Heather Webber - Digging Up Trouble

Eighteen

I’d been told not to go anywhere by the baby-faced officer first on the scene. Not that I could—his car blocked the end of the driveway.

Brickhouse had clucked when I called to cancel my one o’clock appointment. I hadn’t told her why.

Officer Baby Face had informed me detectives would want to speak with me, and my stomach hurt really bad, so I had a good idea just who those detectives would be.

I sat on my front bumper and looked at the house. Russ had died of a heart attack. What had killed Greta?

I hadn’t seen anything that would indicate she’d been murdered. No blood, no bruising. But it just seemed too coincidental that she’d die of natural causes during a bur-glary.

Who’d broken in?

I tilted my head, looked at the Lockharts’ house. The accounting books were the only things I could say for certain were missing. And Bill had been looking for them.

I jumped to the conclusion and figured he’d taken them.

But why ransack the rest of the house? To make it look like someone else had done it?

The man from Greta’s kitchen? That person would make a Digging Up Trouble

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great scapegoat. How convenient that Bill had heard the man’s threats.

And Greta? Had she gotten in the way?

I looked up. Uh-oh.

“You,” Kevin said, approaching me. “Come with us.”

“Us” included Ginger. My day just kept getting better and better.

Officers had begun roping off the house with crime scene tape. Kevin led me back to his car, an unmarked black Crown Vic with a long antenna on its trunk.

Ginger followed. She was tall, with long legs that reminded me of the spider in my window. Her hair was tied back in a long ponytail. She had beautiful wide eyes, full lips, a kind, caring face. If I were being truthful, she was gorgeous.

I hated that about her.

I sat there through thirty minutes of Kevin and Ginger’s repetitive questions, trying not to compare myself to her. I told them over and over what I knew, what I saw. I even reminded them about Greta’s visitor the other day. And I even told them about the missing account books.

That’s me. Nina Colette Good Citizen Ceceri Quinn.

While I was at it, I shared my theory about why the Lockharts had hired me—to induce a heart attack on purpose.

Kevin didn’t say anything at that, just arched an eyebrow.

Hmmph.

“Anything else?” he finally said.

“I told Riley I’d pick him up tonight, so you don’t have to.”

“He called.”

Ginger wandered off.

Kevin looked over his shoulder, watched her go, then turned back to me. “What’s with that call this morning?”

“You called me.”

He stepped in. He smelled good. “You know what I mean.”

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Heather Webber

“Nope.”

“Nina . . .”

“Kevin.”

“Are you having second thoughts?”

And thirds and fourths. I played dumb. “About what?”

“About us.”

His sparkly green eyes lingered on my lips. It felt like the temperature had gone up a few degrees. I was suddenly sweating, and suddenly worried my deodorant wasn’t strong enough, thanks to what Kit had said yesterday.

“Us?”

“Yes, us.”

The divorce would be final in seven days. I put my hand on my stomach, but it didn’t help the pain.

“You okay?”

“Fine.” Maybe I’d call the doctor when I got back, see if she’d fit me in.

“When’d you last eat?”

I thought about it, figured it was those egg rolls last night.

No wonder my stomach hurt. “I’m okay. Really.”

With his finger, he lifted my chin. “I don’t like what’s going on here,” he said.

“With us?”

He smiled. “I knew there was more to that call this morning.”

I scowled.

“I actually meant with the Grabinskys. You be careful.

Don’t get any ideas about snooping. I know how you are.”

“Yes, sir.” My fingers were crossed behind my back.

As soon as he turned, I looked around for Kate Hathaway, found her at the edge of the gathering crowd. I just wanted to ask her a few questions before I left.

I was glad to see that she was alone, that Meredith wasn’t lurking around anywhere.

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“This is horrible,” Kate said when she spotted me. “Who would do such a thing?”

“It could have been natural. You’re always hearing about stories of people who’ve been married forever dying days apart. Of broken hearts.”

“With a ransacked house?”

She had a point. Still, I hadn’t seen any signs of a struggle inside Greta’s room. And nothing on her body that suggested she’d been killed.

Actually, I’d been thinking about it, and it seemed more likely with those bathroom odors that she had gotten the flu going around and maybe died from that.

After all, Russ had had it. It would seem likely Greta would get it too. Maybe she had other health issues that made it too hard to fight the bug. I wished I had snooped through the medicine cabinet when I’d had the chance.

“Do the police think this was a random break-in? One of those home invasions?”

I could see her presidential wheels spinning. If there were a burglar in the neighborhood . . .

“I don’t know.” I had my doubts about the randomness of it all but kept them to myself, per Kevin’s strict orders.

I heard a car door slam and saw Dale Hathaway striding across his driveway toward his wife. She must have called him away from work.

My phone rang. Tam. I stepped aside to answer it.

“Did you kill someone else?”

I dropped my voice. “I didn’t kill anyone!”

“I heard there was another dead body.”

Dear Lord. “How’d you hear that?”

“Lindsey Lockhart called Bill at Growl. Riley heard about it and called you at work, but got Ursula, and Ursula called me.”

My mind spun trying to keep up with it.

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“Well,” I said, “do you know if Bill was coming home?” I really wanted to ask him about those accounting books.

“Riley said something about him leaving early.”

“Wait, you talked to Riley?”

“I needed more information, Nina. This hospital room isn’t exactly control room central.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Better. The doctor says I might be able to go home soon.”

“Really?”

“I’ll still be on bed rest, though. How’s Ursula working out by the way? Isn’t she perfect for the job?”

Depended on what job. Driving me crazy, definitely. I wasn’t sold on the receptionist part. Not yet at least. “She’s doing better than Coby.” Which was true.

“I knew you’d be happy to have her.”

“Tam, get your head checked while you’re at the hospital.”

“Now, Nina, I know you two aren’t the best of friends, but she’s really a nice—”

“Gotta go,” I said before I threw up. “ ’Bye!”

I snapped my phone closed, wandered back to Kate and Dale.

Suddenly I was hearing Disney’s chipmunk song in my head. I definitely needed food.

My phone rang again. I sighed, stepped away and answered it, wondering if Tam had figured out what was going on from her hospital bed and was calling to let me know.

“Chérie?”

“Mom? What’s wrong?”

“Wrong? Wrong? Nothing’s wrong. What makes you say that?”

“The tone of your voice.”

“Tone? What tone?”

“Mom.”

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“There’s been a small problem here. Very small. I’m sure the insurance will cover it.”

I closed my eyes, tried to rub both throbbing temples with one hand. “What kind of problem?”

“A broken pipe is all. Nothing major.”