A Minute on the Lips (4 page)

CHAPTER THREE

T
HE
SHORT
TRIP
back to the office was lengthened by multiple stops for nervous tourists who were darting into the streets outside the designated crosswalks. If the pavement hadn’t been hotter than the sun, Andi might have pulled over and issued some stern warnings. Jaywalking was illegal—it was a safety issue. Scaring people straight was part of the sheriff’s job, but the mayor didn’t appreciate that.

When she finally pulled into her designated parking spot, Andi turned off the ignition. She might have rested for a bit except she was afraid of baking her brain. She slid out quickly and slammed the door. Her palms still had a slight tingle going on, the effect of a massive amount of caffeine. Obviously.

“Morning, Sheriff.” Lori had taken Nettie’s spot at the dispatch desk. Nettie worked early mornings, when things were a bit slower and she didn’t have to deal with as many citizens. Andi envied her the right to choose.

Lori and Andi had gone to school together, but Lori stayed in Tall Pines to marry, divorce and remarry. Every greeting she issued might come with a smile, but there was also the edge of sharp teeth and the hint of a grimace. She’d worked for the old sheriff and might resent Andi taking his spot. He was her father, after all. Still, a job was a job and in Tall Pines, no one quit a good job on the principle of the thing. They were just too hard to come by. So Lori performed right on the edge, well enough to keep coming in every day but not so well that it could be misconstrued as approval or anything other than a deep-seated wish to inflict nonfelonious harm.

Lori and Andi had a history anyway. Lori had been homecoming queen and head cheerleader. Andi had been president of the math club, a desperate overachiever intent on winning a college scholarship. She’d snatched valedictorian out of Lori’s pom-pom-waving paws at the last minute and still congratulated herself on that now and then. Lori probably didn’t think about it much. She had two beautiful little boys to show off. Pictures lined the wall beside the dispatch desk. The towheaded twins had to be about eight years old. Their names were Alexander and Andrew and they were perfectly identical. When they came in, Andi had no idea which was which and settled for a jovial and nonspecific “boys” whenever she had to address them directly.

Andi’s small pangs of jealousy hadn’t driven her to put up pictures of her cat, Mojo, on the same wall. Not yet.

“Morning, Lori. Is there anything urgent?”

“Nope. Dan’s headed out to check on the one call we’ve got. Mrs. Haley thinks there’s been someone prowling around her garage at night.”

Andi nodded. This prowler would probably be just like the last, a deer knocking over the chairs on Mrs. Haley’s porch, but the woman had a shotgun and an active imagination. It would be a good thing to check out.

Andi waved at Dan as he stood up from one of the four desks crammed into the large room. It was time for the patrols to change over, so both Dan Jones and Jimmy Monroe were there. Jimmy was writing a report, and Dan had just finished checking any notes left from the previous shift. It was a small office. There were six full-time deputies for the entire county and reserves who helped out as needed.

Jimmy looked up. “Anything we need to know about the incident over at Jackie’s?”

Andi scratched her forehead as she tried to figure out how to answer. “Well, his trophies and the money and everything else in his safe were stolen. He’d corralled Oscar, his busboy, Wanda Blankenship and Mark Taylor when I got there. I couldn’t see any signs of a break-in, and Jackie swears the door was locked when he got there.”

Dan crossed his arms over his chest and Jimmy leaned back in his chair. Andi could smell Lori hovering behind her. She had a thing for strawberry bubble gum.

“So it’s somebody with a key,” Dan said. “Should be easy enough to figure out.”

Andi agreed. Mostly. “Unless it’s a random thief who’s good with locks and safes.”

They both shook their heads. “Doesn’t seem likely.”

“Except...I can’t rule it out, either,” Andi said.

Dan held up three fingers. “C’mon, boss. Motive. Means. Opportunity.”

“It’s hard to come up with a reason for stealing trophies, but money’s always a motivator.”

Lori popped a bubble dangerously close to Andi’s ponytail. She couldn’t help but think it would be even more difficult to prove criminal intent for gum in her hair.

Dan picked up his radio and walked around the desk. “Sounds personal, boss. You should definitely find out if Jackie has any enemies.”

All three of them were quiet for a minute before Andi snorted. “Right. This is Jackie we’re talking about. If he wasn’t the best chili cook in this part of the state, he probably would’ve been chased out of town after his second lawsuit.”

Both Dan and Jimmy nodded. They had strict instructions to stay away from Jackie. One of the deputies in the former administration had gotten too close for comfort, and Jackie had taken him all the way to court for harassment. He hadn’t won, but the court of public opinion was harder to argue with than the men in black robes.

Jimmy slapped Andi on the shoulder. “Well, there’s always the traffic camera.” Another heavy silence filled the room before all four of them burst out into guffaws. The traffic camera was suggested at least once a season, most often by a tourist who’d seen years of police dramas and wanted to find out whether something had been taken from his car or hotel room.

Tall Pines had a single stoplight on the two-lane highway that ran through town. And there was no camera on it. Everywhere else, traffic was controlled by well-placed stop signs and law-abiding citizens. Most of the time everyone was happy to live in a place where the only security they might need was the lock their car or house was already equipped with.

“I will certainly get right on that, Deputy. That is a fabulous suggestion.”

Dan waved as he walked out into the bright sunshine. Lori wiped the smudged mascara from underneath her eyes and wandered back to the dispatch desk. Jimmy shuffled the paperwork on his desk into a folder and handed it to Andi. “Let me know if I can give you any help with that investigation, boss.”

She nodded and slid the folder under her arm as she headed for her office. “Sure thing. You guys might want to avoid the Country Kitchen for a bit. Jackie will make any visit miserable until I can get some information for him.”

“Got it,” Jimmy said. “See you tomorrow.”

Andi made a detour to the small kitchenette for a glass of ice-cold water. As she perched on the edge of her chair and did her best to ignore the squawk it made as she leaned back, Andi set the glass down and pulled out her notebook.

She opened a new incident report and transcribed the few details she’d managed to pick up from her interrogation of the “suspects.” She also tried to brush aside the memory of Mark Taylor’s hand wrapped around hers.

Her gut said this was an inside job. Someone with a key had waited until the diner was closed to take the money Jackie had on hand. Surely everything else was an afterthought. Why take trophies?

Knowing Jackie and his suspicious nature, the list of people with keys would be short. Maybe only Jackie, in fact. Maybe his wife, Mona. Possibly Oscar. But the back window was unlocked, so all three of the people she’d interviewed had means and opportunity, as well. Maybe Jackie had accidentally left it that way. Maybe Oscar had opened it for himself or someone else. She didn’t figure Jackie drank his coffee out of a World’s Best Boss mug.

As far as an action plan, she had only two options. First, Andi would have to ask Jackie what his list of enemies looked like. She’d need to take a much larger notebook on that day. And second, she needed to get her hair done. Luckily, it had been almost two months since her last visit, and she had an appointment already scheduled. She could take care of both tomorrow.

* * *

A
FTER
A
BLISSFUL
afternoon spent at her desk pushing paper around and detoxing from a caffeine high, Andi decided to relax at the Smokehouse—Tall Pines’s answer to finer dining. Jackie’s business was a breakfast, lunch and snack proposition except when the fall color hit. For the Fall Festival, he spruced up his dinner menu with chili any way and every way he could imagine it. Otherwise, the Smokehouse was the place to go for an evening meal.

When she walked into the shadowy coolness of the restaurant, Andi sighed with relief. It was a bit early for dinner but that would be a good thing. She could avoid the mayor and enjoy her meal in peace and quiet.

A steady flip-flop approached, and Andi turned and smiled at Sarah Wilson. The Wilsons had been her neighbors growing up. Sarah’s parents still lived in Tall Pines but Andi did her absolute best to avoid that neighborhood now. It was too painful.

“Afternoon, Sheriff. Want your usual spot?” If she’d thought about it for a minute, it might have bothered Andi that she was so predictable. She had usual drinks, usual meals and usual spots. That constituted a rut.

“That’d be great.” Andi followed her to the table, biting back the advice that wanted to tumble out regarding proper restaurant footwear. It wasn’t her place. And so what if
flip-flop,
flip-flop
was annoying? If it didn’t bother Amanda in her own restaurant, then it shouldn’t bother Andi. Clearly, she needed to concentrate on what was important here: dessert.

Andi decided to take the seat facing the kitchen, with her back toward the door. The place was deserted now but it was only a matter of time until someone came in, spotted her and tried to pump her for information on what had happened at Jackie’s. She had no illusions about the spread of the story. At this time of day, Andi could call somebody two counties away and get some distorted version of what had happened, what she said and where the body was hidden.

“Can I get you something to drink?” Sarah asked.

“Sweet tea, please,” Andi responded, as always. Sarah flip-flopped her way to the kitchen to get Andi’s drink.

Even though she’d be having her usual, Andi perused the menu because that was the right thing to do in restaurants. A small breeze stirred over her shoulder and, thinking it was Sarah returning with the tea, Andi looked up with a smile on her face.

Mark Taylor smiled back. “Well, Sheriff, I have to say I didn’t expect such a warm welcome.” He pulled out the seat across from her and sat down before he rested both elbows on the table. “What are we having?”

Andi snapped the menu closed and got ready to blast him. She did not want her dinner interrupted by Jackie’s case.

Sarah intervened with a sweaty glass of iced tea. “Well, Mark, I didn’t know you were joining the sheriff. What can I get you to drink?”

Andi opened her mouth to say that his drink should be delivered to another table, any other table, but she could tell with one quick look that Sarah would have trouble remembering anything she might say. Her large blue eyes were locked on Mark Taylor like he was the second coming of Tom Cruise right here in Tall Pines.

He didn’t see her worshipping gaze. When Andi looked at Mark to give him the stunning glare of death, he was smiling back at her. “And that’s more like it.” He shot a glance up at beautiful young Sarah and said, “Make it tea.”

She nodded distractedly. Andi wondered if Sarah heard his answer but then realized it didn’t matter. She would have his choice memorized.

“Are y’all ready to order?” Sarah asked them both, but she was looking at Mark.

Clearing her throat, Andi said loudly, “I’ll have the chef salad with vinaigrette on the side, Sarah.”

Sarah nodded again but didn’t take out her notepad. She had probably already put in Andi’s usual order.

“A salad? In a rib joint?” Mark looked at Andi. Both eyebrows were raised and his mouth hung open. He was clearly offended. He glanced up at Sarah. “Can she do that?”

Sarah answered with a maniacal giggle. “Well, I guess so, Mark. She does it almost every time she comes in.”

He shook his head as if he couldn’t quite believe it but he’d allow it anyway and handed over the menu. “I think I’ll have the special tonight, Sarah. And make sure it has the sweet sauce instead of the mild, okay?”

She stacked the menus and put extra swish in her exit, glancing back over her shoulder to see if she had an audience. When she saw that Andi was the only one watching, she straightened her shoulders, slammed the menus back in the basket next to the phone and pushed through the swinging doors.

“So, Sheriff, a salad? Here? In the home of the best ribs in the northeast part of the state?” His lips twitched as he pointed to the sign hanging over the front door that listed that exact honor. The Smokehouse had been voted number one in the newspaper’s annual poll.

Andi nodded. “Yes, but you’ll wish you’d gone a different route when Sarah brings me a slice of cheesecake bigger than my head.”

“Ah, I get it. You store up a few karmic calories so that you splurge on dessert.” Mark shrugged. “Whereas I live by the philosophy that there’s absolutely no reason I can’t have both if I want to.”

Andi tapped her finger to her lip before she said, “You know, that doesn’t surprise me a bit.” She opened her napkin with a snap and spread it over her legs. “And if I lived by that philosophy, I’d definitely have to buy a bigger uniform.”

“Sheriff, I’m beginning to think you don’t know me at all.” Mark made a show of glancing over her tan uniform. “But this uniform looks pretty good on you, so your philosophy must be working.”

Andi couldn’t help it. She rolled her eyes.

He laughed. “What? You don’t think my flattery is sincere?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure anything about you is sincere.” It was a good thing the restaurant went for mood lighting. If they’d been anywhere with lightbulbs stronger than forty watts, he’d be able to see how flustered he made her. Sarah brought out their drinks, a basket of rolls and pats of butter. She didn’t say a word but retreated to the front door to greet any new visitors that might come in.

“Now, Sheriff. That sorta hurts my feelings.” Andi couldn’t see it in this lighting but he might have slapped on a halo before he answered. “I believe you have me pegged as some sort of city slicker out to pull the wool over your eyes for some nefarious reason.”