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That shut Doc up for the moment.
“Don’t worry,” Harvey assured Doc, offering him some chocolate. Doc shook his head. “Me and Bessie will hang out in the parking lot. Make sure she makes it in and out of the restaurant in one piece.”
“Who’s Bessie?” Doc asked.
“His shotgun,” I answered.
“Oh, Christ.”
“You sure you don’t want me and Bessie to come along tomorrow?”
Harvey held out the chocolate Elvis toward me, which I took and bit in half. I barely tasted the sweet chocolate or the raspberry filling as I chewed on the King’s head.
“What’s tomorrow?” Doc’s eyelids were narrow as he looked back and forth between Harvey and me.
“A lunch date with Jeff Wymonds—her number-one kidnapping suspect.” Harvey pulled open the screen door and leaned against it. “Come on, I need a drink. We can talk about this inside.”
Doc didn’t budge. A vein throbbed near his left temple. “Do you have some kind of a death wish, woman?”
“No, I just—”
“Hurry up,” Harvey grabbed my arm and tugged me toward the threshold. “Before the flies get in.”
Stuffing the card in my purse, I stepped inside Harvey’s house, Doc huffing and grumbling on my heels.
“Welcome to my humble home.” Harvey walked around Doc, who’d stopped short in the entryway. “What’ll ya have to drink?”
“Something strong and burning,” I answered. I wasn’t driving, and Calamity Jane’s was a half hour away—plenty of time to sober up before returning to my desk.IfI decided to go back there today. “What’s going on with the funny noises behind your barn?”
“Not much. Been quiet lately, but I set out some big ol’ traps in the woods just beyond the barn. Unless it’s a bear, those traps will catch whatever’s sneaking around back there and hold on tight.
“Is that legal?” I asked.
A choking gasp came from Doc. I looked over my shoulder.
His face almost gray, his eyes fluttered shut, Doc swayed. I reached out to catch him as he started to fall, his weight sending me reeling backward into a coat tree.
“Doc, are you okay?” My shoulder blades burned where the coat hooks jousted me.
“Outside,” he whispered, his whole body shaking.
“What in tarnation?” Harvey raced over and helped me steady Doc.
“Let’s take him out on the porch, get him some fresh air.”
A minute and lots of cursing and grunting later, Harvey and I eased Doc onto the porch swing. The chains creaked under our weight as I sat next to Doc, unsure where and whether to touch him while he held his head in his hands and took deep breaths.
“Go get a cold washcloth,” I told Harvey, wanting a moment alone with Doc. I waited for the screen door to slam before turning to Doc. “What in the hell just happened in there?”
“Allergies.” He spoke through his fingers.
“Don’t give me that allergy-baloney again.” I crossed my arms, frowning at the back of his head. “Harvey doesn’t have a single gardenia-scented air freshener in the house.”
“Something else must have set me off.”
He sounded like he was telling the truth, but my gut screamed “liar liar, pants on fire!” I clutched Doc’s forearm. “Look me in the eyes and swear it was just allergies.”
Doc lowered his hands and stared at me, his eyes red-veined, his cheeks and forehead still pasty. “I swear, it’s just something I’ve dealt with since I was a kid.”
I stared back, wanting to believe him.
I really did.
But …
