Humpty Dumpty: The killer wants us to put him back together again (Book 1 of the Nursery Rhyme Murders Series) (11 page)

He winced as one of his pokes seemed to find a sore spot. “Yeah,” he muttered, his tone sheepish.

“Do you want to press charges?” Sariah pitched her voice loud enough so that Joshua could hear it.

“What? No.” Had laughed at her question. “That’s was just brother kinda stuff. He asked me to be quiet; I wouldn’t shut my trap.” He got a wistful look on his face. “I think we’re really starting to get close.”

Sariah just shook her head. They moved off toward their gate, and there were no further incidents of violence before they were called to board the plane.

Moving through the cabin of the airplane, Joshua went straight to his seat, put some plugs Sariah had purchased for him at the airport into his ears and turned toward the window, shutting out the rest of the world. Had, on the other hand, began greeting everyone that passed, apologizing for his carryon bag and making cooing noises at the babies. Sariah was sure she had never seen a greater disparity between personality types in her life.

As they neared Had’s seat, his phone rang with the theme music to
Psycho
. He whipped out his cell, using his other hand to try to get his bag into the overhead compartment. His tone was exasperated, but less pressured than the last time Sariah had seen him answer a call.

“Mama, I’m on a plane right now. Not a good time to talk.” He made a face at Sariah, apologizing with his gestures for the call. “I know you told me about dinner, but… No! Why would I be at home? I’m working for the
FBI
And I don’t sit around in my tighty-whities.” There was a pause while he listened, then he spoke again. “That was
one
time. And it was one hundred degrees. Inside the
house
.”

Sariah was about to move down the aisle to clear the walkway when Had waved at her to stay. There were passengers lining up behind them, so she moved down into her row of seats to let them past. Had was now seated in his aisle seat, still talking to his mother.

“No, I don’t want to talk to her. Well, I’m
sorry
, but I told you not to invite her over. Mama.
Mama
…” He looked over at Sariah and spoke to her. “Would you please talk to my mother? I don’t think she’s gonna let this one go until she has some proof.”

She took the phone from Had and lifted it to her ear. “Mrs. Hadderly?”

“
Ms
. Hadderly, honey. I’m not married.”

“Of course. Ms. Hadderly. This is Special Agent Sariah Cooper speaking.”

“Uh huh.” It was clear from her tone that she didn’t believe a word Sariah was saying. “You datin’ my boy,
Special Agent
Cooper?”

“No ma’am, I am not.”

“Well, why not? You’re helpin’ him lie to me, might as well get some lovin’ on the side.”

“I’m not lying, ma’am. I really am an agent with the BAU”

“Right. So, what’s your badge number? Huh? Gimme the name of your supervisor. Then we can get to the bottom of this. Y’all think you’re so smart.”

“I don’t—” Sariah began.

“Sweetness, I am sittin’ here in my house with a lovely young woman and more brisket than I can shake a stick at. Now who do you think’s to blame for this situation here?”

“Ma’am—”

“Sugar, you better just hand the phone back to my son. If he wants me to believe his stories, he’s gonna have to do better than
you
.”

Sariah handed the phone back to Had, wondering just what the hell his mother had meant by that last statement. Did she not sound like she could be an agent?

Once the cell was back in his hands, Had ended the call with, “Mama, have fun with my date. Love you. Bye.” And the call was done.

He looked over at Sariah. Sariah stared back at him. After a moment she lifted an eyebrow at him.

“You wear tighty-whities?”

Had blushed. “Boxers are weird. It’s like you’re putting on clothes under your clothes. I never understood how anyone could wear them.”

“Well, I hear the others can make you sterile.”

“Really?” His eyes got big. “Is that true?”

“Who knows? Maybe you should look it up.” She grinned at him, then gave him a much more serious expression. “Now, it’s time for you to get some sleep.”

“Right. Right. Sleep. On it, boss.”

Now that most of the passengers had boarded, it looked like Sariah’s row was unoccupied except for her. So rather than put her carryon above her in the overhead bin, she placed it on the seat next to her. If someone else were to sit down, she could always move it. She settled into her chair, doing what she could to get comfortable. She hated flying so much.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that Had was striking up a conversation with the Mexican woman next to him. She was laughing at something he’d just said, showing all of her teeth. The man had a talent for introductions. Sariah found that she was a bit jealous of that ability.

Peering up toward the front of the plane, she watched as Joshua started speaking with one of the flight attendants. The conversation heated up fast, and before long there were strong gestures accompanying Joshua’s words, which got louder and louder the further along the discussion continued.

“I have to wait until the plane takes off? What, will the alcohol explode at sea level?” Joshua’s face was turning a darker shade as his volume increased.

There was a quieter response from the attendant, which Sariah couldn’t hear. The hapless woman appeared to be doing all she could to keep the situation from escalating.

“Look. I have money. Well, actually, she has money. Back there.” To Sariah’s chagrin, Joshua pointed back at her. She was now connected to his temper tantrum.

“I’m sorry,” the woman now spoke with enough volume that both could hear, “but you’re going to have to wait until service begins.”

“Of course,” Sariah replied, giving Joshua a glare. “Our apologies.”

“I’m not apologizing. I want a drink,” he shot back, giving as good as he was getting in terms of hard looks.

“Sir, if you don’t calm down and put on your seat belt, I’m afraid I’ll have to call the Marshall.”

“Whatever.” Joshua sat back and popped his earplugs back in. Sariah hoped that would be the end of it, but she would keep an eye on him during the flight, just to make certain there were no further incidents. If that man wasn’t careful, he would end up in prison before long.

She pulled out her tablet, setting it to airplane mode. There was an hour and a half before they would touch down in Charleston. More than enough time to get some work in. Once they got there, it would be non-stop dealing with the local authorities, and her experience in the south had not been pleasant to date. A Black woman couldn’t possibly be any good as an agent, could she? It was getting better, and Charleston wasn’t a tiny little hick town by any stretch, but it was still the south.

The only problem she had now was to convince herself that they were wrong in their assessment. A tiny voice that still managed to make itself heard loud and clear was yelling
they were right, they were right, they were right
.

She spent most of the flight trying to yell them down.

CHAPTER 7

“This is
awesome
!” Had enthused as he entered his hotel room, wrestling his three suitcases in with him. It had been a bit of a challenge getting them all up here at once, but he had persevered, and now wouldn’t have to make a second trip.

The excitement sang through his body. He was in Charleston, South Carolina! Okay, he was in a hotel room that looked like any other hotel room in any other city in any other state in the U.S., but still… it was a city he’d never been to before.

Had called over his shoulder to Joshua. “Did you know that the first game of golf played in America was here in Charleston?” He’d looked it up when he found out they were coming here.

The room had that specific scent common to every hotel. A combination of stale coffee, bleach and recycled air. It was a non-smoking room in a mid-level chain hotel, so it didn’t have the additional tang of old cigarette smoke. But other than that alteration to the smell, if he closed his eyes, Had could have been staying at the Motel 6 down the road from him in Ann Arbor. They said it was smoke-free, but who were they kidding?

Opening his eyes, there were definite differences. The Holiday Inn was a clear step up from Motel 6. Bigger rooms, nicer bedspreads… and was that an Ethernet connection port? He’d already set up his phone with the wireless, but the port would be more stable for when he was using his laptop. Sweet.

And since there was a huge convention going on and rooms had been scarce, he and Joshua had been put together in a room. That meant that he would have a chance to get to know his new teammate. There were all kinds of things that Had was dying to ask.

“I didn’t know that fascinating little golf fact, and I’m still missing the ‘awesome’ part,” came a voice from the entryway.

Joshua walked into the room with his one small duffle bag, which he threw on the bed nearest the door. He then made a straight line for the minibar. Throwing open the door, he sighed in relief as he studied the contents of the small cooling device. Whatever he’d found there seemed to have made him… well, not happy, but at least content.

It became clear a moment later when he backed away from the bar, gripping a mini bottle of whiskey. In one fluid movement he twisted off the top and poured the liquid down his gullet, letting out a groan of pleasure.

“Well, it’s awesome for me, at least,” Had replied. “I’d only been out of Michigan once before today, and now I’ve been in two states in less than twelve hours.”

Joshua grunted as he sat down on the bed, grabbing the TV guide on the nightstand and giving it a once over. “Technically, D.C.’s a district, not a state.”

“Oh, I know that. I’m talking about Virginia. You know, Quantico.”

“Right. How could I forget?” Joshua grabbed the remote and turned on the television, flipping through the channels. He would pause long enough to register what was on before moving to the next. Once he’d cycled through all the channels, he turned off the set and rubbed his hands over his face. “Thirteen years with little to no television, and there’s
still
nothing good on.”

Had swiped the guide off the ground where Joshua had tossed it and glanced through the pamphlet. “Says that
Modern Family
is on in a few minutes. Love that show. You should check it out.”

The response from the other side of the room was somewhere between a grunt and a cough. Hey, at least it was a response. An idea sparked in Had’s brain.

“I know what we could do. We could play a get-to-know-you game.”

“No.”

“No?”

“No,” Joshua responded with no change in tone. He had lain back in the bed with the pillows propped up under his head and had closed his eyes.

“What if we just talked?” There was no way that Had was going to waste this opportunity. There was so much amazing experience locked away in the brain that reposed mere feet away from him.

“No.”

“No?”

“No,
thanks
,” the former agent said, giving the statement a finality that would’ve ended the conversation for most people. Had, however, was not most people. He’d backed off for the moment, but if Joshua though that was going to be the end of it, he was in for a surprise.

Had surveyed the rest of the room, his eyes landing on a room service menu for the Meeting Room, the restaurant downstairs. Another idea burst into his mind. Joshua had to eat, right?

“Want to order some food? There’s room service and everything.”

Joshua groaned and pushed himself upright. “Let me guess. You’ve never had room service before.”

“Nope. First time.”

Grabbing the menu from Had, Joshua perused the offerings and then handed it back. “They’ve got some drinks here. Pretty girly, but what the hell. Order me the sausage with black mustard, the coulotte steak and five of the… whatever they call their martinis.”

Had choked a bit. “
Five
?”

“You heard me.”

“Okay.”

He called down and put Joshua’s order in. He then ordered for himself the shrimp and grits with chorizo, the fried oysters and the sea scallops. With a bottle of beer. It seemed like a lot of food, but he was hungry.

Settling in to wait for the food, Had turned on the TV and made his way over to the episode of
Modern Family
that was running. It was a rerun… the one where Phil and Clare try to throw a birthday party for Luke.

It was most of the way through the episode. Haley had set loose the scorpion, the scorpion had scared Cameron-as-Fizbo, who then scared Phil who was terrified of clowns. In between laughing fits, Had heard a strangled sound coming from the other side of the room.

Glancing over at Joshua, Had was shocked to see tears running down his cheeks. The former agent was shaking, his face red and blotchy.

“Are you okay?” Had asked, concerned. Maybe there was something about the show that was reminding Joshua of his own family.

Holding up his hand, Joshua nodded, trying to get control of his breathing. After a moment or two, he pointed at the screen and sputtered out, “This… this is really funny.”

He was laughing. Joshua was laughing so hard he was crying.

This really
was
awesome.

There was a knock at the door. Their food had arrived. Had ran to the door and flung it wide, almost gasping as he saw the trays and platters of food. This was so exciting. The waiter moved in as Had backed his way into the room. Had smiled at the man, who was still standing there.

The waiter smiled back and cleared his throat.

Had nodded at him. “
Gesundheit
. Or whatever you say for a cough.”

“He’s waiting for a tip,” Joshua spoke, wiping the tears off of his cheeks.

“Oh, right. Sorry.” His smile stretched into a grin as he looked around for his wallet. “First time.”

The waiter nodded as Had placed a twenty into his hand. He should’ve known enough to tip the guy, but Had had been so thrilled to see all the food, that everything else had gone out of his head. The door closed behind the server, and Had turned back to face Joshua, who already had one of the vagabond martinis in his hand.