“I’d get calls with requests to get them out of speeding tickets. Then it became a request for help with a DWI. Then there was a bar fight and unpaid tabs. It was embarrassing. And by that time I started to understand that while I was grateful they chose to raise me instead of sticking me in the foster system, I didn’t owe them anything. And then Tammy and I got engaged.”
“And I guess that didn’t go over well?” Coil asked.
“Like a ton of bricks.”
They turned onto Hank’s street, but there was no minivan in the driveway.
“They hated Tammy,” Hank said. “They saw her as a threat, and they never even tried to make her feel welcome. Just like how they’re doing with Agatha. But how they treated Tammy was the last straw for me. That’s when I cut all ties. I haven’t seen them for another holiday or anything else since then. They didn’t even come to her funeral. And then they started calling and inviting me to things again as if nothing had ever happened.”
“Well,” Coil said. “We need a plan B. Because your sisters aren’t here, and I really need to talk to them.”
“You know anyone at the phone company?” Hank asked.
“As a matter of fact, I do,” Coil said. “Let me give them a call and see if we can track their cells.”
Chapter Six
Agatha stared at the newly created murder board and her timeline until her eyes crossed. Hank was right about the value of having a tight timeline of activities. Everything had happened so fast that the events of the morning seemed like a million years ago. It had only been hours since she’d talked to James out on the highway where the shoot-out had taken place between Hazel and one of the bandits. And now he was gone.
There was too much information swirling around in her head. Between the crime scene facts and the calls and confirmations she was getting about the wedding, a migraine was brewing.
The thought of canceling the wedding all together had crossed her mind.
“How’s it going?” Springer asked.
“Slow,” she said. “I’ve hit a wall.”
“I know what you mean. Research is tedious, but there’s always a treasure trove of hidden facts to be discovered if you just dig deep enough.”
“I can relate. Research is second nature when I’m writing a book. But sometimes you’ve just got to take a step back and let everything soak in. I think I’m going to take a walk or something. I need to clear my head.”
“Sounds good,” he said. “I’m still wading through the mess of Hartley’s finances or I’d be right there with you.”
“I understand,” she said, closing her laptop. “I’m going to leave my stuff here. I won’t be gone long.”
She grabbed her bag and put on her old ball cap, pulling her ponytail through the hole in the back. The light blue, long-sleeve T-shirt she’d tied around her waist hung over her black yoga pants. She used the back door because the press were camped out in the front, and she didn’t want to see anyone or talk to anyone asking questions about James.
She circled around and headed up Main Street, and then she cut back across to where she’d parked her Jeep.
“Agatha,” Heather called out.
Agatha spun around and saw Heather standing in the doorway of the Kettle Café. She must’ve been having dinner or was waiting on Karl to take a break.
“You scared me,” Agatha said, putting a hand over her racing heart.
“I figured you’d show up at some point with your Jeep parked right here.” Heather came out of the restaurant on her sky-high heels and threw herself into Agatha’s arms.
“Oh, honey,” she said. “I’m so sorry. This is all a horrible nightmare.”
“I still haven’t wrapped my head around it,” Agatha admitted. “It’s been good to stay busy.”
“Is there anything I can do? I hate feeling so helpless. Karl said he might get a few minutes to swing by and update me in the next hour or so, so I thought I’d just stay close.”
“The best thing you can do is pray,” Agatha said. “We’ve got to stick together as a community through this and protect our own.”
“I know you, Agatha Harley, and you can’t lie and say you don’t have your wedding on your mind too. And you feel guilty because you’re thinking of that instead of putting all your attention on what happened to Deputy James.”
Agatha’s mouth dropped open. Sometimes Heather surprised her.
“Don’t you dare think about cancelling that wedding,” Heather scolded. “You’ve waited too long for your knight in shining armor, and life goes on.”
“I’m not sure what to do about the wedding, but I know whatever it is, Hank will support me. Right now though, we have to solve this case.”
“Agreed, girl,” Heather said. “Y’all have any leads?”
Agatha shook her head. “But I want to see these guys leaving in the same hearse they rode in on. And not in the front seat, if you get my drift.”
“I think the whole town is in agreement on that,” Heather said. “You need to de-stress. You’re getting those little lines between your brows. As soon as this is over I’m going to have my hair girl give you the works. My treat. She’ll see me any time I want. Maybe you can finally start to feel like a bride.”
“I’ll let you know,” Agatha said noncommittally. “I’ve got to go find that hearse so these guys can have a meeting with their maker.”
“I saw a hearse earlier today behind the old meatpacking plant,” Heather said. “You know the one toward Austin? I guess they probably have a lot of room in the back for hauling stuff.”
Agatha had already checked out of the conversation, her attention on James’s death and whether or not she should cancel the wedding.” She waved bye to Heather and got in the Jeep. Taking a drive would clear her head, and then she could get back to work. She drove through the old part of town where she and Hank lived, and she noticed there were no cars parked in front of their house. Apparently, the interviews with the sisters were happening somewhere else. She cleared her mind and drove aimlessly.
And then she slammed her brakes on as Heather’s last words finally penetrated. She did a U-turn in the middle of the road and headed back to town, coming to a screeching halt in front of the Kettle Café. Heather’s little red convertible was still parked out front.
She hopped out and ran into the restaurant, cornering Heather in her usual table by the front window.
“What did you say earlier? Before I left.”
“Huh?” Heather asked. “Have you been drinking? You look a mess.”
“Just tell me what you said about the hearse.”
“I said they must have lots of cargo space. I saw one outside the meatpacking plant.”
“Are you sure you saw a hearse?”
“Positive,” she said. “It sticks out like a sore thumb. I was coming back from Austin and got detoured because of construction on Interstate 35. Then I ended up on some side road in the middle of nowhere and I didn’t have any cell service, so my GPS wasn’t working. All I could do was keep driving. I got a real good view, because you come up on this hill and you can look down over the whole thing. That’s when I saw the black hearse sitting around back.”