sat down. A long counter faced towards the kitchen and a few people sat on the stools eating their hamburgers and breaded tenderloins. This was grease heaven, and the aroma was enticing.

There were no menus. A huge board above the kitchen windows displayed the food items, which included malts, fresh made pies, and the usual hamburgers and French fries.

We looked around, but Sammi didn’t see Lincoln. A waitress came to our table.

“What can I get you girls?”

“Do you have any peanut butter pie left?” I was here so I might as well partake.

“We have two slices left.”

Paige perked up. “Bring them to this table then.”

“I’ll have a chocolate chip milkshake and an order of fries.” We looked at Sammi with envy.

“What?”

Paige gave her a pat on the hand. “One of these days you’ll be middle aged and have an inner tube around your belly like us.”

Sammi grabbed a napkin out of the holder on the table. “Not if I can help it.”

Paige nodded. “That’s what we said 16 years ago.”

The waitress was quick and we had our food within three minutes. As Paige and I chowed down on the delectable peanut butter pie with its perfect meringue topping, and Sammi gobbled her fries, we heard the ding of the front door announcing someone either entering or leaving the restaurant. Paige and Sammi were facing the door and I saw Sammi elbow her mother. Paige perked up as I heard Sammi whisper, “That’s him.”

I wanted to turn around, but Paige shook her head slightly. I heard the clip clop of shoes as someone walked down the narrow path between the stools and the booths. Suddenly the man stopped and sat at one of the red stools facing the counter. I looked over to see a tall figure with slicked back black hair. There was a long mirror hanging on the wall opposite him so I could see his face.

Lincoln Hodges was a handsome young man with chiseled features and a prominent dimple in the middle of his chin. I could see why Sammi was so captivated by him. He wore a long black trench coat that he took off and laid on the stool next to him. I was surprised to see a man of such wealth eating at a simple diner. I would have thought he’d rather dine at the posh restaurants in Atlanta than get a greasy burger at the local hot joint. Maybe he was more down-to-earth than we gave him credit for.

Our waitress walked over to him and said, “The usual Lincoln?”

“Yeah Patty. But make the peanut butter pie to go would you?”

“Sorry Lincoln. Just served the last of the peanut butter pie.” She motioned towards our booth. Lincoln turned around and we looked at him with guilty faces. With a full mouth and her last bite of pie Paige said, “Sorry.”

Lincoln flashed us a bright smile and turned around on the stool. “I see I’m not the only one who likes their peanut butter pie. It’s the best around.”

I picked up my empty plate. “We agree.”

“Are you ladies from Caesars Creek?”

I nodded. “Yes, I’m Tara Beckley and this is Paige Murphy and her daughter Sammi.”

“Nice to meet you all…I’m Lincoln Hodges.”

“Are you staying at the old home place right now?” Paige had no trouble diving right into the nitty-gritty.

“Yes I am. I kind of like the solitude during the cool months.”

“Tara here owns the Frozen Scoop…if you like ice cream.” I think Sammi wanted Lincoln to notice her and that’s all she could come up with.

Lincoln looked at me with an odd face. “Oh really. I’ve been meaning to stop in there some time. It always appears busy with customers.”

“We do a pretty good business.”

“I noticed Jeb Lawson in there the other day.”

Paige and I perked up. “Oh, you know Jeb?” I asked.

“He and my grandfather knew one another, back when they were younger.”

“I didn’t know that,” I answered. “But then Jeb knows almost everyone in town.”

Lincoln nodded. “Well it was nice meeting you all.”

We answered in kind, grabbed our ticket, and paid for our food up at the front register. We glanced back at Lincoln who was sipping a cup of coffee and waiting for Patty to bring him his meal. Outside was the black Hummer Sammi spoke of and that I had seen pulling away from my shoppe in quite the hurry the other day.

I started the car. “Do we know anymore than we did before about Lincoln?”

Sammi buckled her seat belt. “He’s really cute.”

Paige turned around to look at her daughter. “I think you already knew that.” Then she turned to look at me. “Did you think it strange that he brought up Jeb?”

It did seem odd, especially since I wondered if it was his Labrador retrievers entering Jeb’s property. “It could have been a coincidence.”

Paige shook her head. “I don’t believe in coincidences.”

Neither did I.

“You girls want to go on a reconnaissance mission?” I asked.

Paige buckled up. “Where to?”

“The Hodges estate.”

“Ohhh, that sounds like fun.” I knew Sammi would be onboard.

“What about tripping their security system?” There she was, my practical Paige.

“I’m not talking about breaking and entering.” Well, not exactly.

Chapter Eleven

The automatic front gate at the entrance to the circular driveway of the Hodges estate was locked. We knew where Lincoln was, at the diner, but it might not be long before he came home so we had to work fast. I parked down about half a mile and off the shoulder of the road. Lincoln would be coming from the other direction so he shouldn’t pass my car. Paige and Sammi got out of the car while I grabbed a flashlight out of the glove box.

“What the heck are we looking for?” I could tell Paige was already regretting her decision to spy on Lincoln.

I shone the flashlight down the road. “Anything out of the ordinary. But mainly I want to see if he owns three Labradors…the ones that have been visiting Jeb. Lizzy said he’d mentioned them to her so I want to see if they’re the same dogs.”

“What if they attack us?”

“Well, since they’re labs, the only thing they’ll be attacking us with are their tongues and tails.”

Paige blanched. “Let‘s just hope they haven‘t been licking their butts with those tongues.”

As we walked closer to the edge of the Hodges property, we heard barking coming from the rear. We ambled alongside the tall pine trees towards the rear of the house. After rounding the last pine tree we saw the kennels and the dogs inside. Three yellow labs barked and wagged their tails at us.

“Okay, there are three wooly creatures in their cages,” Paige said, pointing out the obvious. “So let’s vamoose.”

“I want to make sure they’re the same dogs.”

“How are you going to do that?” Paige exclaimed impatiently.

“Mom, calm down. It’s not like we’ve broken any laws.”

“Trespassing is against the law my girl.”

I kept my eyes on the dogs. “We can always say we were lost, flat tire, ran out of gas.”

Paige rolled her eyes. “I’m sure Greg will accept any of those excuses.”

I ignored Paige and hiked over to the dogs. Sure enough, they each had on the same colored collars as they did at Jeb’s house the other day. They even acted like they knew me. But then again they’re labs…no one is a stranger.

On my way back to Paige and Sammi I noticed something peculiar in the back yard. A large round platform of some sort lay on the ground. It appeared to be almost as big as a small house, but circular instead of square. I stopped to look at it, much to Paige’s chagrin.

“What are you doing? Hurry up!”

“Come look at this. What is it?”

“Who knows? Some kind of stage maybe?”

The platform was supported underneath and raised two feet off the ground. Round holes were placed so many feet apart not far from the outer edge of the platform. Finally Paige grabbed my arm.

“I have no idea what it is, but let’s go.”

We headed back to the car and once inside I saw headlights turn into the Hodges estate. “That was close.”

Paige looked white as a sheet. “Thanks for the additional gray hairs I’ll wake up with tomorrow.”

You’re welcome.