A Hoe Lot of Trouble (15 page)

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Authors: Heather Webber

Tags: #Fiction, #Contemporary Women, #Mystery & Detective, #General

BOOK: A Hoe Lot of Trouble
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"Oh no."
"Like you haven't done it before."
"I was six and lost in the woods."
"See? You still sound haunted by it. This will give you the chance to put it all behind you. Literally."
"Ha. Ha. But I have to go too bad to argue with you."
She rustled off into the deeper grass, half hidden behind
the trees. Coby had finished hedge trimming and pulled out a spade. He was dutifully edging the driveway.
I glanced in the direction Ana had gone. I cringed, spotting tell tale leaves of three. "Uh, Ana?" I whispered loudly.
"What?"
"You aren't, by any chance, allergic to poison ivy, are you?"
Ana jumped to her feet, shrieking like a banshee. Her skirt fell into place, but her undies were wrapped around her ankles.
Coby dropped the spade and ran full tilt toward us.
Ana continued to screech, hopping from foot to foot, looking just like some gypsy woman stomping grapes. Except for the screaming. I didn't think people screamed when they squished grapes.
There was no place to run, nowhere to hide. I slowly rose.
Coby stopped dead in his tracks. "Nina?"
Ana's shrieks had turned into whimpers, but she was still doing the jig, trying to get her undies off her feet. Finally, they were flung free, almost hitting Coby in the face.
I pressed my lips together. Tight.
Ana screeched when she spotted him.
Coby stared at the undies lying at his feet, with eyes the size of baseballs. "Ms. Bertoli?"
Ana's cheeks flamed. "Uh, hello, Coby." Shoulders back, chin high, she walked over to him and snatched up her panties. She shoved them in her pocket, turned and glared at me. "You owe me. So big."
Guilt nudged at me. I glanced at Coby. His slightly chubby cheeks glowed pink beneath pale peach fuzz.
"What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I, uh, we . . ." I cleared my throat. "What are
you
doing here, is more like it." Nothing like going on the offensive. "You were supposed to take the truck and the tools back to the office."
He dug his toe into the ground. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ana scratch her leg. Then the other. It was all mental, I knew, since poison ivy didn't usually show up for hours, sometimes days, after exposure.
"I know, I'm sorry. You're not going to fire me, are you? My nana . . ."
An older woman's voice was carried on the evening air. "Coby?"
I looked across the expanse of lawn as "Nana" (I assumed), using a walker, hobbled toward us.
Ana glowered. "I hope you're proud of yourself."
I felt terrible.
Coby pleaded to Ana with his puppy-dog eyes. "Please don't say anything about my arrest. She doesn't know."
"What's going on, Coby?" Nana said, her voice sounding like nails on a chalkboard.
I couldn't help but wince. Coby seemed immune though, as he said, "Nana—"
I broke in. "This young man was fine enough to help us." I gestured down the road. "Our car has broken down . . . overheated or something."
"Might be the fan belt," Ana put in.
I rolled my eyes. "As I was saying, this young man was kind enough to offer to look."
The woman's keen eyes swept over me. "I heard screaming."
Ana suddenly found interest with her toenail polish.
"I, uh, I fell," I said.
Her eyebrows arched. Her gaze meandered to Ana. "Uhhunh. What happened to your shoes?"
Ana looked up, all brown eyes and innocence. "Lost them?"
Coby put his arm around the woman. "Nana, it's okay. I'll help them out and be back in just a minute."
She nodded sharply, and pivoted with her walker, nearly taking my feet out from under me as she turned. I heard her murmur something about vixens, and couldn't help but feel an odd sense of pride that I could still be considered one.
We walked a few feet toward my car. Coby's head hung. How I ended up feeling in the wrong, I had no idea. To him, I said, "Just bring the truck back when you're done. I'll see you tomorrow."
A smile lit his face and he trotted back.
Ana shook her head, scratched her leg as she got into the car.
I turned the key and the engine rumbled to life. "Don't say it."
We drove in silence for, oh, ten seconds before Ana said, "That was awful."
I nodded. Maybe I should have just sat Jean-Claude, Coby, and Marty down in my office after all. This investigating on my own wasn't quite working out the way I thought it would.
"I feel awful," I said.
"You should." She sighed dramatically, leading up to a lecture, I was sure. But instead said, "Why didn't you tell me there was poison ivy back there?"
Leave it to Ana to know how to make me feel better. I laughed.
A smile tugged at her lips. "Seriously, though. Could we stop at CVS and get some calamine?"

Twelve

"You damn well don't have to drive me." Scorn oozed from Riley's voice.
It was much too early to be exposed to such venom. I yawned. Sleep had been hard to come by. Too many bits and pieces floating around in my head, causing a bad case of insomnia.
"I can damn well get there on my own."
Biting my tongue to keep from chastising him about his language, I stared out the window, my face a mask of serenity. I was going to make sure he got to school today. I was going to watch him walk into the building. No more skipping.
"I think I do need to drive you, Ry."
I caught his startled blink. I hadn't told him I knew he skipped school. I figured he had enough on his plate to worry about. But now I wanted him to know. I didn't want him to think he was getting away with anything.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Belligerence replaced startled.
I shrugged. "What do you think it means?"
Crossing his arms over his chest, he glared at me. "I can't believe Dad's doing this to me," he muttered.
I glowered at Riley. I was a good glowerer, but he was ob viously immune to my powers. "Don't forget about supper tonight. Five o'clock. Your dad and I need to talk to you."
"Well, I need to talk to you too."
"You do?"
He shouldered his backpack as I parked in front of the high school. "I do have opinions."
Grrr.
"I look forward to hearing them."
He glared.
"Have a good day," I sang as Riley hopped out of the car. "Stay out of trouble!"
Turning, he flashed me a grin. I knew that grin. It was the same one I used to give my parents before I deliberately disobeyed them.
What was he up to now?
I swung my Corolla in the direction of the office. Everyone was due to gather there at eight to go over the timeline of tomorrow's job, start to finish. Okay, that was the excuse we used. Truly, we never got much work done. That hourlong meeting before a big job had turned into the office's weekly happy hour. With donuts and coffee, of course.
Speaking of which, I pulled into the Kroger lot and ran in for two dozen Krispy Kremes.
Ana called this morning and apparently she was none the worse for wear. No sign of poison ivy, though she was sure little bumps were going to pop out any minute now. Not taking any chances, she was keeping a bottle of calamine on hand at all times.
As I drove down Knickerbocker, I wondered why Dave Mein, my fire-fighter friend, hadn't called. Chickened out? I just couldn't see it. He was one of those guys whose word was gold. He definitely knew something he wasn't keen on sharing, and my imagination was running wild.
Up ahead, red lights blinked at a railroad crossing. I rolled to a stop as a freight train rumbled past.
Knickerbocker wound its way through the industrial sec tion of Freedom. Office rent was cheap in this area, with lots of vacancies, but the location did nothing for me. I had been willing to pay a bit more for a location my clients would adore.
I turned left onto Mockingbird, then right onto Jaybird Lane, zoned residential and business. I passed Mighty Tots Daycare and turned into the Taken by Surprise lot.
The office itself was a renovated ranch-style home. I'd paved the front yard, and turned the backyard into a showcase of my designs. I couldn't help but smile, despite the whole hoe issue and the mess I'd made out of things with Coby.
Kit Pipe was leaning against his Hummer, smoking a cigar, when I pulled into my usual parking space.
He took one box of donuts from me and plucked out a glazed. "You look like crap."
"I love the way you kiss up to the boss." I set my backpack on the ground. "I haven't been sleeping all that great lately."
A smile pulled at his lips. "Heard you were playing in the bushes last night."
"Coby has a big mouth."
"He thinks you and Ana have something kinky going on."
I had to smile. "Ana sat in poison ivy."
He laughed, his stocky frame doubling over. "Must have been a sight."
"Oh, it was."
"Coby clean?"
I sighed. "Appears so. He was just doing some yard work for his nana." The sun beamed off his bald head. The skull tattoo looked especially scary this morning. "Gut instinct, who do you think: Jean-Claude or Marty?"
He took a bite of donut, then a puff of cigar. I winced at the combination. "Not sure. Both are hard workers."
"You hear that the tools are showing up again?"
"No shit?" His ink-lined eyes narrowed.
If I didn't know him so well, I'd be shaking in my Keds.
"Maybe if I just wait long enough, all the equipment will show up again and I won't have to worry about it."
"And let it happen again some day?"
Damn, I hated when he was right.
"I just don't understand it. It's not like there's a black market for garden tools."
"What're you gonna do? Follow Marty and Jean-Claude too?"
I didn't like his tone. "You have a better idea?"
His furry eyebrows dipped. "Lie detector?"
"Yeah, I've got one of those in my office."
"Smart-ass."
"I'm gonna be taking the rest of the day off," I said.
He pinched the end of his cigar. "Why?"
I pulled my backpack onto my shoulder. "I need to see a cop about some Skinz, and a man about a house."
"You have yourself a good time." He smiled. He had the best smile.
"Hey, you still dating Daisy?"
His tone turned suspicious. "Why?"
"Ana's looking for a boyfriend."
His hands shot up. "Oh no."
"Why not? She was only your probation officer for a month, a long time ago."
He was saved from answering by the squeal of tires. A small red hatchback swerved into the lot, jolting to a stop in the spot next to mine.
Deanna Parks bounded out of the driver's seat, her blonde ponytail flying out behind her. "Look who I found hitchhiking."
Jean-Claude tumbled out when she opened his door, looking green around the gills. He fell to his knees and kissed the ground.
Deanna didn't seem to notice. "Sorry I'm late. Lucah didn't want to get dressed. I couldn't pass him off to the sitter fast enough." She popped the back of her hatchback and rummaged inside, mumbling all the while about her twoyear-old and potty training. Seemed Lucah liked being naked. Typical man.
Deanna was one of the best landscape designers I'd ever met. The fact that she was a twenty-one-year-old single mother with zero college experience didn't bother me in the least.
I helped Jean-Claude to his feet. "You okay?"
"Never again."
Kit frowned. "Been there, man. What happened to your ride?"
"Ran out of gas about a mile down." Despite his French name, there wasn't even the hint of an accent. Light stubble covered his cheeks, his chin. His hair was rumpled, his eyelids heavy. He was a dead ringer for Hugh Grant—his mug shot, that is.
Deanna's voice rang out. "Some days I'm just so happy to see the sitter. I wish I could pay her more money. She deserves it, for putting up with Lucah all day."
She didn't even notice that no one was listening to her. To Jean-Claude, I said, "I'll take you to the gas station and drop you at your car after the meeting."
He nodded.
"Oh, Nina?" Deanna said.
"Huh?" Being around Deanna taxed my energy.
"Strangest thing." She tugged a shovel and a small hand cultivator out of her hatchback. "Found these in my car this morning. No idea how they got there. I mean, I didn't put them in there." She frowned. "At least I don't think I put them in there."
I hadn't even known the cultivator was missing.
"Oh, and this," she said, tugging out roll of chicken wire.
I shot a look at Kit, who shrugged.
"And this," she said. She pulled on box of decorative edging, left over from jobs gone by. "And this pickax too." She smiled brightly as she spotted the Krispy Kremes. "Oooh. Donuts!"
The Freedom police station held that stale smell of old coffee in its stagnant air. I didn't know how Kevin stood it, day in and day out.
"Hi, Russell. How're you?" I asked the aging desk sergeant.
"Just fine. Fine. You look great, Nina."
"Thanks." I looked like something the cat had spit up, but I didn't want to shatter his mirage by denying his words.
"Kevin's not around. He's not on today."
Thank heaven for small favors. "Actually I came to see Candy. She should be expecting me."
"Sure, sure. Go on back."
I followed a bench-lined hallway that opened into a large room, about fifty by fifty. Offices lined one wall. The rest of the room was filled with desks pushed together in small squares like children's desks in grade school.
A quick head count gave me five people in the room, most of them pecking away at computers or reading through files. I spotted Candy in a far corner on the phone. She looked up and waved me over.

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