Page 55 of A Dead End Christmas
The kids were happy, full, and a little tired, so they weren't as bouncy on the ride home. We dropped Zane off first and then headed to Aunt Ruby and Uncle Mike's.
When we got there, Shelley danced inside, showed them her new bracelet and told them about our day, talking so fast her words tripped over each other. Then she hugged all of us and ran upstairs to have a shower.
"That was a really delightful idea to go to the beach," Uncle Mike said. "They're smart kids, and they heard about the murder from their friends who live downtown. It was good to get them away for a while, so they could do something fun and exciting and just be kids for the day."
"Jack needed to just be a kid for the day too," I confided.
Uncle Mike and Jack both started laughing, but Aunt Ruby didn't manage more than a weak smile.
"I'm so glad you two discovered Rooster's alibi so quickly. But now the question is: who would want to kill Darryl? We still have a murderer running around town," she said, her eyes filled with worry.
I thought about that for a second and then something occurred to me. "What if it's not anybody in town at all? Darryl lives in Nashville, and he's only been here a few days. What if he made someone in Nashville so angry that they followed him down here and killed him? They could be back home by now and nobody the wiser."
Jack nodded. "I thought about that too, and I texted Andy earlier. Being the experienced law enforcement officer that he is, he'd already thought of it and reached out to his counterparts in Nashville."
"Oh," I said, feeling a little deflated.
"I may take a trip to Nashville to nose around if Andy hasn't solved this by Christmas." Jack said. "But I'm really hoping that he does, or that Susan gets back in town soon. Between the two of them, they'll be able to figure this out in no time, I'm sure. I don't love the idea of a killer still at large in Dead End."
"The problem with this theory is that whoever tried to frame Rooster knew exactly who to go after. Would some random person from Nashville know that? It couldn't be just a coincidence," I said, thinking back to my conversation with Rooster in the jail.
Aunt Ruby offered us iced tea and cookies, but I shook my head. "We need to get going. I've got a lot to do around the house, because I'm going to be too tired after work the next couple of days to do anything. The shop is always crazy busy on the last days I'm open before Christmas."
"Are you still wanting Shelley to come help at the shop?"
"Absolutely. She enjoys doing it, and I enjoy having her there. Plus, I know you're going to be awfully busy with your mayor stuff, between the Darryl situation and the town hall meeting."
Uncle Mike hissed out a breath. "I don't like that Craven fellow one bit. Ran into him when he came to the town hall to see Ruby. I don't figure that guy's got a single honest bone in his body."
Jack nodded. "I have to say you're an excellent judge of character. I feel the same way. Did Tess tell you he's trying to buy our building and the land it sits on right out from under us?"
"Threatened me with eminent domain," I said hotly. "And then hit me with some condescending baloney about how I probably didn't know what that was."
"I wish I'd been there to see you set him straight. Bet you knocked him back a step or two," Uncle Mike said.
"I did. Then it was even more fun when Jack—in tiger form—came out of his office and added his two growling cents to the conversation."
Jack shrugged. "I also said no. It was just a little louder."
"Back to the elephant in the room … the thing about Darryl is he truly was an annoying guy. But annoying isn't worth killing over," Uncle Mike said.
"I've seen people kill for a lot less," Jack said, almost beneath his breath.
I'm sure that was true, but I didn't like to think about it. I didn't like to think about any of the horrible things he'd been through before he moved back to Dead End.
"I'll talk to you tomorrow," I told my aunt and uncle, giving them both hugs. "And if I don't see you before that, I'll see you at the town hall meeting. This is about UltraShopMart, I'm guessing?"
Aunt Ruby nodded. "Yes. I tried to put it off until after Christmas, but Mr. Craven and some of the council members insisted. And with all the hot tempers on either side, we should just get it over with. It's going to be a brief presentation by him and then a question-and-answer period. I hope it doesn't turn into a giant shouting match."
"I hope so too, but I wouldn't bet on it. If—"
Jack's phone rang, interrupting me. "Hey, Jed, what's up?"
He listened for a moment, and his eyes went flat and hard. "All right. I'm on my way."
He ended the call, looking grim. Before I could ask, he started for the door. "That was Jed, as I guess you heard. He just got back into town and found out somebody broke into our house."
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