“Sure. Add another few minutes to our ETA.”
“ ‘Our’? Did you pick up a hitchhiker?”
“Worse. Natalie is coming with us.”
“Good. It didn’t feel right without her. See you soon, Killer.”
I hung up and shifted into gear. “We need to swing by my office and give Cornelius a key. He somehow lost his.”
“A Christmas Eve mystery, how intriguing.” Natalie buckled her seatbelt. “What’s Corny still doing in town?”
“Doc said he had a problem with his flight.”
I rolled slowly through the thick slush, taking it easy on the narrow street. There was no rushing in Deadwood when it snowed. The neighborhoods had been built back during the horse and wagon days, so many of the streets were barely wide enough in spots to fit a single modern-day vehicle thanks to the line of parked cars hugging foundation walls and built-in garages along one side. The sheer, stomach-clenching drop to the buildings below on the other side didn’t allow much room for error.
If Cornelius was in town, I could kill two birds with one stone and give him the gift I’d picked up for him.
“Do me a favor,” I said to Natalie. “Reach in that bag in the back seat and grab the present with silver and white stripes.”
She did as requested and pulled out the box. “What’s this?”
“A present for Cornelius.”
“Ah. I gave him mine the other day because I thought he was leaving.”
“What did you give him?” I eased down the hill toward Main Street. The snow was over an inch deep on the sidewalks by now. I grimaced as I hit the brakes to stop for the light. Thankfully, my tires didn’t lose traction.
Interstate 90 should be relatively clear still, especially with the plows and salt trucks. However, making it down twisty US Highway 14A to the entrance ramp could prove to be a slight challenge now. At this rate, we might need to chain up before heading out of town.
“I found a travel toiletry kit with a Bigfoot Spotting Crew emblem on the sides that reminded me of him.”
I grinned. “I think Bigfoot might be his second cousin.”
A couple of minutes later, I pulled into the parking lot behind Calamity Jane Realty. There were no tire tracks in the snow back here, with the lot empty of any signs of life. The slush felt thicker, more slippery, too.
“I dare you to do a doughnut,” Natalie said.
As tempting as it was, I resisted. “I’ll spin a doughnut if you promise to bribe Detective Cooper with sex when he catches me mid-spin and threatens to lock me away in the hoosegow until next year.”
“No way. I’m on sabbatical, especially from the likes of Coop and his ripped chest and bullet-scarred bod …” She trailed off for a moment, then took a sudden breath, shaking her head quickly. “Besides, that man needs to chill. He’s so tense these days. I swear if he sneezes, he’ll probably shatter into tiny, razor-sharp pieces.”
I glanced her way, noticing that the sad lines around her mouth and eyes were back. Cooper wasn’t the only one with his nerves poking through his skin as of late.
“He’s tired,” I reminded her, defending the prickly detective. In spite of Cooper’s tendency to bite me on the ass, I felt sorry for the overstressed law dog. He’d been putting in a lot of extra hours at work so that others on the force could enjoy holiday time with their families. “All of those long shifts he’s been pulling have him stuck in Mr. Hyde mode.”
“That’s ‘Detective’ Hyde to you, Parker,” Natalie said in a low voice, imitating the crotchety detective.
I chuckled. “Have you been practicing his lines in the mirror?”
A shadow passed over her face as she stared out the windshield toward the back of Calamity Jane’s building. “I’ve been thinking about Coop way too much. I should probably take a break.”
Natalie and Cooper had almost played hide the lollipop years back. What had started out as a flirty game of pool at the Purple Door Saloon in downtown Deadwood had turned into a heavy-duty makeout session behind the bar. But somewhere between getting acquainted with each other’s red zones and actual penetration, Cooper received a call from work that acted as a bucket of ice water on their whole steamy scene. He made the mistake that night of choosing work over Natalie. To make an even bigger mess of their brief affair, the bonehead later popped any feelings Natalie had bubbling to the surface by telling her that he didn’t dally with local girls. Then, the dumbass capped off the whole non-affair with a final “end of story” comment that was branded in Natalie’s brain.
Now Cooper had gone and changed his mind. He wanted Natalie in his bed and not just for a single romp. He was thinking about breakfast the next morning, too—as in a repeat performance indefinitely. When I’d pressed him on how long he thought this Natalie-urge of his might last, he didn’t have an answer. Unfortunately for Cooper, Natalie was standing tall behind her sabbatical-from-men decision, kicking and karate-chopping any feelings that were trying to sway her toward embracing the hard-headed detective again.
“What kind of a break are we talking here?” I prodded her. Being nosy was one of my duties as her best friend. “Like joining a convent and disappearing for a year?”
She smirked. “Do I look like convent material to you?”
I took in her worn overalls, Rudolph the Reindeer scarf, and red stocking cap with a green poof ball on the top. “No. More like a hillbilly variety show guest star.”
She made a face at me.
I grinned back. “Even more so now. All you’re missing is a piece of straw sticking out of your mouth.”
“I’m going to stick a piece of straw somewhere south of your bellybutton if you keep making fun of my Christmas outfit.” While I giggled, she sobered. “Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of taking a break from Deadwood and heading down to Jackrabbit Junction for a
