Part 10 (1/2)

I was almost back to Divinity when I spotted Coach Hendrix's truck idling outside the Stop-N-Go, a large cloud of smoke pouring from its exhaust into the chilly morning air. In spite of my caution around Elizabeth, I thought it was time somebody asked the man a few questions.

Without giving myself time to think twice, I jerked the wheel and pulled into the parking lot. I parked next to his truck and got out of the car to wait. He came out a few minutes later carrying a large coffee and an apple fritter.

His step faltered when he saw me. The hesitation was so slight I would have missed it if I hadn't been watching for it, but n.o.body could have missed the sour expression on his face. ”What the h.e.l.l do you want, Shaw?”

I wondered if he was this obnoxious with everyone, or if I was just special. ”I need to ask you a couple of questions,” I told him.

”Yeah? Well it's going to have to wait. I'm late for work.”

His dismissal infuriated me even more. I took two steps and planted myself in front of the truck door. He could move me if he wanted to, but he'd have to manhandle me to do it. ”This is important, Kerry. It'll only take a minute.”

He looked as if he might explode, but it only took him a few seconds to reach the same conclusion I had and to realize that, at least for now, I had the upper hand. He'd never dare get physical in front of witnesses.

”All right,” he said, spreading his hands in a gesture of surrender. ”What's on your mind?”

It occurred to me that I ought to be nervous, but I must have been too angry. My nephews had been terrified last night. I'd been terrified. And here he stood, cool as a cuc.u.mber and not even slightly concerned. ”There was a dark-colored SUV near your truck outside the recreation center last night. The driver of that SUV followed me when I left,” I told him, hoping he'd show some sign of decency. ”Brody and Caleb were with me.”

”Followed you?” Hendrix laughed through his nose. ”Why would anybody want to do that?”

”That's what I'm asking you.”

”How would I know?”

”Because you were talking to the driver just before he came after me.”

He laughed again and shook his head in disbelief. ”You're some piece of work, Shaw. I'm telling you, I don't know what you're talking about. Now get out of my way.”

”Who was the guy with the limp?”

”What guy?”

His calm infuriated me. ”The one who vandalized your truck. The one we saw get into an SUV just before you came outside. And the same one who was murdered just a few days later.”

”You're the only one I saw anywhere near my truck that night.”

”I didn't touch your truck, and you know it.” A man walking across the parking lot turned at the sound of my voice, and I realized that I was almost shouting. I lowered my voice before I spoke again. ”I don't know what's going on with you, but if you're involved in something dangerous, you'd better not bring it anywhere near the boys on the team.”

Hendrix laughed under his breath. ”What's this? A threat?”

”Consider it a friendly warning,” I snarled. ”Do whatever you want on your own time, but keep it away from those kids.”

Without waiting for a response, I got back into the Jetta and drove off. It wasn't until I'd put a couple of blocks behind me that I realized I was shaking like a leaf.

I couldn't help but wonder if Hendrix had sent the driver after us to frighten me. I was almost convinced he had, and the possibility made my blood boil. But as Jawarski had pointed out, I couldn't prove a d.a.m.n thing. All I had were my suspicions.

Still shaking, I pulled into the parking lot next to Divinity a few minutes after ten. I could have crawled into bed right then and there and slept the whole day away, but I had too much to do. Thanksgiving was less than two weeks away, and I needed to make several batches of Aunt Grace's gourmet lollipops. They weren't difficult to make, but I still occasionally had trouble getting the air bubbles out of my poured sugar confections, so they took concentration-a quality in short supply lately.

Most of the fear I'd felt last night had dissipated with the rising sun, but a tight knot remained lodged just beneath my heart. I'd have been happy to keep Max by my side all day, but the health department frowned on dog hair in the kitchen, and there was still too much snow on the back porch to chain him up back there. I left him upstairs in the apartment with strict instructions not to chew anything and made myself go to work. If the temperature warmed up as the day wore on, I could always bring him down later.

I put on coffee, then checked the mosaic for the display window to make sure the edible glue was dry. It had been an ambitious project, and I felt ridiculously pleased with the results. Deciding that I'd ask Karen to help me set it up in the window when she got to work, I moved on to the next task: gourmet lollipops for the upcoming holiday.

After making sure I had the recipe I wanted, I started gathering the ingredients I'd need that morning. I pulled a bag of candy corn from the cupboard and checked a piece with my thumbnail to make sure it was fresh. In spite of the fact that the company that makes it sells 35 million pounds of candy corn a year, I've always considered it an unappreciated and overlooked candy. I'm not sure why, either.

Candy corn, has a long, proud history more than a hundred years old, and I think anything that has stood the test of time for that long should be given its due. I'm sure George Renninger, the inventor of candy corn back in the 1880s, would agree with me. It seems commonplace to us now, but George's tricolor design was actually considered revolutionary when the candy first hit the market, and the public went nuts for it.

After determining that the candy was fresh, I opened a new supply of lollipop sticks, found sugar, corn syrup, and the flavor oils I wanted. It took me a few minutes to find the plastic bags I'd need to wrap the pops in the supply cupboard, and I made a mental note to reorganize the supplies when I had a free hour or two.

Karen and Liberty came in as I was pulling the molds I wanted from a bottom cupboard. They were both flushed with the cold and laughing about something. Something vaguely uncomfortable darted through me, followed immediately by the thought that I might be jealous of Karen's easy friends.h.i.+p with Liberty. But that was ridiculous. Why would I begrudge Karen a friend? It's not as if she and I hung out together away from the shop, and I certainly didn't want to get buddy-buddy with Liberty.

Whether or not it made sense, I realized that in the last few days I'd started feeling like a third wheel in my own shop. Maybe I should make more of an effort with Liberty. And maybe trying to worm my way into their friends.h.i.+p would make me feel worse.

They chattered between themselves while Karen stomped snow from her boots and peeled the scarf from around her neck and Liberty rubbed her arms for warmth. After a while, Liberty seemed to realize I was in the room. ”Good morning,” she said as she headed for the coffee. ”Want me to pour you a cup?”

I shook my head and lifted the mug already in front of me. ”I'm fine. You two both seem to be in good moods. Any special reason?”

”Are you kidding?” Liberty gaped at me as if I'd asked something unspeakably stupid. ”Have you been outside this morning?”

”I was out earlier,” I said. ”Caleb and Brody spent the night with me, so I drove them to school.”

Liberty filled two more mugs and handed one to Karen. ”How was practice?”

I hesitated for a moment over my answer. Her question was innocent enough, but the answer was complicated. I still felt reluctant to confide in someone I barely knew, especially someone who'd already admitted she knew Kerry Hendrix. But I had no reason to believe they were friends, and she was doing well at her job. Karen liked her, so it looked as if she might be around for a while. Uncomfortable as I was discussing all the strange goings-on with a stranger, I was even more uncomfortable with the idea of censoring every conversation.

”Practice was fine,” I said. ”Kerry and I avoided each other like the plague.”

Karen laughed. ”Well, that's probably for the best. At least the team didn't have to deal with all the tension between the two of you.”

”Yeah.” I picked up the molds I'd selected and started lining them on the counter so I could fill them later. ”It's what happened after practice that put a damper on the evening.”

Liberty's gaze jumped to my face over the rim of her mug. ”Why? What happened?”

I told them briefly about the night before. Karen's expression grew more worried as I spoke. Liberty's grew more animated.

”Are you sure it was the same vehicle?” Karen asked when I'd finished talking.

”I wasn't,” I admitted, ”but Caleb was absolutely certain of it. He pointed out a broken light and swears the SUV that picked up our John Doe the other night had the same light missing.”

”No kidding?” Liberty carried her mug to the table and settled in. ”Maybe they weren't actually following you. Maybe they were just on the way home and happened to be going the same way.”

I shook my head. ”Not the route I took. I'm convinced the driver was following us. I just don't know why.”

”Maybe you should ask Kerry,” she said. ”If he was talking to the driver, he probably knows him.”

”He claims he doesn't know what I'm talking about, but I know that's not true. I saw him sitting in his truck.”

Liberty shrugged. ”Well, he's always been kind of a jerk. I have to admit that.”