CHAPTER 24
“I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”
“You believe me about not knowing you had moved behind me?” Wally called through the glass shower door in Skye’s newly renovated bathroom.
“Certainly,” Skye shouted back over the sound of running water.
“I never would have jumped out of the way if I knew you were there.”
“Of course. You’ve proven time and again you’d take a bullet for me, so I’m sure you wouldn’t duck a paintball.”
“Anytime, darlin’.” Wally’s voice was husky. “For a minute there, before I realized the gun fired paint pellets, I . . . I almost lost it and shot Glenda for real.”
“I know, sweetie.” Skye scrubbed her neck, feeling Wally’s love wrapping around her. “Except for a little cosmetic damage, I’m fine.”
“It’s a good thing, or I’d round up every one of the Doozier clan and use ’em for target practice.”
“Yes.” Wally stood at the sink, wiping away stray paint spatters from his clothing. “Do you think MeMa was telling the truth about Olive?”
“Olive does fit the description, and she and Dante have always driven Cadillacs.” Skye poured more shampoo into her hand and started washing her hair for the fifth time. Fishy-smelling orange lather ran down the drain. “I hate to say this, but if I were married to someone who treated me as heartlessly as Dante treats her, I’d sure be having an affair.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Wally’s tone was wry as he patted dry his wet pants leg. “I’m thinking we should tackle Owen first, since we need to talk to Olive when the mayor isn’t around.”
“Plus Owen will be a lot less complicated.” Skye scoured orange flecks from her wrists and hands. She had taken the paintball hit between the shoulder blades, so her shirt had received the worst of the damage, but the paint had splashed outward like a gelatinous water balloon, drenching every exposed patch of skin.
“Interrogating Aunt Olive will be mighty tricky,” Skye said.
“That’s for sure.”
“We should try to speak to Owen alone, too.” Skye stepped out of the shower and Wally handed her a towel. “What time is it?”
He looked at his watch. “Three thirty.”
“Let’s check the llama and emu ranch for Owen first.” Skye wrapped the towel around herself and picked up a wide-toothed comb. “This is around the time Owen was missing last Saturday. Maybe it’s his regular shift there.”
Wally and Skye pulled into the Kankakee Exotic Animal Ranch at four twenty-nine. The lane wound through pastures of llamas and emus, dead-ending at a huge barn and corral. Owen was carrying a bale of hay when they approached him.
As soon as he spotted Skye and Wally, his usually impassive expression was replaced by one of defeat, and he hurled the hay bale to the ground. “I should have known keeping a secret in these parts would be impossible.”
“Sorry, Owen.” Wally stepped forward and clapped the unhappy man on the shoulder. “If it’s any consolation, we’ll keep this information completely confidential.”
“How did you find out?” Owen took off his work gloves and stuck them in his back pocket.
“The Dooziers saw you here,” Wally explained. “They mentioned it when we were out at their place investigating a complaint.”
“So what do you want?” Owen wiped his face with a red handkerchief.
“Is this where you were last Saturday when you claimed to be having a drink with a friend?” Wally asked.
Wally and Skye had decided that Wally’d be the best one to question Owen, so Skye leaned against a stall and tried to blend into the background.
“Yes. This is where I am whenever I’m not home.” Owen stared at his work boots. “The owner can vouch for me.”
“Why didn’t you just tell me all this when I asked?” Wally wrinkled his brow.
“Trixie doesn’t know that in order to buy the llama and emu herds, I agreed to work off the debt.” Owen’s face crumpled. “She complains I don’t spend enough time with her. If she found out I took on another job, it would have set her off something fierce.”
“So you weren’t having an affair with Suzette Neal?” Wally asked.
“An affair?” Owen’s eyes bulged. “Hell, no.” He shot Wally a dark look, then said, “So that’s what this was all about. You thought I was sleeping with that singer who got killed, and then for some reason I murdered her?”
“She was seen getting out of a truck similar to yours last Saturday night.” Wally’s tone was unapologetic. “We had to check out the possibility. We’ve been talking to all the locals who own black pickups. If you had just cooperated, we could have crossed you off our list long ago.”
“I’ve never even looked twice at another woman. I love my wife.” Owen shook his head. “That’s why I work so hard. I want her to have nice things.”
“She’d rather have you,” Skye murmured.
Owen stuck out his chin. “Just because someone doesn’t love you the way you want them to doesn’t mean they don’t love you with all they’ve got.”
But was that enough? Skye was afraid this might be Trixie’s breaking point. Trixie loved Owen, but he kept using all his energy to make money, then had no time left for her. Some rifts in a marriage couldn’t be healed.
Sunday morning, despite Father Burns’s wonderful sermon, Skye didn’t experience the serenity she usually felt when she attended Mass—probably because she and Wally planned to approach Olive after church. It would be the perfect time, because Dante always ate breakfast with his cronies while his wife went home to start Sunday dinner. If Skye and Wally arrived at the Leofantis’ shortly after Olive got back from the nine o’clock service, they’d likely find her alone.
Skye had gone to the same Mass as her aunt and uncle to make sure neither of them varied their usual routine. Now she drove over to pick up Wally. They had agreed Olive might talk more freely if they went together in her car and Wally wasn’t in uniform.
After exchanging greetings with Wally, Skye was silent for the five-minute ride to her aunt and uncle’s farm. She was discouraged by their lack of progress in the murder investigation. Even with all the information they’d gathered in the past six days, they still seemed no closer to solving Suzette’s murder.
Just before the lane leading to Dante and Olive’s house, Skye spotted something new. She nudged Wally. “Take a look.”
A series of four small signs read:
If you want peace
Prepare for war.
For safety at home
Guns even the score.
“Yep.” Wally shrugged. “That sounds like Dante all right.”
“Surprising he wants to open the town up to so many strangers,” Skye mused. “You’d think the last thing he’d want was a bunch of outsiders invading his kingdom.”
