Black Beans & Vice (35 page)

"But we're not going to let that happen," Lucy stated with authority. "This nonsense stops right here, right now." She turned to
Jane. "I have to be blunt; this is all about you. For some reason or
another, your ex is going crazy because you've moved on. To draw
him out of hiding, I need to use you as bait."

"No!" James protested, but Lucy held out her hand. "I'll be
with her. It'll seem like we're two vulnerable women alone in the
parking lot, but I can handle anything this guy's got to dish out.
Sullie, you take Lindy and Gillian and do a sweep of the area near
the bus drop-off. James and Bennett, you guys check every row of
this lot." She handed James a flashlight. "Don't forget to sweep under the cars too. A grown man can easily stay out of sight beneath
a jacked-up truck or some of these other SUVs."

"If we find him, how will we signal you?" Bennett asked. Lindy
dug around in her purse and came up with a whistle. "Here. I always have one with me."

Before the groups moved off, James touched Lucy's holster. She
apparently kept a weapon stashed in her Jeep. "Do you think Kenneth is armed?"

She shook her head. "I don't, but be ready to swing those baseball bats just in case. Let's go people, I don't know much about
Shakespeare, but it seemed like the play is nearing the final act."

Lucy was correct. As the two deputies and the supper club
members spread out across the parking lot wielding flashlights
and baseballs bats, a double wedding was taking place onstage. Before the cast raised their voices to belt out the final number, Luis
Chavez jogged up to center stage, his hand gripping a cordless microphone.

"Sorry to interrupt, folks, but the students have graciously allowed me a minor speaking part in the wonderful conclusion of
this year's stellar musical. Like Claudio and Benedick, I too need a
partner to complete my scene." He smiled at the crowd, unable to
see clearly with the spotlight bathing his face. "Lindy Perez, would
you join me onstage?"

The student actors cast knowing glances at one another and an
air of strident expectation filled the room. When Lindy didn't appear, Luis shielded his eyes against the light and stared at the section where she'd been sitting minutes before. "Don't be shy, Lindy.
I've got a quick question to ask you."

"SHE'S GONE!" Luigi's voice boomed out from the middle of
the auditorium.

Luis sagged, his buoyant face deflating, the sparkle in his eyes
extinguished. Glancing at the diamond ring in his palm, he waved
at the students to continue and managed to slink off stage right.
He kept walking, numbly, past pieces of scenery and members
of the chorus waiting for their moment to dance onstage. Music
exploded around him and his precious students sang their hearts
out, as though trying to erase their principal's awkward moment.

On any other night, Luis would have savored the experience,
his chest swelling with pride. On any other night, he would have
presented the pianist and the drama teacher with a bouquet of
roses. Even now, the flowers were carefully tucked beneath his auditorium seat. On any other night, he would have shaken hands
with every audience member and would have stayed until every last person had left the building. But tonight, the night he'd
planned on proposing marriage, he could no longer be himself. He
hadn't realized until that long minute onstage that he'd waited far
too long to ask for Lindy's hand; that his mother's approval wasn't
as significant as he'd thought; and that nothing mattered until he
found the woman he'd taken for granted for years and dropped to
his knees before her.

With renewed purpose, Luis burst from the emergency exit at
the back of the building, flinging open the heavy metal door with
the passionate impatience of a man consumed with the desire to
gaze upon the face of his lover. Unbeknownst to Luis, a person
had chosen that unfortunate moment to try to gain access to the
building. The door hit this stranger like a sledgehammer and he
crumpled in a heap to the ground.

"Dios Mio!" Luis shouted and sprang to the aid of the unconscious man. He reached into the man's pockets in search of a cell
phone in order to call for help, but found nothing but a handful of
sticky black feathers.

LUIS DROPPED THE FEATHERS on the
ground and stared at the blood on his
fingers. Believing that he'd hit the man
so hard that he was now bleeding from
the impact, Luis yelled, "HELP!" at the
top of his lungs.

He was relieved to hear the echo of
footsteps approaching. A woman with a
camera slung over her shoulder dashed around the corner of the
building and came to a sudden stop when she saw the body on the
ground.

"Do you have a cell phone?" Luis asked Murphy Alistair. "I
smacked him with the door when I was coming out. I think I
knocked him unconscious."

Murphy pulled a phone out of her purse. Reaching the emergency operator within seconds, she calmly requested an ambulance to meet them at the back of Blue Ridge High. After placing the call,
Murphy scuttled around the man's body to get a closer look at his
face.

"Kenneth Cooper! I'll be damned." She raised her camera and
immediately began to take pictures of the unresponsive man and
then took several close-ups of the black feathers scattered on the
ground around him.

Luis was initially startled into immobility by her actions, but as
the light of the camera flash created a strobe over the unconscious
man's still form, he leapt up and put a hand in front of the lens.
"What's wrong with you? This man is injured!"

Murphy lowered the camera. "Before you get too judgmental,
allow me to introduce you to the person who's been terrorizing
James Henry and his family for the past month." Shocked, Luis
took a step away from Kenneth Cooper. "And that blood on your
fingers?" Murphy continued. "That's from the dead birds he killed
and hung on James' truck. I got some beautiful photos of that little
artistic display. This guy is truly imbalanced. It's a good thing you
took him out."

Luis gaped at the slumped form in silence, but it wasn't long before the sound of more footfalls caught his attention. Two groups
converged on the scene. First came James and Bennett, panting
from exertion, followed by Lucy and Jane. Jane looked frightened,
but Lucy's eyes glimmered as they alighted on Kenneth.

"Nice work, Principal," she praised Luis after he explained what
had happened. She then called Sullie, who appeared shortly afterward with Lindy in tow. Lindy lagged behind in order to flag down
the ambulance, and before Luis could even speak to her, the sound
of boisterous applause emanating inside the building signaled the end of the play. Knowing that it was his duty to direct the flow of
traffic away from the exit the ambulance would need to take, Luis
asked Sullie for help and the two men hustled off, flashlights in
hand.

"I like a man with leadership qualities," Murphy murmured
to James as she stared after the two men. "Dark, handsome, and
authoritative. I might have to schedule an exclusive interview with
the charming Principal Chavez."

James scowled. "He's spoken for and you know it. He and
Lindy-"

"Hey, there's no ring on his finger," Murphy said with a sly
smile as she stepped aside to give the paramedics room. Turning to
Lucy, she pointed at her camera. "Do you want a ride to the hospital? I'm going to try to get a comment from Kenneth as soon as he
wakes up."

"Only after I'm done with him," Lucy stated firmly.

Murphy gave a little bow. "Naturally. On the way over, I
thought we could discuss our strategy."

Lucy's expression was inscrutable. "Our strategy?"

"Yes. Kenneth and his lawyer buddies are going to argue that
the evidence in this case is too circumstantial for a conviction. If
you and Sullie can't coerce him into making a confession, then I
have another idea of how to rid ourselves of this menace to our
town."

"In that case, I'm all ears," Lucy said.

Bennett watched the women walk away. "I wouldn't trust that
woman for all the donut holes in the bakery."

Gillian took his arm. "I believe Murphy is trying to make
amends. Did you hear how she said `our' town? I think we need to open our hearts to the possibility that she is truly capable of selfless acts of kindness."

"We'll see when her next book comes out," Bennett muttered.
"Come on, woman. The long arm of the law has nabbed the bad
guy and I'm right sure our newlyweds wanna get on home." He
pointed at James. "And don't think you've wormed your way out
of havin' some kind of party. No friend of mine ties the knot without booze and a speech or two"

Gillian beamed at Bennett. "You are so right! At least let us
throw you a little dinner party. Nothing fancy, just the supper club,
the library staff, your parents, and Eliot. A nice vegetarian reception!"

"That would be lovely, thank you." Jane accepted and then
sagged against James' chest. "This has been quite an evening. Let's
go back to the house, relieve your folks, and spend the rest of the
night watching TV in our pajamas."

Holding hands, the married couple navigated the busy parking
lot. They were both glad to be among the presence of the animated
crowd, to have to maneuver around bumper-to-bumper traffic,
and listen to half the town shout greetings to James or wave to him
out of car windows.

"Boy, I feel like the wife of a movie star," Jane teased when they
finally reached the Bronco.

James sighed happily. "Thank goodness I'm just a small-town
librarian. I'm so exhausted after all this drama that I can only hope
to have enough strength to carry you over the threshold."

"I'll settle for a piggyback ride," Jane replied saucily, leaned
back against the headrest, and closed her eyes. "Do you think we'll
live peacefully ever after now that Kenneth's been caught?"

Easing the truck into the stream of blazing red taillights, James
shook his head. "There's still a murderer at large in Quincy's Gap."
Stalled in the knot of traffic, he gazed out the windshield, lifting
his eyes to the dark shape of the mountains looming above. "We've
got miles to go before we sleep."

The house was quiet when Jane and James tiptoed inside. Jackson was watching a television program on the most destructive
car chases ever filmed while Milla embroidered Eliot's Christmas
stocking. She'd been working on the stocking since February and
had already warned Jane that it would be a miracle if she had the
project completed in time for Christmas Eve. When James saw the
tiny stitches and the intricate pattern of Santa Claus removing toys
from his sack, he marveled at Milla's skill.

"How was the play?" she asked James, easing a piece of silky
thread from beneath one of Miss Pickles' paws.

James smirked. "Dramatic" He told his parents every exciting
detail while Jane went down the hall to peek in on Eliot. When he
was finished, Jackson turned off the television and struggled to his
feet.