Barr held his palms up. 'I've never known her to be violent.'
Stopping in front of him, I crossed my arms. 'But you assumed it was her right away, didn't you?'
He inclined his head a fraction. 'I could be wrong. I hope I'm wrong. But I don't like how she disappeared from where she was staying and still keeps trying to talk to you.' His eyes flicked to Meghan. 'Two million is a lot of money.'
I grumbled a word that rhymed with 'itch' under my breath. Then cocked my head. 'Does she know anything about cars? I mean, would she even know how to do it?'
'I don't know,' Barr said. 'She could have learned a lot in ten years.
'Oh, no.' I rubbed my palms over my face. 'You know who else knows about cars? Besides your venomous ex?'
They both shook their heads.
'Gabi Kaminski.'
Meghan's head drew back in surprise. 'Really?'
'In Rocky's barn-turned-garage, he asked her to give him a clutch-compressor springie thingie or whatever it was. She knew exactly what he was talking about.'
Barr's forehead wrinkled while he untangled what I'd just said. 'You mean a clutch-spring compressor? Was he working on a transmission?'
'I think so.' I waved my hand. 'Whatever. But the point is that she knew what it was. I bet Gabi's just as good of a mechanic as Ariel was. She's pretty angry at me. Over the course of the several hours I spent with her and her family, a lot of information about Ariel came out. Then I saw Thea Hawke's roving, told you about it, and had the temerity to come back into her house and point it out to you.' I took another piece of spice cake, ravenous after my brush with death. My teeth sank into the moist, cinnamon-scented crumb.
'Well, we can't do anything until we know for sure that your brakes were deliberately sabotaged,' Barr said. His expression was skeptical.
'Of course,' I said.
'What if it was just an accident?' Meghan asked.
Fat chance.
'I don't know,' Barr said. 'But we're going to have someone look at it and find out.'
'Scott's, too?'
He nodded. 'We'd better.'
'Well, don't take it to Dusty's Fix-It,' I said.
'Why not?' Meghan asked. 'Dusty does great work on the Volvo.'
'And they have the contract with the city of Cadyville, too. Maintenance on all the police cars,' Barr said slowly.
'Oh, wow. Didn't you know?' I drained my tea. 'Zak Nelson works there.'
We all exchanged looks, and Barr nodded.
'I'm sending both vehicles to the crime lab,' Barr said, standing. 'I know I said I was taking the day off, but would you be angry if I went and followed up on this?'
I forced a smile. 'Not a bit. I want to know if those brakes were an accident, or if someone actually tried to, you know…' I glanced at Meghan. 'Kill me.'
'Because of your investigation,' she said, bitterness underlying every word. 'I swear, I worry more about you than I do about my own daughter.' She stood and turned her ire on Barr. 'She promised this wouldn't happen again, and then you had to go and ask her to get involved. Well, I hope you're happy.' Shouldering past him, she went into her office.
'Meghan, wait,' I called.
The door closed loudly behind her.
I started to go after her, but Barr put his hand on my arm. 'Let it be.'
'But-'
'She's right. I should have asked you to leave CRAG, not get involved even further with that bunch of snakes.'
'Hey, I like it there,' I said. 'I wouldn't have stopped going just because you asked me.'
He gripped my shoulders. 'Meghan's still right.'
I frowned. 'I tried to be so careful.'
'Well' He leaned in. 'The cat's out of the bag now. You watch your back.'
I nodded my agreement. Better late than never.
Barr left, Meghan's one o'clock client showed up, and I took the cordless phone downstairs. Despite my suspicion that Gabi Kaminski had had something to do with my brakes failing, I wanted to follow up on Barr's initial thoughts about the cause of the incident.
I dialed. Waited. 'Hello? Is this Mrs. Ambrose? Cassie? This is Sophie Mae. Reynolds. We spoke the other day.'
'Hello, Sophie Mae,' Cassie said on the other end of the line. 'How are you?'
'Well, I'm fine, though I must admit I've been better. That's why I called. I have a question for you.'
A pause and then, 'All right. Shoot'
I grimaced and plunged on. 'Does Hannah know anything about car mechanics?'
'Car mechanics? What on earth? What did she do, offer to change your oil?'
My laugh sounded thin. 'Hardly. I'm talking about something a little more sophisticated. Would she know how to cut a brake line?'
There was silence on the other end of the phone, and when Barr's mother finally spoke the bantering note was gone. 'I don't think so. Hannah's a tough little thing, and she can ride most anything with four legs, but she knows horses, not cars.'
'You're sure.'
'Well, we spend a lot of time together, but I couldn't say for sure, no. She has a life away from here. I don't know what all it involves. Not my business.'
I couldn't keep the disappointment out of my voice. 'All right, thanks.'
'What happened?'
Silence on my end this time.
'Sophie Mae, did something happen to your car?'
I sighed. 'Yes, ma'am. The brakes went out on my little pickup.'
'Are you okay?'
'I am. My truck wasn't so lucky. It was completely totaled.'
An intake of breath on the other end of the line. 'I'm sorry to hear that. I really am. But why would you think Hannah had something to do with it?'
'Uh, well, Barr kind of said-oh never mind. I shouldn't have called. It's just that neither of us is exactly neutral on the subject of Hannah, and I thought you might be able to, well, you know. Provide some perspective on the situation.' The more I talked, the dumber I sounded. But did that stop me from saying more? No.
'See, Barr talked to her, and she said she'd leave town, go home. She left the place she was staying, and he can't find her now, but she's stopped by my house to talk to me twice since then.'
'What did she say?'
'I wasn't home either time.' I rubbed my eyes. 'I just don't know what to think. And then when this happened this morning, we had to wonder.'
'Now listen,' Cassie said. 'Hannah can be a little flighty, but she never struck me as the sort who would really hurt anyone. She'll come back here soon enough. Maybe she just wants to meet the woman who captured Barr's heart so thoroughly. Don't begrudge her that.'
'Yes, ma'am,' I said. 'I'll try not to jump to any conclusions.'
'Don't call me ma'am, for heaven's sake. I'll try to get a hold of that girl from this end, see if I can't talk some sense into her.'
'Oh, gosh. I don't want to cause any trouble between you and an employee.' And the last thing I needed was to make Hannah even angrier.
'Now don't you worry about that. And Sophie Mae?'
'Yes?'
'I'm awful glad you're okay. I haven't met you face-to-face yet, but I'm getting real fond of you already. You take care of yourself, hear?'
'I will. Thank you.'
I felt better after talking to Cassie Ambrose. She had a calming, grounding effect. I could only imagine what it would be like in person. But the truth was she didn't know much more than Barr or I did about Hannah's mechanical ability.
My teenaged helper, Cyan, was eager to work after missing a day. Business had been gradually picking up during the previous six months, so when she arrived I dumped a ton of recent online orders on her, armed her with an inventory list, boxes, tape, packing peanuts, and my computer, and told her she could stay as long as she needed to get it all done. She set to her tasks with cheerful alacrity, the Dixie Chicks thumping away on the portable stereo I'd recently added to my workroom.
