“Thank you for stopping by with the update, Detective.” She stood at the same time Dixon did. Unlike Dixon, she wasn’t rock steady in the vertical position. Thanks to that second pain pill, the room became a dance party and did a quick spin around her.
Probably shouldn’t have taken the meds on an empty stomach,she scolded herself as Wolf wrapped a hand around her elbow. The instant his warm palm cupped the joint, she would swear 120 volts of electricity shot up her arm.
“Easy.” His voice was quiet. His eyes werenot.They roiled like black fire.
“Thanks.” She used the excuse of needing to adjust her sling to pull her elbow from his grip.
His touch had always affected her. But given her most recent revelation—Was it a revelation or am I totally off base?—she now felt stunned by the feel of his hands on her.
“Oh!” Dixon was halfway to the door when he turned and snapped his fingers. “I almost forgot. A couple of officers found Cliff Barnes sitting on the front steps of his house. He has a bump on his forehead the size of a goose egg and is making noises about being walloped by someone who stole his car. No one believes him, of course. For one, he’s already three king-sized sheets to the wind this morning. For another, the location of his injury is consistent with him hitting his head on the steering wheel when he planted the nose of his Celica in the ditch.”
Chrissy frowned, remembering the moment Wolf wrapped her up in his arms and then launched them both in the air. The man truly was hero material.
Too bad he’s not husband material to boot.
“At least with Cliff’s car out of commission,” she said, “he can’t mow over anyone else.”
“No chance of that.” The detective shook his head. “He’s been arrested for reckless driving, leaving the scene of an accident, and driving while intoxicated. Surely one, if notall,of those charges will stick. If someone tries to run you down anytime in the near future, it won’t be Cliff.”
“Gee thanks. That’s so comforting,” she said and thought she might have seen a ghost of a smile cross the detective’s face. But it was gone so quickly, she couldn’t be sure.
When he opened the door to leave, he was met with a raised fist and automatically ducked. Then he realized it was only Jill, her knuckles poised to knock, and he lifted his hands in the air as if she were pointing a gun at him.
“I promise I’m working as hard as I can to solve the case,” he said. “No need to resort to violence.”
Jill harrumphed and gave Dixon a quick once-over. Judy and Janice were lined up behind her, per usual. “I’m assuming that means you don’t have any leads, Detective?” Jill skipped the pleasantries.
“Yet,” Dixon stressed again. “I don’t have any leadsyet.”
“Well then, I won’t need to resort to violenceyet.But if you don’t have something by this evening, I might.” Jill stepped over the threshold like she owned the place. Which, Chrissy had learned, was how Jill felt about the whole island. It was hers to protect, and everyone who lived on it was hers to fuss over.
Or boss around.
In Jill’s mind, those two things were indistinguishable.
Bossy or not, Chrissy was glad to count the woman as a friend. It’d been Jill who taught her about business deductions—which ones were liable to have the IRS breathing down her neck. It’d been Jill who told her about Drummer looking too cozy with his beer distributor, which had prompted Chrissy to sneak into his phone and find the damning sext messages. And it’d been Jill who kept her in casseroles and tubs of Blue Bell those first couple of months after her mother passed, when Chrissy hadn’t been able to muster up the energy to brush her hair much less cook for herself.
By the looks—andsmells—coming from the Pyrex dishes in Judy and Janice’s hands as they followed Jill into the house, it appeared Jill was back at it, playing the part of Mother Goose as if she were born to it.
She folded Chrissy into a soft hug. “I was so glad when I called the hospital this morning to check on visiting hours and they told me you were being released. It’s good to see you up and on your feet.”
“Thanks.” Chrissy tilted her chin toward the dishes. “You didn’t have to go to all this trouble, you guys. This time I only have a broken wing.” She gingerly lifted the arm in the sling. “Not a broken heart.”
“Both make it a bother to cook,” Judy piped up, coming forward to buss Chrissy’s cheek. Judy always smelled faintly of the bleach she used to mop the floors of her convenience mart. “Tommy got your customers out to Sambos Reef right on time, dear. So don’t you worry. Everything’s taken care of.”
“I’m going to pay him double,” Chrissy swore. “He deserves it coming to the rescue like this.”
“Pfft.” Judy waved her hand. “Don’t go spoiling him more than he already is.”
Judy liked to pretend she was tough on her nephew. But the truth was, she adored the kid as much as she adored all the people in her large, extended family, and she turned into a big old marshmallow around him.
Chrissy looked at the tinfoil-covered dish in the woman’s hand. “Speaking of spoiling… Please tell me that’s your famous bacon macaroni and cheese.”
“None other.” Judy winked, her glasses magnifying her eyes and making the gesture look slightly cartoonish, especially when paired with her fire-engine red hair.
“And this here is that peach cobbler you went on about.” Janice lifted her glass baking dish.
“You all are too good to me.” Chrissy felt a welcome rush of warmth.
