Traveling Town Mystery Boxset Page 13

  “Look, I really don’t care what’s going on here.” She waved a hand over the setup that certainly violated several health codes on top of breaking the law. Probably. “It’s none of my business.”

  She actually did care and would go to the sheriff first thing, but there was no sense in telling the outlaw that.

  “That so?” He walked around her again, his eyes narrowing to slits and full of dark thoughts. Pulling out a rolled cigarette, he lit it and took a long drag, his inky eyes never leaving her.

  She blew the smoke out of her face, trying to come up with a distraction. “So, what is it? Moonshine?”

  “My means of making a livin’ here. It ain’t like I can just walk into Lou’s shop and ask for a job, now, can I?”

  Apparently, work was scarce for even long-time residents. “Why not start a brewery in town, you know, legally?”

  He barked out a laugh, ending in sour, bitter notes. “You’re still new, so let me educate you. The only businesses allowed in Keystone are what the town council deems worthy. Without their blessin’, you’re as worthless as a bullet without a gun.”

  “And they’d never approve you having your own still?”

  “Now you’re catchin’ on.”

  Ella took a beat to gather her thoughts, wondering how she could end this conversation. “Okay, fair enough. I get why you’ve set up shop out here. Who am I to stand in the way of an entrepreneur?”

  She took a step back. He mirrored it. “Anyway, best of luck and all that.”

  She slid back again, and he slid forward again. “You’re secret’s safe with me. I won’t breathe a word of it.”

  He puffed out a cloud of smoke, a wild grin spread across his leathered skin. “No. You won’t.” Reaching down to the holster on his hip, he pulled out his six shooter. “Cause you can’t breathe a word if you got no breath.”

  Ella’s heart leaped to her throat. She held her hands up. “Jesse, please.”

  “That ain’t my name.”

  “Six, please, don’t do this.”

  “Sorry, darlin’. It ain’t personal. To be honest, I was warmin’ to you.”

  Ella took a step back followed by another, then her back met a tree trunk. She was trapped. Her hands trembled, and she struggled to get her brain to cooperate and come up with a plan.

  Now, she understood Kay’s facial expression in the diner window when Ella had first met Jesse.

  Right before she was murdered.

  Despite the gravity of her situation, Ella couldn’t help but glance back at the still and wonder.

  She swallowed. “Did Kayline find your still?”

  “She was nosy just like you.”

  “Is that why you killed her?” Ella whispered.

  His face twitched. “I didn’t kill her. I needed her.”

  Ella frowned. “Wait. What? You weren’t in love with her, were you?”

  “Not me, no.” His lips twisted sadistically. “She had eyes for a married man. That Jimmy fellow. Saw them stalking off into the woods together.” He waved the gun in a wide arc off to her left.

  In a random moment of clarity that defied her current predicament, Ella recalled Kay’s shoes had tree sap on them which more than likely came from the forest.

  Six pulled back the hammer on his revolver. A click broke through the still forest.

  “J—Six, you’re not a killer.”

  “You’re wrong, darlin’. I am.”

  The rolled cigarette dangled from his lips, fouling the air with tobacco. He was so close, she could see the stains on his fingers, the mother of pearl buttons on his tan shirt, the top one missing.

  Ella stared down the barrel of his gun. Her heart thrummed a wild beat in her ears, and her legs felt like Rose’s lime gelatin mold.

  This couldn’t be it. She couldn’t die in the middle of a forest in God knew where, her family never finding out what happened to her.

  No. She would not let some outlaw with a gun decide her fate.

  A burning anger for justice gave her focus and flooded her system with adrenaline. Her last breath would not be one trembling in fear. She would die fighting.

  As he closed one eye and centered her in his sights, Ella made her move. She shifted her weight to her left leg and kicked hard into his stomach with her right. He grunted, and his hand twitched on the trigger.

  Ella thrust the gun away as the muzzle flashed. A crack split the air like thunder, and the bark on the tree behind her exploded. She couldn’t hear anything over the ringing in her ears.

  As Six swung the gun back over her chest, Ella kicked again, this time connecting her shoe between his thighs.

  The cowboy swore and doubled over.

  Ella wrenched the gun from his grip and threw it into the woods. He screamed at her.

  Her adrenaline kicked up a notch, and for good measure, she swung her fist around, connecting it with his jaw. His head flipped to the side, then his body followed, twirling through the air and landing in the mud like a drunken ballerina.

  Ella had either just gotten really lucky or Six wasn’t used to his victims fighting back. Either way, she wasn’t sticking around to find out what happened when he recovered.

  Leaping over his sprawled body, Ella sprinted down the hill. Her legs felt like rubber, and her hip complained with every other step. She stumbled over a rock and landed in the mud.

  Scrambling to her feet, she continued fleeing, no longer able to swallow her fear. Tears streamed down her face. Her lungs felt like they would burst.

  It wasn’t until the shadows waned and light poured in through a break in the trees that she slowed.

  Ella burst out into the light of the hot sun, running straight into something tall wearing a blue, button-down shirt.

  “Ella?” Will put both hands on her shoulders and put her at arm’s length. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

  She didn’t know why Will was there, nor did she care at the moment. The words struggled out of her tight throat and between gasps of air. “Jesse… woods… gun…”

  Will’s eyes widened to full attention, and his head swiveled, looking for Six. He stepped around her, staying close. The scent of sandalwood and machine grease replaced Jesse’s stale cigarettes, and she didn’t mind.

  Back at the sheriff’s office, Ella sat on one side of Sheriff Chapman’s desk, a far improvement over her old cell a few feet away. Will sat beside her, his eyes fixed on Sheriff Chapman’s pencil as it traveled over a pad of paper.

  Ella bounced her leg at his sluggish pace. She leaned forward, didn’t find it any more comfortable, so she leaned back again.

  “Okay,” the sheriff said, finally looking up, “that everything?”

  Ella nodded.

  “Are you going to arrest him?” Will leaned forward in his chair, his muscles taut like a caged animal about to spring.

  The sheriff picked his black derby hat up off the desk, shaping the brim between his hands. “Oh, he’ll be brought in, all right. And if I find his still, I’ll lock him up.”

  Ella gaped at the sheriff. “I’m glad your priorities are in order. So what about attempted manslaughter?”

  He studied her. “Yeah, I reckon I can charge him with that too.”

  Ella furrowed her brows and glanced sideways at Will.

  “The sheriff’s still getting used to how the law works in the twentieth century,” he explained.

  “Actually, it’s the twenty-first century for me,” she said helpfully. At the look Chapman shot her, she shriveled back in her seat. “Just saying.”

  “Speaking of,” the sheriff drawled, “I thought I told you to leave town.” His tone was void of the anger or annoyance she’d expected.

  “I tried. Believe me. That mechanic of yours—” she bit the inside of her cheek to stop from saying words she’d regret later. Not for the first time did she silently curse Lou.

  “Well, it looks like we’re stuck with you. Can’t say as I’m happy to have another citizen to protect in my town�
�especially one that’s got a penchant for trouble.” He dipped his chin slightly, so his icy gaze looked down the crook of his nose at her.

  Ella couldn’t help but squirm, feeling like she was in the principal’s office again for putting a fly in Jennifer Sloan’s sandwich. To be fair, Jennifer had punched her in the stomach during recess.

  Ella shifted the topic away from herself. “I was wondering, do you know what poison killed Kay?”

  “Who said she was poisoned?” He let out a sigh. “This town and people’s loose lips.” He rubbed a weathered hand over his face, the first fracture in his facade she’d seen. “Not yet. Pauline’s having trouble identifying it, but even if she’d found something, I wouldn’t tell you.”

  Ella nodded. She hadn’t really expected him to tell her. The sheriff may be from the nineteenth century, but he struck her as someone who played his cards close to his vest.

  Chewing her lip, she debated whether or not to say anything about the jewelweed. If she told him and was wrong, she’d hurt Jimmy and Rose.

  She decided to wait. If Pauline still couldn’t identify it within the next day or two, she’d float the idea out to the sheriff and tell him about the plant in the conservatory.

  “Is that everything?” Ella scooted to the edge of her chair, anxious to leave.

  Chapman stood, his lanky frame unfolding to well over six feet, as he slipped his hat on. “That’s all.”

  Will followed Ella to the door. Outside, he scuffed his shoes down the sidewalk beside her. “You just gave him everything he’s always wanted.”

  “What? Chapman?”

  “Yeah. He’s been dying to book Six with more than just menacing, vandalism, and reckless endangerment. You handed the outlaw over to him on a silver platter.”

  “Jesse brought it upon himself. I can’t help the actions he’s chosen.”

  “No, you can’t.” Will lapsed into silence.

  Ella felt both sorry for the inventor and a little guilty. She’d been so wrapped up in her own problems, she’d forgotten he had recently lost someone close to him.

  “Do you miss her?”

  “Kay? All the time.” He sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. “I wasn’t in love with her anymore, but we remained close. When the romance fell away, our friendship remained. I miss that.”

  It took a few steps of silence for Ella to work up the courage to ask the next question. “What happened between you two? Never mind. You don’t have to tell me. It’s not my business.”

  “No, that’s fine. I like talking to you. It feels… effortless. Like it was with her.”

  Ella smiled but felt conflicted by the compliment.

  “It’s simple, really. She wanted to leave Keystone. I wanted to stay.”

  “She wanted to leave the village?”

  He nodded. “We’d talked about it for a while. At first, it was just a casual conversation, but then she brought it up more frequently until it became something we argued about constantly. Anytime the town flashed into a beautiful location with rolling green hills or snowcapped mountains, she’d get the itch again to run.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Me too. I’m sorry she didn’t do it.”

  Ella stopped. “What do you mean?”

  Will nudged a pebble with the toe of his shoe and seemed to search the ground for the right way to phrase his words. “Kay didn’t want to leave Keystone because of some bright future she was running towards. She was running from something. And as much as I loved her, I couldn’t abandon my work here—not at the time, anyway. See, I thought I could solve the time jumps, thought I could stop them. And I didn’t want to leave all the citizens stranded. But I never blamed Kay for wanting to leave. I understood her reasoning. Heck, I wanted her to leave, because then I knew she’d be safe.”

  Ella’s hand twitched at her side. She wanted to reach out and comfort him, but she shoved it into her jean’s pocket instead. “Safe from what?”

  Will stared past her at some distant memory. He didn’t answer, but rather, shook his head. “Doesn’t matter anymore.”

  Ella didn’t push the issue, but that didn’t keep her from wondering. What had Kay been so afraid of that she needed to leave?

  They resumed their stroll back to the inn. “So, how close did you get to figuring out these time jumps?”

  “Not close at all, I’m afraid.”

  The flame of hope that had been kindling in Ella’s heart flickered out. “But you’re still trying, right?”

  “Not anymore. What’s the point when you keep hitting a dead end?”

  It was hard to miss the bitterness in his voice. The inventor, along with most of the residents she’d met, seemed to be resigned to their fate. How long had it taken them to go from heartache to desperation to accepting this new way of life? Was this disappointing acceptance of fate what she had to look forward to?

  Ahead, she spotted the inn’s front garden.

  “I’m really glad I ran into you,” she said, “literally. What were you doing near the forest, anyway?”

  “Visiting the professor. He lives on Twin Hills, and I took the scenic route. I’m glad I did.”

  “Does this professor have a name?”

  Will smiled. “He does, but it hasn’t been used in years. Everyone calls him, ‘the professor.’ He doesn’t get out much, and he doesn’t really have any friends. Everyone thinks he’s crazy.”

  “Is he?”

  Will considered the question. “A little. But he’s also brilliant.”

  “Ah, the ol’ crazy and brilliant combo.”

  “You know people like that?”

  “No.”

  He opened his mouth to say something then appeared to change his mind. “Anyway, I think geniuses have to be a little crazy, like their minds can’t process as much as they do, so it wears on their gray matter.” They slowed at the wrought iron fence. “Maybe you’ll get to meet him tonight.”

  Ella frowned. “What’s tonight?”

  “Town hall meeting. There’s a lot to discuss in Keystone, a lot of moving parts, so we meet bi-weekly. Sometimes, the professor shows up—mostly when I drag him down from the hill.”

  Ella tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. The thought of going to an event with so many people after such an emotionally exhausting day didn’t appeal to her. On the other hand, it was a great opportunity to observe the locals in their natural habitat. She’d be Jane Goodall, and they’d be…

  Ella shook her head, abandoning the analogy. “Do the Murrays usually go?”

  “Usually.”

  The meeting would also give her a chance to watch Jimmy. If anything untoward had been happening between him and Kay, he hadn’t seemed that broken up about her death. No more than Rose or Kay’s other friends. Ella suspected Six had lied about their involvement, although, she wasn’t sure what his motivation in doing so would be.

  Across the street, the man Ella had seen earlier in the store with the thick fur draped over his bare shoulders walked by and nodded in Will’s direction.

  “So, I’ll see you tonight?” Will asked her.

  “Yeah, I think you will. Are we not going to talk about the walking bear over there?”

  “Leif? What about him?”

  “It’s like a hundred degrees. Why the fur?”

  “It’s Sunday,” he said as if that explained everything.

  “Yeah, that’s what I was going to say.” Ella waved bye and approached the stoop, muttering, “This town’s weird.”

  “You say something?” Will called.

  “See you tonight.”

  CHAPTER 14

  ELLA WILED AWAY the few hours until the town hall meeting by swiping through photos on her phone from Thanksgiving. A pang of homesickness she hadn’t felt since leaving for college ached in her chest.

  With a sigh, she tossed her phone across the bed. The photos only cemented her resolve to figure out a way to stop the town from traveling, or rather, control it so they could all re
turn to their respective eras.

  She hadn’t realized she’d drifted off to sleep, nestled in a trough atop the satin comforter, until someone knocked on her door.

  “Ella?” Rose’s sweet voice drifted through the mahogany door. “Are you going to the town meeting?”

  Ella shot out of bed and banged her knee on the nightstand in the process.

  “Yeah! Be right out!” She hopped on one leg like a pirate, massaging her injured kneecap, right over an old bruise in the same location. She was nothing if not consistent.

  Ella looked down at her mud-splattered clothes. She’d planned on changing out of her “interview” attire before the all-important town hall meeting. Without time to rummage through her clothing selection, she settled on the nicest t-shirt she had left in her backpack and her last pair of clean jeans.

  Scrambling over to the mirror, she fought a couple of unruly curls that refused to do anything other than reach for the ceiling, then she snatched her lip gloss.

  Her unskilled application of eyeliner had gone from a 1980s televangelist to full-blown raccoon. She did her best to swipe and confine the circles to within the vicinity of her eyes before sprinting for the door. She hoped she looked more put together than the hot mess she felt.

  Flo bumped into her in the hallway and whooped up a storm. “Looks like you got into a fight with a boxer.”

  She leaned in close to Ella, her magnified eyes opening until she looked like a giant fly. Her wrinkled hand reached for Ella’s face.

  Ella swatted her away. “I didn’t get into a fight.”

  “You sure?”

  “Pretty sure.”

  “Don’t sound sure.”

  “I think I’d know if I got into a fight.”

  “What flight? Never been on an airplane.”

  Ella’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “What are you on?”

  “Don’t mind her,” Rose called from the bottom of the stairs. “She needs hearing aids.”

  “I hear fine,” Crazy Flo snapped. As she passed Ella, she winked and gave a wicked grin. “You’ve no idea the things people say when they think you can’t hear so good.”