Arline took a seat on the bed and laced her fingers together behind her head. “Might as well get comfortable. We’re probably going to be here awhile.”
Cordelia had no intention of relaxing. Arline might’ve beenas comfortable as a cat in a tuna factory behind bars, but the enclosed space was making Cordelia twitchy. She’d never had so much as a parking ticket. She wasn’t built for this life.
The door opened, and they all turned toward the sound of footfalls clipping the laminate floor. The sheriff strolled in, sans his deputy. “You ladies are in a world of trouble.”
An understatement, to say the least. They would’ve been in a world of trouble if they’d been caught breaking into the H-E-B or the drugstore, but that wouldn’t have been personal. Breaking into the Abernathy compound had been like trying to trap a spider under a glass, only to fall into a pit of snakes. No way would the sheriff let this go with a warning.
Daisy tentatively raised her hand. “Is there any chance of us getting out of here before two tomorrow? I’ve got an appointment with Clemet Tohen.”
The sheriff smoothed his beard with his index finger and thumb. “I’m afraid you’re going to have to cancel with Clemet. You can make it your one phone call if you’d like.”
“No, that’s okay,” Daisy muttered. “He’ll probably figure it out once word goes around.”
Chances were high that word had gone around already. The deputy was like one of those yappy, ankle-biting dogs, the eager kind that was just as likely to lick your face as it was to piss on you. He was too young and too used to seeing next-to-no action. There was no way he wasn’t down at the Orb giving half the town a play-by-play by now.
The sheriff pursed his lips. “We’re short on cell space for the first time in years. We’ll work on getting some cots in here for y’all. In the meantime, try not to fight with the other inmate. She’s got her own problems.”
He didn’t even look at Honey. As if giving her an ounce of his time was beneath him. It would be different if they were in a bigcity and Honey was a stranger, but she’d probably babysat him a time or two. The disrespect put Cordelia in a horn-tossing mood, and she didn’t even like Honey. It just so happened she liked the sheriff a whole lot less.
“I’m standing right here, sheriff.” Honey flipped her hair over her shoulder. “And don’t think I’ve forgotten you were the little pervert boy who got suspended from high school his freshmen year for peeping in on me and the other cheerleaders in the changing rooms.”
The sheriff’s face hardened. “That’s enough, Honey.”
“Sometimes when we get together, we still laugh at what a creepy little bean pole you were. You might think that badge fills you out, but we all remember where you came from.”
If they weren’t in a situation of dire consequence at the moment, Cordelia might’ve laughed. Honey Stevens might’ve been a walking train wreck, but she had gumption in spades. As a lifelong lover of words, Cordelia couldn’t help but appreciate the way insults just rolled off her tongue, as if she’d been born with a sour spoon in her mouth.
The sheriff, turning the shade of Campbell’s tomato soup under his beard, spun around and stomped out of the cell room, leaving the five of them alone.
“Girl, I don’t know if you’re too smart for your own good, or too stupid to look out for yourself.” Belinda Sue couldn’t keep the admiration out of her voice. “Was it necessary to provoke him when he’s holding the keys to your cell?”
Honey flopped down on her bed, arm thrown dramatically across her forehead. “Why should I care about pissing off a small man in his small pond? I’m already going down for a murder I didn’t commit. They can’t take much more from me.”
They could take a lot more from her, like the comfortable conditions she’d been staying in since she’d gotten locked up,but it wasn’t Cordelia’s place to correct her. Honey was a grown woman who was long past the time of knowing better.
“Don’t worry. You’re innocent. I’m sure you’ll be back to terrorizing the married men of this town in no time,” Daisy said.
“That don’t mean they’ll let me go.” Honey rubbed her fists against her eyes. “Not that the four of you care, since y’all seem to know whodidkill him but don’t feel like sharing with the class. Just tell me this: Does it have anything to do with Corbin and Edna Abernathy?”
Cordelia hesitated. There was no point in lying to Honey. She’d already figured out plenty and knew why they’d been arrested. Honey was a lot of things, but dumb wasn’t one of them. Putting her off only delayed the inevitable. With all the time she had on her hands, she just might be able to put enough pieces together to start crowing.
“They might be involved,” Cordelia said. “But we’re not sure yet.”
Honey sat up. “I’d be careful if I were you. The Abernathys are slicker than owl dung. I can’t say for certain, rumors being what they are, but word is they’ve gotten themselves tied into a business deal with Sean O’Leary.”
The name registered at the back of Cordelia’s mind. She’d heard it before, but couldn’t quite place where. She looked to the chicks to verify his identity, but the three of them just looked at one another and shrugged. Though by the way Honey had said his name, it probably should’ve triggered some sort of fear response. Sometimes it wasn’t so bad living in the brush country, away from most of the town’s doings.
Honey gave them an incredulous look. “Seriously? You’ve never heard of Sean O’Leary? He owns a couple of restaurants, but people say that’s just a front for all kinds of dirty business. Money laundering, tax evasion, racketeering. He’s an oilman.”
Cordelia stood at attention. If he had a business stake in oil, that could explain the machinery they’d seen at the Abernathy compound. She wondered if Sean O’Leary was the shady gentleman she’d seen Edna with outside the library. The one who was bankrolling their current operation. And he was a restaurant owner to boot...
“Which restaurants does he own?” Cordelia asked.
“The only ones I know of are the Flamingo Lounge and Benedict’s,” Honey said. “He owns about a dozen across Texas, but those two are more local.”
“Benedict’s was on the list of restaurants that serve Dew Valley,” Cordelia whispered to Belinda Sue. “It stood out to me because they only serve breakfast and brunch.”
“What’s a Dew Valley?” Honey asked. “Is that the wine you were asking after?”
