“No,” Keaton answered.
“Did you set foot in this yard at any point last night?”
“Nope.”
“Can you confirm this man’s tires were flat last night or this morning?”
Keaton laughed.“Nice try, but I can’t.I wasn’t here.”
“So why are you here now?”
“Finally someone poses a sensible question,” Keaton acknowledged.“My sister called and asked if I would pump up this man’s tires as a favor to her.”
Officer Rainey and Cavin both immediately expressed confusion.Cavin, recalling Keaton's earlier comment about Keaton’s sister saying Cavin was trouble, wondered who his sister was while Rainey began connecting the dots.
Officer Rainey quickly determined that Cavin must be the Kevin the kids mentioned earlier although he never got a chance to hear Noel’s perspective on the hot chocolate stand dilemma.She and Mrs.Madelyn were busy with customers when he entered the candy shop before departing to head in this direction.
“Do you know Keaton’s sister?”Officer Rainey checked.“And do you know why she would ask her brother to inflate your tires other than for obvious reasons?”Rainey added as he studied the tires again.“I’ve driven by here a couple of times today and couldn’t help but wonder who the owner of this vehicle ticked off.Honestly, I’ve been expecting a call.”
“Who is your sister?”Cavin asked Keaton.
Keaton laughed out loud.“Maybe we should play a guessing game to see how many women you have met in this town in your short time here,” he posed.“I am beginning to think you are not so innocent after all.”
“Keaton,” Rainey warned.
“What?”Keaton responded harshly.“This could be evidence.I am helping with your investigation; this information might lead you to the perpetrator who flattened all these tires.”
“Is Georgia your sister?”Cavin considered out loud.That would explain why she said this man wasn’t a threat last night.
Keaton laughed once more.“Nope, not a chance.Try again.”
“Who else have you met?”Rainey asked in order to humor Keaton’s curiosity.
“Really?This guy is messing with my tires, and I am the one being interrogated?”Cavin questioned.
“Seriously, dude, what is your hang-up on me having anything to do with your tires going flat?I was here to fix your problem, and now you are creating another one.”
Cavin filtered through all the people he met since arriving in Beaufort, and only one other woman came to mind—Noel.But Laney said her dad was a mechanic, not her uncle.That didn’t seem to add up.However, if Noel felt at all sympathetic toward him, she likely wouldn’t send her husband after Cavin hit on her.Maybe she sent her brother instead.
“Is your sister Noel?”Cavin asked.
Wide-eyed, Keaton looked at Rainey.“Bingo,” he responded by turning his attention to Cavin.“You passed the test.”
“Do you know Noel Puckett?”Rainey checked.
“Yes, I do.”
“Then you probably know she is a great person with a lot of responsibilities,” Keaton said to Cavin.“I’ll make you a deal—I’ll still pump up your tires if you stay away from my sister.”
Cavin didn’t care for ultimatums, but he didn’t have any intention to have personal contact with Noel moving forward anyway.However, he still wanted to do business with her, so that posed a problem.How could he explain that to her brother?He couldn’t, and he didn’t need to.“I am not one for being put in a corner, so I am not taking your deal.Although if it makes you feel any better, your sister and I have an understanding based on mutual respect of her situation,” Cavin explained.“And I will find someone else to pump up the tires.”
“Why don’t you two stop trying to be so macho?”Rainey suggested.“Mr.Dawson, I’ve known Keaton pretty much my whole life, and based on his responses, I don’t think he flattened your tires.It appears he has good intentions here, and I can confirm this with Noel if you like.I think it’s in your best interest to let him pump up your tires while he’s here with an air compressor.”
Cavin glanced at Keaton then back at Rainey and once more returned his attention to Keaton.
“You’re not going to get another mechanic out here until Monday at the earliest,” Keaton mentioned.“If you’d like me to take care of the tires, I’ll still do it since my sister asked me to.”
Cavin felt confident he could figure out another way to fix this issue whether that meant buying his own air compressor or renting another vehicle for the time being.However, either of those options would be a waste of precious time.“I would appreciate it,” Cavin finally agreed although hesitantly.
