The Root of All Trouble Read online

  Not that he'd brought this on, of course. No one brought on a murder.

  Well. Okay. Sometimes it was brought on. By scummy people like Joey Miller. And if you hired Joey Miller, then yeah, I suppose you brought it on.

  So...technically all this was Mario's fault.

  Perry came back and doled out luxurious bath towels to the group. Kevin declined taking one and instead walked over to me while the others dried off.

  "I need to use the facilities," Mr. Cabrera announced loudly.

  I pried his empty glass from his hands and set it in the sink. He toddled away, bumped into a wall, and kept on going.

  Kevin didn't say anything, he just stood close by. So close that his body heat radiated toward me. Raindrops slid down his cheek and dripped off his chin. The moisture soaked into his blue button-down shirt, which was already drenched and clung to his arms and chest, molding to his muscles.

  Not that I noticed or anything.

  That was me. Nina Colette Oblivious Ceceri Quinn.

  With a bit of effort, I forced myself to look away. His quietness was making me nervous. Usually he was quick with a quip or some sort of criticism of my involvement—yet again—with his murder cases.

  I caught him looking at me out of the corner of his eye. "I had nothing to do with this," I whispered.

  "I didn't say anything, Nina."

  "You were thinking it."

  "You don't know what I'm thinking."

  "Yes, I do, and you're thinking that this is my fault. Or if not my fault, that somehow I brought this on. I'll have you know, this is all Mario's fault. He hired them, fully knowing the Reaux family reputation."

  "No," he said darkly, "you don't know what I'm thinking. Or else you'd be covering up. Wet T-shirts become you."

  I looked down, saw my nipples standing at attention and gasped. I practically tackled Perry to grab a towel.

  The corner of Kevin's mouth quirked.

  I frowned at Perry. "You could have told me."

  "What?" he said innocently. "Wet T-shirts do become you."

  "Uhn," Bear said.

  He pried his eyes off Delphine long enough to give me the once over. I wasn't sure if he was agreeing or disagreeing. I really didn't want to know.

  Jealousy flashed in Plum's eyes as she gave me a dirty look. Oh please, I wanted to say. As if I was competition with her triple Ds.

  She should be more worried about her sister because it was obvious Delphine was the competition for Bear's affections.

  Delphine, however, was oblivious as she studied her nails, or at least pretended to be.

  Ethan glanced toward me, then away again, dismissing me with barely a blink. Huh. No need to be rude about it.

  Mr. Cabrera came back from the bathroom, took a look at me huddling under the towel and said, "Someone finally tell her about the headlights?"

  "I'm going home," I said.

  Kevin grabbed my arm. "Not yet. I have questions, lots of questions. For all of you."

  I eyed the gin but decided against drowning my embarrassment. Mr. Cabrera, however, had no such qualms and poured himself another drink.

  All I could picture was Brickhouse's teeth. Chomp, chomp.

  "If we could get this over with, Luvie," Delphine purred to Kevin, "I'd appreciate it. I have things to do today."

  I bristled at her calling him "Luvie" even though she called everyone that. I had no reason to bristle. None whatsoever. But bristle I did.

  "Ice, ice baby," Plum said loftily to her sister. "Your boy toy is dead and all you can think about is your manicure appointment?"

  Talk about meow. Maybe Delphine wasn't the only one who had feline tendencies.

  Delphine narrowed her eyes but didn't say anything. Fortunately, Kevin did. "Boy toy? Were you dating Joey Miller, Miss Reaux?"

  "We went out a couple of times." Delphine adjusted her skirt. "He was single. I'm single. No big deal." Tipping her head, she said saucily, "And trust me when I say he wasn't worth killing over."

  I noticed Bear clench his hands. This grizzly sure wasn't happy that Delphine had been seeing Joey.

  Kevin walked around the table. "When did Joey go missing?"

  "Two days ago," Perry said. "He went out for lunch Wednesday afternoon and never came back."

  "Did you think that was strange?" Kevin asked. "That he'd just up and walk away?"

  "From the job? Or from me?" Delphine purred.

  I gagged a little bit.

  Bear patted Delphine's hand. "No one would walk away from you, baby."

  Plum outright rolled her eyes and said, "Joey has a history of walking off jobs—it's why he's been fired from previous employers more times than I can count. It was a risk taking him on with our company, but we were desperate for experienced help and willing to take a chance. It's not like we're unfamiliar with shady histories and we believe in second chances. It was more surprising that he left behind his paycheck—not my sister."

  Delphine said, "Jealous much?"

  "Slutty much?" Plum countered.

  Kevin jumped in before a full-blown catfight erupted. "How long had he worked for you?"

  "Two months or so," Plum said, eyeing Bear's hand, which hadn't budged from Delphine's arm.

  "And how long were you dating him?" Kevin asked Delphine.

  "About a month," Plum answered for her. She pointedly looked at Bear. "She has a thing for skinny little runts."

  It was an apt description of Joey Miller. Skinny. Runt-y. She neglected to add slimy, which would have also fit.

  Delphine glared. "It's not the size of the man, it's the size of his di—"

  The end of her sentence was drowned out by a crack of thunder.

  "Amen, sister." Perry took a big gulp from his glass.

  Mr. Cabrera wiggled his eyebrows and said to her, "Do you like older men?"

  Oh good God. "Maybe it's time for you to go home, Mr. Cabrera?"

  Bear threw a menacing look at my neighbor. "Good idea."

  "Oh, simmer down. I was just asking." Mr. Cabrera topped off his drink. He added, "I'm a catch."

  "You would be," Delphine said with a flirty smile, "except I heard about your curse. I'm too young to die."

  Mr. Cabrera pouted.

  "I should take him home," I said to Kevin.

  Kevin raked his hand over his face. "A few more questions. Who was working here the day Joey disappeared? Who saw him last?"

  "We were all working," Ethan said, taking a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He shook one out, brought it to his lips, and reached for his lighter.

  Perry walked over and drew the cigarette from Ethan's lips and handed it back to him. "Uh-uh. Not in the house."

  There was a collective inhale in the room as we waited for Ethan to stab Perry to death.

  Perry seemed oblivious to the danger as Ethan's eyes narrowed into dark terrifying slits. From Perry's outstretched palm, Ethan took the cigarette and tucked it behind his ear. His eyes promised retribution.

  "Coffee? Cocktails, anyone?" Perry asked, his hand resting on Ethan's shoulder. "I just made cookies."

  I thought Perry was the bravest man I knew.

  "This isn't social hour," Kevin said.

  Perry made a face at him and came to stand next to me. I could practically feel his itch to do something more with my hair.

  "Who saw him last?" Kevin asked again.

  The corner of Plum's lips lifted. "I do believe it was Delphine. They'd been fighting."

  We all looked at Delphine. Kevin said, "Is that true?"

  "I wasn't the only one who got into it with him that day," she deflected. "Plum was put out that Joey called her plus-sized—"

  "I hate that term," Plum cut in, apparently still seething.

  "—and Ethan and Joey got into it about the sawdust…"

  "He was a slob. I can't stand slobs," Ethan said, looking my way.

  I really wanted to go home.

  "Oh, oh!" Delphine sat up. "Joey also argued with Perry about the work in t
he bathroom."

  "That's true," Perry said darkly, as though remembering the argument. "He was trying to put in ceramic when we paid for marble."

  If they'd paid for marble but Joey was installing ceramic, where'd the money go? It had to be thousands of dollars in missing cash. Marble was not cheap.

  "He apparently didn't realize that I could tell the difference." Perry scoffed. "Amateur."

  Scammer was more like it. I didn't doubt for a moment that Joey had pocketed that money.

  "He told me that the ceramic was what Mario and I had ordered. As if. I told him he'd picked the wrong man to con."

  "Wait," Plum said, spearing Delphine with a sharp gaze. "Did you know about this?"

  Delphine didn't seem fazed. "Perry told me."

  "And?" Plum demanded. "What did you do about it? We run an honest business, we can't be having our foreman cheating our clients."

  "Well, I was going to confront Joey about it, but he went to lunch and...I didn't see him again."

  I didn't miss the way she faltered on that sentence.

  Neither did Kevin if the set of his jaw was any indication.

  Delphine had just lied. About which part, though? Confronting him or not seeing him again?

  "It doesn't matter much now, does it?" Delphine said. "The man is dead."

  "But where's the money?" I asked, and tried not to cower when they all turned and stared at me. "I mean, if Perry and Mario paid for marble..."

  "I'm looking into it," Delphine said with an edge to her voice.

  Her tone told me all I needed to know—the money was gone.

  Kevin took a deep breath, leveled his best cop-like stare at Delphine, and said, "You've told me why everyone else argued with Joey that day, but what were you arguing with him about, Miss Reaux?"

  Plump lips pursed like she'd just sucked on a lemon. Obviously she'd been hoping Kevin had forgotten about that line of questioning.

  However, she was saved from answering by wild knocking on the front door. It was followed by female cries of "Let me in! I just heard the news! Let me in!"

  Kevin crossed the living room in three angry strides and threw open the front door. A young curvaceous blonde, maybe twenty-five at the oldest, stood on the doorstep sobbing. Big breasts spilled from a skin-tight mini dress, and bronzed legs appeared to go on for miles.

  "Who're you?" he asked, sounding completely exasperated.

  The woman fell into Kevin's arms and cried a river onto his chest.

  I hated her instantly.

  He looked back at us for help.

  "Delphine?" Plum asked, smiling wide. "Do you want to answer the question of who she is?"

  Grudgingly, Delphine said, "Her name is Honey."

  I could tell Perry was assessing Honey's sky-high blond hair as he said, "Honey who?"

  "Does she like older men?" Mr. Cabrera smiled and waggled his eyebrows at her.

  "That's it," I said to him, taking his drink away. "I'm cutting you off."

  The woman who clung to Kevin managed to control her crying long enough to peer up at him through glistening blue eyes. "I'm Honey Miller. Joey Miller's wife."

  Chapter Four

  "His wife?" I echoed. I gave Mr. Cabrera back his drink but only after taking a sip. This kind of bombshell called for it.

  "I thought he was single?" Perry said.

  "So did I!" Delphine pressed her palms to her chest emphatically as though the act of squishing her boobies so hard that they practically erupted from her shirt would prove her innocence.

  It succeeded only in making Bear drool.

  "Honey is who Delphine and Joey were fighting about the day he walked out," Plum tattled.

  I noticed Bear removed his hand from Delphine's arm (but not his eyes from her chest). Plum noticed his withdrawal, too. She was trying hard to hide her smile.

  Ethan still watched Perry like a hawk eyed its prey. I wished Perry had just let the man smoke.

  Thunder cracked again, and I nearly jumped out of my skin as Ethan's gaze shifted to me.

  "Can I go home now?" I asked Kevin.

  "Where's Joey?" Honey cried, drowning out my plea.

  She had a screechy voice and it shredded my already thinned nerves.

  "I heard he was found." Watery eyes thick with false lashes looked around. "Where is he?"

  "Out there." Mr. Cabrera pointed to the back yard. "He's the one in the body bag."

  "Okay, really," I said, grabbing Mr. Cabrera's arm. I set his drink on the table. "We're going. Perry, call me later." I marched my drunken neighbor toward the front door only to be blocked by Kevin and Honey.

  Honey finally pulled herself free from Kevin and stumbled toward the back door. She peered outside and gasped. As she started to sway Bear jumped up and grabbed hold of her. He cradled her in his arms and cooed that everything was going to be okay.

  Maybe he was more teddy than I'd given him credit for.

  "I'll get a cool cloth," Perry said, rushing off down the hallway.

  Delphine folded her arms and gave Bear a jealous glare. "Huh, I see how it is."

  "For chrissakes," Plum muttered.

  Ethan shook his head, and said to Plum, "Maybe it's time to set your sights a bit higher."

  "Like to you?" Plum snapped.

  "Don't flatter yourself," Ethan replied coldly and then turned his attention to Honey's performance.

  Delphine motioned to Honey. "Could she be more dramatic? She didn't even like Joey."

  "Says who?" Ethan asked.

  "Joey," she bit back. "He said that even though they'd been married only three months that she was already giving him the cold shoulder."

  Ethan rose out of his chair and went for the gin bottle. "Right. Because he's a pillar of truth and honesty."

  "He cheated as a newlywed?" I knew he was a lowlife, but that was...lower than low.

  Delphine shrugged. "If he couldn't get it at home..."

  Bear continued to coo at Honey, who I noticed kept opening her eyes a fraction to see if anyone was paying attention to her in her prone state.

  No one but Bear was.

  I'd had enough. Besides, Mr. Cabrera was starting to look a bit greenish. "Don't you dare toss your cookies," I said to him.

  He clamped a hand over his mouth.

  "We're going now," I said to Kevin.

  "What's stopping you from leaving?" he asked.

  "You are. You're blocking the door." I tried pushing him to the side so I could access the handle, but he wouldn't budge. "Move."

  "Aren't you forgetting something?" he asked.

  I sighed. "Move, please?"

  "I wasn't referring to your manners, but you do score points for politeness."

  I sighed more heavily and debated kicking him in the shins. "What am I forgetting?"

  "That's Perry's towel. Shouldn't you give it back?"

  I hip-checked Kevin, pulled open the door and stormed out, dragging Mr. Cabrera behind me like a petulant child towing her rag doll. Kevin's chuckle followed us down the walkway.

  My truck was blocked in the driveway by a police cruiser, so I left it behind as I headed for Mr. Cabrera's house across the street.

  A verdant Mr. Cabrera took his hand off his mouth and said, "Maybe you ought to think about giving the old boy another chance, Nina."

  At the end of the driveway, I stopped and looked at him. "And maybe you should just ask Brickhouse to marry you and get it over with, yes?"

  He stared at me for a second, then bent over and tossed his cookies all over my work boots.

  I took that as a no. A big no.

  For both of us.

  ***

  I left Mr. Cabrera with Brickhouse with no other explanation than "gin." Clucking angrily, she'd held open the screen door to him, and he'd scooted inside like a little boy who'd just been scolded by his mama.

  I stomped through the wet grass separating our houses, toward my side door. Thunder rumbled softly somewhere far in the distance. Charcoal-gray clouds still ho
vered overhead but the rain had stopped and it felt like the danger was gone.

  Well, most of it...

  Across the street two men dressed in scrubs loaded a white body bag into the coroner's van. Another man stood off to the side, and I tried to place how I knew him. Easy on the eyes, he appeared to be older than me, maybe mid- to late-thirties, and was a bit under six feet tall, with dark brown hair and a strong chin. He wore a light-colored button down shirt, jeans, a black windbreaker with CORONER INVESTIGATOR written in bright yellow letters, and had a shiny badge clipped at his waist. There was a hint of mystery about him, but maybe that was my imagination running wild in light of the recent corpse.

  As if realizing he was being watched he glanced over and faced me full-on, I knew I knew him. I just didn't know how. He studied me as much as I had done him, and I suddenly wished I didn't look like a half-drowned miscreant with puke on her shoes. Fortunately I had a firm grip on the towel wrapped around my chest or else he'd be getting quite an intimate look at me.

  Giving me a curt nod, he turned his attention back to his work. Quickly I kicked off my boots and left them by the back door, hoping they'd disintegrate overnight.

  The creaking side door opened into the utility room, which housed not only the washer and dryer, but most of my shoe collection and an assortment of cleaning supplies. As I headed for the kitchen, I suddenly realized I hadn't had to unlock the door to get inside. I knew I'd locked it that morning—I'd become rather OCD about the locks after one too many break-ins. Wary, I grabbed a hockey stick from next to the dryer and tiptoed into the kitchen, my weapon aimed high.

  I noticed three things straight off. One was that someone had been rummaging through my cupboards and drawers. Another was the strong scent of Chanel perfume in the air. And the third was a tiny puddle of pee in the middle of the floor.

  Letting out a sigh, I leaned the hockey stick against the island, grabbed a paper towel to wipe up the pee, and tried to get my adrenaline to stop pumping. After washing my hands, I strode into the living room, looking for my intruder and her accomplice. "Maria!"

  My very pregnant sister appeared at the top of the stairs, a guilty flush darkening her full cheeks. "Nina! I didn't know you were home. Your truck is still across the street."

  I folded my arms and tapped my foot as she carefully navigated the stairs. Each step was a hazard simply because she couldn't see her feet. Her enormous belly blocked the view of anything south of her navel.