Polkacide (29 page)

"Hello?" Otto had dialed
someone on the phone while I wasn't paying attention. "Listen, Peg
signed off." He kept his voice low. "Can you move it along?" He
paused, listening to whoever was on the other end of the line. "How
about tomorrow? At the
latest
." Another pause. His eyes
flicked up to gaze at Eddie Jr. and Peg. "Well, do what you can.
Call in favors if you have to." His eyes flicked over and met my
gaze. "We've waited too long already."

Chapter 43

Once Eddie Jr. had calmed
down--and apologized to Otto for trashing his desk--we walked him
out of the police station.

We lingered on the sidewalk
out front, blinking and flinching in the bright afternoon sun like
we'd just rolled out of bed. A terrible new future was roaring
toward us, and we had to face it.

Some sooner than others. "I
need to go to the funeral home." Eddie sighed. "I have to make the
arrangements."

Peg squeezed his shoulder. "We'll go
with you, Ed."

"Thanks." Eddie shook his head. "But I
think I'd rather do this alone."

"Are you sure?" said Peg.

"Yeah." He fished his keys out of his
pocket. "I'll call you guys later and let you know what's
up."

Peg's expression was deeply
sympathetic. "Are you sure you're okay to drive?"

He assured us he was fine,
and then he was gone. We watched his silver pickup roll slowly out
of the parking lot, carrying him off to the terrible deeds
ahead.

At which point, a black Mazda two-door
whipped into his space. My heart sank when I caught a glimpse of
the man behind the wheel.

"Father Speedy." He was the last
person I wanted to deal with at that moment...but I could see there
would be no escape. Speedy hopped out of the Mazda and jogged
toward us before we could get away. He pointed his finger at us en
route so we'd know he wanted to talk to us.

"I am
so
not in the mood." I was sure he
could see the scowl on my face, and I didn't care. The guy was more
than a thorn in my side; he was a whole
thorn bush
. "What if we run for
it?"

Peg snorted. "Maybe if we
ran in opposite directions."

"At least
one
of us would
escape."

"Maybe," said Peg.

But we stood our ground and waited
together for the incoming priest. He'd taken a pretty good beating
back at Polka Central, but his eagerness to talk to us suggested he
was ready for another round. What tricks did he have up his sleeve
this time, I wondered?

"I missed him, didn't I?" He
was only slightly out of breath when he reached us. "Was that Eddie
Jr. pulling out just now?"

"Yes, Father." Peg's voice had an
edge. She wasn't making an effort to hide her dislike. "He's on the
way to the funeral home."

Father Speedy stuck his hands on his
hips and shook his head. "I'd hoped to catch him. Which funeral
home is it?"

"Not sure, Father." Peg made a gesture
like she was shooing a fly. "Take your pick."

"Fair enough." Father Speedy smirked.
"No worries."

Peg nodded and looked my
way. "Well, I guess we'd better get going. Lots to do to get ready
for Polkapourri."

"Do you mean to tell me
you're still planning to
have
that?" Father Speedy stared at us as if we'd just
broken all ten commandments at once. "Haven't you
cancelled
it
yet?"

"Why on Earth would we do
that?" said Peg.

Father Speedy combed his
fingers through his thick hair. "After what's happened, I can't
imagine you
not
canceling it. You've lost both your
headliners
."

"We've got another one." Peg
smiled. "Eddie Jr. will fill his dad's shoes just fine."

"So soon after losing his
father?"

"He'd never let his old man
down," said Peg. "He'll make it a tribute to his father's
legacy."

"It's possible, I suppose."
Speedy shrugged. "But will people stay away because they're not
sure he'll measure up to Eddie Sr.?"

"Don't worry about it." Peg shook her
head with conviction. "People will know he can deliver."

Father Speedy shook his head
and looked smug. He clasped his hands behind his back and bounced
on the balls of his feet. "You should still count on quite a
drop-off in attendance. If profits bottom out as a result, I can
envision you having trouble holding on to your vendors and
partners."

And so, his plan became
clear. My friend's father had just been shot to death, and Speedy
was still obsessed with sticking it to us over
Polkapourri.

I wanted to punch his lights
out. I wanted to do worse than that, actually. Why did he have to
be a priest, and why did we have to be standing in front of a
police station at that moment?

I glared at him.
"What's
wrong
with
you?"

Father Speedy did his best to look
innocent. "Excuse me?"

"Eddie just lost his
father
." I pointed in the
general direction in which Eddie's pickup had gone. "And
you're
using
that
to
haggle
with
us?"

He looked at me like I was insane. "I
don't know what you're..."

Suddenly, I'd had enough.
Lunging forward, I jabbed his chest with my finger. "You should be
ashamed. What kind of priest
are
you?"

Finally, he looked a little rattled.
"Now wait, Lottie..."

Before I could say another word, Peg
grabbed my elbow and pulled me away from him. "We need to get
going," she said.

I clenched my teeth and
stepped back. Father Speedy had pushed me to the limit...but she
was right. If I went any further down this road, I'd wind up in big
trouble. Then, he
would
win.

"As always, Father, it's
been a pleasure." Peg said it in a way that made it clear it had
been anything
but
a pleasure. "God must be very, very proud of you."

Father Speedy's expression darkened.
"It never pays to have false hopes, Peg. Don't kill the
messenger."

Peg smiled grimly. "Know
what I think?" Suddenly,
she
was jabbing him in the chest with her finger.
"
I
think
attendance will
skyrocket
this year.
You'll
make more money. We'll
all
make more money. So why on Earth
would I raise your percentage?"

"Expenses go
up
, Peg." He pushed
forward. "The cost of doing business
never
goes down."

Peg pushed back. The two of
them were nose to nose. "The rate Lottie quoted you stays
the
same
.
You
take a
cut
." She pressed closer
until their foreheads touched. "And you're
lucky
I don't ask for
more
after this
disgusting
performance
."

I watched, mesmerized, as
she held him there a moment, then shoved him away. Father Speedy
staggered back, looking disheveled for once, looking out of his
league.

While Peg was blazing with
righteous fury. "What kind of man turns the death of another
man--one of his own
parishioners
--into an excuse for
extorting more money from a community
festival
?" She glared at him, wagging
her head in disgust. "You need to take a hard
look
at yourself, 'Father.'" She
turned, brushing her hand through the air as if to sweep him away.
"God knows
I
can't
stand to look at you anymore."

Then, the two of us headed
for my car, leaving Father Speedy standing alone in front of the
police station. I could feel his eyes on me as I walked away,
burning holes between my shoulder blades...but I never looked back.
He'd crossed the line this time, he really had.

Whether or not he'd realize it was
anyone's guess.

Chapter 44

Peg and I retreated to
Stush's Diner. We had a million and one things to do to get ready
for Polkapourri, but we badly needed to step back and take stock
first.

When we walked in, Uncle
Stush greeted us with an expression of deepest sorrow on his St.
Bernard face. "Such a terrible, terrible day." He wagged his head
and looked like he might cry. "Another good friend, taken before
his time."

Peg sighed. "We're still in shock. We
just can't believe it."

"I don't know how this town
will ever recover." Stush gestured in the general direction of a
booth and staggered toward the kitchen. "Coffee will be out in a
minute."

Peg watched him go. "He's pretty
broken up about Eddie. They knew each other forever."

I nodded and followed her to
the booth. Stush had been right about the town not recovering
easily. Eddie Sr. might not have been as successful as Dad, but
he'd been well known and well loved in New Krakow. His recording
career had been in the toilet for ages, but he'd been a strong
presence around town, and he would be missed.

"So." I sat down across from
Peg and slumped into my seat. I felt like I'd just been through a
war. "Where do we go from here?"

Peg rolled up the sleeves of
her navy blue sweatshirt, the same one she'd had on yesterday.
She'd been up all night searching for the recording and hadn't even
changed clothes yet. "We need help. Big time."

"I think Otto's on our side,
finally."

"Not that kind of help." Peg
rubbed her eyes and sighed. "We're never going to get Polkapourri
up and running on our own. Not if we plan on finding the killer,
too."

"You don't think the cops will find
him?"

Peg flashed me a look that
had
you can't be serious
written all over it. "Glynne's already set to help
us out. But she's not enough." Peg looked up as the coffee
arrived.

Stush carried a steaming cup
in each hand. He stood there a moment with his head bowed, looking
gloomier than ever. "Eddie said he hated my coffee, you know. But
he drank gallons of it anyway." He put the cups down on the edge of
the table and hurried off, sniffling into his shirt
sleeve.

I pulled my cup over and hit
it with cream and sugar. "You're right, Peg. We need more
help."

Peg took the black coffee
straight to her lips and sipped. "But we need more than just warm
bodies. We need people we can
trust
." She cocked her head and
raised an eyebrow behind her giant polka-dotted glasses, as if she
were trying to get me to say something.

I frowned. "People we can
trust?"

"Like
family
." She nodded slowly with both
eyes wide, bringing home her point.

My frown deepened. Where the heck was
she going with this? "What family?"

Peg pointed a finger at me.
"God knows you've got enough of 'em. Including, I might add, two of
the
original
organizers of Polkapourri."

Finally, we were on the same
page. "Mom and Baba Tereska?"
Of
course.
The two of them had been there at
the festival's start...but it had been so long ago, I'd practically
forgotten.

"What about those sisters of
yours, too?" She sipped some more coffee. "We'd pay them for their
work, of course."

It wasn't the worst idea I'd
ever heard. The Furies could be nasty, but they could also work
like she-devils when properly motivated. It might even take away
some of the sting of my being tapped to help run Polish Lou
Enterprises instead of them.

The only catch was their
great hatred of Peg, but maybe we could work around that. "I'm
willing to give it a try." I shrugged. "The worst they can do is
say no."

"Will you talk to them when
we're done here?" Peg smiled when I nodded. "Fine. That's great.
Let's have a meeting tomorrow morning to bring everyone up to
speed."

"Okay." I drank some coffee. "What
next?"

Just then, Stush shuffled up
to our table. "Maybe I should close for the day. It doesn't feel
right being here after..." His voice trailed off.

Peg started to reach for his hand,
then caught herself and closed her fist instead. "We can leave if
you like."

Stush seemed to think it
over. "No, no." He took a deep breath and stood straighter. "I
won't turn away regulars. You're like family to me."

I felt funny being called a
regular after only being in town a few days, but I went with it.
"Thanks, Uncle Stush." I smiled up at him. "What's on
special?"