Weeding Out Trouble (5 page)

"Kit?" I whispered again.

I heard muffled squawking and realized it was Ana.

"Is Kit there?" Her voice rose. "I heard you calling his name."

"I don't know," I whispered. "I heard something in the woods behind the house."

"Are you outside?"

"Yes."

"Isn't it about ten below with blizzard conditions?"

"Your point?"

"Why aren't you inside?"

I crept on tiptoes. My feet sank into ankle deep snow with each step. "Weren't you listening when I explained about Kevin?"

"Oh, that's right."

"Kit!" I called out again.

Something rustled in the brush, and all at once I wished I'd brought a flashlight.

"Do you see him?"

I inched closer. "No." Pulling back a branch of a sparse Norwood pine, I found myself staring upward into two dark beady eyes.

"Eeeee!" I screamed, and took off running from the turkey I'd found roosting in the tree.

He didn't appear happy to see me either.

A loud
turk-turk-turk
noise filled the air, and the rustling of feathers followed close behind me as he chased me through my yard.

It was the turkey escapee I'd seen earlier, running through the neighborhood.

And he was mad.

The turkey flapped his wings, fanned his tail, and chased me with a vigor I didn't know turkeys possessed.

"Eeeee!"

Mr. Cabrera's back door burst open and he flew out, cardboard box in hands. "Corner him, Miz Quinn, corner him!" he yelled at me.

BeBe chased after Mr. Cabrera, barking up a storm. Until she sniffed the air. Suddenly, she made a U-turn, tucked her tail and barreled back into the house.

Can't say I blamed her.

My back lights flashed on just as Lewy and Joe sprinted around the corner of the house, guns drawn.

"Don't shoot!" I cried.

Mr. Cabrera circled me as another turkey, a smaller one, wobbled out from behind the gazebo and joined in the fray, except this one clucked instead of turked.

"Holy Moses!" Mr. Cabrera shrieked. "There're two of them!"

Two! There were two turkeys! Where were they coming from, and how many friends did they have hiding in the woods?

"Hold still!" Joe shouted. "I'll shoot 'em."

"You'll do no such thing!" Mrs. Krauss yelled from the doorway of Mr. Cabrera's house. "I'll have your badge! There are laws against animal cruelty!"

I kept running, the bird chasing me, half running, half flying, wings flapping. Thank goodness my personal trainer, Duke, had gotten me into some semblance of shape.

The smaller turkey started after Mr. Cabrera, who threw the box into the air and beelined for his back door.

Lewy apparently found the whole situation hysterical until the big turkey turned on him.

"Run!" I yelled. Snow filled my Keds as I headed for my back door. Kevin and my mother stood on the back step, laughing so hard they had tears in their eyes.

Then I saw it.

Salvation.

The lights were on across the street.

"Gobble gobble," Kevin singsonged as I ran past him and across the street. "Or should it be bawk bawk?" he shouted after me, barely able to get the words out because he was laughing so hard.

I wasn't amused.

Dashing up the front steps, I pulled open Bobby's front door, stepped in, and slammed it closed.

My phone rang. Sometime during the ruckus, I must've hung up on Ana. I answered it with a terse, "I'm fine. I'll call you back," and snapped it closed.

Bobby came out of the kitchen, all six feet of blondheaded hunkiness, took one look at me, marched over, pulled me into his arms, and kissed me for all I was worth.

Which was quite a lot, it appeared.

"Better?" he asked, pulling away. He tugged my hat off my head, shook the snow loose, and hung it on the door handle.

No longer cold at all, I said, "Much."

He looked out the window. Squinted. "Is that a turkey running down the street?"

I nodded. "Keep looking. There's probably another one right behind it."

He squinted some more. "Is that Kevin standing on your front porch, glaring in this direction?"

I peeked, then nodded.

"Long story?" he asked me.

I nodded again.

His blue eyes glistened with curiosity. "Do I need alcohol?"

I nodded. "Any chance we can combine that with the bubble portion of tonight's agenda?"

He kissed me again. "Every chance."

I awoke to sun streaming in my bedroom windows, the bright glare blinding. Rolling over, I came face-to-face with BeBe, who licked me hello. Mrs. Krauss must have brought her over after the fray last night. Thankfully, Riley knew how to care for BeBe better than any of us. He'd been Kit's shadow for the past month.

I bolted upright, suddenly wondering if he knew what had happened with Daisy. My guess was that he hadn't known yesterday afternoon when begging me to let Kevin stay, but that he probably knew now.

"Need to go out?" I asked BeBe.

Her tail thumped my feather bed, plumping it. I pulled on my robe, grabbed a pair of thermal socks, and followed her downstairs.

Kevin was still asleep on the sofa bed, wrapped in a down comforter. His cheeks glowed a cozy pink. His short dark hair stood on end, and stubble covered his angular jaw.

My first thought was how drop-dead gorgeous he was.

My second speculated on how soon he could leave.

Having him there wasn't good for my mental health, because I suspected a part of me would always love him and be attracted to him, no matter who else was in my life.

Like Bobby.

And that just wasn't fair. To any of us.

"Good morning, c
hérie
," my mother called from the kitchen. Fully dressed and perfectly coiffed, she sat at the island, sipping tea while reading today's paper. "What time did you get in?"

"Late."

Her eyebrows waggled. "Have fun?"

I felt myself blushing.

She laughed. "Good. You need some fun in your life."

I peeked out the kitchen window, and my jaw dropped. Sunbeams danced across freshly fallen snow. I shaded my eyes against the bright light and noticed the plows hadn't been by yet.

I was homebound until they showed up.

"A foot," my mother cooed. She loved snow. "A new record! We'll have to make angels."

I smiled and nodded. There was no age limit on enjoying a snow day. There was something magical about it, about snow angels, and snowmen, and hot cocoa and a roaring fire.

BeBe's tail whumped the door frame leading into the laundry room.

"I'll take her," my mother said, pulling on a pair of galoshes I kept near the back door.

I pressed a button on the coffeepot, and it whirred to life. "Thanks. And be careful of wild turkeys."

Wrapping a scarf around her head, protecting her ears, she laughed. "That's not something I hear every day."

As my coffee percolated I crept back up the stairs and into Riley's room. He lay diagonally across the bed, his blankets pulled up under his chin. Looking remarkably like his dad, he slept peacefully. When he woke, he was going to be cranky that it was Saturday. There was nothing worse to a kid than having a snow day on a weekend.

On my way out the door I spotted a deck of cards next to the lava lamp on his desk. I poked around a little, snooping. Riley had been on a huge Texas Hold 'Em kick for the past couple of months, and I had my suspicions he wasn't just playing for fun.

He'd had a lot of extra money lately, and though he did do a fair amount of work for Mrs. Greeble, she, like a lot of the other residents in the Mill, was on a fixed income. She wouldn't have much money to spare.

Finding nothing out of the ordinary, I backtracked, closing Riley's door behind me.

In my room, I took a quick shower, towel-dried my hair, and slipped on a pair of jeans and a fleece pullover. I thought about makeup, but opted for moisturizer and lip balm instead.

Downstairs, I heard the back door slam and the
click
clack
of BeBe's paws on the kitchen floor. I think I even heard my mother call BeBe "schnitzel" as she poured kibble into the doggy dish. Brickhouse was obviously spending too much time in the neighborhood.

I made my bed as the scent of coffee carried up the stairs. Outside, I heard a car struggling through the snow, and I went to the window. A dark Ford sedan slowed to a stop in front of my house. Lewy and Joe were back.

Nothing like their presence to ruin the serenity of a beautiful day.

My gaze skipped over their car to the house across the street. The blinds were still closed.

It seemed silly to have come back home last night just to share a bed with my mother (who hogged covers), but I'd felt funny staying with Bobby.

Well, staying with Bobby when Kevin knew I was with Bobby.

Yep.

The sooner Kevin left, the better.

My cell phone rang. I checked the display, smiled.

"Baby, it's cold outside," Perry said. "You'd better bundle up. I'll be there in an hour."

I checked the window again. Lewy and Joe hadn't budged. And still no sign of the plows. "You do know there's a foot of snow on the ground?"

"Foot, shmoot. I have a four-by-four."

From the corner of my eye I spotted two turkeys waddle down the street as though they were taking a leisurely stroll, heads held high, tails fanned, and wings dragging. All down the block doors opened and people stepped onto their front porches to watch.

It
was
quite a sight.

"Where exactly are we going?" I asked, because personally, I didn't have a clue where to start.

"On a manhunt, sugar." He laughed.

"What's so funny?"

"A manhunt. Oooh, I just love saying that."

I laughed. "You're certifiable, you know that?"

"One hundred percent." He took a moment, detailed the plan he had, then asked, "Are you game?"

"There's probably a snow emergency in effect."

"And this isn't an emergency? Finding Kit?"

He had a point. "All right. I'm in." Exhaust puffed from the unmarked car's tailpipe. The two turkeys pecked around their tires. "Park down the block. I'll meet you there. And watch out for the turkeys."

I flipped the phone closed before Perry commented, and smiled. Perry and I would be tracking down Kit while Lewy and Joe sat out front with the turkeys—right where they belonged.

I just hoped Perry and I weren't headed on a wild goose chase.

Sneaking out of the house had been fairly easy. I'd simply walked into the back hall with a load of laundry, turned on the washer, and slipped out the back door.

I'd left a note taped to the dryer that I'd be home soon. No need for my mother to worry—or to send out the FBI.

My feet left deep impressions in the snow as I cut through three backyards before reaching the corner, where Perry had his black Range Rover idling. Gray snow caked the undercarriage and wheel wells.

He threw open the passenger door, I jumped in, and he peeled out, as though he was Starsky and I was Hutch. Snow flew out behind us.

Perry fairly bounced in his seat. "I have to say, Nina, this is the most excited I've been in quite some time."

Drawing the seat belt over my shoulder, I smiled. "I'll be sure to let Mario know." The two had been together for just over a year.

He laughed, a loud, deep, infectious sound that made me smile wider. "Oh, he knows, sugar. He knows."

I wasn't worried for their relationship. They were perfectly matched. Perry's exuberance was the perfect foil to Mario's cool confidence.

"Now," he said, looking at me through a pair of lightly tinted aviator sunglasses, "either my happy pills are too strong and I'm hallucinating, or I saw an actual turkey waddling down your street."

Adjusting the blower on the dash, I directed heat toward my frozen face. I laughed. "No need to adjust your medication. The Mill is apparently the new home of a pair of wild turkeys."

He sighed wistfully. "Too bad you're not referring to my kind of Wild Turkey."

I stole a glance at his face. "I thought you quit drinking."

"I did, but I miss it."

Times like these I could see why. Fortunately, Perry hadn't had a problem with alcohol—just the calories that came with it. He was on a diet and hoarding points for Thanksgiving dinner like a hungry squirrel gathering nuts for hibernation.

Five days. Thanksgiving was in five short days, and I hadn't even bought the turkey yet. Maybe the neighborhood's wild turkeys were a sign from above to get my act in gear. Twenty people were due at my house Thursday afternoon. The Big Day. The day my family was to meet Bobby's. Plus, I'd invited a few strays. Mario and Perry, Tam and Ian, Flash Leonard, several people from work, and of course Kit.

"No inside scoop on Kit?" Perry asked, slowly turning onto the northbound I-75 on ramp. Sparse traffic kept a steady pace, sloshing down the salt- and snow-covered highway.

I slipped on my sunglasses, the glare from the sun on the snow harsh. "Nothing." He'd simply vanished. Poof. Gone.

Perry glanced at me. "Have you been watching the news?"

I warmed my hands in front of the blower, started counting all the cars that had slid off the side of the road. Five minutes and I'd already seen three. "I've been trying not to."

According to the reports I had seen, the police weren't saying much. Daisy was shot to death, Kit was a person of interest, and it appeared that drugs might have been a factor in her death. One newscast mentioned a broken window at Heavenly Hope and how the perpetrator might have gained access that way.

Little did they know.

"Stupid bloodthirsty media." Perry's creamy skin glowed with good health, and his tawny hair lay hidden beneath a cream-colored cashmere stocking hat.