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What we saw defies actual words. Sunny, naked as the day she was born, had one foot in her tub all the way to the far side and the other foot out on the tile floor, effectively doing the splits and barely keeping upright.
“Don’t just stand there,” she shouted. “Every time I try to stand, my foot slips farther in. I’m about to crotch-land on the edge of the bathtub if someone doesn’t help me!”
Babe thrust a cooing, oblivious Jude into my arms and rescued his wife by easily lifting her up and out of the foamy tub of water.
“What happened?” I asked, gurgling with repressed laughter.
Babe grabbed the nearest towel from a rack and wrapped Sunny up.
“Not funny,” she said, shaking her finger at me.
“This ranks right up there with scrubbing your face off,” I pointed out.
“Shut up. This wasn’t my fault.” Her cheeks turned pink. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a pedicure, so I went to Dolly’s this morning, and the day has been stressful, so I thought a eucalyptus bubble bath was in order, especially with you and Babe taking care of Jude. I just wanted to pamper myself for a minute.”
“And that explains doing the splits how?”
“My foot is really smooth, Chav. So is the tub. Add soap, and voila, I’m ready to be the next circus act.” She glared at me. “I swear to God if you tell a soul…”
“Would I do that?”
“Yes! I’m still trying to live down the allergic reaction I had to the hair depilatory that I used on my lip.”
“I only told Ruth. Maybe Blondina.”
She snapped her fingers then slipped as her wet feet skittered on the tile. Babe caught her by the arms and hauled her up. “Not. A. Word,” she threatened.
“Spoil sport.”
“I think it’s time I got my wife to bed,” Babe said, smartly staying out of the banter.
“I am exhausted,” Sunny said. “Jude hasn’t been sleeping well, which means I haven’t been sleeping well.”
And she was voluntarily having another baby? No, thank you. I hoped she told Babe soon. I was no good with secrets. Babe took Jude back, and my hand went inside my sweat pants pocket to the wooden star. I hadn’t told him about it. Or the sheriff. Hell, other than Sunny and Ruth, no one knew about it. Well, Roger, of course, because he found it, but why did I want to keep it to myself? I hadn’t let anyone touch it since I took it from Roger. Guilt niggled its ugly way through me, but really, the damn thing could have just been a trinket. It didn’t have to have anything to do with the murder. Right? I stroked it again, enjoying the textures against my fingertips.
Sheesh. Was I going to start hacking up fur balls and calling itmy precious?
I hoped not.
By eleven p.m., Sunny and Babe were in their bedroom, but I couldn’t sleep. I could hear the TV on in their room, some cop drama I think. They had it turned down low, and I could hear Baby Jude snoring away over their baby monitor. That kid was going to need a good ear, nose, and throat doctor when he got older. I tossed and turned on the couch. Even with the lack of sleep the night before, I couldn’t shut off my brain. The star wouldn’t let me rest, and the slightly sweet and spicy smell kept it at the forefront of my mind. The smell had been stronger last night. Had it faded that much in such a short time or had the smell come from the victim? Gosh. Poor Mike. I didn’t know him well, but given his exchange with Ed, I understood how he’d gotten his reputation. Still, he was a part of my community, and now he was dead. It made me sad and sick to think about. Another thought occurred to me: Would Sheriff Taylor question Ed about Mike’s death? Maybe he was a suspect now that he wasn’t a victim. But Ed had a pretty good alibi.
Who else had been murdered? The image of the bloated skinned body in the lake sent a shiver right through me. I wondered if anyone had found an eight-pointed sassafras star with the other corpse.
Remorse assailed me. I really should’ve told the Sheriff about the star. And I had promised Babe to stay out of the investigation. Still, I couldn’t stop wondering about the second victim.
Screw it. I’d go to Billy Bob’s and see if I could get info about the second body. And I’d show him the star. Maybe his woo-woo magic had some explanation for it. Maybe it really was just a spice and meant nothing at all.
I didn’t change out of my sweats and oversized T-shirt. I didn’t want the doc to think I was trying to impress him. I slid on my flip-flops and grabbed my car keys. I was not going to think about our kiss or how much I’d wanted to seal the deal.
Why had he kissed me? I almost felt better when I knew there was never going to be anything between us. No matter what else happened, we’d always have those two toe-curling, soul-lifting, body-clenching kisses.
Damn you, Billy Bob Smith, and your stupid, stupid lips.
I bumped a lamp stand on my way to the door. It wobbled, making a thump, thump, thump sound. “You okay out there?” Babe shouted from the bedroom.
Shit. “Fine,” I told him. “Just getting a drink of water.” I felt a small boost of triumph when I managed to get out the door without making another sound. I used my key to lock the door—carefully.
Chavvah Stealth Trimmel, at your service.
I hoped like hell my car didn’t wake Babe or Sunny when I started it up. It was a nice two-door sedan, a quiet model, so I wasn’t too worried as I pulled out onto the rural road. I played through everything I would do when I got to Billy Bob’s place. Business only. I’d show him the root, ask about the body, and be on my way.
So what if it was almost midnight?
Crap. I should have worn a bra. And combed my hair. It was still up in a ragtag ponytail, and several long strands had fallen out of the rubber band and flew wildly around my face. I could have rolled up the windows and turned on the air conditioner, but I liked the feel of the air on my skin, especially on such a warm night.
When I pulled into Billy Bob’s drive, I noticed a soft glow coming from his sweat lodge. Was he performing a ritual? I’ll admit, even though I didn’t buy into his kind of hokum, I was fascinated by his beliefs. Besides, Sunny had told me how he was practically naked when he had taken her to the sweat lodge after rescuing her from her car accident. Which is why I turned the car lights off and coasted up the hill, trying hard not to stir up the gravel, and why I found myself at a full stop less than a hundred yards from the sweat lodge.
Treacherous ovaries! They really wanted to see a mostly naked Billy Bob. Or all naked. That worked too. Did he pray and chant as he danced around a fire? It dawned on me, for a guy I’d known for over two years, I really knew very little about him.
I rolled down the window and slid out of the car. I didn’t want to take a chance his wolf hearing would pick up the door opening and closing. I let my coyote surface so I could see through her eyes. It allowed me to avoid clumps of dry grass and loose rocks that would give me away. I made it all the way to the front of the sweat lodge without once making any noise. My klutzy-self, still less clumsy than Sunny, wanted to high five my sneaky self, but that would have defeated the whole purpose of being quiet in the first place.
