Page 15 of A Little Naughty

“I’m pretty sure nobody believes that story.”

“So why do you look like you’ve been crying?” He points a finger at my cheek, and I push the dampness away.

I shrug, and he shakes his head, exhaling a chuckle. “Why do women cry about school? I don’t get it.”

“Fourth grade is a big year, and she’s at a new school.” Sniffing, I push my hair off my shoulders. “Anyway, what areyoudoing here?”

“Dropping off some of Martha’s old prepper supplies. She’s cleaning out her doomsday cellar, and she thought the school could use some of these paper products.”

That reminds me. “Was Raif Jones there? I’m supposed to do an article about his new business for theGazette.”

“No, but I think Martha was expecting him.”

Chewing my lip, I consider this. “He probably can’t talk to me if he’s working. Maybe I could go by his house when he’s done…”

Smiling to myself, I like that idea.

“You’d better let me go with you to the Jones place.” Worry lines Adam’s brow.

“It’s okay. I can borrow Piper’s truck.”

“It’s not a problem. Just let me know when you’re going.”

Narrowing my eyes, I study him. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you didn’t want me going to Raif Jones’s house alone.”

“They’re a rough bunch.”

I scrunch my nose, tapping his arm with my finger. “That’s very cute and chivalrous, but I’m used to dealing with rough characters.”

“Doesn’t mean you have to anymore.” He opens the passenger’s side door of his car. “Hop in. I’ll give you a lift back to the office, and we can discuss it with Piper.”

“You’re going to tell my boss I need a chaperone to do my job?”

“I would never do that.” He climbs in behind the wheel. “I’ll just let her know I’m helping you out. We make a great team, remember?”

Shaking my head, I look out the window, but Adam’s behavior has me even more intrigued about Raif Jones.

CHAPTER4

RAIF

“Imight need a chainsaw to clear this.” I’m standing in the small forest that Martha’s front yard has become through years of neglect.

Her house is essentially hidden on the tail end of First Street in Eureka. It’s a historic neighborhood, with some of the biggest homes in town, all owned and constructed by the town founders.

The Stones have their house right up front. It’s a massive white farmhouse with a wrap-around porch and a yard filled with decades-old foliage, including a live oak with branches as big as my torso reaching down like black arms to the earth.

Closer to us is Gwen Bailey’s house. Her husband Lars Bailey was an escape artist, and I remember watching his shows when I was a little boy. The day he died, he performed the biggest show on the coast.

People came from all around to watch him recreate a Houdini trick where he was strapped in a straitjacket, lowered into a waterproof tank, and then dropped in the middle of the ocean.

They put up big screens, and everyone congregated on the beach to watch. I was there with my dad and Bull, but Mom stayed at home. She didn’t like big events where she didn’t know what was going to happen.

Lars didn’t survive that trick, and it sent shockwaves through the community. When we got home, I found my mom in her sitting room with tears in her eyes. She said she was crying for Gwen and her little girl Britt, then she voted for Gwen’s mother Edna as town mayor, even though Edna was a former magician.

I think the carnival nature of the Brewer-Baileys appealed to my mom. It made us Joneses seem a little less controversial when there was such an unusual family leading things.

“I never really thought about keeping this place up.” Martha almost sounds apologetic standing beside me as we survey her overgrown yard. “I didn’t know how long I’d be here, and I never had company.”

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