Stilettos & Scoundrels (26 page)

“Why, it’s Presley Thurman,” she said, reaching across the counter to hug
me
. “Of course,
s
weetheart, I always have fresh muffins. Although, you probably don’t deserve them, never comin’ around very often these days. I miss you and your friends stopping in here. Kids just aren’t the same these days,” Betty grumbled, good-naturedly. “Best peach cream cheese muffins in the state, you all used to say.”

“They still are
,
and what do you mean state, Betty? These are the best in the nation. There is nothing in Chicago to even compare.”

“Quit flattering an old woman. Here,” Betty set a hot, oozing
muffin down in front of me
. “These are fresh from the oven about five minutes ago. New cook back there,” she said, pointing her thumb in that direction, “still not sure if she is any good.”

I
took a bite of the still warm muffin. The soft peach-flavored cream cheese flowed into
my
mouth.
I closed my
eyes in
delight. This was heaven. As I
enjoy
ed my
muffin, Betty sat down on the old worn out stool behind the counter
—
the one she kept around to use while chatting with customers. The food at Betty’s was good enough that it was worth waiting for if she was perched on the stool talking to folks. People knew better than to interrupt her. At least people from around here knew that, and if you weren’t from around here, you figure
d it out pretty quickly. I
couldn’t count the times
I
had been in here and seen out-of-towners being put in their place after trying to interrupt Betty.

“Haven’t seen you around here in a while. Where have you been keeping yourself,” Betty asked.

“I still live up in Chicago now. I am here visiting. Originally, I was supposed to be interviewing Senator Daniels, but,”
I
shrugged, “I did that yesterday before…you know…but I am at a loss of what to do now.”

“Oh, I don’t know. Never found him that fascinating when
he
was alive. I was always surprised he was smart enough to be taken seriously as a politician. I think Helen married beneath her with that one.” Betty said.
I
chuckled. Only someone like Betty could get away with saying that. “You know
,
that man
,
he had a lot of enemies.”

I
was glad Betty hadn’t changed.
I
didn’t have to ask any questions and she was already spilling the beans, no dancing around here. If only it had been this eas
y with Ruth. “Like who?” I
asked, licking her fingers. This muffin was so good; the information was just a bonus at this point.

“W
ell,” Betty leaned closer to me
, eyes sparkling with a secret, as if to keep others from hearing. Granted, nobody else was withi
n earshot, but, hey, who was I
to say anything. Besides it added a dramatic flair to it all and made it that much more exciting. “For one
,
I think he had a gambling problem.”

Ah ha
! Now we were getting somewhere. This was the same stuff
I
heard from Dirt, but if Betty knew, then it was common knowledge or
that meant that
at least people in town had been talking about
it
freely at Betty’s. The more common knowledge it was
,
the more chance there was of it being true. However, it did make
me
wonder where she always got her information.

“Are you sure about that? I mean, how do you know?”

“Are you questioning my information?” Betty said teasingly. “I heard from Mabel Winters, who heard from her daughter Ginny, whose son, Victor, was in Las Vegas a couple months ago
when
Senator Daniels was
there,
” Betty replied.

Wow. My
first thought was surprise that Mabel Winters was still alive
; she was old when I
was a kid. She must be positively ancient now.
“That doesn’t mean he has a gambling problem,”
I
said, taking the last bite of
my
muffin. “Lots of people go to Vegas just to see the shows or even to gamble. It doesn’t necessarily mean they have a problem.”

“Well, now let me get to that. Victor saw Senator Daniels at the Venetian. You see, Victor was there with some buddies from college. A bachelor party
,
I think.” The one thing about Betty was she always had a lot of back-story to tell and you couldn’t rush her. Trying to would get you nowhere.
I
sighed.
I
knew
I
would have to wait, but hoped she would get to the point soon before
my
resolve to not have another muffin
weakened and my
thighs
took the hit
forever.

“That boy runs around too much. His mama worries to death about him.”

Arg! Hurry up and get to the good stuff
. Patience was not one of my
virtues. “He’s old enough to take care of himself, Betty.”

“So, Victor was playing craps,” Betty finally continued
, ignoring me
, “and I guess the tables were right next to the high roller room, whatever that means. As Victor was sitting there just enjoying his game, he said the door to the high roller room burst open and Senator Daniels came out looking angry.”

Yes!
I
said to
my
self, mental fist
punching the air. Finally, we
were getting somewhere.

“Victor
,
of course
,
recognized who the Senator was, being from Alkon and all, and was about to go up and say hi, figuring the Senator seemed friendly enough, when two other men followed him out of the room. Victor said these men also looked angry
,
and the three of them got into an argument right there in front of everyone.”

“About what, Betty? What did Victor say they were
fighting about?” I
got excited.

“Calm down, all in good time. Now Mabel said Victor couldn’t hear exactly, at least that is what Mabel’s daughter said. However, he said the two men who followed the Senator out were angry about some money the Senator owed them. Victor said they were threatening the Senator.
B
efore he could hear anymore, the Senator’s bodyguards came and broke up the argument. According to Trudy, Mabel’s daughter, Victor said the Senator was not only angry, but also seemed really upset by this turn of events. Almost scared
,
she said.”

I
wondered if that included
Cooper
. “Now, Betty, how much of this do you think really was what happened and how much was embellished by the three people who gossiped about the events? Do you really think this could have anything to do with his murder?”

“I don’t know,
s
weetheart.” Betty said, giving the already immaculate counter an absentminded wipe with her ever-present dishrag. “It’s as good a reason as any I suppose.” Betty seemed so calm about everything, as if this were an everyday occurrence. She must hear many interesting things that went on in t
he town. Maybe I
should be interviewing her.

“Have you ever heard anything about Helen having an affair?”

“Nosey little thing
,
aren’t you?” Betty smiled, but not in a judgmental way. More in a conspiratorial way.

I
shrugged
my
shoulders. “Well, I heard some things and thought you would be the person to ask. I tried asking Ruth over at the library, but she wasn’t exactly thrilled with my questions and all but threw me out of the library.”

“Did she now? Ruth is as much a busybody as anyone. I don’t know where she gets off thinking she’s better than
the rest of us for
gossip
ing
,” Betty snorted. “I don’t have any names, but yes, there has been talk
that
Helen was stepping out with someone. Though most folk
,
I think
,
would turn a blind eye. Tom wasn’t known for being faithful
,
and
he should have thanked his lucky stars
that
Helen stayed married to him. I say it’s about time Helen got her own,” Betty said. “After all, aren’t women supposed to be equal?
At least, that’s what I told that cute fellow, Cooper, when he stopped by earlier.
”

I
laughed as
I
got up to leave. “I agree
,
Betty.”
Damn that Cooper. He was already ahead of me on this.

“You leaving already,
s
weetheart? Don’t you want to hear about all the other gossip?” she asked merrily. “Like who else is sleeping around? I bet I could tell you a few things that might surprise you. This town may be small, but it has its fair share of secrets! Come back tomorrow,” Betty said. “I’m trying out a new recipe for cranberry walnut muffins. Gotta challenge this new cook
—
make sure she is up to snuff.”

“I will, Betty. Thanks.”
I
started to walk out the door and had one more question
I
was almost afraid to ask.

“Hey
,
Betty?”

“Yes
,
s
weetheart?”

“Nothing. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
I
wanted to ask her if she knew anything about
my parents. My dad lying really threw me
for a loop. As much as
I couldn’t fathom my dad doing anything wrong to my
mother,
I
wasn’t sure
I
was ready to handle hearing if it
,
by some crazy circumstance
,
there was something he was hiding.

As
I
walked out of Betty’s Baked Goods,
I
saw a tall, lean figure resting against
my
SUV. Lucky
me
, as it wasn’t every day
I
walked out to find a hot guy waiting for
me
. It sure was something a
woman
could get used to. While
I
could appreciate a fine specimen like this, the look on
Cooper
’s face wasn’t anything to admire. In fact, if
I
wasn’t so curious
about
why he was leaning on
my
car waiting for
me
,
I
might be a tad bit worried. He looked pissed. Little did he know that
,
in a strange way
,
it made him look
even
more attractive.

“I recommend the peach cream cheese muffins,”
I
said sassily as
I
walked up to him.
I
knew damn well he wasn’t waiting for
me to get my
opinion on the muffins. “Betty just made some fresh. You really should try one.”

“What do you think you’re doing, Pres?”
Cooper
asked quietly.

Gosh, but he was hot.
I
got w
eak in the knees in spite of my
self, just looking at him. “Nothing but enjoying Betty’s muffins. I tell you, they’re the best.”

“I suppose you are also going to tell me that you went to the library strictly to check out the latest book,” he said, questioningly raising one eyebrow, which made him look even sexier.
“
Are you really that bored?”

“Like it’s any of your
business, but maybe I did,” I
said, trying to not stare shamelessly at his mouth. This would be so much easier if he wasn’t so attractive. “I do read, you know.”

Obviously, someon
e had called him the minute I
left the library. That had to be Ruth.
But why would she call Cooper? Unless maybe she called Helen? And Helen called Cooper
.
And how he knew I
was
at the bakery was a question I
would like to have answered
too
. Had he p
ut GPS on my car when I wasn’t looking? This made me
a little uncomfortable
. I
knew things
that I
wasn’t ready to share with him,
but I still
wasn’t completely unhappy to find
Cooper waiting for me
. Seeing h
im, leaning casually against my
car,
made me have thoughts I
shouldn’t be having
, e
specially about
Cooper. What is wrong with me? I
wanted to grab him and kiss him, and that was just for starters.