Murder by Serpents (Five Star First Edition Mystery) (2 page)

Theo hoped the man was being ravaged by sand fleas and sun poisoning.

It wasn’t just the computer.

Maybe it was the lack of caffeine or maybe the anxiety brought on by the rest of the day but Theo’s brain wasn’t running on all cylinders either. With the floor of her office littered with scraps of ruined fabric, she decided that her carefully written pattern instructions for a new mystery quilt read like gibberish. She needed to find a better way to describe the construction sequence or she would have to add a picture—a move that would eliminate the “mystery” from the pattern.

She glanced at her watch. Surprised that the endless day was hurtling to a close, she realized that she had only fifteen minutes to get to the garage before it closed. Even if she took the shortcut over the hill, she would be lucky to get there in time. She ran to the back door, pulling on her patchwork jacket as she left.

If mountains had tendrils, the ridge that cut through town was a tendril of the Smoky Mountains. She nervously glanced at the path that zigzagged up the hill. Everyone in Silersville used the shortcut from Main Street over to the garage and Ruby’s Café on the highway side. Although recent snows meant that footing might be treacherous, she told herself that she’d be fine. Wet leaves covering slippery red mud might send her falling if she wasn’t careful.

It would be completely dark soon.

In minutes, she crested the ridge and paused, taking a deep breath. Below her stretched the highway that connected them to the rest of East Tennessee. A tangle of trees, rhododendron, honeysuckle and kudzu surrounded her. She heard voices of others walking the same path. Behind her was the town of Silersville and to her east the Smoky Mountains crouched, an obsidian presence under a darkening sky.

Welcoming lights glowed at Ruby’s Café. Theo took a step forward, beginning her descent, but her right foot tangled in a vine. Emitting a soft cry, she pitched forward, automatically reaching to break her fall. She never hit the ground. A pair of long-fingered hands grasped her shoulders and Theo grabbed the owner’s thin forearms for balance.

“Nothing like some old vines to trip you up, is there Miss Theo?” A man’s soft words, accompanied by putrid breath, came to her in the semi-darkness.

Theo recognized that voice and smiled at her tall rescuer. “Thanks, Quentin.” Standing below her, he seemed close to her petite height for a change. When she regained her balance, she released his arms and examined his face. Never a handsome young man, Quentin Mize looked thinner and paler than usual. Sores dotted his face. Shocked by his worsening appearance, she struggled to find words.

A second man stepped forward to stand next to Quentin, distracting her.

“Who’s your little friend, cousin?”

Theo had never seen the man before, but she found something about his face and demeanor repellent and automatically stepped back. Shorter than Quentin, he glanced up at her and the fading light caught his eyes. Freaky eyes. The irises were dark, probably brown, and too small, leaving the whites of his eyes visible all the way around. As if to emphasize that trait, the eyelashes weren’t longer than an eighth of an inch and had blunt tips, like they’d been cut to that length.

Uneasy, Theo wrapped her arms across her chest.

“Aren’t you a pretty little bitty thing?” The man with the odd eyes leered at her and his tongue darted out between his lips, like a reptile testing the air.

Her stomach tightened in disgust. Theo looked away from his face and noticed that he had a snakeskin-patterned handkerchief sticking out of his suit coat pocket. She felt like running but forced herself to remain still.

Quentin stepped between them and faced Theo. “You’d best be getting on down the hill now. It’ll be full dark soon.” Clearly, Quentin had no intention of introducing his companion. In fact, he reached a skeletally thin hand around the man’s bicep and pulled him up the path and further away from her.

“You leave her be. She’s my friend.” Quentin’s soft words reached her ears. They were filled with anger. “Not only that, but she’s the sheriff’s wife. He’s a big man and very protective, if you catch my meaning. You mess with her and he just might kill you.”

Still disturbed by the encounter, Theo shivered and stepped forward again. Below her, the lights went dark in the garage. It didn’t matter. Her car wasn’t going anywhere tonight. She groaned. Her minivan still dangled from the tow truck like a giant catfish.

One foot slipped and she almost fell. Slowing down, she reached for her cell phone and pressed Tony’s number. When her husband answered on the first ring, she felt her eyes fill with tears.

“You’re late.” Tony’s voice boomed through the tiny phone. “Where are you?”

“I’m fine.”Theo’s uneasiness made her sassy. “Thank you for asking.”

“Okay. I deserved that.” He lowered his voice. “You’re late, my darlin’, love of my life. When last seen, your chariot was busted. Might I inquire as to your current whereabouts and when I might see your lovely face and golden dandelion curls again?”

In spite of her efforts not to, Theo snorted. “Chariot is hanging on the truck. They haven’t touched the van yet.” She stepped into the empty overflow parking lot behind Ruby’s and glanced around. It was empty. “Can you pick up the boys from scouts and meet me at Ruby’s?”

“Sure.” Tony’s voice was calming now instead of teasing. Some of her distress must have filtered through her voice. “What happened?”

“I just thought that maybe we could all have some dinner before I have to go back to the shop.”

“Tonight?”

“I’m afraid so.” Theo looked up, searching for stars in the darkening sky, but she saw only clouds. “I’m supposed to meet the backup computer wizard at eight. If we don’t do it tonight, he can’t come until after four tomorrow.”

“We’ll be there in just a bit.”

Theo slipped her phone into her purse and stared at the kudzu that grew like a black curtain against what she knew was a wall of red dirt. Light from the café reflected in a pair of eyes that stared at her. Before Theo could scream, the owner, a large raccoon eased onto the pavement and waddled past her.

The next morning, Park County Sheriff Tony Abernathy sat at his desk, trapped in his own office. He considered sticking his fingers in his ears and humming so that he could block out the mayor’s voice. Calvin Cashdollar had a whine like a dentist’s drill, and he’d invaded the sheriff’s office to “chat” about the upcoming tourist season. Tony’s young sons, Chris and Jamie, used the plugged-ear technique and it seemed to work for them, but Tony decided that would just make Calvin talk louder. Almost as annoying as hearing the mayor was being forced to watch him. Calvin twitched each time his dull blond hair flopped into his eyes, which, considering the way he twitched had turned into a vicious circle. The man was practically convulsing.

Tony knew he couldn’t continue to watch the mayor without either strangling the man or laughing in his face. Caged between his desk and a row of four drawer file cabinets, he shifted his eyes to the wall quilt that hung behind the mayor’s oversized head. As a tribute to his desire to write Wild West adventure books, Theo had used fabrics with cowboy motifs to make the colorful decoration and had given it to him on his last birthday.

A shrill ringing came from somewhere on his desk. Blessing the interruption, Tony shuffled stacks of papers as he searched for the telephone. Undeterred, the mayor continued to babble. At last, Tony located the missing object and pressed the receiver to his ear. “Sheriff.”

A blast of high-pitched sound poured from the receiver and ripped into his brain, threatening to exit through his eyes. Tony immediately recognized the source—Blossom Flowers was in another flying purple panic. He sighed.

“Slow down, Blossom.” He moved the receiver away from his throbbing ear. Not certain of everything she had said, Tony was sure that he had picked out the words “dead” and “snake,” but the torrent of words, accompanied by the whooshing sounds of panting, was otherwise unintelligible. He sighed again, unconcerned. Blossom had at least one emergency a week. It hadn’t been long since she had called, hysterical, because her dog was lost. The mutt had eventually been located under her bed, sound asleep. Tony felt another sigh working its way up toward the surface. He forced it down. “Take a deep breath and tell me again what you saw in the parking lot at Ruby’s Café. Where are you now?”

Rising from the chair that faced Tony’s desk, Mayor Cashdollar balanced his bony frame on his size sixteen feet. Tony noticed that his black suit pants ended a good two inches above his shoes and exposed skinny ankles in white socks.

“We’ll talk later, Sheriff.” Clutching a steno pad and a yellow pencil in one huge hand, he tiptoed toward the door.

Watching Calvin in motion, Tony couldn’t suppress his grin.

His fellow citizens had elected a walking cartoon character and put him in the mayor’s office.

As Calvin crossed the threshold, he paused, turned, and gave Tony a childish wave goodbye.

Turning his full attention to what Blossom was saying, Tony didn’t return the wave. She switched from panting to emitting a bone-piercing screech. He feared the sound would make his skull explode. In self-defense, he interrupted her. “I’ll be right over.”

Massaging his ear, he checked his watch. It was only nine o’clock in the morning and he already wanted to go home. Dealing with the mayor and Blossom in one week was enough to increase his perpetual heartburn. He thought that dealing with both of them before noon might just kill him. His stomach rumbled and he reached for the king-size jar of antacid tablets that was the centerpiece on his desk.

He was still chewing several tablets as he pulled his brown nylon jacket from its hook by the door. He dialed Wade Claybough’s cell phone. As usual, his eager-beaver chief deputy answered on the first ring.

Tony spoke without preamble. “Meet me at Ruby’s Cafe´. I’m not sure what’s happened, but Blossom was shrieking into the phone like a banshee on speed. You know how she gets, but I’d say that whatever is in the lot behind Ruby’s must be pretty ugly. I’m sure I heard about something dead and snakes.” He pulled on his jacket before opening his private door into the parking lot. “I’m leaving now.”

Tony drove his official green and white Blazer around the side of Ruby’s and noticed a few onlookers milling around the café end of the upper parking lot. In spite of the mist, he could make out the form of a dark green car at the far end. It blended into the kudzu-choked hillside.

In the center of the lot stood what looked like an orange haired manatee wearing a yellow slicker. It gestured at the small gathering with a blue and white golf umbrella, while it talked on a cell phone. As he got closer, it became clear that this was not a manatee but an exceptionally large woman with tufts of traffic-cone orange hair. Tony felt himself smile. This was classic Blossom, the youngest of the myriad Flowers sisters. Whatever else might be said about her, the word timid was never mentioned.

From what he could tell, Blossom was doing her best to protect the area from sightseers even though she created a fearful scene in the process. Tony pressed on the horn. At first, that had no obvious effect on the gathering. Just as he was about to flip on the siren, the people moved aside and let him pull forward, where he stopped, blocking the entrance into the upper lot.

Seconds later, Wade pulled his patrol car to a stop next to the Blazer.

Spotting his arrival, Blossom flipped her cell phone closed and, with a flourish, dropped it into the green tote bag dangling from her elbow. She jogged her way toward the car and, considering her bulk, moved quite briskly.

Tony climbed out of the Blazer and opened the passenger door so that she could sit. As she climbed in, her tote bag slammed into his knee. He glanced down at fifty neon green frogs with brilliant red eyes. They all smiled at him.

While he waited for Blossom to get settled, he studied the car. From where he stood, it looked like an ordinary, small, dark green station wagon. Beads of water covered the car, but the pavement under it looked dry.

It had started drizzling very early that morning and now the falling moisture was more than mist and not quite rain. The whole world seemed to be dripping as Tony lifted his face and sniffed. The air smelled like the damp earth of early spring, more promise than fact, and it was chilly enough that he welcomed the warmth of his nylon jacket with “Sheriff” emblazoned on the back. It usually made him feel like a target, but it came with the job.

“I’m going to take a look, Blossom. You just sit here and try to relax.” With a gesture of his hand, he signaled for Wade to stay behind.

Some sixth sense, or maybe Blossom’s frantic call, made him walk carefully. He looked for anything out of place but saw nothing. However, as he approached the car, he felt heat coming from it like it had been baked in an oven. It literally dripped with sweat. Fat droplets ran down the sides and splashed onto the pavement like rain.

Tony couldn’t see through the driver’s window.

Condensation both inside and outside, combined with tinted glass, completely obscured the interior. He glanced back at Blossom, wondering how she had been able to make out anything.

“You got to look in the windshield. Over there.” Blossom’s strident voice carried through the thick air and a chubby finger indicated the passenger side.

Tony followed her directions. At first, all he could see was a shapeless form. From this angle, there appeared to be dark blotches on the inside of the windshield, like something sticky had been thrown against it. He blinked again and a cluster of water drops slipped down the glass and revealed what appeared to be a human form and, seen quite clearly, the brown and black geometric markings on a fair-sized rattlesnake. Coiled, rattles held high, it sat on the person’s lap. The rattles vibrated, making its warning clear. Cold, dark eyes stared into Tony’s and made him flinch. Was it guarding the car?