Софи Райан - The Whole Cat Аnd Caboodle

Nick dropped onto the chair Jess had snagged earlier.

“Hey, big guy. How are you?” she said, a huge smile stretching across her face.

“I’m good and it’s good to see you,” Nick said, grinning back at her. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been well.” Under the table she kicked my leg. “You’ve been home, what? Two, three weeks? And you’re just making it down for Thursday-night jam now?”

“I’ve been busy.”

Jess rolled her eyes. “You sound like Sarah.”

Nick leaned forward and smiled at me. “Hi, Sarah,” he said.

I lifted a hand in hello. I was playing along in my head, already pulled away by the music. After the Clapton set Sam and the guys moved into some Joe Cocker. I glanced over on “When the Night Comes” and saw that like me Nick was mouthing the words.

The boys ended the set by playing “With a Little Help from My Friends.” Jess put two fingers in her mouth and gave a piercing whistle of appreciation. The rest of us clapped and stomped our feet.

Sam lifted a hand in acknowledgment. “Thank you,” he said. “We’ll be back.”

Jess turned to Nick and nudged him with her elbow. “See what you miss when you run off to the big city?”

He nodded. “You’re right about that.”

She leaned in a little closer and sniffed. “What is that you’re wearing?” she asked. “It smells familiar.”

“Hugo,” he said.

She kicked me again. “It’s nice,” she said. “You clean up good.”

She was right about that. He was wearing jeans and a purple shirt and he did look good.

“You too, Jess,” he said.

She got to her feet and stretched. “I see someone I need to talk to.” She looked at me. “And I’ll see if I can find our waiter. Didn’t you say you wanted another basket of chips?”

“Yes, please,” I said, sending her a daggers look while she was blocking Nick’s view of me.

She gave me a sweet and very fake smile and squeezed between her chair and Nick’s. “Beer for you?” she asked him.

He nodded. “Please.”

“I’ll be back.”

Nick slid over into her seat. He folded his arms over his chest and studied me for a moment. “Charlie’s Angels?” he asked finally.

“I had nothing to do with the name,” I said, holding up my hands as though surrendering. “That was Avery.”

“And they have an office?”

“A table and some folding chairs on my sunporch.”

He pulled a hand over his chin. “Please tell me they didn’t really convince Alfred Peterson to join their band of merry detectives?”

I couldn’t help grinning at him. “He’s their computer guru.”

Nick shook his head. “Heaven help us.” He exhaled loudly. “So what have they been doing?”

“Did Charlotte call you?” I asked.

“If you’re asking if she told me about the bottle of banned pesticide she has in her garage, the answer is yes. I called Michelle. She’s sending someone to pick it up in the morning.”

I let out the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

“What the heck was my mother thinking?”

“Probably that a little bit around her roses wouldn’t hurt anything.’

He pulled a hand across his neck and sighed. “You’re probably right. Anyway, I don’t think it’s going to be a big deal.”

“You didn’t leave any fingerprints, did you?” I asked as I reached for my wineglass.

He frowned. “Excuse me?”

“You didn’t actually pick up the bottle and leave any fingerprints on it, did you? Because I know you went and checked on it.”

He got that little-boy-who’d-been-caught-with-his-hand- in-the-cookie-jar look. “How did you know?” he said.

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Because if I’d had a key I would have gone and checked that bottle in the garage.”

“The bottle is up on a shelf and it has a layer of dust on it that you could write your name in.”

I felt my shoulders unknot with relief. So whoever killed Arthur Fenety hadn’t used the poison in Charlotte’s garage. “Did you know the son of one of Arthur Fenety’s wives is in town?” I asked.

“I can’t answer that, Sarah,” Nick said.

“All right, that’s a yes.”

“I didn’t say yes,” he countered.

I shrugged. “If it was no you would have been asking for details.”

The waiter showed up then with a large basket of chips, a big bowl of salsa and Nick’s beer. Clearly since I was paying, Jess was getting her money’s worth.

Nick picked up his beer. I used a chip to scoop up a mouthful of salsa. “Did you know one of Fenety’s ex’s was also in town?”

He drank a mouthful of beer before he answered. “Since I can’t talk about that seems to mean yes to you, I’ll just skip that part and say yes.”

I smiled at him. “I told you I’d keep you in the loop.”

“So I should consider myself looped?”

I nodded. “Yes.”

Nick swiped a chip, scooped up some salsa and ate it.

“Don’t even think about double dipping,” I said, pointing to the half a chip he was still holding.

He put his free hand on his chest. “Me?” he asked, the picture of fake innocence.

“Yes, you,” I said. “You used to do that so you could keep the salsa all to yourself.”

“It never stopped you, as I remember.”

I felt my face flood with color. Nick laughed. I ducked my head over my wineglass.

“Are you going to play?” I asked after a minute of awkward silence.

He shook his head. “I didn’t bring a guitar and, anyway, I’m way too rusty. You heard me the other day.”

“You didn’t sound rusty to me,” I said. “And you know Sam has more than one guitar here.”

“That I do,” a voice said behind me.

I turned and smiled up at Sam. “What do you say?” he asked Nick.

“The same thing I said to Sarah.” He held up his left hand. “My fingers are out of practice.”

Sam shrugged. “Best way to get in practice is to play.” He looked at me. “The Rickenbacker is great. Thanks.”

“Anytime,” I said. “I’m glad someone’s playing it instead of leaving it in a closet.”

He pulled his fingers through his beard. “Yeah. A good guitar should be played.”

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Eric coming with his bass.

Sam saw him, too. “Almost time to get started,” he said. “I’ll talk to you later.” He pushed through the crowd toward his office.

Jess made her way back to the table. “Stay there,” she said to Nick when he went to get up.

She took Nick’s seat and pulled the basket of chips a little closer. “Umm, these are even better than the last batch,” she said after she’d loaded a corn chip with about a third of the bowl of salsa and eaten the entire thing in one bite.

Sam and the rest of the guys made their way back on stage and started with “For Your Love.” They went right into “Eve of Destruction” after that.

“Sometimes our friends join us for a song or two on Thursday nights,” Sam said after the song was over. That got him a cheer from the audience. “One of those friends is here tonight. And it’s been a few years since he’s been up here on stage.”

“He wouldn’t,” Nick said quietly beside me.

I just looked at him without saying anything. Because I knew Sam would.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Sam said. “Please give a warm Black Bear welcome to Nick Elliot!”

There were enough people there who knew Nick that the room got loud with people clapping and hooting. Jess whistled again and clapped, hands in the air.

I leaned toward Nick. “Welcome home,” I said.

He got to his feet, raising a hand to acknowledge the applause. Then he made his way to the stage, and I saw him raise an eyebrow at Sam, who simply handed him the Rickenbacker and then gave a nod to Eric. As soon as Eric began the bass line I knew what song they were going to do. So did Nick. He had taken the empty stool next to Sam and he lifted his head from the guitar, looked right at me and flashed a quick smile.