Worked to Death (Working Stiff Mysteries Book 2) (3 page)

"Ooohhh…finally! Ya'll are together. Are you calling to tell me that ya'll hooked up?" Her voice had turned from sweet to uber-squeal.

"No, Sundae. There's been an…incident, and I was wondering if you could come pick me up. I'm right out here in front of the elementary school."

"Oh sure. I don't have another appointment until three. I'll head right over."

I thanked her, and we hung up. Sundae was a good friend like that. She'd do anything for you and rarely asked a lot of questions. Some would say that she was not the smartest cookie in the batch. But I thought that anyone that pure of heart was a friend worth having. And my sister loved her. That was all the endorsement I needed.

A hand clamped over my shoulder, and I jumped.

"In trouble with the law again I see?" The deep voice of Dr. David Cavello immediately eased my nerves, and I turned right into a full-on waiting bear hug.

"Yeah. Maybe I should be the Coroner… I'm the one always running across dead bodies."

He released me from the hug but didn't let go of my arms. "It could be arranged. Maybe you should run for the position this November?" He grinned at me, and I returned the smile.

Dr. C. had been in my life for as far back as I could remember. Once upon a time, he and my Aunt Patty had been seriously in love. And since she'd passed away less than a year ago, I'd been trying to find a way to keep him in my life. He was the closest thing to a father that I'd had since I was a teen.

"I'm having enough trouble keeping up with the two jobs I have now. Thank you very much."

He rubbed his hands up and down my upper arms. "You're freezing out here. How did you get all wet?"

"It's a long story."

He took off his large, corduroy jacket and guided it around my shoulders. I began to warm instantly.

"You'll have to fill me in later. Ty says we have a body, and I need to take a look. Any idea who it is?"

I shrugged. "I have no idea, and I'm not looking forward to finding out."

He let out a long exhale. "Well, you give Paget a big hug for me, and I'll see you ladies soon. Okay?"

I smiled at him and watched as he approached Ty. The cops had let down the ramp on the back of my rig and were waiting for Dr. C. before approaching the trunk themselves.

The phone in my hand let out a whistle. It was one of those annoying text message alerts. I'd forgotten that I was holding Ty's phone. I looked down and saw that the message was from Allyson "The Hussy" Harlow.

Ugh.

Ty and Dr. C. were standing over the trunk now and speaking in low tones. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but neither was paying attention to me.

I swiped my finger across the screen and tapped the message icon before I could change my mind. And there, in full color, was a photo of Allyson Harlow, my high school nemesis and local gold digger, wearing nothing but a smile.

"Even a broken clock is right twice a day." —Things We Say in the South

Ew
. I couldn't help it. The image of Allyson's body was forever burned into my brain now. I wasn't sure I'd ever be able to erase it. And better yet, why was she sending nude selfies to Ty's phone?

Nope. I didn't want to know. It was none of my business. Ty and I had nothing going on. Well, there was that one kiss at Christmas. But, no…he was a single man. I didn't care.

But, if I was being honest, it stung a little.

A horn honked behind me, and I spun around to see the smiling face of Sundae Giddings. She pulled up alongside me and waved her arm out the window. "Hey, chica, you in trouble with the cops again?"

She knew me so well. "Not exactly trouble. But I've somehow stumbled across another body."

"Ah, so it must be a day that ends in d-a-y?"

"I think you mean
a day that ends in y
," I offered.

She scrunched her nose at me. "Well, of course it ends in y, all the days of the week end in y."

I decided to let it go. She'd made her point, and she wasn't wrong.

"Why are you wet?" She was also keen on stating the obvious.

"Yeah, well, that was just the start of my bad day. Do you mind driving me home for a change of clothes and to pick up Paget and then dropping us off at the towing yard to pick up Stella?" Stella was my 1963 Buick Skylark classic convertible that my father had affectionately named years ago.

"No
problemo
."

Sundae had started speaking pseudo-Spanish lately. I wasn't sure why, but I decided that it wasn't worth mentioning. If it made her happy—that was my motto lately. I wanted some happiness in my life and in the lives of people I cared about.

Life was hard, and it certainly hadn't gone smoothly for me lately. So, I tried to keep my nose to the towline and bring home paychecks. One day, I would finish my medical degree, and I could provide for my sister in the way she deserved. For now, one day at a time and one meal at a time.

"Let's go, I'm starving," I said.

She swung the car around, narrowly missing a front-end scrape with Officer Keith's cruiser, and I held my breath as we putt-putted down the street in her VW Beetle that had seen better days.

As we drove by the tow truck, I saw Ty's head bowed down. He looked upset. Dr. C. was shaking his head and appeared similarly upset—the corners of his mouth downturned. But Officer Keith was staring straight back at me.

What was
his
problem?

*  *  *

An hour later, I was showered and changed, and Paget and I were standing in the office of Hollon Brothers Towing as my boss, Scabby Hollon glowered at me.

"How in heck did you manage to make my rig a part of a death investigation?"

"Mr. Hollon, this was so not my fault. I picked up the car as ordered, and it was not an easy pick-up let me tell you. I can't help that someone had disposed of a body in the trunk of it. That is in no way my fault."

He eyed me over his long, scarred nose and let out a little grunt.

"Well, you're off of pick-ups from now on. Plus, I don't know how we're gonna manage with only one truck."

Darn, no more pick-ups. This was the best news I'd heard all day.

"Do you still need me in the office?" I asked this part hopefully. I couldn't totally lose this job. I needed it in the worst way ever. Holiday credit card bills loomed over me.

"Yeah, we'll see you back here tomorrow for your regular shift. But see if you can talk to yer fella Dempsey over there and get my rig released."

My "fella?" A flash of Allyson's naked non-jiggly bits flashed before my eyes.
Ugh
. I remembered that I still had Ty's phone and needed to return it when I got to the station, but I didn't dare take another look at it for fear of any new nude incoming messages.

"Ah…well I do have to be at the station in an hour to give a statement, but I'm not sure that I have any influence over how Ty runs things."

He gave another grunt and shooed me away with his freckle-covered hand.

Paget had been quiet since I'd picked her up from our neighbor, Ms. Lanier's house. And as we rolled down Main Street toward our favorite place to eat, she still remained silent.

"How was your day, Page?"

She remained silent.

"Did Adam come by to see you?"

Still nothing.

"Wanna come to the police station with me after lunch and see Ms. Quick?"

This provoked a small nod that I caught out of the corner of my eye. And that was all I was going to get for now.

I didn't push it.

Paget had been diagnosed at a young age with a form of autism that made her difficult to read at times. Sometimes she would go for several days without talking, and sometimes you couldn't shut her up. Well, she was also a sixteen-year-old girl, and that might not be so unusual at any rate. But, though she was highly functioning, there were times when she could be set off into one of her "episodes," and they would often lead to withdrawal, moodiness, and sometimes she'd simply revert back to childhood.

When I'd first moved back home, she'd gone through several scary disappearing acts, which aged me considerably. We'd finally worked out a system of care for her that consisted of a combination of myself, our neighbor, and a nurse, and we rotated our schedules to be certain that she was supervised at all times.

Paget was the reason I'd moved home to Millbrook, and she was the single most important thing in my life.

But the second most important thing in my life, at least for the next few minutes, was food.

We quietly made our way out of Stella and into the Back Porch Café. We were running a little late for lunch, but the place was still humming with diners. Noting that our fave booth was available, we headed that way.

"Yoo-hoo, I'll be right with you gals!" Ms. Maimie hollered from behind the bar.

We scooched into the vinyl seats of the booth, and Paget set about removing the packs of sugar, Splenda, and Sweet'N Low from the little metal rack and lining them up on the table.

This was something she did quite often. It was all about putting things in order and counting them over and over again. I didn't understand it, but it seemed to calm her when something was bothering her. And now I knew for sure that there was something bothering her. But as I heard Ms. Maimie clicking her way toward our table in her standard four-inch heels, as any retired Vegas showgirl old enough to qualify for a senior citizen discount would wear, I decided to broach the subject with Paget later.

"How are my two favorite girls today?" Ms. Maimie placed two Cokes down on the table along with napkins, straws, and silverware.

Paget didn't answer but did pause in her packet counting to open her straw.

"Well, my morning has been a bit of a challenge," I offered. Hesitant to share too many details with my old friend. She and my elderly neighbor had a habit of getting involved in police matters, and I wanted to delay that as long as possible. Mostly because I wanted to get clear of this matter as soon as feasible myself.

"Yep. I heard. I didn't know it was you for sure. But when Cletus came in, complaining about how chicks should never drive tow trucks—I knew it was you who'd found the body."

I blinked up at Ms. Maimie. "How do you already know all that? It just happened an hour ago."

I really shouldn't be surprised. Information flowed through this town faster than grass through a goose. Even as the thought crossed my mind, I realized that I'd slipped back into full country mode despite my decade-long absence from Elmore County.

"I don't know who the dead guy is though. Do you know?" Her eyes were open big as she feigned innocence in her not-so-subtle question.

"No. I don't know. I don't really want to know. I'm afraid to find out. 'Cause that body was found in Matty Thibault's trunk."

She nodded. We all knew Matty and Mick and not just from their annoying morning radio show. They were locals and popular locals at that. I'd grown up with them and graduated with them along with Penny and Ty and even nude-photo-sending Allyson. We'd all been classmates those many years ago. And while I'd left at the earliest opportunity, they'd all stayed here and made lives for themselves.

No matter whose body was in that trunk, it would be another major town scandal, and my friends were somehow involved.

"Don't worry about it too much." She leaned in and lowered her voice to a whisper. "We have a Hoots meeting set up for tonight after the ten o'clock news. We're gonna try one of those webcam meeting thingies. We'll figure it all out then. We have to help poor Matty."

"A webcam meeting? How do you even know about those?" As if this was the most important part of what she'd said, I couldn't get my mind around Ms. Lanier and Ms. Maimie having a video conference when they lived not two miles apart. Not to mention the fact that they were both in their seventies.

"Oh yeah, that's right. You haven't met my grandson. He's in town and set up my computer. And since he's a little over protective, I doubt he'll want me going out late at night. Especially with a murderer on the loose."

"A murderer?" Paget yelled out a little too loudly, and I noticed voices lower and eyes turn our way.

"No. No. Page. Don't worry about it. I'm sure it is nothing like that. Ty, I mean…Tall Ty…will take care of everything."

This seemed to calm her a little, and she began to stack the packets back into their little rack.

Paget had a nickname for most people. In fact, she called very few people by their real name. Ty was known as Tall Winking Stranger to her a while back, and it had been shortened some time ago as he was no longer a stranger but still tall—at least that was her explanation. No one seemed to question her reasoning.

I gave Ms. Maimie a warning look, and she gave me wink. Our conversation would have to wait until later.

"What'll ya'll have to eat then?" She changed the subject.

"I'll have a Rodeo Burger and a side of onion rings." I ordered without the need of a menu.

"You know the Rodeo Burger already has onion rings on it, right?" Ms. Maimie clarified.

I gave her a solid stare, and she grinned. She knew better than to question my love of fried foods. And it was a good thing my metabolism worked at the speed of light at the rate I consumed calories.

"And for you, Paget?"

"I'd like a Sex on the Beach, please," Paget said.

My mouth dropped open. Ms. Maimie let out a little laugh.

"Paget…" I started. Where in the world had she heard that? I would have to talk to Ms. Lanier about watching too many shows on HBO while she was with Paget.

"No problem, that's one of my favorites," Ms. Maimie said and then gave me a little wave off when I opened my mouth to object.

I took a deep breath and tried to settle my nerves. I doubted that Paget had any clue as to what she was asking for, but it still brought up some parenting issues that I wasn't exactly sure how I should handle. I made a mental note to chat with Denise Owens, Paget's nurse, about this when I saw her later tonight.

Of course, I knew that the Back Porch Café didn't serve alcoholic beverages of any sort. But it was still a little bit of a shocker to hear it.

"What about to eat with that?" Ms. Maimie continued, unfazed.

Paget leaned back in her seat and crossed her arms over her chest. "I'll have a steak, rare, please." A knowing smile spread across her face, and for a moment, she looked like a different person. It frightened me.

"Rare? Paget…you don't like rare," I said, and the smile fell from her face. I instantly regretted my words.

Her face turned beet red, and she scooted out of the booth and headed down the hall toward the bathroom.

"Paget, wait!" I called out, but she'd disappeared inside the door marked Belles.

I started to follow, but Ms. Maimie grabbed my arm.

"Honey, let her go. She's a little girl trapped in a teenage body that is fighting to be an adult. She's confused and trying to act out a different role in her life. Just let her be. I'll bring her something good. Don't worry so much." Ms. Maimie grabbed a strand of my hair and gave it a tug.

I let out another pent-up breath and slid back into the booth. Dealing with Paget was a daily battle. I loved her, but life wasn't easy.

Just then, the bell over the door rang behind me. Ms. Maimie looked up and a huge smile spread across her face.

"Oh, look, Mandy, here's my grandson now." She spread open her arms as if to invite him in for a hug.

I turned around to meet this tech savvy, over-protective grandson and gazed up into the eyes of Officer Devon Keith.

Oh boy.