Lost in Tennessee (18 page)

“Yes you did,” Kate said. “The wrench. The big-assed wrench.”

Emily cleared her throat. “Language, please.”

Butch focused on his brother, who looked right back with raised eyebrows.

“Granddad’s biggest wrench was missing from the workbench. I thought it was there the first weekend I was back, but I can’t be sure. I wasn’t taking inventory, just looking around, but I don’t remember anything being out of place.”

Jeb pulled his notebook from his shirt pocket and made a note. “Did you ever find it?”

“Katie did. Inside the tractor.” Butch turned to his father. “That’s why it wouldn’t move that day I tried to use it. Kate had to nearly take the whole tractor apart to find it.”

John looked at Kate. “How would it get in there?”

“With help, that’s for sure. The gears were stuck on it. It’s a good thing you guys stopped when you did. I imagine it could have really damaged the machine.”

Jeb looked between Butch and Kate. “Anything else missing or out of place?”

Butch ran his hands through his hair. “I don’t have much. I thought I set that picture of all of us on the shelf.” He pointed to a small framed photo of him with his parents and brother. “Mama gave it to me my first night back. I laid it there, but I didn’t set it up.”

“All right. What else?”

“I don’t know, Jeb. I don’t. I’ve been messed up since I’ve been back. I keep losing things and forgetting what I’m doing.”

Kate leaned close to Butch, resting her hand on his knee. “I’ve been around you for nearly a week. You aren’t absent-minded. You haven’t lost anything. Somebody’s doing this to you, and we’re going to figure out who.”

With a chirpy rap on the door, Trudy walked in carrying a bag in each hand. “Anyone in the mood for ice cream?”

B
utch paced the long porch, his hands shoved so deep in his pockets he could scratch his ankles. The State boys arrived in short order and picked through the house. His house. That’s what it was.

“Damn it all. What are they doing in there?” Butch looked through the window to see a pair of armed men going into his grandparents’ bedroom. He paced to the end of the porch, kicking sharply at the post that held the roof.

Kate came to stand next to him, staring into the rainy night. “Add that to the list.”

“Add what?” Butch looked down into scheming eyes that sparkled in the ambient light.

A smile grew to match. “The porch.”

Tom stepped to Butch’s left side, a big hand thumping his shoulder. “A kick-ass porch. It’s on the list.” Tom hopped to the ground despite the rain.

Kate winked and followed him. “The kick-ass goes without saying. It’ll be one of ours, after all.”

His mother and father broke off from a conversation with Trudy and Hyde, distracted by the pair squatting on the soft ground. His mother looked at Butch in a silent question then put it directly to the cousins. “What are you two talking about?”

Kate stood and flashed Emily a pure, fun-loving grin. “Ideas.”

John slipped out of his light jacket to drape it across his wife’s shoulders. “Come to the big house. Standing out in the rain isn’t helping anyone.”

At his own dining room table, John sat huddled with Kate and Tom. “I never liked the bedrooms myself. Too danged small and no closets. Of course, when I was growing up in that house, we didn’t have a lot of stuff to put into closets.”

Kate bounced in her seat. “It sounds like your son has a lot of stuff—”

“I don’t need it,” Butch snapped from a corner of the room. The position let him keep an eye on the front door for his brother and on the conspiracy developing at the dining room table but didn’t invite conversation. He abandoned his position, crossed into the living room, and stared out the front window. In the dark, wet night, the window reflected back the tight face of an angry man. He didn’t recognize himself in that face. He looked at Kate in the reflection, already regretting the way he snapped at her.

She met his gaze and gave him a private smile. She hid her mouth from prying eyes and blew him a kiss. Butch reveled in the intimacy of being close to her.

“Of course you’re fine.” Trudy sat curled up in an armchair, content as a cat. “You never needed anything California had to offer.”

Butch snorted. He turned around, leaning against the window frame and looking at Trudy. He didn’t waste his breath on an argument.

“I’m serious, Butchy. You can travel around the world fifty times, and you aren’t going to find any place as good as home.”

Hyde saved Butch from the fruitless conversation when he finished his second bowl of ice cream and changed the topic. “I should finish your Shelby tomorrow, Little Red. That’s a sweet ride you got.”

“No shit.” Kate jumped to her feet and did a quick shuffle. “Really? You wouldn’t be messing with me, would you?”

“I’ve messed with many a pretty lady, but never you. I’ll bring her over when she’s done.”

Trudy wrinkled her nose. “It’s going to rain. It’s supposed to rain all night and all day tomorrow, too.”

Hyde shrugged dismissively. “Won’t slow us down much.”

Katie danced and spun to face Tom. “What do you want to do?”

Tom tilted his head back, gaze to the ceiling. “I need things. I was planning to come down here, slap you around a bit, and go back up to Michigan. I didn’t pack enough to stay.”

Katie grabbed two fists of her cousin’s shirt and shook him, although he didn’t move. “A mall? You want to go to a mall? We finally have a day off. Let’s do something fun.”

Hyde scraped his empty bowl, licked his spoon again. “Aren’t you two just a little too happy about a rainy day?”

Tom unwrapped Kate’s fingers from his shirt. “Our fathers worked every day it didn’t rain. Sun, clouds, wind, cold, heat. But not when it rained. Those were our holidays.”

Kate crossed her arms and pouted at her cousin. “And you want to spend this one at the mall.”

Trudy unwound her long legs and rose from the chair like royalty. “I’ll go with you, Tom. We’ll shop, and I’ll show you all my favorite places. You’ll see why this is the best county in the state.” She tossed her hair back and graced Tom with her homecoming queen smile.

The corner of Tom’s mouth twitched. “Any day with a beautiful woman is a sunny day to me.”

Trudy beamed at Tom while behind his back, Katie gagged.

Hyde took the truly empty bowl to the kitchen. “We’ll get the Shelby on her feet in the morning. By then, Butch will have his sorry ass out of bed. He’ll keep you company, won’t you?”

Headlights wound up the long drive, cutting through the veil of rain. Butch grabbed the curtains. “He’s here.”

Jeb stepped into the light spilling from the big house. His head hung low, and rain bounced off his hood. The sagging shoulders and slow strides made Butch swallow hard. Good news did not come from body language like that.

Jeb stepped onto the porch, shook off the water, and entered the house. He raised his hood, showing his blank face. “Hyde, take Trudy home.”

Trudy ran to Butch, her hands on his forearm. “I want to stay.”

“Go on home, Trudy.” Butch looked over Trudy’s head, his gaze on his brother’s face. He knew they found something. “Go.”

Trudy tossed her hair with a small
hmph
. “Are they staying?”

Hyde slid his hat on. “Come on, Trudy. You heard the sheriff. Little Red, I’ll see you in the morning.” Hyde swept his arm around Trudy’s waist and ushered her into the rain.

“I’ll come by tomorrow, Tom,” Trudy shouted as Jeb shut the door behind them.

“Tell me,” Butch demanded.

Jeb sank heavily into a living room chair. John came into the living room, as did Kate and Tom, but no one came between the brothers.

“Was someone in my house?”

“I think so. We got a partial. Did any of you touch the family picture on the shelf or the phone in Granddad’s room?”

Tom held up his hands in innocence. “I didn’t touch any phone or any photo in any room.”

Kate crossed her heart. “Me neither.”

Butch closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I handled the picture, but I didn’t remember there was a phone in Granddad’s room. I took some chairs and a table out of the room, but there wasn’t a phone on them.”

“I need prints for you, Kate, and Tom. To eliminate you.”

His brother wanted to eliminate him. Butch felt like doing a little “eliminating” himself. Instead, he simply said, “Fine.”

When Kate started to nod, Tom rested his hand on her forearm. “I want to help, Jeb, I do. But I don’t understand what’s going on. I’m not so sure Kate and I should be giving our fingerprints without talking to someone.”

“Tom—”

Jeb rose to his feet, and his movement interrupted Kate’s argument. His hands ran over his buzz cut. “It’s all right. Call your attorney. He can come down with you if you like. Butch, call Finch. I hope to God you don’t need a lawyer, but you’re going to need your agent. Your ex-wife getting murdered in the field behind your house isn’t going to stay a small-town secret much longer.”

Emily had come down the stairs, a knit blanket draped over her arm. “Do y’all want to sleep here tonight? Kate can take the guest room and—”

“No. I’m not getting chased out of my house.” Butch held his chin high, making sure everyone in that room heard what he said. “I’m sleeping in my own bed.”

Kate threaded her arm through Butch’s. “Then let’s go. I’ve had enough intrigue for one night.”

“If you’re going, I’m going.” Tom held out his hand to John. “Thank you, sir.”

John shook the strong hand, the muscles in his forearms straining. “We’ll talk more about that little project for Butch’s house. Jeb, you staying or going?”

Butch stood defiant, Kate and Tom on his flanks.

Jeb rolled his eyes and almost smiled. “Going. Somebody has to keep an eye on the boy and the two city slickers.”

K
ate woke to soft light and a muted percussion. The hushed sound of the soft, spring rain tugged at her to get up to play. Kate stretched, but a heavy weight across her waist held her in place. Sprawled beside her, Butch held on like a possessive child with his teddy bear. Kate slowly turned to face him. Butch was a handsome man, and in his sleep he looked like a model for a Greek statue. He could model for Apollo, with his long, sun-bleached curls. Kate drew her fingers across his full lips, unable to resist touching him. His dusty-blue eyes fluttered, opening to hers. He smiled dozily, snuggled into her, and soon snored lightly.

Kate lay there staring at the ceiling while the rain played on. She turned her head to kiss his cheek. Why did she feel so comfortable with him? She should be freaked out with Angie’s murder, but she knew Butch had nothing to do with it. She trusted him innately.

All the men she knew were either loud, crude, over educated, or brilliant, or in the case of her family, all of the above. It was a refreshing change to be with a man who did his own thing on his own time table, without all the noise. He may sleep away perfectly good mornings, but he didn’t just follow in someone else’s footsteps. He made his own way.

Kate savored the intimacy of sharing Butch’s bed. She never shared a man’s bed without sex being first and foremost. It was exquisite torture having his body this close. Together, yet apart. Her body ached. Her breasts, the junction of her thighs, the muscles of her stomach craved him. And yet, there was something perfect about this. Kate closed her eyes and breathed him in. She willed herself back to sleep. It was, after all, her day off.

Crap, she was awake.

K
ate bounced into the kitchen. The cold shower had taken the edge off just enough that she could think without imagining Butch au natural.

Jeb laughed from his seat next to the kitchen window, an empty plate in front of him. “Don’t you two know what sleeping in means?”

“It’s nearly eight-thirty. I slept in over two hours.” She poured a cup of coffee.

Tom sat with his elbows on the table, his forearms curled around a plate of eggs and toast. “Ignore him, Kate. He’s just grumpy because he’s sore. There are eggs in the skillet.”

Kate walked over to Jeb and pushed her index finger into his shoulder blade. “Here?”

Jeb jumped. “Ouch! Goddamn it.” He threw an elbow toward Kate then winced, swearing all over again. “Don’t touch me.”

Tom sipped his coffee. “Waters told me you were swinging the hammer. He said you didn’t do too badly for a cop.” Tom winked at Kate. “Let us know if you’re up for some demolition work. We pay cash.”

Jeb looked at Kate, then Tom with cop eyes. He pursed his lips as if to say something then, with a heavy sigh, shook his head. “I’ll take a pass, but thanks for the offer. Did you think any more about the fingerprints?”

“I called our attorney.” Tom leaned back in his chair, crossing his thick arms over his chest. “We don’t have to, Kate. He’s not arresting us, and we have no obligation.”

Kate used a small dessert plate for a scoop of eggs. She ate a few bites before answering, using the time to reason it through. Her prints were in this house. She’d been living here for almost a week. Her prints were supposed to be here. “I don’t see how Jeb can prove someone is setting Butch up if he can’t show someone else has been in the house. I want to do this, because it will show there’s another person in play here.”

“I knew you’d say that.” Tom turned to Jeb. “Do you mind if we get this done early? I’m going shopping later with Trudy.”

“We can go now. You’ll be back in a half hour. No point waking Butch, he can come down later.” Jeb stood slowly and shuffled to the door.

Kate set her half-full cup of coffee on the counter. She snickered when Jeb caused a traffic jam at the back door.

“I’d forgotten how much work swinging a sledge is. Couldn’t I have kicked your desk a few more times?”

“Venting demons takes work. Sometimes painful work.” She poked his shoulder again and snickered when Jeb swore at her.

B
utch woke to the sound of his own voice coming through his window. “Here, boy” told the stories of the adventures he’d had with his favorite dog, a black Lab named Max. He’d sung the song a thousand times, and it still made him smile. That’s how he knew it was a good song. It never got old.