CHAPTER NINETEEN
I jerked the sheet out of her clenched fist and covered his face back up. Once his face was out of sight, she seemed to get ahold of herself.
Her arm snaked around my waist. “Let’s get you back to your chair,” she said quietly.
I let her guide me out of the room and back to the wheelchair while I cradled my stupid IV bag like a baby. It was then that she realized it was no longer attached to me.
“The blood was from you,” she murmured, picking up the blanket that had been on my lap off the seat and then helping me into the chair. She took the bag, hung it back up, and stuffed the end of the tube under the blanket. The camera went in along with it.
“I saw him yesterday, Dixie,” I said, looking up at her. “I saw him arguing with the mayor behind Maybelline’s restaurant, and he was the one who dropped the money in the parking lot.”
I couldn’t tell Luke that I’d seen him before because I wasn’t supposed to be down here. Still, the information I had was important. It was looking more and more likely that the mayor was up to something shady, but I couldn’t just come out and accuse him of it. I was pretty sure most of the people in town loved him.
What was I going to do? But at the moment I was more worried about my cousin. “Do you have any idea what could have happened to him?”
Dixie started pushing the chair toward the elevator. “I know who Luke is looking for. Ed Reynolds. Ed was Ryker’s best friend.”
“Ed? Oh, my God.” I tried to turn to glance at her, but the sudden motion sent a wave of nausea through my body. “Cale told me Ed showed up at the police station to see if anyone had turned in the money. But Ryker dropped that bag. I’m sure of it. Why would Ed pick it up?”
“Ed and Ryker have a shop together . . . or I guess had a shop together.”
“Do you think Ed could have killed Ryker?”
“I don’t know . . . maybe. He had a temper sometimes.” Dixie stopped in front of the elevator and reached to press the button, but I grabbed her wrist.
“Dixie. Let’s take a minute, okay? I know this is a shock. Do you need to sit down?”
She didn’t answer.
“I’m not ready to go back to my room yet,” I said, knowing she’d take my request more seriously if I pretended it was only for my benefit. “Let’s go sit outside for a few minutes and regroup. Okay?”
She nodded and pushed the button. The elevator door opened a few seconds later, and Dixie pushed my chair inside. When we got out on the first floor, she wheeled me outside and parked me by a park bench next to a small flower garden. The sun had set, so it was dark outside, and I was slightly chilly in my hospital gown, but I breathed in deep lungfuls of air as I tried to clear my head.
Dixie sat down next to me, leaned forward, and closed her eyes. I reached for her hand and squeezed tight.
“You said you broke up a month ago?”
“Yeah,” she whispered.
“Why did you break up?”
“I don’t know,” she said as a tear rolled down her face. “He never told me why. Just that he didn’t want to be with me anymore.”
“How long were you together?”
“Six months.” She turned her head to look at me. “I didn’t love him. I wasn’t even sure if I liked him at the end. And like I told you, Teddy hated him. He didn’t think Ryker was good enough for me, and he was probably right.” She lifted her shoulder into a slow shrug. “Maybe that’s why I stayed with him. To rebel against Teddy.”
“Did he hurt you?” I asked.
She was quiet for a moment. “Not like you think. He never hit me or anything. He just wasn’t very nice.”
“Then why’d you stay? Surely not to piss off Teddy.”
She didn’t answer.
“Dixie, I know you’re upset, and I hate to bring this up, but did Ryker know Otto?”
She gave me a wry smile. “Everyone knew Otto. But if you’re asking if Ryker and Otto talked or hung out? That’s a definite no. Ryker thought he was gross.”
“I can’t help thinking their deaths are related. I just can’t figure out how.” My head was killing me, and I was so tired I could fall asleep in my chair, but I didn’t want to go back to my room. Truth be told, I was creeped out at the thought of Dixie leaving me here alone.
“I need to tell Luke or Cale that I saw Mayor Sterling and Ryker together behind the café, but I can’t do that until they release his name.”
Dixie pulled out her phone and opened her photo app. “We can say you saw him in one of my photos.” She started scrolling and brought up a photo of Ryker next to Dixie in what was obviously a selfie. She was smiling, but she didn’t look like her perky self, while Ryker’s expression suggested he was granting her a huge favor for taking part.
“Isn’t it gonna look like a huge coincidence if I call Luke after he was just in the morgue?” I asked.
“That’s why you’re gonna call Cale.”
I felt better about calling Cale, but I was still overwhelmed by what I’d jumped into. This wasn’t just a lame reality show. This was life and death, and I felt supremely unqualified to have any part of it. “I’m a coward,” I whispered.
“You’re not a coward, Summer.”
I sat there for a moment, staring out at the cars in the parking lot. No. Dixie was wrong. I’d been a coward most of my life. I’d let my mother boss me around and put me in those stupid pageants. I’d let her strong-arm me into going to Hollywood. I’d let her get away with stealing all my money to avoid a scandal and a fuss. I could have figured out another way to deal with her than a public court battle. And now here I was back in Sweet Briar because I had eagerly accepted someone else’s solution for fixing everything—money—rather than coming up with one of my own.
For twenty-nine years, I’d let circumstances rule my life because I was too scared to take charge and navigate. It was time to grab the steering wheel.
“Do you really think we can do this?” I asked.
“Figure out who killed them both?” She nodded. “I’ve been watchin’ you when you interview people, Summer. You know what to ask and how to put someone at ease. You’ve got an instinct for this. I think you can.” She grinned. “Maybe you were so good as Isabella Holmes because you’re a natural detective.”
Which meant maybe I wasn’t a very good actress after all. But that was an issue for another day, because my brain felt like it had just finished a triathlon after a three-day fast. “Don’t sell yourself short. You have a knack for this too.” I gave her a small grin. “Maybe it’s in the Baumgartner blood.”
A soft smile lifted the corners of her mouth, mirroring mine. “Yeah.”
Maybe Dixie was looking for a purpose too. I realized that’s what I’d really been looking for—a purpose. I’d just been too stupid to realize it.
When these two weeks were up, what if I stayed and did this for real?
It was too soon to be considering something like that, and I sure couldn’t mention it to Dixie and get her hopes up. “We need a plan for tomorrow. It’s gonna be hard doing these side investigations along with the ones Lauren picks out for us.”
“Yeah. Agreed.” She stood and moved behind my chair. “But right now we’re headin’ back to your room. You look like you’re about to pass out.”
“I think I just want to go home.”
“But you’re still hurt. They want to keep you overnight.”
“Just to make sure I don’t fall into a coma, and the nurse said that wasn’t likely to happen. Maybe you could check on me a couple of times to make sure I’m still breathing.”
She stopped pushing. “I don’t know, Summer.”
“You don’t have to check on me. I’ll just set an alarm, and if you hear it goin’ off, maybe check on me then.”
“Not that!” she protested. “I don’t mind checkin’ on you. I just hate to bring you home if you need to be here.”
“Look, I’ve been traipsing around the morgue, big as you please. Obviously I can walk. And I asked the nurse about goin’ back to work, and she seemed to think it would be fine if I take it slow and sit a lot.” When she still looked unsure, I said, “Please, Dixie? The thought of sleepin’ in that hospital room, knowing those two guys are under the same roof, gives me the creeps.”
She put her hand on my shoulder. “Okay. I’ll take you home.”
Getting the nurse to agree wasn’t easy, but in the end, I told her that it was my decision, not hers. I was taking charge of my life, and this was the first decision made by the new me.
Dixie found my clothes in the cabinet, and I put them on, already feeling exhausted. I wondered if the nurse was right and I needed to stay and let them watch over me for one more night. But all I had to do was think about the two bodies in the morgue.
Nope. I was leaving.
I called Cale on the way home. A half hour wasn’t going to make any difference, and we had no idea who’d be listening in the hospital. But when I placed the call, it went straight to voice mail.
“He’s probably busy,” Dixie said. “Or sleepin’. If he found Ryker in the middle of the night, he’s been up for hours.”
“True.” But about two minutes later, my phone rang with a call from Cale’s number.
“Summer?” he asked, sounding on edge. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I said. A wave of exhaustion washed over me, and I closed my eyes. “I just found out something that might help you.”
“Whew. Okay. What?”
“I was just lookin’ at Dixie’s photos, and she showed me one that had her ex-boyfriend in it. The man who dropped the money was her ex, Ryker, not Ed. Are you sure Ed picked up the money?”
I knew Ryker was dead, but of course Cale didn’t know that, so I wasn’t surprised when he was quiet for a couple of seconds. Finally, he said, “So I was hoodwinked.”
His voice was so full of self-recrimination, I almost felt guilty for telling him. “Maybe.”
He was silent again, then groaned. “Can I ask you a huge favor?”
“Yeah . . .”
“Can you keep this to yourself? Luke’s already lookin’ over my shoulder with this murder like I’m a rookie cop, and if he finds out about the money . . .”
“You’re asking me to lie to Luke?”
“No, of course not, but it’s not like it would come up in normal conversation, right?” He groaned. “Never mind. I have no right to ask.”
He was right. It wasn’t likely to come up in casual conversation, not that we’d be having any conversations. “If he flat-out asks, I won’t keep it from him, but otherwise I see no reason to bring it up. It’s not like I’ll be seeing much of him.”
Cale laughed. “He’s still got a thing for you, Summer. I asked him how he’d feel about me asking you out, and he nearly had a stroke. I wouldn’t put it past him to stand guard outside your hospital room tonight.”
“Well, he’d be wasting his time because I got an early discharge, and Dixie is takin’ me home.”
Cale chuckled then turned serious. “Thanks for your call, Summer.”
“Yeah, no problem.” After I hung up, I relayed everything to Dixie, but she’d figured out most of it already.
“Should I be worried Cale asked me to keep it from Luke?”
“Nah, those two are friends, but they are as different as night and day. Cale’s more of a good ol’ boy, while Luke’s more by the book. They clash over it sometimes. And Ed and Ryker did deal in cash, so I can see why he just handed it over, especially if Ed showed up askin’ about it right after you turned it in.”
We were quiet the rest of the way home, mostly because I kept drifting off to sleep.
Meemaw was standing at the front door when we got back to the farm. She came out to the porch and stared at me with her eagle eyes.
When Dixie opened the door, Meemaw called out, “I thought you was supposed to stay overnight.”
“Since when do Baumgartners do what they’re told?” I answered back. My head was still pounding, and it took plenty of effort to make the response sound sassy.
She gave a curt nod, and a grin tugged at the corners of her mouth. “About damn time.” Then she turned around and went back into the house.
What did that mean? Was she saying it was time I stood up for myself? Had she been waiting all this time for me to stand up to her?
It was a good thing she left, because by the time I got out of the car, I had serious doubts I would make it to my room. Meemaw had always hated any sort of weakness. I would have lost what little hard-earned respect she’d just given me.
I’d almost made it to the porch when Teddy came around the side of the house, wiping his hand on a rag. He stopped when he saw us.
“Summer?” He rushed over when he saw my faltering steps. “You’re supposed to be in the hospital.”
“The food sucks there.”
He grinned, and before I knew what he was doing, he scooped me up in his arms and told Dixie to open the door.
“What are you doin’, Teddy Baumgartner?” I asked, but I wrapped an arm around his neck and rested my head on his shoulder. It felt nice to be able to have someone to lean on . . . literally.
He grinned. “You’re obviously about to pass out and fall on your ass, and I suspect it’s easier to pick you up from a standing position than it would be to scoop you up off the floor.”
“I’m not gonna pass out.”
“You’re just usually that pale,” he said as he carried me into the house.
“Take her up to my room,” Dixie said. “It’s bigger.”
“Dixie . . .” I wasn’t sure why she wanted me in her room, but I wasn’t about to put her out.
“You hush now. I’m being lazy. I don’t want to traipse down the stairs to check on you when your alarm doesn’t stop. I’d rather call 911 from the comfort of my own bed.”
I grinned. That sounded like a Baumgartner explanation.
I missed being a Baumgartner.
Teddy got me settled on Dixie’s bed, then looked down at me. “We didn’t just get you back to lose you again,” he said with a thick voice. “Be more careful, little cousin.”
I grinned. “Little cousin? I’m a year older than you, boy.”
“And I just carried you up the stairs without losing my breath. Who’s the little cousin now?”
“Thanks, Teddy.”
He nodded and left the room.
“He reminds me so much of Pawpaw,” I murmured.
“He is a lot like him, isn’t he?” she said, heading for the door. “He’ll do anything and everything he can to make this farm work, even if it means defying Meemaw.” She paused. “I’m gonna get your pajamas . . . and the strawberry pie out of the truck. Your clothes are covered in dirt.”
“Okay.”
She turned to walk out, and I heard her call Teddy’s name from behind the partially closed door.
“Yeah?” he said.
“What do you know about Ryker lying dead in the Sweet Briar morgue?” she asked in a hushed but accusing tone.
Teddy was silent.
“I asked you a question, Teddy!”
His voice turned hard. “Are you seriously standing there asking me if I killed your ex-boyfriend?”
“No . . . I don’t know . . .” She sounded far less sure. “But you called me yesterday and warned me to stay away from him.”
“Maybe I knew he was wrapped up in something shady that was gonna get his ass killed. Did you ever think about that?”
“If he was, I never saw any sign of it. I told you that.”
“Then he did a mighty fine job of hiding it from you, Dixie, because he was dirty as a pig in shit.”
“How do you know that? Are you mixed up in it too? Where’s that extra money coming from?”
“You don’t need to worry about that. I promised you I’d save the farm, and I meant it.” Then I heard him stomping down the stairs.
Did Teddy know about the balloon payment on the loan, or was this something new? And was my cousin mixed up in something dirty? I couldn’t believe it, but my head was too groggy for me to think it through, and it felt too heavy to hold up anymore. I lay down on the bed, intending to close my eyes for just a moment.
I must have dozed off by the time Dixie came back because I woke up with a start. She was calling my name and giving my arm a hard shake. “Oh, my God. Summer!”
I blinked my eyes open. “I’m not in a coma. I’m sleeping.”
“You scared me half to death!”
“Sorry.”
“I have your pajamas.” She tossed them on the bed. “Do you need help putting them on?”
My arms and legs felt like they were made from lead, and I was starting to wonder about the wisdom of leaving the hospital, but it was too late to change my mind now. “No.”
Dixie left the room, and after a bit of a struggle, I managed to get changed. I climbed under the covers and was already dozing again by the time Dixie got into bed beside me.
“Dixie?” I murmured, sounding drunk to my own ears.
“Yeah?”
“Do you think Teddy killed Ryker?”
I heard her gasp, then felt her hand on my arm. “I didn’t think you’d hear that, and no, I do not think Teddy killed Ryker. I was just . . . tired and frustrated. Teddy doesn’t have it in him to kill someone. Now go to sleep.”
It was as if her words had cast a spell on me. I was dozing in seconds, then I quickly drifted deeper into sleep.
The next time I woke up, it was even more abrupt. Dixie had burst out of bed. The clock on her nightstand said it was after midnight. I’d been asleep for several hours.
“What’s going on?” I asked, sounding groggy.
She pulled a gun out of her nightstand, and I was instantly awake.
“Dixie?”
“You stay here. Someone’s in the house.”
“Have you called 911?”
She snorted. “We’ll deal with it.” Then she headed out the door, and I heard Teddy’s voice too.
I grabbed my phone and called 911 anyway. Like Luke had said, there hadn’t been any murders in town for three years, and now there had been two deaths in twenty-four hours. I wasn’t taking any chances with my cousins and Meemaw.
“This is 911. What’s your emergency?” the woman asked in a sleepy voice.
“I’m calling from the Baumgartner farm. Someone broke into the house.”
“We’ll send someone right away,” she said, sounding more alert. “Is the prowler still there?”
“I don’t know,” I said, my stomach in knots.
There was more banging downstairs and then the indistinguishable sound of several rounds from a shotgun.
“Send someone quick,” I said. “I just heard gunshots.”