Murder & Mayhem in Goose Pimple Junction (39 page)

“
So . . . what are you thinking?” she asked.

“
Do you really want to know?” he asked with a mischievous grin.

“
About Tank’s murder, Jack.” She took his hand and led him to
the den.

“
Well . . . I’m thinking he was murdered,” Jack said simply, sitting on the sofa.

“
But by whom?” She settled on the couch next to him and pulled her legs up under her.

“
I haven’t figured that part out yet. I’ve had other things on my mind.” He flashed that killer smile at her.

“
Hold that thought. I’ll be right back.” Tess was up and out of the room before Jack could stop her.

When
she returned a few minutes later with a candle and matches, she found him sitting on the couch, staring at her laptop screen. He barely looked up when she came in and sat down next to him. She leaned into him, to see what he was looking at so intently and once she saw it, said, “Oh crap,” while trying to take it away from him.

“
Oh no you don’t, Mary T!” Jack held on tight to the laptop with one hand and fended her off with the other. “You left this document open, and I innocently looked at it when I opened the computer to go online. I’m halfway into the scene. You
can’t
make me stop now.”

She
groaned, pulled her legs up tight against her chest, and leaned forward to hide her face in her knees.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. How could
I have left that chapter, of all chapters, open?
The steamy love scene she was working on rushed through her mind. She groaned in embarrassment.

Tess
started to get up
.
Jack’s arm came out to hold her in place
.
But she knew exactly what he was reading, and she couldn’t just sit there.

“
Mary T! I had no idea . . . “ Jack whispered, his eyes glued to the screen.

Jack
absentmindedly dropped his arm, and she sprang up and out of the room, mumbling something about getting a drink. She was pouring sweet tea into two glasses when he joined her in the kitchen. He reached around her, took the pitcher, and set it on the opposite counter. He did the same with the two glasses and then gently turned Tess around to look at him.

“
Tess, you never cease to amaze me,” he said, smiling down at her. “Here I thought you were this innocent, shy, genteel lady, and . . . you write erotica?”

Tess
closed her eyes and dropped her head onto his chest. Her reply was muffled. “Not erotica. Romance. There’s a difference. You just happened upon the one chapter that…”

Jack
put his hands on her sides and lifted her onto the counter
behind her, standing between her legs. “Tess, look at me.”

She
raised her head slightly and opened one eye.

“
Come on, sweetheart, look at me,” he said, laughing. “Criminy, you are so dang hot. You’re a perfect mixture of beautiful lady and sexy woman.” That made Tess snort with a laugh of disbelief.

“
Jack, I was going to tell you about my book. I didn’t want you to actually read it, though. I’m so embarrassed.”

“
Why? I think it’s great. I think
you’re
great.” He dipped his head down to catch her lips. His hands ran up and down her back as he
deepened the kiss. She groaned and pulled him closer.

“
Come on.” He led her back to the den.

“
You expectin’ any visitors tonight?” he asked, as they sat back on the couch. She smiled and shook her head.

“
Any phone calls?”

Again
her head moved side to side, her eyes locked on his.

They
kissed a long, slow, deep kiss, then broke apart, resting their foreheads against each other. Jack kissed her forehead, her temple, her eyelid, her cheek, her top lip, her chin; finally his lips found hers again.

“
Bar none,” she whispered against his lips, not realizing she’d said it out loud.

* * *

Tess woke up the next morning to find Jack’s arms around her. They had fallen asleep together on her couch, and she was wedged into the cushions. She squirmed a little, pushed her hand into his hair, and kissed his neck. His arms tightened around her.

“
Oops, I slept over,” he said. “Mmm…what a nice way to wake up.” He moved to kiss her.

She
broke the kiss and hugged him, her face resting on his shoulder. She came nose to nose with Ezzie.

“
Would you like some breakfast?” she asked Jack, while looking at Ezzie, who was now trying to wedge her way to lie down between them.

“
Esmerelda!” Jack scolded.

“
I think she’s a little jealous, “ Tess said, laughing.

“
Speaking of which…” Jack began. “Um . . . “

“
Hmm?”

“
Last night . . . did you . . . did you call me Vernon?”

“
Call you, what?” she asked, snuggling into him as best she could with a dog between them.

“
You know, before . . . it sounded like you called me…Vernon.”

Her
eyes flew open. “I did?”

“
You did. Want to tell me why you were whispering another man’s name? And who is Vernon?” he asked, smoothing her hair.

She
looked up at him blankly. Then it dawned on her what he was talking about. She laughed and said, “Oh, Jack. I wasn’t calling you
Vernon.” Hugging him close and resting her head on his shoulder, she explained, “I was thinking you’re the best…” she trailed off.

“
The best what?”

“
The best, you know, kisser, and…”

“
There’s an and?”

“
…the best everything. And I was thinking, ‘bar none.’ I must have said it out loud.” She was quiet for a minute while Jack took that in. Then she looked up at him and added, “But maybe from now on your nickname will be Vernon.”

Jack
smiled as he caught her lips for another long kiss.

* * *

Later that morning, Tess and Jack sat in her kitchen eating homemade waffles. She was quiet and seemed preoccupied.

“
Have I overstayed my welcome?” he asked.

“
Hmm? Oh, no. Not at all. I’m sorry. I just keep thinking about Tank Marshall. Something just doesn’t feel right.”

“
Okay, here’s what we’re going to do.” Jack laced his fingers through hers. “Lou knows now that we’ve been looking into her father’s murder. Tonight we’ll go over to her house with that key you found, and we’ll check out that trunk in the attic. How’s that sound?”

“
Like a plan.”

* * *

Jack and Ezzie had walked to Tess’s house the previous night for dinner, so they walked her to work before they headed home. When they stepped onto the curb leading to the block with the bookstore, Jack pulled Tess over to the side of the building that housed the bank. She giggled, and said, “Vernon! What are you doing?”

He
backed her up against the building, blocking her in with his arms on either side of her. He stood looking down at her so closely she couldn’t move. “Vernon, huh? You really think so?”

She
looked into his eyes and her voice grew husky. “I really do.”

Just
then, movement over Jack’s shoulder caught her attention, and she looked past him to find Buck staring at them from across the street. She cleared her throat and Jack stepped back, following her eyes. Buck walked over to them.

“
Well knock me down and steal muh teeth!” Buck said loudly.
“I had no idea y’all were so friendly.”  

“
It’s not exactly your business, now is it, Mayor?” Jack put his arm protectively around Tess. Ezzie barked her annoyance.

“
Here I've been a wollerin' in sorriness, thinkin’ Mizz Tess here didn’t like me. It never occurred to me that she just took to somebody else. But there y’all are, big as daylight, smoochin’ on Main Street.”

“
I guess we were just of a mind that those who know, know. Those who don’t know don’t need to know. And you didn’t need to know. But now you know, so, is there anything else we can do for ya today?” Jack asked with an insincere smile.

“
Boy, you are actin’ crazier ‘n a sprayed roach. I guess that’s what love does to a fella. Well good for y’all. You just let me know if you get tired of him, Tess. Ya hear?” He winked at her and started off.

“
Yeah, well, don’t get your hopes up, Mayor,” Jack yelled. “And one thing’s for sure—she won’t ever call you Vernon!”

ahr
: noun \ar\ hour

It’s your bedtime in an ahr.

[  December
1935  ]

Nate Hunter came out of the safe deposit box area of the bank, and came to a sudden stop. He stepped back in surprise when he saw John Hobbs standing before him. “I thought you went home,” Nate said to John, with a guilty expression on his face. He hurriedly stuffed a wad of bills in his pockets.

“
What are you doing, Nate?”

“
It’s none of your business, John.” Nate brushed past him.

John
followed his co-worker. “What did you just put in your
pockets?”

Nate
stopped and turned around. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“
Nate, there’s something I’ve been wondering about for awhile now, and I need to know.” The two men looked at each other for a long
moment. “Were you involved in the bank robbery?” John asked point
-
blank.

“
You never were one for beating around the bush, were you, John?”

“
Plain talk is easily understood,” John said. “You were—weren’t ya?”

Nate
looked at John through squinted eyes and muttered through his tightly held mouth, “Say that again and you’ll rue it.”

“
That doesn’t sound like the words of an innocent man.”

“
John, if you love your family at all, you should keep your thoughts and questions to yourself.”

“
Is that a threat?”

“
You betcha.” Nate stood up more erect and seemed taller and bigger, as if he’d been inflated. Then he let out a tired sigh. “Look, John, how ’bout I cut you in? I can’t give you much right now, but . . . “ he took a wad of bills out of his pocket. “How ‘bout two thousand now, and I’ll get you some more from the other guys. Think about it, two thousand will buy you a lot of shoes for them kids a yours.”

John
thought about it. Two thousand would also be hard evidence of Nate’s guilt. He decided to string him along to see how much more information he could get out of him about the bank robbery. Catching one fish wasn’t as good as catching the whole school.

“
Okay,” he said, keeping his voice even, “two thousand now and two from each of the other fellas. And I want to know who else was
involved. And I also wanna know why you did this, Nate.”

“
Simple. I needed the money. I’m on track to become president
of the bank, John. But I gotta look the part before I become the part.
I gotta look successful so they’ll take notice of me.”

“
I see.”

“
Two thousand now,” he counted out the bills and handed them to John, “and I’ll call ya this weekend and let you know when I can get ya the rest.”

John
walked to his office. He stepped on a floorboard behind his desk and the board popped up. He put the money in the secret compartment in the floor, then sat down at his desk, took pen and paper out, and began to write.

[ 
July
2010  ]

Pickle had shied away from Lou and Tess all morning, busying himself with unpacking boxes of books. After working a few hours, he broke the boxes down and headed out the back door, carrying them to the dumpster in the alley to throw them away. Standing at the dumpster, the faint smell of Aqua Velva filled his nose and made his stomach lurch. He didn’t need to turn around to know he wasn’t alone in the alley.

“
You done real good, boy,” Aqua Velva man said.