Read Still Life in Brunswick Stew Online
Authors: Larissa Reinhart
Tags: #Mystery, #humor, #cozy, #Humour, #Romance, #cozy mystery, #southern mystery, #humorous mystery, #mystery series
Still Life in Brunswick Stew (7 page)
And it doesn’t help to have these stories of me beating up eighteen-year-old boys.
“I elbowed him, not kicked him,” I said. “But he called me a scarecrow and implied very improper things about my love life.”
“Then shouldn’t have Todd kicked his can instead of you?” asked Cody. My brother raised his brows beneath his Braves cap and pointed his longneck at Todd. “That’s not very gentlemanly, Todd.”
“I was gonna, but it’s more fun to watch Cherry do it.”
“Besides, Todd’s not her boyfriend anymore,” said Casey. She ran a hand up Todd’s well-muscled arm and pinched his chin.
Todd grinned at my eye roll.
“Speaking of boyfriends, I’m surprised you detached yourself from the house just in case your cop should show up,” said Cody. His brown eyes mocked me. Cody was born ornery. Instead of outgrowing that particular trait, he embraced it.
“Luke’s got odd hours as a crime fighter,” I said. “The superhero stuff makes him tired so he doesn’t want to go out.”
“Good thing we aren’t all deputies or Red would go broke,” said Todd. “Although Cherry and I have done some pretty good investigating on our own. Haven’t we, baby?”
“What have you and Cherry investigated other than a Vegas wedding chapel?” Cody said with a laugh. “Not that it worked out too well for you, Todd.”
“My timing was off.”
I quickly changed the subject. “We got a good bit of gossip from that kid at the festival today. I wonder how long that autopsy will take. I’d really like to know if their stew was bad.”
Red’s door opened, and we swung our gazes to assess the newcomer. Luke nodded as a greeting and strode to the bar to grab a beer. His jeans and t-shirt melded with his lean body into lines that made me salivate more than the smell of frying chicken, but the man could wear a gorilla suit and still look hot.
I pushed from the table and hopped up to give him a private greeting at the bar. “How’d it go tonight? Catch any bad guys?”
He leaned in for a quick kiss. At the corners of his eyes, small lines scored his flesh. Shadows deepened the hallows beneath his cheekbones. I traced the cut of his cheek with a finger. What I wouldn’t give for a quick charcoal sketch of this somber face.
“You look exhausted. Baby, go have a seat,” I said. “I’ll bring your beer. Have y’all been down in Sidewinder collecting evidence?”
He shook his head, refusing to let his deputy duties slip past his lips.
I crossed my arms over my black and silver sequined cami. “You know I’ll find out anyway. The Halo grapevine is planted deep and well fertilized, so you might as well spill. Particularly when it could help a victim’s family.”
He shook his head and snagged the beer Red offered him. Pulling me into the circle of his arm, he leaned into my ear. “I’m not really up for a party. You want to head to your house after I drink this? Let me comfort you in private?”
“It’s not a party,” I gave him a look to check his libido. “We’re sharing memories about Eloise. I didn’t want to be alone.”
“I’m here now. You’re not alone.”
“You know what I mean. Come and say hey to everyone.”
Luke grunted but allowed me to pull him toward the table.
“Look what the cat drug in,” said Cody. “Or was it the squad car that drug you here?”
“I’m off duty,” said Luke, “but I can give you a trip to the station if you like.”
Cody smiled with his teeth. “I’m not doing anything illegal. Yet.”
“Good to have you here,” said Todd. “Seems like we don’t see you or Cherry much anymore.”
“I may have been busy lately,” I said not particularly enjoying the guilt creeping into the conversation. “But I’m certainly not abandoning my friends. I’m here for y’all.”
“I thought you had some kind of painting deadline,” said Luke. “And I thought you were broke.”
“That’s true, but it doesn’t mean I should ignore my friends. I’m going to start sketching when we get back to the house.”
“I am not letting you use me in a painting,” said Luke.
“It’s kind of fun,” said Todd. “We used to have a good time when Cherry would draw me. She’d let me do all these crazy poses and see how fast she could get them down on paper.”
“Obviously we have different ideas of fun,” said Luke.
“Obviously we should be talking about something else,” said Casey. “What do you think, Sid?”
Sid nodded, his eyes ping-ponging between us. “I want to hear more about the Vegas wedding. Y’all lost me there.”
“Let’s talk about the poisoning instead,” I said quickly. “How many people got sick? Any as bad as Eloise? Did the health inspectors find anything?”
Luke eyed me over his beer. “How about you talk and I’ll listen.”
“I’m not sharing if you’re not,” I said.
“She got some good information today, too,” said Todd.
“What information?” Luke set his beer on the table. “I thought I told you not to get involved.”
“The Parkers want some details and they knew they’d get it faster from me than from the authorities,” I said. “So, if you let some facts slide toward me, I can give it to them without a press conference. And I can let you know what I found out.”
“So that’s how it works? You expect me to corrupt an investigation in exchange for gossip?”
“Pretty much,” I grinned and fluttered my eyelashes, giving him a flash of my Silver Sashay eye shadow.
“Something wrong with your eyes?” he asked.
I stopped fluttering and peered over his head at the bar. Shawna had walked in with a troop of well-dressed folks. Not a single Bass-Pro or Wrangler insignia among them. They looked just a tad out of place at Red’s.
“Those look like the cook-off judges. I’ll be right back,” I said, hopping up, then dropped into my seat.
“Leave those judges and Shawna be,” Luke said, pinning my arm to the table. “They’ve been through enough today without you interrogating them. Shawna brought them to Halo where it’s quiet. The reporters are hunting for them in Line Creek.”
“Did any of the judges get food poisoning?” Casey asked.
“They look fine to me,” said Luke.
I noticed he didn’t answer her question. “Eloise sure ate a lot. I wanted to see if any had tried the Cotton Pickin’ Good stew. The chef and his wife both got sick. They went to the hospital, too.”
“I don’t see how this helps the Parkers,” said Luke. “You’re going to get them all roiled up about nothing.”
“That’s exactly why they want my help. Y’all think her death is just an accident. The Parkers want to make sure whoever made the bad food gets punished.”
“Why would they ask you for help?” Sid said. “You’re an artist, not a cop.”
“Cherry’s good at figuring stuff out,” said Todd. “She uses that creative thinking. And she’ll talk to anyone. Even teenage boys with switchblades in their pocket.”
“Hunter had a switchblade?” I said.
“Switchblade?” Luke’s eyebrows hit his scalp and fell to a glower.
“I’d say her thinking is more crazy than creative,” said Cody. “The Parkers are like us and probably don’t trust cops.”
“The man you call uncle is sheriff,” said Luke.
“He don’t always trust cops neither.” Cody pushed his cap up with his beer bottle. “Sometimes you got to look into stuff yourself. I’m actually working on some investigating myself.”
“What are you investigating?” I glanced at Casey to see if she knew, but she shrugged.
“Something I don’t want to talk about just yet,” said Cody.
I snorted. Cody’s investigations ran to pistons, carburetors, and dual exhaust. He likely found another muscle car to overhaul.
“Not letting trained officials doing their job?” Luke set his stormy gray eyes on me. “Do you hear how ridiculous that sounds?”
“We were raised to be self-sufficient.”
“That’s a joke. Cody and Casey still live with your Grandpa. None of you have full time jobs. How is that self-sufficient?”
With coordination not better seen by the Olympic synchronized swimming team, the Tucker crew delivered Luke our best stone-cold glare worthy of any redneck gold medal competition.
“I’m going to get another beer,” Luke said and shoved out of his seat to stalk to the bar.
Cody’s chair fell forward with a thud. “Actually there’s something I need to check. I’ll see y’all later.”
“What’s he up to?” I asked Casey.
“Dunno. He’s been acting like that ever since he got home from the garage.” Casey leaned toward me, nodding her head toward the bar. “What’s up with His Crime Fighting Highness?”
“Dunno that either.” But I had a sudden realization. Although Luke was also raised in Halo, we still faced each other from different sides of the tracks.
At Luke’s approach to the bar, Shawna swiveled from her animated conversation with a vertically challenged man wearing khakis and a button down. She abandoned the businessman to sidle close to Luke. With a hair toss and a well-placed hand, Shawna captured Luke’s attention.
“Probably asking her about the cook-off,” said Casey sympathetically.
“Which is exactly what I wanted to do,” I said. “I can’t see the harm in asking a few questions for a friend.”
“Luke’s got a point,” said Sid. “What can you do for the Parkers that the police can’t? It’s just food poisoning. Tragic, but that’s it.”
“What if it wasn’t an accident? Who gets that sick from regular old food poisoning? Eloise pretty much died in my arms. What if it was meant for one of them?” I pointed at the cluster of Casual-Friday attired folks at the bar.
We turned in our chairs to study the judges. None of them looked worth poisoning, but then, my wild guesses didn’t always pan out. At least, not right away.
“Damn,” said Casey. “I never thought of that.”
“If I wanted to poison somebody, that’s how I’d do it,” I said.
Sid scooted his chair further away from the table.
“What if it was meant for Mr. Max?” I said. “He was a judge, and he’s probably got enemies. And I don’t see him here tonight.”
“Maybe he doesn’t like beer and hot wings,” said Casey.
“Then there’s Eloise’s boyfriend, Griffin. He was at the cook-off today. He’s been known to get rough with her. Or maybe he’s not cautious enough with his Genuine Juice formula and gave everyone botulism.”
“Did this Griffin get food poisoning, too?” asked Sid. “Or are you just narrowing down the possible victims of bad potato salad to the hundreds of people who attended the festival?”
“Why does everyone think it was potato salad? Eloise didn’t eat potato salad.”
“Probably because of the mayonnaise,” said Todd. “Bad mayo—”
“I know what the effects of bad mayo are like. Eloise didn’t have spoiled mayo. You don’t vomit blood with off potato salad.”
“Eww,” said Casey. “TMI.”
“It’s not that the police can’t figure this stuff out,” I said. “They’re just slow. They’ve got to follow procedures. Wait on health inspector reports.”
“So the Parkers have to wait, so what?” said Sid.
“Sometimes the victim’s family wants swifter justice. Or at least answers. The Parkers have been through a lot with Eloise’s sickness. She had new meds which seemed to be helping. To lose her so suddenly and in such an odd way, they can’t grieve properly. And I know exactly how they feel,” I grabbed Eloise’s pot from the table. “I’m going home. I need to work on the classical paintings. I can’t let Eloise down.”
“Did you walk here?” said Todd. “Want a ride?”
I glanced at the bar. Luke and Shawna had their heads bowed together in conversation. Like a couple of chatty swans.
“I don’t get that man,” I said. “But if I’m leaving without him, he better notice it. Particularly considering the Amazon with which he’s currently consorting.”
I marched to the bar and tapped Luke on the shoulder.
A sneer unfurled from Shawna’s glossy Ruby Lake lips. “I know what you’re up to. You-know-what is still missing, and I have a good guess what happened to them. So just remember what I can do to you if you plan on using them.”
I blinked. “What in the hell are you talking about?”
She curled in her middle fingers to point from her eyes to mine with her index and pinky. I assumed she was giving me the “I’m watching you sign.” Or perhaps Shawna was a Longhorns fan and wanted me to note it.
“Just so you know, I’m leaving without you,” I said to Luke. “But if you want to make it up to me, you can model for me tonight.”
“No, ma’am.”
“Then I’ll see you at the farm for dinner tomorrow.”
“If I want to make it up to you?” Luke said. “What about you?”
“What about me?”
“You questioned a kid with a switchblade. How do you think that makes me feel?”
“I also elbowed him in the stomach and made him swallow his chew after he insulted me. I hope you’d be proud.”
Shawna snorted. Which is not a pretty response for an ex-Brunswick Stew Queen.
Luke’s lips clenched together. His eyebrow nerve pulsed. “I sure hope you’re joking,” he said through gritted teeth.